SISTERS #2

Why I Love My Sister Rachel

I love her because she is adventurous. I love her cause she likes to ride bikes. I love her cause she ALWAYS quotes movies. I love her cause she is daring. I love her cause she is playful. I love her cause she is a good auntie to my kids. I love her cause she can convince me to do almost anything. I love her cause she is protective (Boyz II Men concert). I love her cause she took me parasailing, and on the Screamer. I love her for the random stuff she knows. I love her long hair. I love her cause she is silly and goofy. I love her cause she is fashionable. I love her cause she survived getting ran over by a fork lift. I love how she can get mom and dad to buy her almost anything. I love how she always has her camera. I love how she knows every song on the radio. I love that she convinced me to watch Chuck. I love how she, too, has some awesome dance moves. I love her because she is FINALLY maturing. I love her cause she makes me laugh AND roll my eyes. I love her cause she likes to do puzzles. I love her cause one minute she can be a tough tomboy, and the next a girly girl. I love her cause she watches the UFC. I love her cause on the rare occasion we are at the same house, she cooks for me. I love that she follows her heart. I love that when the family gets together, and she is not there (cause she's living it up in Hawaii), we miss her tonnes. I love that even though we are 8 years apart, we are good friends. (in my opinion anyways). Although we don't see much of each other, or communicate very often.....I hope she knows I love her.

Happy "Sister's week" Rakel, Rach, Spoiled one.......

SISTERS

According to Facebook, it is "Sisters week" this week. Who knew? Not me. But somebody did. Anyways, the next few posts are to celebrate "Sisters week".

Why I Love My Sister Lindsay (DON"T get offended)

I love Lindsay cause she laughs at my jokes. Sometimes she just laughs at me, but that's ok. I love her because I can talk to her about ANYTHING (and I mean anything) and she listens with an open mind and an open heart. (and I do, periodically, talk to her about stupid, random stuff.) I love her because she is a "planner". She always has to know what's going on,and when, so she can plan for it, on it, around it, in it.......you get the picture. I love her because she has kids that are the same age as some of mine. I love her because she is sometimes waaaaay uptight, and other times, waaaay spontaneous. (not usually, but sometimes) I love her because she has incredible patience. I love her because she is smart and classy. I love her because she makes the effort to come see me. I love her because we think along the same lines. (well, I liked Joe and she liked Danny, but, mostly we do) I love her because her example keeps me on the straight and narrow. I love her because she loves and lives the gospel. I love her because she phones me every Monday. I love her cause she reads my blog. I love her cause she can play the piano like no ones business. And the accordian. I love her cause she has awesome dance moves. I love her cause we are 18 months apart. I love her cause she doesn't judge. I love her cause she is organized. I love her cause she puts up with me. (which can be trying at times I'm sure).I love her cause she ALWAYS has makeup on. I love her cause she watches the same t.v. shows, and reads the same books as me. I love her cause she puts mayonnaise in cake. I love her for her many talents.I love her because I can trust her. I love her cause she is the best big sister ever.

Happy "Sisters Week" Lou.

THINGS I LEARNED....

Last weeks learnings:
1. Pulling an all nighter "just because" is such a bad idea.


2. NEVER jump to conclusions.


3. There are some ginormous spiders in Grande Prairie. (time to move)


4. I soooooooo love turkey dinner. (thanks Jen. It was DIVINE!)


5. My girls can NEVER reach puberty. I won't be able to handle it.


6. I'm pretty sure Joshua's legs are now hollow. That kid eats ALL THE TIME!!

EVIDENCE

Evidence. Today I found some terrible, self-incriminating evidence. I was shocked when I found it. At first I didn't believe it. Then I thought it was the light playing a trick on me. It just couldn't be possible....could it? Yup. It could. There it was in plain view. Evidence that I am not what I used to be. I am in fact, getting old. The evidence you ask? A grey hair. Go ahead. Gasp in horror. It's terrible. Are you as shocked as I was? Probably. Don't worry though. I destroyed the evidence promptly after finding it. No one will ever know. For now.

My list of things I learned this week will be posted tomorrow. I need to mull over a few things tonight.

Oh,and Lindsay........ OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! (Glad I was home for THAT news!)

WHEN THE BOYS ARE AWAY, THE REST OF US WILL PLAY

Nathan has gone hunting for the weekend and Josh is at a sleepover birthday party. What to do with the other three? Well, for starters, we went to WalMart and I let them pick out a movie for later. Then we went to Pizza Hut cause we all like it, but Nate doesn't, so I didn't want to miss out on that opportunity. We came home, had a dancing fiesta in the front room, and then build a huge fort in the basement where they watched their movie with popcorn and lemonade, and are now sleeping. I love how I turn into "the bestest mom ever" on days like today. Who knew building a fort = " You're the awesomest." As much fun as the kids had, I am pretty sure I had more. It was a much needed cup filler for me because I have been so busy lately, that the only time I spend with my kids is to help them with their homework and then to tuck them in at night. I love them SO VERY MUCH!!!!
Hopefully they are up for round two tomorrow. I know I am.

PHOBIA

When I was younger, my little brother had a "pet" tarantula. I didn't really think much of it and, for the most part, forgot the thing was even in the house. Then one day, for whatever reason, my dad thought it would be "funny" to let the spider walk around on the table after supper. Gross right? We sat there, watching it crawl around. Then all of a sudden, it stopped right in front of me and jumped!!!! For those of you who have never seen a tarantula up close,they are disgusting. They are hairy and prickly and scary. I was wearing a wool sweater, which resulted in the tarantula getting stuck to my chest. Of course I turned into a typical "scream your head off, jumping up and down, flinging your arms around" girly girl while trying to get it off. Ewww, I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Anyways, ever since that day, I have been TERRIFIED of spiders. Not just a little bit, but 100% leave the room freaking out, total arachniphobia if there is a spider. Of any kind. So, I have always thought that one of the few things Grande Prairie had going for it, in my book, is that there aren't any overly huge spiders here. That I knew of or have ever seen. Until last week. Oh my gosh. There was a spider on my front flower garden brick that was so big I just might have peed my pants. I have never seen any spider that big before that wasn't in some sort of cage. I totally paniked and ran inside. Then I had all of these thoughts of "what if it got in the house?" "What if it went in one of the kids rooms? Or MY room?" It had to die. End of story. But was Nathan home? Of course not. I was actually going to have to deal with this thing on my own. Holy bejeebers. I puffed up to my full 5 foot nothing height and went back outside, picked up the biggest rock within reach, and dropped it on the spider.......and ran back inside. There the rock stayed for days. I dared not let anyone move it. On Saturday, my friend Meaghan came over and, I watched from inside the house, as she went and flipped over the rock. Let's just say "I GOT IT!"

I sure am brave. And still scared spitless of spiders.

THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK

1. One can give oneself a black eye.

2. How to can pears (thanks LeAnna).

3. How to make playdough (thanks Meaghan).

4. Josh can do a pretty good English accent.

5. Kori has some outrageously awesome dance moves.

QUICK UPDATE

- Still not feeling so awesome. Ears and throat hurt.
- not at all happy about the frost that has been sitting on my windshield in the morning.
- happy that Nathan cleaned the garage out so I can park in it again. (it's been a while)
- took the kids to a movie tonight. Not such a good show (Alpha & Omega), but had fun anyways.
- Can't believe September is half over already.
- glad to help out a friend.
- My kids are good, sweet kids.
- need to rest.

BLAH

Feeling libe by heab gob ran ober by a truck. So Stuffy. Going to sleeb wib by kleenex box.
Why can't toborrow be Saturday so I dont hab to get out of bed?

ITALY

I have read a few books recently that have been some how connected with Italy. And it sounds like a beautiful and most intriguing (sp?) place. Verona, Siena, Venice, Rome.....the words just roll of your tongue. I had decided that eventually, I would very much like to visit Italy. (are you listening fairy godmother? )So, just for fun, I checked out how much it would cost to fly to Italy. Holy crap on a cracker!!!! That is a big chunk of change people. Needless to say I won't be visiting Italy anytime within the next......EVER, but it was/is fun to daydream about.

THINGS I LEARNED....

Things I learned last week:

1. I don't like to sandbag

2. There was a reason I didn't watch the first "Rambo" movie until recently......it's stupid.

3. My piano bench needs to be fixed.

4. I am a hypocrite.

5. I should really tackle my bedroom.

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET BUSTED!!!!

I have a secret. A dirty, messy, embarassing, shameful secret. I am about to confess of this secret, only because I was called on it (by my 3 year old none the less), and it might just be time to face it. Ok. Here it goes. My room is ALWAYS messy. Not just a little messy, but disasterous, what the heck happened in here? messy. Always. It is such an interesting relationship I have with my room. I try really hard, and take pride in the fact, that 95% of the time, the whole rest of the house is clean on a daily basis. When cleaning the house, I save my room for last, just so I don't have to tackle it because by the time I get to my room, I KNOW I will be too tired to clean it. I don't like to clean my room. I like HAVING a clean room, I just don't like to CLEAN it. It hasn't always been this way, but it has slowly gotten worse. And add to the fact that Nathan has junk EVERYWHERE, it just seems like an impossible task.
I don't like to clean it because I don't actually have anywhere to put anything. My closet is ridiculously small, I don't even HAVE a dresser (there's a story there, but not for today) and my bed is literally up to my ribs because we had to jack it up so we could put rubbermaid containers underneath the bed to use instead of a dresser. Plus, I don't have carpet in my bedroom which I just can't stand the feeling of freezing my feet when I get out of bed in the morning. Might as well step on clothes right? Anybody feel sorry for me yet? Would YOU want to clean that? Anyways, I tell you this because there is a story that goes with it.
I was getting after the kids yesterday because I "just wanted their rooms cleaned. And to stay clean for one day". I was letting them know how disappointed I was that they refuse to take care of their clothes and toys. "Is it so hard to just hang your clothes back up of put your toys back where they go?" I asked. I mean, we've organized their rooms in such an efficient way that really, it shouldn't be hard at all. So there we were, the kids sitting quietly while I ranted on about how important it is to be responsible and keep their rooms tidy. To which Trentman said to me matter-of-factly, "Then why is your room so messy mom? You are making a bad choice not to clean your room." To which there was a chorus of "Yeahs", by the other three. Busted. Oh, so busted. I had been so careful to keep my bedroom door closed!! How did they EVER find out? Noone even ever goes in there!! I murmured something about how I was too busy cleaning their rooms and the rest of the house, to clean my own room. And left. I walked down to my room, and sat on my bed. (Which was surprisingly made) and cried. Life is just backwards when a three year old has to reprimand his mother for her messy room. Please don't think less of me. I am coming up with a way of curing this illness. Keep your fingers crossed!

HUH?

WHAT? The day is over? Where the johnny did it go?

ANOTHER HARRY POTTER FAN......FINALLY!

Just before school started, Josh wanted to use his allowance to buy a new game for his PSP. So while we were out school supply shopping he spotted the "Harry Potter Lego" game. It was a little pricey so I made a deal with him. He could get the game, if he started to read the books. As soon as we got home, he read the first three chapters of the first book, played his game, and read some more. Since school has started, he has taken the book to school and back home everyday. On Saturday night he watched the first Harry Potter movie. And today after school, he watched the second. There is officially another Harry Potter fan in the family. YEEEESSSS! I am no longer alone! I absolutely LOVE that Josh and I have something that only we can talk about. It drives Nathan crazy that he can't join in on our "Harry Potter" conversations. Sucker!

WHAT NOT TO DO ON LABOUR DAY

The very last thing I want to do on a Labour Day holiday is actual labour. Makes perfect sense does it not? So I was not impressed when I found out that this Labour day I was going to be filling SANDBAGS for a fundraising project for cubs and Young Men/Women. I know what you're thinking......what the what? My thoughts exactly. My original plan was to let Nathan and Josh go by themselves because really, what can little old me really do anyways? But then Nathan laid out a BIG speech about supporting him in his calling and Josh in cubs and blah, blah, blah, and I was sorta considering going except, what about the other three kids? Huh? What was I supposed to do with them? Well, I'll tell ya. While working out this morning I was enlightened to the fact that bouncy castles would be there and lunch would be provided. I. Was. SOLD!!! So after my morning "Bob beating" as I like to call it, the rest of the kids and I headed out. I figured I would show my face, tie a few bags, let the kids get some fresh air (because let's be realistic, summer is over), have a hot dog and be back in time to start my new book and relax before life gets out of control busy. WRONG. Wrong, wrong,wrong. I stayed till the bitter end (about 4:30) tying and lifting 40 pound bags of sand and gravel onto endless piles of pallets. Oh, my poor little body. Even worse, my poor, poor ego. Am I really so wimpy that a 12 year old boy can out lift me three bags to one? Ouch. That will be my word to describe the day. Ouch. But you know, for how much physical torture I went through, I came home with a smile on my face for being able to laugh the whole day long with friends as young as they come to friends I love to pieces. The kids were, of course, of the charts filthy but happy as can be to have had the chance to spend a whole day playing with friends aswell. Not such a bad day after all.

P.S. Anyone know where I can get a 3 hour massage?

SURPRISE!!!!

There's nothing better than watching someone's face when they are the recipient of a surprise. The look of shock and confusion that sits on their face makes me so giddy. I love it. So you can imagine the state I was in yesterday as I got ready to have a surprise bridal shower for my sister-in-law Kayla. EXCITED! If you know me, then you know how much I adore Kayla, and I was a little bummed because I figured I wouldn't be able to go to her bridal shower in Edmonton with all the stuff going on at home. Saddness turned to sheer joy and trickery on tuesday however, when a phone call from the bride-to-be herself informed me that she (and her soon to be hubby) would be in Grande Prairie this weekend. Oooooohh yeeeeeesssss. And the wheels (and cranks) in my head started to turn. Why not have a a bridal, no, surprise bridal shower for her here? After getting the "ok" from Nathan and filling Barb (mother-in-law) in on the plan, it was settled. Party. My house. Saturday.
The rest of the week was spend thinking about how to get her here, and planning some games, and inviting people. Saturday morning Nathan woke up to a "honey-do" list while I ran and got food and party stuff. Kayla actually called and invited us to the farm for supper at 6:00!!! Lucklily, I had to play piano at a baptism and wouldn't be able to make it. Shucks. Now, I have never thrown a surprise party before and it was very awesome to see everything come together, and the closer it got to party time, the more excited I was getting. Guests started to arrive at 7:00 and at 7:30 Barb managed to get an unwilling Kayla to my house. With all the guests in the front room, and me about to pee my pants, I opened the door and we all yelled "SURPRISE!" And boy did we surprise her. Hee hee. It was fantastic. My only regret is that I didn't have the video camera on. The rest of the night was filled with good food, good company and lots of laughs. I am so grateful to all of our friends and family that made the effort to come and support Kayla in this next stage of her life. They are a true blessing.


Now, back to other things.....

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED THIS WEEK

1. Throwing a surprise party is FUN!!

2. Yougurt with cheerios is DELICIOUS!!

3. I have more seperation anxiety than my kids.

4. Three of my favorite friends are from one family.

5. I have lots of favorite friends.

6. I am nervous for this next week to begin.

7. When this next week does begin, I am going to be BUSY!!!!

CAN'T......HARDLY.......WALK.......

I have been impatiently waiting for school to start. Not because my kids drive me crazy, or because I LOVE getting up early (laying the sarcasm on thick) or because maybe my house will stay clean for 2 seconds. No, it's because when school starts, routines and schedules start. I find I am much more efficient when there are routines and schedules to follow. I can't back out. For example: now that school has started, I can get back into the habit of working out. So, every day this week, I drop the three(yes THREE!! Alysha is now in grade one. yeehaw!) oldest kids off at school and jet to my friend Meaghan's house for a good old fashioned biggest loser workout video. We decided though, that we wanted to tackle this whole project with enthusiasm and went straight to the level 2 workout. Bad idea. Oh, such a bad a idea. My mucsles. Oh, my muscles. My legs feel like they are 80 pounds each and I am walking waist deep in thick goo. I picked up a half carton of milk and I might as well of been trying to pick up a house. But the initial pain is worth it right?

Also, once again I an indebted to my fab. older sister for helping me with some GREAT ideas I needed for the weekend. Thanks Linds.