That Time of Year Again

It’s that time of the year again, when new school supplies are acquired and labeled and the kids moan that summer flew by too fast and they don’t want school to start yet. I love back to school. I love shopping for school supplies, finding the best deal on any given item. I have managed to get every last item on their supply lists, school bags approved by the boys, lunch boxes too, and now begins the tedious job of putting their names on everything.Tedious yet fun at the same time! (Shhh! I enjoy doing it). Too bad these pencils don’t come pre-sharpened, I have to go sharpen these above 40 for Sean & another 12 for Mackenzie. (I’m super happy the coloured pencils came sharpened!) Sean will be starting the 1st grade & Mackenzie will be starting Kindergarten. I must also get their uniform in order – making sure I have everything they need for the school year. Do you like back to school? Do your kids too? Or do they dread going back to school as there is homework/tests, etc?

12.24.10

Today I discovered, that, when I'm all alone with the 3 boys, it takes me an entire hour to get organized to leave the house. Especially since it's winter, and I have 3 kids to suit up, and pack into the car. ONE FULL HOUR. I need to figure out what I can do to reduce that. However, unexpected stuff happened during that hour. Diapers needed changing, one kid ended up in time out... you know... the usual.

I had a great day with the boys and my mom. We braved it and spent the afternoon at the mall. Got GREAT parking (surprisingly) and thought it wasn't as busy inside as we had expected. Had lunch, and did a little shopping. Ran into family & some friends. Sean came home and said his feet hurt and he was tired! (Tired was the point!) What a nice day. (The boys had no daycare today, so I would have gone stir crazy had we all stayed home).

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope your tree is filled with all that you've wished for. (And your stocking too!) Santa is visiting our house too (we celebrate all holidays) and I cannot wait to see Sean & Mack's reaction tomorrow morning. I just cannot wait. Camera batteries are charged and gifts are going to be left out by Sean & Mack's door (like last year for Sean). This year, Mack gets to enjoy it too, now that he's old enough to understand what is going on!

08.12.10 :: 112 weeks old

Mack is 112 weeks old today.

I started this blog almost 5 years ago when I got this car. You can see the first 100 km here. I found it quite funky that it was 55,555 today. Neat number. Especially since it’s been almost 5 years and this car will be for sale shortly. With number 3 on the way, we need a bigger car. (re: van)

I took a picture the other night of this GORGEOUS rainbow.
Had to share.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a rainbow.

Today’s garden loot! Look at all this stuff! There is 1 cucumber and one zucchini missing from the photo. Jamie discovered a zucchini after he got home from work (which will become zucchini bread at some point over the weekend). (And one cucumber was given to my cleaning lady before she left today, which was before I got to take a picture of the loot). When I did daycare pickup today, I brought some of the teachers some cucumbers too. They were super happy. (And started “mine’s bigger than yours jokes” – which I am still giggling over). There was no way we’d be able to eat 13 cucumbers before they went bad, so I wanted to give them away.

We even have some strawberries turning red!

I had to ship off my brand new lens (18-200mm) that Jamie got me for my birthday for my Nikon D60 to the Canadian repair center in Markham, Ontario yesterday (on my dime, of course). It was working fine until Monday at Eagles Training Camp. When I turned on my camera, all I saw was “shaking” even though my camera & lens were steady in my hands. I put my original lens that came with my D60 (18-55mm) and it was fine. So I knew it wasn’t my camera that had problems. After making a bunch of phone calls, I got it all sorted out. I shipped it out (with all my paperwork) yesterday via Purolator. It arrived there this morning. I called this afternoon and spoke to a very nice man. He said he’s go to receiving, find my lens, test it out, and call me back with info. (I was also upset that I had to pay for shipping to have it repaired for a brand new lens. They explained to me that this weeds out all the phony claims (ie. people who spill coca cola on their lens and try to pass it off as a warranty claim). Anyhow, an hour later, this nice man called me back, my lens was tested out, it’s definitely a stabilizing problem, and it seems as though there is a circuit board problem in the lens. And it’s covered under my warranty. Phew. He said he put it into the rush queue line, it’ll be fixed tomorrow (as he is pretty certain that they have all the parts to fix it in stock) and they’ll ship it back to me on Monday or Tuesday latest. Once I get it back, I am going to see if they’ll refund me the original shipping, since this was a defect and not me dropping the lens on the floor and expecting them to fix it. If it were an older lens, I’d understand to pay the shipping. But I’ve only had the lens about 7 weeks. (Which is crazy if you ask me).

Alright! A bit more about our trip. On Thursday, Aug 5th, I got to go to Knit 1 Purl 2 in the morning. I will show you all the yarn I picked up tomorrow, a new edition of Yarn P0rn Friday. We also hit up a local Walmart (as I was looking for a certain pair of shorts for the boys that I’d picked up while in Florida this past January). Not only did I find these shorts, but they were on some serious liquidation. I picked up a few more pairs for Mackenzie (24 mos), a few more pairs for Sean (3T) and some to put away for next summer and the summer after (in 4T and 5T). Now that I’m having a 3rd boy, these pieces of clothing keep getting passed down. There’s rarely anything that gets ruined or tossed. (The only thing that Sean has destroyed so far is his size 3 snowsuit. Everything else (except shoes, which I don’t share between boys) has gotten passed down). I also found a really cute onesie for baby number 3 that reads “Born in 2010”. He has to have a few things that weren’t passed down, right?

Sean got his Chuck E. Cheese fix today. He had a FANTASTIC time. He’s been asking to go to one since he saw the commercial on tv. Mack was obsessed with some basketball game and Sean & I had a good time playing my fave game, Skee Ball. I was pretty darn good too. (I think the Skee Ball machines at the carnival are rigged).

Sean’s other new fave thing – playing pool. Although he’s a little too small for it, daddy helped him. They had a good time playing. He wouldn’t have ever discovered this for a while, but Jamie’s cousins (whom we were staying with) have a pool table in their beautiful house.

After we came back from dinner (I got my Ruby Tuesday’s Fix), the boys hung out together for a bit before it was bedtime. We finally got a group shot of all the kids. It was so nice to finally meet our new cousins. It was a nice time visiting with them.

On Friday, Aug 6, we got up early and headed on the road to Southampton, PA. My good friend Lauren lives there with her hubby & their (now) 1 year old daughter. Lauren & I have been friends for 13 years already. (Wow, time flies). They happen to live 15 minutes from Sesame Place, so we took the boys.

Sean, our guide for the day. (We went wherever her wanted to go).

We took some family photos on the steps of Sesame Street.

We saw some live shows.

Including Elmo’s World Live. (Mack cried when Elmo left at the end).
Sean measured his hands to the celebrities:

The boys had fun today.

Mack convinced us to get him a big bird stuffed animal. (How can you say no to this face?)

Enjoyed some Elmo cupcakes.


And even got to meet the stars!

This one was the boy’s fave by far.

Whew! Stay tuned tomorrow for some more of our trip. So much still to tell you about.
I did get some more de-cluttering done today. Progress is here.

5.12.10 :: 99 weeks old

Mack is 99 weeks old today.

Today my mom & I took the boys for a quick drive to Ottawa.
First we stopped at Denny’s for lunch, to meet up with my husband’s cousin & her daughter.
It was nice to see them.

We did a few errands.
(I wanted one store in specific for some items for Mackenzie’s 2nd birthday party).
The boys got some lollypops from the CHEO bear when we donated some money to the hospital.

The boys napped on the way home.
No big surprise.

My mom drove both ways. She said it was easier for her to drive than to have to turn around a million times for the kids. They kept asking for stuff. They kept dropping things. My mom gets nauseas in the car, so I sat in the passengers seat, and she drive. Needles to say I got no knitting at all done because the kids were constantly having me turn around. Except while they dozed off for like 30 minutes each on the way home. Though, I was so tired I didn’t bother pulling out my knitting. Tomorrow there shall be knitting.

What else has been going on? I certainly don't find it funny that Mackenzie keeps putting stuff in the garbage. Stuff that shouldn't be in there... like his bunny. Like some of the kids' toys. Do I need to lock the garbage cans? And the toilets too? (Found bunny and one of his shoes in the toilet a few days ago). Do your kids do this too? Sean went through a phase. I once found my husband’s PJ pants in the toilet.

Tonight I actually watched the Habs game but that didn’t bring them any bad luck at all. They won tonight, killing the Penguins 5-2. Onto the next round for my Habs! GO HABS GO! I can’t believe it! What a game.

Now I’m heading to bed and want to read a bit more in the book I’m currently reading :: The Yoga Mamas. I think I’m about 9 chapters in, so far it’s not bad.

04.24.10

 

Somewhere on the way to Richmond, BC, there was these neat hub cap statues.

Today we met up with Carol in Richmond, BC, to go to Daiso.
Daiso was awesome.
I found some crafty stuff there as well as some toys for Sean & Mack.
It was a really fun/neat store.
I wish I had more time to wander the aisles in there. Maybe next time.

 

After Daiso we had some lunch.
I ordered a Chow Mein dish, and Mack wanted my lunch instead of his chicken strips & fries.
He thought he was funny.

 

Mackenzie wanted to show you his new tool belt.

 

Though, he wasn’t sure why it was wrapped around him.
I don’t think he likes to be confined in things. (Like strollers & car seats too).

 

This bathroom in the mall that Daiso is in, is the coolest bathroom I’ve ever seen.

Self-portrait with Bea.

 

In that same bathroom, they have the neatest hand dryer.
(It’s manufactured by Dyson).

 

After we headed to a mall across the street in the Yaohan Center to go grab a Bubble Tea.

 

While we waited for our bubble tea to be ready, Mack made some phone calls.

I ordered a Kiwi Bubble Tea with Coconut Jelly.

It was to die for. Wow.
Does anyone know if there is bubble tea in Montreal?
If so, where?

On our way back into Mission, we stopped at my friend Kristy’s house. She was reading my blog and had no idea I was in Mission. She invited us over for a playdate. Mack was so happy to play with other kids. Kristy’s kids are Kaylen who just turned 3 and Kenzie who just turned 1. (Yep, that’s Kenzie – not short for Mackenzie though). Ironically Kristy lives around the corner practically from Cynthia.

This is a picture of Mack & I with Kristy & Kaylen. Apparently Kaylen was so happy to have a playdate. After we left, she asked her mom all sorts of questions :: "Where's Mack?"  "Why did he have to go?"  "Where will he sleep tonight?"  "What toys will he play with?"  "Where does he live?" Too.cute.for.words.

Off to go do some more crafting & hang out with Cynthia & Bea.

04.23.10

I love the view in B.C. Almost anywhere we’ve been, there’s mountains in view.
It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Our first stop was to Dressew.
OMG.
Yarn, Fabric, Notions & more.
A definitely go-to place if you’re visiting or live in B.C.

The next stop was to Button Button.
What a cute little shop full of buttons.
I picked up a shawl pin & a few buttons & some button shanks.
Also a definite must go to place, right next door to Dressew.

Saw this really cute minature in Button Button.

Mack’s been doing pretty good in the stroller in all these places.
Though, I’m sure before long he’ll start to get annoyed.
“Mommy, another yarn shop?”

He loves to wear sunglasses. It’s too cute.

After Dressew we went to Mayfair News, Chapters next door & then to Earls for lunch.
I had a very yummy dish, Mackenzie barely ate his chicken strips,
but enjoyed the fries from Bea’s plate instead of the ones on his own.

Peek-a-boo, I can see you!

Bunny needs some juice too.

Mackie & I.

After lunch we headed to Three Bags Full on Main Street.
I had a gift certificate waiting there for me at the cash, from my sister for my birthday.
Thank you Amy!
I picked up some Noro with my gift certificate.
Bea also got me a skein of Sweet Georgia sock yarn as well for my birthday.
Thank you Bea!

After that we headed to Quilt Essentials.
On the street in front they had these really neat benches!

We also picked up some cupcakes & scones at Tracycakes.

I saw this in the shop. So cute.

This evening after Mack went to bed we set out to do some crafting.
(Sewing to be in specific).

They helped me finish the “box” bag that I started in my sewing class.
It turned out more rectangle than anything.

I like it though. It still is very functional.

Then we made 2 tool belts, one for Mack & one for Sean.
We used this tutorial to make them.

They helped me cut, but I did all the sewing myself.
So very proud of my sewing job.
I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable with using the sewing machine.
I hope the boys like them.

I resolved the stroller issue with Westjet. I now have yet another travel credit, and the replacement part that they lost is in the mail to me, to my house. It’s kind of annoying to have no caddy on the stroller, which is a feature on it, I do actually use a lot. I wonder where I’ll be flying to next?