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The Franklin Electric

I’m loving the music by The Franklin Electric. Front man Jon (who plays a mean trumpet), plays music weekly at our daycare for both Mack & Quentin. I saw him perform (kid music) at a 2 year old birthday party just before we went to Jamaica. The kids have a blast listening to him perform. I hope his band performs soon, I’d love to go support local artists! Doesn’t hurt he’s a cutie too! You can check out their website to download a copy of Old Piano for your MP3 player! ENJOY! (I’m loving their song Song Bird as well)

Review & Giveaway #1

I meant to post this yesterday, but I wasn’t feeling well at all, so I ended up taking a nap last night instead once the kids were in bed. So without further delay, here’s today’s giveaway/review:

I’ve been a fan of Jennifer Gasoi since seeing her perform live at a local venue back in 2009 with Sean & Mackenzie (Quentin wasn’t a twinkle in our eye yet). She was performing songs from her first album, Songs for You (iTunes Link, Amazon Canada link, Amazon USA link). Gasoi is a jazz trained musician (I love Jazz) and is Canadian (born in Vancouver) and currently residing in Montreal. I’m hoping to go see her perform at the beginning of December if the time works out.

She has now released her 2nd album, called Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well, (iTunes link, Amazon link, Chapters Link, Amazon USA link) which was released just this month. I received a copy of Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well to review & another copy for one of my lucky readers to win. Since receiving the CD, I’ve been listening to the album non-stop, even when the kids are not around. Her music is fun & lively and extremely cheerful. I love it. If you would like to win a copy of Jennifer’s latest CD, you can do so by following these steps:

1 – Leave a comment on this blog (with an email address if it’s not attached to your profile)
2 – Like Jennifer’s Facebook Page and come back & leave me a comment to tell me you have done so.
3 – Blog about the contest, Tweet about the contest, and come back and give me the link to your blog post/tweet.

4 – Come LIKE my Facebook page for an extra entry and then come back and let me know you're a new fan.
5 – Come join my Facebook Group for an extra entry and once I've approved your request, it will count as another entry.

I will keep this contest open until Halloween, at midnight, EST. I will draw a winner for the CD on November 1st, 2012 and announce it on my blog. GOOD LUCK!

Here is a fun interview on Jennifer & her latest album.

All images from this post were taken from the web.

Mack’s Little Concert

My little rock star! He’d sleep with the guitar at night if we’d let him. ENJOY!

It's my Body

Loving this song. Saw it in my Facebook feed a few days ago and can't stop listening. It's currently a free MP3 download. Enjoy!

Mack’s Guitar Debut

Mack has been obsessed with this guitar that I found him while we were in Florida. It was the best thing I found, he absolutely loves it. I see guitar lessons in his future. Mack's my artistic/musically inclined child. It's just too cute. He swears this is a Raffi song, but I've never heard it before.

What’s going on?

On the weekend, the boys played a game they invented while we watched 2 movies (yeah, they really don't have any attention span for watching movies. Sean was better than Mack at sitting down & watching, but he got quite distracted numerous times by Mack who wanted to play everything else, do other things, besides sitting quietly to watch the movie. We watched both Despicable Me & Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Despicable Me was really cute, had some great laughs, but Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was not as great, but I wanted to see how the story went, so I sat through the entire thing (and got to knit too!) Each movie was about 1 hour and 25 minutes long, so it wasn't that bad at all. It was actually Sean who demanded that we watch both movies in one sitting.

Speaking of movies, Jamie & I went on a double date last week with some friends to see Thor. While I am a fan of superhero movies, I totally enjoyed watching Chris Hemsworth as Thor! His Australian accent just makes me melt! I cannot wait to go see Xmen: First Class, amongst other superhero movies that are coming out this summer. There is a slew of superhero movies coming out.

Yesterday I rode my bike for the first time this summer, to pick up Sean & Mack from daycare, and on the way home had all 3 kids in the buggy. At first it was a bit of a challenge, but I think I've got it all under control. The boys really enjoyed it. It was Quentin's first bike ride. (He's not tall enough yet, so I had to strap him into the booster seat first, then into the buggy! At least he's double protected!)

Caught Mack in a well needed nap on the weekend (we're lucky if either Sean or Mack take a quick nap). Doesn't he look so cute when sleeping? Mack is totally our "bug" child. While Sean likes to pick up ants off the ground, he's not much for the "grosser" bugs. Mack on the other hand... will play with any bug. (Above he's totally engrossed in checking out a caterpillar).

We've been enjoying this gorgeous weather with some friends. Finally - sunshine!
We've been going for long walks & playing in the park.

Quentin turned SIX (!) months old yesterday. I cannot believe it.
Today, he's 26 weeks old.
At 6 months old he's loving sweet potato and banana too.

And Mr. Sean (whom I caught in a picture taking mood this evening) is 230 weeks old.

Today’s Short Link Love:
- A last code for May 2011 of free Pampers Points: 4XGHB4HPE7PB7NK (not sure if there is an expiry date)
- This Peppers and rice salad with sesame soy vinaigrette looks super yummy!
- I love this cute tote bag for sale.
- Love the knitting bracelets from this shop.
- This image is just hysterical.

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I started a test knit last week, but have ripped it out... oh, I don't know... 8 times? I am giving it one more shot before I give up. Something just doesn't want to work out for me, I'm not sure what it is. I've emailed with the designer, and I'm trying one last time. It's a new pattern she's designing, and I'm doing the 12 month test knit, hoping for it to fit Quentin in the late fall (hence why it's a brown color). I also wanted to do it in superwash, because you know, babies spit up. We'll see what happens with this test knit over the next few days.

The last few days have been beautiful (Hello 18-22°C!)
This week we had some fun in the park with some friends.
Definitely taking advantage of the beautiful weather.
The beautiful weather has been bringing out some nice colors & flowers too.

On Tuesday, Sean turned 227 weeks old & Quentin is now 23 weeks old.

I had to fire my cleaning lady. Every week she was doing stuff to annoy us even more and she also started to surface clean. I would go into a room and lift something to find that she cleaned around it, and not behind/under... when she used to when she first started with us. Anyhow, the last straw was this past week when she THREW OUT all the started vegetable plants that I planted with the kids. I am in the middle of searching for a new lady to come to our house, so we'll see what happens. With three kids and a lot of stuff going on, it's nice to have someone help around the house. We're not loaded with money (or I'd have a nanny!) but a cleaning lady for a few hours each week is something that has been worked into our monthly budget and I find it very helpful and nice. It allows me to spend more time with my kids, rather than scrubbing the toilets (which I hate!) I am still in shock that she threw out about 80 started vegetable plants (that I had recently just re-planted into bigger planter pots!) I was livid for a few days... Looks like I'll be buying already started plants once they are ready to go into the ground in just a few weeks.

Today’s Link Love:

- I want one of these 2 in 1 washer/dryer machines! Oh my! I didn’t even know they existed! No more forgetting about transferring over the laundry from the washer to dryer… if only I win the lottery! (I guess that means I should start playing? LOL)
- I love this teething necklace tutorial. I think it's exactly what Quentin needs right now.
- Love this colorful clock.
- This fruit boat is really cute. What a great idea for the kids.
- Love this tutorial to make glitter shoes.
- I want my hair to look like this (love the hairband too).
- Love this kid's tshirt.
- Love this picture.
- Love these crafted fruit.
- Damn you diet.
- Free Pampers Points: VMF776C7HMEXT4.

What's been going on by you? Enjoying the beautiful weather?

Happy Mother’s Day

Quentin’s come a long way since being born in this bathtub. This was his first home bath here. Look how much he’s filled out in about 5 months! He’s practically outgrown this tub too. In a few weeks once he can sit well on his own, I will transfer him into the next tub we have (that I’ve used for all the kids). I also have something else that I received as a gift, that I will try out. I have to pull it out of storage and see what it is even. I know it’s for sitting babies though.

This week we had some friends over and enjoyed some music. We had a lot of fun. We’ve been taking music with the same music guy since January, and it’s amazing how fast the time passes when you’re having fun.

This week we also spent time collecting bugs, and digging to China. I used to dig to China as a kid, it’s fun to do it as an adult too!

The boys made me some stuff in school for mother's day. Mack made me a magnet with his picture in it, which is now on my fridge, and Sean made me a tea cup that had a muffin in it. The tea pot card had a bag of tea in it. They're so cute my boys! Sean actually last night came to me and told me "I wrote my name in a Spongebob card for you, but I can't tell you until tomorrow". Oy. Can't tell him anything! And can't do things in advance with him. I told Jamie later last night what Sean told me and we had a good chuckle about it.

Quentin isn't feeling 100% today, but he's still all smiles. I think he might be cutting his first tooth. He's been leaving me a lot of lovely presents in his diaper today, on Mother's Day of all days. I think it is very likely he's cutting a tooth. (He's been cranky on top of it - but always with smiles). Sean showed me that he could still fit in the BébéPod chair. (I was actually shocked that he could still fit into it).

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there whom read my blog! Hope you had a nice day, spoiled by your loved ones.

Today’s Link Love:
- This image. And this one too.
- Love these tin can yarn holders.
- Love these faucets as hooks!
- Need to find time to make hanging book shelves for the boys. Very cute.
- Wow, this is a really organized fabric stash!
- Love this ruffled bookmark tutorial.
- I still love this diaper/wipes case tutorial.
- Love this twine/string storage organizer idea.
- Love love love love love love this purple dress.
- This made me laugh out loud! And this too!
- Why didn’t I ever think of this? Smart idea! (And I just chucked out 300 bread tabs!)
- Love this wish jar (and the photo).
- Love these camera soaps!
- ♥♥♥♥♥♥
- Wishes she could have this as her 30th birthday cake.
- Loving hearts today!
- Keep meaning to use up our crayon bits to do this.
- Now I feel better about my office being a mess!
- 2 more 5 point Pampers gifts to grow codes: LoveFromPattie5, YIYY9Y6DPDPD6DT
- I started a growth blog for each of my boys for their weekly self-portrait photos, instead of posting a million photos in my posts, since I'm not blogging daily anymore. You can view Sean's here, Mack's here and Quentin's here. It's just easier to keep track of it that way too. (Quentin's is fully up to date, Sean & Mack's will be fully there shortly, I am manually transferring everything over, so please be patient).
- I enjoyed a few movies this week. I saw Limitless (with Bradley Cooper), Going the Distance (with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) and Due Date (with Robert Downey Jr). While they were entertaining, I wouldn't say any of the 3 were fantastic, nor would I watch any of them again. But it was entertaining while they were on.
- Jamie and I are back into the swing of things of watching Dexter. We've had Season 5 sitting on our PVR for months now, and did a marathon. Gosh that show is good. We have no idea where time goes, so catching up has been put on the back burner, but now that seasons are winding down for the summer, we're making time.

Bubbles, Spiders & Meatballs

This week Quentin turned 19 weeks old (Tuesday, April 12th)
Sean turned 223 weeks old (Tuesday, April 12th)
and Mackenzie 147 weeks old (today, Thurs, April 14th)

This week, we've played with bubbles.

We've attended our final mini session music class (and tried on the famous spider hat that I have pictures of both Sean & Mackenzie wearing from when they took this class too).

There were times with friends, and quiet time with naps.
(Mackie finally went back to daycare on Wednesday once he was fever free).

We saw more friends, and even went for an hour & a half walk today.

Sean helped me make 112 meatballs (double recipe) for our guests coming for Passover next week. Sean made me promise that I'd wait for him to come home from school to make them, so I did. He was an awesome helper. He's really quite good at rolling meatballs.

Happiness is....
♥ No longer having to go back to the Children's Hospital for follow-ups. We were cleared yesterday from having to go back to see Respirology and we're also weaning Quentin off the Zantac. Quentin's also 12 lbs 1.5 oz now (he gained over half a pound last week, my little piggy!)
♥ Finding a handbag you thought you no longer had.
♥ Having healthy snacks a friend.
♥ Baking with my son.
♥ The Habs winning Game 1 of the 1st round of the playoffs tonight.
♥ Spring Cleaning.
♥ Catching up on some magazine reading.
♥ Being almost done the book I'm currently reading.
♥ De-cluttering my home. (Will be updating my De-Clutter Blog in the next few days, I've been keeping a list).
♥ Seeing the numbers drop on the scale each week.
♥ Pulling out my beloved wardrobe. Bye-bye everything maternity. Hello clothes!
♥ Bedtime cuddles.
♥ Bedtime stories.
♥ A clean house!
♥ My son telling me I'm the best chef.
♥ Finally having the strength to let go of baby clothes and donate them to someone else who can use them, love them & cherish them as I did.

Today's Link Love:
- Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards points: BKKJSJHSWMZWPGB
- 50 free Pampers Gifts to Grow Points: happybdaypamprs (Valid today only)!
- This person's home library is so cheerful!
- This retro wristband pincushion tutorial.
- This stuffed animal tutorial is adorable.
- Booster Seat Cushion tutorial.

Minor Surgery, Friends & Marshmallow Tushies

Mack turned 145 weeks old on Thursday, March 31, 2011.

Quentin had his follow up with ENT (Ears Nose & Throat) at the Montreal Children's Hospital on Thursday. He is doing exceptionally well, and only has to go back for a follow up around his 1st birthday. We see Respirology in 2 weeks or so, and I'm hoping they say the same thing then too, to come back around his 1st birthday, but we'll see what they have to say.

While we were there, Quentin had minor surgery. The doctor took care of his Tongue Tie and it was a quick procedure. It would have been even quicker if she had froze him properly the first time, I didn't like that she started the job, and then said "Oh, I think he can feel it, I think I should freeze a bit more" Uh.. What?! And halfway through, he was screaming so much (hysterics) that he vomited on the doctor (serves her right for not freezing him properly to begin with). I'm glad it's over & done with. I'm hoping that it heels nicely. It looks like a huge blister under his tongue right now, it's quite upsetting to me to see. I'm hoping he doesn't feel it. He slept for a good 3 and a half hours afterward, he had exhausted himself screaming.

Friday we had our last Friday Music class at our friend's house. It was a fun class, I really enjoyed it, and the people that were in that class. Glad that I joined it. We'll be doing another session in the later part of the spring, that I'm actually organizing with friends, I can't wait.

After music, we headed over to Tara's house, and we were joined also by Kate-the-Enabler.
We had some lunch, some tea, and Kate got her baby fix.

Tara gave Quentin a gift. She knit him Duck feet. (Non-Ravelry link). It's soo flippin' cute.
Thank you so much Tara! Quentin loves them.

Tara & her daughter made dessert for us.
It's the most appropriate snack for any knitter.
I just enjoyed looking & photographing them.
(I didn't actually eat one... darn diet!)
They even have little marshmallow tushies!

Quentin was all smiles last night when he was supposed to be in bed, asleep.
It was my own fault for letting him sleep while we were out for dinner with my in-laws.

Today we had Jenn come over with the boys, as they've all been asking us to see their cousins. The boys played very nicely together, and had lunch together. The photo above kind of is funny, because none of them are actually "playing" together.

Other stuff going on:
- On Thursday, Sean asked us to remove the guard rail off his bed. It's been 2 nights now, and he hasn't fallen out of bed yet (knock on wood).
- Took Quentin to the CLSC on Thursday to get him weighed, he's been a little piggy this week, and has gained 34 g per day since last Thursday. He's now 10 lbs 15.5 oz. I plugged that in his growth chart, and he's still under the 3rd percentile for weight, at 4 months old. While we want him to eat, I don't want him to gain too much too fast. He's supposed to be gaining between 20 & 25 grams a day, so we're going to put him slowly onto regular formula. I'm going to be weaning him off the high calorie formula slowly, and see how he does. Maybe he was just having a growth spurt, who knows.
- Conversation between Jamie & Sean the day before April Fool's Day:
Sean: "I'm going to hide your slippers tomorrow, it's April Fool's day".
Jamie: "You're not supposed to tell me, it's supposed to be a trick/surprise."
Sean: "Well, I won't tell you tomorrow then."

Today's Link Love:
- Free Pampers Gifts to Grow Reward Points: 10000LATINASFBK, SPRINGHASSPRUNG & CesarChavez2011.
- Love this Etsy Shop. Especially these signs and these custom baby ones too.
- Love this bathing suit.
- I'd love to make something like this for my home office. It's so cute.