School Days

So, first and second day of JK went off without too much trouble.

The morning of his first day James was very excited and anxious to get there. My evil fiend and I walked our Monkey over to the Kindergarten pen, and stood off to the side with all the other parental units. James was fine until the reality of the situation kind of clicked in. He was going into the classroom but Mommy and Daddy weren't. He started to cry, and before I could even blink the teacher wisely grabbed his hand and led him away. She said he was fine as soon as they got inside.

James is usually a fearless, chatter bug who imagines adventures wherever he goes. He will chat with anyone, telling them stories about Godzilla and asking them question about dinosaurs and robots. He likes to make up his own jokes and sing songs.

His second day of school went swimmingly well. Apparently he didn't want to leave because he was having such a good time. His teacher told us that she was very impressed with his vast vocabulary, and that he performed the entire "I Love You Forever" Munsch story for the class.

He's already talking about how much he's looking forward to school on Monday.

1st Day Of School

Well, I can't believe how fast this day has come. Tomorrow is my Monkeys first day of JK. Where has the time gone? It feels like only yesterday that he was learning to walk and saying his first words.

These days he's building spaceships out of Lego, playing Godzilla with his dinosaurs, singing Disney songs with joyful abandon, dancing like a funk machine, trying to make up jokes and stories and just being generally awesome!

We spent our last schooless night in the living room listening to Vampire Weekend(thanks Sean!), eating ice cream and building things out of Lego!

S'wonderful!

Well, today was a very big day!!!! I haven't really been advertising to friends that my Mom was due to escape her year long imprisonment today. I was sooo fearful that something would go wrong and it wouldn't happen. I kept very silent about it, but happen it did! She is FREE! She still has a long way to go in her recovery, but being in her own home has got to help.

It's hard to believe that my Mom has been in hospital for 13 months! She will have to continue with her physio and once she's gained some more weight and built her muscle back up she'll have a couple more surgeries still. Still, she's home and it feels sooooooo good!

I LOVE AUTUMN!!!!

I love sweaters! I love chilly mornings and cool but sunny afternoons! I love colourful leaves! I love pumpkins, hay bails, and decorative gourds! I love still being under 35, and being part of TSOundcheck! I love Starbucks Pumpkin spice latte! I love apple picking! I love corn chowder! I love sitting on the front porch with my fiendish love, drinking tea under the stars! I LOVE HALLOWEEN(A LOT)! I LOVE FALL!!!!

Craft Time With Mommy

A castle for James dragon!

How cool is this?

You can buy this room divider at Etsy. I love Etsy!!!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25401106&ref=fp_feat_10

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's been a year today that my Mom was taken to hospital. It's been a long, craptacular road but we've just been told she has 30 days till ejection. I am so happy!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday To Me

Today I am 33 years old. I love my birthdays! I love kisses from my Monkey, presents, special dinners prepared with love by Chef Tyler and of course CAKE!!!

Being Away

I have a very good hubby! He held down the fort and took care of the Monkey while I was away for a week in Niagara/Erie with my Best Friend and Kindred Spirit Laurie.

Laurie's family has a trailer at a resort called Sherkston and we had such a good time there. We went on walks on the beach, golf cart rides(don't laugh it's fun), saw a ACDC tribute band(again don't laugh), saw the falls, went shopping in the US, watched movies, played with Laurie's adorable baby girl Charlotte, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

It was like being roomies in Windsor again. We had some really great house parties and nerdtacular times! Nothing better then friends and show tunes!

I feel like my battery has been recharged.

Monster Island

I've been busy trying to complete projects and get organized. I've been de-cluttering the house room by room starting with my Monkeys.

After packing away two big garbage bags full of clothes and tossing broken toys his room was finally ready for de-babying. No more Winnie the Pooh lamp, no more Backyardigans table and chair set, and all of his Thomas trains have been put in storage. We kept his train table, but we turned it into Monster Island.

James is a big Godzilla fan. It's all he talks about, frankly. I'm talking the classic Japanese Godzilla who battled Mothra and Rodan. He is also a big dinosaur fan! Anyhoo, we created a landscape for the top of his train table using construction paper and plastic trees and volcanoes. We also drew a backdrop with palm trees, vines and man eating plants. Last Christmas his Nama was good enough to give James a huge box of various dinos, so we have let them all make a home on Monster Island. He loves it!

Anyone know where one can purchase a flying Monster who goes by the name 'King Geedorah"?

Need it!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=26119379

Shy

I wish that I wasn't so damn shy. I've come a long way, but there are still times where I hold back. It's something I really have have to work at.

I'm so glad that James is confident and outgoing. Last Wednesday he taught the whole Music and Movement class how to sing 'Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting'. It made a nice change from 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'.

He's a dance machine!

Live Music

I can't remember the last time I went to see live music. Depressing, eh? I miss it terribly!

Love BBQ Weather

True Blood = Fabulous

I want to do real bad things with you! Yumm!

Cheftastic

Can I just say how nice it is to have someone who can cook like a mofo! Tonight we feasted on fried chicken, french fries and coleslaw with apple. It was fan-friggin-tastic!

Tyler can cook anything from spicy red Thai curry to salmon covered in a crust of sliced potatoes to homemade pasta in a delicious cream sauce. We eat better meals than any restaurant I've been to. I'm spoiled, and I love it!

Thank you, Tyler! You are a genius!

Coolness!

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/the-mp3-experiment/

Projects Projects Projects

Summer is almost here and I'm starting to get the itch to do home projects. We've been in this house for about a year and a half now and I think it's time to start some small do-overs.

The living room/dining room was painted lavender and dark purple when we moved in and I can't say that I'm a big fan of either. It's a fairly open concept house so we painted everything a mushroom colour with accents of cream, brown and blue. I have a brown and blue obsession!

I really want to give James a fun room. He really loves robots and space, so I might do a combo of both as a theme. I already bought him a funky duvet cover from Ikea that kind of looks like molecules. I'll probably sew him up some pillows with a robot or space pattern on them. I built him a little reading nook in his closet with his old crib mattress. Etsy sells really great wall decals made from vinyl. I like these ones.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25043267&ref=sr_gallery_21&&ga_search_query=robots&ga_search_type=category&category=housewares.wall_decal&ga_page=1&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24070181&ref=sr_gallery_16&&ga_search_query=space&ga_search_type=category&category=housewares.wall_decal&ga_page=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

It should be a lot of fun!

blargh

Ever have one of those days where you think you might just spontaneously explode from stress?

Today my son fell and hit the back of his head on the corner of the brick fireplace. I freaked! He was startled and really sore but OK. Doctor said everything was fine and gave us a "what to look for" sheet. Good times!

Tyler had dropped us off at the Doctors so that he could go over to the bank. Wouldn't ya know that the car wouldn't start when he headed back over to pick us up. DEAD BATTERY!

There were also some Bank Shenanigans(that's all I'm going to say about that)! I just love Banks!

I do not like to be negative. I really do try to be positive and be thankful. I am so lucky to have an awesome family, husband and Monkey! It's just been such a hard year, and I think it might be starting to take a toll.

Days like to today used to just roll off my back. Today I find that I'm still feeling off. This year I've lost a pet, had a mother in law get breast cancer, my spouse's kidney disease relapse, my Mom fell ill with severe acute panreatitis and is still in hospital ten months later and I was laid off. I think my bad news limit is full for the year.

I will now stop whining and move on. It is time to go bake and shake all of these bad vibes away!

Wall-E

I've probably watched this movie a good 100 times(it's my Monkeys favorite), and I still think it's absolute genius! I laughed, I cried and I shared a musical theatre moment with my son. Pixar movies are always a treat. Can't wait to see UP!

In other news, my son has a crush on a white robot named Eve.

Want It

http://www.canon.ca/english/index-products.asp?lng=en&prodid=1443&sgid=23&gid=2&ovr=1

Happy Birthday Monkey

I can't believe that my little baby is not quite so little anymore. Today he will be 4 years old. Time flies when you get caught up in the whole life thing.

James thinks his birthday is on Saturday. Daddy is on a business trip to Montreal till Friday and didn't want to miss out. I still baked a cake today though(i have a baking addiction).

It's just going to be family this year because we wanted to keep it simple for my Mom. Pizza, munchies, candy sushi and cake are on the menu, and a vat of chocolate milk. I really hope the sun shows up so that we can let him run around the backyard and work off all of the excitement.

Tyler, who before his career in IT went to school for cooking and worked as a chef for a few years, is making his famous pizza. There isn't anything that he can't cook. For realz! lol I will be making a chocolate and vanilla marble cake with strawberries and chocolate ganache and of course the candy sushi. I love baking! I'll make cupcakes and just give them away to the neighbours. It's a sick, sick addiction!

I am so excited to have my Mom home and comfy and surrounded by family! This will be a very special birthday indeed.

The Storyteller

My son has an imagination that is boundless. Family and friends are often shocked by it. He is a storyteller, and has been since before he was two. He has such a way with words that sometimes I forget that he is only just turning 4.

He tells me stories about Volcanoes, Robots, Evil fire breathing dinosaurs, trips to Egypt, his Super Powers(Super strength, flight and super gadgets), Trains, and of course tales about when he was little.

His favorite toys are costumes and he runs around the house narrating his story as he goes. I usually get to be a robot, a conductor or Super Mommy. Daddy is usually the villain. Muwahahaha!

Recently he has expressed a desire to make movies with Daddy's video camera. I think I know what our summer is going to be spent doing.

Melty

Today when James gave me one of his many daily kisses he told me that it "was made out of his heart". I love that Monkey!

Artfest

Ay me! Today is Artfest in P-town and it's a day I've been looking forward to for the last few weeks. I even considered participating myself but there wasn't the time to make enough jewelry.



Alas, I won't be attending this year. Poor Tyler is sitting in the emergency room as I type this, waiting to see what's going on with his foot. It is quite swollen and he was up all night in terrible pain. Never take your health for granted!



James and I are biding our time by playing dinosaurs and watching Monsters Inc. He of course wanted to have a dance party. This usually consists of me putting 'I Like To Move It Move It' on my laptop and James moving and grooving all over the living room. He's got some pretty funky moves.



Well when I'm stressed I tend to bake things, and I think that is what I shall go and do. Chocolate cupcakes should do the trick.

Fun Photos

James really likes this website.

http://cameroid.com/

Our year of hell

I've been missing my Mom A LOT the last couple of weeks. We're hoping the hospital will let her have a day pass for Monkey's birthday. It's so hard for her to miss all the big milestones.

I can't believe that she's been in hospital for almost 10 months now, and for 5 or 6 of those months she was under sedation. She's doing so well. Her strength is coming back, she's able to walk further and further and she has a little feeling back in her right arm. I am very proud of her, and wish I was half as strong!

Tyler's health is on it's way back also. His Nephrotic Syndrome is doing much better and his swelling is gone. Nothing like really expensive drugs, and Monkey hugs & kisses to do the trick!

If Tyler and I can make it through all the ups and downs of this year, we can make it through anything. Now we just need to work on Tyler's taste in music.

Awesome Birthday Idea

I am totally going to try this for James birthday on the 28th. What a fun, fun idea!

http://mommyknows.com/tag/rice-krispie-squares/

Delish

http://www.tastespotting.com/

Bored?

http://blueballfixed.ytmnd.com/

Why are you always shaking your eyes?

http://www.nfb.ca/film/big_snit/

Etsy

I am addicted to Etsy. I can't stop browsing through all of the newly posted items. There are so many fabu creations.

I've been thinking about starting my own Etsy shop and selling my jewelry. I dream about earring designs and finding the perfect bead. I think it would be fun on a stick!

www.etsy.com

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright is on Spectacle tonight! Hurray! I am as excited as a little kid at Christmas. I am a nerd! There is nothing more fabulous than a show tune/opera loving man in a vintage brooch.

Rufus and Radiohead are my Lurves!

rollergirl

Rollerskating is as much fun in your thirties as it was when you were eight. Loved being outskated by a couple of funky seventy-somethings. For realz!

In other news, PC Garlic stuffed olives are sextastic!

30 rock

Tina Fey is awesome! I have a serious girl crush going on. Kachow!

and the bead goes on

I have been on a jewelry making kick lately. Nothing like having a little side business that you enjoy doing. If only I could be like Joan Rivers on the HomeShopping Network and make millions. Hah!



I'm working on a long beaded necklace that has a very beachy summery feel. Lots of blues and whites. The hardest part is not keeping them for myself, but how many necklaces can one have.

and away we go

Blip.fm is the new crack.