Flying the Coop

Our robins are getting soooo big. I can't believe how quickly they have grown. There is barely room for the three of them in the nest. They are all squished one on top of the other. I remember (back in the day - last week - ha!) when they were tiny and featherless. Now they are big and robust. Haven't seen them leave the nest yet but I hope than when momma finally decides to kick them out they fly far and well and don't land with a splat on my front deck. That is not something I want to see. It would definitely be a "blue job".

cards

Birthday

Graduation

Boy's first birthday

Birthday

Male birthday

Have got a little side business going at work, making cards for people. Here are some of the latest I have done. I'm happy to do it and little extra money is nice too. I charge $5 a card but Craig is always telling me I could charge much more than that. I can't imagine anyone spending $5 for a card but they do. If you are ever in need of a card, let me know. I ship nationally! ha!

A Real Pisser

This is what happens when you have too much to drink...

Shrine

Kaedo and the kids next door are always making home for bugs, building flower shrines and digging holes in our backyard. This is just an example of some of their work. They can spend hours searching for bugs, flowers, rocks and anything else they can add to their creations. Beware where you walk, however, you may fall in a hole and break your ankle.

Week 35

Gnomee asked me specifically if he could get in on the fun instead of having his picture taken on the front deck this week. Of course I said yes and here is this weeks picture. A little different from the usual but a gnome picture none the less.

Trampoline Trouble

The boys had a great time this afternoon jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler on. They laughed and giggled and double-jumped each other and got soaking wet. Thank goodness for the 29 degree weather and bright blue sky. They played in the trampoline and just had a blast. I know I have said it before but the trampoline is one of their great gifts - thanks again, Jessica. They have been having so much fun. Hope you enjoy these action shots.

We made a tour of all the garden centres today for something to do. The stores are all closed but the garden centres were open. We didn't buy anything but had fun daydreaming, trying out all the swings and gliders, arguing over which flowers were the prettiest and looking for the perfect gnome to replace our broken one. We have decided to use Gnomee until week 52 and then when we start over for next year we will use a new gnome.

All in all we had a wonderful weekend together and hope you did too.

This is what happens...

...when your kid's friends think you're cool. I have always lead by the example my mom and dad set - kids are always welcome here and they can stay for as long as I am willing to put up with them. Wednesday was no different. Sterling and Kaedo each had a friend over. It was really nice meeting another of Sterling's friends. He seems very nice. Josh was here with Kaedo but he is almost like another kid he is here so much. On the weekends they are virtually inseparable so we either have three kids here or only one.

Onto these treasures. One of kid's friends has spent quite a lot of time here lately as his mom and dad are getting divorced and he likes it here. He stopped by this afternoon and said to me,

"Sorry I missed your birthday but I got these for you".

My Love

My husband is the handsomest man on the planet. I know I have said it before but this guy just gets better looking with age. Found this picture on my camera and just wanted to share it. I am so glad to have him with me as we go through this time of struggle. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have him to bounce ideas off of, talk to, cry with, share. The boys are so lucky to have him as their dad and I am lucky to have him as my husband. After 15 years together (gasp) we know each other so well and know that we can count on each other.

Robin's Nest

Our baby robins are growing. They are so cute. I think it is very cool that we have robins in our tree. We have been lucky to have them a few times over the years. The one thing that always strikes me as weird is the fact that when the mom feels threatened by us walking past the tree, she flies away. I always wonder why she doesn't stay and protect her babies. I spend my life protecting my babes so it is weird that she doesn't. Aaah, to have a conversation with a robin and see what the hell she is thinking.

Week 34

Week 3 and the weather is fantastic. Man, these kids are cute. One day late but better than never. The boys are in their shirt sleeves today. They didn't even take their bunny hugs. The sun is shining and their isn't a cloud in the sky. The furnace and air conditioning guy is coming today for the Spring servicing. We have a maintenance plan on them and today is the day. So, I am stuck here from 9am-1pm to wait for the guy. Isn't it funny how you can spend the entire day at home without even thinking about it but when you HAVE to stay at home you can think of about 30 other things you could be doing. Oh well - such is life.
At work yesterday I learned that I will be off work on Monday due to the holiday. I haven't been off on a holiday in the 18 months I have worked for the bank. It will be nice to have 2 days off in a row with everyone home. Who knows what we'll do.

Sunday at the Zoo

There is nothing better than the Zoo on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had a wonderful time seeing the animals and enjoying our afternoon together. The polar bears were amazing, playing in the water. We have only ever seen them pacing or sleeping so it was so cool to see them playing in the water. As always I was able to get great pictures of the men in my life. Also a cute one of me and the boys. The tigers were beautiful as always and one of them had an extra snack yesterday. A peacock got into their enclosure and became an afternoon snack. It was gross but cool at the same time. The elephants were awesome as always and we spent some time watching them. We went into the Canadian area which we have not been in before. The exotic animals are definitely more interesting. Did see the bison though and thought of dad and how much he loves them. Sterling brought his phone with him (an afternoon without texting?? I don't think so) and he took a ton of pictures and had fun enhancing them and texting them to us and his friends. We got home about 7pm and spent the rest of the evening watching tv and hanging out.

On another note - got a call from the specialist today and they have an opening for Sterling tonight at 6:30pm. We have been waiting to see this doctor and they had to cancel tomorrow's scheduled appointment. Today at 6:30pm was the only appointment until July. Needless to say I will be taking him tonight. Was glad I had mentioned to my boss that I was waiting for some tests for Sterling and may have to alter my schedule a little.

From the Archives

Hi Everyone -

Happy Saturday! Some pictures from the archives. These were taken in March 2003. Man what a difference 7 years make! 7 years! Gasp!

The boys had many great hours in the jeep. It was one of the best gifts they ever received and we had many fun hours watching them cruise around the neighborhood.

The boys are outside right now playing with L and having fun. Sterling has plans this afternoon to go to a friend's house and Kaedo does as well. Craig is at football and I am heading to work in a couple of hours.

Last summer we bought a pass to the Zoo and haven't been since March so we are hoping the weather is good and we can head out there tomorrow for an afternoon of animal gazing. The boys are looking forward to it and I just want to spend time with them so anything they want to do is good with me.

One last thing - thank you for all the well wishes for Sterling. I don't mean to drop it all on you but know that you want the details and this is an easy, if not public, way to get all the information to you. Thanks to you all for being so great.

Week 33

Better late than never! This is a great picture of both of them. Week 33! Wow! Not too much going on here. The weather isn't great today so Kaedo isn't riding his bike to school as planned. He hopes to ride with his buddy on Monday.

Not too much going on this weekend. Craig has football and I have to work. Sunday we hope to do something as a family. It will depend on the weather, so we'll see.

Thanks for the well wishes for Sterling. We really appreciate it. I will keep you all posted.

Saw this quote today and I really liked it. Thought I would pass it on to you -

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain

That quote is very fitting for us right now. I think it is a good reminder to enjoy the little things.

Off to get Sterling out of bed and ready for school, make lunches and get ready for the gym.

Have a great weekend.

OH!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Jacob - yesterday. Sounds like he had a great day! Love you!

Sterling

Serious Post - BEWARE!

Many of you know that Sterling was diagnosed earlier this year with a learning disability among other things. We have been working hard with him to help in any way we can and see a specialist to help us. Lately Sterling has started having a pretty serious tic. He shakes his head over and over again, almost non stop. He also wrinkles his nose and blinks rapidly. To say it is heartbreaking is an understatement. Craig and I are worried beyond belief and it is overwhelming the sadness we feel when we see Sterling suffering. The specialist we have seen as well as his family doctor believe it is a tic disorder and we are working on a more formal diagnosis and are hoping beyond hope that he is not diagnosed with Tourettes.

He has been teased rather relentlessly in school and it has been really hard on him. His teacher, bless her heart, has kept in contact with us regarding this and yesterday did something for Sterling that made me cry. She had heard the kids teasing him and had been advised by other teachers that this was an ongoing thing. Yesterday she pulled Sterling aside and asked him if she could address his tic in a Community Circle with the whole class. He is so amazing. He said yes. He is so brave and unbelievable. He amazes me. SO, the class all sat down in a circle and his teacher talked about a few things then she addressed Sterling's tic. She explained what she knew about it and what it was like for Sterling and how he can't control it. She explained to the kids how much the teasing hurts and that Sterling was not doing this for attention. Then she turned the circle over to Sterling and a question and answer bit. Sterling got quite a few questions and he answered them the best he could. Kids were asking if he can die from it, if he gets headaches, etc. He did awesome. I am so thankful to his teacher for taking the time to do this. Sterling told us that he wasn't teased after this happened so I hope that it stays that way.

We are waiting for a referral to a paediatric neurologist and he is seeing another specialist on Tuesday. We will keep you updated as we know more.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and extra hugs for Sterling. He really needs them right now.

Happy Birthday to me!

It is only 2:24pm and I have already had a FANTASTIC day! Thank you for all the well wishes. My day started at 12:01am with a call from Jessica declaring herself to be FIRST to call to wish me a happy day. It is a long standing battle to be first to wish "happy .... " to the people in our family and Jessica definitely won this one.

Kaedo was heading to the Science Centre today with his class so we all got up early and took him to school for 7:45am. Since we were up Sterling and I decided to have breakfast together then headed up to Wal-Mart for some much needed unders for him. Needless to say we had had breakfast and been to Wal-Mart all before school started.

Got a call from mom and dad singing their hearts out while we were having breakfast and it was great. After dropping Sterling off at school I got a pedicure with some of the birthday money I got. Awesome! After that I headed to Yorkdale Mall (almost at the airport) to window shop through the beautiful stores they have. Think Gucci, Coach, Louis Vuitton, etc. AWESOME! I spent about 90 minutes looking around and while in Coach I got a call from Stan and Shirley. Their singing was great too.

After leaving the mall I made my way back home and got a much needed oil change. How long can the light be on before your car quits working????

This evening Craig is coming home a little early and we are spending our much saved Scene Points to get four tickets to "Ironman 2". We are so looking forward to seeing the movie and we have been saving all our points for about 3 months so that we can go for free. I always like the movies more when they are free. Hard to be disappointed when it doesn't cost anything.

No cake for me this year as I am working hard to lose all the weight I have gained over the years. I have splurged today and will have to work the rest of the week to get back on track.

Thank you for the money, the gift cards, the KOBO, the well wishes. It has been a wonderful birthday.

Happy 'Bird'-day

Well its seems as though May is a busy month for birthdays. In fact today we had a new born join our house, well outside our house. It's been a little cool here so hopefully they survive, especially since momma bird takes off every time we come out of the house. As Shannon, says, they're so ugly they're cute. Stay tuned for another birthday pic tomorrow assuming Shannon lets me post one of her :)

Mother's Day re-cap

Did you have a great day? I did. It was fabulous. I woke up early (8:45am - yes, I know this isn't early for some of you but I usually stay in bed until 10:30am on Sundays), and got wonderful cards from the boys. The thing I loved most about them is that they really reflected each boys personality. Kaedo's was a cut out heart with stickers and a key and Sterling's was a light up Queen of Hearts playing card with the heart cut out and a light that glows when you push it. Both were amazing. Craig made me a "book" called - "Greatest Mom in the World - the Shannon Lavigne Story". Love it.

Went out first thing and picked up flowers for GG from mom and dad then came home and spoke with my mom - I was FIRST!!! - then we all got ready and went to visit GG. After that we made our rounds of the grocery stores getting all the deals I had found through the online flyers. The boys came with us to Wal-Mart and Superstore then were sick of it so we took them home. Craig and I headed out to Price Chopper and No Frills. I unpacked the groceries, made some soup and cooked the chicken for the week. Sterling went out to rollerblade, Kaedo went to play hockey and Craig fixed one of Sterling's old bikes for resale on Kijiji.

The boys are going to get their showers and then we are sitting down with snacks and watching "Avatar". Looking forward to spending the rest of the day with my fam.

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I know I did. Lots of love to all.

Happy Mother's Day

Sterling drew this on the street years ago and it seems like a fitting image for today. Happy Mother's Day to the women in my life. Mom, Shirley, Jessica and Tica - I love you and you are all great moms. I hope you have a terrific day whatever you are doing.
I plan to spend the day with my boys, enjoying my time with them.
Love to all!