Pumpkin #1

Hayden used his creativity,

fused with his love of cars (of course!)

and decorated a crafty little pumpkin.

I love his "silly Halloween smile."

Hopefully his class photo from preschool
will tone down the crazy!

Impromptu

You know when your kids are

being way too cute
and you want to capture
that oh-so perfect moment?

Sometimes it's the silly outtakes
that are the most precious moments.

I never did get
the "perfect" picture.....
but I LOVE how these turned out.
It's SO them.

She may not be graceful.....

....but she's on the move!

Olivia will get up on her knees and rock back and forth, but she's
sticking with the army crawl for now.
Gone are the days when my little girl would
be content just sitting still.
And there ain't no stopping her now!!

Olivia is especially motivated if she's crawling
towards something.





She rolls if she simply wants to get somewhere.

10 on Tuesday!

1.. Hayden and Olivia had their first ride together in a grocery cart today. Maybe I should have taken the photo at the beginning of the shopping expedition when they were both happy ;)

2.. In a related story.....Olivia's grouchiness has a lot to do with the fact she cut her first tooth this weekend. I'm not used to having her be so "high-maintenance." Poor little thing.

3.. We are in a battle royal with Hayden to chew with his mouth closed at dinner time. I think we ask him about 62 times throughout the course of our meal. This morning, while watching cartoons, he said "Look, Bugs Bunny doesn't chew with his mouth closed." Sure enough, Good 'ol Bugs was gnawing away on a carrot and pieces were flying everywhere. Thanks a lot Bugs.

4.. Hayden FINALLY sang me the song he learned at preschool. It's like pulling teeth getting any information out of him about his day!



5.. We finally made it to the Science Center and it was pretty cool. I think Hayden will get more out of his visits when he's older, but we still had fun. Where else could he build a race car, lift himself with a pulley system, fly a spaceship and build a bridge all in one day?!


6.. For those of you who don't check out the Blakeney's Blog, here are the AWESOME Halloween pictures they took of the kids:



7.. Tea time with Hayden and Olivia:



8.. You know those mixed CD's we all used to make. I took 6 of my very faves from my collection, and put them in the rental car for our trip to Saskatoon. It dawned on me the other day......I LEFT THEM IN THE CD PLAYER OF THE RENTAL CAR!!!! Crap. I am so sad.

9.. The Boy Scouts who came to our door on the weekend had impeccable timing. Ralph had plans to go to the bottle depot, but instead of making the trip, he donated all of our bottles! The poor guy could hardly carry the bag Ralph handed over.

10. I love my little Mazda 3. I didn't want to give up the "fun" car. However, I look forward to driving an SUV full time (I only drive Ralph's company vehicle part time) so that I have MORE SPACE! Kids and stroller and groceries have to be very strategically packed. When Ralph's lease is up, I'll get the practical mommy vehicle.....that I thought I didn't want but now know that I need..... and he'll get the fun car.

A Haiku for Honey Crisp

A Haiku:

Hello honey sweet

Gala are crap next to you
In stock, gone quickly


Ralph must really love me.
I phoned him with a request to stop at the grocery store.
Ground beef. Milk.
forget the cat food darling.....
HONEY CRISP apples are in stock at Sobey's
and you NEED to get me some.
please!?

He was a bit bewildered as to the
necessity of these particular apples....

but he delivered.
As always.
(P.S. he loves them too!)

10 on Tuesday....on Wednesday!

1.. Today is pajama day.

2.. Cooking my first Thanksgiving turkey on the weekend was a success! I have lots of leftovers, which I am enjoying, and I'm going to attempt to make turkey soup. What I find funny is that the turkey is such a small part of the meal......it just sits in the oven for 5 hours! Getting everything else on the table at the same time was the biggest challenge for me. It was a whirlwind of pots and pans and mashing and sauteing and whisking and making space on the table. Thank goodness my Mom was there to help!!

3.. Hayden really loved having his Grandma & Grandpa here for the weekend. As they were driving away on Monday he said to me; "I miss Grandma & Grandpa. It's a long drive to Saskatoon." When he's a little bit older, I know he'll love to go home with them for a week in the Summer. Mommy & Daddy will like that too!

4.. As I got ready for my surprise shift on Sunday morning.....gotta love being the "new" girl scheduled all weekend when I'm only supposed to work either Saturday or Sunday....I wondered if it's worth it. I make peanuts for all of this hassle.

5.. Olivia's sleep schedule is totally out of whack. I have no idea whether it's a growth spurt or teeth or a cold or what?@#! She is super restless during the night and wakes up 2-3 times! I only go in if she's crying but I feel bad to leave her. I don't go back to sleep until she's quiet, so I'm exhausted. And, she's been getting up early (6-6:30a) so getting up before her to get ready for preschool or work has been challenging. Lets hope this is only a blip....

6.. Since Hayden has started preschool, he now colors with both hands. And, he chooses more colors per picture. He's like a little Picasso and I have new artwork on my fridge every day. I started a box for all of his masterpieces so we can look back on the changes in his work.

7.. Our yard is not winterized. How can it be when it is 30 degrees one day and -15 and snowy the next! We had no time to clean up, dig out dead plants, fertilize the lawn or take in plant pots. BOOM...it's Winter. Gross. There is a rumor it is supposed to warm up. I sincerely hope so.

8..On that note.....I'm always thankful my hubby is so handy. Tuesday morning was no exception. He got up in the morning and put the Winter tires on my car before we left for preschool. What a guy.

9..Olivia rolls everywhere. Why crawl? If I used time lapse photography with her it would be hillarious. If I leave the room, and then come back, she is never where I left her. Usually she has made her way under the table or a chair or into a corner she can't get out of....


10. Olivia has learned to wave. Hello....Goodbye....Come here....Look how cute I am....she acts like she's royalty.



11. Hayden had no winter boots for our trek to preschool this morning. I felt like a neglectful mother. (I did see a few other little pairs of shoes on the shoe rack when we got to school so I felt a little less bad.) When I picked him up from school we were on a mission for boots. Apparently, so was everyone else in the city. There were slim pick'ns and I refuse to spend $60 on a pair of Winter boots he will wear for one year. We found a cool pair from Children's Place, but it is always a struggle to get him to try stuff on. I made him run around the house in them last night to make sure they are okay. I think they are a bit big, but maybe he'll wear them again next year. Isn't it funny that that's how we buy kids stuff.....with the thought that they might wear it for more than one season?! Hopefully Hayden isn't clumsy this year, on account of his over-sized boots, becasue his Mom wants to save a few bucks!

12. Olivia and I went to Starbucks and had a coffee after I dropped Hayden off at preschool. We were the only ones there, which I assume had something to do with the yucky driving conditions. The solitude was great for two reasons. First, I had a comfy chair for nursing Olivia. Second, only employees were present to witness the spectacle of my Grande, only-sipped-once, Toffee Nut Latte flying across the table and spilling all over the floor!!

Auntie Keri.....do you like my boots??

I took these photos after I had my fresh Toffee Nut Latte and Olivia was safe in a highchair!
I love our Mommy-daughter time. We're going to be expensive if we are always shopping and having coffee....

13 on Tuesday!

1.. Has anyone seen the creepy kids in the new Dairy Milk commercial? The ones with the dancing eyebrows?? Good timing for Halloween....the little girl really freaks me out!! And certainly doesn't make me want to buy chocolate.

2.. Hayden has graduated to a Booster seat and Olivia has bid adieu to the bucket! Hayden looks like such a big boy in his seat, and Olivia looks so tiny in hers. The only crappy thing? Power naps. Neither seat seems especially comfy on the neck if dozing in the car. And the transfer from the car seat to the stroller for Olivia is impossible. Just another case of, "they can't stay babies forever!"

Preschool is tough work!

Shopping with mommy while my brother
is at Preschool is pretty tough too!

3.. My first day back to work was on Saturday. I'm doing a 5 hour shift each week. It was busy so the time went quickly, and it was nice to be in the make-uppy universe again. I felt a bit like a fish out of water and it felt like I had forgotten everything over the last 7 months. I need to find my groove again. And, next week, I will NOT wear high heels in the effort to be cute.

4.. This is why I love mornings....



5.. Flash Forward is a pretty cool new show. The idea that if you were given a glimpse of the future, would you live toward it? Is the future inevitable and already laid out for us? Could you change it if you didn't like what you saw? And also.....why does it have to be on Thursday nights like everything else I love to watch??

6.. You would think that by now, someone would have developed a self cleaning toilet. My oven has the capability, so why not the tiolet? Maybe that is my missed oportunity for a million dollar idea.....

7.. Hayden and I have been going through my old Walt Disney CD's. (They are the soundtracks for Disney movies.) My sister and I used to belt out these tunes and laugh at ourselves for being so silly. Now I sing for Hayden (I even remember most of the words!) and he laughs at me for being so silly. I would bet that my sister is probably singing "Out There" or "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in her head right now....

8. Keri and Jakzen met Hayden, Olivia and I for lunch at Cora's today. Delightful. Great food, good (and a little bit crazy) company, and a great idea on Keri's part. I had never been there before, but I will visit again. The mountain of FRESH fruit that comes with your meal is impressive. And breakfast all day.....yummmmm!!

9.. Do people really understand the difference between yield and merge signs? For those people who freak out behind me at the YIELD sign coming from Stoney Trail to Crowchild.....maybe you should re-visit your driver training manual! And, there are a series of 3 big signs on Crowchild explaining how to leave a gap, mind the gap and MERGE!

10. I will be attempting to cook my very first Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the fixins on Sunday. Cross your fingers and pray that I don't screw up. My inlaws are all coming, and my parents are coming to town. No pressure.

11. Hayden went to see the movie "Chance with a Cloudy Meatballs" on Sunday. (He called Opa to see if he would like to go too.) Daddy, Hayden, Opa and Brody enjoyed their quality man time together, and Mommy enjoyed her quiet time with Miss Olivia. The only concern...... at times, Hayden seems more interested in the snacks provided at the movie, than the movie itself. I have a similar problem. Love going to the movies....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having a ginormous size of buttery popcorn!!

12. I just got an email from the babycenter website called; "baby poop...a visual guide." Seriously?@#! As if I don't worry about EVERYTHING else already. Now I also need to worry about and/or analyze whether Olivia's poop is okay?@#! And I actually perused the photos of someone elses baby's poop! Holy crap! (Hee hee. I just couldn't help myself. )

13. No matter how hard I try, I can NEVER get to bed before 11p!! There is always "just one more thing" I need to do. Like finish this Blog post before it's 18 on Tuesday!!

Wild Thing

It was Wild Hair Day at preschool today.

Hayden decided that he wanted to paint his hair green.
Cool.

The whole way to school we talked about how
the other kids would have crazy hair too.
But, as we waited with the other children to start school,
we realized no one else had funny hair!

I totally thought I had the wrong day.

Then, a little girl arrived with about 12 ponytails
sticking out of her little head.
Whew!

Who wouldn't want to participate in Wild Hair Day?

.....a bunch of "party pooper" moms, that's who!