April 2011 Recap

It’s time to recap all that has happened during the month of April. Hopefully I'll get a page or an update on specifics somewhere along the line as well.

Why do I do this? First of all my memory is terrible and often find myself wondering when such and such happened. Second of all I love lists and information. Third of all I believe I am a type A personality. Enough said.

Here's a look at our month:
Books, Magazines, Blogs read:
· Poisonwood Bible (audio book) – very interesting book. I have to say that I had no idea of the premise of the book and was therefore quite shocked by the end of it. I find it similar to our own nations treatment of Native Canadians.
· Happiness Project (book) – LOVED this. So much of what she said rang true with me. I believe we are of a similar temperament. This was extremely timely for me with my “One Little Word” being joy as the two are often used interchangeably. I found lots of things that I can use for this journey. Her website is also a great source of information. The biggest thing that she learned and I happen to believe works for me as well is the accountability – lists, charts, check-offs. If I want to set a goal I need to have a daily, visual reminder of it and check off my accomplishments.
· Life Artist by Ali Edwards (book) – LOVED this too. I love her vision of instead of just being a scrapbooker, we are life artists. That works with me. She has an amazing outlook on life and a lot of incredible projects that will be put on my someday list. I love her clean and simple style that usually celebrates everyday life.
· I found time of course for my top 10 blogs and am always getting rerouted to new interesting ones too.

TV, Movies, Live Entertainment:
· Not a lot of TV this month – Being Erica, Arrested Development
· Blue Jays game – Rogers Stadium with small group families (3rd)
· Fashion Show/ Silent Auction for work (28th)

Special Events:
· Blue Jays game (3rd)
· Out for dinner with G’s (Tattingers) (5th)
· Cierra attended a bday party at Retro Planet (8th)
· Matt had a craft bee and barn dance at school (12th)
· Adult Drama at church (16th weekend)
· Travel to see Sarah, John and Macy (22nd – 27th)

Travel:
· Travelled to see Sarah, John and Macy in South Carolina (went through PA, OH, VA, WV, TE, NC, SC, Maryland****). We had a great time although it was way too short. We are obviously not good at predicting travelling distances. 2 days to get there, 2 days there and 2 days to get back. Next time we'll have to stay longer. The travelling was great - lots to see and do - travel BINGO was a huge hit. We also tried to stay at restaurants rather than fast food places and also allow for some down time in the evening at nicer hotels with pools and fitness rooms, sot his all added to our travel time. While we were there we celebrated Easter at their church with a big pancake breakfast, took in a boat ride with John's relatives, explored their neighbourhood and relaxed. The drive home was a tad more rushed as we took larger motorways but it was still scenic and the kids tolerated it well. With a little more organization around home daycare I could see this becoming a yearly event??? The weather was certainly more inviting to say nothing about the chance to visit with family.

Financial/ changes to the house etc.: (gifts, renos, big purchases, household purchases)
· Cierra gave a movie gift certificate for her friends birthday
· Made a dinner for parents for the 3rd time P’s
· Money towards hockey equipment for Samantha’s 9th birthday

Health/ Exercise: (health, extra curricular activities, development)
Drew: running and basketball
Alison: exercise, *
Cierra: *
Matt: power skating; ball hockey; baseball
Marlee: n/a
Mitchell: 22lbs-6oz; 2 needles (no crying!)(12th); standing independently, not making steps though; EC – exerting his independence – not wanting to sit still much so we are in diapers much more right now – using about 40/wk; making a lot of grunting noises for communicating – very little signs although we do understand him; sleeping fairly similar to last month; did very well on travel – generally a 3-4hr schedule for us all.

Accomplishments/ Disappointments (Goals): (Gotta Do’s, Wanna do’s; Projects - OLW etc)
Gotta Do’s
· #33 - Restaurants – Tattingers (5th); West Wing (12th)
· #100 - New USA states – West Virginia;
· #62 - Collect faucet “run-off”
OLW – trying to get caught up on the prompts and actually put them together


All Around Us/ Other (News, Trends Etc): births, deaths, world events, city news,
P family had their healthy baby girl!