create...

i am creative.. i have always loved to create things of beauty... i have been inspired lately to create not only to give away but also to preserve memories. i am in the process of doing some altered canvas's for a friend and also working on some wedding invitations for friends. i have enjoyed the process of creating more and more. i have also been doing more scrapbooking..(more added to my Scrapbooking Gallery above all the time)... just wanted to encourage you to create.. in whatever way that suits you - its good to have an outlet.

bittersweet goodbye..

****updated with new pics*****
i have decided its time to get rid of my beloved Mei Tai Carrier.. and you have first dibs. its been great and we used it alot last summer.. the boys don't like it as much anymore and i am looking to get an Ergo Carrier So if you are interested let me know. I am offering it at a great deal ask me for details. I took some pics of it (the boys were napping so i stuffed a doll in...) i can wear the boys in it if you need a better pic and send you an email if you are interested... oh in case you are not sold on the amazing effects and bonus to babywearing check THIS out.

uninspired..

thats how i feel these days at least when it comes to blogging.. some days its hard to come up with something clever to write and i am afraid most facets of my life are quite mundane.. the week was good. thats hard these days.. i seem to have bad or good days never great, fantastic or all too memorable.. of course my kids are memorable and they are daily surprising me with new things they can do... but so often throughout the day a major meltdown seems to overshadow the good things. thats been hard lately.. my boys have learned how to have meltdowns and they are hard to console (especially because it usually happens at the same time) hello.. shouldn't twin moms have more arms or something?
i am trying to wake up these days remember that joy is a choice and most of the things i feel i just let control my life when really i have a choice to let some things completely overwhelm me. finding time to enjoy the small things..
like how ari loves to sit in my lap and look at books
like how noah eats anything and everything in sight
like how they now know the signs for "eat", "more", "milk", "all done" and "thank you" (we are working on "please")
like how they wave and clap and blow kisses
like how they sign "thank you" when you put them in their car seat
like how they love to make boy noises when playing with cars and trucks
like how they snuggle on you when they are tired
like how they say mummum from their cribs when they are done napping

yes its good to remember to choose to enjoy these moments and choose joy in as many circumstances as i can.

when twins swing...

the fruit (vegetation) of my labor...

the one thing i have loved about owning a house is owning a yard.. one that comes with a garden. although i am not so great at it some days. i am enjoying the therapy of planting and reaping.. the lady here before us also enjoyed planting and we are still reaping the benefits of her beautiful flowers... thought i would share a piece of the beauty i am surrounded with daily..

a date with the past and the present...

well i did it. i went to my high school 10 year reunion and it was better than i expected. i guess i wasn't sure what to expect... the picnic at the park was fun.. it was interesting because it was pretty much who i thought would be there and it was fun to catch up. its nice how kids can be a great conversation starter. in the evening we went to this concert back where i used to party and i really enjoyed running into old friends there. i'm glad i went and it was healing to see how far i've come and also refreshing to see that i could greet the past with a full heart knowing that life has taken me on some interesting paths since high school and life is full.
which takes me to the present and the honor it was to celebrate fathers day today.. my life is rich and i'm blessed with the best dad and the best dad to my kids. doubly blessed seems to be a pattern in my life. fathers day started with a baked peach french toast topped with whip cream.. the boys and i gave dave his gifts.. strawberry poky from ari and chocolate poky from noah. i had made a mini book for dave with the 8 reasons i love him and this hockey magazine he wanted... we relaxed the rest of the morning and then dave was called to work.. yea for the whole afternoon. later we headed to my parents where we ate with my whole family. it was a great day and although the boys each got a new tooth and were not at their best it was a good day! to honor the weekend here are the best shots......yes some of the pics are doubles but i had little time and its just the way picasa did it.

long lost sister...

if we were tripletsthis is what our sister would probably look like

wide open

so this is me being terrified... as you might have picked up on my last post things have been not so great around the difran house.. its mostly me.. my attitude has been in the crapper and i have been feeling slimed left and right.. this morning it hit me.. HARD. i am terrified and in my fear i am welcoming all sorts of lies.. this weekend i have my 10 year high school reunion. many mixed emotions are coming to the surface. high school doesn't bring too many fond memories for me.. don't get me wrong i have good memories but the person i was back then is just so far from who i am these days and its hard to reconcile the two.. and with the eminent crashing of those two people this weekend its left me a little wounded.
i was pretty well liked.. had a great bunch of friends. i had different sets of friends.. there were those who i would consider friends and we would talk everyone once in awhile no hostility or anything and then there were these two girls who i did everything with.. we were a little posy and i loved it. we have all since grown apart but they bring me fond memories... i had moments - big mistakes and lots of little mistakes... i tried so hard to be somebody else and definitely didn't know who i was or who i was meant to be.. i dated bad guys for me and did stupid things in hopes of keeping those relationships.. my heart was broken badly and i pushed those things deep down inside until some time later. i was mean to certain people all out of my own insecurities and my desperate need to be liked and noticed. its painful to look back on some of it. but in the midst of pain there comes deep appreciation for the woman i am now and the path i took after. i have been around the world and made a complete change in all areas of my life.. at least i thought i had until today.. i really see the need to have it all together and especially now i want to look a certain way to certain people... so far from who i thought i had become. maybe this is just a little bump in the road and a great way to remember who i really am and how far i have come. i spent almost 10 year away from my home town and although i never felt i ran it has been hard coming back and with this approaching gathering where i will bump into old friends, old boyfriends and old "enemies" i am careful to remember that the old is gone and the new has come.. life has come out of these places. new life.
i am going to choose to remember the restoration that has taken place and the new freedom i have in knowing who i am.. who i really am.
so heres to seeing old friends and making new friends and for trying to remember that although i survived high school what comes next is meant for thriving.

life for now

it feels like i have been neglecting to write these days.. my outlook on life has been a bit in the crapper. some days all i can do is get through you know... i know that there is a time and a season for all things and that these days are going to be gone so quick but when you are right in the middle of it that perspective sometimes gets lost... last week was a hard one with the boys being sick again and just everything piling up. the weekend was much brighter as we had a last minute visit from friends from ontario. morgan is daves best friend and they grew up together. we just were in ontario to celebrate morgan & martha's wedding. at three weeks married they came here to visit us and we had a great time. it was excellent to catch up. it was also nice to watch them get time to just relax as they have obviously been so busy for the last few months. they also had just returned from a two week honeymoon in italy.. yea poor them. it was nice to see them interact with the boys who only took about half a day to warm up to new people in the house. we went to a bbq on friday night that our small group was having. on saturday the boys naps were all over the place so it seemed we got nothing done.. we did end up getting to IGA for there closing 50% off sale... we stocked up on lots of goodies.. i felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of them closing there doors for good basically because we as a small town have been taken over by the BIG stores.. and for those of you who don't know I am an IGA alumn.. spent some time as a cashier.
after we went out walking and they unloaded a bunch of cash at my fave store in winkler My Scrap Shoppe from there we walked to 1027 and had gelato which of course was good but not quite Italy...After putting the boys to bed I made a killer Pad Thai and we later enjoyed a little bonfire (after the rain of course). Sunday we spent the morning being lazy and later went to Tasti's for lunch and walked the Morden Park. After a long afternoon nap we got a babysitter and the four of us went out to Boston Pizza. It was so great to have them around.. Monday morning I got up at 4:30am and took them to the airport getting back in time to say goodbye to Dave as he left for work...Still recovering.
The boys have been a bit off these days.. of course the normal cold and cough that they have now had since January.. Noah had croup again last week and the runny noses are endless.. On top of that I am sure they are working on some teeth.. most of the time its manageable but I have been surprised at the level of temper tantrums they can have.. yikes. It's painful...
That was the weekend and already its Tuesday evening which brings me hope.. We had our last stay & play this morning which was amazing.. everyone brought food and we shared breakfast. I will miss that... you begin to foster relationships and its nice to have somewhere to go each tuesday morning.. we will look forward to going again next fall.
i will leave you with some pics.. more to come of our weekend when i get them loaded..

i want too and i will...

i have lots to say but i am so tired... stay tuned... bigger better post with pics from the weekend coming soon...

shes at it again...

well stephanie at adventures in babywearing is having another fabulous contest this time thanks to MamaKanga They have some great stuff... Although I already own a MeiTai I would consider another one and I like this BabyHawk I also really like these products by a company called
Bink Link

Either way the gift certificate is for $75 which I won't win but thought I would put my name in anyways. Lots to blog about folks.. had a fabulous weekend with friends in from Ontario.. more to come soon.
not sure why everything is underlined.. to tired to fix it.

relief...

thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post... yesterday spelled relief when my mom offered to take the boys for the day and told me to scram.. i took off for the city alone and spent a few hours wandering and dabbling in some retail therapy. it was refreshing. now on to prepare for a full weekend of bbq's, out of town guests and hopefully lots of sun.

bringing stanley home...

i am not afraid to admit i am a closet hockey fan.. i had hometown pride tonite as i watched the ducks win the stanley cup and look forward to seeing dustin penner bring the cup home.. does that mean that we will now have a sign with his face on it? winkler home of stanley cup champion.. or something like that....

the sounds coming from my house today...

the dryer
blood curtling screams
coughing
the sound of the nose hose
thud - as many diapers hit the floor
crying
noah hitting his head back on his high chair as he now likes to throw temper tantrums
splash - as i spilled water all over the floor
the sound of their walkers tearing up the place
more crying
lots more coughing
oh and the sound you didn't hear were my tears as they rolled down my cheeks and hit the floor
is it over yet? please God let it be over...

overdue party shots...

didn't get as many photos from the boys birthday extravaganza but here is a little taste of what happened last weekend at their one year old birthday party...

shoes for little feet...

Stephanie at The Babywearer is at it again with a great contest and what could be better.. SHOES. and the cutest Vincent Shoes to boot.. You can win a $50 gift certificate. These shoes look amazing and are supposed to be really good for little feet.. I actually don't own any shoes for the boys yet as Robeeze have been all they need. But what I wouldn't do for a pair of Vincents..Mini's
or Stan's.
Ok so again don't go sign up because I want to win something and since I always have to buy two of everything I deserve it.. Just kidding. Go over you know you want too.

good morning...