Santa 2008

It's been a long time since my last post. No one is reading this anyway, so does it really matter? We have been so busy starting our new business that photo updates have been the LAST thing on our minds. This year Madison had our tight family budget in mind when she asked Santa for a wooden toy snake - you know the sectional kind that wiggles, and some new Play Doh. That's my girl! Sydney on the other hand asked for a large Polly Pocket's cruise ship, which just happens to be half price at Toys R Us, so I'll have to shoot Santa an email on that one. All is well, just extraordinarily busier than usual. Maddie is enjoying Grade 2, and Sydney just enjoys bugging Madison...

November Highlights

Sydney's free trial ballet class. A windy day at the park. My trip to Idaho Falls - nothing but a giant Walmart and a giant Mormon temple...

October Highlights

Highlights from October: 1. Our first paying job - shirts for a bowling party. 2. Hanging out at Burbank airport and seeing the fire fighting planes from Quebec - noticed there was no Canadian flag on them! 3. Visit to the really expensive pumpkin patch - which we couldn't afford to actually enter so we just grabbed a pumpkin and bailed after a 45 minute drive up there! 4. Halloween!

September Highlights

Let's see... we bought a new business and it arrived... in several boxes... gulp. Madison started second grade. Sydney went back to preschool part-time after a summer break.

Madison turns SEVEN !

August 16th, 2008

Madison had her 7th birthday today. Her best pal Mia came over and we all went bowling (which was not her favorite part of the night - and that's all I'm going to say). Then we went out to her favorite restaurant, El Gringo for some quesadillas, and finally home for cake, presents and a sleep over. The sleep over went remarkably well, except for the requests for water, and their fear that there were black widows in their room! (not). The horse theme turned out pretty cute, and her newest favorite colour, light blue. One more year 'till we have to eat that much cake in one week!

Sydney Turns THREE !

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Happy Birthday to our little princess! Yes, she is ALL about the pink, and ALL about the princesses right now. Cute, but we hope she grows out of it sooner rather than later. We had the Kershaw family over to celebrate her special day: Kayla, Luke, Michele and Nigel. Big sister Madison was so helpful at clean up time and a fun time was had by all..

Rola Visit!

My best old pal from Toronto came for a visit this month. We did everything under the sun. And did it with two kids, in two weeks. San Diego, Canada Day, her birthday, July 4th, Hollywood Sign, Grauman's Chinese, Kodak Theater, two cemetaries where the famous are buried (she has a thing for cemetaries), Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade, Malibu with lunch on the water at Duke's, Long Beach and rented a boat, the La Brea Tar Pits, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Palos Verdes to see the Trump golf course, and of course, who can forget Beverly Hills, where I was pulled over by a nice officer only to have Viola embarrass me by asking him for a photo! Good Times. I miss you boo!

The OC Fair

I will get back to June in a minute, but I just had to post this image from the Orange County Fair I took today. The reason so many Americans are obese .... if it's not fried, it's dipped in chocolate - or both in some cases.

May 2008

In May we went to a few fairs (where Madison rock climbed!!) and celebrated Mother's Day with the usual - food and tantrums. I can't wait until I get to the stage when they start buying me massage gift certificates. But then I won't be getting any cute clay hand prints anymore...

Madison had a field trip to the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, and Sydney and I spent time at the park where the misters came on and surprised us.

May 2008

Swim Lessons!

April 2008

April Happenings:
1. Swim Lessons: Madison is accelerating quickly but Sydney seems to be getting worse! Oh well, at least she is not afraid of the water!
2. A visit from Kevin's best friend Glenn, or as Sydney calls him, "The Big Guy"; and the fulfillment of the quest for Star Wars lego by a trip to San Diego!
3. A visit from Kate's Marin friend Francesca and Maddie's friend Isabella; fun at the beach and...ANOTHER trip to Legoland!

Potty, Bikes and Math!

So, Sydney has potty trained and learned to ride her bike all in a span of about two weeks! We are SO proud of our sweet little monkey – even though she is still having frequent tantrums and hitting us. We hope it's just a nasty growing spurt.

Madison has been working hard at addition and subtraction and passed another math test to move up to the next level. I have already apologized to her repeatedly for giving her my bad math genes.

We are totally broke and can barely afford groceries, but hey, the house looks good...

Natural History Museum

Maddie wants to be an archeologist someday. Don't have the heart to tell her it's actually quite boring. No worries, she'll change her mind tomorrow. On her last homework assignment, she said she wants to be a masseuse. Then there was teacher, clay artist, singer, but definitely not a mother.







Ever wondered what a chicken looks like on the inside?

It's Done!

Here is what it looks like all done now. Much darker with the second coat....

Home Sweet Home

So with all the overtime Kevin was working the past month or two, we decided to paint the exterior of our house. Just the stucco and siding, not the trim as that had been recently done, plus we couldn't afford that much. We wanted to give it a fresh look for our next appraisal. The first coat of paint went on today! Now just one more coat tomorrow, plus house numbers, a mailbox, and a nice light fixture. Now every time I come home, I can say... "Ahhhhh, that's better."

I wish more people would slap a coat of paint on their homes. It's really not that expensive considering the cost of most renovations and it can make a huge difference.

Syd Sings - Movie 4 of 4

Syd Sings - Movie 3 of 4

Syd Sings - Movie 2 of 4

Syd Sings - Movie 1 of 4

Second Tooth Lost - March 7th, 2008

Recent Pics

Here are some recent pics. First is Snow White awaiting her smoothie. Then a day at the neighbourhood park, followed by the cow girl on "crazy hat day" at school...

My Latest Project

Although this is not a paying project, it has been nagging me for a long time now so somehow it suddenly had priority. I've had these alphabet cards that I used for the girls' baby books and been wanting to frame and hang them for years now. I've had 26 black picture frames in my closet for two years and I finally got around to spray painting them white. If I ever decide to do this in the future with the second set, I will just buy white ones and pay more! Little did I know that by pressing that little spray can nozzle for hours on end for a whole weekend I'd end up screwing up my bicep muscle for about two weeks after! Not to mention this paint won't even come off with paint thinner. What a mess! Anyhow, at least they look good from a distance! Now I just have to paint some flowers on the wall above the beds and maybe some small butterflies or fairies and finally that unicorn Maddie has been requesting...

LA is not always ugly...