Holly - Jolly - OMG - NOT!

Thanksgiving rapidly approaches - we don't do anything special as the rest of the family celebrates in October (Canadian Thanksgiving) so its just us and dh hates turkey so unless we go somewhere we hang out quietly at home tripping over each others feet! LOL!

But along with Thanksgiving comes Christmas and suddenly I feel like I've been caught with my proverbial crafty pants down! There was so much more that I wanted to get done and yet suddenly I'm feeling very lacking in the gifts I have. A single item that I made yesterday cost $20+ and yet it is only one single simple item (might cost $10-15 in the store) .... which puts me over budget for the gift swap that we are doing. A 2nd item cost only about $13, but much more work went into it and I know that I would have spent more than $40 purchasing it in the store (shh its still not done but I have a week.) Am I undermining my creativity in favour of store purchased items? Why do I feel so cheap? I mean these items aren't the only things I'm giving but why do I feel the need to bulk things up?? Its not like I haven't just spent my entire year making this stuff. *Sigh*

And then I have to start on my shopping for the girls.... *sigh* and they wonder why I'm a "hum-bug" kinda person.... I'm not really I just hate the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping! Which for me is November because I don't leave my house to visit with the crazed crowds of December! LOL!

So there you have it ...

Totally Ungirl-y Halloween

My two girls are Girly Girls - they like pretty dresses, love ballet, and the littlest refuses to even contemplate the notions of jean.... so their costume choices came as somewhat of a shock...

Darth Maul (from Star Wars - Phantom Menace) and a Skeleton!

So dh in the theme of the oldest's choice in costume went with the Emperor from Star Wars. Here is the costume I sewed up in 18 hours.

Things I learned.....

• 9.25 yards of fabric is more fabric than I have ever seen in one sitting! LOL!
• 9.25 yards needs to be spread over two bolts because in stores a bolt is only 6.5 yards.
• I won't ever work with a fabric thicker than the one I used for this costume! LOL!
• I won't be making Grim Reaper / Emperor costumes for a living! LOL!
• I enjoy sewing costumes
  
• Its time I made a costume for myself.... :)
  
  

...And Back to Creating

We just got back from a wonderful week at Disney (see HS blog) and I'm getting back in the groove. Hitting the crafting wagon again - and feeling the pressures of the upcoming season - have I mentioned that Halloween is my FAVOURITE time of year, and how much I'm not a Christmas person!?

Something interesting happened today - a strange feeling but I'm not sure how to put it into words.... maybe it was the crafting buzz hitting me hard - or maybe it was something else - I don't know... but there is a buzz (for lack of better description!) in the air about me.

... 3 weeks ago - Dh requested I sew something for him! WOOHOO! Just a Halloween costume but still it's something for him! LOL! Considering he never wore the sweater I made for him when we were dating (it was technically too small - because suddenly my tension changed!) I'm feeling adventurous and hoping it works out! I'd have to say its the biggest project I've taken on! Cause Sass-Fox, frankly, I'm still chickening out on your request... though I have the pattern and 1/2 the fabric! LOL! But if this works, out I'll be on your request ASACIO (ha - as soon as Christmas is over!)

I'm not gonna share the project with y'all yet, but we did just joke that Heaven help me I hope it works out or he'd hold it against me (he said he wouldn't!) - but it'll be good practice for the girls wedding dresses (HA, highly unlikely said the brain - I think I might leave that one to the professionals - I have to learn to work the darn serger first - I'm still petrified of that! *GRIN*)

E-Mealz - recommendation

Sorry - A Little Advertising here.

I suck at menu planning and have recently found a reasonably priced service that works for us.

We're using the Walmart Register - that has WW points on it and when I follow it, not only is it saving me money - its more than paying for itself.

I'd recommend it to anyone looking to take the stress out of planning decent meals for their family! I'm cooking again (a fair bit.)

Here is a link! (if you try it please use my name as a reference!)

Going Dental

Oy! Something came over me and I'm not sure I like it!

I went and paid a bill on Monday, after M's recent dentist visit and suddenly felt a pang of guilt that I've been making M go to the dentist regularly every 6 months and she has beautiful clean teeth while I have dirt and grim on mine! I had 2 root canals 2 years ago (??) after a 10 year abstinence stand on dentistry! Let me tell ya as a dental fear patient, that normally would put me off for life but dang it, I think I've found a dentist office I'm comfortable with!

Chatting with the hygienist this morning I was tickled to find that she agreed with me in my plight to NEVER EVER send my children to a pediatric dentist. Having dealt with a pediatric dentist many years ago from age 3-8 - who subjected me to the torture of removing teeth without adequate freezing, and drilling and filling my teeth with the same inadequate freezing, or cleaning my teeth and yelling at me to open my mouth wider when it was open as far as it would go - apparently chair side manner wasn't his best class! Anyway for me to find comfort with a particular dentist is nothing short of a miracle and for me to actually work up the nerve to send my children to them is a miracle within a miracle! LOL!

So all in all a good visit.... 10 yrs no cleaning - 2 root canals (at the 8 yr mark) and 1 filling, I've been given a good bill of dental health (minus that cavity!) I attribute it to the new kids anticavity mouth washes on the market and that purple Listerine stuff. That cavity I have, was there 2 yrs ago when the root canal was done, but it was marginally smaller and I've been religious with the mouth wash!

So all in all a good start to the day even if it was just a trip to the dentist - all over by 10 am!

WOOHOO Go me!

meme: Trivial info!

Tagged from Ignore Me Its Easier

1. What is your occupation right now?
Home Maker

2. What color are your socks right now?
Pink and white

3. What are you listening to right now?
M - playing with computerized bubble wrap and S singing the Death March from Star Wars.

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Banana and Berry smoothie

5. Can you drive a stick
YUP!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Bank's Card services - and funny transactions department! :0

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yup - she's pretty cool!

8. How old are you today?
36

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
Baseball or hockey

10. What is your favorite drink?
Sweet Tea!

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
just for my wedding and only streaked

12. Favorite food?
Mexican

13. What is the last movie you watched?
Princess Diaries

14. Favorite day of the year?
October 31 (HALLOWEEN ROCKS!)

15. How do you vent anger?
Yell, stomp around and then cry!

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
My Baaa lamb

17. What is your favorite season?
Early Summer

18. Cherries or Blueberries?
Blueberries

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?
always

20. Who is the most likely to respond?
Gah! who knows!

21. Who is least likely to respond?
See above! :)

22. Living arrangements?
Wishing to move - someday!

23. When was the last time you cried?
Don't remember

24. What is on the floor of your closet?
hee hee... you don't want to know - everything

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?
??

26. What did you do last night
read for a bit

27. What are you most afraid of
dying young

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Plain

29. Favorite dog breed?
Springer or Cocker spaniels and Retrievers

30. Favorite day of the week?
Thursdays (don't know why!)

31.How many states have you lived in?
1 state, 1 province!

32. Diamonds or pearls?
Emeralds (I'm with ya AmyD).

33. What is your favorite flower?
Forget me nots


Please consider yourself "tagged" and link back so I can read your answers!

Need Scrapbooking Advice

So, I've renewed my interest in scrapbooking, but now its outside this box (the computer that is!) I want to dabble with traditional, and I think I could interest my 7 yr old in it too - while she plods through her school work, but have a few obstacles in my way that I need to wrap my head around.

I guess I'll start with the reasons I gave up traditional in the first place.

1. Lack of time. (Its amazing what happens when the kids grow a little!)

2. Glue - I think I hate gluing. now I know I'm still doing this wrong, but inevitably when you use glue - think school glue (yes I'm that clueless! LOL!) - the pages warp and loose their nice crispness, so I think I need different types of adhesives.... but what adhesives does a scrapper use and where do I find it?

• If I want to glue one background to another what do I use for adequate coverage?
• If I want to glue just a small thing to a page, what do I use for that?
• If I want to raise something - for dimension - what do I use?

3. Cutting photos??? - OMG isn't that akin to sacrilege! I still can't get past the notion of cutting pictures, its almost as bad as writing in a book! LOL!

4. Being Cheap and lack of storage - I look at my friend's scrapbooking supplies and tools and think - gah with sewing, knitting and kids already in our space where would I find that space for this and still keep my house organize (not that it currently is - but shhhhh let me dream!)

5. Where to find supplies? I don't know, I think dh would have a heart attack if I went supplies shopping to scrapbook! LOL! I mean I walked out of Joann's the other day with $100 worth of stuff (fabric, scrapbook papers, a specific scrapbook.) Joann's, Michaels and Walmart aren't the best places to get supplies either..... but all the online places make me want to hide my wallet!

So I'm thimking hybrid. No storage, except for tools, but printer ink gets expensive!

*********************
All this because FIL gave us this cool gift a while ago and lord knows dh and I won't ever use it - but in this months' Scrapbooks etc magazine, they had a cool way idea, and of course one idea leads to another and now I need advice on how to traditional in order to use it!

I really should just stop picking up magazines on a whim!

So who wants to teach me tradition scrapbooking??! LOL!

I'm a good talker!

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English 25% Yankee 20% Dixie 5% Midwestern 5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

A Snake!

We try walk about 1-3 times in a weekend. Well in our typical weekend walk yesterday, in one of our local National Recreation Areas, dh was running ahead to catch up to little S, and M and I were walking enjoying the views. M was on my right, and out of the side of my eye I caught a glimpse of a long black stick...something in my strange brain triggered me to yank M to the left of me and I stepped weirdly to the left as well, in some strange fluid dance like motion! I paused and looked back and yelled "Hey did you see the dead snake?" To which dh and S came running back to look. Its body was all lumpy and bumpy which suggested to me it was newly dead.



M and I began to study it from a distance, using the things we had learned from other "Caged" snake encounters, and her Brownie Try it book. I looked for a rattle, and note-able danger markings, keeping far enough away from it ... M noted that it had a tiny "NON SPADE" like head which suggested it was non-venomous. We had no idea what kind of snake it was - it looked all black with no note-able markings. So I assumed it was a Black Rat Snake.

We stood looking at this funky looking snake that looked dead as its body had shriveled up and it was all lumpy - but again my brain said, 'wait a sec, its head is up... and there is no rock for it to rest on.... its not dead - its playing dead.' So I said that aloud and dh curiously agreed. We watched it for a sec, dh moved in for a closer look, camera in hand of course.... and we watched. Sure enough in a split second it flicked its tongue. Slowly the lumpy-bumpy -ness of the body smoothed out and it slowly slithered away into the underbrush of leaves and ground debris.

You can't really see in the above picture the details but we did get a close look at. Its body had large spots when it stretched out, a light underside. It was about 2-2.5 ft long, so it was still quite young. As M says a teen.

I discovered that it was likely a Black Rat Snake in its juvenile state as it still had the markings of a Gray Rat Snake.

It was an interesting life science lesson - that we hadn't even planned to have! LOL!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Littlest said the other day in the car:

"Daddy you're not a person, you're just a man!"

Which would lead one to believe that men are not people! hee hee!

Another Year Old

Another year older, though next year I'll be celebrating the 1st anniversary of my last birthday.

Dh and the girls took me out for my birthday dinner last night! We had Greek.
It was good. M suggested it, and since I was at a loss for ideas - it was a good suggestion.

We came home they gave me my cards - as always dh gave me his Sympathy Card! LOL!
M made a card for me with a Neopet's Scorchio on it. It was beautiful!

All it all it was a good birthday!

Toddler Ballet Bun!

The little one doesn't really have enough hair for a bun, but she insisted.

The Ballet Bun

Back about a month ago I posted about not knowing the first thing about Ballet or Ballet Buns! The photo to the right here was my first one and they have gotten better since, we've been doing them weekly!

Sadly our little ballet class has only 2 kids in. My dd and another. They're hoping for a bigger influx of kids in the Winter session, but so far its like private lessons and the other kid is moody and un-cooperative most of the time.

What bugs me is in spite of the notice that they must be dressed according to a certain style, and they must wear a bun, neither the teacher nor the other kid is dressed by the "required standards." So M says "Well I don't have to wear my hair up, no one else does and I could get a pretty leotard like the other kid's Leotards." (the other kid has many!) But I keep telling her that she looks fabulous and like a real dancer so she buys into it and runs with it.

Of course the little one has now gotten in on the bun thing too - and despite not having enough hair or time to do this stuff, we always make it on time and she is dressed for M's class too! LOL! Will post pics when I unload the camera again! LOL!

I am Japan

You Are Japan

You enjoy being part of a group. Having a good reputation is important to you. You get along well with others. You don't openly criticize or insult anyone. You like to co-operate, and conformity is fairly important to you. You love your culture and country. But when you're by yourself, you may have some very eccentric hobbies or interests!

What Country Are You?

Grumpy's Reading list.

Who me on Jedi kick as M would say.... NAH! LOL!

Actually yes, I scored an Ebay set of ALL the Jedi Apprentice books (which introduce Obi-Wan as a 12 yr old before he became Qui Gon Jinn's apprentice.) After reading 2 of the Jedi Quest books (which star the young Anakin) I was hooked.... sold hook line and sinker and poor dh had no choice but to give in! LOL!

Hence the sudden need to save some pennies on the grocery list and menu planning! Grin (I'm kidding of course!) But must do something to save money so that I look like I'm earing my keep!

Ridiculous - Gas Shortage.

Until now we've been relatively unaffected by the gas shortage. But now at 1/8 of a tank left, and a need to drive across town tomorrow for yet another class, I'm in a slow panic. I probably have enough to get there and back but what happens then?

I hate being confined to the house but if we have to we have to.

There are rumors out there that the gas shortages are nothing but a ploy on the part of politicians. I'm not sure what to think at this point.

Its rather amusing to me puny little mind that such things as the 1930's come to mind and the only thing I remember from grade 9 history class was the struggle buggies and great depressions. It kinda fits with the roaring 90's computer technology boom the subsequent stock market crash and now lay offs, mortgage crisis and other panics - and the gas shortages that come into play.

I'm not sure what my mind is driving at, as it runs on its own steam and tangents sometimes, but there is something in my mind (that I know.) And it keeps saying "This is Ridiculous!" But is it? Is it a political posturing manoeuvre? How could such political posturing really do the current government any good if it is hurting the economy more by making the people hurt more?

I remember my friend once talking about a book that suggested that the weather was controlled by the government... it sounded like a good book. Wouldn't it be a neat premise for yet another book, how the government kept the people down by stealing all the gas and making them think they were in crisis!? Hmmmmm

I'm rambling of course.... I'm just fed up with wondering when I'll get some gas... to the point that I want to buy a couple gas cans and store them in the garage in case we really do have a problem. I told the girls if it came down to it we'd siphon gas from daddy's little red car, using the frog's siphone tubes! LOL! The oldest was not impressed - "But mum won't that kill the frogs?" and "Oh mum that's disgusting - sucking gas from the tank... wouldn't it taste yucky!"

Menu Plans

I suck at Menu planning! LOL! But I grocery shopped yesterday and so the plan is set, now i just have to stick with it.

Dinners
1 – Lemon Basil Pork Chops w/Baked Sweet Potatoes
2 – Club Sandwich w Carrots and Dressing
3 – Pecan Crusted Flounder & Corn
4 – Mummy’s Birthday Choice!
5 – Chicken Pot Pie & Jello
6 – Greek Chicken & Pasta
7 – Stuffed French Toast & Pears

Lunches
1 - out just too much running (joys of last minuting)
2 - salad and fruit, and meat and cheese (Afternoon snack necessary)
3 - pita bits, with veggies and hummus dip
4 - left overs
5 - dinner leftovers from birthday night
6 - Club Sandwich fixings
7 - every person for themselves! LOL! (leftovers!)

I signed up with a meal planning service.... for a month trial - because I suddenly feel the need to be more frugal, more financially responsible, and less driving around so I'm more environmentally friendly too - plus less food will go to waste (and the waist. hee hee!)

I figure its time to teach the girls a little more about healthy eating and healthy living so we're going to try and walk more, eat out for lunch less, and simply spend less. I say this often but this time it is important. I feel like pooo and I need to fix that.

I'm not posting this on MPM, just because it isn't my own menu. But its here.... more for me than anything and so dh can look up dinner on line.

A Little Help??

If I were 7 yrs old. And I needed to do a small service project for Brownies. What should I do?

Something that will make the world a better place. (I might need to do 2 or 3 different things.)

Menu Plans

So I'm finding I have neither the time nor the patience to do menu planning and grocery shopping but my family and my health need me to. Over the years I have frequented different menu planning websites and am slowly collecting a list! :)

I've used
http://savingdinner.com/
http://menus4moms.com/

and have now signed up (however temporary) with
http://e-mealz.com/index.shtml

I will let you know over the coming weeks what I think of it.

My Goals are to reduce our budget some as the economy slows, tighten the belt a little, cinch it tighter so we eat less! LOL! are the old cliches that come to mind! Not that I'm worried right now but I figure teaching the kids something I don't remember from my childhood would be a useful skill - make them frugal (or cheap! hee hee!) One never knows what will happen with the local jobs and at least if we've managed to scale things down a bit we'll be in better shoes - should something bad happen.

I think I'm going to encourage / hire my 7 yr old to clip coupons, and she will get 50% of the savings, the other 50% will go towards the menu planning or fun stuff for school! Of that 50% that she earns 25% will go to savings.

Now lets see how it works! LOL!

Questing for Better Homemade Brownies

So I've decided to try my hand at better eating, or at least home-made eating when those chocolate cravings hit! Midnight Milky Ways, M&Ms and all those other dark chocolate candies can't be good for you, so I'm questing for a better option - and I'm starting with Brownies.

I've been craving brownies - especially the 2 bite brownies you get in the bakery at the Grocery store. Figuring there must be a ton of bad things for me in them, I decided to make my own. I'm sure over time we'll fine tune the recipe adding what we want and taking away the things that don't work for us or replacing the things that are bad for us... but here is the recipe I used! They just came out of the oven so the verdict isn't in yet! I'm also looking at a RAW brownie recipe, and working up the never to go for it! :)

Literally sick of it

Yet another Z-pak, yet another round of steroids.
All for Allergies that are bordering infected. CRUD! And a chest wheeze. GGGGRRR

Did I mention that during Fay we got a little wind, and that weekend we unsuspectingly walked through a Ragweed patch and again this weekend - before I identified it?

I think the Weed did us in - because it wasn't just me it was Little S, M and I, and good ole DH! But I'm the only one not getting better.

If y'all know of a better way to hold off allergies I'm all ears!

Star Halloween Wars

So the charming dh introduced the girls to Star Wars this summer and gah.... they have fallen madly deeply in love with all 6 videos - when your child asks for Dora - 100 times, mine are asking for Star Wars. They fell in love first with young Anakin, then Padme, then older Anakin, then Darth Maul (yes Maul) and on up through the works. Oddly neither girl likes Leia.

M is starting Ballet soon. Dh jokes that she will do a Ballet rendition of the Imperial March - heavens I can truly see it! S knows the tune - so I can just see her belting it out at the top of her lungs while M dances away - S will try to dance too and copy M's movements in a less graceful way - if grace is something to be had! - but they will be up there dancing away together and very happy!! LOL! (vivid images there!)

So technically it is September first and I should have started costumes months ago! When asked the girls are demanding to be Darth Maul... with M encouraging her little sister to be Vader or Anakin - so that she can be the only Maul. I want one of them to be Padme or Queen Amidala - but neither will have it. There will be a fight... a full drawn out fight if they both can't be it. This should be interesting. I have a couple months to practice the paint on the older one. Between that and the Ballet braids I'll be a make-up expert in no time!

Maybe I can convince the little one to be Sharp-Tooth from Land before time or Chomper.... we shall see, all I know is I've got my work cut out for me.

(yes I know there are Maul masks out ther but being claustrophobic, I have this thing about those rubber masks.... them give me the willies.... so I'd rather futz around with make-up than put my kids in one of those!)

Menu Plan Monday - Aug 25

Back to the drawing board with a little help from orgjunkie!! I'm getting organized again - everyone watch out! I'll put a check (✓) after each meal we eat at home this week!
I'm seriously getting in practice for next week, when we have about a million things happening after a nice relaxing summer, suddenly dd will be out doing stuff and I'mnot sure how our menus will fare, but if I figure if I've planned well, we'll be good and eating right!

So this week's Menu should shape up like this....

Blue is Lunch, Black is Dinner (yup both again!)

T26 - Mac Attack or Noodles, Tuscan Pork Chops in Portbello Mushroom Sauce
W27 - Veggies Dip, Deli Meat, Turkey Burgers (Veggie for me)
T28 - Out, homemade Burritos
F29 - Cheese, Veggies, Dip, Steak (Pork or Fish) w/Rice & Broc
S30 - ???, OUT
S31 - Sandwiches, Baked Ziti w/Grnd meat (or not!)
M1 - Fruit, Veggies, Dip, Leftovers, Homemade WW Linguine Alfredo

If this is something you'd like to try head on over and view more menus for this week here

Ballet - Tights or Sweats?

I'm so not a ballet mum! I lack everything in the area of being a girly girl mum! I buy simple shorts and ts for the girls, granny, babi and the aunties buy the dresses for them.

I'm hoping this will be a passing phase, that dd will NOT get serious about ballet, but alas I fear she will! Why not Hip Hop? Jazz ... I fear ballet, despite having wanted to try it out in my youth.

My poor IRL friend, I thinks she thinks I'm a lunatic! I emailed her a couple days ago asking where one could find a simple black leotard and tights, and heaven help me shoes that didn't costs an arm and 2 legs, and what do you mean they can't do ballet in sweats and gym shoes? She about died of laughter. Yes I was being funny but part of me was serious. For the new folks (if there are any!) my dd is 7, she is more girl than I was. She is taking a real ballet class for the first time, one that runs the year instead of a week! She has long hair, I don't even know how to do a bun! My IRL friend again, died of laughter when I told her that! She was telling me that most ballet folks take it very seriously - this is supposed to be fun for my dd - I can't abide seriousness at this stage. I hope they're ready for us, I seriously have no clue! If dd gets sent home because her hair is wrong or her clothes are wrong we're done for... I'm a simpleton, this is for fun. In all seriousness, I'm starting to stress over ballet - what has my life come to?

I want a ballet class done in sweats. This ballet business is expensive.

FWIW - if there is another out there as hopeless as me.... dd (7) found this for me so we could practice making a ballet bun!

Now all we need is some glue and scrunchies and a little time and practice to make it right!

Chores = Fight with 7 yr old ..... OR Do they?

Everyone has a different school of thought on rewarding kids for chores.

In our family we reward for chores... but only some chores. For the last couple years I've been paying M a quarter ($0.25) per task that I think of on the fly unless it was a difficult task and then it was rewarded accordingly! She'd fill her piggy bank, and when she had enough money to buy the item she wanted (+ at least 1/4 of the amount extra for the bank) - I'd convert the change into bills... and off to the store we'd go (and the bank to make a deposit!) A bit of a pain, but it taught concepts of money, earning, saving and portioning the money! The problem was if she wasn't in the mood to do the chores they didn't get done, and she didn't have a ready list of all the things she needed to do.

So in rolls the homeschool loops that I visit - recently one of them posted a link to a website called HandiPoints. You can set up a list of up to 35 chores for your child to do and a set of rewards that they might want to earn and how much they have to earn in order to get their reward. Our chores are still a quarter a piece (unless I say otherwise!)

Well, M has been working her little bootie off - saving for a new webkinz ('cause mean ole mummy isn't buying her anymore) , an American Girl Dolly (Mia, I think though she loves Felicity) and a Petting Zoo crab (which isn't available anymore though the babies are!)

So needless to say I'm putting in a little plug for this free website - which is helping me to help them to realize that the toys and things they like have a cost, that they have the freedom to earn what they want and help around the house too!! :)

For once my house is mostly guest ready for the guests arriving today! ..... now if I could just declutter a little at a time over the next little while and organize well... I'd be doing wonderfully!

Menu Plan Monday - 10 Day DO Challenge

On Cindy's Porch - she has posted a 10 day Challenge - to not spend money, and still "Do" stuff and shop at home first.

Like don't buy gas for the last 10 days of July! Don't buy food - instead use what you have in your cupboards, fridge and pantry instead. Will you take the challenge?

I won't make it to the end of the month - that's for sure.... as I'm in dire need of salads right now - and we'll be driving all around the town too because we need to get places but I will cut back!



Since it is Monday I guess a menu plan should be in order.

M21 - Chicken bits and salad (m's choice - so she could watch Star Wars)
T22 - Pasta with a noodles and veggies.
W23 - Tacos w/leftover turkey or pork - salad
T24 - Heading out so something quick
F25 - Homemade Pizza
S26 - Leftover meat and rice stirfry
S27 - Something concocted from the pantry!


If this is up your alley feel free to view more menus for this week here

Oh Gosh! *big ole red blush*

I just received an award! Woohoo! I've never won anything before either!! AmyDe at Ignore Me - It's Easier nominated me for this very important and very prestigious award.


Is this where I offer the oscar speech?? Gosh I hate speech writing!

Gosh, Thank you, you're too sweet!!

Well hello and welcome to my old friends and new! I'm truly honoured to be recognized! *blush* I spend a great deal of time blogging about my crafting activities, the things that happen in my life and just trying to understand the strange and crazy notions I have rumbling around my brain here from time to time! I use my blog as a sounding board sometimes - usually hoping for feedback - and sometimes just to put the thoughts out of my head!! I spend much of my time crafting because my wonderful children let me, its therapeutic and relaxing!- but we also do some wonderful stuff together. My ventures in crafting eventually lead to my kids doing the same, they see mummy do things and eventually they will enlist my help to try too! My life takes on different notions at various times.... for example right now I'm working on a mostly Home-made Christmas - the idea struck me as the Christmas buying season ended last year - so I got a leaping start by commencing my activities on January 1st! (Family and friends reading - if you have a special request, get it in soon, cause I'm boogie-ing! I'm also working to regain control of my house from the toy clutter monster, lose some weight (some 40 odd pounds) and just generally be healthier. With a splash of frugality thrown in for good measure!

I treasure those that read my blog, even if it is only from time to time! I can't pick out 7 people in particular that make an impact on my life just because I'd be afraid of leaving folks out and some of you don't have blogs. If you read and

Speaking of each and every one of you - now I get to pass the award along:

N - of A Prince and a Princess. You taught me how to digi and now my scrapbooking is slowly getting up to date where before I was buried with no hope of digging out! You've inspired me in a way that you'll never know! You offered a shoulder to cry on when I was first learning the art of breastfeeding and not succeeding very well and again later when my life turned upside down!

GlueStickGirl - of the moments in between. You've inspired me with your scrapbooking and paper cutting prowess (though I could never get there!) You taught me much about listening to my heart and following my instincts when it comes to my girls, and helped hold my hand in the early panicked days when breastfeeding just wasn't working and again later when my life turned upside down!

Milli - of Southern Charm and a Little Yarn - mother of Sweet Teas Soakers. You held my hand as I walked through the most difficult days of my life and then proceeded to inspire me in so many directions at once with your knitting and crafting and energetic ideas.

Drea - who doesn't have a blog - but was there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and a just the idea of being propped up when I couldn't stand anymore.

Mum - who doesn't have a blog - but is always there to offer advice and a shoulder to cry on, to guide me back in the right direction when I stray too far on my crazy adventures and simply share a laugh whenever I need it!

Sassy - or maybe it's realredfoxx this week! You're always there to offer the sisterly advice I need from raising my kids to friendship troubles!

Many others out there in the Blogosphere! LOL! Who inspire me to create and enjoy the things I have!


Thanks to all of you who keep me on my feet, laughing, crying, smiling and inspiring! And the many more on the days when inertia takes over so bad!

So please - just a few tiny "rules"

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.

2. Link to the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.

6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking everybody's mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

I'll keep you posted!

10 Yrs and No Card!

Dh and I celebrated our 10th anniversary today! If you look back 10 yrs ago it was a Wednesday (yes we're cheap!) and most of our friends were either Retired or in school so the middle of July in the middle of the week was an awesome day to get married.

As it turned out it was a hot sticky day in Toronto. It rained in the early afternoon and we worried it would rain for the wedding but it stopped, and I got the day I always wanted. Everything fresh and clean after a rain storm. It made taking pictures difficult, dodging the slow drying puddles, but that's okay since we didn't get many pics done (yes horribly cheap!) And it was incredibly hot but beautiful!

Tomorrow marks my 10 yr anniversary here too! In the lovely sunny south!

As for the card, well we don't do big things for our anniversary short of going out for dinner and having a lovely evening. So the money we didn't spend on cards, we spent on a yummy appetizer, instead - I figured we could eat our Hallmark Greetings instead! (Hot Crab Dip, if you were curious!)

So Happy Tin Anniversary today.

Menu Plan Monday (7/14/08)

I'm feeling accomplished after a week of eating Dinners at home and having a successful menu where dh and I gave and took on the cooking. It didn't seem like such drudgery, and the attitude of the toddler definitely played into the "I WANT TO STAY HOME!" part of this! I put a check (✓) after each meal we ate home last week... which seemed to help keep us on top of things.


So this week's Menu should shape up like this....

Blue is Lunch, Black is Dinner


✓ T15 - Mac Attack or Noodles, ✓ Anniversary Dinner (OUT - goodness I hope not! LOL!)
W16 - Home Moo Moo, and Triple Hipwrecker), Brats, Salad, Fruit
T17 - Boring old Sandwiches, Grilled Chicken, Linguine Alfredo, Salad, and Fruit
F18 - Chicken bits/burgers and Oranges, Homemade Pizza, Salad (Liking the Pilsbury Pizza Crust thing)
S19 - Leftovers, Tacos
S20 - Daddy's Choice or OUT


If this is up your alley feel free to view more menus for this week here

Menu Plan Monday (7/7/08)

For those that linked in *BLUSH* I forgot to update the link to my page....
here is the menu 7/14/08
So after a fun filled weekend with my father in law and trying to dodge the bullet with a cranky 2 yr old in a nice Thai Restaurant, I've decided that I've had enough eating out especially when guests are around just because I like to eat my food and not have to shuffle us (the 2 yr old and I) out of the restaurant halfway through the meal!

So I'm working on getting more organized and have been doing better, but there is always room for improvement. With this in mind, I've watched this site for a while and decided its time to participate and be more accountable! :) ......


So this week's Menu should shape up like this....

✓ M7 - Linguini Vongole
✓ T8 - Pork Tenderloin / Fish, Rice (changed to steak for them and fish for me)
✓ W9 - Pizza *homemade with boboli* because I haven't muster the courage to make my own
✓ T10 - Pasta Alle Floret
✓ F11 - Turkey Burgers w/Salad and Dessert (Tonight - Monday 14th)
✓ S12 - Chicken Rice Stirfry

If this is up your alley feel free to view more menus for this week here

2006 UFO - Can I Officially Call It Done? Secret #1- Sneaky Peaky!

9-06 - stands for September 2006 - the Official Date this Project was started.

I started this project for Christmas 2006, and promptly set it aside in November that year when there was no way it would be done pre-US-Thanksgiving, my official Christmas mail date. I picked it back up about a month ago and worked on it periodically over the course of a couple weeks......

7-6-08 - The date the project was completed except for the zipper.

Can I call it done now or do I have to really sew in that dreaded zipper?!

Walking In Wonder at Ft. Mtn

One of the things we love to do on a regular basis as a family is walk. We got our shirts from the Canyon Climbers Club (look for the link in the sidebar!) a week or so ago.... nice shirts. We love nature type trails and spend a reasonable amount of time just walking with the girls looking for mushrooms *to look at not to eat*, enjoying the pleasures that Nature has to offer. This is my favourite picture of the girls taken this weekend at Fort Mountain.

We noticed the Blueberries are almost ripe on the side of the mountain and the Raspberries are certainly on the go! So maybe in a few short weeks we'll be able to go berry picking at the local pick your own farms! Yum can't wait!

Our neighbours will truly love us, as we have a wild Blackberry bush sprouting in our Azalea hedge this year and the girls have been pilfering the berries from it! Good job the neighbors put up the fence between our yard and theirs (the only fence in the 20+yr old neighbourhood!) because now we can grow our planned raspberry bushes right up near the fence next year!! HEE HEE! (I'm kidding but it would be nice!)

Happy Independence Day (July 4)

So if you're reading these as I post you'll notice things appearing above and below.... I'm sneakying some posts in as I go! LOL! I was too lazy to post the last few days!

What's the 4th of July without a few firework shots??? Ya they're puny but hey life goes on!

Just a quiet family event with FIL in the midst. M worked on her Wave the Flag badge, by planning the picnic we had for dinner that night. It wasn't all that festive food-wise but it was good and healthy (except the rootbeer! LOL!)

Poor S slept poorly the night before, and didn't nap all day, and crashed in the car on the way home... to the extent that I striped her naked and just left her to sleep in a fresh dipey. LOL!

Raggy Twins

Question - if you're out there, which one do you like better???

So after finishing the majority of the knitting on my Secret Christmas Project #1 (9-06) I took a little detour while sewing it up and weaving the ends and these two little charmers were born on the end of my hook! I used this pattern for dolly#1 on the left but saw some areas that I could personalize, and ended up with dolly#2 on the right. Not sure which one I like better, though dh likes dolly#1's body and #2's head (when pushed to answer! LOL!) The only identical things on the twins are their arms and legs.

They lack clothes, I should get on that... but I'm more tempted to sew dolly clothes than knit them, which seems really weird to me. I feel the need to make 2 more of these dollies because I think I like these ones too much to part with them! I originally was making them for charity!

So anyway, consider this your introduction to the nameless naked twins. (Clothes and faces to follow! LOL!)

Happy Canada Day

It was a quiet Canada Day Tuesday. The girls wore their shirts from Granny and Grandpa, and we hit the park in the late afternoon. It was downright Balmy here for July - and Dry. I managed to finish a pair of red and white shorties for the little one at the end of the day and vowed to make blue pockets with stars on them by the end of the 4th but that never came to fruition. I had to clean for FIL coming!

Anyway.... HAPPY CANADA DAY

She's Off the Needles..... YAY!

2 years in coming but project 08-Christmas Secret #1 (9-06) is finally off the needles! The (9-06) is Sept 2006 when this puppy was started. I'm a changed woman.
A little finishing here and there, a little ends weaving and I'll be on to another project!

This little beauty isn't haunting my UFO box anymore!

Ahh .... relief!

Menu Plan Monday

Did I mention I had a lazy week last week.... and as such when I saw that my menus have run over by a day the last couple weeks because dh decided to have something different one of the nights.... that I noticed there were still 4 things left on the menu and all the groceries were in .... so I decided that Thursday was a play day instead of a shopping day.....???

So this week's menu will be what I was supposed to be eating this week.... So though I cheated....
here it is! :)

Scallops with Snow Peas and Crispy Noodles
Ham w/Scalloped Potatoes Broccoli & Cauli
Ultimate Veggie Chili
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Chop Suey (Vegetarian)

Linguini Vongole

(brought to you by the letters L - A - Z and Y) hee hee!

Jams, Walks and Sleeping Babes

Its been busy around here.

The Strawberry Freezer Jam turned out beautifully! Dh says that it is too sour, but I found it just right, and I'm the one that likes SWEEEEET things! LOL! I've been working away on Christmas Secret #1 and making good progress I must say!! I have been tempted to pick up a 1/2 dozen other projects but I figure I'm going to dig out of my current stash and dig out of UFO stash 2 projects at a time before I go anywhere near a new project. So once #1 and #8 are done and socked away (no that wasn't a hint) I'll work out a new project... I think I deserve it! :)

So after all that work and the yummy strawberry jam, the girls asked me blueberry jam, so that was tonights challenge. But first we had to walk to the store to get some berries. We came home with 2 things of Blackberries, 1 thing of Blueberries, 4 peaches and a thing of Lychee fruit, which we haven't figured out what to do with.... but I'll figure it out! :)

After all that walking.... poor thing the littlest was super tired.... so when we got home, I left her to play for a bit, and was showing M how to make scrapbook pages... and when we looked down here she was curled up under the desk with Stanky Bankie

7 and Smarter Already

My 7 yr old is apparently smarter than me! She just told me how to clear my cache in firefox. *sigh*


***Update***
Not completely smarter though.....
I had to figure out my own cookies!

Back to Scrapping

Its been a while since I did more than a desktop computer calendar with my digi-scrapping. Like everything else life goes in waves. I'm feeling guilty for not having taken more photos of the girls this year, so take this as my aim to take more photos over the next couple months.

Template - June Blue Print Challenge by Monica McGill, Paper and frame - LemonadeKisses Freebie by Kathryn Estry

7th Birthday images

Up to Mischief in the Kitchen!

I've always said I'll try anything once.

So I've always wanted to make jam. But lacked both the tools and know how to do it. (Add that to one of the many crafts out there that I have yet to try! LOL!) So on one blog, I followed a link to another blog, and as always happens I blog hopped my way to someone's blog where they had recently made some freezer jam, based on a really simple recipe here. My first attempt, so I have no clue how it will turn out.... but hey it was fun making it. I asked the girls if they were interested in helping but both declined, though I'm sure if it works out they'll be glad to sample the merchandise! LOL!

I'll keep ya posted on how it turns out and how it tastes too! :)

****************
AmyDe.... the item in the previous post that has begun its second life is a Starfrit manual food processor. I discovered the attachments that went with it and discovered that it had a mandolin that attaches to the top of the bowl.... with funky little slicers to go with it...

Back to Cleaning

So we spent a couple hours in the basement yesterday. As visitors would visit things got stuffed in boxes and shoved into the basement. Dh had completed a couple projects down there but left things like the plastic sheet when he finished painting. So there was no rhyme or reason to the mish mash of stuff down there, well now there sort of is.

I have a ton of decluttering to do still but slowly I'm working my way to getting rid of stuff.

I found a ton of gift bags - Birthday, Christmas and misc - which have been organized into a manageable collection. I found a ton of craft stuff which needs organized... and after 3 hours I found almost 2 garbage bags worth of trash (well you know odds and ends and papers) and at least 1/2 a dozen 'now' emptied boxes. The girls have room to play with their "stuff" and I have room to work.

So in the process of that, I found an item that I received as a wedding present almost 10 years ago... and while I loved the item at the time, it got squirreled away because it was a pain to clean... but with getting back to the home cooking stuff.... I found a feature on this little contraption that I had no idea existed... so it has now become useful and extremely cool again!

Woohoo!

More cleaning now means less cleaning when we have to move (did I forget the IF we ever move part!) ... so I'm all for it. Not only that it makes the house more manageable.

Menu Planning Monday

I've been doing much better about planning our menus over the last couple weeks. We do have some troubles sticking to it, but at least we have a guideline to follow.... So for this week here is what we plan...

Scallops with Snow Peas and Crispy Noodles
Ham w/Scalloped Potatoes Broccoli & Cauli
Ultimate Veggie Chili
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Chop Suey (Vegetarian)

Linguini Vongole


With that all done I have freed up my day on Wed/Thurs from planning! (hee hee!)

Feeling Productive

Of the 12 Christmas items on my in Progress list I've been working (along with other projects) hard and have just picked up a project that I abandoned in 2006 when it was too late to make it for the Christmas run! With any luck I'll get it done this year along with a few other things! :)

So far I've managed to complete 5 projects on that list... so I'm almost there, with #6 fast on its way to completion and #7 at least on the radar screen! I'm loving it.

Its never too soon to start your handmade Christmas list!

Earth Hour: Part 4 - the Haunting

Ha, yes folks, its been a month since DH has had to do a SHOUT OUT to the power company. Now it is time to call the PSC, in all its insanity.

8 - 9 pm Earth Hour - Mar 30 - Family survives 40 minutes
7 ish pm April 3 - 4.5 hours - No logical reason
4 ish pm May 11th - 6.5 hours - 1 hour post thunderstorms
7 ish pm June 9th - 1 min blip! - post rain
7:20 pm June 11th - 2.5 hours. - 1 hour post thunderstorms.

K, so when I said that we would revisit Earth Hour weekly for 1 hour each week, I had no idea that we would visit Earth Hour monthly for several hours at a time instead and make up our quota in one sitting! We're still ahead in terms of hour usage! I think what irks me most is that the control would be totally out of my hands. I mean if I had control, we wouldn't be cooking dinner by candlelight - thank goodness for the gas cooktop! It seems that our little corner of our subdivision (which isn't a corner at all) has been afflicted with a bad transformer (or two, me thinks!) - so the worker says. Me thinks, there is a slight water problem right along with that evil transformer as noting the weather after each session it has been almost an hour to the minute after a rain shower! (thank goodness I have documented each outage HERE! - ammo for the PSC!)

The neighbors are rightly cranky! And rightly so, I'd say. We gave it 20 minutes after the lights went out and then dh called. We've made the decision to be pests - and call every 30 minutes until power is restored, ordinarily we wouldn't do this but with monthly outages its time they heard us - its not like the bills are piling up unpaid. *sigh*

So this is one instance where pre-planning the meals worked in our favour - as our electric oven was useless for cooking pizza last night - so instead we had a pre-planned Spanish Omelette (turned scrambled egg! LOL!)

I made it 5 hrs

"I'm barricading myself away from the fabric stores unless I have an immediate need for something that isn't in my current stash!"

Did I really say that??? I made it 5 hrs....
I visited a site... I fell in love....
I bought fabric.... 1 lbs bag to be exact.
*Sigh*
I'm hopeless. Must remember to barricade myself from the online fabric stores too! *sigh*
So many dangers... A little white padded room would be my best bet! LOL!

Deep Cleaning and Declutter

I'm tired of it.... I'm tired of all the clutter, I'm tired of all the junk, I'm tired of not being able to stay on top of things. I'm tired of having to scramble everytime someone comes to visit to make the place look somewhat tidy. I'm tired of living out of boxes and having to dig through things to find what I'm looking for. So my goal is reclaim my house from the clutter monster and then make it a little more cozy and comfy.

I can't handle the FlyLady emails, despite of how effective they are, so I'm back to peaking at the website to work on the house one room at a time very slowly. The girls are my top priority so I do what I can and then go back and forth as time permits.

Its kinda funny how my ideas waffle back and forth over time. What today is sentimental clutter, tomorrow is trash, and in 2 days I just won't be able to part with it. So I'm aiming for more "Tomorrow" days than "today" or "future days!" LOL! in other words the more clutter I can get rid of the happier I am.

I was thrilled to discover in the past week that my Garbage company has resumed accepting glass and cardboard, which they weren't for a while (5 yrs to be exact!) To that line up they've added more types of paper, and more plastics, which is a good thing. At least now I won't feel so guilty decluttering!

Now I just need to find places to accept my donate-able clothes, and kids toys. Slowly, slowly I will master this clutter instead of vice versa!

I'm following AmyDe's lead on the hobby stash - ie yarn and fabric stash - and working to have no stash, except the project that I'm working on. It's gonna take some time to burn through what I have but I'll get there eventually! I've done good, in that I don't think I've bought yarn (wool, cotton or acrylic.) Now the fabric is more difficult - for me at least, I'm barricading myself away from the fabric stores unless I have an immediate need for something that isn't in my current stash! And then I'll need to quiet that little stash-devil that whispers in my ear when I'm there - do you think ear plugs would work??

So there ya go. If I'm not around I'm decluttering.
3 of 15 rooms done.

Cellphones - Popcorn - Musings

Its rather funny. Our family owns only one cell phone.
I've been reading a novel that bounces back and forth between today and the Early 1900s. Its a quilting book but I'm fascinated with the differing attitudes for the children then, the children when I grew up and the children of today. Its rather startling differences.

So we headed out to the HD today to replace the 14 gauge wire that I trimmed yesterday with the hedge trimmer, cut clean through the wire if you must know! (and that was being ultra careful!) The technology that made me angry 5 yrs ago probably saved my life last night, but I digress. So anyway, back to technology, in the car beside us was a kid about 10yo, with his cell plugged into his ear while his parents drove the Prius. I mused to myself how generations differed, how kids today can be reached at the drop of a hat, unless their batteries die or they conveniently lose their phone. How they always know who is calling even before they answer their phones, when back in 1991 Caller ID was just coming to home phone, and cell phones were a new fangled device! LOL! I marvelled at how much I enjoy being unreachable, but I also distinctly remember the day I longed to have a cell phone when I needed it most.

So with that thought in mind :
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/4969270/
I found this disturbing and long to get 3 friends together with 6 phones and see what damage we can do to a couple kernels! LOL!

Leads to the logical question. If a cell phone can do that to popcorn, if you let the cell phone ring in your pocket long enough what else can it make explode??

Just idle musings!

Tadpoles, Frogs and Smelly Tanks

What? I can't believe I didn't post our Tadpole adventures here.

On May 21st our little Grow-A-Frog Tadpole arrived in the mailbox. I was totally unprepared. I thought it would take a little longer than a week to get here but low and behold Little "Tad" arrived. I just assumed she'd be a boy! But here SHE is at 7 days. Just 2 days after she sprouted her front legs. I have learned that a tadpole's gender can't be identified until they are grow into frogs. From the research I have done... this tad has the nub of a tail (for laying eggs) and she is spotted with no dark patches - though that doesn't mean she won't grow some later. I'll have to watch and hopefully prevent spawning - I don't think I could handle another frog for the next 17-25yrs!

If I'm not mistaken she will grow into an African Claw Frog /Toad. Not the prettiest of frogs in my opinion but I guess it serves me right for not doing enough research. Beggars can't be choosers. Given a choice, I think I'd opt for a red-eyed tree frog, a bull frog or maybe even a Fire Bellied Toad. Oh well! Life goes on! Maybe some day we'll go there but for now we'll stick with this frog!

A few days after Tad grew her front legs, I requested the Stage 2 Habitat from Three Rivers (the Grow-a-Frog) Company and OOPS if it didn't arrive with another Froglet. *sigh* Froglet has now been called "Lily."

So now we are a 2 frog family!

Over the last couple days I've noticed the water is horribly cloudy with stringing things growing in the stinky water despite the fact that I've been following the instructions to a T. So today I sought a new temporary container so that I could clean out the nutri-sand from Tad's tad pool and Lily's pond. I've decided not to put the nutri-sand back just because its a pain to keep clean and I'm a total novice .... all the gunge hides down there and when the water is all gone, you still can't get the sand clean! :( So BYE BYE SAND. My reading suggests that it was for our benefit anyway, and didn't really offer much to the pools.

The adventure today has both Tad and Lily in the same pool now, so less maintenance - I just hope neither is too aggressive to the other. I suspect Lily would be the aggressor if it came down to anything so we'll keep our fingers crossed. I think I'm going to abandon our Three Rivers Habitats in favor of a bigger temporary home for the little ones. What I picked up was a Mini Critter Tote but I think I'll go for a bigger one and put the two Three River things away - just in case we decide to get a different tad in the future.

Happy Birthday

7 Wonderful years ago, this little was born. It seems just like yesterday, I can hardly believe it.

Today she turned 7.

Not Observant Silliness

If you go to the kitchen take a look at the Aluminum foil box and the plastic/Saran Wrap box. Did you know there was a little tab that you can push in on the end to prevent the rolls from jumping out of the box??

Things you learn on homeschooling websites - when you're planning to shut down your computer but must look at one more thing.

Stinging Nettle - Canyon Climbers Conclusion (for us)

The joys of hiking with a toddler, which is almost as good as hiking with a dog, invariably the child will get into something or other on each hike. I've taken to toting a few bandaids and QuickClean wipes in my fanny pack when we are hiking, just because we can't hike without S getting a cut a scrape or something. This time we ventured down into Cloudland Canyon in NW GA, where we saw a beautiful water fall, too many steps to count, and a 2nd waterfall that wasn't nearly as nice as the first.

Before the hike began little S was running to catch up to daddy, tripped and scrapped her knee and wrist. But if that wasn't bad enough, at the end of the hike on the way back up the myriad of steps she insisted on getting on my back (our form of transporting her when she is tired) she missed me and fell backward into a bush of unknown description at the time. I didn't think much about it until she was up on my back and complaining and rubbing the dickens out of her arm. We couldn't stay where we were because we were surrounded by the stuff and we were ready to leave anyway so I hiked her up on my back.... climbed up a bunch of steps and when she was still rubbing them I asked dh to take a quick peek. He said he didn't see anything, but I knew there had to be something so at the next platform, I set her down and found this. \/ (pic below) Now I'm no naturalist, but my first guess was Stinging Nettles.

She didn't seem to get it too bad, but it was enough to make her uncomfortable. I had for some really stupid reason an alcohol prep pad in my fanny pack. so I used it to quickly dab the spots and she seemed good with that. She carried the pad up the hill and kept dabbing them. By the time we got to the top they were gone. I've asked her a few times how her arm feels and she hasn't complained at all. Thank goodness. I think M was more scarred by whole incident than S was as M has added Nettles, to the list of things to fear.... like Poison Ivy, Black Widow Spiders, and scorpions!

And with that little mishap... we completed the 4 State parks and are sending in for our OfficialCanyon Climbers Club T-shirt.

More on the Subway Issue

If the letter that one mom received back from Scholastic reads right, the situation is as I figured and the reason they EXCLUDED Home Schools is because of the $5,000 Athletic Equipment for the Winning Child's school.

The thing is they could have put a request asking a Homeschooled child to donate it to any place where they take classes, or the local school or even a local charity that was in need.

It doesn't make it any better though... to blatantly exclude "Home Schools" is no different than putting a sign in the window saying "Blacks need not apply." Or "Irish Need not apply." The apology was nice enough but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Disappointment in SUBWAY and SCHOLASTIC

So the latest buzz on the homeschool groups is how SUBWAY is snubbing homeschoolers.
Subway and Scholastic books are running a story writing contest. Details of which you can find

http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx


Our communities are filled with homeschooled kids. Sadly, they have chosen to exclude our children from this contest! While I don't jump on the bandwagon of Boycotting, this is an outright shot at our children for the choice that isn't their own!

Disclaimer:
Contest is open only to legal US residents, over the age of 18 with children in either elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.

I have sent my note to them already telling them how I feel. I'm beyond disappointed, M is very disappointed as well. As of today we will not be frequenting our local SUBWAY.... and frankly I think I may have to pull my purchases away from Scholastic books too!

Got Myself some Wheels

Those of you that know me, know that I've had RollerBlades for years, and before my cars, my method of transportation was bicycle. Well after almost 15 yrs without a bicycle, I finally got me a bike today! :) Will post pics when I get her cleaned up! :)

YAY! Now to just get fit! :)

Post Pneumonia - Tzietze Syndrome

So the fun begins, you mention to the PA (nurse) that since the onset of the this bout of pneumonia you've had this wicked chest pain, that starts at the sternum and on one side runs all the way round your back to the middle, and that on the other side it is localized to the sternum and runs about an inch to the right, and they think OMG she's having heart attack in the office! he he!

I told them it was related to the pneumonia, but the nurse insisted on an in office EKG. Protocal - Fine. They were worried the BP is high (uh ya) and then embarked on the whole - well you need a complete physical so we can get ya fixed up right - yada yada yada more on that later! The EKG Freaked M out and S just hid under the exam table. Kids, LOL! S would have been find if M hadn't said anything freaky!

The old ticker is tocking properly, so no worries there. (You can't get rid of me that easily!) ... yes I probably have swollen cartilage from the hacking, for which she could recommend a strongish anti-inflammatory, but I turned that down, it doesn't sit well with the Crohns' part of the anatomy, ya know! I told her I was happy with just the diagnosis and knowing that if push came to shove and I hurt bad tomorrow I could take some advil or ibuprofin, in the smallest possible amount with a hunk of food! (pretty picture isn't it!)

So then we got on to the well you need a full physical with a walk on the treadmill so that we can get a baseline on everything and get you in tip top shape. This is probably the push that I've needed get moving on the weightloss front, as I know it will bring everything down if I could just loose that 10 % (and then some!) The only problem as I see it is my cholesterol will be quite high as I've just finished nursing the youngest and based on the info that I've research that will throw the cholesterol levels off. I've told the Mr. that I will do said physical but only if he does his too... not the same day but I get to schedule both of them! No point in me living forever if he isn't here too is there?! So off we ride into the sunset in our matching gowns ready for an upcoming the physical! (scary picture that! LOL!)

Oz and the Wicked Witch

It was somewhat of a coincidence that I started reading The Wizard of Oz to the girls around the same time I started reading Wicked. It was fascinating to read them simultaneously as you could pick out the paralells between them as I think the author of Wicked intended ! Let me just say that Mr. Maguire spins a good yarn based on some of the original characters in the original story!

I'd get into discussing it but I don't want to spoil it for others, so I will have to suffice it by saying that the character development was good, and I like the way the story is spun the other way. It kind of lead credence to the way the movie presented Oz, to really be a terrible man.

Anyway good book if you haven't read it, though it takes a while to slog through the beginning parts it was worth taking it out from the library 3 times! LOL!

And, of course, every little girl must have a pair of sparkly red shoes, my kids just happen to be on the 2nd and 4th pair! LOL! The question is are the shoes really enchanted??!

Breathing is Highly Overrated!

Its been 3 weeks.

Hack Hack.

I have pneumonia again.

I sound like I have smoker's cough.... unfortunately I've never smoked!

Gotta love spring!

Earth Hour the Revisit.... HAPPY MOTHER's DAY

A nice long luxurious week at the beach.
A nice long drive home. (of course I got some knitting done! - but no reading!)

Home for a day, still wheezing and hacking... will visit the doc on Tuesday or Wednesday I think. My chest hurts today - so I guess I'm in for another round of drugs :(

We went for a breezy walk this afternoon with wind gust between 15-30 mph. Arrived home at 4:30 to find the power off. When I hit the garage door button half a dozen times and it didn't open, then dh tried... 'twas my first thought. 6.5 hours NO Electricity.

I could understand if the whole neighborhood was out... or if the power outages were spotty in the neighbourhood. But it wasn't. I could understand if there were downed lines... nearby. Well maybe I couldn't because our lines are underground. I could understand if it wasn't an exact replication of the April 2 outage. Just our 2 streets. DH was okay at first but as the night got long and the crabbies set in.... the girls got fractious, dh got grumpier, he loves to talk about feedback loops, well this became one. A call at 5:30, 6:30, 8:30 and then 10:25. The lights came on a few minutes after that last call. Like all they had to do was flip a switch.

Now I know that is not what it took and that someone had to physically drive and that the lights were off in many places around the city... but still 6.5 hours???

A well, at least I know how to entertain myself when I need to... the trick is finding a way to entertain the rest of the family as well.

A Post Full of Sand

So dh brought his laptop and pathetic me has to type on my blog while away! LOL! Actually it was my excuse to get my dh away from the darn thing.

As the little one gets older, travelling with her gets easier and easier. Our first time down with her 7 hrs in the car was a struggle, but this time around she did so much better. When we arrived both the girls were ready to hit the beach, but the adult in dh and I required that we pick up food for dinner and breakfast lunch and dinner. When we got back we hit the beach.

Again as they both age, they get better about accepting the beach! LOL! The first time around M wouldn't even stick her finger in the sand, while S wouldn't put her big toe in. Next time around M was significantly older, and had no qualms about the surf, while little S was petrified if the water touched her. This time around, the girls remind me of the little sandpipers skirting the edge of the water looking for a decent catch.

S is in love with the big shells, while M is in love with the pretty shells.

We managed to acquire an umbrella today. Hopefully it mean the I can hang out on the beach a little longer.

As of now, I think I've also managed to stave off a bout of pneumonia. I got sick Monday before we left, after a lovely visit to the Botanical gardens (mental note, avoid Botanical gardens in the height of pollen season - idiot) today I'm hacking but a whole lot less than I was yesterday. It can only get better from her.

L and N. This trip to the beach has yielded much better weather than the visit we all took together. It is supposed to be 80 degrees all week. The girls have a mild burn in spite of suncream. I can't look at the hot tub without giggling over our conversations down there. Found out they have a Sauna here too.

Anyway.... dh has failed to build a sandcastle yet. And pathetic me, I haven't taken any pics yet, despite M's delight in taking pictures of everything including the toilet... and S's love of the floors!

Vile, Disgusting and Just Obscene (RANT)

Instances that you wouldn't get to experience if you didn't have children.

A nice evening dinner. A quick drive home. A quick stop at a gas station because a child has to pee. A quick drive home hastened by the gross out factor and the sheer ick factor. (not for the squeamish or faint of heart.) OMG is all I can say.

The first thing a parent does when a kid says they need to pee is ask... can you hold it? (well maybe you don't but I do!) Assuming they are old enough to hold it, of course. When the resounding answer of "NO" reverberates around the car from the back seat, the next thing the parent does is hastily stop at the nearest convenience store, gas station or fast food restaurant to avoid the accident. So that is what we did.

We happened upon a gas station. (mistake #1) Went in and asked the idiot man behind the desk the way to the facilities. He points and verbally directs us that way. We get there and there is a sign on the door "Out of Order." Puzzled why he didn't say that before sending us off in that direction I turn to go back and he has followed us....

"It's okay I've taken care of it - you can go in."

Assuming (mistake #2) the usual plumbing problem that could be fixed by plunging, we open the door and are instantly hit by a smell, a quick glance at the floor reveals a 'splattering' of liquid substance on the floor. Not fecal (in case you're wondering.) My brain is in slow-mo today. The toilet is filled with said substance. Okay the toilet exploded, maybe. "She really has to pee" is still running through my head.

"EEEWWWW" is all she can say.

I flush the toilet. I'm disgusted but she has to pee. I don't swear but F*** I can't stay here.

"Mum? I AM NOT peeing here!"
"OUT! OUT! GET OUT! Go.... goooo..... gooo..... you'll have to pee at home... Hold it, I don't care, you aren't going here." I say as I shove her quickly out the door..... OMG.

There was vomit all over the toilet, the floor. His idea of cleaning it up .... shove an entire roll of toilet paper in it and clear a path from the door to the toilet. He didn't even try to clean it up.

All that is running through my head is I've just exposed my child to the stomach bug. She "EEEWWW'ed" all the way home... We Pine Sol'd our shoes... and disinfected our hands...

12 yrs Same Email and Now.....

ggggrrrr... is this a threat to scare me off the internet? Or just something to finally get my booty in gear and make the changes I've wanted to for a while.

IRKED doesn't begin to describe how I feel. In an hour on the net this afternoon I deleted over 100 emails from the inbox that I can't send out of stating undeliverable mail because I was spamming or spoofing. I had a little fit and requested that dh change my address and block the old one but it will be in the spoofing cues for a while I'm sure. I'm sad, have had that address for over 12 years - will eventually go back to it maybe - it seemed like a simple change, but I think I was more frustrated over the spoofing/spamming emails.... :(

So if you don't have one of my 3 addy's post here and I'll reply back! :)