goodness to share...

well...we've had some good times and happenings since my last post, which is why it's been awhile since I've been here.

First of all, Carsyn has started Spring camp for football...he is SO excited!! I am so happy for him...finally he has something that is just his..his "thing" if you will. Last weekend, he got his equipment on Saturday and had his first day of camp on Sunday. He looks so cute in his gear...have a peek (ignore the messy kitchen in the background, I hadn't been home much...lol)
(this is just his practice gear...his actual uniform is really nice)





Sunday, it was drizzling and windy so I didn't get any pictures of him actually doing football drills. Our house is big on football and so this is perfect for him. One of the reasons I was looking forward to it, was because it would be warmer than a hockey rink....well not today that's for sure! Oh well...all part of being a Mom to a bunch of jocks...lol!!!

Next, I got a surprise phone call from my Grandpa the other day. He was 45 minutes away and wanted to stop by for a visit the next day. Now, this is a big deal because over the course of my life, we haven't been that close due to family circumstances. However, over the last few years, we've been making a connection and getting to know each other so I was over the moon that he was stopping in for a visit. I kept the boys home from school that morning, just in case he didn't stay the whole day (good thing cause he left shortly after lunch).
I took some pics of him with the boys, and Grandpas lady friend took some of the 4 boys and me with Grandpa however, I should have used the tripod cause her hands were a bit shaky and the pics are blurry. Shouldn't be too hard to fix with some editing.
My Grandpa is such a goof...he started making funny faces and the boys joined right in...



His visit won't soon be forgotten!

Next, I decided I needed (ok...wanted...lol) a shopping day...for something other than groceries! It's been awhile since I walked around, in and out of stores just cause.
So, while the boys were all in school, I headed off to the big city and had a FABULOUS me day!! Well, I didn't get too much for myself but I shopped in the stores I wanted to without anyone telling me they were bored or it was taking too long...that's a treat if you ask me!
I found some fun stuff for my yard at Rafters...man I love that store. There is more that I would like to get but I'll save that for another day. Here's a pic of the stuff I bought so far...love these stars and fake rocks! The sign is for Grandpa Bud (mom's husband)...he's a self proclaimed grouch so I thought this was perfect for the boys to give him...lol!! The little rock says, "all things grow with love"



and what would a me day be without a trip to the scrapbook store!
I am working really hard to get all the Disney character pages finished by the end of the school year cause the boys want to take the album for show 'n' share and I've been looking for a few specific things and thought I would have some luck at a bigger store in a bigger center than I've been shopping...I was right! Not only did I get most of the things I was looking for...look what else I found...



I am absolutely in love with the male/female symbols right now so I actually think I squealed out loud when I saw these tickets by Jenni Bowlin and then the acrylic stamps by Scenic Route. Now, to find a way to use them!!

I've got more to share but you'll have to wait till next time.
My coffee needs a refill and my scrap supplies are calling...and you absolutely cannot ignore the mojo when it's calling...right girls...lol!!

Have a great weekend all!!

this post contains adult content!

Even as I type this I'm giggling and maybe I shouldn't be but whatever...
So, a little background info: Gavin has this book for school and each week he is to draw a picture in it and at school they write about it. So, last night, he's doing his drawing and I'm asking him what he's drawing...he tells me him and his brothers playing soccer. Cool!
Until I see it and he has included a penis on each and every one of them....OMG!!! I was laughing (again maybe I shouldn't have been). Check it out....



So, I tore it out of the book and he drew another, more appropriate picture for school.
However, I am keeping this one...just not sure I'll frame and hang it like some of his others...lol!!

home from Miami...

Manitoba that is!!

(Now that the trip updates are complete, I can get back to regularly scheduled blogging.)

So, back to my update.
I wanted to post before I left but as you can see, that didn't happen. In fact , most of you probably didn't even know I was gone...lol!
This past long weekend, I hopped on a plane with an online friend and headed off to Winnipeg to meet more online friends. Call me crazy, but it was something I wanted to do soooo badly and it turned out to be amazing!! Some of us came from all over Canada, by plane, by bus and by car to meet live and in person at a crop.
I had such a fabulous weekend...it's almost indescribable actually!
I was nervous excited leading up to the flight but it ended up being for nothing.
A bunch of us met for dinner and drinks at "The Forks" on Friday, attended the crop on Saturday and a few of us had brunch together on Sunday before flying home.
Of course this is the coles notes version but most of you that read my blog were there so you have all the details...lol!!

In other family news, Zack is officially registered for high school!!! Yikes...how did that happen?! He decided he wanted to go for an academic diploma versus a general one so that means a lot of buckling down and hard work for the next 3 years.
Gavin is almost finished Kindergarden...he'll graduate on the 20th of June. Like that won't be a tear jerker of a day!
Carsyn and Reilly are doing well with school...both looking forward to summer though..lol!
Football is getting underway for Carsyn and he's sooo excited about that. Will be fun to watch no doubt.
Brian has been hard at work...long hours and many days in a row before getting a couple at home. He's starting a 7 on 3 off schedule...will be nice to have some sort of schedule and being able to plan ahead a bit.
I've been subbing quite a bit at our elementary school...lovin every minute of that. Hoping (I think) to get on there full time in the fall.

For some reason I thought this post might be longer since I haven't blogged about anything but our trip in quite some time....humph...guess we don't have that much going on even though we seem sooo busy...lol!
Anywoo, hope you're all well and that you enjoyed your May long weekend! Take care.

our California Aventure days 8&9

Day 8...our last day :(
We had a plan to go to California Adventure first so we slept in a tad and had a good breakfast @ IHOP.
We met Grandma (Grandpa still sick) by the "C" in the California sign and we were off. Thought we'd try to get everything we wanted to o here done just after opening and then spend the majority of the day at Disneyland.
We went on the Grizzly River Run and somehow I ended up soaked and everyone else was only damp!!! Oh well, it was a blast and it didn't take long in the California sun to dry.
We headed back to Bugsland for Gavin. We met Flik on the way in...he was funny!
Gavin got Grandma to go on the Heimlich Chew Chew train one more time and all the the rides in Bugsland!! (or so we thought)

We took Grandma to see the Tough to be a bug show...noone told her anything about what would happen either...it was pretty funny!
Waiting in line for the Monsters Inc ride, we saw this huge butterfly and of course Grandma wanted a pic....

Coming off the Monsters Inc ride, we were greeted by the Disney Dream Team. For those of you that don't know, this is "The Year of a Million Dreams" and we had won...what we weren't sure. All we knew was we had to try to get some extra passes for those family members that weren't with us and then to be at the Hollywood Pictures backlot stage at 8pm with our pass. While we waited for Brian, Zack and Carsyn to come out of the Muppets 3D show, we saw a stage performance that included Sorcerer Mickey, Cowboy Woody and Cinderella. Each of the Characters stayed for autographs and the boys chose to meet Woody.

On our way out we met Dopey...

We went back to the hotel for one las t dip in the pool. I stayed in the room to do some very creative packing so everything would fit in the suitcases. I love these shots that Brian got of the boys...

We went back in time to catch the one parade we hadn't seen yet...Disney's Pixar Play Parade...it was awesome. Here's a sampling:

Before we left Californian Adventure, we went to see the Turtle Talk with Crush show and the Dream Team was there handing out more passes so it worked out perfectly that the rest of our family had one too!
So, we go to the location and fins out we won an extra hour in California Adventure...after the park closed...how cool is that!! We had access to all the attractions and basically no line ups!!
The thirll seekers headed off to California Screamin...Zack and Carsyn were sooo excited that their Dad had agreed to go on it... and the rest of us went one final time to Bugsland. Gavin said he had to go on all the rides one more time because he was going to miss them all sooo much! So we did...all of us made that little boy very happy going on the rides with him...one last time!
Walking out of Bugsland, he started to cry! I had to carry him and try to tell him it wpuld be ok...that someday, maybe we could come back and visit, that we had tons of pictures and video and he would never forget...all the while trying to hold back the tears myself (even as I type this I'm getting a bit teary eyed).
We went on the Monsters Inc ride yet again, while Brian took Grandpa Bud on the Tower of Terror. The kids didn't want to go again but Brian wasn't leaving till he rode it at least once more!
We all gathered in Sunshine square but Brian decided he had to go buy a "I survived the Tower of Terror" shirt and as we were waiting, Mickey and Minnie were near the exits. Gavin wanted to go say goodbye and Thanked Mickey for the best holiday ever...okay, I'm crying now and I couldn't stop when he said that to Mickey either.
So, with that, we made our final exit from California Adventure park and headed back to Disneyland to shut it down!
The one ride no one had been on but was a must was Splash Mountain. Gavin wasn't having anything to do with it and Grandpa's back was bugging him, so the 2 of them stayed with Grandma and the 5 of us headed off. I can't believe that I was about to do this!! I don't do rides...what was I thinking! I was thinking that the boys and Brian really really really wanted me to do with one thing with them and I couldn't let them down! If there had been a line up, I might have talked myslef out o it but darn it...we walked right on and before we knew it...off we were. I don't need to say anything...this picture really is worth a 1000 words (gawd...I can't believe I'm about to show people this...lol)





this pic was taken just as we started to fall from the final drop...I knew it was going to be bad when just before we fell, Brian, who had a birds eye view, hollered, "holy sh*t"...he wanted to go again but once was enough for the rest of us!

And with that, it was over. Our final day at Disneyland had come to an end. It was a slow and teary stroll back to the hotel. After we left the gates and made our way toward the street, the 3 youngest boys started sobbing and of course their mom joined them...pretty much all the way back to the hotel.

Overall, we had the most amazing time. Of course there were a few moments at the beginning that caused some stresses but that's to be expected I guess. Once we got in the groove of things we loved being there together at the happiest place on Earth!
Even Brian, who wasn't sold on the idea at first was sooo happy we had gone...especially cause our kids had soooo much fun! I even got all caught up in the magical atmosphere and found myself wide eyed with amazement. The pixie dust had a magical effect on us all. It really was the trip of a lifetime!!

Day 9...coming home
Not knowing what traffic was going to be like, we headed out extra early to make it back in time to return our rental and get shuttled back to the airport. Made good time and upon checking in, found out the flight was delayed due to a snowstorm in Calgary! What? Are you kidding?

We ended up with 6 hours at the airport! We ate, shopped at the duty free store and made good use of the go fish cards, drawing paper, activity books and our ipods while we waited to board our flight home...





After a very long day and drive home after landing, we finally pulled in the driveway at 2:45am! Every one of us was exhausted but we all agreed it was worth it!!!

Two days after being home, we had already started planning our next family vacation!!

whoops...sorry people!

Not sure where the time has gone since my last post...sheesh!!
Just wanted to let you know that the last few days of our trip will be posted by the end of the weekend.
Tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day...how cool is that that my hobby has a day just for itself? Anyway, I'll be busy with an online crop all day and may even have company for part of it so it'll probably be Sunday before I get to the post...unless I can find time tonight...see how unpredictable time is in my life...lol!
I hope you're all well.
Be back soon!