Happy Birthday Dad, we miss you

It is my dad's birthday today and as you now he passed away in July. Today I am not sad though, I am spending my day watching home videos, looking at photos and remembering all the good times.
Logan of course turned 13 on the 23rd of this month and he and Gramps shared a cake every year. This year Logan didn't want a cake on his birthday. He chose instead to have his cake today, on Gramps' birthday instead. And so, we will have family over for dinner tonight and have birthday cake, and raise our forks to my Dad to let him know we are thinking of him and most importantly to show him that we are doing okay, we miss him terribly but are doing as he would wish and celebrating instead of commiserating.
That boy of mine, he is something else. These are all pictures from 2004 of Dad and Logan sharing their cake.

How about a few pics?

Not enough coffee yet this morning but want to post before I get busy, I'm on a mission to post everyday if I can.
Now, how is THIS for a coffee cup? LOL


Here's a family photo (we only seem to get them when my cousin Bill comes to visit)
this was taken just a few days before Christmas. Geesh, I really need to start wearing makeup or something before I start scaring small children and animals.


And here is a fun one of my three kids and the two "kids of my heart".

New Year and Fresh Start

Okay, I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but August? Really??????

I won't even attempt to catch everyone up then, suffice to say that life goes on and it's been the same general lunacy as usual.

How about some scrappy news? We are blasting off into the New Year at Lovebug with an online crop January 22 - 24th, come and check it out. 2010: A Lovebug Odyssey There are going to be challenges, games and of course prizes, bring a friend along, the more the merrier.

Also the Lovebug 60 Page Club is starting again, bigger and better than ever, so be sure to check that out too.

On the home front, I am heavily in denial that I will be the mother of teenager in another week. I have decided that Logan is NOT going to be thirteen. He will forever more be referred to as One Three, or my personal favorite "not twelve". I am totally not prepared to be the mother of teen..where did the time go???

And many of my dear friends are going through tough times right now and without giving too much detail, if everyone could send out some extra positive thoughts and prayers on behalf of Heidi and on behalf of Jeff and Nancy and family I would be eternally grateful.

That's all for now I think, but I will promise to try to be back. (There you go Jillian *wink*)

Great day at Sandy Beach Park yesterday!

Finally the sun showed it's face and we decided to head out to Sandy Beach to play away the afternoon. A good time was had by all.
For those unfamiliar with the park, there is a HUGE hill leading down to the water here is a shot I took from about 1/2 of the way down looking up

and here is one that I took from the same spot facing down towards the water.


Logan (age 12) decided he wanted to roll down, being a good Mom,I said "go for it" he began rolling with me running alongside him yelling "keep going, keep going" and he being the dutiful son obeyed.
I was not aware there was a big drop off right near the bottom of the hill that had some rocks etc, and Logan just kept on rolling, right over the edge and into the water..bwahahaha


Amidst my hysterical giggling and scrambling for the camera you could hear quite clearly Logan's voice as he screamed "I hate you!" and "I can't believe my own mother betrayed me" and of course the one said most often "Stop laughing, that wasn't funny" Perhaps the funniest part was when the fishermen in the boat just off shore yelled back "It looked pretty funny from here" LOL

Logan being the good sport he is even said he would attempt it again so I could get the video running and capture it better, but of course by that time I had seen the sharp rocks and the danger involved so I didn't take him up on the offer.

Oy Vey......10 days since last post?

I officially suck as a blogger, but will it help if I dazzle you with my adorable yet trying children?
Here's some pics from last weekend when we went to Sandy Beach park to enjoy some sun
Click on the pics to get a closer view if you can stand all that adorableness in one sitting. They're cute I tell you, damned cute, and I don't say that lightly LOL

My Little Model, isn't she gorgeous? Carly knows how to strike a pose.




The Evster....seeking some solitude in Zen-like fashion no doubt? (okay so I forgot to re-orient the picture, just tilt your head for crying out loud)




Look at the smile on this face, with all the pre-teen angst, it is sure a welcome sight to see Logan looking this happy



"Patience grasshopper" were Evan's exact words as he tried to teach Carly and Logan how to correctly skip stones. That boy is a natural...Logan and Carly weren't quite as successful

WHY???

Okay so most of you know that I am working part-time casual right now, generally only 2 shifts/week from 9:30 am - 1 pm.
So tell me why it is that those 2 days/week seem to be the only days of the week that my kids get sick and need to stay home from school?
Thankfully the boss is a Mom and knows too well what's it like with sick kids and the deal when I hired on was that if the buses got cancelled, it was a PD day or the kids got sick I didn't come in to work, but geesh....I have had to bow out of 3 of my last 6 shifts between ice storms and flus....
Okay, vent over...
I am scheduled to work tomorrow morning, so let's all keep our fingers crossed that there is no storm and no vomiting in my future.........


And on an unrelated note (or two)..

Some big stuff coming up on Lovebug, so stay tuned

And, I miss Courtney LOL She is away with the family in Florida (where I am sure it is MUCH MUCH warmer than it is here) and I can't wait for her to get home so we can chat and play.

12 Years Ago Today

My life changed in so many ways.
The birth of my first child, my darling son Logan. He is such and AMAZING kid, he is smart, funny, and sweet. Of course he is also sarcastic, bossy, lazy at times and downright frustrating some days, but I love him to death and can't imagine our lives without him.
I can hardly believe it! Where did the time go?
Wasn't he just adorable?

And in his honor, how about some of my fav layouts about him?

Oh My! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas???

Okay I knew it had been a bit since I posted, just didn't realize it had been this long.
You all know how it is when the holiday season starts, right?
So, between shopping...ughhhh...Christmas get togethers and events at the schools etc, I have been scrapping,surprised? Yeah, me too!
Yesterday I went and volunteered at the Royal Canadian Legion, they put on a Christmas lunch for all of New Prospect School. Both Evan and Carly went and really enjoyed it. They had the whole shebang, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, ham, dessert, hot chocolate. A good time was had by all.
Tomorrow Logan will have his turkey dinner at Pinewood School and I'm sure he will enjoy that as well, but I'm not volunteering for that one, tomorrow is my scrapping day with Courtney...yeah!
So, here's a few layouts that I have done in the last little bit. Hope you enjoy, and remember you can click them to make them larger.
The first bunch was all made with the November Lovebug Kit, I loved this kit!





This is one of My Girls, Amanda and Courtney, these gals just make me smile!

Those of you who read my blog on a more regular basis than that with which I post to it, will remember the dreaded Webkinz incident, right?

And just a few randoms, one of my current "make me smile" layouts is the "Have Her Cake and Eat Her Too", just makes me happy.

My Boy is Off on his BIG adventure

Well this morning started at about 5 am, had to get up to have my boy Logan (11) to his school for 6:30 to begin their big adventure. He and his fellow Fine Arts students are on the way to Winnipeg for a packed trip. They will be arriving back home around 1:30 am, with any luck LOL
Their first stop is at The Forks for a trip to the Manitoba Theatre for Young People to see "Rich". They should enjoy this as it has received rave reviews and is all singing, dancing and skateboarding, what teen or pre-teen wouldn't enjoy that, huh?
Their next stop is at the Planetarium for a showing of "Planets Around Us. Logan isn't big on science, but neither was I and I always enjoyed going to the Planetarium so I'm sure he will be intrigued.
From there they are going to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and then heading off to of all things, the opera! WTH??? Okay it doesn't appeal to me, but these are Fine Arts students and this is a great opportunity for them. Apparently tickets to this opera start at about $95 a person, but our school has arranged for our guys to watch the dress rehearsal and they are doing it for only $10/person, so what the heck.
Now the opera they are watching is Il Trovatore which again means nothing to me, but the cast is apparently top notch and are very famous in that genre, who the heck knows?
I know Logan will have an absolute blast, unfortunately, me, the worry-wart mother that I am is sitting here with her stomach in knots and will remain like that until my boy is back home safe again. I am somewhat more relaxed than I normally would be as today is my Mom's birthday, and since I firmly believe she is our Guardian Angel and watches over us all the time, I know that today she will keep an extra special eye on my boy, so that is my comfort thought of the day.

Are my kids freaking adorable or what???

Prepare yourselves, tis another bragging mom moment coming up.
Here are the proof sheets from the kids' school pictures.
It was so hard to pick just one pose with these cuties I tell ya.
Can't wait to get the real photos back!
Remember you can click on each image to make them larger.
And NO, my children do NOT have "lifetouch" tattooed on themselves, they are watermarks you goofballs.
And YES, Evan did indeed cut his own hair the week before pictures, that's another story for another day...sighhhhhhhhh

In Remembrance

Well Remembrance just passed and I can't believe I didn't post about it or post pictures, my bad...sigh
So it was cold and yucky that day, and Evan was supposed to go in the parade with his Beavers troop and I told him it was cancelled because it was too cold. The guilt got to me, so 15 minutes before he was supposed to be at the Royal Canadian Legion, I started the van and went and picked him up at school.
So glad I did, it is so important for our children to understand the sacrifices that were made on their behalf so they can enjoy the freedoms they have each and every day.
Here is my darling boy carrying the Beavers flag, and here is one of the reasons it is so important to remember. This is my Uncle Howard who served in the war and sacrificed one of his legs in doing so, I sure do miss you Uncle Howard!

Beautiful Birthday Greetings and translations.

So this evening after dinner, Evan disappeared, we found him hard at work at my desk, with his dad blocking my view as little Ev made me a card. You can see it in all it's glory here...






The translation is:
(front of card) Happy Birthday Mom! To Mom From Evan
(inside of card) I will always love you no matter what. I'll always.
Incredible Me E. Hi!

And of course not to be outdone by her brother, Miss Carly decided she should make one too, and to get one up, she used color on hers LOL







Translation:
Happy Birthday Mom! To Mom from Carly
(inside) Happy Birthday Mom. I'll always love you no matter what. I hope you never leave us. I hope you feel nice and good.


Gee, does Carly's sound familiar to anyone? LOL
And I don't know where the "i hope you never leave" thing comes from either...weird..my family is a freak show without the tent I tell ya.

Logan of course is too mature to make a silly card, Lord save me from pre-teens.

And Paul, well what Paul gives me is just plain none of your darned business...bwahahaha...now those who know me, that is just plain old fiction.

Have a wonderful evening everyone, and thanks to each and every one of you who emailed me, posted on Lovebug, posted on my Facebook or called me today with your birthday wishes, I was touched beyond words...Mwaaaaaaaa....sloppy kisses for all