June 27, 2013

Winding Down (or is it up??)

School is almost officially done.  Of course, this past week was full of end of year parties, final assemblies and report cards.  Yeah!  Summer here we come!  No more teachers, no more books...you know the tune.  Love love love it!

Our budding cake decorator, aka Naomi,  baked a special cake to mark the occasion - and the kids went crazy over it!  Here's a sneak peak:


That's the rough sketch - now here's the real deal (note the few changes from the original sketch):




Maybe she'll save a piece for me...

Keep smiling!  









June 25, 2013

Catching Up

Where oh where has June gone??  Packed with end of school activities, volunteer appreciation lunches, and plain ol' fun fun fun.

Adventure Mommy and co. headed to Wonderland on Friday - what a great day that was.  We met up with some friends and spent the day riding the rides, eating lots of candy floss, hot dogs, Tiny Tom donuts (and yes, sadly, in that order!). Ben and I even went Go-Carting - first time for me in a Go-Cart and driving it too! Ben kept on asking "Why are we going so slow?  Is everyone passing us?" Yep.  But I had a blast!!

Now we are just packing up and getting ready for summer vacation - only 2 more days, but hey!  Who's counting?  Me!  That's who!!!  I love summer vacation probably just as much as the kids.  And the Yes Man will be hanging out with us to kick it off this year.

I will still be blogging throughout the summer - hopefully a little more than I've been doing the past few months - so keep checking in :o)

And, a little update on our chippies...ta da!  They were bunnies!!  And we hear they are doing fine.
Thanks to my a/Jul for your sweet email to me about the babies.

Happy end of school to you all and keep smiling!



June 4, 2013

Snow White and the Squirrels (or are they Chipmunks?)

On Sunday afternoon, while the gang was outside gardening (yes, kids too!) we found a little litter of baby squirrels.  We thought that's what they were.  Hairless and eyes still closed - 4 all grouped together at the edge of our grass.  Where did they come from??  The nearest tree (and we have lots of trees on our property) was 15 feet away.  How did these helpless little things get here?

We saw that one wasn't alive - but the other 3 were.  Naomi (aka helper of all living things except her little brother) was on the scene.  Please please please can we keep them?  No way.  I was adamant for about 5 seconds - then I caved. Okay. 1 night only - and then we figure out what to do with them.

So we made a little box for them with shredded newspaper and a small cloth to keep them snuggly warm - and tried to feed them a little milk.  I didn't think they would survive the night without their mama.  Lo and behold, they did.

Monday morning, my friend Steph (aka Snow White of the neighbourhood) saw my Facebook posting of the pic and was here in under 5 minutes.  Ok - let me see them.  Well, she was hooked.  While I was busy calling every possible agency in this area as to what to do with these babies, Steph was figuring out how to raise them.  Gotta love that girl.  I always tease her about her Snowy capabilities.  She lives on the ravine and can open up her doors, sing a little tune, hold out an apple and voila!  A beautiful creature appears.  Seriously.

Well, we finally tracked down someone (an angel) who would take in these little babes - and we found out they were not squirrels, but chippies.  Yep.  Chip and Dale.  Oh yeah.  We only had 2 remaining.

Last night, Naomi said she missed the little guys.  I told her what an amazing job she did with them and that perhaps she may think of volunteering at an animal shelter.  That's a great thing to do!

Here they are:

3 Little Chippies
Keep smiling!



May 24, 2013

Brand New Chick

Hey!  I'm celebrating - and not only 'cause tomorrows my birthday - woo woo!  I feel back to my old self but also onto my new self too.  Finding out who I am and loving it.  Choosing to say "yes" more to the fun side of life.  And feeling purpose-filled.  Keepin' on, keepin' on - remembering the wise words of the Yes Man when he reminded our daughter Naomi that it's not how you die, but how you lived your life.  And it's all about choices - you get what you give.  I feel so philosophical today - last thought for my 42nd year and embarking on 43 (yikes! who said that?!!)

Go forward Brand New Chick!


Keep smiling!

May 23, 2013

Past the 5,000 Mark

Thank you, thank you, and thank you again for following my Adventures.  I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy sharing my stories.

Adventure Mommy has had 5,132 hits!!  Yipee!!!


Tiddleywinks and Other Funny Stories

Today at the home, a resident was having difficulty remembering my name.  I pointed to my badge hanging around my neck and she said "Lea Volunteer". Yep. Most of the residents think that Volunteer is in fact my last name.  I never correct them.  Although today, Helen was a bit upset that she couldn't remember my name.  I asked her if she had known any other Lea's in her life...nope.  Okay. Well, my friend Steph refers to me as "Pixie Lea" as we have a few other Lea's (or Lee's) in our group. I like that name.  It does suit me to a T!  So I told this to Helen.

When our time was up Helen said "Bye Pixie and Tiddleywinks" - pointing to Roxy the dog!  I laughed and laughed.  What a great ending to our visit.  I'm sure that to Helen Roxy will always be Tiddleywinks now.  As for my name?  I answer to just about anything!

The other funny story is not at all related to the retirement home, but to my home.  My kids in fact.  Specifically what makes my son laugh in hysterics!  Just about anything to do with stinky smells...like farts, poops, you name it - the stinkier the better and Ben is howling.  Me too!  I laugh when he laughs - his laugh is so contagious.  Just thinking about it is making me laugh.

Keep on laughing and smiling!



May 1, 2013

Say Cheese!



Someone commented to me this morning that I'm always smiling.  I really do try to smile as much as possible.  Because sometimes you gotta fake it til you make it! I figure that my smile is contagious and I'd rather be spreading that around than the grumpies - believe me, there is enough of that out there already!  So...

Keep smiling!