Surprise Day at the Gym

Here's the church... And here's the steeple... Unfortunately, if you open this church up you won't see many people (except maybe workers). St. Mark's Church is very much a landmark in Coxheath. It is located at the very beginning of Coxheath Road. However the church was closed a few years ago and sold to a guest home in Sydney. The guest home is moving it to their property to make it easily accessible to their residents. About a month ago, the church has been getting prepared for the big move; siding has been removed (exposing the original wood siding), windows boarded up, stair railings removed, and of course, the steeple as well. The church will surely be missed by all those who live in Coxheath and the surrounding areas. We pass by it everyday. From my research, it looks like it was built in 1891.

Crazy Carpet Coasting

Welcome Back!!!

I am so happy to announce that my friend, Christine, and her cutie patudy pie daughter, Maia, are back home for a visit. Christine decided to fly home from Alberta to look after her mom as her mom just had knee surgery. After a delayed flight and another missed flight, resulting in a stay overnight in Halifax, Christine and Maia are finally back in good old Cape Breton! It was very exciting to see how much Maia has grown since the summer. She is as cute as ever and is growing so fast! Christine and I went to pick up some supplies for her mom's party. Today is her birthday! This afternoon, I joined Christine's parents, her two aunts, along with Christine and Maia to celebrate this special ocassion. After delicious cake and tea, we watched Maia on the floor as she demonstrated her willingness to begin crawling! I'm sure by the time Christine and Maia return home next month, Maia will already become very mobile and will be crawling everywhere! How lucky I am to have them home for a month!!!

Match Maker Today is Janell's special day! Here's wishing you lots of good things to come your way! Happy Birthday from Heather, Steve, and Tyler. XOXO

Birthdays Continued

It's very seldom that I'm home during the winter here in Cape Breton, especially during February, so it was a pleasure to be able to actually spend the day with a terrific friend to celebrate her birthday. Today Rhonda turned 35! We made plans to have lunch and catch a movie. It's been ages since we both saw a movie in the theatres. We really enjoyed seeing 'Paul Blart:Mall Cop'. It was "fluffy and fun"...LOL. After the movie, we exchanged birthday cakes. I gave her and her mom a piece of Tyler's birthday cake and she gave Tyler, Mom, and I, each a piece of chocolate cake with boiled icing that her mom made for her birthday. Cake exchanges are awesome :) Anyway, it was wonderful spending time with Rhonda on her special day! Our buddy, Glen, from Maryland is also celebrating his birthday today. Happy birthday to two wonderful people in our lives.

Make A Wish

The Birthday Party

For Tyler's 3rd birthday, he wanted to have a party at one of his favourite places. Our fry guy, along with eight of his buddies, celebrated his special day at McDonald's. Everyone had a fantastic time, however when we first arrived we were quite disappointed. We arrived to find out that we were the 4th birthday party that day. In fact, the party before us was still going on when we got there and the place looked like a disaster with food on the floor left over from the parties before. The hostress, who said she normally works back shift, told us we would have to wait a bit until she cleaned things up. Luckily the jungle gym was in the same area, so the kids were kept busy. Tyler's buddies: Andrew, Cameron, Dawsyn, Noah, Hailey, Emma, and Cairan joined the birthday boy for the big celebration. Unfortunately we missed his little buddy, Katie, who was suffering from a nasty cold. It was really nice to get all his buddies together. After the children ran around Play Place, it was time for Happy Meals! The children played a little more after finishing their meals. They couldn't get enough of the jungle gym. Then it was back to the table where we sang Happy Birthday to the special 3 year old. Tyler's cake was a Thomas cake. Unfortunately I can't take credit for baking and decorating the cake this year. I didn't bring my tools with me to Nanny's house so Tyler picked out a cake from the catalog at the store. After everyone finished their piece of cake, Tyler opened up his presents. Tyler loved all his presents so much! I wish I video taped some of the comments he made, they were really cute! Each time he got a card, he would say it was mail...LOL. Finally, after all the gifts were opened and the thank-you's said, our hostress asked Tyler if he wanted to pick out a gift from McDonald's. He had a big box of treasures to go through and he finally chose a comb as his gift. The hostress also gave him a bath toy too that he really liked. By the end of the party and after everyone had already gone home, Tyler came up to me as I was cleaning up and said he was ready to go for a "nap" now, which meant he was ready to go to bed for the night. We packed up the car and about 10 mins of being in the car, Tyler fell asleep. What a fantastic day he had! We are so thankful for everyone's birthday wishes and the chance to be able to have a Cape Breton birthday party for him with all our good friends here. There was only one thing missing and that of course, was Daddy.

Tyler Turns Three!!!

Wow, how time flies by! Today Steve and I are officially parents of a 3 year old! We started this morning by giving Tyler a special breakfast that normally he would never have; I gave him a chocolate chip cookie. However to my surprise, he passed the opportunity up by asking for a tomato instead...LOL. Then at Tiny Tots, today's theme happened to be "Birthday". We celebrated everyone's birthday today, but because it was actually Tyler's he had the honour of blowing out the candles! The celebration continues tonight with a big party where he'll be accompanied by all his buddies.

Not From Around Here

It was a zoo at the mall today ...literally! This morning we went to the interactive zoo to see all the amazing reptiles that we don't normally get to see around this neck of the woods. Among the reptiles there were alligators, turtles, vultures, huge snakes, and lizards. The zoo travelled all the way from Ottawa to get here. It was a two day drive for them. Being an interactive zoo, there were several reptiles that we could actually touch! It was really cool! Tyler and I petted a turtle and a really long snake. Surprisingly, the snake was actually pleasant to touch. It felt quite soft.

Mom's Big Surprise

For awhile now, I knew about the quilt Steve's aunt was making for my mom. Aunt Julie phoned us shortly after my father passed away and asked me what my mom's favourite colours were and that she was planning on making a quilt for her. She asked me to keep it a secret as she wanted to surprise my mom. Julie made a beautiful quilt for Tyler , so I knew the amazing talent she possessed. Julie and my mom met one afternoon while visiting a family friend in New York when Mom came down to be with us just after Tyler was born. During that meeting, Julie said that she felt from my mom that she was "a kind and gracious spirit". Anyone who knows my mom will tell you that is definitely Mom's characteristics. Mom is the most caring person I know and I'm not just saying this because she is my mom. When I answered the door this morning and said there was a parcel for her, my mom kept disbelieving that the box was indeed for her. When she opened it and saw the beautiful quilt Julie made especially for her, she hugged it so tight and said that she really needed this to cheer her up today. Then when she read the card and lovely letter that Julie wrote, she was almost in tears. Thank you so much, Aunt Julie, for making this absolutely gorgeous quilt for my mom and also for totally making her day. It is just perfect!!! This hasn't been an easy time for my mom, but it's friends and family like Aunt Julie that really help her get through each day.

Daddy's Deployment

Hooray! As of today, we are exactly 3 months away from the end of Steve's deployment. We'll be apart for a total of 11 months from each other by the time he finishes up. It hasn't been an easy road for any of us, especially Tyler. When Steve first left us in June, Tyler would say how he missed Daddy and his toys back home. We noticed he became easily frustrated over things. There would be several times when he would cry for his daddy to come back. I tried to explain that Daddy had to go to work and that it was far away, but he would be coming to get us after the Easter Bunny came to visit. I also explained to him that Daddy was in the desert where the camels live. I showed him on the map where Iraq is located and where Nanny's house is. Then after Steve and I got web cams and Tyler could see and talk to Daddy, things changed for the better. Tyler looked forward to each day so that he could talk to Daddy on the "puter", as he called it. Daddy would make him laugh and Tyler would try and do the same for Steve. For Christmas, Daddy sent him some special gifts. One gift was a book especially written for children discussing deployments for families. The book was given to his office by the author and then the office presented it to Steve. Daddy wrote a special note in it just for his son. Not only did Daddy give him the book, but he also gave him a camel from Iraq. When you push the button it plays an Iraqi song. Tyler still really misses Daddy; lately, whenever we are in parking lots he yells out for his father. I'm guessing it's because there are a lot of vehicles there and he thinks that Steve might be parked there also. Talking with Steve everyday has really helped us get by. Of course, we are also extremely thankful for our faith in God in keeping Steve safe. To say the least, May 18th will be a very happy day for the Smith Family.

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

Tyler was busy looking out the window one evening when all of a sudden I heard a big gasp, then he came running to me. "Nanny is putting tomatoes on the step! Nanny is putting tomatoes on the step, Mommy!", he kept excitedly saying to me. I thought to myself, "this ought to be interesting". So I left what I was doing and looked out the window to see what he was talking about. Here was my mom putting ice melt on the step to get rid of the ice. However because the ice melt came in a huge bag, she took some and put in a tomato can. So no, Nanny didn't lose her mind by thinking tomatoes were going to melt her ice...especially since these tomatoes had no salt added.

You Never Hurt The One You Love

Take a look at this cute butterfly Tyler made at play group today! It is for Family Violence Prevention Week. We traced Tyler's hands to make the wings. The poem on the butterfly reads:

On the Earth And in the Air, With Friends and, Creatures everywhere I promise to use A gentle touch. As a little child I can do this much!

Sunday Brunch

Every now and then we go over to North Sydney for brunch. My parents used to go over there often and whenever I came home for a visit, they would always take me. Today we decided to go again. Since Nanny and Tyler were wearing matching sweaters, I decided to bring along my camera to snap a photo to show you all how cute they looked together. Tyler's beautiful sweater was given to him by his grandmother in Florida. The ladies always make a big fuss over Tyler and today they spoiled him even more. One of the chefs came out and asked Tyler if he would like ice cream for dessert. There was definitely and great big "yes!" from Tyler. Then our server brought over a special treat bag for Tyler filled with a beach ball, activity book, crayons, and tattoos! While Tyler ate his ice cream, I decided to put some tattoos on his face. I think the sun tattoo was very appropriate for Tyler as he is our little ray of sunshine, especially for Nanny.

Valentine's Day X 2

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! Steve and I actually celebrated our Valentine's Day yesterday, which happens to be a trend for us for some reason. For the past four years or so, we have been typically exchanging our gifts the day before. I guess you can say that we've made it our own special day just for us. With this being said, yesterday I was greeted at the door with the most beautiful bouquet of roses! Attached was a very sweet note from Steve. The roses totally made my day and I am so grateful for the love and caring my wonderful husband has shown me and our son over the years. Meanwhile yesterday, on the other side of the world, Steve finally received the Valentine's parcel I sent him 2 weeks ago. I had been so nervous that it was lost because mail typically doesn't take that long to reach Steve and on top of that, I baked him heart shaped cookies which I hoped wouldn't go bad or get smashed. Steve said the cookies arrived in good shape and he also enjoyed the other goodies Tyler and I sent him. I made a special book shaped box to put the cookies in that meant a lot to me, so I was so happy to see him receive it. And this morning, I took Tyler to his Tiny Tots class where the kids wore red or pink and made a Valentine paper bag and some Valentines to put inside. My friend, Charmaine, took this adorable photo of Tyler today. Afterward, we joined some of our friends from class for brunch and then when we returned home, Nanny wanted to treat us for some ice cream for a Valentine treat. It was very delicious and a nice way to end of Valentine holiday which happened to take place over the past 2 days :)

The other day Nanny was drawing with Tyler and I noticed she drew this picture of him. Impressive for just a doodle!

Look Ma, No Hands

The 3 Bears taking a nap.

PERRY, Harold E. "Hub" Age 86, of West Hill Road A, passed away February 3, 2009. Harold is survived by his wife, Ann Crossed Ross-Perry; son and daughter-in-law, Jeffry and Toni Perry of Elmira; daughters and sons-in-law, Carol and Bernie Morey of Park Station, Sandra and James Forst of Winter Park, FL, Julie and Paul Daugherty of Elmira; 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, three step-children, along with several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Harold E. and Donna Marie Westbrook Perry; brother, Richard; and sister, Madonna. Harold was a decorated WWII Marine Corps veteran, fighting with the Sixth Marine Division as an artillery Sergeant in the Guadalcanal and Okinawa campaigns. An avid Harley Davidson enthusiast, Hub spent some of his retirement years traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada on his Harley. Hub loved his country home, watching and feeding the birds. He loved and enjoyed the wildlife on West Hill. Interment, with full Military Honors, will follow at Woodlawn National Cemetery. It was Hub's wish that donations in his memory be made to the SPCA Animal Shelter, Route 352, Elmira, NY 14903. Arrangements by McInerny Funeral Home.

Cold Play

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hail shall keep us away from play group. Well...maybe not, but it was quite cold this morning. With -13 degrees Celsius and the cold wind blowing in our faces, it was a rather dreadful walk from our car to play group. We welcomed the warmth from inside the building tremendously! We are definitely looking forward to some weather with tad bit warmer temperatures, so at least we can enjoy the winter.

Tyler DOES the Darnest Things

Just the other day, Tyler brought to me his food creation. At the time, he was eating green peppers, however I guess he decided to add a little twist. He got one of Nanny's hair pins for her rollers from the bathroom and poked a Cheerio and a piece of green pepper though...quite the shish kabob! Maybe he'll become a chef someday, though I hope he uses a different type of skewer!

Jammies at the Gym

The kids in Tyler's Tiny Tot class got to wear their PJ's for an extended amount of time this morning. It was Pajama Day today! When I first told Tyler that he could wear his jammies to the gym today, he replied "No way, Mommy, jammies are not for outside." LOL We picked his extra warm fleece "green bean" jammies that Nanny bought for him and added his long johns and a shirt underneath so that he would be warm. Instead of sneakers, he wore his puppy dog slippers. It was a great day at the gym and I even caught him sharing nicely with the other kids. Whenever he saw a ball go rolling by, he would bring it back to the kid who rolled it.

Tyler & Our 26 lb Cat

Tyler: Say "cheese", Weegee. Luigi: Did someone mention food???

Ready or Not

There's nothing like a good game of Hide & Seek to help pass the time and have some fun. Tyler and I always sort of played of a version of the game, but without the counting at the beginning and the formal "Ready or Not" announcement. However for the past week, all of a sudden Tyler would go to a wall and start counting. Then when he was finished he would say in his cute little voice "Ready or not, here I come!". It so adorable! Every time I hear him, I have to fight not to laugh and give away my hiding spot. Tyler always wants to be the finder, which is fine with me because it gives him more practice with counting. My usual hiding spots are behind doors or walls and I usually wait for him to get close before I jump out and yell "Boo". Every time he jumps a little himself and laughs up a storm. Then he runs off again and starts counting. This photo captures his laughter after I yelled "Boo" when he found me. Happy Belated Birthday to not only a terrific brother-in-law, but a great guy. Sending Peter lots of good wishes for the year ahead.

Grandpa 1923-2009 We love you!!!

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Steve's grandfather who passed away quite suddenly this morning. He was Steve's mother's father. Grandpa lead a full life and he always had lots of interesting stories to share. He was always so kind and caring and had a love for nature. I personally got to know him through our regular e-mails we would send back and forth. Grandpa, you will never be forgotten and we will miss you with all hearts.

Groundhog Day

This morning we decided to skip out on our play group. Tyler and I have been battling nasty colds and being in an enclosed space, we didn't want to contaminate anyone there. Charmaine phoned me this morning and asked if we would like to join her and Cameron at the wildlife park. Charmaine took the day off because Cameron wasn't feeling great and she didn't want to contaminate the daycare kids. So we thought getting out into the fresh air would help our boys feel better. The beautiful sun and the warmer temperature was so inviting after a week of cold weather and staying inside. The Two Rivers Wildlife park was holding their annual Groundhog Day celebrations. Their resident groundhog named Tunnel was going to make his annual prediction. Tunnel grew a large crowd of people, including a few groups of school kids who made signs of their own prediction. After a few speeches from some members of government, Tunnel finally made his appearance at 11:22 a.m. Of course, being a beautiful sunny day it was no surprise that Tunnel saw his shadow which meant 6 more weeks of winter was in order for the people of Cape Breton. Most of the school kids were happy with this prediction because it meant more time to play in the snow and most importantly more chances of school being canceled due to snow storms. Soon the hype was over and people made their separate ways, we decided to take full advantage of being out at the park. We headed on over to the wildlife trail and viewed all the animals. It had been quite some time since my last trip to this park in the wintertime. I was so used to coming here in the summer when the animals are escaping the heat by going in their little houses. Today most of them were out so we had a great chance to see them all and take some photos. Our walk through the park worked up an appetite. Luckily the park offers a great canteen where we took a nice break to relax and get warm. Our fun wasn't over then however, soon we were back on our feet and hopped on to enjoy a beautiful wagon ride throughout the park where we enjoyed a different view of some of the wildlife. Unfortunately after the wagon ride it was time to head on home. What a day we had! As always we had a blast with our friends Charmaine and Cameron. We were so glad to take the day and get the boys out. The fresh air really did them good and let them take a break from being inside all day. Every time I come to this park, I always forget the full range of things they have to do here and since winter started, there are even more, including skating and sledding. We definitely have to come back and spend another fun filled day here soon! And since Tunnel predicted another 6 weeks of winter, we have more opportunity to do so.