I walked in to the Superstore and they have taken out all the sandals and hats from the front bins. They replaced them with boots, mits, toques and scarves.

What would be a reasonable reaction to this change?.....

Grabbing the door hostess by the throat and screaming, "WHY? WHY? WHY? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY????? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY? OR YOU SUGGESTING THAT WINTER IS COMING SOON???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?"

or

Quietly hanging your head as you pass by the display envelopped in overwhelming saddeness? Shed a tear in silent solemnity as you say farewell to the summer that never was.

I did the later but the former was raging in my cold cold heart. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.......

We have a yearly pass to the Children's Museum. We love the Children's Museum HOWEVER...
yesterday was their Kuts for Kids fundraiser. It had been advertised on our visits, Isabella needed a haircut....who could get hurt?

What I should have thought was....what sort of haircut do you get for $6.00?

The student stylist rushed a little because Bella was crying but she sat pretty still in her fear.
On one side, it was really short, the other side really long with a big poof on top.
REALLY BAD HAIR....hard to imagine, let me illustrate.


Oh, you also have to imagine that my daughter is a snowman! I have no artist ability at all but this is just to show the general idea!!!

Luckily, there was an experienced older gentleman who was willing to fix the mistake after the fact. She is now an adorable two year old once again. Not at all clownish.

Phew! What an adventure. I was going to get a trim too but....no way baby!

I was in a friend's wedding party last year, and I just got a picture of it a week ago.
Um.....she's been busy. hee hee
It didn't turn out too badly, have a look.

SO cute, Isabella is starting to figure out that DJ and I have names outside of mommy and daddy.
This morning she was asking DJ if he was "daddy" or "dan-yo" or "gee-jay".
Really, which one is it????
hee hee hee
He told her to just stick with daddy!!!!

Here I am, back at the lake. Its been a very stress-free relaxing weekend so far. Tonight we are invited to another cabin for a marshmellow roast. We'll see what time the girls go to bed after the extra sugar!!! :)

This afternoon was relaxing, I sat on a deserted beach watching my kids play in the little sand dunes and building sandcastles--only to crush them--
I was watching them and reading Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul. (don't have to worry about the kids drowning if I take my eyes for a moment, the water is sp cold they won't go near it! ha ha ha)

As I read story after story from mothers whose children had grown and how they longed to have a moment or two back, and how fast it goes. Stories about the joys and priviledges of being a mother, I thought to myself, "Why the heck I am reading this book instead of making sandcastles with my kids?"
So that's what I did. I came to the cabin FULL of sand and we were all smiling away. (Oh, I was full of sand due to Isabella's SURPRISE game! It involves burying her hands and then shouting "surprise" as she flings them out and throws sand everywhere. Its pretty much a guarantee that any game Bella invents includes a mess of some kind).

This evening after supper, DJ played with the girls while I went for a bike ride by myself. Quite the adventure! First of all, my quads are burning! Yowza! Those hills will get you! But it was great, about halfway through the ride, I passed a deer on the bike trail. Now the deer around here are tame....too tame! It didn't even move. I had to say "shoe deer" so I didn't hit it. I could have reached out my hand to hit it ---if I were so inclined, but I wasn't---I'm not the deer-slapping kind. But that's how close it was.

Positive thought of the day: At least it was a deer and not a bear.
Time to go to the marshmellow roast.....

Waiting is difficult sometimes. I get frustrated with my kids when they are not patient but sometimes I'm the one who needs to learn patience.

I am waiting to find out whether or not a grant came through to hire me on contract for a year.
I am a little worried about not having a job because of money but mostly I just want to know what I'll be doing this year. I know I'll have a job, as my sister put it, "I'm very marketable."
Its just the waiting to see if it'll be this contract or something else.

I guess its about knowing so I can plan my schedule and get organized. NOT that I'm a control-freak or anything.....I just wanna know.

My kids are so great sometimes!
Today is one of those times!
They are being charming, funny and sweet.
Its a nice, rainy day.

Well we did it!
We went to a movie with the kids! And.......
it was awesome!

Rebecca sat still the entire time and her eyes were GLUED to the screen.
She loved it. She didn't want to get up to go the bathroom to pee but luckily she was
convinced. Then she ran back after her pee saying, "I gotta get back to da fee-atter."
She was great through the whole thing.

Bella, being a wiggly worm and a two year old was a bit more work but still great.
During the trailers she was mezmerized. Then she was amused by her popcorn and drink for
1/4 of the movie. Then she got wrestless and DJ took her out for about 10 minutes til she wanted mommy. She came back in and sat on my lap for the remainder of the film without incident.

The girls thought it was great fun. We made it through a major ritual in the popular culture, movie watching. Its an art form! hee hee It was a fun family moment.

ps Cindy, we watched Garfield at the cheap theater. And Shrek 2 starts there on Friday.

This morning was lots of fun.
I went to play raquetball with Cindy and then we played with the kids in the gym.
And a good time was had by all.
The Y just ROCKS!

Now its time to eat my fresh banana bread. Yum!
Naptime and then we're off to the movies.

Yes! I am going to attempt to take my kids to a matinee for the first time.
Brilliant idea or lunatic delerium? Only time will tell.
Ya' never know unless you try, right?

Last night our women's four's beach volleyball team lost the bronze medal match so it placed us in fourth place.
We thought that was very CANADIAN of us, don't you think?

"Boo! Hiss! That's in poor taste Erica! The Canadians are doing their best! The Olympics are HARD okay?" *waa*

I spent the morning setting up more meetings with the Police.
My work was robbed now! I currently run a drop-in center for youth in the area. (E.K.)
Two robberies in two weeks!

Is East Kildonan going to the dogs or what?

I think we need to bring in public caning again.
Let me plan a way to rouse up the mob mentality and get people to go around
thrashing "suspicious-looking" teenagers.

That sounds like an effective and reasonable solution at this moment.
But perhaps when the adrenaline and anger has subsided, I'll be less vengeful!
But maybe not!
Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Wow! I'm so proud of what I did in the workshop at the cabin this weekend.

I made a replica of the toy organizer they sell in the stores for $50-$60.
The ones with colored plastic bins. Except I made it to fit the plastic boxes that
wipes come in, so I don't even have to buy the bins.

The bins cost me nothing, as I had been saving them anyway. (Why? I am cheap!)
And the shelf cost me nothing because I made it out of an old kitchen cabinet door and two 2X4's that were in the garage. I just planed and sanded and voila! Good wood!
I am the McGyver of woodworking! hee hee

This makes me happy because a) I got to use my creativity and b) I'm cheap! and it was free.
I have a great hobby and its so great that its something D.J. and I can do together. He made a BEAUTIFUL DVD tower. (but he PAID for his wood!) ----pshaw----
ha ha ha

This is so funny.
Rebecca just drew some pictures of people and asked if she could INTRODUCE them to me.
(big word)

The first one, she says, "This is my husband. His name is Kosho."
"And this (holds up the second one) is my neighbor, his name is mouse."

Oh my goodness, I was trying so hard not to laugh in her face when she introduced me to her HUSBAND!!! Too cute!! The things she says!

My girls and I had a great morning. We did some shopping, got some exercise and then took daddy out for a surprise lunch. What a fabulous day! Naptime!!!!

Have you ever seen something that just speaks to you and you're not sure why?
I had that happen to me when I saw a painting once, it was about 5 years ago.
I just stood there and stared at this painting for about 20 minutes and found it really hard
to stop looking at it when I realized I needed to be somewhere else.

I thought I would share the painting with you.


I still have no idea what moves me about this painting. I'm not sure why I like it so much but its almost like analyzing why I like it would take away the pleasure I find in it.

Its called the Execution of Lady Grey.

I'm starting to do some stuff for work again. Just a few things here and there that need to be taken care of to get ready for the fall. Yes...I said it....FALL!!!

Its already the middle of August so summer (it was what it was) is almost over. So we're almost back to work, back to swimming lessons, back to a schedule, and back indoors. What a sobering thought. But before you crack open the prozac, take a deep breath and think about some of the positive things about fall and winter....

1. no bugs
2. no dirt or sand on the floor
3. no messing with sunscreen before your kids go out the door (it'll be replaced by the snow suit wrestle)
4. Breathe starts again
5. okay, that's all I can think of BUT I tried to keep it positive.....points for effort?

Oh, I thought of an exciting one....Rebecca starts pre-school! Its totally exciting and scary all at the same time! I'm excited for her because she dreams about going to school but terrifying for me because I won't be there for ALL of her life anymore. What a milestone.

Sometimes when I'm parenting I just need to keep on drilling a lesson in until it takes.
I feel like a broken record talking to a wall. (let the image sink in for a minute, its pretty funny!)

It just seems sometimes, I am saying the same thing over and over and its not sinking in.
This morning, I discovered that maybe repetition isn't as effective as changing tactics. Maybe its not working because I'm wrong. What a concept.

Not that I'm wrong in correcting my kids. They still need to obey me, but my method of teaching was innappropriate and so it wasn't getting through....lemme 'splaine.

Rebecca has been so mean to her sister for the last couple of days. Now I know that Isabella can be an instigator but Rebecca doesn't need to tackle her when she's frustrated.
I've been yelling, threatening, giving time outs to Rebecca for being so rough with her sister.

While I understand that its hard for her to have to share her toys with her younger sister, it doesn't excuse her being rude or mean to Isabella.

So this morning, after yet another episode....I sent Rebecca to her room. I was so tired of this scene being played out yet again. But instead of yelling, or threatening to spank her if she did it again, I sat beside her bed and tried to see what she was seeing.

I looked her in the eye and said, "It must be tough having a little sister, eh?" She wrapped her little arms around my neck and started to cry. So I rocked her, and empathized with her, and gave words to the stuff she was feeling. "Its hard to share toys and take turns" etc.

When she was done crying, she said, "I love you mommy" and she really meant it.
She's been a different kid this morning after that.

Here is something new:

My brother just started blogging. In case you're interested in checking him out. His site is at:
www.floydbuhler.blogspot.com

He's young (24), single, smart as a whip (sickenly so) and a deep thinker. My guess is, his blog will be quite philosophical. So if you want to give your mind a stretch, check him out!

Here is a conversation I overheard between my daughters today:

R: Bella, what's your favorite color?
I: Uh...blue.
R: No, its red.
I: Okay.

This got me to thinking about the birth order phenomenon. My first born corrected my second born's opinion and she was okay with that!

The first born's self-confidence is something I don't relate to that well. Being confident and self-assured is a trait in my older (first born) sister that I have always admired. It is a trait that attracted to me to my (first born) husband. But its not really something I understand.

I mean, what if you are wrong? That thought doesn't occur to Rebecca. She is completely convinced, she is 100% correct. Amazing!

As her mother, I am thrilled. I am proud to have such a self-assured, confident daughter. But its still not something I understand. Does a shadow of doubt never cross her mind? I see these traits in other first borns, and I'm bewildered. I admire and respect that kind of gumption but I'm still scratching my head.

*singing*
"I feel pretty. Oh, so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay..."

I had my nails done the other day. It makes me feel so pretty and girly.
With my new jewellery and my fancy-schmancy nails....I like being a girl!
Typing is a little more difficult with long nails, but we're supposed to suffer
for beauty right?

Well, slow typing isn't exactly suffering say compared to pain, starvation etc...
But the point is, I like my pretty nails and my pretty new things.
I'm enjoying my feminine stuff and being a girl. And I think its good for my girls to see too.

We're back from our quick little trip up North.

Four hours sleep Friday night.
Events on Saturday day and evening.
Left Saturday at 11:00 pm and arrived this morning at 6 am, after driving through the night.

Four hours sleep this morning.

G'night.

Yesterday was fun.

I felt like a little kid when I used to pretend I was rich.
We got to shop for lots of things that we could not afford to buy at this
time in our lives. That was fun.

I think MOST of the fun was the fact that I can't afford to do that on a "normal" day.
If I could everything I wanted, anytime I wanted, I would become bored with life
pretty quickly. The excitement of shopping is in the anticipation.

Are the treasures that we save for and sacrifice for much sweeter than stuff you just pick up on a whim?

I'm content with my lifestyle and standard of living right now, but it was nice to have one "rich"day!

Sometimes as a stay-at-home mom, I wonder about my worth in society. There are so many things that I do that are priceless yet immeasurable.

And a huge portion of the "work" I do (raising my kids) doesn't show immediate results in production.
Will they be kind? generous? compassionate? responsible? gentle? Are these lessons I'm (attempting) teaching them get through and produce the results I'm hoping for?

Since there is no monetary reward for what I am doing today, and the result of my efforts is difficult to measure. I did some research on what I'm worth with a quantitative measure.
So, leaving love out of the equation....here is what stay-at-home moms are worth in $$$$...

Job title
Annual salary
Child Day Care Worker
$19,176
Educator
$38,500
Taxi Driver
$25,884
Facilities Manager
$68,131
Short-order Cook
$26,009
Laundry Attendant
$16,959
Janitor, Sr.
$24,509
Actor/Performer
$41,198
Counselor
$27,638
CEO
$529,362
Administrative Assistant
$35,475
Accounting Clerk III
$32,520
Licensed Practical Nurse
$34,627
Hairstylist
$19,411
Plumber I
$27,609
Automotive Mechanic I
$26,694
Cake Decorator
$20,199

So girls...add 'em up and see what you're worth!!! :)

My Kute Kid's Quute Quotes:

Yesterday Rebecca left the table for a minute to go to the bathroom.
When she came back she asked, "Did Isabella talk about me?"

I'm thinking...you're three years old, and already things you don't want said about you. Are they keeping "sister secrets" from us already? *panic* Its going to be an adventure raising two teenage girls, I don't know if I'm ready for that.

Today, after swimming with the girls, I was distracted as I was trying to get them both put into the car really quickly, so I only did up two of the three buckles on Isabella's seat belt. As I go to do up Rebecca's seatbelt I hear Bella yell, "Hey, you forgot the leff one!"

It wasn't actually the left one but its great that she is trying to distinguish her left from her right.

And lastly, we picked up DJ from the mall tonight so the kids were playing on the little rides that take a loonie. Rebecca got one of the horses on the carousel. She asked, "Do you know what this is?" I'm thinking circus, carousel, carnival... "Its a cowboy camp!"

I laughed so hard. In one the Veggie Tales video, Larry talks about going to cowboy camp. She saw the tent and the horses...put it together....Cowboy Camp!
Obviously!

We are currently without water.
Ahhhhh!

A big old waterpipe broke on our street around 2pm so we've had no water all day.
Its something you take for granted til its not running out of the tap. (Like washing your hands automatically after using the bathroom. You got to the tap, and you forgot again. No water)

They will work on it again tomorrow but for now the City just put a big water-tank trailer for the whole neighboorhood on the road....Right in front of OUR HOUSE!!!!

Great for two reasons:
1. I don't have to walk too far to fill my containers.
2. I'm actually meeting my neighbors who are coming to fill up at the "water cooler".
That's pretty neat. Most of these people I've never met, now they're hanging out in my yard to get some water. I met two new (old) neighbors in a spce of 30 seconds.

Did you know a watermain break could be a GOOD thing?

I know the weather is not something we can control, and complaining about it, is both pointless and unappreciated. So, I've decided to do something practical about the situation.

I will write a letter to the City of Winnipeg to distribute to all the local travel agents. It will read as follows:

Dear Mr. or Madam Travel Agent,

In view of the fact that this summer (2004) was very late in arriving, and then quick to exit, as well as being the coldest summer on record, we at City Hall feel some action is appropriate.

We are concerned that the citizens of Winnipeg may experience serious health problems due the lack of vitamin D in their systems resulting from the lack of sunshine. Not to mention the psychological effect this cold and damp season has had on their delicate minds. So the City of Winnipeg must do something to protect the health of its citizens.

We are asking to all travel agents to issue tickets to any tropical location for two weeks, to any citizen of Winnipeg who can produce proof of citizenship in the form of property tax forms or deed titles to their homes. The price of the trip should not exceed $100, the difference will be refunded to your business on completion of each trip.

Winnipegers are in desparate need of heat and sun, it our duty as responsible civil servants to give it them. We hope you are willing to work with us on this project to correct this dire health risk situation.

ps...for citizens who can produce proof of renting property in Winnipeg, the price of the trip will be $50.oo due to our heinous oversite of not mentioning them in the first place. :)
(Thanks C.J.)

Yours,
Mayor Katz.

You think the Mayor would go for it?
Never underestimate the importance of Vitamin D!

Today we are meeting with the insurance adjuster and the jeweller to deal with the loss of the jewellery stuff.
Any prayer you can offer on our behalf would be appreciated.
Thanks.

There is no such place as Neck, Alberta.
However, there is a Chin. And a Belly River. And a Vulcan.
Weird.

Bravenet is down right now.
So I'll post today's useless information here and you can vote when Bravenet is up and running again.

What name is NOT a town in Manitoba? (see if we can be weirder than Alberta).

1. Nonsuch
2. Wampum
3. Button
4. Pemmican

One of the above is NOT a town in Manitoba, and the other three really exist in our fair province.

My apologies to those of you who were paying attention to the little poll of the day thing.

My attention span is limited and I had become bored with vocabulary, greek and latin etc.
(BTW...Gnothi Seauton means "know thyself" in Greek for those who were wondering if they were correct)

I will be "polling" useless and trivial information for awhile because I tend not to get bored so fast. Perhaps at a later date, I can return to more educational matters but for the summer...the poll will contain useless and trivial information.

So peek to the right....

My kids are still asleep and here I am, wide awake! I woke up at 7:30am...all chipper and ready to go, and my kids are sleeping in...will wonders never cease?

Now I have some blogging time...what can I say???

I went to Rock Lake camp this week for two days with my kids. The time with my kids was great...playing, exploring, swinging, swimming, eating...all good. Then there is lamb's quarters. Where they take your kids for an hour in the morning, and you go do whatever you want. Highly recommend that!

But the time I spent with God was truly amazing. He is really the best therapist I know.
I didn't even get prayer, I didn't get demons cast out, I didn't cry, or thrash out whilst foaming at the mouth. Just quietly being in His presence was all I needed. Just to be surrounded. Like a warm blanket. I felt all kinds of anger just melt away.

It wasn't that the worship team was amazing. The speaker wasn't Mr.Mind-blowing theologian. It was just God's presence. Simple. They asked God to come, and said thank-you. That's all.

And to watch my girl's reaction to the presence of God was truly incredible. They were dancing and singing, and laughing and crying. (hey, even I didn't cry). Rebecca's eyes were shining the whole two days. During the first church service, she said THREE times "I LOVE this place!"

Me too. Wherever, there is God's presence. I LOVE that place!

I was robbed!No really! Robbed!

But seriously, I was robbed

.I got home from Rock Lake last night with the kids. This morning my sister and I went for breakfast with the kids (10:30am) and then grocery shopping. I dropped off my sister and came home (12:50 pm).

When I walked in the house, I noticed the kitchen window was open, the screen was off. The cupboard doors were open....uh oh! I grabbed the kids and went outside (just incase) with the phone and called the police and DJ from there.

Sure enough, they went through the house and took things of value that were light (they were on foot). They dumped out the bag from the lake that I hadn't unpacked and filled it up. They didn't even bring their own bag! They took each of the drawers out of my jewellery armoire and dumped it into the bag and left a huge mess in my room. Looking under the mattress etc.

They even took the jewellery from Rebecca's little jewellery box in her room.
We've already dealt with the police and called the insurance company. About $750 worth of DVDs and ALL our jewellery are gone. Including my engagement ring and wedding band.
My Christmas gifts from DJ over the years, DJ's gold watch (a grad gift) etc.

But you know what? I have incredible peace. My kids are fine, they came while we were out.
No one was hurt.
Its all just stuff. We're all safe and sound and stuff can all be replaced. I still feel safe in my house, and I'm not ready move out of East Kildonan! Ha ha ha

Lord, Bless this house. All I have is Yours! Thank You for Your protection over my family! What an awesome God I serve! He is sooo good to me!

Ahhhhh...so great to be home.

We had a nice relaxing morning.
Followed by an impromptu playdate, that turned into lunch and then swimming at the wading pool behind our house.

When you are raising toddlers, spontaneity is a treat! It was lots of fun.
But alas, the riding by the seat of my pants must come to an end.

Naptime is sacred. One must not mess with the schedule.
And the kids probably need a nap too! :)

We have had a great weekend at the lake.
There were lots of neighbors who didn't even RECOGNIZE Rebecca with her hair like this. There have been lots of comments about how much older she looks.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, we spent the whole day at the beach. And Isabella went swimming off the dock with us. She loved it soooo much she wouldn't get out of the water when we were ready to go. We tried bringing her up the ladder and she would kick her legs and yell "No! Not yet!"
So we ended up swimming her into shore because she wanted to stay in the water.

She was cute in her lifejacket. She kept trying to kick her legs so she could flip herself onto her back. And then she'd push away from me so she could go by herself ( I don't think so). Its WAY over her head. Very different from Rebecca who is hanging on to me for dear life.

Last night we had some kids from the road over to play on the swingset and make smores. Rebecca and another little girl played dollies on the deck for about 45 min. It was such a girlie thing to do, obviously I was thrilled.

We're going home today.