18 months ... already!

LC (Little Christine) is 18 months old today.
Wow!
Already?!

She may not have been TOTALLY planned, and I may have been more than a little bit bummed that she wasn't the boy we were hoping for, but she has turned out to be such a Treasure. She is intelligent, adventurous, mischievious, and BUSY. So very busy! Nothing is sacred anymore. Drawers that neither of the older girls showed any interest in are now regularly opened and the contents strewn about the house. We never did much baby proofing beyond the plug covers but now we have locks on most of our cupboard doors and I am planning to install them on the drawers soon. She hasn't gone into the knife drawer yet but I think it behooves me to get to it first!!

The other day Greg was out mowing (last mow of the year!) and LC tagged along. Here's what it looked like ...

What I love about LC is ...

... her grin

... her faces (she is SO expressive!)

... her giggle

... the way she goes to Marley for cuddles when she gets hurt

... the way she attacks the world around her without fear and with full abandon

... how cute she looks walking around with the thumb in her mouth and her blanket clutched to her cheek

... EVERYTHING!!

Blog Candy over at Lovin Life & Scrappin It

Vanessa is celebrating 20,000 hits with a huge candy giveaway! Check out all these goodies!!

Head over to Lovin life & scrappin it to get all the details.

Marley's desk

Today was the day the kids were assigned teachers - whether they keep these teachers/classes is another story but ... as of right now Marley is in a Grade1/2 split with Mrs Lumsden. She is a new teacher to our school and comes to us from Tsawassen. I introduced myself to her and then Marley dragged me off to see her classroom. I didn't bring my camera but had my phone and snapped this ...

Considering this is from my not-so-fancy cell phone I think it's pretty good!! Gotta Love technology!!

Grade 1 Surprise!

This summer I signed up for the Big Picture Scrapbooking Big Idea Festival. I think this was the first project idea that they sent out - what does it say that I'm just getting to it now? LOL! When I read in the handout that the project was based on a German custom of giving new first-graders a “schultüte” (which is a paper cone filled with school supplies and little gifts to celebrate the first day of first grade) I knew I would not be making a summer themed one as suggested. With Marley going into first grade this year I decided then and there that I would do this for her (and then Paige in a couple years and LC after that ...)

So here it is hanging on her door last night.

I had the goodies on the dining room table for weeks which Marley or Paige would every now and then pick up and ask what it was for. And then I made the cone on Sunday so Marley thought it was a giant party hat!! Not exactly stealthy of me but oh well!!

Here are some close ups.

Marley came into our bedroom this moring all excited about school and the fact that she'd found a surprise hanging on her door. It's nice when a plan comes together!!

On Sunday we FINALLY got to meet our newest ... cousin? Hmm ... let's see ... James is Greg's cousin so his kids are Greg's cousins once removed and second cousins to our kids ... Yup, she's our cousin! Her name is Zoe and she is SO cute!! Don't you think?

Marley and Paige were smitten and pretty much just wanted to hold her the whole visit!

And this is Zoe's big brother Kieran - so proud!

One final note: Marley had her first day of Grade One today. It was very exciting - even if they spent most of it in the gym while they sort out where all the kids are going. Hopefully by the end of school tomorrow we'll know which teacher Marley will have and who will be in her class but it might not be for another couple of days. I forgot to take a picture of her first thing this morning but did snap one of her at pickup time.

She's looking so grown up these days!! Sigh!

Hooray for the Everyday!

I was feeling a bit low the other day when I read this post from Ali Edwards. She has always struck me as being one to celebrate the every day things, occurances, and memories. That is one thing I am trying to do with my scrapbooking. Taking pictures of the big holidays and the special occasions is one thing but remembering and documenting the everyday things is good too. It also helps me to focus on the everyday in a positive way. I have a little secret to share ... I've been not so happy for quite awhile now. It may be a delayed PPD type thing or just a "I've finished having kids, finished my schooling so now what" thing (at almost 37 I think I'm too young for it to be menopause or a mid-life crisis!!) Whatever it is, it's really affecting how I relate to Greg, my kids and the everyday tasks that I am responsible for. So thank you Ali for reminding me to celebrate the little things!

On a similar vein I ran across another post called 4 Simple Goals (before 2011 ...) The basic premise is to publically commit to carrying out 4 things before the end of the year. They should be fairly easy to accomplish and should enrich your daily life. Well, my dily life could use some enriching so ... I'm going to participate. Last November I did a personal challenge to post a Gratitude every day for 15 days. Some days I found it a bit challenging but at the end of the 2 weeks I found my attitude had improved and I really liked that! In the vein of not adding more to my plate (which is pretty full already!) I am going to keep these goals ridiculously easy. That way I should actually be able to reach them! Right?

Here goes ...
Goal #1 - eat more fruits and vegetables. If I were to calculate how many servings of fruit/veg I have in a day it would be embarrassingly low! Like those V8 commercials I need to smack myself on the forehead!! I have a tendency to grab whatever is easiest/closest to snack on without regard to calories, salt, carbs etc. Goal #2 - to move more. And this won't involve trips from the couch/computer to the fridge!! LOL! I was running regularly until I injured my knee a couple months ago but I've been fitted for a knee brace and I've seen a physio so ... soon, I'll be good to run again. Yay! With school starting up next week I'll naturally be moving more as I walk Marley to school everyday and since LC is old enough now, we'll be doing the Parent and Tot gymnastics and swim lessons together.
Goal #3 - to limit my Facebook time. Greg will probably turn cartwheels when he reads this! The past couple weeks I've been spending WAY too much time on the computer doing nothing. Wasting time. Actually, trying to escape! It's hurting my family so it's got to stop.
Goal #4 - find a job. This should maybe be goal #1 as we are starting to feel the pinch of growing kids and a stagnant single salary income. But I am choosing to focus on getting my head better before my wallet!

Okay, there we go. It's now "out there" and I trust you all to keep me honest!
Thanks for listening!!

Project 12 - August 2010

Time for another layout for my Project 12 Album. I am really enjoying this project! Having to complete one layout a month is not overwhelming and Becky Fleck's sketches are always so easy to follow. I glad I decided to do it this year and look forward to continuing it for years to come!

Here is the sketch we were given this month:

And here is my layout:

I tried REALLY hard to stick with the number of pictures dictated by the sketch  but ... you know me. More is better, right?!

Here are close ups of the left and right pages.

And just for fun, here are a couple close ups of my embellishments. Even though there is only one beach picture, I cut out some sea side shapes on my Cuttlebug. (I tend to forget that I own one but I just bought some Nestabillites and was using it to cut out the scaollped circles so ...) They seemed a bit flat when I placed them on my layout. They were crying out for some sparkle so I got out my MS glue pad and glitter and Voila! Instant pop! This is the part where I grin crazily and pat myself on the back! :)

Anyway, thanks for tuning in. See you next month!!

PS - After last month's rare appearance by me, you'll notice I appear in not one but 3 pictures this month. Wowzers! And  September happens to be my birthday month so I'm sure to feature again!! At this rate, there might actually be a record of my existance to pass on to my kids one day! LOL!!

August Recap

Once again an entire month has gone by without a real newsy post from me! Shocking!! Well, pour another cup of coffee (or tea) and get comfy 'cus this is going to be long one!!

August started in Osoyoos. We went to visit my Aunty Moira for the August long weekend - the first real Road Trip with all 3 girls. After about 30 minutes Paige was asking when we'd be there!! But eventually they settled back and enjoyed the ride. We even saw a little forest fire in the moutains on the other side of Manning Park! This picture is them going down hill "no hands" (for those of you who have driven this route through Manning to the Okanagan you'll know which hills I mean.)

Once In Osoyoos we went down to the lake and let the girls burn off some energy on the playground and by throwing some rocks into the lake. Greg was trying to teach them how to skip stones. I think Marley can do it every now and then, but Paige is still all about how big a splash she can make. And LC? Well, she just likes to get wet!!

We took the girls to the Model Railroad (AWESOME!!! a must do if you're ever in Osoyoos!) and to the Nk'Mip Desert Centre where we learned all about snakes and got to touch some (even Paige!!!) Then on our last day we met up with some friends of Gregs' in Naramata. There was a little (and boy do I mean little!) parade leading to a fair. The fair was a lot bigger than I expected (especially given the size of the parade) but the biggest draw was the lake. Marley claimed she needed Greg to catch her at the bottom of the slide so he hiked up his shorts (check out those sexy legs!) to help her out. I think he "caught" her once before she realized the water was shallow enough that she could do it safely on her own!

I just reread my July Recap post and I was apparantly going to do a seperate blog post about the Osoyoos trip and talk about the fabulous face painter we found there. Oops! She'd painted the girls' faces once before and did another amazing job. I included pictures on my Project 12 July post. Here is a close up of Paige.

Seeing Marley lounging on the beach chatting with the daughter of one of Gregs' friends I got a glimpse into my future. Can't you just picture a teenage Marley sunbathing and talking boys, clothes and makeup? Yikes!! They are growing up so fast!!

August 5th - We went out to Mill Lake in Abbotsford to visit with Ammee and Poppa, Aunty Ileana and cousins Caleb, Jenna and Luke. There was a pretty impressive water park and playground which all the kids enjoyed - especially LC.

She can do the slides all by herself now. Sigh, where did my little baby go?!

There was also alot of good pathways for the girls to ride their bikes on. Ammee helped Paige get comfortable on her bike - something she hasn't had a lot of opportunity to ride. Negligent parents!!!

Marley went for a long bike ride with Ileana, Caleb, Jenna and Luke. The elbow and knee pads came with the helmet we bought for Paige!

The kids tried to do some "fishing" from a little pier. They had found a stick with a string and a  bent paperclip on it and someone there gave them a worm. Surprisingly, they didn't catch anything!! LOL!

August 7th - I got a bee in my bonnet about the state of our house and banished Greg and the girls so I could have some peace and quiet to clean. They quite happily went off to spend the day with Aunty Christine and crew! One of my tasks was to tackle the girls toys. We have a rule; whatever doesn't get picked up by the end of a reasonable amount of clean up time gets taken away until such time as Mommy and Daddy decide they can have it back. Well, so many of the girls toys had been taken away that we pretty much had the entire contents of the playroom on our bedroom closet. I figured it was time to do something about it. Don't know why I bothered because it's now 3 weeks later and our closet is filling up again.  Sigh!

August 13th - With the demise of LC's water mat we were reduced to playing in the sprinkler only. All well and good but when I saw a slip and slide on sale at London Drugs for $6.40 I snapped it up!

August 15th - We went to the beach with the Campbell cousins. Andy and Jo had never been to Centennial Beach - I think they liked it so much this may become a more regular affair!

The "campsite".

After wading in the water for a bit, the kids decided to build sand castles. Well, MUD castles would be more apt! They had a blast and all won first prize in their category (Aunty Jonina was the judge)! And they all went directly into the tub when we got home!!

Paige and Sophie's creation.

Marley's.

Matthew's Volcano.

August 23rd - Greg and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary!

August 24th - PNE!!! The annual trip to the PNE was slightly different this year as Greg was working. Greg's parents and I took the girls and we had a blast. Paige was a bit more adventurous this year too. I think she may even have made the ride pass pay off!! She wasn't so adventurous as to allow us to take a picture of her with the PNE Bear though ... one battle at a time!

Paige and Marley on the boats.

Marley and Grandma on the Super Slide.

LC "fishing" with Grandpa's help.

The girls and their prizes (LC did NOT want her picture taken thank you very much!)

After lunch we went to the barns to check out the animals. New this year was the Safeway Kids Activity Farm. LC was too young to "officially" participate but enjoyed it anyway. Here she is trying to get an egg. 

Marley and Paige in the apple orchard.

Marley rode the Mini Hellevator by herself! She'd been earlier in the day with Grandpa but this time she wanted to go all by herself. Wow! Next year she'll be tall enough to go on ALL the rides!! Yikes! (This year she was right on the cusp - 48" tall - but since Greg wasn't with us I was happy to keep her on the little rides another year.)

Hey! A picture or ME at the PNE!! LC loved the Carousel and even Paige got on this time.

August 28th/29th - Seattle!! After our fun trip to Seattle last year during which we took in a Mariners game, Greg decided he wanted to try to take the whole family this year. He found a matinee game and we arranged to go with two other families. The kids lasted about 4 innings before getting too restless to sit still. Not too bad - I was bored after ... oh, heck, who am I kidding? I didn't really watch the game at all! I just don't like baseball!!

During our exploration break Marley had her picture taken with the Mariners Moose. Funny aside ... Marley keeps calling the team the Seattle Marinators!! LOL!

That evening we went to the CrabPot and worked out some angst by smashing some crabs!! So much fun! The food was pretty good too.

They bring bowls full of seafood, corn and potatoes and dump it on the table. Yup! Adults get to be kids again!!

A rare family picture!

Next day we went to the Seattle Zoo. I won't bore you with pictures of animals in cages - these are the animals you're most interested in anyway, right?

Phew!!

We made it through August!

Thanks for sticking with me - I know this was a long post. Insanely long really! I've really got to try and post more regularly!!

September will bring Grade 1 for Marley, another year of Preschool for Paige and lots and lots of activities for all the girls. Oh, and my birthday ... can't forget about that!! Well, see you later.