Welcome to a day in my life. I can't guarantee that this will be an exciting read for anyone. My life is filled with all the mundane activities of a stay-at-home-mom just trying to raise her three sons to be the best men they can be.

Saturday, September 23, 2006


Early Monday morning I leave for Quebec City, well - Mont. Ste. Anne to be exact, for a week of scrapping and hanging out with 13 of my scrapping friends. I'm really looking forward to it. It promises to be a week filled with girl stuff ... something I don't usually get a lot of around here. Tomorrw night the party starts as 5 of the girls are coming here to spend the night as they-are-out-of-towners and we need to get such an early start. I have a feeling that John and the boys will be hiding out.


Here are some recently scanned layouts. I've had them sitting in my journaling pile for a very long time now and just got around to finishing them off.


This is a shameless scraplift. The orignal artist is Mel.


This is from last year's Junior Music Camp. Yes, I'm just a tad behind.


This is a layout from last March when we were in Florida visiting my parents.

Well, I'm off. I've got a tonne of stuff to get done before 6 a.m. Monday morning. I'll be back in a week.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

It's Thursday

I leave in a few days for a scrapbooking week in Quebec with 13 of my scrapping buddies. I can't wait. It's going to be so much fun. I have so much to do to get myself and my family ready for my going away. Will I ever be ready on time?


Thirteen Things I need to do before my trip


1…. print off some pictures.
2. finished organizing my layout packs with have all the matching paper and embellishments.
3. email Matt's English teacher.
4. clean all the bedrooms. I have some of the girls staying the night before and then the inlaws are coming to stay while I'm gone because John is going to be working a lot of late hours next week.
5. do the gardens
6. grocery shop
7. pack my clothes
8. pack my scrapbooking stuff
9. pick up Matt's uniform
10. go to the pharmacy
11. do my hair
12. clean the house
13. kiss my boys.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Amy
2. Mommyba
3. Cindy
4. gail
5. caylynn
6. kukka-maria
7. brony
8. Melissa
9. Christine



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Saturday, September 16, 2006

Just got five rolls of film developed

I love getting my pictures back. I curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and enjoy each picture as I flip through them. It's like Christmas. Inevitably there are pictures I forgot I took and I loose myself in the memories of the day. (Maybe this is why I'm fighting the digital age!)

When I saw these pictures I couldn't help but smile. It was our last day in Calgary and we had gone to an amusment park. While the boys and I were waiting for a ride to finish, a little ground squirrel came up to us. He was obviously tame. He patiently waited while Matt grabbed a cereal bar. That little tiny animal ate the whole bar! He was enjoying it so much, he let the boys pet him while he was eating.











Friday, September 15, 2006

There's something wrong with this!

I followed a link from another blog to this site. It is a kids' pageant site. When Jon Bennet Ramsey was killed, there was a ton of media attention placed on little girls in pageants like this. To tell you the truth, it kinda creeps me out. All these little girls don't even look real. They look like plastic barbie dolls with painted on eyes, lips, and eyebrows. They even wear wigs. They don't look five, or even ten. They look like they're 25.

I wonder what kind of mother would do this to a precious little child. They should be out playing with their friends, having sleep-overs, and slopping icecream down the front of them, not being made to practise for hours on end and being made up.

I remember seeing such a mother on the Dr. Phil show and she claimed that her 5 year old wanted to do it. All you saw in the footage was the poor child crying and not wanting to participate, and the mother yelling and yanking her around. This family was in debt passed their eyeballs because of the huge expense of these pageants, and their other children had to suffer because of it.

It just gives me the creeps!

The really weird thing is the oldest girl on the page linked to is the only one who looks normal.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

It's time for 13 Thursday again

As most of you know, our oldest son has Nonverbal Learning Disorder. If you are interested in what that is, follow this link. Nonverbal Learning Disorder


Thirteen Things about Why It's great to have Nonverbal Learning Disorder


1…. You always win at Trivial Persuit. You have superb wrote memory skills which means that you remember facts and trivia after hearing or reading it once ... and you'll remember it forever.

2. You love to read and are good at it. You can read a Harry Potter book in less than two days. (we learned this the hard way when we were flying to Victoria. We stopped at the book store on the way to the airport to pick up a book to read on the plane. By the time we landed, he was half way through the book. By the next morning, we had to make another trip to the book store.)

3. You learn to speak and read early ... and amaze everyone with the facts you know when you're only 4.

4. You could be captain of the debate team. You could argue any point any way you wanted to, and win the argument. You leave the other party in your dust.

5. You get to be exempt from French.

6. You get to be exempt from Gym (which is good if you have NLD because you don't like it anyway.)

7. If your classmates don't remember what page a quote is on, you can find it for them in 10 seconds.

8. You say things that the rest of us only think but would never say ... such as telling someone they have bad breath. Thank you - you are doing the rest of us a favour.

9. You are a details person.

10. You always see the best in people.

11. If Cameron asked me a question that I don't know the answer to, I can just send him to you.

12. Because you see everything in black and white, you have a very strong sense of right and wrong.

13. You win speech competitions.


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Raggedy
2. Cat
3. Kelli
4. Semitough
5. Brony




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Monday, September 11, 2006

911


This morning I logged into CNN on the computer and watched the coverage from 911 as it actually happened five years ago. I found myself rivited to the computer screen in the same way that I was rivited to the TV 5 years ago. When I first learned of what was happening, the first tower had just been hit. I watched in horror as the second plane hit. I was stunned, and sat in a state of shock as I watched the whole morning unfold. This morning, I went through the exact same emotions, even though I knew what was coming. I gasped as the plane hit the second tower and covered my face in utter disbelief once again, as the towers each collapsed.

Even though it's been five years, my human mind still cannot grasp how a group of people could sit down and plan something like this and then actually carry it out. Even though it's been five years, the emotions were still very raw as I found myself in tears once again. Even though it's been five years, it's still shocking to see the images. It was an event that changed the world, people, and me. Life will never be the same.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

I'm stealing this blog idea from Barb's blog. (I think I'm getting addicted to doing lists.)

50 Random things on my mind:

1. I really should get off this computer and do some scrapbooking.
2. I have a whole cupboard of ironing I need to get to. John is now giving me hints by putting items on the ironing board.
3. I hate homework.
4. I need to get out to home depot to order some wallpaper border for Cameron's room.
5. I'm tired.
6. The boys start piano lessons up again this week.
7. I secretly hope that the piano teacher's piano is still out of commission so she will have to come here to do lessons.
8. My scrapbooking holiday is coming up real soon. Going to Quebec with 13 of my scrapbooking buddies for a week. Can't wait.
9. Matt is finally hitting puberty. ...and it's making him very anxious.
10. When did Spencer get so big?
11. It's going to feel weird not to have any boys in hockey this winter.
12. My computer has been making some very weird sounds.
13.Matthew has his shirt on inside out. I wonder how long until he notices it.
14. I wish it was till summer.
15. Cameron says he wants to have a blog titled "School Sucks"
16. I hate that word.
17. I need to go to the paint store to pick out a paint colour for Cameron's room.
18. He wants to have a fishing cabin room, just like Jason.
19. He wants to put real fishing stuff on his wall.
20. That's fine as long as he doesn't nail real fish to his wall.
21. And he'd better not use his fishing rod in his fish tank.
22. He's such a boy.
23. I need to pick out paint colours for the whole house.
24. Our house really needs a paint job.
25. I hate painting.
26. It's too expensive to have someone else do it.
27. I wonder where the cat is. I haven't seen him all day.
28. I have more on my mind than I thought I did.
29. It's a good thing us women can multitask.
30. Why can't my boys keep themselves organized. It drives me insane.
31. Who's socks are these under my desk?
32. I think I need another cup of tea.
33. For the first time we spent a lot of money on a pair of shoes for the boys. Matt wanted a pair that wee $80. I know that's not as bad as some, but it was still a lot for us.
34. I was glad he actually took an interest in his apparel.
35. Spencer made some great friends at camp this summer.
36. I'm glad he's been keeping up with them on MSN.
37. Why hasn't my Dad updated his blog?
38. I wonder if my parents are away right now.
39. I need to phone Cathy to see if she wants to go to Rick's open house with me.
40. I wonder when the open house is?
41. I hope it's not this week because I'm supposed to be meeting Deb for tea on Wednesday.
42. The boys start Badminton this week.
43. We need to get them rackets.
44. I think we missed Spencer's orthodonist appointment.
45. Why don't they call to remind us? I hate that.
46. I need to take in four more rolls of film to be developed.
47. I think my camera needs to go in to be serviced.
48. I'd better do that so I can have it back in time for my trip.
49. I need to finish off the roll that's in the camera so I can take it in.
50. Too many thoughts. I'm tired.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

I've been tagged.

My scrapping buddy, Christyne tagged me on her blog. The topic is 10 things that you may not know about me. It will be hard to come up with things that my family doesn't know, but I think I can come up with thing that the rest of you may not already know. Leave me a comment and tell me how well I did.


10 Things You May Not Know About Me

1.Before dating my husband John, I dated his best friend. John called me as soon as the other relationship ended. He wasted no time. And yes, John and Kevin are still good friends.

2.My favorite colour right now is orange.

3. I'm an introvert. This doesn't mean that I don't like being around people. It means that it is very exhausting to be around people ... especially people that I don't know or large groups of people. I recharge by being alone. I love my alone time. I crave my alone time. When I'm with a group of people for a long period of time I end up withdrawing into myself to recharge. Sometimes others think I'm upset about something, but I'm just recharging.

4. When I was born my name was Margaret Ruth. My mom changed in after a couple of weeks as she said I didn't look like a Margaret Ruth. I want to know ... just what does a Margaret Ruth look like anyway?

5. I crave organization in my world. That doesn't mean that I'm a neat freak, just organized.

6. My dream trip would be to go on an African Safari. One day....

7. I almost drowned when I was 5. We were swimming at a pool with our Church and I jumped in the pool where it was too deep and was there for what felt like an eternity when someone finally pulled me out. I still love water, though.

8.I can touch my nose with my tongue.

9. My favorite TV show is Everybody Loves Raymond. I have to watch reruns from 10 to 11 each night and I get grumpy if I don't get to see it.

10.I had a crush on Michael J. Fox when I was young.


OK. Now I'm only tagging two people:
Cathy - because she never updates her blog
and my Dad, because it will make for an interesting read.
(btw Dad and Cathy, when you do your list you have to tag someone else!)

Friday, September 08, 2006

Not much to post today.

...so, I'm just going to do the Friday's Feast.

Feast One Hundred & Ten
Appetizer
Name 3 things that you are wearing today.

t shirt, shorts, and a sweatshirt

Soup
Who was the last person you hugged?

John

Salad
What do you like to order from your favorite fast food place?

Right now my favorite fast food place is William's Coffee Pub. The boys love going there too and we order sandwhiches, ceasar salads, and chocolate milk shakes. OK, now I'm hungry.

Main Course
What time of day do you usually feel most energized?

I would say mid morning to early afternoon. If it doesn't get done then, it's not going to get done.

Dessert
Using the letters in your first name, write a sentence. (Example: Sweet unusual spaniels are nice.)

Baseball and rugby bring all runners around.

Thursday, September 07, 2006


Thirteen Things about Why it's great to have only boys


1. Boys love their moms (and are very protective of their moms).

2. There are no princesses trying to dethrone the queen (I guess that will happen soon enough when they start dating seriously)

3. I can burp and fart all I want and they think that I'm cool.

4. When I let a smelly one go, I've always got someone else to blame.

5. Now that they're getting bigger, I can wear their clothes

6. They can't borrow my clothes (at least, I hope they don't want to!)

7. They aren't embarrassed to be seen with me in public ... even when I'm in sweats.

8. It's fun to cook for boys because they devour everything you put in front of them and tell you that it was delicious.

9. I save a bundle on clothes because jeans, t shirts, and running shoes are all they want to wear.

10. When the boys and dad want to have boy time, it means free time for me.

11. There's always someone to mow the grass or shovel the driveway

12. The bathroom and shower is almost always available.

13. If they get mad at me for something, they're over it in a few minutes and love me again.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Laurie



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Back to School

Can you believe that it's that time of the year again? The summer has just flown by. Last night I had three very grumpy boys on my hands. None of them were ready to give up their freedom ... and to be honest, I wasn't thrilled about it either. Last night I lay awake, unable to fall asleep as different scenarios played through my mind. My anxieties and worries, that a mother has for her children, were in full force. I prayed that God would guard each one of them as they returned to a world that was separate from my own. I prayed for their anxieties as well, as I knew we were all feeling the same knot in our stomaches.

The knot in my stomache continued throughout the day and I found myself phoning home to check to see if any of them had phoned, needing me, and left a message.

At the end of the school day I picked up three very happy boys who all had a wonderful day and were all eager to share with me what their teachers are like, and what friends are in their classes, and what they bought themselves for lunch. It was another successful first day back to school. ...and tonight everyone's anxiety is in check, including my own.

I found this picture of my babies from 8 years ago. Where has the time gone???



and now...