make it happen canada

this morning on my walk, i passed by not one but two pond hockey rinks in my neighborhood. will be cheering you on today canada.

it's going to be a barn burner.

career day

i don't send him to school looking this way!??! maybe it's his moody, brooding writer skills coming out...


LG sends the cutest repairmen. i didn't even mind seeing her plumbers crack...

thank you vitaminwater

c.j. couldn't make it in person, so he made sure his work was plastered all over Vancouver...

this time of year

smiley idy
sleepy idy
stretchy idy
mommy idy

THE investiture

i love this time of year. reason? in the grocery store i can buy tulips. only this time of year around here tulips are available. purple, yellow, red... i really love them. so easy going and perky.

we have been watching the olympics, like everyone else on earth. it has been a bit tense around here with the whole "american/canadian" parent factor. eli is old enough now to pick up on any type of competitiveness, etc..... so when c.j. made the announcement during the opening ceremonies that the living room was the "american coverage only" room, the line was drawn in the sand. {now to clarify, c.j. states he was joking, which he was. however, i was watching exactly the same program which happened to be on the canadian channel in the bedroom and eli could see that. what was the difference between the coverage? nothing. did his comment leave an impression on eli? yes. oh, young impressionable minds...} as a result, there have been a few instances where eli declares he is rooting for the underdog from korea or cheers for the other competitor instead of the american athlete, which gets under c.j.'s skin like crazy bees. my take? who cares who he is cheering for. there are and will be bigger fish to fry in life than who eli roots for during the olympics. in the words of nacho libre "it's just for fun". the olympics are fun. the athletes from all over the world are inspiring and courageous and they don't have to be from my home country in order for me to care about them or their story. it's all good, every winning story is great. it is terrific to win, but even funner to cheer for that person who came out of the blue, with no real expectations and see them achieve. i love to see the genuine thrill and happiness displayed by whoever wins. one exception: flying tomato guy. sorry, you just acted like a bratty wiener. you and your "peeps" up top of the half pipe. did i have to watch you fist bump, spit and spaz out with them for 10 minutes before your last ride? really? just not the same caliber as other sportsmen and women i have been watching. personally, i don't really think snowboarding should be in the olympics, it is more of an X-game sort of sport. what do you think?

OK....on to other things than the olympics, blah.

eli got invested tonight at cubs. thanks to cousin alysha, she snapped some shots for us as we weren't prepared for the occasion... he was very serious throughout the process, at times looking a bit "deer in the headlights-ish". {BLINK MAN, BLINK} he shook this akelas hand wrong, confused by the whole left handed hand shake. it was kind of cute.

annnnnnddddd, i think i am done for tonight.

can you imagine eli and i dancing around the house this morning? we were...

baby steps

early saturday morning

ida is walking. she started last week at moms "fakey" birthday party on sunday. even though she can walk this week she used her sweet crawling skills to get around and motor along. the last 2 days however, HOLD THE PHONE - WAIT A SECOND, I CAN WALK!

here is the great thing about it, she is slow as molasses. she picks something up and then begins the trek. it is awesome. her legs are wide, she takes slow, deliberate steps, one foot then the other, sometimes not even going forward, just catching up to the other foot. while i was watching her today the meaning and vision of "baby steps" dawned on me. think about life in general. starting a new jobs, classes at school, making friends, marriage, becoming a parent, building your testimony, self development.... so many "baby steps" are required. sometimes life drudges along slowly, barely moving, one step/lesson at a time. i am sure as ida continues to practice she will get better, stronger, faster. she will develop smoother movements, become sturdier, surer. kind of how life is as well. thinking about this, i told myself, "don't bypass/downplay the baby steps. cherish them. embrace them. learn from them."

will do, will do. thanks for the visual ida girl. xoxo

sure, i like it

always a favorite

60

working out the bugs

test shots from the new studio space.

let's see...

sheesh. has it been a while? i guess it has, thanks for reminding me megan.

let's see what has been going on..

ida had her last scheduled food trial at the hospital last week. we tested oats and she passed. she has started to consume cheerios and cheese strings. it is fun to see her eat. she did have a funny allergic type reaction the other night, her lips swelled up like angelina jolie and i thought i was going to have to bust out the epipen. still don't know what caused it which kind of a mystery, but all is well.

last night we had a lovely birthday party for mum. she turns 60 on wednesday so we thought we'd get together and celebrate. we had a delicious meal and cupcakes. we all shared precious stories about her. like the time she resuscitated a old man who was eating a malt after he had a heart attack at the mall. {chuck swears he was scared for life watching her give him mouth to mouth, there was a lot of malt and blood} or the time she and i began laughing silently and hysterically on the front row in the relief society room as a women stood in front of us and belted out "climb every mountain" in her best opera voice. {she should have been wearing braids and a viking outfit it was so over the top. i am SURE everyone in the room thought we were turds. how rude and irreverent, but we couldn't. stop. laughing}

ida decided to start walking at the end of the party which was AWESOME. way to commemorate the day little lady.

nothing else really to report. bit of snow, bit of sewing, bit of paperwork, bit of laundry. just bits. no big bites.