My sweet boy........

Today I was curled up in my big chair for a while with Sam.....I was pretending to be asleep...snoring loudly...and Sam kept holding my face and shouting 'WAKE' he can't say wake up yet so he just says 'wake'......then I'd start snoring again and he'd yell it again giggling! Then we swapped and he pretended to snore and I'd tell him to wake up and then tickle him until he yells 'NO NO NO' I stop and he pretends to sleep again (still giggling lol) until I tickle him again and tell him to wake up.......

He is so ticklish and has the sweetest laugh! I was kissing his ears and neck and he just loves that too!

My boy...my sweet sweet Samsam!

paper bag albums...

I have started on some Easter paper bag albums this evening.......Springtime colours...I plan to fill them with Easter and Springtime quotes and send them instead of Easter cards.....

Farmgirl Fares' emergency chocolate cake.

Kids having friends for sleepovers calls for chocolate...and so I decided it was the perfect night to make Farmgirl Fares Emergency Chocolate Cake..... It's in the oven now with about 15 minutes to go! The batter is INCREDIBLE even before it goes in the oven......I don't normally like cake batter but this is HEAVENLY OMG!!!! After making dinner for 8 kids and Lloyd, I'm not in the mood for dinner myself...but I AM in the mood for chocolate cake :) And this cake doesn't even need frosting!

Emergency Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick/4 ounces) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup yogurt or sour cream (or a combination)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating with yogurt. Beat just until smooth. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool in pan. Cake may settle in the middle as it cools--this is normal.

There is a link to the Farmgirl Fare blog to the right.....visit it...FAB recipes and even Fabbier pictures!!!!! What a dreamy life :)

What I miss the most......

What do I miss the most about Orlando? I know this may shock some of you...knowing that I have posted before about how I don't enjoy shopping...but what I miss the most is FLORIDA MALL!

Every time we went there it was to GET something specific (wedding outfits, shoes, gifts, suitcase) and I didn't really get to stroll around and browse...It is such a nice mall...not too big but big enough, with a great selection of stores...it was really quiet there too...nothing like West Edmonton Mall. Actually kind of like WEM when it has just opened in the morning and not many people are there!

Florida Mall may not be very big but it has some of my favourite stores and the food court was pretty fab too! There is enough to excite the kids too with M&M world and Dylans Candy Bar......and Adrenalina......

Tara - make sure you go to Florida Mall :)

Dreams do come true

I have finished this scrapbook page this afternoon......very simple and basic but I guess thats my style lol!

sleep overs.....blah!

In the book I am reading......The Girls.......Aunt Lovey tells the girls that there are three kinds of people.

Those who love children.

Those who love their own children

Those who don't like children but have pets they call 'baby'.

I read this sentence last night and it really did make sense to me. Which one are you?

I am number 2. I love my own children but can't stand other peoples.....well a few of them are ok but mostly, no, I don't like 'other peoples children'!!

Tonight my kids all have friends sleeping over...they came back with them after school and this to me is hell.....I don't like having other people here...I like it to be just us.....Lloyd and I have an evening routine and it suits us just fine....we like to relax and mellow out...curl up in comfy clothes or I like to soak in the bath and read or go to bed at 9pm and watch a movie.....or potter about ad make snacks in the evening.......and Fridays are especially laid back....

But having 'other people' here changes that......the kids want this and that and want to do this or do that.....they are high as kites and they don't get to bed at the normal time.....

The other issue is that the new friends come from a family where they are on the go CONSTANTLY....5 kids all in sports and they also go swimming and go bowling and literally the mom spends her whole life driving them to and from places and cleaning up after them (they do NOTHING to help but demand so much)......

So of course they come here to our home and we like quiet evenings, we are very laid back and my kids have chores to do.....we don't entertain our kids constantly - they have time to be bored...time to daydream......time to 'be'......so I am wondering how these other kids will find that.....will they be bored within an hour or two.....hmmmmm we shall see....

So I shall be glad when tomorrow morning arrives and I can drop the kids back to their home and head off to photograph Orchids for a few hours :)

I much prefer Orchids to other peoples children :)

pics from out East....

Our friends moved back to Newfoundland last Fall and they sent us some pictures of the house they are renting at the moment......

Some layouts

A few of my layouts from my Disney/ Florida album.....a few of them aren't finished and some are still missing the journaling but you can get the idea from these pics......

My Disney Scrapbook Album...

I bought this album in Florida, in one of the Disney parks...I was thrilled to find one with the year on it!!! :)

straws.........

We got the building straws out yesterday to take to preschool....since they were out, Abigail asked to play with them, and they have been sat for a while building spiders and houses and towers and wands and hula hoops from them all!!!

As you can see, Abigail still has paint all over her clothes from this mornings
art session :)

Hummingbird..............

While the children were 'creating' their artwork, I started some of my own....I started work on a watercolour of a Hummingbird feeding from a flower...I am using a photograph from a recent National Geographic magazine article on Hummingbirds.....I still have a lot more to do yet.....this is just the base really......

Massacre!

For a while it looked as though a massacre had taken place in my kitchen! Sam and Abigail spent the morning painting at the table...mainly with red paint....they did finger painting and generally had fun making a great mess :) Abigail washed herself off too fast for me to get pictures but here is Sam.......

I haven't been up to the bathroom to look yet but no doubt Abigail washed the paint off of herself and onto EVERYTHING in the bathroom lol!