London

This picture of Picadilly Circus in London hangs in one of the tanning bed rooms at the tanning salon I go to :)  I soooo hope that there are coupons for tanning in the coupon book again in the Fall!  I loved the treat of tanning through the cold months - it gave me such a lift.  

New Asian Village

Last night I went out for supper with some friends that I don't see too often...in fact I kind of gatecrashed Monique and Tara's supper.  I saw them talking about Indian food on Tara's facebook wall and jumped at the chance of going out for Indian food too :)  Lloyd and I used to go almost weekly to A Taste of India...but now I don't get to go too often as so many people I know don't like spicy foods.  Susannah is one of the few people I can tempt to go there...and sometimes Val or Samantha!!  

So yes, I invited myself along to supper :)  And Monique invited Jodie, and it was really great to see them all.  It was such a fun meal - so many laughs - I really hope the people at the table next to ours couldn't hear our conversations!!  Although maybe we were the highlight of their day!!  Hahaha  :)  

Thank you everyone for not minding too much that I pushed in on your night out :)  It was a lot of fun and great to see you all!!

xxx

Friday Fill-ins

1. Hey! How can it be June already????  This year is going waaay too fast!!

2.  I'm not sure anything they said ever had a kernel of truth.

3. Eat one arrowroot cookie and I eat the whole packet...sigh....

4. I love him soooo much but he's definitely the child born in the middle. 

5. First thing to note: procrastination does not make me feel good in the long term.  Getting things crossed off my to-do list makes me feel sooo much better.

6. Facebook is a terrible distraction.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing my little part in helping a friend going through a difficult time, then having supper and watching a movie with the kids before an early night with my book :) , tomorrow my plans include going to the New Sarepta parade with Val then in the evening going to the movies with a group of women from a Meet-up group I've joined!! and Sunday, I want to see what the day brings and what the children feel like doing - but hope to get to the dog park with Rosie at least!

Ten question tag....

{one} do you believe in ghosts?   Yes, I lived in a haunted house in England, built in 1901, and experienced a few things...and so yes I DO believe in ghosts but do not find them frightening.  THe ones in my house were comforting and NOT frightening.  

{two} are you more of a talker or more of a listener?   I can listen and support when necessary but in the last year I have talked and talked and talked!!!  lol....It has really helped me work through things to talk it out and VENT!! :)  

{three} would you rather get up early or sleep late? I would rather get up early BUT I don't, I am not good at mornings - instead I stay up late and sleep late in the mornings!!

{four} if you could instantly become an expert at one type of dance, what type would you choose? Sexy salsa or dirty dancing style dancing!!  :)    

{five} what's your favorite drink? I like water, I love Bellini's, I drink diet pepsi when I'm in a restaurant and not drinking alcohol.




{six} if your house caught fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be? I think I would try and grab my Timeline that I created as part of my Soul Restoration class.  The kids special teddies from when they were babies and my Susie doll from when I was little.


{seven} if you could only visit one restaurant for the next five years, which would it be? Joeys South




{eight} who inspires you the most? Melody Ross

{nine} if you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?   Melody Ross, Christy Tomlinson, Kara Haupt  :)



{ten} sneakers or sandals?   Sandals

Build a Bear kit...

I gave the kids each a 50% off coupon for Michaels at the weekend and said they could each choose something. Susannah chose a set of Tim Holtz keys to wear on chains, and Abigail chose a 'sew it yourself' Build A Bear kit....so on Monday she got buys and stitched up her bunny!  She did a GREAT job and it didn't taker her too long to complete the project!!!  :)  

Recent pages in my art journal...

Using techniques from the class I am currently taking....She Had Three Hearts...by Christy Tomlinson.

Fred John Park - Leduc

The park where the get together was held today is quite beautiful - perfect for photo opportunities, a picnic or leisurely stroll :)  There were so many of my favourite birds - the RedWinged Blackbird - I love the sound of their song :)  

Goslings.....

We had a homeschool park day in Leduc today and while we were there we walked around the lake and saw geese with all their babies.  The goslings were sooooo cute.  Abigail and her new friend Rebecca were feeding them banana bread....

End of the month review - May

1.What books and/or magazines did I read this month?    Artful Blogging, Creating Keepsakes (last one of my 2 year subscription - I'm not renewing as I no longer scrapbook), and a pile of magazines Sharon gave me that I am still working through (thank you Sharon!! xxx)

2.What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?  I went to see Bridesmaids at the movies with Susannah.  It was FANTASTIC!!!!  I still keep laughing about certain scenes now!!!  It is sooooo funny!  I want to go and see it again!!  Totally recommend it :)  I also finally watched Tangled with Sam and Abby - we've had the dvd for ages but I hadn't seen it before.  Apart from that I didn't watch any tv or movies as far as I can remember.

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?    Wow....sooooo much!!  breakfast out with Val and Tara, brunch with JoAnne and JP, dinner with Sharon, date nights with each of my children individually - wonderful!!  A weekend to myself which was lovely and relaxing!  An evening on Whyte Ave with Samantha, an evening in the library coffee shop with Samantha,  a trip out to Katies Crossing with Cori....coffee and the antiques mall with Ki, dinner out with JoAnne, farmers market with the kids, homeschool park days with friends - I'm sure I'm forgetting things....if I haven't mentioned something I'm sorry..it's been a fantastic and wonderfully busy month :)  I feel very lucky to have had such a wonderful month :) 

4.  What gifts did I give and/ or receive?   The gift of friendship xxx  That has been the biggest gift I think this month...I have felt truly blessed this last month to have such wonderful friends to spend time with...and also to meet several new friends this month!!  I treated Laurence and Susannah to some special concert tickets they wanted as a thank you for being so amazing over the last year....I gave some of my art work away to friends...pieces I had made for them...I also have two packages to go off to friends in the US...Oh and I gave Sharon something she didn't like as well as some things she DID like...which was soooo funny because it was like we were doing a deal in the parking lot hahaha!!  And Tara was kind enough to give Abigail a HUGE bag of clothes - Tara is now Abigails favourite person :)

5.What special or unusual purchases did I make?     I bought tickets to go and see Wicked on stage at the Jubilee :)  I can't wait as I have wanted to see that show for a VERY long time :)  

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?   Stomach flu...and then some strange sickness that made me throw up for 4 days :(  

7.What were my accomplishments this month?  I sold two quads and the trailer!!  :)  By myself!  I made appointments to see a mortgage specialist and start my rrsp's on my own....I stopped procrastinating on a lot of things and got organized...We managed to unblock the VERY blocked toilet without calling in a plumber.  

8.What were my disappointments this month?  Christopher continued to show a lack of personal responsibility which is a shame for himself as much as anything.....Lloyd continues to try to cause problems which is delaying my chances of buying the house I want...he is also still trying to control me...and gets petty and nasty when I don't let him get to me....it's funny really but disappointing that he can't get the help he needs so we can move forward.  Mosquitoes are really bad this year and spoiling the enjoyment of being outside.

9.Anything else noteworthy to include?  It was a fabulous month.  I hope June continues to be as happy and positive!!!  Have a great month everyone!!

For today......

Outside My Window... frogs are still croaking...the sun is shining...the grass is COVERED in dandelions and it's like a sea of yellow - it's sooooo pretty.

I am thinking...about everything I learned in SR1 and going over my Timeline and and all the journaling I did and thinking about how far I've come....I am preparing for SR2  and I can't wait to begin and look towards the future...so exciting :)  

I am thankful for...Kathy and her kindness in giving me the 'She Had Three Hearts' class....which I am loving and learning sooooo much from!!!  28 videos!!!!!  In just the first week!  And each video had sooooo many new techniques in it!!!  So many new products to try out!!  I am sooo inspired.  

From the kitchen...Laurence is back in cake baking mode.....Abigail made cinnamon buns yesterday....Abigail also made a pasta dish for supper last night.

I am wearing...clothes

I am creating...art journal pages for the class I am taking 'She Had three Hearts' - a Christy Tomlinson class.  It's wonderful!!

I am going...to go and start on week twos class work now :)
I am reading...I haven't had time to be reading, because I have had 28 videos to watch this week as part of my online class!!!

I am hoping...to sell all the quads and the trailer in the next few weeks...

I am hearing... Sam chatting about the little spider in the window...and the journal he is writing in...Abigail chatting about the Build A Bear kit she is working on....the air conditioning running quietly in the background...for some reason yesterday the upstairs got REALLY hot yesterday even though the temperature outside wasn't super hot...so I have the ac running for a while again.  We didn't need it on last week as it was cooler.

Around the house...my toilet got blocked a few days ago from me flushing kleenex down it....oops...stupid snake didn't work....tried enzymes and they helped a bit but not fabulously.....but then we bought the two second plumber and WOW!!!  that thing was amazing!  Two seconds and the blockage was GONE!!

One of my favorite things...The movie 'Bridesmaids' that I saw on Saturday with Susannah - I haven't laughed soooo much in forever!!  It was HILARIOUS!!!  I am still laughing about scenes from that movie :)  I will be driving along and will suddenly remember a scene and start laughing :)  It has some lovely moments about friendship and relationships too but really the sheer release of just laughing out loud for two whole hours was wonderful!!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...We have two homeschool parkdays this week - one in Sherwood Park and one in Leduc.  I'm hoping to make it to the farmers market this week as last week I was ill and it was also raining.  I have a couple of other field trips planned but not sure for when...and I want to take Susannah to have her ears done and Laurence to the driving range....

Snapshots from our walk...

Rosie spies the water!!!  And she's off!!!

A few games of fetch with a stick:

Best of friends:

Scenes from the dog park....

Where's the bone???

Sam and Rosie found a big hole at the dog park last Monday and of course HAD to climb down in it to investigate :)  

After a long hot dry spell, it was cold and drizzly on Monday....6c....but I wasn't feeling well and thought the fresh air would do me good, so Sam and I had headed out for a walk.  It was a nice walk despite the cold and wet weather.....by the time I got home though I was feeling ill and had to climb in the bath which is where I started being sick :(  

Homeschool news....

Homeschooling continues as normal...Abigail has been doing quite a bit of math - fractions and multiplications...she has been doing a social project on Canada - we looked at the grade 3 and 4 books but they seemed boring and not very relevant so we went with the grade 2 book which is all about Provinces and capital cities etc.  We thought it was interesting that Canada has half the population of the whole of the UK, even though the UK is only the size of Alberta!!!

One of the books we got was a Grade 5 - 8 book on writing book reports.  Although its a little ahead of Abigails grade level, it looked really interesting and Abigail loved the idea of learning how to write in depth book reports and learning more about plots, settings, characters etc etc...

Sam got a new Grade 1 math book which started off REALLY simple for him with work that he was doing a year ago, but I thought might be good for him to go over again anyway...it was nice to see that despite only being in kindergarten, he is already doing really well in math considering his Dad says he will never learn anything if he doesn't go to school ;)  and that he hasn't done anything all year ;)

One morning last week while I wasn't well, the kids brought their books onto my bed and decided to study there....cookies, books and coziness :)

We have quite a few field trips planned in the next few weeks which I'm really looking forward to :)  I still haven't heard from my facilitator about our year end meeting.  Which also means we haven't signed for the upcoming year!  I really would like to do that as soon as possible.  

As I look back over the last school year, I am REALLY pleased and proud of the childrens progress.  I think they have done really well and learned sooooo much!!  The way they have matured is amazing and  their skills in many areas are so wonderful :)  It could have been a very difficult and stressful year, but thanks to homeschooling, a flexible plan, a wonderful facilitator and a lovely relaxed lifestyle, it has been a great year and as stress free as possible for the children and because of that, they have grown in many wonderful ways.

Typing...

Abigail has wanted a typewrite for a long while now....since watching 'You've Got Mail' I think....

So last week a friend of mine, Trish, kindly gave us one.  She wasn't sure if it actually worked, but we set it all up and had a got at figuring it out.  It needed new ink as the ink had dried out, so I picked some of that up and we still couldn't get it to work, so Abigail spent ages trying to figure out what was up with it - she googled the make and model and learned all kinds of neat things about how they are made.

She then figured out how to fix it!!!  :)  

Yay Abigail well done you!!!