I'm in the game again!

I have started sewing again!!!

I just finished some of these cutie bumble beez!

The yellow chenille has become a permanent part of my wardrobe as well as anyone else that come within 3 ft of me or my home!!! EGAD! The chenille is EVERYWHERE!!!

Worth it though. These bumble bee's wouldn't be the same with out it!

Have a good weekend!

I'll be bizzzzzzzzeeeeeeeee!!!

I can relate to the dog

You have to watch till then end!
It's so cute!!!

(Thanks for sharing Mark!)

I take it back

In my last post, I was all...
"How could anyone stay at an indoor play centre for hours & hours?!"

How wrong was I?!!! The birthday party was tons of fun for the kids! The 2 hours of playing before pizza, cake & presents seemed to drag on a bit. But, the girls toughed it out. I had thought we'd leave right after the presents. Then this one little girl was like "Is that it?? Is it over? Tell me this isn't over!". The feeling was mutual for all the girls. So WE stayed until 8:00!!! Holy moly! Party from 3:45- 8:00! That was one long party! The extra time we spent there did go by quickly though.

I met one mom in there & her record amount of time in there is 6 1/2 hours!! EGAD! That is just crazy. When I met her, she said they got there at 11:30 that morning. It was 4:00 when she told me this. I guess she gets her moneys worth... But, playing under flouresent lighting ALL day long??? And not to mention, in real life all I can think about is how dirty those tunnels are. How often do they clean them???!!! I can't think about it. In my old age, I have become the biggest germ-a-phobe.

I gave bubbles in the gift pails & that has been the girls favorite past time for the last two days. Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles! The bubbles are scented yummy mint, so it's actually been kind of refreshing around here!

I'm still settling into the new place. I finally kind of got my sewing area figured out. My biggest problem was/is that my kids like to snoop in all my stuff. My vision/hope was to move into a space that would have an extra room that could be a sewing room/craft room. There is no hope for that in this float home. I'm hoping that it will all work out. I have definitely become more creative with my use of space!

I'll post pictures once I get it all worked out!

She wanted sushi

Ideya's birthday dinner, originally uploaded by too_occupied.

The birthday girl wanted sushi last night! YAY!!!

That was a huge relief. We went to a place close to our house & the service was quick and the meal was ever so tasty. I tried this roll that actually had mango in it! I'm in love! I wanna start making these everyday. The mango with the crab meat & fresh cucumber - the combination was "da bomb yo!".

My birthday girl likes to try something new everyday & she ordered octopus(?) Or maybe it was squid. I am unsure, but the girl loved it. My oldest daughter.... not so fond of trying new things, just looked on in disgust at us. I really wish SHE would try more things. Anyway, it was all about the birthday girl & she enjoyed her meal.

Today is really the super exciting day. We are off to Crash Crawlys for many hours of screaming fun. When I booked the party the lady mentioned, that we eat at 5:30. I ask, "what time does the party go till?". She replies, "As long as you want. we are open till 10!".

Oh give me a break. The party starts at 3:30!!! "Yes we'll stay there for 6 1/2 hours"... No way!!!! Who does that?
(Knock on wood)

We'll see how everyone is doing after the 2 hours of play & then eating! I'm sure they will be beat!

As will I.

Let me tell you about a NEW type snack!

A lady I know, turned me onto these yummy Korean puffed cereal snacks. I bumped into her on the seabus one day & her son was snacking on these. Like any sweet 2 year old, he shared with me a little piece of this little treat. Oh my gosh! It was so good. I tried to play it cool, when in real life, I wanted more! MORE I tell you!!! You have been warned. You can not just eat one of these circle treats. At $1.25 for about 6 in a bag... you can afford to eat more than just one!

Thing is, at first bite they seem like they are the cookie that the Cookie Monster shoves into his mouth & crumbles into styro-foam bits. We actually tried to eat these by smushing them whole heartedly into our mouths... it was messy... but FUN! Anyway, once you get over that it reminds you of styro-foam. This is the best tasting styro-foam that can be found! It seems slightly sweet, but it isn't. According to the nutrition facts about 4 of these account for 130 calories. Not bad right!?

We all know when you got kids, having a snack handy can make or break your outing. I'm telling you these are officially becoming a major staple in my diet.
THEY ARE SO GOOOOOD!

I could only find them at the Korean Grocery, but gosh darnnit more people need to to know about these snacks!

Spread the word! Spread the word of the rice & corn snack!!!

So yummy & kid approved!!!

She's 7.

Oh my baby is 7!

She could barely sleep last night, knowing that gifts awaited her come morning. She was so excited! She wanted a watermelon breakfast, so we stuck 7 candles in the giant slice of watermelon & started to sing "Happy Birthday", but she blew out all the candles right away - so she could get on with the presents... We still sang the whole song, which seemed odd, because at the end there was no big "Blow out candle finale". But, it was good. I think last year & in previous years she refused to blow them out. So the fact that it was her first reaction to blow them all out right away is fine with me! It's nice to see her participate.

She loved everything (thankfully), and went to school in her p.j's. Happy as could be, with a spring her step.

Tradition has it that she gets to pick a restaurant for dinner tonight. I totally wish we had Ponderosa here. I remember going there when I was little, I loved the metal dishes in the wooden tray that you would get your food in & the gingham table cloth. Loved that place!

Anyway, I hope she wants crabs legs in a warm buttery garlic sauce... That's what I'm hoping for! I'm sure she could be swayed.

I'm betting first choice will be the big ol' golden arches. But you never know with this one!

It's a good day.

Happy Birthday My Sweet Ideya!!!

7 years of Ideya, originally uploaded by too_occupied.

Long live the baby duckies!

As we were coming home yesterday night, the Mrs. & her little baby duckies were sitting on the side of the dock. My youngest daughter has become absolutely smitten with them! I'm not sure how many babies I told you she had before.... but she had 11. She now has 10. I've encountered a few neighbours who are quite pessimistic about the life expectancy of these little guys, calling them "popcorn ducks". Sadly, seals & other things prey on the poor baby duckies. I'm told they rarely make it to adulthood. My youngest hasn't noticed that one is missing & I'm hoping they all make it to become big healthy ducks, to prove the neighbours wrong. My daughter feeds them when she comes home & weekends have been spent trying to spy on them from the upper deck of our house. The duckies totally make her day!

Tomorrow is her Birthday. She will be 7. I've been trying to figure out what to get her. Yes, I'm the queen of last minute-ness. I know that I am going to make her some curtains for her bunk bed tonight, but I really am at loss for what the "big" gift should be. She will be having a little party with friends on Friday after school which she has been counting down the sleeps since May 1st. And the lucky girl gets to wear her p.j's to school tomorrow, for a pajama party! I really wish they had these when I was little! She wanted Webkinz p.j's special for the day, but I don't think they exist (yet). We are going to go shopping for some special birthday pajama party p.j's after school today. When I asked her what kind she would like to look for she said, "Silky ones". I'm going to opt out on that one, I think... Silky p.j's for a 7 year old - kind of creeps me out!

I can't believe she is 7 tomorrow! Times goes by so fast, it seems like not so long ago she was being carried around 24 hours a day in her Baby Bjorn carrier. EGAD! My back is living proof of those days. I'm glad she grew outta being carried! BUT I still lay down with her, in order for her to fall asleep at night. Such a terrible routine to get into! As we were laying down the other night, she started singing. She usually only breaks out into song if she thinks you aren't paying attention. Her song of choice was a chorus from the song "Vampire" off the Juno Soundtrack...

"I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I AM A VAMPIRE & I've lost my fangs!"

It was the funniest cutest thing ever! (You had to be there, I guess) So the next morning, I was setting up the play list for our LONG commute to school back in our old neighbourhood & I set up the, "I am a Vampire" song,  thinking she would be thrilled!!!

 I said, "This one is for you, Ideya".

 The songs starts...

 She yells out, "I HATE THIS SONG! TURN IT OFF! YUCK! THAT SONG SUCKS!". 

She asked me to never play that song again with her in the van.

 She constantly has me on my toes that one!

I better go figure out what I'm going to get that little lady for her birthday tomorrow!

So busy

I've been so busy finishing up this crazy move. I FINALLY finished on the 15th!
I still have stuff in the van that I have to unload, I really can't be bothered to bring it in. I'm so sick of moving!

Yesterday was my birthday... I actually spent some time in the sun on the deck of our new house. It was so nice & soooooo hot! Hello freckles!!! I'm noticing a trend in the attire of the males in the marina. It requires - shirts off. Every where I looked... shirts off. Round bellied salior men tanning their beer bumps. Everyone is so tanned down there already, and we've really only had 3 days of sunshine! Oh how I admire them... The girls gave me their handmade cards in the morning & actually got the breakfast in bed today! My girls are so sweet.

We also headed of course to Aberdeen to cream puffs yesterday. I love those things! I seriously could live off of them. Although, I would probably get to huge & that is something I so don't want.

I'm so close to sewing again. I can taste it! It's been so long since I've heard my dear sweet sewing machine zipping away.

I better get back to my girls!

Have a good day!

And enjoy your long weekend Canadians!!!

Happy Momma's Day!

Above is a little piece of heaven. Yummy chocolate filled Beard Papa's!

EGAD! So yummy! 18 million times more yummier than the vanilla sort. The kids had been asking me what I wanted for Mother Day. All I really could think of was the cream puff pastry from Beard Papa's. The best part of this Mothers Day adventure is that it is only 2 blocks from where we live!!! Can you imagine?! I love Richmond! I love that I can go get these yummy treats in a 5 minute walk!

The first time I had these little cream puffs was on a trip to Nagoya. I was all tired from traveling all night from Vancouver. I had to fly to Narita airport & then catch another plane to Nagoya. A girl that use to work for me had moved back to Nagoya & was going to be my travel companion back to Tokyo. I was so tired & just wanted to eat anything. She & her friend took my to Denny's. Denny's of all places!!!??? Denny's in Japan is much differnt than the North American version. First, there was a smoking section & non-smoking version. I don't know about the States, but I honestly can't remember the last time we had that option. Plus, I find that the smoking section really does end up creeping it's way into the "non- smoking section". I can't remember what I ordered... But, our meal started out with miso soup. I loved it. There was no Grand Slam breakfast on this menu, but it looked identical to our Denny's. After that we headed to the grocery store to get breakfast goodies for morning. Within that grocery store was a little Beard Papa Kiosk. You could smell the pastry through out the whole grocery store. I think that is what heaven smells like. The girls I was with insisted I try one. How could I refuse. They created a monster.

They claim to be only 230 calories & are made with no perservatives. So are best to eat within the same day bought. Through out the rest of my trip, I would notice the smell of Beard Papa's wafting through the train stations, calling me!!! EGAD! Really the people who invented these are geniuses! I'm so glad we have one here now. It truly is love at first bite!

It should be on everyones list of things to do before I die.

• Eat cream puff from Beard Papa's.

Add it to the list! For reals!!!

Happy Mama's Day to everyone!!!

The world record for longest amount of time to move.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I was busy trying to beat the record for longest time to move. I think I have been going at this for a week now. It's not like we moved a whole heck of a lot to the new place, it has been all about getting rid of our old stuff. I have now rented a storage locker for all those things, that I thought other people would take off my hands. Face tanner any one? I am actually quite happy about the storage locker. I like going there, and having to type in passwords & riding the huge freight elevator & listening to the ominious music playing over head of the lockers. It doesn't take much to excite this gal! My oldest daughter likes going to. It has been our only "alone" time in probably about a year. My youngest doesn't want to have anything to do with these outtings. She just doesn't know what she is missing! She has actually become scared to ride in elevators. It's only a recent thing & it's not "all" elevators. It made for quite a scene when we were at Ikea last week. It looked like I was abducting her, as she kicked & screamed as I forced her to join the family in the elevator. People glanced over their carts filled with MDF furniture, as I assured them she was indeed mine. Her new fear of elevators is thanks to her dad & sister. They like to jump in the elevator before it stops on the floor you want. You know the game? Where it makes you all wiggly? Well, they did it in an old elevator & that has been it for her. She really is convinced that the elevator will go crashing to the bottom of the shaft, if she goes in it with those two jumpers. When ever she thinks we will be going in one, she starts to talk about how much she loves taking stairs, because it makes h er leg muscles stronger. I hope she can over come this fear. I actually told her, that life could get very hard for her if she trys to manage her life around her fear of elevators in her adult life. She didn't want to hear any of it. My poor girl.

The ducky that I showed in the last photo had her baby duckies last week! She has 7 new ducklings following her everywhere! They are super cute!

Now that I have moved everything into the new place, every time we come & go the tide is up. So the ramp is almost always level. Of course it would be now that all the hard work is done. Those wheel barrels have become my best friend.

Viva la wheel barrels!!!