Stories in Hand.

I may do this:

I'll sign up and see what it's all about, it's free so why not eh?. (may help my blog posts!!)

A layout I love...

I did this today and I'm so happy with how it turned out!


I did it for Tara and Kayleigh's Creative Inspiration Blog Wednesday challenge.

And then I did this one yesterday:

I love this picture because it's Gillian puckering up for a kiss, but it's her way of communicating to me to kiss the baby. She usually makes the smacking noise before you make contact with her, it's priceless!

I've really got my mojo going! It's fun!

At home again...

So I'm still at home, sick still and the girls are with me. They were not well enough to go to daycare, and even yesterday they probably shouldn't have been there. So we are just hanging out. We played in the morning, then did some painting, had lunch and now they are napping. It's fun to spend the day with them, I do miss it. As they get older it gets easier to do things together. Gillian has still got a pretty short attention span, but Abby is now becoming quite independent, that I can get Abby set up with the paints, then help Gillian with stuff.





This afternoon we will go for a little walk because the sun has come out and it's rather warm outside. Perfect for them to get fresh air and not freeze! When we get back I think I'll make these:

And then sweet and sour chicken for dinner. Hope we're all feeling better tomorrow!

Fall, Fall and Another Fall Layout!

Can you tell I LOVE this time of year!!
After Gillian woke up yesterday, we had a nice visit with my parents who returned home from France this weekend. After they left I went for a short walk with Gillian, who was is pretty good spirits after the morning's events. She was a little quiet, but generally in a good mood! It was a beautiful day so I couldn't resist going for a walk.



I also completed this layout yesterday:


It's so beautiful, I keep trying to capture the colours of the leaves, rather unsuccessfully!! I need a wide angle lens. Pumpkin shots are from the weekend.



These ones I just took moments ago:




I must say, looking back at the photos, I'm a little embarassed at home much PINK there is when my kids are photographed... (note to self - buy LESS pink!)

Nothing ever goes according to plan.

We had Gillian's extractions this morning, and as the title shows, nothing every goes to plan. Before we went, we had the option of sedating her or not, and we had decided to do the sedation to at least try to relax her and give her some amnesia. Well, that was the part that didn't go to plan. She has been suffering from a runny nose all week, and I was worried that that would cause a problem. As it turns out, it did. The Dentist did a careful assessment of her, and while she didn't have fluid in her lungs, he didn't feel comfortable giving her the medication as it would increase the risk of respiratory problems. So the choice was again our, do we go forward without the meds, or reschedule and try it again. Since we were already there, we weren't 100% comfortable with sedation in the first place (she is only 16 months), we decided to go ahead with just a dose of Advil and freezing.

It was a little nerve racking because it meant that she would be totally awake and aware of the whole procedure, which is what I was more nervous about than anything. We had Eric, his mom and I in the room, and they strapped her onto this spinal board with wrist restraints, then restrained her even further with large wide velcro straps going across her chest and legs. When we lay her down and started doing up the velcro, she didn't cry at all, but rather just stared up with big frantic eyes wondering what in the hell we were doing to her.

She didn't start crying until the freezing started. First they sprayed her gum's with a numbing fluid, like oragel, then got the needle and started injecting. At this point she decided this really wasn't for her and that the fun was over - "Get me out of here!!!". The freezing took longer than I thought, since they had to freeze in three different places. Then we had to wait a few minutes while it "sunk in" - at which point she tried to make the great escape, wiggling her legs out and trying to sit up to no avail! Then the knife came out, he make little incisions around the tooth, then basically just pulled them out. He had a little bit of trouble getting a grip on it because it was still pretty small, but once he did they came out easily. He them packed them up with a packing gel, cleaned her up, then unstrapped her and gave her to me. She settled down quite quickly in my arms - and within 5 min was pointing at a picture of a dog saying "DA! Da!". The whole thing took about 20 min, with some crying, but overall she was a strong little girl (especially since she almost escaped the straight jacket!!). She was in good spirits quickly. Mind you when the nurse approached her to wipe her mouth up a little, she screamed bloody murder! Same with Grandma, she didn't really want to trust anyone but Eric and I after that - not surprisingly!

I must say it was quite traumatizing, especially for Eric and I - we both cried. But I'm glad we had it done, and also glad we didn't have to give her the sedation, as it can't be good for her, and she survived without it. Now I can't say she will be a happy camper the next time we go to the dentist... she may just take one look at him and freak!

She is napping now, and when she wakes, I'll pump her up with Advil and give her a nice lunch. Probably take her for a walk around the neighbourhood and cuddle! Now we just wait and see if those front teeth can push themselves down and straighten out. She should have lots of space in there now!

Big day tomorrow...

It's Gillian's extraction day tomorrow. The appointment is at 9 am, but we have to be there for 8 am to give her the "magic juice" which will attempt to put her to sleep. The Dr said it works 50% of the time, as their metabolism is so high that it simply burns it off before it can totally put them to sleep. And considering she won't be able to eat anything before 5 am, she will probably burn through it quite fast. Once she is groggy enough, they will wrap her up in a papoose, so she can't move, then freeze her and pull out the two teeth. (yikes I'm getting dizzy just thinking of it). The hope is that she won't remember a thing in a few days, like she had amnesia. That would be great, because if she doesn't forget, I don't want to have to be the parent who has to bring her back to the dentist for a regular check up...

I finally did another page, it's been ages! Here it is, I used the photos from the weekend of the girls in the leaves:


I hope I can sleep tonight! I'll report on the procedure tomorrow... stay tuned!

GWG and the Weekend

Our United Way Hockey Hockey tournament ended on a perfect note - we WON!! Our team was really good, and despite the fact that we were all playing together for the first time we played really well together. We communicated well, changed well (which is important when you have 7 forwards, one too many for even lines) and obviously scored!! I played forward, which I don't usually do, and I loved it. I like to switch it up from time to time, I find it keeps me sharp in the position I play. It also gives me the opportunity to shoot on the net more, and score - which I did for the game winner in our final!! So all in all it was a fun time and I look forward to it next year!

The weekend has been good. Friday night was quiet. I watched a little TV and finished the final book in the Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn. After Twilight, the first book in the series, this was my second favourite of the 4. I'm a little sad to be finished the series, because they were a really fun and easy read! I think I may re-read Twilight, since I have nothing else to read right now, except for The Pillars of the Earth. But I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into that one. If anyone has any suggestions for some really good books, post a comment for me, I usually go on people's suggestions for books!

We've been spending time outside because it's so beautiful this time of year! It's crisp - 13 degrees, so the hats and mitts have come out for good. It's been fun trying to rake the leaves because this happens:



The girls run though the leaves, and then sit down in the middle of them! It brings back so many fun memories of being a kid during the fall! This is a VERY small pile of leaves, by the time all the leaves have fallen, we've done a good 4 rounds of raking. Maybe I should just wait until they are all down and do one big one? I'm just so thankful that we live on the edge of a ravine and I can just rake them down the hill, and don't have to pack them up into bags.

Sunday was a little bit of the same. Eric participated in the Run for the Cure. Did a 5km in the morning then came back home for lunch. I stayed here, because Gillian is sick, I didn't want to drag her all the way into town and stand in the cold for a few hours. So we played in the house for a while, then moved outside for more fun in the leaves and on the swing.

(Would have been a perfect shot if it had been in focus!!)

Abby and Gillian giggle at eachother
from inside and outside!

Tonight I'm making a Steak and Guiness stew (Jamie Oliver) with mashed potatoes and salad. I would also like to make an apple crisp for dessert, if I have time (they are pretty quick so I probably will!!)

That's all for this weekend. Upcoming next week: Gillian's extractions (Tuesday), and my parents are back from France (Sunday)!