Just a mom trying to stay sane...

2010-01-11T18:21:00.001-06:00

Went to see a movie on Saturday night. We tried to see the early show of The Blindside, but it was sold out and we had to see the much later one. I hate the theatre it was showing at. It's always so busy. Either the show you want to see is sold out, or you have to stand in line for half an hour or longer (plus another long line up if you want popcorn), or you have to sit in the first couple of rows and see a chiropractor for years to come from the neck strain. The seats are nice, they recline a bit. That's not worth all the trouble to go to that theatre though. Unfortunately The Blindside was not showing at the any of the other theatre in the city.

It was a great movie though. I really enjoyed it!

Saturdays

2010-01-09T14:15:00.000-06:00

Love them!

Especially when there are no real plans.

Got up at 10 am. Yes, my kids let me sleep in. In fact they often sleep til 9:30am themselves. Don't hate me.

Went to the church and took my turn cleaning.

Was home by noon and ate cold pizza for lunch.

Drank coffee.

Played Disney Grooves DDR on the wii with the girls for over an hour.

Did some laundry in between everything. I don't even mind laundry when it's a lazy day.

More coffee and some computer time.

Shower and a trip to Costco are on the agenda for this afternoon. Then a movie with a friend tonight.

Great Day!

Couch Potato

2010-01-08T16:00:00.001-06:00

I could pretend I am one of those people who rarely watches tv, but that would be a lie. I love television! I don't watch everything, but there are quite a few shows that I hate to miss.

One thing I don't watch is commercials. I love my PVR. I set the timers to tape the shows I like to watch each week and then I can watch them whenever I choose and fast forward the commercials. Usually I wait until the kids are in bed, sometimes because the shows are not appropriate for them to watch, but mostly because I like to watch a show without many disturbances. I am anxiously awaiting the return of all my favorites now that Christmas is over, but I think it may be a while before they start again. I read somewhere that Glee is not back until February! I guess until then the music from Glee on my iPod will have to fill that void.

Lost is another favorite that I am waiting for. It hasn't been on since the spring and it's the final season this year. It starts in February as well. It's supposed to be a great season, and all of those questions us Lost fans have been waiting for the answers to are supposed to be answered, finally. There was an article about it in the paper today and the writers, or producers, or someone with an important job like that, said there would not be a cliffhanger ending. Good. Maybe it will all have been a dream or something, who knows. I am not even going to speculate as Lost always surprises me.

2010-01-07T21:46:00.002-06:00

I need an makeover for my blog. Perhaps that will get my blogging again more consistently. I am on the lookout for a banner design to match the background I chose. Maybe I should look for a free program to create my own?

My Mac came with a really neat program for creating blogs, websites etc., but to upload them online, you have to pay, which is crappy. I'm too cheap to pay for stuff like that when sites like blogger are free. It would be neat to try though and I find myself trying to justify the cost every once in a while.

I think the program is called MobileMe. Has anyone tried it?

I'm in love

2010-01-03T21:53:00.005-06:00

With my new iMac! It's so shiny and pretty. It's faster than my laptop so that's a huge bonus too! I have a little table in the kitchen for my computer and the Mac fits there just as nicely as my laptop did. The monitor is a lot taller, but it really doesn't take up any more room on the table than my laptop did. Now I want to make my little table workstation cute and pretty to match my Mac. That means I need to find new homes for the junk this table has collected and find something cute to organize the stuff that actually belongs here.

Last Christmas I got an iPod touch from my husband and have loved it since I opened the package and it syncs very nicely with the Mac. Of course they are designed to sync, but it still gives me a little thrill when I discover something new I can do that combines my Mac and my iPod. For instance, yesterday I downloaded an application for my iPod that turns it into a remote for iTunes on the Mac. It does it wirelessly though our home wifi connection. I can turn the music on and off at the Mac, change the song, volume etc., from anywhere in the house with the iPod. Very neat!

And just an hour or so ago I learned I can sync my calendar on my iPod with the one on my computer! That may be old news for many of you, but it's still shiny news for me!

I see myself becoming a Mac convert very easily at this rate. Possibly the only thing that could hold me back is the price tag attached to Apple products compared to PC products. I'm very, very luckily that the price tag attached to my new Mac was $0.00. Well I guess it was actually the cost of a loaf of bread. I won the Mac from a contest I entered in the fall with a pin code I pulled off a loaf of bread!

It's done

2009-08-23T14:25:00.001-06:00

It looks the same but it's actually way more organized and I washed all the shelves. No labels though :(

Operation Pantry

2009-08-23T12:42:00.001-06:00

This will take me all afternoon I'm sure.

An idea hits me!

2009-08-23T12:00:00.001-06:00

At this very moment I am standing in a long line at the grocery store because their tills are on the fritz. I am dreading getting home to empty the car because I remember what state my pantry is in. I HAVE to reorganize but I know my family will just mess it up again. What I need is a label maker to mark all the shelves! My life would be complete with a label maker.

I am still in line.

Peacock

2009-06-12T14:16:00.001-06:00

Lions

2009-06-12T14:15:00.000-06:00

Bears

2009-06-12T14:14:00.001-06:00

Fun at the Forestry Farm

2009-06-12T12:24:00.001-06:00

I was doing so well

2009-05-07T16:48:00.003-06:00

And then I fell off the wagon. I guess the 365 pictures was not meant to be, lol.

I'll keep taking pictures, but until I can find a way for my camera to upload them here directly,...

Oooh....I bet that will be the next big thing in cameras...wifi capability!

Testing

2009-04-18T20:05:00.002-06:00

Is this thing on?

Posted from my phone. Cool!

18 of 365

2009-04-18T19:41:00.003-06:00

Another silly license plate. I swear I was not taking pictures while driving. I was stopped at a traffic light.

I wonder if there is a Dr. Moore out there somewhere?

17 of 365

2009-04-18T19:39:00.004-06:00

My favorite thing to do while visiting my parents. I lost. Dad won. That rarely changes.

16 of 365

2009-04-18T19:38:00.002-06:00

15 of 365

2009-04-18T19:35:00.004-06:00

This is the man made 'lake', or maybe pond would be a better description, that is along my daily walk. In the winter it's completely iced over and they clear a few rink sized areas for skating and hockey. The ice is breaking up finally, and the birds are already back.

9,10,11,12, 13 and 14 of 365

2009-04-14T20:19:00.005-06:00

We've been away, but I've taken all my pictures! Most were taken with my phone, but they look okay.

14 (phone) - My car could only have this license plate twice a year.

13 (phone)

12

11 (phone) - A beautiful walk. The girls are half way across the bridge with grandpa.

10 - His eyebrows are not really as big as they look!

9 - My secret for a good bejeweled score....bring in a ringer!

8 of 365

2009-04-08T22:13:00.003-06:00

Brrrrr....we needed a fire this evening for a backyard bbq. The weather is just not quite there yet, as you could probably guess considering there is still snow on the ground! Not my idea for a bbq, and not my backyard. If it had been my choice, it would have been inside where it was warmer and there was a lot less mud!

7 of 365

2009-04-08T11:18:00.001-06:00

I took this yesterday but didn't have time to post it.

Breakfast

6 of 365

2009-04-06T23:27:00.003-06:00

5 of 365

2009-04-05T21:51:00.003-06:00

Nighttime in my backyard. We had a busy day, and I should really start taking my camera with me where ever I go, but it's kinda big, so it gets left behind a lot.
We got home in time to put the girls to bed, and I decided I should take some outside pictures of the yard and maybe take one every week to see the melting progress. We've already lost a lot of the snow in our yard (yay!) and it shouldn't be too long before it's all gone.

4 of 365

2009-04-04T22:37:00.003-06:00

The 80's are definitely back.
She asked me with complete seriousness if I think the name Roxie Rockstar is already taken.

If you click on the picture (this one, and the others I have posted) it should take you to a larger better quality one.

3 of 365

2009-04-03T17:26:00.004-06:00

I had to snap this one quickly as my camera shuts off demanding more batteries. If I'd had to, I would have scavenged the batteries from the remotes, but I got a good one!

Beth is probably the happiest of the girls that Spring finally seems to be here. We're still only a few degrees above freezing each day, but that's good enough for her. The snow has melted off the trampoline so she's good to go!

It all started with a load of laundry

2009-04-03T12:29:00.002-06:00

How is it that going downstairs to throw a laundry in turned into:

a load of laundry
helping the kids clean up the crayons they left all over the floor
vacuuming the floor of all the little crayon bits
vacuuming the stairs because I noticed how dirty they were when I walked by with the vacuum
vacuuming the porch floor because I was now at the top of the stairs anyways
vacuuming the laundry room floor
refilling the cat food
emptying and sorting through the central vacuum canister looking for an earring that I vacuumed off the floor that I should have just left in the canister to teach the owner a lesson
vacuuming the mess emptying the canister made
taking out the garbage

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's all done, but I just wanted to do a load of laundry and come back upstairs and watch the rest of Survivor.

2 of 365

2009-04-02T10:01:00.002-06:00

I just don't think you can go wrong with stripey socks.

The litle guy I babysit was more than happy to pose for me this morning. He held his one foot right up to the camera lens and almost fell over when I asked him if I could take a picture of his socks, lol.

I think I figured it out

2009-04-01T15:52:00.002-06:00

I noticed last week that my list of feeds, that tell me when someone has updated their blog, wasn't working. It says that every one's last update was May 22, 2009. Weird. Or so I thought.

Then I remembered that around the same time that the feeds quit working I had somehow changed my computer clock. I must have been looking at dates and instead of cancelling, I must have left it at that date, which was May 22nd, and the reason I know it was that date was because I sent two emails the next day. Chris said he never received the one I sent him, and I double checked in my sent box and saw the date of May 23rd on it. He still has not received the email (remind me on May 23rd to ask him if it arrives), and I changed my computer clock back as soon as I noticed

So because my computer checked for new feeds on what it thinks was May 22nd, it is not checking for them anymore, because my clock is back to normal and thinks they must be up to date since it isn't even May yet. The good thing is that I think I figured out why it's not updating, but the bad thing is I can't figure out how to fix it.

1 of 365

2009-04-01T10:19:00.005-06:00

As promised...a picture a day.
I won't be giving them all a title, but this one is "Wishful Thinking"

and by the way, that's a sand toy NOT a snow shovel, lol. It currently sits about about a foot above ground level. And that's not the highest snow point in our backyard.

I had a dream

2009-03-31T08:55:00.002-06:00

I dreamt I had been recruited by my dh's workplace to apply for a job.

I remember I had finished 2 of the many steps and was working on the third. I was in a huge hall full of people who had been working towards this job for so long, and here I was thinking about at which step of the process would be the best time to back out, lol.

I would NEVER want my dh's job. I have zero interest in that type of work completely. Plus our schedules would never work out that we could see each other anyways. Why would I dream something so ridiculous?

When he gets home from work late tonight I'll have to tell him about my dream. I know he'll laugh. There are many couples who do what he does, but I have no idea how they make it work. I know we couldn't.

Okay Spring, last warning

2009-03-30T14:25:00.002-06:00

If the fact that the weather has actually made it above freezing the last few days and the forcast says it's going to be even warmer next week is just a cruel trick, I will cry.

Please stay nice.

Please.

I promise to blog more often if the snow goes away.

In fact I want to jump on the 365 photos bandwagon.

I'll start in April, if it's nice.

Come on Spring!

2009-02-27T09:15:00.001-06:00

Dear Spring,

My kids really need to get outside and play. For a few hours. At a time, not combined through the month. They are grumpy and I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Sincerely,
Corra

Lent

2009-02-25T11:18:00.001-06:00

I’m not really ‘into’ Lent, but I do know that it’s the 40 day long church season before Easter. Easter is something I’m into, lol. Chocolate, chocolate, and don’t forget chocolate. Of course that’s not what Easter is actually about, and Lent isn’t just about ‘giving something up’. There’s so much more to it than that. If it were that simple, maybe I’d be more of an active Lent participant.

But you are supposed to give something up that is important to you, that will teach you something about self discipline. Something that will teach you about sacrifice. I never know what to give up, so I never give anything up.

I think of trivial things like giving up certain food items, or tv, or the internet. But would that really teach me anything about self discipline or sacrifice? It’s only 40 days, it’s not like these things are gone forever. So am I learning self discipline or just biding my time until I can turn on the computer again?

Maybe the key is to fill the time you would normally be doing whatever you gave up with good things. Things you don’t normally do. More prayer, bible devotions, random acts of kindness, volunteering, etc. That might actually mean something and you might learn more than the fact that 40 days without chocolate makes Easter that much more exciting and unfortunately, a lot less meaningful.

Pause…

2009-02-20T11:52:00.001-06:00

It still makes me laugh when my kids are playing some make believe game and one of them has to leave to go to the washroom or a get a drink or something else and they say to the others, “pause the game until I come back”. It used to make me laugh even harder when Anna would do it with a make believe remote in her hand that she would point at the other girls.

I wish I could pause life sometimes, like a snooze button for reality. I’d get a couple more hours of sleep every morning at least.

What would you do if you could pause?

There’s a birthday soon!

2009-02-18T22:40:00.001-06:00

I really have to get on the birthday planning wagon soon! Last year was a complete bust and poor Beth (and Katie when it was her turn) didn’t get birthday parties with their classmates.

This year Beth would like to have a party at the pool AND a sleepover. I will have to check out the pool prices and see what we can arrange for that day or the day before and then decide if we want to follow that up with a sleepover.

The sleepover will have to be limited to a couple of girls though, we don’t have the room for too many, and I won’t have the energy after a pool party I’m sure. A sleepover also limits which days we can have the party.

On second thought, maybe a sleepover should be arranged at a later date. She asks daily about it though, and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold her off.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-01-28T10:38:00.003-06:00

Last night we were invited over to my parents' house for a birthday dinner for my grandma. I don't recall ever being with my grandma on her birthday so it was really nice to be able to spend the evening with her now that we live in the same city.

My grandparents moved to the city in the fall, into a much smaller home than they had before. As a result, they don't really need more 'things' for Christmas and Birthdays, their home is full enough already. I was on a mission to find something edible for a gift earlier this week when I found a website for a coffee and tea store in the city. My grandparents live in a condo complex where one meal a day is provided for them in a large common dining room. Every night they ask for 2 Lipton's Ginger Peach Tea bags with their meal. They share one and my grandpa puts the other one in his pocket and then they share it later in the evening. I have looked everywhere for this brand of tea and cannot find it! I thought I was lucky one afternoon when I came across a different brand of ginger peach, but they say it's not the same.

So off I was to the coffee shop (with a side mission to pick up some caramel crunch coffee beans recommended to me by a friend) as soon as my day home kids were picked up. Unfortunately the only ginger peach they had was loose, and I was pretty sure my grandma would only want tea bags. They had lots of other ginger versions in bags, but none were ginger peach. So I picked up my coffee and headed out.

Luckily just down the block is a cheese shop. My grandma loves cheese. Since they have moved to the city, we pick up my grandparents every Sunday to take them to church. I have heard so many stories about my grandmother's childhood that I have never heard before during these car rides. One of those stories is why she loves cheese so much, so I know I can never go wrong with a gift of cheese. I picked up a nice blue cheese I know she enjoys and a little container of olives and my mission was accomplished.

She was so please to have so many of her family with her last night on her birthday. I, as usual, forgot my camera, but my new phone has a camera built in. I know that's how most people's cell phones are nowadays but it's been years and years since I got a new cell phone, so it's very new and exciting for me, lol. It's not a great picture, seeing it's taken by a phone, but oh well, at least it's a picture.

Would you like to know how old my grandma is? I'll tell you what she tells me every time I have ever asked her "I am as old as my tongue, and a little bit older than my teeth." Happy Birthday Grandma!

I love that relaxing feeling

2009-01-25T18:10:00.002-06:00

The one you get when you clean something. Not just a straighten up clean, but that deep clean, the one where you don't just move stuff around and rearrange it while you dust, but when you actually put away that thing you've been meaning to put in the storage room for months now but never get around to it, kind of deep clean.

My side of the bedroom looks so nice now. It makes me want to sit on the edge of the bed and read, or listen to music or just sit. Ahhhh.

I should sleep well tonight just knowing it looks clean, even though it's dark and I won't be able to see it. I'll still know.

It's like it's new!

2009-01-22T14:50:00.002-06:00

My computer has been acting horrible. Slow and annoying. Chris has added a few programs here and there trying to fix issues and then we installed Norton on it in case it was a virus. The scan came out negative, and then since Norton, it was even slower. So last night I backed up all my pictures and documents and Chris wiped the computer and started it over from scratch.

What a huge difference! A blank slate is very refreshing.

Luckily I backed up my favorites as well, so all the blogs I visit and web pages I like to hang out at, were safely tucked away until this afternoon when I put them back where they belong.

Things are all sparkly!

2009-01-15T08:10:00.002-06:00

That's what Anna said when she put on her new glasses.

Awww.

To think that before she had glasses things were not sparkly makes me almost sad. We had no indication from her that she was not seeing well. Never a complaint. We had taken her to the optometrist last year as well and learned about the astigmatism, but it wasn't bad enough to do anything about yet and we learned that many kids have a slight astigmatism and it improves each year (Beth's did). We were told to wait and see and come back in a year and we did. So it's not like I should feel bad, we did everything right. But it still tears at my heartstrings that things were not sparkly before.

I will work very hard to get a picture taken of her in her new specs. But if you know Anna at all, you know that very well could be mission impossible.

Snow, snow go away

2009-01-13T11:59:00.001-06:00

I am already tired of snow. Shoveling doesn't help that feeling at all. I'll take a picture later to show you just how much snow we've had to shovel this year and a picture of the undisturbed drifts in the back yard. Spring cannot come soon enough but I know it's months away still. Darnit.

Eye see you... Or not.

2009-01-09T22:38:00.001-06:00

So my baby needs glasses. She's only five so it actually surprised me. When Katie needed them last year we were not surprised since both Chris and I needed them around the same age. But at five? The dr. used the alphabet chart this year, or tried to now that Anna is in kindergarten but she couldn't recognize any letters. I told the dr. her recognition is not great, not like it was for my older girls. Then she tried numbers which Anna also had trouble with. Then we moved on to E's, left right and upside down. That seemed to do the trick.

I noticed during the exam that she was getting a lot of them wrong but only on one eye. Turns out she has quite severe astigmatism in her left eye. Treatment options are starting with glasses that she will wear for a month and then go back for a re-check. If it's still not any better we will have to patch her good eye after school until bedtime to encourage her other eye to step up and do its job.

The dr. also mentioned that astigmatism can distort images and not always the same way each time you see the image. She felt it could be why her letter recognition is not very good. Or that could just be her LOL. Maybe we'll find out soon enough. She gets her new glasses in about a week and she is so excited.

Things happen for a reason right?

2009-01-06T10:51:00.001-06:00

Can't go into details but I just need to reassure myself that when one door closes, another, hopefully just as nice or even better, door opens. My fingers are crossed that the door we are looking towards opens up soon. Even if we can't go in just yet, seeing it open is all we need.

iBlog

2009-01-05T17:00:00.001-06:00

Maybe now that I have this handy little iPod touch with a blog application I might update a little more often. It may only be a sentence or two because I have to individually type each letter with one finger but it will be better than nothing which is what this blog has consisted of lately. And thank goodness this little machine self corrects pretty darn well most if the time or it would take even longer to plug in these few sentences.

It's over

2008-11-05T09:33:00.002-06:00

The American election that is. It seemed to have lasted for years. Oh right...it kinda did!

It only makes me love the fact that when we have an election announcement we get 6 weeks of campaigns....that's it.

I wonder what the next 4 years will be like for the USA and what effects a new president will have on Canada?

Sundae Sunday

2008-11-02T18:26:00.002-06:00

Makes me think of the Mamas and the Papas, lol.

Today after church we had a potluck Sundae. Chris and I brought all the ice cream and other members of the congregation brought the toppings! It was an idea we 'borrowed' from another church in the city, and it went over very well and was very yummy.

So pretty much since lunch yesterday my children have been ingesting sugar. It started with the Halloween parties at school, then trick or treating, a treat or two snuck in before church and ice cream sundaes after church. Beth's tummy hurts...as it probably should. The other two seem fine, so far.

Every Halloween I am at a crossroads. Do I dole out the candy a bit at a time and then have to listen to them every 10 minutes asking for just one more, or do I let them have a free for all and just get it all over with?

What do you do?

It's November!

2008-11-01T23:17:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it's already November. Time is flying lately.

We spent today at home and got a few things done. The Halloween decorations are down and ready to be put away in the garage until next year and the Christmas lights are up. Our inflatable snowman is also up, but he looks pretty sad on dead grass with no snow.

It's supposed to be above 10C for the next few days so I'm not expecting snow soon, but I know it won't be long. I still need to get a winter jacket for Anna though. If the consignment shop is open tomorrow I would like to look there first and hopefully get a deal. I think the winter boots from last year still fit everyone, but maybe we should recheck them just to make sure.

It's Halloween!

2008-10-31T09:56:00.002-06:00

I have today off which is really nice because I get to go to the girls' school and help out at Anna's party this afternoon. I rarely get to attend school events so I am quite pleased.

Chris also has the day off so we're just sitting around drinking coffee and in a bit I think we'll head out shopping. We have a few ideas of things to get the girls for Christmas so today is as good a day as any to start the process.

I have to remember to take my camera with me. I always forget.

I'm going to be a robot for Halloween

2008-10-30T15:17:00.003-06:00

MSN groups is closing for anyone who happens to belong to one. They 'partnered' with Multiply and will migrate your group over there if you like. So I signed up and even though I cleaned my computer of all spyware etc., I still have problems with Multiply. The site thinks I am a 'bot' as soon as I try to do anything and takes me to a page that asks me to verify text. It never likes what I verify. I complained to the support people and they fixed it, and then it happened again as soon as I tried to do something.

So if you see me on Halloween, I may look just like myself, but know that deep down inside I am really a robot trying to hack some random website. Brilliant costume if you ask me.

2008-10-29T23:30:00.002-06:00

Gotta love a late night email that lets you know your weekend meeting might be cancelled! Yay!

I was saved at church

2008-10-27T09:27:00.002-06:00

Interpret that title as you want, lol.

In the spring, our church held a garage sale of donated items. Since we were there the night before the sale to help set up we got first dibs on the items. I always go straight for the books at garage sales and that evening was no exception. I found Chris a few books and then found my JACKPOT. Someone had donated a brand new copy of the The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I had just finished reading a copy from the library and loved it, and since books were only 50 cents at this garage sale (even the hardcovers) it was a steal of a deal. The book was an over sized paperback and retails for $27.50! When I picked it up and looked a little further into the pile I found another treasure, World Without End also by Ken Follet, also brand new looking. I had not read this one yet! It's set in the same place as the first book and makes mention of a few characters from Pillars of the Earth, but it's not really considered the second in a series as they both can be read as stand alone novels in any order. This one was hardcover and retails for $42! I was giddy with garage sale excitement, lol. But as I picked up the second book the face of another member of our church standing across from me dropped. She had wanted the second book. So we made a deal. I'd buy one, and she'd buy one and we'd trade when we wanted. Since I was going away for the summer, I told her she could take the second one to read (she had also just finished the first) and bring it to me in the fall when I returned to church.

I'd actually forgotten about the second book until yesterday at church when she told me she had it in her car and would bring it in to me at coffee time. I was so excited. Not only did I get to read the book I had been so excited about, but I could stop reading the third book in the series I blogged about the other day. Yep, I started it. But I was only 15 pages into it, so it's safe to set aside until I am done my new one.

She saved me.....from reading the book I don't want to read!

I just can't stop myself

2008-10-24T14:43:00.002-06:00

I finally finished a novel I have been working on since before summer. No, I am not that slow of a reader, but the book was really dry, and I just have this annoying aspect of my personality that MAKES me finish a book no matter what. It was the second book in a series and the first one was really good. But now I am trying to decide if I should read the third one in the series. It's sitting on my shelf, calling out to me, trying to tell me it's not so boring, that it's more like the first book than the second book.

Actually I have no idea if it's any better than the second one, but it has to be, right? Authors don't write a third book in a series when their readers didn't like the second one, unless it's waaayyyy better than the second one, right? Please tell me it will be better. Another part of that annoying aspect of my personality is that a series sort of counts as one book, lol. So I may not have a choice of reading the third book or not.

And then of course I have another book by the same author sitting on the shelf next to the third in the series. It's not a part of the series, but I may be destined to read it as well. I won't be able to stop myself and I may curse myself the entire time, but I'll have to do it.

Generally the only thing that prevents me from finishing a book I have completely lost interest in is that the online library renewal system. It tells me I have renewed the book too many times and prevents me from renewing it again. Then I have to take it back to avoid late fees.

Unfortunately these books are borrowed and the owner seems to have no desire for me to ever return them. If she would just call and harass me and complain I have had the books too long, which I really have, and then maybe shed a few tears because she longs to read the books again, them maybe I could bring myself to not start the third book in the series. But I doubt that will ever happen, because I have read the second book in the series, and I don't think anyone would want to read it again.

2008-10-23T11:22:00.002-06:00

Three days in a row. A blogging accomplishment.

Chris is still out of town. He will be home tonight. He made it back in time yesterday to drop Anna off at her activity.

We have Girl Guide cookies to sell. Please buy some so I can stop eating them. I swear I have zero willpower.

I was going to swim laps tonight but the pool I wanted to go to cancelled lane swimming tonight. I'll have to look at my lists of other facilities and see if there is anything open. Of course it will depend if Chris is home by then. I suck at swimming, but I enjoy it. Maybe one day I will learn how to do more than the breaststroke. A walk might be nice instead.

I wonder if Chris will get a chance to work on installing the central vac this weekend? How odd that I am excited to vacuum....but then I am sure that excitement will be gone after the first time I use it. The girls can start vacuuming now though, without having to worry about plugging in or dragging a heavy canister around. Yay for slaves, I mean kids.

The girls want allowance. They have been very good about keeping their rooms clean. Of course I still pick up some of Katie's clothes that have not found their way into the hamper, but her room used to be a disaster so it's a big improvement. Beth had been doing better, but she has books all over her floor and her drawers are all hanging open. If I make her a space for the books she reads while in bed that should help. Anna's room is often messy but all the day home kids play in there, so it's not entirely her fault. She's been good at cleaning it when asked though. I think we'll take some of the little kid toys out of her closet this weekend and move them downstairs to the play area.

Chris and I will have to have the allowance discussion again soon. Do your kids get allowance? Are they expected to do chores for it? Do you ever take it away?

It's Wednesday. Mid-Week. Hump Day. Yay.

2008-10-22T09:01:00.003-06:00

Trying to get back into the blogging thing, but I only have random sentences in my head, no paragraphs to form a nicely thought out blog. Guess you have to put up with that for a while.

Chris is out of town. Left yesterday evening, comes home tonight for a few minutes, then he's off again 'til tomorrow. I don't always remember where he is, so I have to write it on my calendar. I don't mind the travelling, but it interferes with plans sometimes.

Tonight Beth and Anna have to be at 2 different places at the same time. Chris might be home in time to help and can drop one off on his way to the next place. If not, my parents might be able to help. If not them, I'll figure something out.

Katie's old enough to babysit for a couple hours, but I don't think she's quite old enough to drive unfortunately. We're enjoying her age, she can watch her sisters while we go out and shop or run errands, or go to a movie. It's a freedom we're enjoying. But now I am looking forward to when she can drive. I must be crazy!

No, I can wait. I don't want my little girl to grow up too fast, plus the teenage years scare me.

I got a bathroom clean this morning. Maybe I can get to the other one if I can get all kids sleeping at once this afternoon. Not likely though.

Still need to plan supper. At least I went grocery shopping on the weekend so the pantry is full.

New Background

2008-10-21T10:30:00.002-06:00

So thanks to Bonnie I changed my background. But that was all I did.

A blogging mood has not struck me lately, not sure why.

Maybe my life is too boring right now?

How can it be so boring when it seems we are so busy?

Weekends get used up fast and don't last long enough.

Weekdays are filled with work, school and the girls' activities.

Except for Mondays and Fridays, those nights are still free but somehow they still seem busy.

Tonight Beth and Anna have Brownies and Sparks. We should get the cases of cookies to sell. Anyone want cookies? They are the chocolate covered mint ones. Yum!

Back to School

2008-08-28T17:38:00.002-06:00

Katie and Beth were back at school today. If I was one of those good 'get everything on camera' mothers I would have taken a picture, but I am not. Tomorrow is Anna's first day of Kindergarten. I am hoping I will remember to get a picture of her before I take her to school, and then I can snap one of the other girls as well and 20 yrs down the road no one will even know or remember it wasn't the actual first day of school. Especially if I ever get around to scrap booking and I journal it as the first day of school. I wonder how many other people scrapbook lies?

We're ready!

2008-08-26T08:40:00.002-06:00

Almost.

I went school supply shopping on Saturday and picked up almost everything the girls need to start school. Last night we labelled it all and got it packed into their backpacks. All I have left to pick up are indoor runners for the girls, and Kleenex. I am getting excited! The girls have been fighting a lot lately. More than a lot. It's all they seem to do. Hopefully separating them with a few classrooms in between each should help curb that.

Katie and Beth start school on Thursday. Chris will take them in the morning and help them find their classrooms and meet their new teachers. The lists will be posted at the school somewhere and we don't know the teacher until the first day. Anna doesn't go until Friday, and we were given her Kindergarten information in June, so her teacher has already been announced. I am taking Friday off and am crossing my fingers that she is going to let me leave after I take her to her classroom. She's not normally the clingy type, but she also likes to surprise you.

I have to remember to take first day of school pictures. That's something I almost always forget.

What I bought at the party

2008-08-21T08:54:00.006-06:00

My sister had a home party last week and I splurged and bought a picture frame. It's not a normal picture frame, I mentioned it in a blog a few days ago. It's a magnetic frame that you can add your pictures to, or you could add a scrapbook page, or a combination of the two.

This is a picture of the frame on the company's website so you can see an example of what you can do with it if you have some time and some creativity.

When I opened it up last night I went through my box of pictures to find some to display so I could show Chris how neat the frame is. He thought it looked nice, but wasn't nearly as thrilled as I was. These are just a few pictures from the girls' dance recital last year. They are just put on as is, with no background paper or embellishments or anything, so imagine how pretty it could be with some creativity! The round wooden things on the pictures are the magnets, and on the ribbon at the bottom the pictures are held on with mini clothespegs.

My sister and I are going to try and figure out a way to make some more of these frames for ourselves. It has got to be cheaper than buying them from the company. And we could make them in different sizes as well. Any ideas?

5 years

2008-08-19T10:06:00.003-06:00

What was I doing 5 years ago at this time? If I remember correctly I was slightly uncomfortable and trying to sleep because I had been up most of the night before feeling slightly uncomfortable. It was actually the onset of labour, but I didn't want to believe it, lol.

I had been induced for both of my previous pregnancies, so I had never gone into labour all on my own. I wasn't actually having contractions yet, just cramps. Chris convinced me we should go in so I could be checked. We lived over half an hour from the hospital and my previous history of labours showed I like to get those babies outta there FAST. Not quite as fast as my mother who had her last baby, my little brother, in 45 mins from first contraction to babe in arms. But 4 hours fast, which is quicker than 'average'. I was worried I'd be like my mom and end up having a baby on the side of the road in a car, lol. Anyways, I grabbed my hospital bag and off we went. Katie had swimming lessons so we took her to the pool and left her with an overnight bag with friends of ours. I can't remember if Beth went with them also or if she went to stay the night at my sister's place.

We got to the hospital and I was still just having cramps. I was sure they were going to send me home, but I did not want to spend a bunch of time in the hospital only to get sent home so one of the first things I told them was if they were going to send me home to decide right away so I could leave, lol. Of course nothing can be that simple. I was there for hours. And I was on monitors that were not showing any contractions, yet I was still feeling cramps. I don't think they believed me, lol.

So we spent hours in the antepartum unit before they finally sent me over to the birthing unit. They told me that they didn't think I would be delivering any time soon, but they were running out of space on antepartum and needed to open up some beds. I was having contractions by this time, real ones, but the monitors were not picking them up, so of course they don't believe the woman in pain, they believe the monitors.

By the time I got over to the birthing unit I was feeling some really painful contractions. I wanted an epidural. It didn't help. They gave me more medicine in the epidural line. It didn't help. They gave me the same stuff you give for a c-section through the line. It didn't help. Nothing helped. Thank goodness for fast labours. Just like my last 2 labours, this one only lasted just over 4 hrs. When the baby was finally crowning, they discovered why I had been in so much pain. Her head was presenting sideways. They said in that position all my pain would have been in my bones and an epidural does nothing for bone pain. I wonder if that's true or they were just trying to make me feel better? They also said that was the reason no monitors were picking up that I was having any contractions at all.

At 10:10pm on August 19th, on her due date, Anna Renee was born. Today she is 5 yrs old. My baby, my last baby, is 5 yrs old. Wow.

Loving my Laptop

2008-08-18T14:20:00.003-06:00

I'm outside on my deck.

Kids are playing in the sprinkler because it's super hot today.

Sitting at my new (to me) patio table, compiling an address list for my camp job on my laptop. I love that there are no cords all over the place and with a wireless router I can even email and blog.

This is the life.

Ahhh...Coffee

2008-08-15T11:19:00.002-06:00

Gotta love a nice cup of coffee mid way through the morning. I was too busy after getting home from the gym to start a pot. My kitchen was left in a mess last night. Chris promised to get up and help me with it in the morning since it was almost all his doing.

He made it into the kitchen in time to watch me wash the last dish.

So I made him make the coffee, which he normally does anyways, so he didn't care.

We're having a BBQ this evening. Last count we had about 35 people say they would be attending. It started out as a BBQ for us and 2 couples, but just grew and grew. It should be a lot of fun. But I think tomorrow I am going to need some more of that coffee to get through the day.

This morning Chris made potato salad and I made guacamole. We still have chip dip and fruit dip to make and we have to cut up all the fruit. That will have to wait until after lunch because I am too busy enjoying my coffee at the moment.

Oh, and I drove the car this morning. The windshield wipers have two settings. Off and Super Fast. And when you turn them off from Super Fast, they just stop wherever they feel like it. We're going to need to figure that out before we're driving in the rain.

Driveway Decor

2008-08-14T09:31:00.003-06:00

So while I continue to think about decorating the inside of my house, Chris has been busy 'researching' how to decorate the outside. He started with the driveway. This is our newest decoration.

We've been contemplating a second vehicle for a while now. Technically this is a third vehicle, but don't get me started on the giant blue monstrosity that is currently parked in my garage. I will continue to pretend it's not there and call this our second vehicle.

We threw a bunch of ideas back and forth, new, slightly used, used, lease etc. and spent a couple of months thinking about it. We visited every dealership in the city and met a lot of salesmen. We even visited a few dealerships 2 and 3 times, and each time got a new salesman. We obviously have no loyalty, lol. And then in the end we decided to get a used car that was being sold privately. It's a 1999 Malibu and hopefully it's more loyal to us than we are to salesmen.

Back to Blogging

2008-08-13T08:52:00.002-06:00

It's been a couple of months, but I swear I have a good excuse. Well to be honest my good excuse is only good for the month of July, I cannot explain what happened to June.

In July the girls and I went to the lake, for the whole month. I took a job there at a children's' camp as the Camp Administrator. I caught up with some old friends and made a few new ones. A good time was generally had by all. Unfortunately though, the Internet was dial up only at the lake. It was painful, but I must say, less painful than I originally thought. So my Internet time was limited to downloading email and once in a while I would check on a forum or try to catch a friend of two on MSN...oh and Facebook, I'd try to check that once a week or so as well.

So now we are home and back to the same old same old. Which I am already a little bit tired of, lol. I'm hitting the gym every morning, even though some mornings I can barely drag my butt out of bed. And I bought a new bike with part of my summer pay cheque so I am riding that to and from the gym at the moment. Once the snow falls (Mother Nature I beg you...please let me have until at least Halloween) I will start driving my van again. I am also back to babysitting every weekday. Luckily I have great kids, so it's a pretty easy, yet very busy, job.

Now that I am back to blogging, I need something to blog about. A theme for the year, or a while, I suppose. Not that I will stick to a theme, but if I have one there will always be something in the back of my head nudging me to write. I've been thinking about what's missing in my house lately. We have all the basics and more, but if you came into my house, I think you'd notice one main thing that is missing. DECOR.

It's glaringly obvious that I am not a decorator. Our walls upstairs were white when we moved in and they are still white a year later. Our pictures, those that are up, are just hung on old nail holes. It's really quite sad. I suppose I should give myself a little credit though, we have a small nook in our hallway that is decorated. Chris spent some time in Nunavut a couple of years ago and brought home some soap stone carvings which are beautiful. I have those in the nook with a painting I found at a garage sale for $5. It looks nice to me, but remember, I am not a decorator. I'll have to take a picture and post it sometime.

It's not that I am scared of paint exactly, that's not why my walls are still white, it's more that I am scared of starting painting and not knowing where to stop. All of our corners upstairs are rounded corners so one wall leads to the next, and the next and the next. I'm told you can still paint and just make sure you tape the corner well so there is a definite line, but I don't trust myself or my husband to tape it that well. So we just don't paint, and we look at our white walls day after day after day.

Which brings me to my goal for the year and my blog theme for a while, again, not that I will stick to it, lol. I want to decorate my home this year. I want to place my pictures in planned places, not left over nail holes. I want to buy some home decor items. I might even want to buy some, dare I say it, curtains. I don't really like curtains, but they often look nice in other peoples' homes, so maybe they would in mine too?

I went to a home party they other night and bought a magnetic frame thing which I am excited about getting and planning what's going to go in it. It's one that you can put scrapbook pages or pictures in and change it up every so often. It was my first step in my home.

My first step on my blog was to change the background...much easier, and no paint lines to stress about.

Katie's Room

2008-05-28T15:07:00.003-06:00

Katie's room is getting close to being ready for her to move in as well. It's painted, but it needs a closet door, and all the trim (baseboards, door and window moldings) and of course a ceiling. Once we get a few more things done in there, and the furniture from my brother in law, she can move in!

Looking in from the hall. We bought that daybed at a garage sale last summer. With all the bedding, mattress and mattress cover. Only $50!

This her doorless closet.

And looking out. Isn't it a huge room? I think it's bigger than the master upstairs. That dresser may or may not stay. I want it in my room one day.

It's been a while

2008-05-28T10:33:00.004-06:00

That's becoming a pretty standard title around this blog unfortunately. I really do have good intentions of keeping you all up to date on what's going on around here, but it's really been the same old same old lately. Basement Renovations!

But we're getting sooooo close to being done. And again, I say we as if I have played a major role. I painted the first coat in the office and family room, and a few walls got a second coat done by me, but other than that painting, my involvement has consisted of helping move a few heavy things and wandering down stairs every so often and pointing out little flaws in Chris's work. I really am a horrible wife. But he did tell me that it doesn't bother him that I have not done much when it comes to the major work of this reno, and in fact he much prefers it if I stay away!

This blog entry is going to be mostly pictures. I don't have time to post all of them, so for now you get to see the family room and area and our new couch. I mean sectional. No, I mean monster couch sectional. It's crazy huge.

We went furniture shopping last week...on a whim. We knew we were going to need new furniture, but we had not decided for sure what we were looking for. We had two options:

1. Move the furniture from upstairs to downstairs and get smaller stuff for the upstairs living room or

2. Buy something new for the basement family room and move stuff around upstairs.

The set we have in the living room now is quite a large leather set. It takes up a lot of space. We love it, but it's big. That set and our wide screen tv made my upstairs living room seem very crowded and small to me. I was leaning towards option 1. We also had plans to get a smaller tv for the upstairs living room.

So back to furniture shopping. We found this very cute, reasonably priced leather set. It was much smaller than what we had and was designed for condo spaces. Perfect! It was comfy too. We asked about it and found it could not be delivered until July. That was okay, we could survive. We decided to look around a bit more, but we were pretty sure it was the one. Fast forward about 40 couch sets, all of which we had to sit on, and the kids had to attempt to jump on, and put their dirty shoes on (note to self....floor models may look clean, but they are obviously very, very dirty). We're still thinking of the first set...until....we see a sectional. We never even considered a section. You pretty much have to have the right space for one, and we never really have, until now. This sectional was gorgeous. It had a huge ottoman that all the girls could lay on, at the same time, and not be falling off. And only Katie's toes hung over the edge a bit. If you pushed the ottoman right into the corner of the sectional, it basically made a double bed, perfect for company.

We thought about it for a while and then decided what the heck! The salesman went to check on delivery etc. and it turned out we could get one piece of the sectional and the ottoman right away and the other piece in July. Sure, why not. While he went to right up the order, we went to look at tv's. Then we saw another sectional, in front of this huge tv (which in hindsight probably helped make the sectional look much smaller than it really was). We all had a seat. There were two reclining chairs. One had a vibrating function. And there was a phone in it. Built right in the arm rest of the chair was a phone. A real life, I am so lazy I am sitting in my vibrating recliner chair, not lifting a finger, calling you on the phone kind of phone. The couch also had a hide-a-bed. Bonus. They are heavier than heck, but if our future goes as planned, we will always have movers, so not our problem, lol.

You probably guessed that when the salesman got back and told us this sectional was on sale for $500 off the ticketed price, we were pretty much sold. Chris later told me he didn't really like the first sectional, but that he could tell I really did, so he figured it would be fine. This one, he really likes and I really like, so that's good. It was delivered yesterday and it is huge! It really makes the tv area of our new family room small and cozy, but it's turned into exactly the space I wanted. We're a tv family, I won't deny that. We all live to sit around in the evening and watch a show or a movie together. This space is exactly that. Yay!

Unfortunately though, our new fireplace is not going to fit in that space. We could put it behind the sectional, but that is going to become a kids play area, so I don't really want it there. We've decided it will come upstairs to the living room. Not quite what we had envisioned when we bought it, but it will still be in space where it can be used quite often. And if we buy the right tv for the living room, it will fit right on top of the fireplace (remember, we're a tv family).

So without further ado....our new furniture.

And hidden in one of the armrests of the middle chair is the phone...seriously, can you believe that? Do you think we'll actually use it much?

And this is a shot of the family room from near the basement stairs.

And a shot of what will be the kids area behind the couch eventually. That china cabinet will be moved into the office when the cabinet in the office gets moved to someone else's house. The Universal Gym will also be gone (know anyone who wants to buy a gym...cheap?), so that leaves a nice sized kids play area. It's good though because next fall I will have two 5 yr olds every other day when they are not in kindergarten (one is my own), two 2 or almost 2 yr olds, and one 6 mos old in my dayhome.

Quotable Monday ~ Strength ~

2008-04-21T19:45:00.003-06:00

These are for you Michelle...

Once you go through something you think will kill you and it doesn’t, every day is like a present. ~ Elissa B. Terris

To find in ourselves what makes life worth living is risky business, for it means that once we know, we must seek it. ~ Marsha Sinetar

Don't think about how weak you are — think of how strong you're going to be. ~ Michelle (Berry) Dougherty

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Lucky Ducky!

2008-04-21T19:33:00.003-06:00

On Saturday the girls and I went to the Child and Family Expo. It was mostly a bunch of booths of local business that have products for children or families. Dora the Explorer was also there, but the line up to see her was pretty darn long, so thankfully none of the girls cared to wait in line to be able to get to stand next to her for 12 seconds. We were there for a couple hours, wandering around booths, participating in the fun crafts and jumpy house things, etc. And while we were there I entered my name into the door prize draw for grown ups and the girls entered their names into the draw for a bunch of Dora and Diego stuff...$150 worth of Dora and Diego stuff to be more specific. That was just one of many draws, but I really didn't want my kids names in a bunch of draws for home parties and stores etc., who would probably put us on email lists or call us asking us to host parties, lol. So they entered the one draw only. It was sponsored by the Army Cadets, so no harm in that right?

Well last night I got a call for Beth. She was the lucky winner of the Dora and Diego prize! I couldn't even remember what was all in the prize since I never really gave it much attention when we entered. We never win, lol. I stopped by the Army Cadet place tonight while Beth was at Sparks and picked up the prize, and here she is with her stash!

That's a lot of Dora and Diego stuff!! I told the girls we would open a few things and the rest would go in the closet for birthday gifts, but I think they have me convinced that we should keep it all. They don't even like Dora and Diego that much, but the idea of new toys, especially the ones that talk and make noise, has them glowing with excitement!

Quotable Monday

2008-04-14T09:36:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's been a week since I blogged. I haven't done much since last week though, so it's okay. I did paint a little bit in the basement, but I have not gone back down, since more painting involves moving furniture and vacuuming drywall dust. So on that note....

I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on. ~Roseanne Barr

Quotable Mondays

2008-04-07T10:46:00.002-06:00

Stealing a great idea from a friend of mine who also blogs. I'll try to post a quote that sums up my weekend, or the week to come every Monday. Not sure how long it will last, but it should keep my amused for a couple of weeks at least, lol.

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
~Margaret Atwood

Let's Play!

2008-04-02T09:49:00.002-06:00

I babysit a little girl who is Anna's age. A few minutes after J arrived this morning Anna asked her if she wanted to play Pokemon. Anna said she would be the Pokemon and J would be the trainer.

Before I go on, I have to say that I love listening to 4 yr old conversations, they generally make for great blog material. If only I could remember to write even a third of them down, lol.

Anyways, J was unsure about how this game was going to work and didn't know what a trainer did. I wasn't sure either since none of the kids have every played Pokemon before so I was also listening carefully to the rules. Anna simply said "I'll be the Pokemon and you stand there and tell me what to do."

Awww....it's the same game Chris and I play everyday, but we call our game Marriage.

I'll let you guess who gets to be the trainer most often....

The basement is coming along!

2008-03-31T10:35:00.009-06:00

Now that more walls are up it's starting to actually look like something. We had our first and second inspections and the third and last one does not take place until you are done. Yay! There were no problems with either inspection so nothing was or is holding Chris back from working away to his heart's content. It's really hard to get good before and after shots since when walls go up, the places I stand to take my pictures sometimes no longer exists. So these shots will have to do.

I couldn't use the flash for the first couple because Chris was mudding and sanding walls while I was taking pictures and the drywall dust really made for a bad picture with the flash.

The first picture is looking into the family room area from the bottom of the stairs. The second looks into the family room and you can see the door into the office.

Looking the opposite way from the bottom of the stairs is more of the family room area. It's a big open space and this is the spot where the weight bench and my elliptical will end up.

This is the office. Directly above is the living room and a bay window and this basement wall follows the same outline as the bay. Along the opposite wall is the kids' computer. Since I took these pictures Chris has finished the walls and I believe they are all primed and ready for paint! I should be able to start painting the family room in the next couple of weeks, but I can start in the office as soon as we pick some colors.

In the office there is a little nook where we have bookshelves at the moment. I'd like that area to stay with shelves but I don't know if I want to keep the ones we have or build something that will suit the area better.

Katie's room has not changed much so I didn't take any pictures and the bathroom was the same when I took the pictures but Chris has since framed in the back wall, so there is a bit of progress being made there as well. We have had 2 plumbers both say they would like to do the job of running the water lines etc., but neither have been able to actually find the time to do the job. Hopefully we'll find someone soon who can do it.

This last picture is my laundry room. To the left are the washer, dryer and deep freezer. The furnace is also over there. On the right will be built in shelving and storage. Things like clothes that don't fit the girls yet, or the out of season clothes, sleeping bags, spare blankets etc. will all have a place on the shelves I have planned out in my mind. There will also be one or 2 closet bars for hanging laundry or storing winter coats etc. There is currently one on the left you can see with a bunch of jackets on it, but that spot is temporary until I get my shelves. Chris is going to drywall in the laundry room as well, but I'm not sure if we will bother with mudding etc since it's just a utility room.

Beth's Birthday

2008-03-19T09:03:00.005-06:00

Beth turned 7 on March 15th! We didn't know what to get her that she would love for more than a week. We also didn't know when we were going to have the time to go buy whatever it was she would want. So a few days before her birthday I asked her if she would like a new outfit, a hair cut and to get her ears pierced. Her eyes lit right up when I mentioned the ears!

So Saturday morning we all went out for brunch and then went to the mall for the ear piercing. It was one of the malls we don't normally go to, but there was the annual baby crawl going on and a friend of mine had a table selling her adorable homemade soft sole slippers, so we had to check it out. You can check out her slippers too if you like. Beware....they are incredibly adorable. Her table looked fantastic and she sold quite a few pair and handed out tons of business cards. The mall was packed, but luckily the store where they do the piercing was pretty empty.

Beth was so excited and could not wait to get her earrings. She spent a while picking out the studs she would get and finally decided on her birthstone. Then we paid, and I swear as soon as the debit machine spit out the Approved receipt, the tears started. Beth was so scared of it hurting and she kept saying over and over "I don't want it to hurt!" There was never a "I don't want my ears pierced" so we kept working at getting those studs in. As she cried the ladies convinced her to let them put the guns over her earlobes so she could see how it felt before the earrings went in. Then I told her we would count to three together (the ladies nodded to each other that they would shoot on 2) and we started to count. One, two, CLICK and it was done! There were a few more tears but that ended pretty quickly as we distracted her with picking out some new headbands, lol.

After the ear piercing we had a Girl Guide event to attend and we were cutting it close on time so we had to wait for another day for the outfit. In fact she's still waiting and be unusually patient about it all. After our event we headed to a local restaurant to pick out her ice cream birthday cake. There were tons of cute cakes with all sorts of pictures iced on them, and what does my 7 year old pick? An old lady cake. No offense to any older ladies who read my blog, but honestly, does this cake look like one a 7 year old would choose?

I suppose they all taste the same, and she was happy, so that's all that matters, right?

Happy Birthday Bethie!!

Theory of Evolution

2008-03-15T09:10:00.002-06:00

by Beth

We used to be monkeys. That's why we are hairy people. Then one day a monkey drank a potion and turned into a scientist.

What's in your cupboards?

2008-02-22T09:15:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine asked on her blog: "What's in your cupboard above the fridge?"

So in response to that, the camera came out, and you all get to see what I keep in that pretty useless space. And I'll tell you this, when you are 5'4", that space is not simply useless, it's impossible to reach AND useless. I do think we are using the space quite well though. The only things I can actually reach without a chair are at the very front. Very accessible after a long day at home with the kids.....

Just kidding, I don't actually need to use any of those bottles after spending time with my kids, lol. Let's take a closer look at what we've all got in there (you can click on the pictures for a larger image).

I didn't label the bottles. I thought they were pretty self explanatory.

It's Family Day today

2008-02-18T11:48:00.002-06:00

It's an actual holiday in 4 provinces now (SK, AB, ON and MB....although I think in MB it may be called Louis Riel Day).

So in honor of Family Day, take some time and make your kids smile today!

Work out much?

2008-02-15T10:08:00.003-06:00

Since the beginning of September I have been going to Curves every morning before my family wakes up. Sadly I have not seen the most amazing results but dropping pounds slowly is way better than not dropping at all right? Plus, I feel so much better than I did before I started, and although I am not always sleeping great, on average I sleep much better than I did a few months ago.

So if you work out, or believe in the benefits of working out for overall health. Take a look at the following website and think about sending an electronic postcard or personalized letter to you local MP encouraging them to establish an Adult Fitness Tax Credit.

What a bunch of dopes.

2008-02-13T10:07:00.002-06:00

This just in. According to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, the smell of marijuana coming out of an open car window is no longer grounds for a police officer to make an arrest and search the vehicle.

According to 53% of people who phoned into NewsTalk Radio this morning they felt the Court of Appeal made the right ruling. According to my husband, those 53% are pot smoking hippies.

Gotta love naptime!

2008-02-07T13:59:00.001-06:00

Especially on those few and far between days that everyone is asleep (or at least laying down) at the same time! I should get at least 1 hour of uninterrupted quiet if everyone naps as they usually do. It's just that usually they don't all nap at the same time. Anna is not actually napping, she's just having a lay down in my bedroom and watching a Care Bears movie, but that's as good as it gets for her and it does keep her quiet and resting for a while at least.

Whatever will I do for this hour? Most of my housework is up to date and the laundry is already going, so I don't have to feel guilty about that. I do have a few books on the go that I could be reading, so, after I play online for a bit I guess I'll read.

One of the books I am reading right now is called Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma. Someone on talk radio recommended it the other day on a call in show and I reserved it at the library. I am highly disappointed. It's a self help type of book focusing on nurturing the leader within your child. It's really a non-fiction book but it's pretending to be a fiction book. By telling the story about the characters in the book the author is trying to teach the readers his lessons. I find it rather hokey. Don't get me wrong, I think the collection of lessons the author is trying to teach and share is very valuable but because of the the style of the book it completely disinterests me. I'd much rather read what the author has to say in a non-fiction style. And that's all I have to say about that.

I hear a baby. I guess I didn't get my hour.

2008-02-06T09:18:00.000-06:00

I don't get the American political system. Maybe it's all the talk of the primaries lately that we hear about on the nightly news or talk radio, and the fact that I am not sure exactly how that all works, but I think it's more the celebrity endorsements I don't quite get.

They said on the radio today that Oprah endorses Obama, Martha Stewart endorses Hillary Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses McCain. It went on and on about who each celebrity is going to vote for. I don't know why, but for some reason that seems wrong to me. In an ideal world, every citizen would pay close attention to politics and vote for the party or person they truly feel will make the best decisions for their country. But we all know this is not an ideal world, and I wonder if having a certain celebrity's endorsement is considered a leg up in this election race? Or maybe a leg down in the case of Hillary Clinton who also has Jerry Springer's vote?

February already!

2008-02-04T15:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how fast January went! With how cold it was, it really should have been a month that felt like it was dragging, but before I knew it, it was over. We had some pretty cold weather too, I'm talking -52C if I don't cover my skin it will freeze in seconds cold, not wimpy I have to wear more than a sweater cold.

And so, as luck would have it, my van suffered the most from the cold. I avoided driving it as much as possible because I know the power steering hose likes to pop off when it's too cold, but sometimes I just need to go out. The week before last Beth was home from school as she was pretty sick, so last week when she was feeling better and had gymnastics, I braved the cold and took her, just to get her out of the house and out of my hair for an hour. Bad choice. It was one of the -50C something days so I kept my van going the whole time we were in the gym. I didn't want to leave the keys in it, so I just kept hitting the remote car start every 10 minutes. My car starter is not one of those fancy ones where you press the button from wherever you happen to be and it beeps to let you know your vehicle started, it's the kind where you pretty much have to be at the driver side door for the car starter to work, so I actually saw it start up every 10 minutes from the door of the gym. I wanted to keep it warm so my power steering would be safe.

No luck.

After gymnastics I buckled the girls in and went to drive away, and had no power steering. Of course I was wedged into a parking spot with one truck in front and a car right behind, and it would have been tough getting out of the spot with power steeering and it was darn near impossible without I tell you. I am pretty darn proud I didn't hit either vehicle actually. It took, no word of a lie, 5 minutes to get out the parking space. Luckily most of the drive home required few hard turns, so although it's really a pain to drive with no power steering, it can be done. Or maybe I am just getting used to it, because it already went on me once this winter and in the past has gone a couple of times every winter since we've owned the van.

Since I was babysitting every day, and Chris was out of town most of the week, the van never made it into the shop until Friday. They put the hose back on, said it was the other end that popped off this time, and ordered us a new hose, which they hope will solve the problem. Luckily they did not charge us for this repair, probably because it had only been in for the same problem a couple weeks earlier. I have no idea what the new hose will cost either. I dread vehicle maintenance bills!

But for now it's working and I can turn a corner with ease. There is no more -50C forcast for the near future so my fingers are crossed that it stays fixed for the rest of this winter, which by the way, is not going as fast as January did.

I dreamed the other night of melting snow. I wish.

On a very serious note

2008-01-24T09:22:00.000-06:00

This video was posted on an online playgroup I belong to. It found it very frightening and disturbing. Please watch and if you have kids, seriously consider looking into purchasing a new type of smoke alarm. If you don't have kids, maybe a new smoke alarm would be something you could buy for your grandchildren or nieces and nephews. Also you can check out this link http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/4/1623 for some statistical data of a study done comparing the beeping smoke alarm and the voice smoke alarm. I'm sure there are a lot more studies out there, but I didn't look for any more. This was enough to convince me.

Rick and Polly

2008-01-17T15:03:00.000-06:00

Polly Pockets. Delightful miniature dolls with stretchy vinyl clothes. Years ago they used to be teeny tiny, micro-small dolls that you couldn't dress and undress, but things have changed. Just like barbies, most of the clothes are impossible for little kids to put on and off, so mom and dad have to play too. Well, just like Barbie had Ken, Polly has her man. Rick. I'm not sure Rick and Polly stand a chance though. They may succumb to the same fate as Barbie and Ken.

Poor Rick. It was bad enough that the poor guy belonged to a Polly set called Glitz and Glam that came with a sparkly car, sparkly clothes and sparkly cats. I guess he didn't stand a chance. Especially considering daddy was the one playing Polly's with Anna that fateful day. The day when Rick finally gave in to his inner demons...

2008-01-10T11:58:00.000-06:00

Basement renos are on hold until we get our building permit and first inspection. There is not much more we can do before that happens or we'll have to rip walls down. Hopefully we'll get the permit this week (we applied a week ago) and then can arrange an inspection soon.

In the meantime I've started some scrap booking. I finished my first page last night. It's of Katie when she was 2 yrs old playing in the leaves.

The picture quality is not the greatest. The paper is a lot more orange in real life. Now I have to pick out a few pictures of Beth and do a page for her. The plan is that each girl will get an album. I'll do them one page at a time, so you can expect the albums to be complete as each girl moves out on their own, I'm that slow. As is common in most families, I have tons of pictures of Katie to choose from, less of Beth and I'll have to use every single picture of Anna ever taken to fill her album!

Or, they'll each get a few pages and then I will get bored of scrap booking like I do with my many other hobbies. Knitting lasted 2 scarves.

Basement Reno's Cont'd

2007-12-29T23:38:00.001-06:00

Katie's room still pretty much looks the same except there is more junk in that space than there was before. More specifically a giant tub box, that is now a shelf for junk. It even has the bathroom sink sitting on it.

However, this means we now have a tub and a sink (and a toilet if you're worried) ready to go into the bathroom space as soon as the line fitter guy we made friends with has time to come over and do some plumbing for us.

The office now has a wall making it a real room! This is looking at the wall from what will one day be the family room.

Inside the office there is going to be the access to the storage room that is under the stairs and behind the bathroom. This is the door...all I can fit in the picture. Chris is down there right now drywalling the rest of the office.

The Bathroom!

It has a door now, but the door is not actually secured onto anything, it's just squeezed into its spot. So far we've been lucky and it has not fallen.

This is looking into the bathroom from inside Katie's room. The second picture is looking into the bathroom from where the wall behind the tub will be one day.

She can see clearly now....

2007-12-22T15:51:00.000-06:00

I need to start off with a short letter to my sister.

Dear Amber,

I am sorry I promised more basement pictures 3 days ago and have not posted them yet. Actually I have not even taken them yet. But I will. Soon. After Christmas.

Yours Truly,

Corra

Okay, that's done and out of the way. So on to the big news at home here. We had the yearly optometrist appointments last week. Every year for the last couple of years we have been prepared to hear that Katie would need glasses. Chris got his in grade school sometime, I got mine in grade 5 or 6, so we figured it was inevitable. Each year we are slightly surprised when they say her eyes are fine. In fact a couple of years ago it was Beth they wanted to keep a close eye on because she was more farsighted than she should be at her age, which was not what we thought we would hear. Her eyes are good now though, still slightly farsighted, but within normal range for a six year old.

This year however we were 99.9% sure Katie would leave the office with a prescription. We've noticed over the last couple of months that she doesn't see as well as she should. She'll be sitting at the kitchen table and we'll ask her what time the microwave says, and she has to get up and walk to it to read it. Street signs were also bad, she couldn't read them until we were almost driving past them. Sure enough, she needed glasses! She was so excited about it, more excited than I thought she would be. We went out that evening and picked out a couple pairs of frames (2 for 1...yay) and they were ready the next day. I took her to get them fitted and all the way home in the van she read signs, and was so excited about things she could see, like the individual bricks in a brick building. I guess we sort of take our eyesight for granted, even those of us with glasses, and we forget how fuzzy the world can be when you can't see well.

She is so happy to have her new glasses, and very excited that they were ready in time to wear when we go see family over Christmas. She can't wait to show them off!

Katie's favorite are the dark frames, but I like the other one. The picture really doesn't show just how cute they are.

The Basement Renovations have started!

2007-12-18T21:28:00.001-06:00

It's very exciting!

When we moved in the basement was unfinished except for the exterior wall framing. It was great because a lot of work had been done yet we had complete say as to how we were going to design the basement. Our plan is to build a bathroom, a bedroom, an office (with a window so it can be considered a bedroom when we sell), a family room, a storage room, and a utility/laundry room. The exact design of each room has changed over the few months we've lived here, and I am sure they will change slightly as we build, but we've actually started! I say we, when mostly I mean Chris has started, but I held some framing still while he put a few screws in and held some drywall up so he could do the same, so I have helped, a little.

I decided I needed some 'before' pictures tonight, but some of the interior framing has been started so they are not completely before pictures.

The Bathroom

First picture: To the left of Katie are the stairs.

Second picture: Looking into the bathroom from where the bedroom will be. To the right where all the boxes are will be the storage room. The bathroom will end right about where the blue drywall ends.

The Laundry/Utility Room

Excuse the huge mess of the basement.

Family Room

The Office

Hail Mary

2007-12-18T20:56:00.001-06:00

My kids go to a Roman Catholic school. We are not Roman Catholic. They say prayers three times a day at school. In the morning it's Our Father, which my kids know. At lunch it's grace, and is different depending on the teacher. Before school lets out they say Hail Mary. There is no Hail Mary in our church. Tonight at dinner, after grace, Katie started to say Hail Mary (to see if Beth knew it) and Beth joined in. Between the two of them, this is what we heard:

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou among Swimmin',
and blessed is the fruit of Thy Mung, Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Beth laughed at the end and told me her teacher says Women not Swimmin', and then told me her whole class says Swimmin' and they think it's funny their teacher says it incorrectly. Katie says Mung (Beth just mumbles through the last few lines) and she has no idea what a Mung might be, but followed along anyways. Chris and I laughed so hard and when Katie discovered what the real words were she laughed pretty hard. So hard she almost spit soup out of her mouth. Beth and Anna laughed too, but I'm sure had no idea that it was funny and just wanted to join in. I'm sure Beth will continue to say Blessed art Thou among Swimmin' along with her classmates.

Makes me wonder how many Catholics die wondering what swimming has to do with Mary and what the heck a Mung is?

Wall Clmbing Pictures...as promised

2007-12-11T09:11:00.000-06:00

I didn't take these because as usual I forgot my camera. I am going to have to start chaining it to my neck. There are none of her at the top of the wall, but she made it up there quite a few times.

On Belay!

2007-12-07T08:45:00.001-06:00

If you know my kids and I asked you which one was the bravest, I bet you wouldn't pick Katie. Katie's my bookworm, she's quiet and can be quite shy. She's not nearly as adventurous as Beth who we have a hard time keeping indoors when it's nice out. Katie likes to be outside, but often it's to find a quiet, relaxing place to read. So it will probably surprise you just as much as it did me, that Katie is quite the little wall climber!

She went on a field trip last month and they had a chance to wall climb. When I read the permission slip for the trip I was sure that the wall climbing waiver I was signing was useless since she was never going to do it. But I was surprised when she got home to find out that not only had she given it a try, she got up quite high and really enjoyed herself.

Katie was ecstatic when she found out for the last Girl Guide meeting before Christmas that they were going wall climbing. They needed volunteer adults to belay so I stuck around to help and to watch Katie. I was a little nervous about belaying as I had never done it before, but it was actually pretty easy. Most of the girls did well, only a couple were too scared to go up more than a couple feet. Katie, however, amazed me. She climbed walls none of the other girls could do. Not all were perfectly vertical, some had parts that jutted out at angles and that stumped most of the girls since you had to hang slightly upside down to get around them. Every wall she tried, she made it all the way to the top to touch the ceiling. I'm not sure how high the walls they were climbing were, but they were pretty darn high. Even if I had the strength to do it, I couldn't get over height, so I would most likely be a terrible wall climber.

One of the Guide leaders was taking pictures and I'm pretty sure she got Katie in at least one shot, so I've emailed her asking for a copy and as soon as I get it, I'll post it on here.

Katie was still talking about it this morning. She went so far as to say wall climbing was her passion. I took a brochure from the place home last night, and the prices seem pretty reasonable, so I think Chris and I will try to take her every couple of weeks. Anything to get her out doing something physical is good I think.

Can a 4 year old keep a secret?

2007-12-06T10:12:00.000-06:00

That's the question every Christmas season. It's not always a four year old I suppose, but kids in general. Every year they cannot stand the anticipation of finding out what it is that present under the tree with their name on it, so they ask over and over, and then when that fails they ask what their sister, or their mom, or their dad is getting. And every year I am faced with the dilemma of letting them in on the secret or keeping it all to myself.

A few years ago I bought Chris a PlayStation 3. I was so proud of myself that year. I got him something he really wanted, but also something he never thought I would actually go out and buy for him. Katie and Beth were with me when I picked it up from the store. And although I can't actually remember how old they were because I am not sure how long ago that Christmas was, I remember that Katie was old enough to keep the secret and Beth was not. She begged and begged all the way home to tell her what daddy was getting and finally I broke down and told her that I had bought him shampoo (because there was shampoo in the cart that day it was a reasonable lie). I made her promise that she would not tell daddy what we had bought him, and she thought she was so convincing that she would keep the promise. I, however, was not fooled. That's why I said shampoo in the first place.

We arrived home and walked through the front door and wouldn't you know it, the first words out of Beth's mouth were "Daddy, we bought you a present and it's shampoo!!" The best part of the whole story is that it has since become a family tradition that when one of the kids asks what the other parent, or their sister got for Christmas, we tell them "Shampoo".

But the kids are getting older. Katie's been in on the secrets for a few years now, and even Beth can be trusted to not tell. Anna I'm not completely sure about. But this year I did tell them all what they were giving their daddy for Christmas, and he's told them what they are getting for me. I not only bought Chris's gift, but I bought my own, and that's the only part of the secret they do not know. I can tell Anna's been dying to tell me what I got (a beautiful stainless steel teapot) but so far she has not said anything. Well anything out loud. She very secretly whispered to the 4 yr old that I care for during the day, that they bought me a coffeepot(teapot, coffeepot, whatever, there is no difference to a four year old I'm sure). I wasn't even a foot away from her when she whispered the secret, and the whisper was more of a quiet talk than a whisper, but she she hasn't come out and said "Mom, we're getting you shampoo" or anything like that.

She has been trying to 'trick' me about what they've got me though. Today she told me it was a show, a good movie, that I would really love. Then she said it was a real horse, no she meant a bear. All I'm waiting for now is the day she tells me it's really not a teapot.

As far as I know she has not accidentally or on purpose told Chris what I bought him from the girls. I'll have to ask him when he gets home from work if she's let it slip. I didn't tell any of the girls what I got him from me though, so that secret should actually be 100% safe.

Stupid Van

2007-11-22T08:36:00.000-06:00

It's still dead. Chris looked for the booster cables and couldn't find them. So we decided to break down and buy one of those jumper battery things. You plug them in and charge them and then boost your car off them. It charged all day yesterday, wouldn't start last night. It charged all night, and wouldn't start this morning. Ughh. I am so frustrated.

Of course Chris was gone overnight for work and won't be back until this evening sometime. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but tonight we have parent teacher interviews at the girls' school. The first one starts half an hour after my dayhome kids are picked up. We could walk, and that's probably what we'll end up having to do, but it's cold out there! It was -17C this morning and it's supposed to be -10C this evening. Katie also has Girl Guides tonight and if Chris isn't home before 7pm (not holding my breath) she won't be able to get there.

Why won't that battery booster thing work? It's making me crazy. Maybe we'll have to take it back to the store. Do most people buy these things right when they need them or do people pre-buy them in anticipation of needing them one day? And if you bought it long before you needed it, and then go to use it and it doesn't work, can you take it back? I have to go find the instruction manual and see if there is something I am doing wrong.

Good Intentions Spoiled

2007-11-21T06:58:00.000-06:00

Chris has been away the last couple of mornings. That means my normal schedule of getting up at after 6am and heading to the gym shortly after 6:30am is thrown out of whack. I made it there Monday evening, but I just couldn't drag myself there yesterday evening. I find I am so much more tired during the day if I do not make it to the gym in the morning. Since Chris got home last night I had every intention of getting back into my schedule this morning. I drag my butt out of bed, get dressed, take the bread out of the breadmaker, check my email and head out to the garage. Once I flicked the light on in the garage I noticed one of the side doors of the van is open, and the little blinkie lights that alert other drivers that door is open is not doing it's job. Crap. I knew the van was dead. At our old place, Chris's work had a charger we could throw right on the battery and just let it charge for half an hour or so. We don't have that luxury here. Actually I think we might be lucky if we find booster cables. We're also going to have to push the van out of the garage so we can get another vehicle close enough to boost it. This sucks! I was so looking forward to getting back to the gym this morning since Chris leaves again tonight and won't be home tomorrow morning. This is not going to be a good gym week.

And I can't tell you how badly I want to throttle the child who was too lazy to press the button and close the van door behind her. That would be wrong.

November's Flying!

2007-11-13T13:52:00.000-06:00

It doesn't seem like it was almost 2 weeks ago since I last posted something on my blog. Time flies when you're having fun or so the saying goes. From that you could assume we're having fun, but I don't think we've actually had much time to have fun! Chris has been very busy with work so we haven't seen him too much lately. He did have yesterday off in lieu of Remembrance Day, and although he is working today, the rest of the week he is taking off. Yay for us! We get to see him and hopefully our Christmas lights will make their way onto the house and garage! Well maybe not, now that I think about it. He's going with Katie on her grade field trip tomorrow and they will be gone from 6:30am-6:30pm and then on Thursday my in-laws will be here, so that only leaves Friday and the weekend. We'll have to try to squeeze the decorating in somehow.

That's what it seems like all we can do lately, try to squeeze one more thing in. And when you look at our calendar, it's not full really. So why do I feel like everything is a crunch lately? It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I babysit every day til 5:30pm and the kids have activities on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some nights we barely have time to eat before I'm driving one or the other kid to something. Then I try to get other stuff fit in there too, like the dentist, the banking, errands, grocery shopping, etc. Usually I get a break on the weekends, so I am ready to start it all over again most Mondays, but poor Chris, he ends up working most weekends as well lately. He rarely gets a chance to catch his breath. I'd say this is his week to relax, but you just read about what's planned for his days off, lol.

Sorcerers, Witches and Unicorns...Oh My!

2007-11-01T13:37:00.000-06:00

Last night was one of the best Halloweens I can remember! The weather was amazing. There was no snow and my kids wore the costumes without a snowsuit underneath. They did pop home for some gloves, but they didn't have to wear their snowboots and trek through 2 feet of snow. We had 86 kids show up on our doorstep last night. We were told to expect about a hundred and with the weather being so nice, I thought we'd get more than a hundred for sure. Needless to say we had candy left over but I sent it to work with Chris so that I would not be eating it all day long.

I've been very good, not one piece of candy stolen from kids' bags so far!

Sleeping Baby = Pictures as promised!

2007-10-31T11:07:00.001-06:00

The cool Halloween Wreath the girls made with my best friend a couple weeks ago. It looks so great!

Our Jack O'Lantern carved last night by Chris. He's not happy with the eyes, they were supposed to be spookier. I'm going to try a picture of it all lit up tonight.

The front yard. The hanging spooky ghost lights up. Well it did. We noticed last night he was not glowing and were not sure why. I looked at him this morning and the cord that connects his plug to the pumpkin lights is severed (how appropriate). The pumpkins still work even though there is a loose wire end, so we'll have to put some electrical tape on it or something so we don't start a fire or anything.

A fire would be scary and all, but not quite the effect we're going for. Burning down our house and the neighborhood would not be a good first Halloween impression to make on all our neighbors.

Happy Halloween to me!

2007-10-31T07:46:00.000-06:00

I didn't think it was possible.

The morning girl at the gym was even more annoying than usual this morning. She was giddy and silly, more so than usual. It's not really the silliness that annoys me about her, it's the unending trail of questions she asks the clients. And they are inappropriate. Not in a bad way, really. She just has the social skills of a twelve year old. Rather than making pleasant conversation she grills us and it gets ridiculous.

How was your weekend?
What did you do?
Do you like doing that?
Who went with you?
Do you like them?
How many kids do they have?
All boys? Are they cute?
Do they have girlfriends?
What's their last names?
Are they virgins?

Okay, I've never actually heard her ask if someone was a virgin before, but if we let her keep talking, I'm sure she'd get to it. Luckily the trick to get to stop asking you questions is to somehow turn the conversation to get her to talk about herself.

She, like, has so much fun. Her friends are so awesome and, yeah, it was cool.

I, like a few of the other morning people, just avoid making eye contact with her. I concentrate really hard on breathing properly and look as busy as I can while on a machine or jogging on the spot, which is not an easy job. I've had my fair share of questions, but purposefully my answers make my life appear so incredibly drab (who am I kidding, it's not that hard to make it appear that way), that usually she moves on to more exciting women.

Good news for me though, today was her last day! Probably the reason for her being so much more giddy today I'm sure. She talked about her new job where she does nothing. She answered the phone twice yesterday and once it was her mom and once it was daddy (who got her the job). Then she went online and was on facebook for a couple hours, then she read 2 magazines. Seriously. And she was so excited that she gets paid sooo much to do nothing (of course she told us her wage as well, she doesn't keep anything private). It's not wage to brag about that's for sure. Granted it's more than I make babysitting, but still.

I've spent too much time on her now complaining about the poor girl, and my kids' school lunches are going to suffer, so I gotta run.

A little catch up

2007-10-30T10:10:00.000-06:00

It's been a few days, so here's what's been going on.

Our backyard is all done. It's seeded and ready for the grass to grow in the spring. All the bikes are put away in anticipation of snow that lasts, and the lawn chairs and things are put away with them.

The Girl Guide cookies have arrived and all the pre-ordered ones have been delivered. I asked for an extra case and there are 8 left in it, so I sent them to work with Chris today so I don't accidentally buy myself a box. Those mint cookies are sooooo good!

Halloween candy has been bought (finally) and the girls have their costumes all sorted out. They are so excited for tomorrow. I have to somehow come up with some willpower by then so that I don't steal all the little chocolate bars.

Chris has discovered his love for Halloween baking. He's always loved Christmas baking. Before you get too excited and think he's some weird guy who loves to bake, remember that the only way he gets baking is if he bakes it himself, so it's pretty much do or die at our house. That and he is a weird guy who bakes, but I love him anyways. I am NOT a baker. I can bake, I just don't really like to do it. I have enough fun cleaning up after Chris ;) This year he made witches fingers, which he's done before, and he attempted popcorn balls with gummy worms in them. Are they ever sticky! I tried to eat one a few minutes ago (it's snack time...cheerios, raisins and popcorn balls) and they are just too chewy for my teeth. So my back up plan if the willpower doesn't come through is to try to eat a popcorn ball while the kids are sorting their Halloween candy and glue my mouth shut semi-permanently.

I still have no pictures of our yard and I have not downloaded the wreath picture yet. It will happen....by Christmas for sure.

Maybe.

It snowed today

2007-10-26T17:58:00.000-06:00

I took some pictures but they are still on my camera, along with the picture of the Halloween wreath I promised. Maybe I'll get around to posting them tomorrow. Maybe not, depends how lazy I am. I want to sleep in til noon, but I'll settle for 9:30am. Last Saturday I couldn't sleep in because we all had dentists appointments (which went amazingly well). This is MY Saturday.

Anna and Jesus...good buddies.

2007-10-22T12:27:00.000-06:00

Anna and "J", the 4 year old girl I babysit, were just arguing over growing. Anna's decided that J is not going to grow anymore and she's decided only she will grow taller.

They argue over silly stuff like this all the time. As usual I tell Anna not to say things to hurt other people's feelings and for them both not to fight about silly things.

Anna then asks me if I know who knows everything. I ask her who and she tells me it's Jesus. She then proceeds to tell me that Jesus told her that she was going to keep growing taller than J, and he knows everything, so she knows it.

2007-10-22T10:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we decorated for Halloween. It's Chris's favorite holiday to decorate. On our new street though we have some competition. In our old town hardly anyone put out decorations, but now the decorations we have look pitiful compared to others. Chris went out to buy some more pumpkin lights this morning, and he plans on buying a few more items each year to add to our collection. A staple of decorating used to be various kinds of leaf bags, but there are hardly any trees here since the neighborhood is pretty new. We couldn't fill a Ziploc baggie much less a giant pumpkin leaf bag!

My friend was here over the weekend as well. She is so creative and crafty and together with the girls she made a Halloween wreath for our door. I'll have to take a picture and post it later so you can see how cute it is! The girls had a blast doing crafts. They also made some pumpkin and ghost candles. I don't my friend could believe how painty a 4 year old can get in less than 20 minutes, lol.

Help!

2007-10-20T09:20:00.000-06:00

Three kids.
One mom.
One dental hygienist.

I think it might equal disaster.

Beth and Anna say they are going to be good and open their mouths for the lady, but Beth said that last time too and she most definitely did NOT open her mouth. This time I bribed them, said I would buy them a treat if they cooperated. What does Anna want as a treat for being at the dentist? Smarties, well actually she said she wanted Farties, but I know what she means. I wonder if they'll brag to the hygienist that mum is going to buy them sugar in a box when we leave?