Evan's Santa Picture

Finding the perfect place to have Evan's picture with Santa was a bit of work. The past two Christmases, we have done Santa pictures out in Victoria. This year, however, we are not going out to the Coast for Christmas...my parents are coming here. Consequently, we were not going to be able to have Evan's picture with our favourite Santa. After soliciting some fellow Moms on the best place to go for Santa pictures, I decided to take Evan to the Santa Claus at Bonnie Doon Mall. While it's not the Santa at Mayfair Mall in Victoria, the Santa Clause at Bonnie Doon Mall will be a suitable stand in when we spend our Christmases in Edmonton.

PS - I shouldn't have said a darn thing about my Swiffer Vac. The day after I raved about it on my blog...it died. :(

Rave Review - Swiffer Vac..and my son.

In the spirit of my last post's rave review of Strawberry Lip Balm, I am going to write another rave review.

Believe it or not, next to the Shark the SwifferVac has been one of the best cleaning tools I have purchased. I was having a pretty clumsy weekend this past weekend. I juggled more than my fair share of dishes. Thank goodness Corelle dishes are almost indestructable. My last woops saw a half finished bowl of Evan's rice wind up all over the floor. D'oh!!!! I swept up the kitchen and gathered the dust in a little pile. Upon seeing the pile of dust and rice and other food bits, Evan sped off to where I have the SwifferVac charging. He unplugs it from the charger and turns it on and promptly vaccums up my dirt pile. Good boy!

After I finished washing the dishes, I went downstairs only to see that Evan had used the SwifferVac to vaccuum up all the popcorn that he had spilled on the carpet. Actually, the carpet looked amazingly clean. While the SwifferVac can't get right into the carpet the way a vacuum with a beater bar can, it actually did a good job. The bigger surpise was that Evan took the initative to clean up his mess with the SwifferVac.

Good boy!

Winter Lip Relief

There isn't any snow on the ground, but my body is in full winter mode. Dry itchy skin, fly-away hair, and for the first time - red, chapped lips. It's not pretty. This winter, my lips have become so sore and chapped. I resembled Angelina Jolie with cold sores. Not a good look. My saving grace has been Smith's Rosebud Salve - Strawberry Lip Balm. I have two of them. At roughly $8 a piece, they are pricey especially when compared with what is available in the drug store. I have a huge collection of said drugstore varieties, but they just don't compare. They are either not moisturizing enough, or the fragrance in them just irritates my skin and makes my lips look worse. My solution, I have one of the tins beside my bed and the other travels with me...except for today when I discovered I left the tin in my other jacket that I was too lazy to go upstairs and retrieve. Sad thing is, had I remembered that my lip balm was in said jacket, I probably would have made the effort.

Whose placing bets that when I get home tonight, I will be bolting to get my lip balm from my jacket upstairs?

Scrapbook Creations

Oh boy! I haven't blogged in well over 2 months. My last blog post wasn't even a real post, it was a video!

I just got back from a weekend away at a scrapbook retreat. My dear friend Barb and Jason took care of Evan all weekend. Barb and Jason are great people that Evan genuinely likes, so I knew he would be in good hands. With Evan settled with Barb and Jason, I headed off to my retreat at Pigeon Lake. My dear friend Dallas was supposed to be at this retreat but wound up having to be working. Other friends were going to be there, but was I going to have as much fun? I had an awesome time. My friends Tara and Gen were there, as were their friends Tara, Sharmi, Hayley and Angie. We had too much fun scrapbooking, giggling and drinking together. Tara and Gen brought their margarita machine, Jimmy, to the retreat. I think that 'Jimmy' is the only male allowed at the retreat weekends! After a weekend of awesome food, tasty drinks, a relaxing massage and late nights, this is what I have to show for it.

The last page of this layout is a birthday gift for Robert from Evan.

Aside from journalling, these pages complete Evan's first year album.

Too Funny!!

I hope you find this as funny as I do!

Beating the Heat!

Wow! I have been pretty remiss in keeping up with my blog. Since my last entry, Evan and I have come and gone (or is it gone and come) to Victoria. We are spending the rest of our summer trying to enjoy the weather and beat the heat.

I thought this picture might be refreshing to you:

My Scrapbook Creations - from May 2009 Retreat

So, I have finally had time to take picture of the layout I did on my scrapbooking retreat at the end of May. I hope everyone enjoys them.


Here are the pages from Evan's 1st Year Album:


May 2007




June 2007



This layout is one of my most favourites




And finally....July 2007

Holy Crap - Part 2

Well, Evan is not the only person who seems to have grown a lot. Last week, I stepped on the scale and did not like what I saw.

Sooo...

...last Friday I started a running program. It is a Learn to Run 10K program that eases you into running. Dallas was doing the same program last summer, and I procrastinated doing the same - until now. Three times a week, I am going to spend my lunch hours at the Legislature gym and do this program on the treadmill. So far so good - but then, I have only done 2 sessions.

On my off days, I plan to do the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred DVD at home.

I am working out during my lunch hours and at home because I don't want to put Evan in more childcare just so that I can go to the gym. He spends enough time at daycare, and I can learn to use my time more efficiently and still spend lots of time with my son.

I don't want to run marathons, do triatholons or even 10K Fun Runs. I just want to be healthy, lessen my asthma symptoms, and look better.

Holy.Crap.

I am going to keep this blog post short and to the point.

November 26, 2008
Weight - 26.5 lbs
Height - 35 inches

May 27, 2009
Weight: 30.0 lbs
Height: 39.6 inches


Ummm....they slow down eventually right?

Cupcakes, Halos and Shooters

I have been somewhat remiss in keeping up with my blog. Work has been incredibly busy and demanding, and the time I don't spend at work I would rather spend with friends and family.

So, now I have to decide what to blog about...my 32nd birthday.

Despite the fact my birthday fell on a Saturday, Evan and I were up early because I had a Speechwriting Class that day, and Evan was going to spend the day and night with his Uncle Craig and Auntie Jodi. The class itself was excellent and has given me a bit of a refresher and a kick start to hopefully write some speeches for the MLAs I work with.

Later that night was going to be the Boys' Night Out Year End tournament and party. Read: tonnes of food, drinks and good times. Before I went to the party, I took advantage of the fact that Evan was not underfoot, and finally applied the vinyl lettering I ordered for his room back in March. I am over the moon - pun intended - with regards to how it turned out.

After that was done, I headed over to the party, and while the party was largely focused on the big game, my dear friends took the time to remember mine and Dallas' birthday (May 11). Barb made and decorated a cake and some cupcakes. Erin bought Dallas and I some Halos - just so everyone was clear about who was most important that night.

And to top the night off, a special shooter made for the birthday girls - vodka, cherry whiskey and something else.

So, in a nutshell, I celebrated my 32nd birthday with cupcakes, halos and shooters!

Do You Ever....?

Do you ever have those private moments with your child where they show a side of themselves...but only to you?

Evan and I have these moments...most often between the end of supper and bedtime. It is like we are in our own little world. We're often found cuddling on the couch having many of these moments. We will play little games and sing and laugh under the blanket. Sometimes we have them in the grocery store, where Evan has figured out a way to cuddle me while I continue to shop.

Part of me thinks it would be nice if others saw this side of Evan, but a much bigger part of me likes that our private moments are just that...private.

My little boy....

Last night, I finally uploaded pictures from my camera to my computer...including pictures from our recent trip to Victoria. As I was rotating, editing, and cropping the pictures, I came across a picture of Evan that caught my attention. Actually, it really caught me off guard. I know it seems silly, but oh my gosh...he's a little boy now.

Writing

I love writing. I used to do it a lot. In grade school I would write really creative stories and thoughtful poetry. As life has marched on, writing has fallen by the wayside...especially writing for fun. A few weeks ago, I received a postcard in the mail inviting entries to a contest to write a 250 word story using the picture as an inspiration:

First prize is one free course during Women's Words, a writing week put on by the Faculty of Extension. I've been thinking about what to write for this contest. I think I am going to write from the perspective of the woman in the purple outfit. Once written and submitted, I will be brave and share it with you - my small circle of readers.

Boo Ya! (a.k.a. Boom De Ya Da)

Here is a video of Evan enjoying one of his favourite commercials.

Christmas is Victoria - Evan's Santa Visit

Early in our trip, I made sure Evan got to visit the Santa Claus at Mayfair Mall. Evan had his pictures done last year at the same mall and I was so impressed with the Santa and with the quality of the pictures, I wanted to do the same thing again this year.

On December 22, my parents, Evan and I headed to Mayfair Mall for noon - when Santa's castle opened for business. When we got there, we were greeted by a line-up and no Santa yet. While my dad held our spot in line, Evan and I wandered around Santa's castle looking at the wonderful display. We headed back to our spot in line when we saw Santa walking down the mall towards the castle. But he didn't go straight to his throne...instead, Santa went down the line-up greeting all the children that were waiting patiently in line. When Santa came to us, Evan told him his name and that his was "two". The line-up moved pretty quickly, with mall staff offering refreshments.

I have taken Evan for Santa pictures every year, and every year I expect him to cry, scream or melt-down. The first time I took him, he wasn't even 3 months old. He didn't cry, but he kept turning himself to see me. The second time I took him to see Santa was the very same day I took him for his first haircut. He just sat on Santa's lap like it was no big deal. I thought for sure this would be the year that Evan would cry or be shy. Nope. When it was Evan's turn, without help from me, he just marched up to Santa and got in his lap. No fuss. No tears. After a few pictures were taken, Santa had a little chat with Evan about smiling. While Evan looked up at him intently, Santa told him that "if you smile, ice cream winds up in your mouth, but if you don't, it winds up down your chin." After a few more pictures, Santa gave Evan a Sun-Rype Fruit Snack and sent him on his way. Here is Evan with our favourite Santa:

The Annex (spoof of The Office)

Here is a spoof of 'The Office' that we did for the Press Gallery Christmas Party. You can get a little peek at my co-workers and their craziness. My favourite in this video is, of course, Laurie Blakeman. Enjoy!

Our Trip - Part 2

Usually when Evan and I go to Victoria, we can expect weather that's as nice as Edmonton's (in the summer), or nicer (in the winter). While the temperature on this trip was nicer, it was still colder than average for Victoria. And to make it even more fun for the Islanders, it snowed....A LOT!

In fact, we spent a lot of our first days just keeping up with shovelling the long driveway. Of course, Evan always had to help us out.

However amidst all the snow and chaos, there was a silver lining. On Sunday evening, after shovelling all day, my parents' neighbours Jennifer and Jeff brought out some tobagganing tubes for their 2 year old son Jonas and Evan to slide down the long road leading to my parents' home. It wasn't very steep. In fact, we had to kick the tubes down the hill to help the kids makes it to the bottom. We spent a good part of the night pushing the kids down the hill, and riding down mother and son together.

While the boys played in the snow that Sunday evening, the three houses of neighbours gathered and visited over wine, champagne and freshly baked cookies. It was one of the coolest nights I have had in a while.

Stay tuned for Part 3 - Evan's visit to Santa Claus.