pig tails

mack and i enjoyed a fun time at the drop in babytime at the oak bay library today. the only bad part was us getting lost and having to phone jer at work a few times for him to check out the online map to help us out. i have nobody to blame but the transit website in victoria - it sucks!!! anyways, we made it and had a great time. it was nice to learn some new songs and ryhmes for mackie to sing.

it was a beautiful day out, weather i hope that made it to kitimat for my mom's bday. she deserves some sunshine on her special day. i hate not being close to them to celebrate bdays and all other fun stuff during the year.

this afternoon mack and i went outside to have a little trike time and i got some shots of her that i think sum up her darling little personality. plus the shirt she is wearing only adds to her charm. i found it at zellers on the weekend, too cute. it has a little monkey face on it and says "cheeky" above it. i always call her my cheeky monkey, so it was a sure thing to buy it when i saw it and the only hairstyle that seemed appropriate with her ensemble was pigtails!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! WE LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!

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shoes are a girl's best friend

isn't it amazing how much one pair of shoes can just make you in the best mood? it is very rare that you find a girl who doesn't LOVE shoes.

jer made our day on saturday when me and mackenzie both got a new pair of shoes.

needless to say we dragged the poor guy through all the racks trying to find the perfect runners for mackenzie and i. we found the cutest pair for mackie to trot around in.

i didn't have any luck in the casual runner department, but i found a darling pair of wedges that were just screaming my name and after a full year of flats i am in one hell of a mood to wear heels!!!

photo shoot

mackie is a year old now!

cannot believe how fast time has flown by. it is time for the "photo shoot" again. when she turned 6 months we had a great little photo shoot at stanley park. we were really happy with them and even used one for our xmas card. so we thought we would give it a shot ourselves again for the one year pics. what a riot that was!!!!

first of all, the weather didn't cooperate with us too well, but we made due. not sure if mackenzie's best pic ever is in there, but there were some cute ones of all us and we had fun doing it (after i finished stressing anyways, i am not a good model..haha, nor am i photogenic).

i will post the best ones on mack's photosite http://www.babytobe.spaces.live.com/ . you can now download the picture or the full album on there which is nice. i will be doing a mail out as well once we get some pics developed. please be patient. it takes me a bit of time to get them uploaded and then developed and picked up, then mailed. with a 1 year old, that is alot of time to find...but i will. so keep your eye out in that ol'mailbox in the next few upcoming weeks. our smiling faces will be in there waiting to see ya.

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tax survivors

we survived the tax season!!!! (at least most of it)

jer has 4 days off in a row! after him working 7 days a week and coming home late at night, it feels like we won the lottery.

his office had an "end of tax season" party last night. needless to say jer isn't feeling so hot today and came home a bit....inebriated..haha...ok, a lot inebriated.

but my pie turned out!!!! it is edible and looks delicious. but poor jer isn't feeling good so can't even eat the darn thing. looks like me and mack will be having ourselves a yummy pie for dinner tonight while jer pays tribute to the toilet gods...karma...haha.

here is a photo of my yummy "crispy rhubarb pie". it's delicious and i must say i am quite proud of myself for not ruining it, or the crust (which i have never made before). the recipe can be found at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crispy-Rhubarb-Pie/Detail.aspx

just a dollar

camille, mackenzie and i went out for a girlie shopping day today.

we hit up the dollar giant first. this is the best dollar store i have ever been in. it's like the winners of dollar stores. the stock is always changing and nothing in the store is over a dollar!!! i stock up on good steals in there regularly. here is what we scooped on today:

mackenzie got a new number puzzle to match the animal one i got her last week

i couldn't resist this cute pillow for mackenzie to use when she watches baseball with daddy
i have been looking everywhere for some soft divider boxes to use in my dresser drawers for my underwear and bras. should have known i would find them at the dollar giant of all places!i got jer the biggest spatula i have ever seen. cami and i figured mike and jer could use them to make us pancakes...hint, hint....she got mike one too.

i also found a super cute mini blackboard to hang in the kitchen to write fun things on.

cami got alot of loot there as well. we were trying to find some wedding stuff there but no luck in that department.

i must be out of practice cause we only went in three stores in the mall and that was more than enough! mackie passed out in the jogger on the walk home and had a nice, long nap for me.

jer is out at a "end of the tax season" party tonight so mackenzie and i decided to bake our first homemade pie for him. i got to use up some rhubarb that grandma joan gave us the other week. i had to make my pie crust from scratch and i am a bit nervous about how it is going to turn out. the recipe was for a "rhubarb crumble pie". it sounded delicious. the pie crust is only one layer and the topping of the pie is made from crushed corn flakes and other goodness to make a crunchy, sweet crust on top. cross your fingers for me as it's in the oven as i type. i will post pics tomorrow of THE PIE if it actually turns out edible..haha...or if jer leaves any for me to taste in the morning...lol.

blind (play) date...is there such a thing?

mack and i went for a "blind" play date today.

we met a mom on the internet on www.kidsinvictoria.com and set up a playdate for our daughters to meet.

i thought it was hilarious when we were making our plans to meet and we realized that we wouldn't know who to look for at the park. we started calling it a "blind play date". we even ended up exchanging photos of each other beforehand.

we met cindy and her daughter sadie at the beacon hill park playground. it was so nice for mack to be able to get out and play with another girl her age and for me to have another mom to talk to. we are going to try to meet up once a week.

during our walk home mack and i stopped to daze up at all the gorgeous cherry blossoms in full bloom everywhere. i couldn't help but take yet another cherry blossom photo. mackezie loves all those pretty pink blooms.

ironing is fun again....wait...ironing is fun?? i need to get out more.

ohhweeee! i finally got to the mall the other day to pick up some "linen water".

yep, linen water. that's right. water. but not just plain, everyday water. nope, this is linen water. it's like perfume for your clothes. it's a woman who has to iron alot's dream.

i had never heard about this little indulgence until about a month or so ago when i was perusing another knitter's blog. she used it on her clothes, sheets, etc. i got so excited and then realized how sad it was that i was excited over something as simple as scented water. but it just sounded so great! you can even make your own. check out this link:

http://www.recipezaar.com/61051

all you need is some WATER (you guessed it!), some Vodka (drink some as mixing) and an essential oil (you pick the scent).

now in case you are wondering what you use this linen water for, it's for your ironing. i do alot of ironing. jeremy wears a dress shirt to work everyday. i don't mind ironing, but i have a bad habit of putting it off until i have to iron 10 shirts. my iron sucks, but we finally got an ironing board that is full size and not a table top, so my life is a little bit easier now. i keep hoping santa is gonna surprise me one year with this iron i saw at canadian tire the other day, the thing had a friggin computer in it! it even talked! now that's what i call an iron. too bad it didn't do the ironing for you as you watched and happily drank the vodka for your linen water...tee hee, now that's what i call ironing!

so tonight i finally got to test out my fancy new linen water. i picked it up from Fruits & Passions (http://www.fruits-passion.com/). i dragged jeremy in to test the smells. i didn't want him to stink too girly and knew if he hated the scent i wouldn't be able to use my linen water. we ended up getting the scent Tulip. I quite like it. i decided to buy some first, test it out and see if i like using it and if i do, then make my own.

i also loved the spray bottle. i have a secret dream that one day i will have the most decked out laundry room you have ever seen! it will be amazing! jeremy thinks i am nuts, but seriously, a man will never understand right ladies? a woman needs a great laundry room. bright, airy, everything is clean and best of all - organized! (and mom, i promise if i can afford to give myself one, i will buy you one too. you deserve it more than anyone!) it will have the best appliances, the nicest baskets and all my sprays, soaps, detergent will have cute homes. ohhh and we can't forget a folding area!!! so until i get my dream laundry room, i am starting to indulge in what small things i can to make my laundry chores more fun. i think i am gonna do up my ironing board next...it needs some prettying up.

my prognosis is that i love this stuff!!!!! it smells great, it is a relaxing scent and it seriously did make my ironing more enjoyable. i also made sure i did my ironing while watching some good tv. that always helps. plus anything that has vodka in it, is always a good thing.

runnin, runnin, runnin, keep those motors runnin....

thought i would post some pics from the times colonist 10km this morning! we had lots of fun and mackenzie sure enjoyed all the people and excitement.

i got a break from the jogging stroller today and got to run on my own. wow, was that sure nice! felt like i lost 50 pounds of weight! jeremy pushed mackenzie for me, but i always go for my regular runs during the week with the baby in the jogging stroller. it has been a long time since i got to run on my own. it was great - thanks jer!

all in all we didn't do too bad. i ran the whole thing which was my goal - no walking for me. jer walked/ran it and had a good finish time as well.

got giftwrap?

mack hardly eats out of baby food jars anymore, but we have a few kicking around waiting for me to find them a purpose.

after her big bday celebration on the weekend, i had all this left over funky tissue paper and gift bags that i was in love with. while cleaning up after the bash i had a brainstorm. i found the answer to my baby food jar problem, used up a yogurt container and cleaned up my leftover gift bags. see if you can spot yours below.

mack is a lucky girl with lots of hair accessories but we have nowhere to put them all. here is what i did with the jars:

funky new home for all of her barrettes.

and here is the old yogurt container:

now a new home for her headbands and elastics.

after finishing these projects i realized there was a theme. dots. i love dots. mack's bedding is all dots. the colors i want her room to be when we move match the tissue paper on the baby food jars. so i decided to move the theme onto the walls.

the top and bottom one were gift bags and the center is tissue paper!

what a great way to reuse some stuff i have nowhere to store. we had fun, we made good friend with our glue gun and mackie loves them!

how green are you?

we recently moved from vancouver to victoria and during the cleaning processes i had a bad reaction to the cleaning supplies we were using. my lips swelled, cracked and dried up just about as big as Angelina Jolie's, and no, not in a sexy way. it was horrible.

since then i have gotten rid of all my cleaning supplies and now proudly clean my home with all natural products and homemade cleaning products. i love it. i feel like i am taking better care of my family and have a bit more control over what we are exposing ourselves to on a daily basis.

ask yourself:

- do you really need to use windex when a combo of vinegar/water work just as good? i recylce old paper products to clean the windows/mirrors with and believe me, it is streak free!!!

- have you ever tried to clean the bathtub with baking soda instead of bleach? it kicks ass!!!!

- i use reusable cleaning cloths from http://www.norwex.com/ for everything from all purpose cleaning to dusting and they work unbelievably! (thanks Nanci!) check out their site, they have something for everyone.

- flick it! turn it off if you aren't using it. turn off the light. turn off the tv. turn off the computer. unplug your cell charger.

- turn the faucet off while brushing your teeth.

- don't use plastic bottled water but if you do, recycle.

- change your laundry detergent to the 2x concentrate. it is the same price, and you get double the amount of loads in your laundry and it is a hellavu lot better for the environment. i like seventh generations lavender and blue eucalyptus http://www.seventhgeneration.com/ their products can be bought anywhere from drugstores to grocery stores.

- change your dish soap! get those chemicals away from your dishes and your hands. lots of brands are now making all natural dish soap and hand soap. i use lemongrass & clementine zest from seventh generation and it cleans great & smells delicious. best thing is it doesn't leave my hands feeling gross and dry when i am done.

- take a good look at your makeup, deodorant, body lotion, cream, shampoos and see if you recognize the ingredients? does it look like a bunch of scary chemicals that you don't know what they are? that's because it is all chemicals. everything you put on your skin goes into your body. remember that. our horomones are being affected by the makeup we use, the creams we slather on everyday etc, etc. it's scary. my naturopath has been telling me for years to change all my products over to all natural, organic or vegetable based products and i kept putting it off. yeah, yeah, i thought. then i started to look into it. it scared the sheat out of me! i have endometriosis and i am making myself sick/contributing to my illness by exposing myself and my daughter to all of these chemicals. you may think they aren't doing anything to you, but they are. the pic on the right is a few of the products i recently started using.

do some research. start small. change one thing at a time. it's not that hard and it's worth it. you only get one body, one life and we only have one planet.

we're back!

it's been a while....but we're back! it seems like mack is developing more and more each day so I figured I better start writing again. lot's is new, lot's has changed, but we are still having lot's of fun!

fall in the city

I love Vancouver in the fall; as long as it's not raining that is. (Which is almost never.) It's absolutely gorgeous and everything is so fresh and crisp. The scenery is amazing so we decided to take out the gang and do our own little mini photo shoot at Stanley Park.


It proved to be a bit harder than we thought though. Mackenzie wanted to eat everything in sight..hahaha. Leaves galore. Also poor Wes was trying to get a family shot of us, but it always seemed as though one of us wasn't looking. It was a fun day in the end and it sure felt good to go out and roll around in the leaves.

cereal? what's cereal?

Seems like yesterday when Mackenzie was born. It's hard to believe she is going to be 6 months old and is already eating cereal! She is growing up so fast and time is flying by too quickly for my liking. Here are some pics of our little baby eating up a storm.

gobble gobble

We went away for thanksgiving weekend on Quadra Island and it was sure nice to get out of the city. The peace and quiet is so relaxing after the busyness of downtown Vancouver. It was great to see Nanci, Tracy and Miranda and to get to stay in their Bed & Breakfast again. I always have the best sleeps there. (http://www.firesignbandb.com/)

Mackenzie got to experience a whole bunch of "firsts" on this trip - she got to see deer for the first time at Jeremy's parents house, pet her first dog at Wes's families house, ride the ferry for the first time and feel the wind off of the ocean.

It seems as if she is having "first" experiences every day now. Life is so exciting seeing it through her eyes.

Family, yippee!

We are excited to get show Mackenzie off to all the family this fall.

We started off with Terry & Roger, and Grandma being here.

Tonight Grandpa (Buvyer) and Tama will be here to visit. We are excited for them to see Mack as he hasn't seen her since she was a few days old. Then this weekend Great Nana & Papa will be here with my Auntie Cheryl to visit.

After that we are hoping to have Auntie Miranda and Auntie Camille come over from the Island. We are going to try to see Grandma and Grandpa on Quadra Island in October. Then in November we may be making a trip to Victoria for Auntie Camille's graduation from UVIC and to visit with all the family/friends living in Victoria.

Finally, it will be December and we cannot wait to get home to Kitimat to see all of our family and friends for Mackenzie's First Christmas!

Baby Einstein or sports?

Jeremy and I have been watching the US Open non stop the last week or so. We both love tennis. We try not to let Mackenzie watch tv, but she just loves her sports. I have tried to put on Baby Einstein for her, but she has no interest in it. Yet, if you put on baseball or tennis, she is glued to the set! Hopefully she will catch that love of tennis and continue in her mom, her aunt's and her great nana's footsteps. We can't wait to see what she does when it is hockey season! Go Canucks, Go!

Remind you of anyone???

I am constantly amazed at how much Mackenzie looks like Jeremy! They even look the same in their sleep!