day 252 - over the rainbow

With both girls now in school, I thought I would start a new tradition. I found a couple different free back to school interviews online but none of them really worked for what I wanted to document, so I made my own!

The girls each took turns filling them out and then doing their hand print. These will go in their scrapbooks, along with all their other school related stuff I'll be keeping.

Cayla is still learning to write, so I asked hr the questions and wrote her answers. With a little assistance from me, she did write her name. We're making progress!

Alyssa completed hers on her own, only to stop to ask me how to spell certain words. I love that her favourite movie is The Wizard of Oz. I find it funny because she only just watched it this morning for the first time! I am not surprised she loved it, it's a classic!

What is even more funny is that on the same day she watched it, she saw a rainbow! A real live rainbow, as she said! She has loved rainbows for as long as I can remember! She draws them on almost everything she makes! So for her to see one like this was truly amazing! She was totally beside herself!

We were out for our nightly walk when she spotted it! I figured it would be half a rainbow and be gone within minutes, but no, this was a very special rainbow, one that would require me to run almost an entire block home to get my camera!! It wasn't until I was almost home that I noticed it was a double rainbow!!

The reason I ran home was because the rainbow went right across the sky!! The double rainbow that was forming didn't extend as far as the first one, but it was very noticeable! It really was the most amazing rainbow I have ever seen! People were coming out of their houses to see it and like me, take pictures!

It was fading quickly, but before it did, I snapped a picture of all four of our shadows and it!

Alyssa couldn't stop talking about it! The next morning, before they came to get us up, I heard her say to Cayla, "Wasn't it cool that we saw a rainbow the same day we saw Wizard of Oz?" Alyssa keeps singing the songs, "Over the Rainbow" and "We're off to see the wizard".

day 126 - birthday banner

I had a lot of fun creating Alyssa's birthday banner. It took me a few hours on the computer to get everything just right and printed and them the assembly started.

To create the banner I used, Kari Holt's Build a Banner: Triangle template. It was super easy to use. I than used various papers from Echo Park, mostly from their Dots and Stripes Soda Fountain paper set. I also found some Lalaloopy images online to put at the ends of a couple of the banners.The alphabet I used is from Echo Park's Little Girl Alpha Pack.

Once I had everything created in Photoshop I printed them. After cutting them all out, I poked holes and thread thick string through and than tied ribbon in between each triangle. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Tonight while watching a movie, which just so happen to be The Grey, I noticed that the moon looked really close and brighter! Jason quickly googled it and sure enough the moon tonight was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than any other time in 2012. They call it the super moon. I have never photographed the moon. I have wanted to, but wasn't sure what camera settings I needed. Again, Jason quickly googled that. It took me a few tries and coming to the realization that I needed my tripod before I was able to get a somewhat decent shot. I really had to crop in on this photo to get this close because in the original photo the moon still looked miles away! I didn't get the most clear picture, but for my first time, I think I did okay.

day 115 - snow in April

It's not uncommon to still get some white stuff in April, but I honestly thought we were done with these cold temps, considering the heat wave we had in March. This morning when I saw the snow, my first thought was my in-laws. Forty-one years ago today they were married and they said there was a snow storm that day! The snow today didn't last long, but it was still unpleasant to see!

day 90 - four seasons in one month

The weather this month has been crazy! We started off with a winter snow storm on March 9th, than by mid March we had a heat wave and than it started to feel like fall and now today it snowed again! I am pretty certain we've experienced every season this months!! I just pray this snow doesn't last and we have a beautiful spring in April.

Today was a school day for Alyssa, but a day off for Mommy. Cayla was off to the sitters, so it meant a relaxing day for me, which was good as I was in quite a bit of pain from having my teeth pulled. More than anything I was just tired, so I ended up taking a nice long nap! Felt good to nap in the middle of the day!

On the way home from picking Alyssa up, Jason and her stopped at one of the many thrift stores in town. There he bought the girls the Cootie game.

Tonight while watching the Disney Junior channel, which is normally the channel we're watching with the girls after dinner, the short film called Tangled Ever After came on!! I remembered seeing a preview to say it would be showed at some point, but I forgot! Needless to say the girls were over the moon happy to see it! Although, they thought it was supposed to be a movie and thought it was too short!! LOL Who knows maybe eventually they will make it into a full movie. That would be nice!

day 80 - first day of spring

Here it is the first day of spring and we're wearing shorts and it's in the mid 20s, but with the humidity it feels much warmer! I believe the high for today was 24 degrees.Feels more like the first day of summer!!

It was still warm after we had dinner because the girls and Jason went to the park in just t-shirts and shorts!

The girls are VERY happy about this warm weather!! Although, Cayla still insists on wearing long pants and top and socks to bed every night!! The rest of us are sleeping in t-shirts and shorts because it's so hot upstairs at night!

 It was back to school today for Alyssa. She was sick for most of March break, so it didn't feel like much of a break for her. She was happy and sad to go back today.

 I think we're in store for another great day tomorrow!

day 79 - feels like summer

We haven't even had the first day of spring yet and here we are with 20 degree weather and wearing shorts!! Is it seriously only March? This has to be too good to be true!!

It started this weekend and it looks like this heat wave is going to continue all week!!! I think this has to be the earliest we've worn shorts in a long time! And it's not just a little hot, there is actually humidity!! Crazy!

 I know this won't last from now until summer, but it gives us something to look forward too!! Can't wait!

Tonight while putting the girls to bed we realized that Cayla had forgotten her Minnie Mouse at the sitters. It's a good thing she lives down the street and her hubby was home!! Not sure we would've got Cayla to bed without Minnie!

day 56 - winter storm a day late

We were supposed to be dumped on with freezing rain and snow yesterday (Friday) but instead we woke up to this on Saturday morning! This really is nothing considering the mild winter we've had. It's been so mild and we've had very little snow. Jason hasn't even used the snow blower once this winter!!

It would've been the perfect day to stay inside and not venture out but I had to have my bandage changed, which meant driving to the city! We were all going so that we could do some shopping afterwards.

A special treat was going out for lunch at Montana's. The girls had a blast honking the horn of the big red truck. Each Montana's restaurant has a real size truck inside and some of them still have working parts, like the horn! They got their lunches delivered in these cool paper trucks!

day 41 - it's snowing

I was so excited when I heard someone at work say it was snowing!!! My girls have been wishing and hoping for snow all week so that they could take the new sleds Daddy bought them and go sledding!!

There wasn't much on the ground when we got home from me picking them up, but they are calling for a lot more snow tonight!! Yay!!! I haven't been this excited for snow since I was a kid!

day 37 - favourite movie

Today was like a spring day! It got up to almost 6 degrees!! It was so beautiful driving home with the sun still up! I snapped this picture at exactly 5:45 pm and it was still 3 degrees!! How crazy is that for early February!!

At the sitters Alyssa drew a picture of Wall-E and Eve. The girls LOVE the movie Wall-E right now! They want it on while their eating breakfast and as soon as they come home from the sitters! It's had a lot of play time this past month!

day 36 - is spring coming early?

I realize that Wiarton Willie predicted an early spring the other day, but seriously it's February, where's the snow?! It feels like spring is days away, not weeks away!

I am with most people, I am not a fan of snow, but that's because I have a 25 minute commute to work everyday and hate driving in the white stuff! I have been enjoying this mild winter and not having to drive in any major snow storms! That being said, I also have two little girls who would LOVE to play in some snow!!

My cute little, tutu wearing, crown wearing, muffin eating princess would like some snow to make snow angels in!

With it being so mild today, we went out for a walk. Even though we're lacking the snow, it's still not that warm, although today it almost got up to 3 degrees. To think that last year at this time we had just been hit with a major snow storm and here today there are only small patches of snow on the ground!

Would these two love snow to play in? They sure would!! But they were happy to run and play at the park!

By looking at these pictures you would think it's March and spring is just around the corner! We know that we're bound to get dumped on with some snow sooner than later, so for now we'll enjoy this spring like day!

Is it me or does the grass actually look like it's turning green!?!

We found a little bit of winter nearby....ice! The girls were on that like bees on honey! The really want some snow!

I could get use to winters like this, but how fun is it for two little ones if they don't have any snow?

day 239 - just a random day

I am officially two weeks behind in my posting!!! Yikes!! Need to seriously get caught up because I am quickly forgetting things!! For instance, I don't remember a lot about day 239. I took a lot of different types of pictures, so that's good! I think we stayed home today, but I can't be 100% certain :) I'll write what I do know based on the pics :)

Jason took down the girls pool today! It had been sitting with water in it for way too long and the water was going all yucky!! We figured there was no point emptying it and cleaning it and filling it again, so down it came. They weren't too happy about that!! A sign that summer is coming to an end.

I love this one of Cayla lying on her Daddy. Cayla isn't much of a snuggler unless it's after she's just had a nap and is still tired.

For some reason, Alyssa decided to collect all the Happy Meal toys they have and try to put them inside a Happy Meal box that she got from her last visit there!! Needless to say the box was overflowing!! Some of the toys are from before they were born!! But still, it appears we go there more than we know!! Sometimes it has been just to buy a toy and no food! Jason is famous for that. He loves collecting and Happy Meal toys are no different!! LOL

I will admit, the girls still wear bibs to eat, especially if it's something that could easily stain. I like to keep their clothes clean and not have to constantly change them, so bibs come in handy. Alyssa rarely ever needs one, but there have been times it has been a lifesaver! Today while going through the drawer she found this old cloth bib and put it on! LOL  She's a future princess for sure!

We spent quite a bit of time watching footage of Hurricane Irene. You just never know what damage can possibly be done by a hurricane. And having one this time of year always reminds me of Hurricane Katrina.

day 236 - tornado watch

I guess I missed taking a picture yesterday! Not sure why or what happened, but I missed it! Oh well, can't get them all.

Today's picture has nothing to do with the event that happened, but it's the only picture I took. I wish I had taken pictures of the lighting we got, but I don't! Instead I took a picture of Cayla counting cards she had laid out on the floor after dinner. Normally, on nights that Jason is working late I take the girls to the park, but not tonight. Why? Because we were under tornado watch! Earlier in the day, while I was at work, it was just a warning, but that quickly changed by the dinner hour.

I called my Mom to see what it was doing there, because I had seen there were reports of funnel clouds near where they live. It was raining hard, but that was about it. It hadn't started raining at our house yet, but within the 1/2 hour time frame I was taking to her it started and the wind picked up, as did the lightening. By this point it was dark out, so it was a little scary to think that we were still under a tornado watch! I tried to stay busy with the girls, but all the while wondering and hoping that one wasn't touching down anywhere!

Thankfully, the storm blew over and all was okay.

day 82 - dumped on

They had been calling for this storm for a few days, but there wasn't as much hype around it as there have been with past storms. And it turned out to be the worst one this season and the worst one in the past four years!!! We had no snow on the ground on Tuesday when we went to bed, then we woke up to a winter storm! In total we got approx. 27 inches of snow in 24 hours! It was crazy!

We decided to stay home. I was still able to work from home, so it wasn't a lost day for me. Jason on the other hand, had a snowy vacation day! It's a good thing we didn't go in either. It wasn't too bad around the time we would normally leave for work, but it got worse as the day went on. Then around the time we would've been driving home it wasn't good. People Jason works with told him later that it was smart not to risk driving in it. A lot of them live a few minutes from work and it took some of them over an hour to get home!

It made for a fun snow day for the girls. Jason took them out to shovel while I was on a phone meeting. They were out there for well over an hour. After I got off the phone, I snapped these picture of them on our back deck. A deck that only yesterday was bare! Jason shoveled it off in the morning and by that night it had just as much snow on it again!

This was the drift at our front door in the morning. We got another one just as big by the end of the day! I guess we'll be waiting a few more weeks before we'll see the grass again! Will spring ever arrive?

day 65 - more white stuff

We were naive to think that just because all the snow was melting this week that we wouldn't get another blast of the white stuff! But we honestly had no idea we'd get dumped on like this! It was raining yesterday and most of the snow on the ground was melted and the piles at the end of everyone's driveways were getting smaller! But within less than 24 hours we got it all back!!

Jason wasn't too happy about it, he was really hoping his shoveling days were over!