Flower of the Week

Stopped in to my local florist on Saturday with Kaedo to pick up some tulips for my office. They had a cash and carry special on the Gerberas in a vase for $6.50 so I picked this one up. While it is beautiful, I definitely prefer my tulips. When you spend so many hours by yourself it is nice to have flowers to perk up your office. I'm going to be sad when tulip season comes to an end.

Tried last week to post both pictures with no luck but this week I had no problem. If you scroll back you will see last weeks picture with the typo on the picture. By the time it would actually post and we saw the error we didn't want to take the chance of it not posting again. I don't see much difference in Kaedo but a lot in Sterling. He is now officially taller than me. Yikes!

Saturday

Hello - Saturday is always busy in our house. Kaedo has soccer, Craig has football and Sterling and I get to spend 2 whole hours together just the two of us, hanging out. The afternoons are spent on dates with my cute hubby, some reading or magazine perusing and then off to work for me. Sterling had a classmate over this afternoon to work on a project and then his friend texted (no calling anymore) to see if he wanted to ride bikes. His friend came over and they rode around, had pizza, played on the computer and had a great time riding their bikes in the dark. Tomorrow is the last games of indoor soccer but I don't know if Sterling will be playing. We think he may have broken his toe and I don't think he'll be able to get his cleats on. We may have a reprieve from an 8am game. ha.

A special congratulations to my beautiful niece who got a Silver Medal in her first solo in dance. Congratulations also in her getting a Gold in tap, jazz and ballet group dance. We are so thrilled and proud of her. All her moms shuttling to the studio has paid off. We wish we had been there to see it.

Blackmail

Friday night is movie night at our house. We rent a video, eat snacks and spend the evening together. Tonight is no different. However, being as our guys are getting older and their friends are becoming more important we run a fine line between Craig and I still wanting to watch a movie and waiting for the boys to finish hanging out with their friends. Last night at supper we were talking about what we would watch tonight and at the same time Kaedo's friend called to ask if he could hang out ofter school. Craig and I readily agreed but reminded Kaedo that it was movie night and due to our soccer schedule on Saturday morning and my work schedule Saturday night we would not be able to hold off watching the movie until 9pm. Kaedo quickly decided he didn't want to go to the hockey arena and watch his friend's brother and asked if we could pick him up at 7pm so he didn't miss the movie.
Many of you might be thinking we are bad parents for making him choose but the way I see it we have very little time left where these traditions will still be important to the boys, so while I still have the chance to sit down with them and enjoy a family evening, I'm going to take it.
Besides, who wants to spend an hour in a smelly arena watching an 8 year old play hockey? At least that's how I'm justifying it.

Still can't get the damn pictures to load but will try again later.

Arrgh!

No, I'm not a pirate! I'm just frustrated - tried all morning to upload this weeks gnome picture and it just wouldn't let me. We have taken it and it's ready to go, Blogger just isn't working for me. Will hopefully get it posted tonight or tomorrow.
All is well here. We have a little snow but no shovelling was required. The kids are doing great and I'm just one happy, proud mama.
Book fair at school today and so the kids were scrounging for money. Allowance day but they didn't have access to it so I stopped at the bank on the way to school and gave them each a few bucks. No comment, Craig - I know you hate it when I do that. I would love to say they were going to buy a book but I know it will be a spy pen or a poster or 20 erasers or something like that.
Indoor soccer ends this weekend. Sterling plays at 8am (gasp) and Kaedo plays at 2pm. Craig is taking one for the team and taking Sterling Sunday morning as I did it last week for Kaedo at 8am. Sterling's team has 15 losses, 2 wins and a tie. Very discouraging but it's exercise. Kaedo's team is in 3rd place but I don't know his stats.
Rep soccer is in full swing with 2 practices a week. Their first tournament is May 13-15. Looking forward to it.
Will hopefully get those pictures and others posted tonight or tomorrow.
Have a great day!

week 26

Sorry for the delay, blog problems with posting pictures.

Week 26 - officially half a year and we haven't missed one yet. I thought I would post week 26 from last year as well for comparison but am not able to due to an error I keep getting, grrr. Man, trust me, have they grown. We have so much fun with these pictures. They are always up for it. This week we forgot in the morning so after school before I headed back to work we raced out onto the deck - with the snow! - and snapped this one.

For Christmas Craig and I bought the boys these two card games. Up until this week I hadn't played them. Kaedo and I sat down this weekend and played them for a couple of hours. So much fun. They are quick paced, fun and short. If you are looking for a good game whether you are a child or adult I would really recommend these. Crazy Old Fish War is a combination of Crazy 8s, Old Maid, War and Fish. It really keeps you on your toes. Sorry Revenge is a streamlined way to play Sorry without having to pull out a game board.

Enjoy!

Movie Stars (and directors) in the making!

The boys spent much of yesterday afternoon hanging out at the school doing tricks on their bike and scooter. They took Sterling's camera and shot some footage then spent some of the evening creating these videos. I think they did a great job. It is amazing how technologically adept children are these days. Sterling is absolutely amazing and had to show me how to put these videos on to the blog. Yikes.

The End

Today is the last day of Craig and the boys holidays (apparently you can't count the weekend). I thankfully have 3 more days before I have to go back to work.
Our last day of vacation consisted of a movie (Battle LA), a trip to Costco, a visit to Wal-Mart, a trip to the bike shop, soccer practice with dad and biking until dark. We have had a wonderful holiday and have really enjoyed spending time together.
Tomorrow we have soccer practice, Sterling and mom time, football and maybe if I play my cards right a date.
Sunday we have soccer at 8am (gasp) and 5 pm. I don't know what we'll do in between but I do know that getting ready to get back to school and work will be on the agenda.
The weather is wonderful here - no need for a coat - a sweater sufficed. The sun wasn't too bright but the wind was warm and Spring seems to be on its way. I have my fingers crossed.

Hope you have a great weekend, whatever you're doing - and mom - please pick up more cereal!

Week 25

Week 25 already - can you believe we have been doing this for almost a year and a half? My boys are so great about it. This week, with it being Spring Break, they were still in their jammies when I called for this photo. Kaedo didn't even have his shirt on and grabbed his Snuggie instead of showing of his bod. Sterling looks every bit of the 50lbs heavier he is in this picture. Yikes - you don't notice the difference as much when you are just looking at them but this really shows it.

Going out with a friend today and Craig is staying home hanging out with the boys. So looking forward to it. Enjoying our holidays so much. It has been great hanging out together.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Hurray for the USA

Our score
Sterling's new headphones

Sterling sleeping on the way

Starting our trip

Snacks we packed

Yesterday morning we headed out to Niagara Falls, USA for some retail therapy. We started at the Fashion Outlet Mall, headed off to Wal-Mart and ended up at Target. We had a great day and got some great deals. To boot, when we came back across the border they didn't charge us any duty. Some of the big finds were underwear for Sterling. We had looked at them at Wal-Mart here on Monday and they were $17.88 for 3 pairs. We bought them down there for $8.74 for 4 pairs. Great deal. He also got a pair of new runners and due to the sale at Reebok, Kaedo was able to get some great cleats for $19.88 - another great deal. Craig and I were lucky enough to score some great deals at the Oakley store - we both needed new glasses and hadn't purchased any in years. Craig was able to pick up a navy hat that he was looking for and I got an outfit on clearance at Target. Kaeden spent all his money on gum, pop and candy (surprise surprise) and Sterling bought himself a pair of SkullCandy headphones - now he looks like a teenager! Craig was able to pick up some more football gloves for himself and his buddy and we made a brief stop for Kaedo's favorite cereal - S'Mores.

We packed our own lunch so we didn't have to buy lunch and only splurged on a pretzel for Kaedo. We got home at about 7:45 and it was just a great day.

HOLIDAYS HERE WE COME!

Holidays are here for our family and we are so looking forward to it. Craig and the boys have been off since Friday but I started a weeks worth on Saturday night. We have plans to head into the States for some Target and outlet store shopping as well and some hanging out and a trip to the Falls. We have plans to sleep in, see a movie or two, hang out together, and enjoy spending some free time the four of us. I'm sure the boys will have plans with friends and too much video games will be played. Whatever we do we will have fun.

This Week

This weeks flowers. Love me some tulips. These ones didn't bloom as nicely as last weeks but tulips anytime are wonderful. With holidays coming up I don't plan to buy any this week as I won't be looking at them on my desk. Sterling hates flowers on the table, so none there either. Will pick up some new ones next week to put on my desk so I can enjoy them again. If you haven't bought yourself any flowers lately, you should. They will bring a smile to your face.

Taco in a Bag

Last weekend Jessica told me about going to an event for Emma where they served tacos in a bag. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided to do it at home. We loved it. We cut open the chip bags, crushed the taco chips, added our fixings, mixed them up and grabbed a spoon. They were so fun. Kaedo actually took one to school the next day. Sterling loved it most because there were less dishes to clean up after supper. Haha. I would totally recommend this if you want to impress some friends, have an easy clean up dinner or are just looking for something fun to do.

week 24

Better late than never! This week has been so busy and I have been so tired. I hope I'm not coming down with something. The weather was great earlier in the week as you can tell from the sun shining in this picture. I was sure Spring was on its way but the rest of the week has been slush, rain and snow. I don't mind the rain but really don't like the slush on the roads. I had a harrowing drive home from the centre on Wednesday. The weather doesn't want to remain cold so I am hopeful we are seeing the end of this weather. I guess we can just be grateful that we are not in Japan or BC dealing with earthquakes and tsunami warnings. I have to remember to count my blessings.

Be Back Soon!

Hi everyone - been busy living life this week. Have lots of pictures to post but they will have to wait for the weekend. I haven't forgotten.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
I love you!!

Fish Babysitters

Our neighbors have headed out on a Disney Cruise for the next couple of weeks and we are babysitting their fish. Let me just say that babysitting fish is much more daunting than babysitting kids. I am so paranoid one of the fish will die. I had a dream last night that we had to go to a Pet Store with a dead fish in a baggie looking for the closest looking match so the owners would be none the wiser. Yikes!

Sick Day

Kaedo has been sick on and off for the last couple of weeks and has spent a couple of days at home this week due to some congestion, bad cough and fever. Wednesday night we decided to pull out the Vick Vapo-Rub in the hopes it would sooth his chest a little. As he was lying on our bed he says to me,



"mom, rub it on counter clockwise so my chest hairs will knot!"



I had tears in my eyes from laughing so much. He's hilarious.

Week 23

I am hoping Winter is finished and we will start getting some pictures with the boys in their shirt sleeves. While I know Spring doesn't officially come for a few more weeks, I am hoping we have seen the last of the snow. As you can tell from the photo, the sun is shining brightly here and only but a few patches of snow have remained.