New Found Pride In Myself....

So I know I haven't wrote anything for a very long time. To be honest I just feel that I have nothing worth talking about. But tonight I did something that I have never done before and am exremely proud of myself for it....

Now you're probably wondering what kind of new adventure it was for me, but I can see you all laughing at me when I do tell you what it is that I did. It's something that pretty much everyone has tried, except for me. So now I must admit that tonight was my very first attempt at.....cutting the grass.

I know that this might not seem like a big deal to some people, but to me it is a huge thing!! Growing up I never was allowed to cut the grass, my dad and brother did it because it was a "man's job". When I moved in with Cam and even until this year I wasn't allowed to cut the grass for two reasons. #1: we had a very crappy mower that was difficult to use. #2: He likes his grass cut a certain way...patternish almost. So at the end of last year we bought a brand new lawn mower and tonight I said I wanted to try and he actually let me!! He showed me what to do and even made me move all of the furniture around!!

While I was doing this, he was looking after the girls and every once in awhile would lend me a hand when I needed it (like I know how to empty the bag!!!) But I did start it by myself and all of the other stuff that goes with the job.

All in all my arms are a little sore (and no it's not just from mowing the lawn but we had to move the boat around the back yard before it completely sunk into the ground forever and never made it's return) but I am extremely proud of myself for trying and not messing up!! I didn't miss any spots and only got laughed at a couple times when I tried to turn the mower around and ended up getting stuck. But I was told that I did better than one of his brothers did when learning how to cut the grass....not mentioning any names though.....so that raised my ego just a tad.

But I am very glad that I tried and plan on shocking my husband again sometime this summer!!!

My Weekend

So this weekend we went on a retreat with our church. It wasn't your typical church retreat though. This one was mainly a family getaway for everyone. In the end I'm really glad we went.

It was a very low key thing with the bible studies and everything like that. At least once a day we would sing some songs and only once did we do anything with the bible, which was fine with me. Mainly it was just getting everyone away from the church atmosphere to be able to get to know each other better. Of course we were the only ones under 30 there and with young kids, but we didn't feel out of place due to that. Instead I found myself visiting with people of all ages. Two people I would never have guessed to be visiting with were in their late 60's early 70's. But it was just very interesting conversation and one of them had this really awesome hat that those men usually have.

The girls had so much fun. We barely saw Maddy and Chloe all weekend. They were so busy visiting some of the older kids and bugging Grandma and Grandpa. But one thing that really shocked me was the two people they played with the most... two boys around 14. I was shocked that it was these two boys who paid the most attention to them and not the other girls. But these two boys took them on walks, gave Chloe a piggy back ride, played tag, ate with them and many other things. It was mainly Maddy that we never saw. She was enjoying her company so much that she only ate with us once that whole weekend. But come Sunday when we came home she was sleeping within five minutes of leaving. She had gone on at least three walks a day and was always on the go.

This weekend also gave Cam and I a chance to relax without any set schedule,no tv, no computer. Nothing. Just us and some other people. We went on a few walks, ate every meal with each other, palyed some games and just had the time to sit down and talk. At home our life is so busy that we usually don't get a chance to do all of this, especially with having three young girls. For us to be able to go on a walk by ourselves (sometimes with Mya) and not have to worry about leaving the girls behind and knowing that they're safe was such a nice thing for us. It was a much needed weekend for the both of us. We're both not big into the bible study stuff and don't feel the need to be in these groups, but it was something we were willing to do just to be able to get away and do something like this.

But in the end, everyone in our family had such a great time and a much needed time away. The only thing I could have asked for was not to have a headache the whole time we were there. Headache is now going on to day 4. I usually don't have one longer than a few hours or one that a little advil won't cure. I guess I'll have to see how the rest of the day goes!

What Children Learn In School...

It's amazing what children learn now adays, especially in school. Do you eer really know what your child is learning in school? In my case I obviously don't know all that goes on.

In one case I didn't truely realize how clicky it is in Kindergarten already!! I knew that they had certain groups that they stick to, but I guess one day Maddy was playing with one friend but wasn't allowed to play with another because her friend said so. Are we really that effective on our kids to make them think at that age of who's cool and who we can and can't play with? I told Madison that she can play with anyone she wants to whether her other friends like it or not. Since then her and this other little girl have been really close friends. But I am very proud of Madison in the way that she doesn't stick to one group, but manages to get along with them all. She plays with the "popular group", plays with the "quiet" kids and everyone else in between. I find that she is a very well rounded individual and for that I am a very proud parent.

Another thing I didn't know until this morning is that they are learning some french already. Okay, first of all this is not a french school and she's in kindergarten!! I was really shocked. It started at breakfast when I said

"Bon Appetit!"
"Are you speaking spanish?"
"No, it's french."
"I know how to speak french."
"You do?"
"Yeah, pink is rose"
"Oh really?"
"Yeah and purple is violet, blue is bleu, red is rouge, etc..."

At this point I am completely shocked. It's one thing to know colors by just the words in english but to know what these colors are called in french was a huge shock to me.

I guess we really have to have faith in our teachers that they really are teaching our kids things and not just playing bingo (a classroom favorite) and coloring. Not that they aren't important but it's nice to know that they are really trying to get them advanced for grade 1.

But even as I end this I am still in shock about my little discovery this morning.

Easter started it all...

This past week has been a little different for me. It all started with the Easter celebrations...

Our holidays are always busy with visiting both sides of the family as well as any other activities that come our way. This year Good Friday was spent with his side of the family and then we had gone to my parents house for the Saturday and stayed the night. Come Sunday we were going to go to my Grandma's for a quick visit. This would involve a two hour visit before trying to get out of there before supper, otherwise we would never make it to his Grandma's house to visit after supper. But come Sunday plans changed. Cam had woken up feeling ill, so I made the venture to Grandma's with only Mya to accompany me (the girls had already left me to go with my brother). So we finally made the trek out there but by the time it came to leaving there was another couple bumps in the road. Due to their cousins not making it out there before I had to leave and also with the easter egg hunt being postponed until after supper, Madison and Chloe decided they didn't want to go home but stay an extra few days with Grandma & Grandpa. Twisting my rubber arm...I let them stay.

Needless to say we didn't make it to his Grandma's that day either. By the time we got home Cam still wasn't feeling good and Mya was so tired from not getting in her usual nap we just decided to stay home. I'm glad that we did. It gave us a chance to just sit around and relax.

Over the next few days it was fairly quiet in my house. It was really quite enjoyable! It was a great time for Mya and I to be able to spend some time alone with each other. We don't get to do that very often and I think we both really enjoyed our time together. I haven't seen her like this ever! She didn't feel like she had to compete with her sisters, she didn't need to fight for everything she wanted and she had free reign of the house for a few days with my wrapped around her little finger. But she was being such a little cutie....how could I possibly refuse???

But now it's Wednesday and yet another surprise comes my way. I have one little girl who is ready to come home but the other is having so much fun she wants to stay for another sleepover. So Chloe came home and Madison managed to find someone to bring her home tomorrow. But I think I like it better this way. Bringing them home one at a time makes it easier to spend time with each child individually before they're all home and looking for some quality time. But it's just trying to get Chloe to bed without Madison around that might pose some problems for me....But I'm up to the challenge and can't wait to have all of my girls back home.

A few days doesn't seem like a long time, but when you're used to having them around all of the time it makes a difference when they're gone. This week was good for me though. I needed the break and it'll help me appreciate them a little more when they're all home again...

The Dance Recital...

I just found this draft that I had forgotten about, so here it is!!

So the other day when I wrote about my glasses, I had completely forgotten about what I was going to write about... my daughters' dance recital.

So this was Madison's third year of ballet, but her first year in tap. She enjoyed this year just as much as the others and of course new teachers. But this year for some reason she seemed much more excited about it and I think her teachers had a lot to do with it. They both just had such a positive attitude towards everything! After every tap lesson Miss Chelsea would give all of the girls high fives for a job well done. And Miss Dallas was just someone they could openly talk and joke around with. It made her feel more comfortable, especially since she can be more reserved than the other girls.

It was also the first year of ballet for Chloe. She also had Miss Dallas. With it being her very first year and being only 3 years old, she did extremely well. I was actually quite shocked at how well she listened and participated in the dance, but I guess since it's something she loves to do she's willing to take part.

But all in all it was quite and enjoyable day even after the hassel of costumes not being ordered in the right size and all of the other drama that goes with getting these things ready. I just can't wait to see how the video and pictures turn out!!

More About Me....

So today I have been reading other peoples blogs and I came to realize a few new things about myself that these other people made me realize....

1. It's okay to miss a beloved pet...even if it has been gone for a long time. I was in grade 7 when our dog Chico was put down. I loved that dog very much and still miss him. I think because of this I tend to compare other dogs of ours to how Chico was and that's just not fair. Don't get me wrong...I loved the dogs we had...Mike was a great dog, but some of his habits I just couldn't get used to, and Shelby is a great dog too and with a little more training she'll only improve. So I need to realize that every dog is different, especially if you didn't get them as pups and train them yourself in the beginning. But I do love my dogs and really do appreciate them, I just think I need to appreciate them more for their own uniqueness. That's the one thing I regret not doing when Mike was still around...

2. The beauty of nature... I was reading "Mary's View" blog today and I must say she takes the most beautiful pictures! She takes her camera and takes pictures of everything in nature. She had pictures of so many different types of birds, her dogs, bees busy at work in a flower, flowers, her fish, etc... I love the beauty of nature and I don't know why, but it has honestly never occured to me to actually take the time to take a piture of it. I have recently started taking more scenic pictures, but now I sit here wondering if I could take pictures even a fraction as beautiful as hers. I know it would be more of a challenge to take a picture of a moving creature, but I think it would definitely be worth it in the end. I enjoy these types of pictures and plan on trying my hand at them very soon (except that I don't know how to post them to my site quite yet, so you'll just have to check out my flickr site to see my progress).

3. How much I love my fish... I know lots of people think fish are not much of a pet, but Cam & I would surely disagree. As of now we have four fish tanks on the go. One 10gallon, two 20 gallon, and a 37 gallon tank. It started out with me just wanting to have fish in my life again, so I convinced Cam to let me get a tank. Well my wanting to just have fish around became a point of interest in both of our lives very quickly. We had started out with just a few goldfish in the 10 gallon tank. But soon after we were presented with many opportunities to expand on our collection. There was a fish tank for sale at our church garage sale for $20 which included everything including some guppies and some tetras. It was still there at the end of the day so we bought it. Our babysitter was also looking at getting rid of her 20 gallon tank, so she gave it to us for free along with her 5" Plecostomus. And our big tank we decided that for Christmas we would buy it as a joint present to each other. So now we have a very wide variety of fish. We now have goldfish, angelfish, guppies, plecos, tetras, black skirts, barbs and loaches....but definitely not in the same tank! We already need to buy a bigger tank for my angels as they are quickly outgrowing the one they're in. But our ultimate goal is to have a pond in our backyard. But that will have to wait until the girls are older due to me having a bad experience when I was quite young...so we're looking at about 5 years away minimum!

It's amazing what you get when you actually take the time to read what other people are taking the time to tell you about their own lives. With them taking the time it helped me remember and realize some things about myself! And I truely thank you for that!

About Me Countdown....

10 FAVORITES
Favorite Color: baby blue or teal.
Favorite Food: pizza
Favorite Month: August, it just seems like the best time to get away and the weather is usually a little dryer
Favorite Song: I don't know if I have an alltime favorite. Foolish games maybe?
Favorite Movie: The Notebook and Sound of Music.
Favorite Sport: bowling. It was something I was very good at and I miss it ver much.
Favorite Season: Spring. I love when flowers start blooming and how the first spring showers clean everything up! I just love rain.
Favorite Day of the week: Saturday. It's the only day that we can really have breakfast as a family and spend some time with each other.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: cookies 'n cream
Favorite Time of Day: 10:00pm. By this time the kids are in bed and Cam's showered so we can just be with each other.

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: unenergetic
Current Taste: chocolate
Current Clothes: balck pants and green scoop tank.
Current Desktop: Mya in a cowboy hat, pointing at Cozmo .
Current Toenail Color: au de naturale.
Current Time: 1:26pm.
Current Surroundings: my living room and my two eldest girls.
Current Thoughts: I should get my butt in gear and do some cleaning
Current Weather: snowing lightly

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Candice Peel
First Kiss: Kurtis Bessey... I was what 6? and we were playing house.
First Screen Name: sweetstuff14
First Pet: a dog named muffin
First Piercing: My ears when i was about 8 and I cryed my eyes out for an hour after!!
First Crush: The boy next door who happened to be my first kiss!
First CD: Bush X.

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: I don't even remember! Cigar was on Friday though!
Last Drink: chocolate milk but vodka on Friday
Last Car Ride: coming home from the dance recital
Last Kiss: this morning, before he left for work.
Last Movie Seen: the DaVince code.
Last Phone Call: Partylite.
Last CD Played: burnt CD

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy/Girl Friends: No
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Yes, but i've never been caught
Have You Ever Been Arrested: No, and I really don't plan on it.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Yes.
Have You Ever Been on TV: Does the news count?
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn’t Know: Yes, but that was when I was younger and could get away with it!!

5 THINGS
Thing You’re Wearing: 3 rings, contacts and all of my clothes! minus the socks
Things You’ve Done Today: made lunch, started a facebook thing, put Mya to bed and wrote a blog entry.
Things You Can Hear Right Now: the girls' movie and my typing.
Thing You Can’t Live Without: my computer, family.
Thing You Do When You’re Bored: go on the computer, phone someone

4 PLACES YOU’VE BEEN TODAY
the bathroom
the kitchen
the bedroom
the living room
(being without a vehicle limits my adventures!!)

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
Cam
Mom
Laura

2 CHOICES
Black or White:Black, it's easier to accesorize to and keeps rolls a secret better.
Hot or Cold: depends...I'm always cold and I don't mind because it's easier to make myself warm than to have to cool off. But I would rather live in a hotter climate than a super cold one.

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
Take a hotair balloon ride over an exotic locale.

Being Blind...

So I just happen to be one of those people who absolutely need their glasses to see. I am as blind as a bat if I don't have them on. Can't see two feet in front of me and definitely cannot see anything in the distance. This being said I can easily say I had a really dumb moment. I left my glasses somewhere Mya could reach them. I know, it's my fault completely. She decided she wanted to play with them and completely broke the arm. Now, this isn't the first time I've been careless with them and I never seem to learn.

So here I am, once again, without my glasses. My eye doctor is in another city so I had to send my glasses home with my family so they can get fixed. So this means that I am without them for a least a week! Luckily I still has one pair of contacts left. But even with them it's going to be hard. I'm not one who wakes up and automatically goes and puts in contacts. And to have to wear them for the whole day is hard for me. I get very dry eyes if they're in too long. My eyes just aren't used to them being in for that long.

So here I am, trying to brave a few hours this morning being stubborn and trying not to put in my contacts for a few hours, then decide that I should take my vitamins. Well just as soon as I take it out of the bottle....I drop it on the floor. And knowing that if I don't find this pill right away, it'll probably be Mya who finds it and eats it and an adult dose for a one year old probably wouldn't be a good thing. So here I am trying to find a little red pill while blind. It was not fun. I had such a hard time finding it! And can you guess where I found it? It just happened to roll right on top of a red Samvega magnet!!! No wonder it was so hard! The chances of a red pill landing on something else red? Pretty slim if you ask me. I think I was just being tortured for my poor judgement. Oh well, it's all good for now....but for it only being day one without my glasses I wonder what else the week will hold for me and if I will be able to keep my sanity through it all....

The test has begun....