coping mechanisms....

Sometimes a little chocolate and a little wine are just the things to help you through the day...........and sometimes a HUGE amount of chocolate and a vast amount of wine are the ONLY way to get through the day.......


do you think I over did it on the chocolate?

Frizz.................

This horrid damp weather plays havoc with my hair.

And why do you always run into those damn Barbie-Moms at the grocery store when you look like crap? Somehow their hair never seems to be effected by the rain. Gggrrrrr

In disguise.........................

Laurie won a stick-on false moustache today at the library and had great fun wearing it around town.......so when we got home we all tried it......sadly (ha ha) the pictures they took of me were all blurry ;)

A disappointing end to Sundays sunset

Last nights sunset started so beautifully but then seemed to just give up and the sky just darkened. It started off so well with this glorious pink sky that I imagined glorious oranges and reds. No such luck! But thats probably a good thing as by that time I had gone up to bed and would have had to go back downstairs and get my camera if had been that good!

That time of year.....

It's that time of year again......the stores are filled with school supplies! If I was back in England I'm sure I'd find the stores filled with little grey pinnafores, red checked dresses, grey trousers and little white polo shirts......sweet neat little uniforms even though the children have only been off of school a week or two!

This year I have no need to buy any school supplies at all....we unschool...we have plenty of craft supplies, paper and pens and there isn't much else we have a need for....but that doesn't mean I won't walk the 'back to school' aisles...I LOVE school supplies. My favourites are spiral bound notebooks and nice pens :) especially those packs with pens of different colours....not markers/ felt pens...but writing pens that come in jazzy ink colours!

It's lovely not to have to face the back to school rush in the stores...its fab to be able to cruise the aisles and buy what we WANT to buy.....and we can even wait until the sales if we want!

And another FAB thing is that anything we buy we can claim back from the homeschool funding...so we get to go loopy over spiral bound notebooks and not have to pay :)

No school fees to pay this year, no back to school clothes we have to get......no special indoor runners that don't have marking soles........we can buy any shoes we like :)

Its a really nice feeling :) and luckily my children seem to have inherited my love of nice pens and notebooks.....pretty writing tablets and post-its!!!!

Those lovin' looks

Sometimes I catch Lloyd sat looking at me......I like to think he's looking at me thinking how lucky he is to have me in his life.......................

...................But probably he's just trying to work out what planet I'm from ;)

Rainy days and Mondays.......................

Wow did it ever rain last night! I don't think I have experienced constant heavy rain like that since Scotland. It just rained and rained...I began to wonder if we should be using the wood from the barn to build an ark.......

This morning was COLD....lovely and cold :) and wet :) we had the heating on! Lloyd took Chris to work which means he left late enough to have coffee with me :)

Today I've done the floors and laundry and pottered about...then we ran into town to get Chris from work and the childrne played the game at the library...they each won a toy. We picked some books and dvd's to borrow and also went into the big book sale there and managed to spend $14 on books! More books than I have shelf space for.......

The library was quiet while we were there but we managed to run into two other homeschool families! Then when I got home I had an email from another homeschooling Mom who had been at the library earlier and had seen Chris working...she wrote to say hi and tell me Chris was doing a great job helping the children with the summer game :) That was lovely to hear!

This afternoon I have read to Sam, chatted with Lloyd and we watched some of the mighty Machines dvd we borrowed. I've started a letter to my sister to go in with her birthday card...must post that tomorrow.

One of the books we borrowed for Sam was a House Mouse book.....I just adore the House Mouse art......they are just the cutest......I'd like to get some large prints done to frame. They do rubber stamps too:

http://www.quirksofart.com/rubber-stamps-house-mouse-stamps-c-28_284.html

We have two eggs so far today......we seem to be getting two a day at the moment....Lloyd gets very excited about taking Sam in to find the eggs :) I just love that the children are growing up experiencing all of this!

I trimmed Sams hair today.......only a bit as he wouldn't keep still for long!

Dime bars

I miss Dime bars...do they still sell them at Ikea???? Skor bars are ok but they aren't as nice as Dime bars....

How long?

Several weeks ago I wrote 'Love You' on the bathroom mirror with my mascara (Yes I do occasionally wear make up lol) so that when Lloyd got up for work he would see it.

So now the question is, how long do I leave it there? Lloyd wants me to just leave it until it wears away or until we renovate the bathrooms......but I'm thinking maybe I should wash off the mirror at some point....

So how long is it appropriate to leave it on?????

Great advice from the 'Wise One'.....

On the subject of me being stressed out by eating out with 5 children - one a messy toddler, Christie gave me this FAB advice:

"I vividly remember going when
A. was a toddler and it did take ALOT of patience! You really have to
learn to ignore the mess and keep thinking her/his job is to clean up after
us! Also remember once you leave the table to NEVER LOOK DOWN!!! Just like
when you're scared of heights....NEVER LOOK DOWN!!!"

You just always get the best advice from Moms - especially Moms with larger families :)

Abigails fashion style....

It is almost impossible to get Abby to remember to wear underwear (knickers). She gets dressed and it is often only much later that I find out she has no underwear on. She always says 'I forgot!'.
So the other day she decided to wear nothing BUT underwear.....which was fine as it was hot and we live in the middle of nowhere so she could potter about outside and no one would see her.

Later in the day we had to go out so I sent her up to get dressed (she chooses what to wear each day and most times I go along with it if it's at least semi-ok). So after spending the day in JUST underwear she comes downstairs dressed but NO underwear!!!!! Why??????? Why did she take it off to get dressed???????

I'm just hoping this is something she grows out of!!!! (or maybe INTO!!)

Waaaah the stress of it!

So, the stew........well it wasn't tender enough in time, so we decided to leave it for tomorrow when it will be melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous.......and we headed out for dinner. Actually we voted...I thought it would be good to buy snacks and curl up with the fire on and watch Nanny Mcphee. Everyone else wanted to go to a restaurant.

So we went to Smittys. It was empty (thankfully). 3 old ladies sat at one table (one of whom had to go outside for a cigarette in the rain TWICE during her meal....how awful to be that addicted....or maybe it was just the stress of eating in the same room as us!

Sam was tired and not in the mood to wait for his dinner....we spent 20 minutes calming him with toys which he then threw everywhere. Once the food was there he then threw that everywhere...in fact the capet throughout the entire restaurant was COVERED in Sams food.......
Oh it was so much FUN!!! (not!)

Chris is dog sitting for a local family for a few weeks so on the way home we stopped off at their house to feed the dogs...poor things must be lonely so I think I will get them and bring them back here for a while and they can join me on my walks with Rosie and Amber.

Oh well one good thing is that I don't have to cook dinner for a couple of days as the stew will be for tomorrow and Tuesday now :) And the house smells gorgeous and Autumny!

How full is your bucket?

So Christie (see post beloe about her adoption journey) started her adoption preparation course yesterday...and in it she watched a video that talked about 'buckets' and how everyone has a bucket, they carry it with them everywhere in life (it's invisible by the way!).

So if your bucket is full then you have a good self esteeem. You generally feel good about yourself and you are able to love others freely and give of yourself freely. You keep your bucket full by giving to others and getting back from others praise and other good stuff to keep your bucket full.Sometimes out buckets become half full. When our buckets become half full, we aren't able to give of ourselves as freely. Because if we do, then we risk making our bucket level even lower. So you no longer hold open a door for a stranger because you can't waste your water in your bucket on people you don't know!If you don't make attempts to make your bucket fuller, then you risk your bucket becoming almost empty. When this happens then you hold your bucket very close to you, so as not to risk loosing anymore from your bucket. When your bucket gets this low, this is what is called burnout! So if you know someone with a half full or a low bucket and you have a full bucket, what can you do to help that person fill their bucket, just a little bit? Could you offer to take their kids, so that they and their partner can have a night out? Could you compliment the person on what a great job they are doing as a parent?

HOW FULL IS YOUR BUCKET?

I thought this was really nice and asked if she'd mind me posting it here :)

Hergen Bergens......

Yesterday Lloyd and I were walking down the driveway to see all the little birds flying around...Abigail with us....we were talking about the bluebirds and then a little yellow and black bird flew by...we didn't recognise it...it wasn't the American Goldfinch we normally see......we were discussing this when Abigail joined in the conversation and announced...'That? Oh thats a Hergen Bergen........' we just laughed because it seemed as if she really knew what she was talking about...she was very matter-of-fact..........she then turned away and walked off shaking her head and saying 'Oh you guys.....you just don't know anything!' its as if she despairs of being surrounded by idiots lol! It was just funny!

Then today I am washing the windows at the front of the house and I over hear a conversation between Abby and her Daddy.

Abby: How old are you Dad?

Lloyd: 33

Abby: And Mums 40 right?

Lloyd (laughing): Yeah thats right, Mummys 40!!!!

Me: Thanks Abby, I'm 34!!!!

Sam in the raincoat............

Sam borrowed his big sisters raincoat today to go outside and play...he loved it so much!

Knex rabbit

Laurie designed and built this huge rabbit from knex yesterday......he has since made it bigger and it is guarding his bedroom :)

A lovely weekend....

So we have had a really lovely weekend. It has been so much cooler which always makes me happier...in fact we have the heating on this afternoon!!!! It's 15c and raining outside and my nose was cold when I was outside earlier.....I LOVE it!!!! It feels like Fall.....so whats the best thing to do when it feels like Fall......make Lloyds famous beef stew.........so we have been chopping vegetables, browning beef, and prepping the stew.....my home smells all homely and cozy and like Fall :)

Yesterday Lloyd and I had a day much to ourselves......we went out for brunch and then ran to the pet store for some gifts for Amber and ran to sobeys for the ingredients for LLoyds stew.......at home we pottered around outside for much of the day. We are getting two eggs a day now........Sam goes in with Lloyd regularly and will happily get the eggs from under the chickens :) when you pick them up they are all warm :) Lloyd built a new roost for them from an old tree he cut down...they love it. Chickens are such funny little creatures...very sweet really - they have such funny ways!

Lloyd lit a fire to burn some more shingles and old boxes. We moved some haybales by my old gate so I can use it as a place to take photographs......

In the early evening we headed downtown to A Taste of Edmonton but we were home by 7:30 and spent the evening relaxing.........I soaked in the bath for a while reading more of Nights in Rodanthe (which I am really disappointed with...it feels as though Sparks didn't put his heart into this book at all...like it was a rush job or 'fill in' and only made the best sellers list by his following of readers.......)

On Friday night Lloyd and I sat and watched Chaplin until late....I hadn't seen it since it first came out......VERY good movie.....fascinating story...I wonder what Chaplins 10 children are doing now....and I wonder what the 'daughter' that he ended up paying for thinks about Charlie Chaplin now........

I bought some Ice Magic or whatever it's called here...the chocolate sauce that goes hard on ice cream....the kids love it! Reminds me of Bejam frozen food store when I was little......

This morning I got all the cards and envelopes ready to go for the August birthdays I have to remember. The children made cards for relatives and had a big craft session with rubber stamping and scrapbook papers etc......

The gorgeous gorgeous cape cod house that is just around the corner is up for sale.....we called for details wondering if it would be better to buy that rather than renovate this place.....their land backs on to ours and they have 40 acres so a lot more than us...and two ponds too. 4000sq ft, 4 garages, large workshop.....

But I don't like the sound of the house layout much.........the master bedroom is on the main floor which I wouldn't like at all...and the driveway is such a steep slope........it really is beautiful though..........they've had ten people phone up already even though they aren't advertising apart from a little sign outside......it's $750,000 which is $100,000 less than I expected it to be!

We may go and look at it...who knows.......the size of the land might win me over...and the beauty of the outside of the house......its what this house will look like once its renovated........but at least the inside here will be what we want it to be rather than their choice of layout which is open plan. I really don't like open plan........I love that our house has small rooms and doorways.....I think that house is a bargain though.....I hope someone nice with kids my kids ages buys it!!!!

Sam is getting very chatty these days.....he can say:

ball
go
Daddy
mama
more
puddle
chicken
cloud
gone

and a few other words.......

I emailed some scrap metal companies yesterday with pictures of the barn roof asking if they are interested in it all....Lloyds friend S says it may be worth something.......that would be nice.

When we were out for brunch yesterday Lloyd and I were discussing our big surprise trip :) It's getting very exciting now its so close!!! And before that we have our other trip to Douglas Fir to look forward to :)

Tractor Sam............

My little farm boy...............

Susannah on the hay bales................

Some pictures of Susie with Rosie our puppy, and with Sam. Lloyd put some haybales near my favourite old gate so I can take regular pictures of the children and animals there........

Oh and I give up on keeping Rosie groomed lol.........she spends half her time in the pond swimming about....in fact she is in there so often she constantly looks wet.....and green!!!!

My birthday girl........

So we celebrated Ambers 2nd birthday yesterday...she had some treats and a big bone and we took some birthday pictures of her.

I can't believe Amber is two already......it has gone so fast that it really shocks me how short a time she will be in our lives...........

Amber is a real sweetheart, so kind and gentle yet full of fun and energy...we are so lucky to have her in our lives.....

In the bottom photograph Amber has her birthday bone and is running around showing off to her little sister Rosie!!!

More berries, flowers and birds.......

Pretty flower but I'm not sure what it is...anyone?

Baby Bluebird silhouette

Mr Robin with a worm

One of our Hostas has flowered beautiful

Some more berries we haven't identified....anyone know what they are????

Taking shelter..............

Awwwww we just had a small thunder storm here and the baby bluebirds took shelter under my truck.....if you look closely you can see one of the babies tucked up by the wheel.............

It was quite dark out because of the storm so its not clear to see......

You can't call your baby Smelly Dog.....

.................even if you want to!!!! Not in Malaysia anyway!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5229060.stm

A Taste of Edmonton

Last night (finally) I got to go to A Taste of Edmonton...one of Edmontons summer festivals......it was the last night there and it was very busy. For those not 'in the know', A Taste Of Edmonton is basically a festival where 35 or so restaurants from around Edmonton each have a stand in Churchill Square....they each have two items on their 'menu'. You buy tickets at 75c each and then walk around all the stands and try the different items.....some are 3 tickets, some 4 and some 5.......

Its basically a way to sample foods from the different restaurants in the city...and for a foodie like me it is WONDERFUL!!!

I have never been before but alwqays wanted to......

Lloyd and I sampled quite a few dishes.......

Teryaki chicken and rice
Butter chicken and rice
Tandoori chicken and vegetable Biryani
rice pudding
Swiss crepes with Alpine berries
Baileys Mocha pie
Sticky chocolate pudding with sauce
green onion cakes
Mediterranean panini
Tiramisu

The Panini was from Roots Organic restaurant and was just DELICIOUS!!!!

The green onion cakes which I had with sour cream were my favourite dish! The line for those was the longest too but worth the wait :)

I even managed to eat everything without spilling anything or dropping it all down my front...major achievement for me :)

I can't wait for next year when I think we will go twice...once with the kids and then once just Lloyd and I again.........

Oh and Christie very much underestimated my appetite...she said 15 tickets would be enough for me to be full..........Nope!!! Lloyd and I shared 41 tickets :) and I could easily have had more......everything sounded so good!