if only...

Jack and I headed to Walmart the other day.

he had a coupon he wanted to use

(for some old spice body wash, but that doesn't really matter- just in case you were curious)

and I needed some tomato fertilizer stuff

(so my tomatoes can grow big and delicious- but you probably knew that)

so, we went to pay in the garden center, and the worker guy there might have been sort of new,

(I don't know that for sure, but that was my impression)

and when he rang through our stuff, and the coupon- this is what happened-

apparently walmart owed us $660,069.69.

then the cashier guy quickly called for help.

I told him it was okay if he couldn't get it fixed.

that would get us a lot of groceries.

and I told Jack we could get him the x box he has been wanting for a long time.

but unfortunately help came,

and we ended up owing them a few dollars - so we paid and left.

but it was fun imagining what we would do with that money for a little while.

extreme couponing at it's finest! haha.

what goes around comes around

so, back in the day

-the good old days,

my parents had friends

(okay, they had a bunch of friends, but this story is about a specific family)

- the father in this family worked out in the city that my family now lives in,

and the place where he worked offered big gardening plots to workers,

so we would come out with them and plant and weed and harvest.

I don't remember liking having to go out there,

but I do remember going to a nearby pond with the other kids and finding snails.

anyways-

where is this heading?

our city just this year started a community garden.

and we got a little plot,

the girls and I went over this week and planted some stuff.

and nearly got eaten alive by mosquitoes while doing it.

I need to go back and pick some more weeds,

but must make sure all skin is covered.

and we haven't yet discovered any pond with snails,

but I do believe back in those trees is a little creek.

some exploring might be in order.

activity days

a couple of weeks ago the activity day girls group headed out to the trails.
it was a nice evening, a nice walk, and they are nice girls.
then we went off the trails, into a field- to try to take some pictures,
and wowsers- were there ever tons of mosquitoes there.
they are so bad around here this year.
it seemed like all the millions of mosquitos all hatched at once-
there were none, then wham-o. bazillions of them.
the worst thing about them
(to me, anyways)
is when you are in bed, lights out, and you hear one buzzing around your head.
I hate that!
maybe all the snow in winter isn't so bad.
at least there are no mosquitoes!

today

we got these delivered today.

guess what will be going on here this weekend-

and probably the next.

and maybe even the next weekend after that.

but our roof will look good!

- because we need more projects to start,

because the two big ones we started last weekend aren't done yet, but who wants to finish one before the next one is started?

not us!

working hard

on a big project! it looks good so far,
but there is still much work to be done.


hopefully I can show you the finished product soon!

spring has sprung!

the tree in our front yard is only pretty for about a week- when it blossoms,

and now is the time!

it is so lovely!

last weekend

I married into an amazing family.
once a year, all the in-laws (and sisters) try to get together
- have a bit of a get-away.

we just had one last weekend.
all the girls, but one, got to hang out.
in the past we have done it at the parents house,
but this year, it was planned around a race that 4 of the girls were running,
so we stayed in a big hotel/condo place.
so fun!

we had a favorite thing night-
everyone was to bring 9 of their favorite things ($3 max)
so everyone got to go home with everyone's favorites!
so fun-
here is what was there-

-not pictured is a fantastic 10 minute massage. loved it!

2 babies got to come along- they were such great little travellers! so adorable.


it was such a nice get away
I am already looking forward to the next one!

me

I had seen a tutorial for bubble gum necklaces on line a while ago.

I thought they were adorable.

so, for Activity days, I had the girls make one for their mom's for mother's day,

then there was enough gum left over that they could make one for themselves.

so fun- neat to see the different color combinations- all so beautiful!

(the one I am wearing I made for myself- Sadie did make me one, but the kids ate it up right after church)-

it was fun to see so many moms of the girls wearing their necklaces!

- just like one year the cubs made duct tape ties for their dads-

so fun to see a few ties at church!

I didn't do any dishes on sunday- so that means it was a good day!

(and I had a big breakfast, and lots of fun gifts from the kids.)

but now that mother's day is over, it's back to doing the dishes, and cereal for breakfast.

it was nice while it lasted!

in love

I got to go and help in Maggie's kindergarten class this afternoon.

the snack was an m&m cookie - the kind from costco-

so, there I was sitting at the table with Maggie and the kids while they were eating them up,

and a little boy sitting across from me said

- these are so good.

I am in love with them.

haha

I love it!

so funny.

( I tend to say that I am in love with something when I really like it- so I could totally relate.)

so green

I looked out my kitchen window into the back yard,
and saw this green fertilizer spreader contraption that was taken apart,
and thought of Jacks green hoody,
and thought the two needed to be in a photo together.
so green.
indeed.

stewardess

last weekend was the year end show for Sadie's showbiz kids group.-
it was a trip around the world-
Sadie the stewardess got to hand out treats at intermission time-


so fun.
it was well done, and very entertaining.
I am so glad Sadie got to participate in this group this year-
I think her confidence in herself has definitely increased,
and that has been such a great thing for her!

(and you can see her new short hair-do!)

our weekend

it was a happy easter!
that easter bunny hid the kids baskets- they were not too hard to find,
then Cory and Ben hid the plastic eggs-
I always think after they are hid that I should have counted so we could know if they were all found.
I did find one this morning- hidden behind the computer.


we ate dinner at my sister in laws house- and the ham we ate was so delicious.
it is haunting me.
I am heading to Costco later today to see if they still have them,
so I can eat ham forever. so yummy. I want some right now!

on Monday my sister and Sadie got their hair cut.
they cut off 8 inches each- to donate for wigs for cancer.
this is the second time they have done it!
I am so proud of them both!
so- when we knew it was happening soon, I curled up Sadie's long hair, and took her out for some pictures.


now it is so short and cute- my after pictures were blurry, so I will have to take some more soon.
but man, there was no whining that it hurt as I brushed her hair today!
it looks adorable.

and- on Saturday Maggie lost her first tooth!
then I lost her tooth. I put it on the counter- and it was not seen again-
the tiny little thing.

today when maggie and I came home I saw a Cute little bunny in our front garden.
it ran and hid under our bay window, then later it was in a little bush in the front-
I put a laundry basket on it and called the bylaw people- they should be coming by to get it soon.
I contemplated keeping it as a pet, but when it started making weird noises at Maggie and I,
I decided I wasn't ready for the comittment.
and I don't think Cory would be too happy about a new little member of the household.
- the animal control guy just came and he said it was a wild bunny-
he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he said he would find a good place for it.
poor little guy!

yay!

this morning she was saying she would not ride a two wheeler until she was 7-
and this afternoon this is what she was doing-



yay! I knew she could do it! (Cory took off the training wheels without her knowing-
she would have never let him do it!)

sometimes

sometimes Maggie will come grocery shopping with me.
somtimes she tells me to go in the afternoon when she is in school
sometimes I like having her with me,
and sometimes it is very nice that I get to do it all by myself!


(and she had to bring the creepy doll that Cory gave her that he got a a white elephant gift exchange. nice)
sometimes these toys dissappear into the give away box when the kids aren't around.

today-

I thought we were done with all this.

really?! really.

curses

yesterday I got a call from the school speech pathologist.

Sadie had been in to see her, and she thought Sadie was doing very well,

and could stop coming to see her.

(I find it interesting that Cory and I never had speech issues,

but all of our kids have done speech before school, and during at least half of their elementary careers.) anyways,

Sadie knew she had called and was asking me if she had said she could stop going.

(this conversation all happened while I was lying in Maggie's bed, after the girls were in bed,

far too late into the night)

I said that yes, she was done speech.

she then said that she kind of liked it because they got to play games and she got stickers.

so I asked Maggie if she liked it, and she said no. she had to say hard words.

then Sadie piped in with-

when I was little I said sh instead of s- so I should have never said sit.

what!?!

oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

this out of sweet little Sadie's mouth.

it still makes me chuckle.

then when I was telling Cory what I was laughing so hard about I was thinking-

I don't remember that ever being a problem,

but I do remember for all my kids the tr sound was hard, and they would say f instead.

making trucks a very bad word.

now, go listen to a catchy song, and don't think too hard about those bad words.

get them out of your mind.

this is the song that never ends- it just goes on and on my friends...

fun

I got to test a pattern out for Amanda from Pardon My Chaos-

I think it turned out pretty well!

Sadie requested green when I asked her what color hat she wanted.

I think she sort of likes it.

she even wore it to school.

it is fun to try new things!

Friday night

Cory and I headed out without kids.

sort of a date, I guess.

we went where we used to go on dates-

silly, but we like it-

to Value Village

(it's a big thrift store)

we always head to the books.

even though the adult ones are way over priced for a thrift store,

we managed to find a bunch to buy- and my favorite was this one:

the Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery.

I remembered that someone in my book club said it was their go to book-

when you have nothing to read, and want to read something good.

and yes, it was good.

highly recommended by me.

(don't let the cheesy cover fool you. good stuff inside!)

this weekend

if you want to find me this weekend,

it should not be hard.

I will be hunkered down in the basement, bundled in a blanket,

probably knitting,

while listening to this amazing man

(president Monson)

and many others,

from our church talk to us and teach us.

I love that we can watch from our homes-

I love that we have cable (for now- probably once March madness, and conference are over we will go back to being cable- less.)

and I am thinking it will be a great 2 days!

it's spring break-

all the kids all the time things are a little crazy around here!