Spring Break

It's our first spring break and it is definitely a nice time for a break. It's neat to not have to run around like chickens in the morning but we've been a little too lax with bed time! Yesterday we had a great playdate with friends from Carson's old preschool class and I am so grateful to be friends with several of the mothers from there. It's cool how you meet friends through your kids! We've been trying to keep busy and having fun in the last few weeks with Hockey games, movies and trips to the YMCA. We also had a great time at the World of Wheels this past weekend. I was happy to see Henry Winkler a second time as I had met him on my trip to Europe in 1998. I brought the picture from that day and reminded him of the circumstances. He got a big kick out of it, especially because the meeting took place in Barcelona, Spain. He was really nice and despite having to pay for any pictures or autographs (no offense but no way I was paying 20 bucks!) he gave my mom and I each a personalized picture and signed my pic from Spain. It was nice to go back to that time and it was fun seeing him. I reminded him how I had said "These are happy days in Barcelona" and he laughed! The boys enjoyed seeing Doc Hudson of course! Tomorrow we are going to Steinbach to visit with my Oma and my cousins and we're looking forward to that. Happy Easter!

Fargo!

What a great weekend we had in Fargo! We were so glad that we chose to go despite having to miss a few functions back at home. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up and I'm not sure how we managed to pack it all into 2 days but we did. There were 18 of my extended family who met up at the C'mon Inn in Fargo. My cousin and his wife and 2 adorable children drove 4 hours up from Iowa and a bunch of us drove down from Manitoba. How cool is that? And it really is a great city with lots of shopping and great restaurants. We fit some shopping in when we got there (of course we made a pit stop in Grand Forks on the way down) and then had a great supper at Paradiso with the whole gang in the evening. It was our first time at Paradiso and it is a great atmosphere with chips, salsa and latin music - a few of my favorite things! Can you say chimichanga? Then we swam and hung out in the courtyard hot tub talking and catching up. We even got to see surprise tattoos!! The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast together in the courtyard and got a store or 2 in before meeting at the Golden Corral for lunch. How fun to be surrounded by your family! It's always special to do fun things like this with my Oma. Plus Carson was over the moon to be spending time swimming and playing with my cousin's kids who are 7 and 9. They get along so well! I hate to overshadow my fun times with my family but I did find some great deals in the US-I usually do but this was awesome. I got a Columbia fall/spring jacket for $7.00 and a few shirts for $2.00. Then I found some pants for .50 cents!!! I also got shoes for $1.00 and yes they are all very nice! There were plenty of other bargains including a great pair of pants that I found for my cousin's 9 year old for .30 cents and they were her size and super cute! Chris likes getting all of his dress clothes at Kohl's and he brought back a bunch of shirts and ties. I also got Carson a bunch of hoodies for $3.00. I think this actually beats all my previous records! Chris and I plan to go back soon as we found some great bikes for Carson that were such good prices. Oh, and I'm already starting to crave my taco salad from Taco Bell. Yes, small things make me happy...
This week has been a bit dreary outside but the temps have been warm and the snow has been melting at an alarming rate. Spring is finally around the corner! The kids and I haven't played outside but we've been trying to keep busy at the library, a movie and even Dollarama...it can be an outing...We'll see what I venture to do next week!

My "kid" turns 3

Well, my baby is no longer a baby! He's felt like 3 for a while but when it actually hit I still felt a bit sad. So I kept saying "my baby my baby" and Caleb did not like that too much. He said "I'm not a baby - I'm a kid!" He's had a rough week but he still really enjoyed his birthday and the attention. He had a fever for like 5 days and also had hives as a result. Poor thing was sooo itchy at his birthday party and was covered from head to toe in itchy red bumps. Sheesh-I'm getting a tad sick of the virus around here. I have had a head/sinus cold for 2 full weeks and have never gone through so much Kleenex. Miserable! That is the joy of living in this cold climate and being stuck indoors so much. It is cold right now with a windchill into the -30's. On the plus side the sun is shining and the house is bright and cheery. Caleb is content to be at home playing with his cars and doing puzzles while Carson has moved on to video games. Already? Chris and I enjoy watching Olympics and of course our shows like the Bachelor and Survivor. Should I admit that? I must say that on our big screen in HD those shows are kinda cool. So is Olympic hockey. I really should be more creative with my time but when you don't feel well it just doesn't happen. Life is so different when you are a stay at home mom. Days are filled with jelly sandwiches and cleaning poop from underwear. Strange! I guess that's why I hang on every word when Chris comes home with Kia tales. I went to visit him last week and was thrilled to put stamps on service notices that go out to customers. But I had only put on 1 stamp when Carson decided to have a public meltdown because I wouldn't allow him an iced tea from the drink machine. Needless to say we had to leave and I was disappointed because I enjoy spending time there. Makes me feel a part of the business. Oh well, one day. Anyways, I'm rambling. Life really isn't hard-just different. But I should be used to it - I've been home for 3 years now! Wow! I will continue to enjoy my baby as I sign him up for preschool in the fall and we move on to the next chapter! Here are some pics from Caleb's BDay.

Only in Winnipeg could you go from -1 one day to -30 the next. We've spent the week digging ourselves out and going to doctor's appointments. We got a lot of snow and Chris was saying this morning that he would probably have to jump on his bobcat and clear some snow at the dealership. And it snowed a week ago! I guess that goes to show how busy he's been! He has this neat heated concrete in several key spots around garage doors and stuff where the snow just automatically melts which is a big help I would assume.
Anyways, Carson had this allergist appointment this week and the good news is that he is asthma free. So stop the puffers which is good but it's still a mystery as to why he coughs the way he does. The doctor prescribed him Nasonex but I'm hesitant to fill it. So confusing sometimes but I'm grateful that he is ok.
I wanted to post this video of Caleb singing away one morning while Carson was at school. He's started music class and was not thrilled at all about going but he really got into it when we were there. I guess we aren't exactly singing Taylor Swift at music lessons though! That's the boys fave song - You belong with me. They are so funny. Actually he's singing "the lion sleeps tonight" which he was just wandering around the house doing and it was so hilarious. I can't believe he'll be 3 in 3 weeks! I've got a party to plan!

Cancun 2010

We've been home almost a week now and I think I'm almost done crawling out from under the pile of laundry! Actually now I have 1 more suitcase in the hall as Chris just got home from a Kia convention in Atlanta last night. Although there's a bit less laundry there as I will not be washing his suit since I will only hopefully make that mistake once! (They just looked like regular black pants!) It was weird to have him gone but as I said the laundry kept me occupied. And then there's the coughing... Carson has been coughing now since before Christmas and it sucks to hear him like that. He coughed the entire time in Mexico and we just want him to get some relief but there's not a whole lot we can do. He has a ventalin puffer but that doesn't seem to be doing too much.. I will be at the doctor later today and get him checked again. It's tough sending him to school with that bark but he'd miss tons of school if I kept him home because of it.
Anyways, we're glad the weather is mild at home right now although when you're away you always hope it's freezing at home! Then again it's good it didn't snow as then we did not have to ask anyone to fix up our driveway. Unfortunately we did not have good weather in Mexico as we had that cold front that Florida had. Good thing for the weather forecasts as I had packed our suitcases a bit differently. We did wear the same few hoodies alot though, oh well. I was disappointed because I wanted my mom to have the best experience possible but I needn't worry because her and Stacey had a great time! We had so much fun together and had lots of adventures. We just didn't lay in the sun and bake which we shouldn't be doing anyways! We were lucky to be in Cancun where there is so much to do and lots of shopping which thrilled my sister! The designer stores are endless and we had fun walking through them. She got some really neat stuff and we had fun watching her! We went to a dolphin show one day at the aquarium and then another day we swam with the dolphins at a waterpark and also had fun with the slides. If you ask Caleb his favorite thing, he always says the bumper boats. We rented a car for 2 days which was easy and fun, except for Carson and his car sickness. We went to a place called Crococun where there were crocodiles, spider monkeys and other animals and Carson was in heaven. We had a great time in Playa Del Carmen where we were able to park, eat, drink and swim at our sister resort for free. Great way to see the sights there. We weren't able to do alot of swimming in the ocean but we picked shells, took walks and were able to swim in the heated pool at the resort. That was a lifesaver and fun for all of us. The food was fantastic and going to the restaurants 3 times a day and eating like pigs seemed to take up a lot of the day. We also enjoyed some amazing cocktails that were always beautiful to look at and yummy too. The mango tango was my fave. All in all we had an amazing trip and enjoyed our time with my mom and Stacey (the help was great too!) It truly was relaxing - even though we were always on the go but the break from cooking and cleaning was amazing! Here's some pictures...

Happy New Year

I'm having one of those days where I do everything except what I'm supposed to be doing. Like lining up all the cans perfectly when I should be doing laundry! Ha, I'm exaggerating but I am in a weird state. It shouldn't be so hard to pack us up with bathing suits for a week but for some reason it is and I was looking so forward to it and now I'm just stressed. This shirt or this shirt...I'm crazy I know. Instead I'm going through an endless pile of Carson's coloring papers and having to throw stuff out because the pile was getting out of control in my kitchen. I am really looking forward to the next few days when I will not have to agonize over what to make for supper! I guess I hate to leave my house in a mess, or come back to one for that matter so everything ends up coming down to the last few days. And I thought Christmas was busy!
Anyways, we had a nice Christmas and it was fun to watch the kids enjoy themselves. They also had a few crazy moments from the late nights and stuff. We really didn't do a whole lot. Sometimes I feel like for the most part the days are just the same. Even on Christmas Eve before a nice big supper, we still wind up eating Kraft Dinner for lunch! It seems silly but there is no magical rest from poop and tantrums on Christmas Day! But in between that there are definitely some special moments. So with that said, here are a few pics from the last few weeks.