On The Road Again .....

Anyone miss me? Likely not, but I miss you all and am now back in cyber land. I packed up the kiddies and headed off on our first most excellent road adventure. We hit the road on Wednesday morning and drove off to Cranbrook to have a visit with my aunt. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there due to two roadside stops to feed Masyn and to let Kaelen run around to burn off some steam. We had two days full of laughs, cuddles and the most excellent meals. Visiting with my aunt is always guaranteed good time.

Today we packed up and headed off to Nelson to visit my mom to which we arrived earlier this afternoon. I took the longer route to get here in order to let Kaelen experience his first ferry ride. And, that longer route did not disappoint. Our road trip today consisted of racing a very large moose down the highway (the moose won only because I didn't particularly want to try and tango with him), stopping for fallen trees (which Kaelen is convinced that a beaver was responsible for), looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (that resulted in a few tears because we could never find the end of that damn thing), riding a large yet very windy ferry (which Kaelen spent most of the time in the van because he was scared that the wind would blow him into the water) and lastly, crossing Nelson's signature landmark: the large orange bridge.

So now we are going to finish settling in and head off to bed early. Both kids decided that they did not want to sleep last night so Mommy is a little bushed. Cyber surfing for moi will be my main priority tomorrow morning over a cup of java. Hope that your lives have been just as exciting if not more than ours ......

A "Hip New Mama"

Okay ladies and gents, while I don't have a picture yet of my excellent new baby wearing skills, I do have a picture of what our pouch sling looks like. Sadly, I have not been around adults this past week to ask someone to click a picture of Masyn and I. Although, with the amount of attention that we are receiving when wearing this sling, I should perhaps ask the paparazzi for a copy of their photo .....

I honestly tell you, us two girls are living the life of a celebrity when we are out and about in our swanky new sling. Masyn channels her inner diva while being toted around in it. Her pert little nose notches up an air or two and that chin takes on a distinctive tilt as if she is ensuring that her profile is candidly perfect. And the smile ..... well .... let me tell you, this girl knows how to work the crowd. Seriously. We have other mothers, grannies and even men coming up to us to comment about the sling and then Masyn will bestow a big gummy grin on them and they are mesmerized and instantly start cooing with her.

Where did I get it? Interested in getting one? Just visit Caterina over at Hip Melon and she will ensure that you get first class service. I can attest to the fact that while the prints may look hip and funky, just wait until you actually see one in your hands. The colours are so much more vibrant and the fabric ..... ahh ..... it is like soft silk against Masyn's skin. The price is right and the service is personal and hands on.

And, while you are visiting Hip Melon, why not support a fellow mom and vote for Caterina! She has been nominated for Mompreneur of the Year and the prize package would certainly help her expand her business to many more fabulous sling options.

Is She a Bird?

Err ... she looks like a baby to me. But tonight, both she and I received the scare of a lifetime. Masyn, not by choice, decided to take a swan dive off of the kitchen table in an attempt to see if she could fly. What am I rambling about? The shock still hasn't worn off as well as the instant replay that continues to play in my mind. To make a long story short, I had placed Masyn in an infant chair in the middle of my kitchen table as we were heading out the door to go and play in the park. By doing this action alone, I am sure that it has definitely ensured that I will not get nominated for the Mother of The Year Award. At least as I relive the incident in my mind, I had the forethought to fasten the seat belt when I put her in it. She was only supposed to sit in it maybe a minute as I was just in the process of pulling out her sunhat from the diaper bag when I heard the sickening sound likened to that of dropping a pound of wet hamburger meat to the ground. To my shock, I realized that it was Masyn. The chair that she was sitting in, literally broke in seven places. When it broke, it must have broken on one side which caused the momentum for her to fall off the table. To my utter horror, she was lying face down on the floor, not making a sound. Faster than Superman can leap a giant building, I vaulted the kitchen table to get to my baby. Terrified of what I would find, I gently picked her up while trying to get the damn chair fabric which is still fastened to her off of her, when she let out the most perfect wail. Perfect in the sense that if she could wail, then I knew that she would be relatively fine. Holding her, rocking her and cooing to her, I tried to keep my cool as now my son is crying because he has just watched his sister swan dive with little success. All I wanted to do in that moment is rage; pick up that chair and fling it as far away from my children as possible. Thankfully, the mother reasoning over road that desire and it allowed me to maintain my cool to check over my daughter to ensure that she was still in one piece. Cautiously, I laid her on my bed and probed her legs, stomach, back, arms, face and head to see if there was any noticeable damage. Meanwhile, Kaelen is cooing to her to try to get her to quit crying as am I. Once she calmed down enough to take her soother, Kaelen exclaimed that he knew what would make her feel better. What was his great idea? Well, Kaelen claimed that he has "Magic Kisses" that makes boo-boos go away and people will quit crying. Hmmm .... funny because upon hearing that, I started crying. Crying because my son is so damn sweet, crying because my daughter seems to be okay when it could have been so the opposite and crying because that instantaneous mother guilt started rearing it's ugly head.


I debated for about two hours as to whether I should take Masyn to the hospital as a precaution to have her looked over but within that two hours, she seemed to be fine. She crapped herself three times (to which I don't blame her, I would have done the same), she jumped around in the jolly jumper for about 30 minutes (probably for joy that she is still in one piece) and she managed to bestow that precious smile upon me a few times. I of course, will likely not sleep much tonight as I will watch over her to ensure that all is okay. Perhaps it is over reactive but heck, it scared the crap out of me and I am still a little shaken.

This is what the chair looked like after it's demise.

We Went, We Ate, We Saw

We did it! We actually went out on a semi like date! Thanks to the encouragement of some of you and my hubby, we took the plunge and went out to a dinner fundraising evening. The evening was filled with great fellowship, lots of laughs, a fabulous meal (which I got to eat while it was HOT!!) and great entertainment. We only made it 6 1/2 hours away from home before needing to come home; and it was not due to us missing the kids. It was due to my breasts missing Masyn so much that they were concrete hard full and just begging for some release. Masyn managed to take about half a bottle and ended up choosing sleep over trying to figure out what the heck was being offered to her. Upon hearing this, I only too happily woke her up for a gratifying feed for both parties involved.

Our sitters came over an hour early and surprised me with a manicure! How sweet are they? Well Mommy also received a necklace made by Kaelen first thing this morning, a new bottle of nail polish and a beautiful letter from the girls telling me that I have a gorgeous family and that they would love to watch my kids again sometime very soon. I could get used to going out if it means that I get spoiled as such!!


As expected, not all was done the way that we normally do things with our kids. Masyn's diaper was on backwards, she was wrapped up in too many layers of blankets and Kaelen .... well ... from the looks of it, the girls forgot to put up the safety rail on his bed. Once we realized that he was still breathing, his situation was actually quite entertaining.

Wordless Wednesday

Stayed tuned for my picture. It will be up by noon. I ordered myself a swanky looking sling to cuddle Miss Masyn in. I will be posting a picture of us showing it off.

Oh ... I am so very excited to FINALLY have one!!!!

UPDATE: Okay ... I lied. I don't have anyone to take the picture right now and my self portait attempts quite plainly sucked. So, you will just have to wait until tomorrow to see this fabulous sling. We are off to strut our stuff by doing a little shopping this afternoon. Because we are going to be looking so good, perhaps people will secretly be wondering if we are movie stars ....

Until then, I will leave you with this:

Yep ... that is a Monkey on his back that he can't seem to shake

To Dine or Not To ...

Okay folks, I think that I am turning into a neurotic nutcase. Seriously. For some reason or another, I have been hit with a severe case of insecurity or should I say uncertainty about my breast feeding skills. Deep down, I know that I am just being silly but there is that inner nagging voice that just won't shut up some days.

Since the day Masyn was born, she constantly receives comments about how small she is. This was/is a new experience for me because Kaelen was just the opposite despite his prematurity. Kaelen was always on the top end of the scale. I breast fed him too, but due to him being in the hospital and me not being able to be there for every feeding, he also took a bottle albeit it was breast milk too. I have had a few comments that perhaps Masyn isn't getting enough nourishment from the breast (hence why she is small) and maybe I should consider supplementing her with some formula to "help her catch up". At first, these comments would raise my shackles and have me bearing my teeth with colorful rebuttals such as "Hmm ... and here I was thinking that I produced skim milk" and so forth. But deep down, I started wondering if Masyn was/is getting enough. Up until two days ago, I hadn't pumped at all so I wasn't sure how much breast milk Masyn was actually getting. I started getting so wrapped up with that doubt that was placed in my head that I had convinced myself that she truly wasn't getting enough. Even when I took Masyn in to get her vaccinations, the public health nurse had mentioned that she was "light" and on the lower end of the growth charts.

So, over the weekend I took to pumping breast milk just to see how much she was getting at each feeding. Why? I am not sure. I mean, if she truly wasn't getting enough to eat then she would be feeding every two hours, she would be miserable and when not fussing, she would likely be sleeping a lot due to lack of energy. Well, she wasn't doing any of those things. I have figured out that she is probably getting about 5 ounces of milk per feed give or take a little. That gave me a little comfort to hold me through the weekend until her doctor appointment on Monday. When I brought this concern up with my doctor at Masyn's check up, my doctor reassured me that Masyn is doing rather well. She isn't at the low end of the growth chart but in fact just above the 50th percentile. And .... not to hold a lot of merit in those charts but focus on what she is and isn't doing, and of course, learn to filter comments and concerns and not take them to heart. I left the doctor's office renewed with confidence until now .....

Hubby and I have been kindly extended an invite to a fundraising dinner and evening for a local hockey team taking place on Saturday night. I would love to go, if only for a couple of hours, purely just to have stimulating adult conversations and to just kick back, relax and have a dance or two with my husband. And, we have even lucked out by two sisters that my husband works with, have asked if they could come over and watch the kids. The girls are 21 & 22 years of age respectively so heck - I have really lucked out in that department seeing that neither one of us have family here that could provide the loving care. What is my issue now? Well ..... if I go to this dinner, I will miss at least one feed with Masyn. Now, I do have pumped breast milk in the freezer but my issue is, what if she takes to the bottle for this one or two feedings so much that she rejects me and starts to self wean? I would be devastated because I am not ready to quit breastfeeding yet. And ... I should probably do at least one feed prior to Saturday with a bottle just to ensure that Masyn would even take one in the first place. Taking Masyn to the dinner is not an option for me, so I have to make my decision by Thursday as to whether I want to go to the dinner or not.

Anyone have suggestions, insight or experiences to share?

Father's Day

I suppose that I should write something heart felt and true about my husband being a great father, but for some reason I am finding it difficult to find the words to do so. Now I know that may sound shocking but I mean it in a positive way. If you had an hour or more, I could go on and on about the attributes of my husband and what makes him such a wonderful daddy to our children. Instead, I will invite you over to my house to take a look at the scrapbook that I made for Daddy last year. On the front cover it has a letter from Kaelen describing that this album is made up of photos of just Daddy and him (and now Masyn) and that it will reflect all of the special times that they experienced over the year.

I took a blogging hiatus over the past couple of days in order to finish the new album inserts in time for today. Now, this special book boasts of 20 new pages reflecting special memories of Daddy with his children. All of the hours put in and the insecurities of thinking that a page looked tacky or stupid, made it worth the while with the look on my hubby's face when he went perused the pages. The tears in his eyes and the reflective commentary between him and Kaelen was so very touching that I wish that I had the forethought to have captured it on video. Both Kaelen and Daddy have looked through the book a few times today and Daddy, who is not a reader and is known for not being a book lover, has told his son that this is his favourite book.

I now have one thing to think about over the next year. This book was originally made with the thought of capturing Kaelen and Daddy moments. So, do I make a whole new album dedicated with memories of just Daddy and Masyn? Or ... do I just get a bigger album and expand it to memories of Daddy and his children .....

Wordless Wednesday

Loving The Big Brother

Monday Morning Madness

12:00 AM - Sleeping soundly
1:15 AM - Get up to feed baby. Baby is squirrly so the feeding takes almost an hour.
2:30 AM - Get back into bed to try and achieve at least four hours of quality sleep.
4:15 AM - Baby is up again and wants to eat. She must be growing.
4:30 AM - Alarm clock goes off and hubby gets up to get ready for work.
4:50 AM - Baby won't go back to sleep so I selfishly bring her into our bed in hopes that she will fall asleep again.
5:30 AM - Hubby leaves for work; I am wide awake and baby is sleeping.
6:00 AM - Sounds of the little man beginning to stir comes across the baby monitor. About two hours earlier than his normal waking time. Baby still asleep.
6:30 AM - The little man is wide awake and full of zest. He comes upstairs to share that with us.
6:35 AM - Baby awakes. Mommy turns on the T.V. in hopes everyone will just chill out.
6:40 AM - Mommy can barely keep her eyes open. The little man keeps asking her why.
6:45 AM - The cat starts howling because she wants to go outside.
6:50 AM - Mommy runs around the house in an attempt to discipline the cat who has now taken up the act of scratching at the stairs because she is not getting her way.
7:00 AM - Little man starts crying because his pyjamas are wet due to excessive peeing throughout the night, hence the diaper no longer capable of doing it's job.
7:10 AM - Baby starts crying because she has blown out her diaper with one heck of a forceful crap. Due to the sheer power of the crap, it has now leaked onto Mommy's bed.
7:20 AM - Baby in fresh diaper, Little Man into fresh undies as we are on Day 2 of attempting potty training.
7:25 AM - Mommy goes to put a pot of coffee on only to come back upstairs to her room to find the Little Man crying. He has already peed his pants .... on Mommy's bed.
7:35 AM - Mommy gets the Little Man cleaned up, and the sheets stripped off of her bed and into the washer.
7:40 AM - The cat yarfs up her breakfast downstairs in the living room.
7:42 AM - Mommy cleans up the cat barf meanwhile baby is crying because she has decided that she wants to eat again.
8:00 AM - Baby fed, Little Man seemingly happy, cat is content so Mommy heads to the kitchen to grab that much needed cup of coffee only to discover that the filter has folded and therefore has brewed the coffee all over the counter and floor.
8:15 AM - Coffee disaster all cleaned up with a fresh pot on the go. Little Man is screaming because the cat has yarfed again.
8:17 AM - Mommy cleans up yet another pile of cat puke only to discover that the Little Man has peed his pants again.
8:20 AM - Little Man has been cleaned up again and gently reminded that he MUST USE THE TOILET when wearing underwear. Cat yarfs AGAIN!
8:22 AM - Mommy catches the cat and fires it out the back door. Goes to the living room to clean up another pile of puke. Baby is now crying because she is getting ignored.
8:30 AM - Baby is now happily jumping in the Jolly Jumper, the Little Man is playing hockey beside her and the cat is outside. Mommy changes over the laundry.
8:40 AM - Mommy goes to the kitchen to get that well deserved coffee.
8:42 AM - Mommy sits down to sip on the coffee and hears the stupid cat picking at the back door as it has started to rain out and she wants in.
8:43 AM - Mommy lets the cat in and follows her cautiously around the house for the next 10 minutes to ensure she does not yarf again.
9:00 AM - Baby is napping, Mommy's coffee is cold and the Little Man spills his apple juice all over himself, table and floor.
9:10 AM - Apple juice mess is cleaned up, Little Man is in dry, clean clothes and Mommy pours herself a fresh hot steaming cup of coffee.
9:30 AM - Baby wakes up because she has crapped herself AGAIN.
9:35 AM - Baby has fresh bum, Little Man has finished breakfast and Mommy's coffee has gone cold again.
9:45 AM - Little Man's teeth are brushed and he didn't fight it for once, Baby is seemingly content, the cat is sleeping and Mommy has a shower.
10:00 AM - Everyone still is seemingly happy so Mommy FINALLY gets to sit down and enjoy that hot cup of coffee.

So ... how was your Monday morning?

Family Fun

The kids and I visit Heritage Park at least twice a week; we pack a picnic and make it a day's trip. Kaelen loves the horse drawn wagon rides, stream train and sternwheeler boat rides, and I love the historical ambiance of the park. It has (I think) at least three different eras within the park ranging from the 1670 fur trading days to the early 1900's Western days. Most of the buildings are original and the few that aren't are exact replicas. All of the buildings originated somewhere in Alberta which makes this park all that much more unique. Oh ... and did I mention that it supposedly has a haunted house? Which I FINALLY got to check out but unfortunately didn't see the pretty woman rocking a child. And ... on some days, they have actors that come out and reenact a momentous situation in history. On Friday, they were reenacting the right for women to vote in Alberta. It was interactive, humorous and very informative.

This year we purchased a family season pass and already it has paid for itself. Friday was an especially fun day for us because Daddy had the day off so we had the opportunity to spend a rare day together. Did I happen to mention as a season pass holder, you also receive a free breakfast EVERY DAY if you wanted? Yep! We just made it in time on Friday for a hot serving of hotcakes and sausages. You have to make it there by 10:00am which in my world is next to impossible when I am taking the kids on my own.

Daddy and Kaelen petting Splinter, one of the 15 year old horses that provides the excellent wagon rides.

Mommy and Masyn enjoying our picnic

Daddy and Kaelen enjoying one of the six antique rides.

Daddy trying to control his bucking bronco on the merry-go-round.

Mommy and Kaelen riding high on the old fashioned ferris wheel.

If you ever have the chance to come to Calgary, you have to ensure that you work a visit to Heritage Park into your itinerary. It is VERY affordable for a family day trip, it will provide lots of learning for both adults and children and it will guarantee that everyone will leave the park with a smile on their faces.

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Like Donkey in the original Shrek movie, I am jumping up and down here in the background yelling "Pick Me", "Pick Me"!

Pick me for what? Well, contest guru Steph over at Adventures in Babywearing is having yet another fabulous contest geared towards us lovely Mommies or any Mommies to Be.

Of late I have been thinking very seriously about getting myself either a Mei Tai or a Pouch to wear Miss Masyn in. She isn't overly fond of the Baby Bjorn that a friend had loaned to me, and I do have a Pea Pod but rarely use it because I find it a hassle to wind the yards of cloth up and around me when I am doing quick trips to the grocery store or mall. Plus, I am wanting to get something that is sassy and smart looking.

Being the wealth of information that Steph is, she has encouraged us to check this site out: Mama Kanga and wow ... it looks pretty swanky! If I were to be oh so lucky to win, I would likely choose not one, but two different styles of wraps. Maybe something like this or this or this or this ............

Four Year Meme

I have been tagged by my good friend Sheryl over at Peanut Butter and Jelly Boats. It is a four year meme that made me sit down and think hard over a few things. Thanks Sheryl!!

Four new things I have learned or experienced in the past four years:
1. I married my soul mate four years ago in a gorgeous tropical island getaway. We had dated and lived together for 10 years prior to that and I honestly didn't think that it would change our relationship much. It did though. It was like our already solid bond became that much more meaningful and it felt very satisfyingly right.
2. We became homeowners for the first time three years ago. Along with that terrifying responsibility of a mortgage, we have also had to take the leap of learning how to be handy and resourceful when it comes to fixing breakdowns within the house. I learned that my mom and sister were right about me and that I am neurotic when it comes to cleaning my house. Heck ... I have a rotation schedule for washing my walls .....
3. I became a Mommy to two precious children in the past 2 1/2 years. Being a Mommy has fulfilled my life more than I ever thought would be possible. It has given me drive and an incredible amount of energy to reach out and strive for dreams. I have also learned that children inspire you to do this, but they also leave you so extremely vulnerable because they own your heart. You take the joy in their happiness, the sorrow in their hurt and would move heaven and earth to ensure that they are protected and loved.
4. I have learned or should I say am working on how to be patient. It has never been one of my greatest virtues and is truly something that I have to consciously work on when I am in the heat of the moment. In the past, it has been so easy to just step in and correct the situation or push others to take action if they happen to be procrastinating. I am learning that people will do things in their own time and more often than not, would much rather have the support than the given direction.

Four things that I want to try to do in the next four years:
Mine are in random order:
1. Run a marathon. I have always wanted to do it, but I am determined to buckle down and achieve this dream.
2. Learn how to write. Whether it is to take a formal course, or to self research on how to do it, it is something that I greatly enjoy. I think that I have a lot to share with the world and would love to be able to inspire by written words.
3. Go back to school and upgrade my schooling. Knowing that I have to go back into the work force by February of 2008, I want to expand my work skills by learning more about the finance world. I figure that if I can add this knowledge into my portfolio, that I can find a nice job that will allow me to work specific days and hours or even independently to allow me to focus on my real passion: being a mommy.
4. Go on a family vacation. I mean pack the suitcases, jump on a plane and fly down south somewhere. Just take off for two weeks to a place that we can all just kick back and enjoy. Places like Florida, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Hawaii and the Dominican Republic. To achieve this, I have to work on the hubby to make him realize that travelling with the kids really isn't that hard and strenuous and that it can actually be very enjoyable. He has unfortunately heard too many horror stories and takes them at par (meaning that he isn't reading between the lines and finding the humor in the embellished sarcasm).

I tag the following four people:
1. Ellen over at Goofballsworld
2. Christie over at My Life As I Know It
3. Jenn over at My Life in a Nutshell
4. Deborah over at Pipecleaner Dreams

How Do You Know?

Interestingly, it has been somewhat reassuring that I am not the only one who is thinking about pregnancy, children and whether or not to have another baby. Of late, once people see and coo over Masyn, the next question will be "Are you done now? Or, will you be having another one?" And, every now and then, it will be followed by the comment, "You have one of each now so you are lucky as you have the perfect family". Do I? Hmm .... well being biased, yes, I do happen to think that I have the perfect family but I would feel that way regardless of the sex of my children. But am I done? That is a good question. I am torn really. It seems so very hard for me to be final and say, "Yes. I am done with having babies". Yet, the thought of having another child sometimes feel overwhelming. When I have confided those thoughts to others, I often am told to give it time as I only just had a baby three months ago and it is too soon to be thinking about pregnancy again. Perhaps it is so, but I feel that if I were to have another baby, then I only have a short window of time to do so given both my age and the issues that I have in maintaining pregnancies.

It has also been pointed out to me by family and friends that maybe I should not have more babies given how difficult my pregnancies are with the constant threat of miscarriage, preterm labour and doing injections on a daily basis in hopes that it will keep the pregnancy thriving. Pregnancy for me is an emotional, terrifying roller coaster. When I am pregnant, there are days that I become bitter because it is not an enjoyable experience for me. Despite trying my best to focus on the positive, that fear of "Am I going to miscarry today?" or "Are those aches preterm labour or just growing pains ...." really start taking tolls on my well being. Yet, I truly believe that I was meant to have children and lots of them as it is so very easy for me to conceive and ... once I get through the pregnancy, the balancing act of being a mommy is truly an enjoyable event for me. I rarely get flustered with the chaos that children can bring to the fold and I am a person who does not need much sleep, so that alone gives me the upper hand in being a mommy. I love the 24 hour responsibility that being a mom demands. However, there is that other part of me that says perhaps I should appreciate all the good that I have now and just kick back to enjoy it. Enjoy my two children and move on with life. Enjoy the fact that I can have more individual freedom a couple of months down the road and the freedom in knowing that our family of four is easier to accommodate with activities once the kids get a little older. It seems that many trips, cars, houses and such are catered towards two adults and two children. And given that neither my hubby and I make great money, perhaps having two children is all that we could handle as far as financial obligations go down the road in the future.

It is a constant tug of war that is running through my head. One day I am gung ho to get pregnant again while the next day I am terrified to get pregnant again. Hubby is on a waiting list for a referral for a consultation for the big "V". Part of me hopes that the phone call doesn't come in for a while as then we wouldn't have any pressure on making things so final. Having said that, hubby is very content with our family and would prefer not to have any more children and that is mostly due to financial concerns and my health when pregnant.

For some women, it is a clear knowledge for them in knowing when they are done with having babies. For others, it is such a very hard concept to wrestle with. For me, I definitely fall in the latter category; the thought of "being done" is uncomfortable and all too final for me.

Wordless Wednesday

Daddy Time

A Warm Fuzzy

Any guesses as to what this is? Here is a few hints: It stinks, it is practically see through, it is falling apart due to age and use, it sheds threads EVERYWHERE and .... it provides comfort to my hubby. Figured it out yet?

Yes folks, this is my hubby's "blankie". Although it doesn't have a name and it's use is completely denied, my husband can't do without this eye sore. I am pretty sure that this is at least "blankie" number two and not the original that he started out with as a baby. But, this stinky scrap of material has been around for a LONG time .... at least fourteen years that I know of as that is how long that I have had to suffer through it's presence.

Hubby claims that it is just "a blanket" and will wrap it around is face and neck when falling asleep. He loves the feel of it against his face and the smell. Yep. I said smell meanwhile I can't stand the smell of it. There have been times where I will steal it and hide it away. Hubby won't notice right away, but when he happens to come across it, his face will light up like a child seeing presents under a Christmas tree.

Unfortunately, this "blankie" doesn't have much life left in it. If I were to wash it, it would likely disintegrate into a million pieces ... hmmm .... now there is a thought. That would mean no more stink, no more chucks of thread in my bed and floor. The question though is how would my hubby handle the demise of his "blankie"?

Now This is the Life ....

Now, there is no doubt in my mind that I am a sun goddess. Not in the sense that I must worship it every time it comes out by squeezing myself into a bathing suit, but I absolutely must be outside basking in it's warmth when it is out. My son apparently got this gene as well for the past few days, we have been outside probably 18 out of the 24 hours in a day. We have gone on park hunts, duck feeds, splashed in the wading pool, run through the sprinkler, bug adventures and finishing our landscaping project. Then there is the plethora of activities that he is insistent on playing such as hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, golf and the good ol game of tag. He is a busy little boy but at least a happy little boy when he can burn off all of that energy outside in the beautiful summer sun.

My daughter on the other hand, is showing signs of not appreciating the warmth. I am hoping that this is just a baby thing and that things will get easier once I can cover her in sunscreen and bring her into all of the action. I must say though, that she did not appreciate my attempts yesterday of cooling her off by running through the sprinkler with her. Somehow those big fat cool drops of water pissed her off ......

With yesterday's temperature hitting 27 C, pulling out the Nemo sprinkler was a must ... and a hit!!

One of the few moments that this anti warm weather to be goddess was smiling.

A shot of our half finished landscaping project. That used to be grass!