Mother's Day 2011

This was the Mother of all Mother's Days. That is for certain.

I kind of suspected that something was up because Brad was acting a little odd and, even giddy, at the idea of me spending Saturday night soaking in a tub while he got to wrestle all the kids in their baths and then into bed.

The next morning he was up bright and early and got the kids out of their beds. "Making me breakfast? Probably. I should at least be able to sleep in until 8am . . . "or so I thought.

At 7am the doors to our bedroom burst open and a parade of gifts came in with Brad leading the way, camera in hand. Each child was holding a bag from a different store. Coincidentally, my favourite stores. "Trust me, you'll want to wake up early today!" Brad beamed.

First came the home-made gifts: a pop up card from Jackson, a hand-painted flower pot with Hershey's kisses from Jayden, a drawing from Avery. Then there was a cuisinart from Williams Sonoma, a Pottery Barn bag housed a small potted plant, the Banana Republic bag had mens' socks in it (maybe to throw me off?), Holt Renfrew had some chap stick in it (at $15 it was the cheapest thing in the store), and then a large jewelry bag had four cards and some jewelry cleaner in it. I must admit, the bag was large so I was expecting a silver plate or crystal drinkware so something . . . but to find jewelry cleaner? I was stumped. I searched for the "IOU coupon" for something, but before I could find anything Brad told me to check under my pillow for the present of my dreams.

A neatly wrapped box with a heavy inner box held a delicate, ever-so-sparkly diamond ring. And, most certainly, it was the one of my dreams.

I was stunned. Speechless. I scanned the room for a security guard who would no doubt ask for the ring back, but there were none.

"It's on loan," said Brad. My heart sank at the thought of having to give it up. (Fortunately, for me anyway, there aren't any jewelers who loan rings out to anyone less than a celebrity so this was indeed mine to keep.)

The rest of the morning was spent admiring my home made gifts . . . in the light of brilliant sparkles coming from my finger . . . and eating french toast and bacon.

I think the only way it could have been more perfect is if Brad had lent me a hair brush before the big photo shoot. (Apparently the hair fairy did quite a number on me the night before--sorry no face shots of the day, I'm too vain!)

This year, Brad certainly won the "Best Husband of the Millenia" award.

What's New?

Yes, cyberworld, it has been a very long time since you heard anything substantial from me.


"What's new?" you ask?


Well, let's see . . .


Life has been rather busy. April brought some house parties: Pampered Chef and a baby shower. Soon followed by a quick trip to Houston for Easter. We came home and hit the ground running with our anniversary, the Royal Wedding, and (monthly) federal election catching our attention. Mother's Day brought the onset of Birthday Season and I'm just holding on tight, hoping to make it through . . . and somehow find a way to enjoy it.

The House:

Well, getting everything "finished-ish" by the end of March just didn't happen. I'm not even sure my new goal of May is plausible. Maybe by June though!

Our neighbour tipped us off on a great deal for granite and we are getting that put in next Tuesday! It's very exciting, but sent me in a bit of a tizzy since I wasn't planning on finishing our kitchen for another year and therefore haven't looked at what I liked/wanted. Now I'm trying to figure it all out with in a week or two, screaming kids in tow, and on a tight budget. Hopefully it will work out and I'll have some great photos to show.

Grass . . . our neighbours to the left are moving in at the end of May and bubbled with excitement to let me know that grass will be coming SO soon! Like in June!! My heart sank. JUNE?? I have six 6-year old boys coming to my house next Friday and was really hoping I'd have grass for them. Not to mention that it's been over a year and a half without a yard and we have all gone crazy. Legally, they have until July 9th to put it in for us and I really will not be surprised if I don't see real sod on our property until July 8th.

Jayden:
Has been doing well in school, particularly enjoying science and recess. During recess he is one of the best spies for the boys' side, allowing them to conquer the playground wars.

At home, he likes to watch endless Star Wars episodes and read to his siblings. Soccer has also started up for him and he is thrilled about it. That and pulling construction debris onto our property to make "forts" in our mud pit.

Jackson:
Lost his first tooth the other day. (The tooth fairy must have been kicking himself, er herself, for dropping a $20 for Jayden's first tooth and now having to keep it up for the next child.) Needless to say, he was excited that he can now buy 1.5 Bakugan packs.

Jackson has really had a great month because he learned how to ride his bike on two wheels! I'm not sure who's facial excitement was more entertaining to watch: his or Avery's when she saw her big brother riding around without training wheels.

Avery:
Has been preparing to enter kindergarten next year. She has been working really hard on mastering "getting dressed by herself" and "putting her shoes on by herself".

Her interests lie almost exclusively in mermaids, princesses, and long flowy blonde hair (a la Repunzel).

Liv:
Our little baby has been working hard to become a toddler. She pulls herself up on everything she can and has learned the stairs exceptionally well. Fortunately, she still calls me close when she wants to climb up and doesn't do it without a spotter yet. She has also figured out how to use her dragon toy (see her birthday post) as a walker and LOVES it. Although, she does require A LOT of applause before she will perform any feat. Liv enjoys walking when someone is holding her hands for support.

Speaking of hands and support, Liv understands the importance of protecting her hands at all times. Since she does most of her getting around on all fours, she insists on protecting her hands with any one's shoes she can get a hold of. Good thing I ordered an extra pair of shoes for her the last time we bought shoes!!

Her teeth are growing in like weeds, she even has a molar . . . or is it a premolar??

Favourite pass times include playing with puppets (where she makes noises for them as the dance around), talking on the phone, climbing stairs, and "protecting her hands".

Brad:
Has enjoyed a recent "Tennis Camp" with his dad and brothers. After seeing how tired he was from working so hard and doing so much for us and everyone else, I thought he could use the weekend to sleep without disruptions and relax on a beach . . . for his birthday present.

Brad has also earned the "Awesome-est Husband of the Millenia" award after this past Mother's Day/anniversary.

Me:
As I ran from one soccer field to the next to the next (after spending my week running from one tile shop to the next to the next), I realized that I deserve the "Super Mom" award for even attempting to try to stay on top of everyone's activities, life events, and the house. Oh, and that volunteering to help coach a soccer team just might be out of my reach for this year. Kind of thinking it just might be a bit much. Honestly, I hope that when my kids grow up and realize that I wasn't really at ANY of their soccer games to cheer them on, I hope they understand why. I just couldn't split myself in three . . . and at the very least, I BROUGHT them to the field so that they COULD play.

texas

Over the Easter Holidays, we took a trip out to visit my brother and his family out in Houston.

We had a great time visiting everything his city had to offer . . . in our short four days. We went to the malls (of course!), ate some awesome American food (La Madeliene anyone?? Mmmm. Pei Wei.), spent time relaxing at my brother's pool, and took a trip out to NASA and Kemah.

NASA was really interesting. The kids loved the simulators and looking at real rockets. The adults were sad that we didn't leave enough time to do the tram tour. It sounded really interesting since you got to visit the astronaut training facility and old mission control. However, Jackson was picked as the volunteer to show us what life is like on a space shuttle and that was very entertaining!

Kemah was cool too. Again, wishing we had more time. A board walk with some amusement rides and games. We took a hurried photoshoot for my brother's family here. Wish we had had some more time though because the back drop was amazing as far as pictures are concerned!

While in town we also met up with a long-time friend and her kids. It was fun for the kids to meet the person who is most often on the other end of the phone! (Shelley and I might talk frequently.) Again, I took a quick photoshoot for them . . . the heat was pretty crazy. Especially since back home people were still wearing winter coats and gloves!!

It was definitely a fun trip and we will have to go back.

(Oh, do check back because as I continue sifting through millions of photos from last few months, I will be posting other pics from this trip . . . like Jackson the astronaut.)

Saw this,

thought it was pretty funny. Or maybe sad??

Enjoy!

Finally!

We have grass!

Did you miss it? Here's a close up.

Green blades started springing up a few weeks ago when the ice age finally came to an end. However, I'm a little upset that our neighbours who moved in almost a year after us some how ended up with more grass.

Perhaps we will have to do a little "Fun With Dick and Jane" lawn treatment.

Oh, please someone give us a real lawn!! It's the middle of May and I see no hope of landscapers near our place. Oh, and a flat back yard. Currently, we have a four foot drop to a diagonal 45 degree drop 30 ft (the extent of our yard) to the drain in the corner.