Thirsty Thursday

Helloo boys and girls! We are pretty good. Madigan managed to pull an allnighter last night!!! What I mean is she slept from 8am until 6am! I of course was up at 5 to check and make sure she was still breathing. Michael, god love him, was up at 2am for the same reason! That little bugger sure has us trained!!!

Yesterday we didn't leave the apartment! How awesome was that.. NOT... I felt like poop and the girls didn't seem to mind! This might sound horribly offensive to some of you but the girls logged alot of balconey time! I like to think they were viewing the urban jungle! Madigan got a little playtime on the computer. As you can see she loved it! PS turn down your speakers!







Today we hit Science world with the Kwan D'eons. We played in the kids section for a bit and then had a very cool picnic. The kids seem to really get along together. REally nice for me and Ange! After lunch we hit the first of 2 playgrounds. Fun fun fun! We only played at the first playground for a bit and i didn't actually grab any pics. Ange did and she is going to send them to me... Park #2 was a big hit! We slid, mokey barred (me not the kids) and goofed around! Poor Ange discovered where Maeve gets her heriditary plumbers bum. Sorry bout that my friend! And here are all the kids at the same time!! In the same pic!!!



ps Mel, don't forget to check on your boys

www.whilemelwasout.blogspot.com

Tuesday

Wakey Wakey, its time for.... ... nakey bakey!










Yesterday I made the best bread of my life. It was perfect.... and.. I don't have a measuring implement IN this place! I have eaten almost a whole loaf tho, and that CANT be good! We met up with team Kwan D'Eon under the Cambie Bridge and I had a great time! The girls were great, the boys were great.. then on my way home I found 20$! Hahaha what a charmed life I lead!!! Ok, truth be told like everyone else, some parts of my life aren't perfect hopefully things fall into place soon!


don't forget to check my babysitting blog Melanie Troyer

www.whilemelwasout.blogspot.com

Science world is fantastic!

Yesterday was gorgeous. Plan was to walk to science world meet up with the shorthouse fam. We got rolling, snack was packed, girls were ready, more remarkably I was ready! Off we go, half a block in Madigan falls asleep. Perfect right? Ya baby.. then I decide, ooh I should have some money for lunch so I pop into the old 7 11 for some bank machine action and start looking for my wallet. Great... no wallet.. Madigan sleeping in the buggy... now we are going to be late... and have no money. I thought I was so prepared! Back we go to the apt.. collect wallet, see how much time has been wasted... get into our giant non-eco friendly gas machine and drive down to science world. Oh the shame.. the humanity.. Oh well, fun was had Deb the little bitch looks fantastic with her gorgeous long hair! Cow.. I hate it when all you women are so bloody beautiful! Deb's girls are great, Emma is a hoot! Abby is adorable and Maggie, like most 2nd child i know, is so cute but has a "naughty girl" streak in her! I realize that technically Maggie is Deb's 3rd but must be second pregnancy related!

so we played at science world, hit up the grand mcdon for lunch.. boo.. went in the ball room at Mc'd's and then headed back to science world since we all parked there. As you can see the girls were picking some flowers.. Deb and I were killing ourselves laughing at all the bum cracks! Ok.. most of it was Maeve's but you do have to laugh! We sent the shorthouse fam on their way and went to Kits beach for a little sand action! Thanks to Ange, Milo and Theo for giving us some sand tools! Home again home again jiggity jig only Madigan napped! And only for like 20 mins! BOOO!





Oh and Mel,

This link is for you!

www.whilemelwasout.blogspot.com

What a beeee-yooooooo-tiful day

Here are the girls partially dressed on a gorgeous morning in downtown Vancouver!



Where are we going? (clap clap clap)

Where are we going? (clap clap clap)

To Science world!

Yesterday I had the day off and spent it with some very wonderful, and in some cases very pregnant ladies! Me, Ange Mel and Hilary all met up for breakfast and Michael had the girls all day. They ran him ragged!!! He did a great job and made sure they ate and napped! Keeping a schedule is tough work but Michael did it.. he did it.. he did it .. YEAH lo hicemos!

High school reunion

Here are the girls having a morning pj couch tv time!


Ok, so it wasn't a total reunion but my high school friend Vanessa came over from Nanaimo for a visit. My highschool friend (more mine than Vanessas' anyway) Mel came out for dinner with us. We went to the Cactus Club.. I had one of my favorites and it wasn't that great. Looks like I'm going to have to go out for dinner without the kids at least one more time! hahahahha I had a great time. I tried to not talk about the girls too much. Vanessa is out of the baby phase as her gorgeous daughter (see photo) Avery is 9 almost 10. Avery is really polite and really quiet. She is also an amazing gymnast who might teach Maeve how to do a cartwheel! After dinner at the cactus club we went to "Death by Chocorat" It was great.. ok, the whipcream was fantastic but the slab of fudge that I ordered wasn't good. In all fairness the chocorat lady did try to dissuade me from ordering it so... at least I didn't eat a whole piece of cake.. just my whipcream, Vannessa's and Avery's! Hahahah some things never change!!!

My children are.....

cuckoo.. cuckooo... cuckooo! but they sure do love each other and Michael and i love them more than anything!

Having 2 is challenging.. but worth it!

The Party

Heya faithful readers! So we went to WALMART yesterday.. .yes yes... supporting the American Machine.... blah blha...so we got some much needed items.. stepstool so Maeve can wash her hands by herself... lamp for Michael's work.. very important m&ms for Vashti to eat. Madigan got some new sippy cups... then we capped it all off by buying the movie peter pan for Michael and his girls...


got home... went to put it in to watch and,.... pabam... no movie in box... weird Michael said he should have kjnown because some of the security features were missing. Maeve.. tears....almost incosolable.. Michael, defeated.. thinks they'll never believe that the movie wans't in the box and we are trying to rip them off. Me.. hopeful, I'm calling them back right now! We'll get it sorted! So, the girl says, "crazy, no problem.. come back and we'll get you a new one!" I said great, let me grab your name so I know who to ask for.. she replies, "Danica"! There ya go dink.. now you have to top it by finding someone that has the same name as me! Oh, good luck@!!


So the party.. big hit.. In the car on the way over Maeve asked if it would be allright to ask Logan to marry her. I stifled my giggles and explained that she doesn't have to get married just yet, while Michael informed her that he gets to choose who she marries!! ahhaha Kelsey and Lisa had a fantastic home. Really cool and I loved the colours they painted it... Kelsey and Lisa made a fantastic spread! We saw our friends from California, Gen Barry Logan and Veronica as well as Michelle and Klaus! What a party!! The kids had lots of fun... I had lots to eat! All in all a really nice evening. Here is some video of the dancing;





No, I'm not drunk. Yes my eyeshadow is green. Yes Michael always rolls his eyes when I am talking. Infact, he can usually be heard saying, "groan".



Michelle and Madigan sharing some one on one time. Not a very great picture of Michelle but Madigan sure looked cute! Here are some shots of Maeve doing cinderella sippy cup shots while her Parents look on in the background. Mommy's double chins look bettter and better in each successive shot!

Happy St Paddy

New family tradition.... ST PATRICKS DAY GREEN PANCAKES!





And of course the eating of the pancakes in the most natural form...... NAKED!!!


We have a big party to go to tonight and we are excited. I hit old navy for their St Patricks sale stuff! We are all going green tonight baby! There are going to be at least 2 other children there so hopefully it'll be fun for the girls. We are really just bringing them to be designated drivers. Maeve can steer while Madigan works the pedals!!!

peace bitches!

Talk about living out of a suitcase!!!


I'm still feeling crappy. Can't wait to kick this cold! The girls are getting a little bit stir crazy living in this apartment. I shout, "NO, Stop, don't, get off..." constantly! Can't wait until we move into our new place. Since it will be almost entirely empty while we re furnish, I think the girls will have a blast with a big open space! I checked on our belongings arriving from England and they are still green lit for march 29th! Who knows what will actually happen. I do know that the girls will be thrilled because all we brought back to Canada was their toys and our bed! Some other things too but the toys are the most important!

Michael has Maeve at work today. How nice and what a change from England! Michael came home for lunch and took Maeve to work with him. He phoned once they got in and there are 2 other girls there today too.. big girls and Maeve sounds thrilled! Madigan and I are having a tough time with naps these days. Seems she prefers to sleep for under an hour and only once a day.. boooooo...

Here is Dr. Maeve the friendly vet. Note Maeve has her head aimed at me but refuses to take her eye off the vet gear up for grabs on the table! We met up with Theo, Milo and Ange at the Vancouver Aquarium. It is so great and fantastic and so amazing! We bought a membership because along with the previously mentioned qualities it is also VERY EXPENSIVE! So worth it tho.



Have a great weekend. We have a St Patricks day party on saturday and lots of window shopping to do!

Hows this for a Jammy Dodger

IMGP0713
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Hello everyone! We are doing a bit better! We have found a new "home"!!! We were accepted into a pretty cool family complex just off Victoria Drive! It seems pretty great, 2 HUGE bedrooms, an office space, lots of cupboards AND we'll be able to put stuff up on the wall!!!

This pic should be titled, "Madigan vs Breakfast"

Today is relatively stress free for me.. no more craiglisting, phoning and lining up appointments to drag the girls to. I do have to add that the girls have been pretty fantastic about being dragged around from hither to dither and yon. Madigan is suffering from the same cold as I am. Maeve seems pretty fit and happy. I think we'll do just fine in our new place! Oh and here is some other good news... blogger still wont let me upload pictures and I magically remembered my flickr account name! Wahooo! So click on Madigan to see some other random pics!

Suckity suck suck

Hiya faithful readers! The Mussellam family is hurtin'... ok, just me! I have a cold, and infected tooth that has to come out AND I have to pay for the pleasure, the girls are driving me batty AND we don't have a place to live yet! Can you say stress much? Well, to top it all off blogger wont let me show you how gorgeous our girls are! Of course I can't remember my flickr account name or password either. That would be waaaaay to easy!


At least it is a gorgeous day! Maeve wants to go to science world and team Kwan D'Eon is heading for the aquarium! Team McEwen-Nicol are heading up to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and we are stuck here deciding what to do. We have a viewing at a place at 4:45 and we have to be downtown to pick up Michael. hmm, much head scratching. Doesn't look like Madigan is going down for a nap, maybe I can get some lunch in them and meet up with Ange & co and be back by 4?


Sorry for no pics, I'll figure out what is going on some day!

H to the A

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOO YOUUUUUUU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE JAYCIEEEEEEEEE

WE SURE DO LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU


I had this really awesome pic for your birthday but blogger wont let me upload it... Damn you blogger!

Finally Friday

Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well. We are doing well. We have been lucky enough to have a couple almost through the night sleeps! I totally screw myself when it happens tho because I have been staying up to watch tv! I was in tv withdrawl and now I have to get back to going ot bed at a decent hour.

So today was filled with tears, screams and tantrums! Wahoooo! Maeve is convinced that her feet have outgrown every sock in our house and refuses to wear them. I'm sick of hearing my voice tell her she needs socks. So, today she went sockless. No biggie, in my head I just repeat, "choose your battles, choose your battles." Big deal if she doesn't wear socks, she can't die from it right? So, sockless we went to Science world.. again.. it is so great! Both girls had a blast and we met up with Lainey with her two girls Rachel (4months) and Charlotte (3). Charlotte is so big I haven't seen her in ages! Rachel is sweet and cute. Michael and I used to play hockey with their Daddy, Colin. Or "Big Dog" as some of you know him! After science world the girls fell asleep in the car so I drove around looking for area's I think we might want to live in. No luck so far... gotta go.. the screams are starting again!

I'll put pics up later!

Double blog day

So, we are caught up on blogs. Today the girls and I are just kicking it at "home". I have a sore throat, sore tooth and a headache. Awesome! The girls are good. They slept MUCH better last night. Maeve went to bed at 8 and was up at 8:30. Madigan went to bed at 7:30 up for one feeding at 5am then she was up for good at 7ish. Papa George is on his way to us and we are excited. Ok, well he isn't just on his way to see us, Tori had a baby girl on Tuesday and he is on his way to see her too. More girls.. looks like Jakers will be the only boy for a while. Anyhoo, Tori's baby's name is Emilia. I may be totally wrong on the spelling but I spoke to Tori's partner but didn't ask how they spelled her name.

the girls were playing princess/queen and Maeve had this red blanket as her train but by the time I got the camera and cornered them for photos they were on to another game. The girls seem to really enjoy each other's company these days and let me tell you that is great! Especially when I'm having one of my crappier days! Michael came home with lunch for us. What a treat! We didn't have any bread in the house and I'm so totally against paying almost 5 bux a loaf so today was breadmaking day.


Lisa, this pic is for you... only because I am the perfect wife, mother and baker.. I never have down days and I'm always at the top of my game... HAHAHAHAH NOT! I thought I'd skip "accidentally" panning past the bread 'conveniently' rising in the background and give you the money shot! Hahaha I love you cookie! Wish you were here!

Wednesday

So today's is a backlog blog! Yesterday, we had a bit of a rough morning. There was a war over socks, jackets and finally shoes. I wont say who it was that was warring, only that I was the victor! hahaha I don't know how many victories are in my future but I hope it is at least 50/50! So, after trying to get out of the apt at a decent hour, we finally made it out around.. ohh... 1:45! ahahhaha what a sad sack of latey pantses we are! We met up with team Kwan D'Eon for an awesome science world adventure. Earlier in the day my mom gave us the gift of membership which was AWESOME! So back to the plan, we spashed, slid, built, laughed and had a great time. The boys were great and my girls were great .. it was nice.. Madigan got a little sleepy so I packed her into the stroller and hoped and prayed that she slept! Eureka she did! Maeve and I munched on popcorn and then made our way home.
Uncle Kenny came by to visit around 5, it was great to see him. We all had dinner and chatted.. well talked over the two beasts anyway. Ken had to head out around 7 so it worked out well for baths and bed times. Yesterday's blog was a partial success. My friend Mel *did* manage to call me and we arraged a coffee date. So, once the girls were bathed, boobed (ok just madigan) and put to bed I flew outta here like a bat out of hell! Poor Michael, I did the same thing on tuesday night with another friend named Mel! The second Mel was considerably more pregnant than the first Mel! Anyhoo, again I digress... Mel and i had coffees and then came up to the apartment to hang out. She is great btw (Jason) she still looks gorgeous.. cow.... hahahaha now I'm just waiting on you Vanessa!
All in all moving back to Vancouver has been working out for me! Re connecting with old friends. Taking the girls to AWESOME places and Michael only being 2 blocks away. Life is sweet for the Mussellam Clan. Here is a british classic entitled, "Maeve".

Melanie

Melanie Fellers aka Troyer.. hheheheh phone me will ya?

my cell is 604-341-5390

oh and Vannessa if you are reading you should give me a ring ding ding too!


actually, anyone can call me.. unless you are a perv.. then don't call, just come over..

hahahahahah Michael will think that last part is hilarious!

Wetter is.... er.... better?

So today we woke up and this strange shining orb was in the sky. Yes, it was a beautiful sunny day! We had planned to hit the library with the Kwan boys but lo and behold there was sun! Second Beach called us and away we went! The kids did really well. Milo is so sweet! He is very careful and he was really good at reminding Maeve what is safe and what is not ie. it is not safe to go too far without "the" parents! Angela looks good and great and I had a fantastic day! Theo is a clever little boy with LOTS of words! Seems he may have a strong preference for things coloured blue and you can't fool hiim either, he knows what is blue and what isn't! We walked from our place on richards/robson up davie to english bay and then along the seawall. FANFRIGGINGTASTIC i LOVE vancouver!!! It was so great... the sea.. oh the glorious sea!!! the mountains.. oh everything was so nice! So sorry, i digress! Anyhoo, along our walk up davie Maeve was in heaven... there are rainbow banners all the way to english bay and PINK.. yes PINK bus stops and benches! Maeve was in heaven and Theo.. well, he may not have liked it so much! hahaha all in all a great day for me. The kids.. well, they seemed to have fun too!

Bubble Bubble

There have been some pretty cute bathtub movies going around so I thought we'd hop on the tub train! Here is our son Madigan.. ok ok, our daughter Madigan having a bath.




Today we went to the library, urban fare to pick up pork chops or chork pops as Maeve said, then we went to the park under the cambie st bridge and met up with Awake Angela with sleeping Milo and Theo. The Kwan D'eon boys fell asleep enroute to us! Neither of my girls napped this afternoon. After the long cold walk back to our apt, Maeve said she felt tired and needed a sleep. I put the timer on to let her sleep no more than a half hour! A half hour comes and goes and neither Michael nor I could wake the tired big girl. She'd wake briefly, talk to us then.. zzzzzz! I blame the jetlag! So, we just tucked her in for the night and are praying she doesn't decide that 2am is the new 7am! Hahaha. Since the Mussellam girls didn't really get to kick it with the Kwan D'Eon boys, we're going to attempt another rendezvous tomorrow. I think the library will be our destination if it is rainy again. What are the odds of it raining in vancouver two days in a row? Hahaha.. I'm happy to be back here, rain and all!

Well we can let it all hang out now

Hiya boys and girls, the cat is out of the bag... the jig is up... the whistle, well it has been blown... the Mussellam Family has very sneakily arrived back in Canada.

Lots of tears, a little anger, more tears and lots and lots of joy. We managed to surprise everyone with our sneak attack.



We arrived back in Vancouver Monday February 26 around 8ish. We took a few days at Granny Gracies to shake some jetlag and then on thursday Michael started work at his new company, "Action Pants Inc". Craig McEwen works at AP (as I call it) and Michael is thrilled to be back in the country! AP has us all set up in a 2 bedroom fully furnished apartment downtown Van about 2 blocks away from Michael's work. So, Michael is happy, I'm happy to be back in Canada and the girls are having a bit of trouble with sleep but are fantastic!




Right now we are in Nanaimo, we surprised the HELL outta the fam. We hid in the bedroom and let the girls come out to surprise Gramma Luvvy. Video to follow... everyone is over the MOON to have us back. We are equally happy to be back. England was great.. Vancouver is better!!! hahahahah