Returning the library books..

On Thursday we took the Edmonton library books back to Millwoods library....

Getting to know you Sunday.....



1. what's your favorite rainy day activity?  I like to open the windows and listen to the rain, smell that fresh rain smell, snuggle with the children, read or watch a movie, bake, play games, craft, do homely things.  I also like driving in the rain :)

2. what time do you go to bed?  I go to bed around 10pm but I don't go to sleep until around 1am.

3. how many magazines do you subscribe to?  I did subscribe to Creating Keepsakes for the last couple of years, but it just ran out and I'm not going to renew.  I don't scrapbook any more, and I have mored on to magazines like Artful Blogging and Art Journaling....I don't subscribe to them, but buy them when I see them...

4. did you sell all your belongings because you thought the world was ending yesterday?  I was tempted to but what use would the money be??  So no.....I just enjoyed my last few days instead :)

5. what's your beauty obsession?  Lol I don't think I have one ;)  I'm quite enjoying having a lovely tan...and I have something I'm planning to do in the near future too but it's a bit hush hush for now ;)

6. if you could only wear one designer/brand for the rest of your life...what would it be?  Oh I don't wear designer labels so that would be hopeless....I do wear a LOT of clothes from Reitmans but then they don't sell underwear so I'd be hooped!!!  lol...Could I say Winners???  Then I can get everything!!  I tend to get all my clothes in either Reitmans or Winners....and I like sales.  I'm cheap lol!

7. what's your summer must have?  outdoor pools!  I HAVE to go swimming at outdoor pools in the summer - I love the sound....reminds me of my childhood :)  There is something special about swimming in a pool in the sunshine :)  Proper outdoor pools - not the above ground ones you can buy - but the real thing.  They're special :)  

8. do you make weekly dinner menus?  No.  I'm very unorganized.  Plus we tend to go out so much in the evenings now and the kids are at their Dads on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes Friday/ Saturday/ Sundays......so planning is not easy...Wednesdays we go to the farmers market....so really we aren't home much to eat any more and when we are, Susannah only ever wants baked potatoes lol!!!!

Friday Fill ins!!

And...here we go! 

1. I see a doctors appointment in my near future....

2. The anti itch lotion took my breath away WOW, but it stopped me having to scratch.

3. They begin opening the outdoor pools this weekend - YAY!!

4. I wish I had become the person I am now so many years earlier but I had lessons I needed to learn first. 

5. This I know: I am exactly where I am meant to be NOW.

6. It's exciting not knowing who I will be with or what I will have for dinner tomorrow.


7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to some quiet time alone, painting some furniture and relaxing, tomorrow my plans include going to the antiques mall to get some old maps and photographs and to Goodwill and also to tan, then out for supper and Sunday, I want to go to the Muttart to take some photographs! And as Monday is a holiday....I plan to take the children to Whyte Ave, ride the High Level Street Car, and have lunch at the High Level Diner...

Alpha Tag

Age: 39

B. Bed size: Queen (I had a King but gave it to Laurence after Lloyd left and bought myself a pretty new Queen :)

C. Chore that you hate: cleaning toilets

D. Dogs: LOVE!!!  I have a golden retriever named Rosie and I miss her Sister Amber desperately :(

E. Essential start to your day: Facebook and Email

F. Favorite color: turquoise

G. Gold or Silver: silver or white gold

H. Height: 4' 11"

I. Instruments you play:   I had guitar lessons as a child

J. Job title: Full time Mom and homeschooling Mom.

K. Kids: Five - 17 year old boy, 15 year old boy, 13 year old girl, 9 year old girl and 6 year old boy.

L. Live:  Alberta Canada.

M. Mother's name: josephine

N. Nicknames: None

O. Overnight hospital stays:  For each of my babies births and also when I was expecting my youngest I was in for a week with pre-eclampsia

P. Pet peeve: the kids not bothering to put garbage in the garbage bin even though there is one in every room...I find it shoved in the chairs, left on tables, on the floor, on the tops...ANYWHERE but in the actual garbage can!!!  WHY??????  How lazy is that???  How difficult is it to put garbage where it should be???

Q. Quote from a movie: 

"I turn on my computer. I wait patiently as it connects. I go online. My breath catches in my chest until I hear 3 little words, "You've got mail." I hear nothing, not a sound on the streets of New York. Just the beat of my own heart. I have mail...from you.”

R. Right or left handed: right

S. Siblings: 2 sisters - both older.

T. Time you wake up: I wake up at 6:20am and get the kids up for school and then I go back to bed and normally wake up around 8am or 9am depending on how late I fell asleep as I haven't been sleeping well lately.

U. Underwear: I wear thongs/ g-strings during the day as I really REALLY don't like seeing underwear lines on people and I actually find them more comfortable - but I wear more comfortable bikini style underwear at night.

V. Vegetable you hate:  I love ALL vegetables.  I really don't think there is a vegetable I hate.  YUM!!!  :)

W. What makes you run late: Usually the children OR the fact that I don't get up in time or don't get off the computer...

X. X-Rays you've had: chest, kidney, foot.....

Y. Yummy food that you make:   I'm a pretty good cook and can make a lot of yummy things...I just don't cook very often at the moment...but when I do cook I'm a good cook :)  My roasts are really good...I'm a great baker...I'm fab with a crock pot...

Z. Zoo animal:   I love Pandas, dolphins and porcupines :)  

Question time....

{one} do you watch the history channel? if so, what’s your favorite program?  I don't watch tv, so no I don't watch the history channel.




{two} what is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?  Have the windows and doors open so we can hear the rain and smell the freshness from outside......maybe sit outside on the covered porch or sit inside and read or watch a movie or knit or paint, journal or use the computer, facebook, play games, talk, bake, Put welly boots on and go outside and enjoy it :)  LISTEN to it :)





{three} what does your dream house look like?  Exactly like the house I am in, except it would have rooms above the garage too and would be all white and windows downstairs at the front would be nicer.  But yes a cape cod style home similar to this one....but probably near the ocean/ mountains :)




{four} what state were you born in?   I was born in the town of Yeovil, in the County of Somerset, in England.





{five} do you have a change jar? if so, what do you use it for when it gets full?  I have a change bottle - one of the big water filter bottles that I have a hole cut in on the side and we throw all our loose change in....that fills up FAST and goes towards our holidays in Canmore each time!!!  I also have a jar that I put all my loonies and toonies in and that is the 'school jar' and the kids can help themselves to that in the mornings for school for lunch/ drinks/ snacks etc etc.  I appreciate that they have never abused that trust and just take what they need each week.  I also have a $5 note jar and for the last 6 weeks or so I have been collecting all my $5 bills in a jar hidden away and that is going to pay for our trip to Canmore at the end of June.  It's surprising how quickly it all adds up when you empty your purse each time you get home from town/ shopping!!  Although now my heart sinks when I have to use a $5 bill!  Like today I saw Susannah hand over a 5 at the farmers market and I was thinking noooooo!!!!  That could have gone in to my jar!!!!  hahahahaha!!!





{six} what’s the first website you look at when you get on the computer?  I check Outlook Express for my Emails and then Facebook.  Then at some point during the day I will go on to my Google Reader and look at the blogs I have in there....thats all I do online.  I don't go to any other websites.  Just FB and Google Reader.





{seven} what is your favorite breakfast?  At home probably brown toast with marmite.  If I'm out I normally go for waffles with apple cinnamon or pancakes and fruit or sugar free syrup.





{eight} what’s the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken?  I love our trips to Canmore, and last Summers trip was soooo relaxing and laid back :)  and being in the hot tub and the pool on a hot day in the sunshine watching a thunder storm coming over the mountains and hearing the thunder bouncing off the mountains while the children were swimming :)  Wonderful :)





{nine} do you prefer your coffee black or with cream/milk/sugar?  I have given up coffee :)





{ten} have you ever done a professional photo shoot?   I've never been photographed except as part of a group - like at weddings etc etc....but I have taken photographs of other people....I don't enjoy it.  I don't mind doing it for friends, but I can't say I enjoy it.

Wednesday tag....

1. What reveals more about a woman-her refrigerator or her purse?   Definitely her purse I think....I think you can tell a lot about me from my purse for sure....for a start I keep my journal , pens and glue in it which speaks VOLUMES about the kind of person I am :)  My iphone with all it's apps  and secrets :)  and all the pictures I have on it - and that almost all of the apps on it are photography apps or kids games!!  My migraine meds and painkillers...

2. When was the last time you went to the zoo? Where? What's your favorite zoo animal?  Last Summer some time....and my favourite animal would be a Panda or a porcupine...I also love dolphins :)

3. What social issue fires you up?  Education...especially how useless school educations can be.  For instance my Ex has now drilled it in to my poor little six year olds head that he HAS to go to school or he will 'never learn anything'.....which is basically like telling him that he hasn't learned anything for this last year.  I think that is really sad as he is only in Kindergarten and he has already covered the alphabet, counting to one hundred, adding and subtraction to twenty, basic reading, spelling quite a few simple words, his writing is coming on really well his art work is fabulous, he has done quite a bit of science including life cycles and a few other things covered in higher grades because of being with Abigail.  Days of the week, months of the year....BUT he won't learn ANYTHING unless he goes to school.

On the other hand, his big sister Susannah is in grade 7 and just failed Social because they were studying something that she is NEVER going to need to know again in the rest of her life....I dont even know about it and it doesn't interest her at all....BUT, when we were in canmore a few weeks ago I was driving and I asked her to read the SIMPLE map to tell me how to get to the breakfast diner...and she didn't know how to!!  It was a BASIC map of a straight road and we had to follow one road and turn right!!  She couldn't do it!!!  She didn't even know which way to hold the map!!!  And today!!  Today I asked her what the capital of Canada was.  She told me Toronto!  Then she guessed Vancouver!  Then she guessed Alberta????  Then Ontario???  She then googled it and said she would NEVER have guessed Ottawa!!!!  

But hey, if you don't go to school you will never learn ANYTHING!!!!!  :(

4. Are you a coupon clipper? If so, are you extreme?  No, I loved the coupon book that I bought from Samantha, and I will use coupons if I have them for places like restaurants or tourist places, but I haven't got into the grocery coupons yet.  I have just joined a great group on facebook and I am trying to learn about it, but I don't get any of the local papers or flyers where I live so I don't get coupons at all, so for now I am studying it all and I think I will start when I move in to town.  I do love the idea of saving money this way though.  It is great getting free meals and car services and taking the kids out for the night and having fun for free :)  

5. What is one of your favorite souvenirs brought back from your travels?  I have a pot in my kitchen window filled with bits of driftwood that I have collected from different trips to the sea and lakes and rivers....one piece from the beach in Vancouver, several from lakes near Canmore, Jasper, Banff etc etc....they all have memories for me and they look pretty all stood together in the pot :)

6. Lemon meringue or key lime?  Lemon Meringue....but I only really like the lemon bit and the pastry...I don't like too much of the meringue bit....i'll eat it though.  I love the lemon filling though mmmmm :)

7. What is the most beautiful word you know in any language?  I like the word 'lovely'  :)  which is probably why I say it ALL the time :)  lol!!!

8. Insert your own random thought here. I wish it was still raining.  It would have been nice to fall asleep listening to a summer rainstorm :)  

First flowers in my garden!!

"Elephant Ears"

Summer Lovin'

Silly Susie Snaps :)

Abby is sooooo NOT in to having her picture taken right now!!

Sam with his balloon yo-yo

Broadmoor Lake Park.....

First Farmers Market of the Summer :)

Tonight was the first Festival Place farmers market of the summer.  I love Wednesday evenings spent strolling around here....so off we went and bought our lovely lemonade....Sam had his popcorn...the girls had hot dogs.  We strolled up and dropped our library books back.  We bought fries and elephant ears and sat by the lake to eat them.  I had never tried an Elephant Ear before and can't say I was impressed.  It tasted of nothing really...like it needed apple pie filling or something with it...boring!!  All those calories for NOTHING!!  Nope won't bother with THAT again!!  But I wanted to try one!!  

We walked around looking at all the stalls and then around the lake to the playground.  Sam and Abby went roller skating while Susie and I sat at the playground until it got too cold and started to rain a little and we went to the car.  Eventually Sam and Abby came back and we headed home.  

I was playing with my hipstamatic app on my iphone and taking lots of pictures, so will add some of those here :)  It's a cute app and you just shake it and get a different lens and filter...like a random one....and so I wasn't sure how each picture was going to come out - it was really fun to see all the effects I got :)  

Lets get physical...

Abby playing in the indoor gym yesterday after swimming.

Hipstamatic snapshots....

Love these snapshots of Sam just after he had been swimming yesterday - taken using the Hipstamatic app on the iphone.