I can't remember the last time I posted a picture of my little guy.  It feels like years.  (Okay, I checked.  It was Halloween, so 3 months ago)  Here he is in his in his sweats with his too cool sweater over top his MarioTee.  That's the beanie hat I made for him in the Spring.

The 5's have definitely been my favourite age so far.  He has some interesting ideas about everything and there is so much he can do now!  We have started him in YogaKids and Gymnastics (well, Kindergymn anyways).  He is so so so so close to reading.  I cannot wait for the day when he reads a story to me!  He memorizes songs as well and is still singing Christmas Carols (much to our dismay).  There was a jolly bearded man and Santa was his name-o.  S - A - N - T - A.  S - A - N - T - A.  and Santa was his name-o (sung to the tune of Bingo).


His class is fund-raising and he told us, "kindergarten is raising money to send to poor kids in Minnesota."  We read the letter his teacher sent home about the project and explain that they are fund-raising for poor children in Lesotho, Africa...but he sure as heck doesn't believe us.  He's adamant that they care collecting coins for poor kids in minnesota.  He swears that's what his teacher said.  

I'm glad someone is looking out for the poor kids in Minnesota.  They are so often overlooked. :p

Today is our 5 year anniversary. We're planning on going to see an early movie this afternoon with Andrew and going out for a bite to eat after wards.

This is a picture of us 5 years ago on our wedding day in the Registrar's office in Glasgow, Scotland. We eloped and go married at 10 AM with lunch at noon. Only Husband's parents were there as our witnesses. It was nice and stress free.

Our very old washing machine has started leaking. Husband reports that one of the pipes on the bottom is cracked. We have been talking on and off about replacing the washer for about a year now. It's been a little temperamental since we moved in to this house 2 years ago.

We have some Emergency Fund money and some Christmas Money so I'm scoouring the internet for the best deal I can find....

How is it possible that it is only 5 days to Christmas? When did this happen? We only just put up our tree on Friday (and actually that is only halfway done because we can't find 1 box of decorations in the basement). I still have Andrew's stuff to make. We have not planned the Christmas Eve service yet (and I haven't even started to think about the January First Sundays service which is fast approaching). Our house is a mess (thanks to a busy November and December where everything got put the side and piled up).

Yarg. So much to do and so little time. It's times like these that I make lists. :P I haven't made a list in a long while, maybe that's been part of my problem with feeling in control and organized? I hope this helps me focus and get things done!

This week all this stuff needs doing:

• Organize First Sundays Material.
• Find that box of Christmas Decorations! (it has all my heirloom decorations, that's why I'm worried about it)
• Read "Mission Shaped Children"
• Plan Christmas Eve Service
• Make Andrew's Blanket, scarf, mitts and toque
• Put away laundry (there's about 6 baskets waiting to be put away)
• Decorate the rest of the house (aka find homes for the decorations sitting on the coffee table)
• Work on Personnel Policies for daycare
  
• Clean, Clean, Clean

Lets see how I do. I am on holidays until January 3rd, so I hope I will be able to get lots done with my time off.

Cheers!

This is a video of the church 1conference that I went to in November. The workshop that I went to in the morning was for youth and it was so encouraging because there was actual real live youth there! Sometimes I get discouraged because I am very nearly the only person between 12 and 45. It was also very encouraging because the Moderator of The United Church of Canada was at that workshop. It was a big honour to have her there with us, the young people of the Church and the folks that work with Youth. The afternoon workshop was about how community gardens and markets can change neighbourhoods for the best. It was very inspiring.

We were at Value Village on the weekend. Husband needed some new pants and Andrew needed ski pants for the winter. I was browsing in the housewares department (cause I love housewares) and found these wonderfully fantastic melmac bowls. Andrew is hard on his bowls and we've thrown quite a few of them out because of questionable uses and finding them under the couch with food molded into them and him leaving them outside...or whatever.

I got 4 bowls (there's only 3 in the picture because I'm soaking the price tag off the 4th) for $2.99.

These things are crazily unbreakable!

Well, there's many pictures I have to share today because we finally took them off the camera. :P

Starting out we have Andrew's first day of school. Husband dropped him off and snapped some pictures. I can't believe how grown up he is looking!
I can't believe that I am a Mom to a school aged child! I often wonder how and when all that happened. Here he is being silly as usual. :P I wonder who he gets that from?
And here he is sitting during circle time....protesting...cause he doesn't like sitting still. I sure hope that his teacher can handle him this year. :P



Next up we have my Round Ripple Afghans. I made this green one for my friends wedding.
I love the colour combinations that I went with (kudos to Husband as he's the one that picked them out!)

It is a green blanket for some very green people. My friends are into fair trade and organics and recycling and reusing...so we thought it fit well with their green lifestyle.
The Green blanket didn't get as big as I was originally planning so I gave them my scrap Round Ripple as well. It ended up being HUGE and will fit a double bed quite well.
I am pleased that I used up quite a bit of acrylic yarn I had laying around the house. I want to make a million more round ripples. They always end up being so eye catching!

I'm thinking that if I ever get my act together and open up an Etsy shop that this picture would make an excellent banner. Have my shop name over top it. It's got so much clear detail and shows the round ripple pattern very well.

There's been a lot happen since the English were here for their visit. I'll try to remember everything...

• It was a 4 week visit. Honestly, it was hard for me and I missed my space and quiet house. Andrew loved having his grandparents here with him. So did Husband. Mother-in-law had a bit of a fall about a week before they left, so she was quite sore and in low spirits the last week. But, we were all sad to see them go. Next we are going to visit them, so everyone is very excited about that.
  
• We went fake camping in the Yurt. It was good fun, especially for me because my church was having a camping weekend too. I talked lots, enjoyed good company, drank lots, and enjoyed good fellowship. It was super duper hot (like we're talke 32-34 degrees) so I got sunburnt and bug bitten and was exhausted, but I can't wait to go again next year. I have pictures somewhere around here, I should post them.
• My family ministry project is going wonderfully. It's now named "First Sundays Ministry" and I've got a zillion projects on the go. The Church Council also approved to double my hours (from 4 hours a week to 8 hours a week) and double my pay (from $200 to $400 ish a month).
  
• Church Council also approved my application for official Inquirer Status. I am scared and yet excited at the same time to start this process. I will be an Inquirer for 12 months and will meet with the discernment committee a minimum of 6 times.
• The dog is good. Cute as ever. Loves to walk still. Sleeps a lot. No further unexpected costs.
• My work is boring.
• Husband had some issues at his job, so after much consideration and number crunching we have decided to change how we live and work. Andrew is no longer in daycare and is going to nursery school. Husband is staying home with him in the afternoons and will pick up a part time job to meet the hole in our budget. It's been 1 week and so far it's going well.
• As I said before Andrew is going to Nursery school. He is so grown up! I have pictures of his first day...I should post those as well.
• Our finances...well...after the 4 week visit with the English...and the costs around the dog...and the unexpected stay at home dadness...and some frivolous spending our finances could better but they could be worse as well. I have to update my side bars. I haven't done that in forerver!
  
• On the craft front - I was making a huge cross stitch for a friends wedding...but I have woken up and smelled the coffee so to speak. i realize i won't be done until 2011 sometime. Instead I am making them a nice round ripple blanket.

I think that's about it...I hope everyone is caught up now. :P

The in-laws are here for their yearly visit. So, I will either be having a lot of computer time in the next 4 weeks (hiding from them) or I will not be getting hardly any computer time (out doing stuff). Anyone want to take bets about which will happen? :P

we've had our dog for 40 days now, and these have been the costs

$199 to adopt from winnipeg humane society (this includes spaying and shots and stuff).
$12 for leash because you assumed the humane society would give you a leash and you can't leave without having the dog on the leash, so you end up buying a leash at the humane society store.
$40 for giant bag of dog food that dog will not eat.
$12 for food and water dish and $20 for dog bed that your child exclaims are the most perfect things ever (it's sad when 2 weeks later dog chews 1 dish up and rips stuffing out of dog bed),
$6 for bag of treats,
$12 for pit stop at McDonalds because your child had to poop and there was no bathrooms at the store.
$16 for bag of dog food that the dog will eat because she hasn't ate anything in 3 days.
$40 for a variety of toys that dog does not play with, but child enjoys on a daily basis.
$99 for obedience training because you realize your calm placid dog turns into a hell hound whilst you are gone to work.
$28 for a bigger bag of dog food that dog eats
$8 for teeth cleaning treat things that are supposed to last for hours and hours and clean teeth at same time. dog consumes in 4 minutes.
$120 for crate because you realize that obedience training is not going to save your wall.
$135 for trip to vet because dog develops bald spots on legs, apparently from the 'hard' surface in the crate because the dog pushes blankets aside (and doesn't have the nice cushy pillow because she ripped stuffing out) and lays on the plastic tray thus causing her fur to thin and fall out, and whilst there you get told that you need heartworm medication as well.

i'm not even adding it up. seriously. the dog has cost more then the kid did in his first 6 months. needless to say we have been dipping into savings.

I'm still here. I've been thinking about what to write. Been coming up dry.

This Sunday is my Family Sunday service and I'm feeling a lot more focused and ready for this one. I've made a blog for my 1st Sundays Ministry, but I've used a different log in because I'm very very very hesitant to have it linked to my blog here. for that reason I'm also very hesitant to post the link to it here. I like to try to keep my personal life separate from my internet life. but i will brag (even though no one can check up on it) that it's a very nice blog so far. :P

The dog is time consuming. She has scratched quite a bit of our wall in the living room trying to get at the stinky garbage in the kitchen. & there are some other small problems so we're starting obedience school this week. I hope it goes well.

Other then that, things continue on. How are all of you doing?

Oh yes we're crazy. We've been talking about getting a pet and adopting a dog for months now. Husband really loves dogs and wanted one, Andrew did too....and as much as I might complain about dogs I really like them too.

We adopted this gorgeous dog from the Winnipeg Humane Society this evening. She's 4 years old and is so calm and good with Andrew. I'm so excited to make her part of our little family.

I was just commenting on Jessie's Blog about wanting to go camping the same time she is -- June 26 to July 1. It would be just me and Andrew for part of the time as Husband will be working Monday and Tuesday. So I want something more family friendly, not remote, with a store, with cell phone reception, and a beach.

We have some options that I have been mulling over in my head....

1. Go to Bird's Hill Park -- It's only about 10 minutes outside of the city. It would be easy for us. But the big con is that this Park is the Party Park because it is so close to the city.

2. Go to Otterfalls Campground -- I used to camp at this campground every summer until I was about 12 years old. It has some very good memories and is only about 1 hour from the city. The con is that it is a very open park with zero privacy and zero woodsy feel. But it is good for little kids.

3. Branch out and go someplace new like Nutimik (about 1.5 hours away) or Rushing River (about 2.5 hours away).

So many decisions!

Today is the day before Andrew's 4th Birthday and we are going to TinkerTown to celebrate. It's so fun going there with him because he gets SO EXCITED he can hardly contain himself. It's a wonderful day and the sun is shining and we are off to do good ol' family stuff together.

Cheers!

Everything is finally finished and I am so pleased with my work and I am exhausted from preparing for this 'event'. It's a lot of work making a banner. I'm so glad I had Husband here to help me...because he did. A lot. He cut the felt hands out. He made the banner holder. He modeled the banner for me. He cut the paper hands out for me. He did all the computer things for me too. He scanned all the pictures I needed for the story time. He went shopping with me while I bought felt. He listened to me ask a million times, 'does it look good?' He's a good Husband. :)

I hope everything goes well and I hope my hands recover from all the stitching and cutting and gluing I did today.

Please excuse the pictures. They're not the greatest. I was using the wrong setting at first and didn't realize it. Here they are in no particular order. I'm so excited to share this with everyone!

We came back from our fake camping trip Sunday afternoon. We had a rockin' good time with our friends out there. I totally meant to take pictures...but we left the camera at home so it will all just live in our memories. lol.

I didn't want to come back...but it probably is a good thing that we did because I have come down with some kind of sickness. My throat is so sore...it feels like there's knives in it and my head is pounding.

I've been home for 2 days now and haven't left the house since we got back Sunday afternoon. I've slept about 22 of the 24 hours in the day. My big excitement has been walking down the stairs and sleeping on the couch and then going back upstairs to sleep in bed. Finally this afternoon I'm starting to feel a little better. I'm even contemplating having a shower.

It sucks that I'm this sick because there are a zillion things I need to be doing at home and I just know that my work is piling up while I'm dying on the couch.

The list of things that NEED to get done this week and I don't know how I will get them all done:

• Finish Banner. GAH. So much to do on that one still
• Make the "Hand Plant" (see picture)
• Finalize Family Sunday Service
• Plan Andrew's Birthday Party (This will be a whole other post as we have $46.15 to plan his birthday party with--and we can't even decide what to do or to invite or where to have it)
  
• Clean House (Have I mentioned that the house has not had any attention since some time last week)

& it's already Tuesday afternoon...*sigh* No rest for the wicked.

We leave for our 'camping' trip on Friday after my friend finishes work. I'll be glad to get away for the weekend.

I took 3 days off holidays this week so me and Husband could have some time before he starts his new job. Yesterday we sat and watched the final season of ER and I worked on my Banner. It's coming along quite nicely.

Today we went shopping for some tools he needs for the new job. We went to Petland so Andrew could look at the animals. We're thinking of getting Andrew a pet for his upcoming 4th birthday but we can't decide what to get him. I'm very PRO fish and husband is very PRO Hamster. We had some lunch at Applebee's and were looking for new sneakers for Andrew. It's hard to shop with a 3 year old. Me and Andrew are home now (Husband is still out shopping) and I'm exhausted from chasing him around everywhere.

I planted some Basil seeds today. I hope they'll grow. I've never planted anything from seed before.

The plan for the rest of the day is too eat up some leftovers from the freezer, work on my banner, finish watching ER and go to the park.

Voila! We all cooked together. Me, Andrew, and Husband. Husband did the filling and the prep work. I did the circles and pinching. Andrew put them on the baking sheet and basted with the egg.

It was quite good fun and pretty easy to make. You don't even make the dough. You get frozen pie crusts, let them thaw to room temperature, take them out of the pan and cut the circles out of that. Ingenius!

Husband is downstairs cooking supper right now. He's making chicken empanadas. I'll post pictures later tonight. I can't wait. :)