Goodbye...

To Kindergarten:
Bella had an amazing year. I am grateful to her teacher who loved her and understood her and helped her along. Ethan had the same K teacher, and I loved her back then too! She proved to be even better the second time around - and Bella and Ethan are COMPLETELY different children. They have different strengths and weaknesses, but Mrs. M was able to take it all in stride - like only a good teacher can!! I had to shed a tear though, when I said goodbye to Mrs. M. It is the end for me. No more little kids for her to teach... And then she told me that she still has the gift I made for her when Ethan was in K (I hand painted a metal bucket and filled it with spa stuff). The best.

Bella made amazing friends this year. I am grateful for that. She will have a wonderful little group of girls to return to in Grade 1. Bella can write and read. She can count to - well, I really don't know how high... I always stop her because she just keeps on going... hee hee She is a wonderful artist and she colours beautifully - stays in the lines! Nice that my OCD has rubbed off on her that way... Kindergarten was a big success.

To Grade 4:
What can I say? Even with Ethan missing the first month and a bit of school being away in Italy, he still ended up with straight A's. That time away did not hinder him at all. And his teacher was great! Ms. P is young and energetic and she just "gets" the kids. I am grateful to her for being the teacher my kid needed, and pushing him to do his very best all the time. Ethan is smart. Scary smart. Smarter than I could ever have wished for. But he lacks patience = he wants to be done quickly and move onto something else = not the best work being done. And Ms. P helped him slow down and always give his best. I like that.

Ethan too has a great group of friends! I wish I could tell his buddies' moms what a great job they are doing raising their boys! And I could not ask for better friends for my son.

So now summer is upon us. We have no solid plans so to speak. The kids are in camp next week for a week; they are staying in Harrison with Marc's parents off and on all summer; we are away in Harrison off and on all summer; we have our sweet sitter starting with us in a few weeks; we have two weddings to attend; etc. etc. Just stuff. I like it this way.

Have a good day all. We are off to do errands.

Ciao

Just Because...

 

I love this face - even covered with ketchup!

Ordeal Survived...

I survived golf. And I totally stank at it! Seriously. Par 3, 9 holes - my score was 75! Yup. 75. But hey, I won the prize for most "Honest" golfer... Gee, is it hard to find honest people in a law firm?? ha ha I also won a set of steak knives (I smell a re-gift there...) and $75 GC to the Keg. That I can live with. I think my hubby needs to take me out next weekend to recoup from this weekend...

Bella's party was great. The food was good. I like that. We had Parmesan chicken, roasted veggie salad with feta cheese, warm potatoe salad, breads and spreads, hot dogs for the kids, veggies and dip, chips, fruit and a St. Honore cake. Pretty low key actually. I usually go more crazy. But I ran out of time and I ran out of steam. All the same in the end. I will have to remember that for September when I am gearing up for Ethan's birthday.

I have laundry to do. Mounds of it.

Ciao all.

Heaven Help Me...

I am GOLFING tomorrow with my firm. This will be the first time ever that I have golfed, or even set foot on a golf course. This is not my cup of "tee"... tee hee hee Oh, I had to! I am actually feeling a little sick about it all. Everyone keeps telling me that is it "fun"... Well, you see, for an OCD/Perfectionist like me, new things are NOT fun. New situations are NOT fun. This is causing me a whole truck load of stress. And of course I have Bella's party Saturday and a house to clean and food to prep... Wish me luck. Actually, pray for me that I don't hurt anyone while I am swinging my clubs. Gag.

Ciao all.

Birthday Party - Round One

Yesterday Bella had her friend birthday party. We went to a ceramic studio and painted and had the party there. FANTASTIC!! I highly recommend this! 6 year old girls are GREAT listeners and they are sooo creative! I am really excited to get the ceramic pieces back and see what they all ended up like! All the girls were focused and took care with their projects. And then they ate me clean! Wow - they can really pack away the food! I had prepared finger sandwiches - ham and cheese; nutella; and mini croissants; strawberries, grapes and cherries; cheesies; and juice boxes (24 boxes). I came home with less than half a bag of cheesies, and handful of grapes and 6 juice boxes. That is it. But that is always a good sign - when the food gets eaten up. That makes the Italian in me proud! hee hee

I am also blown away by the generosity of Bella's little friends. My dining room table looked like a toy store when we got home. It is all very kind. I am grateful for the friends Bella has. They are all so lovely and so sweet.

So round one is over. Now to prepare for round two next weekend. And just because we can't do anything simple in this family - I have a week from you know where leading up to the party:

Monday - Ethan has 2 birthdays to attend
Tuesday - Taekwondo final practices before exam
Wednesday - Taekwondo exam - first black belt midterm
Thursday - I have a meeting that will take up the afternoon/early evening
Friday - I am GOLFING with the firm (oh help me please....)
Saturday - party at my house

Hmmm, WHERE exactly am I going to go shopping and get the food prepared, and the house cleaned up and the party set... Cloning. I REALLY need to be cloned.

Have a good week all. Pray that I live through this week.

Ciao

Oh, One More Thing...

I thought I would share the "goodies" that I made for Bella's party on Saturday. Super simple. Gum and a bracelet. I made the tags. All scrap materials I had laying around the house. Tied it all up with ribbon to make it "pretty". I enjoy when things come together - from the ethereal idea in my pretty little head to an actual physical product. Makes me happy.

Oh, and you know what else makes me happy - MY music!! So Lisa stopped me in the halls at Church on Sunday and advised me she did not "approve" of my music. Remember what I said in my post, I DON'T CARE if you don't like it!! I have good taste in music - I did not say y'all did! ha ha haaaa SOOOO I am going to share another top 5 on my iPod. Warning - if you didn't like the first batch, you WON'T like these ones. I have warned you...

1. Godlike - KMFDM
2. Sabotage - Beastie Boys
3. Peace - Depeche Mode
4. Common People - Pulp
5. Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz

Ciao all.

My disdain for June has just gone up...

You know how I posted that June is NOT a favourite month of mine (I believe I used the word "DESPISE"...), well it has sunk even further! Bella's teacher sends out an email last night saying that the Ks are having a year end party next Friday. How fun. Oh, then Ethan's teacher sends out a notice saying the Gr 4s are having a year end party next Friday. Same day... Neither party at school! Both parties off the premises. One party very far away. One party close by. Two children. One mother. Do you see the problems?? Yes. Oh, and while these parties are going on, I will be golfing with my firm - which I have already tried to get out of half a dozen times!! Ya. How much do I hate June?? So Bella drew the short straw and she will be "ditching" school next Friday = no year end party for her - to hang with my mom while her class heads out to the water park. Ethan will go with his class on his party and I will just pray that he does not drown at the pool they are going to. And I will golf and try not to injure anyone. Emphasis on TRY. I can't golf. I have never held a golf club. I have never set foot on a golf course, come to think of it... This will be great for a laugh. Is June over yet???

In 4-6 weeks...

The 6 drawer chest of this set will be arriving for my bedroom. Yeah! I mentioned before that Valley Direct Furniture was having a sale today. Marc and I went this morning and really did not have any hopes or intentions of buying. I have been searching for a tall dresser for our room for years now. I have come across many that were suitable - BUT I was not willing to pay $1100 for a 6 drawer chest! Come on. Or even $800 for one. And knowing how I always gravitate towards THE most expensive item in the store, I really did not expect to find anything affordable today. Sale or no sale, the items I seem to want tend to never be on sale... Well, we found our chest and we bought it! And it was a PHENOMENAL deal!! I am happy. And I am proud that I did not cave and spend money frivolously and I found what I wanted at the price I wanted and I did not sacrifice style or quality. So the beauty is being made for us - brand new. Cocoa finish with slight distressing. I am very excited.

And then I towed Marc to Potter's and bought my plants and bought my potting soil and moss (I made my own hanging baskets out of the wire baskets I have against the house that I use to hold candles in the winter months - looks amazing!!) and headed home to plant. And it is all done!! Yeah again. I feel soooo much better with this task completed. I told you, come hell or high water, I would have the front of my house ready before Bella's party. The OCD comes in handy sometimes... Most of the time it is just a burden... ha ha

But my day does not end there! No! I even got all the party goodies for Bella's kids party next Saturday! I have the plates and napkins and cutlery and I bought bracelets for all the girls and packs of bubble gum. That will be their little "goody" to take away. They are all making ceramics, but they won't be able to take them home on the same day. So for a $1 a girl, I have remedied the temporary "goody" dilemma and I am happy! You have to understand, the whole "goody" bag drives me insane! I mean, everyone tries to out-do one another and half the time it is all junk! I don't want this stuff in my house! And the money spent!! Oy! So I am pretty proud with the bubble gum (Bubbalicious!!) and the cute little flower bracelets. Simple, consumable and wearable. Yeah yet again.

Now my day is done. Time to relax on the couch with hubby and watch a movie. I think we are going to try the Tom Cruise one - Valkyrie (sp?).

Ciao all.

5 things that are bugging me today...

1. I hate the heat. Really hate it. Despise it. And I refuse to succumb to the heat and wear less than there clothing. I will suffer to look good!

2. I believe people lack good judgement and good self confidence and follow like sheep. Example - wearing a "tank top" and short shorts to the office! Come on!! Where do you think you are? And, um, you aren't 12 years old any more!! I don't care how "good" your body looks. I don't care if you feel "young at heart"! Don't wear that to the office!!

3. My floors are filthy. Well, filthy to me! And yet because of this heat (right now it is 30 degrees on the main level) I don't have the energy to get on my hands and knees to clean it! I think I would end up washing the floor with my own sweat! Ewww.... But I REALLY WANT the floors cleaned!! Do you see why this is bugging me!!

4. Bella's family party is coming up in a few weeks and I still don't have a menu put together. I just can't seem to get inspired. I am annoyed. I am usually more on top of this. And I haven't even started thinking about the cake!! Ack! Add one more thing to the list...

5. My urns are not planted and my house is looking very plain Jane on the street. That bothers me. I take pride in my house looking very presentable and groomed! I am going to blame the heat yet again. Not too fun schlepping around 20 lb bags of potting soil to the front porch and then the plants and then moving the cast iron urns... I guess I will be up very early, again, on Saturday to do this before it gets to be 35 degrees out... No rest for the wicked.

Okay, I have realized that there are more than 5 things bugging me today, but I am going to stop there for fear of sounding whiny and #$%itchy...

Have a good night all. Stay cool.

In honour...

Of Bella's birthday, I have scrapped for her. Also it is still 30 degrees upstairs and I cannot bear to go up to bed... The basement is heaven. So while I am down here, may as well be productive!

Ciao all.

Somebody is 6 today!!

 

Happy birthday to my baby girl!! Who is not a baby anymore... Where did that time go?

Love you B!!

Sale, sale, sale

That one little word makes me sooo happy. Now, combine it with high end furniture and I am downright euphoric! Valley Direct Furniture is having a sale on Saturday and I cannot wait! I love furniture. Seriously. LOVE it. There is something about a new piece of furniture - I can't explain. It can revive a room. It can bring an old piece of furniture back to life. It can transform a simple decor item to be the showstopper item on display. The endless possibilities... I have goosebumps. I am on the hunt for a chest of drawers for my bedroom, to put in my walk in closet. And I know you are thinking "well if it is going in the closet, why does it have to be a high end piece?". Because it is MY closet. That is why. Understand? Good. And if I happen upon a new sofa for the family room, or a nice padded leather bench for the end of my bed, so be it! I am always open to new goodies entering my home.

Ciao all.