Get Outta My Bed

This photo speaks a thousand words.

Elliotte is yawning,

as if to tell Blue that he's complicating her plan

of having a lovely nap in that bed.

Blue is giving Elliotte the evil eye,

wondering why this little person has invited herself onto his bed.

He certainly didn't offer the invitation.

And Piper thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

There's always something!

xo

xo

Never a quiet moment, hey Blue!

Surf's Up

We're running out things to do on rainy days.

We used them all up on the million snowy days we had this winter.

This is as good as it gets around here now when it rains!

xo

xo

Look at those faces.
You'd think I was about to throw them into shark infested waters!
They were laughing just seconds before this photo was taken.
I swear!

And the fun has returned.
Would you believe that they weren't one bit afraid of the water?!
Nope.
My brave fearless girls just dove straight in and rode the waves.
Ha!

Happy Father's Day

Here's what Piper and Elliotte gave their daddy for Father's Day:

I first saw this drawing back in January.

When I saw it, my heart stopped for a moment. 

This looks so much like my family.

At first I thought that perhaps I was seeing things,

but then I showed it to Piper to see what she would say about it.

Her immediate reaction was to say,

"Mommy, can Elliotte walk?"

That did it for me. 

One look at the drawing and Piper also thought that this was

a picture of her with her daddy and little sister.

I had to have it!

It was actually drawn by an RCMP member,

who I believe is posted in New Brunswick.

I contacted his wife and the rest is history.

I have been waiting six months to give this to Mark.

Now I can't wait to have it hanging on our wall.

Happy Father's Day, Mark!

Your girls and I love you to the moon and back!

xo

xo

The HULK

Mosquitos are evil!

EVIL!

Especially to a 3 year old little girl

who is allergic to their nasty bites.

Piper has been covered in mosquito welts 

that swell bigger each day

and drive the poor thing crazy.

Not only do they irritate her all day long,

but they keep her from sleeping at night as well.

The irritability caused from the bites

turns Piper into the HULK!

Don't be fooled by the fact that she's not green

and huge.

Her personality becomes almost intolerable after a few bites.

What am I supposed to do about it?

I can't keep her inside all day long.

I've tried most of the things that people have suggested

and have talked to her doctor and pharmacist. 

She's now taking a daily antihistamine supplemented with Benedryl

on the days that the bites are particularly bad.

I haven't watched the Hulk in a million years.

How did he turn back into a normal person.

Perhaps that would be the answer to her problem!

We don't know yet if Elliotte will suffer the same fate.

So far she's only had a few bites that haven't really bothered her.

They've blown up to be huge,

but she'll just rub them a little and keep on going about her business.

And no issues with this one sleeping now.

All of this week, she's gone to be between 7:30 and 8:00.

I've had to wake her around 9:00 each morning,

only to have her begging to take her nap again by noon.

The nap: THREE HOURS!

Yep.

I only see this child for about 7 hours a day now.

I'm starting to forget what she looks like. Ha.

xo

xo

Piper was so tired after a restless night that she fell asleep in the van.
You can see four or five bites on her face.
Peep, Elliotte!

Nasty mosquitos.

Princesses Sleep Here

I can't believe that I forgot to blog about this!

It is one of my favourite accomplishments ever.

I am NOT creative at all when it comes to interior decorating.

I really have no idea what is outdated or tacky or tasteful.

However,I had an image in my mind 

of what I wanted Piper and Elliotte's shared room to look like,

and though it took almost a year to actually come together,

(all my fault)

it's finally finished!

Kelly-Anne actually helped me place the decals 

when they were visiting. 

I'm so happy with the result!

And so are my girls.

Piper needs to 'read' the decals to everyone that visits,

and Elliotte... well Elliotte could care less.

I may as well be honest about it.

Thanks again for your help and patience, KA!

xo

xo

Here's how their room is set up now that they're sharing. 

Here's Princess Piper's side of the room.

And Princess Elliotte's side of the room.

And having a finally finished bedroom means that you cuddle
and sleep on the floor instead.

Princesses or cuddle monsters?

Corn Cob Kids

Both of my kids are great eaters.

Piper is SLOW,

but is a pretty adventurous eater.

Elliotte too,

but if she decides she's not in the mood for something,

she just picks it up and throws it.

Or will yell at me.

Scream, really.

We recently picked up some fresh corn.

It's been a while since we had it,

so I knew it would be a hit or a miss with Elliotte.

Thankful for a hit,

since this is a staple in our house during bbq season!

xo

xo

Elliotte screamed at me when I took it away from her.
Though I'm not a fan of the screaming stage,
at least she really likes corn.

And Piper too.
She ended up eating half of mine once she was finished hers.

A Quiet Kitchen

My house has been a mad house lately.

A LOUD mad house. 

A couple of days ago,

I threw a couple of blankets over the girls' play kitchen.

Silence followed. 

Oooooooh.

It was lovely!

xo

xo

The quiet kitchen.
Can you spy too little bums?

A peek inside.

LOVE!

Dump Delight

Here's a story that I am not going to want to forget:

Last Friday, as I was buckling Piper into her carseat after playgroup,

I told her that if she was a really good girl

and ate a really good lunch,

then Daddy was going to take her out for a "Daddy & Piper Day".

She looked up at me excitedly and said,

"Is he going to take me to the dump?"

(He took her there with him once a few weeks ago!)

Oh my.

I laughed!!

And then felt terrible!

When I got home, 

I told Mark that he obviously wasn't spending enough

daddy-daughter time with Piper

and then told him why. 

He laughed, but I could tell he was feeling bad. 

After lunch,

Piper and her daddy got ready and headed out.

First they stopped at a Dairy Bar to buy ice cream cones.

Then they walked along the boardwalk in downtown Summerside,

which runs alongside the ocean.

They visited a lighthouse and stood on rocks (one of Piper's favorite things)!

Afterwards they stopped into Canadian Tire quickly,

but Daddy did take time to let her stop and watch the cars getting fixed in the garage.

(Another of her favorite things to do.)

Two hours later they came home,

happy and exhausted.

I said that I had to run into town to buy a few things and they decided to come along.

The four of us climbed in the van and headed back into town.

Just as we pulled into the parking lot of a store,

Piper looks up from her seat and says,

"So... when are we going to the dump, Daddy?"

Bah ha ah ah ha ha.

Apparently the ice cream, the boardwalk and the lighthouse were cool.

But not as cool as the dump!!!!

LITTLE GIRLS!

xo

xo

Happiness in a bowl!

Two thirds of my love!

Run, Piper, Run!
Burn off that ice cream child!

The lighthouse. 

We didn't get to go, but no worries.
We had chocolate chip cookies.
Can you tell?

Baby Bottle Bonding

Elliotte no longer needs a baby bottle,

since she will just as happily drink her milk out of a sippy cup.

It's her big sister that's having the harder time giving it up.

She LOVES giving her little sister her bottle.

xo

xo

No.

Words.

Needed.

Just Like You

Elliotte wants to do everything that her big sister does now.

Everything!

It's cute,

but it sure keeps me busy.

Can someone please tell me how to explain to this tiny person

that she is only one

and there is no need to be in a hurry to grow up so quickly?

xo

xo

So cute, right?!
Right, well just moments before this photo was taken,
Piper 'needed' more room on the stool and moved one of Elliotte's hands.
The hand that was holding on to the sink to keep her balanced.
CRASH!
Tears.
And then she was right back up there again.

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago today 

I lost one of my most favourite people in this world.

My grandfather, Carl Grandy.

He and I shared a very special bond that cannot be described in words

and I miss him more and more each day.

There is not a doubt in my mind that both of my girls

would adore him as much as I did.

My grandfather was a wonderful story teller

and Piper, like her mom, never tires of listening to stories.

She would have loved to hear about the 

"good ol' days" 

of growing up in outport Newfoundland,

About how he chose to hunt muskrats instead of helping to build the new post office,

like most of the other men in town (including his brother).

Not only did he trap a load of muskrats, 

but he was also able to trap a silver fox at the same time.

He gave his mother the skins to sell in St. John's,

which ended up making him ten times the wages 

of the men working on the post office.

And he had fun doing his job!

Or about working on the big fishing boats out on the Grand Banks.

He and his fishing buddy would take a bucket of baked sweets on board their dory with them

to have for a 'lunch' throughout the day.

They fished alongside Portuguese fishermen

who would take one of their hard bread buns and knock it on the side of their boat

to show my grandfather what they were eating.

My grandfather would laugh in delight as he would tell me

how he would row his boat over to the Portuguese boat

and share his sweet baked goodies. 

He also liked to talk about 

what a little trouble maker he could be when he was a small boy.

After his cow, Olive, had been milked,

a thick layer of delicious cream would settle on the top of the pail of milk.

He liked to take a straw and poke a hole in the cream 

to drink the warm milk from down below.

He always had a mischievous smile on his face when he told this story,

so I can only assume that this was not something his mother allowed.

I could honestly go on and on.

As a little girl,

I can remember laying in bed and asking him to tell me story after story.

As I got older,

I never had to ask.

I just had to be there.

Which I was... as often as I could be.

In the later years,

my Pop taught me how to knit garbage nets

using the same techniques that he used to knit fish nets.

He would start off by asking me if I'd like to have a beer with him.

We'd always end up agreeing to share a beer.

He'd pour half into a glass and keep the other half in the bottle.

Then we would sit in his basement and begin knitting a net.

I won't lie. 

We got frustrated with each other quite a few times during those knitting lessons,

due to the fact that Pop was left handed and I'm right handed,

but in the end we were able to figure out that handicap

and knit in the calm pleasure of each other's company.

He would tell story after story,

while drinking beer from both the glass and the bottle.

Most of the beer would be gone before he would notice that he was drinking both halves of the beer.

We both laughed a lot at that.

We laughed at each other a lot.

Even in his last days in the hospital,

when we knew he was dying,

he told stories and we laughed.

One day I told him that when I died,

I wanted him to be the very first person in line to meet me in heaven.

A few days later, in a weak voice, he told me that when he died,

he wanted ME to be there very first person in line to meet him in heaven.

When I explained this back to him and that it would mean that I would have to die first, 

he was horrified.

Then we both laughed and laughed and laughed.

He apologized so many times and I just kept laughing.

He's been gone for four years

and he's still making me smile. 

Memories are beautiful things for our hearts!

Four years ago today was one of the saddest and loneliest days of my life.

I had not only lost my grandfather,

but one of my very best friends.

I just wish my girls had been able to get to know him.

They will know all about him,

but it's not the same.

They are really missing out.

xo

xo

Here I am with my Pop when I was around 2 years old.
Do you see any resemblance between myself and my girls?
They're definitely cuter.
I tell my mom all the time that my kids are cuter than hers.
Ha!

Ahhh, Poppy Grandy, you made beautiful great-granddaughters.

They would have loved you so much!

Touch A Truck

There is a fundraising event held here each year

called the Touch-a-Truck.

They round up a bunch of trucks, tractors,

buses, etc... for the kids to explore.

There's other stuff there too,

but the trucks are the best part!

Piper was super excited to go,

but was giving me some pretty nasty attitude that day,

so I was honestly just moments from my breaking point.

My patience were worn out and I was just about to declare

that our trip to the Touch-a-Truck event was cancelled...

and then I received a message saying that I won free tickets.

Well.

Wasn't it Piper's lucky day.

This momma loves a good deal to much to pass up free entry.

Yes. 

Piper was VERY lucky.

She was squealing with delight as we walked onto the grounds.

There were horns honking, lights flashing, sirens wailing...

All the fun stuff that kids love.

And then Piper's alter ego arrived and she became so shy that she wouldn't move.

She hid behind my legs and begged to get up into my arms.

She wouldn't talk to the policeman with the police truck

(who just so happened to be Daddy's friend and knew her name).

She wouldn't touch the fire truck.

She wouldn't touch the ambulance.

She wouldn't touch the dump truck.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. 

Sigh.

KIDS!!!

How many times have I said it?

Elliotte was on my back in a backpack not making a sound.

I couldn't see her, 

so I don't really know if she was having fun or not. 

Every now and then a stranger would walk over,

laugh at her and kindly pull her hat back from covering her eyes,

but that was all from her.

Piper barely came out from hiding behind my legs until she found Sylvie and Caitlin.

THANK GOD!

Both Sylvie and Caitlin were reared up and ready to explore every vehicle there.

My munchkin was reluctant to follow at first,

but soon was the leader of the pack.

WHAT?

Head shake!!

Crazy kid.

Once Daddy arrived during his shift to see the girls,

Elliotte wanted out too.

It wasn't long before she too, 

was the leader of the pack.

I'm not sure the free ticket was worth the frustration at the beginning of the day,

but it was totally worth it for the photos that I was able to take!

xo

xo

Four adorable girly girls...

... sitting in a tractor.

There's no better place to play ring-around-the-rosie!

Checking out the ambulance.

The flatbed truck was a huge hit.
Can you tell.
Elliotte was enjoying it just a little bit.
Apparently ti makes the perfect dancing stage! 

Touch a Truck

Future farmers?

Ahhh yes.
The photo of Piper sitting in the tire.
My idea.
"Go sit in the tire" I said.
"It will be a great photo" I said.
Humph.
I didn't know that the tire had dirt and grime and water in it.
She sat anyway.
Yep.
My idea.

Ahhhh the shiny milk truck.
If you've ever seen the movie Cars,
you may remember when Mack is driving behind one of these
and is making funny faces as he can see his reflection in the back of the truck?
Well that is Elliotte's favorite part of the movie.
If you ask her now what Mack does,
she will lick out her tongue and wiggle it around.
Silly baby!

Here's Mack making funny faces to his reflection in the milk truck!

And here's Elliotte being Mack!

Sharing an Ice Cream

Ice cream.

Friends.

Sisters.

LOVE!!!

xo

xo

Heading to the ice cream store.

Seriously!
Before we know it, they'll be old enough to walk over alone
 and order all by themselves. 

Best buds!

All the girlies enjoying their ice cream.

Especially this one!

But not too much that she wouldn't share with her little sister.  

Elliotte thought this was the greatest. 

Messy messy baby!

Here's a photo of Piper's back after she fell from the top of Sylvie's play structure.
She didn't care until I told her that there were scrapes on her back.
KIDS!

A SANDwich for Elliotte

Most kids like to make sand castles or mud pies

when they're playing in a sandbox.

Elliotte likes to make sandwiches.

xo

xo

The big girls played in the treehouse,
while the little girls played in the sandbox.

Well... Caitlin played in the sandbox.
Elliotte had her lunch!

This swing set has just enough space for these sweet little friends!

So much summer fun!