coloured bubbles?

Yes .. it's true. You soon can purchase coloured bubbles for your bubble enthusiasts. I stumbled upon this tidbit of info while blog hopping earlier, and I thought it was quite interesting.
They're called Zubbles and should be available soon, and when they are .. you can be sure I'll be purchasing them in gallon jugs if possible. We love bubbles!

sunday school, fishing and a bamboo update

The girls are heading to Sunday School with Auntie S, while Dave takes his visiting brother out fishing. This is going to leave me with an empty house until later and so I'm taking full advantage of it by reading. Yes, it's something I tend to put on the backburner, behind even the regular cleaning or scrapping. I've been reading the same novel for the last month and I'm only half way through. It's not because it's not interesting. It is. It's because it's one of those murder mystery novels I so adore, and this one happens to be chalk full of information on each and every page, and everytime I put it down for days at a time, I'm forced to reread parts just to jog my memory. Hence the slow SLOW pace at which it's being read.

I did catch my neighbour outside yesterday and asked her how I should care for my gifted bamboo plant. I found out it's called a Lucky Bamboo .. and because it's actually cut without roots or dirt, it needs to be treated like a bouquet of flowers. Meaning .. bacteria can quickly build up (you've seen the nasty mess the water can become in a vase of flowers, right?) .. well this can happen with the sponge that's holding the bamboo. The best way to treat this and to keep this plant alive is to clean and change the sponge weekly by washing the container out with a bleach/water solution to kill the bacteria, and using only bottled (or Brita in my case) water because apparently the chlorine in our city water can kill the plant too .. or make it turn yellow .. which is happening in my case. So I thanked her for this great insight and nugget of knowledge and today I must do something about it. It really is a gorgeous unusual plant and apparently looks more so the bigger it gets. I'd hate to shoot it down before it has a chance to really live.

So there's your lesson for this Sunday. :)

visiting

Yesterday Dave's youngest brother, his girlfriend and kids came for the afternoon .. along with my other BIL and SIL that already live here. It was just to sweet watching Justin with Uncle Dave. They were down on the floor on all fours, butting heads and Justin would squeel himself into fits of giggles each time. It was just so sweet to watch. He really attached himself to Dave and it made me secretly wonder if Dave misses having a son. Not that our girls don't do pretty much anything a boy would do (fishing, skating, biking, rollerblading, frog catching, bug collecting, digging in dirt, climbing rocks, etc) but I know somehow it would be different.

When Justin was all pooped out from playing (and still tired from all the recent travel), he tried desperatly to fall asleep on the livingroom floor. Cousin Hailey was oh so sweet and rubbed his head and back, trying to help him relax and fall into slumberville. She's just so good with babies, and much to my surprise, not ONCE did I have to tell her not to pick him up. She knows the boundaries even without me saying a word (now or any previous time). When I was her age, I was asking to hold any baby a mom would allow me.

We had a nice visit, and still have a week yet to enjoy the kids. Of course a nice sunny day would be a nice break from this dreary rain so we could all go to the playground.

a little creating

I did a little creating today, and it sure felt good. It seems I'm being drawn in so many directions of late, and scrapbooking has found itself further down the list then it used to be. :(
You can see here what I made.

rain, rain .. family visits .. bamboo .. and a happy holiday

such strange weather we've been having as of late. I typically don't mind the rain during the week, but when schedules are put on hold for the weekend, I tend to look for the sun so we can enjoy some outdoor time. Try occupying a 4 and 6 yr old brain for 48 hours without resorting to the TV for mindless entertainment. It's trying, that's for sure. There's only so many card and board games, puzzles and dolls one can play without boredom setting in. And when boredom hits, you can guarantee the fighting will begin. For now, I'm allowing the TV because we have to go out in a bit to have Alissa vaccinated for Kindergarten, and then once we get home .. the visiting cousins will come over and the girls will be in heaven, playing and mommy'ing over their wee 1 and 2 yr old cousins.

I was recently given a bamboo plant as a 'thank you' gift. I have to admit to not having a green thumb in the least .. and it seems that every indoor plant (with the african violet as the exception) I've killed in one way or another. It seems to be from the drought/flood system I have going on. I'll remember for sometime that I need to water them, then can go weeks without remembering, and it's not until I see dead leaves appearing that suddenly the lighbulb goes off and water it, only to have the poor thing pee the water out immediatly because the soil has turned into a lump of hard clay. So I tried doing a little online research on my new bamboo plant. All I came up with was outdoor ones, or bamboo flooring. So since the gal that gave me the plant said to make sure the sponge it's planted in, keeps moist, I've been doing that .. and now the outter bamboo shoots are turning yellow. See, I told you I kill indoor plants as soon as they come inside my home. So I must remember to ask my neighbour how I should care for my unique plant, the next time I see her outside. She works at a florist shop, has a gorgeous flower garden in front and out back of her home. I envy her abilities.

To my American friends .. I'd like to wish you a wonderful holiday weekend.

a little decorating

Since I had to dive into my template to fix my dreadful sidebar, I decided to toss things up a little and make a change. What aLOT of work .. but I'm liking the colours. The brown isn't as dark as I'd like .. so I may be tweeking that soon, as well as title colours and such. But whatcha think? Too girlie?

*feeling like a real girl these days*

I need a break!

One certain sentence was exchanged between myself and another Mom this morning as we waited for the bell to ring and our children to line up. We were having a casual conversation as we often do, and she mentioned she finally got the shift change at work that she's been wanting for awhile. She was excited that she'd be able to spend the summer days with her kids, then go to work while her hubby looked after them in the evening .. this in turn cutting out daycare costs for them. The comment that got me was when she said "I just want to be a Mom again." My quick, mindless response was "...and I just want a break from being a Mom" After I said it .. I immediatly wanted to retract it. Here she is .. she's had two children (same ages as my girls), but because of circumstances, has been required to work since the youngest was 2. Of course she's missing out on many stages in their lives, and she longs to just have weeks on end where she doesn't have to drop her kids off at daycare (or school .. then to daycare) but rather spend days on end together. And with summer just around the corner, she's going to get entire days with them. I looked at my situation and realize that I'm so very lucky. I have never been forced to work since giving birth to Hailey. We've been lucky enough that Dave's had a good enough income that even if we've had to cinch in our belt, and forego owning certain extras .. we've had enough to get by. I can wake up and enjoy my children each and every day. They don't have to spend time after school at a daycare, they get all of my attention, and they know I'm here .. missing them when they're at school. This is how I wanted it .. yet that blatant statement popped out of my mouth so quickly. I suppose that with any kind of job (within or outside the home) everyone needs a vacation. I believe it was just that, that had me saying what I did. I so just need a weekend even, where I can be the person I am. To not have to be sitting idle, ready for anyone's beck and call. I get out very little lately, and it's time for this girl to be rejuvinated. Our wedding anniversary if fastly approaching. Maybe I need to plan a weekend away.

oh dear!

I was playing around with my template and somehow messed up my sidebar so it no longer sits pretty up at the top like it used to. *sigh* And I think I set it back to how it was before, but it didn't change it's placement way down younder.
Back to the drawing board, me thinks.

Yay, I DID IT!

Oh yeah baby .. I did it and it feels so very awsome. I reached my 21st day of exercise/eating well. Even with a terrible head cold, I'm feeling energized and so good about myself today. I'm very proud of myself and the willpower I held to get me through this. This is NOT the end, let me tell ya. I did NOT go through all that to now just set it aside and go back to the way I was living before. Nope siree! Onward soldier! I will make this my way of living. Daily exercise will now become the norm for me and in turn, I shall see a difference in not only my clothing, but the scale as well. Not to mention this fantastic new level of energy I have uncovered, and spirits have lifted. I love it! The myth of having a new outlook on life when one is doing everything possible to make their life truly worth living, is no longer a myth in my books. This is reality. Did I say I love it already?
Won't you take a moment and celebrate with me? I have some champagne chilling. ;)

frustrating now .. fun last night

Something's up with blogger. I can't post comments on anyone's blogs, including my own .. yet I can read them just fine. It's annoying and frustrating, because will I remember to comment later on? And will I even remember what I had wanted to say? Not likely.
Now that I got that out .. I'll move on to other things. :)

We were invited out for a bbq get together to the family of one of Hailey's classmates. Over the last couple years I've gotten to know the parents pretty well while dropping our kids off at school. We're of the same mind, in that it's nice to arrive early .. let our kids play and such before the bell rings. They also have a just 5 yr old that will be in Alissa's Kindergarten class this fall. So Melissa invites us over .. it's a potluck of sorts in that we're to bring our own meat, a salad and of course any booze we'd like to indulge in. We can do that!
I'm going to sound much like I've been living under a rock lately .. but I was so excited the entire day. We were finally going to get together with another family that's in the same stage of life as us, with many of the same interests, etc. First I need to explain that we've found it hard to find people we could click with, that were at this same stage that I mentioned. We usually hang out with my BIL and SIL who have no kids .. we also have another couple that Dave's been friends with him since elementary school, and again they can't have kids. Then there's friends Dave's made through work, but they're all older, so have older kids .. and one is recently divorced so he's acting out the single life (dating, drinking heavily .. basicly what I call a midlife crisis in the works). And the friends I've made that have kids .. I just haven't felt that click .. ya know? So anyway .. we really enjoyed our evening out. The kids were happy playing together (making a huge mess too I might add), and us adults enjoyed some great topics of discussion and even a round of Bocce. I've been invited back with the kids come the hot summer months, for a little daytime lounging around their pool too! Nice!
It was just a really nice way to end what was such a busy afternoon.

Busy=sanitizing bottles and later, bottling 5 gals of wine (which equals 30 bottles). Oh yeah baby .. we're stocking up for the summer. ;) And I must say, after having a small sample, this batch is delish. I can't wait to see what two months of aging does to it. It's a red merlot, but not from a regular kit we've bought before. This came in full strength already, so no need to add water to the concentrate. I think that made quite a difference, not to mention some of the instructions were different, AND the fermenting time was longer then with the other wines we've made. It's less sweet, which is a nice change, although I can guarentee I'll be mixing it with a little sprite or 7-up.
We had a little accident too, while corking. Dave usually does that stage because it does take quite abit of upper body strength, and although I've done it before, I rather not. I always wondered how a bottle could withstand such force without shattering, and yesterday we found out that there's an odd bottle not quite up for the abuse. Wine .. ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. Oy! And with red, you have to clean it up immediatly or it stains, and it did .. but I'm hoping I can oxy clean it out or worse case scenario .. we repaint the kitchen cupboards again. I guess that's just the hazards of making your own wine in our makeshift brewery (read: kitchen).

I'm the meany

I was doing a little reading over at Nan's and she posted this. I HAD to c&p it over here too, because it's just so fitting of my own life.

I'm the meany...
I'm the meany who straightens your bed after it has been dismantled and set up as a club house tent.
I'm the meany who makes you put shoes on if you want to play in the dirt.
I'm the meany who secretly disposes of toilet paper and paper towel rolls before they are all claimed and turned into telescopes, light sabres or magic space wands.
I'm the meany who can't keep 100 pieces of artwork
I'm the meany who makes you choose which masterpieces to keep and which to toss.
I'm the meany who doesn't let you eat your toothpaste.
I'm the meany who washes your hair and sometimes gets bubbles in your eyes.
I'm the meany who removes your splinters amid wild protestations.
I'm the meany who holds you down and clips your toe nails as you kick your feet, so that you won't cut your legs like Edward Scissor Feet with your razor sharp talons.
I'm the meany who makes you scrape your plate in the trash.
I'm the meany who teaches you to fold and put away your laundry.
I'm the meany who cleans up your puke off the bathroom floor or off your newly washed sheets.
I'm the meany who scrubs your potty.
I'm the meany who yells at you to take your shoes off in the house.
I'm the meany who gets upset when you run into the street.
I'm the meany who has to throw away some of your precious cardboard boxes because I don't want 700 spaceships, helmets, and robot heads floating around the house.
I'm the meany who cuts your hair when you don't hold your head still and your cheeks are covered with hair stuck to tears.
I'm the meany who makes way too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to count.
I'm the meany who gets concerned when you are being too quiet.
I'm the meany who makes you turn off the t.v.
I'm the meany who makes you eat at least one bite of your vegetables.
I'm the meany who makes you practice your reading and math.
I'm the meany who tells you to stop talking at bedtime.
I'm the meany who makes you say you're sorry when you've been a naughty meany.
I'm the meany who makes you take yucky medicine when you don't feel well.
I'm the meany who reads you stories and wants you to sit still for them.
I'm the meany who makes you try new things.
I'm the meany who pushes you to do your best.
I'm the meany who puts medicine that stings on your boo boos.
I'm the meany who worries when you're sick.
I'm the meany who kisses you when you're hurt.
I'm the meany who hugs you just because.
I'm the meany who tucks you in at night.
I'm the meany who cries when you are sad.
I'm the meany who prays for you every night.
I'm the meany who loves you more than you know.
I'm the meany who is your Mom.

What's a sexynugy?

My list of blogs I visit is becoming longer and longer and I can linger online for hours now, when really I should be doing something more productive, but the excuse I give myself is that I AM learning while reading. And honestly, I've learned alot, about ALOT of different things.
And if you're a blog addict like myself .. you'll notice many people have the word verification turned on in the comments to weed out the bots and spam. One blog I visited this morning had "sexynugy" as their word verification. I have yet to stumble upon anything that resembles a word, until today. Funny! So I googled it, but came up with nothing. I seriously can go all gutter like with this new found word, but I won't. After all .. I AM trying to keep this family oriented. ;)

Friday Dinner

I think I can safely say this is my favourite meal that I make. It's super easy and can be made in just a moments time .. especially on those nights you've forgotten to take something out for dinner. Because I'm to lazy to type up my recipe, I'm going to link to the recipe I found on allrecipes.com, minus the olives. I don't add the pasta to the casserole, but rather layer them on each person's plate just before we eat. See, the reason would be because I have a certain little Miss Picky eater that doesn't like casseroles, but she likes meat and she likes pasta .. but don't mix them. And me? I'm watching my carbs so I don't eat the pasta. It's delish and refridgerates well and is much like spaghetti in that it can taste even better as 'leftovers'.

!!Achoooo!!

Yes, that's right folks! That sore throat I had that I suspiciously thought may be strep, has now turned into one wonderful full blown cold. But the good thing is, my throat is no longer as sore as it was the last two days. The reason I thought it was strep in the first place was because I don't recall having had such an extremely sore throat before. Well unless you count when I had mononucleosis in my late teens. (and just because it's called the "kissing" disease .. that is NOT how I contracted it. :P) So there ya have it .. just a regular old common cold, which seriously sucks (for lack of a better word) in the spring/summer seasons.

Apparently we are now the 'Woodbug Family'. Yes .. Alissa just declared us that, on our walk home from dropping Hailey off as school this morning. She collected two more woodbugs to add to their ever growing collection. I must say, I'll have to put an end to it soon. Either that or they'll have to let the bunch they have now, go and start collecting from scratch again. After last year's pail of morbidly dead and stinky caterpillars .. we'll do it differently from now on. Don't let bugs pile up ontop of eachother .. sit for days or even weeks, without proper food or ventilation. It makes for one nasty smelling, disgusting fuzzy mess of .. well you get the picture. I'm squeemish just thinking about it. YUCK!

It's a long weekend here in Canada. Monday is Victoria Day in celebration of Queen Victoria of England. This is the first weekend many venture out camping .. but much to Dave's dismay, I'm to chicken to face the cold nights just yet. Next month will be different, but we still get such cool nights, and I'd far rather snuggle up beside him in our own bed rather then in a tent where I have to be fully clothed in long johns and wool socks just to retain any heat. Don't get me wrong .. I LOVE tenting. In fact, that's the only way I care to go (not like we can afford to sink any money into an RV that sits for 9 months of the year). I love the whole concept behind roughing it. If you're going to spend any amount of time out in the fresh air, one may as well do it all the way. Who needs the luxury of a bed off the ground, tv's or all the other little gadgets alot of those RV's have these days. We're out to have time away from all that here at home, so why take it with you? So I say all of that, yet really we're not going camping just yet, so that was pretty much wasted breath. *rolls eyes at myself*
Back to the long weekend and because we're NOT camping, this means we can really just relax. We're invited to a bbq tomorrow, which we may just go to since it's been a long time since we've gone out to a family function as an entire family, ate good food, had a couple really tasty drinks, let the girls play with their friends, and best of all .. indulged in some good clean (or not so) adult conversation. And then Sunday .. a birthday party up Island to attend. Monday I may just declare a scrapping day. :P

census schmensus

Yep, it's that time again. Time to let Big Brother know where you're living, your full name, income, and all that jazz. Why? Because, quite frankly they're nosey. :P
I filled ours out last night and got it in the mail today, because I had heard there's a $500 fine if you don't fill it out. What?! Yeah .. that's what I thought too. But hey .. we don't have $500 we're willing to toss to the old gov't, so may as well give in and do it. At least they prepaid the postage. hah!
Why they need to know information they already have on file is beyond me. Just something else again to stop us from our lives for a few short minutes and comply with the law. They ask for head of households name, spouse and dependants, birthdates, and income. In the income section, they list in I guess what they think is common increments .. wanna know what I did? I ticked off "other". Yep .. they can go look up our name in our income taxes and find out our income if they really feel the need to know it. There .. take that Big Brother. You gotta work for the information, baby! :P


Oh this cold is getting worse. Actually it's not quite a cold, but rather just a very sore throat. It kept me up much of the night because I couldn't stop coughing, which made it feel so raw and the only cough candies we had in the house were Dave's Fishermens Friends. (YUCK!) I think I drank a gallon of water between 11pm and 5:30am, so that when I DID fall asleep .. the old bladder woke me up to empty it. Man .. can't win either way can I?
So tonight I'm aiming to crawl into my nest a little earlier to make up for that sleep deprivation. Remind me to ask the neighbours to kindly refrain from bbq'ing at 10:45 pm with a group of friends around yabbering it up only meters from my bedroom window. Their supper smelled good, but come on now .. isn't it bedtime?


And .. drumroll please! .. I'm currently on day 18 of my 21 day make a habit challenge. Yes ladies and gents, I'm making this happen and gosh durn it, it feels so goooooooood! I'm actually finding that getting up and working up a sweat at 5:30 when the heat is still relatively cool is much better then trying to fit it in later when the heat of the day is unbearable when you're sitting still, let alone letting loose on the livingroom floor.


So with Survivor having finale'd on Sunday .. whatever will I fill my Thursday nights with? Perhaps I shall finish the book I've been reading and that's taken me weeks to get halfway through.

hump day

To me it's almost like every other day, except I do work this morning and that means I'm out socializing as well as playing/feeding/cleaning up after others children. Fun tho because the two gals I work with are really a hoot. I know C & A from a moms/tot group we all used to attend with our oldests. Once the year was up, we all went our own way except for a small group of us that still are in contact either by playdates or moms nights out. C&A were not ones that continued with that small group, but I loved running into them from time to time, and NOW .. I work with them and love it. They really are two very upbeat, honest and fun girls to be around. We've planned some evenings out, AND to top it all off, C is learning to scrapbook and has a friend who hosts parties so you know where I'll be going. :)

It's hot hot hot here on Vancouver Island. This week has brought some really gorgeous weather, but it's like we weren't ready for it. Usually May has some nice mid twenties weather, mixed in with some rain. Always rain on the May long weekend. Argh! But this year, the heat kinda hit us in the a$$ and we're all walking around unmotivated, sweaty and not sure what to do with ourselves. The temps were 30 degrees yesterday, and already this morning it's 15 degrees C AND it's only 6:24am!

Yesterday I went out and bought my MD gift. Remember Dave had given me an IOU for a set of pots and pans, but wasn't sure what set I wanted. So with Alissa in tow, we headed out to find the set that met my standards, yet wasn't to expensive. I found it! I found me some awsome stainless steel, copper bottom, hollow handled pots WITH a steamer insert that fits three of the four pots. I've so been missing my steamer pot. Dave broke it. :( He turned it on, forgetting to put water in the bottom half and the bottom plate came unglued. I didn't even realize there was a seperate bottom plate to it until this happened. A teflon frying pan came with the set but in all honesty, I'll probably tuck that way back into the cupboard. I'm so not a teflon fan. Give me my cast iron that cooks me up anything from the perfect eggs to golden pancakes to even baking sausages in the oven in them. Yep .. they're perfect for me! I'm thrilled I found such a good deal and now everytime I cook, I'll think of my girlies .. although I usually do already since they're the ones I'm feeding. hah!

I watched AI last night with a very sad heart. I'm so pissed that Chris was voted off last week, but just couldn't bare to give up watching the show altogether. I love Katherine McPhee .. she has a voice on her like no other. I even think she's better the Kelly Clarkson, or dare I say Carrie Underwood? Love her style for sure. And I do agree with the judges. She needs to tone down the trills, stick with the melody and that's all she needs because her voice draws the listener in on it's own.
So I'll be forced to root her on now. Dave's on the Taylor band wagon now. He doesn't adore him, but he does think he'll win. He has the style we haven't seen on AI yet, and that may just be what the American public is looking for in their next idol. Who knows.

Okay .. enough with the mismatched blurbs. I'm off to finish up my coffee and make lunches.

call me just another 'blogging chick'

I've signed up with the Blogging Chicks website, and hopefully will find other women with some of the same aspects of life as myself. Here's a shout out to everyone linked up to the BCs. :)

Pearly Milestone

Alissa finally lost that wiggly tooth of hers today. She was at preschool when it happened, but I had sent a little baggie along for just in case. When eating an apple this morning, she really pushed it forward, making it only hanging on by a thread. Her new adult tooth has come through behind last week already, and I was almost worrying she may need the baby tooth pulled by the dentist due to lack of movement once the adult tooth put a stop up against the back. But alas .. all is well, and we get a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight! :D

















*sobbing just a little bit because my baby has actually lost that tooth I was crying over a couple weeks ago, and now she's growing up way to fast for my liking and even though she may not like me calling her 'my baby' I still am going to* *sigh*

Day 15/21

Finally it seems I'm making more progress with this 21 day challenge of mine. I'm getting up out of bed easier, feeling more energy throughout the day, seeing a change in clothing, and the scale is showing a loss of 4lbs. I have to secretly admit that I was hoping for a greater loss because I've had it happen for me before, BUT this time around, I'm not only losing weight and eating right, I'm also exercising which is a huge change. I'm happy!

Yesterday we went to the beach and spent the afternoon playing in the sand, soaking up what warmth we could squeeze from the sun what with the wind coming off the ocean made for a chilly, breezy, hair whipping experience. Needless to say, I adored my time with the family and here's just one of the 165 photos we took of the day.

So I'm off to crank some music and attack my housework for the day. Gotta get the spirit soaring in order to make the house sparkle. That's my little tip for the day. :) 

Happy Mother's Day!

To all my friends and family .. Happy Mother's Day!

So far here's what I've been spoiled with. Meet Bella, my new Beta. He's a boy, with girlie colours AND a girlie name, but he's gorgeous! I missed our other Beta, Spike, since he died last fall and asked Dave if we could get another. I think he's probably more for the girls entertainment then mine, but I'm the one that cleans and feeds, so I may as well take credit for him. :)
I also was showered with homemade cards from both girls. They both had lists inside of why they love me. Talk about tears! It's so sweet to actually read in THEIR words at THEIR current ages, why they love me.
And Dave's given me an IOU for a new set of stainless steel pots. I've been wanting, hinting and most of all, NEEDING a new set. He didn't want to brunt the responsibility of picking out a set that I may not like, so he's given me an IOU for when we can go out together.

And after my wonderful hubby makes us a big breakfast, we're planning on going out to the beach for a little beach combing. In my books, you canNOT beat that kinda day.

So there ya have it .. my special day all wrapped up.

Good Morning Saturday!

*hangers from Cindy's "Cammo" kit, and nail heads from Cindy's "Chris' Charisma" kit

Children's Festival

This is the second year Hailey's been able to attend the Children's Festival with her classmates on a field trip. I was unable to make it last year, but this year I was determined (even with Alissa in tow) to go along as a chaperone. We bussed it downtown to the Art Theater where there were many little booths set up with different activities in the surrounding courtyards. I was responsible for two others besides my own girls, and with the crowds, four was plenty to keep track of. We went from having their face painted, to looking at a 14 tonne sand castle display with sand surrounding it for the kids to play in, to doing a small TV commercial so the children could watch themselves on TV, to sidewalk chalk art, and so on. From there it was time for a big potty break/hand washing and then off to find a piece of soft green grass to sit and picnic on with their snacks. Once that was said and done, we went back over to the Theater for the special performance. It was an African theme dance/drum playing and all I can say is holy heckin', I have no idea where those guys find the strength to dance like that, and the ones playing the drums? Their arms are HUGE from the fast drumming they did for nearly the entire 45 mins we were there. Now THAT'S an upper body workout! Whew!
That topped off the field trip and back on the bus we went. For K/Gr 1 kids .. they were so well behaved, and it was such fun being able to help chaperone Hailey's class. I can't wait to have many more years of these sorts of events in my near future.

*these photos were taken approx three hours later .. hence the messed up paint.
Silly me forgot my camera. Argh!

Day 12/21

Sorry to brag here for a minute, but it's my blog and I get that right. ;) :P

I'm currently on day 12 of my 21 day plan to create my habit of daily exercise. I'm over the halfway mark and this experiment is proving to be a success thus far. I'm having an easier time getting up and out of bed at 5:30am, just so I can exercise and then play on the computer and have my java for a half hour. I'm no longer laying there in bed, enjoying every last minute as the countdown to the half hour goes by. I jump out of bed with a spring in my bounce, go pee, grab my water bottle and head downstairs to turn the dvd on right away. So I won't admit that I may sleep through parts of it, and I know this because Leslie will congratulate us (the viewer) on hitting the one mile mark, and I'll not have remembered the half mile mark. OR words go in one ear and out the other, and I'm just a manican following her steps but not really hearing her. Hey .. but I'm doing it, and that's all that counts.

So if you wouldn't mind .. pat me on the back? This is a huge feat for me. Me .. the lazy, I hate to exercise, gal. I'm so excited to have this as my NEW habit!

A sad, sad day it is. :(

Chris Daughtry is no longer in the running to be the next American Idol. In my opinion .. he was THE only one that had all the qualities of a winner, but as I'm currently trying to see the positive on every happening .. I'll look at it this way. At least now he won't be confined to the rules the winner has to abide by upon winning. He can venture out and continue with his own style and I'm more then sure that he'll be scooped up in an instant and we'll be enjoying his music on the radio soon.

Still .. I so disagree with the voting Americans. I'm looking forward to Canadian Idol, where I'll have my input.

I happened to capture this photo of Hailey and her friend while they were playing with the neighbour kids out back. Apparently they're puppies in a cage (hockey goal net) wanting out. You should have heard the barking. Oy! I thought the quote worked perfectly.


*star and letter embellies part of Gina Cabrera 'Lucky Star' kit.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Today's Dave's birthday! I thought it would be fun to bring him some Nanaimo Bars at work. While I was there, and since Dave's second in seniority .. he decided to take the rest of the day off. I didn't really mean to get action to my ribbing of how it should be mandatory to get your birthday off with pay. Guess he got his wish. ;)
So we spent a lazy warm afternoon just hanging out at home. Alissa still came with me to walk and pick Hailey up from school.
I made spaghetti for dinner, and had cupcakes instead of cake for desert. As long as there's candles, I think it doesn't quite matter that it was cupcakes instead of cake. This way, I wasn't tempted to sneak any. The girls got him the first season of LOST (our favourite drama tv show) on dvd, and I already blogged what I got him .. tickets to 'So You Wanna Fight' for Saturday night. He was beyond thrilled with both gifts and said he had a great day (especially now that the kids are in bed .. ahhhhh).

I also want to give a little love to my sister and her hubby who are celebrating 8 years of wedded bliss today. Happy Anniversary Kath!

that's how I like it :)

A day of shopping is what I'm referring to. Oh yeah baby .. and I got me some adorable things. First stop, I got my 'prize' for seven consecutive days of exercising, (it's been 8 now by the way :) :)) in which I picked up THE cutest new summer purse!
I've been eyeing it for awhile and thought the pink/brown cammo was to cool to pass up. This colour combo is at the top of my faves (in scrapbooking AND several other areas) so it just seemed right I have it. (think that excuse will sail with hubby dearest?)
My SIL was dragging me along so next stop was into a store she wanted. Umm .. yeah .. normally I can't even dream of shopping in this particular store due to the size of my 'girls', but to my utter (no pun intended, really :P) surprise, they are now carrying sizes for the well endowed so a snooping I went and left with a couple things that shall make my husband pleasantly surpised and happy when he actually takes a break from work and comes home.
Next stop was to pick up Dave's second half to his birthday present. He's been wanting to get the first season of LOST (both of us are huge fans of this show), so that made it easy. Bought.
Next stop .. lunch, then off to THE best place ever for home decor. I left with things to decorate my bathroom in the colours I had mentioned in a previous post. Candle holders with candles and a beautiful painted metal towel rack (hold three towels), and I also needed a frame. Whew, so that's my shopping for one day. All fun stuff and not ONE thing for the girls. Now that's a huge deal cuz I rarely shop for myself.

we WON, we WON!

After three losses and one tie game, it was such a welcomed and exciting time to finally win with yesterdays game. The energy was high and the boys had rested well, although still many were limping and nursing sore muscles and minor injuries, they all were in such great spirits. Dave even bought a victory cigar and kept it safely in the car for after what he was predicting, a winning game. AND they won just like they thought .. 3-2.
Here they are, after having hoorah'd the win .. lined up waiting to see which team member was chosen by the opposing team, as their star player for this particular game. That player wins a little something from the tournament sponsor.














Dave is second from the left 

review time

I just finished watching Memoirs of a Geisha. It wasn't everything I had expected it to be after hearing such gushing reviews from my older sister, but it still was a movie that captured my attention and had me wondering what would happen in the upcoming plot. I'm thankful this movie was based on the fictional book by Arthur Golden, but sad to know that Geisha's did (and probably still do) exist. And to appease the romantic in me .. the ending was perfect.

So all that to say .. one and a half thumbs up from me. :)

4-3

Although they were defeated 4-3, the Talons put up a great fight. They were leading 2-0 into the second period, doing awsome .. high energy and such, but being a new team, they don't have the indurance the other team had and ended up losing point by point in the end. It was a fantastic game to watch tho .. and Dave did so well considering his injury and how much pain it was giving him.

It was a late LATE night for the girls, and they managed to fall asleep during the later part of the hour drive home, and my little Sleepy Head (Hailey) is still sleeping and it's 11am! Yes, she likes her 12 hour nights and really becomes a grouch without her sleep.

So we're taking today off from the tournament. There's three games (12, 2:30 and 5) and would just make to long a day trying to keep the girls happy the entire time, so we'll do some crafting and hang out at home. It's raining, so maybe it'll turn into a movie day as well. We'll go be the supportive family again tomorrow for the final game. 

last post for the day

I forgot to say .. I'M ON DAY 5/21!!! (yes I'm yelling but I'm yelling in real life too and I must reflect that here when I say it, hee!) I'm so very proud of my lazy self. So as suggested by a friend, I think I shall reward myself on Sunday after day 7 has been completed. That would be 1/3 of the way and I would be so deserving of a little treat.
I think I'll make a trip to my version of a toy store. If it carries scrapbooking stuff, it's for me. Paper, embellishments, ribbon, brads, oh oh oh! Yep, my perfect "toy". I'm sure my husband would have another place in mind when I suggest we go "toy" shopping. ;)

My turn.

It seems I read about gas prices on almost every blog I visit. Well, don't let me see the band wagon pass me by. Yesterday our prices went up by another 4 cents/liter. That brings us to a whopping $1.17.9 per liter. Thank goodness we're down to one vehicle. A second one would kill us especially if it was Dave's dream truck (read: gas hog).
Alrighty, that's all I have to say on the subject. *angry stares directed towards Ottawa*


*Ottawa, Ontario is where the Parliament is .. which makes it home to the Prime Minister which probably has no say in the price of gas, but I like directing those angry stares thataway.

Hailey'ism

Darn little smartie mouth of a girl I have.

We're walking to school this morning, and she's grabbing at weeds so she can suck on the sweet end. She didn't think that batch tasted so great and maybe there was dog poop fertilizing it. (I laughed) Then she continues on to say "did you know carrots are weeds?" Hmm .. I didn't know, and I asked her "are you sure?" in which she replied "YES, I just learned that. If you don't know that, Mom, you need to go back to school." Oh really now?! She's 6 going on 60, that girl.

*off to google carrots to see if she's in fact right about them being weeds*

blisters, puzzles, bad wine, and HOCKEY!

So yesterday I decided to walk up to the place I do childminding. Not a bad idea since it was such a lovely day and I've made this same walk many times before over the winter months. The one change tho .. flip flops versus running shoes. Oh what a dumb choice I made there. I was okay walking up, working and then part of the way back to pick Alissa up from preschool, then my pace began to slow down and Oh. My. God. my feet began to HURT! I have a nice blister under my foot one foot where the strap meets the sole as well as where the straps sits between the toes. I've learned my lesson. Don't wear floppy footwear such as that on walks longer then just to the schools and back. OUCH!

My MIL gave me this gorgeous puzzle that has me stumped. I thought it would be a fun ongoing project for Hailey and I do to for a little while in the evenings, and she's really good at it, but this puzzle (in all it's beauty) really sucks. Pieces that aren't supposed to be together actually fit together. And with the fine detail, I almost need a magnifying glass to see the differences. So now that we have the frame figured out (took two nights), we have the inside pieces to be overjoyed over. I swear this puzzle is going to take a year .. it's so detailed. It's been such a long time since I've made a puzzle that has more then 750 pieces, so this is challenging for ME.
Not to mention, we have it set up on the deep freezer for now until Dave can bring home a piece of plywood big enough.

After a month of sitting, fermenting, doing it's thing .. we have discovered that our homemade wine didn't work. :( We decided to make two batches of wine from scratch. Meaning right from the grapes. We've always just used a box kit WITH instructions, and it turns out wonderful. Not this stuff tho. It tastes great, but very watery with little alcohol content. I think I'll cry when Dave has to pour 10 gallons of wine down the sink. ALL that work I put into mixing it, racking it, racking it again and again. Oh well .. another one bites the dust. And when Dave insists on making blackberry wine from scratch, I believe I'm going to resist a little more.

This weekend is the Talons finals tournament. Dave plays for the Talons, but has been resting a pulled muscle and has missed a few practices. This may break him in tonight's game, but he's giving it a go still .. even with that extremely painful muscle still giving him grief. If he makes it to tomorrow without keiling over .. there's three games, then one on Sunday. I'm not so sure who made up the schedule, but three games in one day? What were they thinking??
So tonight the girls and I will be there, with the other wives and kids, cheering our men on. I never thought I'd be a hockey wife, but personally I prefer the hockey getup to any baseball attire. I realize you can't see as much what with all the hockey gear, but YUM!

Day 3/21, new layouts, and other things

I'm just so very pleased with myself that I wanted to blog about it. Chris has a talked a little bit on the 123-Scrap forums about how you can make or break a habit in 21 days. I decided to create a habit of exercising every day in hopes that after 21 days it will have gotten easier to get up at such an ungodly hour and maybe I'll even crave it or look forward to it by then. So here's putting that theory to the test. Day 3 of 21.

When I potty trained my girls, we used the chart method. I copied out a calendar, then with a stack of stickers picked out by the trainer herself, we'd keep track of each time she used the potty each day. BM's got an extra big and special sticker and when we added up 5 'pees' they'd get a special treat, and when a week went by without an accident, we'd take them to the toy section of their favourite store and pick out their reward.
I say this all because I think this method could work for me too. Okay .. minus the mini rewards and toy store trips. I'm going to print out a calendar form and put a sticker on each day I exercise and hope the month is completely full when the end of May comes around. Sound like a good plan? Yep, I think so too.

I've updated my "Project a Day" blog. I'm not really doing the project a day challenge this month like I had planned for April .. but I'm keeping my work there for now until the 123-Scrap Gallery is back to working again.

So I've been wanting to discuss underwear. I've been thinking about the various styles of ladies panties for a few days and a fellow blogger must have set up camp in my brain because this was discussed on this particular blogger's blog journal.
This whole 'thinking' came about after coming across a questionaire on another friend's blog. This image should say everything.
Take the quiz:
WHAT UNDERWEAR SUITS YOU BEST? (PICZ)

GRANNY PANTS
your um................ a nice way to put it is origanal. slightly borring but your good company if this dosnt sound like you take the test again! lol


Well, whoever made this quiz up, needed a little tutorial in using their spellcheck. But just in case they're right I guess I'm to busy being Super Mom and Wife to really want to wear what I consider dental floss. How on earth can someone wear that stuff day in and day out? It's like having a super wedgy you can't work out. Ack!

eggs and teeth

Awhile back, I shared this website showing a live cam focused on an eagle's nest not far from here. (thanks to Krista for linking me up way back then)
The eggs (there's 2) are due to hatch in the early part of this week, the professionals say on the site .. so I'm tuning in regularly in hopes to see the wee ones peck their way out of the shell.
Here's the link again in case you'd like to take a peek, but be prepared for alot of buffering as this site has drawn alot of attention and has high number hits each day.


Another mile stone we have reached. You've heard me whining about how my baby's growing up? I know, the whining gets to be pretty much at times, but it's that or constant nagging Dave with "I wish we could have another baby." And I already know THAT ain't going to happen (the baby part, but the nagging may ;)) sooooo I come here and let out all my agressions. :P
Alissa just discovered one of her bottom front teeth is loose. She's not as keen on wiggling it to no end like her older sister was. She's enjoying the wiggling sensation to the fullest. I told her she needs to wiggle it lots for it to get loose enough to fall out. She responds with a "nah .. I'm going to let it get wiggly all on it's own." So maybe I can take comfort in the fact that she's not trying to rush it (ie: rush the steps in growing up), but rather savoring each moment for what it's worth. Wow, I just had a reassuring thought. That makes me feel a little better. :) See what putting your thoughts out there does?

things that make you go ARGH!

Okay, there's nothing that iritates me more then when you're expected to pick something up from someone's home, and they're not there. You'll understand more fully when I tell you it's a paycheque. Dave's been working a second job for this small little company (read: 3 workers including the boss). The boss's Mom is the bookkeeper and is supposed to have the cheques made up in a timely manner. I was supposed to pick the cheque up and take it to the bank to deposit (another reason I adore automatic deposits and withdrawls) so if she hadn't phoned me by noon, I could assume it was safe to just drop by and pick it up. So I did since I was out .. nobody was home. *sigh* So I phone home, check the messages, nothing. I called the "bosses" cell, and he says he'll get his Mom to put the cheque in an arranged place so she doesn't have to be home for me to pick it up. Okay. Since I had already planned on taking the girls out for lunch, we went and did that. They played, which made it about an hour and a half sitting in our little lunch haven. Instead of coming home, I checked my messages at home again by way of payphone (no, we're not falling for a cell phone just yet), nothing, so I swung past her place again .. still she wasn't home and nothing left in the pre-arranged hiding spot. UGH UGH UGH! So we're home, and Dave calls to see if I had any problems. Umm YES! And I'm never doing this again! He can do his own damn leg work from now on! :P

fresh starts

I won't bore you with all the bitty details, but I've had to take a fresh start with the exercising and weight loss. This time, with some encouragement and help from my sister and from a message board dedicated to the particular diet I'm doing, I think I'll get through the first stretch, and then it seems to be smooth sailing from there. Just got to get myself into a routine, ya know? So that's all I'll say on that.

I just watched gallons and gallons of hail come pounding down from the sky. The morning started off in a rainy fashion. After a gorgeous, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, day yesterday .. somehow the rain gods got jealous and the night brought in the rain clouds. But as the rain pounded down, it quickly changed into a couple minutes of tiny little hard white hail that hit the windows and made quite the "tinkling" sound. I guess we needed that, because now the sun is peeking from behind the clouds and the sky is clearing off. A freshness that only comes with spring .. a fresh start for a fresh new week.

Today is a NonInstructional Day in our School District. It basicly means the teachers spend the majority of the day in conferences while their students get a day off. How this differs from a Pro-D Day is beyond me, but whatever they choose to call it .. I still have a first grader home all day to entertain. And the poor little thing couldn't even sleep in because I am in need of the car, so that meant driving daddy to work at 7am. Ah well .. I'm sure she'll forgive me soon enough when I treat her and Alissa to lunch out later.

So to enjoy some of the beautiful sun yesterday .. the girls, their auntie and I hit the park for a little fun. Just an open field along a creek type river, some balls/frizbee, and fresh air is all we needed. My SIL took these photos since silly me forgot my own camera. And I call myself a scrapbooker? ;)


And while the girls were at Sunday School yesterday morning .. I did get my scrapping time in. That circle journal I wanted to start .. I managed to cover both the front and back, as well as do the first page and sign in pages. I just have to do my own entry and then it's ready to send off. I'm so excited about this circle journal, because it's being done with the 123-scrap faculty gals, and I'll have a keep sake of their work forever after this. It's going to be beautiful, I already know that. I'll share images once I'm done and scan it.