We had a wonderfully full weekend...

We spent most of it outside, which I just love. My face got a bit of sun, though. It’s kinda tight feeling this morning.

Saturday morning we went with the Junior Forest Wardens for spring clean up at the hall where we hold our meetings. It was raining all last week and into early Saturday morning. It even snowed a bit, if you can believe it. Wet and sloppy snow that was gone soon enough, but just seeing white stuff makes me feel a little depressed. Especially when it happens in May! BUT the rain/snow stopped and the sky cleared just in time for us to go the hall.

We were at the hall for the morning. It was hard work but it felt good. Besides cleaning up the garbage in the fields, we had to clear deadfall from the bush area where there is a trail. The kids worked hard, too.

After spring clean up, we invited two of the families back to our house for a wiener roast around the fire. Adrian is going to be president of the JFW club next year along with another lady so he wanted to get together with her to make some plans. The other mom that came is going to be a leader. They stayed the whole afternoon. We had great conversations around the fire while the kids just played and played. I just love afternoons like that.

Then that night my parents and my Uncle came over for supper. Adrian and were exhausted by that time, but it was still a nice visit. The kids love my Uncle, whom we don’t see that often. And he’s a great sport letting them climb all over him and play fight. It was nostalgic for me because I remember doing that with him when I was their age.

Dd had fun dressing up my Uncle's hair with a bow barrette. I took the picture with my my mom's cel phone.

Sunday brought another brilliant day outside. We started off slow, but then by 11:00 am we were outside and didn’t come back in until 8:00 pm. I got a lot of leaves cleaned up. My body is feeling that work out this morning. And Adrian started work on our play centre. We have one, but we are crazy people and thought that it’d be fun to make an addition to it. Yes, we have plenty of other stuff to do around the yard, but we chose to do the fun thing. This is time management at its best, people.

Now, today I have got laundry and more laundry to do. Homeschooling and Dd has riding lessons. Have a great day, all!

Great Family Time and Dead Mice

The sun is here for now and we’re enjoying it. We’ve been going for plenty of bike rides and my butt doesn’t even hurt anymore. We’ve also been playing a lot of badminton. The kids came home one day talking about how much they enjoyed playing badminton in gym. I went out and got some rackets and we’ve been playing it ever since. All four of us. I just love love love doing stuff like that together as a family. At one point, the children ran off to watch Max catch a mouse (sadists, I know!) and Adrian and I just played together. We laughed and talked. I’ll say it again. Great times.

Yesterday I went out and spent some money on outdoor toys for the kids...and us. I got four more badminton rackets (Adrian broke a couple because he likes to spike the birdy so darn hard), these huge Frisbee things, a couple of colourful bouncy balls, baseball gloves, and (of course) baseballs. We haven't played baseball with the kids yet. Adrian is totally against baseball. He thinks it's ridiculous to teach them to be wimpy and use gloves. Crazy Englishman. I said to him: Too bad! I loved playing baseball as a kid and MY kids are gonna learn!! They live in CANADA not England! (I'm sure this conversation isn't over yet.)

Then, on the topic of Max and catching mice - is he ever a good mouse hunter! I have had the lucky pleasure (insert sarcastic tone) of cleaning up about a dozen dead mice in the last couple of weeks. I am very happy that he’s catching mice; I just wish he’d leave them off in the trees somewhere and not on the deck or in the middle of the yard where we play. Dd has no fear of picking them up. She’ll come walking up to me holding one by the tail and laugh her head off when my face morphs into a person who looks like they just ate dog poo. Picture one of those people from the movie “Total Recall” that fell out onto the planet Mars and got the air sucked out of them. I also suddenly sound like I’m being strangled. “Eeeahhhehhh! Go wash your hands!! Don’t touch it!!” Crazy kid. It gives me the heebee geebies just thinkin’ about it now.

My Week

Busy busy busy. That’s been our week so far. It’s a nice change actually because, unlike many of the families I know, we are not usually very busy. I don’t have the kids in many extra curricular activities. School twice per week and Junior Forest Wardens are our things. Then when the strike was on we pretty much stayed home. I avoided the pool and other such places because I knew so many of the “strike kids” would be there. We've gotten together a few times with my friend, L, and her day home kids, though, and that’s always a good time.

This week the teachers are back in school so we are too. I ended up working in the classroom on Tuesday as well. I was wondering how the kids would do being back in class after a month off, but they were great. My children were tired Wednesday, though. We did a couple of hours of lessons at home and then drove into the city to pick my dad up from the hospital. He had minor day surgery. That pretty much took up the rest of the day. We came home and I made supper.

The kids are at school today and I get to enjoy my first day off in a month! Hooray! And what do I do? Blog. Yup. I’ve got some catchin’ up to do, and I think I pretty well did it. There are still a couple of blogs I have yet to visit, and I just started on Jane’s. You’ve gotta read her’s pretty much everyday or else you get really behind. ;)

Actually, when I first came home after dropping the kids off, the huge truck that delivers the water was stuck in our driveway. It’s not like you can just give a little push on the bumper either. It looked like he’d been trying for awhile to get out and he wasn’t pleased. I called my neighbour and he was kind enough to come over with his tractor. I am so grateful to have such awesome neighbours!!! It still took an hour to get the truck out, though.

Now I’m off to take all of our garbage to the Transfer Station/Dump. It's a fun job and I get to do it. (insert sarcastic tone)

Half a Day cont'd

Well, I didn’t get back here to finish up about my day as quick as I thought I would. In retrospect I could have just saved that previous post to a draft, but ah well. It’s what you call a cliff-hanger! Only now I’m having some problem remembering what we did the rest of that day…

We played a few rounds of a new card game I picked up at Education Station called Stampede. It’s a fast draw kind of game and we had plenty of laughs with it. We took Nala for a walk afterwards, and had a bit of an adventure with a big white dog that wanted to follow us the whole way. She was a very friendly dog, and was bounding around us in circles constantly. Nala and Cleo didn’t like her, though, and kept snapping at her. We finally walked the visiting dog home and asked her owner to keep hold of her so we could walk on without her. After the walk we did end up going to “town” and spent too much money. We bought a bunch of seeds and seed pods because Adrian always starts them nice and early (he’s the gardener in the family), a garden cart that was on sale, a baby gate, an exercise ball, and I thought there was something else but I can’t remember at the moment.

On Sunday, Adrian joined us on our walk with the dogs. He brought along his new GPS (THAT’S the other thing we bought yesterday!) and Ds held it as we walked the subdivision. He had fun watching the route being mapped out, and seeing the little man on the screen walk when he walked and stop when he stopped. Thrilling, heh? We did have a fun time together. The weather was great for it, too. Then we came home and played that card game again. After lunch Dd and I went shopping with Grandma, while Adrian ds stayed home. The Internet Guy came to see if a new tower would improve our connection. The damn thing keeps blipping in and out. On our walk, Adrian pointed out Sirdar’s tall satellite tower to me which I hadn’t noticed. Unobservant me. Well, I HAD seen it; I just didn’t know what it was and didn’t really pay it any attention. We have so many tall black poplar trees (tall sticks) that interfere with our line of site to the Internet Guy’s tower. It was determined that a taller tower over by our shop would greatly improve our connection, but we have to wait for the ground to thaw. In the meantime, we have to put up with blippy internet in which case I don’t think we should still have to pay $50.00 a month!

Dd and I came home with new spring jackets for the children courtesy of Grandma. Gifts for Easter, she said. Thanks again, Mom! Ds also walked away with new barrettes and a pretty little belt from Grandma, too. All she had to say was, “Isn’t THIS pretty, Grandma?” And mom was lured into her little trap. I’m kidding, but it is fun shopping with mom. ;)

So, that’s it. Caught up. I haven’t really done a play by play in awhile, but felt in the mood this time. Maybe you even made it to the end. ;) We basically spent the weekend outside taking the dogs for walks. Maybe we should have Nala more often – she’ll get us into shape.

Half a Day

We had a nice day today. The weather was awesome again. I woke up at 5:45 am so that I could let my friend's dog outside before she poos in my house again. I'm happy to announce that I made it! Whoo hoo! Because I feel guilty about keeping her confined to the front entrance I decided to take her for a little walk again. I thought about stopping in, Sirdar, but changed my mind. ;) The dogs (Nala and Cleo) had a lovely time, I think. Lots of sniffing about, and no other dogs to disturb us along the way.

I got back home at 6:30 and was going to stay up but then started to feel really tired. I went and laid down and then didn't wake up again until 9:00 when my friend, G, called. She was so chipper and happy and I was still groggy. That must have been why I made kind of a snarky joke. Luckily she's the forgiving kind. :) We had a great chat on the phone for quite awhile. Afterwards, Adrian made breakfast for lunch and we sat down to the table with the kids. I actually had left over curry for lunch, and it was yummm.

Uh oh. Time out. Adrian is starting to watch Numb3rs. I'm going to go watch with him - I'll have to continue this tomorrow. :)

At the park

I tried to get an action shot of Dd sliding down the pole, but I missed.

A Book, A Snack, and Daddy

Too Much TV Not Enough Life!

I really enjoy The Amazing Race, and last night there was another episode. It’s about the only reality TV show that I watch. It’s cool to see all of the places they go. There IS conflict between the couples, which seems to be part and parcel to reality shows, but my favourite couples to watch are those that work well together. This brings me to Rob and Amber. I like them! There. Many people don’t like them, and are sick of seeing them. I think Rob is hilarious and smart when it comes to playing the game. He and Amber are a great team, and I rarely see them bicker. I always cheer (yes, I cheer at the TV) when they come in first. On the flip side I find Mirna and Schmirna irritating with their squabbling and screaming. I wish they'd brought back the hippies (BJ and Tyler). THEY were entertaining. I wonder how they'd do against Rob and Amber.

What I like about this reality show as opposed to others is that they’re not being voted off. With Survivor, which I don’t watch anymore, you could be a great athlete and outdoorsman/woman, but you could still get voted off if people see you as a threat or don’t like you.

So, I have actually written two going on three paragraphs about a television show. Go figure. I really do need to get a life!

I Don't Have an Interesting Title for This One....

This post is a choppy listing of thoughts that just randomly popped into my head. Some days are like that. Choppy. :)

I phoned a mom from the school yesterday and set up a play date for today. She has a 9 yr old son who seems like a great kid. She and I talked on the phone for well over a half hour so I think we’ll have a good visit as well. I’m looking forward to it. I was considering inviting one of Dd’s friends so that she would have someone to play with, too. We’ll see.

It was interesting to read your comments regarding phone calls. Personally, I'm a yapper. My friends and I have been known to be on the phone for hours. I clean house, do laundry, dishes, etc. while I'm on the phone. It helps me. In fact, I'll call L and say, I have supper to cook. I need someone to talk to. Adrian does not understand, however. We've had many a "discussion" on the topic. I know some people who don't like the phone - I just happen to be one that does. The reason I'm not calling those other moms is because of silly stubbornness. They're acquaintances, though. Even still, I do need to get over myself and phone them.

Having friends over is a great way to motivate the kids to clean their rooms and the playroom. “If you want so-and-so to come in here you better clean it up”, I’ll say. And they sure get movin’!

Yesterday I ate way too many potato chips. I don’t buy them except that we just had a party. I have plenty left over, and just can’t let them go to waste. We had Coke left over as well, which is another thing I don’t usually buy. There is a reason I don’t buy this stuff. I’m addicted! Potato chips, in particular, are my nemesis. I can’t ever just have a few. Yesterday I pigged out and then suffered for it all evening. I’m not used to eating that stuff anymore, and I felt like crap as a result. I’ve gotta get them outta the house!

Its 10:30 and I’m not sure how much school work we’re going to get accomplished today. We’ll do some reading, but what else? Hmmm. Maybe some math fact questions on the white board. I want to get some flash cards. The children don’t have many of the addition/subtraction math facts memorized.

Okay, I’m going to go and get some laundry started and then round the kids up.