Holidays

BAD Sandra.  Been very busy and no time to update but this morning, thought I'd post a few pictures of Maddison while I patiently drink my mega cup of coffee.  Still losing weight at lightning speed and been walking alot and getting in shape.   I have some PLEXUS SLIM on hand if anyone wants to try it.  EMAIL ME.  **I have 3 day trial packs or a 30 day supply.

Last 2 weeks I was on holidays and spent it with Dennis up at his house.  One day I picked up Brenda, Maddison and Jory and took them to the Burnstown beach, in Calabogie.  I have taken my kids here many times, and they have a new park which is really nice, but it's a beautiful beach, with clean water and just really nice.  This was Maddison's first time ever at the beach and she loved it!!  Tomorrow, I think we're going to go to Petrie Island (there's a beach there and a nature trail). 

Donating Blood

Jory was pretty happy and very proud to have donated blood yesterday for the very first time.

Life Lessons

I read this. I think the 21 advices here are awesome. Guys, put them into practice as much as you can, for the better of yourself, family and world.

• Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
• Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
• Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
• When you say, "I love you," mean it.
• When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
• Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
• Believe in love at first sight.
• Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
• Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
• In disagreements, fight fairly. Please No name calling.
• Don't judge people by their relatives.
• Talk slowly but think quickly.
• When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
• Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
• Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
• When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
• Remember the three R's:
• Respect for self;
• Respect for others;
• Responsibility for all your actions.
• Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
• When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
• Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
• Spend some time alone

HAVE an AMAZINGLY Blessed day!!  xo

Maddie loves the camera!

We were hanging out on the couch last night.  Maddie likes alot of attention so I let her play with my iphone.  She gets super excited looking through the photos in my album.  Anyways, as soon as she saw the flash go off she posed a superstar smile.  What a ham!!   Here she is with her new blankie.

On another note, I found these 'rules' for living...and they really spoke to me today, so thought I'd share.  Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

1.   Find the lesson in every failure, and you'll never fail

2.  The likelihood that you're right is not increased by the intensity of your conviction.

3.  Real friends help you feel worthy and make you want to be better.

4.  When you're in a hole, stop digging.

5.  Don't confuse fun with fulfillment or pleasure with happiness.

6.  Refusing to let go of a grudge is refusing to use the key that will set you free.

7.  Hating hurts you more than the person you hate.

8.  Counting on luck is counting on random chance; your odds are much better when you plan and work.

9.  It's better to be kind than clever.

10.  Don't underestimate the power of persistence.

11.  The easy way is rarely the best way.

12.  It's much easier to burst someone else's bubble than to blow up your own.

13. You can't avoid pain, but you can avoid suffering.

14.  Self-pity is a losing strategy; it repels others and weakens you.

15.  Shortcuts usually produce short success.

16.  Control your attitude or it will control you.

HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY!!

So much for spring!

Woke up this morning and there is an inch of thick wet snow on the ground.  DISGUSTING!  Very disappointed in mother nature right now - LOL! 

Sorry I didn't write in a while. I have no excuse, except that I've been busy knitting? :)

I finished Maddie's blanket the other day. She was smiling and laughing from ear to ear when I gave it to her. Brenda tells me she loves to sleep with it and she carries it around with her. Actually, yesterday she got gravy on it and I had to wash it. HA!! I meant to take a picture of her with it, but forgot. So, I'll try and do that this week.

I started working on a blanket for Kayla. It's a feather and fan pattern which creates this ripple effect. It's the first time I've knit using that pattern and it took me several tries before I got it right, but i finally got it figured out. Here's the first couple of pictures of what it looks like. It's very loose knit and soft...gonna be a good 'curling up on the couch' kinda blanket.

So, don't know if you all know this or not, but Jory loves to skateboard.  For his birthday this year, he saved up all his money and bought himself a longboard.  He will longboard all the way to Barrhaven and back just to get a ride. He took videos of himself the other day...and I'm having a really hard time getting them uploaded right now...so I'll just post this picture for now.  What do you think?  :) Pretty cool huh?

Well, I should get to work.  Hopefully, I'll have more stuff to post from home with my laptop where it's much easier to write posts...using the computer at work here without my blog writer software is really irritating. 
Hope you all have a blessed day.

May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.
May you walk gently through the world and know
it's beauty all the days of your life."

-apache blessing

Remembering to always be grateful....today I am grateful for my health and for my children's health.    Thank you Lord.

Sick Weekend

Last Thursday I came down with a sinus cold.  It was all in my head, eyes hurt, sinuses, nose, ears, head…i thought for sure it was a sinus infection.  Anyways, I didn’t want to use antibiotics unless I really had to so I took some sinus and cold medicine, lots of aspirin and drank a gallon of orange juice.  I’m just starting to feel better today….at one point yesterday i had a fever of 101.  Needless to say, I didn’t get anything done yesterday and wasn’t able to go see Dennis.  I know the kids liked having me home…because when I’m here all I do is clean and cook.  ha!

I started knitting a blanket for Maddison.  I saw this really gorgeous blanket online called the “Breezy Baby Blanket”.  You can see the original here and the pattern.  When I saw this cotton yarn on sale at Zellers, I knew I had to use it to make something for Maddie. 

It’s gonna look so pretty when it’s done!

Made cupcakes and cookies today.  Joanna and I are watching The Notebook today.  Had to have some fresh treats. 

So today, Kayla was late for work for the first time.  She was to start working at 9AM but her alarm didn’t go off and she woke up at 8:50 AM.  She came in my room all in a panic…so i jumped out of bed and drove her to work.  I was grateful that I was feeling a bit better today.  I’m not so sniffly any more. 

Somebody that I used to know

Jory got me hooked, line and sinker on this song…MY GOODNESS…awesome on so many levels.  It’s a cover from an original by Gotye, and the group is called WALKED OFF THE EARTH.  They were featured recently on Ellen Degeneres…80,000,000 hits on youtube…not bad at all. 

Finished another hat, this one for Kayla

You’re going to get bored with my knitting photos, probably like you got you tired of seeing my scrapbooking pages – LOL!  Good thing is that you won’t have to see any more scrapbook pages until I marry Dennis and have my craft room all set up, because here…there is no room to scrapbook.  I guess that’s one of the reasons I love to knit.  It don’t take much room at all. 

I came up with this pattern myself.  I worked out the decreasing by myself.  I must say I quite like how it turned out…and may just have to publish this pattern! 

Joanna (Jory’s Girlfriend) has now asked me to make her one. HA!

The hat starts out with a 1 x 1 rib and goes into a 4 cable…increased to 6 cable after a few rounds….6 cable, 2 rib…  love it!  I made this one with an acrylic blend…and it’s very soft…perfect for spring.    It’s actually cold here the past couple of days…and nippy in the morning especially!

Our glasses are in

I picked up our glasses today….love how they look!  Don’t you?

Time for some hats!

We really got spoiled with the weather last week  I knew this would happen.  Today it feels like -15 degrees out and it's freezing!  BRRR!
Had a great weekend.  D bought a new 60 inch Sharp Aquos TV, so we watched movies all day Saturday.  I can't get over the quality of the picture.  BLING!! This weekend we also thought to try out Netflix, which is free for a month just to try...I loved it so much I signed up for it when I got home.  Jory and I watched a new series last night - about zombies.  LOL!  Anyways. we just hooked up the Wii upstairs...there are thousands of movies to choose.  Kayla and Jory are pretty stoked about that.  They even have PINGU and BLUES Clues on there! 

So, my crocus are up at D's house.  Next weekend I need to till the earth in the garden and add some manure.  I can't believe it's that time of year.  I'm excited about the garden this year.  Dennis pretty much lets me do what I want with it...but he's so great - he waters it during the week when I'm not there because he loves how it looks.  His house is just so gorgeous...it's the neatest and nicest looking house on the entire street.

I went to the dollarama on Friday and picked up a couple of things for Maddie.  I got her these foam alphabet shapes that stick on the bathtub.  These should make it fun for her to have a bath.

I also just finished ordering a couple of sun hats for her from Etsy.  Etsy is a website where you can buy handmade items.  People all over the world have little shops where they sell things they make.  I know it's probably a little more pricey than buying one at WalMart, but it's handmade and they will last a long time...and they are so unique and original...I couldn't resist.  If we don't lose them, they should last for years!
Here's the first one:

And here's the second one:  They are both totally reversible.

 

Anyways, I guess I should get to work now.  BUSY as always.  WIll talk soon...hope you are all doing good.  :)

 

It's Friday!!

So glad it's finally Friday! It's been a long week. Weather has been gorgeous and I started walking again so I've been dropping into bed at night really exhausted and sleeping really hard. Those kinda nights make it really hard to get up in the morning. I can't wait until my body is used to this exercise and it just feels normal - instead of feeling like I am torturing it. ha! 
Was a quiet night at home last evening. Kayla was not home, and Jory was studying for a couple of tests he's having today, so we just hung out. He mostly quizzed me on his notes, as if I were the one who should be learning, and I sat there and knit my little heart out. We made naachos and smoothies and were in bed by 10:00. :)

I finished Jory's beanie...here he is sporting it for me. He's such a good sport, modelling it for me.

I started knitting a little hat for Kayla...I suppose I should be done it tonight. LOL! Zellers has this clearance bin of yarn and each ball is like $0.99 cents. I keep gravitating to that bin everytime I go there and grabbing a couple of balls. I thought I should start using them up...and I can make a hat with less than two balls. Who can find a handknit hat for less than $2.00. I'm thinking I may have to open an etsy shop and start selling these. LOL!

Have a glorious weekend everyone!! I'm sure I'll have some new pictures and content to post by Sunday. xo

Went to the eye Doctor today…

Jory sat on his glasses – so it was time for a new pair.  I decided to make eye doctor apt for the both of us since it had been two years we went last. 
Jory needed a slightly new prescription.  As for me, my prescription changed slightly as well.  I told her that I notice since I turned 41 (OMG!) I find it harder to adjust from far to near.  For example, if I’m sitting on the couch knitting, and then i have to look up and watch TV it takes me about 2 mins to focus.  I was severely depressed when she told me I was borderline needing progressive lenses and more than likely the next time I go for a check-up I will need a progressive lenses.  Sucks big time.  Getting old!

Anyways, Jory and I ordered some new glasses today – we should have them by the end of the week.  I can’t wait – sexy new frames!

Made homemade hamburgers for dinner tonight…Delicious.  With this weather you can’t help but want to bbq juicy burgers!  After dinner, we took Maddie to the park.  It’s all she wants to do now.  Ha!  Kayla was home today (it was her day off) and she much enjoyed going to the park with her.  I think it reminded Kayla of when she was little.  :)

  

Now, we’re at home.  Maddie is jumping all over the couch and is touching my laptop – driving me nuts.  LOL!  I may have to start writing my blog posts in my room after I go to bed.  haha!  You gotta admit, she does have a very mischievous monkey look on her face don’t she? 

\

Reminds me of a sock monkey

I started knitting a new beanie for Jory.  Since he has such a 'fun' personality I thought it would be nice to make him a more colourful one.  This one reminds me of a sock monkey, or those wool work socks that I love so much.  Only difference is, I used orange and blue instead of red and grey.

Pretty cool huh?  I think I might be on to something and may need to make a few more of these - including some for the girls...could use a pink stripe instead of orange.  Who wants a hat?  LOL!

 These ones are made with 100% cotton and are really comfy...more for 'fashion' than keeping your head warm (which is how the teenagers wear them anyways).

Maddie goes to the Park

I know we all love this warm weather.  It’s 25 degrees Celsius out.  today is the last day of winter and it’s 25 degrees outside.  Strange enough, we went for a walk this evening – we were wearing flip flops and walking in small patches of snow.  Something weird about that.  I shall not complain too much because it’s such a nice treat after spending all winter indoors – but is that what they call ‘global warming’?  I hope this doesn’t wreak havoc on the plant and stuff.

So, because it was so nice out we went for a walk this afternoon after I got home from work and stopped at the park with Maddie.

She loved to see the kids at the park and wasn’t too sure about the sand on her hands (she don’t like to get dirty), but she loved walking around the park and running wherever her little feet would take her. 

*remember that if you want to see the bigger enlarged, click it ---then hit the back button on your browser to return here. 

  
She went on the slide…she seemed to like it.  On the way up the stairs she met a little boy a little bigger than her and she was really friendly with him.  She squealed and touched his shoes…the little boy was wondering what was happening.  LOL!

  

As I type this, Maddie is crying – apparently because she wants Mommy to open the front door – so she can look outside.  Forget that, Brenda had to take her outside…she started to throw a fit. HA!!  Reminds me of when Kayla and Jory were really little and would cry to go outside before they’d even eaten breakfast. 

Bring on summer!!