Live it!

My typical day...

usually consists of:

-5 diaper changes

-endlessly searching for matching socks for the kids

-sweeping up cheerio "crumbs" that have been stomped into the area rug by miss Chloe!

-20 " I love you's " from Keaton... including the statement "Guess what you need? Kisses from Keaton!"

-10 trips outside for Henry the dog

-5 incidents (at least) that end with Chloe saying "But I sorry Momma!"

-2 changes of clothes for Chloe... plus throw in a princess dress-up time = so 3 i guess.

-never think about supper til 4:30pm and then frantically try and think of meat i can defrost quickly

-15 times checking email... i hate to think there is something sitting there waiting on me ;)

-30 attempts to sit down and read more than 2 paragraphs of my novel at once... i need to quit trying!?

-2 loads of laundry... which i loath folding - we go wrinkled here.

-1 plea for Kraft Dinner lunch.... every day from Keats.

-Mr FedEx man stopping to either pick up or drop off packages... and sometimes both.

-Scrapbooking... always have something on the go. Right now it is 2 unfinished layouts - must * finish * today!

-messes calling my name... mostly my affectionately named scrapspace in the basement  "the dungeon". I don't have time - but it is getting really really really bad.

FABULOUS, HUH? ;)

-1 bath where the kids are in the end, taken out of said bath for splashing and flooding the bathroom!

-hugs and kisses at every turn

-Keaton's little drawings on printer paper... at least 3 a day for the fridge/bulletin boards, etc.

-outside play...in the snow - but the snow is melting again!!! yahoo!

-1 trip into town for "something"... milk, bread, water seem to be the most common needs around here.

-1 or 4 phone calls from Jenn... she always makes me smile.

-a sink full of dishes that NEED to be done (dishwasher is broken right now -ugh)

-hugs and cuddles and hair 'twizzling' from Chloe... as well as a yell out "So much" every once in a while (translation: I love you "so much")

-some kind of craft with the kids, involving a lot of GLUE (ha); pipecleaners, beads and buttons. They tell me they are "artists".

-a visit from Nana after she is done work for the day. and probably a visit from Poppa... to walk the dog and say HI or fix something around our house that needs his 'expertise'.

ah, there is more but Chloe is wanted those Cheerios... so i had better run.

ETA: ok... i'm back - kids are fed :)  wanted to add and clarify - this is my typical day....and i love it... not every part of it but it all adds up to a full life, a great day, and a peaceful night sleep...knowing i'm doing my best, knowing i am lucky... knowing my kids are happy. :)

Busy fun times... March Break

Been having a busy fun time this past week. Keaton started his "spring break" on Friday but I'm realizing why we call it March break instead... because it sure isn't SPRING yet here where we are living. After raining all weekend, I had high hopes... but the 'white stuff' started to fall yesterday and here we are again with snow covering the ground. I am so ready for Spring... do you hear me MOTHER NATURE? Please, enough of this weather. Send some sunshine, warm weather and green grass - pretty please!

Anyhow...

Busy. Shaune and I escaped for 2 days without the kids ...him to go to school up in Toronto... me to hang with friends and go shopping. It was nice, i will admit. I slept in. I shopped without a stroller or a diaper bag or any of the other pleasantries that come with shopping with children. Don't get me wrong... I love my kids and i love doing things with them... but SHOPPING is definetly not one of them. Keaton is five and he can deal with it for about an hour - Chloe on the other hand has a very strong aversion to shopping and screams like a banshee the minute i wheel the stroller into any store other than Toys R Us. :)  ... so  - shopping without kids is a good thing in my opinion ;)

On Sunday we took the kids to Kingston to the same hotel we went to last year during Keaton's march break... it has a water park indoors and a water slide (that keaton is still too short to ride. sigh!) and most importantly... a video arcade! This was a lot of fun and Shaune and I swam with the kids for quite a while. The hotel was busy and the pool area was INSANE... just the way Keaton and Chloe like it. I forgot my camera so you'll have to take my word for it - it - was - fun! We went out to good ole' Red Lobster for supper and then went back to the pool for a late night swim. We cozied into bed after that and rented the kids "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"... man, what a great movie. i think i enjoyed it as much as the kids. Chloe fell asleep sometime around 11:30pm and the rest of us managed a very late night as the movie came to an end at around 12:30am...  Good thing - the kids (and us) slept in until 9a.m... holy mackerel - heaven. I couldn't believe it when i woke up at 9 and the kids were still sleeping. We need to 'hotel' it more often!

Monday we woke up (late as mentioned)... packed up and headed out for some shopping (with kids, ahem! ha!) and then went to Chucky Cheese for 2 1/2 hours of token poppin' fun.

Today we had Ben over to play in our Winter Wonderland yard (ughh...) They didn't seem to mind the snow at all -------->

They had a great time doing boy things... rolling around and down hills, throwing snowballs at eachother and making a 'really interesting' little snowman. They even did some tobogganing - yes... in Mid March. Canadian living at it's finest!

Excited...

to be joining an extremely talented bunch of women at an awesome event April 21-22, hosted by Scrap Etc (check out all the information here incase you can make it) in Birmingham, Alabama.  Jenn Bertsch and I will be teaching classes for Autumn Leaves and it looks like it is going to be quite the event!! Should be a lot of fun. Other teachers include Cathy Zielske (heck is she talented);  Heidi Swapp (who i have been in awe of her amazing style since i started scrapping); Elsie Flannigan (who is just the sweetest and funkiest child - i saw child because she is...compared to me); and Carrie Colbert (another sweet and talented friend). I am so excited to:

1) meet all 4 of these women... who all inspire me. And to take their classes...total awesome plus!

2) get to travel and participate in this amazing event with tons of women who are as excited and as 'into' scrapbooking as I am. What a trippy fun thing that will be!

3) Hang with my friend Jenn Bertsch... who really is so many things. Fun, geniune, creative and just good. Good to me, good to be around. I am flying into Florida so we can hang a bit before we drive down to Alabama. I am looking forward to warm weather and no need for mittens and winter boots ;)  Note: I'm surprised she hasn't called me yet today ;)  (wink wink...love you Jenn!)

The event is all focused around "inspiration" and we will be doing it the "Designing With" way... so it should be a blast! Hope to see some of you there!

Quite the scare...

I recieved the bestest-bestest-bestest news today. I have been scared and on an emotional rollercoaster these past weeks because

1) my dad smokes

2) his lung x-ray came back suspicious

3) i love him so very much.

i worried. i am a worrier. i am a peccimest too. bad thoughts in this crazy head of mine. my dad started smoking when he was 14 years old approximately. he has been hooked every since. this man has tried several times to quit - he really doesn't like being a smoker. me, being the daddy's girl that i am - has always worried about it and asked him over and over to give up the 'habit'. when the news came of 'bad xray results' my mind went into over-drive and just assumed the worst.

Anyhow, to make a long story short and to summarize 3 long stressful weeks of hoping for the best, the best has come true. My dad had a Catscan about 2 wks ago and the results have come back clear. OMG. He just called to tell me. I'm feeling really overwhelmed and happy about it. Why I'm posting about it here...i'm not sure. I guess because i want to shout it from the rooftops - "He is okay"... and also to tell my dad how proud i am that he has now been over a month without smoking. Keep it going Dad.... and i love you!

Oscar, Accidents and Reading...

so, another glorious weekend has come and gone. how do they fly by so fast.

Oscar's - I think this was the first year ever that i watched the WHOLE Oscars. I liked Jon Steward, loved the cowboy montage - pretty damn funny, was so happy that Reese Witherspoon won... I love her and man, was she good in that movie. We watched "Walk the Line" the night before the Oscars and wow - i loved the movie... and i am not a Johnny Cash fan. The story of them though... really got me. So well acted i thought.  Even more thrilled was i when the movie "Crash" won for best picture. Ok.. this movie... i had never heard of it until Oprah had the cast on - and i was intrigued and finally saw it. I still think about the movie a few times a week. there are scene's in it that are haunting, amazing, so raw and truthful. so raw it hurts. It spoke the truth of prejudice and struggle like no other movie i've ever watched. It was upsetting and just an emotional rollercoaster to watch. Still - it was amazing. Obviously Oscar got it right this year :) If you haven't seen it - rent it. watch it. think about it.

On other news - ack - Keaton has a new war wound... coutesy of his wicked little sister. ha. We went to Kerri and Matt's last night for a fun evening and supper... it was awesome because the kids are now at the age (5 and almost 3) where we can let them play out of sight and know that they will be ok (they were with some older kids too) - or so we thought. Just as we were about to leave after a relaxing night... the kids all started running laps around the kitchen. Then Chloe somehow got ahold of a metal egg-flipper/spatula. She chased after them, eager to stay part of the fun - and when Keaton wasn't lookin' - his sweet little baby sister tomahalked him in the head with it. Ugh... it was not good. The blood was in abundance and I remained relatively calm (ha). Chloe looked really lost and not sure what the big fuss was all about (little stinker) and Matt was a life-saver...taking charge and cleaning and inspecting the 1" gash in his head. Thank God he ducked his head or he would of gotten sliced BIG time on his face. She hit him GOOD. She's got a real precise arm. sigh. Shaune took him to the hospital and luckily in the end, he didn't require stitches ... just a bunch of glue on the wound and a 'lovely' haircut/shave at the cut-zone.

He is ok though and that is all that matters. I'm sure he has already forgiven his sister - which is good because he was more than a little miffed with her last night.

What a way to end a great weekend. I guess if nothing else, it will be a great story for Chloe to say in her speech at Keatons wedding? ha.

Oh ya, reading. I don't have a lot of time for it... but I really am enjoying making time once in a while to do this. I used to read a lot. My taste in books have changed over the years... i used to read mostly Koontz and James Patterson and Patricia Cornwell. I joined a reading online group and it is motivating me...although i cannot keep up with these girls - i try! I am about to start "The Great Gatsby" since i have never read it and it was last months selection for our group. It looks like a quick read - or at least i hope so because i have a lot of other books calling my name too.

I just finished "the Secret life of Bee's" by Sue Monk Kidd and loved it.  Loved Lily, the main character so much. Identified with her personality and thoughts about life. Loved reading about Civil Rights movement in the 60's and loved reading a book that celebrates the necessity to belong to something... a family... a community... a sisterhood... something. I highly recommend it.

He melts me...

Last night... tucking Keaton into bed. Talking about how sweet he is. Talking about how he has my teeth and daddy's hair and Mommy's eyes maybe. Talking about love. Talking about babies and how some day he will meet a girl and marry her and probably have babies of his own. You know... normal talk for a mom and a 5 year old? ha.

After mentioning that someday he will  probably have a girl he'll love, he informs me: “I already know her”. “Who you are going to marry?” I ask. He smiles slyly and says “Yep”… but it's a secret. I can’t tell you any more because secrets are for not telling anyone”. Off to bed he went.

This morning as I helped him dress for school I asked him “So, are you ready to tell me your secret yet?”  He looked at me and thought for a second and smiled. “Well, I haven’t really met her yet but she is gonna have hair that is your color”. “The girl you marry?” “Yes, Mommy – but I still will love you too”. MELT!