Happy Birthday Chris!

Today was Chris's 35th birthday. I wasn't conscious yet when he left for work so I called him a little later to say Happy Birthday. I had left birthday cards from the kids and me on the bathroom counter for him, along with some body sprays that he likes.

Kelly and I did lunch at Dairy Queen. I am fixated on their chicken Caesar salads. And we were both good and curbed the urge to have a hot fudge sundae after. After work I picked up the boys and came home to get their stuff together to bring them to Mom and Dad's house so I could take Chris on a date for his birthday. I grabbed miscellaneous clothing and snacks and toys and pajamas and movies and herded them out the door again. I dropped them off and got them settled in and ran back to town. I stopped at the store to get Chris a new sweater. It was 25% off plus I had a gift certificate so it was a great deal, and he liked it. I also stopped really quickly to see if I could find myself a new top to wear. I found two, with necklaces to match.

I zipped home and fixed my hair and face and got dressed. Chris wanted to take his truck since we'd never gone anywhere in it together yet, and being all gentlemanly, he even opened my door. We went to the new Greek-East Indian restaurant. We both had the Indian buffet, which was delicious and very filling. When I mentioned it was Chris's birthday, they brought him a piece of cake with a candle on it and two waitresses sang Happy Birthday to him. He managed to squeeze in the cake without any help from me and we left.

I tried to find some unsuspicious ways to kill time before taking him to the bowling alley. I had invited a few people to meet up with us there to surprise him for his birthday. I somehow got him there without any suspicion whatsoever, which was great! There were twelve of us in total, which was ideal since I had booked two lanes. We bowled a couple games and had a great time. After bowling, Cindy, Bob, Deidre and Greg came over. We played Singstar a little before everyone had to go home to either bed or to relieve a babysitter. I made Chris sing a couple more songs with me but he has to work in the morning. I stayed up awhile longer but I'm finally going to bed. It was a great day, a great surprise and a great group to hang out with and have some fun!

My Computer Has Been Hacked!

Well it seems as though Carter has officially taken over my computer. After he plays games for awhile, he gets in a very intense, grouchy mood. I've cut down his computer time, which ticks him off of course. I had to change my computer password so he can't just log on as he pleases. I always include a password hint, which is the actual password in this case, and I peeked in and watched him type in letter by letter, checking back at the password hint to make sure he got it right. So he's right back in there. But now he knows he has a set amount of computer time.

Today was a good day at work. At lunchtime I went to fill up the Jeep with gas. It's still cold out so I gave a hasty apology to the gas pump guy before I went in to pay. I went to grab myself a sub and the lineup was long enough that I had to go directly to pick up Carter for school. With the few minutes I had left after that, I returned to the office to eat my lunch.

Since it was fairly cold out, I went to pick up Carter from school so he wouldn't have to walk. I'm much more tolerant of cold weather than I used to be, but I'm really looking forward to no ski-pants and windchill and winter gear. I want to wear sandals. Now.

When Chris got home from work, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries. Chris suggested having sandwiches for supper, bless his heart, so I picked up some assorted lunchmeat and buns. I also needed bread, milk and butter, wax paper and a new rubber spatula. Mine are all melted, so I picked up a silicone one that can withstand 450ºF. That ought to do it. Chris made his third attempt at watching My Best Friend's Girl, but this time he lasted maybe fifteen minutes. I'm hoping by the end of the week when I have to return it, he'll be finished watching it.

Carter is also asleep but Cooper keeps darting in and out of the living room and his room. He'll probably stay up until the usual ten or ten-thirty. I'm starting to feel like I'm fading too. I stayed up late working on some adorable valentine cards for Carter to give out at school.

Working My Way Back

...to try to remember what happened this past week. I'll start with last night, because not much has happened this morning. Chris left before anyone was awake. He took the Jeep down to the shop to put some rock guard on the rocker panels. The boys and I are just hanging out, and they already had their latest breakfast fad of cinnamon toast.

Last night we took the kids to the movie theatre to see ''Bedtime Stories'' starring Adam Sandler. The previews looked good, and the movie was good too. Courteney Cox-Arquette was also in it, which I didn't glean or remember from the previews, and all of Adam Sandler's usual cohorts, including Rob Schneider uttering his signature line.

The last time we took the kids to the show, I had to take Cooper to the bathroom two or three times. Last night the plot of the movie was just getting underway when Cooper announced his first request to use the facilities. I told him to ask his Dad. He did. Yay for me. In what seemed like only a few moments later, he was announcing he had to poop. Not yay me. I tried to get Chris to go again and I whined and pouted when he said it was my turn. Uh, it's ALWAYS my turn. (rant over). It was a false alarm and we returned to our seats. Carter didn't make it through the whole movie. I was trying to convince him to take a little nap yesterday afternoon so he would stay awake for the movie, but no go. I was even secretly feeding him Skittles after he ate his popcorn. I think Chris passed out in the last half hour or so. I managed to keep Cooper still sitting on my lap for the most part.

It wasn't until after we all got settled back into the warmth of home that I remembered we needed to stop for milk on the way home. I ventured back out into the cold and the Jeep was still luke-warmish. I headed for Safeway and grabbed a few groceries along with said milk. On the way home I stopped to rent a movie, ''My Best Friend's Girl'' starring Dane Cook, Jason Biggs and Kate Hudson. It's fairly lude and crude but Kate Hudson shines as usual, and there was one part that had me giggling for about five minutes. (No spoilers here, you'd have to watch it for yourself.)

Yesterday afternoon Chris went to pick up our new-to-us computer cabinet. It's one of those wooden units with the doors to hide all my junk! I had worked feverishly in the morning along with doing umpteen loads of laundry, to move the two computers in the living room. I switched sides, and took all the books and papers and crap off each computer desk. I sorted everything into relevant piles and dusted and vacuumed around everything. I also eliminated a printer that isn't in use and found a pile of extra cords and wires. I'm planning to use the cabinet as my 'office' and keep my laptop and all my supplies in there. I can even put one of those child locks on the doors if I find the boys getting into it.

I had a great morning with the boys. I've been feeling well-rested and more chipper in the mornings lately, resulting in household harmony, even at all hours of the night and morning. I have to constantly remind myself that these guys won't be little much longer and I'll miss their asking me for help when they don't need it as much anymore. (sigh)

All weekend each time I went to the basement I switched over loads of laundry. I don't go to the basement for much else, so usually the laundry just piles and piles up. But I'm going to try to keep a routine of laundry. I'm just about done all the towels and bedding, and there is plenty of underwear and stuff for the boys to wear!

Now as indicated in my previous mini-post I'll try to cover the stuff that happened during the week. One morning as I was getting ready for work, Cooper was either in the tub or on the toilet and was apparently watching me put on my makeup. I got to the finishing touch of mascara when Cooper asked, ''Why is your mouth open?'' I told him it helps open my eyes so I can put the mascara on better. Usually I catch myself but he beat me to it. This kid is very observant.

Mom asked me to join her lunch gang on Tuesday. I ran to my eyebrow wax appointment and ran to the restaurant and since Mom had already ordered for me my lunch arrived quickly. Dad drove Mom to lunch, and on the way they picked up Mom's friend's Mom. Mom went to sit in the back seat and when she went to get in the car, she found Cindy's bracelet that Cindy lost on Christmas Eve. Cindy knew she lost it when she was with Mom and Dad but they had thoroughly searched the car. That night after church they had gone to the cemetary to light the ice candles on the family graves. They even had gone back to the cemetary to look for it, and Cindy planned a walkthrough in the spring once the snow leaves. Luckily she doesn't have to do that now.

I think it was also Tuesday we had supper at Mom and Dad's. Awesome spaghetti and meatballs. Chris left work early since it was so quiet and went fishing for the afternoon. Carter and Cooper did a great job devouring the spaghetti and meatballs. We hung out for awhile to visit.

Wednesday night I made pancakes for supper, which the kids loved. Chris ate the leftover leftover spaghetti from Mom and Dad's, which was still quite awesome. I had volunteered to make a dessert for the 'Grand Dessert' fundraiser event for the Canadian Cancer Society on Thursday night. All week I had planned to bake the cake portion of the dessert on Wednesday night. I had all the ingredients I needed, but by Wednesday I forgot. So on Thursday I had my work cut out for me. Good thing I work best under pressure! I ran home after work and threw the cake in the oven. I whipped up the chocolate mousse for the middle layer of the 'death by chocolate' I was making. I ran to pick up the kids. Ran back home and took the cake out and put it in the fridge. I had arranged to go look at a used computer desk after work so Chris and I met up to go see the guy about it. It will be perfect to house all my little 'office' items for my laptop and my scrapbooking.

I grabbed happy meals for the kids and Chris and ran home to prepare the dessert. It turned out perfectly and I left to deliver it. Still in keeping with my no-junk 'resolution' or whatever you want to call it, I went to pick up a sub for myself for supper. I'm still McDonald's-free and Tim Horton's-free. I have treated myself to a couple desserts and bits of chocolate, but nothing like I used to.

On Friday night Kelly and I made an impromptu Bingo date, likely our last for a long time to come. Of course we had fun but it did suck that we didn't win. And that brings us back to today. Since it took me three tries to complete this post today, Chris is back from cleaning the Jeep, Cooper is taking a nap and Carter is glued to a new computer game. One of our computers is sick so everyone is using ''Mommy's computer''. The one that used to be 'no boys allowed.' ::sigh:: With all the gaming sites they visit I already have plenty of tracking cookies piling up. I just backed up almost all my pictures from the laptop. I'm going to pick up one more SD card to store the rest, then I'm going to back up my scrapbooking stuff. Backing up about half of my pictures took an hour so the scrapbooking stuff might take an afternoon! Speaking of scrapbooking, I'm hoping to get some going one of these days.

A Break From The Deep Freeze

Over the weekend the temperature gradually increased. We're almost in the single digits, still on the minus side of course. Friday night we had pizza for supper. Saturday Chris worked until noon. I did some Wal-Mart shopping, a big, expensive cartful. One of the non-list items was a Glade flameless candle. Gives the illusion of a flickering candle with a nice French vanilla scent. Most of what I bought were groceries though, and plenty of them.

Sunday I took Cooper with me to church. Chris had planned to take Carter fishing, and Carter didn't want to come with me anyway. Cooper was quite well-behaved in church, which always makes it more enjoyable. After church we met up with Mom and Dad and the aunts and uncles. After breakfast I brought Cooper home. Chris was getting ready to go fishing and suddenly Carter had a change of heart and wanted to stay home. However, as soon as Cooper showed an interest in going, Carter flip-flopped back to wanting to go again.

I continued suiting up Cooper and dealt with listening to Carter mope for a few minutes. Carter has recently taken over my computer. Now that he can read and write he types in my password and plays games on it. I do still have the laptop, but it's easier still for me to just go over to my computer and check my email and stuff. The other computer, the boys' computer is usually occupied by Cooper. I asked Carter at some point if I could go on and check my email. His reply? ''Use your laptop.'' I had a good laugh over that one.

Chris and Cooper spent a few hours out on the lake. I prepared a chicken dish for supper and baked a chocolate cake to make death by chocolate for dessert. We were having my cousin's family over for supper. They arrived about five. We visited for a bit before supper was ready. Supper was a success, though one of their boys is a chickadee like our boys and just nibbled on a little bit of rice and a roll. Dessert was popular, and almost all gone. We had a great visit after supper too. It really felt like Saturday again.

This morning went fairly smoothly. The boys got up at a reasonable time to allow for some time at home to eat breakfast before we left. There were few disagreements about what to wear and what to eat and drink and we were on our way without a hitch.

It was a good day at work, just the right balance of busy. At lunch I came home to eat some leftovers and took Carter to school. I had a few minutes left and popped in to see Chris at work before returning to the office.

After work I was bushed. I picked up the kids and came home. I had designated Chris as the cook tonight, since we had some great leftovers to warm up. I sort of dozed lightly off and on but the kids were pretty squirrelly. They barely ate anything. I hadn't planned to eat much if anything for supper since I was so tired but I managed to squeeze in a few leftovers. I went to lie down for a bit but I could hear screeches and bangs and clangs on a non-stop basis courtesy of the boys. I got up and shut down their computers. It really ticked them off but they did settle down for awhile. Oddly Carter is still up and it's nearly ten o'clock. Cooper is still going strong of course, and being particularly pesky.

Chris is trying to watch the movie Saw V but he keeps dozing off and the kids keep wandering in so he keeps pausing it, since we figure it might freak the kids a bit to see someone get decapitated or blown to bits! I'm about ready to go pass out. I look forward to a day when my kids both have a normal bedtime so I can get stuff done in the evenings again!

Oh, and on a very adorable note, when I brought the kids home Carter was talking about snowflakes. He said, ''Snowflakes are unique.'' I asked him what that meant and he told me that all snowflakes are different. Very cute. Very smart. I loved it.

This is Gonna Be A Short One...

It is soooooooooo cold out I just want to hibernate until this cold snap is over. Minus forty degrees is just cruel. That and it's still dark out when I get up in the morning. I'm really looking forward to spring.

On a happier note, I'm glad that I'm saving myself some extra time and money in the mornings by not going to Tim Horton's for coffee each day. I'm still drinking green tea or water instead and am staying relatively junk-free.

Today was a good day at work. At lunchtime I ran a couple errands and took Carter to school. I picked up the kids and we came home. These past couple days the kids have had cinnamon toast for breakfast. They ate two pieces each this morning!!! When we came home I was about to feed them some leftover chicken, but they both asked for cinnamon toast. I figured that wouldn't hurt and they'd eat more of that than what I had planned. So they both ate two pieces of cinnamon toast for supper too! I don't even think there's enough bread for breakfast in the morning. Hopefully they'll settle for an English muffin; I think there might be one or two of those left.

Mom and I went to Bingo tonight but unfortunately we didn't win. It was close many times but no luck. I guess I'll have to settle for the lottery jackpot this weekend. I'm off to sleep off the rest of Thursday...

This Is Gonna Be A Long One...

On Saturday, Chris worked until noon. In the afternoon, we all got ready and went shopping for a new TV stand (finally) for the TV we were given. I had cleaned out the old entertainment centre in the nick of time for Chris and his coworker that was buying it from us, to show up for it. We sold with it a TV we had in the basement and we never use anymore. It's way too cold down there to sit and watch any TV.

I had brought the TV up from the basement and moved the big entertainment stand away from the wall to uncover all the grody stuff behind it and undo all the kajillion wires back there. I took the TV out of the entertainment stand and moved it aside.

So after I showered and ironed my hair etc., we took off. Chris took off first with Carter and went to Home Hardware to buy us a new toilet. They didn't have the one we wanted in stock, so they'll call us when it comes in. I left shortly after with Cooper and we went to the furniture store to look at TV stands there. The least expensive one (I won't say cheapest because none of them was cheap) was about four hundred dollars.

Next stop was of course Wal-Mart. We arrived seconds after Chris and Carter did. We quickly found a TV stand that would serve our TV's needs, and for less than what we sold our stuff for. Sweet. We loaded up on some groceries while we were there. I ended up taking both kids with me after the Wal-Mart run. I had to stop off at Uncle Cliff and Auntie Lurdes' house to drop off some camera batteries I had for him. My cousin Kevin was in town on the weekend so we got to say a very quick hello and see his purty new truck. And now I'm thinkin' DUH, I should have taken pictures.

Chris showed up and we chatted with Kevin for a few seconds before he left to go visiting friends. I asked Chris if he wanted anything from McDonald's. The kids wanted happy meals and it was getting late in the afternoon. Kind of a quasi-lunchy-supper. I actually stopped at Subway first and picked myself up a sub before going to get McDonald's for the boys. That was a proud moment.

We met up at home and had lunch. I bumped into Cindy at Auntie and Uncle's place and she invited us out for a visit after supper, since she was having Auntie Lurdes, Uncle Cliff, and Kevin over for supper. We hung out with the boys until it was time to go visit. We had a great visit and this time I had the presence of mind to get the camera out. Here is a picture of Cindy and Kevin and me. The stairs at Cindy and Bob's house often serve as the posing area for pictures and it usually works out great.


During the vigorous play by all the kids, Cooper did a bit of a faceplant on the tile floor in the living room. I looked over and saw blood and went running. Cindy had scooped him up and I grabbed him and asked her for some ice. He had a bleeding lip. It wasn't until the next night when he was in the tub that I noticed something was up with his front tooth. It actually looked a bit off; I could see it when his head was tilted back when he was laughing. I took a closer look and his gums were quite bruised above one of his front teeth. I felt awful. He hadn't complained about it one bit so I hadn't realized it was more than just a fat lip.

I called the dentist office and left a message. They called me Monday morning to get him in for a look. He was very very very very apprehensive about going, which is kind of funny since he had never been to the dentist yet. He's just had the fluoride varnish done at my office. The dentist managed to have a peek in there and we just have to hope it doesn't get infected and that the tooth doesn't die from the impact. While we were there the lovely receptionist kindly reminded me that Chris and I were both well overdue for checkups and cleanings. They had openings due to cancellations this week. I got them to put Chris in that afternoon and I went today. Chris was all good, but I have this filling that they've been poking at for a few years that they want to dig out and replace because there might be something going on underneath it. Ugh.

On Sunday I bailed on church and had a supremely lazy day. I think we had soup and sandwiches for supper, I don't even remember. Monday it was back to the grind. The weather this week is absolutely atrocious. If the temperature hasn't been at least minus forty degrees on its own, then it has been at least minus forty with the wind chill factor factored in.

Actually I think we had spaghetti for supper on Sunday. Monday we had chili, which Chris prepared almost by himself. Yesterday we had an easy-peasy Kraft Dinner night. Chris had stayed late at work to wash his truck. He also washed my Jeep the other night so it's still nice and clean since the weather is so cold and dry.

Yesterday at lunchtime I had an appointment at my office for Cooper to get his 2nd flu shot. He was a real trooper. It was kind of funny, because when I had him at the dentist the other day and he vehemently stated that he didn't want to be. I asked if he would rather be at my office getting a needle. His answer? YES. I laughed and told him that was going to happen the next day. I had him on my lap for the needle and he wasn't having any of the distractions I was attempting; he just watched every move the nurse made and watched her give him the needle without making a peep. Yeah, I figure he's a little toughie.

Today at lunchtime I ran to the grocery store to grab a couple more items for supper tonight, since I was having Cindy and her whole family over for supper. We've actually never had them over for supper, likely due to the sheer volume of people!

This morning I was chatting with the dental hygienist about video games. She and her boyfriend and their friends play SingStar, which is what we played at Cindy's at Christmas. She said she has it for their PS2, so I declared right then and there I HAD to go buy it, since we have a PS2. I thought before that you needed a PS3. So at lunch while I was getting those groceries, I swung by the electronics department at Wal-Mart and bought the SingStar game, with two discs. One was a Pop selection and the other was the one Misty and I talked about this morning, the 80s.

I ran home to drop off the groceries and set the table. Of course I was so excited about my new toy that I did a quick installation and tried it out by myself before going back to work (Dorky Dorkerson!) Work just did not go quickly enough this afternoon, even though I was busy. I just wanted to hurry home and get supper cooking!

I picked up the boys and rushed home, giving them detailed instructions that they were to play nicely in the living room so I could get supper ready. I came home and got the kids settled in and started in on supper. I hammered fourteen chicken breasts and wrapped each one around four pieces of asparagus. I held the chicken breast together with a toothpick and rolled it in seasoned breadcrumbs. I took the keel off each breast and made some chicken fingers too. I made a bucket of hollandaise sauce, broccoli and cauliflower, cooked the remaining asparagus, and a pile of long grain and wild rice.

I ended up with time to spare. Once the whole gang arrived we had a great dinner. Only the adults sat at the table; my kids sat at their picnic table and Cindy's kids all found a spot in the living room. I was so worried about not having enough food but two of the kids didn't come and there was a ton of food, so there was plenty to spare.

After supper we were going to watch a movie, but Cindy and I got into the SingStar game. After they all got ready and left I managed somehow to talk Chris into playing it with me! And to make it even more hilarious, I discovered that you can playback the singing and I could hear just how crappy we were, even though we already knew that!

Cooper is still up and it's almost eleven. Carter fell asleep beside us on the living room floor when we had the singing game volume cranked very loud! Hopefully Cooper is getting settled in. I took away the toddler bed again, so his new home is the bottom bunk again. So far so good. Now I'm off to bed, pleased with the thought that I don't have to cook supper tomorrow because we'll have awesome leftovers!

Toilet Puck Revisited

Somewhere between one and two months ago, I put one of those blue toilet puck thingies in the tank of our toilet. The water was a deep, rich blue for maybe up to a week or so then it faded down to only a slight hue in the water and remained so for a few weeks after. Then just the other day, it was like we put a brand new puck in there. I had to ask Chris if he put a new one in, but he was just about to ask me if I did. So now we have lovely dark blue water in the toilet again. Weird.

Yesterday and today were two good, busy days at work. I've been going to Donna's friend's house to try to help her with her computer. I did a lot of updates and a couple upgrades for her, but there is still something wrong. She might take it in to the computer store, or just get a new computer.

I only worked half a day yesterday. I had a hair appointment that I booked way before Christmas. I thought she had cancelled it since she fit me in on a cancellation just before Christmas, but she called to let me know she still had it in the book, so I kept it. I got my hair trimmed again, and she coloured my roots and redid my red streak. I got up to shower this morning thinking it wouldn't last to today but it was actually better than yesterday so I saved a whole bunch of time this morning.

Last night I made spaghetti and Caesar salad for supper. Since I've been cooking more regularly, the kids have been eating a bit more. I've eliminated any candy and junk from their diets as well as my own. I even gave all my Christmas chocolates to Chris. We're talking my favourite goodies here. Reese Peanut Butter Cups and a box of Hedgehog chocolates. I've gone MAD!

Tonight we went to Mom and Dad's for supper. Mom had picked Carter up from school today since Alana's son wasn't at school to walk him home today. (Thanks, Mom!) She invited us over for supper so after work I picked up Cooper from the sitter and met up with Chris at home. We went to Mom and Dad's and I made a meal out of her delicious turkey soup. The guys had turkey and mashed potatoes and veggies and a bunch of other stuff. I actually had a piece of angel food cake for dessert; the most sugary thing I've eaten all week, which is still surprising to me.

After supper, we watched the movie Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais, Téa Leone, and Greg Kinnear. We all liked it, though Chris got a little snoozy toward the end and missed part of it. Carter cuddled up to me and fell asleep. After awhile I put him on the floor on all the cozy blankets Mom placed there in hopes the kids would lie down and go to sleep while we watched the movie. I tried the cuddle and sleep thing with Cooper but to no avail. He was still wide awake by the time we got home. He did, however stay in his room when we got home so Chris and I started watching Pineapple Express. It's a Seth Rogen movie, so it's his typical dope-smokin' goofy character. I've had a few laughs but I've only been half-watching it while reading on the computer. Chris didn't make it through this movie either. He's zonked out on the couch. I'll be off to bed soon to have a few rounds on my new electronic Sudoku puzzle that Kelly gave me for Christmas.

I'm Squinting

...for a few reasons.

1. I'm really starting to think I need glasses. The optometrist keeps telling me I'll need reading glasses when I'm forty. Well for once I'm not a late bloomer. I have to check if I'm due for a check-up.

2. Snow blindness. It's freaking everywhere.

3. SUNSHINE! I actually had to wear my sunglasses and use my sun visor in the Jeep today. It was a beautiful day! It's great how ten or fifteen degrees can make such a difference. And it was still -20C!!! (-4F)

Things have really picked up at the office again. Everything is in full swing and I've been really busy. At lunchtime I ran to Safeway to pick up some ground beef and potatoes. I planned to make meatloaf for supper tonight. I also picked up a couple Cobb salads for Chris and me for lunch. I brought him the salad and he stopped working for a few minutes to eat lunch with me. He did however comment something like, ''Oh, so I'm on this health kick now too?'' My answer was of course yes.

I took Carter to school and had fifteen minutes to spare. I ran to the bulk food store to grab some snacks. I picked up soy nuts, dried green peas, shelled sunflower seeds, and corn nuts. When I got back to work I made somewhat of a trail mix of the four items and had a little snack. I'm really starting to freak out my coworkers. Yesterday afternoon when I was eating an apple, Dawn looked at me like I had three heads and said, ''I don't think I've ever seen you eat an apple.'' So far I'm enjoying the healthier choices, but drinking just green tea and water result in a few more trips to the bathroom!

After work I picked up the boys and went to Mom and Dad's house to pick up a movie they rented that doesn't have to be returned until tomorrow. They hadn't eaten supper yet so I invited them for an impromptu supper at our house. I rushed home and started cooking. Carter helped me make the meatloaf. I peeled the potatoes and put them on to boil so I could mash 'em. I cooked veggies and made gravy and at the last second when everything was ready I remembered to make the salad. I threw together a bag of coleslaw with some coleslaw dressing and dinner was served. Even the boys ate a little. After supper we visited for awhile.

After Mom and Dad left I went in the kids room and gathered their clothing for tomorrow. I packed my snack bag and got Carter's school snack ready, and a couple sippy cups of milk ready in the fridge. I even picked out something for myself to wear tomorrow. I then sorted through a mountain of clothes in the kids room and sorted every piece by size and by kid and by item (i.e. pants or shirts) and put it all away. I've been dying to do that for ages.

I just got Cooper settled in his room. He was still wide awake and I put that Backyardigans DVD on for him. I'm hoping that keeps him in his room because I'm about ready for bed. Tomorrow I have a fun little day planned for myself. I'm only working until 11:30 and taking the rest of the day in comp. time so I can go get my hair done. This time there will be pictures.

Oops. I'm back. I forgot I actually scrapped something the other day! :)

Soop'n'Sammitches

...an easy supper.

Work went well today. Things are really picking up again now that we're well into the new year. Something I forgot to mention last night was how I noticed at the grocery store last night that a large display of paring knives had ''Try Me'' imprinted right on the box. I wasn't sure if that was an invitation to violence, or if they wanted me to go cut up some fruits and vegetables. Either way, it kinda made me go hmmm.

Today at lunch I went with Donna to her friend's house to try to help her with her computer. She fed us lunch and I started working on the computer but there just wasn't enough time. I'll have to make another visit to get it all done.

I picked up the boys after work and learned that Cooper threw a toy at one of the other kids and made his nose bleed. Aaaack. Not sure what to do with that. I've still been using the 'gonna trade you in for another kid' trick but really it's not realistic. But it really does seem to make him think.

For supper we had tomato soup and grilled cheese and salmon salad sandwiches. Make that tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and salmon salad sandwiches. I had forgotten to take something out of the freezer so Chris suggested the quick and easy meal. After supper I worked on some birth announcement samples for my friend Marsha. That is one adorable baby!

Chris fell asleep first, then Carter. Cooper is still up and I'm fading fast so he's likely going to outlast me. He's watching a Backyardigans DVD in his room and once in awhile I hear him clapping his hands so he's definitely still wide awake. He just came out to the living room to try to get me to come and watch it with him. It's one of my least favourite kids' shows so I'm hoping he'll fall asleep before I have to go watch it with him.

Now THAT Was a Big Dump

...of snow. Actually two hyuuuge dumps of snow fell over the weekend. I didn't leave the house from the time I arrived home from work on Friday to the time I left for work this morning. Chris's ice fishing trip on Saturday wasn't very fruitful (or fishful for the purposes of the story) because of the blizzard conditions.

I did a little laundry over the weekend; enough to wash some pee-peed bedding courtesy of the boys and my forgetfulness to put a pull-up on them before bed. (Not to mention my not monitoring the fluid intake before bedtime.)

I'm working on one of my little 'health kicks' that I occasionally attempt. This time actually feels different, thanks to Angie's New Year's Decisions idea that I totally stole. I decided to stop drinking coffee, since I put so much cream and sugar in my coffee that it becomes more like a dessert that you nearly need a spoon to eat. Fast food is now out of the question, along with junky stuff and pop. Yeah, I really went cold turkey on all the crap I've been putting in my body. As a result, I had a caffeine deprivation headache all weekend. The headache could share the blame with PMS but I digress.

I started eating breakfast the other day. I had a yogurt and a boiled egg, in place of the usual nothing that I have for breakfast. I've had a yogurt a few days in a row for breakfast or a slice of toast. Wish me luck. I'm not one to stick with will power but so far this year I'm on a roll. Some of my coworkers brought in dainties and candy that they didn't want to keep at home and be tempted to eat, and so far I've completely avoided it where I would normally scarf it up.

Sunday evening we had a great dinner (supper). I cooked up some fresh whitefish fillets in lemon dill sauce, steamed baby potatoes and kernel corn. The kids wouldn't go near it for the most part, though Cooper ate a handful or two of corn.

Today was a good day at work. The office has been repopulated since nearly everyone has returned from Christmas vacation. At lunch I had an eyebrow wax appointment. I was going to grab a sub from Subway after I brought Chris the leftovers from supper last night, but I remembered that I left my bank card at home, along with Chris's. That was another thing I wanted to attempt along with eating a healthier diet, I wanted us to go on a spending diet.

I stopped at home to pick up said bank card so I could go put gas in the Jeep and made myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich. At some point during the lunch hour I recalled that it's the first day of school for the year, and remembered to take Carter to school.

The gas price in this town is at an all-time low. I don't remember the gas price being this low since at least ten years ago. It only cost me twenty bucks to fill the tank from half. 59.9 cents per litre. Just wow. The snowbanks have turned into blindspot-inducing monoliths all over the place, creating a little fear and doubt even after checking 872364578 extra times before backing out onto the street.

After work today Chris did some more snowblowing around our place, particularly because the grader finally cleared our street and made a lovely snowbank where Chris had cleaned the driveway just yesterday. His next stop was Kelly's place. She's been out of town since we got all this snow so she would barely if at all possible have been able to navigate her driveway when she got home. One of Chris's friends stopped by with his plow and back-bladed a path down her driveway a little earlier. Chris cleared the rest of the driveway so she could get into her garage. She was one happy camper!

While Chris was on snow patrol, I was making supper. Homemade chicken fingers, nuked potatoes, green beans and gravy. Cooper had his usual couple bites, and I conned him into a couple extra bites by feeding them to him under the kitchen table. Carter slept through supper and never ate a single bite. When Chris came in I left to take his Dad grocery shopping. First we went to Wal-Mart. I picked up milk, butter, shake'n'bake, juice boxes, yogurt, sauce mixes and maybe a couple other things. When we got to the till, Chris's Dad bought my stuff. That was sweet. Next we went to the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables. I was coveting all the Christmas stuff that's on sale cheap cheap cheap but I managed to just pick up some plastic wine glasses and left all the pretty decorations behind.

I dropped him off and came home to put away the groceries. Carter wanted me to play with him with his new Neo-Shifter toys from his Uncle Jason. They are these robot-type things with six bajillion pieces each, and thank God Jason helped Carter assemble them at Christmas and they are still assembled.

It was getting late so I suggested to the boys that we watch a movie in their room to wind them down and hopefully get them to sleep so I could go to bed too. I was pretty close to drifting off but Cooper kept curling up with me then taking off and climbing or jumping around. He also had to go for a potty break; the potty training is a done deal and I'm thinking I should have switched him over months ago. The pull-up at night is just a precaution to save me from extra laundry in case of an accidental bed wetting, and it's usually dry in the morning.

I remembered my blog and decided to go grab the laptop so I could gather my thoughts before too many days pass. I'll be trying to stay more up to date because it's way easier for me to keep track of our lives when I do it more often! I'll leave you with this gorgeous picture of the boys I took when we were visiting with Paula the other night. They were taking turns taking pictures of each other with my camera and I was a little nervous they'd break it so I quickly took it back from them and asked them both to pose for me. Here's what I got...(best picture of them together...EVER.)

Four O'Clock Carpet Cleaning

Friday was a good day at work and very productive. There was still a skeleton crew on board due to most people's being away on Christmas vacation still. So with only seven of us there, we decided to bring in lunch. We ordered in pizza and salad and convened in one of the offices to have our lunch, which fortunately wasn't interrupted at all even though we were open through the lunch hour.

After work I picked up the boys and we came home. As soon as Chris came home and showered, I had supper ready, an easy meal of ham and perogies and asparagus. Carter expressed great interest and approval in supper, except for the asparagus. Cooper was being all goofy and antsy and didn't eat much.

After supper I got a call from Paula, one of my coworkers from out of town. She came to town to bring her cat to the vet since they don't have one where she lives. It's her second emergency trip here for her cat this week. Hopefully he'll be okay. Despite having to keep a close eye on her cat, she wanted to get together for a visit. Chris was going to take Carter for a ride to take away all our garbage, and I was going to take Cooper with me to see Paula. The boys opted to trade parents. Carter came with me and was being a real little sweetheart. Not long after we arrived for our visit, Chris phone with a crying Cooper in the background. Chris said he was freaking out and wanted to see his Mommy, also saying he had a tummyache. I got Chris to bring him over to the hotel. Once the two kids were in the room they started to get all goofy, wrestling and being very noisy. (Cooper was FINE, by the way.) I didn't want to stress out Paula or her sick cat so we just had a short visit and came home.

At some point during the night Carter crawled in our bed. He felt a little warm but he seemed okay, and said he felt fine. He was kind of fidgety, and Chris was snoring so I left and crashed out on the bottom bunk bed. Chris woke me at four to ask for my help in cleaning up Carter's barf. The biohazard was contained to a blanket on the floor beside the bed, the carpet in the little hallway (OMGTHATPOORCARPETHASBEENTHROUGHSOMUCH) and the remainder apparently just skimmed the linoleum in the kitchen/bathroom and made it to the toilet after that. I was both amused and annoyed with Chris who seemed to have the weight of the world on him for having to get up in the middle of the night to help out a sick kid. This event apparently nullified the other 98374598734955 times I had to deal with barfing or sick kids at all hours of the night for the past five and a half years.

Once Carter was settled, I gave him some Tylenol for his temperature and put him to bed on the bottom bunk, where I had been so peacefully resting. All was well, except Chris whined that he never did get back to sleep after that. Again, I was evilly amused. This morning Carter seemed to be feeling okay but was still feverish. I gave him some Motrin. He and Cooper nibbled on breakfast. I had a yogurt and a boiled egg. Carter loves boiled eggs and managed to eat one with his breakfast. Cooper is quite adamant that he doesn't like eggs.

The kids were very entertained playing the new Wall-E game we found online yesterday. I'm hoping Carter stays feeling better and that the bug he had will be gone quickly without making anyone else sick.

After work today, Chris took off to go to his friend's ice shack out on the lake. It's not a bad day out, but we're in for a bunch more snow today. I was hoping to take the kids to see Bolt at the movie theatre today but I'm going to wait to make sure they're both feeling well.

Happy New Year!

Okay, so since this past week was such a blur, I'm going to try to capture some more of it. The rest of the weekend was quiet and relaxing. We rented a few movies. Mom and Dad came over to watch a couple of them. We watched the new Batman movie, the title of which escapes me at the moment, though I did like the movie. It's actually the first of the Batman franchise I've ever seen. We also watched Burn After Reading. That was a peculiar one but we made it to the end.

We also had rented Tropic Thunder, which we watched the following evening with Jason and Claire. Pretty ridiculous and twisted, but with a few laughs along the way. And, if I hadn't known Robert Downey Jr. was in the movie before I saw it, I wouldn't have believed it was him portraying a black character until he revealed his unmasked face.

Chris and I both returned to work on Monday, which SUCKED except for all the good stuff that happened that day! I was busy contemplating how I should have taken the week off when I got the BEST NEWS. Marsha called me and she and Ryan had their baby early Monday morning!!! I was crying and blubbering all over the phone. I was so touched to hear from Marsha and so proud and happy for her! His name is Heath Ryan Kazakoff, and I cannot WAIT to get some pictures! Congratulations Marsha and Ryan!!! In keeping with the great day, I had lunch with Mom and Auntie Lurdes and Kelly (THANKS KELLY!!!) We had a great lunch and I headed back to work for a much more quiet afternoon. It was really hard to think about anything besides Marsha's new little family! :)

Tuesday was much of the same except I didn't get any thrilling news. I did however have a great lunch out with Mom and Dad. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) By the time Wednesday rolled around it was AWESOME to have a weekend in the middle of the week! I did a little shopping on New Year's Eve for some party-type snacks.

Ian and Seija came over with their adorable baby Aila. All we did was eat and watch hockey all evening, which was fabulous! We intended to play some games, but we were all pretty FULL and tired. First we had a cheese fondue courtesy of Seija and Ian. YUMMY! Crispy and soft chunks of bread dipped in ooey gooey melted cheese, and some veggies to dip too! I had picked up a bunch of M&M munchies, starting with the hot artichoke/spinach/cheese dip. That stuff ROCKS. We had it with crackers, and the veggies and bread also dipped quite well in there too! We also had buffalo wings (my favourite...Chris can't stand them!) the hors d'oeuvre quartet (a variety of filled pastries), bacon-wrapped scallops, and DEATH BY CHOCOLATE! The dessert came far later than all the other munchies.

I had planned on having a few drinks, but I crammed in so much food that I didn't even have room! I'm not too sure what time Seija and Ian and Aila left, but the kids were still up for awhile. I seem to recall seeing 11:44 on the clock. Gee I was so close to the countdown. Chris was completely zonked on the other couch!

This morning Chris treated us to coffee. As a group effort we undecorated the living room. I didn't have anywhere near all my Christmas decorations out so it was pretty easy, and Chris actually had the patience to wait for me to put everything into the right boxes before taking them to the basement for me. I'll only have to wonder a little where he put everything this year!

He cleared the driveway and took the kids outside to play while he shoveled and snow-blowed (blew the snow with the snowblower!) Carter came in first, but Cooper was still having a blast out there. Chris took him for a ride and brought him back asleep. Cindy and Bob had called to invite us out to their cabin. I left Cooper all dressed in his snowsuit and boots and got ready.

We went out to the cabin and although I had ski-pants and boots on with my new coat, I mostly stayed inside. The kids had a blast outside sliding. Even Cooper was a toboganning maniac! ANDGUESSWHOFORGOTTHEFREAKINGCAMERAATHOME? Yeah, that would be ME. I did borrow Dad's camera to take a few pictures, and there were a few other cameras there. I'll have to go visit everyone and hold their camera cards hostage to load all the pictures on the laptop. Oooooh...and speaking of camera cards, I found me a 16GB camera card at Wal-Mart's big Boxing Day sale. I can take about six thousand pictures with that sucker! I'm thinking now I won't delete any pictures when I transfer them to the computer. And if possible I'll just keep all the pictures on the card as a backup and get more cards as I need them. < /NERDLY rant>

I had eaten the rest of the buffalo wings not long before we left for the cabin. I had no desire to eat. I was sipping on a Pepsi when they started dishing out tons and tons of food. Bob's parents were whipping up homemade chicken balls, egg rolls, chicken-fried rice and ribs. I was trying to politely decline eating anything, but it looked so good! I managed to put away a few chicken balls, a pile of rice, and a couple egg rolls. Then the dessert rolled out. We visited for awhile and came home. It felt like it had to be at least nine o'clock and it was barely past six!

We came home and I continued watching the Corner Gas marathon I started watching earlier. If I had the inclination and/or energy to, I could watch it until three in the morning. I doubt I'll last that long!

Tomorrow Chris and I return to work again. Kinda cool that our mini-week starts and ends on a Friday! Then we get a real weekend and launch into the real beginning of the work year on Monday. I'm still kicking myself a little for not taking at least Friday off this week! I'll have to plan better next year at this time!