Some Odd Girl contest

This is just too stinking cute! Pop on over to a sweet, crafty and inspiring page and enter the contest to win! All you have to do is enter your suggestion for naming this adorable little dude!

Post their blinkie on your blog page, and enter your suggestion, link it back to your page. Super simple!

September 11th, and celebrating new life

As I am sure most of the world is as well, I have thought a lot about September 11th, and the WTC tragedy. What a scary, uncontrollable shake to the entire world that day was. I remember watching tv in the morning - hubby called me over - and it was surreal to see. It's still to this day unfathomable to understand how human beings can do this to each other. I was working downtown in Calgary, at a law firm, on the 31st floor. All anyone could talk about was the attack. Because Calgary is a big oil center, it was told that if we were worried in any way about our safety, that we should leave for the day. I had Ed come and get me, there was no way I was able to concentrate. We spent the rest of the day watching tv, and listening to reports over and over. Such a sad, sad day. Unnecessary tragedy that took so many lives, and maimed so many more.

This afternoon was all about my friend Denise, her husband Doug, and their soon to arrive baby boy James. Surrounded by family and friends, and more baby gifts than I have ever seen, we celebrated the love of this amazing couple. There couldn't be better parents chosen. I was so honored to be invited, and of course became the unofficial 'official' picture taker. I have a ton of pics to upload, she will be very pleased.

My friend Shelly was so sweet, and watched the kids for me for 5 hours. When I got to her home to pick them up, all the boys were in the pool in the back yard - with Brian and Nicholas in their full clothes, Benjamin in shorts (that were not his) with a pamper that was sooooo full, absorbed to the absolute max - it was hilarious. Shelly was concerned I'd be upset, but really, they were having so much fun. And I got some adorable splashy pictures - Nicholas wrangling an inflatable alligator, and Benjamin doing his cannon balls off the ladder. The boys sure do love water!

I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet evening, maybe watching something on the dvr and scrapping a little bit. Oh, and a yummy, yummy cup of "Lee" tea to relax with. (Lee is my friend with angel wings.)

Friday Tidy

I've been able to get back to a normal schedule now, with us back home from Vancouver, and kiddo back in school. Hubby is again traveling for work, so it's me and the kids and pets. I love 7:30, when the boys go to bed, as I have some time to watch tv or a movie, read, or what I've been doing lately: scrapping and making a mess LOL! I've spent a good portion of last night and this afternoon cleaning up, and trying to find a way that will work to maintain order and still give me what I need for scrapping room. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Legally back

We are back from our whirlwind trip to Vancouver, where we had to go to get new Visas so we could stay in the country. Had our meeting on Wednesday morning of last week, and picked up the new visas with our passports Friday. Played happy tourists for the rest of the time, visiting Vancouver's Gastown, China Town, chinese gardens, Granville Island, Stanley Park and Canada Place. Loved walking along the seawall, taking the water taxi boats and finding unexpectedly beautiful and wonderful places. Oh, and not to mention filling up on Tim Horton's coffee and getting my Kraft Peanut butter. I really wish we'd had more time to stay (and more money!) but we had to hurry back, as Ed is again leaving. Just getting off the plane and settling at home, and tonight he is off to Pennsylvania for a week or two. Just me and the boys, and what a lazy time we'll have. Hopefully I can get us all into routine again, and watching the money to get us back on track. It's raining today, which is wonderful as I don't have to water the lawn, but we do have a flash flood warning in effect until 7pm tonight. I've read that we are on the 'dirty side' of a tropical storm, which may have hit hurricane status... maybe I'll watch the news today. And I know I'm going to scrap today!

School, day #2, hubby's bday, last day of vacation

We were up bright and early, the boys and I, anxiously awaiting the first morning bus ride. We met Alejandro at the bus stop, and one of the other moms with her kiddos, and we waited together. And waited. And waited. Finally, I called Shelly, and she said the kids at her stop were gone. Figured the new driver missed our street. Evelyn drove us to school, and we dropped the kids off at their classrooms. No worries, no tardies given this week.

Spent the day with my baby boy and my birthday husband. Yup, Ed's 39 today. I put on my facebook status last night that today I get to kiss a 39 year old man for the first time today ;) And it's true LOL!! He and Benjamin played Harry Potter on the wii for a while, then Ed ran on the treadmill and had his shower. We headed out around noon, first to Kohl's for Ed's birthday present - some yummy smelling Aqua di Gio cologne, and three white shirts. Found and tried out a new coffee place inside HEB - it is just a little coffee cart kind of thing, Minuti I think it's called. Delicioussssss. Loved my caramel macchiato. Ed had an iced chai cream. Went in search of "the" birthday cake and ended up with a deluxe coconut cream pie - Ed's pretty excited about it.

Came home, puttered around for a bit, then picked up the munchkin from the bus. Again, it was early, just like yesterday. When I spoke to the driver she said she hit her stop before ours at 7:28, and got to ours, waited 3-5 minutes then left... that's not possible, as Nicholas and I left the house at 7:31.... tomorrow we have to be earlier! This girl drives fast, and leaves fast!

Went to Kublai Khan for supper - our favorite make it, have them cook it place. Delicious as always. We all brought 1/2 our food home. Kiddos upstairs watching a movie, and we can too - the new one that came out today, with Jennifer Lopez - The Backup Plan... Then pie, then kiddos bedtime, then a show or two for us.

Awesome day. Thank you honey! Happy Birthday to you! We love you!

First Day of School!

And it was a smooth morning! Maybe the key is making lunch the night before, setting the clothes out the night before, and making sure there are several alarms set. We had very smooth sailing this morning, with plenty of time. We drove Nicholas to school, had lots of time for photos and hugs. We even left before the final bell as he was settling into his coloring at his desk with his classmates. He was excited, and said he loves school. Such a huge difference! I could see it in the kindergartener's faces - that look that we had last year, the nervous and scared little faces. None of that for us this year, Nicholas is a big boy, in Grade one now, and what a difference. Benjamin was sad to leave his brother, and shouted from the doorway, "I love you Nick - a - yus!" and waved and waved as we left. I'm very glad Ed is home from work today, as he is helping Benjamin tremendously with his separation anxiety from his brother. Getting all the laundry done, and have freshly baked cookies for an after school snack, so we can sit and hear all about his first day. Hope it was great!

Nicholas was home before I even went out to meet the bus! His driver was super quick, and he was home early - on the first day of school even! He had a great day, and was very chatty, his baby blues were full of sparkle. He had his oatmeal cookies happily and talked about his day. Such a huge difference from last year. Made curry for supper, and he chattered all through dinner, then went to bed easily. We could get used to this.

Crop weekend again!

Every month our CafeMom group does an online crop, and even though our last month's was just over not that long ago, we are working on August (early this month due to school starting.) Here is a challenge I did that was hosted by my fellow group owner, who wanted to see 'everyday love' between members of the family. I popped my memory card from my camera to my computer, thinking I'd have to do some searching, and I found the perfect picture right away! Benjamin and Nicholas snuggling (and hamming it up) while they were watching tv together upstairs. The do fight and argue, and get on each other's nerves, but they are serious about loving each other too.