It's Thursday again!

so lets go with the Thursday 13!

1. painted my bathroom on Tuesday. it looks fresh and springy and light.

2. hope to get to the bedroom on Saturday. need to be done the whole clean up, organizing thing by Wednesday for the organizing challenge. nice to have a deadline, I work better that way.

3. my throat hurts. it started to yesterday, I was hoping it would go away, but it didn't. I don't feel like eating. probably a good thing!

4. spring is here! yay. light sweaters is all we need. we have pulled out the capris and sandals. love it.

5. have my passport almost ready to go. just need someone to sign it for me, then the dreaded trip down town. hopefully will be good to go at the end of June to Virgina, and a couple of days in NYC with my sister shelley. fun fun fun.

6. wow, I am having a hard time coming up with things to say today.

7. oh- just finished a book called the Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. very interesting, I got sucked in. finished it in just a few days. try it!

8. I was sitting in my back yard envisioning what it could be- a patio set on the little patio- us enjoying suppers and lunches out there, a badminton net set up, lots of vegetables growing, and some beautiful flowers. hmm. looks nice, yes? now, how to go about it. the one big flower bed has a huge tree at the back of it that provides much shade. not good for growing the veggies, I think I got one or two carrots last year, but quite a few cucumbers. something else I hope to get better at- gardening.

9. book club tonight. we read the 5 people you meet in heaven. by Mitch Albom. very interesting. so stressful to pick a book for everyone to read. it was my turn last month, so I am good for a while.

10. I am making baked potato soup for supper tonight. my kids don't like it, but Cory and I do. so good. the potatoes are baking right now. then I make potato skins with the leftover skin, you scoop out the insides for the soup. apparently my skins have something to be desired. maybe I will have to research potato skins on the internet this afternoon. yum. I hope I feel like eating tonight!

11. also making bran muffins. the kind you make a big batch of and keep the dough ( I don't think that is the word, the mix- I don't know!) in the fridge and just bake them up as you need them. some of my kids eat them, but some don't. I think it is because of the raisins.

12.laundry. yep. can it never be done? that is the sad thing about it. when you think you are done, there is always more. yuck.

13. the last of our two original fish died this week. he was old. now we still have a bunch of snails, one tetra, sadie's fish Ariel, and Jack's fish- shadow. I have learned that I am not a pet person. even though I don't do anything for these fish, I will not be sad if they are all gone. nope, not at all.

Monday, monday

so good to me.
actually, not such a good day,
but not that bad either.

that van- that crazy van, wouldn't start. yuck. Cory vowed he would take it in on Friday. yay.

had to do a swatch of the paint colors, sorry that one is sideways, meant to fix that, but forgot,
that is the paint color the ensuite bathroom will be- it is called sea drops


then the bedroom, a shade darker, woodland mystery.
sounds nice!
who comes up with these names?
I would not be good at that.
I will have to take pictures when it is done- this week! the challenge is coming to an end, must get busy!





a friend of mine has a photography business, and 4 boys, and needed some girls to come and try out her new backdrop and dresses, so we agreed to it, and just got the pictures today. pretty nice! got a few smaller ones that I have scrapbooked some, and one for the grandmas!
If I can get Cory to get my scanner working I will scan those in tonight!
I am so not computer, (or any techonology for that matter), smart. I would like to learn more, someday.

Thursday thirteen

I was just reading on someones blog that did a thursday thirteen every thursday- 13 things. I thought that was a good idea.
so,
1. walking into my room makes me happy.
it is almost all clean. I tied up the sleeping bags that were in a huge pile, I even vacuumed- sadly, it has been a while, and now it makes me smile.

2. I am buying paint for that room on Saturday, and hopefully can paint next week.

3.is spring ever coming? it snowed last night and this morning. really, snow. the whole glbal warming thing? I am not feeling it.

4. I love cupcakes. love them.

5.making some hamburger soup for supper tonight. need some warm comfort food for a day like today.

6. as the mom dropped her daughter off at our house to be babysat today, the tv was on to clifford, and she said that she wished she could be home and watch clifford, and I smiled, and was glad that I got to be home and could watch clifford, if I so chose, which I didn't because that is when I was vacuuming. but the fact that I could have, was nice.

7.I scrapbooked one page on Saturday. wow, it has been a while. all my stuff is tucked deep in the depths of the boys closet, and doesn't come out much, but I am planning in my head a layout for the goodie box! must get busy!

8. hoping to make some banana cupcakes for the kids for afterschool. yum. I love cupcakes.- oh, wait, that was #4.

9. Ben is going on his first scout camp this Friday. hope it warms up. man, he is growing up too fast. had to fill in his choices for options for Junior high. he didn't want band. hmm. art was his first choice. not a surprise.

10. Jack hates piano. he was the one who wanted to take lessons, and after I told him over and over he would have to practice every day, and he agreed time and time again that he would, now he hates it. he says after his last lesson he is never touching the piano again. I bet he is the one who will play it the most all summer.

11.I could really use a nap.

12. etsy. oh, etsy. everytime I try to get in to my shop to change things up, maybe add an item or two, it won't let me. I don't know if that is because my time has expired, but I think they would let me know. I am so not a computer person, and cannot figure out these things. I think it is a great thing, that etsy. I just wish I could harness all the goodness, and sell something!

13. wow, coming up with 13 things was kind of hard. but good. I might have to keep that up!

off to make some soup and cupcakes, and if I have enough time, have a nap!

this week

-warmer weather
-bag of hand me downs- love it!
-time at the park
funnily, I found a fabulous place to take pictures, that I have walked past who knows how many times and never even knew it was there!

my house is in such a state - I just don't know where to start, so I usually choose not to start! ha ha.
how is the bedroom coming, you may ask?
very slowly.
I just need to spend a bunch of time in there, and get it done. I usually just pick up a few things, put them away, then move on.
must focus!
the van is starting now, thank goodness! we really should get a professional to look at it! but in the mean time, I am going to always have a stroller in the back in case of having to walk across town again. would be much easier with little Maggie in a stroller.
okay, 15 minutes in the bedroom, now! really!

a warning, a complaint, and a cute baby

first the warning.
these are dangerous.
dangerously delicious.
in my opinion.
I will not be held responsible for weight gained from eating them- I think what is gone from this pan- I ate - no, actually I put some in the freezer and ate them the next day.
that good.
okay,
so I will share the recipe. because they are so good.

Eatmore bars- got it from a Sobeys flyer, so they tell you you have to use their brand stuff, but I will just give you the basics, and you can use whatever brand of stuff you like!
3/4 c honey
1c peanut butter
1 c chocolate chips
4 c crispy rice cereal
10 large marshmallows.
melt honey and peanut butter on stove top or in microwave. bring to a boil. remove from heat and add chocolate chips and marshmallows until melted. add rice cereal. pat firmly into 9x9 inch pan. cut into squares and enjoy,
- but make sure you share them. soooooo good.


a cute baby. isn't he sweet.
I am loving taking pictures lately, but realizing that I have so much to learn about my camera and lighting, and how to do things right.
but it is fun.


now for my complaint.
went to do a bunch of running around this morning. groceries, sending off some pictures- to you Heather, if you read this- they are on their way! my last stop was the post office and library, which are right behind each other.
in and out, had to hurry. just enough time to get home to the boys and have lunch.
dumb van would not start.
I just filled it up with gas- in all my running around.
and here it wouldn't start for me.
how rude. so I call on my handy cell phone for Cory. he's not at work, he's not at home. where is the man when I need him?
I call the school- kids are already gone home.
no key at the house, doors are locked.
must get a key hidden for the boys for occasions such as this.
so,, Jack called me from the school to see what was going on, and he said it was okay, they would just eat at the school. a mercy lunch from the supplies the principle has on hand for occasions such as this.
the sad thing is this is the second time- you might recall a previous post on me not being here for lunch time. that time was my fault, this time, not my fault at all.
so me and the girls walked all across town to get home just in time to get Sadie a sandwich and get her to school on time. crazy stuff. my feet hurt. should have worn my walking shoes.
I am just hoping cory will check his messages at work, or show up at home soon so I can get the groceries out of the back of the van!
and I think we need to get it a little tune up. this is rediculous!

for Kayli

my favorite kissing picture for Kayli's challenge! two of my sisters showing Jed the love. so funny.

a challenge, a picture, a happy easter.

these pictures,
yep, I am embarrassed by them.
that my house could be in such a sad state.
like at the beginning of clean sweep,
i always wonder how people can live like that-
well, here it is, my bedroom.
horrible.
but, it is going to change this month. I am joining a challenge-
to organize this room.
all thanks to the organizing junkie!


this room will be tranformed into the bedroom of my dreams.
well, probably not, but hopefully it will be clean.
I mean, yes, it will be clean.
I must add- it isn't always this bad.
a lot of it is due to the basement renovations,
but that will take a while, so I might as well deal with this now, as live like this for a few months.
right? right.
I will do it!




the weather this weekend was crazy.
we had snow the whole way driving down south.
Friday was cold. cold cold, very cold. so, pictures that were scheduled for that day did not happen. well, I did happen to take a bunch of two super cute girls, here's one of them.

for our family pictures we decided to see what Saturday was going to be like, and it was warmer, but still a cold wind. and an uncooperative husband. yes, you Cory. you know it!
then, wouldn't you know it,
sunday was gorgeous. kids played outside all afternoon with no sweaters, a few with no shoes. warm. like it should be. yep. then we went home.
I was sad not to get our family pictures done, but we will, oh yes, we will.






we had a easter egg hunt in the school in stirling. Maggie was so funny. she only found a few eggs, then just sat and ate all the goodies from inside. as happy as could be. love it.

happy Easter!

the snow is melting- hurray!

we're going to Grandma's for easter- yay!

taking some pictures and getting some taken.

a long drive,

but the dvd player is fixed and we have season one of Smallville that we are all looking forward to watching.

should be a good time!

April?!?

looking out my window,
I would think hmmm-
November, February maybe
nope, it's April. and there is snow,
and slippery roads
and they say highway travel is not recommended.
crazy stuff.

so, on Sunday, we were talking about sushi-
asking the kids what it was made of,
if they wanted some-
Ben started freaking out- he really dind't want to have to eat sushi ( he is really quite picky) then I pulled out these beauties,
and the protests continued, till Jack looked closer and realized it was rice krispies, fruit by the foot and gummy worms. haha. april fools day!
thanks Shelley! then the kids just couldn't get enough of them. they were really quite good!

then, since this weekend was general conference, I had the time to sit and finish a few things-
a little sweater for my new nephew Kai,
a scarf for my niece,
and all the while being inspired to be a better person by the leaders of the church!
what a weekend.

spring!

heres one from the shoot.
oilers fans!
too fun.

warming up a bit, still lots of snow around, but it is melting- yay! puddles everywhere. yay for rubber boots!
must remember to tuck the pants into the boots next time!









baby blessing for my sweet neice on Sunday.
she is such a good little baby.

yesterday two of my sisters, and my mom came over and helped clean up! I can move around my living room much easier now! yay.
and Jill and Andrea cleaned up the girls room. so nice. I hope we can keep it clean for a while. so hard for Sadie to clean up. too much stuff in there for sure. pollies and ponies, and a toy kitchen, and clothes, those seem to be very hard for her to put away.
so, yesterday we had a bunch of 2x4's delivered for the basement, and when the truck pulled into out driveway, I ran so fast around the corner to go talk to him, that I slipped on the laminate floor, and knocked my chin really hard on the floor. right now I have a big blue and purple bruise on half of it. nice.
do you think my kids might listen more when I tell them not to run around? probably not. but I know not to run around now!

we are on spring break now, and let me just say how much I love school.
it is a good thing.
and not having a basement to send the kids to, is not helping the situation at all. and those 2 extra babysittees= tons of fun for mom.

I think I did something to my shoulder too, in the big fall, it is kind of stiff. crazy old lady!

update

well, a few walls gone in the basement.
did that last post confuse you all? I live here, and I was trying to figure it out!
it is too tight to get good pictures to show you all what is going on down there- I will try to update it regularly, as the work porceeds, hopefully in a timely manner!
we have moved a bunch of the stuff from the living room into the garage, but it is still a mess,.
and Ben and Jack are moving their bedrooms into the livingroom.
aaahhh. it is madness.
I think hiring people to get the job done fast, is not a bad thing,
but I will let Cory work, and we will see how long this takes.

I have a little photo shoot set up for tomorrow!
exciting to get out there a bit.
scary too.
I need to be more confident in myself.
and know they wouldn't ask me to take pictures if they didn't like what I do! right? right!

okay, I hope to start sewing some easter dresses today! and clear out some more of this livingroom. and maybe try my hand at pulling down a wall. could be fun!

a mess

well.
we are in the process of emptying the basement
fun stuff.
cory gave the boys a great idea to pull out their rollerblades, and they race around the empty basement.
and the girls chase after them.
this room they are going into will be my laundry/craft room.
unfortunatly it is the room you come into when youcome down the stairs. on the other side of the wall to the right are the stairs.

this is Jed racing around the loop,
Cory just pulled the drywall off that wall, it will all be open to a family room, then where they are coming out of will be a huge room that all the boys will share. to their dismay, I am sure.

and this picture is my livingroom. I am really hoping the basement will be done soon, because I really don't like living like this. really don't like it, and it has been about 2 days. AAaaarrrggh.

this morning I finished reading My Sister's Keeper. wow. what a book. it is good, but just so you know. lots of the f word, and a bit of hanky panky, but a good story. great ending. wow.
in part of it, the girl was talking about a wall full of pictures, and how there was lots of her older sister and brother, but hardly any of her-
then she says-
"A photo says, You were happy, and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, You were so important to me that I put down everything else to come and watch."
I like that. and on that note-


Jack and ben had a handbell concert on Monday, because tomorrow is that teacher who is in charges last day. she is going on maternity leave.
these pictures are from the back of the gym with my big old lens! wow. I was impressed.I always have to laugh when they are doing the handbells because the teacher stands there to conduct them and counts 1-2-3-4-2-2-3-4-, etc, not really loud, but you can definitely hear her.

good times.

tidbits

- bought a big old lens for my camera. having fun with it!

-had our traditional green milk with our breakfast on Saturday. love it! also a little leprechaun left some chocolate coins under the kids pillows. - there's only so much you can do for St.Patricks day- well, you could do more, I am sure, but that is about as far as we take it. - and always wear green. for sure.

-we might have a small crew of guys coming over on Saturday to frame our basement. wow. so, have a whole lot of emptying out to do so that can happen. yay. progress. a good thing.

-my van wouldn't start this morning. we left the interior lights on when we got home last night, so I will have to walk - not really far, but with two little girls it will seem very far, to the school across the big feild to pick up the babysittee after school. yay for that. me and that van have a few issues. not good.I will have to work that out. Cory says it is telling me to take better care of it. hmm. interesting.

-I was home every day at lunch for the rest of the week. I am a good mom, I am a good mom- positive affirmations.

-well, that is all I can think of to share right now. not much, but that's where I am at right now. same old same old!

two much fun

here she is.

my sassy little 2 year old.

ready to start the terrible twos

she's getting into the tantrum thing.

has it all figured out.

silly little girl.

so. today I was a bad mom.

wow.

I felt so bad.

a friend called this morning to see if the girls and I wanted to come over and play, and since all I had scheduled was cleaning, I was all for it,

so we headed on over, played, ate lunch, then I dropped of Sadie and her little guy at kindergarten,

then the minute I opened the door,

I knew.

I knew I was a bad mom.

all three boys had not taken lunch to school,

had come home to a locked up house,

and no mom, for lunch.

wow. I felt so bad.

there was a message on the machine from Jack stating that they had come home, and I wasn't there, and they were eating at the school.

to top it all off, I went over to pick them up after school, and the principle asked if I got the message from the boys! nice. they have extra food around for such occasions as this. I think I will have to contribute a bunch of juice boxes or something.

and I think we need to get a key where the boys know where it is, so if this happens again, they can get in and make some sandwiches.

yikes. bad mom.

so tomorrow night I have the book club at my house. I guess I will be doing some cleaning tomorrow!

having some fun

after a very sad morning, at a very nice funeral,
for a very nice man,
I got to take some engagement photos for a cute couple.


they were lots of fun,
easygoing
and cute
reminded me a bit of back in the day.
long, long ago.
when I was dating.

hopefully they will like them. these two were my favorites.
fun stuff.
oh, on Friday night we went out on a date.
a real date- not just a church function.
but it was a function, none the less.
a "safety celebration" for Corys place of work.
funny huh?
they are all about safety at the plant.
and for good reason I am sure,
but we got a great meal,
and some funny entertainment.
a comedian guy came and did a speel. had some good laughs.
so, in two days my baby turns two.
wow. where has time gone!

today

what a productive day-
so far,
but that is coming to an end!
I have worked hard
time to rest!
here is maggie twirling in a little three tiered skirt I whipped up for her,
from the instructions I found here.
easy and cute. you can't really tell, but the bottom red has tiny white polka dots on it. cute stuff.


the weather was so nice yesterday, we spent a bunch of time outside, and Ben was busy making a snow man. I think the kid reads too much Calvin and Hobbes. a murdered snowman on my front yard. nice. red "blood" and all. real nice.
finally finished my stip quilt I made way back when our ward first started having a quilting group- well over a year ago. it is now done. I machine quilted it with a meandering stitch, and stars thrown in every so often. cute. but don't look too closely. I sewed it with some red white and blue veregated thread donated from my sister Shelley. so sweet.

here is one of my knitted flower hats-

avaliable at my shop. shown is the newborn size on my newborn niece- I don't think she liked it so much,

but if she only know how darn cute she looks!

love it.

on a sad note, the man in my ward who was sick died on Monday night.

funeral on saturday. sad, sad stuff.

on a happy note, my sister in law who was due at the end of April had her baby a couple of days ago. he is 4 pounds, tiny, but doing really good.

I will try to stop in and see him tonight on my way to my sisters to get my hair highlighted. so exciting!

and that is the latest and greatest around here.

deep thoughts

It's been a little while.

funny.

I always get annoyed when the blogs I read aren't updated regularly.

I mean, come on.

I want to know about your lives!

but does anyone really want to know about mine?

probably not.

hense, the no update.

but I am here now.

to let you know about my non exciting week.

sorry.

someday.

this is Jack and his cub car.

not a very fast cub car.

he didn't win many races.

but he was a good sport.

I figured out how to move pictures, but not how to rotate them.

one thing at a time.

so, just turn your head,

to check out the cute boy in uniform.

on Saturday our stake had a womens conference.

We had Shari Dew and Wendy Watson Nelson come and talk.

wow. such inspiring women.

they make it sound so simple to be good,

then you get home, and reality hits you, and you realize it isn't too easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

there is a man in our ward,

the sweetest man,

who has stomach cancer, and isn't doing well, at all.

so sad.

he was the priesthood leader at the last girls camp.

he let the girls paint his finger, and toe nails.

that kind of guy.

so sad.

makes you think about life, and death, and the way you are living your life, and the direction you are headed in, and all the things you don't do, and should, and all the things you do do, and shouldn't.

wow. pretty deep, eh?

okay, I am off to play some Mario Kart with the family. good stuff.

the weekend.

fabulous, as usual.
haha.
really, nothing exciting, yet.
sadly.
someday, maybe.
but not today.
another pic of sweet Lydia.
she came to my house to hang out for a bit on Saturday, so of course, had to take a few pictures.

this is a shot from the aviation museum field trip on Tuesday. Ben coming out from the one plane you could go in. only 5 people at a time, and only one person on the steps at a time. scary stuff. the group of kids I was with couldn't get enough of this plane. funny kids. that place was something though. all run by vollunteers, and they do all the restoring and stuff. tons of work. cool stuff.
and the cake I made for Sunday dinner at mom's for my sweet sister Andrea's
birthday. I think I need to work on getting the icing smoother, but boy, did it taste good. chocolate cake, with chocolate pudding between the layers, and some yummy cream cheese icing. so delish.
in fact, I have been eating some of the left over icing on graham crackers, so good.
so, this morning I had to go to downtown edmonton, to the dentists to pick up my night guard they made for me, and when we got there, it wasn't there yet, so we had to hang around for about 1/2 hour or so, till it showed up. no biggy, the girls played good.
so funny , when I went in and was in the dentist chair, Maggie just layed on my lap and didn't move. too cute.
so anyways, as an apology for me having to wait so long, they gave me 2 free movie passes. nice.
we don't go to alot of movies, but now we will have to wait for one we want to see!- that is usually the case- none out there that are worth the $$ and the $$ for a babysitter. know what i mean?
So, Cory bought a Harmonica just over a week ago. you should hear him now. pretty cool, no? no. but he thinks it is fun.
so on Saturday he went to winners to get some new shirts for work, and comes home with no shirts, but a guitar. hmmm. I think he had better stop shopping.
or we will have to build a music room.
funny man.

nothing much..

not to much going on here.

nothing exciting, anyways.

another pic of the babe.

I hope to go visit this next week and take some more pictures. too fun.

Ben has a little junior high open house tonight. wow. junior high. crazy stuff.

he can't be that old.

I'm not old enough to have a kid that old.

crazy, indeed.

went on an all day field trip with the grade sixers to the aviation museum on tuesday. that was an experience. so funny how at that stage in life some are so mature looking, and some look like they could be in grade 3. it was a trip. and I learned all about airplanes to boot. how they turn and slow down and great stuff like that. love those school buses. love them.

cooking some cheesy scalloped potatoes, as I write this. soooo yummy. too bad I started them so late, and they are supposed to cook for 2 hours. late supper tonight. but it will so be worth it. mmmm.

my house is a mess. a real disaster.

and I have zero desire to do anything about it.

I did actually have a burst of cleaning power hit me, and I cleaned up the dining room, and even mopped the floor. then I was done. so done.

I guess that is all. hope to get some excitement in my life soon, so I will have lots to share, but I won't make any promises.

here she is..

introducing miss lydia laine thorne.
my newest little neice.
she was born late last night.
she is very sweet.










my kids all adored her.
okay, that wasn't the best picture, I think I had a better one, but hey, it has them all in there.







and the yawn.
babies yawning. love it.