Friends from New Zealand

We had company from NEW ZEALAND in mid May! You know we realize it is hard to get over to the island to visit, so imagine our excitement when we learned that our friends from New Zealand were planning on making the trek over here to see us! I met Mark & Faye Peacock approx. 13? years ago while I was in New Zealand. We hit it off and made a connection and have stayed in touch over the years. Having them here re-kindled the friendship for me and I wished they could have stayed longer!

Mark & Faye's travels did not start and end with us. No, after leaving the island they were meeting up with Mark's brother & wife and heading off on an Alaskan cruise!! And then a possible trip up to the Artic Circle? Wherever they ended up going, I know they will have had a wonderful, adventuresome time!!

While they were here we made a trip to Coombs, BC to the Country Market otherwise known as "Goats on the Roof". http://www.oldcountrymarket.com/ It was a Fun Afternoon!

The kids adored Faye! She just has a way............. :-)

We MISS YOU Mark & Faye!

Apr 30 -Puddle Jumpers (the pics tell the story!)

why? why? why?

Why do I have these big GAPS between my pics?? This question goes out to fellow bloggers!
Do you know??

curious and annoyed,
debbie

April 13th - A Trip to 100 Mile House

Mid April we took a trip to 100 Mile House to visit my family. It had been since Christmas since we had seen everyone and I really wanted to see my sister as she was nearing the end of her pregnancy with baby #2!. We = the kids and I (Andrew stayed home to work) were gone for a full week and I have to tell how proud I was of Ambrose and Maisie for traveling so well!!! I cannot thank them enough! I was a little nervous before we left home not knowing what to expect from them on such a long trip! They are such active 'lil folk now!

From our house it is an hour drive to the ferry in Nanaimo, then the ferry trip (& loading/unloading time) and then the drive from Vancouver to 100 Mile House + stops! which in total the trip took 9 1/2 hours. I suppose if I had blogged about this when I first got home I would have more to say, but being that it is now 2 months later it seems to be old news and boring! :-) I just have to say again how amazed I was at the kids for their excellent behaviour! I could not imagine being strapped to a seat for THAT many hours and not complaining about it!! The only "free" time they had was on the ferry in the kid zone play room for maybe 20 mins! Oh! Which reminds me! There was a memorable moment during our travels........................................ I lost Maisie on the ferry! It may have only been for less than a minute, but it felt like forever and it was all I could do to stay calm and keep a level head to try to find her! Maisie is a little bit of an adventure monkey and "takes off" and usually doesn't look back! I found her in short time and could not have done so without the help of a very generous and kind woman who watched Ambrose for me so I could RUN like MAD to track down mischief Maisie!

My visit with M & D was excellent! It was great to see my sister SO pregnant too!

Cindy Pregnant with Baby #2

Ambrose, Maisie enjoying their very 1st ice

cream cone with cousin Carsen

We had wonderful weather the whole time I was there except for about 12 hours ? when it snowed!!

Baby Fever

I have it again! Baby Fever! Meaning............. I think about having another baby (or babies?) !!

I know it will pass............................ sigh............. I have had it before. So, as a cure I am going to try to get my fill of "baby" when my sister has her second child next month!

I have to admit something though, when I read that Ms. Cathy (Murrayville Mom!) was expecting her 6th beautiful baby I was envious! Surely, I could have more! I could have ONE or TWO? more!? Right?

Growing Up So Fast!

Ahhhh, my little Darlings are growing up so quickly it seems! I know I don't even NEED to comment to anyone as to how fast time goes by!

They are 1 year, 5 months and 21 days old in the latest picture and only 1 month old in the other.

Happy Easter!

No Chocolate or Bunnies at our house this year. It is a pretty quiet Easter Holiday. We did go to "Easter at the Barn" this morning and that was fun! The kids really enjoyed the animals at the petting farm!

Don't ask me why this lamb is blue!? There was a pink one and a blue/pink dotted one as well! Silly if you ask me. I wonder if my kids will think that lambs are always blue? Nahhh, but I just don't get it?

I am making Thai Shrimp Curry for dinner tonight! Ya, not very traditional, but what the Hay! It is just us.

Happy Easter!

17 Months +

Ambrose & Maisie are SO very busy now! WOW! I can barely keep up some days! I am really taking advantage of the few breaks in the weather in this last week or so and getting them outside as much as possible to burn off some ENERGY! I thought it might also help to lessen the appeal of digging in the dirt in mommy's plants! Oh, man! That is an on going issue this week! To distract them I even tried dumping a bag of puffed wheat into a Rubbermaid container for them to "dig" and "stir" and "churn" their hands in, rather than my plants! It worked for about 10 minutes and was great fun until Ambrose started scooping cupfuls of puffs onto the carpet! So........ I don't know how effective my idea was because I STILL had to get out the vacuum at the end of it and vacuum up the mess - like I did with the plants! I will try it again, however, I think I would like to take the container out onto the deck on a warm day and let them go crazy! I am sure between the birds, dog and raccoon the spillage would be cleaned up!
I don't have any pics of this puffed wheat playing because I didn't want to let go of the container in fear of them tipping it over!! AND THEY WOULD HAVE!!





I caught Maisie with Daddy's shoes on!


Ambrose loves to PRETEND talk on the telephone! Hmmmm... I wonder where he see that!?

Funny Faces

Another Month Gone By

Well there goes March!! (I don't think I took any pictures in March!)

The kids were both sick with some awful virus (cold like). Maisie was sick first and it lasted a solid week of her not being well at all and then of course we just got over that and a few days later Ambrose got it! And another solid week of it! I really have to be thankful and don't want to complain too loudly because they haven't been sick very much all and when they have it has been at the SAME TIME! I think I prefer it that way if I have a choice as opposed to them getting sick one at a time! It just drags on for too long that way! Yes, I guess it is a little harder having 2 sick, but then at least when it's done - it's done!

In between the kids being sick we did manage a trip one weekend to North Vancouver to SURPRISE Grandpa Allison / Angus / my father in-law / Andrew's dad ( Ya! THAT GUY!!! ) and to celebrate his birthday with a BIG family dinner! It was great to see everyone again even if only for a few hours.

We had one more birthday to celebrate near the end of March and that was Sharon's!!
(Grandma Allison / M-I-L / Andrew's mom!) It was a very special birthday and we celebrated it in Whistler along with Andrew's sister and her hubby and two daughters. So we were all together for the weekend+ and had a WONDERFUL TIME! I think I can speak for all of us? It was really very relaxing and so nice just to spend time with each other in such a relaxed setting! I would recommend doing something similar to other families and I would definitely do it again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARON!

Mealtime Madness!

I have to admit that there is never a dull moment! I think that is in part why Andrew and I fantasize about having more children!!

Yes, it is really fun to take your plate apart and put it on your head!

Uh-Oh!

Oh Geesh!! I am just not quick enough!! LOL!! I had posted these pictures with the intentions of writing something later the same day. Well, here it is DAYS later and I am now just getting around to it and I already have 3 comments!!! Yikes!! You guys keep me on my toes which is wonderful for me!

So, yes! The age of exploration!! I couldn't believe it when I saw Ambrose standing on the ride'm car and Miss Maisie doing her best to get in there and not miss out on anything!! They very much wanted to get at the VCR! I was glad the camera was handy although I nearly spoiled it all by LAUGHING!! You can hardly scold them for just being curious! Of course if it is REALLY dangerous, well, that is different.

The kids are 16 months old now and I think this age is so much fun! They can say some words - if you want to call them "words" as they aren't always very clear and they seem to be more comfortable speaking what sounds to me like MARTIAN. ??? They seem to be able to understand each other though! I have over heard them both in different rooms call out and answer one another! The words they have been known to say are: Cookie, Cracker, Banana, Apple, Dog, Caw-caw (for crow), Up, and Dada to name a few.....OH, and THAT - everything is THAT!! And they don't say Mama! Or Mum!?

B.F.F.

My Best Friend is having surgery today and she is heavy on my mind. She is the most amazing person I know! She supports me, she inspires me! She is my rock. I have known her for just shy of 20 years and we have shared many life experiences together. She is an incredible woman.

Thinking of you,

Prayers for you,

All my Daisy Love to you Chloe.

Fresh Air For All

Oh, how I do enjoy Saturdays! This is the day where we make a point of doing something as a family! It is usually always the same ~ out into the fresh air! We all LOVE it! Andrew, Debbie, Ambrose, Maisie and ROCKY!! I think Rocky enjoys it the most, to tell you the truth!

(Rocky is our, poor neglected since the kids came, dog) The kids just LOVE being outside too! (I guess most do!?) It is such a delight to see the smiles on their faces as they run around exploring and soaking up all this new environment has to offer! Happy Saturday!

A brighter day

Here is my family room 90% of the day! Yes, I do pick up 4-5 times throughout the day...... I am not sure why I bother? I think it makes me feel better for the 5 minutes I can see the floor or something??!

OH! There was a bright spot in the sky this morning - still couldn't see the sun, but it was much much brighter and a few small patches of blue. I could see the blanket of fog over the water rolling towards the shore so I packed up the kids in lightning speed and headed out for a walk! We managed to nearly finish our walk before the thick fog engulf us! :-D We had fun!

Yes, the vacuum is nice........... a little different so I think it will just be a matter of getting used to the features. It has a HEADLIGHT for crying out loud! Do YOU vacuum in the dark? heh heh heh No, really is just has "features" I am not used too!! Pretty fancy machine!!

Just another day...

I am getting tired of winter now. I don't mean to complain, that is not my intent, but I am just bored with the rain, storms, snow, cold, FOG and just plain dreariness! If only we had the odd day of sunshine in the mix I think I would feel a whole lot better!! All that sunshine Vancouver had a week ago............... I saw no SUN! FOG - FOG and More FOG!!! Blahhhh!! I think really I am just feeling a little "cabin fever"! I am trying to get out for a walk here and there, but I just feel so unmotivated by the weather! I also signed the kids up for a kinder-gym type program at the community centre which is great, but it is at such a bad time of day for them (when they should be going down for a nap) that I have only made it there 2x in the last 5 weeks, I think! Next time I will sign up early so I can get the early class!! There is also another cool program in our community which is completely free! - a "strong start" program I think it is called. I went to it by myself with the kids once and ended up leaving after an hour as it was just too much for me and the kids couldn't benefit from the activities because I was constantly pulling them away from what they were doing so I could have them in the same area at the same time! I need someone to come with me. And unfortunately we don't have family here. I would need someone who didn't have children, physically fit enough to chase and pick up and carry a toddler - so no bad back, knees or hips, someone who doesn't have a job and is available once or twice a week for a few hours. How do I find someone like this? It can't be a young person - they go to school or have jobs? And they can't be too old.................. ? Hmmmmmm. I know the kids are only 15 months old and I have lots of time to be going to programs and such, but I would like to do a little bit right now just for the socialization aspect if nothing else. Oh, well just sharing what I have been thinking this last month.

Oh, but some exiting news! I have a new vacuum cleaner! I know, I know! I am crazy for being so excited about a VACUUM, but ............... I am!! I am going to use it today for the 1st time! I will let you know how I like it. hee hee hee

It's Time...

Yes, it is time I spent some time here! Don't you think? I am feeling inspired to update this blog after spending a few minutes checking out my friend's blog! I haven't even allowed myself or had the time to do that in quite a while now!

Let's just start with a couple of pics. I need a place to start as it has been so long since I have done this!! :-) (photos taken dec.12)