It's just life in the Puddle

Finding Deals

2012-01-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a great deal we spotted today while at the mall

Marked down from $69.97 to $29.40 and all previously reduced appliances were an additional 30% off making it $20.58. It even comes with a timer and a pizza rack. Perfect for Kelsey's Dorm Room.
I also bought a few things for Crystal, pants/tops for $2.50 each. They just fit her, but for that price who cares if she can wear it next year. They didn't have anything in the next size up or I would have stocked up on her wardrobe. I did get a really good deal on socks too. And Mike got a new shirt(:

2012 Is Here

2012-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

This year is going to be a pretty amazing year for our family. Sean & I just celebrated our 7th anniversary. We are working on birthday and grad plans. Mike turns 16 in March, so we want to do something extra special for him. If anyone has ideas for his b-day, send me an email. Most of you know that shortly after Mike turns 16, I turn 40, which I was hoping to spend in Hawaii, but that is not going to happen. Maybe Hawaii 5-0? There is still hope for a trip this fall since Robin and I will be 40 all year long. LOL!
Grad is less than 5 months away. There is a lot of planning for that. I am hoping to go to the Dry Grad meeting tonight with Kelsey and sign up for volunteering. Kelsey had her grad photos taken today. I have already bought her prom gown. It is absolutely gorgeous. I guess I should probably buy myself a nice outfit for grad too. Kelsey is planning on going to TRU Kamloops in the fall. She will most likely be staying at the dorms there. She turns 18 in April. Where did all that time go? In August Crystal will turn 8. And if the world doesn't end just before Christmas, LOL, We will probably be spending Christmas at The Hills. FYI The world is not going to end in 2012 because I watched Back to The Future and Marty McFly traveled to 2015~

Brownies Enrollment

2011-12-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

Here is Crystal being enrolled as a Brownie.

Kels & Mike's reaction

2011-11-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

This video was taken the night before we flew out. We had to tell them because Kels had way too much stuff packed in her luggage.

Before I told them we were having supper at iHop and some people we knew from WL were there and they were going to Disneyland the next morning. When they asked what we were doing there I said we are going shopping. Then we ran into them again at our hotel in Disneyland.

We surprised the kids for Fall Break

2011-11-13T19:09:00.001-08:00

It is very hard to keep a secret when you are at the airport, they ask too many questions. One fellow said someone is going to Disneyland. When we got to the ticket booth I told them that Crystal does not know so the lady told her we were going to Winnipeg. When we headed down Disney Way Kels played a game with Crystal covering her eyes so she didn't see Disneyland as we drove by. We told her before we checked into our hotel which was across the street from the main entrance. Awesome!

Our Blue Fairy (from Pinocchio)

2011-10-31T18:50:00.001-07:00

Halloween Party

2011-10-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Lots of great snacks

Piniata in the dark

Here's the Truth....

2011-10-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Finally, an explanation that makes sense, backed with historical and biblical evidence!
In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.
And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"
And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"
And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent. To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP). And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.
And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.
And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others." And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to be known. He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."
And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.
Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).

That is how it all began. And that's the truth.

Trip to The Pumpkin Field

2011-10-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

We ran into Caleb, so Crystal went on a hay ride with him.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-10-07T11:24:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving weekend is here! I wanted to take some time out and reflect on what I am thankful for. Many things come to mind,some I can share while others I cannot. But while I was thinking a friend of mine posted on Facebook that her dad died. They had a strained relationship and barely have spoken in years. So this year, I am thankful that I am repairing strained relationships in my life. It's a slow process, but very worth it. I don't even know how we got there (being strained) and I think it has been that way almost my entire life. But I choose to see the good in people, forgive and move on. I contributed to the relationship break down just as much as the other people did. Life is too short to spend time being enemies when you can be friends, laughing and loving together. This weekend I have my family visiting. I will make a nice turkey dinner and enjoy my company. Good times(:

A few more pictures...

2011-09-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

We kept the glass display cabinet. I have new hinges and matching pulls that Sean is going to put on. Soon I hope(:

The desk/ phone area. Crystal can do her homework at the desk while I'm busy in the kitchen.

The peninsula/eating bar matches nicely with the dinning room.

This is the main entrance to my kitchen.

Before & After Sneek Peak

2011-09-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

We still have a bunch of work to do before I can post some good pictures. The tile by the stove needs put back up. I still have clutter on the countertops. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend that it is all neat and clean. Then I will take some more pictures(:

The Tear Down

2011-09-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

The First Day of School

2011-09-07T11:22:00.001-07:00

Here's Mike, going to Grade 10

Here's Kels, going to grade 12

Here's Crystal, going to grade 2

OK, so today is actually the second day of school. We missed the first day because we were on holidays and did not know that Tuesday that was supposed to be "Curriculum Implementation Day" was cancelled because of the job action. So, my kids played hooky yesterday. By the time the elementary school called, it was too late to send them. Oops!

The Island is gone

2011-08-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Now we know what was underneath the island and how big our cabinet will need to be because there is no way I want to re-do our floors. Well, at least not yet anyways!

Cute Swan Pool Toy(:

2011-08-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

I am so fed up with STUPID drivers

2011-08-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I took Kelsey out for a driving lesson after supper. We appoached a playground zone and my daughter slowed down to just under 30 km/hr. All of a sudden there is a silver mini-van tail gating us. Before I even had time to tell Kels to just pull over and let him by, a White Toyota Pyrus passes both the mini-van and my car. I had time to write down the liscence plate number of the white car. This person driving the Pyrus is a professional Driver. (I am not mentioning the company name, but if you live in this city, you know what company I am talking about) My first thought is what an idiot he is and it made me mad that a professional driver would drive like that. Next thing I know the silver mini-van is passing us. What the heck? I could see the N on the back but he was driving too fast to catch the liscence plate #. The lady walking on the sidewalk stood there with a shocked look on her face. She couldn't believe what just happened either. Shame on both drivers. There is a Reason for playground zones and I wish people would respect the speed limits posted. I hope they get caught before something terrible happens. I am finding that since I've been teaching my daughter to drive, I notice more and more idiots on our roads. The 2 minites they saved speeding could have cost someone their life. I am very discusted and have made a complaint to the RCMP.

Weekend Clean Up

2011-08-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our back yard was beginning to look like a dirt pile. The leaves from last fall were still blown in the corners on our patio. The dead cedar tress branches that fell to the ground were piling up. Oh and the stairs to the basement...ewe gross! So we started clean up after lunch on Saturday. What a mess. We will have to make a dump run today. Sean finished power washing the patio by 9pm. It looks so much better. The grass is mowed the rose bush trimmed and the dead tree branches are removed. Now we can enjoy the back yard again. Too bad the hard water left water spot/streaks on our windows. Now we need to wash them. I don't do windows, so I am going to town to buy Sean a squeegie(:

I found the note....

2011-08-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I found a note that my 7yr old wrote. It said “I hav a horbel famle. I hayt them.”
I felt a mixture of emotions, as I am sure most parents do. Then I wondered if she really meant it. Then I said to myself, of course she did not mean it. It would have been easier for me though if she would have told me to my face that she hates me. Then I would have an inkling as to why. But to write it down seems disturbing. Then I think she is copying what some of her other friends say about their parents. I was still upset because we have tried so hard to love and be loved by her. How could my daughter whom I love so dearly despise me? Then I think of how brave that was to put it down in writing instead of yelling it to me when she was angry at me. I find that was her way of letting us know that she felt secure enough to put her feelings of anger into words. This note was not hidden in her room, but written in her doodle book that sits in the kitchen where anyone could look at it. “I hate you” is just the first of many zingers our children will spout out when they are angry at us. From Kindergarten to about grade 7, we will hear a number of these zingers, such as: “You always say NO!”, “Dad is nicer than you”, “You’re so unfair!”. The list could go on and on..... Though it is very hard not to boil over at moments like these, the best way to deal with it is to take a deep breath and focus on the emotions, not the word or statements made. I let her know that it is OK to be mad, angry, sad etc. We all feel that way sometimes. I reassured her that even when she is being really naughty and getting into trouble, I still love her and I could never hate her. I may not like what she says or how she acts, but I will always love her because she is my daughter. She told me she wrote the note before her 7th birthday and before we bought her those beautiful dresses. She was upset that I made her wear pants the one day she went to day camp at the park and it was pouring rain and she wanted to wear a dress.
She told me that she doesn’t really hate our family. Then she wrote in her doodle book “ I have a good famile. I love them.”

My attempt at a Barbi Cake

2011-08-03T19:20:00.001-07:00

Yummy Angel Food Cake with lots of Whip Cream. Some how Grandma's always looks better than mine.
I can say this cake was made with love(:

Grandpa Knorr's Obit

2011-08-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

Camping at Dutch's in Vernon

2011-08-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Crystal's 7th Birthday Party

2011-08-01T18:54:00.001-07:00

Posting the Obit my mom put in the newspaper

2011-07-29T14:54:00.001-07:00

2011-07-27T09:27:00.001-07:00

BB Days Pics

2011-07-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

Summer 2011 So Far

2011-07-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

This summer started out like most...rain rain rain. But by the end of The Stampede the rain usually disappears. This year has been quite different. In fact, I haven’t turned on the sprinklers this summer at all. The summer started out with sad news. My grandma (my Dad’s mom) passed away June 20, 2011 at the age of 93. Then 20 days later, my grandpa (my Mom’s dad) passed away, just 1 month short of turning 97.

He passed away in his sleep July 10, 2011. They both had great lives and I will miss them. We had a Celebration of Life for my Grandma July 2nd in Nanaimo. My Grandpa’s Celebration of Life will be July 31st in Vernon. Mike went camping with one of his buddies and we will pick him up on our way to Vernon. We had fun at Billy Barker Days this past weekend. The highlight for me was eating out at Mr. Mike’s. I had a Super Mushroom Burger. Ahhh....that brings back memories of when I was a kid and when I worked at Mr. Mike’s when I was a teenager. Still the same great taste and I love the Special Mike Sauce. I was disappointed they didn’t serve steak fries any more. I just had regular french fries. The girls got to enjoy the rides at the Midway. We walked around The Gold Nugget Mall and Crystal spent her money at the candy store. Kelsey met up with some friends at the park and spent the night at her dad’s. Her friends brought her home on Sunday. We had hoped to go camping but the weather is just not co-operating. We will bring our tent trailer to Vernon at the end of the month. We are camping at Vernon Creek, which is a short walk to Kal Lake and just happens to be across the street from my Uncle’s house. This time we are going to try and make a holiday out of our trip. It will also be the weekend before Crystal’s 7th birthday, so we are hoping to do something fun for that. The campsite has a mini golf course. If time permits, we would like to go to Atlantis Waterslides. I haven’t been to those water slides since the 80’s. So that should be fun, as long as the weather is warm. Our scheduled holidays are at the end of August. I am hoping to take the kids to Victoria, as they have never been there. I am looking forward to going to Buchart Gardens and the BC Museum. Hopefully my parents can go to Victoria with us. My dad makes a great tour guide and the kids always have fun hanging out with their grandma.

More pictures from Island Trip

2011-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Neck Point/Piper's Lagoon

2011-07-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Sway-la-na

2011-07-04T21:48:00.001-07:00

St. Winifred's School Choir 'There's no one quite like Grandma' on Top o...

2011-06-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is in memory of my Grandma Mary. She was 93.

And She's Off to Brownies

2011-05-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

In September(:

Car Show 2011

2011-05-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sean took some nice pictures of some of the cars. The purple 1970 Road Runner was one of my favorites!

Hubby's B-day

2011-05-25T20:09:00.001-07:00

We had a nice dinner out at Boston Pizza and came home for yummy chocolate mouse cake

1st Camping Trip of the Season

2011-05-23T14:19:00.001-07:00

We had a mixture of all types of weather. After the rain it was very muddy. But that didn't stop Sean & Mike from Quading. The sun was out all day Saturday. Sunday it rained a lot in the morning and cleared up in the afternoon. Crystal sure enjoyed fishing. With the help of Winter's grandpa, she caught two big fish. Mike tried to catch the big one, but only hooked little baby ones. You can see the size he caught in the picture. It was a nice first trip out camping.

Easter Pics

2011-04-26T20:45:00.001-07:00

Happy 17th Kels

2011-03-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is me at 39

2011-03-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

Next year....Hawaii 4-0!

Happy 15th Birthday Mike(:

2011-03-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Hills Trip 2011

2011-02-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Tubing is really fun! It was great that Lawna and Winter went tubing with us as well.

I always make an extra special breakfast when we are at The Hills. Yummy(:

Jenga is always fun to play(:

Another great weekend at The Hills!

Winter Camp Fun

2011-02-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket was a hit

2011-02-05T21:41:00.001-08:00

For Christmas I didn't know what to get my parents, so I put together an ice cream sundae gift basket. I found those sundae cups and started putting together the gift basket. It had 3 different kinds of syrup, sprinkles, candies, peanuts and more. It was fun putting it all together. I'm glad they enjoyed it.
Because my parents do not have internet, my mom sends me her SD card every month so that I can send her pictures of our family for her scrap booking calendars she is making. As I was looking at the pictures she sent me, I came across two pictures entitled yummy and ditto. Here they are!

What a nice way to say thank you. It made my day. Oh and yeah it made me so want a sundae. Why didn't I buy sundae cups for our family?

4 1/2 Years in the making for this smile(:

2011-01-27T19:52:00.001-08:00

Here's the reason my kids needed braces.

Bucky Borgfords

Mike had his braces put on in the beginning of grade 5. They came off the summer between grade 6 and 7. One month into grade 7 he had the second set put on. This time it was top and bottom. Now 4 1/2 years later here is Mike's beautiful teeth. They look amazing! Kels gets her off just before she graduates in a year and 5 months(:

The Snow

2011-01-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

In the pastor's sermon today he said everyone he talked to this week, he asked them about the snow and they all said they like it. I wonder what I would have said if he asked me. Certainly if we had 3 feet of snow all at once, then it would have been very difficult- shoveling and driving etc. But the snow came, very noticable and late in the season and yet we are not even 1 month into "Winter". It sure would have been great to have snow like this at Christmas break when we had more time to enjoy it. We have been making the most of it. I actually though we might not get to go sledding or skating on the outdoor rinks this season, but January has been quite snowy for us. I'm tired of shoveling, but secretly I am really enjoying the snow. We have been out sledding and skating every weekend so far this year. Today was even more special to me because my son went sledding and skating with us and I didn't have to beg him or bribe him. We all had a great time, good family time(:
Another thing pastor mentioned in his sermon was about how the snow came and because it came daily in 6-30 cm we could handle it. Now he is asking God to speak to us or his spirit to come on us just like the snow. You know, enough to be noticed but not too much to overwhelm us. How fantastic is that! And reflecting on where were are right now spiritually got me thinking of how God has worked in my life over the past year to bring me to where I am today. I look back and I see a big change in my life. Lots of crazy good and bad things happened in 2010 but if God had dumped 3 ft on me all at once I would have been crushed. He is so gentle and brings us only as much as we can handle. I felt God pouring into my life all year long I felt his presence a lot more than I had in several years. He spoke to me and I listened. It truly was amazing. I don't think for one minute I could have made a change in careers if it hadn't been God appointed. I don't think I would have survived eye surgery if I hadn't felt God's presence with me while I smelled the stench from my eyes as the laser doing it's job. I don't think we would have been able to handle adoption and special needs that came up in 2010 if God wasn't right by my side. I shed lots of tears in 2010, but God knew how much I could handle. He also brought me great joy out of those times of sorrow. I really enjoyed the worship today at church. I fell right into his presence and it was awesome. I've really missed that kind of worship. It makes me think about what God has in store for me in the near future.

More Winter Fun

2011-01-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

We even got Mike out. Yay(:

6 Wonderful Years

2011-01-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

Time is going by so fast. Sean & I just celebrated our 6th anniversary. We went out for supper last night hoping to go to our favorite Italian Restaurant, but it was closed. So we tried Big Mamas and it was great(: We had all the kids with us and the food was fantastic. It was a great way to end our Anniversary Weekend. We are still hoping to go to The Hills later this month. We try to get there every year because it is so beautiful there and that is where we were married. Unfortunately, our anniversary seems to always fall on the Jack Hawthorn Dog Sled Racing weekend. Last year when we went, the dogs kept us awake and having Diesel now, I'm sure he'd bark back at them. So we have to pick another weekend to go there. I love going tubing and skating and relaxing in the hot tub is great too. I can't wait(:

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T21:46:00.001-08:00

Santa brought Crystal a ballerina tutu that she asked for from every mall Santa we saw while in Kamloops. Good thing we found a Toys R Us that had them in bigger girls size. Sean worked really hard making Crystal a doll house. It wasn't quite finished, but we gave it to her anyway. That way she can decide what color the house should be painted. She is thinking of painting it yellow to match our house. I thought for sure she would have picked pink or purple. And of course Kinect arrived under our tree. Even though it was sold out all over. We were able to snap 1 up. Then only a few days before Christmas I was shopping with Kels at Walmart and they got a new shipment in. She was wondering why I wasn't buying it. Hee hee! We had a great Christmas and Sean spoiled me(:

Have A Very Merry Christmas

2010-12-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

With love from,
Sandi, Sean, Kelsey, Mike, Crystal & Diesel

Icey Driveway

2010-12-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

Apparantly our driveway was very slippery. I poked my head out the front door this morning to grab the newspaper and saw our truck at the bottom of the driveway. Sometime since I returned home after picking up Kelsey & Mike from their grandma's place the truck slid. It slid about 12 feet and luckily stopped at the very bottom of the driveway and was not on the road what so ever. Thankyou Lord! I certainly did not need to have to pay for damages if it slid into the neighbour's driveway or worse if it got hit by an on coming vehicle. If our truck had slid even 1 foot more it would have been on the road. That was my very first experience with slipping vehicles. Sean has now salted and sanded the driveway. I am so thankful nothing bad happened. I was the last to drive the truck and I'm sure I'd be teased about it for a long time if there was damages. When I told a co-worker this morning what happened he said it was most likely becasue the tires were warm and not to feel bad becasue it happens to lots of people every winter. Because it was in gear with the park brake on, once the slippery spot had been past it stopped. Go figure!

Kamloops Shopping Trip. Success(:

2010-12-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

Sean and I had a lovely weekend in Kamloops with Crystal & Mike. We arrived in Kamloops around lunch time on Saturday. My first stop was to The Mac Store to find out about finally fixing the lines on Kelsey's computer. They told me roughly how much it would cost to get it fixed. I was quite happy with what they told me because I thought for sure it would be way more considering it was an older Imac. Now I need to send it to them. I'm in no rush, so it probably won't happen until after Christmas. While we were in The Mac Store, we ran into some young adults we knew from Church. We looked around Sahalli Mall and then headed down town. That was an adventure trying to get around down town Kamloops. The Christmas shoppers were not the problem. THe problem was someone called in a bomb threat at one of the banks down town and the streets were all blocked off and the police we all over. We finally managed to get around them and head to our hotel. We chose and inexpensive hotel that had a pool and hot tub. We settled into our hotel and then headed out to do some Christmas shopping. I made Mike get a hair cut and we shopped at Walmart since their store has a way better selection than our store. However, shopping with the children presented some challenges, so we decided to go back later. We stopped at Toys R s and has great success there. By this time it is almost supper time. I made a few phone calls to see if any of our Kamloops friends were around. I got to talk to Lorraine and we made plans for lunch on Sunday. For supper we ate at Mr. Mike's. It brought back memories of when I used to work at Mr. Mikes in the puddle. They were the old style Mr. Mike's with The Megalicious Salad Bar. I ordered a Super Mushroom Burger and it was fabulous! Crystal had The Little Mike Burger and Sean & Mike had The Avalanche Burger (Also known as a Super Mushroom/Bacon Burger). The food was delicious. I even layered my pop like I used to do when I was a teenager. Orange pop with diet pepsi on top. Mike thoght I was crazy, but it reminded me of some great times from my past. After supper we went and bought chips & pop to enjoy while we watched a movie back at the hotel. It started to snow and I quite enjoyed watching the snow come down while I was sitting in the hot tub back at the hotel. We decided we were too tired to do any more shopping so after the movie we went to bed. We slept in until 8am. Wow! Had breakfast and checked out of the motel. Off to Walmart again to pick up some of the things we spotted the day before. We left the kids in the truck watching a movie and that worked out great because we were able to get the shopping done. After that we headed off to Aberdeen Mall to shop some more. We found Claires there and Crystal bought Kelsey's gift. It was getting close to lunch time so we headed over to meet Lorraine & John at Arby's. We had a nice visit with them over lunch and then headed to Costco. Costco wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. I finally bought the shag rug we've wanted for the living room and of course my basics that I love..real baacon bits, antipesto, Sean's favorite socks and more. I didn't get a chance to do any shopping for Sean, but pretty much everything else is done. I'll be able to finish shopping for him this weekend as he gave me a lot of ideas when we were shopping in Kamloops. Now to wrap everything so I am not up til 3am on Christmas Eve(:

Annual Barton Christmas Party

2010-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

We had a good time, just the girls. Hot dogs, apple cider and hot chocolate were yummy and free! Yay(: The best part was the horse drawn sleigh ride.

Counting Down til Christmas

2010-12-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

The tree is up, the baking is complete, the groceries are bought. Now to finish shopping for the Christmas gifts. Only 2 weeks until Christmas and I haven't sent out 1 Christmas card. Usually I am all done my shopping and it's usually all wrapped up by now. This year has been different. A lot different. I am about 2 weeks behind and that makes sense because for 2 weeks in November I was working 2 jobs. That took a lot out of me. But now I am settling in quite nice in my new job. Work is not stressful at all, but I do find I get stressed during the Christmas rush. So with luck and a road trip to Kamloops this weekend that problem should be solved. I am also hoping that the Christmas Cards I ordered online show up soon. We are staying home for Christmas this year. I am looking forward to 2011. I am sure it is going to be a great year. Speaking of counting down to Christmas, we have 3 advent calendars and 3 chocolate advent calendars. Kels bought the 3 chocolate advent calenders for herself and Crystal & Mike. I never did get around to buying them. Kels said that they are never too old for those chocolate advents calendars. They count down o New Years day, so that's 32 chocolates. And since she bought them yesterday. They had some catching up to do. Oh and the chocolate advent calendars were on sale to boot. We might have to do some more baking because we've been into it a lot already(:
I don't think we will get the Christmas light put up outside. Too bad..........

Happy Sandi

2010-11-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

Most people know by now that I quit my job at the newspaper. Friday was my last day. After working there for over 9yrs it is going to be strange working some place else. I was ready for a change and an amazing opportunity presented itself. I really am happy. It was very nice for the staff to get me a cake and going away gifts. Even though I didn't really want anything from them, it was very thoughtful. I guess they really do know me well. I absolutely love the scent pods. In fact I am burning the mulled cider one right now. The Vanilla candle looks great in my living room and smells fabulous as well.

I also love Tratorria's and the gift certificate will come in handy. A separate card from the publisher was also unexpected with generous gift certificates for meat and groceries. I am very thankful. To those that I worked with and didn't get a chance to really say goodbye, I am sorry about that. I must say the last 3 days I worked at the paper were the hardest and busiest. I wanted to leave on a good note and have everything done and up to date so that the new girl would not quit after 3 days like my last trainee. Training a new person is exhausting especially when there was only 2.5 days left to train her. I am certain she will do just fine(:
Friday I worked on payroll at my new job and it was a bit different than what I was used to doing, but It made me happy. I am very happy working in an administration position again. In my new job there is an added bonus of also helping customers design countertops, cupboards, vanities, desks etc. That part I am learning as I go along. The staff are so friendly and don't mind me asking questions. I always enjoyed helping customers. That is what I liked when I worked in retail for all those years.
I feel great....no more work stress and no papers to deliver because the carriers quit or the drivers missed delivering. Life is going to be good!

The start of my Christmas Decorating

2010-11-25T20:13:00.001-08:00

Lou's 40th Birthday Party

2010-11-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

Finally a family photo that looks ok(:

2010-11-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

The Kiddies in Costume

2010-10-29T08:32:00.001-07:00

Kelsey is The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, Mike is Sora from Kingdom Hearts, a Disney Game the teens like to play and Crystal is Tinkerbell.

This years Jack-O-Lanterns

2010-10-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Pretty talented carvers in my house(:

Pictures at The Pumpkin Field

2010-10-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

2010-10-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Busy Busy Busy

2010-09-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

A parent might feel a little happiness when September rolls around and the kids are back to school. That is bitter sweet for us. After having a busy summer it seems that things are not slowing down. But then again would I survive on slo-mow? Kels is working quite a bit, so we have to drive her around. Crystal will be starting Sparks on Wed. So if anyone wants Girl Guide Cookies, let me know because we are going to be selling them. We are starting back up with our small groups and that is Tues. night. Mike has decided that he likes to stick close to home so he won't be doing any groups or sports this year. He is socializing via X-box. To his surprise, I told him I would take him to Wal-mart at 11:59 pm last Monday to but the new Halo Reach Game. That was crazy, but made his night and week. I was voted for Mom of the year(: even though I made him go to sleep when we got home at 12:35am on a school night. He still managed to get up before 7am so he would have time to play the game before school.
My camera cord is still missing, so no pictures until it is found or I can find a new one!

Pictures of our 6yr old

2010-08-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

The countdown is on for my eye surgery

2010-07-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

In the spring of 2003 I was painting the shed in our front yard. It was warm and sunny out. I was wearing my contacts. I had to scrape off the old paint and a flake of it got in my eye. I thought I washed it out and went back to painting. The flake of paint made its way somehow to the back of my left eye and made several scratches on the back of my eye. No big deal until the paint caused an eye disease called pic. Pressure would build up in the back of my eye and my vision would be slightly blurry. I saw specialists from Vancouver to Kelowna. I took steroids to relieve the swelling. I had to stop wearing contacts. There was nothing that could be done to fix my eye so I just lived with it. I could go sometime a year with out any swelling and sometimes only 4 months. It's something I dealt with over the last 7yrs. The optometrist keeps an eye on my eye. In February I went in to see my optometrist for one of my check ups. At the time my eye was swelling a bit, but my vision seemed to be only slightly blurry. At that time I wanted to get back into wearing my contacts and we discussed eye surgery. So I tried some newer contacts and they worked out great. They sent my chart to Pacific Eye Center in Vancouver to see if I would be able to get laser eye surgery. I heard nothing back so I called 6 weeks alter and the optometrist asked me how serious I was about getting laser eye surgery. I had saved up some money and had a decent tax return, so I could afford it. I just had to get one more exam out of the way before they could say yes. I have studied the eye chart and know the bottom line. LOL but knew that couldn't read from memory so I had to be very sure I let her know what I could actually see. Then she put the drops in my eye and really checked my vision. I passed that exam(: Then I had to wait for an appointment that was in the summer time and didn't fall on someone else's holidays. So the date was picked. July 22/10 at 11:30am is surgery, which means I need to be at Pacific Eye Center in Vancouver at 10:30am. I am getting very excited for the surgery and scared at the same time. I leave in 5 days. So wish me luck(:

Fun day at the parade & street party

2010-07-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day. The weather was so nice! Tomorrow we are going to the Stampede. The teens are going to the Midway. Hard to believe that Stampede is almost over. I'm glad Sean can come to the rodeo with us this year(:

Kindergarten Grad

2010-06-28T13:25:00.001-07:00

Bowling Field Trip

2010-06-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Crystal had fun bowling with her class.

Father's Day Camping Weekend

2010-06-20T17:34:00.001-07:00

I like this tent trailer because the stove hooks on the side so you can cook outside off the propane tank if you want to. We didn't need to use our Coleman Stove this time(:

School's Out! For the Teens.

2010-06-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Every year on the last official day of school, my teens get a pizza party. Kels started it when she was in grade 8 because she didn't get pizza every Friday like she did back in elementary school and Mike was still getting his pizza Fridays because he is 2 yrs younger than her. So it started Pizza and Jones Soda. Now this year they are both in high school, but have a little sister in elementary school, so they reminded me about the year end party. Mike decided to do his at lunch. So he invited some of his friends over and had pizza and Pop Shoppe Pop. I could've had the pizza delivered, but I decided to bring it home to them. (That way I also knew who was at the house). They played X-box and had a good time.

Kels decided to have her pizza party after school. It was a Mardi Gras theme

.

They had Mardi Gras Masks. Kels had made a couple of King Cakes. She iced them herself. I thought they turned out pretty good. I made the punch. It was grape punch, but when I added the 7 up it turned a bit more pink than purple. I was going for the Mardi Gras look with the 3 colors- purple, yellow and green. Kels painted her nails Mardi Gras style too.
And of course they had the beaded necklaces. I made jumalaya for our dinner keeping in with the Mardi Gras theme as well. Kels had her pizzas that she decided to get the kind you bake at home instead of Panago. I was quite surprised at that decision. She still got her Jones Sodas. I didn't take pictures of the teens in their masks because they all went down stairs and played pool and Just Dance on the Wii. The party was supposed to be over at 7pmish but most of them stayed longer. Brandi arrived after supper and got to spend the night.

Crystal has 4 more days of school. They are going bowling 1 day, having a funday and then kindy grad is on June 28th.
This school year has gone by very quick. Now we are all looking forward to summer holidays.

Happy Birthday Sean

2010-05-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Camping Weekend

2010-05-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Blue Lake. It was our first run with the tent trailer and everything turned out just fine. It was a bit too cold and the crazy partiers kept us up, but we didn't let that ruin our fun. Sean and I haven't been to Blue Lake in 6 years. And everything was still the same. Sean put Diesel on Snoopy's Dog house. Crystal had a great time playing with her friend. They pretended to fish in the pile of leaves. It didn't rain on us, but we barely saw any sun. I am hoping to go out again, perhaps when it's a bit warmer and we can go swimming(:

Back Yard Camping

2010-05-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

Pictures from the weekend

2010-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

Kelsey's 16th Birthday Party in Wonderland

2010-04-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Which one is which???

Aunty Linda is a Card. She is all decked out with her "Mad" Sister.

Here's Our Alice. So cute!

I'm as Mad as a Hatter(:

I'm late I'm late for a very important date.

Diesel comes for a vist

2010-03-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Happy 14th Birthday Mike

2010-03-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from Mike's 14th b-day. We had pizza and pop for dinner and ice cream cake for dessert. Then we watched a movie called Zombieland. Sean had troubles lighting the 4 sparkler candle, but it finally worked as you can see in the movie below(: I didn't get a picture of the sparkler candles sparkling-it went out too fast!

Kiki has friends

2010-02-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

These cats are hanging around our place. Kiki is enjoying having friends to play with.

I needed to take a break from hockey madness(: These cats are a great distraction! Now back to the game....

The Tucker Farm

2010-02-22T18:53:00.000-08:00

Crystal had a great time visiting Toby's farm on Friday with Judy. I was able to take Crystal back there on Saturday with Rick, Graham and Brody. I haven't been on a real farm like that since I was Crystal's age. It was fun, but I should have worn gum boots. It was very muddy and icy there. How could I forget that it is still winter in the cariboo? I've only been a city gal for 5 months. Oh well a little mud doesn't hurt anything and beside I was able to wash my runners and they look brand new. So it was a win win situation(:

Toby let Crystal name 2 of the new calves and she picked Kelsey and Michael...I don't know how Kels and Mike feel about that! Apparently Kelsey and Michael are doing well(:

The Olympic Torch Came to the Puddle

2010-01-28T21:17:00.001-08:00

I am not a big fan of The Olympics, in fact I don't want to go anywhere near Vancouver when the Olympic are going on. However, this was a fun family event and did I mention FREE! We really enjoyed the entertainment and watching the torch make its way to the stage. This will most likely be a once in a lifetime event for our family. We got to see the mascots and Crystal had her face painted. The best part for Crystal was the fireworks.

Just think...in 22 years we will finish paying off the debt from Vancouver 2010. I think Calgary 88 just finished paying theirs off!

Cute Kitty Came for a Visit

2010-01-26T19:56:00.001-08:00

Cute Kitty found its way into our house. Not such a good idea when Mike and Sean have allergies. This kitty has been hanging around our place for the last little while. We would see evidence of it's paw prints in the snow, but never actually saw the kitten until today. She's so cute. I wish we could have a kitten, but that isn't going to happen. So, this is the next best thing...having one come visit us(:

The Hills for our 5th Anniversary Weekend was a Blast!

2010-01-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

We cooked pizza for the kids for dinner on Friday. Then they stayed at our chalet with Crystal so we could go out for a nice romantic dinner at The 1871 Lodge.

Sean and I getting ready to head out for Dinner at The 1871 Lodge.

Dinner was excellent. We both chose the special of the day. It was a bacon wrapped filet minon served with roasted potatos and root vegetables. It also included ceaser salad and multi-grain bread. Sean enjoyed a glass of Sleaman's Honey Brown and I enjoyed a couple of ceasers. They were really good, served with a pickled asparagus. They brought our steaks out on a rock and we finished cooing them to our liking. It was pretty neat because I've never done that before. We finished off with a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie. It was a lovely dinner and we enjoyed having some alone time and reflecting on the past 5 years.

We all went tubing and had a blast.

We walked down to the teepee to see if the pond was good for skating on. We didn't end of skating. Too bad it would've been a lot of fun. But we were just too darn busy. We quite enjoyed soaking in the hot tub and swimming in the pool. We went tubing in the dark and had a great time. We pretty much had the hill to ourselves and it is way more slippery at night.

It was a fantastic way to spend our 5th anniversary and pre- celebrate Judy's 50th b-day. I'm so glad Rick & Judy were able to come out for the day.
A note to anyone who might want to stay at The Hills- don't pick Jan 8th weekend because they have the Dog Sled races there, which is good, but the dogs bark and yelp during the night and make it very hard to sleep!

Crystal's 1st day of Kindergarten (with us)

2010-01-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

A few months past her 1st day of kindergarten, but here is Crystal on her 1st day of kindergarten in her new school. We had to go out and buy her school supplies with out a list. (thanks to Julie who has a son in the same classroom, but different days who quickly jotted down what they bought for their son) Then we had to buy her a back pack and indoor shoes. And of course a new outfit. That was something we did for our kids for their first day of school too as well as taking a picture before they headed out the door. Kindergarten is going good for her. We are very lucky to have an after school daycare program that she can attend. We are also truly blessed having a grade 7 student willing to walk her to school so that my kids won't be late for school since they are in high school and have to be there for 8:35am.
Crystal is fitting in very well in her new school. She is even invited to a birthday party already.

A glimpse at 2009

2010-01-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

January 2009 was a quiet month for us. We celebrated our 4th anniversary. We visited Crystal in 100 Mile and we talked to councilors and social workers about wanting to adopt. February we were only allowed 1 visit with Crystal. When March rolled around I spoke to the worker and said that we need more visits with Crystal and were finally allowed to take her to our place. During Spring Break we went to the island with Kels and Mike. We had a busy week planned with Mike's 13th birthday party. We went to Cyber City for arcades and mini-golfing. We had my sister and her boys with us, so it was a lot of fun. We also went bowling and swimming/watersliding at the wave pool. It was a fun packed week and we partied like it was the 80's. I think it was a very special birthday for Mike. In April we celebrated my Aunt Nona & Uncle Don's 60th anniversary. It was in Kelowna on Easter weekend and we enjoyed seeing all our family and friends there. I finally met Sean's Aunt Linda and Uncle Gabe. We took a tour of their B&B. What a lovely piece of heaven. If you are even in Kelowna you should check in. Gabriel's Corner is the name of the B&B. In May we ended up being quite busy. Sean & I took a foster parents course which rand 2 night a week for 3 hrs for the entire month of May. It was a good course and it opened our eyes to the need there is in our community. We took the course in hopes to foster to adopt our niece since there was no adoption worker hired for WL yet. We bought a gently used Dodge Durango. We needed more room and the Durango seats 7. 2 weeks later we sold my car and put the money on the Durango loan. Mike went to Vancouver with his grade 7 class at the end of May and that was awesome for him(: Oh I almost forgot...we listed our home for sale May 15th.We also were able to have overnight visits with Crystal. June was fairly quiet. We increased our overnight visits with Crystal to 3 nights every other weekend. Things were going pretty good for us at this point and we were told that she would be moving in with us very soon because they had a baby being born that needed a baby placement home and they might need to move Crystal to accommodate the need. That didn't happen, so we were promised her by the end of summer and we registered her for Kindergarten at the same elementary school my kids went to. July was a crazy month for us. We accepted an offer on our house and they wanted to move in Aug. 15th. We thought that was great because then we didn't need to re-new the house insurance at the end of August. So that Sunday we went house hunting. It was so hot and we looked at a dozen places.Some were very scarey, some were Ok. We knew we needed a big yard and parking for our 4 vehicles and the boat and camper. Sean really wanted a garage. I really wanted a house that didn't need reno's since we spent 4 years fixing up our old place. One place we looked at had tennants in it and the place was a mess. I don't think they had taken the garbage out in months and the floors were covered in dirt, gravel and animal fecies. Yuck! We did find a place that we both agreed on, but it wasn't close to the kids' school and was a bit out of our price range. The realtor showed us one last house that didn't have a garage, but had 2 driveways and a side alley access for the back yard. She was thinking that maybe one day a garage could be built there. Anyways we walked in and fell in love with it! So we made our offer and then another offer and it was accepted. The only problem being was we could not get into the new house for 6 weeks. More glitches came with the sale of our house but I trusted and left it in God's Hands. It all worked out. We lived with our friends in between homes. The only sucky part to that was having to move twice! During that 6 week period we went on holidays and we were able to take Crystal with us. We visited my Uncle in Vernon, we went to a wedding in Kamloops, saw my sister and my friend Robin (and their families) in Maple Ridge and then headed to the island for the rest of our holidays. We stayed with my parents and then headed to Sayward to see Sean's Mom. They just bought a new tow truck business there. And of course we went fishing but were skunked. We came back just in time for school to start. Crystal ened up not being able to move in with us because our home study was not completed, so she started kindergarten in 100 Mile. Our home study was completed at the end of Oct. We were all moved into the house at the end of September and my parents came to help. We had our 1st Thanksgiving in the new house and celebrated it with my sister and her family. It was -22ºC that weekend. We put in a new furnace a week after Thanksgiving. November was Fall Break and we had Crystal for 10 days. We started having here every weekend in November, so as you can imagine life was very hectic for us having to drive back and forth and gas was not cheap either. December was a very special month for us as we became parents to Crystal on Dec. 18th and she has been here ever since.
So what a year eh? A new vehicle a new house and a new kid! We are loving it all very much. My kids walk to school and can come home for lunch, we are planning a trip to Edmonton over Spring Break and we will all fit in the Durango. Now we are looking forward to our 5th anniversary and we are going to The Hills Health Ranch for the weekend. We thought that would be very fitting since we were married there. The kids love it there. Swimming, skating tubing and who knows we night even get in a hay ride this time(:
One last thing I wanted to say is that God has truly blessed us and we are very thankful(:

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Plenty of great food to munch on

Non-alchohol wine and yet the kids said they felt buzzed. Too funny(:

Celebrating Forever Family

2009-12-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

Friday miss Chrystie officially became a part of our family. To celebrate we had pizza for dinner and Kels and Mike made a Princess Castle with their new sister. After 1 year it has finally come true and Crystie has her forever family. Here are some pictures we took of the kids making the cookie castle.

Kelsey doesn't usually look like that. She had been part of a drama presentation at her school assembly and didn't wash off all the make up. Now we are waiting for Christmas Eve when all the of our kids are home, so they can enjoy munching down on this fabulous creation. Sean thinks that him and I should make our own Gingerbread House.
I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!

Happy Tree Hunting

2009-12-13T22:11:00.000-08:00

It was cold outside, but Sean found our tree after searching for an hour. Mike's feet were so cold he ended up in the truck to keep warm. Kels didn't go at all and Crystal enjoyed hanging out with her friend Winter. The hot chocolate and chocolate muffins were delicious(: Thanks Judy. You are awesome!!! Now we just have to buy some gifts and we will be ready for Christmas.
The gifts under the tree are mostly the ones my kids bought this weekend for some of their friends and I see one for me(: It's so nice the kids have jobs and can use their own money to buy gifts.
Stay posted for some news on Friday the 18th.

Fun in the Snow

2009-12-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

What a great time we had playing in the snow today. It sure is nice having a friend to hang out with while the kids go sliding. We went down a few times too, but then my but was getting cold. Not used to sledding. It's been a few years since my kids wanted to go sledding. Good thing we kept the sleds(:

They weren't quite done playing yet so they decided to dress up and be fairy princesses. They are having a great time together. It's nice having friends that live close by.

A busy life in the Puddle

2009-11-29T15:21:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how long it actually has been since I've had time to actually sit down and type about something on my blog. To my sister that checks my blog regularly, I hope you haven't been to disappointed with my lack of posting. All I can say is that we live a busy life in the puddle. We are hoping for some goods news to come in the next few weeks, so stay posted. Most of my friends know what the good news is, but we are waiting until the day comes to share with the rest of my blogger friends.

We had a busy weekend. It started with The Santa Clause Parade and then Sean's work had their Christmas party and now the Grey Cup is on. I am thinking of my friends from Sask. as they cheer on the Riders and wear their green. Then there is the countdown until Christmas.
What an exciting Christmas it will be this year. Well except that our families won't be together for Christmas. But that's OK because I can't hog them every year(: Then just after Christmas (2weeks to be exact) Sean & I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary. We had hoped to go to the Hills that weekend, but that doesn't seem to be panning out. I'm sure we will find something very special to do that weekend. Time sure has gone by fast, but it has been a good fast most of the time.

Take care everyone and I'll keep you posted!

PS I agree with Judy...Facebook is sucking up too much of my spare time. I was on it on a Saturday at 7am. What happened to sleeping in on Saturdays?

Kelsey's New Bed

2009-11-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

It took a while before we could find the right color of purple for her curtains. Luckily we found some that were on sale, of which I am very thankful for since we needed 12!

Some wedding pics

2009-10-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Harvest Party

2009-10-03T20:07:00.001-07:00

4 hours of outdoor fun. It was a great time. We went on the hay ride 3 times. Crystal and her friend did the cake walk 2 times and Winter won a cake. It was pretty cool(:Lots to eat too!

3 Sleeps

2009-09-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

In 3 sleeps we will finally have our house. I am getting excited, but will miss living with our friends. They have been so great and we are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends. I haven't been blogging lately because life has been pretty hectic and I really don't know what to say.
My parents will be here in 2 days to help with the move. I can't wait to see them(: We've been shopping for new furniture for our house and that has been fun, but VERY expensive!
On Saturday I took Kels and Mike to Kamloops with me to pick up Kels' canopy bed. What an adventure that was....
We were driving through Clinton and talking about the forest fires and I said to the kids wouldn't that be funny if we ran into your dad here and at that exact same moment, 2 forestry workers come out of the motel and 1 of them happened to be their dad. How weird is that? So we stopped and the kids got out and said hi and talked for a few min. before we headed back on the road to Kamloops. We make it as far as Savona and about 5 cars ahead of us the road was closed. We saw a campervan and boat on fire at the gas station. The flames were shooting so high I thought the gas station was on fire. Then the black smoke came and the horid smell. We were stuck there for over 1/2 hr. So, by the time we arrived in Kamloops it was late afternoon. We went to pick up the bed, but the box was too big for the Durango, so we had to take the bed out of the box and squish it in the back with Mike. It did fit-thank goodness(: Then we went to Wal-mart to pick up a few things for the house. I didn't stay there long because there were too many people shopping there. There was no evidence of a recession there that day. Mike went to EB games and bought a controler for his Xbox 360. We ate cheese breadsticks at Pizza Hut, went and visited a few friends and headed home. We stopped at Cache Creek for 45 min. to visit Kels' friend. With the rain and fog and constuction/dirt roads, I didn't make it home until 11pm. I was bagged! It was a good trip though. I'm glad to have Kels' bed- it's going to be a real treat to set up. Ha-that's a job for Sean and my Dad!

Hike to the Falls at Golden Ears Park

2009-09-09T22:19:00.001-07:00

This was Sean's 1st time at Golden Ears. We had a nice hike to the falls. Mike and Bri fell into the river with a little help from Uncle Paul. It was good to do a family thing that didn't cost a fortune. It got those darn teens off the X box for the afternoon(:

Pictures from our Barkerville and Wells trip

2009-08-24T12:38:00.001-07:00

We had a fantastic time with our friends. It didn't rain that much; only a few drops, so, that was great. However, it was very cold for August. Good thing we packed our hoodies. The Wells Hotel was very nice. It was weird that they didn't have a phone or a TV in their rooms. Oh and no cell service there either. It was a nice break. I forgot my swimsuit, so I didn't get to go hot tubing on the roof. Maybe next time! Robin's girls were great. Keeley was so funny when she was having a sugar rush. Michaella is growing up so fast and Baby Kate who is now 2 is as cute as ever. She is always laughing and smiling. Robin & I had dessert and tea with Unlce Herbie and Aunty Marilyn. (They are Robin's family, but I've know then for so long; it's like they are part of my family too). We said goodbye this morning and headed back home. We are making plans for a get together on Labour Day. Summer has gone by fast.

My kids at a wedding

2009-08-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

My kids came home from a wedding and this is what they looked like. They had a great time. LOL!

Moving

2009-08-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you that I don't see or get a chance to talk to on a regular basis, I thought I should tell you I'm moving. After living in the same place for 16 years, we are finally buying our first house. I've lived in mobile homes my entire life and though it was time to get a house because we were out growing our home. Why are those teens of mine taller than me?
We moved out of our place on Sunday and are staying with our friends Rick & Judy until we get into our new house in September. We've been going back every night to our place to clean. It's looking pretty good. My parents worked really hard on cleaning it up for me, but mom refused to clean my stove. It's a chore I hate the most and you can imagine how gross the oven was. So, i dragged my sorry but over there to clean it tonight and it looks pretty good. I had some help from Judy. She's such a dear!
We'll go back tomorrow and take out the water cooler and the microwave. My parents have been staying there since Sunday and will head back to Nanaimo with my kids Friday. We'll be on holidays in 2 weeks and will bring the kids back just in time for school to start. It's exciting to move, but an aweful lot of work. Just think in 6 weeks we do it all over again when we move into the new house. It will be all worth it in the end!

You're Never Too Old to Have Fun(:

2009-08-05T07:23:00.001-07:00

My sister took these pictures of our parental units when she was on the Island last week. They are very nice shots! It looks like fun(:

Getting to Know You

2009-07-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my friend Melissa,
So here's what I came up with:
1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30 am, to hot to sleep in

2. How do you like your steak? BBQ'ed med-rare
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Transformers 2

4. What is your favorite TV show? Smallville
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Maybe Vancouver Island?

6. What did you have for breakfast? coffee & a bagel

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Anything Greek

8. What foods do you dislike? Liver and Tongue,,,what kind of parents make their kids eat that?

9. Favorite Place to Eat?BBQ on the deck

10. Favorite dressing?Greek with fetta

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? WV Golf Convertible, Dodge Durango.

12. What are your favorite clothes? tanks and capris

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Any place tropical.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full!

15. Where would you want to retire? On The Island
16. Favorite time of day? Quitting time at work

17. Where were you born? Willy's Puddle

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? baseball

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? not sure
20. Person you expect to tag you back first? Not sure!

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? everyone!

22. Bird watcher? No, but if i see them in my yard, I like watching them

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning.
24. Do you have any pets? None

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? WE JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE IN TOWN.
26. What did you want to be when you were little? a reporter for the Daily Planet, then a bit older I wanted to be a Shrink.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Going to my grandma's
28. Are you a cat or dog person? Neither

29. Are you married? Yes, very happily!

30. Always wear your seat belt? Always!

31. Been in a car accident? Yes

32. Any pet peeves? cashiers that don't count back the change and just hand it to you with the coins on top of the bills and when the coins fall to the ground.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? olives, ham. fetta, red onions, peppers
34. Favorite Flower? Rose

35. Favorite ice cream? Triple Tornado

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Wendys. We don't have one so that's probably why I enjoy going there once in a while.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? none

38. From whom did you get your last email? Kels

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I wouldn't. I don't use my credit card unless I can pay it off. I hate paying interest.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nah...
41. Like your job? If i didn't have to do 2 f/t jobs in only 40 hrs, I'd probably like it more. It's OK.

42. Broccoli? yup, but prefer it raw dipped in ranch dressing

43. What was your favorite vacation? Disneyland

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My husband and 2 kids

45. What are you listening to right now? Hubby complain about how he can't sleep in this heat.

46. What is your favorite color? Purple

47. How many tattoos do you have? None!

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? dunno

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 7:28 am

50. Coffee Drinker? For sure!

Some puns to enjoy(:

2009-07-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

4. A dyslexic man walked into a bra.

5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm, and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."

6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

7. "Doc, I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home."
"That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome."
"Is it common?"
"Well, It's Not Unusual."

8. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field.
Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning."
"I don't believe you," says Dolly.
"It's true; no bull!" exclaims Daisy.

9. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

10. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

11. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but I couldn't find any.

12. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident.
He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!"
The doctor replied, "I know, I amputated your arms!"

13. I went to a seafood disco last week... And pulled a mussel.

14. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

15. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

16. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

17. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office, and asked them to disperse.
"But why," they asked, as they moved off.
"Because," he said. "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."

18. A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt , and is named 'Ahmal.' The other goes to a family in Spain, they name him 'Juan.' Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

19. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him...... A super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

20. A dwarf, who was a mystic, escaped from jail. The call went out that there was a small medium at large.

21. And finally, there was the person who sent twenty different puns to her friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

At some point I've become just like my father...it's a good thing(:

2009-07-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and it was like any other Saturday morning. I made my coffee, had a bowl of cereal. Sean is watching the fishing shows until he heads off to work. I think to myself...I've got so much to do today. Laundry, cleaning, weeding the gardens- this list goes on. Then I think to myself, I wonder what is on TV. I turn it on and the weather network comes up. Then I decide that I want to watch the news. Me?? Watching the news??? On a Saturday morning??? Yes, I watched the news until 10am. I found it interesting. How weird is that? I think I am becoming just like my father. Already I grocery shop like him. If I buy beer, I pick his brand because it tastes good and is less expensive than the other kinds of beer. My dad has taught me well. I learned how to budget from him and how to save money. So being like my dad is a good thing. Plus now that he is older and retired, he isn't so grumpy as I remember him when I was growing up. Hopefully my kids don't think I'm grumpy.
Have a great weekend everyone!

It's the end of the school year

2009-06-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the school year is over and both my kids did really well in school this year. I am very proud of them both and extra proud of Mike for keeping up with his school work this year, he made the effort honour roll(: This is the 1st year since he started school that he has had perfect attendance. Praise God he didn't have to go to the hospital this year! Kels picked up her report card on Friday and then went to her dad's, so I actually haven't seen her marks yet, but she always does great. Now the kids are gone until August. It's going to be a quiet month for us. Crystal is coming for a visit the last 2 weekends in July. Hopefully we get to take her camping and fishing. She will be starting kindergarten in September and is going to Cataline, so now we are starting over in elementary. Both my kids will be in high school in the fall. My how time flies!

Mike had a year end party Thursday at Chelsea's house. They had a BBQ, lots of junk food and huge water fights.I bought Mike a new super soaker water gun. They had a blast. The boys were allowed to stay until midnight. Then Mike went over to his friend Billy's for a sleep over. They ate too much junk food and got sick, but apparently felt better after eating an energy drink. But then they couldn't sleep. Go figure! I picked up Mike on my lunch break and brought him home so that he could get packed and go to his Dad's place. He looked pretty tired, but said he was feeling much better. They had a blast and I'm glad he went. He usually doesn't go for sleepovers, so that was good(:

Have a wonderful summer everyone. Hopefully I'll see most of you on our holidays at then end of August!