... funny things are everywhere

happy birthday, buddy!

Seven years ago, I woke up and realized that the day had come. After a false alarm the previous day, I woke up knowing that the big event was going to happen that very day. I was going to be a mom. :)

Look at him now...

In honour of birthday no. 7, a list for Mr. T...

Seven Amazing Things about You

1. your creativity... so unique, so vibrant... I love how you love to draw and write almost every waking moment.
2. your amazing memory... I'm constantly amazed by how you remember dates, patterns, landmarks, names of streets and so much more.
3. your silly sense of humour... you love to tell jokes, and your laugh is contagious.
4. your crazy spiky hair... mine would look just like that, if I cut it that short!
5. your keen sense of justice... sometimes I have to help you get over your black and white view of the rules, but your honesty and desire to do the right thing makes me proud.
6. your kind heart... empathy doesn't come easy to you, but you listen intently when I explain, and you try hard not to hurt other people's feelings.
7. your beautiful eyes... they are so expressive. Even though they don't always look at me, I can see so much behind those eyes.

Happy birthday, my sweet Thomas. I love you.

more random thoughts

** Disclaimer: I am not crazy. These things just come into my head. Disjointed bits and pieces of me... it's not so scary from this side. Really.

1. The hosue is a mess. We own too much stuff.
2. I've come to realize the boys don't actually like to play with toys. They'll play with building sets because they are like puzzles when you try to build from the instruction booklet. But other than that, toys do not rock their world.
3. What am I going to do with all the toys we own?! lol
4. Okay, I was only half-kidding. What am I going to do with all that stuff?
5. I have a few good friends who have seen my house in a state of total disarray.
6. I hate that our house is not a showpiece. There's so much potential here... but alas, we fall short as home owners.
7. Somedays I feel like my house is analogous to my life... so much unfulfilled potential.
8. I need more hours in the day.
9. I need more sleep.
10. I need stronger coffee in the mornings.
11. I need a kick in the pants.
12. The cards are done. Thank goodness!
13. The top of my desk is buried in card-making scraps. Must. Tidy. Up.
14. I don't obsess over scraps any longer. Unless it's my favourite paper or a rather large piece, I will just chuck it into the recycling.
15. Obviously, I have too much paper. *sigh*
16. I hear the unfolded laundry calling my name.
17. It's actually calling Mike's name, but he's ignoring it. lol
18. I hate feeling overwhelmed. I wish Mike weren't so much like my father with the "I won't pay someone to do what I am perfectly able to do myself, although I'll never actually find the time to do it..." attitude. Myself, I like to get stuff done and am not shy about seeking help to get there.
19. Yes, I would LOVE to hire a professional organizer to tackle our entire house. Starting with the kitchen and the toys.
20. Maybe I need to invite my youngest sister up here to stay with us for a few weeks. She'd have this place decluttered and reorganized in a jiffy. OCD will do that to ya! ;) :P
21. Ack, now the laundry is calling even louder. I'd better go.

card mania

Okay, so it's getting to be a bit much... so many wonderrful teachers to thank, so little time. *sigh*

Wednesday is the last day of school here, and I'm madly making and writing notes in cards to give to various people at the two schools my kids go to. The good... I'm feeling warm and fuzzy from all the positive thoughts I'm putting to paper. The bad... I'm starting to see flowers and "thank you" stamps in my sleep. I've made and written inside 10 cards in the past 12 hours (plus I slept for about 6 hours!). And I'm not done yet!

So it's Monday morning. Back to the grind. The only thing keeping me going right now is the grande skinny latte that I'll pick up from Starbucks on the way to work. ;)

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Party Time

Our second gymnastics party in as many months... PHEW, this spring has been so busy! lol

Thomas had his 7th birthday party at Starr yesterday, and I couldn't be happier. It was a small-ish group, but that just meant the kids got more turns on the equipment. Oh, and more pizza!

We'll get to sing "Happy Birthday" again on Wednesday, his real birthday... which also happens to be the last day of school. Man, where did the past year go?!

new KI :)

Love the new line put out by KI Memories... Love, Elsie. It's so fun and so cute. I was finally inspired to scrap a 12x12 page, my first one in months!

my little graduate

I spent Friday with James at his little school. He graduated from both the morning and afternoon kindergarten programs there. He'll be going to his brother's school next year... to go to Sr. Kindergarten in the Early French Immersion program. Man, I'll have to brush up on my French. lol Anyway, here are some pictures from the two events:

Congratulations to my little man! I'm such a proud mommy. :)

random messages

Just a few notes to random people...

1. To the beautiful bride I saw getting into her car on Saturday morning, at the hair salon next to the Tim Horton's... thank you for the friendly hello and for bringing back memories of my own wedding, almost 9 years ago. I hope you had a wonderful day. Your hair and veil were truly lovely. And see?! It didn't end up raining like you had worried it would.
2. To my sisters... I think about you often, and it sounds so lame, but I haven't called because I've been just drop-dead tired at night. When the kids go to bed, I do a few things around the house (laundry, paperwork, etc.) and then I feel like crawling into bed. Ask Mom and Dad... I talked to them on Sunday, and they spent the whole time trying to tell me to call back the next day and go to bed already. *sigh*
3. To the teachers and staff at Thomas' school... you guys are amazing. When I left the school on Friday after the Staff Appreciation Lunch, I couldn't help but feel blessed to be part of such an amazing community. When I said yes to being co-chair of School Council last June, I didn't realize it would be such a rewarding experience. So thank you for all you do. I think my Jamesie will love school next year.
4. To my boys... being your mom has taught me to be patient and accepting in ways I couldn't have imagined in my pre-baby days. You continue to shape my personality, just by being you... thank you for loving me and helping me find my way in the world.
5. To Katie, who sent me a CD with a Dixie Chicks song on it... it's all your fault! I have you to thank for getting Easy Silence stuck in my head radio. My kids think I'm demented, listening to track 8 over and over again. If only they knew what was playing constantly on my iPod. lol
6. To everyone who has left comments on my blog lately... thanks for visiting. It's a nice feeling to know I'm not talking to myself here. :P

weekend

Man, it's been busy. Yesterday was busy, and today has been busy. And it's only 10:30 Sunday morning!

We met up with some good friends for a playdate yesterday. My friend, Chris, and I go back seven years ago to prenatal classes at the Civic. We and our husbands met at those classes, and then we saw them again in the hospital. Our kids were born three hours apart, on the same floor of the hospital. We exchanged phone numbers just before they went home, and we've been good friends since. Our kids have celebrated together every year so far, and we'll get together again towards the end of the month, and Thomas and Madison will blow out seven candles together. Wow!

Some pictures of our park outing with Chris, Madi and Ethan:

On our way home from Barrhaven, we stopped by Endless Memories and I bought myself some yummy new KI Memories. :D

So that was yesterday... then today, the kids got to give the Father's Day gifts they'd made at school to Mike. Thomas and I also whipped up some banana pancakes before we headed off to the Do It for Dad 2K.

About that run... it was just the two of us, and he did really well. He was totally hyped beforehand. I had to keep reminding him of "The Rules"... you know, don't run people off the road, leave lots of room when you pass someone, it doesn't matter if you're first or 31st... do your best and have fun. And he did. We ran most of the way, and he was pretty happy afterwards. Here's a picture I took of him when we got home:

Off to do some weeding in our overgrown garden. Have a great Sunday and a wonderful day celebrating with the fathers in your life. :)

Ali's newsletter

So many things on my To Do list. I was going to tackle one or two of them tonight... but then I got Ali Edward's newsletter in my inbox. And suddenly I felt overcome with the urge to scrap. Two things she said...

* Go make something right now. Stop whining. Stop coming up with excuses. Start now. * In honor of issue number twenty this week the challenge is all about creating something that features 20 things.

So thanks to Ali, my creative soul feels a bit of satisfaction tonight. My laundry and my paperwork felt no love, but I have this to add to my Book of Me. I had fun searching the internet for these titles, trying to jog my memory... and I reflected on how wonderful it was to pass along my love of reading (the Ramona books, in particular) to my little man.

Well, I'd best be getting to bed. It's past my bedtime, and I have another big day ahead tomorrow.

catching up

Things that I need to catch up on...
- sleep
- laundry
- phone calls to family
- paying bills
- scrapping (just kidding!)
- mailing stuff
- reading
- booking appointments
- paperwork

Stuff I did instead of catching up...
- took the boys out on their bikes
- shopped for presents
- browsed at Costco
- crafts with the boys
- tested new batch toys for TP mag
- ordered new step & hi-lo CDs

Things that cannot be put off...
- scrapbook for Mrs. R
- group photo at the school
- various cards for Friday's luncheon

A scene that made me smile...

(James threw a party for Kitty... a banner, a party noise maker, a trophy... and more!)

Another photo... playing with my camera. I figured out how to set the f-stop. Must find more time to play.

So it's Sunday night, and I'm going to tackle some stuff on my lists. Thanks for stopping by... sorry I'm not more interesting these days. lol