Monday Mix

I thought that most companies would offer today as the stat holiday rather than tomorrow but I was wrong. Poor Ian had to head into the office today.

Being that Sam was so sick yesterday I tried to keep him as quiet as I could. We all stayed in our pjs until almost 3pm! What a great, lazy day.

When Ian came home he took the children to Toys R Us so that Sam could pick out something with his birthday money. He seemed fine when he left, but the trip seemed to have tired him out. Ian set him up in his room with a movie, then he headed out to see the movie Wanted.

I don't want to see that movie even though it sounds awesome. Why? Because Angelina Jolie is in it and I don't like her. I don't think she is a particularly good actress and she just all around bothers me. And yes, I am bothered that she broke up Brad and Jen.

I missed Canadian Idol tonight but I think I set our PVR to tape it. It's not as good as American Idol but it's all that's on these days.

I actually caught the tail end of The Bachelor: The Men Tell All. Man, that Deanna has zero tact. Still... I will be there next Monday when she breaks some dude's heart. That show is disgusting, but I watch it anyway.

I used to watch it while on msn with my friend Dawn and we would just die laughing at some of the craziness that went on. Our favourite part was when they would hand out the roses, and then there'd be only one rose left and the host of the show would come out and say "Ladies... this is the last rose of the evening". We'd laugh every time.

I'm off to bed.. I'm pooped.

First BBQ of the Year!

Sam was feeling even worse today. He was running a fever and was throwing up. We kept him as quiet as we could all day.

Ian's parents came to visit on their way to house-sit for Ian's sister. It was a short visit and poor Sam was out of it for the whole thing. Ian's mom sewed a new insert for our highchair and brought it down. It's really cute and the fit is perfect.



The girls and I went over to my mother's for a Canada Day bbq. Sam was so sad that he had to miss it, but he was just in no shape to leave the house at all.

My aunt and her husband were there, as well as my other aunt and my nephew. I love bbqs and all the salads... yum. It was a really nice visit.

Sam seemed much better when we got home which was a great relief to see. He tends to bounce back from these things pretty quickly. Lucky him!

Stuff on Saturday

We didn't get to have our yard sale today because it rained. Oh well... hopefully next Saturday will be sunny and bright and bring lots of people.

While Ian does the yard sale, I will set the children up with their lemonade stand. Ian gets all sorts of crazy deals for stuff and one of his favourite websites is called RedFlagDeals.com. It was there that he found a place that was sending out full sized cardboard lemonade stands for free, so he ordered one. I can't wait to see my little ones selling lemonade on the sidewalk.

We packed up and headed to the library. We signed out about 20 books! Julie and I got laughing so hard at one point I thought we would be asked to leave.

After the library we headed to the mall to have lunch and poke around. I needed to pick up some plastic cutlery for Sam's birthday party this afternoon.

Sam's party was from 4-6pm and was a great success. Ian introduced him to laser tag a couple of months ago and now Sam has his own membership at Laser Quest.

Here is Ian and Sam heading in to kick some butt...



Sam chose an Indiana Jones themed cake and it turned out really good!



This is the topper that went on it. Run Indy..RUN!



I hope he blew across and not directly down...



Ian's best friend Gary joined the part for the second game and came back to our place after. He and Ian took the children for a walk to Walmart and shortly after they returned Sam said he had a headache and wasn't feeling well.

He and I curled up in my bed together and I read to him from a Choose Your Own Adventure book while he lay quietly. Eventually Ian carried him to his own bed.

I hope he's feeling better tomorrow...

First Day Of Summer Vacation

We had a GREAT time together today. The children and I headed out to buy the birthday party supplies for Sam's friend party tomorrow afternoon. He chose Iron Man decorations. Jordan was quite fussy today and cried all throughout the store. I think the gentleman in line in front of me felt sorry for me because he let me go ahead of him. Very kind. Now all I need is for her to pull that at Walmart... just THINK of how quickly I could get out of there sometimes!

Next stop... order the cake. Sam's first choice was a Wall-E cake, but the toys they put on top were sold out. Honestly! The movie only started today! The bakery lady was a SAINT because she was going back and forth, bringing out toppers for different cakes. Sam kept saying "whatever...whatever" because he was worried the woman was getting cross with me. She was pretty crusty when we got started but amazingly enough, she was very kind at the end, and very into making sure Sam had what he wanted. He chose an Indiana Jones themed cake. I am very excited about it because birthday cake makes me very happy. It's one of my most favourite things ever.

After we placed the cake order we went for ice cream and played a guessing game. We choose something then have to say if it's from the bird family, reptile family, cat family, etc. After we guess for a bit we get one hint. I couldn't believe how much fun we had with this simple game! After awhile we were laughing so hard that a woman at the next table joined in on our game.

On our way home we stopped at the park for the children to play and I visited with my neighbour. Well.. ex-neighbour now. They moved out this week. Boo. I know I will still stay in touch with them through the wonderful tool of Facebook and email, but still. I hate to say goodbye. I wish them only good things.

Once we got home we hung around outside and decided to chalk up the driveway to surprise Ian when he came home. I am not one for kids games but when it comes to sidewalk chalk I am ALL OVER IT.

The children drew pictures of their pets, both past and present.






Shadow, Sam's new guinea pig...



Julie's hamster, Gabriella...



The family cat, Max...



Our cat Seven, which passed away last year. They always draw him and the caption is always the same..."Seven in Heaven"...



Some miscellaneous artwork...some is mine :-)













Julie was hard at work on her self portrait...







Sam got playing with Julie's scooter but wouldn't let me take a turn. Boo.



Then he got hot and went inside...



After baths they worked on signs for our yard sale tomorrow...






And then they were off to bed!

Here is a pic I got of them on the porch...



And my final pic is a follow up to my earlier post about my neighbours across the street and the story of their lawns... one re-seeded, one re-sodded... why didn't they work together?

Well.. apparently they water separately too!!



That's all for today... big plans scheduled for tomorrow!

~ Kate

Summer Has Begun!

Today was yet another great day. I had time for a shower AND washed my hair - a great indicator of things to come for the day!

I walked the children to school for the last time then walked around to the front to see their kindergarten teacher and show her the baby. After extracting a promise from her to stay for another four years to teach Jordan I moved on to visit with the school secretary and then wandered the halls looking through Lost And Found boxes for Julie's lost Hannah Montana jacket which was not to be found. I was really grossed out at the smell of these boxes. One of them had soggy mittens and hats at the bottom. Yikes. Apparently all items unclaimed by the end of the day would be going to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Well.. good luck to them, I say. I don't know what they will do with soggy mittens and hats.

While I was roaming the halls I came across this poster and just loved it.



What a great poster.

Instead of taking my usual route for my walk with Jordan, I decided to shake things up because I'm crazy like that. We went through a park and I was amazed at the number of children that were there playing. Must have been about 6-10 caregivers and about 50 children. They were squealing and laughing and the air was so warm and smelled of sunscreen. Ahh... summer has begun.

I spent some time talking with some of the ladies there because apparently I have no problem talking to strangers. Man, I can talk to anybody. One of them used to be my mom's neighbour and the other was someone I knew from when Jules was in Sparks a year ago.

I took Jordan back to the doctor in the early afternoon for a follow up to her follow up xray. He said the xray was clear and it appears that she didn't have pneumonia at all, that the original xray was misread. Oh well, better to err on the side of caution. She was so pooped after her appointment. Here she is in her little mini-skirt.



Everything was ready for the children for their year end party.



I was so excited for them to arrive after school. Jordan woke up from her nap to wait too.



Oh look... here they come!







Mom gave them each a gift for passing.





Tonight I went out for dinner with my friend Cindy. We headed over to Kelsey's and stayed for 3 hours and 10 minutes! Lots of great conversation and laughs. She is such a funny lady and I love spending time with her. I don't know why we don't do it more often. We've since decided to get together once a month going forward.

I'm sorry... I didn't bring my camera to dinner so I can't post pictures of my friend, nor can I show you the delicious quesadillas and nachos that we scarfed down, or the incredible desserts that followed. Trust me... they were very, very tasty.

Tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation. I'd better come up with something fun to do! ;-)

~ Kate

Wacky Wednesday

I had a lovely day at home alone with Jordan today. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the children so I wanted this last day with her, just the two of us.

She was so happy when she woke up this morning and I don't blame her! She went to sleep just before 9pm then didn't wake until 4:30. I fed her and she slept until 6:30 and woke looking for her pacifier. That put her back to sleep until almost 8am!

She makes such adorable cooing noises and smiles all the time. We cuddled all day and had a lovely nap together in my favourite recliner.

I had hot dogs for lunch. Not noteworthy in itself, but I just had to write about these freaky buns I bought. The regular buns were all sold out (how does that happen??) so I was forced to buy these if I wanted to have my beloved hot dogs...



That's a weird looking bun, don't you think? Here, look closer...



My wiener wouldn't sit properly in this fancy shmancy bun. And here's another complaint about it... it doesn't come out of the bag as a single bun. Oh no... it comes out as a loaf and you have to peel off two parts and HOPE they stay together to form said fancy bun. It doesn't often happen that way. So what I am left with is long strips of bread that are too narrow to make a sandwich out of.

I hope the ducks at the park are hungry because guess what they're getting for lunch the next time we visit??

Sam and Julie came home full of excitement about their report cards. I was really proud of them! Each one came to snuggle next to me as I read their grades and comments out loud and praised them for their hard work. They were just beaming.

I always remember the last day of school. Not because of my report cards, or sadness (and sometimes relief!) at not seeing my classmates for the summer. But because every year, without fail, my mom would be waiting on our front porch with a cold pitcher of kool-aid and enough glasses for all of my friends. She would listen to us squealing and talking over one another about our final report cards and plans for the summer all the while pouring glass after glass of kool-aid. Every single year she did this.

So, tomorrow afternoon, she and I will sit on her front porch with a big, cold pitcher of kool-aid and await the children after school. I can't wait.

Our plan was to make Rice Krispy Squares this afternoon. The directions are on every single Rice Krispy box so it shouldn't be too hard. But it was because do you know where I found the recipe? INSIDE THE BOX. Weird.

Sam was all excited to make these so he cracked out his apron. There used to be two of them but one is MIA and now they fight over this one. Sometimes one will hide it from the other in case they "steal" it. I have often thought about asking my mother-in-law to sew a couple for them so this war can end and this lone apron can be set free.

Anyway, here he is...



In case you are wondering, yes... he is wearing his pjs in this picture. Right after we went over his report card he ran a bubble bath for himself and came down with his pjs on. It helps him to relax, or so he tells me.



I don't think Rice Krispy Squares are supposed to be hard to make but this batch was. Man, my arm was tired from all that stirring so I just stopped adding any more cereal. I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Here is the finished product...



They look good, don't they? Well don't be fooled. They're harder than a rock.

Julie wanted to bake something as well so we made Skor Squares.



There's a point where you really have to get your hands in there to make sure everything gets mixed together well. Better she do it then me! ;-)



And voila! The finished product...



If you are ever going anywhere and want or need to take a little something to share, this is a fail safe recipe and SO easy to make. How easy, you ask? Well.. check this out..

1 Box of Ritz Crackers
1 Pkg of Skor chips
1 Can of Condensed Milk

Step One ~ crush the entire box of Ritz Crackers into tiny pieces
Step Two ~ mix in the entire package of Skor chips
Step Three ~ stir in the can of condensed milk

Mix well, then press into a square baking pan and bake them at 350 for 20 minutes.

YUM! Easy Peasy.

See ya tomorrow!

~ Kate

PS: I think I might have spelled Krispy wrong and I am too lazy to change it. :-)

Fun Times

Today I let the children cut school today because I'm cool like that. We had originally planned to go to the beach but it was pretty chilly this morning so we chose to just have a relaxing day instead. Sam made lunch for us today and then we headed out to the park so the children could burn some energy.

Being that school hasn't let out yet we had the park to ourselves which was nice. The landscapers had been there this morning so everything had been swept and raked and looked all new.

We had such a good time together and laughed as I made up "challenges" for them to do. I'd have them start at the bench, then run to the edge of the park, then around the equipment twice then back to the bench again. Or I'd have them walk around the park backwards and every time I yelled "stop!" they'd have to stop and tell me something they liked about themselves. They really enjoyed having more and more things added to the challenges to test their memories. We were pooped when we got home.

We sat on the front porch and talked for a bit. Julie found two potato bugs trapped in a spider's web. We were able to free one of them but it was too late for the other one. It sparked a great conversation about God's smallest creatures and how He loved them too.

Julie decided yesterday that she wanted to get her ears pierced. I couldn't imagine how that would play out because I think she is the only person on the planet with a lower pain tolerance than me. Nowadays they do a "tandem piercing" which is when two people do the piercing at the same time. What a novel idea. Back in the day you got it one at a time and it was brutal. I didn't get mine done until I was 14 and I cried like a baby before we even got started. I'm not talking a nice, nervous, single tear type cry. I'm talking heaving sobs and lots of snot.

I guess I had been asking Julie too many times if she was sure she wanted to go through with it because this is the look I got. I didn't ask again.



She was practically dancing through the parking lot on the way into the mall because she was so excited. Once we entered the store she started saying "I'm really nervous..." over and over. I felt myself choking up because I knew it was going to hurt and she is so small...

She selected lovely little pink studs and went to "the chair" to get ready.



The ladies doing the piercing were really good and very in tune with each other and Julie's anxiety. I barely had time to get my camera ready! It happened so fast she didn't even know what hit her.



She was in shock for a few seconds. Then the pain kicked in and she had this "what the HECK!?!?" look on her face.



The tears came soon after and she needed some cuddles. And to tell us off.



She didn't want to listen to the instructions on how to care for her ears but she did it anyway, crying the whole time.



She refused to talk about how it went and seemed to be really crusty about it. She didn't know it would hurt "that much". It didn't matter how many times we told her the pain would subside within a half hour....she wasn't having any of it. She was pretty cross.

She wanted to go to the food court to "celebrate" and chose to eat at A & W.



It hit me just how obsessed I am with this blog when I asked Ian to snap a pic of the A & W counter. I love that guy so much. He just "gets" me, endless quirks and all.

"This is the best hot dog I've ever eaten!" she said. I guess the ear-issue was working itself out.



Yep... it's all good and she was her happy self again.



And a pic of us together.



I am more than a little annoyed at Walmart. We live near the most disgusting and rude Walmart ever built. But that can be a post all in itself which I will save for a day when I have raging PMS and need something to vent about. The reason why I am annoyed with them TODAY is that they are selling the highchair that matches the pattern on my carseat and stroller for TWICE the price of what the US is selling it for. I priced it online but it I didn't realize it was on the US website and had been working on Ian about it all day. I am so disappointed. Its so pretty and even though we certainly don't "need" it... I really "want" it.

Isn't it lovely?





Ahh well. I can't justify the expense, not when we have a high chair from the children's days. Maybe if I win the lottery.

Here is my carseat and stroller.



Maybe if I tell Walmart about how I am practically selling this set for them they will knock down the price of my beloved high chair as a thank you. I'll get right on that.

Well, enough dreaming. The children are all tucked in their beds sleeping and Ian is out like a light on the couch. I'm going to head up myself because every night I've been up until after midnight to do Jordan's last feeding so that Ian can sleep and try to beat the cold he has. Poor guy.

That's all for today.

~ Kate