Friday With Friends

Well it is finally Friday again. Apparently its Mother's Day weekend... something perhaps I should have remembered. Haha. We are booked to go over to Dad and Rita's place for dinner, so that will be nice.

Ariel woke up at 5am and slept the rest of the night with us. I think she knew Daddy was home. When she woke up finally she was asking where he was. Sorry hon, he already left for work. Gotta be up early to catch him, so perhaps that was her plan for the early wake up. Hoping she doesn't do that again tonight... I was enjoying my full night of sleep.


Today was a bit of an odd day. We had our swimming class in the morning as usual, but today we had to walk home. Ken was bringing home our old animation pal Meeka and her boyfriend Ren for dinner. They are in town on a little surprise vacation trip, Meeka surprised Ren for his birthday. Anyhoo, the plan was for me to leave the car at the bus loop after swim class and walk home, and then they would get off the bus and drive back to our place.

So Ariel and I went to class... the pool was TOTALLY empty today. It was grad Friday, and I tell ya the whole town shuts down it seems, but more on that later. Class was great, Ariel is improving on her back floats. She was happy to see her teacher back today, apparently he had food poisoning which is why we had a sub last week. Yuck, been there, not fun.

After class we went to the car and got out the small stroller. Ariel was pretty hungry so we stopped at McDonalds before walking back into town (Its about a 20 minute walk from the pool). She was pretty excited about her chicken nuggets, since she hasn't had any since Mommy kicked the fast food back in January. She most likely won't see them again until next year, haha. I got a chicken burger to tide me over but it made me sick. I guess that tells you something eh?

It was a nice walk and it was good to see how the little stroller did since it will be the official Disney stroller. The one wheel needs so oil because its squeaking, but that is fixable. We walked by the hair salon and saw lots of girls getting fancy hair dos. I was kinda sad, this was the first year in a very long time that I wouldn't make it to the high school to watch the grads. Oh well, next year I guess. I think I only knew one student this year anyways... one that I remember fondly when he was born. Gack, feeling old. Eep.

Before going home we stopped at the post office. There was a parcel from Ken's mom for us. Yay. Inside was my birthday present, a pretty necklace and bracelet. Will get a shot wearing them this weekend to post later. Ariel also got a little treat from Grammy, a copy of Horton Hatches the Egg and a Horton stuffie. Needless to say she was very pleased!

I heart Horton!

Check out my cool Happy Meal toy. Go Speed Racer!


While Ariel slept, I spent the afternoon cleaning up and preparing dinner for our guests. It was around that time that Ken called to say Meeka had rented a car and they would be driving home... basically meaning I didn't have to walk all the way home from the loop. Oh well, it was a nice walk, but it would have meant we didn't have to eat the nasty fast food lunch that made me sick. At least Ariel liked it, the girl loves her nuggets.

A little after 6pm the troops arrived and we had a yummy dinner of Salsa chicken, strawberry spinach salad, rice and cupcakes for dessert. Ariel ate all the strawberries out of the salad, some chicken and half a cupcake. She has been talking about cupcakes all week and I think she was excited to finally get one.

Meeka brought Ariel a little gift that she made. Isn't it super cute, she sells them on Esty, check out her site here if you want one of your own to love!


It was great to finally meet Ren, and we had a wonderful time catching up and chatting. I wish she didn't live so far away, but I guess that means we will have to go visit them now on the other side of Canada. Hee.


Well, Ken is back to teaching Saturdays again, starting tomorrow. Gonna miss having him around, so I guess we will have to find something to fill the day with until he gets home. We were planning to go to the concert at the church tomorrow evening, but if my migraine continues to linger, that doesn't seem likely. Perhaps a quiet night at home is better anyways, I think Ken has some writing to catch up on anyways.

Hope everyone has a nice Mother's Day and a fun weekend. Bye!

To Market To Market...

...but first I need to start things off with my tag or challenge from Dianne to describe myself in six words. Hmm, I thought about this today, and as there are many things I could say or write, I shall leave it at this.

Live for today, dream for tomorrow.

Basically, in my life there have been moments that have shaped me to become the person I am today. One of the major ones was of course losing my mom, hence teaching me to live for today, because you never know how short it will be. The other major moment has been my life with Ken and the birth of Ariel, so that is the dream for tomorrow part. I am an artist and a believer in a faith that is bigger than words can describe. Anything is possible, miracles exist and dreams come true. I will always be that little girl no matter how old I get.... and my food will always talk to me. Hee.

Ok, I tag Amy, Brenda and Jill for starters... and anyone who wants to try it because its kinda cool.

Ok, back to the daily scoop. This morning Ariel and I were up early. Again another wonderful night sleep for both us princesses. However, this time I had to wake her up as she was soundly curled up with her stuffies. Thankfully I had laid out our clothes the night before and we were dressed, fed and out the door in little time.

No traffic today, yay, and we arrived a little after 930am. We hit our favorite spot first, of course. Ariel was busy socializing with all the other kids in the strollers. We got some great deals on some play clothes, and Ariel seemed pleased with our choices. Here is the little fashion show!

First she had to check out the bag, make sure her goodies were still inside.


Love this on her, very sweet.


Cute top and capri pants, although at the moment they fit more like jeans which actually is great since it hasn't totally warmed up here yet.


Finally a little terry cloth dress, so cute and perfect for play. Whee. This was her favorite by far, she kept running around and posing. Tee hee.


Then after Gymbo, we went to Old Navy for mommy. I found some cute tops and 2 cute dresses. Yay! Following that was a trip to the La Senza to buy new undergarments. Um, yeah, no fashion show from me involving those things. Haha.

We were just finishing up and got a call from Ken saying he was back in BC, woot! We came home, and briefly stopped at Nana's house. We were able to help her out by picking up Kitty from the doctor's office and driving her home. She was happy to see Ariel.

Ariel then napped and I cleaned up the house. Then when princess got up we sat and waited for the cab to come with Daddy.


Mommy's pretty girl.


YAY DADDY! Ariel was happy to be with her favorite guy. At this moment they are both watching Muppet Show episodes downstairs. Too cute.


Daddy brought Ariel back a horse, since he was in cowboy land. Haha.



Then he brought out this thing!



Ariel loves it, and well its much cleaner than a real one, so its all good. Plus this one can't bite her. Don't you want one too for Mother's Day?

We had a fun dinner of waffles tonight, since it was easy and yummy. I must say its much faster with 2 now, and then we don't have to wait long till we can all eat together. (Apparently, I had too much batter in one of them, oops.)


Ariel liked the Mickey Mouse shaped ones. Getting her geared up for Mickey food in Disneyland. My goal is to try and have a different Mickey item a day.


Well I should wrap this up so we can go on our walk. Its a nice evening and we want to spend it together. Good night!

Knights of the Round Table

I am soooooooooooooooooo excited right now! I was just talking to Ken (who is in Calgary tonight) and he was telling me how the theater production of Spamalot was coming there. At first I was totally jealous, Vancouver ALWAYS gets left out of the good shows theater wise. However, to my surprise once looking online.... IT IS COMING HERE THIS SUMMER! WOOT! The tickets go on sale in a couple of weeks. Eek, I am happy, whee.

Last night I rented a movie, 27 Dresses. It was very cute and I enjoyed it, especially since I knew it wasn't something Ken would have been dying to see. However I enjoy a good wedding movie, what girl doesn't?

This morning I woke up to realize that Ariel had slept all night again, always a nice treat. So when 9am rolled around, I got up to see if she was awake. Indeed she was! In fact she was taking in some morning reading time. She pulls books off the shelf from her crib and reads until I come get her in the morning... that is when she isn't sleeping in herself. What a cutie!

CHEESE!

Hmmm, what will I do today?

A little video of Ariel and her friends getting out of bed.



Once Ariel was out of bed she was quickly into her chair for some more reading with her bears. It gave me a chance to get dressed, so that was nice.


We then had a somewhat lazy morning until we ran out to do some quick mailings at the post office. Of course we ran in to friends of Nana's outside the coffee shop so we chatted with them for a bit. Got the 'when is baby number 2 coming' question. Actually the funny thing is that I got that from the post office girl too. Wow, I guess when your child gets close to age 2 everyone starts in again with these comments. I am trying to decide if these comments are worse than the 'when are you gonna have kids' questions. Or from what I am told is then followed with the 'your having ANOTHER baby' when you decide to have 3 or more. Then I read all about my friend Dianne and all the comments she gets when going through the process of adoption. So I guess no one is safe. Perhaps this is why dogs and cats are becoming the new 'kids'.

Anyhoo, we decided to stop at the consignment shop since I wanted to ask when the drop off date was for summer clothes. While there Ariel found 2 new peg puzzles, one of shapes and the other of numbers. Both were the really nice 'Doug and Melissa' brand, so it was a great find. We came home right away to play with them.


I got sushi for lunch today as a treat, and Ariel decided she was going to actually try a California roll. Last time she chickened out, so when she stood there with her mouth open I knew she was ready to go for it. Not really to my surprise, she happily chowed it down, and then sat waiting for more. She helped me finish them all up and happily proclaimed 'all gone!'

During Ariel's nap time, I spent it reading my new Disneyland planning guide I ordered via amazon. We needed an updated book since the last one we had was for our trip in 2002, and frankly I love to plan and be prepared. Hee. Lots of helpful things, so no doubt expect some notes in the coming weeks as I continue to read and get ideas. Its great to find out where all the baby changing rooms are, and nice places for kids to run off some steam in the park. Just in case you thought my idea of planning was 'scheduling'. Haha, I have only been a parent for almost 2 years, but I am not that stupid anymore. My ways of planning have changed, so I think the only thing I may schedule ahead of time is booking the special meals with the characters, since then we won't have to wait as long for a table. As you know when its time to eat with Ariel, she wants to eat now.

When Ariel woke up, we headed out to return the dvd to the video store, and went to see if the diapers at Safeway had come in... no such luck. Doh! I did manage to find some new sneakers at the shoe store and they even had little rhinestone accents on them. Haha, my new bling shoes as I told Ken. My other sneakers where falling apart, all that walking we do. Here is the pic from the website since I am too lazy to go take a picture of them at the moment.

Ken is coming home tomorrow, yay! I am glad it was just a short trip and there will be no more traveling for quite awhile. In fact he is back to teaching Saturdays starting soon too, so he is going to be busy until things start to wrap up in the summer. Hence our getaway in September, we are going to need it by then!

Well, I am off to bed. Big day at the mall tomorrow. Gymbo circle of friends sale is happening, so we shall see if we find anything cute. Otherwise it will be spending my gift card from Mikey and Jo on new things for me. So, Jay and Ariel signing off. We will see you tomorrow Daddy!

Off Again

Ken left this morning for Alberta. We managed to get him out the door into the cab with little issue, although we had to do a quick search for his keys... thanks Ariel.

Since it was a little cold this morning, I pulled out some jeans for Ariel to try on... they were the ones I bought back in September... THEY FINALLY FIT! They are a size 12 months! If you remember she couldn't wear these in the fall and instead wore ones that were 6-9 months in size. She looked so grown up in this outfit. I actually have the same shirt (only mine is the blue with white stitching) from Old Navy. I thought it be fun to match, will try and get a picture at some point.


Anyhoo, as we were preparing to leave this morning I saw the maintenance people going into the annoying neighbors old place... YES I am happy to say the nasty neighbors are officially gone! I wasn't sure since their deck was still filled with crap, but apparently they left it behind. How nice of them, eh? Now lets guess how long it takes to clean and redo the place until its livable again. Haha.

I forgot to tell you all about the weekend when they were packing up the moving truck. They decided it was a good idea to drink lots of beer while packing. Yes, 9am is not too early for a cold one. Good grief. It started ok, but progressed into a big 'F-word' extravaganza and then escalated to them throwing things at each other from the deck... things that break. One of the nice neighbors actually went out to HELP them move at one point when it looked like the fighting was slowing the progress down... I think he was just as excited to see them go, so why not help them leave. Haha. When I saw him doing this he gave me a friendly wink, just doing his part for the community. Hee.

After a quick little celebration Ariel and I were out the door to get all our tasks done. We joined Nana for coffee at the cafe. They had Ariel's regular order warmed up all ready for her when we arrived. Talk about service, hee. Then we went by the used book store to pick up the book Daddy had seen in the window last night during our walk. Ariel also picked out a book, since it was only fair. Momma's little book worm.

Then off to Safeway for groceries. It was customer application day, so I loaded up on chicken breast and a few other things they had on special. They were unfortunately still out of the diapers we needed. I have a killer rain check that I was hoping to cash in, oh well. I am hoping they arrive before we run out this week. Ugh.

Then it was off to Stella's so she could help fix up my brown dress I got at Old Navy. Had a little visit and then came home to unload the car. Now as I type this I am starting to think lunch and a nap is in order. But first we wanted to share some fun videos for you all and Daddy.

First, a message for Daddy. We love you!



Then some dancing, whee!

Birthday Week Coming to an End

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments. I had a wonderful birthday, and it pretty much finished today with lunch at Nana with the family. Actually I have a gift in the mail coming from Ken's family, so I guess I still have some fun left, hee.

Saturday morning it was dumping rain, but I didn't care, I was going to the spa!!! It was pure heaven, and I felt like butter afterwards. It was a total body massage for 90 minutes. I must say my hubby did well on this gift, fantastic!

This morning was church, and a very awesome sermon from our 'temp' pastor, who is filling in for our regular one while he is on sabbatical. Lunch after church today was nice and it was great to have everyone there, including Uncle Bill and Aunt Penny who had come into town this weekend. Nana made up a yummy cake, and it was way too good. So good that all the leftovers stayed at her house, haha.

Ariel helped me blow out my candles...


...sort of. She wasn't really into it, but loved looking at them.


She was into eating the cake... big surprise eh?


Then I got a gift card to Old Navy from Mike and Jo, woot! Summer clothes here I come! Dad and Rita got me a very cool Disney bag, loved the design on the letters, a cute beach towel that will be handy with swimming classes and super cool Mickey ears scrapbook scissors! Perfect when I scrapbook a memory book for Ariel. I also got some American cash for our trip, nice! Thanks so much.


The main reason for Bill and Penny's visit this weekend was to start the cleaning process of the house. As Nana and Papa prepare for their new place, everything that won't be going with them has to be sorted and either donated or given away to family. I was very honored to be able to get some of Aunt Gertrude's things, including her silver flatware set. Very beautiful and I can't wait to use them for a fancy dinner. Penny researched it and its from Birks and the pattern is Saxon. If you want to go see what it looks like, check it out on the website. Its very simple and pretty, I love it! Thank you Nana!

Ariel was happy to see Grandpa back in town!


Other news, as we were leaving church we saw someone we hadn't seen in awhile. We drove past and waved and she shouted back 'CONGRATS!' Well we pulled over as I was like, congrats on what? She was like your expecting right? Um, nope. Oops. Then Ken shared he had the same moment inside and forgot to tell me. Apparently I may have said something here that may have sounded like I was indeed expecting. For the record, nope, no baby yet! I wouldn't be surprised at the confusion since it seems EVERYONE I know is pregnant. So then at lunch I made the announcement that I wasn't expecting and needless to say it was a good laugh.

Tonight Ken, Ariel and I went for a nice walk after dinner. Ken is taking off again this week for some out of town stuff, so it was nice to spend some time together before he up and leaves again.

When we got home, he was putting on a little fun puppet show for Ariel using his Muppet records (yes records, you remember those right?). Enjoy!

The Last of the Twenties...

Thats what Ken said when we were driving over to the restaurant tonight. Gack! It has finally come... the beginning of the end. I am kinda sad actually. Today I turned 29... next year I will enter a whole new number... until then I refuse to talk about it. Haha.

Since its been several days since my last post, this one will be extra long. YAY! So go grab some snacks and get comfy.

Tuesday was sewing day here. I was going full force on the Tinkerbell dress and I am happy to say it is now just needing a zipper and trims. I did start beading it and it looks fantastic. Here is a little sneak peak at the work in progress thus far...

Cinderella!

Tinkerbell! (With capri pants, haha)

On Wednesday I had an early birthday lunch celebration with Nana and Stella (since she had to work today). We went to pizza hut for my first REAL pizza since new years. Yes, I really miss it, so it was a fantastic treat. Ariel who is just as much a pizza fan as me was thrilled. First she made fast work of the bread sticks. Ariel loves to dip anything, so when they were gone, she had to dip her pizza.

Hmmm, pizza good!

Have some brownie Aunty Lala.

I got some nice presents too! Stella gave me a great cupcake book and mug. I heart cupcakes. Hee. Nana gave me a gift certificate to have a manicure and pedicure with my friend Nav. Yay. I will be so pretty.


This morning, my day started with my sweetie of a hubby surprising me with breakfast in bed. A yummy plate of egg whites, toast and an apple. The breakfast of champions, or more so the one of the incredible shrinking Jay. Yes, I met my goal for the new month, I am now officially at 45lb lost. Woot. The birthday goal, I was worried I wasn't going to make it, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yay! I still can't believe its only been 4 months. Can't wait to see how the next few months go.


Ken then surprised me with a massage at the spa this weekend! Woot! My hubby rocks! After breakfast and Ken heading off to work, I got to check my email to see a few email greetings and e-cards. Ariel got up eventually and we went to join Nana, Papa and Aunt Penny at the cafe for coffee. Ariel had her regular favorite, yummy. (I know there is a lot of pictures of her eating, but I am just amazed how much she loves all kinds of foods, as her mother and father were uber picky as kids).


We then went for a nice walk and stopped at the grocery store to see if we could pick up another box of chicken. Alas, no chicken, so we will have to come again. Since it was such a gorgeous day we went to the park since we didn't have any other chores.

As we arrived, I noticed this beautiful area over grown with dandelions. Yes, weeds but cute ones. Had to snap a few pics...


I love this one, she is off and running to the park. Look at the blossoms on that tree. Beautiful!


Quick one with Mommy too!


Ariel had a fantastic time at the park. We even mastered the big slide today. I am happy to say I even road it with her, woot. Slides are fun.


When it grew closer to noon, I had to pull Ariel away to head home. Never a fun thing. I managed to distract her with the notion of seeing Stella at the quilt shop to stop the tears. While we stopped in, I found some cute material and finally got to use my gift certificate I had gotten when we bought my new sewing machine there. Have I said how much I LOVE my sewing machine, it rocks!

Then home for naps and a rest before Daddy came home for our dinner date. I had a gift certificate for Earls still and we decided it be fun to go somewhere nice. Of course the idea of going to a nice place with no kids menu and taking a 20 month old might not appeal to everyone, but we are fearless. Haha.

Ariel was almost perfect tonight! She had the hostess melting at her cuteness and impressed her parents with her behavior. Since it was a special night, we went all out. I am going to post some pics of the food. On my new Disney board, there is an area to post pictures of your Disney meals, so you can rate them etc. They lovingly refer to it as 'food porn'. I personally think this is hilarious, and I hope no one is offended. So I give you our dinner in pictures.

First up was Spinach and feta dip and pita dippers.


Ariel LOVED this. Again I remind you about her love of dipping. Plus an appetizer is always a great way to distract a hungry child.


For our meal I had a yummy chicken and veggies. It was kinda spicy with a sweet pineapple and melon salsa. Very good indeed.


Ken had the ribs and chicken combo with veggies. Ariel kept calling his coleslaw 'cheese' since it looked all grated.


Ariel had the quesadilla and fries. She ate a good part of it , but still brought home a doggy bag.


Then to top it all off, a little coconut cream pie to share. Mommy's favorite! Yummy!!!!!!!!!


Ariel wanted to pay of course, but with Daddy's cards. Figures.


After our wonderful dinner we walked around the mall a bit. We found an area with some little rides and Ariel was excited. She loves these things, and this one was a real car too! She loves cars. Before we got on, Ariel went to run over to a little group of little boys. Uh oh! She stops and starts saying 'hi,' then shows them her 'shoes'. Haha. I think they thought she was funny because they had to hang around when she road the toys. My girl loves the boys. Gack!

Daddy thought she looked too comfy behind the wheel.


Clifford wasn't as exciting... but she still thought it was great.


Then the merry go round... whee!


Before coming home we stopped in Toys R Us for some bubble mix for Ariel's bubble machine. Ariel managed to spot a toy stroller in the store, drat. Took some effort detaching it from her grip. Once in the car, we were home in a few minutes and very content. What a wonderful day it was.

So a big thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes, your cards and emails, gifts and calls. I feel very loved and I guess 29 can't be all that bad. So, until next time, birthday girl Jay, is over and out.