I Love My Husband

One of the items on my birthday list was an over the range microwave. On Thursday Darrel did not give me an over the range microwave. As I opened the gift card for a local spa he scoffed, "I wouldn't get you a microwave for your birthday." (smart man)

But Friday, on his day off, while I was at work, and with two children in tow, he went out, bought a microwave and came home and installed it. (Which did involve installing a new electrical outlet, cutting a bigger whole, and a number of other tasks. I seriously love this man. I'm always impressed how he can get major projects like this done with kids as I don't even attempt things on this scale as I assume it will end in disaster.

The new microwave looks fantastic, we both think it really improves the look of our kitchen (partly because you no longer see unpainted wall above the stove!). I am just really grateful for all of Darrel's hard work, his talents and how he does things like this to surprise me and make me happy.


Mid installation.

















Eric and I modeling the finished project.

Hero Worship

For the Family Day long weekend Lara, Dean and Aidan came to visit us. Jack always loves spending time with his cousin and throughout the week he repeatedly said, "I want to go to Aidan's house!" We would tell him that Aidan was coming to our house on Saturday and he would say, "No, Now!"

Well, the visit lived up to Jack's expectations. They had a blast playing with trucks, hiding out together in the entertainment centre, dressing up as bandits with the dinner napkins and digging tunnels in the back yard. We are always really impressed with Aidan, he is really good at playing with younger children and having fun with them. He is a great cousin!

As soon as the crew left on Monday Jack started telling us that he wanted to go to Aidan's house. :)

Busy Little Bee

What a Change From Last Week!

It is -2 outside as I type this -a marked change from a few days ago when we had the second nasty cold streak of this winter. As you can see lots of indoor time spawns creativity.

South Paw

We've been watching and observing this phenomenon for a while now and we're pretty sure that we can pronounce Eric left handed. There are a few things he does with both hands (throwing food, stuffing food in his mouth, grabbing toys etc.) but anything that requires some finesse is accomplished with the left. It is so interesting to see what characteristics emerge from your kids. You have one child and then when you are expecting your second it's hard to imagine that little person being any different from the child you already have. And then of course they show up and they are totally different: Mom's DNA and Dad's DNA have combined in another one in a million combination to come up with this totally unique character.

Happiness is...

Fitting into a size 7 pair of pants!

Finding them marked down from $40.00 to $6.99!!

Eric

Eric turned 18 months old yesterday. Hard to believe that when Jack turned 18 months we had a new baby four days later. Wow, that was an insane period of my life, lol!

Eric is such a darling when he wants to be, and can be a bit of a terror when he wants to be. He has taken to screaming at the top of his lungs when things aren't working out for him (his toy gets taken away, he's taken down from whatever he's climbing on, he isn't held when he wants to be held, etc. etc.) Given proper attention and affection though, he is quite the sweetheart, planting kisses, telling me where all my body parts are (nose! ear! mouth! nose!), enthusiastically "reading" and pointing things out the front window (kitties and puppies). I love how he snuggles his head into the crrook of my neck when I hold him when he's sad or tired. I love how he runs to me to kiss his owies when he gets a little bump or bruise. He is quite adept at making my heart melt.

Jack Turns Three

Jack turned three on Friday. It is hard to believe that he is three, it seems like not so long ago that we brought him home from the hospital, but on the other hand it seems like this little person has been with us forever, what did we do without him? I love a lot of Jack's qualities. His enthusiasm and energy is at the top of this list. He is often running and skipping around the house, off to his next adventure. I like that he knows what he wants, he is determined. I also love how cuddly he is. He often snuggles up with us and willingly gives hugs and kisses. He is a very sweet natured boy who blesses our home and makes our days brighter.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards and gifts. We are still meaning to call and say personal thank yous, we just haven't got it quite together yet!

Eric's Obsession

Trying New Things

I have been playing and experimenting with Photoshop the last week or so. Having the real software (as opposed to Gimp, the freeware program I was using) has been AMAZING! I'm grateful for the people who provide Gimp, at such a nice affordable price ($0) but Photoshop is just so darn functional, handy, documented, powerful, versatile, you name it. I am in love. My favourite things so far, and these are really simple things: 1. being able to justify text!! I could never get it to work in my version of gimp, it was like some crazy bug that was making me insane. 2. Using Quick mask to mask a selection. That's how I made the part of the photo below that is inside the frame in colour and the rest black and white. It's really two layers or photographs and I just cut the picture one that's on top. Being able to go online and find tutorials or answers to questions is so nice! Because there is this huge community of photoshop users they are so many resources to help you out. I love that so many people ask stupid obvious questions that other people take the time to answer, that's how I figure out how to do things that I should be able to figure out but can't. Bless them. Anyway, it's a wonderful thing, and I guess in this case, you get what you pay for.