Our New Pet!

We were out a fair amount yesterday, the usual Wednesday line up, playgroup & gymnastics. Then we made a little trip to the grocery store before coming home. Since they hadn't seen their toys all day, they were content to play with those til supper time. While Murray played with them and read stories etc, I started hauling everything out of the livingroom, those carpets were getting cleaned! Ever since Honey's dirty sock picture, I've been meaning to get to it and last night was the night.

Man! do we EVER have a lot of stuff in that room. It took quite awhile to get down to the floor before I could even get started. Ack! It was tricky to jam everything in to the kitchen so I could get at the carpet. It took much longer than I thought. I set it to heavy shampoo and gave it a going over. I was totally disgusted when I dumped out all the black water. Then I set it to rinse & went over it again. STILL verrry dark water. I did it 2 more times before the water didn't look like it had been taken directly out of a swamp. It smelled so fresh and clean in there, it was wonderful. It was worth the hours of work to see it looking so good.Suppose it'll stay clean long?? Don't bother answering that, because at 8:55am, Sweetie decided to take her leftover breakfast milk in there and sure enough, oopsie! Clean carpet, oh so fleeting... This is why it would be rather pointless to get new carpet any time soon I guess....

Surprise! we have a new pet at our place! a definite surprise as I only found out about it this afternoon myself. His name is Jimmy, or maybe it's a her, I'm not sure yet. It's definitely an outdoor pet, we don't need any more in here, that's for sure! Luckily it's the self sufficient kind and we won't need to buy food for it & vet bills won't be an issue. They even built him/her a little shelter so he/she'll have protection from the elements. I'm curious how they picked the name though, maybe a cartoon on tv?

Anyway, I got a picture of Jimmy in his little house so everyone can meet the newest member of the family.

She/he is a little hard to see under all those sticks & leaves and what with him being a rock & all! : )))

Sweetie: this is how we smile at monkeys

(we talked once about how monkeys don't like it if they see your teeth, so the girls have been practicing smiling without opening their mouths ever since. Very important in our primate infested neighbourhood, matter of life & death...)

one Honey of a smile!

playing with Murphy

quickest way to get your kids to pose in a picture? TRY and take one without them in it! I thougth I'd practice some depth of field on this nice, non moving object when someone decided that just wouldn't do!

Decisions, decisions... help me!

I'm having a hard time with picking a gift for Murray this year. He's so hard to buy for since he never really wants much (says the gifts aren't important) and I'd really like to get him something special, something he'd really get some use out of. Today I got a couple of ideas and now I just have to narrow it down so if you can give me some input, I'd really appreciate your comments! Which do you think would be most useful? New socks or nail clippers??????

Love ya hawney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : P

My nose! the EYE! no, my NOSE!

You know your day's off to a good start when.....

Sweetie comes screaming into the kitchen "My nose!! owww!"

Me: what's wrong!?!

Sweetie: the eye!

Me: you poked your eye??

Sweetie: waaaaahhhhh! nohhhhhhhhhh Mumma, my nose, I put the eye in my nose waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Me: you put a googley eye up your nose?? (please tell me that's not what you really mean)

Sweetie: yessssssssss! ahhhhhhhhhhhhwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Me: let me see!

I'm hoping she's just confused and has just hurt her nose some other way. I take her into the bathroom & tip her back & peer in there. Yep, sure enough, lodged way up there is a bona fide googley eye. Ok so there it is. Now what? I try to reach it with tweezers but I can't grip it easily & don't want to inadvertently shove it further up there. We try getting her to blow her nose a bit but that's not doing anything. Then I get the saline drops and use the eyedropper with one hand to put some in while simultaneously pinning down the screaming & side to side thrashing 3 year old head attached to the flailing, kicking body with my other. (uh yeah, tricky is an understatement). Anyway, I get them in and wait a few minutes to let them work their magic. Then I get her to blow her nose again and this time it moves into tweezing range. Voila, one trip to the ER avoided by Supermom!

It's all about Teena! (well for today anyway)

I know Teena will be checking here tomorrow (or should I say today) when she's at work so here's what I've got so far:

There are a couple more that look salvageable, I had a terrible time with lighting and a lot didn't come out or the focus is off. With great subjects to work with, the results should be a little sharper lookingI think. Practice, practice, practice! However, I still think I give Sears & the grocery store studio a run for their money!

Baby Prom in TV Land

Checkin out the merchandise...

This face alone is worth $40 isn't it????

This afternoon we went to M&D's for dinner & I brought the new dresses so they could try them on and prance around for the grandparents' enjoyment and no one was disappointed! Honey's already working on her royal wave. : ))

and how does it look from the back Lovey?

The girls instantly loved them. There was no squabbling over colours, Lovey immediately grabbed the silver/grey one, Honey beelined it for the purple (of course) & Sweetie was a goner the minute she spied something orangey poking out of the bag.

Lovey wanted to be in every picture, we had to throw her off the bed eventually.

crown not included, accessories are extra...

Beforehand I'd told them I'd give them a surprise when we got to Grammie's house (GranGrad just works there but it's "Grammie's" house apparently). Honey wanted to know if it was wrapped in paper. Ummm no. But presents are SUPPOSED to be in paper Mumma! Well crap, she does have a point there doesn't she? I told her that presents were usually wrapped but sometimes surprises weren't. Whew! dodged another one.

awwww! GranGrad thinks this girl is just peachy!

As soon as we got in the house, Sweetie wanted to know if they could have their surprise. Nothing wrong with her memory! I got out the bags & added girls & voila! Instant princesses. They just about tore their clothes to shreds trying to get out of them to get these "gowns" on! They certainly didn't want any stupid price tags left on but I had to convince them to leave them alone in case they didn't fit. I bought size 4's but on Honey's I could just do the zipper up. She grows at all and it'll be too tight. They weren't crazy about that tag business and Lovey ripped one of hers anyway so now I'll have to keep track of THAT! They were all fairly snug fitting but ok for now. Since they cost a small fortune, I was hoping they'd be able to use them more than a month or so!

jockeying for position!

and more jockeying!

They went upstairs to check themselves out in front of the mirror (no pushing please!). They looked at the backs, they looked at each other and they posed and posed!

I suggested that Lovey give her sister a kiss but when she saw those lips coming at her she started laughing too hard to pucker up. She kept saying "NOT a FISHY kiss Honey!" and collapsing into giggles.

Adventures in Churching

Lovey woke up and had some toilet challenging predicaments beyond her control so I thought it best for her to stay home from church today. Murray's been feeling under the weather all week with an impending cold & sore throat and has been exhausted so he slept til 9:30 this morning. I got everyone dressed & then I took Honey & Sweetie to church on my own.

That's not so bad? What's hard about that??? I'm in the choir remember? no kids sit up there! (well Lovey did sneak in once but I think that was a first & only under extreme circumstances) So Uncle Ralph & I found my cousin Clara & put her on the job. Those 3 girls did great! I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to sit over in the choir before one of my girls had a hissy fit but it never happened. They sat quietly and Clara kept them busy drawing on a piece of paper and at Children's Time, she took them out with the other little kids & sent them off to Sunday School without incident. I was so amazed & so proud of all of them! I made sure to tell them what super duper good girls they were (I don't think I used "super duper good" with Clara, but something teenager-ish to that effect!) and how impressed I was with them. They were pretty pleased with themselves : )))

Mr. Productive!

I wasn't the only one getting it done yesterday! Murray worked on our drafty laundry room door and got some fixing up done. That should cut down on the chilly blast stealing all the heat out of the house. I think we might be able to turn the thermostat up to 18 or maybe even 20ºC! Although when I tried it last night after we got home from the parade, he ran around behind me and turned them all down. I may have created a monster....

One Day, One Productive Lady!

This morning I went to Teena's and took some family photos for her. Even though I know Teena probably better than just about anybody on this earth, I still found it a little stressful. I'm just not quick at getting my lighting right & kept having to take test shot after test shot. Things were too dark or it was too reddish or too glare-ey. She has so much confidence in me that I feel I have to live up to! : ))) I think we got a few cute ones so hopefully they'll do. If not, we'll re-do it.

Even though I've been getting out a fair amount in the evenings, it still seems like I don't get stuff done except the bare essentials like bank deposits, pet food runs, grocery shopping etc. I've needed new underwear for...I don't know... a year maybe? I have 4 pairs that are decent and often have to do laundry just so I'll have something to put on in the morning! So today I decided was the day! and I am now the proud owner of 4 more pairs. So with the ones that were still decent, plus 4 new ones, I can go a whole week without doing a load of wash! (well, in theory!) I also got a little mirror for the bathroom so the girls can see when they brush their teeth, wash their face etc. They often climb up on the counter to look in ours which always seems a little precarious to me. I also got new wooden hangers for our new front entryway closets (on sale 50% off woohoo!). (sorry, no photo of either of those...)

Although this didn't necessarily NEED doing, I browsed holiday dresses for the girls and found the MOST beautiful things I've ever seen in a store (Princess Pamela Creations obviously not included here as they're a class unto themselves !) So I hemmed and hawed over those for longer than I'll admit in print but oh my heavens! Finally I decided that if I'd spent xx number of minutes looking at them, they MUST be worth bringing home. At least I hope so! These girls could be in a wedding in these & I think they will loooooooove them and have many hours of princess fun in them. I was quite excited to get home & show them to Murray but wasn't sure what he'd think of them, he's not really into clothes much... His comment?

"What's THIS? Baby PROM??????????"

He didn't care that they were a little on the pricey side (ummm ok, well a lot on the pricey side, $40!) and thinks they'll enjoy the heck out of those dresses. So I don't have to take them back (well except for the reject & the one that doesn't fit)

(was undecided on the sleeveless one so brought home the pink so I could choose)

I also went to the hardware store, got new light fixtures, a new doorknob, checked into siding options and got some picture hanging thingies that I needed for the mirror & my bulletin board at home. Although it's very unpatriotic, I have to say I think the service at the new hardware place is soooooooooooooo much better than the other place here. I am constantly greeted and offered help, I can't get over it! Today, I had a basketful & one box under my arm and a guy saw me and said that was too much to carry & he was getting me a cart. I told him it wasn't necessary since I was finished anyway & the box was light and I continued browsing. He went to the front of the store anyway, got me a cart & brought it all the way back to me! Are you supposed to tip retail staff?????

I'd gotten groceries the night before & forgotten to get Murray's precious jumbleberries and after I got home, the store called and told me I'd left my credit card there. So when I finished at Teena's, I picked that up got the berries & started running all the other errands. I'd wanted to stop in at the fabric store & look for some material for a better background than the tablecloth I currently use for portraits but I'd already been gone for 5 hours & I thought I'd better call it quits & head home. Maybe next week!


We decided to take the girls to the Santa Claus parade & it started at 5pm so we gave them a snack and dressed them in full winter gear & loaded into the car (still in the Mazda...). The kids had a blast, dancing around on the sidewalk, taking death defying leaps off the curb and waiting for the parade to start. Things got even better once the floats started coming by. They were excited to see each new thing, amazed with the marching bands etc, they ate many many candy canes (well not Honey, she doesn't care for them) and were thrilled to see ponies, dogs, majorettes and of course, the big guy himself! Getting home from the parade was a bit of a schmozzle though, it took quite awhile for the route to clear so we could get back on the highway, then Murray had to make a pit stop because he was about to explode so we took everyone in & got them some coffee (*wink*) & doughnuts to tide them over. We picked up pizza on the way home & had a verrrrrrrry late supper & put them to bed at 9pm!
They were soooooo excited to drink "coffee" just like Grammie. They kept giggling and saying "I need some more coffee please!" "oh! I drank all my coffee!" "mmmm I like my coffee"

After they went to bed I installed their new mirror, put up my bulletin board in the kitchen, downloaded my pictures from today & updated the blog. Am I good, or am I good??????? Comment below if you're in agreement ; ))))

Toddler Chat- Lovey

I hate it when I have a funny or cute little bit about 2 of the kids & not the other. So all day I've been racking my brain, trying to think of something amusing that Lovey has come up with lately. I did think of one little thing so I now I feel a bit better!

One morning before anyone got out of bed, I heard this high, squeeky, obviously fake baby voice...

Someone (sing song-ish): I don't have a mummy... I'm allll done wif her!

Me: Lovey is that YOU?????

Lovey: no! that's Little Sarah!

Whew! I was a little concerned there for a minute! : )))