Sometimes I blow MY mind!! ;D LOL!!

What an awesome day today!! ;D It started out innocently enough... not much going on, the kids were playing, Jack's plan appeared to be to wreck the place






and Jessie decided to try and play the piano (since we don't have a violin yet! ;D) so she worked on playing When You Wish Upon A Star! It's starting to sound really nice!! ;D **Is very proud!!**




I had a play with my guitar... I have a cunning plan to learn to play Time In A Bottle before Rex's birthday next month. Hah. I'm going to have to practice A LOT~~ There are a lot of chords in there that are preeeeetty tricky!! My fingers are sore already! Anyway, it will be worth it in the end! ;D ( oh and don't tell him, 'k?? sshhhh!!!)

Jessie and Jack worked on some more words for Jack today whilst I ran the dogs out for a quick walk. He LOVES doing those magnet letter words and his writing is really improving! Yeahy! ;D Jessie worked on a thank you note and then made some lovely art which she put on the window.... the setting sun made them luminous and they look BEAUTIFUL!!!









After Daddy came home the mood picked up even further! He was in great spirits and we were all just giddy with joy! I made a DELICIOUS dinner... just a simple pasta but I made a sauce that was fantastic (AND Vegan!!) I cooked up some zucchini ( Courgettes! ) and some red onion in some olive oil until they were browning. I added some salt and pepper and stirred them some more. Then I added some delicious sauce from a teeeeeny town near here, the hearty vegetable one I think it was. I stirred that up until it bubbled then added fake meat!! ( oh YUM I hear you cry!! LOL!!) Morningstar crumbles are really good as far as fake meat goes! I cooked THAT up and THEN added a great slooosh of port !!! Ah HAH!!!! yep. Port. Deeeeeefrickin'lickinlicious!!! Oh it was so good!!! EVERYONE loved it. I had TONS!! WAAAY more than I should have had and THEN I wiped my finger around the pan before I washed it !!!!!!! LOL!! I'm SOOOO gross!! ;D We washed down our dinner with just a liiittle wine and I had just a littttttle couple of glasses more.... yummy!! I'm going to get into this wine thing, I can just see it!!! ;D

Hmmm... just realising this post isn't very "parenty" is it??! LOL!!! Ah well!! If Mama ain't happy.... and all that!! ;D


Toodles yoodles! ;D

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How we spent our Sunday....!

We worked a little on reading words from our cards, then finding the letters from the fridge magnets and then writing the words on to paper.....








We did a little art....!! This is "Daddy MAD!!" !!!



We watched some movies.....



Took naps....






Played in our rooms....



and headed to our cozy spots to read.......



Perfect!! How was YOUR day??? : D

Migraines in the morning, South Pacific in the evening, Migraines at Supper Time...!

Pah. Mummy and Jessie day started out with my waking up with a migraine. Damn Migraines. A pox on them all. I choked down two migraine pills and went back to bed for a while and woke up feeling much better. We decided to pass on the scented candle shopping though...a recipe for migraine headaches if ever I needed one. We left the house a little later than planned but Jessie was all showered and coiffed, fingernails painted, lovely outfit on, necklace chosen with care, purse filled with suitable Mummy and Jessie accoutrement...! Adorable! I asked her to help me pick out my outfit too and she helped me chose a necklace that would fit the bill nicely! ;D We set off via the gas station and sucked half of the money out of our bank account to fill the van! Then to music store to check out the Violins..!! Jessie is convinced she would like to learn to play so we looked into their rental program ....! We also tried out the banjo's, strummed the beautiful guitars and fiddled with the keys on the keyboards! After that, the library to drop off a book, then on to Hobby Lobby to browse the yarns and the crafts. From there, Michaels... More Yarn, more crafts!! After Michael's Barnes and Noble....!! Ahhhhh!!! We love the smell of the place!! I looked at crochet books and wine books and Jessie looked at all sorts of other books. I tried to show her how the Magic Eye books worked but my head was NOT going to let me fool around with that sort of thing and Jessie had no idea what I was talking about. Sad. She'd love them once she could SEE them! :D Anyway, from Barnes to Panera! Chicken Noodle and Hot Chocolate for the Beans, Black Bean soup and hot tea for me!! We sat and chatted as we ate and watched the snow start to really accumulate out the window! After we'd picked up some soup to take home to the boys we headed out to Super Saver to get some milk and also some apple pie and donuts. (shhhh!! Don't tell anybody about the junk we eat...!!!) We then started for home with Jessie reading her book along the way ( oh, she bought The Lightening Thief book... whatsisname and the Olympians...) The boys were pleased to see us when we got back and they gobbled up the soup immediately! ;D Rex put on South Pacific and we sat together and watched that, singing along with the songs! At intermission we ate apple pie and hot custard ( Rex and I ) and donuts for the kids. It was gooooood!! ;D Once the movie was over it was pretty much bed time. I took Jack up and gave him a quick bath and Jessie got herself ready. Jack went to sleep in no time flat and Jessie was almost asleep when I went in to say goodnight. She kept thanking me for a great Mummy and Jessie day....!!! I really LOVE spending the day with her, she's a delight.




Once the kids were sleeping I came back down and sat with Rex. We watched some real life murder thingy ( which I KNOW I have seen YEARS ago...) and I crocheted some more on a shawl I'm making. I noticed after a while that my head was pounding again and when the news came on and police lights were flashing on the screen, well, that was that. Another migraine, to round out the day!!! ARRGHH!! ;D Still... my wonderfully sumptuous and cozy cozy bed awaits.....

Goodnight, all.

Finally Friday!!

Well.....! Hmmmm..... I feel like I have spent the day poorly today! I can't seem to come up with anything I did that is worthy of note! I was cranky a lot of the day, grouchy for some of it and tired for the rest of it!!! ( Poor kids!!! ) I tried to do some school with Jessie ( MORE Set Notation ) and succeeded in making her cry... I'd asked her to "just do one page" whereupon she lay her head on the table and sobbed! I tsked at her and told her she "just needed to ask if she wanted help..." and I took a look at the questions......um....... then I phoned a friend!!! :D Luckily I have several smart friends and Lisa the Math Prof is just the one to call at times like these!! ;D She was very helpful and set Jessie and I back on the right track again!! Poor kiddoe!! I remember doing Set Notation when I was in school ( but never since, interestingly enough!!! ) Ah well! It's Mummy and Jessie Day tomorrow so hopefully that will make up for my tyrannical nature during the week?!! :D

Jack was a sweetheart at bedtime tonight. Jessie had accidentally smashed a glass in the bathroom sink and was upset about it. I was brushing her hair and she was teary due to the knots, the glass and the fact she was tired out! Jack thought I was abusing her head with the hairbrush so he asked if he could brush her hair instead! I let him have a turn and veeeery veeeeeery gently he brushed her hair saying quietly "It's ok... you can sing now..." !!! Bless him!! ;D

I put Jack to bed then went through to talk to Jessie... she wanted me to help her pick out an outfit for our day out! We picked something really smart! She'll look lovely! :D She kept telling me how excited she was and how she looked forward to this day more than she looked forward to Christmas!! Bless her! I hope she has a great time tomorrow! ;D

I'm going to get a reasonably early night I hope so I can keep up with her! ;D

G'night! ; D

Unfinished Project Day, Running for my life and Why Isn't The Mentalist On Tonight?!?! :D

Today was and is unfinished project day at the Baker house. Friends are encouraged to bring their children, their knitting, scrapbooking, sewing or craft project and work on it at our dining table whilst supplied with copious amounts of tea, good food and conversation! It's a winning combination!!! We had a fun time today with Mary and Marsha and all the children had a whale of a time screaming, tearing around the house and apparently riding ten dragons! Of course I'm usually faffing about doing this that and the other instead of working on my (countless) unfinished projects, but still, I'd rather chat anyway!! Knitting and such just takes my concentration away from the conversations!! ;D I wish every day were unfinished project day.....!!

After dinner tonight I went to the basement for another Wii Workout. I did my strength exercises, Yoga, aerobics and finished off with a "short" run. Usually I plan on just a quick little jog but I'd failed to notice this time I'd selected "Island Lap"... um.....!! I was exhausted when I finally crossed the finish line ( of COURSE it didn't occur to me to just quit...!! ) I've clearly got out of the habit of running but there ya go... what can I say?!?! :D

Once Jack was asleep I got myself ready for bed and hustled downstairs to watch The Mentalist.... only..... it was a CSI episode. An OLD CSI episode.... Hmph. What gives???? So looks like I will get to read my book in bed instead then! ;D Good enough for me! ;D

Oh and I haven't forgotten the Set Notation thingy... I have to get my computer hooked back up to sort pictures.... maybe in the morning all being well! ;D

Night night all! ;D

DATE NIGHT! :D

Whoooooot!! ;D Date night Date night!!! ;D Our fabulous new babysitter arrived promptly just before 6 and jumped right in to playing with Jack! He barely gave us a second glance as we left the house! Jessie was busy cooking dinner when we left...!! Times have indeed changed! ;D Rex and I went out to the mall first... I wanted to go to Penney's to try out some perfumes at Sephora. I got tons of little paper sticks and sprayed each one with a fragrance and wrote the name on it. I'm usually highly averse to strong smells but since taking my happy pills have found they don't affect me so much anymore. I'd love to have a "signature scent" so am trying to figure out which one is "me" ! I'm narrowing them down slowly! ;D Rex found some bargain sweaters... $5 each !!!! ... After that excitement we went to Grisanti's restaurant for a LOVELY dinner and I had some wine... (Wednesdays are half price bottle nights... who knew?!?! :D ) I just had an Italian Pinot Grigot ... slurp slurp!!! ;D I also ate way too much deliciousness AND had a Chocolate Monk ( A drink with about 600 calories per glass and lotsh and lotsh of alcholholol in it !! ) Hee heee!!! **tsk!!**

We got home just before 10 so that the lovely babysitter could get home; school in the morning! Jack and Jessie were both still up but went to bed as soon as we got back. Jack was already in bed but was sobbing as he didn't want the babysitter to leave!!! Bless him!! He loves her so! ;D Jessie was waiting up for us and said she missed me but I think she had a good time anyway. Jorie ( the babysitter ) played all sorts of games with them and I KNOW they had a wonderful time!! I'm SOOOOO thrilled! ;D I lay down with Jack to help him get to sleep and... um..... 2 hours later I woke back up....!! LOL!!!!

I'll hopefully remember to write more tomorrow about the neat game we played to demonstrate Set Notation and our trip to the pet store today where it was all I could do to NOT bring home two of the more adorable young cats they had for adoption!!! I told them I'd need a lot more money and one less husband before I could do that!! ;D

Alright ... to bed I go where I shall no doubt lay like a python having just swallowed a goat. I may be there for sometime! ;D

'Night!!!

Ugh! ;D

You see.... yesterday went SOOOO well it was perhaps inevitable that today would be a washout! The dog peed on Jack's bed again this morning and I literally became hoarse from yelling at and about her. I'm SOOOO beyond frustrated with her... I don't even know HOW she does it!! I NEVER see her do it!!! GAH!! Anyway, that sure didn't help my day! I did mountains of laundry again, some school with Jack, read Risa's latest blog post and promised myself that I would try that one out tomorrow ( tomorrow, tomorrow, always tomorrow!! ) I've fallen so far off my diet that it's impossible to imagine ever getting back onto it, and part of me is ok with that ( hint, it's NOT my butt...!) My computer has died... again. I'm using Jessie's at the moment. Mine looks suspiciously like it did last time when it got infected with a hideous virus and cost us $$$$$$ to repair. **sigh** AND I had piles of laundry stacked neatly all over the dining table ready to put away and Jack somehow managed to spray chocolate milk all over it with his drinking straw.



aaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!


I have put the call out to Rex. He's on his way home. With Chocolate.

I will be ok.
I will be ok.
I will be ok....!! ;P

Wow!!

I have been cleaning this house for almost 12 hours straight today!! Well it certainly feels like I've been cleaning it for 12 hours though I know I was on the phone for a while and I did use the computer for a while too but nothing like I normally do!!! I've been up and down my stairs, tackling the laundry beast, dusting, vacuuming, tidying, sorting, cleaning, clearing, emptying, washing.......!!! I even washed down my washer and dryer...!! ( I love those machines!!! They are so beautiful!! ) I put fairy lights up in the bedroom, I put away every scrap of laundry that had been piled up upon piles... ( I SO wish I'd taken pictures...!!) I painted my toenails and sat and watched a "How To Crochet" segment on You Tube whilst I had my lunch but that's the only time I can recall sitting down!!! My laundry room looks stunning, the kitchen is clean and shiny, our bedroom is a beautiful haven of peace and calm... the dining table is clean and clear with only two potted plants on it.... bliss bliss bliss!! ;D

I even managed to get a little school in with Jessie today! ;D We're currently learning Set Notation and I asked my friend Lisa O.K. for some ideas to use the game "Set" to demonstrate Set Notation! She gave me some great tips and I'll try them out tomorrow...!! Reee... Any ideas from you too?? I think the game is perfect for it of course! ;D

Anyway folks, I'm so tired!! I'm going to go to bed and dream of THIS beautiful thing and try to imagine what sort of colors I can put in it...!! Isn't it FABULOUS?!?!!?

More tomorrow! ;D

A Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a lovely Valentine's Day... I hope you did too! ;D We decided last night that Valentine's would be a diet amnesty day ( which I will regret in the morning I'm sure! ) so I have pigged out on all manner of sugary and high calorie goodness today. I know... I'm SOOOOO bad! ;P

Rex and I had a lazy start to the morning and we talked about ways to put romance back in our lives.... just little things every day to keep the romance going! He's such a thoughtful and considerate guy really there's not much else he could do but I know I need to work on it a bit. I'm always so busy with the day to day drama of a life with two kids, pets and a part time job that I forget to make time for love in my life. I'm going to start with things like making a nice hot bubble bath with low lights, candles and soft music for myself. I need to relax and FEEL more romantic. Maybe instead of reading all the murder mystery books I read, perhaps a romance novel once in a while. I'd like to hold hands when Rex and I go out together and maybe cuddle on the couch at night rather than me on the computer in one room and him on the couch asleep in the other....

And so with that outline of my day fresh in my mind I need to do two things...1) go work off that 15 pounds I just put back on today and 2) go spend some quality time with my hubby.

I LOVE that man of mine. :D

A sloooooooow start and a toasty finish!

Hmph. It turns out that telling the kids we MUST be out the house by 11:30 am at the LATEST means we'll still be here at 2pm. *tsk*. It is so frustrating when that happens but that seems to be the way things go around here this time of year. I can't WAIT for the sunshine and waking up to blue sky and warmth.!! I could TOTALLY live in California or Florida. Sure, it's nice to have snow once in a while, but you know what? I could live without it. I would get so much more done over the year if it were sunny out when I woke up!! ;D Ah well.... whine whine whine! ;D

So the day started out veeeeerrrry slooooowly.... I got the kiddoes to the grocery store ( whoopie ) and to the Hallmark store.... which is a test with Jack I'll tell you! :D We bought cards and stuff to make a poke cake for Daddy! ( I've never made one so we'll see how it turns out. I'm thinking cake, jello and pudding??? what's not to like!!! )

Anyway, once we got home hubby arrived not long after. I made dinner, totally cheated on my diet by eating not one but TWO cornbread muffins straight out the oven. And it was totally worth it !!!!!!!!!! ;D ymmmmmmmm!!!

Now the kiddies are sleeping, the fire is crackling in the other room and I am going to sit with my hubby! ;D

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!

Changing my mood, getting stuff DONE and finding a babysitter!! YEAHY!!! :D

So I promised myself yesterday that today would be so peaceful... remember?!?! Rex went out at 5:30am (!!!) to have breakfast with some friends of his. I love that he does that, it's so neat! AND I get to go back to sleep!!! ;D And sleep I did. It was 9am before I even managed to drag myself out of bed. I was feeling really... bleurgh. Unmotivated really. I plobbed around for an hour or more before remembering something The Marvelous Risa told me about....
Improving your mood in one hour.
We threw on some great music from the radio, acted happy, contacted some friends and, most importantly, rid myself of a TON of nagging tasks! Ahhhhh.... I feel SO much better now... and so do the fish!! Man those tanks were nasty ( Weren't they, Mary?!! :D ) !! Now I just need homes for 14 female guppies! ;D

The most important nagging task I had been putting off was to call the folks who moved in across the street this past Christmas. I wanted to know if their teenage daughter would like to babysit! Guess WHAT!?!?!?! She WOULD!!!!! I asked he to come over and meet Rex and the kiddies..... she came!!! She didn't run away screaming AND she has a cousin with Down's !!!! Perfect!!! She also plays drums and guitar....!!! I KNOW!!!!! AND Jack and Jessie LOVE her!! I knew they would! She sounded lovely on the phone and the kids are suckers for lovely young ladies!! ;D We made a plan for Rex and I to have her babysit next week sometime and I.Can't.WAIT!!! The fact that she lives so close and her folks are near should she need help... well... what more could we ask for?!?! I've decided that we need to make this happen. If it's a choice between Boot Camp and a babysitter... well, I'm afraid the babysitter is going to win out. ( Sorry Lisa... : } )

I read a blog a while back that some friends had lead me to somehow, ( maybe they can remind me what it is again??! *thanks, Ree.... here it is..... creating-the-year-2010 ) and this lady had two children with disabilities. One was deaf and the other was disabled in some rather profound way. The lady and her family would, each year, pick a theme for the year ahead. The year of Traveling, The year of debt free etc. I'd like to make this the year of Can Do. We aren't in a great financial position, things are really tough right now, but this is the only life we have. We need to live it, grand finances or not. We are still cutting down our debt every month ( which is really amazing considering...! ) so we're not going to go wild with our money, but the money I make from my articles etc... well that can go to the babysitter for sure!! TOTALLY WORTH IT !! ;D

( and no, you can't have her!! ;D )

Off to work out and then do some couch loafing!! ;D Happy Friday, folks! ;D

A Valentine's party, never vacuum naked and answer the phone at the same time, is there such a thing as too much exercise?

Thursday?? So soon?!?!!? I knew this week would go fast! I had something going on everyday this week... tomorrow is going to be sooooo peaceful!!! ** I know, I know, famous last words!!**








So today I ran around like a maniac to get the house ready and decorated for a Valentine's party. We really made the house look lovely and had treats, a card making station, games, crafts, candy, cookies, healthy treats, strawberries, red peppers, tomato roses....!! It looked lovely!! I had to get it all done ( with the help of the kiddoes of course! ) before 10 am as my boss was coming over to have a conference call at my house. At five minutes before 10 I was to be found in the bathroom, vacuuming ... and ... um.... well. That's all I need to say isn't it?? Suffice it to say I was about to have a shower. Anyway, the phone rang and it was my boss asking if I was busy baking for my party...! I scoffed and said "hardly!!" but then rather rashly told him what I had been doing instead!! ;D LOL!!! We are friends, but really, it's just not right to know that the party to which you are trying to have a reasonable conversation with is in the altogether on the other end of the line!! I do have a tendency to open my mouth and the truth falls right out!!! Anyway, enough of that I think! ;D

MOVING ON!!!




So anyway, we got all our party stuff ready, the conference call was rescheduled, the children made cookies all by themselves and seemed to enjoy it. We had a lovely afternoon with good friends and the smell of cookies if nothing else!! ;D Only two more weeks and I can eat crap again!!! ;D ( you know what I mean I hope!! ) I did introduce Lisa to the joys of Soy Bacon, cooked mushrooms, spinach, slivered almonds and cranberries..... I don't think I could ever tire of eating that!!! SOOOOO good! ;D





I didn't get my morning work out in this morning so did my evening one after the mentalist... I'm getting better folks!! Not so shaky, strong strong strong....!! Lisa almost has me convinced to try the boot camp...... uh oh..... I'll keep you posted.... of course! :D

A beautiful morning, a comedy of errors and my lunch..!

We woke up this morning to a bright blue sky. I'm always tempted to run out into a blue sky day but thought to check the temps first.... um.....-4f. Chiiiiilly! I stayed in and instead took a pic through the window.....



Can you see the ice shining on the trees?? ***happy sigh***

This was about as peaceful as our day got..!! After that....

The daft dog decided that she should go walk about in this weather so if you'd looked out your window and you lived on my street you would have seen me in my pajamas, snow boots, columbia coat and gloves chasing the mutt back home. Happily there was no wind at all so, though so cold that the snow squealed and squeaked like styrofoam I was not chilled to the bone. Still, I would have preferred to stay in the warm house!!

The cat threw up on the floor....

The toilet overflowed all over the bathroom carpet....

The dog peed on the bed.....

Work stuff that you wouldn't believe if I told you came up....

Hubby had to drive to Iowa to collect a stolen trailer that ended up not so much being stolen and not so much being driveable....

Jessie and Jack have friends here for a sleepover and we thought doing some crafts would be fun.... so did Jack..... he thought it would be fun to decorate for Valentine's day by sprinkling glitter all over the chairs!! ;D Pretty!!!

Anyway, the day had it's good points, and looking back it was more good than bad... there was just a lot of headshaking and eye rolling going on today!! ;D

Jessie made scrambled eggs with cheese for breakfast for her and Jack.... Yeahy!!!



I made myself a delicious lunch...... oh yum yum yum....



I got two work outs in today ... the one this evening had Jessie and Charlotte helping me! I always thought I preferred to work out alone, but it's actually fun with more than one... it goes a lot quicker! ;D

Anyway, the kitchen needs cleaning again, Rex has a movie to watch and I want to knit at least one more row tonight before I fall prey to complete and utter exhaustion! ;D

Night folks! ;D

A work out or two, a busy day, a late night and a short post! :D

Well!! Today shot past!!! I decided to add some Umph to my work out / diet regime and work out aerobically in the morning and strength and yoga~y in the evening!! It did help my day get straightened around this morning since it started out with the dog peeing on Jack's bed ( AGAIN ) and the cat puking on the floor, not to mention misunderstandings and miscommunications to boot. Bleurgh! Anyhoo.... it all worked out!! We gathered up our library books, cares and woes and eventually made it out the house about 2:30 pm!! Normally if I'm not out the house by noon, why, it's not going to happen, but I kept pressing on! ;D We're hosting a little valentines party for some kiddoes on Thursday and I wanted to pick up some things for that so Super Target was calling!!! :D

We made it out to Target, spent HOURS there as usual and got home in time to make supper! I was so hungry that taking pictures of my plate was not an option tonight, but I had left over soup from yesterday and a spinach salad with mushrooms cooked with just a smidge of olive oil wiped over the pan, a delicious Gardenburger Portabella mushroom burger, some avocado and some roasted red pepper hummus. Followed by a banana. Yeah... I WAS hungry!! ;D I topped all that off with a 34 minute workout on the Wii and boy, I feel GOOD!!!!!!

The kiddies worked out with me ( by "worked out" I mean mostly lay on the floor and squabbled!! )then I put them to bed. Now I'm supposed to be watching a movie with Hubby AND I was trying to put a How To post together for you to show you the neat Valentines I'm making for a swap.... but.... eh.... it's not working out so well! ;D Maybe tomorrow!!; D

G'night folks! ;D

Don't let the sunshine fool ya....it's really cold out there, one shouldn't do the recycling at 12 degrees without gloves and boy my thighs ache!

Another SUPER day!! ;D Seriously! Since I finally remembered I'd not been taking my Vitamin B for months and started taking it again, life is PEACHY KEEN!! ;D **note to self, and others, if you don't eat meat and don't eat enough leafy greens, you DON'T get enough Vitamin B. That's some bad juju right there. **

So, I asked everyone I work for or with to not call me today so I could get some work DONE and some things around the house done, you know, little things, like raising my children, digging us out of the laundry mountain, FEEDING OURSELVES!! ;D **second note to self, did you know that 2 cups of spinach, one third of a yellow bell pepper and 2 tablespoons of Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus is a whopping ( and I'm being sarcastic here... ) 100 calories !!!!!! That's tons of food and power packed nutrition for barely the calories of one dry slice of bread!!! WOWZAH!! Oh and PS... it's flipping delicious!!**





So I spent the day working and focusing more on the children, and we really did seem to have a lovely day. The sun came out and the sky was blue again. Jack played with his toys making shadow puppets



and Lucy flaked out catching some rays.




I looked out the window and saw this.....



A vision of sunshine!!! I suggested we all go out for a walk, to blow the cobwebs out. It's a good job I thought to check them temps.... um .... 12. Degrees Fahrenheit. Ya. Dat's cold. That's minus 11 centigrade. hmm. It would do more than blow the cobwebs out that's for sure!!! Darn sunshine and blue sky! I decided that it would be best if I quickly took the van and picked up some stamps from the post office and dropped off the recycling by myself whilst the kiddies stayed home in the warm. I realised once I was in the car that I had forgotten my gloves. I debated going back in the house to get them but didn't want to take the keys out the ignition to unlock the front door. Yup. That's what it will say for the record. Bone idle. Anyway, I shrugged it off and drove to the recycling. Well. It may have been only 12 degrees, but it was also windy. Hmm. Wind at 12 degrees, for those who may not have experienced it, well, let's just say it's really unpleasant. I only had a couple of bags of recycling to drop off but truly, it was so cold, SO cold, my fingers started to curl up. The skin went red and began to pucker as the blood retreated from my extremities. I could NOT feel my fingers. I soldiered on, because I AM an idiot and put away the last few things. It seemed like an eternity before I got back to the van and then I couldn't feel my fingers to open the door. Never. Again. My hands eventually recovered but the feeling of the blood returning was quite painful. LEARN FROM ME FOLKS!! **sigh**

Anyhoo!!! Once the feeling returned to my phalanges I was able to make a delicious dinner ( when did this turn into a food blog?!?! ) of roasted vegetable soup using some left over roast veggies from the other day, more spinach, onion, garlic and some stock made up to half concentration to cut the sodium down. I also added some canned tomatoes and some chick peas. Jessie came down whilst I was cooking and said, and I QUOTE here...." What is that DELICIOUS smell!!!!! " Everyone LOVED this soup and we all snarfed it down despite the very obvious vegetables floating in it! I was going to puree it and started to, but the color went a little, um, odd, so I stopped. Jack wasn't thrilled at the idea of all the veggies so I told him I'd make him another kind of soup and pureed his! He did question the color, which I thought was funny, but then he ate the lot! It was SOOOO tasty!! ;D Totally on the diet sheet, looooow calorie and high in fibre and nutrition!! AND VEGAN. Man I rock! ;D



After dinner the kiddies and I did another Wii work out! I thought of Risa as this time I programmed a 30 minute workout, 15 minutes strength training and 15 minutes of Yoga. Both workouts were almost as hard as each other!!! My muscles are ACHING tonight!!! ;D I'd never have believed that a "virtual" workout could be as effective as this is!! ;D This ain't no boot camp for sure, but it IS doing something!! My legs are testament to that!!! ;D

A great day, eating out whilst dieting, a trip to the sports show and leaving the camera in the car..... tsk.

We had a GREAT day today!!! YEAHY!!! ;D Jack was a REALLY GOOD KID all day long!! ALL DAY!!!!! ***swoon!!*** Rex needed to go visit his Mum and we hadn't been out the house for a week so I asked if we could go along for the ride. We always pack things to do in the car as whenever we are out with Daddy we need to be prepared for anything! Jack took his huge backpack full of toys and his MagnaDoodle, Jessie took a book she was reading and I took my knitting AND crochet. When we got to the home the children waited in the car whilst Rex and I went inside. His Mum was looking well which was a nice change. We visited for a short while then we left and Rex suggested lunch at La Paz. I can usually eat Vegan food their quite easily, the Fajitas are delicious, but this time I not only had to have Vegan food, but also no carbs!!! LOL!! Oh what fun!!! So, I opted for black bean soup, no chips, sour cream or cheese and a side order of guacamole. Oh my... it was SOOOO good! ;D After our yummy lunches we then went to the grocery store to pick up all manner of delicious food that's on The List and even found the elusive Ezekiel Bread! ;D The children came into the store with us ( sounds like a small thing, but this is HUGE people!!! ) and they were so good!! ;D Yesssssssss!!!

After the store we went to the Sports Show at the event center.....! Not really my idea of a fun time usually, but hey, it's February and we'll take any amusement we can get!! The kids and I had so much fun trying out all the RVs and the enormous vacation buses !!!! MAN those things are fantastic!! Some of them have more counter space than my own kitchen!!!!!!!!!! Jack couldn't resist trying his hand at fishing for a trout and much to my horror he caught one. He was delighted and I was mortified. I made sure they let it go again...! Poor fish. I thought Jack just wanted to watch the fish but a very helpful lady took his hands, thrust a pole in them and basically helped him out. It was very nice of her.....!?!?

Whilst at the sports show we saw a gentleman herding geese though the displays.... quite a number of geese.... all wearing diapers. I kid you not. It was only then I realised that my camera, that I had specifically brought to take pics for my blog, was NOT in the bag I had with me, but rather was languishing at the far end of a wet and cold parking lot in the van. ** sigh** I did what I could with my camera phone....




LOL!

Anyway, after the sports show we headed home, lit a fire, made dinner ( I had a grilled portabella mushroom with olive oil and garlic along with a wilted spinach salad with balsamic vinegar dressing topped with soy bacon pieces! MAN it was delicious!!!!) watched America's Funniest Videos, worked out on the Wii for about 35 minutes, bathed Jack, put him to bed and now... here I am!! ;D

We're going to watch Sean of the Dead tonight and I'll no doubt do some more of my knitting and crochet!!! Got to get those dishcloths made!!

Diets stink, Wii works and not much happened today!

Good evening...!! ( to be said in odd Wii chap voice whilst wobbling your head slightly and not quite syncing your lips...!! ) LOL!! ;D So.. remember I mentioned, weeks and weeks ago ( ok, probably only a couple of days ago, but it SEEMS like weeks ago ) that I am going to go on the Shredded Diet with Lisa as I am not signing up for the boot camp??? Yeah. Well I'm such a good friend! Rex assured me that "Men wouldn't do that!" He's probably right, but it's nice to have some moral support when you are trying to give up eating everything you love. I don't need to lose a lot of weight, 5 lbs would be nice, but this diet is really about portion control ( which I don't do well apparently! ) eating healthy food regularly, and skipping the candy, chocolate, pasta, breads... you know, anything you really FEEL like eating. It's a challenge, folks! :D On the plus side I am eating a LOT more vegetables which can only be good for me AND I am hoping to break my sugar cravings... or at least knock them about a bit!?!?! :D

Anyhoo... I also said I was going to try and work out every day this month ... and....I have so far!! ( I've just checked my planner and about died when I realised it's only the 6th !! !LOL!! Ah well..!!! 6 days down eh?!!? :D ) I really have to exercise as Lisa is doing this kick ass boot camp and she will slaughter me when we get out (finally) on the bike trails!! Her endurance is going to be phenomenal and mine...??? meh....!! ;D SO anyway, I'm growing closer to my Wii guy. He's starting to know my foibles and scolds me should I accidentally put my foot down or if my legs shake too much. He knows I don't go to bed early enough and he guilt trips me about my stomach muscles. Man, that thing is good! ;D

Other than wondering when and what I could eat next, knitting a whopping TWO rows on my dishcloth, tidying the house a little bit, but not nearly enough, NOT doing ANY work ( !! ) and watching the kiddies play out in the snow, not much happened today! It was a quiet slow sort of day. The snow is starting to melt and so is wet and drippy everywhere. I love the snow and I love the sun, it's the in between stuff I can't stand!

Well it's awful quiet upstairs so I'm going to guess that Rex has fallen asleep whilst putting Jack to bed! It's easily done!! I'm going to go wake him up and maybe knit another row!!! WOW!! The lives of the rich and famous eh?!! :D

A reasonable day, a cat on the lap and a bird in the hand.

Well! Today was better! ;D **breathes sigh of relief!** It wasn't PERFECT by any means, in fact my Facebook status today read "It's like the Lord Of The Flies over here..." meaning as I was working and basically leaving the children to their own devices ( which to me means they read quietly and absorb historical facts, humorous trivia or various math theorems ) they were busy finding ways to drive each other crazy and then simultaneously beat on each other whilst screaming "MOMMMMMM" at the top of their lungs. Lovely. This time however I dealt with it a little better than yesterday... I shut myself under the stairs. I didn't. Not really. I wish I had, but no, I tried to reason with them and then sent them to their rooms. Happily the day passed fairly quickly, I was able to chat on the phone to friends and once Daddy came home the switches flicked and the children became little darlings once again. USUALLY they go batshit when Daddy gets home but their wires must have become crossed!!! Ah well!! I think we could all use some sunshine soon!! Poor kiddoes. I can't keep working like this, it's really not fair on them. When I pay them any attention whatsoever they really become good children. This weekend I'm determined to try an experiment to find DNA and also to work on probability from Risa's blog. That will make me feel a little better anyway!

So not only do I have the children who need my attention, I'm obviously failing my pets too.... !! 'D Herman sees me sitting at the computer and knows I'll be there for hours. He never seems to want to sit on me when I'm on the couch as he knows I'll be up and down all night, but at the computer, why his luck is in! ;D

Here are some photos of my lap and it's occupant! ; D









whilst looking out the window at the fresh snow (!!!) this afternoon Jessie suddenly gasped and sounded horrified. A bird!! A bird in the snow!!... only this poor bird looked like it had taken a crash landing and was beak first in the snow with it drifting up over it's back. It's wings were out akimbo and it looked like it might be trying to make snow angels... Dead, I thought. Yup. A Goner. Nevertheless I thought it might be interesting viewing for the children as it was a Downy Woodpecker and we don't get to see them up close very often so I donned boots and gloves and headed outdoors. I went out to gently scoop him up... and he was alive! I held him gently and stroked his back talking calmly to him and he sat happily in my hand. The children watched out the window and Jessie took a couple of pictures...







After a while I took him over to our spruce tree and he flew up into the shelter of the branches. It was a very special treat! We got some more suet this evening and will put it up tomorrow and see if he comes back to say howdy! ;D

A rough start, some friends stop by and The Mentalist whilst knitting.

Today Jack gave me fits! First thing.... ok... I should rephrase that.... rather early in the....ok... about 9ish this morning he decided to just be a royal pain in the ass and start beating on his sister for no good reason that I could see. I suppose there shouldn't EVER be a good reason to beat on your sister, but in small children sometimes the lines are a bit more blurry...!! Anyhoo... he was a pill and I handled it.. poorly. Yes yes... I did not do my best, I did not stop and think, I did not pull out any tools, recite any rhymes, use a sing song voice, distract, placate... nothing. I yelled. And when that didn't work I threatened and when THAT didn't work I smacked his butt. *** hangs head for shame and sighs *** This is where I have come, folks. The one parenting "tool" I abhor. The one thing I swore I wouldn't do to my children.... and what does it take? I could try and explain myself, come up with a dozen reasons why I was at my wits end and I'd tried everything else... but excuses excuses... I still did it. Ugh. I will say I didn't lay into him, I didn't whack him ... but still. I went upstairs with him, talked to him, got him dressed and explained that he should stay and play in his room until he felt ready to be a nicer boy and until he was ready to apologise and make friends with Jessie. He did come down after about 15 minutes and was in a much friendlier mood, even going so far as to offer Jessie his new "swissyfying glass" "to look closer at things...." !!! For the rest of the day he was his normal nice kid self. I don't know what demon had possessed him this morning, I really don't. Anyway. Let's draw a line under THAT mess and move on. Please.
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Thanks!

So, the rest of the day improved rapidly when our friends Mary, Charlotte and Will came over to play! I wasn't sure whether they would be coming today as the weather was set to turn foul and I couldn't get to my computer since Jack was on it so missed their message letting me know they were on their way. So, naturally, not knowing for sure if anyone was coming over I did the sensible thing.... nothing at all. I did NOT clean my kitchen, tidy the table, vacuum the floors or run the laundry.... uh huh.. "just in case" is clearly not the way I am programmed!!! Happily Mary pretended she didn't notice the mess and we sat drinking tea, knitting and watching the feather sized snow flakes tumble from the sky. Jessie was thrilled that the kids came to play and her overall demeanor changed noticeably. She needs to see more of them, they are good for her soul! ;D

Rex ran something of a rescue mission after work, helping out a friend who had got himself ( and his 3 year old daughter ) stuck in a ditch thanks to the treacherous roads. They came to our house until his gorgeous wife could come and pick them up. Once they had set off back home we had a quick dinner, got the kiddoes into bed and hubster and I sat and watched The Mentalist. I really enjoy that show! I'm working on my second dishcloth which is coming along nicely and is going to be pretty fancy I think... provided the instructions don't send me cross eyed before I'm finished!! I'll post pictures when I'm done, but hey, don't hold your breath.....!! "}

Night all! ; D

Homemade muffins, a stuntman in the making and a new dishcloth to boot!

One thing I don't enjoy so much is starting the day watching my 7 year old son ride his bicycle head first down the stairs. Yep. NOT fun.... (He's fine, just broke his glasses which we managed to fix!!!) however things I DO enjoy include having a little girl who is big enough to make Vegan Chocolate Muffins ALL BY HERSELF!! Not a BIT of help from me!!! YEAHY!!! Oh man I'm so happy about that!! ;D












And they were SOOOOO good!!! Especially gooey and warm out the oven when the chocolate chips were just melty and delicious!!! YUM!!!

And look! I had time to finish a project today!! Behold!!! Dishcloth Number One...!! ;D




The trouble is, I'm not going to want to use it..... I won't want it to get dirty....!!! ;D

We went to visit Lisa this evening and she told me all about the Boot Camp she is going to... Sounds a bit like hell to me, but I told her she had my full support!! I'm going to try and do the required diet along with her but I'm going to exercise on the Wii for a month and we'll see who has the best results...!! I'm thinking SHE will, but I will still be able to walk down the stairs when I'm finished!! ;P

I haven't done my required exercise yet today so ...off I go....!! ;D

Workman's comp! ;D

Yesterday...yes, folks, this is what I should have written yesterday but I couldn't keep my eyes open.....!! Anyway...!! Yesterday hubby came home with a pretty nice entertainment center which had been destined for the trash. He'd had to disassemble it to get it home and he and Jack spent an hour or so putting it back together last night! I love to see the children helping out and Jack really enjoys doing it. He's always asking "Me help you??!!" even when it's horribly inconvenient and it would be MUCH faster to simply do it yourself.... but how can you resist such a sweet request! A person DOES have to be in the right mood to allow small children to help ... it can be a job in and of itself! Anyway, Jack got to help build. He was so excited and what Daddy gave him the hammer and let him pull out and later hammer in nails! Well!! Pleased as punch he was! He kept working really hard to get the nails in just right and you'd hear him say under his breath "I LOVE helping..." !!! What a star!





















Of course today he's been something of a ratbag, mostly due to my working again and leaving him to his own devices throughout the day. I can't believe how much I miss "Just" homeschooling, housekeeping and parenting. I really enjoy days where I feel we have done some good Book Larnin' !! ... Is it just me or does everyone wish for more hours in the day!!!!?? Actually,6 more hours overnight would be WONDERFUL for me. Maybe I'll start a petition!! Can I count on your support??!!;D

Manic Monday! :D

Actually today wasn't too bad at all. It seems like nothing very much got done despite it being a seemingly busy day. Jack did tell me he didn't like to be "Ayown" when he was playing in his room which I thought was very sweet! Jessie spent some time on more logic puzzles, reading in her room or playing with Jack and I spent a lot of time working. (Not enough though, clearly, as here I sit, working, at one o'clock in the morning.) I'm literally falling asleep though so I will go to bed now and get up early to finish my work. I'll also write a little more on this blog post and add some lovely pictures of Jack helping Daddy build!! SWEET!! Until then folks, it's goodnight from me, and it's goodnight from him! ; D

Slooooow Sunday....!

Apart from starting the day baking delicious Fruity Fruit Bars ( Blueberry ) from my La Dolce Vegan cookbook the morning started out kind of slowly! We then went to the hospital to visit Rex's mum who is there with suspected Gall Bladder complications ( which seem to have been sorted out, fingers crossed! ) Whilst we waited ( and waited ) for Daddy to talk to the doctor the children and I hung out in the waiting area. Jessie had fortunately brought along a purse with two books in .... Twilight was one and A Wrinkle in Time was the other. We'd not managed to get much read last night as Jack was being antsy, so we used our waiting time to catch up on the story! Once we'd seen Grandma we went for some Tacos then drove around and ran some errands. I used that time to work on my knitting.... making a dishcloth!! I am planning on making several so I can practice various stitches! Once home it was already time to make dinner ( Florentine Style Manicotti..! ) It wasn't bad but needed something I think ( PROBABLY CHEESE!! ;D ) We all sat and watched The Hardy Boys on the Retro TV channel and I knitted some more! Then it was bed time, cuddle time, sit on the bed and chat with Jessie time ( and there's never enough time for that...) and now, here I am ready to watch a movie with hubby. ( for "watch a movie" read "no doubt fall asleep in front of a movie"...!! Ah well... I'm sure a little CHOCOLATE will help.... Vegan, of course..! ;D