My Pumpkin Patch Princess

I had a great morning yesterday! We both had the day off so we headed out to Belgrave so Ayla could pick out a pumpkin. The weather was perfect to be outside and Ayla was happy! I got some great pictures of my little girl who took over the pumpkin patch. We checked out the big pumpkins first and Ayla and Daddy picked out the perfect pumpkin to carve. Its a nice round pumpkin with a flat top and the perfect stem! We then found a great white pumpkin (which my 4 year old niece has told me is quite impossible...lol)! Ayla then checked out the little pumpkins. She picked up one and decided it was coming home with us. Her third choice was the one she decided to eat! Teething makes kids do strange things! Need I say more... We then moved on to "the gross stuff" as my husband put it! Squash!!! I love squash...It looks so pretty and tastes delicious. I guess he disagrees with me! We got squash and gourds to complete our outdoor decorations! This morning Ayla and I went out to look at the outside of our house and the gourds made her giggle hysterically! No idea why but better laughter than tears I guess. We ended up getting one more big pumpkin before we left and then went for lunch as a family.

I came home and was looking at the pictures and thinking about some outdoor pictures I had taken of us last fall. At some point this summer, my baby turns into a little girl...When I have no idea! A little girl who fed herself her oatmeal with a spoon all by herself this morning. A litle girl who figured out how to empty all the balls out of the pool table last night a t the Legion. A little girl who can scoot up the stairs fast as lightning. A little girl who can catch and throw a ball. A little girl who can turn on the lights in her room from her crib. A little girl who flirted so much with a boy last night that his cheeks turned pink (sorry Travis lol). A little girl who gets into the bathtub all on her own. A little girl who surprises you by pulling you in and giving you kisses unexpectedly. A little girl who throws tantrums when flirting doesn't work. When did this happen? A year ago she couldn't sit up on her own and now look!!!

Its Thanksgiving and I guess the point to all of this is how thankful I am for Miss Ayla! She's so gorgeous, loving, stubborn, and such an immense blessing! She's made me a better person and a stronger woman! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I love you....I love you not....

So wayyyyy to long since I've been on here! Life has gotten crazy and my "me time" seems to have vanished! I know where are my priorities!?! I'll keep this short and sweet, but I promise that I will try my damnest to write more over the long weekend!

I Love You...

• Amazing fall days like today! So lovely out there...If I was in school it would be a day for skipping class for sure (but don't tell my mother...lol)! This growing up and having a job sucks some days!!!
• Pumpkin spice tea at Tim Horton's...Its getting my through my day today! Thanks Jean!
• My friends! It goes without saying, but really they rock my world!
• Flights coming from Calgary carrying one of my favourite people!!!

I Love You Not...

• Being sick!!! I have a cold and feel that I am dying! I know I'm a drama queen and that I may be exaggarating just a smidge, but I truly feel like crap! Noone ever tells you how hard it is being sick when you're a mom. Dads have it easy when they're sick!!! Moms get to look after themselves, the house, the laundry, the baby, the dad, etc!
• Chaos! I've been sick all week so my house and life is in chaos right now and its driving me nuts! I can not wait to be done work today so that I can organize and tame the chaos...

A green pinky perhaps???

Tonight as I type this post, I type with hands that have played in the dirt this week. They're dry and stained and my back and shoulders hurt, but today I'm okay with that. Last night, I went out and started weeding my overgrown flowerbeds. I wasn't out there because I wanted to at all. I was out there because a certain person who lives in my house was nagging about how they looked. So as I weeded, I plotted a mass murder of entire flowerbeds with Roundup (and then ways to get rid of the nagger). I woke up this morning and stared disgustedly at my flowerbeds as I left for work...

As I got ready for work I remembered that I had planned to go work in the Community Garden with a lady I support! I wasn't overly excited at all, but I knew that the lady I support was going to need some encouragement as she tried something new. So I planned on faking it...Now if you don't know how Community Gardens work, here's a quick explantion...A large parcel of land in a town/city is used to give people who may not have the space, a chance to grow fresh produce. In our Community Garden half the space is dedicated to growing produce for our local food bank. Our garden is relatively new and since I was on maternity leave last summer, I really didn't get to see it in action. Its run and organized my two of my co-workers in their spare time. They don't even live in the town. They teach workshops for families and children on weekends! They need volunteers to help look after the food bank portion of the garden!!!

We had only been weeding a few minutes, when an older gentleman showed up. He had been across the street at Zehrs and they had tables with free plants. He figured they may be in rough shape, but there was empty space in the garden. He didn't have time to plant them, but he got us some tools and left. I was touched by his thoughtfulness!!! As we worked, we chatted about where this food was going to end up and how it was going to help needy families. We met a few other volunteers during our two hours there. Two older ladies brought us peaches as a snack, before they went a picked some peas and beets to drop off at the food bank. When I got home tonight, I tackled my flowerbeds and made some serious progress. I moved rocks and plants and was sad when I ran out of daylight. After almost two years in this house, I felt like I made them mine!

So here's the point...Find out if you're town has a Community Garden! Even if you don't want/need to have a garden, pitch in a help for an hour! When the kids get whiny and bored this summer, pitch in as a family! Remember that when we think and work as a community, good things truly can happen! And yes I'm going to post pictures of my flowerbeds later!

And to Andrea and Andrew- Thanks for all you have put into this community project!!!

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!

I Love You, I Love You Not...

I love you...

• I love that my newly independent little girl actually wanted to have some cuddle time with me this morning. If I have to get up at 6:30am on a Saturday morning, thats the way to do it!!! Normally she comes downstairs and is off and running (or crawling), but today she snuggled under a blanket with Mommy and we watched cartoons. There really can't be better moments then that as a parent! She now gives kisses as well (even to her daddy...He has a goatee, so when he goes to kisses her, she usually turns her face away. This morning, she puckered up and gave him a big smack on the lips and turned and gave mommy a big smile. She then turned back and gave daddy another big kiss!).
• I love the fact that my good friend Britt is going to be a mom! She just glows and I can't wait to meet this little person. Her husband and herself are just the most loving, wonderful, laid back friends you could have and I'm excited! Camping next summer with two little ones will be fun! Stressful, but fun!
• My mother-inlaw and her thoughtfulness. We've had our moments and are complete opposites in nearly every aspect of our lives, but I'm learning to appreciate her. Last weekend, we spent the day in KW with my niece and daughter. We did Build-A-Bear, lunch and stopped at Anna Mae's on the way home. It was an exhausting day, but she loved the all girls day!!! She's been outnumbered in her house way too long! Everyone has their strengths and sometimes you simply need to push past the differences to see their gifts! BTW Build-A-Bear is fantastic...Pricey but a great experience! Can't wait to scrapbook our pictures!
• All the support for McHappy Day...I have loved hearing all the stories of how you all helped! Ayla and I were in London for McHappy Day, so we met up with my Mom and went to Ronald McDonald House. We dropped off chocolate roses for all the Moms who would be spending Mother's Day at RMH. The volunteers working remembered me from last summer and it was great for them to meet my daughter. My mom had never been in RMH and I know it meant quite a bit to her to be able to go with us. We then headed off to eat our Big Macs and show our support. We bought "Happy Feet" and Ayla wrote Ronald McDonald a thank you note on hers!

I Love Not...

• Colds...As much as a love the cuddles and kisses from my daughter, I do not love the germs she passed along this week. It was a long week and today I get to disinfect everything...Do you realize just how much one snotty kid can touch in four days?
• People who key cars. Yup my car that I've had under 6months was keyed. Grrr If I ever find who did this, I will introduce you to my large husband!