Potty in the park and...my reveal

First I want to distract you from my exciting post with a little jaunt.....off to my new shop!

Yes finally!

My etsy shop is open!

I do have a ton to go into it but it happens slowly. As I get a moment I will add things, but for now go feast your eyes. Here it is!!!

A funny story now...

Kaitlyn just ran up and climbed up on my knee quick as a weasel screeching, "mommy pick me up, there is a ghost in my room, a little purple one!"

I say, "Oh? Can I go see it?"

She says, "No it's my ghost!"

Ok, that's it, not so funny the second time, oh well.

Now, back to what I am REALLY excited about......

I don't know if it official yet but Kaitlyn is potty training---herself!

She is now on her third day of complete dryness. The odd thing is that she did it herself. Hauled out her little potty and has gone on it every time. 

I didn't need to prod or push. She just did it without a word of encouragement. I am still in shock and worry she might regress. No night or nap pee's even, I don't know if this is normal and I don't care, I am HAPPY!

Now I am sure the little dollar store gifts that I rewarded her with once I caught on to what she was up have helped to keep her dry...why did I offer anything? I guess I am just so proud!

All by herself...did I tell ya?!

We hadn't left the house the last few days just because I didn't want to put her in pull ups but today we ventured out. It was a bit of a dilemma for me, do I put on a diaper or take the chance? 

Light bulb moment.

Hello, take the potty! So we did. And she used it, a few times, and so did her little friend!

Gosh, still proud!

So if all goes well and she keeps dry she gets a huge treat. Auntie TT offered to take her to Burger King. Not for the burgers, she couldn't care less, no she goes for the play structure and it has been talked about for a few days now...oh, the anticipation!!

So, she now realizes that sippy cups=pee.  And it is fun to her, what a card!

The rest of the potty in the park pictures are here.

With that I am outta here, gotta go dump another little potty bowl in the big potty, what fun!

p.s. I added my shop to my links above and also added a link on my sidebar so you can check in on it whenever you feel like it.

Cheers!! (back to that little potty, I forgot to mention that she goes like 14 times a day, ya, little monkey!)

Fresh spring air

This weekend was one of those weekends that was a breath of fresh air. Literally. 

We went out to the lake for the day and it was refreshing! It was warm, no wind and the birds were singing. Time didn't matter and we ate when the ache on our bellies told us it was time.

The kids had friends up and kept busy plotting and scheming up new things to do. This reminds me....I was asked in comment recently about my photos and how I get the colors the way I do.

Sometimes I photo shop them  but usually I just use a setting on my camera that lets me select a color and then everything else is  black and white. I like the way the photos turn out with only one color, it sets a different mood. Hope this answers the question. ;-)
All the kids were kept busy for a few hours with spring clean up chores and then the fun began.
We explored the beetles in the water and collected shiny stones.


Ethan sat for an hour and shoveled one pile of sand back and forth over and over.
Phil found melting ice crystals.

And Emily threw stones.
Kaitlyn swung and swung and couldn't get high enough. Even when she would get to the point where you kinda bump at the top cause you are so high she would scream "higher, higheeeeer!"
I took a little walk just to breath the fresh air and it was intoxicating. I felt so free. There was no traffic noise, no city smells. Just the far off giggling of children, birds chirping and the wind rustling the grass. This is life, I wish I could bottle that day!
While on my walk I came across the boys out on their hunt. The way the sun was to their backs I just couldn't get enough of the image.
Later on Emily, mom, Kaitlyn and Ethan joined me to find spring blossoms.

Kaitlyn picked this "falowe" for me. 
It was such an amazing day and I took a ton of photos. There were so many I could hardly choose just these few to share.  We had a wiener roast and Dave hacked down an old rotten tree....those and the rest of the photo's are here.

Today the weather has been amazing again and we are just now inside after spending hours outdoors piddling in the yard.

I have a ton to blog about but life hasn't allowed it....I have a reveal and still have a giveaway up my sleeve. I hope in the next couple of days they can be pulled off. I am so excited about them!

However with the warmth and the fresh air I cannot make any promises. Life has a way of happening and changing any plan I try to make. Hope you are enjoying good weather and fresh air wherever you are, it is spring time, yipeeee!

geese a diner and tea

Top of the morning to ya!
Kaitlyn and Ethan  sure love Daddy time!  When he walks through the door it is like a party...screeching with glee they run to his arms....I love this stage!
After a lazy pancake breakfast with daddy we pulled out the jogger and headed to the park with Kami and Kamden. We ended up finding a grassy space shared by geese and ran around and raced and flew like birds...the rest of the photos are here.


Eventually we had to head home. We hadn't gotten far into the park but just enjoyed hanging out and watching the kids go at their own pace. 
Auntie TT called when we got home so we headed out to lunch with her. We ended up at this little truck stop diner on the edge of the industrial and inner city residential area.

This was not a place I would normally go, I probably wouldn't even think it was open. One of those places I would just drive by and not even notice. However when we walked in it had a certain welcoming feel. The waitress had been there for 33 years and she hung around the table telling us life stories. The service was real and not rushed...a different pace of life was evident.

They had no booster seats for the kids so she brought out big roasting pots and turned them upside down on the chairs. You have got to see this(click)! The food was good, fries crispy and coffee fresh. 

Thank you TT for taking us out of our comfort zone...it was actually more comfortable and relaxed and with the kids, it was perfect!

When we got home we put the kettle on the brew and got in tea mode. Kaitlyn insisted that we would have a hat party and when my mom, Phuf and Em arrived we cracked out the collection...check out the hat party here.

Today we are chilling.  After a busy day it is nice to just take a day and relax. Go with the flow and do home things.

It is fun to get out and have adventures, get out of comfort zones, meet really neat people and have fun family times but sometimes a day at home is just as fulfilling. 

Off to play cars and eat left over fries, tootles!

Lollipop cupcakes and pig tails

First I want to say thank you to everyone who left comments on the last post. I don't feel alone and this helps me greatly. You gals rock! Also what Catherine said really set my mind at ease. She left a quote that said "If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans."

I like that, though I still really struggle with it at the same time. I always have such issues with choosing what to do and when. I never feel truly led until I look back and see how God has worked things out. The process to get there, well, I don't even want to get into it. I am terrible with decisions! 

I am totally a fly by my seat kinda girl.
Today was a home day. We decided to give the little lollipop cup cakes a shot that Beachmama mentioned in this post. I went online and watched the video of them being made and then did my own version with cake mix and the only icing on hand...a sweet confetti icing. They are yummy and moist but sweet....good with an unsweetened coffee.
Click here and here for pic's of the whole process. This took most of the day and a whole lot of mess but the kids love them.
After dinner we headed out for a walk around our neighborhood and spent the majority of our time at one house. Walking the "balance beam" and playing throw the pine cone...for those pics click here...again. I screwed up my upload somehow so everything is just in the photostream and not in the proper sets, oops.

Monday we had the longest play date ever. It was fun and full, and let me tell you Little Mommy's babe....he is sooooo cute, check out the pics of the playdate here and for the really cute ones here.


And that rounds out the last few days.....oh, and here are Kaitlyn's "Mity(Mickey) Mouse pig tails."

Sweetness.

Anyway...I am feeling better now. I am not fully grounded but I am sure over time I will find my niche. The comments really helped me. Just knowing how others feel is comforting. I think I am not really a list person, and now I am not worried about it. I am a dreamer, big time and maybe this isn't great but I don't get depressed about it....dreams are just that, dreams.  

I still wish I could see all our family all the time and this is the one thing that keeps me from truly wanting to split to someplace warm. I love family....and lollipop cup cakes:) 

List-less

I have had a lot brewing in my mind...I know I am somewhat of a basket case with my gazillion projects on the go but there is a lot going on in my head besides that.

You are just lucky you only have to read this. Well, you don't even have to do that. But if you had to listen to me speak it would go something like this.

"Hey you know that guy, whatcha-mcall, dude, face, hair, man, you know...that guy."

Ya, I am that bad.

Typing is good. I can stop and think and not sound so dumb.  It all comes back to my thinking in pictures not words.

Anyway...

I don't mean to bore you so if you like you can go ahead and skip the reading and get on with the photos. This post is going to be really rambly. Another work it out of my head as I type post. Sorry. This one is more for me. I am trying to sort my thoughts out and over the last two days have yet to make any progress.

Do you have a life list?

I have noticed that a lot of people have a post dedicated to one or even a few side blogs set aside for that purpose. This seems to be a big thing right now, I even heard it referred to as a movement...even Oprah did a show on this....apparently. I never saw it, but you know...word on the street....or in the salon.

This idea has not really tickled my fancy and I don't know why. Maybe I am to distracted and don't think I have the time to sit and come up with a list.

Now I am thinking again...let's deal with the pic's and then I will get into it.

The treat of the day. Yesterday Kaitlyn once again was bribed to pee in the potty. This has only happened one other time in the last two weeks and it was a pretty good bribe that time too.

She seems to know when she needs to go and it happens in nearly the same moment. Yesterday she actually made it from the living room to her potty down the hall for this little Laura Secord duck. She was so proud.
After breakfast we headed out to the park with a packed lunch and bread for the geese. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not but have enjoyed feeding them since I was a kid.

Kaitlyn chased them down and was so thrilled  to see her first beloved " deese" of the year.

They seemed shy at first but once we threw them a few crumbs they came and checked us out.

Ethan was not interested in sharing his lunch and just ran around avoiding them.

Can you spot the goose above?

Before we left Kaitlyn dug in the stroller for 'Suzy baby' and ran over to the geese. "Look Suzy, deese. Mommy she likes deese."
On the way home it started to snow hail. I don't know what else to call it. It wasn't ice but hard packed little snow balls. They stung a little and sent the kids running for the "forest." (three spruce trees)

The afternoon was spent piddling in the yard and street and alley. It was a damp cool day but not bone chilling. I am just glad the melt is on!
I was trying a few settings on my camera and after one shot with the self timer Kaitlyn decided to take one too.

Nice boots.

Crafts for the day didn't happen till the evening. Here is Em's creation. Kaitlyn's is a beautiful display of beads strewn over the table and floor.
Oh....were you waiting for this. Here is the new do. I forgot to take a photo last night after the salon so this is what it looked like when I woke up. It isn't even brushed.

I went in asking for a few streaks to break it up and with the intentions of growing it out. My stylist told me that would be  normal and boring and I am not a normal person.

Oh?

OK.

I asked what made me different. He said my creative streak. He said that if I had normal hair I wouldn't like it and it just wasn't me. He said he had a pretty good grasp on who I am and went to town.

I like it.

Guess he knows me better than I do. 
This brings me back to my life list issue.......ok, more on that in a bit.
Something I have been busy with lately is dabbling with jewelry making. I used to love doing gold work but now with no wax and furnace and gold access I had to come up with a new idea.

Clay. I have a few thins on the go for my future etsy shop...it is getting close to opening day...soon, very soon it will happen.
My mom is rather tea obsessed and claimed these two right away. She has her eye on another but I might make her wait till the shop is open.

Emily claimed a little bird. She love birdies. Blue ones.

Now that wraps up the photos...back to the list. 

 I do not have a life list, not 100 or 1001 things written to check off as I go along. It is not that I don't have goals. I have mini lists, reminders of who I need to write cards to, paint pictures for and of course the groceries.  I have dreams of living exotic places and traveling the world. I dream of living on an acreage and having a huge garden and a laundry line. Does this deserve a list?

It is not realistic. If I had that acreage I would probably want the city...the isolation in the winter would drive me batty I am sure.

I guess it all comes down to not knowing what I really want. Dave finds this extremely frustrating. I hate winter and being cold yet when we discuss moving somewhere warm I get anxious and worry about missing family. I get frustrated with our house and so does Dave so we go looking at other homes and then I get all freaked out and just want to go home and not think about it.

 Am I happy here?

Is it more spirituality I am lacking?

I am never settled. I feel like I have a good relationship with God but can never settle into a church. The politics drive me crazy, there are so many issues every where we have gone and no matter where we end up it would be a compromise. So what do you choose to compromise on?

Do I just feel lost in mommyhood?

Like the world is passing my by?

 I  know that the job that I have raising these little ones is the most important right now, will this feeling pass when the are older and I can do more of my own thing again?

This is what my dream was. To be a stay at home mommy, dedicating myself to my family.

Why do I feel so listless then?

I wonder if I was living in my ideal dream if I would  be any happier. In this dream we would live in the hills looking over the ocean off the coast of southern France. I would have a huge open art studio on the second floor of our chalet and it would have huge arched stone window openings to let in the salty air. I would retreat there in the warm afternoons and as the sunlight filters through  the lattice trim and sheer drapes making patterns on the floor I would paint. The breeze blowing through and birds singing, children happily painting my warm tile floor. I feel freedom in this dream. This is one of my happy places.

All our family would be there.  All the Grandparents and Greats and cousins would be in the community. I miss our family in Calgary and Edmonton desperately. I think of them every day and wish we were just around the corner from them all. 

I think about how short life is and how I want to make the most of it. How do I do this really?

  Do we move around the world for a few months or a year just for the experience?

I just don't know. I have so many questions and feel so lost in it all. Would a list help when I am so distracted and spontaneous. 

I just want to feel settled and I don't. I try to live in the moment and maybe this is not helping either. Anyway...I don't feel like this has taken me any further with figuring out what I want.

I guess what it comes down to is this. If I had a list would I still live spontaneously or would I pursue what I wrote and miss out on a lot of random fun?

Or would it help me figure out what I really want out of life?

The problem is that I am forever changing and growing (or so I'd like to think) and I think my list would have to be scraped and rewritten weekly.

So, do you have a list?

Has it helped you in any way?

Are you a settled person and thrive in knowing what you want out of life and pursuing it and checking it off tick by tick?

I really want to know...am I the only one swimming in list-less limbo?