Monday, July 16, 2007

Birthday Girl....Surprise!



It's my turn to celebrate a birthday and what a surprise celebration it was!

The morning started off very grouchy as my plans the night before had been foiled (public transit, no parking and stampede mayhem!). Add to this that my favorite husband had not wished me a happy birthday by noon and it was a Grouchy Birthday to say the least!

But now I am eating a HUGE helping of humble pie as I enjoyed a wonderful surprise birthday party yesterday, complete with not one but two cakes, lovely friends and family and presents too! Oh my husband is good...very good! I had NO idea....which was obvious due to my poor morning attitude. So it was a true surprise party and I am ever so grateful to my thoughtful, sneaky husband. Thanks my sweet!

....and now I shall add a heaping helping of crow to my dish of humble pie. (Does that make it a la mode?)

Birthday Girl....Surprise!



It's my turn to celebrate a birthday and what a surprise celebration it was!

The morning started off very grouchy as my plans the night before had been foiled (public transit, no parking and stampede mayhem!). Add to this that my favorite husband had not wished me a happy birthday by noon and it was a Grouchy Birthday to say the least!

But now I am eating a HUGE helping of humble pie as I enjoyed a wonderful surprise birthday party yesterday, complete with not one but two cakes, lovely friends and family and presents too! Oh my husband is good...very good! I had NO idea....which was obvious due to my poor morning attitude. So it was a true surprise party and I am ever so grateful to my thoughtful, sneaky husband. Thanks my sweet!

....and now I shall add a heaping helping of crow to my dish of humble pie. (Does that make it a la mode?)

Friday, July 13, 2007

Happy Birthday KnobSister!

Bday camping @ Gull Lake 2006
One of my most favorite and longtime friends is celebrating her birthday today.
Happy Birthday Knobsister!
As girls, there was a specific summer, the summer of our 13th year, in which we celebrated our birthdays together by baking our own cake, inviting friends for a sleepover at the farm and renting as many horror movies as we were able. The Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street and Chainsaw Massacre to name a few. My parents weren't home for the most part as my dad was in hospital and my mom was either at work or visiting my father, so we had a blast with no adults about and managed to freak ourselves out due to copious amounts of gore.
She is & will always be my Knobsister. As time passed we progressed from the days of wishing for the life of Anne & Diana as bosom friends, to the teen & early adult years as Knobsisters. This lovely nickname came to be after a summer night spent partying at Stephanson's Lake and consuming a magnum or two of Pastel Peach wine. You know, the classy kind with plastic screw in "corks", we wore these knobson the ends of our index finger, hence the name, "Knobsister". I even have a picture of us from this night...too bad it's not on the computer, I'ld love to share it.
Last year we managed to celebrate together at Gull Lake and this year brings us to the Reba McEntire concert.
Anyway, that's a little of our story...so, Happy Birthday friend. May it be the start of a wonderful year!

Happy Birthday KnobSister!

Bday camping @ Gull Lake 2006
One of my most favorite and longtime friends is celebrating her birthday today.
Happy Birthday Knobsister!
As girls, there was a specific summer, the summer of our 13th year, in which we celebrated our birthdays together by baking our own cake, inviting friends for a sleepover at the farm and renting as many horror movies as we were able. The Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street and Chainsaw Massacre to name a few. My parents weren't home for the most part as my dad was in hospital and my mom was either at work or visiting my father, so we had a blast with no adults about and managed to freak ourselves out due to copious amounts of gore.
She is & will always be my Knobsister. As time passed we progressed from the days of wishing for the life of Anne & Diana as bosom friends, to the teen & early adult years as Knobsisters. This lovely nickname came to be after a summer night spent partying at Stephanson's Lake and consuming a magnum or two of Pastel Peach wine. You know, the classy kind with plastic screw in "corks", we wore these knobson the ends of our index finger, hence the name, "Knobsister". I even have a picture of us from this night...too bad it's not on the computer, I'ld love to share it.
Last year we managed to celebrate together at Gull Lake and this year brings us to the Reba McEntire concert.
Anyway, that's a little of our story...so, Happy Birthday friend. May it be the start of a wonderful year!

23 Months...Countdown to 2yrs.



What a little boy our W has become. The baby days are long gone and it's full scale toddlerhood. The past 23 months of learning has brought W these abilities:
- signing & chatting, he's now starting to "sing" (hum) with me when I sing his bedtime songs.
- dancing! Oh the dance moves! Leaping like a lemur and spinning in circles. He also has figure skating moves in which he stands on one leg and lifts the other outwards behind him and as high as he can with the knee bent. It's pretty cute.
- "Go!" His love of hockey (Go!) continues. Unfortunately he'll be spending alot of time in the penalty box for highsticking.
- Fake crying....lol...not sure where this came from, but he squints his eyes and kinda whines if you say cry.
- Animal sounds, vehicle sounds, etc.
- Loves construction sites. It's great for driving around the city as he loves going through these zones and will ask for "more" once you've passed through. Some tastes are just engrained into genders, aren't they?
- The great outdoors and all things related are of great interest to W. He would stay outside 24hrs if possible. This includes getting very dirty. Super fun!
- And my all time favorite....if you ask W to "sleep like Dad", he'll lay down and pretend to snore. heee...hee...lol...I wonder who taught him this?!
W is a loving, active, on the go little boy who at the end of the day likes nothing more than a story, a song and a snuggle. Who can resist that?

23 Months...Countdown to 2yrs.



What a little boy our W has become. The baby days are long gone and it's full scale toddlerhood. The past 23 months of learning has brought W these abilities:
- signing & chatting, he's now starting to "sing" (hum) with me when I sing his bedtime songs.
- dancing! Oh the dance moves! Leaping like a lemur and spinning in circles. He also has figure skating moves in which he stands on one leg and lifts the other outwards behind him and as high as he can with the knee bent. It's pretty cute.
- "Go!" His love of hockey (Go!) continues. Unfortunately he'll be spending alot of time in the penalty box for highsticking.
- Fake crying....lol...not sure where this came from, but he squints his eyes and kinda whines if you say cry.
- Animal sounds, vehicle sounds, etc.
- Loves construction sites. It's great for driving around the city as he loves going through these zones and will ask for "more" once you've passed through. Some tastes are just engrained into genders, aren't they?
- The great outdoors and all things related are of great interest to W. He would stay outside 24hrs if possible. This includes getting very dirty. Super fun!
- And my all time favorite....if you ask W to "sleep like Dad", he'll lay down and pretend to snore. heee...hee...lol...I wonder who taught him this?!
W is a loving, active, on the go little boy who at the end of the day likes nothing more than a story, a song and a snuggle. Who can resist that?

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Midweek

Our week thus far....

Sunday: A short visit with dear friends who are the proud parents of triplets. I was so impressed by how quiet the household was (until we arrived of course!) and how organized they are. The babies are so precious and growing quickly; already 9lbs, 10lbs, 11lbs+/-. It was fun to finally meet them and we look forward to playdates in the future. ~ Did I take any pictures to document this occasion? No. Too busy cuddling babies and helping B rescue W from temptation.

Monday: Muffin Monday - as the picture notes W was busy helping me with the muffins. Unfortunately he loved stirring so much that it continued once the muffins were baked. He also ate not one but THREE muffins yesterday. Yikes! Try the recipe....they're the best muffins I've ever had. A friend gave me the recipe (it's from the Looneyspoons Cookbook)

Bananaberry Bombs
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking pwd
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (make sure they're ripe...I use 3-4 bananas)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup reduced fat butter or marg melted (not fat free)
1 cup fresh/frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well, set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together bananas, egg whites, melted butter until smooth. Add banana mix to dry ingredients & mix until just moistened. Gently fold in blueberries.
Spray large muffin tin with non-stick spray or use paper muffin cups (I do both). Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 min or until done.












Tuesday: Visit with Mrs. V & her little one....sadly, we've found out they'll be moving to Prince Edward Island...taking advantage of the Alberta Boom. Cashing in and moving to greener, less hectic pastures. Wonderful for them, but we'll miss them! ~ W demonstrated his love for the fruit bowl by emptying all the apples, peaches and plums onto the floor in a nice little pyramid between the deck door and chair legs. His infatuation for fruit was later expressed at dinner time when I had to lay him down on the couch, look up his left nostril with a flashlight and extract a large piece of watermelon rind using tweezers from his nose. This is the event that was about to take place just as favorite husband arrived home from work. Welcome home!











Wednesday: Discovered the McD's play place. At 9am no one else was there until another tall, busy, 2 yr old boy arrived who W immediately warmed up to and they played like old friends. Until.....Until Master New Friend noticed baby R and kissed him repeatedly on the head. W was not impressed! Back away from my "bup"! This little fella was very similiar to W in development & size, and his mom was super friendly. It was refreshing to meet both of them.

And through it all R is the most content baby. He was introduced to the swing this week, and it quickly lulls him to sleep which is a godsend while I am going through W's nap routine. Saves alot of tears & anxiety.~ R quietly tolerates all the kisses that are bestowed repeatedly upon his head by his brother (and now 2yr old boys at the McDs playplace.)