Toronto Continued

We're home safe and sound and couldn't be better. Our trip just flew by. We did a lot since the last post. We visited Niagra Falls, Joanne bought a new van, Shane grabbed and spilled coffee on Aunt Jo's 4 day old $2300 laptop computer. She was able to get it fixed for $160 thank goodness. Boy did I feel bad. Joanne managed to fry her video camera, so that's in getting fixed. We visited the cottage the following weekend. She got a new hot water tank installed up there. The toilet backed up, I plunged for over 20 mins. Had Jason come up on the Sunday and he fixed it. I informed her she was on septic, so they had that cleaned out since they've owned the cottage now for 3 years and didn't know they were on septic. Saw Casa Loma, which is a castle in the heart of Toronto. Very Cool. Let's see, what else? oh, put together their new patio table for them. Joanne had her friend Dorothy come over the night before we left to give Jo and I a manicure as a birthday present. That was great. Ryan and Shane were fantastic on the flight home. It was nice to see Dave and get home and sleep in our own beds. Of course, because we were running late to board the plane, my suitcase didn't make the flight. So, I received a $30 credit and because I went the next day to pick it up, they gave me another $30 credit. Oh, I did go in and see the lawyer to probate dad's will. So, this coming week, I have to make a trip to Maple Ridge to get some paperwork signed, then we can get the will probated and then sell his place. I'm going to attach some pictures now and if I think of anything I missed, I'll add in a later post.

From left to right, my nephew Mikey, sister Janet, nephew Lucas, Joanne and Janet's mom Betty, nephew Jesse and of course, you all know Ryan....haha.

Auntie Joanne and the boys, Shane and Ryan.

First week in Toronto...

Well, the first week has just flown by. Ryan absolutely loved the plane ride! He can't wait to do it again he says. Of course, we all miss home terribly. We are total home bodies. I really love my sister, but there is no place like home. Your own bed, your own bathroom, your own kitchen, your own space and your own routine.

Here at the house, Ryan is sleeping on the loveseat, which he loves because there is a giant t.v. right in front of it. I did bring the playpen for Shane, but he absolutely hates it. The first night, he cried and cried so I ended up sleeping on the other loveseat, which is too small to stretch out on, with him on top of me. Of course, we were both just sweating. Joanne borrowed a single air mattress for us, which is ok. Was it last night? or the night before?, I can't remember, I put Shane to sleep on the air mattress and at about 10pm he rolled off of it onto the hard floor underneath the coffee table. Poor guy. I don't think I put enough air into it and that's why he rolled off it. I pumped it up some more tonight so that it is quite firm. I'm scared to leave him there.

Joanne, myself and the kids went up to Joanne's cottage, just past Balm Beach on the Georgian Bay. At least there, she had beds for us. Ryan didn't want to sleep by himself, so he slept on the floor beside my bed. Of course, Shane and I Shared the bed. No mishaps there. We just relaxed up there. It's beautiful! We played at the beach. Joanne's mom Betty came up on the Saturday and Joanne and her ran out and bought a weed wacker and a bucket with shovel and toys for Ryan's beaching pleasure. There was one day that Ryan actually went to the beach with Joanne, without me and they had a ball. They collected shells and rocks and played in the water. We came back to the house on Sunday. My other sister Janet has a cottage at Balm Beach, so on our way out, we stopped to pick her up and got a burger at the arcade. This place is right on the beach. We had a burger, (not Jo tho, cos she is vegan) and Ryan went crazy. Auntie Joanne spoiled Ryan rotten by paying for a bunch of games for him. That is all I have heard about since, that he wants to go back and play. We may go up to the cottage again this coming weekend, so the arcade may be a possibility.

If you can believe it, there are actually a couple of places here that don't take debit - cash only. What the ^&*&()*. George, the kids and I, sans Joanne, went for Vietnamese food, I think last Wednesday. I was going to buy his supper, but they only take cash. Well, I didn't bring any cash with me, thinking debit would be fine. Nope. Then today, Ryan, Shane and I went for a quick walk to the strip mall a block behind Joanne's house to get some baby food etc. Well, they do have Tim Horton's here, but at this mall they have what's called a Country Style, same as Tim's. So, I got my decaf, juice for Ryan, and a dozen muffins to bring back to the house. They don't take debit either, cash only. So, I had to leave, walk to the bank, (which charges a $1.50 per transaction) just to get some cash. What a joke. Anyway, all is good, have to go and buy juice tomorrow for Ryan, I forgot. Me bad.

Tonight, we went for Japanese food, George, Joanne, Jesse, Mike Simon, (friend of George) the kids and I. This place is called Hockey Sushi. They charge a flat rate and you order anything you like, as much as you like, and they make it right there on the spot. Wow, yummy! We had gone there last year when I was here for George's induction into the Walk of Fame. Fabulous fresh Japanese food. Service was the absolute shits, and Ryan was a real pill. Shane was super good. Came home, gave the boys a bath and they are now sleeping. I'm very tired. At first the weather here was quite unsettled, lightning, thunder, windy, rainy, humid and now hot. This unsettled weather, really wrecks havoc with the rheumatoid arthritis. It's starting to settle a little bit now. Not sure what we're doing one day to the next, but will try and post again before I leave for home. I will for sure post pictures when I get home. Hope everyone is doing well, and look forward to catching up when we get home.

Leaving on a jet plane....

Well, just geting the last few things packed tonight for our big trip to T.O. Ryan seems to be real excited. I hope he still feels that way when we get on the plane.

I still need to do a load of laundry and have a shower and pack the last minute toiletries, but everything else is ready to go and in the van. There is a lot of stuff! I hope I don't forget anything.

Oh well, hope everyone has a nice couple of weeks and I will try to update my blog while I'm at my sisters. I'll call you all when we get home on the 12th of July.

Just some recent card creations...what do you think?

On these two top cards, there is a wheel that spins, so the picture in the circle changes.
In this last card, you can't really see it, but there is an embossed purple swirl design up the side.
Tell me what you think, and of course which one you like the best.

Finally, I can upload pictures..check out the video!

Here are some of Ryan's classmates
Emily, Ryan, Colton and Shaylana.











Here is Madison, Jacob, and Brody.












Colton, Shaylana, Mathew and Megan.

The rest of the kids' pictures, I can't remember their names, so I won't post.




Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Ryan's Graduation Day!

And what a day! From the start of our day at 6:30am right until bedtime, was non-stop go. We left the house at 9:15am, stopped at Tim's for coffee and then to Preschool for Ryan's graduation ceremony. We brought a meat tray with olives and buns for the little lunch afterwards.

The whole thing was fantastic. Very well done. All the parents were seated and Mrs. D. ushered in the children all wearing their "Caps". They were the cardboard type, but ever so cute. The 18 children of Ryan's morning preschool class proceeded to sing several songs for us. Ryan didn't sing much but he did participate.

After the singing was done, Mrs. D. and Mrs. Isaac called each child up to get their "diploma" and Mrs. D. introduced each child and gave a few details about their likes, pets etc. When Ryan was called up, Mrs. D. introduced, "This is Ryan, his favorite food is sandwiches and milk, his favorite toy is his firetruck and his favorite toys to play with at school are the trains and blocks to make roads for the cars." Then he was handed a book, (this had this very important information in it) as well as the skills he mastered during preschool and a great photo of him with his cap on the front cover.

We then watched a great DVD that Mrs. D. put together with all the pictures she had taken over the course of the school year. Chenoa and I were talking and she is going to borrow the DVD and copy it. I'm going to give her a recordable DVD so she can burn me a copy as well. We then had a quick bite to eat and then that was it.

After graduation, we drove to Abbotsford to surprise Ryan with a visit to the Fish Hatchery. Shane had fallen asleep, so I stayed in the van while he slept and Dave and Ryan headed in. A guy who works for the hatchery took Dave and Ryan to the back ponds where Ryan learned how to cast a rod and actually caught a rainbow trout. Of course, I had the camera in the van, so unfortunately, no picture of him with the fish. Shane did wake up about 1/2 hour later. I nursed him and headed in but they were just heading out. I missed it, but will for sure do that again as it's free. They offer a 4 hour tour which is only like $5.00.

After the hatchery, we headed home. Dave had to go back into Abbotsford for his physiotherapy appointment with Rachael. While he was in Abbotsford, he bought Ryan a brand new soccer ball as a graduation present. When Dave got home, they kicked the ball around a bit. I put Shane in the swing for the first time. He loved it! I then started dinner. We ate. Finally put the kids to bed. Have already been upstairs once with Shane. Now am just trying to tidy up a bit as Debby is coming for Ryan's last Speech Therapy appointment tomorrow. I'm bushed, but it was definately a fun day! I still can't believe school is done already. Where did that time go? Anyway, night to all.....

Happy Father's Day

I just wanted to wish Dave a Happy Father's Day! Both my dad and Dave's dad are gone, but we remember them on this day. I got a new wheel barrow for Dave. He has been expressing that he wanted one for a while now. Unfortunately, when I bought it, it didn't come assembled.

I picked up the wheel barrow from Canadian Tire after the birthday party on Saturday. When I pulled in the driveway, Dave was outside and immediately came to the van to help me unload the kids. So, of course he saw it right away, but didn't say anything.

I offered to put the wheel barrow together for him, and he said, "what, you don't think I can put it together?" I said, "no, I know you could put it together, but as part of your Father's Day present I will put it together for you." He thought about it for a minute and decided ok. He then said that he would go outside and erect the old swing set from the old place. So, now the swing set is up too. Dave was impressed with the wheel barrow. Now he wants to create a project for it. We'll see what he comes up with.

Well, it's going to be a busy week before I head to Toronto. Monday, I have an appointment with Dr. Campbell, swing by Sport & Spine to pick up my crafting supplies from Suzanne Pennell, who I lent them to to make her daughter's birthday invitations, and then if time permits, to Michaels to get some cord for the pendants that I bought for my sisters and my neice. I'm doubting I'll get the Michael's done, but I'm trying to be ambitious. Tuesday, I have to take Ryan to the Child Development Center for his discharge assessment for Occupational Therapy. Wednesday is Ryan's graduation and final day of school. Thursday, Ryan has his last Speech Therapy appointment. I think Friday I am appointment free. So somewhere before Wednesday, I have to do some shopping as I volunteered to bring a meat tray to Ryan's graduation, and I want to get a gift card of some sort for Debbie, Ryan's speech therapist as a thank you. And in that midst make some birthday cards. I plan to mail my sister-in-laws, Donna, and Lia's while I am away in Toronto. This week is going to fly baby....

Celebrating Father's Day..but first....

What a day! Ryan was invited to Colton's birthday party today at Cottonwood theaters. Colton goes to preschool with Ryan and his mom Chenoa I first had met at the office as a patient. We've gotten to to know each other better since our boys are in school together and we also did a Stampers 10 together. More about that at another time.

The birthday party was GREAT! The kids got to tour the cinema and projection room. Because it was Colten's birthday, he got to actually start the movie. The feature today was Over the Hedge. What a cute movie! After the tour, the kids got to make their own cotton candy to take home and dispense their own pop. (Ryan decided to have peach) So each of the kids got a small popcorn and drink for the movie. Afterwards, Chenoa had made cupcakes and had a fruit tray, and then Colten opened his presents. This event started at 9:45am and we ended up leaving about 1;10pm. I'm thinking that might be something I'll do for Ryan next year. I thought the whole experience was fantastic! I asked Chenoa and it worked out to $10/person. Not bad if you think about it.

On our way home from the theater, we stopped at Safeway to get a few last minute things for our Father's Day celebration and then to Canadian Tire. I wanted to get Dave a wheel barrow for Father's Day. He's been talking about wanting one for yard work for a while. Funny thing is, he has to put it together though. (I'll probably try and do that while he is at work one day) I also got him a new pair of swim trunks. I like those. They are a nice bright blue with yellow piping. Very stylish. Like Dave cares. Ha.

We had Dave's mom over and I did a pork roast on the rotisserie with bbq sauce, garlic etc. Yum, then I sliced it to put on buns. Very yummy. I also made potato salad, caesar salad, a huge veggie tray, chips and shrimp dip (which turned out better than I thought it would) Very Yummy! I stayed up late last night making these cookies that I got the recipe from Suzanne from Sport & Spine McCallum. Milk chocolate chocolate chip, Skor, and Pecan. WOW, are they addictive. Dave wanted to dive in right away but I told him he had to wait. Whatever didn't get eaten today, I put in the freezer so they all don't disappear. For dessert I picked up a cheesecake with fruit on the top. It has strawberries, kiwi, mandarin oranges and red grapes on the top. Now that was good too! I am so full, that I think I'm going to head straight to bed after I post. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to show you. I was just way too busy. All in all a great Father's Day. I have so much left over, that all I'll have to do Sunday is make breakfast. Leftovers it is for lunch and supper.

Getting to know me....

Everyone has probably seen one of these in their inbox email. I just received this one from my friend Kelli and decided that I would share it on my blog. Hopefully everyone I emailed it to will send it back to me to read. I like seeing how much I actually know about them.


It is fun and easy 48 questions to answer.

1. FIRST NAME? Tara

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? More like anything....The "Halls of Tara" from Scarlet of O'Hara

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? a tear or real cry? I get choked up all the time but a real cry...grandma's funeral.

4 DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? when I take my time, when it's messy, it's horrid.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCHMEAT? Depends on if I have to make it....Tim Horton's is the Chicken Club, but if I have to make it, I like Ham.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?- Of course, I'm awesome....haha

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? If a blog counts than yes, a written journal no. And Kelli, I'm waiting for your update on blogger......:)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup, unless someone took them without me lookin'

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way in hell...

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Kellog's Vanilla Almond...I hide it from Dave so he won't eat it all on me.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Not....too far down...

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Mentally or physically? Mentally-yes, Physically-not really.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Tiger Ice Cream from Birchwood Dairy.

14. SHOE SIZE? 8

15. RED OR PINK? Red.....yuk pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My weight.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Mom

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Definitely, love reading about everyone and praise myself on how much I actually knew about them.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue shorts and bare feet

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Supper, steak, mashed potatoes and carrots.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the hum of my computer.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue

23. FAVOURITE SMELL? Shane's head

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Kelli

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? their height

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Of course, we've been friends for like 20 years. I think I'm getting old....

27. FAVOURITE DRINK? alcoholic or non-alcoholic? I like Coke, but rarely drink it, and I like Belini's but rarely drink those either. I do like my Decaf Timmy's double/double.

28. FAVOURITE SPORT? to watch or play? I love watching hockey, but don't really play sports, I like riding horses, does that count as a sport?

29. EYE COLOR? Brown, and you know what people say about people with brown eyes............

30. HAT SIZE? I agree too.....dumb question.....

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope, some people believe I should......:)

32. FAVOURITE FOOD? Mexican/Greek it's a tie

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? won't watch a scary movie to save my life....so I guess happy endings.

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? light blue

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? neither, i'm a spring or fall girl myself......

36. HUGS OR KISSES? -Hugs

37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Sex in a pan.....I know what you're thinking.....

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Cassandra

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Jo

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? None, don't have time to read. Unless you count blogs, I like to read blogs.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? drop of water

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Canadian Idol/CSI which I missed the very end 'cause Shane woke up.

43. FAVOURITE SOUNDS? my childrens laughter-I'll go with Kelli's answer........

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles, they were mom's favorite.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Which is further? Toronto or California?

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Setting the VCR

47. AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Burnaby

48 WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Kelli

If anyone wants to copy and paste....feel free.

Pictures from the weekend...

Blogger is giving me grief. It won't let me add pictures to my blog, so hopefully, I can show you some from here.

Here is the rainbow that I made for Ryan's wagon for the Yarrow Days Parade. It turned out pretty good if I don't say so myself.

Here is the rainbow on Ryan's wagon. He was a little grumpy. He didn't want his picture or and video taken at all.

This was taken at the MB Church at the end of the parade route. This is the preschool's float and some of the participants. Very colorful!

This is the prize that got away.....Poor Ryan.....after being lucky enough to win it, mommy didn't secure it well enough to the stroller. It flew up up and away......I think I was more upset than he was.

Poor Shane, here's a picture of him with a high fever and just all in all out of sorts.

Kaitlyn getting ready to open her birthday presents. Her cousins Brandi and Kirsten at her sides.

This just in....

It's official.....

Leap for Joy Preschool took FIRST PLACE in the Yarrow Days Parade for Best Float!

Way to go gang!!!!!

Yarrow Day Parade and Kaitlyn's Birthday-All Together.

Saturday June 3, 2006 was a very long day. Let me take you back. We all got up early and loaded up in the van, Ryan, Shane, Kaitlyn, Brandi, Kirsten and myself to drive to Abbotsford to pick up Oma at 8:30am. The first Saturday in June is always the Yarrow Days Parade. This year, Ryan was apart of the parade with his Preschool - Leap for Joy. They had a float, kids could ride their bikes, walk or use a wagon. If your child was on the float, there had to be an adult with them. Well, I decided that with Shane that would be too difficult, just in case Dave had to work. I opted for buying Ryan a wagon. That way, dad could pull him and I could push Shane in the stroller. I figured Ryan would get tired if we made him walk, and he doesn't even peddle a bike yet. Wagon it was. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that we should decorate this wagon. I decided to make a rainbow. I couldn't just get some felts and color in a rainbow, oh no, I decided to glue squares of streamers onto some poster board. You'll see what I mean when you look at the pictures. I would say it took me about four hours. I took pictures of it in progression. Then the trick was figuring out how to stick it to the wagon. John helped me with that. I also hung streamers from the stroller. I parked the van at Charmaine's and John's house and Dave pulled Ryan in the wagon and I pushed Shane in the stroller down to Yarrow Elementary where the Parade started. Emily was also in the parade with her ballet group. There float was on a 53' semi trailer. They followed the preschool in the parade.

Turned out to be a beautiful day for our parade. However, poor Shane, he has been out of sorts since last Thursday with this teething thing. Saturday was like the height of it all. He had a fever, and crying, sensitive and tired. There was no consoling him. I carried him in my arms for most of the day after the parade was over. The parade ended at the MB Church on Yarrow Central. Mrs. K. (The new owner of the preschool) was dressed up as a frog and announced to the children that they would get a participant ribbon and a goodie bag at the end of the parade. The child with the green frog in their goodie bag would win a special prize. You're not going to believe it. Ryan won! He won this gigantic, beautiful helium filled dragon fly. Unfrotuantely, mommy didn't tie it to the stroller good enough, and after I took a picture of Ryan with it, it came loose and floated away up into the sky. Ryan was sad... Dave and I barked at one another as we always do during 'outings' like that. Kaitlyn, Brandi, and Kirsten were with Oma and when we met up with them, we told the girls they could go and do their own thing for an hour or so and that we would all meet at the Yarrow Deli at 12:00pm. Dave decided that he would go back to Charmaine and John's house to get the van. I told him that I left the keys in the van. Problem was, when John left the house, just to be safe, he put the keys inside the house. So Dave called me on the cell to ask where the keys were, which I didn't know, and had to wade through the Yarrow crowd to find him. He was in line for some food, and after he got his food, before he could even eat it, bolted home to get the keys for Dave. He could have at least ate his lunch with his family.

Dave picked us all up and we headed home where birthday festivities were to begin. I made it as simple for me as possible. We were going to have bbq'd burgers and hot dogs. I made potato salad, caesar salad, had chips and salsa, punch, coke and sprite. Charmaine brought soup that I requested, ( which I got to enjoy all by myself) It was delish.....!!!!!! Where was I...oh and of course birthday cake from Costco. It was a real pretty cake. It had a nice sunshine on it with flowers and the two cutest bees. John took a picture of it for me, so when he emails it to me, I will post it.

Brandi and Kirsten (and their parents) gave Kaitlyn $40. John and Charmaine gave Kaitlyn a gift card for the book store which was right at the top of her list. I like the fact she likes to read. Funny anecdote. Her list included a Lemony Snicket book written in Latin, and also a Latin/English dictionary. I asked her if she had the Lemony Snicket book in English? Well, she does. I asked her, "wouldn't it be easeier to translate from book to book?" LOL. She shrugged her shoulders and said she still wanted the dictionary. I don't get it, but whatever. We had gotten her a bucket of gel pens which she had seen at Costco. 81 pens in the set. A canuck t-shirt which she had ordered with her dad and had totally forgotten about. We also got her the latest Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, and the piece to resistance, 2 Lemony Snicket movie posters. They were pretty cool. On one side of the poster, there was your typical movie poster, but on the back was like seeing through a window. Everything was printed backwards. Bizarre. She went nuts over them. I had also handmade her a card with a Lemony Snicket theme. If you check my past posts, it was the same format as Jacobs card only it was black and I had printed some charactures off the internet of the characters from Lemony Snicket's books, series of unfortunate events. She went crazy for it. I was shocked! But very happy she liked it. Oma got Kaitlyn the greatest pair of black jeans. They fit her perfect. They made her look so tall and thin. I wish I had a pair of jeans that did that. I think you need to have the figure first. HaHa. Oma also got her a new pair of sandals. Very nice. She got her a couple of other things which escape me at this moment. Anyway, all in all, the day was ok. Except for poor little Shane. All I could do for him was cool him down with a cool cloth and cuddle him. I felt so bad for him. Ryan never teethed like that. His teeth just popped in, no problems.

Because Shane was under the weather and demanding of my time, Charmaine and John did most of the cleanup work for me. They brought everything inside for me and wrapped everything up and put it in the fridge. I'm very thankful to them for helping me out like that. After they headed home, Oma and I were chatting and she stood up and said she wasn't taking no for an answer, she was going to do the dishes. I didn't put up much of a fight as I was terribly pooped and still holding Shane in my arms. I forgot to mention that for the first time since Dave started with Yarrow Water, he was called out. He went into Yarrow to do a shut off and then came home only to be called back to turn the water on again. After that, he drove Oma home. It's really all a blur after that. Oh, the girls watched the Harry Potter movie. I kind of watched it here and there. Good flick. If you like that sort of thing. Sunday was boring in comparison to Saturday, so I'm opting not to continue. I'll just add some pictures for ya and until next time.....

HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY KAITLYN!!!!!

Saturday May 27, 2006

Does anyone else feel like time is just flying by? Anyhow, it was quite the day. Ryan had a school mate's birthday party to go to in Yarrow. His name is Jacob. In my previous post you can see the birthday card that I made for him. Well, first off, getting ready to leave the house, almost made it on time too. I asked Ryan to take a quick pee before we left. What happens you ask? Well, he ended up getting his sweatshirt, pants AND underwear wet. I have no idea what he was looking at while he was peeing. I LOST it. Now we're going to be late. Upstairs to change him from head to toe. We get into Yarrow, and I can't find the house. Luckily, I programmed Jacob's mom's phone number in my phone before we left, just in case. It's weird, their address is Yarrow Central, yet their house faces Cherry Street, driveway is on Cherry Street too. Anyhow, get there and all the kids there are kids from his class. You would think he would feel at ease around them. NOPE! I told Ryan that I was going over to Auntie Charmaines and that I would be back in a little bit for him. He was having none of that. He just started sobbing and saying that he was coming with me. Jacob's mom Diana offered for me to stay, which I did for a little bit. See, I had promised Charmaine that I would watch Emily in her ballet recital. I wanted to video tape it for them. This started at 1pm. Ryan would not leave my side. We ended up leaving. Diana gave Ryan a loot bag and cool remote car and paint book. Even after his little "scene". I don't know why I get so mad about Ryan doing this. It is ultimately his choice. I just don't want him to have any regrets and I don't want him missing out on stuff or alienating himself from making friends. I was painfully shy when I was little, and I still remember how painful that was. I don't want that for Ryan. We went and watched Emily dance. She was great. I got some good video of her. Now all I have to do is buy a USB cord so I can burn it on a DVD for them. Of course when we got home, Shane went down for a nap. Ryan kept saying that now he would like that hotdog and cake that was offered to him while we were at Jacob's. I told him the party was over and that he missed out because he wouldn't stay without me. I don't know why he acts this way. It's not like I have EVER left him anywhere. He has never even had a babysitter. I mean, I'm glad he loves me and all but, this behaviour is to the extreme.

I asked him before he went to bed if he wanted to go to McDonald's tomorrow for Brookliyn's birthday party and he said "no thanks". (We're going) Of course I'm staying this time because the party is in Abbotsford. I'm not going to commute back and forth. That would be a total waste of gas. Hopefully, I can get Ryan into the spirit by getting him to help me wrap Brooklyn's present. I purposely left it unwrapped for the last couple of weeks so he could help me.

If you're wondering, YES, I had to change my blog because my previous blog outline was screwing up. It was putting my Profile and Links etc way down at the bottom. So, I changed it to fix it. What do you think? Do you like this one?

What a Day!

Well, busy day so far....hopefully we can take it easy this evening. Ryan had a field trip to Greenhill Acres . In fine Ryan fashion, he was attached to my hip and didn't really want to participate with the group. At least the rain held out until we were leaving. It was a cool place. I hope to go back up there

this summer. They sell beef that they raise right there and they have a little country store with canned goods and butters, special soaps etc. Ryan finally warmed up at the end.

I decided to attempt to make a birthday card for Ryan's friend Jacob. He is going to his birthday party on Saturday. Check it out. Tell me what you think. I think it is a little busy myself, but it was the first time I have made this cool card. I will do things differently next time. Jacob probably won't care anyway.

Projects....

Everyone has them....I seem to want to do something, I think and think about it, then I start it, among many other things I want to do and seem to work on a bunch of things at one time, never finishing any one thing. Well, I've been wanting to take a picture of our rhodo outside before the blooms fall to the ground. Well, I actually did it. Just now. Me and Ryan.



I've started a hook carpet for Ryan's room as he has laminate flooring and it would be nice for when he gets out of bed to have something warm and soft to put his feet upon in the morning. He picked it out. It's of Simba and....the girl lion, I can't remember her name. Ryan never really liked the movie, but he really likes this rug. I've been working on this for about oh, two months. Still have quite a bit to do.

I've also been working on another craft project that I want to give as a gift. I don't want to say what it is just yet as the recipient may read this blog and I wouldn't want to give away the secret. Because of my rheumatoid arthritis, this project has literally taken me months. I do however, work on it a little bit each day. I pray I get it done in time.

I have also set up my dining room table with ALL of my scrapbooking stuff and card making stuff. What an overwhelming area. I didn't realize I had so much stuff. Like I had said to Sue not too long ago. I need to stop buying stuff and actually use the stuff that I have. I have enough stuff to make a LOT of stuff. I have made about four GREAT cards the last few days. I have a lot of birthdays coming up. I have to get cracking. If anyone ever wants to come over and scrap or make cards, just give me a holler. All my stuff is out and ready to go.

Here are my most recent and favorite creations.



I also have a couple of books that I want to get read. I've started them but of course have not found the time to continue with them. With the kids, it is kind of impossible as they are never quiet at the same time. Of course I also have some cleaning projects I want to get done and some yard work as well, but my body can only do so much. The house cleaning thing is not eally a priority as it is not my favorite thing to do, but I do think about lots of stuff. I think that is about it. If I think of other projects that I have forgotten, I will post later.

Week of the heat wave.........

It seems that I only get time to blog about once a week. What a week weather wise. This house is a cooker! Expecially the upstairs bedrooms. Dave really needs to get John to come over and help him install the air conditioner. I'm thinking of buying a portable air conditioner to cool off the upstairs. Nothing worse than not being able to sleep. Porr Shane, he was up every hour on the hour Tuesday night becuase of the heat. He was just sweating. Ryan managed better. I ended up bringing Shane into our bed because we at least have a ceiling fan. Speaking of which, Shane hasn't really had a good sleeping week. Friday and Saturday night were brutal. Friday night he was up every hour on the hour through the night. Saturday night he was up every 2 hours. Both nights I ended up bringing him to our bed at about 4am becuase physically, I couldn't take it anymore. The extreme cold an the extreme heat really make the rheumatoid arthritis flare. I need to move to a place where it is a constant 20 degrees year round.

A few firsts for my little munchkin Shane. I have started him on mixed cereal as he has been eating organic rice cereal for about five weeks. I tried giving him peas which he made funny faces and gagged. He hasn't minded the orgainc carrots. He at least liked the carrots better than the avacado. Tonight is sweet potatoes. I'm sure he'll like that. I'll let you know. He sure is interested in everything that we're eating. Dave was holding him at the dinner table last night when we were having dessert. He actually got a hold of Dave's plate, but Dave got it away from him before any damage was done. Shane also had another first. It was his first week in the big tub in his seat. Oh, he loves his bath now. He really loves getting mommy soaked! Ryan loves watching him in the bath. He just wants to pile him in toys but I tell him no. Let him play with the water and maybe one toy until he gets good at the whole bath thing.

We had Kaitlyn this weekend. Next time we see her she will be 15 years old. Her birthday is on the 31st of May. Hard to believe. Time sure goes by fast. On Satuday, we had Dave's mom over for dinner. Well, she cooked the turkey and I put on the rest of the dinner. Yummy! I love turkey. Especially the sandwiches the next day. Unfortunately, turkey doesn't last very long around here. For dessert I picked up individual angel food cakes, strawberries and real whipping cream. Very scrumptious. We gave Dave's mom a tomato plant to take home. We'll see if she gets any tomatoes from it. Our garden got planted on Mother's Day. Hopefully all that dining room table hard work pays off and we actually get to reap what we sow. Fresh veggies, you can't beat it. For anyone who was wondering or cares, the rhodo out front is a beautiful red! I'm so happy. It is definately a late bloomer but worth it! I also have peonies out there in a circle of rocks. I thought the old owners used to used it as a fire pit or for rituals of some sor t as it looked funny, but now with the peonies at about 2 1/2 feet and bushy, it looks quite cute! They are red also. Dave's mom had come over a week ago thursday and we picked some rhubarb. The "Dutch" way is to peel it and chop it up. We got two big ziploc baggies full. I put one bag in the freezer and gave a bag to Charmaine. I want to give some to Suzanne in trade for her awesome rhubarb muffin recipe. hint hint. Also have a tomato plant for you. We need to make a date....:)

It's been a full week of season finale's. I'm sad that Elliot got kicked from American Idol. I'm now routing for Taylor. My favorite was Chris, but he's gone too. It was also the season finale of Prison Break which totally left me hanging. Grey's Anatomy, was that great or what? And then ER which I just watched today. My problem is, is that I never know when they start again. Tonight is the big 2 hour season finale of Desperate Housewives so we all know what I'll be doing. I usually tape it just in case I get beckoned by Shane, so I better sign off and set that up before I forget.

Until next time...

So far so good...

Well the transitioning is going well! There have been two nights out of the last seven that Shane has slept from like 7:30 until 4-4:30 in the morning. What a treat it is to sleep without hesitation of rolling on him. I'm getting a better sleep, even though I'm getting up periodically to feed him. It's usually only 15-20 minutes then back in his crib and I go back to bed. Last night was a little hellish. I had put him down to sleep and my body was starting to act up real bad. I can tell when the weather is going to change.

Ryan's hair before....
I couldn't really sleep because I hurt like crazy. Shane woke the first time around 10:30. I was in the middle of doing my dictations and only had like 2 left to do. I ran upstairs, nursed him and put him back down. He cried for a little bit before he was quiet. Then he woke again. I finished my dictations and let him cry to see if he would fall asleep. It was only like 10 minutes. I then went back upstairs and just took him to bed with me as nursing sitting up really bothers my arthritic hands. His body weight pushing against me holding him is really painful. I just wanted to get some sleep as well, so I took him to bed and nursed him to sleep. The next time he woke, I fed him and put him back in the crib. He barely cried for a second and was asleep. the next time he woke, I just went and got him and brought him back to bed as I was still really hurting. Usually I get up around 7am to get ready and take Ryan to school. However, because of the lack of sleep, I slept until 8:20 and Shane until 8:30. He only woke because he heard me mulling about. Ryan has to be at school for 9:15 and it's a 15 minute drive from here to Yarrow. You never seen anyone motor so fast. We made it though. Ryan got his hair cut yesterday. What a handsome kid if I don't say so myself. He has so much hair! Thick and lots of it! He gets quite the mop happening. Shane's new thing is he is starting to sit unassisted. He will eventually start to lean to the side and will fall but can sit on his own for quite awhile. My sister sent me her video camera as she got a new one. I went and bought a tape for it today and hopefully will be able to start shooting video with it once I figure it out. Nothing else really exciting around here. Wishing all you MOMS out there a wonderful Mother's Day and hopefully you are all treated like Queens! Love to you all!



This is Ryan's hair after....Nice eh? and Shane sitting on his own. Look at that posture!

Transitioning.....

Well, this little cold of mine is driving me crazy. The coughing especially. Blowing my nose I can handle, but that little tickle, crazy. Anyhow on Wednesday night, I'm hacking away, (making Shane cry while he was nursing) and runny nose. Shane fell asleep (At this point, he slept with us) and was rolling side to side kicking me and shaking his head. I could not get to sleep. When Dave came up to bed, I asked him he would please put Shane in his crib because there was no way I was going to get any sleep. I was so agitated. So, he did, no fuss, no muss. Dave got into bed and immediately started to snore. I still couldn't get to sleep. After I had finally drifted off around midnight, I would promptly wake up every hour on the hour listening for Shane. Nothing. He slept in his crib from between 10:30-11pm until 4am. For him, that is a long time. Dave got up and got him for me and I nursed him in bed and kept him beside me. Sue came over the next day so we could work on making some cards. We always have lots to say to each other, and getting set up takes a long time too. We both got our Mother's Day cards done. I have to say though, we put a lot of love and thought into our cards, that is why it was the only one we accomplished in the four hours. Anyways, I decided that because Shane did so well in the crib, that maybe it would be a good time to start transitioning him to his crib. We have a king size bed and I sleep on the edge for peets sake. I also worry about his safety during nap times. He now rolls over free flowingly, and when he is asleep on his back, he pushes his feet into the mattress and moves his whole body around. I would find him in the strangest positions. I really don't want him to fall off the bed. So, on thursday, first nap - only half an hour. It is only day one though. Afternoon nap, nursed him in the chair, then put him in his crib, with his suckie and the mobile music on. He cried a little bit, then finally crashed. He slept an hour and a half. (That's good, but he usually naps for 21/2 to 3 hours in the afternoon). He had another late afternoon nap for 1/2 hour. All in all pretty good. Dave had ball and was leaving at 7pm which is usually Shane's bed time. I headed upstairs as Dave was getting ready to go. I nursed him and put him in his crib with suckie and the mobile again. He cried a little, I rubbed his head and told hiim I loved him and shhhhh'd him. By the time I got down the stairs, he was quiet. I was downstairs before Dave had left for ball. I woke up every hour on the hour after midnight listening for Shane. Nothing.

This isn't him in his crib, but isn't he cute when he's sleeping?

He slept from 7pm to 5:15am. WOW! Dave got him for me and again I nursed him in bed and snuggled with him. That is when I finally got some sleep. Friday's naps were all screwed up as I took Ryan to preschool, but then ran some errands. He would just start to fall asleep in the van, and I would take him out. He is not the type of kid who will stay asleep. He doesn't want to miss anything. We were in and out of the van about 6 times before we went to get Ryan from school. We then came home and we kept on with the crib sleep. I have stuck to my guns and he is in his crib as we speak.

Today, the whole Macfarlane clan went to the movie theater to see Ice Age 2. I really enjoyed it. Ryan liked it, and the popcorn. He tends to get a little anxious after about an hour but he made it. In the beginning, I think Shane was a little scared becuase it was loud and dark. He cried a little, I held him and tried to nurse, but the movie was too loud and distracting. After about 5 minutes, he was watching the movie with us. The move started at 1:30. Shanes nap time is usually 1pm. He watched the movie until 2:15 and was rubbing his eyes, so I just layed him in my arms and cradled him with his suckie and he drifted off to sleep for the rest of the movie. No fuss or crying. I am soooo lucky to have such a great baby. Ryan is great too, but Shane surprises me everyday! You expect a certain outcome and he amazingly surprises you with ease. I love my boys to bits. I did try to start Shane on some peas but he puked them all up. So, I returned to the rice cereal. (the peas were mixed with rice cereal but I don't think they were pureed enough) I'll have to wait until my baby food grinder comes. By fork, I don't think it was mushy enough. I'll try again when it gets here. I'm pooped and am headed to bed with room too roll. Goodnight!

This is Shane not liking the peas too much.

Plugging along...

Don't they look like brother's?

Well, time certainly flies by doesn't it? Saturday was terrible weather wise. It poured rain. Went by myself to Karolyn's baby shower. I met Cassandra and Nancy at IGA and followed Cassandra to Suzanne's house. I couldn't quite remember how to get there. As I pulled up, there were balloons everywhere. Pink balloons. Balloons that said It's a Girl on them. I had no idea that she had found out that they were having a girl. She got a lot of pink! Food and company was great! It was kind of nice being on my own for a couple of hours. Dave stayed home with the boys. On my way home, I stopped at Zellers to pick up some wrapping paper as Ryan had a birthday party to go to at the Yarrow Community Centre on Sunday for a classmate of his. Her name is Emily. There were about 30 kids there. Unbelievable. While Ryan was at the party, I zipped into Abbotsford to the Bay and bought a new booster seat for Ryan and the truck and also bought a highchair for Shane. It's so great to be able to put him in there while we're eating supper and to feed him too. Emily's mom is from Panama, so there was lots of food, latin music, all the girls wore their party dresses and of course a Pinata. Ryan wanted nothing to do with the pinata. He kept telling me that his hands were too small for the great big stick. He had a good time though. Next day, Ryan woke up with a cough. Well, guess what, thanks to Ryan for sharing. Now I'm sick. My immunity isn't the greatest with this rheumatod thing, and I have been going to bed late so I know it's my own fault for getting sick. But, when I'm sick, I'm grumpy. Sore throat, runny nose, hoarse cough, yuk! Hopefully, I will recover from this quickly. Ryan begged me to take him to McDonalds to play after school today. I asked him if he would rather go to the park, but no, he wanted to play at McDonalds. I took him there for 45mins, because I had to get Shane home, fed and down for a nap. Well, the nap thing didn't work well at all today. With me being sick, my patience was thin. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Suzanne is coming over early so we can work on some cards. She can only stay until about 2:00, but that should give us some time to get something accomplished, I would think. Depends on what time she arrives I guess. We will be on a mission though, so we will put our noses to the grind stone.

It's been awhile!

Well, it's been awhile since I blogged. Just trying to make the time to do it. Anyway, Easter was great! The Easter Bunny came and scattered eggs all over our new back yard. Dave's mom Lia came and also our friends Suzanne, Mike and Jared. The hunt was for both Jared and Ryan. Of course Bud knew exactly what to do as he is a seasoned egg finder. This is Ryan's first year doing this sort of thing. When I woke up in the morning it was pouring rain. I thought, oh great, I'm not going to be able to do the hunt, but then the skies cleared and actually peaked out some sunshine. I did however put all of the candy filled eggs into sandwich baggies so that the candy wouldn't get wrecked. Call me anal. Anyway, Mike recycled, and will use them in his shop. Thanks Mike. I made a ham, lasagne, crab & artichoke & spinach dip. Suzy brought me some beautiful daffodils. Thank you Suzy! I always LOVE flowers. Dave actually bought me some beautiful Tulips which I just threw away today. He even got me a card. How thoughtful eh? Anyway, I hope my guests had as good a time as I did that day! Thank you Jared for being such a good sport about it all and letting Ryan find a few eggs too! Look at his loot! Ryan grazed on his loot for a few days. Finally between all of us, we've managed to clear it all out of the house! Oh, except for some chocolate that Oma gave Ryan, which I have hidden. hehehe

Today was a 'task oriented' day. Suzanne, I know you're smiling when you read this. Anyway, Took Ryan to school, and for the first time, had time to stop at Tim Horton's for a decaf on the way. Instead of taking off after dropping Ryan off, I put Shane in the stroller and walked into Yarrow to the post office. I was sending Dr. Mackie some dictation tapes. It's just easier for me to get Dave to pick them up from the office since he's in Abbotsford everyday working. I keep forgetting to put the tapes I've erased into his lunch box to return. So I decided to mail them. I had five. I got back to the school with tonnes of time to spare so I hopped in the van and drove into Chilliwack to return the movies from the weekend. We rented, Fun with Dick and Jane, and Derailed. Both were pretty good flicks. Then for some reason still had time, so drove by the house and to the mailbox to get the mail, then back to Yarrow. Still had time to kill before his pickup so I drove up and around Majuba Hill. What a glorious day it was today. Windows down, shades on, light breeze. Just awesome. Except for my foot was just killing me. Damn arthritis. Got to the school with still 15 minutes to spare. Just chatted with some of the moms before the kids were let out. Chenoa has asked me over for coffee on Wednesday which will be nice to visit. From school, we went directly to Oma's. I nursed Shane as by this time he was starving. Lia made me a sandwich and a pop and we sat and visited for about an hour before we headed to Linen's n Things. In their flyer was a sofa slipcover for $29.99. I had the 20% coupon. How could you go wrong? I asked a sales clerk and apparently they were all sold out my noon on Saturday. I was SOL. I did get some hand towels for the downstairs bathroom. Hard to match that green. I got a cream colored one and a celedron colored one. It will do. We all then went to Tim Horton's at West Oaks, had a coffee and a doughnut. Shane was a quick one today, he grabbed the plate and flung it on the floor, smashing it into a bunch of bits. Yikes. Sorry. Took Lia home and was home by 3:50. I am pooped! I went on Linen's N Things.com and bought the Sofa slipcover, but all they had left was Sage. The loveseat one was 59.99. No thanks. Our family room couch is the one that needs help anyway. When we had cats, they attacked. It looks like crap. Anyways, can't wait for that to come. I have to say that I have totally gone on an Ebay frenzy. I'm not even going to list the things that I've bought as there are too many and I want to go watch Prison Break now. Catch you all on the flip side and be sure to get things done this week while the stars are behind us!

Planning for the future...

We may not have much, but what we do have has to end up in the right hands when we're gone. This is something that I have learned with my dad's situation. He did have an old will but some 'loser' tried to fake a will and take it all. It's a morbid topic, but if you don't inform your loved one's of your wishes, it can be all taken away without you knowing it. I believe my sister Joanne has finally gotten the ball rolling on getting my dad's sorted out. Of course the laws are different from province to province. Here in B.C. wills are registered, where in Ontario, they are not. Good fact to know.

Now that we have children, it's important to Dave and I that we get our wills in order so that our kids are teken care of. Like I said before, we may not have much financially, but what we do have we want our children to inheret. Marco is going to take care of all the details for us. Anyone need a good lawyer? He's the man. He is my bosses brother-in-law. Great guy! Also, just found out that my bosses sister Karen works for Marco at the Agassiz office. We chatted for a bit and she's sending us the paperwork to get the ball rolling on getting our wills done. It feels good to know that we're getting things in order.

On another note, Anu's mom and dad are going to be coming to the house on Wednesday to set up an RESP for Shane. I have one through them for Ryan. I put in just the minimum of $25 per month and hopefully someday will be able to afford more. At this point, I feel that something is better than nothing. My child tax credit just covers the investment. At least it's going to the kids and I'm not wasting it away on something stupid. I feel good knowing that I have that in order now too.

At this point, I may not be able to do a lot physically, but I can at least do these little planning things. That puts my mind at ease. It's funny the things you learn to understand as you get older. The things your parents or grandparents told you, you would understand when you grew up. How cool is that? Next thing on my agenda, when finances permits is life insurance. We do have it for the mortgage but outside of that, I believe we need more. In due time I guess.


Cheers,
Tara

My Positive and Negative Lists

Suzanne suggested that I make a list of Positive and a list of Negative so my therapy with Alex is more focused and directed. I would guess that this list will never be complete and will probably have to edit every once in a while but this is what I have started with. This post is for my soul purpose......no comments needed.

Positives

Dave
Kids
New house
Family
Good Memories
Mom and I used to play lots of games together
Mom and I would play games for DQ treats
Every Saturday was cleaning and grocery shopping day so Sunday was for us
Remember making tea for mom
Dad and I rode the motorcycle into Vancouver, he took me to see Clash of the Titans
Ben's Market
Remember sitting in A LOT of new cars, pushing all of the buttons, and wanting a TC-3
Camping/fishing as a kid with Grandma and Grandpa at Lac Le Jeune
Spring and summer break with the Schusters
Horse racing
Graduation
Wedding
Childbirth
Parties
Joanne's cottage
Walk of Fame event where I got to meet Keifer Sutherland

Negatives

My body pain
Death of my mom - 1988 - 34 years old
Death of my grandma - 2006 - 84 years old
Death of my dad - 2006 - 73 years old
Death of my grandpa - 1983 - 64 years old
Death of my uncle Denny - 1973 - early 20's
Death of my aunt Denyse - 1983 - ????
Dad was an alcoholic
Remember mom choking me when I was very young until I passed out in the spare room closet
Remember several times being harassed by dad when he was drunk and came home late
Remember fighting with dad when he was drunk after mom died and me moving out
Remember mom and dad fighting to the point where dad took a swing at mom, ripping her pearl earring out of her ear. We left that night and stayed in a hotel.
Mike stealing money from me to party. That was the end of our relationship.
Working two jobs to support Mike and I while he "hung out"
Couple of car accidents
Feel ripped off having this pain, not being able to do all the things I had planned for after we moved like working out, taking Shane for walks in the new stroller, and working in the yard, and tending to the house.
Had trouble conceiving Ryan - took 2 years after many procedures and surgeries
Ryan's traumatic birth - 5 days of labour and emergency c-section with lots of drugs
Post op infection - hospitalized for 3 weeks, 6 weeks home care, lots of drugs
Feel ripped off, feel like I missed a lot of Ryan's infancy

Pain.....

Can pain cause depression?
Definately has caused me frustration......and a few tears.....

My Pain,

Worse the last two days - Weather?
Both of my hands - right is worse than the left.
It hurts to write and type
The pain in the right hand is worse in the thumb into the wrist
All other joints in both hands are quite stiff
Can't grasp anything - causes severe pain
Skin is hyper-sensitive to touch - skin seems sore
Pain seems to be migrating - I have the odd sharp pain in my upper arms when lifting overhead
My feet are killing me - left is worse than the right
Left ankle has sharp radiating throbbing pain into my foot
There is no flexion or extension in either my feet or hands
Hurts to walk, sort of just lumber side to side
Walking up stairs or from a sitting to standing position, my knees get sharp pains
All finger and toe joints are super stiff and tight - almost like water retention tight
Has woken me up in the middle of the night the last two nights
Literally wake with tears in my eyes every morning.

Family fun-filled Weekend!

Everyone except me of course, I'm taking the picture. Bo, Ben, Jenn, Danny, Ryan, Dave and Shane.

What a fabulous weekend! Dave's brother Bo and his wife Jenn and their two boys, Ben and Danny came and stayed with us in our new house for a few days this past weekend. Ryan is the oldest, 5, Ben is 3, Danny will be 2 in April and of course Shane is 5 1/2 months. There was a time when all four boys were all in one place playing and Jenn says to me, "You know, this is possible to have all of these kids be your own." I laughed, "no thanks." I couldn't imagine having four boys, all under the age of 5. Yikes....gives me shivers just thinking about it.

Friday March 17, 2006 - The Macfarlanes arrived in the late afternoon around 4:30. Dave got home at about 5:30. That gave them time to unload all there stuff into Kaitlyn's room. Dave and Bo had made plans to go to the Chilliwack Chiefs game at Prospera Centre. That was at 7pm.

Of course, now that a week has gone by the details of our weekend are a little fuzzy! I get so caught up in everyday stuff that I forgot to do this until now. Sorry to leave ya all hanging! The long and the short of it is that we did get the BBQ going by Sunday. I did get the rotisserie hooked up but I ended up cooking the roast pork in the oven. It was good none the less. Sunday night, I BBQ'd steaks, some real nice ribeyes from Weymouths. Scrumptious. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I was telling Bo and Jenn about cross hatching their steaks. (A little restaurant lingo - haha) I'm sure that I will never live it down. LOL. The family decided to stay an extra night as they had errands they wanted to run in Abbotsford, like Costco for instance. They had all of last week off as well. Ryan had to go to preschool on the Monday, so we got up and ready as normal and made breakfast for Bo. Jenn had already fed herself and the boys. They filed out of here about 8:30am to hit Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart before the long drive home. I had a fantastic time with them here. Kept my mind off of rheumatoid. It was there, just not front and center. It's amazing what the mind can do eh?!

Some good distraction...

Well, our household is going to be a busy one this weekend. Bo and Jenn, and their kids, Ben and Danny are coming down for a few days. Actually, they arrived yesterday in their brand new Dodge truck. Apparently it's red. They stayed with Dave and Bo's mom Lia last night and will be spending Friday and Saturday night with us. I extended them the invitation since we now have the room to put them up. I pray that all the kids get along and "share". I was hoping to bbq this weekend. I pulled out a pork roast that I want to put on the rotisserie. I went outside to give the old bbq a good dusting off. Well, spiders galore. AHH! I HATE SPIDERS! They freak me out. YUK! I managed to get the grates and the underplates off the bbq. I swear if candid camera were watching, everyone would have been howling. I brought them in and washed them thoroughly in the sink. They look great! Now the guts of the bbq have to be cleaned. I really don't want to do it. I am going to pull out the instruction manual so we can blow out all the critters. I'm hoping I can con Dave into doing at least that part of it. We'll see. I will post pics of our weekend when it's done. Wish me luck!

New Stimulus

Well, Friday was a pretty busy day. At least the morning. Got up early and had a shower with Shane in his bouncy chair....playing peek-a-boo. I'm glad I have glass doors on the shower so that I can see him without having to open them up and letting all that nice hot air out. Got Ryan off to preschool. Last day before spring break. Like they need a break from going to preschool two hours a day, three days a week. Ha! Shane and I hit Save-On-Foods to pick up my new prescription for this damn rheumatoid arthritis. Geez, it's been really tough the last few days. The Naproxen and Tylenol 1's aren't doing a thing. That's why I decided to go and fill the other prescription that's been sitting in my purse for a couple weeks. Of all things, it's also used as an anti-malarial drug. I guess I don't have to worry about getting malaria. I can barely lift Shane up as the pain in my hands, wrists and elbows is brutal. I'm really hoping that my visit with Dr. Lees on the 23rd will give me some tools to deal with this. Anyhow, also picked up Kaitlyn's Canuck t-shirt that we redeemed points for. Dave wants to put it away until her birthday in May unless she remembers that we ordered it and asks for it. Kaitlyn doesn't have a real good memory. From there, Shane and I headed over to Sears to pick up some new toys for him that I ordered. I was going to pick it up on Thursday, but it snowed. I decided that I didn't want to drive in it or leave the house at that point. I got Shane a 5 in 1 play thing. I'm not sure what you call it. He lays under it and can kick, then lights flash and music plays. It teaches, shapes and colors and then eventually converts into an art desk with a bench. It's really cool and it was on sale for $39.99. I also got him an exersaucer. I'm having such a hard time carrying him around all the time with this pain in my hands that I decided that I would get him an exersaucer to give me hands free play with him for a few minutes. It's great! He only spends about 10-15 minutes in it at a time. I think it's because he has to build up his muscles in his core. Check out this picture, he is so intent on the ball. The bright colors are great too! The other great thing is that you can fold this one flat and take it with you.

We then hit Tim Horton's on the way back to Yarrow to pick Ryan up from preschool. We headed back home to meet Mr. Rooter. We have the odd problem with the downstairs toilet. It's not flushed maybe four times since we moved in. Dave's brother Bo and his wife Jenn and the kids are probably going to come and stay a couple nights during spring break. We wanted to get the toilet fixed to save any embarrasement. Mr. Rooter came, inspected and said that there was nothing wrong. Apparently, Kohler, the type of toilet we have is know for "erratic flushes". That they are mainly bought for design not function. The guy said that our green "Kohler" was probably worth $1500. What good is spending that kind of money on a toilet that doesn't flush?They were here for about an hour. I was ready to pay, and they said it was no charge. Have you ever heard of that? Man, was I shocked. Thankful, but shocked. I spent the rest of the afternoon putting Shanes toys together. Dave was off to pick up Kaitlyn and I had told Dave I would meet him at ARC with his hockey equipment so he could play. I took the kids to Smitty's for supper. We got home around 8:30pm and I put the boys to bed.

I didn't leave the house today, Saturday March 11, 2006. I didn't do a whole lot. Puttered around mostly. Shane on my hip at every turn. He hates being put down. I keep telling myself to enjoy it while I can. He'll be on the move soon enough. Kaitlyn wanted to rent the new Harry Potter movie and I told her that when they went that I wanted to see Wedding Crashers. They went to two video stores and Harry Potter was totally out. So, they rented Wedding Crashers for me. After I put Shane to bed and cleaned up the kitchen, and swept the floors, I sat down to watch it. I watched it by myself. I had some real good laughs. I wish I could laugh more like that more often. I enjoyed that movie. I really like Owen Wilson. What a character. Anyhow, some parting pictures that I took today. Goodnight.

This is obvious, this is Shane and I. Of course, when I'm at home, no makeup, hair in a pony.

Ryan found his shades in the depths of one of his toy boxes. Doesn't he look cool?! Of course it was a bright sunny day today.

Traditions.....

It's really sad to me that you have to wait until someone you love passes away to either learn about them and their lives and different family traditions. I feel that I sort of missed out a little bit on the tradition thing, or at least learning some traditions in our family because mom had passed away at such a young age. Actually, when I think about it, the age I am right now, is when she passed away. It makes me really sad to think of all the things my mom missed out on dying so early. I know that she watches over me and my family but it's not the same. I could not even begin to imagine if I only had a few more months to live, all the things that I would miss out on. At this moment, because of all the stuff that is happening right now, I almost feel anxious to get on with life. I feel like I'm at a stalemate. Things around me are hurrying right along, but it doesn't feel like I'm slowing down enough to observe and enjoy them. I'm sure that I do more so than other people as I am not working right now. Sometimes, I just feel so overwhelmed with life. Even though I don't want it to go by too fast, I almost can't wait to see what's around the next corner. I do wish I was still in my twenties. As long as I know what I know now! That would have to be my one stipulation.

Anyhow, back to the tradition thing. I was talking with my Uncle Gary the other night. He enlightened me on some Japanese traditions. When a family member dies, family and friends come to the memorial service of course, but they would also either send flowers or a card, and when they come to the service, they bear a white envelope with money inside for the immediate family to help pay for funeral expenses. This is a long standing tradition my uncle says as in the old days, it was hard for families to pay for such expenses. Not that funerals are any cheaper now, we just tend to prepare in advance for them now. This giving of money is called "Koden". I had never heard of such a tradition. Usually, as people give money, there is an attendant who opens the envelopes and records the persons personal information and the amount they gave. This information is then transfered into a "log book" for future reference.

My uncle was telling me about when my Uncle Dennis died. He was only 25 years old when he was killed by that drunk driver. After his funeral, my Grandpa had pulled my Uncle Gary aside and gave him Uncle Denny's log book. He told him that it was now his responsibility to check off everyone the family had reciprocated to. Let me better explain, as I had to ask my uncle to do so. Everyone who came to the service, gave flowers, a card or money was written down in the log book. When someone in the log book, or any member of their family passed away, our family would reciprocate in the same way they did for our family in our time of need. Then they would be checked off in the log book. My Uncle Gary has the unfortunate task of having My Uncle Denny's, my Grandpa's, and now my Grandma's log book. He said that he has been asked many times why he is so morbid about reading the obituaries. But, the responsibility of log books is very important to Japanese tradition. Of course, my mom doesn't have a log book as dad was the one who looked after her service and either didn't know about the log book (which I would think that my family would have made sure he knew about it) or he just didn't bother. I think it is a wonderful tradition. "Koden" is something I had to learn through death, not life.

My Uncle Gary asked my Great Aunt Masaye (my Grandma's sister), what the Japanese tradition for memorial anniversary was. Apparently, in Japanese tradition, you have a memorial one year after the death, then three years, then seven years, then thirteen years etc. I figured out the pattern as my Uncle did not know why at these intervals, It's two years from the first memorial, then four years from the second memeorial, then six years etc. Interesting eh? My Great Aunt Masaye said that memorials are usually forgotten about as time goes on. I could see that however, had I known about that tradition, I probably would have done it for my mom. Again, something I had to learn through death, not life.

I am sure that if I thought long and hard enough, I could probably remember some traditions from growing up. I had seventeen years with mom. Those, I will have to think about and write about later. I'm too emotional at this time. I miss my Grandma so terribly, I hurt so deeply, I can't explain it. Today would have been her 85th birthday! I asked my Uncle to take some flowers to her grave for me for her birthday, and he said he would. He told me that they were going to have a little birthday party for her. There were some tears shed today, but I know that as time goes on, they will become more infrequent. I can now think of mom without crying, unless I'm having a super emotional day, then all bets are off.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

I LOVE YOU!

Finally...a semi-normal day....

Life has been so crazy the last few weeks that it was finally nice to have a semi-normal day. Not that I don't have my breakdown moments during the day, but it's getting better. The uncontrollable sobbing moments are replaced with brief teary moments. I find that I am very sensitive and emotional towards everything, especially t.v. It's affecting me different. I can't wait for my visit with Dr. Lees. Thank you Sue for taking the time out to watch my kids while I do that. I sooooo appreciate it!

Today was a Costco day. I've been putting it off for at least five days now. I put Shane in the baby bjorn and Ryan in the buggy. Dave pushed and I pointed to what we needed. It was great, even though Costco is busier on Sundays. After Costco, we hit Tim Horton's and went over to Lia's. Of course, the first thing Ryan asks Oma for is ice cream. Thank goodness she didn't have any. Dave took Ryan to the park. I had a bowl of her ham and pea soup. Yummy. I took a look at her VCR/DVD as she said she was having problems with it. It works fine and showed her. She says that Jenn and Bo and the kids may come down for spring break. I told her that they could stay with us since we have the room now. She changed the subject. I know she likes putting them up, even if she has to child proof and her house gets all messy. I told her that our house is a disaster from Ryan so it wouldn't be any different having them here. I'm going to email them to extend the offer as I know she won't bring it up to them. I at least want to have them over for supper while they are here. I actually don't mind cooking for a bigger crowd. Dave has hockey tonight, so hopefully I can get the kids to bed at a decent time before Desperate Housewive's and Grey's Anatomy. With my luck, it won't be on because of the Oscars. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Anyhow, that's it for now.

I always have a story........don't I?

Well, the latest in the my life. My sister Joanne has just let me know that dad has been cremated. He was cremated before I was even notified of his death. Apparently this "handyman" at the mobile home park where dad lived is claiming to be the executer of my dad's estate and apparently he gets everything. He sent a cheque for $2500 to foreign affairs to have dad's body cremated. He has not produced a copy of the will, no documentation provided to foreign affairs..nothing. What the hell? Not that I'm after anything from dad, but the point being is that he had children and those children should be at the very least considered. This guy is not going to get away with trying to rip off this family. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong family to mess with. We won't go down without a fight. hahahaha.

Wednesday March 1, 2006 - Ryan went to preschool as usual and later in the afternoon from 2pm-4:30 we went to Emily's 6th birthday party at the Yarrow Elementary School Gym. It was great fun! Ryan had a blast getting pulled on a little flat deck cart by a hula hoop. Emily looked so cute in her purple outfit and pig tails. I hope she got everything she was hoping for.

Nothing special doing today, hanging around home for a change. I did decide to cook a turkey for supper. It's starting to smell real good. I can't wait!