Vacation Bliss....

Though I've been enjoying my vacation very much, I miss my hubby and am happy to be heading Eastward on Sunday.

Wednesday night, I had to the chance to get together with an old friend (Lori). I figure it had been 12 years since I last saw her. This is a photo of her family! Noah was particularly chatty while we visited, which made it hard to chat but it was still very nice to spend some time getting re-acquainted as well as meeting her family. Unfortunately, I did not get a decent photo of her & I as Noah was in charge of those photos and they didn't 'quite' work out - LOL!


Noah had the chance to visit with Nana & Poppy as well. It was a quick visit with both - which is probably best for the young and old! It's been a rocky year for both my grandparents.

Poppy took a massive stroke last September (losing his ability to be independent - loss of speech, paralyzed on his left side, leaving only his right side that his arm already had already been mostly immobilized from having polio when he was a boy). Poppy now lives in a home - which he absolutely LOVES. He is slowly regaining some independence back - limited use of his hands such as feeding himself and using a tv remote control (with the hopes of being able to write one day), scooting around on his wheel chair (pushing & pulling with his legs), a little bit of walking with the assistance of a walker, some very limited speech - though through body language, motion & guessing, I have been able to figure out most of what he is saying.

The progress since we last saw him is AMAZING. Both Noah & I are THRILLED to see his spirits high and a smile on his face. Noah, my little talkative man was a hit during our visit with Poppy. I don't think the smile left his face the whole time we visited.

When we left, Noah expressed how happy he was that Poppy was okay.


Nana - who just celebrated her 80th birthday in June - broker her hip earlier in the year (requiring a hip replacement) and moved into a smaller apartment. Noah was perfectly behaved while visiting Nana - it was so nice (not that he is not usually well behaved - just that it's tiring for her when the kids are running around, making lots of noise)!!

Noah was very confused and has asked me a few times why Nana & Poppy don't live together anymore! He would say "Mom, can you remind me AGAIN why Nana & Poppy don't live together?". It must be confusing for kids!!

We spent a night at my cousin's (Jackie). While there, I finally got to meet their 4th child - PORTER. What a little cutie pie (top row of pictures)!!!

The other three Kayden (bottom left), Easton or IGGY (bottom middle) and Tanner (bottom right) - are still as cute as ever. I got to spend a few hours in the morning with all of them alone while Jackie took poor Keith (her hubby) to get FIXED!!! Man, did we ever have some good laughs on his account.

The kids were really well behaved and I was happy I got to spend some time with them.

Ahhhh....heaven. My sister & I decided to get pedicures/manicures and have promised each other that we would do this each visit - from this point forward. It was so nice to sit for almost 2 hours each - together - chatting girlie chat!


I've been very lucky this visit - Nick (my nephew) is babysitting age - and has been babysitting (or playing with Noah lots) while Tricia & I do running around (school shopping, shopping for us, girl time...etc). Thank you so much NICK!

Hilarious Story...

Today, as I stood in line at the Liquor Store (getting some of our FAVOURITE 'adult' drink that we can't get in New Brunswick and haven't been able to find in many years) in Guelph, Ontario, I giggled and told my sister that the guy behind me looked an awful lot like a guy in a show Jacques watches (Trailer Park Boys). I told her I should tell him he looks like this character!

During my transaction, I turned to him and our conversation went like this:

Me: "Do you ever look like Ricki from Trailer Park Boys?"
Him: "Don't you mean Julien?"
Me: "Yes, yes that's who it is. You must get that alot, huh?"
Him: "Yeah, because I AM him"
Me: "Ooooooh, what are you doing in Guelph, Ontario?"
Him: "Actually, I'm here for a funeral"
Me: "Ooooooh (and a big pause), can I have your autograph for my husband because he's a big fan of yours?" (Daaaah, what the heck was I thinking? How inconsiderate of me?)

He said sure and as he was signing a piece of receipt paper from the Liquor Store, I was all flustered and was giggling like a school girl. Looking back at it, it was rather humiliating!! The autograph says (pardon the language - but this is exactly what he wrote, in character) "Drink Rum, Jacques You Fucker. signed Julien"

We chatted for a little longer. I found out he has many relatives in Guelph, even though he lives in Eastern Canada and the show is filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I offered him my condolences and I went back to the van to immediately call Jacques. Unfortunately, he wasn't there so I had to wait until later to tell him.

My goodness, did my sister & I ever laugh, we laughed all the way home.

Once I finally talked to him, he was thrilled. The first thing he said (after I finished my story) was "did you get a picture?". Man, I didn't even think about it - and I even had my camera with me. But honestly, I felt a little bad that immediately after he told me he was in town for a funeral, I asked him for an autograph!!!

The funny part of this all is that Julien (the character) ALWAYS has a drink in his hand (not sure if it is Rum though) and this is what Jacques always cracks up about in the show. AND I met him in the LIQUOR buying RUM!!

Can you believe that? What a small world, eh?

Catch up...

I know it's been a while since I last posted - so I'm going to make one post to combine all that has happened since then.

To start - we've been really enjoying our summer.

Last week, my Aunt Kathy and her friend Donna came for a visit from Ontario. It was mostly a relaxing week with some sight-seeing in our new surroundings (Grand Falls, New Brunswick), some picture taking, a drive to the US to shop and a day trip to Fredericton, New Brunswick for Donna (who is an artist) to explore the Beaverbrook Art Gallery among other attractions.

The weather did not really cooperate for us to spend time in the pool - but we made do!

Day 1 we went for a drive in the country around Grand Falls & Drummond (where Jacques grew up - which is mostly a part of Grand Falls) with camera's in hand!

In Grand Falls, it is often you will hear the whistling sound of a train in the distance many train tracks in the area (it's only cargo trains, there are no longer passenger trains that go through here). This is a new sound for me and I LOVE it. I find it very soothing.

This photo below is a HUGE train bridge, it always reminds me of the movie Stand By Me (remember this movie, specifically when the boys ran across the train bridge to beat the train). Jacques tells me that he used to do this when he was a kid. Well not chase the trains, but they would walk across the tracks.




One of the days that Aunt Kathy & Donna were here, we walked the trails that go beside the FALLS and farther down the gorge. I had only done a small part of this trail MANY years ago when I first met Jacques.





The day we went to Fredericton, we brought Zach with us. While Aunt Kathy & Donna went to the 'adult' things, the boys & I went to Science East. After we explored for a few hours, we met back up with Aunt Kathy & Donna to have lunch.
The photo below is the cool life size kaleidoscope that we climbed into.


After lunch, the boys & I went to the NB Sports Hall of Fame. It was fun and quick. Not much interactive stuff for the kids to do. But the coolest discovery was that Matt Stairs (from the Blue Jays) is from Fredericton. Further to that, we were going to see a Jays game 3 days later and Noah wanted to get a Blue Jays Webkinz and name him 'Matt Stairs'. So when we discovered that he was from Fredericton (and the whole 1st floor was a display of his career), we found it very cool.

The photo below is the 'jersey' collection of all the teams Matt Stairs played for in his career.


On the drive home from Fredericton, we got off the highway to stop in Hartland, New Brunswick home of the worlds longest covered bridge. It was a quick stop as the boys (Noah, specifically was getting very cranky, hungry and tired) and we all just wanted to get home.

Then it was time for our ROAD TRIP. My first time driving alone (13 hours) to Ontario to see my family. I have to admit, I was very nervous. Aunt Kathy & Donna stayed with me through Quebec then we parted in Ontario. To some extent, it was stressful trying to keep track of another car but there was some comfort in knowing that they were so close. Now, I am not worried for driving at all. It went perfect (except for the HEAVY rain right before Montreal). But other than that - I felt comfortable driving, Noah was the BEST behaved I had EVER seen him in the car (he even napped which is a very rare occurrence when we travel).

The photo below was my view for a great majority of our trip.

Then there was Noah with his green silly putty.....aka, his mustache. He had this mustache on for probably a good 2 hours, bopping and singing to his MP3, colouring, watching a DVD. When it came time to take it off, a part of it was stuck on his face like bubble gum after it dries. We had to scrape to get that part off.

I am so proud of Noah from this road trip. I knew he could do it. He showed so much responsibility and patience. I am thrilled! When we travel (the 3 of us) Noah usually requires more help than he did on this trip. He is usually always asking me to get him something or reach for something that fell, etc.

This trip around, before we left I sat him down and had a serious talk with him. I explained that I would be counting on him to help me reach for drinks and snacks, I also explained that I needed him to be very careful with dropping his things because I would not be able to reach for them while I was driving. I explained that I was a teensy bit scared and I needed him to occupy himself as much as he could (like, getting his own movies, snacks, etc).

I giggled at the part of the trip (leading up to Montreal, Quebec) when the DOWN POUR began (something that I am a 'fraddy-cat' to drive in), I explained to Noah to 'keep the volume down' because I had to really concentrate on driving. And he did. He also gave me some advise. He said "Mom, just fight your fear, I know you can do it"!! So I did, along with pray the whole way through the rain. And we did it.....

Once the rain stopped (for the 1st time), he handed me a picture he coloured of me driving on the highway. It had a little bubble out of the car (on his side of the van) that said "Mommy fited her feer and did it, I'm so prowd of mi mom". (the translation would be "mommy fighted her fear and did it, I'm so proud of my mom"). I laughed and we giggled. He was proud of himself for giving me some good solid advise, as was I. He is growing up so fast :(


We treated Mom & John (Grandma & Grandpa) to a Blue Jay's game (as a late Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthday, Anniversary present). The day we went happened to be "Webkinz Day".
The first 5000 kids received a free Blue Jay's Webkinz - a Webkinz that is not available at the stores. This photo below is as we were arriving at the Rogers Center - downtown Toronto (a place I do NOT miss - the traffic, the fumes, etc)
We ended up with pretty good seats - Noah's choice of outfield.

Noah picked out the T-Shirt of choice, one for him AND one for dad - so they could have matching shirts. Noah wore the shirt with pride the entire game. Unfortunately, the Jays lost the game - but I believe fun was had by all!
I finally got a pink baseball hat - I however did not wear it the entire game.


After the game, we were 'supposed' to do the CN Tower with Nick, Noah & I but when Nick announced that he did not want to go - suddenly Noah did not want to go :( I was kinda disappointed because I thought Noah would have loved it - but at least I got a photo with Noah, his Jay's Webkinz and the CN Tower behind him!

As we were relaxing one day, Tricia (my sister) looked outside and yelled at all of us to get our shoes on, to come outside and see. This was only the 2nd time I had ever seen a double rainbow and although the photo does not really show it....the larger of the two rainbows was the MOST PERFECT and beautiful rainbow I had EVER seen.

I've been Tagged/Renovation 'major' woops

'I think' (by Leslie) but even if it wasn't 'this' Tara that she tagged, I'm gonna do it anyways... .....cuz I'm just in the mood!! For the first time since our moving day - I'm having a BAD day (actually it was yesterday). Trying to do your own renovations SUCKS - especially when you are rather inexperienced. I'll explain below:

SO for TODAY (and only today) here are 6 things to describe how I feel.
1. Tired
2. Sore
3. Discouraged
4. Appreciative (that it could be something SO much worse)
5. Embarrassed
6. Sorry

The way I have usually feel or 6 things that usually describe me are:
1. Organized
2. Thankful
3. Happy
4. Funny
5. Giving
6. Love Life

Now....who should I tag? I'm not even sure I know 6 people who blog:

Angel, Wendy, Nikki, that's all I can come up with for now.

SO....here's the Whole Story (for the first 6 ways I feel) of my major renovation WOOPS!

Yesterday was GROUT day for the tiling in our bathroom. I felt very excited that our 'most' major renovation project (that we were completing ourselves) was coming to an end! I had grouted tile before, so I knew exactly how to do this.

Grout, wait 20 minutes and wash, RIGHT?

Nope, not when you're using "Kerapoxy" (a type of grout you use to seal the grout lines in bathrooms)!!! After I waited the 20 minutes, I realized we had a GREAT BIG problem. You see, this grout dries 'gummy' then cures like a cement. So when I realized I had a problem - I really began to freak considering this was a race against time (meaning, I had to get the walls washed BEFORE the Kerapoxy CURED).

I called Jacques crying, telling him - or actually admitting to him that I had not FULLY read the instructions and now we were in a BIG, BIG mess. ("Getting Real Alert" - admitting a major character flaw - I tend not to fully read directions when working on projects) Okay, I am admitting that I did NOT fully read the directions on how to apply (assuming it was the same as other grout) - HOWEVER, on the other hand (after the fact) when we read the directions WITH the Kent store manager, it was agreed by both of us that the directions are FAR from clear.

So Jacques packed up from work immediately when I had called and and came home just before NOON to help me. He was originally heading home at noon to play a round of golf. He also went to the store to purchase many cleaning supplies like scouring pads, sponges, rubber gloves, etc.

In the meantime, he called his cousin & brother to tell them he would not be golfing. They came over immediately to help me clean the mess. Unfortunately, we did not get done in time for Jacques to go golfing. Once Nico & Yves left the THUNDER & LIGHTENING started booming & cracking. Jacques turned to me and said 'well I hope that keeps up because at least I'm not missing out on a golf game'. Man, we laughed so hard (trust me, it was much needed at that point)! Although I felt so sorry for Nico & Yves, on the other hand I was happy for Jacques that he wasn't missing out on his golf either!

Jacques and I scrubbed. We scrubbed & we scrubbed & we scrubbed. When we got tired, we scrubbed some more. When we complained, we scrubbed some more. When we were hungry, we scrubbed. We had a MAJOR race against time at this point. As we continued to work, it was getting more and more difficult to remove because the product was curing.

• 38 scouring pads later
  
• 8 hours of 'major' scrubbing later
  
• 1 HUGE mess in the tub later
  
• 1 'major' cranky boy later (our poor child was without attention for 1 day)
  
• 2 cranky, sore & tired parents later
  

We finally had our mess cleaned up. What a nightmare! We were POOPED out completely and our arms are very sore from all the scrubbing. We got showered and went to grab a bite to eat and I definitely ate some comfort food - a MAJOR plate of poutine!

Now, we have to re-apply some more grout in some places where we scrubbed too hard. AND we have to use the SAME grout - kerapoxy (the enemy). I was up most of the night worried about using this product again. So Jacques agreed to wait until tonight and we will do it TOGETHER!

I feel bad for so many things. But, I mostly feel bad that Jacques missed out on his fun afternoon of golf (that he had originally taken the afternoon off for). It turned out to be not so bad - it rained HARD with thunder & lightening for only an hour or so - then it would have been fine to golf!

Thank you honey!

DISNEY....here we come.

Finally, I booked our (long overdue) family vacation to Disney World TODAY. In fact, I JUST got off the phone and was so excited I had to dedicate a blog entry to this event!!!

We'll be travelling between Nov 15-23, 2008.

Yippy.

You can't even IMAGINE just how excited we are to finally be going considering this trip was supposed to happen LAST November!

Look out Disney World, here we come!!!

Perfect weekend....

This was the BEST weekend EVER! It was a perfect combination of everything: time with my hubby, family time, play time, adult time, etc.

Friday night - Jacques & I got a sitter simply to go out with each other - ALONE. It was a real simple evening - ALONE. That's all we wanted. We went to the USA, ate at Ruby Tuesday's (it was amazing - a nice change from all the pizza places in Grand Falls), browsed through the Presque Isle mall and got some groceries (& renovation stuff) at the Walmart. It wasn't much - but we were TOGETHER and ALONE - a perfect evening to me!

Saturday, Jacques & I worked on the bathroom (in preparation for tiling around the tub). It only took a few hours - which was perfect considering it was a perfect pool day & that Noah had gone with Stephan & Zach to a skills competition for soccer. Once we finished, Jacques went with Noah to the soccer competition, while us women stayed home to go swimming! We swam at the Lebel's until all the kids joined us. We were there until about 3:00 pm then came home to have Nico & Amy (and cutzie little Naomi) over to our place for a swim. So, in total I was swimming from around 12-Noon until 5:30pm! YIPPY! That evening we all went to the Lebels to play games - the adults only. The kiddos were watching movies, then Noah slept over.

Sunday, Jacques & I slept in a little then immediately began working on tiling the bathroom. Something we THOUGHT would only take us a few hours - but we didn't end up finishing until 7:30pm which included 3 trips to Canadian Tire for 1. a mortar/paint stir'er thingy (something to attach to the drill to mix the mortar), 2. tile 'snippers' and 3. a wet tile cutter (the best investment EVER). A VERY hard day's work - a few boo-boos, but a pretty darn good job for our first 'big' tiling job. Let's see how it works out tomorrow when the grout goes in. Next is painting, installing the new light fixture, new mirror, the towel rack, paper holder, putting the pictures up - etc. I can't wait to see the final project! I NEVER thought we could have done this ourselves!

So now we are just relaxing watching Sharkboy & Lavagirl - okay, I know - maybe not your first choice. BUT, considering Noah was SO well behaved today while we worked hard in the bathroom - we gave him first choice on the movie to watch!

This is cutzie little Naomi:





Check out (below), Naomi relaxing (note: Amy is hiding behind the air mattress) - such a cutie pie!

Happy EARLY Birthday, DADDY

I am posting this as a request from Noah.

Yesterday morning, Noah asked me if he could make a video for Daddy for his birthday.

I said 'sure', thinking that he would tell me what he wanted - but nope, HE wanted to do it COMPLETELY by himself (spelling and all)! He chose the song (which is known to be one of Jacques favourite songs), the photos and the videos. All I did was gathered the photos, videos and song into one folder. I walked him through how to do different tasks in the program but he sat at the kitchen table for over 1hr 45 minutes working on 'his' creation for his dad - ALL BY HIMSELF!

I am SO proud of him for 1. his thoughtfulness 2. his ability & 3. his perseverance in making something so spectacular!

He's growing up too fast! He SHOULDN'T know how to do stuff like this - he's my BABY!!!

Unfortunately, Noah ruined his surprise by telling Jacques that he actually made a video - so naturally Jacques wanted to see it and he LOVED it! I'm not sure any present I ever get him will EVER compare to this one! He's one lucky DAD and Noah is one lucky BOY!!

Check it out for your self...