Sponge Bob Scary Pants

Apparently we were able to make Sponge Bob look a little scary ;) It's almost a personal challenge each year to take a cute and innocent costume and make it creepy for Alex. So this year it was either a haunted pumpkin or this ;) In the past he's been a haunted warlock, a haunted crayon, etc...

Hopefully the new baby will want to be a cute little skeleton or bumblebee...or may I dream of a princess? Only time will tell.

H1N1 Vaccinations - Done!

Omigosh, it feels so good to put that worry somewhat behind me. For months, weeks, I’ve agonized over what to do and how we were going to coordinate this as a family. Thankfully after almost a week of persistant phone calls citing my concerns about me being high risk and waiting in the inevitable 4 hour line ups with 700 plus people I managed to get Alex into the prenatal clinic with me with just a 1 hour wait with a whole lot of bellies around. Yes…you read that right, WE'RE FINALLY PREGNANT AGAIN!! :)

To be honest, that’s part of the reason my blog has fell to the wayside. We managed to keep it a secret (well except from some close friends) until Thanksgiving. Mathieu had this GRAND idea to make our family announcement at our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Arghhh… I had to be ultra secretive to find a way to ‘get’ maternity clothes for my birthday from my family without telling them two weeks before. Plus I’ve been uber nauseated, and it’s only ‘controlled’ with Diclectin. I still can’t eat much but at least I don’t feel like being sick all of the time. It was fun trying to avoid food and commitments and people just thinking your flaky...yeah right!

Back to the vaccination clinic, Alex was a real trooper. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to taking him to any needles, it’s been a long time since he’s had one so he’s got ‘that’ apprehension. Factor in a lot of screaming toddlers also being done and he was pretty white in there. He didn’t even blink, said a little ow when they were putting the bandaid on and he was done. He was wiggling around less than me after ;) I was soo proud.

In stitching news, I’ve been on an ornament kick, while waiting for fabric for the two pieces I want to do for the nursery, L&L’s In The Arms of An Angel and Mirabilia’s A Mother’s Bliss. Now that they’ve arrived I really need to figure out which I want to do first :)

Vacation

After a week long vacation I finally feel recharged!! The last Friday in July Alex and I packed up the van and headed north to the Miramichi to visit my parents for the week. The weather finally decided to cooperate and there was only a couple rainy evenings and the rest was glorious sunshine! Despite lots of sunscreen, Alex and I are two of the most golden red heads going :)

It was fun not to have to be 'somewhere' or doing 'something', there were lots of visits to the outdoor pool, the beach in front of my parents home, a nice girls only shopping trip to Moncton, trips to market and a lazy afternoon at the Escuminac beach. I got to the gym, caught up with some old girlfriends that were also vacationing in the area and got to have some great walks and dinners out. I don't think there's any other place in the world I'd take off for a 10k walk at 8 at night to catch up for hours :)

Matt joined us for the last weekend of our stay which was nice. His back wasn't cooperating with doing anything extravagent but who cares. I can veg quite well with my stitching (2 more pieces down) and some books :)

Playing with Pappy

Hiding out in the hole he dug to China...

Catching up with his favorite four legged friend

Involuntarily going for a dip

My view every evening

Nice Surprises

Who doesn't like a nice surprise now and then? I had a little time to check out the Silkweaver site for a new piece of fabric for a pattern I recently picked up and saw that the gallery winners had been announced. I was thrilled to bits to see my Trick or Treat fairy in the finalist, but even more excited to see her in first place, you could have pinched me! I love the way she turned out but to actually win, wow. I'm going to have soo much fun picking out my prize :)

If The Shoe Fits...

Buy it! In my case anyway ;) My feet are a blessing and a curse. I love strappy little shoes, but my feet are far too wide for 80% of what's out there, that's still affordable. It's a pain to find something, but it saves me from being a shoe hog. Maybe this is why I prefer to be barefoot quite often? :)

Well, after a very busy weekend due to a family wedding I was left with just a couple hours on Sunday to pick up my groceries at the local Coop and check a sports store for their remaining bicycle stock. Well it must have been my lucky days as I picked up two awesome deals.

First:

Nike Impax PTU's on clearance (except mine are in a lovely purple)

Ok, maybe not as flashy as I usually get, but the were a heck of alot cheaper than the Shox I have been pricing for the last couple of months. It wasn't looking good, there was one box on the table and they were an 8. Thankfully Nike's sizing is horribly inconsistant (I've worn every thing from an 8 to a 9.5) but low and behold, they fit! My walking sneakers at work are just about toast and my indoor aerobic shoes have lost their springyness in the ball of the foot and were ready to be designated as outdoor walking so the timing was perfect.

So after picking them up and some groceries I popped by a sports store to see if they had bikes and low and behold when I walked in they had these on clearance and in my size!

Omigosh, they are soo comfy! Bonus, my hoof isn't hanging over the side. If only I'd found these before the wedding I went to on the weekend as my feet are still getting over the shoes I wore to that. These even go perfectly with the skirt I bought! My husband actually complimented me on my shoes (he's not a croc fan) and even a couple of coworkers commented on them and were shocked when I said they were crocs (one of these was even a male!)

Now if only a pretty pair of winter boots would pop up for say 30$, that's not too much to ask right?

Going To The Birds

I love animals, I'm just scared to death of anything non cat/dog. So imagine my surprise when I walked down the four flights of stairs in our work's parking garage half asleep to have a raven fly up near me. Eep! After first contact I didn't see it below and ran to the door, well I found it again. I shreiked! All I could think of was it landing on me, or crapping on me. Needless to say I took the first available door out and snaked out. This must have been very amusing to the offices across the street as the stairs are fully windowed. All this just a couple of weeks after I left my van windows open for about an hour to air it out, only to drive to work the next day and find a bird had flown through and did it's business on my dash. That's NEVER happened before. Eww. I'm telling you, life's going to the birds :)

Reconnecting

It's amazing how much being comfortable with where your child is staying can affect your ability to reconnect with your significant other. We haven't had much luck in the evening/weekend babysitter department so we got used to being a unit of 3 all of the time. We've had alone time other than camp but it always hasn't worked out as well. Needless to say I was a bit nervous with the thought of Alex being gone for more than the 3 days earlier this summer that was disastrous. If I know he's going to be truly happy I'm soo much more at ease.

This week has been great, we've had the guilt free time to do alot of little projects in and around the house. I've taken a break from cooking so we had lots of time to talk uniterrupted over delicious meals out and we've vegged out watching adult content movies without worrying what impressionable ears might be listenning. Our extended alone time has definitely been positive in helping us prepare for an upcoming wedding this weekend and casually hash out issues. The only other place I'm that comfortable sending my son is my parents home, he begs to go there without me continually.

So I'm counting down the hours until I get to pick Alex up tonight, time alone with Matt was great while it lasted but I'm eager to get some monkey hugs and kisses this evening. :)

Pretty Things

In my blogging absence, Eleni has introduced me to the world of jewellry making. I'm not a die hard convert, you probably won't find a huge stash in my home but it is nice to know suppliers, skills, etc to build the sparkly bobbles you see in the downtown boutiques to make for yourself. Again, I'm not a big jewellry person and tend to save up for big pieces (diamonds are a girls best friend after all) and well after browsing one boutique that was selling a set of earrings atleast 5 times the cost to make them, I found myself motivated.

So...I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the materials for the following bracelet that I adore, except in purples, silvers and minus the gaudy charm and a clasp that's more me (ie: star shaped) .

I dunno, for me it works. It's random enough to not look like just a set of beads on a string but also not 'out there' enough to look like my nine year old was playing in my craft room, two qualities that have kind of held me back from jewellry making. So, when the mats arrive and are assembled hopefully I'll have something pretty to show, if my purple subsitutions aren't to garish ;)

Lazy Days of Summer

Inadvertantly taking some time off does wonders for wanting to resume blogging. With the renovations drawing to a close for this year and the house in much better shape than it was with a defined easy to maintain schedule set it allows for a lot more freedom in activity. There is no more nagging guilt that something else needs to be done. Sure there are the nooks and crannies that could still be decluttered more but in the grand scheme of they are small manageable tasks that can be dealt with now that there isn’t a backlog :)

So for renovations in 2009:
New laminate, paint, doors, closets, moldings, hardware for Alex’s room and the computer room
Fresh coat of paint on the deckings of our two decks (I curse the previous owners for this every year)
New shrubs to fill in our back flower bed.
New kitchen faucet
New pulls in bathroom and finish restored on cabinet, existing mirrors painted.

We’re still wrapping up replacing our heaters in the upstairs and putting in modern light switches (I loathe our current ones)

If I could wish for one last thing it would be to have the border removed and the kitchen/dining room repainted before we put in the new heater. We purchased a convection heater and the space that the baseboard sits probably has the pre blue paint….and as much as I detest the blue it’s a step up from the old colour!

One of these days the house will be exactly how we want it. ;)

Crafting wise I’ve been getting back into stitching. I do need to par down my stash though, some of it I’ll never use or it no longer suits my taste and I need to review what scrapbooking materials I’m going to keep. I’m hooked on digital scrapbooking and the beautiful bindings, and compact storage are definitely bonuses. I can definitely use up my existing supplies on cards and tags so that’s not a worry. I have two of my current books up at http://kscott77.shutterfly.com to check out.

I have been getting back into stitching. I have some projects that currently can’t be shared but they have been great gateways to restoring my interest in it again. Although I must admit, I have really rediscovered my joy of reading which does cut into this. It was so hard when Alex was young to get enough undisturbed time to read, stitching I could pick up and put down or watch a movie with him, reading not so much.

In other events we celebrated both Dad turning 60 and Alex turning 9 in June, very exciting time. We also took our first family out of province trip to Prince Edward Island which was a blast and far too short. Alex went for a sleepover on one side of the family and is off to camp this week. He’s counting down to our trip to the Miramichi and hoping to sneak off alone there later this summer.

Be sure to check out my Shutterfly site for some of the photo updates from the past little while. I highly recommend this business as their products are fantastic, shipping is reasonable and quite fast considering their location. Until next time…

Some Finishes

Omigosh, I'm soo bad at blogging lately. Apparently running three nights straight for Alex-tivities, working full time, renos and landscape/gardenning will do that ;) But not to fear, my needle has actually been near ;) Although to be truthful I've been more on a fitness/reading kick (obviously not at the same time)

A little exchange prezzie for a dear friend :)

SB's Fright Night, finally a finish!!

Tidbits

Omigosh, I want this reno to be over! It really zaps the life out of my stitching ;) I can honestly say I haven't picked up my SB piece since I went back to work. Who'd want to get dust on those lovely silks ;) Plus after you've been sanding and painting most nights who'd want to do more crafty stuff? However the end is in sight. All mouldings (excluding the exterior wall baseboard as we're waiting on an electrician) are up. I love the look of the boston headers in the two rooms that we did. However my dh filled the nail holes before I could get a picture so I'll have to wait to take a picture.

In other goings on, I took advantage of Matt's basketball tournament up north to take Alex for a quick jaunt across the border. The boy kind of has a skewed idea about international travel, because two of his uncles live abroad he thinks he's entitled to travel whenever and wherever he wants, ha! So I took him to this little 'town' in Maine where he doesn't 'remember' his last trip as an infant. Well, you'd think I'd taken him to Disney instead of a town that exists solely because there is a Walmart and a grocery store. lol. It was quite funny watching my quite well educated almost 9 year old going completely nuts.

Upon getting about 10 seconds away from the border "It's sooo beautiful"
20 seconds later "Can we go to Ruby Tuesdays"...45 minutes from where we were going, no thanks
Upon jumping out of the van "I've finally arrived and I'm now touching the United States"
Upon seeing a crow fly off of Walmart "Look Mom, a bald eagle"
Less than 30 seconds into Walmart "Do you think we'll see Jon & Kate plus eight here?"

So much for blending in ;) We picked up some of our favorite groceries that we can't get in Canada, Alex begged and pleaded his way into getting a Star Wars figure we haven't seen around here, had a treat of some Friendly's sundaes to go and headed back. I was not looking forward to crossing the border, our enterance into the US was not smooth, between my birth certificate faulter (the town I was born in no longer exists since it merged into a city 14 years ago) and the fact I was crossing the border without Matt with Alex in tow (and I'd forgotten my wedding band at home) lead to a nice search of the van. Oye. However, getting back into Canada was quite smooth, the border guard got a good laugh out of my stock pile of Crystal Light flavors on my receipts and Alex's one toy. Needless to say every day since Alex has been inquiring as to when he can go back.

Also since the last time I blogged we ended up staying put for Easter again and it was wonderful :) It's soo much more fun to spend holidays in your own home. Also, I was quite pleased that a package I'd prepared had arrived. I'll have to post a picture of it's stitched content when I get home :)

Other than that, we're back into crazy season with basketball and karate taking up three consecutive nights in a row. At least there will be plenty of opportunities to read and get out walking ;)

Sweet Georgia Brown

Wow, where did March go? Well, I guess I could answer that. Renos, travelling, then entertaining the inlaws and stress due to impending civil service cuts apparently wore me down enough to turn the cold that rocked our house and my office into full blown pneumonia. Eventhough I had no energy and had looked better, I don't think I'd do well on long term bedrest as the 5 days mandated by the doctor had me ready to crawl the walls. I got a little stitching in on SB's Into the Night, finished another ornament and mainly read...Matt rented me quite a few movies, and I think we firmly established what movies are and aren't my genre ;)

The two rooms we've been working on are nearing completion, hopefully this weekend they'll be done so I can truly have a 5 day break over the easter holiday. Then I can go back to organizing and purging my craft room :)

Last night we went for an early treat for Matt's upcoming birthday...a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters! Needless to say they don't 'give' tickets away anymore. One middle of the road ticket alone was about what we paid for two courtside 20 years ago. Alex LOVED it! He's been begging us ever since to take him when they come again. Normally I wouldn't spend that much on an 'event' but when they only come around every 5-10 years...well he won't be a 'kid' then. Not that Matt and I weren't enjoying the show as much as the first time we saw it back in the late 80's :) This marked my 3rd time going and definitely not my last. This time around there was a really neat autograph sesssion that lasted 30 minutes and the kids could circulate around and get what signatures they wanted. Alex managed to get the entire team, the announcer and Globey the mascot with 2 minutes to spare. We also got this pic as a reminder of a really fun family evening!

March Break

Ahh...finally a day off. I didn't take the traditional March break off this year. We've been saving our vacation time for if/when we go down south so I just had my three flex days that I'd been banking. So...Alex got to do what he's always wanted to, head to his Grammie and Pappy's on his own. He's soo much better adjusted than I was at his age, or maybe I'm that terrible he wants to get away ;) When I called him Monday it was like 'mom...why are you calling', but I know he's having a good time. I'm hoping to join him tomorrow, weather and health permitting.

In his absense we've been getting the final preparations in for the last part of the reno 'push' for the two rooms we tore apart. My first day of vacation involved alot of choice words and painting. It reminded my of just how much I hate being 'hovered' over, it puts me in a little Ally McBeal kind of place where I can comically think of 'accidentally' head butting someone. Yes, I'm new to painting but my gawd, I don't need to be looked over >:( It does not bring out the best in me that's for certain ;)

After painting wrapped up for the evening I got to use up some of the excess paint and complete a little project I've been gathering materials for, and have had in my head for a little while. Alex has been wanting a dragon room, and while I've been stitching a number of them for that I kind of wanted something a little 'extra so I played around with some of my former scrapbooking materials and voila...now hopefully it's not too girly. At least it was a good excuse to use up some of the leftover paint from his room reno ;)

Pics

Alex's Belated Christmas gift:A paper ornament to be backed (hard to see with the reflection of the metallic though...):

My WIP:
One definitely in need of ironing...: And last but not least...my gorgeous exchange ornament from Shannon!!:

Starting Your Weekend Off With A Bang!

They say things come in threes...well, my beloved flat iron decided to die, I was greated with a piece of falling weather stripping Friday and when I returned home the boys had literally blown up the microwave, it probably wasn't the best day to have taken advantage of a super duper deal on a bed in a bag for the guestroom ;)

So we spent Friday checking out microwaves with what little time we had after basketball and it was discouraging. We're not big nukers, we nuke our lunches at work and our system for leftovers is pretty much, if it's nukeable, it's for lunches. The prices we were looking at for stainless steel was getting up near 200 for something we don't use too often. Then our first stop Saturday was Sears and that openned up the over the stove debate, which would be significantly more and involved changing the height of one/all of our cabinets, wiring, retrimming, painting and an appliance that is much bigger than our needs with a very big pricetag. Thankfully our next stop was HomeDepot (our new home away from home) and there was the baby, same brand as before, stainless steel and cheaper than any of the white ones we'd come across. Yay! But like any HomeDepot trip it turned into a, let's look at knobs, lets look at this or that. Thankfully there was also a mouldings seminar going on and Matt got to watch someone building the Boston headers I want to put on the doors :) Not as bad as some people were making it up to be :) So we left there with a microwave, knobs for the two doors we're replacing and handles for the closets. It's progress. I should also be transferring some pics that mom took of the rooms so far to the blog soon. :)

Sunday I scored a deal on a new digital camera. Mine went AWOL over the holidays and after tearing houses apart looking for it I bit the bullet and bought a new one. Missing pictures of my son is just not worth waiting out for it to show up. On the flip side the boys would love a camera to play around with and having one designated for camping and stuff isn't such a bad idea ;) So I should be able to post some pics of my finished projects for 2009 and a gorgeous exchange ornament really soon :)

My Own Worst Enemy

Is the week almost over?

I get up this morning, it's chilly, I put on my nice warm fuzzy green 'chenille' sweater. Love it to death but it sheds so I save it for cold days. I look great...until I go wash my hands in the florescent lights at the office and apparently one of the places it's shed? Boob level. What colour is my bra today, white. Can I throw my cardigan over it? No it's long. See? I don't need people to assist me in having a bad day, I can do it all on my own ;)

Kindness of Strangers

I must have taken a cue from Alex's Wish Upon a Star stitched piece as it worked! Monday, after a weekend of a head cold and a headache that came and went (at least it wasn't a migraine), I had no energy to deal with the snowstorm or getting my vehicle out. DH was in 'company man' mode and not dealing with the mess in the driveway, if he'd spent half as much attention the the driveway as he did the deck over the lunch hour I could of gotten out. >:( I seriously thought he was joking when he told me I should go shovel, I mean I'm home sick, I feel like crap, I'm not eating, it's not like I was doing anything I even like to do, but at 8 it still wasn't done. So I went out, and shovelled , I was so mad and frustrated I threw down the shovel at one point to take a deep breath and looked up. The area we live in has a beautiful unobscured view of the stars and they are particularly beautiful during the winter. Sure enough did I not see a shooting one? I'm not big on wishing but I did, not for the lotto, not for alot of things I'd like or want to change in my life, just a little help. I quit shovelling when I got the halfway point. Eventually Matt cleared out enough room for him to get out and I made it to work the next day, definitely not the nice recharge batteries kind of sick day that's for certain.

Tuesday was just a day in the crapper on pretty much every level, work sucked, marriage sucked, in fact as soon as I put everything in the washers I jammied up, curled up in bed and was chatting on the phone. DH comes in 20 minutes later and asks me if I'd paid someone to clear out the driveway as apparently there was a 4 wheeler plowing us out. Apparently a guy a street over saw me shovelling out the mailbox when I got home from work and noticed how narrow our driveway was (we can fit at least 5 car lengths, if not more so well...it's a long haul so the path was as skinny as possible), anyway, he was bored and decided to go play with his 4 wheeler. I almost burst into tears.

I guess some wishes do come true.

Baskets, Renos and Happy Dances

Hooray, after many weeks of practice, a team committed to getting the result and lots of cheering and clapping...Alex made his first basket in Friday's game!!! Championship wins, top scoring, or any other award I received in the 10+ years I played pale in comparison in how truly elated it was to watch him score in a house league game.

Things have been hectic around the house, hence my lack of blogging. Alex's little sick event before christmas required the removal of the floor in his room which was started over the holidays, and snowballed in my absence as my DH did not stick to the plan and removed mouldings with no intention of putting them back up and doorways as well. Throw in him thinking the two 'children's' rooms should have matching flooring and me wanting to paint One room...later snowballing into him wanting the current office painted as well....well it doesn't leave alot of time for anything too exciting. We did run into a bit of downtime after Alex went back to school, we couldn't very well fire up the mitre saw in the neighboring room after 7:30, plus the pc's were offline as we weren't clogging them up with dust. Oye! Through in some major decluttering and it's a wonder I finished Alex's dragon (DD's Wish Upon A Star)

So, as for the rooms they are now primed, painted, have new laminate replacing the carpet and updated switches, thermostats and recepticles, now they just lack doors and trim...and Matt has yet to install the new heater. I think I'm almost on a first name basis with the paint desk and Home Depot and the Electrical section at Kents, lol.

I'm still trying to decide on my next stitching project, restarting In The Arms of An Angel is looking very promising for 2009 but goodness only knows ;)

Tis The Season For Exchanging

After being completed for months I can finally share my Christmas exchange ornament as it's found it's way into it's intended home.

To add to our Christmas excitement, Wednesday Alex's Boys Choir performed at the Premier's Open House at Centennial Place. It was sooo nice. I'm seriously contemplating skipping his school concert next year and simply going to see him sing there. No crazy non working family members that show up hours+++++ in advance so their husbands can waltz in at the last minute for a front row seat for his lazy a** to compete with. It burns my biscuits that I make the effort to leave almost an hour early and still get stuck in the back. Anyway, I got to see Alex sing for 30 minutes without any competition for space or pictures (much better than an hour and maybe seeing him sing 3 times, now that he's in the choir). Then the boys were escorted up to the Premier's office to sing their rendition of Rudolph, and my son was just so darn cute he actually got a picture taken with the Premier himself.

It was honestly what I needed to brighten my Christmas spirit. It hit an all time low Tuesday. Shock doesn't even begin to describe what state I was in after I got the list of victim's in a fatal crash back home. I'm sitting there reading Facebook status's looking at the surname's and as mom's listing off their first names I was still sitting there hoping one of them was the survivor in the list. One was a neighbor, and was one of the involved parents that you sat back and admired, the one with the big wave and smile no matter where you passed him. Another was a classmate who would alway liven up any Church server's get together (think co ed alter 'boys') and youth group with his mischievious ways. He was one of the faces you'd expect to see at Christmas eve service no matter how old we ever got and just seemed to beam as his own family grew. While I didn't know the third personally, his wife was in my class and one of the sweetest people you could meet. It absolutely breaks my heart thinking of what she will go through with her two young daughters in the future. Six children left fatherless, two celebrating their first Christmas's without their fathers, sad just doesn't seem to cut it. :(

Deck the Halls...With Norwolk Virus

Oye, what a wild couple of days...well weeks it's been and the last two days have topped it off. We had our staff Christmas party Saturday evening and I woke up a little worse for the wear ;) However, that passed but later that evening I couldn't even look at supper, which was probably a good thing. Alex woke up Monday morning and was just dancing outside the bathroom door. He was in no state to be transported so it required staying home (which wasn't soo bad as I was queasy), he started to feel better but then I was up with him early+++ scrubbing floors, bedding, bathroom linens, you name it. Ewww... Sad thing is today was his christmas concert and he's been practicing for months with the boys choir. He was soo looking forward to singing and I was really looking forward to watching him. At least his choir sings next week at the Premier's open house so I'll be sneaking over to listen.

November? Now where did that go. I was dreading it, loathing the thought of 5 days of travelling back and forth to Sussex for work. With Matt's commuting situation I don't get alot of help around the house and getting back into town at dinner time was very draining, along with doing all of the other chores and running around. I had one weekend booked off to recoup but that quickly got snatched up with an unexpected cancer diagnosis (early) on the other side of the family and trying to be supportive of my other half even though that whole situation leaves me in some strange limbo. Throw in some Fifth's Disease, a Christmas Bazarre, attempting to get the house ready for Christmas, the whole nine yards and well, I'm pooped! However I did get to sneak away for one glorious day of stitching at Faith Ann's and as soon as I locate my camera's batteries I'll take a pic of my new pinkeep ornament. :)