Ball tournies, SUPERMOMS and pig roasts...now thats a summer weekend

I had a fantastic weekend for so many reasons...The first being it summer and a weekend!

Friday night I popped in to a a local ball tournament to have a drink and take in some of a game. This is the first year my husband isn't playing ball, so it feels strange only going to one game a week. I was missing our "summer friends..." They are the people we used to see 4 days a week min from mid-May to mid-Sept and this summer has felt empty without them. I couldn't stay long but it was nice. And I managed to get the important things squeezed in...Had a drink, saw Dabble, watched an amazing catch, caught up with cousins and nearly swallowed a june bug! I LOVE slowpitch! The plan was to return the next day with the kiddo, but the rain!

The Rain!!! Saturday the hubby was helping my uncle with moving. I had worked all week and took a Mommy and Ayla day! I felt a little guilty for not helping with the move, but I decided I would've felt more guilty had I sent Ayla to the sitters 6days in a row. Saturday was the Teddy Bear Play day, so we made plans to meet up with friends and be part of the parade and then take in the activities at the park. We got there before everyone else, so we dropped off library books and got in some reading time! Ayla loves the library!!! When we got back outside, it had started to drizzle. I was keen to bail at that point!!! But of course there were the SUPERMOMS! The moms who got out of their minivans and unloaded kids clad in matching raincoats and rubber boots, the moms who had underwater cameras so their tikes could take pictures in the rain, the moms who make the rest of us want to go home and hide our heads in shame. So as dozens of SUPERMOM eyes watched me exit the library, I knew I wasn't going to load my kid in the car. Instead I pulled out the stroller and the rain cover and the teddy bear (who I cursing at that moment...it it wasn't for the teddy bears, there would be no reason for a teddy bear play day). Ayla thought this was all great fun and chatted away with her best friend who sat in a plastic-clad stroller beside her. The parade got underway after hearing staff say that Environment Canada called for 1mm of rain all day! As we matched down Main st, we discovered that the police who were to stop traffice got called away. So the brave Early Years staff and a local radio station vehicle stopped traffic. We had just reached the halfway march when the drizzle became rain. In a few short minutes, it became a downpour! Traffic was now stopping all on its own, as people stared and laughed at the parents pushing strollers and pulling wagons! My friend and I wanted to bail mid-parade, but she had brought her mom!!! I thought the SUPERMOMS were bad, I guess the SUPERGRANDMAS are worse!!! We were not going to be allowed to bail! With only three blocks to go, the thunder and lightening started so the umbrellas had to go! At this point the SUPERMOMS were breaking into camp songs and still smiling (and had remembered waterproof mascara)! Needless to say by the time we got to the park, we were soaked and the kids were finally grumpy! We left the now screaming tikes with SUPERGRANDMA and got to run back in the pouring rain to get our cars. When Mommy and Ayla got home, we crawled into jammies, turned up the heat and watched a movie.

When Daddy got home, we had to get ready to go to a pig roast. This meant Ayla and I had to put on real clothes. The good news was that we had fun as a family. With our schedules, we don't do things as a whole family as often as we should. Us ladies spent the evening planning our camping trip for Aug! Very excited!!! It was a late, but enjoyable evening! Thanks for having us Kev and Laurie!

Sunday was low-key. Brandon had a competion, so Ayla and I met up with Natasha and went for a run. There were hills and a stroller to push so I didn't make it through the whole thing! Natasha on the other hand did!!! Great job Tash!

Nothing went as planned, but thats the joy of a summer weekend! However next summer, I'll pray to the teddy bear gods for a sunny day :)

I Love You, I Love You Not...

So somehow the blog I was working on got lost somewhere in the vast land on the internet, so I am slacking off... And you get this instead!

I LOVE YOU...

• Ontario strawberries...I seriously start counting down the first day of strawberries as soon as the snow starts melting! Today as I drove to the city, I drove past a half dozen signs for fresh-picked strawberries and every single one made me giddy! I can't wait to take Ayla out to pick some this weekend. I'm already anticipating eating berried straight off the plants while I fill my bucket. I can survive winters in Canada if I know it leads to strawberries! So keep your American and Mexican strawberries, because I plan on eating my body weight in Ontario strawberries!
• Friends who hold you accountable! Thanks for talking me into running Tash! I need/needed it!
• My sister...I got to spend the afternoon window shopping for fixtures for my upcoming bathroom reno with her and we had so much fun. Its nice to have the time for random, silly conversations and then time to talk about serious life problems. Our trips like this started as we got older and started to want to spend time together. We have the funniest stories, pictures and inside jokes from these days. Nobody else will ever understand it, but we do. One of my favourite pictures is of Tina and I at the Farmer's Market...She has hot pink hair and we're hugging Spiderman! Like I said...RANDOM!
• Looking at paint chips:D

I LOVE YOU NOT...

• Peeling sunburns! Gross I know, but I hate it soooo much!
• Cucumbers in taco salad!
• Working night shift
• Sore muscles...Again thanks Tasha! lol

I Love You, I Love You Not...

So its been way too long...In the last month, I've started back to work and we're still trying to figure out how to manage life around our new schedules! I promise my blogging will get better!

I love you..

• My baby girl!!! Ayla turned one last week and we had her party on Saturday. It ended up being smaller than I origionally planned, but she had so much fun! She had no qualms about diving into her cake! I had no idea that cake could be so messy! Cake was followed by a bath, followed by presents! I'm still not sure which she liked best, the cake (she happens to have a sugar nazi for a mother) or the balloons! Sunday night the emotions of having a one year old hit me like a Mack truck! I lay in bed sobbing to my husband about how sad I was that she was "all grown up!" He looked at me a little strange and said, "Umm you know she'll be bigger next year too, right?" Men!!! Its been such an amazing year! Being a mom is something I'm good at and its changed me sooo much already that I just can't wait to see what happens next!




• My job...I work for Community Living and I LOVE my job! I went to school and took my job knowing that its hard to get full-time in my field! Its the joy of non-profit work! It was fine before I was a mom, because I could pick up call in shifts and be flexible. My year off for mat leave, I started stressing out about having enough work, babysitters, etc. I started thinking about having to leave my job for something more stable and it hurt! Well yesterday I was offered a full-time one year contract and I'm so excited for it! I can't wait for the new challenges, the stability and the fact that I won't work weekends for a whole year!


• Big Macs...I think these should be one of the wonders of the world, thats how much I love them! My husband and friends think I'm nuts, but I still remember the first time Dad let me order was as a kid! It was love at first bite!


• Slowpitch...I am not the most amazing athlete, but slowpitch makes me happy. I've played for teams in the past that made me think about quitting slowpitch forever and then I made my own team. We have fun and love to play ball together. Last night we played one of our best games yet and I can't wait to see what happens next Monday!


• My Norwex mattress cleaner! I watched the Dr.Oz show about bed bugs, dust mites and matresses and couldn't stop thinking about it. So I bought this all natural mattress spray to keep them away! Today on my day off, I sprayed all the mattresses, couches and am soon off to cover them with crisp sheets! I am pumped to go to sleep tonight! lol Yes I'm obsessive-compulsive about germs!

I Love You Not...

• Crispy fries and pizza crusts! Can not stand them!!!


• Weeds...I can't keep up with my flowerbeds! I need to win the lottery and hire a gardener! In my head I know what it all looks like, but outside chaos reigns supreme...BUT if you could see what I see in my head, you would be impressed!


• Dusting! I would rather scrub toilets all morning than dust! I have hated this chore since I was a kid!