All posts in Bits Of My Personality

Mother’s Day Weekend Trip (Day 2 – Part 1)

by admin on May 14, 2010 in Adventure and Me, Bits Of My Personality, Life Keeps Changing, My Romance with No comments

We got up on our own time and it was lovely. Had breakfast in our room and once we looked amazing we headed to the mall with plans to meet our gal pal Oriana (a friend who had just recently moved out to Alberta).

(We entered from the hotel side and saw the ship almost right away so I insisted on a pic in front because I was impressed!)

Mirelle got used to my camera flashing pretty soon. She had said she wanted it all captured and should no better then to encourage me! Most of this post will be pictures of the touristy stuff in the mall I found interesting.
We hit the old photo booth right away. Stopped to look at the pool but we where far to excited about dressing up in Victorian dresses to want to stop and swim. We also didn’t want anything to carve to much time out of our exploration of the mall time (a.k.a. shopping at as many stores as we could). Oh we had a ball getting all dressed up for the pictures. It is totally oue style! As I stood waiting for Mirelle to be posed by the photographer I swished my skirt and could imagine wearing dresses like that. When the photographers assistant put the big hat on my head I fell in love and would have kept it! I love a good hat!

After a bit of quick shopping we headed up stair to meet up with Ori. It was lovely to see her and after hugs we where quickly back in to shopping mode. I took this picture from upstairs and must tell you I zoomed in. I was not impressed by all the see through railing and was sure to stay back and not look down… I don’t know why people like to feel sick…

(I was impressed by these trees and all the fountains! I am a very easy to please tourist!)

(With Oriana along we enjoyed getting more together pictures! She was very agreeable to us putting her to work, THANKS ORI!)

I don’t think we stopped talking all weekend. From the time we got in the car we kept chatting without need to pause until we where again ten minutes away from home! Ori didn’t seem to mind either! She has mostly horses for neighbors so I think she was just as happy as us to have girl time (or TALKATIVE time). It was funny how much the conversation was about our men; how we love them, met them and plans we have with them for the future… ah Garnet and Garrison where never very far from our hearts and minds:)

TTFN

Mother’s Day Weekend Trip (Day 1)

by admin on May 14, 2010 in Adventure and Me, Bits Of My Personality, Life Keeps Changing with 2 Comments
EDMONTON WITH MIRELLE!

The best thing about traveling with a fellow mom was we both wanted to relax and not over do anything. The trip was a getaway more then a shopaholic vacation (that said we REALLY shopped). The most fab thing about getting away with a fellow mom was we took nothing for granted, where thankful for everything and every moment and we where thrilled about the little things!

Mirelle and I where very excited to get going. We left as soon as possible on Friday morning and made it to Edmonton by 5. We had to check out our hotel first and it proved to be spacious and really comfortable. The beds looked very inviting! This looked like it was going to be a very relaxing weekend (and it was!).Being in town so early we decided to leave Saturday free for the BIG MALL and hit Ikea on Friday for supper and shopping.

(I enjoyed catching Mirelle texting to her man all weekend. I did the same but kept bugging her by taking pictures!)

I was very impressed with the meals at Ikea. My meal, stuffed salmon with apple spice cake for dessert, was really good especially considering the affordable price! Had to take a picture. We both agreed by the end of the weekend that the food was one of the best parts of our trip. We made sure to stop at a nice place for all our meals and so had lots of pretty dishes to take pictures of.

(Got you texting again Mirelle!)

It is amazing we both weren’t busting a gut for this picture! We felt kinda silly using the timer to take this shot in one of the Ikea living room displays but we really wanted a together picture. Yes I noticed the people stopping when they heard the ‘beep beep’ count down and wondering what the heck? Yes yes we are just two silly tourists… AND LOVING IT!
When you think every bed at Ikea is FABULOUS and you want to take them all home you know you are too tired and ready for bed. I was just gonna test the bed out but then it felt so good I almost didn’t get back up!

We bought a few things but managed to control ourselves. I know Mirelle is very well behaved when it comes to shopping and I though if I could just stay close to what she spends I would be okay… little did I know she was gonna let loose in the mall…
Did I mention the beds looked very inviting? Well they where another absolute favorite little thing about our weekend. We talked a lot about how lovely they where and how fab it was to spreed out in our own big bed, loaded up with pillows!

We hit a grocery store on the way back to our hotel to get some healthy treats (Mirelle’s brilliant idea) and then got to bed pretty darn early for a trip.

I had brought some of my favorite tea and was thrilled to see I could use the coffee machine to steep it, that way I could still have my evening ritual of a cup before bed! We tried to snack and chat but both of us succumbed to sleep pretty fast.

And with that DAY 1 was over.

TTFN

Be Brave!

by admin on May 4, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, Life Keeps Changing, Mama Heart Mushings with 3 Comments

Stand tall! Be brave!

My little woman knows what she is capable off and doesn’t allow Mommy to help if she doesn’t need it. I respect that about her!

She inspires me!

This spring I am going on two trips, YES TWO! With out the kids and even without my man! The first is only days away! A mothers day weekend away with my sister! We have many lovely plans, all revolving around relaxing! Then at the end of the month I have a friends wedding to go to and will travel by train.

I have had plenty of ‘looking forward too’ kinda years where you just imagine while you embrace reality. The reality was babies and pregnancies but life keeps changing!

For many years I thought perhaps I might just be a boring person, used to mundane and happy with the simple life… then I realized I am being content and not boring… patient, which is healthy for a mom, and although I love the little things I can really enjoy bigger more adventurous things in life too! I will be happy to awake the adventure loving woman once again once it is right for me and my family!

WELL this could be the right time!

Stepping out like this is big for me! I am feeling braver about it all as the days go by. I haven’t done anything like this since I was single and in college! I think it will be great for the kids to see Mommy embracing adventure in life instead of fear:)

TTFN

Learning From You

by admin on May 2, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, Mama Heart Mushings with No comments

Oh Baby Boy, I learn so much from you as I do from all my kids. Lately I have been learning to find the good rhythm in life. Your rhythm is always JOY. You take great joy in everything and we affectionately call you ‘our personal musical’ for a reason. Life is a musical to you, a singing and dancing show! If you see a car you make a ‘rrrrmmmm‘ noise and then proceed to break into a ‘rrrum da da da dum‘ song and so with anything else that your eyes devour you turn your excitement into song and dance. If you find your own song, or someone elses, right on then you can’t help but kick your legs out in your very manly little dance. You are a ‘funk’ music lover and it suits you.

A person must slow down to work on their personal sound track all the time. I remember as a child picking songs that would be perfect played over my life at such and such a moment and then I would sing them and you remind me of me in this way. Thank you for reminding Mommy of a good piece of herself and thank you for being you!

TTFN

Romans 12:18

by admin on May 1, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, My Year of Right Sacrifice-TIME, People In My Heart with No comments
If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.

Time and time again Christ reminds me that he is my reputations protector and that I can’t control how people feel about me. There comes a point where obedience to Christ must come before pleasing men.

It is hard for me to swallow this… I hate to fail people or to have them feel I failed them, especially when I love them so much… I have learned pleasing people often becomes dangerously close to an idol in my life… and I need to put Christ ahead of that too! I also know this will be a process for me but if I really love others I will never again put their relationship with me ahead of my Lord, for their sake and for mine…

Even today the above verse came to mind as a wound threatened to burst. I used to see it as a further reminder that I must be doing something wrong because there are some who just aren’t happy with me but then my man reminded me about the ‘as much as in you lieth.’ I see that if I find peace with people that is what lies with me…to find the peace and hold onto it. Even if their anger remains I can’t control it but instead must love that person enough to take it all to the feet of Christ for I can trust my friend in his care… May my sorrow at the remaining anger not affect my response to them when they in turn find Jesus Christ’s healing. Love hopes.

TTFN

The Cozy

by admin on April 28, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, Four Little Eggs In My Nest with 2 Comments
(The blue hat like item next to me is our new tea cozy! Simple but effective, it just needs a pom-pom to spice it up.)

Celebration and sunshine for a snowy April day. We broke out Big Girls precious tea party set and had munchies for lunch this past Sunday afternoon. The newest edition to our set was a tea cozy from Auntie Mirelle. Thanks to our cozy the tea stayed lovely and hot.

Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn’t try it on.~Billy Connolly


(The tea party table cloth is my favorite piece of this collection. It is hand embroidered with sweet tea cups and flowers.)

Big Girls tea set is a collection of love. It is mixed matched smallish dishes that where patiently collected by her Nanny. We keep these treasures wrapped in pretty tissue paper and packaged in a pink velvet box. Big Girl takes great care to unwrap them for each party and wrap them back up when it is time to put them away.



Not all the cups are actual tea cups and rarely do they find their matching saucer but we all enjoy them this whimsy way.



Near the bottom of the pink velvet box we found custard cups this time and decided they needed to be used. We had no custard but frozen vanilla yogurt made a good stand in and the kids didn’t seem to mind at all.

We followed up the tea party with a dance party to this new cd I had been given. My crew just loves it, Baby Boy included. It is funk and they get so happy and bouncy when I put it on, a great way to shake the hyper right out of them on such a day.

“This was for sure an adventure day Mama.” my Big Boy said as we sipped tea. I had to chuckle. How sweet that my kids, the boys and the girls, can get so much pleasure out of something so easy for me to do… something so simple and un-flashy…


You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
~C.S.Lewis

TTFN

Vows All Over Again

by admin on April 25, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, My Romance with 1 Comment


Wow, it is so much harder to write your own vows. The first time we just read the traditional ones out and this time (for our vow renewal ceremony) we decided, naively, to write our own. I was smart enough to start taking notes, you know, when I am spontaneously inspired and filled with feelings about my man and trying to put this love into words right away.

I think it is harder now because we have been through so much together, changed so much, know so much more about the good and bad parts… it is a crazy and beautiful love because of this too. He knows my faults and I know his and we love one another too… crazy…

If you think of me pray for the words to come so I can do my love for this man justice. The ceremony is only about seven weeks away!

TTFN

Nothing Profound

by admin on April 22, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, Little Things with 2 Comments

They aren’t profound, just adorable. They where smiling at me from the sales section of a grocer I stopped in at and I had to say hello. Once we said hello I knew they needed to come home, especially since these tiny nesting bowls where on for more then 50% off. Not only are they cheery colors but are a lovely sturdy weight and as you can see they are measuring cups too. Sweet!

TTFN

Hello Handsome, You Goin My Way?

by admin on April 21, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality, My Romance with 4 Comments
Thank you my love for slowing your usually break neck speed for me and my pink cruiser.
Thank you my love for taking the paved trails and not the cliffs by the river, for my sake.
Thank you my love for buying me a scone because you could tell my temper was just a hint of the sugar crash about to arrive… I don’t get this much exercise on a regular basis yet.
Thank you my love for riding on my blind side so I would crash into you and not some other poor soul.
Thank you my love for riding near by when it got dark because you have all the night gear and lights and I don’t yet.
Thank you my love for talking to me all the way there and back and making me feel like we where young and in love again:)

I don’t know if we have had a chance, before tonight, to go biking in this lovely city of ours as JUST THE TWO OF US! It was fabulous and will be a regular date night idea from now on. We talked and talked as we pedaled together. It was affordable too, just stopped for a coffee at one point and the scenery was free and priceless! The exercise was great! You don’t really appreciate where you live till you get out like this! The city feels so much smaller when you are flying around on a bike.
(We go on dates so infrequently I made my guy take lotsa pictures of us to prove we DID IT!)

(I love my retro ride! It may be low tech but I usually get way more compliments about my bike then my guy does with his high tech, way to pricey ones… sorry honey but it’s true!)

We went all the way from our place to the river and then all the way down the new developed river side parks, to the canoeing club area then back to Broadway for coffee. Made a quick stop at a grocery store on 8th, a practical parent like stop to get a can opener (I busted the handle off mine) then up to a friends to return their house key and back home.

As we walked in the door after a lovely evening of biking across the city together I made a comment I am sure I have made before…’it is amazing how hard it is for us to make ourselves go on a date and yet when we do it we have such a lovely time we can hardly wait for the next one… unless, of course, we wait too long again…’

(Anyone who knows my man can believe the distance we went is possible for him but just so everyone knows I actually made it, here are these last few pictures as proof. Enjoying a coffee and a scone.)

It is nights like tonight that I remember Garnet is my best friend as well as my husband. We always had so much to talk about and loved doing everything together, back when we could, back before kids… and we need to be reminded, every now and then, that we LIKE being with one another and LIKE one another.

TTFN

Trailer and Texting = Smiles

by admin on April 19, 2010 in Bits Of My Personality with 2 Comments
PLEASE NOTE: I am not condoning texting while biking, I never ever do that… couldn’t if I wanted too…

My pink fat tired, fat seat, fat pedal cruiser was waiting for me! I was waiting for the snow to be gone. The bike and I are united! LET’S RIDE!

I adore my bike trailer; black and yellow with a big flag and blink-y lights on the back. The littlest two and I get so much joy out of being able to just take off on a bike ride! I don’t know how I did without one!

I am a bike rider! I think about it all winter and found it so hard for years not being able to do it very often because of babies. NOW things are so different and we have been going all over town. Sure the trailer is like having a parachute behind me and it gets pretty hard to peddle with a wind but I enjoy the freedom and fresh air in spite of all that. It really is freeing to ride a bike in the city, freeing from all that city traffic and rush… I just feel so good after biking them around town that I can’t wait to get out again.

Ah spring, no bugs yet, no intense summer heat yet, SO GRAND!

Normally I just want to go go go and can’t stand sitting in the park while Baby Boy and Little Woman play. I want to let them have their exercise but now that they both want me to leave them alone I sit there and can’t handle that for long. Solution? Will you hate me if I admit I like texting… I am sorry, it sure helps pass the time and the kids are happier because I will sit at the park longer. There is something so sweet about sending blurbs through time and space to my sisters, in BC or my sisters right here in the city, while I watch my kids throw dirt at one another.

Last year I was such a mess physically and could hardly do anything. This year I am feeling so much stronger; going for long walks and bike rides with Baby Boy and Little Woman, playing basketball and soccer with my Big Boy, skipping rope with my Big Girl. Ah it is easier on the mind to be active.

TTFN

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