Thursday, January 31, 2013
Rachel's Happy And She Knows It!
Rachel just started doing the actions to this song last night. We, of course, think it's adorable! (And please excuse my singing. There's a reason I'm not a professional soloist! Ha ha ha!)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
41 Before 41: Update
So last week I posted my list of 41 Things To Do Before I Turn 41. Are you wondering how that's going? Me too! Ha ha ha! I'm very organized nerdy about this so I've copied my list into Word and am bolding things as I get them done or, in some cases, achieve my weekly goal. Here's what the list is looking like as of today -- including some pictures. Hopefully next time I post I've been able to actually cross some things off!
1) Don't drink Coke for a week.
(This is going to be a tough one. I LOVE Coke. At one point I had suggested to Dave that I should attempt to go a week without yelling at our kids at all and he joked, "Don't do it the same week you give up Coke!" He's so funny.)
2) Write a letter to our sponsored child.
(We have been sponsoring a child through World Vision for two years and we've never written him a letter. We suck and it's time to change that.)
3) Buy a house.
(Self explanatory.)
4) Read through all the Today's Parents.
(We have ended our subscription to this magazine but they are still sending them to us. And we haven't read them since last March. So I'm going to read them and recycle them and then get them to stop sending them to us. Probably. I like free.) April 2012 – Finished Jan 23; May 2012 – Finished Jan 24; June 2012 – Finished Jan 25; July 2012 – Finished Jan 27; August 2012 – Finished Jan 29 (which basically means I have read all the magazines in this pile except for one, so I have that one plus five more to go. sigh.)
5) Complete a Beth Moore study.
(I am currently doing one so I just have to keep up with it. I have loved hearing Beth Moore ever since I saw my first video series of her a few years ago. She's hilarious. And wise.)
6) Fly an airplane.
(Dave is likely going to give me this experience for my birthday. I can't wait!!!)
7) Sew a second dress for Rachel.
(I finished one. I can finish two. Especially since I have all the materials for it.)
8) Get Sam toilet trained. (day trained only)
9) Finish sorting through old letters in my desk drawer.
(I had an entire box of letters starting from when I was 16 which I sorted through in Edmonton. Except for about ten which I moved here, shoved into my desk drawer, and haven't looked at since. It's time to change that.)
10) Print pictures -- again!
(If I don't stay on top of this the task becomes overwhelming. And now I have 70 folders of pictures which I need to go through.)
11) Make it to a Zumba class.
(I have been trying to get to one for seven months. This is looooong overdue. (BTW, the classes are at horrible times for me which is why this one is difficult.))
12) Have church small group kids over for supper in family groups.
(This is something Dave and I talked about so we just need to make it happen. I feel like we just visit with the adults at small group and I want to get to know the kids too.)
13) Invite two families from church over for a meal -- not families in my group of friends.
14) Make a meal for "Meals for Encouragement."
(This is our church's way of sharing meals. It's so easy to make a meal, why haven't I done it yet???)
15) Have a date night with Dave every two weeks. This will take some (a lot!) of planning. Gym night and fast food supper (healthy pitas and unhealthy onion rings, but we shared an order so it wasn't as unhealthy as it looks - ha!) – Jan 29;
16) Blog weekly about Hymn of the Week. FAILED
– Jan 27 (Winter Retreat Weekend);
17) Register with the stem cell and marrow network.
(I wrote away for information in September. I just need to do two quick things and send it back. Again, why hasn't this happened yet?!?!)
18) Write weekly e-mails to my New Mom's friends in Edmonton.
(I want to do a better job of staying in touch with my Edmonton friends. This might be a good way to make it work.) Written Jan 22 and Jan 29
19) Write updates to my virtual sisters' group every two weeks.
(I am part of this group and horrible at writing updates. I just need to do it!!!) Written Jan 22
20) Do one Pinterest project which I've pinned.
21) Cook one Pinterest recipe which I've pinned.
22) Try to give blood again.
(I have tried to give blood before but my hemoglobin is usually too low. That's no excuse and I should really try again.)
23) Teach Rachel five animal sounds.
(She doesn't know any right now. We'll see how this goes.)
24) Surprise Sam and say "Yes!" to something he wants.
(I feel like I'm often saying "No" to him.)
25) Work on my quilt again.
(I started making a quilt about fourteen years ago. By hand, because I'm stubborn that way. I got all the piecing done and then got stuck at the quilting it part. I don't intend to finish it before 41, because let's be realistic, but I do want to look at it again and work on it.)
26) See Cars: The Movie.
(No, I've never seen this movie.)
27) Finish watching the first season of Modern Family with Dave.
28) Go two weeks without eating pizza.
(We eat pizza a lot. And we usually order in. This is a money saving technique too!)
29) Read 5 books from the pile on my dresser.
(I have a stack of things on my dresser to do, I want to get rid of some of it.)
30) Frame Sam and Rachel's whale watching certificates, with pictures.
(Again, this will get another thing off my dresser!)
31) Learn how to use the printer.
(In my defense, the printer isn't hooked up the majority of the time and it's at Dave's desk so I need to learn how to hook it up to his computer and then load the paper. I'm a technologically advanced woman; I can do this. And it means that I can print things out on my own instead of always having to depend on Dave. Win-win.)
32) Get my grandma's sewing machine to a repair shop.
32 a) Learn how to use it.
33) Donate a can of food to the food bank EVERY time I go grocery shopping.
34) Bake bread.
(I can bake bread, I just never do. Why?)
35) Perform five random acts of kindness.
(Suggestions welcome. How to do this anonymously???) Shoveled neighbour’s driveway and sidewalk – Jan 28; (Pictured below is the neighbour's driveway and sidewalk. Then are two pictures of the two piles of snow I shoveled Monday. I was out with the kids for an hour and a half straight of shoveling wet, heavy snow in the rain. It was ...fun. Or not. And these pictures were taken yesterday after it had rained for about 24 hours straight so the snow had melted significantly. I think my next random acts of kindness will be less physically intense!)
36) Dust Sam's shelves.
(Again, this is kind of dumb but every time I'm in his room I notice the ever-growing layer of dust on his shelves. Why have they not been dusted since we moved in last May? It's ridiculous!)
37) Read the Bible everyday.
(I have a website I started following last year during Lent. I want to make this a habit.)
38) Give up Facebook for Lent.
(I did this last year and it felt so good. It totally changed how I use Facebook and I think it would be good to do again this year.)
39) Don't yell at the kids, or lose my temper with them, for a week.
(This is my major failing as a parent. I get frustrated and impatient and I yell. If I don't yell for a week that should help change my habits right?) I've been working on this one!
40) Go shopping at Target in Canada.
(Target is coming to Canada and I am soooooooooo excited about it, as are a lot of my friends. I cannot wait to shop at a Target here. Whooo hooo!!!!)
41) Complete everything on this list.
(I know, I know. That's kind of a cop-out. I'm having a hard time thinking of number 41. How about you help a sister-blogger out and make some suggestions as to one last thing I could do??? Thank you!)
1) Don't drink Coke for a week.
(This is going to be a tough one. I LOVE Coke. At one point I had suggested to Dave that I should attempt to go a week without yelling at our kids at all and he joked, "Don't do it the same week you give up Coke!" He's so funny.)
2) Write a letter to our sponsored child.
(We have been sponsoring a child through World Vision for two years and we've never written him a letter. We suck and it's time to change that.)
3) Buy a house.
(Self explanatory.)
4) Read through all the Today's Parents.
(We have ended our subscription to this magazine but they are still sending them to us. And we haven't read them since last March. So I'm going to read them and recycle them and then get them to stop sending them to us. Probably. I like free.) April 2012 – Finished Jan 23; May 2012 – Finished Jan 24; June 2012 – Finished Jan 25; July 2012 – Finished Jan 27; August 2012 – Finished Jan 29 (which basically means I have read all the magazines in this pile except for one, so I have that one plus five more to go. sigh.)
(I am currently doing one so I just have to keep up with it. I have loved hearing Beth Moore ever since I saw my first video series of her a few years ago. She's hilarious. And wise.)
6) Fly an airplane.
(Dave is likely going to give me this experience for my birthday. I can't wait!!!)
7) Sew a second dress for Rachel.
(I finished one. I can finish two. Especially since I have all the materials for it.)
8) Get Sam toilet trained. (day trained only)
9) Finish sorting through old letters in my desk drawer.
(I had an entire box of letters starting from when I was 16 which I sorted through in Edmonton. Except for about ten which I moved here, shoved into my desk drawer, and haven't looked at since. It's time to change that.)
10) Print pictures -- again!
(If I don't stay on top of this the task becomes overwhelming. And now I have 70 folders of pictures which I need to go through.)
11) Make it to a Zumba class.
(I have been trying to get to one for seven months. This is looooong overdue. (BTW, the classes are at horrible times for me which is why this one is difficult.))
12) Have church small group kids over for supper in family groups.
(This is something Dave and I talked about so we just need to make it happen. I feel like we just visit with the adults at small group and I want to get to know the kids too.)
13) Invite two families from church over for a meal -- not families in my group of friends.
14) Make a meal for "Meals for Encouragement."
(This is our church's way of sharing meals. It's so easy to make a meal, why haven't I done it yet???)
15) Have a date night with Dave every two weeks. This will take some (a lot!) of planning. Gym night and fast food supper (healthy pitas and unhealthy onion rings, but we shared an order so it wasn't as unhealthy as it looks - ha!) – Jan 29;
17) Register with the stem cell and marrow network.
(I wrote away for information in September. I just need to do two quick things and send it back. Again, why hasn't this happened yet?!?!)
18) Write weekly e-mails to my New Mom's friends in Edmonton.
(I want to do a better job of staying in touch with my Edmonton friends. This might be a good way to make it work.) Written Jan 22 and Jan 29
19) Write updates to my virtual sisters' group every two weeks.
(I am part of this group and horrible at writing updates. I just need to do it!!!) Written Jan 22
20) Do one Pinterest project which I've pinned.
21) Cook one Pinterest recipe which I've pinned.
22) Try to give blood again.
(I have tried to give blood before but my hemoglobin is usually too low. That's no excuse and I should really try again.)
23) Teach Rachel five animal sounds.
(She doesn't know any right now. We'll see how this goes.)
24) Surprise Sam and say "Yes!" to something he wants.
(I feel like I'm often saying "No" to him.)
25) Work on my quilt again.
(I started making a quilt about fourteen years ago. By hand, because I'm stubborn that way. I got all the piecing done and then got stuck at the quilting it part. I don't intend to finish it before 41, because let's be realistic, but I do want to look at it again and work on it.)
26) See Cars: The Movie.
(No, I've never seen this movie.)
27) Finish watching the first season of Modern Family with Dave.
28) Go two weeks without eating pizza.
(We eat pizza a lot. And we usually order in. This is a money saving technique too!)
29) Read 5 books from the pile on my dresser.
(I have a stack of things on my dresser to do, I want to get rid of some of it.)
30) Frame Sam and Rachel's whale watching certificates, with pictures.
(Again, this will get another thing off my dresser!)
31) Learn how to use the printer.
(In my defense, the printer isn't hooked up the majority of the time and it's at Dave's desk so I need to learn how to hook it up to his computer and then load the paper. I'm a technologically advanced woman; I can do this. And it means that I can print things out on my own instead of always having to depend on Dave. Win-win.)
32) Get my grandma's sewing machine to a repair shop.
32 a) Learn how to use it.
33) Donate a can of food to the food bank EVERY time I go grocery shopping.
34) Bake bread.
(I can bake bread, I just never do. Why?)
35) Perform five random acts of kindness.
(Suggestions welcome. How to do this anonymously???) Shoveled neighbour’s driveway and sidewalk – Jan 28; (Pictured below is the neighbour's driveway and sidewalk. Then are two pictures of the two piles of snow I shoveled Monday. I was out with the kids for an hour and a half straight of shoveling wet, heavy snow in the rain. It was ...fun. Or not. And these pictures were taken yesterday after it had rained for about 24 hours straight so the snow had melted significantly. I think my next random acts of kindness will be less physically intense!)
(Again, this is kind of dumb but every time I'm in his room I notice the ever-growing layer of dust on his shelves. Why have they not been dusted since we moved in last May? It's ridiculous!)
37) Read the Bible everyday.
(I have a website I started following last year during Lent. I want to make this a habit.)
38) Give up Facebook for Lent.
(I did this last year and it felt so good. It totally changed how I use Facebook and I think it would be good to do again this year.)
39) Don't yell at the kids, or lose my temper with them, for a week.
(This is my major failing as a parent. I get frustrated and impatient and I yell. If I don't yell for a week that should help change my habits right?) I've been working on this one!
40) Go shopping at Target in Canada.
(Target is coming to Canada and I am soooooooooo excited about it, as are a lot of my friends. I cannot wait to shop at a Target here. Whooo hooo!!!!)
41) Complete everything on this list.
(I know, I know. That's kind of a cop-out. I'm having a hard time thinking of number 41. How about you help a sister-blogger out and make some suggestions as to one last thing I could do??? Thank you!)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sam -- From His Point of View: The 2013 Edition
Last year around this time I did the following quiz with Sam. It was both fun and a pain (he got silly the first time I attempted to do it so we tried again a bit later) to fill it out with him. The answers are his and only edited for clarity. I did this quiz with Sam on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 and finished it on Sunday, January 27, 2013.
What is your name? Sam
How old are you? Three
What is your favourite colour? blue and green
Who is your best friend? Caleb and also Seth.
What is your favourite animal? "I think a duck would be good."
What is your favourite movie? Mighty Machines: All the episodes
What is your favourite book? Richard Scarry "What Do People Do All Day?" and "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go"
What is your favourite food? Tuna noodle casserole and Kraft Dinner with tuna and peas
What is your favourite song? Rock Island Line
What makes you happy? Playing play-dough with Daddy.
What makes you sad? Getting my hair washed in the bath.
What is your favourite game? Whatever is on the iPad. And playing with the recycling truck.
Can you write your name for me? Sam talked out loud as he wrote this and defiantly decided to make two "A"s. Whatever! "'S' and then circle, line, circle, line (for the two "a"s) and then bump, bump." (The second bump is the small little line on the right.) Dave and I were impressed that he's talking through how to actually make the letters.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Stories From The Weekend
Besides enjoying the wintery weather, whether from inside with a hot drink or from outside on a walk, we also had a lot of fun doing other things on our church retreat this past weekend. (One thing I should note, by no means does the entire church go on this retreat. We have about 250 people who attend our church on a weekly basis. There were about 60 people at this retreat so it was big enough to get to know more people but small enough to feel cozy.) Some of those fun events either weren't conducive to picture taking, such as some of the amazing conversations I had with people, and for some of them we were too busy having fun to take pictures, such as the walk outside with Sam and Rachel in the sled. But the following is what we did get pictures of...
While Rachel and Dave napped and Sam played, I did some of my Bible Study homework, along with Stephanie (and a coffee-hot chocolate of course!) who is doing the same study at a different church.
Rachel played with the drum and the Duplo.
Dave finally got to achieve his winter dream of skating with Sam. Sadly Rachel was already awake and I was feeling too lazy to bundle her up and go take pictures of the event. (Although I've heard rumours another parent took some pictures of Sam and we might be able to get them from her.) It was Sam's first time ever on skates and Dave said he had a great time. The ice was bumpy enough Sam could "skate" on his own without Dave holding onto him.
And when he wasn't conquering the ice, Sam was playing, Playing, PLAYING his little heart out. Playing trucks with his friends, playing Battleship with whoever would let him join in, playing Apples to Apples with Molly and Stefan and playing with my Grade 6 Sunday School kids. He just had so much fun.
And when he wasn't conquering the ice, Sam was playing, Playing, PLAYING his little heart out. Playing trucks with his friends, playing Battleship with whoever would let him join in, playing Apples to Apples with Molly and Stefan and playing with my Grade 6 Sunday School kids. He just had so much fun.
And Rachel loved hanging out with other adults, especially her "second Mommy" as I started calling my friend Karen. At one point Karen was leaving the room and asked if I would watch Nathan for a minute, I said sure and Nathan didn't even seem to notice she was leaving. Rachel, however, went tearing after Karen, waving madly. Karen came back and said, "I should have asked you to watch Rachel instead!" Ha ha ha!!! I love that my friends love my kids so much and my kids love my friends so much. In fact at one point I said to Dave, "This feels exactly like an extended family reunion for me" and isn't that what being a part of a church is all about?!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Scenes From A Snowy Saturday
We're back from retreating with our church in the Winter. Yesterday was beautiful as the snow fell and I sat in the dining hall and drank half coffee-half hot chocolate with real cream to make it really rich. I also got outside and shoveled and walked with Sam and Rachel in the sled, along with Dave and Karen and Nathan down to the pond. Tramping through the deep snow in the quiet of the woods was beautiful. And incredibly hard as we were breaking our own path, more or less! Anyways, in the afternoon Dave was inspired to go outside and take some pictures. Here is what he saw through the camera lens.
The winterized cabin which was our home for the weekend.
The cross at the campfire circle.
We had a wonderful, wintery, weekend getaway.
Friday, January 25, 2013
No Time To Post
In about three hours we are heading out for our church's Winter Retreat weekend. Sam and I are excited about it, Rachel has no idea what is about to hit her and Dave is not sure what to expect. Needless to say I'm leaving the laptop at home so I won't be posting tomorrow. And I wish I had something more exciting to write about today. Instead I'm sharing some pictures of the day along with a list of things I still need to, and hope to, accomplish before we go. Wish me luck and say some prayers!
Banana muffins waiting to be baked.
Dishes to be done.
These ones are actually washed but more have piled up.
And the dried ones need to be put away.
It never ends...
List of things to pack as of 9am today.
Things packed as of 9am today.
Along with one suitcase (not shown) for the kids.
Laundry waiting to be done.
The last load is in the washer and
the third load is in the dryer.
Making progress...
Apron, housecoat and pjs (cause it was cold), slippers
and Cheerios on the floor. Someone should do something
about those :)
Accomplished but not pictured:
-- bathed Sam
-- fed everyone lunch and breakfast
-- did some laundry and washed some dishes and did some packing
-- dropped Dave's guitar off so our friends with their HUGE mini-van (compared to our awesome little Matrix) can take it along for us.
Still need to accomplish:
-- wash more dishes
-- find Sam's guy for his excavator
-- pack said toys
-- fold laundry
-- finish packing
-- clean up garbage and recycling bins (since it was our garbage day today)
-- shovel snow (since it's snowing AGAIN.)
-- get gas in the car
-- pack the car
-- shower (I hope!!!)
See you on Sunday when I hope to share about our whole weekend but in reality will likely be too exhausted and only share a photo or two. We shall see...
What are your weekend plans?
Thursday, January 24, 2013
It's All About Perspective
Is this just a messy kitchen?
Is it just an excuse to dump out all the toys?
Or is it the aftermath of a rousing game of toy hockey?
A way to keep the kids entertained on a cold, cold morning?
A very big mess? Or a sign of good times had?
You decide!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Brrrrrr!
Yesterday we had a high of -13C (8.6F) with a windchill of -24C (-11.2F).
Sam wisely spent the day in his polar bear fleece pajamas with feet. And ate popsicles.
Yep, you read (and saw) that right. He ate popsicles.
I drank copious amounts of hot tea. To each their own. I guess.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Miss Rachel got her first ever haircut last night.
Our hairdresser doesn't charge for a first haircut...
...because she doesn't know how the kids will react...
...and how much she will be able to do.
Miss Rachel Roo was a pro and barely moved a muscle.
In fact, I think she really enjoyed herself.
I was a little sad to see her curls go but
I think her hair looks a lot better now.
My baby's growing up.
sniff :(
Monday, January 21, 2013
41 Before 41 (With Explanations)
Now that Dave's birthday is over, I'm looking ahead to mine at the beginning of May. I never made a "40 Before 40" list so I thought I'd do a "41 Before 41." Some of these will turn into interesting blog posts and some of them you will just have to take my word for. Ha! Also some of these things seem pretty simple but haven't happened yet (for one reason or another) and lists really motivate me. Putting it out there for the entire interwebs to read should REALLY motivate me! So without further ado, here is my list.
1) Don't drink Coke for a week.
(This is going to be a tough one. I LOVE Coke. At one point I had suggested to Dave that I should attempt to go a week without yelling at our kids at all and he joked, "Don't do it the same week you give up Coke!" He's so funny.)
2) Write a letter to our sponsored child.
(We have been sponsoring a child through World Vision for two years and we've never written him a letter. We suck and it's time to change that.)
3) Buy a house.
(Self explanatory.)
4) Read through all the Today's Parents.
(We have ended our subscription to this magazine but they are still sending them to us. And we haven't read them since last March. So I'm going to read them and recycle them and then get them to stop sending them to us. Probably. I like free.)
5) Complete a Beth Moore study.
(I am currently doing one so I just have to keep up with it. I have loved hearing Beth Moore ever since I saw my first video series of her a few years ago. She's hilarious. And wise.)
6) Fly an airplane.
(Dave is likely going to give me this experience for my birthday. I can't wait!!!)
7) Sew a second dress for Rachel.
(I finished one. I can finish two. Especially since I have all the materials for it.)
8) Get Sam toilet trained. (day trained only)
9) Finish sorting through old letters in my desk drawer.
(I had an entire box of letters starting from when I was 16 which I sorted through in Edmonton. Except for about ten which I moved here, shoved into my desk drawer, and haven't looked at since. It's time to change that.)
10) Print pictures -- again!
(If I don't stay on top of this the task becomes overwhelming. And now I have 70 folders of pictures which I need to go through.)
11) Make it to a Zumba class.
(I have been trying to get to one for seven months. This is looooong overdue. (BTW, the classes are at horrible times for me which is why this one is difficult.))
12) Have church small group kids over for supper in family groups.
(This is something Dave and I talked about so we just need to make it happen. I feel like we just visit with the adults at small group and I want to get to know the kids too.)
13) Invite two families from church over for a meal -- not families in my group of friends.
14) Make a meal for "Meals for Encouragement."
(This is our church's way of sharing meals. It's so easy to make a meal, why haven't I done it yet???)
15) Have a date night with Dave every two weeks. This will take some (a lot!) of planning.
16) Blog weekly about Hymn of the Week.
17) Register with the stem cell and marrow network.
(I wrote away for information in September. I just need to do two quick things and send it back. Again, why hasn't this happened yet?!?!)
18) Write weekly e-mails to my New Mom's friends in Edmonton.
(I want to do a better job of staying in touch with my Edmonton friends. This might be a good way to make it work.)
19) Write updates to my virtual sisters' group every two weeks.
(I am part of this group and horrible at writing updates. I just need to do it!!!)
20) Do one Pinterest project which I've pinned.
21) Cook one Pinterest recipe which I've pinned.
22) Try to give blood again.
(I have tried to give blood before but my hemoglobin is usually too low. That's no excuse and I should really try again.)
23) Teach Rachel five animal sounds.
(She doesn't know any right now. We'll see how this goes.)
24) Surprise Sam and say "Yes!" to something he wants.
(I feel like I'm often saying "No" to him.)
25) Work on my quilt again.
(I started making a quilt about fourteen years ago. By hand, because I'm stubborn that way. I got all the piecing done and then got stuck at the quilting it part. I don't intend to finish it before 41, because let's be realistic, but I do want to look at it again and work on it.)
26) See Cars: The Movie.
(No, I've never seen this movie.)
27) Finish watching the first season of Modern Family with Dave.
28) Go two weeks without eating pizza.
(We eat pizza a lot. And we usually order in. This is a money saving technique too!)
29) Read 5 books from the pile on my dresser.
(I have a stack of things on my dresser to do, I want to get rid of some of it.)
30) Frame Sam and Rachel's whale watching certificates, with pictures.
(Again, this will get another thing off my dresser!)
31) Learn how to use the printer.
(In my defense, the printer isn't hooked up the majority of the time and it's at Dave's desk so I need to learn how to hook it up to his computer and then load the paper. I'm a technologically advanced woman; I can do this. And it means that I can print things out on my own instead of always having to depend on Dave. Win-win.)
32) Get my grandma's sewing machine to a repair shop.
32 a) Learn how to use it.
33) Donate a can of food to the food bank EVERY time I go grocery shopping.
34) Bake bread.
(I can bake bread, I just never do. Why?)
35) Perform five random acts of kindness.
(Suggestions welcome. How to do this anonymously???)
36) Dust Sam's shelves.
(Again, this is kind of dumb but every time I'm in his room I notice the ever-growing layer of dust on his shelves. Why have they not been dusted since we moved in last May? It's ridiculous!)
37) Read the Bible everyday.
(I have a website I started following last year during Lent. I want to make this a habit.)
38) Give up Facebook for Lent.
(I did this last year and it felt so good. It totally changed how I use Facebook and I think it would be good to do again this year.)
39) Don't yell at the kids, or lose my temper with them, for a week.
(This is my major failing as a parent. I get frustrated and impatient and I yell. If I don't yell for a week that should help change my habits right?)
40) Go shopping at Target in Canada.
(Target is coming to Canada and I am soooooooooo excited about it, as are a lot of my friends. I cannot wait to shop at a Target here. Whooo hooo!!!!)
41) Complete everything on this list.
(I know, I know. That's kind of a cop-out. I'm having a hard time thinking of number 41. How about you help a sister-blogger out and make some suggestions as to one last thing I could do??? Thank you!)
1) Don't drink Coke for a week.
(This is going to be a tough one. I LOVE Coke. At one point I had suggested to Dave that I should attempt to go a week without yelling at our kids at all and he joked, "Don't do it the same week you give up Coke!" He's so funny.)
2) Write a letter to our sponsored child.
(We have been sponsoring a child through World Vision for two years and we've never written him a letter. We suck and it's time to change that.)
3) Buy a house.
(Self explanatory.)
4) Read through all the Today's Parents.
(We have ended our subscription to this magazine but they are still sending them to us. And we haven't read them since last March. So I'm going to read them and recycle them and then get them to stop sending them to us. Probably. I like free.)
5) Complete a Beth Moore study.
(I am currently doing one so I just have to keep up with it. I have loved hearing Beth Moore ever since I saw my first video series of her a few years ago. She's hilarious. And wise.)
6) Fly an airplane.
(Dave is likely going to give me this experience for my birthday. I can't wait!!!)
7) Sew a second dress for Rachel.
(I finished one. I can finish two. Especially since I have all the materials for it.)
8) Get Sam toilet trained. (day trained only)
9) Finish sorting through old letters in my desk drawer.
(I had an entire box of letters starting from when I was 16 which I sorted through in Edmonton. Except for about ten which I moved here, shoved into my desk drawer, and haven't looked at since. It's time to change that.)
10) Print pictures -- again!
(If I don't stay on top of this the task becomes overwhelming. And now I have 70 folders of pictures which I need to go through.)
11) Make it to a Zumba class.
(I have been trying to get to one for seven months. This is looooong overdue. (BTW, the classes are at horrible times for me which is why this one is difficult.))
12) Have church small group kids over for supper in family groups.
(This is something Dave and I talked about so we just need to make it happen. I feel like we just visit with the adults at small group and I want to get to know the kids too.)
13) Invite two families from church over for a meal -- not families in my group of friends.
14) Make a meal for "Meals for Encouragement."
(This is our church's way of sharing meals. It's so easy to make a meal, why haven't I done it yet???)
15) Have a date night with Dave every two weeks. This will take some (a lot!) of planning.
16) Blog weekly about Hymn of the Week.
17) Register with the stem cell and marrow network.
(I wrote away for information in September. I just need to do two quick things and send it back. Again, why hasn't this happened yet?!?!)
18) Write weekly e-mails to my New Mom's friends in Edmonton.
(I want to do a better job of staying in touch with my Edmonton friends. This might be a good way to make it work.)
19) Write updates to my virtual sisters' group every two weeks.
(I am part of this group and horrible at writing updates. I just need to do it!!!)
20) Do one Pinterest project which I've pinned.
21) Cook one Pinterest recipe which I've pinned.
22) Try to give blood again.
(I have tried to give blood before but my hemoglobin is usually too low. That's no excuse and I should really try again.)
23) Teach Rachel five animal sounds.
(She doesn't know any right now. We'll see how this goes.)
24) Surprise Sam and say "Yes!" to something he wants.
(I feel like I'm often saying "No" to him.)
25) Work on my quilt again.
(I started making a quilt about fourteen years ago. By hand, because I'm stubborn that way. I got all the piecing done and then got stuck at the quilting it part. I don't intend to finish it before 41, because let's be realistic, but I do want to look at it again and work on it.)
26) See Cars: The Movie.
(No, I've never seen this movie.)
27) Finish watching the first season of Modern Family with Dave.
28) Go two weeks without eating pizza.
(We eat pizza a lot. And we usually order in. This is a money saving technique too!)
29) Read 5 books from the pile on my dresser.
(I have a stack of things on my dresser to do, I want to get rid of some of it.)
30) Frame Sam and Rachel's whale watching certificates, with pictures.
(Again, this will get another thing off my dresser!)
31) Learn how to use the printer.
(In my defense, the printer isn't hooked up the majority of the time and it's at Dave's desk so I need to learn how to hook it up to his computer and then load the paper. I'm a technologically advanced woman; I can do this. And it means that I can print things out on my own instead of always having to depend on Dave. Win-win.)
32) Get my grandma's sewing machine to a repair shop.
32 a) Learn how to use it.
33) Donate a can of food to the food bank EVERY time I go grocery shopping.
34) Bake bread.
(I can bake bread, I just never do. Why?)
35) Perform five random acts of kindness.
(Suggestions welcome. How to do this anonymously???)
36) Dust Sam's shelves.
(Again, this is kind of dumb but every time I'm in his room I notice the ever-growing layer of dust on his shelves. Why have they not been dusted since we moved in last May? It's ridiculous!)
37) Read the Bible everyday.
(I have a website I started following last year during Lent. I want to make this a habit.)
38) Give up Facebook for Lent.
(I did this last year and it felt so good. It totally changed how I use Facebook and I think it would be good to do again this year.)
39) Don't yell at the kids, or lose my temper with them, for a week.
(This is my major failing as a parent. I get frustrated and impatient and I yell. If I don't yell for a week that should help change my habits right?)
40) Go shopping at Target in Canada.
(Target is coming to Canada and I am soooooooooo excited about it, as are a lot of my friends. I cannot wait to shop at a Target here. Whooo hooo!!!!)
41) Complete everything on this list.
(I know, I know. That's kind of a cop-out. I'm having a hard time thinking of number 41. How about you help a sister-blogger out and make some suggestions as to one last thing I could do??? Thank you!)
Saturday, January 19, 2013
"I'm going on an adventure."
Last night Dave and I had the "adult celebration" of his birthday. (Ooohhhh -- doesn't that just sound risque?!?). We went out for an amazing dinner at Ennio's, a local Italian restaurant. It was delicious. We had escargots with and amazing mustard cream sauce (of which there are no pictures because we ate it too quickly), really good salad and pasta. I had cheese capelleti and Dave had a spicy sausage spinach pasta. I could not finish mine and Dave regretted eating all of his!
It was a very fun evening and Dave said he felt well celebrated. And thus ends the posts about Dave's birthday. Until next year...!
We had an excellent server who even took a picture of the two of us with our meals, despite our camera being a little cranky.
Then we went to see The Hobbit. We saw it in 3D so I had to pose beside the picture with my popcorn and drink, wearing my 3D glasses. Then Dave wanted in on the fun and even took a self-photo (which he NEVER does and always gets really irritated when I do it!).
It was a very fun evening and Dave said he felt well celebrated. And thus ends the posts about Dave's birthday. Until next year...!
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