shoes & more

I went out shopping for "me" on Thursday afternoon.  A local shop had a 50-70% off sale on all their winter stock, so shopping I did go!!

I bought a couple of tops, a great brown Tommy sweater and two pairs of jeans.  It was fun trying on a bunch of new items, but hard to decide which I loved most.  I was so excited about the super deals I got, I popped in next door to a little shoe shop.

I found the most lovely pair of shoes... I just had to buy them (not sure where I will wear them, but I needed them).  

There was a famous line on one of my favorite T.V. shows, Sex & The City, when Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie) is looking at a pair of "Christian Louboutin" shoes, or was it a pair of "Louis Vuitton", anyway, Carrie says, "Hello Lover".

Well, that is what I said when my eye caught these fabulous "Anne Klein" red patten shoes.

Oh my gosh... I had to buy them, and they were 60% off (good deal).  I put them on my feet and I felt like Dorthy on the Wizard of Oz!!

Now I know they are no Louboutin or Jimmy Choo's, but lets face it, my salary cannot afford those works of art.  Never the less, I will settle for my "Willa's" by Anne Klein (great name hey Jenny)!!

I FREAK'IN LOVE THEM!!

On a different note, here are a couple photos of my boy, looking so darn cute. 

He loves putting on hats and modeling them for the camera.

He also loved the bow on Emma's birthday present.  Ethan is very photogenic... oh my pretty boy baby!

Here a couple pics of Emma's birthday party @ the bowling alley (a few weeks late).

Everyone had fun and the kids brought donations to the food bank instead of gifts (although some could not help themselves, and brought Emma a little gift as well).  The whole point is to teach Emma about giving back to her community and to give to the less fortunate.  She gets so many gifts from family, she truly does not need anymore.

Emma was so proud when she delivered the big box of food to the food bank, and they are always so thankful!

Emma got this great "Little Mermaid" costume from Uncle Dean, Auntie Claudia, Chandler & Richelle for her B-Day.  A lady on the Island makes them, and it is amazing the detail put into it!

Emma had to be Ariel as soon as she opened it.

Emma got a "Baby Alive" from Grandma & Papa B for her B-Day.  She was so excited as she has been asking for one for over a year!

I told her that she had to us her piggy-bank money to buy the food and diapers for her.  Emma accepts this, and it will teach her a bit about how much things cost.

Emma also got a cute little puppy from Grandma & Papa H.  It's like a Webkin, which you have to register on the Internet.  Emma loves anything to do with animals these days, so it was a hit.

Once again, that brings you up to date on what we have been doing the last few weeks.  Working really has put a damper on my bloggin' time, but I have to make the money so I can spend it on shoes and handbags (a girl can never have too many of these items).

Until next time... Chow Bella

funny people

ETHAN

I found these fun little characters sometime ago on the net and saved them to a folder. I have been cleaning out my hard drive and burning files as we are in the process of switching over to the new Mac and came across these little people.

I named them "Ethan & Emma" and I just had to post them!

EMMA

Out Of Touch With The World

I have been out of touch with reality the last month as we have had no Internet. We took down the computer to set up the Christmas tree and did not seem to get around to re-hooking it back up til now. Dann and I did buy each other a new "Mac" computer for Christmas and we have gone wireless, so that is exciting.

Here are a few photos of the last month and our adventures.

We met my Aunt & Uncle in Edmonton for a Pre-Christmas visit and the kids loved all the attention. Of course, we had to do a West Ed trip and Emma rode all the rides while I got a bit of shopping in.

We also went to Ikea... love that store!

The play area in the cafeteria is awesome. We had a great lunch and visit with Harley & Helen while Emma and Ethan ran around. Ethan is totally mobile now and cannot sit down for long!

He keeps me running 24-7...

Emma got this beautiful sweater from Grandma Helen and Papa Harley (above). She loved wearing it while she played!

Grandma Helen could not get enough of Ethan...

and Ethan could not get enough of Papa Harley reading to him (turn the page).


Here is Emma with Santa.
Ethan did not want anything to do with Jolly 'ol St. Nick!







Christmas morning was quiet but nice. It was just the four of us and no pressure to cook brunch or a turkey (we had x-mas dinner at a friends). The kids were very excited (Emma I guess, Ethan had no clue). Emma was up at 6:30 a.m., so that was not too bad. Ethan woke around then too, so "gift opening" was in full swing by 7:00 a.m.

Emma was so impressed that Santa ate her treats and took the time to write her a note (the reindeer loved the carrots as well).

Ethan loved the Woody doll from Grandma Hein (too cute).


Emma got this cool "American Idol" Barbie from Auntie Eileen & Uncle Ed. The Barbie sings and you can sing with her. Emma loves it!

Note all the "Littlest Pet Shop" toys in the background. Emma is "Pet Shop" crazy... (she got too many to count)!


Love this photo...
Emma got these funky wash cloths from Auntie Eileen & Uncle Ed as well

Sorry it took me so long, but we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and all the best in 2008!

Weight Watchers Goal!!

Sorry I have not been posting much lately... going back to work full time takes a big chunk out of my Blogging time! Today I am going to share a little bit about "ME" instead of the kiddies!!

For those of you who did not know, on March 28th/07 I joined Weight Watchers to get rid of the extra baby weight and the in-between weight I put on between Emma and Ethan. The journey was long, but I took it one week at a time, and with a lot of dedication and accountability, I reached my goal last week. As of November 14/07, I lost 66.6 pounds (my goal was 65 pounds)!! I am now on the "Maintenance" part of the WW Program. Today I weighed in and I was down another 2.6 pounds for a grand total of... 69.2 pounds!!

The program really works and I look forward to becoming a life time member with WW. Having to weigh in once a month (one of the conditions for keeping your life time membership with WW) will give me the strength and accountability I need to maintain a healthy lifestyle!

Below are a couple photos of me before I lost weight and then a couple of me today, after loosing 69.2 pounds. I would like to loose another 6-10 pounds, but I am very happy, satisfied and proud of where I am right now.

BEFORE

(X-mas 2006)

BEFORE

(April 2006 - 3 months pregnant)

AFTER

(today... 69.2 lbs lighter)

Happy First Birthday Ethan (10 days late in Blog world)

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY

ETHAN!

Not sure where the time went, but my baby is one... holy cow! Here are a couple pics of our "little" celebration. I feel a bit guilty that Ethan's party was "down graded" compared to Emma's 1st B-Day, but we just knew a lot more people with children around the same age as Emma in PR. Hopefully this will not come back to haunt me... LOL!

From the photo below, Ethan is very proud to be one!

Emma wanted Ethan to have the "Little People" Dinosaur collection for his B-Day, so we used a couple of them to decorate his cake. Ethan liked it and the cake was yummy (carrot cake with cream cheese icing).

Ethan's Post Page

Since Ethan turned one this past week, I figured I would post a page just for him.

He's so darn cute... okay maybe I am a bit biased?!

Hopefully this will be the only time I see my boy behind bars!

Ethan loves to jump on his Zebra by Fisherprice. I tried to down load some video, but it was taking way too long! I am sure you can imagine how excited Ethan is when he is pushing himself up and down.

Ethan pulls himself up now and has discovered how to climb 2 steps... ugghhh!

My parents came up for Thanksgiving and we all had a great visit.
Ethan really enjoys hanging out with his Papa!!

I know this is Ethan's page, but I had to sneak in a photo of just Emma.
She made this turkey hat at pre-school for Thanksgiving... too cute!

We had a "Pre" Birthday Cake for my Dad and Ethan while my parents were visiting. Papa and Ethan's Birthdays are only 3 days apart. This gave Ethan a chance to practice eating cake for the first time!

Happy Early Birthday Boys!

It did not take Ethan long to figure out cake is yummy!

Ethan was helping Emma with her arts & crafts
(okay, maybe Daddy was helping Ethan a bit).

As you can see in the above photos, Ethan's hair was getting a bit "out-of-control".

We decided to take him to the Barber for his first "real" hair cut.

I told the lady to keep the length & curls in the back... he'll have plenty of time to wear a brush cut when he is older. I wanted Ethan to look like a little (baby) boy still, not a 3 year old!

Ethan has discovered how to open my cupboards...
After this video, I went out and bought locks. I know they are only pots, but the way he flings the lids, I am scared he will put a lid through the glass on the pantry door!

Mamma's Boy...

Ethan chillin' in his Pooh chair watching T.V.

Ethan @ 1 Month Old

Ethan @ 12 Months Old
He's grown just a bit!

Stay tuned for Ethan's "First Birthday" photos!!

(where did the time go???)

Calgary etc.

As I mentioned before, our vacation started out in Calgary. We rented a condo for one week. Rowena came with us and she really enjoyed seeing the sights. We also got a chance to visit with some friends and family, who we miss dearly!

This first photo was taken at the Calgary Tower. They added a glass floor and it was pretty freaky standing on it and looking down. Emma and Ethan had no problems, but it took Rowena and I a bit of courage to take the initial step.

This lovely bear is in the lobby of the Tower...

Our friends Jenny and B told us how much fun the Calgary Science Centre is, thus we took a little tour of the facility. We all had a blast and Emma loved all the exhibits. She didn't even mind messing up her hair for this attraction!

Ethan loved all the different music exhibits and he sported his "Cowboy Hat" well.

Emma and Dann jammin' to some tunes.

This equals...

this... too cool!

We took a drive to Banff to show Rowena the moutains. She has been to Jasper before, but she liked Banff better (so do I).

How I miss those Canadian Rockies!

Emma in front of the Banff Springs Hotel (above)

Rowena and Emma posing in the courtyard at the Banff Springs Hotel (below)

Cool Family Shots!

Ethan doing a little "Tourist" shopping!

Dann goofing around at our friend's house.

He loved these "Spidy" glasses and cannot wait for Ethan to get bigger!

We went to the zoo, but did not take many photos.

We did manage to capture this one of Emma and Rowena.

The End.

Short Video Clips from Disneyland

I have not downloaded any video footage from our video camera, but I thought I would show you a few videos from our digital camera. The quality is not great, but whatever.

This is Emma on the Sea Carousel in California Adventure

Emma on the Tea Cups, wanting her Dad to spin more.

Emma chatting with Princess Jasmine, asking her why she was not at Ariel's Grotto for lunch, while Ethan tries to steal the show!