What a day!

Patricks birthday party was yesterday and we had a terrific time! He had lots of guests: Grandma & Grandpa F, Grampy & Grandma M, Auntie Boo and James, Auntie Sara, Uncle Derek, and cousins Ayla, Mattea & Janae, Great Grandpa Bert and Great Grandpa & Great Grandma H. Whew!

Patrick was napping when everyone arrived and was a little overwhelmed to wake up to such a large croud! He had a great time playing with his new gifts: this one is from us

After some socializing, we had lunch, and then opened gifts. Patrick got lots of great stuff: a step-2 wagon, a toddler bed, a bath-tub boat, a pool with built in shade, a sun hat, balloons, summer clothes, an Einstein DVD (nursery numbers), a lil-tykes basketball net and ball, book set with CD -- he was spoiled rotten!!!

Then it was cake time! Patrick got to stick his hand in his cake and taste the icing. He had such a sugar high after that, he skipped his afternoon nap AND didn't go to bed until 7!

It was a great day. Thank you to everyone for coming and being so generous with your gifts and your time.

I can't believe its a year already....

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HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY

PATRICK!!!!!!!

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Busy Busy Busy

Upon reflection, I cannot believe how much work we have put into preparations for Patrick's party. Its utterly rediculuous! Everything we did we needed to do anyway, but to jam it all into one little week is crazy! Here's a summary:

1. washed all the windows
2. ripped apart and rebuilt the deck
3. Shaun built a small patio for the hose and future A/C unit
4. took 3 loads of brush to the dump
5. Shopped for groceries / supplies
6. Made goodie bags for the kids
7. weeded, transplanted, added to the garden
8. vacuumed and washed the floors
9. 'rollered' the furnature to remove all the cat hair
10. dusted
11. changed all the beds
12. laundry laundry laundry
13. scrubbed the bathrooms
14. decorated

I'm tired just thinking about it, and my body sure knows it happened!

Our hive is buzzzzzin!

With the impending onslaught of family this weekend, its a hive of activity in our household. Shaun has been working non stop on fixing our deck -- replacing rotten board with new ones, putting up new lattice 'walls', pouring new concrete, taking the old stuff to the dump -- and it looks TERRIFIC!!!

I've been working outside too when P is napping: I re-loaded the trailer with another load of brush and weeded my front garden. I also transplanted all the dafodil bulbs from the lawn into the garden and also 3 Autmn Seedums from the 'pool' garden to the front.

I'm developing quite the interest in gardening. I love to get in there and make things look terrific again. Its a great feeling when I can pull a weed all the way down to its tap root, and I love the way the garden looks after its been weeded -- soooo perfect! I'm looking forward to adding more colour with some annuals -- I haven't decided which type or colour yet. Probably red or purple. I also need to add a few more bags of dirt to beef it up.

Today the activity continues. This morning I'm going to Owen Sound with my mother-in-law to get groceries and have a nice visit, and this afternoon I'll be changing beds and doing laundry. Shaun is going to finish the deck -- he figures he only has 1.5 hours to go. Most wives know that you must DOUBLE the given time for a more realistic timeframe, so he has about 3 hours to go.

I was curious again this morning so I got in the scale: I've lost another pound! So exciting!! I still feel the best part of this 'plan' is that i eat... a LOT. Granted most of it is fruit and veggies, but I have NOT been hungry. Its great!!

Well, its 6:30, and I'm the only one awake. I think I'll go jump in the shower and enjoy!

I don't know how he did it...

...but he did!

I put Patrick down for a nap on his back, as per usual. I left him a while, but he hadn't gone to sleep so I went to check on him, expecting to find him in all manner of positions - he's very creative. But I found him SITTING UP looking at me! With his socks off.

I don't know what technique he used, or when he accomplished it (10 minutes or less) but he did it. He was so proud of himself. And I am proud of him.

What a monkey.

A moment in history

I put the pot away today.

The pot has lived on my stove since Patrick was about a week old. I used it every day, then. Then every other day, and more recently, every 3rd day. And now I won't be needing it anymore.

It is the pot I used to boil his water for his formula and juice.

Now that he is mostly on homo-milk, he barely needs any water at all, and now he will drink chilled tap water like his mom & dad.

I didn't think it would affect me so much.

He's just growing up so fast.

I don't buy into that song and dance.

I was starting to feel guilty. I thought it had been a long time since I wrote in here last, but its only been 3 days.

Generally, 3 days isn't so long, however, if my friends haven't posted in 3 days I start wondering whats keeping them from it!

Shaun was off yesterday and today, and will be working Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We got a lot accomplished! Yesterday we vacuumed and washed all the floors, ran errands and flipped and re-adjusted Patrick's car seat. He's now facing forward!! He was so excited when we put him in the car and he really enjoyed taking a trip to Southampton. We put him on the passenger side, so that I can quickly glance back to check on him when its just us. Before, he was on the driver's side and we used a little mirror contraption that we purchased at Walmart to keep an eye on him. Statistically, either side of the vehicle is equally likely to take a 'hit', and the safest spot is in the middle. This was not an option for us with 2 captains chairs.

Today we washed ALL the windows. What a task! I'd forgotten what was involved, especially in our 'old' windows. The front bay window is the WORST because it is divided and has storm windows as well. The WORST glass to clean, however, is our french doors. There are 60 little rectangles. UGH. My arm was sore by the time I was done with it. But everything looks so clean it was well worth it. Last step is to wash all the curtains -- they are currently in a heap at the bottom of the basement stairs. Maybe tomorrow.

So, right when I was writing this, there was a knock at our door. It was a man with a clipboard so I asked Shaun to get it. When they started talking about electricity rates, I got in on the conversation. A little history: in the fall, a man, who wasn't particularly professional but tried to pass himself off as very knowledgeable and professional, rang my doorbell. He tried to sell us a fixed-rate natural gas plan which started at a higher rate then we were currently paying. I was wary... he said I couldn't think about it that he was only in the area today, and I had to make a decision NOW. I said no. I'm glad I did. Although natural gas went up slightly, we're still paying our 'equal monthly billing' and we're still in the + (we've payed for more gas then we've used). This guy was trying to sell the same thing, but for electricity. He was pretty crafty. He said we didn't understand what he was trying to say. I think I did. I think I'll stick with what we've got. Everything goes up in price-- thats life. How is this 'fixed rate' company making money if we're "paying less"? That makes no sense. Of course they're trying to play us and make a buck. Argh!

Quiz: Which religion is right for you?

I took the quiz that Amy took (although to find it, I had quite the easter egg hunt!) and here are my results. Interesting.

And yes, I think its quite accurate for me.

You can take the quiz yourself here: http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=10907
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You scored as agnosticism.

You are an agnostic. Though it is generally taken that agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in God, it is possible to be a theist or atheist in addition to an agnostic. Agnostics don't believe it is possible to prove the existence of God (nor lack thereof). Agnosticism is a philosophy that God's existence cannot be proven. Some say it is possible to be agnostic and follow a religion; however, one cannot be a devout believer if he or she does not truly believe.

agnosticism 100%
Buddhism 88%
Islam 71%
Paganism 71%
Satanism 54%
Judaism 50%
atheism 50%
Hinduism 42%
Christianity 38%

search and destroy

Yesterday Shaun was home and we were able to get a lot of yardwork done.

I think I've mentioned how overgrown our gardens and yard were when we bought the house. We purchased it in the winter, so I think that might be why we were happily unaware of what was ahead in terms of yardwork.

Yesterday morning, we were able to get out while Patrick was napping. Shaun worked on raking the back yard and I took out yet another plant. This was the LAST plant in a garden that surrounded the deck and now Shaun can rip out the 4x4s holding it together and we can spread the soil around the yard. Yah! After that, I bagged with Shaun had raked.

By this time Patrick had joined us, having finished his morning nap, and we sat him in the middle of a double bed sized blanket with toys and books to play. What he really wanted, however, was the grass. Mmmm. Delicious grass. We spent more time putting him back in the middle than we did working. This is probably why we tend to save our yardwork for naptime!

After we came back in, my parents called to say they wanted to come and visit us, just for the day! I was excited! They had a busy weekend planned, and I was glad they were going to come and visit.

They arrived ready to help us work in the yard! Dad quickly cut through the large branches I had removed due to snow damage, and then went to work on more bushes that had been slated to go. Shaun worked at removing stumps, and mom & I removed brush to the trailer, and when that was full, to a pile beside the trailer. With everyone's help, we cleared EVERYTHING from the pool area! So exciting!!!!

Now all that is left is removing stumps, and then we can get to work on taking out the extra soil to make the patio. We'll be putting the soil on our pathetic lawn to help it out.

Freaky storm

I was downstairs folding laundry, and I could hear this scratching sound in the pipes. My immediate thought was "oh crap, we have mice again... better get the trap out"... but scratching intensified and it turned into a 'ping' sound... and it was getting louder... and spreading... and I was totally confused what could be in ALL my pipes.

I called Shaun in. He listened. We looked at eachother dumbfounded. Then he said "well, it is raining" and I said "yes, but... how is that making our pipes 'ping' -- its everywhere!" Then it hit me ... the windows were open! The rain was coming in and hitting the air vents and falling down into the furnace pipes!!!

Shaun ran upstairs and closed the windows... I continued to fold laundry.

Laundry finally folded (2 full baskets -- you can see why I wasn't going to be distracted from finally finishing it), I came upstairs only to find Shaun running out the door to put the van in the garage.

Then I saw it: HAIL! Huge bits of packed ice&snow bouncing off the lawn, off the driveway and rivers of water flowing down the street. Our ditch was full. Lightening flashing and thunder rumbling. Quite the storm!!

Here are some pictures:

Its Milestone week in our house..

This morning, Patrick pulled up! I had sat him down beside his activity table and was getting hm a few toys when he decided that he wanted to stand. He rolled slightly to the side, onto his hip, reached up, put a foot under himself and stood up! Amazing!!!

Then, when we were playing together, Ramses came into the room and as clear as day Patrick said "kitty" Ok it was more like "ditty" but it was definetly in response to the kitty. He looked at me and smiled and I clapped and hugged him.

Goodness me, what does tomorrow hold?

Look out world

Patrick can 'crawl'!!

Ok, its more of an army craw, or a half-roll with a push-off crawl, but its forward movement!

I tempted him with his stacking cups -- he LOVES to knock them down. We moved from the far side of the living room to the middle of the dining room, and then he 'walked' holding my hands most of the way back to his activity table. Wow!!

Soon I will be run off my feet! Won't it be great?

Daddy better install the kitty door in the basement!!

baby of mine

We were at Shaun's parent's place, and they had puchased a video for Patrick. It was a Pooh movie -- the heffalump or something. Anyway, in the previews there was one for the re-release of remastered Dumbo and they played a small clip of a song that I recognized, but could't place.

I have RACKED by brain for weeks and I finally figured out the song.

its Baby Mine by Bette Middler from the Beaches soundtrack.

Yahoo!