Not Your Regular Mini Van Mom

Just Call Me The Comeback Kid :)

2011-12-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I know it has been a REALLY long time since I was last on here, but I have decided to start writing again. I seem to have more time on my hands than I did before and I am ready to write!

Lots has happened in the last three years - my boys have gotten HUGE, I have a new job and my hubby is also working on a new career. I am excited to be back and hope that people might actually come and read my blog again :)

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Celiac

2009-01-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

I have been really sick for the last few months, vomiting, diahrea (tmi?) and feeling just generally shitty. After countless trips to the hospital, doctor and anyone else who will listen nobody seemed to be able to tell me what the problem was. I finally went for my last test right before Xmas and got the results on Friday. I am celiac. This sucks.

I must be gluten-free for the rest of my days. Me...the woman who loves crusty italian bread almost as much as she loves her family. No more sourdough bread at the Keg. No more plate of pasta with butter and parmesan. I now have to read every lable of everything that goes into my mouth (hold your comments) well, almost anything that goes into my mouth. I am not looking forward to this journey.

On the bright side, I will probably start feeling alot better, and I am also on some vitamin supplements to get my iron and B12 back up to where it should be. If anyone out there has any advice, or great recipe sites, please give me a hollar and let me know. I am already craving cookies or brownies or something equally yummy!

Mint Chocolate Kisses

2009-01-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

I bought a bag of mint chocolate kisses today for the kids. I thought, hmmmm, before I give it to them I will try one.

I ate the whole bag and the kids didn't even know I had bought them a treat.

I feel sick to my stomach and I have no one to blame but myself, that much chocolate can't be good for anyone :(

Alien Children

2009-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Last night the weather here was FREEZING. That being said,my children were going stir crazy, so we bundled up and went outside to play. The boys got these lazer type guns that makes lots of noise and light up and I must admit are pretty cool.

After spending half an hour in the backyard we decided to "fight the aliens" that had invaded our neighborhood (my children do not lack imagination lol) Rolling behind mounds of snow, dodging and hiding from cars driving by, shooting their lazer guns at my parents house down the road are all things that kept us outside an additional 45 minutes.

We decided to return to the mother ship (our house) and have some hot cocoa and apple cider. We came into the house and took off our snow clothes only to have Twink A start screaming and holding his wrist, Twink B ran over to investigate...they came to the conclusion that he was bitten by alien hatchlings on our travels and that both of them would now become alien children. Oh the horror! I discovered he just had frost bite, lol.

The Guilt

2009-01-07T06:44:00.001-08:00

I have started working pretty much full time hours over the last few months, juggling being a mom, a wife, a busy entrepreneur, and I have come to the conclusion that no matter how I split my time, I will be forever guilt ridden.

If I let my work slide and spend it with the kids and hubby, I feel guilty for not giving my all to my career (or my one day carerr lol). If I spend more time working I feel really GUILTY for letting my work get in the way of my family. I have spoken to lots of mom's out there that have worked since their kids were born and they tell me that there is no happy medium. This sucks.

I was so happy with my decision to be a stay at home mom, then when the boys started going to school full time, I thought, okay now I get to pickup my career where I left off. I don't really know how to fit it in though.

I drop the kids off to school at 8:20am, rush home, tidy up breakfast dishes, throw a load of laundry in, get my work out, work until 11:15am pick them up for lunch, throw lunch in their faces, get them back out the door for 12:15pm, come home work until 2:40pm, pick the boys up from school, feed them after school snacks, do homework, prepare dinner, serve dinner, clean up dinner, run baths get jammies on them, read them a bedtime story, tuck them in...then it is time to be a good wife and listen to DH's day, cuddle for a little bit, maybe squeeze in some SEX :)By then I am exhausted. I have started to get up at 4:45am to work in some piece and quiet until around 7:am.

If someone out there in internet space has an answer on how to juggle these things around, or how to just stop feeling guilty...please let me in on the secret. Thanks...

New Year

2009-01-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

It is a new year and I hope it will be a good one. I have been a bad blogger the last few months...actually a non-existant blogger. I am going to try and blog on a more consistent basis this year. I have a few New Years' Resolutions

1. Blog on a more consistent basis

2. Be a better wife/mother

3. Lose a few more pounds (this has been part of my New Year's Resolutions since I was 12)

They appear in random order, so you all do not think that number 1 is more important than number 2 lol.

well, hope to write again soon! Happy New Years to everyone, may 2009 be your year :)

October

2008-10-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

It is definately October. Today the sky is kind of gray and cloudy, the wind is blowing, it is really cool (about 11degress celsius) and seems like the perfect day for a bubbling stew. I love October. It is my mostest favourite month of the year. I love that the leaves change colour. I love going for hikes and listening to the leaves crunch under my feet. I love going apple picking and I definately love baking those apples in yummy desserts.

Merry October everyone!

Thankful

2008-09-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

I am feeling so very thankful today. I don't know why, I just had one of those moments today. A moment where I felt like I was out of my body looking down at my family and I. We weren't doing anything that we normally wouldn't. We were having our coffee (the twinks their juice) out on the back deck, Twink A snuggled up with DH and Twink B snuggled up with me, discussing what our plans were for the day. My eyes filled up with tears when I thought about how lucky we are. It was the kind of moment where I just wanted the world to stop and to live in that moment forever.

Everyone in our family is healthy, relatively happy and we are together. So many families can't say that and it breaks my heart. Often times life gets in the way of me realizing how fortunate I am. When meetings with the teacher (which went well by the way lol), work, housework and other "stuff" become somewhat overwhelming I often forget that I should thank God for having the family that I do.

Okay, I will stop gushing now. I just felt today that I have been worrying over things that really don't matter. Work (other than the paycheque attached to it lol) doesn't matter. Having a "marthastewartsupercleanyoucaneatoffanysurface" house doesn't matter. What matters most was sitting around me this morning while I was enjoying my hot cup of coffee. That is what counts.

Going To Talk to the Teacher

2008-09-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

I want to start out by saying thank you too all you lovely ladies who commented on my previous post. It made me smile. Thank you.

Now on with my post. It is only the second week of school and I need to go talk to the boys teacher. Not because they are misbehaving or acting out. In fact the teacher told me on Friday that they are adjusting "beautifully" to grade one and are a "treat" to have in her class. I am meeting her because Twink A is successfully pulling the wool over her eyes.

All the work that he has brought home has been atrocious. I don't just mean the printing is a little messy, I mean if I didn't have Twink B's to compare it to I would have absolutely NO idea what the heck he had written. I asked him what Mrs. D thought about it and he smiled his "ya gotta love me" smile and said,"I told her I was doing my bestest" then, "that way I can finish the work fast and still get to have play time". Nice. He has already scammed her and he has only been in class 6 days.

Tomorrow is the day that his little scam is over. I am going in to talk to her and tell her if he has completed garbage and make him do it over again. If she doesn't I will.

Juggling

2008-09-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

I never really thought of myself as a circus performer until the last week. The kids are in school full time (still can't get my head wrapped around that one) and I have started working full time hours (albeit from home but still around 40 hours a week).

I never realized how incredibly hard this would be. Trying to do everything that the kids need, everything that DH needs, keeping up with the housework and gasp...work too! I have been getting up at 5:30am and not getting to sleep until 11:00pm and not stopping in between.

DH and I had a talk last night and discussed the need for more help for me. He needs to step up and help me out more. The kids need to step up and help me more. I need to ask for help more. I have come to realize that asking for help doesn't make me weak.

The stepford wife is definately an illusion, I always strived to be somewhat stepfordy (yes I just created a word....sue me) I wanted to be a little bit of Martha Stewart (home baking and gardening included) a little bit Lisa Love (for you Hills fans you know who I am talking about) and a little bit Angelina Jolie.

I am none of these. I am juggling all these new responsibilities with the old ones and I am worried about how long I can do that. When are things going to come crashing down?

Oh Yes I Procrastinate

2008-08-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

I was never one of those kids who rushed home and finished their homework or projects the same day I got them. My sister was. She would come straight home from school and start her homework and finish it, then go play. I did not. I was more of the come home, play, hang out go to bed, wake up the next morning go to school and madly try to finish it in the hallways of school before my class.

The kicker was I ususally did better in school than my sister. I thought I was awesome. Well, not so much, enter adulthood. I have recently decided that leaving things to the last moment, frantically trying to complete a project or finish something in the eighth hour sucks. I can't handle the stress any more. My sister seems to float through life, rarely stressed out and I have discovered it is because she is..gasp...organized. I am starting this school year off on a new foot. I will not be one of those procrastinators. I WILL not play before I work. I will not be the lazy grasshopper, I WILL be the worker ant.

I should go get to work!

Vocabulary of Champions

2008-08-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder where my kids learned words or phrases. Here are a couple that have me stumped...

Twink A "Mom do I look prestigious in this outfit?"

Me "Yeah, sure...."

Twink A "Yeah I thought so, most aristocrats do"

Huh? Where the heck did that come from. Here is another one I don't get.

Twink B "Mom I am absolutely famished, can I have a Rice KRispy treat"

Me. "Okay, where did you learn that word?"

Twink B "Rice KRispy Treat?"

Me. "No, famished?"

Twink B "I don't know but I am hungry, so can I have one?"

I know that I didn't use words like that when I was five, hell, I don't use half those words now. I think they are slipping some pretty fancy vocabulary into the cartoons these days.

Last Week Of Summer...Prepare for Upcoming Nervous Breakdown

2008-08-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

It already feels like back to school weather. That makes me a little sad inside. My boys will be going to grade one this year. sniff sniff.

I don't know what I am going to do with myself. This will be the first time in their lives that they will be going to school every day from Monday to Friday and be gone all day long. 30 hours a week! I am going to miss them like crazy. Lots of mom's keep telling me,"don't worry, once you get a taste of freedom you are going to LOVE having them in school all day". But I don't think I will.

I like doing things with my boys. I like sharing the days with them, they are just mine then. DH works so it is just my alone time with them. Now I am going to have to share them with all kinds of other people. Teachers, friends, sniff sniff sniff.

I probably sound like a whiny overprotective mother, and that isn't how I feel. I just feel that they are ready to take this step and I am not, kind of like being left behind. I know that is what parenting is about. Preparing them for these steps and hoping that you did a good enough job that they can take that step without any problems or worries. I just never realized that I wouldn't be ready for those steps.

I had a moment of panic when I realized this. My first instinct was to ask DH if he wanted to have another baby...he thinks I am on crack. lol. I called my mom and she reassured me that this was just another blip in the radar of life and that this was a normal feeling. My mom is awesome, I am so glad that we are close and that she is there to reassure me in my parenting woes. DH just doesn't understand. I can't blame him, we have different experiences parenting our boys. I am the stay at home mom, part of me is defined by that, he works all day and by the boys being at school it won't change the amount of time he sees them. To him things aren't changing much. My whole world feels like it is changing and it is taking me a few moments to find my new spot in it.

Now I am rambling, I will stop now (for your sake lol) and try to find some laundry that will make me feel needed.

New Neighbors

2008-08-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

We have new neighbors moving in tomorrow. I can't wait. Our old neighbors were nice enough, but they were older than us and I didn't have much in common with them. These new neighbors are our age, and are expecting their first baby.

I have already baked them a banana bread...well actually I baked two today. The first one was cooling on the cooling rack and DH hacked a slice out of it thinking it was for him. Hence the second loaf of banana bread. lol

I hope they are friendly...and I hope they are the kind of neighbors you can borrow sugar from...and I hope they don't mind going in their backyard 8000 times to get my kids frisbees/balls/whatever else they have managed to throw over the fence. I also hope they have a good sense of humor...and don't mind if we are loud in our backyard and play loudish music...oh God they are going to hate us.

Maybe we are the neighbors that people hate to live next door to. I better make them muffins too...

I'm Back

2008-08-19T05:28:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

It has been a while since I have posted. Actually it was when the sun started shining and the weather got warm and I started spending as many waking hours as possible outside with my twinks.

We have had a very busy summer - my sister got married..twice (once in Mexico where we went to be with her and once back here), I have a new niece who was born on July 4th, we have been camping, cottaging, boating and white water rafting. It has been a VERY busy summer.

It appears to be time to start back into some kind of a schedule though. The kids start grade one in two weeks (sniff sniff, I am having a bit of a hard time dealing with this...a future blog post perhaps) and the weather just has that back to school feel. The leaves up north are already starting to turn (which is really weird, but with this crazy weather we have had this summer, nothing surprises me.

So I think it is time to come back to the blog. I really missed it, although I have lurked on many of the other ladies blogs I started reading I haven't posted comments. So I am back. I will do my best to post on a daily basis. I hope that you will all still read me (or my blog I guess would be more appropriate lol).

I'm Not Dead

2008-05-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

My blog hasn't been working well lately...I just wanted to pop my head in here and tell you all I should be back up and running tomorrow AM !!!

Lacrosse Warrior

2008-04-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Yes. Me. Well, not really.

My sister talked me into joining her lacrosse team this year. It seemed like a GREAT idea a couple of months ago when I registered. Right now, it doesn't seem like such a great idea. Our first game is tonight. I have NEVER played lacrosse. I just got my lacrosse stick last night and tried catching the ball etc. It is not going to be pretty.

I feel like a kid again. Not in a good way. In the way where I was shy and unsure about joining the kids I didn't know in a game I knew I wouldn't be great at. I hope they don't laugh at me, I hope they like me, I hope I don't get killed by the hard (did I mention it is a REALLY hard ball?) ball that will be whipped at me at very fast speeds to which I am supposed to catch it in this really small basket attached to the end of a stick that offers me very little protection.

I am afraid, I don't feel like a lacrosse warrior, I feel like a lacrosse wimp. Stay tuned tomorrow to see how it turned out. If I don't post you will know I have been attacked and am injured from one of those lacrosse warrior princesses. Eeeek!

Sunburned

2008-04-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am very diligent when it comes to sunscreen. My boys have never been outdoors, summer or winter (or fall or spring for that matter) without sunscreen. So yesterday I lathered them up with the protective sunscreen and we spent the day outside. All day. Ummm, I am a bit of a moron though, because I didn't put ANY sunscreen on myself...I haven't been without sunscreen in about 7 years....can you say burnt!

I am sporting a super hot farmer's tan. I won't be forgetting it again that is for sure!

Day of Fun

2008-04-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

My husband and I started this tradition the first year we were together. Instead of buying each other presents for our birthdays we would have a "Day of Fun". The idea is that if it is DH's birthday I pick a day, plan it from beginning to end and surprise him with it. We don't splurge very often on doing things so this is something we get to do twice a year and not feel guilty about spending the money to do it...because it is a present of sorts.

We have done all kinds of things, taking the ferry to Rochester for a weekend, spent the day at Wakestock, all kinds of fun things.

Yesterday was my day of fun. Oh my lord, did I have FUN, and oh my lord am I TIRED today! LOL.

It started as soon as we dropped the kids off at school. We left the school went to Starbucks and had a great yummy coffee and muffin. Continued driving to Oakville (around an hour 15 minutes from here) and I was surprised with an hour massage and body facial...so relaxing. I was massaged with this great body scrub then rinsed and massaged for an hour. FANTASTIC! Then we were off again to Niagara Falls. We went to the casino, had lunch and played the slots for half an hour or so (left $17 up woohoo!). Then we pulled up to the only indoor windtunnel in Canada, we (fake) sky dived for a half an hour or so, it was AWESOME! I have a DVD of me skydiving, if I figure out how to put it on the computer I will so you can see, it was so much fun. We left there went to Niagara on the Lake and just enjoyed the gorgeous day, and shopped in a few of the stores (it really is a beautiful little town). Left there and raced to Toronto, parked and grabbed a hotdog from one of the street vendors (I HATE hotdogs normally but it really hit the spot last night lol). The final surprise of the night was getting to see We Will Rock You...it was a fantastic show. If you love the music of Queen (which I do) you will really enjoy this musical. Finally we drove home and boy did I sleep well (the boys stayed at my mom and dad's for the night) .

The best part about this whole adventure is that the whole thing was a surprise, I never know what I am doing next. DH did a great job this year, I am going to have to start planning his soon.

This tradition has been adopted by both my sister's and their husbands. It is a bit of a joke in our family, we don't exchange presents...we exchange day's of fun!

Bachelorette Weekend

2008-04-09T09:28:00.001-07:00

This weekend is my sister's bachelorette weekend. Instead of having a traditional bachelorette (you know, clubs, strippers, copious amounts of alcohol) the MOH and I thought she would rather go away to a resort for the weekend. We are going to Blue Mountain in Collingwood, for a weekend filled with massages, other spa treatments, hot tubs, girl movies, reading and perhaps some nice wine.

I can't wait. It has been a long time since I have had a weekend away without my hubby and kids. I am sure we will play some silly games too, and have good food to cap the weekend off. I am going to miss my boys, but I am excited about having a fun weekend away too :)

If anyone has any suggestions for fun games, please share them with me, thanks!

Just Found an Easter Egg

2008-04-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

As we do every year my DH and I hide about a million of the foil wrapped Easter eggs. Every year we say,next year we are going to remember to count how many we hid so we will know we got them all. Every year we forget.

I just found two Easter eggs in my baking cupboard. LOL.

Next year we are REALLY going to count them all.

PS.

Thanks for all of the supportive comments lately, I needed them:)

My Apologies

2008-04-03T14:14:00.001-07:00

I am just posting this as an apology to anybody I offended with my last post. I posted about my "master plan" . I only posted it as a lighthearted jest, and from the comments I have recieved I now realize that they were not very sensitive.

There are a couple of lovely women that have posted comments who actually have adopted children and I cannot express enough how wonderful I think they are. I think it is a great thing to adopt children and create a new family with them. A very, very good friend of mine has recently adopted a daughter and I see how strong she is and what a wonderful future she has given that little girl. What a gift.

As one other person commented on my post I should "step over my white picket fence" and see what the world is really like. I know what the world is really like and I perhaps felt my blog was an okay place for me to joke around in, I understand to some people this isn't a joke and I do feel very badly that I offended them.

If I knew more about blogs and knew how to post links to the lovely ladies that commented on my posts, I would..but I am a newbie and don't, so go look at the comments and click on their names and visit their blogs, they are really interesting and motivating.

One last question that was asked of me was why I didn't feel like I could adopt a child. The answer to that is hard, I don't know if I am a strong enough person to go through the ups and downs of adopting. My girlfriend who has recently adopted the daughter I mentioned has gone through many, many downs and stressful times before actually recieving the great gift that is her daughter. I also don't know if I could afford (financially) to have more children.

I hope I haven't rambled too much...this is my first internet apology so I hope it was up to snuff. Anyhow, got to go and make some dinner now, this has been on my mind since I read the comments yesterday and I just felt awful and wanted to explain...I hope i haven't made things worse.....

The Perfect Plan

2008-03-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

My sister is pregnant with a girl. I am so happy for her and I am super excited to be an aunt to a girl. She was sharing with me all her dreams about what her and her daughter are going to do. I was so happy for her...but one thing...I was a little sad for me.

I came to the realization that I will never do those things with a daughter. I have two sons who I love more than words, but I will never have a daughter to go shopping with, or have manicures with, or talk about their boyfriends with. Sniff sniff.

I came to a decision whilst thinking about all this daughter stuff. My sons are going to have to marry orphan girls. That way they will not have had a mother to do those things with and I can fill that void. The perfect solution! Not only that, but my boys won't have to split the holidays between me and their inlaws...because there won't be any. I can help plan the wedding because these poor orphan girls won't have mothers to help them do it! When they have babies I can be in the delivery room when my first grandbabies are born because those poor girls will not have anyone to help them in a maternal way.

I shared my perfect plan with my husband, if he didn't think it before , my plan confirmed it. He thinks I am insane LOLOLOL!

Oh well, if they don't marry orphans, Plan B will be to live vicariously through my sister.

Courts are NOT Environmentally Friendly

2008-03-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Last September my mom was accused of shoplifting by an overzealous Loss Prevention officer at our local grocery store. He yelled at her that she was a thief,that she stole a case of pop, he embarrassed her in front of her peers, dragged her into the store, only to find....that she had paid for it and the cashier had just forgotten to put a sticker on it.

Instead of apologizing to her he told her to "get lost". Nice. After calling and complaining to the store she was told that the LP officer just needed "more training". Nice. Still no apology.

My poor mom has been absolutely mortified and devestated that this happened to her. So I told her she should sue the company that the LP officer works for. She agreed (keep in mind in all of her 53 years she has NEVER sued anyone, and neither have I). So I agreed to be her representative in small claims court.

You would not beleive how much paper needs to be filed. I swear I have killed a small forest with all of the papers that need to be filled out, filed and mailed. It is just crazy.

When I went to the court house the other day to file yet another set of papers I saw our file...it is at least a foot thick!

I apologize to the paper Gods, you would think in this day and age there would be something you could fill out online. Anyway, I just printed off another stack of papers and am thinking that all this paperwork would be enough to dissuade most people from representing themselves in court themselves. Maybe this is why Lawyers get paid so much...to cover the cost of paper!

Love

2008-03-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

What does love mean to you? I am interested to know. To me it is beyond explaining, it just something that is. It makes my heart swell or sometimes hurt depending on the situation. It is what I feel about the three boys in the picture above, my boys all three of them.

I asked my twinks what love meant to them, this is their responses...

Twink #1 "love is when you make me a sandwich and cut off the crusts 'cause you know that is what i like, because I DON'T love crusts" LOL

Twink #2 "love is when you hug me and I hug you and even if you are mad at me because I was naughty you still say you love me...even though you are still cross" LOL

I would LOVE it if you could ask your little one's (or friends little ones) what love means to them. I think it is so cute and very interesting too.

My Kids are SO Going To Need Therapy

2008-03-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

I might be a bit of a story teller. Especially to the twinks.

There was a bunny in our backyard today, which they spotted. As soon as I saw it I told them it was the Easter Bunny's spy that had come to check if their playroom was clean. It was not and two 5 year old boys ran to clean their room in record time.

The therapy bills are gonna be huge.

Pollyanna

2008-03-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided that it would be good for my kids to help me volunteer somewhere. I thought to myself, my children are really, really blessed/lucky/priviledged, whatever you want to call it (don't call it spoiled because then I can get cranky). They are five years old and I really don't think that they are old enough yet to realize that not everyone their age in the world gets to live in a nice house, have a fully tummy, wear nice clothes and have a playroom that is reminiscent of Toys R Us.

Being the sometimes naive person that I am, I thought to myself, we should help out at our local soup kitchen (St. Vincent's soup kitchen). We drove down there and I was all ready to ladel soup (okay or serve food, I am not that naive that I believe that they only serve soup) and have my children experience a situation that they have never really had to think about before.

We arrived there and went to talk to the volunteer leader...who looked at me like I was insane. She feels that the kids are WAY too young to be introduced to the people in our city that frequent the soup kitchen, she reminded me that the local Meth Clinic is practically right beside the kitchen and alot of the clientele are some unsavory type of people. Right. I forgot about that.

Loading my kiddies back into the car, feeling a little embarrassed that I hadn't really thought about the whole situation we came home. I told my hubby what I had done, and he called me Pollyanna (like the old Disney movie), he said that I see the world through rose coloured glasses and I need to take them off occassionally and see the world the way it is. Isn't that awful? We are the perfect Ying and Yang, he tends to be the Realist and I tend to be...well...Pollyanna like. I hope our kids turn out to be a good combination of both, because sometimes it's really nice to look at the world and see only the good in people and not always be suspicious of their motives.

So after that whole situation, we signed up to volunteer somewhere else. In our local old age home. My kids might not be able to see people less fortunate then themselves, but at least they will still be helping in their community. Maybe we will save the soup kitchen for when they are a bit older.

Dare I say it....has Spring Sprung?

2008-03-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Two days in a row of sunshine. Sunshine people!!!! I feel like there hasn't been two days of consecutive sunshine since Thanksgiving. I feel like maybe (knock on wood) that Spring is within sight. Sigh. I feel happy inside. My stomach was still a little woozy yesterday, but I managed to work through it and have a good afternoon outside with the Twinks. We built snowmen (yes plural) figuring that this might be the last time we will be able to do this, this year.

Today I am feeling bettter, better still because of the beautiful weather:) I have got so much accomplished today. I have pretty much disinfected as much as I can think of (even remembering to disinfect the light switches, door handles and telephones), almost all the laundry and I actually got alot of "work" (client's work that is) done.

I hope everyone else out there is enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning too :)

I leave off with yet another pic of my twinks...just because I want to and it's my blog dammit LOL

Friday Photo

2008-03-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a great pic of my boys. We were at the cottage and they were getting ready for bedtime. The fireplace was going and I was making hot cocoa. I remember when this picture happened, just like it was yesterday. I hope I always remember that day, it was a great day with my twinks:)

Stomach Flu

2008-03-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

I hate the stomach flu. I have it. I felt fine yesterday, actually, I felt quite good. Until around 10:30pm, then it hit. I puked (TMI?) all night, and feel pretty crappy right now. I am praying that the boys don't get it.

The last time they had it, I swear to God I did at least 15 loads of laundry and went through about 4 litres of Ginger Ale.

Here is hoping I am the only one to be afflicted with this. I feel achy and feverish. Blah. Today is definately a jammie day.

The Easter Bunny Might Have a Tough Time This Year

2008-03-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

We got another huge dumping of snow yesterday. About a foot fell in a little over seven hours, bringing our total amount of snow to about two and a half feet on the ground.

Every year for Easter we (er the Easter Bunny) have a huge easter egg hunt in our backyard and the whole neighborhood does another one at the park. Easter is two weeks away. I am thinking it is not going to happen this year :( I was joking with my DH and I told him that it will really be a hunt, the boys will have to dig them out from under snow.

I am guessing that we will be having the hunt indoors this year.

Happy Birthday Me!

2008-03-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Today is my 31st birthday. That is right the big 3-1. I feel more like 13 than 31, weird huh?

Today I am going to indulge myself. I took a long bubble bath. I have already had two large coffees with REAL sugar,not a sugar substitute, with Vanilla Caramel Coffee Mate MMMMMMM!

I am going to putter around the house with no real goal other than to have fun with my hubby and boys, perhaps watch a girly movie this afternoon while the boys are having quiet time.

My family and friends are coming over tonight (as long as this MASSIVE BLOODY winter storm is over) and we are going to have lasagna (which I made yesterday so I wouldn't have to do anything today) garlic bread and ceasar salad. I am going to have a REAL piece of cake (not a little sliver or a bite like I normally do) and I am going to have some wine (maybe a FEW glasses LOL).

Anyway, if anyone is around and wants to stop by feel free (even if in spirit only ;)

Cabin Fever and then some

2008-03-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

My boys are driving me BONKERS!!!! They are not tv, computer or video game kids normally, but with this long, seemingly endless winter I have given in and they are playing those things or watching them alot more than normal. They are even getting sick of those things now. It has been such cold, crummy weather for the last few days that they are getting cabin fever.

I have been trying to take them out for a least a little while each day, but today we only managed to be outside for a half an hour, it is minus fourteen degrees celsius with the wind chill. We are going to my sister's this afternoon for a visit, I need to get them out of the house before they kill each other (or I kill them LOL).

Normally the boys are best friends, rarely argue and fight, but this past couple of weeks I think they are just getting sick of not being able to use up their energy and the only way they seem to be using up that energy is wrestling/bugging/anything else they shouldn't be doing.

I can't wait for the first sign of spring....

PS The pic above is a couple of years old, they are hugging each other and giving each other a kiss...I love that pic!

All is Quiet on the HomeFront

2008-03-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

Today is a weird day. My DH is working (not so weird as he works every other weekend) and my kids spent the night at my parents house. Now my parent's backyard backs onto ours so normally if the boys spend the night, they call me when they wake up and I go get them. However, my dad bought a PS3 a couple of months ago and the boys LOVE it.

It is mid afternoon and I called over to my parent's house for the fifth time today just to be told that the boys are STILL playing PS3 and are enjoying themselves. I am home by myself, able to do whatever I want. THIS IS WEIRD. I am going to enjoy it though because once the nice weather comes, the PS3 will go away until next winter and I will have two boys who will want to go swimming, bike riding, camping, out to the park, to play in the sprinkler, etc.

I am reading all my favourite blogs and going to read a book. Maybe even take a mid day bubble bath....I think I am getting spoiled :)

Anniversary

2008-03-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

Today is my 6 year anniversary. I am lucky enough to be married to the most wonderful man, I really lucked out. He is kind, thoughtful, and is the perfect "other half" to me. We got married on the beaches in Mexico with 25 of our closest friends and family gathered around us, with the wind blowing right before sunset. It was so beautiful.

We are going to celebrate tonight by going out for a nice dinner, just the two of us (my mom is watching the twinks) and I think I have the perfect gift for him tonight. When we were in Mexico the day after the wedding we bought a print of the date of our wedding written in Mayan scrawl. Well, being the procrastinators that we are in framing pictures (the rest of our lives we are en pointe, but when it comes to buying picture frames and actually framing the beautiful pics we have....we suck LOL) I had the print framed with a small picture of our wedding inset. I think he is going to like it:)

The picture above isn't from my wedding, it is from my sister's. My pictures need to be scanned into the computer and guess what....we haven't done that yet either LOL

Great Wolf Lodge

2008-02-29T06:32:00.000-08:00

We just got back from two days at Great Wolf Lodge. It really is worth every penny of the cost of the rooms.

We went last year and the kids had a WONDERFUL time, every time since then, that the commercial has been on tv the boys ask..."when can we go back" they loved it.

So this year, we didn't tell them we were going. We just packed the car and told them that we had to go for a meeting and that we couldn't get a babysitter so they had to come with us (insert grouchy five year old faces here). We drove the hour and a half and as we pulled up to the Lodge, it clicked with Twin A that we were actually going to Great wolf Lodge.

All hell broke loose in the back of my van. There was shouting. There was screaming. There was cheering. Best of all there were two little boys who looked like they won the lottary. We had a blast! It really is a great place to take your kids if they enjoy the water. We got home late last night, waterlogged, but happy. So much fun :)

And the Award Goes To....

2008-02-17T04:43:00.000-08:00

Not me! Mother of the Year will definately pass by me again this year.

Twink B was VERY grouchy all day yesterday. I chalked it up to being tired. I made him go to his room because he was being mean to his brother. I told him he had to stay in his room until he stopped yelling (he was throwing a bit of a tantrum), so until he could be quiet for five consecutive minutes he would need to stay in his room. Well, half an hour later he was still yelling "MOM I NEED YOU. MOMMY COME HERE...MOOOOOMMMMMMMM". Finally after about forty minutes of this nonsense I went back upstairs, and I admit I was a little grouchy at this point. Thinking to myself, for the love of God he is five years old, plenty old enough to just deal with his time out and move on.

Until I rounded the corner to his room. The reason he was grouchy all day wasn't because he was tired, it was because the dreaded stomach flu had hit him. The poor kid had puked on himself and the floor and that was why he was yelling for me. Not because he was not listening to me and dealing with his time out, but because he had puked all over the place. I felt like shit. Lower than shit. I felt like the parasite that lives on the shit. AWFUL.

So I cleaned him up, apologized profusely. Put him in jammies, held his little head whilst he continued to puke for another four hours and went to bed with him last night. I hope he isn't scarred by this event. I know I am.

Cancelled!

2008-02-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today is the day of all things being cancelled. I normally work out of the house on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the boys are in SK and my mom picks them up at lunch time and after school for "nana" time). Today however I CANCELLED my mom because I had a lunch meeting for the boy's Safe School Committee and I also had a meeting with the boys teacher afterschool to be updated on their progress.

I got to the school for the lunch meeting only to find it had been CANCELLED and rescheduled for tomorrow. Great.

The boys teacher called me at home and CANCELLED our after school meeting as she had another thing come up. Great.

I also found out that because of the impending snow storm we are supposed to get tonight, that my morning massage appointment has been ...you guessed it....CANCELLED. Apparently my masseuse has to drive a fair distance to work and she is forshadowing that she will not be able to make it in tomorrow because of the snow.

It seems really weird to me. Are all the planets aligned or something? Is some God up there deciding I shouldn't leave my house? What is going on?

Guilty Pleasures

2008-02-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of my guilty pleasures...feel free to add comments and add your own

1. Beverly Hills 90210 - despite the fact that the acting seems really crappy now that I am an adult, I LOVE this show. The reruns are on three times a day and I do my best to watch them at least once.

2. Chocolate. Of any kind. Of any shape. Chocolate.

3. Pajama days. Not getting dressed at all, all day long. Especially on cold crummy days.

4. The movie Pretty Woman.

5. Being right. I love to be right. If DH and I have an argument, I REALLY REALLY like to be right.

Okay, what is your guilty pleasure?

Do You Ever Feel...

2008-02-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like you are not the age you are. I am thirty, soon to be turning thirty one. I still feel like a teenager most of the time. I often look at my kids and think to myself, "Holy crap, someone up there is trusting me to raise two little people! What the heck!".

Time seems to have flown by since my early twenties. I heard about a friend (college roommate) of mine who got married recently and I must admit my nose was a little out of joint because I wasn't invited. THen my husband asked me when the last time I saw him or spoke to him was....it was a little over seven years ago. I guess I know now why I wasn't invited.

I remember when I was a kid and thirty seemed so old, now that I am thirty I still feel in my heart like a kid. Does anyone else feel like that, or am I just some crazy thirty year old woman holding onto her youth?

Favorite Friday Foto

2008-02-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I am deciding that every Friday I will post one of my most favourite photos of my twinks. It will be a nice kickoff to my weekend, looking at pictures of my babies that I love. Hope you enjoy them too :)

This Picture is when we went camping the year the boys were two, they were frolicking in the lake right before sunset...it was beautiful.

Thank God for Great Neighbors

2008-02-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a yucky day. I woke up and we were under about a foot of snow (no exageration). Normally in the morning, DH gets up and gives the boys breakfast, while I shower, get dressed, get the boys clothes laid out and pack their backpack. Yesterday however,he had to get up and start snowblowing, or we never would have been able to get out of the driveway. Needless to say, it was a very rushed morning.

Then off to work, where I found out that my client is having a PST audit in a couple of weeks, so I had to prep for that. Bleh.

Finally it was time to come home. I just got in the door after picking up the boys at my sister's house and DH walked in too. We decided that him and the boys would play outside in the snow for a while and I would go pick up a pizza for dinner (yes a lazy mother who couldn't bear putting together a healthy meal).

I left (without my coat, because I was only going to be in the car and then in the pizza place and then back again) and went to the pizza place. Started to drive home, and actually made it home with no problems to my neighborhood. Then....my car got stuck in a HUGE snow drift (our street hadn't been plowed yet, despite the fact that we pay a ridiculous $7000 a year in property taxes) and I couldn't get it out. I called DH...but he was outside playing with the twinks. Great. Finally a neighbor came to my rescue. He couldn't get my car out either, so he called my other neighbor, who called his buddy who has a tow truck...and finally they got my car out. YEAH!

Finally I got home, albeit with a cold pizza, and a worried husband, but I got home. I delivered my Thank You cards and bottles of wine this morning to all my wonderful neighbors who didn't mind braving the cold to help me out.

It is so nice to know that I live in a neighborhood where people help people just to be kind. I really love living here (despite the crazy property taxes :)

Baby Fever

2008-02-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know what is with me but over the last week or so I have got baby fever. I want another one...or two. Now I know that it is not going to happen (DH got snip snipped when the twinks were about eight months old). But I have a craving for one.

DH and I agreed before we ever got married that we would have two kids. I should have agreed to two pregnancies. I was totally cool with that...but lately I wish he would get unfixed.

I don't know if it is because lately my boys seem like they really are boys...not babies anymore. They seem so grown up. sniff sniff. I miss the cuddly small babies who smell like baby powder...

Rhyming Words

2008-02-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

The big thing around our house right now is rhyming words. The boys SK teacher has been telling us the more they can rhyme the easier it will be for them to spell. I agree, so we rhyme everything. They learned to spell all the "at" words yesterday, cat, sat, pat, mat, spat, fat...we are so proud.

Well last night Twink number one sees the commercial on TV with a duck...do you see where this is going? He rhymes off, luck, puck, suck, much and the inevitable *uck! He rhymed it before he really thought about it...he looked at me...I looked at him. Then he said..."maybe we shouldn't rhyme the "uck" words. LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Holy Snow Batman!

2008-02-02T06:00:00.001-08:00

We got a huge dumping of snow yesterday. We recieved about a foot of the fluffy white stuff, and two feet in the drifts. The boys were out in their snowsuits playing in it all day yesterday. Whenever they came in they warmed up with hot chocolate and smores. It was a lovely day yesterday.

Today DH and I are taking them tobaggoning at a golf course around here. They charge two dollars a person (it gets donated to charity) and they also have sleigh rides with beautiful horses pulling the sleight for a buck, hotdogs and hamburgers for a couple of dollars and homeade pastries for sale too. The boys love going there.

On Monday DH is taking the day off of work and we are going skiing...we need to get in all the good winter stuff before Tuesay and Wednesday. On Tuesday it is going up to plus six degrees celsius and on Thursday it is going up to plus ELEVEN degrees celsius...then the snow will be gone.

So continues one of the weirdest winters I remember...snow and melt...snow and melt.....

I Don't Get It

2008-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days in Canada there have been a few cases of people not looking after/abusing their children. One man got drunk and took his two babies (1 and 3) for a walk in minus fifty degree weather and forgot about them and they both froze to death. Another mother left her twin one year olds in a minivan while taking her other child to a doctors appointment for an hour in minus thirty degree weather. A baby was abandoned in an outdoor staircase in minus seventeen degree weather.

I don't get it.

No matter how crazy my kids have made me, I could NEVER leave them behind anywhere. I could never hurt them. I just don't understand what could make a person do that. The sad part is that these people will probably get a slap on the wrist and they will not be held accountable for the horrible things they did.

I am a disgusted.

When Will the Warm Weather and Sun Come Back?

2008-01-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

I am getting sick of winter. This is really unusual for me. I love snow, and snowboarding and snowmobiling, etc. This winter has been a really strange one though. We had early snow, then it all melted. We got more...then it melted. More, then melt. It is really strange. That isn't what is really bothering me though, it is the lack of sunshine.

I swear we have only had about 10 days of sunshine since October. I am craving the sun, if I wasn't so afriad of getting skin cancer, I would go tanning. For the first time in my life I am ready for the summer to come. I doubt I can talk my DH into going south for a week...we went to Dominican in December, and we are going to Mexico for a week in July (for my sister's wedding).

So if I complain about the humidity and heat in August...remind me to look back at this post! LOL

Superbowl Planning

2008-01-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

Every year for the last four years, my husband, my dad and my two brother in laws come over to watch the Superbowl. They hook up the tv outside and sit in the hottub and watch the whole game, whilst I send out snacks and beers for them to enjoy.

Keep in mind it is bloody freezing outside as it is January in Ontario. They are insane. This year the women in the family have decided while the boys are freezing their "boys" off, we will be sitting inside, enjoying our own yummy food and watching girl movies.

We haven't decided what movies we will be watching yet, but I am thinking some Steel Magnolias, or some other uber girly flick. Any suggestions?

Missing Post...

2008-01-28T16:17:00.001-08:00

My last post seems to have gone missing. Somewhere in cyberspace. Floating out there with some of my lost emails and other people's lost info. Weird.

To the left is a pic of my two little devils...errr...I mean angels.:)

The post was supposed to read "I AM A MEAN MEAN MOMMY!" and I felt like one yesterday. Believe me.

Why do you ask? I believed my children were old enough to clean their rooms by themselves. I directed them what to do and after a mere 5 hours of nagging, bribing, crabbing and finally
"being a mean mean mommy" the room was clean. It was exhausting, not in a good way, like when you have a really good excercise session and you are tired but think, gee I had a great workout. This was exhausting where it was only three in the afternoon and I wanted to go to bed and not get up until this morning.

I have decided 5 years old is so far the most challenging age. There was the terrible twos, the trying threes, the foul fours and I have decided that this is the fucking fives (I apologize for the bad language, but sometimes it is very liberating.) The boys are really good most of the time. They are well behaved and other people think they are the most polite little guys they have ever met...but about once a month (coincidentally it seems to coincide with my PMS) they turn into little terrors. THey gang up on me, they wear me down, they make me want to take up drinking.

Thank goodness, today is better. My little angels are back. Today I am not the "mean mean mom" of yesterday, but the "bestest mom in the world"...okay maybe because I let them have chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, but I will take it LOL.

I AM A

2008-01-27T15:12:00.001-08:00

Who Invented Legos?

2008-01-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Whoever invented Legos was definately not a parent. I HATE legos. The twinks have about eighteen million of them. They are everywhere. I could clean their room from morning til night and still find legos somewhere hiding in their room.

Legos are like Christmas tree tinsel. The tree will have been gone for months but you still find the tinsel attached to clothes, or stuck to the rug.

Legos hurt like hell when you step on them as well. If a nightmare occurs and you are running to make sure a Twink is okay you can pretty much guarantee you will step on at least one and feel like it has pierced your foot and come out the other side.

The only redeeming quality about the Lego is that it does keep them occupied for long periods of time. I guess that does count for something.

Kill Thumper

2008-01-20T05:34:00.000-08:00

The boys each got an apple tree this past summer. They LOVE those trees. They planted them, watered them and just generally enjoyed them.

I was in the backyard yesterday picking up some trash that blew into the backyard when I noticed....the bark on the apple trees have been completely chewed off of the bottoms. Last night I kept watch at my window and low and behold what did I see, but a rabbit chewing the bark off of the trees.

I called my uncle who gave the boys the trees only to be told that the trees will probably not survive. Damn that little rabbit.

I am thinking of making a nice yummy rabbit stew sometime in the near future. Muhahahahahah! Karma is a bitch you fuzzy little rodent!

To Work Or Not To Work...That Is The Question

2008-01-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

Before my DH and I decided to have children we discussed how we would like to have one of us be a Stay at Home Parent. When we had the boys I decided that I would like that job and DH thought it was a great idea too. We wanted the boys to have one of us home with them until they were in school full time - which would be next September.

I am a WAHM, I am an accountant and have been able to work in the evenings when the boys are sleeping or while they are in Kindergarten. I have had two amazing job opportunities come my way in the last few weeks. The first one was a job at the University in our town working in their offices, with some great benefits and a very good pay cheque as well. We discussed it and seeing as the hours were basically 9-5 Mon-Fri I decided to turn it down.

Today I was offered another job. This one the hours are a bit more flexible and the pay is WAY better. The pay is in the $65 -$70 000 a year range. Approximately 35 hours a week. I don't know what to do. My head is saying, the money would be great, we could buy the cottage we always wanted and take trips again and fun things like that. My heart is saying, I only have a few months left with my boys before they go to school full time and I will never get that time back again.

If these opportunities are coming up now, they will come up again...right? I don't know what to do. DH has told me it is my decision, if I want to take it, he will cut back on his hours and pick up the slack at home....but I feel a little bit selfish in thinking I should be the one to stay home with the boys for their last few months at home. I don't know what to do. Work has never been my passion (not that I am lazy) family has been. I don't know what the best decision for my family would be. My kids have never had a mom that works...any thoughts...suggestions.....fortune telling?

I leave you with a picture of my beautiful boys who are growing up WAY too fast.

Full Night Sleep

2008-01-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

It is funny, when the twinks were babies I had no problem getting up every two hours to feed them. I loved that time with them, it was quiet, one on one time. Then when they hit three months they started sleeping through the night. EVEN BETTER. I was getting full nights sleeps again and really feeling great during the days. Then they hit four years old and decided to regress. For the last year they have been up on average 2 to 4 times a night. It sucks. They are up for various reasons

They are thirsty

They are hungry

They had a bad dream

They aren't tired (yeah right)

Their blankets aren't on the bed right

The list goes on. Two nights ago it was even worse they were up it seemed to me all night long and then yesterday they were crabby bears and so was I. So last night I thought I would try something new. Something that worked when they were learning to toilet train. I offered them money.

They are getting better at negotiating I will admit. I offered whomever stayed in his own bed last night a shiney quarter. They countered with a twoonie. We agreed on a loonie.

The little buggers slept all night long last night for the first time in two bloody years. EXTORTIONISTS!

So Long Since I Last Posted

2008-01-14T17:56:00.001-08:00

Hi all. Apology for the long absence. I have been uber busy (as I am sure you all have too) and have finally seemed to get my life in order enough to spend time on my blog.

Lots has happened since my last post. We went on a vacation to Domican Republic and had a WONDERFUL time. We geared up for the holidays and had a wonderful holiday. New Year's Eve came and went (stomach flu ran rampant with my children, not such a good evening) and the twinks learned to ski.

Last week was finally back to somewhat of a schedule, I went back to working my two days a week, the twinks went back to school and DH worked his normal shifts. I love the holidays and absolutely enjoy the time with my family, but I find that I need a schedule or routine of some kind to be able to have a functioning house.

Anyway, I am back and hopefully will be blogging on a regular basis. I leave you with a picture of our trip away and boy, looking out my window right now at the snow, I am kind of wishing we were there again. Anyways a picture of my twinks making "sand" angels with their Santa

hats on!

Absentee Blogger

2007-12-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a week or so...I have been SO busy. We leave tomorrow morning for a week in Dominican Republic, and I have been panicked that when I get back from our holidays, I won't have enough time to finish my Christmas stuff. So needless to say I have been going crazy trying to get things done, and I am happy to say...the house has been deep cleaned, all presents have been bought and wrapped, stockings are ready to go and I have all of the ingredients to do my baking stocked in my pantry. I am packed, suitcases are in the front hall, awaiting the lovely limo driver to come pick us up. I can breathe a sigh of relief....I might even have a glass of wine this evening.

Well, see you all when I get back, I will post all the lovely pics!

Ooops

2007-11-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

If you click on the picture you can see it better. I really need to get better at this scanning picture thing. LOL.

Favourite Santa Pic

2007-11-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

My absolute favourite picture of the boys with Santa was when they were about 15 months old. They were were not impressed. Judge for yourself!

Funny Post...Making Up for The Last One

2007-11-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

We are trying to teach the Twinks to read. They know their letters and the sounds they make now, so we are working on the whole reading thing. They are five and boys and don't find learning to read terribly exciting. I try to use little rhymes to help them remember to spell and to help them with grammar.

I just about peed my pants today when I was reading with Twink B today. He asked what the dot at the end of the sentence we were reading meant. Before I could answer, Twink A spits out,"it's a dot to end your thought...duh.". I don't know where he got that (I am guessing their SK teacher) but oh my gosh, FUNNY.

Stressful Day

2007-11-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

Today was a very stressful day for me. I get really bitchy when I am stressed. I try to visualize a calm, beautiful day when I get stressed...something like the picture to my left (just a beautiful view from our cottage).

My sister is 8 weeks pregnant and last night she called me and told me that she thought she was losing the baby. My heart dropped for her. I went and picked up my nephew (who is 18 months old) and brought him to my house for the night while her husband took her to the hospital. As I am sure all of you know how hard it is to sleep when something horrible is happening. I got no sleep.

My nephew woke up at 6am (which is only an hour earlier than I normally get up with the twinks) but it seemed REALLY early...and I still hadn't heard from my sister. We got up and I truly believe small children might not understand what is going on, but they get a vibe and just seem to know something isn't right. My nephew just wanted to be cuddled and my boys who are normally full of energy, were really low key too.

My brother in law called and said that the doctors were pretty sure that my sister had a utopic (sp?) pregnancy and they were just waiting for the ultasound. I felt awful for them.

About an hour later the phone rang again and this time it was GOOD news. My sister was still pregnant and the baby was healthy and fine. They figured that she had a flu of some sort and that was what was causing her cramps. THANK GOD!

I just spoke to her about an hour ago and she is feeling much better. I am exhausted. I didn't realize how stressed out I was until I knew everything was going to be okay.

On a lighter note (and completely urelated) Twink A told me today that he thinks Santa is going to die. When I asked him why, he told me because in his book (an old book from my childhood) Santa was smoking a pipe. I told him it was a bubble pipe and he wasn't smoking he was only blowing bubbles...and he bought it. I wonder how long they are going to believe everything I say as true? I hope they don't need therapy when they grow up.

The F Bomb.

2007-11-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Oops. Just in case you thought that you might win mother of the year award this year, you have a better chance now, because there is NO way that I will be winning it. Perhaps 2008 will be my year.

Got to love when I am at my mother's house with my two little darlings having a lovely dinner and one of your lovely little angels bangs his knee and mutters under his breath...but not under his breath enough "F**K".

Not "fudge", not "flip", but a full fledged F bomb. OMG!

I have no one to blame but myself. I have finally come to realize that the boys actually do listen to what I have to say...only when I don't really want them to listen. It is not like I curse like a sailor, it only slips out when I have really hurt myself, or my computer has crashed with all my work on it, or I have burnt cookies or something. Okay, maybe I do say it more than I should. I definately say it more than I should in front of the youngsters. Oh God. I suck.

I am going to make a concious effort to not swear ever again. Oh F**K it, who am I kidding. I am going to make a concious effort not to swear in front of the kids EVER again. That is achievable right?

Snowboarding Season is Almost Upon Us

2007-11-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

I am very excited. It is "almost" time for Snowboarding season. I was introduced to this sport by my husband the first year we lived together. At first I HATED it. I fell on my ass about eight million times. We were on the hill for 4 hours and I only made it down the hill twice. LOL. I totally sucked.

But, it did get better. Every time I went out, I got a little bit better. Then something really interesting happened. I actually started to enjoy it. Now I LOVE it. I am not super great at it, but I can hold my own and have actually learned to do a few jumps and ride down the half pipe without killing myself.

This year we are introducing our sons to the sport. I really hope they enjoy it, because this is something we could do as a family. I wouldn't'have to find a babysitter to watch them when we go, they could just come with us. It would also mean we can go on weekend ski trips and stay at nice chalets and the kids would have something to do.

So when I hear people (like my mom) cursing the cold weather and praying that we don't get snow, I secretly wish we get a bloody blizzard and about 4 feet of the fluffy white stuff :)

A Whole Night To Myself.

2007-11-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Last night my DH took my boys to a motorcross event of some kind. They invited me, but I politely declined. As cute as the boys are when they are excited about mountain biking/dirt biking/bmx biking, I had a much grander idea for my evening...an evening alone. LOL

I made them an early dinner, packed their backpacks, gave them a kiss goodbye and then closed and locked the door.

I had an evening of being completely and utterly alone. I had a bubble bath, lit candles and had a robust glass of red wine. It is amazing how relaxed I felt, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I put on my cozy jammies and came downstairs. I made myself a chicken sandwich and read a book.

I was lazy. I did nothing. I had a mental health evening. I watched The Notebook and cried like a baby.

When they returned at 10:30pm, I tucked my little babies into bed and gave my husband a big kiss. I needed that evening. I feel refreshed. I feel ready to do battle again.

Once you become a mother, I think it should be mandatory that once every couple of weeks, you get a night of complete and utter relaxation. I think it would make for much happier mommies.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

2007-11-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

I LOVE these books.

I think that the Chicken Soup for the Souls books should be required reading for any parent. I read a couple of stories every night, just to put my life in perspective. If the boys are getting on my nerves and I am feeling a little frustrated with them...I read a short story from one of these books. The stories sometimes add a bit of humor to my day and I can laugh. They sometimes give me wisdom I didn't have before, and remind me that my boys won't be small for long...they do grow up. They sometimes just remind me to be thankful for what I have, there are many people out there who have lost their children, or who were never blessed with them at all.

Recently I had a row with my sister (I have two of them, so arguments do happen occassionally) I was feeling upset about it and when I went to Shoppers Drug Mart I noticed a Chicken Soup for the Soul Sister's edition. I bought it. I read it. I laughed, I cried and I really thought about how insignificant our argument had been. Then I wrote comments above and below alot of the short stories. Sometimes funny, sometimes sentimental and sometimes just writing raw emotions. On the inside cover of the book I wrote a note to my sisters, that went something like this...

Next time you are pissed at me, or at your other sister, read this book. Add your comments. Really think about how unimportant whatever it is we are arguing about is. Then give it to them to read. I love you both so much, and I realize how lucky I am to have you both. Now read the stories and remind yourself how lucky we are.

I am thinking when my boys are older, I am going to do something similar. It is important we all realize how to cherish the ones we love, and how to have the humility enough to either apologize or realize that in the grand scheme of things....the small things that bother us really don't matter.

Feeling Selfish

2007-11-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, I get jealous of some of my friends that don't have kids. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my twinks. More than I ever thought would be possible. I love them more than anything in the world, but sometimes I just wish I could have a time out. An extended time out.

I have a cold and am feeling crappy and I wish that I could curl up on my couch, turn the fireplace on and read a book or watch a movie. An adult book or movie. I wish I could have a nap and not worry about being responsible for anyone but me. I wish I didn't have to get up and get them juice/snacks/breakup arguments/etc. I am feeling totally selfish. I am being very snappy with the boys today, something I try very hard not to do.

When my DH is sick he doesn't have to worry about any of those things. I don't think it would even occur to him to think about them. He just goes to bed, takes enough cold medicine to knock him out and he sleeps it away. He is a wonderful father, but ultimately the responsibility of the children seems to naturally fall on my shoulders. Gee. Now I not only sound selfish, I also sound resentful with a dash of bitchiness added in.

I am very grateful that I am able to be a SAHM but sometimes I wish I could just freeze everything around me and just have ME time. Maybe I will rifle through the kids Halloween treats and try and find a KitKat...that promises a break right?

"Mommy will you marry me"

2007-10-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have recently promised my sons that I will marry both of them when they grow up. I know it sounds really weird and kinda gross, but clearly this is something that they have been talking about and something that has weighed heavily on their little minds.

It appears a friend of theirs told them that when they grow up they have to move out and get a house and a wife of their own. This was just beyond the Twinks comprehension. Why would anyone want to move out and get a

girlfriend...girls are yucky. They were devastated that they would one day need to leave our home. Amidst a sea of tears I finally found out the root of the problem - they both wanted to marry me so they could always live with me. Perhaps my children will need therapy one day, but I couldn't bear to see them so upset, so I agreed that yes, I would indeed marry them both when they grew up.

When I asked my youngest twink why he wanted to marry me, he stated,"because you make good sandwiches". Males really do think with their stomachs. LOL.

I know one day (probably quicker than I will like) they will bring home a girl who will be the actual girl they want to marry, and boy will that girl be lucky. To me they will always be the tiny, beautiful bundles I brought home from the hospital.

I Hate Red Food Colouring

2007-10-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever met one of those kids where you think," Holy Christ am I ever glad that one is not mine"? Well, that is how one of my little guys act when he has had anything with red dye in it.

I have banned, red juice, red smarties (even if most people leave them for last), red candy of ANY kind and now have discovered another "red" thing that I must NEVER let him have again.

Poor kid has a rotten cold. Being the good parent that I am, I decided to give him the 12 hour relief bedtime Benelyn. He should sleep right? This should make him relaxed enough to be able to sleep right through the stuff nose and aches and pains. One would think. But if one was thinking they would realize that the liquid medicine is red. One would realize that giving this child this medicine would have the exact OPPOSITE effect.

Needless to say I have not slept since yesterday morning at around this exact time. Not only did I have a child who just couldn't sleep, I had a whiny sick kid that just couldn't sleep. We had juice (not red), we had Tylenol (both of us), we blew his nose every 4 seconds and watched cartoons all night long (thank you Treehouse TV!). We nodded off around 7:30am, I carried him upstairs and tucked him in. He is finally sleeping peacefully (from sheer exhaustion, he still has a cold). I just settled my head on my pillow when....the other twink woke up. CRAP!

Sleep is highly overrated. I can always sleep when I am dead.

Quiet Mornings

2007-10-28T05:04:00.000-07:00

My DH works every other weekend. He starts work at 6:30am, so he is up at around 5:00am to get ready. ON Saturday mornings I don't get up with him, I sleep in until the twinks get up. They usually make a big production out of "trying to wake up mommy", after they wake me up they crawl into my bed and we cuddle and have some great talks.

Sundays are a whole other beast.

I wake up with DH and make a pot of coffee. We have a coffee together and then he is off to work. Then.....quiet.

I am completely by myself to lavish in the quiet until around 8:00am. NOw two hours of complete quiet doesn't sound like much, but when you are with your family (two five years olds included in that family) two hours of quiet is like heaven.

No one sits on my lap while I try to balance a cup of hot coffee. No one is asking me "mommy I am thirsty/hungry/want something". No one wants to know where I have put the milk (it has been in the same spot in the fridge for 10 years!). I am responsible to no one.

I sit, I drink coffee, I eat a muffin, I read the newspaper or a book. I am just me. This is my reflection time. I enjoy it, I relish it. I also realize that time is flying past me. I cannot beleive that my beautiful tiny babies are aleady five. I realize that there will be a time that comes, quicker than I realize, that all my mornings will be quiet. All my days and all my nights. One day my babies will grow up and leave our warm, safe home and forage their own ways through the world without me.

For now, two hours every other week is enought quiet. Maybe I can convince the boys to live with us forever. LOL.

Gearing Up For The Busiest Time of the Year

2007-10-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

I was invited to a Christmas party this past weekend, I checked my calendar to see if I was available. To my utter surprise, I realized I am almost FULLY booked for the months of NOvember and December. WTF? When did that happen?

We have to put up our Christmas tree on the weekend of November 15th and 16th because we have no other time. The weekend after that, I am going to Buffalo for Black Friday shopping trip with all of my sisters and my mom (superfun adult only, women only weekend I NEED to go to to keep my sanity), the weekend after that is a friend's Xmas party that my whole family goes to. Four days after that we go to Dominican for a week's vacay (again, something I DESPERATELY need this year, LOL, okay I am a little dramatic). We are home 4 days and I have my a Xmas party that one of my clients invited us to at Canoe (Michael BOnnaccini restaurant! need I say more, I CANNOT miss this). That brings us to December 16th. The weekend before Xmas, I refuse to go anywhere. That is time to spend with my twinks. Did I mention that other than our vacay down south, my DH has to work EVERY weekend between mid NOvember and Xmas? Damn retail jobs!

So I don't know what your schedule looks like, but if you know me and you want to get together...might I suggest a midweek visit? Oh, and book me soon, I am a verah verah popular girl this year!

Favourite Things

2007-10-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

Snuggles from my boys.

Chocolate

My family.

Warm cozy jammies.

Bubble baths

Multiple Orgasms (TMI?)

Random Acts of Kindness

A nice robust red wine

Desperate Housewives (I love me a little Wisteria Lane once a week)

The word "Asshat" (it makes me giggle)

Boys Toys Suck

2007-10-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday my DH was off work and we decided to do some fun stuff with the boys. We went to the skateboarding park with them and they had a blast. They think they are all that and a bag of chips when they do a trick on their boards.

I am officially the AV girl. DH brings his skateboard and his BMX and the boys do the same. I DO NOT. I have a real dislike for pain and blood.I choose to shoot photos instead.

After that we took them to Mcdonalds. The one with the play land. The twinks finished their lunches in record time and took off to play, while DH and I enjoyed (okay, not really enjoyed the greasy food) the rest of our lunch.

After that, we went to Toys R Us, so I could get a good idea of what they would like for Xmas. I hate shopping for boy toys. It sucks. Their toys are so boring. I looked longingly at the isles of Barbies and baby dolls and all and everything that was pink. Then grudgingly made my way down the isles of cars, trucks, army men, action heroes. BORING. They however found lots that they loved and are going to write on their wish lists.

I snuck away when all three of them were immersed in trying some videogame demo, and made my way to the world of pink that is the Girls' isle. I might have actually bought a Holiday Barbie. I mean I am sure I can donate it to the Fire Department at Xmas time. I HAD to have her. She is beautiful.

Boys toys suck:(

It's gonna be one of those days....

2007-10-17T06:15:00.001-07:00

It is 9:15am and it is ALREADY one of those days where I wish I could just go back to bed.

Here is my morning in a nutshell...

4:45 am - alarm goes off one hour early, I dont' realize it, and get up and run on the treadmill for an hour.

5:46am - I realize my fucking alarm went off an hour early

5:48am - I trip going up the stairs to get a shower and get carpet burn on my shins

6:00am - in the shower realizing my hot water tank is broken and there is only ice cold freezing water

6:30am - go to make coffee and realize THERE IS NONE!

6:45am - a twink makes his way downstairs and demands breakfast - not asks demands.

7:30am - the other twink makes his way downstairs and asks for breakfast - but then cries because I won't let him have cookies for breakfast (is he new? in the 5 years he has been around he has NEVER had cookies for breakfast)

8:30am - DH crawls out of bed and goes to the hottub to relax - to find that the ozonator is looking like it is going to expire - CHA CHING $350 to fix

8:45am - find out that a school hood acquaintance was murdered yesterday and he is only 24 years old. WTF?

9:00am - I want to start this day OVER!!!!

Dragons and Dalmations

2007-10-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

When you have small children you really get to see what it is like to have no inabitions, to see what it is like to live, and play like nobody is watching. Today my two beautiful boys decided instead of wearing regular clothes they were going to wear one of their costumes from their dress up box.

I went to church with a Dalmation and a Dragon...I am pretty sure that not many other people can say the same in their lifetime. The looks we got were hysterical, especially from some of the older ladies (who I am sure think I am either a mental patient or a terrible mom LOL). Personally I think God doesn't care whether his children wear costumes or khaki's and dress shirts, who am I to judge?

Grocery shopping was an experience too. It is amazing that according to my children, Dragons and Dalmations ONLY eat chocolate, chips and other items from the CRAP food group. Hmmm, maybe I won't be losing the baby weight this week.

I wonder when we start to worry about what other people think we look like? I can say I don't remember the moment or event that lead me to start to look at myself twice before I left the house, but regardless it happened. Today was very refreshing. Maybe next week we will be a trio of freaks and I can wear one of my old Halloween costumes....or maybe not...now that I think about it I only have two Halloween costumes left. A super "sexy" angel and a biker bitch. Neither seems nearly appropriate enought to be seen in public with my 5 year olds.

How I came to Drive a Mini Van

2007-10-13T18:12:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, I had a cute little figure, drove a cute little car and partied until dawn. Then I got married. And six days later found out I was pregnant. And six days after that found out I was having twins. Yes, you read that right, twins.

Quicker than I anticipated, I lost that cute little figure. Then I had to lose that cute little car...and trade it in for the dreaded, uncool - MINIVAN. Gasp! I was too young to drive a minivan. I was too cute for a minivan. I HATED the MINIVAN. Then my babies arrived and I traded partying til dawn, for breastfeeding til dawn, and all day and all night.

The first few months of my boys lives, I must admit are a bit of a blur, not the acid flashback kind, just a weird, fuzzy, blur. Soon, I recovered and got in the swing of things and made a discovery. The dreaded Minivan was actually pretty useful. It fit the two baby carseats in pretty easily, I could put the 500lb double stroller in the back fairly easily and I could speed (of course never with my precious bundles of joy in it with me) and the cops wouldn't even blink...for I must be a responsible mother...who else would drive a minivan?

I also decided I didn't have to be the typical "minivan mom", I might drive a minivan, but deep down, under the layers of baby fat (shut up, just because they are 5 years old now, I can still call it baby fat!), I still think of myself as that cute chick, who drives a cute car.