My 40.0899th Surprise Birthday Party!

In December, my big 4-0 birthday came and went without any fan-fare. Well, Darrin' s timing may have been a bit off, but I sure did get a big surprise to come home after work on Saturday to find friends, Christine and Julia and Mark sitting on our sofa yelling "Surprise!". There were decorations, pina colodas, chicken kabobs and birthday cake waiting for me. We all had a great afternoon. What a good way to celebrate my 40.0899th Birthday! Thanks everyone for the big surprise!

Darrin really out-did himself shopping for groceries, and decorations and even going to the liquor store with two kids in tow. That must have been an experience. He made yummy food for everyone, whipped up some pina colodas and even made the cake and decorated it. Luckily, he had some help with the decorations.

Happy Bithday to you...Happy birthday to you...

Ewww, the big 4-0!

Blowing out the candles.

Brennus and Christine trying out the cake.

John, Ariana and John.

Julia (waving hello) and Mark.

Jewellery Classes

I am having so much fun teaching Jewellery Classes again. The students are great and everyone is enjoying their new skills.

I love this pic. The students are so busy. This is Laurel and Steven working on their first mushroom rivets! This is Brandy...such concentration...

This is Chris' first pierced pendant in sterling silver. He's an architect and this is the floor plan of a church.

This is Shelley's first pierced pendant in sterling silver.

Valentine's Day

This post is a bit late, but I had so many great pics of our day, I thought I should post some.

We started making cards a few days before V-day. We made 40 hand-made cards for Loudon's class.Liam and Edan came for a visit and made some cards too.

On Valentine's Day Loudon had a party and both boys came home from day-care/school with a bag full of cards, stickers, tattoos, candy and suckers! Who knew!!

That afternoon we made cards just for dad.

And Loudon helped me make dad a giant Chocolate-chip cookie shaped like a heart!Brennus helped us bake- NOT!

Here's the finished cookie. It was yummy!

These are mommy's Valentine Flowers- awwweee!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Loudon's Photos

This is just a few of the hundreds of pictures Loudon has taken- thank goodness for digital cameras! I thought these were among his finest shots...I love this one of Brennus- truly shows his terrible twos attitude-yikes, if looks could kill!!

Warm Fire...

We have been having a really cold, snowy and icy winter this year. This old house has a hard time holding any heat when it's really cold. Our fireplace is an old coal-burning fireplace so it's not much good for heating the house, but we've enjoyed a few fires this winter.

Muffins!

One of Loudon's favorite activities is making recipes. Although it's somewhat messy, I've always allowed him to play with my spices and ingredients. Now he is able to make muffins all on his own- except the oven part, of course.

Brennus enjoys helping to eat the muffins!

Get Well Soon Grandma

My Mom/Grandma/Mella is recovering from knee surgery so the boys made this poster to wish her a speedy recovery. All went well and she is home now with instructions to exercise and walk lots. Get Well Soon Grandma!