2 dogs, 2 babies and 2 boys

I had the pleasure of reconnecting with an old pal on Facebook (his name is Jamie and he's one of the reasons I was good with naming a child Jamie-- he's a great guy and most importantly he's funny). Anyway, next thing you know he's off in Vancouver with his new bride and Jim and I are babysitting their 1 year old daschund, Ellie Mae. Please feast your eyes on the spectacle above this narrative. Henry & Ellie (or Sally as the boys call her) sacked out after spending the first 24 hours of togetherness chasing each other around the house and yard. They were an excellent match for each other. Go dogs go!

I thought I'd be kind and volunteer our services to babysit my twin nieces for my sis. So, we had 2 babies, 2 dogs and 2 boys to contend with. Above you'll see my little Natalie who is viewing life thru the looking glass. Isn't she a sweetie with her little "OH!" mouth and her baby bangs? She tastes delicious too!

You'll see Mara (also DBA 'Marzipan') laying around the living room floor while her "big" (ah hem!) sister Nats tries to break them outta this joint

It was prudent to separate the dogs from the beasts. Jim & I are still trying to work out who we were protecting. We'll get back to you.

That's it for me. Sorry I've been a faithless blogger. I must admit that Facebook has stolen my heart. Jim describes it as being like Heaven. You get to reconnect with all these crazy people from your past who only years ago one would probably never have the opportunity to chat with again. Man, I've been cyber stalking this guy I knew from the 3rd grade with no luck and Wham! there he is on Facebook. I'll be forced to endure a heavy metal concert for some band he's in to see him again but as I told him, "It's okay, I'll just bring my ear plugs." I can't WAIT to see him again and basically had given up hope of ever finding him. Yay for me!

Peace out, I'm going to bed. Love to you all.

Trey xoxo

The great dog parade!

I forced my men both human and canine to partake in the first annual Estevan Village Dog Parade. We had a dalmatian and 2 firefighters.

This is Oak Bay's finest getting ready for his turn to strut his stuff down the runway. His jacket was a big snug but we didn't chat about it. He was embarassed. Isn't he the sweetest dog though? And he was completely unfazed by it all, the little trooper. The dalmatian could take some lessons from him... I digress.

And they're off! Pulling up the rear is a petulant dalmatian with a tear-stained face. Nothing sadder and thankfully nothing cuter. We kicked ass!

After Jim carried the quivering daschund, the weeping dalmatian and the cranky fireman home Henry and I were left to collect our prizes of "Best dressed dog & owner" and "best in show". Thank you, thank you very much. See y'all next year!

Charlie's 4th b'day pics

Here are the pictures of Charlie on his 4th b'day that I previously tried to post. Enjoy!

One shot of Jamie for good luck!

more Facebookaholic

Charlie got a cool tickle ball for his b'day from his pal Eli. It popped as all tickle balls eventually do and now we have a wicked hat, sea anemone, flower, old skool bathing cap. Whatever you like! I'm sure you could borrow it if you ask Jamie & Charlie nicely.

Poor Charlie spiked a fever on Wednesday afternoon (is it bad that I secretly love it when my kids are down a bit because they love to snuggle and nap a lot?) and we hung out and had many naps and lots of watermelon. We also celebrated Jamie's last day of Kindergarten!

Ah, here is a photo of what most of my mornings looked like from September until June. From this picture we are missing one amazingly behaved dog (no, see Henry is there in the shot and I said behaved...) Miss Maddey Carmichael and one delicious 2 year old boy, Ian. We'd all trudge to school in the rain, snow, sleet and hail. It was miles and miles to go and up hill both ways. But we had fun doing it. I'd drag myself along with my gal pals and enjoy the chatter of the kids and the sniffing and pooping of the dogs. I can't wait for September!! But, I'm looking forward to a mellow summer with my fellas.

Peace out,
Trey xo

Facebookaholic

Dear Faithful Readers: Please forgive me. I have become a raging Facebookaholic and have abandoned you, my people. I'm throwing you a bone by hucking some random pictures up. A LOT has been going on. Jamie and Simi climed the tree in our front yard with the help of the wagon they rode down the street in. They were frantically yelling at me to "get rid of the wagon so no one knows we used it to climb up!!"

Whilst I was out Jim and the boys CAREFULLY went on the roof. Relax, I've already called the Ministry of Children and Families to report Jim.

Jim got his braces off! Yay, Jim! (Photography by Charlie Martell)

Ah. Facebook. The sweet highschool reunion with Sherri and Kendall that we had while Jim frolicked at Sun Peaks with his buddies. These are the first people I drank alcohol with. And smoked pot with. (Mom, Dad? Are you there? I didn't inhale... and it was all Kendall's idea...)

Charlie's party

We had a good old fashioned birthday party in our backyard to fete Charlie.

Look at the babes who showed up! He's already a chick magnet!

Nana spent a lot of time lugging Henry around. Pretty cute couple!

Look at the gleam in his eyes as he approaches poor unsuspecting Nemo. I must say the children really got into beating the tar out of the poor guy. Oh, and a word to the wise-- don't be a smartass and try to recycle your pinata from one year to the next. Once a clown fish has had its ass beaten with a stick the first time it's not giving you anymore. I attempted to save myself $15 and reuse the pinata from Charlie's party last year. A little Scotch tape here, a little there -- the guy looked as good as new but structurally he was not so good. He was spewing candy by the time the 3rd child got to him. We had to slap a bunch more tape on it and continue. That pinata making/selling biz is a good racket... maybe it's time for a job change for Jim.

later dudes,
tm xo

Charlie turns 4!

Yes, it's true. Charles is a young man of 4 now. The day after his birthday Nana and Grampie took him and Nila to Disneyland. A wonderful time was had by all-- I'll post photos as I get them. Stay very near to your computer screens over the next several weeks.

Charlie looks just thrilled to be on his new swing the O'Preeces gave him. It surprsingly took 3 grown men to put the swing up. No one I mention that to (complete with my look of absolute shock and horror that it took THREE MEN to put up a SWING) seem to be on the same page as me. THREE MEN to put up a SWING? Really? Is that what the world is coming to?

Here is Mister Birthday Man sacked out with his big bro on June 5, 2007. Jamie could not wait to wake Charlie up to wish him a happy b'day. I'm sure it was excitement to wish his bro well, surely he couldn't have been jonesing to get at the new glider plane that he knew was under wraps could he?

Official b'day portrait of one 4 year old Charlie Martell. In 12 years he'll be driving. In 15 years he'll be drinking. Wow.

Charlie chose to go to Red Robin for his birthday dinner. Here's a snap of him making eyes with his Dad at the restaurant.

summer!!

Jim received a fabulous trail-a-bike from the Greenies and the Wickes for his b'day. Here he and Charlie take it for a spin. I have to admit I'm a bit queasy when I see Charlie on it as it seems pretty wobbly to me and he seems so little. My 3 men assure me that "It's fine, Mama. Don't worry..." Okay. I won't. (Wah!!)

After slippin' and slidin' yesterday my fellas got into the sandbox. I love how they love each other. Le sigh!

Jay & Chars thought it was a good idea to add water to the sandbox. I thought it would be okay but wasn't really paying attention (I had a week old Us magazine in my clutches-- do you blame me?). Needless to say they FILLED the sandbox with water. What do you do in a situation like this? Well of course you call in your buddy from down the street. Our trusty little pal Simi is always willing to do the unthinkable. She donned her bikini and hopped into the fray. Jim played the part of McGyver after the boys were in bed and siphoned the water out. It's still a soggy, boggy mess but really, is DRY sand much fun to play with? Nah, I didn't think so.

Later peeps, I'm going to bed now.

xoxo

Henry's hairdos

Here we have Henry after a trip to the beauty salon. I kid you not Jamie, Charlie and I all saw him at the same time and we burst out laughing. It was a goooood time and money well spent if only for the guffaw we shared.

Here we have a cooler, more hip version of the same dog chillin' with his prized possession-- a steak bone.

My sweet boy waiting patiently for his turn to fish with his beleagured Grampie.

James after casting his hook. We didn't catch anything but Nila and Charlie had a great time playing with the tackle after deciding that fishing was boring whilst Jamie and Gramps fished.

The official 'blow out' of the candles on May 08, 2007

The Dahlia Lounge with Marnie Marie Mayhew-Mannall-Fretwell and her spouse Jeremy something.

Yes, he ate the whole thing on the heels of all the eating and drinking we partook in in the big smoke.

The lounge of our hotel before dinner-- clearly a "hopping, happenin' place"

I have photos of the game that Charlie took and if I can dig them up I'll blog 'em for you. Surely none of you have anything better to do, non?

oh so busy...

Wow, have we ever been a busy family! It all started when Jim went and turned 40. We began celebrating his milestone with a cocktail party here. Whew, glad that's over-- it was a good time but I sure like going to parties more than hosting them! We then rounded things out by spending a fabulous weekend in Seattle with the lovely Mayhew-Mannall-Fretwells. Sans children. Woo hoo! Marnie found a great restaurant which we dined at on Friday night called the Dahlia Lounge. Fantastic! Mind you, we could have been gobbling up Subway all weekend and wouldn't have cared all that much as we were sans children. Have I already mentioned that? We took in a Mariners game-- they played the Yankees and got their butts spanked by those cheeky New Yorkers. (woot woot! Goooooooooo Yankees!!). We hooked up with Charlie and Joel (relax, it was BIG Charlie- baby Charlie was safely tucked in bed and Nana & Grampie's) at the game. Good times. Pics to follow.

This weekend the boys and I went up island with my folks and Nila. We left Henry and Jim at home. Henry licked his wounds (literally!) as he was neutered on Friday and implanted with microchip in case he gets lost. Poor guy. Goes to mount his stuffed monkey and just doesn't have the heart anymore. We took away all the fun. Poor Hens. Jim painted our 4th bedroom while we were gone. It's green.

I'm so looking forward to being home next weekend. Being away for 2 in a row doesn't sit well with me. I love to be home.

I'll post pictures of the aforementioned events when I have time and energy.

big love,
tm xo

be still my heart