Germs, germs, everywhere..

And they won't leave!
Poor Layne just cannot catch a break. He was finally to the point of sleeping like a little Prince. Going to bed at 7/8 and sleeping until 2 or 3, then sleeping until 6 or so. That may not sound like good sleep to you non-mommy's, but for me, that's awesome! Then...the germs his the Parsons household. It seems his sister brings home more germs than you can shake hand sanitizer and soap at, although, she never gets sick herself! Figure that one out. Layne is now up all the time a) because he can't breathe and b) because he wakes himself up by snoring or coughing.
What sucks the most is that he can't down some Buckley's, blow his nose, and fall fast asleep. He really has no defenses when it comes to this nasty cold.
Alas, this picture is all he's got.

April showers

Okay so yes...a day behind on my picture project. DANG! I need to get better at this..anyways.

The other day Addisyn was restless from being inside for the whole day, so we decided that we would try to beat the rain before it decided to show and go to the park across town. Weeeelllll, we didn't beat the rain, but luckily we were armed with umbrellas and Addi's raincoat! I was also armed with my camera, and since I am practicing the 'manual' setting I thought it would be a good time to take some pictures.
I loved watching Addisyn dance around without a care in the world. She was actually excited that it started raining harder, and that's when I got the best pictures of her. (Layne and I were safe underneath a gazebo, of course.) She made me be able to appreciate the small things. Like how fast the water was flowing, how many ducks there were swimming along the river, how many raindrops you could catch on your tounge (even though that's impossible to count..) Overall, we had a great afternoon even in the worst weather!

So you can see her cuteness below :)

Hoppity Hop

WHOA. Very behind in my blog and 365 picture project. Like, 4 days behind. So, as you'll see, I am posting 4 pictures that I took over the last couple days and posting them..so kind of cheating, but hey!

I hope everyone had a great Easter. This weekend was so busy busy busy. From travelling, to picking up stuff for Easter dinners. BUT, I must admit, seeing family and watching Addi and Layne have fun visiting with family and eating chocolatre (Addisyn, anyways) always warms my heart.
Makes me think about how easily we forget what some holidays are all about. Like Christmas.. all the gifts and turkey and stuffing and gifts..lol. I find that even I forget what we are really celebrating. Easter is definitely one of those holidays where I always stop and think, while I am eating turkey and having my 3274283462634th chocolate, that we are celebrating something much more than a bunny that drops off chocolate. Now, everyone has different beliefs so not everyone celebrates the same thing on Easter. But I still think it is really important to make sure you don't forget to be thankful for whatever you DO believe in.

Here's some pictures I had fun taking over the Easter holiday (and when the weather was BEAUTIFUL!)

Hoppy Easter everyone!! xo

Where is my husband?

OH, he's downstairs working on the basement! Yes, my husband has gone missing for many hours of the day down into the basement to work on his pride and joy. As you may have guessed, we are finishing it (finally) after talking about it ever since we moved in here..so for a year now. Mister Fix-It has done everything himself, with some help from his dad here and there, and it's looking awesome!! It's crazy how it's not even done, and I can already picture how great it's going to look.
The deal is that I get to decorate and "accessorize" when it is all done. I'm already going through colours and decor in my head. Eeeek! Oh, the things that excite me these days. Jeeze!

Here's the progress!
Have a great start to the week everyone!!

Time for sidewalk chalk!

Ohhh hello sun! Is Spring around the corner (still)..? Let us hope so. Or else this beautiful weather has been a nasty tease!
Of course when the weather gets nice, what does every child want to do? Play with sidewalk chalk, of course! Yesterday Addisyn drew a lot (and I mean a lot) of fairy pictures. She drew fairy dust, fairies, wands, dresses. The whole shibang. It was awesome to be outside in just a sweater, and be able to talk Layne out for his outside play time. He loved watching his sister draw and was laughing and smiling the whole time. We all went for a walk before hand too. Ohhh nice weather..PLEASE STICK AROUND! If you're ever in our area, and it's a nice day, feel free to stop by. If you have kids, I'm positive Addi can keep them busy with her chalk. LOL.
Since I didn't post a picture yesterday, here's two photos of Addisyn's wonderful drawings. She hopes you like them :)

I love you through & through.

I thought I'd share this cute little storybook, since it's become one of Addi's and Layne's favourites. It's most definitely the way I feel about my two munchkins.. and I'm sure you other parents out there will think of your little ones too. It's the type of book that makes you smile. :)

I love you through and through.
I love your top side. I love your bottom side.
I love your inside and outside.
I love your happy side, your sad side..
Your silly side, your mad side.
I love your fingers, and toes..
Your ears, and nose.
I love your hair and eyes..
Your giggles and cries.
I love you running and walking..
Silent and talking.
I love you through and through..
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow too!
- Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak

Great day for the Falls!

Helllooooo Spring!
We had a great taste of Spring, and decided to check out the Falls. Addisyn has never been and was ever so excited to see something to big. As soon as she saw them, her face lit up and a loud "Woooooow" come out of her mouth. It was so amazing to see how something we have seen so many times, and something that has lost its appeal to US..be so amazing and new to a little one. I only had my cell phone to take pictures with, but I got one of Addi's first time to Niagara Falls. If you look in the corner, you can see a tiny rainbow! I am so glad my camera phone captured that!! 
All in all, it was a great day with family and one I KNOW Addi will never forget!!!! :)

Drawings of a 4 year old

How kids draw always amuses me. I love to see how they invision things looking: people, pets, cars..everything. Addisyn's window drawings never disappoint. She has these "Crayola Window Writers" markers that she loves to draw on her windows with. I will admit, sometimes I join in and we write silly things like "Addi loves Kale" or "Mommy loves Daddy". Today I walked into her room to find a drawing of 4 stick figures. When I asked her who they were, she told me this:
"The green one is Daddy, you're beside him, then there's me, and then Layne is the blue one."
When I asked what we were doing she said:
"We are holding hands and walking to our castle."

Apparently, we are the royal family. Who knew!

My friends don't come & go..

Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon with my BFF's. Not just 3 of them..but ALL 4!!!! Ford flew in from Vancouver for a few days and we all just picked up where we left off. It was nice to see her..and we had a ton of good laughs.
It's crazy that in public school you hear people telling you "You won't be friends with half these people in high school.." Then in high school people tell you "You don't even talk to these people when you go off to college.." But that has never been true for me. Sure I've had the odd friend who moved or we've grown apart. But these 4 girls have always been in my life. Ever since I can remember. We've had our up's and down's and have went without talking for weeks..sometimes MONTHS at a time. But thanks to our bond (and a new BBM group that Miss Katie Prain decided to develop..lol) we have never lost our connection. And I don't think we ever will. I love, love, love these girls. They are family.

And now, a blast from the past..almost 5 years ago to be exact. Addi's first picture with her "Auntie's".

Messes suck!

I spent 3 hours and some cleaning and organizing Addisyn's room/closet Wednesday. The amount of stuff she had was ridiculous. I honestly didn't even know she had that many toys/colouring books/crayons and markers. Not only did I find a specific place for EVERY toy she owns, I re-folded her clothes and organized her drawers too. Jeeze!
After finishing that I felt pretty good about what I had accomplished. Until I looked at Layne's closet.

It has yet to be tackled.. :(

"But Mom! Handy Manny's on!"

Why is it that Handy Manny trumps everything (according to Addisyn) in our house. Dinner, bath time, bed time, and picture taking time.
Today I was playing around with my camera and thought I'd get some shots of the kids playing on the floor. They were both happy as could be so I couldn't of picked a better time. Layne was practicing his sitting up skills (which are coming along quite nicely) but was being distracted by other things, making him tip over, so I suggested turning on the tv so that he'd pay attention to what was straight ahead of him.
Big mistake.
Addisyn was then occupied by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and then, you guessed it, Handy Manny. I think I took about 15-20 photos of her half smiling looking at the freakin' TV. The ones I DID get of her looking at the camera will be posted on Facebook, but for this post I'll let you see how hard it is to get a picture of this little girl sometimes!!!!
..and now I have the stupid Handy Manny theme song in my head.

Like father like son

Phew. Okay, so now I am all caught up on my 365 picture-a-day project after this post. Tomorrow I start back to my one post a day. And yes, if you are counting, today I had to post THREE pictures just to get caught up. I guess that's what happens when weekends are busy!
I keep hearing everyone around me and everyone/anyone who has laid eyes on our son comment on how much he looks like Daddy. Daddy's blue eyes, eyebrows, smile, facial expressions .. everything. The truth is, he does. He's Daddy's twin. I am come to terms with this. Even though I carried him for 9 months, went through 7 months of intense morning sickness- which included 2 hospital visits complete with IV's, and then pushed him out after 9 hours of labour... but I'm not bitter. Hahaha..
BUT, if you take a look at the picture below, you'll see that Layne looking just like his Daddy isn't a bad thing. Daddy was quite the cutiepie himself when he was little (and still is, if I do say so myself!!)

"Any man can be a father.  It takes someone special to be a dad." - Author Unknown

Layne's 1st Kisses & Birthday Wishes

Yes, yes I am behind on my 365 picture-a-day thing. I know. That's why I am posting two pictures on this post, for days 5 and 6.
Layne experienced his first kiss over the weekend while we were at our friends' house for dinner Saturday. Breanna LOVES Layne. She's so good with him. And hey! Layne didn't cry or push her away when she kissed him, so he obviously didn't mind it that much :)
We hosted our nephew, Liam's 7th birthday party at our house on Sunday. Everyone had a blast, we got to visit with the Parsons family, and of course Liam was spoiled. What are birthday's for right? I must say we have two of the cutest nephews around. I definitely filled my junk food quota for the week though. Maybe even month. Mmmmm cake!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! :) And now, onto the cuteness..


Layne's first kiss.. ahhhh so sweet!


Happy Birthday Liam! xo

Sun makes me thankful!

Today when I went grocery shopping there were ladies from the Canadian Cancer Society selling daffodils. I'm always, always, always wanting to give to the CCS so, obviously, I bought a bunch. They weren't open and to be honest, they looked somewhat...yucky. The lady handed them to me and said "put them in warm water when you get home, let this beautiful sun shine on them, and within a couple hours they'll be beautiful."
So I did just that.
As you will see in the picture below, they did turn out beautiful. Now not only today did I enjoy the sunshine that will be bringing Spring, I got some pretty flowers out of it too. I can't help but look at them and think how fortunate I am. I've never had to deal with having cancer or a disease. I've lost so many family members and friends to cancer and it's so unfortunate. But I have also witnessed so many strong people fight and beat cancer. From a great-aunt of mine who I love dearly, to a handsome little boy we know who is honestly a huge inspiration to me. Looking at these flowers on my dining room table I realize that life is all about being thankful everyday for what you DO have.

It's amazing what a sunny day can do, eh? :)

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." - Oprah Winfrey