tagged

by my sweet sister Andrea (that's her and her cute family!)

to tell you 8 random things about my education.

1.I graduated from Ricks College with a general associates degree.

general. what was I thinking.

2. I wish I would have majored in photography. now that would have been smart!

3. I took a swimming class at Ricks, and learned how to do the flippy thing you do at the end of the lane! cool. too bad I don't remember how to do it.

4. I also took a stitching class. stitching! funny. the basket weaving class was full. seriously.

5. when I got to BYU I figured I needed a real major, so I took clothing and textiles- not sure what the real term was. it was a hoot, but not really the major for me.

6. not sure what that major would be still. maybe teaching home-ec, like my other sister Shelley.

7. I remember in one of my sewing classes one of the girls would sing hymns- like we are sewing, daily sewing, and when we were doing gathers, as sisters in Zion we gather together. she was so funny. only at BYU- or maybe also at Ricks, but not too many other places would that happen!

8. I would like to get a bachelors degree someday. I often take those slips that are on the bulletin boards at every church that say- did you leave BYU without a degree? I believe you all know what I mean. someday I will look seriously into it. I know that my brain could use some real use!

gee. 8 random things weren't near enough! I didn't get to the time my sister and I sneaked out our room window so our roomates wouldn't ask us where we were going- they were so nosy! and the love song I got in the mail, and had no idea who it was from, but later found out, and it wasn't who I wished it would have been from, and on and on. good times.

I love my city...

and here is why-
tonight I headed out with the kids to see the sheep-
our city "tourist attraction" is that they have sheep that they have "mow" the lawn at one of the big parks. funny, I know, but we have to go and see them every once in a while, and pick them leaves that are too high up for them to reach- "for dessert", or so my kids say.

so, while we were there feeding them, a guy with a tractor and a big wagon came by and asked if we wanted a ride. for sure! so we went on a little tractor ride. then he asked if we had been to the museum. well, not lately, and all the buildings were open, and we could go in for free. sure thing! so maggie sat in a school desk- doesn't she look ready to go!

the kids sat in an old fire truck, they pumped water from old pumps, went in old houses, and ran amuck. good times. oh, and posed for many pictures. by a green wall, and a red wall. fun was had by all, including mom! pity I hadn't dressed them nicer, actually combed Sadie's hair, or really looked for Maggie's sandals instead of just letting her wear her rubber boots, yes, with a bracelet on her leg. oh well, this is real life, people. real life, in a fun little city.


oh, the reason why all this is happening is because the Alberta seniors games are going on here right now. yay! - oh, except the sheep, they are always there.

13 things I learned on my trip

1. m&m's come in tons of pretty colors, but those pretty
colors come at a price. but the snickers bars are pretty cheap at that store. yummy.





2. in $100 bills, I am approximately $1, 500, 000 tall. good to know.

3. American money is colored now, because it is harder to counterfit. I had to chuckle when the tour guide told us that, because Canadian money has been different colors for a long time. We Canadians are ahead of America in one thing! heehee.
4. When you stop in Maryland to take a picture by the sign, check your pants for spiders, or you might find one on your leg a few miles down, and have to stop again to get it off your leg and out of the car. -it was a big, ugly spider too, not just a little cutesy one! if there really are any of those!
5. when driving out east, make sure you have lots of change for the toll roads. fun stuff.







6. I know why they have those handy little handles in the NYC taxi's! it is in case you get a crazy driver- which I think they have to be, in order to drive a taxi in NY, that drives on the sidewalk, in order to get around a garbage truck that is blocking the road.


7. despite the many large piles of garbage that were everywhere, the garbage truck does come! we had to drive crazy to aviod it! (see 6)

8. NYC makes enough garbage every day to fill the Empire State Building. every day. wow. that is a lot of garbage.
9. I am shocked and appalled, as was my sister, at the serious lack of recycling in the states. crazy. If the bums could cash in those empties for money, like they can here, and apparently in HI and MI, there wouldn't be so many bums, and not so many empty cans and bottles everywhere! and don't get us started on the cardboard boxes.

10. I am not a big fan of birds, and those pidgeons that come far too close to people were creeping me out. yuck.





11. Times Square is a wild place. bright lights, a million people, and despite that, pretty safe, or maybe not , due to the tons of cops, at least 2 on every block.

12. even religion is found in times square. a few times over, actually. what a place.

13. I am happy to live in my small city, with not so many crazy drivers, very few taxis, and not alot of pedestrians everywhere. NYC was something to see once, but I think once is enough.

sweet

my sweet little niece. Kennedy. she is cute- as you can see. my camera was having issues, or more truthfully, I was having issues with my camera, so I didn't get too many pictures. I will have to figure out what is up with my camera, and go back. And Kennedy was a bit fussy, which apparently, she never is- so her parents say!

Today, I think we will make fruit loop necklaces. what could be better than that? heehee. good times at my house. I think I need to spend some quality time on the computer finding great summer crafts and activities to do!- any ideas for me? or good places to look? I just think game cube and tv time needs to be limited. sadly, because it is easy for me, and seems to be what the kids want to do, you know what I mean?

today

today I am glad tonot be driving. my sister and I drove for a lot of hours. and now I am glad to just be home.
(we passed this trailer on our trip, it says she thinks my campers sexy! funny)

today I finished Harry Potter.


good book. great books. everyone should read them.


hint hint, Shelley!





today I fed 10 kids lunch. ten. wow.


what a day.





today I hope to go see my newest neice. fun stuff.





today I might clean my room up,


but then again, I might not.

my trip

alright,
my trip- in a nutshell,
and in reverse, since that is how my pictures came up, and I am too lazy to rearrange them.
had to stop at a BP gas station-
Cory works for BP, but there are no gas stations here, no one really knows what it is, so had to stop, and get a picture!
well in chicaco, we had to try some famous chicago pizza- this was a stuffed one, man, was it stuffed! in the menu , it said it fed 1-2, but I think it would have fed 3 nicely. it was really good though! we also saw Wicked when we were there. what a great show!

this is our feet in Dylan's candy bar in New york City. cute.


we stopped at Chipotle's. wow. this is some of the burrito. so loaded with goodness, so good. my sister and I are determined to open one here. so yummy.

I met someone cute in Washington DC. haha. that was at the museum of natural history. then my sister and I on a bench in Central Park, NYC.

while in NY, we saw crowds gathering, and found out Rupert- not sure of his last name- the guy who plays Ronald Weasley in Harry Potter was coming to FAO Schwartz, so we hung out, and saw him. can you see him in this picture? it was madness. pure madness.

while in the big city, had to stop at Serindipity, and have a famous frozen hot chocolate. it was yummy, but we are cheap, and would be just as happy at DQ with a blizzard, but we can now say we have been there and had one.

then we had the long drive home. passed through many states. stopped at many targets. fun times. we were driving into a town around midnight on Friday so we stopped and picked up the new Harry Potter book. but now that I am home, and back to reality, crying children and laundry to do. fun stuff. might have to shut myself in my room and read till it is done. can't wait to see how it all ends.

We are hitting the road

well, New York was an experience. wow.
has any one else taken a taxi that drove on the sidewalk to avoid a garbage truck that was blocking the road? a bit scary for this small city girl!
the amount of people was insane! I am seriously shocked that we never saw a car crash, or a pedestrian hit by a car. nuts.
but fun, can't say that I need to go back any time soon.
in DC we saw where they make money. that was interesting.
today we are hitting the road, heading to Indiana tonight, and Chicago tomorrow, then back home to my family.
I miss them,
but it sure is nice shopping with no kids!!
I'll have lots of photos to share when I am home!

leaving on a jet plane

well, my bags are packed, I'm ready to go,
-okay, not really, but I am getting there.
waiting for the laundry to be done,
need to pack the kids up-
they are heading to grandmas for a couple of days with dad, then bringing the bigger boys home.
it seems like they have been gone forever!
it will sure feel like a house full with those two extra kids around after not having them here for 2 weeks!
my flight leaves at 6:19 am, and apparently you have to be there 2 hours early for international flights, and it is at least 45 min- if not an hour from our house to the airport. yowsa. that is an early morning tomorrow!
what an adventure- such travels are not usually done by the likes of me. this is big! so excited.
okay, need to go switch the wash, clean out the fridge, etc, etc. my work is never done!

sisters

so,
last night,
Maggie was crying, and I went in, got her back to sleep, and went back to bed. then a little while later she cried again, but I was too tired to move, and didn't want to get up, so I let her cry.
then after a bit, I heard sadie say to her "Maggie, stop crying, you're giving me a headache." maggie immediately stopped, and fell back asleep. I had to chuckle. I think I say that to the kids a lot. heehee. then she cried more later, and cory went in. silly girl. sometimes she sleeps through the night, but sometimes she doesn't. I can't wait till she does all the time!! I do love my sleep.

here are a couple more shots of sadie.

she's a pretty sweet girl.

Jed and Cory are off on an overnight hike. just me and the girls here. good times. hardly know what to do with ourselves. heehee.

well, I think I will put in a movie until I can't keep my eyes open, then get myself to bed. I would like to scrapbook while I watch, but then I would have to turn on the dining room light, and since we have no curtains on our living room windows, anyone who passes by would see right in, and I don't really want that, now do I? maybe if I keep bugging Cory he will hang the old ones up, I would attempt it, but I think he would not appreciate me making lots of holes in the new windows. he had better hurry up!!

sweet summer time

1. it is hot here today- 30+ degrees. I think we are going to hunker down inside and watch movies.
sounds good to me!
2. the farmers market starts in town today, I think we might have to head there and get some fresh vegetables. yum.
3. I haven't heard from Ben and Jack who are at grandma's for 2 weeks. I will assume they are having far too much fun to call home to mom. I wish I had cousins to hang out with when I was a kid. I have 4 that are older than us, and 2 that are younger, none the same age. sad. fun that my kids have so many great cousins, and a grandma who is willing to have 6 boys at her place for 2 weeks. fun stuff.

4. I had three willing subjects last night, so we went out and took pictures. I enjoy it, but have so very much to learn.
practice, practice.

5. and a lot to learn about photoshop too. practice, practice.

6. I really liked this picture of sadie blowing the dandylion seeds.



7. this is Maggie when we were watching the fireworks on Sunday night. she is funny.

8. we were woken up this morning at the early hour of 8 by a jackhammer. our neighbor is replacing a part of their driveway, so they were there bright and early to dig the old one out. it's funny because our whole driveway is in way worse condition than their one part was. but holy cow, is it expensive. our driveway will just have to stay the way it is for a long time!
9. a week from right now I will be on an airplane! I don't fly much. only twice before, and the last time was when I was pregnant with Sadie, and I got air sick. really hoping that doesn't happen this time!

10. the gamecube is getting a lot of use the past couple of days. on our livingroom floor. luxury around here. haha. anyways, flattering picture of me playing the bongos. such a fun game. hilarious to watch. we need to get another set of drums so we can have some competition. good times around here.

11. so funny how kids can watch the same movies over and over. we got a free Berenstain Bears DVD in a big box of diapers I bought, and that is all Maggie ever wants to do- watch bersin bears. morning, noon and night. good times. Sadie can quote it. I think we have watched it a few too many times.

12.I just bought some zucchini seeds. is it too late to plant them now? if all I want are small ones to grill? so delish.

13. watched Elizabethtown last night. cute show, making me excited for my big road trip! fun stuff.

today

we hit not one,

not two,

but three separate playgrounds, until the heat got to us, and we hurried into our swimming suits, grabbed some popsicles, and headed to the fabulous pool! heehee.

make room for me girls!

summer food

ice cream face,
like Maggie is modelling for you-
that's what summer is all about
popsicles,
slurpees,
bbq,
salads.
oh, speaking of salads, made a really good one today- I got the recipe from Heather White's blog
( reading her blog makes me a little crazy- she is a bit ooc- out of control- in my opinion anyways, but she has some good recipies and cute craft ideas) anyways, I will share it with you in case you don't want to go look for it there!
it is- Santa Rosa Salad
1 box long grain wild rice- I just used brown rice, because I couldn't find any wild rice, and it was still yummy)
3 chicken breasts- cooked and diced ( I used some left over bbq chicken)
4 green onions- diced
1 red bell pepper- diced
3 oz snow peas - ends cut off, and cut into 1/3's
1-2 avacado's- diced
1/2-1c chopped pecans

cook rice as directed, and cool. combine all the above ingredients and refrigerate over night. - I did it all in the morning, and it was still good.

Dressing-
2 cloves garlic- diced
1T dijon mustart
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/3c vegetable oil
1/3 c seasoned rice vinegar
combine in blender and refrigerate over night.
next day, (or that afternoon, in my case) pour dressing over salad, mix well, refrigerate 2-4 hours before serving.
immediately before serving add avacado and pecans.

we had the missionaries over for dinner, and they really liked it. it was really good, but of course my kids wouldn't touch it. turkeys!

I might have to find some more great salad recipes, it is supposed to get hotter later this week. if you are looking for me, I will be sharing the kiddy pool with my three littles in the back yard. nice!

it was a..

very happy Canada day!

it's thursday

it's getting late.
it's been a long day with all my kids all day.
something I am going to have to get used to for the next two months. yowsa.

okay.
1. maggie finding out that bubbles don't taste very good. yuck. poor thing.
2. the kindergarten classes had a potluck picnic lunch on Wednesday.
here's sadie doing the parachute thing. fun stuff.
3. she can not wait to start grade one. she would already have her backpack packed if I let her. like everyone tells you, they grow up too fast.

4. we all went to my sister Andrea's and got hair cuts today. fun stuff.

5. except Sadie- she's growing her hair, and she and two of her aunties are going to cut their hair at Christmas time and donate it for wigs. she is getting excited for that too.

6. if you come to Fort Saskatchewan you must go see the sheep that they use to mow the lawn at one of the parks. Cory took the kids on Sunday, while I made supper. isn't Maggie looking especially cute. haha.

7. two weeks from right now I will be in New York City. wow. hard to believe.

8. I finished my reversible wrap skirt. and ummm. not sure about it. it is comfortable. but maybe not the cutest thing. I am not too sure it is NYC material. will have to see if I can fix it. maybe I will take pictures and see if there are any positive comments.


9. Pokemon cards. wasn't that so - a few years ago? well, apparently they are the big thing. for my kids and their circle of friends anyways.

10. Apparently Ben has the rarest card in our town. yep. isn't that interesting.
they talk and talk pokemon all the time, and I have no clue, and no desire to know what it is all about. so bizarre.

11. finally found some shorts that fit. yay. I hear it is hot out east. yay. lousy weather here.

12. while I was at Costco, with all my kids- big mistake, but anyways, found some crocs knock offs, and bought them because I really need good comfortable shoes for all the walking in two weeks. not the cutest things, but wow, they really are comfortable.

13. sleeping in is wonderful, but getting kids to bed at night after they sleep in, is not so wonderful. I really need to get kids to bed, and get myself to bed, because wow, am I getting cranky. :)

a sad day

as I was sitting in the Elementary school gym,
my eyes teared up. why? I am not sure.
except maybe that my first born, my oldest child
was attending his grade six farewell.
wow. going on to grade 7 next year. scary.
I left my camera with him, so maybe I can show some pictures tomorrow.
he and two girls did a little prediction for the future, named all the kids and what they thought they would be when they grow up. Ben is going to be a science teacher because he is so smart! that's my boy.

speaking of smart, my two oldest both got honors this year.
that was a great thing.

my sewing machine ate 3 meters of fabric. 3! eaten!
it was the strangest thing. I bought 6 meters of fabric- 3 each of two kinds,
to make this- but a bit shorter,
put them in the washer- or I thought I did,
then when I went to put them in the dryer, there was only one piece there.
weird I thought, maybe I didn't put it in.
had the kids searching everywhere with a big $1 reward to whoever found it. - yep, I am cheap, but it got the kids looking.
so, fast forward to today, I had another load in the wash, when it was done, it was still pretty wet, so I spun it again, then when I had it emptied out, into the dryer, lo and behod, there is some of my fabric peaking out from the agitator thing. what the heck? that freaks me out. if my machine could be hiding 3 meters of fabric, what else is hidden in there?
now I am afraid to do any more laundry. yikes.
but I am glad I found it, and excited to make that skirt!!

here's the link for that shirt dress- shirt dress! cute and fun, and not too hard.

three more days of school, well, today is almost over, so really two. ahh. sleeping in. can't wait. but then all day with kids. hmm. can wait!!

thirteen things

1. yesterday we headed out to take Sadie to a friends house for a playdate, a few blocks away, she was on her bike, and was having a hard time, so we took the bike back home and walked over, and she told me she is not riding a bike again until she is 11.

hmm. we shall see.


2. see this shirt?

it doesn't look too attractive on this little girl, does it?

but wait--

3. look at it now! a cute little dress! who would have thunk it? not me- but Cory's cousin Kayli found a tutorial of how to do it, and I did it, and she loves it! I think I will have to find one of those flowery mens shirts that are funny for men, but would make fabulous dresses!

this is the back, which used to be the front of the shirt! I think that is so cool!
4. kids in goggles. so funny.

and this picture also represents the girls swimming lessons- which I didn't get pictures of because I was in the water with Maggie, but they were fun, and today was the last day. sad thing. that was fun.

5. MAggie has made it her goal in life to remove the wrappers off all of the crayons in the container. what a mess.

6. Maggie has baby measles. apparently it was contageous, so sorry all you family members we were around on Sunday, check your kids for spots. that would also explain the 2 days of fever. fun stuff.

7. wow. 4 more days of school. gotta get going on the teacher gifts. I have something planned that I think will be cute. I will share when they are ready to go!

8. went out walking this morning with my cheapy MP3 player- so nice to walk with music, but i think I need to make sure they are all fast beat songs, because I was totally walking to the beat, no matter how fast- or slow it was. fun.

9. last night of soccer last night. Jed loved it and did really well.

10. sorry, can't get these pictures to go where I want them, but the piano one is Jed doing a duet with his teacher at the recital.

anyways, my #10 point is no more piano, the boys couldn't be happier.

11.this morning was beautiful when I was out walking, but it is getting windy and grey now. yuck.

12. hope it doesn't rain because we are heading to my sister's house for dinner, my Aunt will be there- haven't seen her in a while. she lives in Ottawa. she is a really great lady. can't wait to see her!

13. so, I think I need to up my babysitting prices if I am going to continue into the summer, but I am too wussy to tell the mom. hmm. must be bold, so I can make more money to spend on the big trip!!