life is beautiful

a little note

2009-06-17T18:59:00.000-04:00

updates

2009-05-11T13:30:00.006-04:00

So much has happened since I last blogged. Most importantly, I am now 3 1/2 months pregnant! I am due October 24. It's been a little harder this time around, but I've been feeling much better in the last month. Mostly just tired.
Also, Perry has been working 3 hours away, 4 days a week for the last 4 weeks and will be working there for another 6 weeks or so. He stays at his brothers during the week and comes home on the weekends. The kids and I go up for 2 days at a time usually. Unfortunately, his shifts will be changing to 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. This is really hard because we've never been apart for even 2 nights before and last week it was 4 nights. We are hoping to be able to go away for a little trip this summer.
The boys learned how to ride 2-wheelers a few weeks ago. Gavin has no fear and he got the hang of it a little quicker, but they both were riding on their own within 30 minutes.
My mom is moving to our city next month, which will be really nice to be closer again.
I have been making bread again. I made 2 loaves of No-Knead bread this week- it is so easy! It takes 20-24 hours, but with minimal work.
I've also made homemade pizza crust a couple times in the last few weeks. Today, I made some focaccia, which was really good! I am hoping to try english muffins soon, and maybe bagels. I LOVE making bread. Unlike cookies, where I just do it to have the final product, I think I like making bread more than eating it.
The kids are doing well with their schoolwork. Gavin is learning to read. Ethan may be reading at a third grade level now. I can't believe how well he picks it up. We will technically start the new school year in mid August. We are starting a little early, so that we can take a break after the baby is born. We are doing a mini unit on farms right now and reading Charlotte's Web. Also, we are using a new way of organising our days called workboxes. Usually Ethan has 9 boxes and Gavin has 7. Ethan's are usually filled with things like his reader/workbook, math, social studies, science, language arts etc. but we also add fun things in. Gavin usually has his reading lessons, a read aloud, a puzzle, and some various activities. I'll probably talk more about workboxes in another post.

I should just start naming my posts by date because I never have an easy time chosing even semi-cool titles....

2009-02-06T09:08:00.002-05:00

Well, Gavin's attitude got much better after I posted last!
Gavin had his 4th birthday two days ago. The kids decorated cupcakes, we took the kids bowling for the first time (Ethan almost beat me!), we visited with Perry's family and some friends. Gavin wanted pizza for supper, so we got some takeout. It was a fun day! We got Gavin a Curious George reader set and Ethan sat down and read a bunch of the books to Gavin, it was so cute to see that. I have pictures, hopefully I will post them later.

the worst phase ever

2009-01-15T19:19:00.003-05:00

is happening right now at our house. Gavin is quite literally being the most difficult that we have ever had to deal with. Our kids have both gone through times were they were stubborn etc. This is brutal. He has to fight EVERY single thing we say. He raises his voice and talks to back to us constantly. We talk about the way he needs to act and he'll agree, but then he's right back to it. I don't know how long I can take it. He gave me a headache tonight, just from the tone of voice. He isn't whining at all, he talks to us like we're the kids and he's a nagging parent... I never had my own parents talk to me like that, I don't need it from my 3 yr old!
Anyway, sorry for the vent.
I can't wait for my sweet little Gavin to come back...

planning

2009-01-15T09:23:00.005-05:00

Well, over the holidays I came up with a new way to plan our school days. It is working very well for us. I sat down and came up with all the subjects and areas that I wanted the kids to cover every week. I wrote a guideline for each day and what we would cover, a sort of masterplan. Then I typed up a sheet for each day to fill in the specific things we would be doing (what books we would read, what Math we would do, etc). Usually on the weekend, I will plan the next week out. I just grab a page for each day of the week and look at my masterplan and decide what needs to be done in each area.
Each day's page, books, notebooks and worksheets are all put together in file folders according to day. I just pull out all the stuff I need for that day and highlight everything that we complete as we finish it.
At the end of the day all the worksheets the kids do go into their own binder and we keep them as a sort of portfolio.

Some pics of the kids doing bubble painting:

desi

2009-01-06T08:19:00.005-05:00

We think our dog has ruptured her cruciate ligament in her leg. If this is the problem, she would need surgery which would probably cost $1600 plus all the other costs, such as pain medicine, etc. She would have a long recovery time and no guarantees that it is not going to happen again or happen to the other leg.
Anyway, we will likely take her to the vet in the next day or so.
Ethan would be heart broken if we have to put her down. She is his girl, he talks about her all the time. The first thing he does every morning is grab his pillow and lay it beside her crate and talk to her. He keeps praying for her that she will get better.

A Few of My Favourite Things

2009-01-04T17:36:00.003-05:00

Mine:
Settlers
Hot chocolate (still)
Dates with Perry
Hot baths

Perry's:
His new gamecube (yes, we are a little behind the times)
King of Queens
Settlers
Candy Cane Lane tea

Ethan's:
Dressing up
Bad guys (unfortunately)
Cheese
Babes in Toyland (the Disney original)

Gavin's:
Gumballs
Milk
Mister Maker (a craft show)
Getting his back stratched (and being very particular about where you scratch it...)

A Simple Woman's Daybook - January 3, 2009

2009-01-03T14:43:00.004-05:00

Outside my window...the sun is shining.

I am thinking...how wonderful my family is.

I am thankful for...the fun day that Perry and I got to have for his birthday yesterday.

From the learning rooms...Ethan is learning place value.

From the kitchen...we need groceries!

I am wearing...jeans and layered shirts.

I am creating...more schedules for school.

I am going...to have fun tonight with friends.

I am reading...the Bible- Genesis.

I am hoping...I don't have headaches everyday forever...

I am hearing...the dishwasher.

Around the house...the Christmas decorations are now put away, *sigh*.

One of my favorite things...my husband.

A few plans for the rest of the week: the kids start swimming lessons again and have both moved up a level. Lots of school work, hoping to get back to routine. There are not a lot of plans for the next week. We have friends coming over for dinner and games and maybe time in the hot tub tonight. Maybe we'll take a trip to the library.

Oh, for summer!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T09:17:00.001-05:00

This is Ethan's shopping list. It says:
Cake
Brownies
Plates
Hot Dogs
Milks
Pop
French Fries
Soup

hello

2008-12-13T08:38:00.003-05:00

I just cannot seem to keep this blog updated. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer these days.
We are watching our niece this week. She has been so good, the first day she slept until 9:30!
We had carpet installed 2 days ago- in 2 bedrooms and the family room, then the old family room carpet was installed in the kids toy room in the basement. It was a nightmare taking all the furniture out of those rooms and finding places to put it all!
Ethan is doing really well with his reading. This week I sat down and started a schedule and planning our days in a way that would be easier to achieve and still make sure that we're covering every subject that we need to. Although, it was too busy this week with other things to really get to implement it.
Christmas is in less than two weeks! How did that happen???
Anyway, off to be the teacher!
He's got the cutest lips!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

2008-12-05T08:52:00.003-05:00

Outside my window...there is a light dusting of snow and more falling.

I am thinking...about our busy week, what plans to make for homeschooling and how to organise them and our sweet little niece in the hospital.

I am thankful for...my husband and the time we're able to spend with him right now.

From the learning rooms...Ethan is getting better and better at reading every day.

From the kitchen...there is a mess!

I am wearing...jeans and a sweater.

I am creating...sugar cookies soon and other Christmas baking.

I am going...to friends for lunch and to have a date with Perry tonight and to the hospital tomorrow.

I am reading...James Herriot.

I am hoping...to be able to finish everything I need to in the next week.

I am hearing...the Smurfs.

Around the house...we need to tidy.

One of my favorite things...hot chocolate.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I already mentioned some, also- my Aunt's 50th birthday party on Sunday, Perry is writing a test to get into the Boilermakers Union on Monday, we may be watching our niece for the week, we are having carpet installed on Thursday, which means I need to finish painting before that (but when?) among other regular everyday things!

i'm still here...

2008-10-27T14:50:00.004-04:00

I have not been very good at blogging lately! The last three weeks have been spent living sometimes at our house and sometimes at Perry's brother's house with his family. Perry has been working at the plant that his brother works at Monday-Friday. He only comes home on the weekends and we go to stay with him about 3 nights a week. It is a little crazy, but we all get along really well. It's the kids who do most of the fighting. They have 3 girls and with our 2 boys we have 5 children under the age of 5! They usually get along really well, but what can you expect with so many small children?
Schooling is a little harder to do with our current circumstance, but I am pretty happy with Ethan's progress. In the last week he has started to sound out words so that he can write them on his own without asking how to spell things. He's done pretty well and we haven't even gotten to that point in his reading/writing lessons. So he's jumped ahead on his own. I'm seeing how many parents chose to unschool their children. That is essentially child led learning- it is amazing what children can do when you let them. Ethan was making 'machines' on the stairs today. He made a hot lava machine and a gumball machine. He was very proud of them!
We made pancakes for lunch today, which the kids really enjoyed.
I had some pics to share but my computer won't read my card...

tomatoes and the fair

2008-09-16T09:15:00.003-04:00

Our first tomatoes from our garden:
We went to the fair last week with my sister and my nephew. We couldn't stay very long but the kids had a blast, they love rides! I can't wait until they are big enough to go to Cedar Point! We saw a sheep shearing, a cow milking and lots of animals and their babies.

menu plan Monday (on Tuesday)

2008-09-02T08:07:00.002-04:00

*Monday
lunch- Tuna Salad Wraps (approx $4)
supper- Delissio Pizza (approx $6)

*Tuesday
lunch- leftover pizza
supper- spaghetti, cream corn, salad (approx $4.75)

*Wednesday
supper- Hamburger Helper, garlic bread, cauliflower+mushroom soup (approx $4.75)

*Thursday
supper- homemade chili (approx $10-11)

*Friday
supper- Campbell's Chunky soup, homemade dinner rolls (approx $4)

*Saturday
supper- pancakes, bacon, homemade bread (approx $4)

*Sunday
supper- grilled cheese (approx $4.50)

Not necessarily the healthiest list of food, but I am trying to clear out some of the food in the cupboards...

making bread and other things

2008-09-02T07:49:00.003-04:00

Perry's 10 year old cousin stayed with us on Sunday night. She is really good with the kids, so it was pretty easy having her here. Maybe easier than when she's not. Although the kids were up 5:45 because they were in the same room...
We made bread yesterday. We baked one loaf and froze three, but I ended up giving A. the one we baked, so we'll be throwing one of the other loaves in the oven today. The kids love to make bread.

Because we had company yesterday, I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted. We didn't read our Bible story for the week, but we did teach the kids their memory verse and song and we talked abut what the story will be. Ethan did his reading lesson and they both had some time to play reading games on the computer.
Today is going to be crazy, too. We have a Not Going Back to School Day at the park at 1pm, a baby sitter to interview at 3:30, a house to clean for Bible study tonight, lessons to do and the list goes on. Hopefully, it will all get done!
Tomorrow night the kids start Wacky Wednesday at the YMCA. They are excited to go back after the summer.

eating for less

2008-08-31T16:49:00.002-04:00

I am trying to make a point of spending less money on food. Obviously, eating out costs a lot, so I am trying to make a menu of what we will eat each night and that always seems to help because I'm not wondering at 4 o'clock what I should make for dinner. Right now, I am going to try and use alot of the food that we have in the house. Then I am thinking of trying to do a week of dinners that are $5 or less! If we could do that once a month and still watch what we second the rest of the time, we would save a fortune! I have glanced at this blog and I love the idea and hope to get some meal plans from her, but I haven't had the time to really look through it.
Anyway, I will try to update with our progress and you can see how we make out with this plan/idea/whatever....
One thing I do to save money that I never really thought much about is to make my own chip dip. It's pretty much as easy as buying it and it can be used for veggie dip, too. I'm sure it's a fairly common thing people do, but I thought I would post it anyhow.
Chip/Veggie Dip
500ml (2cups) fat free sour cream
1 pkt dry onion soup mix

Happy Sunday!!

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord." Psalm 92:1

More Costa Rica

2008-08-31T07:46:00.002-04:00

Here are a few more pics from our trip. This was a crocodile aafaria and horsebackriding tour! Lots of fun!

finishing the last post and some garden shots

2008-08-31T07:22:00.005-04:00

Alright, to finish off where I started the other day. The other subjects I want to cover through out the week are Physical Education, Life Skills, Arts and/or Crafts, Music, Social Studies, and Science.
Life Skills- This would include things like baking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, money matters, etc. I would like to start baking our own bread every week. I have an awesome recipe that makes 4 loaves, so easily it can be frozen after the second rise and we will be able to have fresh bread all week. Perry used to be a franchisee for a bread company, but sold his route last month, so now we need to buy or make our bread!
Art and/or Crafts- make crafts or study artists.
Music- this one is a little harder to really study, as I don't know anything about music. We will listen to children's song and Bible songs. Maybe next year I will sign Ethan up for some kind of music lesson.
Science- fun little science experiments and simple facts.
Social Studies- looking at maps, learning about people before us and different cultures.
Physical Education- this is another area I don't care to focus too much energy into! the kids are signed up with the YMCA. Every week they attend three programs- 1st Wacky Wednesday (cooking, gym time and play), 2nd swimming lessons, 3rd Junior Y Kids which is kind of like 2 1/2 hrs of preschool, they do crafts, centres, outdoor play, story time, etc.

My goals for this year:
Ethan
-to recognise numbers to 100
-to read simple books
-to start becoming familiar with the scripture
-to become responsible for daily chores
-to improve handwriting
-to learn simple addition and subtraction

Gavin
-to learn letters and sounds
-to count to 100
-to start becoming familiar with the scripture
-to become familiar with months, seasons, calendar, sense of yesterday, today, tomorrow
-to learn phone number and address
-to write name

their version of the yellow brick road:

I had my zoom lense on and couldn't get back far enough to get a pick of our whole vegetable garden, so here's one tomato, lol:

I did not plant these morning glories, but they are gorgeous!:

agenda

2008-08-29T11:33:00.005-04:00

Ok, so we are getting ready to 'officially' start school next week. I have made a list of subjects that I think we should cover every day. They are: Bible, reading, handwriting, letters (for Gavin), some small form of math and I also want them to start doing chores every day. Weekly subjects are: life skills (household type things- cooking, etc.), art and/or crafts, music, social studies and physical education.
Of course I will keep in mind that right now they are only 3 and 4 yrs old! If I put Gavin into a school, he would be two years behind Ethan. Now when Ethan went to Junior Kindergarten last year, he was only one month older than Gavin is now, so I have decided to teach Gavin as if he were in Junior Kindergarten and not preshool.
Here is a bit of a rundown of how I plan to follow my outline.
Bible: every week I will focus on teaching the kids one song. The vast majority of the songs we sing are directly from the scriptures and so they are learning to memorize the Bible at the same time and they find it fun, too!
Also, we will have one Bible story or context to learn about each week. And a Bible verse to *try* and memorize that is related either to the song or the story of the week.
We will also have prayer time every morning. Our boys already ask for prayer or pray for people when they are hurt and it is so beautiful to see, I really want to get them into the habit of praying daily for other things.
Reading: We are using the book Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It is a wonderful book, if your child doesn't get bored with repitition. We tried it with Ethan last winter and we got to lesson 7 and it became to much of a struggle, he hated to repeat things over and over. And I am getting that from Gavin now- I don't necessarily think he's ready for it, but because his brother was doing it he wants to try to. Anyway, so I got Ethan to start doing the book again by promising him time on the computer at a website called starfall.com if he completes one lesson. Each lesson takes 10-20 min depending on how easily the child can do the tasks or how much they want to :) Also, each week we will teach Ethan a sight word.
Handwriting: Usually worksheets where they trace and then print the letters on their own. Ethan will be doing copy work which he actually enjoys.
Letters: We watch Leap Frog's letter factory and keep a leter of the week on our cupboards and talk about it's sound. We do activities based on that letter.
Math: Just learning numbers and counting for Gavin. Ethan basic addition and eventually subtraction.
Chores: we are using handipoints.com, but we just started this, so we will see how it goes! They are resposible to brush thier own teeth n the morning, make thier bed, clean their room, put all their toys away, make sure their shoes are in the closet and not to whine all day!
I will have to go into the other stuff another day! We're on our way out now!

"For nothing will be impossible with God." Luke 1:37

Letters

2008-08-27T08:30:00.004-04:00

I only have a quick minute, so this will be a short post.
I want to start posting more about homeschooling, since I am officially starting to school the kids now.
Gavin has a lot of trouble remember what letters look like and what sounds they make. I had heard great things about Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD, so we picked it up a few days ago at Target ($9.99).
The kids love it! I was a little afraid they would find it boring, but they have asked to watch it several times in the last 24 hrs. Gavin has been coming up to me and telling me what sounds the letters make! Ethan keeps encouraging Gavin to tell him the sounds.
I would highly recommend this product, but the only downfall is that the letter 'l' in particular is pronounced very strangely in the video- 'ull'. Other than that it is great!

Costa Rica

2008-08-23T07:18:00.005-04:00

We have been back from our trip for about two weeks now. I would love to do a really long post about our trip, but I don't think that I'll have time. We have been so busy this summer and Perry hasn't even been working! Here are a few pictures from our second day.
There were bars on every window in San Jose and most buildings had barbed wire on the roofs/fences. I was glad that we got to see San Jose, but I wouldn't want to stay there more than a night or two. It was really dirty, garbage everywhere. The roads and driving are terrible. There are huge holes in the sidewalks and if you look in them you can see the water in the sewers flowing just about a foot underneath.

This is at the Doka coffee plantation:

A sloth hanging on a telephone line:

Poas volcano- we were really lucky to have such a clear view! This was so gorgeous. The volcano had a small eruption about 7 months ago. There 112 volcanoes in Costa Rica and 7 or 8 are active. The Arenal volcano erupts almost daily. That pool of sulpher water changes colour depending on the conditions.

Itinerary

2008-06-21T05:50:00.001-04:00

This is the trip we've gone with for our vaction to Costa Rica!! It sounds like so much fun! It actually turned out cheaper for us to stay an extra night, too!

Eight days with an abundance of thrills and adrenaline, designed specifically for people who love adventure.
Don't miss this unforgettable experience! You will explore active volcanos, coffee plantations, tropical rivers, and lowland rainforests, ending up at a perfect beach on our Pacific Coast.

Itinerary:

Day 1 (Arrival) Arrival in San José. A representative from Costa Rican Trails will meet you at the airport and will provide transfer to your city hotel.
Overnight at the Don Fadrique Hotel standard room, breakfast included.

Day 2 (Poas Volcano–La Paz–Sarapiqui river– Braulio Carrillo)
We begin our journey driving by the city of Alajuela which is proud to display the monument of our National Hero "Juan Santamaría". We now begin our assent to the national park where we soon will relax and enjoy an authentic cup of Costa Rican coffee accompanied by a delicious tropical breakfast. You will feel a change in temperature and the lush vegetation becomes apparent, preparing us for the pleasures of the exuberant cloud forest of the Poás Volcano.

On a clear day the view of the main crater is admired by all visitors, its diameter is considered one of the widest in the world. As we continue towards the Caribbean zone, we will stop to discover La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a Nature Park where we will walk on the truly spectacular trails that will lead us to Magia Blanca Falls (the largest and the most spectacular of the falls in the area). At the Park you will also witness the largest enclosed butterfly observatory in the world with a beautiful collection of tropical jewels. After a terrific lunch we will continue to Sarapiquí and on our way we come across the La Paz Waterfall, where we take some time to enjoy the splendid view. Less than a mile away we will encounter yet another waterfall surrounded by virgin forest, which becomes a great photo opportunity.

Once we arrive at Puerto Viejo (Old Port), we will be ready to enjoy a relaxing boat ride on the Sarapiquí River, just sit back and observe the wildlife that is around you. Before returning to San Jose we will drive through the unforgettable rain forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the most important rainforest reserves for Costa Rica.
Overnight at the Hotel Don Fadrique, standard room, breakfast included.

Day 3 (Villa Lapas – Canopy Tour) Today you will pick up at your hotel and you
will be provide with a shuttle bus transfer to Villa Lapas Hotel.
Afternoon tour, where you will Fly through the Rainforest. Fly over exotic trees and flora and see birds, monkeys and other exotic animals firsthand, while experiencing the energy rush of “jumping” from one treetop to another, Tarzan-like style (although we must admit Tarzan never had it this good).
Overnight at the Hotel Villa Lapas, standard room, breakfast included.

Day 4 (Jungle Crocodile Safari & Horseback riding)
Jungle Crocodile Safari offers a tour specially designed for adventurers and bird watchers, yet safe for the whole family. The adventure takes place on the Tárcoles River, one of four rivers flowing out into the Nicoya Peninsula, and home to one of the world’s largest crocodile populations in the wild with individuals up to fifteen feet long. In addition to the crocodiles, over fifty different kinds of birds can be seen on site, including the very rare scarlet macaw and a great variety of resident and migrant waterfowl. Iguanas and Jesus Cristo lizards are very common as well. After this tour continue the Horseback riding adventure through the jungle where you can see the spectacular flora and fauna in this area.
Overnight at the Hotel Villa Lapas, standard room, breakfast.

Day 5 (Sky Way – Manuel Antonio)
In the morning you will enjoy the raw power of the rainforest through our Sky Way walking tour. Of 1.5 miles (2.5 km) in length, this all-ages tour lets you observe a wide array of exotic flora and wildlife firsthand. Make yourself one with the jungle!
After this tour, you will be picked up at your hotel and you will be provide with a shuttle bus transfer to the famous Manuel Antonio National Park.
Manuel Antonio is considered to be Costa Rica’s most beautiful park, with enchanting white-sand beaches ideal for swimming, and tropical rainforest forest alive with wildlife. Watch for the monkeys and iguanas who share the park with you. Most hotels are small and intimate, set high on a hill overlooking the rain forest, endless beaches and the national park.
Overnight at the Casitas Eclipse Hotel, standard room, breakfast included.

Day 6 (Coastal Kayak – Snorkeling Tour)
Come experience one of Costa Rica´s most striking coastlines by open- seat ocean kayak. Paddle to Biezans Bay for a refreshing swim and delicious local snacks. Feel free to have your bilingual naturalist guide direct you to the best snorkeling spots as you experience threes small but growing, active, and astounding coral reef systems nestled very close to the shore of Biezans. Or just relax and enjoy the tranquility of a private white sand beach. After an unforgettable experience at Biezans, continue kayaking towards Manuel Antonio National Park and wonder at the nearby nesting islands where exotic boobies and frigates call home year round. Finally, a rewarding hot meal in typical restaurant.
Overnight at the Hotel Casitas Eclipse, standard room, breakfast included.

Day 7 (Manuel Antonio Tour- San José)
After breakfast, Pick-up at the hotel and transfer to the Manuel Antonio National Park.
Have an experienced nature guide take you on an informative hike through the park. Our guides know where you are most likely to encounter sloths, monkeys, etc. they will also provide a great deal of information on the history, flora and fauna during this easy 2 % hours walk. Snacks are offered during the tour, and guest may remain in the park after wards.
After this tour, you will bed picked up at your hotel and you will be provide with a shuttle bus transfer back to San José.
Overnight at the Hotel Don Fadrique, standard room, breakfast included.

Day 8 (Departure)
Transfer back to the International Airport.

lots going on

2008-06-11T08:47:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted. I probably won't even remember all we've done in the last little while! I'll try:
We went to Niagara Falls last month with the kids. It was alot of fun, but keeping the kids quiet in the hotel was not fun at all- especially when they woke up at 5am!
We went to the Fallsview Indoor waterpark two days in a row, the kids loved it. It was raining the second day, which was when we were going to walk over to the falls. So, we decided to drive by and Gavin fell asleep before we got there! And he as the one that was so excited to see them. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner the first night.

We got a new computer a few weeks ago and I love it!!
I also got braces about 2 weeks ago, they are just starting to not hurt and I am starting to get used to them.
We are planning a trip to Costa Rica at the end of July. I can't wait. The tour that we are interested in includes 7 nights and 11 tours including a Crocodile Safari, a Jungle Skywalk, a Canopy Tour (ziplining through the jungle canopy), kayaking, a trip to a volcanoe, horseback riding and lots of other stuff.

...

2008-06-08T21:15:00.003-04:00

Just edited this picture, love the difference.
I hope to hve real post soon... very busy here.

playing

2008-05-08T10:17:00.003-04:00

with noodles.

G- "Can I eat one?"
Me- "No, they are old and yucky and not cooked."
1 min later
G- "Can I eat one?"
Me- "I already told you- no."
1 min later
G- "Can I eat one?"
Me- "No." [rolling eyes]

Look at this smile. He was so happy when he saw me take these out.

He gets to practice pouring, sorting and when he's done- cleaning (he doesn't know that part yet).

my sister

2008-05-07T09:07:00.003-04:00

Her name is Brittany. She lives an hour away. She has a boy two weeks younger than Ethan. We are nothing alike. She is a friend that I don't often see. Or lately talk to. I miss her.
Random:
-When our bedrooms were next to each other, we would tap the wall with messages we probably didn't understand, when we should have been sleeping.
-I threw a snowball at her once. I had hidden a piece of ice in it. It wasn't pretty. I don't even know why I did it.
-She tried to run away when I was babysitting her.
-She used to mimic my tap dancing.
-We used to make home movies with our cousins. She did some great commercials. :)
-She wore the most awesome and 'her' oufit to her Grade 8 grad.
-She threw her diaper over the fence at some boys.
-She also threw my hamster.
-We shared a room at times. It was messy.
-We played dress up together.
-She couldn't keep a secret as a kid. She told our mom that dad bought her some birds for Christmas and they were at our Grandma's.
-She loves animals and has fostered and owned many.
-She has awesome lips.
-She is 3 years younger than I am.
-She rode her bike to the convenience store when she was three or four. By herself. No my mom didn't let her.
-She has a tattoo and a tongue piercing.
-She is beautiful.
-She probably doesn't know how much I love her.

image heavy

2008-05-05T09:19:00.008-04:00

Just some random pics from this weekend.
My garden:

My boys:

Ethan's squirrel house (an idea from The Creative Family):
Ethan building his squirrel house:

Desi:
Some craft time yesterday:
Ethan loves to create things, Gavin loves to play with the supplies.

The kids and I made some awesome bread this morning. It was a recipe from soulemama.com called WHO bread (wheat, honey and oats). It was sooo good, and it used ingredients that I had on hand, which was nice since I haven't been shopping too much lately.

I did it!

2008-05-02T07:19:00.004-04:00

I made a journal yesterday! It really didn't take that long, if it did I wouldn't have finished it. I don't know what I enjoyed more- making the journal or just finishing a whole project in no time! I had hoped to use all recycled papers, but I knew it would take days to find what I wanted, so I used some blank white pages, some scrapbooking papers I had left over and some 'found' papers like envelopes. It was alot of fun. While I cut the pages to the right size, Gavin was cutting up papers into a million tiny pieces (one of his favourite things to do). That kept him busy and Ethan was at school. I used a pad of paper that measured 4x5.5, so I cut my other papers to that size and then I didn't need to cut every single page. I also used the chipboard backs of the pads as covers. I put a picture of each boy on the covers and bound with kraft paper from a lunch bag. Total cost = approx $1.50 (because the scrapbooking papers were scraps anyway).

Here's a tutorial video : Photojojo

so much

2008-05-01T07:35:00.002-04:00

I want to do right now:
1- learn how to sew
2- learn how to embroider
3- learn how to use my camera better
4- study the Bible more
5- do more crafts with the kids
6- go on a vacation with Perry
7- make books (journals)

Too much going on, I don't even have time to go to the grocery store.
It's a good busy, I guess. But I don't know when it will stop.

inspired

2008-04-23T08:52:00.003-04:00

First off, this little guy was running around our backyard this morning and I love grey squirrels, so the kids and I were watching him. He started to come closer to the house and hopped onto the top and the fence and started looking around. Then he spotted us in the window, and he froze- for almost a minute, staring. Of course, by the time I got my camera he wasn't looking anymore, but at least he was still there.
Secondly, I just discovered soulemama. I love her. lol. I bought her book from Amazon on Sunday night and I got it yesterday. I haven't had much of a chance to read it yet, but it looks soooo good.

She sews, embroiders, knits- all stuff I tried as a kid and never really got into too much. But I want to now (not knitting as much as the other two). She homeschools her kids and they are very focused on creativity. The kids artwork is turned into pillows (embroidered), wall hangings, quilts, greeting cards, gifts, etc. I just love the whole idea of having so much time focused on being creative. I haven't desired to do anything creative for months, and now I want to try so many things. Check her out!
Happy Wednesday! My mom, grandma and nephew are coming over for a fun day!

crafty fun

2008-04-21T14:22:00.005-04:00

Colouring the back of wrapping paper:

Watercolours and glueing (?):

Collage of things we found outside:

And Desi, not doing any crafty things :)

new restaurant in town

2008-03-22T16:33:00.003-04:00

Ethan (holding a pad of paper and a pen): What do want at our restaurant?
Me: Pizza.
E: We don't have pizza.
Me: Chicken.
E: We don't have chicken.
Me: Well, what do you have?
E: Strawberry yogurt, vanilla yogurt, panzerrottis, bananas and raspberries.
Me: A banana and strawberry yogurt.

And now my waiter is hounding me to try a panzerotti and chicken fries (he must have lied about not having chicken before). And I've been handed about 12 bills- apparently I didn't hear myself say everyone's food is on me.

March through the years

2008-03-21T10:35:00.018-04:00

Ethan in March 2004:
Ethan in April 2005 (still blowing bubbles) - no pics from March this year, for some reason:
Ethan in April 2006 - no pics from March this year either :( :
Ethan in March 2007:
Ethan in March 2008:

Gavin in April 2005 :
Gavin in April 2006:
Gavin in March 2007:
Gavin in March 2008:

And just to show how small they were at the same time:

Also in March 2004 - my brother Owen (on the left), when he was under 6 feet. What happened?:

Oh, and Perry and I are both sick now...

everyday and more sick...

2008-03-20T10:23:00.005-04:00

Gavin was really sick again yesterday, so we went to the hospital for the 5th time about 6 weeks. They seemed fairly concerned about him when we got there, but after seeing a couple of nurses and the doctor and a urine test they decided that he probably had a virus. By the time we got out of there he actually seemed ALOT better, so that was good.
Here is a collage of pictures I took this morning of everyday things:
And some pictures of Gavin today:

focus is off on this one, but I love his eyes here:

And Desi:

Little conversation with Gavin:
Gavin: How old are you?
Me: 25
G: But, I thought you were 28?
Me: Daddy is 28.
G: Is Daddy old?
Me: Daddy is very old.
G: Grandma Allison is old. Are you old?
Me: Noooo....

enough was not enough...

2008-03-10T15:11:00.009-04:00

3 days after taking Gavin to the hospital, Perry, Ethan and I all went to emergency! Not fun...
All four of us were sooo sick. For me, the worst of it lasted 4 whole days, then I started to feel better but I was really tired. I still have a cough and am congested but I feel pretty good other than that. Glad that is over! (well, mostly over...)

Right before I got sick, I went to a Stampin Up party and made these two cards. It was alot of fun to do something creative again. The next day I made this:

Then I got sick, so hopefully now that I'm better I can do some more! The stamps I ordered should be in soon!
Here are some random pics I've taken:

kinda blurry but I love it:

like the blue marker?:

enough is enough

2008-03-02T08:59:00.002-05:00

Another trip to the hospital...
Gavin had a fever of 40 degrees yesterday. The doctor didn't even tell me what was wrong, but he gave him a prescription for Amoxil... not fun.
3 out of the last 5 Saturdays I have been in the hispital with one of the kids.
In January, I was thinking how little we had been sick this winter- then February hit. Gavin got a cold, then pneumonia, then Ethan got bronchitis, then Gavin got a cold, then Perry was sick, I've been getting headaches all month, then Gavin got sick yesterday. Now I'm sick and Ethan seems to be a little bit sick.
I'm sick.
and tired.

2008-02-25T08:30:00.002-05:00

This last one isn't a great picture, but I like because I was just noticing how small Gavin looks in that picture on the wall. He was about 18mo old and now he's just turned 3. We always say he still looks like our baby, but looking back I can see he's grown up so much. So I kind of like the whole idea of this picture showing the change, although it's a little hard to see him in the framed picture.

some thoughts on homeschooling

2008-02-24T06:55:00.003-05:00

Here are some comments people made about homeschooling on APP.com.

- After homeschooling my three sons for the past 13 years, I have to say a classroom setting gives children the opportunity to learn to socialize with age mates but homeschooling gives the opportunity to socialize with all ages.
My three teenage boys interact wonderfully with senior citizens and babies, as well as with their peers. They experience the world and how to survive in it by being in it and learning from it.
I don't think most people realize there are many homeschool groups across the state that provide sports activities, trips, lectures, language lessons and social activities including teen dances and parties. We don't sit in our houses all day and shut the rest of the world out.

-I am a public schoolteacher who has worked with students who were homeschooled. Not all students who are homeschooled lack social skills or are behind in the curriculum. I know many well adjusted, intelligent homeschoolers.
I also know many who have no social skills and have learned nothing. It depends on the effort parents are willing to put into their child's education. But this holds just as true for any parent of a child who attends public or private school.
I can't tell you how many times I have contacted parents about their child's missing homework, not doing well on tests or poor behavior, and the parents just blame me. I didn't raise these children to have lack of respect for me or any of their other teachers, and I can't make them do their homework or study at home. The lack of support from the parents and community is the reason so many say public schools are failing.

- My favorite arguments against homeschooling is the socialization one. I went to public school and got to socialize with drug dealers, s--ts, incompetent teachers and principals, and lots of bullies. Just think of what the homeschooled kids are missing.

- {sarcastic} I don't know who these parents think they are. You would think they might leave the shaping of their children's minds, careers and futures to trained professionals, but they insist on interfering in their offsprings' lives every step of the way.
As if these children were actually their responsibility from birth to adulthood. Don't they realize these are the people's children, the state's responsibility. As such, they must be molded by the state and educated in accordance with state requirements — no more and no less.
They must be taught to accept the same values approved and encouraged by the state. They must be taught that all are equal, regardless of ability, intelligence or talent, and therefore, all must be rewarded equally, regardless of merit, just like the public schoolteachers.
They must be taught their self esteem is more important than anything they can contribute to society. They must be taught that acting in the best interest of the collective is more important than individual liberty.
They must be taught the role of the state is to protect the individual from his own inherent stupidity, because the individual is incapable of making intelligent decisions for himself, and therefore cannot be held responsible for his actions. The state must act as parent, Big Brother, nanny.
I understand the public teachers' union has the children's best interest in mind. These parents have a lot of nerve, refusing to conform.

It may be long, but I like some of the thoughts in there.
Happy Sunday!

Romans 13:8 (New American Standard Bible)
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Click on my flickr badge to the right for some of my recent pics from my new camera. <3

Separation Anxiety

2008-02-23T08:56:00.003-05:00

Gavin is having some serious issues with seperation from me especially, but sometimes Ethan and Perry, too. It's been almost two weeks that he has been doing this and previously he would run off without even saying goodbye, he didn't care. Now all of a sudden he doesn't want me to leave him anywhere. Yesterday, he had a chance to go to his grandparents on his own without Ethan (which rarely happens). Well at about 7:15, our doorbell rings (which also rarely happens, lol). Of course, Grandma, Papa and Gavin are standing on the porch. On their way to Chuck E Cheese (1 hr away) he whined almost the whole time about seeing mommy and Ethan. He said he didn't want to go to Chuck E Cheese (he usually loves it there). He whined and cried all the way home after supper and playing. So they brought him home. Perry started getting him ready for bed, Ethan hadn't fallen asleep yet so he came out to see everyone. Ethan eventually said that he wanted to go, and then Gavin said he would go if Ethan did. I haven't heard from them yet this morning- so hopefully he was ok!
I feel so badly when I leave him somewhere and he acts like that. It's just so strange how it happened so quickly, I hope it doesn't last to long!

lots of pics...

2008-02-22T13:59:00.005-05:00

Before Ethan went to school, we got out some boxes and did some different counting and sorting activites with them. Then we covered them with wrapping paper (white side out) and painted them. We are going to cut out some squares and rectangles for windows and doors and make buildings for a city.

Gavin and I went to the mall after Ethan went school. I had to pick up Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons- I had ordered it last week for Ethan. The stores weren't open when we got there so we went to the coffee shop and got some drinks. After that we went to the library for an hour. Gavin always wants to cut with scissors when we go there. So he did that first and then he worked on a bunch of puzzles. We came home and had some soup for lunch and an hour nap. When he got up we read a couple of his library books and then Grandma called and said she was going to come and pick him up and take him for the night and that they were going to go to Chuck E Cheese. He was pretty excited! I walked over with Desi to pick Ethan up at school. He is colouring right now and we are going to do some fun things tonight.
Here are some pics I took of the kids watching TV a few weeks ago, I thought it ws funny that they switched spots in the middle and Ethan did the same thing with his hands that Gavin had done.

Here are some pics from Gavins little birthday party, I had forgotten to post them.

And some silly ones of Gavin:

Awesome video

2008-02-21T18:56:00.001-05:00

Animal School
You need to see this if you have/ will have children, so true!

I Took His Hand and Followed

2008-02-15T16:13:00.001-05:00

by Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know

teaching?

2008-02-15T08:19:00.005-05:00

I am still thinking about homeschooling...
I thought I had decided and was ok with not homeschooling, but I just can't forget about it and I just don't feel like school is for us. Ethan is in JK right now, but I am thinking that I may not send him back. But I don't know... This is such a major and hard decision. Anyway, this past week we have been doing homeschool type activities at home and I think my plan right now is to see if we (I) can do it now and into the summer and make a decision then. If it doesn't work, nothing's lost, if it does, we'll take Ethan out of kindergarten and Gavin wasn't set to go next year anyway. And then if it isn't working Ethan will have only missed senior kindergarten, which is not a requirement anyway.
Last week at school, Ethan was learning about dinosaurs and loved it. I decided to use dinosaurs as the first thing we would look at. On Wednesday, we went to the library and got some books about dinosaurs. We went through some of the names of different dinosaurs and sang some dinosaur songs. Yesterday, was a busy day, so we didn't do much. Ethan was in school and Gavin and I went to Sarnia, then they had swimming, supper and bed. Today, we made dinosaur boxes and a dinosaur 'collage' type craft. The kids had a bath with some dinosaur shaped foam pieces and we sorted all the different kinds and counted how of each there were and went over the names. If I get right to it in the morning it doesn't seem to bad. It's if I keep doing other things and then don't have much time for stuff that it would be harder. And Perry usually naps in the afternoon, so it makes it hard to do things in the house then. We'll see how it goes...
wish me luck.

Ethan dictated this story to me this morning:
Dinosaurs never ate trees. They jumped in the tree and never ate a crayon. And he saw a little Tyrannosaurus Rex and it was a baby one. Then a little man came tumbling and he didn't know why he had a snowman and it was springtome and he didn't know why it was snowing and the number ten was out. And he didn't know why there was a bat out. There was a shirt outside hanging on the clothesline at his new house and he didn't like it. And he wrote a dinosaur poem. He had a bat in the springtime. Why did he know that he had a dinosaur poem in his house? He had a shirt hanging out on his bedroom door. He never had a crayon in his little life, too.

:)

I'm in love...

2008-02-11T14:26:00.000-05:00

My new camera is soooo amazing! I don't really know what I'm doing yet, but I'm trying to get it. I've taken over 100 pictures in 2 days! Here are some of my favourites, they may not be technically perfect, but what a differnce from my point and shoot (which I used to think did a pretty good job).

sooo excited!

2008-02-09T15:36:00.001-05:00

First- I got a new camera!!!!!! We bought a REbel XTi yesterday, but it had a problem with the memory card slot, and when we took it back they were all gone :( So, I got a Rebel XT. I am soo excited!! I can't wait to figure out how to use it!
Second- we are taking the kids to Niagara Falls next weekend. We will be going to the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark! They are going to have so much fun! Originally we thought that Perry and I would like to get away for a while ourselves but then we decided to do something with the kids since it was 'Family Day' anyway and that's the reason Perry gets an extra day off.
Here are some shots with my new camera, nothing special, just figuring out some settings...

day trip

2008-01-25T19:04:00.000-05:00

Some shots I took before leaving for my parent's today. The sunrise was beautiful.

Ethan said:

2008-01-25T07:34:00.000-05:00

"Because Daddy was sleeping here, it smells nice, like Daddy."
*Note* they are not really sleeping.

random

2008-01-24T06:37:00.000-05:00

I love God. I am always cold. I wanted 4 children all 3 yrs apart starting when I was 21 and ending when I was 30. That didn't happen. I am not a gold and diamonds girl. I like funky costume jewelry. But I don't have much. I love being outside when I'm on vacation, but I'm not in everyday life. I have never been anywhere exotic. I hate finding time to do laundry. But I do find it relaxing when I do. If there are not small people constantly calling me. I love scrapbooking. I haven't had the desire to scrapbook in months. I want a digital SLR. Badly. I want to redecorate my whole house. Now. I wish my hot tub wasn't broken. I didn't think I would miss having a cat so much. I didn't think Perry would either. I want to go on vacation. Soon. I want to sleep better. I love hot chocolate. I don't play any sports. I am reading and somewhat enjoying 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'. I hope to read a biography on Bing Crosby next. I like my dishwasher loaded a certain way. I like to organise, but things don't stay that way for long. I hate cleaning. I almost always wera jeans in the winter and capri's in the summer. I do not like to wear skirts or dresses. I want braces. I love panzerottis. I would love to go to Africa on a safari. I am very happy.

maybe

2008-01-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

I can start blogging a little more frequently! Things have been sooo busy lately. I hope to update a little more...
Here's pic I took of Gavin yesterday while Perry and Ethan were napping.
This pic is for Her Space My Space (yesterday's prompt), ring. Hope to get back into that a little more.

I am dying for a DSLR... maybe one day...
hopefully soon :)

spell it with flickr

2008-01-04T08:02:00.000-05:00

Very busy holidays...very tiring...lots of boardgames=lots of fun...my husband is now 28...my kids are crazy...but cute :)

Happy Birthday Ethan!

2007-12-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

These are some pictures that Ethan took on his new Little Tykes digital camera from my parents:

more pics

2007-12-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

pics

2007-12-10T14:09:00.001-05:00

No, we haven't kicked the poor kid out, I was just playing around with my moms camera.

fun day

2007-12-09T08:40:00.000-05:00

We went to cut down our Chrsitmas tree yesterday. We got there later than we expected, so we didn't get to do all the activities, but we still had a lot of fun. I would add more pictures, but my computer isn't cooperating. We had a hard time finding a tree this year. Usually there a ALOT to chose from, I think that they were trying to clear out one area as much as they could before moving on to another part of the tree farm. We had to pick from the same area last year and there was a lot more to chose from then! We literally found a tree that was 'just good enough' right when they were about to close! We thought about not even getting one there. I'm sure that next year they will need to open another section. Gavin was very grumpy when we first got there but he was pretty good after he got to go on the pony rides. Why is it that kids never seem to get cold? They don't care whether they've got gloves or a hat on!
I thought that there was a resemblance between Ethan and Owen:

Love this grainy shot:
I love my brother:

I got to play around with my mom's camera, which was fun, but a bit confusing- so excuse my bad use of light...

the parade

2007-12-08T07:43:00.000-05:00

This is our house decorated with our Christmas lights. You can't tell from the picture, but there are some blue ones there, too!

Gavin fell asleep on the way to the parade, which started after their bedtime. But Ethan fell asleep on the way home and Gavin was all smiles.
We went with Perry's parents and they brought these little chairs for the kids to sit on, they looked so cute!

We will be picking up my brother in a few hours. We are all going out to the tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree! Hopefully, we'll find some time to play Settlers tonight and get in the hot tub! Tomorrow, we are going to Sarnia for a family Christmas dinner.

the best picker

2007-12-06T07:08:00.001-05:00

I told Ethan that Uncle Owen was going to come with us to cut down our Christmas tree on Saturday. Excitedly, he said, "Maybe Uncle Owen can pick out the perfect Christmas tree... cos he's the best picker! And maybe he can cut up our tree, too!"

ooops

2007-12-02T06:42:00.000-05:00

I guess it's been a while! I didn't have a computer for over two weeks and then I've so busy and so tired that I haven't been on it much!
I can't believe it's already December! We usually have our Christmas tree by now, but this year we will be getting it a little late. We had our first snow yesterday, so hopefully it sticks around for Saturday. It's not the same going to cut down your Christmas tree with no snow! Last year, there was barely any snow but alot of mud... not as much fun :) We've had the house decorated for a couple of weeks, and we had put the Christmas lights up in October- so we just need our tree! I hope to finish my Christmas cards this week, I started them about a month ago, but they haven't been touched since! Most of our shopping done as well, I just need to go through what we have and figure out what we still need and then get everything wrapped. I actually love wrapping Christmas presents, so that will be fun- as long as I don't wait until the last minute!
Our friends, Robin and Marjorie, from California came down last night to stay with Perry's mom and dad. It was nice to see them again. The kids thought that their names were Roger and Margarine! lol

a new class, a sick boy, christmas...

2007-11-04T06:06:00.000-05:00

I will be teaching this layout and more at the Westmount library in London this month, head on over the Sweet Dahlia Dreams blog at the right for details. I hope to hold another class in Chatham, but will probably wait until Christmas is done... we'll see how ambitious I get! :)
Gavin woke up sick today, poor little guy. He's just coughing away and laying on the couch. :(
Well, it's November! Which means I can start putting up Christmas decorations! I LOVE Christmas! We already have our lights up (not on, though) and the wreath is up on the front door. I'll probably decorate inside in the next week or so.
I don't think I've ever mentioned Unwrapped here. I love all the crafty ideas that Heather posts there. I'm actually trying to work on a few 'boards' like the ones she does. Check it out, very cool stuff!
Hoping to get back into some scrapbooking soon! I have been sooo tired lately, though. I feel like I have a newborn in the house, the kids have been waking me up several times every night and very early every morning. Hoping this will be short phase!
Have a great day!
ETA: Ethan keeps saying he'll take care of Gavin. He sits right beside him and tells him he loves him! Too cute!

a break

2007-10-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

I've been taking a bit of a break from scrapping and spending a lot less time online. Just enjoying housework and cooking and all that stuff (and I never thought I'd say that...lol) I even have been enjoying laundry, which is my arch enemy and always makes me feel hopeless, haha. I found this new stuff that's not really new called Super Washing Soda. Finally, since moving into this house over a year ago our laundry smells clean after I wash it. I think we have hard water, so our clothes never had that awesome clean laundry smell. But now they do and I can't find enough things to wash! I just hope it says this exciting (yah right!).
We are getting cement poured today for our new hot tub. Can't wait to get it in!

our new niece

2007-10-17T06:43:00.000-04:00

We had a fun surprise last night! Jeff and Ashley drove 3 hrs and showed up at Bible study at our house! I was so happy to finally get to see Brenna! She is 2 weeks old and so adorable :)

new layout

2007-10-02T12:39:00.000-04:00

Ethan and Gavin

2007-10-01T12:17:00.000-04:00

come running into the livingroom.
Gavin: Ethan pushed me.
Me: What do you say?
Gavin: Sorry
Me: Not you, Ethan what do you say to your brother?
Gavin: Thank you
Me: What? (laughing)
Then they both run off.

our trip to the corn maize

2007-10-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

We took a drive out to the corn maize yesterday. We have never been before and it was a lot of fun! We did the maize first. Gavin got tired after about 5 minutes and we had to carry him the rest, which we should have expected, but didn't. The had a 'corn' box (instead of sand), a corn launcher, a huge slide, chickens, rabbits, and lots of other stuff. The kids had a really good time.

it's been a while...

2007-09-30T07:35:00.000-04:00

I just haven't had the desire/time to update lately (sorry, Mom!). I've got a few things to share, first of all- I got an exciting email this morning!!! I've been submitting my scrapbook pages to different sites and magazines, etc for a few months now and I am finally going to get published! It is an online magazine called Ready, Set, Create! I sent in three layouts and and she loved them all and is going to use all three, possibly in two seperate issues. She also told me to send in some holiday work! I'm really excited and I just made this for my online galleries :)
I held a scrapbooking class at our house about two weeks ago and we had to keep the dog outside while everyone was here. Well, we have a creek behind our house and there are always critters coming into our yard. Our dog found one. A stinky one. She was sprayed by a skunk. I brought her in the house after the class, but I didn't notice it right away. While I cleaning up I started to smell it, but I didn't realise that it was coming from Desi! So, she stayed in her crate all night and in the morning I was a little sick so I couldn't smell. Perry came home and told me that the house stunk like a skunk, so we finally checked the dog and the back of her neck was sprayed. By the time we got a recipe to get rid of it (4c peroxide, 1/2c baking soda, couple drops dish washing det.) it was too late to do it, we didn't want her going to bed soaking wet. Even though I felt awful about it had to leave her outside for the night. The next morning we poured the stuff on her. Let it sit for 3 hrs, then rinsed it. She was so good about, but she was shivering like crazy. This is what she looked like after the peroxide was put on but before we rinsed it off:

This is what she normally looks like:

We also bought a hot tub last week! It's not installed yet, hopefully soon. I can't wait!!!

first full day

2007-09-13T06:31:00.000-04:00

Today Ethan goes to school for a full day with all the kids from his class. And he has to go tomorrow as well. He seems to love it so far, he's always excited to go. I will probably be taking Gavin to the drop-in daycare at the Y because I really need to finish painting the dining room, before the tape decides it wants to stick forever!
Gavin had a swimming lesson yesterday, he didn't want to listen to anything he was supposed to, except for jumping in and going under the water. Ethan has a lesson tonight.
On Monday, we started going to a play group. Most of the moms had babies and kind of stuck together. There were only a couple older kids. The boys seemed to enjoy it.
The weather has really cooled off, we are wearing housecoats right now!
I'm holding a scrapbooking class at our house this Monday night, so I'm prepping for that and trying to put kits together.
Perry is getting busy with the Walmart grand opening next week.
We are getting to together with some friends on the weekend to play some games. I'm really excited, I love playing games!
Not much else going on- I don't know if we could handle much else so that's a good thing!

busy

2007-09-06T06:22:00.000-04:00

What a busy week! We seem to have so much to do, and I am trying to paint the dining room on top of it. Ethan didn't tell us too much about his first day of school and did not let me get one good picture of him! He said some of the other kids had cookies and pudding for lunch. He got to play with the tools that he had seen and he used the bathroom. I think that was all he said! The teacher told me that he wanted to go outside, but it was too hot. He also told the teacher that he had a lot of fun. So, it seemed like a good day for him. Last night he had his first swimming lesson. He did really well, but we coud tell that he didn't trust the lifegaurds yet. He didn't want to go in without his life jacket. At the beginning of summer we had trouble getting him in a pool at all, so I guess it was pretty good that he'd go in with his life jacket on. He swam a few lengths, too! Gavin was a little terror for the whole thing, Perry had to leave the room with him.
Have a great weekend!

school!

2007-09-05T14:25:00.000-04:00

I took Ethan to meet his teacher yesterday! He was so excited. We dropped Gavin off at the babysitters at 8:30 and then we went to the grocery store to pick up some juice boxes, then we went to Tim Horton's (a donut shop). He had some timbits (donut holes) and some chocolate milk. We only were at the school for about 10 min. He saw some tools that he really wanted to play with when we first walked in. At the end the teacher asked if he had any questions and all he said was, "can I play with those tools, now?"
Today is crazy! Perry usually has Wed. off, but because of the holiday had to work it. He got home at 9am and we left right away to go to Gavin's first swimming lesson. He is the oldest there and he has no fear so he is the most advanced. He is 2 1/2 yrs and most of the other kids are less than a year old, so he's not really in their 'category'. They don't have an in between lesson though. After Christmas, he'll be able to go into the next level and that should be more suited to him. Ethan starts lessons tomorrow. After swimming, we called Perry's friend Greame who invited us to go swimmming at his house. So we went over there for about an hour and a half. Then we were really rushed- we had to get Ethan home, fed and off to school in about 20 minutes! We made it just as the teacher was coming out to get the kids. I wish we would have been earlier, but that's the way it goes. We have to pick him up in about half an hour. I haven't gotten any good pictures yet, so hopefully we'll do that when we get him. When we get home, we are going to have an early supper and then he have to go get Ethan's speech checked. I'm not really worried about it now, but earlier this summer he was doing some wierd things with his words! They also asked us if we'd be willing to volunteer him for some trial testing of gross motor skills. Then bedtimes for the kiddies! And relaxing time for us!
This last picture is Ethan before going to meet his teacher, he was sooo excited!

pheonix

2007-08-30T08:18:00.000-04:00

That was the dogs name! He was microchipped, the owners came to meet me at the vet to take him home. They live one street over and apparently he was missing for about 4 hrs before we found him. I was glad to have found the owners, but I actually really miss him. He was so cute and sweet! They were really happy and grateful to have him back and his tail was just wagging away when they got there! When I got home, Perry actually said, 'it's kind of bitter sweet, eh?' I was kind of surprised to hear that. He said that we might have been able to keep him, if we hadn't found the owners! I think he liked that he was so small.
Today, I've got Gavin in underwear- so, we'll see how that goes.
Happy Thursday!

we found

2007-08-29T06:51:00.000-04:00

a little tiny chihuahua in our yard last night! I looked out the window at 6pm and saw him climbing on our porch. Desi was outside, and she likes to chase squirrels, birds and cats, so I freaked. I yelled to Perry to let Desi in, who was right at the door. So, he opened the door and let her in and we all went out to try and catch this little dog. Perry's mom came over right about then for supper, and we were supposed to have Bible Study at 7. So for about 20 min, we tried chasing the dog. He was very scared. Finally, the kids cornered him and I went and grabbed him. He bit me a few times- if you can call it a bite! So, I catch him and we're like 'what now?' We decided to take the dog in the front door and let Desi back out in the yard. We put the Chihuahua in Desi's crate. We went to a few of the neighbours and asked if they knew where it came from. Nobody did. One of the neighbour's daughters said that she would take it if we couldn't find his home. We called the radio station and they aired it, but we haven't heard anything. We didn't have a little collar, so we used a shoelace with some foam beads on it (for cushion) and Desi's leash. When we took him outside, he tried to run away at first, but seemed pretty good after. We brought her in the house and she slept in our shower- we didn't want Desi to know he was still here and also wanted to keep him confined. So, we set up a towel, a newspaper, some food and water. Surprisingly, he actually ate the food. We didn't hear a peep from him all night. He is so adorable, I would love to keep him, but I'm not sure how Desi would react to that. I suppose they would get used to each other eventually. I'm pretty sure Perry doesn't want another dog- although he does seem to think this ones pretty cute. He was calling him 'Cheeko'! I would guess that he weighs no more than 4 lbs! Today, we will probably get him scanned to see if he has a microchip. Then, I don't know.

clothes

2007-08-26T06:20:00.000-04:00

So, Ethan has had this thing with his clothes this summer that has really been driving me crazy! At the beginning of summer he was ok with wearing shorts- like most other kids are! Well, not too much later he decides that he only likes pants- and sweaters and socks! Hellooo- it's over 90 degrees kid. So everyday I had to fight with him not to wear this stuff. Now it's almost September and I've got him to the point that he will chose a t-shirt everyday. But he still wants pants and socks. Even if I convince him to wear shorts, he still wants socks and shoes. I guess he'll be glad for fall!

hero

2007-08-19T06:44:00.001-04:00

On Friday, we all went to the beach with my Grandma, my Mom and my Aunt Cathy. We ate lunch first, after we were done Ethan threw the extra bread to the seagulls. My mom siad that there was one with fishing line caught around it's foot and a bobber hanging from it. I didn't see it. We went swimming and the kids played at the park. They had lots of fun with Aunt Cathy in the water and playing frisbee with her. I should have taken a little video of Gavin's frisbee throwing skills, they need a little improvement to say the least. Well, this seagull with the bobber comes back. The people next to us were trying to get it. It flew a little ways away. Perry follows it, the mom next to us goes to get scissors and some kids are following it as well. The idea was to get close to it and just cut the line. Perry got close enough to step on the line, it was probably at least 3 feet long. Another man got in on the action, too, and helped Perry hold the bird down. The hook was stuck in the birds body, right were the foot connects to the body. They cut the line and then Perry tried to see if the hook would come out. It had started to heal over already. He tried a bit to get it out, but didn't want to hurt the bird too much, and there wasn't much to grip. Perry snapped the hook so that there wouldn't be a big piece hanging out. Then, the other man's wife got his tackle box and they got some pliers. Finally, Perry got the hook out. The bird was bleeding somewhat, but he flew off right after. Hopefully, he's got a better chance now. We're sure that that bobber would have gotten stuck somewhere and he wouldn't have been able to get away.
Here are some pics from that day.

new layout

2007-08-17T06:50:00.000-04:00

Really being inspired by Emily lately.

funny

2007-08-16T06:46:00.000-04:00

Ethan- "Can I have some more oatmeal?"
Me- "I only have this kind, and Gavin just tried it and said it was yucky."
Ethan- "But I will like it."
Me- "OK."
5 or 6 mins later, he takes a bite.
Ethan- "OH Mooommmy! I DON'T like it!"
May not be so funny if you weren't there, but the way he said it was hilarious! I just wanted to record it somewhere.
Not too much going on here. Just getting over a cold. I haven't been sleeping well at all the last few nights, I can't seem to fall asleep.
I can't believe that Ethan will be going to school in less than 3 weeks. Crazy.

busy morning

2007-08-13T10:03:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's only 10am and this is what we have already done:
-been up for 5 hrs
-eaten breakfast
-spent an hour in the garden
-showered and changed
-played with playdough
-scrapbooked (the boys each made pages)
-I did a Deck of Me card(it has only been, oh, 6 months maybe since I did my last one), pictured above- pretty plain but one of my faves
-ate snacks
and now the kids are 'relaxing' watching Diego. I think that I'm getting sick, hoping the kids will let me get a good nap in later.
I have been lovin' Emily Falconbridge's blog and work lately. If you haven't already I seriously suggest checking her out, link is at the right.

nothing much

2007-08-11T06:08:00.000-04:00

Not too much going on here. We got Gavin back on Wednesday. We had a nice afternoon at the beach. Gavin just loves the water. There were fairly big waves and he was the only kids that wanted to go out very far. He didn't care how hard they hit him or how fast they came, he just loved it! I think he's going to be a thrill seeker when he gets older! I guess we'll have lots of fun at Cedar Point! We found out the next day that a teenage girl drowned there a few hours later. Crazy.
Yesterday, I got a bit of gardening done. We are taking out some gardens, we have way too many. The kids are going to go to the Y today. Not sure what's going on this afternoon, hopefully something fun.
Have a good weekend.

guests

2007-08-08T08:32:00.000-04:00

This post is from yesterday, but I couldn't get it posted... My coolio brother was here last week for 4 days. We had alot of fun! Played lots of Settlers, went to the beach, went shopping. Fun stuff. I miss seeing him all the time. :( I think he's coming again next week so that'll be cool.
This week we traded Gavin for our niece Abby. We have been having lots of fun with her, too. We were going to go to the zoo today. Plans changed. We talked to Gavin last night, he cried. Abby talked to her parents, she cried. We miss Gavin, especially Perry (he says it all the time!). So we are meeting in Grand Bend and switching back. 3 days early. Can't wait to see Gavin, though. We are going to spend the afternoon at the beach.

still

2007-08-07T07:31:00.001-04:00

having trouble with blogger. I've got some pics to post, when I get a chance.

blogger is driving me nuts!!! arghh...

2007-08-01T08:37:00.001-04:00

I can hardly ever get to my blog, let alone post. I can hardly view other 'bloggers' blogs. Not too happy...
Anyways, my brother is staying here, so that's good :) My aunt and uncle came over the other night and taught us how to play The Settlers of Catan. Awesome game. Very addicting. If you've never played, check it out. Might be a little confusing to learn on your own, but so worth it. We love board games, does that makes us geeks? lol :)
I better get this posted before I lose my connection!

tired, tired, sick and sick

2007-07-29T05:46:00.000-04:00

Ok- I typed this post yesterday (Sunday), but it wouldn't let me post so it's actually not about today.
Perry and I are the first two, the kids the next.
This is not meant to be a rant, or complaint, just details of what went down yesterday! Yesterday I was soooo exhausted. The kids seemed to be getting over the colds that they had, so we took them swimming in the afternoon. After we got home around 6pm, Gavin started seeming whiny and really tired and wouldn't eat anything for supper. He asked to go to bed, so we put him down at 6:30. As we were putting Ethan to bed at 7, Gavin woke up crying. He was saying that his ear hurt and he kept crying and I could tell that he was really uncomfortable. Perry had to go to work for a bit, and I was planning on taking Gavin to the hospital when he got home, but he asked to go to bed right before Perry got home. I put him down again at 8. We went to bed at 9. Gavin woke up at 10:30 crying again, so I got ready and drove him to the hospital. I drove by the hospital in our city and it was packed, so we drove to one that is about 25 min. away. There was no one there we arrived. So the doctor check his ears, he can't see anything because Gavin apparantly has hard wax over his ear drum. So he gave me a prescription for ear wax softening drops and an antibiotic. But it after midnight, so I can't get it filled until morning. As I'm putting Gavin in the car, my phone rings. I was surprised to hear Perry. Ethan had been up about 5 times, saying his ear hurt (he never heard Gavin say that because he was asleep). So Perry had pretty much been up the whole time that I was. So we left the hospital and I start driving home we had this conversation:
Gavin- 'there's a ball up there'
Me- 'that's the moon'
Gavin- 'no, it's a ball. I don't want it up there.'
Me- 'where do you want it?'
Gavin- 'in the grass'
It was SOOO cute! We got Gavin to bed when we got home at 1. Ethan kept waking up though, and finally at 2:30 I went to sleep in his room. He slept until 5:30 (his normal time), but it is definitely not restful sleeping with a toddler! Luckily, Gavin slept the rest of the night and is still sleeping (it is only 6am right now). We have to be somewhere at 11, so I don't know if I'll get back to bed until this afternoon, if that's even possible.
Just went to get Gavin and he seems fairly normal. Ethan seems to be himself, too.
As much as I don't like my kids being sick and being woken up when I'm exhausted, I love that they are usually cuddly, because they are so busy all the time that I don't get a chance to hold them alot. It was kind of nice to spend that time with Gavin driving to the hospital (I would probably have had a different opinion if we had waited much longer!)

We had BBQ smores last week! yummy

bad blogger!

2007-07-24T06:20:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to blog, but blogger hasn't been very nice the couple of days. I did a couple 8.5x8.5 layouts tonite. I actually really like that size, not so much room to fill!

Here are a few pics from our vacation:

progress!! yay

2007-07-19T06:33:00.000-04:00

We took the kids swimming at the YMCA yesterday. It was hard to even convince Ethan to go. He is not afraid of water, but he is a fraid of pools, he likes to be able to touch the ground. So since we had bought the kids memberships and that includes swimming lessons and programs that involve swimming, I thought we should try to get him comfortable in that pool specifically. When we first went in he was clinging to my neck like mad. He decided that he wanted to jump in, so I held his hands while he jumped to me. Then he would jump to me on his own. Meanwhile, Gavin is jumping in without anyone catching him (Perry was there, but Gavin thought it was great to jump in and go under!) We tried to get Ethan to float on his back, he did it a couple times near the end, but he held my arm for dear life! By the end both the kids were swimming (with life jackets on) all on there own, Gavin moreso than Ethan. I couldn't believe that Ethan was actually letting me let go. Neither one of them knew how to keep themselves upright in the life jackets when we got there and they were both swimming in them when we left! Ethan was crying when we left! I am so glad that we took them, I felt really bad thinking that he was scared of the pool when all the kids were having fun.

lots to celebrate

2007-07-14T06:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, was my mom's 50th birthday. My sister and I both went to visit, so our whole family was together and we went out for lunch. It was really nice. We all pitched in and bought my mom a little Jack Russell. Her name is Sandy and she is so cute! I am not a big fan of Jack Russells but this one is really quiet and super cute!! Perry and I are having a party for my mom next Saturday.
Today is our 6th anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long! I told Ethan that it was our anniversary today and he said, "Mine, too!" :) Perry's mom will be watching the kids for us later, so that we can go out for a bit.
Perry's sister's 25th birthday is in 2 days. So, we have a lot of stuff going on!
We bought the kids some YMCA memberships the other day. We wanted to get Ethan used to going somewhere that he doesn't know anyone before school starts. We also wanted them both to be around other kids more, we don't know very many people with kids the same age. I'm going to take them to the Drop-in Daycare this morning. I haven't been able to get caught up with laundry and cleaning yet since we got back from our vacation, it's been a crazy week! So hopefully, I can that done while they are gone.
Have a great weekend!

more layouts!

2007-07-11T09:46:00.001-04:00

hi

2007-07-10T06:53:00.000-04:00

we're back!

2007-07-09T06:40:00.000-04:00

We got back from our vaction on Saturday around 5pm. We had an awesome time, other than the bad weather(for most of the week), and losing my camera bag, and a trip to the hospital, and some bad news, and kids that got up at 5:30 everyday! We had a lot of fun. Played a lot of games, did some fishing and just doing nothing and having no where to be was sooo nice. Perry went back to work today and he was dreading it so much. He will probably have a few weeks of putting in 70 hrs or so, until he gets some one trained.
The bad news I was talking about was that Perry's grandmother died on Friday. We had just visited her about a month or so ago, so glad we did. The funeral will be on Wednesday. My mom and Grandma are going to watch the kids for us.
I don't have many pictures to post right now from our vacation because they were mostly downloaded onto my mom's laptop.

ETA: Ethan just said to me, "Mom! I love it when I put my clothes on!" He always wants to get dressed as soon as he gets up, and he loves pants and sweaters. It's supposed to be almost 100 degrees today and he has jeans, socks and a long sleeved shirt. It's not going to be fun when I have to change his clothes to go out...

fun stuff!

2007-06-28T08:56:00.000-04:00

So, we went to the circus last night! The kids loved it but they were VERY tired by the end. They are so funny and so different! Ethan loves to clap and dance around and Gavin just stares in a daze and barely moves! They liked the finale best- dirt bike stunts! It was SO cute watching their faces. They both went on an elephant ride, I thought Gavin would cry but he was fine!
This morning we went outside for a bit, the kids did some painting, some running around, playing with the dog and the sand box and I supervised the painting, chased the dog, sat in the sun, and did some gardening!
Fun days!

did I forget

2007-06-27T08:43:00.000-04:00

to tell my kids it's almost July?!?
This is what they re doing right now! Watching Dora in their winter coats and hats- oh well, it's only going to be 94 degrees today... :)
We got Ethan's school schedule the other day. I can't believe it's just over 2 months away. He's in the 'B' group, which is great for us! He's not too excited about going, but hopefully that will change.
4 days until vacation!!!
We are going to the circus today. Ethan has been asking about it for months so it should be a good time!

you HAVE to see this

2007-06-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

really, I have watched it about 5 times and I crack up every time. It is Gavin falling asleep at the dinner table a few nights ago! It's absolutely hilarious!

almost there!!!!!

2007-06-26T06:09:00.000-04:00

5 days until vacation! I cannot wait. I started packing the kids stuff yesterday and will try to get some more done today. Perry is getting really worn out with work, he work over 17 hours yesterday and the rest of the week is going to be rough, too. He has to work his day off tomorrow. It will be cutting it close to have this guy trained before we leave for the cottage. Anyway, next week should be really good for him and hopefully very relaxing!
The prompt for HS:MS today is bowl. A round, deep dish. Show us a bowl in your space today.
Have a great day!

sit

2007-06-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

A position in which we relax. Who is sitting in your space today?

first time and a fun gift bag

2007-06-22T15:24:00.000-04:00

The boys made their first scrapbooks this morning! It was so cute, the whole time Ethan was saying, "it's fun scrapbooking, mama!" I took 5 sheets of patterned paper and cut them in half to share, then I let them pick some pictures and glue them on their papers (with a little help). Then we stapled them together at the top. They decorated them with stamps, stickers and markers. It was a lot of fun!!
We are going over to Perry's mom and dad's tonight for a birthday supper for his Grandma. I made a little gift bag from a paper lunch bag. I think that it turned out pretty cute! I added some handmade cards inside that all match as a little gift. To make the bag I cut the bottom part of the lunch bag off. There is a big crease in lunch bags right where the bottom part rests on it (not a very good explanation I know!) I cut it about an inch below the crease. Then I folded it about a 1/2" from the bottom and glued it and then folded it right along the crease to get a clean fold (still not making sense am I?) Then I cut a piece of patterned paper just smaller than the front of the bag and adhered that. I made a bag topper of cardstock and patterned paper. The cardstock can be cut to double whatever height you want it to be, but it should be slightly wider than your bag. Fold in half and cut some patterned paper slightly smaller than the front of the topper. I punched two holes in the topper and two in corresponding spots on the bag itself. I attached eyelets to the topper and fed a ribbon through the holes in the bag and out through the topper to tie closed. If I don't make any sense feel free to contact me if you want instructions!

straight

2007-06-22T07:14:00.001-04:00

Straight
Moving or extending in only one direction. Show us straight in your space today.

cover

2007-06-21T21:07:00.000-04:00

I got the cover finished, now this is meant to be a 'junky' journal, lol! Not much 'designing' involved, more like just slapping stuff on a page! This is going to be really fun to just add little notes and ephemera from our week as it happens. If I waited I would probably forget a lot of things and probably wouldn't get it done for ages. I will probably still scrap some pics but this will hold a lot of memories and little forgetable unforgetables. :) You'll have to forgive the bad picture! The sun is going down and I haven't got any good lighting right now. The image on the front was printed on a transparency and rubbed off onto the envelope. I think I forgot to mention I used huge envelopes to make the book.

travel journal

2007-06-21T17:27:00.000-04:00

This is the beginning af a travel journal/scrapbook kit I am making to take on our vaction. I am working on the cover now so I will post as soon as I get it done!

tea

2007-06-21T07:17:00.000-04:00

Here is my entry for today's Her Space My Space blog. I don't like tea at all, but Perry drinks it on occasion and we have some for company.
Not too much going on here. Yesterday, we did some running around, nothing exciting. Both boys were up at 5:15. I am feeling really tired today. I haven't been getting very good rest at night. I had better go check the boys!
Happy Thursday!
ETA: Just a funny little thing- Ethan has been calling Gavin Michael Banks all day! From Mary Poppins! Cute

press

2007-06-20T09:49:00.001-04:00

mo

2007-06-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

hawk!!

I've been wanting to do this for ages! They only had these haircuts for about 5 min, but it was fun! The rest of our day was not!
Milk on the kitchen floor, wash the floor, beans on the kitchen floor, dog eating toys, cups, etc., about a litre of milk on the CARPET, pee in the basement (courtesy of Gavin) among other things... not good. I guess tomorrow is a new day!

drink

2007-06-18T11:22:00.000-04:00

berry

2007-06-17T06:20:00.000-04:00

A small fruit with a stone or seeds. Show us a berry in your space today.

life is beautiful

a little note

updates

I should just start naming my posts by date because I never have an easy time chosing even semi-cool titles....

the worst phase ever

planning

desi

A Few of My Favourite Things

A Simple Woman's Daybook - January 3, 2009

Happy New Year!

hello

A Simple Woman's Daybook

i'm still here...

tomatoes and the fair

menu plan Monday (on Tuesday)

making bread and other things

eating for less

More Costa Rica

finishing the last post and some garden shots

agenda

Letters

Costa Rica

Itinerary

lots going on

...

playing

my sister

***image heavy***

I did it!

so much

inspired

crafty fun

new restaurant in town

March through the years

everyday and more sick...

enough was not enough...

enough is enough

some thoughts on homeschooling

Separation Anxiety

lots of pics...

Awesome video

I Took His Hand and Followed

teaching?

I'm in love...

sooo excited!

day trip

Ethan said:

random

maybe

spell it with flickr

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Merry Christmas

more pics

pics

fun day

the parade

the best picker

ooops

a new class, a sick boy, christmas...

a break

our new niece

new layout

Ethan and Gavin

our trip to the corn maize

it's been a while...

first full day

busy

school!

pheonix

we found

clothes

hero

new layout

funny

busy morning

nothing much

guests

still

blogger is driving me nuts!!! arghh...

tired, tired, sick and sick

image heavy