best. wreck. ever!!!!!!!

it's my birthday in 5 days. my mom is here right now, but she won't be on tuesday (the 22nd... my birthday... hint hint), so she and the kids made me a b-day cake today.

and i have to say....

best. cake. ever!!!

 after i blew out the candles, blithe said, "wow! it smells like smoke in here!!!" um... i'm not that old... i'm turning 33. not 133!!!

 the proud wreckorators. note that the bottom of the cake is square, and the top is round. and note the crazy angles of some of the candles. 

there it is, in all it's wrecky glory. including, "mome" instead of "mommy." {sniff} it's just... just... so beautiful! {wipes tears}

could i be more proud?? could i be any happier???

nope.

'cause the kidley-winks made me my very own wreck for my birthday. i have the best. kids. ever. 

oh! it just occured to me that some readers might not know why i'd be so excited about a hideous, misspelled cake. check out this website, Cake Wrecks, and you'll understand. :)

DIY haircuts... unless they're "not" DIY

well, blithe and i were sitting on the couch this evening watching iCarly or something, and i looked over at her and thought, hey, her bangs look shorter in one spot. so i says to her, i says,

"hey, your bangs look shorter in one spot."

"wha-?!" she asks, "incredulously." (by the way, you're going to see a lot of quotation marks in this post. you'll understand as we go on.)

"did you cut your bangs or something?" now, to be clear, i'm not upset. i used to do the same thing. heck, i still cut my own hair! so i understand, i really do. i just think it's amusing because while she is following in my shoes with the DIY haircut... she hasn't picked up the importance of a mirror. haha

"um... no..." she replies, avoiding my gaze and messing up her bangs.  awful suspicious, don't you think? {wink}

we keep this up for a moment, and i change my FB status to "so, girlie got A- in drama, but can't lie to save her life. don't tell me you didn't cut your bangs... i'm looking right at you!!! ROFL"

and then it was bedtime. so, upstairs we go. the kidley-winks get themselves into their jammies and i go into her room. we sing along with justin bieber (apparently, it should be him. who knew?!) and then she says, "i didn't cut my bangs, mom."

hmm... interesting... i wasn't saying anything about it... funny she should bring it up, don't you think??? {wink}

"oh, i know," i "reassured" her, "'mom, remember this afternoon when it was staticky so i wet it? yeah, well, i think... i mean, i know that, um, yeah. as my hair dried, it shrank. but just in that one spot. yeah. that's what happened. yup. it shrank. that sounds good.'" and we laughed.

"i don't know," she exclaims, laughing. "maybe it was invisible aliens who sneaked in here and cut my bangs!"

invisible aliens?!?!?!?!


i'm so proud. because that is a story i can get behind. and i did. {wink} here's how it went down, according to me, with some laughing input from girlie:

so, i was sitting in my room, on my bed, you know, right here, and i was singing along with justin bieber, 'cause he's, like, soooo awesome and i love him but who doesn't really i mean come on look at those eyes squeeee!!!! ahem... anyhoo... so i'm sitting here, just minding my own business, and then this alien spaceship, this, like, flying saucer thing, swoops down into my room, with all the lights and stuff, and these little green alien martian people came out and pinned me down on my bed and cut off some of my bangs because they were doing some DNA experiments or something i don't know because i couldn't really talk for some reason i think they drugged me or something and that's why you didn't hear anything even though you were right across the hall. so yeah, then the alien guys climbed back up into their ship and there were the lights and the smoke and then they were gone... with my bangs!!!!! i mean, really, can you believe that?!?!?!?!

that, gentle readers, is the story your children need to memorize. if they pull that out when they think they're in trouble, you're just gonna have to laugh and let it go, because really, if they're going to pull that story off, and they're going to be the kid who had aliens invading their bedroom and cut their hair or whatever... yeah. just stand back, smile, and say, "kid, that was fan. freaking. tastic."

and so, blithe, on this night when, for the first time in your entire life you came up with a most ridiculous explanation for something i wasn't even upset about in the first place, i applaud you. i am so proud. but next time, you need to believe it, then it might be somewhat plausible. at least to someone on tv or something. {wink}

i asked God for a ministry. i told Him i want to make a difference in people's lives...

and He answered me.

because that's what He does.

so i listened?!?! and said, "ok"?!?!?!

{shakes head}

here's what happened:

so, i woke up this morning, totally not feeling it. i don't quite know how to explain "it," but i wasn't feeling it. gosh, mornings like that are just swell, aren't they? {rolls eyes}

but i got girlie off to the bus (the boys had spent the night with their dad) and i sat down on the couch with my handy-dandy notebook. (the power chord for my laptop is dead - at least i hope it's just the power chord :S )and i turned on the tv. i decided to watch a christian show that i never watch, but for some reason, i watched today. the guest was a man who rescues children from the sex trade in cambodia. and then i started thinking/praying, God, i want a ministry. doesn't have to be something like that, but i want something. just give me something to do. and the man made a really good point that we often think we need all kinds of education and training and what-not to do something for God, but we really don't. He'll put us where He wants us.

so i turned off the tv, and i actually found a great verse for this morning. i took it as my theme verse o' the day:

i cry out to God Most High,
to God who will fulfill His purpose for me.
Psalm 57:2

and then i pulled out my journal and prayed (yes, i write out my prayers. otherwise, i get too distracted and ooh! look! something shiny!!!..... k, i'm back, what was i talking about? ah, yes. i get distracted easily. why was i telling you that?? right. i was praying).

so, i ask, God Most High, give me a purpose. give me a ministry. give me something to do that will make a difference in people's lives.


He answers... wait for it..., clean the house.


i'm not even joking.

when i complained rolled my eyes argued asked piously for some clarification, i said, no, i wanted something that would make a difference. who would this possibly minister to?


He replied, the kids.


sigh. totally not what i was hoping for. i'll be honest, i wanted something glamourous like a call to india or working with street kids in a big city or something...

nope.

clean the house.

nice.

well, i bargained replied graciously and with the piety of mother theresa, because i know it's what You want me to do, i'll do it. just... give me joy while i do it. thanks.


sigh.

so right now, there's a load of bedding in the washer, and another waiting to go. i'm about to fold some laundry i did yesterday, load up the dishwasher, collect the garbage, and then try to find the play room floor. and maybe the end of the couch. and maybe, while i'm making a pot of coffee, i'll find at least some of the kitchen counter.

and you know... i'm actually feeling pretty good about this. like God actually has given me joy to do this job. cool! :)

Philippians 2: 5-11

by popular request...

my recipe for hash brown casserole. (and be warned: this is one of my recipes. so expect my unique measurements.)

some hash browns. judge the amount based on the size of the dish-thingy
one onion, chopped
cheese. grated. i like a lot of cheese. because i like cheese a lot.
a can of cream of broccoli soup (or cream of broccoli and cheese soup. that's awesome.)
some milk. again, i don't measure, so just eyeball it.

sometimes i throw in some veggies. usually more broccoli, if i have it. because i also like broccoli. i have also been known to throw in some sausage. again, because i like sausage.

so i throw it into the oven, at say... 350-ish. and i let it cook... until it's done.

and then we devour it. because it's just. that. good.

ok, i just re-read this post, and wow. why do i even bother sharing recipes??? unless this is how you cook, this makes no sense!!! i'm really sorry, gentle readers. maybe in the future, i'll be more diligent when cooking and actually - gasp! - measure something.

but probably not.

so, we're setting the table for dinner tonight, and as i'm wiping the table, Bram is playing with his plate, tapping it on the table and making a lot of noise of it. i say, "bram, please stop that. thank-you."

bram says, "but don't you like it, mommy? it's my song that i wrote. it's called the plate song."

what do you say to that?! lol i kissed him on the forehead, and blogged it. :)

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ah, bram. still the king of non-sequiturs

me: Bram, you have the quietest spirit, and i think that is so beautiful.

bram: yes, and sometimes i crunch cookies. because cookies are sometimes crunchy, right, mommy?

Bram’s bedtime prayer

Dear Jesus,

Thank-you for Mommy, Nana, Blithe and Asher.

Thank-you for making the world so different.

And thank-you that we get to meet the real Santa.

Amen.

For Staci... and anyone else who wants to read this, really

Yesterday i wrote about trying new things. Well, today, I practiced something "new-ish"... cooking for one. I don't have money right now to eat out (because, you know, I've been so wealthy in the past! Lol), otherwise i'd have gotten myself some sushi or A&W or a nice salad (quite a variety, no?). so, i looked in the fridge. I was originally going to have some carrot soup, but decided against it for some reason, i still don't know why. But... i did find eggs and a bunch of other goodies, so i threw something together...

An omelette!

Staci asked what was in it, and i know how much she likes my recipes, so here it is:

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Some milk

A couple mushrooms

Some ham

Some cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add some milk (this makes the eggs fluffy!), and salt and pepper. Beat.

Put a small frying pan on the stove. Turn on the stove to, say, medium-ish heat, and put some butter in the pan. Watch the butter melt, or grate the cheese. Whatever. It's up to you, i guess, what you do with your time.

Pour the egg mixture into the frying pan. I guess you could chop the mushrooms now. Whatever.

Once the eggs are looking almost done, add the rest of the ingredients. Watching cheese melt can be fun, so i'd recommend you do this now. (oh, the things i do to occupy myself when the kids are gone... oh, yeah, i'm just that cool. Lol)

When it's all done cooking, put it on your plate and enjoy!

There you go, stac, my super-dee-duper omelette recipe. Hope you like it! lol

Bram, the King of Non-Sequiturs

bram and i were cuddling a bit at the park this afternoon. we were chatting.

me: you sure love to cuddle, don't you?

bram: yes, and i have skin.

ok. whatever.

ok, this is the funniest picture ever...

i have no idea who set this up, putting blithe's Polly Pocket purse on bram's monster guy. but seriously! this is just too funny!!! my kids rock! :D

career goals... and sit down before you read... bram's will surprise you...

ok, so tonight we read a little board book about different jobs/careers. sort of a "when i grow up i wanna be a..." kind of thing. well, here's what the kids declared:

• Blithe: a veteranarian (sp?). that way she can be a doctor, but also work with kitties and goldfish and horses. honestly, she listed those animals in particular.
• Bram: (are you sitting down? i'm not joking here, folks) ok, so, if you've met bram, you're likely thinking farmer or trucker. or perhaps a combination of the two. or a conductor on a train. nope. that's not what he said tonight. he has two goals: painter and actor. stop laughing. i'm not joking.
• Asher: he yelped something from the other room (he was already in bed, but likely heard my jaw hit the floor), but to be honest, i didn't quite catch it. something about "anything but paeds cardio for me, thank-you very much!" (or maybe i'm just projecting a bit there, lol)

there you go. my kids' career goals. interesting, wouldn't you say? ;)

a quote

i don't know what this has to do with anything "simple," but i just re-discovered this quotation, and it's going on the sidebar here so it won't get lost, but i want you to read it, so it's a post, too (don't mind me, i'm a little odd...). here it is:

beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
- Benjamin Franklin

a wise, wise man, that ben franklin... ;)

Theology 101 at Blithe Peters Seminary (i don't know what denomination, or even if it's accredited, though)

and i'm quoting here:

"mommy, you know what? God is an alien."

that's it. no room for questioning. just "God is an alien."




*****here's her reasoning: Daddy told her that God lives in heaven, and that heaven is in outer space. she made the leap to "God is an alien." how's that for systematic theology?! yup, she's gonna be a famous theologian someday... or maybe, infamous... lol

more toronto pics

i said i had more to share, so here you go...

blithe and bram got the chance to dig for dinosaur bones at the ROM. they loved it. they each went back to the sandboxes a couple times. they had loads of fun.

asher insists that everything blithe and bram can do, he can do, too. so, he raced over to the bone-digging, grabbed himself a pair of goggles, and called to nana to come lift him up. he had loads of fun, too.
would you be at all surprised to learn that this was blithe's favourite display at the museum? and that it wasn't mine?
the Delta Chelsea has an amazing thing for kids - they can check themselves in!!! they get to climb up to the counter, and then they get an activity pack. all three kids got one, and they loved it. our room (which i got for cheap, by the way - $129 for a premium room! woohoo!) was a mess almost from the moment we got in. lots of crayons and colouring books, and toys and plastic bags and ribbon ties and squealing, delighted children. so much fun!
ok, here's the story. wednesday morning, we had to go over to SickKids for asher's immunology appointment. and of course, because of the parent rate at the hospital versus the cost of parking anywhere else, the van was parked at the hospital. so we had to walk from the hotel. problem is, it started to pour just as we were checking out. nice, eh? so, we walked. in the rain. we weren't impressed. but, at least we were wet. because, of course, we didn't have umbrellas. i am not exaggerating (for once) when i say that within 30 seconds outside, we were all soaked. so, we scrambled under a canopy and dug the towels out of our bags and draped them over our heads. i threw a blanket over the stroller in an attempt to keep my child out of the rain before consulting a doctor about his compromised immune system. and i say "attempt" because asher refused to have the blanket over his stroller. he and i walked all the way to the hospital with him peaking out from behind the blanket, unbeknownst to me. at least, until we got to the hospital and he was wet and cold. oh, yeah, i was thrilled. anyway, with the towel over my head, i couldn't see mom and the other kids, because they were behind me, so i just barrelled along on my way to shoppers. you see, at shoppers, they have umbrellas. well, i got to the store, and looked behind me for the rest of my party, and there they were, standing on the corner, looking wet and pathetic in their towels. and to all my scrappy friends, you'll be proud to know that i have trained my mother well: you see how she's standing off from the kids a bit there? yeah, she's taking their picture. are you proud? i sure am. teehee!

so there you have it. a few more pics from our toronto trip. i have a couple more i want to post still, but i'm tired and sick, so i'm going to bed. maybe i'll post tomorrow. i'll try, anyway. talk to you later! :)

UPDATE: ok, so i'm showing the older kids the pictures here tonight, and blithe says, "we should have took a taxi." bram adds, "but there's no taxis in this world." i says, "bram, you know what that green and orange car is? the one right behind you in the picture? it's a taxi." yeah. conversations with my kids are funny. lol

ok, this is just too funny

so, last night, i took the kids to my friends' 25th anniversary open house. we were sitting at a table, munching and chatting. well, the kids were very tired, and granted, i may have forgotten the "be on your best behaviour or we're leaving" conversation, but whatever. they know the rules. anyway...

let's just say, the kids weren't at their best. so, i said that if i had to speak to them one more time about their behaviour, we would leave. blithe was not impressed with that idea. (which is fine, i wasn't impressed by her behaviour, so whatever.) anyway, i said, with a smile on my face, "blithe, who's the boss in our family?" she answered, sullenly, "you are." "that's right," said i, "so what does that mean?" "we have to do what you say... but can't someone else be the boss for once? like bram or me? please?"

um, let me think.... no. but still, nice try, kiddo. lol

Crockpot Strawberry Jam (finally!)

look! i'm finally doing it! crockpot strawberry jam. i didn't use the full 4 lbs of strawberries that the recipe called for, but that's ok. i figure i'll test it out on a smaller scale, and then go bigger if we like it.

i went with a friend to the local farmer's market here in town this morning. i picked up 2 flats of strawberries. i'm going to use them for baking and stuff (if bram leaves any for me to use! honestly, it's like he has a hollow leg or something. where does he put all that food?! the boy never stops eating!). i'll likely freeze a lot of them, and keep them on-hand for roll kuchen (a mennonite favourite - strawberries in deep-fried pastry - delish!), jam and strawberry sauce.

so there you have it. crockpot strawberry jam, in the works. i'll update later (or tomorrow) with the verdict. talk to you later! :)

UPDATE: so, i'm sure that if i'd followed the recipe exactly, including all the directions and not just the ones i chose to follow, it would have turned out. but since i'm a rebel and never do exactly what i'm told, well, don't ask. tomorrow we're making simple freezer jam, and freezing the rest of the berries, which mom and i cut up this morning, so they're ready to go. anyway, don't judge the recipe by my ineptitude. i'm sure it would work splendidly for you, but... i'm not you. lol

my garden - weekly update. and a couple lessons in weather watching. first of 2 posts today. but they're different, so make sure to read both.

garlic! i have 9 sprouts!

pickling cucumbers. doing great!


i have 2 yellow bean sprouts

hot banana peppers. still doing well!


pumpkin's doing nicely, too. starting to spread!


that's right, folks, there is progress and growth in my garden this week. i'm not kidding when i say that the garlic has grown noticeably just this afternoon! the plants are loving this heat and humidity (they'll learn, lol). i wanted to show you our tomato plants, but my camera died, so i have to recharge the batteries, and i'll try to get pics for next week. but they're really growing! in fact, not only is the plant doing well, but we have about 7 plants starting, too, from the seeds that blithe planted in there. so exciting!

i wanted to take these pictures and post them this afternoon, you know, just in case. we've got a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch here at the moment, so i thought i'd do this before we lose power or something. (i didn't think it'd be fair to asher if i used up the power from the solar generator so i could update the cyber-world on the garden when i should have been using the generator to, oh i don't know, feed him. lol)

but, you know, we're ready for the big storm now, if indeed it happens and is as bad as "they" predict. mom and i put everything thing away that we could. all the herbs (which are also doing wonderfully, by the way) are in the kitchen, all the tools, toys, balls etc are in the shed (the last thing we need is a pitchfork to come flying through the kitchen window). if the weather gets really bad, we'll probably bring the barbeque inside, too. keep it safe a bit, in case we need it later for cooking. we have a few extra mini-cans of propane somewhere (i'll have to get ed to dig them out for us, or at least tell me where they are). we've stockpiled some water, and we've got cans of beans and rice already cooked. we pulled out the candles, and have the lighters and matches present and accounted for. we couldn't move the sandbox, so we put the picnic table over top of it. i think we're good (or at least, as ready as we'll ever be).

i also gave blithe a little lesson in meteorology this afternoon. she's worried about the storm, so i took her outside and told her a little bit about clouds. i explained to her the 2 types of cloud (yes, uncle ed, i know there's more, but she's 5, and read on to see how i explained them). i told her that the great big ones that look heavy and fat, the ones off in the distance that are kind of grey, those are rain clouds. they dump rain on you. the two or three little one overhead right now, those are "pretty clouds." know what they do? they look pretty. no rain. just prettiness. there you have it: Meteorology 101. i told her that the weather man isn't always right, sometimes he's wrong, but we have to be prepared when he tells us things like today. but the best way to know the weather is usually to look up. if the sky is blue, it's not raining. if you look up and get water up your nose, it's raining. mom also suggested we make a weather rock. i'd love that, but i don't have a big enough rock. i'll have to keep my eyes open for one. so i'm on the look-out for one now. lol

anyway, that's our life at the moment. the kids are stocking up on some good ol' fashioned TV time (we'd have to turn it off during a storm, and it's too humid to play outside right now). but it's Thomas, so the boys are happy, and it's a welcomed distraction for blithe, too. so, i should go. i have to post a video of asher on his blog, then maybe i should spend some time with my family (novel idea, don't you think? lol) ttys.

haha! i'm such a loser!

remember the other day i said i was going to make annie's granola bars? yeah, didn't happen. apparently, i should read the list of ingredients before deciding to bake stuff. oh, i am soooo not a baker...type...person. lol

but, i am slowly but surely accumulating ingredients (i now have flour and sugar in my house! lol), so one of these days, once i have rice crispies and coconut (i have a coconut, but i don't think that really counts, although... holy cow! i just realized! i could grate the coconut! why did this never occur to me before?! stop laughing, annie - lol), i will actually for real make the granola bars. but seriously, i'm going to make jam tomorrow in my crockpot. oh, yeah, i should probably get some pectin. hmm. where do you get that? i realize a store would have it, but which store, and where in that store, and how much would it cost, and could i do this without it? really, if you have these answers, please comment. because i honestly don't know.

are you getting yet just how non-baker-girl i am? lol