Feeling Better

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better now. If only I could say the same for Emily. She's not outright sick, but I don't think she's 100%. She was very tired and a little sad today... needless to say I was able to get in lots of snuggles, which are very rare these days.

Today was kind of a write-off as far as getting anything really done. We woke up late, and with breakfast, showers and baths there wasn't a lot of time this morning to do much before we left to go meet Adam for lunch in the Village. After a late nap this afternoon, I managed to convince a sobbing and snuggling Emily to come outside and plant some more flowers with me. So I guess I did get that done, at least.

I scrapbooked during nap time - didn't get a whole lot done as it took awhile to organize my creative mojo. But I finished my layout this evening. Not much on tv these days as things are heading into re-runs soon. Spent an hour watching Criminal Minds (season finale??), and lost patience having to wait until 8:07pm to find out who was crowned the next "American Idol". Does it bother anyone else that shows no longer start or end on the hour or half hour? What's with things running from 7pm to 8:02pm? It messes with me trying to program my evening into my tv - an inconvenience I don't like. So who did win Idol - that chick or that dude? I'm not that invested in the outcome, to be honest. I'll just wait to hear about it through the grapevine. Oh, and with Cowell off the show for next season, I'm not sure it'll be the same... even though it did seem at times that he just phoned it in this season. Maybe he misses Paula Abdul, lol. Does anyone???? But I digress...

Here's my newest layout. I took the picture outside on my deck as it seemed to have the best lighting. Enjoy. I'm off for a quick walk before it turns too dark outside.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

A Return to Routine

My house guests have gone home. It was a very nice weekend with them, despite being sick and having lousy weather. We enjoyed good food, good games, good talks and the first local farmer's market of the year. Yesterday our house returned to normal, although I'm still sick and as a result, not a lot of fun. I'm starting to feel a little better today - my first day in many not on any drugs. :) However, now I think Emily might be catching my bug. She's had a bit of a rough day today - nothing terrible, but just a little whiny and she looks very tired.

Our rain has FINALLY gone - after 3.5 inches this weekend and a couple of gloomy days - there was actual sunshine this morning. Emily and I went out and planted a bunch more flowers in the garden this morning. My fenced-in garden area (fenced to keep out the deer) is becoming more for flowers, and less for veggies this year. I'm okay with that.

After coming inside, I oiled up Emily's scalp to try and get rid of what looks like cradle cap, a problem she seems prone to. A nice long bath and two shampoos later, and her hair still looks like Lionel Ritchie's in the 80's. I think another shampoo or two might be in order later today.

Now that my weekend company is gone, I have once again turned my guest room back into my scrapbooking oasis. I'm thinking that in a few weeks I'm going to move Emily into our guest room (which is much bigger than her current room and can accommodate all her toys that seem to be ruling our living room). That means that her current room will be vacant and I intend to turn it into my scrapbooking space. I have great plans in my head, but am unsure what will actually occur. I'll keep you posted on that front.

After bringing all my beloved scrapping supplies out of the closet again, I did complete one layout. It's a picture of my daughter trying to nurse her baby after seeing her aunt nursing. Except Emily really had no idea of what she was doing - just that she needed to cover the baby close to her so that she could eat. I'm quite pleased with it - I even paper pieced the monkeys together. Take a look...

That's all for now. I'm hoping to be fully recovered by my next posting.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Time to Build a Boat!

It has been raining since 4pm yesterday. Not just a lovely, light spring-time rain either. A constant torrential downpour. Now I realize that I've been praying for rain, and don't get me wrong, I am thankful that it's raining. But as of first thing thing morning, we had already received 2.5 inches of rain, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. That seems like a bit too much. I'm sure by the time the clouds move on we'll have seen at least 3.5 inches. My water barrel filled up in less than 1/2 an hour and I've had to divert it to the lawn now. There are huge puddles forming all over the place. Hopefully our house doesn't start to float away!

Oh, and now I'm sick because of this rain. I spent too much time outside yesterday, running around in the rain, getting wet and cold, trying to cover my flowers, divert water and the like. My throat is raw and my head is killing me. And I'm trying to get things in order for company arriving this afternoon. Thankfully, it's just my side of the family, so things don't have to be perfect. I think I'll manage.

Yesterday, right before our thunderstorm started, I quickly reseeded my peas in the garden. Only 4 or 5 plants have emerged from the seeds I sowed a few weeks ago... a far cry from the 40 or 50 I seeded. Not sure what went wrong, but here's hoping these ones germinate better.

I also spent a few minutes scrapbooking yesterday and managed to complete one quick layout. This morning I packed up all my supplies and tucked them back into the closet, trying to get our guest room ready for our soon-to-arrive guests. Emily is very excited about Nana and Papa coming for a visit and has been counting down the sleeps for a few days now. She loves when people stay at our house! :) I'm off to get things in order for their arrival. I leave you with my newest layout.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Yuck!!!

Okay, so this morning in an attempt to get all cleaned up for our gym day, and wash away all the grim from playing in the soil yesterday, I gave Emily a bath this morning. Not unlike most days. Except... today she decided to poop in the tub! YUCK! I realize that sometimes that just happens with kids... but it's never happened with her before and I thought we were long past that stage. So, just as I'm lathering up her hair with shampoo, she drops a deuce. We're already pressed for time when this happens, but now I need to deal with this all. Not pleasant. Needless to say, we ended up being 35 minutes late for gym this morning. Potty training will be starting soon...

After a short gym time today (as we missed nearly half of it), we stopped at the post office and picked up our final order of Lego. We should be all set for a good while now. And with my younger brother, who was (and may still be) very into Lego, coming to visit this weekend, we should have a good time with it all.

It's a scorching hot day outside today - the mercury is climbing to 30 degrees Celsius. There's a 60% chance of a thunderstorm later as well, which I'm just praying pans out. It is soooooo dry here right now - we really need the rain. That and I'm getting tired of having to water my garden multiple times a day. It would be nice to have a little break.

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better today than yesterday. My headaches are gone and I think I'm back to my normal self (though not sure if that's good or bad, lol.)

Seeing as how I really didn't accomplish anything on my to-do list yesterday, I should try to tackle some of it today. I'll leave you with a picture I took of Emily the other day, feeding her baby.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Another Trip to the Greenhouse

Last night seemed like a rather long night. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the washroom feeling just fine, but soon got REALLY dizzy and hot, called Adam to help me, was told that I passed out at least twice... ahhh... it was not fun. After a brutal 20 minutes or so (I'm guessing, as all I could really think about was getting cool and wanting the world to stop spinning) I felt fine again. I awoke this morning feeling ok - just a little dizzy still. Not sure what the issue was, but I hope that doesn't happen again.

Today brings us hot sunshine and temperatures soaring to the high 20's (Celsius). I really don't feel like doing a whole lot - my to-do list that I made up last night will, I believe, remain rather untouched today. So instead, I took Emily to the greenhouse again to pick out some more Flow-ees. :) We also "enjoyed" another picnic lunch outside again this afternoon. I say "enjoyed" because all I could really think about today was trying to get lunch finished so that I could put Emily down for her afternoon nap. More for me than her, sadly. I'm contemplating a nap for myself - something I never do since it really messes with my night sleep schedule. For now, I'm quite content to sit in the cool, shaded comfort of my house.

Well, that seems to be all the news I have to share today.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Catching Up

WOW! Has it really been that long since I've blogged last?? May 3rd? Hmmmm.... I guess I've been busy.

So what do you need to catch up on...? Let's see...

Well, our weeks are getting busier with our moms & tots group. Twice a week we drive 25 minutes away to get together with a bunch of other little kiddos. Once for gym time and another for "classroom" time (crafts, songs, toys, etc.). Emily is really starting to love it - especially gym time. And they have these activity backpacks that you can sign out - all themed and filled with books, puzzles, games, crafts and sometimes even a video. Emily is very excited about them and this past week we tackled 2 (Zoo & The Hungry Little Caterpillar). Not a very easy thing to do as they can take up a fair bit of time. But we had one major craft day this past week and did a bunch of good-sized crafts - painting, markers, pipe cleaners, glue, googly eyes - it's ALL good! :)

Mother's Day has also come and gone. It was a lovely day (I was in a bit of a mood, however). But I was treated to a very lovely gift - A NEW CAMERA!! :) I was (and still am) very excited and have begun to experiment with it a little and read up on my manual. It's going to be great to use, but I think there's a bit of a learning curve with it. I still have to download all the software to my computer so for now, I'm still primarily using my old point-and-shoot camera.

I've also been crazy busy with paperwork lately. The onset of nicer weather means that we're heading into our busy season with work, which translates into more paperwork for me. We've just hired another full-time girl (she used to be part-time) so I'm hoping to shift some of my paperwork to one of our other long-time employees at the end of this month. It's just becoming very difficult to stay on top of it all when Emily is requiring more of my attention and we're spending greater amounts of time outdoors.

Speaking of the great outdoors, yesterday Emily and I went to a local greenhouse and picked up a few flats of flowers. This year she has her very own planter to care for (and pick flowers from). She was super excited about the flowers (flow-ees, as Emily calls them) yesterday and it was all she could talk about all evening. Even when I put her to bed yesterday, she was still talking about them. I told her to dream about the new flowers and I think she did! Last night she was talking in her sleep a little and said a very excited "NEW!", lol. This morning, we planted up her pot as well as a couple of mine. It's still a little early, so I don't want to get too carried away, but it's supposed to be hot for at least the next week or so. Hopefully I won't have to cover them up too much at night.

Today is such a beautiful day outside - sunny with the odd little cloud, calm, and hardly any bugs (which for our house is HIGHLY unusual, but likely due to how dry we are). Adam cut the lawn this morning. The first cut of the season - all very exciting! For lunch, I did up a little picnic of wee-sized sandwiches, strawberries and grapes, spread out our picnic blanket on the lawn in the shade of one of our many spruce trees and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch outside. It's been a great day so far!! :)

Now with everyone (Emily & Adam) down for their afternoon naps, I figured I'd take a few moments to blog before diving into the mountain of paperwork before me.

I have managed to get a few more scrapbooking layouts done since the last time I posted. I must have had a creative rush because I really haven't spent a lot of time scrapping, yet I managed to accomplish something. I had a bit of a pause while creating as I ran out of gems for my one layout and had to wait to buy some more from my lovely local scrapbook heaven, BLACK INK PAPERIE. I bought up the entire stock of clear gems to make sure I didn't run out again (at least for awhile). Almost 150 gemstones later, my layout was sufficiently "blinged out", lol. I have only a few more days to scrapbook before I have to pack it all back into the closet and clean up our guest room, as we have family coming to visit over May Long Weekend. With spending more and more time outside, my scrapbooking slows down quite a bit until it gets cooler out again.

That's it for now. Until next time....

Buck Lake Blogger

It's Raining...

I'll try not to make blogging twice in one day a habit, but I finished my other layout and thought I'd post it as well.

And it's raining. I thought I heard one distant boom of thunder, but we are far from the torrents of rain, dark sky and booms & flashes that all accompany a good thunderstorm. I'll wait patiently... :) I think I need to let my fire die out now... it's nearly 24 degrees Celsius in my house and I'm starting to overheat.

As I can hear Emily starting to stir from her nap, I'll add a picture of my newest layout (it has a lot more "sparkle" then the photo is picking up) and get this posted.

The house still remains a mess (soon to be remedied), but at least I got to scrapbook today!!!!!! :D

Until next time... (and I promise it won't be today again)...

Buck Lake Blogger

Getting into the "Swing" of things

Today is kind of a dreary day. There's a pretty good chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon - which I would welcome with open arms. However, the forecast is also calling for snow to follow. That I could definitely live without. Just when we think we're finally done with the snow... more comes! Arrggghhhh.....


Yesterday, Adam (my husband), put together a new swing set for my daughter. It was quite the ordeal - nothing wanted to line up properly. And anyone who knows Adam, knows that he's got a bit of a short fuse. Needless to say, Emily and I ended up going back into the house while Adam continued working on assembly - allowing him to grumble and throw things in peace. There really wasn't time to play on the newly assembled swings last night, so first thing this morning (with the night's cold chill still in the air) we bundled up and went out for a swing. Em had a blast!





I also managed to plant my lettuce and carrots this morning.... in anticipation of the good rain that a thunderstorm promises. I'm struggling with keeping the cats out of the garden - they see it as one giant playland and litter box. They wrestle each other right on top of my flowers and strawberries, and seem to love to try to dig up my freshly planted seeds. I've covered the seeds with bird fence, but that just seems to attract the cats more, since they also love to roll around in the plastic mesh. Frustrating! I might have to stock up on some bulk cayenne pepper and get used to sprinkling it throughout my garden on a regular basis.


Other than that, not much else is new. My house looks like a bomb went off in it today. I think the mess all happened this morning, because I'm pretty sure it didn't look like this yesterday. Hmmm.... But I'm too comfortable sitting here in front of a cozy fire to get up and do anything about it right now. I'll have a speed clean this afternoon to get it all back in shape before Adam gets home... :) He'll never know, lol.


I finished another layout yesterday - this one of Emily's great-grandparents. I'm currently working on another layout (about 1/2 finished), so I'll post that soon too, I hope.





Enjoy your day wherever you are!


Until next time...


Buck Lake Blogger

Quick Update

Just a quick update... doesn't look like I'll get as much done today as I would like. It's almost time to start getting ready to go. Maybe time for a quick play outside now that Emily's up from her nap. I did manage to get another layout done! :)

Cheers!

Buck Lake Blogger

Taking 'er Easy

I had a great visit with my old roommate yesterday. Her children, especially the 2 boys, are full of energy!! What fun!! :) Emily was a little taken aback at first, unsure of all these kids who after being in our house for maybe 5 seconds, were already pulling out all her toys to play with. She sat playing, rather contently, on the couch beside me for the first while. But I think she found the interest of having 2 little boys in the house too great of a pull, and she was soon playing too... although still with some reserve. We are now even more convinced that she needs to have a sibling playmate... we're trying to work on that. :)

Today has been a relaxed day. After pulling out all the Lego again (we hid it all away yesterday from the ~2 year old boys, who still like to put things in their mouths), we got right back into the swing of it all. I've done some light housework, but have decided to take it easy today. Emily and I spent part of the morning outside, while I BBQ'd lunch. It's a beautiful day again - the sun is shining bright, with just a hint of a breeze. I spent a bit of time scrapbooking & hope to spend a bit more this afternoon. I'd also like to do a little more planting in the garden today as well. Not sure if I'll have time though, since we're off this evening to celebrate a birthday at a friend's house. With that being said, if I want to get a chance to do some of those things, I should go now. I leave you with the layout I did this morning.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger