What a weekend!

I had such a fabulous weekend! Boy am I paying for it though...I'm exhausted & headed to bed. My friends Nancy & Jen & I planned our 10 year reunion for the Ryerson Photo Arts department for this weekend...planned is a bit of an exaggeration...we found as many people as we could on-line and sent out an evite to come to the pub that we all used to go to and to notify anyone they could find along the way. We had 17 people (plus a few spouses) show up...not too bad I think. Our full class was about 60 people and most of us spent 4 years together so we were a pretty tight bunch. It was unbelievable! So many of them I hadn't seen for a full 10 years. What I couldn't get over was how the same everyone was. 10 years hardly changed them. There were families & careers to find out about, but people looked and sounded and acted just as I had remembered! Jen came up from Ottawa & Nancy & her family came up from Windsor and we all had a great weekend together. I see Jen & Nancy more often than every 10 years, but rarely together. Thanks girlies for such a great time! ~ Dana

Canadian Idol

Since Canadian Idol will be returning to CTV very soon, I thought I would post this picture up from 2004....as a tribute. I was able to snag a couple of tickets to the Idol show and I wasn't really interested in going so Dana took another idol...Kristy along, as you can see they enjoyed themselves....!

No T.V. For You!

It's turn off your t.v. week and we are participating...well the kids are, I work at a t.v. station so it makes it a little difficult to fully participate, but at home I will try my best. All of the kids at school are doing this too, and so far ours are along for the ride, a little withdrawl yesterday but so far so good. They don't generally watch that much t.v. anyway, a few minutes before school in the morning, and usually a half hour before bedtime. It's a good week for the vcr/dvd player to break and won't be returned until next week sometime. Never buy cheap electronics, it is not worth it... - j

Home from Montreal

We had a short but sweet trip to Montreal this weekend... on the way home we were saying it would have made more sense to go on a long weekend, but we don't always have one of those available. It's a long drive for a short visit, but well worth it! Papa (my grandfather) took us to a mall Saturday morning that had pony rides, a train that drives around it, a pirate ship for kids to climb and McDonald's for lunch! I remember playing at a playground in that same mall when I was a kid! Then a quick swim and nap back at the hotel and off to see Granny Gwen's (my grandmother's) new condo and a great dinner there. Sleep, up for a breakfast out with Granny Gwen, then back on the road. Very quick, very busy, very tiring for everyone, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything! ~ Dana

20 Years Ago

In April of 1986 I got my driver's licence, after the required period of the beginner's licence, and the price of gasoline in 1986....44 cents a litre, oh those were the days. Today in Toronto 1.09/litre.

Sunny!

Wow! Nice weather...glad I wore shorts to work today...

Happy Easter

We had a really nice Easter dinner with my family. It was great to have at our house since the kitchen is now all functioning. Nice to have the whole family together (minus Andrew & Ali, we missed you guys!) The kids were pretty wild and full of chocolate so they ended up going to bed about 2 hours past their bedtime, but that's ok, the weather's supposed to be great tomorrow and it's a holiday from school so I've promised them a trip to a pretty cool park that they really enjoy. It did seem like a really long weekend...I think we usually book way too much on our weekends and this time we really didn't have anything pressing. It sure was a nice change. ~ Dana

Loooonnnnngggg Weekend

It sure makes a difference having and extra day off, and with that day being Happy Friday (Jack mixes it up and now has been calling it that all week) and everything is closed it forces you to rest, relax and enjoy the time at home. We chose to stay home this Easter instead of making the trek to the Windsor area - thanks for the invite Ann, but with the renovations and everything it is just nice to relax here and we are going to have Dana's family over for dinner tomorrow.











(Hannah is the horse and Jack is the "guy who rides on the sled". Today we did much of the same as yesterday, played with the kids, went to the park and just relaxed. I took the three kids to Stouffville Flea Market this morning to take a good look at the rooster's and chickens, they pet the bunnies and we just walked around looking at all the junk you could buy.





(Henry puts his hat on sideways/backwards and holds his arm up and says "Yo, Yo, Yo")





The kids put there Easter baskets out tonight and are looking forward to the bunny's arrival...Henry isn't really sure what's going to happen but he just keeps saying Cha-cha (chocolate) so he is on the right path.

Hope everyone has a nice time with their families. - J

So much to blog about!

It's hard to put into words how wonderful my visit was with my friend, Sharon. I once knew her so well, we were best friends as kids and travelled through Europe together at 20, but I moved away from Nova Scotia when I was 14 and haven't seen Sharon in 9 years. I wasn't sure what to expect. I had never met her kids nor had she met mine. We've really only been in contact through email. It turns out, she's still the same Sharon, I just don't know all the details anymore. I was so sad when she left today. She has always been someone who inspires me to try new things and to be a better person. I sure hope I see her before another 9 years pass!

On another much less serious note, I have before and after pictures of my new hairdo I just had done tonight...looking at them now, neither photo is very flattering, but you get the picture.
And on an even lighter note, our granite counters are in and we have plumbing!! We're now able to host Easter dinner. Finishing touches (backsplash, baseboards, painting, last wiring, last lighting, stove vent, cabinet lights, window edging, phone jack) all to come early next week. Just over 5 weeks start to finish! ~ Dana

We have water...

We have water in the kitchen..in all the right places...out of a tap - counters went in yesterday and they look great. Next tuesday and wednesday they will be finishing up everything else and then we are done.

But tonight, we will wash the dishes upstairs - all night long.

Short Update...

Today the countertops will be installed - if all things go according to plan the kitchen will be done in a week - we will have plumbing in the kitchen tomorrow. I can't wait anymore - this is week 5 and I am tired of washing the dishes in the laundry tub downstairs. We did have a break for a night, as my Dad came up from Windsor to take us out to dinner, a nice change from the mess we have been living in.
We were hoping things would have been done before we had visitors...Dana's friend Sharon is here with her two little cute girls. Sharon is Dana's friend from childhood days in Lake Echo, NS....she currently is living in Halifax for a year but is moving back this summer to Scotland. They haven't seen eachother in over 9 years so they have a lot to catch up with.

Happy Birthday Zoe!! (And you too Doug!!!!)

Gramps visits

Jason's dad is here for the weekend and we've been having a nice visit. He often comes in the middle of the week when there's school and work, gymnastics, early bedtimes, homework etc., but there wasn't a lot planned this weekend so Jason & I have both been able to spend a lot of time with him. The kids go nuts when he's here too, not in a bad way, just really excited to see him. We all went out to Kelsey's for dinner tonight and spent some of the afternoon decorating eggs.

Eri & Mike's

I guess this should really be on their blog, but we went to visit Eri & Mike (& Bennett) on their move in day at their new house...brand new! Everything smells so new and is so clean! It's a beautiful house and I know they'll be happy there. Can't wait to see you guys again soon now that you live so close! Congratulations on the new place!
- Dana

Great weekend...

We woke up this morning and spontaneously decided (kind of rare for us) to go to the zoo. It was cool, but not freezing and since we have a family pass, we don't have to feel guilty about not spending the whole day there.

It was probably September or October since we last went and what a difference it makes with Henry. I don't think he actually saw the animals before this time! He was thrilled with everything. I think the seals might have been his favorite. He kept saying "more coming!" although it was the same 2 seals who kept swimming by. The seals were always Hannah's favorite too.

Hannah's new favorite building is full of butterflies so we made a quick stop there on our way to Africa.

We stopped for a picnic lunch near the giraffes and were home in time for Henry's nap.

The afternoon was spent bringing out the patio furniture and cleaning up the yard a bit. Jack had a friend over and the two of them and Hannah spent the whole afternoon looking for worms. I think they ended up with 15!

We had a quick visit from Eri & Mike & Bennett on their way to a party & Bennett was pretty happy with our little car. What a cutie!

- Dana