me attempting to take a self portrait with the ipad.

i've missed you guys :)  it's felt like ages since i've been online and on the mommyhood.  the last 10 days have not been easy.  there's been lots of tears, pain & frustration but there has also been laughs & some good memories.  in case you missed jane's guest post for me last week i've been having some issues again with my stupid ol'35 year old back :P  remember last fall when i couldn't sew for months and was on bed rest for a bit with that stupid back belt that was like spanx gone bad?  yeah...i'd like to erase those memories too...lol.

kidlets passed out on the floor after a loooong week.

 well for no reason at all the other weekend my back just went again.  not fun for this momma.  pain got so bad i ended up in ER over the long weekend here in canada so i could make it until i saw my doctor when offices were open.   since then there's been a confusing amount of advice about what they "think" may be going on accompanied by a lot of pain meds - yuck! only problem was that i needed the pain meds to obviously not be in pain but they made it so i couldn't take care of my kiddos. so in the end i've been toughing it out and going ibuprofren since the worst has passed. to top it off the hubby had to study and write one of his last big exams during this hell week!  i mean seriously....what else could go wrong right? (oh maggie...why can't i live closer to you?...lol..i need a good chiropractor)

thanks to my sister, my parents & some loving friends whose phone calls, visits to help me contain my kids, and basically them just listening to me rant and cry - our little family survived the last 2 weeks.  it was not easy.  boy oh boy.  i'm pretty frustrated about the whole situation and wish i could fill you guys in on some more but i really don't know anything.  i'm going to see a specialist today and am also waiting on a long list to get a CAT scan to check out the muscles/joints in my lower back so hopefully between now and the next few months this problem will slowly start to be fixed cause man has it been hard to be couped up inside when we finally just had a weekend of gorgeous sunshine & hot weather here!  i soaked up what i could from the deck, a car ride for a much needed cup of starbucks (i went a week without any!!!) and a wee walk near the ocean.  i basked in the fun stories the kiddos came home with about their outings to the waterpark, beach and more with daddy.  hopefully i'll be able to join them soon.

bear nighties...yep...that's how we roll peeps!

but in the meantime i splurged and bought myself and the hubs an anniversary/belated bday pressie (for me - thx mom/dad & nana/papa).  yeppers...i got myself an Ipad!!!! woot woot!  love it!  and the best part of the Ipad - instagram!!! yesssssss!  i'm finally on instagram!  i was seriously getting emails and messages daily asking if i was on instagram yet.  it was killing me to miss out on all the fun and boy is it fun.  i'm hooked and i just started.  it's a good time over there...lol.  you can find me under "luvinthemommyhood".  and now thanks to my awesome new tablet i can still chat with y'all and keep a bit more up to date online even though i'm all gibbled...lol. i've been busy loading apps and exploring the world of tablets and also knitting my brains out on my summer sweater kal project. 

i'm hoping posts will get a bit more back to normal this week but bear with me if here and there i'm a no show.  i'm still no where near better and have 2 kids to watch full time so i'm not sure how my schedule is going to go.  but what i can tell you is there's a great giveaway this week as well as another fabulous guest poster so stay tuned!!! i promise to do my best to keep things rolling around  here :)

so question to you guys - how are you all?  what have you been whipping up these days?  any fave Ipad apps you can't live without?  what crafty apps do you rely on & love?  so far i've been pretty happy with JKnitHDLite, Gaugefy Free, and Tally Lite for my knitting but i'd love to hear any of your suggestions!  hope you've all been well m'dears xoxoxox