Waiting for the school bus.

Usually Buppa takes Smudge to the school bus stop while JJ and I finish up breakfast and putter around the kitchen. It was such a nice sunny, warm morning the other day, we all enjoyed going out to wait for the bus on the front porch.

Adventure in the park

One sunny afternoon during Winter Break week we found ourselves at the park for a picnic. There was still lots of snow around, but warms temps and sunshine made it a perfect day for a picnic.
There was a neat play area where the kids could swing...and slide, but guess what they wanted to do more than play on the equipment...
climb trees!!! JJ watched intently while Sister gave it a go...
then he wanted to try too. Good old Amma had to give him a helping hand to get started...
but soon he was confident enough to hang on all by himself and even turn to wave at Buppa for a picture.
I think he was contemplating how he could get even higher in the tree, but settled for staying where he was seeing as Amma couldn't reach any higher.

Who's hopping around my house?

Looks like the Easter Bunny to me!

Happy Birthday Amma

Lots of hugs and smiles were shared at my BD party on the weekend.
AC was still under the weather with this damnable cold bug we have both been fighting, but happily joined in on the family fun for the party.
D1, make a delicious lunch for her old mom...and then it was time for cake and ice cream.
As you can see from the picture below I was a tad surprised when I saw the cake.
It was the biggest cupcake-cake I have ever seen, and I am sure there was enough icing on it for two or three more cakes. The kids thought it was a pretty fantastic cake and soon got their fingers in the icing...the rascals. As soon as I got in the door they were telling me how I had a pink cake with a huge bump in it. What a hoot.
We lit the candles many times, and sang many renditions of Happy Birthday to you before we cut into the pink concoction.
Although the cake looked pretty, it didn't taste very good. Sigh! The bottom was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and the top was white cake with pink frosting. The chocolate cake was bitter and very dry, and the white cake was...hmmm...what was it...dry and....tasteless.

AC wanted to have a special cake for my 65th BD, so went to a new cupcake shop in town that guaranteed all natural ingredients. I don't like the BD cakes you get in most stores these days, with the oily, fake icing, so AC always has fits when it comes time to buy me a BD cake. When we saw this new bakery, AC thought this would be the perfect spot to get the cake for my party this year. Well, it sure was pretty, but we won't be going back there for another birthday cake....ever!

It was a very memorable cake, but won't be repeatable. Nope, not repeatable.

Joy

During winter break week we took the kids on lots of outings. It was fun for all of us, but I think JJ enjoyed himself most of all. Even the trip to the park was full of excitement for him.

And the fun begins...

Even more fun...

Downright having a blast!

Crazy hair day at school

I did my best to give Smudge a creative do for her Crazy Hair Day at school.



It was crazy all right, but I think JJ will win - hands down - any crazy hair day contests at school when it is his turn.

Robin Hood starts his day...

...with a healthy breakfast, and he likes to help Amma prepare the feast..
Weetabix and banana are on the menu this morning...
and after he has chowed down...
he has lots of energy to take up his bow and arrow and fight the bad guys.

Afternoon with blogging friends

What fun to meet blogging friends for lunch last week. We always have such a good time when we get together. Lorna shares my love of all things sparkly...
so the Pride ring I made for her was a big hit.
Lunch was delicious...
conversation stimulating, and the afternoon delightful.
Let's do it again real soon.

Foofy hair

Some mornings when JJ gets up his hair makes us laugh right out loud. It really has a party while he sleeps. He doesn't seem to mind it now, but oh those teenage years might be tough.

Surprise!

Last weekend, the beginning of winter break week, AC decided that we should go out for breakfast to start the holiday week off right. To my surprise, the kids were also at the restaurant. What a coincidence, or so I thought. I later discovered it was no coincidence at all, it was all planned to help me celebrate my BD with an early BD surprise. I was totally shocked.

Before breakfast arrived I was presented with a beautiful file folder full of papers. I had no idea what was inside. This was on the top of the pile...hmmmmm...what could it be?
Ever since we moved into this townhouse almost seven years ago now, I have needed a new dishwasher. The ugly old black rattletrap seen below, did wash the dishes - sort of - but the door didn't close properly and needed almost super human strength to make it latch. I knew it would have to be replaced eventually, but kept hoping I would get one more wash out of it, before doing so. Each year we seemed to have other more pressing things, like roofs, furnaces, fences etc that needed to be tended to before I got a new dishwasher.

In the old dishwasher, the trays kept coming off the rollers, but I could adjust them easily. The front panel fell off, but a bit of tape put that right. At least it wasn't leaking, and if I rinsed the dishes thoroughly it sort of got them clean. Just recently though, the seal around the inner door disintegrated and I knew that was it, I couldn't make it limp along any longer. We had to replace it, but the clothes dryer gave up the ghost, and had to be replaced first. OK, I could live without a dishwasher. Sigh!

The kids decided that they didn't want me to do that, and surprised me with a new dishwasher for my BD (MD, Anniversary, and FD). How exciting!
I taped the pictures of the new dishwasher on the front of the old one, and anxiously awaited delivery this week.
Ah, isn't she a beauty?
Thanks guys, I love it!

March Break

Yes, it is March Break this week, so Smudge isn't in school. That means that we have two kids to entertain for the day instead of one...better take some extra vitamins this week so I can keep up.

Don't know how much blogging I will get done at the end of these busy days, so you might not hear from me again until next week.
At least lots of sunshine and mild temps are called for this week, so we should be able to get outside a lot. Hope so anyway.

See you next week.

On the job...

Yes, JJ is always on the job. On this day he was chopping down this huge tree that looked remarkably like a coffee table.
He worked diligently and carefully, and finally felled the monstrous tree.

Hat Day

Today was Hat-Day at school, and instead of wearing her favorite hat, Smudge wanted to wear her most flamboyant one.



Daddy had to get into the spirit of the day too.
(Does this hat look familiar S.A.M and Paul the M?)

Changes...

Yes, we have had lots of changes around here lately. It started with us needing a new bed, and that trickled all the way down to JJ moving from a crib to a regular bed. Such a big step for him. We moved our old bed to the guest room, the guest room bed to Smudge's room, and Smudge's bed to JJ's room. As you can see in the pics below, he was more than pleased with his big-boy bed.

He was certainly all smiles when we went over to see it the other morning.

His room is small, but once the change table and rocking chair are moved out, he will have lots of room for a wall unit to store all his stuff.
Sister got a new bed too, and she is not sure if she is happy about that or not. She doesn't like change, so it will take her a while to settle in and accept the new big bed. Lots of room for sleep-overs now.
She also got a new bookcase, and quite likes it.
Our new bed came today, so hopefully the old ones and the young ones all get a good sleep tonight. Nighty-nite....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Forgot my camera...

I forgot to bring my camera home from the kid's place today so can't treat you to the most recent pics this morning. Sorry. Here are a couple of older ones to tide you over for today.

The smile that lights up the room.
Concentrating on some beadwork.
Talk to you again tomorrow.