gasp!

You know how after you get married your spouse points out all kinds of things about you?  Well one of my things is that I gasp, quite often.  I don't even notice it.  I tend to do it the most while I am reading, as I get quite involved in a story.

I remember one incident early in our marriage I was reading "Shopaholic Ties the Knot" by Sophie Kinsella.  At the beginning when Suze throws the bouquet at Becky and when she catches it she realizes that is it a proposal from Luke!!!  GASP!  Ed ran in our room to check if I was okay, as he was often doing during those first few years.

That was a couple of years ago now.  It has become apparent that Ed has grown accustom to my gasping. Last night as I was reading "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, there was a lot gasping going on.  Ed would just glance over and casually ask what happened in the story.

Marriage is great.    

As an aside I love to read and I can't wait for Cali to be able to learn to read books on her own.  I found this great little show when I was Utah a year ago.  It's called "Super Why" each super hero has a "power" that is required to tell a story.  It's great!   I just wanted to share it and I am so glad that Cali loves it as well.

Stats

I was reading my friend Marni's blog the other week and discovered that you can check your stats on your blog.  So I found out that we had viewers from Mexico, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Australia, Finland, the UK, US, and of course Canada.  I thought that was so interesting.  I didn't think many other people besides my parents read my blog.  Thanks for the info Marni!

Lexi's First Birthday

Gosh I am hoping that Santa will bring me a new camera this year... *hint, hint*

I have not been able to take pictures of the girls for the last little while since the camera won't completely turn off or on.  It's stuck somewhere in the middle.  Yes, Dad I did change the batteries and it's not helping.

So for that very reason here are Lexi's first birthday photos a month later.  A big thanks to Papa for being our photographer.

Here is Lexi with her cake.  Yes I know it is in a bowl and not professionally decorated.  She doesn't look like she cares though, does she?  Anyway the cake turned out this way due to this little product I picked up.

This is a Pampered Chef "Kitchen Spritzer".  Great idea, saves money and the environment if you are a PAM user like myself.  I was really excited about it and used in the cake pan.  Anyway this first time user didn't realize that you need to spray WAY more than you did with the PAM.  I figured that out after this event when the cake came out in several pieces instead one nice cake.  The spritzer and I are now friends, needless to say we were not on Lexi's birthday.  To reinforce if you ever buy one of these you need to spray until the pan is dripping with oil, then you are good to go.

Anyway like I said Lexi didn't care.  Enough gab more pictures...

Lexi enjoying her cake.

It tastes the same no matter how it looks.

Bath time after the cake.  (I gave Ed a haircut, this is the best picture we have of it.  Again would LOVE a new camera.  And yes I am that cheap, I cut my family's hair.)

Lexi opening her gifts with Grammie.  She got a her own Dolly and The Princess and the Frog movie.  

So that was about it for her first birthday.  I know no theme.  Maybe next year.

Winter Tires

I picked up my van and brought it home!  It is now sitting outside the house waiting for us to use it.  It won't be today... I am not heading out again until this weather improves which should be tomorrow.

The ride was very smooth.  I had them put on new winter tires the van before I took it home, great idea.  Cali and Lexi didn't make a sound until we were just outside of town.  Got to love the DVD player.  Cali can no longer reach my seat with her six foot long legs (or something close to 6 feet).  Everything was great no complaints thus far.  Only advice I have is don't give chocolate to a 13 month-old in a new car... I have a bit of a mess to clean up when it warms up outside.  It was cute though, little chocolate smeared face, hands, snow pants, sweater, car seat, van door...

Anyway as we are deep into winter weather here in Alberta here is a tidbit of info that you might find useful if you don't already know.  I just learned that you should change your tires to winter ones when the average temperature reaches 7 degrees.  I didn't know that.  We had always changed our tires when the first snow flies.  So 7 degrees... we have been waiting much too long.  We will be sure to do that next year.

I Have No Opinion

A Vehicle Purchasing Fairytale

As I posted last week Ed and I began the hunt for a mini-van.  After the afternoon at that dealership we knew what we wanted in our van.

So I went home and hopped on autotrader.ca and kijiji to see what was out there.  So on Monday I found one that I was interested in and contacted the dealer for a test drive.  I set up a time for Thursday evening to come in and take a look.  The dealer called me on Wednesday night to tell me that the van had sold but they had a similar van that I might be interested in.  When I asked for further details about this van he told me that he would call me back.

About an hour later he called me back with details about the van.  Strangely enough this van sounded quite similar, in fact it sounded like the same van, same make, model, mileage, year, colour... only this one was $2,000 more.  What are the chances of that they would have two of the exact same van that I showed interest in?  I believe about zero.  Slimy salesman.  When I checked auto trader the next day the posting was exactly the same only the price had changed.

Enough of those guys.  I searched again and found exactly what Ed and I were looking for for $6,000 less in the other end of town.  We set up an appointment and took a look at it today... lucky we did.  Someone made an offer on it over the phone while we had it out for a test drive.  Lucky for us we were there in person and the manager had our credit card in his hand.  Even after we were got back another couple took the van out for a drive and wanted to make an offer but it was already ours.  Phewf!

So we are the proud new owners of the mini-van you see in the photo above.  The only problem now is waiting until Tuesday.  Cali was pretty mad that she didn't get to drive in it tonight.  Soon enough we will be on the road in a true momma-mobile.

      

The ABC song

Yesterday the girls and I went grocery shopping.  It was Cali's job to hold the eggs and ensure their safe arrival to the car.  Being a typical 3 year-old she dropped them when something better came by.  Two eggs were cracked when we got home.  Being the smart mom that I am, I took those two eggs out and put them in a small bowl in the fridge to remind myself to use them quickly.

This morning as I was moving things around in the fridge being careful not to spill the glass of milk Cali put in the fridge, I knocked the eggs out.  They landed on the floor and cracked on top of our leapfrog fridge phonics toy.  So I wiped up the mess and and rinsed off the toy. (Note to self: leave cracked eggs in egg carton.)  

Today during lunch the toy started singing the ABC song repeatedly.  The ABC song causes Lexi to dance.  So Lexi is dancing and trying to eat at the same time.  As the song played over and over it became faster and faster, so Lexi was dancing faster and faster in her high chair, much to our amusement.  Finally the song became very high pitched and very fast and died midway through.  By this time I think Lexi was getting a bit tired.  

Anyway I disassembled the toy and it is now drying off on the counter.  Hopefully it will have a second chance because watching Lexi dance to the music is just so cute!       

Arranged

A few weeks ago I was on NetfIix and found this movie.  It sounded like something different to watch, something I might like.  It's so nice to watch something besides Hollywood a movie with a message.  Anyway watch the trailer, and try the movie.  I think you might like it.

One Step Closer

Today I am going to be one step closer to being a "real" mom.  Ed and I are going shopping for a "momma-mobile".  That's right a minivan.

Cali's legs are getting too long and and she keeps asking me to move my seat up but my legs are so cramped I can hardly shift.  After a long trip on knees are sore, and so are poor Cali's.  The Jetta maybe a family car in some countries but not in North America.

Cali is sitting at 30 lbs, she has gained 10lbs over the past 2 1/2 years.  I figure it will take another 2 1/2 years for her reach 40 lbs and be able to sit in a booster.  During that time her legs will only get longer.  So it's time for an upgrade.

Wish us luck!

The Library

I have to admit the library is one of most favourite places.  When I was little girl I remember Mom taking me there and allowing me to choose whatever book I wanted.  I remember taking home Raffi and Anne Murray's "There's a Hippo in my Tub" records.  I even remember one special trip when we got to go into the basement and watch "Mary Poppins" on the big screen.

As I grew older it became a place of escape, within its walls I go anywhere.  Books and videos that I checked out could take to me to far away lands, or tell me local folktales.  I still love the library today for that very reason.

Last Spring when the weather was crumby Cali and I made way to the library.  I picked up a few things I had on hold and Cali got out a movie.  Luckily enough one of our favourite staff members was on.  She asked me how I liked the weather and I told her I didn't mind as long as I had the library to go to.  She laughed telling me that earlier that day someone had come in and tore a strip off her about the weather.  I was shocked.  I suppose I assumed that the library was everyone's "getaway", why would you be cranky there?

When Cali turned two I started taking her to the library weekly for "Story time".  She loves it!  Every week we are introduced to new characters in the books we read and after we get to make a great craft that entertains until the following week.

This past Tuesday was no different.  As we were checking out the Librarian approached a woman and asked if he could speak with her very politely and she in turn was very rude.  Once again I was shocked.  I have always thought that working in the library would be a peaceful, pleasant job.  However I suppose dealing with the public is never 100% pleasant.

Anyway this blog post is dedicated to my librarian and everyone who works or has worked in a library.  Thanks for keeping my getaway open, organized, up to date, and full of great activities.  I did find this video on youtube and now I can understand just how stressful a librarian's job can be.

      

Goodbye FB

After reading a few articles in my CARNA magazine about nurses who required discipline after things they had posted on facebook, I decided it was time for me to leave.

I haven't been on facebook for about a month now.  Thus far only two people have noticed my absence. (Friends that have mentioned it anyway).  Two out of 300+ friends.  These two friends I see on a weekly basis, no need for facebook anyway "to keep in touch".

I also didn't trust facebook anymore.  I had my security very high and deleted just about everything from view including pictures and personal info.  A few months ago I had a "friend request"  from a man I had never heard of.  I asked him if I knew who he was and had forgotten our relationship.  He told me that he noticed we were from the same hometown and no we didn't know each other.  I replied to tell him that since I didn't know him I didn't feel it would be appropriate to be facebook friends.  He then informed that facebook was for meeting new people and making friends.  Weird... I'm married with kids why would I want to be facebook friends with a middle-aged man I didn't know?  However my biggest question is how did he know where I was from when I had hidden all that from view?

Anyway enough with facebook.    

Please, please don't think that I deleted you as a friend,  I have only deleted myself.  

Back in Pink

After about a week of wet sheets Cali is back in pull-ups...

So we will try again in a few months.

However she is removed from her pull-ups  first thing in the morning.

To Whom it May Concern

A few weeks ago Cali got into some trouble.  I felt I dealt with it appropriately.  Later that day someone stopped by my house to tell me I was "too harsh"  with Cali.  Over the past weeks it has been tearing me apart because no one knows what happened in the middle of the day.  To get it out there so I can some peace of mind this is it.

After the incident I took Cali to the library where we checked out a few books about safety so she could understand the severity of her actions.  We went home and read these books together and I had Cali explain to me why what she did was so bad.  We cuddled and talked, then had lunch.  Once Lexi went down for a nap, Cali and I started watching her favourite movie together when we were interrupted.

So that's what happened.

I love my kids that's why I give them boundaries.