Another Year come and Gone

Well, here it is, the eve before a new year. When I think about the past year, I can't believe it's flown by so fast. Even the last decade really. Atleast when you think of the past 10 years, more milestones were hit.

We had a great Christmas. I little chaotic, but fun. Christmas eve we were out at my parents, as the tradition continues and all my cousins and their families come. I love Christmas eve. This was our attempt to get all the "great grandchildren" in one shot. Then we woke up Christmas morning in our own home. The kids, creatures of habit they are, woke at their normal time of 7am. Caleb wasn't so sure he wanted to go downstairs to see if Santa came, but he did. He's yawning here.

Then we headed to Dave's parents for the rest of the day. The kids were spoiled. We had a nice dinner with them and then from there went back to my parents place to spend the night and have my family Christmas Boxing day. Yet again, the kids were spoiled, and had a blast playing with their uncle's, aunt's and cousins. Uncle Steve even made a snow castle.

Dave spoiled me for Christmas as well. I got to open up on Christmas morning several different black frames, with black and white photos in them of our family. And then the real big present was a trip away Sunday night, a surprise. He told me on the way there. We went to Niagara Falls and stayed in the Embassy Suites over looking the falls. It was so lovely. We had a fireplace, a jacuzzi tub, an amazing view. We ate at the Keg which again overlooked the falls. And we skated "The Rink at the Brink". It was such a perfect way to relax after the crazy past few days. Below is the view from our room and the last one is of me at the rink. Not so great because it was night, but a really neat experience!

Tonight we're heading over to our friend's place, the kids will probably have to crash before midnight and I'm uneasy about ruining their routine, but everyone keeps telling me, "it's one night of the year Charlene" so we're going!

Happy New Year!

Recent Pictures of my Babes.

This is Amberly in a hand me down! Gotta love it. She's beautiful if I don't say so myself!Yes, the classic matching jammies. Not sure how long I will be able to get away with it, but Caleb thinks it's cool for now.

Decorating the tree. Amberly knows not to "grab" any decorations. But she'll go around and touch them, pointing them out to any new person in the house. Even to Sunshine sometimes.

The very happy Birthday Boy. He was so excited about the Thomas set he got.

Can't you see his exhaustion?! He was so tired, but did so well.

Hooray Christmas is on the Way!

Well, it's the last Saturday before Christmas. We spent the day at my parents, having a relaxing time. Kids love it there. We got home for supper and after supper, Dave played with the kids while I baked a couple of cookies. My shortbread ones were a flop, probably because I used margarine instead of butter, I should have known better but oh well. They are still edible. I also made my hubby's favourite, chocolate peanut butter mounds. So all I have left to make for Christmas is my white chocolate candy mix, and chocolate/pretzels snacks. I'm sure there is a few other things I'll have to whip up but I can handle it.

Dave and I have 2 days left of work. We both took the Wednesday off. The kids will still go to Christa's and leave us the day to prepare (me) and to do things you can't normally do anymore (Dave!)

Caleb's birthday party was last Sunday. It was ALOT of work, but lots of fun. Although I get my nerves in a knot and feel sick to my stomach most of the time while hosting big crowds, Caleb loved it and everyone said they had a great time. Half the people went to the Elmira Sugar Kings hockey game, including the birthday boy. Then everyone was back for a pizza dinner and cake. Caleb was totally spoiled with presents. Most revolving his new found love of Thomas the Tank Engine and Cars. It's hard to believe he's 3. He's growing up so fast!

Work has been going well. Our company spoiled us in their usual manner without removing events due to the economy (as so many companies have done). First of all, our department went to Ennio's for lunch which the company paid for. Then they threw their "Kids Christmas" party where I got to chose 2 $25 presents from the HH catalogue for them. There was a bouncey castle, a balloon man, face painting and Santa. And then this past Thursday we worked 1/2 a day (paid for a full day) and went bowling and then to the company banquet where we had an appetizer style meal, along with a Christmas bonus. It was great!

Now I hear Dave trying to get Caleb to bed. While Amberly keeps asking for me, so I better go. But in other big news, Amberly has peed and pooped on the potty! I'm feeling lazy when it comes to going down the potty training route, but also amazed at my little girl, so talented in so many ways!

Better run!

No Time

I'm totally tired. I want to just crash now. But I've got lots to do tonight. Well not really, just have to finish my Bible study stuff, and go to my small group. But after work, I shovelled the heavy wet snow and made supper and fed the children. I'm just tired. My arms are aching.
Yep. No time to blog.

The Weather Outside is Great, The Weather Inside is a Flurry!

The crazy times have begun! Although it may seem I have time to actually blog, I don't. But out of habit I am procrastinating. Yes, and I do it so well. I don't have anything pressing that I must accomplish immediately, but in the back of my mind I have to get the address book out, address Christmas cards, perhaps attempt to write a newsletter to send along to a few, take pictures of my angels, develope them so I can send, to show them off for some old friends.
The tree is up and decorated, but all the other decorations are sitting on a coffee table waiting to be appropiately placed.
The kids are quiet, upstairs, Caleb is watching Dora and Amberly is enjoying the time alone in his room with all of his toys. Dora is my Hero. I love her, and Diego and Bob & Larry. They bring peace to a house of chaos. Solitude to a worn out soul.
Tonight I have a ladies Christmas event to attend at church. I'm not sure if I will enjoy myself, I mean, the prep time alone has been un-enjoyable. We have to bring a dessert, a cash donation and a gift from our home that isn't used (DON'T ASK BECAUSE I STILL DON'T GET IT!) but is cherished?!?!? HUH? Anyway, I made some shortbread cookies, I wraped up a video and I'll rob my husband's wallet once he's home!
Tomorrow I'm off for the day with the kids to my parents. I'm giving a day for Dave to do Christmas shopping for his beautiful wife and time for just himself. Sunday is a normal day, and then we're heading into a week with December entering in. From then on, our weekends are booked! Next weekend we're hosting a party for Dave's highschool friends. The week after that is my work's Kids Christmas party as well as Caleb's 3rd Birthday party. Through out the week we've got lunches, planned, more evenings away, and all I can say is Christmas will be at the doorstep before I know it!
Well, it's almost too quiet upstairs. I'm getting a little concerned. I better go and see what those little "angels" have destroyed!

Another Quiet Night

I have a night to myself again. Amberly is sound asleep, and Caleb is watching a Veggie Tale movie before his bed time. Dave is at a poker night with the guys from work. So here I am. Over the past week, I've eliminated the soother from Amberly. Christa hasn't given it to her for months now, and so I thought I might as well go with the flow. I started last Wednesday night. To my surprise, she didn't seem too upset at bedtime. It was her naps that we are still continuing to struggle with. Now I have to go and rub her back until she relaxes enough to go to sleep. I don't know which was better! I feel bad because she's my baby first of all, and I think all babies look cute with their sussies! I kind of feel like I've rushed her out of it. And she's having a rough time cutting these silly eye teeth, and I took her comfort away. But I think we were successful and the tylenol is helping her with her mood swings and fussiness!
Caleb is getting so good at writing out his own name, it's amazing! We dot it first for him to trace, but he does a great job at doing it. Plus he's becoming more and more talkative. He cracks me up. He sometimes copy-cats Dave when Dave is trying to tell me something and it makes me laugh so hard!
Dave happened to have mentioned to me that he "thought he heard that U2 was coming back next summer" and then I discovered on Facebook that Jay got tickets! I was shocked. So I scrambled and started to look for some tickets hoping that there was some left. There was. Not the cheapest ones that I wanted. But I ordered myself 2 tickets. I loved their show so much, that I just couldn't pass it by again. After ordering them, Dave wanted to know who I was going to take, because he wasn't interested in going again! Yikes! So I called up my brother and asked him if he would be willing to spend that kind of money on a night out with his sister. I just might have him convinced! I hope so! It would be so much fun going with him. But I already have a back up plan, Lesa has already jumped at the opportunity if Steve isn't in. I feel the excitment already. July 3, 2010 is pretty far off!
I'm so tired of hearing about the crazy swine flu. The media has everyone paranoid and I am tired of hearing co-workers go on and on, feeding off of every word they hear or read from the media. I dont' know what to do about getting the shot. I'm still confused. But I know what ever decision Dave and I come to, will be the right one for our family. I just hope I don't make any mistakes.
Well, I better go check on my little guy. See what's happening with the Pirates who don't do Anything!

The Year of the Animals!

Well my sweeties were adorable as ever, Caleb as an elephant and Amberly as the skunk! Below are just a few pictures I took of the two of them. I took heaps more, but you know....

We had some friends over in the afternoon for a little Halloween party. We decorated cupcakes, made candy apples and did some colouring. Then after dinner we met up again to go out Trick or Treating. We went to too many houses! We got way too much candy! The sight of it makes me queazy!

One house we went to, had strob lights, and Caleb walked up excited to ring the door bell, and some idiot came out with a big scary mask on and terrified by poor boy. I have never seen him so scared before, he was shaking and screaming! So even though we had an extra hour of sleep last night.....Caleb and I didn't get to enjoy it much. He was up through the night screaming and crying, so I eventually brought him to bed with me, where he slept, but I didn't. By 3am, I took him back to his bed, and that's when I finally got some decent sleep.

It's Just Around The Corner....

It's really hard to believe that October is on it's way out and November is pushing it's way through. December is going to be knocking down the doors before I know it! Why is it, as we get older time flies by faster? I remember as a kid waiting forever for moments or events such as Christmas to arrive, it felt like ions! But now, I hardly find the time to get prepared for such occasions. Maybe it's because I'm just not an organized person. I don't know. All I know is, Christmas is only 8 weeks away!
This morning Dave and I went out to just look at things and start creating a list for possible Christmas gifts for the kids. It was fun. We left the kids with Fern and Mert while we did it. We didn't buy anything, we just browsed. I really enjoyed it. In a couple of weeks is when we plan to conquer the actual purchase of gifts, and hopefully do it in one fell swoop.
I've had a rough couple of days. I don't know, but I seem to have had bad luck follow me lately. Thursday, I was just overly clumsy and found myself getting irritated easily. Friday the kids were from another planet. Amberly is teething and she's very dramitic about it. Everything was very upsetting to her, she cried over everything. Caleb was no help, in fact he made things much worse by taking things from his sister, pushing her over and just being mean. It was just insane. Today has been better, Dave is our miracle, we all seem to have been generally happy in his presence! (Don't tell him that, he might get bigger in the head!)
All is quiet in the house. Kids are sleeping, and Dave is out at his guys night. So I'm here. Enjoying my "me time".
Tomorrow we've got church. Then hopefully the weather will participate a bit and we will head out to the pumpkin farm after naptime to find our pumpkin and take pictures of course! Depending on how it all goes, maybe we'll carve the pumpkin after dinner. I will post pictures of Halloween 2009 next week. Caleb is an elephant this year while Amberly will dawn the next generation of the Little Stinker!

Fall, I love this Season!

Thanksgiving Day. It comes so fast and is gone before we know it. We have had a wonderful weekend so far, and we have one more dinner to attend tonight at Fern and Mert's. Yesterday we spent the day at my parents place. Dave, Denise and I went for a hike on the Bruce Trail while the kids napped. We drove around a bit to see the leaves. Then we played with the kids and had lots to eat later on. We also celebrated my Dad and Steve's birthday days. Lots of fun was had. I haven't posted pictures in awhile. So here are a few. The first one below is of Caleb on the caboose of the Waterloo Region Train. He is currently obsessed with trians, and on this day, he was so excited that he didn't know how to show it. He had a few melt downs and was overly concerned with Amberly and what she was doing (he probably didn't want her to ruin his experience) but he loved it! We took the kids to the Floridale park, where Caleb could throw rocks in the water. This is Amberly on the bridge.

This in the back of Benji's truck. The cousins, having fun (well most of them having fun that is)

This is Dave and I on our hike. It was a great hike too.

And a scenic picture, a long our walk!

I think I hear one of the kids stirring upstairs. We took them for a swim in the new Elmira pool this morning, and it wore us all out! I should have napped too! Oh well, my opportunity is now fading. That's o.k. Bedtime can be early tonight.

My 3 days a week at work is going great! Plus it looks like I'll be busy, as more work opportunities are coming my way, which is exciting. But on the Thursdays and Fridays, I get my housework accomplished, and I get visit with friends and I can have afternoon naps too if I want!

Oh ya, Amberly had her 15 mth. check up on Friday. She is still growing! ha ha ha! She's in the 95th percentile for height and head circumference, but only the 40th for weight. She still at 22lbs. It makes buying clothes for her difficult as she needs the length, but the waists are way too big! Even stretch pants or leggings, fall off of her. I've borrowed a whole set of clothes off of my friend, and I now know which brand of clothing + sizes = Amberly's perfect fit. In stores like Old Navy and Gap, I need bigger sizes, but others like Walmart, Bonnie Togs and Zellars, I need the smaller size. Thank goodness for friends who lend out wardrobes! Just need to get her winter boots, and hats and mitts! Caleb is almost set too, just need a couple of pj's and socks!

That's all for now folks...

Whether it Rains, Whether it Poors...

Where ever I go....I will trust you Lord, in the light of day or in the dark of night....I will trust you Lord with all of my life....
I always think of this song when it's raining out, therefore it's been on my mind for the past week now! Man, is it ever dull out there. But I don't mind it today because I'm home, and my kids are sleeping, and even my husband is home and is sleeping. After this, I may join the crowd!
It's been a long week, but I've managed to have fun. I love working 3 days. It's perfect, and in those days, I get my fill of adult interaction, and laughs until I cry! I love the people I work with and I'm so grateful they enjoy my sarcasim and practical jokes! Love it!
Tomorrow is my big day of biking. I'm not so thrilled that I will probably endure rain, but I'm nervous because I've never biked that far all at once before. I'm sure I'll be fine. Then tomorrow night is bowling. Dave and I joined a bowling leaugue, where I think we are 2 of the youngest people there. In fact the majority of the league could be our parents or even grandparents! It's fun though.
I don't really remember what I got up to the past week, I went swimming twice. Joy invited me along to try aquafit, and the first night I hated it. I didn't feel like I got a work out at all. But then I went back again on Thursday night, and it was a different instructor, and therefore I got much more out of it. I'm not sure I'll do it again, because I think lane swimming pushes me more, but we'll see. Wednesday night I was out for small group, and that was good. Nothing too exciting.
The kids both have colds. But they are just so darn adorable. Amberly is a tornado and gets into everything, but she definately makes up for that in her cuteness. I could just eat her up! Caleb continues to be my perfect angel. He's so gentle and kind hearted. I just love them!
Anyway, I think I'll try to nap before the kids start to stirr.

Crazy Days and Nights!

Well, we're nearing the end of our crazy stretch of events. Some events were big and most of the things are little which made life a little stressful the past few days! The biggest news was U2. Totally had an amazing time, I have a few regrets, the biggest one was leaving my camera at home! So I rely currently on videos on you tube! I actually don't know how to put into words the experience I had. I don't know if it's because I've wanted to see them live for such a long time, or because they are so iconic I don't know. But there was over 60,000 people there, the dome was open we had the CN tower in the back drop, the set was amazing, there was a circular mega-screen above them so no matter where you were, you could see amazingly. Ahhhh, it was just so wonderful. I do know, that next time IF they come back, I'M THERE!!!

Our kids stayed with my parents, so that morning I had to drive them out there, and then to Toronto. The next day I went back to get the kids, but made a day of it and stayed until before dinner. Then yesterday we had a meeting at the bank in the morning, then had a wedding to go to. The kids were shipped to Shannon's for an hour, then to the in-laws for the rest of the time. We didn't get back home from the wedding until after 11pm.

This morning we went to church and then I'm having a nice quiet afternoon. But once the kids are up, we're out the door again for Jaden's birthday party. Come tomorrow, all life will resume as normal....I think.

My First Part Time Week

This is my first official part time week. It was a short one at that. I only had to work Tues. & Wed. Although it was only 2 days, I still seemed to drag my toes while there. Then when today rolled around and I thought that I would have a nice relaxing day, the kids didn't think so much so! I had a plan in my mind what I was going to accomplish, and when. But it didn't work out that way. After dragging Caleb to the van while he was crying about how he wanted trains, we headed to Waterloo for some things. While in public my children were angels, and I'm so glad they were. Once we were back home again, they were playing while I was getting some clean up done, and laundry. Then I made them just a simple lunch and got them fed and put them to bed. Once they were in bed, I sat down and enjoyed some quiet time and a bite to eat. About 1/2 hour later, I got surprised by my parents who "happened to be in the area". That totally made my day. They spent the afternoon and the kids loved having them here. Then after they left, I ran around the house trying to accomplish everything I wanted to. And I was successful. But I am now exhausted!

We had a great long weekend. Saturday we had our friends over for lunch, and then the rest of the day was spent with just us, and then we headed to Bro-Sis-in law's for a bbq supper. On Sunday we got up early and headed to Orangeville where we met Deb, Kathryn, Patrick and the Fessenden's and headed to the fair. I was pretty disappointed with it, they need to cater to children in more ways besides a table of corn and toys, and the outrageously expensive rides! What happened to a good old fashioned petting zoo?? Huh? After we parted ways, we headed back to my parents for the rest of our weekend. We had a great time. We went swimmig in their neighbour's pool, we had my Uncle and Aunt out, we had a campfire and we pitched a tent and slept outside. It was fun!

Although summer is over, Dave and I are still full force ahead with things coming at us left right and centre! This weekend compiles of Caleb going away with the in-laws, our first bowling league night, ladies day to Wonderland with some co-workers(I get a day out from responsibility!) getting Caleb back and other stuff which has left my memorie at the moment. Thursday, I am running the kids out to my parents and coming back only to turn around and head to Toronto with my fabulous husband and seeing U2. I'm so so thrilled about this! Then I will be back to O'ville again Friday to get the kids. Saturday we have a wedding to attend. Baseball party coming, birthday party coming for a friend's daughter, and the list just goes on, I just can't think of anything else at the moment.

Work has been a bit slow, which makes my mind wander and think up things that irritate people. aka prank people. Did you know that a little post-it note on the bottom of the mouse makes it stop working? It does, and I had my co-worker on the phone with I.T. and on her hands and knees under her desk looking at all the wires. She finally resorted to bashing her mouse around like a mad woman when she realized the sticky note there. I'm just waiting to see what wrath will be at my expense soon! I've done a few other things as well, and although I find them extremely amusing myself, I don't know if you would.

Better go and see what everyone is up to.

September is Here

Wow, I can't really tell you where July and August went. They just flew right by. Today was an o.k. start to September. I feel like September is like a new year. I've been thinking of ways to get reorganized, stop procrastinating etc. Because I'm starting only 3 days a week next week, we need to buckle down with expenses and stuff, so being more organized with groceries and meal plans is a priority. And because Christmas season is upon us, plans and ideas for that has begun as well.

You know, I sat down here thinking I would type a nice blog, but now I don't feel like being at the computer at all. I'm tired of looking at a computer. I do it all day at work.

So I apoligize for this crappy read!

Lake Superior-Agawa Bay

I arrived, I survived. Everyone did as a matter of fact. The first day was trying. We drove through the night Thurs-Fri, arriving at the park just after 9am. Sadly we discovered that someone was on our site, and they had until 2pm to get off. So we wasted time. Went to the visitors centre, to the beach and then finally just parked close to our site just waiting for the people to get off. We were all tired, and we all felt like monsters, I'm sure of it. Once we got on and got everything set up, I felt better. I was exhausted, but felt better. Our friends arrived just before dinner and got set up, and we took a dip in the lake after dinner. It was freezing, but I sure felt rejuvenated after that. We all went to bed early. The first night in the tent went surprisingly well. The kids each woke up a couple of times, with a couple of tears, probably from disorientation. But Saturday was great, and it kept getting better as the time went on. The kids all had a blast with each other. We spent most of our time at the water's edge. We had nightly camp fires, where we gained a couple of pounds! Tuesday we headed into Wawa to restock our food and have a hot meal. Caleb was all about the Goose! We ended up packing up on Thursday and headed home because it was a rainy day. The forecast looked like rain into Friday, so we just got a head start. It was a long drive home, about 10 hours, we rolled into my parents place around 12:30am.

Overall we had a wonderful time. Amberly was definately the most work. In fact she is to this day still pooping out sand! Everything was going into her mouth! I'm so glad that I had my brother and Dave there to rely on, otherwise I don't think I would have been able to sit down! Note to all those out there, camping with a 1 year old is tough!

Lake Superior is beautiful, the water is amazing, the sunsets are gorgeous, and the rocks and trees are spectacular. But camping sure puts into perspective how lovely our home is. I took a nice long hot bath before crawling into my soft comfy bed last night. Now that was glorious.

Rock Star Day.

Today at Christa's was Rock Star day, my kids came home with green and pink hair, I totally loved it! Did I mention how much I love Christa???

AND I've totally forgotten to mention, but Amberly is walking! She's been taking a few steps here and there for awhile now, but this past Saturday she's been full on walking, it's like she woke up that day and said to herself "well I guess I'll start walking everywhere now" because it's like the light turned on! She's just so adorable! Couldn't you just kiss her to pieces?!?!

Camping

What a Weekend

I am currently at work, finding rest! This past weekend we went camping with friends to a family trailer park up by Ipperwash beach near Grand Bend. It was nuts. We had 6 children all under 4 yrs of age. Amberly was constantly a mess and dirty and eating dirt, leaves, heck, anything she got her hands on. Caleb had a blast playing with the other kids and going down the water slide that was at the park. We of course had to accompany him down the slide, so I guess that was fun. We were in a tent, and the kids did well sleeping at night. I was concerned about Amberly being cold, she never stays under the covers. But she was o.k. Caleb was excited about his sleeping bag and matress. But I must say now, long gone are the days where camping was relaxing. I need to wait maybe 10 years before I find rest camping! I'm just so tired, but I keep telling myself, we're making memories.... I will post pictures later.

Time still hasn't slowed down much. I am feeling frazzled with things. I still haven't been able to find my groove. I am really hoping that by September things will improve, otherwise there's a burn out just around the corner.

Better get to work....

Don't like this Reality.

My first week back to work was tough. Now that I'm into my second week, I find it even harder. In fact, I spent most of my day yesterday in tears. First of all, I'm in an office, cut off from socializing. I mean, it's nice to have the privilege to have the office, but it's too quiet for my liking. Second, my boss wanted to ease me in the last week, and I spent most of the week biding time, watching the minutes tick on. I was bored. Being bored really made me miss the kids and started me thinking about how I'm going to miss out on them and I just pray that I don't regret this one day. Guilt creeps in on me too. Third, I don't have my usual job back, I will be trained on a few new things and will be filling in for those away. But currently this isn't happening, so I have no work to do. It hit home yesterday and that's why I was so emotional. I felt that I was wasting my time. I come to work to do nothing, all the while I'm missing out on my children. I couldn't justify my reasons for being at work and I got upset. So I cried to my friend Lesa who then urged me to talk to my boss. I did, but I broke down crying to her as well. She understood where I was coming from and ended up giving me my usual work I used to do, by taking it away from some other ladies. I felt so much better once I was doing something I am capable of, and I felt like I was accomplishing things.

The kids are doing well. Last Friday I think Caleb realized that going to Christa's was happening every day because he cried when I had to leave. I hope we don't go through that again, because it just broke my heart. Amberly doesn't seem phased one bit, I guess that's a good thing? I don't know. I totally miss them.

This past weekend we had a big birthday bash for Amberly. My family and Dave's family were over, along with the Leibold's and the weather was awesome, we spent the whole party out on our new deck. We set out a couple of little pools for the kids and they had a blast in them. Amberly was spoiled, she's going to be one well dressed little girl, as most of her gifts were clothes. We bought her a fisher price tea set and the fisher price My First Doll House set. Both her and Caleb sit in her room and play with it. Caleb loves the fact that he can make the Mommy, Daddy and baby all use the toilet! We haven't got first steps from her yet, any day now it will happen. She often stands on her own holding toys and she hurries around the furniture, so I think she's going to be a runner rather than a walker. I better watch out! We also put in a flower bed behind our house this weekend complete with a lilac tree, a cedar tree and some perennials. I'm so happy with it.

The days ahead seem to be quiet ones. We don't even have baseball Thursday night, so I don't know what I'll do! I'm not working Thursday because I'm taking Amberly to her doctor's check up and needles (poor thing!) so that's nice. Tomorrow night I'm going with friends to see My Sister's Keeper, I'm looking forward to that.

Here are a few shots of the birthday girl, my gorgeous one!

Maternity Leave - Gone

Tomorrow I'm heading back to work. I'm overwhelmed with emotions right now. Mostly feeling sad and distant, but I do admit there's a twinge of joy for seeing my friends again. It's going to be really hard. It was hard when I returned to work after having Caleb, but at the same time, I was o.k. because I was pregnant with Amberly and knew there was an end in sight. This time I have no end in sight. Not yet anyway. I'm also feeling a bit of seperation anxiety happening with me and Amberly. She's my baby, my lovey dovey and I'm her comforter. I know she's going to do well with Christa, but there's a part of me who wants to be there for her constantly. I want to be there for both my kids. I know Caleb loves Christa, and this won't be a transition for him much, but it will be a big one for Amberly, Dave and I. I guess I feel a bit guilty for working. I don't know.

This past week we had a really busy week. Tuesday, my parents came for the day, and we enjoyed the morning at Waterloo Park and then my mom and I enjoyed our afternoon of spa pedicures while my Dad stayed with the kids. I played baseball both Monday and Tuesday night, and put myself in a great deal of pain for the rest of the week. We had our deck built on Tuesday as well. I don't really remember what I did on Wednesday. Thursday we got our air conditioning installed, and then I enjoyed every minute with the kids. That night there was baseball, which I didn't partipate in because of my leg, but I went to be the score keeper. Friday morning Caleb got a hair cut, then Dave's parents watched them while I shopped. I got a number of things for work (I guess one perk was getting new clothes!) and some birthday presents for Brooke and Mason. When Dave was home we went out again to a nursery and bought a lilac tree for our backyard, and then shopped in Walmart and Cdn. Tire. Saturday was crazy! I took the kids to a mom and tot's swimming party for the morning, and then got home to put them down for a nap. Then after nap, we were up and out the door again to Rob and Tammy's house (Dave's co-worker Rob) and went swimming again and had dinner. It was a great time, but turned out to be a long day. Today I had to teach the toddlers nursery at church, and then after naps were over we went and celebrated Mason's 4th birthday party. Now we're home, kids are in bed and I'm getting organized for tomorrow. I'll be heading out to water our tree and flowers, and Dave wants to put up our solor lights around the deck. But then it's off to bed.

Voila

Well here it is. The new do! I took the plunge and chopped it all off. It's gone! I like it though, it's light and cool. I will have to go out and purchase a hair dryer and some mousse, but I'm o.k. with that. She also used a straightener, but I don't think I'll need that after blow drying it. We'll see!

I think I want it to look different, because it's a style that is really popular right now, so I think I will also use a curling iron to make it curly sometimes. Originally I debated about getting it chopped like this and then permed, but it was too much money, and I don't want to suffer with the perm growing out. So I can handle a curling iron.

Hair

I'm getting my hair chopped off tomorrow morning. I'm a little uneasy at the thought of it, but at the same time I feel like I'm due for a change. I don't know why I've become so attached to my hair. I was trying to explain to Dave that it's kind of a comfort to me. I always have days where I feel ugly, but I'm resolved by the fact that I have my hair. So I'm a little worried that if getting it chopped off doesn't suit me, then on my "ugly days" I won't have anything at all going for me! I've had my share of "ugly days" the past week and a half, and my eyes are still black! They aren't as bad, but no amount of make-up is going to help the football paint disappear! So then I wonder if I should wait until my eyes are back to normal before I do something drastic with the hair. But with more time, means less chance I will do it in the end. Ahhhh, my mom always says it grows back, and it does. I just have to go with the flow. Stop worrying about! I'll post pictures (maybe)!

Now Look At It!

Yes, it got worse. I ended up visiting emerg yesterday because of my eyes bruising. Telehealth said it was a cause for concern. But I'm fine. Just vain and don't like the way I look! I sure hope this is the worst part and will only get better today and on.