Things I heart....

I have been feeling especially grateful so here is a list of a FEW things I heart today.....

I heart cilantro (so good, in homemade salsa, when you have gone with out it for so long!)

I heart my wonderful, helpful, make me laugh hubby

I heart my ipod, nike+, and my running shoes, all together

I heart my kids and their love for playing outside

I heart lulu (better make that a double heart)

I heart my helpful, always willing, mommy

I heart my health

I heart my computer

I heart vonage

I heart my cameras

I heart Popsicle breaks for my kids

I heart afternoon swimming together as a family

I heart Sugarland, Beyonce and Gaga for letting me sing along 

So there it is, just a few things.....What do you heart today??

 

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Nuff' said!

So I opened the fridge the other day and this is what I found: Nuff' said! 

Yes the doggy is in there but look in the door as well!! So funny, left there by my little Isabelle. I asked her what her guys were doing in there? She said "were playing outside and they were getting so hot so they asked me to put them somewhere so cold, so i did!"....these are two of her favorite toys. She loves little animal stuffys. I LOVE finding little treasures like this. I call them treasure because I know the day will come sooner than later when I don't find things like this anymore :(..... so, for now, I treasure them.  

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I heart Palmas!!

The other day we walked down to the resort located in our neighborhood. The name of the resort/sub division where we live is called "Palmas Del Mar" They have these random fun activities/party's. This one was a "Learning how to silk screen a t-shirt". We decided it would be a great thing to do to pass the time on a Saturday morning while we waited for daddy to wake up so we could start the weekend!  We had no idea of what to expect but hoped for the best. It turned out to be a pretty fun time! Isabelle LOVED the shirt she made and wore it all day long! Here are a few pic's of the shirt in the making!

So as you can see it was all a great success! I would also like to make a side note here to Grandma Jarman - Do you see the pink horse in her left hand there?? It's the one you bought for her at spruce meadows and it is a permanent fixture in her hands! Seriously she is constantly playing with it. Thanks so much for it, it's a great toy for her!

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A new MAN??

SO the other day Lance says he's going to get a hair cut, jumps on his motorbike and takes off! He returns looking like this:

I think it looks so great! It's nice and short and will keep him a lot cooler in this heat than that mop he was sportin' before. However this post is not about the haircut itself but Scarletts priceless reaction to it.....

So she comes toddling into the room where we all were and she's jubbering and playing away. She hasn't looked at Lance yet so he says "HI Sweetie!" to get her attention...she looks over at him and immediately her little chin and bottom lip start to quiver as she doesn't recognize this short haired stranger who sounds like her dad! The Little quiver quickly turns into a loud cry and then a scream as he continues talking and she continues NOT recognizing him! So he decides to pick her up and take her down stairs thinking she'll settle down in a minute and be fine. 

Well apparently he over estimated her ability to "just get over it" as the screaming continued and continued....about 10 minutes later he comes tromping up the stairs with a still screaming one year old, covered in barf! Yep that's right she screamed so hard and for so long about her dads haircut that she barfed all over herself! YIKES!! 

Anyway eventually she did get used to it and will now go to him and is excited when she see's him....It still makes me laugh when I think about her reaction! Funny girl!

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How do you know YOUR man loves YOU?

How I know my man loves me:

~ He tells me he does...everyday.

~ After dinner every night he asks me "do you want me to clean the kitchen or go bath the kids?" (for   real ladies, he does one or the other every night, and the best part - I choose which one!)

~  He watches Survivor, The Amazing Race and even "The Hills" with me so we can spend time together. NOT his top choice of shows, but he watches and acts interested...cause he loves me.

 ~ He let's me spend his hard earned pennies on clothes, shoes and accessories that he thinks are completely unnecessary, but he knows I love to shop and it makes me happy! When I get home he fights the urge to ask what the total damage is...instead he smiles and say's he likes it!

~ Even after 7 years and two kids he still flirts with me everyday. I kid you not....teasing me, tickling me, playing jokes on me, and even snapping my bra and pinching my bum! I love it and it gives our relationship such a fun playful side. Life can be serious enough on it's own. He keeps me happy by adding those lighter moments to my day. He makes me laugh and smile!

~ He walks up to the sink and starts doing dishes any time of the day- not because he loves to do dishes - because he knows how much I miss my dishwasher and he wants to give me a break from standing at the sink.

 ~ He has never once in 7 years intentionally "passed gas" in front of me. Because I am a lady and he is a gentleman and that's how it's going to stay.

 ~ He always treats the kids and I with respect. 

~ He's a very hard worker and an excellent provider. I know he will always make sure our little family's needs are met even if it means working construction or MCD. 

~ He still opens the door for me.

~ He notices, appreciates and thanks me for the work I do. 

~ He still snuggles me and hugs me and holds my hand.

~ He takes me out on a hot date once a week. I love getting all dressed up for them and find myself constantly looking forward to Saturday night! It's OUR time.

So there are just a few of the way's Lance shows me he loves me. He's a great Husband and Father.

 It's official, we have been married for 7 years. The time has really flown by for me. When I think about what we have been through and how much we have accomplished together it seems like a large amount of things in such a small amount of time. That's a good thing! 

I can't even begin to imagine what we are going to be able to do together over the next 7+ years but I am excited to find out, because I know it'll be great with him by my side!! I am so glad I have such a wonderful partner to share this life time with. He is the perfect match for me. After seven years he can read me like a book. He knows what I need, sometimes even before I do! I can't believe it's possible that my love for him is still growing but I really do love him more and more everyday.

Luv ya honey....Happy Anniversary! 

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Halloweeny!!

So our Halloween has been an interesting one here in the Philippines. They celebrate a little bit differently then we are used to. Although there is no trick or treating we did manage to find a super fun Halloween party for the kids to go to. Here they are all dressed up and ready for some FUN!

Here are some of the decorations as well as the treat bags at the party! The treat bags were a bit unusual...they did include a few of the regular "candies" we are used to such as suckers. However there were lot's of other things such as bread, jello, dried onion rings and more strange things that my kinds did not eat!

They had lot's of fun games and contests for the kids....here is Isabelle playing this "balance an egg on a spoon relay" She had a blast!

Here is my little snow white waiting in a line to get her face painted....She was so excited when we were getting ready and I told her she could wear make up! She loves make up and getting all pretty!

They had a bunch of categories for all the kids costumes and they had contests and prizes. Isabelle won 1st for the fairytale category! Here she is accepting her prize. It was a great prize a free night stay at the resort for 3 people! Nice :)

 

We decided to throw a REAL Halloween  party for our SA class to show them how we like to celebrate - Canadian style! I made up a bunch of fun treats for it. Things they have never tried....her are some "Wiches Fingers" cookies...mmmmmm and gross looking!

Also Some spider cupcakes......

Lance and I had fun dressing up......ROCK AND ROLL BABY!! ROCK AND ROLL! (don't be scared, these are just costumes!)

And then we have our little Scarlett...AKA Traffic light! I made this costume for her last minute however she did NOT like wearing it and so all I have is one quick picture and then she was just a regular toddling one year old! 

Over all we had a nice Halloween.....not the same as we are used to. We missed the fun and excitement of trick or treating for the kids. We did the best with what we had to work with and in the end a lot of fun was had by all!!

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Scarlettisim!!

Well here it is! The first, of many, Scarlettisim's. She has started talking a lot more lately...mostly just one or two word combination's. I love it because her personality is coming through so much more with her vocabulary. Here it is:

Lance and Scarlett and I were all sitting together. Lance and I were talking when all of sudden Scarlett let's out a whole long line of noisy Toot's. Lance and I stop talking to look over at her...we were watching her face until the toot's finished. She just sat there for a minute looking at us with this puzzled look on her face like - what just happened??! Then, after a second, she figured it out! A smile crossed her face and she pointed to her diaper and said: "BUBBLE!!" 

Baaaahaa! Lance I both started laughing at her one word interpretation of what just happened. So cute!

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New hair Cut, new dress!

Isabelle is getting so big and grown up. She got a new hair cut the other day and I thought she looked so much older for some reason. Here is a picture of the hair cut...

 

These next two pictures are mostly about the dress. I saw this dress at winners when Isabelle was 3. I instantly fell in LOVE with it, I knew Isabelle would looks so beautiful in it. However, they only had a size 5. I didn't care and quickly bought it anyway. I remember taking it home and looking at it and thinking maybe I was bit crazy to buy it...It looked huge and I was sure the day would never come when my tiny, petite, little girl would actually fit into it. 

When we decided to move over to the Philippines Isabelle had just turned 4. As I was packing up her closet and trying to decide which clothes to take with us and which ones to leave behind I came across this dress. It Immediately went into the "take with us" pile. There was no way I was going to miss out on her being able to wear it.

Just last week we tried it on and it fits!! She is about 3 weeks away from her 5th birthday. I am so excited she can finally start wearing it. Personally I think she looks even more beautiful in it then I imagined. She really is such a pretty girl.......maybe I am a tiny bit bias though, you know, with being her mom and all! Sure love her :D 

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YES Folks we have an Addict!!

Scarlett is a wee bit addicted to her Blanket or her "Bankie" as she calls it. We have all tile floors here so she loves to have it with her at all times. She puts it down on the floor and then lays on it. She also "needs it"  ~ and I use the term needs very loosely ~ whenever she gets hurt or  is starting to feel tired or wants to watch cartoons or wants some milk out of her sippy....so basically it's with her all the time. She doesn't usually mind which one for her "Bankie's" she has just as long as she has one. However lately that has started to change. There is one specific one that if she see's it ~ she wants it - NOW! 

So I was doing some laundry the other day and I had hung out THE BANKIE to dry. Scarlett came toddling out and noticed it hanging up sopping wet. She of course wanted it immediately...I tried to show her it was to wet with water and I needed to dry it. She wasn't catching on and was getting more and more upset  by the second "bankie mum, Bankie MUM, BANKIE, BANKIE!!!" So I quickly threw it into the dryer. Our dryer has a glass window on it though, so she could clearly see it going round and round.....Here are a few of the pictures of the melt down that followed as she watched her bankie....just out of reach!

Needless to say she was one VERY happy little girl when I brought it to her all clean and warm and dry. It got a nice long snuggle!

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Silly Billy Girls!

So I came down stairs the other day to my girls watching a cartoon....like this.

 

 YA that's right....Isabelle is sitting on the upside down Laundry basket and Scarlett is underneath it playing around...singing and watching the T.V. They are really starting to play together more and more and I love it. This was a funny site to see! Luv these two :)

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Nasty Cockroaches!

Nice Nasty Cockroaches!! 

So we have gone through a few adjustments being over here in the tropics. One of those adjustments has included some of the gross spiders, insane ants and other such bugs.....including cockroaches. yuck. Now I have never been a fan of any type of bug and had never in my life  even seen a real cockroach until we moved to the Philippines.  Let me just tell you, they are every bit as discutsting as they look in the movies. One thing I did learn about them, since we have been here, is that they can FLY! Seriously, I kid you not.....

The other day we were driving home and our truck was kind of smelly - that's a whole other story - so we had the windows rolled down trying to air it out. Isabelle was sitting in the back seat and Scarlett, Lance and I were in the front. (Totally acceptable that Scarlett was in the front with me, really no big deal over here) Anyway Lance and I were having kind of an interesting conversation when Isabelle starts to interrupt us. We have been working on her manners lately, especially interrupting in the middle of someones conversation as well as when someones on the phone. So before she can get more than two words out Lance quickly shuts her down and tells her not to interrupt and wait for her turn.....So she sits quietly for a few minutes and then starts to interrupt again....this time just as we are telling her to WAIT I hear her say the word cockroach. 

I said "What?" 

She continues "I saw one fly in the window and it's on the back of your seat!" So I slowly turn around and it's right on my head rest and as soon as I see it starts to fly  - straight at my face and around the inside of the truck! AHHHH we all started screaming and Lance was swerving all over the road. Finally it lands on the steering wheel and sneeks it's slimy little way down into dashboard through the steering column. Lance tells me to watch the road - even though he's the one driving - so he can watch the steering column for when the "bug" resurfaces. Anyway we made it home without seeing it again and we left the window's open all night. The next day before we had to leave Lance went out and did a "cockroach check" and didn't find anything. I am hoping it left the truck but there's no telling. It could resurface at any moment and scare the crap out of us again! It was actually a really funny situation once we calmed down and got safely out of the vehicle. Thought some of might get a little kick out of it too! :)

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