Shield's 15 Seconds

Of bunny hopping that is.

The unthinkable happened today.

Not in a million years did I think the shop would partake in bunny hopping never mind on morning television.

But, here they are with the wonderful Bridget Ryan, hopping their little hearts out.

Just click the photo below and enjoy.

The Sweetest of Weekends

We had the best weekend.

It started out with a visit to the Muttart.

Their feature pyramid is filled with spring flowers.

The sun was shining that day and it was just what we all needed after last week's ugly winter flare up.

As if that wasn't enough we lunched at Culina Muttart.

The Culina family of restaurants never disappoints.

On Saturday something unbelievably exciting happened.

Fiona had her first sleepover!

I'll be honest, I didn't think we were going to venture into this territory for a while.

We are so lucky though, to have a few amazing friends who's kids feel like my own.

These two have grown up together so Charlie just fit right in to our routine.

We started the evening with make-your-own pizzas.

We had a couple birthdays to celebrate so we were out a little late and there was much sugar consumption.

Even that couldn't throw these two off.

After teeth were brushed and stories were read, they were out.

{I knew that double bed was a good idea.}

 Great weekend right?

But wait, I'm not done.

The weekend was capped off with a date {accompanied by Mama Kerry} to the Raffi concert on Sunday.

With ice cream afterwards to boot.

Living it up, toddler style.

Stuff Like This {Is Awesome}

Many of you have probably seen this already.
{I am very aware that I've fallen behind the times in many aspects of life.}
This clip was brought to my attention by some wonderful ladies I met at Wine Club last weekend.
{Yes, you heard right, Wine Club.  Now you're jealous aren't you?}
Not only is it hilarious, it's genius.
Happy Friday.

McBet

You know how it is when you work late nights.

You'd do almost anything to break up that 14 hour day.

Well, the shop is BUSY right now.

Everyone has really been stepping up lately and working a ton.

Jeff is working so much we barely get a chance to share the day's events.

But when we finally did get a chance last week this is what I get to hear about.

{Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that I'm not always kept up to date on the shenanigans at the shop.}

On one of said late nights Jason bet Jeff that he {Jay} could eat 20 cheeseburgers.

20.

I mean we're not talking quarter pounders, but still.

I'm assuming when they took this pic Jay had already started on 1 as you'll only count 19 {which is the first thing I did}.

I'm relieved sorry to report that Jason lost this bet.

"What did Jeff win?" you might ask, I did.

Not only did Jay have to pick up the tab for the meal that, I assume, made him see something resembling the above photo.

He's also on the hook to wash Jeff's car in his skivvies.

A free meal, clean car and humiliating his partner, I'm pretty sure that's as good as it gets for Jeff.

Fiona's Room

I shared Cedric's room on the blog a while back.

I had a lot of fun decorating with the motor theme.

It came easy and felt right in our home and of course our lives as auto body shop owners. 

Fiona's was a little harder.

I kept feeling as though I should make it more girly.

Would I be depriving my little princess by not making the room various shades of bubble gum pink?

Of course not, I would tell myself.

 You'll be doing her a favour, maybe she won't even like pink.

{I laugh at my wishful thinking, her entire world would have a rose tinge now were it up to her.}

Anyways, I came across these pics from Cedric's newborn shoot.

Our {genius} photographer Elaine snuck these shots in at the beginning of the session.

This is when the room was in transition from nursery to toddler so there are some things not finished but it's still the same idea.

The quilt {hanging} was a wedding gift from my lifelong friend Diana.

I love how warm it makes the room feel.

The crib was my Dad's, Aunt's, mine, my sisters', you get the idea.

Just don't make things like they used to eh?

The rocking chair was my Gram's and was shipped here when they were moving out of their house.

I recovered the cushions with some spare fabric and added some ribbon to fasten them to the chair.

 The floor is original and was on it's last leg so couldn't have taken another sanding.

I'm glad because a good wash, prime and paint turned out great.

{I don't know that Jeff would have let me paint the floor otherwise.}

This way I also felt like the furniture wasn't too much wood and didn't have the itch to paint it.

 The toys were left this way by Fiona as was the crib.

I like how these photos are not at all staged but still look so cute.

 This little rocking chair was a gift from my Gram and Grandad {sourced by my Mom}.

 We found the antique chalk board and blue stool at the Old Strathcona Antique Mall.

The Ikea lamp behind the Ikea bookshelf is the perfect amount of light for bedtime stories.

The linen Ikea curtains are just enough to soften the morning light.

A last minute touch was a framed poster of Fiona's first {out of the womb} Dave Matthews Band concert.

The room came together in the end and feels calming and nostalgic.

Though I must admit it's now usually much messier and with many more touches of pink.

Daddy the Rockstar

I think I've mentioned before that Jeff is a drummer.

It's his "thing", the one he loves doing with all his being.

 And he's really {I mean really} good at it.

It's also one of the reasons that our paths crossed so it's an important part of our story.

With all the working and parenting and husbanding there hasn't been much time for drumming.

He has, however, had a great opportunity to do some studio drumming at Two Bodies of Water Productions.

Jeff has known the owner James for a while.

They have played together in the past and James has amazing musical knowledge.

It's a huge compliment that he puts his trust in Jeff to drum for his clients' tracks.

I have been wanting to see the studio for a while.

I thought Fiona would also love seeing Daddy at play work.

So last Sunday we headed down.

The studio is tucked away in a set of commercial condos and doesn't look like much from the outside.

Actually, this sign is the only indication of what lies beyond the walls.

Don't let that fool you, once you get inside it's impressive.

{Sorry for the grainy photos, you can almost see Jeff's head popping up at the back.  I will buy a nice camera soon, promise.}

It's great to see James {who used to jam in our basement} living his passion.

It's also great to see Jeff drumming again.

I used to love going to his gigs at seedy pubs but this was much more cushy.

Fiona loved it too.

She even got a tour and a chance to offer her two cents during a song listening.

PS He was recording for Shaun Boscsh who is definitely worth a listen.

Our New Family Portrait

This blog has been saturated with Cedric milestones so I'm happy to shine some light on Fiona today.

{Light that doesn't involve talk of genitalia that is.}

Fiona and I will often sit down to draw or craft and so far it's been fairly Mommy led.

Well, that's changing.

Fiona leads craft time now, she knows exactly what she wants to make.

If I'm lucky she'll take a suggestion here and there but that's a rarity.

The other night we sat down with just markers and paper and this little girl blew my mind.

Drawing has been mostly scribbling and the odd shape until now.

Fiona always has an explanation for her masterpiece but I can rarely see it.

Then she does this.

Now I'm not expecting anyone else to see this as beautiful.

I, however, think it's amazing.

{And no, I'm not offended that I am by far the largest.}

The members of this family have eyes, noses, mouths, arms, legs and even feet.

And in the right spots.

This is big people.

Definitely a keeper.

Cedric's Photo Party

It took me a while to decide what Cedric's first birthday party theme would be.

I kept asking myself what Cedric is "in to".

I know right?  Is a one year old really "in to" anything?

So I decided to make the party about what I'm in to.

And that is pictures of Cedric.

A theme was born.

It snowballed from there.

All puns were intended and stretched out at painful length on this invite.

 Decor was, what else but a bunch of pics of the birthday boy clipped to paper banners.

I also cut out "Oh Snap" in cardstock and sewed the letters together for a vertical banner.

A couple of Jeff's Grandpa's antique cameras made for a great centrepiece.

 For food we needed something "cheesy" so quesedillas fit the bill.

The Brie & Pear and Goat Cheese & Asparagus were delicious, both will be made again.

All possible food puns were pulled out to complete the menu.

I made a 2 tier cake covered with fondant with a camera graphic on top.

It's not quite as I had envisioned it but since I was designing this at 3:30am I'm letting it slide.

Yep, I realized that my store cake batter didn't work at midnight.

After Jeff did a convenience store run for eggs I ended up making this chocolate cake.

It turned out great but at the time that end result didn't seem possible.

Of course it was all worth it when I watched my little man devouring his piece.

 We set up a "photo booth" on the Mac which was a lot of fun.

The masks were a huge hit and were a Dollarama special for $1.25.

To reiterate the birthday boy's opening sentiment, thanks to all our fabulous friends and family who made it out to celebrate!

Last Weekend - Finally!

I didn't want to let last weekend go without sharing since it was such a great one for us.

I love winterguard season but I feel a huge relief when it's over.

Getting those Sundays back as a family day is amazing.

Last Saturday Fiona and I had a mommy-and-me outing.

Diana tipped us off about this great event held by the Alberta Ballet.

To introduce their 2013 season they put on a sampler performance for the public.

This was the first time Fiona had seen live professional ballet and she loved it.

I mean, how can you go wrong when they open with the Sugar Plum Fairy?

After the performance there were crowns to make and costumes to try on.

We even found one just for Fiona.

{I promise, Fiona wasn't being grumpy, just silly in my photo attempt below.}

We finished off the day with a couple of birthday celebrations.

On Sunday we decided to head to the zoo.

In the winter?  You might say.

I was a little hesitant myself but it was great.

The place was all but deserted and some of the animals seemed more content in the cool weather.

One exception was the water fowl who's winter abode pales in comparison to the summer pond.

{No photo included, it was too sad to photograph.}

This was Cedric's first real experience seeing jungle animals so his reaction was great to watch.

Here's to many more lazy family days in our future.

I've Known it From the Moment That We Met...

Today has been an emotional day for multiple reasons.

I have emerged from this March 6th feeling above all, lucky.

I feel especially thankful for our two beautiful babes.

Today is Cedric's birthday and this reminds me that they won't be babes much longer.

Yep, my little man is one.

We had a small celebration dinner at Urban Diner since we'll do it up on the weekend.

Jeff and I spent some time reminiscing about a year ago today.

I was so confident back then that the delivery would go well.

{Jeff was not I found out after the fact.}

Of course I was nervous and emotional but I knew at the time that all would end well.

I don't know if I would have that same confidence today.

I never doubted that my body would birth our children safely.

Even when it seemed like all the odds were against us.

But in the past year I've watched some of my most cherished friends lose their babes.

Amazing, healthy, smart women.

Women who deserve only happiness.

A great friend said to me {after finding out that they weren't pregnant that month} that she believed we each have to wait for the right soul to find us.

Whether or not I believe this, I think it's beautiful.

Cedric, I feel already that you have a kind and wise soul.

It is the soul that made our family feel complete.

"...no doubt in my mind where you belong."

Adele

Understanding Gender

I'm taking this blog to a new place today.

I was going to tell you about our weekend but that will have to wait.

We have entered the kids-say-the-darndest-things phase of our lives.

And for some reason I feel compelled to tell you this {somewhat inappropriate} story.

Jeff has been saying that he feels it is no longer appropriate to bathe with Fiona for a while now.

I don't feel the same way but after this bath-time conversation, I get it.

Cedric: Sleeping.

Fiona: One end of the tub getting her lather on.

Mommy: Other end of the tub laying back.

Fiona: Mommy, I washing my peen-ass.

Mommy: Fiona, you don't have a penis.

Fiona: Yah, like Daddy have a peen-ass.

Mommy: Yes, Daddy has a penis...

Fiona: And Cedric haves a peen-ass.

Mommy: Yes and that's because they're...

Fiona:  BOYS!

Mommy: Right and Mommy and Fiona are...

Fiona: GIRLS!

Mommy: Right so do we have penises?

Fiona: No.

Mommy:  Ok, glad we got that sorted.

Fiona: Mommy...

Mommy: Yes Fiona?

Fiona: If I be a boy, I have a purple peen-ass.

Our AGA

After an unsuccessful attempt at reintroducing ourselves to strollercize this morning we are at home licking our wounds.

I was that Mom leaving the building on the double with 2 wailing children.

My trick to not joining them {in the wailing} is to over compensate on the calm factor.

The more they cry the calmer I am.

When I'm almost at the breaking point I'll try smiling and can usually avoid melting down myself.

I'm sure I look insane to an outsider.

The other trick though is to convince myself that any witnesses are not thinking, "Man, those are some bad kids, she must be a terrible Mom" which, let's be honest, is the conclusion I come to naturally.

Instead I imagine them all thinking "Man, she's so calm, what an amazing Mom."

In actuality, I promise I'm not narcissistic enough to believe that anyone's even paying attention to us.

But it always feels like all eyes are on you when the kids are misbehaving.

Now, I don't want to give the kids a bad rap here.

Everyone's allowed to have an off day now and again but they really are wonderful babes.

Last night for example.

We took advantage of the Servus Community Access Night at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

Some great friends of ours tipped us off about this FREE evening on the last Thursday of every month.

They weren't able to make it this month but since Jeff was home on time we were.

{Jeff's been home for dinner every night this week.  It's a miracle folks!}

I am ashamed to say that this was our first time in the galleries at the new AGA.

I'm pulling the baby card and the business card since we've been in the thick of it since the grand opening.

{I know excuses, excuses right?}

I'm ashamed because this is an attraction that really makes me proud to be an Edmontonian.

The gallery was great, Fiona was great, Cedric slept {which is great}.

It even felt a little like a date which demonstrates how out of touch we are with dating now.

We're getting there, slowly returning to the real world.