Goodbye old crappy fridge, hello new fridge!

Ever since we moved here, I have had to put up with a sub par fridge. I don't even buy ice cream hardly ever because it doesn't keep it frozen enough! Then yesterday it hit an all time low in its effectiveness. The freezer was defrosting and the yogurt was like room temp. I knew that morning that we needed to get a fridge immediately if not sooner! So after work, Rick and I went fridge shopping and got a second for probably too much money but...oh well, we can't do much about it now can we? I'm happy with it so far and at least my milk and dairy won't be going bad after only 4 days! Here is a pic.

Also, Rick and I have been planning on putting in a pool and expanding our house a bit. So just before Christmas Rick spent a few days with the excavator guy and the dump truck guy and dug up our backyard, totally demolishing our basement and half our grass. Our place looks like a bomb! It is going to be one cool pool though and we want to share with all of you! So get yer tickets for about next Christmas...oh wait, I'm hoping not to be in oz next christmas, ok, next september or so and come for a visit! I'm totally excited about our pool and can't wait. Here are a few pics...

My big "little boy" just couldn't resist trying to make a 4x4 course out of the backyard...

Ok, ONE last thing...My kids and I have made it a tradition to make a gingerbread house every single christmas and so this year, we did and it turned out pretty cute! I was happy with it. Some years it's just not the best looking house but anyways, we had it all made and then left it on the kitchen table overnight (not highly unusual right?) and the next morning I go in there and one whole side of the roof is missing! So I'm like, "Rick?! What have you done!? I mean, couldn't you just control yourself for a day?" Only to look down at the floor and find mega crumbs and see on the table half eaten candies and then I realized that my Rick was actually a possum!!! Rick had told me moments earlier that he thought he had heard a possum in the night so got up but couldn't see one, closed all the doors and came back to bed. Yup! The one half of the roof was sitting outside on the front deck. I HATE POSSUMS!!!!! What's goin on around here!? says the cool Santa.

After the damage...

The Mess

What a slacker!

I know it's been like FOREVER since I got on the blog...I guess I've just been really slack and just plain old not interested! I've been trying to make myself interested but it just hasn't happened. Also, not having a camera really set me back. Well, we've had Christmas and can I tell you? It's just not the same without -20 weather and snow! I had a REALLY hard getting into it this year and last year too. I am really looking forward to coming home in about 2 weeks! I'm glad Christmas is over. I don't like to be a bah humbug but...I do love Christmas though. We had a churkey dinner this year for Christmas. Turkey is just too expensive here. Like, we're talkin around $10-$15/kg. CRAZY!!! I mean, we have some bush turkeys runnin around but I'm thinking they might taste kind of gamey. What do you think? Hah! So I bought a big chicken and cooked it like a turkey and decided to call it churkey! Pretty ingenious I know!



So the girls got spoiled with lots of clothes this year. I'm so tight I hardly ever buy clothes for anybody here so it was kind of different. They were totally excited about all their new clothes. I got my serger...did I already tell you about that? I'm really looking forward to using it alot. I got it a few weeks early though. Then Rick one day says to me when I got home from work, "Did you see my Christmas present you gave me?" I'm like, 'no?' so he tells me to go look on the front lawn and it's tied to the pole Mesa ran into. So I go look and I'll be darned if there wasn't a boat sitting out on the front yard! I swear I feel like I've already told this story on the blog already!


Well, I'm so looking forward to seeing my little boy and the rest of my family who just love being around me! And my best girlfriends and my fave sis in law! Then I get to see my favorite little grandson(hah! doesn't that sound hilarious!) and the rest of the Miller kids and friends in Cali before I head back to Oz. I'm also looking forward to spending some time with Jilly up in my home country! Yay! Here are a few pics of this Christmas...enjoy! Oh, and I had typed a post a month ago or so and was waiting for some pics but never got any so decided to just post without pics. It is down a few posts so check it out if you want to.

ha ha...still on our honeymoon!

Canny got some BO juice from Santy!

Mesa got 2 beanie kids...Aussie version of beanie babies

Canny got 2 beanie kids as well

I got this cute as little shopping cart! I've always wanted one cuz I think they're so cute!

Mesa was jumping rope when all the sudden her shorts fell down! Talk about gettin caught with your shorts down!

Goin home!

Holy cow! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last! I keep thinking that since I don't have a working camera that since I haven't been taking any photo's theres nothin to say! Well, there's something to say now!

I'M COMIN HOME TO THE GREAT WHITE NORTH IN JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sooooo excited to freeze my buns off! I hope it's nice and cold while I'm there cuz it's way too hot and sticky here. I have been sweaty, sticky and itchy all day cuz of the humidity. Yuck. Anyhow, that's all I have time for right now.

Fun with Family

This was on Pin Cushion Island. It was really cool. It felt like we were on a deserted island with no one around.

Pin Cushion Island

Pin Cushion Island

Me, Mesa and Andrea at the Big Pineapple
This was at the 2nd hand shop...funny...body parts for sale...a little pricey dontcha think?
The girls had plenty of opportunities to act silly!
This is the boat we ended up hiring!

We had a good time with Guy and Georgiann Payne and George's sissy Andrea who came for a visit from Colorado. We went shopping and went to the Eumundi Markets and were going to to go sailing out on the ocean but the guy who was taking us out ended up having a leak in his boat and had to cancel on us. That was a bummer. We were joking on the way there about Gilligan's Island. Ours was supposed to be a 3 hour tour as well! Ha ha. So we ended up taking a little boat and sailing on the Maroochy River instead. A bit different than what we had planned! But we had heaps of fun with them while they were here and I cooked alot of food and ate way too much of it! I told them the only thing I was looking forward to them being gone was that I was going to stop eating so much! True.

6 Things about ME!

1. I was a heavy metal fan for a part of my teenage years...yup...imagine me...a nice Mormon girl into the heavy metal. I definetly went through a rebellious stage though. Wore the black heavy metal t-shirts with the tight jeans and everything. I would listen to my "walkman" on the bus on the way to school and look out the window and be mad at the world listening to Guns n'Roses, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard. I eventually snapped out of it although I still have a closet heavy metal crush. Hee hee don't tell!


2. I weigh more than I look like I weigh...Yah, maybe I just think I look skinnier than I really do look...but seriously, I had a major downer the other day when at the gym they had these 2 scale type machines that would tell you all sorts of info like your body fat %, weight, muscle mass and all that jazz. Well, I being quite skeptical wasn't sure I wanted to step on this thing even if it was offered as a free service which normally would cost $33. But, despite my reservations, I stepped on it and of course ended up wishing I hadn't! It said I weighed...hmmm hmmm...! I can't believe I just said that! But my body fat! Can I tell you I'm on the upper end of the scale? They tell me anything between 20 or 22 and 30% is normal. Well, when you're 28% that is not looking good for a girl who works out 4-5 times per week! No, not acceptable I tell you! My legs, do you even want to know how much they were? Ok, 32 and 33% Shockin is pretty much all I have to say about that. So now I have a choice to make, I could either (A) pig out due to some great depression that's setting in, or (B) Starve myself to get some better results cuz obviously, what I'm doin, ain't doin!


3. I LOVE horses and ranch life...Ok, born and raised in the country. Had piglets and lambs as a child. I've always had a major love for horses despite my allergy to them. I used to ask my mom for a horse and she always told me no, but it never curbed my love for them. I can't even hardly watch a good movie that involves horses and that, like Flicka with Tim McGraw without gettin so sad that I'm not there. So in my dreams, I am living on a ranch with horses, cattle, chickens, pigs, dogs and lots of green grass and trees and a cool old ranch house. In the mornin the kids have to go out n' do the chores before school and I can go out riding anytime I want...as long as I'm not makin' bread and butter. I am totally a cowgirl at heart, but instead, for the sake of love, I'm livin in a town next to the beach...go figure!


4. I hate running...What more can i say about this? I can't stand being so out of breath. But actually, as a youth, I used to run in races and was pretty good. I actually won 2nd in the Southern Alberta Summer Games once. I always used to get literally sick to my stomach from sheer nervousness though before the race. Not fun!


5. I am a very unorganized person...in fact I think I may have ADD...I should show you all a picture of my desk...But I can't find my camera underneath all the mess! And besides, I dropped it and it's broken anyways...(camera #2) Whenever I bring the mail in from the box, it ends up in a different spot every time. Rick actually sees it and says "Oh did you find a new spot for the mail? Cool, always changin things up around here!" My room is a disaster, and whatever I take off, my mp3, heart rate monitor, shoes, purse, sunnies, sports bra...whatever it is, it's in a different spot everytime and when I go to put them back on the next time, I spend ages looking for them. I swear I waste soooo much time looking for my misplaced items I could probably bake like an extra pan of muffins a week with all the time I would save if I was more organized. I'm serious guys, this unorganized part of my personality is a major problem.


6. I am a Canadian!...Yup! True blue Canadian. I've never been more patriotic than since I moved here to Australia. I love my country and all that it has to offer. I love the seasons, I love my family and friends and being close to them. I love weiner roasts in the trees. I love tin foil dinners. I love the mountains and I love maple syrup and nanaimo bars. I love Eatmore's and Spitz and Tacotime and Canada Safeway! I love Hockey Night in Canada! I love Whoop up Days and the Calgary Stampede! I love it all and I miss it! I can't wait to go home for a visit!


Ok, that was very time consuming! 5 people to tag? hmmm...that's tuff, I'll just do 3

1. Kelly
2. Robyn
3. Dan

The Big Deal

Has anyone heard of the Melbourne Cup? Major horse race. Takes place in Melbourne. Well, a big deal here it is. Lots of places and people take half the day off work and dress up in all their fancy dresses and sometimes suits and all. Women wear hats and its like the horse race scene from My Fair Lady! It's funny, but my work was one who took the avo off and all met at the Mooloolaba office for a big party. So I went to see what the fuss is all about. I didn't dress up but I did wear a hat but more importantly I took a pan of Nanaimo Bars and no joke, they were gone in 5 min flat! Here's my recipe for any of you who want to try them...they will NOT dissapoint, I promise! And they are truly Canadian!

Nanaimo Bars

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. white sugar

1 egg

4 T. cocoa

1 1/2 c. graham wafer crumbs
3/4 c. coconut
1/4 c. chopped nuts(I use almonds and I put them in the blender so they're mostly crushed)

1/4 c. butter
3 T milk
2 T vanilla custard powder
2 c icing sugar

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1 T butter


Mix first 4 ingredients together in double boiler and stir until mixture resembles a custard. Combine 2nd group of ingredients with this chocolate mix. Press into 9x9 pan. Beat together 3rd group of indgrients till icing like. Spread over the base. Put in freezer to chill quickly. Melt last group in double boiler and spread over the custard bit.

*Hint- I usually need to add a tiny bit of milk in order for the chocolate to spread easier and go a bit farther.


Here's some historical fact for you about "The Legendary Nanaimo Bar"
According to local legend about 35 years ago, a Nanaimo housewife entered her recipe for chocolate squares in a magazine contest. In a burst of civic pride, she chose to dub the entry not "Daphne's Delights" or "Mary's Munchies", but "Nanaimo Bars". The entry won a prize, thereby publishing the town as much as her cooking. Some American tourists claim sovereignty over the dessert, referred to as "New York Slice" which is sold in many other places in the world. Nanaimo residents refuse to accept this theory, however, believing that once you set foot on Vancouver Island, there are no other places in the world. The official Nanaimo Bar recipe was available as a handout as well as on quality tea towel and apron souvenirs.

Top Ten #2

This is a pretty good one too. Also, 5 or 6 of our friends from our ward in Poway have had their homes burn down. How tragic... I worked at the popcorn shop today. I have been asked to work there 4 days next week too...not really looking forward to it but I have such a hard time saying no! Well, maybe I'll get some free popcorn out of it. Ok, here's the top ten list...again, my favorite's in green...ha ha ha

Ways to Make the House Of Commons More Interesting

1. Make the politicians give their speeches in rap, just like that Bulworth guy
2. Whoopee cushion on the Speaker's chair.
3. Parliament press gallery + a pack of starving timber wolves = quality entertainment the whole family can enjoy.
4. Every time the Prime Minister answers a question, an Opposition member has to yell "'Fraid not!"
5. Two words: Dunk tanks.
6. Get that "Let's get ready to RUM-BLLLLE" guy to start every new session.
7. All the cabinet ministers' answers must be phrased in the form of a question.
8. Put in those funky Pop-Up Video Balloons during question period -- e.g., when they show a picture of Chrétien, the phrase "Hobbies: fishing, the manly art of self-defence and collecting Inuit sculptures" will bloop on the screen.
9. Instead of seating by party, arrange all the members by height.
10. New Deputy PM: Danielle House! (have NO idea who this is?!)

Top Ten #1

In my search for information for my up and coming Canadian Night debut, I came across this website that had heaps of good stuff. There are several Top Ten lists and so I chose one that I thought you might all enjoy! My favorite is highlighted in green!

Songs That Should Replace 'O Canada' As Our National Anthem

1.Queen's We Will Rock You
2.The Irish Rovers' Wasn't That A Party
3.Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway
4.The Barenaked Ladies' If I Had A Million Dollars
5.That song with no words they play during hockey games, just people shouting "Hey!" during the chorus
6.The Hockey Night in Canada theme song
7.Anything by Stompin' Tom Connors
8.The Beatles' Twist and Shout, with a law requiring everyone -- including the Prime Minister -- to do the Twist when it's played
9.Bachman Turner Overdrive's Taking Care of Business
10.Queen's We Are The Champions. 'Nuff said!

These days...

Well, last week I worked full time for Remax. I had a good time getting used to the one office that I had worked at the least and I was flat out all week long. I swear being a mother/wife and a full time worker do not mix! I would get home and a couple days I would have prepared dinner so it was all ready and waiting for me when I got home but if it wasn't prepared...look out family! One night it was pretty scary. I had used up all my brain power at work and had absolutely no imagination left when it came to figuring something out for dinner, so this is what I fed my family...I cooked up some ground beef and added a few spices to it, then I cooked some rice, heated up a can of beans in tomatoe sauce, cooked up some chinese noodles, cut up some lettuce and put salsa and sour cream on the table. It sucked...yup...usually, I can start cooking up the meat and something really creative will come into my mind and I'll end up with something really unique and yummy. This...was neither. It was something of a hodge podge of ingredients that didnt really match each other at all. Ha ha..at least that doesn't happen very often! Well, one night a couple months ago I actually made popcorn for supper! Can you believe that!? I should have fed them popcorn last week instead of hodge podge garbage. Well, now this week is catch up week. I worked in the yard yesterday for the better part of it, and it is starting to look fabulous. And I cleaned up Mesa's tornado room on Monday. I would love to give you some pics but I also was little miss butterfingers and dropped the camera and now it's broke! Crap! We just got it in March and I dropped the last one too! I need to stop this camera breaking nonsense!



Tomorrow I've been asked to fill up an hour doing some sort of presentation on Canada to a bunch of 8-11 year olds for a Faith in God activity. So now I have to spend a bunch of time on that. I am enjoying preparing for that though...Did you know that the highest mountain in Canada is in the Yukon territories and reaches 5959 m? It is called Mt. Logan. The provinces with the most mountains are (1) B.C (2) Yukon Territories (3) Alberta...PEI boasts it's highest peak at just 142m. Just some food for thought.



One other thing I wanted to talk about was the fires in San Diego. My dad called me up this am and says, "I bet yer glad ya don't live in San Diego anymore!" I'm like, what? "Don't you watch the news?" Ummm no, I don't get the news on tv... then he tells me about the fires going on down there. I checked it out and ended up phoning a friend of mine who's mobile number I had because no one else is home because they've all been evacuated! Crap! Turns out our house that we lived in is gone, as well as our neighbors, one of whom were friends of ours in our ward. I am praying and hoping that everything turns out all right for all who are in danger and who's homes are in danger. It's so weird to think that the place we called home for 2 years is gone! I mean, it was built of rocks so I'm sure the rocks still stand but the interior will be gone. That's all, I'm tired of typing.

So ya wanna become an Aussie mate?

I was given this test by some co-workers. I knew I had failed when I answered the very last question and said I don't drink beer. Have a laugh folks! Not at the answers so much but the questions! We need to think of a good Canadian citizen test for all these Aussies! Seriously...send any good questions to me via facebook or email or comments of the blog...

The new AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN VALUES TEST

LANGUAGE

1. Do you understand the meaning, but are unable to explain the origin, of the term 'died in the arse'?
are you serious? I am unable to do either

2. What is a mole? It is an animal that digs a hole in the ground or a bumpy discoloration on the skin.

3. Are these terms related: chuck a sickie; chuck a spaz; chuck a U-ey? no

4. Explain the following passage: 'In the arvo last Chrissy the relos rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the chockies, bickies and lollies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo.' I can understand everything but the barney and a bit of biffo...oh ya, and the block bit? not gettin that either...

CUSTOMS

1. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their Torana. If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey, Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash? way too many?

2. Complete the following sentences: a) 'If the van's rockin' don't bother knockin � b) You're going home in the back of a ute?� c) Fair suck of the what the? �

3. I've had a gutful and I can't be fagged. Discuss Thanks to Valma, I know fagged means bothered so...i get a tick for this one eh?

4. Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a wedgie? Only on the viewing end...thankfully

5. Do you have a friend or relative who has a car in their front yard 'up on blocks'? Is his name Keith and does he have a wife called Cheryl? Not that I know of!

FOOD

1. Does your family regularly eat a dish involving mincemeat, cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called either chow mein, chop suey or kai see ming? I'm a better cook than that! oops! no offense

2. What are the ingredients in a rissole? mince, bread crumbs, egg, spices

3. Demonstrate the correct procedure for eating a Tim Tam. Bite off one corner, then bite off another corner, then suck hot milo through it until it almost is gonna fall apart and then devour the whole gooey choclatey mess

4. Do you have an Aunty Myrna who is famous for her tuna mornay and other dishes involving a can of cream of celery soup? I can only tell you the answer I gave to this question if you personally ask me to! To avoid any offense!

5. In any two-hour period have you ever eaten three-bean salad, a chop and two serves of pav washed down with someone else's beer that has been nicked from a bath full of ice? No but I do know what that means and actually I'd like a pav right about now. And I do love 3 bean salad! yummm

6. When you go to a bring- your-own-meat barbie can you eat other people's meat or are you only allowed to eat your own? Actually, I've been wondering about the answer to that question

7. What purple root vegetable beginning with the letter 'b' is required by law to be included in a hamburger with the lot? beetroot

CULTURE

1. Do you own or have you ever owned a lawn mower, a pair of thongs, an Esky or Ugg boots? lawn mower, yes...thongs, more than one kind...esky, sure...ugg boots, ummm...no

2. Is it possible to 'prang a car' while doing 'circle work'? I'm gonna guess no...what the crap are you talkin about?

3. Who would you like to crack on to? My husband????

4. Who is the most Australian: Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson, John 'True Blue' Williamson, Kylie Minogue or Warnie? Probably Warnie.

5. Is there someone you are only mates with because they own a trailer or have a pool? No, I've changed my ways since my white trailer trash days

6. Would you love to have a beer with Duncan? Who the heck is Duncan? And probably not because I don't drink beer which means I have probably failed my citizenship test right here and now.

I'm also thinking that because I sat here and answered all these stupid questions, that's grounds for failure as well...yup..true blue Canadian!

Remembering Gramaxine...

Last night as I was about to lay down to sleep I heard a police siren for just a few seconds in the background and it brought back a flood of memories for me.

Growing up in the farmlands of Southern Alberta with only the sound of the cows, sheep, birds, horses and other odd animals to lull me to sleep or wake me up, I always craved and thought it very exciting to go to my Grandparents house in Raymond and sleep over there where I could hear other noises such as police sirens for a few seconds or cars driving by or even seeing the shadows cast upon the walls from the headlights of a car driving by. It was a cool whole new world and it filled me with a sense of excitement.

(Me, Grandma and Baby Candace)

My Grandma Maxine and Grandpa Lenard were the coolest. They would have us 4 kids over on a regular basis, and not all at once either! I said they were cool, not stupid! Sometimes I would go by myself. Sometimes I would go with my sis. Other times it would be my older brother and I. It just depended on what kind of mood everybody was in. Whether it was my brother or my sis, we used to go on these "Great Adventures" We would hop on bikes with banana seats and those handle bars that go up..you know the ones? Then we would ride all over Raymond exploring new places and enjoy our freedom without the accompanyment of any adults. Then when we got back we could have pretty much anything we wanted. Ice cream, hard tack candies, nigger babies, homemade pies and sometimes homemade rootbeer if it was the right time of year. Whatever she had was there for us. I especially liked her selection of ice cream. She rarely ever had plain old vanilla and chocolate like my mom did. It was always strawberry ripple, butterscotch ripple, chocolate ripple, neopolitan, tiger, strawberry...yah, the selection was great. We could watch t.v. as much or as little as we liked, which was definetly a treat for us because at our house watching t.v. was definetly a special treat. This was where I got to watch The Price is Right probably for the first time. There was usually something fun to do at Grandma's. Take Fraggle Rock for instance...They had a real life fraggle rock below their house. It was so cool. I'm sure if I were to take a look at it now I wouldn't think it was anything exciting, but to a child, it was fantastic! Tunnels with dirt walls and floor...We weren't allowed down there too much though cuz gramps was always afraid something might happen to us down in fraggle rock without him! He just wanted to putter around in the shed outside and pretend like he was fixing the world! ha ha
Grandma with Candace and Baby Blaze in the hospital after she was too fragile to be on her own.

Waking up to the smell of coffee was such a comfort those days. To this day, I love the smell of coffee and I think that's why! Gramaxine would make us anything we wanted for brekky. Toast, eggs, hot chocolate, cold cereal. Then she'd put her trust in us to go get the mail from the post office and often give us money for a treat at the Raymond Pharmacy (usually gum as my mum wouldn't let us chew gum! We were so sneaky!) and then later on maybe we'd go to the Merc and do some shopping with her. In the winter time it was always fun to race to the heaters and almost get burned by the hot air coming out of them...Only at Gramaxine's and Grampa Lenard's house...

Us with my Dad in the hospital. This would have been shortly before she died.

It was so cool how just that few seconds of police siren brought back a flood of memories for me and for the first time in the 9 years since she died, I cried cuz I missed her and I had this huge aching desire to be a child again and be in her house and feel of her love for me. She always made me feel special and would give me almost anything I wanted which was quite uncommon for me as it seemed my own mother used to say 'No' more often than not! Anyways, I hope I didn't bore you all to tears with my memories. I really did this for my family because I know when they read it they will remember too and memories of our loved ones is such a precious gift. There are so many more memories but...

Grandma with Baby Candace

The oh so great surprise

Yesterday I was in a major rush to get ready for work b/c of some stuff I was doing before work that Candace would rather have me not tell what it was...so anyways, I had asked the girls if they would please pack me a lunch and told them a few things I wanted so they did. That was really nice! I was then at work and when I went to grab a couple things to eat I found this. I thought that was so sweet for my girls to do that for me! It really brightened my day at that point. Yay! Thank you my sweet girls! I love you too!

Girls Day Out

Well, some news to tell....remember my job as a PA? Well, I just wasn't feeling right about it you know? I don't want to be a career mom and gone from home as much as I would have been, even though I wouldn't have been gone from my kids at all really, it was going to be the loss of too much freedom and after 2 days of working on the job I realized it wasn't the work I really wanted to do anyways. Actually I would rather muck stalls than that! So I was gonna ring them up on Monday and tell them they should look for someone else but they beat me to the punch! How weird is that!? They were feeling the same way so it was a mutual agreement that I don't work for them and that made me feel really good because here I was fretting all weekend about letting them down!



So because of that I have been on a high the last couple of days and also because of that, I was able to have today and tomorrow to spend with my girls...just us...so we planned on doing some fun stuff. Today I took them to the Plaza and we went on the Banana Boats and they each bought a beanie Kid which is the Aussie version of a Beanie Baby. Then we went to the beach and had hot chips and soaked up some sun. I read a book while the girls played in the water. Yah, the weather and water are not hot enough yet for me to take the plunge!

I took some pics of these activities and my friend Amber also met us at the beach with her baby Chloe who happens to be my favorite little midget these days. So cute she is. Enjoy all the pics!

This is my attempt at photography

I am waaaaay tired now though. I think I may have gotten a bit of heat stroke. Just super tired and no appetite...that kinda thing. Not that that's a bad thing! (the appetite part!)

I owe my life to Chocolate

My sis was quite concerned when she read this as she thought it was really about me so I thought I should clarify that it is actually an email I got...

A good piece of chocolate has about 200 calories.
As I enjoy two servings per night, and a few more on weekends,
I consume 3,500 calories of chocolate in a week,
which equals one pound of weight per week.

Therefore ...

In the last 3 ½ years, I have had a chocolate caloric intake of about
180 pounds.
I weigh 165 pounds.

Without chocolate, I would have wasted away to nothing about three months ago!

I owe my life to chocolate.

Check it out!

Ok, I know it took a few days but I do have my excuses, and hopefully it will be worth the wait. Well, not that it's THAT exciting! ha ha ha...You'll find it below the first one saying that it was coming. I took the kids to Ratatouille today. Cute movie. We of course had popcorn from my work. Actually, it is soon to be not my work anymore. I just got a job with an agent in Remax as a PA. I'm looking forward to that. Higher pay. Flexible. Part time. Yeah. I'll keep you updated. As always with a new job though I'm a little nervous. I mean, its the same company and all but I'm working directly for an agent which makes it a teeny bit different. I'll still keep my Saturday ReMax position too though. Ok, I'll be back again.

Having problems

Ok, I have been trying to post something new and I cant post it without pictures and for some reason the pictures are not being attached so I will have to try later. So stay tuned!

Kids will be kids!

Just a few things here that my two littlest have done lately. They seem to learn at a very young age what may get them what they want! Needless to say this has become a common occurrence since this very first note and it is getting a teeny bit old. But whomever is original enough to come up with something new and different just might get their way! I mean, who can say no to this note?

Then, there's the note that appears when feelings of sorrow occur. Mesa and Candace had just bent the handle on my brand new dust mop before she wrote this one. Of course, Candace was just a bit too stubborn and proud to admit she really played a part...It was ALL Mesa's fault! ha! This was cute though and Mesa was right back in my good books after this one.Then there's the threatening notes...the ones that make you think twice before crossing the line...ooohhhh scary! Thank goodness they make me laugh with stuff like this cuz otherwise I don't know what I'd do!

Wild thing, you make my heart...sing?

I made these lemon poppyseed muffins a few days ago and thought it was hilarious how they turned out! Alot of them just had a mind of their own I tell ya. I think it must have been something to do with the lemon juice and the baking soda or baking powder reacting with one another. I've never seen anything like that before. It was amusing though. Wild thing, I think I love you!On a different note, you probably will have a hard time believing this, but with all the variety of food I cook and bake, none of it being yucky except maybe the jambalaya I made a couple months back and only because I let it cook too long and the rice ended up mushy. It's not like I'm making weiner casserole or spanish rice with huge onion chunks in it or anything. No offense mom, but yah...So I'm making super yum stuff like you've seen in my blog before and my kids have the nerve to complain and say things like, "Mommy, don't put any muffins in my lunch cuz I don't like them" or "Mommy, don't bother putting any juice boxes in my lunch anymore cuz I don't like them" or there's "Mommy, don't put any granola bars in my lunch because I don't like them!" I mean, it's everything from store bought stuff to homemade stuff. So flippin picky! So one day I said, "You guys are on the rice man! You're eatin rice for breakfast lunch and dinner until you can be grateful for all this yummy food you've been blessed with. I will supplement it with apples and milk. You can have all the apples, milk and rice you want until I decide you've changed your attitude sufficiently enough to be able to eat the food I make and buy for you." I mean, what makes them think they have the right to complain? Especially about everything? I'm like, 'you're not the one buyin' the food, you're not the one makin' the food....so you have no right to complain.' Well, I think this taught them a lesson. Mesa was on the rice wagon for 2 days. Blaze was on it for about 2 and a half. For now they are very careful about the comments they make about food. Candace on the other hand may need to go on it for the first time as she was away at camp when the other two went on it and she seems to be quite complainy still.
This was some yummy stir fry that Rick and I dined on while they were still on the rice. We would test them periodically while they were on the rice by saying. "We're having oatmeal for breakfast" or "We're having cow tongue for lunch tomorrow" but my favorite was Ricks "We're having dog poo on toast for breakfast" and their response you ask? "Oh good!" It was actually alot of fun when Rick was around. It was definetly alot cheaper to feed them when they were on the rice though! Cool...now stop thinking I'm a mean mom and hope that your kids are never this picky! or should I say complainy?

The attack of the killer magpie

Yesterday while I was at work there was some excitement going on. Rick and the kids had gone to the church to take this backdrop for the roadshow that our youth are taking part in. Blaze had been walking in front of the church when all the sudden a magpie with an attitude swooped down and hit him on the head with it's wing! Well, if that wasn't bad enough, Blaze runs over to this big climbing tree, and he climbs up into the tree and it actually attacked him with his beak! At this point he decided to run for some more cover and ended up hiding in a corner of the building to avoid another vicious attack. Crazy bird eh? Here's his bird attack wound...

Later on in the day we decided that we better take the kids and do something fun with them. I mean, what's the point of working hard if you're not going to do anything fun with some of the money that you earn? So we took the kids bowling. We live like 2 min from a bowling alley and we can walk right through the forest and it's on the other side so we walked in the pitch black and got there. Well, then Rick thought I had the money and I thought he had the money but neither of us had the money so I ran home through the forest which seemed even darker on the way back home than on the way there. Why didn't Rick go you ask? Well, he has a very sore neck and shoulder from a hug injury so...I drove the car back though. I'm like...stuff this running thing man! I was so out of breath. I HATE running! Especially in the pitch black when there's a few puddles from the rain that has dumped here for the last few days. Rick and I had a great time just watching the kids. We didn't even bowl and it was so much fun I can't believe it has taken us this long to go bowling when we are so close! We will definetly go more often.

The second best loser with 71 points!

The best loser with 88 points.

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The winner with 109 points.

All in all it was a great day!

Simply Nuts and oh so smooth!

Hey, is that a catchy title for this post or what? Yeah, that pretty much describes me! ha ha ha...maybe the nuts part anyways! There are several things I eat pretty much every day that I feel I just have to have in order to stay healthy and fill my appetite. Some of those things are V8 juice (one serve), a handful of raw almonds, at least a tablespoon of flax seeds, a serve of yogurt, a glass of juice, a smoothie...get the idea? Well, I just added one more thing to that list. Chely's nutty snack...I would like to take credit for this idea but I'm afraid kudo's go to the Mexi's for this one. I used to buy these in SoCal and they were oh so yummy and felt like I was never going to have them again until I discovered I can make them myself! So here's what goes in them...Libby, you might enjoy these as part of your daily diet. 3/4 c. honey

1 c. sugar (I know...yikes! but...)

2 Tbsp water

Boil to 150 (hard crack stage)

Then add a mixture of 3 cups of nuts and seeds. I put almonds, pepitas, sesame seeds and flax in mine.Pour out onto parchment paper and with a greased spatula, spread out. Cut while still warm so it's easier! Cool completely and then wrap in saran wrap. Place in an airtight container and enjoy!

Ok, the other thing is my smoothies...Today I made a super yum one. I usually put plain yogurt in my smoothies cuz it is better taste wise and plus, no sugar! I always add 2 different fruits, usually one of them frozen and pure fruit juice along with a tbsp or so of flax seeds. But today since I didn't have any yogurt, I used coconut cream instead. Here's what I did...

1 small banana 2 big pieces of pineapple flax 1/3 c. coconutcream (approx) brekky juice (carrot combo is what its called. I don't like the flavour on its own but it was yum in the smoothie.) Ice cubes Vanilla

Anyways, enjoy people, and if you have any yummy healthy ideas including smoothie ideas, please share with me! I better run cuz I'm wasting too much time on this stupid computer this afternoon!