2LittleSarlandies

viex

2009-08-26T21:39:00.001-07:00

IMG_0085
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

it's not a fair unless you get your face painted!

I'm back....

2009-03-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

this whole blogging thing, i'm so not good at it ;-)

i think that i am going to mix it up soon.
keep this blog for my own reflections as a mom/woman/etc.
and start 2 more, one for each of the kids, since AJ keeps asking to 'log all our good times together on the computer', we'll see.
some peeps have a knack for blogging :-)

Happy Spring!!

Hilo, HI

2009-03-27T19:10:00.001-07:00

Pearl Harbour

2009-03-25T11:02:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Graciekins

2008-12-01T17:56:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Grace. I Can't believe you are FIVE already!

the countdown is on

2008-11-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

In one, yes 1, more week and my Baybee will be FIVE!!! Jeez Louise, it seems that it wasn't that long ago she was running around here in her nanppy's... I am not ready for both my kiddos to be so 'old', heehee. Time to accept it I suppose. This is the first year that she will get a 'real' birthday party with schoolmates. Hopefully it all turns out, the house isn't that big ;-)

Part 1

2008-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

I've started taking pictures, in search of the HOLIDAY CARD SHOT.
This old computer is next to useless, no editing program on here and all programs take forever to use. I've loaded some of the pix to facebook. Hopefully I'll get to edit them in Photobucket.....
It was acutally fun, AJ is the ultimate ham. He even directs me on what to take pics of next, posing himself....

'Tis The Season....for xmas props

2008-11-11T19:47:00.001-08:00

It was an impromtu photo shoot. Here are some of the pics, none are edited :-o yet....

I couldn't resist the 1.25 brick decoration from the dollar store

2008 ornament

mini easel... Grace wrote the words, the drawing is a christmas tree by aj

goings on

2008-11-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

Princess Grace
"Dark " Vadar

AJ before Cousin's par-tay

She looks so pouty here, she was a happy camper this day...

Lookin' all sauve

I've so lost the blogging mojo. Ha.

I have to say the kiddos are doing so much better in the sibling dept. I think it's partly they're older and the fact that they don't all day, every day together anymore. Right now they are playing with the stuffies, who knows what the game is. I do know that girly sounds very bossy.

Does a picture really say a thousand words?

2008-10-20T13:46:00.001-07:00

As you probably already heard, AJ broke his left arm on Saturday afternoon. We were just about to leave for Ucluelet when it happened. Excuse the poor quality first pic, that is from Sat. and he was sleeping. The others are from today, the last being my dad opening his gift.
AJ has now had his first "never again" experience, he keeps saying he's never jumping off chairs again! Grace has turned into a green monster, I am actually surprised since we've never seen this side of her. Even though she got to spend time alone with her nanny then her daddy yesterday, and I brought her home a play mobil figurine. What can you do? She just doesn't 'get' that he really hurt himself and we had to pay that attention to him, going to the hospital etc.
3 weeks and we go back and have the cast removed. Today, I finally convinced AJ to bath = which meant convincing him to take his shirt off. I ended up cutting it off, since it was too small to fit over the cast.

New Month

2008-10-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

A brand new month, 10th month 1st day today.
It is definetly fall out there, chilly in the morning, almost time to defrost the car in the morning. What do we have planned for this lovely month?
The hubby is going to China on the weekend. For a NAMM show. Hopefully that is a good experience for him and the company. (If you want, ask me about his schmauzlle he's in...) I'm working the one weekend this month. My dad will be 70 on the 20th. My brother and his girlfriend are going to be visiting as well. My nephew will be 2 on the 30th.
Of course, Halloween ends this month. This year I've got it in my head that I'm going to make the costumes this year. Other than that, not much going on.

New Due

2008-09-30T12:50:00.001-07:00

Mama's got a new do'!

I was getting tired of my old hair cut. So I went to the cheapo hairdresser and then the Wal Mart and bought the hair dye. Me likey ;-)

Don't mind the self portrait....I didnt' take a before pic, however there is 1 photo on this blog,, form ahem, my birthday.

What happens in 7.5 hrs?

2008-09-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Really what does happen in 7.5 hrs?
7.5 hours is the total time the kids are in school. They get on the bus shortly before 8am and are returned to us on the bus at about 330pm. Who knows what happens in that time...
Everyday, I ask what their day was like, what happened, anything funny, etc.
Guess what thier answers are..........

Done guessing?

Well your guesses are as good as mine!
The standard answer is "I dont know" "I forget" "Nothing"
But is that really possible? They spend the majority of thier day at school, something must happen there.

I lie.
This past week they did spend alot of time telling us about Terry Fox and the Terry Fox Run.
Grace even showed me how he ran, and that is how they were going to have to run on their run at school....
Fast forward to last night, Grace let me know that they did not have to run like Terry did, they were allowed to run 'normally'.

Fall '08

2008-09-22T21:25:00.001-07:00

Fall '08
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

Yep, AJ is such a ham. He know's the photo game, you should see all the Froggy Pictures I'v got now.... He always got input on 'props' and 'posing', it's too funny. I can just see him as a future photographer, he's got a 5 yrs experience as a Handsome Model :-)

Girly

2008-09-22T21:22:00.001-07:00

Girly
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

Taking more pics around town yesterday. Fall is definelty here!

In the new office

2008-09-15T20:08:00.001-07:00

4000 Stamp Avenue, Port Alberni BC.

We have the nicest office. Yep, it's true. I was actually looking forward to going to work last night. I've got a view of the River, we get to watch the Black Bears swim, waddle, etc. I *heart* my office. Here's some pics. I should have taken a better one of the outside. Oh well. I also inherited a mini fridge, and sink (it was a coffee room before).

Picture Overload

2008-09-15T19:57:00.001-07:00

wowzers, uploaded a ton of pics.... Haven't done so in about 2 weeks. Most of these ones are of Graces first day of kindergarten.Which is going well btw. Today she said that her & Destiny weren't allowed to sit with each other on the bus, in other words they are LOUD.

Back to School '08

2008-09-15T19:25:00.001-07:00

Back to School '08
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

On the 1st day of school, going to grade 1.......

lol

2008-09-15T19:24:00.001-07:00

lol
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

cracking up...

school game

2008-09-15T19:23:00.003-07:00

school game
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

:-)

Bus stop

2008-09-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

Bus stop
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

waiting for the bus

Waiting for the bus

2008-09-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

Waiting for the bus
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

LOL, Grace gutting herself cause she's still wearing PJ's

>Insert Titile Here<

2008-09-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, everyone said I looked just like my mom. Did I like that? No, I wanted to look like myself-not my mom. Careful what you wish for, I no longer look just like my mom and now look just like my dad.
Umm, when did that happen? Sheesh. I was out tonight, at the Tseshaht dance practice. And one of my (old) relatives on my dads side, came up to me and said, are you Earl Mundys daughter, you look just like him. Sounding like an accusation, I smiled... which brought a quick, you even smile just like him.
I get Grace looks just like you. I wonder if she thinks of this as a positive or negative?
Who do you look like? Does you kiddo look just like you?
If I could find a driver for the scanner/printer I would post pics of me as a kid and my folks. For now, you'll just have to take my word ;-)

All good things must come to an end

2008-09-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

:-(

After 3 great, awesome, restfull, fun weeks off, I had to go back to work today....

Shucks, I really do wish things would work out so I could be a SAHM, sure was nice to be the one to pick the kids up after school.. oh well.

This is our last week in the old office. Sat. we're moving to a nicer, bigger, better office. Right on the river, that'll make it hard to work. Plus, instead of a 10min drive I will have a 2 min. drive.

Now I've got to pack my office up. Hey did I say I will have my own office now? Yep,movin on up. My office is on the 2nd floor.

WTF?

2008-09-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so that is not what AJ said.

We were in the car yesterday, me driving - the kids in the very back. AJ shouts up to me, 'What day was I born mom?' I said Dec.10. AJ indignantly says 'WHAT, on my birthday?'

hahaha, OK so maybe it's only funny to me, as his mom. I thought that was priceless.

Heading straight towards Middle Childhood, Oh My!

2008-09-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the kiddies are both in elementary school now. Jeez Louise where did the time go? I think 'letting go', of the kids - on the bus by themselves, to all-day school, was one of the hardest things I've had to do as a mom. The hubby just shakes his head, since all kids go to school, and they all manage... I said, AJ's out there on his own, he's such a copy cat, impulsive, he'll get into trouble. Yep he says, but he'll learn- hopefully ;-)
Tuesday I drove AJ, showed Grace her class and teacher. Wed. AJ took the school bus, like a big boy, all by himself. Yesterday was Graces first day of kindergarten, she took the school bus with AJ; we told AJ he HAD to sit with his sister, at the very least on the way to school. He reluctantly did, ya' know he's got friends to sit with now.... I had asked T. to come with me when I bring the kids to the bus stop, thinking he would decline. Nope, he did come home from work to go with us to the bus stop :-D AJ loves his grade 1 class, says it's Fantabulous. I hope he never loses his love for school. Grace said she had fun in her class. There are 2 other kindergarteners at our bus stop, that is nice. Will post pix later, gator.

A lazy day

2008-08-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday today. Didn't do much, some laundry, some dishes, went to the toonie matinee & watched Kung fu panda. AJ was being a spaz, punching me and shouting. Resulting in him in time out. It really bothers me that AJ continues to punch- ugh. we're working on it, it probably doesnt' help that Thierry is never home to help parent, spend time with, teach AJ. Oh well.

Tomorow I must really do the laundry, and who knows what else we'll do. I want to do something with all the photoprints, I bought a nice photostorage unit thingamabob,

And we're home

2008-08-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

From our galavanting. Here's links to the pix
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153566&l=7cdb6&id=529740511
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150194&l=04f7c&id=529740511
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150192&l=4e3a3&id=529740511

We've had a blast. Our trip to Vancouver was with Nanny Annie. We went to the Zoo, Aquarium, Ikea, Imax. And stayed at the Pan Pacific.

After that, we were home for 3 days then hit the road again.
The kids and I went to Orlando, to go to WDW. Now that was fun, I would move there no problem. Only other time I've felt to 'normal' is when I'm on prednisone.

Now it's the *last* long weekend of summer, boo hoo. Tuesday AJ starts Grade 1 and Thursday Grace starts Kindergarten. AJ lost his 2nd tooth tonight, he was happy about that- anything to be a Big Boy.

T-11hours

2008-08-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

11 hours & we'll be off.Our clothes are layed out, the bags are packed and in the car. The kids are so excited and happy to go to Vancouver, especially since Nanny Nanny is going with us.
We've got 3 fun days planned. Can hardly wait myself ;-)

Feeling Angry

2008-08-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I'll type in red, to emphasize my feeling so of anger.
For what?
For having a chronic, on-going, never ending disease.
A disease that brings pain, phyiscal inability, sleepless nights.
UGH!!!! Today I just feel so upset, having a 'why me' kinda day.
I've been doing quite well for the past couple of months,
for whatever reason I'm having a flare.
Flares remind me of my limitations, that it has and probably will
continue to get worse. Bleh.
The majority of time I am OK with this, it is has how it has been for
the most of my life. But not today, today I'm not OK with this.
The kids know that I have (rheumatoid) arthritis. AJ is more empathic.
When they hear of medicines to treat RA, AJ immediately pays
attention, and lets me know about it. It's too bad that the claims they make
were 100% true. It also breaks my heart, that AJ really wants my 'arfritis' to
get better, for me to be OK. Even though I've told him it is forever, and
that is they way it is, and Mama is OK - she just does things differently.
They know that you have to give mama 'gentle' high fives, Mama can't
carry you.

So today, I'm angry there's no cure.
But tomorrow is a new day.
It's times like these, I like the Serenity Prayer....

Last day of Daycare! woo hoo

2008-08-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the kids last day of daycare. They are stoked about this. Who knew daycare is a suckee place to be?They are under the impression that daycare is for babies. And we all know that when you are 4 and 5 you are no longer a baby ;-)

Friday is my first day of vacation time, I will be off until Sept.8/08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They kids will start school on Sept.2. Once I am back to work, I will drop them off at the bus pick up (wait with them til the bus gets there), then Dad will be the one to pick them up from the bus. Hence, not needind daycare anymore. I'll have to figure out Pro-Days, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

For their last hoora at daycare, I've bought a Rocky Road Bar/tray, No I did not take time to bake something....

Friday, we'll stick at home, get the laundry and housework done. Then Sat. morning leave with MIL and the kids to Duke Point. Go to Van. for a couple of days. MIL won 2 nights at the Pan Pacific. Nice digs.
Sat. hopefully we'll get to go to Splashdown park and the zoo.
Sun. the Aquarium, IKEA-no trip to the mainland is complete with out that, the Mall with H&M, then maybe a movie at the IMAX.
Mon, we're heading back, but before the ferry we'll hit the PNE.

Photobucket'd Pics...

2008-08-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

Misc. Pix

2008-08-10T11:17:00.001-07:00

Grace at Sprout Lake 2008

Grace at long beach
Sleeping Beauties
Chillaxin on the couch, before bed.
AJ Contemplating Life. At Sprout Lake 2008
No Ryhme or Reason for this post. All the pictures are from the point and shoot camera

RIP 'Aunty' Johnny

2008-08-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now, I see. T'was Grace that taught...my heart to fear.And Grace, my fears relieved.How precious did that Grace appear...the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares...we have already come.T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...and Grace will lead us home. The Lord has promised good to me...His word my hope secures.He will my shield and portion be...as long as life endures. When we've been here ten thousand years...bright shining as the sun.We've no less days to sing God's praise...then when we've first begun. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now, I see"

26JAN1935~03AUG2008, We'll miss you lots!

Remember those days....

2008-08-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Of running, just cause you can
Playing outside til the sun went down, cause that was what summer was about
The dog days of summer when all you worried about was playing with your friends again in the morning.

We were at the park before bedtime tonight, and all those happy childhood summer memories came flooding back to me. Who knows why, could have been because it was so peaceful, because the kids were so happy- giggling & running about, could have been because it was a beautful sunny summer evening.

I'm feeling so happy & content at this moment. Feelin' all nostalgic, sentimental, appreciative of all the good we have in our lil' ole lives.

On our way out of the park, I asked the kids if they would be my 'buddies' forever, if they would be embarrased. Of course they said they would be buddies and not be embarrased. However, Grace wanted it to be known to me that I must let her babies do whatever they want- then she'll be my buddy forever. OK Grace, I've marked that down; SPOIL, SPOIL, SPOIL Graces babies!!!

Once again no pics, darn- the sun light at the park would have made some awesome shots too.... oh well.

Nothing New

2008-08-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Haven't blogged all week. Not much happened. The kids spent a couple nights at my moms. We did a very quick trip to Victoria. Yesterday, stayed at home & did housework. Today we went Mini Golfing this morning then went to Englishman River Falls.

Believe it or not, I did not take one single photo this week! :-)

Best thing, it's a 3 day weekend, woo hoo.

Weekend Fun

2008-07-27T21:27:00.001-07:00

We spent the weekend in Ukee, as it was Ukee Days. We left Friday after work, and when we got there got some of the Salmon Dinner BBQ action. It was good! Yum. Saturday, I thought we ought to go to the pancake breakfast, then meet up with friends to watch the parade. Ha. the line up to the breakfast took us an hour to navigate. An Hour people! We were good and hungry by the time we got our pancakes. Once we chowed them down, we had enough time to get to the road and see the end of the parade. Lunch we spent with Granny on her lunch break. Then headed back to the fair grounds, were the kids had fun on the bouncy tents.

Today, we went to the beach & the playground in Tofino. AJ was super brave, he surprised me byh going down the big slide head first. The first time he cried, then did it again & again without crying.

Anyways, here are some of the pics from this weekend. It was fun...

Our Town

2008-07-24T15:56:00.001-07:00

Every summer the town of Port Alberni host's Our Town events, every second week in July & August. The events are Free & Fun. The kids really enjoyed the majic show. The events all have a theme and are held in different City Parks in Port Alberni.

summer 2005

2008-07-22T21:51:00.001-07:00

Top 10- Summer List

2008-07-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

10: Daylight til Late

9. Summer Festivals

8. Sunny Days

7. Summer Clothes

6. BBQ's

5. The Lake

4. No School

3. Our Town Events

2. Slip n' Slide

1. Vacation Time

LOOKEE WHAT I FOUND

2008-07-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

The USB cablel for the camera! woohoo. I had no idea i still had it. I just happened to stumble on it. How cool is that? I've been having a good week. Also, all this time I've been tormented by uploading pics here- you can upload more than 1 pic at a time. Who knew?

Out of the mouthes of Babes...

2008-07-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today AJ, Grace & myself hopped in the car and drove to Duncan to attend their Inter-Tribal Pow-wow. (By the way, the drive went off without a hitch, woo hoo). It was quite warm, Poor Grace was sweating like a dog. Do dogs sweat? FYI- if you ever go, you need to bring you own chairs & shade. Yep, learnt that one the hard way. I think we were the only one's on the grass in the baking sun. Luckily enough, a family sat beside us. They planned ahead, & had chairs and an umbrella. The lucky part, their umbrella cast shade onto us. Another lucky part of our day, right beside the umbrella family was the singers. Now for the funny part.........

We sitting & listening to the MC. He said, No taking photographs of the dancers without their permission. Fast forward about 20min. A lady behind us, asked if she could take a picture of Grace, she really liked her shoes. Grace would not let her, she then whispered to me, she's not supposed to be taking pictures. (Sorry, it's lost it's funniness in typing- or it's I'm not a funny typer?)

Blue Screen of Death

2008-07-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

That is what the IT guys calls it at work. You know, that blue error screen you get right before you computer shuts itself down then 'recovers from a serious ...' So, i think it is a matter of time before this laptop packs it in as well. The PC still won't find a IP address, so the internet won't work on there. I've spent lots of time talking to the TELUS techs, only for them to send out a guy. Who decided I needed new fliters, um No. Who knows how much more Internet access I will have over the next while. I am quite computer needy. This laptop does have access to the Internet but no photo editing programs and does not have a compact flash driver, the over computer has editing programs, flash drive but no internet. I bought floppy disks to save pics on from the PC to put on the laptop, only to find out that the PC does not have a floppy drive-who knew? What I am trying to say is, it's not so easy uploading & editing pics in this house right now. And it seems that I just may be Internetless in the near future.

Aerial of Vancouver Island

2008-07-17T21:46:00.001-07:00

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-07-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Rants from a Working Mom

2008-07-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

I don't wanna go to work...

Mornings are always a rush. Every morning I push the envelope to sleep in that much more. Doesn't help the cause though, then I've got to rush or be late.

Days when it is nice and sunny, it is super hard to go to work, when I'd rather be at the lake with the kids, or doing other fun summer things.

Nights are busy too. Soon as we get home it's supper time, & You know that AJ needs to eat the moment we get into the door. After supper it's clean up, bath time for someone, reading time, then bedtime for the kids. After which I ought to get ready for the morning, which I almost never do.... Just think 35 more years of work!!!

Back to Reality

2008-07-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

Back to Reality today. The kids had daycare all day. I was super surprised that they didnt fuss when i dropped them off thismorning. I think that was a first, esp. for being off for the past 2 weeks. It is always nice to pick them up, they always have a big smile and giant hug! Sheesh, AJ does not do all day day-care well at all! He is a mega-bear by 430pm. But what'dya gonna do? About 4.5 more weeks then we are off for 2 weeks. Not much new. It wasn't nearly as warm here as it has been the past few days.

2008-07-13T18:52:00.001-07:00

2008-07-13T18:39:00.001-07:00

2008-07-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

Mama Hates Housework

2008-07-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

It is true, This Mama hates housework. I grudgingly keep it up. The current state of the house is good. (mostly cause the kids were at my folks for all those days, which means there was no one going behind me after cleaning.....) The laundry is mostly done, still have the blankets & sheets to wash. Rooms are tidy, floors clean.

There are still some projects, organizational in type, that need to be done. I am thinking of putting them aside until I have 3 weeks off in Aug/Sept. (this is the procrastination I have trouble with).

This Mama wants to know who actually likes housework, and why?!

Going to Granny's

2008-07-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Grace is already at Granny's. That leaves, AJ, Myself & hubby left to go. Hubby is in the shower as i type, then we'll be leaving. Spend 1 night in UKEE. Then tomorrow we'll come back in my dad's boat & my mom will drive the car home for us. Perfect weather for it too. Bonus, we'll boat past the TALL SHIPS in the Port ALberni harbour. Should be fun. I love boat riding.

AJ Lost 1st Tooth!

2008-07-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog this! AJ lost his first baby tooth on June 29, 2008!!! Yep, we were all quite excited about this memorable moment! I was worried how AJ was going to handle it, you just never know what is going to upset him. (S.I.D. is tiring people :-s)
Nonetheless, AJ was eager to go to bed that night. He was under the impression that the ToothFairy operates like Santa, in that he thought she took requests. Um, no. I let him know that when I was a kid, we got 1 moose money*, and maybe with inflation/that he handled it well he may get 2 moose money*.

*Moose Money = AJ term for a quarter.

SUMMER!

2008-07-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Summer really is here. I am so happy. It has been nice and sunny and warm all week. Lake Days are ahead of us. The chillin' love the water, lake, pool, sprinkler-aything will do. I'd show ya' pictures, but still have issues - this laptop does not have a media center. So only way I'll get pics onto here is if I go to Walmart- photo center and save them on disk. I don' t know what the kids fave summer activities are. Although I do bet that it would have something to do with hanging out at Granny's. So far we don't have anymore exciting summer plans. I was going to go on a road trip with the kids. However, plans changed after last weeks excursion to Sunpeaks. AJ was quite the ____ whole way there and back. SO, back to the drawing board. I still would like to go somewhere's, before school starts. If you see any travel dealios, let me know!

kids are at Granny's

2008-07-08T19:52:00.001-07:00

Yip, all week we are kiddo free. Still at work though. Nice to be able to sleep in, a tad bit longer each morning. They love spending time with thier Granny. Going to go enjoy a movie now....

Kindergarten Grad

2008-06-25T19:22:00.001-07:00

Yep, Angelo has Sucessfully completed kindergarten. He will be in Grade 1 this fall. The class had a small, informal celebration today. Parents, Grandparents were all there to witness the end of the year... It was cute, the kids all sang a song, we had a snack, the teacher called them up to get a diploma, then we got to look at the scrapbook of their year in kindergarten. Very nice. Especially since I suck at keeping all those 'momentos' art work, etc. I did take pics; they will live on the camera card until the computer/internet is working properly.

I just can't believe how fast time goes!
Mama is glad that the school year is over. Driving back & forth across town for the love of 2 and a bit hours each day got old quick. Although it was worth it, at the same time I am happy to have my lunch hour back- now I can eat lunch mid day :-)

15%

2008-06-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post, since our puter died, & I am on the laptop. Which would be great, if i knew what the heck happened to the charger for it, right now i've got 15% battery life remaining.
1 more week of school! Yay. Kindergarten is a PITA, for all of 2 and a bit hours a day. Cmon.. Next week is insanely busy, well this whole month has been busy. We did get some really cute pics on the weekend. (for another post, another time). Can't wait for the warm and hot weather to arrive. Still wearing pants/coats/bleh. In anticipation of this 'warm weather' i bought a slip n slide, now that should be fun!

we just watched Kung Fu Panda tonight, cute flick. Everytime they said KUNG FU, Grace would whisper, they just said Kung fu.

who knows when i'll return ;-) Going to spend the 13% surfing the net.

Tassle

2008-06-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

Tassle
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

Only 2 more weeks of school for AJ. Next friday I have volunteered to help chaperone the Kindy's on the school field trip to Rathtrevor beach.
I can' t believe how quickly this school year has gone!
And from here on out, our lives are going to revolve around the school year/breaks. Sheesh.

Angelo

2008-06-12T18:59:00.001-07:00

Angelo
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

Being a Boy = Having to stick you tounge out every time the camera points your way. This weekend we are going to take their mini-grad pics.
I bought AJ a green gown & Grace a maroon gown.

2008

2008-06-12T18:57:00.001-07:00

2008
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

I couldn't resist not buying pre-school 'cap & gown' for the kids.
Sure they are only finishing Kindergarten & Preschool. Just think of the photo op!! (Yes many a purchases are made cause I am thinking 'this would make a good prop for pics").

grace

2008-06-12T18:55:00.001-07:00

grace
Originally uploaded by ibusymama

"Princess" Grace, hamming it up for the cam..

Cow

2008-06-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

On the Opitsaht reserve there are wild cows. Roaming around. Here's one eating.

7th Generation

2008-06-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today, the Prime Minister of Canada S.Harper apologized for the HORRIDNESS of the Residential Schools in Canada. If you didn't see the Apology, here it is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccDrfJeC2zQ

For me, I personally did not go. My Dad did go. My Granny went. Many, many, many other members of my family have gone. As a child I was nieve enough to believe my Granny when she said it was a positive experience. My same Granny that had horrible nightmares, that I can vividly hear to this day. The same Granny that did have troubles with alcohol.

If you didn't already know of the 7th Generation Meaning, there was Pre-contact, Colonialism, then Heal. http://www.iisd.org/7thgen/healing_circle.htm

Here is a time line of Residential School. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/16/f-timeline-residential-schools.html

Many of the people here & in my family went to the Alberni Indian Residential School.
http://www.joejack.com/alberniresidential.html

The thought, hope is that the generations will be healed.
I am so grateful, that I never had to go, and even happier that my children will never have to go.

4-6 year old shots

2008-06-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

Yep, first thing this morning - 8 am - AJ, Grace & I stopped to get the kiddos their 4-6 yr old shots. Not a fun start to the day. I really ought to have had their pappy bring them to the nurse.
They had the 2 saddest faces, & the 2 saddest cries this morning. Man, it is always hard to bring them to get their shots. Bleh. AJ baby'd his arm all day, and was a little warm before bed. Grace was good to go, she however did not turn down the cookie I had with me.

consumerism

2008-06-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Everynight, we watch Scooby-Doo on Teletoon. Everynight, there is either a Pro activ commercial or a Buxton Purse Commercial. Every night, AJ insists that I ought to buy that product. Everynight, AJ falls for the commercial Hook, Line & Sinker....
It is funny, AJ truly believes all the claims they make about their products.

Hug Your Kiddies!

2008-06-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

http://femfilm.ca/film_search.php?film=obomsawin-richard&lang=e
eta: The Richard Cardinal Story ; Cry from a Metis Child diary. (The link didn't work)
I've been doing a Pre-Service Orientation this weekend. The above movie is part of the training. If you haven't seen it, well...
It is heartbreaking. It is Why I am able to do what I do. It is why we need Loving people to open their hearts & homes.

Anyways, after watching the videos we watch, it's always a 'gotta get home to hug the kiddies'.
Hug Yours :-)

17 Days til SUMMER!

2008-06-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

I can't wait til sumer~
It's been a long wait, the dreary cold, wind, rain, etc.
This year will nice, now that the deck is built. Just need to get the fence done.
Ummm, Thierry...........
Ha.

End of this summer, both of my babies will be in Elementary School. Bitter Sweet times!
Grace will start Kindergarten. She has been asking to go everyday since AJ started kindergarten this year. AJ will be in Grade 1! ack. Man o Man. Is he ready, to sit all day in a desk? I guess we'll see. This Friday I've got to get Grace registered for kindegarten.

Here's some pictures from recently. I am so not good at this blogging thing.

rain, rain, and more rain

2008-03-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Will the rain ever end??????????????????????
Actually the rain is wet snow,. yuck.
I need to get to the grocery store tonight too, bleh.
The kids so did enjoy Easter and thier days off school. For whatever reason, I did not get any photos *gulp* *gasp* WHAT?

2nd parent teacher interview

2008-03-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

AJ is doing swell in kindergarten !
He is learning much and is a eager student.
I think he may have stolen the teacher heart ;-)

Mt. Washington

2008-03-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

we had a blast this weekend at Mt.Washington. Mine & the kids 1st time at a ski mountain.
OK- who invented such a thing anyways??? It's dangerous! Ha. Snow tubing is what we chose to do. I thought the snow tube run was ridicuously long- nothing compared to the folks skiing down the ski runs. Frickin crazy fools. Tell ya the truth, when we were at the bottom of the tube run I was very close to chickening out. It is high!!!!!!!! But i already had a lecture from the old man.....
AJ was too nervous to go down- so i volunteered to wait with him at the bottom while Thierry & Grace went down. Grace LOVED it. Yep she's crazy too ;-)
Long story short- we all ended up having fun going down in tubes..

Did I tell ya'?

2008-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

AJ's married.

Yep, that is what he told me on the way to kindergarten. He has gone and Married his buddy Emma.

sick again

2008-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

does it ever end?????????????????????????????????????????

AJ had back to back ear infections, ending with his ear drum bursting.

In between Grace had strep throat and now again.....

It sure sucks to watch the wee ones feel so miserable & out of sorts.

Hopefully that will be the end of this ~~ right now your ROFL aren't ya? not funny, not one bit ;-)

In other news, we are going to go to Mount Washington this weekend. Never been to the mountain before, so this shall be interesting.The kids love staying in hotels & hopefully they'll like tubing and snowshoeing too. I can't wait.

happy post valentines day

2008-02-18T17:29:00.001-08:00

oops, didn't blog last thursday!
Happy Valentines day~
The monkeys absolutley loved it this year, getting and giving Valentines to thier classmates..

2008-01-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

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2008-01-22T19:09:00.001-08:00

sick again for the umteenth time

2008-01-22T16:10:00.000-08:00

Seriously, what is it with the kids & illness???????
AJ was sent home today, for a fever. He wasn't eating and has been lethargic all day long. Right now he is laying on the couch watching Diego (if you know AJ, he usually is ALWAYS moving). Hopefully it passes quickly, mama is tired of the never ending puke/poop/fevers/miserable babies ( yes i know they aren' t babies- but to me they are my babies :-D)
So far Grace is OK, fingers crossed we don't get what AJ has. I think he gets so many bugs from all his licking, yes this child still licks things, puts stuff in his mouth. I think he is making up for lost time, for the first 3 years nothing went in his mouth. Then OT started and at about 4 he started putting things in his mouth, etc.

Today and yesterday we have had some gorgeous weather, nice and sunny. Super cold though/. Wish AJ wasn't so sick so we could be outside enjoying the SUN! I am sooo looking forward to the summer, swimming, maybe going on a road trip to the Grand Canyon or a trip to France. Either way, Summer Time baby! Then Grace will start Kindergarten, can you believe that? Ack, and AJ will be in grade 1. sheesh, where does time go?

rock star in the making

2008-01-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

AJ loves, loves, loves Rock'n'Roll.
Yep he does. Some of his favourites include Guns'n'Roses or as he says "roses and guns", AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Metallica and a host of others. He was a bit bent out of shape when his Dad & I went to the Bon Jovi concert with out him. He is so cute when he sings- usually You give love a bad name. When we went to that concert, I dragged terry to H&M, that's where i bought those pants he's wearing. When i gave them to him he said "i wish they were always clean" according to AJ, those are his rock and roll pants.

while the kids are at preschool

2008-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

The kids are at preschool now, i will head out in about an hour to go pick them up and shuttle AJ to kindergarten. Where he can spend the afternoon with his favourite teacher in the whole world. Mrs.Dawson. She really is a nice teacher, she was my favourite teacher in the whole world when i was in grade 3. Earlier this week she reminded me of how i used to embarass my mom through the daily journals we used to write. um, yeah i remember that- something about beer bottles & my mom liking to drink beer? hmm- MY mom still hasn"t forgotten those journal writing days! Mrs.Dawson did say something a wee bit disturbing...pay back. I didn't ask her to expand and left promptly. Needless to say, I bet AJ is embarassing moi~ I wouldn't doubt it he is a chatty cathy.

On a different note, I got the kids ready and brought them to daycare this morning, went work as usual. there were about 3 people going into the building same time as me. So i went up to our wing, didn't have my key so i sat in the coffee room waiting for my collegues. 1o minutes go by, 15 minutes...no one is here! Then i vaguely remember being told that there is a funeral on Friday, and maybe the office will be closed during the funeral. So i went downstairs and bumped into anther worker, asked if the office was closed. She said yep they told people yesterday. OH. I was off yesterday, nice that the supervisor to call me to tell me not to come into today! ha.
So i decided to use this freetime to my advantage and declutter the kitchen. The cubboards look good, however the floor does not. I've got overflowing boxes of stuff that will need to be brought to Sally-ann. Taking bets now, on how long it will take me to actually bring the stuff there.

2008-01-13T18:07:00.001-08:00

Photobucket Album

who likes to bath?????

2008-01-08T18:18:00.001-08:00

I
Not my 4 year old! Grace really hates bathtime, actually she likes the playing & not the hair washing. What's a mom to do? Bribery, utter threats, let it go, force it, make it fun, trickery????
If you were wondering, she does get her hair washed every other day & she gets a choice- lay down or cover eyes then 1,2,3, (better choose before mom gets to 3 or MOM will CHOOOSE). ha!

on the weather front, it is snowing again! This mama is so ready for Summer time!
I'm dreaming of a sunny summer, filled with inner tubes and bbq's......

A Year in Review

2008-01-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

er
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I still can't believe that we are in 2008, 2008 already?! 2 more years and the winter Olympics will be in my backyard, holy moly batman.
I thought I'd post some pics from 2007, the little monkeys, they do grow so fast, kinda like dandilions.

Ok, changed my mind, takes too long to upload pictures!

This really is a rambling, I think there is an art to blogging....I am not blessed with that talent. I do enjoy reading other peoples blogs.

This winter we have gotten so much more snow than usual. We tend to get 2 snowstorms a year, we've had more than that already. Right now there are gigantic snowflakes - looks like we won't be going to visit Granny Karen after all!
That is what i get for saying, 'no we don't need to buy snowpants'.

On another tangent....
The lil' monkeys are starting to get on me nerves, with their constant shouting, fighting, crying, & onandonandonandon. Well you get the point.

Happy New years!

2008-01-01T19:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years~!
We had a great new years eve, hanging out in Victoria at Bear Mountain. The kids had a blast. You can see the pics on Facebook.
2007 was a awesome year, here's 2008!

more scrapblog

2007-12-24T09:32:00.001-08:00

WOOHOO Scrapblog!

2007-12-23T18:52:00.001-08:00

Aj's Concert/Bday

2007-12-21T18:36:00.001-08:00

4 more sleeps

2007-12-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

The kids are so excited this year. Tonight AJ didn't want to watch a cartoon before bed, because he is practising good sleeping for Christmas eve! We've still got our fingers crossed that we will get a White Christmas....

graces 4thbday

2007-12-02T08:23:00.001-08:00

Can you believe this? ......

2007-12-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

Well I can believe it.

I couldnt remember my password, or the email address to sign in! Ha.

It's a Winter Wonder land today, it's been snowing since last night. Suppose it will be inevitable to go play outside in it today ;-)
I do not think we will be going to Nanaimo today though...

Maybe it'll be a montly blog ;-)

2007-06-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hahahahah. So do not keep up with my intentions to keep on bloggin'

oh well.

Cant' believe it is officially summer, and it is still freaking cold and raining!

So I've been slackin'

2007-05-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

you knew it was going to happen!

So I didn't blog at all in April....

Now it's almost June!

YIKES.

Well, AJ now can:

tell right from left, attempt to tell time, sleep all night *mostly*, know days of the week, most importanly FRIDAY,

Grace can:

Sing very loudly in Indian, pout like there is no tomorow, open door knobs.

I now know about the joys of Ringworm.

It's not really a worm, just a hard to get rid of friggin fungi.

Here's a bunch of pics.

Curlers

2007-03-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

Grace is such a girly girl. She insists on wearing dressess and nylons, night gowns will only do at bedtime, she's even asked to get her ears pierced! The other night after bath i decided to put curlers in her hair. Being the sport that she is, Grace humoured me. Here is the proof:

such a bear

2007-02-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

[seriously]

AJ is such a bear at the end of the day.

everyday.

especially the days when he is at daycare.

When will it end????

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

kids & band aids

2007-02-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

i suppose AJ is no different than any other kid- he is a little band aid obsessed. as you can see the 'farbie' band aids he was sporting today. sorry about the birds eye view to his nose- the band aid on his chin came after he did a face plant into the carpet this afternoon.

last week AJ used up ALL the spiderman band aids- the box never made it into the house. he insisted on bringing the empty box into daycare, fine. after daycare he was 'giving' the empty box to a student teacher- but after much deliberating he just couldn't part with the empty spiderman band aid box.

i am sure the saga will continue,

and eventually i will say what my parents used to say, 'no blood- no band aid'

thursday

2007-02-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

what to blog about today?

aj slept all night

grace slept all night

mommy did not sleep all night.

hmmm, that wasn that interesting.

AJ thinks he is the funniest thing since sliced bread. He really is not, so not funny that i laugh at his jokes, which makes him say 'if it's not funny why are you laughing?" you really should hear his jokes....

Grace is totally into all things girly these days. She is always pretending to be a princess or a mamam. She loves lip gloss, babies, stuffed animals, real animals, well pretty much anything that can be classified as girly.

1st Dance with Gracie Girl

2007-02-21T18:53:00.001-08:00

tonight after Graces bath, after she put on her night dress, she put out her hands to me, looked up to my eyes and asked me to dance with her. how could i say no a request like that? so they we were, dancing in the ridicuously narrow bathroom, my 1st dance with Grace - 1 i won't ever forget.

**warning** Getting all sentimental now**

i can't believe how much Grace, & AJ have grown, learnt and just 'how big' they seem to be now. where has the time gone? monday i registered AJ for kindergarten, man that was hard! note: i will cry on his first day of kindergarten.

sunday i was scrapbooking, seeing all thier baby pictures was yet another reminder of how fast they do grow up...

if you know me at all, you know i take tons of pictures. i am however techy challenged, who knows when i will actually get photos up on here.

this is the washing machine & dryer of my dreams

2007-02-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

have you seen the LG pink 'red' washer/dryers yet?

the cost a small fortune! still, a girl can dream cant she? you know where i'll be tomorrow night, at the laundry mat again.

Barbie Malled by Princess Dora

2007-02-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

On our way out the door to daycare, Grace comes up to me with her sad face and sad voice, showing me her ballerina barbie she got for Christmas. Poor Barbie, both her arms were chewed off up to the elbows. as sad as this sounds, i had the hardest time not laughing, so i turned my head towards the door and smiled.of course AJ was in front of the door and saw me smiling ear to ear & AJ being AJ stated to laugh- which made the situation worse as you can imagine. Poor Poor Ballerina Barbie is now a double amputee. The daycare lady took pity on the barbie & put band aids on both her arms. Grace is still traumatized and Princes Dora who did it has gotten off Scott free- (Princess Dora is our mini-Schnauzer DH brought home last Fall).

Ha, Ha, I've got a Blog.

2007-02-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

i think this is my 3rd attempt to blog, I am pretty sure I have an account somewheres else on this site- I know i have an account on scrapblog.com-that was my attempt to try digi-scrappin and blogging at the same time (really, what was i thinking?) i know i have an account at myspace .com- do you blog there? i opened that one at an invitation from a friend. this is it, i know it. i have tried to keep journals, mostly for the kids, keeping track of thier lifes, accompishments- poor kids. so far this year i have calendars on thier doors so i can easily write down things, it is feb.18 & so far the only thing written down is the dates we flew to/from California. i also bought dayplanners- thinking that everynight i would jot a few things down (not one entry there). this time it will be different...i will keep blogging...