Whitey

Whitey is not your typical cuddly, sleek, shiny cat. He's roamed the neighbourhood and, by the looks of him, at different times has had run-ins with some of the big bunnies around here, or another cat, or a bird, or something. He tolerates the kids petting him, as long as they don't pull his fur. He begs for food and always seems to want another can of the smelly stuff as soon as he finishes devouring his first one. He has patches of fur that are matted, some thin spots on his head and behind his ears. He could use a good trip to the vet for a grooming, but that's easier said than done. The kids love him though and so does Sara. He's a cat so I automatically have a soft spot for him and sometimes sneak him that extra can of food when he begs so pathetically for it.

Help From Papa

Lloyd stopped by Sara's place this afternoon to see how I was managing with Charlie, Max and Ellie. Sometimes I think he's a bit envious of the time I spend with them but he tries to get his bonding time in too every chance he has. They enjoy having their Papa around too. (see Sara's blog entry today at http://fip.typepad.com/mommy_moments/ ) Here he is with them.

Somewhat Better

Things escalated since my last blog entry...pain and swelling magnified greatly. I went to the dentist Thursday morning and they immediately called my situation an emergency and got my appointment with the specialist moved ahead to yesterday. What a relief! Although my jaw/tooth is very sore still, the worse is over, the infection is gone and I'm on the road to recovery. That was an awful experience. The root canal itself wasn't bad - the pain leading up to it was the worse part. Now if this toothache would just end, I'll be 100%. But it's slowly ebbing, so I can live with it. I don't have a picture to go with it. I took a self-portrait the other day which I thought should be called 'pain' but it's too miserable looking to post here.

So, here's Charlie, my smile of the day.

Teeth

Kenzie has been wiggling her first loose tooth for weeks now. Her dad helped liberate it yesterday so Kenzie brought it down to show me. It's a pretty important milestone to lose your first tooth - as exciting as it was for her parents when that little tooth first poked its way to the surface five years ago.

My teeth experience yesterday wasn't as exciting as Kenzie's. I've had a throbbing toothache for a couple of days and ended up going to the dentist. The affected molar is hidden under a crown and after xrays were taken it was determined that I need a root canal. Because of the crown, I'm being referred to a specialist, but since I'm going to be in Oliver, BC from Aug 5 to 15, the earliest I could get in is Aug 27! In the meantime, I'll be living on extra strength Motrin and extra strength Tylenol...not fun. Plus, my jaw is swollen - I'll look beautiful for Emily's wedding! I think the whole teeth situation should have been better thought out back when mankind was first created!

Barbie Girl and Others

Charlie is a Barbie girl - she loves clothes and shoes and, because her mom owns a portrait studio, she has learned to pose like a pro. Last week a local toy store had Barbie dolls on sale for $3.17 each and because Sara was a Barbie girl when she was young (first picture, circa 1979), she couldn't resist getting Charlie stocked up. Showing great intelligence and foresight, Sara also bought her a Barbie storage case where the dolls and their accessories can be tucked away when the playing's done. And yes, that's a Donnie Osmond doll Sara's playing with. Marie must have been out with the girls that day.

My sister and I would have been Barbie girls too if they had been invented when we were still playing with dolls. We each had one of the Barbie forerunners - I had a Debby doll and Wendy had a Susie doll. Each one had a range of outfits that could be purchased separately. I kept mine for years and gave it to my oldest girls to play with, and now I have no idea where she is.

Cropping Success

Emily and I went to a crop at Scrap-A-Lot last night and were very productive. We both ended up with six pages done - a personal best for me. I usually consider myself lucky to get two done in the 10 or so hours spent at a crop. I've decided to revert to my original simple style and just go outside of my comfort zone occasionally for an extra special layout. So what you see here is mostly my basic style. Consider that I have around 250 photos of our family reunion to work on, simple is best.

Chester

We're not a pet family. Not that I planned it that way - we always had cats and sometimes budgies when we were growing up. But I married a man who doesn't like cats and have kids who are allergic to some animals. I've had a couple of budgies in the 37+ years we've been married but that's about it. If I have the misfortune to outlive Lloyd, I'll become a cat lady in my old age :-). Two of our children have one pet each (I refuse to consider fish pets) - Sara has a yellow tomcat called Whitey, and Mary has a huge bull mastiff named Chester.

Chester is an interesting dog. He likes me - for which I am thankful because I think he's cool. He doesn't care much for men so the men in our family are very leery of him. Mary and Greg had him before Layla was born and we were a bit concerned about how such a big dog would react to a tiny baby. We shouldn't have worried. Chester loves Layla and is very protective of her, and Layla has always referred to Chester as 'my boy'... and sometimes as 'my brudder'. She's almost 4 years old in this picture, and Chester is 5.

Meanwhile...Back at the Zoo

The day we took the kids to the zoo 3-year old Max made his own fashion statement by wearing his cap backwards. I'm not sure where he got this idea - maybe from the neighbour boys, or maybe from television. Whatever it was, he spent the whole day with his cap turned around. It looked really cute on him.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Aidan's first birthday today - cousins, aunts and uncles came for the pizza and cake and gave the little guy lots of presents. The highlight, of course, was the cake - which he enjoyed eating without having to worry about getting any on his face, chair and clothes. He still looks cute all covered in chocolate.

Carrots and Peas

Eloise is starting to eat baby food and seems to like it. Have you ever tasted baby food? Except for the applesauce and strained peaches, it's quite disgusting. Nevertheless, little Ellie is developing a taste for vegetables and really wanted to feed herself. I didn't let her, of course, but when we were done, I have her the spoon and empty jar and she tried her hand at pretending to feed herself. It's impossible to feed a baby without making a mess. Luckily, they clean up easily.

Bridal Shower

On Saturday Sara and Jenny hosted a bridal shower for their sister Emily. The August 23 wedding is fast approaching and it's fun events like this that make it seem more real. Here are a few pictures of the event.

Scrapbooking

After a busy two days I decided that today would be a stay at home quiet day - and that's just what it has been. I've only had one phone call all day, and haven't seen a soul. So I finally got a start on my reunion scrapbook album. I spent all night at a crop a couple weeks ago and got one page finished (which I couldn't photograph tonight without having a flash glare). Today I got two pages completed and one just about done. The pages here are the first page which is the invitation and explanation page, and the whole group page. Although it doesn't show up in the photo, the first arm of the "U" has "all of" written on it, as in All of US.

Whooo

When I was 19 I bought the first of my collection of owls. It was about 2.5 ft. tall and beautiful. I knocked his head off bringing him home from the store but was able to glue it back on so that you'd never notice it was broken. I gave him the creative name of "Hoot". He was quickly followed by a smaller "Screech", and then by a number of others in all shapes and sizes. I have no idea where they all are now. We moved so much over the years that I guess they fell victim of purging and breaks. I still love owls though and am really glad that they're a prominent scrapbooking embellishment this year. The beauty pictured here was one of half a dozen or so that I saw at the Valley Zoo today where I went with Sara and the kids. I took pictures of them all, but this was the only one that wasn't ruined by the cage bars.

Busy Day, Busy Kids

Charlie's getting outfitted for a summer holiday in the Phoenix area - she says going to the desert - and needed funky sunglasses and a sun visor. She was picture perfect cute. Later in the day she got out all her Barbie jewellery and put it all on - another photo op. Meanwhile, Max fell asleep on the couch and Charlie had to take a picture of him (she took many pictures - not all were keepable). When he woke up, Max wanted to take some pictures too so I have him my small Fujifilm Finepix to use. Ellie did her baby stuff all day - she loves oranges. Somewhere amid all that, we went to the mall so Charlie and Max could have their passport photos taken (Ellie already has her passport).

Popsicle

I discovered today that Eloise loves popsicles...I don't know if this was the first one she's ever had but, boy, did she love it. It was mine to begin with but when I picked her up she grabbed it and didn't let go. She made short work of it - notice the red juice streaming down her arm and onto my shirt. I think she must have got brain freeze toward the end though because she suddenly started screaming and crying. We all know how that feels - poor little girl. It probably won't stop her from wolfing down another one next time she can though. The pictures were taken by Elly's 4-year old sister Charlie with my Canon Rebel. She's a pretty good little photographer.