Camp Imadene

This is where I dropped Paula off today - her first summer camp ever. She'll be gone for 7 days and 6 sleeps - that seems like a long time. And I can't even call there. But, I can definitly send her a fax every day - which she is expecting for sure.

And, because I won't be in contact with her for all this time - I took this picture of the schedule so I know what she is doing and when LOL.

What a fabulous place tho - right on Mesachie Lake in Cowichan Lake here on Vancouver Island.

We dropped her and her best little friend off, checked out the cabin and helped the girls settle in. A little drama about who sleeps where - but we did get if figured out.

They did a little craft and then had to get ready for their swimming test. We all went down to the Lake, and waited our turn. The whole group had to jump in together, dreading water for 30 secs. and then swim over to the ladder.

She made it and was excited beyond words with her accomplishment! And so was I!

WTG Paula!

If you make it, you get a yellow wrist band and can participate in activities like tubing, water skieing, kajaking,.... Here she is receiving her yellow band!

Then it was time for the parents to leave and I was surprised that it went so smoothly! There was no time for tears (which I was sure we would have) and all there was on her sweet little face was this beaming smile!!

Hope you have the best summer ever Pauli!

Miss ya :)

Savary Island Part 2

So, we survived our first night on the futon bed (who ever came up with that idea - shoot 'em LOL). We hopped on the bikes and started exploring the island. And what a truly beautiful and breathtaking island it is!

Here are my favorite wildlife shots:


This cute little owl swooped over heads while we were bikeriding! I LOVE owls.



We were lucky enough to have this giant eagles nest right behind our cabin - how cool is that?


Here you can see momma eagle (or daddy eagle - what do I know?) calling for the little guy.






The little one wasn't ready to leave the safety of home tho - can't blame him.





I talked to a lady a few days after, and she said to keep watching as sometimes the parents will literally push the little ones out of the nest in order to make them fly. And guess what?? Yep, I saw it, I saw daddy eagle (well, I am sure it was the dad, as mom's would NEVER EVER do such a horrible thing!) open his giant wings and push that poor little guy right out of the nest! It was incredible. The little one screamed and complained while he slowly flew right over my head. Is that cool or what?

While walking along the beach, we found mommy and daddy hanging out on the beach as well.



The tidal pools are fantastic and this is one of the many things we found:









The kids were obsessed with the jelly fish - they loved finding them and
poking the dead ones!

This little crab was in the water - blows me away how clear the ocean is on Savary!

And a couple more of beautiful Mermaid Beach:

And in case you were wondering why "Mermaid" Beach - this is why -
she sits on this huge boulder - all serene and looks like she's keeping
a watchful eye over the ocean. I like her.


Well, there is a ton more - and I will share some more of my favorites next time.
Toodles :)

Savary Island

We just got back from Savary Island and again, we had a fabulous and relaxed time. The weather cooperated nicely and I feel good and rejuvenated. Although, I wish I had another week off, but, I had to get back to work today - oh well, so is life.

Here is a little recap and some pics from our trip.

We left on Sunday, July 22nd, and everybody was super excited. After a little drive to Comox, an hour and a half of ferry ride and another little drive to Lund, we boarded the water taxi to Savary.

The kids couldn't wait to see our cabin and ran in as soon as we got ther. What a cute little place, it was just perfect.

Isn't it cute?? We chucked our stuff inside, hopped on the bikes and headed to the beach. It was a bit overcast, and the ocean was rough, but that didn't keep us from going out and enjoying the beach anyways.

It felt so good, watching the kids check it out all out, the fresh ocean breeze and knowing that we still have a whole week ahead of us.

Well, this is it for now, I am off to bed, after all I have to go to work again tomorrow.

I took a ton more pictures, and will share some more next time :)

See ya.

Tagged

I have been tagged by Jessi and Jeani - I know it took me a long time - sorry gals, but here it goes:

This one in english for Jessi:

Here are the rules...
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!OK, here goes...

1.) I don't like the way my husband cuts apples - I have a certain way of cutting them and when I see him doing it different, I get mad LOL.

2.)I have a Tim Hortons large Iced Capp with chocolate milk every day.

3.) I always have a cup of lemon tea with honey before I go to bed.

4.) I love to watch "Little people Big world".

5.) If it would be up to me - it could be fall all year long.

6.) I love to be home alone.

7.) I spoil my kids rotten - just can't help it.


Und hier in Deutsch fuer Jeani:

Hier sind die Regeln:
Jeder Spieler startet mit 7 zufälligen Fakten/Eigenarten über sich selbst. Jeder Spieler, der getagged wurde muss seine sieben Fakten niederschreiben. Diese müssen wieder 7 Spieler auwählen. Vergiss nicht ihren Blog zu besuchen um ihnen mitzuteilen, dass sie getagged wurden und Deinen Blog lesen sollen.

1.) Ich mag's nicht wie mein Mann Aepfel schneidet. Ich habe eine besondere Art Aepfel zu schneiden und wenn ich sehe wie mein Mann sie schneidet - regt mich das tierisch auf.

2.) Ich kaufe mir jeden Tag einen grossen Eiscappuccino mit Kaba bei Tim Hortons (so ein Kaffee und Donut laden hier in Kanada).

3.) Jeden abend bevor ich in's Bett gehe trinke ich eine Tasse Zitronentee mit Honig.

4.) Wenn es nach mir gehen wuerde koennte es das ganze Jahr Herbst sein.

5.) Ich liebe es das Haus fuer mich alleine zu haben - ich bin gerne alleine.

6.) Ich verwoehne meine Kinder - kann's nicht aenders.

7.) Ich sollte viel oefter deutsch reden! Hoffe ich verlerne es nicht.


There ya go and now I am tagging:
Cori, Mary, Sandra F., Yolanda, Debby V., Kimberly G, Jen V.

Play Ball

Today was Paula's first Ball Game and it was awesome. She and her team did extremely well and won the first match - GO STINGRAYS!

I love the ballfield - feels good and just right for spring time. Paula hits the ball well and made it to first base every time she was up to bat. She was beaming and totally happy and excited that she did so well. And so was I of course.

Liam's T-ball coach just called and it's a go after all. Apparently there was no coaches, but one brave mom stepped up to the plate and will be teaching the kids how to play ball. Right on. Now our schedule is even busier than before - phew, not sure how we are gonna do it. Oh well, we could have 4 kids and then we would really be busy LOL.

At POTP I said the other day that my goal is to take more pictures and I was true to my word. Feels good to know that I have some good ones to scrapbook again:

And here is my Hockey Fanatic - Liam. With the play offs on right now, he is dressed up and ready to play LOL. He made his own Luongo shirt (with Sharpie and all) and it doesn't matter to him if he plays goalie with a ball glove or not. And because our big nice tv in the living room is not working (it's all good tho - thank god for Costcos customer service) we have to watch the games on my tiny tv in my scraproom.

Here is a couple more that I took a couple of days ago - can't beat a Bouquet of Love!!

Well, that's it from me, I have lunches to make, kitchen to clean, laundry to fold and all the things we moms do every day - you know what I mean - it just never ends, does it?

Some new layouts

These are layouts that I did with the POTP April kit. Loved those A2Z papers, and they went so good with my Thailand pictures. Those colours made me feel good and I loved to reminisce and think about the good times we had there. I wonder when we will be able to go back. Not in a while that's for sure, so I have to make due with the pictures and memories I have. And that's what scrapbooking is all about, right? It's a good thing :)

Happy Easter

It's nice to know that spring is just around the corner and the kids can go outside again. My daffodils are blooming and I can;t wait for our new ornamental cherry trees to blossom.

We had a fabulous Easter. Kids got up all excited at 7.30am and the hunt began. The easter bunny has been good to us - the kids got some much needed new bikes, new helmets and some other little goodies. We went for a family walk and the kids checked out their new bikes and they sure enjoyed them.

At noon we went to the nearby park for the annual easter hunt put on by the local firefighters. We just made it home in time before it started raining.

Then we went swimming down at the bay - so convenient to have the pool 2 minutes away from home. Anyhow, there was this young couple in the hottub and it looked like they were making out big time. Then they left he hottub and I couldn't believe my eyes - the guy had a huge hard on and the nerves to jump into the pool!! Oh my god, I had enough right there and then - now that is just disgusting. If he would have been at least good looking LOL. But nope, really gross.

After a while Paula and Liam thought it was funny to go underwater and spy on those guys. I wasn;t sure if that was a good idea or not, but it seemed like nothing more was going on - so whatever. Then Paula and I went to the change room and she said to me very casually " hey mom, those two in the pool were humping!!

EXCUSE ME??????

I asked her what that means and she said well, it's when you rub your bodies together or when the man is naked and the woman is naked too. "Isn't this gross Mom???" "Yeah Paula - totally" LOL.

I was shocked to say the least and asked her where she got that information from. Well, her best friends older sister is in Grade 5 and she told her (not sure where the word 'humping' came from tho). Apparently she is having the talk at school and that's what came from it LOL. And to think that Paula is only 8 and she brought it up so casually LOL. Oh man, I guess she might be asking more question soon. I better be prepared.

I am enjoying my 4 days off and need to relax. I am not even scrappin, just vegging. Feels good. Watched the DaVinci Code last night - creepy movie but good. I was planning on scrappin tonite but decided to update my blog as I have been a bad blogger lately. But somehow nothing really interesting happens around here!

Oh, and I got the okay from hubby to get a cleaning lady for every other week. OMG I am soo friggin exited! Because I am working so much now - the house gets really neglected and we decided that it is money well spent. I also booked a window cleaner who will come and clean all my windows inside and out for about $60!! Come on, can't beat that. I will never ever gonna clean my own windows EVAH again. Gotta have it all clean and tidy for when my parents get here. Woohoo - this is soo awesome.

Anyhow, hope all your Easter was good and I hope you didnt' eat too much chocolate LOL - I have been pretty good so far.

Long days...

..and not enough hours in a day. I come home late from work, gotta clean and do the household stuff, hang with the kids and poof - it's past 9 and I am pooped. I am lucky tho that Rob is such a good hubby and does most of the cooking lately. Am I ever grateful for that. I think we have to get back to meal plans and maybe even pre-cook and freeze. But then, our freezer just died, so we need to buy a new one. Just great LOL.

Anyhow, what's new? Oh, the kids have started taking the bus to and from school. What an adventure let me tell you LOL. We decided to do a trial run on monday. Rob went to school at 2.30, put the kids on the bus and then drove back to pick them up at the busstop. So, there he is waiting for the bus, the bus arrives, Paula and a bunch of other kids get out of the bus, the bus drives on. No Liam and no Colty LOL. Well, the 2 little goofheads missed the stop and kept on riding the bus LOL!! Rob is then following the bus and catches it at the next stop! Talk about panick LOL. The ride from school to our stop is only about 2 minutes, so the boys did not realize that the stop comes so fast. And apparently Paula didn't sit with them and didn't notice that she left without the boys. Both boys were a bit shaken and needed reassurance that things will be alright even if they don't get out on time and today all went well. We do have to get up earlier tho, but we just found out that the bus also stops right in front of our neighbors house.

Kids are growing up for sure and after it was all successfull today they are all excited now to go on the bus again tomorrow. Rob took some pics this morning, but I will have to take some more tomorrow. Gotta scrap this for sure.

On the weekend was the online crop at Pick of the Patch and it was a lot of fun. Margo came over to scrap with me and it was great - haven't done that in long time.

Here is what I got done:

This is one was all about shapes, so i did a big fat triangle which I have never done before - like the way it turned out.

This one was for a challenge called "Laugh out Loud". We had to use funny/silly/goofy pics, so well, these are definitely goofy LOL.

This one was for a stamping challenge and I used my new Fontwerks "elsie" stamps -good stuff.

This one is a lift of Kim Moreno's layout - but well, let's just say hers is soooooooooo much better. I wasn't pleased with my paper on hand and it all went downhill from there LOL. I totally dont; have enough 'boy' papers!! I have girly stuff coming out of my ying yang, so I am planning on stocking up on some new paper. I haven't bought a whole bunch in quite some time, so this will have to change (pssst, don't tell hubby) LOL.

I just got my April kit from POTP yesterday and a bunch of other goodies that I ordered. Woohoo, go and check out these awesome chipboards from Everlasting Keepsakes -LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I am glad I got a ton LOL. Now I just have to find the time to start playing. But by the way this week looks like - probably not gonna happen.

The kids are signed up for baseball, it's the last weekend of soccer and Paula's Hip Hop Dance is starting on saturday too - it'll be a lot of driving around. Oh well, what can you do.

And, because I told Jessi that I will do this - here it is (a bit late I know, but better late than never, right?)

Two Names You Go 1. Mom 2 .Bine

Two Things You Are Wearing Right 1. Jeans 2. sweater

Two Things You Have in a Relationship 1.love 2.fun

Two of Your Favorite Things to do 1. scrapbook...duh!!!!2. watch tv

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment 1. going to Germany 2. more time

Two Pets You Had 1. a dog named Luca 2. a bunny named Jacob

Two People Who Will Fill This I have no clue

Two Things You Did Last Night 1. went out for dinner 2. folded laundry and cleaned the house

Two Things You Ate Today 1. a chocolate chip muffin 2. spaghetti and chicken cooked by hubby - very yummy

Two People You Last Talked To 1. Margo 2. Margo LOL - seriously, the last 3 or 4 calls have been with Margo LOL

Two Favorite Places 1. home 2. the mall LOL - sorry couldn't think of anything else right now

Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow 1. going to work 2. going to Paula's first ball practice

Two Longest Car Rides 1. Vancouver Island to Edmonton 2. Germany to Greece in a bus (took about 28 hours)

Two Favorite Holidays 1. Savary Island . 2.a tradtional holiday...christmas!!

Two Guilty Pleasures 1. Iced Cap 2. chocolate chip cookies

Two Things that Make Me Laugh 1. my hubby 2. my boss (he is the funniest ever LOL)

Two Things I Last Got in the Mail 1. my big fat pizza box from Pick of the Patch 2. bank statement

Okay, if you read this, take it and put it on your blog and leave a comment so I can come and check it out, okay?

Wow, it's 10pm already and I haven't scrapped a thing. Darnit. But I know 6.30am is coming fast, so I better head to bed. Lunches for tomorrow are made, kitchen is clean, laundry is done and the floors are as clean as they are gonna get LOL. So, it's all good.

Nighty night all :)

And the winner is..........

MARGO!! LOL.
Because Margo was the only one participating in my little Freestyle contest, she will get some gorgeous ribbon and some other goodies from me :) Thanks for playing Margo - you rock GF and I am super proud of you doing this totally 'rulerless' layout - I love it.

Parent Teacher Interview, Report Cards and stuff

We had our Parent Teacher interview yesterday and I love this kind of stuff. We get to go and get the inside scoop on how and what the kids are doing all day. Because when I ask them what they did at school I get an "I dunno" LOL. Well, Paula does tell but her stories are more like what happened during recess and who was mean and that kinda stuff.
So, we went to Paula's class first, and because they are now doing "Student led conferences" she got to tell and show us some of the things they are doing; eagle and salmon studies, math, reading, computers,.... lots of fun stuff.

My favorite thing was a little sheet of paper that read:
I like kittens
I like Tim Hortons
I LOVE my littel brother.

Awwwwwwwwww - it warmed my heart and I cannot stop thinking about it - so wonderful.
It's the little things for sure.
Then Ms T. came and talked to us and told us that Paula is doing a wonderful job at school, she is paying attention, she is considerate and helpful. Things that every parent loves to hear.
Paulas report card is one to be proud of, she got mostly exceeds with a few fully meets. It just comes very easy to her and I hope she'll keep up the good work.

Then we went on to Liams class and I just love his teacher Mrs. Robison. She is a young woman, and she does wonders. I love the way she interacts with the kids and the way Liam improved overall ever since she is his Grade 1 teacher. He came a long way in his reading, he is great at math and apparently he is the only one who gets her jokes LOL. No wonder as we are a 'joke' kinda family and we do lots of it here at home as well. Just cracked me up when she said it.
Anyhow, he was kinda emberassed showing us all his work, but I was majorly impressed. He does stuff at school that I had no idea he is even capable of!!! Unbelievable. At home he does do his spelling words and he reads the occasional book, but that's it. He is not big into colouring and stuff and seeing his artwork and all - it blew me away.

My favorite thing from him was a story he wrote all by himself. The task was to write a story with a problem and solve it.
His story was that of a soccerball that was all alone and very sad. He sat in a big basket and nobody would ever take him out and play with him. He would call out to the children and tell them to take him out, but nobody ever did. ANd then, one day came this boy (I am guessing that boy is called Liam LOL) and he took the ball out and started playing with that soccerball. More and more kids would come, play too and have a lot of fun. The soocer ball was now very happy -[and I quote] problem solved!!

How friggin cute is that??? I almost cried and couldn't believe that my little boy can write a story like this!!
His teacher said that she truly enjoys Liam, he is smart, listens very nicely, has a great sense of humour and if somebody needs help or a little support, Liam is there to lend a helping hand.
How lucky are we??? His report card was also very good, he improved in so many ways and he has fully meets everywhere this time. WTG my little man!

When I went to bed last night I thought to myself that many a times I am wondering if I am a good enough mother and if I am doing things the right way, but you know, after hearing all this positive feedback and seeing how our children behave when they are with other people, I think I can safely say that we are doing things right. We never get any complaints about misbehaving, they are both very considerate and both are trying their very best. They care about other people, they make sure that things are fair and they look out for their friends. We are truly blessed and I am so very thankful for my children.


Okay, what else? Oh, my parents are coming the beginning of May and I am sooo flipping excited. My mom and my dad, and my whole family can't wait. It's been 2 years since we have seen each other - blows me away that I am living my life this way LOL. If you would have ever told me that this would happen, I would have called you crazy. I miss them so much and sure wish we wouldn't be so far away from each other. BUT, that;s just how it is and there is nothing we can do about it, so we do cherish the times we get to spend together.
They are gonna be here with us for about 2 1/2 weeks and then they will be renting a car and driving to Calgary and fly home from there.
It's gonna be so good, and I know I am in dire need of some motherly loving.
But now I have to stop writing about this, I am crying already LOL.

Well, and yesterday I had another good day at work. Remember a while back I was thinking about working more hours? One of the reasons for that was that they were thinking about hiring a new full time person. And I knew if that is the case, my chances of 'getting somewhere' at work was getting slimmer. So, I stepped up, offered to work more and just did the best job I possibly could do. I showed them time and time again that I am doing quality work and that they can trust my work to be good and accurate. They still hired a new lady tho, but well, I left her way behind LOL. I am taking over some of the bosses work, I am fully informed on what's going on (me speaking german is awesome - I can hear and understand just everything that goes on LOL) I am training the new sales reps, I am training the new lady, and I am working on million dollar projects.
So, to make a long story short - I got another raise!!!! They told me that they can see the effort I am putting in, they see that I do quality work and that they appreciate all the things that I am doing. ANd because I am taking on more responsibility, they think it;s only fair that I should be making more money. Oh yeah baby, bring it on LOL. I am now getting $2 more an hour - holy crap I was speechless. I am soooooo excited - I could not think about anything else all day yesterday. I am making serious money now, I can pay for the mortgage, pay for groceries and more - it feels so good. I basically doubled my hourly wage in the last year! Not bad huh?


It was a great day for me yesterday!! Hope yours was just as good.

Day off

It's been a while since I had a day off (other than weekends of course), so it feels good and I am planning to scrap the morning away. Can't believe it's 10.30am already, time flies when you are having fun. I better get cracking, but that little Chameleon grabs my attention all the time, I could just sit there and watch it for hours. Liam decided that his name is Tony - girl or not LOL. I thought Tony is cute. So, Tony it is. We are taking him out a couple of times a day now and Liam is sooo good at it. And I think Tony likes Liam, as he never makes any trouble when Liam goes to take him out. I can't wait til Tony is bigger and easier to handle. This is gonna be so much fun. Best pet yet :)

Anyhow, enough rambleing, I am off to scrap.

A new family member

Well, now that all of Liams fish are dead, he got his long awaited new pet - a little chameleon!! He - well actually she is the cutest thing ever! OMG soooo cute. Liam is on cloud 9 at the moment - well actually, we all are! I will take pics later and show here. The little thing is about 6 weeks old and it looks like she likes her new home. She is crawling around the leaf things, licking water and now we'll have to go and feed her some live crickets dipped in some kind of calcium powder.
This is gonna be fun!!

Okay, here she is - we watched her eat some crickets - totally wicked LOL. Hope I will get a good shot of that one day.