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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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! ;-)

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.

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.

driveby's

I love plums.

*Yeesh. As a side note, a few minutes ago the sun was shining and there were few clouds. After sitting down here a bit, watching the weather station, seeing thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next 36 hours, and then looking outside to see dark grey clouds, I'm thinking it was a good thing I took down the tents.*

Right.
I love plums. I love how sweet, soft and juicy they are. How when you take your first bite, the juice runs down your chin. They're just so good. On the few occasions I've had the luxury of going to the West Coast, one of the highlights has always been buying fresh fruit at one of the roadside stands. Plums, peaches, and cherries. Yum. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I think it's time we head out west again.

sleepless in PA

Last week Steve was away at a church camp. The kids and I had planned to go along, but more kids than we had planned on signed up (which is a good thing) so there was no room for us. Which was fine. My parents were coming up to stay with my Grandma, so I knew that I wasn't going to be totally "out there". I don't know about you, but when Steve leaves over night I have the worst sleeps. I try everything. Staying up late till I can't possibly stay up another minute-being so tired that I'll just collapse into bed completely unconscious, drinking alcohol (same result), grabbing a pillow and pretending it's Steve (the "cuddle" factor), and sleeping with one or both of the kids. I honestly don't know how I got thru the week.

Then of course when he gets back, having another body in bed again, throws me off and I couldn't sleep anyway. The next night Matthias was up sick from 2 am to about 8 am. I don't know how he manages to stay so active on VERY little sleep, me on the other hand, was a complete zombie yesterday. To complete the sleepless nights, last night Steve went to bed at 10 pm, but me, in my so called "infinite wisdom" had a nap yesterday making me less than sleepy last night, so I stayed up to watch the 2nd half of A&E's Pride and Prejudice. Again resulting in an after midnite bedtime, to which God answered with a vicious thunderstorm that woke both the kids screaming postponing my bedtime to after 2 am. As much as I love thunderstorms...well I'm just to tired to continue that thought.

And of course there's no EDO being a Mother, so there's plenty of stuff I have to get done today, so the nap is looking pretty slim, and the kids still have an abundance of energy. I think I'll take them to the park anyway and try to drain them a bit. Might make my day a little easier in the long run.

If you're in the PA area, next Thursday (20th) is the annual KIDZFEST at Kinsmen Park. I've taken the kids the past 2 years. There's cheap food and drinks (either $0.25 or $0.50) lots of games and activities for the kids to play and participate in. It's definately a good way to kill an afternoon. So mark it on your calendars and hope to see you there!

"Mom."

Today Matthias started calling me "Mom". For some reason it makes me kinda sad. Like he doesn't "need" me anymore. Like he's all grown up. I miss being his "Mommy".

sand, beer and men in tights

We had a really good anniversary last week. Makes the 5 years of marriage worth it. Hopefully it was productive as well (more on that hopefully soon!). The weather was stupid hot so the pool and waterslide were a cool comfort after a day of shopping. True to my mother-in-law's word she booked us at the Days Inn. Here's my hotel plug, if you want an enjoyable stay, this would be my choice. They also had a good breakfast selection and the price wasn't too far out there. It's also a CAA/AAA choice hotel. We had the best burgers at McGuires Pub in S'toon. If you're ever in the area you gotta try these burgers. They are so HUGE. Thursdays just happen to be their beer/burger night. You get a choice of 3 burgers and a choice of a 12 oz. beer for $6.95 (burgers are regularly $7.95 and beer is $3 something). Like I said, awesome deal. Then we went and saw Superman. I tell ya, nothing gets a girl in the mood like seeing a man in tights. And the actor who played Superman, well, by the end of the movie, I was ready to faint. What a great guy!! So that was our anniversary. The next day we hit Princess Auto (yeah!!) then went to pick up the kids and found out that Callah had dunked a 3 week old kitten in a bucket of oil.

When we got home I found out that my Grandma had been admitted to the hospital. My parents came up the next day and it's been non-stop action ever since. Today we just came back from the beach. I think Callah is finally over her fear of not seeing her feet in the water. But boy, was it funny when she was. We weren't home but 10 minutes when she pooped and tried to take her diaper off herself. That was disgusting. Now after a quick shower (for Callah) I left them upstairs eating apples and cheeze. Suppose I should go check on them. She has a habit of doing things she shouldn't. Like spraying disinfectant on the floor until there's actually a puddle. Or opening the playdoh and rolling it on the carpet. Or my favourite, helping herself to the juice in the fridge and winding up dumping it on the floor.

Tomorrow it's suppossed to be 37 degrees C.

Ugh.

tank tops

With the weather being so hot nowadays, I find it hard to not wear a tank top. I've never been a huge fan of them. I don't think I even wore them really until I was like 18. I used to always cut off the sleeves of old T-shirts. It wasn't until I married Steve that I actually bought and wore a spaghetti strap tank top. I don't know, I just don't like looking down and all I see is boobs.

hot fun in the summertime

Well yesterday morning I had 2 screaming kids before 9 am. I was pretty tempted to call beach day off, but thought, why should I not "enjoy" my day just b'cos of 2 screaming kids? I shook off the obvious reasons and saw only 1 thing on my "lisa-vision": the beach. So we packed up all our stuff, gave Callah some Tylenol and cough medicine and went to pick up Dixie, Madeline and Luke. After loading up their stuff, a quick stop at the office, the Co-op and Tim's we were on our way.
The trip there was fine enough. No major fits or tantrums. It wasn't until we actually hit the beach that they occurred. Matthias had a complete fit when he saw Madeline carrying the bag of beach toys. Apparently carrying lawnchairs wasn't exciting enough for him. So after a brief "time-out" he returned to the "party" and we all had a good time. The water was beautiful, only one leech was found, lunch went over great (rather than making sandwiches for the kids we cut up a bunch of stuff and they could munch on a little bit of everything in a cup. It worked great!), Callah and Luke waited until we were almost ready to leave before they pooped in their swimmers. It was just a really good time. I think we can definately do this again sometime. Way better than sitting at home going stir crazy!
But that's just my opinion. Dixie took some pic's so we'll see if she downloads them and hear her side of the story.

Then we came home and had a $6 large pepperoni pizza from Domino's. The kids had baths and went to bed early. It was a great day.

But then the day ended. And of course, most good things have to come to an end. Steve's been working his butt off trying to get things ready for camp (which starts on the 2nd of July - 8th, then again from the 17-21) and a lady from church asked him to put some new flooring in. He's been gone from 8 am to 10:30 pm, sometimes later, and I'm just tired of him being tired. I like to talk to my husband from time to time. So that created a bit of friction last night. There always seems to be friction near our anniversary. For once I think I'd just like to enjoy it. That would be nice.

You see Steve and I met 5 years ago in February. 5 months after that we got married. 6 months after that we found out we were pregnant (not planned). 5 months later we moved. 6 months later we moved again. 6 months later we moved one last time. In that 2 year period we went through 6 jobs between us. I honestly didn't think we'd make it to our first anniversary. I admit I'm an emotional person. Since getting married, we've seen friends get married and would always ask them if their "honeymoon period" was over yet. They'd always say no. Which made us feel like dirt, 'cos I think our "honeymoon period" lasted the span of our honeymoon. Of course, since then I've also heard from alot of people that their first year of marriage was anything but pleasant as well. Which is encouraging. Sure we've had our ups and downs. Since we've stopped moving, things have gotten better. More settled. More happier and uplifting. Babies have been planned and not a complete surprise. I can still say that he's a dream come true. I mean after all, not every guy will shave a leg for you if you ask him.

So, Steve, thanks for the past 5 years and I hope there will be plenty more and never a dull
moment.

oh yeah

I thought I'd throw this link on here too. Something Dixie threw my way. Check it out if your interested in that sort of thing.

beach day

Well tomorrow Dixie and I are going to attempt to take our 4 kids to the beach for the afternoon. I'll just leave it at that and I'm sure you'll hear about it afterwards, from both of us. Let your imaginations take control until then.

Chow!

Happy Sunday

I don't usually update or do anything remotely linked to a computer on Sunday, but the rest of my household is sleeping and I was told to NOT make any noise, so I went downstairs and here I am. I checked out this link courtesy of Dixie and laughed out loud (but not too loudly...). Like she said it might be a little crude, but worth checking out (especially this post). I've also added the link on the side for easy access. Enjoy!

dirty hands

Just a few moments ago I offered Matthias some cake and ice cream. We had just finished eating corn on the cob. He said, "no, I have to wash my hands first." So he went and washed his hands. Then he had cake...and had to wash his hands again. Then he had some ice cream. Does anybody else's kid do this???

KY

I just went upstairs to check on my kids and Callah had the lid off our KY and was playing on the couch. The tube was almost empty. I'm pretty sure there should be more in the tube. So now I'm wondering where did it all go?

Golf

Of course these are almost a month old already. I've been looking for them. I finally found them, and so here they are. The gang's all there: Renita, Bonnie, Kathryn, Wendy, Wendy, and Crystal. Bonnie wins for being the only one to wind up in a sandpit AND (believe it or not!) the one who took the biggest chunk out of the grass! Way to go Bonnie!! It was alot of fun, wish you had been here! Hopefully we'll see you out there with us next time (I'm thinking about making it an annual thing)!!

one more thing

what do you ladies think of this?

More thoughts....on the weekend and on nothing

Going back to the weekend (if you'd like to skip this part, skip down to here) I've never been around people1 talking to people2 on the phone as people2 are being pulled over by the cops as much as I have been this past weekend. I'm in awe of people who are in their 40-50's and don't have a care in the world so they spend as much as they can on booze and smokes. How do they do that? I'm also in awe of people who can't spend a weekend away from their Sony Playstation. Maybe I've just lived a sheltered life down there in Regina and don't know how the world really lives. I just don't know.

This morning I woke up to Matthias telling Callah to not eat yogurt in the living room. Tonite we're moving Matthias to the top bunk. I'm feeling impatient. He seems to be up and down with peeing the bed. He'll go for a dry week, then he'll have accidents every night for a few days, now he's on another dry streak. So whatever. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon saying we moved him back down.

Why is it that when you want to get pregnant, you can't?

I hate periods. I've always hated periods. They're disgusting and a total nuisance. I always ask Steve how he'd like to be leaking... (and I'll just leave it at that 'cos I can be quite disgusting sometimes). I don't care how evil we were in the Garden, I really don't think it's fair to have periods and all that includes and the ordeal of childbirth. Men have it so easy.

Going back to that pregnancy bit. So now we have to try again for another whole month. I was so looking forward to being pregnant and I hate being pregnant. I'm so disappointed.

I hate periods.

The weekend

Well the drive to North Battleford was nice.

That wasn't the only thing of course. True it is a road we don't take very often so the change of scenery was nice, the music was nice (I finally got to listen to my music on the MP3 player), and the kids were sleeping (which always leads to a good drive).

That leaves the actual weekend itself. Well. Okay so we when we get there, the people that are there are (about 10 people or so) look like they've been drinking since noon (we arrived at 4-ish). Everything we were supposed to arrive early for and do, was done already. Steve's Dad comes up to us, giddy like a drunken 50 yr. old (oh wait! He is a drunken 50 yr old!) and tells us that his longtime, live-in girlfriend (7 yrs) and him are getting married tomorrow. What??!! This coming from a guy who said he'd never get married again. Apparently hell froze over and he was getting married again. So good on them. His girlfriend, who the kids call Grandma Moe (Maureen) is a super nice woman. We honestly couldn't be happier for them. I just hope that the rings and it being legal and all doesn't freak them out and they split. I know too many long timers who have lived together and then got married and split. Not good.

So that was alright. We had agreed to sleep in a tent trailer in the back yard. Upon realizing that there was actually going to be a wedding in the garage not 10 ft away, I was beginning to rethink that agreement. Sure enough, Friday night due to the overall loudness of 20 some people drinking and having a good time and the fact that the highway is only a block up from their house, I'd say we had a good 2 hours of sleep (kids included). To keep this short and sweet, we booked a hotel for the next night.

It was an alright weekend. Not the worst weekend ever, nor by far, was it the best. Gas was 99 cents/litre which was super sweet. We ate lots of good food and everyone showed up and arrived home safely... so far as we know. And it was really good to get home and sleep in our own bed.

For some reason, I can't wait for July.

vomit

Well he did it. Matthias coughed so much that he spewed chunks. The best part tho' (if there can be a best part about vomit) was that I was in the shower at the time, so I missed everything. I could just shower and laugh at the sound of Steve gagging as he had to clean the mess up and Callah hitting the BuzzLightyear buttons. So picture this, Matthias crying, Steve gagging and the sound of "I'm Buzz Lightyear!! I come in peace!" echoing throughout our house.

It was a long night.

Afterthought

I forgot to mention that Steve and I watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" last night. It was Steve's first time, but I had seen it a couple of times before. There's something about movies like that, that I really enjoy. It has nothing to do with the actual concept or idea, but rather the woman's character. I love Kate Winslet's character. I wish I could be full of spunk like that and able to dye my hair with my moods. Same with "Sweet November". I love Charlize Theron's character. In both cases they do really spontaneous crazy stuff and live for the moment. Now I know that "living for the moment" can be dangerous and somehow un-God like, but there are times that I wish I could just be like that. Free to do whatever, whenever.

Time

For some reason I always find the time to sneak peaks at other people's blogs, while finding little time to update my own. Or maybe it's the fact that our dog keeps jumping our 8 ft high fence and digging up my garden forcing me to redo it over and over and over. Or maybe the fact that Callah has another ear infection and Matthias has a cold...again. Or could be just my lack of self worth, thinking "who in their right mind would be reading this?"

Anyway, I think I've mentioned before that I'm trying to hook up a good, clean, Christian based sex video for Mom's Morning Out in the fall. So far, I'm having no luck. We did this Marriage Uncensored series last year and one of the videos was called "The Top Ten Questions About Sex" (which was tabooed so we never actually go to watch it). A few nights ago a friend and I watched it to see what was so "taboo-ey" about it. We couldn't really see anything wrong (maybe we're just so warped it didn't affect us), nor was the video what I really had in mind anyway. So I'm still looking.

Last weekend we spent a night with the in-laws in S'toon. Not only did we have an irate "conversation" about Steve and I drinking (and I still shake my head in disbelief upon remembering) but also about women in ministry and evangelizing to people. I can't believe how "messed up" (I say that knowing it's not the word I'm thinking of, but can't think of anything else to describe her) she is. How Kent Hovind is as good as God in her books and every other author or person is nowhere near as good or Godly as he is. And I can't believe how EVERY time we go for a visit she ALWAYS brings up a family who has 8-12 kids and they were all homeschooled. Who cares? To top of the "visit from hell" it was raining all weekend, so the kids were running around the house like electricuted mice on speed. I will say this tho', they do make good popcorn! This weekend will also be a weekend to look forward to, as we hit Steve's other side in N. Battleford. Usually I don't mind visiting his Dad (who turns the big 5-0). If anything I feel totally relaxed to be who I am, but it's the fact that I know Steve's brother is going to be there. Him and I just don't get along very well. I'll leave it at that. And having to spend a whole weekend there is something that I'm just not looking forward to.

Of course in comparison, I think my family looks like angels coated in sugar. But you'd have to ask Steve what he thinks. So pray for me this weekend as I take my snotty nosed, coughing kids to a 50th birthday party that is sure to be anything but dull.

Confession time

That's right. I... am... a bear. And I sure feel like it this morning. After a grumpy, moody night (where alcohol, buttery popcorn and a Hugh Grant movie were involved) I can honestly say that I am still in a moody funk. I admit that I've always struggled with a bit of depression. And I REALLY hate that. I know that it's a totally selfish thing to do and completely not what a "child" of God should do. Regretably tho', I do. It comes in complete waves. Doesn't last very long, but when it comes, it comes and whoa!! Look out!!

So last night my bible study was suddenly cancelled. We had a free babysitter that we didn't want to let go to waste, so I called up a friend and we went to see The Break-Up. (Here's another little confession. 8 years ago I had a poster of Vince Vaughn where he was coming out of a pool and his dress shirt was clinging to his body.) I thought it was really good. Something every husband should go see. See in the movie, Jenn's character doesn't feel appreciated of all the things that she does (willingly without thinking) for Vince's character. (LIGHT BULB MOMENT) Of course I foolishly thought of my own marriage and how under-appreciated I felt. That led to the feeling that I should be the one appreciative of Steve for even wanting to marry a schmuck like myself. Which inturn led to a landslide of other negative thoughts too shameful to mention.

And where do I go to from here? I know all the sunday school answers and I know that this too shall pass. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I think I'll just leave off here for now

I have decided

that this is what I'll look like when I get older.

My Mom gave this to me.

"A woman who creates and sustains a home, and under whose hands children grow up to be strong and pure men and women, is a creator second only to God." - Helen Hunt Jackson.

So much to say

...little time to say it. Last week was crazy busy. I suppose it didn't help matters on Thursday when I begged Steve to take us out to Candle Lake for some R&R. Did I say "R&R"? How foolish, I should know by now that when you have kids, R&R doesn't exist anymore! But the day was beautiful none the less. The sky was clear blue, the water icy cold and the sand was...well the sand was smooth under our feet. The kids loved it, cold water or no cold water. Both of them, at different times, dived right in only to resurface with teeth chattering. And you can't go to the lake without having a weiner roast, so we had our weiner roast. Then, of course, you can't go to Candle Lake without stopping at the restaurant for large ice cream cones for dirt cheap. Yes the day was a VERY good example of living spontaneously and seizing the moment.

Friday I ran the Relay For Life. One thing I learned about myself is that I am no good to anything living after 36 hours of no sleep. And 3 hours of sleep won't help much either. But otherwise I'd do it again next year with some new ideas thanks to lessons learned.

I found this in a magazine and wanted to summarize it. It's all about how to make Mom's feel and look good.

Glow for it - just 20 minutes of exercise (yes chasing children is included) will increase blood flow to your face resulting in a radiant, fresh-faced glow (of sweat!! ha ha ha... I added that myself)
Update your mane - Get a good haircut. Rule of thumb: never leave the salon with a stylish new do you can't easily recreate in your own bathroom.
Switch channels - Next time you run an errand be sure to have your favourite music programmed in that'll make you pump your hands in the air and open the sunroof (who does this?) You'll be surprised (and so will those around you!) at how liberating 10 minutes fo your fav music can be. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face!
Lash out - Makeup artists will tell you the key to opening up tired eyes is curl those lashes!
Stay in condition - Take the 2 mins in the shower to let that conditioner soak in. Your hair will be softer, shinier and healthier for it.
Get an eye full - Grab a couple slices of cucumber and place them on your eyes. No cukes? Place a cold, damp clean washcloth over both eyes and lay back and relax for a few minutes.
Raise your hands - If you have time get a manicure. No time? Soak your nails in lemon juice to get rid of stains, then use a nail buffer to make them shine.
Follow your nose - A quick mist of a fresh, clean scent in the morning works wonders to jumpstart your day. Some energizing scents to try include jasmine, bergamot, hyacinth and basil.


So there you go. Don't forget Kinsmen tomorrow!

Good Morning

There's nothing like waking up in the morning to the sound of someone peeing in the toilet, especially when both you and your husband are still in bed! Yes that's right Matthias made it thru his first night without peeing the bed! This is a ginormous celebration and we celebrated as is due. Then we've been getting Callah familiar with the little potty, hoping she'll just want to start potty training and she peed in the potty! Another huge milestone! My kids rock (on occasion I'll gladly admit this fact. Today is such an occasion!)!!

Now if only I can get her to stop eating sand and standing in front of a moving swing.

Ahhhh...

....sweet Jackman. Tonite Steve and I went to see X-Men 3 (if you are going to see it, there's additional footage AFTER the credits) and all I could see is Hugh. Oh sweet Hugh.
Sigh...

Totally worth watching if you liked the first 2.

But now I'm totally tired and have a busy day tomorrow, so g'nite and sweet dreams!!!

rain, rain, rain

I am so sick of rain. This is definately why I could never live on the west or east coast. I did once for 3 months and that was long enough for me. Not only is it just gloomy, but it wreaks havoc with your emotions. This past week has been hell at my house. I thought it was just PMS (by the way, as a side note, a woman at my bible study last week told this joke. Why is it called PMS? B'cos mad cow disease was already taken. Badoom, doom, crash - that's the drum/cymbol sound that always follows a bad joke) but I noticed Steve had it too, so it occured to me that it must have something to do with the weather. Not to mention the fact that the kids were absolutely psycho last week as well. So I'm finished with my period now and finding myself still quite moody and well, generally literally just pissed off and irritable. Is there such thing as post-menstrual syndrome ? I wonder. Yesterday, everyone and everything was completely ticking me off at church which only irritated me further b'cos all I could think about was how good, Christian women (especially youth pastor wives) should NOT act and think like this. I was and am so ashamed.

Guess I need to work on that "Healing for the angry heart" study again.

On the up side (and if your a natural pessimist like myself, you may be asking,"what? There's an upside?") the sun is suppossed to make an appearance for 2 days, before hiding again for another week, Tuesday and Wednesday, so Kinsmen park should still be on. Hope to see you all there (and I do mean it, honestly)!

motherhood

After a "beautiful" morning outside golfing with a bunch of other Mom's and a supremely full stomache I was really glad to come home to a sleeping house. Thinking (key word: thinking) how wonderful it would be to have a sleep on the couch, I curled up with a blanket and pillow and closed my eyes. 15 minutes later the phone rang. 10 minutes after that the kids woke up, one after the other. So I hurded them together and said, "it's not time to get up yet, let's go sleep on Mom's bed." Bad idea. Huge mistake. No sooner did I get them down, then they started poking one another. "Eye" Callah would say and gouge out Matthias' eye. "Ear" and pull his ear (and of course she'd have to do both eyes and both ears). Then they started pushing and laughing. I curled into a ball. Then they jumped up and starting chasing each other around my curled form on the bed. "Ouch!" I'd mumble as they stepped on a bunch of my hair. "Ouch!" as they tripped over my leg. I pulled my blanket over my head and curled into the fetal position.

I wonder... is this some sort of rite of passage into motherhood?

Somebody Said...

I got this in my e-mail, thought it was pretty cute, so I'm passing it onto you.

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby .
somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "Normal," is history.
Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct .



Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
Somebody said being a mother is boring .....

Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.
Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good."
Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.
Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices .
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.
Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother.
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with her math.
Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first.
Somebody doesn't have five children.
Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books ........
Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.
Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery ....
Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."
Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back .......
somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.
Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married

Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter in-law to a mother's heartstrings

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home ..

Somebody never had grandchildren.
Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her .

Somebody isn't a mother.

Check it out

A friend just sent me this website called WorkingMom.com

You can check it out. There's some neat stuff on there like an age appropriate household chore chart. It's never too early to start doing chores. I know my kids are always more than eager to help out, it's me that asks them not to. At Mom's awhile back they said (and I may have mentioned this before) we should let them help out now (use the hour that it takes them to help move laundry to read a book for yourself) while they want to, 'cos in a few years they won't want to help out anymore.

Anyway, thought I'd pass it on.

Boobies

Lately Matthias has taken to boobies. It's almost like a sign of affection. He likes you, he grabs your boobs. It's funny in the way that I can't believe he's doing this. So I laugh, which only makes him do it more. Yesterday I was giving him a piggy back and his hands went from around my neck to my boobs. He's lucky he's my son or I'd have to kill him (I'm JOKING!!!).

Any advice on how to stop this boobie mongler?

Ahhhh...

The "free" weekend is over (yeah rite..."free" I feel incredibly guilty over the amount of money I spent the past 3 days, even tho' in reality it wasn't really all that much) and my only regret was that we didn't stay a day longer (sorry "d"). There's just so much one can do, aside from shopping. So when you spend a day (4 hours) in the car, a day shopping and then another (4 hours) in the car on the way back, it just seems to be incredibly rushed. We did enjoy a nice supper out at East Side Marios (which I'd recommend) and catched 2 flicks at Rainbow (Inside Man and Failure to Launch). The worst part about these trips tho' is coming home. You kinda get used to only looking after yourself, even if it's only a day, then coming home, to two screaming kids is such a gut-punch. A rude awakening. I'm not saying it's not nice to be home, but being away has it's definate perks too. Thankfully my sister was still here, so I was able to immerse myself back into the swing of things throughout the day.

This morning we headed over to Kinsmen. There were a couple of Mom's there already and a few showed up after we arrived. I think it'll be a good thing. The kids sure liked hanging out and some of them recognized each other from Mom's Morning Out. Remember, if you're in the area, every Tuesday morning (weather permitting) 10-11 am (times approx. You can really show up anytime you want and leave whenever). My sister said on the walk home that "according to those other Mom's it's about time you have a baby". I said "what? They said that?" She said, "no, but they all had babies..." so somehow that relates to me and that fact that I too, should have one. Again, I'll keep you posted on that one.

Steve made it home last night too. Tired and dirty. He said he had a good time.

Wow. Here's a plug for you. Tomorrow on Oprah, she's going to take a concentration camp survivor back to Auswitz (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong. Sorry). That should be interesting.

Now it's back to looking up prices. I sold a road bike on e-bay, now I just have to figure out how to get it down to MA as cheap as possible. Any ideas?

soon and very soon

In about an hour a friend and I are heading to Regina for a weekend away. Like she says it couldn't happen soon enough. For some reason my kids have been totally acting up this week. Maybe it's just in my head and it's some sort of coping mechanism for me leaving them for the weekend, or maybe they truly are acting up. I don't know and right now I don't care. All I care about is the fact that I was suppossed to go pick up a part for our Landcruiser (which we are "suppossed" to be driving down) and the part is not in. Or rather, as the guy said, it was ordered and it's "suppossed" (there's that word again) to be here, but he can't find it anywhere. Nice. Very nice. That leaves me where?
This same Landcruiser is also on e-bay as we speak and it's time is almost done in which case if it sells, then we can't take it anyway, but if it doesn't then technically I should be able to take it, however I'll need this stupid part.
Who knew leaving for a weekend could be so difficult?

On a lighter side we were at a friend's birthday party last week and Callah was eating sand. Our friend asked if this was the first time. I said, "no, she does this all the time." She laughed and I thought, oh yeah it's hilarious. Especially when it comes out like sandpaper!

Okay, that wasn't that funny.

So Mom's Morning Out is officially done for the summer. We will be meeting now, every Tuesday, at Kinsmen Park here in Prince Albert. I know I said it before, but we had the windup last week at Lil Red, so now it's officially done.

Otherwise I really have nothing else to say. That's why I haven't been writing that much. Nothing really new and exciting (or un-exciting even) to report. Just kinda blah...waiting for summer holidays and camping and swimming at the beach. Soon. And very soon.

I wish I could...

Aha!! Finally, even tho' the task seems so simple, for some reason getting this crazy picture up here has taken me numerous, frustrating minutes. So here, finally, is a picture of my kids on one of our many walks out at the Little Red Park here in PA. I have this other photo of them, walking amongst the trees, which I've mentioned before that I absolutedly love. I've always had a fascination with trees.

Anyway, other than that (and this new found knowledge of uploading pics) I don't have much to say at the moment.

C'ya!

thinking

Sometimes I think I think too much. Making mountains of mole hills and giving myself countless hours of sleepless nights. I also think that's a woman's thing, but if I'm wrong then I need a new excuse. My latest thought process' have been about summer and friendship. I freak out constantly about not knowing where and what and when we're having summer holidays. Mainly b'cos I want to ensure that we do get summer holidays. Steve is the kind of person, where if you don't make plans, the time flies by and it doesn't get done. That's why I'm pushing the whole holiday thing. I NEED summer holidays. A few good days of camping will cure whatever itch I've got.

I've been thinking about travelling. The thought occured this morning that I'm a traveller stuck in a body in Prince Albert. Not everyone is a traveller. Some prefer, even if given the opportunity, to just stay put and never go further than their back yards. Myself, I love travelling. I think it comes from my parents, who altho' have only recently went overseas, took us somewhere every summer. We toured Canada, from BC to Quebec, numerous times during my youth and hit many of the States along the way. So when I hear of people who get these awesome opportunities to go somewhere and don't take it b'cos they'd rather hang out with friends at home, I want to just kick them in their butts and say "get moving!". I'd SO gladly take their places. Or they're humming and hawing over whether they should go, well they may never get another opportunity to go, and then they'll regret it when they're older, with kids, and many more responsibilities then they had in their youth.

As a side note. I love Pearl Jam.

Then there's friendship. I laugh at Matthias when he meets someone new. Right away they're his best friend and he loves them. He can't wait to go outside and play with them. His new friends are all he talks about for a few days. It occured to me this morning (I do alot of thinking when there's no kids around...this morning was my morning off, so Steve had the kids and took them shopping) that I'm just like Matthias. I don't have many friends, and so when someone actually wants to be my friend, I smother them. I'm like a 3 yr old and all I want to do is hang out with my new friend...ALL THE TIME. While painting our fence a few moments ago, I also thought that it's like I think they're cheating on me with other friends. I know they're doing stuff with other people, so why when I ask, do they always say no. It's so stupid. How old am I? Anyway, I guess the moral here is that I just have to step out and make more friends. Right?

Now for lunch, and hopefully some rest from my thoughts.

is this normal?

Both my kids have colds...again. I'm seriously wondering if there isn't more to it then just the weather or germs. Is there something in my house? The carpet maybe? So I washed down all the walls again with bleach, maybe that'll help.

But this morning Callah was in her room when I heard her call out in this really low, scratchy voice, "Mommy...Mommy...". It was kinda freaky. I went to check on her to see if it really was my little girl. There she was reading books on the floor. Now let me ask you, is that normal?

This evening at supper I look up at Matthias and he has the collar of his shirt pulled down exposing his nipple. "Mommy, this is my boob." He then proceeded to tickle himself and say "tickle, tickle". I covered my mouth with my hands to hide my smile, then told him to stop doing that and eat his supper. Again, let me ask you, is this normal?

think summer...

think summer...think summer. I've been repeating this little chant all morning. When I woke up to pee and saw snow on my neighbours roof (think summer), when my kids woke up at 6:47 am and the house was FREEZING (think summer), when Matthias looked outside and said excitedly "It's snowing!" (think summer) and when I went outside to work out in my shorts and flip-flops (think summer) and nearly froze off all things precious to me (think summer). Today is not the kind of May day I was hoping for.

Think summer.

Oh sweet heavenly summer.

Where are you?

8

A cousin just sent me this e-mail and there wasn't really a message, just a bunch of photos. It was of a family, they had 2 girls (possibly twins) about 4 or 5, and the Mom was pregnant...with 6 kids!!! Can you imagine? Having 8 kids under the age of 6? That's insane! God help that woman, whoever she is. There were other pictures of the 10 of them, at Christmas and stuff. Crazy.

This past week has been beautiful. The weather's been great, the kids have been decent, and Steve's been busy with his sermon. We spent alot of time outside, which I love. We went for 2 walks out at the Lil' Red (which has to be one of my favouritest places in Saskatchewan...I haven't been to the east coast yet, so can't say Canada) and I love it! Callah and Matthias just run wild on the paths and the wild crocus' were out and everything just smelt so fresh and summery. I can't describe how it feels out there. Just know that I love it! The coolest thing was just watching the kids run. Any other time I'm amazed by how big Matthias is getting and Callah isn't my little baby anymore, but out there, compared to the massive trees, they look so small. I'm always reminded of how massive our world is and the fact that God created it all. The little butterflies, the squirrels, the crocus', the huge pine trees, the winding river, everything. It's so awesome.

This Tuesday we're starting our casual Tuesday's at Kinsmen Park. If you're in the area and need to get out of the house (provided it's not raining) come on out to Kinsmen Park between 10 and 11 am. Bring your kids and whatever else you may need. Hope to see you there!

It's Official

No I am not pregnant.

Thoughts from the weekend

Well our computer was down all last week. Stupid thing. Can't live with them, can't live without them, or so it seems.

We had an interesting weekend. Not a busy one, but interesting none the less. Yesterday my Grandma phoned me and she had fallen again. She's 88 years old and not doing the best. Steve was home, so I was able to go over to her place and help her up and sit with her awhile. It was funny listening to her phone people afterwards. Like a little child asking for sympathy. A little gleam in her eye as she says she's fallen (sigh) but she's okay now. She looks at me with a little smile on her face. No, don't worry about me she says, I'll be fine. I was reminded of my own children. When they fall or scrape something they immediately come to me for a kiss and some lovin' attention. Old people, so much like children.

Then there were thoughts of our Toyota Landcruiser. It's an '83 BJ60. We're trying to sell it. We're asking $4500, but lately we're wondering if we should sell it to a friend for less. Sort of a God thing. Set it out there and see what happens, what blessings might befall us.

We've been thinking about our neighbours, and how odd it is that we haven't seen or heard them all week. A good thing, but odd.

Of course we did the usual yard work, raking dead grass and pine needles here. Sawing branches off our trees there and eating freezies on the grass everywhere. On Sunday (BEFORE supper!!) we took our kids for ice cream. It was freezing yesterday, but our little guys toughed it out and seriously froze their fingers off, but boy was it worth it!! It amazes me how dirty they get from eating ice cream cones. Can they not feel the sticky coldness ALL OVER THEIR FACES??

Finally (well no not really, but I think Cinderella is done and my kids are running free upstairs) I thought about being pregnant again. There's a pretty good chance I am now, and we'll know for sure in a few more days. It's earlier then I wanted to be, I would have liked to wait a month or two more, but then I see those little babies, and everythings seems to be alright. We'll see. I bought some sweet maternity clothes at the clothing sale on Friday, so it makes it more exciting.

Now it's off to get some groceries so I can make something tasty for the potluck at Mom's tomorrow. See you there!

Neighbours

When we first bought our house, we thought it was a pretty good neighbourhood. We had a fancy, rich house on the one side, the other was a super sweet 90 yr. old man. Behind us was a young family who liked our dog. You can't argue with that. But then the 90 yr. old man turned 93 and the winter of '04/05 wasn't kind to him, so his family urged him to sell his home and move into a seniors complex. Goodbye Floyd, you are greatly missed. The house next to us sat empty for a few months. Then we heard it sold. We started seeing a younger couple come and go, but never saw any furniture. Then we saw a young native mother come, an older native woman go and yesterday a group of native teen boys sat on the fence smoking. Now to make myself perfectly clear, I have nothing against Natives. Unfortunately I worked in a pawn shop for a year, so I got to see the side that don't give a flying flick. There were those who did have good jobs and were nice people, but I will always remember the others. Like I said, I have nothing against Natives, but I do when they start messing with my stuff. Case in point this morning at 6 a.m. a beer bottle was thrown against our house (outer bedroom wall) and smashed into little pieces. Steve brushed it all up and put it back on their sidewalk, but I told him I'm afraid they'll just kick it into the grass between our two houses and I'd rather not that happen. See when these two houses were built, the two old guys who inhabited them were great friends. So they had a stone walkway built between the houses and they're just very close together. We've been wanting to put up a fence since we moved, now we're thinking we'll expand it a bit, the length of our house. Sigh. Times like these I really wish we lived on an acreage.

In other news at Mom's on Tuesday we watched a video about children who take tantrums. I know a few who do (mine included). It was pretty good. A few things were learnt. The speaker, Kelly Nault, really pushed trying to get your kids involved. Get them to help clean the house, or put groceries away. Yes it may take a long time, and patience is a virtue, but come 5-6 years when we want them to help out, they'll know how and it's easier then telling them to NOT help now and expect them to later. We got into table groups after and talked about ways to keep our kids occupied (other than TV....which sadly my kids are watching right now while I type this) and there were alot of cool ideas. Like finger painting, sidewalk chalk, filling a 9x13 pan with rice krispies and letting them play in it with little trucks, etc., putting snow (if you still have some) in the bathtub and letting them play with it, bubbles, getting them to help gardening, etc. It was pretty good. Another thing that Kelly pushed was having Mom's make a 100 Wish List. She said that Mom's without dreams are Mom's without hope (or something similiar) and that's no good. So then we talked about some of our dreams. Like I said, it was all good and I enjoyed it.

No Mom's next week. The Clothing Sale is on the 21st, so come on out for some good buys. The final potluck is on the 25th, there's always good food. Have a great week and pray for my new "neighbours"! :)

A Mother's Love

It's been awhile since I've been on the computer, so I decided to make some quick rounds this morning. I don't usually link to links in other people's sites but I will to this one. I have a friend who had a son die when he was like 5 or 6. I can't imagine. I'm inspired every time I see her. She's had more children since and would like to have more still. In my eyes, she's a great example of a Mother's love.

woody

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that also at Value Village yesterday we found this Woody doll (from Toy Story). It's gotta be like 2-3 feet. Comes with a guitar and everything. When Matthias found it he HAD to have it. Luckily I was able to keep it from him until I completely hosed it in ammonia. It was just funny last night when Matthias and Callah were arguing over who got to play with him. Then I remembered that we also had a little Woody (small action type figure) so I told Callah that she could have the small Woody and Matthias could play with the big Woody. I found it quite commical. I told Steve later that night that I was talking about big and little Woody's, and he barely even cracked a smile. But he's sick, so I'll blame it on that. Am I the only one that thinks it's funny?

third times a charm

There are a couple of cd's that bring back memories of the few months that Steve and I actually dated. One of them is Third Eye Blind. I had a copy of their debut cd (entitled simply Third Eye Blind) and Steve had his own copy. I had my own reasons for liking the band (the lead singer Stephan Jenkins had the coolest beard and he was hot) and I'm sure Steve liked them for whatever reasons. The fact was that we both liked them. I can remember playing cards at his house (our game of choice was rummy) till all hours of the morning listening to Third Eye Blind (and Third Day....hmmmm....there's seems to be a running theme here). Life was good. Then we were broken into and Steve's copy was stolen (as well as half of his other cd's). But we were still good, we still had my copy. A few years later, we were broken into again (different house) and they stole my copy as well as half of my cd's. Now we were without a copy of the cd. The memories were lost.
But wait!! Yesterday while shopping in Value Village (our store of choice) what do we see? A copy of the Third Eye Blind cd, perfect condition not a scratch on it (it was probably one of our stolen copies). I look at Steve, "should we buy it?" " I don't know, everytime we have a copy we get broken into and they steal it." "Let's buy it." So we bought it. I'm listening to it right now (and downloading it onto our computer!) and loving it! Ahhhh...the memories. It's soooo good.

Just Wait

Growing up I had the Blues Traveller tape cassette Four. I really enjoyed their music. I don't know what reminded me of them, but sometime last week I thought of them and looked up a bunch of their songs. The song Just Wait really hit home for me. For the past week you could say it's been a type of theme song. Last night at bible study (we've been doing this for awhile now, where we have a candle on a table in the middle of the room, and we can bring whatever we want, be it a song, baking, prayer request or praise or just how we're feeling, to the table of Christ. It's kinda cool.) I brought this song. It was kinda cool 'cos some other people had some praise and readings dealing with waiting. Anyway, here are the lyrics. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Just Wait

If ever you are feeling like you're tired
And all your uphill struggles leave you headed downhill
If you realize your wildest dreams can hurt you
And your appetite for pain has drinken its fill

I ask of you a very simple question
Did you think for one minute that you are alone
And is your suffering a privilege you share only
Or did you think that everybody else feels completely at home

Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come

If you think I've given up on you you're crazy
And if you think I don't love you well then you're just wrong
In time you just might take to feeling better
Time is the beauty of the road being long

I know that now you feel no consolation
But maybe if I told you and informed you out loud
I say this without fear of hesitation
I can honestly tell you that you make me proud

Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come

If anything I might have just said has helped you
If anything I might have just said helped you just carry on
Your rise uphill may no longer seem a struggle
And your appetite for pain may all but be gone

I hope for you and cannot stop at hoping
Until that smile has once again returned to your face
There's no such thing as a failure who keeps trying
Coasting to the bottom is the only disgrace

Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come
Just wait
Just wait
Just wait
And it will come

the sky is falling

...well no, not really, but Steve bought a pair of cowboy boots today and that could be thought of as the end of the world, or at least the world as we know it.

Looking Brighter

Well yesterday was a day from hell. It all started Sunday when my hubby and I had a little "argument" about my involvement in certain things. His point made no sense and it was just infuriating me. So that carried over to Monday morning...and Monday afternoon...and into the evening...and well we still haven't really talked about it, so I guess you could say into today as well. The bright spots, and there were some, were truly bright. Yesterday I pulled into a parking lot right after another minivan. The other Mom got out first and opened her side door to reveal her son. I laughed immediately at this little youngster who had removed his boot and was eating the mud from the bottom. His Mom laughed too and said something like "I thought he was hungry but I didn't think he'd eat his boot!" The little guy had mud smeared from one ear to the other. It was really funny.
This morning was my Mom's Morning clean sweep. I heard people laugh, questions were answered, prizes and gift certificates were handed out, so I think it was a good morning. There were no major mishaps on my part, so I guess that's all I can ask. At lunch the kids and I walked home from church after dropping Steve and the van off. And after their nap we played outside in the sun and sat in our lawn chairs soaking up the spring rays. That was my highlight of the day (forgetting about the snow still lingering under my feet).
Steve will be home soon, and it'll be time to "hit the pavement". I hate lingering problems.

In other news we all have colds once again. *sigh* PLEASE bring on the nice weather!!!!

Puddles

This morning I took Matthias, Callah and Gus (our dog) for a walk around the neighbourhood. What is it about puddles and ice that draws kids towards them? We were only gone about 30 minutes and yet we arrived back home soaking wet and covered in mud from head to foot (including IN our boots!!). Can anyone explain this attraction?

Mornings

I've never been a huge fan of mornings. Well I guess there was that one summer where I was obsessed with getting up early to run...boy was I young and foolish!! :) This week has been somewhat more challenging for some reason. Perhaps it has to do with Matthias running into our room and saying "it's okay Mommy, it's okay Daddy." And of course it never really is. Or the sound of a pitcher of water hitting the floor ... at 7:15 am. Or Matthias coming in and saying, "Callah's making a mess." These are examples of ways you don't want to be woken up with. Then there's the singing of theVeggietales theme song at the top of their lungs, which is cute...but not at 7 am. Sometimes there's the lighthearted sound of their laughter as they tell each other to "shush". Or once in awhile there will just be silence as one wakes up and silently leaves their bedroom, then the other wakes up some minutes later. That's a good morning. I like those mornings. There should always be mornings like that. Oh and I forgot this morning, Matthias yelled out, "I peed my pants!" at 7:20 am. Luckily he knows where all his clothes are and can dress himself, so I simply yelled back, "So get dressed." Then of course Callah came jumping into our room and yelled, "up! up! up!" wanting to get up on our bed and would not stop until she made it. Then my brother phoned at 7:57 am. We finally got up at 8:15 am.

I hate mornings.

p.s.

oh yeah I forgot to comment on my weekend to Strathmore. All the right spots were hit (IKEA and Krispy Kreme) and it was a super good weekend. The relatives were great hosts, the driving wasn't the best but we made it and the conference itself was...well the theme was dead on and they had some really cool visual aids to hit the point home. If you want to check out what is was all about click here. See ya!

Sunshine

I love waking up and seeing the sun shine through our bathroom window. For one thing, this time last year, we didn't even have a window in our bathroom, and for another thing it reminds me of summer and I CAN'T WAIT for summer. The longing for summer has finally hit me and I think there'll be no stopping it now till summer comes. Steve is gone this weekend at a hockey tournament in Saskatoon and he took the car, so feeling "summerish" I got the stroller out and loaded up the kids (it was a bit cool at -17 C windchill incl.) and we walked down to Shoppers for some movies to watch tonite. As we passed the ice cream shack, Matthias said, "I want some ice cream." I explained that the ice cream will open again once the snow is melted and summer comes. I think he's longing for summer too. He opened the sandbox cover to play with his toys only they were all frozen into the sand. Poor guy. So we'll wait. Patiently. Until then we'll push the stroller through the snowy streets, we'll play with our trucks in the snow and we'll sit in the sunshine...in our home and wait for summer to come.

This past week has been painful. Tuesday, at the urging of Steve, I went x-country skiing out at the Little Red. Being only the 2nd time on skiis this winter I took the shortest path I could find. However, I don't think it was short enough. My back has been in pain ever since and my chiropractor has told me to "take it easy" and "lay off lifting children". Right. Like either of those are going to happen! Every night Steve, being the good husband that he is (or else...) rubs Watkins on my back and then a heat pack is added. Man, does that feel good. Makes me wish it was night time all the time, that and the fact that sleep is soon coming. Tonite I'll miss my Watkin guy, it just won't be the same without him.

Next week at Mom's is a video day. On what? I have no idea, so come out anyway and it'll be a surprise for the both of us!! This Friday (the 31) is another Mom's Nite Out. If you live in the Prince Albert vicinity and would like a nite out away from the kids. Feel free to join us at Digger's Restaurant @ 6 pm. Otherwise, have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine!!

Squeaky Farts

A few thoughts to end your week...

Last Thursday my younger brother, Kris and I went to see a movie (Just Friends) at the Rainbow Cinema in Regina. Something happened that I wasn't particularly proud of, but I learned something from it. There was a totally, and I mean TOTALLY annoying girl in the row ahead of us. She did numerous things that would have enabled her to be slaughtered (I think) in other countries. After the movie ended (which was funnier than I thought it would be despite the many annoying interuptions) I was kept awake with my own thoughts. A few weeks ago at our Ladies Retreat, the speaker Rosemary told a story of a time when she was in Trinidad. Every week she would have to walk thru a swamp to get to her bible study, so instead of getting her shoes muddy, it was easier for her to simply take off her shoes and walk bare-foot thru the mud. Another woman would see Rosemary walk thru the mud every week and wonder what was so important, that every week, this woman would take off her shoes and walk thru the mud to get to. Investigating further this woman found out that Rosemary was going to a bible study and eventually this woman became a Christian and started going to the bible study herself. The point of the story is that we should be aware that someone is always watching, so we should live our lives according to God's will. Last Thursday I did not live my life like God would've lived and I felt trememdously bad about it, so I prayed until I fell asleep. Something to remember...someone is always watching, whether it be your kids, husband, friends or a stranger.

This morning at my ladies bible study one of the ladies brought up this thought. If we talked to our husbands as often as we talk to God, would they think we love them? Now for me this idea blew me away. Shamefully, I don't talk to God as often as I should, so thinking about all the time and effort I put into the relationship with Steve, and how my relationship with God should be way stronger really changed my perspective. I need to really develop my relationship with God. Of course this is something that I've always learned and I'm always striving to better that relationship, but putting it into that different perspective really made me think.

So now the kids are sleeping, Steve is eating lasagna and watching TV and I'm thinking about tomorrow and our trip to Strathmore with our youth group for X-treme Impact. I'll be taking the girls in our van and Steve is driving with the boys in another van. It's a 50/50 time, sometimes good, sometimes bad. The good is always hanging out with our youth, the bad is the cost to go to Alberta to do it. I'm also looking forward to Krispy Kreme's and a possible trip to IKEA. We'll be staying with Steve's cousin and her family. They have a large dog and shedding cats. They also recently had a baby girl, so should be a fun time!

That's my thought process lately. Maybe it'll give you something to think about too. There's no Mom's Morning Out on the 21st, so enjoy your week off and we'll see you later!

25 cent bouncy balls

We just returned from Old Navy here in Regina. Who knew you could get large bouncy balls for only 25 cents? My kids are having a jolly good time throwing these balls around my parents house and chasing them before the (vicious) terriers get to them. It's great!

So our adventures today consisted of going to Starbucks (for the delicious double chocolate chip frappuchino, which my sister, who just quit working there after 3 years, has informed me is close to 600 calories....yum!), then driving around Wascana Park looking for monsters hiding in the trees (Matthias swears that he saw them), going to Old Navy (where I bought a pair of jeans - for me jeans are SO HARD to find and the treasured bouncy balls were purchased), then going across the parking lot to the PetLand, where my daughter proceeded to scare the poop out of the kittens (who were let looses) in the cat adoption room. Ever see the Looney Tunes with Elmyra? My daughter totally reminds me of Elmyra. She would stop breathing and squeeze these cats, then she would pick them up in really awkward positions that cats should not be picked up in. It was funny, but I felt sorry for the cats so we left. Now we're ready for supper.

Otherwise my trip here in the "windy city" has been good. That's all for now!

So cute I could just...

This morning after Steve had left for church, I was still laying in bed and the kids were eating cheerios watching Dora when Matthias comes into the room and says "Callah's making a mess." Last time he came into my room and said that, Callah had dumped the bag of Ritz crackers (crumbs and all) onto the living room carpet, so I bolted out of bed to see what my dear daughter had done this time. No, nothing in the living room, I look in the kitchen and the pantry door is open. Peering around I see my "cute", "adorable" daughter elbow deep in the bag of sugar.
"Caaaaaaaa-llahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I say.
"Yeah." she says in her matter-of-fact voice.
I pick her up, hose off her arms, take off her shirt and brush off her pants, all the while my bare feet are crunching on the sugar that is now all over my kitchen floor. Upon further inspection I found little clumps of sugar on the carpet in the living room. Yes, sometimes kids are so cute you could just....

This week at Mom's we'll be answering all those deep questions that didn't get answered last "Ask A Mom" day. So if you wrote something down, come and we'll see if we can find an answer.

As for me, I'm taking off to Regina tomorrow to spend a week with my parents. Steve is taking a reading week here at the church, so I thought I'd take this time to spend some time, maxin' and relaxin' in good ol' Regina. There's just something about that place that I love. Besides it'll be good to get away from the 35 cm plus of snow that has fallen here in the last few days. If I see any more snow flakes fallin' I think I myself will turn into a flake.

Have a good week!!

Sweet Hands of Goodness

This past Christmas Steve surprised me (I say surprised b'cos we weren't suppossed to get each other anything) with a gift certificate for an hour massage. I have never had a massage before, or should I say a professional massage before, so I was looking forward to it. After having a cold and being sick for most of February I decided that this would be my week to go for my massage. I went yesterday, probably one of the worst winter days we've had here on the prairies yet, but boy was it good!! I was a little self-consious at first, what with being naked on a sheet. But she talked me through it and actually said, that when she's giving massages, she doesn't see the person as a person. All she sees and focuses on is the leg, or back or arm or whatever she's massaging at the moment. Anyway, I cannot say enough, it was the greatest feeling I've felt in awhile and I totally felt rejuvenated afterward.

Mom's this week was also really good. We watched a video on parenting. I think I've mentioned it before, this Marriage Unsesored stuff isn't that great, but this video had alot of "meat" in it and I'm not the only one that thought so too. I highly recommend it. The guy they were talking to was named ...of course I can't remember, but I will find out and let ya'll know.

Unfortunately I actually do have more to say, but my kids are begging for food, so I gotta go feed them. Later!