100th post winners

I only had two comments (I can't believe it from all who read this!), so I've decided to give both girls a prize!

Margo, I will bring yours to DC this weekend, it's all ready for you!!
Joan... when will you next be in Niagara? What is your favourite colour??

I so don't like head colds

Ok, so I don't like sickness of any kind!! But I have a headcold, and lots to accomplish this week. *sigh*

I am going on a scrapbooking retreat this weekend! YAY!! However, with the cold, I'm unmotivated to pack my stuff, and get totally excited to go. Isn't that SAD?!?! Good thing I'm still half packed up from my Spring Day Crop!!

So I'll make a list of things to be done this week, and go from there:

• pack for Destination Create
• do oodles of laundry
• clean downstairs bathroom
• go to Awana
• figure out what to take to the potluck on Friday night
• make supper
• empty dishewasher
• fill dishwasher
• go to bowling with Zachary and Sophia this afternoon
• ride bike to pick up JA
• clean scrappin' table
• put away towels, jeans
• make lunch
• take a quick nap
• blow my nose - LOTS!
  

My 100th Post!

In honour of that, I'd like to offer up a RAK! I'm not going to tell you what it is, but you will like it! :D

So what I want you to do is leave some comment love, and on Sunday evening I will use a random generator of some kind to draw the winner :)

So, while this is my 100th post, I have nothing significant to say! LOL! I'm making a list of things I need to do today... so it's more for me than you!!

• wash 3 loads of laundry (towels, lights, and sheets)
• do dishes
• run dishwasher
• make pizza dough
• pick up Zachary from the bus
• pick up garbage and other misc crud from the front yard
• bike to school to get JA
• go to Curves
• cook bacon for pizza
• get packed up for the crop tomorrow
• get the make 'n take ready
  

Sunbeam MixMaster vs KitchenAide Mixer

So I want a counter top mixer.

I have looked at both Sunbeam (stainless steel photo) and
Kitchen Aid (the cool pink mixer).


















I don't know much about either of them. I do know that the KA is MUCH more expensive than the SB one.

Do you have a mixer? What brand do you have?? Would you recommend one over the other? I have to say, I do love the pink one, simply because it is pink. I have a cell phone, and I have it because it's PINK!! LOL! Back to my roots... I always loved pink as a child. LOL However, I don't think I can justify the COST for the KA just to get a PINK one!! It is for a good cause... and we are getting a nice tax return this year... hmmm....

I'd be making cookies, merangue, pancakes, that sort of thing. So... please, some comment love! :D

The most expensive toothbrush ever!

Hello!? I'm sure I must have read wrong. Surely it wasn't $44.36 to BRUSH TEETH!? Zachary went to the pediatric dentist today. Holy freaking cow!! The hygenist brushed his teeth... yes, I said brushed, NOT polished. She had him pick out a Mater toothbrush, and used SpongeBob Crest and BRUSHED HIS TEETH!! We were in and out and HOME in about 30 minutes. The printout for me/insurance said "polishing $44.36" yes, it said polishing. I told them that the charge was excessive, that *I* could BRUSH his teeth for $44.36! Give me a freakin' break. No wonder folks without insurance don't go to the dentist when they rip you off like that!! I'm feeling like it was FRAUD to charge that much for 'polishing' when clearly it was NOT polishing they did. Freak.

...this looks like fun and I've seen it on a few blogs now...plus I have absolutely no energy to post anything meaningful or thought provoking today... it's been a LONG stressful day. Every little thing seemed to be SUCH A HUGE THING!!

Thanks for the hugs - Sharon, Mrs. M., Bernie... I'm sure you were all praying for me as well, and I can tell, there were NO EPISODES or outbursts once we got home!! YAY GOD!

You.Can.Only.Type.One.Word. from Lori's blog:

Where is your cell phone? upstairs
Your significant other? Michael
Your hair? blonde - ish
Your mother? stressed
Your father? ha.
Your favorite thing? laughter
Your dream last night? strange
Your favorite drink? Coke
Your dream/goal? fit
The room you’re in? family
Your ex? who?
Your fear? birds
Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
Where were you last night? tops
What you’re not? thin
Muffins? blueberry
One of your wish list items? time
Where you grew up? St. Catharines
The last thing you did? TV
What are you wearing? nightie
Your TV? small
Your pets? cat
Your computer? Compaq
Your life? uneventful
Your mood? blah
Missing someone? Yes
Your car? Montana
Something you’re not wearing? ha ha hah! socks
Favorite store? LSS
Your summer? HOT!
Like someone? yes!
Your favorite color? pink
When is the last time you laughed? today
Last time you cried? today

Who will repost this? ???

11,714

That's how many steps the pedometer says I took today!! 3906 of them were 'aerobic' apparently! :D :D :D I burned 500 calories, and walked nearly 6km today. I did get to Curves today as well!

The weather was fantastic today, so I got in a few walks. Zachary spent the afternoon with his buddy, so we walked him over (Zachary and Sophia rode their bikes, Michael and I walked). Then Sophia rode her bike while I walked to school to pick up Julie-Anna. That's where I got the aerobic steps in! We picked up JA, her little friend, walked to her friend's house, picked up the friend's little sister, and went to the park, then mosey'd do another park! It was great!!

Tomorrow the weather is proving to be more of the same, so we'll ride/walk again, and hopefully I'll get lots of steps in there too!!

Mike is taking his bike in for a tune up, gearing up for the riding season! WHOOOHOOO!!!

On that note, however, it has come to our attention that Zachary really and truly needs a new bike. Ugh... he's growing like a weed!!! His clothes are getting too small, his bike is too small... will it ever end?! My Mom commented the other day that we will always need a van, just to get the groceries home for the kids!! :D

Hooked on beading!

JA and I spent some time with my Mom this afternoon while the others were at a bowling birthday party. There's a wonderful lady, Dawn Griffith who has a marvelous stamping blog. I am inspired by her. She also sells scissor charms for your SU! scissors. I was inspired to make some backpack charms with Julie-Anna. So that is what we did today! She put together 6 strands of beads to make two different charm sets. Then I made two cell phone charms for my Mom, came home and made cell phone charms for myself, and tried my hand at the scissor things. My scissor things, while they look beautiful, the lobster claws are a tad too small. So I'll probably be ordering from Dawn in the near future!! LOL!

So, am I giving up paper crafting for beading?! NO WAY!!! But I did enjoy the little break! :D

Happy New Year!! :D

So this Tuesday at TOPS we had our first meeting with our new executive. It was excellent to see some new and refreshed faces at the front! :)

The girls planned a 'New Year's" bash type of night for us. It's the start of a new TOPS year, so what better way to start? Koby spoke about resolutions. We talked about what they are, why we make them, why we succeed or fail, and how we can achieve success this year!! She challenged us to write down a few goals on a piece of paper, seal it into an envelope and hand it in. We'll get them back at the end of June, and see how we made out.

So, I'd like to share my goals with my readers. I'd love if you would comment on them, or just drop a line to reprimand me encourage me when I do or don't make the time to achieve them!! My success depends mostly on me, but also from the support of those around me.

Without further ado, here are my four goals for this quarter:

1. eat more veggies
2. get to Curves 3X a week
3. walk 5000 steps in a day
4. lost 10 lbs.

They don't seem unmanageable, and they even look achievable! I do want to increase my steps as the quarter goes on, but for now, I'm content with 5K.

I WILL SUCCEED!!!

My list for today

This is more for me than anyone else! LOL!

• take a nap
• load dishwasher
• feed kids lunch
• do Mom's taxes
• do Dad's taxes
• fold some laundry
• put away some laundry
• do some laundry
• get ready to go out for dinner
• make list for Michael for errands
  
• go to Curves

Ten Years?!

WOW, where did the time go!! Today is our tenth wedding anniversary!! I can hardly believe that so much has passed, and yet there is SO much more to come!!

The photo to the right was taken just two weeks ago in Florida. It's shadowy, but it has all the things I love in it - my family and sunshine! LOL!

God really knew what he was doing when he brought Michael and I back together! I remember the day that he came back to Bethel and I got the biggest hug ever! I fondly recall our first date - even tho my food was less than tasty ;) LOL I remember his proposal after our first date... I remember our one year of engagement full of ups and downs. I so remember how I felt the moment that the doors of the church opened and my Dad escorted me down the aisle... I saw no one but Michael... even though the church was full! I still have eyes only for him!

Things I'm thankful for in the last 10 years: (in no specific order!)

• having Michael as the love of my life
• Michael's unending patience
• Michael's goofy sense of humour
• our three amazing children
• a husband who loves God
• a house we can call a home (even tho it still needs to be finished rennovating!)
• the myriads of hugs I get every day from both Michael and the children
• saying "I love you" at least once a day (usually more!)
• hearing "I love you" at least once a day (usually more!)
• a steady job for Michael that makes him be a great provider for our family

The list could go on, and I may add to it over the day! :D

Spring!!

I firmly believe now that SPRING is here!! I was driving along yesterday, and didn't I finally see my first Spring Robin!! I'll have to dig out the book for the kids :) It's a very cute story about how this little girl goes looking all over the garden for her Spring Robin to have returned from the South. It's got lots of stuff about different Spring flowers (crocus, daffodils, fiddle heads, etc). As much as you all know that I love birds ummm, tolerate birds, am totally petrified of birds.. I do like this story, and I do like seeing the Robins return! :D

My throat is on fire... but stuff has to be done!

My throat feels like it's on fire. More accurately, it feels as tho someone is scraping a razor blade down it, with the flat side! It's awful. I did manage to sleep OK last night, which is a blessing. So this makes it 'official' that all three girls in this house have this bug. JA is on day 7 of it, so we are returning to the walk in clinic this afternoon. Ugh. Sophia has it, but she will tell you she feels 'marvelous!' LOL However, her droopy eyes, suffy/runny nose, and the ragginess of her voice will say otherwise! She's flaked out in my bed, waiting for Dora to come on.

In spite of this, the house will not run itself! So here's my to do list for today!! I find these lists extrememly helpful in accomplishing tasks!!

• get kids ready for school and on the bus
• fold and put away laundry
• clean the blue bathroom
• empty dishwasher
• tidy kitchen
• thaw chicken for supper (mmm, fajitas!)
• post day 2 of our Florida trip
• do Mom's taxes
• do Dad's taxes
  

I think that can be it for now! :D Don't wanna overdo things now :)

Florida Trip Day 1 on the road

It's our trip in review, with photos! I will share photos as I go, and detail the days we were gone :D It won't be all in one day tho!!


We left home on Friday March 7th at 4:30am, only 30 mins behind schedule, which for ME is really good!! The kids got up, hit the bathroom, and got buckled in. I gave them each their new cups with snack cups on the bottom, and away we went! They watched a movie right out of the gate, because, well, it was dark, so they might have slept, watched a movie!

We are blessed to have such excellent travellers in our children! Otherwise, we'd not be able to travel this way, ever.

We stopped a few hours into the trip for our first bathroom break. We were aiming to get to Rock Hill, SC, and we did make it!! We stopped at Subway for lunch, which put us behind about an hour or so. It was INCREDIBLY busy in there! We drove through the cool tunnels in the mountains of West Virginia, altho the first tunnel was down to one lane, and so we got stuck in traffic for AT LEAST an hour. Another minor slow down later caused us to lose about 3o more minutes. We stopped about 30 mins from Rock Hill and found a Pizza Hut. We got stuffed crust pizza, which the kids enjoyed, but I didn't! LOL! It just didn't taste like I thought it would! Then we piled back in the van, and made our way to Rock Hill. When we arrived, we tried to get a room at about 6 hotels, and nobody could take five of us without a big charge, or two double beds (and face it, Mike is too tall to share a double bed, I do like to have more than a corner to sleep on!). I was getting frustrated, and was ready to just say "go to sleep in the van, and we'll just drive all night!" Thankfully, we tried just one more hotel, and VOILA... 2 queen sized beds, non-smoking room, including breakfast... including taxes 55$. Can't go wrong there. It was 9:20pm. We got the kids settled, tidied up the van a little, had showers, and hit the sack.

It was incredibly foggy pretty much the entire way down. I think it was because we were crossing paths with the major blizzard that was hammering St. Catharines!! I have seen photos of the snow, and well, we didn't miss it!! There was still enough here when we got home!

Day 1. 1206 kms, 17 hours in the van, 3 movies, some traffic, and lots of fun!!