Sliding into home

It’s been nearly a week since Ken left for Calgary.  The simple fact that he’s not going to be back for several weeks has me a little depressed, I must admit.  The kids have been great, we’ve been having a lot of special time together in the evenings to distract them from the fact that Daddy’s not here.  Or maybe to distract me…

Poor Ken started his first day of work to a freak blizzard in Calgary, it was -49 Degrees with windchill!!  That is insanity even for seasoned Albertans!! Of course his truck didn’t start and Collin (Jessica’s Boyfriend) was nice enough to drive Ken the HOUR long trip to the plant.  What a champ he is!!  Hopefully he’s got a block heater installed now and a chinook will be over the horizon. 

We’ve had a little dump of snow here too, it started melting yesterday afternoon, just enough to create a nice sheet of ice on everything.  Of course as I stepped out of my truck at the school this morning I fell flat on my back.  It happened so fast I didn’t even have time to try and save myself!  It probably looked a lot worse (and hilarious) than it really was… I slid into the landing, very gentle, and graceful… you know, like a whale.

After I dropped the kids off at their respective schools I headed over to the DMV so I could renew my Drivers license which expired in December 2006!!  How did that one slip by me I’ll never know.  Of course I was completely paranoid that I would get pulled over or have some kind of accident this morning on my way to the DMV.  But I’m a good driver so it’s all good.  75$ later and I’m LEGAL now.

Nolan has rounded third plate and now he’s sliding into home, I’m referring to the potty training.  absolutely no accidents for 3 days and counting!!  He’s been great with letting whomever know that he has to go!  He spent the afternoon with Grandpa yesterday and had a lot of fun and even alerted grandpa when he had to go… PERFECT!  I’m sooooo glad to be done with diapers.  We are still in pull- ups at night but that is completely okay by me.  What a blessing!

Yesterday Paige went to a local salon for Children called Beaners.  She was beside herself with excitement over this- my child has a one track mind and will not rest until she gets what she wants.  Just like her Daddy.  We originally were invited to go with girls from the ‘hood’ but when the date got pushed back a couple weeks Paige freaked!  She nearly hyperventilated when she tried to do the math on the amount of ’sleeps’ she would need to do until that date arrived.  It was getting rediculous so I just took her myself yesterday afternoon.  She was need of a trim anyway.  She got her hair washed and blown out, curls put in, braids with beads and sparkles!  I took many photos which I am currently trying to upload to flickr… but you can see her all ‘beanered’ up in the photo above.  After the hair cut we stopped at ‘Urban Barn’ so I could look around and I had her pose on some of the lovely furniture in there… wow, great setting for photography!!

Anyway, I’m going to try and upload more photos before I have to go pick up the children at school!

Take it easy peeps,

~jen

The problem with big sisters.

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Dressed in their costumes for the play., originally uploaded by island artist.

While I was cleaning underneath my living room couch I was interrupted by my children in these ‘get-ups’. Apparently while i was cleaning they were upstairs writing, rehearsing and practicing their own play! Because Paige was the director and producer, Nolan ended up dressed in the fancy gown and heels. Lucky boy. I took a break from my cleaning and watched them do a rough (very rough) run through of the script. It was hilarious and it started to drag on near the end (or where I ended it, an actual ‘ending’ was no where in sight). Seeing my kids play together happily makes me so proud and to see them being not only happy but very creative together makes me want to burst!
On the potty training front- we’ve had a break through! after a particularly messy incident at grandpa’s house, Grandpa and Nolan had a little talk. Whatever they talked about must have triggered something because we came home that afternoon and he did a #2 on the pot all by himself (he didn’t even tell me he had to go!). I also realized that he is a lot more successful when he’s naked on the bottom half so I’ve been leaving him like that for most of the time. Eventually he will learn what the ‘feelings’ mean and we can put some pants on the child. We’ve been taking him out with underpants on and he’s been doing awesome. I think he actually gets a little frustrated with us when we persistently ask him if he has to go and he doesn’t . Poor kid. Even though I’m hesitant to say it, I think we are in the home stretch now. I would like to send my thanks to the Kinder company for making those kinder surprise eggs which have been a very successful potty incentive for Nolan.
We are two days and counting before Ken leaves for Calgary. It’s going to be tough on him being away from us for that long. The thought i keep thinking is: It will only be temporary. And he’ll be driving home on his longer breaks from work which will be nice. Many thank yous to my sister for putting Ken up for the months until we all come out and find a place to live. You don’t know how much it means to us to have you help us- this move would not be possible with out your generous support. Seriously Jess, thank you from all of us. Some day we will be able to repay you and by golly it’s going to be gooooood. Maybe you can come out and help us pack… LOL Just kidding!!!
Well I should be off- I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning lately- toilets, walls, floors, under sofas… but the rooms don’t seem to reflect any of the sweat i’ve been putting out. I don’t get it.

Oh well,
~jen

One sock, two sock & Pee for prizes

This weekend Ken and I took the kids out to fill deficiencies in their wardrobes. Mainly pants that come down to Nolan’s ankles and socks that suit Paige’s wild fashion sense. Value Village was our first stop. I love getting Pants for Nolan there- you can find brand new barely worn (sometimes with tags still on it!) clothing- perfect for Nolan to crawl around in and destroy. When Paige was younger her two older cousins provided more than her share of hand-me-downs. Nolan has no such luck- we don’t even know any other boys his age, well, at least not close enough for any hand-me-downs. So VV is great. Have I mentioned how cool it is to get an arm load worth of clothes for 12 dollars??? Plus it’s recycling and it feels good. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to buy the odd new thing for Nolan but he is so tough on his clothes that i reserve the new stuff for special occasions- like perhaps his birthday (that is coming up soon- mental note).
As for Miss Paige, she’s always had an aversion to socks. We compromised, at some point in her childhood, on ankle socks. She would wear them when she had to (Jumpin’ jimminies, McDonalds Playplace, etc.) but most of the time she goes sockless. That is, until our trip to Wal-mart to buy socks. She spied herself a package of ‘High School Musical’ themed socks and was immediately smitten. They were a little more expensive than the other socks (big shocker) but I figured- the chance of her wearing them would be worth it. Well, if she could wear all 6 pairs at the same time, I’m sure she would. She’s loving them a lot. While we were at wallymart Paige was surprised to see a HSM backpack (overly excited actually) and she told me she had her eye out for a HSM shirt like the ones her cousins got for Christmas… believe it or not there were none to be found. We (mostly me) are keeping our eyes out for one- perhaps to surprise her on her birthday (or easter).

Over the weekend we did some hard core potty training because we (and by ‘we’ I mean ME) are OH SO ready. I want to have Nolan out of diapers by his third birthday so i figured I needed to get cracking on it. We may still be doing pull ups at night but I can totally deal with that. Yesterday we had one accident. Afterward I decided to leave him in the buff. This was very successful and he even went to the bathroom completely on his own! Afterward he came up to tell me, I congratulated him with hugs, high fives and kisses. Then he tells me, “I want Prizes.”, uuuumm okay. This had been discussed prior and he knows he needs to keep his pants dry all day and poo on the potty as well… so it was a nice try but no cigar. He didn’t do a number 2 all day yesterday so I hope he isn’t holding it because he’s afraid of the pot. That kid is pretty darn regular… maybe he’ll make up for lost time today, which I don’t mind as long as it’s not in his pants. I’m sure you’ll be hearing about this work in progress as the the week goes on.

Well it’s time to go pick up the elder child from Kindergarten,
Will catch up again soon,
~jen

putting my heart into it

Okay, it’s been awhile but I’ve decided it’s worth my extra time to actually get back to making home cooked meals instead of opening a can a zoodles for the kids and making myself a can of soup.
some reason I get bored of cooking and just stop doing it. I guess I still make food but it’s just not good. At Christmas time I tried really hard to make tasty things for my guests to eat, we had roast, with veggies, mashed potatos and gravy. Another night we had stuffed turkey breasts with the trimmings- it was all yummy! Since then I’ve been putting a little more thought into dinner times (we still do zoodles for lunch). I’ve made a really good Shepherds’ pie, lazy man cabbage rolls, and tonight I made a slow cooker stew that turned into an oven stew before dinner time. The inspiration behind a couple of those dishes were these sauce packages. What a difference they make in the taste of my cooking! Now, I’m not saying that my cooking is usually bland and tasteless because it’s not but my cooking always tastes the same- these sauce mixes help my food taste new and exciting again! I think I’m impressing myself the most, but that’s okay too. Paige ate three servings of the shepherds pie, and that is unheard of!
So, on my next shopping trip I plan to raid the ‘Club House’ sauces and seasonings sections and I’ll keep you all updated on my creations. It’s been awhile since I did a picture by picture recipe walk through… I plan to do one soon. I’m just hoping my ass doesn’t respond in a bad way to all my great tasting cooking… don’t answer that!!

On a non food related note- I want to give a shout out to Suz (the neighbor we all know and love) for writing such a touching blog post about our friendship. Rest assured hers is coming… just not for a little while.

I should be off, I need to get some kids to bed and finish up a grocery list for tomorrow…
Hugs to all,
~jen

Once a monthly

I just realized I haven’t sat down and done one of my bi-monthly updates since christmas time! The holidays brought so many new additions to our family that I should share them all along with tidbits about the kids (what would one of my blogs be without kid-tid-bits???)
was wonderful, the kids were visited by the one and only SANTA! Paige was absolutely high with excitement and Nolan was nothing but a vibration when he saw Santa come in the door. It was fabulous. Unfortunately, it got Paige so wired up that she was up until three in the morning complaining about being sick to her stomach and unable to sleep… next year I’m going to provide a dose of benadryl to aid in the sleeping.
You can check out a few of the gifts that were given in photos here
I have quite a few more but they were from a different camera that I haven’t had a chance to sort through yet… soon they’ll be added. The main gifts were a new, real, electric guitar for Paige, and Nolan got a pedal go cart from his grandparents!! My sister and her boyfriend Collin were also out for the holiday and it was really nice and comfy with them here. We ate some good dinners and a lot of snacks and watched movies and generally just hung out. Just what I needed.
Ken got a new guitar from me (that he picked out) it’s an Epiphone Les Paul Special- don’t ask me if I even have that all correct but I’ll be posting new photos of that in flickr shortly. I got a few big dollars towards my new camera lens, and if anyone wants to contribute please feel free (tee hee) and I did a family photo shoot for my neighbor/friend Tracy one boxing day, the proceeds of which will also go toward the new lens… just a little more to go and it’s mine.
For New years eve the hubby and I sat by the TV watching movies with a few wobbly pops which was nice. For New Years day we decided to head out to Mt. Washington to go tubing with the rest of the in laws and cousins who were out visiting. Even though I didn’t feel like hurling myself down the hill, I did bring my camera and took photos which was more my cup of tea and the time (5.5 hours!) flew by for me. A blizzard came in and we just made it to the truck before I collapsed in a heap in the very large parking lot. But it was a memorable day and I enjoyed it a lot. Check out the photos through the link above.

We decided a few weeks ago that Ken would need a new vehicle to take to alberta with him because we didn’t want to risk something happening to the van and leaving him stranded somewhere far from home or help. We purchased another Santa Fe for him (in a fashionable shade of teal) and I think we got a pretty good deal on it because it was so close to christmas. Then we sold the toyota van and with the proceeds, Ken was supposed to purchase himself a laptop to do his school work on while away at work. Instead, He came home with an iMac. At first I was in shock but after sitting down and getting acquainted with it, I don’t think I’ll ever buy another PC again. This machine is amazing. Really. I don’t want to get too attached because Ken will be taking it with him in a couple weeks and I’m going to go into withdrawals.

I have started to adjust to the idea of moving. It doesn’t make me sad all the time now, only when i tell someone about it and they react very surprised and sad- then I get sad. and cry. I’m excited to get out there and see my new town and find a new home- my friends will all be a phone call away and I’m sure this blog will be up in full force again, like it was in the old days. Well enough of that talk…

The kids have been doing great, Paige has moved on from ‘Hairspray’ to ‘High School Musical’s 1 and 2! Aunty Jessie got her the first one for christmas and she’s fully addicted to it and proclaimed that it was her new favorite movie. I downloaded a bunch of the soundtracks on my computer and I’ve been going to sleep with the songs in my head and waking up with them still playing. Lord, help me.

Nolan is sort of potty training now when he feels like it. He always tells me he’ll poo on the potty tomorrow. He tells me this always, after he has filled his drawers. Nice. Oh well it’s a work in progress… still. He has been really enjoying his three mornings a week in preschool. His vocabulary has come leaps and bounds and everything for a while there was ‘Humungous’ and he’s really taken to singing and dancing to music (much like his sister so they get along good). After school I will ask him who he played with and he’ll say “I danced instead.”
So darn cute.

Well it’s late and I must go- blog at ya later gater!
~jen

Merry Christmas to all!

Holy smokes, I can’t believe i haven’t blogged since my birthday… where has the time flown?
My sister is out to visit for Christmas and while catching up with her, I’ve realized all the things I haven’t had time to blog about.  I’m hoping to get that caught up with soon. 
As for right now, all the presents have been wrapped, the tree has been trimmed, Santa has been called for (literally, we ‘rented’ Santa for Christmas eve!!) and now all there is to do is make some delicious food and enjoy the company.
Paige and Nolan both took part in their respective school christmas concerts… I have photos and video clips of both which I am downloading as we speak… I’ll update with links shortly (here is a link to Nolan’s concert clip). Can you find Paige in the photo to the left?  Click on it to enlarge.
(more behind the cut…)

Happy birthday to me…

Yahoo I’m thirty three this year!! Why am I so damn happy??? Because up until today I thought i ALREADY was THIRTY THREE!! 
Last night I mentioned to my hubby that I was going to be 34 and he said "What??  I’m only 33 so that means you are turning 33, your birthday is after mine!"

I don’t know when I got screwed up, but I have been 33 in my own mind for at least 6 months.  Obviously I was practicing some ‘bad-birthday-math’ back then or something (all my math is bad come to think of it) next year I will leave the "age figuring" to my facebook profile- it was correct the whole time!

What a special day it was too, First thing in the morning I was kissed awake with a happy birthday from the handsome hubby, which was nice because I probably would have totally forgotten about it (which has happened).  Then the kids jumped their Birthday slutations out on my bed.  After I had been awake for a while I was pleasantly greeted by my neighbor Laurie and her daughters holding a piece of berry cake with a glowing candle in it!  Then I was serenaded by the birthday song and hugs were handed out, it was nice.  I also recieved a lovely package of lavender vanilla bath salts and a lovely card.  Thank you so much, I’ll think of you every time I soak in a tub with it (the salts, not the card…).

I got a phone call from my Mom (heart) and a little later my Dad (Love ya dad!) who is working his cold butt off- all the way up north in Fort McMurray!  My sissy called too and we had a good chat about her greying hairs… too funny.  Unfortunately our conversation was cut off my a damn JW knocking on my door- he wasn’t so happy to hear that I wasn’t at all interested in hearing about his bible.  Ticked me off that he brought his 3 year old little girl with him so I couldn’t tell him what I really though….  anyway I just pretended that God sent him to wish me a happy birthday and that cheered me up.

Then my day just got better because I was treated for lunch by my friend Suzanne!!  I know she took a special break for lunch from her busy day which was so thoughtful.  She also gifted me a new coffee mug in my favourite colour green, some simmering wafers in delicious scents, egg nogg mix (gotta love the nogg!), and some lemon dill dip mix- it was all just too much.  Thanks Suz, you always know how to treat a gal.

As if my day couldn’t get any better, My in laws took myself and the whole family out for chinese food at a restaurant we’d never been to and it was SUPER lovely.  Everyone laughed, and chuckled and had a good time.  Nolan was heard by the entire restaurant saying "What the HECK?!" to his bowl of jello and Paige had fun turning the lazy susan in the centre of the table.

Afterward Paige and I retreated back to Suzannes house to share in some birthday cake with her daughter who shares a birth DAY with me!  I really luck out- I don’t think I’ve needed to purchase a birthday cake for at least 3 years… I always share Elizabeth’s!  Thank to Elizabeth also :0)

Now I just completed making 4 dozen cookies to share at a cookie swap tomorrow.  I should have done it last night but I didn’t forsee my birthday being such a busy day.  Silly me.

THank you everyone for making me feel special today.  I know it’s just a day like every other day but sometimes a person just likes to have a reason to feel important.  Birthdays are as good a reason as any.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love presents but Great friends and family are all I’ll ever need!

I love you all,

Hugs and goodnights!

~jen

living in a winter wonderland… for a few hours anyway.

Ready to go to the hill!

 This weekend had graced us with a deluge of the white stuff- school was even canceled for the day.  You wouldn’t believe that it’s already, nearly completely gone.  Today, It warmed up to 13 degrees celcius and rained like crazy, and that’s all it takes to make snow disappear.  Paige was ecstatic, she was able to play outside, build a snowman, go tobogganing with her dad and brother and wear her ski pants.  We even put up our Christmas tree and decorated the house, and i think we are finally getting into the Christmas spirit around here.  It’s about time, I’ve got some serious shopping to do.

The other night Ken brought home a movie, it’s a musical that you’ve probably heard of, "Hairspray".  Very cute and funny little show with a serious message embedded in it.  Anyway, Paige got whiff of the music and has since turned into a Hairspray MANIAC!!  She watches the movie about 2 times a day and now knows the words to just about every song as well as most of the actors lines!  It’s so cute to see her singing along and trying to dance the moves.  This is perfect timing, because I bought her a faux ipod nano for Christmas and hope to also buy the Hairspray soundtrack to put in her stocking (which I will then put on her little mp3 player) she’s going to burst!  Oh lordy, I nearly forgot… I wrote a notation in my day timer, "MP3 Player Arrived yet???"  so that when I saw it I would remember to check my tracking number… Paige nearly read the entire entry on her own.  She only got hung up on the word MP3 and Player because she thought it said "Paige"…. I was sweating bullets trying to explain that away.  She wanted me to read it to her and explain what I had wrote!  Too dang smart for her own good!

Nolan was really gung-ho to play in the snow this weekend but his mittens were not the best and his hands got really cold.  The next day he was tired and not really interested in the snow as much. But Ken told me he was a real trooper out at the snow hill, he walked up the hill over and over again and the snow was up to his hips- so it wasn’t easy!  Yes, we did eventually buy the child a solid- water resistant pair of mittens, so don’t fret. 

I did a photo shoot for the owner of my Gym (where I rarely ever go).  She has an adorable little 4 year old girl with luscious chocolate brown hair.  I took only HALF of my usual amount of photos (don’t ask me why!) but I got a lot of cute ones and the client LOVED them.  I’m so glad it all worked out, I always get paranoid even though I know the photos are good… I can’t help it.  Another great thing I noticed is that I have started to develop a processing style that doesn’t take as long as it used to.  So I can process 15 shots in less than three hours which is nice.  Hopefully that number gets smaller with each shoot I do in the future. The less time I spend on processing shots (fixing lighting, exposure, boogers etc.) the more photo shoots I can take on at a time!  Next shot is a staff shot for Suz’s work- I’m looking forward to it.  A group photo will be fun.

When the snow started falling I started knitting!  Well not real knitting, but using my ‘knifty knitter’.  I bought some great Patons yarn called ‘Twister’ at a liquidation store, in colors ‘extreme twist’ and ‘fruit loops’ (see chart here).  It took me about 5 hours (give or take an hour) to make the scarf for Paige with ‘extreme twist’… but it was fun, and when the weather is blowing, there is no place I’d rather be than tucked up by the fire place with something to keep my hands busy other than bonbons.  I’ll post a photo as soon as I take one!

Well people I should hit the sack, tomorrow is a school day for sure and both my kids will be attending. 

Hope you are all having a good day!

~jen

bye bye Bodum

This past Sunday I woke up with a hankering, no, a longing for a big fresh cup of my own home brewed coffee.  If you have read this blog for at least three years than you would remember the coffee pot I use (my actual old posts about it here and here).  So I fired it up with the usual pomp and ceremony only to realize 30 minutes later that it hadn’t gurgled a cue that my pot was done.  I rushed over and inspected it, the pot was luke warm but not even close to boiling.  I pressed every button and checked to make sure it was fully plugged in… nothing happened more than luke warm water.  WAH!!

I still have it sitting on the counter so I can come to terms with losing it.  Soon, I’ll take it out to the garage to sit next to the garbage.  I don’t know what to do- I don’t think I can ever go back to a drip coffee maker after using the Bodum vac pot for THREE YEARS!

Oh well, I will get over it soon enough.

I’ve been on a bit of a tear lately, since I kicked my meds to the curb, I seem to have a lot more energy… Don’t ask me how that is happening.  Hey, I’ll take whatever my body will give me.  What am I doing with my new found energy you ask?  well, I’ve done a lot of laundry which isn’t a big deal on it’s own but I did it all without complaining or having to use a taser on myself.  Which in my world, is a big deal.   

I’ve also taken to doing a bit of baking.  This could also be the time of year, I love to bake around Christmas, it helps me get in the mood.   Only  28 days left until the big red day and I don’t even feel it.  Baking is definitely in order.  So far I’ve baked a KILLER Pumpkin loaf (the recipe made three smaller ones actually), Wonderful Oatmeal cookies (with chocolate chips for the kids, I prefer raisins.) and the other night I searched out this recipe for rice pudding to use up all of my left over rice from dinner.  It turned out so good I couldn’t believe myself.  For the rice pudding I added an extra egg and used table cream instead of the last 1/2 cup of milk called for, it pays to read the other people’s comments on a recipe before you head into a new adventure.  All recipes dot com is a great website, I’ve mentioned it before and I’m mentioning it again because it’s that good. Yes, that (unedited and so-so) photo above is one I took of my finished pudding with a dash of cinnamon and dollop of strawberry rhubarb compote.  I felt like i was a kid again.

Speaking of kids, Nolan has learned something new and I’m not sure yet if he is using the power for good or evil.  For example, Paige brought home some chocolates from a birthday party.  I told Nolan he could have some when Paige opened the box and shared them with him.  Not even 15 minutes later he comes up to me and says "Mom, open this box, sissy wants her chocolates now."
Nice try little buddy- but his sister was playing at the neighbors house at that moment. 
Today he found a can of Ken’s iced tea and when I told him he couldn’t have it he left and formulated a plan…. "Mom, open this soda for Piper (the dog) she wants to drink it (realizing he is so-busted at this point)…she won’t get sick! "….
Uummmm, ya, I don’t think so.   Is it really lieing yet or is it creative problem solving at this point??  Not sure about that one.

Last night while combing Paige’s hair out after bathtime, Nolan was jumping on the bed doing ‘tricks’.  He wanted us to cheer everytime he did a stunt but we weren’t paying attention.  finally we watched his stunt, and both said "Yahoo!" to which he says to his sister… "Say ‘yahoo’ in french."  I didn’t even know that Nolan understood the concept of saying things in a different language and that his sister is learning a different language.  I wonder how many other concepts he’s picked up that I have no idea about.  I’m sure I’ll be finding out soon enough now that he’s in preschool 3 days a week.

Paige got her report card today, meets or exceeds all expectations, that’s my girl.  Not much to write about her- she’s just breezing along lately, growing up.  She had her first sleep over at her neighbor friend’s house.  She didn’t sleep much from what I hear but fun was had by all.  The fever she suffered on Friday turned out to be Fifth disease, quick fever and then a rash of small bumps and spots, but otherwise feeling okay.  Nolan actually also got the spots but he didn’t suffer any fever that I noticed- kinda freaked me out for a few minutes.  Thank goodness for google (sometimes).

Anyway, While writing this blog post, I’ve had the kids out of the house in the new fallen snow, burnt my first attempt at making tapioca (oh yeah baby), cleaned up my ravaged sauce pan and got the kids all in from the cold and set up with hot chocolate.  Now i need to get the stench of burnt milk out of my house. ugh. 

on that note,

Goodnight folks!

~jen