Spring with my men

Spring in Chicago got off to a quick start, but summer took a little longer to make an appearance.

It was important for me to take advantage of any opportunity I could get, to spend time outdoors with my little Xander man.

Helping grandma in the garden

 We visited numerous parks and playgrounds all around the suburbs

We visited the Brookfield Zoo for the first time, but got there pretty late in the afternoon and only stayed for about an hour and a half

This is his first mold-a-rama experience, which would eventually lead to a future addiction..

We went up to Milwaukee and spent some time with dada during the week.  Got to go to AJ Bombers, where they have the best peanut delivery system I've ever seen....

Oh.. and they have POUTINE

Officially my favorite restaurant in all of Milwaukee ;P

 While up there, I took Xander to the Milwaukee Zoo where he got to see a lot more animal friends

More mold-o-rama fun, and four less dollars in my pocket

Back down to Chicago.  Bri started playing in an outdoor soccer league, so we would go to cheer him on (and to kick a ball around in the open fields)

We visited the Graylsake flea market at the Lake County Fair Grounds, just a 5 minute drive from our new house

A couple weeks later, we headed back up to Milwaukee to soak in the rays at the beach...

 Aaaaand to celebrate THIS guys THIRD BIRTHDAY!

 How lucky is Xander?! The staff at the aLoft hotel made him a little birthday package :)

Enjoyed a fun date-night with the hubby at Just for Laughs in Chicago - got to see some talented comedians and laughed our asses off

We were delighted to receive an invitation to a birthday party for our friend's son Carter.

Xander got to make PIZZA! at California Pizza Kitchen in Oakbrook.  He had so much fun and made some friends along the way :)

Playdates are always fun when it involves these two kiddos:

We met with our friend Lucille and her girls Ryler and Baya, for a fun day at the Buffalo Grove splash pad.  

 It was a little cool that day, but this was no problem for little X -- he figured out that the cement was warm, so every time he got a little chilly, I'd find him on the ground like this:

So this was just the beginning of our adventures... Spring stretched itself out as long as it could, and Summer eventually showed up to the party --  that's when the fun REALLY started!

Getting into the swing of things

I've been in Mississauga for 4 days now, and things seem to be going pretty well (for the most part).  On my second day here, I went grocery shopping and grabbed a bunch of healthy food to stock the fridge with.  I chose to eff off on my diet during my last week in Winnipeg and it really affected me -- I felt guilty for eating such crap, and my body was making me pay for it.  So eating healthy again, was my first priority once I got settled here.

Spending Halloween here was a little different -- I'm used to really cold Halloween's back in Winnipeg, so when I saw that the forecast was supposed to be 7 degrees with light showers, I was stoked that we wouldn't have to trick-or-treat in the SNOW!

During the day, my sis baked some cookies and we (err.. I mean, the KIDS) decorated them with coloured icing and candies..

Once it started to get dark, we got the kids dressed and ready to go door to door, asking for pure sugar candy.  This was Xander's first 'real' Halloween, so it was pretty fun

Woody, from Toy Story

Waiting nicely for his turn

It's sad that Xierra was in Winnipeg, we were in Mississauga and Brian was in Milwaukee this Halloween :(  I liked getting dressed up as a family -- we did it last year and I can't wait to do it again!

Schmid Family 2011

I'm happy to report that I was able to hit up the gym here at my sister's condo!  I love the accessibility to it -- I'm hoping to go at least 3-4 times a week.

Yesterday, for the first time, I attempted taking the stairs both down to the gym and up from the gym -- I must add that my sister lives on the 35th floor of a high rise condo [It's actually a TRUE 30 floor condo, as it doesn't have any floors containing the #4, nor does it have a 13th floor].

I'll admit that I almost died coming up -- but I made it!  My legs were sore all day today, but it felt reeeeally good.

Not sure what the next few days have in store, but hopefully something somewhat productive. 

I'm going to try to venture out to downtown Toronto next week with just Xander and I (via public transporation) -- I'll be sure to blog about the experience.

Yaya Monster

Wow.  If I thought that Brian leaving the country was hard...or that selling my house was hard -- heck, if I thought pushing a baby out of my body was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, I thought wrong.
Today, I experienced heart ache at it's absolute finest.  Today, I had to say goodbye to my baby girl, Xierra. *ouch*  If you know anything about this girl, you'll know that she is probably one of the brightest and most mature 8 year olds you'll ever meet in your life.  Very respectful and extremely grown up.

We did something tonight, that we have never done before -- we held each other tight and cried together.

In that moment, I saw a side of her that I haven't seen in a long time.  I saw my sweet, sweet little girl, sad and vulnerable, crying her eyes out uncontrollably at the thought of her mommy leaving.  It was heartbreaking but also comforting to know that she still exists.  Behind that advanced intelligence and maturity, she's still just a little girl, after all.  And that just makes me love her even more.

As difficult as it is to leave her, I'm confident that she's going to be okay without me...for a while, at least (puberty will be a whole other challenge, but we'll figure that out when we get there...)
For now, I just have to trust that her dad will take good care of her, and know that I can communicate with her easier now, than ever before.  (Thank you Apple!)

My little Yaya Monster -- your smile brightens up my day, and your laugh can carry me through the darkest nights.  Know that I will love you always.  No matter how many miles are between us, we will forever be connected. You will always be my baby girl.  Thank you for being as sweet as you are.  Never change.

My October

I just spent a good 30 minutes on Pinterest, and realized that if I have the time to 'repin' stuff on there, I have the time to post something on my blog.


Hello blog world!  You have recently become such an unfamiliar place.  I'm glad to be back on here and sharing some of my recent life adventures...(okay, 'adventures' might not be the best description...it makes me sound adventurOUS, which I'm not).


Well this'll be short and sweet, but I'll just do a quick photo recap of my family-focused October:

at 'A Maze In Corn' cornmaze 

Yes, the Winnipeg Jets are back, and we went to the HOME OPENER! #partofhistory

birthday parties were attended

pumpkins were carved

and costumes were worn

In business news, I met with Emma from Events by Emma.  Exciting to say the least.  She was in search of an invitation vendor to partner with, and refer her clients to.  A girlfriend of mine worked for her and mentioned my business, and VOILA!  A meeting was set up!
I'm excited for the opportunity to work with such a high profile event design company :)


So that's pretty much it.  I mean, obviously there are a (more than a) few things that I've left out, but there's no sense boring you with the details.


Maybe I'll be back in a few weeks from now?  Haha.. I can only hope.


Happy November!

the half-naked mom

Our summer, so far, has been super enjoyable.  Mother nature has been good to us Winnipegers, and my family and I have done our best to take full advantage of the warm hot weather.

With Xierra out of school, she's spending her weekdays over at her dad's / grandma's house(s) -- so when we get her on the weekend, we've been trying our best to spend some quality family time together, doing FUN things.

This particular day, we spent soaking up the rays in the backyard - pool, sprinkler, lawn chairs, beach towels and all.

Add a pitcher or sangria to the mix, and call it perfect:

I am in love with reading this book -- I don't want it to end.  If I were 2000x sexier and a 10 years older, I would think that I wrote the book myself!

Hope everyone is getting out there and enjoying time with their families.  It won't be long till it's -40C, so let's all take in the heat while we've got it!

CHEERS!