Day 90 {3 months}

I made it 3 months!!!

Well I did miss a couple days but only a few.....

I would like to give a BIG thanks to Jen for encouraging me start this project and giving me very helpful advice.

And thank you to all of you who actually read this nonsense of mine!

My picture for today is of Ty who got his haircut last night.  It was getting VERY long and had to be cut before we leave this weekend to go to Ottawa.  Be prepared for quite a few pics this weekend since I have never been to Ottawa before and get the privilege of taking pictures for a friend who is getting married :)

Thanks for looking!

Dya 89 {noise}

I was standing outside today in the beautiful sunshine deciding what I should take a picture of for the day.  The next thing I know I hear a weird noise in the bush.....the first thought that occurs to me is that it is probably some animal or snake rustling through the brush, after all I live in the bush.  I go to take a closer look since the noise keeps going and not from a specific spot either.  In all my years I don't' know why I never noticed that in early spring the bark of some trees comes off.....its like paper bits flying around in the wind.  It was windy yesterday and the wind was whipping the bark off the trees beside the house to make room for the new bark to grow.  I guess I always new this happened but had never seen it before......what a NOISE it makes!   Well at least I know what it is now so I don't' think there is a big snake rustling under the brush like I did today!

Day 88 { Easter pics}

Today I decided to try and get some pictures of Ty for Easter....I didn't do a birthday shoot with him so figured Easter was close enough.  Alfie the bunny was behaving perfectly after being bribed with a carrot.  Ty on the other hand wanted nothing to do with sitting nicely for me.  I guess it didn't help that I was being lazy and didn't feel like moving all my furniture so I only had about 2 feet of room to work with.  Oh well,  not great shots but the memories are there so that's all that matters :)

And just a quick note that for some reason i can not post a comment to my blog or anybody elses for some reason......not sure why but I  can't figure it out.   So Jen the answer to your question in a previous blog,  yes Alfie is our bunny.  The kids got him a few years ago and he lives in front porch because he refuses to be in a cage :)

Thanks for looking!

Day 87 {Poor puppy}

Poor Hooch was not expecting the winter storm that came in.  He had been outside running and enjoying the spring air and then we got 10 cm of snow.   What happens when my suck of a dog gets cold?   He lays right in front of the register vent and has a nap.

Day 86 {heat?}

I enjoy cooking out on the grill when its not too cold

I like it so much that 2 years ago we went and bought a new grill

It worked that first year

Last year we spent more time replacing parts on the thing than we did cooking on it

This year I give up, the darn thing will not heat up to a decent temperature at ALL

Its pretty sad when it takes an hour to grill hamburgers.....

I think its time for a new one...this time I will have someone else besides Bill put it together though

Day 85 {report card day}

Remember when you were a kid and your teacher handed you that brown envelope to bring home to your parents?  I HATED report card day.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that my C-B average didn't exactly impress my parents.  My kids have not got to that point yet....I mean hating report card day that is.  They don't worry about grades at this point, although Xander's C from Art class last semester did go up to a B-. 

All they think is that there is a present in their back packs for me......Dylan actually thought it was one of his paintings that his teacher put in an envelope for me!   Both boys did great but the only problem with Xander getting a bit older is that he wanted to know what it said.   So being the good parent I am I went through it with him explaining that some of the marks were REALLY good and others he needed to work on a bit and read him the comments that his teacher put down.

I never really thought about the consequences of this until Dylan asked me to explain his as well ( only because I did it for Xander) So I sat down with Dylan and explained his report card and read him the comments explaining what his teacher was saying.   Little did I realize that Xander was listening to that conversation.  Usually I wouldn't think anything of this but I had just finished explaining to Xander he needed to work on his numbers a bit because he is having problems in that area.  Then he listened when I explained to Dylan that the teacher thought he was doing really well at counting and on both reports the teachers actually put down the number they are getting to.    Dylan is counting a lot higher than Xander and that started a bit of a tif between the 2 boys.  I simply explained to Xander that although Dylan's report card says he can count higher he is only counting those numbers not printing them unlike him,  that worked :)   Remind me in June NOT to read the report card to them???

Day 84 {test run}

Today I attempted to do a test run for Easter pics of the kids I wanted to take.  My big idea was to use a basket and Alfie.  Not too sure if this will work with the kids around because let me tell you......that bunny of mine does not really like to sit in a tiny Easter basket for a very long time! 

He was much more interested in jumping out of the basket, off the couch and running around the living room to play than we was in getting his picture taken.  I think bribery with cookies and bananas may be the way to go next time.   Or maybe it was the fact that I trimmed his nails before we started and he just didn't want me doing it again!

Day 83 { I scream you scream we ALL wanted ice cream!}

Spring was here......last night we cooked burgers for dinner out on the grill.  It was still nice and bright out after supper so we went for a drive into town to Mc D's for some ice cream.  Xander wolfed his down in about 5 minutes time and thoroughly enjoyed it, though we will see later how he did with it considering he isn't supposed to eat ice cream.  But really how do you tell a 6 year old he can't have an ice cream cone? 

( please excuse the very bad picture, had to use my on camera flash )

And then this morning we woke up to snow all over the ground :(  Well I guess it is only March and it was bound to happen.

Day 82 {one tired kid}

Once again more proof that Dylan will fall asleep just about anywhere.

He came home from school and passed out with Xander and Ty running around him being as loud as possible.

Not sure HOW he sleeps through it but he always finds a way :)

Day 81 {new shoes}

Today I went shopping to get some clothes for a few weddings I have coming up.  I also needed some new shoes since the only  pair of dress shoes I own are heels and didn't feel like sinking into the mud.  I came to the conclusion that the new style of shoes is not meant for for size 10 wide feet!  The shoes all barely cover my toes and don't fit well.    After some searching I did find a cute pair  that actually fit my feet!

And hopefully they won't kill my feet! 

Day 80 { It's growing!}

It only took a week but all my herbs have started to sprout!

Xander came and got me to tell me all about it since I have the container growing in his room. 

Hopefully I can get some basil leaves in a a few months!

Day 79 {Only in the north}

Only living here would I come across a sign like this

Not sure what the purpose of this is.......there are three other full serve gas stations within  a 3 minutes drive that pump your gas ALL day ANY day

And I should add for the same price if not cheaper.

But hey if you are at the store on a Tuesday between 9 am and Noon somebody may or may not come out to fill your tank for you.

Thanks for looking :)

Day 78 {Fun at Nana's}

Today we went over to Bill's parents house.  Ty has a favorite thing to play with there, a bucket filled with plastic clothes pins.  He likes to take them in and out of the bucket and give them to Nana who then puts them all over him.   This time he decided to leave them on and run around the house covered in clothes pins!

He also likes to pretend to talk on Nana's "Hi"

And since Molly was being such a good model......

Thanks for looking :)

day 77 {kite}

Last spring Dylan got a kite.  The first time he flew it he decided to share with his brother and Xander got it stuck in  tree.  It has been stuck in the year ever since.  I took my big zoom out to play today and sat in the yard trying to get a picture of the birds that were singing all over the place.......the little bums kept flying away and I didn't get a single picture :(  So I took a picture of Dylan's transformer kite way up in the tree.  I wonder how long it will be stuck there?

Day 76 {Leprechaun}

It's St. Patrick's day and while I am not Irish, Bill has some Irish in him. Dylan must take after him.....he drew a perfect leprechaun picture that I just had to take a picture to show off!  Okay well maybe not perfect but hey I'm a proud mom :)

Thanks for looking :)

Day 75 {Bike weather}

It has been great weather here all week.  At one point it went up to 10 degrees!  The snow is melting and the driveway is clear of snow. (except the giant snow pile where the plow piles it)   Xander took this a good reason to dig out his bike.....unfortunately for him his bike is still buried in the trailer which is still buried in snow :( He did find his old bike in the shed which has bald tires and is too small for him, but he is willing to take what he can get at this point.  

He has spent most of his week off school so far playing outside and most of the time playing in puddles and getting soaked.   Today I guess he got cold and came in to get his winter hat to wear under his bike helmet.  I personally would have chosen a different touque for him but I guess his face was cold as well!

Day 74 {Last class}

   Tonight was my last photography class.  It has been an interesting ten weeks, I didn't learn as much as I would have liked but was forced to take pictures of things I would not normally do which was fun.  For the last week of class I had to submit a picture for anonymous critique...this was difficult since everybody has seen all my kids and I don't take many pictures of anything else.

    I did a little search of older pictures I have taken and found this one I took at the Toronto Zoo in the summer.

    I can't wait to go back there this summer and take some more pictures!  Well I guess I go for the kids as well......

    I had a few assignments to do this week as well, but I lost my homework ( I know bad excuse but true!) so I winged it with what I could remember.  One of them was to take a picture filling the frame with a persons face.   I actually do this a lot but I took some new ones anyway.

Thanks for looking :)

Day 73 {planted my seeds}

Today I planted all my little jiffy pots.......well not all of them.  I discovered after reading the back of the package that a few of the ones I had bought don't transplant well so I need to start them in the pot they will stay in.  I need to go buy some little pots.

I did however get my basil, dill, oregano and parsley planted!  My cilantro and rosemary will have to wait.

I had to get started on my homework for class as well and took this picture of some of Ty's birthday balloons. the assignment was to take a picture from an angle not expected.

Thanks for looking :)

Day 72 {My poor dog}

Chicken noodle soup is a favorite lunch around here.

The kids always eat every bite.

I guess Ty wasn't that hungry today.

As you can see Ty likes lots of crackers with his soup....

And the kicker is Hooch didn't notice what was on his back till a good hour later!

Day 71 {Apple Dumplings}

Tonight I made PW's Apple Dumplings  I thought I would give it a try because I love apple dumplings and this recipe looked so easy!  I would have never thought of making apple dumplings with crescent roll dough and Mountain Dew.......but hey it was worth a try.  

They were so simple to make but a little too sweet for my liking.  I think next time I will try a little less sugar and maybe Diet Mountain Dew and see if that helps a bit.  BUT if you are in need of a really quick easy dessert recipe this is a good one!  Even a 4 year old could make these. 

Day 70 {Out to lunch}

He falls asleep in the weirdest places

One minute he will be playing LOUDLY and running around

The next he is out to lunch on the living room floor :)

I didn't even realize he was asleep until I noticed it had suddenly got quiet.

Day 69 {another present for Ty}

Ty got a late birthday present in the mail today.  It was a HUGE box and he had a great time opening it, but the real fun began when he figured out what was inside!  It was a In the Night Garden (ITNG) soft and cosy world sent from his buddy Xander and mom Celia.  Ty went to the toy room dragged out every ITNG figurine and plush toy he could find so he could set everything up to play.  He then spent 2 hours walking all the characters across the motion activated bridge to make it play music!   The child has been spoiled with ITNG stuff for his birthday and he LOVES it all!  Thanks Celia!

Day 68 {basil}

Since I began my cooking experiments using my new favourite website I discovered I have been using a lot of fresh herbs.  It is not easy finding fresh herbs around here especially at this time of year (not that it makes much difference since they are never there in the summer either)    So I decided to grow my own,  I think the nice weather got to me.  I have no idea if this will work or not since we are moving in July and I won't be planting a garden this year.  My plan is to start the seeds and then transfer them to pots when they get bigger and keep them inside.  If anyone reading this has any thoughts on this I would love to hear because I have no clue if it will actually work.  I also have no idea what I bought or if its the right thing......but hey  I'm happy :)   My hope is to have some nice basil leaves at some point, but if the basil grows anything like my cucumber plants that never grow, I may be in trouble.

Day 67 {Is it spring yet?}

I am LOVING this weather we are having.  It's the beginning of March and usually it is way below freezing here and we have about 6 feet of snow at least with no more room in our driveway left to park because we have so much snow!   Not this year, it is above freezing the sun is shining and we only have about a foot of snow left in the yard ( not including the banks which are still quite high)   I had the windows open and the heat turned off and was feeling very springish today so when I was out at the grocery store I bought myself some nice spring flowers for the table :)  They really do help to get me in the spring mood.  I will be very upset when it freezes again and we get dumped on with snow....which Bill is sure will happen.  So until then I will take what I can get :)

Day 66 {He thinks I'm nuts}

I have come to the conclusion that my husband thinks I'm nuts.

He caught me kneeling beside the kitchen sink today camera in hand taking a picture of the faucet.

Why was I doing such a bizarre thing?

For my class........which I ended up missing half of and didn't take the pictures with me anyway.

So I wasted 5 minutes of my life and I am pretty sure all respect from my husband just to get to get a picture of water dripping from a tap.

And what did I get for my efforts?

NOTHING

The picture did not turn out the way I wanted to because my faucet will not just 'drip' water.

Its either full blown stream or nothing at all.

So here is what I have to show for 5 minutes worth of my time.....

And to make matters worse and have my husband think I am even more bizarre I needed to take a picture using manual focus.

Not something I ever want to try again....first of all there is a reason I buy lenses that do this for me.

I wear glasses for focusing issues.

If you bring something towards me quickly it takes my eyes a minute to focus on it or else I see at least three of everything.

When I am behind a camera I can not focus on anything......which is VERY apparent in my next picture.

I finished up with the water dripping ( actually I gave up) and went into the porch where Bill was sitting after having just woke up.

He was not impressed with me taking his picture, but he loves me so he lets me even though he is barely awake, half dressed, and hasn't had his coffee yet.

Not sure how much he will love me when he see's this picture on here though!

So here is my effort at focusing all by myself...like I said, nothing I ever want to do again. 

Thanks for looking...and if you see this Bill sorry :(

Day 65 {My baby is 2}

2 years ago today I went to the hospital for yet another NST test because the baby's heart rate kept dropping.  I was going in just to keep an eye on things and the doctor was planning to send me to Timmins the next day to be induced ( I was 36.5 weeks)  After an hour of sitting there with a starp attched to my belly to see if anything was going on the nurse informed me she needed to go find the doctor.  I was starting to panic a little at that point and then the doctor came in and told me to go to Timmins NOW and then I really started to worry.  He didnt' even want me to stop to get Xander at school and drop the boys off at Bills parents house.  So off I go to wake up bill who had just got off a night shift and away we went to Timmins.   Bill was exhausted and when we got to the hospital i found out that the doctor there wasn't going to see me until 4 O'Clock!  So then we had to sit there for 5 hours.......after rushing to get there.

So I was induced and by 10:20 that night out came Ty.  Bill had gone outside for a few minutes since the nurse assured him it was okay because I wasn't fully dilated......and less than 10 minutes later Ty was here and Bill missed it,  but so did the doctor!  LOL  he was a little smaller than my other boys....7 pounds 4 ounces,  but hey he was 3 weeks early!    After he was here we discovered the reason for the drop in the heart rate.  He had a big KNOT in his umbilical cord.  So much for the assurance in the Whats to Expect book about that never happening. 

Now 2 years later my baby is 2!    Here are a few pictures of him from the past 2 years.

He had a great birthday and loved all his presents!  He opened all of them with his teeth.....

It was a good day and he had lots of fun.  He blew out his candles this year all by himself and ate his cupcake.  Then in true Tyler fashion, he fell asleep in his high chair!

Day 64 {early present}

Tonight I let Ty open one of his birthday presents early.  This was a special gift sent to him by his buddy Dallen all the way from Vancouver.  Ty LOVES In the Night Garden and I could not find a Macka Packa for him anywhere.  Walmart and Zellers has some before Christmas but I haven't seen one since.  Lucky for Ty Dallen's mom found one and sent it to him for his birthday :)  Thanks Chelsea!

Day 63 {IT's HERE!}

"Is it here yet?"  That is all I have been hearing from Xander for almost 2 weeks now.  He has been patiently waiting for his new guitar book to come in the mail.  After searching online and the guitar store here in town I finally found him a book that would teach him how to play his guitar and learn to read music.  

Bill has been teaching him the odd chord here and there since Christmas but I really wanted him to learn how to read music as well.  I learned at his age and it is one of those things that he will take through life with him.  I may not know how to play a guitar ( thank goodness Bill does) but since I can read music I can teach him that.

The book is very easy to follow and came with 2 CD's that are enhanced so he can listen on the computer and slow it down and speed it up as he needs to. ( also comes with an easy tuner since Bill always 'misplaces' his)

The book arrived the other day and I sat down with Xander today and we started out with the first lesson.  In 20 minutes he could tell me what a bar measure, time signature, double bar line, and treble clef were.  He picked it up REALLY fast.   Then it was time to learn some chords.  He can play a G and a C.  he started out with three blind mice....which he decided to sing instead of count out but he kept mispronouncing it and was singing"three blind rice" LOL     A few more lessons and hopefully he will be playing something new!

Day 62 {Sleeping baby}

Tyler will be 2 years old in a few days.  Where has the time gone?  I still think of him as a little baby.  He is trying to talk up a storm now, trying to dress himself, and getting in to all sorts of trouble all the time.  I guess little babies don't do that......but he's still my baby.   So here is a picture of my 'baby' asleep on the couch today.  He looked so peaceful......till he woke up!

Thanks for looking :)

Day 61 {my big fat picture of nothing}

Yes  I did it again........missed a picture.  I will not let this stop me.  Technically this isn't really a 365 project anymore, more like a 360 project since I keep missing days.    I would be harder on myself but since I doubt any of you reading this actually care whether or not I take a picture everyday and just read this because you are my family or friends and want to see updates on my children I will forgive myself.

Day 60 {oh the laundry!}

If you know me at all you know how much I HATE folding laundry

I am posting this a week late but when this picture was taken there was only this bucket on the washer and a big one upstairs that needed folded.

Now there is quite a few more sitting there and its still not folded.

I think part of the problem is that my husband hates folding laundry and putting it away as much as i do so it sits there until it gets to the point where there is no more room to put laundry baskets and we have to break down and put it away. 

I think the weather needs to get better so I can have some new motivation to take some pictures.....I'm sure you all just love seeing pictures of my laundry!