100's day project--UPDATE

Back in January I talked about Kalli needing to chose a 100's day project and how last year she listed "100 things that delight me". This year she didn't seem to "into" the project & she ended up doing it the night before it was due. Well yesterdayKalli came home with her report card land all was good, but one part that the teacher wrote was too funny:

"Kalli chose to do her 100's day project with m & m's--so that she could eat the leftovers"!!

The Sound of Music

Some friends of mine absolutely LOVE the movie "The Sound of Music" & were appalled that I had never seen the movie. So we decided to have a "Sound of Music" night--we would each bring a 'German' dish to share and then watch the movie. I brought the girls because I didn't want to deprive them by letting them grow up having never experienced this classic movie!!

I searched around online for some recipe ideas and decided on something called "Maultaschen" or german ravioli. You take ground pork, add some spices and spinach, then wrap them in wonton wrappers & boil them. You can add them to soup, fry them or add strips of ham and some cheese and bake them--which is what I did. The kids wanted to get in on the wrapping action & it helped because I'm sure that the recipe makes about a million.

I have to say that I used about 1/4 of them for the casserole and I now have a pile of them sitting in my freezer waiting for me to figure out how to use them up!! The others made apple strudel, pretzels and mini burgers--I think mine was the most authentic and tasted that way too!! The other food was way better! We watched the movie and I'm glad to say it had a happy ending--I like it when all movies end happily!! I can now cross it off my list--well actually it wasn't on my list, now my friends can cross it off THEIR list of movies they feel I need to see!

The girls on the other hand, had more fun hanging out upstairs with the guys who were playing online poker......and playing with Madi who is far more entertaining than kids dancing around in matching outfits made from curtains.

At the end of the movie, then began to question me as to whether I had seen "Freaky Friday"--"you mean the one with Jamie Lee Curtis? My girls LOVE that movie!!" Apparently that was NOT the version they were referring too!! I guess we'll be planning another 'classic movie night'!

How much snow can a snowshoveller shovel, if a....

This past weekend was our 4 day getaway to the cabin. The kids were staying with Bubba & Papa and we were supposed to have our first 'couples' weekend out there but our friends cancelled. We head out on Thursday, with the quad, because we were told there had been lots of snow, but really we plowed only 6 weeks ago, so how much snow could there be?


Well we weren't expecting it to be up to our knees!!

Chris lit the fire in the cabin, unloaded the quad and began plowing

while I began shovelling. I started to shovel a path to the cabin in hopes of uncovering the stairs.

But we also wanted to get the hot tub in, so I needed to shovel off the deck where the roof had slid.

It was like concrete!! I never did get it all off! I then shovelled a path down to the lake so we (and by we I mean Chris) could drill a hole to get water to fill up the hot tub. Doesn't look too inviting there does it?!

Finally I shovelled a path to the outhouse, the wood pile and dug down to the chopping block!! (There is a lot of work to having a cabin--but hey, it's all worth it!) Rex had a great time 'swimming' thru all the snow. But after 2 hours we had to put him in the cabin to dry off--he was sopping wet and shivering!! The cabin was warmed up enough to make the roof slide.... again.... onto the path..... so I gave up trying to dig out the stairs--we worked with the snow and made a ramp instead!!! We ate a late supper and were in bed by 8:30!! Had a great sleep and woke up to....snow! It snowed all that day and we accumulated about another 6 inches! So I shovelled out the path to the outhouse again!

I did get my stained glass hung up - thanks Shane and Renata--it looks BEAUTIFUL and I LOVE IT!! That evening our "cancelled couple" showed up, so that was a great surprise! (Notice how they missed all the shovelling though!) The next day we all bundled up and went for a walk/snowshoe around--it was a beautiful sunny day--and hard to stay inside!
The guys did some ice fishing, but with no luck-even with this lovely "bait-mobile":

The nights were clear which is perfect for star gazing from the hot tub! It was a great weekend and of course Sunday came too soon! We're hoping to be back out sometime during spring break, so i'm back to......15 days and counting down.....

1 more sleep!

and we're off to the cabin!! Heard there has been lots of snow there since New Year's--Kara is this right?!? We're bringing the quad just in case. Our couple cancelled on us--so it will just be Chris and I and Rex of course. It will be a little quieter, but fun none the less. It's always great to be there--no phone, TV, sports, and if the weather holds, even the trips to the outhouse won't be too bad!! .....and no this is not our outhouse!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I’ve been crafting like crazy for the past week, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to do something different for the kids. I came across this free downloadable picture. It’s hard to read on the picture, but it says ‘je t’aime’ which is ‘I love you’--I thought it was fitting with Taylor just starting her semester of Intensive French. Kalli liked them too, so I made them 4 each to give to their special friends and papa and bubba.

I continued on with making them each a special card and tucked them in with their lunch today. Taylor’s:










Kalli’s:







THEN I couldn’t resist trying out these little hearts—some felt, beads, buttons and a magnet for the back. They take about 45min each—another instant satisfaction project!

Chris asked how he was going to compete with all this 'craftiness'--i told him there was no competition because he always buys them the hilarious Hallmark cards that i am just too cheap to buy--they love those too!!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's the GRADE 5 DANCE mom!!!

Sept 07 a friend of mine tells me how her son has started talking about the Grade 5 dance (which happens in February during the polar games)--who he is going with--who asked who to the dance--who 'dumped' who and is going with someone else etc.....I laughed at her having to deal with this 6 months before the actual event. Fast forward to this past September when Taylor announces at the dinner table "I FINALLY know who i'm going to the Grade 5 dance with". (To Chris this was a shock--he had no idea this event takes place or the fact that the 'planning/asking/dumping' begins 6 months in advance!!)

Well this past weekend was the Grade 5 dance/Polar games. But lets go back to last Tuesday:

Taylor and I decide to kill time at the newest second hand store while we wait for Kalli to finish her guitar lesson. I have never been in the store before so it was quite a shocker to be hit with "brand new gowns straight from New York" as we walk in the door!! Taylor's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning!! So i had to answer the question before it was even asked "no-i'm not spending $100 on a 'gown' for the grade 5 dance". Now what i should have said was "i'm not buying you a new dress for the dance" because my statement--loosely translated--was "i won't spend $100, but i would still be willing to buy you a less expensive dress". So needless to say, we were suddenly dress shopping!! We go to Walmart and there was a choice of 4 different colors of the same 1 dress, so i suggested that i make her one instead. Off we go to the fabric section and she choses this pattern--A--which also means i have to make the shrug to abide by the school dress code:

and this fabric:

So on the way home--i'm only $20 poorer--i ask "so how many other girls are getting new dresses for the dance?" Her reply "oh i don't know, i haven't talked about it to anyone". How silly of me to assume she wants one because EVERYONE ELSE is getting one.....no.....she just wants one because hello...IT'S THE GRADE 5 DANCE!!! So this is what i was doing for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights:

So i tell her to find out from her friends who all is going to wear a dress to the dance--she reports back that her friend(s) told her that 'you just wear regular clothes'. (She is in complete disbelief of this--it's a DANCE people!!) She doesn't care--and we forge ahead--i'm so proud of her--she won't bend to the peer pressure--she's going to the dance, in dancing clothes!! So here is the final result--(again, where do my kids learn to pose like this?!?!)

So be fore warned you people with younger kids--coming to a future September--the Grade 5 Dance!!

17 more sleeps

Now that it's February I can begin my "countdown to the cabin"....17 sleeps left before we head out. This is my favorite view--i wish i was there so i could pick up that cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy the late sunrise!!

We will miss Rendevous, not in terms of "we're so sad we're going to miss it"--but we've just noticed that since building the cabin we miss a lot of Whitehorse events because we're out at the cabin! (I think the kids are more annoyed than Chris and I!!) This time we are going out without the kids, so were are going to miss Kalli at the spelling bee--now THAT i will miss, but i'm sure the grandparents will take lots of pictures....!!

The exciting part about this trip is that it will be with friends--an actual couple!! You see, it's always been 'Denise & the boys' aka--Chris's friends!! So New Years 2007, as we (Denise and the 3 boys) sat in the hot tub, i told them that it was time for them to find girlfriends because i was tired of listening to hockey talk, sledding talk and silly guy humor!! Now don't get me wrong--these guys are great--they never expected me to wait on them, they always help with clean up and meal making, but seriously, how much do we need to talk about Sidney Crosby's stats, or how your sled should be jetted at the summit??

I am happy to report that while it took one friend almost a year, he did it; he managed to meet himself a really nice girl. She likes to do all the stuff we like to do, so she's a great match!! (We tell him that we like her more than him!!!) He brought her out this past Christmas, but because we had 14 people there, they were sent to the camper due to lack of space in the cabin!! However this trip they will get the full cabin experience including the hot tub--and it will be a nice couples weekend--and i can't wait! An even bigger bonus for me, Chris is going to get MY sled working. As we discussed the repairs last night, the "jetting" came up and i said "doesn't it have the 'dial-a-jet' on it?" This is how i know that for too long it been "Denise & the boys":

1) i know what a 'dial-a-jet' acutally is and

2) how to correctly use it in a sentence!!!

So this trip, all four of us will be able to go out sledding. This is Chris last year:

I think i'll just stick to the flat stuff!!

My project--birthday presents

Here are some of the things that i've been working on for the past week for my friend Tami--as you can see from the card, she is 30...something!

I love to make these little dishclothes--i don't do anything fancy....they are a dishcloth after all!! But because you can make a couple in an evening; they give me instant satisfaction!!

Lastly is the scarf--it's hard to get a good picture of a scarf unless you have a model, so Kalli stepped up to the challenge and modelled for me. Now all i did was ask her to wear it so i could get a good picture--i did not in anyway tell her HOW to stand and look at what she does.....

Could she have any more of a models' pose?!? (Seriously though--whose kid is she--i certainly don't stand like that.....the hip off to one side.....one foot in front of the other....i don't even wear high heels....where do they learn these things!!) But i have to say, she does look cute!!

People are great!!

On Monday, on my walk home at lunch, i stopped to talk to my next door neighbor. She noticed that Rex had "blew a bootie". Now being that Rex is only about 7lbs, his booties are pretty small, however they are also inexpensive to buy at the Feed Store so it's not the end of the world. However, I figured that i MIGHT be able to find it as i walked to work the next morning, but alas it snowed that night!! I did not give up hope and kept my eyes peeled as i walked to and from work on Tuesday.


On Tuesday, as i'm crossing Tatchun, a car pulls up to the stop sign, the driver gets out and says to me "i think we found your dog's bootie". REALLY? "Just go knock on the door and my mother-in-law will give it to you"--and off he goes.


So i continue home, drop off Rex, stop at this guys house, knock on the door and am greeted by the whole family, their dog included!! The mother-in-law informs me that she found it down by Rotary Park!!!


Now what are the odds that when i loose this 1 x 2 inch bootie:

1. a lady picks it up and doesn't just ignore it


2. brings it home to within 1 block of my house


3. her son-in-law leaves his house


4. intersects with me walking home with Rex


5. takes the time to look at Rex (or his little feet)


6. stops and talks to me


7. i am reunited with the missing bootie

I think that is just a reminder that people are great!! Later that afternoon i watch from across the street as a vehicle stuck in it's snowy filled parking spot, is struggling to rock back and forth to gain momentum to try & get out. Along comes a guy walking down the sidewalk who stops, puts down the stuff he is carrying and helps push this person out of the snow!! People ARE great!!

The rising cost.....of cereal

Has anyone else noticed that while gas may have gone down, the price of cereal has gone up....about a million percent!!! Cereal is becoming a 'treat' - and i'm not talking about the'crappy, taste good, but are so bad for you' kind, i'm talking about the 'good for you' kind. A big box of special k with the strawberries in it is about $7!!! For $7 I can buy a whole lot more strawberries than what comes in the box. AND i've also noticed, that while the prices have gone up, the size of the boxes have shrunk!! The box is about the size of a piece of paper, and about an inch thick and the price is higher!! Pretty soon they'll be about the size of those one serving boxes--8 little boxes that come all shrink wrapped together--we used to get those for a treat when we were kids!! There would be a fight for the frosted flakes and fruit loops, but the rice krispies and corn flakes would stay in the cupboard until probably about a year later, mom would throw them out.
I think we should start a cereal protest or strike--stop buying it until they increase the size of the box back to what they were and they leave the price alone. Cereal is my favorite food--it works for all three meals and a snack--but thankfully my kids are not big cereal eaters, so the rise in cost won't kill me.

100's day

Every year in my kids' school, the primary grades celebrate '100's day' which marks having been in school 100 days. Each student makes a project using poster board and 100 things glued on to it. I had come across Christine Kane's blog http://christinekane.com/blog/ where she talked about gratitude journals and things that delight you etc...So i challenged myself and kids to make a list called '100 ways I am delighted'. Well Kalli chose this to be her 100's day project--apparently she thought this would be more fun than gluing 100 cherioo's to a poster board!!!
Anyways we both made it to 100, Taylor made it to 26--i think because she is the kind of kid who delights in about a million different things a day, so to try and take the time to write down 100 of them, would be just too overwhelming!!! These lists were so neat that we taped them to the wall and there they have hung for a year!! I decided last weekend that I should take them down, date them, fold them up and put them away for when they were older. I would love to see now what delighted me when I was a kid.
So this morning, as Taylor was sitting there eating her breakfast, reading over the lists (i've taken them down and dated them--just haven't quite gotten them folded and put away yet!!), she informs me that February 4th was the deadline for Kalli's 100's day project. And sitting beside her was Kalli--eating Cherioo's!! Kalli doesn't say a word about the project--she was probably in deep thought wondering whether to glue 100 Cherioo's to a poster board, or do something way more significant---she is, after all, 8 years old now!!

Christmas has officially ended

This weekend I finally took down my Christmas tree--um yes it was a little late, but it was my first chance!! Last weekend we painted Taylor's room, and the weekend before that we were returning from the cabin....(I wish I was there!!) Anyways....typically I'm always sad to take down my tree; I remember as a kid, crying when my mom took ours down!! But this year, I put it up 1st weekend in December (that was the only time I had to do it other than 1 week before Christmas) and then left it up until the middle of January, which gave me a good 6 weeks of Christmas tree enjoyment. And that was plenty--no tears of sadness for me when I took it down!!
I have always been one to insist on a real tree and refused to even consider a fake, but last year I took the plunge and bought a brand new, fake prelit tree with a remote, all for $50!!! I have to say, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be:

1. I don't have to crawl under it to check the water
2. I don't have to try and water it without spilling any on the presents
3. I don't have to risk buying a real one and having it begin dropping needles 3 days later
4. I don't have to tie it to the wall/ceiling in order to keep it from falling down
5. I don't get sap all over myself
6. I don't have to manuever myself between it and the wall to unplug the lights (because I have a handy dandy remote!!)
7. I can set it up early and take it down late to get my fill of Christmas tree viewing
8. -40 has no bearing on whether I can go and get my tree

HOWEVER

1. I miss the smell of a 'real' tree
2. I miss going out and getting a 'real' tree -as long as it's not -40!!
3. I miss the uniqueness of a different tree
4. I didn't have to try and fit a' real' one back into the box!!

My musical kids!

Here is, not the best picture of Kalli playing guitar in the school christmas concert--she is the only one in Grade 3 & obviously the only one with a blue guitar!! In the lead up to the concert we heard 'Joy to the World' about a million and a half times--we were very 'joyous' when all the practising for the concert was done!! (I think it's time to update the camera to better capture these moments!)
Here is Taylor playing some musical instrument-I'm not sure what it is - but she also played her recorder for parts of it too. She just loves to perform in whatever capacity she can!!

A Baby Shower

I am helping to plan a baby shower for my (much younger!!) friend. It takes me back almost 11 years to when my firstborn arrived. I remember them handing her off to me and all of the sudden you realize this being is yours--you're the mother, you should know what they like, how to make them happy, what they need etc...WAIT A MINUTE--I've never met them before--how the heck am I supposed to know?!?!? On the 2nd night, after hours of trying, I have not managed to appease this little baby, so I ring for The Nurse. She bustles in, wraps her tight, gives her 2 pats on the bottom and bounces her just right and suddenly she's happy!! OKAY THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR!! I couldn't figure out how she could achieve this so easily and i had been struggling for hours to make 'MY baby' happy. It didn't make sense-I've always been good with babies, I wasn't scared about having a baby, and it certainly didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to solve any problem with my baby. But I remember asking her as tears of frustration were sliding down my cheeks, 'how did you know what to do'? She told me very gently...'Over the span of my career, I've done this with about a thousand different babies". OH, and a lightbulb comes on in my head!!
Now after 2 of my own, I can now pick up a crying firstborn of one of my friends, wrap them just right, swing them just right, and what do you know, they're happy!!
And now mine are coming with me to the baby shower. They're going to help us set up and decorate because now, they're old enough! I miss the baby times, but only a little--as long as I can occasionally hold a newborn, I'm good to go!! So don't worry hubby, my biological clock has been unplugged!

My First Blog entry

This is my first entry into my blog--shall i jump right in and talk about what is on my mind?! THE WEATHER--after weeks and weeks in the -30 to -40 range, it's now +2!! It smells like spring (if there is such a thing!!) When i walked to work this morning, even the wind felt warm! I can't believe that they're calling for rain on Sunday--then -13 on Monday--I'm hoping that doesn't happen because the roads will be a complete nightmare to try and navigate.
BUT with the amount of snow we have and the warmer weather, it does make for perfect snowman making conditions--this is something that doesn't happen too often here. For the most part, our snow is all 'crystally' and you couldn't make a snowball if your life depended on it. I think this weekend i'll send the kids outside to make one--if there's still snow left!!