Week 8 - “Hands-On Fun” Photo Challenge

This is my submission for this weeks photo challenge over at i heart faces. It is a picture of my youngest Charlotte Juniper when she was 5 months old. This weeks challenge is a hands theme. Head over to i heart faces and add your own photo, or check out all of the other lovely submissions.

Flashback Friday - Schmutzli ... I miss you.

This weeks Flashback Friday is pet themed... so I decided to go with my last pet we had. A black & white cat named Schmutzli. I loved Schmutzli a lot, but things with her didn't end well, and it still brings me to tears when I think about it. The relationship I had with Schmutzli was always a little off right from the beginning. I got her the same day I had to put my cat of 15 years down... that was the first thing I did wrong. I should have waited, I wasn't ready to get another cat, but my mom sort of talked me into it. I know she was just trying to help me because I was heartbroken...but I really wasn't ready and I should have listened to my heart. Schmutzli was born a wild cat (another mistake, I should have gotten a domestic cat) ... we found her outside of a restaurant my mom was working at. Schmutzli was skidderish from the beginning. The problems with her didn't start for about 4 or 5 months after we had her... what did she do? She Peed... she peed everywhere. To make a long long story short.. I put up with it for 4 years! I tried everything, different litter box techniques, homeopathic remedies... and YES I even tried a pet Psychic... and still get teased for that from this day. Finally right before our wedding I had had enough of being stressed ALL the time. It was literally effecting my health, and I decided to put her down. I tried to find her a good home... and decided not to take her to the shelter because I know they would have put her down anyways because of the peeing :( So one day I asked my husband to take her to the vet to put her down. I couldn't bring myself to bring her and still get tears thinking about it. I think it really scarred my husband too... I wonder if he will ever forgive me? We decided to not have any pets after Schmutzli... It really really hurt us to have to put her down. I think we are afraid we'll have to do it again... and quite frankly, we aren't ready to do that any time soon. Schmutzli is now resting in a plot out on my dad's farm... at least I can visit her whenever I want.

Rest well my Sweet Schmutzli!



If you have an old pet themed Flashback Friday... visit Christopher and Tia and add your link... or read some other blog posts.

Flashback Friday - The Love Of My Life

This Flashback Friday is a little different for me this week. I know we are supposed to do pictures of ourselves, but in a sense it is because my husband is the love of my life, and takes up a HUGE part of my heart.

It was Valentines Day 2002 when Kevin asked me to marry him. I was sick as a dog, but he knelt down in front of me and asked me anyways... I was thrilled. I know it must have been a hard thing for him to do (as it is for lots of men) and I appreciated it a lot. We ended up getting married in September of 2004...and we haven't looked back since. I can honestly say that after 5 years of marriage I love Kevin just as much today (if not more) then I did 8 years ago when we first got engaged.

Kevin is my friend, husband, father and the most special adult person to me in my life.



I love you Kevin... may we have many many more years together again!

If you have a Flashback Friday or would like to see more, visit Christopher and Tia

We heart Reading.

We love reading in our house. A couple weeks back I decided that we needed a few new books for the girls so I went out and purchased some on my night out. I headed down to our local Chapters, got a Starbucks and started to look through the kids section. I ended up with the 3 books seen in the above picture.

1. I love you Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
2. The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson
3. Lost & Found by Oliver Jeffers

I actually went with the thought of purchasing Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo's Child, but the book store was out of it, so I ended up ordering it along with Room on the Broom. Julia Donaldson's books are great. We got The Gruffalo from the mom of one of my best friends when Charlotte was born and it instantly became a favorite in our house. Any of you that have read it know that it is a fun book that flows well while reading it. It starts off...

"A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
Where are you going to little brown mouse?
Come and have lunch in my underground house.
It's terribly kind of you, Fox, but no--
I'm going to have lunch with a gruffalo."

The story continues on like that. It is a fun book to read and all children love it. If you haven't read the book then I suggest getting it from your local library or purchasing it. We have many many favorites in our house but here is a list of our top 10 kids books.

1. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
2. Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munch
3. The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers
4. Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
5. Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson
6. The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
7. All Strawberry Shortcake Books
8. Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee
9. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
10.Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

I am patiently awaiting the warmer weather again so we can make regular trips to the library (sometimes it sucks only having one car). I would love to hear what your favorite children's books are so that we can add them to our list of books to borrow from the library.

Happy Reading.

“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade.”

- Anthony Trollope

Week 6 - We ♥ Kisses

Here is Sophia Lilly... she loves to kiss the Buddha! My dad has this Buddha in his garden at his home, while visiting I found Sophia having a right good old chat with him, and then she planted this kiss on him. Makes me giggle everytime I see this shot. Come and see more kisses over at i heart faces.