VGNO

It's Friday!!!! YAY!!! you know cause, It's still the School year so I've got to enjoy Friday's when I can get them. No really I'm not a kid any more but still Friday makes me Happy.

So come on over, have yourself a drinky poo or few. Did you see the study that was done out of Montreal?I read it on the CBC website. If you drink daily you're going to end up a binge drinker? Oh ahd Binge means 5 drinks. What? 5?I would think if you are a daily drinker it's going to take more then 5 drinks to get you where you want to go? wait a minute? Wait a minute maybe that's what they are talking about? yeah well see it only took me what? 1 mini paragraph to come to that conclusion and it took them how many research dollars? Now that's an education going to good use. Let me find you all the article. I'm sure it will disappear later. www.cbc.ca has the story, I can't figure my fingers out how to get me a link to the exact story. Its in the Health section.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/05/29/alcohol-binge-drinking.html ahhhh there it is. See I've not binged too much yet. So do you think VGNO will send us all to the Binge Risk? It's a celebration right?


And there the evening ends because Darn it, I'm over my limited bandwidth for the month. Wahhh no more streaming Video until the 3rd of June. Stupid internet limits.

I got such a pretty award today

How pretty is this? I got this from Anissa @ Our Chaotic Life

Isn't it so pretty,I'm going to go and pass this along.I was so excited that I got the award today, that I told the Hubbie to go look at Anissa's site. He fell in love with her leg....She's doing a give away. I'm not giving you that EXACT link cause then I can't win.

So to spread the MOM! love.
Harmazie over at Harmzie's Way

Michelle at Michelle's Blog

Cara over at Mommy Says...

Kooky over at Hi Kooky,

Laura over at Blooming Where We're Planted.

Send on some comment love all, and visit these wonderful Mom's doing their best with the gifts their given and the skills they learn every day.

Friday Fill-ins

I snagged these over at Fridayfillins.blogspot.com And here's my go at today's Assignment.


And...here we go!

1. It's cold and _Foggy today____.

2. __One of my favorite foods is___ tomatoes.

3. My favorite health and beauty product is ___water, drinking more has totally moisturized my skin__.

4. _There is no such thing____ a nice long ride. I've got 3 boys, 'nuff said.

5. Well, first of all __I don't like listening to MOMMMMMMMMMMM, secondly they all seem to think that they can all talk at the same time___.

6. ___Hubbie, NH Neighbours, 2 random never seen before in my life teachers__; those were the cast of characters in a recent dream and it was ___very weird because I was living back in NH, haven't been there in 6yrs, and never met any teachers at that school, creepy!__.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __catching Ann for VGNO, because Hubbie is working late so boys will be in bed__, tomorrow my plans include _cartoons, cereal and sneaking back to bed____ and Sunday, I want to __get to the beach for more sand and sun, if the weather cooperates___!
Posted by Janet at 10:13 PM filled in by Kyooty

Summer is not cancelled.

Today I got to go and see my Surgeon,and after 11wks of healing, I'm now allowed to go back to my "regular activities" YAY!!! I'm so excited. It's not until the moment someone says you can't do something that you want to do it. There were many things this past 11wks that I wasn't allowed to do, and some I snuck in there anyway. There were days I threw clothes down the stairs 1 by 1 just to get the laundry pile shorter in the main bathroom. There was that Tarp pulling I shouldn't have done when the roof was going on, but it's done now.

Things I will be doing this summer.

~Chasing boys, my sons! YAY! Funny I seem to remember chasing boys in my teens too, this is more fun.

~Chasing boys outside to the Crop Circle. My boys have a love for Dirt and Water. We (you know we,Hubbie) went and bought them 1000lbs of sand for the back yard. Now the pile of sand? is in the garage in bags, it has to make it's way to the back yard. I think it's a definite job for "We". I have pictures for you... (dig through archives...)

This is our Crop circle. I took this picture in 2007 Spring, the date on the camera wasn't set up right, I was still learning. This is what I caught one morning while the boys were at school and MJ was probably napping. This is where the boys play. These little critters were busy playing that morning. The boys really do love it out there. It used to be a swimming pool but when we moved into the house, we decided not to use it. I went out there one day and tore the whole things down bolt by bolt. I had no idea, an above ground pool was just a frame with a liner.

~Swimming, now in reality I can't swim properly, I'm a bit nervous of the water since forever. So I will be taking the boys to the beach with reinforcements, friends that can Swim well and have none of that water nervousness I have when left alone.

~Cottage time on the Island. we are definitely heading to the Island. The Island is where I grew up, but left at 22. I haven't lived there since then but we go back 1-2times a year. We purposely moved here to be closer to the island so that my kids would have a connection with the Island and my and my Hubbie's Families.

~Camp, Day Camp. I'm a SAHM and while a day camp/daycare isn't necessary for me, the boys need the socialization and the time away from each other. They do love each other but it's a very hands on love sometimes that involves bruises if they are playing together TOO much. We've decided 1 week each is good for the summer. I thought these weeks would be separate but it turns out that the best weeks for TJ is the same Week that AJ will be at a Different Camp. I'm sure MJ will love this. I will, of course, have to Taxi people from place to place. So 2wks have been spoken for as definite plans and that just leaves the other 8 to fill in the blanks.

~BBQ almost every evening meal, because who wants to heat up a house more at the end of a day?

~work on the last 18lbs to goal and I'm sure the chasing of children will help

~Teach my kids Camp songs I remember from going to Camp. "...learn to play the piano in your winter underwear...." some of these songs totally creep my Hubbie out.hehe hahaha all the more fun. I can't wait to "great green Gobs..." him choir style.


Things I learned last year and wont be doing this year?
~Taking the 3 boys for hair cuts all on the same day!

~Taking the boys to the grocery store alone! nope that will be my time, I'll escape I mean go out later in the evening while they are entertaining Daddy with their stories.

~Let them have a water gun fights while the back patio Door is open! oops! that was a lot of water!

~forget sunscreen there is a bottle in each and ever beach bag this time, and one on the shelf on the way to the back yard.

The best part of being home with the boys is that I can change this at anytime well other then those day camps, I put a deposit on them! Summer here we come! Only 25more days of school.

Random Tuesday, a little bit of this a little moreof that

If you're new go on over to Keely's and get yourself a button,

It's Tuesday again, I could do without a Tuesday this week I want to redo that weekend, the part where I get to sleep in. Oh wait I don't actually get to do that!

No dentist this week. We are saved from forking over $ until the next visit.

A white sink?Why would people, install a white kitchen sink in a house with hard water? That sink is never white. I can't use bleach on it because of the septic so it's never ever white.

Yesterday's homework, "This is the last week of homework for the year" well I HAD to comment. "YAY!" Then I looked at it and though, wow, I'm so used to commenting on so many things that I"m even now commenting on the homework. I still can't believe we're down to the last 3wks and 3days of school.

We took the boys to the beach again last night. Way colder then Sunday. The wind was high, it seems these are the things that bother mom's but not boys, they ran the played and everyone slept like a ROCK!

So how long do kids usually suck their thumbs? when can I expect that little habits to go away?I'm trying not to hound him but I am reminding him that kids don't suck their thumbs in school. School isn't until 2010, maybe I've set the deadline too far away? the other two only sucked their thumbs until they were about 5months old.

Blankets, how long do kids have a favorite blanket? Apparently the "pillies" is the part he likes to rub his hand on while falling asleep. "Mom it's on wrong there are no bumps"? I turned it around of course, because this results in Quieter nights.

So why is it that a little boy can look so cute and innocent and then he says things like but be all "Fresh 4's within a second"?

Sun all day long today. Yay, they said it's a bit chilly but it's supposed t go up to 18C. The boys do not want to wear their jackets. "Too cool" oh you're too Cool all right, your going to be COLD! I have one that wakes up and wants to be all cozy in footie PJs and doesn't want to change into his day time clothes because they are cold, and then next thing he doesn't want to wear his jacket? I will never understand 7yrolds. I've got one more try though, it's coming.

The bus just left so 2 down 1 to go. Now we play, wonder what we'll do today. I think maybe a trip to the grocery store for TP... oh boy! field trip!

Silly Cold Blooded Canadians...

warning, lots of photos. I just didn't know when to stop

This weekend is not a long weekend here in Canada. We did though make the most of the weekends. This is our plan for the whole summer. Get out and get some air and sun and fun because soon enough we have to resort to making sliding into snow banks fun!
We finally got out Sunday to the Beach Park and picked up our pass. I was mistaken in our $'s it was 54.00 last year and has climbed to 70.00. The reason for the increased cost we're told is for the price of upkeep right? so we would assume that because of this, we wont be stepping into land mines of Goose, Deer, or fox poo right? We'll see. While we were sitting and watching the kids argue play with their sand boys in a huge pile of sand


Mr Park worker came along and asked us to move our van out of the current parking spot and over to the further away one or up past the roped off barrier. OK that sounds good, they are going to clean up the park way and fill in the holes. Hubbie goes off to move van with Mr Park. So that's good news. I stay with the boys, and they play and I watch and they show me their arm men they found in the pile and they talk of mass death counts, and I just smile and say "yes dear"(inside me I'm trying to say, it's only a game). Hubbie comes back and says, while yes they are filling in the holes? yeah they aren't going to cover over the grass growing up through the parking lot and this was Mr Park's last day of work? He's leaving. A lot of the workers have been laid off and some are leaving for more secure jobs! I suspect the park's upkeep will be downkeep and I'll honestly be shocked if I see enough life guards in these chairs...


We did though enjoy the time at the beach, the temperature of the air was comfy, the boys had lots of fun playing in the sand. I took MJ for a walk down the beach and in typical 4yrold fashion he told me about everything he saw. I took pictures of his toes in the sand.


I went for a walk without the kids, Hubbie went for a walk without the kids. There were maybe 10 people on the beach all at once. Someone was there to either write or draw. Pad in hand she was working away at a picnic table. I laid in the sand and watched the clouds. It was a very good soak it up before it's all gone kind of day.

HASAY:Kyooty's Intro, Late But Here

If you haven't seen HASAY while reading other blogs and you have no idea what talking about click find your way over to Casey.
I think I have to start at the beginning, Hi I'm Kyooty and I like to Eat!(and sit)
1. What motivates you and why do you want to do this challenge?
Motivation is hard for me but I want to be lifelong healthy and if you've been here before you may have actually read my post where I stopped skirting around the weight loss story. It's a bit long.

2. What is your long term goal?
I want to get my last 20lbs(19.6 as of last Wednesday May20th) off to goal so I can stop using my retirement funds to pay staff at WW. I'm too broke for this but I'm also too stubborn to quit.

3. What is your long term weight loss goal? Long term,is live the life of a person that eats at 160lbs, and exercises at 160lbs. I want to be that sized person both mentally and physically.

4. What tools are available to you? My Wii fit, I have a stair machine but it's currently in time out until I talk to my surgeon, I've got a great subdivision for walking, bears make you walk faster, I've got a nice size yard for running after kids, I have a double jogger but no one to put in it, a wagon, a boy that wants to go walking every day, and we do now. Tennis rackets, badminton rackets, soccer balls, bikes, yoga mat, stability ball, Pilate's for Dummies, and Pilate's another one I can't remember the title of.. yeah I know... And some old VCR tapes of Reebok Caribbean work outs from TSN! I know the Canadians are laughing.
5. How often can you exercise? I've come to the realization that I have to DO something everyday, even if it's only 30minutes of chasing the kids. If I sit all day, I become a slug and the next day, I become a fatter slug and so on and then I have to recommit all over again

6. What do you plan on doing? Wii fit every day for 30minutes, and then anything after that is icing on the cake..sorry.

7. What has worked for you in the past? My first time losing weight ever was 2003, and I lost 80lbs, the last 5lbs I lost on maintenance, that stayed off for 6months, and uh well because I was thinner apparently I was either more fertile or more "active" and in 2005 I had my baby. When I weighed myself after coming back to WW 50lbs back on. I know WW works if you do it, and follow through and I also know I'm looking for lifetime health not just a dress for a wedding, and then all the massive portions of the foods I used to eat. Even with the gains, I will never be able to eat all the food I used to eat on my way up to my original size.

I'm going to put this weeks status in another post later today, I think you've exercised your eyes long enough. :)

Ever Notice When you Make Plans...

So when I was doing the Friday Fill ins, I had planned to take the boys to the beach. We started out with that plan, and things were going well. I had managed to crawl into bed at like 244am! after getting sucked into The Tudors? It was the first time I saw the show and I'm already sucked in, because well it left me hanging. Now I'm either going to have to work on finding this show at a regular time or maybe it comes in a box set or something? I'll have to great googly moogly that one.
So I slept like a rock, and at 7am Hubbie rolls over gets up with 2/3 boys and tells them "Don't wake mom watch some cartoons" and he took off for the yard sales. He did well, but over spent on stuff we don't need. I'm going to have a yard sale his yard sale finds. He found some books for the boys on animals, Sharks, Frogs and dinosaurs, great stuff for next year. The details, labels and so on are great. I read the first 4 pages of the frog book to MJ and I learned about Frogs I've never seen or heard about before. So we got the kids, lunch, I did more dishes, got more laundry upstairs,. this falls in the "let's" Category. He brought me up the big basket of wet clothes and I was going to hang them. I procrastinate. I read, I comment on a few things I like, I pay some Packrat, I collect some 101 eggs, or few ,and have my tea and next thing it's 1pm and people are asking me if we are going anywhere? uh yea, just let me get showered and dressed.. more procrastinating. The deal is set, Hubbie offers to hang the clothes for me, and I head to the shower. SCORE! So I get out of the shower the house is clean, the kids are happy, but sucked into Spy Kids 3.... and I go get dressed. Ready to go.
It was 330pm before we left the house, and it was cool today, not beach worth, not even sand castle worthy. We drove to the local DQ and bought the kids some Soft Serve. They were happy as clams at a beach. Also the price of the beach pass? it's gone up 24.00 this year! it was 50$ last year, and this year it's 74.00! it will cover all provincially run parks for the summer buttttttttt 24.00? but we do it for the kids. They will have memories for a life time. Hubbie also found some sand toys at one of the yard sales. I guess someone had bought them for last year but never used them, they were still in the mesh bags. Got to love impulsive shoppers. We go through a lot of sand toys here between the kids and the fox they get a lot of wear and tear. even the Tonkas.
So tomorrow we will again plan the beach run. I've got the cooler in the car tonight, I have the buns ready to make sandwiches tonight and I'll throw them in before church, and we'll drive Straight from church to the beach! They have changing rooms there, I'll pack their play clothes in the van too.
I wonder if I can managed to get out of the bed in the early morning and get some muffins made for the weeks lunches? Then again Hubbie is out tonight with some of the "guys" (which means guys and girls) from work. (Networking for the next big home improvement project?) No,we couldn't get a sitter, so I'm home, and he's out. Anyone have a babysitter they can spare? This is the part I miss about living close to our families.

This is last week's Beach Trip picture. I'll have to get another one this week to compare the green. So much better then snow.

Friday Fill ins, my lazy side

And...here we go!

1. Moving ___is hard work, packing, moving boxes, running around, unpacking, nope I'll stay here__.

2. ____Once the kids get bus, i'm almost_ free. MJ might let me nap.

3. My best quality is _still under review, I haven't figured it out yet____.

4. __I'm writing out all the food___ details. If I don't I'll eat too much.

5. In nearly 10 years, _I wont have to do any of the morning prep, but I'll probably be working and rushing myself around____.

6. _Good Wine, Good Food,and Sleep____ is what I need right now! But it's 7am...

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _Montreal Steaks on the BBQ, and time with the boys___, tomorrow my plans include _A trip to a park, maybe some sandcastles____ and Sunday, I want to _get everyone looking neat as a pin for church, baking for the week and maybe some book reading, a day of rest____!

Random Tuesday, No Toast for Me!

Guess what day today is? Can't remember? That Holiday totally messed up your brain's Calandar compass right? well today is Random Tuesday Thoughts,



so go get the badge and link up Keely and Kelly(remember the co host Kelly?) and get yourself in the loop.



Speaking of loop! it rhyms with hula Hoop on the WiiFit, post hernia? hard and scary at the same time. I WANT To do it and I Want to get more loops but I'm wussing out on my BIG circles. And I can't catch those evil hoops that my Hubbie's Mii, and TJ's Mii are throwing at me. Why must they throw stuff? If I can't hit the soccer balls in the Balance section what makes them think I can Catch a Hula Hoop?

No TOAST!!! today I had no toast. I had cereal topped with vanilla yogurt and my tea so I'm good,and the toaster is quietly sitting in the corner being ignored. Okay yes I just had a tiny longing and had the bread in my hands ready to pop in and say oh well it's just another day but nope... toast no more!

Bread, we buy bread at our local convenience store, it's part of a gas station and for some reason it's like 40-60cents cheaper a loaf there then at the grocery store. On the way home from playground hopping with the boys I remembered we needed bread, I got Hubbie to drop me off on our street, walked to the store bought the bread and walked home. This works not just for more activity butttttt get this, I managed to avoid all clutter of bodies at the door way into the house. They were all in,jackets off shoes away when I got in the house. WIN! WIN!

Supper last night was Ham, I threw it in the mini crock like pot before we left with them, and let it heat on low. The house smelled good when we got home, and so I put on some mac nad cheese for the boys side dish. I made salad for me, it was good, I threw the ham on top. MJ was eying my salad, funny how they want it more when it's in your plate and not their's? I started with "no you can't have the salad" and of course I said "okay maybe some". hehe it's all about the can't haves.

Guess where we get to go today? the dentist! yep off we go again, I'm sure my dentist is really happy, he's probably thinking he'll never hit a resession with us as patients? Today it's just for seals to keep the teeth he has from being attacked by my lazy brushing skills. We'll see hwo it goes. Our Hygienist is moving :( that bums me out more, she's SO good with the kids. Even with AJ, who at 7 fled from the chair about 6months ago while she swiveled to get the fluoride on the teeth tickley thing. (I know, sad)

My teeth are a bit smoother but still I can totally feel those fillings, and I guess that's because it took me 16yrs to get to the dentist.

The Wedding the Friend went to? no word yet, I'll have to email her at work today (shhhhhh! don't tell her boss) and get the update.

MJ is here trying to make a bird house with my coasters? You would think he'd be able to do this with legos or maybe building blocks but now he pics my pretty stone coasters? well at least he didn't have to move several beer glasses or shot glasses? update (while going over my spelling errors) "Look mom I made the birdie house" and he's got the coaster holder over some there coasters,so not what he started trying to do but hey there's some problem solving skills right?


Oh did I show you this? I think maybe I did, my sister sent this to me when I was recovering from hernia surgery, somthing to do? and I'm still laughing...




Did she think I was going to just drink myself better? and then I finally opened the box last night? The "shooter" glasses? yeah they are about 10ml capacity, it would take a LOT OF games to get anywhere near drunk enough to forget your painkillers.

So with the holiday yesterday, we took the boys out playground hopping, trying to find out which playgrounds are where in this town, so we can get out and enjoy more places then my back yard for 10wks. I desperately need a plan. I wonder if I can find some "Summer school?"

The Topic, I skirt around but haven't talked fully about

There are a few bloggers that have heard my whines but I haven't had that chance I think to write out the whole Weight loss story. I'm a weight watcher, I've been watching my weight since Jan28th 2003! that was the Day I hit the scale which I now refer to as the "Altar of Truth". I started this Journey on Tuesday nights, I gave myself that 45minutes to get in, get weighed and then sit with a LOT of great people who were doing the same. I SAT at the back of the room. I knew I was over that 200 number and knew I wanted to lose some weight but that night seeing that 228.8! yeah see I even saw the .8 part, was a night I'll never forget. I sat I listed, I watched. The end of the meeting they go over the first booklet. It gives you the run down. There were 8 rules to healthy living those haven't changed but they added 1, and it's a good one. It makes sense.
So I started this journey and said well I'll get my 10% and see how I feel and probably drop out then and do it alone? nope I stayed. In May of that year I had my first hernia surgery, it was a quicky, in the hospital at 4pm, surgery 6pm, home by 12am. I wanted to get home to my kids. Thy were young TJ was about 3.5? and AJ was 1.5 so I was still "needed". My sister came to visit and she helped with the boys so that my Hubbie could get to work. Drs said NO exercise for 2wks. OH it killed me! I thought I'd lose my mind. I had no clue that exercise could be addictive. at 2wks, I was on that stepper and walking 2-4miles again and pushing 60lbs worth of babies in the stroller.
I was standing in a wedding in June, and I was down more! I had bought a Women's Size 14 for a wedding, I was used to buying Woman's sizes. I said because I was a "woman" I had a lot to offer? uh no I was Fat, but by wedding time? Nope not as fat. I was down a total of 59.something and I remember saying I'm down 60lbs at that wedding. The weight was falling off, I was walking 2-4miles a night, rain or shine! I'd cook supper, get everyone fed, and if they were ready too, they were in the stroller and off we went with my neighbour. Eventually I learned that I could do it without the kids. Hubbies home, we'd take the kids for 2miles, then drop the kids off and do 2-4more miles. It felt great. I'd come home pumped. So I was up to 45minutes on the stepper, that machine said I burned 300cals some nights. We'd eat out every Friday night with my Banked 10pts, all was good. Oh and that dress? I had to get my MIL to take it in 2sizes!!! to a real size 12! I looked good!
In July we decided to move back to Canada, and still every single Tuesday I was at that ww meeting, I was in the room, I was losing, some of the losing slowed but by the end of august I was down to 68lbs. My Goal became 75lbs to get the highest WW weight. The day of the moving I had a ww meeting, yep there were men in my driveway, and my hubbie watched the kids and I Went to my ww meeting. I was THAT dedicated. We got here and I had to go live at my parents place for a week, because our house here didn't close until a week later. Guess what I did? yep went to my ww meeting. Those meetings? they are GOLD! they no matter what part of the world you're in, there are people in that room who are doing what your doing. The other great part? My parents were ww too, so I went to the meeting with them. I moved into my house, my inlaws were here unloading my trailers, 1 son with me and ah what did I do? Got in my car and found my first meeting in my new home town. Yep yep Yep! and I've been going to those meetings on and off for the last 6yrs.
It was Dec2003 when I got my goal and lifetime award. That's when you can go "free". FREE! After 11months of forking out 11 or 15.00 a week was a great reward. I had lost 80lbs! and that's where those 5lbs came in handy. I kept those 75goal lbs off for 6months and you wont believe what caused it to go up? A new baby! I was 4wks and 3 days pregnant at my last meeting in 2004. In February 2005, I had MJ. He came out a 7lb 14oz baby, I had gained 70lbs while pregnant, no my water didn't weigh in at 62lbsand 2oz? I went back at 3months post partum at 204. Yep never ever ever gained it ALL back and I"ve been working at those 44lbs for 4yrs. I'll get there.
So "the baby" yeah he's now 4yrsold and I've made some changes. My goal weight is now 7lbs more then my previous goal weight. I'm aiming for a 160lbs. 153lbs was hard for me to maintain even for those 6months. Maintaining weight loss? yeah it's hard work, the climb down? I found very easy because I was so out of shape and had no good eating habits, that the weight fell off. WW taught me skills that I've been using forever. Fruit and veggies? rock, water? great, milk? good for you, whole grains? OMG they give breads flavours, oils can be healthy. It's all a learning curve. I say for me ww did that. I don't eat at all what I used to eat? buttttttttttttt it can creep up, sometimes it's the slow gains, and other times, it's the slow losses. This is the part I like Weighing in Every MOnth, keeps me accountable. For me every week works better. I'm still going. I've got no savings or pension plan but I've got part of the body that will get me to a point where I'll NEED a pension plan.
Today I'm at 180lbs. There it's written, Next week I'll be less! I promise.

The carb problem returns

It's Saturday morning, and I've come to the realization that I can't be held responsible for making my own breakfasts. This morning I had 6 slices of taosted stuffs. They have these "buns" at Superstore here and they kind of taste like english muffins. They are made large for large size burger patties or you can buy them rolled for hotdogs/sausages. I even looked at the nutritional information and still ATE many of them. I didn't even stop myself long enough to put meat on it, no carb/protien balance was involved in tthe making of this meal. I toasted up 3 of these hamburger style buns and buttered them and even to make matters worse, coated them in cinnamon sugar. I'm doomed. So I think I'm going to have to resort to making a new rule here, NO more toaster! I'll have to go back to using a 2sliced one for making AJ's Precious toaster waffles. Note for Casey thes are not voles...



Why it is so hard to keep myself motivated. It was 930pm before I managed to get the kids to bed lastnight and have me some wii time. I got in 31minutes. I opened some great new exercises. The 10minute free style step though, OMGGGGGG that's hard to keep going when there's no music. am I missing something, it was so boring compared to the other exercises? The reason I'm so down on the carbs is because after all these carbs, I hit sleepyville. I'll have to get me out for a real outdoor walk today. The beach calls and I'll get a hike in the woods in there too. I love real walks, especially with helper dudes, or friends to chat it up with. If I was walking I know I'd be able to fix myself and shake the sleepies. I'm sure sitting on my assets, that keep getting bigger, for the last 9wks post surgery isn't helping. I'm doing "some" but I'm not quite up to the ability to jump on my bike and go around the neighbourhood, or hit the hills. I can't even do all the yoga or strength training on the wii yet for fear or popping a belly! only 12 more days to my drs appointment. He also goes to my church so maybe I can hit him up for an out of office appointment? HA!~!! no I wouldnt' do that, Drs. totally hate when you do that.
That's my saturday, anyone for a waffle? Toasted English Muffin? Bagel? Bread with warm butter? ok Tea? yes tea, I'll now have me some tea and finish listening to the Hannah Montana&Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds, Concert Tour... (I know... I dont' have girls, but they like her show... sooooo_)

VGNO

good evening Blog hoppers, I'm here again this week. This week should work out better. I'm not drinking. I'll drive, wait no one has to drive.
Ann over at Ann again... Ann Again.Is the Primary Host, so I'm here joining on the coattails. I got me a badge to put on the post and once I'm done designing this Sweet party, I'll go find mrlinky. Ever notice he's at a lot of these events? There's always one, invited to everything you know?




So The them is sweet! And based on the format below, if I was a Chocolate Bar I'd be Precious Honey. I guess that's a good thing. Honey is sweet. I wonder what I'll put in to me? has to be chocolate a Bar (we just call them Bars up here in Canada). Nuts, maybe I'm nuts, that works, nuts and honey and then chocolate over that?

Sweet As Candy

If you were to have a candy bar named after you what would it be called? Just for fun follow the guide below to create your candy bar name. Ex. If your first name starts with an 'A' and your last name starts with an 'H' your candy bar would be called "Sweet Confection". Try it out.

Your First Name
A - C = Sweet
D - F = Honey
G - I = Lucious
J - L = Sugar
M - O = Precious
P - R = Savory
S - U = Delightful
V - Z = Heavenly

Your Last Name
A - C = BonBon
D - F = Tart
G - I = Confection
J - L = Chunk
M - O = Honey
P - R = Blossom
S - U = Bits
V - Z = Buns

Let us know what your candy bar name is. (What it's filled with is completely up to you :-> )

Let me see, a sweet drink for those that are drinking this evening? How about Chocolate Milk for Adults. I found it over at allrecipes called http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dirty-Bedtime-Story/Detail.aspx
that looks yummy, and will probably set me on my butt!

Looks good to me. As for Music, it's been about 3wks now since I found this woman's music. I had no idea before this and when I thought of sweet.Lily Allen, and this video even has candy in it, if you don't look Twice..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p_V0y7C9vc

see she jumped over that "candy" :) Candy is sweet.
The embedded option is removed so you'll have to click.

Food? Anyone hungry? Let me think SWEET, how about this. It's called Breton Brittle and it's from Company's Coming Cook books. The Christmas one "Home for the Holidays" I'm addicted to this Recipe book all year round. The recipe are simple, and usually I've got everything in the house. So take 28 Breton (or similar) crackers, and line them up 7X4 in a 11X8 pan that's been lined with foil. The crackers over lap so that the whole pan is covered but the and very few spaces.
In a Pot on the stove melt 1 cup packed brown sugar, (I said it was sweet) and 1 cup Butter, I've used hard margarine, it works. So you've got that stuff melted in the pot until it comes to a boil. Once it boils, like that rolling kind of sugary boil? then you pour it over the crackers in the pan.
Next step, bake this at 400F in the oven for 5minutes. Take the pan out of ht eoven and sprinkle on...
1 2/3 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (I've used milk chocolate too...or mixed them) and some finally chopped pecans or walnuts.
Put the pan in the fridge and let it set (stop trying ot eat it out of the pan, it's HOT!) when it's set, and cold, take it out and crack it! makes 8 cups of brittle. hmmmm chocolate, sugar, taffyish. no wonder I'm still fat...
You know what else goes good with sweet? SALTY... when I was a teen and uh could eat more and gain slower shall we say, I used to buy Munchies Chips and an Aero Bar and eat them together in the same bite. I could go for that right now actually, but I wont. I'll stick to the virtual world.
Also I heard on the radio today, that Ben and Jerry's are making a new flavour,based on the Bare Naked ladies. "If I had a Millions Flavours" you know Maybe I can find that video since i've left you a bit stranded in youtube link tab hell.


OK just went to the Ben and Jerry's Canada Sight and got a free download of BNL! cool! Thanks to VGNO, how awesome is that?

Oh and another sweet thing? my Hubbie, he brought me home suppper, I didn't have to cook. YAY! now that's Sweet! BTW if this just looks like a mesh of whatever just tell me and I'll try better next week. It's a Long weekend here, that's "SWEET!" (all the kids are saying it)

Friday Fill-ins

Go on over to www.fridayfillins.blogspot.com and get yourself some prompts to fill in. So here's my turn. Happy Friday!


And...here we go!

1. If we had no winter __I wouldn't look forward to spring so much, and it wouldn't take me until Mid July to complain about the heat, cause I'd be complaining constantly of +30C!___.

2. __My boys gravitating to water, or creating lots of water to clean up is___ a perpetual astonishment.

3. If I had my life to live over ___I'd probably only elimate food choices of my first 3yrs of marriage, that would keep me from having to have the gall bladder taken out, and the hole that never seems to heal and no hernias. I'd totally keep the kids, the hubbie, and the cat even though she pukes and leaves poopy presents when in a bad mood. Revenge in a cat is not pretty but I love her too, after all she is my first child__.

4. __It's never going to happen twice (wiggly eyes)___ inside of four and twenty hours.

5. If you've never been thrilled by the appearance of a mole/vole hole on your lawn then you really don't know thrilled. Am I right? I'm sure Stacy would agree, because without those critters we'd be stumped for blog entery material right? I'm right__.

6. To be interested in the changing seasons _if they were a bit more predictable, up here it either takes too long or the seasons you wou ld like just a touch more of? are too short. I can remember one year we bought the boys a bunch of sleds for the front lawn and it didn't snow enough for about 3wks? _.

So we thought this place just didn't get a lot of snow or that it was out of the snow belt. uh yeah that idea totally blown out of the water/winter the year later. I give you exibit A___


7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __the start of the long weekend___, tomorrow my plans include ___getting our pass for the beach, taking a hike in the woods, getting the boys out in the fresh air and looking at the cold water__ and Sunday, I want to __BBQ supper, put up our Gazebo with screen, and wait for Monday when everyone is still off work and school, mmmm more BBQ___!

Random Tuesday, skip jump and run around a topic or many

I've got me my random button from Keely The Unmom, so I'm ready to fly! Tuesday where we come. If you want to join in and be part of the fun go on over to The Unmom, and get yourself a button and start typing away. It's not like it has to be coherent?

Last night I went shopping with a friend. She's going to a wedding this month and the theme is black and white. The guests are asked to wear black and white and while this will look marvelous in pictures, I do wonder just how realistic is to impose on people what to wear to a wedding? I know "I" do not look good in white, I wore off white to my own wedding cause I look like I'm dead in white. It's a better color on me. We did eventually find a nice black and white dress for her and WOW with a GOOD 30.00 Bra? she looked like a million bucks! I may go back and find me a similar bra myself, it did a lot for her Rack!

The Roof, yep still attached, I'm only about 2% concerned it will leak before it's 20yr lifespan is up. When the roofing company offers you a 7yr work warranty you wonder why. Is it because they want to do a half-ass job or is it because they think it will reel you in for that extra $?

Tea, I'm enjoying my tea this morning but I'm out of Splenda... must go shopping after I take MJ to the dentist. I went to the dentist yesterday, and had 5 fillings put in, ouch!!!!!!!! my jaw. today they still feel a bit rough on the tongue like sand paper, I don't' remember this part of dental work but according to 6 commenters on my FB, it's normal.

MJ's hands are brown, I left him home with the Hubbie last night while I shopped with other people's money and I also left the older two with only 1/2 of their homework complete.

I'm totally at the end of my school year homework rope. I hate homework, I have too much for someone that already graduated. Signing this and signing that and so on it hard work!

The Garbage Collection people came and took their bin while I had TJ and MJ out to the drs office. TJ is having his nose bleeds investigated. He's good at Getting them stopped but I suspect he's also part of the problem getting them started if you know what I mean?
The Dr said "no more picking your nose" to TJ and TJ said I don't do that anymore. He's very ticklish the light up the nose thing was a bit of a struggle, he kept trying to escape the light, cause it tickled. The lining is thin. We're going in for blood work to make sure he doesn't have a bleeding disorder. Nothing else bleeds this much though so I suspect it's more to do with him giving his nose the finger if you know what I mean?

I guess that's all the one thing about These Random Posts is that they can make a run run run day turn into an update post!

My Mother's Day weekend update/ramblings

It's big! well first there was my VGNO as mentioned on Friday. I was TOAST by the time my Brother,SIL and 2 of their kids arrived. Yep toast! We all ate some pizza and went to sleep! Saturday morning my 'upstairs neighbours' were VERY loud. OK Hubbie was on the roof, he was ripping down shingles. My Brother got up about 6am with him and pull and drag and make a mess of my tulips! If your bored, there's pics, if you need to fall asleep, this might be the post that does it.

The first side going back up



They had a BIG rental Bin for the garbage, and tarps on the lawn to catch the shingles so the job did get done. While they worked, we got the 5 kids ready and headed out to the Dollar store that's raised it's prices to more then a dollar. Damn you Dollarama! you are a TRAP!, we go in with eyes of browsing and finding hats for kids to wear in the sun and come out, 20.00 poorer, and only about 15things to show for it. BTW 5 kids browsing those aisles resorts in a lot of re shelving for the staff, "no, you have 5 of them home and they broke" or "no I don't like you to eat that stuff" and "no that's suspose to be part of a set... great now I have to buy the other 12 of them in the set". We left the store and headed out for more food, cause you can't use friends and family as roofing volunteers unless you give them food, and a few,, 3 many beers,and other drinks.

AJ and the brownies, look at that smile?


We got home with the kids about noon. When we arrived, the meatballs were missing from the crock pot and some beer bottles appeared on my deck. I went around collecting and dumping the "empties" and they start yelling down "Hey (insert Hubbie) your wife looks like she's got a bit of a problem there" hahha guys hahaha. No one fell off the roof. SIL and I made them lunch, BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers. She did not try to blow up the house deck it just looked that way. The men came down they ate, the men went back up. Pictures were taken for proof...
We took the kids out to play, we chased the kids around in the yard, we got chased the kids off the scaffolding, we chased the kids soccer ball around. We diverted the attention from the roof from the kids and into the sand pile. I took out the Tonkas, and other truck, the kids were pushed on the swing. I sun screened everyone, on and off the roof... (insert wiggly eyes), then we sent them back up to work.
The men taking a break for the paparazzi:




SIL and I tested the Mike's hard lemonades, cranberry, and yep they were fine. We made a few trips around the house picking up packaging for shingles. I'm sure my neighbours liked that. SIL took some breaks, we set the Abandon chair to work, with it's friend Deck chair, took pictures and watched the roof go up. Watch my brother almost burn his butt on power lines, and cooked supper.



Sausages and Pork on a stick for supper. SIL is a great BBQ-er once she remembers to not turn the burners to "Full blast lighting" oops! she only burned her hand a little. oops! The roof, I'm so happy it looks great. The men? not drunk, everything is on there straight and they were well within driving limits, and sober after all the food was digested and the outdoor fresh air inhaled. Ahhhh Spring! Ahhhhhh new roof!
The volunteers/ friends left about 7pm, Hubbie and my brother went up and did the last bit before bed, until 830. We all fell asleep at 930pm, ahhhh fresh air and exercise. The kids watched a movie in the evening, the cousins enjoyed each other companies.
Sunday morning 6am, I hear it again, those upstairs people, wait I don't have an upstairs! it's Hubbie up on the roof, cleaning gutters and setting up the cap for the top row. We Returned 400.00 worth of supplies to the store, and saved about 2600.00 doing the work"ourselves". It was a LONG day but well worth it. Now Comeeeonnnnnn Tax credit!... okay and Rudolf you will not have fear do falling through the roof this year, it's all fixed.

Sunday? I didn't sleep in, but I did get to admire my new roof. So a Mother's Day. The boys made me some school art, TJ gave me a mini scrapbook, AJ, gave me a framed photo of himself, and a card he made. MJ watched all this gift giving and cards and went to his room with a pink marker and came back with 2 pieces of paper, one was "wrapping paper" and the other was his card. The card was a picture of me, and a picture of him, a heart between us, and "OV U" written on it. I was so pleased. He saw all that went on, he saw SIL got cards from her kids too, and took that example and did his own work. So proud of him, I kissed him on the forehead and said thank you, he got all shy and blushy and pleased with himself.
The kids got a chance to try out the wii bowling before they left, they all had breakfast and were well fed.I took the 2 older boys out to mass, and saw my brother off from the church parking lot. Sunday afternoon, I went in to talk to Hubbie about how it all went, catch up with him since he was occupied with others and the roof before this, I fell asleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ! I was out cold for 2hours, nap worked it's way into my celebrations. YAY! for naps. Hubbie looked after the boys, then fed them supper. The day was shot, he then went to the corner store (which has a take out place attatched) and bought me a sub for supper. No running into town or all over the place, just a great day with my boys! LOVED it!

almost done:



Pics... going to find them for you all.

Happy Mother's Day

So many other Blogs I've read today have said so much of what today is about. So many great Moms and Tributes to Mothers and Woman. I Can only Add Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.
I'm honored to be the daughter of a great mom, and to be the Mom to 3 fabulous Boys!


HAPPY Mother's Day!!

VGNO- I'll give it a go

Good evening, I went and grabbed me a badge From Ann over at Ann Again




Now Bare(not no stripping) with me, I may need me a drink to do this right?
So I'll keep it simple, Rum and Diet Coke, since it's evening and Hubbie did the shopping for supplies, it's Caffeine Free Diet Coke with Rum measurements may vary as the evening goes on.

I also baked... okay really the baking is for the people that have volunteer to help us replace our roof. I made Brownies for a crowd, it came out of a cookbook I got as a wedding shower gift and the cover is gone but the recipes are awesome! It was a fund raiser kind of cookbook, people submit and they make a book and sell it. I'm so glad my aunt bought it! I don't care if it was part of her gift closet. :)
(read turn out every single time!)
Brownies for a Crowd: the page is very messy! so you know I use it a lot
1 1/2 cup flour
1tspsalt
2cups sugar
8TBSP cocoa
4 Eggs
1Cup oil or 2 squares of butter (it's a Canadian thing margarine and butter come in squares vs US sticks, 1/2 cup size)
2TSP vanilla
1/4 cup water
(and if you like it) 1/2 cup walnuts.

Grease and flour 11X15 pan, mix dray ingredients together add liquid;Mix well. Bake 350F for 30minutes.

see the pics even dated!
I also iced them...you can scrape that butter cream icing off if your watching your portions of stuffs, and then the brownies wont count right? Last time I made these I used Peanut Butter Icing, you can't mess these up unless you like use too much oil I guess? Sometimes the easiest recipes work the best you know?

I also baked some ginger snaps, and that recipe is already on the blog here..(I'll have to link that up when I find it again, it's super easy too)

Music, it's quiet here, clicking away at my computer while I wait for my Family to arrive. My SIL will of course join me in a drinky-poo or few and there will be pizza eventually, she's my girls night out I guess, but I have t wait for her to get here and put her kids to bed.




Now question for this first time VGNO-er is there a them for discussion or do we just sit at our computers/laptops/internet able phones and get plastered and eat? or is everything suspose to be virtual? cause I'm almost toast here and I've only had 2 Rum and Coke and I'm not sure if that guest bed will ever get made. If I'm doing this wrong can you all just let me know?I can take being told I'm wrong, or just sit and point and laugh that works too. Thanks! for putting up with me :)

Friday Fill-ins,

And...here we go!

1. Apples are to oranges as _boys are to girls, they both fruit/kids but different____.

2. ____Mother's Day is Sunday_ and that's all I have to say about that.

3. I think I hear ___my Hubbie moving staging into the garage for roof repairs tomorrow__.

4. ____I wonder if we'll need a construction crew and a warning _ flag.That might help fix what does not get done correctly?

5. Do what you want to do, but __going to leave the house and try to entertain 5 kids___.

6. _Heading down the street I saw a fox___ and behind him was a Radio Flyer wagon; in the wagon was a bucket filled with _water, and cat food, as they tried to give the fox food____. (no nothing that exciting ever happens here)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __my brother, SIL and cousins for my kids are coming___, tomorrow my plans include ___bowling my SIL and 5 kids, a trip to a picnic park if it's not raining__ and Sunday, I want to admire my new roof and have a drink or 6 and BBQ lunch for my guests!

I'll be "all over the world" Great Googly !

Yesterday I mentioned MJs appointment for his 3.5yr visit. They send you out notices before the child turns 3 because it takes time to get the appointment. I procrastinated. My other two boys weren't born here so I never got these notices and didn't really care much about them. My theory is that if there's something wrong you can bet I'd notice it before they were 3. and I'd have brought it to the drs attention immediately. I've got a preemie that's now almost 10, kid drs dont' fizz me much. I'm also I guess a bit lax because well if he made it through all those lack of breathing events I'm sure nothing is that big of a deal that we need to jump at everything. SO maybe sometimes I'm too lax?
So off we go, late as usual. I let him sleep in, I blogged, I made breakfast for him and then woke him up, I told him to get dressed. He dawdled. I got a phone call from TJ from school he forgot his t-shirt he was susposed to wear! oh boy! ok so I speed MJ up, we run out the door with toast in a bag for breakfast and ajuice box "here eat this in the car". I stop at the bus unloading zone, run down the front ramp to the school give TJ his shirt and then drive off to the Clinic for the assesment.
MJ wowed the nurse/consultant? I think she was a nurse? I called her a nurse. So BTW no one is shaking hands now a days, just nod at each other, and smile. The next step was him playing in the waiting room, then asking him a few questions while I fill out 3pages of "are you an idiot, and let your child play in water unsurpervised" or "do you check every play area for hazzards", "do you keep tools out of reach..." and my personal favorite, "is your child in a government approves carseat?" ...
Oh there was also a questions about what the temp of our hot water is kept at, and I put down the temp and apparently no one fills that in? I said well my Hubbie is a bit OCD so I know these things.
MJ did the pirate game which was a eye test, cover 1 eye name the letters, apprently usually they use a matching card and you point to the letter that matches the letter they give you. MY BOY! knew all his letters, even the V! agian most kids dont' know them, but I guess most kids parents dont' procrastinate and bring in a 4.25yrold for a 3.5yr visit. oops. So based on all that my son is a genius, yep. The next game was the air plane game, this is a hearing test, wear the earphones and everytime you hear a beep drop a block in the box, done! She looked at his teeth and told him about good brushing and eating and off we went.
Now for the all over the world part. On the way up our main route home, there's a car that turns onto it from a side street, and GUESS what's ontop of the car? yep CAMERAS! I'll be able to take the little google maps walking dude and do my daily walks right her from my blogger chair. I was so excited, we stopped at the store to pick up a treat from the "junk food list" that the nurse told us about, I told the clerk in the store about the googly car. :) So if you see a red van on my route, that's us! and no we didn't wave that much. MJ told daddy when daddy got home "We saw GOOGLE today" hahah

Randon Tuesday, 100th post

Today is Random Tuesday, get your button over at The Unmom, so you can play along. Don't forget to add your name to her list so you can go read everyone else's Random Thoughts, leave some comment love, and so on and so forth and network, and wait doesn't this all sound like Network Marketing?


According to that counter up there at I'm 100posts. I have to laugh because I've been writing here since 2005 but it took me this long to get to 100 things? ha!

100Cal snack packs are no longer 100cals when you eat more then one pack.

100Cals will never fill that hungry feeling it's not going to do it,real food might.

100ways to freak out all start with my child has a cough. I sent a note to the school that AJ has the common cold, I'm sure there will be phone calls about him being too sick to be in school. Kids will get sick this spring just like every other. It's JUST a cold, no fever, no diareah and no money to go on trips to warm destinations. A COLD!

When writing notes that will keep your childs teacher from freaking out it's best to use the "we" terminalogy instead of "YOU MUST", so "we have reminded AJ to cover his mouth when he coughs with his arms and to also wash his hands before and after lunch" See AJ tells me they don't let the kids wash their hands after they eat. I'm hoping this will work. If His teacher is reading, yeah it's not about your inconvenience it's about health. I don't care if the whole recess is about washing hands, if it keeps them healthy? He picked this cold up AT school! ugh! I'm sure there have been 100 colds in the last 3yrs he's been in school.

School yeah they wont need to close them here cause well they are never AT school. My kids were home at 1235pm Wednesday, this is their first day back? that's not 100days but it's a super long weekend. I hope that all teachers meetings and learning events went well, and it wasn't a case of sign in and go shopping. I got that story directly from 3 different teachers in my family. (insert over exaggerated eye roll in the direction of the school)

Today we go out for our preschool screening. MJ is no longer Mrbabe to I have to get these things done. It also took me 3 kids to do this. We moved here after TJ was 4 so he didn't have to do it. AJ well because he wasn't born here no annoying letters "you missed your preschool screening". Want to know how to save some Tax paying $? don't send out notes in the mail. Also if there's something wrong with his hearing, eyes and balance or anything else that pops up. I'm pretty sure we would have caught it by now? hmmmmm? I think the words are "parenting?" sorry that was a big rantish, it's only one of the many 100s of things that bother me about the system here.

Hernia? Thursday I go for my 8wk look and see. I tried to vacuum on the weekend, and realized just how much I was overdoing it. oops! will ask dr just how much house work I can avoid. I'm sure we can come up wtih 100s.

OK so there's a bit of a theme there, it is my 100th post! :)

Friendship Award! (how cool this is 99!)

I'm so very excited, and I got an award!!! :) Anissa over at Our Chaotic Life Gave me an award.
Rules:
1. Take your award here.(check)
2. Put the logo on your post.(check)
3. Link the person who awarded you.(check)

4. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

Danielle, Foodmomiac
Mrsbigblupete Tales from the Zookeeper
Carmen, Mom to the Screaming Masses
Sherendipity
Keely over at TheUnmom
Julie over at momspective
Nennette over at Life Candy



5. Add links to those blogs on yours. (over there in the left side bar)

6. Leave a message for your nominees on their blog.(off to message!)


Thanks again Anissa for the award!

Friday Fill-ins,

This is Friday Fill ins for May 1st!! YAY! it's May!





And...here we go!

1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is _do not wear scents___.

2. __Whiplash happens to 9yrold for 24hours and it over, after they fall off their Judo instructor's back, but I bet it doesn't happen to __ clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of __merry-go-rounds and food___.

4. ___Tulips are__ my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include _papers, headbands, hair ties, headless batman figure from the 70's, snorkling gear, christmas tree art, belts, searchwords, monitor, mp3players, headphones camera, dentalfloss,oldest boys healthcare card, a big pile of STUFF___.

6. ___Talk of food__ makes me wanna _eat____.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __BBQing with friends,even in the rain, hving some fun ___, tomorrow my plans include __playing my new wii___ and Sunday, I want to __go to church, then play on the new wii___!