Learning to Ride

I am so very proud of the girls. This spring they decided it was time to take off the training wheels. Boy were they ever determined that they were going to ride a two-wheeler. So, off came the training wheels, and out came the determination. We started with mommy holding up the bike and practiced going back and forth in front of the house practicing keeping balance. They were so proud of themselves. Then it was them trying to see if they could hold up the bike and get started off on their own. NO HELP from mommy was wanted anymore. I was so proud of the girls for practicing and trying so hard. Last night we went into the church parking lot beside our house to practice some more. Before I could believe it both girls just took off on their bikes riding around in huge circles in the parking lot. There was lots of yelling and screaming and clapping on all of our parts- it was so exciting watching them take off on the bikes on their own. Mommy is very impressed!

My thoughts for this morning...

You know it has taken me a really long time to be able to deal with the fact that I have mental health problems. I think really it's because I've always been afraid of what other people thought of me. I have spent so much of my life trying to live up to my idea of "perfect" and believe me mentally I am far from perfect. After my kids were born I started having panic attacks and depression. As I have aged, unfortunately the anxiety, panic, depression and worry have intensified. I used to be afraid of getting help but now I realize that just because I have mental disorders does not make me any less of a person. The fact that I am seeking out help and trying to change this part of my life makes me a stronger person. So today... hats off to mental health professionals. Without you I'd be an even crazier person than I already am.

GEMS Sunday

Today was GEMS Sunday. Every year at the end of GEMS the girls have GEMS Sunday at our church. GEMS stands for Girls Everywhere Meeting the Saviour. It is a club for girls where they get to learn about God, make new friends, sing, make crafts and earn badges. The girls performed so well today. It was great watching them do their songs with all the actions. They were really impressive. This club is such a positive influence on them I really hope they choose to go again next year.

Beautiful Sunday May 4, 2008

Beautiful Sunday May 4, 2008, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

TURN UP THE MUSIC

Sherry shared this video on her blog http://sherita1972.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-you-live-by-point-of-grace.html and when I listened to this song I just had to stop and say WOW!! What an amazing message for everyone - one I especially want to share with my beautiful girls!! This is the way I want to live every moment of my life. Like every second matters - because it really does! Making every second count allows me to live a life full of what I want - it gets me to where I want to be. When you count the seconds that matter you end up with a life full of seconds filled with love, with laughter, with every emotion that matters.

Mommy's Sunglasses

There is just something about wearing mommy's sunglasses that seems to bring out the silly in both my girls. I'm not quite sure what it is but man is it ever cute. When both girls put on these glasses they both turn into ham's. They begin to pose for mommy and they get really silly. I LOVE IT!!!

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge - Perfect Spring Day

Feel free to join us Challenge~ Describe a perfect spring day and activities
on that day.


My perfect spring day would include being outside with my girls - camera in hand. The girls love playing outside so much and I absolutely love capturing their enjoyment on film. I love how free they are when they are outside - they seem so free to just have that childlike fun that kids seem to have with no difficulty. Watching them play outside brings me so much happiness. I love the sunshine of spring and the bright colors that come out with the spring rain. I love taking pictures of trees, buds and flowers. My absolute favorite things to do with the girls on a spring day is to take them to the tulip festival in Ottawa. I always end up with amazing shots of them enjoying the sunshine and the attractions. Tulips are one of my favorite flowers so I also love to photograph them at the festival.

I took this photo of this sign at Chapters this past weekend. This sign just speaks volumes to me. I have spent my whole life trying to find out who I really am inside. I have never had any luck finding out who the real me is. Perhaps I am looking at it in the wrong way. This sign speaks to me about not finding who I am but I need to start looking at the life I want to create for myself. I need to see where I want to go, who I need to be ... then... I need to do whatever it takes to be who I want to be, to be where I want to be. I need to create the life I want, not just sitting around wondering why my life isn't what I want. I need to take charge. I need to make things happen. I need to become the me that I want ... that's deep down inside me. I needt o create the life and dreams that I desire.

2 Peas Monday Blogger Challenge - I Remember When...

feel free to join us if you blog Challenge~ I remember when.... finish this statement

I remember when ... I was little growing up and my cousins Lisa and Sarah were my best friends. We spent as much time together as we could considering we all lived in different towns. The best part was the summers. You see our parents all had cottages on the same lake. During the summers I was almost inseparable from these two. I would bike or boat over to see them. We laughed, we swam, we played. We were all so young and free to play as much as we wanted. I really regret that as we have all grown older we have grown apart. We all have our own busy lives now, we all have children of our own. But boy, do I miss the friendship and closeness we once had!!

2 Peas Thursday Blogger Challenge - Charity

Feel free to join us if you blog. Challenge for today is~ Three things you'd donate to charity right now are...

This is a great challenge - it may actually get me off my butt and donate my items that have been just sitting around my house. Three things I would donate to charity would be:
1. the kids toys and movies they don't want anymore
2. the 5 garbage bags of kids clothes that I have that are too small
3. the clothes I just sorted of mine that I'll never fit back into

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge - NO INTERNET????

Please feel free to join us if you blog Challenge for today~ What did you do before we had the Internet?

Man, it's been so long since I have had Internet that it is almost hard to remember what I used to do with my time. I know as far as crafting before I had the Internet I created new pages and projects all the time. Now that I have Internet I search for art inspiration and ideas to create but I surf way more than I create. As for friendships and relationships - well I suck at staying in contact with people and keeping friendships going. Before Internet I rarely talked to friends and family and now that I have Internet I talk to people almost daily. All in all I'd say that Internet has impacted my life for the better. The possibilities out there with Internet are endless ...

2 Peas Tuesday Blogger Challenge - What's In My Head

Please feel free to join us if you blog Challenge~ Close your eyes and write about what immediately pops into your head

Someday I want to be that person who loves every part of her life. Someday I know I will get there. I am getting stronger everyday and I am learning to love who I am. I am learning to make the best out of what I've got, out of what situations arise. These past few years I have grown so much towards being the woman I want. I hope I continue to grow everyday until I get there. There is so much inside of me that I never share with those I let into my life. I want to be able to feel comfortable opening up and showing people who I really am. I think it's pretty hard to love who you are when you are hiding your "real" self from others. I think that growing and changing is so essential towards becoming who you want to be - you just need to know what directions to follow to get where you want to be. Just my thoughts for this beautiful morning.

2 Peas Monday Blogger - Amber's Gymnastics Show

Feel free to join us if you blog Challenge~ Share something you enjoyed this weekend?

Amber had her gymnastics show yesterday~ it was awesome!! I am so proud of how hard she has worked this term, she really worked her little butt off. Amber was very nervous doing her show. She had to do a floor routine and a balance beam routine. She was mostly nervous about doing the beam routine (doing her somersault and cartwheel off the end.) She was amazing - watching her perform she just looked like she was having so much fun! Such an awesome job and such an awesome little girl!! Mommy was so proud.

Beautiful Sunday - April 20/08

Beautiful Sunday - April 20/08, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

taken near St Catherines at Jordans Station

2 PEAS Sunday Blogger Challenge -AUGUST RUSH

Feel free to join us if you blog Challenge~ Whats the last good movie you say? What did ya like about it?

Just a little whit ago I watched this movie called August Rush. It is a beautiful story about two people who meet and fall in love. They never get the chance to get together after their first night together. Kerri Russell plays the girl who ends up pregnant. She looses the baby in a car accident and spends her life wishing for the baby and the boy she fell in love with. She later finds that her father had the baby given up for adoption. All she wants at this point is to find him. The little boy ends up on the street playing music for money. As soon as he is given a guitar he is instantly able to play and conduct all that is around him. He says in the movie "I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales," August wants to find his birth parents and it's as if the music in this all draws the three of them together. He is reunited with them at the end. There is something about this movie that just speaks to me. The music drew me in for the whole movie. I think what really drew me in was this young boy who wanted to meet his parents so badly and knew that his parents had wanted him. I don't know if it spoke to me so much because I was adopted. Watching the movie you see this fantasy that the boy has about finding his birth parents and them wanting him and really that is the secret dream of most adopted people I know. This movie will definitely find it's way into my collection because it has already found it's way into my heart.

I AM RIGHT BRAINED!!

I found this really cool test (here: http://http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm

that shows you whether you are more right or left brained. I found mine quite accurate. I am definitely a random, fantasy-oriented, verbal person.

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being:
Left Brain 40%
Right Brain 60%

You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

Your complete evaluation follows below:
Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half's sub-categories. They are as follows:

Your Left Brain Percentages
34% VERBAL (Your most dominant characteristic)
25% SYMBOLIC

22% LINEAR
20% REALITY-BASED
17% LOGICAL
14% SEQUENTIAL (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages
50% RANDOM (Your most dominant characteristic)
38% NONVERBAL
36% FANTASY-ORIENTED
28% CONCRETE
20% INTUITIVE
12% HOLISTIC (Your least dominant characteristic)

This Is Me Challenge

I have stumbled upon this great journalling challenge blog. It is called the "This is Me Challenge" (you can find it here http://www.thisismejournal.blogspot.com/ ) What great journalling prompts. Fits in perfectly with the disire I have lately to create another art journal. So here goes and I am off with the newest challenge which is to journal about something you think everyone should do at least once.

Journaling on reverse reads: I really think that everyone should fall in love at least once in their lifetime. I do not mean puppy love. I mean that intense, one of a kind love. Where you love someone so much that your heart skips a beat, or it's almost hard to believe. Feeling that kind of love is completely magical. It is such an intense feeling to love someone so deeply. It is even more intense to feel that kind of love in return. I've had that kind of love in my past and I hope to find it yet again. In the meantime, I can be satisfied knowing that I have had that kind of love once in my lifetime.

Jordan's Station

Have you ever been just drawn to a certain spot? Somewhere in particular? Have you ever just felt compelled to love a certain place or a certain view of somekind? My family has travelled to Niagara Falls so many times since I was a little girl. Along the drive just outside St. Catherines there is this little spot called Jordan's Station. There really isn't much there, just a few houses, but I have always been drawn to Jordan's Station. You see, washed up in a tiny inlet of Lake Ontario sits this abandonned ship. The ship is in bad disrepair, a lot of it destroyed by fire, and it just sits washed up on the rocks. To me though, everytime I have passed this ship I see beauty. I see something that calls to me, that draws me in. For as much as I love passing by Jordan's Station I had never had the chance to stop there until just a few weeks ago. Thankfully I had my camera in hand and took these pictures. Now, as well as the memeories I have of passing by this ship, I now have these photograps so that I can continue to be drawn into it's beauty.

FRIENDS

I've been thinking a lot about friends these past few days. About who I have let close enough to me that I truley consider them a friend. About why I let certain people close to me. About how much I open up with the friends I have. But most of all I've been thinking about those people in my life I consider to be a friend that turn out to be completely different than I thought. I hate when people end up being the exact opposite of what you had believed them to be. I hate that I can sometimes let my gard down and allow people like this to hurt me. Makes me kinda second guess letting people in, letting people see the real me, all of me. Makes me want to put up some kind of guard that will protect me. I know though that I can't do this. That I need to let people see the real me, to let people close, to develop friendships and relationships. Maybe someone else will hurt me again, but then again .... maybe they won't.

I LOVE NIAGARA FALLS

I don't think I could ever get tired of visiting Niagara Falls. It is absolutely one of my favorite places to visit. I don't think I could ever get tired of the sights, the attractions, the sounds. There is something so absolutely breathtaking about the beauty of nature when you watch all that water flying down over the falls. It's almost magical.

Sights around Toronto

Spring Trip

Earlier this week I decided that I just needed to get away for a few days and clean out my head and take some time for myself. I decided to go down to Toronto and spend a few days with my birth dad. We had a lot of fun hanging around Toronto. We went to Niagara Falls for the day, stopped at this gorgeous boat I love near St Catherines and went to Bluffers Park in Toronto. I had a lot of fun taking my camera along everywhere we went and snapping pictures.

Beautiful Sunday 02/17/2008

Beautiful Sunday 02/17/2008, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

My Favorite Things Saturday 02/16/2008

My Favorite Things Saturday 02/16/2008, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

An Open Letter To The Man I Love

Dear Rob;
Honey, I just wanted to let you know how much it meant to me to spend all of Valentine's Day together just the two of us. You know, Valentines Day is supposed to be for celebrating the love in your life. Well, I think I am the luckiest girl in the world to be loved by someone as amazing as you. I want to be able to celebrate that everyday, not just on Valentines. I think the love that we have and the relationship that we are developing together is absolutely amazing - it is not something that everyone has and that makes us so lucky. You know, I had never thought it was possible to love someone as much as I do you. I am totally loving where our life and where our relationship is going. I only see it growing stronger and more solid everyday. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life loving you, and being able to share my life with you.
Love Sandy

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge

Come join us with the challenge if you blog

Today's Challenge~
Where do you see yourself one year from today?

Wow - that's a hard one. I guess I can only think about where I'd like to be a year from now. I would like to see myself really happy - having created an amazing home life with Rob and my girls. I am unemployed right now so I would really hope that a year from now I will be working and helping to support my family. A year from now I would like to see my home filled with love, with laughter and with everything that makes a family bond together. I would like to think that within a year I will grow and mature and be a more confident woman. I am really happy right now in my life and am so looking forwards to seeing what the next year will bring.

2 Peas Tuesday Blogger Challenge

Feel free to join us if you blog.

Challenge~
Your biggest lesson in life came from...

Wow today this is a real awesome challenge. The biggest lessons I have learned in life have come since becoming a mom. Becoming a mom has taught me so many lessons. Some lessons I am still learning today. Being a mom has taught me about unconditional love, about respect, about love, about not being selfish and about seizing the moments we have. You know, becoming a mom changed everything about my life - it changed everything for the better. All I want in this world is to be a good mom, to watch my girls grow into beautiful independent women. To teach them some of the lessons I have learned as I have grown up. To share all of myself with them. Being a mom is the best thing that has ever happened to me - I am the luckiest woman in the world.

Check out my Slide Show!

2 Peas Monday Blogger Challenge

Please join us if you blog

Challenge~
A time I want to experience again...
When I read this challenge I didn't even think twice. The time I instantly thought of experiencing again was Rob & my first date. Everything about our time together that day was magical. Every minute was filled with sheer happiness. I could not stop smiling the hugest smile all day. My checks actually hurt from smiling so much. We drove up to the farm which was beautiful. I took my camera of coarse because I knew the fall photos would be incredible. We talked non-stop, we walked, we went on the four wheeler, we went for a drive, we got totally lost. You know...I don't think it would have really mattered what we had done together that day and it would have still been perfect. I knew that day that I was in love with Rob and that I wanted to spend my life loving him. Like I said pure magic.

Beautiful Sunday 02/10/08

Beautiful Sunday 02/10/08, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

Amber - My Favorite Things Saturday

Amber, originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2.

One of my favorite expressions!!

Thoughts for today...

As I am sitting here this morning I have so much going through my head. Today is a snow day and right now the girls are cuddling with each other on the couch. It is the most heartwarming sight to see. The two of them acting like best friends and sisters all cuddles, hugs and kisses with each other. Right now in my life I am feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. I have the most amazing little girls and I am so honored to be able to live my life watching them grow. I have the love of an incredible man who love those girls like he loves his own children. We have a warm, safe house, plenty of food, clothes and between the four of us all the love in the world. I AM SO LUCKY!

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge

Please feel free to join us if you blog. Challenge for today: If you could choose a different time period to live in, when would it be?

Growing up I absolutely loved watching shows like "Dr Quinn Medicine Woman" and "Christy". Watching the simplicity and love, the sense of family and of duty just seemed to pull at me. I often wished I had been born in this time period. The early 1900's just seems to represent the things that I see as the best parts of life: love, family, loyalty, respect, belief, and courage.

Sunrise 21

Sunrise 21, originally uploaded by malluboy.

I came across this photo today on Flickr and am amazed by the beauty of the shot.

Flower

Flower
Originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2

Beautiful Sunday 01/05/08

Beautiful Sunday 01/05/08
Originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2

My Favorite Things Saturday 01/04/08

My Favorite Things Saturday 01/04/08
Originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2

One of my new favorite things is watching the relationships develop between Rob & the girls. It is so amazing watching him fall in love with the girls and watching them fall in love with Rob. They are all getting so close and it is amazing to watch!!

BeautifulSunday 12/30/07

BeautifulSunday 12/30/07
Originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2

My Favorite Things Saturday 12/29/07

My Favorite Things Saturday 12/29/07
Originally uploaded by dynamo_momof2

One of my favorite things is this photo that I took of Rob on our first date at the farm. He is getting hugs from China.

Christmas was amazing ...

Christmas was so amazing this year. It was my most favorite that I have had in a very long time!!! We all had so much fun decorating the tree, spending time with Rob & my families. The kids had so much fun - I love Christmas even more as an adult now that I can watch the joy of Christmas in my children's eyes. Spending my first Christmas with Rob was amazing. Everyday that I spend with him I grow to love him more and more. In this new house we are in we are turning it more and more into the perfect home everyday. Everyday we seem more and more like a real family.

Getting Ready For Christmas

feel free to join us if you blog

Challenge for today is:
What is one thing you look forward to during these last few days before Christmas?

There are so many things I love about Christmas time and holiday preparations. One of my favorite things to do getting ready for Christmas is to have an evening where I put on Christmas music or a Christmas movie and then I sit on the floor with a drink and wrap all my Christmas presents. It is always so fun and so relaxing - I always end of feeling totally in the Christmas spirit when I am done and there are beautifully wrapped present under my tree.

The Snow Is Amazing!!!

It snowed all day yesterday and all last night. The amount of snowfall is incredible. Here in Smiths Falls we got 37 cm of snow!! It is insane. My car has not been working for a couple of weeks now (it has a dead battery.) When we moved here two weeks ago we parked the car on the side of the laneway and it has not moved since. Now, it looks like the car I found in this picture. You can hardly even tell it's there except for the faint car shaped outline in that particular snowbank. It is crazy!!! I just spent a half an hour shoveling about half of the laneway - man I am out of shape!! I did not realize how out of shape I am - I am going to have to do something about that for sure. I just have to think of some form of exercise that does not involve going out in the cold.