Yesterday I had a hair appointment in Cloverdale. I only trust one person with my fabulous hair (cause she's the only one who can make my fine, limp locks look fabulous) and that's Cary. So since we had to go ALL the way out there, we kept going and headed to Crescent Beach.

It's been ages since we were last out there. And quite frankly? The bloom is off the rose. Keep reading, possum.

First stop, the Wired Monk.

On a side note, this place is such a disappointment to me.

It has the potential to be truly awesome. It's in a gorgeous building. They have an amazing menu, great location, good vibe going. I love the patio. But the service is horrendous. Every single time we go. Half the time they're out of food. Like the basics for their menu at lunch time on a weekend. Uhm hello? Ever heard of planning? And their staff are always just plain rude. We give it a try about once a year, but I think we've Officially Given Up.

Anyway, after a mediocre lunch, we started walking down the beach. Tink had to go in the stroller because the tide was out. Like you could have walked to whatever land that is you can see from Crescent Beach the tide was out so far. Which means there was lots of lovely green sand to dig in. Yuck. I'm afraid the gorgeous white sands of Harrison have ruined us for the smelly sands of CB. BUT we were willing to let our kids scrub in the sand nearer the pier - the tide doesn't go out as far there, and the water is deeper and faster so the beaches are cleaner.

But on the way we saw our old log cabin...burned to the ground. The kids (all three of them) were devastated.

Flying along the beach.

It was actually very nice here. There was a breeze blowing which made the air nice and fresh, and made the temperature very mild. Lots of rocks to throw in the water, and it was nice and quiet here. I was actually very surprised there weren't more people at the beach. Maybe they were all walking across where the tide was out around the corner...

I had to put this picture in because this spot always reminds me of Chadya. I miss you!!

Playing with stones.

Davey is very into drawing right now. Here he is practicing his happy faces in the sand. Incidently, someone drew with sidewalk chalk all over my bedroom wall today. I'm just glad it's not felt.

Tink walked all the way up the beach like this saying, "Jammies on?" I think she meant, "Clothes off?" Easy mistake. She'd been squatting at the water's edge and gotten her skirt wet.


Now that we've taken her dress off she's able to paddle to her heart's content.



Now I bet you're all looking at this picture and thinking "awwwww". That's only cause you can't hear what's going on.


Andrew kept building little walls with those stones (you know, all the pictures with the kids playing with the stone henge type things). And the kids kept coming and trying to play with them. So finally the kids were preoccupied playing in the water, and Andrew managed to set up a whole circle of standing stones with an intricate piled stone thingie in the middle. And Tink came along and was watching. And inching closer. And finally sat down right on the whole thing. So tink is looking at me (very pleased with herself I might add) and Andrew is saying, "ARGGGGGHHH!!

See, not sweet at all ;)

Davey: Can I ask you a question
Me: Sure you can ask me a question
Davey: Why did you make me so little?
Me: ?!?

My Brave Girl

I was at work today, minding my own business when Kathi sent me a message, "Tink wants her ears pierced."

This is something Kat and I have talked about actually. I'm a big chicken/softie when it comes to hurting my children. Kat and Cody managed to get their girls' ears pierced and keep teasing me about taking Tinker to get hers done. Secretly I kept hoping that they would cause then I wouldn't ever have to go with her. So when I got that message today, I immediately responded, "Great! Have fun!"

Well, after a bit of conversation back and forth, Kat picked me up from work and we headed to the mall. Both my kids are magpies like me, so when we strolled into a glittery store (I think it was Icing) they were super excited. "Oh just wait," I thought to myself!!

We got the forms filled out and then it was time to explain procedure to mamma. Not much different from a needle. Sit on the stool with your baby on your lap. One arm pins her arms down, the other holds her face still so that she doesn't move and get a piercing where you didn't want one!! No big deal.

Next, the ladies drew dots on Tink to show her that they weren't going to do anything nasty to her. As one lady got the 'guns' ready, the other drew a dot on Tink's hand. "Ohhhh" says Tink. Then we showed her what it looked like in the mirror. "Great," She said (with her eyes) "can I get back down to play with the nail polish?"

Her first clue there was something up was when I suddenly pinned her arms and grabbed her face with my hand while both ladies crowded round us. But she was so brave. She barely struggled despite my iron grip and cried only a little when the guns pierced her ears. They offered her the jar of lollipops and she grabbed two, still sobbing. Then they wanted to clean her ears up. "All better, all better," she sobbed turning her head away. But as soon as I stood up and she realised we weren't going to torture her anymore, she stopped crying. By the time I'd paid for the piercing (and her and David's nail polishes) she had polished off one lollipop and was blowing kisses to the nice ladies.

And as we walked through the mall I said to her, "Tinky got earrings?" and she replied, "yah, they're pretty nice". Yes they are baby, yes they are.

I mentioned last week that I am back at work part time. I've been back at Power to Change helping Andrew and the IT department with revamping their Intranet. Oh am I ever having fun! I can't believe how quickly the time goes by...even when Andrew and I spend the WHOLE day charting a task list (like we did yesterday) I'm still amazed to glance at the clock and find it's already 3:30! That said, I'm SO tired!! I guess I'm still getting used to using my brain for such long stretches ;)

Okay, just kidding. I have to be very disciplined lately, lots of balls in the air:
We have to keep our house immaculate at all times. You never know when we might get a showing. So even when we leave to walk around the block the house is ready for guests.
We're on a tight budget - an exercise in self discipline - all lunches, breakfasts, dinners must be planned in advance and made before we leave for work! No more whipping up hotdogs and fruit at 1220!!
Bed time. Yah. I have to stop reading till all hours and make sure I'm in bed at a reasonable hour. All this cleaning and cooking and planning and brain using is tiring...and 545 comes very, very early!

Thank goodness for my seriously awesome sister and her family who have been taking such good care of Davey and Tink. I could never leave them if I didn't know they were being loved up like they are at the Lyths!!

Onto my blogging...

What on earth is Tinker doing here? Why the belly, Elly??

Oh, I see. It's not just me who is learning a new routine these days...

We're all learning to adjust our bed times (and pack snacks for the commute home!)

Okay, onto happier times. Here we are on the Rotary Trail near our house. I LOVE this walk! So peaceful and beautiful. The kids love it too.

Of course we have to stop and throw some rocks in the water. I prefer when we find a side stream to play by instead of the raging river...

After she woke from her nap the other day, Tink wanted to play in the basket. I wanted a shot of her outfit, but she wouldn't let me see the bottom half.



Ah! Finally!

Another shot of her yesterday morning.

See, she really did keep her glasses on for breakfast. Rough night, Elle?

And of course, Davey wanted his picture taken too. Nice teeth boyo! On Monday while I did chores, Davey sat at my desk and practiced drawing faces for 2 hours. He did 20 different drawings. Some with ears, some with freckles, some with hair. He drew a self portrait that had arms and legs but the rest were just faces. SO cute!!

too tired to blog

THIS is what greeted me this morning when I opened Tink's door. She was already up and...well, I'm not really sure what she was doing. Maybe practicing her diva-ish ways? She kept the sunglasses on through breakfast and was extremely crabby and demanding. But I think it was an act because right after breakfast she was her normal, bubbly self.

Happy Birthday Sweet Ashlie!

I can't believe you're EIGHT already! Hope you have a super fun birthday...

We love you!

This is Tink pretending to be a pirate.

Yesterday morning they made a fort and ate their breakfast inside it.
Cute little pig tails (she was reading herself a story and half asleep. She's trying to quit napping. I can't quite get her to nap every day, but I do try!!)

This is tonight...playing at her self made table.

Our microwave died on Monday so Andrew and I bought a new one today. Here Andrew is connecting it up. Luckily all we had to do was slide it on the supports, thread the cord through the hole in the cabinets and plug it in!!


I don't want it to be a shock to our kids when we move, so I've been trying to talk about it more as we go about our daily conversation. So I'll tell Davey about, "when we get to our new house" or explain that our things will have to be packed. Though his enthusiasm for the actual new house and moving seems to change from day to day he does talk about how we're "getting a new house because this one is broken." Not quite what I've been trying to communicate, but at least we've opened the lines of communication.

I've also been doing some painting and he often asks to help. I tell him that this house needs to be done by mummy and daddy, but that he can help when we get to our new house. That brought grunts of disgust until I told him he can do his room any way he wants...even a lightning mcqueen room if he wants. To which he squealed with delight and Tink asked, "dora?"

Oh yes, she's starting to understand much more than I give her credit for. She's not as bossy as she was a few weeks ago, but she talks up a storm. And understands so much it's scary.

Today in the car David kept putting raisins on the bridge of his nose and saying "look at me, I'm a dinosaur!" Elisabeth quickly copied him and put a raisin under her nose (she didn't quite get the concept) and calling, "look at me!" Only then she discovered that raisins perfectly fit up your nose to dangle out for ultimate gross appeal. Oh yes, she's the character in the family.

She also likes story time. Only she doesn't like us reading to her. She sits in the arm chair and we all have to sit on the sofa (sometimes I can hold her, but only if I don't touch the book, the pages or her in anyway) and she makes up elaborate stories for each page in the book. Very funny. Especially as she'll skip over her less than favorite pages.

Tomorrow I start back at work. It's sort of a transition to get the kids used to being daycared (thanks Kat!) and to help Andrew out with a big project that is snowing him under. So, I'm working most of tomorrow and Friday, and then Tues- Thurs next week with Andrew. Then the following week I start back at TWU for training and a one year position. I'm nervous about being away from the kids so much and yet at the same time I can't wait to have real adult conversations and maybe even be challenged in new ways. Give me a month and ask me how I feel about it then ;)

Just a cute picture I had to fit in somewhere...

This is yesterday morning. Breakfast.

Tink chasing a dog at the beach. Later an American Bulldog came and chased her. And did unspeakable things to our castle. Needless to say, we moved further down the beach.

Dirty little face. Davey liked to rub sand into his hair. Tink likes to wear it as makeup.





Davey wanted me to bury him. It's hard to bury, take a pic and make sure the kid doesn't run away before you're ready.





This is what Davey does at the beach now. Gets a bucket. Fills it with water. Plays with his toys in the bucket for hours. At least it's easy to keep an eye on him!

She's standing in our moat now.


We later decided this mound looked more like a beached whale so we gave it a tail.

Burying herself.

Can you imagine trying to get all that sand off them for the ride home. Oh it's at least as hard as it looks...

These little faces make my heart happy...