my irises

My irises are blooming. And they're so pretty. I just can't pass by them without smiling.














Unfortunately,

Caleb

does

not

feel

the

same

way...














I think he was a little unsure about the rain falling on his (almost) bald little head. Or maybe he just doesn't like irises.

But Matthew was pretty chipper. Look at that crazy face!














My friend, christinew once told me, "Someday he will stop making that face...and you will miss it!"

I'm sure she's right, but in the meantime, it still drives me just a little bit crazy.

having scanner problems today

I have a really good picture for Flashback Friday, but I'm having scanner problems, so it'll have to wait.

In the meantime, I'll fill you in on what we've been up to over the course of the last week or so...

• playing trains
• trying on hats from the dress up box
• sleeping through the night (finally! thanks Elizabeth)
• making words on the fridge
• throwing food onto the floor
• making mini-pizzas on pita bread
• reading books
• playing musical instruments
• play-doh at the kitchen table
• scrapbooking
• sending packages :)
• shopping
• going to storytime at the library
• discovering birds
• eating toast with a spoon
• drinking lots of chocolate milk
• saying the word maybe alot (Matthew)
• talking more and more and understanding lots (Caleb)
• counting our blessings

picnic in the park (victoria day)

Before you get images of me packing a nice picnic lunch in a wicker picnic basket, I have to tell you...

We picked up McDonalds.

Hee hee.

But we had a lovely time in Wascana Park. We found a nice shady area and spread out our blanket. After we ate, the boys ran around and it was so nice because we could see them and it's so good for them to just be able to run.

I didn't get too many good pictures, but that's okay because that just means we were too busy enjoying ourselves :)

my new favourite bbq recipe

Super easy homemade bbq sauce. Yum.

Smothered this on chicken thighs (although I'm sure it would be great on anything) and then threw them on the grill.

1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

This is from my fave cookbook at the moment (The Healthy Family)

Give it a try :)

two funny things (about Matthew)

1. Yesterday it was very nice out here (and today too-yay!). Nice enought to wear shorts for the first time this year. But Matthew wasn't too sure about these "shorts".

Matthew: Mom, where are the sleeves on these pants?

Hee hee.


2. Today, Matthew and I were snuggling and reading books and I said, "I sure love you".

Matthew: I sure love you too. And I sure like yogurt.

This is the yogurt he likes so much.

reach the top

They who reach the top, boys,
First must climb the hill.
-James H. Fassett


Caleb started climbing today.

No, really climbing.

Everything.

Up onto the sofa.

On top of the train table.

On Grandma's coffee table.

Yikes!

mother's day

I had a great day. Did you?

Here are some highlights (in no particular order, as you can see):

• the slideshow/video that Rick put together of me being a mom (awww, kleenex anyone?)
• my "mother's day" card (I wish I could have seen Rick's face when he realized that he accidentally bought a birthday card-hee hee. *)
• a new printer
• still having to change diapers, just not as many
• a nice long nap
• brunch at my mom's (how come my mom's waffles always taste better than mine?)
• visiting my mom and my mother-in-law
• a yummy supper at home
• just being thankful for all of my blessings

*In all fairness, the card was picked out by Matthew and it was quite lovely and was meant for mothers :)

newsflash

This just in...

Up until a few minutes ago, Caleb's vocabulary consisted of these two words:

ba...(pointing)
-translation: bunny, bear or ball (depending on what he was pointing at)

ga...(pointing)
-translation: everything else (depending on what he was pointing at)

Here's the newsflash....

Today at lunch Caleb said "nana" and pointed to the banana!

Yay! His daddy takes full credit since yesterday he fed him a WHOLE banana at snack time.

We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging :)

*If you're looking for me, I'll be washing smushed up banana off the highchair and the floors and the walls...

shopping

It all began Friday afternoon.

With shoes.

I hadn't bought shoes in such a long time.

And then I bought two pairs.

These ones:


















and these ones













The shopping spree continued on Saturday, when we finally bought a new sofa and loveseat. We had been shopping for over a year!

Here it is. The colour is a little bit off. But you get the idea.










I go grocery shopping this afternoon. Who knows what I'll buy next? Hee hee!

party girl

Flashback Friday... Kenosee Lake ~ May 1996 ~ girl's weekend

This is one of the last photos taken of me as a "party girl". Notice that I'm drinking out of a bowl? I forgot to bring a cup to the cabin that we rented and they didn't supply cups. Only dishes, cutlery and ... bowls. So I had to drink out of a bowl all weekend. Shortly after this weekend, Rick and I became more serious and I grew up, but it sure was fun to be a party girl for a little while.

hey mister knicker bocker...

boppity bop!

That song is stuck in my head. Can you guess who we saw today?

Matthew was even more excited than Caleb. But they both really enjoyed the show. Matthew danced around and Caleb clapped and pointed.

And I don't even care if Barney's not cool anymore, I'm not afraid to say I had a good time too.

:)

Hey mister knicker bocker boppity bop!

this weekend...

(a list, for all those who *heart* lists)

• we stained the deck (Rick) and the fence (both of us).
• we went out for Vietnamese food.
• we went swimming as a family.
• we had an early morning picnic on the deck (before it was stained) see photos below!
• we made alot of progress in the toilet training department.
• we tried to fly a kite (photo below)
• we played at the playground when the kite wouldn't fly.
• we were late for Church.
• we saw Grandpa jogging while we were driving to Church and Matthew said "He should really take his car".
• we watched flight 93 on A&E (obviously not the kids).
• we ate guacamole TWICE.
• we sure had a nice weekend.

hat

So cute.

Now if he would only keep it on!


Arrrrgggg!






(on a more positive note, at least he doesn't eat sand anymore)

super cool

Caution: if you already think you spend too much time on the computer, you might not want to visit this website:

Google Earth

Because it is super cool. You can get the free version. And then just type in your address or city at the top and get ready to be amazed. Rick was very impressed that we could see the deck that he built from way up there.

Check it out. Very cool. Unless you have something else to do ;)

done!

Thanks to my dear sister who challenged me to do all 12 "recipes" from the May Creating Keepsakes magazine! I had so much fun doing my layouts. And it was great to get caught up a little bit. And I loved seeing Faye's layouts, as well as Susie's (who joined in the challenge too)

Do you have any photos that you should really scrap, but would much rather scrap something else? Well, I did. I had a whole bunch of photos from last summer that I just kind of skipped over. Also, Caleb's album is 12X12 and I switched to 8.5 X11 and was really having fun with that. So it was great to just scraplift the layouts from the magazine and get some pages done, instead of trying to make each page a masterpiece. Although, I have to admit it took me significantly longer than 3 hours to complete all twelve.

But now I am done 12 layouts. Yay!

Here's a blog exclusive. Hee hee! I just finished this layout and haven't posted it on two peas yet. It's number 12.

phone a friend

Today I did something new.

Something fun.

Something spontaneous.

I phoned someone that I've never met before.

She has a lovely voice. We have so much in common. Time flew by and we talked for a half an hour!

My favourite part was when she had to play choo-choo train with her daughter. I don't know if you knew this, but we LOVE trains around here. Love them.

She had me at choo-choo.

:)

Now I'm just being silly.

For a good time, phone a friend.

play

Matthew could play outside all day. And I think he actually did today :)

He pretended to mow the lawn, just like his daddy (well his daddy really mowed the lawn, he didn't just pretend to) He made sandcastles. He chased the neighbour's cat. He went to the park and flew a kite. He raked the lawn with his little toy rake. He even wanted to eat his lunch on the deck, and we let him.

Caleb still isn't feeling 100%, but he had a nice time outside too. He still tries to put rocks in his mouth, but not nearly as much as he did before. Today, Rick caught a ladybug and Caleb was so fascinated by it. He kept trying to pick it up and we were worried that he would try to eat it, but he didn't.

And of course, Daddy kept us all entertained...

But I think this might be my favourite picture of the day:

this week...

• I organized all the toys and put some away so I can rotate them every month. I've been wanting to do this for awhile and it felt so good to get it done.
• We've been seriously toilet training. Seriously. Some progress is being made and we are trying to have fun and stay positive.
• Caleb had the stomach flu (we think). Yuck.
• We celebrated my dad's birthday with pizza, salad and cake. Caleb knocked my mom's plate off the table. It was a total accident. She was lifting him up and his foot got caught on the plate: pizza and salad all over her lap.
• Rick is working on our income tax.
• I bought Simple Scrapbooks, Creating Keepsakes and my Today's Parent magazine came in the mail.
• My sister started a blog.
• Matthew's been playing with his word whammer that he got for Easter. He's getting pretty good at reading and spelling 3 letter words.
• Caleb's getting pretty good at walking. I think he walks more than he crawls now. He's so cute.

tag

Wavy-haired, Nadine tagged me (did you know Rick's niece used to call me curly-haired Michelle?)

5 things:

in my fridge
1. leftover turkey
2. homemade waffles (leftovers also)
3. cranberry juice
4. rotisserie chicken
5. 3 different kinds of milk (skim, 2% and 3%)

in my closet
1. 4 pairs of jeans (that fit)
2. stripey slippers
3. tons of sweaters
4. navy blue terry cloth robe
5. silver shoes with rhinestones (from Faye’s wedding)

in my purse (check out my circle journal layout on this topic)
1. wallet
2. bandaids
3. red lollipop
4. lip gloss (pink pout from Mary Kay)
5. butterfly compact

in my car
1. sippy cup
2. change in the cup holder (now I don't want any of you breaking into my car to steal it-hee hee)
3. Caleb’s winter hat
4. stroller
5. cd’s

on my TiVo (I don’t have tivo, but if I did...)
1. King of Queens
2. Thomas and Friends :)
3. Grey’s Anatomy
4. Just for Laughs Gags
5. ?

I tag
1. Faye (just post your answers in my comments)
2. Suzanne
3. Marie
4. Mi’Chelle
5. Shannon

on a lighter note...

I now have a new struggle...

The struggle to not eat every piece of Easter candy, cookie and chocolate in sight.

I think that's the problem. They're in sight. I usually am not much of a snacker or nibbler during the day. But we have this huge basket of Easter goodies on the counter and I just snacked and nibbled ALL day yesterday.

I know, I know. Put them away. I'll try.

Really, I will.