Life on Rancho Relaxo

31 Today

2012-02-14T07:44:00.001-07:00

It’s my 31st Birthday and I thought it deserved a blog post but I wasn’t sure what to write. Here are some random thoughts about me today.

I am wife of 7 years to an amazing man
Mother of 3 lovely girls
6 months pregnant with baby number 4
Have two pets, a dog Simon & a cat Pepper
I’m a first year homeschooling mom
President of the Swim Club
Girl Guide/Sparks Leader
I spend way too much time on the internet
I’m currently reading the Hunger Games Trilogy
I got my 1st smart phone this year
I’ve been finding grey hairs on my head.
The weather forecast today is sunny with a high of 0*C, this winter has been unusually warm
I’ve been cross country skiing nearly every weekend this year
I’m a library addict and easily have 30 items out at any given time.
I’m going to make a chocolate cake today and let the kids free for all decorate it.
I was up at 5am and had the bathrooms cleaned by 6:15am today.
I love my mornings to myself
I go to bed by 10:30pm
I’ve been enjoying two coffee’s every day
I am just starting an art journal.
The trim is only done in two rooms of the house and we’ve been living here 3 years.
I have kids drawings taped all over the walls of my house.
I would rather shop online than go to a store
I wear my slippers every day so I can’t feel the crumbs on my floor
I am a huge procrastinator
I bought myself a plant, some chocolate, a fresh journal and some new markers this week, I guess you can call it a birthday present to myself.
Have extra long hair on my legs
I don’t use shampoo or conditioner
I’m can’t stop myself from buying kids books at the thrift store.
I’m not very good at being on time
I feel like I’m exactly where I should be at 31.

Music Monday – Favorite Kids Albums

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share some of our favorite kids music. The kind that I don’t mind listening to too. Most of this music I wouldn’t even switch off if it came on and the kids weren’t with me.

Enjoy!

Making Butter

2012-02-11T17:00:00.001-07:00

We acquired a gallon of fresh, unpasteurized cows milk recently. Curt wanted to try making 30 minute Mozzarella cheese with fresh milk to see if it worked any better than store bought milk. The milk we got had a large amount of cream in it and as I skimmed the cream off the top I got an idea… we should make butter.

First: I did my research, a Google search and a conversation with each of my Grandmas about methods to find out exactly what I needed to do.

Second: I filled a jar about half-full of cream. Soon after I filled two more jars when I realized each girl would require their own jar, even Wavy wanted one. The cream had already been sitting out on the counter for a while to warm it to room temperature, this quickens the process I was told.

Third: Shake, shake, shake.

In no time (really a lot quicker than I thought) we had butter. You could see a clean separation between the butter and the buttermilk in each of the jars.

Fourth: We had to wash the butter to prevent it from going rancid. We poured off the buttermilk, saving it for baking. We then put the butter in the blender with cold water and mixed it on low. After a few minutes we poured off the water and repeated washing the butter with fresh cold water until the water remained clear and all the buttermilk had been washed away. The fresh butter was quite soft so I put it in the fridge to harden up a bit.

Finally: We enjoyed some fresh butter on homemade buns. Yum!

As we shook the cream I read chapter two of Little House Big Woods, which happened to be about Ma making butter, it was not planned, but totally worked out.

A Day in the Life

2012-02-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

I read a day in the life post of another mom blogger and thought it would be fun to do one myself so here is a day in my life from this Monday.

6:10 - I hear Curt getting ready in the bathroom but I don't open my eyes yet, just lay and listen. I mumble a goodbye as he walks out of the bedroom. I listen to the the sound of the garage door opening and his truck driving away.

6:20 - My alarm goes off. I shut it off immediately but lay in bed for another couple minutes. Not wanting to fall back asleep I get up, making the bed as I do. I shower get dressed and brush my hair then pick up the bedroom and bathroom before heading out with a full laundry basket. Monday is laundry day so I collect all the laundry baskets from the bathrooms. In the laundry room I sort and start the first load. I find a clean load of diapers in the drier from last week and fold them.

I head to the kitchen and start a cup of coffee coffee in my espresso maker. Putting away the clean dishes from the sink and loading the dirty tea cups from last night into the dishwasher as I wait to froth the milk and pour in the hot coffee.

I move over to the computer and check my email. I wasn't on top of things last night so I print any homeschool worksheets for the week. I open Google Reader and read through blogs as I enjoy my coffee.

8:05 - OK, time to start the day, I turn on the radio to get some noise in the house. It's set to Sonic as usual. I head to the bigger girls room and turn on the light to wake them up. As per her request I piggie back Luca out to the kitchen table where she starts working on a new sticker book that she got at a birthday party yesterday. I switch the laundry and Nollie wanders out to wake up all her stffies having a sleepover in the livingroom under the piano.

8:30 - I start to make toast but the toaster isn't working and doesn't want to stay down. I fiddle with it a bit and get the toast to stay in finally. Curt phones to check what time his dentist appointment is and as I'm talking to him the toaster starts to smoke with burnt toast, maybe the toaster really isn't working. I scrape the burnt parts off and eat it myself. The girls are still playing, I can't see us starting home school my 9 today but that's OK because it gives me some extra time to fill their bins, which I didn't do last night.

I pour Luca some cereal and empty a laundry basket of junk that I picked up off the floor last night. When I take the basket back to the laundry room I notice I didn't actually start the washing machine earlier so I start it now. I put toast in the toaster for Nollie, it's still acting up, grr.

8:45 - Waverly wakes up, I go get her out of her bed and pop some toast in for her. Wasnting to eat right now she impatiently complains as we wait for it to pop. She starts to eat and I continue cleaning the kitchen and decluttering the island..

9:05 - The older two finally leave the table and I send them to go get dressed. Usually the getting dressed and ready is a long process and they get distracted once they get to their rooms but they surprise me by coming out quite quickly, ready for the day. I take Waverly pee and get her dressed and ready.

9:30 - We are all downstairs starting school. Calender time together then Nollie works on printing and sight words, Luca does E is for Elephant activities (found here). Waverly is all over the place, sometimes sitting at the table colouring, or playing on the floor or reading books with me on the couch. As all of this is going on I try to clean up my desk of homeschool papers, it never seems to get completely cleared, I have to run back upstairs a few times to switch laundry and take Waverly pee. This is followed by a quiet read to self time for everyone. As all of this is going on I try to clean up my desk of homeschool papers, it never seems to get completely cleared, I have to run back upstairs a few times to switch laundry and take Waverly pee.

11:00 - I get the girls started on free writing time and head upstairs with Waverly to make a smoothie. Waverly sits on the counter with me ready to push the button on the blender. I have to keep the blender unplugged until I am ready incase she pushes it prematurely. When its ready I go down to get the girls. Nollie shows me she wrote on a paper two ways to write the alphabet. One says "ABCs" and above that says "lfubet". I congratulate her on attempting such a large word and help her correct it to say "alphabet". We all head upstairs, I switch the laundry and we all have smoothie and a a cookie. After snack we sit in the living room. Nollie has requested some lego time so the girls play lego while I read Little House in the Big Woods to them.

11:45 - The girls cousin Dawson comes over for a visit. They continue to play lego, I finish our chapter and then swich laundry (again).

12:00 - Egg wraps for lunch, quick and easy. The girls eat a little then go off to play. I fold and put away the first three loads of laundry. A girlfriend of mine phones and we chat, planning a vacation we are taking together this summer. I finish cleaning up lunch.

1:30 - I put Waverly down for a nap and send the other three girls outside. I tidy up some more and completely clean off the island.

2:00 - I sit down at the computer desk to review tonight's supper recipe, I'm making something new, Orzo Salad from Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen. I google "how to cook orzo". I update my meal plan for the week and enter a few new recipes into Plantoeat.

3:00 - I go outside, no wonder the gils have been out here so long, it is gorgeous. I shovel a skiff of snow off the back patio and then shovel off the pond.

3:20 - The girls are ready to come in for hot chocolate.

3:30 - Waverly wakes up to join the hot chocolate party. My sister Courtney comes to pick up Dawson and we get to have a visit.

4:30 - Dawson & Courtney leave and I start supper. Waverly sits on the counter to help me put things in the blender and of course push the button several times.

5:30 - Curt comes home and we sit down to eat. As Luca comes to the table she anounces " I don't like that" before she even sits down. This is how we have been starting every meal. We tell her she has never tired it and get her to try maybe 3 bites.

I clean up supper while watching the dance show that Luca is putting on for me and her stuffies and taking turns making up stories with Nollie.

6:30 - Play scrabble Jr with Nollie and Luca. Waverly wants up but every time she gets up on my knee she tosses pieces around so I put her back down. Since the girls wanted to try the more advanced version I feel like I am just playing by myself, things are starting to get more silly by the minute. Nollie swings her stuffie across the board sending tiles flying and I call a game over.

7:00 - Jammie time for the girls and brush teeth. Nollie discovers that I can put photos on her new mp3 player and needs me to do it right now so I sift through photos and add some for her. When everyone is ready we sit down on the couch and read books, one chosen by each girl.

8:00 - Bed time, ahhh. I sit at the computer with a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate. I scan pinterest as I visit with Curt. Curt gives me hard time about being on the computer so turn it off and move to the living room to visit.

9:00 - The kids are still coming out of their rooms and running around, Waverly is still crying. Curt goes to deal with the older girls and I get Wave and bring her out for a cuddle. This time it seems to work for everyone.

Curt and I get ready for bed and lay down to read. I fall asleep with my light on and a book in my hand by 10:00.

A day in my life.....

Baby #4

2012-01-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

Our fourth Buchan Baby is expected to be joining the family in late May or early June 2012.

Yesterday I got my first glimpse of Baby #4. Even on round four it is amazing to see that heart pumping, the mouth opening and closing and the arms moving around.

First Ski of the Season

2011-12-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we went out to the trails for our first x-country ski of the year. After 4 days of large family get togethers, including a Birthday and Christmas our family was spent and we were looking forward to a day of relaxing at home. Curt suggested the ski and I was all over it. It has been great weather here, I really wanted to get outside and I knew I was in need of some exercise. The only problem was getting the kids going. Our kids are painful to get out of the house on a regular day and this was not any easier. They were playing so happily and I hated to interrupt them to leave for somewhere again. Nollie was crying saying "you said we wouldn't have to go anywhere today, that we could just stay home." Sorry dear but Mom needs this and you could use some fresh air too. When we finally got in the van I was raging, tired of wining, crying, slow moving, etc.

Since we only have one set of kids skis we generally take turns. One of us will go for a ski while the other person stays back at the cabin with the kids and lets them play around in the snow and try out the kids skis. I was still angry after the 10 minute drive to the trails and we decided it was best if I went for my ski first, so that I didn't loose it on any of the kids. It took about 2 minutes of skiing and I was at peace. At 10:00am we were the first ones at the trails and the other man that arrived just after us went the opposite way, so I was skiing completely alone. The temperature was right around zero, beautiful for this time of year and the sun was beaming through the trees. My view ahead looked like this..

... and to my view left through the trees you could see the river valley down below.

I skiied 3.2 km and on the way back I was getting tired and slow, hoping I didn't do too much, since other than climbing the sledding hill a few times I haven't done much for exercise since gardening season ended.

When I got back from my ski I was met by Luca coming towards me on the trails. Nollie had no interest in skiing yesterday and Luca had been ripping around the whole time I was gone. She was excited and wanted to go on a ski just like I did... as far as I did... even further, so I turned around and we started skiing together. It was so fun to see Luca wanting to ski and enjoying skiing. She didn't want to turn around and go back at all. She thoroughly enjoyed her time alone with Mom and was chatting up a storm for the whole ski. We forgot to grab the kids poles, which is OK since kids don't normally learn to ski with poles but she was convinced she needed some, so she used mine.

Luca and I skied another 500m together, the longest I've ever seen her ski. I can't wait to get another set of kids skis so we can try family ski together this year.

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Wavy

2011-12-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe my baby is 2 now.

Here are some photos of her to celebrate

Riding the tricycle

Her pose

Yes, she dumped an entire box of Cheerios on the floor while sitting on her potty.

The girls laugh about this all the time

"..remember the time Waverly had spaghetti stuck on her nose.."

Waverly was a scootcher for most of the last year.

She has permanently stained an worn through several pairs of pants.

..but she has finally decided to start walking this past month.

(I don't think I have a single photo of Wave walking, gasp! I know, horrible Mom)

Baby Wavy

Wavy's 1st Birthday

Wavy 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Wavy!

Croissants

2011-12-19T17:06:00.002-07:00

I've been wanting to try making Croissants from scratch for a while but knowing that I had to start them two days before we planned to eat them I could never get the timing right. Friday night after we put the girls to sleep Curt suggested I get them started. I wasn't all that impressed with the idea at the time, since I generally shut down and do nothing after the girls are in bed, but am I ever glad I did it. I followed the recipe from the book French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano. I found the instructions at shesingsatthetable.com and thought her commentary on the recipe was quite humorous as I went along. After the initial preperations on Friday night they needed some attention twice on Saturday and then the final steps took place on Sunday morning. I was up early so the Croissants came out of the oven just in time for breakfast. Curt whipped up a quick batch of chocolate honey to have with them and we sat down to enjoy.

They were amazing and I will definitely be making these again.

Would you look at that flaky goodness, mmmmmmmm.

Needless to say the 12 croissants did not last until lunch time that day.

Night Skate

2011-12-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last night we went out to the pond in our back yard for a night skate.

We put a lantern in the center of the ice and head lamps on the girls and let them skate around.

Waverly sat in the center of the ice and watched.

The girls had lots of fun and when we came inside we all enjoyed some hot chocolate before bed, such fun!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-03T08:32:00.001-06:00

Another Halloween over and our house is full of candy.

I am not complaining, I love the candy!

Thankfully Waverly isn't old enough to notice me eating her stash.

We had alot of fun this Halloween Season

Aunty Shelby had us over to Mom & Dad's for the girls to paint pumpkins one night

Of course we carved some pumpkins at home.

For Homeschool on Halloween we did a bunch of fun Halloween activities. I haven't been taking any pictures of our school time, I should really start, I guess I'm a little busy at the time.

I made a fun Halloween snack

I like making these crazy snacks, but unfortunately I can't get it planned ahead so on Halloween day at snack time I am doing a quick search to find something fun to make. I guess it all works out, but it might have been easier if I knew what I was doing the day be fore. It's just the way I am.

And of course we dressed up and went out trick-or-treating. We drove all over the country side visiting all the Grandparents, Great Grandparent, Aunts & Uncles and this year the girls wanted to do a bit of walking around town too. At the end of the night the girls were exhausted, we had to basically scrape them off the floor.

Nollie the Butterfly

Luca the Dinosaur

Waverly the Care Bear

I love this picture and any picture that catches the girls looking at each other in a way that you wouldn't maybe notice in in everyday life.

I take photos at the beginning of the night and then my Mom gets her photos at the end of the night when everyone has smeared make-up, dirty faces and costumes and tired looks. It'd be funny to see the comparison.

Happy November!

Happy 4th Birthday Luca

2011-10-20T09:16:00.001-06:00

Luca is pink and frilly and rough and tumble all in one. For her birthday her one request was a pink princess fishing rod and I'm sure when she does go fishing she will wear her most beautiful dress.

She loves earings, necklaces, bracelets, and clips for her hair. She loves "beautiful" dresses and skirts. She loves lipstick & nailpollish and everything pink.

On the other hand Luca always has a messy face and never wears shoes outside. She's not affraid to get dirty and loves catching frogs.

She is always watching her big sister

and tackle hugging her little sister

Luca is always a helper and you often hear her say "I can do it"

She is amazing at puzzles and is becoming interested in learning to read

Baby Luca

One

Two

Three

Four

Happy Birthday to Luca!

A Summer in Review

2011-10-19T08:20:00.000-06:00

Well hello there. I figured since I basically took the summer off of blog writing I would catch you all up a little before I get started again. So here it is, a summer in review.

Curt celebrated his 31st Birthday

Nollie had her 5th Birthday.

I painted our Master Bedroom

We enjoyed both a Martin and a Buchan camp-out. I love the family get-togethers

We enjoyed a free outdoor yoga & nature class for kids

Luca won a new bike at the County Fair

We took part in a weekly library camp

We went to the farmers market

We played in the mud

We took our first two week holiday as a family

We went to a friend's wedding

We went camping

Babies who scootch on their butt get really dirty when camping

Visited Grandma & Papa Hutch

Spent a week at Buchan's condo

Played on Grandpa's boat

Both girls learned to ride a two wheeler

Wavy practiced her tricks

I played in my garden and made a few new flower beds

We planted trees

Curt covered the beams and posts on the front deck

We painted the railing on the decks....again, I think we're done for a year or two.

We (mostly Curt) put in two brick patios, one outside the garage door and one outside the walkout door.

We started homeschooling

Nollie lost her first (and second) tooth..

We had a great summer!

Trim - One Room Down!

2011-06-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

After two and a half years of living in our house the trim has actually hit the walls. We've decided to work from the back of the house forward, one room at a time, finishing each room completely as we go, that way by the time we get to the main areas we have all the kinks out. ***That is a huge piece of of advice for anyone doing any home renovation/house build projects, especially something you have never done before. Always start in the area that is least seen. You will make mistakes and you will improve as you go.***

Now I'm sure you know that you can go to your local home building center buy trim, paint it and slap it up in your house, as long as you have a miter saw and some patience you are good to go (I made that sound a little easier than it really is.) That's not how we chose to do it though, we like to make sure we do everything the most difficult way (Curtis likes to make sure he gets new tools from each project). It started two years ago when we purchased a giant load of rough cut aspen boards from a local lumber yard. The boards were fresh and had to be dried before we could use them for trim so we stacked them in the garage to dry as we worked on other projects, building a shop, landscaping, drywalling the basement and such. When the shop was complete we moved all the boards by hand to the shop and re-stacked them to dry further. At some point we tried planing some boards flat and got a feel for how much work would be involved using the planer we had. Before you knew it Curt was driving home with a Woodmaster (new tool) that a local guy happened to be selling on kijiji. It is one of those machines that they advertise at the back of woodworking magazines, they call it the "Four Way Money Maker". It was a lot of money and we had to hold our breath the first time we used it, hoping it wouldn't blow our breaker, but it didn't and it does some nice work. Curt put a lot of time into planing boards and then running them through the machine a few more times to make trim. We then spent about a month paining a dozen sample trying to choose the colour, everything from white to light to dark. Curt would come home each day with a couple more cans of stain and paint a chunk of trim and then we would stare at them unable to decide. Finally when we made up our mind the trim went up and it looks amazing.

I love the ledges on the windows

One of the questions we got from everyone that entered our house was "what are you going to do with the beams?" They are bright orange (you can see them in one of the photos below) and they really pop out at you in their unfinished state. Voila, a finished beam, I love it!

I even got shelves in my bathroom closet.

We still have a few things to finish up in the bathroom, taking the photo above I was reminded of the vent cover I need to put on the wall, oops, that's my job.

Curt also made a transition strip between the tile in the bathroom and the hardwood in the bedroom.

Thank goodness because prior to that it was an ugly gap that collected dust, dirt, Polly Pocket shoes, beads, Lite-Brite pegs etc.

Next on the list, the Master Bedroom. I'd like to paint the wall behind the bed, maybe a raspberry red colour, I'm not sure. All the walls need another coat of paint, would you believe there are dirty fingerprints all over the walls and even a few pencil scribbles.

We need to paint all the doors, put up the trim, finish the beam.

Maybe I'll even remove the crib, and the little girl that sleeps in it.

A Simple Woman's Daybook: June 2011

2011-06-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... everything is glowing green from the recent rains and the sky is a calming colour of gray.

I am thinking...to homeschool or not to homeschool.....

I am thankful for...all of my time at home with my girls.

From the learning rooms...we are enjoying watching the tadpoles we collected as frog eggs grow and change.

From the kitchen... I've been on top of meal planning again, its so much easier to cook supper when you know what you're making and have everything there to make it. I'm also enjoying spring produce from the garden rhubarb muffins and asparagus.

I am wearing...my ratty patched up jeans and a shirt full of holes (it's home day and I'm ready for the garden)

I am creating...gardens, gardens everywhere, its June and so gardening is my passion, flowers, trees and produce.

I am going... no further than my garden today, Monday is homeday.

I am reading...my giant stack of magazines that I haven't touched in a while and reviews on android apps for my new phone.

I am hoping...I'll get the grass cut today during Wavy's nap.

I am hearing...wedding type music, the girls are playing wedding...again, it is a new favorite.

Around the house...breakfast dishes are on the table, Waverly's books are scattered on the floor from last night but the toilets are clean and shinny.

One of my favorite things...digging in the dirt, man I love gardening. (are you noticing a bit of an obsession here)

A few plans for the rest of the week: regular stuff, play with the kids, sweep the floor about a million times, go to town on Wednesday for a crazy full day, garden, cut the grass, oh and my second golf clinic, yay and Curt's company golf tournament at the end of the week.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing... my Grandma Martin on her 75th Birthday, I am loving this photo.

Find more daybook entries at The Simple Woman's Daybook

Water, Water Everywhere

2011-04-11T10:04:00.000-06:00

Snow melts into water.... and lots of snow melts into lots of water.

Our yard has officially been taken over by water. We like to joke that we have a moat but honestly at this point its not quite funny to me, more like a little nerve racking. We've been watching the pond grow as the snow and ice melted this last week and then the rest of the snow started melting and just staying where it was forming more puddles. Finally the puddles and pond have all joined to form one big lake. Here's the view off our deck this morning

and this

Here shows just how how close the water is to our house

and how far it goes

And when we woke up this morning we found that the pool forming on one side of our driveway had now started running over the driveway

The water is flowing away but just not quickly enough and there are places that have yet to melt that are blocking the water from flowing properly. I hope that the next couple sunny day are enough to thaw the culvert and get the water running through and that the water starts flowing away a little faster. I also hope that the sun doesn't just melt more snow off the surrounding hills to add to our lakes.

Happy Spring to you!

First Days of Spring

2011-03-22T06:53:00.000-06:00

Just last week we were out on the deck enjoying the sunshine

blowing bubbles

stepping in the remaining puddles....

...and making footprints.

I even line dried my first couple loads of laundry for the season.

It looked like spring was here in Alberta

and then...

on the first day of spring...

we got THIS!

MORE SNOW!!

I'm hoping for more days like this one in the near future.

Happy Spring to you!

Milk Bone Cake

2011-03-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

We got together this last weekend to celebrate a few family birthdays at my parents house. My brother Jesse, sister Courtney (and my parents dog Téa). The joke in the family is that since Téa's birthday is on the same day as Courtney's we celebrate them together with equal importance. I'm sure after four years the joke is getting a but old for Courtney, but the rest of us find it quite funny. When I told Curt that we would be making the cake for Jesse, Courtney and Téa he knew just the cake he wanted to make... a dog bone. I gave him my "really Curt" look but I could see by his face that he was doing this.

Immediately after supper I made up my favorite chocolate cake recipe and a quick crumb coat of icing then I left the rest to Curt. This was Curt's second cake working with marshmallow fondant and although he fought with it a bit it worked out quite well. The writing says "Happy Birthday Tina, Love the Family" and at the bottom in tiny, tiny writing says "and Jesse & Courtney." I couldn't let the extra cake that we cut way to make the bone shape go to waste so I tried my hand at making cake balls (cake & icing mixed together, rolled into balls and then dipped in chocolate). It was a bit of a late night, but we had alot of fun together making this.

The Cake was a hit and OMG the cake balls were delicious!

Happy Birthday Jesse, Courtney (& Téa)!

Keep Your Guacamole Green

2011-03-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Do you ever make guacamole only to have it turn brown in the fridge? I have the solution for you. Put the avocado pit in with your guacamole and it will keep its fresh green colour.

This is my most recent batch of guacamole after two days in the fridge, amay-za-za-zing!

I think it works the same for just plain old avocado too, just leave the pit with the unused avocado and it won't turn all brown and disgusting looking.

I can't remember where I heard this tip, so I can't thank anyone. If I heard it from you feel free to take credit.

Inside Snow

2011-03-01T07:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Luca was bugging me to play something on her tray. I tried ignoring her requests but she persisted, so I suggested a few clean, easy options. She said "No Mom, something messy" because everyone knows that's what you use your trays for.

I finally gave in and grabbed them each a bowl of fresh snow off the deck. Both girls were excitedly at the table before I could close the door, placing requests for the additional tools they would need.

Who knew snow would be so exciting, I figured they would be tired of it by this point of the winter.

The girls played for over an hour with the snow and when Waverly woke up they needed to let her try too. The fun was put to a stop when Waverly finally dumped the tray of melting snow all over the floor. Oh well, easy clean up. The girls couldn't wait to tell Dad at supper time about the crazy thing they did today, bringing snow inside.

Kindergarten Crazy

2011-02-25T08:07:00.001-07:00

Kindergarten, agh! A few years ago I remember listening to ladies discuss what kindergarten they would send there children to and thinking they were making a big deal about nothing and now here I am, making a big deal about kindergarten.

Nollie, my oldest is set to attend kindergarten next September. The school I was going to send her to was never really my issue. The local Catholic school was our choice. Small school - good, small class sizes - yep, faith based - sounds alright, many of her friends would be going there - cool, Curtis went there growing up. Easy, done. I was just getting used to the idea of Nollie going away to school three days a week next year, talking myself through it, mulling it around in my head all the time. Then they threw me a curve ball. St. Anthony's School in Drayton Valley would be going to a 5 full day a week kindergarten schedule next year. What!!!!!!! I was NOT OK with that. Five full days, getting up and onto the bus at 7:30am and not getting home until 4:30pm every week day. Spending more time with a teacher and some peers than her own family?!?!

Call me crazy but I actually like being around my kids. I enjoy cuddling with them, reading to them, listening to their crazy stories, watching them draw, colour and craft, baking with them, showing them how to find out about things that they are interested in from the library or on the internet, listening to them play (or fight) in the background, I even enjoy grocery shopping with them (for the most part).

Last night I went to the information/registration night at the school. I felt like I was being given a sales pitch "Teachers love the 5 day a week program....The Alberta government would like all schools to have a mandatory 5 day a week Kindergarten program....faith is very important here...this will put your child ahead...this will make for an easier transition to grade one...we do lots of learning ... but its fun...." I don't really like sales pitches, they turn me off, it makes me wonder why they have to sell it to me in the first place? After the presentation my friend asked if it made me feel better, all I could say was "NO". It made me feel even worse. All they told me is that they are going to do all the same things I already do at my house but they will do it and not me. Reading, writing, crafts, playing, letters, numbers, patterns.... yep that's our day every day. Growing plants, taking care of pets, even worm composting, yep, yep, yep. Was the fact that they will be baking with my kid supposed to make me feel better? She's baking at school and in return doesn't have time for baking at home? And after lunch they will have quiet time and centers?? Why not end at lunch and they can have quiet time and centers (aka playing with their toys) at home. I'm not buying it. And don't try to tell win me over by saying that many weeks are not a full five days because there are holidays, pd days etc, it doesn't change a thing for me.

I know kindergarten is not mandatory and I could just keep her home next year but she would hold it against me forever. For nearly a year now she has been talking about turning 5, because then she can go to school. It's not hard to see where she gets the magical idea about school, every adult that we come across asks if she's going to school, are you excited to go to school, school will be so fun, you'll learn to read, school, school, school. I'm guilty of it too, what do I ask a child between the ages of say 3 and 18? Do you go to school yet, what grade are you in, how is school, do you like school, what do you do a school,... really? is that all there is.

People seem to think that I'm just sad that she is growing up and leaving me, "I cried too sending my child off..." "...its normal, you'll get over it." Its more than just being sad to see her go though. Sending her to kindergarten is like subscribing to a system that I just don't agree with. I'm not a fan of sitting in a classroom for 12 years being taught what someone, somewhere decided will be the curriculum. I don't agree with testing and report cards, making some children feel dumb and like they are unable to learn and making others that learn how to take test well think they are smart. I don't agree with learning for the sake of the grade, I don't think children need to be taught. My biggest worry is probably that the education system will stifle or even destroy the creativity, curiosity and the drive to learn that I see in my kids. How many 12 year olds still love to learn, and enjoy school? Sure kindergarten is fun, of course it is, but what happens in a couple years when they have to just sit at a desk and listen, write out their times tables, learn about this now, oh stop the bell rang, now learn about that, no you can't go pee, its not bathroom time, I'm sorry you're hungry we can't eat now. I know we all did and and we survived but it doesn't mean it is the only option.

Its not really my style to just do something because it is what everybody does and its what we have been doing for the last 100 years. Someone is going to have to give me a better reason. I feel like I've read too much and learned too much to just send my kids to school.

So when one of the teachers asked me last night how I felt about the 5 day a week program and all I could say was "not good" there is just a sample of what I meant.

Goodbye 20's Hello 30

2011-02-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today is my 30th Birthday, Happy Birthday to Me!

A decade in review:

Age 20:

Don't remember, kidding... partly
University
P-A-R-T-Y
Was Renting my first apartment in Downtown Edmonton with my lovely friend Vanessa

Age 21:

More University, more party, more living downtown with V
Completed my BSc in Biology, Specializing in Genetics
Retired for a summer (I mean there was only so much time you could spend looking for a job right)
Took an international trip visiting England, Holland, Belgium and France
Got myself a job
Moved with Vanessa & Jess to a 3 bedroom apartment with a washer & dryer
Got my first car

Age 22:

Continued living with V & Jess
Worked as Plant Manager at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility
Got engaged to my lovely man

Age 23

Continued working in various positions at the same pharmaceutical company
Lived a bit with Murray & Jess
Bought our first house
Renovated the basement
Had various friends & family live with us
Built our first garage
Got Married to my lovely husband

Age 24

Had my Brother & Sister live with us
Finished renovating the basement
Worked as Office Manager & Quality Assurance Manager at a Pharmaceutical company
Got pregnant

Age 25

Moved away to Provost buying our first acreage
No longer working
Had massages every month
Sewed a lot of diapers
Got two dogs
My first garden
Had my first beautiful baby girl
Play groups
Started to blog
Quiet & peaceful year

Age 26

Obsessed over Nollie
Became an Auntie
Bought the truck
Moved back to DV
Had my second beautiful baby girl
Started building our own house

Age 27

The year of the house build, that's all we did, really that is it
Became a minivan mama
Moved into our new house just before Christmas

Age 28

Continued working on the house as we live there
Started some landscaping
Built a shop
Had our third beautiful baby girl

Age 29

Momed
Started cross country skiing
Gardened my brains out
Volunteered on the Swim Club Executive

There you have it, a snippet of my last decade.

Bring it on 30, I'm excited to see what you've got for me!

Stay Out of the Stores

2011-02-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

We went so the city shopping for skis earlier this week. We had a purpose for going into the store but once we were there I felt the pull towards the clearance section, I would just take a peak on the way by. Soon I was sizing up clothes as if I NEEDED to buy some shirts that had been marked down to $50 or maybe a new jacket marked down to some price that is way out of my price range. I didn't need any new clothes and before I walked into the store I wouldn't even say I wanted any new clothes. Maybe it was the excitement of shopping with no kids or simply that it was a SALE but I was ready to B-U-Y. Luckily I came to my senses before I got anything to the till. I took it as a reminder that the best way NOT to spend any money is to just STAY OUT of the stores.

MY Dark Chocolate Stash

2011-02-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

It started with Curt dipping into my secret (or I guess not so secret) chocolate stash and eating MY dark chocolate and then complaining about how disgusting dark chocolate was... as he ate it. Agh, quit wasting my good chocolate. Now he has decided that he really likes my chocolate and he is going into my cupboard every day. Beat it Curt, really. Since I see him take a piece I think that I need to as well, partly because it puts the idea in my head but it also becomes like a race, I'm afraid he will eat it all and there will be none left for me.

I used to buy only one bar a month and savor it one tiny piece at a time. Now there is no way that one bar will last the whole month. Its a good thing I have a bit of a stash from when they were on sale. I think I may have to find a new hiding spot. Watch out Curt, I'm cutting you off.

Oh and if you were wondering its the Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Bars, Intense Orange usually but we recently tried Intense Blackcurrant and that was delightful as well.

Valentines Day Art

2011-02-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

While I was busy making my Coffee Art, the girls were making some collages of their own. I gave them each one of the small canvases from Dollerama some glue and a bunch of pink and red items from the craft cabinet. Paint, glitter glue, beads, feathers, pom poms, jewels, buttons, glitter etc. We killed some serious time at the table creating.

I hung them on the wall as soon as the mass amounts of glue dried.

I Heart Coffee

2011-02-10T07:42:00.002-07:00

I think my new wall hanging is just the best because: a. I made it and b. I really do love coffee. I've been dreaming about this project since I bought a batch of crappy coffee beans from the bulk bin about a year ago. Its no surprise that I can't throw anything out so the beans went to the craft closet until I could come up with a use for them.

I used one of the small canvases from Dollerama, the ones that come in a 3 pack. A little paint, a little glitter, some hot glued beans and voila, you have a piece of art.

The best part was that I got to enjoy the beautiful aroma of coffee while I did this craft.

Maybe I'll have to make a few more.

Spaghetti Nose

2011-02-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

We had a good laugh the other day when Waverly got a piece of spaghetti stuck on her nose during supper.

It stayed there for quite a long time before it fell off.

I know she enjoyed the attention.

Photo of the Week - Owl

2011-01-21T15:28:00.002-07:00

Rocks

2011-01-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just before Christmas Curtis got bought a rock tumbler. He was very excited by it, talking about how he has always wanted one and his Grandma used to have one. I was not quite so excited but I know that when Curtis gets his mind on something it is going to happen, no matter what. Each week as he checked out his rocks before starting the next phase he would get so excited at the idea of what each rock would look like. I have a little less vision and so I was interested in a few but the rest just looked like gravel to me. This weekend when we pulled the finished rocks out, I too became excited. Each rock was so unique and wonderful. They are shiny and smooth, great to just hold in your hand.

We spread all the rock out on a towel and just played with them for a while, looking at each one.

Its hard to believe all these great rocks just came from a hand full of gravel outside our back door. Once all the snow disappears I will be on the lookout for interesting rocks to tumble.

Right now the rocks all sit in a vase on our island so we can look at them all the time and its easy to just grab a few and check them out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inspired by Sharon Nowlan's Pebble Art of Nova Scotia that I saw at the Butterdome Craft Sale and loved, I put together our own rock family.

I couldn't bring myself to actually use any of the rocks for a permanent rock picture yet but I think I will be making one of these in the future.

Photo of the Week - Snow

2011-01-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

100 Goals for 2011

2011-01-05T06:58:00.001-07:00

Inspired by Michelle here is my list of 100 thing to do in 2011

Get up at 6:30am when Curt leaves for work
Get back to a weekly cleaning routine
Tidy up every night
Start trim in the house
Finish sidewalks
Make a back patio
Paint deck railings
Hang pictures
Get a proper window covering for the patio door
Plant trees
Have a bigger and better garden
Help Curtis organize and set up the shop
Set up the craft room in the basement
Use up half of my fabric stash
Sew a piece of clothing for all five of us
Make a quilt
Finish my cross stitch
Sell the box of old items on ebay (or give away at the end of the year)
Eat fruit when I feed it to my girls
Post on my blog at least once a week
Transition Waverly to the girls room
Set up an RESP for Waverly
Set up company RRSP/RESP matching
Set up automatic payments to savings account and keep the money there
Start Nollie in Kindergarden (Yikes)
Take at least one individual date with each of my girls
Take one internet free day a month
Stick with meal planning
Replace the Delicio with a non-processed "I'm feeling lazy" meal in the freezer.
Have at least 4 dates with just Curt
Set up a will
Order all online Christmas gifts by December 1
Give something home made with each Christmas gift
Send out Christmas cards by December 10th
Give family at least one week notice for Birthday parties and events
Set up a system for keeping/getting rid of kids crafts
Read a 20 books
Organize my spare room so it works
Clear my island completely once a day
Take a family photo
Take another Calgary trip
Go camping with my parents at least once
Invite someone to dinner once a month
Visit my Grandparents one a month
Plan backwards from when I have to arrive so I'm not late
Send out Birthday cards (and in time for the person to receive them)
Floss my teeth every day
Do a puzzle
Ride my bike
Go on a hike
Purge photos on the computer
Take photos at least once a week
Continue a thrift store donation bag and keep adding to it
Get a box of toys to donate ready and get it out of the house before the kids find it and unpack it again
Golf more than once
Swim as a family at least twice a month
Take more photographs of extended family
Have a sisters date
Go to the craft sale with my Mom again
Use my facial gift certificate
Use my embroidery machine
Make a piece of jewelery for myself
Sell something on etsy
Get back to drinking water
Go outside every day
Get more indoor plants
Clean up the junk area just beyond the back yard
Sit at the table for breakfast and lunch with my girls (even if I've already eaten)
Do something fun for my 30th Birthday
Get rid of 100 things
Accept that my jobs as mother/homemaker never end, they just repeat
Take time to just sit and think
Declutter my feed reader, probably a few times
Discover new music
Knit something
Have a big BBQ this summer
Watch the sunset on our front porch with Curt...several times
Read with my kids every day
Cuddle more on the couch
Clean sheets
Buy things with less packaging
Make/get reusable produce bags
Display some kids artwork in frames
Drive to the beach for the day
Go bouldering at Vertically Inclined again
Play more board games
Sushi in DV
Sew some doll clothes
Go for a few Sunday Family Skis
Make french bread
Summer vacation
Plant more perennials
Plant an apple tree or two
Save for something big and then buy it
Go for a massage
Stage a fun photo shoot with props
Do one thing before the girls get up each morning to make my day easier
Enjoy a couple morning coffee's on the deck
Plant a tipi
Review this list at least once a month

This is the Way We Christmas

2011-01-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year! Visiting, eating, playing, eating. Curtis was on-call this Christmas which worked out ok. He didn't get called out on Christmas day or Boxing day but he said he couldn't quite relax, it was always in the back of his mind that he could get a call. He had two ridiculously crazy days after Christmas because the oil patch (in Alberta atleast) never stops. Following that he got 5 days off in a row, yippie!

Our first day of Christmas was on December 22nd at the Buchan's. There are 12 of us now 7 adults and 5 kids. The kids were amped and ready to play (as they should be). We enjoyed supper, wine, and presents. Before supper we all open Christmas crackers and then we wear our paper crowns, show off our cheesy gift and tell our jokes, its becoming a fun tradition and is something I've never done before. Marilyn cooked the whole spread for dinner and it was delicious and oh so Christmasy. After supper was presents, mostly about the kids, the adults draw names so everyone gets one gift. It was all wonderful.

The next day was Wavy's 1st Birthday and we had the crew (Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins) over for a Birthday supper and cake.

Christmas Eve was at Grandma and Grandpa Martins. Courtney organized it letting every one know what to bring. It worked well but there was still so much food, I guess that's just Christmas. The kids now go up to the loft and play for the most part. We ate, we drank, and of course the kids needed to go for a quick walk out to see the chickens and check for eggs. Grandma had been busy and knit each of the little girls a Santa doll. Curt didn't make it there since he was busy with work but we met him at home after supper and the girls got to open a present before bed. I had got them each a new pair of jammies and much to my surprise Curt got me a new pair too. We all got in our pjs left a note for Santa and read a couple Christmas stories before going to bed.

Christmas morning Luca came to our room at 5:30am and figured it was time to get up. She didn't remember that it was Christmas, just thought it was morning time and this is unusual, she usually sleeps in until 7:30 or 8:00. She came to lay in our bed and would not go back to sleep, just kept chatting and so Wavy got woken up too. Finally at 7:00 we went to get Nollie up and start the show. They ran out and found their Lego table first. We all sat down and played Lego for quite a while before I decided to make some Coffee and then mentioned the stockings. Nollie finding an orange and a chocolate in her stocking said that Santa must know the rules that we have to have a fruit before a treat and so she ate her orange first and then her chocolate. Luca I'm sure went right for the chocolate. We then opened our wrapped presents to each other and played. Nollie was so excited to see her hockey helmet that she was shaking, "just what I wanted". The living room when we were done looked like this:

We played a bit and got dressed. Since Wavy got woken up too early she cried through most of the present opening and then fell asleep in Curt's arms as we sat around. He was so happy holding her and didn't want to wake her up to go. We then went to my Mom and Dad's for breakfast and opened presents there. We were able to spent the whole rest of the day there it was great. We ate, we drank, we visited and even got a board game in, yay! Jesse didn't make it out this year but he called to wish a Merry Christmas and I also got to talk to Grandma and Papa Hutch which was nice. They had Mom and Dad eyeing up each of us to see who was keeping secrets and had everyone running to look for "The Apron."

Boxing Day was at Grandma and Grandpa Graves. Grandma puts on a mean feast and we all sit down in the basement at one big long table and eat together. You could hear and see the 4 little kids giggling and playing at their table before we sent them off to play. We ate, we visited, we ate and then we snuck out just before the girls broke down.

The next couple days Curt had to work and the girls and I just hung out around the house cleaning up a little but mostly just hanging out and playing. On the 29th we were planning on going for a cross country ski as a family but since the weather got cold we headed in to the city. We went to Costco for a meat run and then took the girls to Toys-r-us and let them each spend their $20 from Grandma and Grandpa Graves. We set up the rules for ourselves before we went: we would let them buy whatever they wanted, we would not try to influence their decision and we would not top up their money. We had fun and in the end Luca chose a stuffy (just what she said she was going to get) and Nollie chose a new Barbie. On the way home we went to the Tri-leasure Center for a family swim. My swimsuit got forgotten in the craziness of getting out of the house that morning so I got a new (expensive) swimsuit so that I could come too.

The 30th was another take it easy day. I took the girls into town for eye appointments and then we just hung out.

New Years Eve we headed out to our friends cabin for a sleepover. We exchanged home made gifts, the kids played and played, the men put on a fire works show on the lake, we had a dance party followed by an early countdown for the kids complete with sparkling juice and a cheers. Magically 5 kids went right to sleep all in the same room. The adults then got to stay up and play games.

On Sunday we finished the holidays off with a sledding and skating party at our house. We had the family over and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside complete with a campfire, hot dogs and hot chocolate. It was so much fun and we couldn't believe the kids lasted outside for three hours. The best part, I got to sled and sled and sled.

So there it is, our holidays in a nutshell. I'm not quite ready to take down the Christmas decorations yet, I think I'll leave them up for another week.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T01:00:00.004-07:00

Waverly is One

2010-12-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Waverly enjoyed her first Birthday surrounded by her family.

She grabbed her cake and got right to business

She let her sisters and her cousin help her open and enjoy her presents

Nollie told me Waverly didn't look any bigger, but I think she did.

Happy First Birthday Waverly Jean!

Cindy Lou Who

2010-12-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

We watched The Grinch (Jim Carey version) the other day and then thought it would be fun to try doing the girls hair like Cindy Lou Who.

They got a little silly when I was trying to take pictures.

I think Wave was sad she didn't have enough hair to join in.

Nollie's Christmas Embroidery

2010-12-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is Nollie's first embroidery piece that we have hung on the wall. Its a tree with no leaves. When she was done stitching she needed to staple it to a piece of paper, staple garland around the outside and cut off the excess paper & fabric. It was entirely her creation and I love it.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T09:08:00.000-06:00

Here are some Halloween photos from this year

All Three Together

Nollie's Clown Face (painted by Curt)

Waverly The Pink Cat

Luca The Monkey

Curt as Mike Homes

Nollie as a Bird

This was completely thought out and assembled by Nollie the only help we gave was by her instruction. A bag, some feathers and a piece of orange paper.

Waverly the Spider

Halloween at this point for us consists of the girls dressing up and us driving around to all the family members houses in the area (Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles). About 10 stops and it takes us three hours. Most of the time is spent buckling and buckling the girls and then we have a quick visit at each place. This year the girls sang "Trick-or-treat, smell my feet..." and got a huge pile of candy... for Mom to eat. It was lots of fun and at the end of the night the girls had smeared face paint, were sticky, wired off candy, and exhausted.

The night before Halloween we also dressed up and went over to a friends place, hence the two different costumes on the girls.

Happy 3rd Birthday Luca!

2010-10-21T16:36:00.001-06:00

Luca had a wonderful Birthday yesterday. She was so excited to be THREE! The first thing she asked when she woke up (after "am I three") was "can we eat the cake now" which she continued to ask all day. She sang Happy Birthday to You to herself all day as well. When we had an hour to kill in town and I asked her what she wanted to do she said with out a doubt "go to the pet store" and so we did and the animal she wanted to see most was the big spider.

We had the Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins over for supper and cake. Luca did a wonderful job of sharing all the birthday duties such as opening her birthday presents and blowing out the candles with her sister and cousins. It was a great day!

Luca at three years old...

Her favorite shirt is her soccer shirt (below) that my mom brought back from Italy. She wears that blue jersey every week, sometimes more. If she is not wearing that she is likely wearing a dress.

Luca has sensitive eyes and I have to be sure to have sunglasses with me at all times. She has even requested sunglasses while sitting inside with the sun shining through the window.

Luca is a little helper, especially for Nollie, if Nollie is supposed to do something and isn't doing it Luca will come to the rescue and do it for her.

Luca is also a fighter and her temper tantrums can last especially the "I can do it" kind.

Luca loves to play catch and is good at the catch and the throw.

Luca is afraid of spiders but I'm impressed with her desire to face her fears by always looking at the big ones in the pet store.

Luca is the egg cracker in our house. She loves to crack the eggs when we are baking. Although it may look unconventional and she gets messy fingers I actually have to pick less shells out of her eggs than I do my own.

Luca's job before we go anywhere is to fill the water bottles, such a big help. I can get alot of running around done while she is standing at the cooler filling them.

Luca asks for a "May-Sa-Geen" (Magazine) every time we are in the van. I don't correct her 'cause it sounds so cute and I know a day will come when it will just be Magazine and not May-Sa-Geen.

Luca loves her blanky and although she doesn't carry it with her everywhere if she is upset or tired she will request it.

Happy Birthday to my first little red head, Luca!!!

Straight Hair

2010-10-19T07:10:00.000-06:00

I got my hair cut yesterday and in the process she straightened it. My hair actually felt longer after the haircut. I thought I'd show a photo 'cause you know I won't take the time to straighten it again myself.

Styrofoam Balls & Pipecleaners

2010-10-18T11:00:00.000-06:00

The girls found a bag of Styrofoam balls in the craft supplies this weekend. They opened them up and weren't sure what to do with them. After watching them attempt to cut the balls and seeing there scissors slide off I suggested they use pipe cleaners to stab into the Styrofoam. They were delighted and it kept them busy for probably an hour making creations.

Waverly at 10 Months

2010-10-17T11:21:00.001-06:00

Ten Months, that is crazy to think about, so close to a year. Waverly is generally a happy, content little girl. She sits on the floor with her basket of toys and plays. She scooches around a bit but has no interest in crawling or doing any serious movement. I set her on the floor in the room with us and she plays until she has to pee, has peed or wants a drink. She has some of her pees and poops on the potty and is happy when I let her do so. Don't get me wrong I still have a full diaper pail a few times a week but we catch some. She has been working on going from 2 teeth to 8 teeth in the last month so she has requested a little extra attention but still pretty easy.

She mostly is drinking mama's milk still. She samples some food if she is awake when we are eating but isn't eating meals yet. She wasn't a fan of mush so I just didn't worry about it and we went right to food a little later. She sleeps with Curt & I in her crib that is attached to our bed. She naps twice a day, no set schedule just generally once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I can just tell when she is tired.

She loves to blow raspberries and has for a couple months now. She like s to pucker her lips and make kiss noises, she does "so big" by putting her arms in the air and claps her had patty cake. She likes to explore new toys and books and loves to be with her sisters. She has recently started dancing by bopping up and down when she hears music playing. She says "dadadada...", "yayayaya..." and "babababa..." and makes gurglly chubaka noises. She loves baths and swimming and will just kick the whole time. Really there is not much she doesn't like.

When You Can't Cut, You Tape

2010-09-17T07:23:00.001-06:00

Nollie came in the kitchen yesterday to find me cutting fabric on the island. I've been cutting little squares out of my fabric scraps to potentially make a quilt. "Can I cut some fabric for the dress you are going to make me tomorrow" She has been bugging me about making her a dress for quite some time. "Sure" I say handing her my bag of scraps, hoping that this will hold her off from asking me to make her dress right now. She takes it to the table and gets some scissors from the drawer. "I need some cardboard too" She says. I bring her a old flattened cereal box from our craft supplies. She looks at me with a bit of disgust "Not that kind of cardboard, the kind that is the colour of cardboard." So I cut the front panel off the box and hand it to her with the inside up so she can see the "cardboard colour", she seems satisfied. I watch her as she lays a piece of fabric down and puts the cardboard on top like I do with my quilting ruler and tries to cut along the straight edge. My heart nearly melts, she has been watching me enough to know how it works, so cute! I go back to the island and continue my cutting and before long I hear her cry out in frustration "Its not working! The scissors wont' cut the fabric" I knew that was coming, her scissors are not sharp enough to cut fabric. "Can I use your knife?" (my rotary cutter that I am using right now), um no and no, 4 year olds don't need a round blade on a stick, it is too sharp, I'm using it right now and it is MINE! So I say "No Nollie, it's too sharp." "But, my scissors aren't working and I need to cut some fabric for the dress you are going to make me tomorrow." "I'm sorry but, no you can't use my cutter". Meanwhile Luca is running around trying to save the day and get Nollie a knife from the utensil drawer, a butter knife, no not sharp enough, a steak knife. Nollie didn't appreciate her thoughtfulness. She sits for a bit and then says "I need some tape." "Sure" I reply and she goes to get some tape from her craft cupboard. I start firing out suggestions, thinking about how taping fabric may also not work. "You know, you can do something completely different, you can glue some of the fabric scraps onto the cardboard to make a collage." I get the disgusted look again from her "I need tape." Ok, fair enough and I just let her be. I came back later to find this:

I sat down to watch and she asked me to help. She gave me pieces of tape and told me exactly where to put them and when we were finished we had these:

They are pieces for her dress we are going to make tomorrow....

Waverly's Fist Movement

2010-09-06T09:09:00.000-06:00

I put Waverly on the potty yesterday and came back to find she had pushed herself backwards into my closet. I guess you can say she's moving around.

Lobster and Cleaning

2010-09-02T08:08:00.000-06:00

Since Curt & I were not together for our for our 6th anniversary this weekend he arranged for the two elder ones (W is still with me) to go to Grandma & Grandpas for the night. He took the following day off as his day in lieu of working the weekend and told me the evening and the next day were mine to decide what to do with. Dinner, a movie, shopping in the city the next day, I was to make the plans. I didn't need a shopping trip in the city, nor did I want to spend unnecessary money so I nixed that one. The movies playing in town were all low scorers on Rotten Tomatoes (my one and only movie guide) so that was out and a movie in the city would mean a 8 month old tag along which I didn't think would work so well. Dinner out would be nice but I hate going out and spending money and then being disappointed with the meal knowing I could have made something better at home, so that option wasn't really jumping out at me either. What would you choose?

The decision .... dinner at home, made by the two of us together, something different that we hadn't cooked before and for the next day cleaning and organizing around the house, not working on projects but cleaning and organizing.

After dropping the girls off and running around town with just one little girl (a treat alone) I got home tidied up the house including cleaning off the island top (something we rarely see cleared). I even went and cut some fresh flowers from my garden to put on display (something I never do). We enjoyed a glass of wine, spanakopita as an appetizer, lobster tails (2 each) for the main and cheesecake for dessert. We followed it all up with a movie and some more wine on our own couch. It was lovely!

The next day we cleaned & organized the girls room, the back entry, the garage and part of the shop before going to pick up the girls. How can it look like they have grown only overnight!

Happy 6 years to us!

Summer

2010-07-26T07:20:00.000-06:00

I can't believe summer is nearly half over. I've been a little slow on the camera lately but here are a few photos just in case you forgot what my girls look like.

A Quiet Ride Home

2010-06-14T08:10:00.002-06:00

I used to enjoy long drives, quiet, relaxing , time by yourself to think. There were no distractions, no multitasking, just reflecting. Even when I wasn’t alone, driving with Curt we seemed to have the best conversations. Those quiet rides have slowly disappear and my drives are now filled with answering questions, settling disputes, passing out snacks & water, picking up dropped books, playing eye-spy and other such games, asking someone to stop screaming, listening to a tantrum because a certain two year old did not get to do up her own buckle, etc. oh yes and driving too.

I think I may have recently found the ticket to a quieter ride. It started when I took this kids CD out from the library recently and the last track of the disc was a story being told. The van was silent! Silent for the whole story! The next time I was a the library I glanced at the audiobooks and found The Frog and Toad Audio Collection, a classic. I checked it out of the library and we listened to it on the way home, I was blessed with nearly silence again! It's a miracle! The hunt has now begun for good children's audio books to add to my collection. The great part is that I don't need a new one each time, the kids would actually prefer to listen to the same ones over and over. Less work for me, however listening to the same story every trip may bring on a whole new set of problems.

TRAC our regional library system has recently started offering downloadable audio books that you can put on your Ipod and I am excited to see what they have to offer and try some out.

Have you been to Robert Munsch’s Website? It has all of his stories being told by the wonderful story teller himself available to listen online or download for free. While you are there check out his all about Robert Munsch section, it is an interesting read.

Here’s to hoping that I may enjoy an occasional quiet ride. At least I have another trick to add to my collection.

Books

2010-06-13T10:46:00.000-06:00

I guess it has been a while since I updated my reading list on the left, I had lots to add. I've also spent a lot of time lately perusing all of the Lois Hole gardening books in my collection, wonderful reference books for an Alberta gardener. Happy reading!

Quinn's Graduation

2010-06-08T07:52:00.000-06:00

We had a busy weekend, one of the events we enjoyed was my littlest brother Quinn's High school Graduation.

Quinn

Quinn with Mom & Dad

He really enjoyed the photo shoots and put on a nice show for us

Shelby, Quinn, Court & I (Missing Jesse)

We also got to visit with Grandma & Papa Hutch since they were out for the event. Here's a photo of the whole family with Grandma & Papa.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

2010-05-14T09:48:00.000-06:00

My sister Shelby and her friend Jillian flew back home yesterday after spending the last eight months in Australia. Courtney and I and our four kids drove in to great them at the airport.

She got to meet Wavy for the first time....

...and see how much her other nieces have grown.

Aside from arriving early and nearly having no one to great them at the gate and then having their bags come on the next flight half an hour later everything went quite smoothly.

I expect she will spend the next few days catching up with friends and catching up on sleep. It is great to have her home!

Waverly at 4 1/2 Months

2010-05-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

Some days you are into it...
...and others you are not!

TV Turnoff Week

2010-04-19T08:55:00.003-06:00

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Just a heads up for those that don't know. It is TV Turnoff Week, April 19-25, 2010.

When we moved into this house we decided against getting satellite TV and where we live no satellite means no TV. I had initially said that it was for a year ,so that we could concentrate on finishing the house but now, nearly two years later, we have no plans of changing. We do still spend some time in front of the screen. The girls watch a DVD most days, Curt & I enjoy watching quite a few movies, Curt likes video games and I'm all about reading the entire internet, so this week is for us too.

I challenge you to partake in this TV Turnoff Week. It is supposed to be a nice weather here so get outside. If you need something to do come on over to my house or meet me at the new library on Wednesday, I think we're going to check it out.

I know for me it is not TV that is my problem but the computer so I'm giving myself 30 min in the morning this week and that is it. I''m turning the computer off now, goodbye.

Daily Visitors

2010-04-15T07:55:00.000-06:00

We've had some visitors in our yard the last couple days.

The girls have really enjoyed watching the deer out the window. Yesterday afternoon Luca was going outside to look for the "reindeer".

I really like to see them too,

as long as they only eat the grass and stay out of my garden.

Any ideas on keeping deer away from my garden?

and especially keeping them from eating my saskatoons.

Parking in the Garage

2010-04-08T08:09:00.000-06:00

Finally, the time has come....

We are parking in the garage! I had hoped to be parking in the garage this winter but Curt has an order to how things get done and since his order insures that projects get finished and since he's the one doing the work, we do it his way. 28 months after starting the house, 19 months after the cement was poured in the garage and the garage door was installed, and 16 months after moving into the house we are finally parking in the garage!

We've spent the last month moving everything out of the garage and into the shop. We then drywalled and painted the garage and installed the garage door opener. I then promptly swept all the nails & screws out of the way and pulled my van in.

Curt then built me an awesome landing coming out of the house and into the garage since the garage is a couple steps down from the house. My plan is to have our family only come in and out through this door and for the shoes and boots to stay in the garage. Are you reading this Nollie & Luca, no boots in the house! I would still like guests to use the front door so if you come for a visit don't feel like you have to come around to the back. The stair coming off the landing is at an angle so that if I park too close (like I was in the above photo) we are able get down in front of the van and around on the drivers side.

The landing is complete with two benches and built in shoe racks. I also have storage under the landing for out of season shoes & boots that perfectly fits some of my Rubbermaid bins.

Curt also built me two sets of shelves to store our camping and sports equipment and I'm quickly filling them up. Next will be getting the bins for garbage, recycling, bottle depot & compost set up so that I can reach them all right off the landing. I also want to put some coat hooks on the wall by the landing and hang so sports equipment up on the walls. Ahh, I love it, so exciting to see things getting finished and organized.

THANKFUL

2010-04-06T08:31:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful

Thankful for my LIFE.
Thankful for an able BODY.
Thankful for 3 wonderful PREGNANCIES and 3 easy LABOURS that gave me 3 HEALTHY BABIES.
Thankful for THREE KIDS to drive me CRAZY.
Thankful to be able to STAY HOME with my kids every day.
Thankful for my PATIENCE to help me get through the day.
Thankful for a HUSBAND that is home every night.
Thankful for the JOB that keeps my husband every day.
Thankful to live so close to my EXTENDED FAMILIES.
Thankful for HOLIDAYS that allow us to get together.
Thankful to HAVE that mountain of CLOTHES that I have to wash.
Thankful to have pantries & freezers full of FOOD for our bellies.
Thankful to be able to AFFORD more food.
Thankful for a MOSTLY FINISHED HOUSE to keep us warm.
Thankful for the beautiful VIEWS out our windows.
Thankful for the annoying CAT that eats the mice.
Thankful for a DOG that barks all night to keep the deer from eating my garden.
Thankful for TWO vehicles to get us where we need to go.
Thankful for a GARAGE to keep our vehicles.
Thankful for a SHOP full of TOOLS to build.
Thankful to OWN all the THINGS that clutter our house.
Thankful for the ability TO LEARN.
Thankful for the opportunity to CREATE.
Thankful for FRIENDS to visit with.
Thankful to be with my girls EVERY DAY and NIGHT.

Thankful for the CHOICES I made to allow me this life.

Blog Revamp

2010-02-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around behind the scenes on my blog lately. I thought it could use a fresh new look. What do you think? I'm really enjoying learning how to manipulate everything so I would expect more updates in the near future. Keep checking back.

Walking Up On Top

2010-02-19T12:46:00.001-07:00

Flashlight Walk

2010-02-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last night after dark we went on our first family "flashlight walk". After dark we all bundled up in our snow gear and everyone got a flashlight to hold (except Wavy). We trudged around our property through the deep snow and on Simon's trails . Waverly was wrapped tight to me and the older two had a ride in the sled. Nollie later preferred to get out of the sled and make new trails through the deep snow, exploring at her own pace. The girls each got new flashlights last week and they love them. This was a nice chance for them to see how we use them to light the path in front of us while we walk at night. We also got to look at the stars and everyone got some fresh air. I'm glad Curt suggested the flashlight walk, it was such a nice reminder that outside fun doesn't have to end when the sun goes down.

Mom & Her Girls

2010-02-10T08:00:00.002-07:00

Decorating

2010-02-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

We've been living in our house for over a year now and the answer to the question you want to ask is no, it is not finished and no, the baseboards are not up. In addition I had not hung any pictures on the wall or really done any decorating. Partly because it's not my thing and partly because the house was not "done" yet. After Christmas I decided however that I would get started on beautifying my house. I would try to do one decorating thing a week and this seems to be working for me. It is not so overwhelming when you only have to think about hanging one picture. I have also allowed myself to let my perfectionism go. The picture looks much better hanging anywhere then it does sitting in a pile waiting for me do decide on the perfect location.

I hung these curtains (which I already had) on a rod (that I bought long ago) in my bedroom. They may not be perfect, but they will work for now. I couldn't believe how much nicer the room felt with the curtains hung up. As a bonus it helps to hide the unfinished edges of the window.

I put up the wall clock that my brother got me for Christmas. I love it and look at it all the time but I guess I don't think of it as a clock because I'm always looking elsewhere to see what time it is when the clock is right in front of me.

I was inspired by my Sister to hang up some picture frames even though I don't have photos in them yet and then add the photos after. The frames look so nice and seeing them every day on the wall might even inspire me to get some photos printed to put in them. Who want's to make a bet that next year at this time the picture of the flower with 8x10 printed around it is still on my wall.

The girls room got some curtains hung (purchased long ago as well) to replace the blanket and tablecloth that have been covering their window for the last year. I have yet to shorten the curtains, I can't decide on the "perfect" length. Agh, there's the P-word again, maybe I should just do that today.

Story Time

2010-02-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Nollie is really into making & telling stories right now. Every picture she draws or paints needs a discription written on it by me. Sometimes I will make a book, stapling several pages together and give it to her to draw her own story. Here is her latest book:

Lucy Liked Mommy's Garden & She Had To Go Pee
When Lucy liked mom's garden and she had to go pee.
She peed in the potty all by herself.
"I did it, I did it, yeah, yeah, yeah."
She got her nose caught in the net when she was playing outside soccer ball.
She went back home.
She did a craft.
Lucy came back to Nollie & Luca's house.
Waverly got out of Mommy's tummy.

I love it, I can barely get through reading it aloud without laughing though.

Provost - I Do Miss That View

2010-01-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Flowers, Not in My House

2010-01-23T08:12:00.001-07:00

I've been babysitting some plants for the last couple weeks. They were flowering plants that were just about ready to bloom when I got them. I would get to enjoy the flowers while they were living at my house, or so I thought. Getting these plants made me remember that I had two pots of bulbs that I had forgotten from last spring and new plants were starting to poke through the dirt. Four pots in my kitchen growing and blooming. All of this organic life just had me feeling giddy. I love to see plants grow and flowers bloom, it was wonderful, just what you need in dreary January. I started thinking to myself, "I will have to get some more spring potted plants", "I should keep flowers in my house all the time", "I love spring", "I love new plants". Then it happened, and all the fun was over. Curt's allergies kicked in. I knew it was coming, I even apologized the week before to him for what was coming. Curt's allergies are not just a runny nose, itchy eyes, although I'm sure that's part of it, he gets irritable, grouchy, snappy and everyone pays. Finally he said the flowers have to go and I agreed, I wanted regular Curt back. "You can have flowers outside." Boo for me! So I cut the big perfectly blooming flowers off and threw them outside. Then I moved all the flowering plants to the basement window to live with the forgotten pumpkins, dead flies and rotting tomatoes. So sad.

Maybe I could get some pictures of flowers to put up in my house since looking at the snow on the ground I know it is still a long wait before I can enjoy some outdoor flowers.

X-Country Skiing

2010-01-13T08:05:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went down to the DV ski trails. A guy Curt knows has been bugging him to come and check them out so with the beautiful weather we thought, lets go!

We did not get to ski as a family of course. Two people who have not skied in a long time, one of which just had a baby, pulling 3 kids, on their first outing, not going to happen. We did get to check out some of the equipment that is available if we want to pull our kids at a later date and Luca got a ride in the sled behind a more experienced skier. There was a chalet at the trails and a camp fire going so while one of us went for a ski the other stayed back with the kids and kept them entertained. I felt so great after my short ski. Something about getting some exercise outside on a beautiful sunny day is exhilarating.

We had a set of kids boots and skis that Grandma B had managed to round up earlier this year and Nollie was excited to try them out. She was able to move around quite well and could even get up by herself when she fell.

When Luca saw Nollie trying them she needed to as well. "I want to skate, I want to skate". I put the boots and skis on her and she just took off without any instruction or coaching. Nollie walked beside her instructing her to swing her arms and helping her up when she fell.

Waverly stayed happily strapped to my chest (or Curt's while I was skiing).

We had a great time at the trails and I know we will be going back again (actually, Curtis already has)

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Its no surprise that the topic of discussion the last week in the blog world has been that of New Years Resolutions. I like the idea of a New Years Resolution, making a commitment to better yourself, but I never really feel all that motivated to make a big change right after the holiday season. Sometimes I make a list of things to improve on but it is always half-hearted and with no real plan of action or commitment to back it up. We should really be making small improvements all throughout the year but setting a whole number of goals all at once just feels so satisfying. Maybe I could do as Se7en suggests and reflect on all of the positive I'm already doing resolve to do more of the same. This sounds good but there are no lists, no planning, no change. Yesterday I was reading an article on Simplemom.net and it made perfect sense to me. Winter is not the time for making any big changes, Spring is the time for action. I would like to spend the remainder of the winter reflecting on the last year and planning, setting goals for the remainder of the year. Then in the spring when I feel that burst of energy I will be ready to take on these goals and have a plan ready to do so. Spring is my fresh start, I feel it every year. So for this year I resolve to plan for Spring, besides planning is my favorite part.

In the mean time I'm enjoying reading Mandi's 31 Days of Organizing For a Better 2010 series on Organizing You Way. Nearly all of the resolutions she touches on are on my list.

Wavy J

2010-01-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Miss Waverly Jean has been with us for nearly two weeks now. Its funny how quickly your life adjusts and it just seems like the new addition is supposed to be there and everything is right.

Waverly was born December 23, 2009 at 1:45pm after an induction start and a quick labour. She was our lightest baby yet weighing 8lb 6oz and longest at 53cm. She has reddish hair, long fingers and toes, a slender face and long skinny legs.

We got out of the hospital on Christmas Eve and I had just enough of an adrenaline rush/Baby High to get me through the three days of Christmas. We took it easy this year only going to one dinner each day and missing two big family get-togethers. Even this may have been too much since after Boxing Day I shut down and basically slept for two days. I've been lucky enough to have Curt home for two weeks which has been a great help.

The girls adore Wavy. They will lay beside her and tell her stories. Luca especially asks to hold her, help change her and if she can touch her gently.

We are all doing well and we're very excited to have a trio of little girls.

Happy New Year!

The Waiting Game

2009-12-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am one week away from this baby's due date today. I think I need to remind myself of this. I've been playing the waiting game for about two weeks now, "..could be any day." All of this waiting makes me feel like I should have had the baby by now. Since my first two were late I'm sure I've still got another two weeks of waiting to go. I've had my Christmas shopping done for weeks, my bags packed, clothes washed for baby, the essentials basically done. I am ready and normally I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I'm not sure I like this being prepared thing, it just makes me anxious. Our house has been full of Christmas baking (& eating), Christmas crafts, Christmas decorating, all things to keep my mind off my tightening abdomen or crampy feelings that might turn into labour. All in all though there has been too much sitting at the computer, cross stiching in the rocking chair, napping on the couch. I'm longing for a summer day when I can be working outside in the garden or a nice long walk but with the cold and snow it hasn't happened. I guess I should just be enjoying the quiet time (not really quiet with my other two girls here but quieter I'm sure) before baby number 3 comes. I'm still comfortable and only slightly irritable, so I'll just keep waiting. Baby will come when it is ready.

Christmas Music

2009-11-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

I accidentally started listening to some Christmas Music today....and I liked it. I really didn't intend to get Christmasy yet. As a rule I don't pull out the decorations until December. I wanted to listen to some music today so I opened ITunes, picked a Frank Sinatra song, clicked on the Genius button to make me a play list, then walked away. After not to long the Christmas songs started to sneak in there and before you know it I was thinking about baking shortbread cookies, butter tarts & wrapping presents. I think I am ready to start bringing out some more Christmas music and maybe even some decorations, after all it is only a week away from December. Close enough.

Awesome Yesterday Dinner

2009-11-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight while getting ready for supper I started pulling containers out of the fridge and the conversation went something like this.

Me: We're just having leftovers so it will only take me a minute.

Nollie: No, I don't want leftovers

Me (thinking: you don't even know what leftovers are): Do you want the spagetti & meatballs or the cranberry chicken?

Nollie: No, I don't like leftovers

Me (thinking too bad so sad, that's what you're getting): Mmm the chicken has Craisins on it, do you want the chicken.

Nollie: Not leftovers (starting to break down & cry)

Curt: I don't want leftovers either I want Awesome Yesterday Dinner, who wants Awesome Yesterday Dinner, I do!

Nollie: Yeah, Awesome Yesterday Dinner. Mom I don't want leftovers I want Awesome Yesterday Dinner.

Me: Great, that's what we're having then

Everyone ate heaping plates of Awesome Yesterday Dinner. Sometimes at the end of the day when your brain is fried you just need someone with some fresh new ideas. Curt to the rescue, saved us from a fight and a couple of breakdowns, me included.

So, if you're ever having a hard time selling leftovers try having "Awesome Yesterday Dinner"

Team Buchan Does The Impossible

2009-11-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Curtis & I accomplish alot of things but last week we did something I never thought was possible. We broke the KitchenAid Mixer! This thing is supposed to last a life time, you are supposed to be able to pass this down to your Great Grandchildren or something.

Curt was using the mixer to make the dough for his hand pulled noodles (this really deserves its own post) and the mixer started to sound like it was struggling. I then heard an "oh no, that's not good". The motor for the mixer was still running but the beater was not turning. My first reaction was "I can't believe YOU broke MY KitchenAid Mixer!" OK, we are married, everything is supposed to be OURS but that's MY mixer. I use that mixer several times a week, it makes me bread every other week, cookies, cakes, I even used it to mash up my tomatoes during our tomato extravaganza this fall.

I am glad that it was Curt using the mixer when it decided to die because we immediately jumped into our roles. Curt started to investigate & take apart the mixer while I jumped on the internet to look for possible problems & repairs. I was able to find what we thought to be the issue and even a tutorial on how to disassemble the mixer and get the worn part out. We had apparently blown the worm gear which is supposed to break to save the motor when it is under too much stress. We found the gear inside the greasy mess that is inside the mixer and got it out.

Being that Curt is a purchaser for an oilfield supply store he knows how to get parts fast. Those patch workers don't want to wait for anything, no matter the cost. He gave me some tips on how to find the part and get it shipped out quick. I was able to find my replacement worm gear and we had it in our hands the next day. I could have gone a little longer without the mixer but Curt was worried that if we took too long to get the part he wouldn't remember how to reassemble the mixer properly. So all in all I was without a mixer for 2 days and it was a $45 repair. Sure beats the cost of a new mixer.

The lesson for everyone to learn. If you mixer sounds like its struggling when you are mixing something, stop the mixer immediately (it actually says this in the manual). The KitchenAid Mixer is not invincible. However if you do break the worm gear, have no fear it can be fixed.

Happy Mixing!

Happy 2nd to Luca

2009-10-02T06:00:00.001-06:00

Today my baby, soon to be middle child is celebrating her 2nd Birthday.

Born October 20th, 2007 at 3:30am

Luca likes to ride her "gike" (bike)

Luca is showing a very compassionate side and will jump off her bike to help Nollie if Nollie falls on hers or is quick to give a hug or kiss to Nollie when she is sad.

Luca loves to play with water, the spray bottle, the water cooler, climbing onto the counter & playing in the sink and of course she likes to go "bimin" (swimming).

Luca is always up for whatever you offer, if you say we're going somewhere she has her coat on and is waiting at the door (quite the opposite from her older sister)

Luca has been practicing her 2 year old authoritative "NO" and and is completely ready.
She is also ready for the 2 year old out of control fits.

Happy Birthday to my Luca

End of Summer Randoms

2009-09-19T09:43:00.000-06:00

Well summer flew by, I can't believe there is only a little over a week left of September.

Since my last post....

We spent the first week of September at the Buchan Condo in Sicamous. We enjoyed a relaxing time of reading and putting our feet up. The girls enjoyed swimming every day in the pool. We got out on the boat a couple times and enjoyed being the only boat on all of Mara Lake. Nollie loved being out on the boat and riding on the tube. This excites Curt because he can see 10 years into his future when his kids want to be out boating and riding as much as he does.

We said farewell to my sister Shelby as she took off to travel Australia with a friend of hers. I'm sure she is having a fantastic time and we will see her when she returns next spring.

Curtis & I also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, OK, so we didn't really celebrate, we poured the cement pad for our shop that day and if it wasn't for calls from family we may have forgotten on the actual day. We knew it was coming, I guess we're just not so good at staying on top of what calender day it is.

Baby #3 is growing well and kicks me all the time. I'm 28 weeks now, 3 months to go.

The girls are fun, fun, fun. Nollie started asking why to everything and I'm sure it was on her 3rd birthday that it started. Luca started the why's shortly after so I have two girls that just question everything. They are just learning, learning, learning. They have both been enjoying riding around on their bikes and they both want to get outside even more now that they have figured them out. Nollie has also figured out the teeder-totter on the swing set and gets it just rockin'. It's great because both Nollie & Luca can get on and they don't need me to come push them every two minutes like on the swings. They play together really well most of the time. They have their spats but they also have times where they nicely use manners or techniques they've been taught to sort things out on their own.

My garden has been good to me, we've enjoyed the lettuce, onions, potatos, zuccini, beats, beans, peas and tomatos. My strawberries have been producing but the grasshoppers get to them quicker than I can. I've mad a couple batches of tomato sauce already and it has been fantastic. There are still alot of green tomatos on the plants so as long as they don't freeze I will have quite a few more batches to make.

The Saskatoons, both wild and tame were plentiful this year and so I picked and froze, picked & ate, picked & froze, picked & ate. We have tonns of wild bushes on our land but they are still young, in a couple of years they will be good producers, that and the 10 tame ones I planted this year. I love saskatoons!

House Update
We covered the decks and put up railings on them so they are now usable & I don't have to worry about kids falling off and breaking their neck anymore. I still have to paint the railings, maybe next week I can tackle that.

We built proper stairs off each deck, also a bonus since I no longer have to assist the girls in getting down the front stairs.

We finished the parging on the exterior of the house (the area just below the siding)

We have the cement pad poured for our shop and plan to push up the shop next weekend, hopefully. The pad has been a great riding arena for the girls on their bikes in the mean time, they have both greatly improved their bike riding skills since we put it in.

Other than that we've just been living life, making our messes & cleaning them up.

Introducing.......

2009-08-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

...Baby Number Three. Baby is growing well inside, I am 23 weeks now, over half way there. Baby is due to arrive mid December, but I'm always a bit late so I'm saying Christmas Day is the likely DOA. I'm feeling great, I have had really easy pregnancies so far and I'm hoping this one continues that way.

Nollie is completely convinced that it is her baby brother. Anytime we try to tell her that the baby could be a girl or that refer to the baby as a her she tells us that it is her brother and she doesn't want another sister, she wants a brother. She is full of questions and stories about the new baby, I think the 4 months left is going to be a long wait for her.

We're looking forward to an eventfull Christmas Season and a busy 2010.

All Tied Up

2009-07-28T07:51:00.000-06:00

I've been finding little treasures like this all over the house.

Nollie has always loved to tie things up. Initially if she found a belt or a watch that wasn't attached to a person she would wrap it around and through itself so many times that it looked like a ball. She's now moved on to tying anything she can find.

I have started giving her a shoelace to play with and she will sit quietly for half an hour or more and just tie it up.

If there are beads about she will add them.

Look at this little diddy she did on her dress strings.

I'm happy to encourage anything that will keep the kids busy. This doesn't seem to be a fleeting obsession so I'm on the look out for ways to keep her excited with knots. She's a bit young for a knot tying book so I guess I just keep her occupied with an assortment of items to tie up.

July Randoms

2009-07-22T08:17:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've been so bad with the posts lately, I guess it's lazy summer mode. I've got some ideas for posts floating around in my head but they just haven't made it onto the computer yet. Here are a few tidbits to keep you up to date.

Our current house project has been the parging (the area outside your house between the siding and the ground). I didn't realize how much it would finish off the exterior of our house, it looks great. I can no longer see any sign of foam basement or Home Hardware paper just a finished exterior. As with nearly every other project this one has involved some hurdles and taken much longer than we imagined but we should have it finished up by the weekend.
Our grass is coming in well, there are lots of weed throughout but with it all cut it looks like a lawn. There are some patches of just thick grass and no weeds. The girls & I have even started running around in our bare feet with no shoes on outside, its like Heaven.
We've finalized our mortgage & worked out all of that business. We ended up saying goodbye to the bank that didn't think we were 97% complete and wanted to see all the trim done first and have switched over to our home bank and have a regular old mortgage instead of a builders mortgage. It is so nice to finally start paying off the money we have spent rather than just paying interest and now we can leave our baseboards unfinished forever if we choose.
We've been enjoying lots of visiting lately with close friends and extended family. It is so nice to get together. Sometimes the hermit in me is just so happy to hang out at home that I don't make an effort to get out and visit and I should, I enjoy it.
The girls just continue to grow and play. I'm so happy that they are so close in age and have eachother to play with every day. I love to hear them running around and giggling or to see them sitting and playing together and my heart almost skips a beat when I hear them in another room using nice manners with eachother without any reminders.
The garden is doing great, well except for the carrots, I think I have two growing carrots, boo. We've been eating lettuce like crazy to keep up with it before it bolts and it tastes good, a lot of time with home grown lettuce it tastes really bitter or just like grass but this stuff tastes OK. This weekend I dug around and we ate our first bit of baby potatoes, they were amazing, ...amazing. We have grasshoppers like crazy but so far they haven't eaten too much of the garden, I hope they stay away. Tomatoes, they're coming, still green but I have lots on the plants and many more plants flowering, looking forward to a tomato extravaganza this fall.
Curt has been swimming 1 mile atleast twice a week at lunch time for the last 4 months and I'm so proud of him for keeping it up. He started with whatever he could, maybe 10 laps stopping between each one to catch his breath before going on to the next and each time he went he kept adding one lap until he was up to a mile, now he's just working on getting that mile a little faster. He's my hero.
Me, I'm just doing my regular thing, reading, laundry, keeping the girls entertained, baking, thinking about but not actually sewing, on ocasion knitting, watching movies, playing in my garden.....regular stuff.
Just watched a deer walk through our back yard,... I love this place.
I've added a link on the left side to subscribe by email. If you wish to sign up you can receive Ranch on Relaxo posts right to your inbox each day that I post them. That way you won't miss any of this exciting business going on at the Ranch.

Back From The Sun

2009-07-15T07:30:00.000-06:00

We returned from our first family holiday in two years a week and a half ago and it has taken me this long to post because I was having a hard time getting out of holiday mode.

We spent just over a week at Mama & Papa Buchan's Condo in Sicamous, BC, it was glorious. The weather was a nice sunny 25 nearly every day with a couple 30 days near the end. 30's are a bit hot for me but with a pool close by, air conditioning, ice water and lots of frozen treats I handled them just fine. We invited some friends of ours to come stay with us and I'm happy to report that after the week we are all still friends, it went very well. It was so nice to have the company for both the adults and the kids. As soon as we left the condo to drive home Nollie was asking when are we going back to see A & T? I think they all had lots of fun together. The condo was really a great environment for the kids. The building is a u-shape and all the patios open onto a central courtyard, we were on the main level so the kids could just go out the back door and play on the nice grassy area. There were lots of kids in the building and they would all just meet in the courtyard and play together. With 5 kids under 5 plannings outings became a bit of a challenge but we just went with the flow. We enjoyed a few trips out on the boat, time at the beach, walks to the grocery store, a small kid friendly hike to see a waterfall, a trip to Enchanted Forest, lots of time in the pool. We celebrated two birthdays, Curt's 29th and Nollie's 3rd (OMG). We ate lots of fruit & ice cream, the boys did some golfing, Curt & Linda went on a high ropes course, I did some reading and on top of all that we just generally relaxed and had a great vacation, with no thoughts of the house back home. We enjoyed it all so much that we hope to go back in September, this vacation thing is good!

Here are some pics

Gardening

2009-06-16T11:26:00.000-06:00

My garden view from the tub

There's only one place from inside my house that I can see my garden and it involves standing in the jet tub in my ensuite. This doesn't stop me though, several times a day I step into my tub and lean on the unfinished windowsill and admire my garden. I love this part of the season where all the little plants start to pop out of the ground. When I'm outside I just make laps around my garden noticing any changes since my last visit. Within 24 hours I saw the zucchini, corn, beans, potatos, and peas all start to peak out. At this point nearly everything has made an appearance, it makes me oh so happy.

First sign of Onions

Rather than a traditional row garden I opted for a plan that is modeled on the square foot garden (Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space With Less Work). The garden is separated into various sized quadrants with a few different types of plant in each section. The individual areas are separated by various pieces of scrap board that we had lying around. The boards serve as a walking path so that you don't have to walk on the dirt, although both Simon and Luca don't get this and I'm continually hollering at them to get off the dirt. Not an easy concept when the whole yard is dirt. Most of the areas are no more than 4 feet wide so that the entire square can be reached from the outside boards. The square foot garden is supposed to allow you to fit more plants in a smaller space with less work. You don't have all of the wasted space between each row where weeds can grow up. This style of gardening also makes it easier for companion planting so two or more plants can work together to mutually benifit one another. Another concept of the square foot gardening is that you plant exactly the number of seeds you want rather than planting extra & then thinning down at a later date. This is a little tricky for carrots, with their small seeds but I made an attempt. It's a trial year for the garden, I was reading about it and liked the idea. I thought I would give it a try because you will never know how something works unless you do. I must say, so far I really enjoy the boards to walk on, rather than the dirt and its very eye pleasing to see all the little separate squares rather than just one large area of black dirt. In my garden I planted zucchini, corn, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, beats, carrots, cucumber, pumpkin, potatos, onions, garlic, and of course tomatos.

I got my shipment of plants from the Saskatoon Farm on Friday and got them all planted this weekend. Saskatoons, raspberries, strawberries, asparigus & rhubarb for the garden and a few trees & shrubs for the yard. I'm not sure that I will get any fruit or vegies off these plants this year but next year they will be producers. I was a little nervous about getting plants shipped on the Greyhound but they all look great, very healthy and they threw in a few extra of each of the fruit plants. I guess they know what they are doing, they do make a business of it. If you are in the market for fruit plants I would highly recommend you check out the Saskatoon Farm, good prices and nice looking plants.

Newly planted Strawberries & Rhubarb

In closing I have another Tomato confessional, I wasn't going to say anything, kind of embarassing. The Tomato plants I was talking about in a previous post, I let them freeze. Agh, the one night I didn't pull them in. As soon as I woke up in the morning I knew and as the day went on they all wilted and died. So again I went out to buy some more Tomato plants, I'm sure I'm up over $50 worth of Tomato plants this year. Gardening saves you money, you know. I planted the new Tomatos in the garden after the weather forcast was showing no sign of frost like evening tempersatures. Now you may know that I have a hard time throwing anything away so the "dead" tomato plants were still sitting on my deck. I was watching them and it looks like some of them, most of them may survive. They have new little leaves coming out of the v's of the plant. I cut off the dead spots & planted them in the garden too. My garden is basically a tomato garden with a few extra plants. Maybe I'll get a booth at the Farmers Market in the fall. That's how Louis Hole got started you know, she just started selling the excess produce from her farm.

Garden view from the back deck

Big Girls Sleeping

2009-06-14T10:03:00.000-06:00

This week the girls room got a bit of a makeover. We took down the crib and split the bunk bed into two single beds. Luca was making the move to a big girl bed. We were anticipating a week or so of long nights putting her back into her bed several times, having her crying at the door, etc. Well I guess she was ready because there was no such thing, the transition has been really smooth. We know she has been off her bed because there are some extra books on her bed when we check on her but she makes it back to her bed and goes to sleep so I'm OK with that. I think it helps that the girls share a room and she can see that Nollie is also in her bed going to sleep. We didn't change anything else about the bedtime routine so that made the transition easier I'm sure. The two twin beds with matching bedspreads look so cute in the room together and Luca is so proud of her new bed. I'd post a photo but their room is a disaster.

The same night that we were introducing the new bed to Luca, Nollie announced that she wanted to wear panties to bed like Mom. Up until this point she was wearing a pull-up stype diaper at night time. I had been making an effort lately to be sure she goes pee right before bed and as soon as she wakes up rather than letting doddle around and pee in her diaper. Some mornings she was dry but others she was not so I hadn't introduced the idea of ditching the pull-ups yet. I knew this transition would likely mean more laundry for me to do but if she says she is ready we will go for it. She was immediately wondering what we would do with all the extra diapers for her, determined that she would never wear them again. This week has gone quite well, I've had a couple extra loads of laundry but she's had some dry nights too. I love when the transitions just happen. Two girls moving on to a new stage of night time sleeping in one week.

Petting Zoo

2009-06-13T07:00:00.004-06:00

We went to the newly opened Mama Noah's Petting Zoo this week in Lodgepole. We had such a great time, so many animals to enjoy.

We had a tour of all the animals,

enjoyed a picnic lunch

and then went back for another look

I just wanted to take the animals home with me, or open my own petting zoo. Maybe it's best if I just go back for another visit.

Does anyone else ever feel the need to get a goat, I love goats!

Grass

2009-06-11T07:22:00.000-06:00

From this angle, it this lighting, it almost looks like we have a lawn.

Tomato Crazy

2009-06-04T07:44:00.000-06:00

Normally at this point in the growing season I would be looking at my skinny, weak looking tomato plants that I planted from seed and wondering why they don't look as nice or a s healthy as the ones that professional greenhouses grow to sell in stores. I would be feeling sorry for myself, wondering why I'm not perfect after only a few years of gardening, not even realizing that they will grow to huge, mega producing tomato plants in their own time. This year I was singing a different song. Why didn't I just plant some tomato seeds, was I so busy that I couldn't throw a few seeds in some dirt & water them, now I have to go buy tomato plants and spend 40x more than I would if I just planted my own seeds. Next year I'm definitely back on the seed train.

I'd been holding off on buying tomatos this year, I wasn't quite ready for them in my garden yet. Saturday I was at Home Hardware and there were only 5 tomato plants left, so I bought them all and planted them that night. Monday the last thing I did before going inside for the night was to spread some wood chip mulch around my tomatos. Tuesday when I checked them, they were all dead!! Agh, the mulch killed my tomatos, maybe I let the soil dry out, what on Earth happened. I was doing internet searches and thinking about it all day, totally forgetting about the ice that I dumped out of Simons bowl first thing in the morning. Finally it hit me in the evening, they froze you dingbat, it wasn't the mulch that killed them. It was so nice Monday evening I didn't even think about frost and I'm not much of a weather checker. I guess I learned my lesson, for this year anyway.

Wednesday I set off to buy another round of Tomato plants, Farmers Market day anyway I'm sure I could get some there. I had a worry in my head that maybe I was too late and there would be no tomato plants left in all of Drayton Valley. What would I do if I couldn't buy tomatos, I knew I should have planted seeds, tomatos, I need tomatos. I made sure I was at the Farmers Market as soon as it started, I couldn't risk not getting any. OK, so I overreacted, of course there were tomato plants. Those Hutterites sure know what they are doing, their plants look great and only $2 each. I think I need to go visit the Hutterites so they can teach me their tricks. I got one of each type, 4 plants. I planned to plant more than that but I was going to check out a couple of other places in town too. I grabbed a hanging basket of Tomatos too, expensive, but ready to produce and a pepper plant, excited try that out. Next to Canadian Tire, I picked out some herbs (I am totally addicted to herbs this year, even if I don't use them to cook it is worth it just to smell them). I picked out 3 more tomato plants, ok that's 8 tomato plants total. Next Curt needed me to grab something from Walmart for him, since I was there I better check out the garden section, I was still looking for a couple herbs. Well they had 4 packs of tomatos for $0.97, the plants were small, about what mine would look like if I planted some and 4 for $0.97, cheap, so I grabbed 2 of the 4 packs and then I threw in another bigger plant just for good measure. So that's 9 more plants making 17 total. Oh don't let me forget to tell you I have another 3 plants at home that were given to me so the grand total is 20 tomato plants. Do you have any idea how many tomatos we will have off of 20 tomato plants?!? We will be able to take a bath in them. I am going to be so busy in the the fall. I'm quite sure we will be able to make enough tomato sauce to last us the winter. Curt wanted lots of tomato sauce and boy will he get it. I just hope he's willing to help make & can it all. So if you are out of tomatos in a couple months please do not go to the store, just come visit me.

Things I'm Loving

2009-06-01T08:12:00.000-06:00

Sunny days
Being outside
Planting seeds & plants & trees
Reading gardening books
Watching my hummingbirds

Drinking suntea

Waiting for more grass sprigs to grow
Dirty girls
Listening to Ida Maria
5 minutes of clean floor
Sleeping

Using ashy dirt for my garden.....

2009-05-27T07:28:00.001-06:00

= Dirty Kids

The Garage Sale

2009-05-25T08:23:00.000-06:00

Danna & I had our garage sale this weekend.

I haven't eaten lunch or dinner at home since Wednesday.
My house is a dissaster (not too unusual but I'll blame it on the garage sale)
It was so much work for the set-up and pricing everything
I am still exhausted
The weather was beautiful this weekend
Danna & I enjoyed the quiet moments where we could sit outside in the old furnature that was for sale and drink our coffee or eat our lunch in the sunshine while the kids were elsewhere with their Dads or Grandparents, peacefull.
The traffic came in spurts, it wasn't constant.
Everyone that came by commented on the ridiculous amount of stuff that was there "is this all your stuff" "um, not completely but, yes". It almost got embarrassing, we wanted to say "oh no, this is an 8 family garage sale, this is just our shift working it"
I enjoyed watching the seasoned garage sale shoppers come through, they noticed everything and found some interesting treasures.
The things you expect to go don't and the things you think no one would ever buy, someone does.
I sold 3 old textbooks for $2 each, you can't give those things away. My advice to anyone in school, sell your textbooks as soon as you are done when they are worth something. As much as you think you will, you will never look at them again, you will just move the rediculously heavy boxes 5 or 6 times and then when you realize you havn't looked at them once in 7 years, they will be worth nothing and you paid $100-$200 a piece.
As time went on some prices got reduced and more items got moved to the Free bin.
We tried really hard not to pick through and keep any of eachother's or even our own stuff.
We basically decided that at the end there were a few of things that we may take if they don't sell.
Every time we said we were going to keep an item, it sold
So we tried saying we were going to keep everything, but it didn't work
We made over $400 combined.
There is so much stuff left you probably wouldn't think we sold anything
We're going to open the doors again in a couple of weeks and give it another go, it's all set up already anyways
Believe it or not we've both got more to add
Prices will be slashed

Another Weekly Update

2009-05-20T07:43:00.000-06:00

We finally called for our final electrical inspection and other than a couple small things to fix up that is complete.
94%. That's what the bank says we are right now, they can't just give us the extra 3% so we can close our effin mortgage. Friday was not a good day when we heard this and we were about ready to just quit everything. Still a touchy subject in this house.
Curt got his first golf game of the year in and the girls and I got to visit with friends. This helped us not to think about the above on Saturday.
We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday & Sunday working outside in the yard.
We got our lawn all seeded Sunday just before it started to rain & snow.
We took a giant, double load of garbage to the dump, including the crate of garbage that has been in our back yard since fall.
What would May long be without snow.

The snow allowed us to burn the growing pile of scrap wood in our back yard.
Curtis told me to look the other way while he threw a number of items I would not normally allow him to burn on the fire. Although I didn't like the pumes of black smoke I was relived to see the stuff go.
We spent Sunday evening and Monday organizing and sorting through the garage and basement. It is so nice to have all the tools in one place, why couldn't we have done this earlier. Now maybe we will be able to find what we are looking for.
I'm busy prepping for our garage sale this weekend, so much to do for tomorrow.
The basement is looking really good, I'm finally getting somewhere, much better than this. I'll try to post some photos next week when I finish getting it cleaned up and all the garage sale stuff is out of there.
I had my first shower in our bathroom since we finally got the shower fixture installed.
Of course the girls are doing great, they play together so well and they love to be outside. The snow, wind, rain it doesn't bother them, just let them out the door. By the end of the day they are grubby, grubby, grubby, but I know they had fun.

10 Randoms From the Week

2009-05-06T08:29:00.001-06:00

I've been keeping my window open a crack at all times so that I can hear the birds singing. Oh I love spring.
Curt has been busy in the skid steer every night moving dirt around the yard. Landscaping has begun. At this point I don't hear birds singing but more of a grumble, brum, brum, beep, beep, beep.
I have a gigantic pile of beautiful back dirt waiting to become a garden, really it is massive. I am getting excited!
I did my first double trip to the grocery store on coupon day. Two $100 trips saved me $30. One $200 trip would have only saved me $15.
I have now brought out the sunscreen & hats since all 4 of us got too much sun this weekend. My poor red head girl got it the worst with little red cheeks, arms & part line on her head.
Nollie has a Dr. apt today late in the afternoon. I am hoping for less than 2 hours in the Dr office with 2 girls, yikes.
We've been going swimming every Thursday evening with the girls, they are both getting much more comfortable in the water. Anyone in the area is welcome to join us starting around 7 or 7:30.
I've put nearly all the toys away in our house (well at least half) because I got tired of cleaning it all up or "hearing its too much for me to clean up myself". No one has missed anything that I put away.
"Bead Dat Me" (read that to me) are the words that I hear most from Luca. With a close second going to "Nose Bunnin" (nose running).
Lots of time spent outside in the sandbox enjoying the warmer weather.

Ladybug Craft

2009-05-04T07:35:00.002-06:00

Here's a simple little craft that I did with the girls the other day at home.

On white paper draw a large oval with a line down the middle using a felt marker. Cut out a half circle for the ladybugs head and a bunch of small circles from black construction paper. Have the child glue on the head and spots onto the lady bug. You could also use black stickers if you have some.

While they are busy gluing place corn syrup into a container and mix in a couple drops of red food colouring.

Let the kids paint away with the coloured corn syrup.

Finished Products.

The corn syrup will give the pictures a shiny textured look when it dries. These take a long time to dry completely, I would recommend leaving them for atleast 24 hours before touching the painted areas.

Complete Tiling, Check

2009-05-03T08:47:00.000-06:00

Curt had Friday off of work and we were able to knock one more item of the to-do list, a big one that's been lagging on and on and on. The tiling. We tiled the backsplashes in the laundry, kitchen & en-suite, around the jet tub and then grouted everything including the shower in the en-suite.

Also this week Curt installed the last 3 sinks and toilet, finished up some behind the scenes plumbing work that the inspector wasn't happy with and started installing closet doors. Curt seems to have gotten his drive back, I'm quite sure mine is still missing but since he's working, I'm working. The progress means:

I get to return my parents tile saw that I've been borrowing since tiling began in November
All of the tools were moved out of the house, into the garage
Less chance of sleeping on sand. All of the grit from an unfinished ensuite woud get tracked into our bedroom and it was the last thing we stepped on before getting into bed. Clean sheets didn't last one day.
I had my first bath in the jet tub since we finished the main bath in February, wonderful!
We get to close our plumbing permit
I now have 5 sinks & 3 toilets to clean. Who's idea was this?
Only trim & closets to finish on the main level, plus lots of touch-up painting and a few other things I'm sure.
Let the outside work begin. Cleanup, landscaping, gardening, decks.
97% done???? We will see in the next couple weeks. Show me the money.

There's a Rat in The House

2009-04-26T07:59:00.001-06:00

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

2009-04-22T07:13:00.000-06:00

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

2009-04-20T06:31:00.004-06:00

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

2009-04-15T07:16:00.001-06:00

For Next Easter...

2009-04-12T21:41:00.003-06:00

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.

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.
The Easter egg hunt is fun, keep it on the tradition list.
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.
Don't buy so much candy! The girls do not need a sample of every candy made on Easter morning.
Finding cool non-candy items that fit in the little plastic eggs is not easy.
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.
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)
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.
Don't eat so much.
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

2009-04-09T06:58:00.003-06:00

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

2009-04-05T22:10:00.003-06:00

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

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

Siding Update

2009-03-31T07:04:00.005-06:00

We've nearly finished the siding now. I think Curt said there are 19 rows left on the East wall. Curt has gone back to work this week so we are back to working only evenings & weekends. We should hopefully finish up the siding this weekend. We are both exhausted, more Curt than me I'm sure, since he was outside working more than me. Its alot of work going every day like that. Curt felt like he was sleeping in each day by getting up at 7:30 rather than 5:30 but with Kyle here there wasn't much sitting around in the am. They worked 8-5 or 6 every day and most days it was below zero until close to lunch time. Working outside in the cold is not fun, I generally just got misserable being out there when it was cold. If I wore my rubber boots I felt like I was walking on ice and if I wore my shoes my feet got wet & cold. Once my feet were cold my whole body was cold and I got grouchy. If I rememberd to put an extra layer on I was usually ok but since it is March and not December it wasn't my first instict to layer up. I would have to say that siding in March is not ideal. It would have been much easier if it was 25'C outside and dry around the house but we just want to reach that magic 97% done and it will be a great to cross this big one off the list.

It was a treat to have Curt home for the two weeks, I know the girls really enjoyed it. Every time the door would open Luca would say "Dada?" Nice to see him in the morning and at lunch.

This week I have to catch up on all the things that were left undone. Yesterday was a huge grocery shoping trip, and today is the house. I have the task of finding my house under the mess that was created. I was either busy trying to help of I figured why bother, another round of mud is just going to come into the house in a couple hours. Today is the day to get the mud out and get it all cleaned up.

I'll post a picture of the front later today.

Half Way There

2009-03-23T20:33:00.004-06:00

We have now completed over half of the siding. I shouldn't say we since I haven't been much help outside. These two girls of mine sure take a lot of time, energy & attention. When I did try to get outside I spent more time getting the girls all dressed up in their outside spring attire (mud pants, boots, coat, possibly mitts & toque depending on the temp) and then undressing them and cleaning the mud off any exposed parts when we came inside than I did helping the guys. My prissy little girls did not like having mud on their hands and needed their hands cleaned promptly when they realized they were dirty. I think they will come around to playing in the mud, they better because that will be their outside life for this spring.

I did get a couple days outside to assist thanks to each Grandma for taking a day to watch the girls. It has been great to have Kyle here helping Curt, well worth the money. This is definitely a two man job and we would barely be started if he wasn't here. Plus we've learned a few building tricks from him so that's a bonus.

The mud hasn't been much fun to work in, we are all carrying an extra 10Lbs on each foot and everything is covered in mud. The dump of snow yesterday really didn't help either. It was just starting to dry up around the house and now it is mud city once again.

An Ode to Jode

2009-03-19T07:43:00.003-06:00

Stats

Leather Paws

Grandpa Jody

Papa Jode

Happy Birthday Dad

Siding / Anniversary Wishes

2009-03-17T08:20:00.004-06:00

Today we start back to work on the house. The Siding has been delivered and Curt has the next 2 weeks off work to put it up. We have a helper coming out since siding isn't really a one man job especially the fiber cement board that we're using and I have to tend to the girls and can't be out helping the whole time. Having a paid helper will keep us working, no lazy mornings and late starts with lots of breaks, its back to the grind. I'm excited to see some progress again, especially something big and visual like siding however I don't really want to do the work. Right now I feel like a kid and in my head I'm saying "I don't wana go to work" I'm sure once we get going I'll be OK. Every project we finish gets us one step closer to done.

Happy Anniversary to my Mom & Dad today!
Look at all you've made.

Bags

2009-03-15T07:10:00.000-06:00

I am thinking I need a new bag solution. I left the house the other day with my girls myself and bags. I had the diaper bag, the snack bag, an extra bag containing library books and outgoing mail and the stack of empty cloth grocery bags to be returned to the van. All those bags and I forgot just one more... my purse. I had my big weekly grocery trip planned for the day and no money. I really didn't want to have to drive home to get my purse and then back to town, it would have wasted a half hour driving time and then we would have to have lunch at home before returning and I would be grocery shopping during nap time and the shopping trip would be even less enjoyable. Thankfully Curt works in town so I was able to go get some money from him. I get so frustrated when I forget things or can't find things and it seems to be happening alot lately. I need to get everything organized!

I think I need to start carting less things back & forth to the van. I don't know about the whole diaper bag. Right now it holds a spair outfit for Nollie and a diaper & outfit for Luca at the least. Maybe I should just keep this in the van and save myself packing it back & forth every trip because generally it doesn't even get touched. Sometimes, however I need to pack more diapers and extra panties & pants for Nollie if we're going for a long day out or PJ's if it will be a late night. What would I do if the bag was in the van and I needed extras? I've started using a seperate snack bag wich includes a Nollie & Luca's water bottles and a snack. I could put this into the diaper bag (I used to) but I don't really need to bring the whole diaper bag into play group any more for diapers or changing clothes so if we have a seperate bag I can leave the daiper bag in the van and only get it if the need arises and bring the snack bag inside. Usually I get Nollie to carry the snack bag anyway. My purse is just a small little thing right now, big enough to hold my wallet and that's it. Now my wallet is a bit of a monstrosity holding all the cards that I really don't use but maybe I will, however that's another story. I kinda like the small purse right now because it keeps me from carrying extra stuff that I don't need. My purse gets hung on the hanger with my coat so I generally don't forget it. I then have a pile of stuff that doesn't fit into any other bag but needs to come with me so I grab another cloth tote bag and fill it with outgoing mail, library books to be returned, movies to be returned, my coffee cup or water bottle etc. So on a simple trip I'm leaving the house with four bags. Oh don't forget the camera. If anything eventfull may happen I also cart the camera bag/box. I don't pick up the camera the whole trip and then I cart it back into the house. Seems a bit ridiculous. I know Curt would be quick to tell me it is. Maybe If I started using a bigger purse I would have room for more odds & ends like outgoing mail or snacks. Perhaps this means I need to buy a new bag, the perfect bag, or make one, with new fabric and a new pattern. Oh no, I think rather than organizing I may be shopping.