Happy Birthday TJ & A Bonus

...first the Bonus!

We are going to Newfoundland this summer!!!
Yep, bought the tickets today. Soooo excited about that.

Today was TJ's birthday. He proclaimed it to be the best birthday ever...again. lol Isn't it great when every birthday is the best one ever. He's had all of 7 birthdays and probably only remembers 4 of them.



This is one of the cards he received. This one is from his Great Nan Pitcher.

He was so cute with his cards and read every single one of them. I was so proud. What’s really cool is that in February he couldn’t read Alex’s & Chelsea’s cards. He’s come a long way in a short time. We’ve been pretty diligent about reading thanks to the schools “Snuggle Up & Read” program. Last night he read Alex’s library book to him. So cool! We have hordes of books just lying around so he can pick them up and read anytime. I’ve noticed him doing that more often lately. Too bad it’s when he’s supposed to be doing something else. Haha!

Tennis raquets from Nanny& Poppy Pitcher and some sports balls too. He absolutely loved them! Score!

He got this "Boom Box" from Nanny & Poppy Hollett. He was quite thrilled. Scored again!
















Then from Mom, Dad, Alex & Chelsea, he got a wicked new Wii game, Mario Kart! He was really excited.






















TJ had a great Birthday. The day started by going to school, getting picked up at lunch time, opening presents, going to Subway (his choice) for lunch, and then we were supposed to go bowling, but, he opted to play Mario Kart instead.


I picked up a little cake at the store for him.






On Saturday, he's having his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Lucky Boy!

As it goes...

I just got back from picking up Jivey's ashes. After I got the call it was ready a few things struck me...

Jive died on Candice's birthday, and his remains returned home on TJ's birthday. It is also a week ago today that Aunt Shirley was buried. Bizarre! It's funny how these things just seem to go that way sometimes. Some say a co-incidence isn't just a co-incidence but the universes way of telling us something. If that's true, I don't know what it is trying to tell me. Beware of Birthday's, maybe..who knows.

In loving memory of Jive (Spring 1998 - May 25, 2008)

Early this morining we found that our dear sweet pussy cat Jive (aka, jivey, Jiver) had passed away overnight.

Chelsea and I had our crying spurts together. She loved Jivey so much. Within the last few weeks we decided that they had such a great relationship that he should be her cat. I'm so sorry it was for such a short time. Poor girl is taking it pretty hard and is asking a lot of questions just trying to make sense of it. To tell the tructh I am too. Jivey wasn't supposed to die so young. He always seemed to be the healty, sensible cat and I thought he'd live for another 5 years or more.

Jivey was a sweet cat with a quiet deameaner. He is loved by all and will be missed by all. I've been thinking about him all day and want ot write more about him, but tonight I'm exhaused and and he'll be in my thoughts.

Rest in peace Jiver! We love you.

A memory of Aunt Shirley captured.

I completed this LO last night. I had been working on it for a couple of nights. One of my biggest challanges was finding a decent photo. This one was a pic of her and I together taken about 12 1/2 years ago during one of my visits to see her. I was in the picture but I scanned it and cropped so the focus would be on just her.

Lady Cat!

I got my turn this morning.

Ross gave me guided instructions to scrape out a bump and dump it.

Diggin' the dirt!

Lady and her cat.

Ok, so I have to tell you. THIS IS FUN! I totally understand the big boys entheausimn last night with the call of "Ok, it's my turn". lol

Actually, I'm pretty impressed with myself and how I handled that machine given it was the first time. It helps that the controls just seem to make sense. Perhaps my little bit of forklift experience helps. This Rocks!

Can you Dig it!

Step 1 of a bigger driveway and backyard reno.

The bin is full but the boys keep filling it.

All the things we do together

This is a LO I made using a drawing TJ made for me. He was so proud to give me the drawing and tell me about it. I put it on my desk knowing it would be my next scrapbooking project.

Aunt Shirley

Nearly two yeas ago I subscribed to an online class called Favourite Childhood Memories. I wote about some of the things in the prompts but never turned them into layouts. One was about Aunt Shirley. This is what I wrote...

Aunt Shirley lived in Arlington, MA, (just outside Boston), so spending time wiht her was rare, but always very special.

When she came to visit she brought gifts for us. Even though I looked forward to the gifts, it was her that was the greatest gift. She totally doted on me and always made me feel special. She was fun to be with and genuinely enjoyed her time with us as well.

Some nights when I was to scared to go ot sleep, mom would tell me to thing about happy things. For me this was always to think about Aunt Shirleys next visit. I always looked forward to it with great antiipation.

Today, Aunt Shirley passed away peacefully at the hospital in Burin. She moved back home in late November to be closer to her family.

I told her a few years ago about her being my happy thoughts and I could tell that meant a lot to her. I'm so glad I told her so she knew how special she is to me. I love you Aunt Shirley and will miss you forever.

Here's a picture I found of us together. It was taken Nov 12 1995. I went to visit her a couple of months after Perry and I got married and broguht the wedding pictures to show her. She couldn't come because of cancer treatments.

FIRE!!!

Ahhh, May 2-4 long weekend with some great friends. What could be better!

A fire and mallow roast is a great way to kick the weekend off to get it up and running. We soaked wooden skewers in water to use as roasting sticks. Once the marshmallows were done, the kids let the end burn until glowey and then shake it around, carefully so no one gets stuck with a hot stick. There were 5 kids running around with hot sticks. Yikes! This mom was a little nervous but they did a-ok in the end. Whew!






Then Saturday night, another fire and more marshmallows. This time we used real metal skewers for roasting, but the added bonus was sparklers. This is Jessie waving hers around.











The others just kind of held them and didn't do much other than stare at the sparkles. To tell the truth, I wished I had one. I love those things. lol

3 boys on the floor decided to sleep in their boxers for some boyish reason. haha! They are on a blowup mattress in sleeping bags and having a grand time. The girls are all snuggle in Chels bed. It's so cute to see them all together. I hope they are friends for life.

Try this Web Cam thing again...

Another try with new equipment. This NEW camera has the mic built in. Woohoo!

***editing to add that it didn't take very long at all to upload! Another Woohoo!***

Wanna See what's outside my front door?

Isn't this a lovely sight! Let me twll you, this bush looks better in this picture than in real life. Last year I decided to trim it back a bit, and went too far! There is more dead parts than alive now. I really do love the colours in the spring though. Perhaps I can put another one like it somewhere. I'm pretty sure this one is going to meet his maker later this spring or summer. Still, it's so very pretty isn't it!

And then, there's the tulips, beautiful, beautiful tulips!
I just love spring flowers. I'm a bit sad our driverway will take over my little flower patch. Maybe, Perrry will help me make a new one somewhere else in a sunny spot.

donna downey

I made it to the donna downey class yesterday and it was fantastic. After the class was over she signed my original 3 books and the two new ones just released that I bought at the store before the class. We sat and talked for awhile and had our pictures taken together. It was so cool!

Here is a pic of donna and me together...

Mission Accomplished

The new mic works...barely. lol



any betterfor video?

Perry found the preferances that I couldn't and we made some adjustments, lso turned off some lights and made the video bigger. The lights were putting a rather harsh glow on my face.

I looked at a new web cam today but it was something like $60 or $70. Perhaps if I use this enough, I will be able to justify it.

BTW, although this video is short it is taking a loooooong time to upload. I can type while I upload. It has been going for a little bit and we're only up to 4M of 40M uploaded. I think I'll have tea while I wait...

I had tea and it's just over 15 minutes later and the video is still uploading. We're up to 35M of 40M uploaded now. So far it's been at least 20 minutes to get 35M uploaded.

Finally done, about 25 minutes to upload this video. I'm learning.

Testing the video cam...

Got the video, but no sound. I think I'll need Perry's help for that. But hey, the video only took a very few short minutes to learn how to do.

Please note my shirt is blue, not orange so the colour is off and the quality sucks. I might need a new camera...

Oh, I also need better lighting. Hmmm...

Updated to add, my mic is busted. I'll be getting a new one very soon.

Early Weekend and lots of plans

I am offically off for the weekend. Perry and I booked Friday off from work. We aren't telling the kids. We are spending a day together. It's long overdue. The last time was something like 7 years ago. We deserve it. :)

Saturday is the digital imaging and photography show which I am very excited to be going to. But best of all is I'm going to meet Donna Downey. She is teaching classes in Toronto and I signed up for one. Although it is short (1 hr) it is better than nothing. I'm also getting signed copies of her 2 new books, and she will sign the 3 I already have. How cool! This lady has an amazing amout on energy, entheausim, and creativity. I'm in awe by her almost daily (I read her blog).

Then on Sunday, my friend who moved to Hamilton is coming to visit. I haven't seen her since last year so I'm really looking forward to that.

It's going to be a great long weekend. I'm pumped. :)

Oh, I think I'm going to try to figure out video blogging so stay tuned for that....in a few days.