shhhh

I'm in no means trying to neglect my little haven on the web .. but there's some serious studying in progress at the moment.

it's for the moms

5 Minutes for Mom is on a giving spree just for us Moms. Head on over and enter the contests as they're posted .. you may be lucky!!

it's in the moves

Her first official multi club tournament is now under belt (excuse the pun .. har har), and the nerves are over with, the experience tucked safely in a part of her brain, and another medal won. In her 15 months of practicing karate, Hailey agreed to participate in the kata division of her very first tournament outside of just our own club. It's the laying of an experimental foundation, that she can rely on for each and every future tournament she may choose to enter.

During this very moment, while photographing .. my stomach was knotted up into a tight steel like ball, and I felt very close to vomiting. My head was spinning, and my only thought were ones I was trying to vibe over to my little girl .. the very flesh and blood I gave birth to .. in hopes she would remember each and every step, punch, turn, block, bow and the formalities that come with the disciplines of a martial art. After she finished and returned to her seated position on the floor, a hot ball of fire replaced the ball of steel in my stomach .. and that hot fiery ball spread throughout my entire body .. ending in my face where I couldn't help but let it reflect in an overly large goofy grin. That my friends .. is pride! Proud of my little girl for facing her fear (she wanted to back out when we first arrived), for feeling the emotions of being nervous, but fighting through them, doing her best, and conquering another step in the life long journey of the art of karate.
I leaned over to another mom from our club and commented on how terribly nervous *I* am .. and how these are the moments that although I'm not purposely living through my children .. it certainly felt like I took on every bit of her anxiety and let it play around in my own body. And when she was all done .. I was the proudest Mom there ever was.
This is what it means when they say as a parent you will forever wear your heart on your sleeve. This is what it means when they say your heart walks outside your body, and in a little body of it's own. This is what it means when they say you haven't lived, until you've been a parent and felt all the emotions your child feels, amplified by a million. This is the benefits one reaps after putting in so many sleepless nights, dealing with tantrums, potty training, homework, etc. There is no greater 'job' then that of a mother.

*if you have a photo that tells a story of what motherhood means to you, perhaps you should check out what 5 Minutes For Mom is giving away for Mother's Day.

baby's got back

Sorry to bore you with more back related stuff, but after today's chiro appt, I'm feeling like I'm in the know, finally!

I've seen my chiro four times now in the span of a week, and although more sore now then ever, I think now she's handed me some power. I felt so helpless and in great pain, and today I feel the pain still, but understand the whole saying 'knowledge is power'.

Apparently (I say this only because that's the term she used as well), when I was moving the furniture oh .. three weeks ago?, I put stress on my lowest disc (I think it's the 5th?), which in turn caused it to swell and the slow increase in swelling is what is compressing the nerve that runs down my legs and into my feet. Get rid of the swelling, the nerve won't be squeezed, and therefore I should then retain all feeling back in my buttox, legs and feet. Easy fix? Not really .. just ALOT of icing and continuous visits to the chiro. She did suggest getting an x-ray by way of my family doc and looking into some vitamin deficiencies while there (like why I bruise so easily .. my back looks like I've been beaten).

One sensation I'm experiencing is really quite funny. You know how when you go to the dentist for a filling, they numb the spot they're going to drill in? And when you leave the office, your lip or jaw feel huge and like they have legs of their own, that's how 'out there' they are? My buttox has lost some feeling and although not quite as intense as my lip feels upon having it frozen, I think you can imagine where I'm going with this. Yes, I truly have 'back', baby! heehee Excuse the pun there too!

LOST

Finally, after a long break from one of my most favourite shows .. it's returning tonight to finish off the season. I have fallen in love with each and every one of the LOST characters and can't wait to see how the season ends. I have to say tho, that if the writers leave us in a bewildered state of mind for the summer months, I'm going to be pissed. I've held on for three whole seasons and just when I had hoped some questions would be answered, more arose and I was sitting there more stumped and clueless then ever.

I'm not one to analyze every single thing, every word, every hidden meaning .. tho I do admit to searching here and there a site to find out a little more about the show. I'm obsessed with it, but just not THAT obsessed.

Anyway .. happy watching tonight!

happy humpday

Is it Wednesday already? Another week, flying past me like I'm in a fog. I guess the only things happening around here are the constant chiro appts, trying to get this back in shape and feeling normal again, not to mention trying to get full feeling back in my lower half. After dealing with tingles and numbness, I'd deal with a back ache anytime. Seriously .. the cold feet, tingling and aching is so. annoying!

Yesterday we decided we couldn't live with a computer pitching hissy fits on us anymore, and since I've JUST started my MT course, I kinda was in need of a reliable computer .. tho we had hoped we could limp the other one along until I was at least working. Hah ... fate has a way of changing things.
So I'm typing on a high fluting, fancy computer* with all the bells and whistles, HUGE hard drive, mega RAM so Dave can now play his games again, and a monstrous 22" monitor that I can see detail across the livingroom. It's nuts, but fun!

I think spring has slowly decided to come back after that foot of snow we got on Saturday. The sun's shining as I type (after an overcast day), and the leaves are looking greener then ever as they grow bigger and more dense. Before I know it .. I won't be able to see the town houses across the river, and THEN I'll have my own quiet 'country life' back, in amongst the hustle and bustle of the city.

*HP Media Center TV PC WIth Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 & HP 22 inch Wide LCD Monitor.

when life ...

hands you snow, we go ahead and make snow cones (or our version of them anyway).

It's a warm 8C, with the sun shining so nicely, so what makes a better after dinner snack, then finding any remnants of snow and making our very own homemade treat with it. Yum, yum!

tiled

At least one section in need of tile, is nearly complete. The grouting for in between the tiles isn't in yet, but the tiles are set and drying after the first stage. We love the tile (the picking and choosing is the time consuming part of this whole renovations stage) and can't wait to pick up more of it for the kitchen too. For now, we have enough for the fireplace yet, but aren't going to do that just yet until we figure out whether we're buying an electric insert for the wood one.

The baseboard heater is new, and just sitting there unattached for now. Also casting a glare onto the door from the light coming in the window just to the left (bottom of stairs).

See how pretty it is? And I give all props to my wonderful hubby who did this all on his own, having never even cut tile or laid it before.

On another note .. my back is a horrible mess. What turned out to be a little lower back ache from moving furniture around the weekend we installed the hardwood. turning into what later I found out was a compressed nerve, therefore making everything below my waist progressively go tingly and then a soft numbing. After deciding to see a chiropractor on Friday .. I'm left with a more sore back then what I first started out with. The pain now is in the middle/top of my back, and into my neck .. though the numbing is still there, which is so very annoying as well. I have a followup appt tomorrow and will be sure to inquire as to why my back is worse. On a positive note (or negative if you're as independant and impatient as I am), I have an excuse to ask my hubby for all help having to do with lifting. Doctors orders.

say what??!!!

As if it's anyone's surprise .. I have to agree with my sister. What does the scare of global warming have to do with snow in the latter part of April??!! If you have the answer to that, I'd love to know.
This is seriously NOT funny! This would be something we'd expect in December or January, here on the Island .. but certainly NOT ontop of cherry blossoms, tulip and daffodil blooms in April.

Oh well .. the girls are thrilled, and biting at the bit till it's at least 9am so they can go out and wake the neighbourhood with their squeels, shreaks and giggles.
And to think I was tucking the girls into bed last night, to a thunder/lightening storm. Very VERY strange!

All this snow accumulated on the car as of 1:30am, when Dave came home from hockey. And in less then 6 hours .. we have at least 4 inches!!!!

In case you think I'm bitching. I am! ;)

ahhhh

Our day started at a chilly 2 degrees, but with the sun shining, the birds chirping, and all being right with the world. I thought I'd be courageous and slip on a pair of capris for the day. Why not show a little leg, since it IS April, afterall. Okay, I'm bored with all my jeans, and so ready to break into the spring/summer wardrobe even tho I see I'll need to be downsizing some things. ;) :)
Even tho the clouds took over what was a beautiful blue sky .. tho they seem to be passing along nicely, giving us some nice breaks of sunshine now and then .. I realized I have nothing to complain about. Even if spring doesn't want to fly in full force as it has previous years. Even if she's timid and shy and unsure if she wants to slip into the party and happy just being a wall flower this year instead of belle of the ball. I must count my blessings after seeing pictures from my sister, and how her morning started off.

So to honour the day, I started to gaze out my livingroom window, and what should I see? I little robin doing a little dance around the yard .. trying to peck at whatever held it's interest in the grass. Probably a big fat juicy worm that was holding onto the earth for dear life, despite its inevitable demise.

I couldn't get a good angle on the robin, so I chirped a little .. and he stood at attention, looking around to see where they 'sick' bird chirp was coming from. Obviously .. he's not to sharp with directions as he looked away from me.

And then came along another bird, to see what was so interesting in the grass. I have no clue what kind of bird this is .. but because we live near a bird sanctuary (aka: marsh), we tend to see a variety of birds.

And he/she pecked her way along the grass, but not once did I see a worm. So really, these two birds could just be blindly pecking at earth. Maybe I should toss a worm out there as a reward. heh

i'm a what?

It's finally official! I'm a student!
As of 1:40pm April 16, 2008 .. I am now registered with a certain online school in the Medical Transcription program. Now I can't wait for my books and other supplies to arrive so I can get started, because in nine months I do plan on being employable and earning money to pay my dear hardworking, ever supportive and loveable hubby, back and then some. ;)

... just sometimes

Ocassionally I'm asked how my two daughters got to have such blonde hair. Usually it's in the same sentence as 'your husband must be blonde', or 'your hair's so dark, how'd you land up with two blondies?'. These questions come in groupings. Sometimes we go a long time without hearing it. Sometimes it's nearly every day for a couple weeks I hear it from one person or another. The checkout girl, a fellow school mom, a stranger at the park, etc.

Guess what people? This colour does not grow naturally! This reddish brown? It comes in a box. Wouldn't the more obvious question to ask me is 'what's your natural hair colour?' .. or is that a loaded question like asking when a woman's due and then finding out she's not even pregnant. Whatever the case, I'm sick of those questions .. and I dye my hair crazy colours so obviously don't care if people know it's a fake colour .. it's obvious, folks.

So for all those that have asked me in the last nearly 9 years, where my girls got their hair colouring. I used to once be a platinum blondie too (dutch blood here), but it turned mousy (more like Alissa's) by the time I was 6ish .. and just days before my wedding, my sister found my very first grey hair. I bawled because I was only 21! About 12 years ago, I put the first box of dye on my hair, and have been dying it ever since. If you truly want to know my real hair colour .. it's silvery grey on the sides and front .. with a little bit of mousy brown thrown in there. BUT, I never let it grow out longer then 6 or so weeks, before dousing it with yet another box of dye.
So no, this is not my real hair colour. Yes I used to be blonde and therefore my children do get their hair colour from me as well as their very Finnish daddy (who shaves his head, so no one really knows his true 30-something hair colour either), and they'll probably land up with darker hair the older they get too. And dye it some godawful pink or green, and then I'll die because who am I to stop them from doing so. Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black .. or however that statement goes.

meme

I found this at Lael's and thought it would be fun to do, since it's one I haven't seen or done before.

If I were a month I would be: October
If I were a day of the week I would be: Saturday
If I were a time of day I would be: 6am
If I were a planet I would be: the sun (yes, it's a planet)
If I were a animal I would be: a giraffe
If I were a direction I would be: West
If I were a liquid I would be: pure, cold water
If I were a flower/plant I would be: tulips
If I were a kind of weather I would be: a calm breezy warm and lullful day
If I were a musical instrument I would be: a trumpet
If I were an emotion I would be: serene
If I were a color I would be: vivid pink
If I were a sound I would be: birds chirping
If I were a car I would be: red VW bug
If I were a song I would be: upbeat 'gotta dance to me' kinda song
If I were a food I would be: lasagna
If I were a taste I would be: sweet
If I were a scent I would be: freshly cut cedar (can you tell we've recently been cutting wood)
If I were a word I would be: supercalafragalisticexpealadocious (sp?)
If I were a facial expression I would be: a silly lopsided grin
If I were a cartoon character I would be: Cinderella
If I were a number I would be: 3

Play along in my comments or your ownblog,if you please! I'd love to see your answers!

warm days

Warm days make us want to be outside enjoying it, and although Saturday (with highs of 19C) was spent with the guys working on the hallway flooring, and me running errands .. one being the repair of a broken window that involved a table saw, two boys, inside my diningroom, and a piece of hardwood flooring. Need I say more?

So after an event filled Sunday morning and early afternoon too, and when I got my girls back from a birthday party, I asked them if they wanted to go play at the big park (aka one we rarely visit because it's REALLY busy). The question barely escaped my lips and the response was a resounding scream in the positive nature. So off we went.

They dug ...

climbed ...

and twirled for a full hour, before the day got cool and it was time to head home to make supper, bath up those dirty but aired out bodies, and get them off to bed in time to wake up early the next morning for school.

It's just the start of those long wonderful days, spent outdoors .. and tho a bit of a tease (because there's rainy days mixed in the upcoming forecast), it's welcomed and we're raring to have more days like that.

come ON spring!

This was the sunrise this morning as I gazed out the window, admiring it's beauty. I thought I better capture a still shot at the early hour of 6:48am, when the house is quiet and the day bursts forth into a beautiful sunrise, one MUST capture that moment to escape to when the hectic moments with children screaming, phone ringing, and hammers creating noises disturb the rest of my days.

As I stepped out the backdoor to capture this photo that so warmed my soul just moments before .. I was greeted with a bite of crisp air, and a meowing hungry kitty .. but I digress. What's with these cold night temps we're still getting? Does the world not know it's April? That means no more below 0C temps aloud! Bring on the sun. I'm so ready!

On a sidenote, tho very related. I did see blossoming cherry trees today, and that makes me very much want to grab my camera and photograph them. So spring really IS here, she's just taking her time bursting forth in ALL aspects of the season.

new floor!

Since I shared pictures of our destruction mode, I thought I better add some photos of what the floor looks like now that it's replaced with gorgeous rustic birch.

This was midway through, where over half was actually nailed down, but you can see the ten or so rows to the right are just laid in. I discovered it takes some talent to puzzle the pieces together, so as not to get any two joining lines to close together.
As soon as we moved the furniture back in, I took these next few photos. The TV wasn't hooked up yet, so the entertainment center was still away from the wall and speakers askew. And our VERY unfinished fireplace. It'll be nice not to have to look at the ugly rock facing that used to be there. Tile and a nice large mantle and hearth will beautify it. (you can see some tile in front, waiting to be installed after some prep work is needed for the wall)

wordless wednesday

feeling uninspired, achy, quiet, peaceful, reflective, sleepy

tagged

Karen tagged me, and although I've done this one a couple times .. I'll go ahead and see if I can find seven more random facts about myself to bore you all with.

1. If you haven't heard by now (or are new to my blog), we're in the process of renovating our home. We just bought our duplex we've been renting for 6 yrs and took ownership of it January 31st, so we're in for some drastic changes like the new flooring we just layed this last weekend!

2. Spring and Summer are my two most favourite months, yet this year .. spring is taking her time arriving. I'm sick of the rain!

3. I'm an auntie 24 times over (3 of those are through marriage), and some of those nieces and nephews are having babies (actually have kids around my own kids ages) of their own. That's what happens when you come from a large family that also has 20 yrs between oldest and youngest.

4. If I could have the weather and lifestyle I'm living right now, but up in northern BC where alot of my family and parents live, I'd move there in a heartbeat.

5. I'm scared of change and tend to drag my heals when it happens.

6. I'm stubborn like an ox (or mule?) and that can partially be blamed on my dutch blood.

7. 3's my favourite number, and I always wanted to have 3 children until hubby talked me out of it. I think I'll secretly always wonder if that third child would have been a boy .. tho I'm PERFECTLY happy having my two girlies.

I'm not going to tag anyone .. but if you haven't done this one before and would like to .. just leave me a note so I can come take a peek at your random 7 facts. :)

eye opener

Our girls have never lacked in the extra curricular type activities. We've never loaded them up with more then one or two things going at a time, because quite frankly .. I don't enjoy spending that much time running here and there. Not to mention, I think it's just as healthy that children spend time at home, doing things they love, learning to entertain themselves, play together, do things with me, etc. And then of course on top of all that .. we certainly canNOT afford having them in every activity under the sun. The one thing (other then karate) that we've always done, is swimming lessons. We live on an Island (surrounded by salt water), have access to many rivers and lakes and both Dave and I love being in water .. so it went without saying that we'd want our children to learn to swim at a young age. To be comfortable in water, know how to save themselves should they need to, etc. Both girls have now graduated from the preschool levels (obviously) and are working their way through the "Swim Kids" levels and as it looks now (from their enthusiasm) we may just have one or both want to join the swim club when they're of age. They LOVE the water, and have never had an unhealthy fear of it because we've always kept them around it, set guidelines and safety rules to keep everyone happy and safe.
So this year, Hailey's class is doing swimming lessons through the school. I happen to be able to be a volunteer driver (and observer), which I'm so thrilled I have the chance to do. What I didn't realize was that I'd learn that 6 of her classmates have never had a swimming lesson in their life. 6 out of 18!! A few of those six are okay with learning, are comfortable in the water, but still apprehensive. The remainder of the six are deathly scared of even putting their face under water. One of those happen to be the daughter of a friend of mine and even during baths, her Mom tells me, she cannot tolerate water being splashed on her face. Is it a real fear, or is it simply that she's been coddled along and not forced to have water on her face? I'm not sure .. but learning all of this made me realize that not only am I fortunate to have two children that ADORE swimming or anything to do with water, really. Even their bath times stretch until the water is freezing cold, and they still beg to stay in longer. I also realized that my children (despite how often Dave and I have felt like we haven't been able to give our children the opportunities that some others have) are lucky to have been exposed to a various amount of activities. They're not into sports and high energy activities (just not their style), but they do love exercise, the interaction with other children and they respect and listen to authority figures. And for this, I count their lucky stars .. even if they don't realize right now, that they are lucky.

exhausted

I never realized all this renovating would zap every little bit of energy from me. I'm exhausted at night, and can hardly keep my eyes open til 10pm, and then up early makes me long for the weekend when I can sleep in. BUT, this weekend the hardwood's going in, so it's going to be two very long days (I'm guessing since we're doing it with the help of b&s-inlaw). I've never needed to know how many staples are used to hold down underlay, but I've been tempted to count each one Dave pulls out and I sweep/vacuum up. I've never needed to wonder what it looks like to watch layers of dust accumulate on my furniture so fast I can literally see it settling everywhere. I've never liked walking around my house in shoes (I prefer barefeet) for fear of stepping on staples/nails or getting a sliver. I've never quite seen such cobwebs that built up in our blocked off, unused fireplace.
The need to shatter rock does come in handy when you're trying to figure out a place for pent up anger/frustrations. ;) I didn't do much of that tho. The hubby did, and left it for the girls to pick up and dump into the green bin (which is was emptied since the photo was taken, but is now much to heavy with rocks for me to walk out to the dumpster) Wonder what it's going to feel like smashing that rock around the face of the fireplace? Anyone want to come get their agressions out on some rock with a hammer?
And the not so finished hallway (there's staples yet to be pulled). Who knew the plywood beneath the carpet and underlay would be so dirty??!! It has splats of drywall mud, overspray from painting, stains, you name it. And don't get me started on the dust! Did they not sweep up the builders dust before laying the carpet? I have a feeling alot of asthmatic problems in our family are going to subside severly.
Oh yes, and see those boxes? That's my wood. Ahhh .. heavenly gorgeous blonde and beautiful wood. I'm in love with it, just don't tell Dave, tho I think he already knows.

I'm exhausted, pms'ing and in need of some deep sleep!

4's

I recieved this via email, but thought I'd post it here and let anyone that reads it and wants to do it as well, just let me know in comments so I can hunt you down and stalk .. err read ya.


A) Four places that I go to over and over: Tim Hortons, Superstore, Home Depot (lately) the girls Elementary School
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly ): Michele, Faye, Linda, Sheila
C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Subway, Caesars Pizza, Sushi To Go, Chinese
D) Four places I would rather be right now: mall, spa, FSJ only because I miss my family, Mexico or Vegas
E) Four people I think will respond: Suzanne, Cori, Lael, Faye (tho she's on vaca)
F) Four TV shows I watch over and over: Big Brother, Biggest Loser, Surivor, LOST