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

More scrapping!

Well, I haven't been doing too much lately and my planned night out with the girls to scrap didn't quite happen as planned. I was there with them last night all right, but I was working! Probably helped Tracy more as a result though. We're going to try and plan another one for next month and see what happens. With any luck, I won't be working.

I did get a bit of scrpping done today and had fun with the pictures from the pumpkin patch. One of the great things about blogging is that it's easy (and accurate) journaling for my layouts as well as keeping everyone up-to-date with what's going on around here!

Cheers,

Colleen

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

A relaxing Saturday together

I can't say we really did too much today, but it was nice just being together since it seemed like we didn't see a lot of each other during the week. I'm now usually working at the scrapbook store 2 nights week and I just started tutoring a Mexican girl for an hour two nights a week too. With all that and dinners, baths and bedtimes, it seems a bit hectic around here these days. It was nice not to have to run around and do a million things today.

I was the lucky one that got to start my day by sleeping in! Kyle came in after 9am sometime and woke me up. We puttered around here in the morning and then went out and did an errand and went for a drive after lunch. We decided to get the car washed and we weren't the only ones with that idea since it was finally nice here and some of the snow has gone. Nathan went for a nap when we got home and Kyle and I went up to the park. He had his boots on so he had lots of fun running around in the snow and jumping in the puddles! Home for dinner and I managed to get a little scrapbooking done too (the layout above).

The pictures in the layout were from a home "photo shoot" that we did when Nathan was 7 months. Hard to believe it was that long ago now! I need to book him for Sears pictures again since he's a year now too. I was going to go last week, but changed my mind with all the snow!

We have our annual family January birthday party to go to tomorrow. We have so many people in our family with birthdays this month, including (but not only) grandma, dad, Nathan and George that we just do all the celebrating at one time. Always fun to see everyone and Auntie Adrienne is up from Alabama too, so it'll be good to see her. I missed her last year when she was here because I was in the hospital having Nathan! We just have to figure out what we're going to take for potluck still!

Cheers,

Colleen

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

Enough with the SNOW already!

OK, enough already! We've had our fill of this nasty weather! We're on storm #15 and it's coming down in the form of the white stuff again!! I guess it'll be another day at home for us. I was supposed to take the boys to the dentist, but we won't be getting in the car today I don't think. It doesn't have winter tires (just all seasons) and isn't great in the snow as a result. The morning news said it's pretty slippery out there and it hasn't even stopped snowing yet!

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

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!

I really can't believe that it was a whole year ago that we brought this little bundle into the world! Nathan has grown so quickly and is just the funniest little boy who seems to be learning new things every day. He's pulling himself up on things and is really good on his feet - about the only thing he's not doing is walking yet. Food is not a problem for this "little" guy and he'll eat pretty much whatever we're eating now and the baby food isn't that exciting anymore. Nathan certainly loves his big brother, Kyle, too though there are days when the playing gets to be little too much for him.

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,

Colleen

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

A beautiful snowy day...

Well, the snow finally stopped sometime last night. They thought it would all be over with in the early afternoon, but that sure wasn't the case. Instead of the few centimetres they were predicting, we got about a foot in our area. I took these pictures this morning when the sun was coming up because it looked like such a beautiful morning out there even though it was sure cold! I think the predicted high for the day is zero and it was about -6 when I took these!

I was scheduled to work last night, but found someone near the store to work for me. She got a call at about 4pm though telling her not to bother coming in. Apparently it was really slow and they had 2 people on even without her. I decided to do the same with my shift tonight because the roads are really slick and George doesn't think our car will be any good on hills at all with the ice. It took some people as long as 4 hours to commute home last night. George wasn't too bad off, but he avoided one of the bad bridges.

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.

Well, I may not be going to work, but I'll be able to watch the Canucks play tonight!! GO CANUCKS GO!

Cheers,

Colleen

My favourite layout...

Sue at TTT (see link in sites of note) asked us to blog about our favourite layout and why. Well, thisis my most recent favourite and I just did it this week. It's my current fav for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love this picture and had had it for about 3 and a half years and hadn't scrapped it. Yes, this was our first anniversary when I was very pregnant with Kyle (he was born 2 and a half weeks late and 29 days after this picture) and mum took the picture. Secondly, I really like this style of scrapping, but it's really not generally mine. I had a lot of fun doing this and am very happy with the result!

Cheers,

Colleen

Storm #14

OK, I know they call it the "wet coast" here, but enough with the wind and snow already! We suffered storm #14 yesterday with high winds again up to 100km an hour. The people across the street from us were on the news last night because they had a big tree come down in their backyard. We saw the firefighters with the chainsaw trying to get some of it cut down so that it was safe. I heard Stanley Park was closed again yesterday because trees were coming down in the park again too. George was thinking he might have to work late since there were so many trees down out in Richmond as well.

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...

OK, so I was reading something written by a woman named Ali Edwards and have decided to follow through on her challenge. I'll start by saying that she's an amazing scrapbooker and a graphic designer. Here's her challenge:

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.

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!

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.
Ron Wild

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!

Cheers,
Colleen

Happy (Canadian) Birthday Julie!!

Just wanted to wish you a very Happy Birthday

and hope you're having/had lots of fun!

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!

"I want to go to the star store."

Well, I had a couple of errands to run this afternoon and Kyle couldn't seem to keep himself busy in any way shape or form and wanted to be entertained, so I decided to take him with me. He asked where we were going and if there were toys. I told him just to the drugstore, so there were a few he could look at. He wasn't all that happy with that and asked to go to the "star store". He asked about 5 times, but neither George nor I knew what he was talking about. I apologized and we headed out.

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

"I want to share Nathan's Cheerios."

OK, so I was talking to mum on the phone today and Nathan and Kyle were playing in the living room. Kyle came up to me and wanted Cheerios, but I just tried to hold him off until my call was done. Mum and I got chatting though and he kept asking, so to keep him happy, I went and got a handful of Cheerios and put them on the table between the boys. Kyle proceeded to pull them in front of himself. Nathan looked a little bewildered, so I quickly went and got another handful and kept chatting with mum. Kyle snarfed his down like there was no tomorrow and then comes up to me and whispers (while I'm still on the phone) "I want to share Nathan's Cheerios." What I had processed in my brain originally was that he was going to share his with Nathan. Of course, not thinking about the fact he was done!

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?

I'm starting to see that when the boys play, there's more interest in the toy the other one is playing with. This morning, Nathan got out a car of Kyle's that he hasn't played with for a bit. It was interesting to watch the dynamic though and as soon as Nathan had it out, Kyle was headed over there to play with it and did the "Start your engines" thing almost as if to show me that he really was going to play with it. Kyle took it over to the sofa and sat down with the car, so Nathan crawled over to see it as well and Kyle wasn't too sure about that, but at the same time seemed to want to "show" Nathan the car and how it worked.

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!

The layout was one I did a while ago when Kyle announced to me out of the blue for the first time that Nathan was his best friend. I actually put our conversation on the layout too for sometime in the future when they're not getting along!

Now we can only hope that the fun they have together most of the time lasts for a while!
Cheers,
Colleen

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

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

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

Now, it's almost 8am and I'm getting myself a cup of coffee ready and I'm by myself! How does this happen when you have 2 little boys you ask?? Well, you have the worst night of sleep possiblw with the boys getting up umpteen times and then you try and have a normal day - NOT!

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

Welcome 2007!

Well, we made it to midnight last night though at one point we decided that we wouldn't. We ended up puttering with some stuff and by the time we were done, it was so close that we decided to stay up. The funny thing was that we were in bed by about 12:05 though!

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

Happy New Year!!

Well, the new year is almost upon us and it hasn't been the day I expected. We had a very long night last night with Nathan being sick and waking up all the time crying like he was in pain. I figured it was probably an ear infection, so we headed off to the Dr. first thing this morning. Not much of a wait at the clinic thankfully and we found out that my suspicions were right! He's now got some medicine and has been better off and on though is still grumpier and clingier than normal.

We managed to get our grocery shopping done this morning too since George started while the boys and I were at the clinic. We came home and had puttered a bit and then had some lunch. Kyle and I went to the park after lunch and got a walk and some fresh air. He seems to be getting much better these days after all of us being sick here recently! Came back from the park and Nathan was already in bed and Kyle went down for a nap too. George and I both puttered on the computer since we now have 2 after one of the guys he works with gave us another. It was a wonderful thing for him to do, but I think it was also so that George would be able to play computer games online with him (that he can't on our *^&%*^$# old computer!).

We've got Kyle's Cars movie in now and we've got the makings of a cheese fondue in the works. Nathan is going to bed shortly and we'll eat after that. Kyle's already eaten though he'll no doubt want a bit too. We're going to have a quiet night in tonight. I might even get a little scrapbooking in tonight depending on how things go!

Well, not exactly party night at our house, but we've got some bubbly to celebrate the new year assuming we make it that late! Happy New Year!

Cheers,

Colleen

Christmas Eve pictures

OK, I'm a little behind with my postings here, but I'm trying to get some more pics loaded! These are a few that Tracy sent me from her place on Christmas Eve. We got together there with mum and dad as well to do our annual Chinese food dinner which was good!

Things have changed though and dinner wasn't quite as relaxing this year! Kyle wasn't all that interested in the Chinese food being the picky eater he is so he had a peanut butter and jam sandwhich as well as his dinner. I had Sophia beside me in the exersaucer with Tracy o the other side. Nathan was supposed to nap during dinner, but cried for the first part until we realized he wasn't going to sleep and we got him up so he could worm around for the other half of dinner! We got him in the swing to keep him happy for a bit.

After dinner, Tracy and Brian ended up dumping Sophia in the bathna dn since Nathan hadn't napped and was cranky, we ended up going home pretty much right after dinner. Let's hope next year is a little calmer with the kids being a little older. Hmmm...mayeb not huh?!

Cheers,

Colleen

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Just popping in to say Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope that no matter how close or far you are that you had a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends and fun!

We had a great day, but it was certainly a busy one! I have pictures to post sometime later too, of course, but it's pretty much time to be heading to bed since I have to work 10-4 tomorrow and then we're heading off for another Christmas dinner with George's family!

Cheers,
Colleen

Decorating the tree

Well, mum and dad had already been to the tree farm, but they invited us out to decorate this past week. Dad had done his job by the time we got there and the lights were on and then mum worked on her job of getting the garlands on. Then, we puttered with the ornaments and had fun playing. Kyle is still trying to get the hang (sorry, pun not intended) of putting the ornaments on and they end up on the floor about half the time, but we're working on it!

The kids were really good and Nathan and Sophia even managed to get nap in that day too I think. Nathan didn't go down very easily, but he did eventually. The three of the kids always have so much fun playing together as you can see in the pictures!

Kyle ended up staying at Nana and Grandpa's overnight for the first itme since they moved. Dad called after we made plans to come out and said he had to come back into town the next dat for a meeting, so he'd bring kyle back if it was OK if he stayed. I said no problem and I only wished I hadn't worked that night!

Sounds as if they had a great time! They went to see some Christmas lights in one of the parks that you drive through and apparently Kyle liked it so much he wanted to do it again and then asked in the morning again about going back! They went out for dinner at McDonald's of course so that Kyle could have his grilled cheese sandwich. They also checked out all the lights in their neighbourhood as well. Sounds like Kyle slept well and they made French toast in the morning and hung out. They said he was good (and he usually is!), so I hope so! Now they want him to come back and stay 2 days!

Our tree decorating pictures are on my 35mm camera, so I can't upload them yet! Oh the olden days of 35mm! The digital was full and I hadn't burnt the pics onto disc yet, so I got out my old camera. I sure do like it, but miss being able to see what the picture looks like right away!

Cheers,

Colleen

The ABCs of our Christmas

Advent Calendar - our first this year!
Baking Christmas Cookies and Boxing Day Christmas Dinner
Christmas Tree and Train as well as Chinese food on Christmas Eve!
Decorating
Enjoying the holiday season
Family, Friends, and Food
Gingerbread Men that we have been eating (and giving away!) as fast as we can bake them. Kyle is an expert!
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas
Jingle Bells
Kids
Laughter
Merry Christmas
Nathan's First Christmas
One Ornament a year for the boys
Presents and pyjamas
Questions a million times a day about seeing the Christmas lights
Rocking around the Christmas Tree - the song our singing reindeer sings!
Sitting on Santa's lap and stockings
Traditions and, well, who could forget the Turkey!
Under the tree
Visiting
Wrapping Presents and Waiting for Santa
eXtra special dayYearly letter
Zzzzzzzzzz's when it's all over!

Sorry for the unneccesary e-mail everyone!

Hi all,

Sorry to all of you that I sent the e-mail to and please just ignore it for the time being! I was thinking about making my blog private, but have for now left it the way it is, so no worries about signing in to Google and all that everyone. I decided it was too much work for everyone! For those of you that read, please do and enjoy! Thanks...

Cheers,
Colleen

2 More Sleeps!

It's pretty much time for me to get into bed for one of those sleeps, but I wanted to quickly show off our newest Santa picture - the one I didn't think I was going to get! As I mentioned before, the first time we went to the mall, I couldn't get a picture of both Kyle and Nathan because Kyle decided he didn't want anything to do with Santa after actually seeing him. Of course though, after we got Nathan's pictures back a couple of days later, he wanted to go. I kind of thought the same thing might happen, but no way! He was right in there.

I was a little worried because we met Tracy and Sophia at the mall and Sophia went first and cried and cried. I was wondering if that might put Kyle off, but it didn't. We got both the boys in there though I wouldn't say it was the best picture ever of them, I love it all the same!

It was another crazy day today. George and Kyle headed off to the Dr. at the clinic this morning because George was wondering if he was getting an ear infection with being all stuffed up for days on end and the pair of them have had a low grade fever for days. The Dr. gave George a nasal spray to try and help and said Kyle was fine for now, but if things got an worse, that he should get on an antibiotic. He wrote one out just in case that happened in the next couple of days.

After they got home, I went out and finished off a few little things like picking up the Santa picture, going to the liquor store, getting a few things at Save-0n and getting Nathan an ornament for his first Christmas. I was surprised that it didn't even take me an hour to do all that. I stopped and picked myself up some lunch and quickly got that in me, fed Nathan and headed off to work. I worked 1-6pm and then came home and picked up Kyle and went and did a couple more things. I needed Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee for Christmas morning (and the one near work was out of it!!) and I wanted something for dinner, so I popped into Save-On again for some quick Thai curry I could heat up. Delicious!

Spent the later part of the evening wrapping presents, but it's all done now! We didn't go crazy this year with gifts since mat leave doesn't leave tons of extra cash and the boys don't know any different anyway! We really cut down on family gifts this year too and it makes it much easier and less stressful! Not so hard on the pocketbook either, especially when none of us really need anything! I enjoyed the wrapping too really!

Well, better go get some sleep!
Night,
Colleen

Busy Christmassy Day!!

What a fun day! We started with a bit of a sleep in - which in our house means getting up at 7am! We did our regular morning stuff and Nathan had a good nap before going out to meet Gina, Sam and Alex at the park to go on the Christmas train. We saw Santa, decorated reindeer antlers and made reindeer food all before even getting on the train. We had our little trip on the train and saw the decorations. I wasn't the same as when they did it in the evening with the lights, but the kids had fun! Then they played in the park for quite a while and Gina and I had a good chat. Always seems too long between visits these days!

We came home for lunch and naps and George got home a little early after a Christmas lunch for staff. He was tired since he's still sick as are Kyle and Nathan too, but at least they seem to be getting over their bugs I think. George didn't sleep well last night because he was so congested.

I headed out to try and get something for Kyle from Scott and Toni. I had seen it at one store, but they were out, so I was heading off to another. I was surprised the traffic wasn't too bad and the store wasn't even that crazy. I think half of the battle is your attitude about it though too! I found it - SCORE! He's going to absolutely love it!! Of course, when I got home, George said that both boys essentially woke up as I was going out the door!






We had dinner and got ready to go out to look at Christmas lights. We do this a lot this time of year and Kyle was excited! This one house has Santa there two nights before Christmas, so Kyle has his second Santa visit of the day! Nathan had a little visit too, but wasn't all that impressed to be honest! The tears started when Santa got close. We also saw a house where the tons of lights they had were connected to a computer that puts the lights to music! Quite the display and I can only imagine the amount of work!! A fun night!

Cheers,
Colleen

10 Family Christmas Traditions I Love

1. Decorating the tree together
As a kid, part of this was really going to get the tree as well since we'd go to the tree farm and pick one out and then dad would cut it down. We now have a fake tree since we lived in the condo (and weren't allowed to have a real one), but we all have our "jobs" to do that we've had since we were kids. Dad does the lights and now George does too. Mum and I do garlands and the kids do the decorations. Well, at least the bottom part of the tree!

2. Christmas Baking
This was a huge deal when I was younger since we'd get together with Auntie Randi and do tons of baking!! I'm not sure how much help we actually were and we probably ate more than we helped, but this was such a wonderful part of Christmas! As I got older, we continued to do this and made cookie trays for family and friends. One year we ended up with about 50 cookie trays!!

This year, we have done tons of gingerbread! Kyle loves doing it and loves giving it away about as much! We just made some again tonight and I think its about our 6th batch! We found a great recipe and it's not only fairly easy, but delicious! And we've been busy decorating with sprinkles and little M&Ms.

3. Outings to look at Christmas lights and the Christmas train
George and I love going out and looking at the lights. I remember we went out one night the first Christmas we met and walked along the quay in New West. It was cold, but very memorable. Since then, we've made it an annual thing and Kyle loves the lights now too!

We also try and get to the Stanley Park Christmas train, but haven't made it out there this year yet and may not. With the park being closed for a few days there after the last storm and the weather not cooperating, as well as the usual holiday busyness, we just haven't made it yet, but would like to!

4. Chinese food dinner either out or take-out.
We've done this since I was a kid and love the stress-free aspect of this and just getting together and enjoying the evening. It's sure changed since we were kids too when our family would be about the only people in the restaurant. Now you've got to make reservations to go out and wait forever if you want delivery!

5. Opening one present on Christmas Eve
OK, now I know that the present was always the same, pjs, but I loved being able to open one thing. And when we got older it was a good laugh too! Now, the boys will be getting one present from Santa on Christmas Eve this year!

6. A new tradition for us of getting one ornament a year for the boys.
When I left home, I didn't have any ornaments to take with me and I had heard of other families doing this and thought it was a fun idea, so we started for Kyle's first Christmas. We're trying to get something symbolic of what he's been into that year. This year's was what he calls his "Rock and Roll Snowman" which is a snowman with a guitar since he's been very into music and particularly guitars this year.

7. Opening stockings first on Christmas morning.
We have always been able to do stockings first and it's so much fun to putter through them and fun to see what everyone else gets.

8. Homemade stockings made by mum!!
I'm not even sure she would think of this as a tradition necessarily, but it is to me! I love the stocking that I've had since I was a kid with my name on it in felt done by mum. She actually makes the stockings now!! I had one sent to me when I was in Japan with a care package for the Christmas I didn't come home and I was so excited to get it! Mum had to make two more stockings this year for Nathan and Sophia!

9. Our family dinner
We have done a potluck type dinner for as long as I can remember and it makes it nice to be able to share the workload! We usually end up with quite the gang and it's wonderful to have dinner all together. This will be Nathan's first and I can't wait!

10. A second Boxing Day family dinner
Since George and I met, I've been lucky enough to be able to go to two Christmas dinners. Since George has only brothers and they are all married and have kids (though one is in Australia!), his family does their dinner on Boxing Day so that we can all still get together without having to worry about who's going where what year!!

So feel free to add a comment about what some of your favourite Christmas traditions are!
Cheers,
Colleen

Another crazy day!

Well, things certainly don't seem to be slowing down around here these days. We're lucky if we can find time to relax for a few minutes it seems. I managed to sleep until 8am this morning and that was "sleeping in"! Gone are those teenage days of sleeping until after 11!

I find that once we get up, we're pretty much on the go. We made waffles and got a few little things done. I went out for a drive in the truck since I had to take it to work. Just wanted to make sure I could remember how to drive a standard since it's been so long! Then it was time to start getting the boys ready to go to the Christmas party that the union at George's work was doing. I was supposed to go with them, but I was working this afternoon and couldn't go.

About 15 minutes after they left, I remembered that George had given me the key to the truck, but not the thing for the alarm. Theoretically, that was fine because I just wasn't going to set it, but then I remembered that it was already set! In a panic, I called George and he had to come back and just did a "drive-by" and turned it off! Good thing he wasn't at the party and I wasn't supposed to be heading off for work when I remembered!

As it was, I ended up being late for work last night though only by 4 minutes. I felt so bad because it was only my third night, but it was just one of those things. George got home late and then there was traffic. I called about 10 minutes before I was supposed to start to let them know and the manager was totally fine with it. I worked a few minutes late and all was good.

Work was pretty good today and a little busier for me because I was on the till most of the day. I'm slow, but I'm getting it. Just a different system from what I'm used to, but let's face it, the last time I worked retail was 1994!! The funny thing was that someone I used to work with at the clothing store all those years ago came into work today!

Came right home after work and helped George with the kids because not only did he have the boys, but he had Sophia (niece) too! Tracy and Brian went to a Christmas thing tonight and mum was going to watch Sophia, but she hasn't been feeling well and was worried about the snow in the forecast. George only had all three of them for about 45 minutes, but all was good when I got home. Then, it was feedings and bed for the little ones and George and Kyle went for a walk to see some lights. We put the tree up and George got the lights on and that's as far as we got with that. We haven't put it up before partly because we've been busy and partly because of Nathan getting into it!

Tomorrow is another busy one with brunch with Graham and Sarah (friends that are now living in the Northwest Territories) that are in town for a few days. Then, I have to work in the afternoon and we need to do some grocery shopping and we want to get the tree finished!

I'm hoping the weather holds for tomorrow and that there isn't any more snow overnight. We finally got rid of the remnants of that huge dump. Then there have been three bad storms this week with crazy wind and rain. So many people are without power! I feel sorry for all the guys that work for the power company as I don't imagine some of them have hardly been home for a week! Stanley Park has been closed for a couple of days and I think they said it'd be a couple more before they could say all the tress were OK and it was safe again. We got a bit of snow last night, but it didn't amount to much and they were calling for a little more tonight or maybe tomorrow. Hope it's just rain since I have to get to work and back.

Well, better go to bed since Tracy and Brian just picked up Sophia!
Night,
Colleen

Who is this guy anyway?

OK, I finally managed to go and get the Santa pictures picked up and here it is. Not great, but he's got one! Kyle keeps talking about wanting to go again, but I think the same thing will happen and we'll get there and he'll change his mind. I did tell him we'd go and I'm willing to try!

Well, let's see what's been going on! We've been busy! I think I posted about applying for a job at a scrapbooking store and I got the job! I started the night before last and worked 4 hours and then 4 more again last night. It wasn't that busy, but I like helping customers and the people I work with seem great. I work again tomorrow night and then again both Saturday and Sunday. They like you to work some days together when you start and they're training you so that you don't forget everything you're learning between shifts. Not sure how many hours it'll be a week after that, but we'll wait and see. It's a nice change to be out working a bit again though I do miss putting the boys to bed.

Unfortunately, we had 2 Christmas parties for the kids to go to that I now can't go to either. George is still taking them to the kids one that his union does on Saturday. And because he's taking the car, I have to take the truck which is a standard and I haven't driven one of those since I sold my car about 4 years ago! I think since then, I've driven George's truck once or twice. I'm a little nervous - can you tell?! The party on Sunday was for my mum's group, so we're not going to that at all now. It's too bad, but can't do anything about it.

Speaking of George's truck, we has some "issues" with it this week. Something on it was acting up (George told me, but I'll be honest in saying it went in one ear and out the other) and George thought he could fix it. Well, he was having some trouble so he called Brian (my sister Tracy's husband) because he's done a lot of work on his truck. Brian came over and they worked on it, but decided they needed another tool. Brian came over the next night with the tool, but they still couldn't get it after all that, so George took it in and paid over $200 to get it fixed. The guys at the garage told George there was another small part that should be replaced too, but George said he would do it himself. Wrong answer! He started work on it and the bolts fell inside where they, of course, can't stay and he didn't have the tool to get them out. Call Brian again and he came over and was here for almost 3 hours again another night helping to fix that!! Poor Tracy, I think we've seen more of Brian this week than she and Sophia have! Anyway, it's done and everything is fine again.

Well, I know there are so many other things I could write about, but I need some sleep! Might be a long night since I think Nathan now has Sophia's cold!

Cheers,
Colleen

What Christmas Ornamant are You??

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

We saw Santa!

Well, I'm procrastinating about finishing my Christmas cards and both the boys are napping, so I have a few minutes! We had a good morning and after Nathan's nap, I thought we'd head out to the mall. I needed some fruit for Nathan and wanted to go to Save-On anyway, so I made sure the kids were dressed OK in case we saw Santa and wanted to do pictures.

Well, we got there and Kyle was all excited and asked me about seeing Santa. However, once we actually saw him, Kyle didn't want anything to do with him. I decided just to get Nathan's picture done anyway since we were there and I figured he'd be OK. Well, we got one picture where he's sort of dazed and then he took a good look at Santa and started to cry, and that was the end of it. We got a picture anyway! We pick up the picture Friday, so I'll post it when we get it.

I told Kyle I wasn't going to make him sit with Santa and that maybe we could try another day if he wanted to. Nana (my mum) came with us last year and when I said maybe should could come with us again this year, he seemed to like that idea, so you never know! If it happens, great and if it doesn't, no biggie! His scrapbook will have a page about what happened with out the picture! I was actually surprised that George's parents got him to sit with St. Nicklaus the other day when they took him to Christmas party. I can't say he looks happy in the pictures, but he did sit with him.

Well, I guess Nathan will be up soon, so I should go and try and get a few things done. Think I might get some of my scrapbooking together to take to my interview tomorrow at the scrapbooking store just in case she's interested.

Cheers,
Colleen

Crazy Mixed Up Day!

Wow...felt like I was on a bit of a rollercoaster today - the good and the bad all mixed up. Nathan started it of by waking up just before 3:30am and deciding he wanted to be awake for over an hour. Finally got back to sleep for what seemed like 5 minutes when Kyle came trundling into our room at 6:15. He laid in bed with me for a few minutes while I woke up and then it was out of there.

We did our usual morning thing and got breakfast, etc. I assumed Nathan would sleep a little later, but of course, he didn't. He was in a good mood when he woke up though and we had a good play and put on some music and danced in the kitchen. It was a fun morning. Got Nathan dressed and some laundry sorted. I also got the dishwasher loaded and the kitchen pretty much clean, so things were going well.

Nathan went back down for his nap, so Kyle and I played Chutes and Ladders. He loves "spinning the wheel" when we play and sometimes even gets me to move his player, so that's all he's doing! I managed to get a shower and get ready as well as get Kyle dressed.

Nathan woke up and we were headed off to see Auntie Tracy and Sophia. I had to change Nathan before we left and I had no sooner done that than he "did his business" and I had to start over. Well, apparently he had more business to do even after I had changed the second diaper!! This was the start of the downhill...

Stopped at Tim's for coffee for Trace and I and went on our merry way. As I was getting closer to Tracy's, there was more and more snow and I started thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Well, I decided that too late as I got stuck in her cul-de-sac. Got the kids and coffees out with Tracy's help and went to her place. She moved the car around, but couldn't get it out, so two of her neighbours thankfully came out and pushed until I got out!! YEAH!

By then, I was pretty much out of gas even though Trace and I were heading to Costco. Stopped for gas only to find out the pay at the pump wasn't working - not good with 2 kids! Thankfully Tracy was right there, so I just ran in. We finally made it to Costco and Nathan was ready for his nap, but cooperated. We had a nice little shop and I got a few things we wanted/needed. It was busy, but it was a fun thing to do with Trace too.

I got home, got Nathan in bed late and made Kyle lunch. He wasn't keen on going to bed, but after talking him into it, he was out pretty quickly. I managed a snack and then had a phone call to make to work. As a result of some changes at work (to keep a long story short), it doesn't appear that there's going to be work for me when I'm done my mat leave, but they're not sure, so I called today to see. She said she didn't know and wouldn't for maybe a few more weeks (like right before I would need to go back) and pretty much told me to take other work if I can get it. Of course, another downer!

Had a little break while the boys napped and then Nathan was back up, so the boys didn't nap at the same time really today. I was busy changing Nathan when I got a phone call about an interview for a job I applied for yesterday at the scrapbooking store - a fun, social thing for me! She wants me to come in Thursday for an interview - up again!

What a day! George ended up getting home late, so I fed Nathan before he got home and was just getting Kyle his dinner and cooking ours when he got home. We went for a little drive to look at Christmas lights after dinner - a favourite of Kyle's and something he'd do every night! Came home and got some Christmas cards done and though I have a few more, they'll be out this week! Kyle watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" before he crashed for the night. Got sheets out of the dryer and made the bed, so at least I'll have the feel of clean sheets I like tonight as I crawl in bed - right now!!

Crazy mixed up day...
Cheers,
Colleen