Happy St Patty's Day!

Did everyone have a good St Patty's Day? I can't say that I have thought too much of this holiday a lot in the past (Other than going out for a green beer at the local Irish pub downtown)but it is certainly more fun with the kids around. When they are around. It seems that it always falls on March Break and this time they were at a sleepover and then a movie with family. But I celebrated quietly by myself until everyone got together for dinner.

We've been green for about a week

- using subway art from here,

and some self made photo creations to liven up the place.

We aren't much on "luck" - we prefer to think of ourselves as blessed so I re-worked a few ideas for display. I created a beatitudes display but ran out of printer ink so it will have to wait for next year. I was going to print it at the church but the fonts got all mucked up. I need to learn how to make it a pdf or something.

Dinner was quite festive though I must say. The table was all decked out in green,

I wore my green wig and clothes and we had green food. The menu included:

• green mashed potatoes
  
• green broccoli
  
• green peas
  
• ham (couldn't make it green but I have an idea for ground beef next year)
  
• chocolate mint chipit ice cream
  
• lime jello with whipped cream

I did a quick reading on the history of St Patrick and why it is celebrated today. I love that we can celebrate a simple holiday with a simple Christian message.

The kids also got a goody bag with tattoos, St Patrick's Day buttons, green shoestring licorice, green mini marshmallows, green jelly bellys and mint Aero chocolate bars. They were a big hit. Simple and sweet!

Go Green!

Owl's Head

We had a great time in Owl's Head over the weekend. We met up with our friend's the H's at Tim Horton's and got on the road by 8:30am. Mitchell did awesome and our first stop was near Port Hope on the 401.

Matt helped keep Mitchell entertained here and there with the ipod.

We arrived late afternoon and settled in. The accommodations were great for us.

It was a multi-suite chalet where our suite had three rooms and a common area with a kitchen.

We were able to sign out the hot tub for 1/2 hour increments each day for our family. They were definitely dated and the carpet was icky. There also wasn't any Internet connection (for 3 days!!!) But the best part?

You walk out the front door, cross the street and the hill was there.

Right there. Skis on, zip down a few feet and get on the chair lift and you're off. On Saturday Marlee wanted to finish off her run and I convinced her to do 2 more runs before she had to go to the bathroom. Best thing? I just called Drew and he came to the door and picked her up. I then went on to do 2 more runs - zip - zip and the chair lift closed and I walked back in the door. Very cool.

So we spent Friday and Saturday skiing. And making meals. And conversing with our friends. We learned to play UNO spin. We watched some old movies on TV. We laughed at Mitchell. We played with the H's 'dogs'. We made numerous trips to the local grocery store (if you can call it that). We had a blast.


Stay tuned for Sunday's timeline...

Chillin'

So I'm supposed to be posting about our trip away but instead I'm chillin' with my man watchin' Parenthood. Laughing. Laughing. Gasps of shock. More laughter. Enjoying. Good acting. Good times. We're really enjoying the quality of this show.

March Good Food Box

I almost missed this one! I realized at 5:10 that this was the 3rd Tuesday of the month and I hadn't checked the dates. Sure enough, it was today - and it figures I was already out and could have picked it up. We quickly got bundled up and got there with just minutes to spare.

Here is what we got for $10:

• 10 lb bag of red potatoes
• 1 large cabbage (yikes - I still haven't used mine from last month [yes it is still good], I put some in the butternut squash soup which worked well but I'm scrambling for ideas that my family will eat - there is only so much freezer room!)
• 1 2lb bag onions
• 2 small oranges
• 3 delicious apples
• 1 small bag snap peas
• 1 head of broccoli
• 2 turnip (real turnip not the rutabaga one)

Again, the great part of the Good Food Box is that you purchase it in advance (when you have cash) and you pick it up on the third Tuesday of each month (when your cash may be getting low). This is located in a downtown location on the bus route and is aimed to help those may have financial difficulty towards the end of the month and gives good nutritious, fresh food. The more who buy into it, the more spending power they have and the more variety or quantity is provided. All in all a win-win situation. It is definitely worth $10 (small version).

We're back!

It is 11:00pm and this is what I am facing.

We got back at 8:20pm after a whirlwind long weekend away to Owl's Head, the US and Kingston. I already have most of the van emptied, one load of laundry done, another load just about to go. The kids are asleep (Mitchell got up twice since), I've checked in with mom and now that I've caught up on my favourite blogs (no Internet access for 4 days!!!) I am about ready to get tidied up. Oh yes, and Drew was called out to work at 9pm. Did I mention that I like to come home to a tidy house? It makes coming home such a welcome sight. It also makes the dreaded activity of putting away our travel gear that much more encouraging. I want to keep the house tidy and welcome for the morning.

So here I go.

It is now 11:47 and short of putting the kids bags straight into the laundry, we are unpacked and ready to go in the morning. And then I can discuss our trip away. Til then!

February 2011 Recap

So 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: Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Ann Krauss Rosenthal. It was a good read. It wasn’t exactly as I thought it would be. I had heard about this through the scrapbooking world and Cathy Zielske has put together a class called ME: The Abridged Version following a similar format of writing about yourself through the alphabet. I plan on creating my own album – The Alphabet of Me and this gave me a lot good ideas.

I am reading The Happiness Project; Creating Keepsakes; Us; my top 10 blogs I read

TV, Movies, Live Entertainment: The Office (Rogers on Demand); Parenthood (internet); Modern Family (internet); Justified (Netflix); High School Musical 3; Nanny Diaries; King Corn (interlibrary loan); Astronaut’s Wife (Netflix); Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (DVD); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (live at Gryphon Theatre)(19th);

Special Events: Barrilicious – Herb ‘n Sage (2nd); Fud Grill* (4th); Painter’s Hall* (10th)
Ladies Banquet (5th)
Cierra – assessment (7th)
Surprise 40th Bday party for BV (12th)
Helped friend who had to go to hospital in early am (15th)
Dinner with R&BV at at the Five (17th)
Lost Brian C (church) due to a heart attack (19th)
Walked across the lake (21st) *
Funeral for BC (23rd)
ipad replaced as the battery died (24th)
Safe church training (24th)
Lunch with Kristy at Radio Café (25th)*
Dad and Son Hockey game (26th)

Travel: went to see Samantha play hockey in Keswick

Financial/ changes to the house etc.: n/a

Health/ Exercise: skiing as a family weekly; skating as a familyDrew: running, basketball, hockey game
Alison: some running and indoor exercise; still working on my wart =(
Cierra: some coughing; other; snowshoeing with school
Matt: power skating; hockey
Marlee: eye doctor appointment (7th); chicken pox (10th-14th)! She missed 3 days of school and had about 40 pox? She had very little itching and did amazing.
Mitchell: got his 8th tooth; 11 months old

Accomplishments/ Disappointments (Goals): completed LOAD211 (28 layouts in 28 days); some of OLW; some of Yesterday & Today; *’d items - Gotta Do’s and Wanna Do’s list

All Around Us/ Other (News, Trends Etc): “Oiy" ( a Marlee-ism)

LOAD recap

I think this was my best LOAD yet! I think I followed more prompts than ever and did more on my TO DO list than ever too! Win-win-win!

Here is my summary:
28 layouts
12 dbl page payouts/ 16 single page layouts
23 12x12 layouts
1 8x8 layout
4 8.5x11 layouts
3 digital layouts

2 for Yesterday & Today class
1 for Halloween Album
2 for camp album
2 for prof'l photo album
2 for Christmas card album
1 for birthday album
1 for cottage album

Tonnes of inspiration and
too many photos to count!

Job well done and I can't wait until May to get scrappin' again!