Small Packages

It's about 11:00. I just went to check on my big girls before heading off to bed myself and I spotted this in their bedroom! I wonder what it is? I wonder who it's from?? I can't wait until they find it in the morning and then we can all find out!



The 25 Days of Christmas starts tomorrow! Are you ready? :)

-- Post From My iPhone

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas is in the air (and on my cup).


Oh ya, it's Thursday. Oops. ;-)

-- Post From My iPhone

Five for Jamie.

My Little Jamie James just recently turned 5. We had a little family party on the actual day and then a class friend's party later on. I've been pretty busy with that and a couple of photo shoots, etc., etc., but I didn't want to forget to list...

Five Things that I LOVE about my Jamie...
in honour of her 5th Birthday.

1) Sense of Humour: Jamie is the funniest little kid I've ever met. She has such a great sense of humour and she loves to make people laugh. She tells jokes, makes funny faces, does her patented "funny run" (this little run, wiggle, thing that only she can do...and it makes me burst out laughing every time she does it). It is pretty much impossible to be in a bad mood when Jamie is around. I love that about her.

2) Kindness: Jamie is also the most sensitive kid I've ever met and every time I see her go up to some other child who is upset, or hurt, and put her arm around them, it makes my heart swell with pride. She does this totally without being self-aware. It is not something she does because she thinks she should or to get "points", it is completely automatic. She genuinely cares about other people. She has a huge heart. I love that about her.

3) Intelligence: Jamie is as smart as a whip. I'm not even just saying that because I am biased (which, of course, I am). I just got Jamie's report card yesterday and while the teacher's don't give out A's or B's or C's anymore (they are still letters...but they are different...and it's kind of confusing...they're like...X's and Y's and T's...??) let me just say that she got the equivalent of Straight A's! Her teacher told me that she has "absolutely no concerns about Jamie". She said that she is a "joy" to teach and that Jamie always comes to school with such enthusiasm and she is very quick to learn new things. She told me that she is "amazed" by Jamie's reading ability and that she has often seen Jamie pick up a book that they've never read before and she will listen to Jamie read the whole thing all by herself...sounding out the words and getting them all right. She was so amazed by Jamie's reading that she sent her over to another classroom of older kids and had her read a book to their class. They were all impressed, too! Then she went on to mention how kind Jamie is and how she is always helping out the other students and she is a friend to everyone. So, of course, I nearly started to cry right there and then in the middle of the classroom. I'm just so proud of her.

4) Beauty: is it okay if I throw this one in there? I mean, she is just so pretty and she has the biggest, bluest, eyes in the whole wide world. I would still love her if she wasn't so darn adorable, of course, but I just can't help but mention that she is. You know. So. Darn. Adorable.

5) Five. My Jamie is Five. I love that she is five because five is the age at which I can best remember me as being me. I don't remember 4 or 3 or certainly not 2...but I can remember five. And now Jamie is there, too. At the age where her memories will remain clear...forever. Knowing this I want to make doubly sure that those memories are good ones. I want to give her lots of things to be excited about. Lots of things to laugh about. Lots of things to learn, and see, and do. Because she is my Jamie. And that is my most favourite thing about her.

I'm so lucky that she is mine.

I love you, Jamie James.
(times 5 Hundred Gabillion).

Wordless Wednesday

From my new most favouritist book in the world, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems.




You can follow his ~Tweets~ @the_pigeon

-- Post From My iPhone

Cookie Exchange, 09

Ahhh...Sunday morning was soooo nice. The kids (well, the two bigger ones) had slept over at their Grandma's house and the little one even slept in until about 7:30! When she did wake up, the hubs went to get her and give her some breakfast and her bottle and change her...leaving me to just lay. in. bed. Ahhhhh. No, it doesn't stop there! He even went out to get me a coffee. And I just stayed. in. bed. waiting for him to get back. And when he did? I stayed. in. bed. some more! I drank my coffee and followed all the interesting tweet-links I found and just read, and read, and read. It was heaven.

One of the most fun and interesting links I came across was this one for the Yummy Mummy Club. The thing that specifically caught my eye was this post on hosting a Cookie Exchange. I have wanted to do one of these for awhile now, but I wasn't sure exactly how it would work. Lisa's fun post cleared that all up and gave me lots of great ideas. I was so excited about the whole thing that I decided to plan my own Cookie Exchange right there and then (well, after I was done my coffee...and finally got my butt out of bed).

So I headed on over to my Facebook page and updated my status with the question of "Who is down for a Cookie Exchange?". I got a couple of nibbles (so to speak) right away so I went ahead and started a group for it and then invited just about every female Facebook friend I have. Like Lisa says in her post, "it’s the perfect opportunity to hang with your girlfriends before the hectic holiday season takes off".

Are you hosting or going to a Cookie Exchange this year? If so, I'd love to hear all about it! And, I'll be sure to post lots of pictures from my gig once it's over. I've put up the call for gaudy get-ups.

It should be Sweet!

(sorry).

Mr. Pitiful

So, as some of you already know...we've had a cat in our house for the past week.

Now, I am ~absolutely~ not a cat person. I mean, I love kittens. Adorable, adorable, little things. And I've even met many very cool cats. When I go to someone else's house, and they have a cat, well, I'll be all over the furry kid. But, do I want one in my house? No. No, no, and no. It is my belief (and I am really hoping to be proven wrong on this one) that if you have a cat, you have pee in your house. I have never known a cat that did not pee in the house. If the litter box isn't completely clean, if it isn't in the right spot, if there aren't enough litter boxes around, if the cat gets spooked, if they cat isn't feeling well, if the cat woke up on the wrong side of the bed...it pees in your house. It'll even pee directly on your clothes or your pillow, if he is really pissed...no pun intended. Would a dog do this? No. A dog will not pee on your pillow because he is cranky. So, I'm a dog person. It's not much of a contest.

We will never have a cat in this house.

I've said those words to my daughter (who has been begging for a cat for, I think, pretty much all of her 7 years. I think her first words were, "Can I have a cat?"). Well, never say never...right?

Enter Mr. Pitiful. Literally.

Last weekend we found Mr. Pitiful in the ditch at the side of the (80 km/hr) road. I thought he was just a baby because he looked so tiny. Hubby pulled over to check him out and he came right up to him, meowing away. Dave brought him into the truck so I could check him out and, I suppose, "assess" the situation (I'm a professional veterinary technician, but I don't play one on t.v.). Well, kitty was actually about 7 or 8 months old. Not neutered. No collar. Ear mites, "walking dandruff", and probably a wide variety of intestinal parasites. He was severely malnourished with his hip bones clearly visible. And, he had a pretty awful upper respiratory infection. So, now, I guess I have a cat.

Well, I couldn't just leave him there.

Right?

(Just kidding).

Poor little guy. He really is a very sweet cat. I mean, most cats hate being in a car, but he just started purring and kneading his feet as soon as we touched him. It was like he was so thankful and relieved that someone picked him up.

We brought him home and got him set up with a litter box (a spare from my rabbit) and some fresh water, a blanket, and the only food we had to offer him...a can of sardines. Wow. He went to TOWN on those. We've also had him checked out by the vet and he has been treated for all his worms and mites and parasites (oh my!) and he was going to be vaccinated but, sadly, he was too sick to risk the vaccines. He is still very underweight (despite eating like a crazy cat for the past week) and he is still congested (he is blowing snot all over my house, people!!). All kidding aside, he really is a very sick little guy and we actually had to get him tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV. We don't have those results back, yet.

Mr. Pitiful is so happy here in the house and he has completely tolerated being dragged around the house like a rag-doll by Jamie. Maddie and Jamie both are head over heels in love with him. I'm letting him sleep with them at night so the two girls have been sharing the bottom bunk (so he doesn't have to jump too high to visit Maddie). I went in the other night to say "Good-night" to the girls and sing them their songs. Maddie was reading him a book!! He was lying in bed, right between the two of them, with just his head poking up above the covers to see the story. It was the sweetest, most adorable, thing ever!

I just hope Mr. Pitiful doesn't pee in my house.

And, we hope Mr. Pitiful will be okay.

Knowing Me - Knowing You: November Edition.

It's that time once again... time for that monthly interview project started by my friend Shan over at Tales from The Fairy Blogmother - Knowing Me, Knowing You.

1. What's your strategy for gift giving this Christmas?
I think this year (with me coming to the end of my mat. leave and, therefore, our savings coming to the end of...uh...existence) we will really, really, need to set a budget and stick to it. The hubs is super big on the girls having "lots and lots" of shiny packages waiting under the tree for them on Christmas morning and I think it is very sweet that he thinks that...but I think we should really make the day more about our family and togetherness this year. I think if we discuss this with the girls in advance, let them know that we only have so much to spend on presents but, because Mommy won't have to work Christmas day this year, we can spend the whole day together, as a family, doing lots of fun stuff. Really, the unwrapping lasts only about 2.5 minutes anyway...regardless of the number of presents!

2. How do you feel about the holiday newsletter?
I'd love to get one! I'd even like to write one. But, really, who would i send it to? The people I care about already know everything there is to know about me and my family...and the people I don't care about...well, I don't think they want my newsletter.

3. What's your favourite board game?
I really like pictionary. I fancy myself as an artist which makes me love this game. However, I fancy myself an artist which makes me truly suck at this game. I mean, I want to do all kinds of shading and shadowing and I like to work on dimension and perspective...kinda' makes the ol' time run out before I've finished anything recognizable. ha ha! But, really, I think a game night would be fun. I'm hoping to get an invite to Shan's "Night at the Bal-derdash". ;-) {subtle hint?}

4. What's your favourite cold weather comfort dish?
Hmmm...Oh! SOUP! Davey's soup! He makes some really, really, fabulous soups! He made one last year that had sweet potato and curry and I don't know what else. It was soooooo good. I've been begging him for more ever since, but he can't even remember exactly how he made it. He needs to start writing his recipes down. Then I could turn them into a book. And you'd wanna' buy it! And I'd get rich! Really, he's very good at making soup.

5. What is your favourite new show this season?
Are there any new shows on this season? What about the old ones! I'm still waiting for American Idol to come on! What's the hold up? And, what happened to Rescue Me?! I waited forEVER for that show to come back on and they gave me, what, like 8 kinda' stupid episodes (sorry, Tommy...I mean Denis...but, really, it was not the best season. Not. Even. Close). At least I still have Dexter. Man, that show is good...but I really, really, wish they didn't kill off Lundy. sigh. I've also, finally, discovered The Office. Steve Carrell is adorable. He reminds me of a male me. We are very similar people, I think. Is that bad?

Thanks for the fun again this month Shan...
although each one of these reminds me of how little time I have left off work with my baby.
(barf).
But, still...fun.

If you'd like to join in head on over to the home of the Fairy Blogmother right HErE!

Scraptastic!

Hi everyone!!

Did you have a fabulous Halloween? Was it as quiet around your place as it was mine? I'd say we probably had about 60% of the kids we had last year! Crazy. And, we even bought extra chocolate this year so we wouldn't run out. I swear, my butt is getting bigger just thinking about all the chocolate we have lying around this place. I saw on someone's Tweet (I'm really sorry...I forget who said it now) that they buy their kid's chocolates from them. The kids can then use the money to buy a toy, instead. Well, isn't that brilliant! We asked the kids what they thought about that and they thought it was a great idea, so we will totally be doing that next year. But, what do we do with all their junk? Suggestions??


Anyway, despite fewer kids we still had a fabulous time. My family went Trick or Treating with The Fairy Blogmother's family. She and her hubby were so funny to walk around with. I mean, you just had to be there to watch them doing the choreography from "Thriller" in the middle of the road. Priceless! {One of our neighbours sets out a massive stereo system every year and cranks up the theme music. It makes things so festive on our little street!}. You can read more about the night and see one pic. of all the kids (who were able to make it...poor Maya was home sick) right HERE. I'm waiting for my MIL to send me some pics (we just used her camera...) and when she does I'll give you some cold, hard, evidence of how incredibly cute my little girlies were. ;-)


Until then...
I just wanted to say that....
Gawd Help Me
I have decided to take the plunge into scrapbooking. Do I have time for this? No. Not at all. I still have photos to process, a Photo Blog to update, a Photo Website to create (I bought the thing a few weeks ago now, and haven't even looked at it), and two more photo-shoots to do. I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm so thrilled and really, really, um...what's the word? Shocked? Surprised? Happy? Honoured? to have people ask me to photograph their kids...without even having ever advertised my services...but I just wish I could get some block of time to get that whole biz. thing organized. I kind of feel like my horses have gone running out of the barn...or...uh...what is that saying? Well, I haven't started my business, yet...but it's going ahead almost without me!! :-0 What a thing to complain about, huh? Yeah...that and "my wallet is too small for my fifties and my diamond shoes are too tight".

Sooooo...to make a long story (a bit) short-er...I am still going ahead with the scrapbooking thing.


WHY?! you ask?


Well, as the Blogmother will tell you...
my horrible, shameful, secret is...I have picture frames hanging on my walls that contain pictures of other people's kids and dogs in them. I hung them up to see how they would look, fully intending to put, you know, our pictures in them- but I haven't yet!! Isn't that ridiculously awful? And, despite having three gorgeous babies and a burgeoning photography business, I have next to no pictures of them anywhere! No albums, no frames, no canvases...nothing.


So I am officially kicking myself in the pants. And it all starts HERE




(FANTASTIC book my Stacy Julian which has totally helped me with a plan of attack for organizing my stuff so I can get going)


and HERE




(4-Drawer Storage Cube...part of Stacy's "Library of Memories" System)


and HERE




(my very first "I'm a Scrapbooker" purchase - a 3" square craft punch...also to help implement Stacy's system)


and HERE


(Ali Edwards "December Daily" Project. I'm hoping this will be my first paper scrapbooking success. I hope you'll pop over to the link, read all about it, and join the fun. If you do...please let me know so I can check out your progress, too.)


All for now! Gotta go set up my Storage Cube!!!