More snow and stuff

Today turned out to be busier than I originally planned it to be, but it was very productive, but now I am really wiped. Blah. This morning I got a call from Stella who was back in town after a quick visit to Calgary to see her oldest son Colin. We had agreed to meet today so I could use her serger to finish the family christmas pjs. Since she had to do some grocery shopping, we tagged along to get some items as well.

Headed back to her place, Ariel by then was sleeping. Didn't take long to finish up the sewing and we were home in time for a brief nap, or so I thought. Client calls, wants to stop by with some changes for the newsletters, so thats cool. His wife tags along to play with Ariel while we talk business. Any excuse to play with a baby, hehe. He had to get his turn before they left but I think he spooked her and she started to cry. Oops. She was smiles once I got her cuddled but I felt bad she stuck the famous lip out at him.

Since I couldn't work until she was napping, I finished her stocking and I think she was pretty pleased. I hung it with ours and frankly she has the nicest one by far, I may have to redo some new ones for Ken and I next christmas. We shall see.

Once the princess was asleep, I managed to get to work, only to sneeze and wake her up. Talk about a light sleeper! She doesn't usually react like that, but then it was a big sneeze. It was a bit tricky keeping her entertained while I worked but we both managed. I found out that she really likes the fraggle rock stuffed animals we have in the office, especially Boober, my fav too.

Got our work finished and came down for a late dinner. Ken is doing his book signing and discussion panel tonight, so not sure when he is gonna make it home. With the snow falling again, might not see him for awhile. Meeka, you are welcome to take our snow, your right, we don't know what to do with it.

Might go crawl into the bathtub to relax now that princess is in bed, I am so tired. Mommy needs a long sleep. Zzzzzzzz

Updates from the stupid one

The title is more so for me, as in the past 24 hours I can count several 'not so smart' moves on my part. I think its just busy life that I seem to be living as of late, and the aftermath.... perhaps not... heheh. I can accept it. With having Ariel, my head spins more so around her, thus something is gonna fall. Thank goodness I have a wonderful husband who has been more than supportive and kind in this 'stupid' phase I am going through, even telling me the story of his first few days in Vancouver, and what happened to him when he himself did something not so smart. Love ya Ken!

Yesterday was really productive, hense no blog. Plus, Degrassi debuted last night, whee, so we had a date with the tv. Hehe. I really can't get over how big this show is, especially in the states. Who knew they love our little home grown Degrassi. One thing that does cheese me is, they got the new season waaaaaaaaaaaaaay before us this year. What gives? Its our show. Blah. Either way, its good to have it back, especially since Dancing with the Stars is over.

Back to my productivity, got Ken's family's christmas gifts in the mail. That was a huge load off my back. I also got the christmas stamps. At home, the letter was finished the previous night and I added the picture and printed them out, very nice. Then during some tv, we got the drawing finished and I transferred it to watercolor paper and inked it. All thats left is to paint it and scan it. Ken is picking up the various materials needed tonight and we are on our way. A little later than usual, but still gonna happen.

So, its planning to dump more snow today, hmmm. We shall see how that goes. Ken is having his book signing and panel discussion tonight, I hope people can make it.

I am going back to bed, since the princess is still sleeping, its warmer in there, ahhhh.

Baby steps

Thats the only way to get around due to icy everything! Ariel and I had to venture out into the cold unknown this morning for milk and veggies. At least today I could put princess in the snuggly, since its no longer dumping snow. I tucked her hands inside to keep her extra cozy and tied my huge scarf around her and then covered us both with my cape. I think we looked like Eskimos. Hehe. The mission was successful and I do believe we have no reason to leave our home, which is good since its getting colder.

Its so strange that this weather is hitting us now, especially since I heard yesterday via Ken's mom's email, that they have NO snow in Michigan at the moment. Whats wrong with this picture? I remember freezing last Thanksgiving down there, at least we don't have those biting winds, ugh.

The town is filled with the sound of cute bobcat machines shoveling the roads and parking lots. Ariel and I watch the one that started early at our place... 630am. Stupid thing woke her up, blah. She usually sleeps until 7 or 8, but it was nice to get an early start today.

The tree is assembled and very pretty. Ariel once again with tradition, slept through the event. She showed no real interest until I was showing her up close this morning. This new tree has a really sturdy base so when she tries to climb the tree next year, we will be safe. I can see the baby cages all around it, hehe.

I hope to get our christmas cards started today, need to paint the picture and finish the letter. I might wait for Ken to do that, since he is the writer of the family. As for now, time to finish unloading christmas stuff, throw on some music and enjoy the fact we can stay inside. Yay!

Here are some pictures of the snow, and stuff. Check out that poor car, they had to dig it out today. Those icicles are on my deck, crazy! Isn't the view pretty though? Ah snow, its so pretty that it helps you forget the trouble it can cause.... well sometimes. Hee.

Ariel's first snow!

Upon waking up this morning, we realized how much snow we really got. Its been quite awhile since its been this much, and of course our roads aren't too accessible at the moment. We batted around the idea of driving to church but we were caught with our pants down (aka, the snow tires aren't on the car yet). That's what happens when the baby shows up, all logic goes out the window. Frankly, I didn't really think we were going to get snow, but I will say now that I was very wrong.

We then had the bright idea of walking to church. We got the stroller out and soon realized that it just wasn't going to cut it. We walked on the road where the odd car had been, and it was easier. We got as far as the library but realized we should get back, we were both tired from pushing the stroller in difficult conditions. Plus I was getting blisters from ill fitting boots. Ken finally admitted that it was in fact a lot of snow. He always thinks we are all nuts for stopping life when it snows, but he agreed this was hard to get around in. We are invited to dinner, not sure if that is going to happen now. Probably not.

However, while out we did get some sweet pictures of us and the snow angel. We are going to pull out the Christmas stuff this afternoon. Kinda of fun having a snow day when decorating, makes it very magical. Ken has the camera ready to capture Ariel's first tree trimming. Whee. Expect photos later, but until then, enjoy our snow adventures.

SNOW???

I guess so.... I think everyone thought the weatherman was gonna be wrong with this one, but as I walked home from the store with Ariel, I felt a few droplets, and it wasn't rain. 2 hours later and the parking lot is covered and the kids are out having fun. Ken is downtown still, blah. Good thing the highways tend not to get snowed well until the traffic dies late at night. Being from Michigan, Ken thinks we are all nutty when it comes to snow here. Everyone gets all freaked out, but then we don't have it all the time.

I must admit its gonna be neat for Ariel. Will try for some pictures tomorrow. At the moment she is sleeping at my feet in the computer room on her blanket. She can sleep anywhere, kinda like her dad.

Last night I got an email from my client that the next batch of newsletters were underway. So it was my first go at working with Ariel around. It actually went really smoothly. As long as she can see me, she is very happy. That seems to be the new phase she is in, mama is the top dog. During our photoshoot, there were several times when Ken was holding her and she started crying and looking for me to come rescue her, lol. I felt bad for Ken, but I know thats going to change one day and he will be the big cheese in her eyes.

Speaking of the photoshoot, the website is up and running. Click HERE and then use the password lynn to view them. They are gorgous! Which ones are your favs? Thanks!

I feel pretty!

Supermodel

I don't think I will ever be one, but Ariel has had her first attempt at a real photo shoot today out with Maria. She did pretty good for being in a new place, with a new face and lots of bright lights in her face. Needless to say the results were AMAZING!!! Looking foward to sharing them once the website is up and running, until then you will have to take my word. My little princess is very photogenic, hee. *proud mama*

The cooking of the turkey was a great success. Very tasty 10 pound bird, moist and juicy. My fridge is now uber full of thanksgiving goodness. Yay. The other exciting part is now its officially Christmas season in my books. Woot. I can say that there is a good chance of the new tree coming out sometime this weekend. Hehe.

Oh, Congrats to my cousin Kyle, who passed his CASB exam AND was on 2006 CASB Honour Roll!!!!!!!!!! All my accountant friends and family will totally get the excitement.

I am pretty impressed, as is the whole extended family. Ariel was so shocked and happy when told the news, as you can plainly see. Hehe. I guess it is quite an accomplishment to her since the gal just learned rolling over from her tummy to her back.

In closing, an inside joke for my family, here's to Iggy, who DIDN'T just get none!

Happy 'American' Thanksgiving!

Wishing all our American family and friends a happy

and heathly day of turkey and giving thanks!

Love Ken, Janet and Ariel

Rolling on a river...

Well, not a river, but a carpet. Ariel had her big moment of rolling from tummy to back today. Yay. Kinda surreal when it happened. She isn't a huge fan of being on her tummy long periods of time, so I am sure it was just to get into her favorite position of being on her back again. However, later she nearly turned from back to tummy. So close yet not quite. I watched intensely, she was practically there and then *splat* back to the back. Ariel the whole time was giggling and blabbering away. She took the rattle from me and managed to shake it. Woot, so it was a very exciting day. Maybe more so for me, but I think Ariel was proud. She celebrated by drooling.

Didn't go sewing today as Stella needed some time to catch up on her stuff before she heads off for her trip. It was nice to lay low before the great cooking of the turkey tomorrow. Whee. I started stitching an ornament for Ariel. I decided on one finally. Thats half the battle with me. I am going to stitch one for her every year. By the time she is out of the nest she will have a good collection to get her started. If she is anything like me however, she will have more than enough without my help. Hehe.

I really don't have much to say today, so here are a few more Ariel pics to make you smile!

Ain't it funny?

Not a whole lot to laugh at these days, at least thats how I feel this morning. This whole Michael 'Kramer' Richards thing has me numb. To hear a person have so much hate in his voice, and directing that hate to others, is so devastating. I could never imagine saying that to my friends, or for that matter to perfect strangers. We are called to forgive and I will, but I can't forget the pain that this has caused so many. He is going to have to live with this forever, I think thats the worse punishment. I am growing tired of the feuds, the backlash and overall attitude of people in the public eye. Its hard to find peace in it all, especially when its splashed on magazines, tv and radio. Can't we all just get along...

Moving right along, here is the comical Jay moment of the day. Nana was nice enough to bring me a green pepper for the meal I was cooking tonight, since it was too nasty to take Ariel out to the store. She forgot it when coming up to see the princess so when she went out to the car I figured I would make a pulley out of a plastic bag and thread to lower down from the deck to get the pepper. Sounds good, until you factor in the wind. I was literally flying a kite from my deck. Nana was laughing and I am sure the people in the business who saw it were too. I realized it wasn't gonna work until I added some weight, so I managed to get it pulled in and added a tea candle. It made it down and I retrieved my pepper. Sometimes I amaze myself in my ability to be a dork.

Now to distract from my stupidity, here are some cute Ariel pics from this morning!

Christmas is alive at the mall....

...But we knew that already. Heheh. Yes, Nana and I went to the mall today to look for a few warmer sleepers for the princess. While there we saw that Santa had landed already. Its only November, and I thought Santa arrived in December, but what do I know. Anyhoo, Ken and I aren't big on the idea of going to see Santa to say what you "want." That takes away from what Christmas is about, however, I want my children to know the story of St. Nicholas, and tie Santa in that way. He is the spirit of giving, just like God sending his son for us, a gift to the world. Since St Nicholas has is own day,December 6th, it then keeps Christmas day for Christ. As Ariel gets older, that time will be used to give back to the community or others in need, just as St Nicholas gave to the less fortunate. This then brings me back to the mall Santa, they have it now set up where to get a picture is at one time, and asking for stuff is another, so problem solved. My kids can see Santa and we are please the gimmes won't crowd the season. Amen!

Ariel enjoyed Santa, more so his beard, as she tried to make him a snack. The Santa was very kind and admired how pretty my little girl was, awe. He even gave me and Nana candy canes, lol. Woot! I put the large picture in Ariel's baby book and have the other ones to give to the grandparents. I am glad I had Ariel in a nice dress today, huzzah!

The weekend was good. Ken's cold is improving and he isn't sounded as bad as he once did. Mike, Josee, Dad and Rita came to our church on sunday, which was nice. We all had lunch at Nana's afterwards and Ariel puked on Mikey, it was a good time. Sorry Mike. The BC Lions won the grey cup, not that I care but its still exciting.

This week is filling up fast. I am making dinner for Irene and Rick tomorrow. She is home from the hospital and feeling pretty good for someone who just has their colon removed. Gonna make my spaghetti tuna casserole, nice and light. Wednesday is sewing at Stella's, so I can finish the pjs. Thurday is American Thanksgiving, so I am cooking a turkey and all the trimmings for Ken. Its another special holiday for Ariel. Here's hoping we can get out to Michigan for one in the future. Friday we are going to get our family portraits done with Maria. She did our pictures in the past, and they are always lovely. Just in time for Christmas gifts. Somewhere in there the cable man is gonna visit again, don't get me started on our blasted internet. They know where the issue is, its a matter of fixing it so it stays fixed. Blah.

Well, princess is sleeping, better get my laundry put away. Bye!

Plenty of rain, but low on water?

That apparently is the case, strange isn't it. With the recent storms, our water supply has become dirty (thats the easy explanation). So the Greater Vancouver area (us) is on a boil water advisory. I am glad I got Ken to buy some bottled water last night, because by today, the shelves were bare. No coffee place could really sell unless their water was bottled or boiled first. Wow. Tim Hortons was closed today, wacky. Its getting better slowly the news reports were saying tonight. We could be better by the weekend, so here is hoping that is the case. I don't need to get sick, Ken is already.... again. Sigh.

Well, today was the shopping trip to Walmart. Its kinda a big deal since we have to drive a distance to get to one. The rain was still pounding, which never makes these trips as fun, but nothing was getting in my way of a good time. Ariel liked the store and I found some cute stocking stuffers and little gifts for the last people on my lists. Even got a birthday gift for the princess, yes I have several months but a deal is a deal.

So one of the neat finds today was a really cute casual christmas dress for Ariel. Its got the white fake fur trim with matching hat too! Also got some cute seasonal bibs. Whee. Speaking of bibs, I also got a huge pile of extra everyday bibs. My girl has the drool tap on full blast these days. Ick.

Came home and since I had a bottle of breastmilk thawed for the trip (in case she got hungry during the car ride) I gave it to her so not to waste it. Ariel then surprised me by grabbing hold of it. She needed help to tip it up a bit to get more milk, but she was in control pretty much. What a girl! Stella happened to be there and grabbed the top pic as proof.

Tonight, I got a lot of sewing done. I pretty much have all our christmas pjs done, they just need finishing on sleeves etc. They turned out to be really easy patterns, which is always nice. I also got Ariel's stocking underway. I need to get some trim to add along the edge before I unveil it, but here is a pic of the final cross stitch before it becomes a stocking.

Ken and Ariel are both sleeping... kinda nice to have a bit of time to myself. But I grow sleepy too, so it won't be long I am afraid. Its been an interesting week of rain, a water shortage and OJ Simpson's book "If I Did It"... I don't even know where to start on that one. Its just a sad story all around, and it really makes me sick to think about. It does have me flash back to social studies class, listening to the verdict on the radio and being stunned that he got off. Well, 11 years later and I still am stunned. Sigh.

Hope everyone has a good weekend...
-Ariel and I will be busy with some more bazaars tomorrow, whee
-Bob and Robyn are busy with their 3rd baby girl, Zoe Grace, born on the 14th(congrats again guys!)
-Dianne and Chris are planning next years Christmas decor on their new home (congrats to you too!)
-numerous other people are doing exciting stuff I am sure (congrats to you all, heh)
-finally, the TomKat gets married this weekend... um... is everyone else tired of this yet? After this weekend will start no doubt the 'is the marriage over' reports or 'is she pregnant again?' Which do you think it will be of these popular, annoying choices the media tends to stick to us.

Final touches

I was originally planning to go back to Stella's today to sew but Ken needed the car for work so I ended up changing my plans. Ariel and I had a lazy morning. While she napped I got the pj pants for Ken together, just need to do the elastic waist band, woot. Just as I was going to move to Ariel's pjs, she woke up so she ate and chatted with me. Then Ariel proceeded to barf down her clothes. Nice! When I had stripped her of the messy outfit, she suddenly got a case of the giggles. She couldn't stop laughing! It was so funny that I started laughing too. What a nutty girl.

We walked down to the safeway to drop off our shoebox donation project. I ened up picking up a nice soup and bread bowl for lunch, since it was such a cold day. Plus scored the new december issues of Parents and Martha Stewart, sweet! Ariel was pretty much asleep in the snuggly when we pasted the framing shop. The lady ran out to say my picture was complete. Yay.

I got it unwrapped at home and my excitement fell a bit. My cross stitch was way off center of the mats. Strange? Ugh. I was not happy but figured I would live with it, although I knew it would drive me nuts. As I went to hang it in Ariel's room, I noticed a thread or fuzzy thing stuck under the glass. That would TOTALLY drive me bonkers so I had to fix it, since there was now 2 things that weren't to my liking. I opened it up and re-centered it, I still can't get over how blind they were to how off it was. Geeze. Plus I removed the annoying fluffy under the glass. Compulsive, yes... and proud of it! So here hangs the final piece to my daughters room. I did the same one for Trudy's first son William 5 years ago. I can't believe he is 5 this week. Happy Birthday Will! Looks like we finalized our plans to meet up in Victoria over Christmas. Yay. Can't wait to finally meet Theron and Lucas. Lucky Ken always gets to see them on his trips out that way, boo!

Tomorrow is the shopping day with Nana and Stella, however, the word is the rain is coming back! Noooooooooooooooooo! Sigh, stay tuned for the outcome. Blah.

Blustery Day

Winnie the Pooh had it right, its pretty nasty outside today. Ariel is keeping warm and basically just hanging out with me as usual. We went to Stella's to sew our christmas pjs, hehe. We are gonna be sooooooooooooo cute! I got everything cut out and the shirt to Ken's set pretty much finished. Woot. I may try and do more tonight, but I am feeling a bit tired.

Ariel is sleeping at the moment, which is always nice at this time of night. She tends not to be in the best mood at the dinner hour these days. Ken is home, Bible study was called off tonight. It will be nice to spend some time with him, since he is so busy these days.

Not much else to say today, except I feel tired, but I already said that. So I guess thats it. Bye

3 months!

I think Ariel is in as much shock as am I. My baby is growing so fast, sniff.
As much as I miss how small she was, I love her new babbling and wide smiles.
Her eyes sparkle when she sees me, knowing I am her mommy.
All these new developments are so wonderful,
and I can't wait to see what is to come.
Happy 3 months old my little angel.

Just to reflect, here she is only a few hours old, and now look at her, hee. Wow!

Its raining today, so unless it stops, I don't think we will be going out today. Frankly, I think we both need a quiet day at home after all the excitement of the long weekend. Ariel got her 3 month old card today in the mail from Aunty Kara, awe! I read it to her, she loves to listen then tack on her own 2 cents. I think she said, "Yay, thank you Aunty Kara! I love my card, getting mail is fun!" You may wonder how I got all that from ooooooooooooohhhh..... errrERRRerrrrr.... aaaaaeeeehhhhhhhhh.... eeehh... eehhhh, I guess I speak baby. Hehe. Anyhoo,I think I will start wrapping some Christmas gifts that I got for people at the Circle Craft, whee.

No internet makes Jay go crazy!

Its one thing to say I will be too busy to post over the long weekend, however, its another to not have a choice in the matter. Needless to say sometime Friday night our internet started acting up yet again and by the morning was dead... or at least not working. I called the help line and got some poor kid who wasn't expecting some crazy woman to come down on him. No, I wasn't mean to him, but I was firm and asked for the supervisor mailbox so I could leave a message. I basically stated the issue, that its been going on since JUNE, and that I want a discount and my service back that I have received the past 5 years. Got a call this morning, didn't expect that with a holiday and all, but someone came and by noonish things were fixed and I have someone going to contact me about a discount, YAY. I guess its good to be fair but firm, sometimes I am too much of a softy.

Ok, sit in for one long blog, lots to say as I have missed far too much of resent happenings. First off, had Ken's family in this weekend. They arrived Thursday night after flying into Seattle and driving up. During the drive up, they missed a turn and ended up at the Silvercity Riverport. Oops. We had to go rescue them and ended up having dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Yum. Ariel slept.

Next day, met them for breakfast at the Town and Country Inn. As everyone got their food, mine was just being placed down for me and then SPLAT. It flipped off the plate onto the table, just missing my lap. The poor waitress looked mortified, and frankly landing on the table is better than my lap or the baby right? I smiled to help her chill and needless to say my breaky was free. Ariel wasn't sure about what happened, but as long as I stay calm, she tends to as well.
Had a salmon dinner at Dad and Rita's that night. The rain continued to fall that night, it was pretty gross.

Saturday was Rememberance Day. Took Ariel in the snuggly to watch the parade and ceremony in the Park. It was nice the rain stayed away long enough, as later it was back full force. Ariel slept, well, for most of it. She did like the bagpipes.

Later we drove down to Canada Place to go to the Circle Craft. It was soooooo busy, not like when I went last year with Katie and Beth. Maybe because it was a weeekend? But I seem to recall thats when we went last year too. Strange. Ariel Slept.

Sunday was church, and an awesome celtic song. Love that stuff, as if no one knew that already, hee. Had lunch at Nana's and then I made dinner later that night. We say goodbye to our guests. It was a nice weekend indeed.

Today was sooooooooooooo crazy but soooooooooooooo much fun! Today was the long awaited pedicure party! Jo and her sisters, Jamie and Julie, came to my place and we all got our toes done by Nav! Awesome as usual! I made a table full of goodies, here is the before and after pic of the food. Heheh.



Here is crazy Aunty Jo giving Ariel her first Latte! It was great to hang out with a bunch of girls after a house full of guys all weekend. Getting a chance to relax wasn't that bad either. What was so crazy was the fact the internet guy was coming and going all day fixing the problem with our service. Finally I can say its fixed I believe for the long run, they found the issue off somewhere, so it wasn't anything on our end. Plus, looks like my complaint is getting us a refund, WOOT!

Ken is home, Ariel is babbling and the internet is running, life is good!

Dang

Just got home from dinner with Ken's family and we drove past the London Drugs mall area and the dang Christmas lights are up.... good grief. I would find it a good argument to have my tree put up but we still have Remembrance Day and American Thanksgiving to go through. Just thought I'd mention that. Heh.

I miss my blog...

...but the house needed a good cleaning before the guests were to see it. Actually, they might not have cared since they are both guys, but you never know. Either way it was nice to give a good scrubbing to everything, so different with out some huge baby belly in the way. The only thing is, I may not have that belly, but I sure have the baby and she was not letting me from her sight. Ariel must be a bit clingy this week, usually I go around the house and she is happy in the play yard or bouncy chair, but I guess she knew I had a deadline and decided she wanted me all the time. Silly little monkey. She is sleeping on her blanket next to me as I type. Hehe, cutie. Here she is in her new 'blueberry' hat I got at the bazaar. Just wanted everyone to know she is not just a strawberry lover, hee.

So I managed to be the BIGGEST IDIOT today. Seriously, I can't believe what I did and I thank the Lord it turned out ok, instead of how I saw it in my mind. Ok, here is the set up. I have been so freaked out about leaving my car keys in my car when I get the stroller out. I am almost certain I have a compulsive disorder at time with the way I constantly check things. I freaked out when I couldn't find my keys when out with Stella one day, lucky me I forgot to check one pocket on my coat, idiot! This time I did check all pockets. I left my keys in my car door.... here I am out with Ariel in the village and my poor car is sitting with the keys in the door. Ugh. So I start bolting back, I am trying to hold it together and praying that my car is still in fact here. Ariel is sleeping through this all too, otherwise she might have seen her mom totally lose it. I turn the corner.... there sits my car....with the keys in the door, right where I left them. Sigh. I figure that since its been my fear and that I finally did it, that it won't happen again. Ken says its better it happened here than in Surrey or Vancouver, I wouldn't have been as lucky. Maybe no one wanted my cute volvo 'tank'? Well I do, I love you tank, sorry I was a nut.

Not sure when I will be back on here, with the family visiting and all. I will give a run down of events as soon as I can. I do want to take this time to tell my wonderful friend Dianne that she will be missed in these parts but that we all wish her and Chris well on their new adventures in the next province over. We will try and visit as much as we can. Remember, some bunny loves you both! Wishing you a safe journey, and take some Twinkies if you get hungry. See you soon my friend!

Haha

Don't have time to write much right now so I'll post this from this mornings'The View'... just when you think they are talking about the Democrats....heheh

From giving to good grief!

So its only Tuesday and so far its been an interesting day. I will cover crazy entertainment stuff in a moment, but first, today was Irene's surgery, so prayers going out to her and the family. Keep them all in your hearts in the next few days and that we hopefully hear some good news.

Secondly, today Ariel had her first experience of giving back. I took her to help me with our 2 giving projects of the coming holiday season. First we filled a shoe box with toys, school supplies and hygiene stuff for the annual Samaritan's purse project. I am sure you have all seen these boxes at safeway, but if you haven't, here is the scoop. You take a box, fill it with the items listed and it will be sent to a little boy or girl on the other side of the world. Its rather a fun ministry project I have been doing for years, but I was excited to get Ariel involved. Sure she is barley 3 months, but this picture is the first of many I will take as we do this every year. Ariel is so blessed with the wonderful gifts she gets from family and friends, and I want her to know how important it is to give back to others. We also went shopping for a gift for one of the kids of the single mom group from church. We spent a long time picking something really nice, because you never know if this may be one of the few gifts they get at all. I ended up asking some moms at the store what was big with 10 year olds this year, and it made my final decision so much easier. Tonight we wrap it up and it will be ready to drop off this weekend.

Ok, thats was my news, now lets turn to Hollywood for some weird stuff. First off, as if we didn't know it was gonna happen eventually... BRITNEY SPEARS FILES FOR DIVORCE... ok, who had November 7th, 2006 as your guess, you win. I'm sorry to see any marriage end, but this had disaster written all over it from the beginning. Sigh. Needless to say, I found the funniest comment on the tabloid shows saying it was a shocker... your kidding right?

Next is the strangest thing, and I have yet to come to a conclusion if this is a joke or not. This morning on the radio they were talking about Faith Hill's reaction to losing a CMA award last night to Carrie Underwood. They said to see it on 'You Tube' and I sprang out of bed to see it. Lol, yea I'm a total nut. Anyhoo, look for yourself, I posted the clip. Look at that reaction, she isn't happy. Now as of 5pm, she is saying oh it was a joke... um... kinda an odd joke if you ask me. Either way, I love Carrie Underwood, and frankly I have lost a bit of respect for Faith Hill, joke or not. She has gone and made a huge ass (of the donkey variety) of herself, and its her own fault. I guess this was the best time for blunder though, Britney sorta took the spotlight... or maybe she filed the papers today because Faith was the big story... either way, I'm glad I don't live in Hollywood.

What do you do when its raining cats and dogs?

We end up having dress up time with a photo shoot! Hehe. Here we see Ariel vs. the puffy red dress. She was actually having a ball with it because it made a crinkle noise when she moved. What a silly chicky. We ended up doing some poses for our American Thanksgiving greeting for the blog, but you will have to wait for the actual day to see the final version, but it turned out really cute.

Like my title said, its raining, big time! So much for doing the large list of things I had to do in the village today. I don't want to take Ariel out in this unless its totally necessary. Hoping tomorrow is a bit better and we can get out, but I won't hold my breath. We just might have to make the best of it since some things can't wait. Regardless, we are having a nice day inside, plus its almost tea time. Yay.

I also made a casserole for yesterday afternoon, so there is no rush tonight for dinner prep. Woot. I would have gotten some baking done today, but I forgot I was almost out of flour, oops. Better make a shopping list for the week.

Well, the princess is growing tired and should go down for a nap. Have a nice Monday, and here's hoping it isn't dumping rain where you are.

Bazaar time again!

Its official, only 50 days until Christmas!!! Yay. I am very excited as usual. What always marks in my books as the beginning of the countdown, is the Catholic Church's annual bazaar. This one was Ariel's first one, so it was extra special. We both got dressed up and went with Nana and Kitty. Of course it was totally pouring rain, like last year, but it was ok. Once your inside its all good. Saw lots of friends and was able to show off the princess, she didn't stay sleeping for long, she knows when she has an audience.

We hit the ornaments and knit stuff first. Got Ariel some more knit hats, even a blueberry one like her strawberry one. Hehe. Very cute.Ariel picked out a teddy bear ornament and I a cute elf like one I got a previous year, now that one has a friend. Found some new knit dishcloths and slippers. Since there were no pies this year, because of the fire all 300 were lost, they had an adopt a pie for $2 and low and behold I got a call later saying I won a gift basket prize from my adoption. Woot. On the way home I picked out a present for Ken's mom's birthday which is later this month. Need to get that in the mail this week.

We came home and chilled until dinner time. Ariel and I were invited to dinner at Aunty Fran's place so that Ariel could meet baby Abby. It was funny how they were watching each other. Abby is 2 weeks older than Ariel, but my little meatloaf is much larger than her. Hoping to get some pictures of them together later this weekend.

Came home again and my little angel is tuckered out. Ken is out at a faith and films group with Mike so we are on our own again. Tomorrow he is off again, this time to Seattle with Toby to see the 3D version of Nightmare before Christmas. Here's hoping the weather is good for them, unlike now as the rain is dumping again. I don't mind rain, its nice to snuggle down with my stitching, a cup of tea and my little girl. Life is good.

November... already?!

So the past few days have been somewhat of a blur. Halloween came and went, and we think Ariel enjoyed it. She went visiting to friends all over town, and we ended up getting invited in at several stops which did slow us down a bit and we missed seeing some people. It wasn't too cold and for once it didn't rain, so that made it that much more enjoyable. I was one of those kids that didn't like going out, and yet this seemed more fun with her. Funny how that is.

Halloween is a lot bigger than I remember. So many houses were decked out in pumpkins carved with such flare and creativity. Not to mention the decor in the yards. Wow. We got Ariel to pose with some of her church friends, it will be funny showing these to her when she is older. Here are some highlights:












Been busy the past day or so putting together a photo montage for a church friend. His father just passed away last week, and the funeral is tomorrow. Last night we got it all finished and then the stupid DVD burner was not working. ARGH! We tried several times with the same error coming up and finally just burnt a cd so we could transfer it to the laptop they were going to play it off of. He came this morning and thank heavens it worked perfectly. Needless to say the computer really needs a good overhaul, it is 5 years old and we really haven't had any problems until this year, except the drive crash of 2002. So we really have been really fortunate indeed.

Ariel is waking up and demanding to be fed. So bye for now!