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Condos, Babies and School, Oh My! - Random Tuesday Thoughts

Author: Amber

Remind me to never buy a condo again. What a headache. Oy. There’s always something. Is it just our condos, or is it the same with all of them everywhere? I wonder…

I’m doing a cleanse this week, and maybe a couple others after it. I was pretty scared about it, but it came highly recommended by a friend and I’ve been feeling terrible for a very long time so I feel I’ve got nothing to lose. The doctors cannot find anything wrong. I’m on day two, and so far, so good.

My big boys started back to school today. Yay! They each had a great morning and are happy to be back there. Josh got Daniel’s teacher from last year and Daniel got the teacher that he visited last year for “Word Work” (D and J each get to visit the next highest grade for word work because they tend to already know all the words they are required to for the grade that they are in; this has been taking place since Daniel was in grade 1). I hope that they get to keep the same teacher all year long this year and that the year is happy, smooth and illness-free.

Yesterday Jon took the three boys to help make bag lunches for kids who go to school without. I think they all enjoyed it. If you are in the Calgary area and want to volunteer to make sandwiches, cut up veggies and make a huge difference in the lives of school-aged children, check out Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids.

There was a news story I read last week about a newborn baby (less than one month old) who suffered a blow to the head and died. His mother seems to be the prime suspect. My heart just breaks when I see stuff like this. Seriously, if you don’t want your baby, bring it to my house. I want it. I have four kids and I would love to have more; I’m sure there are others out there who can’t make children of their own and stories like this are probably like a kick in the stomach to them. If you don’t want your baby, give it up for adoption. I can pretty much guarantee that SOMEONE wants that baby.

My refrigerator is intent on freezing all of my fresh produce. I was NOT happy to see that my celery is now not edible and my spinach is on its way there. Anyone know how to keep my fresh veggies from freezing in the fridge?

I am already back on routine and am SO loving it! Today has been very productive. My laundry is caught up, my dishes are clean and my home has an atmosphere of relaxation and calmness. It’s such a happy day.

Random, random, random. Go!

August 17th, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  3 Comments »

One of the boys…

Author: Amber

More and more, Claire is becoming one of the boys.

The other day I was shopping with Andrew and Claire and Andrew asked if I could pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE buy a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I figured it was healthier than a chocolate bar and would make a nice sweet snack, so I said yes.

“And look at the box - this one is licking the other one, Mom!” he said.

“Nice,” I said.

*****

This morning Jon came downstairs and the kids were getting themselves some breakfast. The box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch was on the table.

“Look, Daddy!” Claire yelled. “This guy is LICKING this guy’s BUTT!!”

Jon chuckled.

“And let me check something. Where’s the fibre? Look, this has LOTS of fibre!”

Yup, her brothers are definitely rubbing off on her. And I like it. I like it a lot.

August 14th, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  1 Comment »

Just babies

Author: Amber

I’m trying something new! Some days I have no idea what to write about but I want to write something, and now I have found a solution to my problem! It is…

The Spin Cycle from the blog, Sprite’s Keeper.

And this week the topic is weddings.

So, shall we get started??

Jon and I got married young. Too young, some people said. But we didn’t care - we were (are!) in love. And so, after four years of dating our high school sweeties, we tied the knot.

Eleven years later (now), I look back and see that we WERE young. But I don’t mean in age. I was so immature. So naive to the ways of the world. So impolite. I had such poor manners. I was shy and quiet and I used that as an excuse to not let people know that I appreciated them as much as I really did. I didn’t say thank you enough. And I know that Jon was on the same page as me. We were young and selfish and only had eyes for each other, and as rude as it was, we didn’t see it.

When I think about our wedding, I remember all of the gifts that people gave us - their time, their musical gifts, their support, their love. And the present-gifts, those were there too. Between my three bridal showers and our wedding gifts, we had everything we needed to set up our new home, and we still use almost all of those items today. Our children use those items.

One couple, great friends, took notice of how hard we were working to save up for our wedding (between Jon and I we had 2 full time jobs, I was taking any overtime I could when I wasn’t in school, and we were doing an early-morning newspaper route) and gave us money to purchase my wedding gown. I still have that gown in my closet and I think of our friends who made it possible every time I see it.

Our parents all went out of their way to make the day happen. Shopping, sewing, spending, working, donating.

And it was perfect. And we are grateful. Maybe we haven’t said it, and maybe we haven’t shown it, but to all who made our wedding day happen, THANK YOU. Thank you for pre-marital counseling and baking and hostessing and officiating and singing and lighting candles and coming from far away to witness the ceremony. Thank you for taking pictures and driving us around and playing the piano and setting up the church and cleaning up and praying and for running the sound system. Thank you for coming. All together, you gave us such a wonderful send-off into the realm of marriage.

Maybe we were just babies then, new to the world and not understanding the way things should go. But we’ve grown up. And we haven’t forgotten. <3

August 11th, 2010  |  Posted in News, Parenting, Reviews, Uncategorized  |  5 Comments »

So much to say - Random Tuesday Thoughts

Author: Amber

I just took one sip of a can of Coke. I decided to give up my daily can of Coke 10 days ago. Over the past 10 days, I have consumed 1.5 cans, and I just opened another. I’ve been suffering from back pain and shortness of breath, among other things, for the past 3 days. This one sip made my back pain go away instantly and my breath seems to come a little easier, though not all the way better. I wonder if this is a problem…

I found a rockin’ sale at Superstore and bought many clothing items today. Claire has demonstrated her girly-ness by insisting on wearing her new sweater dress and tights (tights are on for $2.94!!) even though it is 24 degrees in our house. When I showed her the new pajamas I got her ($4.94, people!!), she insisted on changing into them and had her dress over her head in no time flat. My boys barely look away from what they are doing to see what I’ve purchased for them. I’m pretty sure that they couldn’t even tell you the colour of the shirt they are wearing without looking down to check. LOL

I also bought some new little baby boy clothing for a friend’s new son. OMGosh how I love the stripes and the browns and blues and greens. I have to say, I must admit, I love shopping for little boy things WAY more than little girl things. Every single item melts me. Ahhhhhh… <3

Isn't it just the best when your hubby brings you tea and bakes the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever had?

Have you listened to the newest episode of our podcast yet? Do it! And then tell us what you think (ie: tell us if you listened to it so we know if it’s worth it to keep podcasting). I shared there about the goal I made to climb out of hiding and be more social.

I went to a walk-in clinic not too near to my home this morning on a whim and my whole time there, from sign in to having Andrew and I each examined and then walking out took about 45 minutes. And the dr. we saw was the nicest dr. ever; he even broke through Andrew’s shy shell. Guess where I’ll be going next time I need to go to a walk-in?

Daniel and Josh are enjoying their Director’s Cut camp this week. On day one, they planned, created and pitched a storyboard for a comic book they are writing; formed and named their production company; and began planning for the film that they will be showing at the film festival at the end of the week. They were SO happy with their first day yesterday. Me too. They get breaks from all their hard work too - later this week they will see a movie in a theatre and do some swimming to cool off. I can’t wait to hear what they did today!

I had to stop and wonder if it is actually Tuesday before I posted this. I guess it is. Check out what my ramblings from yesterday were really about here. Then write your own ramblings and link up!

August 10th, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  3 Comments »

BlogHer Envy

Author: Amber

Just as much as I am a blogger, I am a blog reader. I love to read the blogs of others and sigh over the wonderful-ness of their content and imagine the awesomeness of the writers and how we would make great friends because - Hey! That sounds super familiar and I can totally relate, and boy our kids would sure get along well! (Yes, I realize that makes me sound like a freak, but oh well, at least my kids love me. )

What I really mean to say is, there are so many great writers out there!

I believe it was this past weekend that the BlogHer10 conference took place in New York (?) and I read so so much about the emotions leading up to it and preparations that were underway and many insecurities of women who were heading out into the unknown to hopefully make a sweet friendship connection with other women that they had only met online.

I am jealous.

This idea of making friends through typed word is a thrilling thing for me. I LOVE to meet people online. For me, I am a much better friend online than in real life. I mean, online is where I can say things that let people know who I am and where I stand. I do not have the guts to say much of anything in real life. I’m trying, but it is HARD! In my opinion, words make friendships strong.

And today I was directed to another mommy blog, that I had not read before. Of course I loved her writing, because she types the mommy truth, which makes it funny (you know, the whole ‘It’s funny ’cause it’s true’ thing). And what did I find on her blog? A reference to BlogHer. And it was the straw that broke the camel’s back…I need to go searching and see what this is all about.

Or I could just start using the account that I already set up last year. Who knew I was missing out on something so big?!?

August 9th, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  No Comments »

Episode 41 - They’re Back

Author: webmaster

Sorry for the glitchy sound quality on this episode. I didn’t notice it until I was editing and there’s no way we were going to find time to rerecord this.

This episode took 50 weeks to record, who knows how long a second try would take.

Amber wants to know:
What did you do for your summer vacation?

• Subscribe and review on iTunes
• Join the Facebook group
• Comment on the blog at www.monstercookies.ca
• Email us at show@monstercookies.ca

Click HERE to listen in your browser.

August 9th, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  No Comments »

Wordless Wednesday: Obsession

Author: Amber

Guess which small block with interlocking circles has taken over our living space…

August 5th, 2010  |  Posted in News, Uncategorized  |  No Comments »

But it’s not my fault

Author: Jon

I recently read a status of one of my Facebook friends who was wondering if she could avoid paying a traffic ticket because the police officer didn’t sign it.

I spent last New Year’s Eve with a police officer — No! Not in that way! He was an off-duty guest at my brother’s place where we were hanging out. He had come from the UK in the past few years and told us how policing here is so much frustrating than in England. Every little detail on the ticket has to be precisely perfect or people will try to contest it. He said the code book he had in his old precinct would fit in your pocket but the Calgary Police version was like a phone book and if the perfect code isn’t entered at the perfect time, the suspect gets off even though they are definitely guilty.

He told us that if you are caught doing 85 in a 50 km/h zone and the officer does you a favour and writes down that you were going 79 to save you the extra fine and points you’d get for a more serious charge, it’s an invalid ticket. He has seen people go to court and say “I was going 85 and this ticket says 79.” And they get away with paying nothing. Even though their defense is confessing to a more serious charge.

Anyway, I commented on the status - after several other people - that I thought she should pay the ticket if she in fact broke the law instead of using up police resources in the courts. I guess I’m the only one who thought the same way because all the comments before and after were either about how to contest the ticket or how the police shouldn’t be ticketing for minor offenses anyway.

It got me to thinking. What if we applied that same logic to other transactions in our daily life?

“I ordered a steak and lobster and when it came to the table, one of the asparagus spears wasn’t lined up properly. I shouldn’t have to pay for my meal.”

“My ice was half-melted by the time I finished my drink. I should get it for free.”

“The guy at the full service gas station missed a spot when he was washing my windshield and there is still a dead mosquito there. I’m not paying for my tank of gas!”

“I dropped a call on my phone when I was driving through a tunnel. I’m not paying my cellphone bill this month.” (This one is actually more true than I would have believed)

“That website has a typo. I want a discount on my internet bill.”

“My hotel bathroom didn’t have a little bottle of shampoo. And the air conditioner was loud. I don’t think I should have to pay for my stay.”

I am probably in the minority here so this may annoy several people but that’s okay. It’s not my fault.

Jon

August 4th, 2010  |  Posted in Life  |  5 Comments »

Sweet Sunday Morning

Author: Amber

This morning we went to church, as we usually do on Sunday, and it was such a cozy, happy morning.

First of all it was raining. Nothing makes a day more cozy than rain, right?

Next, the message was about relationships. I LOVE relationships. I love talking about them, being in them, making new ones. I want quality and this message was about quality.

I saw the CUTEST little baby in the service. And her (?) daddy was such a proud happy daddy. And my heart was warmed so much as that baby smiled and looked around with wonder as her daddy bounced her in time to the music. Next to them, the mommy was shaking the baby’s rattle like a tambourine. And next to ME, my own sweet firstborn was drumming away on the pew in front of us with his pencil crayons. I didn’t stop him. I reveled in his worshiping.

I saw friends, exchanged smiles and returned borrowed items. Isn’t that just the best display of trust and love when your friends lend things to you?

And I saw a friend whom I have not seen in way too long. A friend whom I met on my second or third day of sixth grade. My third school; my third sixth grade class in that year. A friend I’ve been so blessed to have for over twenty years now. The person who brought me to this very church and was the start of a long chain of people seeking Christ as their personal Savior. How sweet is that?!?!? Seriously, it brings tears to my eyes. How perfect for a Sunday when the pastor spoke about relationships!

When we picked up Claire and Andrew from their classes, we learned that they had had fun and impressed their teachers. And Claire handed out to each of her brothers the hearts she had made for them in her class, <3 <3 <3 naming the colours as she passed them.

We are home now, and Jon and Andrew are working together in the kitchen on lunch - a bit of a family recipe and tradition. Claire is feeding her baby tea and building chipmunks out of LEGO and Daniel and Josh are in their room working on their relationship - hopefully discussing that pinching and spitting on each other are not good relationship builders. It’s a mother’s hope that one day her children will learn that, anyway.

I hope that you are all having a sweet Sunday too. Give a little love to your family and friends today.

August 1st, 2010  |  Posted in Uncategorized  |  No Comments »