Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas 2007

Steve got home late on the 21. That was awesome. We sat on the couch, drank a quick drink and talked for a few hours. It felt so good to go to bed minus a layer of clothing (and no, I don't mean naked... I sleep with 2 shirts and pants when he's gone) and with only 1 comforter on the bed. Saturday, unfortunately, I felt was kind of a disappointment. We were supposed to go on our annual Christmas tree hunt, but due to sleeping husbands and kids, we never got around to it. And by the time we actually got our butts in gear, trees were sold out everywhere we looked. Sunday was good. Beautiful sunny day, great visits at church (and good singing during the carol service!!) and we were able to go on our tree hunt and find a tree within 30 minutes of walking in the forest. It was a really great day. We spent the rest of the day decorating our wonderful tree, ordering pizza (a Reid tradition 3 years running) and watching Christmas classics like Garfield Christmas, Flinstone Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and of course The Grinch. Monday we did some grocery shopping for turkeys and cheese balls then went tobogganing out at the Lil' Red. I can't believe how much my kids have changed in a year. Last year Callah couldn't walk up the hill if we tied a rope to her and helped her up, nor would they (Matthias or Callah) go down by themselves. This year Callah walked up every time by herself and she would take a running head start on the slide and slide down by herself! I couldn't believe some of the "dives" she was doing! She is so like her dad! What a little daredevil. The best part was Keziah slept the whole time, it was great! We finished the night with the candle light service at the church, came home ate some cheese ball and popcorn and watched Deck the Halls.

One of my highlights was waking up Christmas morning to the sound of Matthias and Callah opening their stockings. What a delight!
"Callah look!" "That's so cool!" "This is my favourite!!" "Oh yeah!!" Followed by giggles and various degrees of amused laughter. It was awesome.

Now this is my little rant for the week. This year presents weren't that important to me. I wouldn't have cared if I didn't get anyting. Really, I honestly mean that. All I wanted was a tree, some lights and Steve home. But for whatever reason I received some gifts that I can only guess were given simply to give something. Cookie sheets and an EZWrap 3000. I know, I know try to contain your jealousy. You all wish that you too could get an EZWrap for Christmas, right?? And that's what bothers me, don't bother getting me something that I don't need or want, I'd rather you get me nothing at all, or if you feel that you really must get me something give me $ or a gift certificate for a place that you know I shop (key word there: know). I really don't mean to sound ungrateful, and I know I come across that way, but cookie sheets and EZWrap just don't make me feel a giddy and excited inside. I'm sorry, but they don't.

So that bummed me out for a few hours yesterday, but nothing Captain Morgan and some cheezies couldn't help. Turkey was good, dessert was good, the evening ended well with John McClane stopping by for a visit.

And now he's gone. He's actually been gone for over an hour. We did some quick shopping this morning. He had to pick some stuff up before heading back and there was some boxing day stuff that I thought would be handy. We loaded up Gus' new dog house and his new bag with wheels. For awhile I felt like crawling under a blanket and crying, but then I reminded myself that I need to be strong. It's only for a few days and we'll see him again for a bit around New Years. The next 4 months should fly by. Here's praying anyway.

So that was our Christmas. I hope you all had a good one and wish you all the best in the new year to come!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

music

For years I've been a huge music fan. I use music to express how I'm feeling. Back in highschool in my "darker" days there was alot of Pearl Jam, Tea Party and The Cult. Now I'm listening to Hairspray. Quite the difference.

Now that's it's close to Christmas I'm thinking Mariah Carey.

A while back, on a trip to S'toon with a van full of Mom's, we got to talking about worship music. How it moves some of us, and moves others in the wrong way. I have nothing against worship music, it's just not my thing. I can get completely emotional over a P.O.D. or Toby Mac song. Third Day continually moves me and makes me feel like such a schmuck, but in a goodway. When Steve and I got married our wedding song was Love Song by Third Day. I really like how they write songs from God's perspective. Something different.

Now that Steve's away I listen to a bunch of songs differently. Everytime I hear Gerry Raferty I cry. Actually there's alot of songs that make me cry. When I was pregnant with Callah, Meatloaf used to make me cry.

Anyway, I need some more sinus cold medication and I'll bet my clean socks that Keziah is eating something she shouldn't.

Until next time...Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 17, 2007

spider eggs

I've recently obtained a twitch under my left eye. Sure I could say it's from stress or lack of sleep, but I prefer to take a creative approach and believe that some alien spiders crawled into my ear one night while I was asleep. They made their way into the ear canal and then ate their way into my eye cavity...just under my left eye! The twitching is simply what happens when their eggs hatch. So now I have thousands of little spiders crawling around inside my head.

That could explain alot.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

the wrath of Lisa

I hate drivers. I hate PA drivers. I hate people who can't drive on snowy streets and don't pay attention to their driving.

Alright, I was just hit by another car. I'm pissed. I'm really really mad. I don't need this right now. I had the two girls in the van with me. A few second later and she could've pegged off Keziah. I was fuming mad. Believe it or not I've calmed down a bit now that I've made my claim, but I'm still ticked off. I just wanted to yell, "LADY LOOK!!" Just a moment of "fogginess" and look where we are...I can't open my driver's door b'cos of a stupid little dent that you made in my van. The only happiness thought that I get from all of this (sadly) is that there's more damage to her car than there is my van. So thank you very much for ruining what had hope of being a perfectly enjoyable Saturday!!

Friday, December 14, 2007

amazing

"Mommy, mommy!"
"Yes Callah."
"Mommy, I go 'achoo' and my cereal comes out of my mouth!"
"Ewww..."

And then she laughs devilishly.

Monday, December 10, 2007

taking a break

I'm on a break from writing Christmas cards altho' I haven't actually started tonite's installment, so I guess you could just say I'm prolonging the start...or something.

Today is actually the first day that I haven't had to make "choices" (to put it ever so nicely), and I'm liking that fact. I feel good. It could also have something to do with the 10 lbs I've lost in the past month or so. Yeah for me. I knew that personal trainer was an awesome idea.

Tomorrow is the final Mom's this year. That means its potluck time. I'm going to make what I usually make, only without the chocolate chips 'cos I thought I had them only upon checking, they were all gone. I'll blame it on Steve 'cos he's not here so I can. I'm sure it will still be delicious. Want to know what I'm making? Come see for yourself! 9:30 am Alliance Church.

Then shock of all shocks...I'm willingly going to the MIL's for a day. To be honest I thought it would be easier than having her come here and see all our "sinful" living again. At her place all the "sinful" worldly temptations don't exist, so we can just get along better. There...how's that for the seasonal warm "fuzzies".

Anyway, what I really wanted to write about was Hairspray. I know, why on earth am I writing about that? Well who would have thought that going to a simple movie with Dixie, months ago, could change my life like this? It's amazing. I just have to dance. I LOVE listening to it. I love to listen to it and dance. I must look like a complete goof in the window, but I don't care!

That's really all I wanted to say. Now I'll go back to my cards.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

sick

There's nothing like being sick to make you feel like a little girl again. Scared and alone. It's amazing what a kind thought or gesture can do. How a simple heartfelt hug can drive away all the black and make a world of difference.

Monday, December 03, 2007

snoring dogs

Growing up I always had a dog. Our 4th dog was a mix between a boxer, german shephard and dalmation. She was the tamest, best behaved dog ever and a true delight for the years we had her. I don't remember how it happened (maybe the warmth...I'm a sucker for warmth) but she always used to sleep on my bed. Growing up I had a twin bed so there wasn't always alot of room (for 5'10" me and my 75 lbs dog), but somehow we managed. The only complaint I would have of those years was she snored. She snored like there was no tomorrow (I suppose now in hind-sight God was preparing me for Steve!) and what brought all this up in my mind was that last night, Keziah was snoring and she sounded exactly like this dog. It was amazing! You know how some smells make you remember certain memories? Well for me, last night, it was the snoring. So thank you Keziah for making me remember and feeling all cozy and warm inside! :)

bussing

Ok. We all know it's freezing outside. I hate waiting in the cold at the best of times, but when you're out there waiting with your kid, who meekly says, "I'm cold." underneath all their layers of ski wear and clothing, it can be a bit much. You look at your watch, 8:21. Alright, going on 10 minutes late. "Let's go inside and wait." Of course as soon as you get inside, you see the headlights of the bus coming down the street. "Quick...RUN!" You round the corner of your house just intime to see the bus drive right past your house. 'WAIT!!' you think in your mind, too amazed to believe how crappy this morning is going so far, to actually voice some sort of defeat. Thankfully the bus slows down a few houses over and starts backing up. The kid and you run over and ask, "This is going to...?" The bus driver says, "yes, the other bus broke down again." You breathe a sigh of relief and get the boy safely onboard.

Monday.

I think the world would be a better place without Mondays.

Friday, November 30, 2007

real life

You know in movies when the woman is waiting for her man to appear after a long time away. She's sitting, forlorn. Then suddenly with the setting sun behind him, he appears over the hill. She jumps to her feet. He suddenly stops, taking in her refreshing beauty. They start running towards one another, smiling. Arms outstretched. She jumps into his arms and they kiss passionately. The world complete and still at that moment.

Yeah well. In the real world, the sun was setting. And the comparisons end there.

My stomache was flopping all afternoon. I was so excited. 4:24 and I'm in the van driving to see him for the first time in 3 weeks. I get there and wait. Tick tick tick. Suddenly there he is. Looking so fine in his blue uniform. We hug, then he pulls away and says, "oh yeah, we can't do this here." I take a few pictures. He tells me all the things he has to do before we pick him up again at 7:30, and then we leave. Going our separate ways once again. For a few hours more anyway.

Sigh.

How romantic...

I guess that's life.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

My soul longs for the Lord
More than those who wait
for the morning
More than those who wait
for the morning.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

the evil brain

I forgot the best part of last night. When I got home from the interview I pulled Matthias aside and I asked him if he'd been wrestling at school. I could tell right away, by his face, that he had been. So after denying it the first time, I lowered my voice a little and asked again.
"Matthias, are you wrestling with boys at school in class?"
"I don't want to, but my brain makes me do it."
Trying to conceal a smile I ask,"You're brain tells you to wrestle."
"Yeah."
So I said what any good parent would say, "Well then buddy, next time your brain tells you to do that, you say 'no'. Don't listen to your brain."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

my son, the pro wrestler

Tonite was my very first parent teacher interview. I was a little nervous walking in there. So nervous that I walked right into the classroom after the english parents and teacher and didn't even notice that M. Lambert was waiting for me in the hallway. Yes, I am new at this. We sat down at his desk. He asked where Steve was. I told him he's down in Regina and he got all excited. I think he was more excited than some of our own family members were. That was kind of cool and a little weird.

Then we got down to business. He asked if I had any questions or concerns. I asked, "is he beating up on anyone?"
"Well, he is a little aggressive, but we'll get to that a bit later."
Then I slammed my fists on the desk, stood up - knocking the chair over and yelled "I want to talk about it now mister!!"

ha ha...just kidding.

He then went on to tell me that Matthias is a great kid. He's very attentive and helps out alot. He tries everything, not just limiting himself to a certain "play" area. He spends alot of time on drawings and is very particular about colours (which teachers like to see I guess instead of the kid who rushes to finish) and infact, Matthias has a picture in the latest edition of the catholic school board newsletter! Atta boy!! But then he mentioned that if Matthias got too rough again, he'd be sent to the office. He's been warned and told that that's not appropriate behaviour for school (or anywhere...I know, I've been trying to tell him) and so one more "rough house" brawl and he'll be put away...in the office....for a time out.

Overall I'm totally proud of the kid. When we get this CSB newsletter I'm going to be the parent photocopying copies to all the grandparents (except Steve's 'cos it's a Hallowe'en drawing and it's in a catholic newsletter....2 wrongs don't make a right) and framing his piece of work for years to come. I'm so proud!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

blah

I don't know what happened, or when today went wrong. It started out good, but somewhere around lunch time I just wanted to lay down and curl up in my blankets. I think winter is really going to suck this year. I need to keep busy and try to get out as much as possible.

Steve's EI hasn't been approved yet. That's kind of a worry. A small part of me hopes that it doesn't go thru and then I can move down to Regina. The selfish part that wants more time to do "me" things. Then there's the ultra feminine empowerment woman who thinks, thru hell or high water I WILL GET THRU THIS!

But like I said. Right now I just want to curl up under the blankets and hibernate till spring.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Sunday, November 18, 2007

snow

For whatever reason, my first instinct this morning when I saw all the snow, was to smile. I love it when there's huge snowflakes falling. But then of course, my common sense kicked in and I realized that I'd be the sole shoveler of all that snow and my smile fell away. I was kinda hoping the snow would stay away a bit longer. Just makes for a longer winter and white knuckles on the highway drives. Of course the kids were excited...in their minds all they see are the possible snowmen and snow mountains dying to be created. But can you blame them? Oh to be young and have no worries again.

And of course with all that snow one can't help but think about Christmas. Every year I write a letter covering highlights from the past year in our family. It's usually quite comical and something I look forward to doing. There's just something about Christmas that makes me want to send long winded letters about me and my family, with pictures taken of us smiling thru our teeth after taking numerous pictures in different poses, and Christmas cards that I only have time to write my own name on. Can you feel the warmth? Seriously tho', I don't care if I haven't seen you in years, or that I only write you this one time of year, it's just something I enjoy doing. And so every year I write these letters, include a decent picture of the family, and actually write a little message in over 30 cards that I send out to all our relatives. Man...just over a month left...I better get started.

But first I want to check my facebook!

sorry for the super lame post...I thought it would turn out better than this!

Friday, November 16, 2007

here and now

I read this on a friends blog and I like it.

Here
is bigger than you can imagine
Now
is forever


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Oh sick

2 days down, only about 180 left to go.

I don't know if I've been having panic attacks or what. But whenever I actually think about Steve not being here, my stomache gets tight and I feel like throwing up. Supper last night was hard. Very quiet. I think we'll listen to music or something from now on. And meals themselves seem to be difficult. What do you make for a meal when there's 2 young kids and an adult that wants to cut back on what she eats? Anyway I don't want to seem like I'm complaining. I know it's just gonna take some getting used to.

Yesterday at Mom's I was talking to a friend and she asked how I was doing. I said nights are really hard 'cos I miss having that person to say "good-nite" to at the last moment before I close my eyes. Then I started to cry. Unfortunately it made me feel really pathetic and weak. Especially since this woman's husband does shift work, so there are plenty of nights when she probably goes to bed without her man as well. Then I thought, grow up Lisa and get over it. When Steve graduates he's going to be doing shift work as well and you're really going to have to get over it and quick.

Then last night I say clips from Cst. Scott's funeral and they said something like he never knew his dream job would be so short lived. And I thought, of course, no one knows they're "dream career" is going to be so short lived. Think of all those guys at depot now, training their hearts out. They're definately not thinking that it could all be over in 6 months.

Anyway, so there's my struggle. That's how I've been. Days are okay, night times are worst.

180 days and counting.

Monday, November 12, 2007

what a weekend

Well of course we woke up Thursday morning to snow. Great for the kids, not so great for driving down to Regina. We had packed most of the stuff the previous night so we could leave earlier. Of course, Keziah slept later and Steve lost his letter of call (with important information on it). By the time we actually left PA, it was 11:30 am. We were doing about 80 km/hr 'cos the roads were pretty icy as we left PA heading for Melfort. The landy can't go much faster as it starts shaking and making all kinds of scary noises. Steve went first and the kids and I followed in the van. We had our walkie talkies to communicate. It was slow movin' but otherwise good.

Then all of a sudden I see the Landy swerve. Steve regains control. Then he swerves again this time spinning around and going directly into oncoming traffic before veering off into the opposite ditch. I hold my breathe and slow the van down slightly. He regains control and drives about 500m in the ditch before attempting to come back onto the highway. He can't get back on the road, so he has to hop out and switch to 4x4, and then he easily makes it back up, returns to the right side of the road and pulls over onto the side. I jump out of the van, which is already pulled over waiting for him, and run over to him.

"I could be dead," he says. We nervously laugh, return to our vehicles and continue down the highway.

Luckily the ice didn't last long. It sooned turned to slush and by Melfort, was dry. But that doesn't mean we went much faster. After a pee break on the side of the road, Callah tells me she has to go poop. Great. We pull over again and try on the side of the road. She can't do it.

"I need a toilet," she says. Great.
"Can you hold it till we find a toilet?" I ask.
"Yes," she says.

Spalding is just ahead so we cruise down mainstreet until we come to the Spalding Cafe. Saved by the toilet.

A few hours later we are finally making some progress and are coming up the Qu'Appelle Valley hill, Landy just smoking like crazy. I'm about to buzz Steve on the wackie talkie and make a wisecrack about being an "ozone killer" when an RCMP pulls between us, lights flashing and signals Steve to pull over. My heart is once again in my throat, thinking, great...this is just what we need. When the RCMP looks my way, waves and gets back in his truck. I found out later that he was just wondering if Steve was okay being as the Landy was smoking diesel so much. Steve introduced himself, of course...in typical Steve fashion, saying that he was on his way to depot and maybe he'd see the RCMP around. They laughed, hugged and shared their treasured moments (well okay, it was more of a chuckle and wave) instantly bonding.

Anyway the long of it all, 5 hours and some after leaving PA, we arrived safely in Regina.

Ha, and that was only the first day. Without going into a novel here, Friday Steve went for his signing in, got his room assignment, dropped his stuff off, picked up his bedding and 2"thick "welcome packet", went for a "quick" 45 minute tour, and then we drove around for an hour looking for a good place to eat that didn't have a 30 min. wait eventually winding up at the first place we checked out. We finished off the evening watching American Gangster. Hats off to Denzel. Then I cried for a few hours in Steve's arms thinking about the inevitable separation in less than 48 hours.

The rest of the weekend was spent with family playing, swimming and of course, watching football. I did pretty good Sunday when I dropped Steve off. Only a few buckets o' tears were shed and then I went back to my parents and we all had a stiff drink.

The ride home was so awesome (Thank you God!!) the older two slept 3/4 of the way and I kept feeding Keziah arrowroot cookies to keep her quiet...in other words, she was good too. I'm okay so long as I don't think about the possible 6 weeks before we see him again. If I get too far ahead of myself, my chest feels like it's shrinking and my eyes automatically tear up. When we got home to a cold, empty house I felt sick to my stomache and I still kinda do. I feel a bit better tho' after talking to Steve a bit. He's doing good. A little bored (all he had were meetings all day and they're planned for tomorrow too) but excited that he was issued his plastic gun and belt today. He's in charge of the troop dress code. Which means that he gets to decide what they all have to wear...his troop will be the one in plaid! :) And he was asked to be the troop leader, which he's unsure about. If he takes it on, I know he'll do awesome.

Anyway, I still gotta work out (don't want to slack off already) and I think it's going to be a rough nite (all the kids have colds from the pool).

Despite it all, I'm glad to be home.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

don't mess with my groove

Of course what I plan on writing on has absolutely nothing to do with "groove", however at this exact moment I'm listening to a particularly groovy song and I say "don't mess with my groove" more aimed towards Keziah who is crawling towards the chair and I know it's only a matter of time before she gets stuck (with arms and head on one side and legs on the other...) and starts screaming for "super Mom" to come rescue her.

This morning at Mom's we had a stay-at-home-Dad come. Cool. Before we had kids Steve and I talked about this. We agreed that whoever had the highest paying job at the time, could continue working. The other, would stay home with the kids. "Luckily" for me I hadn't started my apprenticeship yet and so here I am today. Anyway I think it's really cool that a Dad would do that.

(oh there's the cry for help....)

It'll be different having a man around the Mom's room every once in awhile, but if you think about it, we should all be that lucky to have our husbands in on some of the stuff we talk about. I know there's times I come home and try to tell Steve even half of the stuff we talked about, and it just doesn't come across right, so this will be good. Hopefully he'll go home, after hearing us talk, and be the best Dad/wife out there after knowing our little "secrets" (our own tiffs with our own families and hubbies).

Or am I totally out there?

I hope he comes. The majority of stuff he should enjoy and find helpful. I'm not sure about the x-stitch or knitting tho'... hmmm... it'll be interesting.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

a child of my own

...heart.

"brrrr...it's cold outside. Can we go get slurpees??"

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Free

Anybody want a kid? 7 1/2 months old. Cute as a button!

However, can't promise she'll sleep at night.... or during the day. Or that she'll take a bottle easily...or eat pablum or other prepared food for that matter.

But she can crawl!!

Comes with bonus pink elephant.

(I know...I should say that I'm just kidding!)

Friday, November 02, 2007

elsewhere

My mind has been elsewhere lately. So forgive the lack of writing. The past few weeks Steve and I have been in a kind of funk. Things were said that shouldn't have been and feelings were hurt. Last Monday I asked Steve if I could go to S'toon for the day. Just me. All by myself. He agreed totally (which turned out to be a mixed blessing as the MIL came down). I took Landy. Good ol' Landy. There's something humbling about being constantly passed on the highway by semi's. Anyway, on the drive back in the dark, sipping my hot chocolate (made with chocolate milk and topped with chocolate whipped cream...yum! Way to go Broadway Roasters!!) and trying to steer this hunk of metal I thought," This is it. Steve will be gone in just over a week. Are you going to mope in your own self pity and refuse physical contact? Or are you going to get over yourself, grow up and spend the time you have left showing affection to the man of your dreams?" Of course I started bawling, never a good thing when your driving at night. Then I resolved to be the best dang wife around for the next 10 days!

Of course, when I got home to find that the MIL was staying the night ( and in fact, her car broke down so she wound up staying 2 nights!!) I did as much as I could to get out of the house anyway. Which turns out to be a bad thing 'cos everytime I left the house with the kids, she completely bit right into Steve and ripped chunks out of him concerning our "monumentally large selection" of music and movies. We're going to hell forsure! Ha!

Anyway, now with less than a week before he goes I'm thinking of the change that's a coming. How much I'm going to miss snuggling his back, getting hugs, cuddling on the couch and watching hockey and most importantly having that person to say "goodnite" to just before I drift off to sleep.

Enjoy every moment. They go by so fast.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

ouch

After the latest batch of "overweight" comments I decided it was enough. Fine. If the world thinks I'm overweight, then I'll just have to do something different. So I called up a personal trainer and she gave me a 2 hour assessment. Basically she went over my eating habits and gave me a bunch of tips then she created a full body workout program that I can do at home (a huge bonus since Steve will be gone for the next 6 months) with little to no weights or equipment. Sweet. She went thru the whole program step by step and I thought I was doing pretty good until we came to the push-ups.
"Okay, " she said. "Let's start with 20."
I'm sure my eyes bugged out of my head b'cos she then said to do as much as I can and we'll aim for 20.

Right, of course. Let's aim for 20.

I think I did 9 before my arms collapsed. Anyway, after going thru the entire program I was sweating like a marshmallow in heat and when the time came, I could barely lift Kez off the floor.
I think that's a good thing.

Right?

Means I'm working muscles that (obviously) haven't been worked in awhile. So if I stick with it, something magical will happen. Or here's hoping.

So let the weight loss begin!

Monday, October 22, 2007

it's official

Now you can tell people! Boy what a relief to finally be able to tell people what we've been up to the last 10 months!

My husband is leaving me!

But don't worry, I sort of agreed to it. Steve was accepted into the RCMP last week. After a few days of complete panic, we were able to work some stuff out and it looks like the kids and I will be able to stick around here, while he's away at depot, till April. We were originally going to pack everything up and head down to Regina (to stay with my parents) with him, but one morning I was just laying in bed thinking about how much I really don't want to leave yet. I know eventually I'll have to, but for now, I just want to stay here. So we worked some stuff out and are about 95% sure we'll be able to stay. Of course, there's still that 5% where everything could go wrong in which case we'll have to pack everything up and ship out in less than 2 weeks.

But we'll pray that doesn't happen.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Kid stuff

The other day I was shaving my legs in the bathtub when Matthias came in and asked what I was doing. I said I was shaving my legs, just like Daddy shaves his face. Matthias made a face and said,"You mean you have a beard on your legs!"

This morning I was laying in bed when I heard Callah ask Matthias to move something. He didn't do it right away 'cos she then said, "c'mon, you can do it! You have muscles!"

Matthias' favourite thing to watch on TV lately has been the Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet. He's been collecting snakes, spiders and lizards for a few months now and has quite a collection. It's fun to watch him jump around these snakes, say "crikey!" and try to grab the head before it turns around and bites him. Kids have amazing imaginations!

Matthias and Callah are on a marriage blitz. Every day Callah asks Matthias to marry her and then she gets all dressed up in her princess clothes (complete with tiara and high heels!) and asks Matthias to dance with her. The funny part tho' is if Matthias does something she doesn't like, then right away, she says "I'm not going to marry you anymore! I'm going to marry Mommy!" And then Matthias goes off and plays with his transformers. If only marriage were that simple.

Last night at our small group I heard a funny joke. I can't remember how it went exactly so I googled it, couldn't find it, but I found this one instead and it's pretty similiar.


Two young boys walked into a pharmacy, picked out a box of Tampax and proceeded to the checkout counter. The man at the counter asked the older boy, “Son, how old are you?”

“Eight,” the boy replied.

The man, perplexed but intrigued, couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know what these are used for?”

The boy replied, “Not exactly, but they aren’t for me. They’re for him (pointing to the boy who came in with him). He’s my little brother. He’s four. We heard that if you use these, you would be able to swim and ride a bike. He can’t do either one.”

Thursday, October 18, 2007

sheesh

Okay, I just saw Britney Spear's new video Gimme More. I'd be so embarassed if that was my mom. Those poor kids.

Spinning tattoos

The last couple of days my head has been in a spin. I don't know whether to come or go. Do this or that. So I usually wind up sitting on the couch, watching some TV and drinking a nice cold drink (which really isn't doing me any good, you know, considering my weight problem and all...). Sooner or later ('sooner' I know will come and bite me in the butt) I'll get my rear in gear and work will have to be done. But for now, I sit.

The other day the kids gave me a Surf's Up tattoo on my arm, just under my bicep. I've kinda gotten used to having it there and like the idea of looking down or catching it out of the corner of my eye. I've always wanted a tattoo. When I was about 15, I loved this mountain biker named Missy Giove. She had piercings and tattoos and was super cool (in my opinion). I would draw pictures of her in art class. After I graduated I went out and got my nose pierced. My Mom freaked and threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn't take it out. So I did. That was a $65 lesson. I'll be honest and admit it looked dumb anyway, but the tattoo dream still stood. And still stands. My sister moved out of my parent's house a few years back and got a tattoo on her back. They haven't disowned her or anything, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe. I used to think a map of Canada on my shoulder blades would be cool. You know in case I ever got lost or something... Then I changed my mind and now all I want is a celtic cross. I don't really care where. Arms, legs, back. Wherever. I just have this urge to be inked (which reminds me of this one time I went to a youth event at Briercrest and for some silly reason I had over 250 people their name on my body in marker...talk about being inked!) Oh well, for now I guess penguins will have to do.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

idiots

what is this?

At our small group on Thursday we gave ourselves homework; we are suppossed to find joy (or rather be more suprised by joy) in something every day and then write it down (for the record) and bring it back next Thursday to report. Well. It would appear that I'm having a harder go at it then I thought. I just read this load of croc and can't believe the idiots out there today.

Joy...where are you?

Friday, October 12, 2007

venting

I'm extremely ticked off right now. I was just told that I need to loose weight b'cos I'm getting to that stage where I'm too unhealthy to play with the children.

Excuse me? What the crap?

I don't care who you are, I know I need to loose some weight, I don't need people telling me that.

Thanks.

Have a *bleepin* good day to you too!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

yeah...I got nothing...

Sometimes thinking of something clever to write as the "title" is the hardest part.

I love listening to Galaxy's celtic station. I swear I was born about 100 years too late (my great great grandfather or something was from Scotland) and of course on the wrong continent 'cos I love anything to do with anything celtic. There are times when I don't feel like listening to rock, and times when CBC radio makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out, but no matter how I'm feeling I'm finding I can always turn that station on and listen. It soothes my headaches, calms my throbbing, smokin' tempers and makes me tap my feet and want to jig when I'm in a good mood to start. You gotta give it a listen if you never have before. Ch 742 on Galaxy.

Alot of people seem to be on the topic of love lately. My 'group' (we're not a bible study group, but we're not a book group...what do we call ourselves again?) is reading a book by Henri Nouwen right now and the topic we're stuck on is Joy. Looking back over my life (and I was thinking about this the other night. I'm reading this quiet moments for Mothers book and the first story was about how mother's make memorable moments for our children that last a lifetime and sadly, when I look back on my life all I remember or think of now is all the heartache I caused my Mother and the complete pain in the arse I was...not the kind of memories I want to remember, which got me thinking about the memories I'm creating for my children. Do I want them remembering me as the grouchy, busy Mom who never plays with them and spanks them and stuff? Not exactly. Wake up Lisa! Time to change roles!) there were times of pure joy. They may seem few and far between, but they're there. The one that always pops into my head first was on a sunny day in March of 2001. I was seeing Steve (we hadn't dated yet, just alot of hanging out) and I was walking to his house from my Grandma's apartment. I was rounding the corner of 4th Ave and Marquis (by Nutter's) when I felt a sense of complete peace and contentment. Joy. At that moment I knew nothing could go wrong. Nothing was going to hurt or harm me. All was right with the world. I was invincible. Even now when I think about it, the kids could be screaming and freakin' out (luckily they're not) and for a few simple seconds I'd still feel that sense of pure joy. I don't know if love had everything to do with it, I'm sure it helped, as I'm also sure in some way the two are entwined. But that was a moment of great joy to me that will forever stick out in my memory.

This morning the kids and I went to another Mom's house for a visit. This is something I do rarely, but you know what? I loved it! I've had invites for playdates before, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking "yeah sure, they're just offering to be nice, but they don't really want my gang to all come over" and I usually wind up sitting at home feeling sad and depressed for myself 'cos I have no friends. Then I finally gather up some balls and go to a friends house and have a great time! I wonder why we do that? Why do we choose to wallow in our own self pity, internally screaming out for a break and a friendship, when all around us other Mother's are thinking and doing the same thing? Or am I the only one? If that's the case, please don't tell me, just go along with my little thought and agree. So you know what? My house may be small, but if anyone wants to come over, please come! I have a bucketfull of rockets and a tin of Starbucks coffee (and the other usual drinks altho' I'm out of rum, you may have to wait a few days if you want rum). Anyway, to that Mom who had us over (she didn't really even invite us, we kinda invited ourselves)...thank you. You have no idea what that meant to me. Thanx.

And for awhile there it was snowing. I painted my toenails blue so that when I wear my flip flops they'll blend in with the colour of my frozen toes, but now that it's snowing I may just have to put away my 'classy' footgear for another 8 months. Oh the woe of having to wear socks and shoes again...

The next few weeks at Mom's are sure not to be missed (is that right? That doesn't sound right). The 16th is a marriage talk by Amy Hollands. Amy has been thru alot emotionally dealing with miscarriages and loss of babies. Promises to be a very good heartfelt morning. Then it's the start of our video series "Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours "by Kevin Leman. And closing out October is our feature with therapist Crystal Debeck. If you've ever jumped and lost your bladder you won't want to miss this talk. So come check us out Tuesday mornings starting at 9:30 at the Alliance Church (corner of 6th Ave.W and 28th).

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

dah dum...dah dum...dah dum

(yeah, that was the theme to jaws...)

One of the things that I dreaded most about sending Matthias to school has finally happened.


Someone


in his class


has


head lice!


Eeek!

I don't know why but that totally freaks me out (hmmm...could be the thought of teeny tiny little bugs ALL OVER YOUR HEAD). As soon as he came in and I saw the handout, I'm like "get to the bathroom and DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!" Thankfully it's not him, not yet (please God no, please God no). So we'll see what happens. Anybody have any cool head checking ideas??

Monday, October 08, 2007

so...muh....

Dixie is up (and in fine form) and running again and I like what she said about it being hard to shut off the "this would be really good on my post if I write it like this" kind of attitude that seems to be running thru my mind almost every day. But then I sit down here and it's like my brain vomits, literally, I think it actually feels sick and so I wind up simply checking my e-mail and facebook and getting off. It's not that I feel compelled or a need to write, and usually the little snippets that I have, I don't think are really worth it. I don't know if that means I should go on hiatus for awhile or what. Maybe I'll just write down all my snippets and then one day just throw them all out there for you to read. That could be disturbing!

Anyway, for now I'll leave you with this...
Steve and I went to our pastor/spouse retreat last week (which by the way everyone survived - including the dog and the 2 cats my sister brought with her) and one of the speakers there was a pastor named Eugene Cho. He was a funny and smart little Korean man that I found myself actually wanting to wake up and listen to every morning. He spoke very frankly and down to earth and told alot of stories (which I love!). One of his stories was about Amy Grant and how at the time that she went secular he belonged to a group that went completely against her. They burnt her cd's, they boycotted everything to do with her. One day a friend of his offered him a free ticket to one of her shows, and he took it and went to her concert. Somewhere in the middle she stopped singing and gave sort of a testimony/ explanation/ reason for her jump into the secular world. She said she felt like God was calling her to be a light to the world, not just a light to the lighted.
I really liked that comment. I'm not sure why, I'd like to think it's not just a bitterness thought aimed at my M.I.L. (she would've thought this guy was on a straight in narrow right into the pits of hell!) but something that I want to think about for me.
And in the period of Thanksgiving he also told some stories of immigrants and how one time there were a group on a plane and they wound up wetting their pants 'cos they couldn't believe that there could possibly be toilets on an airplane. Or how he hosted a family (from Korea I think) and they were amazed that a little switch on the wall could turn lights off and on, which they tried repeatedly (he said that the first 5 minutes was cute but after that it got a little annoying). Think of all the things that we take for granted and should be thankful for.

So there you go. The photo above wasn't taken at the top, to our benefit we only had an hour (up and down), it was snowing...alot and windy and I will honestly fess up to nearly puking...but I didn't...and I am thankful for that.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

a little worried

Tomorrow morning bright and early, well early for me anyway, Steve and I are off to Canmore for our Covenant Pastor and Spouse Retreat. I love how they call it a "retreat" 'cos we have to drive 8 hours there and back and the whole thing is only 3 days to begin with so technically we're only there for 1.5 days, and the drive is anything but relaxing. Anyway, off topic.

Tomorrow we leave and we leave our children behind. True I've left them before, those who know me know that I usually have no problem with that, but this time I'm a wee bit nervous. My sister is watching them while we're away. She's watched the 2 of them before, but it's adding the 3rd one that worries me. So if you think of me these next few days, pray for her and my children. And pray that everyone gets fed, including Gus the dog, no one gets hurt and they all still have hair by the time we get back.

Thank you.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Happy Birthday!


Hard to believe my little boy is now 5 years old.

Even tho' I know you'll probably never see this...Happy Birthday buddy. Mommy loves you.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

foot sex

A few weeks ago Steve came home from Davidners with 3 pairs of J.B.Field's Naturals wool socks. These aren't just any wool socks, their 96% Merino Wool socks. Oh yeah baby. I asked him what's so great about these socks. He said they just feel so good. Kinda like sex for you feet. So today I went out and bought me a pair of these socks.

Let the good times roll!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Look out!

The almonds are coming! The almonds are coming!! Kids everywhere are selling chocolate covered almonds!

I'm listening to the radio right now (sadly one of my favourite stations is The Wolf out of Regina) and Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven is on. Do you remember back in high school when this song was everything? Well it was for me. If you went to a school dance, it was almost a guarantee that this song would be the "final song". And then if you weren't dancing that last song, you might as well write "L-O-S-E-R" on your forehead with permanent marker. Man....those were the good ol' days (heavy on the sarcasm). I remember dancing to Bryan Adams Everything I Do (I do it for you) with this totally hot guy and we didn't know there was an extended version of the song ('cos they never played it on the radio) so the time comes when it normally would end and we start pulling away, but then the song keeps going! Talk about embarrassment.

Yikes I was just googling Stairway to Heaven and there's some questionable content in that song. I did not know that. Did anyone else know that? Hmmm....

So yesterday at Mom's we had Mel Shatula come talk to us. She's a super great talker. If I had the money I would pay her to be my personal trainer. She just seems really down to earth and easy to talk to. Anyway she had lots to say about fat, muscle and eating right. I don't know if I actually knew this before, but she mentioned that you burn more calories when you have more muscle, so you can't just do cardio all the time, you have to actually work the muscles (i.e. weightlift) to get the full effect. So the past 6 months of running and biking haven't really done me anything. Great. Hopefully now we'll actually see some benefits, now that I know what I'm doing.

oh yes!! Guess what starts up again tomorrow??

SURVIVOR!

I'm sadly very excited to begin watching the latest installment of deceitful, half naked humans backstabbing their way to a million dollars. I'm pulling for James the gravedigger. And did anyone catch the first episode of Kid Nation? Apparently there's quite the scandal about the whole idea. In my opinion, if the kid wants to go, let them go.

I'm just going to keep linking shows from cbs....I love the announcers voice. It's like the movie preview's guys voice. Ha ha, makes me laugh.

Monday, September 17, 2007

sing it with me!

Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
mutilated monkey meat
little birdies dirty feet
great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
and I forgot my spoon
but I got my straw....
ssssllllllurp!!


Tomorrow Melanie Shatula is coming to Mom's to do some exercise stuff and talk about upcoming classes she's teaching. Should be a good time. Dress comfortably.

Also coming up, Thursday Sept 27, is Mom's Nite Out. Meet at BP's at 6 pm and we'll head over to Minto around 8 pm. This is always a good time and lot's of laughs. See you there!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

WARNING...I'm having an emotional day!!

Yesterday I was laying in bed praying that my bladder would hold 'cos it felt cold in the house and my bed was warm, and I wasn't looking forward to jumping out of bed, when I heard the sound of footprints on our 'security' monitor (an old baby monitor we rigged up outside after all 4 of our tires were slashed last winter). I jumped out of bed and ran to the back door to look outside. Sure enough there was this guy walking around our back yard checking out our wheel barrow. He then went to the garage door, took the padlock off (it wasn't locked, but the garage door was) and then went to our van. I yelled for Steve. The guy tried all our doors, only to find them locked. Steve ran over, in his shorts, slipped on some shoes and a jacket and went outside to talk to the guy (and get our padlock back). Instead of running away, the guy reached into his jacket and lunged after Steve. I ran to phone the cops. Apparently the groundskeeper from the school across the street (Won-ska cultural school) saw the whole thing and was coming towards them too. She had also phoned the cops. I later found out that the guy had pulled a sock that had a rock tied into it out of his jacket and had swung that at Steve. I don't know what finally scared him off, but he got back on "his" mountain bike and biked off down the alley. Of course he was completely gone when the cops finally showed up. No harm was done to anyone or anything, a good thing considering we had just had our front windshield replaced 2 weeks ago. All that before 7 am yesterday.

Needless to say we had a rough night last night as well. Steve said he dreamt about a fight and getting beaten up. And every little noise I heard on the monitor made me wake up and listen closely. I hope tonite will be better.

Matthias is at school today. His 2nd full day (he had a 1/2 day on Tuesday). I had an early errand to run so I decided to drive by the school and check out how he was doing. It was before the first bell rang. I parked the van across the street and looked for my little man. I saw him ontop a slide trying to get back down the stair side. I thought that was odd. He's never done that before. I continued to watch as he came down and went over to 2 boys. They buddied up and kept turning away from him. Then they ran away from him. Matthias would catch up and the boys would run and hide from him. Matthias would loose them and stand by himself. He looked so lost. I started bawling and had to lock the door so I wouldn't jump out and go comfort my little boy. For the past 5 years I've tried so hard to keep him safe, and now he's stepped into the world, out of my grasp and there's nothing I can do. So I sat there and cried. 2 other boys then came up to him and one looked a bit bigger than Matthias. The bigger boy pushed him. Matthias ran away and the boys followed him and pushed him again. I wanted to go over to this kid and push him, see how he liked it. Tell him to leave my kid alone! Then the bell rang and they all ran to line up. I started the van and drove slowly away. When I got home I just hugged Steve and cried.

Tonite I'm going to a fundraiser for a fellow Mom. She's been coming to Mom's Morning Out for a few years now and she's a regular Mom's Nite Out-er. She has 2 girls (4 and 2 years old) and is currently pregnant with twins. She recently found out that one of these little babies has Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome. It means that he has an extra 18th chromosome, which causes severe birth defects. His chance of survival is slim. There is a 50% chance of him surviving birth. If he makes it he has a 50% chance of surviving the first month and if he makes that he then has only a 5-10% chance of making it to his first birthday. The Mom is a stay-at-home mom and her hubby will be taking time off to be with her, in S'toon, while they go through this. So her sister-n-law is having this fundraiser. I'm sure it'll be an emotional evening.

And I just burnt my cookies.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

so far this week...

Looking back I can say that Sunday was good. True the Kez was super fussy at church, but she did finally fall asleep (the last 5 minutes of the service...but who's counting?). The sun was shining, we all had naps. Steve and I went to see 3:10 to Yuma (true we went on different nights, but it felt like we were there together...) which is awesome! We were looking forward to events starting up this week. Yes, it was going to be a good week.

Then came the phone calls. Now if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that my in-laws are not on my 'MY5 List'. They're not even on MY10 list (if there was such a thing). So you should know where this is going. This Sunday Steve turns 30 (which again, I know it's a "big" birthday, but really shouldn't we be just as excited by him turning 31? Or 29? Isn't the point to celebrate another year of the person's life??) and way back when we were talking about what he wanted to do for his birthday. The idea came up of having a guy's poker night. Cool. He can do that and then on his birthday I'll make a cheesecake and we can celebrate as a family. Well, apparently that's just not good enough. His brother is coming up Friday for the poker night and sort of invited himself to stay till Sunday. Great. I love him. We get along sooo well (heavy on the sarcasm). His mother sounded all cheated, so we talked a bit more and decided that we'd go out for supper and then come back here for a cake and ice cream deal (we're going out b'cos all Steve's mom does is cook. She has shelves of recipe books and a normal meal consists of like 4 salads, home made bread - that she ground her own flour for, 2 types of meat or a main dish that could easily feed like 20, and a huge dessert - usually something homemade like pie or a cake - and not a mix cake, oh no, this is a made from scratch cake - and anyway, I just don't feel up to the pressure of cooking to impress, when all we had originally wanted was a private family birthday). Now where was I....ah yes. Again, not good enough. She wants to drive out to Narrow Hills for a picnic. But wait? Isn't this Steve's birthday? Shouldn't he be able to decide what he wants to do? So all day yesterday we're stressing out and talking about this weekend, that we were originally looking forward to, and now almost dreading. Let's just say it took awhile to get to sleep last night, and sadly not for all the good reasons, if you know what I mean. *wink wink, nudge, nudge*

This morning was the first Mom's Morning Out. Good to see so many new faces and the oldies (but goodies!) too. It always nice to get back and talk with Mom's you haven't seen in a few months. Next week we have Melanie Shatula coming to do some fitness stuff. Last spring she did an exercise ball workout with us that was pretty awesome.

I read this today on Bonnie's blog. It's a good read and something to keep in mind as we, Mom's, slug our way thru the day and sometimes wonder just what we're doing it all for. I know I wonder that sometimes, especially like now, when the kids are all suppossed to be laying down for a nap and I can hear Matthias running around upstairs, Callah is down - that I know and Keziah is on the couch beside me. I lay her on her back and she rolls over, pinning her left arm uncomfortably underneath her causing her to cry. I lay her on her stomach and she cries. I lay her on her back again and she rolls over, pinning her arm underneath her once again. So begins the cycle and our "quiet" nap time is ruined.

I had a good laugh today when a Mom and I were discussing our "diet" and wondering why the donuts and ice cream weren't magically working off the pounds. Wouldn't that be awesome? If someone invented a pastry or ice cream that would actually work off the pounds while you ate it? You could make a fortune!

If only.

Now to forage out, in the rain, with my 3 kids and do some grocery shopping.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

I have a confession...

...to make.

I like to eat the raisins out of the Raisin Bran box.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

last fling

Yesterday we went on our last holiday fling to the big city (Saskatoon). We left yesterday morning, bright and early, hit Tim's for some crappy tea, went back home to pick up some stuff we had forgotten (life jackets, razor and pablum), stopped at Turks for lukewarm coffee and a weak steamer and made it onto Hwy 11 before realizing Steve had forgotten his sun glasses. We were beginning to wonder if maybe we shouldn't be going. However, the rest of the drive there was uneventful.

First thing we did when we hit the city was stop at Broadway Roasters for some Monk tea ( and as I look back now I should've bought some hot chocolate 'cos they are one of the few places that make their hot chocolate with actual chocolate milk that in my opinion tastes WAY better than chocolate syrup in white milk) then off to the exciting Saskatoon zoo. Now if you haven't been to many zoos I strongly recommend going to the Saskatoon zoo before hitting a bigger zoo, something like Calgary. Otherwise, the whole time you're walking around looking at animals that you would normally hit on Saskatchewan highways, you're children will be like "where are the dinosaurs? I want to look at something else? Are the elephants here?" etc, etc. Doesn't really enhance the viewing pleasure. Altho' the bull elk was quite aggressive and would charge the fence everytime a vehicle would drive by. That was pretty cool.

Then there was the fishing pond. Now I have to say that lately I find fishing quite relaxing and soothing. It doesn't really matter that I haven't caught anything. However, when the stupid fish are jumping all around the place where you've cast your line, that can tend to be kind of nerve wracking to say the least. And before you know it, the peaceful lull of casting and reeling in is covered by a gentle stream of "loving" words geared towards fish. All in all, an hour well spent.

Now off to the Days Inn. Luckily, for some freakish reason yesterday every major road in Saskatoon was either closed or backed up thanks to construction and a stopped train. So travel on Circle, Idyllwyld, 20th, 22nd, and Warman were completely retarded. It took us over an hour to get from the Days Inn to Fuddruckers. Anyway I skipped ahead of myself. So we decided to stay at the Days Inn 'cos they've been really good to us in the past. This time was no exception. We even got Shrek goodie bags for the kids. We thought the pool and waterslide would be a nice treat after a day of walking around and we were right. Add onto that the fact that we actually remembered the kids life jackets (after forgetting the first time I mean) and it was clearly a highlight. The best thing that happened tho', I'd have to say was when Matthias came down the slide and swallowed a bunch of water, which in turn made him cough spasmodically, making me grab him and hold him against me to pat his back which resulted in him throwing up down the front of my swim suit. Good thing I have cups, otherwise that mess would've wound up in the pool!! Ha... ha... ha...

One thing I regret was not taking the camera into the hotel with us. There were plenty of memorable moments playing fish on the beds with the new Shrek cards, jumping from bed to bed and making Keziah shriek with glee. Today wasn't as eventful. We did some shopping, went swimming again (and not to be outdone by her brother, Callah, not wearing her life jacket, right before we were going back to the room, walked right up to the waters edge, plugged her nose, actually said, "weee!" and jumped into the deep end feet first. Steve dove in after her, but it'll take a few days to get the image of her eyes, open looking at us, as she was going down, out of my head) and hit a cool playground before piling back into the van and coming home.

Now I can say that summer is over.
I feel content, at least for awhile.
A new year is upon us.
Change is in the wind and things are happening.

Did I mention that Matthias has to catch the bus at 8:12 am? I don't get out of bed until after 8:30 if I can help it.

Summer please come back!

Saturday, September 01, 2007

proud grandma

"So when does Matthias start school?"
"Actually his first day is today."
"Ahh...first day of learning how to swear."

*conversation as told to Lisa by Steve (with his Mom).

This is what I have to deal with.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

whereabouts


This is what happens when spur of the moment meets strategically planned. Note Callah is wearing a grubby ol' Dora shirt and the jeans that she's wearing, the fly won't stay up, so her shirt is perfectly stretched over the zipper. Nice. Goes very well with The Kez's fancy flower print.

So we just got back from 4 days holiday at a cabin. Note to self: might want to tell someone where we're going or at least that we are infact going somewhere so people will know and stop leaving messages on our answering machine wondering if we're dead. But in fact, if we were dead, we wouldn't be checking our messages 'cos last I heard dead men check no messages. Or at least that's what I heard. I could be wrong.

For those who know Kim Dunphy, it was brought to my attention that she's recently joined the world of blogging. You can check her out here and she'll be added to the list on the side.

Have you seen those furry, fat caterpillars? Steve informed me the other day, while driving on the highway, that he really hates running over them (if you've been on a highway lately you may have noticed that they are ALL OVER THE ROAD). I said," good luck! How can you miss?" To his credit, he started swerving attempting to avoid contact with the little buggers. That's my husband!

Tomorrow Matthias starts Kindergarten. I know I'm more nervous than he is. I'm afraid he'll beat his fellow classmates up. He's becoming more and more "tough" lately. Might have something to do with his Dad actually placing a wager on whether or not he could take down his 6 year old 2nd cousin. Or the fact that his parents struggle with Hulk-like anger issues. Let's face it, he's been doomed from the start! I'm also afraid of him going on the bus. You see all sorts of videos of kids being beaten up on the bus. 5 seems so young to be sending them off into the world! Who's bright idea was that? Hey, the kid just turned 5 let's ship 'em off to some big scary brick building for hours of brain enhancing "fun" play!! Aack! Gag! Forget about whether or not he's ready for this! Am I ready for this?

Sigh.

My little man is growing up.

Friday, August 24, 2007

dog days

I'm not really sure what "dog days of summer" actually means, but for my purposes, this is what I refer to as the "dog days of summer". You know the time when school starts up again. Groups start up again. If you go camping, wearing a toque to bed is a necessity. You don't have to cut the grass quite as often. You don't salivate every time you drive by DQ, or the local cone shop (well okay, maybe you're one of those people that live off of ice cream even in the winter...well good on you!) and slurpees are no longer your favourite drink of choice (again, maybe you're one of those people that like to stand in the freezing cold of winter sucking on a slurpee b'cos you honestly believe that by making your insides really cold it will somehow make you actually feel warm). The leaves start to turn colours and you have to start worrying about frostbite on your baby tomatoes. The temperature is a steady 15 - 20 degree C, which amazingly enough feels quite cool. So cool that you find yourself wearing slippers and a nice cozy bunnyhug with the hood over your head (sadly remembering that only a few months earlier this same temperature made you believe it was indeed summer causing you to dust off your tank tops and shorts).

Yes these are my dog days of summer.


I went for a massage yesterday. I might've cried and I think I stopped breathing 3 times. It sure felt good.

Mom's Morning Out starts up again soon. September 11 to be exact. 9:30 am at the Alliance Church. Check out the link on the side for the hot topics.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

minute by minute

I seem to be waging a war with myself on an emotional battlefield lately (hurting those around me in the process) and the best piece of advice I received today was to just take things minute by minute.

Right now that sounds about all I can do.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

"take me to your leader..."

Yeah, Keziah's already a real head turner...and she's only 5 months!

Monday, August 13, 2007

So this is how you do it....

Well according to Mr. Clear Blue (thankfully) I am not pregnant. However, I cannot say that taking the test was quite exciting. I can see why people get addicted! I was really nervous at first, this being my first test I've ever taken before. I didn't want to take it too soon, but then they say they need the first urine of the day (and now I'm wondering, do you really want to know about this?) and I was actually loosing sleep over the whole situation until I finally got up and took the stupid thing. To be honest I'm a little disappointed. For some sick reason the thought of having another baby right away was kind of exciting. But whatever. I'm not, so you can all rest easy now that you know.

And last week Steve and I took the youth group and our own 2 kids camping at Narrow Hills. It was alot of fun as I knew it would be. Some of the highlights were the fact that our 2 kids were the ONLY kids that caught fish the entire week. I wasn't out in the canoe with them, but I hear it was quite the event. I guess they (the kids) were fine reeling the fish in and then watching as Steve slugged it unconscious, but when the fish jumped again Callah just freaked and wouldn't stop screaming until they landed back on shore. I wish I had seen it. We had a hard time getting her to pose with her big catch. This was as close as she would get. And always a sucker for sunsets, this is why I love camping. Matthias also did us proud once again but climbing the fire lookout tower. I don't know how much truth there is to this, but I heard someone say that he was the youngest person to ever climb it, which he did last year at the age of 3. That's him, 2nd from the bottom, green shirt.

And now reality is once again upon us and Keziah has been fussy ever since we picked her up from the sitters on Friday. I don't know what special gift that family had so I'll just leave it to the luck of the English. That accent must hold some sort of magical power to soothe. Maybe we'll just play some Sean Connery movie over and over until she settles (and yes, I know he's not English, but who can resist that voice??).

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Wind down

There's nothing like a cold drink to take the edge off an emotionally stressful, dusty, hot, tiring long weekend at your step-father-in-laws family reunion.

Monday, July 30, 2007

there's a reason

If you check around, there's not alot of blog action happening around the web these days. I'm blaming it on the heat (as I sit here, all stinky and sweaty...yes I know I have to shower). If all else fails, blame everything on the heat, that's what I say. That and the fact that our household has just been busy. Here's what we've been up to...

As it turns out Callah didn't eat the sea shells. A few weeks after the incident we found the shells in a cubby hole in the van. Matthias was ecstatic and claimed Callah was his hero for the rest of the day.

Keziah is teething and a drooly mess.

We spent a week in Regina, where we checked out Chuck E Cheese for the first time. What a hit! I'm glad they're still young enough to know that it's not about how many tickets you get, but how much fun you have. Right?

We then spent a week at my parent's cabin at Marean Lake. Where we went minnow fishing EVER SINGLE DAY at least 2x a day. Now I gotta tell you, the funniest part of this whole experience was when Callah fell off the dock into the lake. She completely freaked out! Matthias and I were on the next dock and I started to run towards her, but when I realized that the water only came up to her chest, I slowed down a bit. She was fine. We also caught a few frogs and a crawfish (which Matthias still believes to be a "baby lobster"). Lots of "cool" wildlife and a week well spent.

Immediately following our return was Callah's 3rd birthday. You know the phrase "it's my party I can cry if I want to..."? Well she took it literally and not only cried, but pooped on the sidewalk (in her swimsuit) and threw up her cake in the new pool her dad bought her! It will be a birthday to remember (for us anyway).

Add onto that with a few melting hot days, a hot trip to Waskesui for the day, a 24 hour whirlwind trip to Regina, a box of ice cream sandwiches, a slurpee a day (thank goodness for 99 cent refill cups!), the start of Pablum for the Kez, and me literally thrusting my body forward 2-3 times a week wildly flailing my arms around trying to continue on with my running (or more accurately jogging)...believe me, it's not a pretty sight. And that's what we've been up to.

Now if you'll excuse me, my eyelids hurt and and I have to wash off this layer of sweat before the next one starts to stick.

heartburn...a cause for concern

I know normally heartburn wouldn't be a big deal, but you see, for me I only get heartburn when I'm pregnant. So last night, when I had some heartburn, I was a little concerned. I asked Steve, "wouldn't it be funny if I was pregnant?" He just kinda dry laughed and it was one of those funny/scary moments, not really a funny ha ha moment. And it doesn't really help that I haven't had my period yet since going off the breastfeeding.

I suppose I should drink now while I can...

And on another positive note, at least I'd be done.

Monday, July 23, 2007

mmmbblllaahhhhhhhhh....

for those who don't know...that's the sound of me melting.

I don't do well in heat.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Callah

Three years ago today I was dreading the impending thought of possibly being induced the following morning. Already 14 days overdue, the doctors didn't want to wait any longer and looking back, I was pretty ready to get this baby out too.

I remember shopping at Sobeys and then heading back home for supper and a relaxing evening on the couch watching TV and the thunderstorm approaching from the north west. A few hours later and about 15 minutes into America's Funniest Videos I started having some contractions. They were a little tense, so I timed them to the clock on the VCR. I finally told Steve and my folks (who were in town at the time) that I think this baby is finally ready to be born! 4 hours later out popped little Callah and we've never been the same since!

(unfortunately Steve and I were never very technologically advanced so we didn't - and still don't- have a digital camera, so I went back as far as we have on cd and these are some of the best that I can come up with...)



Life with you has been anything but dull. Happy 3rd Birthday my little princess.


I know you'll stop eating things you shouldn't soon.

a little delay

I know it's been a while and you may be thinking "she's been gone, like, forever and this is what she posts when she gets back?" (or maybe not...) but I swear I have more to say, just not enough time right now.

Anyway...

TICK WARNING!
I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and I have even done it
myself a couple of times unintentionally...but this one is real, and it's
important. So please send this warning to everyone on your e- mail list.

If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due
to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around
with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.



I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

sea shells

"Mom! Callah took my sea shells!"
"Callah where are Matthias' sea shells?"
"In my belly."
"No really. Where are the shells?"
"In my belly." She points to her belly.
"Oh no, you didn't." I look at my daughter. "Callah, did you eat the sea shells?"
She nods her head yes.
I put my head in my hands and sigh.

This is my daughter.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

fred the fly

Today we mourn the death of fred the fly who was brutally murdered by a 2 year old girl early this morning. It would appear that fred flew out of nowhere and scared the little girl who ran and got a pretty blue fly swatter and proceded to "fwap" poor fred until there were little pieces of him everywhere. Fred will be sadly missed by his hundreds of relatives.

*the reason this is so notable is that it's her first "kill". She was pretty excited.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

the cereal game

I've been wanting to post this for awhile, but never did. Until now. Lucky you.

Every morning I have this breakfast routine. First I pour about 10 mini-wheats (preferably the brown sugar ones) into a bowl. Then comes a handful of Shreddies ontop of the mini's. Followed by another handful of Honey Nut Cheerios and a "sprinkling" of Fruit Loops. Now of course, there's a certain way I eat this concoction. First I dig deep for the mini-wheats and eat those. Then I carefully spoon out the cheerios and fruit loops. And finally I eat the soggy shreddies. How sweet it is. For a little adventure I have frosted flakes instead of the "o's".

I need a life.

Monday, June 18, 2007

no words

I'm totally getting hooked on this whole Facebook thing. It's addicting and as a mother of 3 I'm finding it hard to be addicted to much of anything (other than caffeine). While endlessly cruising last week I came across this one from my sister's "page". I knew Chris when he helped out with this youth retreat event that I was co-organizing like 5 years ago. He was a solid faith guy. I was instantly weeping when I read what happened to his wife and when I was explaining to Steve what Chris had written, I started weeping again. That's all I'm going to say. I hope the links work.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

sorry for treating you....

There is a reason why I haven't blogged much lately. If you haven't noticed anything odd, then don't worry about it. It's because of my new neighbours. Of course not directly b'cos of them, but they've had a hand in my madness. You see when we first bought our house there was a super sweet 90 year old man living next door. He was the best neighbour you could ask for. He'd give us fresh veggies from his garden and bring candies and snacks over for the kids. He was a great guy. Then came the time when he felt like he just couldn't shovel the ol' walk anymore or mow the lawn. Time to sell and move into a seniors place. Life just hasn't been the same since. The people who bought the house were younger and so we were excited. Then we realized that they were making it into a rental house. Not good. Well I shouldn't say that, b'cos we were renters ourselves for the first 2 years of our marriage. So instead I'll say we were hopeful. That hope quickly turned to fear and hate. I won't go deeply into that 'cos that's a whole other story on it's own. Anyway, a year later (and 5 renters later) the house sat empty for a few months. We were glad. Then a few weeks ago, Steve noticed something stirring next door and sure enough a new family was moving in.

Now as far as I can tell there are 3 little girls (around the 5-6 year age mark) and a baby/toddler in there somewhere too. 2 women (one possibly an aunt) and they just got a puppy on the weekend. So far, they seem good. The girls are polite and play well with our kids. My only complaint is that they want to come over ALL THE TIME. We've told them numerous times that they're welcome to come over and play when our kids are outside. I guess that must translate into "keep coming over and knocking on my flippin' door and asking me if my kids can come out and play." Seriously they come over all the time. At least 2x in the morning and again in the afternoon, followed by a few more times around supper. And of course, they don't have "normal" sleeping hours like most children do. Oh no. Instead they're out playing on the grass (which is right outside our window, which is right by my head when I'm suppose to be sleeping) till 11:30 or so, laughing hysterically. I guess I should be glad they're getting their excercise. (??)

Whatever.

So all this to say that I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost 2 weeks. Therefore I've been a grumpy ogre, storming at my children and freaking out at the hubby, wanting to hurl things across the house and maybe hit something along the way. Which brings me to the main brain attack. Mother's Day 2006. We went to a friends house to watch the Survivor finale and they had bought a DQ ice cream cake.
This is what they had written on it. At the time I couldn't fully comprehend the statement. But now I know quite well what she was thinking. A few days ago I was thinking that if this were a real job, I would have quit long ago. Fortunately (or un- depending on how you look at it) this particular job I can't run away from. The perks may seem few and far between some days, but they are there. You just have to look for them. Now I need to listen to my own advice and look for a perk before I lose my sanity for good.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

finally...

..ha ha just kidding. Hot off the press, here are a few shots of our exciting Mom's Nite Out 2nd Annual Golf Nite. If you have any complaints, write to her. I don't remember if I mentioned anything about the actual night itself, but it was a blast. It always is. There's nothing more therapeutic than hanging around, kid free talking to a bunch of other Mom's about stuff that your children have done. There were anatomy stories and bowel movement stories and your everyday good kid stuff stories. I loved it!


I also just noticed that our Galaxy Cinemas has started the stars and strollers program, where you can go watch movies with your babies. I don't know how long they've been doing it, but I can remember seeing an ad for it a long time ago and then finding out that it's not offered here in PA. So anyway, now it is! You can check it out here for details.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Sunday, June 03, 2007

drool

Did I mention that I seem to have a problem drooling out of the left side of my mouth?

Saturday, June 02, 2007

tick...tick...tick

It's amazing how slowly time seems to slip by when you're laying awake in bed listening to the partygoers down the street. Before you know it it's 3:37 am and you've decided to give in and phone the cops (who were already on their way for the 3rd time that night!!).

All is quiet.

KAW-KAW-KAW! Apparently every crow in a 5 mile radius decides to catch up on the latest news...in the tree right outside your window. 4:13 am.

5:07 am and Keziah starts getting fussy. Feeding time!

6:24 am you finally crawl back into bed, hoping to catch a few zzzz's before the alarm goes off in just over an hour and your hubby starts snoring. The kind of snore that sounds like one of those toy noise makers they give to little kids at parties. Only this noise maker has been stepped on a bit so it's really low and super wheezy.

7:32 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

7:37 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

7:42 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

You finally leech out of bed (at the promise of bacon & eggs at A&W) and begin your day.

I

love

summer.

Friday, June 01, 2007

note to self

I watched Oprah today (for the first time in a long time) and saw a clip from a previous show about forgiving yourself. The clip was about a woman who was driving home with her 6 small children in the car and she fell asleep at the wheel. The van (I'm guessing) hit the side rail, flipped and slid down a deep bank landing in a river or lake. She was able to free herself and one child and paramedics freed 2 more, 3 other children died. I can't imagine that. There's been times when I've been driving on the highway and my head has dozed. I've had to stop the vehicle and get out and stretch or stop somewhere and buy something to snack on. I just can't imagine what might've happened. Something we need to remember. Wherever we're going is not so important that we need to take such chances. Note to self.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

snipits

I hate days that involve alot of poop that's not my own.

What's the difference between a cabin, a cottage and a house that are all at a lake?

I wonder what babies think/dream about? Giant boobies?

I watched this movie last night while Steve was watching the Stanley Cup playoffs called Griffin & Phoenix. Highly enjoyable. Highly recommendable. Total chick flick. Have kleenex nearby kind of movie.

The previous obituary was comical b'cos Steve is a total Chuck Norris fan. He always goes to this one website and gets these ridiculous quotes.

I was thinking about my life list and thought of a couple. Backpack across the UK. Hang glide. Rally race. Go to Spain and take part in Tomatina. Camp out in a hut on a beach. Go on another mission trip. There's just a few that I've thought of so far.

Whenever I spend time with another couple I'm reminded of how much I love Steve. It's not that the other couple is bad, but I see how well I don't "fit" them and how well I fit with Steve.

We just came back from a weekend with the Mother-in-law. I'm feeling nice at the moment so I won't be too negative. But I will say it has got to be hard to be that negative towards other people.

I love garlic bread.



sweet





QuizGalaxy!
'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Friday, May 18, 2007

May Long

Ahhh...there's nothing like a May Long Weekend. Sitting out on the beach, with blankets wrapped around your legs, toque covering the head and mitts on your hands enjoying the beautiful SNOW falling on the ground. Gag!!! Snow! I can't believe it's stinkin' snowing!! My furnace just cut in, I'm freezin!

This is so not how a long weekend is suppossed to be!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

girls week

This week is officially my girls week out. Meaning just Keziah and I are home right now. So far, it's had it's ups and downs. It appears that neither of us sleep very well when Daddy isn't here with us and we don't eat very well either. Actually I suppose that depends on what you call "well" as I am eating my 2 favourite things: ice cream cake and macarooni.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Thankful

Lately I'm becoming more aware of things. More aware of how fortunate I am to have 3 happy, healthy children and the fact that I had no problems getting pregnant and delivering them. Last weekend I was at my brother's place in Melfort and Jill, my sister-in-law, was telling me about this little guy that she knew who was born with some sort of bone disorder. I don't know exactly what it is, but she said that his bones are very brittle and brake at the slightest movement. Shortly after he was born his parents couldn't figure out why he kept crying. After numerous tests they found out that he had broken his leg and arm. So they had to go to Regina to set them and on they way back from the hospital he broke his other leg. Jill said that the mother can't nurse the little guy or burp him or anything. All they can do is lay him on the floor and just watch him. How sad. My heart aches at that and all I can do is pray for them and the little guy.

A friend of mine has 4 children and her youngest is named Elisabeth. This is the latest e-mail from her...

Hey there. I don’t know if most of you remember about a year and a half ago I sent an email about a heart condition Elisabeth has, it’s called an Atrial Septal Defect. We have been for 2 check-ups since then and yesterday the doctor told us that open heart surgery is the only option and he wants it done this year. So we will be going to Edmonton Children’s Hospital to get this done probably late summer or fall. We have been praying for healing constantly and will continue to do so. So if you think of her send up a prayer. I know God has protected her throughout her life so far with this condition. Most children have recurring chest infections, she has had none. And there can also be problems with growth etc. but she is a very healthy girl. So thank you for the prayers sent so far on her behalf and we will keep you posted as to the exact time of her surgery. Thanks for your prayer support. God is in control, I know that and trust that He is with us and will be with the doctors through the surgery. Thanks for your prayers.

Elisabeth will be 4 in September.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

NOW

Awhile back I saw this ad on TV for this NOW show. It was hosted by Phil (from Amazing Race, which is one show that I would LOVE to be on and I think Steve and I would win, or at least come in top 3. Aim big right?) and I just think he has the coolest job, so I thought it would be neat to check it out. The whole idea stems from a near death experience and how we should be thankful that we are alive and therefore not "waste" the time we have. N.O.W. (No Opportunity Wasted). The fact that it's coming to Canada I think is the coolest, 'cos so rarely do these shows allow Canadians to apply. I'm just excited.

Anyway, so after this near death experience Phil made a list for life (which I'm sure you've heard of in one form or another). I just spent a few minutes checking out the site and now I'm wondering what my biggest fear is? If I had 72 hours to do something for someone (or the world), what would I do? What would I put on my list for life? I was reading one and I kinda chuckled. This woman's biggest fear was dying before she had the chance to model. Yeah....... But I guess it's her fear, however whacked it might be.

So I'm going to think about this for awhile and I'll get back to you. In the meantime, what are some of yours?