Not Me Monday - School

I don't know about you, but I am always super organized and always know exactly what is going on in my kids schedules - especially when it comes to the starting up of the brand new school year and all the extracurricular activities that come along with it.

It goes without saying then that I would be completely organized for the beginning of dance classes and there's no way I would've forgotten that last year dance class actually started a couple of days before school started.  No, not me!

I didn't only remember that fact on Monday evening as we were going to bed and I definitely didn't have to quickly start up my MacBook in order to check on the website what day dance classes started, only to realize that they start Tuesday.  As in that Tuesday.  As in the very next day.  Nope, not me!

I wouldn't need to be thankful Emma's stuff all fit well enough to wear and have to quickly whip over to Walmart during her class in order to buy Olivia's ballet shoes before her class started an hour later.  Nope, no me!

And obviously, even if I were to have done any of that, that certainly would be the only organizational mishap to happen the first week of school.

I wouldn't have delayed ordering labels until less than one week before school started and end up having to pay for next day shipping in order to get them in time.  No, not me!

And even if all that had happened, I definitely would not miss out on Meet the Teacher and the opportunity to drop off school supplies because I thought it was on Wednesday when it was actually on Tuesday.  Nope, not me!

Not Me Monday

When I invite company over for lunch, I'm always careful to make delicious food and would certainly never burn something.  Nope, not me.

I try to make things everyone will like and pizza buns is always a hit, but I would never so busy with other lunch fixings that I would forget that they were under the broiler.  Nope, not me.

I wouldn't detect a faint odour that signaled to my brain that something was wrong.  And obviously I wouldn't have to rush to the oven, yank open the door and pull out burnt pizza buns.  Nope, not me.

And I most certainly wouldn't serve them anyway because I didn't have enough extra ingredients to make a fresh, non-burnt version and justify the decision by reasoning that we were all too hungry to wait anyway.  Nope, not me.

I wouldn't simply scrape off the burnt edges and tell the kids they would taste just fine, before even tasting them myself.  Oh no, not me.

I wouldn't taste them myself only to realize how horrible they actually were, forcing me to have to pick off the worst of the burnt cheese so they were somewhat edible. No, not me.

It follows that I also wouldn't tell the kids they didn't have to finish their pizza buns and allow them to fill up on chips as that would be very unhealthy and I never let my kids even have junk food, never mind fill up on junk food.  No, not me!

And I most certainly wouldn't post a picture of said burnt pizza buns for all blog world to see.  No, not me.

And I definitely would not publicly admit that I'm very glad the company was my sister.  No, not me! ;)


For more Not Me Monday posts, click here.

Not Me Monday

This didn't happen today, but I've been thinking for awhile that I should do another of those "Not Me Monday" posts, so here goes.

I did not drive my daughter to the wrong house for a birthday party.  Not me.  Especially because I've been to this particular house several times before and would obviously recognize it.

And I certainly didn't knock on the wrong house and stand impatiently waiting as no one answered.

And I didn't go back to the van trying to remember this friend's phone number because I wouldn't have left the invitation sitting on the kitchen counter at home - because I've been to this house and did not need directions.

Therefore, I did not have to drive back to my house to get the phone number.  Not me.  And I didn't phone up the friend and ask them why they weren't answering the door when we came to the party.

I didn't drive back, to the wrong again, because that would be ludicrous!  I didn't doublecheck the street (bay!) address and even though I couldn't see the house number I didn't assume it was the right one - because we all know what assume means.

I didn't march back up the driveway and ring the doorbell and knock again on the wrong house, even after noticing that I thought it was odd that they had removed their neat school bus shaped garbage bin holder from the end of their driveway.  Not me.  I have a firm grasp of the obvious and would never put two and two together to make 5.

I didn't have to try to mask my growing irritation as I asked my daughter how much she really wanted to go to this birthday party.  Not me!  I'm the epitome of patience and grace, always.

I didn't call the parents back again to tell them politely but stiffly that they still weren't answering the door.  To which I obviously would not have heard them tell me that I was at the wrong house and the dad was on his way to direct me to the right one...... on the other end of the bay.

No, not me.

I didn't watch in horror as said dad's van pulled in behind me while still on the phone, and therefore did not meekly have to follow him to his house, that I've been to numerous times.  Not me.

I didn't have to apologize profusely and wonder at my own idiocy, not me.

And I certainly was not annoyed at myself for wasting 1/2 an hour of an incredibly busy day driving my daughter to a party that was only a 2 minute drive away.  Nope, not me.

My Little Comedian

During supper tonight....
Emma: MYOB
Sophia: What does that mean?
Emma: Mind your own business.
Jacob:  MYIK - I don't care!

Maybe you had to be there, but our whole table roared!

Emma'isms

Emma's answers to some schoolwork questions about the Olympics....

Question: Think about it..... Will athletes keep breaking records forever?
Emma: I think they will! But then again, one athlete might break a record that can never again be broken! (if it does happen, then I hope it's a girl!)
(Female) Teacher: Me too! :)

Question: Give 3 reasons why Pierre de Coubertin was important to the Olympics.
Emma: 1. The Pierre dude was important to the Olympics because he thought competing in sports was better then warfare.
2. Pierre dude practicly started the Olympics.
3. Pierre dude promoted the idea of reviving the Olympics. Thanks Pierre Dude!
P.S. Pierre Dude! What a riot!
Teacher: Yes, I laughed as I read this.

So did I! :)

A trip to be remembered

OK, for this story you're going to need to know some names and hopefully you can keep all the characters straight!

Hopefully our family you know already - Nathan & Tammy, Emma (9), Sophia (7), Olivia (5) & Jacob (3)

Nathan is the oldest and his parents are Edmer & Betty.
His younger sister lives in Alberta - Deena & Chris, Colter (5), Baret (3) & Hayden (1)
His youngest sister lives in a town close to us - Linsay & Shaun, Taylor (2)

First, a little background. Deena & Chris met and married in Alberta (yes, at bible bridal college). After a couple years they moved back here where Colter was born. I think they were pregnant with Baret when they moved back to Alberta. When they had been dating and newly married, Nathan and I went out to visit them at least once a year, sometimes twice. However, after they moved back, we told them in no uncertain terms that we were never driving all the way out there to visit them - at least not with the horrible passengers we'd managed to acquire in the meantime.

Never say never right?!

Mom & Dad, Shaun & Linsay have gone out to visit them before, and we've always steadfastly maintained our position, despite the wailings and pleadings of our offspring. I'm not sure what made this year different, but we gradually began to consider it. We finally consented to going out this Christmas, with numerous dire warnings to our children that their behaviour during the drive would be the deciding factor on if there were ever to be a repeat of this trip.

Turns out, the kids did fanTASTic on the drive - WAY better than expected.

Turns out that wasn't the problem. But there were problems, oh yes, there were problems.

We planned to drive caravan style. Mom & Dad would drive with Shaun & Linsay and we would lead the pack. We would come "pick them up" bright and early at 5am on the Wednesday after Christmas and book it out West.

*Note - people who do not like to read about other people getting sick, consider yourself warned.

At 4:45am we got a phone call. Linsay had been throwing up all night and they weren't sure what they were going to do. After some discussion it was decided that Nathan's parents would take all their luggage out of Shaun & Lin's vehicle and pack up their own car and head out with us. Shaun & Linsay would follow when they could, hopefully leaving at noon.

So, off we went. Now, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, especially when it comes to stomach ailments, so by the time we got to Brandon where we stopped for breakfast, I was not feeling so hot. Things appeared to be going in the wrong direction during two bathroom breaks at the restaurant (Tim Horton's of course!), but I convinced myself it was all in my head and we were going to keep going. Worse case scenario, we'd stop in Regina if we had to.

Thankfully, it was just my hypochondria combined with lack of sleep. I napped between Brandon and Regina and every time I woke up I felt a bit better. Whew - bullet dodged. For now.

We filled up gas in Regina, stopped for lunch (Tim's again!) in Moose Jaw and kept on chugging. We stopped in Medicine Hat to fill up again and let the kids run off some steam at the local McDonald's which thankfully had an awesome play place (pictured left). Another 2 short hours (that seemed rather long!) and we were there! We enjoyed a homemade pizza supper and found out that it had been a good thing Shaun & Linsay had not started out with us, because around noon Shaun got sick and Taylor, who had been sick two days previous, got a bit sick again. They were all doing somewhat better by the evening, so they decided they would go to bed real early and try to be on the road by 4am the next morning (Thursday) to get to Alberta in time for our scheduled Christmas dinner (wrenikje and farmer sausage - woohoo!).

Did I mention they live in the middle of nowhere? This was the view out their front yard....

And who is this lovely couple?

Thankfully Shaun, Linsay & Taylor made it safe and sound (and not sick!) and we all had a wonderful Christmas dinner that Thursday, followed by the "program", gifts and we all vacationed happily ever after. Ok, not quite.

Mom & Dad slept in the guest room downstairs. Nathan and I slept in Colter & Baret's room (their bottom bunk is a double) with Jacob on the floor in our room. Shaun & Linsay slept in Hayden's room on a double mattress with Taylor in Hayden's crib. Hayden slept in a play pen in Chris & Deena's room. All the other kids were set up downstairs by the tv for a big cousin sleepover.

During the day Hayden had had some diarrhea, but we chalked it up to teething. Might have been wrong about that one. No sooner had we started getting the kids ready for bed that night then both Colter & Baret started throwing up (they had previously had one episode of "d" as well). Chris & Deena spent the next several hours playing Mexican Train with us, while taking breaks every 15 minutes or so to deal with one or two puking children whose beds had been moved up to the living room, while I stuck my fingers in my ears and tried to convince myself that everything would be fine.

Now, obviously Colter & Baret did not get this from Shaun & Linsay cause they had only been there for a couple hours. So, we had both the Manitoba and the Alberta germs going around full force - we never had a fighting chance.

About every 12 hrs or so, we went down like dominoes.

We had originally been planning to go to Brooks the next day (Friday) and swim at their amazing leisure center, but since it was an hour away, we decided it was too big of a risk. Good thing too because Emma started around noon - not as bad as the boys, only about 5 episodes. We kept all the healthy people playing outside as much as we could - very thankful for the awesome natural toboggan slide courtesy of Chris & Deena's amazing front yard (advantage of living way out in the boonies in hill country). Deena was not feeling fabulous and had diarrhea off and on all day, and yet still managed to be an amazing hostess - in fact, she was a fantastic hostess throughout this whole ordeal, can't imagine anyone doing a better job! I lost track of how many times she disinfected bathrooms (thankfully they had 3 of them!) that week.

Just before bedtime Olivia threw up, and let's just say no one will feel like eating cherry ice cream again any time soon. This was the first time in about 3 years that she had thrown up, so I knew she'd have no idea what was coming. We put her and Emma to bed in the living room and were expecting to be interrupted from Mexican Train numerous times to help Olivia, like Deena & Chris had been the night before. But amazingly, Olivia only had the one incident!

I got very little sleep that night. Every cough or sound Jacob made I thought he was about to get started. Thankfully everything was fine during the night.

Saturday Shaun & Linsay left for the day and night to go visit Shaun's mom and we all stayed home and played outside and recovered from this quick acting bug. Since it had moved from person to person so quickly, and no one had gotten sick in quite a while, we were crossing our fingers and hoping the rest of us would emerge unscathed. Did we not learn in elementary school that crossing your fingers does nothing?!

After a couple of days of this we decided we needed to get out, so we decided to go out for supper in a nearby town. There wasn't much open as it was New Year's Day, but we ate at a local restaurant and headed for home. Thankfully we had not gone too far - we had barely walked in the door when Nathan's mom was running for the washroom. She probably had the worst case yet, with both versions.

I went to bed that night expecting the worst, and hadn't slept a wink when Jacob starting throwing up around 1:30am. He had never been sick in his almost 3 years and he absolutely freaked out. He was screaming and trying to knock away the bucket that I was trying to force under his head and yelling "I don't want to!" in between episodes. Even though we had put a sheet across most of the bedroom floor, he still managed to hit the rug. Deena got up and helped us clean up the room and we bathed Jacob and got him ready for bed. One hour later we were doing it again. Thankfully not as messy this time as Nathan and I tag teamed him and literally forced him to puke in the bucket. Poor guy. By almost 5:30 I had just about convinced myself that he wouldn't be throwing up anymore and was finally ready to get some sleep..... when Sophia walked in our room with her puke bucket and we started all over again. Yup, all kids, sick or not, were sleeping with pails by their beds by this point - good thing!

Sophia probably got it the worst of the kids - I think 9 times. By 7 o'clock I was absolutely exhausted - hadn't slept even a minute all night with a very unrestful sleep the night before. Nathan had been up most of the times as well, but he had been able to sleep in between. So, he took over and I slept from 7 to 10. We had originally been planning to leave today (Sunday), but had already decided the previous day that we would stay an extra day - hoping to go to Brooks, or at the minimum, finish getting over all this sickness.

After lunch we decided we'd all have naps before going tobogganing again. I woke up at 4 and knew my hypochondrianism had become reality. Started with minor diarrhea and I took Peptobismol and Immodium in a futile attempt to ward off the inevitable. By 7pm I was in the washroom experiencing my first ever time of both episodes simultaneously and it was horrid. (hey, I warned you not to read!) Nathan took Jacob to sleep in the living room so I could hopefully get some sleep at night. But he went to bed early cause he could feel it coming on. At midnight he forced himself and an hour later he had to again. After that he was fine. After my own 3 major episodes, it took me awhile to get to sleep as I was quite concerned with making it to the bathroom in time, even though it was directly across the hall. This was bad stuff people. But eventually I feel asleep and all was well.

Nathan's parents left bright and early Monday morning to drive straight home all day. Taylor was up a little early, so Shaun & Linsay left a bit before us. We planned to stop in Regina with them to spend the night at a hotel (with a waterpark!) before heading home Tuesday. They planned to stop and visit friends in Swift Current quickly before joining us later on. They also were expecting it to take a bit longer because they were hauling a work trailer behind their SUV that they had picked up from Shaun's mom's the day before.

We got a phone call as we were eating breakfast (well, Nathan & I weren't eating anything, but the kids were). Their trailer had come unhooked while driving on the highway, had passed them on the highway, crossed the road and landed on a fence! Thankfully no one was hurt and this happened in a town about 45 minutes away, where Chris & Deena go to church. This was the last town Shaun & Lin would pass where they would still know anyone that could help - not a coincidence I'd say! Turned out that the man that Chris called to help them rescue their trailer was the owner of the fence it had landed on! AND he had the equipment and know-how to able to fix the trailer and get them back on their way. Amazing!

Now that they were behind us, they decided not to stop in Swift and were going to head straight to Regina. We were about 45 minutes ahead of them, and getting close to Regina when we got a phone from them. They ran out of gas. Yes, I'm serious. They were going through gas twice as fast due to the trailer they were pulling. They had planned to stop in a small town a bit off the highway to gas up, but as they were passing the service signs there was no sign for gas. They didn't want to risk running out of gas off the highway and were only 19 km from the next major town and the gas light had not come on yet. Surely they would make it. Nope, they ran out of gas 5 km away! It was dark and about -30 outside. So Shaun started walking. After about 1 km a farmer stopped to pick him up and gave him a ride. The farmer said he was on his way to Regina for a hernia surgery. When Lin heard this later she laughed and said there's no way - he was an angel and that was the story the angel came up with . ;) The farmer brought Shaun back to the SUV and they were finally on their way again.

We had driven all the way to Swift Current before stopping for lunch at McDonald's at around 2, which was 3 our time. Yup, McDonald's was the first meal I had after being sick. We had to give the kids a break! Nathan and I both ordered grilled chicken burgers and managed just fine.

Because we ate so late, none of us were hungry when we got to the hotel around 6:30, so Nathan took all the kids swimming (he rocks!) as I just didn't feel well enough for that yet and thankfully they had life jackets, so he could manage all 4. The Regina Travelodge has a really great waterslide area, and we managed to get adjoining rooms with Shaun & Linsay so it worked great!


We let the kids swim till we got the call that Shaun & Lin would be there around 8. They wanted to stop at Canadian Tire to get some stuff for the trailer, so Nathan took Jacob and went with them and brought some pizza back at about 8:45. I watched the girls swim till 8:30 and brought up to quickly shower and get into pj's and be ready to eat when the guys got back.

Taylor had had nothing to eat since noon, so she was really hungry and really tired. Linsay couldn't find milk in the hotel, but a very kind waitress at the restaurant managed to scrounge up some 2% and gave it to her for free - Linsay kinda lost it for this random act of kindness that was so appreciated on this day of all days! The lady must've thought she was nuts crying over free milk ;) Taylor ate about one bite of pizza and decided she needed sleep more. Lin put her to bed in their room while we all ate. Then, while the guys went to pick up our nightsnack from Tim Horton's we got our girls ready for bed in our room, moved a sleeping Taylor's crib into our room and took Jacob with us to their room (he had had 2 naps that day in the car and was not ready to sleep!) to visit and watch tv. When were ready for bed, we brought Taylor back to their room and Jacob to our room and all went to sleep. Perfect set up!

The guys had picked up muffins at Tim's for breakfast the next day (Tuesday), we swam in the morning, had lunch at Chili's and then we were off for home. We booked it all the way, only stopping for a quick bathroom pit stop at a hotel along the highway for Olivia, and got home by 7. Home sweet home!

The kids did amazingly well on the drive.

And, even though THIS was our Christmas reality, despite 14 out of 16 people getting sick,
we still managed to have a fabulous time!
See the guy in the back? That's Shaun and he's hiding a puzzle piece on us (anyone who knows Shaun knows this is very typical!) - and all caught on camera! ;)
It'll be trip to be remembered, that's for sure.

Top 10 Signs You're a Potty Training Mama

The light at the far end of the tunnel has finally arrived my friends!!

After 4 kids, 9 years, 9 months and 6 days of continuous diaper changes (with one short 2 week break in between Olivia and Jacob), my daily diaper changing days are over forever!!!

Let me pause for a minute and allow you to fully appreciate the magnitude of that statement....

I know - it's enough to give you chills or cry tears of joy, right?

I had resolved to start potty training the day after we got home from our trip to Alberta during the Christmas break, and start I did! The potty train successfully left the station last Wednesday morning and then proceeded to completely derail over the course of the following incredibly frustrating two days, followed by a glimmer of hope right before bedtime. After that the engine seemed to make it up the hill and I believe we are now on the downward trail .... ok, I think that metaphor has seen it's day. Anyway, we have now had 3 incredibly successful days in a row with no accidents of any kind and he has been telling me himself almost all of the time. I know it's too early to say we're completely in the clear, but I'm only expecting occasional lapses and would confidently take him out in public at this point (in fact, Nathan did tonight!). With the start we had last week (worst ever!), I was not expecting to be nearly at this point today - so woohoo!!

With no further ado, here is your Top 10!

Top 10 Signs You're a Potty Training Mama
10. You strategically place containers filled with a solution of diluted dish detergent around the house to clean up any messes that "may" come your way.
9. You make your toddler sit on a towel on your bed to watch tv so he doesn't soil your blanket.
8. You clean up the mess said toddler made on your bedroom carpet when he disregarded said instructions, and officially declare all carpeted areas off limits.
7. You can't remember what ran more - the bath tub, the washing machine or yourself, sprinting while carrying a dripping toddler away from your body as you rush to the bathroom despite the obvious fact that you're just too late despite having just sat in said bathroom for at least 20 mins only 5 mins previously.
6. The chant "push that pee out, push that pee out" is so ingrained in your head you start chanting it to yourself.
5. You make your older children do their home reading in the bathroom while said toddler sits on the throne (hey, it's called multi-tasking!)
4. The phrase "don't pee on Mater" makes sense to you.
3. Your definition of what qualifies as TMI to post on Facebook just got significantly lowered.
2. You turn your older children into a cheerleading squad in hopes of inspiring future victories.
1. When success is finally achieved you celebrate by hooting and hollering as if you just won the lottery and giving him treats and a car (relax, it was only a pint size one) and then proceed to let said toddler phone anyone who might be interested in hearing him say "My pee in toilet!" as a way of introducing himself. You then proceed to throw out any remaining diapers and diaper bags, do a victory dance and decide to go buy yourself a nice purse!

Movie Intermissions - technology style

Apparently they used to actually have movie intermissions. Let's be real - can you sit through 4 hours of Gone with the Wind without having to "go" yourself?! I thought not.

There are some movies out in theatres nowadays that are torturously long for those who have small bladders or, after having had several children, simply don't have the bladder control they used to have. If you are one of those unfortunate souls....

Never fear - there is now a solution!

RunPee is a new website that will tell you exactly when the best time during the movie is to make a quick dash to the bathroom. You know, so you don't have to come back and whisper to your date "What did I miss?"

Here is an example....

If you click on the movie "My Sister's Keeper" the site informs you that there are multiple (in this case 2) times to RunPee ....

RunPee approximately 1 hour and 9 minutes into the movie when .... After the scene where Mom goes crazy and they head to the beach (I recommend this PeeTime above the others).

You will have approximately 3 minutes to RunPee while....

You then have the option to unscramble the text that follows which will tell you exactly what happens in the movie during those 3 minutes so that you don't miss anything. If you'd rather not know what happens until later, you can always check it after you get back.

They even have an ipod app that lets you check your PeeTimes while at the theatre. There's a built in timer that will let you know how long it is until the next PeeTime. Coming soon, they're going to add a vibration a couple minutes before PeeTime in case you forget! And they're working on getting apps for Blackberries, etc as well.

So, check out RunPee before the next time you go to the movies!

Have a Happy Turn Around!

Speaking of Seeds Family Worship cd's.....

They do come with a warning...

WARNING:This package contains songs that may result in the listener unintentionally MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE. Furthermore, those who learn these words may find themselves inexplicable recalling and/or applying them to real-life situations, as the Holy Spirit leads. USE WITH CAUTION.

The second CD is called "Seeds of Faith" and track#7 is titled Eternal which is for likely the most memorized scripture passage ever.....

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That would be the NIV translation.

The Olivia translation however, ends this way....

...shall not perish but have a happy turn around!

Which actually is also a fairly accurate translation. :)

Not Me! Monday

Today I did not whack Jacob's head into the thermostat while I was carrying him down the hallway. Nope, not me! I'm never the cause of injuries to my children. And I most certainly have not done the exact same thing to all our MSC at one point or another. And absolutely never when I was walking down the hallway quickly because I was upset. Which of course means, I never suffered from mommy guilt as a result of said collisions. Nope, not me!

I also did not allow my children to wear completely mis-matched outfits as we walked/biked to the local ice cream shop with 3 other moms (and a total of 13 children!) Nope not me! Besides, striped shorts and flowery tank tops totally go together anyway. Which also means I did not feel the need to defend myself to the other moms for said children's clothing selections. After all, I never allow my children to even play outside in less than perfectly matching and perfectly clean clothes, nevermind to go out in public like that! Gasp - what would people think?! Nope, not me!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday - this blog carnival was created by MckMama. Head on over to her blog to see what everyone else has not been up to!

Not Me! Monday

Yesterday (Monday) night I did not make a disastrous supper. Nope, not me!

I didn't decide to make breakfast for supper simply because I couldn't come up with anything better and easier on a night I was going out for coffee with some former Bible study girls. (And we certainly did not stop going to Bible Study this year. Nope, not us!).

I definitely didn't run out of Pam cooking spray, since I always check that I have all ingredients on hand before I start cooking. It therefore follows that I did not have to put some EVOO into my Pampered Chef spray bottle instead and it did not get completely clogged rendering it useless. That wouldn't happen to me.

I didn't have to resort to making pancakes after making only three waffles, the third of which did not fall apart as we attempted to get it off the waffle iron. And I definitely didn't feed the broken one to my baby - nope, not me!

And, of course, I didn't start to do a slow burn while this was happening. Oh actually, that was the white waffle sauce. I mean, wasn't the white waffle sauce. Because I certainly wasn't distracted enough by my non-stick nightmare to forget about stirring the white sauce almost constantly so the milk wouldn't burn to the bottom of the pan. Nope, not me! And that pan is definitely not still soaking in hot water and soap in an attempt to soften up the burned mess that used to be the bottom of my pot. Nope, definitely not.

And I definitely did not snap at my husband who asked if I was using a waffle recipe to make pancakes and whether I checked them before taking them off the griddle. I did not let him know that he could finish making supper if he thought he could do a better job - and I definitely did not let him do so. Nope, not me!

I did not snap at my children who did not say whine "I thought we were having waffles?" as they stared at the pancakes on their plates. Nope, not me. After all, I am the epitome of a perfect parent and never lose my cool in front of my children and most certainly do not snap when asked a perfectly reasonable question.

Which means, of course, that I did not have to apologize to my kids before leaving for said coffee date. I did not have to ask for forgiveness and my girls did not have big grins on their faces as they cheerfully forgave their crabby mom.

And I did not relish every minute of that girls nite out - nope, not me!!


Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can normally head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week, however she didn't get around to doing her post this week, so you'll have to wait till next week. I just couldn't wait to post this for that long - nope, not me!

Book Report by Emma

Emma was recently assigned to do her first "real" book report for Grade 2. She had to choose a fiction or non-fiction book that was at least 50 pages long and that she hadn't read before. She had just taken out the book "Helen Keller" from our church library, but it was only 47 pages. So she asked her teacher if that would be ok and she said yes. Anyway, I thought the report was imaginative and funny so I'm going to post it here. (Brag moment - the teacher wrote "Emma, this is one of the best book reports I've seen!" and gave her 100%)

Helen Keller by Johanna Hurwitz

Favorite Character Election Ballot
I vote for Helen from the story Helen Keller because she lerns to have light in her life.

If you were to give a gift to the main character, list three gifts you think the main character would like and why.
1) Gift: working eyes
Why: She can't see!

2) Gift: sibbling
Why: nice to have a friend all the time!

3) Gift: a book
Why: She likes to read.

Write a letter to Mrs. F telling me if you liked the book. Also tell me why or why not.

Part 1
Dere Mrs. F, I loved the book Helen Keller. It's so .... Interesting on how Helen get's to speak, communicate and cooperate with other peaple. She had Darkness But now lightness in her life. AND I MEAN IT!

She drew a picture of Helen Keller saying "Ahhh!" and her teacher Annie saying "Now Helen pay atenchin!"

Part 2
My favourit part in Helen keller is when she learns about how to be a proper child. Mrs. F you know not all children can have proper lives and thats how they get into lots of TROUBLE! (unlike me) of course My mom is a professional children trainer, so she teachs me and my sisters and Jacob good. from Emma.
p.s. Love your hair.

She drew a picture of 3 girls and 1 boy standing in a line, with "my mom" saying "Hup-2-3-4."
And another picture of Mrs F and her new haircut.

On the back she wrote

THE END
on my book report.
Emma R loves adventures and lot's of Books About famos peaple.

Happy Mother's Day

For all those moms who sometimes need a little humour to get through the day, please check out this ecard - it is too cute/funny! I wish I could figure out how to get it to play directly on my blog - if anyone knows how, please let me know! Oh, and for the slightly computer challenged out there (cough, cough, mom, cough, cough) - you need to click on the same colored flowers on the left and on the right of the card to hear the difference in what we hear.

Say What?! Hoopla

I've been high-fived by Andrea to do the Say What?! Hoopla that she created after reading something on our cousin Tammi's blog.

Here's the rules...

1. Post these rules on your blog.
2. Just list 10 things that won't likely ever come out of your mouth.
3. High-five (or 'tag') any amount of people to do the same on their blog.
4. Come back and let me know you did it, so I can go read your list!

1. No, Nathan, I don't think we should order in today.
2. I definitely don't want to drink Pepsi with my pizza.
3. A little less gravy please.
4. I love hemorrhoids!
5. Girls, you're not shouting loud enough in the house!
6. Please stop practicing piano.
7. Don't try your hardest at hockey practice today.
8. Winter vacations just aren't my thing.
9. Poutines are the worst food invention of all time.
10. Anybody want my ticket to the football game tonight?

I gotta go, baby's crying, so I don't have time to high-five anyone. If you feel like doing it, just leave a comment that you did so I can check yours out.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Thought this was funny.....

To all my liberal friends -
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Canada great. Not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only great country in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To all my Conservative friends -
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

More A-Z

J is for Joking around
I forgot to put H is for Humour, so I figured I better get J is for Joking around in here! Humour is so important in a relationship. Laughing with each other and being able to laugh at yourself is truly cathartic. And I'm sure it must burn some calories too :) That's definitely one of the qualities that attracted me to Nathan. I think he's quite funny. Of course, I like to insist to him that I'm just as funny as he is - but I know that's not quite true. After I get in a particular good one he likes to add "You're not on a roll!" cause usually my jokes go downhill in quality after the first one. Hee hee.

J is for Jesus
What a friend we have in Jesus (someone should use that in a song or something:). Truly He is all of the following (or some of the following - how many is up to you - free will and all that!)
Friend, Saviour, Lord (this one is truly an daily decision - who will be Lord of your life today Tammy, you or Jesus?), Comforter, Guide, Healer, Giver of all things good, Protector, Cheerleader (OK, that sounds irreverant I know - but truly no one is cheering you on more than He is!), Redeemer (He can take ANYTHING you've done or any circumstance in your life and redeem it), Creator and Almighty God!

J is for Jamie & Joelle & Jean-Guy
Jamie is my one and only brother. He's 5 yrs younger than me, and let's just say he sometimes take his joking around to extremes. Thankfully, as I was so much older (read bigger) than he was, he generally bugged Andrea to death instead of me. Michelle would just beat him up if he tried it on her. Thankfully, now that he's bigger than us, we have husbands to protect us. :) Love ya Jame.

Joelle is my first niece! I finally got to be an auntie when this cutie was born. Unfortunately, since I already had my own kids at the time, I'm not likely going to wear the title of favorite aunt (so much easier to capture that title when you're not running after your two, or three or soon to be four kids!). But, she's a sweetie none the less.

And, last but not least, Jean-Guy is my brother-in-law. He's a great guy - especially because he loves my sister Michelle and their beautiful curly-haired daughter Elliott the way he does. The fact that Nathan likes to talk sports with him doesn't hurt either. :) And maybe, he'll even produce a nephew for us come November - hey, stranger things have happened!