Absolutely Amazing

I have to say this was the best family trip we have taken in a while! It was relaxed yet action packed. We chopped wood, shot bee bee guns and adventured, relaxed and most of all laughed till we could not laugh anymore, which to be honest I don't think will never happen when we spend time with our favorites they are the best and we love them to pieces! We ate breakfast and lunch and lunch at dinner and dinner before bed.. There is never any sort of time or routine when we are having fun and are relaxed. People want to see us they can come to us, no offence but sorry we are on Vacay and we are not going travelling visiting a ton of people! It is one stop shop, nor should people have that expectation of others when they are on vacation. Not only are The Routledges my cousins they are my best friends, they feel more like my older brother and sister. It makes me soo sad when we leave them each and every time ( I will admit tears are shed often, drives are silent for a while and I do feel alittle lost), it is amazing at the bond that has formed together with them since my Nanny passed 8 years ago! She brought us together and it was like it was meant to be forever and it will be.

We took a day to relax and unwind or should I say eat and get fat ( The food this week was endless and we now how nice rumps in the trunk to prove it). Then the next day we were off to Halifax to go Whale Watching.. This was so much, fun, the kids were so excited and had glowing faces. My cousin had rented a Yukon that sits 8 so we an all be together which was fantastic and comfy, lots of laughs and singing at the top of our lungs in that bad boy, Belle sure does know how to carry a tune! I also have to add that Belle sure knows how to make a quiet room break out into laughter. Sarah was doing something that Mom did not approve of so as Becky went to tell her the proper way to do it, Belle chimes in with a look on her face and says "Awkward".... We all immediately bust a gutt!

When we were in the Yukon, we felt famous or like we belonged in an episode of Orange County Housewives. Becky and I were even followed by cops for a short while in New Glasgow, I wonder if they thought we were high profile people like Housewives of OC which we so totally could have pulled off that day or perhaps the Jersey Shore Cast in NS?? LOL JK

Whale Watching was a success we ended up seeing a Manky Whale which is basically a small whale, the kids loved it. We saw Sea lions bobbing up and down, took in the sights, fed the seagulls (Poop tanks as we call them) and had a great time. Isabelle gave the workers on board the vessel a long talk on the importance of not allowing Oil Tankers in the harbour to potentially harm the whales if there was leak telling them it is an environmental issue. She gave them little pep talks and thought she was just fantastic and I think so too! The girls met a new friend (Willy the Lobster & let it be known that it was a baby female) they held him and became quite friendly with each other, we touched a crab (the water ones, not the STI kind) LMAO before he jumped out of the ladies hand and hit the deck of the boat like a rock.  Once we finished there we grabbed some deep fried scallops & fries on the pear, checked out the hot Marines in Uniform on the Navy Ship and then we ventured to Peggy's Cove which is always so wonderful to see, the girls are fascinated with Lighthouses & in NS there are plenty! We had a not so hot meal in Peggy's cove which was rather disappointing but the company made it fun! It cooled off very fast there and the fog came rolling in, so we began our drive back home! Every time I go there and the fog rolls in I get chills, just knowing the just a few km off the shore the Swissair plane went down a few years back. And to be there you would see how small of a town it is and it is just so sad! We were all pretty pooped and ea gar to get to bed but had a fantastic day till our next big adventure.

All of us at Peggy's Cove

We took a day off from site seeing and decided to chill out till we made our way to PEI on the Sunday! PEI was absolutely beautiful. The Ferry ride was about an hour I did remarkably well, so I think I ready for a cruise boat. Once we arrived in PEI we say many potato fields and enjoyed the county side till we hit Cavendish! We drove by the Anne of Green Gables House & Road to Avon lea then headed to the beach to put our feet in the ocean for the first time. We saw the red sand beach in PEI was which gorgeous, we never made it to the White Sand beach as there were alot of pee emergency's that needed to take place! Unlike the boys and small children that could pee anywhere, us older women require a toilet.. We can't just squat anyplace without given a show of the lady business... LOL. Once we found the toilet we headed to do alittle more sightseeing then it was off to dinner!! Fisherman's Wharf here we come! LET ME TELL YOU a 60 different Salad bar Buffet and you pick your fish, lobster, steak or whatever.. OMG, can you say lard ass... LOL. Becky was the smart one out of us all and just stuck to the Salads.... Isabelle ate her very first lobster and loved it, she looked just like my grandmother sitting there chowing down! That's my girl, your GGma would be proud, they both ate lobster, scallops and muscles... On the way home we took the Confederation Bridge and enjoyed the Sunset over the Atlantic was a great drive home~

Us in PEI with our feet in the Atlantic

Isabelle and her Lobster

We took in a pool day at Becky's brothers house which was a fantastic day, they are such wonderful people that feel just like family, the girls just ate up all the attention, they fooled yet again more people! LOL We later went home and I made up some yummy goat cheese chilly and lime corn on the cob, the boys BBQ'd up some Capicola Steaks (HOLY MOLY, best thing ever) & we made some Ribs. The ribs by the way ended up being eatten the next day for lunch as were too stuffed to eat them at dinner. The food this week  has been crazy and anyone that was dieting is no longer dieting! Between, the homemade feasts of Lescho and Butter Chicken, Steaks, Corn, Pipers and Lobster and snacks the food was so sinful.
Our last big too do was make our ways up to Frog Lake were my Nanny, Grampy and 2 uncles are resting. This lake is where my grandfather use to fish. It is a quiet lake in the middle of no where and you require a boat to get to the island and a 4x4 to get the lake. The lake is infested with leaches which met as as we arrived.. We got in on Neils 4 wheeler pulling the trailer, boat and all of us.  It was a gloomy sort of day which was nice cause the bugs would be bad if it was hot. I made it over to the island with the kids but had to come back as they were scared shit less of being in an aluminum boat with paddles ( I was kind of freaked out too, but mommy's need to appear strong).. Everyone took a turn to go over, we fished up some "Seaweed" then made our way back to the truck. As were pulling away the sun peaked out over the island and we all blew kisses to them. They knew we were there and it made me happy! I miss them so very much each and everyday and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of them. I wish they had to a chance to meet my little bundles. xoxox

As our trip began to wined down we all became alittle more quite, we spent a few hours with Becky's mom which was great, it was a nice morning such a wonderful lady, love her just like she is our Nan!  Then we topped it off with a meal out at Pipers landing... Only the best restaurant ever!! There was not a stitch of food left on any ones plate,  we eve licked the plates, were fattened up yet again, stuffed to the max and tired.  Leaving to come home was an emotional day, I think I cried pretty much till we got the Nova Scotia boarder and was quite quiet the rest of the way. We went down through Maine and spent the night. Did alittle shopping there but could not get into it, I did end up with my first Coach bag that was regular 289.99 and I scored it for 91 bucks.... But that was all,  I miss them so very much I must be love sick and just can't get into spending!  At this point I just wanted to get home, so we drove till we got to our front door with a few potty breaks in between! We arrived at home about 10:30pm Friday night and got tucked into bed quickly!

After each and every visit with my besties, it makes me miss them more and more! This is what family is all about. We pick up just like we saw each other yesterday even thought we are 2100 miles apart. We laugh till we cry and we enjoy each others company. We joke that we should build a house with wings and live together cause we get along that well. My girls just light up as do I & I think it is pretty great that my girls have been given the most amazing set of Godparents ever! I always say that everyday should be the way it is when we are together. I know that Becky is someone that I can turn too like a big sister & Neil like a big brother. They are fantastic people and so are their kids, I don't think there isn't a thing we could not do for each other. I look forward to each and every visit which is now become a yearly thing, phone calls and pictures & messages on FB. They make me smile, they light up my day.  That is what family is all about & making memories is the best part of it all.

Family Trip Part 2

The morning started at 8am, with a great Breakfast in Bed via Room service. The girls thought this was fantastic because they got to eat in bed while watching TV and I did not care if they dropped an egg! Belle had Bacon and Eggs and Laila had Fruit Loops with warm milk.  We slowly started to get ready I showered first and realized that I forgot my body wash and my shaving cream (Mothers always forget their stuff because we are busy packing everyone else up). SO I had to shower with Tom's Adidas body wash and shave my legs with his male smelling shaving cream, so today I probably smell like a man. LMAO  I had to make 2 stops to see if I could find the girls their snow globes but no such luck, guess we are coming back forsure! Today's drive will be an 8 hours trek. As I continue to write this we are 4.5 hours in our last leg which is Edmundston New Brunswick and doing really good. We have stopped to grab a quick bite to eat and knew we were officially in the east coast when we went to the local Mc Donalds and they are now serving "The McLobster" last visit we made down east Tom and I tried it and it is not all it is cracked up to be. We thought it would be friggin amazing as we are both seafood lovers but it is basically a cold lobster sandwich.. We ate our "10 year Anniversary lunch with Big Mac's and Nuggets & toasted with Ice Tea & Apple Juice and off we went, we have come across some beautiful country side, the view is amazing it looks just like a picture scene. The Moose signs are crazy, they have barricaded off with these little squared off gates so you can enter the forest but you can't get out, the sides of the roads are barrier ed as much as they can but I am sure these massive beasts can still get through by lifting a leg!!! They apparently only come out at night which is great, but it would be be pretty cool to see one on the side of road just not on my car. I keep trying to see if I can spot one in the fields but no such luck. The kids are doing great, we have heard 3 "Are we there yets" these in which have all come Isabelle... The sun is shining which is sooo great to see, it has been a really gloomy drive with rain and fog! The temp at one point dipped to 14 which made me very sad!!! But it is now up to 21 which is great! The drive so far has been wonderful, kids amazing! While we are on our adventure our wonderful friend & photographer posted on this Facebook ( yes I can still access FB on the road through Tom's BB) that he is looking for a picture who can "Get their Sink on" which means that he wants to see who can get creative with taking a picture of themselves in front of a sink, so now Tom and I are on a mission to find a New Brunswick Bathroom to get " Our Family Sink on" just to add some more fun to our little adventure! We are grooving down the highway with the music pumped to Z103 (CD of course) & having a great time, we lost the Z signal in Port Hope which sucked because we just getting ready for Way Back lunch! This is not your average "National Lampoons Adventure" we are doing it modern style so no dogs tied to the bumper or Aunt Edna's on the roof!! I am going to call Tom "Sparky" the remainder of the trip!!
At this time we are going to Hartland to drive over the covered bridge which should be pretty cool, the kids will love it, there we will get some gas and do a pee break. We drove 2 times over the Covered bridge and it was alot of fun, then we stopped off the "Salmon Pool" Restaurant to grab our dinner (Subway) to go! Before heading out we snuck into the Men's Public Washroom which was empty of course to take our "Get your sink on picture'.... It turned out great and we thought the photo was great, but after we sent it realized that we forgot to include the main element of the picture which was the friggin sink!! OH well, it was alot of fun and adventurous! We wanted to get the heck out of there, Men's washroom's friggin smell so bad. I thought womens' were bad, they have nothing on a mans!! I now know why my girls prefer to go with Mommy to the washroom as oppose to Daddy!!

"Get your sink on" Minus the sink

It is about 6pm now and the kids are starting get squirrly! Laila is not sure what she wants which tells us she has had enough and is getting ready to jump out of her seat! So we now require some serious intervention on my part!!  Belle has gotten her DS taken away because she has turned into a 6year old video game junkie, I swear she could play that thing from the time she gets up till the time she goes to bed. So it is taken away till we venture home! Just pulled a trick out of my dollar store grab bag... A Whoopie Cushion, let's see how much entertainment this provides? Estimated Time of Arrival 9:30pm in Nova Scotia.. We arrived at 9:35pm (Due to downpour just as we entered)... We made it

Breakfast in bed rocks

Heartland Covered Bridge

Anniversary lunch at Mc Donalds

Family Road Trip

As I am blogging we are heading out of Quebec City for the last leg of the drive estimated time of arrival according the "Cyb er Bitch" as I call her is 8:45pm! I must also make note that today July 27th 10 years ago I married my love, the father of my 2 beautiful children the man I will grow old with.. Happy Anniversary Honey, you really must love me to spend 8 long hours in a small confined car.. LOL We can have an anniversary lunch over Mc Donalds!
We headed out for our first big family road trip destination Nova Scotia. We have done a few road trips with the kids but this one was by far the longest total drive time 20 hours! We have adventured to Pennsylvania & Ottawa, Montreal when the kids were alittle smaller. They did quite well considering their age which was great and it gives us the confidence to go alittle longer! I love taking the girls on these little adventures it teaches them so much about this great beautiful country we live in.
I had began packing about a week before, it just gives me time to get stuff ready and make sure I have everything (not sure why because it is not like we are travelling to a foreign county, must be that damn OCD again)  LMAO

We had planned to leave on the 26th around 10am which would be perfect to miss the morning rush hour traffic in Toronto, & evening rush hour traffic in Montreal. I had made a trip to the dollar store and packed up about $30 worth of basically "Junk" to keep the kids entertained as they began to melt, loaded it all up and off we went. I had packed a cooler full of sandwiches and snacks, drinks, sushi to eat along the way so we did not have to stop for lunch which worked out really well.
By the time we had reached Scarborough Laila has already asked if we were there yet 4 times and uttered the "I am bored" which was clearly just to get a rouse out of us. It was too sunny so the DVD players were not a total hit right at that moment, so she decided to nap! Bonus. Belle played her DS the whole time and did not nap for even a second. When we entered in to Cornwall it was tank up time and our first pee break, about 6:30then off we went again. We hit some really wicked rain arund there and when we got to Montreal there was wicked construction, but I am not complaining about that, cause we always use to say how brutal their roads were so now they are fixing them, just sucks that it is when we driving through! The weather was rather grey the whole drive from Cornwall to Quebec City, I was really hoping the we would get some of the rain, just the rain at our place to give our grass a drink, but could totally deal without the cold front!
We arrived in Quebec City about 6:30pm checked into our Four Seasons hotel which was a lovely place brand new might I add (sO hopefully no bed bugs), got dressed then headed to the Ferry to to go the Island, it is friggin cold & damp here that I hope it really warms up along the way because I did not packed for "Fall". This cold weather required us to bust out the pants and sweaters that I had packed which was barried at the bottom of the suitcase and it was the only pair that I packed! Isabelle made friends with some Diplomats who thought they were both the greatest things ever. She carried on at how beautiful Quebec was and that it was even better that everyone spoke "Spanish".. She told these diplomats it was okay she could speak English so it was all good..
The 5 minute boat ride was really pretty and made me nauseated, I kept asking the girls if I Was green and Belle so sweetly said "No mommy you are still peach", I  think Whale Watching might require booze or Gravol!! I am hoping the cruise ship in October does not make feel sick! LOL
Quebec City is such a pretty place, wish we could have spent alittle more time there shopping, but I guess we can go back. The girls needed to eat so we found a little restaurant called "Le Couchon". The menus for the kids were all in french which made order so much fun! Tom busted out his Blackberry to do some translating but the even best part was that the "french" he was googling was not translating it to the right words, so So a Shirley Temple was translated as a Jack Rose?? LMAO! I managed to translate a few of them thanks to my very small glass of liquid courage! LOL Ang would totally not like the glasses of wine here, nothing compared to the Glasses we drink at home! The glass was the size of a kiddie cup! Tom then accidentally spilt a whole glass of water on Isabelle so she was soaked, the food finally arrived and was nothing to rave home about, we totally should have gone to the little Italian Restaurant that was tucked away in the village! Oh well. All the little boutiques were closed when we left dinner so we headed back to the room and called it a night! Tom and I had a drink in the dark while the kids slept & the only light in the room was the glow from our laptops so they could get some sleep! Tom worked (yes on our vacation) while I fell fast asleep!

Grand Total for first leg of trip 12 "Are we there yets" , 1 "I am bored" all were said by Laila.

Pecked.....

Yesterday we take took a lovely walk down to the ravine to enjoy the view and have a good run ~ When we venture down there we are always sure to take with us some bread for our little duck friends Ming Ming who is the female duck and Tuck who is the male duck. But recently there seems to be an over populated pond of a Geese there lately! I never thought that Geese could be so nasty, but apparently so. We  now refer to them as the "Dirty Birds" & they most certainly are. They have chased our Ming Ming and Tuck out and taken over Summit Ridge Pond. The nicely paved walkway is now lined with Geese Poop and aggressive long necked birds & all we need to do is give these buggers some spray paint and let the tagging begin. LOL  



Here they come! Ring leader showing them the way



As we were walking along the pond looking for our friends, we came across a handful of Ming Ming's but no Tucks. As feed our little friends I could see out the corner of my eye the head honcho of the Geese Hissing Gang making it's way across the pond followed by at least 10 of it's gang members! They approached us very calm until they proceeded to get out of the water and waddle their way up the hill towards my kids. I had a decent size bag of bread on me & that is all they wanted or they were going for my kids?  They began hissing & making nasty nosies and began to chase us. I got the kids out of the way and got them to run as Isabelle was running she was yelling "Run for your lives"...... All of them began to ran after us and our bread for a good 3 meters until I finally gave up the goods,  I was robbed of my bread, I was so scared of being literally "Pecked to death by Geese" that I had to give it up! I said, just take it as we ran away! I emptied the big bag of bread on the ground and started to run with the kids, the ring leader then began to yell at me as we ran away, even though I have already given him everything I had.. LOL

The people that look on to the ravine from their homes were probably laughing their butts off at us as we made the mad dash! I can laugh now, but I was scared, I never realized how aggressive they can be! Not much wonder the ducks have all left. Poor things~



Isabelle after she gave them heck for robbing us of our bread.

So today on our way to the park we took a lovely walk yet again down through the ravine with our neighbours this time going empty handed with no bread. We passed out sweet little duck friends who have now taken up residence in the other pond away from the Hissing Gang! They so peacefully followed us and spoke to us in the "App App" language! LOL Then quietly got back into their pond and swam away! Then we make it to the hissing gang where they are all perched on the side of the walkway like little hoodlum's awaiting fresh bait! They began hissing and making nasty noises yet again and one parent made herself very tall and blocked us off from them so we can make our way passed them. These birds are definitely crazy thankfully we had nothing to offer up today, so they basically just sat their and put on a big show.

Have a Happy......

Whoever came up with " Have a Happy Period " must have been on some serious drugs! Who in what right mind can actually say they have a Happy Period every month? I can say honestly it is so not me, periods suck. I think I can speak for most women when I say we wish we never had to endure this pain in the ass every month. Urgh. It is like being on an emotional roller coaster each an every month! We cramp, we bloat, were tired, we get bitchy (really bitchy in my case), hormones are raging all over the place, we are up then we are down, pimples make their grand entrance, your breasts are sore, we cry & get angry & people think you have lost your mind, we crave sinful things to make us feel better, but it really doesn't! Forget going shopping as it gets closer or is here for clothes or anything that requires you to feel good, because that just does not work. We see a mirror and we run the opposite way, we feel fat and unattractive.
All this just not happen the week it arrives, this is like an on going thing till it makes its grand entrance, so it builds up for like 2 weeks! 


So this week while Tom has been away in China, I have been dealing with the Monster of all PMS, which has been wonderful. I jokingly told him that he picked a real swell time to go away and leave me to hold the fort down. Hmm, maybe I am on to something maybe he chose this week for this very reason! LOL
His departure did not make this lovely situation any better, if anything I think it made it worse. I just want to get rid of all the "Evilness" as we call it in this house. LMAO  Periods just make you me feel down right evil. My patience level is zero, I am tired just wanting to lay down and sleep! I have often heard the men too suffer the same PMS as women do every month but I don't think I am totally convinced of that! Are they just trying to steal our limelight? LOL Cause there is nothing really spectacular about it, want it take it!


 I think your period is like a love hate relationship, I think there is more hate for it then anything else! When we are not trying to get pregnant we love it when it comes, but when we are trying to get pregnant we hate to see it. We take things to stop it from coming, we take things to make it work better, we take things to level us out because it causes our bodies to be just messed up hormonally! When we plan a trip,  we plan around our cycles, we avoid swimming (especially in oceans lmao) if it is here fear that we will eaten by sharks! LMAO We try to plan date nights around it so that it can be a "good night". LOL

That is my rant about Periods, mine has been a total pain in the ass this month and I had to share my frustrations with them!

Enjoy this video, it always makes me laugh at this time of the month..

Snuggle Bugs

We had an awesome Neighbour dinner last night, the food was fabulous & conversation was great and all the little ones slept like babies as the adults talked. These monthly dinners are so great & were such a good idea.

Both girls were sound asleep at 6:30pm they were obviously pretty exhausted. I felt bad putting them to sleep that early but they needed and today's behaviour proves that. They have been good as gold and are having a great day which is so nice to see! So sometimes it pays to tweak things abit just to collect yourself. It is funny, my Mom said that by the time Tom is ready to come home we will have settled into a routine and get comfy and it is proving to be true! This weekend has been great with the girls which is awesome, I thought forsure because Friday was such a craptastic day that the weekend was going to be a total flop! But thankfully it was proved wrong!  I love when things run smoothly with them,  it makes it so much easier to work with them and deal throughout the day!

When I came in last night after our backyard dinner (please keep in mind that we are just a few steps away from our doors) & got all ready for bed. Isabelle came out to go Pee & had a little chat with me, and she said " I am so glad that you were able to enjoy your night Mommy, you need it" Which made me smile.  I kissed her and gave her a big hug and tucked her back in and she fell back to asleep! Shortly after that as I was all snuggled in bed ready to get into starfish position (It is position that requires use of the WHOLE BED for sleeping), I heard little ninga feet making their way to me room and in comes little Laila. All cuddled up with Baby Hannah and her Blankey! "Mommy can I keep you company tonight" she says, I said how come honey, " I can't sleep Mommy" so I said well I just checked on you and you were sleeping. "No I wasn't, I was pretending" she says with a big smile... LOL. It is so funny how were just talking about our kids sleeping habits tonight at our dinner, Can they hear us?? LOL I usually never let my kids in my bed but she was so cute and sweet how could you turn a face like that away? I am big ole sap when it comes to my girls, the mother guilt is brutal for me. So I ended up with a little snuggle bug companion for the night or should I say a furnace. Before she drifted off to sleep again, I told her this will not happen all the time and you are going to sleep back in your own bed tomorrow night! "Okay Mommy",  I said this is a secret, pinky swear, "Okay Mommy". She began to rub my hair and scratch my head with her little hands it so cute, then she drifted off with a glowing smile on her precious face. She is going to be such a great Mommy/Wife/Friend & Sister, this nurturing she has just comes so naturally with her.

I had to laugh this morning she was up at the crack of stupid and went off to play with Belle, I could hear her yell at Belle (not whisper), " I got to sleep in Mommy's bed last night and you didn't". LOL. So much for secrets & pinky swear

Kids can never keep a secret!

Advice for the day:  If you want someone to know how you really feel about them, tell a child they will spill the beans! If you don't want anyone to know your plans etc, then really don't tell them! LOL

OH What a Busy Day

We had so much fun yesterday or should I say my monkies did. It was a hot one out and what a better way to beat the heat but by taking out the good ole pool, bright pink might I add... Kids jumped into the bathing suits and got all lubed up and out we went!

As a Birthday gift to Laila from our lovely neighbours, she got a "Goo making Kit" that is to be done in the bathtub... So instead of doing it in the bathtub I decided I would do it outside which seemed like a great thing to do. So we filled up the pool and loaded up the pool with this Goo making powder and off they went! It definitely was gooey! The kids loved it, but only problem was because it is to be done in "warm" water the powder to add to the Goo to make it go back to liquid did not work because the water was cold so we had Gel balls the kind that are in a loaded & exploded diaper all over the place! They were stuck in their hair, the face, their legs everywhere.. All you could do was laugh, and for everyone that knows how anal I am about clean, I did rather well. The girls thought it was a great thing and have lots of fun! When you get "This is the best day ever" that makes it all worth it. I have been getting them alot the past few days, so that tells me I am doing something right as exhausted as I am.
I also mentioned to my neighbours to always remember that their little one, will have upcoming birthdays so to be kind to us in the future.. LOL I can find lots of annoying & nosiy toys that little ones just love but the parents hate!!! Just kidding! Thank you guys the girls loved it and it gave at least an hour of fun today!

We then moved on to painting with Chocolate and Vanilla Pudding, they had an absolute BALL! They painted each other, ate it, painted their faces, hair & legs! It was super fun an apparently super yummy! Good thing for them because we don't eat pudding at all in this house. So today was a free for all with the pudding! They were super sticky and messy but it was all outside and life was good! Only problem during clean up was the water was cold and because my girls are little princess' as am I, Cold water was not going to work so I had to get a pot of warm water to wash them up! Pool was still infested with Goo balls so that kind of defeated the whole purpose of getting Clean! Pictures are hilarious. After this was all done it was time to eat so we had a picnic outside under an umbrella where they had lunch and talked and read books.  All in all they had a fun filled day and of course after a morning of fun there is no stopping them they want to keep going and going! But after being told for the millionth time to find something to do they did and played quite nicely!

Pudding Maddness!

Our day was a good one, a busy couple of days at that. You would think they would sleep as soon as they hit the pillow (well laila does, but not my night hawk Isabelle) & the morning would a super lazy start,  but fat chance of that,  they are still up and pecking me bright and early to go play! We finished our day with a little car trip to the store (Daddy is really not going to like me having a car, I spend to much it is not al that much but it is still spending. At least I am aware of it though). Only to have a silly women putting on a sweater, in this heat & I have no idea why,  proceeded to hit my car with her door and was completely oblivious to me yelling at her through the store door with my kids, then she proceeds to kept on going about her business..  I would have gone after her, but really what was the point, what would have come out if. It would have made me feel better knowing that I had something, some poeple are so stupid I tell you. There is not a whole lot wrong, the paint is off the door slightly, but it is purely principal and the fact that she ignored my request to remove her door from my door & the face that she did not even seem to concerned with her door smacked against mine!! I swear I get this from my husband, cause I was never like that (Gotta Blame someone). I laugh because when I told Tom about the car, he says "it is just a car", but this coming from someone who gets royally pissed when someone parks too close to him~ I don't get it, well actually I do. It means that he is so relaxed and in a comfortable state and I am a frazzled stressed out mother!! LOL

Picnic in the backyard

We got home and had a yummy dinner and ice cream. We quickly followed that with our usual bath, book and bed cuddles & kisses. Now on to Mommy time, I am pooped it is time for a break for mommy! Mommy time did not start off to well as my darling Isabelle was still awake at 10pm after going to bed at 7pm! I swear these kids just don't get it at times, so needless to say I was alittle emotional as it was a long day and after entertaining children from 7am that morning and not having a real "Break", it got the better of me. It takes a alot of hard work to be a Super Mom, it really does! I don't know how I do it most days, how I stay sane. I will say it again, this has to be the hardest more exhausting job I have ever done! And when I hear people that don't have children complain how "Exhausted" and "Tired" they are... Really, you have no clue honey, I would trade your tiredness for my exhaustion for just 2 days!!

Wasn't me

I have been walking around here most of the day singing "Wasn't me" By Shaggy! LMAO My goodness what a day! These girls are the best exercise equipment ever, they certainly keep me on my toes that is forsure. Never a dull moment in this house.. My house is full of laughter, attitude, drama, cuddles, kisses and smiles, oh and did I mention attitude??  I am curious to see what it will be like when they both are tweens/teenagers. Look out! Hang on to your wallets, sanity & age!

Laila & the Fearsome 4's are brutal, I don't really recall it this bad with Belle at age 4. But I think it was because I was so busy with Laila so young getting into everything that it didn't seem so bad... LOL
But my word, if there is anyone who loves to make a mess & test patience  & throw a fit, well that would be her! If there is anyone that is the queen of mess Laila is your girl. I have been battling all day with her about cleaning up. Don't get my wrong, Belle knows how to make a mess also, but at least there is some reasoning with her to clean up! Laila is like a human tornado, she goes from room to room and trashes it as she goes, then moves on to the next... If she takes a juice box out she will throw it on the floor as if the floor is her garbage can at least if she does it outside, Isabelle gives her a huge lecture on "Littering" Have you not seen WallE she will tell her!  I always find it so funny how you ask who made this mess you get "Wasn't me".... I think I should have named a child "Wasn't me" or maybe I will call myself that because I must be "Wasn't me", seems I am the one that cleans up after the locals have been in trash mode. I clean a room or bathroom, vacuum and mop a floor. I move to the next room come back to the previous room to grab something and it has been trashed in like 2.8 seconds.... Then you ask "Who did this", in stereo you get "Wasn't me"... Like seriously! You mean to tell me a storm or a monster with very little hands came in and decided to pick this very room that I just cleaned & mess it up "Yup" is what I get! It is so hard to contain my laughter because they say it so innocent and straight faced with those big beautiful eyes it is priceless..  ARE you flipping kidding me! Then after loosing your mind silently inside & counting to 10, the little one confess' to it by turning on the big alligator tears to make you feel like the worlds worst mother "I always have to clean up" and you know it was her! She had confessed & hoping that by crying it will make "Wasn't me" feel horrible and clean up for her. Then I get down to level and explain the importance of tiding as we go & putting things back in their place & if we do that then we don't have big mess' to clean up all the time... The best part is if you put it all back where you got it from, you can find it the next time you need it so we don't have to go on a huge mission in search for it (BTW, I actually do have bins with pictures on them to show what goes in each one to make cleaning up easy & finding things wonderful). I will say do you understand lala "Yes Mommy" do you understand Isabelle, it is your job as a big sister to help her too. Then we go back to the same thing  not even 10 min later then I begin to sound like a broken record...

Laila is so messy, but she is soo darn cute! LOL She almost reminds me of pig pen from Peanuts, god love her!!  I am almost positive I was messy as a child as well, I remember my room as a teenager so really why do I bitch about mess??
Everywhere she goes she makes a mess, every time you dress her pretty she makes a mess, she spills things, wears things, falls on things, trips over things, you put a nice bow in her hair she pulls it out.(One that is tasteful and in proportion to her head of course) LOL.  I have to say now that we are on the topic of hair bows, I am not a huge fan those stupid bows on elastics, I actually have a huge pet peeve with bald babies wearing these ENORMOUS bows on their heads or even as small children, so wrong! Those poor children are going to look back when they are older and be like really, why!! That would like looking back at a school picture and thinking "Really in Grade 3 why was I (not me, someone I know) wearing a cumber bun and bowtie with Adidas pants"... Parents, seriously think about the effects later on in life, god knows I have some real looker of pictures and get rather upset even as an adult but that is a whole different blog for another time! LMAO  My kids never sported those ridiculous things, EVER!! Thank goodness a very wise women who must have had the same pet peeve as I with those bow elastic thingies, came up with the large wrap with a cute flower attached to it... Now that is more like it!!
I could even put a nice new pair of tights on my little princess and by the time we get to party destination she has huge gaping hole in the knee the size of a grapefruit.. LMAO, so now I just wait till we are at location then put them on!! Even then now that I think abut it, I ask her who did it & I get "Wasn't me". But she is sooo flippen cute and lovable!!

"Wasn't ME"

Laila Laila Laila.. My little darling sweetheart, I will look back on days like this when you are older and laugh about it then. You are definitely my child that knows how to test my patience, must be because we are both Geminis! We finished off our day with yet another meltdown, she is pooped! Today was not too crazy busy, we ventured to the Greenhouse today to see the animals, went to wash the car, then went to our local Italian Bakery for some bread. Then had a nice dinner followed by bath book, cuddles & bed. She was out the minute she hit the pillow! Tomorrow we will do it all over again on a better note and strive to do better as we always do!

Me & my little messy snuggle bug!

Running on Empty

With Summer Break in full swing, it is getting harder for me to blog. But I figured I should at least try to do one a week & if I can get more in then great...

Tom left for Hong Kong yesterday and has landed safe and sound, all checked into his "Swanky" hotel.. He managed to call us when he arrived at 8am our time which is 7pm there time (I think), which was super and it was all I could but to hold back the tears~ They sound so different on the other side of the world. He sounds happy & rested although he has been awake for 24 hours!! I on the other hand am running on Empty!! I feel as though I have been on my feet all day everyday & have not stopped. As soon as my ass hits the couch or chair the kid radar goes off "She is sitting, let's ask for something". Never fails, kids totally come programed with this little device in them.. LOL

We had a very busy & fun weekend which has added to my exhaustion, not to mention 2 exhausted kids because they were up till at least midnight every night this past weekend, allergies/cold and well Mother Nature set to arrive early next week (Welcome Home Honey) which puts me in fine form the week before it starts. Urgh, being a women sometimes is a royal pain in the ass. So needless to say I am pooched!! I tried to get to bed early last night however, that was quickly disrupted when Belle came in to my room at 11:30 because she was cold, so I had to go down turn off the AC and tuck her back in bed.. Then I was awakened at 3:30am with a thud and cry so I had to haul ass to Belle's room to find her on the floor crying "She had fallen out of bed"... Laila is being a excuse me language ( I love her dearly, and have been told you get back what you give your parents & with Laila I totally have) a little witch. She is just testing it as far as she can go! She wants to snack but does not want to eat meals, she wants to do everything SHE WANTS TO DO & not follow the rules of what she is told or expected of her to do! So working with her has been a challenge so we will bath and get her snuggled in bed because she is miserable because she is tired (God forbid the child have a nap)...  Both kids have been in meltdown mode today... Belle had a huge issue with the fact that she spilt Syrup on her clothes, so I allowed her change only for her to put something on that she hated to be in the T Shirt was apparently too long!! So she had to change, suddenly her Syrup clothes were fine... I find it so difficult at times to deal with both of their issues, that by the time you deal with one issue the other comes along and there is another issue that fighting is such a challenge! You get exhausted with them so fast~  Not to mention that I dealing with friggin what at times I think is Allergies but not to sure! Is it s a bloody cold or is it allergies? I picked up some Aerius today after we made the trex to the Library to get a bundle of books to keep them busy! I took half because I hate taking stuff,  but not sure if it has done anything?? I am at a loss!!

Tom has only been gone 1 day and already I feel wore out and I have 6 more days to go! The girls have been at each other in each other faces, I took them to the mall yesterday and they were acting like caged apes! Today we did Library,  then came meltdown mode it was their way or no way! I got them to help me clean the car out, that lasted all of 5 Min's then it was back to what they wanted to do! In the pool out of the pool, gotta pee, gotta poo Mom come wipe me, I need a drink, I need a snack, I am hungry, Mommy Laila hit me, Mommy Belle said to leave it alone, Belle won't let me play with that, slam of the door, stomp up the stairs,  NO, I don't want to, NO, leave me alone.. Pick Pick Pick... Now you know why I say I feel pecked to death by ducks most days.. LOL Or why we totally understand why some animals eat their young.  Just the thinking about it all is making my head spin!! Is it bedtime yet?? LOL
Many people can say that because Tom is away you can use blackmail as an advantage for them to behalve! So when they act up you can say "if you keep it up, you get nothing from China". Honestly and Truthfully now, how many parents can actually follow through on that?? It is just like saying "Santa only comes if you are good, if you are naughty he gives you coal". Can a parent actually do that? Goodness no! So it is easy to preach, but never flys so why bother!

I give huge high fives to all single mothers out there, especially with kids so young and more then one! It is truly alot of work on any given day with 2 parents, let alone doing it alone! You know, on days like this when I feel as exhausted as I am, I would never trade a single minute of this craziness they call Parenting! Even though we have our good days and bad days I love them to pieces! I think tonight I might take a nice bubble bath, maybe rent a movie and unwind from the craziness of a day all snuggled in bed, just as my little ones are! I will be keeping in my mind that tomorrow is a new day and I will do better!

Children are like Kites

Well tomorrow is officially the last day of school & both girls are super excited. Lots of fun stuff planned for the summer & we can't wait. We have lots of day trips planned, a road trip to Nova Scotia, weekend getaways alot of good times to be had this summer. Afterall, both girls will be in school next year!  I think we may even take the good ole tent out and pitch her up at a local provincial park! The kids love that sort of thing, me not so much but anything for my monkeys.

On Graduation Day the Principal said a beautiful little poem that I thought I would share with all my fellow Blog Followers with Children of their own, who are finishing up another year of school and getting ready for new beginnings come Fall.  It is certainly very true and brought alot of tears to my eyes as we move on to new beginnings in our own home, especially with my last baby starting her first year! This poem pulled on my heart strings, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did & do!

You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them until you're both breathless.
They crash.
They hit the rooftop.
You patch and comfort, adjust and teach them.
Finally, they are airborne;
They need more string and you keep letting it out.
But with each twist of the ball of twine,
there is a sadness that goes with joy.
The kite becomes more distant,
and you know it won't be long
before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you two together
and will soar as it is meant to soar, free and alone.
Only then do you know that you did your job.

Crossroads

Well it is Sunday morning and low an behold what day comes next, MONDAY! Back to the grind it is,  woo hoo. Belle's last day of school is Wednesday and she is super excited to get the summer off 2 months of fun & possibly sleeping in how awesome is that. I miss those days! But as the last day of school approaches, I am finding myself questioning alot of things & where do I go from here. Laila will start school in the fall part-time and Isabelle will be full-time, which is going to leave me 2 to 3 days a week with no kids. It has been made quite clear that I will not just be sitting at home doing "Nothing", apparently the household chores and stuff of that nature all got done on it' own right? I was not just home taking care of kids, I ran the household ship & made sure everyone was happy & fed & cleaned that stuff still needs to be done!

I will have been home with the kids full-time for 6 and half years and during that time I have feel as though I lost myself. Between being a Mother, Wife, Nurse, Event Coordinator, Trainer, Teacher, Chef, Baker, Dry Cleaner, Maid, Hostess, Referee, Entertainer, etc you loose what is most important & that is yourself! You quickly forget how & what it is you need or liked or were once interested in.  The things that I once enjoyed don't seem to be interesting anymore. I have put all my time, energy and heart & soul into the well-being of my family that suddenly you don't matter anymore & finding what it is that I enjoy is even harder. I have given up so much all for the purpose of family & I don't in way have any regrets of that, but I do need to soul search. I need to find me again, where did I go? Some people will either get it or not get it... And I really don't care if people really don't begin to understand it.

So now as September quickly approaches it is time to start thinking about what I want to do & where I want to go, but I have been told that I should have thought about this stuff way back then, not now!! But who has time to think about what you are going to do in 5 years when you are making meals, cleaning up after meals for a family of 4, changing beds & diapers, doing mountains of laundry & putting it away, playing & have the life sucked right out of you day in a day out? What is that I enjoy or want to do? Hmm,  I don't know?  Jump off a bridge, or do "mindless stuff" take time for me!! Maybe at the end of every term when the mother is ready to go back to work, maybe the Government should send her away on a nice friggin vacation to take a break, relax & unwhnyed.. Wouldn't that not be nice, god everyone on assistance gets a friggin gravy train ride by the Government, why not actually give back to the people that actually deserve it.. But we won't go there, that is an entirely different Blog Topic... LMAO
I have tossed a few things around, but because of my being submerged in "Kids" and "Family", I don't feel that I have the self-confidence to go out and tackle them, I guess it is a fear of rejection, it is easy for people to say you will be great at it, but when you struggle with it yourself then it is hard. Applying for jobs after being home for 6 years is not an easy one to do you don't realize at how much things have changed, people are not just going to hire you because you gave up your career to be at home with your kids, that does not give you a Mother of Century award & allow to you just walk in to every job you apply for. Employers don't just say "Hey she must be one hell of a person to do that, some people just don't get it. I have said this many time & will say it again, you don't truly know about something until you are in the that situation yourself.. It is so easy for everyone to say how it easy it is, but you have no clue. Every person is different there is no 2 people alike!

So I am finding that I have hit a Crossroads with job, family & most of all me. You can't have it all, you really can't. Do I want big and great things, goodness no, but I do know one thing is forsure, I just want to be comfortable! Copious amounts of money and things don't make you happy. I just want to be in a happy place, I want to be & feel grounded with no pressures in life. I want to feel at ease & finally feel happy within me! Money can never buy Happiness, the richest people in the world are miserable & their kids feel it. Money changes people! Sometimes things can be so complicated it is frustrating what happen to the simple days?

Then it goes back to the question, Do I want a Career again? Do I want to go back into Insurance? I don't know!  I don't think so, I don't want to be one of those parents that does not want to come home after a long day at the office and not be able to deal with the kids after being in the door 10mins, I have scene it happen ALOT & it is quite scary actually ~ I want to be home for dinner every night with my kids, I want to help them with their homework, I don't want to pay someone else to watch my kids,  I don't want to travel for work, I don't want them to not have a parent at home at the end of a long day,  I don't want to miss school trips, I don't want to let them feel as though they are alone at the end of the day. But at the same time.It is hard and when you have been home with them for so long it is truly hard to just let go! Mothers find it hard to let go of things only being home after 1 year, imagine almost more on top of that. I have mentioned going in to retail for a bit but that is apparent not good enough? I am selling myself short~ But going into retail provides all that I want with even more flexibility! I tell them I am available 2 to 3 days a week between the hours of 9:30-3, I am making money not a lot but more then I was being home for 6 years, I am avail when the kids need me, I am there when they get home, no one is watching them, no one is going to give a rats ass if I have been off work for 6years, they don't care & I will get some ME time back! It seems like a win win, besides I really love shopping & clothes so hey! LMAO. If I could find an office job that would accomidate my wants then it would be perfect, but the likely hood of that is slim to none! Then it boils down to, only having 1 car, If I go back to work in the fall I will need a vehicle! Taking the bus here is just not an option with 2 kids in school. I can picture it now, I get a call at work because one of the kids is sick, how on the earth to do leave early & on time to pick them up on a fucking BUS!! Like really...

This being at a Crossroads with everything in my life is crazy & frustrating. These are the things I am feeling & wondering about, what to do & where to go? I need to find me & how does one go about doing it? I wish I had the answers & I wish I knew what lies ahead but I don't nor does anyone else!

Business Trip

Well in a few weeks hubby is off on a business trip for a week. Destination: Hong Kong! Leapin lizards. He seems pretty excited, it is a new experience in a different country & not the US so he is looking forward to it. Me on the other hand.. Hmm not so much. He will be missed that is for sure, but I think it will be alot harder on me with the kids being so busy all the time! It is always nice come 5pm to know that the end of the day is here and Daddy will be home for me to punch out after a long day with the little ones. We usually catch up in the evening about how our days went and sip a glass of something whether it is water or wine and just relax and unwind. But somehow I feel this week he is away will be a little different, is it acceptable to drink by yourself?? LOL Someone told me it is okay, just don't do Cheers!

Isabelle will have started in to the Summer Break and will be up at the crack of stupid, she will tease & torment excuse my language the shit out of Laila. In which it will make Laila whyne and cry like a baby, there will be total bickering back and forth about how "She did this" and "She did that".... Laila now being 4 has brought on a new personality with a boat load of drama so this should make for a very interesting week, she has certainly become a handful....Girls are such a joy!! LMAO
On any given day at our place when the girls act up, I can make one quick call to Daddy for him to put them back into the real world, I can't threaten to call daddy now because he will be on the other side of the globe! But hey, maybe they will surprise me, I am sure they will be fine! They are usually good girls I really can't complain.
This will be very hard on them as he has not been away since they were little. He was away for Laila's first birthday on a Conference in Vegas & that has been in it since then. So this time might be alittle more crazy!! They love their Daddy with all their heart so when he is away at work they always ask "When is Daddy coming home" but now they need to wait a week for his arrival.

I am alittle jealous that he gets to go, I probably could have gone but I am not a huge traveller on a 16hour flight in a very foreign country. Tom is a very adventurous person, me not so much! I always tell him you have it so easy when you travel even if it is for Business.. You have a hotel to yourself, eat what & where you want, when you want. Lay pool side when not busy, shop when not busy. Sleep early if you want. It may not be enjoyable when you are in a conference or working, but for the most part it is away time & alone time!! It is a change of scenery & a change from the same monotonous stuff that I do daily.

I swear it is so much easier when they are babies, I miss those days..  Things ran so smooth, they ate, slept and played.. Now they fight, scream, argue everything, know everything, don't share & irritate the crapola out of you. But they give the BEST HUGS & KISSES & when they really really want too they say the sweetest things. The girls & ! are researching some of the neat little treasures we would like to have brought back for us. The girls are a definite have to bring back a Snow globe each (They collect them for all over), it is the glass ones too so "Daddy needs to be extra Fragile" with those! I mentioned a cute Chinese dress ( Hmm I wonder what my size would be) and maybe some slippers! I would really love a "Coach" purse but told him to make sure it said "Coach" and not "Couch".. LMAO as Hong Kong is known for their knock offs.  I probably could just get one here, but you know when they hubby asks what you want while I am away, you gotta go big because they feel bad about leaving you alone at home with 2 kids, so make it count & it is not something that I would just run out and buy here for myself.. LOL  I thought of him also stock piling up on the liquor for our growing cabinet! I would also like a really nice tea set & maybe I can see if they have some cute little Chinese food plates for the kids there to match our chopsticks! He is allowed 3 bags so lets fill them up!! LOL

At the end of the day, we will be fine. We will break the week up and make it fun, go places and do stuff. We will miss him lots and look forward to his safe return. We can probably even skype a few times if he is not too busy working! It is good for us all. I think from time to time we all need it, to re group and re focus.. We he gets to re-focus and I get to haa, I don't know!  I think I might plan a weekend away to Vegas? LMAO ALONE! Yeah right, cause you would get me on a plane for 5 hours by myself right.. LOL

Lots on the go!

Sorry my friends that I have not blogged in a while, things have been alittle crazy & I have felt alittle run off my feet.

Since I wrote last we have done alot of things, it is crazy at how busy June as been for us. Since our Sicks Kids followup we have heard nothing regarding Belle's blood work so no news is a good news, they told us if there is anything they would call.. So that is good!
We attended an Annual ALS walk in Georgetown for a local GP & dear friend who was diagnosed 4 years ago which has been really sad as he is such a wonderful man & so is his family. It was great to see him & talk with him and to Thank him again as I will do forever,  as he brought my beautiful darlings into this world.  The turn out was amazing as always but the weather was really crappy and the walk ended up being cancelled.  We were able to spend time with some really good friends that weekend which was a really nice thing as we had not seen them for ages! Note to self, can't go long periods without seeing good friends.....

We had a lovely neighbour dinner in our "Backyards" which so great, lots of yummy food and great adult conversation. Can't wait till July's dinner these dinners are going to be so looked forward too. I am not sure what we are going to do in the winter months??  The next day after going to bed from that meal at 2:30am we made the trek to Niagara Falls where ate lunch at the Mandarin (  for those that know me, I have a thing with food under lights, just not seem very hygienic to me).. Then we ventured to the falls for the kids to take do the Ferris Wheel & a museum & spend some time with GGma as it was her birthday which is why we went our there in the first place.. She was super excited to see them as she always is, they bring such joy to her. She had a great time as did we, but we were exhausted when we headed home.


Laila turned 4 last week which was bittersweet, so we move from the "Terrible 3's" to the "Fearsome 4's" so I have been told.. Urgh, since she has turned 4 only a week ago man o man the ears are in complete shut off mode and the attitude is overwhelming.. I am really not looking forward to her 13th birthday...  But she is still super cute and such a cuddle bug~ She seems so grown up and since turning 4 she is looking forward to attending school this fall & I must say so am I... She is getting so bored being at home & I am running out of ideas to keep her entertained. To celebrate Laila's 4th birthday mommy put alot of time and energy into planning a party as I always do! I made the cake & all the food, planned a fun time for her & her friends.  Cake & Food are usually an out sourced thing so this time this party was a huge undertaking, I even made the Pinata!  We hired Monkeynastics that we purchased as a WagJag deal for 69.99 that was originally 198.99 and well that was crap let's just say we got our "WagJag" worth! LOL  I don't think I will ever purchase a Wagjag thing again.. You totally get what you pay for in most cases! Total garbage, I want them to call me for some feedback..  Laila had fun that is all that mattered & well Isabelle pissed the guy off by telling him she knows how to do things as she does this all the time at the Little Gym, I think he happy when she left and went to play... LMAO
Good thing I confirmed with them on the "loot bag" as they said they would provide for 12 kids.. A loot bag to them was considered a "Sticker"... LMAO! They said there would be a "Monkey" there but no monkey showed up! It was a really poor production I tell you! If I paid full price for that I would have been royally pissed!!

Cake was a huge success, it took a total of 8 hours to do but turned out amazing. Food was great and everyone had a great time. The kids toilet papered themselves, had silly string fights and spray painted their hair with coloured hairspray oh not to mention my Swingset! I think they had more fun with that then Monkeynastics! Backyard looked like frosh week but it got all cleaned up & you would never know there was a bunch of local trash monsters there,  the kids loved it!!  Laila had a great time and slept the next day till 9:30am which was GREAT! So another successful party for the books! Party planning is alot of work and you are completely exhausted when it is all done.. Did I mention that I am exhausted? LOL

Sunday was Father's day which was opened up with the kids sleeping till 9:30, yippy, I was sooo not ready to wake up at the crack of stupid on a Sunday to make breakfast after a wild week.. I got up when they did and started making breakfast, the girls gave daddy his gifts then off to Faery Fest at Riverside with the girls we went! We stopped at a local dollar store to find some wings then off we went as I was not about to pay 30 bucks for wings there. There was $10 Admission which was totally not worth it  travelling carnies!! LMAO Some very strange people there.. Everyone talked so weird & were carrying these little "Fairy Cats" on their shoulders that moved very odd.. We did not last too long as the kids were getting bored as were Tom and I so after they watched a really cheesy play we headed out for some Ice Cream! We finished the day off with a lovely dinner outside in the backyard eating Sushi. So I think the weekend was a good one.

All in all it has been a crazy month of June with lots to do! I feel exhausted and wore out in such a need of a Vacation. So we are planning a Road Trip in July which should be great, we are really looking forward to it.

Endocrine Checkup

Yesterday we had our 1 year followup appointment at Sick Kids Hospital here in Toronto. This appt always makes me really nervous because it is my little girl that is the patient of the Poking and Prodding! So to kick off our day we tried to make it as focused on the little ones as possible to make the experience not so scary for Princess Belle and to have my little June Bug Laila not feel left out as all the attention tends to be focused on Belle at these appointments.

We started the day off with a trip to Casa Loma in the big city and the kids thought that was just fantastic. I think Laila was alittle sad to see no Princess' but I told her that her and Belle were the Princess' in the castle for the day which tickled her Purple (Her favorite Colour).... LOL They explored the secret passages and took the long trex through the tunnels to the stables. It was a good day!  When we got the to the room where the servants slept Tom said to them would you rather be a Boss and sleep in a big room or a servant and sleep in the tiny room? Laila piped up and said I want to be the BOSS! Gotta love her... After a morning of Castle's and Chocolate we made the nervous journey for Belle to Sick Kids. She was very quiet as we pulled into the parking garage, she was not sure what to expect but we tried to calm her nerves as much as we could. We went to grab a bite to eat in the Atrium,  they filled their bellies with healthy choices Grilled Chicken, Salad ands Perogies. The girls made tons of wishes in the Atrium fountains clearing my wallet of all my change, then they asked Daddy for his change but all he had was the "Big Money" as they called it. After the all the wishing was done and bellies full, we headed to our appointment.

As we headed to Clinic 9 we  had to do a pit stop at the gift shop to take a boo at all that treasures. Belle got her heart stuck on yet another stuffy in the Gift Shop window, but we told her that if she did really good, he would be hers for the taking... So off we went, we followed the little foot prints to our clinic and checked in. The girls played and we were about to start crafts with the Staff Volunteer when we got called. Isabelle got weighed and measured, she went up 6 lbs since her last appt and went up a few inches as well.. When the Doctor came to see her, she became alittle nervous with him but he quickly got her warmed up and comfortable which is always helpful. Kids can totally sense when people are not sure about them, but thankfully all her Docs make her feel at ease which is a great thing  He talked to her asked her what she does for fun and activities, what her fave books are as well as movies.. She was super excited about to tell him all about her faves,  but still alittle nervous that he was going to take blood.. She would flip flop between Mommy & Daddy's lap to make things alittle less scary. He was very happy with her growth and said he would rather wait for the GH injections until age 8 or 10. They can be on GH injections for years with no breaks and he does not feel it is necessary at her age, there is still alot of growth potential when she is older.. That is okay with us and I am sure it is with Belle. She seemed to get quite relieved up until he mentioned the "Blood work" needs to be done... She stiffened up & her little heart started to race...  He also let us know that her bone age scan from last year on her hand showed that she was age 5 when she was actually 5 and a half, which tells us that she is really not all that far behind her peers! So the next appt is 1 year from now!

Laila stayed behind with the Staff Volunteer that she began the craft with earlier and was quite happy with that, they were awesome. We took Belle down to the Ambulatory Room to get the blood work done, they are testing her for Celiac, thyroid & some other routine stuff, this is all quite common for TS girls. I am sure that all is fine, but you still have that little bit of worry, but surprisingly I am okay about things at this point! After all she is being taken care of by the best as we promised ourselves we would do for her when it came to her TS.
She was quiet which was totally understandable, we talked to her and reassured her she was okay and we would keep her safe! Mommy and Daddy would never put you in harms way, she knew that and found great comfort in it. She told us, she was in the best place & they know what they are doing. They called her number which was 68 after about a 5 min wait and to our chair we went. She wanted to sit with Mommy which was totally fine with me I love her cuddles, I snuggled her & told her she would be okay Daddy & Mommy would be right here with her, we watched the Fox and the Hound & talked. The lady came in, she teared up alitlte as did I (But hid my face), she put her blankie (Aww, that she has had since birth) in her mouth & bit down, here we go!! I thought for sure I was going to have to pin her down with the help of Tom & 2 nurses & she would be screaming her eyes out as if they were peeling her skin & popping blood vessels in her neck.. (Wouldn't be the first time).... But totally not!! She blew me away, she never ceases to amaze me. She took a quite glance at the needle and the IV taking her blood , thought it was really cool then turned away...
 "All done" the nurse said, she filled up with tears of Joy and Happiness!! I did it Mommy, I did it Daddy. Now we can get my Tiger, we replied yes honey after we get Laila. She was soo proud,  as were Mommy & Daddy, we smothered her with lots of hugs and kiss & praise. The nurse then told her to wait here for a min, she went and got her Snoopy Bandage and a Disney Princess Puzzle, she asked her to sign the Blood work Courage wall. The nurses told Tom and I that it is great to see parents reassure their children during a scary situation with positive reinforcement & praise! We might have looked like silly fools to others as we took pictures of her big accomplishment, but hey they need that! She loves it and it is something that she will always remember & can now look back on.  It is amazing how some parents don't praise or give their children this praise & encouragement. We were actually kind of shocked at how some parents seem so detached from their kids especially during these scary things they can face, believe or not we did see some! It was almost as though it was a inconvenience being there. I am mean it is not enjoyable for any parent to have to be there, but kids sense this stuff so it is important to be strong for them on the outside but be a marsh mellow on the inside. 

After we were all done with the blood work we picked up Laila who was busy doing her crafts in Clinic 9, went to the gift shop to p/u "Loma" which was named after her action packed day. Loma made her super excited.. Isabelle was excited to bring her home to show her where she would be sleeping & said now Loma does not need to be scared sleeping all alone on a shelf, she has me now! TOO FRIGGING CUTE. Laila scored herself a colouring book and pen at the shop which made her super happy.  We then headed out for some yummy dinner after we made our long rush hour trip back. The celebratory dinner out ended our day off just right! The whole ride home we heard how proud she was of herself and how she loved that she made us so proud of her.. We asked Laila what her fave part of the day was and she replied " All of it", that made me smile. Laila was super good today as we did all the stuff we had to for Belle. Then she passed out for her catnap on the way out of the city!  I sometimes feel bad because Laila gets alitlte pushed aside not intentional but it does happen that we are so focused on the appt and stuff. So it was great to have a full day of stuff focused around all.
It brought tears to our eyes to see how grow up Isabelle was, she is such an old soul... Isabelle brightens up our life everyday, she is such an amazing miracle! She teaches us so much day in a day out. It amazes us how someone we just met 6 years ago has brought so much fulfillment & love to our lives, she has taught us how to love unconditional and it is the simplest things that make her so happy.... Hug and Kiss your little ones everyday, give them praise and acceptance. It is so important and will round them out to be such wonderful human beings.. I think we need alot more Isabelle's in this world... xoxo

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! NOT! I just turned 34 and so far all I can say is DEPRESSING, not sure if it is the age thing or the boredom of turning 34? It just ain't all it is cracked up to be,  awww to be young again!

We ended up doing our May 24 Camping, weather was great, we were with great friends & relaxing well sort of. Packing to get ready to go camping was alittle stressful and we did not even have to take alot of stuff with us as our "Professional Camping Friends" have everything! LOL. So this time we travelled light, but still did not have enough room??  Not sure why that was.... Had we needed to pack more it would have been even more stressful. I am always the one that needs to pack and plan for all of us, which can be really frustrating. You have to plan accordingly, plus take care of all the other things that come along with trips and just the regular household stuff. So it can be alot for one to handle.
We left the Saturday so the kids would get a goodnights sleep on Friday. Tom an I had to watch the kids in shifts which was fine, but because they are out of their element they tend to push it that much more which is really stressful and can make things alitle bothersome & not enjoyable. They tend to try and push alot of buttons while in the company of others, because I guess they think we are going to ease off and let it go.. We do tend to let things go for the most part, but being away from home does not mean that all rules go out the window!  I even thought at times it was easier to travel with them when they were younger.. They are busy now and want to go go all the time, even when they are in the company of other kids you still hear "Mommy come play with me", "Mommy".. Think I might change my name to "Daddy"... Every age has it challenges that is forsure, but things don't get easier, it just changes to another issue so now you deal with alot more little issues.

We did alot, they played on the beach making sand castles, swam, went trampolining (attached to harness') and rock wall climbing. We went for walks, ate & played games, roasted marsh mellows but of course that is never enough. It was alot of fun most of the time,  except when the kids thought they clearly did not do or get enough!! Then poor Laila had a Pee Pee accident which required mommy intervention. So I had to take her to the washroom to give her a shower which turned out to be quite an experience. While adjusting the shower with my 3 year old naked standing in the stall waiting for everything to be all good, the effing shower head broke off and water was flying EVERYWHERE, thank god it was not hot! I was SOAKED, Laila had water in her face,she was freaking out crying in hysterics & me flipping out, then finally the Sherkston cleaner came in and asked if everything was okay. I replied absolutely not, we need you too turn off the water, the water was everywhere in the washroom. Urgh......  After I calmed Laila down got her cleaned up, I waddle back to the campsite in my soaked jeans that were now glued to me... Sunday night was our last night there so we had a lovely dinner accompanied by some yummy cake for my birthday, all dec'd out with glow sticks as candles which was super cute! Very thoughtful. Thankfully there was not 34! LOL  After cleanup we started the fire and enjoyed some beverages, spider dogs, roasted peanuts & popcorn,  it was nice! We had a great time with great friends as we always do, had laughs and get conversation, glow stick sword fights.. LMAO! The theme song for the weekend was "The Duck Song" LMFAO! It is so stupid it is funny & very catchy! Might I suggest Youtubing it..... LOL

Monday came which was my birthday, we packed up and headed home the weather was totally crappy but Thankfully it the rain held off till after we were all packed up, not great birthday weather but the rest of the weekend was great weather. I got home to an empty answering machine which further depressed me! We get only 2 days a year when you become a mom, that are really "Our Days" Mothers Day and our Birthdays & when they don't really go as you thought it can be rather depressing, especially as you get older. I am not sure what it was that I was hoping for but I certainly know it was not that. Maybe I was hoping for a surprise or somesort that would await me at me at home, maybe I was hoping for a flower delivery, but I got nada!! I just feel at times that the whole "Wooing" phase disappears. It is great to get homemade cards from your kids and the little slobbery kisses, but it is the other half that bothers me.. Yes, I get clothes and other stuff all year but that is different.. Birthdays & Mothers Day are special, they are different! We tried to head out for dinner at a restaurant of my choice as a family and got to the intersection the kids were acting out so we turned the car around (as per my request) and came home! I was not about to eat dinner listening to bitching (excuse my language) granted they were tired as were we, but seriously it was my DAY.  Not doing stuff that I do EVERYDAY!!  Would it have been appropriate if I had gone to dinner all by myself? I was already miserable why not!!

It was hard as I was venturing around the campgrounds I started to miss the young days of being out enjoying the "Freedom" of doing what you wanted when you wanted. Adding my birthday into the mix, just did not make it any easier!! At one point I looked at Ang and said let's jump those kids for their golf carts and go cruising sites.... LMAO! I totally get why now days people go through a midlife crisis' type thing... I just don't get why you can't have the best of both worlds? I have noticed that the people that have both worlds are happy!!  I just want to have fun, why do people get sooooo uptight and like their same ole boring mundane life!! LIVE, ENJOY! It is totally okay to do so! Just because we get older does not mean that we need to curl up and die!! We take things so serious at times an that is wrong.. As long as my kids are loved and taken care of it is OKAY to enjoy the fun side of life!! My kids are in no way not taken care of, they are happy, healthy and cultured.. We do family stuff all the time and I think it is soo important to take the time away from them with or without your other half & spoil your loved ones cause they are totally worth it

That was my Birthday RANT!! Ahhh. I feel 10 lbs lighter!