Another Day...At Home

It's been a while since I've posted...it's been a busy (sick) week. Annika came down with a bad cold last week and I spent half of the week home with a sick little one. Wednesday night was the worst - she developed croup and was a pretty sick little girl. Thursday got her in to her paediatrician and he said her throat was really raw. i felt so bad - nothing I could do to make her feel better. So we spent a couple days just cuddled up administering what the doctor prescribed - lots of TLC! Then, just as she was starting to feel a bit better...I got sick! Boo! So I've had a sore throat and a cough, and of course I now have laryngitis. After going in to work this morning I ended up picking Annika up at lunchtime and we're home now. Neither of us was quite ready to get back at it, I guess.

I was happy to see the rain on Sunday...wasn't it nice to hear the patter of rain drops? I thought so. Only sad thing is having to turn on the heat 'cause it got way too cold in our house! Brrrr!

I also just wanted to share that we're 3 days away from this year's Relay for Life in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. Our team is working hard to get as much fundraising as possible...but we still have a way to go before we reach our goal. If you are able, would you consider sponsoring me or Team Dawn in our Relay? If so, please feel free to click the link below and it will take you to my page. I am 75% of the way to my goal of $1,500...almost there!! Thanks so much!
Canadian Cancer Society:
This year we are participating in the Sherwood Park relay and I think it's going to be a really nice evening! I'm looking forward to spending a great night out with friends. I'll have pictures to share with you post event.

Hope you're all having a great week. I'm going to try to shake this sickness so I can get back to normal!
Penny

It's nap time here. A banana/pear loaf is baking in the oven, wind is howling outside and I'm snug as a bug inside. It's a nice afternoon...I'm going to blog quickly while I have a chance before A wakes up and then I'm off to clean up some dishes and change the laundry. Scott is out golfing (not sure how successful they'll be with this wind) and I'm hoping he's having a great afternoon with his friend! 

Yesterday I got a case of food poisoning. It was a pretty yucky night for me, and unfortunately the symptoms started when we were out last night at a friend's birthday party (of course - rotten timing!) I was pretty sick at their place and after about a half hour I was able to pull myself together and drag myself to the van to get home. It wasn't a pleasant experience, that's for sure. I had the chills, cramping, vomiting, diarrhea - basically the works! Yuck. I like to try and see the bright side of things though, and this morning the silver lining on my cloud of sickness was that I lost almost 2 lbs. Haha!! So I am pleased to announce that I have now lost 10 pounds!! :) I'd rather not lose any more via sickness, so I'm taking it easy today and hoping to get 100% better. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be good to go.

I also wanted to share how pleased I am with my munchkin's vocabulary! It sure is coming along...she's doing really well at forming her sentences now (although sometimes only Mommy/Daddy understand her!) I'm so impressed...although now she's really learning to talk back. Yikes! Today I was putting her pants on and she said "no Mommy...I do self". Haha...she really is just like me! I recall my mom telling me that I wanted to do absolutely everything myself - my way. I think I'm going to pay for that now. :) She also says things like "no, I not eat" and "No, I not share". Oh boy. So...I'm just hoping and praying that good social graces and manners follow quickly in the footsteps of her expanding vocabulary. That said, I love that little thing to bits. She's precious and we thank God for her every day - temper tantrums and all. She is a real blessing to me and I'm so thankful. Some days I'm just shocked at how much she's growing, learning, doing. It's so fast. I love this parenting ride!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Penny

Windy city

Boy has it ever been windy here! Thank goodness the sun's still shining and the temperature is nice and warm, otherwise it'd be pretty miserable. Hope you're all having a great week! I'm off today and tomorrow (yay!) and have lots to do this weekend. Today Annika and I are going out to meet our friends for a playdate at an indoor playground - should be fun! I think we'll be following up with some lunch and then home for nap time. My dad will be leaving tomorrow for BC for another little holiday, so he's going to be stopping by tonight and dropping off Pepper again. She'll be staying with us for a week or two.

Yesterday some friends and I put on a bake sale at work for the Relay for Life, and it went pretty well! We raised almost $217 towards our team fundraising goal - not so bad for some baked goods, right? I tell you what though, it was pretty hard to bake all those delicious items, put them out and not eat any!! And then I brought home some leftovers and they're sitting on my counter!! Boo! It's ok though, I'm going to treat myself to a coffee today and I'm going to be good. Today I should be starting cycle 2 of my diet, but I've decided to postpone my start for a few days. I would like to be down 10 lbs by the start of cycle 2, and right now I'm only down 8.7...so I'm almost there!! :) I'm pretty happy with the weight loss so far, but I'm still not feeling like it's a big change yet. My clothes aren't feeling that much looser, so I think I'll keep going and see if a few more lbs helps.

We have a birthday party to go to this weekend for a friend of ours and I want to do some planting and gardening this weekend...let's hope I can get around to all of that plus the housework! Yikes...

Hope you all have a great day...
Penny

I blew it...

...and it was worth it!! Despite a great start to my day, diet-wise, I flopped bigtime in the evening. After my delicious lunch out with the husband, I headed home and finally got Annika down for a nap. During her nap I took advantage of the spare time and spent some time on the elliptical (yay me!) and then started getting ready for the evening. Scott was invited out to a wine & tapas event and he wanted me to go along as well. I had a sneaky suspicion this would not end up a healthy evening for me...and my hunch was bang on!

We got to the "wine room" and I decided I would have one glass of wine (I didn't want to be rude, after all), but that I wouldn't touch any tapas. Well, never mind that!! I ended up indulging in some delicious prawns au gratin...Mmmmm! And another glass of wine...or two. Sigh. Then I decided to top it all off with a treat from DQ on my way home!! OH NOOOOO!! Why do I do these things?!? Ah well, I just have to get back on track, right? Although, tomorrow is Mother's Day...I should be allowed to indulge in a teensy weensy bit of tasty treats, shouldn't I? 

Today I had 2 poached eggs and an apple for breakfast, and then some tuna and a pickle for lunch. (Oh, and I may have had a couple potato chips!) I suppose I may as well confess it all. That's it - I promise! :) 

Ok, now I'm off to finish my housecleaning. Just have to wash the floors and do some reorganizing in the kitchen. Laundry's almost done and bathrooms are done. Just need to do some vacuuming upstairs after Annika's awake, and that'll be it for me! 

Chao for now,

Penny

Mother's Day...a bit early!

It's been a great day so far! This morning my little love and I went to an indoor playground and she had some fun exploring and playing for a bit. Then we ventured on over to the local library for our weekly visit. We checked out the fish, played on the train, read a couple books and picked up a couple movies that were on hold for us! (Annika's going to enjoy watching one of her Disney picks this evening!) Scott called me while I was at the library and asked if we wanted to go for lunch with him - of course we did! So we made our way over at noon and Scott surprised me with the most beautiful vase of flowers! They're absolutely gorgeous and if only I could somehow bottle the lovely fragrance of the roses - wow! I'm a lucky wife/mommy. Yesterday Annika made me a Mother's Day card - I was so excited to receive my very first card from my little munchkin. You may notice she had a teensy weensy bit of help with the writing...haha! She also painted a little flower pot for me and it's full of dirt with some great wildflower seeds just waiting to start sprouting. Ahh...what a wonderful start to my special weekend. What more could I ask for?

Annika's masterpieces

My gorgeous blooms - daisies, roses, orchids, carnations and more!

What a special treat for me!

So to all you mothers out there...enjoy your weekend. Enjoy your children. Enjoy your families. We are blessed!

Happy Mother's Day!

Penny 

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Day 10

One week left of the first cycle of my diet!! We'll see how I fare on the scale tomorrow morning. I'm down 6.4 now...I'm hoping I can get down another 4 or 5 lbs before I start cycle 2. I'm so excited to get on to the second cycle...I'll be able to add back a while bunch of lovely foods I've been missing...lean red meat, done delicious grains and starches. Mmmm. It's going to be a good week next week. I just hope my journey in weight loss continues. Tonight I made greek chicken burgers stuffed with some feta cheese. They were pretty good, although a teensy bit dry, which I expected. My friend Jamie is on the diet too (we both started last Monday) and he's down almost 10 lbs!! Yay Jamie!!

Finally filed our taxes...yay! Did that on the 2nd just in time to meet the deadline. My dad is home now...he's been over and picked up Pepper. I'm sure she's happy to be home in her own house. Dad is looking tanned and I think he really enjoyed Costs Rica.

Hope you are having a great week!
Penny

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Historic weekend

Quite the weekend...a royal wedding, OBL is dead, and election day today! Wow...lots going on. Hope you got the chance to get out and vote. We did this evening after a quick bite of supper. It may be a closer election this time around...who knows, although I'm guessing it'll be a Conservative win. Let's see if it's a majority.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. We had a good one. Scott did a ton of yard work and the backyard is looking great! Now we just need some leaves to sprout! This weekend is Mother's Day! Yay! I'm hoping to get a bit of planting done in my planters...some flowers here and there. I love gardening...I'm not great at it, but I really enjoy it.

So, as of this morning I'm down exactly 6 lbs in one week. Yay! I'm almost halfway there, and I'm feeling great! I think I'll probably stick with this diet. I like it.

Hope you all have a great week...it's a busy one for me. Better than being bored, I suppose!
Penny