Play room redecorate

We've thrown around the thought of painting our play room for a while. First we couldn't decide on a color, but then I thought about it. The play room also doubles as our front entrance way. I didn't want it to be too brightly painted, but I wanted something a little less boring.

This is what we came up with:

Before:


After:


I LOVE how much brighter and fun it makes the room seem. Another way to up the color is we finally bought the second 2 chairs for the kiddie table. We bought 2 chairs with the intention of buying the other 2 when we had our next kid. Pink for girl or green if it was another boy. So, we've added these today which should brighten the room up that much more.


Now if only we can keep all the toys under control. Lol. With a second child coming in about 2 months I know there is no hope for that.

Quick 101 in 1,001 update

For those of you who even care about my 101 things in 1,001 days journey, my days are all done... And yet my items were not. I thought I would be fairly disappointed in it, but I did a bunch of stuff off my list and enjoyed doing it. I think I might do the list again, but make sure I have a concrete list ready before I start the project. I'm postin from my phone right now but later I will do a full recap on just what I accomplished during my 1,001 days

Cake pop update

I covered a dozen of the cake pops today and took them to dinner with our neighbors. They were a hit. The hardest part about putting the colored chocolate on the pops was trying to get the chocolate to melt to the proper temp ke without messing it up. The best part was that because the cake pops came out of the freezer it didn't take long for the chocolate to harden on the pops.

Again, this whole thing, SO easy.

And don't they just look so pretty?!?!

Christmas baking

Ok, so I've really wanted to try cake pops. They taste delicious but I've never gotten the urge/ambition to make them. Until now.

Santa isn't getting cookies tonight, he's getting cake pops.

Now let me tell you, it is crazy easy. I thought it was some drawn out long hard baking to-do. I'm here to tell you it's not. I made a cake, according to the directions on the box. When the cake is finished crumble it into a bowl. Add 3/4 can of frosting. (thank you to my MeMo's for that tip instead of using a full can) stir it up, and ta-da!!


Then, get messy and roll the cake into balls. Put on a cookie sheet and put into the freezer.


I bought some red and green chocolates to dip my frozen balls into (bahaha, balls) and hopefully everything turns out yummy!!

Too bad it's not real

This lovely beach picture.

Today we bought passes for the west Edmonton mall. Earlier this year you may remember we bought a 3 month pass and used it like crazy. We were easily at the mall 2-3 days a week. *for those of you that missed my post in Feb, a single admission to the water park is $30ish. A multiplay one day pass that gets you into everything (watermark, amusement park, sea lion show, aquarium, mini golf, bowling, etc) is $59. We got a great deal during family day. We had to buy a 4 pack of 3 month passes, and each pass worked out to $56 per person. Austin being under 2 was free, so we had our friend Lindsay and my mom take the other passes.* this time I studied te prices and based on our past use (2-3 times a week at a cost that should have been $59 per visit) we decided to splurge for a 1 year pass. Yes, it was a lot of money today, but even if we come once a month for the next 12 months, we will get our money's worth. The cost equalled out to $175 per person, and sadly Austin being 3 now he had to have his own pass. I just keep telling myself that we only need to use our cards 3 times to pay it off. 3 times in a year is more than manageable. Especially since Austin loves the water slides and mini golf and watching the sea lions.

When this new baby comes I won't be able to do the water park with Austin alone, but there are enough other activities like the aquarium or mini golf, or even the amusement park on things like the carousel.

As I type this Austin and daddy are off playing in the kiddie pool on the watersides, while I am sitting in a beach chair with my toes in the wave pool. I'd say this is a great way to spend a tuesday.

Pet peeve

I just need to get this pet peeve out. We decided to take in candy cane lane in Edmonton this weekend. It was a nice warm night for walking. Basically, it's 8 blocks of houses decorated with lights and other Christmas items. It's been going every Christmas since 1968. I couldn't even imagine. Anyways, we parked and started walking. Like I said it was a great night to walk. You can drive but they prefer that people walk. I have no issues with those who chose to drive..... Except those with the following kids. Or I guess I should note people with the following young kids. I kid you not, while walking I saw....

A rather large pick up truck. With 2 children standing on the back seat with their heads out the sunroof. Or the kid hanging halfway out the back window of a car. Come on people!!!!! I don't care if you are driving 1 kmph. You can still get into an accident and your children could get seriously hurt. I wanted to just start yelling at people to buckle their kids up!!!! This wasn't a one way, do 5km/hr and everyone doing the same thing. It was a still fully functioning road with stop signs and 2 way traffic and side roads. It's just not a smart thing to do!!! If your kids can't see the lights while buckled in, then walk. Don't put your child's life in danger.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless wednesday

A cute little boy and his grandpa. I don't think he realizes grandpa goes home tomorrow and won't see him 24/7

Wordless Wednesday

Living with a boy.

Having a little boy is fun.... So much fun, that you get to deal with boo boo's and scrapes.

Today we had an appt for our 3rd year pictures (yes, he's 3 already! WTH!) We're getting ready to go becuase my step mom was coming to pick us up. I'm tidying up and say "go get your coat!" Seconds later I hear a crash, bang, then cries. I go running. There is my little monkey sitting at the bottom of the stairs half in a laundry basket. I go to check him out and see blood. Thinking he just hit his lip. I take him back upstairs to clean up the spit/blood and find it's not coming from his lip. It's his nose. Sigh. He scraped the skin in 2 places on his nose, and a spot on his head, but there was no red or bruising. Yay! Got the blood stopped, check out his nose, and he finally stops crying.

I ask him what happened. "I fell down" I explained that yes, I knew that. How did he fall down the stairs. "ride basket" ah yes, that explains it. Daredevil child. My step mom showed up and I asked her to look at his face, and she said she didn't think it was broken. He was still poking it himself and not screaming or crying in pain. By the time we got to the photo studio his forehead had a red mark on it. We took a bunch of pictures and I tell you that it doesn't look all that noticable in the proofs I saw. I hope that if there was anything noticiable they can photoshop it out of there!! lol. At least we will have an awesome story to tell if you can see it. lol

Baby Update

Here we are 22 weeks (and 1 day, but who's counting ;-) lol) I'm pretty sure baby went through a growth spurt these last few days. Monday night I laid down for bed and all I could feel was kick kick kick. So far it's been random kicks but nothing steady. Then Tuesday morning was full of kick kick kick too. The last 2 nights I've been feeling the resistance in rolling over and getting up during my many pee trips. I was expecting to start feeling this stuff a little earlier, but here we are. with 18 (ish) weeks left until this little one is here it will be kicks and stretches like crazy.

I know that every pregnancy is different, but I didn't realize just how different it would be. With Austin, I almost wondered if he was growing outside my uterus becuase he hung out pretty much the whole pregnancy between my ribs and my belly button. This baby is hanging out down low. Every kick I'm feeling is in my lower stomach.

I've been waiting for the aches and pains to start hardcore, but so far it's been just minimal. I've been feeling great and fully enjoying every minute. And exciting, I have another ultrasound tomorrow since baby had it's back to the ultrasound tech and he couldn't get a good look at the heart. I'm excited to see baby again!!

My little man

He cracks me up daily.

He likes to help grandma wash her windows..... By licking them then wiping the spit around.

The other say he was running around in circles in the living room and yelling "going too fast! Going too fast!"

He keeps singing "Toopy, that's me!" over and over again.

And well, his a,b,c's are awesome. The whole some consists of the letters a,b,m,n,o,w,x,y,z. Sung in the tune of abc.

This morning I was trying to get his pants on and I wiggled him. He said to me "mommy shake my booty?"

Oh my child. He cracks me up.

I think he's starting to realize that there is something up with mommy. Before we talked about a baby and he seemed to get it, but the last few days he's been so cuddly with me. I am not complaining. He usually tells me to go when I try to play or cuddle with him, so the cuddles are awesome.

We've got to get ready for thanksgiving dinner so I'm signing off!! Hope everyone has a great and pumpkin filled weekend!!

A big ol walk

Tomorrow is the walk. It's finally here. Through fundraising and the dance that was thrown our team raised over $5,000!!! So amazing to see all the support of people around us.

This all started with my step mom. She wanted to do the CIBC run for the cure for herself. As an end to the chemotherapy and radiation and everything else. Then people said they would walk with her. Now it's a team of 20 people!!! We've made team tshirts, and with the help of some cousins I have made tutus for our team to wear. Yes, even the men! We may look ridiculous tomorrow but we are going to be having a blast!!!

I'm not going to lie though, I am a little worried. My asthma gets so much worse when I'm pregnant. I have to be careful not to over push myself. Also, it's a 5k walk. I've been walking more since finding out I was pregnant but am I ready for a 5k?? Tomorrow night I doubt I'll be able to move much, and I will be exhausted. Lol I'm sure of it. And, I really should get to sleep now since it's 12:30 In the morning. Time to get to sleep!!!

I will be back with some pictures in the next few days. Have a good one!!

Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream

Oh how I love thee.

We went and bought some for desert tonight. I was slightly sad when I realized they didn't have cotton candy at the store we were at. I am cotton candy's bitch. Mmm so good.

Funny story. The summer between grade 8 and grade 9 we moved to Bobcaygeon. Since I stayed with my dad and moved up there once I finished school, I didn't really know too many people. Shortly after I moved up there I did get a paper route, but that was only 2 days a week. I didn't know anyone to babysit, so I hung out. I came to love the Kawartha Dairy factory. It was less than a 10 minute walk down my road. Yes, we were on the same street. oh so dangerous.

I may have scrounged up money in the house *cough* my mom's and brother's *cough* to walk down the street and get my Kawartha Dairy Ice cream cone. Cotton Candy of course. While I miss being so close and having it every day, my waist is thankful.

However. to the point of my post. Desert was delicious and anyone in Ontario NEEDS to try Kawartha Dairy Ice cream if they haven't yet. mmmmm.

Wordless wednesday

My little man's first day of highschool. Lol. He's gone with his big cousin Amanda to school today to be a model for her photography class.

4 years

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago I was sitting in my grandma's kitchen getting my hair done. I was the ultimately calm bride, coloring while getting my hair done instead of freaking out.

4 years ago I married my husband. The man who has been there for me and means so much to me. We have been through so much and it hasn't always been easy, but we still stick together for many years to come.

Happy anniversary dear husband. Even though we can't be together today you are with me in my heart.

Wordless Wednesday

Run for the Cure

Hey everyone!

I thought I would just quickly put this out there. Since I was able to come to Ontario to visit with family early, I am able to participate in the CIBC Run for the the Cure. Any money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Why is this so important to me?? Last December, just before Christmas, we found out that my step mom had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Mere months before that my 17 yr old cousin had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer. Needless to say last year our family was hit hard. (My grandfather also passed away from cancer about 6 years ago and my step mom has also recently lost her mother to cancer)

After being there and supportive through what seemed like endless chemo and radiation treatments we are finally done. Most of our family has decided that we are going to do the CIBC Run for the cure and try and raise as much money as we can to help the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Research and support are so important in the never ending battle of cancer.

I am asking that you help me out and donate to our team. We will walk tall and proud (maybe not all that quickly) and will make sure we are having a damn fun time while we're at it. If everyone donates even $1 it will help. I want to thank you for all the support and our team will do you proud!!! Just simply click on the button below and make a mark in the battle against Cancer!!!

Happy Labour Day!!!

To celebrate we had a bbq with some friends over. It went over very well and I made some a-maz-ing desserts which I will share in another post.

Anyways. It was all fun and games until something landed on my sunglasses and without thinking I gave it a swat. Well, it was a bee. and that swat sent it right down my shirt. Of course, I panic, I'm sure the bee was panicking. The jerk stung me. Best part? right in the cleavage. I'm freaking out now. Trying to get the damn thing out of my shirt before it stings again. Sadly, I may have knocked over my friend's 1 yr old daughter. I ran in the house and flung my shirt off. Then made my way to the bathroom. This is where I note my husband had all the windows open and the back door that opens into our next door neighbour's yard. I have probably scarred them for life.

Yeah, not cool.

Don't forget, I'm pregnant and hormonal. I was a crying bubbling mess. (insert embarrasment here) And hey, why not add the fact I had an extreme allergy to bees as a child. We've only tested the "grown out of the allergies" theory once before and it turned out pretty well, but I did get drugged up with Benadryl. I was freaking out today about having an allergic reaction and we were trying to figure out if we had benadryl and if it was safe to take during pregnancy. Of course, we don't have any.

The good news? I'm still alive!!! I did swell up a bit, slightly more then when I get mosquito bites. And the area is still sore and red hours later. But I didn't fall over and die from the sting and I survived without any drugs.

So yeah, happy labour day. I hope your day was slightly less eventful then mine.

14 weeks

It took me 14 weeks before I had to start sleeping with a pillow between my knees. I really thought it would have taken longer, but everything happens sooner with 2nd kids. If I have the bed to myself and can spread out I don't need the pillow, but with Dave home, I'm using the pillow.

Also happened at 14 weeks?? I felt my first for sure kick. I had been wondering about some movement going on in my stomach for a while but there was no doubt about it Wednesday evening.(14wk1d) This excited me so much. I can't wait to just sit and watch my belly do odd things. Maybe even watch baby with the hiccups. (and yes, you can tell.)

I head to Ontario on Tuesday to visit for a while and will probably be having my big ultrasound there. While Dave won't be with me for the ultrasound (or at least it will be very unlikely) I think I'm going to do some sort of gender reveal and wait until we can both find out together. We will see what happens.

Wordless wednesday

Boys will be boys and this boy hit his head on the kitchen table.

I am still here..

I'm not going to lie, I've pretty much been sleeping the past few weeks... er month.... whatever. 1st trimester of pregnancy is so damn exhausting. then add in trying to regulate my body on my new depression meds, plus taking diclectin (dr's gift from heaven for morning/all day sickness) which ooh yay, causes drowsyness, I've been sleeping a lot.

There was one week that I was so thankful for swimming lessons because it exhausted Austin so much he would have up to a 4 hr nap. That meant mommy got a 4 hr nap. That meant Mommy was in heaven. I was crawling into bed just after Austin at night. And still I was tired in the morning.

I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and I don't think I've had a nap for at least 3 days! Amazing, I know. lol. Tomorrow though, will be a nap day. I have to go to the Airport to pick up Dave and me tired with a 40 minute drive on the highway ahead of me? Not good at all. I don't want to put myself, my son or any other drivers at risk because I'm driving dozey. So nap time it is. And I'm already looking forward to it! lol.

I've got a long list of to do's (or I guess it would be honey-do's) for this week while Dave's home. He's got some shelves to hang (thank you pinterest for the idea) some curtains to hang, some spiders, empty webs and dead spider bodies to eradicate. Then he needs to fix our outside hose (it was crap and the hose pretty much broke open causing an awesome puddle going down the road) so we can water our flowers. Sorry mom, I may have killed some..... But they did really well until this week!!!! Then I'm sure I'll come up with a million other things by then. Whew, I'm tired again just reading his to do list.

Then we might hit the second hand kids store to see if there are any amazing deals on some baby supplies or things we need. Like a stroller. Austin is a runner and a wanderer all at the same time. He will take off so fast before you know it. Or you will be walking and he will slow right down to look at every single thing around. In crowded places I could care less if people think he's too old, he's in the stroller. So... it stands to reason that we will need a double stroller of some sort. I like the looks of the sit n stand strollers so we might just go with them since they seem to be best for us. Austin will be over 3 when this baby is born, he doesn't need a structured seat like he did when he was a yr old, somewhere to stand or sit, even backwards seems like a good idea. I will have to do some research into strollers over the next little bit.

Anyways, this momma is tired. off to bed I go. This little one 'turns' 14 weeks along tomorrow. Good night everyone!

A child and an iPod

While we were in swimming lessons I was talking to another mom about learning. I had told her that I am a firm believer that an iPod for kids isn't that bad. Don't get me wrong Austin doesn't have his own iPod, but he uses mine and I would say that most of the apps on it are for him. The other mom kind of gave me a look.

Austin learned his animals and noises from the iPod. His current fav game is one that is teaching him his shapes. He cheers an claps with the app when he gets a shape right. He knows such random words thanks to the baby flash cards. (hello abacus!) He colors with Dora, plays ping pong with McQueen, he plays memory with a giraffe, and ok yes, he is a master pro at angry birds.

I say technology isn't all that bad. It gives me a few minutes to get stuff done, or some mornings an extra 20 minutes of sleep while he lies beside me and plays. Some mornings that makes it so worth while. If he finds the Netflix app I can get up to an extra 45 min while he watches super why or dinosaur train or Thomas.

So anyone reading this who is thinking of letting their kids play with their iPod/iPhone I say it is well worth it. There are so many great apps out there!

Conversations with a toddler

This morning I had quite the convo with Austin and as soon as we finished I thought man I have to write that one down. So, here you are. But warning: It contains poop talk.

I'm cleaning up a poopy bum.
A: bye bye poopy!
A: poop go back home?
Me: well, poop doesn't really have a home.
A: poop go play?
A: poop go eat?
Me: poop doesn't eat. The food you eat turns into poop.
A: why?
Me: because that's how your body works, it changes your food into poop.
A: oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh wow!

So Proud

Here is a quick video of our little swimmer!

Today was our last day of lessons and he was swimming by himself!

The element of a surprise.

This year Dave was working for Father's day. We celebrated Father's day when he got home. Austin and I had quite the surprise for him!! Here is his gift in pictures:

Look Daddy! I made that for you!!!

Note: It was not a digital picture frame in the box. lol




This is when he found out what his present was. This is his "you've just blown me away" face.



Still Deliriously happy with his present.

And what was his present you ask??

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This T-shirt!!!!

Yes, that does say Dad of One plus a Bun. We're pregnant!!! I had such a hard time keeping it from him when I found out. I knew I wanted to do something fun and not tell him over the phone during one of our 5 minute phone calls.

I *LOVE* the look on his face of utter surprise and I am so glad I took the camera with us to take pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

We're dog sitting for friends this week and this picture was taken after Austin dropped his banana and the dog swooped in and grabbed it before Austin could get it back.

Obviously, he was a little upset. Lol

psst I'm having a sale!

Just in case anyone isn't a fan on my facebook page, I'm having a sale this weekend (so ends tonight) for the long weekend. Just use the code SAVEBIG40 to get 40% off!!! Who doesn't like a sale?

Just head over to http://kristinscraftythings.etsy.com and have a look around. I've just added a lot of things the past few days!

Wordless Wednesday

Austin and his grandma reading books in his blow up ball pit.

is it wrong to drool all day

just thinking about a salad for dinner?

We're having this salad tonight and I can't wait. I might have only salad for dinner.

I also bought our tickets today for the final harry potter. Yay!! I decided after I think the 3rd movie that I was just going to wait and watch all of the movies when the final one was ready to come out. (but read the books as soon as they came out) So, we've been working on a harry potter movie-a-thon. ok, so we've only watched one, but tonight is #2 and tomorrow is #3

And, I just saw the preview for the first half of breaking dawn. Why oh why must they break movies up into 2 parts.

Pictures

My kid does not smile or say cheese for pictures.

Until now.

This is his cheese smile for the camera. I guess normal family pictures are long gone.

Sigh

Another update on my meds

I am feeling better. The odd time I'll get a bit of a light headed spells.

Last time I tried go down in my meds I got irritated and cranky. It was not a pretty sight in this house.

I can feel myself getting cranky. Hell I got pissed at my husband this morning and he's not even here!! I just need to remember to sit down and give myself some time to calm down. I need to remind myself that I'm just getting cranky because of my pills.

This is going to be a long week. Ugh

About a year ago.

It's crazy to think that a year ago today I was busy cleaning, sorting, packing, and repairing our house to get put on the market.

Crazy to think back to that day Dave came to talk to me and said that yet another job fell through. Crazy to think that I was the one who said "well, maybe we need to just go to Alberta."

There were so many emotions. Excitement for a new adventure. Doubt of making the right decision. Sadness to leave the only area I've known for my entire life and our family behind.

I'm not going to lie and say it's been all unicorns and rainbows since we've moved here. We have had a few tough times where we almost threw in the towel. But, we've come out the other side stronger, and we will just keep getting stronger.

And that is all the sappy I'm going to get into tonight.

Meds suck.

More specifically being weaned off meds suck. Due to some issues with my meds I'm being switched.

Now, when my dr first started me on the anti depressants I just started to take them. On one hand I've heard through a few different friends that the ones I'm taking (effexor) is the best they've ever had, works really well. On the other hand I've heard through a few other people that it's the worst meds to try and wean off of.

We had to do a rather quick switch and let me tell you, my body is not appreciating it. Yesterday was the first full day of the switch. If I moved too quickly I would get dizzy and a little light headed. Other then that I was good.

Today? Today is a shit show. Walking has proven difficult. I am dizzy, light headed, and nauseous. I can't move my head without having to stop and take a few breaths. I am beyond thankful that dave and his dad are here. There is no way I would be able to care for austin. I've napped more then I would like to today, simply because I don't feel dizzy then.

There is a small part of me that is thinking maybe the dr went about this wrong. I think the transition from one to the other should have taken more time. My dr (I should note a different one then originally prescribed me the pills) has me off the old pills already. A 2 day wean.

Shoot me.

I don't ever want to go through this again. I feel like I am in a hell composed of a non stop spinning carnival ride. You know, the ride that you stand against the wall and it spins and spins and spins and you slowly creep up the wall. (Omg just typing that made me almost throw up!! This sucks)

I can't wait for the follow up appt where I can tell the dr just how much I appreciate this trip.

The best news out of this? My in laws are here for 3 weeks so if this lasts more then the next few days I have some help. Thank goodness!

Embarassment for years to come.

Just thought I should blog about this now before I forget all the awesome details and I don't get a chance to embarass Austin down the road..

My suitcase from my trip in April is still sitting in my bedroom (I'm hanging my head in shame here) and Austin got into it this morning and found probably the only thing left in there, a Tampon.

He opened the package,pulled out the tampon, and started giggling, laughing, and swinging it around by the string. He ran around swinging that sucker!! Part of me wanted to take it away, but really, It's a piece of cotton, what damage could it do? (other then the embarassing stories when he's older) So I let him play. If it flew out of his hands he laughed even harder! He was having fun.

Then he decided that it was a rocket. He kept saying Rocket! Rocket! Rocket! and tried putting it down the back of my top. Every time I took it out he would say "No Mommy! Rocket!" and put it back.

Now, he's pretending it's a crayon and is coloring all the pictures in his story book.

Oh the imaginations of kids.

*EDIT* Now he has removed it from the aplicator and has the applicator pieces on his fingers yelling "pow pow pow pow!" I may die from laughter

A Sunday tale

Our Sunday was lots of fun!! Oh wait, go back, start again, and read that with the most sarcasm you can think of. It started off well.

We headed down to ikea for shopping and lunch. We started out well. Lunch ended with someone not wanting to sit and spitting meatballs on the floor. I promise you that was not me. Then, that same pint sized cranky pants started, wait, continued with his disapproving no face, and pointedly told me that mommy is not cool enough to push the cart.

After we made a few stops for the spare bedroom renos. Well let me tell you. That's when the true fun starts. At Rona, he decided to pull paint brushes off the shelf. Wandered around trying to pull all the paint chips off the shelf. In the paint roller aisle he got mad at me and hit me with his puppy dog. I took it away, he cried. I said we had to move down the aisle and he refused. I had to pull him along.

Then we go to home depot. Again with the damn paint chips, he decided that he didn't want to walk down the aisle and thought if he threw himself down on the ground it would work. It didn't. I just dragged him down the aisle. I finally get what I needed, waiting to leave, pick up Austin so he would stop running away. Well when I picked him up it must have shifted his pullup because there in home depot, my son pissed on me. Sigh. So we go to leave and it is raining like there's no tomorrow. Here I am, running through the rain, my side covered in pee, austin's pants soaked, and trying to carry everything.

After that it was home dinner bath and bed. Oh what a day. Now my forearm is hurting and I'm trying to figure if it's from the stupid goofy carts from ikea or if it's from dragging my son through the home depot. Oh what a day.

Swagbucks update

I figured it was time for a swagbucks update.

I started using Swagbucks on Dec 9th 2010. Since then I have earned a total of 4,546 swagbucks. In just over 6 months I have accumulated enough swagbucks to get $45 worth of amazon gift cards (and I currently have 43 in my account)

At first I started saving up all my swagbucks to redeem all my gift cards at once (I was aiming for $100 worth) but then realized there are some rules to the gift cards. I can order a max of 2 per day, and a max of 5 per month. So I ordered my 5 last month and finished off my swagbucks this month.

I have been ordering amazon.com gift cards (because amazon.com ships to canada and has WAY more selection and huge price difference in the same items) and within 10-14 days after you order your card, Swagbucks will put the amazon gift card code in your account. You copy the code from your account and put it into your amazon account and bam! you've got cash to spend.

How does one manage to get that many swagbucks? Searching searching searching. And referrals. For every swagbuck I earn (up to 1,000) the person who referred me gets matching swagbucks. Also, I search everything. I know how to get to blogger, and twitter and facebook, but I search them. Instead of google, I search swagbucks. I have the toolbar installed and that makes it so much easier for me to remember to search through swagbucks.

Want to get in on this awesome-ness?

Sign up by clicking the box above, pass it on to your friends, earn swagbucks from searching, and enjoy some shopping for free!!

Do I even make sense?

Sometimes I wonder this. Most of my previous posts ( some more recent ones have been done on my cell phone) occur in my bed while falling asleep. I get in bed and think, ooh! I should write a blog post. I start off great but about halfway through I start to get really tired and blogging takes so much longer because I'm dozing off to sleep or spacing out while writing some great thought provoked something or other..... Anyways, then I finish the post, hit publish a d forget to co
E back the next day to see if I made sense. So, if you are reading the blog and it starts to get a little off course at the end then I most likely wrote it in bed. My apologies.


I totally had the idea for this post because I wanted to write up a blog post but figured I would fall asleep before I was finished. Boy wan I right. I'm totally dozing right now. Haha! I'm off to bed now, thanks for reading...

Summer

Is splashing around in the pool with utter joy.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Wordless wednesday

Enjoying a bath.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

True story:

I can cook, sometimes I just don't have the creativity and knowledge to do it.

When I do, most times it turns out great.

Tuesday I had to go get dave from the airport and I had bought a pork roast a few months ago. The thought of pulled pork sandwiches made me salivate. So, I threw it in the crock pot. However, I know very little about crock pot cooking. I once put water in the bottom of the crock pot, you know under the removable dish. Yup, I totally did that. And covered my kitchen in water. I thought I had to, so I did.

So tues morning I threw the roast in. I knew I had to do something else. I wanted bbq sauce in with it so I dumped some on. I realized I should have probably waited on the bbq sauce so I added some water too. I really had no idea how it was going to turn out. I crossed my fingers and hoped it wouldn't be disastrous when I got home from the airport.

But, despite being a little dry on the bbq sauce (overall I used a whole bottle) it turned out delicious. And I am happy about that!

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Stats

From time to time I love looking at my stats. Today I checked them out. The blog post with the most views EVER on my blog is the one I made after the royal wedding with some awesome hat pictures on it. (found here in case you weren't one of the 340 views on it) It beats all other post by over 150 views. Crazy eh?

Funny enough the second one is a random one that basically says I have to go over my 101 in 1,001 list and I have a card order so I might not post a lot in the next few days. I think I find that just as funny as the hundreds of views on my hats post.

Counting down.

In 6 more days it's Mommylicious. I have been busy working and getting everything organized. I still have a lot of work to do though. My to do list is getting shorter but not short enough.





Dave is gone for work but may be getting sent home tomorrow due to the wildfires in Northern Alberta. The only upside to this is that I will be able to get more work done with him here to help watch Austin. I can only get so much done during nap time and after bedtime before I'm exhausted. I've made some really cute new cards and will be putting them up on my craft blog in a few days. You can also check my facebook page or etsy shop to see them in the next few days.





Anyone in the edmonton area want to stop by and say Hello at mommylicious I will be in booth number 9!! If you want to check out all the awesome vendors that will be there, here is the link If you scroll down to the layout of the site and hover over number 9 you can click on that link to see our profile for the show.

Clean up.

Today we wandered out into the toy room to play some blocks. As I tried to find somewhere without toys big enough to build a kick ass castle, or in the case of Austin, a very tall tower. I finally decided to actually go through and clean out some of his old toys from the toy room.

I've been talking about doing this for about 2 weeks because it's just so ridiculous in his toy room. He wants to play with something but there are so many toys on the floor that he brings stuff into the livingroom, dropping stuff on the way, so we have a toy-toy room, a toy-hallway and a toy-living room. Just for good measure most days we also have a toy-kitchen room.

I am also a bit of an organization freak. So one bin for cars/trucks/anything with wheels, one bin for blocks, and I just gave up on the other 2 and made them an everything else bin. I get irrationally annoyed when my husband cleans up and just throws stuff in the closest bin. When I do a monthly clean and go through the bins I get annoyed because the 2 year old doesn't follow my bin specifics. (yes, I know that is even more irrational then getting annoyed at my husband. lol)

So I start going through a bin, then another. I empty one full bin and start putting toys in there to go. I kept distracting Austin away from the growing pile of toys to something else so he wouldn't start digging and become attached to the toys again.

Finally I go through all the piles, and bins and cubbies and distract my child once again while I start picking up my pile and sending them out the back door. We will figure out what to do with them when he can't see me put them away. Some are for trash, but some are just toys he's had since he was a baby and doesn't really need now at 2 1/2.

This is the pile I managed to eradicate from his room.

Now his room was free of toys he doesn't need but there was still a million pieces of play food. I would hand him a piece and tell him to put it in his kitchen. So he takes it out to our kitchen. *ugh* Now, trying to get the cleanup to finish and stay clean, that is a whole other feat.

I swear my blood pressure is through the roof today. He walks in with a pepper in his hand, I ask him to take it back to his toy room and while he is at it put the pot and lid back there too. He puts down the pepper, picks up the pot, puts the pot back down and walks away. Leaving the pepper there too. I call him back, tell him to go put it away. He picks up the pepper and takes it back to his toy room. By now I want to start banging my head off the kitchen table.

As I'm sitting here and typing this? He walks into the kitchen with this.

A wagon full of blocks, a blanket, 1 shoe (yes, one. No wonder we can never find pairs.) and some kitchen food. Immediately I tell him to turn back around and take it back. Just after this picture was taken he went down the step and lost all the blocks. I ask him to pick up the blocks. He walks to the door of his toy room and starts throwing them in there. Oops. My Bad. Guess I need to stop doing that.

As you can tell by the picture we are still trying to get the rest of the toys out of the kitchen. And yes, the pot and lid are still sitting beside me. sigh.

Thank you Bissell

We bought a new vacuum just before I went to ontario. Our last one just didn't well, suck.

Holy moly does this one suck. Lol. It's got a lot of suction and pull. I used just the hose to vacuum the chair. Austin put dirt in his hat at the playground then put it on his head. I didn't realize this until he sat on the chair and took his hat off.

I actually had a hard time getting all the dirt because whenever the hose got near the chair fabric it sucked the crap out of it. It even pulled stuff out of the chair I didn't even know was in there.

It's also pretty light weight and easy to maneuver. Over all I recommend.

Go Bissell!!
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Yesterday

We started our day off yesterday with a visit from the ticklemonster. Austin was giggling like crazy.


Just before lunch we went to get the mail. What else is there to do in the rain but get out the gear and have a little fun? Austin had a blast.

And finally he ended his day with his faithful sleeping guards, monkey, monkey, hoppy bunny and puppy.

Spiders. Yuck.

In case you don't know. I hate spiders. They scare me and give me creepies and make me want to crawl into the corner and cry. (especially when I find them beside my head)

In Ontario we had clearish white spiders, the occassional brown spiders. So far here I've seen black gross spiders. I've seen a picture of a cat spider found in southern Alberta, and I've heard stories about the wolf spider.

The wolf spider creeps me right out. First, they are poisonous. Second, they've been found in a neighbors yard. And thirdly, I've hear stories.... Stories of one prepping to pounce until someone moved. A story about the noise of the wolf spider walking on the wall above their head waking them up. I think I should google so I know what it looks like but I'm afraid of what other images will be returned . Blech.

I've also come across spiders in my house. And so far they've all been in my bathroom except 1, it was in the hallway outside the bathroom. My fear of spiders in the bathroom has now gotten a million times worse. For example, this is my shower routine.

•Grab towel, walk in bathroom and scan all surfaces for spiders.
•Start water and watch for spiders to fall out of tap or crawl out of drain
•Check walls and floor of bathroom.
•climb in shower and hope nothing falls out of shower curtain as I close it.
•Wet hair, grab shampoo, put in hair. While sudsing I check the ceiling for spiders
•Double check drains and walls
• put conditioner in hair, check for spiders
• grab pouf to wash and hope like hell there isn't one in there.
•Wash while checking for spiders
• rinse hair and body, checking the drain for escaping spiders.
•Shut off water and get out quick so spiders don't get me.
•Stand in towel and scan all surfaces for spiders before moving any further
•go climb in bed because spider hunting is exhausting

Then, I just pray at no point in the night I step on one in the dark. *shudder*

I seriously need some spider help. Lol

Random Thought

Do you ever think about years down the road, when we're in our 60's, and we have kids or grandkids with all the fancy new technology.

Will we try to bust out the "In my days we used to have to walk 5 miles to school, barefoot, in the snow. Uphill both ways!!" lol.

Or what about When we were young we used to go outside to play (oh who am I kidding, I say that now in my 20's. lol)

Or, are we going to be saying "wow, when I was younger my cell phone could only play music, go on the internet, watch movies, and have a million apps for anything you could think of." What is next in the technology era? I can't imagine saying that to my grandkids but I'm sure that I will be.

Maybe I'll be the cranky old person who refuses to learn new technology and be happy with my laptop, iPod, and Blackberry.

No explanation necessary

update

I haven't been posting much. I got home from Ontario and discovered my yard. Yes, I snooped around a bit before the snow came, but I moved in here like 2 weeks before the snow came. I didn't get to spend too much out side. So we have been outside.

I assembled this bit of awesomeness I picked up at Toys r Us for $30 (and had a $20 US gift card so it only cost me $6) and Austin is loving it.

Then, a few days later I assembled this one

Which he promptly rode off the deck and down the stairs. Thank goodness there is only 2. whew! We have to go pick up a helmet for him before he's allowed out of our backyard with it.

Then, we pre-planted some seeds


And, we blew some bubbles.

I'm sure we will have a LOT more outdoor pictures to show. We've got some sidewalk chalk to play with, a pool to put together, and a sandbox I'm afraid to let him play in because of the mess. lol.

Hope everyone is out enjoying this weather too!!

p.s. we have a new garbage bin. We broke down and ordered one. sigh.

Some crazy hats

While looking for some pictures for my previous post about what I would wear to the royal wedding, I came across some pictures of some crazy hats. Wow. I just felt the need to share them all here with you.

Let's start with this beauty. I'm not sure a royal is wearing this (I'm not so up on my royals...) but it said it was worn at the Royal Ascot which I believe is something like the Kentucky Derby

And this lovely piece worn by Princess Beatrice..... She's just really into the horse race... that's it.

Sadly, my next find was also a princess Beatrice picture

Now, I don't believe this is a royal, but it makes me giggle. Kind of looks like a fancy napkin, but is it the table cloth for her table?

Then, I found another Princess Beatrice picture. Seriously, how does her head not fall over?

I decided it was time to stop picking on poor Princess Beatrice, but then this picture came up and I just couldn't help myself. What the....

I had google searched royal princess hats. This came up in the search. Do I ever want that barbie hat... (insert sarcasm here)

Now these hats aren't crazy, but I love the face Kate is making in this picture. I swear I can hear her saying "Is it time to get this bloody hat off my head yet, I'm itchy."

It kind of looks like a green crab is trying to escape off the back of this hat...

And finally, I leave you with a non royal hat that is bound to make you giggle. Seriously, What the Eff makes you want to wear a bathroom on your head?!?!?

I guess the moral of the story here is:

1. you must always tilt your funny hat off the right side or centre of your head.

2. Princess Beatrice needs to fire her current hat chooser. Pick me instead.

3. Her Royal Majesty the Queen has some very beautiful hats.