its starting to feel a lot like summer!!!

So it’s time for another update. The past three days have been crazy. Let me start by saying that I have been working like a dog lately – at least for me. I am kinda used to not over-working myself :) But the last 3 or 4 months I have been working like crazy. I REALLY like what I’m doing right now and I am personally interested in a lot of the stuff that is going on in my industry locally and throughout Canada, so on top of my regular job duties I have been trying to stay up to speed on what’s going on and do some business development as well. Needless to say I am unable to keep up a crazy pace for a long time (unlike CJ who is amazing at working 15 hours a day continuously for over a year).

In any case I ended up having a small breakdown at work on Friday. I was tired and worn out and someone senior (ok – the president) made a comment to me that I took as criticism and I way over reacted and got really upset and started to cry in his office. Then because I was so ticked off at my total lack of self control I cried even harder. I was just a mess. He was really good about everything and told me that I needed to cut back on work and spend more time with my family – which was such a sweet comment that I cried even harder. Ha ha ha. Ugh. I am now totally embarrassed about the whole ordeal but I guess I just need to move on. So that was Friday. By the time I got myself under control and finished up some critical work things, it was 3:00 – so I left the office and decided to give myself an hour to recuperate. I went and got a manicure and pedicure by myself and it was just LUXURY!

CJ had a baseball game that night and I was going to go and watch and then we were going to go out on a date. But when Rachel (and Brian) came over to babysit, I was still feeling rather “delicate” and didn’t want to be around a ton of people, so I took Koda for a walk. We were walking by Bev’s house and we saw Coco outside. So we went to say hello. Bev came out and said that she and Sof would join us for a walk. It was actually just what I needed. We went for a really long walk and of course Bev heard all about my “fabulous” day. By the time I got home I was feeling so much better. Bev and sof stayed for a visit and CJ came home and we all just hung out on the front patio and chatted till it was time for bed.

On Saturday we had my company’s summer picnic. It was at a local park and when we arrived the kids were thrilled to see this set up on the grass.


As you can imagine – the kids had a BLAST running through that thing with all the other kids for about 3 hours! There was also a mini put course set up  here are some pics.





I love this pic and just want to kiss his cheeks.






The cake (appetizing eh?)



So after all that playing we headed home ~ 3:00. CJ had another baseball game (it was a tournament weekend) so we were in separate cars. Both kids were asleep before we left the park. I was able to successful carry them from the car to their beds when we got home and they continued to sleep for a couple hours. Meanwhile, Helen called and asked if we wanted to go to Dave’s parents’ house for swimming and barbeque. So when the kids woke up from their naps they couldn’t believe their luck. Not only did they have a fun time at the picnic but they got to go swimming too. We arrived at about 5;30 and the kids played/swam hard the whole time except for about 10 minutes when they jumped out to eat a burger or hot dog. CJ joined us there at about 6:00 which was nice. At 9:00 we dragged the kids away… they weren’t very willing so we bribed them with a sleepover. So instead of taking our two kids home – we took 4 kids home with us. Luckily all the kiddos were absolutely exhausted from the days events that all 4 were asleep in Seb’s room by 10:00. WOOT!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny the whole day. The kids had fun playing together. We hit the park, went for a walk, and played in the sprinkler.











While the kids were playing, I was able to get some gardening done. I realized that our garden needed A LOT more colour. The grass is coming in nicely (from the bare spots from the sandbox and pool last year). But this is how it looks now… pretty sparse.



Guess where the dog pees.


After lunch, Helen came by to pick up Seb and Sophie. Kenzie had a birthday party in the afternoon so we had to run out and get a present. On the way home I was drawn to Home Depot to buy some flowers.

Here’s a pic of the Boo


We bought a ton of stuff – hanging baskets, more clematis for the front, some geraniums, petunias and marigolds (I don’t particularly like them so much but they keep the mosquitoes and wasps away) for planters on the balcony, some sort of red bush (can’t remember the name). In any case, when we got home, Seb was napping and Kenzie decided to lie down for a few minutes before her party started. I got right into my gardening and had a blast! There is something so therapeutic about gardening. In any case, the garden already looks better but this has just given me a taste. Now I am anxious to put a real physical border (either stone or that black plastic stuff) around the two flower beds, get and plant some more bushes and I really want to buy a couple small wood and wrought iron benches to put in the backyard to sit on.

Okay – now I am totally babbling… so to end my novel. After gardening I took a shower, CJ picked up Kenzie, the Woocks came over for a barbeque and we had a fun evening. Today it’s back to work and I am having a hard time getting motivated.

some things never change

... like Kenzie's sense of fashion.

Dec. 2005


June 2009

visit and trip to african lion safari

The weekend is almost over, and, once again, it has flown by. It had its ups and downs. It started off relatively well with me leaving work early on Friday afternoon to have a nice lunch with my mum. Unfortunately I was so exhausted from my work week that I couldn’t stop yawning. After lunch Omi and I picked the kids up from school. We got home and sat outside in the front and watched the kids play out on the street. Seb decided that he wanted to try 2-wheeling on his bike. Unfortunately he was just not in the right mind-frame. I was holding the back of his bike and he was doing great. I’m pretty sure that I could have let go and he would have been fine, but he was in a mood and everytime he started to lean just a bit he’d have a complete meltdown because he was frustrated. In any case, luckily Bev and Sofia showed up – Sof took both kids to the park and mum, Bev and I sat and drank wine and chatted and relaxed.

Saturday, Seb woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He was cranky and whiney from the minute he woke up. This was bad enough, but made even worse because yesterday was the day the Craig and Pat (CJ’s brother and mum) came to visit. We haven’t seen Craig for over a year. And this certainly did not give him a good impression. Craig and Pat arrivedd at about 11:30 and stayed until about 6:30 during which time Sebastian probably had no fewer than 20 meltdowns and whined for about 6 hours.

Here’s Seb having a meltdown because something didn’t go his way… maybe he missed the ball… or didn’t kick it as far as he wanted to.


CJ and his mom.


Uncle Craig and Koda became good friends.


Seb showing Craig how to play line-rider


Nana and Kenzie on our walk. We took a little break by the school and Kenzie made a card for Nana.


Luckily we got the kids to sleep shortly after P & C left. Seb was out by 7:15 and Kenzie shortly thereafter. They both had a good sleep and Seb was a different boy this morning. CJ was gone by the time we woke up this morning. He and Dave went to do a 50km bicycle ride for charity. So the kids and I decided to go on an adventure…. We considered Canada’s Wonderland but decided against it cause it was raining. So I took the kids to the African Lion Safari. They were great and we had a lot of fun. We drove the safari and saw lots of cool animals….



Like lions,



And giraffes,


And rhinos,


And ostriches,


and ….



MONKEYS!!




We saw a cool parrot show….




Took a train ride…


Rode on an elephant..





And finally headed home….. We are now home and I have handed over parenting duties to CJ. I am going to have a nice glass of wine and catch up on facebook while CJ takes the kiddos to the park.

Soccer season has begun

Kenzie has had two games already this season. So far i am glad that we signed her up. She was pretty apprehensive about playing this year. Last year she played on a team with all boys, some of whom had been playing for a couple years already. I think it was pretty overwhelming for her, so she was nervous about playing again. But this year seems to be going really well so far (knock on wood). This year the league has boys and girls on sperate teams. She also got to play in goal for teh whole game earlier this week and her team ended up winning 8 to 1 so she was thrilled about that and teh fact that she played a significant part in her team winning. Here are some pics....

The ladies man

Seb and his girlfriend are still going strong. They are so friggin cute together and they get along so well - they are both super confident and independant so they have fun together. :)