Out with the Old and in with the New

This will be my last post on this blog. I am changing the way I blog, doing more opinion and review posts than my daily happenings. If you would like to follow, please see my new blog at
http://theway1see1t.blogspot.com/

Hope you pop by and take a peek!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been pretty busy these last few weeks. Lots going on. This week we have family visiting and will for sure not be blogging much. The kids are having a great summer, mind you the fighting seems to be increasing slightly from the beginning of summer. I am sure by the end of August, I will be happy to see them heading back to school.
This week, we are planning a few fun adventures. The aerial adventure and indoor rock climbing and finally seeing the new Harry Potter movie in theaters. It is very exciting. Much to look forward too.
We also plan to sit and relax by the pool and I plan on finishing up my book(City of Glass). It is so good. I think about it all day and can't wait to get in bed at night to read more. I love a good book.

The weather here is nice and I plan on relaxing by the pool and taking in the sunshine. WE get so few sunny days this summer, I am going to enjoy them as much as I can when we do get them.

Drive In Bingo

Yesterday we took the kids out to the Carp Fairgrounds and enjoyed some family Bingo.
It was fun. The kids had never been and this was hubby's first time playing Bingo.

When we arrived, we bought only 1 game board($10) which has 9 squares of Bingo cards. A friend of ours told us, to bring along some scissors and cut the board, so we had 3 squares each to watch. Hubby and I took turns while the kids had their own cards to watch. You can always buy a strip of cards for the kids, but that is an extra $5, and we thought since this was our first time playing we would just spend the $10 and cut the cards(which worked out great). The only cards you have to buy separate is the 50/50 cards, which are $1 each, and the biggest prize of all the games. Last night the prize for that one was $400. We didn't win.

We arrived at 730pm and had about 1/2 hour before the start time. We walked around to see if we could find our friends, but no luck. At the front, where the ball caller sits, they also have a bbq going and snacks like chips, pie and licorice at the canteen.

This is drive in bingo, so you can sit in your cars and play, or if you bring your own lawn chairs and blankets, you can sit in front of your cars. If you get bingo, you either honk your horn or yell very loudly BINGO.... * If you bring chairs to sit on, make sure you bring some bug spray*

When bingo started the kids had fun. They picked up how to play really quickly. I didn't have to really keep an eye on them too much. During the break, the kids got to walk around and got to buy a bag of chips each. The we played the second half of bingo.

We left early as we were really tired, and we weren't winning anything, so we generously handed our last game to the girls in the car next to us, and headed home. It is definitely a late night out.

Bingo starts at 8pm and ends around 1030pm. There is one more Bingo night next Wednesday July 29th at the Carp Fairgrounds. I highly recommend going, it is a great night out and a fun family outing.

Jillian Michaels

After succeeding with my 30 day shred, and still doing it.. I decided, that I would try more videos that Jillian Michael s has come out with. I tried the JM Banish Fat and boost metabolism which was a great cardio workout, and a week later, I tried the JM no more trouble zones, which to me is a way longer version of the 30 day shred, and was really good.

I have never been a work out video type of person. I prefer to work out in the great outdoors, but being home this summer with the kids, it is somewhat harder to get out of the house to do a good workout. I am still squeezing in my running, and when I don't run, I walk on the treadmill, and 5 days out of the week I am keeping up with the shred to keep in the weight training. I will squeeze the other videos in on the weekends in the mornings, before starting out the day.

I really like Jillian. I find her very motivating. If you are up for a new workout, or want a change, I definitely recommend all three of her videos. Great workouts.

The city chase

If you haven't heard, Ottawa hosted it's 6th annual City Chase Race yesterday, July 18th and hubby and I participated. If you have never heard of the City Chase race and want to know more about it, click here.

So while hubby and I were racing, the kids were with Grandma for the day being spoiled. The played games, went and played mini golf, went to McDonald's, and came down town to see us. They enjoyed beaver tails and slushy's, walking, and card games. It was a day of fun for all.

The City Chase race, is similar to the TV show the amazing race. You are given clues, and you must find and complete a task before getting a point. The team to check in first with 10 points is the winner.

There were a numerous amount of point stops spread out over the city. You are given 6 hours to complete the race, and a one day bus pass, the only other way to travel other than bus is on foot. The clue sheet is riddled with riddles and scrambled word puzzles, so you need to take some time to figure things out before moving on your way. You are allowed to bring a map, blackberry, GPS, and can call family or friends for help.

Hubby and I had a great time. WE checked in at the finish line, team #24 out of over 450 teams. We faired really well and had an amazing time. I would definitely love to be part of the Amazing race one day. Hopefully they will start accepting Canadians for their show.

If this kind of race is something that you would want to be part of, we would definitely recommend it. An amazing adventure.

The kids are great

As the school year was coming to an end, my two just seemed to be constantly at each other. My first thought, was how am I going to get through the summer with them like this.
To my surprise the kids have gotten over their bickering and are having a great time with each other. They are finding games and things to do, that they are both interested in.
Right now it is all about camping out in the living room and bedrooms with make shift sheet tents, playing ball, and playing Pokemon on the DS.

Yesterday even though the weather was crummy, cold, overcast and with a chance of rain we decided to take advantage of Karter's Korners discount Tuesdays and head over to play mini gold. C brought a friend along who called just as we were heading out the door to invite him over for a play date. We thought we would bring him along first and then they could have a play date together. After C was off with his friend, K and I decided to pick up some craft items at Michael's, since she attended a craft class in the morning and loved what they did. She wanted to re-create more things at home.

The day was great. The kids were great. These are the ways I want to be spending summer!!

12k

The sun came out yesterday. Hooray!
The kids and I packed a picnic lunch and hopped on our bikes. We picked up a friend and did a bike ride to our nearest splash pad, which really isn't that near.

We spent hours there. Give the kids a couple buckets and shovels and the things they can make when they mix sand and water.
They had a great time, there were many friends there to play with and the weather was perfect.

On the ride home, we stopped off and picked up an ice cream treat then finsihed our ride.

In total we biked 12K. I thought we did great.

Where is the summer sun?

Our summer sunshine seems to be stuck hiding behind so many gray and black clouds full of rain. I am missing the sunshine and the dry weather. I have had enough of the rain and gray miserbleness. This morning I was hoping for a little sunshine, but it doesn't look like we are going to get it.

I am so bummed with how rainy and cool July has been so far. We are already into week 2 of summer vacation and we have hardly swam(too cool or it's raining) and we have had to rearrange many a plan due to the weather. Today I am not sure what the plans are. K has a friend coming over this afternoon and I will probably call a friend for C too, but this morning we are free to do something fun. I just have to come up with some idea as to what.

Another shock

Two weekends in a row and we have gotten some more shocking news.
I won't say what it is again, as I am sure the person involved would appreciate it.

How can things get so bad, and I not notice them. This is two shocks we have had in two weekends, and I didn't even see it coming.

Am I that wound up in my life to just not notice, or is it they were keeping it in, and portraying a good front, hoping things will have worked out.

I don't know. Things still haven't sunk in over any of the news yet. I am still shocked that any of this stuff has happened. It almost seems unreal.

I hope things will work out for the best in both situations.

Great Reads

I am a Twilight Fan.

I loved the books and will read them again some day soon.
I am right into the whole vampire scene and can't read enough books about them. Right now, I am reading The Night World series written by L.J. Smith and am enjoying these immensely. I like the fact that it is smaller stories within the book and some stories bring up some of the past characters so you can get a glimpse at where their at now.

The next series I am going to read is called the Mortal Instruments and is written by Cassandra Clare. The first is called City of Bones, followed by City of Ashes and City of Glass.

After that, I have the marked series: A house of Night Novel to read. The first one is called, Marked, followed by Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed and Hunted.

After that series, I am going to read the Ink Exchange Series. There are three books, the first one is called Ink Exchange and the second is called Wicked Lovely and the third is called Fragile Eternity. These books are written by Melissa Marr.

Following that series, I will read the Vampire Diaries to get myself ready for the series premiering this fall on TV. These books are also written by the same author as Night World, L.J. Smith. Since I am liking the night world books so much, I might very well enjoy these as well.

So that is my line up so far. I might have more to choose from, because I can't seem to read fast enough. But so far I am enjoying the books alot.

Fun for the kids

I was thinking this morning what we are going to do this summer. We have lived in Ottawa for many many years and have done almost everything under the sun here.
As the kids get older, their interests have changed and they don't want to go back to some of the same places over and over again.
So I have had to put on my thinking cap and try to come up with some fun things to do this summer.
Here is what I have come up with and places we haven't been before.

Mont Cascade water park
http://www.montcascades.ca/aqua/en_home.asp
You can also get tickets at Costco. For the above 48" tickets , it is $6 cheaper at Costco then if you were to buy them direct at Mont Cascade and the under 48" tickets are $4 cheaper at Costco.

Aerial Adventure for Kids
http://www.montcascades.ca/aqua/en_home.asp
I have done this before and it is great. Hubby and I now go, once a year. The kids have never been and are excited to go.

The Beach
http://www.ottawakiosk.com/beaches.html
Of course, we have been to the beach before, but this time we will check out a different beach.

Laser Tag
http://www.laserquest.com/
Thought this might be fun on a gray and gloomy rain day

Indoor Rock climbing
http://www.coyoterockgym.ca/?Welcome_to_Paradise!

Family Rafting
http://www.owl-mkc.ca/owl/family.htm

I hope the kids enjoy these outings. We have many places to choose from.

July and August Challenge

My summer challenge will be to keep doing the JM 30 day shred. It is harder now with the kids home to work out as much as I would like to, but there would be no excuse not to be able to squeeze in the video daily.

I am sure I can do this challenge. I enjoy the workout and will keep it up.

June Challenge - Huge Success!!

My June Challenge was to do the Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred, everyday. And I did!
It is a terrific workout.
The 30 day shred video incorporates cardio with weight training for a full body shred. It is not and easy workout, but it is good for those wanting to pump up their workouts with some weight training, like myself.
The video is very challenging, even 30 days into it, there are some moves that are still challenging for me.

I rotated each level every day so I wouldn't become bored. I started at Level 1, then rotated daily through Level 1, then 2, and then 3 and then back to 1 again. There are moves on each level that are challenging, of course, the third level is still the most challenging.

I was sore for almost a week after starting the work out, but I kept going, I didn't let my sore muscles hold me back. Once I got going doing the workout, I was fine, it was afterward that I was sore. My legs, and arms and chest and gut. Everything was sore. Was it worth it?

I think so. I feel I am stronger, and leaner. My legs look more muscly, my arms are more toned, and my stomach is flatter, even though I still have my post baby pooch of skin, that will never go away...

I am going to keep doing the shred this summer, but I am going to scale it back to only doing it during the week, so 5 out of 7 days instead of 7 days straight. It's a great workout and worth it!

A shock

Yesterday we received some awful and shocking news that will change things for our family.

I don't want to say what it was, because we were asked not to say anything, but it was something very shocking, that hubby and I are still pondering the reasons why.
We will probably never know all the reasons, but it has happened and we will have to adjust to the change.

The kids have been told, and with C, it didn't really phase him, maybe it it a boy thing, but with K, she asked questions and was a bit upset by it.

This news will change things

Our First day of summer vacation

This morning the kids slept in. This doesn't happen very often, especially for C, but they both slept in.
After them waking, Hubby decided to work from home, and get in some exercise, so he went for a run. As he finished, I went out for a run. Boy was it hot, and this was at 730am. I got in a 5Km run, and then came home and did my 30 day shred video, showered, threw on some laundry, hung some on the line and the kids and I headed out with friends to play tennis.

The kids had fun, it was hot though and we didn't end up staying too long, just under an hour. After tennis, we biked home and went to a friends for a swim. The sun had gone in by then and it was starting to cool down. Rain was coming in. After our quick swim, we hightailed it home as I had laundry hanging out on the line drying. Even though hubby was home, he wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings.

We made it home just in time to take the clothes in, and then I made lunch and fed the kids, and found out we have a major fruit fly infestation. I have noticed them flying around the house, but in the summer with fruit sitting out, I always find we get a few fruit flies around. No big deal, everyone gets a few fruit flies around, but as I pick up an apple to get some fruit for the kids, a million and one fruit flies flew everywhere. I got my vacuum and started to suck them in. I got all the fruit flies by the end of the day. So things are under control.

Somehow, I had picked up a rotten leaky banana last time I went shopping, that I pitched as soon as it was discovered, and with the rest of the oh, so ripe bananas that I wanted to bake with a few days ago, I got them mixed into batter and baked some chocolate chip banana muffins since the weather had finally cooled down.

After doing that, I made a fruit salad with the tonne of fruit we have sitting in the fridge, I find it moves faster once it is cleaned and ready for eating, and then the kids and I went shopping. I needed some last minute supplies for our street party tomorrow, and the kids wanted to go and buy a webkinz.
C bought himself a guinea pig webkinz and a pack of Pokemon cards, and K bought herself 2 l'il kinz, a lioness and a oriole. We headed home, where I unpacked groceries, folded laundry, cut the grass with hubbies help, made dinner, cleaned up, and made nacho dip for my ladies night out night. C ended up at a friends house down the street and K played on webkinz online with her new webkinz.

What a great day we had. The kids had fun, and didn't fight, once. I had a great day, got in lots of exercise and a night out with friends. This was a grea start to what I hope is a wonderful fun and hot summer vacation...

Welcome Summer Vacation

The kids have finally finished school. We are all looking forward to a nice long and hot summer.
We plan on swimming, relaxing and having some fun outings.
The kids finished off the school year with in class parties, dancing and munching, and then after school all the friends got together for a pool party at a friends house. After that they finished up soccer for the season, followed that by a pizza party and then swimming at a friends again until bed time. What a day.

What a great start to summer vacation!

Jon and Kate

What a sad ending to what I thought was a great beginning.
I use to watch Jon and Kate Plus 8.
Back then the sextuplets were around 1 year old and the reality of life was just that, reality. They struggled with space, time, money, work, everything.. It was real.

I watch it today, and it is just not real anymore. It is all staged events, everything is paid for buy the producers and it has lost it's reality, and for that, I don't bother watching it anymore.

This isn't real life. The show has lost it's direction and now that the two of them have filed for divorce, I believe it is only a matter of time until the show ends.

It is a very sad ending. I wish them only the best going forward.

Father's Day

Our Father's Day was a great day. The weather here was off and on rain, but it didn't hold us back.
Both of our dad's came for brunch in the morning. Hubby made pancakes, and I did some quiche and fruit. It was delicious. After the dad's left, we headed out to play some tennis with the kids. K was miserable because she was hot and tired, but it didn't take her long before she pepped up.
After tennis we went swimming, but of course, it started to rain, but it didn't stop the kids and hubby, they were happily swimming in the rain. The rain stopped, it was one of those off and on kind of rain days, and we headed home. We ordered pizza for dinner and then hung out at home for the rest of the night.

A nice fun filled day!

I can't find the Rit

A blogged about Rit last week for dying clothes, and now I am looking for some and I can't find it, anywhere.

Does anyone know where I can find Rit? I am looking for Navy Blue.

I found the Rit.. I actually found it next to the bleach at walmart. I dyed 2 pairs of navy blue shorts that were faded and again, like my black ones, they look brand new. This is great, because there was nothing wrong with the shorts other than the color being faded. Now I have new shorts.

The Pirate Adventure

Yesterday we went on the pirate adventure. If you remember I mentioned this adventure in a blog a while back, after our return from Panama City. They had something similar there, but we were there in the off season and it hadn't started yet.

We found something similar here and what a blast we had. We all got to dress up in vests and have our faces painted, and tattoos. Then we got pirate names too.

We boarded the ship and went over a few safety rules and then set sail. The ship sails right around Mooney's bay.

First we had to learn the pirate salute. When that was done, we started to hunt for a lost bottle with a treasure map. We found the bottle and the map inside pointed to where the treasure was, but Pirate Stinky Pete had the key and we needed the key to open the treasure. We found Stinky Pete asleep in his little dingy boat and the kids used to the water canons to spray him off of the boat. We thought as he fell he threw the key on board, but we could not find it. While we were looking for the key though, stinky Pete boarded the ship and had a sword fight with Jolly J who of course won with his magic sword. Stinky Pete handed over the key and was made to walk to the plank. Now we had the key, we had to still find the treasure. We searched and searched until we found the flag marked with an X. Under the flag we heaved and hoed the treasure on board. The key opened it up and we all ended up with 2 gold coins each. We did some dancing and the famous pirate dance the Limbo and then headed back to dock the ship.

It was great fun and the kids want to do it again.

I would highly recommend this adventure for you and your family.
For more information check the website at http://pirateadventures.ca/

Making something old, new again

I love summer. With summer comes the shorts and tank tops, and sandals(my favorite). I love walking around barefoot and then we I have to go, just slipping my sandals on and off I go.

On to my something old. I have a couple pairs of shorts that I absolutely love. They fit me perfect and are comfortable, but, the color has faded. My black shorts are now a grayish color and my navy blue is, is, I don't even know what you would call it, but it isn't blue anymore. I think they have faded from line drying in the sun, not that it is going to stop me from hanging my clothes up to dry, but I think this is the reason the color has faded.

So the other day when I was washing sheets, I cleaned up my laundry shelf. At the very back, was Rit dye, that my mother in law gave me years ago. I had black and I thought to myself, I would try to make my black shorts black again.

I put the dye in the washer on the hot cycle, dropped my shorts in, and prayed that it would work.

Half and hour later, I took my shorts out of the washer and they were black, and I mean Black, they looked brand new. Now I don't have any blue dye, but I will be shopping this week and will be picking some up to freshen up my blue shorts.. What a way to make something old, new again.

I'm sick....

My husband was sick the beginning of this week, and ended up home from work for two days. Unfortunately he spread those germs on to some of us. K and I are both sick. K is just starting a sore throat, and I have a congested nose, my sinuses are in pain and I feel terrible because I didn't sleep last night. I had a horrible night of not being able to breath and my nose starting to run, and just a horrible night.
Today, I am going to stuff myself full of decongestant and get out the Otirivin to clear up my sinuses, as I feel a sinus infection coming on....

I have had such a good winter of only very mild colds if any, but now, almost the middle of June I am getting hit hard. This just bites.

June is set to be a busy month

This month will be loaded with many fun things to do, but also with work to do, to be able to enjoy these fun events.

Here are the fun events I will be able to enjoy this month

Pirate adventure
volunteer appreciation evening
School festival
ladies night out
Ladies birthday lunch celebration
Annual street party
Aerial experience
Craft club

Here is the work still to be done on the above events:

Pirate adventure - pick the date(I am waiting to see the forecast so we go when the weather is nice) - send the mail out to those that were interested and have them call to book as well
The date is picked and the mail sent out, reservations have been made. I will blog all about the adventure after we go.
We have gone and I have posted a blog about our experience.

Volunteer appreciation evening - I organized the invitations, so all that is needed now from my end is to send the person organizing the food the numbers
Numbers have been sent out and I am done. The event is ready to roll.
The event is completed and was successful.

School festival - wrap boxes for raffle items and have them prepared for the raffle - wrap items in packaging if needed - volunteer the day of
The boxes are wrapped, items labeled and ready to go.
The event is now complete and was very successful. The kids had a blast there all day with their friends, and fun games and cotton candy and sno cones. They had a great time. By the end of the day we were all zonked and ready for bed.

Ladies night out - The date is picked and the mail sent out - now I just need the numbers. The numbers are in, and the mail sent the hostess.
The ladies night out was so much fun. We had some great conversations on everything under the sun. What a way to spend a night out with friends.

Ladies birthday lunch celebration - The date is picked, The place is picked, the mail is sent out and again I am just waiting on the numbers
The numbers are in, and the potluck list organized.
The event was great and we had a chance to sit and eat great food and catch up on all of our lives.

Annual street party- organized today what everyone will bring. Need to confirm a few more guests are coming, and then pretty much just buying what I need and setting up the night before and day of
I have bought what I need, and we organized all the games today. Now it is pretty much setting up.
The day is done and was a huge hit. I am so happy that so many people came out to celebrate. We all had a great day. The fire truck came, we had a police car come, we had a clown performing juggling acts. Everyone had so much fun. We have a great street full of wonderful people. We are very lucky.

Aerial experience- booking the date and arranging child care after school
Date is booked and child care arranged.
I am very sad, that our adventure has been canceled because the place is not open yet. We were all set to go for tomorrow, and booked, but the new person who took our reservation did not realize they were not open till the day after, and since I have other events booked during the week, we won't be able to go now until our August planned adventure with my sister and her kids.

Craft club - Is now prepped and ready to go. Now it is just getting through 3 full classes.
Is completed until the fall.

Fun things are happening this month...

I'm sore

I am very very sore. I have been for days now, ever since starting my June Challenge.
You can read more on my challenge here

So I have completed 5 days of my challenge doing the JM 30 day Shred. I started on Level 1 and jumped to level 2 on day 2 and then level 3 on day 3. I am going to continue to rotate through the levels each day, just to change things up a bit, or I think it would become a bit boring.

I am less sore than I was on day 2, but I am still sore overall. I hope it is worth it in the long run!

Are we heading for the ice ages?

I thought the earth was warming up thanks to global warming. I guess here in Ottawa, we don't have that problem.
Right now Ottawa is cold and wet and we are getting a lot of rain. Today Environment Canada has forecast a cooler and wetter summer.. Yippee (not)

Where is the warmth of spring, I believe we got one hot weather day and then the rest has been downhill from there. I feel like we have skipped spring and summer and we are heading for fall.
I can't wait for this miserable weather to end and then sun to come out and heat this place up.

It feels like we are heading for the ice ages..

June Challenge

I was reading a crafty moms blog yesterday and noticed that she tried Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred. You can read more about her trial here.
If you don't know who Jillian Micheal's is, she is best known as the strength trainer on the Biggest Loser. So I was thinking to myself, that this would be a great challenge to try.

Before deciding if this is something that interested me, I did some research on what her program is like and what people think about it and it seems to have some high ratings. So I am going to go out and buy her DVD and attempt the challenge.

As of June 1rst, wish me luck.
My challenge will be to complete the Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred. I am a pretty fit person, but I am ready to push myself to be better. So I am going to give it a shot.

I will let you know how I do in July..

April/May challenge a bomb

I failed miserably. I am not a cook. I guess I never will be. I will just keep sticking with what I know and what is fast and easy. That is more like me.
I tried, and I failed. What can I say.. No one is perfect.

For more information on my April/May challenge click here.

Fun stuff

I love stuff like this, so when I saw it I had to have it. I grabbed this meme from Cheaper than therapy: Musings of the mom Jen and thought I would do it. Check it out..

A
• Are you available? No
• What is your age? Mid 30's
• What annoys you? whining, fighting, slowness, laziness

B
• Do you know anyone named Billy? Sure, Billy Joel, Billy Jean
• When is your birthday? April.
• Who is your best friend? My Hubby.

C
• What's your favorite candy? I love candy.. I can't choose just one
• Crush? Nope
• When was the last time you cried? Last week, when laughing so hard, I cried.

D
• Do you daydream? Who doesn't.
• What's your favorite kind of dog? Golden retriever
• What day of the week is it? Tuesday

E
• How do you like your eggs? Sunny side up
• Have you ever been in the emergency room? yes
• Ever pet an elephant? Yes

F
• Do you use fly swatters? Nope
• Have you ever used a foghorn? Another no
• Is there a fan in your room? Yes and I love it!

G
• Do you chew gum? Not suppose to
• Do you like gummy candies? Yep
• Do you like gory movies? No, too disturbing

H
• How are you? Great
• What's your height?. Shortish
• What color is your hair? light brown with blond highlights

I
• What's your favorite ice cream? Chocolate
• Have you ever ice skated? Yes
• Ever been in an igloo? No

J
• What's your favorite Jelly Bean? Red or pink or purple
• Have you ever heard a really hilarious joke? yes
• Do you wear jewelry? Other than earrings and my wedding rings- never

K
• Do you know Karate? I wish I did
• Have you ever flown a kite? Yes
• Do you think kangaroos are cute? Baby ones

L
• Are you laid back? Very
• Lions or Tigers? Neither
• Do you like black licorice? NO!

M
• Favorite movie as a kid? I have long term memory loss, and can't remember
• Ever shopped at Moosejaw? Nope, never heard of this place
• Favorite store at the mall? Children's place


N
• Do you have a nickname? yep
• Whats your favorite number? Lucky number 7
• Do you prefer night or day? day

O
• What's your one wish? Happy, healthy family
• Are you an only child? Nope, I am the middle of 3 girls
• Do you like the color orange? sure

P
• What are you most paranoid about? Illness.
• Piercings? Ears.
• Do you know anyone named Penelope? Nope.

Q
• Are you quick to judge people? Sometimes.
• Do you like Quaker Oats? Yes. Maple Brown sugar is my favorite
• Know anyone that makes quilts? Yep
• Do you think you're always right? No.

R
• Do you watch reality TV? Yes and I Love it!
• Best Rock Band of all time? No clue..

S
• Do you prefer sun or rain? Sun
• Do you like snow? yes
• What's your favorite season? Summer

T
• time is it? 8:11am
• What time did you wake up? 5:50am
U
• Can you ride a unicycle? I could try and find out
• Do you know anyone with a unibrow? No
• Uncles do you have? 3

V
• What’s the worst vegetable? Brussel Sprouts
• Did you ever watch Veggie Tales? No.
• Ever considered being vegan? Yes

W
• What's your worst habit? Too many...
• Do you like water rides? Yes
• Ever been inside a windmill? No

X
• Have you ever had an x-ray? yes
• Ever used a Xerox machine? yes

Y
• Do you like the color yellow? sure
• What year were you born? 70's
• Do you yell when you're angry? Sometimes

Z
• Do you believe in the zodiac? Not sure
• What's your zodiac sign? I'm an Aries
• What do you think of when you hear the word Zero? Nothing

Air conditioning

I am a creature of warmth. I am never warm enough and love summer's heat. I do not enjoy the humidity, but the heat and warmth I enjoy.
I am cold 9 months out of the year, and when summer comes I love to bask in the heat. It is only here for so long, and I want to be warm for as long as I can.

My neighbor asked me yesterday, if I use my air conditioner. She is like me and likes the warmth, and fresh air coming in the house when you leave your windows open.

I told her, we use the air only during very humid spells in the summer, to escape the humidity. Last year we could count on 1 hand the number of days our air conditioner ran. When we do use our air, we set the thermostat at 26 degrees, because I refuse to be cold and under a blanket in my house in the middle of July.

I love the summer heat. I love the fresh air blowing through the house. I love being warm!

Now we have Racoons

There is never ending wild life around here. The skunk reported in my previous blog, is gone, we have put chicken wire and rocks around the porch so he does not come back, and so far it is working. Maybe it was the soggy muddy mess we created when putting the hose under the porch, to get it out of there, who knows. He is gone and I am happy about it.

Now we have another problem.

My husband made this bird feeder to attract the smaller birds. I haven't seen many birds around it, but the seeds are disappearing. He assumed it was a large animal, but I did not believe how a large animal could get the seeds out of this feeder. Underneath our feeder approximately 1 1/2' under it stands a wooden structure with screen which is used as a seed catcher, so the seeds don't end up all over my garden and sprouting.
Well this morning, when I woke up, and passing by a open window to the back yard heard a noise. I stopped and looked out the window, and outside were 2 very large raccoons. One was drinking water out of the bird bath and the other was sitting on the seed catcher, and shaking the feeder so the seeds fall out. These are very smart animals.
So today, we will have to do some changing, and fixing and moving to set this feeder and catcher up so it attracts the birds and not the other animals.

The skunk is back and living under my porch

Looks like my friend, the skunk is back.

This time he is not digging up my lawn, but instead my garden.
He has dug a hole and made himself a home under the front porch.
We sealed it up the other day after he was gone, and put some stones in front to stop him from digging, well seems he or she is very determined to live under our porch.

This morning, he has dug himself another hole around the rocks, and looks like he is probably having a nap in there.

Since it is baby time, we want it out of there asap, before there are babies living under there too!!!

Why us?

Another Crazy week

Again, I have had another busy, busy week.
I am anxiously awaiting for things to slow down a bit.
This week I have:

Attended a brunch
Played tennis with a friend twice
Ran 2 times this week(1 day running 6.6km woo hoo)
Walked twice this week
Returned books to the library
Went to the library to get more books a separate time, because the day I returned books, the library was closed
Cleaned my house- dusted, wiped surfaces, vacuumed and washed the floors
Washed our clothes
Cleaned the bird cage
Watered my lawn 3 times a day for the last week, as we put down new sod and seeds, and of course, we haven't had much rain
Attended my Tuesday morning coffee club
Co-coached soccer
Went to the grocery store to pick up some groceries
Worked my very part time job 3 days this week
Had children over 4 days after school this week
Volunteered in my son's class
Washed and hung our sheets out to dry
Washed the comforters on our beds and hung them out to dry
Watered my indoor plants
Attended my stampers group
Volunteered at school to help with a lunch program
Planted some new perennials
Attended a dance at my children's school
Worked on organizing a street party
Delivered flyer's and spoke to neighbors about the street party

I am sure I am missing something, but I can't think right now.. It has been a very busy week and looking at my calendar for next week things seem to look like they are going to slow down a bit.

Gift Cards

I don't know what I think about gift cards at the moment. Right now I am not liking them that much.

My daughter received 5 different gift cards for her birthday and by the time we used them, I was out of pocket $50.

I find that in order to use a gift card for the total dollar value, you end up overspending as nothing ever totals the value of the gift card. On the other hand, if you can't find something you like, which happens all the time, especially with children, you may end up with money left on the card, that most likely will be left in the purse and forgotten about, especially if it is a store you don't normally shop at.

Don't get me wrong gift cards have a purpose and are great for those hard to get for people. Gift cards are convenient. They’re easy to give, and they’re generally easy to use.

But when you give a gift card, the person receiving it has to go to the store to use the card, spending additional money to find something they like, usually causing that recipient to spend money on their own gift. This just does not seem right.

What happened to just giving cash, or a present. I think I am going to try more often to shy away from purchasing gift cards and find a present and/or give cash as gifts instead.

Birthday party number 2

My daughter's birthday is today. She turns 9. We have a wonderful day planned for her. After breakfast and gift opening this morning, she headed off for her day of school. After school, I picked her up, and we went out to McDonald's for dinner and dessert and then home and over to see an Aladdin play. She had a great time with her friends seeing the show, which was very well done.

This past weekend we hosted a party for her with a Totally Spies Theme. It turned out wonderful.
It was an all girl party, with 6 guests. They decorated canvass bags with funky glitter iron on paper(they did the drawing and cutting, I did the ironing) then played freeze dance and telephone. Had KD and cake with Kool aid and then they played BINGO. They loved that. After wards, they got to fill their canvass bags with cool totally spies gadgets(loot bag items) such as laser lipstick(chap stick), sticky press on fingers(nail polish), hologram producing ring(ring pop) etc. They got a list of all their gadgets and liked being able to pick their items. Then K opened her gifts and the party was over. She had a wonderful time.

Next year both my children want to have sleep over birthday parties. We will definitely be scaling back more if this is the case. I think a maximum of 3 kids for a sleep over.

Overall another successful birthday party. As my kids get older the birthday scene is definitely changing.

First line dry laundry of the season

Today I am finally hanging my laundry out to dry, since last fall. Today is beautiful and sunny with a crisp cool breeze. The clothes are starting to dry and they look so fresh hanging out there on the line.

I enjoy hanging my clothes out to dry, with one exception - undergarments go in the dryer. I don't need my neighbors seeing our underwear, bras and socks hanging out there. But all my clothes, sheets, towels go on the line come Spring and up until the Fall.

The dryer is a huge energy consumer and we save $$ over the line drying season.

Here are some pros and cons to using a line to dry your clothes instead of your dryer. I feel it is well worth the time and the money saved, plus the benefits on our environment.

Pros - Laundry smells good, whites look brighter because of the bleaching effect of the sun, saves money, It's some form of exercise and clothes will last longer

Cons- It is a little more work to hang laundry, dark colors, I find fade a little because of the sun

Overall there are more pros then cons to hanging laundry. It just takes a little more time and patience but it is worth giving it a try if you don't do it already. You will love fresh spring smelling clothes.

Cake decorating

My daughter's 9th birthday is coming up next week, with her party being held this weekend. She is so excited. Tomorrow, I have the task of decorating her cake. I have done many cakes in the past and have been pleased by the results. K has picked a Totally Spies birthday party as her theme with the cake in the shape of the Spy girls heart shaped jet pack. I am not even sure what it looks like, but she will be drawing me a picture tonight so I will know how to decorate it tomorrow.
The cake is baked and in the freezer. I like to freeze the cakes and then when I ice the cake I do it while it is frozen and is so much easier to spread the icing and the cake doesn't crumble. I will try to remember to get a picture of her cake and post it here, but if I forget, someone out there remind me.

I use the same icing each cake, sometimes I throw in whip cream as the center, so it isn't too sweet. Here is the recipe I use, it is really easy and tastes great.

Butter Cream Icing

• 1/2 cup shortening ( actually I use all butter, No shortening - 1 cup butter)
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate. I throw in some corn syrup some times if the icing is a bit stiff as it makes it much easier to spread.

Here are some pictures of cakes I have done in the past from most recent to oldest.








This is the cake I just finished working on for my daughter's 9th birthday party. It is the totally spies jet pack back pack. It has the totally spies name and flower. My daughter thinks it is great. She loves it. Hubby thinks I spend to much time making it look all pretty, but I love doing it.












This cake was done for my grandfathers 90th birthday. I used whipped cream in the center and then butter cream icing as the main icing. The snooker balls were gumballs and the pool cues were chopsticks that I used black food coloring to color the ends. It turned out pretty well.












This cake was done for my nieces first birthday and it turned out fantastic. My favorite cake by far. I rented the cake pan from bulk barn(lady bug shape). I used the butter cream icing for the decorations, I made sugar cookie hearts and trimmed the tips before cooking to use as the wings and then lollipops as the antennae. This was a big hit at her birthday party.












I made cupcakes for my sons 5th birthday party with a jungle theme. The cupcakes were easy to decorate and then I used candy melts and lollipop sticks to make jungle animal pops. This was way easier than a cake, but still just as time consuming.













I made this cake for my sister and husband's wedding shower. I did one with his name and one with her name. I used the basket weave icing pattern, which really is pretty easy. Again butter cream icing, easy to make, and use was the icing used again on this cake. I made one chocolate cake and one vanilla. A big success.













My sister's baby shower cake with a teddy bear theme. It was easy to make and I was pleased with the result.














Can you say Superhero. My son who is still big on super heroes had a party focusing around all the super heroes. So I created a cake and divided the icing part into quarters to create a super hero cake.














This was my first ever cake decorating for K's 4th birthday with a my little pony theme. Free hand drawing of the pony, which turned out pretty good. I was impressed with myself. The icing was easy to do and this cake is what got me started on cake decorating. I enjoy it.

Pink Eye

I hate pink eye.

This morning, C came downstairs and the poor boy's eyes were glued together by the thick gross discharge that comes with having pink eye. His eyes were swollen and gross looking. I got his eyes cleaned up with a warm wash cloth, and then kept him home from school to get him into the doctor's office.

The doctor confirmed what I thought he had, which is pink eye. He has started antibiotics and will have to stay home from school another day, as he is highly contagious.

My eyes are starting to feel a bit scratchy and I have decided to use some polysporin on mine, just in case. Hubby thinks I am psychosomatic as when K had lice my head itched and itched, for weeks and weeks after I knew they were all gone. I just kept thinking about it. Well now my eyes feel funny, is it pink eye, or is it me just thinking it is. I will keep you posted.

Well my eyes are fine. I have kept up with the Polysporin as a preventative. I am sure I was fine all along.

Tennis Membership

For the past 2 years my children have taking summer tennis lessons at a court pretty near to our home. This year, I thought we would change things up a bit, and instead of lessons join as a family and just try to play as often as we can. The cost to join as a family, was the same price as their 1 week lesson, but we can play from now until October. Quite a good deal.

Today was the first day we used the membership. This morning, I went with a friend to play tennis. It was great fun, we actually did fairly well. I really have to work on my back hand though. I suck at any back hand return.

Later this evening I took hubby and the kids to enjoy a game. It wasn't as fun as this morning. Hubby doesn't know his own strength and hits the ball too hard, he did start to try to hit it softer, but it was still too hard. K got hurt by one of hubby's hard hit balls that whacked her right in the arm and stomach, and she cried for a while. C got frustrated at us trying to help him hold the racket properly and hit the ball with out moving his wrist. They get more frustrated with us trying to teach them and help them than with an instructor.

So the first time out there with the family wasn't as I had envisioned it and am thinking maybe some lessons would still be a good idea. We will see. We will attempt to go a few more times and see how and if they improve.

Second time we took the kids to the tennis courts, they did much better, but in the end they broke down, in sheer frustration because they were having difficulty hitting the ball. It was still much improved from the first visit.

Third time out, they did great and now are asking to go back.. This is good.

My never ending week

This week just seems to be never ending with endless things to do and get done. Not all of it bad, but just alot in one week. I find that some weeks, there is nothing and then other weeks are chalk a block full of activities, events and things to do..

So far this week,
I have cleaned my house from top to bottom, even though it is looking like that needs to be done again.
I had a 2 hour meeting at my kids school,
attended a surprise baby shower at which I could only attend for 20 minutes, as hubby couldn't come home early to pick up the kids from school and I had to go.
I have had multiple children to pick up from school due to parents hair appointments, a funeral and doctors appointments.
I attended our coffee club
Worked my part time city job 3 days this week
Did laundry, and there is still more to do
attended the school council meeting
Started working on the minutes of the meeting and completed the minutes
Hosted a litter less lunch display at my child's school, on earth day and cleaned it up
Made photocopies for numerous newsletters at the school to go home to students
I went grocery shopping
gardening shopping
got gas for the car,
put fertilizer down on the lawn
went out with my ladies friends and played Bingo
brought all my garage sale items to moms, setting up for the garage sale and this Saturday along with a bday party K is attended I will be having a garage sale.

I am going to be really happy when Sunday rolls around and the new weeks starts.. I am exhausted.

1/2 price Date Night

Driving home from the garden center today, I heard an ad on the radio announcing a 1/2 price date night.

Where: Milestones restaurants
Date: April 29th, 2009
Time: 4pm-close.

When you order and entree, appetizer or both, your date will get theirs for free...

Wow, a half price date night. Life can't get better than that!!!!!

Better go early as I am sure this event will be popular.
To view the website click here

April/May Challenge and March Update

Since I don't have a challenge for April, because time just seemed to slip away from me, I have decided to go ahead and do a April/May Challenge. Here is my challenge and update from March......

Well I didn't make all the recipes I was hoping to from the Loony Spoons cook book in February and March, but I did accomplish 4 meals, with leftovers. I think I fared pretty well for someone who has difficulty cooking dinner. See recipes here

I do not enjoy cooking dinner. I just don't. So my February challenge was to try to cook a few new meals to spice things up a bit and make cooking dinner more rewarding. Did it work.. No, not really.

I am thinking maybe I should push myself on this challenge again for my May. I don't think I will work from just one cook book though. I think I will challenge myself to find fast, and delicious dinner ideas from whatever sources I can(books, internet, friends) and whip them up once or twice a week. I will fill you in on how I do in June. Wish me luck, again!


Today is May 1rst and I haven't done any recipes yet... I better get busy. Tonight we are having chicken, so I am going to look up a recipe right now and start this challenge.

Whine, whine, whine... When will it end!

My lovely and most wonderful children have caught the whine bug. I am hoping it won't last too long, but they seem to whine about everything lately.

If we have to run an errand, they whine.
If we want to go for a family walk together, they whine.
A nice bike ride on these beautiful spring days, they whine.
When video game time is up, they whine for more time.
They whine when they are bored, even though they have a houseful of toys to play with.
They whine that they have no one to play with, even though they have each other.
They whine when I ask them to do something.
They whine at each other.
They whine 2 minutes after a meal that they are hungry.

They whine about this and whine about that, it is truly and utterly driving me to the brink of insanity lately.

I don't know about you other moms out there, but whining to me, is one of the most difficult and trying behaviors a parent must endure. I try to ignore the whining, I try to not loose my cool, but in the end, I break down, and get angry, and frustrated and feel at my wits ends.

Today they lost all their Easter chocolates until their behavior changes for the better. Hopefully this helps, if not, I will be following the old saying:

When Kids Whine, have some wine!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me!

The big talk

I had, what our moms would have called the big talk with my daughter this evening.
I had gotten her the book Just for girls(all about the changes that comes with puberty)
She had read it last week and I finally sat down with her this evening and explained what she didn't understand. Since I was sitting down explaining, puberty, breasts and periods, I decided, what the heck, might as well inform her how babies are made.. She giggled.

All in all it was a great discussion, and I am sure there will be many many questions over the years as changes start happening to her, and she starts to have feelings for boys, and all those wonderful moments.

It was a great bonding moment..

Totally Forgot

I can't believe we are already mid April and I forgot to set up a monthly challenge for myself. I can't believe I have forgotten. This month is busy, with my birthday coming up, planning for my daughters birthday party, Easter, stuff I am handling at the school and the list goes on. To much to handle right now and I think I will stick with that right now. Next month, if I don't forget I will definitely set up some kind of challenge for myself and let you know how I do. This month is going to be a write-off..

Is the Easter bunny real?

The kids are counting the days down until the Easter bunny comes.
My two have started to question if the Easter bunny is real.

They are coming to the age (7&9) when their friends and classmates are starting to say things that make them question whether he is real or not, like -

my mom hides the eggs in our house.
The Easter bunny isn't real, neither is Santa.
My dad told me that their is no such thing as an Easter bunny.
My sister says mom and dad hide the eggs.

These are the things they are hearing, and they question me on them. I don't want to lie to them, because they have been taught not to lie, and frankly, I am not sure I want them to stop believing just yet, I want them to be stay young a little while longer, and I don't want to spoil the fun and fantasy of the whole holiday.

So when questioned this, by my children, I simply said to them, well, do you believe? They said yes.

Eventually and of course it will come, hopefully not for a while yet, but they will just be the wiser and know that it has been mom and dad that hid the eggs, and filled their stockings and put money under their pillows when they lost their teeth. Is that so bad?

I am not ready to admit to them just yet, that yes, it is us, your mom and dad that did this for you. I want them to believe for as long as they want to believe. There is nothing wrong with that!!

BUGGER!!!

Why do I bother to take good care of my lawn? Last year, we had such a major case of grubs, we decided to switch to natural lawn maintenance that we did ourselves.
Our lawn looked wonderful and great all summer long, and believe it or not the skunk did not come and dig up our lawn last fall like the previous fall. We were amazed the natural lawn stuff worked. Hurray!

But he is back.... and digging up our front lawn again. This is very frustrating, because I spent so much money and took so much care in doing the right thing, and he is still digging up my lawn, and what gets me even more, he only digs up my lawn, he doesn't seem to go anywhere else but here..

I am SO frustrated, I just want to shoot the bugger!! I am sure he lives under someone's deck around here, and he invites himself nightly to my front lawn for breakfast. (I just looked at our deck and there is no way he is living under ours. Hubby last year, lined the inside of our deck with huge cement stones from his mothers fireplace demolition so nothing can penetrate it.)

He's wrecking my lawn and I am pissed off at him. So this morning I will be outside flipping and putting my lawn back together again.. BUGGER!

Doctors check

The other day I finally brought my two to the doctor. C has had these white spots on his cheeks for quite some time and I wanted to discuss K's fears and anxiety with the doctor.

The doctor took a look at C's cheeks and he might have either a fungal infection which could be 2 different types of fungus or he at some point got frost bite. She gave me a prescription as she can't tell by looking at it. If the cream works it was fungal, if it doesn't it is frost bite which has discolored his cheeks and will eventually go away on it's own. It just might take a very long time.

She had a talk with K and tried to figure out what is going on and how she is dealing with things. Then she had a talk with me. She feels K is learning to cope and that is good. As long as she continues to find ways to cope with her fears she will be fine. If it starts to affects her going to school or other places than she will need to be seen by a psychologist. I was very happy to hear she thought she was doing very well and not to worry unless things got worse. But for now, just assure her when she is afraid that she is alright.. One day she might just grow out of it. Actually one day I am hoping she will grow out of it.

I left the office with a feeling that things are just fine. That maybe all this time I have been doing something right and have helped her cope with her fears. That thought made me feel very good.

Twilight

I am currently reading the Twilight series of books and am enjoying it. I am reading Eclipse which is the third book in the series. I got my husband on to it just recently. He finished Twilight this weekend and we finally got to see the movie.

The movie was great, the actors cast to play the characters I thought were great, especially Bella. The actress fit her character just like I pictured.

I really enjoyed the movie and could watch it over and over again. I hear the second movie based on the book New Moon is due to come out in November. Now I am really looking forward to see that one.

I heard through the grapevine the other day, that the author Stephanie Meyer was working on a 5th book called midnight sun and that part of this book some how got leaked on the internet.
She has posted it on her website, and I have started to read it during any little free time I have. This book is Twilight again, but from Edward's view and it is really good. The Author is very upset that the book got leaked and has suspended writing it indefinitely. I hope she picks it up again, because even though I am reading part of it now, if and when it does get finished, I will be lining up at the book store to purchase it and read it from cover to end.

I am Twilight obsessed!!

Shin Splints

I am a very active person. I normally work out 5-6 times a week. I am obsessed with working out and keeping in shape. I love it, I love the work out high and the feeling of overall strength.
Sunday I went for a run/jog.. My husband calls what I do jogging, as the speed I go is too slow to be considered running... ha ha..
I did very well, I ran 6km in just over 30 minutes. I like to strive for longer runs and better time.. A little competition with yourself and sometimes your husband is very healthy!

About 6-7 minutes into my run, I could feel a slight twinge in my lower shin, close to my ankle, and I kept going for a few minutes longer, until I decided, I better stop and give my calf a good stretch. I took a few minutes to stretch and continued on my way. I never felt the twinge again until the next day..

I had a shin splint and it was very painful. I took the day off any pounding exercise, but managed to squeeze in about 20 minutes of strength training. I couldn't totally take the day off.
Tuesday it was getting better, but still sore, so I worked out on the elliptical and then a yoga pilates DVD (a no pounding, gentle workout). I just started using the Yoga/Pilates DVD. It isn't easy stuff, but I don't mind doing it after a good cardio workout, as a strength training relaxation workout.
By Wednesday I felt no pain in my shin, but still didn't want to push myself. I went for about a 35 minute walk and felt great.

Today I think I will run again. I will take it easy and make sure I spend a good few minutes before hand doing some extra stretching of my calf.

Are you ready to live the life of a Pirate

When I was looking up things to do with the kids on our recent trip to Panama City Beach, I found this great pirate adventure out on a boat where you dress up and get to be a pirate for a few hours complete with treasure hunting using a map and water canons to fight off the bad pirates. Unfortunately during our time there, they were not ready to set sail.

Going through our local city newspaper yesterday I found something similar right here in Ottawa. I checked their website and it sounds pretty similar to the adventure that was offered in Panama City, but here at home on the Rideau Canal. I think my kids will enjoy this and will have to try it out this spring/summer.

Here are some details:

Name: Pirate adventures
Website : http://pirateadventures.ca/index.html
Sails from: 588 Hogs Back Road north of Mooney's Bay Beach
Ship sets sail: Mid May and runs about 6 times per day. Reservations are recommended.
Special: Save 15% off regular rates when booking weekdays only from May 16-June 20.

Fun times to be had aboard the Pirate ship. Children will get to wear pirate gear, tattoos, and have their face painted.

I think this summer we will have to live the life of a pirate, for a day! Arrrr!!!

Ottawa is full of Dog Poop

Spring brings wonderful things. Warmer weather, flower buds, fresh spring air, and just a wonderful energetic feeling.

The one thing I don't like in Spring is when the snow melts and reveals what many irresponsible dog owners all over the city have left behind. A smelly disgusting pile of dog poop.

There is dog poop everywhere. On pathways, sidewalks, fields, parks and even the road.
Come on people, scoop the poop!

and please don't toss the bag outside either or leave it hanging on a tree, which is seen around here quite often. Pick it up, bag it and toss it in a garbage can, or better yet, bring it home and flush it down the toilet. Let's work together to keep our city beautiful.

Spring cleaning

I love Spring.
Now that Spring has arrived, well not officially yet, but only another day to go, I have started my spring cleaning. Today I am tackling my windows, and hope to complete the task.
Here is what I have on my to do list:
*please note, items that have been completed are in red*

1. Clean my windows,inside and out + wash those grimy screens( you wouldn't believe how much dirt is built up on the screens)
2. Carpet Cleaning (I do this twice a year in the spring and the fall)
3. Upholstery cleaning (I do this once a year)
4. Curtain cleaning(I do this once a year)
5. Dusting blinds/shades( an awful task that is done once a year)
6. Putting away winter clothing (hurray, I love putting away the winter stuff)
7. Organizing spring clothing ( make a long list of things the kids have grown out of that you need to buy)
8. cleaning the car inside and out
9. cleaning the garage-putting away winter shovels, tobaggans, toys, and bringing out the spring/summer toys and tools
10. cleaning up the garden- this is a big job(removing tree wrap, weeding, raking, fertilizing, planting, seeding, moving shrubs)etc. This is done over the next few months
11. Hold a garage sale! (I have the hugest pile of stuff in the basement ready to garage sale. I am sure there will be more to add to the pile before then)
12. Move furniture and vacuum beneath it(you would be amazed what you find under furniture)
13. changing sheets (fleece to cotton, this job is hard to do, as I love my fleece sheets!)
14. cleaning baseboards(another awful task that is done once a year)
15. Repaint my garage doors
    

My husband, who is always very helpful, has chores of his own to complete as well, this is what his spring list of chores looks like:

1. Change our car tires from winter to all season
2. Tune up the cars
3. Tune up the bikes
4. Move heavy furniture
5. Build a picnic table(almost done)
   
6. Fix the play structure(we took it a part to remove the slide/tree house portion and just keep the swing portion as the kids are getting too big for that side, but are not willing to give up the swings just yet)
7. setting up the trampoline(job completed, need to fix one section though)
8. checking the bbq and air conditioner to make sure they are in good working condition
9. Build seed catcher to place under our outdoor bird feeder so the seeds don't end up in my garden.(not sure what yet, but he is very creative)

I am a very energetic and motivated person, but Spring just makes me have that much more energy and motivation to get things done.

The log farm

I wasn't that impressed this year with the log farm. This year, it cost me $42 for myself, my children and a friend. That included 4 of us to tour the sugar bush($20) and 1 adult meal($8.95) and 2 kids meals($6.95)

What we got: we did a self tour of the farm, and could hardly see the animals as they were outdoors and far off. That was a bit of a disappointment to the kids.

Then the tractor again was not running. My kids again missed out on the tractor ride again this year. We are not a lazy family and do not mind the walking, but they want the fun of taking a tractor ride. Last year it did not run because there was too much snow, this year it is too muddy. So we tromped our way through mud, ice and water to the sugar bush tour area.

The tour guides(teenagers) weren't that great. Last year, they had an older gentleman who did an amazing job telling the history of the sugar bush and the process involved in making maple syrup. This year, the girls just didn't compare in their telling of history and processes. They also passed around a bucket of sap for all the kids to dip their fingers into. I am sorry, who knows where all those little fingers have been. I was very unimpressed.. I am not a germ freak, but when 40 kids and adults are all dipping fingers into one bucket of sap that grosses me out a bit. I don't see why they couldn't hand out Popsicle sticks. My kids weren't interested in tasting anyways.

After the tour, which lasted maybe 15 minutes, the kids passed on the maple taffy. We headed to get our pancake breakfast. That was the same as last year. All you can eat, eggs, pancakes, and sausages as well as juice, coffee and hot chocolate.

The kids were ready to leave after 1 hour and 20 minutes. I guess maybe with my kids getting older, they are losing interest. They have more of a been there, done that kind of attitude.

I don't think next year we will go there. Not sure if we will do the sugar bush at all, or maybe venture out farther to see what differences there are between the different places. I will decide next year. For now, the kids are happily at home, bouncing on the trampoline with their friend.

How time flies - How much have YOU changed in 15 years!

I found this questionnaire online and thought I would fill it out, just for the fun of it. I love things like these. So here goes....

****15 YEARS AGO (1994)****

1) How old were you? 19
2) Who were you dating? I was single
3) Where did you work? Walmart
4) Where did you live? Ottawa
5) Where did you hang out? Walmart, home, friends
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yep
7) Who were your Closest friends? Vala
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? double pierced ears
10) What kind of car did you drive? Dodge Colt
11) Had you been to a real party? Yep
12) Had you had your heart broken? nope
13) Were you Single/taken/Married/Divorced? Single

14) Any Kids? No

***10 YEARS AGO (1999)***

1) How old were you? 24
2) Who were you dating? My husband
3) Where did you work? Insurance company
4) Where did you live? Still in Ottawa
5) Where did you hang out? home/work/friends homes
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? yep
7) Who were your Closest friends? Vala, Lisa, Sandra

8) How many tattoos did you have? none

9) How many piercings did you have? only ears still

11) Had your heart been broken? yep
10) What kind of car did you drive? Dodge Caravan
12) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married
13)Any Kids? No

****TODAY (2009)****

1) Age? 34

2) Where do you work? Mother of two, City of Ottawa
3) Where do you live? Ottawa
5) Who are your closest friends? Vala, Helen, Pam, Kim,
6) Do you talk to your old friends? yes
7) How many piercings do you have? Still only my ears
8) How many tattoos? none
9) What kind of car do you have? Hyundai Tuscon
10) Had your heart been broken? not lately
11) How many kids? 2
12) Are you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married

Nit picking again

Yesterday, I sat nit picking for hours. My sister and her daughter both have lice.

It started last week, when my niece A, had an itchy head, and my sister, M, checked her head and found lice. She treated her hair, but she was having problems finding nits, because she really didn't know what she was looking for.

Yesterday, I went through A's hair, and found quite a lot of nits, and because she didn't do a second lice treatment(she didn't want to use the chemical shampoo again) the nits were starting to hatch and she must have had 20 or more live lice in her hair.

We treated her hair again, and my sister asked if I could check her hair. She was at the doctors on Wednesday and told him she had an itchy head, he checked, and couldn't see anything, but told her to treat anyways. She treated her hair Wednesday.

I checked yesterday and must have found over 100 nits and 1 large live lice crawling around. She treated herself again.

Tis' the year for lice. K has had it, friends of K has had it, and now my sister and niece.

If anyone is in the same situation and doesn't know what they are looking for, I found this great site when K had lice, called the lice squad, which shows pictures of what you are looking for and great tips on how to get rid of it. After I read the information on this site, I found myself feeling better about the situation. It is not as bad as other people say it is. You do a thorough clean at first but you don't have to do it everyday. The picking is the real saving grace.. I picked for 2 weeks straight and that for me was the way I got rid of all the lice once and for all.

February Challenge update

I don't think I did very good on this challenge. I did manage to cook 3 recipes from the Looney spoons cook book (see recipes here).

Due to our vacation this month, and it already being mid March, I will continue to try to cook a few more recipes from the cook book instead of a new challenge. I will post a new challenge for myself in April.

I hope to cook 3 more recipes. We will see how I do.

March Break

March Break starts today after school, or that is how I see it.

I have been checking out the following site Kids Ottawa, which shows many events happening in the Ottawa area all year.

Here are some ideas I have:

1. St. Patrick's day parade (downtown Ottawa on March 14th*check the link to Kids Ottawa for details*)
2. Plant our vegetable seeds for our garden
3. Make St. Patrick's day cookies
4. Go to the Maple Sugar bush
5. Plan some play dates for the kids
6. Decorate the house for Easter, as it is coming up fast
7. Going to the library
   
8. Swimming
9. Skating
10. Billings Bridge shopping mall has fun activities planned during the week
11. Painting a ceramic piece at Gotta Paint
12. set up the trampoline(which will keep the kids busy on the nice warm afternoons expected)
13. biking
    

That is all I can think of at the moment. I am sure there will be other things happening.

So March break has ended and the kids had a great week. We didn't do everything on the list, but we had a busy week none the less. Here is what we did.

• Monday
• Met friends at a local park for a game of basketball
• play date at our house
• Tuesday
  
• Went to the sugar bush for a pancake lunch
  
• K had a friend over for a play date
• Wednesday
• March Break party - K had 3 girl friends and C had 2 boy friends over for a party. They did crafts, jumped on the trampoline, I made pizza and KD for lunch and then brownies and sundaes for dessert. Great time had by all.
• Thursday
• C went to a friends for a play date and lunch
  
• K had 2 girl friends at our house for lunch.
  
• We planted our vegetable and flower seeds for the garden.
• Friday
  
• A day with grandma. She took us bowling and to McDonald's for lunch.
• The kids had a play date with friends in the afternoon
• a sleepover planned int he evening.
• Saturday
• K had a play date at a friends house
• C had a friend over
• Sunday
  
• Decorated for Easter

Back to reality

We are home. Back to our normal lives. It was so nice to escape to somewhere hot, and just relax and have fun and not worry about everyday problems.
We all had a wonderful time and look forward to one day going back for another visit.
To read all about our fun trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, check out my travel blog.

Back to life!

Off on Vacation

We are heading off tomorrow for our wonderful family holiday and skipping the last few weeks of winter for some mild spring/summer weather!
I will be updating My travels blog, when I have a chance upon our return, for now, I will be on vacation from blogging too...