Now that May has ended...

I seem to have the worst luck loading things up to Blogger.(It's taken me 3 days to load up pictures.) Anyway, April was completely and utterly crazy. It felt like I went from event to event to event. Don't get me wrong, I love being busy, but it felt like a bit much. So much so, that my house suffered more then it usually does.

Easter, 2 Grandma Birthday parties a weekend apart, that was just the beginning.

Clark threw me a surprise party for my birthday in conjunction with the royal wedding! I honestly had no idea what was going on. Thanks to him and my very good friend Kira, I didn't suspect a thing. Everyone came dressed up in honor of Will and Kate's wedding. Very fun!

I was also able to head down to Arizona with 15 other ladies! Crazy, tired, fun, loud, sun, shopping. Just a few words to describe how it went. 4 days with just a bunch of ladies. It was fun to hang out with those that I don't normally do things with and get to know a couple of the ladies a bit better! While some dedicated pool bunnies, I mostly hit the stores, sprinkling the sun in between. There were some great stores that I haven't been to before, or in a really long time. Thanks to Val for such a great weekend!

On the way there. Blue, Pink & a new dress. Hello Kira!

What I do while suntanning.

Crazy fun, a 5.5hour delay, finally brought us home at 4:30 in the morning. That was definitely something I would try again.

Decorating is a slow process...

At least for me it is. I haven't totally figured out what I like, what I want in my house. I have figured out what I don't like, which you would think would narrow things down. Sort of. (wince)

But I have known for a long time that I need more storage. Can't put everything in its place when you don't have a place for it. So, I have been eyeballing hutches for several months now. I thought that I would try craigslist or kijiji and by something previously enjoyed and then just paint it to suit what I want. I found a couple, my dear money-conscious husband (who I adore and am happy that he keeps me in check) would do a fabulous job of talking me out purchasing them. We just needed to wait. Love that phrase. And, admittedly, I was a bit chicken to go to random person's house and look at these things solo. So, round and round we would go.

Well, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I found a couple of display cabinets that I really loved from Ikea. So, cowards excuses aside, I found someone with a truck, went to Ikea and got some new display cabinets. So the Saturday that Clark got home from yet another trip, we put up the cabinets and some curtain rods! I will have this house decorated - in time to move!

And, in typical Calgary fashion, which drives a good, dear friend of mine batty, it snowed again last night. A lot. For some reason, that does not deter my kids at all. At least I managed to get boots on them?

An Organized Moment

As you may well remember, I decided to grow a garden last year. And it did well. See here for a little reminder. Well, to save on some costs and to stretch myself a little more, I have decided to start several different plants from seed. Obviously with our fabulous weather (insert sarcasm here), there are some that need to be started early.

And with that little bit of knowledge, I have actually started some early. I have a healthy batch of pumpkins, peppers (3 varieties), some herbs and some cherry tomatoes. I am waiting for my watermelon to decide that growing is a good hobby. In the next little bit, I'm going to add a little bit of zucchini and cucumber. Now, I just need to figure out where I'm going to put all of these little seedlings. (I'm running out of window sills.) I am also happy to report that my children (more importantly, the 2 year old) have also managed to leave them mostly alone. They are very happy to come and check out the progress and offer to help water them. My plants have also not drowned in "love", aka water.

We are also on Spring Break. Last year we went to California. I've decided that that was really awesome as we planned NOTHING this year. There's a couple events already planned for later in the year and so the money and vacation time just wasn't there. Yeah. 2 weeks off, at the house in Calgary weather (read: snow, wind with an occasional sprinkling of sun, more as a tease), has not been that fun. There have been moments, mostly errands that I have to get done. Needless to say, I have already figured out what we are going to do next year for Spring Break. But, here's some pictures on a nice day of our new bubble blowing machine!

Catch Up

Sorry I have been M.I.A lately. It takes blogger sooooo long to load up pictures that eventually I just give up. But I have managed to let the computer load up the pictures. So, catch up. We finished basketball recently and I am glad to be done. While I know my oldest loves playing, it eats up Friday nights from the end of September until March. It's nice to be able to go out on dates again! Caleb was able to play with his cousin, which was fun for him, and it meant lots of willing cheerleaders! They did really well and both boys have grown a lot in their skills. Go Brown Bears!

Next big event for us was Aiden's birthday party. He requested a Star Wars birthday party. And so we did a lot of different Star Wars related things. They built battle droids.

And created a battle scene in space.

Brought Yoda back his light saber.

And ate one of our own.

Caleb also taught the boys the proper moves of a Padawan. They also watch the Star Wars Clone Wars movie at the beginning, in between events and at the end. All in all, it was a great party with lots of compliments from the party go-ers.

Now we are on Spring Break, wishing that I had managed to plan something fun. Oh, memories of Disneyland last year!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day to all the Irish and wanna be's! I have the privilege of having some Irish in my family tree, as well as Clark.
Now, that being said, we really don't do much on St. Patrick's Day. But, tonight, we are going to the boys Spring Concert. They were unable to have a Christmas Concert (yes, our school calls it that) because of some booking issues at the church we go to. I'm actually happy that it's today instead of in December.
First, it's one less thing I had to worry about around Christmas and Secondly the weather isn't quite so frigid so we won't have to make the mad sprint into the building. It's also nice to have my family come and see.
So, while I eat our snack of green peas, the kids are all wearing green necklaces, take this chance to not only reach your inner Irish, but a splash of a reminder that "greener" days are coming! Can't wait!

Trudging Along

I am in a little bit of an emotional rut.

Nothing serious, just a little bit of a funk. Just feeling like I'm doing the same thing over and over again and not really happy about it. I mean, I know I do the same things over and over again, it just usually doesn't bug me. I'm tired of cooking and cleaning - more so then usual. I'm just plain tired. Sigh. I'm going to blame the weather.... and my kids. Both culprits that can't defend themselves here. I know that weather wise, we haven't been hit as hard as some places, but seriously. And if one of my dear kiddies would decide to sleep through the night again, need I say more?

So, while I haven't figured out how to get out of this rut, I have continued to get some things done for the house. I finally hung up my picture of Bath, England. It's a random shot, but it makes me smile. And, to be ironic, I hung it in the bath... room. But, for those of my friends keeping score, there are now 2 pictures hanging on my wall. Yay me.

Other then that, I'll keep trucking on. Another thing I'll be working on soon-ish is a little quote that I found: We can do hard things. It's a reminder to me that those things that are difficult in my life can be accomplished, even if I'd rather they just went away. Like this rut.

I also received a very anonymous little note thanking me for somethings that I have done around my church. It was very sweet to receive and I wish a little bit that I could thank the kind gesture... or maybe figure out how to pass it on. Hmmm... may have figured out a way out of the rut. I'll keep you posted.

:)

Working on some Goals...

I've been working on the house... again. It's a forever work in progress, but I'm trying to make an active effort right now. So, I actually made a wreath for the door at Christmas. Yarn wrapped around the wreath form. I need something else to finish it, but I haven't figured that out yet. It'll come. Before next Christmas, I hope.



Next, was new bedding for all of us. I have been looking for a new quilt for our bed for a while. I wanted a quilt, something not too heavy with a sophisticated contemporary feel. I happily found something at Target (of course). But I'm really happy with it. Stones have been sewn into it, adding the whimsy that I was looking for.


The kids also got new quilts. The first time that they have owned something that wasn't hodge podge, the boys all match and a girly one for Kyrie.


I also made a reading nook for Caleb out of his closet. He really needs a place to have down time. He was very happy for it!


I am getting there. Soon, I'll have curtains in the kids room and blinds in some of the windows that are missing some sort of covering. It's been 5 years, but we'll get there. Next is some furniture. I keep looking for sales and trying to work around my in laws travel schedules. Really can't wait until Target graces us with its presence. TARGET!