Friday

Where has the week gone? All is well here. Sterling had the opportunity to go to Queen's Park in Toronto on Tuesday and enjoyed himself. Apparently Jack Layton was there and since they had been learning about Canadian Government he thought that was cool. He is bummed that snowboarding has ended, but he is hoping to get a chance to do some night boarding with Craig this weekend. Unfortunately it is pouring rain here right now and what is left of the snow is slush. I told him we may need to hold off so he can board in better conditions. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Kaedo is doing well. He too, is looking forward to the weekend. Soccer and then if Sterling and Craig go to the ski hill we will be spending some one on one time together.
Sunday is our first Sunday since New Years that we haven't been at the ski hill. Who knows what we'll do. It might be a very looonnnnngggggg day. We'll see.
Two weeks until the kids start Spring Break and Craig starts his holidays. I know they are looking forward to that. Two weeks after that mom and dad will be here and a day after that Jessica and Em will be here. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone. Jessica and I have already planned lots of stuff for the weekend. She has told me there will be no piercings this time around. Damn. She also shot down tattoos. Stick in the mud!
Work is going great and my boss gave me some feedback the other day that he had heard very good things about me and was happy with my work, so that's good.
If the weather cooperates and the rain goes away, the boys might get on their bikes and scooters this weekend. I'll get some pix/videos, if that happens. Kaedo has already been confirming with Craig that they will be doing their bike rides again this year. Of course.
Every night when I get home (10pm), Kaedo is still up. I realized last night that he has been waiting up for me. "I need you to tuck me in, mom". Aaawwwww. So, I look forward to that nightly routine. Thank goodness he is easy to get up in the morning and isn't grumpy. It really completes my day knowing I can tuck him in and go through our usual rituals of how the blankets are layered, everything that is said, and those sweet kisses I get peppered with. Love it. As far as Sterling goes, he isn't always up. Last night he was out like a light. Nothing was waking him. When he is up though, he has lots to tell me while I am tucking him in and I get to give and receive a days worth of kisses to tide me over until morning.
Then I get to spend my favorite hour of the day - watching Two and a Half Men. While I have seen many of the episodes they play at that time of night I still laugh my head off, sing the theme song, and enjoy every minute of it. I guess you could say that's my bedtime ritual.

love it!

Kaedo drew this picture for me on Sunday evening. He often puts his emotions down on paper. I have tons of notes similar to this one. I even have one I carry in my wallet all the time. He wrote that one for me on the day I got my new job. We were so nervous that he wouldn't like to ski. He was so despondent over snowboarding, but we really wanted him to at least try skiing. It is so easy to let them give up without trying but we really wanted him to at least give it a chance. Thank god we did! He absolutely loves it! After their lessons on Sunday they both went off skiing/boarding together. It was so cool. It reminded me of when I was their age. Freedom. Craig and I sat in the chalet watching for them to come down the hill. When they finally came into view we were shocked to see Kaedo "tucking" down the hill with his poles firmly against his sides beating Sterling down the hill. I thought he might have been out of control but he stopped with no problem! Needless to say, there will be more lessons next year for both of them and hopefully many days spent as a family skiing/boarding.
On another but related note - Sterling passed to level 5 this season. He is doing awesome!
My ski/board bums! Love it!

Kelly sent this to me and in the "who will resend?" question, he put me. So I thought I would go one better and post it here. Anyone that wants to play along should. Your answers can be ONE word only.

Where is your cell phone?
pocket
Your significant other?
Craig
hair?
brown
Your mother?
crazy
father?
crazier
Favorite thing?
reading (if my boys can't be a thing)
Your dream last night?
none
Your favorite drink?
water
Your dream/goal?
wealth (come on - everyone wants that!)
What room are you in?
office
Your hobby?
reading
Your fears?
moths
Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs?
together
Where were you last night?
home
Something that you aren't?
rich
Muffins?
strawberry
Wish list item?
health
Last thing you did?
banking
What are you wearing?
clothes
TV?
2 1/2 men (I only used ONE word)
Your pets?
ketchup
Friends?
deniese
Your life?
busy
Your mood?
great
Missing someone?
family
Drinking?
no
Smoking?
never
Your car?
neon
Something you're not wearing?
bra
Your favorite store?
chapters
Your favorite color?
grey
When is the last time you cried?
yesterday
Who will resend this?
no-one
Where do you go to over and over?
work
Five people who email me regularly?
family
My favorite place to eat?
Kelsey's
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now?
Disneyland

Would love to see your answers.

This picture is from the after school program Sterling attended on Tuesday. The coordinator of the program was kind enough to send it to us. Cool, eh?

true or false?

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.

3. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart and the sneeze moves liquid at a speed of 100 miles per hour.

4. Only 7% of the population is left-handed.

5. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

6. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

7. The average housefly lives for one month.

8. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

9. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

10. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

11. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.

12. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

13. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in 'An Officer and a Gentleman' and 'Tootsie.'

14. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem.

15. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

16. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle, built in 1903, used a tomato can for a carburetor.

17. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.

18. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.

19. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

20. You are tallest when you first get out of bed, early in the morning. And you may lose up to an inch and a half of height by the time you go back to bed, in the evening.



ALL true! weird!

Thursday already?

Man - the week has gone fast. I guess it helps to have a bonus day off on Monday. The weather was beautiful here earlier this week but is a little cold today. What can you expect though? It is only February.
All is well here. The boys are doing great. Their school is running these after school programs on a variety of topics and Sterling had the opportunity to attend one on Tuesday. It was all about "critters". He got to hold a ferret, have a snake wrapped around his neck, get up close and personal with a tarantula, hold a millipede, listen to a parrot sing "happy birthday" and see lots of other cool animals. He really enjoyed himself. Had lots to say all about it. We are so lucky to have the school and council that we have. They do everything in their power to give these kids such good experiences. Kaedo is taking part in a couple of classes next month. He is going to a cooking class, which is right up his alley, as well as a class where you make 3D glasses and then watch a 3D movie. He is looking forward to that.
Monday we went and visited GG. It was nice to spend some time with her. She is looking great and is anxiously waiting for dad to arrive. I'm sure she can tell you to the minute when they will be arriving!
Work is going great. I had a coaching session last night and had to listen to one of my calls. Yikes. It was a bit scary. There were two other people and my boss critiquing my call and I didn't have any negative points. I was/am thrilled! Beginners luck I am sure but I am happy with how it is going so far. I know I have had some calls that I wouldn't want anyone to listen to so I am glad he pulled a good one. Saying that, I'll probably go to work tonight and something disastrous will happen! Either way I am really enjoying it.
Craig has been super busy at work this week. I'm sure he is happy that tomorrow is Friday. We have our typical weekend planned. The boys have soccer, football and bowling on Saturday and Sterling has his last snowboard lesson of the season on Sunday. I have registered Kaedo for another private ski lesson and he is super excited! I know they would like to continue but they'll have to wait until next year.
Been busy this morning making some easy to reheat meals for the fam. Made some chicken noodle soup, got some chili cooking in the crock pot, cooked up some extra ground beef for tacos and made some chocolate chip muffins for Sterling. He loves muffins so I try to have them made as much as possible. Have even done all the laundry. Something must be wrong with me! The way I figure it, anything I can do to take some of the pressure off Craig is good!

setting a bad example

Sometime over the weekend I asked the boys if they had any homework. No. This morning I asked if their agendas had been signed. No. Lo and behold. Sterling had a math worksheet due today and it was 8:50am. Thankfully he was ready to go and could sit down and work on it for a few minutes. Unfortunately, he wasn't yet finished when I started herding them to the door. So on the way to school he is frantically trying to finish all these questions and asking me questions like "seven kids got seven pencils over seven days - how many pencils did they get?" Yikes. When we got to school Kaedo jumped out and started walking and Sterling stayed in the van to finish off the last of his questions. I helped him answer as many questions as I could and thought I had done quite well. Until I was on my way home and realized that 6x7 doesn't = 36. oops.

Busy Weekend

Well a busy weekend so far but I'll start with Saturday. I played football, Sterling bowled then Kaedo played soccer and scored his second goal of the season (pretty good since he always plays defense). After all that we were looking forward to some good heart shaped pizzas. This was my first year of being able to join the family and it was a great time. We all had our fill of pizza and then came home and watched a movie.

On Sunday it was a snowboarding lesson for Sterling and Kaeden's first private ski lesson. He was really looking forward to it which is something we haven't seen all season. He absolutely loved it and even went down a few more times after the lesson was done. He did really awesome and even took the chair up once with his instructor. Pretty good for his first time on skis. We were very proud of him and at the end he had a huge smile on his face. He really wanted to do it again so we are going to let him have another lesson next week and by the end of that, I can probably see him and Sterling going up the chair together. I put together some video from today so everyone can see how well they are doing.

re-cap and pre-cap and pizza for all!

A re-cap of the week and a pre-cap of what is still to come...
Friday already and I am finishing up my first week on the job outside of my training. It is going really well. I am really enjoying it, although I often find it a little daunting. Dealing with people's money is a BIG deal. When I speak with them, they are often distressed and at that moment their money is the most important thing in their life, so it is sometimes very hard, but very rewarding when you help people out. I am really liking it.

The boys are doing pretty good. Kaedo is still not 100% but we are keeping an eye on him. Sterling has been a little down this week. Don't know if it is the puberty kicking in or what but it is hard to see him a little down. I'm glad it is the weekend and so we will get the chance to spend some time together.
Craig is working like crazy finishing up some projects and I think it has been a long week for him. He'll be glad to have the weekend off.

A pre-cap - with the weekend coming, lots is going on. As usual we have bowling, football and soccer and with it being Valentine's Day, we will be following our usual tradition and doing this:



Heart Shaped Pizzas at Boston Pizza! The boys and I have been doing it together for years but with Valentine's Day falling on Saturday this year, Craig will get the chance to join us. This was a tradition my mom had with me and Jessica and the boys look forward to Valentine's Day all year. I think part of that is that I let them have the day off from school and spend the whole day with them. Needless to say, they were a little disappointed Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday this week!

Snowboarding and SKIING this weekend. Sterling has his second to last lesson (he is so disappointed) and Kaeden has a 1 hour private ski lesson on Sunday. He is nervous but willing. I am so proud of him. I plan to take the camera this weekend and will hopefully get some video of the both of them. You will be shocked at how good Sterling is since the last video. A natural. I am really hoping that Kaedo likes to ski as we would love to maybe buy a season pass next year and ski/snowboard as a family activity. If he doesn't, that OK, too. I guess we will see.

Got a wonderful surprise at work last night. I was checking my schedule and noticed that I had not been scheduled to work on Monday. I went and spoke with my boss to see why and he informed me that I had the day off for Family Day and I get paid! What a nice treat. We will have three days together. I am so thrilled with this!

I will try and get some pictures posted on Sunday of the skiing/snowboarding and hopefully some pizza eating pictures too. Happy Valentine's Day to all of the people we love.

would you like fries with that?

That's how it felt on my first day on the job. It would definitely be easier to work at McDonalds. Man - what a lot of work. I am not adverse to working hard, but boy, there is so much I don't know about the banking industry. In saying that, I know a hell of a lot more than I did when I started 2 months ago.
We were supposed to be on our own last night but we ended up having someone helping us. Thank God! Going into it I really thought I had a good handle on things. I found out quickly enough that I know very little compared to what I need to know. Well, today is another day, and I am grateful for the job. We will be having some help again today and I am hoping that I will be able to accomplish a lot more on my own.

All else is good here. The boys are doing great. They had their snowboarding lessons on Sunday, and Kaedo just really hates it. It is important to us that he finishes off his lessons, but snowboarding is definitely not for him. I went and talked to them at the ski school and they are going to give him a one hour private ski lesson on Sunday instead. Skiing is so much easier. If he still doesn't like it he can be done, but I think it's important for him to try. He is looking forward to it, so I am happy for that. Sterling is loving the snowboarding and is having a great time. He has caught on so well and is just flying down the hills. It's hard to get him off his board at the end of his lesson. He is looking forward to the last Sunday of the month as him and Craig are going snowboarding together. Should be fun for them. Hopefully I don't get a call from the ski hill telling me Craig has fallen and broken his leg!

out of the mouths of babes

Emma recently had a play date with one of her school friends and here are some quotes that the mom passed on to Jessica:

'If you eat crust you will smell like crust.'
'Kim, I gave Max his soother so he can't spit in my face.'

The soother comment was in the car as Max was blowing the worlds smallest spit bubbles in the car seat beside her.

hmmm

Was stopped at a light last night on my way home from work and the car in front of me had the following license plate,
"LUV SEX"
Classy
Your mother must be proud

Best Part of Superbowl... well maybe second best

Thank God for the internet. Don't get me wrong, the Superbowl was a great game but the Canadian content commercials suck. Here's why half of the people who aren't football fans actually watch the game. I don't know if anyone has already checked these out but I showed the kids the other night and they laughed. These were the best commercials I found, enjoy if you haven't already.




Free Doritos!!!



You don't know me!!!



I'm good :)

Snow Angel

The days just seem to be getting away from me and the last thing on my mind seems to be updating this blog. Sorry about that. I just need to get through this last week of training and I should be back on track. Wanted to post these pictures of Sterling in his snow fort that he made. After snowboarding on Sunday he spent about an hour outside building tunnels and having fun. He called me out to see and I just had to take some pictures. Yes, he is gorgeous.

All is well here. The boys both went to school yesterday after being home sick on Monday. Kaeden finished his school swimming lessons yesterday and passed. He is now going into level 5. He was thrilled.

Not much else to tell you. The weather is cold, the snow is plentiful and every one is well.

Talk soon,

s