Order up!!!

A have a dream and it looks like this.....

Some how I managed to get all my marking done and I have no marking this weekend!  This is usually my crazy marking weekend!!!  Now I just have give the test on Monday, mark it, tabulate my marks and enter them .... THEN SUMMER TIME!!! whoo hooooooooooo....

This weekend Makenna and I are going to wash out and pack up the camper.  We are booked in to camp at Pasquia Park from July 2 - 9th. The girls are taking their swimming lessons there.  Andrea, Cory and the kids will be there too... should be lots of fun!!!!

After that we move to Tobin Lake from July 18th to August 17th. We love it up at the Hilltop Campground!

As you all know I have some reading planned for the summer... but as I told Andrea (who I will be camping with a lot this summer) my plans are for Reading, Sleeping, Drinking and Walking... if I do all those things it will be a successful summer!!

Last year, Andrea and I almost overdosed on Chocolate Mudshake coolers.   This year we are not sure what are drink of choice will be ...


So Far this what I have planned...

Molson Canadian 67 (the new 67 calorie beer... only 3% alcohol so not so good to get a buzz on! LOL)
Alive Mixed Berry Flavor

Mike's Homemade Wine which should be done on time for Tobin Lake... can't remember what kind though!
Baileys (for breakfast)
Dr. Pepper and Cherry Whiskey
Dark Rum
White Rum

Green Apple Sour Puss, Butter Ripple Schnaps, Apple juice and Carmel Sauce for Margaritas (Thanks Kristen for the recipe) I bought special clear plastic Martini glasses for the camper!

New Pink Lemonade Baccardi Coolers
Clamato and Vodka and the fixin's for Caesars...

AND I should make some of my Mother In Law's famous rum slush.....  I think I will go for a tropical fruit juice blend and rum.... must get that done for Pasquia Park!!!!

So ladies and gentlemen, what am I missing for my camper's liquor cupboard????

Read any good books lately????

Tonight Mike started fixing things in the camper... building shelves, checking plumbing and what not.  That was my cue to start packing up the important things, so I loaded up my book box!!! LOL

Last summer I read thirteen novels and I already have a big reading list for this summer:

The Last Oracle ~ James Rollins
The Lost Symbol ~ Dan Brown
I, Alex Cross ~ James Patterson (I have read all 16 books in the Alex Cross series so far)
Alex Cross's Trial ~ James Patterson
Bones to Ashes ~ Kathy Reichs (TV show Bones is based on her books. I have never read her books before but I love the TV show Bones)
Blood Ties ~ Kay Hooper (newest book in a series that Andrea and I have been reading)
The Surgeon ~ Tess Gerritsen (I have never read her books before but my sister, Andrea, and I found a few of them on sale then during the winter I picked up the whole series)
The Apprentice ~ Tess Gerritsen
The Sinner ~ Tess Gerritsen
The Body Double ~ Tess Gerritsen
Vanish ~ Tess Gerritsen
The Mephiston Club ~ Tess Gerritsen
The Keepsake ~ Tess Gerritsen
Three Cups of Tea ~ Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Charlemagne Pursuit ~ Steve Berry (Christmas Gifts)
The Amber Room ~ Steve Berry
The Fury ~ Jason Pinter (Christmas Gifts)
The Darkness ~ Jason Pinter
The Christmas Sweater ~ Glenn Beck (Christmas Gift)

I am not sure if I will get them all read but I will give it a good shot! (Gee, there is a lot of money worth of books in this box!)

For Christmas this past year, my sister, Andrea, bought me some magnetic book marks from Lee Valley. They are Awesome. They hold their place well and do not fall out.  It is amazing that even though they are quite small I have not lost one yet and I think that is because they are magnetic so they stay in!

When I was in Saskatoon last weekend I bought myself a new book light from Chapters Indigo.  It puts out lots of light! Perfect for reading in the camper when everyone else is sleeping!

When I was in the city I also picked up a couple books for the kids.
Makenna chose:
Elf Realm ~ Daniel Kirk
A Horse of her Own ~ Annie Wedekind

Rhiannon got her first chapter book to celebrate the end of grade one. I hope she likes it since it is a series and I can buy them for her as needed:
Ivy and Bean Book One

That pretty much tells you what I will be up to this summer.  Maybe my next blog should be about all the drinks I plan on having while reading all these book! LOL

So what are YOU reading???

June in Review....

Thank goodness June is just about over.  It is by far the worst month of the year.

Since I have been neglecting my blog due to more important things like marking, work, marking and work, I thought I should give you an update on what went on in June. My kids are so cute that I thought I would give you "June in Review" in picture form.

We have been spending some time outdoors when we get a chance.  Thank goodness that the weather seems to be smartening up. The only problem is that the grass is growing like mad!  Hopefully we doing lose Shallen in the yard!  Here she is strutting her "stuff" in a very interesting outfit.  There are times that I am so happy that we live out of town! LOL

Both Rhiannon and Makenna are speed swimming this year. We have not gotten into competing yet but I don't think it is far off.  I have some videos of them which I took with my phone but I can't figure out how to get them on my blog so here is a cute picture of Makenna.

We also have two new cats at our house. They even seem to be making "friends" with our dog, Maggie. I am hoping that they stay away from the coyotes that seem to show up in the fall/winter months. 

They sure are cute.  Garfield is the orange one and Blackie (or Gismo, depending on which kid you ask) is the black one. Yep, my kids are very creative with the names.

I also had a couple new wraps show up... so I have to show them off.  The gray one was a travelling wrap which I have already sent off to the next person. It was a very expensive wrap but it was so nice to try out for week or so.  The turquoise one is a very short wrap. It is lightweight and very handy in the warm weather.  Doesn't Shallen look cute in these pictures???

Also in June, Nipawin became Riderville. Here is a picture of my little rider fans. Poor Rhiannon was the only one without Rider Green. I think I know what she needs next time we are in Regina!

The biggest news in the house lately is that Jorja gets to start kindergarten in the fall! She had Kindergarten orientation this week. She is sooooo excited. I bought her a Kindergarten activity book for when we are camping the summer. She sat down and finished it in one day.  Luckily I bought another one which is a Kindergarten/Grade one book for her... hopefully that will be more of a challenge for her.  I don't think she will have any problems at school since she does Rhiannon's grade one homework with her!

It all seemed real that Jorja is starting school in the fall when I ordered her labels from Loveable Labels.  Since my kids have kind of unique names I buy them personalized labels to put on all their school stuff. They think it is cool to have labels with their names on it and I like the fact that the labels are easy to use and pretty much stick to anything!

Finally, I just wanted to share some pictures of Shallen. She is just growing up so very quickly.  I am looking forward to having some more time with my "baby" this summer. Oh how the time ticks by.  It is so easy to lose sight of what is really important when one is so stressed and busy with work. I am so lucky to have the time with my girls during the holidays. (I say as I peek at my summer holiday countdown!)

Date on the Milk Carton...

Just a small happy today while buying groceries with the kids afterschool.  I noticed that the best before date on the milk carton read June 29th.... Ah... Summer holidays can't be far away now!

The apples are dappled...

Today Rhiannon read a book about a dappled horse and I thought it would make for a great blog title! Thanks Rhiannon.

Yep, lately the apples are landing on the ground... oooops... there goes another one.  Have you checked out my summer holiday countdown lately ------------------------------------------------------>

This is a very busy time for me.  May and June are just so stressful.  The weather is not helping.  Actually, it can rain for the next 3 weeks for all I care... I might as well just stay grumpy!!!

Today I was searching on The Canadian Mental Health Association and trying to diagnose myself and I found this work/life balance quiz. I got a 4.  Yep that sucks. I am sure that if I wait for a month I will have a much better score!

Tonight, after supper was done and the dishes put away, I put on my PJs and watched So You Think You Can Dance with Makenna in my bed.  We ate popcorn and drank some yummy Chocolate Strawberry Tea from Sisters Leap Tea. Their tea is divine!!! If you are looking for a wonderful teacher gift *hint hint* they have great tea and they ship from Regina!!! Anyway, it was 7:15pm and we were in bed watching TV and sharing a "moment"... ah... that is what it is all about, yet, there is still that nagging feeling inside me....

I have been trying to get out of this funk for awhile.  I just feel... weird, not myself... extra stressed...  When we were in PA a couple weeks ago Mike bought me The Book of Awesome. (ok so I sent him into the bookstore looking for it... but that counts as a gift ... right?) Anyway, I finished the book today while doing noon hour supervision.  I had a little tear in my eye while I finished the last couple pages. I was hoping that the book would help my funk... but to no avail... the funk is still there.....

I bought a ticket for Lotto Max on Friday. 50 million and 20 ~ 1 million dollar extra prizes.  Would a lottery release me from this feeling?  I am not sure it would.  BUT I know it would really help with the work/life balance... and I am hoping it would help with keeping my apples from becoming dappled. ;)

Hey Jodi... this one's for you!!!! Because I'm Mommy!

My very super, sweet, and special "pseudo-sister" has a big "Boo Boo" ... she needs some entertainment so I thought I would write a blog entry so that she would have something to read while she is sitting with her feet up...

My topic today is Because I AM the Momma ... you know... all those things that your momma said to you when you were a kid.  Those things that you catch yourself saying and then think... crap I am my mother! 

There are many sayings in our family that we attribute to our mother.  (and we tease her about them all the time... like good kids should!)

The most famous of my mom's sayings was "Quit feeling sorry for yourself!" This was often used during those teen-angst years when every little thing was very drama-filled.  You must realize that there were 4 girls in my parents' house and at any moment someone could be PMSing... which is high tide for drama!  Although this saying may seem harsh, it taught us that we needed to look outside of ourselves and our own selfish bubble.  Even when things seem tough for you, there is always someone going through something more difficult than you can imagine.  Even now when I am together with my sisters and we are sitting and complaining about whatever the problem of the day is, it is not unusual for one of us to say in our nasally-mom-voice... "Quit feeling sorry for yourself"and we all end up with a good laugh.

If "quit feeling sorry for yourself" did not do the trick mom's second most popular saying was "Suck it up!" to which we have now added "Buttercup".  I am not sure if my mother ever used the "buttercup" part but I have heard my sister use that phrase with her kids and I know I have used it at one time or another.  Now I know that "Suck it up" seems kind of harsh but often it is replacing what the mom is really thinking which is usually worse than that. I can remember this being used by my mom when I was upset that the "special" pair of pants that I wanted to wear were dirty and I was upset that they had not been washed. I am pretty sure I got the response... "suck it up and wear a different pair".  Looking back I can now see where Makenna gets her clothing "issues" from!!! LOL

Everyone has those days... you know the ones where everything just is not going your way. The days that it seems that the world has turned against you.  The days when you think... this is just NOT FAIR!!!  A wise woman once said this to me.  "Who told you life was fair??? Who ever it was... LIED!"  Truthfully, I can not remember if it was my mom or dad who coined that phrase but I do know that it was used A LOT in our house.  Whether the issue was that one of the siblings got to go for a sleepover or someone else got to pick out the movie at the rental place, we quickly learned that life indeed was not fair BUT that was just the way it was.  This is a life lesson that many people in this world need to learn.

Overtime our relationship with our mom has changed and grown.  We have become confidants and friends.  She no longer uses these saying with us (very often)... probably because we bug her about them so much! ;) However, she is starting to coin new phrases now to add to her repertoire that she can use to add her insight into the new situations we are facing.  You must realize that my mother has a big heart.  She has always had lots of room in her heart (and her house) for more people to love.  Each of her son-in-laws and now her new daughter-in-law has their own little room in her heart. (and their room better not be BIGGER than mine... LOL) So when we sit down and start complaining about our husbands and whatever they have done or not done lately my mom usually sits back and lets us vent... but when it all becomes too much or we go too far she interrupts and shares her wise insight.... "You picked him" she says! I am not sure if that is something that her mother said to her but it does sound like something I may say in the future!  Yes, she is right. "You picked him" pretty much sums up every wife's angst!!!  Not only did we marry him but we CHOSE to marry him... WE picked him... for better or worse... yikes!!!! LOL

So there you go... wisdom according to mom!!

NOTE: It might sound like my mom was hard on us or harsh... this was not true.  It is true, however, that she didn't put up with much crap, with 5 kids to take care of and working full time she didn't have time for that!! Thanks MOM!