Warm Sunny Days

Since mom Cassidy left we've been keeping ourselves busy in the beautiful weather we've been having. I bought Sam a blow-up pool and a little sprinkler to play in (and to also water my grass with). The neighbourhood kids love to join in, testing the waters and they all have a blast together as usual. Imagine 5 or 6 kids taking turns jumping into a tiny toddler pool! Sure is nice when the weather's been 27 degrees all week and even supposed to be into the weekend! While all that is going on I've been really working hard on the yard, repairing the patchy spots with top soil, grass seed and fertilizer. I'm diligent in watering and wil be running the sprinkler today in various spots. Our next door neighbours Shana and Don (who's kids are Sam's favorites - Carly and Jamie) have been so generous in sharing tools and even helping supply the necessities for building a great looking lawn. I know I've said it many times but thank you guys! We've been so blessed to have moved into an amazingly tight-knit neighbourhood. Across the street are two more ladies I've gotten to know...one of them I go on walks with and the other is an interior designer who has helped me pick over paint colors (they invited us over for a BBQ a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in a previous post). Then there are the older couple next door on the other side of us who are more kept to themselves but very friendly as well. Yesterday while I put some stones in the gate's entrance (I'll post pics of it soon), they peeked over their fence and asked me if I'd like to join them for tea out in their yard. I was so grateful but Sam still hadn't gone to bed so I took a raincheck. I'm so overjoyed by the friends we've made here and I'm even demonstrating makeup tips for the ladies who want to know. Yesterday I had Shana over to give her eyebrow tips and review some of her colors. I'm just having so much fun here and we're all enjoying our backyards, as everyone's landscaping and decorating...I think that's what's motivated me to do so, even though we're not going to really get it done until next year. Last week when mom was here Shana and Don gave us their patio table after they bought a new set. When we were shopping at Superstore we came across some MATCHING chairs at $20 each so we grabbed 4 and shoved them in my car. Thanks mom for buying them for us! Not to mention everything else you treated us to...you're such an awesome mom and I can't thank you enough for your kindness and generosity. You've really spoiled us. We miss you so much already. Even though you caught Wayne and Sam's cold we still managed to have as much fun as we could. I miss our happy hours, shopping, morning coffee and tea outside, visiting family and friends.... and Sammy still points to the teapot on the counter and says "Yia Yia, tea".

Sammy Challenges

These past 2 weeks have been exhausting but fun. Sam has been a great challenge to deal with since she was sick with her cold. It seems at the same time her second molars are FINALLY coming in, but MAN has she ever been a crank! She won't let me leave the room and always need to be held. She follows me around crying all the time, saying "hug! hug!" At first I was SO sorry for her and gave her all the attention she wanted and cuddled her to no end. Now i'm just running out of patience and I'm just getting tired. On top of this I'm so concerned about the potty training issue. She will not stop pulling her pooh out of her diaper when I'm not watching. It really has to stop. So I bought pull-ups the other day and puting her on the potty at her 'regular' time. Today she refused to stay on....now I'm just getting tired and wondering if she's just not ready yet, as we've been trying this for about a month now. i'm forever telling her to tell me when she has to go potty...she's not listening or just not getting it or understanding it. This is the part of this toddler stage I'm dreading. Maybe she just needs some more time in diapers until I can communicate with her so she really understands what to do. Anyway, that's just a part of what I've been dealing with these days. Then she got the cold and seems to be over it now, but now it's the molars. ARGH! And entertaining, running around and attending dinners, BBQs...it's all been so much fun but MAN am I ever physically exhausted. today I'm really feeling it. Wayne's mom is packing up her stuff today and leaves Tuesday...she's staying the night at the BBQ tonight. We will miss her so much, as it's been an amazing visit. Wayne left for Calgary today so Sam and I will get an early sleep....I hope. Which brings me to the next issue with her, but we won't go there. man.

Family Visit

Wayne's mom arrived last Saturday on her cruise ship and we picked her up at Canada Place first thing AM. From home it only a half hour drive to the cruise ship terminal. Mom loves the house and absolutely adores Sam, as she's really quite a character now. Sam had no problem warming up to 'Yia Yia' again, she went right to her.
Wayne and Sam have been sick with bad colds since last week, but I didn't expect mom would get it on her first day here. We've been to the doctor for both mom and Sam and Sam ended up on an inhaler for the rest of the week. I still haven't caught it and I'm hoping to keep it that way. So we haven't been able to do much, as far as site seeing and walking the Granville market , Kits Beach, White Rock pier, etc. like I'd planned. Maybe it's a good thing...mom's really tired from her month-long cruise from Australia and we can just treat this as her relaxing vacation from her vacation. Still, we're having a nice time and the weather has been sunny so we can sit out in the back yard with our coffees or glasses of wine. Tonight we're having Wayne's aunt and uncle over for a roast beef dinner, so I have lots of cleaning to do and mowing the lawn again. This weekend is more dinners with family and friends....Cheers to a good week!

Welcome Tracy!

I just want to introduce my favorite girl back in Ottawa, my best friend Tracy whom I've shared so much with in the past 5 years. Please visit her blog, she is an amazing Christian woman with a new baby boy Luke and loving husband John. I miss her dearly but we're always close in heart...
I can't wait for you guys to come visit sometime!
Love ya sista cat!

Happy Mothers Day

One day late, but here's hoping everyone had a good mothers day. It's been so hectic around here this past week. We officially bought Sue's car and I've been running around taking care of the transfer and renewing insurance, changing over my driver's license and processing the health care for all three of us. Wayne's leaving for Toronto tomorrow until Friday, then Saturday his mom is docking in Vancouver from her Australia cruise. We are so excited and we've been busy preparing for that....wayne made a quick bed frame for a mattress for her and I've been decorating it to give it a west coast-feel.
So this week I've got more to do as far as cleaning goes and buying bedding, groceries and cleaning out the car to make it my own. It's such a great car and I've (we've) been so blessed with so much since we moved here. For mother's day our neighbours across the street invited us over for a BBQ and it was so much fun, they're a great family. She's the one who's the interior designer and she's even offered to help us paint! I am so excited about it, I'm sure it will be done sooner than we thought. Instead of Wayne taking time off to do it, she guaranteed it can be done in a weekend, with her experience. WOW! Now just to pick that weekend. Stay tuned...(and I apologize in advance for not updating as often as I'd like).

Playtime Pics

Here's what it looks like when you come in through our front door.

Here's the dining area...you can see where they painted around the previous cabinet.

The big girls showed Sam how to play hopscotch, although she seems to have her own rules, she does a pretty good job.

They stop for a popsicle snack.

Maybe she'll be playing for the Lions one day??

Still Alive

I haven't had much to post, I just thought I'd log on to let you know I'm still alive.
We're expecting Wayne's mom to sail in and dock in Vancouver from her Austraila cruise in a couple of weeks. Wayne is making a murphy bed for the guest room but I'm positive it won't be finished. We'll buy the mattress for it and put a few pictures up to make it like home for her. He's almost finished my desk so I'll have my computer to set up along with my scrapbook supplies. All the furniture will be in a light wood to make the room brighter and I've planned to decorate in a West Coast feel. I'm looking for pictures with seashells, sand and ocean. I'd like to set up sail boat trinkets on shelves and buy a duvet cover in white and blue.We're really excited, although Wayne is away on business for most of her stay...back on weekends, we'll still have fun.
Sam's vocabulary has doubled since my last post. We give her a book and she points to everything and says the word, I didn't know she knew so much...she just never comes out and says it! Her newest thing she says is so funny - it comes from Dora's sneeky fox friend Swiper...."OOOHH MAAAAAAAAAAN!" At night she also gives us tons of kisses when we put her to bed (still our bed) and she gets so into it she pushes me and Wayne's heads together to kiss too...so the three of us are kissing all over...it's so cute and we all laugh our heads off! She's quite a character, Wayne's mom is really going to get a kick out of her!
Yesterday I raked up the back yard lawn after mowing it and then seeded the grass. It's all patchy because the last owners didn't take care of it properly. They put so much work into it - we always hear it from the neighbours - they carried bags and bags of potting soil to the back and after all that they seeded it all, but hardly watered or fertilized it. I don't know why they just didn't lay down sod. They didn't know much about gardening (and either do I) but from what we see they did with the front and back, they did a pretty great job overall. More than I'd be able to do that's for sure. AND with very little tools I hear! AND they were always out there in their best work clothes. We have nice cedar trees bordering our front and back yards and a few plants with lava rock on top. Looks good, but I had to make a few minor changes. From here I'll be able to do some great things. So here's hoping the lawn will look awesome by the time Mom Cassidy arrives.