Ramblings

Wow - where does the time go? I often think of things that happen during the day and think that I should add that, or write down that thought, and in the end, I'm just too tired or away from the computer. I don't quite have the hang of this yet.

So here it is, Feb 23 and I started to take down the Valentine's decorations. I have to say they were kind of fun this year. I'm not sure what to put up there right now -whether I go back to the snow flakes or move on to something else. I'll have to wait and see what Becky does! I do have some ideas for march though...

The daily photos continue to be taken and documented on my 365 blog. And so far I am up to date with my LOAD challenges. Yey! Lent starts today and I think it will be scrapbooking supplies - after I realize that I might not have that much adhesive for 40 days! Although apparently it doesn't count on Sundays? We will see...

Over and out!

My happy Songs

As requested - and easier to have a list so I can refer back to it - My "Happy Songs".

• We are Family/Sister Sledge
• All I want is You/ Barry Louis Polisar
• Shiny Happy People/ REM
• Happy Hour/ Housemartins
• Everyday (Live)/ Lincoln Brewster
• Coloured People/ DC Talk
• Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)/ Robbie Seay Band
• Happy Together/ The Turtles
• Top of the World/ Carpenters
• Downtown/ Petula Clark
• Up!/ Sania Twain
• Let My Love Open the Door/ Pete Townsend
• Life's What You Make It/ Hannah Montana
• There She Goes/ The La's
• I'm A Believer/ Smash Mouth
• Walking on Sunshine/ Katrina and the Waves
• Treasure/ Tree63
• Shine/ Newsboys
• Everlasting God/ Lincoln Brewster
• God Is Great/ Hillsong
• Summertime Guys/ Nikki Cleary
• Solsbury Hill/ Erasure
• Video Killed the Radio Star/ The Buggles

I have a number more but this was my first disc to work out to. I've added a few which will have to be added later.

Stacy Julian has her jogging tunes list for her ipod on her blog and there is a great list if you google "Happy Songs". I also like to listen to podcasts and may sometime look into some ebooks. So far I haven't found my pace to be affected too much. Not enough to have a certain number of songs or cool down ones etc etc. These are just songs that make me happy and to me have a good beat. I have another list of my favourites right now which will come later.

Happy Valentines Day!

Well the decorations were up, the pink pancakes and fruity cheerios ready to go, as well as the heart shaped containers with candies set on the table... but there was little love in the air. No, it wasn't that bad. Personally I was quite pleased with the decorations - the kids helped put some up over the week and then Drew and I added a few last night to surprise them (it doesn't take much). But poor Matt was not a happy camper when he realized he had to go to play practice "ON VALENTINE"S DAY!!!??!!" It's not like he was going to miss anything (changing the beds, vacuuming, usual playtime) but he is just did not want to go. What is funny is that his behaviour/ argument was soooooo me!!! If it is not in his agenda, on his terms, he does not want to do it. Man I am feeling for Drew! No matter what we said (he wanted to make some more valentines and not have a shower), he kicked up his heels - even though he could potentially have gotten them both done. Very interesting to participate in from this side. And a learning experience for me. Unfortunately there ended up being some yelling and threatening (when you've committed to a program you attend - they are counting on you - you know...) but we were able to finish off with a tickle/ pillow fight so he left with smiles. Thank goodness! I hope the rest of the day continues along this line! It's all about the attitude and choosing the right one. I am learning. Show me the love!!!

Blessings and a HVD to you!

Mmm Brownies!

OMGoodness - these are amazing brownies! I made some last week for a dinner date with friends and had to make some for MOPS tomorrow. Melt in your mouth goodness! And it makes the house smell so yummy!

Can't wait to try these too from the same website! Doesn't the name Dreamsicle Cookies sound divine? I'll let you know!!!

Here, There and Everywhere Class

I received an email about this upcoming class. Anyone interested in doing it with me? By mentioning it here we may have a chance to win it free! Take a look and see what you think. I have a tonne of projects I'm trying to finish (to follow through on my 2009 "Intentions") but it looks good and I love the topic of travelling.... so much to do, so little time!

LOAD 2009 - Day 10!

Load 2009 is going well - We are on Day 10 and I am actually a few days ahead of myself! YEY! It feels great to actually get some scrapbooking done - especially pages that have been on the backburner for ages. Check out the group at Flickr - and one of these days I'll maybe have a slide show of them too. Such fun!

Marlee moo

As I finished up the lunch dishes today I realized that it was pretty quiet upstairs so I went to investigate (the kids have been known to demolish their rooms in minutes). As I approached I found the two on the top bunk sitting quietly. I asked Marlee what she was doing and she said "just reading". After praising them for not getting too much out she said "Come here - I want to give you something" As I got closer she leaned over and gave me a kiss. - not the lick she's been giving lately! She can just melt your heart some days!

Boomerang Waste, Skiing and Owwies

People that know me know that I care about the environment and in many ways I take it quite seriously. Obviously there is only so much that we can do but I try to do what I can. (Reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, worms, green bin etc etc - I do it). The kids school has recently initiated a concept called "Boomerang Waste" which involves taking a ziplock bag in your lunchbag and bringing home any waste that is a result of your lunch. They are trying it one day a week to start, then adding another and so on. This should significantly reduce the waste that the school generates. Great idea. I'm all for this. I guess I am struggling with why I find this an issue.

First of all, the school's recycling program is quite poor. I don't understand why their recycling varies so drastically from the local residential recycling. For quite a while they weren't getting their milk containers picked up and were considering scrapping the whole program after parents didn't like getting the empty container back in the kids lunch bags (we get get milk on Pizza Fridays a few times a month). Our local recycling takes construction paper - the school's does not. My child's classroom throws out plastic straws and other objects that go in our blue box at home. The amount of food waste that goes out, as well as paper towel and kleenex which we put in our green bin is astounding and sad.

We as a 5-person family generally put out 1 plastic grocery bag full of garbage a week. Everything else is either recycled or green binned or composted.

But back to the boomerang waste. We as a family don't really need it. We use plastic containers that get filled up daily and washed if necessary (definitely weekly). They were cheap (Dollar store) and are colour-coded for each family member. For us it works. I try to avoid the use of plastic bags after seeing the devastation they do to the environment. We even re-use all of our ziplock bags (not usually for food but for projects, toys etc). [TIP - I actually put them in the washing machine inside-out and then hang them to dry. No work!] This method sometimes takes more time - but usually not - I just have an assembly line method, and is actually cheaper - and no waste. We use a cloth lunch bag which gets thrown in the wash weekly and for some reason we don't find leaking to be an issue. We have a refillable water bottle for each child. Friends laugh at my bin of mini containers but the kids know which snacks are for which kid, it's good portion sizes and it's cheap. And I find it easy.

A typical lunch includes the following:

• water bottle
• sandwich (not for Marlee)
• dried snack x2 (teddy grahams/ fishy crackers/ ritz bits/ animal crackers/ muffin/ loaf/ bear paw - no wrapper)
• "wet" snack x2 (cut apple/ grapes/ clementine/ melon)
• yogurt in container
• Veggies (carrots/ celery/ cucumber with dip)

So conclusion? A great idea, although the use of the plastic bag concerns me - and bottom line - I hope that the idea behind it will catch on and that families will be more creative with their packing. It can be done!

Skiing and Owwies

Seeing Marlee today reminded me of her weekend. We were all able to go skiing on Sunday - and the weather was so nice that we stayed for another hour after the lessons. Marlee went down the family hill 3 times! It was really nice to actually ski as a family - it was our first time!

It wasn't without incident though! Halfway down her second time she got a little tired so Drew tucked her between his legs to guide her down. I guess he caught an edge and in trying to avoid damage actually landed on top of her. From behind it was quite the sight! She was a trooper and only has a bump on her lip and her eye to show for it. She was up and ready to go again. Drew was a little worse for wear (just his fatherly pride) but the next run was her best yet. And now she has another photo to add to her Owwie book.

An Amazing Day!

Wow - an amazing day! First of all the sun was shining - it has seemed a little grey the last while but it was so crisp and clear today! Loved setting off for school this way.


Second of all I got to spend the whole morning skiing! This was my first time sort of going on my own (without family). One of Matt's friends moms has been asking me to go and I was finally free. We got 13 runs in - the lines were awesome and we just had a nice time chatting. My toes even got cold at the same time so it was perfect for a break.


Thirdly - Immediately after skiing (a bit of a rush to get there) I was able to volunteer with Matt's class at the local skating rink. We had so much fun! I forgot to take off my skate guard so I pretty much wiped out getting on the rink - woops! Matt is no where near the level of skating as a number of his friends but he was so full of laughs! He spent just as much time on the ground as he did skating but it was so much fun! And LOTS of volunteers! I love that about our school - a lot of parent participation. I'd say it was even today between moms and dads! I then headed home and was actually choked up with thanks that I was able to help out! I am so thankful that I am able to get to know the kids friends and be able to stay at home for this time. It truly is a blessing! I pulled up to the house as C was trying to get in. Thank goodness they didn't head back to the school!






Matt wanted a picture of his bottom!


Fourthly - I was reading my book and they talked about their grandparents - and I was immediately moved to call Grandma. I've meant to so many times over the last week but it has always been inconvenient - usually too late! I'm so glad I did. Grandpa slept right through their visit today and I can tell that she was really down. She is also in a lot of pain from her fall which is just really hard. I do wish that we were closer geographically! It would be so neat to have them at the retirement home around the corner!


Fifthly - Matt and Marlee were picked up after school by J for their weekly date so C and I could go to her eye appointment. All is well there too - no changes - and so much easier without the kids with us.


And Sixthly? C's 1:1 worker called in sick and wasn't able to take her to WEB today so I decided to take her - and it was snow tubing night! We did 5 runs for $10 before we came in for snacks. What fun - again VERY brisk but so worth it!

Oh and - I finished my book!


It was a great read - pretty quick and a little unexpected. I love the show but was much more impressed with them as a couple after reading the book. Kate was quite honest and heartfelt and their love for the Lord is totally evident. So many times I have likened our relationship to theirs- lots of banter and bickering but such a deep love. It was nice to hear her side of it.

I've been getting my LOAD pages done - (still trying to figure out how to have a separate "album" within the blog - haven't read about it yet)!

SOOOO - all in all a great day but I am ready for bed!

January 2009 Recap

31 days done, 334 to go!One month done! So far I have managed to take a photo a day. Check them out here! It has been a little harder some days than others but I'm impressed so far that we have done it. The kids are even into it and because of that some days it has been hard to choose only one.

So welcome February!

A brief recap of January:

Celebrations/ Events to Remember:
- Ralph's funeral (5th)
- President Obama inauguration (19th)
- Creation.com seminar (31st)
- Colt's game (31st)

Movies watched:
- Dark Knight
- Fireproof
- I Am David
- Amistad
- Paradise Road

Another weekend going going!

Wow another week has passed. This blogging is a little more difficult to keep up with then I imagined -especially with the 365 days one gong on too. It's not like there isn't anythign to say but finding the time...

I mentioned to Drew that I signed up for an online challenge to create 28 scrapbook layouts in 28 days (the month of February) see here for more information. He thinks I'm insane. But I honestly find that I can be more productive when I have a challenge. So here's to the LOAD challenge (I will be posting the layouts here too). And I will also share tomorrow (hopefully) about the seminar Drew and I went to today about Creation and Evolution. For some clues you can visit here. Very powerful stuff.

Tomorrow promises to be a very full day with church, errands and then Drew is hosting a superbowl party for the men and I get to take the kids skiing - by myself. No sorry, my IL are helping too thank goodness!

Oh and did I mention more snow? Maybe 50 cm by Tuesday?

Til tomorrow.