Q Missing Papa!

Once again we are on our own again. At least this is the second last time that Pat has to go away for work....here in Comox anyway.



PS - Anyone like my new format and banner?

Thomas Wooden Railroad Product Recall

Hey all you Thomas the train freaks! Quinten would like to pass this on so you can all be safe.

http://recalls.rc2.com/recalls_Wood_0607.html

Included are a couple of items that we have in our collection. SCARY!!!

Alia's Godmother

-I have had this post written for awhile now, but hadn't done any picture editing. I have attached the cutest picture of Alia and her Godmother Anne. I think they look a bit alike? Same bright eyes anyway! Too bad Alia has such a stunned look on her face, oh well.

When we were in Ottawa, Alia got to meet her Godmother and Godfather Anne & David for the first time! No we didn't secretly hold the baptism, we'll do that once we are settled out there, but we have known that they will be Godparents for a long time now. We had a wonderful time visiting with them, and are looking forward to many more fun times.

The Secret?

Anyone heard anything about this "The Secret" thing?
http://thesecret.tv/optimists-creed/
I am a believer in the power of positive thinking, but is this taking it a bit far on the hokey side? Maybe it isn't, what do you think?

Thoughts for today

Children learn what they live!

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child learns to feel shame, he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

Dorothy Law Neite

Rag Quilts By Lauren

Alia's Quilt


Once again, I am a snot filled catastrophe! So are my children.
I have to send a big shout out to Lauren for making Alia the most beautiful Quilt ever. I love it, the fabrics are so nice and the pattern reminds me of a scrapbooking page. It is really special that she took the time to make a rag quilt (which I know is not an easy job). She also made one for Quinten last year, which he uses on his bed every night. They are both well made, but I can see how Lauren has improved her technique. I need a few pointers from her for sure, the last, and only, time I made a rag quilt, I went through every swear word in both official languages and made up a few of my own along the way. I was sure I'd never do one again, but now after appreciating these quilts so much, I may have to reconsider...GASP.

Quinten's Quilt

Our new house

There it is! It's in Stittsville, which is just past Kanata (if you know Ottawa, that's one of the big suburbs). Stittsville has a small town feel to it, quite a nice area, but it will take us awhile to get used to the traffic going into and out of Ottawa. I had forgotten what it's like to drive through rush hour traffic! We will be moving in at the beginning of August...which means leaving here end of July. As excited as I am to get settled into our new home, I am not at all looking forward to moving away from my parents, friends, and all that the Comox valley has to offer.

From the mouth of Quin

I was wearing some new silk Pyjamas last night and this morning when Quin saw me he said, "Wow....I love those Mama. They're butiful". It was the cutest thing. It is a sad day when your toddler pays you more compliments than your husband ;)

We're off

As Jen so graciously pointed out yesterday at a Scrapbooking crop we attended (Tons of fun, I'll show my pages at a later date), I haven't posted for a long time. We have been really wrapped up in looking at the MLS listings and choosing houses we want to visit in Ottawa. Our plane leaves in a few hours and I am starting to panic a bit at leaving Quinten behind. Thinking of how much distance will be between us, my heart just breaks when I think if he needs me, I can't get to him. He'll probably weather the separation better than I will!
Hopefully Alia will be a trooper and travel well. I can't imagine it could ever be worse than the last time I travelled with Quinten (story for another time). If I am able, I'll post pictures of our new home when we get it, if we get one! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Missing Papa

We miss you Papa!!




Mama says that she loves the Mother's Day gift that "we" bought her. She plans on using the Silhouette to make many great scrapbooking pages.

Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I just received an email from a parenting support thing that I subscribe to on the net. I get daily inspirational messages that I unfortunately usually ignore. Today's message hit me like a ton of bricks as I do so often think about the sacrifices I make for my family. Hmm, I guess I was in need of this wake up call! What do you all think?

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: A Radical "Mother's Day" Message ::

Today is Mother's Day in many countries, and mothers everywhere are being honored and appreciated for the invaluable contribution of mothering.
That's the bright side...
For many families there's also a subtle dark side of Mother's Day: focusing on the *sacrifices* mothers make for their families.
Mothers' self-sacrifice is typically celebrated by reversing the sacrificial current. For one day, the other family members take over the mother's "duties"
so she can be free (theoretically) to focus entirely on her own pleasure.
Don't get me wrong: I think one of life's simple pleasures is contributing to the pleasure of others, and that includes the good feeling of pampering mothers. It's the undercurrent of *guilt* that so often taints the fun.
When the subtext is, "We're doing this stuff for you today because you *can't* have what you want the other
364 days of the year," it actually *perpetuates* the cycle of self-sacrifice, resentment, and guilt.
So here's a radical proposition for every mother who has ever bought into the idea of self-sacrifice as a
virtue:
Decide that EVERY day is Mother's Day! Don't settle for anything less than a predominantly pleasureful path of mothering, and remember that the best way to raise kids who enjoy life is to let them see your commitment to enjoying life yourself. :-)

**(Note to self-sacrifice addicts: If you think I'm saying you should force yourself to be happy...
think again!)**

Ottawa here we come!

The conditions are all removed from the sale of our house so it's time to go house hunting!! Anyone got any opinions or info about the various areas of Ottawa? We're seeing lots of houses in Kanata and Barrhaven that are nice and in our price range....but it's soooo suburbia. We're talking white picket fence, no funky shops or corner stores, just big chain strip malls. I'd like to live in the city now while the kids are young, but I don't want to be in an area that would have parks and playgrounds littered with beer cans and dirty needles. Not that it couldn't happen in suburbia, but it's not as prevalent in Kanata and Barrhaven from what I hear. Time to do some research, but it's so hard from here.

From the mouth of Quin

Me "I love you Quinten".
Q "I love you too Mommy. Happy Birthday".

He does this nearly every time he says I love you to me or Patrick. What's up with that?

For Sale no longer!

We have a conditional sale on our house!! I am so glad that it was over quickly. The showings started the day after Patrick left for Cold Lake for 21/2 weeks so I have been shuttling the kids around from here to my parents house and trying to coordinate naps and realtor visits and whatnot. Not to mention how impossible it is to keep the house neat and tidy with two mess creators following me around undoing all the straightening up I do. I am not by nature a neat freak, but I do like things to be clean and tidy. I realized in the course of getting the house in tip top shape that I have been neglecting certain areas of the house.....ahhemm....like anywhere that is not in plain sight. I am going to try to keep things looking the way they are right now, but I also realize that the stress it caused me to keep the place looking this way is not any way to live. As nice as it is to be able to eat off the floors, I won't be needing to do that anytime soon.
I think I deserve a medal for doing this while Patrick is away. The last time we moved I was left in an empty condo in Winnipeg for my last month of University, writing papers and studying for finals with only a mattress on the floor and using a card table for my computer. I haven't decided what was worse, that or what I just went through. Different kinds of stress, back then I was only responsible for my comfort and well being. Now there are two more little people to be responsible for. Speaking of them, I should go to bed now (only 8:30 pm. how sad is that) because last night was hell and I am expecting more of the same tonight.