I'm outta here!

Tomorrow, I leave for the coast!

I'm soooo excited to see my girlfriend, one of my bestest friends ever.

Source: photo.net via Sheri on Pinterest

I will miss my family a LOT but I am ready for a getaway!

Lists have been made for hubs, clothes washed and laid out for the littles for school

(at hubby's request)

And I'm almost packed.

I promise I will take tonnes of pics, like a good little blogger,

and share them with you when I get back.

I'm back to the blog on Tuesday (hopefully).

I *may* tweet along the way so tune if you like.

I will miss you all, I'll have a lot of blog-hopping to do when I return!  

Have a great weekend! 

: )

This awaits...

city to city

Anyone visiting San Diego soon?

Wish I was.

I'd LOVE to cozy up in this rental property.

It was featured on HGTV, on a show I was watching called 

House Hunters on Vacation.

Alrighty, sign me up!

Gorgeous, yes?
This rental may be a weeee bit out of our price range but it's fun to look, don't ya think?

My hubby and I try to go on little getaways now and then

(yay for Grandparents who babysit)

and we have a list of cities we'd like to visit.

San Diego and San Francisco are near the top of our lists.

So far we have visited Las Vegas (this year was the first time I'd ever been!)

and Boston 2 years ago.

My hubby is a HUUUUGE Red Sox fan.

I decided there had been enough talk and it was time he got to see a Red Sox game

at Fenway Park.

I organized it and we went.

I think I was more excited than he was,

just getting to see him walk into Fenway Park was like a dream.

 We saw 2 ball games there!

It was cold, I had about 4 layers on here!

Us and the Green Monster

Red Sox dugout

Wonder where we'll go to next?!
Where do you like to go for quick getaways?

fabuloso - is that a word?

It's Monday, sweet peas!

Like you didn't know. : )

Mondays are bittersweet, aren't they?

Or just bitter.

?

haha...

Mondays are back to routine, back to real life while the

relaxation of the weekend fades to all but a blur.

It's especially hard to face Monday after

having a most fabulous weekend.

Which we did.

Friday we went to a place that we have here

where there is horse jumping and it's absolutely beautiful there.

We saw the jumping and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

musical ride.

Then they had the most AMAZING fireworks display set to

the music of The Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was fantastic!

The girls thought it was so much fun to stay up past dark and we all

enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Keeping busy between jumps

Pony rides for the kids

RCMP musical ride, makes me proud to be Canadian!

Then Saturday we enjoyed a picnic in the foothills of the mountains

with my family to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday.

It was warm and sunny and fantastic.

My aunts and uncle were there, my cousin and his family, my sis and her family 

and my parents.

And this was no ordinary picnic people, it's gourmet aaaaaalllll

the way.

That's how we roll, yo.

We hit a minor snag on our way out to the picnic site we all said we'd meet at.

On the drive out early to save a spot for the picnic,

hubs and I spotted a sign that said,

'Closed due to bear activity'.

Great.

Now what?! 

We had to quickly find a spot somewhere else, these spots fill up fast on a gorgeous day like this!

So we stopped at another popular area, found an AMAZING spot that turned out 

better than our original plan.

Phew!

Crisis averted.

We enjoyed an afternoon in the warm sunshine next to the water

and ate til we were stuffed.

Then ate some more.

What a wonderful day.

Makes Monday harder to say hello to.

: )

Countdown to trip:

T minus 3 days.

I had my first dream about it the other night.

⎨I always have weird dreams when I am stressed⎬

I dreamed my friend showed up in my city because her

hubby thought she should come here instead.

Don't even know what that means but I was bummed.

So in my own warped way, I guess that means I'm excited to go.

Which I am.

: D

Happy, happy Monday to you my sweet peas!

Make it a great one!

i just like this pic

Part of my wonderful weekend...

fill in the blank Friday

Hey ya'll!

We made it to the weekend!

Whatcha got planned?

What a week this has been.

I, for one, am reaaaaaally happy it's Friday.

The first week or two of school is brutal.

The girls are tired, getting used to getting up early again.

And it's overwhelming for them too, I think.

Especially for M who started Kindergarten.

It's a lot of activity and craziness to take in all of a sudden.

So we have had a lot of emotional drama in the evenings.

Therefore mama has been emotionally drained dealing with it all.

I just want to help them through it all and make them feel better.

So even though it's exhausting, trying, frustrating,

I do it (fairly) happily.

So let's fill it in, shall we?

Linking up with Lauren!

1.   Somewhere someone is sipping cocktails and lying on a beach.  Wish I was one of 'em.

2.  My family is/are my muse.

3.  It would suck if music was no more because, the world would be an incredibly dull place.

4.   Quesadillas for supper, is/are my favorite thing about today.

5.  Life is kind of like  the weather, you have to navigate through the storms to appreciate the sunny days.

6.  If I could have anything I wanted I would want a guarantee that my kids would live long, happy, healthy lives.

7.  A funny thing happened the other day... when I was driving with my kids and my 7 year old saw an old 1930s-ish type car and said, 'wow, that car is so old, it must be from the olden days...like 1985!'

Less than one week til I leave for my trip!  

My friend has booked us a place to stay and a spa day.

And I might just get that beach day with a cocktail after all. : )

Have a happy weekend everyone!

xo

carrots and a tree

M and I were over at my parents house today for lunch,

enjoying the sunshine.

They have a wonderful garden and my Dad picked some carrots, 

we had them with lunch, 

FRESH

from the garden!

M helped my Dad clean them.

My parents have lived in the same house for almost 40 years!

I have memories of the exact thing that M is doing in these photos,

picking fresh peas and carrots from the garden, raiding it when Mom and Dad weren't looking.

My parents also have a tonne of fresh tomatoes growing.

The new neighbourhoods we live in nowadays have no trees, or are very small

and we have to wait yeeaaars for them to mature and give us a shady spot to lie under on a blanket.

But my parents yard has giant trees and one especially, a crabapple tree that is so pretty.

The birds love it and so does little miss J.

She loves to watch the squirrels scampering through the yard and up into the trees.

Last year, she even grabbed a chair, plunked it down under the tree and stared,

hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive squirrel that always hides peanuts in my parents yard.

Jaida always managed to find the empty shells!

It's so nice to have a yard to enjoy and a garden as well.
Who knew a tree and a bunch of carrots could leave wonderful lasting memories.

How does your garden grow?

Do you have a vegetable garden?  What do you grow?

counting down

Hello my lovelies!

How was everyone's long weekend!?

Hope it was wonderful. : )

Fall is starting to arrive here, the mornings are chilly-icious!

Yikes, that happened fast!

But this week the forecast is for hot and sunny skies.

Go figure. 

I'm ok with that.

We'll take all the hot days we can get here.

Winter comes fast and furious.

*****

So the countdown has begun,

it is officially 10 days until my trip!

Source: weddings.theknot.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Not too nervous yet, just excited.

My girlfriend (aka the birthday girl) has been sending me emails with

places to stay and spas to..well, go spa-ing.

: )

Lots of outdoor time, she lives in a beautiful area.
It's going to be a delicious time!

Source: weheartit.com via Sheri on Pinterest

I'm only gone for four days so we want to jam pack as much as we can into it.

But also relax.

?

It sorta started out with me wanting to plan something special for her big birthday 

but now she is doing most of the work.

Gee, sorry about that, girlfriend.

But she wanted to show me around her little part of the world and I can't wait.

Luckily the flights are short and I'll actually spend more time waiting in airports than actually

on an airplane.

Now for the really hard part...

what to wear.

Stay tuned...

; P

Have a great *short* week, sweet peas!

Sending you love for the week.

xo

Fill in the blank Friday

Welcome, Friday!

We have been impatiently patiently waiting for you.

It's day 2 of back to school today.

Day 1 went well yesterday.

My baby started Kindergarten.

Yup.  I'm a bit emotional about it but

she did so well and was super excited.

I'm proud of her, she is such a go-getter!

My older two started Grade 2!

How did they get so big right before my eyes, without my noticing?

I know, that makes no sense.

So let's get on with it.

Fill it in, folks!

Link up with Lauren!

1.   One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is buying fresh flowers for my home.  Some might think it's a waste of money.  I try not to buy expensive bouquets, just something pretty a couple times a month at the supermarket.  Makes a home!

2.   Talking on the phone makes me feel awkward.

3.  I can't sleep without heavy covers or duvets on my bed.  Even in summer.  I just need to feel the heaviness of the covers even if I kick them off.  

4.  Chips and salsa is my favorite snack.

5.  Lately I've been lazy.  I really need to start working out again.

6.  If at first you don't succeed give up.  hahah KIDDING! Take a step back, regroup and give it another go.

 

7.  Fall is not my favourite season but I always end up loving it.  It's so cozy and wonderful.  Warm sweaters, soup on the stove, blankies and movies by the fire. : )

Enjoy a lovely weekend!

kids rooms

My girls caught me browsing pinterest one day,

I started showing them a few pics.

*bad idea*

They were addicted right away

but only to the kid related stuff.

Obvi.

They loved the kids rooms that I was browsing.

It turned out to be so much fun sharing ideas and getting 

excited about redecorating their rooms.

I won't be redecorating them for a while but I do want to at least give them 

a fresh coat of paint.

The twins share a room and with each year that passes, 

they want more and more privacy

and space to themselves.

So that'll be the challenge,

figuring out ways to give them privacy 

within the same room.

I always get overwhelmed with decorating.

There are so many things I love,

I can never make a decision.

But it's so FUN to browse!

Source: xoxo-cindycakes.tumblr.com via Sheri on Pinterest

Source: google.nl via Sheri on Pinterest

Source: garnethill.com via Sheri on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Sheri on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Sheri on Pinterest

The girls liked the last one, I love it too.

Eventually I think the bunks with the desks underneath would be 

a great space saver.

Which one do you prefer?