Thursday, December 28, 2006

Of course...

...things are never as bad as you might think they are, or they will be. As was the case with spending Christmas with the in-law family. I stressed and freaked the whole week prior, but it honestly wasn't that bad. I wish I had something juicy to report, like pie smashing in faces, gifts being torn to shreds, turkeys being ripped apart at the table with pieces flying all over the kitchen, but nothing like that happened. There was the usual bickering between couples (the kind where you never know if they're joking or seriously out to slit eachother's throats) and the annoying "is this it?" in regards to the amount of presents, but that was about it. Even one of the crazy uncles couldn't mess things up. It was actually nice.

And that was it. Callah went for a horseback ride. Matthias drove his first quad (look out world!!). The kids got towed behind a quad, that Steve was driving, in a sled which they completely loved. And I watched it all, just glad that I could be a part of it, altho' that quad was calling my name pretty loud, I thought I'd better not chance it.

We got back around 5:30 pm on Tuesday and hit Canadian Tire (which had some boxing day deals) where we surprisingly still got our "toys" we wanted, drove thru BK and came home to unpack the mounds of stuff and find homes for the stuff left behind.

Simple. Boring, yet good. Enjoyable.

I wonder what New Year's will bring?

Saturday, December 23, 2006

12:58 am and counting...

I think tonite is going to be one of those nights. I can't sleep. Steve is snoring like a banshee and I've already been to the bathroom 3x. So after my last trip to the loo I thought I'd take this opportunity to write my 5 things. He's done it, he's done it and so have they. It's always nice to learn something new about someone so here are my 5 things you (probably) don't know about me.

1. I'm Metis. I only know this 'cos a year ago my cousin went for her Metis card using the same line on my father's side. I think it's like my great-(great?) grandfather married a young Metis woman.

2. When I was 15 I had a reaction to an immunization that caused temporary amnesia for about 24 hours over Christmas. I can remember not remembering. It was both frightening and kinda cool. For weeks afterward I thought I was psychic.

3. This ones kinda lame. I was a vegetarian for over a week the summer of '97. One of the reasons it never lasted was b'cos the smell of BBQ burgers in the air as I biked by was too overpowering. I'm a sucker for a good burger!

4. I also have a fetish for men in kilts and/or a man cycling with shaved legs and spandex. Whenever I see a guy in a kilt or cycling by my pulse quickens and I'm instantly interested in their whereabouts. I have numerous art renderings of Lance Armstrong, before he became famous (back in '94) tucked away in my closet. I knew Steve was the one for me when I asked if he'd shave his legs for the fun of it and he did. Well one of them anyway. There now you also know something new about him too!

5. I'm terrified of ticks, leeches and on occasion mosquitoes. I will go out of my way to stay out of their way. If there's a mosquito in the room, I can not rest until it's dead.

There. Now hopefully I can put my mind to rest and get some sleep. Good night and God speed.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Merry Christmas!


I'm slowly winding down. After spending nearly 30 mins. navigating the Wal-Mart parking lot today I'm glad Christmas is almost here.

So on behalf of my little rugrats, Steve and myself, we'd like to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas filled with warmth and love and a safe and joyful New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 18, 2006

'Happy' Holidays

It's funny how you always worry about something and usually, after the event, it was never as bad as you thought it would be. For a few weeks now I've been worrying about everything that had to be done this past weekend. Steve was coaching a hockey tournament, we had 3 Christmas parties, 2 birthday parties (one out of town) and only 1 vehicle. All in all, it turned out pretty good. We did almost everything, completely rushed in some cases, but everything was hit at one point or another.

Then last night Steve and I were talking about our weekend and somehow we both wound up feeling like crap. For a few weeks now Steve's been struggling with something. A combo of stress related stuff dealing with his Mom, work and home life. I'm sure I haven't exactly been helping him go through it. Something I know I need to work on.

And I've been struggling with baby weight. It doesn't help when all around you you here people complaining about their weight and how they want to be a 'certain weight' and you remember that you were that 'certain weight' back when you were in Grade 8. Now that's depressing. You go to a Christmas party, already feeling like a whale and it turns out that you indeed are the biggest (in all sense of the word: tallest, widest and heaviest) woman there. Yeah. Then you go for your monthly check-up and the doctor (who is a stand-in) tells you everything is going nicely including your weight which is "oooh a little too nicely" coming along. Gee thanks.

Bring on the holiday cheer.

And as we talked we thought about friendships and for numerous reasons that got us even more down. We thought about how pointless it is to buy "presents" this year when everyone we're buying for just wants either $$ or gift certificates. So really, you're just doing a big money exchange, why not just keep the money yourself and buy whatever it is that you wanted in the first place? It's so dumb and I'm so annoyed with it this year.

So now I'm completely depressed, tired, "fat", annoyed and unmotivated to do even the slightest thing like turn on the TV and lay on the couch and watch it.

Happy Holidays.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Monday, December 11, 2006

Reid Tree Hunt 2006

Today we went on our annual Christmas Tree Hunt. I can still remember our first hunt, just Steve and I and the 2 dogs. Then came Matthias (who slept thru it in the car) and the 2 dogs, and I think the next year we had Callah and we were trying to get rid of a dog. The following year we went with Steve's brother (that was fun!), wife and son and our 2 kids and 1 dog. Which brings us to this year. Usually we trudge around the forest FOREVER looking for the perfect tree. But this year, it was pretty quick. Matthias kinda wandered off the path, so Steve followed. They hollered that they had found a "specimen" so Callah and I went to videotape their findings. It was okay, but it seemed to quick a find. So we kept going a little bit and viola! There it was covered in snow surrounded by tens of large pines and angels were singing (well no, not really...I think it was Callah crying 'cos she was stuck in the snow up to her armpits). Steve the mighty bushwacker, cut it down in 2 strokes and we were done. I think the whole adventure took about 1 1/2 hrs (travel time included). We found our way back to the van to celebrate with cheezies and leftover deer guts for Gus (which she found on her own).

After stopping at Peavey Mart to pick up a tree bag, we headed home to start the decorating. This year Steve and I just kinda stood back and watched as the kids decorated. If you come to see our tree you'll notice there's a nice line of ornaments around the 2-3 ft level. It's really cute and special "in it's own way". I think we'll move some around a bit after they go to bed tonite.
Finally to finish our festive day we ordered pizza. Another Reid family tradition to go with the tree hunt.

And so that was our day. I know it will be remembered and bring warm fuzzies to our hearts in later months as we look back. For now, I'll take the sparkle in the kids' eyes as they look at their colourful tree and a smile comes to their faces. There is nothing greater.

oh yeah....and I wanted to mention this or rather ask for opinions. Heartburn. IT'S KILLING ME!! It burns like crazy and I get it 2 or 3x a day and if I have to deal with this for the next 3 months I'm going to rip my throat out of my...well...throat! Help?

Thursday, December 07, 2006

interesting

I heard a new metaphor for labour tonite on Scrubs that I thought was interesting. Elliot tells Carla to think of her vagina as a big tube of toothpaste and she's trying to push out the minty gel from inside.

I never thought of that before.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

why me?

This afternoon I thought it would be nice to go outside and let the kids play in the snow for awhile. Well, not 5 minutes after we got out there, I was throwing some stuff we had "dug up" in our basement into the shed when I heard glass crack under my feet.

You can guess what words creeped out of my mouth.

For some reason we had kept our old outer door out by the shed and the wind must've knocked it over onto the ground and covered it in snow, so that some schmuck (me in this case) would come along and step on the glass window sending shards of glass into the snow.

Perfect.

But wait, while cleaning the glass up, I gouged (and I don't say "gouged" lightly, there was quite a bit of blood streaming out and it's actually bruising now) a crevasse in my finger. Nice.

I think I got all the glass by shovelling almost all of the snow around that spot into the dumpster. What little shards there are left will have to wait till spring. Good thing it's not a favourite spot for the kids to play anyway.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

back on track....hopefully

This past week has been a long one.

Monday and Tuesday were the usual, bible studies and Mom's Morning Out and then Steve's work at the church. So nothing really out of the ordinary.

Then came Wednesday. It was Matthias' last story time at the library and they were having a "party". Right after that we were loading the car and heading down to Regina for some time away at my folks. Well we arrived at the library and as I'm putting the quarter in the parking thingy, I hear Callah start screaming. I'm thinking she slipped on the snow, so I don't rush it, I look around the van and there she is...with her tongue and bottom lip COMPLETELY frozen to a metal parking post. I freak out. I drop all of my bags and run into the library, where they tell me they don't have any cups of any sort, I mean why would they? It is after all a library. So I soak some paper towel and run back out into the parking lot. The first thing I see is Matthias, who is now crying too. Then there's Callah again. Her lip/tongue came off easily once I put some water on it, but was sure a bloody mess. So I grabbed our bags, picked Callah up and called Matthias into the library, where the librarians had finally found something to put water in. They did let us use their "office" bathroom to clean up in and Matthias headed to his "party", a little traumatized, but otherwise good. Callah walked around for the next 1/2 hr with a wad of wet paper towel hanging out of her mouth. By the end of storytime she was back to herself and running all over the library (yes, my kids are the ones running wild all over the library). It swelled up pretty nice and the next day was kindof pussy and yellow, so I took her to a clinic in Regina where they gave me an ointment to put on. She's pretty much back to normal now.

That was the lip incident.

Regina was okay. Not the relaxing, peaceful time I was looking for. By the end of our 3 day stay I was ready to leave, which is odd for me usually. I've also been EXTREMELY emotional lately. Crying and freaking out numerous times the last few days.

Or perhaps it's just been the stressful situations I've put myself in. Like driving in near blizzard conditions twice, completely re-arranging our house while being 6+ months pregnant and dealing with 2 kids with colds while still peeing my pants every time I cough.

And all I can think about is how I'm gone doing something, somewhere every weekend 'till Christmas.

(I've now lost all train of thought and am going to just end this abruptly. sorry.)

Thursday, November 23, 2006

funk

Last week Steve was having a really hard time connecting with a good friend from S'toon. Mike and his wife are expecting their first child in about 3 weeks. I knew that Steve had today off so I suggested he take the day and go to S'toon to spend some time with Mike before life got really busy for everyone.

That was before last night when I kinda slipped into a funk, before having a really crummy sleep and waking up to a sore back. Before Matthias started screaming at Callah, who kept ramming her baby stroller into his chair, before Rice Krispies somehow magically seem to be falling from the ceiling all over the floor and before I found out that "a day" meant over-night.

Did I mention it's -30 C outside and it's only 9:30 am.?

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

my first

Today was my first experience with the new Starbucks here in town (in Safeway).

Ahhh...

What a good experience it was...

There's nothing like a grande double chocolate chip frappuccino to bring a smile to your face.

Thank you Starbucks lady.



I take that back...after updating the link to my actual drink and calculating the total amount of calories in said yummy frappuccino...well...okay...I still thank you Starbucks lady.

Just won't be seeing you that often!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Take this! and That!!

This morning at Mom's we learned some self defence. I thought it was alot of fun. It was even more fun watching all the Mom's practice these moves on each other. If ever there was a morning we should have had a camera, today would've been it! It was great! A huge THANK YOU goes out to Connie Warkentin for teaching us this morning!

Otherwise life is simply moving along. I feel like I should be in my 3rd trimester as I have absolutedly no motivation or energy for anything. Last night for supper, we had cereal. I think Steve had crackers and spinach dip. Matthias had apples and cheese. Callah just kind of picked off everyone elses plate. Then this morning, and I kid you not, I finally decided to get up, so I'm sitting on the bed, I close my eyes again, and I actually fell over and back onto the bed. It was not a good morning.

So now I'm just not looking forward to thinking of something for supper. The only good thing is that Steve won't be here, so I won't feel bad about it not being a "complete" meal. Altho' I know I should try. Any ideas?

Friday, November 17, 2006

time to kill

I'm feeling suddenly bombarded again, only this time it's not sex, it's the environment. I know, I know, cry me a river this isn't something new. Yadda, yadda, yadda. True. But if it's so old, and everyone has heard the message a thousand times over, then why isn't stuff being done to help fix it?

My e-mail carrier Care2 is an environmentally friendly carrier (Steve always laughs 'cos he says "all e-mails are eco friendly." yeah...whatever) and they have all sorts of environmentally safe info and products all over their homepage. They also have quotes and today's quote is : "What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" Henry David Thoreau. That's a bit drastic, but I can see the point. Then last night, I don't usually watch My Name Is Earl, but I managed to catch the latest episode and Christian Slater was a recovered pothead, hippy guy who lived in this hippy commune where they recycled and made everything from scratch and with their own 2 hands. (Speaking of which I once had the opportunity to do this on Canada's own hippy island also known as Hornby Island. They are home to Canada's biggest recycling depot and the friendliest bunch of people I've met in a while. They're homes are all made out of logs and driftwood from the ocean and everything is really unique. A definate place to check out if you make it out to the BC coast. You have to take a ferry to Vancouver Island then hop on another ferry to Denman Island and yet another ferry from Denman to Hornby. I don't recommend going between May and September as this is the tourist season and the population triples if not quadruples and can make finding a camp spot very tricky.) Anyway going back to what I was talking about. Then I saw an add for the Al Gore movie (which I REALLY want to see) An Inconvenient Truth. I really want my kids to be able to go out and see the Cathedral, Long Beach, the mountains, the east coast (this last one I have no idea what they're saying, but the pics are really nice), and all this is just in Canada. There are millions of other places I hope they'll one day be able to see, and not just them, but their children and their children's children. If we all do our own part and help in what little ways we can, then there's still hope. Oh great, now the tree-hugger in me is making her way forward.

Just something to think about.

noise

I can remember a time when we were first married, and even way before that, when I could not handle a moment of silence. I would always turn the radio on, or listen to a cd or have the TV on and not really watch it. There had to be some sort of "white noise" on no matter what I was doing. It hadn't really occured to me that I had lost this "noise need" until my single sister was up this past weekend and always had to have something on. I would turn the TV off and she'd turn the radio on. I guess kids had something to do with that. Made me crave the quiet more. And perhaps a little maturity in there somewhere, not really sure where at times.

And I don't know, is it just me or does anyone else still find the whole Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes thing disturbing?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Finally some relief

Looks like those 3000 mg of Vit C and all those lemon/honey drinks are finally kicking in. I can breathe thru my nose!! Yes!! Now if I could just get rid off this stupid cough, my other little problems would go away as well.

This morning we woke up to the sun shining Snow was melting off the roof and tree, so the kids and I decided to go outside and attempt our first ever snowman. Steve came home just as the kids were getting ready, so he came out to help as well. We soon realized that we didn't have enough snow around the back yard (after shovelling it all into a pile to build a fort a few days ago) so we rolled the snow in the front and then transferred them to the back. The kids found sticks for arms and uh...some poop. Apparently all snowmen poop. We used a carrot for a nose and choc chips for eyes and a smile (which the dog wound up eating) and viola! There was our "freaky" snowman! I've never been prouder!!

To top off our sunny winter day I suggested we have a weiner roast in the pit in the back yard. Steve's super fantastic so he agreed and set out to build a fire. It was brilliant, if ony Gus hadn't stolen that bun out of Callah's hands and the kids had eaten their hot dogs (I..uhh...mistakenly fed them ice cream sandwiches for a morning snack). Oh well, Steve and I had a beautiful weinie roast and enjoyed the sunny winter day. 1 o'clock and naptime rolled around before we were really ready to go inside.

All that fresh air must've tuckered everyone out 'cos they're still sleeping (it's almost 3). While they were napping, I decided to take advantage of this nice day (altho' when we got out to the Red, the sky was cloudy and it had gotten quite windy and blah...) and take Gus for a walk. The way I figured it, we both needed it, and it had been a while since the 2 of us had been out there by ourselves. I love going out there to think. And so think I did. I realized that I'm almost 6 months now. Only 4 more to go and these are the months that usually fly by and pregnancy wise are the toughest. I can't really gain much more weight (in an effort to watch my weight, I'm allowing myself the privledge of snacking on only fruit...which is harder than I thought, especially after all that excess Hallowe'en candy that I've taken in the past few weeks), so now I've just got to take care of the "pudge" and work out when I can, 'cos I know soon it'll be hard to get out of bed. We've still got to decide on girls names and we're still pondering on whether or not we should move the kids to the basement. We have to set the crib back up and pick up the bassinet from my brother's in Melfort. Go thru the baby clothes and pick out the smallest and most unisex outfits. Switch around the car seats and fish out the infant carrier. So much to do, so little time...of course I'm way ahead of myself. Like I'll actually do all that before March anyway, but today, on my walk it suddenly jumped me. Baby's coming.

Even if I lay down and still feel more blubber than bulge. Baby's coming.

It was a sobering thought and yet a thought that I had never really let go of. It had always been there, in the back of my mind, but I think it's just one of those things where you wait and wait and wait, and then suddenly it's closer than you think and you wonder what you've been doing that past 7 months to prep. Oh well. Even if I was an extreme procrastinator and didn't get anything done in the next few months, I know that it would still be loved and cared for with whatever we have ready.

Just think...baby's coming.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Man of the Year

My Dad sent me these photos of possible Men of the Year Award winners.
































last straw

So last night shortly after the big game, I had yet another coughing fit. This resulted in me, once again, peeing my pants. However what made last night unique was that I also started throwing up (from coughing too much) which in turn made me cry (I always cry when I throw up) and to top it all off my nose started to run. Picture it if you will...me sitting on the pot with a bucket in my lap, throwing up and coughing, with tears and snot running down my face. It was not a good night.

I have a doctors appointment in an hour.

Please pray.

Friday, November 10, 2006

One night...

Carmen walked up the stairs to her bedroom.
There , lying on her bed, was a great big purple, green and yellow fart.

She ran down the stairs yelling, "Mommy-Daddy! Mommy- Daddy! Mommy-Daddy! There is a fart up on my bed."

"Don't be ridiculous!" said her father. "Good families like ours do not have farts." Nevertheless, he walked up the stairs to see what was going on.

When he opened the door to the bedroom, the fart jumped on him. He said, "Awk! Glach! Argggg!" and fell right on down.

After a while Carmen began to wonder how her father was doing. She crawled up the stairs very slowly, looked over the top step and saw her father's feet sticking out from underneath the fart.

So Carmen ran downstairs yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! There is a fart on top of Daddy!"

"Don't be ridiculous," said the mother. "Good families like ours do not have farts. What would the neighbours say?" Nevertheless, she went upstairs to see what was going on. She opened the door and the fart jumped on her. She said, "Awk! Glach! Arggg!" and fell right on down.

Carmen ran to the phone and called the police. She said, "Help, help! There is a fart on top of Mommy and Daddy."

"Don't be ridiculous," said the police. "Good Canadians do not have farts. What would the Americans say?"

excerpt taken from Good Families Don't by Robert Munsch and Alan Daniel

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

welcome to winter

Yesterday we woke up to a covering of snow on the ground. I had this gut feeling that it was here to stay. Later in the morning a few Mom's at MMO said that it would be gone by late afternoon as it was suppossed to be +4 C. Well it's still snowing, I can no longer see ANY signs of grass and I've officially had my first shovelling incident. Welcome to winter!

Yesterday at Mom's we had our big sex talk. That's right all these weeks of sexual intimacy where the word "sex" wasn't even mentioned until yesterday. I had no idea what the topic was about until I got there (late for once) and Carolyn started talking. I felt like sex was all around me. First from my Babyzone (previous post) and now here at Mom's. Oddly enough as Steve and I were still bickering, sex was the last thing on my mind and yet I couldn't get it out of my head. So that was yesterday. Again, one of the things that stuck out to me was finding out from our husbands what they found attractive about us. Chances are, it might not be what we thought or expected. Like Carolyn said, her hubby finds her sexier in jeans and a T-shirt way more then when she's all dolled up and "stylish". So that's something to think about.

And I'm officially on the hunt for pregnancy safe cold medications. I called Nutters today and they said Vitamin C...and lots of it. I could also take zinc losenges. That's about it. I said thanks for the help (roll of the eyes). Sheesh. Then I phoned my friendly neighbourhood pharmacist and said my throat feels like it's bleeding from dry coughing and she said I could try a cough medicine with ONLY DM and use it sparingly and only if VICKS vapour didn't work and drinking lots of water didn't work and etc...etc...

I hate being pregnant and sick.

oh yeah, Steve and I got over our immaturity and made up last night. Something still feels kinda off, but we're definately on the right track again.

Monday, November 06, 2006

I just wanna add this

Lisa,Welcome to Week 20 of your Pregnancy!

Sex and more sex! Remember that unless you've been advised against it by your health care provider because of bleeding or risk of miscarriage, sex is fine , a good stress reliever, and a great way to "touch bases" with your partner. Don't feel up to it? That's okay, too.


It brought a smile to my frustrated face!

anger after a good weekend

can be so frustrating. One of our old youths has a blog that has caused a bit of heat in our house lately. It's not so much the blog itself, but that particular post and the comments that follow. I guess (and perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut as I don't know all the facts) what bothers us is that it suddenly seems like more and more people aren't believing in certain "facts" of the Bible (ex: the 6 day creation, Jonah, etc...) rather they think they're merely illustrations or parable-type stories. They didn't actually happen like it's written in the Bible. The thing that gets us hot under the collar is that once you stop believing in this part or that part, what's to stop you from believing in other parts? We shouldn't need proof that these things happened. Shouldn't it be simply that we have faith that they did and God is capable of doing these things?

We read something similiar in a book we're going thru at bible study called Velvet Elvis . The author Rob Bell says, "Somebody recently gave me a videotape of a lecture given by a man who travels around speaking about the creation of the world. At one point in his lecture he said if you deny that God created the world in six literal twenty-four hour days, then you are denying that Jesus ever died on the cross. " He goes on to say that this man's faith is like "a wall of bricks. Each of the core doctrines for him is like an individual brick that stacks on top of the others. If you pull one out, the whole wall starts to crumble. It appears quite strong and rigid, but if you begin to rethink or discuss even one brick, the whole thing is in danger." And then but "what if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry's tomb and DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing that Gospel writers threw in to appeal...to other cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births?"

But that's just it. Until proven otherwise, we have to have faith and believe that these things did actually happen. I mean that's what faith is according to Websters; "firm belief in something for which there is no proof: complete trust."

I don't know, the whole things just makes me angry.

Anyway, I had a pretty good weekend away in S'toon at the WJOF conference. Lisa Bevere was awesome, I had faith that she would be! ;) Our hotel was nice and comforting. I found $20 at Galaxy Cinemas which was a total treat. I found a nice long pair of maternity jeans on sale at Thyme. Other than the fact that I was sick and not feeling well for a few hours, the weekend was a hit. But it never fails that after a good weekend or any time away for that matter, something always puts a damper on it when you get home. I should've known it was going to go badly when I walked in on the last 5 minutes of the Rider game. You just don't do that in my house. Especially during the western semi-final. However things are looking like they might just smooth over, which would be nice, but it'll make us both think twice about letting each other go away for a weekend again.

And finally, Mom's tomorrow is part 4 of Carolyn's Sexual Intimacy thingy (the lack of the right word is frustrating and I don't want to say "talk" or "lecture" or "special" or whatever else one might add in there).

I think I need a nap. I'm frustrating too easily.

Friday, November 03, 2006

My "clean" man

In a few hours I'm taking off to S'toon with Dixie for the WJOF conference. While there are many women going, not many are going for the whole weekend, which we are. I have no real problem with this, I completely trust that Steve will be fine with the kids, and I know that the kids will love having their Dad around all weekend. It's the "clean" factor that I worry about. Whenever I go anywhere for a length of time Steve has a habit of "cleaning" things. I say "clean" b'cos this means he reorganizes and disposes of things that don't necessarily need to be reorganized or disposed of. I remember trips in the past where walls have been ripped out, carpet has been taken out (altho' I knew about this one ahead of time), stands and tables have gone missing, appliances have moved ontop of other appliances that most of our babysitters can't reach. So in saying all this, I'm a bit worried about what may be gone or "cleaned" when I get back on Sunday.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

9:47 pm poutine run

Last night as I was getting ready to head out to bible study, I was thinking about what drink I wanted to make to take along. Sometimes I make a hot chocolate, others a caramel steamer. Depending on how I'm feeling. Last night, I wasn't feeling either, so I brushed my teeth and headed off. For the next 2 hours, my belly was thinking about something. My mind was trying to figure out just what we were craving. Then it came to us. POUTINE! Hot, gooey, cheesy poutine. Yum. So I dropped Matthias off at home and informed Steve that poutine was calling. He said, "yeah right." I said,"yeah. Right." So off to KFC for their amazing gravy poutine I went. And man was it worth it! Of course, my next weigh in at the doctors might say otherwise, especially now that my sweet tooth is also being fed from the leftover Halloween candy. But I'm telling ya, last night, sipping my Cranberry Gingerale and eating my KFC poutine was as close to Heaven as I had been yesterday. So good!

And in other news, apparently my hair is anything BUT sexy when I first wake up after going to bed with wet hair.

Yesterday Mom's was pretty good. Carolyn shared about her wedding day and her vows. Honestly there was more depth to it than that, but I have such fond memories of my wedding day that I drifted in and out of what she was saying. The best thing that for us ( after 5 years of marriage seems to have been a good choice) has to do with the fact that Steve and I met and married in 5 months. That's right, we met in February and married that June. We dated for about a week and were engaged the remaining 3 months. That whole first year of marriage we were thinking, perhaps we should have waited. But now as I look back and I see how we've grown and moulded together, those 5 months were long enough.

We were married at his Mom's acreage outside of Saskatoon. The day started cloudy and I thought it might rain, but by the time 2 o'clock rolled around the sun was shining and the pictures afterward (taken outside in the yard) had to be taken in the shade. I don't remember much about the ceremony except that when Steve read his vows I was blown away that he could write something like that. And in comparison, mine sounded really corny. I remember that his ring couldn't fit over his knuckle so in many of the ceremony pictures, he's trying to fit it on, and eventually has to lick it on. We had our reception in a huge hall just 5 minutes south across the highway where the DJ played no dance music. I got to wear my flip-flops. Everyone danced like alcohol had been served when infact none was. It was a really good time, and I'm not just saying that b'cos it was my wedding. Of course there were things that didn't get done that should have, and if anyone had told us how to plan a wedding, we would've known that we were doing it wrong. But nothing serious enough to damper the day.

And if there was a chance to do any of it over again, we definately would've had that pig on a spit!

Monday, October 30, 2006

I feel like chocolate

It's a completely insane feeling when you have this intense desire for chocolatey anything and you don't have any in the house.

I feel like I could rip something apart. Like Hulk getting mad over looking for chocolate.

Tomorrow is the final day to pay for or buy a ticket to the Women's Journey of Faith in S'toon. At least thru Mom's Morning Out. I have mine, do you have yours? Tomorrow is also the third installment of Carolyn's Sexual Intimacy talk. Should be a gooder.

I just got back from getting my hair cut and styled. I got it straightened, it seems like a long time since it's been completely straight. Steve's reaction was "lets have sex" so I think he likes it and even Matthias noticed altho' his comment was alot tamer, "wow Mom, nice hair". I was glad to hear them both. Whenever we take the chance to change anything it's nice to know that it payed off, however small the payback. So thank you Renita!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Some photos

Here are some photos from the retreat we went to at Kingsfold.

This is the staircase leading up to one of the fasting cabins. I thought it was really cool 'cos it's made entirely of trees and rock.








This is the chapel. Alot of wood and stained glass. Simply beautiful.







The view from the greenhouse towards the mountains. You can see a little winding path that leads down to the river. A nice easy walk.







A rock statue that I made. I've always wanted to make one of these.






And Callah...

so much potential, so little time

I swear I meant to update this thing sooner. I really did. In fact I can remember having some really good stuff to say earlier on in the week (of course for the life of me I can't remember now). But let's see...Monday just slipped by, Tuesday I was unusually tired, Wednesday was jam packed, Thursday the Mother-in-law was here and now it's Friday. I finally finished the little bit of baking I wanted to do for the bake sale tomorrow (Gateway Covenant Church, corner of 15th and 15th E, 9:30-3 pm) even tho' they were supposed to be delivered to the church by tonite (it's almost 10:30 pm now). Yeah, not going to happen. So you can see, it's just been one of those weeks.

Now to progressively recap...

Monday I had my post-ultrasound doctors appointment. I've been feeling the baby kick quite a bit lately, which has been nice. Sometimes at night I still lay down tho' and the little bump that's 'im is lost in the "jello" that's my belly. So I'm glad I can feel some proof even tho' I can't really see much yet. You still can't feel the kicks on the outside. Steve and I have both tried. Can't wait for that as well. When it gets really bad and keeps me from sleeping I love cuddling up to Steve so he can get kicked in the back as well! :) Anyway, was surprised to find that the ultrasound dated me 2 weeks ahead of schedule, making the duedate around March 10th instead of the previous 24th. Exciting.
Matthias also started level 2 swim. Half his class didn't show up Monday so there were only 2 boys, and the other little boy was either frightened of Matthias or the water, so he didn't even go in. Leaving Matthias the whole 1/2 hour with just the instructor. Turned out pretty good 'cos he really got to work on putting his head in the water and blowing bubbles. I'm amazed at how well he's doing. All that practice in the tub really does work!

Tuesday was Mom's and I thought it went really well. Was disappointed there wasn't a big turnout, but I'm quite confident that the ones who showed up had a good time. It was fun to get up and move around instead of just sitting down in chairs or at a table. Also informative in learning easy, no equipment, exercises that you can do in your living room infront of the TV. My kind of stuff.
Then let's see, I came home, had a spazz attack and the rest of the day pretty much blew chunks.

Wednesday was my "soccer Mom" day. Prepared all the ingredients for a stew and threw it in the croc pot, took Matthias to story time at the library, then we went to my Grandma's (which will have to be a whole other post some other sad time) followed by a quick pb & jam lunch, naptime, took Matthias to swim lessons, stopped for slurpees on the way to the final Carlton and St. Mary football game, picked up Steve from said game, came home for stew (previously made earlier that day) went to bible study, came home to mother-in-law and sister-in-law, talked for a few hours then went to bed.

Thursday was the day. I suppose in hindsight it went fairly well. Steve and his Mom only got in one heated argument, and that was about music, which really, they should just agree to disagree instead of arguing about it almost every time we get together.

I don't actually feel like talking about it much more than that. Perhaps I'm turning over a new leaf.

That leads to today. Which has been pretty good. Callah and I took Matthias out this morning for a brisk bike ride. I'm amazed at how well he's doing. We should easily be able to take the training wheels off next year. Followed by a game of tag with Gus in the back yard. Lunch and the start of my bakesale baking. Matthias informed me that today was Callah's dinosaurs birthday, so I decided to make gummi worm chocolate cupcakes. *As a side note don't put the gummi's in until AFTER you bake them. Lesson learned the hard way.* The kids loved them. Matthias' swim lesson went well, if you forget the fact that Callah spilled her water twice on the bleachers. Then after the lesson she ran into the street while I was unlocking the door. Then while making a quick shopping stop for more icing sugar to ice their cupcakes, she stuck her tongue out and refused to listen while at the check outs. Maybe I'm just super strict, but she is not allowed to do that to her dad and me. On the upside we got home too late to make supper so Domino's was called and they delivered. I got to watch my Men in Trees, finish baking pumpkin cookies and read the kid's a book before Matthias threw up in his bed. Ahh... I should've guessed the nites not over yet.

Steve just got home and that's my cue to finish up. This wasn't nearly as exciting as it should've been on Monday, but it's my life.

Chow.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

2 legs, 2 arms...

Well we had our first ultrasound the other day and it was great. I mean you never seem to tire of seeing this image of a little baby move and shake inside you and you can't feel a thing. It was great. It really was. There was a head, 2 arms and hands, 2 legs and feet and a beating heart. That's all that really matters isn't it? I loved it. Of course this woman is showing us all these cool picture possibilities and the one she settles on to copy and give us is this obscure circular grey thing in a pool of blackness (the head). Gee thanks. I guess for them it's just a job. Not nearly exciting as it was for us (or any other couple who come along). Sad, you'd think you'd go into a certain profession like that, and actually want to and enjoy doing it. Or maybe it was just a bad day. We all know there's been plenty of those going around lately (or is it just at my house?).

The boy has mastered his peeing technique. Once again we are pee puddle free now for 2 days! Yeah!!

The pants are getting tighter and tighter. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad. Once again reminding myself of how excited I am to have this baby. Even at night, after I've made my 5th bathroom break, I remind myself how much I wanted this one. Or as I'm tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable sleeping position when all I'm craving for is to lay on my belly Steve rolls over and reminds me how much we want another one.

Really, I do want this one and I am looking forward to it, even tho' another person told me today how much of a "joy" having 3 children can be.

Really, I swear I do.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

ultra...

Mom's Morning Out this morning was pretty good. Putting aside all personal, toturous (is that even a word?) feelings, the video itself went well.

That's all I feel like saying about that.

In a few hours Steve and I go for our first ultrasound of Baby 3. I always get excited when this time rolls around. This time especially I'm completely stoked b'cos I get to see that there really is something living inside me and that it looks (somewhat) human. This whole pregnancy has been different than the previous 2. So much so that I don't even feel like I'm pregnant. Being almost 4 1/2 months now I'm still wearing normal clothes (and I've come to a decision that I must be "larger" than I really think I am to be buying "larger" clothes than perhaps I should be therefore allowing me to still be able to wear them when technically if I were skinnier I really don't think I would be able to...just my thinking) altho' I will wear maternity once in awhile for a change or I just feel bloated and gross.

Right, what was I talking about?

Yeah, I don't even feel pregnant. And I think that the more I hear about friends and other women having miscarriages the more that thought is nagging in the back of my mind. So I can't wait to get a large belly and I can't wait to start feeling movement and kicking. That way I'll be reminded that yes, there is a baby human in my stomache and I'll get excited all over again.

I honestly can't wait.

Monday, October 16, 2006

potty peeing 101

I'm beginning to think that they should make a class for kids on how to pee on the potty. I'm not talking about potty training either. I'm talking about how to sit, or hold 'wee willy' down or how to aim or something. Lately Matthias has been having all sorts of peeing accidents, and he's fully potty trained. It's just that (and I finally realized this today) amazingly enough when he sits on the potty to pee, he somehow manages to unconsciously aim 'willy' directly between the seat and the bowl and therefore allowing pee to be "spewed" all over the wall, tub and floor of the bathroom. Or the other problem is that when pully down his pants, he gets them caught in the same place (between seat and bowl) and pees all over them. There has to be an easier way. Is it easier to have him stand and take his chances aiming the silly thing into the bowl? Or do we just continue to let him "miss-aim" and hope he'll grow a bit to fix that problem? I don't know. All I know is that I'm sick of cleaning up pee every morning.

Onto cheerier news, Mom's tomorrow we're watching a video by Lisa Bevere called Beautiful. It was taped at a live conference somewhere. I was watching it again last night and making notes (I felt like I was in high school again. This is my first video I've had to do myself, so naturally I left it till the last moment to make notes and am now getting more and more nervous by the hour to see if I can actually pull of a video and discussion by myself) and Steve was in the bedroom reading when he called out "what kind of video are you watching??" Lisa can be (and her and I are on first name basis' here....ha ha) kinda ...I'll say loud. She's very "power to the women" and "freedom of women" in a Christian way. If you don't know her or what I mean, you'll just have to come tomorrow to find out. I like her, I like the way she's real and honest about her life.

And speaking of that I should really get my butt in gear and start typing up my notes. The kids are "sleeping" Callah is actually quite miffed that I just separated her and Matthias. How foolish was I to think that they would actually get any sleep in the same room? But it's quiet upstairs now, so there's hope, for a while.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

gone, but slowly returning

I spent the past week at a pastor/spouse conference in Canmore, Alberta. Or I should say I spent the first 3 days there then travelled to Kingsfold Retreat Centre just outside Cochrane. If I could pick just one word, altho' most unlikely, to describe such a place it would definately be...well really beautiful is too "undescriptive" a word. It was an extraordinary place. I'll put pictures up sometime.

Not only was the scenery nice, the food that was served was amazing. The company was always entertaining and I had plenty of time to chill and relax (in other words sleep). I wasn't feeling the greatest in Canmore, but luckily that cleared up (except for this unending headache) in time for Kingsfold.

I'm also not the best traveller, so the 8 hours drives there and back were not my cup o' tea, but somehow it was worth it. It was also totally worth returning to find our little rugrats sleeping peacefully at their Grandma and Grandad's. Not so much worth it on the car ride back to PA, in freezing cold and rain, with so called "peacefull" rugrats matching screaming pitches at incredibly high octaves. But then again...

Anyway, it's good to be home.

overheard...

...while hiking up a small mountain in Canmore, Alberta.

"Ugh...I feel like I weigh 400 pounds!"
"Naw...you're more like 300."

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Sexual Intimacy

The funny thing about sexual intimacy is that it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sex. Something I keep wishing it did. And alot of it (info that is). At our committee meeting after Mom's today we said it would've been funny to ask all the Mom's to raise a hand and see just who was all there to learn about "better" sex. We were guessing over half. So we're realizing there is a want to know, and we are trying to find something suitable. So "hang" in there. It shouldn't be "long" now. And if you have any ideas, drop us a line and let us know. We'd love the input.

So this morning was the first of 6 (yes six, I suck as a co-ordinator) session on sexual intimacy with Carolyn. I thought it was pretty good (again, even tho' I knew what she was talking about I was still hoping for sex...info that is) and I did learn some new stuff. So that's always a bonus. If you weren't able to be there in person, you can still check out what she said and what we're doing at Mom's here. Okay the link isn't completely done yet, so keep checking in and it should be up and running soon.

One of the things she mentioned and hearing her speak before, I know she's a fan of, is journalling. Carolyn refers to it as "journey"ing, which I think is pretty cool. I've always dappled (I'll say that 'cos I've tried to many times in the past, only to loose interest after a few months and gradually write in my journal less and less frequently) in journalling and this past weekend my Mom brought me a journal I had had in 1990 that I had left behind when I got married and moved out. After reading it I can see why, I was such a geek.

Here are a few of my favourite excerpts:
APRIL 14, 1990 Dear Diary: Today Kris, Amy, Jenny, Karen, Megan and me went to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. It was awesome, totally narly.

SEPTEMBER 10, 1990 Dear Diary: Today I met my first enemy...Tea* (name has been changed). She's a mean, mean, mean old booby!! I found MY ROCK!!! (now this "rock" is referred to a few times more and I have no idea what'soever what I was talking about)

I know not really exciting. There isn't even a mention of a boy anywhere in there. But there are a few moody, depressing, really low-self-esteem entries and it's interesting to see how that progressed as the years went by to the point somewhere in 1994 where I would sit in a dark room listening to early Tea Party cd's and hating life. Sometimes when I re-read my journals it's like a bolt to the system to wake up and never let myself get like that again and try to help other teen girls from hitting those same depths.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see where Carolyn goes from here. And maybe, just maybe we'll learn something about sex too.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Crap Von Crappen

This past weekend, my hubby was away at a youth camp retreat (I'm going to go on a little rant here about "retreats". In my past retreat experiences, I can honestly say that I have only been on 1 actual retreat "retreat" where you can sleep if you want to and eat if you want to. There really wasn't much of a schedule to it. It was nice. You left the retreat actually feeling refreshed and not more tired and "snappy" than when you left. True not all retreats have psycho schedules attached with them, but most do. I mean honestly, think back to the past couple of retreats you've been on. I can remember some of mine with 7 am wake-ups and breakfast at 8 or 8:30 am. That's not a retreat! I don't like eating breakfast earlier than I do at home! Anyway, that's my retreat rant.) and like usual, he arrived home tired and a bit grumpy. Not to blame the kids or the actual retreat, but he was having trouble with the rental vehicle and had to drive the 6-7 hours home on only 6 hours or so of sleep the whole weekend. This is why I'm a firm believer in having a "driver" go along on youth trips simply b'cos the youth leader shouldn't have to do both, especially for longer trips. Anyway...
So he arrived home kinda pissy, making us kinda pissy, 'cos we were excited to see him. He stank of gasoline (rental problem) and "camp" and didn't want to "talk" about anything really. So...we left him.
After the kids went to bed, and to his benefit, he did get off the couch and read them a book, we watched the Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring, extended version Tape 2. I tried talking to him about Matthias' birthday party this weekend, but all he noticed was that I wasn't "moving my lips when I talk" which according to him (and him only 'cos no one else has ever mentioned it to me, so if you have noticed that I do this, please let me know) I do often and it ticks him off, so we began our "ticked off" time once again. He was mimicking me and I was fuming mad. To the point where he went to bed, I said something about wishing he had never come home, and he snored annoyingly loud once I did get to bed. Jerk. It was kinda funny tho'. At one point, I think it was between 3 and 4 (I didn't get much sleep last night) I noticed the huge gaping space between us. It was like he had his pillow on the nightstand, it was that far over and I was as much IN the wall as I could get. We could've easily fit both the kids in there with us.
So anyway, having little sleep really didn't get things off to a peachy start again this morning. Somehow during the past few hours we've managed to get on a civil level with each other. Despite having one vehicle break down on us in the Peavey Mart parking lot, having to call CAA and getting it towed back home, and the other vehicle in the shop right now getting the tires looked at and hopefully finding the source of a strange (but very loud) banging noise coming from the back end, without raking up too much of a cash total.
I had hoped to possibly go out for supper one night with just him, but I don't know if we'd be able to survive. Let alone the pastor/spouse retreat we're going on next week. Thankfully we'll be in a vehicle with another couple, so that should keep the shouting and name calling to a minimum.

Tomorrow at Mom's we start the sexual intimacy 8 (I'm pretty sure it's an 8 parter) session special with Carolyn Carlton. Should be interesting so I hope to see you there! This friday we're also having our first Mom's Nite Out. We're going for a walk out at the Lil' Red and then heading to Shananigans for dessert/coffee afterward. Meet at the Cosmo Lodge at 6 pm.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

cold noses, peanuts and other stuff

It is completely freezing in my basement. The little kids Batman sleeping bag on the couch is looking really tempting right about now.

So this morning at Mom's we had a Life Coach some. She said she wouldn't really call herself a Life Planner, but more a coach. I'm not really sure what she meant, but I'm sure she knows more about the differences than I do. It would be interseting to hear what other Mom's thought about it (so if you read this, and you heard her speak, let me know what you thought!) I know a few who said that they liked the way she spoke. Really down to earth and lots of personal stories. Maybe that's why I wasn't really fond of her, I think she could've covered more in the time she had if she didn't go off a tangent with every point. But that's just me, and odd for me 'cos usually I love it when people tell personal stories. I guess I was just having a bad morning. My nose was cold.

Next week is our first of 6 sessions on Sexual Intimacy (or maybe 8, how bad is that? To be the program co-ordinator and have no idea how many sessions your doing...ugh). You won't want to miss it!

When we got home Matthias wanted to go for a bike ride. That was good. Get some more energy out of them. Then they wanted peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch. So I made them pb & jam. As I'm scooping up some peanut butter Matthias comes up and looks in the jar. "Peanut butter..." he says thoughtfully, "pea..nut butter."
"Yes, "I say. "peanut butter and jam." Totally not cluing in to his "point".
"Is there pee in there?"
"No, "I say, "just peanuts." Can you guess where this is going?
"Penis?"
"No. Pea-NUTS."
"Peanus?"
"Yeah, just nuts."
I hope we both forget this conversation and can move on with our lives.

Onto another topic I sponsor a child thru Compassion. I'm partial to them 'cos I've been on a mission trip with them, and I've seen firsthand what sponsorship can do in the lives of a child and their family. Anyways, once in awhile we get a little Compassion magazine with stories and testimonials of workers, sponsors, etc. Usually I just flip thru them, read the odd article and recycle. But today this one article caught my eye. It was titled "Compassion Works - In a country you've never known." The story is about the country of Burkina Faso in West Africa. It's just a small 3 page article, but enough to pull my heart strings. More children die there from Malaria (from infected mosquitoes) than HIV/AIDS and a mosquito net costs $3.30 or a vaccination costs a mere $0.25 and families can't afford that. Men usually have 2 or more wives with as many as 20 children to help work the fields. Or they sell them for money. A child can bring in as much as $50. For cultural and religious reasons, 3 year old females experience genital mutilation. "It is believed that a mutilated woman is not likely to seek relations outside of marriage." That's terrible! The article goes on to say that a woman will not be viewed as a "complete" woman without the procedure. That's sick! I just can't imagine a place.

I don't often push something, but I'm going to push this. For $35 a month you can get a child off the streets and into a Christian school with proper food and medication. Please check it out. You could save a child's life.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Men In Trees

There's this new show on TV that I find amusing. It's called Men In Trees and stars Anne Heche. I'm not a big fan of hers, but I gave it a shot last week and watched it again tonite. I find it funny. But I think I really enjoy it for all the bug, bushy, "wild" men in it. To briefly summarize Anne's character is a famous relationship coach/author however she failed to see her own fiance cheating on her. So she leaves for a speaking arrangement in Alaska and arrives in this town completely inhabited with men. There are 3 other women, but mainly the town is full of men. Wild, lumberjack type men. And so she decides to move on with her life and learn about herself and men (more so why they act the way they do) and stay in the little "man" village. It's actually filmed in Vancouver, so you could say you have to watch it to support our Canadian economy. Or you could just watch it for the men. The wild, scruffy, lumberjack type men. Anyway, Friday's ABC 7pm (check local listings).

Speaking of wild, scruffy men...I'd like to take this opportunity to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my hubby Steve. I never thought I'd love a hairy man, but he's definately made me fall in love with him.

Thinking

One of our youth, Cory, was rushed to the hospital Tuesday night with a collapsed lung. Steve told me later that he didn't even say good-bye to the kid fully expecting to see him the next day (he's still in I.C.U. and we're praying that he'll fully recover) . Of course we never thought this would happen. You never do. I think sometimes we take for granted the safety of ourselves and those we love, even tho' we never know what's going to happen. I always tell Steve that we can drive as safe as possible on the road, but all it takes is some idiot driver to hit you and it's over. I read somewhere once about this guy who refused to say "good-bye" to anyone, like it was a sort of final farewell. So instead he would say "see you later" or "so long for now". I thought that was pretty cool and for awhile took it up. I've also read that we should always say "i love you" to those we leave b'cos you just never know what might happen. On the flip side, it can get repetitive and be taken for slack, but how would you feel if you didn't and something happened?

I don't know. I hate to live my life always afraid of what might happen. I know I'm ready for it, whatever it is. But at the same time, I want to be able to see my children and their children and hopefully even their children. A good long life of happiness and laughter. I'm sure that's what everyone wants. We just don't all get it.

Or do we?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

One down, 12 more to go

Today was the first Mom's Morning Out and I shouldn't really say that. It went well this morning despite some forgetfulness, nervousness and lack of preparedness (if that's even a word) and really it was all on my part. I was wondering why I wasn't that nervous last night. Well I know that I should've been a bit more organized, but mental note, get more organized for next week. And next week...Yikes...it's suppossed to be a life planner, but I've been trying to get ahold of her for a few days now, to make sure we're still good for next Tuesday and I haven't been able to get ahold of her. So hopefully, we get in contact soon and things are still a go for next week.

Callah is another story. Apparently she's up to her old tricks of crying like a madwoman when left alone. Good thing Steve was there for this morning. I don't know what I'll do if she does that again next week. I remember it took months for to get comfortable last year. She's so different from Matthias.

I love this time of year. I love the coolness in the air, the change of colours, the sound of leaves under your feet as you walk (either a "swish" as you sweep them aside or a "crunch/crackle" as you step on them), the fact that there are fewer and fewer bugs to annoy and bite you (altho' last night as I was painting our door, these pesky little flies kept biting my ankles!). I look forward to it every year. Steve always tells me to take advantage of these sunny days, 'cos come winter we'll be stuck inside, but I like winter too. So long as it doesn't get to far below 20 C the kids can still play outside for a bit, get some fresh air, so I'm not too worried yet, but I do try to take advantage of the weather we have, while we still have it.

Matthias will be starting swim lessons soon, and after reading a friends blog about their daughters first swim lesson, I'm not too sure. It will be a different pool tho' so here's hoping it'll be better first experience. He also can't wait for his birthday. Soon he'll be 4. I told him when he's 5 he can start school, so I think he has it in his mind that he'll just skip the age of 4 and go right to being 5. He's so looking forward to starting school, maybe just maybe he can start during the winter. I know he'd love it, but we all have our reasons for if he should go or not.

Callah is still Callah. Eating and getting into everything in sight. A few weeks ago she dropped a 5 lb weight on her toe. Something my kids seem to think is a type of initiation or something as they've both done it, however with Matthias it was a 10 lb-er. Anyway it's still quite swollen and purple, I'll give it a bit longer then maybe get it checked on.

And I've reached the 3 months milestone. Yeah...forgive my lack of exuberance, but I'm already sick of being pregnant and I'm just getting started. Steve is going crazy with everything he should be doing and stuff he wants to do. This time of year always brings about tonnes of furnace jobs and things that have to be done before the snow falls.

And so our life settles back into a routine, the routine of church, work, fun and bits of rest inbetween.

But I still look forward to it all!

Friday, September 08, 2006

NBC and Big Idea

During my afternoon rounds I came across this and wanted to get the word out. Saturday morning cartoons need a good pick me up. So check it out and look for it on Saturday!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

not that I'm bragging....

but when I got ready for my shower yesterday after I whacked my back, I noticed something stuck to the inside of my shirt. It was skin from my back where the edges of the drawer had dug into my skin! Sick!!

and yet...kinda cool. Maybe I will take that picture for Steve.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

bad day

well. This morning I woke up with a headache. I thought a quick run to the gym would help, but our van was making funny noises so I had to bike. Not that bad I guess. I cut the gym short 'cos I knew Steve had a lot of work to do. Well ok. So the morning wasn't that bad. Callah was super grumpy (looks like all those 6 am wake-up times are finally starting to get to her!) so she went back to bed at 10 am. Of course you probably know what that means. When it came time for her to nap after lunch she was wide awake. This annoyed me incredibly as I was hit with a VERY BAD nauseous feeling right after lunch. Having to clean Callah's poopy diaper (we use cloth and on this particular occasion the liner slid to the front leaving all her poop to squish into the back of the diaper...needing a whole lot of cleaning to get off!) didn't help the vomitous feeling, nor did having to wipe Matthias' bumb after he dropped a load. Finally I was able to lie down and rub my belly. That's when Callah's sleeplessness hit. So fine. I layed there trying to get her to sleep for awhile until I felt better. Finally feeling a bit better I got up to do dishes and some work on the computer. When I returned upstairs I found my lovely daughter playing in playdoh IN MY BED. She had emptied all but one of the 10 containers and was making "shapes" with them IN MY BED. I won't say what happened next. Steve came home shortly after and asked me where his jogging shorts were. I said I had no idea, but helped him look on the floor while he was looking in his dresser. Without thinking I started to get up, not finding his shorts and slammed right into the corner of his open drawers. Nice. I broke down and started to cry. I asked Steve if my back was bleeding, 'cos it sure bloody well hurts and the first thing he said when he saw it was "wow! That's nice! You got the two edges of the dresser cut into your back! Let me grab the camera and take a picture!" I said, "no thank you." (or something like that) and poured myself a drink (of Pepsi...I only wish I could add some rum).

So that's been my last 4 hours really. I hope the rest of the evening goes well. At least I get to go for a dinner meeting and get out for awhile. Excuse me while I go ice my "cool" back.

golf

What is it about golf that make men forget everything and enable them to spend hours walking (when "normal" walking isn't good enough) swinging a club and hitting a little ball as far as they can? I don't get it.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Back into the swing of things

Well our holidays are basically done. We spent last weekend gorging (I'll use that word altho' I'm sure I'm misspelling it) ourselves in Saskatoon once again at McGuire's Irish Pub before heading to Davidson to pick stuff up for my brother who was moving back home (to Regina). The next day we (and I mean Steve and Kris - my brother) moved a bunch of my sister's stuff to her new apartment. Sunday, Steve watched the Labour Day classic, while Amy (my sister) and I watched the timeless classic Clueless (which is based on the Jane Austen classic "Emma"). We fed the ducks and geese while continually avoiding the swarms of wasps (or hornets...I can't tell the difference) that have inhabited the area and made our "routine" trip to Starbucks for coffee and my favourite, a double chocolate chip frappuccino. (Ewww...I just googled it and the nutritional information came up. I won't tell you how much calories are in a grande. Just remember...they sure do taste good!!) Yum!

But as we started our journey (back in S'toon) I heard stories (from the in-law camp trip) that I hadn't heard previously and it got me thinking about how different siblings can be even tho' they were raised the same in the same household. What makes them so different? I've often wondered about that. Growing up I never wanted to drink to get drunk or try smoking or any other drug for that matter. It took me forever to get interested in boys, whereas my sister was interested in makeup and boys in her teens and now has quite a few "wasted" stories to share. I look at Steve and his brother Adam. Complete opposites in EVERY way. One chose the path of alcohol, drugs and sex, while the other had no interest and instead chose youth groups, church camps and friends. Yet they were raised in the same household, by the same mother. And now I see more of Steve's Dad in Adam, even tho' growing up Adam rarely had anything to do with his Dad. So is there something genetic to it? Do we pass on more than our looks to our children? Or is it purely chance and some kids "just get into the wrong crowd"? Sometimes that thought scares me. It's like, I can do all the teaching/preaching I can to my children and they can still choose to turn away from everything I taught them and hope for them. It's almost infuriating.

And so I pray for them, my kids, every night. Pray that God will keep them close and help us, as parents to do our best for them. That's really all we can do. And quite honestly that bugs me. I want to be able to do more.

Sigh.

Mom's Morning Out starts in one week. Did I mention that I'm excited about this fall session? I totally am. You can check out the line-up here. And I will see you at the Registration next week!!

The Lighter Side


Boys will be boys.

























During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the director, "We fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."


"No" said the director, "A normal person would pull the plug ...Do you want a room with or without a view?"




For the record Callah has done this (to herself)...






and this....











and this.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

How to Hug a Baby (info for your dog)

ATTENTION ALL DOGS!!!

THE FOLLOWING ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVERY DOG TO KNOW

Instructions for properly hugging a baby.

1. First, spy a baby.






2. Second, be sure that the object you spied was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques. If you smell baby powder and the wonderful aroma of wet diapers this is indeed a baby.




3. Next you will need to flatten the baby before actually beginning the hugging process.**Note: The added slobber should help in future steps by making the "paw slide" easier.




4. The "paw slide". Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close up.





5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented "hug, smile, and lean" so as to achieve the best photo quality.Dogs, if this is properly done, it will secure you a warm, dry, climate controlled environment for the rest of your life.

Good luck to all of you!





I only wish my dog was this talented.


Monday, August 28, 2006

oh, oooh and ugh

I just opened an e-mail from a friend that nearly made me gag. It's a story about a woman who (apparently) wore some new undergarments before washing them and eventually started getting this rash on her breast. It later turned out to be bug larvae embedded in her breast! DISGUSTING! I don't even want to re-look at the picture, and I'm definately NOT posting it on here. The moral of the story and photos are to ALWAYS wash new undergarments before wearing them.

sick.

My nesxt e-mail was from Babyzone with my weekly update. "Week 10: are you feeling a bit moody?" Uh...yeah! Do bee's like honey?

My weekend camping trip was alright. If you forget that it took 3 hours to get there (and there are PLENTY of awesome parks within an hour of PA), all the road construction, the fact that a regional park is no cheaper than a provincial park (AND they charged a $1 for showers!!), that everyone seemed to think something awful about my "whiny", "bratty", "always-get-what-they-want" kids, and that my mother-in-law thinks that drums (or more specifically "anything with a beat") is of the devil. Yeah, so if you forget about all that stuff, the trip was pretty good. I'd recommend Brightsand Regional Park to anyone. But seriously it did have good hiking trails. The beach was pretty good. The sand in the lake was awesome and all the campsites had beachfront "property" instead of cabins. That was nice. So I guess take what you want to remember and try to forget about the rest.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

S-E-X

There, now that I have your attention I can tell you that this has absolutedly nothing to do with sex. We had our first Mom's meeting yesterday and it went really well. I was completely off with the whole "relationship" thing. The "special topic" is all about sexual intimacy and all that covers. So yeah, sex might just be in there a bit, and yeah, so will relationships, but there will also be a WHOLE lot more to learn. Like I said before, I'm TOTALLY looking forward to this fall semester at Mom's.

Tomorrow I head off to go camping with the in-laws. I write that with a huge sigh as I'm just not completely looking forward to it. I thought I was, but things in the homefront are a wee bit stressful, and I just know that'll carry on into the weekend. It's hard enough getting along with one family, but when you put 3 disfunctional families together, its guaranteed to be an "interesting" weekend. Of course I could be completely wrong and the next 3 days could be heavenly. In which case I will eat a mushroom (which makes me vomit) if the weekend goes by without any hitch or argument. As Dixie as my witness.

Now to pack.

I'll see ya'll on the other side.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Potty Conversation

"Mom, I have to take a poop."
"Alright, just go. You don't have to ask buddy."
"Ok."
(little feet walk to bathroom, pull down gitch and shorts and sits on potty)
"Here it comes!"
"I heard a splash!"
"Ooohhh, it's stinky!!"
"Matthias! We don't need a commentary!"
"Oh. Ok."

Friday, August 18, 2006

Just thinking

Sorry I got completely thrown off track in my thoughts here.

A few days ago we found out some good friends of ours are expecting their 3rd! Congrats Luke and Erin! We also found out that she has thyroid cancer. You can read about it here. I know prayers would be welcome.

On some Mom's News : The new year begins September 12th. I'm really looking forward to it, as it's not something we've ever done before. The whole Fall session will be about you: a Mom, daughter, sister and wife and relationships and how to take care of ourselves. We're having a guest speaker do 3- 2 week "specials" (sorry I know that's not the right word, but it's all I can think of) dealing with our marriage and relationship with our husbands. Like I said, I'm really looking forward to it. Every time I talk to her she gets me totally hyped up and I can't wait. So that all starts with Registration Day on September 12th.
The Fall Clothing Sale is September 22. I highly recommend helping out. Not only do you get to shop early (hey first dibs on kids stuff is pretty sweet!) but you also get to just experience the whole thing which blows my mind every time I help out. The amount of people who come through those doors. I tell ya, you'll never see as many pregnant women anywhere, in one spot, as you do there. It's really neat.

There, not bad for having very little sleep all week eh? I hate my neighbours. I wish the earth would crack open and swallow them up.

As you can tell, I'm also working on being a better Christian. I know that's totally cliche, but I'm realizing more and more that I have an evil mind (altho' I did this test and was named merely "twisted") and I'm trying to change that. I know that you can't really see a difference yet, but I assure you, I am trying. So please pray for me and my wicked ways.

Now I think I should go for a nap while my kids are still sleeping.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

barf

I hate being pregnant. If there's one thing I hate about the whole pregnancy/labour thing, it's the whole 9 month pregnant stage. I hate it. If there was a way I could beam out of my life for those months and then magically re-appear to give birth, I'd do it. I hate not being able to sleep on my belly, and yes, I know I'm only 2 months, but it already hurts if I lay on my belly for a long period of time. I hate that I'm ALWAYS hungry and then when I eat, I feel like throwing it all back up. I hate brushing my teeth, b'cos it seems like the very act of brushing my tongue makes me gag in enormous proportions. I hate always being tired. I hate it when you finally feel like eating and do so, someone close to you says, "they don't really mean it when they say you should eat for 2." Yeah thanks.

Sigh,

I thought for sure this time I'd enjoy it.

On another note. The past 2 nites I've been laying in bed, being uncomfortable, and thinking. It seems like alot of people around us are being diagnosed with cancer. Some of them beating it, some still fighting and some loosing. We just found out yesterday that a friend of ours has thyroid cancer. She's also 3 months pregnant. It got me kinda depressed and wondering how can you beat this? How can you avoid getting cancer? It seems like everyone is getting it. I know some pretty "psycho" health nuts who have cancer. So how do you avoid it? It just seems like soon, if you live to die of old age, that'll be the abnormal. And that worries me. I want my kids to grow up and live long lives knowing their grandparents. I want Steve and myself to be able to grow and see our great-grandchildren grow. But is that possible?

I hope so.

I pray that it is.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Alright, alright, alright


I wasn't going to say anything, but I just think this is so cool. Dixie got me hooked on this website and I've been checking it out every few days.

I'm pregnant.

This is what it looks like.

"alien baby" indeed. Cool eh?

So here we go again.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Back...for now

A friend sent me this picture. I don't know where she got it, and I'm pretty sure it's not her kid, but it's funny all the same. Callah has done this before. Not as bad, but she's found my "collection" and made a nice path from the bathroom to the living room.

Well we're back for a week. I'd like to say for good. But it seems we (by "we" I mean "Steve") agreed to go camping with my in-laws for a week (really, would I agree to something like that?) so that's up for the week of Aug 21-25. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to it. I'd really just like to stay home, altho' now that I think of it, the kids next door are getting more ballsy and more annoying so maybe a week away might do some good. Altho' the in-law thing causes a damper and to top it off I can't drink, b'cos if only I could it would make it that much more enjoyable.

So the holidays were a blast. The kids loved the Calgary Zoo. My sister had taken them to see Megamunch in Regina before we left, and they were quite terrified. In contrast the dinosaurs at the Zoo were nice 'cos they were quite dinosaurs. That was a definate highlight as well as seeing the giraffes and zebras for some reason. Those are all Matthias talks about. WestEd was fun also. Of course there's the sea lions show, and GalaxyLand (which turned out quite well as Callah got on rides for free and had to be accompanied by an adult who also got on rides for free!). The actual reason for our trip, a Reid family mini-reunion in Sherwood Park, was simply a good time added onto the rest of the week.

The kids travelled great and the van is still chugging. All in all a good time.

I'm so glad to be home!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

tired

So tired. So very tired.

What made me think I could do 3 weeks of holiday with only 2 nights of sleep in my own bed?

What made me think handling 2 kids (under 4) with messed up schedules would be easy?

Must find energy.

Must enjoy myself.

Must make the most of every minute.

Must go to a movie.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

thoughts from week 1

1. I swear I'll NEVER forget diaper rash cream again.

Ever.

Even if I don't have kids, so that if some other uncaring, evil parent forgets their diaper cream, I'll be able to offer them mine.

2. It's a loooong walk from the tent to the outhouse piggybacking a near 4 yr old at any time of day.

3. Kids eat sand. Sand scratches up bum. Which leads to point #1.

4. Sunsets are always beautiful up north.

5. Mosquitoes like backs and bums. Always spray repellant on the area of your back that becomes exposed when you bend forward and your shirt rides up your back a bit.

6. PB & J is always a good thing to eat. No matter what meal it is.

And finally (well there are many high/bad lights but these are just the ones I can think of right now) when you feel that you should go home, follow your instincts and go home early. It's usually better than staying, freaking out and causing more pain that was necessary to make.

Monday, July 17, 2006

A week here and there


Yesterday we celebrated Callah's 2nd birthday with some close friends and family. I'd have to say it was a good time, altho' I can't read minds, so who knows what other people thought. She may be miserable and sickly of late (to prove this, she puked up something incredibly stinky and nasty at about 3 am last night) but I love our little angel. Who knew she could get so incredibly dirty while eating, or create something truly "special" with a bottle of ketchup and a spoon. That she'd love her thumb so much it takes an "army " of fingers to pry it from her mouth. And that she'd delight us in unimaginable ways with her laughter, her non-stop questions, and overall cuteness. So here's to you Callah girl, may God bless you richly and may you always know we love you!


Call me crazy, but today I'm heading out camping for a week with our youth group (7 of them) AND our 2 kids. I'm still having doubts. It'll be an adventure if nothing else.

Then when we get back from that, we have a day to regroup and repack before we head down to Katepwa (near Regina) for a week at a cabin with my parents.

Then we'll head to Regina (not home to PA) to regroup and rewash before finally heading to Calgary and Edmonton for our family vacation.

I already can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. Pray for me! ;-)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

what would you do?

9:45 am

It's been a busy morning.

8:17 am - Matthias comes into our room and says, "Callah's making a mess with the ketchup."

8:40 am - We listen to the kids rendition of the Veggietales theme song (which includes a bunch of screaming and head bobbing from Callah)

9:07 am - The 3 of us watch as Callah turns in circles, falls down, has difficulty getting up and then does it all over again.

9:23 am - Matthias throws a blanket over Steve's head, gives Steve directions on where to walk, and Callah has a blanket over her head hanging onto Steve's leg.

and here we are...9:49 am and the kids are playing hide-n-go-seek.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

blowup dragons

It was really hot today. Sickly hot. Humid hot. I hate hot hot. The kind where you go outside and the air is thick. Granted it's not as bad as down south (Florida-ish) but too hot for me. So thinking of cooling off the kids and I went hunting for pool toys (you know, in the odd chance we ever own a house with a pool). We went to JYSK, Dollar Store, Wal-Mart and Liquidation World. We actually bought a blue ring with handles at the $1 store and a baby floaty thing (which wound up having a hole in it, so we took it back, I really don't know why I bought it anyway as the weight limit was 25 lbs and Callah is nearly 30...wishfull thinking I guess) . Then at Wal-Mart we found this cool "easy ride dragon" for $6.95 (which I thought was a good deal, and I still do, so please don't tell me if it's not). Of course the kids couldn't wait to get home and blow it up so they could ride it. Funny as hell. They would sit on this thing and rock it back and forth, then it would flip and they'd be flat on their backs. Well, to me it was funny, I guess you had to be there. They wanted to take it to the park thingys (every day of the week at local parks here in PA, they have a "hang-time" where they have games, snacks, and water in a paddling pool from 1-5-ish...it's pretty cool) but I said they couldn't. Of course, now I'm the "bad Mommy".
Whatever, so we get to the park, there wasn't too many kids there (Hazeldell area, I was given the "411" that there weren't going to be many kids) and my kids completely forget about any blow-up toys the second they hit the water and start splashing. Fun, fun!! The only thing I'd have to add is that I stepped on a piece of glass in the pool. It broke the skin and went in pretty good. I'm just glad I found it and not some 2 year old.

Hmmm...that could be a weight thing. Maybe if I hadn't had that revel bar at lunch, the glass wouldn't have gone in so deep. We'll never know...

I'd still recommend the parks thingy. Just maybe let them run around in sandals.