Pictures

I finally uploaded a couple of pictures I had on my camera to share with you.

This is the biggest potato I have ever seen. Imagine my surprise when I opened the bag and pulled this huge one out. They were all pretty much steroid infused potatoes in that bag.



Yes, dinner was on hold so I could locate the camera and take a picture of it. Hmm...is that dedication or just plain sad?

I had posted here about winning a contest over at Bring The Rain. The prize was a custom made doll from Baby Be Blessed and she finally arrived on Family Day.

Presenting....Lucy!



I got to choose everything: hair colour, skin tone, clothes and best of all...the bible verse on Lucy's tummy...



I love this verse and it's so fitting for our Julie. We are always telling her she is a bright light that shines. She has been sleeping with her every night. I am amazed at the detail that was put into this doll.

Re-reading this verse I just have to say, I love the name Matthew. If I were to have another son that's what I would want to name him. It rolls off the tongue so nicely and all the Matthews I have known in my life so far (which are probably only about five) have been such nice people. Well, except for the one who is serving a life sentence in jail. I guess he wasn't so nice. Hmm...make that four nice Matthews I have known.

BUT I digress...

We are all sick in some form or another in this house. Sam and Jules haven't been to school at all this week and its highly likely that they won't be there tomorrow either. Jordan's cold has been lingering the longest and while I'm not one of those moms that rush to the doctor for every single thing, if it keeps up much longer I will definitely take her in. She's been tugging on her ears in the last couple of days, so my first thought was an ear infection, but it seems to indicate she is tired because she falls over asleep right after. Last night she slept through the night and I was so grateful for the full night's sleep she had.

Ian put her in his jacuzzi tub last night and we got these pictures.

Poor little thing...doesn't she look sick??



And he taught her to splash! So much for quickie baths in the kitchen sink!



These last couple of days have been exciting ones, and I have something I want to share, but I need to wait a little longer. Hopefully I will be able to share it with you soon!

Looking Up

I have been feeling better emotionally these last couple of days and for that I'm grateful. Lots of spiritual attack going on here in the last week. I'll tell you more about that when I get more time.

The children have all been knocked out with colds the last couple of days with Jordan being affected the worst. Poor little girl. She can't sleep and won't eat, doesn't want to be held but doesn't want to play either. She doesn't know what she wants. Jules and Sam missed school yesterday and today. Ian and I both have it, so the germs are a-flyin' at my place.

Hard to believe Jordan will be a year old next month. What a beautiful year this has been with her. She was so worth the wait. And Julie will be 8... sigh. I love having children and they are so wonderful, but its almost unfair how quickly they grow up.

My big thrill of the day is the deal I got on toilet paper: 30 rolls of Cottonelle for $5.44. I bought three packages so I have 90 rolls of tp. Who'd be without?

That's it for now. Jordan needs a cuddle...

Checking In

Not much to say these days. Feeling really down and anxious.

Nothing new to report.

End of the Weekend

I enjoyed this past weekend and was sad to have it end.

We all played Mario Kart on our Wii on Saturday afternoon and as I predicted, I sucked. I don't think there is anyone on the planet that sucks more at that game than I do. My friends Karin and Karen want me to play with them. I think I'll save myself the embarrassment...sorry ladies!

I made dinner for Ian and me once the children were in bed and we had a picnic on the living room floor and watched Fireproof. EXCELLENT movie. Ugh I cannot tell you how awesome this movie is. Our church was showing it the same night, but we stayed home.

Sunday we got up to go to the early service at church and the sermon was based on the movie, so that was really nice. I'm glad they didn't show this fantastic marriage tool - and it really is! - and then just leave everyone hanging. In the afternoon the children and I visited with my mother and sister while Ian was at a magic show.

After dinner I went to see Friday the 13th with Cindy & Jen and few others. It was crazy packed there and of course I screamed like a little girl at everything. It's very true to the old-style versions, but it wasn't a remake or a continuation. It was just a Jason Movie. Afterwards Cindy, Jen and I met up for coffee.

By now I think you know that "coffee" is a code word for "frosty".

Monday was Family Day. This is the second year we've had this statutory holiday and it causes such distress for so many industries, because they don't get to take part in it. It was an election promise - "vote for us and we'll give you an extra long weekend in February". Ian and I thought it was so familiar to high school..."vote for me and I'll put grape juice in all the water fountains!!"

Ian let me sleep in until (triple gasp!!!) 1pm. I NEVER sleep that late. Sleeping in at our house is 9am. I felt so lazy but I loved it. We headed over to my mother's for dinner to celebrate Family Day. I baked a cake and put fresh strawberries on top, and also baked her some Skor Squares which she absolutely loves. Dinner was lovely with lots of laughter and crazy stories. I hated to leave, but the children had school today.

I dropped them off at school this morning then went to visit my mom again to help her with a few things, but she was sleeping when I arrived, so I just read the paper at the kitchen table until she woke up. She isn't sleeping well and she is still in pain. My heart aches because I can't help her. It's really a horrible feeling watching a parent suffer. I hate feeling so helpless.

I watched The Bachelor last night and was shocked that he sent Jillian home. SHOCKED! I hope he picks Melissa in the end. Things are heating up...

No news on the employment front. Trying to stay positive but it's hard.

That's all my thrilling news for today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Interesting Day

Today started off pretty uneventfully. I dropped the children off at the properly flowing kiss-n-ride on time and enjoyed the volunteer's polite show of surprise at the contents of my messy van.

Next stop was Walmart. I wanted to pick up a few things for the children for Valentine's Day and figured that it wouldn't be too busy at 9am.

WRONG.

The aisle with all the Valentines stuff was packed. Honestly...talk about leaving their shopping to the last minute. They were like animals.

Oh..wait a minute...I left my shopping to the last minute. Oops. My bad.

Once I found the things I wanted, Jordan and I headed over to the card section. There were five of us ladies standing there, checking them out, when I heard someone sniffling. I didn't pay too much attention until I heard her start to cry. One by one, we all looked at her. She said that today wasn't the best day to be looking at these cards. Then she announced, "I have PMS."

We all responded with "Aww... yeah....I'm sorry to hear that..." All which made her cry harder. I patted her arm while another lady rubbed her back. Then... the switch. "He's lucky to be getting a card at all considering I have PMS!!" She barked. One lady agreed heartily with a "Mmmhmm...you know you got that right, honey!" With that, PMS lady left us.

Jordan and I then headed to A&P to do our grocery shopping. To my surprise, boneless chicken breasts were on sale. I was choosing the ones that I wanted when out comes Meat Guy. He says "I see you're checking out my chicken". I reply with "I see you have it on sale". Yes.. I really am that witty. He suggested that I buy a family pack to save money. Then he just stood in front of my cart smiling at me.

Awkward...

Cindy picked me up at 12:30 and we headed to Costco and then to get our hair done. We were coming off the highway when we saw a man standing at the very corner by the lights, holding a sign. I felt my heart sink and asked Cindy what the sign said. The light turned green and as we drove through the intersection we read it.

Hungry
Need money for food
God Bless you

I started to cry. Cindy turned her car around and we headed back. She gave me her $5 US and all the change from her wallet and ashtray. I emptied my change purse and she pulled over. I walked over to him and when he turned to me he looked right into my eyes. They were so sad. I put the money in his hand and said that I wished it was more. The next thing I knew, we were hugging each other. I told him, "God loves you. He hasn't forgotten you."

My heart hurts for this man. The thought of him standing there, all afternoon in the cold, while car after car passed him by, just broke my heart. His cardboard sign made me think of the cardboard testimonies my church did. I am praying that one day his sign will be flipped over and will reveal God's goodness and faithfulness in this man's life.

I tried a new hair stylist today and she.was.wonderful! 2 1/2 hours of bliss I tell you. Not only did she colour my hair beautifully, she also gave me a heavenly scalp massage. I could have sat there all day! Thanks for the hookup, Cindy!

I got home in time to sit with Ian and the kids for a short while before we all headed out. We dropped Sam off at the movie theatre for a birthday party, then we dropped Ian off at the church for Youth Group. The girls and I headed to the mall to walk around for a bit. While we were in line at New York Fries I saw a woman I used to work with, way back in the day. So, I said hello. We weren't talking long before Big Mouth (which is always me in this type of story) asked about a particular guy we had both worked with at that time, named Mike. I said that we had quite the crush on each other and had dated on and off for a year and he took me to my prom. Then she said "Yes, we're married now."

Ugh.

I won't even go into the rest of the conversation. Suffice it to say, it was uncomfortable. I guess it wasn't uncomfortable enough because when we parted I actually said "Well, tell Mike I said hello!"

I bought Chinese food for my dinner and got an extra fortune cookie for Jules. We laughed when we read them, because they were both so fitting. Hers said 'You have a sense of the dramatic and a tendency towards display'. Mine said 'Be patient, good things come to those who wait'.

While we were out and about, Julie said she was thinking of my father and asked if we could go to the cemetery so she could pray for him. I said she could pray for him anywhere, but she said she wanted to go where he is resting so she can pray there. She feels sad that I don't have a daddy. I'll try to take her there sometime in the next couple of days.

When we returned to the movie theatre to pick up Sam, a woman came up to me and said it was really late to be taking a young child and a baby to a movie, will the baby be able to sit quietly during it? Honestly! Once she realized that we were only doing a pickup, she began to tell me her life story. I guess I have one of those faces. I was grateful to see Sam coming out of the party to save me!

A rather odd day, that's for sure! I'm exhausted!

Feelin' Blah

I'm feeling a bit blah and lazy so I'll just post my random thoughts as they come to me.

I almost walked to the church yesterday Karin! But it was raining. Ha.

My friend Susan is in the hospital. She went for day surgery to have her gall bladder removed but there was a complication so she'll be there for a few days. I'm hoping to be able to visit with her, but the visiting hours are from 2-8pm and that's a tough time for me. Still, I want to see her so I'll find a way.

Sam is stressing out big time about his grades. He is an A/B student, but he wants to get all A+. He's afraid he won't get into a good university.

!!!

Bless his heart. He's also back to stressing out about his teacher and how she yells at the class all the time, and he's afraid she's going to yell at him next. He is also having a hard time hearing his schoolmates saying "Oh my god". (Ugh...just typing that makes me sick) He says he tells them not to say it but they still do. Then he said something that really surprised me: he said his teacher says it all the time.

Wow.

We send our children to a Catholic school because we want them to have a Christian education. We expect the teachers to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner while in the classroom or when in the presence of any student. What they choose to say in their private lives is entirely up to them. "Oh my god" (again, sick feeling) is completely unacceptable in my book. We're trying to teach our children to be "in the world, but not of it", and that's a hard thing to understand and remember as an adult. But for a kid? With peer pressure and the like? Ian is going to help Sam write a note to his teacher, gently reminding her of the Ten Commandments, the third in particular.

Pastor Sam...paging Pastor Sam...

Today I had a visitor. Motivation! She arrived first thing this morning and assisted me in getting a few things done. If I listen carefully I can hear my washer crying for mercy.

Girl's Club was awesome tonight. We had a Scavenger Hunt and then we made Valentine's Day cards. Usually I don't do the craft if we have one, but once *K* pulled out her honkin' big case of scrapbooking scissors I was right in there. I love edged scissors and I use mine all the time, for everything. I made a card for Ian. :-) We had a really great turnout tonight and everyone was in such a great mood. As usual, I felt sad at the end of our time together. Jen is fitting in quite nicely so I hope everything comes together so she can join us as our third leader.

Tomorrow Cindy and I are going to Costo and then getting our hair done. I can't wait! My hair is a mess and it needs a trim badly. Every time I make an appointment I wonder if this is the time I should change my hair colour. Sam wants me to go red again. I did love my hair when it was red. But I think I'll stay blonde awhile longer. I can say really dumb things and people just accept it ;-) I'm actually going to be cheating on my other stylist and trying a new one. I'm even going to their other location so I don't get busted.

Oooh...I feel dirty...

I was unhappy with my last two cuts, and after hearing the devastating news that my original stylist may not be returning, I need to find someone who can cut and style my hair properly.

According to Spoilerfix.com, 90210 won't be on again until March 31st! Darn it. Just when it was getting good.

LOST was a snooze last night. The peeps on the island moving through time...blah blah blah...Sun wanting to kill Ben...blah blah blah... Still, at least it's going to be on weekly.

There is no one on Dancing With The Stars that I am interested in rooting for. Boo.

Tomorrow night Ian is leading the Jr High Youth Group and Sam is at a birthday party. I think I will take the girls out for dinner or a walk around the mall. Julie loves shopping. She didn't get this "shopping gene" from me. I think I've made myself pretty clear how I feel about shopping.

I just heard the dryer buzz, so I'd better fold that load and head up to bed. Hope this "blah" feeling passes soon. It kind of sucks.

Spring Teaser

What a beautiful day today was! So Spring-like! I feel ready to wait out the rest of what Winter has to throw at us. Spring is coming!

We made it to Barrie on Sunday evening to see our friends get baptized and I am so glad we went. I was good to see them again and their testimonies were lovely. I cried of course! God has worked in their lives and I was so thankful to be able to see them take this beautiful step.

After the baptisms the pastor had us break into small groups to pray for a young boy who has liver cancer. The prayers of my children for this unknown boy made my heart ache with pride and love for them. I am so grateful for how strong their prayer life has become. They see people in need and ask if we can pray for them. They see their blessings and thank God for them. These are exciting days!

I've been thinking a lot about the sermon our Pastor gave this past Sunday. He spoke on relationships and the importance of working through conflict. I agree this is a must, and hard as this is, I keep trying to do this in my own life, but sometimes it just doesn't work out the way I hope it will. How can you work through a problem if the other person refuses to acknowledge that there is one, or that they contribute to it? Or if they write you off completely? What then? Is it enough to make the effort to mend a fence even if it isn't successful? How hard do we try before we just let it go?

Questions, questions...

This morning I visited with my mother. Since Ian's been off work I haven't been spending as much time with her as I used to and we are missing each other. How I wish things we different so we could live together so I could take care of her. She is so tired.

I went for a walk with Jordan this afternoon since it was such a beautiful day. She loved the fresh air and was so happy to be riding along in her stroller so we walked around the block twice. Don't be too impressed though...it's a small block ;-) I would have kept walking but Freaky Flyer Delivery Dude was walking just behind us and he was kinda creepy so we went inside. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm again so I might walk over to the church in the morning.

Ha. Who am I kidding. I am so not walking to the church tomorrow morning.

I'm really looking forward to Coffee Hour tomorrow. I haven't seen Jen in two weeks! She tells me that the baby has gotten bigger and I can't wait for my hugs and cuddles. I love that even though our lives are busy and blessed with our little ones, we always meet up on Wednesday mornings.

On Saturday Julie loudly announced - in the middle of Walmart no less - that she needs a bra.

!!!

She'll be 8 next month!

I'm not looking forward to the bra stage. And I get to do it twice!

Tonight I headed over to Jen's house to hang out with her and Cindy. Such funny girls they are. We watched The Biggest Loser and laughed about how we'd do on that show. We'd probably laugh so much we'd get kicked off. We'd be losers alright, but not the kind we'd want to be!

I am so grateful for the friendships I have. Quality friends that are giving and loving. We are there when we need each other. Friends that will work through conflicts with maturity and love. Friends that make me laugh until I cry. Friends that pray for me when I can't find the words to pray myself.

High drama at the bank today.... it was closed off with police tape and there were three police cruisers and a SWAT van parked outside.

That's it for me. My mind is tired and my thoughts are all over the place. I'm turning in...

Sunday Stuff

I canNOT believe this beautiful weather that we've been having this weekend. Sun AND warmer temperatures! Yesterday I just stood on my porch and breathed the fresh air. What a gift.

I couldn't stand there breathing for long because we were off to get Julie to her soccer game.

Here's Jordan, ready to cheer her big sister on!



Julie loves being the goalie. I stress out because I am always worried she'll take a ball to the face or something.



Going for the block....



And here is Sam, lovingly cheering Julie on.



I bought Jordan a bathing suit and it's so cute! I can't wait to see her in it.



I love this shirt on Jordan. In case you can't read it, it says "If You Think I'm Cute You Should See My Mom". You got that right.



My kids have discovered these...



Now I have to share them!!

We are heading up to Barrie momentarily, to see our friends be baptized. I am so excited for them! If I get any pics I'll post them later or tomorrow.

Happy Sunday!

Tagged :-)

I was tagged by Devin over at Count Your Blessings so here goes!

A movie I watched: An absolutely phenomenal movie and I suggest that every married couple watch it - together.

A moment I will always remember: When Sam and Julie met Jordan for the first time.

A new skill I acquired: I learned how to play.





A lesson I learned: Well, maybe not a new lesson, but one that I finally understood...

A new place I visited this year: Does the new hospital count? I was a little too busy for a vacation last year!

A book I read:

An inspiring verse or quote: "Go boldly in the direction of your dreams, live the life you imagined." (Thoreau)


Here are the rules:
1. Fill in your memories of 2008.
2. Link my blog to yours.
3. Tag others and comment on their blog so they know they've been tagged.

I'm tagging Jen, Amanda, Margaret and Melissa!

Moo

I found this job ad in the local paper and I think I'll apply for it...

DAIRY farm requires part-time milkers. approx 3 hrs daily (3:30pm-6:30pm) 7 days on, 7 days off. $42 per milking. Willing to train

Moo.

My doctor's office called this afternoon to tell me that all my lab results came back normal. So why am I tired all the time...?

Yawn.

Nutritionist

I'm SO glad that I went to the Nutritionist's seminar last night. I almost didn't go because I was tired and it was cold out. I didn't know what to expect but I went with an open mind.

Oh.My.Gosh!

I can't believe all that I learned! It was absolutely an amazing time. The speaker is a Christian and she was so knowledgeable. So many things that I thought were ok or the right way to eat were so very wrong. She drew a diagram of how and where the food travels once ingested, and how certain foods can clog your insides. When I told her than I've been doing Atkins for the last month, she said I needed to stop it - now. Then she explained what it was doing to my innards.

Great. My previous doctor approved it.

Did you know that doctors are not required to take a nutrition course at any time during their training? Well they aren't.

Sigh. I've moved my weight loss ticker to the bottom of my page for now. Not because I'm giving up - I'm definitely not. It's just going to happen slower now and I really don't want it staring me in the face every time I read my blog.

Yes. I read my own blog. Is that really vain of me?

I also learned how much water a person is supposed to drink each day. It's not eight 8 oz glasses. Oh no. You take your weight, divide it by 2, then divide that by 8. So, say you weighed 160 lbs. You would divide that by 2 to get 80, divide that by 8 and get 10. So you would need to drink ten 8 oz glasses of water a day.

Fascinating, isn't it?

So I whipped out Henry my trusty cell phone, and opened the calculator to figure out how many glasses of water I would have to drink in a day. Let's just say I might as well hang around the faucet all day. My water bill should spike for next month.

!!!

I hope I don't do that secondary drowning thing from drinking all that water.

Did you know that you lose a certain percentage of water from your body just by talking? Yikes...I talk a lot. I better get drinking.

Oh I have lots of interesting tidbits floating around my brain. This woman is speaking at our Women's Day Apart conference at the church at the end of the month, so I'm going to sign up for her workshop.

In other news, my doctor hasn't called with any alarming results from my blood work yesterday. Of course he did say he wouldn't really know until Thursday. I don't like waiting...

This morning was Coffee Hour and it was one of the best times ever. We're starting a new study on prayer. We cried watching the video and then cried again while hearing one another's prayer requests. I really like those women.

I must share with you all that my 300 thread count sheets were divine last night. I felt like I was sleeping in a five star hotel.

The other day a friend of mine sent me a message through Facebook in response to something I posted on my page. It was a list of 25 random things about me that someone tagged me on. One of the things I wrote was that I was afraid that I would leave this earth without ever having made an impact on someone. My friend told me that Ian and I were a factor in her coming to God and she and her husband were being baptized this coming Sunday.

!!!

I know! Very exciting! Ian and I are going to go to see them and hear their testimonies as long as the weather is ok. They live just over an hour north of us so I'm hoping it won't be too bad.

I'm glad I managed to stay awake for LOST tonight. It was SO worth it. That Ben... he is as naughty as ever...and Jin! Oh! Well, I won't say anymore about that in case you haven't seen it yet. I'm not Jen after all. ;-)

Devin, I know you tagged me and I'll respond tomorrow. Too pooped tonight!

Well my sheets are calling my name.... Over and out!

Doctor Doctor

I would like to begin this post with a big fat THANK YOU to JenM for telling me that Jason sent Stephanie home last night on The Bachelor BEFORE I got a chance to see it.

Thanks Jen! (rolling eyes) You are very lucky I love you so much!

I went to see Dr L today to get my referral to my regular urologist and to get a couple of things checked out. I have a pain in my left side and it hurt more after I was poking at it for awhile in the shower this morning. He was very unconcerned about it and assured me a couple of times that one doesn't usually get a hernia in that area.

Good news!

Then I mentioned how tired I am all.the.time and I asked if maybe he could order a blood test because I thought my iron levels might be low. He agreed and said it could be a thyroid issue which is common after pregnancy. I also mentioned a couple of other issues and he suggested we test for pregnancy as well.

Ok, let me just interrupt this spellbinding recap of my appointment to tell you that I am 100% certain I am not pregnant. Ok? Ok!

I also said I thought I could be entering menopause or have lupus. He actually put his head down on his desk and laughed, then said he would request that on the referral as well, and that the technicians will be wondering what the heck he's thinking about - testing for pregnancy AND menopause in the same woman.

He was very unimpressed with my 13 lb weight loss in less than 2 weeks. He said that whatever I was doing, I need to ease off a bit, because that's too much weight too fast.

!!!

I said that obviously he'd never been fat in his life because there is no such thing as "too fast" in my world. He said no, but he did lose a lot of weight in a short period of time due to his recent serious illness, and it takes a toll on the body.

Awkward....

I had enough time to drop by the lab on my way out and there was hardly anyone in there so I decided to get my blood drawn before heading to the school to pick up the children. I got my favourite lab tech which was nice.

Wow. That makes it sound like I'm there a lot. I guess I must be to have a favourite.

I hate getting blood taken. I feel nauseated and like I'm going to faint, and that's before they insert the needle. I always have the same questions: are you new? have you done this before? do you dig for veins? are you upset about anything? you won't take too much right? are those clean gloves? And so on. But today, with my trusty favourite, all was good.

I even got to the school early. :-)

I'm very excited to go to bed tonight, in my brand new, 300 thread count sheets. I don't really know what difference the number means, but man do these sheets feel nice!

I have other things to tell you but I need to get dinner started. I'm going out this evening to hear a nutritionist speak at our church. I'll fill you in on some things later.

Beautiful Sunshine

I just got home a short while ago from picking up the children from school, and I have to say the weather is absolutely glorious today. It felt so good to step outside and not be hit with bone chilling temperatures, and to have the sun shining so brightly. What a blessing that was for us today.

Apparently all the famous groundhogs of the world saw their shadows today. Another 6 weeks of winter. It always makes me laugh when people get cross about that. Hello people... it's the first week of February.. of course there's more winter to come!! One year there was a blizzard on my wedding anniversary and that was April 20th! Lots and lots of winter still to come.

Boo.

I survived my shopping experience on Saturday. I didn't find a purse I liked enough to buy, but the hunt continues. Maybe I'll just hang on to the one I have until the spring and splurge then.

Sam needed new jeans so we headed to Zellers. I hate Zellers because they're always trying to rip the customer off, and Saturday was no different. They had a table of t-shirts and sleeve shirts with a huge sign that said $2.97 each. A shirt for less than $3? Who'd be without?? We picked up two short sleeved shirts and one long sleeved for Sam, and two short sleeved for Jules. When we got to the checkout, our bill was over $70! For a pair of jeans, a hoodie and five shirts at $2.97? I think not! We checked the bill and they charged us $6 and $7 for three of the shirts! We spoke with a woman who worked in that department and it turns out that only the top shelf was on sale, not the bottom one. Why would they be on the same table then? UGH! That really annoyed me, so off to the Customer Service desk we went. I'm not that desperate for cash, but it was the principle of the thing. The girl there credited the difference and we were off.

I'm watching you Zellers....oh yeah...I'm watching you...

Our next stop was Toys R Us. I get that this is one of the happiest places on earth for kids, but like I said in my previous post, I would rather rip out my own eyes than go there. I wanted to look through the baby section but it was full of overly hormonal pregnant women, blocking the aisles. Sweet.

I would just like to remind you all that I was a perfectly sweet and even tempered pregnant woman when I was expecting Jordan. And I very, very, VERY rarely complained. I cannot say this about my other two pregnancies though!

The children found what they wanted to spend their gift cards on and we headed to the checkout to stand behind about 15 people, all waiting for the sole cashier that was open.

!!!

I felt all confused for a moment...was I at Toys R Us or at Walmart??

Once we left there we stopped at McDonald's to get lunch before heading off to Julie's soccer game. I think there was a shortage of hamburger patties or something because there were seven cars parked off to the side, waiting for their orders. It was chaos!

Julie's game went well and she played well as usual. The parents kill me though. They bark orders and instructions at their kids like nobody's business. One mother made her daughter cry a couple of weeks ago. Nice.

We stopped in at Chapters after the game and spent some time browsing the different sections. I bought the latest Mary Higgins Clark book with a gift card from Christmas.

I have so many books on the go right now, I don't know how I am keeping the stories straight! I love reading. You can go anywhere in the world just by opening up a book.

Sunday I went to the Under Your Roof seminar that the Associate Pastor and his wife do every few months. The topic was Family Devotions and they gave us a lot of really great ideas of how to incorporate them into our daily lives. Once we were home, we had a picnic lunch on our living room floor and did our first devotion together. The children really enjoyed it and have been really working hard to remember the memory verse.

After lunch the children headed outside to play in the snow and I opened the blinds, stretched out in my recliner and napped in the sunlight. It was heavenly.

I talked to Mom in the evening and her pain levels have been more manageable these last couple of days. I am so grateful to God for that. I hate seeing her suffer. I know He does too.

Sam had a test today on the provinces and their capitals. This is the second time his teacher is testing them on this. Weird. I've gone through my entire life thinking that Calgary was the capital of Alberta and it's not. It's actually Edmonton!

Since when??

And when did the Northwest Territories break down??

I wish I paid more attention at school because I seem to remember very little and now my children wonder how I managed to make it through school at all. So many times I wondered how a particular lesson would ever matter in my lifetime. Then I had kids. Now I know.

I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to get a referral to my urologist's office. I've been going to him every other year for a cystoscopy for the last 10 years, but since I skipped last year I now have to get a referral. Frustrating. Oh well, I'll mention my constant fatigue to him while I'm there. He'll tell me that it's because I have a baby but that's not it, I know it.

"My urologist's office". Doesn't that make me sound old? 10 years ago an ultrasound showed a cyst in my bladder that turned out to be cancer. Everyone I spoke with said they had never seen bladder cancer in someone as young as me. One day I'll tell you about it. A great God Story for sure.

I'm hoping for an early night tonight even though I napped earlier this afternoon. It will mean I'll miss The Bachelor and I bet this is the night Deanna returns, trying to get Jason back. Ha. I hope he sends her home. That show is like a car wreck, you just can't look away.

That's it. Over and out.