Happy Birthday, Chris!

Today is Chris's 33rd birthday.

In the morning, I brought Chris a coffee and a bagel from Tim Horton's. Of course I gave myself the same treatment. Kelly and I went to the Lodge for lunch. On the way back to work I picked up Chris's (huge) birthday cake. Work went well for the day; preparing for month-end tomorrow.

After work I got home and madly started scrubbing. The bathroom was hideous, the kitchen counter was gruesome, the living room...surprisingly tidy! Obviously the kids had been at the sitter all day!

Chris came home and showered and gave me a hand tidying and getting ready for his birthday party. You couldn't really call it a party. Our house isn't big enough for a party! haha. I had to do a booze run and a Wal-Mart run for mix and chips and stuff. On the way to Wal-Mart I popped in to the dollar store and got a cute 12-foot banner and some little glow sticks for Carter for "camping".

We had Chris's Dad, Grandpa, my parents, my sister's family and Deidre, Greg & Connor over for cake, ice cream and munchies. The kids seemed to have fun checking out the tent and semi-watching a movie in the boys' room. Everyone enjoyed the cake, particularly Chris who got the "big" piece; a corner piece. Of course I was serving the cake and tucked away the other corner for myself. heehee. There was plenty to go around and quite a bit left over, as I had ulteriorly planned...A 9x13 cake would have been enough, but just enough. I bought a "half slab" cake to make sure I could have it for breakfast, lunch and supper tomorrow if I am so inclined!

The boys went to bed a little later than usual, but without incident aside from a few coughs here and there. I really wanted to do some stuff on the computer but I just didn't have it in me to stay up any later. It was a fun time. Here is a picture of Chris. I was trying to get him to give me a "real" smile and here he is about to burst out laughing.

Nothing Like Sleeping Under the...Uh...Stars?

Okay so I didn't do my hair again...I was pretty tired this evening.

The evening was topped off by Cooper having a coughing bout and upchucking a previously-drank bottle of milk on himself. And me. Niiiiiiiiice. That prompted a bath, which was needed anyway, but I was feeling too lazy to do. So I hopped in the tub with Cooper and Carter dove in too. It was quite the splash fest, then I got out with Cooper and left Carter to swim for a bit and Chris took over the supervision while I toweled off Coopy and myself.

Cooper went to bed around nine, but Carter was still going strong by ten. I had pumped up the air mattress inside the tent, (that was a good workout), and put on a movie. It was hilarious to me, when Carter looked up inside the tent and said he couldn't see the stars. What a goof.

Hackers, Hackers Everywhere

I'm talking about my children. The coughs coming from these kids are gnarly. They're both happy and playing and doing everything normally, but everything gets interrupted by the coughing fits.

Today I didn't go to church. (Again.) Carter ended up staying up until at least twelve-thirty last night. Crikey. I camped out in his tent with him on his little toddler bed mattress. That was fine until the middle of the night when I went to bed, and it was great to stretch out and have my whole self on a mattress. Tomorrow I'll bring in the air pump and get that air mattress blown up and in there.

We were in dire need of milk and butter and bread today so I did a Wal-Mart run. I got a couple things for Chris's birthday too, (which is on Tuesday) and ended up blowing over a hundred bucks there. Twenty-four bucks over the hundred mark. Eeeeek.

Then I got a call on the cell phone from Carter, asking me to pick up a DVD player. The only movie playing machine in our house is Chris's PS2 in the living room and Carter misses watching a movie to help him fall asleep at night, since the little el-cheapo DVD players we had all died. So I went back into Wal-Mart and bought a DVD/VCR combo machine. Carter has a little collection of dinosaur movies on VHS so I figured it warranted getting both. And if I ever want to record something, now I can. (Both our VCRs died last year too.)

Next stop was going to Warehouse One. They had a 50% off sale - 50% off the lowest sale price. I got a couple shirts, one was four bucks, one was $7.50. Two pairs of jeans 2/$15.00. A couple t-shirts for Chris, including one that says "Sentenced to Life...Oops I Mean Happily Married". It's only funny because **I** bought it. haha. I already gave it to him; an early birthday present. He wore it right away. Funny. I also got a pair of black capris for $7.50. A very economical clothing spree. Funnnnnnn.

I came home and Mom invited us for supper. I eagerly accepted her invitation. I lazed about in the afternoon and we got ready to go around five. We were greeted at the door by delectable scents of a seasoned pork roast, and roasted potatoes and carrots. Supper was DELICIOUS. I pigged out bigtime. (No pun intended!)

We visited after supper and then it was time for Desperate Housewives. We found out quickly that unfortunately it was a rerun. We watched it anyway, and Cooper fell asleep on me. Carter was a little sleepy too, and was ready for bed when we got home. He's in his tent and Cooper is in his bed (the playpen).

I have to switch over some laundry from the washer to the dryer, then I'm going to call it a night. I was going to dye my roots tonight but I'm too tired/lazy. I'll just deal with my grey for another day and hopefully get to it tomorrow night.

Happiness Is Yelling Bingo...

...Or hearing the person you're sharing the winnings with yell it!

Kelly won Bingo twice! Yay Kelly. And yay me! There was another winner both times, so she got half the pot then I got half of that! There were six of us together and it was hi-larious. Never a dull moment!

I came home and Carter is camping out in his tent. I didn't get the air mattress in there yet, but I put his bed mattress in there for now. Chris had a little flashlight in the little mesh hanger thingie so there was a soft glow in his room. It is so cute. He has a horrid cough but is in good spirits. And it's a couple minutes from eleven o'clock and he's still up. Perhaps due to the nap this afternoon or the Coke I let him have before I left for Bingo? heehee.

Well I had a FVC from Timmy's at Bingo and a Coke too, so I might be up for awhile. Might just do some scrapping!

Thanks Kelly for being such a winner!


Edited to add:

Here is a page I did of my cousin Roberta's kids...with a kit I got as a prize from being in the Amazing Digiscrapping Race...it's called Beachy Keen from Scrapdish. What a gorgeous picture of the two of them. I had to borrow it and scrap it.

Camping. In a Tent. In January. In Canada.

What a rotten little non-blogger I've been.

Summary of the rest of the workweek...

Work went well the rest of the week. It was the first week where the boys went to the babysitter for five full days. That was fine too. They were a little under the weather, but nothing too major..

Wednesday night Mom and I went to Bingo. Kelly had strep throat so she didn't go. We didn't win. Oy.

Thursday...ummmmm. Drawing a blank. Boys had a bath in the evening.

Last night, we had Deidre & Greg & Connor over. Deidre & I did a teeny bit of shopping and aside from needing to buy pop and milk, I picked up three shirts for five bucks each. One beige, one pale pink and one light aqua. Can't beat the price!

We watched the movie "Employee of the Month". We had plenty of distraction with two three-year-olds and a one-year-old running around but the movie was pretty funny.

After they left Cooper whom I had hoped would have been asleep by that time, was wide awake and very fussy. He cut his FOURTH tooth this week (when I wasn't looking) and I think that must be what's been bothering him. I gave him some Tylenol and put some orajel in his mouth, which he seems to despise. I fed him. I gave him a bottle. He got so worked up he went on a coughing bout and barfed up his milk. OY. Cleanup wasn't too bad...he mostly barfed on his blanket so it was fairly contained. After a while of not being able to console him again, I gave him another bottle and he fell asleep immediately. I stayed up for awhile then went to bed.

Yesterday when we got home, Carter informed me he wanted to go camping. So I got Chris to find our old 3-man tent and this morning I set it up in the boys' room. Picture it if you will. The room is 7'x12' and the tent takes up darn near half of it. Carter seems to think it's pretty cool. Just wait 'til I find the air pump and I'll blow up the air mattress to put in there. Today I'm thinkin' I'm a cool Mom. heehee

Tonight I'm going to Bingo with Kelly and the girls we went out with the evening before New Year's eve. Should be a hoot. (Yes, Bingo twice in one week...addict?)

Here is my latest entry to the Amazing Digiscrapping Race...

Tag...I'm "IT"

Okay, I know I blabbed in my long post for the day, but I have to blog once more 'cause I've been tagged by one Ms. Lori G...here you go!
5 cool things about me:
1. I have a freakish memory for numbers, especially phone numbers and license plates.
2. I just got back to work after my one-year maternity leave...and I'm loving it.
3. There's not a waking hour of pretty much every day where I'm not within arm's reach of a computer.
4. I want Ty Pennington to do an extreme makeover on my house...if any of y'all know the guy, send him my way. Pretty Please.
5. I love my computer - because so many of my friends are "in" it.
Now, who to tag? Who the heck reads this? Okay, Angie, Helen, Beth, Vicky, Christy. (Angie I know you were tagged by Lori too, but if you do it for Lori, it counts here too!)

Pop Quiz: What's Sweeter Than French Vanilla Cappuccino?

Last night after my Wal-Mart run, I stopped in at Tim Horton's (first time in three weeks)...to pick up a box of green tea. They ran out. All I've been drinking for three weeks is Tim Horton's green tea or water. I've had only three French Vanilla Cappucinos since, and they were brought to me by someone else. I have not gone there. I decided as a quasi-resolution not to try to make time to go there in the morning, since I have enough to do with getting the boys ready and fed and to the babysitter on time, and myself to work on time. Also with the switch to green tea, I figured I was making some healthier choices. Blah-ditty-blah-blah-blah.

So this morning went off without a hitch; I got the boys to the sitter with about twelve minutes to spare, so I made a run for Tim Horton's to see if the green tea was restocked. Fortunately there was no lineup in the drive-thru and I got through quickly, only to find the green tea won't be in until tomorrow. Bastards. (lol) So I said screw it, and got myself an FVC and a bagel. I headed to work with maybe a minute to spare and broke my non-Tim's streak. And it was gooooooooooood. I had an awesome day and I attribute much of it to starting the day with my FVC. Sweet, sweet warmth. The bagel wasn't bad either.

At lunchtime I ran home to get the leftovers from Mom's house last night for Chris. I drove to his work to drop it off. He was gone out on a call, but I left it for him. I didn't have anything else to eat, so I went to McDonald's. I haven't been there in weeks either, and was going to get a little happy meal, but again I said screw it and got myself a Big Mac meal with a Coke, which I haven't had any of this year. When I go off the wagon, I go down hard. haha. I raced back to work and pigged out on my lunch.

After work I picked up the boys and came home. When Chris came home, I took off for the grocery store to find something for supper. The meatloaf from last night looked like some sort of archeological specimen when we got home last night so we chucked it. I picked up some fresh ground beef and some tortillas and some other stuff and came home to make a soft taco bake. Chris looooooooves that stuff. Carter and Cooper didn't eat much. Dad stopped by my office this afternoon to bring me some soup Mom made. I fed a bit to Cooper. I gave both the boys a bath and they splashed and frolicked until they were good'n'pruney. They smell so clean with their clean hair and jammies I could just cuddle them forever.

I watched Veronica Mars; the new episodes finally started again. Chris went out for coffee with Greg and he brought me ANOTHER FVC. Yum. Cooper just went to sleep a little while ago. Carter is still up and we started watching Little Miss Sunshine. Angie would probably like it 'cause Steve Carell is in it. I'll keep you posted if it's good.

You should see all the cool stuff we get for participating in the Amazing Digiscrapping Race. At some sites we get specific kits, and at others we get gift certificates for six, eight, or ten bucks. I've downloaded probably at least half a gigabyte of stuff already. Funnnnnnnn. No pics today; I'm caught up on my Race challenges, so I'm gonna try to work on a layout with Christy's new kit that comes out this week. Just a hint...it's a Valentine's kit.

And just awhile ago, I told Carter "I love you". He was sitting with Chris at the time, and Carter said, "I don't love you Mom". Chris told him that wasn't very nice, and to tell me he loves me. Then he said, "I love you Mommy. You're in my heart." Now THAT, my friends is sweeter than any French Vanilla Cappucino. BTW, I think he got that from my saying, "I love you with all my heart." Guess that's his interpretation, and me likes it.

I'm Such a Dork

This morning was pretty good. Everyone slept through the night, but six-thirty came around pretty quickly anyway. I dragged my butt out of bed and started to iron my hair. Cooper got up early and hung out in the bathroom with me. I got him a drink of milk and finished getting ready.

Carter got up shortly after Cooper did, and as soon as I was done primping, I got them both some breakfast. I got them dressed and ready to head out. I took them to the sitter without any issues and got to work with minutes to spare. ::Sigh:: How sweet it is.

I had a good day at work; I'm still trying to tackle projects before they get too comfortable in my in-box and so far it's still working for me. I'm even surprising myself. Some days I feel like I never left my job for a whole year.

At lunchtime I remembered Chris took the leftover stirfry from last night so I didn't need to bring him any lunch. I went to the new dollar store downtown and picked up some giftwrap and assorted stuff. I figured I'd better get something to eat, so I went to Subway for a sub. I ordered a footlong figuring I'd eat half and save the rest for later, but I was hungrier than I thought. I came home to take out the frozen meatloaf I'd prepared last week for supper, and sat down at the computer to eat my supper. Lo and behold, there was Angie. We chatted for the rest of my lunch break, and I ate both halves of my sub. I raced off to work and still had time to spare again. It's so great to live so close to the office!

After work I picked up the boys and came straight home to put the meatloaf in the oven. I called Chris at work to ask him to pick up some potatoes. He seemed to be taking forever, and at five-thirty, my Mom called to ask where we were. DUHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We were supposed to go there for supper! I turned off the oven, where the meatloaf was almost finished cooking. I turned off the stove where I was boiling water for the potatoes Chris was to bring. I got the boys suited up (Cooper had dozed off) and was about to herd them into the Jeep when Chris finally came home. He of course had forgotten too, and I took off with Carter and Cooper. Chris showered and came out in his truck. Since we can drive across the lake, it's no big deal to take two separate vehicles there.

So we had a fantastic supper with Mom and Dad and the Urquharts. Mom made an amazing pasta alfredo with shrimp, a delicious Asian salad, fresh buns and chocolate cake for dessert with both whipping cream and ice cream, and mangoes for a sweet garnish. I pigged out bigtime.

We had a great visit with everyone then we came home. I ditched the boys at home with Chris and bolted for Wal-Mart where I needed to buy pull-ups for nighttime for Carter. Wow. Who'da thunk those things would cost eighty bucks? heehee. I also found a couple shirts for Carter for three and five bucks, and a cute top for myself for nine. Baby cereal and fruit too, and that pretty much added up.

I came home and Carter was in bed. Chris was nearly asleep on the couch and Cooper was ready to crash. I did this scrapbook page of Cooper for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, Challenge #7. We had to use the sketch below. You can click on the image to enlarge it and to see the credits. It's not quite eleven, but I'm ready to head for bed. Hopefully six-thirty won't seem to get here so quickly tonight!

Bye Bye Weekend!

I just finished watching Desperate Housewives and had an awesome hot shower with no one knocking on the door or pushing in the shower curtain. Yay me! My hair is washed for the week again.

This week will be the first so far taking the boys to the sitter every day. Mom won't be doing Tuesdays anymore, but she will still babysit the occasional evening sometime if we go out. Yeah, like that'll ever happen! Maybe for our anniversary this summer or something. We'll see.

Today I lazed in bed as long as possible, with a few little pangs of guilt for being too lazy to get ready and go to church. I'm sure Angie will ensure I have a few more pangs of guilt since she always has to go twice. heehee.

Chris took Carter outside to play for quite awhile today; it was a decent day weather-wise. I took Cooper grocery shopping. It would have been my usual Wal-Mart and grocery store run, but I opted to stay out of Wal-Mart, and spent my seemingly requisite hundred dollars elsewhere! I even found a new cordless kettle for ten bucks, socks for Cooper and a bulb for one of our halogen lamps in the living room that has been burnt out for AGES!

I also picked up a couple things for supper; we had Chris's Dad and my parents over. I made a yummy oriental chicken stir-fry with rice (real rice! - I usually use Minute Rice or the flavoured rice by Uncle Ben). This was way better. We had a tossed salad, and Chris's Dad brought not one, but two cakes to choose from for dessert, and ice cream. Not to mention bananas and strawberries...he covered all the bases!

After supper everyone visited for awhile and then left. I got to watch my show as I already mentioned, so my Sunday is officially complete! I just have to try to find something to wear tomorrow, get our bag packed for the sitter tomorrow and at least blow-dry my hair so I can iron it in the morning. C'est tout!

P.S. I've had this up my sleeve for awhile now but finally put the finishing touches on it. These are my friend Helen's kids in Australia. Title was inspired first of all by this gorgeous picture, (how in the world do you get two young kids to pose so perfectly???) and by a band from the 80s that I loved called "The Australian Models"...I used Christy's "Berry Mint Chip" kit from Butternug Squash Designs; the same kit my blog is currently decorated with. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Just Chillin'

Wow. It's Saturday night. I'm stymied at how quickly time is passing. I'll try to summarize the week since Wednesday!

Hmmm. Thursday...I had an average workday, then came home and made Angie's Creamy Chicken Enchiladas for supper. Dang those rock. They should be more like a yearly menu item but we've been having them pretty much every couple weeks since I first tried the recipe. Yummmmmmm. I watched part of Earl and some of ER but I was soooooooooooo tired. I fell asleep on the couch while I was in the middle of a computer project. The computer crashes on me on a regular basis and I hadn't saved my work so it was back to the drawing board again.

Friday was a good day too. I had lunch with my friend Kathy from the office. And Friday night I went to Bingo with Mom and Kelly and I won the very first game. That was an easy hundred bucks! Fifty for Kelly and fifty for me. Unfortunately it was our only win for the evening, but it was fun. I dropped off Kelly and Mom and came home.

Today was a super quiet one. I just hung out with my boys. Chris came home from work and went ice fishing with a couple guys from his work and my Dad. My boys napped at different times so I was out of luck in the snooze department.

Chris came home and I cooked a lasagne for supper; one that my friend Kathy made for me the other day. She also put a loaf of garlic bread in the bag, and two pretty dishcloths tied together with a ribbon. Kathy rocks. She really takes care of us and never misses a single detail.

We got ready and went to my friend Tracy's son Tyson's birthday party. It was a fun houseful with all the family and friends that were there.

We came home and I put the finishing touches on this layout for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, challenge #6. We were to swap photos with our partners, so here is a layout with Vicky's son Bryce. You can click the image to enlarge it and see the credits.

Oops! Where Did Tuesday Go?

Today work went well as usual. The routine is sinking in well; I've even managed to put flossing my teeth back on my daily agenda. Yay me!

Below are a couple new layouts; the first one is for Challenge #5 in the Amazing Digiscrapping Race. I used Christy Sturm's "Berry Mint Chip" kit and Atomic Cupcake's Wild Tear Action.

The second is done using Christy's "Sonnet 116" kit available at Butternug Squash Designs.

So I'm drawing a blank on Tuesday...it was Mom's day to come and watch the boys so of course I had my easy getaway. Oh yeah, a few of us girls went out for lunch to celebrate a former co-worker's birthday. That was nice to get out with the girls at lunch. Tuesday evening I finished a couple projects I had on the go.

Since Mom had the boys, Cooper now says "ABC". It is sooooooooooo cute and now he's working on a second top tooth; it's almost poking its way through. Didn't go to Bingo tonight; Kelly and I have a date set for Friday instead. Just had a quiet evening with my two little boys; Chris went out for a beer with a couple guys at work. And he was home by just after ten o'clock; I was suitably impressed!

Monday Monday...

So good to me...

Today was a gooder...I got up and since I showered and washed my hair last night all I had to do was iron it this morning. I got up about twenty to seven and started getting ready. Cooper was up before Carter and I fed him breakfast and got him dressed. Carter followed shortly after and I had everyone ready to rock by eight. Then bags packed, dressed, snow-suited, all set.

I dropped the boys off at the sitter and headed to work. I was there in time to get a parking spot with a plug-in, so I could plug the Jeep in, 'cause it was -32ºC this morning. Welcome to January in Canada...My new computer had arrived late Friday afternoon so I did a backup of the old one and set up the new one. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. 3GHZ computer with a gig of RAM and a gorgeous 19" flat panel monitor. Sweet. Of course I had to go and forget to backup all my fonts, so I had to power up the old computer once more. Luckily I had my jump drive in my purse so it was a quick transfer.

It takes up hardly any space on my desk with the CPU being so small, and the monitor being such a space-saver. I got all the network printers reinstalled and was all set. At lunchtime I took a spur-of-the-moment drive to Mom & Dad's house. I had a sandwich and a visit then headed back to work. Had a good afternoon then picked up the boys.

It was an easy drop-off this morning and easy pick-up after work. We're starting to see some semblance of a routine, and I'm liking it! Tonight Chris took the Jeep to the shop to wash it. In this uber-cold weather the vehicle stays clean at least for a few days. Hopefully he dried it well enough that the doors won't be frozen shut in the morning!

I had a hilarious marathon chat with Angie tonight. We had some technical difficulties at first but we got the webcams working and it was nice to catch up and see her "in person". Had quite a few belly-laughs and we were both so tired that things started to get silly when I could barely type anymore. Now my day is complete.

I'm just now realizing I haven't blogged since Saturday, but not much happened yesterday. I stayed up late finishing up some cute birthday invitations for a girl at work's daughter. I had also done a scrapbook page of Cooper in the very first moments he entered the world...

You can click the image to enlarge it and to see the credits. I got the kit from Peppermint Creative. That Miss Mint makes some nice stuff and always offers a gorgeous monthly freebie. I also bought one of her kits today and I started a new page but my computer crashed in the middle of it. Back to the drawing board.

And back to yesterday, supper was an odd mishmash. Fish'n'chips, mac'n'cheese, and veggies. I got to watch Desperate Housewives, but not without interruption. Both boys were climbing on and around me and Carter was yelling and running in circles around me, where I'd parked myself in front of the TV with the volume cranked just so I wouldn't miss anything. I mean really, I have three favourite shows; the rest of the week I couldn't even care if the TV were even on. But when my shows are on, please please shutty uppy! I almost went to the basement to watch. Obsess much?

Tomorrow is easy button day - Mom will be here in the morning so I don't have to haul the boys anywhere. Mind you, now that I'm getting used to being back to work and taking the boys to the sitter, every day is getting easier. Gotta love it.

Da da, da da da da...

Happy Birthday, Connor!

One more post for today! (That's THREE posts in one day!) ... ahem.

Today Cooper seems to have his appetite back. He's still having a tough time, not sure if it's that tooth that's poking through or if he's still feeling a bit yucky. At least I'm not as worried about his eating.

We had a pretty good morning then when Chris came home from work I finished getting ready and wrapped Connor's birthday present and went to my eyebrow appointment. Whew. I was getting my unibrow back, so I got it done just in time!

I came home and we got the boys ready to go to Connor's birthday party. It was going to be a sliding party but it was wayyyyyyyyy too freaking cold out for that, so we just went to Deidre & Greg's house for the party part of things.

Deidre made that AWESOME chocolate cake with the peanut butter icing, and decorated it with the characters from the movie, "Cars". Very cute, with matching napkins, loot bags (which I've yet to show Carter) and a variation of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" which was "Stick the Number on Lightning McQueen". Connor and Taya followed the rules and did a pretty good job with sticking the number on the car with the blindfold on, but Carter didn't grasp the concept of not being allowed to look, and peeked while he stuck the number on. It was pretty funny. I took a bunch of pictures and movies while we were there but this one catches the kids at the table. Three three-year-olds and a soon-to-be-two-year-old...it was a real hoot. Cooper was napping at the time this picture was taken.

The Amazing Digiscrapping Race!

I've been meaning to blog about this...my friend Vicky and I entered the "Amazing Digiscrapping Race". We are a two-country team and we aptly named ourselves "Scrappers Without Borders". Click HERE to go to Vicky's blog so you can see her stuff too!

Here are my first three entries for the race...you can click on each to enlarge and see the credits for each entry.

Wow It's the Weekend

It's amazing to me how quickly this week went.

On Thursday morning I got up early again and had a shower. I'd love to get that to be a regular routine item. I got ready and got Carter and Cooper fed and dressed and got myself dressed. It was five to eight and I just had to get them in their snowsuits and head out. Cooper powerpuked. The good news is it wasn't on me. The bad news is, it was on the living room carpet and on his own clothes. The outfit I found for him to wear that was both clean and cute. I changed his clothes and got the boys in their winter gear and we headed out. It has really gotten cold lately. I need to find an extension cord to plug in the Jeep at work.

Work went well - the days are flying by. I have plenty to keep me busy and I'm trying to stay on top of all my projects and so far I'm managing to keep my inbox empty or close to it at the end of the day. Kelly usually travels out of town on Thursdays, but because of the massive dump of snow we got on Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night, she stayed in the office to do paperwork instead of traveling in the crappy weather. We went out for lunch again too - two days in a row to the Lodge - a nice treat!

I went to pick up the boys after work and Cooper had had a massive explosion again in the poop department. My poor sitter! She said she was getting sick from the smell and even Carter was gagging. Yikes. I fed the boys supper when we got home; whatever I could get Cooper to eat, which wasn't much. Carter did well. Thank God he doesn't have the same bug Cooper has and I pray he doesn't get it. Carter had so many ailments back when he went to daycare; maybe he's already had this one.

We were out of baby cereal, and since it seems to be Cooper's main staple these days, I had to do a Wal-Mart run. They have a big clearance sale on this week and I found some great deals on clothes for the boys. There was hardly anything for Cooper, but I got him a shirt for two bucks. For Carter I got a pair of pajamas for five bucks, and the shirt from them is a really nice fleece one that I'll use as a shirt instead of pajamas. I also got him a couple pairs of nice cords, four bucks each. A couple shirts for two bucks. So for about thirty bucks I picked up seven items. Not bad. Luckily I remembered what the mission was, and I grabbed baby cereal and baby food.

Cooper seemed okay for the rest of the evening but it's plain to see that he's not himself. He barely eats and if he does it's just warm baby cereal. Since I'm terrified he'll get dehydrated, I give him his usual milk and some warm water to drink all the time. He doesn't like water much, so I put some gripe water in the water for flavour and he sucks it back. So hopefully it helps his tummy at the same time.

PLUS, his tooth is really visible now. His front right top tooth is showing it's jagged little edge through his gums. Poor kid has multiple issues; when he cries I have no idea which thing is bothering him so I try to comfort everything at once.

Yesterday I actually managed to get us all out of here with time to get to work and get a parking space with a plug-in. But unfortunately the extension cord that Chris had put in the Jeep for me the night before was the very same one he used to plug the Jeep in for me that morning. So when I unplugged it, I didn't bring it because I remembered seeing a cord inside the Jeep on my Wal-Mart trip. Oh well. It was bloody cold out but the Jeep started no problem at lunchtime. I was covering the office lunch hour, so my lunch was one o'clock. One of the girls went out and picked up lunch from Subway and offered to bring me something, but I'd planned to run errands and bring some lunch to Chris. But she brought me a nice bowl of soup anyway. Chicken with wild and white rice. It was warm and delicious. Mom called me to invite me out for lunch with her and Dad. At the Lodge. Three days in a row! heehee. They treated me to a lovely lunch. I had the special, which was an open-faced chicken sandwich on toasted French bread with bacon, tomato, and cheese. Kind of a club sandwich along with a salad. It was awesome. And since I had the later lunch hour, they got there ahead of me and ordered for me so it was ready when I arrived. I had plenty of time to have a visit and lunch and bring something to Chris and stop by the bank to get money to pay the sitter for the week.

Chris worked later than usual and had been working out in the cold for most of the day. He came home and shoveled the driveway (again) because the grader had finally gone by and made a huge bank in the morning. Carter was watching him and was begging to go outside. It was sooooooooo cold but I figured he could have a few minutes out there while Chris was shoveling. Trouble is, he had so much fun since we never go out and play, that he didn't want to come in. There is hardly a spot in the yard now where the snow hasn't been touched. Chris and Carter took turns pulling each other in the sled. That was cute. I ran outside to take a picture and I'll post it here as soon as I pull it off the camera.

Cooper was very fussy and inconsolable for quite awhile. Chris went out for coffee with Greg and by the time he returned, Cooper was finally asleep. Carter went to sleep on the living room floor shortly after Chris came home. I was bushed, so I fell asleep on the couch. With Cooper being out of sorts and still sleeping in the living room, I've slept a couple nights on the couch so I could keep a close eye and ear on him.

This morning he was having a rough time as soon as he woke up. I fed him, changed him, gave him milk and water and he just screamed and screamed. I gave him some Tylenol and after awhile it seemed to calm and comfort him. Poor little guy. Now he seems quite happy to go around and play. I have a bit of a headache but I'm going to find some breakfast and get my butt in gear and do some cleaning since Cooper is happy for the moment.

Happy Housewarming!

Tuesday morning...my easy-getaway-day. I still had to race to get to work but I made it. It was staff meeting day and our staff meetings are very streamlined now. At lunch time I had a meeting that I attended part of then came home for lunch. Dad had picked up Subway for Mom and the boys and me. I ate my lunch and had a short visit and was having a cuddle with Cooper right before I had to leave for work.

That's when he barfed all over me. I was cuddling him up on my shoulder and miraculously he missed my hair. My shoulder, back and hip were plastered, along with the couch. Thank GOD we have leather furniture. It did, however, seep a little between the cushions. Lucky for me Mom was there. I handed Cooper to Mom, tied my hair back in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the puke, went to get towels and did a preliminary cleaning of the couch. I grabbed Fantastik and paper towels and did a secondary cleaning of the couch. Once I had the furniture situation under control, it was time for a bath. Five minutes before my lunch break was over.

I called work to explain the situation and hopped in the tub. I did a quick wash so I wouldn't be all stinky. As I was hunting for something to wear, I got a call from work. The phone guys were there to put in a new phone and I wasn't there to tell them what we needed! I gave the directions over the phone and asked my coworker to keep phone guy there 'cause I had other questions.

I got dressed and headed back to work. I did catch phone guy before he left and got my questions answered. I came home after work and Cooper hadn't eaten much all day. After Mom left I fed him some macaroni and cheese and veggies. He ate pretty well, and I gave him a bottle. I figured he was getting better. At least he's in good spirits, but he's been kind of quiet. Except for the gas. That is the noisiest part of him these days. And stink? Whew!

Once I got everyone in bed I chatted with my friend Kendra for awhile. It's been ages so it was a good catch-up. I went to bed around eleven.

This morning, I got up at about six-thirty. Carter had been up since five-thirty according to Chris. I had a shower, got dressed, face on, etc. Fed Carter breakfast. Cooper got up and I fed him and dressed him. We were all ready with plenty of time to spare! THEN Cooper puked. It was a pretty well projected projectile vomit, but he still projected some on his clothing. Crikey. So I got him all undressed and redressed and got everyone in their respective snowsuits and we headed out. It was cooooooooooold this morning.

I dropped them off at the babysitter without incident and went to work. I was half-expecting a call about Cooper, but he had a decent day aside from not eating much again. I had a gnarly headache for most of the day. I took three extra-strength Midol in the morning that didn't touch it. The next three I took in the afternoon must have done it. By mid-afternoon I felt like myself again, like I was being released from the evil clutches of Aunt Flo.

I picked up the boys from the sitter after work and we came home. I fed Cooper a tiny bit of supper and Carter ate pretty well. I fed Cooper some cereal which he was more receptive to, and shortly after was off to Bingo with Mom. It had already snowed quite a bit but the roads weren't too bad yet. I drove across the lake and picked up Mom and we were on our way.

I actually won a Bingo! I won a hundred bucks. Usually when I get down to a couple numbers I say something, but I kept really quiet and when I got the last number I really really yelled Bingo out loud. I scared the crap out of my Mom. It was pretty funny. And it felt good to yell Bingo! heehee. There were quite a few other times where Mom and I were close to winning again, but there were no more Bingos to be had by either of us.

It snowed quite a bit more while we were at Bingo and the roads are now pretty well snow covered and few have been plowed yet. I'm so happy we have a garage where I get to park! I came home and Cooper was snoozing on the living room floor beside where Chris was also snoozing on the couch. Carter was in bed.

I'm working on some baby shower thank you cards and doing a couple staff ID cards for work then I have to get a few things ready for morning and I'm off to bed.

Oh yeah - the big tidbit for today was that we got a new furnace that was installed today! We knew our furnace was old like our house, but we recently discovered it is from 1959! So today the furnace guys came to install the new one, and had it up and running by noon. I was anticipating coming home to a cold house since they'd be working on it all day, but it was warm and toasty and the furnace was humming along when we got home. Sweet!

The Early Bird...Not So Early!

I got up early this morning. With plenty of time to get myself and the boys ready. I had my face on, hair done, clothes laid out, boys' stuff ready, diaper bag packed, and the boys were still sleeping. Carter woke up on his own and I got him dressed then Cooper finally woke up. Carter had his toast and Cooper had some cereal, then we had to basically fly out the door.

I dropped them off at the babysitter and zoomed to work. Work went well; I'm trying to stick to the "new me" that touches each project of piece of paper just once, getting it off my desk. The new me is no-nonsense and stays away from things or situations that don't involve me. So far I'm liking the new me. I'm more organized and prioritized and after a full week back to work, I can still see my desk. Yay me!

I didn't feel very well today; I had a headache that wouldn't even go away with a couple Midol and a mid-morning snack. Then right on cue, ol' Aunt Flo showed up and punched me in the head. No wonder I had such a rotten headache!

I picked up the boys and headed home. I still didn't feel well and shirked my supper cooking duties. I had to go to Wal-Mart for a few things, including Cooper's 12-month portraits that were ready and waiting. And oh so cute. I'll post them here tomorrow. There are pictures of both boys wearing Santa hats that are just a scream they are so cute.

On the way home I did a drive-thru at McDonald's. It's actually been awhile! I felt a bit better once I got home and ate. Cooper still isn't eating much and had some horrifically stinky gas. Seriously. Worse than his father. And that can be baaaaaaaaad. So I'm thinking he's maybe got a bit of a bug, or he ate something that is still bothering his system. I gave him some cereal before bed to make sure he had enough in his tummy. He went to sleep a little before Carter did, around nine-thirty or so. I had big plans to do some scrapbooking, which didn't happen, but I did manage to do a pretty cute draft of a spa birthday invitation for the daughter of one of my coworkers.

That's about it. Tomorrow is "easy button" day - Mom will be here in the morning so I don't have to haul the boys anywhere. Hopefully another good day.

I Had No Idea There Would Be An Explosion!

**Don't read this if you have a weak stomach.**

I didn't go to church today (bad, bad girl), but I was fairly productive at home. I emptied, filled and ran the dishwasher, made breakfast for everyone (bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs, golden hashbrowns and toast). After breakfast I emptied the dishwasher again and delegated Chris to refill it with the breakfast stuff. I thought I was out of bathroom cleaner, but I found some Fantastik and made it sparkle.

I went to the basement and sorted a hyuuuuuuuuge mountain of laundry. (Lori Gaudreau, if you're reading this you'd be sooooooo proud of me!) I put aside one of those big clear lawn and garden bags full of clothing to take to the Salvation Army and started filling another. I made a pile of the clothes I was keeping, a pile of the kids' clothes, and a big pile of Chris's clothes. I "instructed" Chris to go through his pile of clothes and discard anything he didn't want. Result: Two big bags of clothes that will be outta here. Now why doesn't it look like I got rid of a bunch of clothes down there?!?!

Cooper fell asleep at some point while I was downstairs. I figured I needed a break (and to warm up!) and I came upstairs and tried to take a nap too. I curled up in my bed with my duvet fluffed up all around me and made a cocoon so hopefully nobody would find me. I never really slept but it was nice to just rest and relax. Chris wondered where the heck I was and unearthed me from my little den.

Chris took his brother to the bus again today - he has a friend picking him up with whom he'll stay until he gets settled into residence.

Supper was easy. I was planning on making spaghetti, which in itself is easy, but I remembered I had leftover sauce in the freezer from the last time I made spaghetti! Yay! But instead of spaghetti, I used macaroni and stirred it right in with the sauce and a bunch of grated cheese. Yum. Carter ate an impressive amount. Cooper hadn't eaten at all. All day. He was starting to freak me out, because he usually eats more than Carter does.

I thought it might have something to do with the tooth that's just starting to cut through his gums! His front top tooth is making an appearance. So I couldn't get him to eat his cereal this morning, any soup at lunch, barely any snacks except for a little piece of Rice Krispie cake. He had no fever or anything, he was just quiet and refusing food. THEN I found out why. He started to get a bit gassy and eventually pooped. I went to change him and it was messier than usual but I got him cleaned up.

The very second I took off the diaper is when the explosion happened. My poor brain didn't know if I should try to catch it or what. Chris couldn't handle it. He had to run, but not before he got me a plastic bag to put the mess in. Then he ran like his ass was on fire outside for some fresh air. I almost fell over laughing when I heard him heaving a little as he bolted. haha. Meanwhile I'm directly in the line of fire!

Finally he stopped pooping and I had everything contained and cleaned the carpet a little where I missed the overflow. A few minutes later I could hear him working on round two. Yikes. This time I waited until I was sure he was done. Containment was way easier this time but it seemed like the whole house smelled of poop.

So at least then I knew what his problem had been all day but I can't think of what might have caused it. He ate immediately and ate some cereal before bed too. As a result of the explosion I had a bit of laundry to do, so I washed a couple loads of clothes and towels.

I coloured my roots and had an awesome hot shower. Extra hot for a couple minutes since I realized I had the washing machine going at the same time. Duh. I dried my hair and I still need to iron it before I go to bed so I don't have to do it in the morning.

So that was the weekend. Weekends sure seem to go faster now that I have to get up and go to work on Monday morning! Here's to another great week at work...

I haven't posted any pictures in awhile; I've been pretty slack with the camera lately but here are a few highlights.

Girls' Night Out - Sabrina, Me, Kelly

Girls' Night Out - Shawna & Shannon

Girls' Night Out - Me, Sabrina, Shawna

Daddy & Carter Sliding at the Park

Carter climbing up for another slide

Carter and Cooper sharing Grandma's Haagen-Dazs!
(Okay, is that cyuuuuuuute or what! - I guess if I want them to
get along I have to keep a good supply of ice cream on hand!)

Sweeeeeeet!

Srozhdestvom Kristovym!

It's Ukrainian Christmas today - just wanted to put up a little post, thinking of Chris's Mom.

Oh Yeah, Christmas is Over!

I just realized this evening that my blog still had the look of Christmas to it. So I decided to do something about it with Christy's gorgeous new kit "Berry Mint Chip", available at Butternug Squash Designs.

I opted for no pictures in the header and made it girlie for once. I'm all about my boys, but decided to try something new. For me!

I must be in the mood for pink these days, since I posted my "Mellykit! Add-on Pack" earlier today.

The rest of my week at work went great. It's pretty easy to drop off the boys in the morning. The babysitter greets us at the door and takes the boys upstairs. Very convenient.

Yesterday one of the girls from my office (this woman is an angel, I tell you!) brought me a full meal all prepared for us to have for supper. She did the same for a couple who had a new baby recently so she decided to give me a treat too! It was a yummy cheesy macaroni casserole and a fantabulous salad with chicken, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a little onion, pea pod pieces and a thick creamy curry dressing. It was incredible. Chris stayed late at work so he ate all the leftovers from Carter and me and Jason. Cooper enjoyed himself too with the macaroni and actually ate more than he threw.

Today was a pretty darned lazy one. Everybody slept through the night and I wasn't summoned from my sweet slumber until after EIGHT-THIRTY this morning! Whee! I fixed breakfast for the boys and proceeded to develop a nasty headache. I took Tylenol and dealt with the headache as best I could. Chris came home at noon and got ready to go fishing with a couple guys from his work and my Dad.

Cooper took a nap, so I did too. My headache subsided a little so I felt more human. Supper was a mishmash of things; whatever I could find in the fridge. I chatted with Angie and Kelly and went to Mom & Dad's house for awhile this evening.

We came home and Cooper was and is still sleeping. Carter is still up due to his late nap (which I cut short to prevent all-night partying). It's after eleven and I'm wide awake. I might just do a little digiscrapping.

Mellykit! - The Add-on Pack

My way cool awesome friend Christy once again has graciously offered to host my freebie in her store. When you click the link below you'll visit the freebie section of her awesome store. Thanks again, Christy!!!

As soon as I did the "Mellykit!" I got the idea to turn the shades of blue into shades of pink. Here is the result - a free add-on pack.

To see and download the original "Mellykit!" with all the papers and elements, click HERE for the link!

To download the pink add-on pack, just click the image below. Enjoy!

It Got Away From Me Again

Well it's been a busy week but I have been on the computer doing some scrappin'...but somehow my blog has gotten away from me again.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

So I haven't really blogged about life in general since LAST Thursday...with the exception of that brief New Year greeting. I'll muster up everything I can recall.

On Saturday afternoon, Chris dropped his brother off at the bus station to catch his bus back to Thunder Bay. We didn't have the time or resources to deliver him there personally, so we relied on good ol' Greyhound.

On Saturday evening, Kelly and I had planned to go out for snacks and drinks. We've never been out for a fun evening out except for Bingo, and our daytime shopping and a few lunches, and never out for drinks before. She had also invited a few coworkers and we were to celebrate the New Year one night early, since Kelly was to work night shift on New Year's Eve. Bah!

So I walked over to Kelly's and three of us walked to the restaurant where we met up with the other two for munchies and drinks. I had two orders of wings and an order of deep fried veggies. Then I had a Caesar to drink. Next was some sort of yummy-licious pink concoction with whipped cream and a cherry on top. That was like dessert. Another Caesar, a shooter of Bailey's and a Singapore Sling. I felt nothing. Seriously. The girl who hasn't had more than a whisper of alcohol since my childbearing began. I felt full more than anything.

We left the restaurant by eleven, and went to the bar. It was raining by this time, a sure sign of nasty roads to follow.

At the bar, (I felt soooooooooooooo old!) I had a Paralyzer and then I saw the waitress going around with a big colourful tray of Jell-O shooters, so I got us each one of those. Yummmm. Everyone took turns and we had in total during the course of the next few hours seven of them each. Yikes! I had a couple more Paralyzers and all of us danced a little. I must have finally felt something, 'cause I danced like nobody was watching! heehee

All in all a good time was had by all. When we went outside, EVERYTHING was just like a skating rink. Drinks or not, nobody could walk across the parking lot. It was rain on top of ice and it was slippery!

One of the girls took us home in her van but before we left, the vehicle had to be de-iced. Leave it to me and my trusty mini-Sharpie marker, and I scraped all the ice off all the windows. I had to hold on to the van to keep from sliding under it. We got to my street and I said okay, this is my house...she had been trying to stop since we turned the corner but we slid past my house. I carefully got out and hopped onto the snow of my front yard and ran through the (not-very-deep) snow in my dress shoes and held onto the garage and carefully walked to the house.

Surprisingly Chris was up and made fun of me for staying out so late and having a few drinks. It was 2:25 a.m. What a hoot. Kelly got home seconds later and we chatted on MSN for a couple minutes. When I went to bed I got a silly case of the giggles then went to sleep.

New Year's Eve...I woke up in time to go to church but didn't go. I felt remarkably well considering my escapades and had a productive day. I removed all evidence of Christmas from the living room.

In the afternoon, we got our stuff together and picked up some munchies and headed out to Cindy's place. We had tons of snacks - Cindy made awesome homemade chicken wings, there were massive shrimp, taco dip, chicken dip, veggies and dip, you name it.

We played "Sequence" - a cool card game I've never played before. We played guys against the girls and after six rounds, it was tied up. Everyone went downstairs and we watched "Nacho Libre". A funny silly little romp starring Jack Black. We came home around 10:30 and I chatted with Angie and was "there" for her countdown. We chatted awhile longer but I didn't have it in me to stay up for my own countdown. Chris and I were both sleeping before midnight.

Monday I think was the day Chris took Cooper sliding with Deidre & Greg & Connor. I stayed home with Cooper. After supper Chris's brother phoned from Thunder Bay in a bit of a pickle. His friend that he was going to stay with wasn't back from Christmas break back home yet, so Jason had nowhere to stay for the next week. Chris took off just after 6:30 to drive to Thunder Bay to pick him up. Sure, give me something more to be anxious about on the night before my first day of work!

I actually managed to go to sleep around midnight and when they arrived at 3:40 a.m. I had been sound asleep. Then I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour and a half. I squeezed in one more "nap" then had to get up and ready for work. Since it was Tuesday, it was my Mom's day to watch the boys and she came over for 8:00. I did a quick Tim Horton's run and stopped in to drop off some tea for Mom and a bagel for Carter.

So the past three days at work have gone quite well. There are a few changes since I left, but generally at some moments it is like I never left and it's good to be back. Kelly and I had an unfruitful but fun trip to Bingo last night and before I left I whipped up a meatloaf, baked potatoes and peaches'n'cream corn. Chris told me that Carter (the NON-eater) asked for seconds. Meatloaf is definitely going to be a weekly occurence. It's a fairly quick, easy meal so it will be suitable for those dreadful Mondays!

Tonight we had supper at Mom & Dad's place. I drove with the boys then Chris followed after going home from work and showering. We had awesome deep-fried beer-battered fish, baked beans (yuck! - everyone else likes them but me), spiced boiled potatoes, and mozza sticks. I was fulllllllllllll.

After supper we watched "My Name is Earl" and a couple other shows then we came home. Cooper was a bit fussy while we were there. He kept biting his fingers, so figuring his teeth were bothering him, I gave him some Tylenol. When we got home he was asleep. Chris put a movie on and Carter, not having had a nap was tired but fighting sleep. Cooper woke up screaming a short time later and was inconsolable for quite awhile. I gave him milk, cereal, walked around with him...nothing calmed him. I gave him some Advil and he settled enough to eat a couple spoonsful of baby cereal and drink a bottle of milk. Whew.

It's only 10:30 but I feel like I'm going to drop. I'm glad I finally caught up on my blog. I have done a few scrapbook pages, and I'll attempt quickly to post them here so you can see I've done something productive lately. haha. You can click on the images to enlarge them and to see the kit credits. Goooooooooooood night.