June RoundUp

June was an interesting month..... it was busy with the end of the school year an all the fun stuff that comes with it.  Although this year was quite different.  This year was the flood. 

There was an enormous amount of rain over a day that the elbow and Bow Rivers really flooded.  Many people had water filling there basement and some lost their homes.  There was also significant damage to our beloved zoo.  There are some incredible stories about water up to the giraffes belly and the hippos getting out of their cages.  We live high on the ridge here so we didn't experience any personal damage and actually saw the spirit of the city come together.  There was a local state of emergency for weeks, so the last 5 days of school were cancelled.  Mostly not a big deal as the last couple of days of school are the fun stuff, but also a big deal as Lucas missed out on a lot of the fun stuff.  He did go back for half a day on Thursday to collect his stuff and say goodbye.  It was a good year for Lucas, he adapted much better then last year and had alot of friends in his class.  He also made lots of new friends which was good for him.  I'm glad that he is slowly coming out of his shell. 


We also did lots of fun stuff this month...

 Like drumming, which we went to with my Mom and Shaun.  It was a really fun experience.  It's cool cause you are all playing the same beat.  It's like a big jam session even though you are not skilled musician. 

We also did some golfing at the driving range, which made me think I could golf and since then I have been going with the girls for the last couple of Tuesdays. 

While part of me wonders what I am doing... I don't golf.... the other part enjoys being out and having a good time with such fun ladies.   Plus I think Darryl and the boys and I will go out in July when kids golf for free this week.  So I must enjoy it...

One day in June the kids and I went to the Lego store after school as Lucas wanted to get Darryl some Lego for Fathers day.  When we got to the store it was very quiet.  Really Tuesday around dinner time, not that busy.  While in the store wandering one of the employees asked if we had some extra time.  Part of me was thinking, no I don't want to do a survey, but the other part of me thought, but what if they give me a deal if I do the survery.  Of course the deal thoughts won out and I said yes we did have some extra time.  The employees asked if the boys would like to build some Lego, they had got some new Lego set that they needed built for the display cases.  The boys were excited, said they'd love to.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  So for any of you going into the Lego store over the summer Lucas and Nathan built some of the Lego in the display cases.  



We also bought a new couch!  Our lovely old green couch was the first couch we bought when we moved out west.  It was a comfy couch that was good for napping, but I have been coveting this couch from Crate and Barrel for about a year now.  Luckily I found it in the as-is section at the store as it had a rip in the back about 3 inches long.  While dispointed the sales lady made me feel better by giving me a great deal.  This couch is great, it's hugs your body.  It's soft but you are still able to get up from it.

 I mentioned in the start of the blog about Lucas and the end of the school year and how things were odd with the flood, but really for Nathan there were a bunch of goodbyes.  He had a great year in preschool.  Finding the preschool was kind of a last minute thing, but I would highly recommend Leap and Learn where he went.  His teachers there Miss Shanon and Miss Jillan were fantastic.  I had the opportunity to volunteer there a couple of times and was really impressed with the way they handled the kids as well as their teaching and interaction with the children.  There graduation was also very cute. 

 Lastly the end of July as signified a big change in our lives.  The end of the Lesley era.  From now on neither of my boys go to Lesleys.  The great friend that I saw regularily 3 times a week will now be different.  It was always a treat to bring the kids there.  She was always so flexible with my schedule as it was never the same.  She also let me pee in her bathroom as I often forgot to do that the whole day of work.  =)  She has so many of the same values we did and the kids spent lots of time outside.  She teaches them so many of the important things in life, life how to treat people.  I don't know how I got so lucky to have found her to help me raise my kids at such an important and developmental time in their lives.  I will be forever grateful.   Luckily we still text and swim together.  So I still get to spend time with her, and I would have it no other way.  =)

Whew this is a long one....  took me days to write, hope it doesn't take you days to read.  If you even get this far.

Time for summer!!

Jenn

Backyard Project

One of the things we have been working on this summer is some landscaping projects. We started with the privacy garden at the back (which is not really that private yet) and now we have moved onto the patio under the deck. Originally when we moved here we put grass down everywhere, it was a great solution becuase we love to be outside. But the grass didn't really work very well under the deck, so instead we are putting in a patio. Here are Darryl and Lucas putting in the base.



He's such a good helper.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Bopper

Last year we had a robin come and build many nests under our deck. It chose the best one and made it the home for it's babies. This year we have had the same bird back and she made a nest in the exact same place. Her babies have hatched and she is keeping a close eye on them. Which means close encounters with us and the birds. One time the bird even pecked Torin right on the but and pulled out a tuft of his hair. The bird carried it around in his mouth life a trophy. The bird swoops at Torin and Torin swats at the bird. The bird swoops at Darryl and Darryl swats at the bird. Luckily the baby bird is growing and hopefully the war in the backyard will be over





Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Gardening

It's the time of year for one of my favorite hobbies: gardening. This year in Calgary has been very very wet and not very sunny. All of our grass is green, which is good for dry cow town, but my plants all seem smaller and less flowering because of the lack of sunshine.

I love all kinds gardening: my two favorite things to work with in the garden are perennials and vegetables. I love to eat the food that I grow, even though last year we grew too many zucchini's we still ate most of them. This year we are growing: potatoes, carrots, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, green onions. We also have a raspberry bush, blueberry bush and strawberries growing in the gardens as well. I'm not sure that we will get any blueberries but we'll see what happens.

Here are the vegetable gardens, each year we hope to put in more (and there is one at the side of the house, with a strawberry patch as well.

I also really like perennials, they come back every year, you can buy them really small and they get bigger and bigger. You can divide them and share them.



Here is a picture of our front garden, again mostly perennials. We have no lawn out front, becuase it is so small we decided just to do flowers. I have lots that are ground cover out front: sedum, clover, woolly thyme, phlox, creeping Jenny





This is our side garden, it also is a perennial garden. We have some vines: virgina creeper, 3 swedish columnar trees, a raspberry bush and lots of other perennials.


These are the two side gardens, mostly shade, so hostas, coral bells, ferns and ligulaira grow here.

This is a picture of the ligulaira, which is doing really really well. It's a plant that I took a piece of from Tammy's garden. Last year I wasn't sure how it would do, but it is one plant that has been loving the lack of sunshine.

On the other side there is a little more sun, so we have some lilac bushes, blueberries, peony and a dahila.

I'm hoping to have more sun this weekend, so the garden will continue to grow.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Basement

One of our projects (major projects) this summer/winter has been working on the basement. Darryl is masterful and has done the majority of it with help from his assistant Mr. Brown.




Here is the basement with no color or flooring.


And here it is all done.

And fun to run around in. I bow down to you masterful Darryl. What an incredible job you have done. It looks fantastic

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Long Weekend

It was great long weekend. Two days of outside-ing and gardening. The kids love gardening too. Playing in the dirt, digging etc. We planted an apple tree. The tulips are up and giving some color to the garden. I bought a plant called Black Lace.



We planted a whole bunch of vegetables. Lettuce, carrots, potatoes, beets, beans, tomatoes, zucchini and corn. We'll see how they all turn out. But I'm hoping we'll get lots of vegetables and maybe even a few apples. Although I'm not counting on the apples.

Went to go see the doctor about Lucas's eye. About a month ago he had a stye in his eye. It wasn't going away, so we started to put a hot compress on it. Then it turned into a large bump under his eye. So last week I took him into the doctor, thinking they would just tell us to keep putting warm compresses on it and it would go away. But no, the doctor, put him on antibiotics for a week and a follow up appt today. Today we were referred to a specialist so they can remove the "thing". So the story is to be continued.


How was your long weekend?

Till Tomorrow

Soon We Can Play in Our Yard

Spent this weekend laying sod. Although the fence posts are not in, I am dying to play outside with the kids, so we put grass in the middle and left the sides for the bobcat to dig holes. But in a week or so we'll be able to play outside.





For the rest of the week it is suppose to rain, which is bad for our moods, but good for my sod. =). Here is a picture of the sky this evening. Raining for a bit, but hopefully sun to come.



Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Darryl has had a change in jobs recently and is now working from home. He spent most of last week and weekend putting an office downstairs in the basement. Generally this is great, all in all we get to spend more time as a family. Lucas is taking a little bit of time to get use to this. He has had a couple of major crying fits when he wants to play with Dad cause he's home, but can't understand why he can't becuase Daddy has to work. This is on top of Lucas having to get use to sharing his mom. Which has been a really hard transistion for both he and I. Somedays are better then others, but the good days are starting to out number the days when he tells me, sometimes I'm a good mother and sometimes I'm not. Or that he doesn't love his mommy.



Things with Nathan continue to go really well. I amazed at how much easier things are with the second. Its like once you've been through it once have a good idea of how long things last for and you've seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Even with the troubles I'm having with Lucas, I think things would be easier if I knew when our relationship would get better again. Nathan continues to smile lots. He is also starting to grab onto things, like Lucas's fingers or my hair, or Darryl's chest hair. My Oma and Opa were here on the weekend to meet their second great grandson and they were impressed with his head control.



Although I would like to spend this weekend working on getting our yard turned from a mud pit into a play area, our neighboors are not ready yet, so instead we are having to rebuild the deck at our old house. We got a call from our lawyer that the City has a problem with it, and as part of the sale of the house, the city has to give compliance to the real property report...... so to get that compliance we need to move the deck. Crazy! Oh well at least we'll be outside in someones backyard this weekend.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

This is Why I Don't Sleep Naked...

I'm really hoping for the best, but a little nervous for the worst.

One of our new neighbors is a bunch of guys, which doesn't really bother me, but doesn't really excite me either. They all work and their cars are gone before mine in the morning. We have heard there music a couple of times but it is always off before 11pm. So although I'm not excited to have new friends, or playmates for Lucas. I was being optimistic about it, they work and hopefully they won't give us too hard of a time.

Well on Saturday morning I called the police. At around 6am there were a bunch of girls screaming outside there house. We had heard their music in the evening and again at about 1:30 in the morning, but this was the first time and Darryl and I were both able to fall asleep. Anyway 6am, a girl screaming out front about how the guy had broken her finger. Her and her friend were obviously drunk. I yelled, told them to be quiet, we were trying to sleep. Of course the drunk girls were not being rationale and the neighbors were going on about how he didn't break her finger. I told them I didn't care and if they didn't shut up I was calling the police. Well guess what, they weren't quiet and I did call the police. They had called a taxi for the girls and although he was hanging out front the girls were not getting in the taxi. They were just kicking the window, which is now cracked and yelling. A minute or so later the older guy from the house came to try and break up the fight and the girl punched him. He grabbed her arm and she almost fell down the steps. Then the taxi leaves, then the guys shut the door and turn off the outside lights. So there are there two really drunk girls in short dresses walking up the street at 6am in the middle of the winter.

Luckily I did not see or hear about any girls who froze the next day....

I'm sure the cops came soon after that.....

Crap, what did we get ourselves into...

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

A Sad and Happy Day

Even as I start to write this post I feel tears welling up in my eyes. It's so strange that I'm still so emotional about it, maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or maybe it's normal.

Yesterday we handed over the keys for the old house. The happy and good part of it is we gave the house to good people. People who I would be friends with and people who have a child and a dog and will enjoy the house as much as we did.

The sad part of it, is it's not my house anymore. I will always have the memories of it, which are the most important, but I can't go and picture those memories whenever I'd like. I remember Darryl and I first driving into the neighboorhood and falling in love with it. Or sitting in the Wendy's trying to decide what floor plan to choose. Picking colors and light fixtures, flooring and kitchens. I remember moving in and feeling like we had nothing to put in the house and all those rooms or eating Swiss Chalet. My very best birthday party was the year after we moved in. I remember bringing Emma home and sleeping with her downstairs with her the first night while she had the smelliest gas. I remember the many holidays we had in that house. Making our first Thanksgiving dinner and the best pie I've ever had. Or the first Christmas Charlie Brown Tree and the angel Alexis made for the top, which had a twist tie for a halo. I remember Mom and Dad living with us, and Tammy, Pat, Matt and Shaun. Bringing Shaun home after he was born and the night he screamed like Pavorotti. I remember finding out I was pregnant and sitting on the stairs listening to Sarah McLachlan. I remember decorating Lucas's room or sitting in the backyard in the baby pool to keep cool, while I was so pregnant. I remember bringing Lucas home and setting up the nursing "station" where I would feed him, all the time. Lucas took his first steps in that hallway and jumped like a happy, crazy baby in the door way of the den.



Yesterday as I was cleaning the house I couldn't bring myself to clean off the marks we had made where we measured Lucas's height. The new family can get rid of them, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Goodbye house, I'm hoping you will be as good to the new people as you were to us.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Ahh It's Back

This week our camera that we lost was on sale, so I went out and purchased another one. It feel so good to have our camera back. The blog will be littered with pictures again, becuase we have been missing lots of exciting things. Sunday I went shopping as I haven't bought any " house " stuff for ages, so here's a treat. We were at IKEA and I bought this mirror. It's a beautiful full length.


This is Lucas's big boy bed. The one he fell out of the other night. Also an IKEA purshase. His favorite part is the Diego sheets.



Here's Emma's favorite spot in the new house. Sitting on her dog bed at the front door looking out the window. Whenever we don't know where she is she's checking out the half action outside the front.


The lights over the island. They were not the ones we orginally picked out but they turned out great.


Yeah for pictures =)

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Good News

The house is sold. We won't lose the new house. Yeah!! Even though I've gained 5 pounds I feel 50 pounds lighter. YEAH!!

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

PS I love the Office

Investment Dude

69%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

A cool quiz for all you other bloggers.

So tonight we had an investment "dude" come over and present us with some ideas for how to "catch up" with our investing. Darryl and I are in our late 20's and don't have very much invested. Less then 10,000. We need to start doing it again, so when investment dude called a bit ago, we decided to get together and look into it. I call him investment dude, because he's a young guy, pretty fresh out of school, with a girlfriend and a car with a big spoiler on the back. Not a shopping cart, but a noticeable spoiler. He is very nice and very knowledgeable, but still a dude. He gave us some "plane reading" for our plane ride this weekend with our toddler. He obviously doesn't have a toddler. He presented us with some very interesting ideas. It's amazing how much information is out there on how to get tax savings that common people don't really know about. For example, if you borrow money to invest there are tax savings on the interest. You can borrow enough money to decrease us into the next tax bracket, and save us more money. I guess that's why people have investment "dudes". They keep up to date on that kind of stuff. What about you guys, do you have an investment person, or do you keep up to date on it yourself, or do you not invest at all? Also is it crazy to increase our mortgage to invest money. Of course investment dude made it look like it made total sense, it just seems unnatural....., but on paper it makes total sense......

Hope you are enjoying your week

Jenn

Tea Drinking Tuesday

I almost am always drinking tea when I write my blog. I love tea. My favorite is Earl Grey Vanilla from Tetley. Last time we went to the States for a vacation I realized they don't sell Tetley there, I learned a lesson and will always bring tea with me. For a while I was drinking Chocolate Orange tea, but have converted back to Earl Grey Vanilla.

Today my friend Claudine came over and "staged" our house for us. My play room is now a formal dining room. All the pictures that I love are in boxes and instead properly matching pictures are up that tie in all the rooms. Proper sized furniture is in all the rooms. Really the house looks great. It is still livable as well, which is nice. It may be harder if it was winter but from the moment Lucas wakes up to the moment he goes to bed he wants to be outside. I love it, although there is lots of sand in the house. Lucas's new favorite word is "Yeah", not yes or yes please but "yeah". I'll have to take a video of it post it.

A funny blog I read today. I totally agree with Uniqua, what is she?!? Although I love all the singing with the Backyardigans. Also where are Ruby and Max's parents and how come Ruby can take care of everything and Max can barely talk. But they are almost the same height.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Tidbits from the Weekend

I bought a pair of "rip off" LuLu Lemons. You can totally see my underwear lines, so I will now have to go out and buy thong underwear.
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Lucas has been testing limits more and more. He cries much more delibriatly when he wants something.
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I went open housing, and can't believe how expensive houses are priced at. Which is good news for us, becuase we are going to list our house for 8000$ more then 6 months ago.
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Dad BBQ'd us a great pair of steaks and mom made great roasted potatoes.
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The Flames lost another game. Although hockey has been on non stop at our house.
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The new James Bond movie was great
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It is so "freaking" busy at work, I don't have time to do a real post.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Torte and Some New Websites

RIght now I'm eating some Chocolate Raspberry Torte, my question is this: What is the difference between cake and torte? If anyone knows that would be great. Also it is great torte =)

Darryl has started a new blog about the house. Click here to read and bookmark it if you'd like. Also if anyone is looking for some opionions on Cardel feel free to leave comments and we'll let you know.

The other thing I wanted to share with some of the other mommy/daddy bloggers who read this blog is some of my new favorite blogs. Great blogs are like great books, execept they never end. Here are some great blog/books I've tuned into lately.

1. The Cheaty Monkey. A canadian blogger who tells funny stories about her daughter.

2. Greek Tragedy. This woman is an amazing writer. She just had she twins 10 weeks premature. I've cried and laughed at her last 5 posts. An added bonus, she loves the Barenaked Ladies and has red hair.

3. The Writing Mama's Daily Blog: Different Mom's write different stories everyday. Always well written.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Till Monday

Jenn

This Made Me Smile

You got to love an e-mail like this.

Hi Jenn, nice to hear from you, sounds like you had fun in Florida.

I believe we are digging your lot today or tomorrow. (Yay!!)



Scott, our construction supervisor for Cranston, will be calling you shortly for updates.



Happy New Year, and look forward to seeing you soon!





Mark

Till Tommorrow

Jenn

Rabbits and A Fun Day

I just got back from walking Emma this evening and we saw a ton of rabbits from our street to the park. I usually feel quite bad for the rabbits. They lived here first and now becuase of this crazy urban sprawl we have taken over their home. That and Emma loves to chase them and although I don't think she'd ever hurt them I'm sure they are scared to death. I especially feel for a rabbit who has been abandoned. One of the families on the street bought a pet bunny, but he would often run away and neighboors would have to bring him back. Now they have decided just to let this bunny run free. I think this is horrible! I was worried that the deep freeze we had a couple of weeks ago would kill this bunny who was not designed to live in the wild, although do animals adapt? Does anyone know? I do feel bad for the small spotted bunny who is not really friends with the other bunnies, but this little bunny is smart enough to escape Emma.

Lucas and I had a fun adventure on the train today to Kenginston. It is a great area of Calgary. We went to lots of neat shops and met lots of resident cats who live in the stores. We picked up a couple more orginal gifts and bought a slingshot duck for Lucas, which makes me laugh. We also had the amazing cupcakes from Crave. Here is a picture of Lucas waiting for the train on our way home after our cupcakes.

Till Tommorrow

Jenn

Great 5 Days

I have totally enjoyed the last 5 days at home. The house is quite clean, laundry is done. We also had lots of time to visit with Grandparents and friends. Tonight was the first dinner we had with just the three of us all weekend. It's so nice to be able to spend time with the people you love and time to get things done.

In the process of moving I did organize lots of pictures, which reminded me that Darryl and I have been together for such a long time. Someday I'll have to scan in all those pictures. I also organzied the front hall closest, although that didn't go over as well, becuase I have trouble getting rid of shoes. Plus living in such a varied seasonal area you need a coat for everything.

The best part about all the days off is spending time with Lucas. I am addicited to my kid. It will be hard to go back to work tommorrow, for both of us. We have these fun little games we play. Hide and seek behind the bed, chase each other around and flip him upside down. Ahh this is such a great time in my life. I love the time off, and I love my boy.

I will be changing the template again soon, but hopefully Darryl will be able to customize it a bit.....

Till Tommorrow (when I'm back to the grind)

Jenn

Any Guesses

Here is the start of Darryl's latest project.





Any guesses?

Till Tommorrow

Jenn