Princess Quackers

Update - The Pampered Chef

I have now been a Pampered Chef consultant for 2 months and things are going well. I have now done 4 parties and reached my first goal; doing $1500 in sales. Reaching this, earned me a free stainless steel skillet.

To assist new consultants in attaining more product, PC has set some goals for the first 3 months as a consultant – for every 4 shows I do in the first 3 months, I earn $100 PC money, also for every $5000 in sales, I earn another $100 PC money. So, my 3 months are up at the end of November, my goals are to do 12 shows and reach $10 000 in sales. It is going to be a busy month!

I am really enjoying the distraction this provides for me. I am not sure if other stay at home Moms have found it as difficult as I have, but I have really missed working (I know, I know – crazy), but I miss the people, maybe I miss a bit of what life was like before, being able to go out for lunch – where ever I wanted, being out of the house for longer than the 30 minutes it takes to run to the store. But now doing The Pampered Chef has given me some focus (on something other than diaper changing). I enjoy planning and testing the recipes (not always a good thing for Adam), and I really enjoy the parties, I have already gotten to meet some great new people, with many more to come.

Check out my personal Pampered Chef website: www.pamperedchef.biz/jennyhill if you are interested in booking a party or just placing an order, you can contact me through there or leave me a message here.

The Allan Family

On Friday we had the Allan family come over for a visit while they were in town, we finally got to meet Gavin (born September 11, 07). Now Jackie is no longer the youngest!

Gavin

Jackie and Daisy

Diaper Girl to the Rescue!!!!

The Park

This past week we had another first – the park! We definitely have a winner with the swing – okay – that is really all she has done – but before I know it she will be running up the stairs and throwing herself down the slide. These pictures were taken while on a play date with Ace, Scarlett and Starr – but we happen to have a park right across the street from our house where we have already visited a few times.

Our Funny Little Guy

Large jar + small dog = jar stuck on head

I gave Brutis a peanut butter jar to lick out, this picture was captured after he had had enough and came looking for me to take it off - hard not to laugh when a dog with a jar on his head comes looking for you.

My Beautiful Little Doll

Talking

Oh, how she loves to talk. I can feel the phone bill already.....

Jacqueline is a very vocal little girl. She will often call to Brutis trying to get his attention.

Hanging with Grandma

Jacqueline and her Grandma Hill

The Countdown

Only 71 days until Christmas.



I know some of you might think I am crazy, but I love Christmas! It seems that as soon as it gets hot in the summer, I start thinking and dreaming about Christmas.

I love the parties, getting together with friends. I love the food, Egg Nog! I love spending time with my families. I love shopping for the perfect gift. Every year I promise myself I am going to get my shopping done early and never set food in a mall in December - but every year I break my promise... maybe this year.

This year everything about Christmas is different. We finally get to stand in line at the mall for the infamous photo with Santa. This year Christmas is not about the adults any more. This year we start new traditions.

Two Years!

Today is our second wedding anniversary. We celebrated on Saturday evening when we were in Canmore (Grandma and Grandpa babysat) and we went out for dinner. The plan was to have no plan - I am a person that always plans and since having Jackie nothing is not planned - going to Wal-Mart or the post office is a planned event, so it was very nice not to have a reservation and just go where there was room. We tried a few places in Canmore, but a few private functions later we were on the highway to Banff, where we found a table at Maple Leaf. We had a wonderful meal, a fabulous bottle of wine and great conversation.

In these past 2 years:

1. We got married.

2. We bought a trailer.

3. We got Brutis.

4. We bought our second house together, and subsequently moved.

5. We (I) got pregnant.

6. We (I) had a baby.

7. We bought a place at Moyie Lake.

8. We now have a 6 1/2 month old beautiful little girl.

WOW - lots can happen in just 2 short years. Think about the next 20....

End of the Season

We just got back from our final camping trip of the season. We are sad to be done the 2007 summer camping season - but very much looking forward to camping with Jacqueline next year as she will be much older.

Adam, Jackie and Brutis

Do you think he hates us? We are just getting him ready for when Jackie starts wanting to dress him up.

I went shopping for some new fall and winter clothes for Jackie - sporting her jeans and sweater.

My First Show

Last week I had my first Pampered Chef party. My good friend Starr was the host, and lots of people I knew attended. Starr had a great party and also did lots of talking to friends that were not able to attend and ended up with fantastic sales - giving her more than $250 in free product!



I made BBQ pork tenderloin in 10 minutes in the microwave!

SNOW!!

Good old Alberta weather! This morning I got snow. September 19th and it snowed - how depressing.

Oh well, it does make we want Christmas to come a little sooner now.

6 Months

That's right - six whole months have passed since this little lady so dramatically changed our lives.

Weight: 15 pounds 13 ounces

Length: 26 inches

Teeth: we have 2 teeth - the 2 front bottom ones.

Accomplishments:

Sleeping - Jackie is a wonderful sleeper, she has been sleeping through the night since 3 months, and naps 3 times a day.

Talking - although there are no actual words, she is very vocal - while in her Exersaucer - she will 'yell' at Brutis and try and get his attention.

Tracking - she is an amazing tracker, my favourite is when I am holding her and she strains her neck over my shoulder to watch at Adam.

Laughing - she has a wonderful giggle and an even better laugh.

Rolling Over - well, she did it once - and that must have been enough - she hasn't done it since and really does not seem interested in doing it again.

Standing - this seems to be her favourite thing to do now - we help out with the balancing part.

Food

Jackie has started eating solids. We tried to start this just after we got home from holidays, but she was not interested at all. This time she is eager and very successful at making a mess.

So far we have only tried rice cereal, soon we will be attempting carrots, beans and much more.

Our New Purchase

Adam and I have purchased a lease at an RV resort. Eagles Nest Resort is on Moyie Lake (20 minutes west of Cranbrook).

We took possession on Friday August 31 and were able to use it for the September Long weekend.

Here are a few photos of the property and resort.


The property came with a small 5th wheel and a bunk house - we have already sold our other trailer.

Lots and lots of trees.

Vacation Family Photos

The Hills

The Mercers

The Craigs

Family Summer Vacation

Hello everyone, we are back from our week long vacation to Christina Lake, BC.

We left last Friday right after Adam got home from work, made a stop off to see his sister Kristi (spent the night) and then early Saturday morning drove the rest of the way to Christina Lake. We were camping with the Craigs and the Mercers; all staying at Camp Beverly Hills where Tara knew the new owners.

We had a great time and enjoyed the campground; it was much smaller than we were used to 5 cabins and approx 10 RV sites, but it was nice to be able to get to know a few of our neighbours.

Christina Lake is a very small town right on the lake (they claim it is the warmest tree-lined lake in Canada) – whatever that means – if you ask me anything not glacier fed is warm and when you have temperatures reaching to well over 30 – any lake feel great. (Thankfully we missed the few weeks in July where it was +40!)

We also got a chance to do some day trips. Last summer holidays we were in the Salmon Arm area (lots of wineries) but we were not allowed to go to any since I was not allowed to drink (pregnant); seeing the wine but not being allowed to taste – torture!!
So this year we drove to Osoyoos and visited 2 different wineries.

Jackie – she did great. Since we did not know how well she or we would handle a 7 ½ - 8 hour drive – we decided to break the trip up both ways (this also gave us an opportunity to visit Kristi, Adam’s sister); but she handled the trip quite well, lots of sleeping, but when she is not tired she told us stories and played with her toys.

After we got back from our first trip to Osoyoos (on Monday) I noticed she had cut her second tooth – wow, I had no idea we were that close. We also had the first roll over – she woke up from her fist nap one morning and when I went to get her she was on her tummy – so she rolled over from her back to tummy – so far no signs of it happening again or going from front to back.

Enjoy the photos.

Driving

Brutis got a special treat - a bit of time our of his kennel.

Jackie and Aunt Kristi

Near Fernie

A road side turn out feeding

Brutis driving... actually this was while we were stopped at the road side turn out - he was checking out the train going by and making sure it knew he was there and he was the boss.

Hanging out in the trailer

Playing cards - we had great weather - this was at approx 11pm - notice the shorts and t-shirts.

Adam and Starr

Wineries

Adam and I took 2 days trips to Osoyoos, first time there we visited Inniskillin, second time we visited In’Mip (pronounced Ink-a-Meep). Inniskillin – we thought we would try one of the big wineries (when we had done some wine tours in Niagara we visited Jackson Triggs and loved it. We thought Inniskillin would be similar – we were mistaken. Since the Niagara region produces 200 000 cases and the BC region only produces 40 000 cases a year – the size of their operation reflected that. But we still had a great time and got to sample and purchase some great wine.

Ik’Mip is a Native Indian winery and we got what we were looking for, their facility had been designed to accommodate for tours, they had a wonderful restaurant and a fantastic tasting and retail room. Again – more great wine tasting and purchasing took place.