Home Slough Home.

I like to believe that being named after the month of April makes my birthday month an extra special one. I joke that because this is my month, I milk it to no end. I also like to believe that sometimes things happen for a reason. I also like to believe that sometimes faraway dreams become reality. This month we sold our little house {in less than a week} and bought a duplex at the end of a quiet street {minutes away from our current home}. The sellers of the duplex are actually our dear friends who decided to plant their roots one province over. They moved away almost two years and tenants reside in the home currently.

I have grown fond of their house over the years. Dinners, backyard bbq's, birthday parties, the girls bathing in the claw foot tub together. I have loved their home and always pictured living there. It gives me goosebumps really.  

My birthday month became really stressful {house showings}, paperwork{initial here & here & oh, here!}, last minute panic and finally a big sigh of relief on the last week of April. This entire process happened rather quickly and was emotionally draining. Saying goodbye to our first home that we renovated since day one will be hard. However it was time for us to move on and start fresh in a new home that we already loved from the beginning. The Besth's are on the move and we couldn't be happier.

And our dear friends will still have a connection to their former home during visits.  

Our current backyard.

Our new backyard covered with grass.

See you on July 1st!

Beyond the fence is a slough, beyond the slough is farmland.

I can't wait for Summer.

xoxo

39.

Yesterday I turned "39 & holding". Woah. Luckily, my birthday fell on a Saturday so I spent the entire afternoon/evening with my family - my parents and my sisters and their kids and my many nieces and nephews. Every year I feel more grateful and appreciative of what I have in my life.

We sat around the dinner table to dine on a delicious Easter feast right down to the roast beast. Mom made turkey complete with stuffing... and a side dish of olives, just for me. {I may have eaten 14 but who is counting?} We laughed a lot, ate a lot and felt an enormous sense of love from my family. This gal is truly lucky.

Today is my Mom's birthday! Our birthday are eight hours apart.

Happy Birthday Mom. xoxo

{sorry for disclosing your age Mom!}

Hi. It's been awhile!

Hello & Happy Spring! It's been two whole months since a post from the Besth Life. We're chugging along here. Now it's Spring and the cherry  blossoms are here and old Man Winter is over. Thank goodness. I found this particular winter long and cold ... and wet. My favorite season is Spring which means longer days and the sound of birds tweeting away. This makes a difference to my day! The air smells fresh and my children's clothes are fitting smaller. Here's a brief update: Abby has three months of kindergarten left! We read her recent report card and she's thriving. She tells us often how much she loves school. Uber proud. Our guy Hudson is finally speaking in 'full' sentences! We gots communication! He's very active and climbs on everything. Always testing himself us.The kids are playing together which means less adult supervision. We are loving this new stage as parents and it's awesome to see them get along {well, most days!}. Oh, I finally purchased a second hand Canon Rebel. Am excited to shoot some close tight shots and get some lessons from my sister. xoxo 

Abby all dressed up for her gal pal's birthday party.

Nick and Hudson making faces.

Abby arriving home. Spent the day downtown with Daddy last Saturday. {this was the second shot I took with the 'new' camera}

St. Patrick's display hung from our lights.

 

Spectacles.

On very first Friday of January, Abby got glasses. Two months ago, a random vision test in school determined that Abby required further eye examinations. You see {excuse the pun!}, her parent's do not wear glasses. We never saw any major clues that she needed to wear them. Looking back, she watched tv with her head turned slightly and tentative walking up/down the stairs. One eye was compensating for the other.  Farsightedness which now all makes sense.

{Selected a pink 'princess' glasses bag.}

I watched Abby in the car the ENTIRE ride home in the rear view window. Her eyes opened wide, moving her eyes all around, her hand touching the window while looking out the window. I couldn't help but wonder what she was seeing with her newly improved vision. Then I felt really bad, like we failed her big time. {Nick later told me he felt the same way.}Two weeks in, Abby is wearing her specs without hesitation. Thata girl. xo

January Snapshots.

A quiet Friday night. {And Nick is not monopolizing the laptop watching live evening NHL games!} Finally uploaded some iPhone photos of the new year.
As you can see, our DIY cupboard blackboard is getting good use.
Hudson now sits down in his big chair turning pages of books. This I love.
We spent New Years day afternoon walking along a harbour and explored a path that I've never walked on before. It's not like our town is really big either. It's cool that we haven't seen everything yet! Abby wanted to play in a playground and Nick suggested a great one that is fenced in. {Perfect for a two year old that tends to run away!} Of course, we couldn't play that long as the days still get really dark early. Seriously can't wait for Spring. I know. . . Old Man Winter has just begun!

Happy 2012.

Here we are December 31st, 2011 approx 7:30pm. Abby & me made homemade paper hats for the "boys" {as she tends to say} and we adorned our headbands with paper flower-ettes.

There is always so much to say on here and then I get busy with life {totally overlooked Hudson's 2nd birthday, Christmas photos, et al}.

I sure hope you & yours have happy and healthy new year!

Love, April xoxo

I Let Myself Go.

'Tis the season to drink, smoke, dye your hair black and don one ugly Christmas sweater.

Don't worry I didn't pick up my old former bad habits.

This was a full on prop photo for some lovely snowglobes given as $10 gifts for my SIL Jolene's rockin' ugly Christmas sweater party this past Saturday. Let's just say Nick and I really got carried away and had some fun! I cannot show you the other half of Nick's globe. {"Have a Twig and Berry Christmas!" was written on the gift tag.} Would you believe Jolene ended up receiving a lovely snowglobe from her brother for Christmas!