Blue Jean Boy

Sweet Suite Cleanup

So we are in the process of freshening up our suite. Our tenant of 6+ years has moved out and we are painting, fixing, replacing and in general making the place look a whole lot better then it did. We inherited the place as it was when we purchased the property and had done nothing but repairs as needed since then. Now that the place is empty we have discovered how truly thrown together it was and figured now was a good time to throw some elbow grease at it before someone new moves in.

So here is a before of the kitchen.

I don't think this is what they mean by green living!

Littlest PK helping prep the cupboards to be painted.

The kitchen as it looks today.

Attempts at a Photo Time

I attempted to set up a photo shoot with little man this morning.

Not something to attempt without help apparently as someone thinks the curtains should be pulled on and one should grab at the camera.

I am leaving it all in the living room and hoping that perhaps a day or to of playing with it will make it old news and we can try again.

I did however catch this.

Sad Day......Happy Day...Grateful Moments

Today is a day that started with some sad news. My grandmother passed away. And though it may sound odd that is happy news. Though it is sad that she is no longer with us in the physical sense it is good...great in fact that she has passed away. The reason that it is great is that she had cancer and it was just a matter of time and no one could say just how long it would take. The doctors also said that it would be very painful near the end and yet she went suddenly from doing just fine to gone and for that I am happy. I didn't want her to have to suffer a long and painful drawn out closure to her life.

The odd thing is that our household was getting ready to go and see her when the phone call came. Had my Mother phoned me just 10 minutes later we would have been gone and the news would have come from some staff member at the hospital. So for that person whom was spared having to give me the news I am grateful. For receiving the news from my Mother rather then some unknown hospital worker I am grateful.
For my husband whom chose to spend the morning with us despite there no longer being the reason to go to Victoria with me - I am extremely grateful.

PK feeding my grandmother when we went for a visit with my father back in September. This was a visit I insisted on doing as I wanted to make sure we had atleast a photo or two of all four generations. It may not be a portrait but atleast I have something for the photo album.

A Fun find that makes you Feel Good!

So why you ask is there a picture of a handbag on my blog.

The answer

This super cool bag is made from recycled coke labels

This and many more styles can be found at http://www.ecoist.com/

Check it out!

Work in Progress

So the bathroom is almost complete. We have some touch ups to do around the countertop due to new backsplash not at same height as old backsplash. Sounds like maybe a new mirror going in - yeah! And then finally using the beautiful wrought iron towel racks, etc that we were given for Christmas several years ago.

Before

After

And a look at the project that has been going on in the front yard the last couple of days.

Littlest PK telling those guys to get back to work. Anyone need a pint sized supervisor?

I am very excited about our new block wall - it is already making the entrance to our property look a million times better.

Tonight's Fortunes

Asr the hubby spent most of his day working on our new retaining wall for our driveway I figured it was a good night for Chinese Smorg. Off to Kim Wah's we went.

My fortune
"Your search for knowledge will lead you to high places"

Little PK had a triple fortune in his cookie - how lucky is that!
"You have an important new venture shaping up"
"Financial security is just around the corner" - good news for a 16 month old :)
"You will soon face something new and exciting"

Reno time again

So now that the upstairs bathroom is complete (almost)

we decided to do a partial reno on the downstairs bathroom.

New paint, new countertop, sink and faucet.

So here are the boys hard at work on the bathroom.

Yes, we are plumbers

And mudders

A bit of handyman

Sanding till it's smooth

And this afternoon we were even painters!

But I'll save that picture until after the second coat.

Sunday morning and all is normal????

So we have croup yet again in our household. You wouldn't know that we were up most of the night judging from our rockin little guy this morning.

This is what he wanted to wear to help Daddy and Uncle Todd with the backyard project - cute eh!

So in order to clear my head and get a handle on my day I started Day 1 of my 14 week training session to run the TC10K. I haven't ran since before I was pregnant with little dude so it will be a good challenge for me. Today I did 5:1 x 3 and I just managed it so I figure so far so good.

And this is what the guys have been up to this weekend.

That would be the run of my chicken coop laying on top of my herb bed. The coop is now located behind the barn and the harb bed will be added to my vegetable garden to make on large garden - yeah!

A Way to Help Those in Haiti

Pass it on, pass it on, Please, Please, Please pass it on.

If you have Air Miles you can donate points to the Red Cross - 200 points gives $25 to them for medical supplies, etc and you even get a tax receipt for your donation.

So if you don't have money to spare at the moment but really want to help here is a way you can do so.

Robert Louis Stevenson says

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

Just a smart piece of advice I stumbled upon that made me want to share.

We're Back..

So we just got back from a nice visit down to Arizona, Nevada and California with my parents. I now have the task of sorting through the 1000+ photos taken on the trip to put together our photo album. I did my best and managed to stiffle the fits of laughter when the other half said I should be able to pick the best 50 for our album. I'll let you know how I do on that one.

Anyhow I may or may not post more of the photos up here over the next bit but here are a couple of cute ones of little man that I just can't help but share.

A good time had by all.

Oh how they grow...up!

It really is quite amazing to watch little people as they grow and learn. They push and push and push against the being told no or trying to get on an item that is a little too high or carry an item that is a little too heavy. They absorb everything and quickly put that new knowledge to use. Really the only thing that holds them back is their physical limitations.

Last night ...or rather early, early this morning little PK was in need of a little drink. As I lay him back down in his bed he raised his head. This usually means he wants me to pick him up and hold him until he falls back to sleep but to my amazement he reached out his hand, grabbed his stuffed cow and pig, tucked them into his armpits and put his head back down promptly going back to sleep. Hmmm...I guess I have been replaced - too bad they can't get him a drink in the middle of the night ;)

Last night we also thought it was time to put another mark on PK's growth chart. It had been about 3 months since last we did it. Was I ever amazed at how much he had grown. To give you an idea the space between the lines is three inches.

And just because we know what a monkey our little man is - here is his new favourite play spot.

A funny moment in time

So this morning PK and I get up and go downstairs. PK plays while I put together breakfast. We eat breakfast and then he plays as I clean up. I am almost finished cleaning up when he walks into the center of the family room and bends over and is grabbing at his groin region. As per norm I say Oh, did you just pee He looks at me and grabs again. So I say Òh, are you really wet, okay give mommy a moment and we`ll get you out of that diaper. He grabs again. Òkay, okay, I`m coming. So up the stairs we go and into the bathroom as I was going to throw him in the tub. So off comes his clothes and there he is standing there buck naked - his diaper had fallen off sometime between going down stairs and his standing in the family room and he was trying to tell me the whole time. Poor darling was probably very confused as to why mommy was laughing so hard.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love Christmas... the decorations....the baking....the getting together with friends....the well just about everything to do with the festive season. And slowly my house is looking like it belongs to the season. Littlest PK is doing a great job of learning to look and gentle touch only. Lots of reminding....a couple of slightly damaged ornaments but otherwise we are doing fairly well.

Some pics of what our world is looking like right now.

Our stockings are hung

Bannister is decorated

Glass baubles and such in an oversized bowl as our table centerpiece

Santa taking his rightful place in the center of our homemade wreath

A visit with the real live Santa

And a view out our back window

A View out the Office Window

As I wrote the last post I was glancing out the window at the current project being worked on by Andy. He has his buddy over helping. They are both on their winter time off and every year have been helping each other out with projects. It's great catch up time for them as they barely see each other the rest of the year and it sure does make the projects more enjoyable for them.

So here is what they are working on.

Yes indeed, the barn is getting a new roof. The guys are putting on the trim right now. We looked at pictures last night of the barn as it looked when we bought this place. It was a two tone grey and now is this lovely deep green with white trim and now a black roof - so excting.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Littlest PK has been doing a lot of copying and repeating of actions. Some is super cute...others maybe not so much but it's all learning and wonderful memories.

Andy has had PK help with making the fire since he was big enough to walk. PK brings in some of the kindling, scrunches the paper (you can imagine how that translates to other fun stuff), carries the match box to and from the drawer and closes the gate. Anyways to make a long story short, Andy showed PK how to snap in half a piece of kindling that was too long for the fire. Two days later with his new-to-him Xylophone PK picks up one of the mallets and proceeds to snap it in half. Hard to get mad at him when you taught him the action.

But here are some of the super-cute copycat moments of the last week.

Chatting to his girlfriend on his new cell phone

Sharing his bottle with Santa 'cause Santa likes milk don't you know

Clipping his toenails and fingernails

And just cause we like to really get into our projects with our whole body and soul.

When all else fails

I love my child...I really, really love my child...but there are moments when I also really dislike my child. Today we were having a lot of moments. I am sure there is probably something going on for him that means he needs more attention then normal and wants things his way more then normal but that doesn't make it any easier when he is trying to play drums with the glass measuring cups, eat the tinted moisturizer or the cologne that he somehow managed to get out of the top drawers in the vanity (no longer child prrof I guess), or the same with the markers out of the office drawer.

Today the doors are closed, on the office, on the bedroom, on the bathrooms and anything else I can find to close. I don't like feeling like I am always saying no. It doesn't feel like a positive environment but there is also a limit to what can safely be played with and I only have so many shelves that are above reach or behind locked doors.

So after a morning of him getting into everything and then yelling (not crying - yelling) at me when I take it away and whining the moment I am not paying attention to him I finally just put him in his crib, told him that I loved him but that he and I needed to have alone time, and less then ten minutes of crying later he is fast asleep in his crib. Hmmmm, do you think that he maybe just needed the nap that I told him he needed at about 10 o'clock this morning.....maybe just a little.

Anyhow, now that I am done venting and giving away the negative energy I can make room for  a positive and enjoyable afternoon. And to start that off I share some happy thoughts.

PK taking Mr Teddy for a stroll around the house

Breakfast this morning...one of our favourites

French Toast with yogurt for dipping

and a side of sliced banana and kiwi

That I have a healthy, active and curious child

I am grateful

And that I can serve my child such a healthy and filling meal

I am grateful

And that I have a warm and cozy home to play and relax in

I am grateful

That I have these things within my house for him to get into

I am grateful

And a camera to take pictures with to share our lives with others

I am grateful

So when all else fails thinking about all these things will certainly be a wonderful afternoon.

And to know that and be able to re-create the rest of my day..

for that I am VERY grateful.

Tigh-Na-Mara

Andy and I had our Christmas 'staff party' this past weekend. We joined up with my old employer for a joint party to make things a bit more fun. Littlest PK went to his Grandma and Grandpa's for his first sleep-over at their house. He had a great time playing and visiting with their guests and listening to music.

Us parents, well we had a romantic overnighter at Tigh-Na-Mara in Parksville. This is a lovely resort on the oceanfront. They do an amazing job of a buffet spread for dinner and the rooms are cozy and enjoyable.

A view from our room.

Green thumb

So last night I quietly placed a couple pots in the garage. Pots that held what once were thriving plants but now hosted shrivelled leaves of very dead foliage. So to make myself feel better about the whole cemetary in the garage I am posting this....proof that not only can I keep a plant alive but that I can in fact get an orchid to bloom...yes indeed these blooms are new and on a plant that I received as a 'please babysit this' from my Mother - I guess I'm doing an okay job seeing as it is still in my care.