Days Flying!

Wow Wednesday's pretty much all done & with any luck, it'll be Friday before I know it! We had a nice surprise yesterday morning when we got invited down to the farm for lunch. The girls were quite excited to visit. Every day now they want to know a) who's going to visit us? or b) where are we going today? and I had better have a good answer for one or the other! LOL

They enjoyed playing with Tulip and getting in to all her stuff. What a mess was made! I tried to clean it up as we were getting ready but the kids just started dragging toys out from a different area every time I turned around & Penny kept telling me not to bother since Tulip would have it all out again anyway... eventually I gave up and we got ready to go. Tulip decided they should walk us home so we loaded up the stroller and all travelled together. One of my little monkeys rode on the handlebars so Tulip could have a seat, she loves going for a ride in it whenever she gets a chance. Who can blame her? It's not your everyday stroller!

Before heading down, I finished decorating my cake for the dessert auction that was held tonight. I'd practiced on Murray's bday cake the day before and was able to get this one looking a little smoother and added the basket weave on the sides to dress it up a little. I was happy with it and the bidding went up to $40 so that was pretty good! Nicolle was really happy with the auction. She was raising money for the general costs of Sunday school & to fund the scholarship that is given each year to a graduating member. This was the most successful year & they brought in $1300 from the desserts sold. As is often said, ours is the "most eatingest church in town". Definitely a good church for us, we like our eats!

Happy Birthday Hawney!

Murray had his actual birthday today although this was the 4th time it was actually celebrated! We had presents & cake up at M&D's yesterday & they had a cake for him at work today too. He's just about all partied out now. He went to bed early tonight as the festivities have taken their toll I guess! : ))) (or maybe that cold is getting the best of him)

It was tricky decorating his cake with such cute and WILLING helpers today but I managed to put it together.

Jam Packed Saturday!

Saturday was hectic but SO much fun! The downside is that it started around 5am when the girls kept sneezing & needing their noses blown. By 7am I was toast & luckily Nanny was ready to take over. I shut our door, flipped the fan on high & crawled back into bed & neither of us budged until 9am when our little chanteuse could be heard bounding up and down the hall belting out the finale to one of the songs from bible school last summer. HALLELUJAHHHHHHH! HALLELUUUUUUUUUUUUUJAAAAAAAAAAH! HALLLLLLLLEEEEEELUUUUUUUUJJJJJJJJJAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! although normally a great song when we're driving in the car, singing together, is not so much fun when you're trying to sleep! Although, it did make us giggle so I guess there are worse things to wake up to.

Murray had a game at 11:30 so he & Rick got ready & left to go to that and Nancy played with the kids while I ran around, had a shower & got ready. We joined them at the rink for the last half of the game. Murray's team had done really well until this weekend when they lost for the first time in ages. (must be all that pressure from Rick, throwing off his hockey mojo!)


The girls were quite excited to see the game but had a hard time finding daddy on the ice. First, they're all dressed alike, all heads are covered and NONE of them stand still. Trying to point three little swivel heads in the same direction at the split second that daddy is actually 'findable' was nearly impossible. Finally he was able to get their attention & wave to them while he was on the bench. Honey seemed the most interested in watching & Lovey & Sweetie just scampered around the bleachers. As you can see here, I am obviously not destined for a career in sports photography! It was fun to see him play though & the girls thought it was pretty neat too.After the game, we were all starving & Nanny & Grampy treated us to lunch. Lovey almost had a meltdown when they didn't have hotdogs on the menu but our savvy waitress saved the day by offering to make her a pb& j sandwich instead. Quick thinking on her part! We ate well and the girls immediately wanted to know what & where we were going next. Apparently two exciting outings in one day wasn't enough for them.

Rick was keen on a shopping trip and far be it from me to say no to a guy who actually WANTS to go to the mall! Nancy suggested clothes instead of more toys for our floor & I was all for that idea. As soon as Sweetie got to the entrance of the store she knew what she wanted and made a beeline for the pouffy, pink, twirly, sparkly skirt she'd seen back in early March. (she's only ever been at the store that one time) She hauled it off the rack & excitedly started showing anyone who was standing nearby while waiting for the rest of us to catch up to her. "See? SEE?????"

Honey & Lovey weren't quite as decisive but did end up making some selections as well. I was a little surprised that Lovey needed a size SIX dress! I thought the size 5 would be a little ahead but still not so big that it wouldn't stay on but it was actually tight in the shoulders & across the back. My baby in a size SIX!?!?!

Honey saw lots of gorgeous dresses BUT not PURPLE ones so she scrounged around til she found a Tshirt in the right hue & once she had her hands on that, there was no going back.
By the time we got home it was almost supper so the day was pretty much taken care of. Nanny got some cuddles in & the girls got some extra stories while I threw together a new seafood pasta recipe (I loooooooooooove Kraft magazine recipes!!!)



Muray entertained on guitar & Lovey did some composing & provided the vocals. Her songs have come a long way since her original piece (Youuuuu and meeeeee for the weeeee always and away to because forrrrrrrrrrrrrever now but my oh the youuuuuuuuuuuu and meeeeeee to and the...). We've got to get her on video soon because they are stinkin' adorable little songs she makes up. She also likes to help him play guitar & will get out a pick and strum along


Here are the bunny twins, ready for the birthday party!

In Law Invasion - A OK by me!

Murray was in a hockey tournament & it's his birthday this week so his parents came to visit for the weekend. They arrived on Friday night to much fanfare from Lovey & Sweetie. Honey had been tired all afternoon & asked to go to bed at 5:30pm. She did wake up for a few minutes after they got here but went back to bed quickly.

After much dancing & jumping around, the other 2 eventually settled down & fell asleep.

Rick took this opportunity to torment and cruelly tease me with juicy details on my potential 5th child (on the off chance I upgrade from my 4th child that is). This is a child he's also looking to welcome into his own home in the near future. I'm not sure how I'll stand knowing he's got it!!!

I think the modern day term for something that looks this good is "hawt". Isn't she beautiful??? and oh the things she can do.... *sigh* But of course, there's a downside. She's $1400!!! Maybe it's time to start taking more people up on their offers to hire me for pictures... If I can find 35 people, I'm all set! ; ))

After spending at least an hour talking to Rick about it, then browsing online for specs & reviews & pictures of different views of the camera (yes, I seriously did) for another hour or so before bed, I even dreamt about this camera that night!

Photo of the month

Here's my March entry! I posted the image to a photography forum where lots of pros hang out & advise newbies. After several anxiety filled minutes, I started to get some feedback posts & was able to make a few adjustments to tweak the pic & improve it further.

Here's the original SOOC (2 points for anyone who can remember what that stands for!)

My first stab at post processing:

New & improved processing based on tonight's feedback (brighten eyes a bit, sharpen overall image & remove reddish colour cast on her right cheek & neck):

Ol Big Eyes!

Lovey had another appt at the eye doctor on Friday afternoon so she & I had a fun outing. When I mentioned at breakfast that she & I would be going to see the dr & then getting groceries, she stopped eating & looked up and said "just ME and MUMMMMMMYYYYYY????????". I forget how much fun these little one on one trips are to them. I really should try & work it so they get more individual attention. Some weekends, we've tried to arrange 3 separate outings between the 2 of us but it was time consuming and then left little time to get anything else done around the house. So it's not exactly feasible to do something for all 3 every weekend but maybe 1 trip every couple of weeks or so wouldn't be too hard to manage.... would it?

Prior to her appointment, I had to put some drops in her eyes to dilate the pupils. The doctor prefers that the trauma of this not be associated with her or the office if at all possible. No big deal, I'm used to being the bad guy, what's one more strike on my long list of offenses??? : ) She didn't enjoy the drops & the dr said that they do sting. I got them in before lunch, hoping that the promise of chicken fingers & fries would lessen her pain! Soon enough her tears were dried & she was at the table, elbow deep in cherry dip.

Her actual appointment went well & was quick as most of the tests had been already done the last time. She is more farsighted than is normal at this age but luckily not enough to need glasses & both eyes are equal so one won't be compensating for the other & letting that weak eye get weaker.

We figure it's only a matter of time before they all need glasses but very glad we don't have to start dealing with that yet!

We went on to the dollarstore to get wrapping paper, then a 2nd dollarstore when that one didn't have any and then hit the grocery store. She had a great time & loved getting to pick out stuff & helping me put stuff in the cart. She could ride in the cart when she wanted, walk when she wanted & never had to worry about anyone stealing her spot.