Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3038, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Pais isn't quite crawling yet, but gets closer every day.

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3103, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Uncle Matt, and Great Grandma Schroeder with Paisley Christmas morning. Pais is wearing her new sweater dress (from mom), and her new winter boots (from Grandma S)

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3091, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Getting good at unwrapping

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3072, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Josh's brother, Matt.

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3044, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Josh opening his gift.

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3065, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Happy about the Flames booties from daddy!

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3051, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Paisley trying on her toque and scarf from Grandma and Grandpa Schroeder, and eagerly trying to get into the next gift.

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3077, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Another shot in the sled from Grandma and Grandpa Schroeder

Christmas at the Schroeders


JDS_3085, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Here's Pais after getting her sled for Christmas. She loved it, was crawling all over it.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!!


merry christmas, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Plans for 2009

Before things start getting hectic around here, I thought I'd take a few minutes with Josh and discuss what plans we have for 2009.

Firstly, we'd love to move into a new house, one with a more open concept living area, and generally more space. So in order to do that, we'll need to sell our house. Which adds many more plans for the next year:

We will need to lay the laminate flooring (that we've already bought) in the hallway, master bedroom, and stairs. As well as laying the laminate that has already been purchased for the main floor (entry, kitchen, dining room).

We will need to organize and purge the entire house, getting ready to stage it, as well as get rid of things we aren't using. We've just accumulated too much in the last 4 years. We have actually already started this process and been sorting and sent several bins to a rented storage unit.

We have plans to go to Fairmont in early 2009 with Josh's parents for a week, and again in the fall. Fairmont is a great vacation for us twice a year.

We are also hoping to do a trip to BC's lower mainland at some point in 2009.

I have a whole host of sewing projects I would like to complete this year, as well, I'd like to get my personal stash of Christmas cards done by summer, leaving the fall and early winter available to take orders (instead of scrambling Dec 23rd to get mine out.... yes I finally got mine out TODAY!).

One crafting goal I have for this year, is to complete Paisley's 1st year scrapbook by next Christmas. I haven't even started, but have been giving it much thought (as far as layouts for certain pictures).

That's all we are coming up with this evening.... but maybe we'll think of more in the next week.

4 Years

On December 19th, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Time flies quickly.



Many things in our lives have changed, but a lot of things have remained the same. We love where we are in life, and are daily discovering new things about each other (bizarre how that happens).

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Want more recipes?

Here's another favorite recipe, and I keep misplacing it. So I'm putting it here, so I can always find it :)

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
sugar (just enough to roll dough balls in)
Hershey's Chocolate Kisses (1 bag)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until creamy. Add Bisquick and vanilla and stir. Chill in fridge for an hour or more. Roll dough into small balls and roll in sugar. Place balls 2" apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and put one Kiss in the middle of each cookie. Let cool.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Happy 6 Months!

Paisley is 6 months old today! Wow, it went fast. I haven't taken any pictures today.... but we did yesterday. :)

Another Holiday Recipe

Last year I had candy canes laying around... I never eat them. So I took a ziploc bag, a hammer, and an old pillow case. Tossed the candy canes in the ziploc bag (freezer bag, heavy duty), then put it in the pillow case and started banging them to crush the canes up. Then I made Rice Krispie squares, and added in the crushed candy canes. They were DELICIOUS! I made a tray for at home, and I made a try for Josh's office. At the office, they were gone before 9:30 (there was about 3 squares per person). Good use for candy canes, and a great festive treat. I used the Christmas Rice Krispies too, so it was nice and colourful.

Despite all the thinking I've been doing on Christmas goodies, I still haven't done any Christmas baking. Maybe because I feel I should do my other projects first....

Peppermint Patty Brownies

I first discovered this recipe last Christmas. It was a big hit, and everyone who had some loved them. Lots of requests for the recipe too. Anyway, since York Peppermint Patties are easy to find this time of year, here's the recipe. York patties are the tastiest, people tried cheap brands and weren't as pleased.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups margarine
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
24 small peppermint patties

DIRECTIONS
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs till well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Blend well.
Reserve 2 cups of batter, set aside. Grease 13x9x2 inch pan. Spread remaining batter in prepared pan. Arrange peppermint patties in a single layer over batter about 1/2 inch apart. Spread reserved 2 cups batter over patties. Bake 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-55 minutes till brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Enjoy!!!

Lack of Christmas Gifts

This year I had planned to make ALL our christmas gifts for people. Then came December, and I thought, well most people I'll make theirs, and buy a few, as I don't have time. We leave in 5 days..... I've completed 1 present. Yes only one. I think I managed to cover all the bases now... but a lot of people will be getting partially assembled presents with the promise of completion in January....... or February. I have no one to blame but myself. I planned to work on it during naps, and after Paisley went to bed for the night. Well evenings, more often than not, I found myself curling up on the couch and watching TV, and quite often having a nap. Nap times I found myself using that time to clean the house, and do the mandatory things around here.

Oh well.

Christmas cards are the exact same story. Maybe I'll have them mailed by New Year's! Where has the time gone. I did fill all the card orders I had in a timely fashion though, just slacked and procrastinated on mine!

So if you don't get a card.... you'll get one eventually. Don't give up on me yet!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Christmas Outfit


cpais5, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Trying on the Christmas Outfit


CPais7, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Christmas Outfit


CPais8, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Christmas Outfit


Cpais3, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Christmas Outfit


CPais, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Trying on the Christmas Outfit


CPais4, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Friday Coffee Playgroup


IMG_7444, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Here's Paisley and a bunch of her friends. Cashlin (laying down on his back), Railynn, Joel, Paisley and Merideth. Paisley's getting close to crawling. She gets up on all 4's and can kinda wiggle her way forward, but she hasn't quite figured it out yet (THANKFULLY).

Joel is the oldest of the group (8 months), followed by Merideth (7 months), and then Railynn, Cashlin and Paisley are all within about 10 days of each other. It's amazing to see them all develop, all are doing things the others aren't doing, and seem to pick up different things.

I love friday afternoon coffee. We have a lot of fun, the kids play, and we all chat.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Guest of Honour


IMG_7439, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

More Shower


IMG_7437, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

More of Shower


IMG_7436, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Baby shower for Jane


IMG_7435, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Here's the pictures I promised.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Christmas photos


Christmas photos, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Another friend's daughter.

Photos


flex-4, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Another photo... funny face... but great background and lighting.

Photos


flex-14, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Josh's friend/co-workers family

Photos


adele-family-photos-2, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

My friend's family.

Family Photos


adele-family-photos-4, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

This is my friend's step son.

Josh's photos


adele-family-photos-11, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Josh has done a bunch of family photos for friends lately (for Christmas), and I think he did a great job on them, so I wanted to share them with you all.

This is my friend's step daughter.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Bottom Lip


paisley-1
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
Sticking out her bottom lip.... she gets it from her mom.

December is here!


December is here!
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
Paisley's ready for her first Christmas.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

First hockey game!


First hockey game!
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
Paisley got to see her first live hockey game tonight. She stayed for the first period, but got a little restless after the noise that came with the third Hurricanes goal. Paisley got her very own Lethbridge Hurricanes jersey before we left, but we didn't get any pictures of her wearing it yet.

From Cake in a Mug to Pie in a Jar

Found another recipe that looks delicious! Individual pie servings.

Pie in a Jar

BABY SHOWER~!

Yesterday I threw a shower for a friend (Jane in the previous pictures). Josh and her husband Mark are close friends, and have season's tickets for the local hockey team together, so Jane and I have become quite good/close friends.

Well I've been planning this shower for a few months (with the help of another friend Amanda (Joel's mom)). Jane was completely suprised, had no clue about the shower when she arrived. It was fantastic!

Anyway, the day worked out very well, everyone enjoyed themselves, and I think Jane was just flabbergasted.

I tried my hand at a diaper cake. I loved how it turned out.... but unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it. I was quite proud of it. It was a Winnie the Pooh theme.

One of the "games" at the shower was if people wanted to, they could make a blank scrapbook page that would go in an album, so Jane could just put the baby pictures in it. That was a hit. we had 3 guests who had never scrapbooked before, and they each did at least 3 pages. We may have gotten them hooked. We got quite a number of pages in the end, and it will all look great once I compile the album this week.

I only managed to take a few pictures, as Paisley started to fuss and I spent much of the gift opening time upstairs trying to get her down for a nap.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Jumparoo


IMG_7411, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Here's a picture of Paisley the first time she tried out her jumparoo.

Grabby-grabby


IMG_7428, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Paisley likes to grab any toys the other kids are playing with. She likes to be in control of all the toys around.

Play group.


IMG_7426, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Here's the play group at the coffee shop again. You can see the very pregnant Jane in the background (with the next member of the play group).

Paisley's Hairpulling


IMG_7422, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Paisley loves to pull hair... especially mine. Here she got hold of Meredith's.

Play group.


IMG_7420, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Here's our friday afternoon coffee play group. Paisley's friends. (Joel and Meredith)

Yay, visitors!


Yay, visitors!
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
Matt and Anh came for a brief visit this weekend. We had birthday cake with them and some playtime with Paisley.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Horseback riding


Horseback riding
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
Paisley's got a new toy. Sorry the video is rotated ... we're photo people trying to get the video workflow figured out.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Flames Fans


Flames Fans
Originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder
It's been a while since we posted any photos, and I know the grandparents are anxious to see Paisley, so here's a quick one of us in our Flames outfits.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Going around in circles

I was in Banff at the start of this week for a user experience conference. While there, we paid a visit to the Banff Springs Hotel and had a little fun with our cameras. This is one of the results.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Looking at recipes with Grandma


vancouver-61, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Sitting with Grandpa


vancouver-65, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Monday, November 17, 2008

You may ask why

You may wonder why with pictures I post only one per post, it's because that's what's easiest for me. Josh does multiples, but I use the "blog this" function in Flickr. It's fast and easier for me than all the steps it takes navigate into the picture, click a few things, then copy and paste between webpages. :) That's why you get like 10 posts in a day from me.

And you may find this hard to believe... but we only post a FRACTION of the pictures we take. Yeah, we take a lot of pictures of Paisley. On the plus side, I'll have lots to choose from as I do her scrapbook.

Flight Home


vancouver-56, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

On the flight home.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-54, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Mmmm good food.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-53, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Nothing like food to make this girl happy. Make shift high chair at Great Grandma's, she loves to sit at the table with everyone!

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-52, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Great Grandma actually was quite eager to hold her. I think Paisley got to sit with her 3 times, and Grandma really enjoyed it.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-50, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Meeting Great Grandma Yeomans.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-49, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

And.. getting ready to go home.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-48, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Showing off her t-shirt.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-46, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

And getting grabby, as usual.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-45, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

My cousin and his wife Melissa had a baby 3 weeks after Paisley. So this is a picture of Paisley and her relative closest in age, Zoe.

Vancouver - Yeomans


vancouver-41, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

With my Auntie Bonnie