One year ago....



Cozumel

 We were here - look at that lovely blue water!  I am sure Spring is going to bypass us here as it is snowing again.  But only 2 more days (sorry Rhino) and we will get to see some of the lovely blue water and sunshine again.  SO many things to do still like finish packing and gathering up some last minute things!  Better get on that now!

Playing in the snow!

Oh I am so tired of the snow but I was thankful that Rhino had the opportunity to do something that he has always wanted to do...go snowmobiling!



Hitting the trails

Rhino

Rhino's brother - he has the BEST toys!

It looks like they had a great time but really the snow can go away now!

Service Auction

Last week I was invited to attend a service auction with some friends from school.  I was pretty worried about what to bring in the end I did some scrapbook pages up - like who isn't behind on their scrapbooking?! I really liked this page and was glad that it turned out so nice.

My scrapbook pages went pretty fast and I was surprised as there wasn't any other scrapbooking things there.  I also donated a service and look forward to getting the call to do it!

But I was so excited as I got the service for costume jewellery repair!  I was over the moon about this as I have a couple of necklaces that are in need of some help.  I get to bring 5 pieces to get fixed up to be presentable again.  I can't wait to look over all my pieces to figure out what I need to get fixed. So many decisions!

It hit me today!!

One week today and we get to leave the snow behind us.  I woke up today with a little extra spring in my step and am a little bit giddy!  I can't wait to visit the sun again and soak up some much needed vitamin D!  Does this not look like paradise to you...9 nights to enjoy.



My happy family minus Rhino

 I am getting excited but am feeling a little bit guilty as Rhino isn't able to join us.  This will be the first time that he hasn't joined us but work commitments call.  I am almost ready to put everything in the suitcase but just need to go through things again to do a double check.  But I know the sun will do us good and as a plus Rhino can keep Belle company!  Somehow I think Rhino is getting the short end of the stick.  Next year we will all have to go together.

3 cakes later!

Hard to believe it but we don't have any more single digits in our house!  Princess Belle is now officially in the double digits.  Where has the time gone?!  I know everyone says that but it is true.  I never feel "old" on my birthday only on the kids birthdays.  Princess Belle was so excited for this day to come. 

On Sunday night we had the family celebration with Grandma and Rhino's brother too bad we missed his significant other but someone does need to work to keep us healthy! Now they have jetted off to the Dominican for a family vacation so we will catch up when we all get back.

Here is the Birthday girl with her first cake!


1st birthday cake

Because we are leaving in a few short days and so are most of her friends we decided we will do a birthday party once we get back.  But who says that we can't surprise her with having a few friends over for cake and a play after school.  She was so happy and excited.  Here goes cake number 2!



Surprise!

2nd birthday cake!



Birthday Girl!

It was funny but Princess Belle cut the pieces so big we didn't have any leftovers!  When I was making the cake one of the layers fell apart.  I was going to pitch it but I just left it on the stove.  Good thing as I patched it together with some icing and we were good to go again. I felt bad that Rhino wouldn't be getting any cake so hence the 3rd cake.

The 3rd and final cake!



One happy girl!



All in all it was a great birthday!  And now I just have to plan the party..any ideas out there?! 

Cleaning Day

Around here on Mondays I usually do a lot of washing and cleaning to start the week off.  A bit ago while washing out a paint brush with this awful stuff....

Do you not see that skull and crossbones?!

It was smelling so awful and I should have been wearing gloves but I wasn't and afterwards my hands were so dry!  I happened to read the label and I was shocked!  Yes, shocking that I read the label. 

But look it says "makes an excellent general purpose cleaner for household use".  You are kidding, right?!  Who in their right mind would use this to clean?  I can just see me hollering " Hey, Rhino bring me the paint thinner Miss Cinderella is going to scrub the tub".  AS IF!!  Oh yeah, because I read the label I see that I need to keep out of reach of kids.  So really it will have to be the Rhino to do the scrubbing!  No thanks I think we will have to pass on this one!



Many uses of paint thinner

So remember in a pinch you could always bring out the paint thinner to do your housecleaning!  Or not!

Change is Good

I always liked the shape of this chair but I knew that I always wanted it to be white.  This was before white was even popular!  But I was told that it was just too hard.  Nothing like a challenge to spur me on.

Before the white

Isn't she beautiful now!

A little bit of distressing

It is such a nice change and it is almost a like a surprise every time I look at it!  Change like this is always good as long as it makes you happy.  It's just a small change but it makes all the difference to me.  Plus as an added bonus I think Belle likes it just as much as me!

Welcome Home

The Rhino was away for one week and the kids were so excited to see him.  The Princesses wanted to make him a welcome home cake.  Miss Cinderella did most of the icing.  Sadly, though Miss Cinderella had to leave for camp before Rhino came home.  I knew it would be tight for timing but it would still most likely work but nope Rhino's flight was delayed.  Tomorrow afternoon it will all be okay once we pick Miss Cinderella up from camp. And now we are missing this one...

Miss Cinderella waiting for Rhino

Pages

I've been trying to wrap up a project and just have a couple of pages to go and then I am done!  It feels so good to be *almost* done!  Here's a little sneak preview of some pages...