Live it!

Happy Halloween

one of my favorite times of year - and one of my favourite holidays. such silly fun. an excuse to have a party... and so we do - every year. we host a kid's halloween party and rent a hall and invite our friends and the many kids in our clan of friends. It is fun. It is really casual. The kids run around like crazy people and dance and play games, the parents mostly talk and graze at the food table... and I take photos. (which i will post later)

Here are a few photos of the kids before we headed off to the party. Silly Fun is the best fun of all!

Pumpkins and Chilly Weather

So it is Wednesday already and we never made it out last weekend to get our carving pumpkins for Halloween. I figure with our Halloween Party and date night this weekend.... we wouldn't have time Saturday or Sunday. So, I bundled the kids up today and we went without Shaune (pout!) to pick some pumpkins at my dad's cousins farm. It is on a country road about 2 minutes away and is never busy so it is perfect for us. Keaton picked out some bigger pumpkins and chloe was more interested in the weird odd looking things like the gourds, etc. So we got some of them too of course. Just as we finished making our selections and I was taking some photos, the drizzle of rain turned slushy and for about 5 minutes we got our first "taste" of wet snow. It is OCTOBER for God Sakes. Anyhow, I most definetly did not have the kids dressed warm enough for that so we quickly paid, gathered our pumpkins and high-tailed it outta there.

Ended up finding Keaton a new snowsuit since Heaven only knows when he might need it. I got him a Columbia Coat and bib snow-pants in orange and blue. I panicked a bit when he told me that he really liked the (boring)  blue and black one better. Luckily (for mom) they didn't have it in his size. I convinced him to embrace orange and be a 'stand-out' in the snow. LOL. Gotta do it while i still have a say in his fashion choices.

So, now we have our pumpkins to carve tonight or tomorrow night... and I am poor too. Snowsuits and boots and mittens and hats - they are sending us straight to the poor house. Winter is so expensive with kids!

Here are a few photos of the kids freezing their butts off during our pumpkin expedition:

Note: Daddy will be proud to see K's hat selection of the day: Go Bruins Go... like father like son?

Monday nights...

Monday nights at our house are now "Beaver" nights.  Keaton joined the Scouting club or whatever it is called. He is in the youngest group called the Beavers youth organization. He goes for 1.5 hours and truly loves it. All boys (except for his leader "Sunshine") playing and doing 'stuff' together. It means that Keaton is doing fun things in the evening instead of his usual 'couch potato' routine. I swear my son would watch cartoons (and the ending of Grease with the 'cool cars') all day every day if he was allowed to. So, this is a good thing. His 'uniform' consists of the hat and the dapper (ha) vest he is sporting in these photos. His poor mother (yes, that would be me) had to sew all those badges on - for once having to use her sewing machine for something other than a scrapbook project. After said mother finished stitching all these badges on to his new vest, her happy son declared that: "I don't want to trade you in for any other mommy - you are the mommy i want to keep". LOL. Was he at one point this week considering on trading me in for a better model? The things they reveal!

Anyhow, I took these photos at around 5:45pm as the sun was quickly going down. Chloe was not in the mood to be ignored and jumped up and down until i took this rather fuzzy photo of her. This is her pretty much every evening by 5pm... in her pj's because she has already dirtied or messed up 2 other outfits. Her hair is all over the place - because her mother has given up on redoing her ponytails after 3 tries. Her face is also almost always dirty this time a day because from the minute she gets up from her nap... she wants to EAT - and she says it just like that: "Momma, i wan tooooooooo EAT".  Anyhow, this is typical silly Clo - a real ball of fire lately... and mommy is counting down the minutes til the daddy gets home from work ;)

Thats my report for this Monday. Pretty exciting, huh? ;) wink.

butterflies

...if i was going to get a tattoo ever (and i'm not) it would be a butterfly.

it really is the only charming bug there is. i used to fancy ladybugs a bit, but since they invade our house every year for the past 3 years... i've grown to really dislike those crunchy critters.

so, Butterflies are my thing. Let me tell you - that when i was pregnant with my second child (aka Chloe) i yearned to do a butterfly nursery. But I honestly felt i was having another boy until about a wk before she was born - so, i picked out a pottery barn crib set splashed with butterflies & flowers and sat and waited. We decided not to do the nursery until the baby came, ...just in case it was a girl and then Butterflies it would be.

I think chloe was only 2-3 wks old when we made the 2 hour drive to Yorkdale in Toronto to the Pottery Barn Kids store and I went crazy. I spent too much... but hell - i had a girl and girl stuff is fun to buy. Chloe's nursery was painted yellow and accented with gingham blue & lots of pink stuff. The sad part is...life gets so busy. Her room never came together like I'd hoped. Her walls are still bare, even though i have shelves and frames purchased and sitting in the corner. She is 2 for Gosh sakes. She has clothes she has outgrown piled by the one wall. I am counting down the days til she can be potty-trained and i can get rid of her adorable (but yesterday's news) diaper table. Today I looked in her room and just shook my head...and at 9:20am i decided i need to smarten up. I got some butterflies my father had boughten for her room MONTHS ago and hung them up, above her crib. Not sure if i "love" them but Chloe does, and hey, i guess it is HER room. Next on my list is to clutter-free her room from outgrown clothes. Hey...maybe even vacuum. Hang those shelves. Put some photos in the frames sitting around her room. If i get to it this month, it will be a miracle... but i am challenging myself -= wish me LUCK.

Her room has so much potential. What happened to the interior designer in me? I guess she just got busy (and a bit lazy).

Play dates...

i gotta admit that i love when Kerri has the day off work. she is one of my best-est friends and i love her kids so much too. she is such a go-getter and tends to be the push i need to get out of the house with the kids and do something.

yesterday we had a playdate at the new 'pirate ship' park that just opened. cool park. the kids went wild for it. love that the 'cement' pad is actually some kind of coosh-y material that is kinda bouncy when the kids fall on it. keaton was sad that Benjamin and Anna were both in school and couldn't come play but he quickly found kids his age and forgot about his sorrow. Adison is getting older and Chloe is diggin' that she has a little friend to play with.

For some reason almost all my photos are fuzzy. But still, fun day - so i'll share a few.

Kerri - thanks for a fun morning.

On another note, Kerri also 'convinced me' to sign Keaton up for "Beavers". He started the other night and loves it. A room full of ALL BOYS doing fun stuff like crafts, sports, field trips, etc. I think it will be good for him. Next on the sign up list: Can-skate. practice for hockey next year. Then i think we are busy enough. I'd like to do a swim program with Chloe too... gotta find time and room in our schedule for that. How on earth do people have more than 2 kids... lol.  They must run 24-7. God bless em!

Stand Tall..

Mr. Pumpkin Man.

Keaton is beyond thrilled with this rather large and somewhat obnoxious pumpkin decorating our front yard. Chloe just looks at it kinda puzzled-like! :)

I was able to figure out all on my own how to get this thing standing and secured. He deflates when you unplug him and he glows in the dark. Groovy baby! Good thing I'm a fan of Halloween.

Thanks Aunt Betty for the lawn decoration ;)

outdoor freshness

Man, i love this time of year.

The air is so fresh and crisp. The leaves are turning beautiful colours and I just want to bundle up and go outside. Autumn here means sunny days (most the time) and a cold breeze whipping thru our yard. We spent some time outside this morning and I took some photos of the kids playing. I don't think I have had my camera out in over 2 wks which is just unheard of for me... especially in the Autumn.

The kids had fun. They go in these spurts where they don't go near their playhouse, but today... they played in it for over an hour... racing eachother up the ladder (chloe) and up the 'mountain' (keaton) to see who could get to the slide first. keaton always won, so Chloe (being the clever toddler that she is becoming) pestered him many a time and giggled hysterically each time she would pull his hat off and throw it off the playhouse to the grass below. She really does think she is some-kinda-funny.

back HOME

...be it ever so humble - there's NO PLACE like HOME. Amen to that! Love going away - but love coming home even better. Missed the kids. Missed my man. Missed the comforts of home. I had a fabulous time in Las Vegas. Loved hanging with Jen L, Jennifer, Tracy, Jenn B, Renee C, Valerie, Becky, Theresa. Jen Lessinger was my roomie and we had fun. So many funny moments or at least memorable ones. I will post about them soon hopefully... I am still totally exhausted from taking the red-eye home. The kids welcomed me back with giggles and kisses - they made me cry...they were SOOOOOOOOOO happy to see me. I am so blessed to be able to go do the things i love to do and have a family and husband at home that make it possible. Shaune took care of everything probably better than i would of (ha, especially the clean house thing) and his mother along with my mom watched the kids and kept things sane and happy. THANKS SO MUCH!

on another little note: I came home to the wonderful news that Shaune's brother and his wife Sarah are expecting their first child in the spring. I am beyond thrilled. I love Sarah so much and Aaron too. They will be such amazing parents. Keaton is very excited to finally be getting a FIRST COUSIN. He told me: "Mommy, Aunt Sarah is going to have me a baby cousin". (It will be weird for Chloe not to be the 'baby' of the family anymore but i think she is ready to give up that title to the new babe on the way... she has moved on and is becoming one of the spunkiest silliest busiest little toddlers ever... not much baby left in her anymore!)

Congratulations Aaron and Sarah. We couldn't be happier for you both.  love you!

THANKFUL

well, it is time for me to head off to Memory Trends. I am excited to go and see my friends/co-workers and i'm also a bit sad to be going away during our Canadian Thanksgiving long-weekend. I know i will miss so much fun and time with my family. I am lucky that there are many other times of year that i get to be with them...so it makes it a little easier to not be there this weekend.

Thankfully, Shaune loves my family very much. He is taking the kids to all the usually Thanksgiving functions, including the drive back north to the Whyte family haywagon ride. His mom is working so his side of the family isn't going to have a T'giving this year. Luckily, he can also take the kids to Gram's on Sunday for lunch and supper. I know the kids will be thrilled to be around all their 2nd cousins... I hope Shaune knows what comotion he is in for ;)

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. I should be packing... so i will make this a quick list. I am thankful for so many things. So lucky. I know that is true!

THANKFUL FOR:

-my children.

Keaton - full of zest and spirit, settling down a bit (if only slightly), maturing and wanting to be a big boy, smart and sporty. full of love and "i love you's"

Chloe - this girl has 'zip'. she makes me laugh. she is quirky. she is my angel. my cuddlebear. my soft and sweet.

-my husband. who never stops being wonderful. i'm thankful that he loves me regardless of my moods, ups and downs, he takes it all - and he is my one love. i will forever be falling in love with you shaune. i hope you know that.

-my family. who i love so much and wouldn't be so sad to be missing T'giving if it wasn't for you :) it isn't the holiday i will truly miss, but my time spent with all of you. (think of me while you are passing that bottle of "Butterscotch Ripple" around the haywagon ride - ha)

-the chance to travel and go to MT in Vegas. I have a family that picks up the slack while i'm gone... without them i would be unable to do such exciting things.

-my health. and my family's health. without it i don't know where we'd be.

-faith love and hope and all the things i'm embracing in my life. learning from the past, looking forward to the future...living in the day.

Life is good. and i am thankful for it!

Feeling fancy

got a new haircut and i actually love it ...i think.

you can always tell when i'm going traveling for work... the only time i get a 'do'.  pretty sad - but so is the life of a stay-at-home mommy :)

CHEEEEESE!