Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Panic at the Patch
Cheers,
Colleen
So proud of myself!
Nathan is hilarious these days picking up any food that he can find. The other night Kyle had left his apple on the table for a minute and that was enough for Nathan to be all over that! He got right in there and helped himself to the whole thing! Well, ever since then, we've just been quartering an apple and half keeps him busy for ages and he loves it.
OK, this isn't the best picture, but another day when Nathan grabbed something of Kyle's off the table. There was half a fruit/cereal bar and he managed to get that off the table and into his mouth pretty darn quick! He had it all over him and maybe more on him that in him! Needless to say, since he hasn't tried peanut butter and I'm not sure about allergies, I keep him far away from Kyle when Kyle's having PB&J! You never know how fast he'd be able to get it in his mouth!!
Not too much new around here really. Glad the weather has been nice and sunny for sure. Managed to make George a birthday card today for his birthday tomorrow and we pooped out yesterday to get a gift for him. I'm just surprised Kyle hasn't told him yet since he's not so good with the secrets thing (though I guess I shouldn't be complaining about that!).
Met Tracy and Sophia this morning for coffee at Tim's. We planned to go to Best Buy and get a new printer/scanner for Tracy, but the traffic was all crazily backed up, so we changed our minds. Got that done this afternoon as well though. The only thing I'm finding these days is that it's hard to go out for too long with Nathan because he doesn't like the stroller for too long. Wants to be out and moving around. It's even hard going to the park now since he's not quite walking, but also doesn't want to sit in the stroller while Kyle plays. Have to get him some "proper" shoes so I can walk him around while Kyle plays I guess! Right now he's only got Robeez and they're not great for outside!
Well, the boys are both sleeping (miracle of miracles), so I'm going to go do a few other things here too!
Cheers,
Colleen
Saturday, January 27, 2007
More scrapping!
New house motto -" What's yours is mine"
These two are so funny these days because they play and have so much fun together, but yet seem to think that whatever the other one has is theirs or what they want. I guess that's what having a sibling is all about though and I have to say that there really are relatively few fights/tears over things. It's not that it never happens, but it just seems fairly short-lived once it does. The funniest part is that it was actually Tracy who said the thing about the new house motto when she was over the other day because she really noticed the two of them going after the same things!
Nathan is now officially "MOOCH"! It's like having an appendage as soon as you pick up something to eat. Whenever you've got food, he's there and he'll eat whatever it is. His dinner tonight was the butter chicken and rice that we tried from M&Ms tonight. It was pretty good and doesn't get much easier than popping it into the oven to cook! Even if you get him a plate with some food on it, he wants what's on your plate!
The boys have now officially had their first babysitter! We found a high school student named Rebecca that another mum from my mum's group recommended. Kyle was quite excited about her coming and it sounds like he had fun playing with her.
Kyle is very into blocks (big Lego) these days and building things. We gathered up all the blocks into one place so he can build to his hearts content. He comes and gives me the things he's built after he's done and as a result, I think there's a Lego tower in our bedroom still.
Better go get Kyle ready for bed since he didn't have a nap. It's sort of hit and miss these days, but the plus if he doesn't nap is that he goes to bed early. Nathan is already crashed out!
Night,
Colleen
Saturday, January 20, 2007
A relaxing Saturday together
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Welcome to the "new" age of technology!!
Well, we're really not very technologically advanced in our house! There's no iPod, Blackberry, flat screen TV, or even text messaging for that matter. You can therefore see why I was so excited yesterday when I got my first call display call from Tracy yesterday! OK, we didn't even have a phone capable of call display until I got a cordless for Christmas.
Now, you're thinking, "they didn't have a cordless?!". Well, you'd be right in thinking that because we didn't! Well, we sort of did, but they didn't work. We had 2 in our last place, but when we moved in here neither of them seemed to work. Trace thinks it might have been because they were on the same frequency as the baby monitor which we never had of course until we moved in here.
It's so much fun checking the phone to see who's calling now! I'm sure it'll wear off, but it's fun for now. Doesn't take much, eh? We also got call waiting on this new plan we're on, but I won't really use it since I don't really even like it. We got voice mail too, so that'll be nice since we won't have a busy signal anymore. And yes, we've had an answering machine rather than voice mail. We've really been in the dark ages, but we're slowly coming out. Now I just have to set up the voice mail!!
Well, better go do a few things while Nathan is napping! Like figure out how and when I'm going to get to work tonight with the new (more!) snow we got overnight!
Cheers,
Colleen
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Enough with the SNOW already!
They were originally calling for more snow Thursday, but it seems as if that's changed to the beginning of a few days of rain. Yes, I'll be looking forward to rain! At least we might be able to get rid of some of this snow that's been hanging around since it's been cold too. Of course though, it depends on who you listen to because some people are still calling for snow too!
I see back east just got hit with their first storm and there were over 400 accidents in the greater Toronto area yesterday - and they say we're bad drivers in bad weather!! I kind of laughed because they were interviewing people and they were complaining about the cold weather and snow back there, but yet they've had balmy weather compared to usual. I know as Canadians though that we always like to complain about the weather! I used to tell my students that complaining about the weather and taxes are hobbies for some people!
Cheers,
Colleen
Saturday, January 13, 2007
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!
We had a nice little party tonight with Nana, Grandma, Opa, Auntie Tracy, Uncle Brian and Sophia. Pizza was the menu tonight and even Nathan had some... well, the crust anyway! George made a wonderful cake and iced Nathan's piece specially with blue icing! Nice! We got some great pics and it's all on video too. He didn't dive right in, but there was definite cake and icing everywhere. I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow, but I can't seem to download the off my camera for some reason tonight!
A special thanks for everyone who came to the party and spoiled Nathan! A thanks to the people that sent e-mail cards (Vince/Nicole and Julie/Simon) and called (Grandpa from back east) as well.
Cheers,
Friday, January 12, 2007
Another icy day...
It's another beautiful sunny day, but apparently also icy. I'm not sure what we'll get up to today since it's cold too. I'd like to get out for a walk, but the sidewalks aren't very good for the stroller still and I certainly can't carry Nathan!!
This layout was one I just did last night. I got inspired to do some snow pictures because of our weather though these are actually from March '06. I have some great ones of Nathan from the same day that I need to scrap too. He was so tiny and looked so cute all bundled up!
I can't believe Nathan's going to be 1 tomorrow!! Where did the past year go?! I was also saying to mum and my mother-in-law that I can't believe that Kyle was this age when I went back to work and they were taking care of him! We're going to have a little family party here and not worry too much about things, but want to make sure that he has his very own celebration. We're also having a bigger family celebration for all the January family birthdays next weekend. Dad, Grandma, and a couple of my cousins have birthdays as well. George's is coming up at the end of the month too! This and May are our crazy birthday months!
And how did this little boy get so big? He's hilarious! This morning when I was changing Nathan, he stripped down himself and was proudly dancing around the house naked. After getting him dressed, he went into his room and was playing with his trains when he came out and told me he had a bonk on the head, so he was going to put a Band-Aid on it. Instead, he found my calendar stickers and proceeded to choose the Doctor one to put on his head! Too funny!
Anyway, Kyle wants to go make muffins (he loves to bake these days!) before Nathan wakes up, so I'd better run!
Cheers,
Colleen
Thursday, January 11, 2007
A beautiful snowy day...
After he got home and we had had dinner, he and Kyle went outside. George wanted to shovel the driveway and Kyle just wanted to play. They had a great time out there...well, OK, Kyle had fun and George shoveled! I know Kyle wants to go out again today, but it's so cold that I'm not sure if he'll get out there or not.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
My favourite layout...
Storm #14
We went to bed last night with the wind and rain (and having had some hail thrown in there as well for good measure), but woke up to a winter wonderland of snow...if that's how you feel about the white sutff! Not so much love for the white stuff here. It's fun to go out in it a bit and play, but my car doesn't like it (OK, we've got all seasons on right now rather than snow tires) and it's just not fun to drive in. It's been snowing on and off again all day. I was supposed to go to work tonight, but it's too long a drive for 4 hours, so I got someone that lives 5 minutes from the store to go in for me tonight. Can't imagine they'll be busy anyway!
Kyle and I did go out and play this morning for a bit. He wanted to go out when he got up at the crack of 6am at this morning!! He managed to wait until Nathan went down for his morning nap and then we went in the backyard together and threw some snowballs around. We tried building a snowman, but the snow was quite light and not good for packing. I have to admit that it is quite pretty when you're just out there to play and the air seems so fresh. Kyle had his fill though, but will no doubt go out again this evening if George wants to shovel the driveway later.
Well, I'm going to go relax for a few minutes while both boys are napping since it doesn't happen much these days. I think Kyle is getting near the end of his napping days, so I'll enjoy them when I get them for the time being!
Cheers,
Colleen
My word for the year...
So, as she said, I'm not sure why this word came to me, but the word I've chosen is SEEK. For whatever reason, it was the first thing that came to me and I'm willing to see where it takes me! Should be fun!To celebrate the new year I wanted to share the one little word concept which is also featured in this weeks newsletter:
one little word
A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow.
Last fall in issue two of this newsletter I wrote about the power of words and gave my top ten tips for getting those words down when you are scrapbooking. Today I want to introduce you to the idea that a single word can be a catalyst for enriching your life as well as your scrapbook layouts.
Last year I began a tradition of chosing one word for myself each January - a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. Last year my word was something I wanted to bring into my life in a more tangible way. My word was play. I thought a lot about play and what it means to me. I tried to incorporate it more
into my everyday and on my adventures out in the crazy world. For me, it was a lot about living without fear - about being more open to experiences with an attitude of playfulness. The word play found its way onto many scrapbook pages and into many stories I told throughout the year.
Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2007?
It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word - this is YOUR word.
One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here's one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit.
I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren't ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities.You may be wondering, what in the heck does this all have to do with scrapbooking? For me, words are at the heart of what I do. The photos are a huge part, but the words bring it all home. Often times I will begin a layout with a single word. That word becomes my guide as I create my page. It helps me focus the story I am trying to tell and gives me an instant, easy graphic title approach. How often has a word directed your creativity when working on layouts?
Take some time this week to think about your own word for 2007 and read on for a related weekly challenge.
And in case you were wondering, my word for 2007 is peace.
I'm going to start with a quote using this word that I love:
Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child.I want to work on a scrapbook page for this as well and see what happens. Oh I really do love being creative these days!
Ron Wild
Cheers,
Colleen
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Happy (Canadian) Birthday Julie!!
Julie and I met what seems like an eternity ago in a Japanese lesson here. She had been in Japan teaching as had I and we were both looking to keep up our Japanese after learning so much while we were there. Hers was better than mine, but what we quickly found was that ours was better than the other people in the class too. The teacher also got a bit lazy when it was the 2 of us after a while since she figured she could "chat" with us, but we wanted to actually be learning - especially for the price!!
I think our friendship was concreted when I ended up in emergency with her one day! She was quite sick and had this coughing thing if I remember correctly (feel free to correct/add to the story in a comment Julie!). We ended up there at St Paul's for quite a while and have been amazing friends ever since. She has since moved to Australia, but it doesn't mean our friendship has changed other than that we can't get together for a good coffee and a chat anymore. I was lucky enough to beasked to her Maid of Honour at her wedding to Simon when they got married in Hawaii. I was also extremely happy that she, Simon and only Alex at the time made it up for our wedding so that she could be in my bridal party too! We've been through dating, marriage, kids, hob changes, etc together and she's always there to support me when I need it and just to listen when I need that too!!
It's just one of those things...no matter the distance, I know she's right there for me in a heartbeat if I need someone. Thanks Julie for being an amazing friend and Happy Birthday!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
"I want to go to the star store."
We went to the drugstore and I got what I needed and then I remembered that I also needed printer ink, so I figured WalMart would be the cheapest (even though I don't really like shopping there, the prices are fairly good). While we're waiting to turn into the parking lot, I look over at the store only to realize that WalMart is the "star store because on the sign there's a star between Wal*Mart!! Funny how kids remember things, but he can't read, so that was good for him to think of. And we've certainly been there looking at toys over the holidays when I was trying to figure out what he wanted for Christmas! Funny!
Cheers,
Colleen
Friday, January 05, 2007
"I want to share Nathan's Cheerios."
Kyle heads back over to the table and starts devouring Nathan's Cheerios. As he's doing it, I'm telling mum on the phone and I don't know if he heard me or not, but the funniest part was that he took the last Cheerio and placed it squarely in front of Nathan as if to say, "Here you go". The only thing was that the Cheerios were Nathan's to begin with!!! Too funny. He sheepishly looked at me after doing it too. I couldn't even give Nathan anymore because that had been the last of the box. Guess I know what we need to get tomorrow!
Cheers,
Colleen
What's yours is mine?
It's really amazing to watch the interaction between the two of them and see how it's developing as Nathan gets older. They really do love each other and Nathan can't seem to get enough of Kyle. Sometimes when they're in the back seat of the car together, Nathan will look over and laugh and Kyle gets frustrated that Nathan is laughing at him. Other times though, they can keep each other entertained for ages back there.
Recently we were heading home and they had me laughing too. Nathan is famous for shaking his head "no" now, so Kyle started doing it and Nathan would copy. They went back and forth shaking heads for ages! Of course, they both started laughing as they were doing it too. Fun to see!
Now we can only hope that the fun they have together most of the time lasts for a while!
Cheers,
Colleen
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Deal or No Deal
OK, so some of you already know that Kyle is hooked on Deal or No Deal. He loves it and asks for it now and is quite disappointed if it's not on! He also asked us to make-up songs and stories when he goes to bed, so one night he asked me to do a Deal or No Deal song. Needless to say, I was struggling a little and being tired that night didn't help. Well, the song that came out of it stuck and we now have to sing it at least once a day, but generally more than that. To the tune of "You are my Sunshine", it goes a little something like this ...
You are my deal,
My deal or no deal,
You make me happy
When there's lots of money.
So what do you think, Kyle
Deal or noooo Deal??
What was I thinking?? And now the worst part is that I have to sing it all the time!!
Cheers,
Colleen
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Thomas the Tank Engine is a bit hit!!
Well, a huge thank you goes out to Uncle Scott and Auntie Toni because they scored with their Christmas present for Kyle. He is absolutely crazy over the bedding they got him for his new "Thomas room"! To be honest, they were even looking at a Thomas bed for him, but we were worried because it's a kids one that only takes a crib mattress and George and I thought he might be out of it in 6 months. I had seen the bedding so suggested that instead and the good thing is that because it's for a twin bed, he can use it on his toddler bed now and on the bigger one when he gets it eventually.
Anyway, from the time we opened it, he wanted it on his bed!! I got the comforter out and put that on so it appeased him for a bit, but he kept bugging me about washing the sheets to until I finally managed that a coupe of days after Christmas. And then, he was out of his mind happy!
Then, the night before last, he had his first bed-wetting incident (which we knew would come sooner later), so we stripped the bed and had to wash everything. I did it first thing in the morning so that it'd be ready for his nap. When he went to go for his nap, he found a damp spot on the Thomas comforter, so I took it off his bed and told him that it would dry and he could have it that night. Oh no!!! That wasn't good enough! He started a meltdown, so I had to just turn it around so that the damp spot was at the bottom and he could still sleep with it! Crisis averted!
Anyway, needless to say, this was a huge hit! Thanks again Uncle Scott and Auntie Toni!
Cheers,
Colleen
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
2006 in Review
There was a challenge on one of the scrapbooking websites I'm on and it was to do a layout as a sort of summary of 2006, so this was what I did and it's great because it'll be the last page of our scrapbook for 2006. It was fun going through the calendar and seeing all the things that happened and that we'd done and forgotten about.
Here's some of our year...
Nathan Andrew was born - Friday, January 13th
Grandma had her 90th birthday!
Kyle gave up his binkie
Kyle saw his first concert - The Doodlebops
Sophia Dawn was born - April 8th
Kyle took a multi-sport class where he tried a ton of different sports
Mum and dad moved to Chilliwack
Kyle had his first dentist appointment
Mum had her 60th birthday!
George's August long weekend in Clinton
Summer family camping trip
Kyle stopped wearing diapers!
Nathan started his Mother Goose music class
Kyle got a new room painted in Thomas the Train colours
Colleen started working at the local scrapbooking store part-time
Kyle stayed the night at Nana and Grandpa's new place by himself
Opi turned 99 in December
I was thinking I should really do one of these pages for Kyle too since there have been a lot of changes for him as well. The changes for Nathan sort of go without saying considering it was his first year and that he has a birthday coming up here shortly!!
Cheers,
Colleen
Sleep Disorder
Last night may have been one of the worst nights of sleep since we brought Nathan home and were up every 2 hours. I think last night was more than that between the 2 of them. It started with Kyle and a bad dream. He woke up crying and I went and settled him and thought he was OK, but he started again about 10 minutes later. OK, fine, he's settled again.
Nathan then started waking up almost every hour. Now, he has been doing this much more often since being sick and I think his ear was bothering him, but after a couple of days on the antibiotics, I wouldn't think it would be that bad anymore. Of course, I don't actually know and he can't tell me!
Then, at some point (that I don't remember), Kyle ended up in our bed. I offered to take him back to bed when George told me he'd had "an accident" in bed. For the last week or so, Kyle has only been wearing underwear to bed and we stopped with the Pull-Ups. He's been potty trained for a while and seemed to be waking up dry most of the time, so we thought we'd see what happened. We knew it was going to happen sometime and last night was it. George stripped the bed and got him changed and just let him sleep with us.
Well, after getting up a few more times (George and I sharing) for Nathan and Kyle tossing and turning in our bed, George got fed up and decided to go make Kyle's bed. The thing is that George also has to get up at 5am and we weren't getting much sleep! So, we got Kyle back in his own bed.
Then at about 3:45am (no, we're not through the night yet!!), Nathan woke up yet again. I decided I'd nurse him and see if that'd help keep him asleep for a while. We had stopped with the nighttime feeding (thankfully) until he got sick again. As I was feeding him, I heard the pitter patter of Kyle's little feet heading it to see George, so I called him and asked him to go back to bed. I laid in bed with him for a few minutes to see if that would keep him in his own bed and I thought it had as I headed back to bed when he started bawling. Lost Teddy!! Had to go in and find him and then we were good.
OK, so I don't think I even batted an eye when the alarm went off and George got ready for work. The only thing I remember was Kyle crawling back into bed with me around 6am because I told him he couldn't get up. I think he heard George and woke up. I finally got up at 7am when Nathan woke up at his usual time.
Kyle is now still sleeping in our bed (unheard of at this time!!) and Nathan is back in bed after eating and having his mediciine because he's rubbing his eyes and is so grumpy. So...here's me with a few minutes to myself! Go figure!
Cheers,
Colleen
Monday, January 01, 2007
Welcome 2007!
Not a party night at our house as I mentioned in my last post. We did have a delicious cheese fondue for dinner. Kyle watched his Cars movie and then went to bed. George played his new computer game and I scrapped a little and played on the computer. It was a quiet relaxing evening at home like any other except with a mini celebration before we called it a night. We watched the countdown on TV and then called it a night!
This was the layout I was working on from our camping trip this summer. I almost have another page done with pics from the same trip, but my problem is that I have too much journaling about our crazy camping trip, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all of that!
Well, Nathan didn't have a great sleep last night, but I think the fever is down. He was up at 5am and didn't go back down. George thankfully got up with the kids this morning and I slept a little more. He went back to bed after I got up, so it's been a slow morning around here! Nathan is down for a nap now too and is having a good one for him (not the best napper), but he should considering he got up at 5!
So far, it's been a slow start and I think the whole day might be a lazy one! Nothing too much planned and I might not even get out of my jammies. With any luck, I'll get a little more scrapping in this afternoon when the boys nap. I could clean, but that's not what holidays are for! There's always tomorrow for that!
Cheers,
Colleen