Phyllis Diller

Can you relate?

“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing”

-Phyllis Diller

Holiday craft, holiday cookies and Caleb's lunch

Yesterday, with all the warm weather, we had a bit of spring fever. While Caleb was napping, Matthew and I worked on an Easter Craft.














While we were working, we baked some holiday cookies.














Hee hee! They were leftover in the freezer from Christmas. But they were still yummy.


This is what the craft looked like when it was done.














Then Caleb woke up from his nap. We all had lunch and guess what?














Caleb likes spaghetti!

a new banner

Yay! I made a new banner. And I put it up myself.

(well, I did need a little help from my computer programming husband)

Cyber party for Elizabeth

Welcome to the party!

Are you enjoying the celebration?























Here's a little poem for dear Elizabeth:

E is for extra-special lady
L is for loving mama to Maddie and Gracie
I is for the inspiration you provide us all
Z is for your zany sense of humour
A is for armadillos (one of your fave animals)
B is for books, I know you love books
E is for everyday I read your blog :)
T is for talented and teacher too
H is for HOF 2006 Hooray!

Congratulations Elizabeth Dillow!

The party continues all over the world:
Susie
Marie
Nadine
Susanna
Katy
Renee
Becky

Now they're both sick...

It's funny how when they're sick, you wish you had appreciated their good health more when they were healthy.

But soon they will be healthy again.

And then we will really live life to the fullest and appreciate each healthy day...

I promise :)

Now I know where I get it from...

Flashback Friday


















The compulsion to dress my boys alike. Now I know where I get it from. My sister and I in our little matching ABC dresses. (You can't see but the dresses have ABC on the front)They worked because now I know my ABC's.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (just pretend our dresses are green!)

the ban

Do you like going to those indoor playgrounds? You know, the ones with every toy you can imagine and, since I'm being perfectly honest, crawling with germs. I don't care how diligent you are in cleaning your toys, there are going to be germs on the toys in an indoor playground.

We figured that out last winter. It seemed that everytime we would go to Tot's Café, Matthew would get sick a few days later. Eventually, my husband banned us from going. "Do I have to remind you what it's like to look after a sick kid?", he said. And he was right.

We stopped going. We still go out on playdates and have an active social life. But we have avoided Tot's like the plague (I am in no way insinuating that we would catch the plague at the indoor playground, but you never know, do you?)

And then...
a birthday invitation
at
(you guessed it)
Tot's Café
*gasp*

The ban was lifted. We hadn't been there in 10 months so we gave it another chance.

We went. We had a great time. I washed hands before the cake and as soon as we got to the car. We discouraged Caleb from putting everything in his mouth. We came home. We had survived the birthday at Tot's Café. Yay!

Until, yesterday.
Matthew started coughing.
A fever during the night.

And we are banned once again.

happy things

Here are a few things that made me happy today:

• I got my hair cut. It may never look like this again, but today it made me happy.
• I finished my circle journal layout last night and tonight I did my scraplift challenge.
• Matthew and Rick washed my car for me.
• My mom & dad went to watch the Brier (curling) and they were very excited. It makes me happy that they're happy.
• I was able to keep on top of the housework today (for the most part)
• My mom made us lunch today. Homemade soup makes me happy too.

Here's to a happy tomorrow!

date

Remember the hunky guy from the picture yesterday? The one Nadine thinks needs a hamburger (still totally laughing about that!)

We went on a date last night.

Supper at Moxie's.
Movie at the Galaxy.
Failure to Launch.
Great date movie.

silly, funny, cute
(am I talking about the movie or my date?)

Great date :)

this is a picture of my husband:

Isn't he handsome?

Drawn by Matthew (age 2 and three quarters)

the original extreme makeover

Flashback Friday

This is the fall of 1993. I was living in Quebec City. My roommate Carey and I decided I needed a makeover.


The first one is "before". I was kind of plain and wore baggy shirts and wore my hair back in a ponytail. The second one is "after", feeling a little sassy in a tight bodysuit and my hair pulled up...some funky jewellery and makeup. I actually bought a long brown skirt to go with this bodysuit (does anyone still wear bodysuits, except maybe ballerinas, oh and babies?) but I like this picture better than the skirty ones. We went out dancing that night and had a blast.

Did I keep my new look? Not really. Although I did experiment a bit with some different looks that year, I pretty much went back to my old ways.

(and in case you were wondering, NO, I did not get any cosmetic surgery...everything is real! hee hee)

Book shopping

Caleb got some gift certificates for his birthday and we had some left over from Christmas, so I took the boys book shopping. What fun!

These are our new books. Can you guess which ones they picked out on their own and which ones mommy picked out for them?

It was just adorable to watch Caleb "read" Hokey Pokey Elmo in his stroller while we browsed the children's section. He was babbling and pointing and holding the book upside down. He stayed busy for probably 15 minutes just looking at his little book.

Matthew was just so amazed that he could buy more than one book. Usually we only buy him one (or we just look at them and don't buy any). We felt like a bunch of kids in a candy store... except it was bookstore and books are good for you. But candy, not so much.

The perfect birthday party

I think I may actually be getting older and wiser. I just might have planned the perfect birthday party for Caleb this year. We had it yesterday and I think it was perfect :)

A birthday party at the library. No need to clean my house for hours on end, only to have 10 charming children mess it up in an hour an a half.

Storytime Jane did a very special birthday/teddy bear themed storytime just for our group! (The library wasn't even open yet-we had the place to ourselves)

There were:
- rhymes
- stories
- songs and musical instruments
- a special puppet show about Caleb's birthday!
Then we ate a snack and opened gifts. I tell you, it was perfect.

(I'm not trying to brag or anything. I am just really happy that I thought of this and that it worked out so nicely.)

One year ago...

Flashback Friday.














Not toooo far back.

Just one year ago today, Caleb was born.
(I think he had more hair then, than he does now)

Happy birthday Caleb.

Happy Friday everyone!

this is me...

Do I look happy?
Do I look calm?
Do I look a little bit silly (with my hair flying out)?

This is the week that I am "supposed" to be going back to work. I mean, my official one year maternity leave is over. I am so happy with our decision to have me stay home a bit longer (until September). I am happy to spend this extra bit of time with my boys. I know it will be worth it.

Which is probably why I feel so calm lately. Just a sense of peacefulness inside. I think I know deep down that I am doing the right thing for our family at this time. I feel calm and confident.

And when you spend so much time with two little guys under the age of 3, you have to be just a little bit silly. I confess to dancing around the kitchen while making dinner, to putting a sock on top of my head while eating and to changing the words of songs just to get a little laugh from my "audience".

Can you tell all this from looking at my photo?

I am happy.
I am calm.
I am silly too.

happy early birthday!

We celebrated Caleb's birthday with our families last night because my sister is visiting and because some family is going on a winter holiday this week.

Tasting the cake before the guests arrived...

Showing you that the neighbour's house is for sale (Anyone interested?)...

The birthday boy and his mommy...

Eating cake for the very first time...
And just being a really cute birthday boy...

Sisters

Flashback Friday

Don't you just love sisters?
I do.
This is my sister and I.
I'm the older one.
Aren't we adorable?
I just hope my two little boys are as close as my sister and I.

I am so excited because she is flying in tonight!
Yay!

PS My e-mail is working and I had 13 new messages thanks to Susie's Question of the Day!

E-mail not working today :(

If anyone tried to e-mail me today, it's not working. This is what they told me:

We have been having problems with the e-mail server today.
It has been down for most of the day.
We are hoping it will be back up and operating again shortly.

So I'm not mad at you or being rude, I just haven't seen your e-mail yet.

If you didn't e-mail me, then don't worry about it.

But you could e-mail me. Because I like getting e-mail. Don't you?

I am hoping that when it is all fixed, it won't say "no new messages".

a conversation with a two and a half year old

Matthew: Caleb is my big brother.

Me: No sweetie, he's your little brother.

Matthew: No, Mommy. Caleb is my big brother.

Me: Actually, you're the big brother and Caleb is the little brother.

Matthew: Caleb used to be little, but now he's big.
He's my big brother.
You have two big brothers, Mommy.

:)

Pride and Joy

Pride and Joy.

Joy and Pride.

I think I have been the proudest and most joyful since becoming a mom. Don't get me wrong, I had a healthy self-esteem before becoming a mom. I am proud of my childhood, my accomplishments, my education and my relationships. But the moments of pure joy and deep down pride that I have experienced with my boys have been such blessings. (trying not to sound too cheesy-sometimes they drive me crazy, but I'm feeling extra sentimental today so bear with me)

Some of my proud and joyful moments so far:

• Delivering Matthew who happened to weigh 8lbs 15 oz. Very proud that I was able to do that! I guess I really didn't have much choice at that point. Also very joyful that my second baby, Caleb, came three and half weeks early and only weighed 7lbs 4 oz!

• When Matthew told his grandpa, "Jesus loves you, Grandpa!" So proud that he is already spreading the Good News (at the age of 2!) Such joy to know that he has already learned such an important lesson in life.

• Today...when Caleb took his very first steps. Such joy in his face as he balanced himself, and very unsteadily took three steps towards his daddy. Such pride in himself. Our sweet baby becoming a toddler. A special moment, to say the least.

Pride and Joy.

I feel it deep down.

Moments like these, that's what it's all about.