Beware...LONG post:)

Okay so I know, I know, I am such a blog slacker...it's been forever.
Well finally the time has come...I have no choice but to blog...Amy put the gun down...I am right across the room...I really am going to blog. You're not alone in the blog world!

I have been seriously busy. My life has been so chaotic lately with work and family...still trying to get back to a normal life. I've realized that it just may not even be possible to get back to "normal"...was my life ever normal???

Anyway, I have been working a few days a week watching these cute kids.

They are pretty easy to watch although trying to think of new things to do can get pretty difficult at times. It's watching Caleb at their house that is difficult. Going from our 900 sq. ft. apt. to the Choules 7000 sq. ft house makes for a very tired mommy at the end of the day:) He loves it though. He loves the Choules!

Caleb is all done with swimming lessons...at least for now. He loves the water and we do take advantage of the Choules pool a few days a week. He is a little fish. He loves going down the slide and will even jump off the diving board with his daddy!

It is so hellishly HOT here in AZ. I hate the summers here. You can't go to the park or play outside. Getting in or out of the car is awful! My cousin Chantale is thinking of coming down here with her boyfriend Dave in August...I am not sure if she realizes what she is getting herself into:) I am excited for the company though!

My usual scrapbooking group and I usually do an annual scrapbook retreat to Sedona every summer. This year with the price of gas and the time share, we decided on Scottsdale instead. It was fun and I got a lot of stuff done. I was scrapping my trip to Disneyland....good times:) and the other reason why I have been pretty busy is because, these people...

are getting married!!!! My best friend Jamie and Roberto! I am so happy and excited for them. Unfortunately I won't be able to go to the wedding or reception...Halifax and Saskatoon are a little out of the budget:(

I definitely wish them the best and asked if I could do the wedding invitations as my gift to them. They are stinking cute! Okay so I have only finished one but after this weekend...all 200 will be complete!!! Everything is already printed out and mostly cut so my dear Amy and I will bust a move and get these invites done TODAY:) Thank you, thank you Amy for volunteering to help me...(she has no idea what she is getting herself into) Okay she totally does know what she is getting herself into considering this is not the first time she has had big projects like this...

Okay so I am sure you can tell from the post that we are visiting with Amy and Eldon up in Holbrook this weekend....LOVING the cooler weather!

Before we left, while I was in the shower, my son decided to get into my make-up and this was the outcome. I did think it was quite funny until I realized that is wasn't my cheap make-up that he got into but the Sheer Cover.

We are enjoying our time in Holbrook...loved the fireworks last night but Caleb did not like the LOUD BANG!!! He loved the fireworks but not the noise.

Amy is spoiling us with all her yummy snacks and goodies. It's nice to just hang out and spend time with the F's.

We are heading back to Mesa tomorrow morning and I am trying to be more committed to blogging. I do have lots of ideas for posts I just need to take the time to do it.

Well Happy Canada Day!!!!

and Happy 4th of July!!!!

I hope you all had a good time celebrating the wonderful country you are part of! I feel so blessed to be Canadian and to grow up in such a great country. I do love the United States too and am grateful to have a husband that not only loves his country, but appreciates the "finer" things in life too...hehe...C'mon, who doesn't agree that Canada is the bomb? There are just way too many things that we enjoy in Canada that you just can't find here in the USA.

I am glad that our children will be part of both countries and will have so many opportunities available to them.

GOD BLESS NORTH AMERICA!!!

FOUR

Four, Four, Four, Four...

A) Four places that I go to over and over:
Scrapbooks Etc., Jamba Juice, Sondra's, Walmart Grocery Store

B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Gene, Amy, Sondra, Sheila

C) Four of my favorite places to eat:
Home, Costa Vida, Chili's, Olive Garden

D) Four places I would rather be right now:
Hawaii, California, Disney Cruise, Canada...for a quick visit:)

E) Four TV shows I watch all the time:
Grey's Anatomy, Hell's Kitchen, Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance

my angel

Here are some of the pics from
Caleb's birthday photo shoot
at Sears last month.
He is such a sweetheart.
I can't believe how fast he is growing.
He is so funny and we just have a blast with him!

Happy Scrapping

Saturday was National Scrapbook Day and some friends and I had a 12 hour "Scrapfest" at our LSS. I was finally able to complete my parents 25th Anniversary pages and am pretty happy with the results. I have struggled doing these pages and wanted them to be "just right"...I totally changed the whole concept/colors/everything a couple of times. I wanted to be sure that I expressed my emotion in this project. It was such a special time for everyone and such a joyous occasion...celebrating 25 years of love and happiness, the birth of my parents first grandchild, us going up to visit and them meeting Caleb for the first time. The hardest part for me about scrapbooking this event is looking at those pictures and realizing that it was the last anniversary my mom would be celebrating with my dad. I can't believe that my mom has already been gone almost a year. Oh, how I miss her! I broke down many times trying to complete these pages. I had so many flashbacks of memories and a sincere respect and admiration for the love that my parents have shared for a quarter of a century. I see the endless love in my parents eyes and the awe in their first grandchild...I see our family picture and just feel the bond that we all share. I look at the pictures of our family and friends and see the joy and also the sadness...knowing my mom didn't have much longer...
I am so grateful to have a hobby such as this to express my feelings and help me remember and share these special times.

Enjoy:)

(sorry they aren't the best quality pics)

It's official!

I have wii-itis!

Oh, my poor head, my arm...even my legs!

What did I do? It's seriously all because of tennis!

My poor body:)

We swapped xbox 360 for wii with Amy

and Eldon for a couple of weeks and this past

weekend Gene and I played some serious wii.

I love the Mario Party...

I have a love/hate relationship with wii sports,

especially tennis but I did get some

serious cardio this weekend.

I can't move my arm though.

I sucked it up on Saturday and it was on

like Donkey Kong but oh,

am I ever paying for it now!

You know, it's not just that I don't play tennis

and probably have never used those muscles

before but because of those things,

I swung the wii remote about 10x more

than necessary just in case:)

I was better than I though but I definitely

over compensated.
I want to play more but I have so much to do

and I can't be out of commission this week...

tons to do and I just can't let a game take

over like that. I won't do it!!!

Hehe...seriously, so addicting.

Caleb went down for a nap today and I

was soooo tired. I wanted to take a nap but

instead played 2 games of Mario Party.

I seriously fell asleep in between turns.

I even fell asleep during a few mini games.

I have no idea how I won the football thing

in my sleep but ROCK ON!!!

The wii will be going home this weekend with the

F's and it will be sadly missed but maybe

my arm can heal a bit and I can do more around here.

PS-Celebrated my 5th Anniversary

on Saturday...woohoo, 5 down:)

Dinner and a little walking around...

a very nice evening.

Thanks honey...I LOVE YOU!!!

memories

I have been going through tons of pictures trying to get them

sent to Winkflash so I will get them back in time for the

Scrapfest next Saturday.

I will be scrapping from 10am-10pm and I

want to be prepared.

I love looking at pictures, I huge reason why I scrapbook.

I can't believe how much my boy has grown.

This picture was taken December 2006...only 8 months old.

I miss my baby but I do enjoy him so much at two.

I love how every time I get him out of bed and

he looks up at me and says, "Hi Angel".

He drives me crazy and melts my heart

every single day:)

Anyway, just loving my boy and wanted

to let everyone know!

a few of my favorite things...right now

These are a few things

around my house that

I am totally loving right now...

1. Our new bathroom decor..."Surfing" theme.
I love the grass skirt shower curtain and all the accessories.


2. These Martha Stewart pom pom's on my ceiling.
I think they are stinking cute!


3. The XOXO that Sondra made me for my birthday.
It's for Valentine's Day but I still haven't taken it down:)

4. DVR...the XOXO is on top of my DVR...
It is so nice to be able to record all my faves
and pause and rewind live tv...
although I know that I watch so much more.

Caleb's Birthday

We just celebrated

Caleb's 2nd Birthday

this past Saturday.

I can't believe my boy is already two years old!!!

I want to start by saying a few things about my boy...

He is the sweetest thing. He is so affectionate

and always wanting to "hold you" or "snuggle".

I love his hugs and kisses and I especially

love when I hold him and he pats my back as I am patting his.

He is so polite...always saying please and thank you.

He even reminds us to say you're welcome:)

Caleb is so funny and that's probably why he gets

away with as much as he does. I mean, how

do you scold your son when you are laughing so hard?

He is so smart. Honestly, I am surprised everyday by

his knowledge and the things he remembers.

Caleb is my hero.

I still can't believe how much he has gone

through these past couple of years.

He has adjusted so well and he is what helped me

get through the tough times. I love my son for so

many different reasons. I am so proud to be his mommy

and can't wait to continue to watch him grow and be

part of his life. What a huge responsibility to be a parent

to someone so special. He teaches me so much and I hope

and pray that I will be the best mom I can be to him.

I love you Caleb Nicholas Cope!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Caleb had such a great time at his Birthday!

Thank you so much Amy and Eldon for coming

down and helping with the festivities.

You helped make the party a success:)

After Caleb's Birthday Party, Amy, Eldon, Gene, Caleb

and I went to Joe's Crabshack for dinner.

Here is a video of Caleb busting a move.

Disneyland

We had so much fun in Disneyland and I am so glad that we were able to get away as a family without the stress of Gene having to leave in a few days. We've done things together when Gene would come up to Canada to see us but it was always so stressful knowing he'd be leaving in a few days and not knowing the next time we'd be together. Needless to say, I think that this was a very well deserved family vacation. We really just wanted it to be all about Caleb and it was so fun!!! He loved meeting the characters...except Captain Hook and Rafiki. He was terrified.
He liked the rides but I think he had more fun with his new "Mickey" we bought him. The video is so funny but kind of dark and grainy. He has just cracked us up with this new Mickey of his...always high-fiving, kissing, hugging, and feeding his new found friend. Mickey already has orange stains around his mouth from Caleb feeding him Cheetos. They have been inseparable as you can tell from plenty of the pics.
Anyway, I will let the pics and video speak for themselves. I do feel like I need a vacation though after all that walking around Disneyland:)

back to hockey

I know all you blog readers are dying to know how my trip to Disneyland went...you just can't wait to see the pictures...okay so I know that Amy is really the only one that reads my blog but Ames, all in good time.
I am so behind in blogging and I did get some good pics of the "Great One" at the Coyotes game we went to so I thought I would post these pics first and then I will do a Disney blog next...very soon, okay?

We did have a blast in California though:)

The Coyotes beat the Canucks with goals and with fighting...oh there was some serious fighting happening during the game. It was GREAT!

Caleb LOVED the hockey game...that is the Canadian in him. He still thinks that all sports on tv are hockey. He talks about the hockey game everyday! We have to ask him what he "had" at the hockey game...popcorn, hotdog, churro, juice...he howls and tells you Coyotes hockey. He is just so funny sometimes, it cracks me up:)

Well here are some pics. ENJOY!