The squirrels stash!!!

The workmen pulled down a lot of the front porch today, including the ceiling of the porch! Unfortunately our little squirrel friend 'Frank' has been stashing his winter hoard up there...I can't believe he manages to carry up those entire corn cobs all the way up into the porch roof!

I feel really guilty that we've knocked down his winter hoard but we'll be feeding him all winter so he won't go hungry. The new ceiling product is 'critter proof' so he won't be able to get into it at all. Neither will the wasps to make their nests.

Finally...someone feels the same as us!!!

elizabethkartchner.blogspot.com/2008/11/can-i-get-my-8-bucks-back.html

Someone feels the same as Lloyd and I about the movie ;) FINALLY!!!!

Randoms..........

Outside my window...

The dogs are barking...chasing each other during tonights walk with Chris....


I am thinking...

I wish I had opened the peaches instead of the fruit cocktail...I like fruit cocktail but really I was in the mood for JUST peaches. I don't like fresh peaches but I love, love, LOVE tinned peaches...sooooo juicy!!!


I am thankful for...

Today being almost done - its been a long day and I'm glad it's almost done!


From the learning rooms...

We've done pottery today and learned about pinch pots. I'm still undecided about whether to take the journaling class in December...but I AM leaning towards signing up......


From the kitchen...

I think I'm going to go downstairs and make a big bowl of popcorn. We don't own a microwave - and no there will NOT be one in our new kitchen (we will however have a speed oven in the kitchen which is kind of similar) so I will be making popcorn in a pan with a lid and the kids love to watch....


I am wearing...

Jeans, t-shirt, black socks and a grey fleecy jacket that my Mom and Dad sent me from Marks and Spencers :)


I am creating...

ATC's for swaps, Christmas cards, Christmas tree ornaments, clay pinch pots and ornaments with the children, cookies :) various other things......mini albums, scrapbook layouts, felt things, water colour paintings, gifts.......


I am going...

....to have a lovely big party as soon as my kitchen is finished!!! :)


I am reading...

this months O magazine, this months WW magazine and this months Running Room magazine...


I am hoping...

That 2009 is a better year for EVERYONE :)
.

I am hearing...

Sam play with his bricks beside......Lloyd sleeping gently in bed beside me too (he isn't well) and the kids bumping about downstairs....


Around the house...

We have a LOT of work taking place but my house is going to look soooooo pretty when its all finished and its going to be sooo worth it :)


One of my favorite things...

is seeing Lloyds car drive up the driveway as he gets home from work each day....


A few plans for the rest of the week:

Parent/ teacher interviews tomorrow night. Pre-K on Thursday. Christopher's dentist appt on Thursday. The children have a day off of school on Friday. Festival of Trees this weekend....Christmas shopping....a date night....going to my friends house on Friday as she is having a sale to raise funds for an Orphanage in Ethiopia!

If you read this you are TAGGED!!!!

All the stores but just one cart!!!!

ca.shop.com/

Saw this on 'Life as Lou' and thought it was a great idea and was then THRILLED to see they have a Canadian version...the only time of year I shop online is Christmas...and I don't like to surf endless sites or use my credit card very often, so this site seems ideal as I can use my card once and get everything in one purchase.

Life as Lou does a MUCH better review...but then she gets paid for hers I think ;)

The masked devil revealed ;)

Yes Dad you were right, it was Laurie in the zipped hoody!!

Clay hut day....

Abigail is not at school today....so she has missed out on a field trip with the lady from the 'clay hut' in Sherwood Park - who taught my pottery class. I'm really sad she missed out, so I thought I would teach her myself! We've played with clay a lot in the past, so I know Abigail loves it, but we haven't made the pinch pots that I was taught by the clay hut! I am thinking that if they were going to be taught a real 'technique' today, then probably THIS is what they will be taught. And if not, then at least Abigail can take her pinch pot in to school tomorrow with pride and show her class what she made at home with some information on pinch pots to show they are real and have history!

We massaged the clay until it was nice and soft and then rolled it into balls before using our thumbs to create the pinch pots.

Sam had fun making one too and then had fun squishing it - but then he made a snowman too! I enjoyed showing them the technique of connecting clay together using vinegar and rough edges and then sealing the joins with extra clay and smooting it over the join. Abigail made a bear using this method and sam is waiting for his snowman to dry and then we are going to paint it and glue on buttons! I'll photograph them when we are finished!

Oh so tempted.......

www.shimelle.com/classes/

This new writing class looks wonderful......but I'm wondering if it would be a little over-commitment with the holiday season upon us....or would it be a little wonderful step back and some relaxation and a little just-what-I-need????

hhhmmmm $30 US too????? thats pricey for an online workshop when you don't know the quality but once you sign up you can rejoin every year.....

For Tess...

Your ATC's made me remember MY Strawberry Shortcake doll...and here she is! I don't have her hat any more, and her hair doesn't smell any more, but she still has her shoes and stripy tights! Not a great picture as my flash needs charging and I had to take the picture in the bathroom by the sink lol....but here she is :) She must be about 28 or so years old I guess......

Random questions........

What is one thing you said you would never do...but did?

I held a tarantula!! I am an arachnophobe!! I am totally terrified of spiders! Luckily here in Alberta we don't get very big spiders - not the big hairy fast European house spider type they get back home - I think they get them in damp BC and other parts of Canada, but I have never seen anything that really scared me here in Alberta - you sometimes get dime sized things here - maybe even quarter sized spiders but I've never seen anything bigger in the house at least here. Thin legged daddy long legs type things is all.....but in England they have these HUGE hairy spiders that come in and out of the house in huge numbers every Spring and Fall. I remember in the Fall of 2000 I think we had had a really damp Summer and the spiders were HUGE and their numbers so immense they were just everywhere - it was like every morning I would open the curtains and spiders would run down them...I could never sue a shower with a curtain because the curtains would have spiders in them. It is only after years of being in canada and getting used to no house spiders that I can use shower curtains again.

I remember one night when my Ex was at work...there was a huge spider on the stairs. the phone was upstairs - as were my children! they were asleep! I was downstairs and couldn't get to the phone to call my husband to get him to come home form work to get rid of the spider for me! So I had to go on the computer and ICQ a total stranger and give him my husbands cell phone number at work and get him to call him and get him to come home from work to get rid of the spider!!! THAT is how scared of spiders I am!!!

I always said I would never be able to hold a tarantula, but when I had moved in with lloyd, we went to a butterfly and INsect centre, and they had a tarantula there and were letting people hold her. Lloyd held her and I was beside him and then I just put my hand out and held her too. She just didn't seem very spider-like! She was too furry and slow!! I think for me its their speed....all those legs and how fast they can move. I woke up one night and had a spider on my forehead...YUCK :( But also one day one ran across my kitchen floor and I screamed so loud that I actually saw the spider jump in fear and run off - now I don't know if they can hear or if it was reacting to the vibrations but it was obviously very afraid! that didn't help my fear - I HATE them still - even after holding the tarantula!

Tarantula's don't scare me. Lloyd would like to have one as a pet and I WOULD let him except I don't trust Lloyd - I don't trust him to not play tricks on me - I don't trust him to not put it on me when I'm not expecting it - and it would scare me and I would fling it or squash it or something and that isn't fair....on the spider or me. So no we can NOT get a tarantula for that reason - he ahs bought toy ones and scared me with them before so I know he would.

But yes, I HAVE held a tarantula :) I think her name was Rosie and she was at Insect World at the Dobbies garden Centre in Edinburgh :) They have Trinidadian Leaf Eating ants racing around on string carrying bits of leaf all around the building above your heads - very cool to watch!!



Where did you live as a child?

I grew up at 8 Font Lane, in the village of West Coker, near the town of Yeovil in the County of Somerset, which is in the South West of England. Children made a rhyme up that went 'Jane the pain from 8 Font Lane' hahahahaha! which sounds like I was bullied but I never was! Which is odd because I was always small for my age so you'd think I would be the perfect 'victim' for bullying! But I guess I always was that 'pain' ;)


The village where Lloyd and I grew up:
www.somerset3d.co.uk/logos%20&%20pictures/town%20&%20village%20pages/westcoker.htm

This is Yeovil, our nearest town and where my Sister Clare lives with Oliver, Danny and Isaac. Where my parents get their groceries and where I went to high school etc:
www.yeoviltown.com/photogallery.aspx

This is the church I attended as a child and is the church that was linked to my school:

www.achurchnearyou.com/west-coker-st-martin-of-tours/

Here is a picture of the church. We had to walk through the churchyard on our way to and from school every day There was a huge tree in front of the Church - I think its a Yew (???) that is traditionally planted in front of every church in England....and the one in front of our Church was hollow and we could stand inside of it! English churches are cold and drafty places:

www.geograph.org.uk/photo/897165

And this is the local pub/ bar in West Coker my friend Rebecca lived there when I was growing up so I went there to play a few times and it was right by my school:
www.pubsulike.co.uk/pubs/images/BA229ATTC-1.JPG



What pets did you have as a child?

How did you decorate your room as a child? As a teen?

What was your favourite thing in your childhood home?

Did you play sports as a child?

(I'll be back later to answer these)

My Monday...

I was going to meet a friend at Kidz Quarterz today to pass on my homeschooling magazines and some other homeschooling bits that I no longer need, but last night I was feeling so ill - swollen glands and a sore throat and ear ache and as Lloyd has not felt well for days I thought it best to let my friend know that we are full of germs - to give her the option to postpone! I always think its best to warn people - especially coming up to Christmas - I hate to make people sick by spreading germs without warning them! We ended up postponing KQ.

Anyway I have been taking some high dose garlic oil tablets and a C-Boost smoothie drink that brovides something like 2000% of your vitamin C needs and this morning I didn't feel too bad!! I decided that instead of going to KQ I would go to Dollarama with Sam and and take him to see the animals in Pet Smart as a treat instead! I was going to mention this little trip to Val because I know her views on germ sharing....ie we often go to breakfast together when our kids are off school sick....yes we are terrible Mothers who put our own socialising needs first!!! ;)

The funny thing is that I woke up to find a message from her asking if I'd be interested in heading to Dollarama with her and her youngest!! So we both had the same idea! So thats what we did! We did some shopping there, headed to the pet store to look at the fish, birds and animals - saw the cutest Harley davidson gear for their piggy - too funny! Had a quick stroll around Winners and then headed to McDonalds so the boys could play in the play place while we chatted some more!

It was a really nice day :)

I came home to find the workmen had filled in the window in my pantry - something I have wanted done since we moved in!!! Yay! And they have started putting on the lovely new white siding on the house at the back - it looks soooo much nicer than the horrid grey :) The house is going to look so lovely and pretty when its all white with the wraparound porch all done :)

Now I am tired and my throat is hurting again - why are colds etc so much worse in the evening - I was fine all day but its catching up with me now :( Time for another garlic capsule!

Feeling very grateful......

I've just spent the last little while unwrapping some of my Christmas decorations. Special sentimental keepsakes - some of which go back to my childhood. Others that have been gifts over the years from family and friends - others that are treasures my own children or my Nephews have made for me.

My home is feeling a little more festive and as I look around it I am reminded of Christmases past. there is the reindeer I bought in Florida when I was 8 years old at 'Rogers Christmas House' - amazed at the fact that there was a store completely devoted to all things Christmas open in the middle of June!!!! There is the Santa boot that I bought in Harrods when shopping in London with my Mom one year. The Santa advent calendar that the children get excited to display each year December.....the stars I hand stitched last year for my little tree....my blue Santa that matches the cream one I bought for my In Laws - that caused my Brother In Laws problems at the airport - the security suspected he had stuffed it with drugs hahahaha! And then there is my amazing angel from South Street Seaport in New York City...the angel I fell in love with but didn't return for because I thought she was too expensive and I didn't want to inconvenience everyone...and then my Ex Mother In Law surprised me with her!!!! She's sooooo GORGEOUS!!! These are just a few of the items I have put out today. Yes they are just 'things'...just 'stuff'...but they are irreplaceable to me.

As I was unwrapping them I was feeling extremely grateful to be able to unwrap them - that I still have them here. I know a family not too far away that isn't so lucky this year. :( I know that everyone keeps telling Tara that she can go shopping for new Christmas decor and sure shopping is fun - I too love to go and look around the Christmas displays each year and add to my collection each year. But its not the same. The sentimental aspect just isn't there. There is something special in those personal decorations - the ones that MEAN something to you. To your children.

So my heart goes out to Tara. And please - when you are unwrapping your decorations this year, please take a moment to think of Tara and her family and just remember how very fortunate you are.

Activities at the festival of trees......

A few of the things the children did at the festival......Laurie came too as he loves the one at the Shaw conference centre. They did say that the important things were missing - cookie decorating - the secret Santa Store - and the cookie store!!! They also love the gingerbread houses which is one of Lauries favourite things form the big festival in the city!!! So I think we will have to go next week!

Abby was MOST put out that there was no cookie decorating so I think I am going to have to whip up some sugar cookies this week and let her decorate some at home ;)

First Annual Festival of Trees....

Today we took the children to Sherwood Parks first annual Festival of Trees. we have been to Edmontons for the last few years, but we thought we would go and support Sherwood Parks very own and see what it was like! We knew it would be much smaller, but if these things are not supported in their early days, then the community will not continue them.

We had a lovely time there. It WAS a small event. Held in the Coast Hotel next to Millennium Place, but we had a lovely time. Many of the businesses in the area had sponsored Christmas trees to decorate, and there were a lot of crafts and activities for the children to join in with - and unlike the Edmonton Festival of Trees, these were FREE with admission! There was a magician, face painting, tattoos, choirs and solo singers (amazing singers!!) arts and crafts to buy, local charities selling Christmas wares...

All the little boys there seemed enthralled with a big tree that had a toy train whizzing around it....

I wasn't feeling very festive or Christmasy before going - I have only done a little shopping and only managed to get some of my Christmas cards sent off this week. Yet this afternoons Festival finally put me in the mood. I thought it would mean we wouldn't need to go to the Edmonton one next week but heading back to the car we all agreed that we WANT to go even more now (except Lloyd who groaned and rolled his eyes hahahhaha)!! He did however come home and get out my boxes of Christmas decorations though - I'm not putting up my trees until December, but I do want to put a few decorations now! I can picture my Moms face at this thought lol but here in Canada I know its ok to put up your decorations any time after Halloween :) No one will think you are too crazy!

Start 'em young........

Sam peeling potatoes for Daddy at dinner time - he did a great job but took about half an hour to peel one potato :)

Queen of hearts...she made some tarts....

Abigail is feeling fed up at the moment so I wanted to spend some time just with her, so today we made jam tarts together. We made two different kinds together - some we made in ready made frozen pastry shells, and some we made in proper pastry! She loved having to roll the pastry out and cut the circles out...and she liked being able to make a HUGE jam pasty at the end that she got to eat herself! I liked the ease of standing beside her and just filling pastry shells while she was busy!!! :) You can see her big pasty on the rack and a mixture of the jam tarts in the picture above :) I must admit that her jam tarts taste MUCH better!!!