Backyard Hockey

Daria has a cool little setup in the backyard that Graidan was utilizing any chance he got.

Line up all the pucks.....

Shoot....

Gather them all up and repeat the cycle!

This mom's sure not complaining. It kept him occupied and gave me a chance to get things done elsewhere on more than one occasion.

Easter Sunday

Menards Marathon & HOP

 Off to Menards to get all the basement reno goodies. Ryan was a star and dropped dad and I off at Menards at 10am and headed to the mall to kill some time with the boys before taking them to this incredible movie. I was so grateful for the peaceful time with my dad so we could concentrate on what shower to pick and whether or not the vanity goes well with the chosen countertop rather than who is hungry and who hit who and who has to go to the bathroom. It was a welcomed break that still took us 5 hours to complete. Now to get everything installed and put together!

Loading the trailer to head home

HOP was a hit! The boys are now dancing around the house singing "I want candy!" and shaking their butts ;)

Getting ready for the best Easter party ever.....

We have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD that is all about Easter and has a very catchy tune that I hear playing in my head over and over with these words, but today we really were getting ready for an easter party.

"We're gettin' ready for the best - easter - party - ever

the best part is we'll be together

and we'll be friends forever

cause it's springtime

shing-a-ling-a-ling time

springtime

makes me wanna sing time

sha la la la la la la la laaaaa"

 I decided this year that were should have a party for the kids over the holiday weekend. I am really feeling pulled in alot of different directions lately between work, family, board meetings and other obligations and I know I am not alone but thought it was time to dedicate some time to my kids and our friends. Sometimes I feel like being so busy leads me to not doing a good job at any areas of my life and most of the time the last person on the list is me and therefore my "girlfriend time" suffers. This was a good excuse to rally up the troops and have a visit! Come on over Gervais, Millers, Benjamins and Frenchs (missed you Himmelspecks).

All lined up for the outdoor egg hunt

Grady on the run

Little Miss Elly getting a hand from her dad

Zadie on the horse swing

We had such a good day! Can get a little chaotic with so many little ones (there were 10 5 and under) but great to visit and hang out all the same. Thanks for coming everyone!

On my own

What a rare day today turned out to be for me. I had an appointment at a specialist in Regina today. Ryan was starting his weekend off and we had planned to all head in for the day but after a long, tiring, stressful night with the kids my wonderful huddy suggested I head in by myself. At first I was reluctant to agree as it would also be nice to see him and my kiddos after being at work all week but then something came over me and I decided to venture out on my own. Something I had NEVER done before. If it wasn't a kid in tow I have always had someone else with me. Whether it be Ryan, or my mom, or a girlfriend.... today I was on my own schedule.

As I was rushing out the door I ran back in to get my camera. You never know when you might regret not having it with you. In the end I am soooo glad I did! I often find myself driving somewhere and thinking "Oooo, that would be a neat picture." "But there is no time to stop we have to get <Somewhere>". Well today I took the time to stop and take a few photos.

 An old building near Creelman that I stopped at.

Can't believe the water around these pumpjacks near Forget.

Disaster DIY

Renos have officially begun on my parent's basement. This is a little project we planned to tackle over the next 4 weeks whil mom is in Edmonton for her treatments. I am not sure dad anticipated what we were getting into but every time we tore down a wall, we decided to extend the project a beyond what we had originally planned. So what started as a basement bathroom update quickly turned into a complete basement overhaul. All we are leaving untouched is the basement bedroom. Otherwise this outdated space is seeing new toilt, shower, vanity, mirror, lighting, flooring, drywall, doors, closet doors, trim and a fresh coat of paint. We are not carpenters but somehow in the wee hours of the night after work each day we are pluggin away and getting things done. As I am seeing it all come together I cannot wait to get onto the decorating part so that we can see a finished product. More than anything I am looking forward to my mom getting to come home to a fun, new, organized space! That will be exciting!!

A portion of the one wall that we have tore out and moved.

Bye-bye BEAUTIFUL blue toilet!!!

Easter prep all done

Running out of time to get everything done before our Easter Party of Friday.....but what's new? Never are enough hours in a day to do all we want to! Today as I was finishing up my preparations and party favors this was the scene outside.

Very UN-spring like conditions outside this morning.

 CRACK ME eggs all filled and ready to close up.

 Such pretty, vibrant colors

 Tagged and ready to be handed out. Tags say " CRACK ME!!!! Love Hudson and Graidan"

Then onto these cute little creations I found here on eighteen25's blog.... which is one of my current obsessions, among many! They were so quick and easy to make. The girls of eighteen25 even supplied the printout and all I had to do was back them and put it all together. Even more excited to remember that RYan and the boys picked up these Strawberry flavored marshmallows in the states last time we were there. They were perfect!

Crack Me!!!

I am slightly addicted to blogs these days and stumbled across this project here and just had to try it.

 Sterilizing the eggs in a boiling pot of water.

Just regular, old food coloring.

Some super-vibrant colors

I put them on skewers and then inside beer bottles to dry.

I plan to finish this little project off tomorrow, just in time for Hudson to take to his school friends and to use the rest for our Easter Party next week. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Teary-eyed :(

Sad day today.... Mom flew out to Edmonton for 4 weeks of treatment to try and attack this horrible disease and get her as healthy as possible. This morning Hudson came to me and said "Mom did you know Grandma is sick and is going to Edmonton to get better for like the next 30 years?" The only quivering voice that I could get out was, " I sure hope so buddy." She is gone for 30 days and I am sure that is what he meant to say but instead it sounded like he said she was going to get better for the next 30 years. A little minsinterpretation on the part of our 4 year old...... or maybe he knows something I don't..... Didn't think this was going to be so hard. Maybe I am not as tough as I once thought.

 When Grandma came to say good-bye she also brought over some Easter goodies for the boys. In their parcels were these adorable little interactive eggs. You press the button and go hide them, then every few seconds you can hear "Come find me." and "I'm over here".

Each of them has a different animal inside. (These are a dog and a pig.) So not only do they talk to you but they also snort and bark so that when you are looking for them you know that the voice you hear is the one you should be looking for. Too cute!

Friends

Tonight we had a few people over for drinks and laughs. The kids did exceptionally well being up as late as they were. We filled them full of snacks to make sure they lasted the night ;)  We will have to do it all again soon.

Easter Photos for a cause

My good friend Nicole had a great idea this holiday to take Easter photos free of charge in exchange that people pledge her in her annual Walk for MS. It was such a cute idea for a great cause that is very close to her heart. The pictures turned out fantastic! You rock girlfriend!

 Graidan was petrified of the bunnies in the basket so he chose to just touch the handle ;)

Hudson, on the other hand, couldn't get enough cuddles in.

Spring has sprung

The boys and I found some time to decorate the house a little more for our easter party next weekend. Hudson is not so interested in 'helping' but Graidan is right in there! Thanks Amanda for pointing me in the right direction to find these easy-peasy instructions on the web here. 

I decided to hang them over the island in the kitchen, since our ceilings are so high everywhere and there were already wires to hang them on;) As I guessed the minute Ryan walked in the door from work he said, "You are not leaving those up ther for a week!" My response, "Wanna bet?" Teehee

Dino-mite Room

Hudson's new bedding arrived in the mail today and he was pretty stoked! I ordered it just a week ago from here. This is just the beginning as I still have painting to do in his room.

Now the decision lies with what color to choose???

5 months and counting.....

New SHOES? NeW shOeS! Ok, so not the new shoes that most girls would get squealy about but for me I am stoked! My current runners (and the numerous pairs before them) give me killer blisters. Now that I have committed, signed up and paid for this half-marathon it was time to invest in yet another pair. Hopefully, these will be the wonder shoes I am looking for and help me successfully check this next item off my bucket list by at least completing the daunting 13.1 miles.... Check back in 5 months and see if I am still alive.

Queen City Marathon  09/11/2011

Mommy-duties

After spending a great day picking up some necessities ( and some not-so-necessities) in Minot yesterday, I am house-bound with today and have a date with the TIDE and BOUNCE! YICK! I so dislike it all but especially the folding and putting away part. I do have to admit, that I am pretty lucky as most of the time my mom does it while I am at work but mom hasn't been around the house much lately and the last thing I want her doing is my housework when we are just wanting her to heal and get better. Mom is more apt to do a load a day whereas I leave it to build up and do it once or twice a week and then I hate it even more ;)

Tonight we were lucky enough to have some pretty great peeps for supper. Rianna and Chris French are new to town but we met them at the Lion's Auction back in March and really enjoyed their company. The minute they came in the door the kids took off and played soooo well all night. I was very impressed with how well they got along but especially that we had 2 pretty tired, sweaty boys at the end of the night. I think that = success. Here's hoping for more nights like these!

Simply Relaxing

He doesn't sit still for long so I couldn't resist documenting when he was actually sitting to watch something on his TV in his room.

Pretty in PURPLE

This morning Ryan was going with Hudson to playschool to be parent helper. I have been away from work a fair amount with mom so I had to come to work. Our good friend Nicole was good enough to add another kiddo to her crew so Graidan went to have a play with them while we were all elsewhere. At lunchtime we were eating and Graidan started to take his socks off. None of us knew what he was doing and asked him to just eat. He then whipped off his sock with a joyous "Ta Da" and it was then that we spotted his beautifully manicured purple toe nails! I thought it was hilarious and couldn't get over how happy he was! Thanks Nic for making Grai's day!

Starring Graidan as WOODY

I swear, as much as this little man frustrates me on certain days I am pretty sure he makes me laugh at least once a day as well. Today while following me around from one room to another we stumbled across the Halloween costumes from last year in the storage room so he was adamant that he needed to put this one on. He even wore parts of it to Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill's for supper!

Nuts for NUTELLA

My boys are crazy for this stuff....so on my last trip to Costco I may have looked a little crazy myself with the amount of it I had in my cart. What can I say? It's way cheaper to buy in bulk and I am a sucker for a deal!

Mmmm Mmmm Good

This kid just cracks me up! He absolutely devoured 2 of these Yoplaits this morning before it was even breakfast time. Apparently you wake up hungry when you don't eat supper the night before......

Call me a meanie, but I am sick and tired of making a separate supper for the kids just so they will eat. So I'm not doing it anymore. If they don't like what we are having then they are excused from the table with nothing. Those are the options. Soon enough they will learn.

Reorganization Project: Linen Closet

I took a few minutes of peace and quiet between kids bedtime and mine to reorganize the linen closet....... what has my life come to when I find it rejuvenating to clean a closet over anything else?!?!?!

Reorganization Project: Basement

Project Spring Clean 2011 nearly complete. I now felt the need to display some of my photos in the house. They are always more appreciated in a frame than in a memory stick! Here is the before and after of my future photo wall and reorganization project.

Stay tuned for my photo wall that I am creating above this cabinet. Cause we all know that the photos we take are much more appreciated in a frame opposed to on a memory stick...... It is time to get some on display in our house ;)

Reorganization Project: Home Office

Now that I started the cleaning and purging I just couldn't bring myself to stop. I managed to make my mark on the whole house before I was done. Next on the agenda: BASEMENT. Tonight I started putting together our new desk that we bought here. I started the project at 8pm and finally called 'er quits at 2am. I am thinking I will leave these type of duties to the man of the house in the future. Although, I am pretty impressed with how it turned out and the quality for the price.

Reorganization Project: Graidan's Room

We made the long drive from Edmonton last night and got home to find out that Ryan had put together Graidan's new big boy bed that we bought here. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the features of it. Two large drawers below to be able to eliminate some of the other furniture in his room and give him more room to play. Then the bottom section also pulls out to extend the twin bed to a king-sized bed for company. The bed currently has two twim mattresses on top of one another so when we are blessed with guests  you can just separate them. Ingenious if you ask me!!!