Luscious Green

Because I don't have enough to do of late in my life with running the dayhome during the day, co-running the Food & Beverage Department at the golf course during the day and night, parenting and housework, we decided to take on our backyard. Remember when we took out those trees? Well the dirt pile out back just got to us. It has been bugging us since we took possession of the house and the trees for the longest time were our obstacle. Remove trees and well, what excuses were there now? Aside from both hubby and I working our hineys off and the quick approaching cold yet seasonal weather and yah .... we bit the bullet, took a chance and tilled, levelled and sodded the backyard in one day; all 1400 sq ft of it.

A week later and the grass is still green, a little patchy yet healthy. Isn't it going to be a dream when it takes root? Sigh ... we have a beautiful, green playground right outside of our door now.

Tilling the pile of dirt and pine needles that sat stagnant for 20+ years.

The finished look.

Another finished look.

Come the spring, we plan on building a retaining wall for the fence that closes us off from the main road out back, build up the side of the house where the weeping tiles leak into the crawl space in a down pour, lay gravel on both sides of the house where grass doesn't grow but weeds do and finally plant shrubbery on the out skirts of the grass area to help add ambiance and grow into added privacy. Not bad for two city people who know nothing about home improvements hey?

We also have to replace both fireplaces (eventually), the garage roof and deck, front room windows and well the list goes on. My newest project though? Painting my kitchen so I don't have to drink my coffee in the hideous blue that it is. I will take a picture of it tomorrow so you all can sympathize with me and appreciate just how desperate I am because I would much rather run a marathon cold turkey than paint. Painting overwhelms me.

Bye Bye Baby

She is growing up and fast. At the tender age of 19 months, she has decided that the crib is no longer an acceptable means of slumber furniture and instead, would much prefer the $30 toddler bed that Mommy found at a garage sale this summer. We are on day three in the bed and so far, the transition has been almost too easy.

And for those of you that are wondering, "Did she cry on this moment like so many others with her children", the answer is a resounding Yes. It killed me to take the crib apart because I had to come to terms with the fact that my baby is growing up way too fast (like her big brother).

PS - STAY TUNED FOR A VERY EXCITING CONTEST THAT I WILL BE HOSTING! THE RED TAPE HAS BEEN CLEARED SO IT WILL BE UP AND RUNNING WITHIN THE NEXT FOUR DAYS!! YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!!

The Kissing Booth

Fairy tales do come true ....

I was the princess in her castle and this was my heroic, handsome knight.

Where Am I?

Life has been busy - like really busy. The days of late don't have enough hours in them to get all accomplished on my need to do list. So what is keeping me busy? Well aside from running a daycare out of my house and Kaelen turning four, I have also taken over (with another girl) the temporary management of the Food & Beverage Department at the golf course. These past three weeks have been hectic with tournaments, weddings, luncheon and issues. But, while things aren't going to change for at least another four weeks (close of season), we have reached a milestone. The golf course just hosted their largest tournament in this community this past weekend. It hosts for two days, 200+ gentlemen from the oil patch in Alberta and theses guys are here to drink, have fun and golf. In two days, I put in 33 hours ensuring that all F&B requirements went off without a hitch. And ... guess what? It was success. In fact awesome - we grossed out $13K more than last year in sales; definitely worth those long hours. Oh .. and did I mention that both kids were sick over the past two weeks? Masyn is still sick and was diagnosed with croup today. Poor little monkey. Sleepless nights are a common occurrence in this household again.

But with the sporadic posting of late, I have a ton to share with you all. Most exciting: I have my first contest coming up and I guarantee that you will all want to check it out. I will be giving away one of my most favourite children's brand of apparel, but I won't say much more until contest time. I also have a belated post in tribute to my precious little boy turning four. Sorry there little man - Mommy had the post half way done and then as poor of an excuse as it is, I just got too busy with work and giving you and your sister all of my extra time that you both deserve.

Hang in there guys - I will be back soon with regular visits to your sites, comments and posting on my site.

The Big 4 Is Coming

I am melancholy today. But at the risk of contradicting myself, it is a happy melancholy. Is there such a thing? My son, my first born will turn the age of 4 come Tuesday and this afternoon, we celebrated his big day with six of his neighborhood friends and parents. He of course, got spoiled rotten and as a smug mother, I think that it is well deserved because he is truly a good little boy. Where is the time going though? It seems just like yesterday we were in the hospital in stunned silence trying to wrap our heads around that I had just delivered him 7 weeks early. It seems just like yesterday our excitement of taking him home after 2 1/2 weeks in the hospital and feeling giddy and scared because we were on our own for taking care of him; no more fabulous nurses to guide us in our learning process. It seems just like yesterday that I was sitting here in happy melancholy that he was turning one. Now I have blinked and here I am wondering where these four fabulous years have gone. They have truly been four incredibly precious years. Four years of happiness fulfilling me more than I had ever thought possible in my life. And now I look at my precious boy and despite feeling melancholy that my baby is rapidly growing, I also feel excitement. What does the future hold for this beautiful boy? He is a true gem and perfect in every way. Full of a zest for life yet sensitive enough to soak it all in and appreciate all and everyone that is around him.

All I truly know is that I am one lucky Mommy and feel incredibly blessed to have this privilege to be his Mommy.

And this is the cake. For those of you who don't know, I am not exactly a culinary expert nor do I possess much creative talent. Masyn got a heart cake for her first birthday, Kaelen the clock cake and unless I take a course or two, Masyn will get a rabbit for her second birthday and then that maxes out my baking knowledge. After that, it will be back to store bought cakes or perhaps I will have to try the expensive pan mould ..... but then I will still have to come up with the design on the cake .....

Now You See Them; Now You Don't

I am a tree killer. There. I said it. Now I will probably have a protester or two picketing my front yard by tomorrow morning screaming at me for being unfair to the environment. And truth be told, I felt guilty chopping those lovely trees down however they were becoming a danger to the house, the power lines on the other side and my sanity. Yep. My sanity. You see ... I now have a fully fenced in backyard. Granted it is dirt and wood chips at present, but come spring next year, it will be (hopefully) lush green grass where I can put in the swing set I inherited as well as outdoor playhouse. Now my children are safe from forgetting to stay off the road when chasing a ball or seeing something excited. Now my anal mommy tendencies can relax a little knowing that my children are safe and secure in a backyard and my house will with stand a brutal wind storm ......

The View From the Front Window - Before

The View From The Front Window - During

The View From The Front Window - After

Wordless Wednesday

The Chase Is On

Growing Up

Today was a hard day .... for me. My baby boy, Kaelen, had his first day of school; granted it was only preschool, but it was school nevertheless. Now that I work from home with the daycare, we have the means of getting him to and from school where in the past we couldn't because we were both working full time outside of the home. Luckily for me, I can transport with my daycare kids so that means that Kaelen can go to school. He was so darn excited this morning and waited very patiently for 12:15 PM to come. Me?

Well throughout the morning, I would have fits of happy yet melancholy tears. Everytime I looked at him I would think when did my boy grow up on me? How can he be turning 4 next week? Where has the time gone? The tears shed today were happy tears and proud tears as I continued to take a real good look at my boy. Here he was: an exuberant, thoughtful and multi talented young man. He can be mischievous in a blink of an eye, or compassionate upon the sight of a tear. He is up for any adventure one recruits for and is showing signs of being a perfectionist by nature; an inherent trait from his mother. He is proud of his sister and protective of his mother. He has incredible eye/hand coordination that makes the two of us dream (being Kaelen and I) of what he will be when he grows up. Today he is a hockey player whereas yesterday he was a baseball player. Have I mentioned his imagination? Oh the journeys that the two of us go on - I could get lost in them forever. And while I will come to appreciate these two hours apart from him twice a week by absorbing myself in Masyn and my daycare child(ren), there is that piece of me that will mourn the loss of that little boy; my precious baby boy. Yet, I will always look back at these incredible memories of the past four years of him growing in humbled awe and love and look ahead to the future with eager anticipation of what is yet to come for him.

I keep asking myself, if this is how I am feeling with preschool, what the heck is it going to be like for kindergarten and grade school?