Studying over a late breakfast...

This mornings visitors...

....until Amber chased them off ;)  

New home...

The chicks have moved in to their new home...you can only see about half or a third of it in this picture...and once it warms up they will have a big outside area too but they are still little and it's cold out still - but at the weekend we will keep the dogs inside for a while and let the chicks out for a while to run around.  

Charlie would have loved having chickens around again :(  She loved her chickens :(

For today......

Outside My Window...It's grey - very overcast and they forecast a mix of rain and snow but a temperature of 6c.  To the East of us there are storm warnings - blizzards and snowfall warnings but they say we won't get that.  I hope we get a lot of rain.  We still need sooo much to get the fire bans lifted.  I was hoping we would wake up to snow.  They say it will be 17c by Friday and 19c on Saturday.  So we NEED rain or snow today please!!!

I am thinking...about how lovely it is going to be to have Lloyd home for the next few weeks...every single day with him.  I can't wait :)  

I am thankful for...the opportunities that Lloyds hard work allows me.

From the learning rooms.....Abigails been doing some multiplication - she likes the 7 times table especially, she's also obsessed with cats cradle at the moment and has been studying that on the net and teaching herself - borrowing peoples hands whenever they are willing ;)  we continue to write haikus, her bird project is LOVELY, plenty of reading and writing happening...computer work...we've been planning how to make the most of Lloyds time off - and have some field trips planned!  

From the kitchen...Lloyds bread baking continues, I am still using my crockpot, I have started to drink 'green monster' smoothies every day so the blender is in use daily now.  The apricot flapjacks were a big hit! 

I am wearing...my nighty as I'm in bed.

I am creating...crochet, ATC's, in my journals, I enjoyed creating a project about Canada at the weekend as part of a 'culture swap' on Swap-bot.  My knitting projects are still ongoing....various other craft projects ongoing - I like to have a few projects that I can pick and choose from as the mood takes me...

I am going...swimming this afternoon and then to the park to meet my friend Jennifer and her children for a playdate for a while - unless the weather is too bad and then it will be an indoor playdate!  

I am reading...magazines (Marthas Body and Soul magazine and Life Learning magazine)

I am hoping...we got spaces on the field trip next week.  I am also hoping the field trip in May isn't full yet - I need to book that today!

I am hearing...breakfast news, Sam and Abby chatting to each other in one of their bedrooms

Around the house...the chicks have moved into their new home - the chicken house!!  They are quite big now - I took a picture of them which I will post later.  They are still very cute :)  Lloyd is looking forward to being at home for several weeks to get a lot of work done around the house - he has a 'to do' list (a very long one) and is going to work through it.  

One of my favorite things...sitting in the big armchair reading the children stories.  Yesterday one of the books we read was a favourite - Walter the Farting Dog - oh it's sooo funny :)  And you have to hunt for the little spider on each page too - Sam laughs through the whole book and races to find the spider and it was just fun!!  

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Swimming, Laurence has gymnastics and badminton matches, Susannah has a sleepover party out at Elk Island Park, we may take in the Earth Day festival or Law Day...date night...and making the most of Lloyd being off of work :)  Woohoo!!!!  :)

Your name is WHAT????

Love these adverts that are all over the city.  I think this one is my favourite ;)  So funny!  Ben Dover is funny too :)  

Oh the little things that make me laugh!!

Crochet update...

I'm making granny squares for a blanket similar to one I had when I was little.  

This is an iphone picture and the colours aren't quite right in it...I'm really happy with my progress and how fast I can get a granny square done now.  When I think how long it has taken me to learn THIS much crochet - I am thrilled :)  

Impressive spud!

Abby was impressed with this potato this afternoon - she thought it was almost as big as her head :)  Potato peeling is one of her favourite chores ;)

White Spruce...

One of our activities today was to plant the little Spruce Tree seeds in the starter kits we were given at the show on Saturday.  They're now in the warm cupboard for a couple of weeks until they sprout!!  

Green Monster update!!

I am not posting on my blog about my green monsters - I'm listing them all in a special notebook (yes, one of my fabby little notebooks that I am a little obsessed with - and this one is GREEN (completely coincidental actually as it's actually in the back of my fitness journal, but I think it's funny that it's green lol)

Anyway, Tara was asking what I was putting in them, so I thought I'd list two of the green monsters I've had since I started.

I write them down every time I make one and I write little notes in the margin to say whether I liked it or not - what I should change etc etc.

I've ordered a Magic Bullet from Airmiles but for now I'm using our big blender - and this means I make quite big quantities.  I end up sharing my green monsters with one of the children.  Susannah loves them.  Abby is quite keen too - depending on what I put in them!!  We have learned that we don't like them too thick!  If it's too thick we add extra ice.  I don't note down quantity - just what goes in.  Although I do remember that yesterday I threw in two bananas because they needed to be eaten!

Yesterday morning I made this one:

Flax seed
oats
sunflower seeds
low fat whey protein (vanilla creme)
grapes
strawberries
raspberries
cucumber
spinach
2 x bananas
almond milk
ice

This green monster was LOVELY!!  Both Susannah and I really enjoyed this!  I had a big glass for breakfast.  Then when I got home from running some errands I had another glass.  It was delicious and filling.  It kept me going almost all day.  Late afternoon I had a slice of Apricot flapjack.  Then for supper I had a baked potato and salad.

I'm finding that these smoothies fill me up and also because they're sweet they are like a treat - like a milkshake!!  Also I feel like I don't want to undo all the good I am doing with them by eating or drinking junk!!!  Mind you - I'm not even craving junk!!  Which is weird because I have pms!!!  It hasn't eased any of my pms symptoms though - but then I wouldn't have expected it to this month as it hasn't even been a week yet of drinking them - maybe next month!  Although I haven't had a migraine yet.  Thats unusual!!

I actually look forward to making my next one.

Ok so here is another blend I did:

flax seed
spinach
whey protein
cucumber
banana
ice

I also have this one listed as LOVELY.  This was very cooling and refreshing but delicious!  Susie really LOVED this!!!  You can taste the cucumber in it but it's delicious!!!  Really yummy!!!!

I tried one with a yogurt in it but wasn't that keen.  I'd like to try pumpkin.

Most days I have two green monsters - one with whey protein in the morning and one without about 30 minutes before supper.  Maybe not what you're supposed to do - I have no clue but I find it works for me and is helping with portion control!  It's a kick-ass way to get your fruit and veg portions in for the day too!

Anyone going to join me?

(image from google images)

D.E.A.R Day!!!

We're joining in with Drop Everything and Read Day today!!!  Yep!!  We're going to spend the day reading and doing activities and crafts linked with the books we'll read.  Any excuse to spend the day snuggled up reading books together :)  

I think we'll take a break after lunch for a nature walk.

What are YOU up to today?

New tractors, old tractors, stables and cutting horses.....

I liked this new tractor that is designed to look old:

Sam loved this old tractor because it had won a lot of rosettes - he seemed to think it had won a lot of races ;) 

Lloyd loved this barn/ stable - the big brother of the stable we saw at the auction house last year.   They are made in Red Deer and delivered in three pieces - put together on your property in about 6 hours!!!!  Built of pine/ and spruce for the most part (steps are pressure treated) it needs to be treated approximately every five years.  I have to admit this is a lovely stable - much nicer than the smaller one we saw last year - the room upstairs was a lovely size!!!  Would make a great office space!!

We went along to watch the auction of the performance horses - we were really surprised at how little the horses went for.  Some were going for under $2,000 and many for around $5,000.  I thought they would be going for around MUCH more than that for breeding purposes at least!!  They kept mentioning that many were from the same line as Peppy San Badger  which I thought would have mattered more but I lol I know NOTHING about horses really...but looking at pedigrees online it looks like Peppy San's parents were Leo san and Peppy Belle - and they were Peppy San Badgers Grand Parents!!

Ok - I know there is a cutting Horse expert around here somewhere who might be able to explain further..... ;)  There is a statue of Peppy San in Millwoods Mall.

Fishing at the show!!

Susannah also caught a fish but it broke free - and even snapped the line - and it was so fast that I didn't get a picture!!

The children were given a certificate each for catching their fish :)  I think they deserved them for having the patience to stand there that long and wait for the fish to bite!!

Off to the Farm and Ranch Show...

Relaxing Saturday afternoon....

The 'boys' playing games.....kitty sleeping on my leg and keeping my foot warm...and me reading

 Ariel Gore's Blog.  Waiting for the lasagna to be done....

Private again...for a while.

Now that all of my online classes are finished, I have made my blog private again.  I am so much happier and feel safer when it is private - I've now had it open since the beginning of December - which is a long time for me, and while it was nice to share a little with a few new people, I did feel very 'open'.  I know that making it private doesn't make it totally safe - but it makes me feel safer ;)

Anyway, sorry if you've had any problems signing in.

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