Happy 30th Birthday Courtney!!

Happy Birthday Courtney. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you. You are such a beautiful human being. You are talented and thoughtful and awesome and well I just love you to pieces. I hope you have a fantastic day. And I hope that hubby of yours spoils you like crazy!!!! Here are a few pictures from over the years!!!! Day one of your incredible life! You used to love it up there!!! I think this is one of my favourite pictures of you. I think it's cause you look all sweet and innocent...but you have that look that says "I can be a little terror too!". Always an entertainer!!! Another one of my favs. You are so beautiful, and Dad looks so handsome! Happy Birthday Sis - I love ya!
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Acceptance.....

One of my friends on Facebook (who is actually a "real life" friend too ) shared this video today. I just had to share it with you. This little girl knows what she is talking about. Acceptance is so important. In this big world with all it's problems we need to keep things simple and just love people for who they are, not what we think they should be.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Happy Birthday Jay!!

Today is my brother-in-law Jay's birthday. I can call him that now since he's officially been a part of the family since September. I'm pretty sure he was a part of the family the minute Courtney fell for him, but it's all official-like now!
Happy Birthday bro!
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Happy Birthday Charlie and a good message...

Today my Charlie dog turns 3!! I took her picture this morning as she was laying in my bed. I'm not sure if she was covering her face cause she was thinking, "oh no...another year older", or what!! I got her some cool treats that I will give her tonight when we all get home from school and work.
She is such a fun dog and I am so glad we have her. (thanks Chad and Julie!) I can't remember what it was like when we didn't have her....well I guess I can a bit....I had more room in my bed for sleeping and there wasn't hair on stuff!! But it's a small price to pay for the joy of having her in our family! She loves to play and she loves to cuddle.

I came across this video yesterday (thanks Jade!) and I thought it was just wonderful so I had to share. Alzheimer's is such an awful awful disease and we need to get the word out more so people start providing more support to these people and their families. It's so hard for both the person suffering from the disease and their families. If you know anyone dealing with this disease in some way, either having the disease or supporting someone who has the disease, please offer some support to them. They could use the help.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

I'm a Roadhammer!!!!

Well I was a roadhammer this weekend that's for sure. Friday morning at 8:00 AM we left for Kingston, for a tournament with the Spiking Sharks. Drove over, picked up Matt and then we were Kingston bound. Did a stop in Bowmanville for lunch and then kept on 'trucking' to Kingston. We got there about 2:10 PM. So we made pretty good time. The boys had fun trying to get transports to honk at them or just random people to wave at them.
Early Saturday morning we were up and on the road again - on our way to Kemptville for our volleyball tournament. We got to the location only to find out that our pool was playing at a different location..so on the road again..only 2km ..but still - you think they would have known before that morning...The boys got their new hoodies, so they put them on right away. They played well this weekend, but I have seen them play better. All in all they ended up in 5th overall - which was pretty good as the competition was pretty tough. After the tournament we did a quick stop at the Bulk Barn - to load up on some candy!!!! The boys managed to find some proof that their hoodies are NOT pink - they are Bubblegum!!! We headed for home after a yummy brunch made by my BFF Vicki. The boys didn't feel like stopping so we just drove straight through. They did some sleeping...and the downed a few Dr. Peppers and then we snacked on the candy we got at the Bulk Barn.....I'm not sure why...but when Joel was scooping out some ju-jubes he came across this defective one...and he just had to have it...AND eat it. Hopefully it didn't get "stuck" anywhere. We made it home about about 5:30 PM yesterday afternoon. All in all it was a good trip. The traffic was good and the boys had fun and I got to spend some time with my BFF!...but now it's Monday - back to the grind.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Cuteness...

We are heading to Kingston today!! yay!!! Joel has a volleyball tournament in Kemptville this weekend so my BFF Vicki said we could stay with her!!!! I am soooooooooooo looking forward to this weekend. I am going to see her again at the end of next month, but this time I get her all to myself!!!!
I thought I would leave you with a huge dose of cuteness today.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

H.R. Puff n Stuff

Well I think I am showing my age. The other day a work friend of mine and I were talking about shows kids watch. His little guy is just about 2 or maybe 2 and they are expecting another one. They have been told that it is a boy, but I hope by some miracle it is a girl. His mom had all boys and so far they are all having boys as well. It would be nice to get some pink in the mix there! Anyhow, we were talking about shows and I asked him if he ever saw the show H.R. Puff N Stuff. He looked at me like I was crazy, so I tried to explain the show...and well..telling someone it's about a little boy with a talking flute and a witch that flies around trying to get the flute and then this big dude tries to help the boy...it's a bit hard to explain. The other night Jade and I were in White Oaks Mall and we went into the Cinema store and they had an H.R. Puff N Stuff bobble head doll and the whole season on DVD and they have a movie as well!
I managed to find a clip on You Tube too of the beginning of the show. Click here to view it
I think I might have to get that DVD to watch it all again!
Chow for now
Jacqui

Fun Weekend

Well I had a fun weekend this weekend!!!!! Courtney was singing at Buggy's Diner on Main Street in Stouffville and my Mom decided that we should go and surprise her! So Saturday morning she came and picked me up and we headed Stouffville way. We stopped in to see Granny first to wish her a Happy St. Patrick's Day and to give her some green "bling" to wear for the day! She looked great as always and was patiently (er...not so patiently) waiting for her lunch! She gets frustrated (which I don't blame her) cause they announce, "lunch will be served in 15 minutes) and then it's 30 to 45 minutes later that they get their meal. She does not like when that happens, and unfortunately it happens more often than not! She was happy to see us and we were happy to see her so that is the main thing. We then ventured on to Woodstock. Jade had to work this weekend so we dropped her off on our way. Then onto the 401 we went until around the Cambridge area we stopped for a quick snack/lunch at Tim Horton's. We were looking for winning cups...but unfortunately all we won was a donut. We grabbed some gas and then we were on our way again. It was getting quite foggy as we got into Stouffville and it was still early in the day. The temperature had dropped a bit so things were misting up! We walked around Giant Tiger a bit to see what they had to offer and then we headed for supper. We had planned on stopping at a steak house restaurant that Jay had recommended....but when we went in the door and sat at the table and looked at the menu....we decided our money would be better spent elsewhere. The cheapest thing on the menu was $20 and that was just a small plate of pasta.....there were $500 bottles of wine...so we packed up and went to Swiss Chalet!!! It was much better and much more within our price range. We then went over to Wal-Mart to put in some time. We were wanting to get to Buggy's Diner before Courtney got there so we would surprise her when she saw us, so we were aiming to head there for 8:00 PM. When we got there however, she was already there and noticed us coming in the door! She was surprised though so that was good. I saw a lot of people who I had remembered from seeing in Courtney's Music Mania show, and a couple that I had met at her wedding. My friend Bob was there as well which was a nice surprise. There were 4 people in Courtney's group singing. Karen, Vince, Gary and Courtney. They sang folky, Irish songs and did a great job. Vince has an incredible voice and he sounds like Roger Whittaker! I made a comment to him that he sounded like him and he started singing one of his songs and OMG it was exactly like him....so he said to me....."how about we say, Roger Whittaker sounds like me!!!!" Courtney has met some wonderful people in Stouffville, and some very talented people as well. They are so welcoming and caring it is nice to get to know them better.
At the very end of the performance, someone hollered "Danny Boy" so Courtney sang that song - I hope this video comes through - it was in a bar remember so the quality may not be that great.

After the performance, we headed back to Courtney's place. (we had some laundry to do....a certain someone accidentally poured a beer in my lap - I'm not mentioning any names, cause I have forgiven him...) We watched a bit of Bridesmaids and had a good laugh before heading to bed. We had to be up in time for church in the morning.
I was looking forward to attending Courtney's church. We had to get there early because the choir had to practice singing the song for the service. Dave, one of the congregation members asked mom to sing with them, so she had to learn the song quickly that morning. They asked me as well....but I just watched! The minister was the same woman who performed her marriage, and Mom and I were looking forward to hearing her preach. Wow - she was great. Their church is so welcoming and so interactive. They have a little section at the beginning where people have the chance to make any announcement they need to the congregation instead of just reading about it in the bulletin. They they also have a "joys and concerns" section where people are invited to share any joys they have experienced over the past week or if they have any concerns and wish to ask for prayers. It was very nice. I even teared up at a few of the joys and concerns. Rev. Nancy gave a wonderful sermon and it was easy to listen to and you could totally relate to what she was saying. The choir sounded awesome..(of course under the wonderful direction of Courtney) and it was a very enjoyable time. We even lucked out because it was "soup lunch" day, so we got to chose from a wide variety of soups and homemade sundaes and cookies for lunch!!! What a treat.
After that, Courtney took us by the scrap booking store - for future reference as it was closed on Sunday, and then we headed back to Courtney's. We left as soon as we go there because we had to pick up Jade in Woodstock after her shift at work at 3:00 PM. We made it back to Parkhill around 5:30 PM or so.
What a fun weekend, hanging out with family.
I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend as well.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Happy Birthday Kim!!!!

Today is my dear friend Kim's birthday! Mom and I were hanging at her house this weekend with her family, so we took her a little birthday muffin and put a candle on it. I knew her birthday wasn't until today, but I also knew I wasn't going to see her on her birthday, so Mom had whipped up some muffins and iced them up with some cream cheese icing and put some sprinkles and then we did the candle thing too!!!!
I hope you have a great day Kim! You deserve it. Get some R & R today too! That's an order!!! Let others do for you today, instead of you doing for everyone else.
I luv ya!
Happy Birthday!
Jacqui

This weekend...

Well Friday started with us running out of oil for our furnace...so it was a little chilly in the house. It is supposed to be nice for the next week, so we are going to see if we can get through with just heaters instead of having to spend $700 + on oil for the furnace which will sit there all summer....hopefully Old Man Winter is nice to us and stays away now. So Saturday was also a bit chilly so we watched a couple of movies cuddled on the couch with some blankets! We decided to watch The Grey with Liam Neeson and The Cup. The Grey's overview reads....After their plane crashes in Alaska, seven oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step. It was an okay movie....it's not what I thought it was going to be, but it was okay. I like Liam Neeson, he is a great actor, but I thought he was gonna kick some serious butt - but that was not the case, but it was okay. Glad I didn't' spend the money to see it in the theater. The other one we watched was called The Cup. It was about the 2002 Melbourne Cup horse race. I enjoyed it. It was based on a true story and I always like those kind. It was sad and funny too. It was a pretty good movie.
Then on Sunday, I took my Mom and we went and helped my good friend Kim put together the wedding invitations she was making for her nephew. They are beautiful. Made in a nice soft pink colour with some bling! Very very pretty! Then Mom and I went out to dinner! So that is always fun. Hope you all had a great weekend too!
Chow for now.
Jacqui

Crazy Cupcakes

A while ago my little sister Courtney made some cupcakes for her colleagues at work ( I think it was). They were so stinkin' cute. They were little turkeys! Aren't these adorable? Then she made some more later and they were little sheep. Check out how cute these are. So I went on the hunt to add some "suggestions" to her cupcake portfolio!!!!!
Here are some of the creations I found!!
Owls
Peeking Monsters
Popcorn
Toadstools
Green Monster
Hedgehog
Angry Birds
Indiana Jones
Lawn mower
More sheep (these guys remind me of the ones on that mattress commercial)
Hamburgers
Rainbows
Witches
Little pots - aren't these cute!!!!
Chow for now
Jacqui

Cookie Monster

Every once in a while Joe will start snooping through the cupboards. I’m not sure if he is looking for something specifically or if he is just seeing what we have. The other day he was rummaging around in the cupboard and he came across some Butterscotch chips. He loves butterscotch and caramel – I think he would put it on everything if he could. This past weekend whenever Jade was in the kitchen he would come down questioning whether she was going to make her dad some cookies and put butterscotch chips in them……well this did not encourage her to make any! So I decided I would make some…not sure if I wanted to treat him…..or just get him to shut up…but I made some…I even doubled the butterscotch chips!!!!

Maybe this will keep him quiet and keep him from rummaging through the cupboards for a while!!!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Fancy Tarts!

A while back my older sister Diana posted a blog entry about how she was making tarts and how she was using our Granny’s tart tins to make them. I gave her a hard time and told her I could make fancy tarts too if I had those fancy tin tart shells! Well…honestly – I am not a good pastry maker. I’ll toot my own horn and say I am a pretty good baker and cook, but my pastry needs work. A couple of weeks after Diana’s post, my Mom asked me to come by after work cause she had a few things for me. I had no idea what she could possibly have for me, so I went over there very curious.

When I got there she handed me a bag. I started to open the bag and I’m sure my smile was huge!!! Look what was inside!!!

So I finally got around to making some tarts using the tins. Like I said, my pastry needs work, but here they are all ready for the filling. Here they are in the oven ready to cook and here they are all cooked!

My family loves these tarts. They are a recipe from my Great Aunt Thelma.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Footloose old and new...

The other night we decided to watch the original Footloose move with Kevin Bacon and then watch the new 2011 Footloose movie. It was actually quite interesting to watch them back to back cause it gave us a chance to see how close or how different they were.

I remember the first time I saw the movie Footloose. Mom, Courtney and I went to the Shipka Drive-In to watch it and we had a big jumbo jar of cheese balls…and I remember Courtney ate so many of them she threw up! Not a real fond memory for Courtney I am sure, but it’s funny how you can remember what you were doing when you see certain movies or hear certain songs.

Kevin Bacon played Ren in the original and Kenny Wormald played in the 2011 version. Although Kenny did okay – I liked Kevin Bacon a lot better. Sometimes you just can’t improve on the original. Here is what Kevin Bacon looks like now.

Lori Singer played Ariel in the original and Julianne Hough played in the 2011 version. Julianne is much prettier than Lori Singer, and she can certainly dance circles around her for sure. Here is what Lori Singer looks like now

Chris Penn played Willard in the original and Miles Teller played in the 2011 version. Both of these guys were awesome. I loved how Chris Penn made Willard seem a bit simple, but a good loyal friend, and he looked great in his overalls! Miles did a great job of playing Willard as well. He had some very funny lines in the movie. Sadly Chris Penn passed away in 2006 from heart disease at the age of 40. Miles has some scars on his face that we were wondering about and I found that he was in a very serious car accident where some friends were killed and the scars are from that.

John Lithgow played Rev. Shaw Moore in the original and Dennis Quaid played in the 2011 version. I love Dennis Quaid….but he was not a convincing preacher. John Lithgow could NOT be improved upon in this role. Here is what John Lithgow looks like now.

Dianne Weist played Mrs. Moore in the original and Andie McDowell played her in the 2011 version. Although her character did not have a lot of screen time in the movie, when she was on, it was usually in a critical moment. Dianne Weist was much more convincing as a preacher’s wife than Andie McDowell was. Not to say her performance was bad, but just not as convincing. Here is what Dianne Weist looks like now.

It was interesting to see how they made the movie a bit more modern – instead of racing tractors, they raced school buses at a derby race track. You could also see the changing faces of our cultures as time goes on as well. In the original movie there were no African American characters and in the 2011 version there were many African American characters.

Some parts of the movie were word-for-word what was in the original and other parts were the same actions, but were done by different characters.

All in all the remake was well done – I’m glad they didn’t destroy it – but I still must say I liked the original best. Kevin Bacon has been and will always be one of my favourites!

Chow for now,

Jacqui