It's been a long time..

Sorry, it's been SO long since I've last posted. Not that there are *that* many of you reading my blog! LOL

Some major events have happened since I last posted. First off, my brother and SIL welcomed Sophia Isabella into the world on June 10th. She's was a whopping 8 lbs and 14 oz!! Doesn't she have the chubbiest cheeks for a newborn? What a sweetie pie!
I've been told she's a super sweet baby and the family (especially my twin nieces) are enjoying her immensely! Congrats to Jeriko and my SIL!! We can't wait to meet her!! Maybe in October?!? I'll try hard to push Jeriko into coming out to visit us! Not that I *really* want him to come, but if it means we get to see Sophia, the twins and my SIL, so be it.

Next big event....Angelina got her ears pierced!!! My little girl had been begging me for over a month to take her. But, each time I've told her we have to wait and go on a weekend when daddy can join us. He really likes to be part of these monumental moments in our kid's lives. So, she picked some nice red 14k studs, sat in the chair and waited patiently for her new earrings to be placed in her ears. To our disbelief, she didn't shed any tears! She didn't even flinch! Luckily, they had asked if we'd like to get her ears pierced at the same time...good idea! We took a bunch of photos, but I have no clue where D put the memory card with the photos. I'll post them soon when I get a hold of them.

So, D has finally flown from the nest. After over 5 years of working from home, he is commuting back and forth from downtown working from a client site. He hates the commute, but the work and pay is good, so it is well worth the effort. He is still on England time, which is 5 hours ahead (due to his recent trip back home to visit his family), but it is working out well for him. He needs to get up early to get ready for work, so he has been purposely trying to stay on this schedule. Great for him, absolutely horrible for "us". He goes to bed soon after the kids go to bed, so there is very little "us" time during the week. But, this contract is 7-9 weeks, so I'm just going to bear with it and know that in the end, this will help us dig out of the financial hole his last contract put us in.

Brad finally has his hearing test tomorrow after a 4 month waiting period. This is something that our doctor suggested we do before he goes for speech therapy (he is also on a 6 month waiting list for that!). We are almost certain there is nothing wrong with Brad's hearing. D has "tested" Brad's hearing numerous times, and everything seems good. Here is how D's simple test is done. Keep in mind that D is behind Brad when he asks this question.

D: Brad, do you want some candy?

B: *nodding his head yes vigorously*

D: See! His hearing is fine!

Good news is that Brad seems to be copying a lot of what we're saying to him in the last month or so. As suspected, the bugger is a slow starter or couldn't be bothered to try. LOL He is still having great difficulty with saying "s" sounds and doesn't even attempt words that start with "c" or "k". So, I am hoping that once speech therapy starts, he'll hopefully be speaking at the level he's suppose to be at, or he can get help with those sounds.

The bath and body business is doing *really* well. I feel blessed! Thanks to my wonderful sales lady (mom) and my online store, I am too busy.

My best friend Peppy just got married a few weekends ago..and while at the salon (of her choice) getting my hair and make up done, the salon owner asked what I did for a living. After telling her about my many businesses, she asked if I could meet to show her my jewellery pieces. So, an appointment was made, and she loves them! So, it looks like I will have some of my jewellery pieces at a salon. I was SO not trying to promote my business, but opportunity knocked when I least expected it, and now I'm kinda scared. Where the heck am I going to find the time to run all these businesses?!? So far, I've been managing by just dealing with orders as they come in. Even then, I was getting very little sleep! Oh well, I should just be thankful and try my best. No more complaining...for now.

I have also been taking a beginner's metal smithing course once a week in the evening. Our first project was a saw pierced ring. It turned out ok, and I'd love to be able to wear it proudly, but my mom declared it hers when she saw it. What am I suppose to say when she asks to keep it...and it was literally days before mother's day too. So, it sits happily on my mother's finger. LOL I was able to pry it off my mom's finger long enough to take a few pics of it.

Front view:
Side view:
The second project was to make something that required casting (using the lost wax method). So, being the rubber stamper that I am. I stamped an image of (what I think is) a lily and carved it out in wax. It took many hours of detailed work, but surprisingly was *very* similar to making dentures. So, it wasn't too difficult, but just very tedious since the wax is super hard, and much more grueling on your fingers then carving dentures out of soft wax.

I will post a picture when I can get D to set up his DSLR for me.

Ok, Brad needs to go for a nap and I have to fold the mountains of laundry waiting for me.

Kinkeys, Bum Bums and Bee Boos

So, as of the last 6 months, we've been pretty concerned with my son Brad's lack of speech. We have him scheduled for a hearing test and on a wait list for speech therapy. He tends to communicate with grunts, gibberish and pointing. It's funny how we understand pretty much everything he wants though. Maybe that is why he doesn't feel the need to learn how to talk. We do reinforce the words of what he wants hoping to help him learn them...but to no avail (or so we thought).

For quite awhile though Brad has been saying a few words. There are ones that he repeats constantly (because he knows he can get a kick out of his sister). These words are bum bum (no explanation necessary), kinkey (aka dinky) and bee boos (this is what Ava called my boobs and would say whenever she wanted to breastfeed). Brad though says these words anywhere and everywhere we go. I don't know how many people truly understand him, but WE know what he's saying so it can sometimes be quite embarrassing.

Well, lately, his new word is "big". He's been saying 2 word sentences now, using big in front. Big kinkey, big bum bum, and big bee boos. I died laughing the first time Brad pointed to his daddy's "area" and said, "big kinkey". You should have seen the look on D's face - priceless! He was SUCH a proud father - haha and told Brad "yes, you are very right son!"

Then we took Brad and Angelina to a park a few weeks ago. Brad loves picking up and collecting rocks and sticks..such a boy. Anyways, he always likes to show his mama what he's found. I asked him (as I usually do) what he's playing with and he points and says "rock". WHAT did he say?!? When was he practicing this word?!? We had never heard it before! So, I congratulate him and he is SO proud. So, I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask a little more. What is that I ask? "stick" he says. Like he's been saying it forever. OMG!! Wonderful!! My boy can speak!!

The next day, Brad is at home playing, and the topic of his face comes up. D asks him,

what's this?(pointing to his ears)

E-yah! (Both of us are looking at each other in shock)

and this? (pointing to his nose)

Noah!

and this? (pointing to his mouth)

Mau!

Sorry, if I'm boring you. This may sound trivial, but after not hearing our son say more then a few words for the first 2 years of his life, this is amazing to us. I had been told by many, that he is just slower because he's a boy (not all boys are slow of course, but in general, I've been told they are) and because he's a second child. Plus our GP never seemed too concerned when I pointed it out to him at every appointment we brought him in after 1 year of age. It didn't help either that Ava started speaking very early on and in full sentences at 14 months of age. But, he has now started to copy saying some words, which is wonderful to hear.

Some other news. We just found out Brad is severely allergic to peanuts. We are waiting until he's better from his cold to go and get blood work done to see what else he is allergic to. The allergist did not want to do the skin prick test since in a severely allergic person, it could cause an anaphylactic reaction.

Brad was with my parents when he had his first reaction a few weeks ago (they sensed something was wrong, but not until well after it had happened, so they didn't take him to the ER) and based on the symptoms he exhibited, the allergist said he was very close to death. Luckily he survived and miraculously he started getting better on his own. The thought scares me to no end. I almost lost my baby boy!

Looks like I have to go through all of our food and discard everything that may have come in contact with nuts. Not an enjoyable thing to do, but definitely necessary.

D left about 20 minutes ago for his 4 day camping trip with "the guys" that go every year. Both kids are sick and I have no car (he took mine and I am not able to drive his car since it's manual), so it's 4 days stuck at home. Wish me luck!

Typical daily phone call

Heh-rho? Ah..do yoo sow sum shop? Yoo know...da kind dat shmells rearry NICE and krean rearry goood?

Me: What do you want?

Yoo know...I need sum shop! Ah...I hab sum greashy ding dat I need to clean off da crack of my ash. I need sum goood stub!

Me: C'mon on..what do you want, or I'm hanging up!

Yoo ah rike a Chinese peepole..making stub pore cheap! Do yoo have sum shop with cum of sum young guy?

Me: Ok, bye.

*click and dial tone*

This is a typical conversation with Jeriko. Don't let the man or his real world job fool you. He is this guy 99.9% of the time in the confines of his home and ours.

Be scared - very scared!

;o)

It's been a long time

I know...I'm not a good blogger. Well, I never intended to blog, so I guess that's my excuse! ;)

Yesterday was Angela's first day back at school after March break. She was thrilled to be back! Her best friend went on holiday 2 weeks prior, so the 3 weeks of not getting to play with her must have been hard on both of them. It's so sweet to hear how much they missed each other. I forget how simple life was at 5 and how much your life was centered around playing with your girlfriends.

March break was really hectic! I don't even remember everything we did during the week. The highlight of the week was definitely bowling. The kids LOVED bowling!! Of course D and I forgot to bring the camera - argh! Angela is a natural bowler! She started off using the metal curved thingy (made for kids) that you put the bowling ball on and it rolls down. Then, by the end of the first game, and for all of the second, she properly threw the ball (small 5 pin ball of course). She really enjoyed it! She was asking us when we're going to go again next on the car ride home.

Brad enjoyed it too, but halfway through the second game, he got tired of carrying the ball to the metal thingy and decided he would rather run around the bowling ally and show us his bum. Seriously!! He thankfully kept his pants on, but was bent over walking on his hands and feet and coming up to us and saying "bum! bum!". Silly boy! So much like his daddy.

What did I do since I last blogged?
Yup, filled orders for whipped body frostings and scrubs. Ok, I have seen enough Shea butter to last me a lifetime!

I am SO excited!! On Sunday, a friend who has been soap making for quite awhile invited me over. Together we made 96 bars of soap in a few hours. Mind you, only a whopping 9 1/2 bars of soap was what I got to take home, but I was SO thankful that she gave me the opportunity to learn and make soap with her. Now I can say that I am completely confident with using lye. Still very scary stuff, but I'm not as paranoid as I was before. So, I've got some lovely green tea fragrance soap with green tea botanicals (very small bits of dried green tea leaves) that will be ready in about 2-4 weeks time. Next up...coffee soap!! I want to make a nice scrubby coffee bar to keep in the kitchen to help rid of onion/garlic smells on your hands.

Gotta go, have a busy day today. I have a dental cleaning in the afternoon to look forward to, and today is D's 37th birthday! So, I have to bake a lactose free cake. Pot roast (one of his favorite meals) has been simmering in the crock pot in wine and broth all night and should be ready for lunch - yum!

And the winner is...

ME!! Yeah!! A new year, and another Oscar! Yes, that's right I've won 2 consecutive Oscars! For what you ask?!? I moonlight as an actress. I go by the name of Sandra Oh. Yes, I've put on some weight, but that's what happens when you're happy and eat too much at the post Oscar parties. ;o)


Reality is, one of my friends is an Oscar nut and this is the second year in a row she's gone all out to throw an awesome party. With Oscar themed decorations, prizes and even scratch tickets. Both years she had us fill out predictions on who would win in each category, and each year, I've won the contest and brought the Oscar home. So, maybe I kinda took a peek at the People magazine article, but not on purpose! I happen to read it on occasion, and just stumbled upon the predictions for this year. So, yes, it did help a little.

So, my friend the Oscar nut, is turning 10 because she was born on Feb 29th. Well, actually 40 (Eeep! Sorry L, but I had to explain!), but we'll let her believe she's 10 years old..for now. :) Well, she was all upset that no one was making an effort to get together for her b-day..a big one at that. Meanwhile, some friends and I had plans to crash her Oscars party to celebrate with her. A success!! She had NO clue and we were able to pull it off beautifully! The theme was loosely held around a 10 year old girl's party. Gifts, balloons, manicures, pigtails (well, some of us anyways), tiaras, loot bags and a BIG cake. We all had fun, and most importantly, it seemed the b-day girl had a blast. We also celebrated another friend's b-day last night with a smaller cake and gifts, as it is her b-day today.

Now that the fun is over, I have been feverishly entering in year end numbers for our accountant. UGH..I dread the end of Feb. I managed to get D's consulting business stuff entered this morning and now onto our personal stuff and 2 of my businesses. What a nightmare. Each year I promise myself to stay on top of it and not have to rush to enter it all in last minute. Then, each year I start well, and then finish badly. Kind of like me and exercise. Although I do plan on going back to playing badminton with D once my knee is completely healed (I had a nasty fall on a patch of ice and it's slowly getting better). I really enjoy badminton, and found out that, I'm not too bad at it. Quite fun and great exercise!

We were hoping to take the kids to their second movie (in a theater) this past weekend, but there was absolutely nothing good playing. Just Alvin and the chipmunks, which they had already seen a few months ago. Horton Hears a Who is suppose to be coming out soon, so hopefully we'll be able to take them to see it once it's out. Angelina just loves Dr. Seuss stories at bedtime. Not sure how much Brad will enjoy it, but he was pretty well behaved during Alvin, so we'll see.

Back to reality now. The kids will be in bed in less then 1 hour and then I've really got to get more stuff entered. Oh joy!

Down on Your Knees Please

I'm not an overly religious person, but today, I need prayers please for the following reasons.

1. Daniel has a job interview this morning with Bell Canada. Please pray he gets a job offer.

2. That the school drivers don't go on strike (the strike was to start as early as today, but hasn't yet), because I don't enjoy fighting morning traffic to drop Ava off.

3. My parents, the kids and I are going to Costco this afternoon. Please pray I have the strength to walk out of there with JUST what I need and not $500+ poorer.

Ok, gotta get myself and the kids dressed to walk Angelina to the bus stop.

Biscotti Anyone?

Ok, so here it is..my first batch of soap. Freshly sliced up this afternoon.


The reason they look like fugly stumpy cream and now puke coloured biscotti (instead of nice sized handmade bars) is because I became impatient waiting for my wood mold to arrive from the US. It's been shipped, but I guess customs is holding it for ransom. So, I looked in my trusty soapmaker's companion book, and it suggested using a rubbermaid container. It worked, but my container was a HUGE rectangular one, so what should have been the size of a slice of banana bread is now a stumpy piece of biscotti. Oh well, it's still functional and it smells wonderful! Very fresh and cleared my sinuses!

Got a haircut today while Brad was napping. Thought I liked my new hairdresser Michael, but now, I'm not too sure. Michael has an idea of how HE wants my hair to look and it's different then how I normally got my hair done by my previous hairdresser Tony of 15+ years. I miss Tony! I could continue to get my hair done by him, but he has moved to a salon about an hour away. Longer if it's rush hour. I love him....but not that much. So, I ended up with a shoulder length bob with long layers. He flat ironed it so it would looked "sleek" as he put it. To me, it just looks FLAT and dead on my head. But, it's a huge improvement to the rat's nest I was sporting, so I guess I'll get use to it.

D took Angelina out swimming at the local community pool tonight. It's their daddy and daughter bonding time. So, Brad had me all to himself at home. Cute little bugger is such a clown when his sister isn't around. When she's around, he worships and copies everything she does and just acts differently.

I had one of my SU downlines come over tonight after the kids went to bed. She is holding her very first workshop this Friday (yeah!!) and I helped her design and cut her make and takes. Then D and I watched the last episode of LOST that we taped. What is going on with Sayed?!? Tell me he ain't working for...I won't spoil it for those who watch LOST, but have yet to watch the last episode. I thought they were starting to answer questions, but now I see there are a whole bunch of new questions!

I am still thinking Dexter is the best thing out there on tv. I am eagerly awaiting the start of season 3, whenever that may be. For those of you who haven't seen the show yet, I believe CBS is showing an edited version starting this week - WATCH it!!! If you have a weak stomach, keep watching..trust me when I say that after episode 3, you'll be immune to all the bloodshed. Heck by mid season 1, you'll be wanting Dexter to kill someone! LOL How demented that must sound..but truly, after watching enough of the show, you feel great empathy towards the character and hope he gets away with it all and continues along his journey of serial killing.

Ok, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I am going to see our GP regarding a second referral for my father, so I better go to bed so I don't look and act like a zombie.

*wave*