Random Dozen...

1. Define a great relationship:  Friendship, trust, laughter, support, compromise, understanding....

2. Why is it called a "drive-through" if you have to stop? (Real question: What was the last food/drink you purchased at a drive-through?): After our hike on Monday we ran to Timmys at Nottingham.  Lloyd had a coffee.  I had a bottle of water.  The children each had a bagel and a small iced capp.  I wasn't hungry at all but was really thirsty for something cold - I just wanted water and all the water we had taken with us was gone...

3. As I type this, the Butler Bulldogs are getting ready to play in the NCAA championship game. Every Hoosier is hysterical about this except me. So in honor of the Bulldogs ... what is your favorite breed of dog? (I tried.)  I like many breeds of dog.  I'm not attracted to small dogs at all really.  I like large breeds.  I love blue great danes....Red Setters...but I really do think you can't beat Golden Retrievers - they are just so friendly and devoted and loving....real family dogs!!!  I think Burnese Mountain Dogs are gorgeous too.  

4. If you had to move to a state besides the one you currently live in, where would you move?  Well I don't live in a State - I live in a Canadian Province, and although I always thought I wanted to live in the US, a few things lately have made me think twice about that.  However, I would like to live somewhere warmer or at least have a Winter home somewhere warmer....I'm still undecided as to where - maybe by the coast somewhere.

5. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?  I would have stopped my parents moving to the house they moved to in my teens - and I would have stopped Lloyds parents moving away when he was in his teens too - BUT saying that, everything worked out anyway - so all in all I wouldn't change a thing ;)

6. Who's the funniest person you know?  My husband - and my children...they all make me laugh so much and they 'get' me and my humour so they know how to really make me laugh!  Lloyd makes me laugh the most - not a day goes by without us laughing like crazy about something!!!

7. Did you get enough sleep last night?  NO!!!!  I was awake at 3am for about 2 hours and then Lloyds alarm went off at 6am but luckily he changed it and came back to bed for a while :)  I think we're both tired this morning!  Not a good night!

8. What's the first thing you thought about this morning?  Lloyd woke me up with coffee and so we just sat telling each other how tired we were and giggling really...he was in his suit and I was trying to open my eyes but some mornings they just don't want to open - like this morning.....and it's funny....I'm so glad I don't have to get up and go out to work!

9. Grilled or Fried? I don't fry anything!  I don't often grill anything either...I tend not to cook things that way...but if I had to choose I would say grill because frying isn't healthy...if I had to fry I would drain off all the fat - ewwwww!!!

10. Are you afraid of the dark?  No...I think it's fun.  To go out for a walk i the dark is fun and you can scare each other with noises etc....try and guess if there are animals around etc.  We live so far out there are no street lights or anything so it's VERY dark out here....the stars are amazing...I love it :)  

11.When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?  An educational psychologist lol - I wanted to work with kids who truanted etc etc hahahahaha  which is kind of bizarre because now I think so differently about schools that I have homeschooled all of my children at some point and am unschooling my youngest two children....I would prefer if my older children chose different paths but unfortunately they have been institutionalized for too long now.....

12. If you had one word to describe yourself , what would you choose?  Me.  


Find your Random Dozen HERE  

99 things...in bold are the things I have done in my life....

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (sang - but I wasn't good lol)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld (twice)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (But I've held a tarantula twice)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (I'd LOVE to though)
12. Visited Paris (twice)
13. Watched a lightning storm (many)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (we sponsor three through World Vision)
16. Had food poisoning (as a child)
17. Walked to the top of The Statue Of Liberty (been to NYC though)
18. Grown your own veg
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinnydipping
27. Run a marathon (ran a 5k though lol- thats part of a marathon right??  lol)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (many)
31. Hit a home run (in rounders lol)
32. Been on a cruise (unless you count a dinner cruise going down the Thames or Seine
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community 
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Tower Of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant - (I've bought people I've never met before dinner - does that count?)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower
50. Gone scuba diving
51. Kissed in the rain
52. Played in the mud
53. Gone to a drive-in theatre
54. Been in a movie (do my Sons count?)
55. Visited the Great Wall Of China (would love to do this one)
56. Started your own business
57. Taken a martial arts class
58. Visited Russia
59. Served in a soup kitchen
60. Sold Girl Scout cookies (eaten PLENTY of them though lol)
61. Gone whale watching
62. Got flowers for no reason (married THE most romantic man alive lol)
63. Donated blood (I can't donate blood)
64. Gone sky diving
65. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
66. Bounced a cheque - when I was much younger lol!
67. Flown in a helicopter
68. Saved a favourite childhood toy
69. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
70. Eaten caviar - it's fishy - lol!
71. Pieced a quilt (several)
72. Stood in Times Square
73. Toured The Everglades
74. Been Fired from a job
75. Seen the Changing Of The Guard in London
76. Broken a bone
77. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
78. Seen The Grand canyon
79. Published a book (but several articles in magazines)
80. Visited the Vatican
81. Bought a brand new car
82. Walked in Jerusalem
83. Had your picture in the newspaper
84. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Years Eve
85. Visited the White House 
86. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
87. Had chickenpox
88. Saved someone's life
89. Sat on a jury
90. Met someone famous (several)
91. Joined a book club
92. Had a tattoo
93. Had a baby
94. Seen The Alamo in person
95. Swam in The Great Salt Lake
96. Been involved in a lawsuit
97. Owned a cell phone
98. Been stung by a bee (tends to happen to beekeepers lol)

Saw this on Sians Blog and thought I'd join in the fun!!  It's taken me a few days to find the time!!  Copy and paste on to your blog - simply change the answer to fit yours - those in bold are the things you have done in your life!!!

I'm loving this.....

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
Uploaded by EMI_Music. - Explore more music videos.

Our afternoon:

We had a lovely afternoon at the pool - two hours of swimming followed by 10 minutes in the hot tub before we headed for the showers.  One of my favourites things to do was to float on my back staring up at the clouds and geese above me - I was just floating...and it was as if I was flying with the geese amongst the clouds...my body felt so light in the water it was as if I was flying :)  

Of course, I tried to tell Abby about this and get her to try it - but she just looked at me as if I was crazy!!

The pool is designed to look like a local lake - it even had the small 'airport' and a plane flying overhead....pelicans too...and there is a big slide with a HUGE bucket that fills with water and then tips about every sixty seconds.  There is a wave machine and a 'lazy river' that has a current that pulls you around...the other pool is a lap pool.  Our town also has another pool that is a salt water pool and also has a big tube slide, kiddy pool and an outside splashzone for the summer.

Now Abby is 8, she is old enough to wear an adult wrist band in the pool - this means that finally she doesn't have to be within arms distance from me - YAY!!!  FREEDOM!!  She can now swim around and go off on the play equipment or in the lazy river on her own - and while I still keep a close eye on her, it was nice to feel that extra bit of freedom and be able to swim more on my own...

Starving after our swim:

My yummy London Fog after our swim.  I sat there enjoying it, feeling all relaxed and tired....very happy after my swim - and even more happy that dinner was all done and in the crock pot ready - there was no way I was in the mood to go home and make dinner:

Sam's first day back at his 'old' school - I think he loved being back there:

For today......

Outside My Window...it is hazy but they promise a lovely day - sunny with a 14c temperature.  We have been having lovely weather but I really want us to have rain or snow - please someone do a rain dance!!!  We NEED some rain or snow please!!!  It is soooo dry out there - there are wildfires starting daily and yesterday there was one quite close to our home - just along the highway - started just by a guy cutting his grass - a spark from his lawnmower tractor!!!  The girls can't ride their quadbikes any more just in case - it's THAT dry :(    We NEED rain!!

I am thinking....that I really should finish this post before my battery dies....

 I am thankful for...a lovely Spring Break and Easter - that the children were all in good moods and all got along really well all week long - Chris seems to be really happy lately and our trip away seemed to do us all good!  Spring seems to be doing us all good!!  A four day week for Lloyd last week and a four day week for Lloyd this week :)

From the learning rooms...life keeps ticking on....we learn what we learn....life learning....a little art...a  little science...a little math...some story writing....journaling...haiku...maps....whatever we feel like doing....

From the kitchen...Easter treats, all kinds of baking from Susannah in the last week.....sweet and sour chicken going in the crockpot today....

I am wearing...I'm not dressed yet, so my nighty right now.

I am creating...crochet, art journaling, ATC's, many Haiku, 

I am going...swimming today :)  so looking forward to it :)  also to the library!!

I am reading...not a lot this week except  some magazines that Lloyd picked up for me...it's been a fun relaxing week....

I am hoping...it rains or snows on Thursday and Friday!!!

I am hearing...Sam chatting to himself in the shower...and the shower water running.  

Around the house...it's been fun having the children home all week - having the doors and windows open wide all week because the temperatures have been so lovely...eating brunch out on the deck each day...we have tidied up the acreage after Winter and it is looking tidy this year which makes a change as the last couple of years there has been work going on and there has been a mess outside - building work and chaos and mess everywhere - but this year it looks neat and tidy out there and I am happy :)  

One of my favorite things... walking around our acreage and seeing the changes through the year and over the years - seeing the trees grow - seeing the birds that return each year - seeing the ant hills year by year....seeing that the porcupines are still in the same areas....seeing the saltlicks are being used.....knowing our land and how it changes over time.  Knowing the rhythms of life here.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  swimming twice this week, coffee date this week while Laurie starts his tumbling class, Sam starts his new class, hopefully meeting Samantha!

You can join the Simple Womans  Daybook HERE

Looking for Dad....

Lloyd...

Lloyd was hiding from Sam here:

Old Trail!!

Wasp nests

This shows the size of the nest compared to Sam:

You can even see the comb still in this one:

snapshots....

Which way now???

Abby and Susie don't seem to agree on which way to go at this point:

...but we did make it to the next cache, which Susie found - it was a touch one to find though as it meant going for a lot of off-trail hiking through some very rough ground (bushwacking!!! lol!) but we did get there and it was a lot of fun!!):

Cache 2!!!

This cache was a real cute one!!!  It was a big bug!!!  Neat huh???  

First cache of the day!!

This was the first geocache we found today and BOY was it a big one!!!  I think it was the biggest cache we had ever found!!  Lloyd found this one!!!

Stick mad!!

Sam is crazy about sticks!!  He always has to pick up a stick for a gun or sword or walking stick when we are out on the trails...but THIS stick......THIS stick is surely a little big ;)

Stay out of the stores - HIKE instead!!!!

We love hiking - we've always enjoyed walking - I always have - even when I was much younger I loved nothing more than hiking on Dartmoor in the UK or through woodlands or whatever.  When the children were younger we always found places to walk with them and they've all grown up spending weekends and trips walking and hiking in woodlands etc...today we spent several hours out hiking trails and 'bushwacking' (lol this word is new to us and we keep laughing about it but it seems to be used a lot in geocaching so we've started using it).

Tonight I was looking online for some info on health benefits and hiking so I could log the info into my fitness journal instead of the info off of my treadmill - and I came across THIS GREAT ARTICLE!!  It talks about how great hiking is for you - not just regarding calorie burning and cholesterol and blood sugar levels, but in preventing depression!

I particularly thought this quote below was interesting (although not surprising in my opinion and experience - I'm not big on malls or shopping in general unless there is something I need):

"In fact, they found that taking a hike in the countryside reduces depression, whereas walking in a shopping center increases depression. Results from the 2007 study showed that 71 percent reported decreased levels of depression after hiking, while 22 percent of the participants felt their depression increased after walking through an indoor shopping center. Ninety percent reported their self-esteem increased after the nature hike, while 44 percent reported decreased self-esteem after walking around the shopping center. Eighty-eight percent of people reported improved mood after hiking, while 44.5 percent reported feeling in a worse mood after the shopping-center walk."

I can definitely agree with the fact that after an afternoon in a mall I feel nothing but stressed from crowds, the over-stimulation of lights and noise and the feeling that I've wasted time, money and energy. After an afternoon spent outside hiking I come home rejuvenated, relaxed, happy and feeling good about myself from all that fresh air and exercise and like I've done something good for my children.  Today we spent time listening to Grouse drumming, owls hooting....we watched woodpeckers on the ground, squirrels running....we hunted geocaches and traded items...we investigated old wasp nests....we learned about old trails that lead up to the North West Territories.....we looked for signs of Spring....we burned up al those calories from Easter treats.....we laughed, we climbed, we took turns with the gps.  We all came home in good moods.