Saturday, October 31, 2009

eeee-oww....ROAR!!!

In case some translation of my title is in order....that would be the sounds my two little felines were making this festive evening:) Avery's version of sounding like a cat: "MEOW" - sounding more like she was getting hurt. And Karys' version of a cheetah - a very throaty growl!

So, I'm hoping I'm not the only one who was found completely taken by surprise that Halloween was already here?! But we were prepared enough to have the girls' costumes ready and them excited enough to be asking for a count-down until "dress-up"! The time finally came this afternoon, and they could not have been more pleased!

I, on the other hand, was left to try and attempt a dual-feline portrayal with limited dollar-store supplies! What do you think...

let the 'transformation' begin...

waiting patiently

little miss kitty-cat...minus the finishing toushes of her costume

wild cat transformation

finished product...

here they come...


the adoring gaze of a little sister...

she fits right into her role

my two precious felines...my kitty-cat is already fading! (note thumb in mouth!)

So, there ya have it! My pics from this great evening we enjoyed with our family! No pumpkin was carved, although he was present. Like I said, this event snuk up on me! And no pics of the girls officially trick-or-treating, but know that they fit into the role nicely getting all the compliments that made them feel special and thoroughly enjoy this evening!

We ended the evening by heading out to enjoy the local fireworks display and I told Karys she was welcome to take some candy along with her, making sure NOT to be specific about the amount of candt she could bring, in hopes that she eat most of it so I wouldn't have much to ration out tomorrow. She came up to me with her selection: 2 mini chocolate bars. She rationalized it to me saying, "Mummy, I'm bringing 2 because I might get hungry!" Those whopping 2 chocolates she chose to take with her are...still sitting in the cupholder of her carseat! She didn't even touch them!

All in all, a very enjoyable family night! I don't care what some people say/think about Halloween! It certainly is NOT my holiday of choice, but the stigmas and negativity of this "holiday" only exist and have significance if you choose to acknowledge that! Why can't you just think of it as a fun evening to connect your family with the community around you, dressing up cute and silly and getting some yummy treats?! That's what we did, and thankfully, we are blessed to have a great neighborhood!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

{thankful thursday}

journeys aren't a bad thing to go thru
it's just nice to know
when you're on a journey
sooner rather than later
you know?
like i wouldn't have been so reluctant
or questioning
if i knew that this time was a lesson

like i said
i'm a slow learner

but i guess the point to be thankful for
is that at least i am learning
striving daily to live my best life
be the best wife for my husband
the best mum to my girls
the best me to myself
trying daily to figure out
what God's plan is
for me in this time of my life

so...
it's not a hard time
it's not a time that i am struggling through
rather...
it's a time that takes conscious effort
a time that puts me in specific situations
to see how i am going to handle them
to see if i will come out
on the other side of the situation
learning from it
or...needing to re-learn it

i'm a slow learner
so i guess i will dub this
a re-learning time

and again...
be thankful
that at least
i'm learning
albeit...slowly

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

pictureless wednesday

i got nuthin'
no pics and not much new happening in life, but i'm just wodnering - is it normal to question so much??
i think i am being taken on a journey
i think i am being taught that it is important to do what's best for me and my family
i think i'm being taught that it doesn't matter what people think of you
how elementary is THAT?
you learn that in like, grade two don't you?

you know what else i am learning?
i think i am learning that i am a people-pleaser
i think i am learning that i sometime make hasty decisions in hopes to ensure peoples' acceptance of me

why, at 29 years of age, do i give a crap about what people think of me?
hmmmmm
don't know
there's probably a lot of answers a shrink would have for me
maybe i should go get shrunk?

until then,
i'll keep trying to figure out what i'm trying to be taught
i think i'm a slow learner

Monday, October 26, 2009

sew many thoughts

here's a peek at my latest creations...



...incase you can't tell, they're bath towels;)

ps: I did make one more for Kelly, but she's a patient girl and who rather wait until I can hand-deliver it to see what it looks like:)

That's all for now, I must go and soak in all the information I need to present in my class tomorrow! 3 classes in one day...I'll know the info well by tomorrow night...that's for sure:)

Happy Sunshiney Day to you...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

rubber ducky...you're the one!

*sigh*...it's done! half marathon #3...i cannot believe it!

to be honest, we thought we were in for a "treat" - using that terms as loosely as one can when referring to running 21.1kms! the course was: simply run 2 laps around burnaby lake...how hard could that be compared to the routes we covered when training?! hill-filled routes for training + the knowledge of a flat trail-run = two girls eagerly anticipating their half marathon!

needless to say, when KM FOUR rolled around and i had felt like i had just run EIGHT...i was not impressed!! as we completed the first lap i may have considered (maybe rather seriously) calling it quits and watching everyone else stomp it out...MAY have! but my daddy didn't raise no quitter and i honestly couldn't let that chick behind me pass!

anyhow - all of this is to say that we did it!! despite all mental tapes telling us otherwise, despite our legs wanting to pack it in and despite that running on a trail proved to be much more challenging than anticipated...we did it! and we also may have been just as excited about our accomplishment as we were about shopping at costco without children...maybe?!

so, thanks again lisa for stompin' the bark mulch with me!


and... who could forget to congratulate their lil' sis' on her completion of her first half marathon? not i!

way to go melis!!

and...if anyone has any clue why this 21.1 proved to be so challenging for us (running on trail, after training on road)...feel free to enlighten me!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

...missing you...

...missing your hugs
...missing your laugh
...missing your advice
...missing your sense of humor
...missing your smell
...missing see you sitting in your chair whenever I came home
...missing knowing what you would think of Jim
...missing you being able to hold my babies
...missing getting your encouraging letters in the mail
...missing your whistling
...missing your crafty dinner concoctions
...missing your "glue" that helps hold us all together
...missing hearing my girls call you "Papa"
...missing your quiet confidence in me
...missing your belief in my dreams and abilities
...missing my hero
...missing you

10 years ago today my world changed. 10 years ago I lost my Dad to a sudden heart-attack. Every year since then October 15th has been a dreaded date. Today we celebrated that number by marking my Dad's grave site with a headstone...something that doesn't hold too much significance for us, knowing that he is in a far better place, but a marker of his existence. Being there today was hard, I felt as though I had to hold it together for the girls, for Jim. I haven't been back since that fateful day...even seeing his name there in the stone...harder than I was thinking it would be.
I stayed strong all day...now it's my time to vent and the floodgates are open...what else can I say? Today we celebrated the memory of an incredible man, one who believed he could make a difference and acted on that belief, one who stood in the face of adversity and told it where to go, a man whose presence, intimidating to some, was nothing but a source of comfort to me, a man whose confidence was passed onto his children, my Dad.

...to you, Dad...to all you were and taught me to be...thank-you...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

...wordless wednesday...

Monday, October 12, 2009

{thankful}

well, the weekend is over! we had a chance to do lots of things as a family, i've gotten out for my long run, jim got loads of work done on the house and my freezer is now the proud owner of 16. dozen. freshly. baked. buns!! white AND brown! i love my bosch machine!

so, we're thankful. for this extended weekend, for family time, for food and for time to get together with family!

{who's there?}

{excited to surprise family with her new look}

{my beautiful Granny...what a matriarch}

{our feast...always enough to feed more}

{my contribution to the feast - caramel pumpkin cheesecake...MMM}

{my dessert-loving #2}

{mmm...this looks yummy}

{let's partake}

{time to sit back and...relax}

{a couple of my uncles...many more where these guys come from!}

{sparklers}
i love avery's face in the above photo - her mouth just looks open, but she is belting out her rendition of "happy birthday" which sounds like "happytoyou"

{so pretty}

{awestruck}

{mummy's idea of a good time...turned bad when someONE decided she had to touch it}
and yes, that's exactly why this photo is so out of focus, i was just cluing in to what was taking place! bad mummy...

{insert beautiful family photo here}

yup, it was one of those nights, i so badly wanted to get a family picture and when i thought of it, the timing was bad. when the timing was good, i didn't think of it! argh...oh well, you know what we look like!

so, thus ends my attempt at sharing with you a bit of what my weekend held. but i may also be slightly avoiding my upcoming reality. and blogging about the past may just well be my ticket to denying the future. not that the future is bad, but i can't say, with 100% certainty, that it's good. so, i'd rather...blog! as for my impending future...i kick off the five week stint of teaching parents tomorrow night at 5pm! wish me luck. if you feel so inclined, send up a little prayer for me too...thanks in advance!

and, in the fashion of my embracing (no matter how reluctant) the unknown, i urge to to try something this week that you have been wanting to do, but putting off. try something that scares you. do that one thang that you know you should have done last week.

...and enjoy it!


Third time's a charm...I think;)

Okay, I caved!

Ever since Karys' first hair-cut she has been asking for it to be "showter." I have been able to hold her off with a stream of examples as to why it would be best to keep it long. On Saturday my only example I could think of was that for ballet she wouldn't be able to wear it in a bun..."Well, we can wear a head-band Mummy!"

No dice! I could hold her off no longer! So, we got the final approval from Daddy and had to wait a few hours to make sure it was exactly what she wanted! She wouldn't stop asking "Can we cut it now??" *sigh*...okay, fine! You win...! And honestly, it's just hair and it will grow back, but the long locks are so "young" looking! A nice little hair-cut makes one look so much like a "little lady." I guess I am trying to hold onto the idea of her remaining "little." A fleeting hope, I suppose!

So...what do you think??

...eager anticipation...

...doesn't look like much, does it...


... TA-DA!!...

...my little lady...

And I figured, while I was at it, I may as well give Avery the necessary trim I had been avoiding! I may be one who resists change...if you haven't noticed:)

...all scruffy...

...getting it prepped...

...excited for the unknown! She had no idea what I was doing!...

...just a trim...

...done deal...

...a healthy trim...

...the end results...

...such a ham-bone...

...two trimmed up babes...

So, it's done! And Karys loves her new do! I mean she looooves it! And that's good right?? Avery has no idea that anything is different about her look, and that's good too! I guess I am just having a hard time letting go of my vision of my first baby with her beautiful, long locks. "Get over it!!"...right? I know...and I will! It's just taking me longer than anticipated!

Stay tuned for further posts about our Thanksgiving weekend...

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

wordless wednesday






Tuesday, October 6, 2009

life...these days

okay...so i won't bother trying to come up with anything witty. should something pop into my head while i'm typing, i'll certainly include it, but considering the current chaos i like to call 'life' - simply getting in a post is an accomplishment in itself!

what chaos you ask...well, i just began a new job this past september, while we were packing up our belongings and moving into our new house. with that new job came several meetings where i was getting an idea of the new 'crew' i'd be working with as well as this week and a half long stint of 'full-time' work which has me working with a team of people. we are sweeping the coast from one end to the other and testing each and every kindergarten student, getting an idea of the level of learning with which they are entering school. ...sounds fun right?! well, it's half way done and my girls (and jim) couldn't be more excited! i don't have any idea how i survived working 5 days/week last year!! by God's grace...for sure! and also, by His grace, i am blessed to have gotten a job this year that allows me (most of the year) to spend my days with the girls, and be working at night!

...and that's the abridged version!! but we're surviving...and thriving! we're here in our home that we have been waiting to be in for over 3 months! we're here and settling in, enjoying being 'just us 4', exploring our neighborhood, trying to put our own stamp on this place! oh right...and working full-time...for the moment;)

so...not too sure how else to segway into a smattering of photos other than to say...get a load of our new place!!

a view from the driveway

front entrance

our 'doormen'

front entrance

living room

dining room...sort of


the kitchen nook

pantry

the kitchen...with my lovely m.i.l. cleaning

the stairs...obviously

girls' room

our room

the 'deck-porch'...as karys likes to call it

our jungle...errr, i mean yard

more yard

my new best friend

fine dining on our first evening of cleaning

the view from my kitchen window

our first sunset...there have been many more beautiful ones since!

setting things up...the girls are a TAD excited

settling in...








our end of the cul-de-sac...can't see the house because of the humongous trailer

and the work begins...

no more fiberglass cover over the entrance...

...or forest in front of our bedroom window


a bit less of a jungle

basement...no more

getting rid of everything...but the bare essentials

getting in on some of the action...

and after a long day's work, Avery is our source of entertainment...
"say cheese while riding Duke"!

this is her smiling for the camera

and finally...another beautiful sunset

so...that's it. that's life these days. if you've stuck with me through all these pictures...thanks:) i can NOT believe that thanksgiving is this weekend, i have had no chance to even think about preparing for it mentally or physically - but all will come together and we have much for which to be thankful!