Self-timer perfection!

Over Christmas... I discovered that my boys are somehow entranced by the self-timer on my camera.  Christmas eve we were trying to take a family photo with my sister and parents, and when it came time to use the self-timer, the boys lit up!

I don't know why I didn't discover this sooner, I could have save myself a whole lot of foolishness - as in me acting like a complete fool to get my boys to look at me - at the same time - and smile - eyes open - teeth showing, AND somewhat square to the camera.  Its near impossible at the ages they are at right now. If one is smiling, the other one is fighting to get away, or if one is happy to have a photo taken, and the other won't look anywhere in my direction. Its more than a day's worth of work in the effort department, and still the results are often disappointing.

But cue the self-timer and watch the mystery unfold in front of you.  Here's probably the BEST photo I have taken of the two of them in many many months. I am in love with it! E looks so 'big brother' and H is for once looking at the camera and smiling - and not looking at E!

When the informal shoot was going so well (E was all over it announcing to H 'we're gonna do it again Huddy, wait for the beep beep beep, then smile big, and be good - okay?'), I decided to join the fun - and again came away with a successful photo of myself and the boys! I am usually the one taking ninety-five percent of the photos around here, so when I get a great photo of the boys and I, I could practically scream! 

All in all... 10 minutes of self-timing picture taking and I have two photos that I am going to frame for my desk.  If you have a self-timer option on your camera, I suggest you try it with your young children - you just never know what the results will be! I am sure this phase will also wear off, but for now, I will milk it for all its worth.

Next up - Valentine's photos!

Birthday Wrap-up (although technically I still have another week to go)!!

When you still feel 25... the only thing that can make 32 sting a little less is some fancy dancy cupcakes! PC brought these babies home from the Flour Shoppe on Bank Street in Ottawa.  They didn't just look amazing, they tasted amazing too!

E helped me put out the birthday fire... H couldn't be trusted to A. stay away from the flames B. keep his hands out of the fancy icing!

32 also stung a little less when PC and the boys surprised me with a brand new MacBook Pro. I was shocked to say the least - I guess all my belly aching about my current MacBook being maxed to capacity didn't go unnoticed!

My b-day itself was kinda of a flop... we wanted to go sledding with the boys but the it was so damn cold that day, we didn't risk it. I settled for a nice lunch out with the fam and a little bit of shopping. That's the breaks when your born in January!

Thanks for all of the birthday messages, tweets, and FB shout-outs... they did not go unnoticed! Now let's hope 32 is a great year!

The taxman drives a....

Tonight while waiting for dinner to finish cooking, PC, and the boys, and I were down stairs playing in the basement...enjoying a few minutes of downtime after a long day.

E seems to be in quite the 'good guys vs. bad guys' phase right now.

He is always asking us... is that guy a good guy or a bad guy?

As a parent it seems like a pretty straight forward game... and we all recall the basic scenario:
cops = good guys
robbers = bad guys.

E has a ride around Fisher Price police car with a siren, and he is often chasing someone down in his very imaginative make-believe world. He always wants to know 'who can I chase now?' ... and you have to get creative with a three year-old or else he will call you on it... 'but I already chased that guy Mommy'.

Tonight... he wanted to know who he can chase... so for kicks, I threw out, 'how about the taxman?'.

Immediately E asks for clarification 'is he a good guy or a bad guy?' I chuckled and immediately said bad guy, while PC (a civil servant taxman) corrects me and says 'good guy'. Good or bad issue aside, E gets all distraught and insists...

'but I can't chase the taxman, because... cause... cause... the taxman drives a ... a... a...a taxi - and he'll get away on me.'

PC and I cried laughing.... of course it makes perfect sense to a three year old ... taxman - taxi - of course a taxi would be the taxman's gettaway car!

You just never know what to expect from the mouth of a three year-old!

I had to post this little snippet from tonight as I know these are the little moments that I will enjoy reading in 12 years, when he's giving me some major teenaged attitude! 

Birthday Month!

You know what the best thing is about January?
Besides it being a new year... its my...

Birthdaaaaaaaaaaay Moooooooooonth
(say it Oprah Winfrey style).

Okay... so I don't celebrate the entire month (publicly) but internally, I am throwing myself one party after the other.

It's not kinda a big deal... it IS a big deal!
Just ask PC, I remind him, every. single. day.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved my birthday! My Mom and Dad always made it special for me in some form or another, and to be honest, they still do so today (which I love)!

I came across this photo a few months ago, and I though my birthday month was the perfect time to post it! It is from one of my birthday parties.... with many of my childhood friends. Aren't we cute?!

L to R Front: Sherry Lautenslager, Jamie King, Megan Turner

L to R Back: Moi, Tiffany Thompson, Kristy Cooke

Judging from the number of candles on the cake, it looks like my 6th birthday, so probably grade 1! I frankly don't remember the exact details of this party, but I love a lot of things about this picture... like the pure happiness on our faces as we sip grape Crush and cream soda, the retro ketchup and mustard bottles we used to dress our hot dogs, and those very basic chip bowls which my Mom and Dad are still using to this very day.

I love the simplicity that was my birthday all those years ago... and as 32 is knocking banging on the door, ironically I want something much the same this year - a little cake, something to sip on ... and being surrounded by some pretty amazing people! 

Update from the working world!

One full week under my belt and I have lived to tell the tale!

Things at the office are running just as predicted... I saw some friendly faces which was nice, and I also saw a whack load of new faces! 14 months in Government is a long time in the human resource world.

My pet peeve with the new faces is that when they see me... they take note, and then talk to their other semi-new colleagues, and they ask each other 'who's the new girl?'.

I'm not the new girl... I am NOT. THE. NEW. GIRL.

Other than that... I am enjoying being back in the swing of things. I got my first assignment last week and it forced me to dust off the cobwebs and find my groove. Its amazing how quickly things are coming back to me - as they say... just like riding a bike!

The boys had a pretty awesome first week at daycare too... lots of new activities and all around new fun. They are adjusting better than expected and seeing their happy sweet faces at the end of the day is definitely the highlight. E is full information from the day's events too, and it makes suppertime conversation pretty hilarious!

PC was off last week, so I didn't have to do morning drop off. He let me ease back into the whole routine which was also nice! I just had to worry about me and my coffee first thing in the AM, but tomorrow, I get to figure out exactly what its like to get myself and two 'I love to sleep' boys out the door for 7am.

In addition to the working world, also comes the age old question of 'what's for dinner'? This weekend, PC and I took 15 minutes on Saturday to meal plan for the week ahead... and Sunday I hit the grocery store (a zoo) to pick up all the items we needed. I have NEVER done this before, and I have to say (prematurely speaking) its nice to not have to think about meals at the end of the day - so I hope this is something we can keep up for the long haul.

Yes... the working world is not so bad, its actually nice to have some time to myself, and to do some things in a day that I am good at, besides being silly with my boys at home. Its hard to leave them when they are at such fun ages, but at the same time, I think I can find a balance to make the most of my time with them.

I am 'officially' back to work, back in the swing of things, and back to living for evenings and weekends again. The time off with my boys was fabulous while it lasted, but rejoining the office world has had some nice perks too! Given that it took me a week to get this update posted, I can see that blogging may have to take a back seat, but hopefully I can keep it up and interesting enough to have you check in on me once in a while.

Thanks for understanding... I hope my next post won't be too far away.

Cheers!

Here goes nothing...

Back to work.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I am fifty-one percent looking forward to it, and forty-nine percent dreading it.

Its one of those things that when I sit back and think about it... I will NEVER have another time in my life where I can just 'be' ... be at home with my sweet boys, be dedicated to being a Mom and only a Mom, and be unconcerned with my professional career.

By returning to work, I have to actively think about work (which isn't a bad thing) but I also have to juggle the challenges at the office with that of being a Mom. Trying to maintain all the things at home, but also taking into account my career and the energy required to excel in that environment.

I think the part of me that is dreading the return is that I know something has to slip at home.  I can't possibly keep up everything I've done in the past year, when the good portion of my day is spent at the office - and I remember going back to work after my time off with E... through the week, the only time you see your children is when they are at the lowest part of their day (cranky time before supper... rush rush rush to get them to bed for a decent night's sleep). That in itself is an adjustment as you are constantly wondering if being a working Mom is worth it when your kids spend forty-five percent of their time with you whining or in tears. 

For me, I know that I enjoy my career... and I enjoy my office (or at least I did a year ago), and my boys will only be young like this for a short period. I know its manageable but I do live in the dream world where I wish my full-time dedication to them didn't have to end just yet!

I've had a great year with both of my boys. In September E will be off to school, and by that time H will be a walking talking machine.  In just nine short months so much in our daily routine is going to change again... so its best not to dwell on what isn't anymore and focus on what is... and how to conquer the challenge that is a new daily routine.

In preparation for tomorrow, I have managed to check quite a few things off my list in the last couple of days... Christmas tree and decorations are down and put away, PC and I did a three level mega-toy organization... and now our living room doesn't look like we robbed a toy store anymore.  I also put away a lot our Christmas presents (as in PC and I), did ALL the laundry... kids, adults, sheets, towels, blankets - you name it, its been washed!  I managed to make a great supper tonight, grocery shop for supper meals for the coming nights, and make my lunch (which I haven't done in forever). We also ate supper at 5:00 today (which never happens), PC had the boys bathed by 6:30, and E was sleeping by 7:30, with H going down at 8:30.  Not sure if its the back to work thing or the New Year that has us so well organized today... but whatever the case is I like it.

Just have to locate my work pass, figure out an outfit for the AM, set the Keurig of Auto ON/OFF ... and I'll be rolling out the door tomorrow morning at 7 AM as if I am off to the lottery office to pick up my big cheque!

Wish me luck... cause here goes nothing!

Welcome 2012

I would love to say I am jumping up and down to start the new year, but the truth of it is, I am feeling a little sad... not because a new year is upon us, but because I go back to work on Tuesday, after almost 14 months away from the office.

2011 was a great year. I have logged so many memories from it... ones that I know are going to slip away so quickly, especially since Tuesday I now take on the challenge of working mom of two.

I want to be optimistic that 2012 is going to be a great year... but I have to wonder, how could anything possibly top 2011?

The good news is... I am going to find out (whether I want to or not), and although my expectations for the year are low... I am hoping I come away pleasantly surprised.

The end of 2011 was lots of fun... we had a great Christmas and got to spend some time with both sides of our family - where would be without family? I do know that I would have cooked and clean a heck of lot more these past few weeks if it wasn't for our dear families looking after us and giving us a break from it all (so thank you Mom B and Mom C).

While at my parents over Christmas I managed to take a family photo of my side of the family... and it turned out good (everyone including children looking at the camera and smiling = rare). I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take advantage of Dolcetto Designs New Year bonus... so I had a little digital design put together for my Mom & Dad & sister to say just that 'Happy New Year'!

I hope 2012 treats each of you wonderfully... life is short so let's enjoy the time we have together and not dwell on all of the imperfections in our lives.

My motto has always been... live well. laugh often. love much. - and I plan to do so in 2012.

Cheers!