Catch Up!

My bed's made - X
Bathrooms are tidied - X
Laundry gathered for washing - X
Worked out - ??
Dishes are done, dining room tidy - X
I'm dressed - X
Teeth brushed - x

Well I am doing pretty good so far. I should have done my work out but it's hard for me to do it when the house is begging me to be clean. Oh well, I will get to it. I realize that I spend W.A.Y too much time playing on the Internet so I am trying to discipline myself to have certain things completed before I can have some time to myself surfing the beautiful web.
My husband was in Cancun this past week for business, I was NOT allowed to come some crazy company policy they have. When I heard his itinerary I see why family can't go, there is no free time until night when everyone parties and so forth so family time would be me alone with the kids minus $10,000 for travel expenses. We stayed home.
At first I was really nervous about him leaving for 6 days. I don't sleep well when he's not here. You know all those bumps in the night, well I hear everyone of them. I have to say we did alright though. I was a little teary when he walked out the door but within minutes told myself to buck up and get moving. I intentionally made the week a busy one so it would go by quickly. We had play dates for the kids and for me, guitar lessons, Awana club for the kids, haircuts, etc. The week went by pretty quick for us and for that I am grateful!
I turned 35 years old this past week. Augh!! I still feel like I'm 25 minus the girls being more perky and few other things I won't go into details on, but you ladies KNOW what I am talking about. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions I kind of make mine around my birthday so I am still thinking of what I want to see happen for myself this year. I have a few things in mind but of course some depend on where we will be living, and you all know I don't know where that will be.
Gifts? my absent, yet thoughtful husband had flowers delivered to me on my birthday. Aren't they lovely??


Here's a close up, because I LOVE close ups!



Once he made it home I received the 2nd part of my gift. I am a sucker for silver jewelery so after hinting for the better part of the week with him over texts and phone calls about how much I would LOVE some new *bling* he listened!!



This pendant is my favorite!! Good eye Jay!!

A season for everything

I can almost pinpoint when I think this started. My high standards for myself and my family started to slip. I became alright with the status quo, I started letting my expectations slide, my ideals and beliefs became blurred with each passing bad decision I made.
We moved to our current location almost 2 years ago. This place was never really a choice for us but more of an obligation that we had to fulfill. We never purposed for it to be more then 2 years and I suppose the moment we stepped foot here I started the countdown to when we'd leave. Not smart.
It's been in the last few months that my husband and I have started to reflect on our present situation and realized we really dropped the ball here. We have a bunch of excuses as to why we let our kids spend ungodly amounts of time playing video games and watching TV-something we NEVER condoned before. We have tons of excuses as to why our health and well being have gotten out of control, we have excuses for everything and in the end we are left with the results of our excuses and it stinks.
I am happy to say my husband is a man of action and he talked me straight and continues to talk to me, to shake me out of the lull I find myself in. He has high goals for our family, for our relationship as man and wife, and for his kids. He is inspiring me to find that quest for excellence once again. Some days it's overwhelming because every area of our lives and family life needs an overhaul, and that's ok.... baby steps,right?
So this week I have set strict limits on TV and video games, we also have been turning off the TV, and I have noticed my children get along better when they aren't glued to it. There are other things we are doing, some I may blog about later once a final decision has been made. I don't want to be all manic about this, I don't want this to be the new 'thing' we are doing.....
We want the best for our family, especially our children, so we press on because they ARE worth it!!

"Poor people with low morals... but no offense."

I am trying not to let the angry Momma bear come out, I am trying to remain objective and level headed... I'm trying. Here's what happened...
My son has finally made a friend with a boy who lives not too far from our house. This little boy has been to our home, our son has been there and I never noticed anything out of the ordinary.
The other day my son came home from his friend's house and admitted to breaking a few beer bottles at their house. He said his friend said that there was gold at the bottom of the bottle so they went ahead and smashed the bottles. Well we gave him an ear full, told him about making good choices, etc, etc...
We ended up calling the other family to assess the damage and were informed that it was a 18 pak of unopened beer bottles. The boys were smashing them against the side of the house..... all 18 beer!!
The mother of this boy went on to say how her son is attracted to kids from poor families where there are poor morals. She said he likes to be around wild kids, but no offense. I think I have just been insulted on a few levels here.... yes I am offended!!
Anyway my husband tried to keep me on track, keep me focused on the fact that our son needs to take responsibility for his actions, so we headed to the liquor store for a gift certificate, and then to his friends house to issue an apology. My little guy did great, looked the adults in the eye and apologised for destroying someone else's property and for the extra work he caused when they had to clean it up. He handed over the booze card and we left.
Not bad for a boy from a poor family with low morals....

Turn the BLEEPING cell phone off!!

My thoughts are all over the map on this topic I am wanting to write about. I find there are so many situations rolling around in my brain that it's hard to make it all come together, so I apologise if it's a bit disjointed.
Without fail my husband will walk in the house after being at work all day and his phone goes off, another text. I find as times goes on, and this continues happening I am bothered at my very core.
We have had many and conversation about this, sometimes a heated one, that when he walks through the door I want his work day to be O.V.E.R. He works alot so when he's home I want him here, with us.
My husband is a business owner so the buck stops with him as he tells me often and I understand that. I have no issue with him being contacted if there is an emergency. As far as I know there has not been too many of those and yet the texting continues.
I often wonder if all this new technology is all it's cracked up to be. To be accessible whenever and where ever bothers me, alot. I often will ask my husband if a certain employee, who is quite text happy, would use a little more discretion if she had to contact him via telephone( yes, it's the odd looking thing with a cord attached to it) to relay her messages. It feels like any boundaries are blurred or not really in place.
If texting wasn't in place I know this employee would think twice before interrupting our time to contact my husband. Texting gives you full access into someone's time without having to justify the intrusion.
Funny as I read this I can tell from my own words how much I resent the intrusion, well I do damn it.. ( sorry J, he doesn't like me cussing)
In the end the power we have is to turn the freaking phone OFF when we walk in the door. Did you know that you can actually turn the phone off, you don't have to be accessible 24/7??
We have a friend who is anti- cell phone, facebook, etc.. Now this young buck isn't married, no kids, and is a student at university so his life is polar opposite of ours, but his motto is if you can't reach me at home then you can't and leave a message and I will call you back. ( sounds like my life a few years ago- ah , the good ole days)
Anyway I could go on some more but I've rambled enough. My parting words, boundaries people, BOUNDARIES!

Life has been busy, so busy blogging has been left on the back burner so to speak. But I have some moments right now as my little baby is sleeping to have some 'me' time on the computer.
I can't believe summer is finally here. Most of my days and nights are spent in the yard watering our new grass, which looks great if I do say so myself! I have been making countless trips to the local nurseries to pick out flowers, pots, little gizmo's for the garden etc. Yes, I love summer!!
We are heading out on an early summer vacation in the next little while. My darling husband keeps reminding me that he needs to get away for a while so we will be packing up and road tripping it in a few days.
There are some wonderful spots in the Canadian Rockies that we want to explore and the place we are staying is kid friendly, equipped with a heated pool and hot tubs! I have to say I am little nervous, our daughter is only 8 weeks and the thought of being stuck in a van for 7 hours is a LITTLE terrifying! :O)
A good friend of mine, WAUGDAI, came through town the other day to drop off her baby gift to me. WOW! What a surprise, she had it handmade and it's beautiful! I have the hippest/coolest diaper bag ever, it's black and funky and completely reversable. Best thing is it doesn't look like a diaper bag! And to top things off she had a gorgeous baby sling made for me, it looks like this, except for the color!
I am going to watch the video's on how to use this sling, I will post some pics of me with my baby once we get the hang of it!
Well speaking of baby, she is bellowing for me... gotta run!

I want to get away, I wanna fly away.....

We decided to treat ourselves this past winter. No, no fancy trips to an exotic, foreign, WARM climate, not this year. We decided to pack up the munchkins and head west a few hours to a city that actually has something to do on cold winter days.
I booked us in at a kid friendly hotel, we were lucky enough to get the Spider man theme room which rocked my boys world. Our hotel had water slides, X-box, and free breakfast the next morning. What more could we ask for?? As for me I went for the Super Walmart, yes small things amuse me, but when your from a "city" (and I use the word generously) where NOTHING is going on or open past 8pm a Super Walmart is the bomb.
So we packed up our mini van, decluttered it before hand, installed the portable DVD players, had everyone buckled in, coffee's in their trays when it happened. My battery was D.E.A.D. (AUGH!!-stupid van) So after a lot of grumbling and complaining we unloaded the cargo and reloaded it into my hubby's truck. I believe it is fair to say at this point we are stressed out, the kids are at each other, and our coffee's are cold. (blah)
So we stop by Tim Horton's (a local coffee place) get two large Cafe Mocha's to go and we hit the road. Here is a picture of my little guys, all grins because we are finally on our way.





Despite a rocky start we had a great weekend. The kids went water sliding with their dad while I took pictures and tried to stay dry. We played X-box, ate take out, broke up two fighting kids... ah yes, not terribly relaxing for us parents, but sometimes you just need a change of scenery.
Here are some more pics of my boys enjoying their weekend in what they refered to as the "Greatest days EVER!!"

Feb.14th/2009

I had wanted to post this, oh let's see, way back in February but I am not the most tech savy as some and had no idea how to download these pics. I am sure the next few posts will be of things we did as a family weeks or even months ago, but I have been in a slump as to what to write so this is giving me some good ideas.
Usually we don't do a whole lot for Valentine's Day, but as I have said in the past it's fun to do something so I purchased some little things for the boys. Here are a few of the pics with my new camera which I still am trying to figure out....

Growing Pains

Little J has been looking forward to his bath time with his dad for the last few days. The tub is filled up with Superman bubble bath, toys are thrown in and they have a nice relaxing time enjoying a good soak.
After sometime my husband came into the living room to chat with me, I asked how Little J was doing and he told me he was washing himself and he'd be out shortly. Now Little J is 5 years old and he's my baby. Maybe I caudal him more then I should, I admit it, but I usually will wash him, shampoo his hair and help him get into his PJ's. Tonight my husband left him alone to do it all, and we heard about it when he made his way into the living room.
So my little man appears, dressed in PJ's and a robe, smelling clean and looking utterly crushed. He begins by stating that this was his worst bath ever! He was left alone to wash himself, drain the tub and then, AND THEN, he had to dress himself.
Now while his little tirade is going on my husband is hiding his laughter behind a newspaper. I, being the good mommy, sympathize with his outrage and try to comfort him. So I rub his back and tell him he did a great job, even though he's right ticked about it.
My husband, being the practical one, states to my son that he is now 5, he is a big boy and can do this by himself and succeed at it. Of course feeling like a total enabler, I join in with my husband and encourage Little J to do these things for himself because he is a big boy.
I think I baby that boy too much, I know I do, but he's so darn cute. Yes, I know it won't be cute when he's 10 and still expecting me to dress him... I know, I know.

A Lovely Night

As I have mentioned I just turned 34, wow, honestly when I was 20 years old 34 seemed like middle age. So naive I was... I really feel quite young or I did until getting pregnant. This pregnancy is showing me my age, I have aches and pains I don't remember having with my other two. All in all though I feel like I am entering the best part of my life. To think of going back to my early 20's holds absolutely no appeal to me, all the angst and drama of trying to figure out life and who I am, no thanks. Been there, done that, have the battle scars to prove it.
This year my husband took it upon himself to plan my birthday celebration all on his own. He ended up getting us a reservation at a very nice steak house, invited my parents and we had a great time. Then came my present!! For years I have talked about photography and possibly taking a class so I could get better. Well considering we were students any camera was pretty much a luxury we couldn't afford, especially a high quality one. He kept the notion in his head that one day we may be able to afford one and that is exactly what I received. A beautiful Sony camera along with an extra lens. This camera is quite a beauty and I am excited to use it, except I don't really know how to yet. The manual and I have a date for tonight.
Jay, thank you for a fun, exciting night that I will always remember. I should also thank my boys for behaving pretty good in a swanky restaurant, it was refreshing not to have to seperate them or threaten them with bodily harm if the whinning doesn't stop. :O)

Cousins

I have so many memories of my cousins. We travelled together to spend the summer holidays at our grandparents house. All day we would be out roaming the tiny town, trying to collect enough pop bottles to earn us some treats at the local candy store.
We played for countless hours at the local elementary school. Games like, mother may I, Red light green light and hide n'seek. We would spin ourselves on the merry go-round until we were just about puking. So much fun.
Christams and Easter were spent together, nothing like looking at our grandparents Christmas Tree, brimming with so many gifts you couldn't even reach out to touch the tree if you tried. The excitement of having your family around, cousins whom you barely see, to spend such a wonderful time with.
If we were the family to arrive first at our destination we would wait with nervous energy and anticipation, looking for their old buick to turn down out street.
Cousins, kids you share your life with, build your memories with, and share your family with.
Recently I spent a little time with my brother and his kids. Our boys were so excited to see their cousins again. They played hard, laughed hard and built some more memories together.
My prayer for these cousins is that they continue to play, to laugh, and to bond closer and closer. I love you guys!!




"Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends."

Thankful

It's sad that it takes loss and hardship to wake us up, to shake us from the running of everyday life, to slow down and remember what we Do have. It's easy to get negative, to grumble and complain about the dog dragging in dirt, the kids acting up, the husband who leaves his underwear on the bathroom floor, the mountain of dirty dishes that you chip away at daily, yet never get caught up on. Yes the list could go on and on, and we each have our lists.
Someone very close to me is going through a separation. He often talks about missing his children, how he keeps their bedroom doors closed because it's too painful to walk pass because they aren't in them, and when he does venture in it's to smell their pillows. This is truly heartbreaking loss. As we were speaking today, my little guys came to me and whispered that they wanted to make a volcanoe and would I help. I shushed them and asked them to wait because I was on the phone talking. (Now they had interrupted me a few times already so my patience was at a low) upon resuming my conversation I stated I should go and my brother said, 'hey at least your kids are with you.'
That phrase has been running through my head, reminding me to be thankful they are here, that we are at the stage in life that we are in.
So I am trying to put aside the frustrations of life as a stay at home mom to two boys and a dirty puppy. To over look the underwear in the bathroom, and to happily chip away at the dishes.