... and we are still living out the adventure as husband and wife. Seven years ago today we were all dressed up, heading to the church for our wedding. Today we are relaxing watching our daughter play. Wow, its amazing how fast time goes by. I have loved everything thus far darling, and I look forward to the next several years and beyond. You are my Pumpkin King, and I am your little Fuzzy Tomato. Love you forever, amen!
I promised you all something special and you get 2 treats! First off, I am sharing with you the video that Ken used to propose to me back on August 1st, 2000. It was the night before my last day of classes at VanArts and I was house sitting for friends. Ken had come over to help me with the speech I was writing to read at the graduation ceremony. I was really stressed and tired, and so when he offered to clean up the kitchen so I could go to bed to sleep I jumped at the chance. He was going to lock up and push the key through the mail slot for me so I didn't have to get up again.
As I was drifting off to dreamland, I heard the door to my room open and 'poof' a post it note (yes you read that right) was left on my head. I knew it was Ken being silly but when I read the note I got shaky. It said to wake up and follow the trail... Out the door was a trail of tea candles (under plates of course - didn't want to burn down someone else's house right?). They led to the living room with another note with the remote saying to turn the tv and press play. When I did, this is what I saw...
Ken came out during the Jack and Sally scene at the end and dropped to one knee and proposed. It was perfect and I said yes. Whee!
10 months later we said 'I do' and the adventure continues today. Here is a little video of some of our wedding pictures set to the song that we used to walk down the aisle to. Its from an animated movie, big surprise, and when I heard it while looking for music I knew it was the right one for us. Hope you enjoy it.
Yeppers, its a long weekend... well sort of. Canada Day falls on a Tuesday this year, but Ken booked off work for the Monday as well since its our anniversary, yay. Ariel is excited to have an extra day with Daddy at home. Look for a fun post on Monday with a special video. Hee.
Today is GORGEOUS! Seriously, this is long over due and I love it. Yay, and its should last all weekend too. This morning we had our last swim class. Nana and Stella came to watch and once Ariel spotted them it somewhat distracted her the rest of the class, oh well. She wanted so badly to go over and see them, but mean mommy made her swim. Haha.
After class we picked up our report cards. Yay, Ariel passed and we will look forward to signing her up for the next set come fall.
We all went to lunch to celebrate and Ariel and Stella shared the 3 mini burger platter. Ariel manged to eat one herself and a good handful of fries. Very yummy. Look at her ready to pounce on that food.
Yesterday we had a play date with at Nancy's house. Ariel was so happy to see her little friends and they had a ball playing together. Nancy made us a lovely lunch and it was nice to visit with the gals.
Blair, Rowan, Ariel, Sienna and Carter.
On the way home I decided to fill up the car since gas usually goes up on the weekends. I stopped in a station and all the pumps were full... actually the ones that had room for 2 vehicles, couldn't service 2 because both people who were parked there didn't leave any room for anyone else, thanks so much guys!
So I wait behind Mr BMW who has now finished pumping his gas and I ASSUME is going to drive off... not so. He pulls out the squeegee and starts doing the windows... ok no problem. Um, that was until he started WASHING the WHOLE CAR with the squeegee! Seriously, my jaw dropped, I have never seen someone do that before. He then was using paper towel to dry his car. Ok, that is dang right stupid. I am sorry, but what a waste of paper towel and with a car wash literally 6 feet away. Apparently, Mr BMW is kinda cheap and only prefers to wash his car with dirty squeegee water. Perhaps he was trying to save water and yet likes killing trees? Blah!
After naps, Ariel played on the deck while eating her fish crackers. She then proceeded to sit in the pool while wearing clothes, um, I guess we need to work on that. The moment she did it the look on her face was priceless. She then said 'uh oh... I wet!'
Thought I'd close tonight with a fun little thing I have seen others doing on their blogs. Dianne just did one so I figured it be fun. So here is my mosaic meme.
1. What is your first name? - Janet 2. What is your favorite food? - Veggie Pizza 3. What high school did you go to? - DSS (green & white one is our school colors) 4. What is your favorite color? - Aqua 5. Who is your celebrity crush? - Jon Bon Jovi 6. What is your favorite drink? - Coke Zero 7. What is your dream vacation? - Hawaii 8. What is your favorite dessert? - Chocolate Cupcakes 9. What do you want to be when you grow up? - Fulfilled 10. What do you love most in life? - Family 11. What is one word that describes you? - Dreamer 12. What is your Flickr name? - Fuzzy Tomato
Wanna play too? Do as follows:
Type your answer to each of the questions above into Flickr search.
Use only the first page of results, pick one image
Copy and paste URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.
When I was pregnant with Ariel, I would often refer to her as my little berrykin. My love of Strawberry Shortcake as a young girl I am sure had lots to do with that, hehe. Today my little berrykin got to go picking strawberries for the first time and she was a real pro!
Stella walked over early in the morning and we drove down together to the farm land. We arrived at the strawberry fields and Ariel was curious about what was going on. She clung tight to Stella until we were all out in the field. Yes, we totally wore our strawberry dress, hee. She got lots of cute comments too. Row 2, too perfect for the girl about to celebrate the big second birthday.
Ariel watched as Aunty Lala gave her instructions about how to pick the red ones and put them in the bucket.
It didn't take long for her to catch on. What a little professional! Momma was so proud.
I took lots of pictures, she was just so sweet going along and picking the berries.
Didn't take her long until her little purple pail was full. Look at all my berries Mommy!
Of course she wouldn't let anyone carry the bucket back for her, she was determined to do it herself. However, she was having so much fun it took some time convincing her that we were done picking berries.
Posing with the big tractor, not as exciting as the berry picking part apparently.
We paid for our berries and headed home to show Nana and Papa our treasure. After a snack and a visit we did a quick stop at the grocery store and came home for lunch. Ariel agreed that this was the best part.
And the only reason for that is because Ken is out at a meeting tonight. Yay for having the computer to myself. Ariel is sitting here with me having her night time snack and watching the 'Otters' movie.... think we are up to our 3rd viewing tonight. Oh well.
We had a nice day visiting with Stella this morning. We walked over this morning and it was a little cold and I wasn't sure if the rain would show up or not. Luckily it didn't and it warmed up pretty fast. During our visit Ellen came over with Carter. It was nice that the kids got to play together, they are so cute.
Looking forward to the play date later this week with some of the other kids too. Just hoping the sun lasts so they can play outside, that be nice. Before I left, Stella told me Nana had called to say that they were getting to go see a place at the assisted living building that they were on the wait list for. A 2 bedroom one at that! It turns out lots of the people higher up on the list didn't want to move in the summer, so Nana and Papa moved up the list, yahoo! This is awesome news and I am so very thankful.
When I talked to Nana later she told me that it overlooks the farm land and is very pretty. Then she told me about the eagles nest outside in the view of their window, and if anyone knows our story when it comes to eagles, they will understand how special it was that one was there. Mom was giving her support that this was the right move. Such an answer to prayer, so thank you everyone who had been praying for them! Not sure when the move will happen but they get possession on July 1st. Of course they won't move that quick, but we can start the process. As exciting as it all is, there is still a bit of sadness when it comes to saying goodbye to that house. I will face that when the day finally comes... and I guess that will be soon.
I ended up washing the deck this afternoon while Ariel napped. It looks awesome and you really never realize how dirty it is until its clean. Yuck!
Ariel woke up and while I was chatting with Ken on the phone she managed to create some art on her legs. For a kid who can't handle anything on her hands, I can not figure out why stuff on her legs is ok. Strange...
I had to ask her about it, hehe.
Then we went to have a dance party in the kitchen, its been awhile but she still has the moves.
Ariel was growing tired of waiting for dinner, so we had a little chat while we waited for the oven to finish cooking our meal.
After a yummy meal, we went out on the deck to play in the pool. We get the evening sun so it was very hot and the pool was perfect to cool off.
Another bubble picture, can't get enough of those.
Then a little video for Daddy of her first time in the new pool, whee!
It was about that time that 2 ladies showed up needing help. Turns our our new neighbor across the hall had a heart attack this morning! They needed to buzz in to get some of his things, so I chatted with them a bit. The one lady was his mother, and she seems so shaken up. He apparently is going to be ok, but its still overwhelming. She got a real kick out of talking with Ariel and told me about her own great granddaughter who was the same age.
After they left, we went back to the pool for a bit until Ariel was ready to go in for snack and 'Otters'.
So that leads us to now. I just put Ariel to bed and I shall do some work scanning in the paintings I have finished for Ariel's birthday book. Its looking great, and I am so excited. Tomorrow we are going to the strawberry patch with Aunty Lala, so we shall see how that goes. Hoping Ariel doesn't eat them all, she is a little berry-a-holic. Yummy.
Nope, I haven't disappeared, just been losing computer time in the evening since Ken is in heavy work mode finishing the course he is writing. I must say I have enjoyed my early bedtimes and reading my Disney planning guides for our trip, but I have missed sharing our daily adventures... well here it goes....
...hmmm.... well, not really much to say. Haha. Saturday Ariel and I went to visit Nana and Papa. Ariel has been on a kick of telling Papa 'NO' to everything he asks. She doesn't do this with anyone else, so its kinda funny and weird at the same time. We are thinking its because he has teased her and this is her way of saying 'quit it'. In the end, they are still friends, but he sure has to work harder now.
Saturday night Ariel and I made a surprise dinner of ribs for Ken. We had all had an early morning wake up at 430am when Ken unexpectedly fell out of bed during an intense dream which involved ice cream, my old dog, a breaking bowl and an annoying co worker. Poor guy was pretty shook up since he has never done that before. I have, it hurts, so I am glad he didn't really injure himself. Either way, I couldn't get back to sleep and was walking around the house and somehow Ariel knew I was up and wanted to get up too at 630am. We brought her to our bed and that only held her until 7am. Blah.
The girl was super tired by nap time but still didn't sleep as long as she should have. So she helped me make a cake, yummy. Oh, Ariel's little quirk of insisting to be clean is really getting old. While she ate her cake, any little drop of icing she got on her finger erupted into her yelling 'hand!' Which basically means, get this crud off me, I want to be clean. Gotta love her.
Sunday was church (and the exciting return of Aunty Lala, yay!) and an outdoor market day! We missed the kick off one that happened 2 weeks ago because it was right after our crazy animation festival weekend, so it was fun to go and enjoy things. We had a great lunch of BBQ steak sandwiches, so delicious. Ariel had a slice of pizza and was very content.
It was such a beautiful and warm day. It really felt like summer! About time, June is over next week.
The police bear was handing out balloons to the kids and she was very much in love with her new 'aloon'. She was dancing around to the music having a great time.
We came home for nap time, much to Ariel's disappointment. Her balloon didn't last more than a day too, it popped while she was out of the room, thank goodness.
Today was sunny but windy, and we had a very lazy morning. We invited my Dad over for dinner tonight since Rita is out of town. I figured it was a good reason to vacumme the floor, of course Ariel howled. She hates it and the noise it makes. Its funny to hear her reassure herself, 'its k, its k' (its ok, its ok for those who don't speak toddler).
We went down to the water park and a little boy was kind enough to share his toys with her. She followed him around and loved to watch him play in the water.
Around that time we had a call from Nana saying Aunty Deborah was over and that we should stop by. So we headed over and had a nice chat and some tasty blueberry muffins. Yum.
Came home for naps, and Ariel slept soundly until 5pm when I woke her up. We prepared dinner and then played on the deck with the bubble machine.
Almost catching one...
She may look mad, but she was just squawking and being a turkey.
After dinner, Ken was showing Dad the 2 latest videos that he helped animate on. It was at that time Ariel discovered her new 'obsession'... the 'Do unto Otters' film. Yes, she ended up watching it 3 times before bed, thank goodness its only 10 minutes in length. She loves the theme song...
Singing along with the ending...
When we put her to bed, all we heard from her room for 15 minutes was 'otters... otters.... otters' Ah yes, at least its educational. Hehe.
To close I will leave you with this funny little moment. While I was putting away the toilet paper, Ariel was sitting by me and calling for Daddy. Since he was down in the computer room working he couldn't hear her and this was making her frustrated.
Daddy, daddy, daddy....
daddy, daddy, daddy....
KEN, KEN, KEN!
Hmm, is this a message to me? Heheh. Ah, out of the mouths of babes.
Ariel is truly her daddy's little girl. See that love for Kermit, priceless! I snapped these last night while Ariel was watching 'Show' aka The Muppet Show. She demands to watch it every night lately, and with her green buddy at her side. I don't think Ken is going to get any prouder. Hee.
I think we have a pretty good puppeteer on our hands. I think Kermit may have to come to Ariel's birthday party this year. Yay!
Today was a very cloudy day, and by late morning after our walk it had started to rain. At least is was a 'summer' rain. Very light and warm. All Ariel wanted to do today was play in her pool... that still has no water in it. Ok! She was all smiles and was having a great time with all her boats and shovels...
... that is until I mentioned we should go inside for a nap.
After the nap, a short one I might add, she was back outside in the pool. I decided to pull the bubble machine out of the closet and get it going. Of course she was thrilled! Yay for bubbles!
Such a cutie!
When it started to get cold again, we came inside, which caused much protest. Ugh. That soon ended when she got to try on the cute dresses her Grammy sent her in the mail. The model in training, hee.
I love the blue one, and I think Ariel did too. She wanted to carry it around the rest of the afternoon. She also sent a cute Roots 'Toronto' t-shirt from their recent trip there for Jonathan's 30th birthday. Thank you so much Grammy! We love you!
After playing fashion show, Ariel decided it was a good day to visit with all her stuffed friends. So one by one she pulled them out of the bin and sat them in a huge pile on the couch.
Right before her Daddy got home, I piled them all on top of her. When Ken walked through the door, he thought it was pretty funny. Haha, where is Ariel?
Well I need to give up the computer to Ken who has lots of work to do tonight. So I will go hang with Ariel and paint for a bit. Good night!
These are by far two of Ariel's favorite words at the moment. She loves to say please, knowing that usually it gets her what she wants, and pool because its one of her favorite places to play. Somehow a few weeks ago they made it into the same sentence. We were walking by the hardware store and they had a lovely display of plastic pools. Ariel was totally taken with them and every time we passed by she would remind me. I would always look, check the price, check the size and then say maybe next time.
Today, on our way home from the park we stopped again. Poooooooooool? Please? Hmmm, so we came home to measure our deck. After moving the plants around, I saw we did indeed have room for this size of pool. However, I first pulled out her little inflatable pool from last year. For some reason I thought it would still be good this year. It was the first time I really saw how much she had grown! Wow. Apparently, this little pool wasn't going to cut it with my water princess. (New plant set up, so pretty!)
So hand in hand we walked back to the hardware store. Ariel was over the moon and was telling everyone in the store 'pool, I got it! Yay!' It was pretty funny, what a goof. I had brought the measuring tape along to double check to see if it was the same size the sticker said it was, and guess what? It wasn't! Actually, it worked in our favour, so its all good. The sticker said it was 45in but in fact it was only 40in. So it was perfect, and Ariel totally agrees. She jumped in it the moment I placed it down in its new spot. Now all we need to do is wash the deck and fill it up with water... oh and to keep the sun out longer than a day.
Ariel is now looking for someone to come over and play with her...
Before all our pool excitement, Ariel and I went for a long walk and to play at the park. She always is eager to play and is yelling 'park' once its in eyesight.
I always love a lazy day of walking, playing at the park and relaxing with Ariel. I am really blessed to have this time with her.
Earlier this week on Monday, we had gone to the other park to play. It was a really warm day and we both were in our shorts and tanks. Soooooo awesome!
Peek a boo! I see you Ariel!
Ariel tends to run from toy to toy, as if they are all going to disappear at any moment. When people ask about my weight loss, I give high props to Ariel, she keeps me running. Haha. Speaking of which, on Sunday I hit my big 50lb down! Woot. I still can't believe, so crazy. I have lost 2 Ariel's! That is insane!
I love this picture, she is so pretty!
Got this little video of her asking please for more chips, then please to see the camera... however, the girl needs to clear her throat. Haha.
On Tuesday, it was a gloomy looking day so we decided to go to Costco to get the much needed toilet paper, and paper towels. While there I also found a perfect set of new glasses for our kitchen. Our old ones were pretty much all chipped, and we were slowly loosing more and more of them to 'accidents'... aka Ariel. Of course she is all coy about it, who me?
I also got a chance to try on this funky little outfit I found at Old Navy last week. Totally not what Ariel usually wears but I knew Maria, the photographer I have been working with, would totally love it. Needless to say I was right, she wants to shoot Ariel in it! Ariel is going to do some promo modeling for Maria, as she is building up some new stuff for promotion and showing off her new Vancouver studio space, so exciting. So what do you think of little punk Ariel? Brenda told me she needs a dog collar necklace to finish the look! HAHAHA! Personally, I think she totally looks cool in black, and those high tops are killer!
Ok, as promised, I can now post Ariel's birthday invitations I made as they are all mailed and should be received. I love how they turned out! This is the folded card, cute flower. The colors scheme this year is pink, brown and white.
Opened up...
Close up on the info (info removed so we don't have party crashers, haha)...
The photo montage card I included. Pictures from the past year, she sure has grown up! Sniff...
Then we sealed them up with the wax like we did last year. The royal 'A' of approval from the princess herself. Hee.
Each one was given an Ariel stamp. I got these through Canada Post, and they are like regular stamps! I got them last year too and were a hit with everyone.
So consider this your virtual invites to Ariel's 2nd birthday party here on the blog. I will post lots of pictures on the big day, so stop by!
Finally, we have been talking and emailing with Ken's mom in planning our Yellowstone adventure for August. She found some great things we can do and I am soooooo excited. We are hoping to do the Stagecoach Adventure and Old West Cookout. You get to ride on a horse-drawn, canvas-covered wagon, then have an authentic cowboy cookout steak dinner in Pleasant Valley. There is even a singing cowboy. Hello! Food and music, Ariel will be in heaven! Can't wait!
Well, I am gonna get back to painting. I am working on this year's book for Ariel. I love this tradition, but its not going to happen if I don't get back to it.
