About to get turned on ;)

Sweet and sour meatballs in the crockpot this morning....ready to start cooking!!

Blue menu (low fat) meatballs from Stupidstore (our family of 7 uses half of a box)

Pineapple and juice

carrots

baby corn

cubed swede (rutabaga)

diced red pepper

sugar snapped peas

minced ginger to taste

Thai sweet chilli sauce to taste (I add a lot and use the big bottle from Costco)

Serve with wholegrain rice or pasta.

Last weeks date night...

....lead to too much Watchamacallit.....

;)

and it was delicious!!  Read into that what you will :)

We ran to Toys R Us to pick up some toy soldiers and then went to Joey South Edmonton for dinner for dinner (Butter Chicken) and dessert:

Apple pie for Lloyd and Banana Nut Bread Pudding with a whisky sauce for me.

Yum....

For today....

From:  HERE

FOR TODAY... Monday, January 11, 2010

Outside my window...I can see water dripping from the roof still - a sure sign it is still above freezing outside!!  How amazing for 7pm on a January evening!!!  I wonder how Abigail's snowman is holding up....

I am thinking...I need to Email Rhona - and Rhonda!  Rhonda is Rhona with a d!!!!  :)  I am late Emailing both of them and I feel bad about both Emails!!!  Every time I sit to start the Emails I seem to get distracted by something else - either photographs someone wants me to upload or something someone wants me to do....or the weather outside!  I am also thinking how I wish this weather was here to stay....and friends who accept your home the way it is (crumbs, dust and ALL)  - they are the BEST :)  And Dads who get the flash light out to go up over the field just to see a snowman in the dark before it melts :)  They're the best too!

I am thankful for...warm sunny January days, snuggly cuddles with kittens,  my husband Lloyd who is just the most wonderful man I know and who makes my life so much easier in so many ways!!!

From the learning rooms........lazy unschooling days watching Abigail build snowmen, sledding on the hill, learning magic tricks, making chocolate rice krispy cakes, counting down to the torch relay....

From the kitchen...sweet and sour meatballs today in the crockpot...and I also used up all the opened bags of marshmallows and made some trays of chocolate rice krispy bars so th kid an take them to school.  

I am wearing...jeans - my FAVOURITE jeans from Reitmans - I love them so much I bought 3 more pairs in their sale last week!!!  Can't wait for their new stock to come in next month!!  Black long sleeved T.  from Reitmans...socks from Reitmans.  Undies from La Senza... (sorry if you didn't want specifics)

I am remembering........Christmas when Lloyd was home all day every day.....

I am creating...lots of digital layouts and now I'm working on a new header for my blog :)  I am also working on my 52 - 10 project and a few other projects :)  

I am going...to start double dating :)  I have three double dates arranged in the next month and I am soooooo looking forward to them!!!!  Anyone else want to go head out on a double date???  Join Lloyd and I for dinner?  Bowling?  Casino?  Shooting place at WEM???  Something else fun????  

I am currently reading...Shadowlands....I WILL get back to Twilight eventually......

I am hoping...to get those Emails written to Rhona and Rhonda TONIGHT!!!!!

I am hearing...Lloyd and Abby out on the quad bike in the dark - they've been up to see the snowman and obviously out for a ride in the snow having fun :)  Daddy and Abby time :)

Around the house...relaxing, enjoying having the dogs with us a lot more now they aren't being company for Charlie to stop her being depressed.....they are with us all the time now.  It's so much nicer!!  We miss her sooooo much BUT it's better for the dogs to be with us!!  Lloyd is busy painting and putting in baseboards and crown moulding.  It looks lovely :)  

One of my favorite things......relaxing in the big armchair in my craft room - it's so cozy and snug - especially if Sam snuggles in with me - or if one of the cats does!!!  I can sit here and see all the way down the driveway and watch the children walk up as they get off the school bus.  I can sit here and do digital scrapbooking, or blog or Email Lloyd at work...or read a book to myself or Sam...or I can sit on Lloyds lap while he plays his PS3.

Snowman building....

Our little sun trap :)

And funny Rosie was obviously too warm after playing on the sledding hill...

so she cooled off by sitting on the snow!!!

My beautiful dumb blonde ;)

Crazy girl....

Hot to turn a golden into a reindeer....

;)

Sledding fun.....

Fun on the sledding hill this afternoon....making the most of the gorgeous temperatures!!

Abigails snowman....

This afternoon we went for a walk over the side fields and stopped half way to make a snowman...the thaw has been enough to make the snow perfect for snowmen!!!  It's like Spring out there :)  Abby made this snowman who is now sat up in the field watching over the coyotes, deer and moose and was lucky enough to watch tonights sunset!!

We stopped halfway through to head home....dropped Sam off with Laurie and Susannah, picked up a carrot nose and then headed back to finish 'Hannah Meltaway' off.....

Abby is heading back tonight to show Daddy and to take 'Hannah' a hat and scarf ;)

Can you do this..........????

I would like to be able to do THIS by the end of the year.....Abigail can almost do this....I can get my hands on my heels like that but I can NOT get my head to my knees :(    YET  ;)

I can get the palms of my hands on to the floor quite easily and things like that.  I like stretching and feeling flexible.  I am more flexible than Susannah and Laurence - Laurence is always joking in mock horror that his Mother is more flexible than he is even though she is almost 40 ;)

Rhonda I did get your Email and I keep meaning to reply about the yoga and yes I will and will tell you about the yoga and the classes I'm planning to go to - and the dvd's I'm doing here at home!!!!  I want to hear more about the yoga you're doing too!

 still haven't heard from the yoga studio in Sherwood Park - I am on their mailing list but am now wondering if it's even working so I should go on to their website again - I wonder if I've missed their free open houses.....

Canada's 2010 Bobsleigh team....and scenes from BC 07

OMG I can't believe how much weight I've lost since these pictures were taken!!!

Old pics from October 2007 -  you can see lots more from our trip to Whistler and Vancouver if you search the blog archives -  we spent a week living in the lap of luxury in October 07 - and I never wanted to come home :)  We stayed at the Chateau Whistler and my kids swanned around in a limousine all week and it was hilarious watching Susannah having a chauffeur open the door for her in the rain holding an umbrella for her - then she forgot her purse so she ran back and he had to get the umbrella up quickly and the door open again and she was all giggly - where were we???  Outside McDonalds!!!    Hahahaha  - she was 9!!!  The people we were with were all hungry and had stopped for something to eat with the kids :)

Olympic Torch Relay excitement!!!

We are getting more and more excited about the Winter Olympics starting here in a few weeks time!!  We have been following the torch bearers on their way across Canada - and were thrilled to see Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards carry it through part of Manitoba last week :)  Yay!!!  We still don't know who will light up the main flame in Vancouver - I am still hoping it will be Betty Fox - Terry Fox's Mom because I really do think that would symbolize Terry Fox's finish line in a kind of way.  I think that would be very special for Canadian people!!

Anyway, on Wednesday the torch travels through OUR town and into Edmonton on it's journey towards Vancouver and we will be heading into town to watch the torch relay.  I am giving the children the day off of school to go and watch.  You can see the details and the route map HERE.

We are using this day as day ONE of our actual school studies to start our lapbook and proper studies of a unit study I downloaded from Currclick too!!

and closer to the Olympics we have all kinds of things planned!  We were lucky enough to have a wonderful trip to Whistler and Vancouver while they were planning and preparing for the games and the children took part in all kinds of activities that the town of Whistler were running there.

Last week at school Susannah and Laurence took part in a torch relay that the schools are doing - the schools are passing a torch from school to school throughout the county and they run a relay with the torch before passing it on to the next school.  Photographs were taken and I will try to get one!

I want the children to see the torch go through our town because Canada won't hold the Olympics for at LEAST another 22 years and I want them to remember this!!!  They will be all grown up then and I want them to remember this as children - the fun and excitement :)  How important it is to support your country and be proud and get excited about these things - NOT be ambivalent!!  Be a cheer squad instead!!  If people don't get excited about things then people stop doing anything.  Thats sad - thats when country's and communities get run down and go down hill.

 

A slap in the face....

I had to face the fact that I am OLD this weekend.  We were talking about the snow in the UK.  I was arguing that they had been saying how this was the heaviest snow fall the UK had seen in the UK for thirty years but that it couldn't possibly be because I could remember snow from when I was little and the drifts were HUGE.  We were cut off from the village and the tractors had to bring milk up on the back of the trailer...

Then Lloyd reminded me that THAT was probably MORE than thirty years ago because I am almost thirty EIGHT and that was probably before I was EIGHT!!!!

Sigh......he's right!!!  OMG!!!  Over thirty years ago....

I am soooooo OLD!!!!!

Lol!!!

Don't you just love a Pineapple Express?????

Hhhmmmm I've woken up with a migraine.

I've also woken up to +3c temperatures on January 11th.  We are warmer than Orlando right now!!

And it's going to be +7c today!!!

Breezy but warm.

It's the breeze I have to thank for the warm temperatures - and the migraine!!

So - I've popped Advil.  And Tylenol.  And a maxalt.  Another 30 minutes and I'll be a little numb but ready to face the world.  It will be daylight and we can get up and head out.  I can have the windows open all day again and enjoy being outside.

Probably not good weather for Ice on Whyte......hhmmm