Sneakin' one in!

Well we are home from our southern alberta trip...actually came home a couple of days early because I missed my hubby so much and discovered that he had been very busy while we were gone and re-did our bathroom! I'm talking new floor, tub, tub surround and toilet! We need to paint and change out towel racks but he did a fantastic job! Thanks honey!

I had lots of fun at the wedding...even though my cousin Ryan did hold me hostage at the reception for awhile and I popped my dad's shoulder out while we dancing - a case of me going one way and he going the other and not letting go of hands. Oops! And then I cried my eyes out over it. Silly silly me.

I don't have too much fun to report...just that I love my family and miss them tons. It was nice to see them all and to have a few days off from real life!

Rhett came down with the flu the day we left and still seems to be trying to get over it...hopefully it won't last much longer and maybe we'll all be healthy for awhile.

Anyways, here's some pics...

Somehow I managed to get pictures of everyone but the groom! Lots of us cousins, Ash dancing with her brother Ryan, even Ryan's little girl with her Opa (my uncle Eddie) but none of Ash and Tom. Oops. Good thing I wasn't the photographer! It really was a great day and we wish them the best!

Interesting to me

The past couple of days have been a roller coaster of emotions for me. I've been thinking and brooding and questioning a lot of the happenings in my life.

Last June I started on a journey to lose weight and I've been very successful at it. People that I haven't seen in a long time don't recognize me. I feel great, look great, and for the most part I behave myself and eat a lot better, and exercise a lot more. I feel that I lost the weight in a healthy way and that I'm doing a good job at maintaining it. What started out as a weight loss goal changed a lot of things and although I had a size and a mental image in mind, my main motivation changed from my pant size to creating a healthier me and staying the healthier me to bless my family and my lives. So, the big question that has loomed in my mind lately is how I can supposedly be the healthiest I've been in years and yet am sustaining these attacks of pain and still producing more liver enzymes than is normal. Cliff and I have even joked around that maybe I should go back to being 200 lbs since I seemed to have less health issues then (of course that's not true and NOT an option but it made us giggle) I don't have any answers as to why this is happening and it's really thrown me into a funk today. I knew it as soon as I woke up today. Have you had one of those days? When you wake up and you feel like a big, ugly, gray and weeping rain cloud is your hat for the day. You're hoping and praying that the sun is going to break through but as the hours past it just seems that the cloud gathers more and more mass and you have to struggle more and more to put on a front of normalcy. Yep, that's what I felt like this morning. So, how do you get rid of it? It's taken me almost all day long to get rid of it and has disappeared in steps and degrees. I had a good cry. Not necessarily about anything in particular but tears are wonderful things. Kind of shrinks the cloud a bit. I had good talks with my wonderful hubby Cliff and also with my mom. .I had a great nap with my kids. (Zane has an upset tummy and with my emotional state what it was today we opted to stay home today). Poor Cliff was left to his own devices for 2 hours. I broke out a book of wonderful church piano solos that I haven't played in years and went through most of them. One of them was the song Infinite Worth by Janice Kapp Perry and as I played it and remembered some of the words I felt my soul being cleansed of the lingering cloud. What a wonderful blessing music and the gospel is in our lives. The two combined have always been so special to me. I truly believe that there are times the veil is thinned and that our spirits are allowed to glimpse and remember what life was like in the spirit world with our Father in Heaven.
Being in a funk is no fun. But in some ways it serves as a kick in the butt and I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow with a new attitude and jumping back into my life. I miss being me - the non sick, not so stressed out me. I've decided that I can act sick or I can healthy and I choose healthy. This week will be busy and full as we get ready for me and the kids to leave on Thursday to southern Alberta for a week. My cousin Ashley is getting married on Saturday so it should be a fun trip.

The wait is Over!

We have been waiting all winter to have the perfect snow for a snowman and it finally happened! Not only did it finally happen, but Cliff was home to help us!

It was the perfect day yesterday to be out in the snow with the kids and we had so much fun building the snowman and then having a snowball fight. Cliff dominated the the fight and all was good until Rhett accidentally got one lobbed right into his face and chest. Half of it went down his coat and shirt and he was done. Oh he was mad. Poor kids. I was laughing so hard that I could hardly carry him into the house. But we got him in, stripped down, and cuddled up in a blanket with some juice and mom. He was asleep 20 minutes later!

We also went and walked through the Stars showhome here in Sylvan. It was soooo beautiful and the kids did great. I was a little nervous about bringing them with us but they didn't touch anything and did really good at listening. We braved one more house since they were so good and Zane loved it. He was really disapointed today when we didn't go and see any new houses today.

I'm hoping that since we are starting to see grass in some places that maybe spring is on the way....could we be so lucky?

promised pics

Well I'm a little later than I thought at getting these pics up....but they're still cute. (At least I think they are!)

Life here has been pretty much the same old same old until last night when I had another pain attack like the one that put me in the hospital 2 weeks ago. We decided not to go to emerg because by the time we got there the pain would be over and all they would do is make me sleep in emerg for the night and do blood work. I already had an appointment booked for this morning to get blood work done for a different thing so this morning we got a hold of my doctor and he told us which other boxes to check off on my form he gave me on Tuesday. I'm really hoping that we're going to have some answers tomorrow. But I have wonderful visiting teachers who are going to bring me supper tonight and if I can convince Rhett to have a nap I'll be following close behind.

On another note....I can't believe that it is valentines day already. We don't usually do much for it - maybe a nice dinner or something. That's kinda on hold right now. But we did call and sing happy birthday to Auntie Kizzy today! Zane is very dissapointed that we don't get to be there for her cake and presents. Poor kid. He had a blast at preschool today. They had a valentine day party and he has been buzzing all week waiting for it.

Rhett's a little crabby and has a low grade fever as he got his last immunizations yesterday (at least until his 4-6 year old ones) I always delay my kids a little bit - not such a fan of everything entailed with immunizations but that's another issue altogether. Anyways, Rhett is 32.4 lbs, 35 3/4 inches tall. Puts him 97% for height and 95% for weight. Nice and healthy. Not that we thought any different.

So if you remember keep your fingers crossed that the doctors will figure out what's wrong with my body and we'll keep you posted!

So much Fun!

I think I have a new favorite website: cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com I found it on Mindi's site (thanks :)) and decided to try it out! I like this one....some of my older posts have colors that I'm not wild about but I'm too lazy to go through and change them all.
My kiddos were both very grouchy/whiney today. Made for a very long day but they have been in bed for almost a whole hour now. Whew. One more day down!
I'm so happy that it's warming up. I'm very tired of the freezing cold and can't wait for spring and summer to get here. I am not an outside winter person. I prefer to hibernate, bake, eat, read, play board games with the kids, watch movies...yep, I'm a regular winter phobic. I only venture outside when I have to. When mom was here last week we did have a really nice day and we took the kids out in the backyard to play. They were getting bored fast (the snow wasn't sticky so not much to do but kick at it) so I pulled out a memory from my childhood and grabbed a couple of buckets of water, some food coloring, some spoons and whoila - colored snow. What a hit! They had soooo much fun making colored snow - just like me and my sisters did when we were little. It brought that warm gooey feeling inside as I realized that I was passing on something that brought me joy as a kid.
And yeah, that's it for now. I've got some pics that I need to put on the computer but I'm being lazy today....I'll try for some more tomorrow!

I'm still here...

Well...it's been an exciting week in our household. I went to the ER last Thursday am in a lot of pain and ended up being admitted with pancreatitis. Not fun. My pancreas, liver and kidneys were not very happy...docs think it was due to an errant gall stone that has now cleared my system. So I spent from Thursday 'till Monday night in the hospital and am very happy to be home. Thankfully my wonderful mom came to the rescue to take care of my family (thanks mom!) And sadly is leaving us tomorrow. I've been tired for the past couple of days but seem to back to normal today. My liver is still not quite doing what it is supposed to do so I go back and see the specialist in March...will keep you posted!

Now for the fun stuff. I've read tons of mommy tags and wanted to do one too! Thanks Susie for the ideas!

mommy tag
Typical time of wake-up:
Kids anywhere between 6 and 7....Rhett's usually up first. Sigh. Depending on the day Backyardigans and chocolate milk buy me an extra 45 mins or so of sleep!

On a good night when you/kids go to sleep:
Kids in bed by 8 and I'm usually there by 11:30...hard to give up the time with my hubby!

How long you have been a momma:
Closing in on 5 years. Wow...time has sure flown!

How many times have you been a new mom:
Two

How old were you when you became a mom (is this to personal?):
I was 22

Favorite Kids show: Backyardigans...Bo on the Go....Super Why....Einsteins....love the ones with music and learning combined. Boys really like Diego but he's not my favorite

Least Favorite Kids show: I'll second Barnie...and Rollie Pollie Ollie is banned in my house - I can't stand the baby talk

Favorite chore: Laundry, dishwasher

Least favorite chore: Bathroom....I loathe it and seem to leave it until I just can't stand it then it takes me 15 mins to do and I think, gee that wasn't so bad. Still it hasn't changed how often I clean it.

Meal you cook most often: Chicken with baked potatoes, homemade chicken noodle soup with buns, stew with buns, spaghettie....I try to change it up and try new things

Kids favorite meal: Bun, apple, cheese and chocolate milk. Both kids love it and it's a staple in our house. Zane likes turkey with it to but not on his bun....that would make it a sandwich and he thinks he's allergic to sandwiches. Rhett likes peanut butter on his bun sometimes but tends to just stick his finger in it and lick it off.

5 things that make you smile when you are being a mom:
1. The way Rhett follows Zane everywhere....especially when Zane says "C'mon Rhett" and they take off on some high adventure
2. Rhett getting caught doing something he knows he's not supposed to do and trying to turn it into something helpful - ie climbing on the counter to get the phone, turning it on and then giving it to you like he just did you a big favor
3. Snuggling between the two of them and reading stories
4. Singing with them and watching how excited Rhett gets and how well Zane knows the words and actions now
5. The things that come out of an almost 5 year old's mouth....I told Zane the other day that a friend was getting married....he said, oh I know what happens when you get married...you have babies! When's Grandma going to have a baby? He was quite disappointed to learn that Granmmie is done having her own babies. Some thing obviously got lost in translation!

Favorite thing your husband does with your kids:
All the boys things...wrestling, watching sports, BBQ....Zane has declared daddy the outside chef and mommy the inside chef! No one can make the boys giggle and laugh like their daddy! He's the best!

Last time you went out with no kids:
Couple of Fridays ago I got a sitter during the day and we went show homing. It was a lot of fun to see all the new houses and pick out what we like and didn't like! Had a fun date planned for last weekend but being in the hospital kinda' kyboshed that!

If you could take your kids anywhere where would it be:
Hmm...we plan on Disney Land when they're all older....but now just somewhere warm away from the winter!

Favorite pastime/activity with kids:
Stickers, dancing crazy, soccer in the hall...

1 thing you said you would never do when you were a mom:
Sleep with them, wipe snot with my bare hand, put something in my mouth that was just in their mouth....should I keep going? I've learned that a lot of things aren't as big a deal as I thought...

If you had an afternoon to yourself what would you do?
Ummm...I'd like to say something that would be really productive but I think it would probably be napping or blogging!

1 thing you do that your mom did & now you do:
I sing my kids a lullabye every night

Favorite quality of your own mom:
We come number one...no matter what....she taught me so much about being the best mom I can be and she's my constant sounding board!

Favorite kids book: We're going on a Bear Hunt, Red is Best, The Sneetches

Best advice for a new mom:
The first six weeks are the hardest....you know your baby the best so do what YOU think is best

Scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom:
Scariest - not hearing Rhett cry after he was born....
Heartbreaking - seeing Rhett in the SCN for the first time and not being able to hold him....walking floors with both boys when they were really little and had ear infections and the drugs weren't working!

Most joyful moment as a mom:
The first hold....any first. I love watching them hit each milestone...especially the first time they say I love You!

Last time your child told you they love you:
Just before supper...Zane ran up and gave me a kiss and told me he loves me....and I think Rhett means he loves me when he says "mommy! and then continues on with jabber I don't understand!

Last time you said I love you to your kid:
This afternoon...and in about 20 minutes when I get them in bed. Yes, we're a little behind tonight!

Tag anyone who wants to do this!