Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hop you have a wonderful day with your families. My girls woke up plenty early, as usual, and went about the house on their hunt for Easter goodies. That silly Easter Bunny left foot-prints all over our house again! He even left them on the chairs and the couch and even on my blanket! That's okay, though. I don't really mind. After all...he always brings the girls so much nice stuff! Chocolates and candies and this year even some Hannah Montana socks and Hannah Montana underwear! Fantastic! How does he know the girls love Hannah Montana?

So, the girls are all excited about their loot, and about their day, but right now I think they are even more excited about something else!

The Fairy Blogmother's little girl (well, I guess she isn't so little anymore...she is 6 1/2, you know) got to be a Guest Writer on her blog! So, my girls would like to do some guest blogging of their own.

Well, alrighty!

First up...my little Jamie James...

Jamie and Mom lv eht other wen we hag eht other and Madlin 6 Jamie 4 Ncol0 lcs the zoo Jamie lcs jrafs.

(that says, "Jamie and Mom love each other when we hug each other and Mailyn is 6 and Jamie is 4 and Nicole likes the zoo and Jamie likes giraffes).

Thanks Jamie, baby.

Okay. Now we have our second guest blogger for the day...my big girl, Miss Madilyn Mae.

halo .me and my mom do fun stuff too getr. I LOVE MY MOM so mush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhh...

now that's a nice Easter treat for Mommy.

:)

Happy Easter!!

{Oh, jeez...before you go...you have to pop over to Laughing Leah Loves Lillies blog and check out her Easter funnies. I was really "LOL", especially at the last one!!}

Happy Belated Halloween!! :)

Oh dear! It's been ages since I've written anything again. So much has been going on. For one thing...I'm done work. Thank gawd. With the first two girls I worked into my eigth month, but this has been a different pregnancy altogether. Between my constant back problems and finding out about my increased risk of pre-term labour the doctor and I agreed it was time to hang up my scrubs. Actually...I may still wear them since they are one of the few things that still fit. Anyway. It has been heaven. I'm in a place now (my house! ha ha ha) where if I get tired...I can just sit down. And, if I start getting cramps...I can even lay down. If my back gets sore...I can stop what I am doing. It's been really, really, great. And while certain people at work were put-out by my leaving the majority of them were really, really, super great and supportive. So, that has been wonderful, too. I'm 27 weeks this Friday (actually, I already had this weekend booked off for "holidays" and I have another coming up...both for the girls' birthdays) and I *hopefully* have 11 more weeks to go. I think that 11 weeks is best spent taking care of myself and my baby and I'm really glad and fortunate to have the opportunity to do that.

I had a little get-together with some of my best work gf's last Thursday to kind of cheer myself up about everything that has been going on and that was really nice. I figured, I may not be able to "entertain" too much in the coming months and I was lucky to be able to get them all together on such short notice (we've tried several times...for months...to all get together but there are always 2 or 3 or 4 of us who can't make it on any given day!!). So, I'll have to post some pics. for you later from those festivities. I'll tell you this much...there were a lot of babies and not a boy in the house.

But, for now, before it gets tooooo untimely...I'll just share some pics. from Hallowe'en '08!

(Davey's creation)

(My pumpkin. I just loved this pumpkin. Isn't it cute...in a creepy sort of way? Those are black roses for hair).

(Jamie with her kitty pumpkin and another one of Daddy's. That spider looked really cool lit up at night. I can't believe I forgot to get a proper pic. of it).

I started off the day by going to my girls' school to watch them in their parade. I could have sworn the note I got home said they were going to be walking around the school and that parents were welcome to come watch. But, when I got there nothing was going on. There didn't seem to be any parents hanging around and there were no signs of any kids in costumes. I waited in the truck for a (long, long) long time...I even watched them all go out for recess and then go back in again. Finally, I thought I'd better go in and ask what was happening but the lady in the office didn't know either. I did run into a couple of other parents there and we all just kind of chit chatted in the halls until finally the kids started to make their way around the halls.

They weren't parading outside of the school, which was kind of too bad because it was such a beautiful day and I'm sure they would have loved it. But, still, they seemed to have fun and I managed to get a couple of shots of the kiddos.

When it came time for Trick or Treating we met up with The Fairy Blogmother and her gang and while it wasn't quite dark, yet, when we left it sure was by the time we finished. It wasn't a long walk, really, but it was enough to tucker me and the little Pink Poodle out. I think the beautiful princess riding a unicorn could have gone all night, though. She wanted to head out further to go trick or treating at some of her other (more distant) friends houses. But, I think they have more than enough candy to last them until next year.

Hey! And, we'll have another little goblin by then! I wonder if it will be a witch or a wizard??

Friday we find out for sure. That's when we are going for the 3-D ultrasound!!!

(another one of mommy's pumpkins. Yes, I was big on using flowers for hair this year. These ones are real).

Happy Halloween!

So Much to be Thankful For...

Did you all (all you fellow Canadians, I mean) have a wonderful Thanksgiving? I hope so. We sure did! What a beautiful day it was. We got really lucky.

We woke up bright and early to head out to a local fair (good thing we did, too, because by the time we were leaving all the lots were completely full. There were no parking spots anywhere and it was total gridlock). We got there so early, in fact, that the rides hadn't even started up yet but that was ok because that gave us a chance to walk through all the exhibits first. I have never seen such amazing looking ducks, and chickens, and roosters before in my life! I snapped a shot of the girls in front of the first "winners" we came to...only to discover the dreaded..."Oh, shite, my batteries just died". So, I didn't get any more pictures of the beautiful birds, the gorgeous baby horse, the beautiful, beautiful, cows, the baby goats (who I got to pet. You know me and goats. Well, maybe you don't. But, I love baby goats!). While I walked around "Ohhhhh-ing" and "Ahhhh-ing" and petting all the cool animals, the girls went and played in a big sandbox full of corn while their Daddy kept an eye on them.





We then headed over to the horse shows. Some pretty huge horsies there, I must say. Just amazing. And so clean! Even their feet were spotless and their shoes were glistening in the sunlight as they marched about. Very cool. I'm telling you...all of this stuff is ~right up my alley~ and I had such a great time.


Then the rides opened up. We grabbed a big vat of greasy french fries (what's a fair without some junk food?) then headed over to get some tickets. Not cheap my friends. Not cheap. All told we went on three rides and it cost $35. Wow. But, it was so much fun. The weather was just incredible: warm and sunny. In fact, it actually got kind of hot in my long sleeve shirt...but I wasn't about to complain!

The first ride we went on was the Ferris wheel. The carnie-boy working this ride totally forgot to take his happy-pill, unfortunately. He was barking orders out to all of us in the line-up every 30 seconds and moaning and complaining about how he was getting sick and tired of having to go over the rules all the time (uh, isn't that your job, bub?). His favourite line was, "And if you try to race past me to the ride once you get up here, you might as well keep on going...cuz' you ain't getting on this ride!". He must have said that 5 times at least while we waited. But, the good part was all of us in the line were still just having a great time. The weather was so damn beautiful you couldn't help but be happy. So, we just all laughed about him amongst ourselves and, as a group, made cracks about his grumpiness. It almost made it all the more fun because we had something to do to pass the time: make fun of him!

Once up there I became immediately nervous and kept trying to look at all the other cars to see just what it was that was holding us up! Eeeee. It was very high! Maddie and Jamie and Dave all had a great time, though, and it did give us a great view of the whole fair grounds. [OH, and while we were up there I decided to try my camera one more time. I thought if I turned off the flash, and the display, that I may have enough juice for a couple more shots. It worked!] Also, it was while we were at the top of this ride, that we were able to scope out our next adventure: The Dragon!



I didn't think it was a great idea for my pregnant-self to ride this one so Dave went on with Jamie and Maddie got to go all by herself. It was very difficult to get shots of them on the ride because I just had my wee, crappy, pocket camera which (especially with almost no battery life left) tends to take the actual shot about 2 seconds after you press the button. By that time...especially with fast-moving, roller-coaster, type shots...your actual subject tends to be out of view and you are grabbing shots of some stranger having a great time, instead. Ah well, I still managed to get a couple...such as they are....





Jamie looks like she is absolutely petrified and perhaps even crying in this shot, but she was actually having the time of her life. She wanted to go back on as soon as she got off.




As it was getting quite late, I knew there was going to be no chance of me baking pies in time for our dinner at the In-Laws that afternoon. Fortunately, they were selling pumpkin and apple pies right at the fair! So, I scooped a couple up before they were all gone and we had time for one more ride. The girls picked the "Super Slide". They were both tall enough to go on this one by themselves so we watched them make the hike all the way to the top and I scooted over to the end of the ride to try and catch some pictures of them coming down.


Jamie went first and as she raced down the gigantic slide, she picked up more and more velocity until...just at this point...she went flying up into the AIR! The grown men who stood all around me as I snapped away with my camera were yelling "Look at her go! Whhhoooaaa!! She's Airborne!!". Dave said a slight look of terror did come across her face, but when she stopped and heard everyone cheering for her she was thrilled! She was so impressed with herself. Adorable. Luckily, she did land back on her butt and was fine. Again...she was ready for another ride right away.






Maddie's ride down was almost as much fun, but she didn't achieve quite the velocity or pick-up that little Jamie James did.




Now it was really getting late so we had to head out, with our pies in hand, to head off to Dave's Mom's house for dinner. Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots cooked in garlic...drooooool. It was delicious. Dave's brother and his wife (who also happens to be my good friend...I knew her before I met Dave. Well, I know Dave because I knew her!!} were also there so it was just such a great time. Dave's brother is so great with the girls and he played and danced with them for, literally, hours! He must have been exhausted. And my sister-in-law and I just gabbed away {above the noise of squeeling little girls} the whole time, while the new addition kicked away inside of my belly.


It was a great night. It was a great day.


So much to be thankful for.

Widney Wednesday - Canada Style, eh?

Well, I've been a huge fan of Widney Woman for awhile now and I think her Widney Wednesday's are just amazing. The amount of time and effort she puts into creating these special nights for her kids, and for her friends, to enjoy is just incredible and very inspiring (I'm really going to try and start doing something similar soon). If you haven't checked it out yet, you just have to! She's incredible. Not to mention, she is my friend. We go way back. Waaaayyy back. And while she does live in the U.S. of A. now I am very fortunate to still be in touch with her through her blog. I felt like I knew her kids before I even got to meet them. But, last night I did get to meet them: for the very first time...in person. That is because I was lucky enough to participate in a Widney Wednesday when it went Canadian (Mrs. Widney came back to town for a visit!!).

Her theme was "Widney Dairy" in honour of a local ice-cream store that is a bit of a fixture around these parts. She had a little craft center all set up for the kids complete with construction paper, markers and crayons, scissors, glue, and tape. The kids had a blast creating their own Widney Popsicles which they got to take home. After craft time they began playing volleyball with some of the ice cream balloons and had so much fun just running around together. It was so adorable to see how they all became just instant pals: Widney Woman's kids, The Fairy BlogMother's kids, and The Mommy Project's kids. Too cute.



{Jamie, Maddie, Paris, Widney Woman, and Jazz making popsicles!}




{Jamie, Maddie, and sweet little Paris...hard at work}


After a little cardiovascular exercise it was time to reward themselves at the Widney Dairy Ice Cream Bar. Widney Woman had it all prepared with lots of different toppings for the kids to choose from: Smarties, M&M's, Malteasers, Gummy Bears, and Sprinkles of every size and color. Of course, most of the kids decided to put a little of everything on their Sundaes and they all thought it was the best ice cream ever.



{Jazz - isn't he handsome!?, Cutie-Pie Abby, Jamie, and Maddie enjoying their self-made Sundaes. I don't think they liked being called to pose for a photo in the middle of all that ice-cream eating}.



{Jamie enjoying her ice cream, next to some of her unfinished art work}





{And Maddie enjoying her Sundae. Look at all the toppings! And...who is that in the background? It's the Fairy Blogmother! Caught doing what she does best...lovin' her girlies Abby and Maya}


Sadly, our evening at the Widney Dairy came to and end all too soon. I think Widney Woman will just have to come back to Canada more often. We miss her here...and now our kids will, too!

Thanks Widney Woman.



We had such a great time and it was just so great to see you again.


Hey! Guess what. There is a cool challenge going on right now over at Temporarily Me for Rookie, and not-so-rookie, Mom's alike. They have some really pretty buttons, but I can't get them to work on my page so please CLICK HERE to go check it out for yourself!

Family Fun - The Beach Edition (Port Dover).

I've already told you about the fun beach in Port Dalhousie, and the super cool carousel they have there (which the kids get to go on for five cents a ride), that we like to bring the girls to. But, yesterday we decided to check out the beach in Port Dover for a change.

It was a beautiful day yesterday: about 28 degrees and sunny. So, after getting a bunch of groceries (I've vowed to actually create a dinner every night this week with the help of Sandi Richard), we packed up the bathing suits, and towels, and the camera and headed out.

First stop was the obligatory photo under the lighthouse.



Then it was over to the sand to pick out a primo location on the beach. The girls wasted no time getting into the water. Thank goodness for Davey, because that water was waaaayyy too choppy for them to go in by themselves. I didn't even bother wearing my suit this time. The belly is getting way too big and while I actually kind of think it's cute (and brave) when I see other pregnant girls on the beach in their swimsuits, I just ain't that daring.



Off they go!



Wave "Hi" to Mom!

{See how choppy the water is? The girls just LOVED it. They were trying to jump over the waves and they were, apparently, just shrieking with delight. Dave was actually worried about how loud they were screaming - but, unlike when they are just screaming their little heads off in the pool here at home, the sounds of the waves, and the winds, and the seagulls, and all the other kids screaming their little heads off just drowned them out}



Time to come out for a bit...



and work on some sand castles.



The nice thing about Port Dover is that you are facing south at the beach so it is very nice and sunny. That, and it doesn't stink of fish...which is always nice.

After a few more dips in the lake we decided to take a little stroll around town and check out the shops. We got some french fries for a snack and then discovered this really pretty "guard pig" outside a jewelry store.

Then Jamie did some modelling for me by the clock.

Maddie decided to get in on that action and slowly worked her way into the frame.

{If you look carefully you can see that poor little Jamie has given up and is walking away from the clock now...}

Then, as the skies grew dark (as they pretty much have at some point every day this summer), we headed back to the truck. Just enough time left to stop for a cone!

Maddie had "bubblegum" which was a shocker. I thought she hated the taste of bubblegum!

{NO...Dave does not wear a pinky ring! That is just the key ring around his baby finger.}

{You can tell the skies have clouded over because the photos are started to look much better! I like this one of Jamie with her Cherry flavoured cone, which I was gracious enough to help her "clean up" every once in awhile when the ice cream started melting down the sides}. ;-)

And then...it was time to head back home. Our Family Fun Day at the beach was finished.

And so were the girls!

Family Fun - The WEEKEND Edition!

Mommy's weekend off was a great one! We had so much fun hanging out with the girls and, luckily, the weather was co-operating (most of the time).

Well, Friday wasn't that great because I spent the whole day cleaning the house and doing laundry [I have about 6 loads that are done - but not folded or put away (of course not) in my bedroom right now]. But on Saturday we all woke up, got ready, and headed to the new local breakfast joint, Cora's, for breakfast.

This place was packed! They must be making a killing. But, I heard many, many, people complain about how cold they keep it (some were saying that they must keep it that cold to insure a fast turn-around as there is always a line-up at the door). Dave even said it was too cold - so, there you go. The girls ordered off the kiddie menu and Maddie had Fruit Loops and Jamie had waffles. The kids get little coloring books and crayons to occupy them until breakfast is served and the price of the kids breakfast is very reasonable: about $4.50 including their drink. They make up for the reasonable kids prices with the outrageous prices for the grown-ups. A juice is $3.50 and my waffles were about $11.00. I got the banana waffles with chocolate hazelnut topping because I forgot to order this dish in Jamaica and it gets such great reviews that I thought I'd try it here. It was inedible. The waffle was completely soaked in this banana cream goop and then there were more bananas and chocolate on top. If it was just the bananas and the chocolate that would have been okay, but that goop that turned the entire waffle into mush was completely gross (I wish I had a picture for you, but I didn't have my camera at this point). So...it was fun to go out for breakfast but $40 for an inedible (to me) breakfast in a cold, and crowded, restaurant is more than I'm willing to spend a second time.

After breakfast, and a bit of running around to get supplies so I can make some home-made bread, we all headed out to the local wading pool. Of course, the skies did turn black and open up with torrential rains as we headed there but, fortunately, we persevered and it did, in fact, clear up by the time we got there. The kids love the wading pool because it is deep enough to splash around in, but not so deep that they need their life jackets or us holding their hands the entire time. Maddie and Jamie like to go there because they always meet new friends to chat with. There was one little boy that came over and poured a cup of water over Jamie's head. Knowing Jamie...she would have clocked him had she not turned around to see how cute he was.

Once we were done playing at the wading pool we headed home for some dinner and then another round of swimming in our own pool. Dave goes in with the girls because the pool has never been above 80 degrees and it is, therefore, just too cold for me. Thank gawd men don't feel the cold (much like children don't) because the girls have so much fun in there with him. I'm a bit jealous that I don't get to play - but I just cannot get in past my knees when it is 76 degrees.

On Sunday morning I woke up to Maddie standing beside my bed with a lovely bowl of fresh fruit that Davey had made up for me. Ahhh. He's a keeper, I tell you. He then brought me scrambled eggs with ketch-up in the shape of a heart on top -- I kid you not. How cute is that? Of course, he will deny it if you ever ask him. I should have got a picture of that too! Ah well.

After breakfast we headed out for our big day-trip to Port Dalhousie.

They have the most beautiful carousel there - very old fashioned with the music playing and everything and it cost about 10 cents per ride. The kids could just go around, and around, all day and it wouldn't cost more than about 5 bucks! Can't beat that!

(I love this picture).

After a few rides we went to the change rooms and got the girls into their suits and headed out to the beach. The sand was so hot you had to wear your shoes to walk on it (I LOVE that) and the water is really shallow for quite a ways out so, again, it is perfect for the girls. They had such a great time and it was so much fun to watch them. Dave and I just sat at the edge of the water on the beach while he tried to get rid of his landscapers boot tan lines, and I contemplated taking off my shirt that covered my bathing suit top and showing off my ever-expanding baby bump (I decided against).

After a fun day at the beach we headed back home for some dinner and, guess what...another dip in the family pool. I'm surprised the girls aren't permanently pruney at this point!

(last pic. before heading home...you can see the girls are freezing - but they would insist they were perfectly warm).

It was a really fabulous weekend. I'm so going to miss the summer.