Being Kylie's Mom

Worst headache ever...

2012-01-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

The weather must be changing. I think I will take the headache if it means some warmer weather is on its way. Winter stinks.

Jacob left for school this morning with his pocket full of wadded-up fake moustaches from Christmas. The glue has worn off so he put a glue stick in his other pocket. So he is gluing the moustaches to his face with a glue stick at school...that is the weirdest kid haha.

Kylie doesn't talk lately. She reads, drinks tea and types furiously on her laptop. That is, when she comes out of her room. That's ok. I'm sure next week she will a happy girl again. These things tend to come and go with her (mostly go, she's a pretty happy kid).

I'm going to pick up Sam from school, then we are going to do some shopping at Wal Mart. I think I will buy myself some yarn, because I found the cutest free pattern for amigurumi mermaids HERE . I just realized that I need to register Sam for kindergarten NEXT MONTH. Oh my goodness, where has the time gone?!?

Later.

Pics!

2012-01-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

Rice Krispie Pops for the school bake sale.

Sammy Sunshine's Christmas picture. I loved our tree this year. It looks sort of sparse here, but at night with the lights on it was amazing.

My boys decorating Christmas cookies.

Every year when I ask Jacob what he wants for Christmas, he tells me 'a potato with a toothpick in it'. This year, it was on the top of his stocking :) . He also got this great smashing tomato toy (HERE) but he accidentally popped it with his toothpick potato when he put everything back in his stocking before breakfast haha. That was a really neat toy, I have to find more.

Kiki, early Christmas morning with her new laptop.

Jacob and his new netbook. He also got a package of stick-on moustaches in his stocking. They entertained him for an entire week.

My goofball boy.

Jacob got a box full of duct tape from one of his aunties: silver, camouflage, paint splatter and green. The other day he made himself some slippers using the same technique as making his duct tape wallet : start by making a sheet of duct tape, then fold and tape until it's what you want. I know this is a terrible picture though...they are silver with green accents and he slips his feet into them from behind.

Off to work today, need to do a bit of cleaning first. It's getting cold here, it almost feels like winter!!

Tuesday.

2012-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, it feels like forever since I've worked a shift...Christmas really threw things off around here.

We are going to see Chipwrecked today (is that what it's called?). The Alvin and the Chipmunks one. Kylie is going through a movie phase, she doesn't care if it's a dollar movie, Netflix movie or whatever. Jacob got to pick today, though, but Kylie is always down for a movie. I think it's $5 Tuesdays...I guess we'll see when we get there. I have a bunch of airmiles movie passes but I'm saving those for two movies: Underworld, which Scott will have to find another wife to go with, because I refuse. Those movies irritate me to no end. Also saving passes for when Kylie goes to see The Hunger Games, because I think she read each book about 4 times and right now it's all she thinks about.

Sam is going through this pretend phase right now, where she goes into her room for a while, invents a persona, and comes out to tell me all about how she's "the new girl in the world and her name is not Sam". She has come to live with us for a while, and will sleep in Sam's bed until Sam returns from school or grocery shopping or wherever she is right now. Then she tells us this huge story about her former life, how she lived in a castle with her pony or whatever haha. It's so stinkin' cute. Right now her name is Isabella, and she is sending a text to her dad, the King...on a toy cell phone. Then she will go back in her room, and return as Sam.

*Yawn*...I need a shower before that movie. Best get on that :) .

Reflection Questions for 2011

2011-12-31T22:20:00.000-08:00

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

Finally figuring out what I was good at (professionally) and deciding that I LOVE going to work. Love it, really do :)

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Helping my kids and husband deal with my FIL's passing. That was hard. I miss him too :(

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

The work thing. I knew it was time to sort this stuff out but I really didn't think it would be this much fun. I look forward to going to work and when I'm there, it's just go go go. All of a sudden, it's time to go home.

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

Other than my FIL's passing, probably the effort it took to keep the weight off that I lost last year. That was harder than losing it, definitely. And to be completely honest, I don't think I was successful :(

5. Pick three words to describe 2011.

I will pick 6 words because 3 draws me to focus only on the hardships, and I don't want to do that.

Sad. Mourning. Tears. FIL's diagnosis and then his death happened within 3 months, such a whirlwind.

Happy. Love. Respect. FIL's passing also reinforced that I married a wonderful, caring man. I respect him more now than I ever did, for how he took charge of many situations and stepped up to be the rock his mother and children needed. I love that man.

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2011 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).

Fulfilled, pirates, zombies. He had a Neo Citron before he went to bed and that makes him loopy haha.

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2011 (again, without asking).

Sad, change, family. (I hope 2012 is good to him.)

8. What were the best books you read this year?

Why on earth would I read ?!? Honestly, I'd rather mend socks. I love mending socks.

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

My Scotty, my kids and my mom.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

I went from being 'Susan the stay-at-home-mom' to 'Susan, the Medical Office Assistant'. That's cool...this was always the way it was supposed to be. The seasons of life :)

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

I have no idea what that question means. Next.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

We had a lot of spiritual discussions in our household over the last 6 months. I think we left the kids with more questions than answers, but that's a good thing (I think). If I knew all the answers to that stuff, then I could solve a lot of world problems. I'm trying to teach my kids that they will never know the answers to a lot of life's spiritual questions, and that's ok. It's good to have something to think about. Anyone who thinks they know it all doesn't know squat, really.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

Well, my ass is still growing apparently...

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

My relationship with my husband. I thought after 19 years together, I would know him inside and out. It was just really cool and very powerful to rediscover what a great guy he is.

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?

Contributing substantially to our monthly income. We always said, we would live off of what Scott brought into the home and then whatever I made would be gravy. Well, I have to tell you it's really awesome to have that gravy sitting there when you need it. Like, not swimming in gravy but just being able to say, "Hey, lookit that gravy sitting there". That reminds me, I made a turkey last week because it was so cheap and I made the tastiest gravy to go with it. From scratch and everything...mmm, gravy. I've never done that before so that was a great achievement, as far as sauce-making goes. Speaking of sauce, I'm out of sauce. I mean wine. So I guess I wasn't speaking of sauce, but of wine...am I sauced? It's only 11:00. Where's that other darn bottle of wine?

16. What was your most challenging area of home management?

Balancing chores with working 25 hours a week, as well as carting my mother all over creation...and driving the kids everywhere, making sure someone is available to pick up Jake from his after-school things, finding parking downtown 4x a week. And there is no way I'm paying for parking. Easing the big kids into helping more with laundry and cleaning...Scott taught Kylie how to do her own laundry last week. I have the cutest little laundry area, I swear it was the only place in the whole house that was just mine and now I have to share it haha.

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

I can't decide, it's a 3-way tie: Facebook, Pinterest and Free Cell cards on the computer. Do people really watch tv episodes and movies from start to finish? I can't remember the last time I did that without being on the laptop at the same time. So I can tell you how an episode of Big Bang Theory starts, but I usually can't tell you how it ends. Or the other way around.

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

I normally start work at noon (3 weekdays) so I can cram a lot of junk into the time period from 830am - 11am. Cleaning, meal planning, pre-cooking, etc. Sam likes to help me with all that stuff.

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

That I am who I am, and if someone doesn't like it...then they can get bent. I am fine explaining my introverted personality to others without defending it, because I don't think I have to. And because I am fine with the way I am, that helps my introverted child to see that she is ok too. She doesn't have to be like everyone else to be happy.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2011 for you.

That's stupid. I'm not doing that. Maybe in the morning when I sober up. Ha ha ha...

Happy New Year!!! Whoooo!!!

2011-12-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

It's only 1030...not exactly New Year's just yet. As usual, we spent it at home. I can't imagine facing the crowds tonight, be it at a restaurant or at the movie theatre that we thought we may go to. Jacob was invited to a sleepover, Kylie is on the couch with her phone and her laptop, Scott is watching the non-stop 90s video marathon on Much and Sam is in bed. We counted down the New Year while watching Toronto's fireworks on TV at 10pm and then we all yelled, "Happy New Year!" followed by lots of kisses. That was fun...I remember doing that with Kylie when she was little. So cute to see a little one's first New Year's countdown. Then I stuffed her in bed so I could have a glass of wine :) .

This is the video we are watching right now:

...a minute ago, we watched "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and tried to explain to Kylie that it's the same guy from the movie "The Italian Job" but she didn't believe us. Ha ha...that was pretty funny.

Scott is going to bed now, he's not feeling well. Poor guy, he always gets a sinus cold around New Year's...I don't know how he manages that.

Happy New Year's!! Best wishes for a great 2012, from our house to yours :) .

Tales from My Crypt

2011-12-02T09:35:00.001-08:00

Jake got his hair cut, by his own choice and I *love* it. The old lady in the background was chatting away to herself and waving at us after I took this picture. I have no idea what she was saying lol.

Sammy Sunshine started at a brand new playschool today and I swear, she told me to get out when I dropped her off. Ok, well maybe she didn't go that far...I got a quick kiss on the cheek before she bolted for the new toys. Have I mentioned how hard it is to have a very outgoing, social child when you are anti-people? I don't understand this.

What else...I did some Christmas shopping online the other day, first time for that...it arrived yesterday and looks awesome. I will have to do that again. Online shopping=no people in checkout lines to irritate me. Score.

I think we may put the tree up this weekend, but just because Jake is asking to and since he is confined to the house I may as well let him do it (he is sick with a strep infection). We are trying a new thing this year: I bought silver and black ornaments in January of last year so we will see how that looks. First year without the macaroni or pirate ornaments...but I'm sure they'll be back next year.

Scott should be home any minute, as it is his last day at his current job and he really just went today to clean out his desk. He has accepted another offer with a different company and will start on Monday. I don't even think his current manager said goodbye/good luck/kiss my arse/nothing. Jerk.

Well, I should go clean something before I have to pick up Sam. Work this afternoon...assisting with a biopsy for the first appointment. All that means is that I have everything ready for the doctor in the treatment room and then stand around in case he needs me to grab him something out of the cupboard. Then I get to look at the hunks of suspicious flesh as they swim around in the vials of preservative, before sending them off to the lab. I'm actually really looking forward to that haha.

We had a tapeworm in a vial of preservative that sat on our desk by the phone for nearly a year at our old office. I don't know why it was there. Every time I answered the phone I would pick it up and shake it...watch it dance...put it back down. Just wanted to share that with you.

Later :) .

Wednesday.

2011-11-23T20:29:00.001-08:00

It's Wednesday...supposed to be a day off, but I worked for 3 hours. I didn't want to, but the boss waved time-and-a-half under my nose and I was convinced. We are short-staffed and it stinks. Turns out you need common sense to work as a medical office assistant. Who knew that would be so hard to find?

I am currently writing an email to the school principal regarding the tirade I witnessed at school the other day. A teacher exploded...screaming at about a dozen little kids. I'm sure I stood there with my mouth hanging open, it was so shocking. She didn't even care that there was parents and student teachers around...just screamed and screamed because they were chatting and giggling while waiting for the daycare staff to pick them up. Sure, teachers are overworked and not respected, blah blah blah. But she's also an adult, capable of knowing what is appropriate behaviour while in the presence of children. Honestly, it was scary.

Guess who thinks he needs a haircut?? I can hardly believe it. Jacob has decided he wants to go SHORT short. It takes me weeks to talk him into trimming his bangs and now he wants to chop it all off.

Kylie's ears are haunted. She thinks she can hear me playing Minecraft. Um...no lol.

I'm tired, going to bed. Darnit, need to do laundry first or I will have to go to work in yoga pants tomorrow night. Not cool.

'Night.

Well, hello!

2011-11-06T11:08:00.001-08:00

Hi there! How are you? I'm better now, thanks for asking. I've decided to let the angry, mean people steep in their own anger rather than let it affect me. That is, for today. Maybe it's because I'm cozy in my tiny house with my family on a cold winter's day and I had a great day at work yesterday. No one yelled at me haha.

Our regular doctors are from Libya and have taken some time off to go home to celebrate Eid and to see their families. So to cover for them, we have some visiting doctors (or 'locums' as they are called in the industry). The one doctor we had the other day reminded me of Raj from Big Bang Theory...he just smiled a lot and didn't really talk. When he did ask for something, it was in this teen-tiny voice with a heavy accent. I wanted to hug him goodbye when he left at the end of the night, because he was just so cute but I guess that would be considered inappropriate :) .

It's getting cold here but no snow yet. I'm hoping it does snow soon, because my front yard always looks horrible in the fall. It's even worse this year because we took the trees down, so the entire world can see the craptacular view from the sidewalk. Snow will at least cover that mess.

Sam is playing Dance Dance Revolution with Kylie and her friend in the basement...Jacob is at my mom's and Scott and I are heading outside soon to take down the trampoline for the winter. Earlier, Sam and I went into the attic to look for some winter boots for her. Funny, a few years ago I was scared to climb that ladder and now I am following a four year old up there. It's no big deal now. I figured if she can do it, I should do it too.

Later, taters :)

Soaking in a tepid pool of my own anger...

2011-10-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'm angry a lot lately. I'm trying not to be...but as I get older, I get more patience for my kids and less patience for the world around me.

It seems I am constantly dealing with stupid people. Stupid is a really strong word, isn't it? Tomorrow I will be sorry that I said that, so I will take a second to think of a word that would be more appropriate: hmm...let's go with selfish. Selfish people at work: people who are mean to me and mean to the doctors, the same doctors that stay after closing and don't go home to their families because they need to deal with these petty jerks. The same people I have to be nice to the next time they call to make an appointment. Selfish people who lie to me about my child's education when it's all about money and the educator's place in the system...the selfish people my husband deals with during the day and tells me about when he comes home at night. After he bends over backwards to help someone, the next claim he deals with is some asshole who thinks he won the insurance lottery when hail hit his house and will not take no for an answer. Because he didn't have coverage in the first place, but "that's what insurance is for!". And then when everyone has to pay more for next year's policies because of the multitude of these jerks in the world, my husband will take the brunt of the anger.

How on earth am I supposed to raise thoughtful, respectful people when the world is filled with selfish people? It's like the zombie plague: if you're not careful, you'll get bit by one of them and turn into a selfish ass just like they are. Every night at the dinner table, the kids regale us with stories of their day, stories of how awful the kids in this world are to each other and I have to remind my kids to see the good points in these rotten brats. The next day, one of those rotten brats does something stupid and the conversations start all over again.

Is it just because I'm getting old? Is my ability to give a shit withering away over time?

I wish I could stop thinking about it and just be as selfish as everyone else.

I'm going to go clean something...get my mind off this crap.

This is what Homeschooling would look like in our house.

2011-10-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

This morning before school, Jacob asked me to help him study for his Social Studies test. Today's test is on Canada's physiological regions, which I remember as being one of those things that you learn in Grade 5 and then never touch on again for the rest of your life.

I tried to find a map to show you as an example, but Google found me over a million maps and no two were the same. Why would you force a child to memorize regions that even adults can't agree on what they should be named? How stupid. Anyway...for your enjoyment, a map that I edited to show what we were dealing with this morning:

Of course, the Arctic was no problem to identify. That's where penguins and inukshuks are, everyone knows that. We deduced that he needed to memorize the remaining regions: Cordillera, Interior Plains, Canadian Shield, Great Lakes, Atlantic...and then we came up with a plan. Take the first letter of each region in order and come up with a rhyme to help you remember.

Remember this?

(read: Jacob asking me to buy ice cream)

Yeah. Jake's rhyme is:

Can I cut Grover's Ass?

...I did what I thought I should do and asked him to think of another word on the way to school, but honestly: whatever works. I asked him just to please not say his chosen rhyme in front of his teachers. Or his friends.

But it works! I quizzed him as he walked out the door today and he got every region correct, in order.

Silly kid :)

Baking with the Boy

2011-10-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today, Jake and I made brownies...not just any brownies, but Smartie brownies. He is taking them to school tomorrow to share with his class, because it's his birthday. My baby boy is turning 10 years old!! Where did the time go?

If there's one thing I've figured out about this boy in the last 10 years, it's that he hates anything that resembles school work. Reading/writing/math?? Forget it!

One thing he likes to do, though: baking. He just read a recipe, doubled fractions so that we could make a bigger pan-full, and wrote the recipe down in a binder because the printer was out of ink (or was it??).

But it's not school work, so it was fun. Silly boy.

Jake (age 2) and Kylie (age 5)

My 10 year old boy

Big party this weekend for the birthday boy. Wish me luck haha.

Tuesday.

2011-10-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

I don't have any imagination lately...and I can't be bothered to come up with a great post title, to tell you the truth.

It's cold here! Well, it's not winter yet so I shouldn't be complaining but it's chilly enough. I think it's 12C today, and darnit, that's cold enough for me in this old house.

Took the 2 youngest kids to the doctor this morning, and even though we had an appointment for 10:30, we didn't get to see the doctor until after an hour past that. I told Jacob that he didn't have to go to school this afternoon because we would be really late and miss the bell, but can you believe that he begged me to take him to school?!? Weird kid. I don't think I'll ever understand him lol.

His birthday is coming up soon and he didn't want me to make invitations this year. But I absolutely will not call a stranger, and personally, I appreciate having a paper invitation to stick up on the calendar as a reminder. I promised him that the invitations would be as plain as they could get...and they are. How boring.

The front:

...and the inside:

I know white cardstock would have been better than the white paper that I used, but I didn't have any.

I haaaaate boy parties. Boys are noisy and messy and their parents never pick them up on time. Last year we had a kid sit here for over an hour before his mother finally phoned to say that she would be late. I told her, that's fine...I have to go to work right away, which is why we asked for a 4:00 pickup time (she called at 5). "I'll just stick him on the doorstep and you can come for him whenever. I'm taking my kids to my mom's now". Funny, she was there 10 minutes later.

One more pic:

It's a dream catcher that Kylie made in her native art class and I just love it. I was particularly impressed by the weaving in the middle, it looks like a really cool spider web. I know the picture is sideways, Blogger is stupid and forever shall be.

Well, I'm off to make some fried rice. Kylie wants to make bannock when she comes home, and I think we will have that and some soup for supper on this chilly fall day. Scott is working late so I will have to try and save him some.

Things I Like (Today)

2011-09-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child by Tina Fey

-an excerpt from her book, Bossypants

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,”she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

Oh, and I like this too:

"My love is conditional:

and the condition is, that you don't act like

an asshole"

-Anonymous

...because love and friendship=being a yes-man, apparently. Boy, you came to the wrong place, hey?!?

Bah ha ha...going to work. Later.

Sunday.

2011-09-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the Santa's Anonymous Toy Run, and there are bikers tearing up the avenue here since 6 this morning! Assholes, quit complaining about the new bike noise bylaw. You brought it on yourself.

I am going to pick up my mom so that we can go to the mall and see the sea of bikes and toys...it honestly doesn't do any justice to post pictures, but I will still try to get a few pictures up later. Love seeing those big bikers with big teddy bears strapped to their bikes.

Ok, here's a FB album of last year's pics:
2010 Motorcyle Run for Santa's Anonymous

I really don't want to be the only wife following behind the pack in a car with my mom, but whatever. I want to see the bikes.

Kylie is riding with Scott today. It only took her half an hour to curl her hair and put on makeup...possibly because she thought Scott's friend was bringing his son...gone are the days where she doesn't give a crap how she looks I guess!

My alley sounds like a Mad Max movie right now. The neighbours have their Harleys out...pretty soon the bikers across the street will get their bikes out. That is, if they can haul their butts out of bed on this fine Sunday morning. 930 on a Sunday is way too early for the biker crowd.

Ooh, oh!! Here's a link to this year's pictures (blogger kicked me out after I wrote this so I couldn't publish until Monday):
Motorcycle Toy Run 2011

Later.

Pics!

2011-09-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day! We spent the day at the zoo, but as usual, there was nothing to see. Our zoo stinks, seems like the animals are always so far away that you can't take their picture...or they're sleeping, all rolled up in a ball under a rock or something. Can you tell I'm not a fan of our zoo? 95% of the animals are brown so they blend into those rocks and dead grass pretty well. We have a prairie dog exhibit. Come on now.

The big kids started school last Thursday and so far are really happy with their teachers. Kylie's school is way, way under populated and on the verge of being shut down, I fear. Oh well, it was bound to happen. The school is falling apart anyway.

Kylie, first day of grade 8. Last year I couldn't get her to comb her hair when she got up in the morning. Now she has to get up early to trowel her makeup on.

Jacob, first day of grade 5. We freezer-paper stencilled the shirt with a tie that reads "epic", his favourite word. Things are either "awesomely epic" or "epic fail" in his books. Nothing in-between.

Sam starts preschool on the 13th. I don't think she needs it, per se...I don't think any kid 'needs' preschool, but she is incredibly social and it's driving my nuts. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be anti-social and introverted like myself when you have a kid who is the complete opposite?!? So she will go to preschool to fill that need she has to be with other kids. I can stay if I want, or I can use that time to shop or exercise or whatever. Two hours, two mornings a week.

I'm going to start working Mondays soon, a full day. The opportunity came up and I really like the work so I thought I should take it. Turns out the office is closing for two whole months this winter so I guess I should make some money while I can :( .

Later, taters.

Stuff I did...and stuff...

2011-08-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, did I impress you with my language skills with that stellar title?? See, I've been gone from blogging for so long that I have no imagination when it comes to titles.

I originally thought I would scrapbook the 740 pictures that we took in Maui last year but I honestly can't stand scrapbooking. Too much farting around with little fiddly bits, so I bought this frame on a clearance rack for $12 and filled it with our favourite pictures. It hangs in our dining room. Did I already post this??

I know I've posted pictures before of the kids planting flowers from seed using those little window planters and peat pellets, but can you believe that this is the first year that it actually worked? Impatiens generally love the shade in my front yard, but the giant spruces are gone so we are now dealing with full sunshine. I'm surprised these lasted as long as they have. I rescued that watering can from the neighbour's trash ha ha.

I don't like cartoon scrubs for work, but I liked these fabrics: Moda sock monkeys from Etsy and some fabric we bought in Maui. The shirt is purchased from Wal Mart, I sew a new panel over the front and then cut the original front panel out. I'm far too lazy to fit a made-from-scratch shirt at this point. I can't actually wear the sock monkey one because it's too big now, but someday I'll get around to altering it.

Invader Zim drawstring backpack for Kylie. Tutorial here:
drawstring backpack and stencil here: Deviant Art . I used freezer paper to make the stencil...if you are unfamiliar with this, it's this: stencil tutorial .

Dress for Sam, made with a free pattern from Fiddlehead and fabric bought in Maui for $5 a metre.

Today I'm repainting the wrought iron railing on the front stairs...what an ordeal! I don't know whose bright idea it was to make those things with all those funky little curves and divots that I have to sand. But it's been here since the 50's so it's cool and I bet it will look awesome when it's done.

Later, taters.

It's Sunday!!

2011-08-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ah, the start of a fresh new week. On this week's list:

-Taxes. Oh my God, can you believe we haven't done our taxes yet? Too many things happened at once, and our life got put on hold. Must do the taxes this week.

-Sewing: two drawstring backpacks using this tute . It's a good size for a teen, works well for a purse for Kiki.

-Gramma's apple tree fell down so we are going to chop it up tomorrow using Scott's reciprocating saw. A chainsaw would probably be a better idea, but alas, we don't have one. Must do with what we have.

-Everyone in this house thinks that I should be making sugar cookies?? I hate them, so I don't make them. Simple as that. Jacob wants me to teach him how to make them, so I guess I can do that.

-Yardwork. Blech.

-Animal hats are all the rage around here, so Kiki wants to make another hat like this one but maybe a kitty or this one .

-Working on some freezer paper stencil stuff, altering a hoodie for Kiki and mending. Always mending.

...it took me nearly an hour to log into this stupid blog! This Google account stuff is irritating me to no end.

Later, taters.

Rest in Peace, Papa.

2011-07-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

See you again someday :) .

Yeah, well...

2011-07-21T20:56:00.001-07:00

OK, so the move didn't work out so well. I am back.

Things around the house have been put on hold because someone very dear to us has become very, very sick :( . I will eventually get to all the things that Pearl's House needs, but for now my husband has to focus his spare time elsewhere. I will do what I can, which isn't much, to tell you the truth.

Later, taters.

2011-02-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

*&%^!!

2011-01-31T11:50:00.001-08:00

I am so over winter.

I have had enough.

It is cold outside. It is cold in my house. It is especially cold in the basement, where I need to be today (painting).

Sammy has a closet full of really cute dresses that she should be wearing but she can't. I have a pile of cute fabrics with skulls and pink Medusa heads and Kawaii characters that need to be made into more cute dresses. But I made myself promise that I wouldn't sew a thing until Jake's room renos were done and the snow was gone.

Winter sucks and I wish it would go away.

Why, hello :)

2011-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

Hello. How are you? I'm fine...thanks for asking :) . A post for you, sprinkled with pictures for your enjoyment. Don't get used to it, because it probably won't be repeated anytime soon.

I can't keep up with this blog thing...it's either post about stuff I want to do or actually unglue my bum from the computer chair and get up and do something. The other day, Scott and I took our household binder and went room to room, writing down all the things we need to do. Oh my God...3 pages of jobs, big and small, and 2 rooms had only one word: "GUT". That's the kitchen and the main floor bathroom, they need HUGE work. So for the month of January, we will focus on Jake's room. Scott is building him a bed out of two old mate's beds, with built-in speakers and puck lights and it will be really cool. His room also needs paint and new carpet...ugh.

Christmas was wonderful, but I'm glad it's over and I have my house back.

I woke up this morning and my butt told me I need to eat more salads this week...what else? Jacob asked me to cut his hair because the substitute teacher he had on Monday thought he was a girl lol. Um...there's more, but I don't care to post it right now. Some pictures?

Sam and her silly grin, holding the car Santa brought for her.

Sam and another silly grin, visiting with Santa. Oh, and Kylie, too.

Zombie Christmas cards...oozing with festive greetings.

Scott and Jake have left to play volleyball and Kylie has barricaded herself in her room. Sam and I are going to play Pollies, I think...yeah, that sounds good.

Later, taters :)

Ah, contentment :)

2010-11-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hello all! My tummy is full of baked potato skins and salad. I chased it with a hot chocolate on this -20C day. Life is good now :) .

Jake wore his tuxedo shirt to school today, I have to remember to take a picture. There are freezer-stencilling tutes all over the web so I'm not about to do another one. Google it or head to YouTube. It was really fun to do and I can see more in my future. Not that I have much time to craft...I need to make time, don't I?

My Christmas houses are up! No tree yet, that will come in the next couple of weeks. I love putting it up with the kids, and the kids getting all excited about Christmas...and then 2 weeks later I want to tear the whole mess down and get my living room back.

Scott was able to come home on Saturday night instead of the following Tuesday, so we were very happy. We snuggled him all evening long, and then the next morning we took him to McDonald's for breakfast. There were some girls there that wouldn't let Sam play with them, in fact they said "You can't play with us!!" and ran away. I don't think she really realized what was happening (she's too young) but man, was Jacob mad. Such a protective big brother.

I made a duvet for Jacob's bed yesterday, to hold his Spiderman quilt and the ratty corduroy sleeping bag that he's been sleeping under. It looks like hell, but my mom made it 30 years ago and it's the warmest blanket you ever met. So now Jake has a grey and black camouflage duvet to hold it all and it's super cozy :) . Next are some curtains for his room and I'm not sure what I want to do. Maybe this:

...but the grommets are stupid expensive and I can't find the flat sheet I bought months ago to make curtains with. Drat. Maybe I have to go back to Marshall's to buy some more camouflage fabric? Possibly...

Anyway, Scott should be home any minute so I should skedaddle. As soon as he comes home I'll serve him (ha, I mistakenly typed 'service him' just now) supper and then go for a run on the treadmill. Sam is yelling, "I want that!" to every fartin' thing on the tv lately, it's getting sort of old. It's only another month until Christmas, and then there won't be so many stupid toy commercials, right?

Later.

A craptacular day!

2010-11-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

Shall I itemize, just to keep my bitching neat and tidy? Shall do.

worked today. I don't normally work during the week but someone needed the day off...and what the heck, why not? Took me 50 minutes to drive what usually takes me 15 minutes. It snowed last night and the roads are CRAAAAP.

Drug seekers galore in our downtown office today. T4s, percocet, oxycontin, you name it! They're not shy about asking and they don't take no for an answer. Even though the dr has explained to them many times that they will not refill their prescriptions anymore...day after day, it's the same thing.

One of these drug seekers stole another patient's boots. It's snowing and mucky, so we ask the patients to remove their boots at the door...no way would I leave my $250 Uggs sitting in a doorway of a downtown clinic, but some people are trusting I guess. That patient had to go home in Dollarama flip-flops from our slipper box while the drug seeker went home in $250 Uggs. The doctor had me call the pharmacy to block her antibiotic prescription until she returned the boots, but it was too late. Man, I'd be pissed if I was that patient!

Scott is stuck in Medicine Hat because (a) the highway is in super-crappy driving condition and (b) the ass-hats at the Chevy dealership have not fixed the truck, and he brought it to them on Tuesday because something in the transmission is messed up. They didn't even look at it until today, knowing full well that he had to leave to go home tomorrow. Now they won't have the part to fix it until Monday. Oh, did I mention that Scott has been gone for nearly a week on business? Yeah. Sucks.
I miss my guy :( .

The brightest part of my day: getting to my mom's to pick up Sam and her running to me...throwing her arms around my neck and saying, "Let's go home now!". I'm so grateful that I don't have to work every day...man, so grateful indeed.

Well, I'm going to bed now. Pizza day at school tomorrow, selling lollipops after school...compiling sausage orders over the weekend. Oh, I started Jake's freezer-paper-stencil shirt, wanna see?

...took more paint than I thought, but it will look good once the red bow tie and buttons go on. It's a tuxedo shirt (remember those?) but with a modern edge. Fancy.

Later, taters.

Pics.

2010-11-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Scott, wearing Sam's sock monkey hat from a previous year's costume. Darnit, I hope I didn't misplace that costume...it took me forever to put together!

Sammy Sunshine as a pink princess for Halloween, made from a Disney Cinderella pattern. I hate those stupid Big 3 patterns, they never fit right. Honestly, I had to cut about 6 inches off the bottom...what a waste.

Jake's 9th birthday cake. He told me how to put the icing on, what colours to use, etc., and then he added the army men. I think he did a pretty good job :) .

I haven't added pictures in a while...quite honestly, Facebook is so much easier. But I like the record that this blog gives me. Whatevs.

I think we are stuck at home today. I wish a certain someone would call and invite us out, but I doubt that's going to happen...and I'm tired of inviting myself. So today's activities consist of laundry, floors, and maybe a trip to the library. I really need to book myself a night off to work on those freezer-paper stencils but even then...not something I can work on in the bedroom or the basement so I'm not sure that will ever happen. God I'm negative today lol!

Tuesday.

2010-11-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's so beautiful outside...I can hardly believe it's November! It's 10C right now. Sam and I are definitely going for a long walk this afternoon before we pick up Jake, then we'll play at the playground.

I'm listening to an electronic hamster (Zhu Zhu Pet?) making the weirdest noises at my feet. It crows like a rooster lol. Sam has a brown one, and Jake has 2: a black/blue one and a white/black one. You can get body armor for the boy's ones...darnit, I can't remember what they call them. It's different from the girl ones. Whatever, doesn't matter and now I'm babbling.

Tonight we are going to a meeting at the school because Kylie has signed up to be part of an exchange program to Quebec. She will go for a week in February and a child will come and stay with us in May. That could be sort of cool...although I'm not sure how I feel about Kylie being so far away from me :( . But I won't let on...if she feels mature enough to do this then I will do everything in my power to help her get there. There's some fundraising to do, and probably a butt load of paperwork. I guess we'll see tonight.

Stupid phone is ringing, and I'm not going to answer it.

Got my hair cut this morning, and I think she cut it shorter than she ever has before. I needed a new cut, but I'm not sure that I like it so far...I guess I need to wash it and junk before I make up my mind. Not like she can put the hair back on, right?

Alright, off to put groceries away and organize the pantry a bit. I'm hoping to do some freezer-paper stenciling today. Really need to do a good workout tonight, I'm starting to get lazy on that.

Later, taters.

Ha.

2010-10-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

That moustache on a stick on this new background makes me laugh lol.

So today we were stuck at home all day, which sucks, as I just discovered that there is a second-hand clothing store around that is selling everything at $1...and I need to make some leg warmers for Kylie's Halloween costume so I need a cruddy sweater to cut up. Besides, if I stay home then it is generally expected that I should clean something. Frowny face.

It's not that cold today and thank goodness, because the sensor in our furnace crapped out on us. Sam and I waited all day for the repairman to get here. He was super nice, though, and gave me some hints over the phone to squeeze some heat out of that thing while we were waiting. I'm also thankful that we have that little electric fireplace in the living room, because it kept us warm today. And then the repairman came and charged me $100 for the 5 minutes it took him to install an $18 part. Oh well.

My library hold of Mad Men Season 1 finally came in, so Scott and I have been watching that after the kids go to bed. I love that Don Draper can say things like:
"I won't be talked to like that by a woman" to one of his agency's biggest clients and "wouldn't you be happier as a wife and mother?" to the same woman...and not at all in a snarky way, he was honestly curious as to why this woman wasn't married lol. I laughed out loud when he said that. And oh my God, everyone has a cigarette hanging out of their mouth!! In every scene!!

I swear that for next Halloween I am going to make a 1950's housewife day dress, and walk around with bright red lipstick and a mop in my hand. I swear. I've been coveting this dress all week:

...which is absolutely gorgeous, and completely pointless for me all rolled into one. I would have no place to wear it, and since I feel like a clown when I wear a dress it would be a giant waste of money. But isn't it gorgeous?? I think Rowena is my favourite store. I haven't been there yet, mind you...one day.

Kylie should be home soon, and I'm going to get her to watch Sam while I run to that thrift store. I can't believe the mess that Sam has made in the time that it took me to make this post, little bugger.

Later, taters :) .

Friday.

2010-10-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been neglecting my blog. Too many projects on the go, and not enough hours in a day. My mom says I should try to get by on less sleep...and then she laughs. Nice lol.

So what's been happening??

Pirate Party at Auntie's house. Awesome, so much fun. Some day I'll post pictures.

Santa's Anonymous Toy Run. Again, awesome. Love seeing all those burly bikers riding into the Wal Mart parking lot early on a chilly Sunday morning, with dollies and Lego strapped to the back of their bikes. A lot of people donate money, which is cool, too. Pictures someday (possibly).

I hate Jacob's teacher. I know hate is a strong word, and I'm really trying to convince Jacob that she's nice and he should give her a chance...but in my head I think she's a bitch who should go back to teaching junior high. Maybe yelling at little kids, and belittling them works in junior high. In elementary it just makes little kids hate going to school. You can give me that junk about how 'teaching is hard' and 'maybe she just had a bad day'...blah blah blah, she's mean. Yesterday we were having a conversation and she interrupted me so that she could yell at a little boy who was taking too long to tie his shoes. He's 7, lady...those people take FOREVER to tie their shoes. At least pretend to be a caring educator in front of parents. Bitch.

Kylie has a dr's appointment this morning, then we are going to meet Scott for lunch. She doesn't want to go back for the afternoon and to be honest, I don't think I'm going to make her. It's Olympic Day today, or some junk like that. I think she would learn more by going grocery shopping with me so that's what we're going to do. And then I have to come home and clean the basement. Yay.

I sewed this week...making a pink princess dress for Sam to wear on Halloween. I can't remember the last time I sewed something, other than mending. Next, I need to make Jacob the grey camouflage bedding that I bought fabric for last year. Yes, an entire year ago lol.

Gotta go haul Kylie out of the shower and throw some pants on Sam. Later, taters :) .

Dear Celebrity Chef;

2010-09-16T20:32:00.001-07:00

Your children are not toys, they are people. Please show them that you respect them as individuals by giving them real names...not naming them like cartoon characters. I understand that you feel the need to give your kids 'different' names...but it is hard to retain your dignity when your middle name is Boo.

Read here:

dlisted

Tuesday.

2010-09-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

I made carrot cake today! Healthy, whole wheat, low-fat carrot cake. With great big globs of cream cheese icing on top to counter act the healthy goodness. Yum. Kylie ate 6 mini-cupcakes as soon as she came home from school.

Scott is on holidays this week, and we have lofty goals. Today, we went to ReStore to buy some cabinets for the garage and then we went to Home Depot to find a laundry sink. We found the cabinets... but left Home Depot empty handed. In place of the laundry sink, Scott moved the cutest little 4-drawer dresser to my laundry room and he's going to install an old bathroom sink that we have kicking around the garage. The dresser came from the Bissell Centre years ago...I think we paid $10 for it. It's solid wood, not that particle crap that's everywhere now.

Another goal for this week is to paint a dresser for Sam, but the dresser in question is really really old and in cruddy shape. But again, solid wood. Pam has picked a colour called "Sleeping Beauty Pink" but it's more like Pepto-Bismol Pink. Ew, it's awful.

Speaking of dressers, Kylie and I painted her dresser a really pretty shade of purple this summer. I have pictures somewhere...dunno where. It turned out really well, and Kylie did most of the work herself (with guidance, of course).

Jake was home sick today. He was the oddest shade of green and just sat like a lump on the couch for most of the morning. By the time he went to bed tonight he was feeling much better...now Scott is looking sort of beige. I think it's time for bed :) .

Later, taters :)

My anal approach to grocery shopping.

2010-09-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

When we moved into this house, we bought a large bulletin/white board from Goodwill...or maybe it was Restore, I forget. Anyway, we got the big idea to use a Sharpie to section off permanent columns and then use the wipe-off markers to write our ongoing lists. This is what our board looks like:

There are lists for Wal Mart, Superstore and Home Depot. There is also a space to keep track of how much allowance I owe the kids and I can erase those amounts when I pay them out. There is also a list for Dollarama, but not this week. Anyway, when it comes time for a trip to Superstore I transfer everything that I need to this list:

Scott made it for me in Excel, which I have absolutely no idea how to use (and no desire to learn, either). The list used to be in pretty good order until Superstore renovated, so I should really move around a few sections on this list. When I get home from shopping, I erase all of the items on the white board (leaving the items that Superstore was sold out of, so I can pick them up on the next trip). The list is formatted to print 2 to a page, and I use the back side of newsletters and junk that the kids bring home from school.

I find this stuff absolutely thrilling lol...

Pics Number 1.

2010-08-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

This kitty wanted to come in so I let him. Sam followed him around, and he sniffed everything...then he wanted to go home so I let him out. I had to take an allergy pill after he left, but it was worth it because Sam had lots of fun showing him her room. "Dis is my toy box...and dis is my floor...and dat is my closet!"

My fairy princess.

What happened to summer?? I wonder if it will come back before fall comes...

The coolest fabric ever, purchased at Wal Mart in Maui at $5 a yard. One of the blue ones will be a scrub top for work (the one with the surfing ninjas!), and I think the other blue one will be a dress for Sam. The grey one is Kylie's, and I'm not sure what she's going to do with it yet. The idea of a tote bag is being tossed around.

I did a bunch of work around the house today, cleaning Jake's awful room and doing lots of laundry. Scott took Kylie for a ride on the bike and then he got called to an accident near Lloyd...a young lady turned in front of a semi on the Yellowhead. How awful. No matter how bad you think your life is...life has to be absolutely awful for that poor girl's family this evening.

Pics Number 2

2010-08-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

New basement bathroom. Still, even though it's been done for a little while, it feels weird that the first room in this house to get a total reno is the basement bathroom.

Jake's sink: zombie theme. Images from: vector4free , printed onto stainless steel-esque Mac Tac from Dollarama.

"Brains!!!"

Kylie's sink is, of course, Hello Kitty. She picked chocolate brown towels and Jacob picked a dark grey. First time I've bought bathroom towels since...actually, I've never bought them before. We got some really great quality ones when we got married 15 years ago and they're still in great shape. Thank goodness for bridal showers.

Stuff I Know (in no particular order)

2010-08-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my God, I won tickets to see the movie 'Flip', which looked really cute and would have been a fun night out with Kylie...and then we got the flu, and I forgot to pick up the tickets, and completely forgot about the movie. I *never* win anything. Ever. Like Kylie would say..."FAIL!"

I am #74 in line at the library for season one of Mad Men on DVD. I actually don't really care if I ever get it...because it could take an entire year and I'm not a big TV fan anyway...but I need something to watch while I'm on the treadmill. I just find it interesting that there are so many people waiting to see this DVD...and yet there is no one waiting on season two. Wonder why that is?

Sam did so awesome on the first day of potty training! And then the next day she held it in until she finally just peed all over the floor, after making a trip to the potty every 20 minutes for nearly 4 hours. Ah...part of me is laughing and the other part of me is wondering what on earth it will take for this kid to catch on. Maybe she's smarter than me? Maybe she realizes that it's much easier to just pee in a diaper and have someone else deal with it? Hmm...

One of my jobs is moving to the west end, and I think there may be the possibility of getting some more hours if the doctor can find another doctor who wants to work evenings. I really love the work, I mean I really really love it, so that could be cool.

It has been raining off and on for the last few days, and raining hard! Scott is inundated with tons of water-loss claims for flooded basements. And yesterday morning he woke up with my flu...

Scott's birthday is coming up and we've decided to invite a few friends over for an adult get-together. Part of me is looking forward to it, but as usual...I like the first 2 hours and then I lose all interest and want everyone to go home lol! Woohoo, I'm a party animal! Hey, here's some good reading: Self-Promotion for Introverts . This article is really directed at the corporate go-getter (which you all know I am, ha ha) but it also explains how my mind works when I'm faced with a get-together...be it a company Christmas party or a staff-meeting.

One last thing...would it be crappy parenting to insist that Kylie watches an episode of Jersey Shore with me, so that I can instill in her the fact that I never want to see her act like those kids, ever?? Because I'm seriously thinking about it.

Ahhhhhh!

2010-08-11T13:35:00.001-07:00

She peed in the potty, she peed in the potty!!! OMG, I thought this day would never, ever come...

She is really digging the Dora chart and stickers that I printed off from somewhere...I'll post a link later, we have to hit the potty again.

Yay!!!

Monday.

2010-08-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, I can't believe there is only *3 weeks left* until the kids go back to school. Just unreal...honestly, every year the summer gets shorter. As a kid, I remember finishing school on June 23 and not going back until after the September long weekend...now kids are done on June 29th and go back on September 1st. Summer is getting shorter and shorter :( .

My kitchen is finally painted! I really wasn't crazy about the colour until I got the pictures back up, and now I love it. Tonight we will get the shelves put up and then it is done...until 2 years from now when we tear the whole entire thing down lol. Holy crap, that's going to be expensive.

Jacob is on the couch reading a book on WWI given to us by the beautiful Princesstepher . Did I ever tell you how much Jacob hates reading? I mean, he doesn't just dislike it, he haaaates it. So it is very cool to see him with a book, willingly. Today we're off to the Chinese Garden for a picnic lunch. I have to make a trip to Home Depot today, and do some touch-up paint on those kitchen shelves. I should really get outside and pick some peas...dreading doing that, because the mosquitoes are awful lately.

I'm sort of half-assed watching 'Man on the Moon' on TV right now. Was Andy Kaufman funny? Hmm...I don't get it lol.

Later, taters.

ETA: ok, I get Andy Kaufman now. I don't know his work other than Taxi, but it seems from this movie that he was more of a performance artist. Not trying to get a laugh, but a lot of people found him funny nonetheless.

OK...better now :)

2010-08-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm better now lol. Felt good to get that bitchy post out. I didn't mean it to sound like I don't have a heart and don't want to encourage friendship skills amongst everyone, I just don't see why someone wouldn't let their kids have alone time with their friends without forcing another kid in. Well, I see why...they want a break. But every. single. time?? Ah, forget it. Not worth getting my panties all twisted over.

I've been to Value Village 3x in as many days. Scott and I had a date night on Saturday evening, so of course we went thrift shopping. The only other choice was to head to Home Depot but that sounded really boring. Anyway, I didn't buy much that night but decided there were a few things that I should have bought so I had to go back for: a set of 3 nesting Pyrex bowls in a great shade of Harvest Gold for my sister and a really cute West 49 hoodie for Kylie with teeny tiny robots all over it. I also got some Hurley skinnies for Jake and 4 pairs of excellent-shape skinnies for Kylie for school. Now all that is left on her school-shopping list is a pair of long yoga pants. Score.

Today, we are sanding and painting a Nerf gun for Sam. Jake gave her one of his old guns and she wants it to be pink...I thought that would be a good project for Jake. We haven't had a good Nerf war in a while: the kind where assorted aunties, uncles and cousins come over and we pile lawn chairs all over the yard for hiding behind and then we have to spend an hour looking for darts in the neighbour's yard lol. I don't play...I watch from the kitchen window and make coffee lol. I think we might go to a cheapo movie today, and I have a bunch of laundry to fold. Jacob did the socks, towels and cloth napkins last night. Kylie will help me with the rest of the folding today.

I still haven't finished painting my kitchen...although I have cemented a theme :) . It was between "Zombies in Springtime" and "Zombies in Paris"...but as my SIL pointed in out, why limit myself? It could be "Zombies in Springtime in Paris" and could be AWESOME. Now...how to carry that out? I need a zombie calendar...hmm. Need to Google that.

*Yawn*...gotta get breakfast. Have a great day, everyone :)

Long weekend, baby!

2010-08-02T19:21:00.001-07:00

Well...semi-long weekend. I still had to work Saturday and Monday evening, but we had all of Sunday together as a family (except for Kylie, who doesn't get out of bed until 2) and we got tons of crap done! I mended, organized, cleaned, and rag-dolled Scott all over the house to do the menial stuff lol.

I'm on a little bit of an anger streak right now...I'm not sure how some parents expect my kids to occupy their friend's siblings as well?? Can someone please explain that to me?? I remember the first summer we moved into this house, Kylie met a great little girl across the alley and they played together every available second. There were no little boys around for Jake to play with so *I* played with him when he had no one to play with. I took him to the park so he could play with other kids at the Greenshack program, I took him on walks around the block and I even pretended to play video games with him (just pressing random buttons on the control) on rainy days when he couldn't occupy himself for one second longer. Jacob was *my* responsibility, no one else's. I can't see the day when I would force Kylie to occupy Jake because he had no one else to play with. That seems greatly retarded to me. And no, just because Jake invites one of his BFF's over, that does not mean the invitation is also extended to his 5 year old sister!! Play with your own damn kid!!

And that also goes for non-paying babysitting gigs disguised as playdates that are never, ever reciprocated. Even if you say you'll do the same for me...it hasn't happened once in the 5 years I've lived in this house so, no. Cough up the bucks for adequate care for your kids. There are lots of wonderful, wonderful caregivers out there...just admit that you don't want to pay what it takes for reasonable care for your kids.

Wow! I'm a bitch. Too bad lol.

Carry on. I'm going to sit on the stoop with my husband and my crazy toddler, who has been running around like her bum is on fire for the last hour.

Later, taters!

Free Cute Tute

2010-07-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Mostly just book-marking this for me...but I'm sure you don't have nearly enough stuff on your to-do list, right?

MAKE A TAKOCHU

Pics

2010-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Ugh...I discovered a hidden workout on my favourite Leslie Sansone DVD and I was very excited...it does a quick cardio workout, broken up with some lunges and arm curls. Now it is the next morning and my arms and legs are all jittery lol. Guess that goes to show that I need to work on toning.

No, don't cut my hair!!! Poor kid. I love those long curly locks, but holy moly I do not enjoy combing that mess out. Finally, I had enough and decided to cut a few inches off while she watched Lilo and Stitch for the kajillionth time.

Before...

...and after. Just below the shoulders and layered a tiny bit at the ends. Soooo much easier to comb this morning!!

Lazier Than All Get Out.

2010-07-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

So...yeah. I love summer, I don't have to do squat if I don't feel like it, other than maintain the cleanliness of our castle. Even that suffers most days lol.

The kids are getting along better than they did last summer, so I am not a frazzled mess most days. Tomorrow is Scott's first day back at work, so we are going to bring him a picnic lunch. His building has a really great rooftop terrace.

Anyway, here is the link to see our Maui pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=255869&id=697888101 . It's so much easier to post to FB than Blogger, and it's set for 'friends of friends' so I believe acquaintances should be able to see it as well. I'm not sure how long I'll keep those settings.

Sam is napping on the couch while the big kids are watching tv and I'm off to work in a few minutes. Have a great Sunday :) .

Pics

2010-06-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Making toast. Two out of four of my kitchen walls are now Apple Green...not so sure I'm in love with the colour, but Scott likes it. When we come back from Maui I'll decide if I want to paint the other 2 walls green or buy a whole new colour. It only took me 4 months to do 2 walls...wonder how long it will take to do the other 2?

Another year of Family Friendly Soccer has come and gone. Orange won 3rd place. Yay!

Guess which one of these kids barfed all over me. Just guess. Okay, it was Sam...I gave her a bath and then Kylie read her a story while I cleaned up Sam's bed. Blech.

Napping in the chair on a lazy Sunday.

Cooking with Princess Kagoli

2010-06-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Gawd, I am a very irresponsible blogger lately. But I don't have time to scratch, let alone blog!! And no pictures to share, because I haven't uploaded anything from the camera in forever...anyway, today you get a gest post from Kylie...err, I mean Princess Kagoli.

(from: allrecipes.com)

Princess Kagoli's Royal Apple-Cinnamon Crepes

Prepare one recipe of crepes, as follows:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Prepare one recipe of filling (don't remember where this recipe came from):

Ingredients:
two apples, peeled, cored and chopped into little pieces
2 tbsp butter
1 large sprinkle of cinnamon
2 tbsp icing sugar

Melt the butter in a non-stick pan, and throw in the rest of the ingredients. Stir until the apples have softened.

Roll some of the apple mixture in a crepe, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

**You can make everything ahead of time, and then reheat the apples/crepes separately before rolling together. You can also try and talk Mom into letting you have leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

Nickelback!!

2010-06-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

WOOHOO!!!! There seems to be two factions of music fans in the world: those that think Nickelback is awesome and those who think Nickelback sucks. I can assure you, they do not suck, they rule!!!! Woohoo!!!!

...and in case anyone ever asks you, it is my God-given right as a middle-aged, middle-class mother of small children living in Alberta to enjoy a bottle of Mike's Hard 100-calorie Lemonade in my backyard as I pull dandelions with my Canadian Tire Dandelion-er...and when 'Burn It To The Ground' comes on the radio , I may throw down said Dandelion-er, throw my arms up above my head and scream "Woohoo!!!" for all my neighbours to hear. So what if it embarrasses my children...and my husband...I'm gonna do it anyway :) .

Jacob at his first major concert. He figured that he would let his friends sniff his shirt for 25c a pop, so that they could smell what a real concert smells like lol.

After the first opening act (there was 3) Jacob wanted to go take pictures of the tour buses. Lots of ladies, both young and old, would comment on how handsome he was and how cool his hair was on our little walk. He even got a few high 5's on our walk around Rexall.

My boyfriends.

It was a great show, and now I wish I would have gone to see AC/DC when they were here last year. Think they'll come back?

30.

2010-05-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

Thirty! Thirty fat, gross pounds gone forever!! Well, maybe. I hope it's gone forever, anyway.

I have come to terms with the fact that there are some foods that I pretty well need to avoid for all eternity...like fast-food burgers and yummy potato chips. That's ok, there are plenty of yummy substitutions for those things. So in my quest for healthy substitutions for the foods I love, I found this:

HUNGRY GIRL MIRACLE MASHED POTATOES from Hungry Girl

Ingredients:
1 large (about 13-oz.) potato
3 cups cauliflower florets
3 tbsp. fat-free half & half
1 tbsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread
1/4 tsp. salt pepper and additional salt, to taste
Optional: 1/2 tsp. crushed garlic

Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, peel and cube the potato. Once water is boiling, add peeled potato cubes and cauliflower. Wait for the water to return to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes (until potatoes and cauliflower are very tender). Remove the pot from heat and strain out all of the water. Transfer contents to a large bowl, and add half & half, butter/buttery spread, salt, and (if you like) crushed garlic. Mash it all together with a potato masher, until completely blended. Season to taste with pepper and additional salt. Enjoy! Makes 5 servings.

***I used skim milk in place of the half and half, and fat-free sour cream in place of the butter.

My super-picky pre-teen didn't know she was eating cauliflower...I wouldn't have known there was cauliflower in there if I hadn't have cooked it myself. The only thing that sort of gave it away was the smell of the cauliflower as it cooked...sort of cabbage-y. Scott, being the mashed potato lover that he is, said he could eat it at every meal and be a very happy man :) .

Anyway, next recipe on my list to try is this:
Dr. Oz's Fettuccine Alfredo . It has something like 450 calories per serving...perfect for a special-occasion dinner.

That's it.

2010-05-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

The girl I work with is Filipino and has 4 of the cutest boys I've ever seen in the entire world (other than my Jacob, of course). They're all under 5 years old, the latest baby being all of 6 weeks old. He has the chubbiest, wubbiest cheeks you've ever seen and I could kiss them all the live long day.

I've decided that my next baby will be Filipino. I don't plan on adopting, and Naomi says that it's only sometimes that she feels like giving me one of her older boys (can you imagine...4, 3, and 2 year old boys all in the same house??). They're so cute, I can't imagine them getting into trouble (lol) .

Scott has decided that now is the time to put his foot down.

Someone fix this situation for me.

Yes, I'm still here.

2010-05-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Going a little crazy right now...

This month's projects include:

turning over the garden
planting seeds and pumpkin plants
finally finishing the rock garden before the weeds take it over
finish painting the kitchen
shop for next month's Maui trip
where in the f* are the drywallers???
finish the school yearbook
do a bunch of overdue PAC reports

...so you won't see me much this month. Bah!! Lucky you!!

Baking with Sammy Sunshine.

2010-05-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

We've had a few days of cruddy weather, which is keeping us inside...which makes for a bored toddler...which makes for a mischievous toddler. Yes, she wore her pyjamas all day long. It was one of those days. We organized the pantry and found a cake mix, yay! That'll kill 10 minutes...

Oh my God, this was her favourite part. Putting big sloppy globs of batter in the paper liners...what a mess lol. But no way would she lick the spoon! She told me "dat's gwoss, ma!"

I have no sprinkles in the house...I didn't think that was possible. I guess Jacob used them up making donuts. Anyway, I gave Sam a pouch of gummies for decorating her cupcake...and she couldn't shovel them in her mouth fast enough lol.

And now I'm going to lick the icing off and then squish the cupcake in my hands...because it feels so squishy between my fingers. And my mom will clean it up. Awesome, hey??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ps...today was an awesome day. We got to watch part of a horror movie being filmed, and Jacob can't stop talking about it. I got some wicked dirt stains out of a pair of white nylon leggings using dish soap and lemon juice. Could it have been a better Sunday??

Sunday

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Oh my God, I think yesterday was the worst shift since I started working. I don't know why people think it's ok to waltz into their doctor's office 45 minutes late for an appointment and expect to get in...and I don't know why people expect that, just because they're friends with the doctor, that they should not have to wait 2 hours as a walk-in patient just like everyone else. I swear, the doctor has told his entire community that they are welcome to see him at any time of the day or night, just because they share the same country of origin. Which is fine...as long as they aren't yelling at me because I won't accommodate them when it's 4:45 and we're closing in 15 minutes!!! And we still have patients in every room!!

My Scotty took me to a Blue Goose gala on Saturday night. The Blue Goose is a fraternal insurance organization, which translates into "Come and drink with us...all proceeds go to charity". Last night's charity was Casa . Dinner was served over two and a half hours!!! The best part was dessert, which was strawberry mousse. But my bum was sore by 9pm from sitting for so long lol.

Scott has gone to work today because he's a bit behind...lots of house fires these past few weeks, and he's been travelling a lot. He needed one full day at his desk without the phone ringing to catch up on his paperwork. It sucks when Sunday is usually our only day of the week together...but it has to be done.

I really need to do some cleaning and laundry today...and then I'm off to job #2 tonight after supper. Some weeks I like that job much better, as the shop is closed and it's just me and one of the big kids lol. No customers/patients to yell at me :) .

Video Favourites

2010-04-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Haven't done this in a while!! I'm working on the school yearbook right now...taxes are organized, just waiting for my Scotty to get a few seconds to organize his stack of papers...tomorrow I'm at the school compiling pizza lunch orders and counting stacks and stacks of loonies. Yippee.

First off, 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes. Jacob is learning this song right now in guitar, it has one of those riffs that just goes on and on forever...sort of like "This is the song that never ends...yes it goes on and on my friend!" because he has to play the first rif 8 times, then move on to the next section, then play that same rif 8 times again. Except he doesn't count, he just keeps playing and playing and playing...

Baby by Justin Bieber for Kylie...I actually don't absolutely hate this song, it's sorta cute. I really like Ludacris, though...I'm not sure how he ended up on this song. My husband thinks it's a sure sign that he's washed up lol.

Butterfly by Smile.dk for Sam. We have to listen to this one over and over again in the truck...she makes the big kids dance in their seats beside her and then yells "AGAIN!" when it's over lol.

Ojos Asi (Eyes Like Yours) by Shakira. This is the Spanish version...there is an English version as well, but no actual video for it.

*Yawn* . Well, off to bed. Night all :)

It's Sunday night...

2010-04-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

It's 11:30.

I'm sitting in front of a stack of school invoices.

In the corporate world, you wouldn't submit $60,000 worth of invoices for reimbursement without first checking that the whole mess is reconciled...but heck, I have nothing better to do, right?

I want to go to bed.

I hate this crap. I *so* want to quit...

Busy week....

2010-04-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the drywall guy to come. He's actually one of Scott's very-good friends...the kind of guy who's good at EVERYTHING, including cooking, so I'm now very aware that my cooking skills suck and that he will be here for dinner tonight...

My baby :) . It's always, "Take my picture, mum!"

First ride of the year. The other day I was sort of mad because of something Kylie did and I turned to speak to her in a stern manner (ok, I was going to yell) and then I realized as I looked at her right beside me: she's nearly as tall as I am!!! How in the hell did that happen?? She's 11 years old and 5'4" . She's going to be ten feet tall by the time she's 16.

Starting our seedlings. I love these little boxes, they hold 24 peat pellets and I just figured out that I can stack them on my kitchen window sill, so I can buy 2 more! Woohoo! We planted 2 kinds of pumpkins, some petunias and some black violas. Kylie was supposed to save room in hers for some impatiens for the front yard, but she went a little crazy with the black violas instead. My house is not a raging mess right now, all of that stuff piled behind Kylie is going into the basement bathroom eventually...getting a bit tired of the giant shower stall box in my tiny dining room!

Two bikinis for Sam. Top piece is from a made-by-me pattern: Moda sock monkeys is finished with fold-over elastic and the other top is the very last scraps of the beautiful fat quarter that my bloggy friend Spacestitch sent me last year. I even had to piece it together, if you look closely you'll see a little seam running down the very front lol. The bottoms are both store-bought swim diapers...I can't be bothered to sew that stuff from scratch anymore. The red one was $3 at a consignment store and the blue one was Jake's when he was a toddler :) . I was going to add a ruffle, but figured that Sam needed one diaper that would fit under her one piece suits. Oh, side note: we've started swimming lessons one morning a week and Sam *hates* it. Not that she hates being in the pool, she's just two and those people like doing their own thing lol. Listen to the teacher, are you kidding me???

Later, taters :)

**photobucket is being funky today, hopefully that giant red swim diaper will be resized when I look at this tomorrow!!

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sam could not get enough of the egg dyes this year. Forget doodling on the egg first, gimme that dye! It is an annual tradition for me to forget to buy a vinyl tablecloth for egg decorating, so I was lucky that the contractors left a big roll of vapour barrier in my basement. Not pretty, but it passed for a tablecloth :) .

My God, what a good meal today. I peeled and mashed 10lbs of potatoes, thinking that it was way too much...nope! It all went...along with the ham, roasted carrots and other yummy dishes. My sister's husband, Amir, took us on a long windy walk after supper to burn off some of those calories. Still...I think I'll be working extra hard at my workouts this week. But it was *so* worth it :) .

The kids are home for one more day, then it's back to the grind. Does anyone else in the world get tomorrow off *except* for school teachers? Even the bank is open tomorrow. There's so much on the to-do list for this week. The bathroom drywall should be started this week...so that means next month in Contractor Time, right? Poopie.

Pics.

2010-04-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

No thoughts or crafty projects to share this week. The construction on the basement bathroom is at a standstill right now, and I've used my Word of the Year about 50 times already today because of it. Anyway, onwards...

My Jacob bought me flowers! I had a cruddy day last week, and so Jake asked Scott to take him to buy me flowers :) . I love that little man :) .

This scene started out by Sam taking Jake by the hand and leading him into her room...I could hear her saying, "I be da mom...you be da girl" lol. So he had to sit and play DSi beside her while she pretended to wash dishes in her kitchen.

This is a scene from Jacob's latest stop-motion movie: Darth Vader is getting revenge against Obi Wan on the lava planet. Someone out there probably knows the correct name for that planet, but I don't lol. Jacob is learning how to modify the Lego characters he already has, using plasticine and sharpies...sometimes he asks for fabric scraps to create costume elements. The background in this lava planet scene is his bean bag chair. There are almost 500 Lego pictures on my camera right now...

Sam has discovered painting and could do it all the live long day. But the best part for her is where you sprinkle glitter all over the wet paint!! She yells, "Glitter! GLITTER!!!" if I don't get it fast enough for her lol.

My awesome sister bought this for me. You still have to spray it with Pam and sprinkle it with flour...which seems silly for a non-stick pan, but it's pretty cool! From the picture, you can see that if you bake brownies in this pan, it will make you a better wife and a better mother :) . I love this junk.

These are the Hungry Girl pumpkin brownies my niece and I made, and they take 2 ingredients: a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of pure pumpkin. I'm not kidding, that's the only 2 ingredients. Mix it all up (it will seem really thick and you'll be tempted to throw in a splash of milk, but don't!) and throw it in the pan or cupcake liners. I really liked them, but Jacob and Kylie say that they have a bit of an odd aftertaste if you eat more than a couple of them in a row. Still, it didn't stop them from eating 6 brownies each lol...

Kylie's library stash for the week. It's spring break, so we've gone to the City Centre library and our local library. Lots of manga books, lots of Hayao Miyazaki DVD's, an Alice in Wonderland book on CD and the original Hairspray movie featuring Divine. Oh, and a Wii game. Honestly, we're always disappointed in those so I don't even know why we bother anymore. Library Wii games are usually so scratched up that we can't play them anyway :( .

iPhone Pics.

2010-03-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Making pizza at Gramma's...

We were bored on a Saturday night, so we drove to Sherwood Park for coffee...

Kylie on Scott's bike at the Santa's Anonymous 2009 Toy Run at Capilano Mall...

My babies :D

Tuesday :)

2010-03-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

Sam has discovered the joy of making Fruit Loop bracelets lol. I have to find some shoestring licorice to make necklaces next week.

Well, I'm down to posting once a week. I look back when I was pregnant and I was posting multiples times a day lol...

Just came back from a very informative dinner meeting with our previous school principal. She moved on to a bigger school in a fancy-pants area of town, with 300 more students and apparently 300 more problems. Turns out that people with money can be hugely uneducated, small-minded bigots. Who knew??? There are a lot of kids at our school that come from poor families...but after tonight, I feel more sorry for the kids that come from those old-money families at her new school. They're lucky to have her as their principal...if only the parents can keep their big mouths shut and let her do her job.

I'm Googling a program for Kylie, something called the Pre-Advancement Placement Program. Her teacher is very big on getting her into this program in her junior high in the fall...I'm not sold so far. Would it be better to have a kid excel in the mainstream program or do just ok in the advanced program? Of course, she could possibly do very well in the advanced program...I dunno. I shall present the facts to her and let her make the final decision. Maybe that's because I don't want to be the one responsible for that decision...

Jacob has filled my camera to the brim with Lego pictures. He is getting really good at stop-motion photography, and can spend an entire evening setting up scenes and writing scripts. On Thursday, his friend is coming over to shoot a movie with our old video camera, where they'll run around with their Nerf guns...shooting zombies or robots or whatever they think up. On Friday, a different set of friends is coming over to shoot movies. I love their imagination :) .

Well, I'm off to bed. Good night, everyone :) .

Ugh.

2010-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

So I wasn't feeling very well last night...had a long evening nap on the couch, then went to bed when Scott sent the kids to bed.

Sometime between 5pm yesterday and 3pm today...my house imploded. Junk everywhere, dirty footprints, piles of laundry, 2 sinks full of dishes, my bed isn't made and there is a pile of PAC paperwork on the kitchen table that needs to be done.

So I figure the best way to combat this disaster is...

...to catch up on blogs lol. Meh, the house can wait :D .

Signed;

The Worst Housewife *Ever*.

Thoughts. And stuff.

2010-03-14T12:42:00.003-07:00

I lost a whole hour this morning!! That stinks lol...for some reason I was thinking that I was gaining an hour today. Gah.

So we've gone back to our original travel plans of going to Maui...condo and flights are booked, rental car secured...thank goodness for travel agents. Since we've never been anywhere, ever, it was so wonderful to have someone that knew what they were doing and could basically suggest everything under the sun and answer every question we had. Of course, we're on our second travel agent though...the first one was nice, but didn't seem to know much and wasn't answering our questions the first or even second time we asked lol...

Kylie and Sam both have cute dresses for our 'vow refreshing' (we're going with that because it seems like saying 'vow renewal' means you're destined for divorce). I think I've basically given up on my search for a dress. I hate having my arms uncovered, and just feel like a dolt in a skirt, so I've resigned myself to a lacy top that I found at H&M and some fun white capris. I think I would feel like a clown if I did end up buying a dress lol.

Today, Scott is giving the car a bath so that he can take some pretty pictures and hopefully sell it. He bought a truck this week: a Chevy Avalanche...holy hugeness, batman. I'll ride in it, but no way am I driving that thing. But I did say the same thing about my Transport van...and now I take the corners on 2 wheels in that thing lol.

Well, off to wash walls...hooray for Sundays :) .

Later, taters.

Household Binders

2010-03-07T20:30:00.001-08:00

My mom has always been a big fan of binders...I guess that's where I get it from. We never throw them out, just scrub them with baking soda paste and fix them with duct tape. My neighbour is a teacher, and she was throwing out this giant box of binders and used-one-side paper (great for Sam's artwork)...when she offered it to me, I thought I had struck gold ROFL!!! I keep a lot of things in binders...pictures, recipes...even our trip to Hawaii is contained in a binder right now. Anyhoo, I thought I would share my Household Project binder with you.

This binder in particular has been with me for nearly 20 years, since I studied drafting at NAIT. After I graduated, it was my wedding planning binder, and since that fateful day (lol) it has held our Household Projects.

First, the binder (note the duct tape holding the corner together):

The inside cover:

Aw...my Scotty professing his love for me so long ago...

So this binder is divided into the following categories:

Lighting and Electrical
Kitchen
Living Room
Bathrooms and Plumbing
Bedrooms
Furniture
Outdoor
Painting
Small Jobs
Medium Jobs
Big Jobs

The binder holds magazine articles, pictures, sketches, brochures, etc. Anything that we think could be cool in our house or information that we may need in the future. For example...in the Lighting and Electrical category, I wrote down the type of breaker that Scott bought when he put in an outlet in the dining room for our portable air conditioner:

In the outdoor category, I have a brochure from the City on how to care for your lawn without using chemicals and the business card from the company that delivered our red rock for the front yard. What's that, hubby? You're bored? Pull out the binder and pick a job from the Small Job category. Patch a hole...hang that picture...fix that drawer. This junk sure comes in handy....especially when you realize that you're getting older and don't retain information like you used to. Oh, the joys of middle age :) .

Oh, and one more picture that has nothing to do with my binder but is still really awesome:

...my squirt lid collection in action (mustard squirt lid on the Kikkoman bottle). I haven't featured my lids in a while. I'm sure this has been weighing heavily on your mind, so...they're doing well, thank you for asking :D .

Over and out!

I feel like sewing!

2010-03-01T07:48:00.001-08:00

Hmmm...those quilts looks reasonably simple...I might tackle a quilt project this week. I think it might be a decent birthday gift for my kids' Uncle T, the super awesome uncle from this post . I feel like sewing today, for the first time in a long time, but I have a giant pile of mending that I'll do first.

I think I'll drag out the felt this week, too...I'm seeing so many cute little kawaii barrettes and pins that Kylie would love. I'm sure I'll get frustrated half way through the first project, farting around with all of those little pieces and give up lol. Reminds me of the last time I sewed Barbie clothes, 10 years ago for Kylie.

Whew! That's enough projects for one week, hey? OK, one more:

Isn't this mirror awesome?? I would love it for my dining room. There is a large mirror shoved behind the work bench in the basement, I have to dig it out and see what condition its in. Maybe that will have to wait until the plumbers are gone :) .

Later, taters :) .

Pics.

2010-02-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

Yay! Going to Hawaii, going to Hawaii!!!!! Scared crapless of flying, but oh well.

Watching TV in a box lol. They played with that box for days...it was a spaceship, a car, a club house, a bed. The inside is completely covered with crayon, with just a touch on the outside.

Zombiebot, from the book Crobots . Poor guy, he's definitely seen better days. I still have to finish another robot and the Hello Kitty changepurse...just don't feel like it right now. The plumber is coming in the next couple of days to plan out the basement bathroom so I need to declutter that corner. Ooooh, treasure hunting :D . I'm sure after a few hours of that I'll feel like crocheting again.

Three dish sponges, each measuring around 4"x5" . A skein of self-striping cotton yarn makes 3 of them. Crochet a rectangle, alternating sc and hdc, fold in half then sc around the whole thing.

Le sigh...

2010-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

I'm BORED. Bored out of my mind. And I'm bored of crochet right now, too lol.

Scott is working late tonight. I've called him 3 times, hoping that the sound of my lovely voice would entice him into coming home. That usually works, actually...but not tonight. A three-day weekend makes for a short work week, which makes for

overtime on a Friday night to catch up. Poop.

Jake and Sam are playing in a large cardboard box, and Sam is yelling at Jake because his feet are stinky lol. Kylie is reading a book. I've made supper but no one is hungry...so it sits cold on the stove.

I picked up a book on crocheting socks from the library, but I just don't feel like it right now. I think I'm going to throw on my froggy pj pants and make some coffee...maybe pull out the Simpson's Clue board game and beg the kids to play with me. That won't be too hard. The Smithers game piece is dressed in a French maid costume...

hee hee, that makes me giggle every time :) .

Later, taters!

Body Parts...

2010-02-16T17:46:00.001-08:00

This is how Scott and I spent Valentine's Day: He sat on the couch watching TV, holding my yarn, while I sat in the chair crocheting. How romantic lol.

By the end of the weekend, I had this much finished: a load of body parts, which will end up being 2 robots, 2 changepurses and a lemur. I was able to get a good portion done while we watched Zombieland. Aren't you so proud, I didn't even fall asleep!! I thought I was incapable of sitting through an entire movie!

Domo change purse for Kylie's friend. It has a zipper and is lined with Moda sock monkeys fabric. I thought: if you were to open up a Domo, what would you find in its tummy? Sock monkeys seems perfectly reasonable. I'm not really happy with him...he looks kind of grade-school, know what I mean? But I filled him with pink chocolate hearts and a strawberry lip balm to make up for his ugly-ness.

Jacob's lemur. So many little parts...I'm not sure that I would do a guy like this again.

I hope to finish 2 robots tonight...there's a lot of embroidery, though, so maybe not until next week's post lol.

Things. And stuff...

2010-02-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Kylie and her BFF, sporting their new tote bags. We had gone to West Edmonton Mall in search of Tokidoki stuff and ended up at House of Bags, a little kiosk in the mall (Phase III). We did find a Tokidoki bag but Kylie fell in love with this cute flying pig bag instead. The bag is printed with the same saying, over and over again:

"I made a nice dream under the stars sky. You flied to me suddenly."

LOL...that makes no sense at all. Kylie's friend M picked up a Domo bag. Now I've got the big idea in my head that each bag requires a matching crocheted coin purse. Ugh.

Speaking of crochet, I've noticed that it's almost as much fun to buy new yarn as it is to buy fabric (which I don't buy anymore). I already have a Rubbermaid tote filled to exploding with various acrylic yarn...then I discovered crocheting with cotton. Luuuuuuuv it. I would like to toss all of my acrylic yarn in favour of cotton. So expensive though :( .

Next time I need varigated yarn, I'm going to try this: Josie's post on dyeing wool with Kool-aid . I had no idea you could do that. Another project to add to the "need to try this" file...along with the projects in this book:

...I just picked it up from the library today. There is a baby robot, a geisha robot and a zombie robot, among others. They're cuter than all get-out, aren't they??

Well, back to the crocheting. I'm hoping I can have the girls' coin purses done for Valentine's day. Eek, that's on Sunday!!

Pics.

2010-02-05T21:10:00.001-08:00

Jacob built a tent for Sam out of blankets and chairs...I love that Aqua Doodle, the neighbour gave it to Sam for Christmas. Sam is drawing people with arms and legs, and crazy hair that sticks up everywhere--kind of like herself lol.

Kylie with her nose in a book, as usual. She still hasn't decided on a Junior High yet, so we will be going to 2 open houses come March. I can't believe how fast this has come up on us! Seems like just yesterday she was starting
Kinder :( .

Sam, playing in the sink...her favourite activity lately. If I want to clean the bathroom I just throw some bubbles and a few toys in there and she splashes and has a blast. Darn it, I'm going to miss this bathroom sink: the drain pipe is cracked so we have to replace it. I know the cold water tap/hot water tap thing is sort of a pain in the bum when you have kids...but I love this old junk.

This is what I was doing while Sam was splashing: I was sitting on the toilet, working on replacing yet ANOTHER zipper. No word of a lie, I have replaced 9 zippers in various coats and snowsuits in the last 2 winters. I swear, they make these things to last no longer than 3 months. And they're all in brand new coats, not the previously-enjoyed stuff from VV or Goodwill.

Now I'm just wondering how long it will be until someone will ask me if I was pants-up or pants-down as I was sitting on the toilet...lol, it was pants-up. The Jolly Roger p.j. pants are mine :) .

So tired...time for bed. Later, taters :) .

The AGA

2010-02-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Monday morning, we played a bit of hookie and headed to the Art Gallery of Alberta. Jake stood by the van as I plugged the meter and looked at the building with a furrowed brow, and said: "Was there some kind of accident here??". I'll admit, I think it looks a bit odd, too...definitely nothing like the other buildings downtown lol. Inside, we headed out on our guided tour. Our tour guide told us that the curves and waves of metal are representative of the North Saskatchewan river...and were produced by a factory that builds airplanes in Kansas City. Just a tidbit of information for you there :) .

The displays were really neat, Kylie especially liked
The Murder of Crows exhibit...it was pretty cool, 98 speakers set up throughout the entire 3rd floor of the gallery, and you just wander around, listening. Each speaker conveys a different sound, so you get a different perspective in every area of the room. It is a little scary, as it depicts someone's nightmare, but it was very cool :) .

We spent a little too much time in the Fransisco Goya room, which depicted the atrocities of war through a display of pencil drawings of people being tortured and murdered. Jacob has this thing for Napoleon lately...he is just enthralled with the fact that someone so small and mean could be so powerful over so many people. Of course, Jake's Napoleon ideals come from his favourite movie of late, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", where Napoleon conquers a waterpark lol.

I really wanted to spend some more time in the De Gas room, but we were scooted out the door as there were 4500 more people that they wanted to get through the gallery on that day. In a few weeks, we'll meet up with Scott after work and spend some more time there.

I'm still not convinced that Edmonton needed this $80 million gallery...wow, just seeing that amount of money in print makes me wince!

Later, taters ;) .

In Protest of 'Date Night'

2010-01-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

Frugal Dates

Oh. my. God., I have been saying this for years...

Blah.

2010-01-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'm soooo not feeling well right now. It's not that I feel sick, per se, I just don't feel good. Like there are piles of bricks on my shoulders, pulling me down. And bricks on my eyelids, making them want to close. And bricks on my brain because I can't think.

Sam spent the first hour of the day, after Scott left with the big kids, crying about her boots....then laying in front of the door crying because Daddy was gone...then crying about her boots again...I don't know what's wrong with her boots. It was just, "Mah boots!! Mah boots!!" and then collapsing in a sobbing, tearful mess on the floor. I distracted her with a Caillou DVD, which seemed to work. She only stopped watching once, to tearfully ask me: "Daddy home yet?" but then Caillou did something silly and she was distracted from her misery again.

It's been a long day. I can't wait for Scott to come home so that I can go to bed and sleep this thing off.

Jake's Duct Tape Wallet

2010-01-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Jake is going through this creative phase, where he wants to craft and bake a lot. Anyone who knows Jake will tell you..."wow, that's not like Jake at all!" lol. But it's cool, and I'll never turn down a crafting opportunity with my boy :) .

Jake heard about duct tape wallets from his friend so on a recent trip to Home Depot, he chose some red tape. I picked up a roll of black for myself, because I was silly enough to leave my previous roll laying on the counter, and someone used it to tape empty cereal boxes together to make a robot...to tell the truth, my duct tape is normally stored in my underwear drawer with all of my other precious items. Clear, black and white tape are always on hand. Always.

Anyhoo...we found the instructions to make our wallet
HERE . We added a clear ID pocket and a zippered coin pocket.

Step one, creating the duct tape 'fabric'

...after much folding and taping, here is the inside of the finished wallet...

...and the outside.

Scott helped Jake add the letters and the flames. Turned out pretty cool, don't ya think? I asked Jake to make me a hot pink one for Mother's Day. I hope he remembers :D .

Hey, look, I'm on YouTube!!!

2010-01-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

**caution, there's an F-bomb at the end!!

...'cept I don't work in a hospital...and I don't wear glasses...and I'm not on TV lol.

Pics

2010-01-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

Jacob has discovered lately that he really enjoys baking and cooking. Here he is making donuts with a new-to-us baking pan we found at Goodwill. He mixed the cake mix, baked the donuts, iced and decorated them :) . I had some icing and sprinkles on my finger so I licked it off...blech! Tasted like soap...I don't know how kids like those sprinkle things, they make me gag.

Sam, sitting in the corner for being mean to Jake. She was in this corner numerous times last week. Please don't get your panties in a knot...it's only for a few seconds and she learned that she can't mistreat her brother. Now take a second to un-knot your panties before you move on to the next pic lol.

We have fish! I had these giant mayonnaise jars that my brother brought home from an oilfield camp, and I thought they would be perfect fish bowls. Kylie tried to cram as much junk from Dollarama in there as she could...but there's still plenty of room for Fin the fish to swim. Each kid got a fish, Jake's is Snowball; Kylie's is Fin; and Sam's is Coco's . Kylie asked her, "What is your fish's name?" and Sam yelled, "It Coco's! See? Dere (read: there) Coco's!" lol...

5 minutes to myself...

2010-01-12T13:10:00.001-08:00

Sam is sleeping at my mom's and I decided that I should come home and clean something. I don't know what, just yet though.

We had a friend of Scott's over on Sunday to look at our basement, and to give us some insight on how much it should cost to renovate our bathroom. Well, it's not a bathroom right now...it's a closet that someone put a toilet in. No, I'm not joking lol. Honestly, when you sit down the door touches your knees. But mornings are such a battle around here, that we've decided that we need to sink the money into a bathroom with a double-sink vanity and a shower. We'll have the professionals do a great deal of it, and we can do the painting/tiling/flooring/whatever else we feel like. Still...holy moly, that's going to be expensive. Doesn't it seem silly that my house is more than 50 years old, and the first room that gets a full renovation is the basement bathroom??? ROFL...ah well.

Jake has an after-school group today, so I think I'll take the girls to the library. For now, I'm going to hit the treadmill for 20 minutes while I think of something to clean :) . If I time it just right, I'll have to run to the school to pick Kylie up, and then I won't have time to clean anything. Drat :) .

Later, taters :)

Happy New Year, everyone!!

2010-01-01T16:20:00.001-08:00

I stayed up until 12:05 last night!!! I could hardly believe it lol.

My family spent the evening playing ...um...Rock Band? Guitar Hero??? Not sure. It featured the Beatles, and a bunch of plastic guitars and some plastic drum pads. Maybe it's Rock Band. Whatever, it was fun to watch and Scott had a blast. My 14 year old neice stayed with us and brought the equipment/game with her. Sam and I wandered around, watched a Caillou video and ate too many potato chips. Jake conked out at 11 on the floor, and I woke him up at midnight to kiss his whole face. He wiped the slobber off and then went back to sleep lol.

I didn't make any resolutions this year, but I've made plans...not the same thing!! I really want to get my kitchen painted this January, if I wait for warmer weather it just won't get done. If it gets too stinky in here, I'll haul everyone down the block to my mom's house. I just have to get on it...I can't believe we've been in this house for 5 years now.

If anyone has any kitchen painting tips, I'd love to hear them. I'm pretty sure the current paint in there is oil, although I won't be sure until I test it with some nail polish remover. I'm not sure I want to use those new washable kitchen latex paints...I used some on a white cabinet 5 years ago and that piece of junk looks like heck now. Guess I had better add that to the painting list...

I want a green kitchen . Lime green or apple green...not sure yet. Is there a difference??

And...ew. Now I have to clean behind the stove :/ .

Have you chosen your Word of the Year?

2009-12-31T08:44:00.001-08:00

So perusing around blogs I have noticed that a lot of bloggers are choosing a 'word of the year'...a word to meditate on when you're angry, to reflect on when you're happy. It didn't take me long to choose my favourite word...I use it daily :) . I say it when I'm sad, I say it when I'm happy. I especially use it when I'm really, really angry.

Can you guess what it is?

I'll give you a hint...it's four letters long and I can't say it in front of my kids. Did I ever tell you that I have a bad potty mouth and, although my husband loves me to pieces, it's a part of me that he never really got used to?

10 points to the first person that guesses. I've already used it in my head about 10 times, and it's only 930 am :D .

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve, everyone :)

Ba ha ha...found them!!!

2009-12-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

Kinder Christmas concert, 2003. I think this was with our very first digital camera. Kylie is wearing the red sparkly dress. Hide from me at your Grade 6 concert, will ya???

Cookie decorating, 2003. Wow, you've come a long way!!

Getting Candyland at Gramma's house. We still have that game, although no one wants to play it anymore. I'm sure by next year, Sam will play it with me :) .

(sigh...stupid Photobucket is being retarded and won't resize the pics)

...and Christmas pics...

2009-12-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

There were fewer gifts under the tree this year, because both big kids wanted DSi's...but they both understood the whole Christmas budget thing and they were happy with it.

And Sam's favourite gift? Well, it was a bag of Polly Pocket dolls that I got from the Sally Anne for 99c. Honest to God, she wanted nothing at all to do with anything else. Not even the candy in her stocking lol. I scrubbed the crap out of those dolls and wiped them with rubbing alcohol to remove any cootie residue. Best 99c I ever spent!!

Pre-Christmas Pics

2009-12-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

Jake and 2 of his BFF's at the Chirstmas Concert. The rest of my pics are horrible...and no pics of Kylie. This is the first year that she wouldn't dress up (wore the same dirty t-shirt that she wore all day long to school and jeans) and she was in the back row for everything, ducking down in front of the kids in the row ahead of her. I swear, just to get her back, I'm gonna find all of the really cute kinder Christmas Concert pics and post them here. Yeah, that'll teach her.

Cookie decorating. Sam loved using the icing bags, but would not let me stick even one Smartie or chocolate chip on a cookie. She'd scream, "No, cookie broken!!! Get it off!!!" if I tried lol. Oh, oh! And you know what's really awesome? Every year I say I'm going to buy a little house cutter and I forget...so Scott made me one. He used an old apple shaped cutter, and bent it into a house shape using plyers (a la Filth Wizardry ). Awesome.

Sam's first craft :) . I love this junk. She pushed beads onto a pipe cleaner, and then I twisted it into a wreath shape. I love that she can do this stuff now. And she was so proud of herself :)

Ba ha ha...a kid I went to Kinder with did this: stuck her tongue to a pole in the school yard. I don't really remember what happened afterwards, but I do know that I learned not to ever do that myself! Anyway...we watched A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve and Jacob stayed up until 11...which is really odd because he usually can't stay up past 930. I guess he was a little excited :) .

Open Letter to the Hag who Cut Me Off Today

2009-12-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Stupid;

Hey, remember that thing today? That thing where we were each driving down the road, with snow up to our wheel wells...and you cut me off without signalling, while you were yakking on your cell phone...and then you gave *me* the finger?

Nice. Merry Christmas to you.

Bitch.

Yours truly;

Kylie's Mom.

(sorry mom)

How to Make a Grilled Cheese Sammich

2009-12-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

First...you spread margarine on the bread, making sure to jam the knife in the bread many, many times.

Then you put a slice of cheese on the bread and stick it with the knife again...

While Mama cooks your sammich, pick a plate from the cupboard. Mama's kitchen sucks.

Still waiting for that sammich to cook. Licking the plate in anticipation.

Waving the spatula around, while Mama demands that I give it back...

Yay! My sammich is done, and Mama gave me lots of ketchup-y goodness to dunk it in. I've been wearing my pajamas all day long and I won't let Mama change me. Good thing it's nap time soon...Mama looks like she has a headache :) .

A new and stupid way to celebrate each and every month in 2010!

2009-12-19T21:17:00.000-08:00

2010 Monthly Observances

Please add this to your favourites, as it is very important!

Honestly, how else would you know that February 2010 is both "National Cherry Month" AND "National Condom Month" (tee hee).

March 2010 holds the honour of being both "National Umbrella Month" and holding "National Procrastination Week"...but I'm celebrating that one in July :D .

Awesome. Just awesome.

Fantastic.

2009-12-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Only Siberia Was Colder

Woohoo!!! Edmonton was the second coldest city in the world yesterday, registering at -58.4C with the windchill at the airport. In actuality, I think it was -37C when I went shopping at noon yesterday. Yeah, that's cold enough.

And for the first time in ten years...I can't start my van this morning. No, it wasn't plugged in...I've never plugged it in lol. Guess it's time to start!!!

So Sam and I are staying home to bake today. I have the thermostat set for 18C and I'm sure the furnace hasn't stopped once in the last few days. Welcome to winter, baby!!!

2 weeks, are you kidding me ?!?!?!?!?

2009-12-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

I just relized that Christmas is 2 weeks away...and I'm no where near prepared. Argh.

I have a Ponyo ornament on the go for Kiki...I'm not sure it will get done :( . I hate doing it, I really do...it has to be on really, really teeny aida in order for it to fit in the ornament frame that I have...oh well. Forcing myself to do a bit every night, but it's hard when I'm not a night owl. Love to be in bed by 10 but that's not happening lately.

I took Kiki to the mall yesterday, for her to shop for her friends for Christmas. She had a very small budget to stick to and we *almost* didn't go over lol. Now she is indebted to me until the New Year. Bwa ha ha...

The kids at school are starting to discuss which junior highs they will go to. Kylie is deciding between 2: our neighbourhood school or a very large school downtown. We're working on a pros and cons list for both schools...and honestly, I can think of more cons to our neighbourhood school than pros. Lots of yahoos at that school...all of the behaviour kids will be going there. I've gotten to the point where I am so sick of the lying, stealing, fighting and name-calling. It's so hard to be sympathetic to these kids' situations when their lives cross over your own kids' lives. *Sigh*...but in the end it will completely be Kylie's decision and I will support her in that. Whatever she wants to do will be fine.

Well, Sam's in bed so I should go bake something. School bake sale is next week...I think I'm making meringues and some brownie cookies, both with crushed candy canes. I hope it's successful...our fund-raising this year has sucked, with next to no co-operation from the parents. I'm starting to get very frustrated with this PAC stuff...

Later, taters.

Aw...

2009-12-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

LOL...poor Sam. Maybe next year Santa won't be so scary. In case you're wondering... Jacob chose to go to a birthday party instead of this Christmas party. We're still going to venture to the mall, sooner or later, to get a pic of all 3 kids with Santa. But I don't know if poor Sam can handle it lol.

Hey, wanna hear me bitch?

2009-12-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sure you do. You came to blogger to hear lots of miserable, hateful things, right? LOL...it's your lucky day :) .

Kylie came home one day last week without her boots. Her expensive, fall suede boots that I think are pointless. OK, they look good, but it's not like they're warm and fall lasts about 2 weeks in Edmonton. Onwards.

Kylie had forgotten to change from her indoor shoes to her boots after school, as she was yakkin' with the girls and got sidetracked. Put her coat on and dawdled home. So I tell her, be sure to look for them as soon as you get to school. It wouldn't be the first time that something nice went missing...

The next day, at dismissal, the phone rings. It's Kylie's teacher, and as I have a phone allergy, I don't answer it. This is the message he leaves on the machine:

"Hi Mrs T. Just wanted to let you know that Kylie's boots have been recovered and the perpetrator has been identified. Kylie will be bringing her boots home today."

Argh!!!!!! I friggin' knew it. So I called the teacher back, and although he couldn't tell me who stole them, he could say "check" when *I* mentioned a name.

Honestly, how does a parent NOT NOTICE when another kid comes home with suede boots that aren't hers, and that have another kid's name on the sole??? And the inside tag??? And how does said parent not notice all the other things that she has stolen from my kid: EPL library book, toys, notebooks, pens...all with KYLIE'S FRIGGIN' NAME ON THEM??? Even if the kid claims it was a gift...at some point, you would think that the parent would say, "Jeez, I've never met this Kylie person. Why is she giving you all of these things...like a library book?"

Who in the hell gives a kid a library book as a gift???

I've told Kylie that she's not allowed to gossip about the situation with her friends...and that she has to have empathy for this girl, because there could be underlying issues (so vague). But I also told her to guard her stuff with her life, and that she needs to be polite to this girl, but it's up to her if she wants to be friendly. I also asked the teacher if he could look into past instances, and possibly offer this girl some counselling. Something's not right there.

I'm trying to be understanding, but I'm so friggin' mad right now...

Lite Fried Rice Recipe!!!

2009-12-06T12:40:00.001-08:00

I love this recipe...I think I've made it 4 times in the last month. I portion it into 1.5 cup containers and freeze it, nuke it for 5 minutes at lunch (I have a crappy microwave) and it's good to go.

From Hungry Girl (you know, that girl who's on Rachel Ray!!)

VEGGIE-RIFIC FRIED RICE

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice, fridge temperature (very important)
2 cups frozen diced carrots and peas
1 cup chopped bean sprouts
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
1/4 cup chopped scallions
One packet (about 1 oz.) fried rice seasoning mix (like the kind by Kikkoman or Sun-Bird)
1 tbsp. light or low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a small dish, combine seasoning mix, garlic powder, and ground ginger with soy sauce and 3 tbsp. warm water. Using a fork or whisk, stir until seasoning mix has dissolved. Set aside.

Spray a wok or very large pan with nonstick spray, and bring it to medium heat on the stove. Add egg substitute and scramble until cooked, using a spatula to break it up into bite-sized pieces. Remove scrambled bits from the wok or pan and set aside.

Add mushrooms and frozen vegetables to the wok or pan, and cook and stir until mushrooms have softened and all veggies are hot. Remove veggies and set aside with the egg-y bits.

Remove your wok or pan from heat, re-spray with nonstick spray, and bring to high heat on the stove. Add rice and seasoning mixture, and stir to combine. Add bean sprouts, scallions and the previously cooked veggies and scrambled eggs, and mix thoroughly to integrate. Cook and stir until entire mixture is hot, there is no liquid left in the pan, and rice is just beginning to crisp. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

MAKES 5 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 167
Fat: 0.5g
Sodium: 630mg
Carbs: 30g
Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 8.5g

POINTS® value 3*

****NOTE: I use white rice because I don't like brown rice. Chop up the sprouts and mushrooms really small, as in rice-sized, and they just incorporate right into the rice. I throw in an extra 1/2 cup or so, and my kids don't even know that more than half of the dish they're eating is vegetables. And I use a combo of whole eggs and egg whites...I never remember to buy Egg Beaters when I'm out.

Old pics...eek, really old.

2009-12-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

My baby boy turned 8 in October, and as I'm a crappy blogger, I'm just getting around to posting pictures now.

Pics.

2009-12-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Sam and Spiderbaby...I'm always sticking this doll beside her, hoping she'll play with it. *Sigh*...it's not working...

**Photobucket is being stupid this morning so my pictures are all wonky. I hope it fixes itself soon!!!

Hey look, a new post!

2009-11-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

Meh...changed my mind, too tired. I'll try again on Monday.

Sam won't let me sit at the computer anymore, so it's really hard to blog. Tonight was Scott's Christmas party, which was fun, but now I'm ready for bed.

Later, taters :)

Monday. Blech.

2009-11-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

So Saturday started out really well...went off to work, which I really enjoy...chatted with some regular patients...no one yelled at me that day, which is odd...and then, around 2pm I started feeling ill. Left by 3, and I don't remember the drive home. At all. I remember getting into bed, still wearing my scrubs, and then shortly after that I was sicker than a dawg...ew, not good.

This morning (Monday), Scott is in bed and can't get up, could barely direct me how to turn on his iPhone so that I could phone his assistant. That never happens.

Sam fell asleep on the couch by 10am, watching Dora. That never happens, either. So I tucked her into bed beside Scott, and left the door open. I asked her if she wanted to play Polly Pockets with me and she said, "No, mama. Go 'way."

My poor sick baby, stealing my salad at supper a few days ago :( .

And here is my poor sick baby with that red moo-stache. The pen-wielding maniac was none other than myself, and it was done with the wipe-off pen from my to-do list board (ok, so that was a trick question - it was neither a washable marker, nor a Sharpie). Sam enjoys kitty whiskers as well, but is not against the occasional handle bar moo-stache. Then she wants me to take her picture, and then she cries if I won't let her play with the camera.

Sadly, there are no point winners this month :( . I will donate the points to charity, or perhaps save them for that attack-giraffe-with-an-invisibility-cloak-and-laser-eyes that I've been wanting for so long. I don't know.

So have a good week, everyone :) . Hope your house is flu-free!

Pics

2009-11-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

The Halloween crew...Kiki and her crazy friends. They're all good kids. Everyone took these cute trick-or-treat bags and Kylie takes that giant pillowcase lol...

Kylie begged for this dress...I thought it was too expensive but in reality, I've spent way more on fabric for home-made costumes so I gave in ($40) . Then I had to figure out how to make a hoop skirt...but she got so many compliments and it made her so happy. Plus, not too many years left of having to buy her a costume. Do kids dress up in junior high??

I was soooo sick when we were putting this costume together. The shirt is 2 Goodwill shirts put together, and a felt collar (thank goodness I keep scraps). The cane (thanks Cori!) is a Christmas candy cane decoration, cut down with a Dollarama skull stuck on the end. I think this is the first time that Jake really took charge of his costume. He allowed me to help, but he was the boss. He was very happy with our creation :) .

Sammy Sunshine just would not sit still for pictures, so this is the best one. Once she saw that people were giving her candy, that was it!

Always has to make a face for the camera...

You know, every year I try to come up with these fun snack ideas to make for the class party and every year we end up making the same thing at the last minute: green Kool-aid ice cubes with gummies in them, in a big stock pot full of strawberry Fruitopia. This year I was sure it would be different lol.

The doctor I work for told me to take home some surgical gloves for the kids to wear trick-or-treating (H1N1 precaution). Scott blew them up into balloons instead.

And this is a picture of my baby crying. She's not crying because someone drew a moustache on her with a marker, she's crying because I wouldn't let her play with the camera.

10 points to anyone who can guess who drew the moustache on my poor baby. Bonus points if you can guess what kind of marker the perpetrator used (permanent or washable?) .

Pics.

2009-10-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last week the roads were so slippery with the new snow, that I slid down the road and hit a curb...doing a HUGE number to my husband's car :( . Jacob made a snowman after school and we taught Sam how to throw snow balls.

This week, it's fall. How does that happen???

I bet you thought you'd never see the day where I would post a picture of myself...but I don't mind this one. Kylie took it today at the Leg. grounds. It's teeny so as to minimize the fact that I'm not wearing make up (wouldn't know where to put it!) and then you can't see the wrinkles... bwah ha ha...

Blah part deux.

2009-10-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

That's French. Fancy, huh?

I feel all floopy. My brain is on a ten second delay today...my head is spinning and I have to go to work tonight. Blaaaaah...

Welcome to flu season.

Blah.

2009-10-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

I still have nothing to say. So I'll just type a bunch of gibberish, uh-k? K!

I am working the before-school and after-school shift at the school Scholastic book fair. It's fun, I like it. Kylie and her friends helped me hang posters this morning and I perused the books. I'm not a book buyer...seems like a waste of money. Did I give anyone a heart attack with that comment? If I feel the need to buy Sam a stack of awesome board books that she can't rip apart, I head to Goodwill. The library costs me $12 for an entire year of books, movies, Wii games and magazines. I can go as often as I want to exchange them. There's a pot store across the street with lots of interesting people coming and going (mostly kids from the nearby high school)...I watch them from the window while Sam sits on the floor and plays with Lego. There's a transvestite prostitute that hangs out at the 7-11 across the street from the pot store, she's very entertaining. My 'hood is very colourful in the fall :) .

Jacob turned 8 the other day and we had the funnest, most coolest party for him ever. I really don't like little boy parties, because I just can't keep up with them but this party was perfect :) . We had beautiful weather on Sunday, couldn't have asked for a better day. I will post pictures when I get around to it. Maybe.

Jacob just finished practicing guitar, and his lesson this week was (get this): Iron Man by Black Sabbath. How cool is that??? I was so worried his lessons would consist of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb, all the junk I hated about my own music lessons as a kid. He doesn't even need to read the sheet music his teacher gave him, he has it memorized already (after 2 days!).

I sent Kylie downstairs half an hour ago to get something that she had wanted to show me before bed...and I think she forgot what she was doing and went to sleep lol. She wants an manga drawing kit that she saw in a Japanese magazine, and I'm really hoping that Michael's carries something similar. Although she blew her allowance at the book store yesterday...what else is new???

I was supposed to go to Aquasize tonight with a friend but our schedules didn't mesh, maybe next week. I've never been before. Kylie has gone a couple of times with her gym class and she says it's fun, so I'll give it a try.

Anyways...later.

I have nothing to say. Well, 'cept this:

2009-10-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

"Is there any way we can force *** and **** into a “Thunderdome“-style death match and let someone else raise these children? They could host it on Pay Per View and the proceeds would go toward the kids’ psychiatric care. But instead of “Two men enter, one man leaves,” it’s not over until they’re both dead. Or at least, unable to speak. That would be awesome."

I read it on one of my favourite celebrity gossip sites...not that I consider these pin-heads celebrities. More like celebrity wanna-be's.

No. More like COMPLETE MORONS.

Names have been removed because I don't want to contribute to the media frenzy that surrounds those poor babies :( .

So who counted the asterisks to figure out what the names are LOL?

Ode to The Boy

2009-10-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

I love this boy.

He's so much like me some days...he's so emotional but he has the best sense of humour. His Bobby Lee impressions are spot-on, and he makes me laugh daily.

Other days, he's not like me at all. He loves a party. Loves being the centre of attention. Loves having lots and lots of other kids to play with.

He needs a haircut (again).

He thinks girls stink (even though every girl in his class has a crush on him, and I'm not even exaggerating). I kid you not, the girls chase him every single recess. I wonder what they'll do if they ever catch him?

He started guitar lessons today, and the look on his face when he talks about music is absolutely priceless. I joked about how one day, Axe will set up a table for him to sign autographs...and the girls will be lined up around the block, jumping up and down and screaming, "WE LOVE YOU JACOB!!!"...and he didn't even get grossed out when I said that. He absolutely beamed with pride.

And I'm going to be the first girl in line :) .

Open Letter to the Crazy Crack-Head Lady

2009-10-01T09:09:00.001-07:00

***Disclaimer: no, this is not about you. If you are on my blogroll, you are a friend...in real life or online, you are my friend. I honestly couldn't resist this today, it has to be done.

Dear Crazy Crack-Head Lady;

Oh my God!!! You are bat-shit crazy, not even the good kind of crazy now!!! Holy crap, get some help!!! I know you look all healthy and stuff, but clearly you are not...this isn't even funny anymore.

Yours tuly;

Kylie's Mom.

Crochet. And stuff.

2009-09-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is Rick. Rick is a corporate zombie, from the book Creepy Cute Crochet . I borrowed it from the library, but I really, really want this book for keepsies. Rick is my first crochet project ever, and as soon as I opened this book and saw the instructions I knew I had to make him for Cori, my bloggy friend. Because she appreciates the finer things in life, like zombies. Crocheted zombies eat Polly Pocket brains, did you know that? Poor Polly...she didn't even see it coming :( .

This guy is a Cthulhu , which is some sort of mythical creature, from the same book. I know what you're thinking...you're thinking, "could you please use that word in a sentence?"...to which I would say, "Oh no, there's a cthulhu in the cookie jar!" .

I've also been working on some crocheted 'sponges': that's one thing that I've really wanted to end my addiction to, those stupid Dollarama dish sponges with a scrubby on one side. I know they will probably outlive humanity in a landfill somewhere, and that has always bugged me. So I have been frantically crocheting double-thickness, four-inch square "sponges" with a skein of cotton yarn from Wal Mart. No, I don't like crocheted dish cloths. I don't like how floppy they are. I like that a sponge just sits in my hand and doesn't flop all over the place. They're working out really well, I'm pretty happy with the way they've turned out. I can't show you a pic, because I've used them all now and they don't look half as pretty as when I first made them lol.

Ponyo noodles, as Kylie calls them. We went to see Ponyo a few weeks ago, and now Kylie is obsessed with ramen noodles cooked in those covered bowls (am I the only one that didn't know that you pour boiling water over ramen in these bowls, put the cover on, and then in a few minutes you have cooked noodles???) . Anyway, we had to run all over Chinatown looking for these bowls. Yes, we tried T&T and they were out. Anyway, Kylie is using the cheater chopsticks because she was super hungry and didn't have the patience to fart around with the usual chopsticks.

ITLAPD is coming!!!

2009-09-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

This time of year, I get ITLAPD newsletters in my inbox regularly. You can sign up for them here: The Poopdeck .

Today's newsletter included a tutorial for those not sure how to begin talking like a pirate. I thought it may be of use to someone...somewhere.

** A Note for Beginners

Saturday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and most of you know what to do.

But what about beginners? What about those who’ve never babbled like buccaneers, cursed like corsairs, or fumed like freebooters? How do you do this thing called pirate talk?

Here are a couple of handy hints, courtesy of The Pirate Guys.

* Me hearties – This is your basic starter kit for pirate palaver. Tack this phrase on the end of every sentence and your on your way to talking like a pirate. “I’ll have a pepperoni pizza, me hearties.” “Fill it with regular, me hearties.” “Turn your head and cough, me hearties!” You get the idea.

* Remember the Five A’s. These five words that are the glue that hold pirate talk together. They are:

-- Ahoy – Hello
-- Avast! – Stand and give attention, or more simply, listen up!
-- Aye – I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did.
-- Aye Aye – Yes boss, I’ll get right on that.

And of course –

-- Aarrr! (Not aarrgh. That’s the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin.) Aarrr is extremely flexible, the blunderbuss of your filibuster vocabulary. Load it up under any circumstances and let fly. Basically “Aaarrr” means whatever you want it to mean. It can mean, among other things, “Pour me a tankard of ale,” “I am well satisfied with this cheeseburger,” “Excuse me, old chap, but I’d rather you not look at my girlfriend that way,” or “Hey everybody! Look at me! I'm talking like a pirate!”

Basically, “Aarrr” means, “I’m here and alive!”

So there you have it. Now sit down and watch a couple of Robert Newton movies for your advance work, or read our books – “Pirattitude! So You Want to Be a Pirate, here’s How” and “The Pirate Life: Unleashing your Inner Buccaneer” available at http://talklikeapirate.com/book.html – and you’ll be all set for Saturday. And the rest of your life.

Sammy Sunshine is 2 !!!!

2009-09-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

Holy crap, has it been 2 years already??? My baby is in a big girl bed and everything now!!!

Sammy Sunshine celebrated her second birthday with lots of cousins and assorted aunties, uncles, grammas and one Papa. We had a blast.

Kylie finished her dress for Sam just in time and we got lots of compliments. Such a bright, cheery fabric, and Kylie put a lot of time into it. My gosh, do I ever love my new sewing machine. I don't know why I didn't buy it 10 years ago.

I was only able to get one decent picture of her opening presents, just because there were so many little kids crowding around, which is cool. She had so much fun with all of them.

Oh yeah...it was also Scott's birthday, and I was so busy frosting cupcakes and cleaning that I didn't even have time to make him supper when he came home from work. He had to make supper himself lol. Poor guy. I tried to make it up to him by watching Underworld with him after the kids went to bed on Friday night, but I seen to have a mild form of ADHD when it comes to movies...I just couldn't keep up with it and ended up crocheting and Googling a few things while he watched. There's a prequel and a sequel and we watched the middle one because he felt that one was the first one...oh my gosh, when did movies become so much work???

This and That. And this.

2009-09-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while! So much going on, so let's do this in point form:

the big kids started school last Wednesday: Kylie is in grade 6 and Jacob in grade 3. They're so big, my gosh :( . Seems like the girls in Kylie's class are getting meaner and meaner as they get older, I'm not looking forward to junior high.
I'm working on year-end financial reports for PAC, which is waaaay easier this year. Last year, the previous PAC treasurer came to my house and dumped a big box of papers on my table, that I had to sort and file...it was crazy, I just about gave up my post about 20 times while I worked on that report. This year, everything is meticulously filed and xeroxed (maybe I'm a bit over zealous in that department). So the reports are coming together quite quickly.
I've decided that I won't be at the school so much this year...I just don't have it in me anymore. I'll keep the role of treasurer, unless someone else wants it, which would be fine: I just won't be around for hot lunches and day-time meetings, etc. Time for someone else to step up (I hope).
I ordered my very first piece of fabric from etsy!!! Oh my gosh, I was so scared...I don't know what exactly I was so scared of, though lol. It's just a hunk of sock monkeys by Moda for a scrub shirt. I love me some sock monkeys.
Sam is in a big girl bed!!! She looks so small in her Dora bed, and I'm a bit sad that my last baby is in a twin bed...but she loves it, and she looks darn cute in there. I was sure she would be up at least once during that first night, but nope: 10 hours straight. Nice.
I have now finished 2 crochet projects!!! Yay, lookit me go. I got a whack of library books on the subject and now I'm an expert (just joking, as if!). And I'm almost bored of it already lol.

Well, later taters. Off to clean floors and wash diapers...what an exciting life I lead :) .

Being Kylie's Mom

Worst headache *ever*...

Pics!

Tuesday.

Reflection Questions for 2011

Happy New Year!!! Whoooo!!!

Tales from My Crypt

Wednesday.

Well, hello!

Soaking in a tepid pool of my own anger...

This is what Homeschooling would look like in our house.

Baking with the Boy

Tuesday.

Things I Like (Today)

A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child by Tina Fey

Sunday.

Pics!

Stuff I did...and stuff...

It's Sunday!!

Rest in Peace, Papa.

Yeah, well...

*&%^!!

Why, hello :)

Ah, contentment :)

A craptacular day!

Pics.

Tuesday.

Ha.

Friday.

Dear Celebrity Chef;

Tuesday.

My anal approach to grocery shopping.

Pics Number 1.

Pics Number 2

Stuff I Know (in no particular order)

Ahhhhhh!

Monday.

OK...better now :)

Long weekend, baby!

Free Cute Tute

Pics

Lazier Than All Get Out.

Pics

Cooking with Princess Kagoli

Nickelback!!

30.

That's it.

Yes, I'm still here.

Baking with Sammy Sunshine.

Sunday

Video Favourites

It's Sunday night...

Busy week....

Happy Easter!!

Pics.

iPhone Pics.

Tuesday :)

Ugh.

Thoughts. And stuff.

Household Binders

I feel like sewing!

Pics.

Le sigh...

Body Parts...

Things. And stuff...

Pics.

The AGA

In Protest of 'Date Night'

Blah.

Jake's Duct Tape Wallet

Hey, look, I'm on YouTube!!!

Pics

5 minutes to myself...

Happy New Year, everyone!!

Have you chosen your Word of the Year?

Ba ha ha...found them!!!

...and Christmas pics...

Pre-Christmas Pics

Open Letter to the Hag who Cut Me Off Today

How to Make a Grilled Cheese Sammich

Worst headache ever...