Karen Russell

Went to VCR for a daytrip a couple of weeks ago to take her 5 hour photography Q&A.... WOW...

She has a great way of putting it into words that just stuck in my head! I have take better photos since and without a flash! I can't wait to learn more!

The photo in the previous post was with my new knowledge and with my new 50mm lens!

Thanks Karen!

Today Carson

was such a great little helper. Started with wanting to make the salade of course he wanted to "chomp chomp" everything. We quickly had him settle for putting all the cut up pits into the salade bowl.

After I put the plates on the table he proceeded to add the forks (no knives needed it was fajita night) and said everyone's name as he went to their spots...

Mommy, Papa, Nana, Aunty (shannon) Daddy and me...

followed by the salt and pepper and dressings....

Then juring dinner he asked each and everyone one of us

'would you like more Papa, nana.... well you get the idea....

How's your dinner.... so on.... so sweet so polite and we just soaked it all in....

Love my little gentleman and gracious host!

A page

I think I need to create a page about things that are going on inside me. I have this picture of me with my eyes closed and I want to use that and explain how part of me doesn't want to be constantly remined my Mom lost her breast..... I just want to live behind my closed eyes. Selfish, probably, but it's how I feel.... Now that she has survived, it's about the living afterwards. Don't even get me started about how I feel about chemo and/or radiation....

Today I cried

I haven't really cried since Mom's been diagnozed. But this morning at 5 am when I said goodbye to my aunt, I just held on and the tears came..... My aunt said my Mom was lucky to have such amazing daughters. I hope I can give her enough!

I am having a really hard time with the fact my Mom chest is missing a breast. I have a hard time looking at the void.... my stomach does flip flops.

I hope she doesn't get the same feelings!

Stuff

Man I hope that Ryan and his partner just take the leap and go on the own 100%.... I'm so tired of MY life being on hold cause his freakin partner has no balls..... Life is too short working too much for too long.

Going camping this weekend. I think it's our last. Best thing we every did was rent that site for the year!

I love the age Carson is at right now. I actually find myself wanting to stay at home more and more. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my little man before, but have never wanted to be a stay at home Mom. Maybe I just want to be there cause we can do stuff together and I can still get stuff done and not get SOOOO frustrated with him. Now I'm not going to lie I'm thinking the "fun" stuff and well as the "have to" stuff.

Roxy's and I started Beginner L2 dog training. She does well on the stuff I work on with her, but I need to "heel" with her more and start really practicing on the "in front" downs..... We are also start agility training on Oct 6th.

Anyway just wanted to babble....

Oct 1

this will be the day my Mom has one of her breasts removed. On Aug 24th we found out my Mom has breast cancer..... when did we become one of the stats. Don't know how I feel except relieved right now...

Relieved because...

1) it was found out in the very early stages

2) it could have been much worse as she hasn't had a mamogram since 1991, yes that the nineteen century LADIES go get your BOOBS squeezed in that machine.

3) she doesn't have to have radiation or chemo!

Okay I'm also Freaked out because...

1) my Mom, Carson's Nana is the ROCK... so now

2) she smokes, drinks and doesn't eat properly.

More to come I'm sure.

it's FAMILY time

We had a reunion of family it seemed last week....

It all started with having Ted (my cousin who married Ryan and I almost 7 years ago) and his wife Deb and their four kids came to visit. We had them over on Wednesday and made them dinner. How wonderful to get to know them again! We had a really good visit even with us ALL in the house oh and my sister and her family joined us also!

Then on Sunday afternoon we went to my cousin Tammy's for a bbq cause a 2nd generation cousin was out from Winnipeg.... he's 23 now and the oldest kid of all us cousins..... so there are 8 boys and only 1 girl, my niece Montana! At one point all the boys were in the carport and it looked like the outsiders.... I took a picture of course. By the end of the day there was the rought housing and alot of them ended up in the pool! Got some GREAT photos.... I'll be busy tonight downloading.....

Gotta love summertime!

Camping

Well it's summertime and the camping has begun. I'm really enjoying the trailer parked at Little Dipper. I have lots of photos of course but I'm not home to upload them. I wanted to store a little something Carson said to Daddy the first weekend.

Ryan took the trailer up as we followed with Ginny and Lyric to start our week vacation.

After helping us set up for the first time, we were relaxing around the fire before Ryan had to head home to work the next day. I said to Ryan you should probably start preparing Carson for your departure.

Ryan "Hey buddy, Daddy's going to have to go home soon"

Carson "why"

Ryan "cause Daddy has to work tomorrow"

Carson in a sweet and innocent voice "oh well that's too bad for you"

okay now I know it's been said before but DAMN, THE THINGS KIDS SAY!

Carson

oh how the memories come back!

Movie

Carson loved the movie and it was really funny when he would laugh cause everyone else did.....

I thought he would talk about it after, but no.... only about his birthday party, which of course is today!

Happy Birthday Carson. I'll post some pictures of 3 years ago!

Shrek the Third

My neighbours wanted to take Carson to the matinee yesterday! I ended up going too cause it was Carson first visit to the Theaters! He did great and the movie was hilarious!

Got the bug....

the building bug! Ryan's been bugging me for years to build and I would have nothing to do with it, I mean I wouldn't even talk about it.

Now I can't stop talking about it..... I have a few people feeding this nasty beast too: Dad, Cheryl the Bank.....

I did 7 and 1's yesterday repeat four times for a total of 28 mins running. Cheryl and I thought before hand that we truely wouldn't make it. We so underestimated our bodies abilities. I have to say that we both did well and our next run is Wednesday morning! Go girls Go....

Getting our trailer ready for camping this weekend! Leaving Thursday night and coming home late Saturday afternoon, so we can spend two days in the yard! We were so torn on what to do, so I said we have to, no NEED to do both, so Ryan's busting his hump at work and Mom, Dad and I are getting everything else ready to go! Great team work I'd say! I'm spoiled by my parents, I admit it and I think they are truely the only reason I do more that survive with Ryan working so much!

Great Reading

Love this list Ali Edwards put on her blog from Body and Soul magazine.

1. Your home is more than the sum of its walls. Make it a sacred space.

2. Creativity is a lifestyle, not simply an activity. Let is expand you.

3. True forgiveness springs from love, not regret.

4. Learn something new. Emphasize the trying, not the succeeding.

5. Spend some time in the dirt. You'll be amazed at what nature can inspire.

6. You don't have to have a perfect body to feel great in it.

7. Define yourself by who you are, not the roles you play.

8. Find rejuvination in five minutes of silence.

9. Contribute to abundance. If you no longer need something, pass it on.

10. Find direction in your life by looking where you want to go, not where you don't.

A little time waster....

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

We did it.

Cheryl and I made our first running meeting and get this... we even planned our next run at the end. Huge, giagantic, leaps and bounds.

It was a beautiful day, and Stephanie wasn't too hard on us! LOL. I like her and her style. She doesn't just do the running part, she stretches and does resistance training after.

Then silly me went for a walk with Tara up to the dam to get the dogs excersiced and Mr C wanted to be pushed in the stroller. I'm sore already. Probably not a good thing! Maybe I should go soak in the tub!

Cheryl I think I might be doing my run on Friday's lunch hour! LOL

Okay I have to go finish the dishes... a little late tonight, but Roxie and I had puppy class.

Baby Steps

Well I've been taking a few baby steps with my journey of organized and clean house. At first I was REALLY overwhelmed and wanted instant gratifications, but with my Mom's help and some time (and better sleeps!) I'm feeling better.

I went back to the FLYlady website. Gotta love that place. But again I want it all and right now. So I have to talk myself down and remind myself of the babysteps!

Last night I put away Ryan and Carson's laundry (of course left mine!), shined my sink, emptied my bedside drawer full of NOTHING people absolute JUNK!!!!! And we are short SPACE in our house so this is a VITAL thing! Oh yeah I threw away 7 belts and 6 pairs of shorts. AND then I made myself go to bed and read a FUNG SHUI book I found in my clean up process on Sunday!

and I PUT AWAY MY WORK CLOTHES I flung on the bed when I got home! LOL

so my last little babystep I'm very excited about is I joined a RUNNING CLINIC that starts tomorrow and I'm super excited to have a partner in crime!

Can we fix it YES WE CAN!

What Audrey means

A is for Articulate U is for Unique D is for Dorky R is for Rare E is for Extraordinary Y is for Young

Well there are a few big words in there! LOL

Easter Weekend

Well my parents made in home again safe and sound! I'm so lucky to call these wonderful people my parents. Love you guys!

Carson and Roxy had a great time playing with the hose on Saturday....

and then the egg hunt on Sunday was a blast. It's the second year we've gone on to the Weill's and had brunch and the hunt. This year Danielle and I got to do the honors together...

Big Mouth

.... man I hope my big mouth didn't hurt someone today! I feel sick and I can't stop thinking about it. It wasn't gossiping, it wasn't truely anything other than a slip of the tongue I couldn't back track on. DAMN!

Things to do...

1. play with Carson
2. train Roxy
3. get the fence built
4. get cards done
5. lose weight
6. get fit
7. try to at least KISS my husband when we pass in the hallway
8. get accounting done for business
9. finish taxes
10. spring clean my house! (thankfully my Mom is coming home!)
11. play with all my new scrapping stuff
12. sign up for MM crop
13. tell Ryan I'm going to VCR again at the end of May.
14. stop writing this list and get back to work!

ARTistry

was a blast! What an experience hangin with Ali and Donna. They were truly inspirational. Now I need to take a month off to CREATE, play and use some of the stuff I bought all our shopping extravaganza!

Donna likes Canadians, loves how she can say the word PENIS and we don't even skip a beat, or how we throw in the F bomb every once and awhile! LOL

We had a FULL four days. And we are shopping PRO's!

Then I came home on Sunday night a 11pm to find my new puppy ROXY with Daddy sleeping on the couch!

Names

yes Dawn GEORGIA is on the list! LOL

Other possibles:

Piper
Heidi
Remmy
Bridget
Stella

Here are the two girls

how would you pick just ONE!

second we've decided

to get a BOXER PUPPY.

Thanks to my lovely friend Tara, who put the bug in my head about this breed! I have always been draw to them and after lots of reading and asking a few questions (and letting Ryan get caught up to my need to get one) I went to see 2 girls today.

Are you ready to see this cutie?

Ryan and Carson go to see her on Thursday and hopefully they will pick her up Sunday!

She's 4.5 mths old.

Too busy to blog because first

last week I bought a new vehicle. Been waiting awhile for this one. Traded in my Corolla for a Highlander....

LOVE IT to say the least

I have to PEE continues....

I had to actually stop at McDonalds this morning so he could pee, cause Carson wouldn't go in his diaper. (didn't dare stop at Tim Horton's or I would have had to get him a double double cookie)


and now I get to look at POOP and the potty too!

Oh the joys of being a Mom.

New Girl

Can you hear it????????

my BIG sigh!

The new A/P Girl is great! Doing the happy dance.

And I'm trying to buy a 2001 Highlander cause I'm finally sick of my Corolla!

I'll post a pic if I get it.

Love these pics

I photoshoped a kid right out of this picture.
















and added a frame to this one.

I have to Pee....

A phrase you love to hear being a Mom of a Toddler. Happens so quickly, from nothing to "Mom I gotta pee".....

music to my ears!

Playing

Just playing in Adobe Photoshop Express....

Canucks

Ryan went to Vancouver last weekend to a hockey game and brought this hat back for Carson! He looks like such a little DUDE!

friday

well I dropped Carson off this morning at the inlaws (that's after I got him his DOUBLE DOUBLE COOKIE from TH)

don't pick him up until tomorrow morning.... I'm excited about the crop tonight and the fact that I get to sleep in....

Should I feel guilty for being so excited LOL........NOT

6 weird things

Seriously people what is WEIRD! I've been tag to reveal six weird things about me...

1> people might think it's weird that an accountant is creative.

2> some think that it's weird that I spent most of my high school years without a "best friend"

3> is it weird that I'm an accountant but really hate the monthly cycle of paperwork?

4> I know it's weird that I can never sit still when I watch a movie at my own house, but don't get up at friends or at the theatre!

5> it's really weird that I've never seen Casablanca

6> it's weird that I'm friends with Tara and Cheryl!

GOOD NIGHT~

Yup

Pursuit of HappYness was great!

That seen at the end... you see every emotion in Will Smith's face. He really should win an Oscar for that alone!

Painting today, no not the scrapbook kind, WALL kind.....

PS I've been tagged to reveal six wierd things about me.... I don't know if I have SIX wierd this I do. Maybe I need to ask some family and friends, I'm sure they'd have lotza comments!

Cards

A request by Tara.... a realtor friend of a friend asked me to create some cards that she can give to her clients when they've purchase their home.

Calendars

Pink Pink I used Pink


I started calendars this year.... hurray for me I know I know.

One for my parents and one for the in-laws. I also got going on doing my in-laws album again since I've converted from CM.

Carson's ART

well as Tara and I were creating on the "big" table right beside Carson, he created this.



I literally GASPED when I looked up to see this master piece. When I took this photo I had already wiped some of it off, but once I was convinced it would come off I took a few seconds and grapped the camera!

Needless to say he's not aloud to paint any time soon!

PS Thanks for not laughing too loud Tara.....

Patience

Lately I don't have it. It's weeks like this I don't think I'm cut out to be a Mom, let alone a Mom of more than one! I'm leaning more and more to just keeping our family as is!

I go by my gut most and of the time: and it hasn't let me down before. Mind you I'm not ready to have DH snipped yet either.....

Went to bed @ 8:30 last night, feeling much better now LOL!

3 reasons I LOVE being a MOM

1. that feeling of unconditional love
2. that feeling of nuturing
3. being responsible for the upbringing of a child

3 reasons I DON'T love being a MOM

1. the fact that I'm constantly needed
2. the word WHY
3. being resposible for the upbringing of a child

Oh the pressure

So I've been recruited, okay very strongly recommended.... to make an album for Lyric.

Why do I find this difficult! Oh the pressure..... I told Ginny it will be a while as this will be hard for me as I'll want it perfect... LOL...

Ginny's reply: I don't care if you give it to her for her 1st birthday as a matter of fact you can just keep an on going album. Works for me....

Ya I guess LOL!

Maybe I'll try doing 8.5 x 11

Lyric

Meet Lyric Mona-Lise

........... isn't she beautiful!

I'm having a shower for her and her Mommy, Ginny on Sunday!

Of course Carson ADORES her!

Christmas

Christmas was great.

My son is an angel. He did amazing. Three days, full days, with no naps! We really had a nice paced, enjoyable Christmas morning and Carson loved to give the gifts just as much as he loved receiving them!



I have some film to develope next week!

Vizsla's

We need another dog, yes I knew it would come. Carson loves them and I miss having an animal in the house. It feels incomplete.

I thought I'd want another Ridgeback, but I think we're going to go for a Vizsla. Their similarities stop at their looks.

Ridgebacks are hound dogs described as

Aloof, Independant, Prey-driven, Aristocratic, Predatory (aloof was Chiana's middle name!)

Vizslas are a Sporting dogs, sporting dogs are described as

Companionable, Rugged, Sociable, Obedient, Athelic

Vizsla Temperament: Intelligent, obedient and easy to train (like the sound of that), gentle-mannered and affectionate, likes water.

Of course they need 45 to 60 mins a day of excersice but they are a smaller dog than Ridgebacks and I'd like to do agility with my new dog.

Singing

Carson loves to sing!

Songs like :

Twinkle Twinkle
Bob the Builder (which I had to look up on the net so I knew more than Scoop, Much and Dizzy)
and some Treehouse shows:
Toopy and Bino (Toopy that's me and my friend Bino)
Max and Ruby....

but lately he's been singing

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS and of course he doesn't know any other words LOL

nice to be back....
nice to be missed....

this picture cracks me up!