You go girl.

My friend Amy is rockin' in her latest venture. Check this out.

Dog Paddlin'

An apology for a sweet friend. :)

I’ve always been the type of person who gets quiet when dealing with difficulties in my life. (Retreat mode – I’ve done it my whole life. My own family didn’t see me for a year when I was struggling through the worst of stuff before I left Toronto. Most of them don’t have a clue about what I went through during that time. They just didn’t see me. Why drag ‘em down too, you know? I love them too much to do that.)
Anyhow - A friend noticed I’ve been quiet lately and e-mailed me. Thank you for the concern. :) It means so much. You’re right – I haven’t been myself of late. Sorry for my tendency to withdraw when things get tough. It’s just how I deal. And no, nothing big is going on, just life as usual. The weight I carry can feel pretty heavy at times and I get overwhelmed & frustrated like anyone else. Mostly though, we’re doing just fine. I’m just really tired and not dealing with things as well as I could be I guess.

Really, I’m doing okay - just struggling a little harder than usual to keep my head above the water.

And don’t worry about me when I retreat to my little cave – it’s not like I’m alone in there. It’s where my prayers are heard and I feel safe & loved.

Beautiful

I went for a walk today with Kirsten & Elijah. The weather was perfect - sunny & clear with a breeze. It was neither too hot or too cool - it was beautiful. I'm so glad we live in a great walking neighborhood. Elijah seems to love the ride in the stroller & Kirsten can keep up with me with those long legs of hers & is great company.

Hooray for Spring!

My 5 favorite things about Spring?
1. Walking & rollerblading!
2. Bridals. My favorite subject in photography = brides!
3. Wearing sandals.
4. Playgrounds & picnics with the kiddos.
5. Lilacs & tulips

Sick & Tired

Clever? No.
Interesting? No.
Insightful? No.
Funny? No.

But hey, at least it's a post.

I am sick again. (Crazy, I know.) Poor Elijah, he is too. All I want to do at this point is sleep. I'm thinking maybe a week or so would do it. I'm that tired. And we didn't go grocery shopping yesterday like we needed too. I'm not sure Samoas make for a good breakfast, so I'm off to plan something else.

Happy Sunday!

Still here.

I just haven't had much to say of late.

But AI is on tonight. Please oh please America, send Kevin home this week.

Oh, and I found a new favorite treat. Strawberry cheesecake Klondike bars. Mmmmmmmmm...

And I missed a pic I had uploaded for LV's birthday. Love him to pieces. Look at those eyes.

Have a great day!

Life can be stressful.

...Thank goodness for Cadbury Easter cream eggs.

My Saturday List

I'm feeling grateful today. Groggy from a late night, but grateful.

Some of the stuff I've enjoyed of late:

Yummy dinner last night. (Pizza Hut)
Comfy new sandals. (Anticipating Spring.)
My mp3s. Needing an ipod for mobility.
Cuddle time with LV. He still has that yummy baby soft hair. Mmmmmm...
Two birthdays this past week has meant ice cream in the freezer. Milkshakes. Yum.
Vern. Seriously cute man.
Elijah's kisses. Yummy baby.
Playing online with Julie and Kyle. Fun!
Hot chocolate & toast for breakfast- yum!)
Our new grill thing on which I plan to make grilled panini sandwiches later.
Milky Way caramels. Mmmmmmm...

It's grocery shopping day.
As soon as Vern gets home from work. (Should be soon.)
Brandon will watch the little ones while we run over there. This is something I appreciate so much. Alone time. No struggling with kiddos in the store. Ahhhhhhh...
Thanks B.


Have a great day!

A year ago today

A year ago today I was exhausted and extremely happy to see Elijah's sweet face for the first time.
Just over 9 pounds, when they laid him on my chest he lifted his head and looked up at me. I cried.
The nurse exlaimed that he was beautiful, with long fingers and toes & no bum to speak of. (He had no fat on that little body at first - something we've been able to fix over the last year. lol)
The pictures I posted last night before bed were to help celebrate today, the 16th.
Today is Elijah's first birthday.

The plans for today? Just to enjoy the day & shower my babe with attention.

Oh, and take some pictures.

Have a great day!

Another birthday.

Guess who?!

I love you Elijah.

Five

I can't believe how much you've grown over the last few years.

You've become such a big boy. Happy, silly and oh so fun to be around. I'll miss you when you start school in September. More than you know.

I hope today was enjoyable for you. We had fun taking you swimming and out for lunch. I'm so glad that daddy was able to be home on your special day.

Happy birthday to my sweet little Vern! I love you so much.

(Technically it's not your birthday anymore, but I haven't gone to sleep yet. Sorry I didn't get to upload the pictures I took yesterday - it's been such a busy but good couple of days.)

What?!

Does something smell? Is the new banner butt-ugly? Did I say something to offend?

I'm at least half serious. It's been quiet. Busy, but quiet. It amazes me how many people peeked at my blog over the last two days, but there's only one new comment. How lonesome. And hey, I promise I showered. ;o) :o)

I have just a couple random things to say today.

Please cross your fingers for me that Vern is feeling better by tonight. Sick husbands are no fun. And he's been working like crazy too, which doesn't help. He literally walked in the door at 8:30 last night and was asleep by 8:35. With Brandon & Elijah sick too it makes for one tired momma. I'm hoping to play ddo tonight. It's been days.

Brian & Beth are having a boy! Congrats guys! I'm so excited to have another nephew coming. And here's to Princess Sadie, who will be a big sister extraordinaire! Fun, fun stuff.


Oh, and thank you to those who helped fill me in when I missed AI. Question... Why is Kevin still there? Seriously, that's crazy. Mandisa is the only girl I'm completely behind this year. Chris & Taylor are still my faves. Chris for the win though, and Taylor for a fab career ahead. And that's all I have to say about that for now.

Happy Friday!

Worthwhile

Have you ever clicked on the link to Trevor's blog on the sidebar of my blog? It's wonderful. Some great entries of late. Had to share. :)

New One

I was tagged with this by my sweet friend Kristi.

Three things you wish for:
1. American citizenship.
2. The time/opportunity to go to the gym more. I get grumpy when I don't get to work out.
3. To make a dentist filthy rich by getting my kiddos dental work done. We all need to go. He'll have a mansion, a boat, fancy cars, eat well and all of that. lol

3 Things You Would Do To/For Yourself If There Was No One To Judge You (…or if you had the guts to do it!)
1. A weekend get away to some city to relax, explore, swim, walk & window shop all I wanted. All I'd need is my camera, comfy shoes, some books, my bathing suit and a fit-to-be-seen-in-public outfit. I haven't decided if Vern gets to come or not. He'd just want to sit in a hot tub somewhere anyway - I'd still get to do whatever I wanted. And I'd have eating-out company. Yeah, he's invited. In that case lets make it San Francisco!
2. blanking
3. blanking

3 Bad Habits You Have
1. Staying up late. (getting me time in)
2. Mindless snacking at my computer. (Did I really eat the whole 2 lb bag of m&ms in MC?)
3. Procrastinating/putting off difficult things.

3 Insecurities You Feel
1. I am quiet & completely uncomfortable around most *new* people. I'm so self-conscious.
2. I hate making phone calls for fear of interrupting someone else's day. I feel like I'm imposing or something.
3. A far-too-lived-in, un-cute rented house? The fact that I'm not as skinny as I once was? I have a bazillion of 'em.

3 Talents/Skills You Wish You Had
1. Snowboarding. It looks like so much fun.
2. Wish I could play the piano
3. Patience

3 Things That You Would Do If You Had More Time
1. Take more pictures just for me. Have them printed. Frame them. Hang 'em.
2. Spend more time with my kids at the library, park, zoo - wherever they wanted to go.
3. I'd love to go to the gym daily like I used to.

3 Things That Bring You Peace/Relaxation
1. walking/swimming
2. music
3. late night quiet time

3 Things That Spark Your Creativity
1. Good photography. I love looking at online galleries & such.
2. Magazines and catalogs.
3. Window shopping.

I tag:

1. Teresa

2. AmyB

3. Christy

Who, what, why, where and how...

Who decided that it'd be a good idea to put snorkeling puppies and little blue pawprints on my rolls of toilet paper? Vern bought Cottonelle instead of our usual Charmin. I'm not really into the cute prints. I want my plain white quilted stuff back please.

What happened with the girls' performances on American Idol tonight? I missed it. :o( Seriously - if someone could fill me in that'd be great. :o)

Why is it that when Vern comes home grumpy it spreads like wildfire? Thank goodness for chocolate milkshakes. ;o)

Where did today go? Between laundry, grocery shopping & taking care of a grumpy and sick husband the evening has flown by.

How many of my kiddos fell asleep watching HP & the Goblet of Fire? Oh man, only Elijah. I was hoping LV & Kirsten would've passed out by now. Time to go read some happy little bedtime stories & send the others off to dreamland.

A train-filled day.

I finally uploaded some of the pictures I took on Saturday. We took the kids to the train expo at Ogden's Union Station. It was a fun family outing.

Little Vern, who is our little train lover, had a hard time with the model train displays. The whole look but don't touch thing was not his idea of fun.

Upstairs was a huge lego train set-up. It was cool, I must say. The lighting was such that I didn't get any really great shots of it though. It was right against a big window and was really crowded.

He was distracted by this little corner...

...and didn't understand why he couldn't play with them either. After all mom, they aren't trains. *sigh*
His attitude improved and the kids ended up really enjoying themselves when we went outside. They got to climb on a lot of cool train cars. I took a lot of pictures.

In true April fashion, I probably took enough pictures that day to make a mini album. lol

We stopped by to visit Jill & Josh while we were up that way & got to see their cute new house. By the time we made it home our three youngest kiddos were fast asleep. Ahhhhhh... perfection.

Slow Motion

Just a quick Friday night post.

Ever have days where you feel like you're functioning in slow motion? That was me today. I didn't accomplish much, but that's okay. It is Friday after all. Hooray for weekends! I have much to do tomorrow, but it should be fun.
I did spend a minute getting more of our family's pictures ready to print and backed up. I don't do this often enough anymore. I came across this sweet one of Elijah.

Love that little face.

Have a great weekend!

Nothing, really.

Sorry for the lack of blogging these last couple days. I've been trying to get my house clean & dealing with a massive headache. Fun stuff, huh? Yeah, I know - not exactly worth blogging about. So I haven't.

I did want to say GO CHRIS! He was awesome last night on AI. I even got Brandon in on the voting spirit. (I was playing online so I had him do the phone calls.) He got something like 13 in for both Chris and Taylor. Some for Ace too and a rogue couple for... I forget who he liked. Anyhow, I can't wait to see who's staying & who's going.

Have a great day!