Distracted

I had a good day today. Slept in till 740. Crazy as eh? Seeing as how I'm usually up and at em 2 hrs prior to that. Tried to go for a run. Got 3 houses up and ran into a garage sale. Picked out 6 books and wasted 15 min. Ok, time to focus on the run now. I walked quickly around the corner and then around another corner before crossing the street. Ok! Time to get motivated about my run. Whats that up ahead I see? A big yellow stuffed...bird? Oh, well he was just sitting there advertising that there is another GARAGE SALE. Yeah. Just what I was looking for. At this rate the only sweat I'm gonna break is from picking over someone elses junk. After picking out my first Aussie iron I start trying to get motivated to run. Not happening. So I decide to make a circle instead of backtracking and allowing my garage sellers to see that I'm giving up on the run. Meanwhile I'm hoping there are no more garage sales in the area I could possibly get distracted at.

Now its 9pm and I'm slightly more awake than usual. After my garage sale run I took the girls to Underwater World for a couple hours and then came home and started working on sanding and painting a little cabinet for Savannah's books. Oh, didn't I tell you? I got that at the garage sale too. Its gonna be cute. After I get the 3 coats of paint off and smooth out the wood. A batch of cookies, a double batch of muffins, a taco supper and a shower later, I'm ready for bed.

Yup, I had a good day. Even though I got distracted.

Swimming with the seals

Rick's new job has perks for the whole family. It was so cool cuz while my cool as sissy Lydia and my oh so awesome mates Dennis and Kelly were here we all got to go to Underwater World (for FREEEEEEE!) and see all the cool sea creatures. Which I DON'T have piccies of really. So I will grab some from Kelly to do a post cuz she took all the photos that day. We weren't able to swim with the seals that day but after D&K were gone Lydia, Mesa and I went back and did a seal swim and went behind the scenes to hear all about how they take care of the seals, where they were found/born and so on. Lydia even was given the business card of the director of the seals because he would like her to come and work for him there! I guess that Vet Tech course she took all those years ago may come in handy once again. And then she can teach those seals how to cook and sew in between shows! hehehehe (She's gonna be a certified Home Economics teacher as of December when she graduates from the U of A).

Anyways, the seal swim was fantastic! Once in a lifetime experience really, unless your husband happens to work for UWW and if I ever get the pleasure of doing it again I will consider myself super lucky! I can't wait till Summer comes here actually and is able to partake of all the family member perks! We also got to get seal kisses which I scanned and put on here. The seal giving us these kisses is Bella and they are all really hoping she is pregnant because it will be a first for UWW to have a seal born here to one of UWW's seals! I'll try to keep you posted on that info but can't promise anything as well...I'm not the best at blogging these days as you can tell. It just takes so long! Because I love to talk and well, I frankly have alot to do so...haha excuses excuses. My Kelly manages to do it and she has 11 children so really, whats MY excuse! Well, she does have a nanny so really, she just lounges about all day eating bon bons and watching Oprah right Kel?

Lydia took her pic with her before I could scan it :(

Savannah's trying to appear composed and happy here but really?




This is how she really felt...bummed out and t.o'd that SHE couldn't join in the fun!

Mesa playing with Bella

The people down below could see us through these massive windows so Rick went down and took some cool shots

I guess I was subconsiously pretending to be a seal in this shot

Hehe..I love this shot of Lydie

Underwater group shot!

Savannah was on the other side of the glass and loved seeing me in the water but she wanted to be in there too! Too bad, she'll have to wait about 10 years.

One of my faves

I came across this pic and just wanted to put it on my blog for some reason. I've been so crap at keeping up my blog I guess somethings better than nothing? Candace was 8 in this pic and it was taken in Welling when we lived at the little white house owned by Wilde Brothers. I had cropped myself out. Judging by the clothes I'm wearing I must've looked pretty silly! hehehe

Mr. Bubbles...or should I say Miss Bubbles?

Savvy's trick of the day...blowing bubbles. Again, sorry for the poor picture quality. I'm going to stop taking videos in the dark cuz my house isn't bright enough in the evening for good picture quality!

Come on! Walk already!

I purposely didn't encourage Savannah to start walking while we were in Canada because I didn't want Rick to miss her first steps. So I thought as soon as we got home she would go for it. Well, its been 3 wks since we got back and she still isn't walking. But last night I took some footage of us trying to get her to walk and here it is. Its a little on the dark side but enjoy!

So ya wanna be a Hutterite?

While I was growing up our family had quite alot to do with the Hutterites compared to most people. They used to come and buy our tomatoes and cucumbers and we would go to them and buy chickens and a myriad of other things. Well, my parents would anyways. So because of that association I have always felt very friendly towards them and have grown to respect their way of life and think that they are quite amazing people. One of my favourite Hutterites growing up was a man named Tuffy. My brother Pete and I have memories of Tuffy and we laugh about the things that we remember and I always think fondly of our association with him and the others in the colony close by our farm.

While I was home recently I thought it would be a good idea to take mine and Pete's kids out to Deerfield Colony and show them the Hutterite way of life in hopes that they too would appreciate these different yet very smart and organized people. So off we went! The 2 girls (one of them a mother of 4) who gave us our "tour" were fabulous. I wish they were able to access the internet so they could see what I have to say about them. They were so gracious and once they found out who our family was they smiled and seemed more than happy to show us around. They happened to be the grand-daughters of Tuffy and Andy who were brothers by the way.

All in all I think we were there for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours and we were able to enjoy some of their homemade bread, buns and milk fresh from the cow which had been chilled. Oh my it was so sweet and delicious it made me want to start drinking milk all the time! But only if I could get it that tasty, which is pret-near impossible. Now we are no strangers to fresh cows milk my siblings and I, but I don't EVER remember the milk tasting THAT good. In fact I always wished we could have store bought milk instead!

Well, the Hutterites are SO extremely clean and organized! There literally was not ONE thing out of place on the whole colony that I could see! They all take turns at doing the different jobs required to run the colony from doing dishes to cooking, cleaning and helping the mothers out with their children. Even the milking barn was pret-near spotless! If you ever get a chance to, go visit a colony because you wouldn't regret it. Enjoy the piccies!

In the "preschool" building. The children had just woken up from their afternoon nap.

I couldn't resist a photo op with these 2 gorgeous kiddo's! I absolutely love the way they dress and that little girl's hair was down to the middle of her back and tightly wound up to fit under her bonnet.

Out by the milking barn. These calves were sick with something and they caught us just in time before we touched them. MAD COW DISEASE ANYONE?? hehe

I took photos of their tools because I wanted Rick to see how cool it is to be organized. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from them as well!

April Fool

I took Candace to seminary this morning and on the way home heard about this guy at the beach near my house who is eating shark. Well, for a girl from the country in Canada this sounds pretty interesting right? So I put it out of my mind but imagining that I'm gonna blog about this for sure! I come home, talk to Lydia on the phone for a while which was totally fulfilling and then head back to pick up Canny and I hear more about the man eating shark. How theres blood and guts everywhere. Police have cordoned the area off and theres even a news team coming up from the Gold Coast to film. They are saying that they want people to stay away. Well, thats the perfect magnet to get people to come check it out isn't it?! Especially for the simple minded...aka...ME. So I figure I'll take a little detour and check it out so with Canny, Lehi (a friend who I was giving a ride home from seminary) and Savvy we head over and check it out. We saw the most amazing thing. Alot of water and alot alot of sand. Not too many people and definetly no man eating shark. But I'm still reeled in hook line and sinker at this point even though I see a man in a chair with a Hot 91.1 banner stuck in the sand next to him when all of a sudden it dawns on me that its April Fools Day. So I thought I'd be a good sport and go congratulate them on the best April Fools joke I've ever heard and been duped by. I end up on the radio and apparently they're gonna give me some sort of prize for loving it! hehehe

Yup, I'm the biggest April Fool on the Sunshine Coast. And proud of it.

Not what she really wanted

Todays post. Conversation format.

Candace: Mom, I need you to write me a note.
Me: A note for what?
Candace: To say that I didn't go swimming on Monday because of my cold.
Me: (knowing that the cold was very minimal) Well why didn't you go swimming? You can't stop your life just because you feel a bit ill you know.
Candace: I didn't want it to get worse. And besides, Victoria would have been sitting out all by herself if I didn't sit out with her. (oh sob sob!)

So I sit down and write her a note:

Dear Teacher,

Apparently Candace thinks she needs to quit living when she feels a bit ill and so therefore did not go swimming on Monday in your class. I do not approve of her actions but am in acknowledgement of it happening.

Sincerely,

Rachel Miller

Candace: MOM!!! I'm crossing it out!
Me: Well, if you cross it out you're not getting another one written. Its that or nothing. Sorry.
Candace: But I'll get a detention!
Me: Well sorry, but I just write it like it is. I'm not going to tell the teacher that I'm approving of your actions and I'm not going to let you think so either. I guess if you get a detention then maybe you will learn not to make silly choices like that again.
Candace:(just before walking out the door to go to school) Next time you ask me to do something important for you I'm going to say no!

I think I definetly got the last laugh here cause she definetly cracked me up. Hope she learned something! And I'm wondering how many teachers have ever gotten notes like that.

USA 5 Canada 3

I'm sure there are more than 30 million Americans gloating right now. And hopefully waaaaay more who are dissapointed and bummed that Canada was on the losing end of that game. One thing I know for sure is this is how I feel. (See above)I wasn't able to watch it but thanks to my sissy she kept me updated on the score throughout. Gol darn americans! Roaarrrrrrrr! Hopefully the gold medal will still go to the ones who invented the game. GO CANADA GO! GO CANADA GO!GO CANADA GO!

I for some reason cannot move these pics around in this post so they are staying put even though they are not where I want them to be.

Nature Girl

Rick went for a little swim with savvy in the middle of the day. Guess you never know what kind of fun things lay in store when you come home during the day for an unexpected visit! The kids were all at school. First day back which I will post tomorrow because Candy'd first day isn't till tomorrow. So I walked by and looked outside at one point and saw bubs with this stylish new big leaf hat on. Another photo op!

The littlest things are so interesting!

I thought this was an excellent action shot! She's so much fun to watch. I never tire of her.

Nature Girl con't

Rick and Savvy in the baby pool.

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

Who me? Couldn't be! Then who? Savvy stole the cookie from the cookie jar...

Caught in the act

Hmmm, interesting texture...

Whadya think Mama?

Mmmmm, this is pretty good I reckon. Mental note to self. Dig in more often when mom's back is turned!

Of course I had to put the cookie back so I could take pictures of the actual thievery taking place, but I honestly had her up here and she always likes to take the lid off the cookie jar but has never actually taken a cookie out till that day. It was so funny to turn around and see her holding a peanut butter choc chip cookie. Needless to say she loved it!

New Years Eve

I had this great idea to have a big New Years Party at our house complete with swimming but NY just sort of snuck up on me and then before it was too late I realized I had neglected to invite anyone to our "party" hahah. Maybe next year. During the day on NYE I took Candace and her friend Adriana to the mall to buy some pretty dresses to wear to the Stake family NYE Dance. I had the best time taking them shopping! Originally I was just going to take them to this one store and if they didn't find anything there then take them and drop them at the mall where they could shop on their own but with the strange choices they were making in the first store I realized they were going to need help from a more experienced shopper such as myself. Also, there's not too much out there in the way of modest clothing so that makes it extra challenging. So I helped them and my ultra picky daughter whom shoots down my every suggestion chose the dress that I picked out! She was so beautiful in it that the pictures seriously don't do her justice.

She wanted to wear bright red lipstick. I guess one night isn't going to kill anyone is it?

This is what Mesa and her friend Jesse did. Night swim anyone? We managed to convince Sea World to bring Shamu out for NYE.

As for Rick and I? Well, it took me till 9 to get the girls ready for the dance and then I took them to the church only to find out that most people weren't that dressed up. But I told them that if anyone was staring at them its because they look so beautiful. Then I came back home and we watched House MD on tv and I ended up falling asleep which seems to happen every year. I had every intention of going for that night swim as well but didn't make it. All in all, I'm so glad Christmas and NY is over for another year. Phew!

Christmas Morning

Well Christmas came and went very uneventfully except for the fact that we were able to start swimming in our ultra cool pool at last! Because of the hugeness of that "gift" we decided to simplify our Christmas in the gift area. We each drew a name and were able to purchase a gift for that person up to $50. It was so wonderful! The kids totally didn't mind just getting one thing and in fact I said we should do it like that every year and they agreed. It takes the focus off the gifts and also allows the recipient to thoroughly enjoy their one great gift and be more thankful for it rather than being spoiled by several.

Savvy got authentic Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls from everyone.

Mesa got 3 pairs of footwear and a bag of candy (which Blaze opened and ate a few of before wrapping them for her) and a Beanie Kid from Blaze.

Blaze got a new skateboard from Pops.

And for some reason I didn't get a picture of Candace. What?! I can't believe it! But she got some itunes and a t-shirt and a bag of candy from Mesa. I got a really pretty necklace from Candace. And Rick got some cherries and 2 pairs of footwear from Me.

A Little Late

I know Christmas is long long gone but I have been an extremely busy woman what can I say? As a tradition we do homemade gingerbread houses every year. These are our creations this year. Usually we do one and all help decorate it but Rick and I had a mis-communication and he ended up cutting out 4 houses instead. So we each got to decorate our own. I always have these visions of a grandios house that I've personally done but it never turns out as good as I want it to. I'm wondering if that just simply means that I'm not as creative as I would hope. Anyways, its a fun thing to do with the kids. They love it and I love doing something with them that I enjoy.

I think Mesa's turned out the best personally.

Blaze was obviously feeling religious. haha

Who's that scary woman holding MY house?!