YES PEOPLE!!! The raspberries are here!!!

In other news...

My sis (nice neck tendons by the way) threw one rockin party! It was a blast, complete with water ballon fights, hula hoop contests, egg in a spoon and 3 legged races. I love how much fun our family is, and that we don't just sit around sipping coffee and chit chatting about fluff (although it's fun when we do that too, like the other night my sis and I went out for nachos with my mom and aunt, and laughed our bums off about the time my mom found her panties on the road, and the time my sis tripped on her feet on stage in front of tons of people at my cousins wedding)

My poor son was out of sorts all evening. I'm not sure if it was one too many tumbles on the play structure, too many strangers, new teeth or a combo of all, but had a rough night.

My baby is becoming such a toddler, no more baby :( The other day I found him hiding in his closet, with a stick of glue he found in the craft box, rubbing it all over his face. All I can say is "it starts...." as he is now young and silly enough to do dumb things like putting glue all over his face, but smart enough to hide quietly in his closet. Oy....

So we FINALLY got our new couch to match the matching love seat we've been sitting on for months. We ordered these couches back in March, and have been waiting for the couch since. It was such a wicked sale, that they were put on back order, and the distributor couldn't keep up. But they were indeed worth the wait!

However.... my wonderful, amazing, beautiful and very loved son.... grabbed a pen in the few seconds I wasn't looking, and wrote across every single cushion with a pen.

Yep, ink.

So after I threw him in bed to assure I didn't murder him and make it look like an accident, I went at it with a damp cloth.

Nothing.

Spray and Wash on a Q-tip.

Nothing.

Special cleaner that came with the couch....

Nothing.

On the phone with hubby, freaking out, typical hubby being calm and cool and trying to help me be the same, is suggesting other things to try, as he sifts through Google trying to find what gets ink off leather. He suggests hairspray.

Nothing.

Wife is completely overreacting, and thinking the world is coming to an end, and even if we cash in on the "care package" that we paid extra for, that guarantees us a new couch if ANYTHING goes wrong in the first 5 years (including a son taking a pen to it), I'm thinking, so if we order a new couch now....we'll get it when? Next Janurary?

Hubby now suggests cologne, but says there's a possibility it might change the color of darker leather in the process.

I try....

It's coming off!

Oh wait....

It's leaving a mark!!!!

Me: "Hubby, I'm freaking, I don't think I can handle this job, can you take care of it when you get home? I'm freaking."

Hubby: "Yes I'll handle it when I get home, just leave it."

Wife calms down, and eventually gets the rest of the ink off. Hubby comes home and wife is unable to show him the marks that she swears are there and swears she can see.

She admits there's nothing there, and life goes on.

Untitled

We celebrated Dominic's first birthday with family on the weekend.

Happy B-day buddy!




My hubby and I found this super cute "Skelanimal" for him named Marcy the dead monkey. The caption on the side of the box is "because dead animals need love too....." and on the other side, "if you're warm, hug me!" My hubby and I loved it right away.
I laughed as we drove away from the gothic store with the dead monkey in hand. I think it's so neat how based on the loved ones in your life and what's important to them, you grow to appreiciate things you might not have before. I can't say I would've thought a dead monkey for a child was cute, before becoming close with my brother in law and his girlfriend.

But.... monkey dead or alive, Dominic was a typical kid, choosing a plastic toy casing as his favorite birthday toy.

An afternoon trip to Beaver Creek, a bite on the big toe by a red ant, a frog in a jar, and a trail of SunChips left behind (*blush*).

-So I've been washing the same load of towels for weeks now, as they keep getting forgotten about over and over. The easiest thing to wash and dry and put away, has become my nemesis. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, they reign over me, mold and all.

-I highly applaude myself for all the new baby signs I've taught my son. My well mannered little boy says please and thank-you, flower, movie, baby, all done, all gone, bye bye, and more. He now calls me and my hubby "Ma" and "Da", but that's as far as it goes. He's the smartest and funniest kid ever, the two things I need to keep in the forefront of my thoughts when he's driving me mentally insane in the membrane.

-I'm going to be getting up bright and early with my hubby this week to do my workouts then. I'm really looking forward to it, the morning routine will be good for me, as I've been out of any sort of routine since school finished. I've always had this deep burning desire to be showered and ready before my kids wake up, but morning always comes too soon. As long as my hubby is up I should be ok.

I don't even know what else to say.... I just feel like I haven't blogged in a while, and I like it when other people update their blog, and I want to be liked.

this post took way too long

Friday the D's M's and W's gathered for one last BBQ before my aunt and uncle move and embark on the condo-life. I shed a couple of tears..... *sniff* Bye house!

My Auntie Laurie...

I aspire to be as good a host as her, she is amazing

Precious Dr. Holly...

who loves me despite my rotten tooth, and joined me and my sis at my place for a sushi making party yesterday! My sis and I were only able to have one wasabi showdown, before the weirdness of the sushi took over my sis's judgement.



Classic Father figure...

The amazing caramel-apple pie my sis and I should not have shared...

(both got bloated and gassy.... too much info? Too bad it's my blog)

The cousins...

The sisters....

Uncle Denis working hard at the grill....

Supper was awesome

My cousin of many unusual talents...

Unicylcing, juggling, juggling things on fire, pro dancing... An all-around very neat guy

Update:

Spending lots of time outside and lovin it. Looking forward to my raspberries!

they still look like little droplets of poop, but....

soon and very soon I said soon and very soon!

soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!

(anyone who knows this song gets a prize)

(Sarah you don't count)

Hair:
A miraculous toy God gave me to play with.
How people can leave their hair the same all the time is beyond me.






Fun at Kinsmen Park

Baby's first boat ride with Grandpa and Daddy!


My son:
Still isn't talking...... at all. Not worried, although it would be nice to hear him speak. He said "YO" today, does this count as a word? Maybe all this time we've been giving him nerd words, maybe he really only speaks "hommie".


My daughter:
Is away at day camp this week with her cousin Isaiah. Today was her first day and she came home with tons to share. She's loving it and is looking forward to the rest of the activities planned for this week.


My hubby:
Rocks.


Me:
So done with this post.

"HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!"

Best sisters.

"why am I here?"

My granny, who's in town from Winnipeg.

I know it may look like there's Bailey's in that cup, but really, it's just coffee
My mom, who was given a hard time for bringing a toothbrush and liquid tylenol (just in case), and wiping the kids with bounce sheets.

My friend and her family were brave enough to join us again this year.

My son..... the hardest one in the riff-raff to police, note the leash.

You're gonna have to lean over a heck of a lot more to get out of this pic Bonnie!
My sister's sister in law and her boyfriend, and my sis's mom in law.

love love love
My cousin and his leading lady.

once people starting setting off fireworks in the crowd, he was no longer hard to police, as he spent the rest of the evening with his face in his Dada's chest.

AW!

Peace out Hommies!

Schoooooool's out

for Sum-Mah!

Schooooool's out

for Ev-Ah!

good times

My anniversary supper, made by my personal take-home-chef: my hubby of many talents....

Does my neck look all giraffish?

Appetizer: spinach dip in a bread bowl

Main course: creamy broccoli stuffed chicken breasts

Dessert: Skor bar cake with whipped cream and strawberries

As you can imagine, I was very impressed. It got me wondering if there was anything that my husband could'nt do. I really thought about it, and was stumped. Of course my humble hubby tried spitting out answers, but it was obvious, he is,
Superman.

So our weekend was wonderful. My daughter was away at the lake with her dad, stepmom and sister, having a blast swimming, boating and going to the clubhouse for candy. While we too made the most of the sunny days here, spending most of our time outside. I'm proud to say my skin is officially sunkissed.

It's so nice to enjoy the outdoors so much more now. I love walking around and heading to all the neat things going on in the city. I'm so blessed that my hubby has been such a good influence on me in that way. Other years I would just want to sit in the sun and do nothing, other can catch some good ol' heat stroke. I am still a sucker for sun bathing though, don't get me wrong ;)

My sister came over last night for a visit, and we had no idea what to do with ourselves, since we're always surrounded by kids saying "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, what's for supper? Faith hit me, Daniel pulled my hair, Noah isn't sharing, Isaiah is being rude, Elishah is hurt, Jonah's tattling, Faith is bugging us, Noah isn't helping us clean, Daniel is beating up the ginea pigs, Eishah climbed on the kitchen table, Jonah's ignoring me, we can't find this, we can't reach that, I'm hot, I'm cold, I'm tired, I don't want a nap, we don't want to play outside, we want to play outside, we're borrrrrrrred....."

Oops, am I coming across as needing adult time?

So my sis was over last night, and as I said we had no idea what to do with ourselves. So we did this:

ever try balancing on a ball without letting your feet touch the ground?

**note**

As I was writting this post which has taken forever, I forgot about the weiners I had boiling in a pot upstairs. Needless to say all the water had evaperated and the weiners were sizzling and burning at the bottom of the pot. Yummay!

4 years/ 48 months/ 208 weeks/ 1461 days

I've been saying since our first year into marriage that I wish I was able to say we've been married for 10, so that people could stop calling us newly-weds. I'm still long awaiting the 5 year mark as some kind of invisible door that we'll pass through and become known for possibly knowing a thing or two.

But aside from my constant wondering what others think, I say screw it. Heck, 4 years, in this day in age? We might as well be celebrating our 25th! With divorce being so common, especially within the first couple of years of marriage, I'd say we've accomplished quite a feat already.

I've been thinking and chewing and pondering and seeking this whole marriage subject for a while now. Watching two couples close to us after only being married a year or two throw in the towel, and bawling through the movie The Break up, really forced me to take a look at my life and ask myself, am I really in this for the long haul?

They classify The Breakup as a comedy, but the movie I saw was a drama, a very very sad and depresssing drama. Here was THE couple, and because neither one of them were willing to look past themselves, they missed out, on what could have been. It really made me think of us, and how selfish and immature we were when we were first married. When I look back to that first year, I'm so embarassed. Things sucked, all the time. Occasionally, there might be a small breath of fresh air, that reminded us of why we loved eachother, but other than those occasional breaths, we suffocated through the first year. If I would've gauged what our marriage would be like on our first year, I would've been out that door faster than a fat boy on a smartie, with my daughter packed in my suitcase. Surely being a single mom was easier than this! I'm not joking, it was.

But guess what, we didn't kill eachother, we didn't leave, we bit our tongue, sometimes until they bled, we even vowed that neither of us would ever sleep on the couch! (Believe me, there were soooo many nights where you could've fit a whole football team between us on that bed) And after what felt like many years, our first year was completed, with some battle scars yes, but more importantly, a deeper sense of the commitment we made on June 19th 2004.

Time went on, and the more we gave of ourselves into our marriage, the more our marriage became amazing. Each anniversary we've had, we've been so amazed at how much more in love we are with eachother, and how much we've grown together as one. He's more like me and I'm more like him! It's weird to think it's only been 4 years, when I look at all we've walked through together. Poverty, custody and court battles, career and life changing choices, depression insomnia, physical ailments, a very hard pregnancy, a death in the family, buying our first house........I could go on, but I can't put our story in point form. Our story holds so many miracles, so much glory. When I really allow that to soak in, I'm so thankful that I did not give up, that I vowed with my whole self, that calling it quits was never an option, that we got through those tough times. Where would I even be today without all this blessing and beauty? I know I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for my husbands unconditional love, and the holy spirit working and moving powerfully through him. He is a man completely worthy of my respect, and I'm in awe and honored that I can call him my husband.

I know I may be making it sound like I think we now have it all together, that we're now "wise" because we stuck it out for 4 years. I know 4 years isn't really that long, and I know we have so much more to learn, and that we'll be figuring this whole marriage thing out until the day we die. I know that 4 more years will go by and I'll be saying wow! To think we thought it was good then, look at it now! I'm encouraged to know that God isn't limited or intimidated by time. I know that He sees the finished product, and that He has grace and mercy for the areas we struggle in. I'm just so amazed at how far we've come, and how much we've grown together. I couldn't imagine this life any other way.

I'm so in love with my husband. He was made specifically just for me, he has and is everything I could need, he completes me in every way, and I'm loving sharing the rest of this life with him.