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Top 5 Documentaries

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I may have mentioned before that Curt and I watch a lot of movies.  We tend to stay away from mainstream movies and watch a bit of the alternative.  We absolutely love a good documentary, a chance to get a gimps into a world you would never otherwise experience.  Here are five of our favorite documentaries. 


There's a Rat in The House

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A Pack Rat that is, and its me.

Every time I go into my basement and look at the piles of "stuff" sitting down there I think man this is all just junk and I don't really want it.  Then I go and look at the boxes of "stuff" left in M&S's garage that I still have to collect and I have the same thoughts.  For the most part the things that I love and use are upstairs being loved and used and whats left downstairs is extra.
I've decided that now is the time to start getting rid of some of my collected treasures (aka junk). I am going to partake in a garage sale in the next month or so and get rid of as much as I can.
My purging adventure has been a bit like a roller coaster ride I will have a day were I feel like I'm doing really good and getting rid of alot and then the next day I can't seem to get rid of things I know I should.  I think I need someone to come over and tell me its ok to let go of some of this stuff.  Thankfully I have not gone back into the "get rid of" pile and rescued anything (please don't let me do this). 
Curt did remind me that this is not my only opportunity to purge the excess and that it will be OK if I go back at another time and get rid of the rest.  That actually lifted a weight off my shoulders, I will just do what I can now and then at a later date I will do this again and be able to let go of some more.

Fingerpainting

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Feeling the need for a post but I can't find any words so here are some photos of the girls fingerpainting this weekend.

 
  
  
  
  
 

Muffin Tin Monday

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I'm always on the lookout for fun snacks for the girls. In my searches I've come across Muffin Tin Monday at Her Cup Overfloweth. The idea is that an entire meal or snack be served from a muffin tin on Monday. Each week she gives you a different theme for the snack/meal and the people participating will post a photo and description of what they served. I've gotten lots of neat ideas from this. I have tried out Muffin Tin Snacks on the girls but I'm not sure it has ever been on a Monday. They enjoy this snack with a variety of foods looking around and picking their favorite items first. Nollie especially likes the colour themes. It allows me to easily see that I'm giving a variety of food groups and I don't feel bad about throwing in a couple Smarties or M&Ms because I know they're eating their Vegies too. The best part about it is that I have to work my mind and be a little bit creative if I have a theme to work on. I use a 12 muffin tray and give each girl 6 of the spots on either side. They then sit across from eachother at there little table and pick away at it. I do find I get a bit carried away with the amount that I give for a snack, when there are 6 items you don't need very much of each one. The last time I used mini muffin tins and I kept the portions to a more reasonable size.

Here are some of my muffin tin snacks
Orange: fish crackers, cheese, carrots, cantaloupe, orange, Smarties


St Patrick's Day: cucumber, broccoli, ranch dip, kiwi, Smarties, milk in a green cup


Mini Tin: Cucumber, tomatoes, ham, fish crackers, pickles, cheese

A Day At Grandma & Grandpa's Farm

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For Next Easter...

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I find myself after each holiday reflecting back and creating a little list in my head of things to keep in mind for next year. I however have a memory like a goldfish and forget that list long before the next years festivities. I thought maybe if I wrote it down I had a better chance of keeping the ideas for next year.
  1. Get the kids home & t0 bed at a decent hour the night before you have full day of festivities planned. Really I know this already but I have a hard time leaving my Mom & Dad's house when we're all together.
  2. The Easter egg hunt is fun, keep it on the tradition list.
  3. Do not put starter treats in the Easter basket if you want a 1 & 2 year old to be interested in an egg hunt. Eating Distraction.
  4. Don't buy so much candy! The girls do not need a sample of every candy made on Easter morning.
  5. Finding cool non-candy items that fit in the little plastic eggs is not easy.
  6. Bring an egg along when shopping as a size reference so you don't buy items that are too big to fit in the egg.
  7. Plan ahead and make something crafty. (or actually pick a craft and make it rather than looking at every single crafty Easter related item you could make for the girls and not making any)
  8. Phone ahead to see what the host needs you to bring. There were an abundance of desserts at both events. I guess we all had sweets on the brain.
  9. Don't eat so much.
  10. Don't buy so much candy! Wait did I say that already?
Since we are at the beginning of our life as a family and still developing our family traditions I'm trying to decide what to keep for next year and what to change. The last two years we have just done an egg hunt for the girls using plastic eggs. The eggs included both candy treats and small non-candy treats (stickers, stretchy bunnies, etc). I like the egg hunt & don't want to give it up but I also consider giving a small gift in addition. I don't think the girls need a present at each holiday but if I'm going to get them something I could probably come up with a better idea that just candy. I would like to get something non candy related but without just buying the girls more "stuff". By limiting myself to what can fit in a plastic egg I find myself just buying an item just because it will fit in the egg. Maybe I could make them an Easter dress of get them some art/craft supplies, maybe I just need to get a little more creative with what can go in a plastic egg. I'm not sure what next Easter will bring, I guess I have a whole year to think about it.

What did you give for Easter or what did you get as a child?

Happy Where I Am

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Yesterday the girls & I took a trip to the city to visit a good friend of mine and see her new baby R. It was another of those trips where I lug my camera along and not take a single photo. By the time I remembered the camera we were packing up to go and no one was in the mood for photos. I must remember next time that photos come first while everyone is happy. It was such a nice visit and just like every other time I found myself wondering why we don't get together more often, we're not that far away from one another. Maybe now that we're both at home moms and sitting at home every day of the week bored with nothing to do we can find the time to get together more often, ha, ha.

After a nice visit including coffee & lunch I had to pack up the girls to head home. They were both tired, it was nap time and not really the time for a successful shopping experience but I just had two stores to stop at since we were in the city and I had a list & knew exactly what I needed. Easy right? NOT! Who goes shopping with kids? It's ridiculous, not fun at all. At the fabric store I walked out with nothing at all (probably a good thing for the pocket book) but I had a few things I needed and I'm sure they were in the store if I could have found them. There were no carts in the store of course, and Luca did not want to be held, Nollie did want to be held, Nollie wanted to hold hands with her sister, Luca did not want to hold hands. After a bout 10 minutes of slowly wandering around the store (my children move like turtles) both girls were screaming and crying and it was time to leave empty handed. OK, a couple groceries next. The girls get loaded directly from their car seats to the carts & I arm myself with multiple snacks & drinks. After getting slightly distracted by the unnecessaries in the giant sized grocery store I remember that I have a limited window here where the girls are content and I rush over to get my shopping done. All snacks were used up and it was a successful trip. Well that went so well that I think I'll hop over to giant craft store extravaganza. I can think of absolutely nothing that I need there but since I'm in the city I should just take a quick loop through the store and I'm sure they have carts. They had carts but that lasted about two minutes. Luca neeeeded out then Nollie neeeeded out and we were pushing an empty shopping cart around a supersized store at a turtles pace with screams & complants sprinkled throughout. We left the store nearly empty handed & I was mad at myself for going to the store in the first place. Did I really need to waste an hour of my life to buy nothing.

The girls were again strapped into their car seats and we were on our way home. They were both asleep shortly after we pulled out of the parking lot, thank goodness. That extra hour wasted had pushed us to the beginnings of rush hour, agh. As I tried to get out of the city I found myself in the same state of mind that Curt & I always get to when we go into the city. "Why the $%^& does anyone live here, this is rediculous. What, so your have the opportunity to consume more things, at any hour of the day, whenever the impulse strikes." "So your neighbours can see right in your windows, and your practically share yards with everyone around you" "It takes twice as long to get half the distance, you have people nearly smashing into you because they're driving like maniacs" "Do these people actully want to live here? Why would anyone choose this?" I was raging, I had a million other reasons why I would never want to live in the city again going through my head. As I finally got out of the craziness and onto my quiet Garden Valley Road the rage lifted and I started to relax. I know each person has their own idea of what the perfect life entales. I'm sure many would and do wonder why we would live so far down an old dirt road near a town where you can't buy everything you need. Why we would sacrifice a year plus of our life to be able to have the house that we want on a piece of land. How we can stand the quiet and they would have a million reasons why they would not want to live here. Each trip to the city I am reminded that I am more than happy with my life, with where I am living and the choices Curt & I are making.

I spent the rest of the drive enjoying the scenery, the quite picture of two sleeping girl in my rear view and being alone with my thoughts. Content.

Siding Complete / My Girls

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We've now finished the siding, its complete, done!



On a separate note here are some photos of the girls I took today.




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