Summer Vacation

Vacation may be over for the kids, but it's just starting for all of us moms & dads out there. Especially for the stay at home parents or the ones who work from home. All I can say is.... sigh..... lol!

Don't get me wrong, I love my girls to pieces. Having said that, I can only take so much one on one with them. With Lily on the cusp of puberty at 12 and Kiera at 8 thinking she needs to ask the same question 5 times in a row without even listening to the answer I am about on my last nerve. I will admit that this past summer hasn't been as frustrating as summers past mainly due to the fact that the Sailor now works 7 on 7 off. With him home from work every other week I was able to get that small break here and there that all stay at home parents need in order to maintain their sanity. That is if they have any sanity left!

For the most part I would rank our summer as one of the better summers we've had. Minus a few heartbreaking moments. We were all strong and supportive for each other and made it through the tough times allowing ourselves to enjoy the fun times.

Yesterday was the first day of school for the girls. All went well despite the fact that middle school, due to construction, did not have an open house where Lily would have received her new locker & class schedule before the first day, and Kiera brought home the wrong lunch box. The girls were amazing getting ready for school. I didn't have to yell at them once and there were no 'first day of school last minute crisis's'. Thank God!

Of course I forgot to get pictures of both the girls dressed up all snazzy and sharp for their first day of school. I know, naughty mom! I will tell you that Lily was the picture of a sweet young lady in her blue jean skirt and tailored short sleeved polo (thank you again Toni F. for all your generous clothing donations). I'm telling you she's not a little girl anymore. Kiera was cute as a button in her black w/teal polka dots dress and black tights.

If you'll take note, I haven't called my girls midgets today. For those new here I usually refer to my girls as midgets, the tall midget and the short midget. Well Monday night we measured the girls to see how much they grew since their birthdays in March. Kiera has grown approximately 1 1/2 inches making her now 4 foot 3 3/4 inches tall. That's 51 3/4 inches making her now eligible to ride all the rides at the fair. We haven't told her this yet because we don't want to hear about the fair 20 times a night. She will be so excited!! Lily has grown 2 inches topping her out at an even 5 foot 4 inches tall. Yes people, my twelve year old is now officially taller than her Aunt Valisatie who measures in at just under 5'3". I do believe she will be taller than me (even if I did quit shrinking). So now you see why I haven't referred to the girls as midgets. They will just be plain old Monkeys from now on.

All in all it was a good summer vacation for the girls and I'm wishing nothing but the best of luck for their new school year. :)

Kisses

CoreyJo 

Twist the knife...

Earlier today I posted some confessions. One of them being how I lied to the girls about the cat being euthanized (I plan on telling them of her "passing" this next week). Anyways, we went out to dinner to a Chinese buffet tonight. This particular restaurant has a koi pond, at the reception area, where you can toss in a coin. The girls both toss their coins each visit and make their wishes. The last time we went, Kiera (the short midget, 8), wished that her sister Maggie Alice "could be here with us For Real to play with, not be an angel."  OH MY GOD!! Break my heart all over again why don't cha!!  I had a heart to heart with her and basically told her to try to be happy that her sister is in heaven where she no longer has health issues and to try to wish for something that may be possible, like a new doll or a trip to the movies this weekend. I was hoping that our little chat worked. Well it did, but it didn't.... She told me tonight that her wish was that "Bonnie (our cat who was just euthanized who she temporarily thinks is at a shelter to get better & then adopted) wasn't sick anymore even though she can't come home because she won't use the litter box anymore."  DEAR SWEET MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS!! Twist the knife a little more in my guilt for lying to the kids about what happened to the cat!! FFS! I can't seem to get a break these days! Oh well, such is life. Right? Hopefully things won't be too bad and having a pool will help distract the girls once I tell them that their cat has passed on to Heaven... Maybe I should have tossed in a coin and made a wish....

Kisses

CoreyJo

Haiku: Hungry

Hungry? Who's hungry? I'm hungry. Are you hungry? What are you hungry for? A kiss? A promotion? A cheese burger? Mashed potatoes & gravy? Mmmmmm.... gravy....

This weeks Haiku contest is being hosted by Grins at ANGER MANAGEMENT, with Hungry being the theme of choice. Here are my entries.

Cravings

Breads, pastas, potatoes...

Delicious yummieness, Mmmm..

All things I can't have.

                                                                 ~CoreyJo

Excitement

Books, pencils, paper,

New clothes & locker combo.

She's hungry to learn.

                                         ~CoreyJo 

*Note: this photo is 3 years old

I hope everyone pops on over to Anger Management and checks out the competition. Good luck everyone!!

Here are some current photos of the girls.

Have a wonderful first day of school girls!

Love ♥ Huggs

CoreyJo

Lazy days

After a sleep over next door Kiera was just too pooped to play and true to form when the energy was gone she was out, no matter where she was.

I so very rarely turn on the television that when we do watch a movie Red is all about watching it. He's getting so big. That's the Sailor in the back ground. Red is 7-8 months old and he weighs 60 lbs if not more, and he's not even done growing yet!!

Mable & Bonnie have really become bosom buddies. I'm starting to wonder if it's not love ♥

Love ♥ Huggs
CoreyJo

NO CAVITIES!!

Another clean bill of health from the dentist. So off to lunch we went!! 

They're growing up so fast...

Love ♥ Huggs

Mommy

More Birthdays & Easter

Since the girls birthdays are only 2 weeks apart we will celebrate privately each one's birthday on the day of, and then together usually the weekend between. Due to circumstances this year (their grand dad dying) we waited to do the duel party until late April. It wasn't a big affair this year but it was fun and it was very loud!!

For Easter we went to a local establishment for a special Easter Buffet. The food is simple yet out of this world delicious. But only after the girls found all of the Easter eggs that were hidden around the house.

Love ♥ Huggs

CoreyJo

Spring Time...

I'm happy to report this is the second post in a row with no tissue alert attached to the top!! Yay!!

Today's post is about my nature and the camera on my phone. I'm still not sure about the camera on my new Droid Razr. It takes amazing photos but when comes to getting the close ups of nature and sunsets & sunrises... it's just really hard to beat my Kodak. As persnickety as my Kodak is, it truly has taken the absolute best color photos I have. Especially the ones that are close up. I'm not giving up hope on my Razr though. So far indoors it's done magnificent. It's the outdoor photos that give me pause. I can't tell you how many photos I took of the daffodils before I got any that were in focus. Even though I was trying to focus on the main bloom of the flower the background was always the clearest leaving the bloom slightly out of focus. The fact that the wind was blowing the flowers all over didn't help much. All the photos for today, minus the sunrise's at the end (taken with the Kodak), were all taken with my Razr.

These are the cat tails in the ditch fluffing out for Spring.

Here's my new flower box the Sailor and his brother built for me. I haven't planted anything in it yet because the stores don't have any plants yet! No I won't be doing any vegetables or plants from seeds. If I can manage to keep this box alive this year who knows what I'll do next year.

This is the non fruit bearing Cleveland Flowering Pear tree that we planted for Maggie on her birthday in 2010. Almost one year after she passed. When we planted her tree we spread some of her ashes in with the dirt. To us and all that know us this is "Maggie's Tree". This is the first year it's bloomed. We were all so excited to see it flowering. Isn't it just beautiful!! 

Lastly here are the sunrise photos from yesterday morning. These two are for my new friend and fellow blogger Robin whom you can find at Life in Queue.

I hope you've enjoyed the first tour of the Spring season.  Hopefully there will be lots more to come....once the stores stock their green houses!!  Since I don't have any idea yet of what I want to plant why don't all of you leave a comment and let me know what your favorite Full Sun garden plant is. This way I'll have some ideas of what to look for when I do buy some plants.

Thanks again for stopping in and sticking around long enough to read this far. I'm off to have breakfast with Kiera for National Reading Month. Speaking of which, Congrats to Kiera for meeting her goal of 20 books read in the month of March! Way to go Cletus!!

Love ♥ Huggs

CoreyJo

Birthday Girl #1...

 I figured I had better get Kiera's birthday post out before Lily's birthday gets here. So with out further ado...

♫♪♫ HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIERA ♫♪♫

It's a special day when a little girl turns seven. Why? you ask. Hell I don't know, but it's her birthday. Since her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day we always try to make the day about her and not the Irish holiday (that comes later in the evening). This year is the last year we will be celebrating the girls birthday parties on the same day. Due to circumstances and work schedules the party won't be until later in April.  However we have always made sure to celebrate each birthday individually too. We always have cake, pie, or some sort of dessert with dinner and give them at least one present. The other presents come the day of their party. Anyways, here are the delicious cup cakes I made and Kieras happy face.

Butter Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting

A 3D birthday card. Enough to cross your eyes, but she loved it.

A new night gown for the warmer season. Big hit!!

So pretty..

You'd think we gave her the world...and that's why I love her.

I was too busy taking pictures to know what, but something was obviously funny...

Thank you to the other Canning household for helping to celebrate Kiera's birthday.  

Love ♥ Huggs

CoreyJo

Catching up...

WOW! I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I last blogged. I guess I've got a lot to catch you guys up on.  Lets not make this too painfully long okay.

Starting with My birthday:  The girls bought me both Adele cd's and flowers. Jason bought me a really nice watch, and my sister, Valisatie, made me a cross stitch.

(bracelet made by Lily, given to Kiera, who then gave it to me)

I'm proud to admit it's 100% true!!

Next is Christmas: Everyone got pretty much everything on their list and then some. All were happy and that's a hard thing to do!

Every year the Sailor and I get each other a gag gift. This year his was a used bowling pin for target practice.

New Years was a great time spent at a friends house with friends and family. We had a green Christmas this year, but rest assure there was plenty of snow to go around afterwards.

Most of December and January was spent inside enjoying the new books and video games. Mostly it was just me and the animals as usual. Although uneventful I did receive some very nice flowers from the Sailor.

All of last week was spent in Texas visiting a friend of mine. I came home to a clean happy household. Sometimes you just need to get away, even if it's only for the day. I was lucky enough to get a whole 7 days to detox from the madness that is better known as life. No worries, stress, or responsibilities outside myself for a whole week. It was bliss, not to mention WARM!! Even though it was much needed, this detox period, I greatly missed my family & pets after only one day, and I'm glad to be home.

Since this post has been so long I'll save my trip to Texas for another day and I'll also make a separate post for the cupcakes :)  Thanks for sticking with me this long. I'll catch ya on the flip side!!

Love ♥ Huggs
CoreyJo