Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Saskatchewan, here we come!!

Leaving soon. We were supposed to be gone an hour ago, but hubby said he needed more sleep. Which was fine with me:) The kids are still asleep and he is still packing. So I will post a quick blurb (for me that means only about 2,000 words or so LOL) before I eat my Cheerios.

When I pulled into the Starbucks drive thru yesterday, no one was behind me for a long time. Finally when I got up to the window, a white van was pulling up behind me. I said I wanted to pay for that person's drink which was fun! But we couldn't keep it going (even if they had wanted to) because no one was in line behind them. RATS! Well, I will keep trying:)

So we will get to my brother and sister-in-law's in Calgary tonight. Quite late it appears now. *sigh* It is about a 13 hours drive, and with the time change...*sigh* FUN FUN! We will spend tomorrow with them as well and leave for my parents' on Friday. That is another 6 hours East. They are not coming with us, they will be at my parents' for New Year's and by then we will be on our way back West and will stay at their place over night on the trip back, as always. We are bringing my friend C back, I am SO EXCITED! I also can't wait for some DECENT junk food:) I miss so much of the Canadian brands and yummies that I grew up with:) CHEEZIES! Popcorn Twists! Big Turk, Mr. Big, Wunderbar, Aero, Pep, Dill Pickle dip for chips, McCain pizzas, Superstore! YAHOO!! I LOVE Superstore!

Hubby is down in his office on his computer, so I guess we are not in THAT much of a hurry. I hope the kids sleep a decent amount on the trip! Doubtful. It is times like this when I wish we had a nice updated vehicle with a DVD player so they could watch movies. Make the time pass MUCH faster. Hubby even mentioned getting one of those portable ones to just hook up in there. Target even had one on sale with TWO screens. He got me all excited, thinking we could do that and then BAM!!!!!!!! He said no, we needed new tires. SHEESH! Where are his priorities!?!? MEN!! LOL

We will leave on January 2nd and get back late night on the 3rd and the chaos begins again. We are behind on some studies I had wanted to do, B has STILL not read a book I assigned him for Lit. Therefore he has not TOUCHED the assignment. R has a dental appointment the day after we get back, L has an appointment with the surgeon to see if/when they will actually do the surgery, etc etc. On and on it goes.

Happy Holidays!!!!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Pay it Forward

Today when I pulled up in Starbucks to pay for my treat (yes yes, I know, I am being bad. I will start being better in the New Year! HONEST!), I was informed that the person ahead of me was paying for my drink! The person ahead of them had paid for theirs. Well, what was I to do!?!?!! Obviously, pay for the car load of people behind me! LOL

What fun! So I did. I am curious as to how long it kept on. The baristas were telling me that yesterday, when one person started it, it went on for 15 vehicles! The only reason it ended there was because the 15th person did not speak English and no matter what they said, she did not understand what was going on. So it ended there. I want to start that one day soon. How neat would it be if every time (or even sometimes) when you go to do that, you find out you were beaten to it and it has been going on for hours?? LOL

Busy busy. So much to do before we leave on Wednesday. So much in fact, that I should not be on here. I won't be posting while I am gone and will try to refrain from reading all my favs. Relatives that I seldom get time with will be in desperate need of my rambling, live and in person.

The holidays will not be the same for us, without my precious brother. We will try to have fun like he would want us to. There will be many tears, but we will attempt to form new memories, like I know he wants us to. Maybe one day, when I am strong enough, I will share on here how he died and what all happened during that time. Some of you have not heard yet.

Happy Holidays!

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Forgot



Lunar Orbiter dessert at the Space Needle



L and his new bible!




L and his Dad waiting to be seated.

Narnia

Hubby just took L, B and L's friend V to the movie. The only one out of them to have already seen it is L, since he and I could not wait and went last Sunday.

B is ALMOST done the book, but this is the only day V was available and since she has been one of L's closest friends since they were 7 years old...no brainer. They will attend today. It doesn't really matter that B is not finished the book, he has tried really hard and been really enjoying it, he will finish it soon, I am sure.

The reason I wanted him to read it first is because when you have a great book and then they make a movie...I just don't like reading it after, because a person can already picture it all in their minds, images from the movie. L and I much prefer to have our OWN ideas about what things are like, use the imagination, ya know. I know C.S.Lewis never even imagined his tales coming to life on the screen, not to mention kids sitting in front of some weird contraption holding a "controller" in their hand and making things on the screen move, etc. What ever happened to a good story and leaving it at that??

I mean on one level, I of course love movies made from books (especially if they are well done) and this is certainly one that I LOVED. If kids see all these movies, THAT is what they will think of when one day they are old enough to read the book the movie was based on. Thus, my desire for them to have the enjoyment of their own ideas first, THEN dash that all with the images from the actual movie they see. So at least B got a tiny bit of a taste of the movie in his head (although the only copy of the book I could buy had photos from the movie *sigh*)and I know he will really enjoy this movie. Man, just talking about it, I want to see it again! LOL I need more self control!

Hubby and I took L to the Space Needle last night. We had a nice time and L seems VERY pleased with his new bible. I still cannot believe I have a teenager! B is starting in on the pre-teen attitude and moodiness, we are in for an interesting ride the next 10 years or so! Since R is 16 months older than Bee and girls mature sooner than boys...it will be like having twins going through it. YIKES! Scary thought. My mom survived (somehow) my three brothers and I going all through it at the same time. She had the four of us in four years, and she and Dad made it through. Sometimes, when I think back on it, I am amazed my brothers and I did not murder each other!

Alright, must tend to R and Bee. R wants to go for a bike ride!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Lovely Day!

Yes, that describes the day the kids and I have had.

After dropping L at classes, the other kids and I went to Target to get some essentials. I needed a frame to put one of the 8X10 photos I just got back of Bee and myself. I think I mentioned in a post some time back that she and I got Glamour Photos taken. They turned out pretty good and I wanted a pretty frame for this one shot.

We went to the Arena to pick up hockey photos because there was some mix up and the Team Manager did not get B's for us. They have been in for at least three weeks. We got that taken care of (will post one soon, he looks AWESOME! LOL) and then I treated them the Golden Arches for lunch.

We raced home and I got some packages ready to mail while they cleaned out the van and tidied the Rec Room. They trashed it the past few days and were wanting to watch some of a particular episode of Oprah (Faith Hill was on and O was telling her about when she finally "Let go and Let God" about something in her life. I wanted the kids to hear Faith Sing "I Surrender All") that I had Tivo'ed for them. So they raced through that and earned the right to watch it.

We left to get L and then mailed the packages and bought lots of candy and ingredients for some baking I need to do while we used up time before going to the church to prepare and feed some less fortunate people.

I cannot say enough about the time we had there. B was in his element and is BEGGING to go back ASAP!! LOL I confess to picturing my spoiled cherubs sitting and sulking and counting the minutes until we could leave to go home. I am ashamed of my attitude. I severely under-estimated them.

We got there early and the people preparing the food said that we would just serve it when it was ready. I asked if we could go into the hall and visit with the people who were waiting for food and they said yes.

So we went in and the kids were all hanging back and shy. They laid their coats on a chair and I bent and asked Bee who we should visit with first. She pointed out a man and we walked over and sat down. I introduced myself and motioned to the kids, who in turn introduced themselves. As he was introducing himself and telling us how he slept in his car last night but found out today he has a room to stay in, (Praise God!!) I noticed Bee was not beside me anymore. I looked around and saw her 3 tables down, going from Senior Citizen to Senior Citizen, hugging them all. They were beaming and so thrilled and nodding to me, as she pointed out where her mother was.

Things just got better. It was such a pleasure to serve these people and all the kids pitched in to the best of their ability. We wore gloves to serve and since L is allergic to latex, he manned the drink table and refilled people's drinks, handed out cookies and kept an eye on Bee for me. B was unstoppable! He could not get enough and was running back and forth, myself and the other servers could hardly keep up!!! He was asking people if they needed anything, can I get you more gravy, do you need more milk, etc etc?? Bee went around hugging people and giggling and being adorable and they could not get enough of her. R stayed put at the original table and eventually warmed up and spoke with the people at that table. He was such a constant fixture that one of the other servers served him everything the other people got! LOL I don't think she realize he was with us:) He even brought home a goody bag with fruit, nuts and candies:)

I had thought I would also be helping in the kitchen and knew I would get hot, so I wore a T-shirt. I had not thought about my tattoos and was worried they may offend people, so was hesitating in taking my coat off. I finally couldn't take it anymore and it turned out that the tats actually broke the ice with some people. We had that in common and it got conversations going! LOL

So all the kids agree, we will go back often. Our church does this also, but I think they have enough people to always help. We have a HUGE church and it is quite well known in the community. So we will travel across the valley and do this AT LEAST once a month, perhaps weekly. It was so wonderful. All the other women I got to know have not done it before either, but have always wanted to just like me. We laughed at ourselves for putting it off and not just looking into where to go and when. We agreed we will do it often. I loved getting to know the people and they were so sweet and really appreciated the company.

Off to bed. Party from 9-Noon, then spend the day making goodies for a goodie exchange I need to make an appearence at tomorrow night before rushing off to the Space Needle with Hubby and L for a 9 pm reservation. That is what L wanted to do for his birthday. It is only almost a month late!! ARG!! Hard to get a sitter!!

We got him a new bible and will present it (Teen Bible, I know he will love it!) at the restuarant. We love this place and go every 3 or 4 years, it is a real treat. Horrendously expensive and the restaurant actually rotates. Takes it an hour to turn 360 degrees. REALLY cool:)

Rambling more than usual...over and out!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Fog again!!

More fog today. Enjoying it so far. I thought I heard the fog horns a lot during the night:) I guess I was right. LOVE IT!! There is even a lot of frost on the ground and trees/bushes. Looks so pretty. It is not snow, but it is much better than nothing.

So Bee has said she is not going to dance class this morning. I should make her, but it will make the day easier on me, so I relented. Kids need a break as much as the adults, right?? And she danced herself silly this past weekend! Now I can get some things tidied and some cookies baked to take to my brothers and Dad next week. I am getting really excited at the thought of being with my incredible family. They are so cool:) LOL

L was finished all of his school by 8 this morning. Well, except his math because he has gone as far as he can in the particular thing he is doing and is waiting for me to order the next modules in this particular curriculum. So what is a guy to do?? He is normally not even out of bed until 10 or 11 if allowed. So what, you may ask, got him so motivated this particular morning???

We opened more gifts last night and he got the Chronicles of Narnia for his Xbox. He is a video game wizard and we get a bit...I don't know what. Just because he will beat a brand new $50 game in one day. Gets a bit frustrating for his Dad and I. Well, me, Who knows if hubby cares! So L enjoys it and waits a month or two, sometimes a year and then has at it again, even though it is not much of a challenge.

This one has him stumped! LOL I LOVE IT! It may actually take him a few weeks to pass every level and he admits to enjoying the challenge, but he IS getting frustrated.

B is at his classes and he always loves those. I am going to pick him up a copy of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on my way to get him from school. He is anxious to read it and we can't find our copy anywhere in this sty we call a house. LOL Hubby and he will go see it as soon as he is finished reading it. If any of us has any money left, perhaps we will go see it in Canada. The theatres are much better up there, so that it always exciting for my kids. Also, they love to see movies with their Uncles and cousins.

Better round up the younger two and get some help with these cookies. Maybe I will make butter tarts too! YUM!!!

Have a great day everyone:)

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Look down there!

Sheesh!

I started a new post on Friday, about our new niece. I just edited it, because I went on and on about other nonsense:)

I can't figure out how to get the date set on it to today. So it is down there on December 9th, the day I wrote it.

Just look for something about new baby!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Glass Art



Bee did this with minimal help from me. All I did was put the "dots" on the ladybug. She had the sun and flower made and then opted to sprinkle that colourful stuff all over it:)



L's coaster. He wanted it to blend more and was told the purple would be black. He is a bit let down, but we will go back and make more. They will blow some also and make dishes and ornaments.



B's suncatcher.



This is R's coaster.

Our Ballerina



Ok these are not in the right order. Obviously she went to the recital and THEN her Dad gave her flowers and then we put them in her room. I am not fooling with this dumb program any more!!! Here she is after the fact admiring the roses Daddy brought her.



Bee on the way to her rectial on Saturday. I got some GREAT shots there, but of course other little girls were also in them and I don't feel good about posting their pics with no knowledge of that from their parents. So I won't!

Christmas Tree


The kids by the tree yesterday before church.

We let them open a gift early, so we don't need to take everything up to Canada. We will open most of them before we leave on the 21st and make all the fun last longer. L's gift was too big to pose with. It is a Bionicle set. That is an iZ that R has. It is SO COOL!!!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Muffin Fight

Just swept up an entire dustpan of poppy seed muffin off the hardwood floors. B had just swept the floors yesterday. Apparently this afternoon when I took L to see the Chronicles of Narnia, R and Bee had a "muffin fight". LOL

When asked where Daddy was during the fight, they chirped "Sleeping on the couch!" *sigh*

In his defense, the poor man stayed up until 2:30 this morning working. They have some deadline at work and lots of co-workers went in to the office yesterday and today. At least he got to stay here:)

And the kids had fun, that is what matters, right?? I have a post drafted, waiting to publish it. I am hesitating, trying to edit some out. I talk too much and prattle ON and ON and am trying to get the same amount said in at least half the time. I may not post it, too boring:) LOL I just find it a bit interesting, that it was all about my struggle to keep the house relatively clean with 4 kids who are here, not at school. All our projects and art work all over, etc etc.

Off to bed...

Friday, December 09, 2005

New Baby

We have some exciting news!

Our kids have a new cousin. Hubby's bro and his wife had their second little girl Friday afternoon down in SC. She is just precious and we could not be happier for them. Just wish we could see more of them. Sure is no fun living so far from everyone on both sides, sometimes.

We love it here though and have such a great church family and so many awesome friends. Just be kind of nice to actually KNOW my family and hubby's family more. Ya know?? Like be closer emotionally. I wish I was close enough to take my sis-in-law a meal or two, and maybe have our niece spend the night, give them a break and time to catch up on sleep now that they have a new born.

When I was a kid, I saw my cousins throughout the year and we would stay at our Grandma's together for days at a time in the summer, etc. We would spend Spring Break at each other's houses or many days throughout the summer or Christmas break from school. Good times. I have great memories of those times. Makes me so sad to think of our kids so far from their FIRST cousins. Hubby and I both grew up with cousins very close geographically. Seems weird that our kids go years in between spending any time with any cousins. *sigh*

Hopefully it won't be two years before we meet this one, like it was with her older sister!


Ok, must get R's lunch made and get him up and ready for school. Hope we won't have too much of a fight this morning!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Ok I need help.

Again.

I am addicted to Starbucks.

Seriously.

Then I went to this blog I enjoy purusing and what are they talking about?? STARBUCKS!! I will figure out how to list the blogs I want, like so many others do. Eventually. So then you can all check them out too:)

I am trying to limit myself to my treat twice a week.

Why you ask??

Because the only thing I enjoy is over...*ahem*...800 calories.

NO, that is not a typo.

In the past 3 years, I have put on 30 lbs. Actually 20, but I think 5 or 10 lbs of my muscle (do women even have that much??) turned to flab. So there you go. I went from a size 0 or 2 and not even caring or paying attention to that, to a 6 after all the kids. I was fine with that.

Now I am a size 10 and I am not fine with that. LOL

Things jiggle. They bounce where they are not supposed to. When I bend or move, they touch each other and fold over. Not only is it unattractive, it is...more importantly...uncomfortable.

So, I try to drink more water, eat smaller portions, which is so hard for me cause I have always eaten anything I wanted without a thought. I obviously cannot do that and it is taking some getting used to. I am limiting my bad carbs, etc etc. I think the only thing that will work for me is to jog or ride a bike like crazy to burn all this crud off and THEN keep doing that to maintain it. Nothing is working so far! I am too young to be in this nasty place. So I need to limit my Macchiato intake. I only like it Breve. If it is not, it tastes like water to me, basically. The breve part is what adds 500 extra calories?!?!

In other news, Bee's dance recital is this Saturday. I am SO EXCITED! This is the first year in memory that hubby has not been involved in the church Christmas production, so he won't have to be at her rectial in his costume and make up and then dart off to dress rehearsal like last year! LOL

We were all pleased that the day would be calm and non-hectic. Then we found out that the head coach of B's hockey team can't be at the game on Sat. and since hubby is the assistant coach, he has no choice but to be there. Of course with the timing, he will be cutting it really close. We never can be sure where her placement is in the recital (near the start, middle or finish), so we are hoping it is not right at the start, when he may not be there yet. I am sure it will all work out.

I may post pictures of her at the rectial. I still have yet to see her costume, she has missed the past two lessons because of B's hockey and the glass feild trip yesterday. Tomorrow I will get the kids' glass creations from yesterday. We did not "blow" glass but made coasters. I was impressed with the kids' creativity. Hopefullt we can get some good pics to post on here. Bee did her's all by herself, you will be impressed when you see it I am sure. For just turning 5, it is REALLY good. Really.

I am coming down with a cold, so it is back to the couch for me. I think B is making the kids something to eat, Hubby is still at work.

Till later...

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Well, things have been busy, as always.

Something very exciting happened last night. B had been asked to try out for the "Rep" hockey team in his division. It is the competitive team that represents the association. People have been watching and took note of his speed and overall talent:) They say he is in the top 5% of the entire Association. So last night were try outs.

They got there and saw that Alain Lemieux, Mario's brother, was there!?!?! He was the one running the whole thing, telling B and the kids what drills to do, etc. He signed B's glove and Jersey!?!?!?

Hubby wishes he had known, he would have taken the camera. I thought that was amazing!!! B was SO EXCITED when they got home. Well, Hubby was pretty stoked too:)


So we will find out soon if he got on the team. One coach was there and said he wants him, he just has to talk to the head coach or something.

Here are the pros to B moving onto this team-

These guys really take things seriously and work as a team, something he has been very frustrated with on his current, regular team. He likes the guys fine, but has commented on their immaturity (he doesn't use that word, but that is what he means) and they just don't seem to want to be there. They don't listen to the coaches most of the time. This makes it hard for him to reach his full potential and really have fun. He is just annoyed half the time, with the kids being "puck hogs" and not passing, etc. He was so excited last night, saying how these guys actually work together, he couldn't get over it!

This Rep team will work him harder and challenge him more.

It is a big compliment!

Cons-

Mess with the schedule BIG TIME. LOL

He will practice much more often, which means even more driving and neglecting the other kids and their activities.

Hubby can't be assistant coach on that team and will need to stay with B's current team. Refer to the first Con.

So we will see. If, for some reason, he doesn't get on, then it will all work out. He is kind of sad to leave the other guys, so then he won't have to:)

I will try to catch you all up on things later, but must fold the mountain of laundry while the kids are still asleep. The older two kids fold their own, and even with them keeping up on it, I have been slacking in my department!

We are off to a glass blowing field trip, will post pics of our creations as soon as I can!

Thursday, December 01, 2005




Igot Bee some winter boots on sale yesterday at Target. She has not had any since she was about 2 and she needed ones that fit. She has been wearing old hand-me-downs of her brothers' and I thought I would splurge and get girly ones.

Decided today to go buy all the boys some. R can fit some old ones of L and B's, but what fun is that, right?? L and B need new ones for sure and it is no fair (I thought) to get 3 kids something new and not the other. So I got all the boys boots JUST IN TIME!

They had a fun time! It is not much, no more than an inch. These poor deprived kids made the most of it and then went with their Dad to get the Christmas tree. L and I stayed in AND stayed home. We are not that outdoorsy (although I always was as a kid) and stayed home visiting with each other.

So here are a few pics. The only people who read this are family anyway, so what's the harm??

The red thing hanging from Bee's coat is the shirt of Davy's that she has been wearing.

To steal a common phrase from one of my older brothers:

Carry on.