Unexpected

Well, I just did something shocking and unexpected.





















I joined a gym.
Because I want to be fit.
I want to run, and refuse to do it in the cold winter, which is 3/4 of the year here.
Because I have no room in my 750 square foot house for a treadmill.
Because my brand new running shoes are gathering dust while waiting for better weather.
Because they have Thomas the Train stuff in the gym's daycare.
Because I want an excuse to buy and ipod and listen to Roxette really loudly.

Saturday

Well, the sunbeams last week did not shine. The other teacher (there are too many kids for one class) did not show up. So guess who got to "teach" not 6, but 12 Sunbeams? Me. And, I did not bring enough supplies for 12 kids, so 1/2 of my plans were not useable. Disaster. And, I fed one of them something she was allergic too. Even better. My approach this week is to adhere to a strict schedule. And also bring dairy/egg/nut free candy.

In other news,

• Today I primed the walls of the new bathroom. Very exciting. I am quite happy that I redid the lifting seam, as that wall looks very nice now.
• Keith has a job! It seems to be a good fit. We are working on how to arrange my work/childcare with his new schedule. I am cultivating a friendship with a teenager who I see in the AM while we are waiting for the bus. I hope that she might be interested in watching the girls on days that Keith has to work late.
• Tonight we are going to IKEA for dinner. A fun field trip for the girls, because now Mina and Abby can both play in Smalland, and Keith and I can browse towel racks, mirrors, and the as-is asile at our leisure. One of the other good things about not having a baby in the family.
  
• On the same topic, today was swimming lessons, and for the first time, I did not have to go in the water with them!

(am I maybe, perhaps trying too hard to convince myself that we don't need another baby?) It's just that I am noticing all of these little life changes which tell me that our family has entered a new stage. It is certainly food for thought.

A nothing post

Well folk, this is a nothing post. Or maybe not. Who knows. Sometimes it feels like I have nothing to say, and I should just do a duty post, because all of my sisters have new posts up.

I have not finished my basement bathroom yet. One of my tape seams was lifting. I tried to stick it down with more mud, but that looked just awful. So I finally just ripped it out, and started again. So, It will be another 3 day cycle of sanding and mudding before I can prime and paint. Thanks to youtube, I learned that fixing the seam is really not a big deal, and I was over sanding. Youtube is great for stuff like that! I was trying to watch the reno shows on HGTV to find out what I was doing wrong, but they never show the boring and tedious ins and outs of tapping and mudding drywall. (Really - all of those HGTV marathons I may have watched over Christmas break were research, not lazy procrastination! ha ha)

My friend just found out she is pregnant. I am very happy and excited for her. But the strange (for me) thing is that I was not jelous or wishing it was me. I was more jelous of the fact that she had a moose walk by her front window yesterday, not of the pregnancy. Just kind of strange to me, because usually that kind of news paints me very green with envy.

In other news, my new primary job is the Sunbeams. Last week was a disaster. They are used to nursery where they get to play and eat. I actually have to control them and teach them. For 2 hours. I really hope today goes better than last week. I woke up to horrible dreams about loosing some of them when I took them for a potty break. I think this week I shall bring candy for them. And if their parents have a problem with that, then they can have my job of teaching 6 sunbeams and try to do it without bribery. I hope that I can become a better Sunbeam teacher. If you have any tips, please share. My new idea for this week, courtesy of some LDS website, is to bring them "primary pets" (beanie babies from the thrift store) that they have to hold and keep quiet during the combined primary time. Our lesson today is about how our bodies are like HF's body. So we will be tracing our body shape and colouring it, reading a book about body parts, and playing with Mr Potato Head. And the candy. Church is now at 9AM! YAY! So, I better get going.

just need to say

...that it makes me really sad when my sisters do not return my phone calls. For days or weeks. Very sad indeed. It's because I can't text, isn't it? I feel so uncool. sigh.

Christmas!

Today is the Christmas season, as Mina likes to say. We are having lots of fun doing festive things. So far, we had made no less than 12 batches of cookies, most of which have already been eaten or shared. I did freeze a container full to bring to mom's house, but even that stash is getting nibbled on. By me. I have also eaten a box of Toffiffee's, almost by myself, and am working on another. I think I need to control myself, as my pants feel too tight. Auntie Patience has come to visit, and we took her to our ward's Christmas party, which ROCKED! It was so well done and so much fun. (when was the last time you head that about a ward Christmas party?) Patience also took the girls shopping to pick out gifts for Keith and I. I am not sure how much fun it was for Patience (busy mall, 1 week until Christmas, 2 excited kids.) But I enjoyed getting books at the Library while I waited for them. I am very happy that they did not want to sit on santa, as I have issues with that. Okay, I'll tell you my issues.

• Santa is really a stranger. I don't want my kids talking to, taking candy from, or sitting on the lap of a stranger. Oh whispering secrets in his ear.
  
• He touches hundreds of kids a day. Think of all the H1N1 living on those white gloves.
  
• It could be a stewie underneath that fat suit. Nuff said.
• While I do carry on the santa tradition, gifts, stockings, etc., I hate having to add more lies to the story "he is just a helper. He is here until Christmas Eve when he goes back to the N pole. He is magic and can be everywhere at once. Abby is very smart, as most 6 yr olds are, and would question me until kingdom come trying to get an answer and I'd have to make it all up on the spot. And, I'd probably mess it up and ruin the magic of it all. Oh the therapy.
• Line ups. Being that physically close to a bunch of stressed out parents and sticky kids who are not my own. Not fun.
• Paying 20 bucks for a commemerative photo.
  

We have also made home made Christmas cards, sang many songs (Mina's Jingle Bells version is really cute), and today was my CTR 5 Christmas party. Five 5 yr olds came over and we crafted and had lunch. I did feel bad about asking Keith to hide his coffee though. I was going to post pics, but am not sure about putting other peoples children on the net. So just imagine them here. There has been much playing outside, as we have a lot of fresh snow, more falling even as I type. And Mina is old enough that I do not have to go out with them anymore. Hooray for me, I get to be warm. I finished typing up the Christmas recipes, I have finished my course at G Macewan. I think my next extra curricular activity will be a stained glass class.

Keith has some time off. Well, he is looking for a job actually. So if you are a plumbing company in Edmonton, give us a call. In the mean time, he is building equity in the form of a basement bathroom. We are very excited about it! One b-room is not enough. And the new one will be much better than what was there before. Just ask Nunu what a pit it used to be. So, while is does suck that Keith currently is not employed, he is using this time to build a bathroom and it will be much appreciated by all. (I don't want to say "unemployed" because that makes him sound like a pogey bum, and he is being anything BUT lazy!)

So Merry Christmas All!

Bread!

I am becoming good at making bread! 3 successful weeks in a row! Thanks mom, for the hands on lesson this summer. She taught me how to knead the dough properly by hand. I was using my kitchenaid before, and as much as I love the kitchenaid, for me, it always wrecked my bread. But when I knead it by hand, voila - perfection! Plus, I love the way you can feel the flour and stuff coming together and changing consistency. Being only 5 feet tall, I need to stand on a stool, so that I am at proper kneeding height. I think that helps the bread too. I still like to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. I remember having a little stool for that when I was little.

Remember when we were little and mom was baking bread, and would always make us be quite and not run around when it was baking or rising? Because it would "fall"? Well, I think she only said that for some much needed peace and quiet. My kids were loud and jumping around the kitchen the whole time, and the bread did not fall. Not even a bit. So, I think mom Just said that to keep us quiet. Maybe that is why she made bread so much, so that we would not be crazy all the time... Good strategy mom, we all won with that one. Bread for us, and 2 hours of peace and quiet for you.

2 posts in 1 week!

How unusual. Usually it is one a month! My children have the swine flu. Poor babies. They are very sick. Abby is heartbroken about missing her school play today. While I am of course concerned about them, part of me wants to make curly piggy tails and pin them on to their jammie pants. But I should probably not make light of a situation. I get in trouble that way sometimes.

Photo Updates

Here are the Halloween costumes: a Mermaid, and Mavis the train. 100% home made!
This was a really foggy morning at our bus stop.
Hmm. I think I posted this one already. oops.
A better look at the Mermaid! I am so pleased with how it turned out!
Patience and Dan came and we went to the greenhouse/cornmaze. It was really a fun time! I think we will make it a Halloween tradition.
Here we are in the corn maze. Dan was the navigator, he was tall enough to see over the corn!
Aunite Bunny was up a while ago - there is always lots of crafting happening when she is here. She and Abby added wings to the horses.

Weird Wednesday

For lack of a better title, Wednesday begins with a W, as does Weird, and today is, you guessed it, Wednesday. Although nothing weird has happened. I did get to go for lunch with my mom, on her way to Coronation street. She was so cute, she was vibrating with excitement. While we were out I bumped into a former patient of mine, one of my favourite people ever, Norma. Her husband just died and she was very sad. And in the middle of this serious and sad conversation, she asked me if she could make some new puppet mittens for my girls, as the last ones she made must be too small by now. She is such a sweet sweet lady, and I am so happy to have met up with her today. I think that is the best part of my job, people like Norma. Tonight I start my class at Grant MacEwan, and I found out that the U of A is considering a midwifery program. Very hopeful! Hopefully within 3 or 4 years, I can just do that, instead of settling for LD Nursing.

End of Summer Top 5

Well, summer is officially almost over. There are yellow leaves on the trees already, we are busy thinking about back to school shopping, bussing schedules, and what to be for Halloween. My top 5 summer 2009 highlights are:

Seattle Sister Extravaganza: How fun to get together will all of the girls! We must do this at LEAST once every 2 years. Thank you for inspiring me to learn to run. My first goal is to do a 5K in summer of 2010. I have only gone out running a few times so far, as summer scheduling has been all over the place. But once we are into a good fall routine it will be much easier to keep up with it.

Colfax Cousin Camp: Letting the cousins play and get to know each other is priceless. It was so fun to hang out at Betina's beautiful home for a week. I hope that all of our kids - the unborn future ones included, will become good friends.

Disney Family Reunion: Of course Disneyland is the perfect place for a huge family reunion. They just know how to take care of families! Thank you Dad for the awesome holiday, everyone had so much fun. I finally got a chance to do the Indiana Jones ride, and scared myself silly on the Malibu Screamer.

Potty Training, Mina Style: Step one - put on panties. Step two - Throw away diapers. Mission complete. She rocks!

Tooth Fairy Visits: Abby lost 2 teeth this summer, one at Disneyland! She is growing up so much. I love this great girl!


PS: I discovered today that I have a lot of jam in my fridge.

• ED Smith triple berry
• Bonne Maman mixed fruit
• Smuckers Strawberry
• Smuckers seedless Raspberry
• Plum Jam
• Apricot Jam

That seems like a lot, but I keep trying new recipes, and they all need some specific jam.

On the topic of recipes... I am collecting the Christmas recipes this year. So please send me no less than 3 yummy recipes that you have been loving in 2009. Please have this to me by November 15th. Thank you, I will send out a e mail as well. And reminder e mails too.

About Mina

Two things about Mina this week...

I wish I could say that she is always well behaved, and would never think of running away from her family in public. However, that is not my daughter. She loves to run away, and sometimes just gets distracted and goes her own way. So, I have made a harness for her, to use while in Disneyland. Yes, I admit that I am going to tie my child to a leash. Please do not judge me, I am not a bad parent! Besides, she really likes it, and pretends to be a puppy.

Also, she has foiled my potty training "plans". I was going to think about doing it once Abby was back in school, but yesterday, she made the choice to start. She has been very successful so far! I am worried about DLand though, and the airplane ride. I am going to have to bring so many more clothes now. Sheesh! But I will not complain about it, because she is not showing the same difficulties that Abby did.

Colfax Cousin Camp!

This one is from the Appaloosa Horse Museum. It was a big highlight of Abby's holiday. They have a contest where you can buy a ticket and the prize is a real live Appaloosa horse! I am so happy that Abby did not see the poster about that, or she would have choose a ticket for the draw as her souvenir instead of the stuffed horse we brought home.
Mom loves having her picture taken, especially in front of tourist landmarks, like the World's Biggest Truck. Abby, not so much.
Here we are at the WSU Creamery eating ice cream. We were too late for the cheese making demonstration, but did get to buy a can of really yummy cheese to take home for Keith. I love ice cream. I think next time we should go more often to the creamery, so that I can try more of the yummy flavours!
Here are 2 kissing cousins. Sortly after this, Mina gave Ivy a hug, and Ivy fell backwards and rolled down the little slope behind her. Very cute.
2 Cow-girl cousins. The horse is Danny, and the girls had a really fun time with him. They even got to use the reins and direct him where to go. Pretty cool!

My only regret about this trip is that I did not bring a camera on the boat with us, when Betina's friend took us tubing. But it was really hot out, and therefore I was feeling like poop. So I did not even think about bringing it. I wish I had pictures of Eden and Abby together on the tube, and especially of mom after she was dunked upside-down under the water. Mina even took a turn on the tube, and she cried when her turn was over. She is such an adventurous little two-two!

Thank you Betina for showing us such a good time. We all really enjoyed ourselves and had a great trip. The girls are already asking when we can come again!

Some photographical updates

The main even this week: Abby lost her first tooth! She is overjoyed. I am a happy/sad. Another "growing up" sort of event that makes me feel all conflicted. Maybe that is why I am doing nothing about potty training Mina. I just don't want them to grow up so fast!
Getting pretty. Auntie Eve gave Abby a make up set and Abby loves it. She even shares it with Mina! wow. Thanks Auntie Eve. Sharing does not happen often around here these days!
Here is Abby's reaction when we (finally) told her about going to Disneyland this summer.
This was the day of Abby's 6th birthday party.
Mina often takes off all of her clothes for no reason at all, and then I find her places, carrying on with her naked life. When she does this in combination with a tantrum at the medicentre, that is when it is time to go home.
Here are my girls. Abby can be such a nice big sister. They are so cute together in one big bed. It is hard to spot them sometimes, there are at least 8 pillows and no less than 50 stuffies at a time....

Inspiration

Here at long last is a picture of the runners! Seattle was so much fun. We did not get even a drop of rain and the weather was great. We stayed downtown and there was lots to do. I think it would make a good family holiday spot! The energy and excitement of the marathon was very inspiring, and I have decided to learn to run so that one day I can cross the finish line with my sisters. Although not for a marathon! Those crazies all looked mostly dead, had ice packs cling-wrapped to every joint below their waists and were falling over. The 1/2 marathoners on the other hand looked happy, but tired out. It was quite a contrast. Anyway, I bought some over-priced shoes, and some walmart special shorts and an exercise shirt. I never ever in a million years thought that running would ever be something I would do, but I am going to give it a try. One day, I might get to run with my sisters. And I will also gain the skills to run away from a bear, if I ever need to.

Abby Soundbite

Today gramma is visiting.

Abby: Brings her Trilobite cast that she made in Drumheller for Gramma to see.
"Look Gramma!"

Gramma: "Oh, what a nice footprint".

A: "It's not a footprint."

G: "Is is a bug?"

A: Rolls eyes. "It is a TRILOBITE. It is a sea creature from the early cretaceous. (Stomps off sighing to herself), I'll go get the book and look it up for you..."

Later...

A: "Mum, isn't Gramma a teacher?"

Me: " Um, yes, but she teaches special ed." (Was that wrong of me to say??)

The Mother Weekend

Last weekend I sent to ye ole home town of Slave Lake, and visited my mom, along with 3 sisters. We had a lot of fun hanging out with mom, and she loved it. I think she gets really lonely up there. Eve made bread with mom, and did lots of scrubbing - but I think the crazy girl actually enjoys the scrubbing! I went for a nature walk with mom while all of the athletic types ran away from us, and we all went to the movie. My mom was surrounded by a whole row of us at the movie theater, instead of being by herself. I think it was the highlight of the weekend for her. We also gorged on orange slurpees. mmmm, and the campfire smores of course. I had a chance to visit with an old friend and it was so nice to see her! Although being around her kids made me miss mine. Definately bringing the family up there next time. We even cruised mainstreet in her '68 Camaro. Being inside that car makes even a 30 something mom with the mom ponytail and a sinus infection feel cool. I think that might have been the highlight of my weekend. The weather was beautiful, and of course being in SL in the summertime always makes me want to move back. I miss the nature, the open spaces and well, the non citiness of it. ( All the things I hated as a teenager...) The black preacher at the old IGA, the small town gossip at the health store coffee shop, picking up mail at the PO, the REX, Tags, the deer and coyote sightings, the horses and cows, the quads and boats, the lake, seeing more of the stars. You can just, breathe, there. I think when I am done educating myself, we are going to have to seriously consider a move back to nature.

The Best

The best $13 I have spent this week:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090323.wStyle0323/BNStory/lifeStyle/home

Did that show a picture? Or just a link? I am so not good at this...

Anyhow, this cheese grater like device has transformed my hideous heels from revolting to almost normal. I know that I am not the only sister with hideous heels, so if you want to try something new, other than moving to the perfect climate of California, try this! It is kind of gross really, to think about grating off the dead dry cracked skin, and emptying the old skin make me want to barf. But the results are amazing. Do try it.

Up Up and Away

My girls are growing up. Mina has made the big leap out of her crib. She began climbing out of it, with Abby's instruction, of course. Although it was quite a fun game for her, it meant the taking away of the crib, the last piece of bona fide baby furniture we have around. Sniff. So now Mina and Abby share not only a bedroom, but also a bed. They snuggle up together in Auntie Nunu's old double sized bed, and it is the cutest most heart warming thing to see my 2 little girls cuddled up amongst no fewer than 37 stuffies. I was a little worried about how this new arrangement would work out, but after a few late nights of the 2 of them playing and being very silly until 2 hours past bedtime, they are settling in well.

Abby choose to get a hair cut. She wanted shorter hair, just below her ears, with bangs. All that hard work to grow them out for 18 months, and she wanted bangs. So even though I really really did not want her to have bangs, I remembered what it was like when I was little and was absolutley not permitted to bring a pair of scissors near my hair, and forced to emulate Laura Ingalls. So now Abby has bangs and short hair and is still very beautiful. And I feel good because I made a good mother choice and let Abby choose her own hair style. I hope it makes up for my not so stellar moments this week...

Random Tuesday thoughts.

• I have a grey hair. At first it just had a weird texture, but even with Paul Mitchell moisturizing shampoo, it did not soften up. It just turned grey. I hope it is a "one of" event. I am not a fan of hair dye, but will try it if this gets out of control.
  
• I like the commemorative Olympic glassware from the gas station. Weird, I know, but for some reason I get really excited about the winter Olympics, and next year they are in Canada! Very exciting. Time for the deeply buried hockey fan in me to come out and cheer for my country. I think it weirds Keith out a bit when I become a sports fan every 6 years. And I admit that I like watching figure skaters fall down.
  
• When I was in grade 12, I ate a lot of m&m's. Usually in Mrs. Walstrom's Social 30 class. But after opening each package, I would chart how many of each colour were in each bag. By the end of the year, I could pretty accurately predict what would be in each bag. I made pie charts about it too. (DORK!!) I wish I still had the data.
  

Been Awhile...

Once again, it has been a while. All is well here, in the N household. Here are some tidbits about what our family is up too.

Abby: Loves to watch infomercials. She is very convinced that we need the Turbojam, Snuggie, Rapid Wave oven, and Oxyclean. She will bring up these, and other, products in conversation. "If we had Oxyclean, maybe that stain would have come out mom." "Did you know that the Snuggies comes with 2 free booklights, and you can get it in 3 different colours? It is a good deal if we order it now, and not wait! Then it would be more expensive".

Mina: Loves Abby's things. The moment Ab's bus rolls away for school, Mina heads over the their room, I hear her dragging the step stool over to the dresser, and she plays quietly. Then she comes out with armfuls of Abbys "specials". Snowglobes, paper umbrellas, seashells, horses. She treats them with a quiet reverence and it is so cute, that I, as a younger sibling myself, cannot help but allow her to do it. And she always puts things back before Abby gets home.

Keith: His wacky boss is coming back from India, where he has been at a spiritual healing retreat for the past month. Who knows what the return may mean, hopefully the experience has calmed his inner demons. Or whatever new agey term you are supposed to call them. Perhaps he will start eating cooked food again. Or he might just get some stronger crystals to hang in the windows of the office.

Me: Keith bought me a Crohn's cookbook. It is so validating. It says things like: Do not use whole wheat flour when you are unwell. When trying to gain weight, use butter instead. Try adding chocolate syrup for added calories. Recipes are tagged as" higher fat choice", "low fibre", "high protein" and so on. It is really quite interesting to see all of the foods that I cannot eat right there on a list - it made me feel like I am not imagining all of this, and there is good reason that I don't like those foods.

I have also realized that I really do not like my job. It is not the location, which is a bit far, or the employer, who is a passive agressive meanie a lot of the time, or the hours that keep me up way too late. It has more to do with the fact that is is not interesting, challenging or fun in any way. It is boring. I have been doing it for way too long. I cannot wait to be back in school, learning and doing new and interesting things.