Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you have taken some time today to share a moment with your loved one, whether it be your spouse, significant other, mom, dad, aunt, uncle, daughter, son....my list could on and on.....Even your pet deserves a hug and kiss today in honour of Valentine's day.......

If you are single, you can still make the most of the day, by spending time with a good friend...go for dinner, have a drink.....share some chocolate hearts....

My children came home with the usual stack of valentines cards from school along with a few chocolate kisses and candy hearts.....

Before supper we exchanged cards.....and I took a few photos....

(It would have said "Love Jay" but our daughter got to it first and decided she wanted to sign it for her father....That's why there are  no x's and o's either)

Okay, so this brings me to another point.....The card industry...My goodness the money they make.....Here we have four cards....probably ran us about 4 to 5 bucks a pop......and then what happens to them?   Well, some people hold onto them as keepsakes, others reuse them for crafts, and some cards just end up in the garbage.....But yet we keep buying them.....I'm a hypocrite, because here I've spent the money...Usually I go to the 97 cent rack at Walmart, for cards for birthday parties(between my daughter and son, and the number of parties they go to, I can't be blowing all of our money on birthday cards)  It depends on who the card is for....For family, I'll go the extra mile and spend a little more, but outside of that, the card usually comes from Dollarama, or the Great Canadian Dollar store......No offense to those who may have received one of those cards from me...It's the thought that counts....

Back to Valentines Day...the kids always get a couple of little things.....Their grandmother sent them chocolate chip cookies and McDonald's gift cards......The surprises from Nana and Poppy haven't arrived yet, but the postal service from Florida is very slow, as we are finding out.....From Mommy and Daddy, they got a couple of little stuffies(as they call them), a pack of stickers each and some chocolate hugs and kisses....The kitten, is my daughter's...and the Pooh bear, my son's...

I'm not about to divulge specifically what I got, or what I gave my hubby....but I assure you it wasn't a diamond ring or a new car....I didn't ask for either of those anyway...LOL  And I'm not a flower person...I'd much rather the money be spent on something else, like a back massage, pedicure, and haircut(which I am getting all of!)  Thank you very much!

Happy Valentines Day!  I hope you have enjoyed it!  Take the time tonight to save "I love you"  to someone, whether it be a friend or family member...I'm sure they will appreciate it!

The calm after the storm.....Sunshine and lollipops(at least for those who don't have to dig themselves out!)

My sister has mentioned that all I do is talk about the weather on my blog....I can't help it....Everyone talks about the weather, and I can't blog about a storm pre and during, without having some post-storm pics....I have to admire some of my neighbours, like Richard who lives across the street.  He gets out there, every snowfall, and clears the driveway with just a shovel.  Many of the people around here have snow blowers for conditions like this, or they have hired someone who comes and plows out their driveway.    But not Richard..He does it all on his own...Applause!  He is probably in the best shape of us all..
That could be us next year though....Our snow blower is on it's last legs...I can hear my hubby out there now, trying to get it started this morning and it doesn't appear as though it is co-operating.   Oh well, if need be, I'll throw on the jacket, hat and mitts and I'll suit up the kids, hand them some children's shovels and we can all do it together.  That would be a sight! 

So here are those post-storm pics I've promised..

That last picture may look like there was more accumulation than there actually was, because there was a lot of drifting and blowing overnight during the storm.......And we can't forget the 32 cms of snow that we had on the ground already from last week's snowfall.  I don't have a total as of yet for the overnight snowfall.  Definitely more than 20cms though.

Codiac Transpo buses in the Greater Moncton region cancelled this morning because of bad road conditions.  It was probably difficult for the plows to keep up.  And it doesn't look like there is going to be a sudden melt anytime soon, because the temperatures are going to plunge tonight.  According to Environment Canada we're looking at lows of minus 21, with a windchill of minus 30.  Tomorrow, the high is only minus 12, with a windchill of minus 32.

It'll be a day indoors I imagine, unless we head out to play in the snow....It's a bit chilly already though.  Minus 11, with a windchill of minus 21...

Maybe some people are glad to be able to stay in today......I imagine some are still dealing with the death of Whitney Houston at the age of only 48.....So young.....I'll have to tune into the Grammy's tonight to see the tribute that Jennifer Hudson does....I'm sure they didn't expect they'd have to pull something like that together at the last minute..

Well, off to dig out....Enjoy the day..

A stormy weekend....

Another winter storm is underway .....This time the forecast is calling for around 20-30cms of snow for our region, but I wonder if we'll pass that.  It started falling at around 2 this afternoon, and it's still falling, and the winds are picking up a little bit.  The snow is expected to continue until around noon tomorrow...This is what is looked like about an hour after it began.

And this is what it is like now, at around 10:30pm...

We spent the day indoors....cleaning and doing valentines....

17 kids in my daughter' class, 16 in my sons.  We had somewhat of a production line going.  My daughter would write the names, then I would insert the sticker and fold, my hubby would put it into the bag and then seal.  Made the task go a lot quicker.

And with the cleaning we did today, to our surprise, the front room does have a floor!  We thought it had disappeared!    The toys had previously won the battle, and taken over.....but not this time.....We showed them.....Now, the question is, how long will it be before they move in and take over again?

Well, that's it for tonight....Quite the uneventful day.  But I will update you tomorrow on the snow!

We spent the afternoon at Crystal Palace.

I've mentioned Crystal Palace before.  It's our indoor amusement park in Moncton.  Great place for the kids.  I decided to take them for the afternoon, considering there is a big snowstorm on the way for Moncton this weekend, and we probably won't be able to do much if we get as much snow as they are forecasting..

Environment Canada is calling for up to 30 centimetres of snow, and we currently have a winter storm warning in effect.The Weather Network is calling for up to 40 centimetres.  So depending on who you believe, I guess it'll be a bit of a doozy...My daughter was invited to a birthday party this Sunday, but the parent has already called and is rescheduling it to next weekend because of the snowstorm.

Back to Crystal Palace.  It was an afternoon of firsts....My daughter's first time on the swings, my son's first time on this lay down ride that goes around and around.

My son's first ride on this one!



My daughter and her first ride on the swings!  She loved it!

 It was a pretty slow afternoon at Crystal Palace which made it somewhat better so there wasn't a building full of running and screaming children!

We had a lot of fun, and now I am exhausted.  Only 7PM and I am ready to sleep already.   It has been a long day though.  3:15AM until now makes for a long day.

Haircuts...They can do wonders!

It was family haircut day.....For those of you who know my husband, well, there's no haircut required for him.  He does it himself once every few weeks..As you can tell from the picture below, he shaves it off......

As for myself, my daughter and son, we go to Bonzai Hair Studio, which is just up the street from us.  We see Amanda, usually once every 8 weeks or so...Sometimes we've waited a little bit longer than we should....I've got some before and after shots...

BEFORE

AFTER

Major improvement!

BEFORE

AFTER!

They both clean up very well, don`t they!  

The unfortunate thing is I don't have a BEFORE pic of myself from today.  This is from last month, but it'll give you an idea of before...Just picture the hair a little bit longer and with a little more gray at the roots in the front!  LOL

BEFORE(early January) 



AFTER!!!



It's amazing what a cut, and in my case, a little bit (or a lot!) of colour can do!

It`s rare that I let my husband take my picture, so it's obvious I like the new do cause I was so willing to let him take these!

We`ve been going to Amanda for more than 5 years now!  My kids won`t go to anyone else, and neither would I.  She is amazing with colour, and I`ve never been disappointed with the work she has done.

Thanks Amanda! 

Readers from around the globe!

I started this blog just over a month ago, and I figured that I'd get a few readers...maybe those who were just curious...others who are related and wanted to see more of my kids...maybe even those who wanted to see a few pictures of the City of Moncton.   But I follow the stats every time I make a post, and frankly, I am amazed.   I don't know what the numbers are supposed to be like, but as of today, almost 16 hundred people have read my blog.    And the even more amazing thing is where the readers are from!

Canada, I expected.....Even the United States because I have some relatives there....But Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Brazil, Columbia, The Netherlands and Sweden?  Wow!  I suppose they may have just stumbled upon my blog just flipping through...and maybe some of them didn't even take the time to read it....but regardless, it just feels pretty good to know that there may be people in other parts of the world that may be interested in what I have to say!  It makes my day somewhat! 

For those of you who have taken the time to read...Thanks!  I'm glad you are enjoying my blog! :)

To believe or not to believe....it's your choice....

Before I moved to the Maritimes, it was suggested the we attend church once we get here to develop new friendships.....There are many to choose from....But you have to find the one that is best for you....

One the way home from work today, I took the long route, and captured a few on camera.



Cathedrale Notre-Dame de L'Assomption (Our Lady of the Assomption Cathedral)
Built in 1939...opened in 1940...
Recognized as a local historic place in Moncton in 2005

As of October of 2011, this church needed 7 million dollars to stay open...
When it opened, it served about 15 hundred families......in recent years, they have only seen about 3 hundred...

Highfield Street Baptist Church

Built on 1922-1923...The youth part of the building was added in 1953.
It is recognized for being one of Moncton's oldest religious organizations..

It was designated a historic place in 2005.

St. Augustine's Roman Catholic

Notre-Dame de Grace
Established before 1930 and was formerly known as Parkton
158 families attended in 1943.....Up to 575 in 1961 and over 2 thousand families today.





Parkside Baptist

 



Glad Tidings Pentecostal

Hillside Baptist

Was built in 1974 when three churches merged into one (Hildegarde, Lutes Mountain & Gorge). 
An expansion was completed in 2011 with the addition of a  preschool wing, youth café and other improvements.



This is just a few in the City of Moncton, that happen to be on my trip home......There are many others.....

Religion is one of those controversial topics that no one usually wants to talk about...To believe...or not to believe...It's a personal choice...But if you choose to explore it.....do some research....decide where you are most comfortable...and most of all...go in with an open mind.....