The day these pics were taken ( june 7th)was HOT. The heat index I believe was 110. And the kids spent the entire afternoon outside. I did not.
It was cousin Caras 3rd Birthday party so I guess their mind was on cake,not how hot it was.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
hot day
It was cousin Caras 3rd Birthday party so I guess their mind was on cake,not how hot it was.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Fathers day birthday
June 15th is my birthday and this year it happened to fall on fathers day. I told my husband no party. I told my mother in law no party. They almost kept their promise.
See, 3 years ago on my birthday I said the same thing. And my husband and mother in law threw me a surprise party. I was totally shocked and thought we were going out to eat. In fact, I was getting annoyed at my husband because I was ready to go and he was sitting at the computer like we had all the time in the world. Finally he got up and we took the kids accross the road to his parents house. At least that is what I thought we were doing. We get there and nobody is in the house. So we go to the "shop"(a garage that is also renovated into a little lounging room). I notice the cars and wonder why so many people are here. We go in and everyone yells surprise.
The next year,it happened pretty much exactly the same. I said no party. Because I am a grown up and just want to relax on my big day,not party. So we planned to go out to eat. So I thought. So this time, chris says he needs to stop at the shop because his dad wants him to fix something. I said ok, I'll wait in the car. He says to come in. So I go in and everyone yells surprise. I was totally surprised because I did not think he would actually throw a surprise party 2 years in a row. Kind of tacky. But yep, there they were. And he even left work early that day, drove to his parents house,hid the truck in their backyard ,and baked my birthday cake. And decorated it.And it was the most delicious cake ever. Really, it was so good.
So this year, the entire family went over to chris's parents house to eat fathers day dinner after church. I was on guard because I thought chris was being just a bit too nice. Sure enough, after dinner,my mother in law tells chris to go help her get the ice cream from the shop. I think to myself "help her get ice cream?? Just how much ice cream is there??"they came back with a birthday cake.
After dinner and cake, cousins calin and cara came over to play. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
Oh, and speaking of church, the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting. They sang 3 songs, and on the first song(I know a name,a glorious name...) they accidentally sang "mother so tender and kind and true" instead of "father so noble and brave and true". But it was good.And in primary,Joy got all the kids to sing to me. I am the pianist in primary and the only birthday this week so I was made to stand up in front of all the kids and they sang accapella (is that how you spell it??). And they all shouted WOO HOO after. Very nice,very nice. And they gave me 3 chocolate bars. I love all those kids.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
weekend "campout"
When my kids were teeny tiny I started a little ritual of having "friday night campouts" in the living room. I was a single mother and even though I was able to get the bills paid, I didn't have a whole lot left for fun stuff. I couldn't afford vacations,or the circus and stuff like that. So I wanted them to have some fun. My oldest is 12 and the ritual still sticks today(even though we can afford a little more now). Every friday without fail, they are excited to sleep in the living room. We eat popcorn,watch movies and sometimes play Cadoo(fun game).Even if friends or cousins are sleeping over. Nothing gets in the way of their "friday night campouts". This week we had a "campout" on sunday night since they had a cousin over,and it's summer,so we didn't have to get up for school the next day.
summer=kids home=stress
Kids are out of school for the summer. On their last day of school I was at work and a wave of stress washed over me when I realized...I don't have a thing for them to do besides watch tv and play video games. And read. So on the way home I stopped at the Family Dollar store and bought a BUNCH of arts and crafts supplies. Megan is a natural crafter and has a bunch of craft odds and ends. So with her odds and ends and my dollar store purchases we should be ok. For about a week.
I bought them these composition books with hopes of playing teacher this summer and making them do a bit of work each day. You know, 15 minutes of reading and a bit of writing. They decorated their books the way they liked (megans idea-I never would have thought of decorating the books!)
Megan made this little "boat" for chris for fathers day.
And she did this lovely painting on popsicle sticks. She has a lot of creativity in her. I think it turned out great.We'll see how we do the rest of the week.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
fun
They used to be called "stackers", now they are called "stickers". I bought 3 boxes the other day. Big hit with the kids. Cousin Calin is sleeping over tonight. As you can see by the picture, they partied hard this afternoon.Friday, June 6, 2008
Long Road to Kansas
It was the summer of 1988. Before cell phones,before the internet,before hybrid cars,before super cool comfy family fitting SUV's. I was 12. The oldest of 4 and as a preteen mad at the world.
My father decided that we were going to drive to kansas for the family reunion. Our family,my Uncle and his boys,my Aunt and her kids and my Grandmother who always had a chip on her shoulder and was always yelling at someone for something someone had done. We would be gone for 2 weeks and all travel together. In seperate cars,but together.So, we packed, and my family loaded ourselves into the clunky old brown humungus station wagon and hit the road for Kansas. From Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A very long drive. My parents in the front seat,my sister and I in the back and my 2 brothers in the big back part where all our piles of luggage and blankets were jammed roof high. It was crowded. With no air conditioning.
There were concerns as we came closer to the border because my Uncle is a Communist (yes,for real) and there were worries that they would not let him cross. (The FBI has a file on him).He didn't tell them and they didn't ask and didn't look at his ID ( oh, those were the days..) so he crossed. For the record, Communism is not part of my family and we don't support it. My Uncle just wanted to be different.
I still wonder what the officers at the border thought of our jam packed station wagon. Even back then we were quite the sight when we set out on family trips.
My Father always wanted to be prepared for anything on family trips. He brought a little porta potty. Yes, a porta potty. That we were forced to use because there was no way my Dad was stopping the car everytime someone had to go. Imagine a 12 year old girl in the car with her family trying to squeeze herself into the back of the car to pee in a porta potty in front of everyone with the car moving.And no air conditioning. We did not have tinted windows.
Then there was the water jug. Not just any water jug. This jug could hold about 10 gallons of water. We were not allowed to stop for store bought drinks. My job ,as the oldest ,was to keep the water cold. Here is how it was done. When my Dad would stop for gas he would buy a bag of ice to keep in the cooler which was also placed in the back of the station wagon with all our stuff,the porta potty and my brothers. But right behind my head of course so I could have "easy" access to keep ice in the jug.He would fill the jug almost full( leave room for ice of course) from watever tap or hose was available at the gas station. SO, the water usually came from the nasty taps in the gas station bathrooms. Yuck. I had to keep the jug on the floor where my feet were supposed to go becasue there was no room anywhere else. I had to keep it shaded and as we were driving, drop the ice into the jug a bit at a time to keep it cool.
During one stretch between gas stations, my youngest brother got the poops. The runny kind. He was little and hadn't really mastered the art of holding it long enough to get to the toilet( in this case,porta potty). He had already peed most of his clothes so he was naked in case he needed clothes later on. So nobody discovered he had the poops until I went to the back to lay down. Not that there was any room,... but my legs were cramped and I needed to stretch. I found a comfy blanket and managed to maneuver everything so I could semi lay down. I layed on the blanket not knowing until it was too late that the blanket was full of runny poop. And upon looking at my naked brother,who just sat there with a blank look on his face,I realized ha was also covered in poop.I think I was able to change my clothes.And being the oldest ,I had the priviledge of cleaning up the runny poop.And my poopy brother.While the car was moving. ( my Mother needed to enjoy her vacation,said my dad).We drove to kansas with a stinky poopy blanket in the hot crowded car.And a porta potty that was getting stinkier.With no air conditioning.
The porta potty was getting full during one stretch between gas stations(my job, as the oldest, was also to dump and clean the porta potty,because my Mother needed to enjoy her vacation)so my Dad had a grand idea...get ready...if the boys had to pee, they had to do it in a big soda bottle. No, we didnt get to stop for store bought drinks. My Dad had brought these empty bottles from home to use as water bottles. So we drove FOREVER with a stinky poopy blanket,a full porta potty,naked little boy and a soda bottle full of pee.Not to mention, my little brothers hadn't mastered the art of pee IN the bottle.Again, no air conditioning.
We stopped to eat one time. We never had alot of money to eat out so this was a big deal for us. We found a nice little place to eat. We walk in and see that yes, it is nice. Very nice. We looked like hobos and thanks to the porta potty,poop blanket and pee bottles probably smelled a bit rank too. ( my little brother was wearing clothes by this time)And we were sweaty because it was so friggin hot and our car did not have air conditioning. We took our seats and my brothers proceeded to act like they had never been taught manners. They ran around,they belched,they farted,they threw things. When the waitress came to take our order my little brother asked for just a plate of bacon. We ate as fast as we could and got the heck out of there.
We made it to Kansas and got settled. As we went on a tour of my great uncles' (who did not believe in wearing underwear,but wore very loose shorts)farm, we noticed a field of marijuana. It grew wild. It was taller than corn.It was against the law for my uncle to cut it. It grew wild so there was nothing he could really do about it but leave it alone.My Great Uncle drove through the weed with all of us in the bed of the truck.My cousin kept picking it and my grandmother had a fit because number one,she was worried my uncle would be arrested because the weed was tampered with,and number two she was convinced that my cousin was now a dope head juvenile delinquent.
One of my other cousins and my sister caught a bunch of frogs and had a big fight over who had more frogs and whose frogs were whose. My Great Aunt then insulted my sister ( I can't remember exactly what she said).This sparked a family feud between my Aunt and my Mother and of course everyone had to get their two sense in on the matter.
My cousin drove an ATV off of a huge cliff and we all thought he would die when he hit the ground but he ended up to be fine.
My cousin got stung by a hornet and used the F word which sparked more contraversy than ever because who in the world knows the F word at that age??(said the older folks)
The drive home was pretty much the same as the drive there. After we crossed the border back into Canada, my mom opened the glove box and noticed the pile of weed my cousin had picked.
My Communist Uncle made it safely home without being arrested at the border.
The poop blanket stayed clean on the ride home.
My brothers learned to pee in the bottle without peeing on me.
My brother was wearing clothes.
And we didn't die of thirst because I had managed to keep the water cool.
My Dad never brought the porta potty on any more vacations.
On future road trips we were allowed to stop for store bought drinks.
My cousin never did become a dope head delinquent.
The family feud about the frogs lasted a decade.
The weed is still growing in the field in kjansas.
I'm pretty sure my cousin still says the F word.
I turned out pretty normal and so did my sister and brothers.
My parents added 3 more kids to the mix.And bought a van which ended up being crushed by a crane right in our driveway in the middle of the night. .....But that's another story.
scribbit write- away contest
My father decided that we were going to drive to kansas for the family reunion. Our family,my Uncle and his boys,my Aunt and her kids and my Grandmother who always had a chip on her shoulder and was always yelling at someone for something someone had done. We would be gone for 2 weeks and all travel together. In seperate cars,but together.So, we packed, and my family loaded ourselves into the clunky old brown humungus station wagon and hit the road for Kansas. From Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A very long drive. My parents in the front seat,my sister and I in the back and my 2 brothers in the big back part where all our piles of luggage and blankets were jammed roof high. It was crowded. With no air conditioning.
There were concerns as we came closer to the border because my Uncle is a Communist (yes,for real) and there were worries that they would not let him cross. (The FBI has a file on him).He didn't tell them and they didn't ask and didn't look at his ID ( oh, those were the days..) so he crossed. For the record, Communism is not part of my family and we don't support it. My Uncle just wanted to be different.
I still wonder what the officers at the border thought of our jam packed station wagon. Even back then we were quite the sight when we set out on family trips.
My Father always wanted to be prepared for anything on family trips. He brought a little porta potty. Yes, a porta potty. That we were forced to use because there was no way my Dad was stopping the car everytime someone had to go. Imagine a 12 year old girl in the car with her family trying to squeeze herself into the back of the car to pee in a porta potty in front of everyone with the car moving.And no air conditioning. We did not have tinted windows.
Then there was the water jug. Not just any water jug. This jug could hold about 10 gallons of water. We were not allowed to stop for store bought drinks. My job ,as the oldest ,was to keep the water cold. Here is how it was done. When my Dad would stop for gas he would buy a bag of ice to keep in the cooler which was also placed in the back of the station wagon with all our stuff,the porta potty and my brothers. But right behind my head of course so I could have "easy" access to keep ice in the jug.He would fill the jug almost full( leave room for ice of course) from watever tap or hose was available at the gas station. SO, the water usually came from the nasty taps in the gas station bathrooms. Yuck. I had to keep the jug on the floor where my feet were supposed to go becasue there was no room anywhere else. I had to keep it shaded and as we were driving, drop the ice into the jug a bit at a time to keep it cool.
During one stretch between gas stations, my youngest brother got the poops. The runny kind. He was little and hadn't really mastered the art of holding it long enough to get to the toilet( in this case,porta potty). He had already peed most of his clothes so he was naked in case he needed clothes later on. So nobody discovered he had the poops until I went to the back to lay down. Not that there was any room,... but my legs were cramped and I needed to stretch. I found a comfy blanket and managed to maneuver everything so I could semi lay down. I layed on the blanket not knowing until it was too late that the blanket was full of runny poop. And upon looking at my naked brother,who just sat there with a blank look on his face,I realized ha was also covered in poop.I think I was able to change my clothes.And being the oldest ,I had the priviledge of cleaning up the runny poop.And my poopy brother.While the car was moving. ( my Mother needed to enjoy her vacation,said my dad).We drove to kansas with a stinky poopy blanket in the hot crowded car.And a porta potty that was getting stinkier.With no air conditioning.
The porta potty was getting full during one stretch between gas stations(my job, as the oldest, was also to dump and clean the porta potty,because my Mother needed to enjoy her vacation)so my Dad had a grand idea...get ready...if the boys had to pee, they had to do it in a big soda bottle. No, we didnt get to stop for store bought drinks. My Dad had brought these empty bottles from home to use as water bottles. So we drove FOREVER with a stinky poopy blanket,a full porta potty,naked little boy and a soda bottle full of pee.Not to mention, my little brothers hadn't mastered the art of pee IN the bottle.Again, no air conditioning.
We stopped to eat one time. We never had alot of money to eat out so this was a big deal for us. We found a nice little place to eat. We walk in and see that yes, it is nice. Very nice. We looked like hobos and thanks to the porta potty,poop blanket and pee bottles probably smelled a bit rank too. ( my little brother was wearing clothes by this time)And we were sweaty because it was so friggin hot and our car did not have air conditioning. We took our seats and my brothers proceeded to act like they had never been taught manners. They ran around,they belched,they farted,they threw things. When the waitress came to take our order my little brother asked for just a plate of bacon. We ate as fast as we could and got the heck out of there.
We made it to Kansas and got settled. As we went on a tour of my great uncles' (who did not believe in wearing underwear,but wore very loose shorts)farm, we noticed a field of marijuana. It grew wild. It was taller than corn.It was against the law for my uncle to cut it. It grew wild so there was nothing he could really do about it but leave it alone.My Great Uncle drove through the weed with all of us in the bed of the truck.My cousin kept picking it and my grandmother had a fit because number one,she was worried my uncle would be arrested because the weed was tampered with,and number two she was convinced that my cousin was now a dope head juvenile delinquent.
One of my other cousins and my sister caught a bunch of frogs and had a big fight over who had more frogs and whose frogs were whose. My Great Aunt then insulted my sister ( I can't remember exactly what she said).This sparked a family feud between my Aunt and my Mother and of course everyone had to get their two sense in on the matter.
My cousin drove an ATV off of a huge cliff and we all thought he would die when he hit the ground but he ended up to be fine.
My cousin got stung by a hornet and used the F word which sparked more contraversy than ever because who in the world knows the F word at that age??(said the older folks)
The drive home was pretty much the same as the drive there. After we crossed the border back into Canada, my mom opened the glove box and noticed the pile of weed my cousin had picked.
My Communist Uncle made it safely home without being arrested at the border.
The poop blanket stayed clean on the ride home.
My brothers learned to pee in the bottle without peeing on me.
My brother was wearing clothes.
And we didn't die of thirst because I had managed to keep the water cool.
My Dad never brought the porta potty on any more vacations.
On future road trips we were allowed to stop for store bought drinks.
My cousin never did become a dope head delinquent.
The family feud about the frogs lasted a decade.
The weed is still growing in the field in kjansas.
I'm pretty sure my cousin still says the F word.
I turned out pretty normal and so did my sister and brothers.
My parents added 3 more kids to the mix.And bought a van which ended up being crushed by a crane right in our driveway in the middle of the night. .....But that's another story.
scribbit write- away contest
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
why....
Why oh why do I torture myself?? Because, to tell you the truth, I want some new shoes. I don't need them, I just want them. I have to work to support my shoe addiction. It's true. And it's ok, I don't mind. As long as I can have shoes. Thats how I felt before going down the road to Miss Gigis house this morning. Go ahead,ask me how I feel now...
I cleaned miss Gigi's house today. I know I said that after the last mop and glow fiasco that I would never go back. But I did. And there was yet another mop and glow fiasco today and I think maybe she actually might be mad at me now. I thought maybe she would be mad enough to never call me again but on my way out she said she would call me next month. Dang it.
Here is what happened. If you don't care,you don't have to read it. This is mostly for venting purposes anyways so I won't be offended if the world is too bored by my story to care.
Everything was fine at first. I cleaned her kitchen,2 bathrooms,vacumed and went to get started on her screen porch. The floor I hate. The tile that she obsesses over. She started fussing at me about how I ruined the floor last time and I explained once again the instructions on the bottle. She still insisted that it was something I had done. I explained that the white stuff on the tile was the mop and glow and it was like that because doing it her way is not the proper way. She insisted that I still do it her way and I said "ok, but I will not come back to fix it if it is sticky again". After a short argument (which I have blocked from my memory) she says "ok, just put the rugs back down and forget about the floor". Thank Goodness. I got out of there as fast as I could and I am serious this time. I am not going back.
I cleaned miss Gigi's house today. I know I said that after the last mop and glow fiasco that I would never go back. But I did. And there was yet another mop and glow fiasco today and I think maybe she actually might be mad at me now. I thought maybe she would be mad enough to never call me again but on my way out she said she would call me next month. Dang it.
Here is what happened. If you don't care,you don't have to read it. This is mostly for venting purposes anyways so I won't be offended if the world is too bored by my story to care.
Everything was fine at first. I cleaned her kitchen,2 bathrooms,vacumed and went to get started on her screen porch. The floor I hate. The tile that she obsesses over. She started fussing at me about how I ruined the floor last time and I explained once again the instructions on the bottle. She still insisted that it was something I had done. I explained that the white stuff on the tile was the mop and glow and it was like that because doing it her way is not the proper way. She insisted that I still do it her way and I said "ok, but I will not come back to fix it if it is sticky again". After a short argument (which I have blocked from my memory) she says "ok, just put the rugs back down and forget about the floor". Thank Goodness. I got out of there as fast as I could and I am serious this time. I am not going back.
Monday, June 2, 2008
FHE
I failed. I failed to provide a spiritually uplifting educational fun with family at home evening for my kids today. See, awhile back, I put the kabosh on movies for FHE. Nobody could ever agree on what to watch.We tried taking turns but that turned into more bickering because so and so did not like the movie that so and so picked,etc. So I eliminated the source of contention. Tonight I decided that ,since I have been busy all day and too tired to plan a real lesson, I would let the kids watch a movie. It took 3 hours to make it through a movie that is supposed to last for just over an hour and half. So and so did not like the movie that so and so wanted to watch(Alvin and the Chipmunks) so therefore so and so started crying. I told so and so to help us decide because the new rule that I came up with tonight on movies for FHE is that everyone must agree. Right. Well, FHE nearly comes to an end when I start yelling about how greedy everyone is acting and that we are just going to forget the whole thing and and not have FHE this week because i am sick of the arguing. I tell everyone that if you can't be nice we are all going to bed RIGHT NOW.So...so and so decides to go to bed instead. Fine, its bedtime anyways because we have spent an hour arguing and could have been finished by now,had I planned a real lesson like I am supposed to. Chris works nights right now so he got to miss the blow out. Lucky man. So we start watching ALvin and the Chipmunks and about half way through so and so deceides to join us after all. He just remembered that this is his favorite movie.. I am exhausted.
HOT
Ok. So ,yesterday afternoon it was extremely hot outside.It was about 90 degrees I think. Needless to say, we had the air conditioner on. I woke Chris up at about 5pm so he could get ready for work. When he got, up he asked why it was so hot in the house. I had not noticed,I was tired from church and had my traditional Sunday afternoon headache.We looked at the atomic clock in the kitchen(which displays the in house temperature) and it said 78 degrees. It eventually climbed to 80,almost 81.
Hmm.
Chris went outside to check it out and noticed the fan was not turning.
Oh no.
Sunday evening.
Hot.
nobody to come fix it.
Because it is Sunday.
So, Chris went to work and the kids and I nearly sweated to death in our oven house all night. I had fans blowing on us ,which helped a lot as long as we just stayed still.What a night. And to top that off, it was thunder storming. Which means it was even worse because of the humidity.It was a nightmare. I barely slept a wink because all I could think about was all the stuff I have heard on the news over the years about people dying from heat.
I am from Canada.
Saskatchewan, Canada, where it is cold.
It does not get hot and humid like here.
So, I was afraid last night. I kept checking on the kids to make sure they were alive. I know, I am a paranoid mom. I got up at 530 when it was finally starting to get a bit cooler outside. I opened all the windows ,which cooled things off a bit. The atomic clock read 77 degrees after a couple of hours. Which,does not seem like that big a difference because it is only 3 degrees. But when you are that hot, it makes a big diff!! Well, this morning Chris was finally able to reach a friend of ours who happens to be in the heating and air business. He and Chris were able to figure out over the phone what was wrong with it. Then we had to find the part. Luckily, a guy Chris works with is the expert on where to buy top notch parts for a great price. We got the part for 6 dollars. Yes, 6 dollars! everywhere else charges between 40 and 70 dollars for this part. It's because of where they work that they were able to get it so cheap,so we are very happy. It is hot again today but cool in the house because Chris fixed it!!!
My husband can fix anything.
Hmm.
Chris went outside to check it out and noticed the fan was not turning.
Oh no.
Sunday evening.
Hot.
nobody to come fix it.
Because it is Sunday.
So, Chris went to work and the kids and I nearly sweated to death in our oven house all night. I had fans blowing on us ,which helped a lot as long as we just stayed still.What a night. And to top that off, it was thunder storming. Which means it was even worse because of the humidity.It was a nightmare. I barely slept a wink because all I could think about was all the stuff I have heard on the news over the years about people dying from heat.
I am from Canada.
Saskatchewan, Canada, where it is cold.
It does not get hot and humid like here.
So, I was afraid last night. I kept checking on the kids to make sure they were alive. I know, I am a paranoid mom. I got up at 530 when it was finally starting to get a bit cooler outside. I opened all the windows ,which cooled things off a bit. The atomic clock read 77 degrees after a couple of hours. Which,does not seem like that big a difference because it is only 3 degrees. But when you are that hot, it makes a big diff!! Well, this morning Chris was finally able to reach a friend of ours who happens to be in the heating and air business. He and Chris were able to figure out over the phone what was wrong with it. Then we had to find the part. Luckily, a guy Chris works with is the expert on where to buy top notch parts for a great price. We got the part for 6 dollars. Yes, 6 dollars! everywhere else charges between 40 and 70 dollars for this part. It's because of where they work that they were able to get it so cheap,so we are very happy. It is hot again today but cool in the house because Chris fixed it!!!
My husband can fix anything.
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