Finally DONE!

About two years ago (give or take six months), the toilet in the main bathroom upstairs sprung a leak.  It was one of those slow leaks that you know nothing about until you look up at the ceiling when you are in the room directly below the john, and notice black patches.  A call to the plumber and about $150 later, we discover that the leak had likely been going on for months, and the floor underneath the gaudy lino was particle board and not plywood.  Sigh.

The plumber was great.  He told us what to do, and once we did it, to call him back and he'd get everything up and running.  Basically we had to rip up the floor around the toilet, lay down some plywood, and he'd come back and get the toilet on.  Ken and I chatted back and forth, trying to decide if we should just replace the whole floor, or just the damaged area.  And then we thought about renovating the whole bathroom. 

Exhibit One:  Our ugly bathroom (notice I didn't bother to tidy before taking the photo)

Our house was built in the early 80's, and this bathroom is a good example of ICK.  It was functional, although I prefer more drawers than the cupboards.  Don't you just love the lights?  And if you look to the far right you'll see about a foot of totally wasted space under the counter.  

The toilet is disconnected, but what six year old would realize that when he was over for a playdate?  After one of Nick's little friends used the toilet for what it SHOULD be used for, not realizing it wasn't functional, and us discovering the mistake a few days later (we walked around for awhile trying to figure out what was THAT SMELL upstairs) we taped the toilet closed.  The lovely taped up toilet stayed like this for the better part of two years.  Yes, we are a little slow. 

Here is the bathtub.  You can't really tell in this photo, but it is the colour of blech beige.  The tile is quite dated too, but I have seen worse. 

Quite honestly, the bathroom (before the toilet leak) was nowhere near the top of my list of "to do" items in the house.  I'd have much rather done the kitchen.  But to do the kitchen, we would have to knock down walls and rearrange lots of stuff, and the cost would be out of the stratosphere.  So the bathroom it was.  Too bad we decided AFTER we missed the deadline for renovation credits on our taxes and before the new sales tax was implemented in BC.  OOPS.

I had an idea of what I wanted.  And we had a budget.  We had a contractor that we really liked who did work for friends and did a fantastic job.  After I grilled him about safety, and recovered from my heart attack after seeing his quote, we decided to go ahead with using him.  The only down side was that we couldn't get a designer, and that we'd have to do all the designing and choosing materials ourselves (which in the end I think worked out well, but I sure as heck won't do that when we renovate the kitchen in oh about 20 years).

I thought I knew what I wanted, until I went looking and was overwhelmed with choices.  Thankfully Ken and I are very similar when it comes to what we like, so that part of choosing stuff was a breeze.  For the most part I picked and he agreed.  The only aspect that we clashed over (and I think that is even too strong a word) was the floor tile.  In the end, I got my way, and he really liked the result (whew). 

Once the contractor got in the house, the job was mostly done in about two weeks.  Bits and pieces at the end took awhile to get done, but overall it was very smooth.  The contractor and crew were excellent.  They tore the bathroom to the studs, and for me, that was the worst part - I had huge fears that they would find something wrong, and our bank account would be drained (well, more so than it was already).  Thankfully everything was great, no problems found at all. 

The only hiccup with the whole process were the cabinets.  We used a reputable company, and the cabinets themselves are great (and we got a good deal).  But the installation - BRUTAL.  I have never seen such a mess in my whole life, and honestly, I'll never use the company again based on that alone.  They didn't even seem to care when I called to complain about the state of the house after the cabinets were in.  In fact, our contractor said that if that had been one of his guys, he'd have fired him. 

So, here are the after photos (and now that we have so much storage, there is no crap hanging out on the counter!):

 We decided to go with a linen tower, which I LOVE.  Lots of extra storage, which will come in handy when all the kids have to share a bathroom when they are older (because we are never moving.ever.again.)

 Originally we were going to go with dark cabinets, but then I wasn't sure about tile with that, so we decided to go with white and then do a dark counter and floor.  If I change my mind about colour, I can always paint the walls darker.  Ken wasn't sure about the tile size, but after it was put in he really liked it. 

 The drawers make a big difference, I do prefer them over the cabinets we had before.  And I love my square sink. 

 The only downside with going square was matching everything up.  The only square fixture we could find for the shower was this one above, and while I love it, the colour (a gun metal grey) was tough to match with other fixtures (handles on the cupboards and the lights).  And I love subway tile.  I found some other tiles I loved, but I think they would have dated pretty quickly.  Subway tile is one that will stand the test of time (I hope - and if it doesn't, too bad).

 One thing I love about the shower/tub is the little nook the contractor built in.  I originally wanted it on the longer wall, but he suggested putting it at the end, his reasoning was that you don't want people to see all your crap when they open the shower curtain.  Good suggestion!

 And finally, I wanted one of the curved shower rods that they have in many hotels.  I love it!

I haven't done the final numbers yet, but we were really close to our original budget.  Thankfully we had no surprises and a great contractor.  YEA!!!

The big one.

I am a safety girl.  Safety, safety, safety.  Drives my kids nuts.  Now I am not one to want to wrap them up in bubble wrap, but I want them to think about what they can do to help prevent getting hurt.  Even when they play fight each other they know the limits of rolling around without hurting each other.  They look like a couple of bear cubs the way they cling onto each other and roll around the living room. 

But as much as you can prepare and know the dangers, sometimes it just isn't enough.

We live in an earthquake zone.  I have been in a few earthquakes, but none were very strong.  I remember vividly being at work during one where the building swayed a bit, and by the time we figured out what was going on, it was over.  I joke with my kids that one year when I was visiting New Zealand I was in the middle of another shaker, and the result was my dinner plate full of food sliding off the table.

When we were kids we had an earthquake kit in our home.  Thankfully we never had to use it.  Now that I am older and have a family to consider, there are so many things that come to mind that I never thought of before.  As far as our house goes, it is wood construction and apparently will withstand an earthquake better than other buildings.  Thankfully we are up on a hill and it is solid.  Our kids go to a school that was built in the late 1980's, and it is only one level.  We are lucky, but again, we can think we are prepared and mother nature throws a curve ball and you have to consider how to deal with the aftermath of a big one.

A few days ago there was another earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.  This one had devastating results with hundreds dead and many, many more injured.  I was in tears looking at the ruins online, remembering when I used to live and work there, and still not believing the damage that has been caused.  I spent many a lunch hour in Cathedral Square or wandering the shops in the city.  Many of the buildings were old and beautiful, now they are piles of brick and rubble.  Christchurch is not unlike areas of Vancouver or Victoria.  This earthquake is a huge wake up call. 

Thankfully our relatives are all ok.  Shaken, but ok.  Now the concern is "where do we go from here".  With the downtown area in rubble, how many have lost jobs?  How do they get food and gas?  What about clean water?  A number of people I know have actually left the city - areas are just not livable.

So yes, we have an earthquake kit.  But I don't think it is enough.  I need to get my butt in gear and really figure out what I need to do to make sure my family is ok when the big one hits here.  A great book that I did get awhile ago is Earthquake! Preparing for the Big One.  It is an invaluable resource for those of us living on the coast of BC.  I really need to dust it off and look at it again and try to make sure that we are prepared.

Soccer Mom? Not really....

Apparently I am listed as a “soccer mom blogger” on a soccer web page. Now that is funny as all hell, because even though I ferry the boys to and from soccer practice and games every week, this is SO not my thing. I have never liked soccer. I played for one year when I was about 13, and I hated it. Not sure why, as I love other ball sports (basketball and volleyball in particular). The only thing I could come up with is that the latter two sports are generally played indoors, with the exception of beach volleyball, which I’ll play anytime anywhere.


Right now I am sitting in the minivan, Nick and Renee are playing on their DSi’s, and Ethan is practicing his soccer. Outside. In the pouring rain. I don’t think I’d have such an issue with soccer if it was played in the spring or summer. But playing in the fall and winter in the lower mainland of BC just doesn’t cut it.  The poor kid is in so many layers that there is no possible way he could injure himself playing.  I guess coming from a safety geek that is a bonus. 

Soccer season here starts in late September. Weather is generally good until mid October, and that is when the monsoons start. October and November are generally wet wet wet, and December it is cooler, so the wet wet wet turns to ice ice ice. January rolls around, and playing conditions still suck. February the monsoons generally hit again, and keep going until March, when soccer season is over.

Vancouver is known for many things, one of them being the rainy weather. In fact, there are many ways to describe the rain here.  Meteorologists don't just say "rain", they give us different terms to explain how long and how intense the rain will be.  When talking about how long, they might say "brief", "intermittent", "occasional" or "frequent".  And believe it or not, there is a difference between "showers" and "rain".  Apparently when the forecaster says it is going to rain, it essentially means that we are going to get soaked.  Showers on the other hand, have a shorter duration than rain (who knew?).

At any rate, wet is wet, and soccer pretty much sucks when we are standing on the sidelines freezing and holding our golf sized umbrellas trying to stay dry.  The kids on the other hand love it.  The more mud and dirt, the better.  Sigh.

NOT the conversation I thought I have to have with my kids.

In the past few years, I have had many a dreaded conversation with my kids.  In my mind the "sex" talk would be the one that I thought I would dread most, but really, it was relatively easy.  Back in early 2007, I had "THE TALK" with the boys, which stemmed from the fact that I was pregnant with Renee.  Really, it was a great time to have the chat, as it was all very matter-of-fact, and to them we could very well have been talking about kneecaps instead of the applicable boy and girl parts needed to make a baby. 

All the parenting books (at least the couple that I did actually read), said that you answer *just* enough to satisfy their curiosity.  I just didn't really bank on Nick's curiosity.  At three years old he could have given an anatomy lesson to the local high school kids and explained all the ins and outs (pardon the pun) of making a baby.  Even now he'll randomly ask about babies being made, eggs, sperm...you name it, he's asked.  In fact, when he started Kindergarten last year I had to take his teacher aside and explain to her that Nick just might bring up the topic of babies at circle time.  "Oh, that's nice" she said.  I then went on to tell her that it would be the baby making that would be the discussion item and I got an "OH".  Didn't help that she was a constant reminder as she was eight months pregnant!

Overall, the sex talk has been easy.  The death talk - not so much.

Up until a year ago, the only real direct exposure to death for the boys were the three successive goldfish we managed to kill one summer.  We have had family members pass away, but the kids didn't really know them that well.  They just knew that mommy and daddy were very sad, and that someone we loved very much had died.  Then last year, one of Ethan's best friends dad had a stroke and suddenly died.  He was in his mid 30's.  That was one of the most difficult conversations to have with the kids.  They just didn't understand why he would die because he wasn't old.  He wasn't sick.  He spent a day with the boys the week before and fed them full of donuts.  The boys wondered what their friends would do without their dad.  Luckily Ethan's friend got alot of counselling through the school, and some of those sessions Ethan was involved with as well.  It was funny the way it worked - the counsellor at the school is a man, and he would have boys come in and they would all play ping pong and just talk.  I don't think the boys realized it was "counselling" per se, which in some ways was a good thing.

Just a few days ago, one of Ethan's friend's mom died.  She had been sick for awhile with cancer, but she was young.  When I told the boys of her death they both asked if I was going to die.  They asked if I am going to get cancer.  They worried about who would look after her boys (she has three).  That is alot for young kids to process, and I am willing to bet that there are many more questions they have that they just haven't asked.  Every time they hear of someone having cancer, they assume they are going to die.  That is another conversation that has been a hard one - because many family friends and relatives have died of cancer.  I have really tried to think about the positive and explain to the kids that yes, some people die of cancer, but lots of people beat it. 

I am truly thankful that I haven't had to deal with the trauma of losing a parent, a spouse or a child.  Losing friends that are your age is hard enough.  Losing very special loved ones is brutal.  But having said that, I can't even imagine what the families of my boys friends have had to (and are still) going though. 

We are doing it!

Ethan asked me late last year if he could run in the annual Vancouver Sun Run. This is a pretty popular run that goes through downtown and is 10K long. There are about 50,000 people every year that take part. In fact, there are so many runners that it takes about a 10-15 minutes actually start running once you get past the start line. 

The last time I trained for the Sun Run I did it to lose the baby weight from Nicholas.  Apparently my body liked it so much that I got pregnant with Renee. At first I had no idea what was wrong with me, but soon after the run was done and I started training for the Royal Victoria Half Marathon, I found out the cause of my fatigue.   So one can understand my reluctance to join Ethan in this venture.

However, I can’t let him run it alone. And Ken can’t do it because he has the knees of a 70 year old. So by default it is going to be me that will have to run it with him.

I am in much better shape now than I was five years ago when I ran the 10K race. But I don’t like to run. I have already told Ethan that we won’t be running the whole thing, but will do a combination of running and walking. I suspect that when he realizes just how long 10k is, he won’t have a problem with that. So far the weather has not been cooperating as far as training goes, so we haven’t had a chance to hit the pavement yet. I have run on the treadmill at the gym a few times, so I know at least that I won’t die in the process. 

About a year ago I took up spinning.  I needed some "me time", and the only time I could get it was at 6:00am!  So I try to hit the gym most mornings, and get in at least a couple of spin classes a week.  It has been a great base to work from as far as the running is concerned.  I just hope that the impact from the running doesn't do a number on my shins. 

This is the learn-to-run program we will be following.  It should be an interesting few months!

How NOT to talk art with kids.

I still remember many years ago a very good friend of mine telling me how we should ask kids about their artwork. NEVER EVER ask a child “oh is this a *insert name of something that the drawing totally looks like here*”? Apparently nine times out of ten the child will think you are smoking crack and wonder how the heck you couldn’t possibly see that what you thought was a shark was actually two dogs fighting over a lollipop?


Last week I spent some time with the son of one of my very dear friends. He is just about the cutest five year old you’ll ever meet, and he LOVES to draw. So while I was trying to compose a speech that I left until the absolute last minute, I gave him some paper and a pen and asked him to draw me something. He set right to work. After about 15 minutes he told me he was done. This is what he came up with:

When I first looked at this, the paper was folded and he showed me the first item circled below.

“oh honey, that is just awesome” I said. “that is a great Angler fish”. He looked up at me with his big huge brown eyes and said “uh Anna....it is NOT an angler fish. Can’t you see it is just a regular fish wearing a Santa hat?”. Oops. My bad. Never mind that Christmas has been over for a few weeks and my brain is totally out of holiday mode.

Ok, perhaps not totally out of holiday mode - it is the end of January and we still have our Christmas tree up. The tree decorations are put away, we just haven’t gotten around to taking the tree down yet.  Ken thinks it looks kinda nice in the living room. 

Then the little guy shows me this:

“Oh what a great birthday cake!” I said. Again, little beautiful brown eyes looks at me and says “It is NOT a birthday cake!!!”. Oh. I asked him what it was. He then told me that it was a jellyfish with gloves on. Sigh. Considering the theme of the art (sea life), I really should have known.  Perhaps I should do some drawings and see what they think I have drawn.  It really couldn't be much worse could it?

Rosy Posy Tea with attitude

Over the past year, little miss Renee has turned into quite the little girl.  Gone are the days of pants and t-shirts, now it is all about dresses, matching tights, sparkly shoes, princesses, and Hello Kitty.  OMG.  Hello Kitty.  I am not a bit fan of Hello Kitty.  In fact, many years ago when walking in downtown Vancouver, I saw someone wearing a shirt like this one:

Granted this is pretty horrible, and I would never ever wear something like this around Renee, but this pretty much sums up feelings about Hello Kitty.  Don't even get me started about the kiosk in the mall that sells everything Hello Kitty, including $25 umbrellas. 

So now that my three-year-old has gone all princess on me, she has started a bit of a tradition with her dad.  Every night after dinner, Renee and Ken sit down and have "rosy posy tea".  Renee graciously allows Ken to sit on the floor, she assumes her spot at the plastic little tykes picnic table in the playroom.  She has the pink tea cup, Ken gets yellow.  They chat, they snack and they drink "tea".  The only little glitch that we'll have to iron out before she ever sits with royalty is the "tea finger".  She tries to be dainty, but giving dear old dad the one finger salute just doesn't cut it (we haven't corrected her though, as it is just too darned cute, and the only time in her life that she'll get away with flippin' her dad the bird).

I sure was busy...

Wow...all of NINE posts in 2010.  Most of them done in the first six weeks of 2010.  Shameful.  I was busy, but I didn't think I was that busy.  I guess facebook is responsible for eating up my internet time. 

I am not one to make resolutions, however I will try harder to keep this up-to-date.  I also need to dust off my camera, for some reason motivation is lacking in that department as well.  Heck, I didn't take one photo at Christmas.  Not one.  I cooked two big family dinners, but didn't bother to capture the events.  Again, shameful.

I did break out my camera yesterday though when this little fella decided to visit.  Along with the odd bear, we do have an assortment of wildlife that tends to visit on occasion. 

So here's to 2011, and hopefully *fingers crossed* a much better blogging year.

Winter Olympics are almost here!

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics start in about four hours.  Hard to believe they are almost here.  We spent yesterday morning (and I mean early morning), standing in the rain waiting for the torch to go by.  We were really fortunate that it came within blocks of our house.  So the night before we got ready, and made torches.  They were great - until the tissue paper got soaked in the rain.  Oh well!

Random Acts of Kindness?

In an article written by Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun in September 2009, he stated that in ancient Greece, Aristotle defined kindness as "helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything."


In anticipation of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Vancouver this past September, the Vancouver Sun Newspaper asked readers to write in about random acts of kindness.  Specifically, they asked readers to “Please send us a letter in 200 words or less describing what "act of kindness" you have performed or plan to do”.

What really stuck with me though, was that they wanted readers to tell about random acts of kindness that they performed. Honestly, I would have much rather heard about someone who was on the receiving end of a random act of kindness. In fact, one gentleman who wrote a letter to the editor asked the question “if one does a random act of kindness is it still a random act if they then tell everyone about it?” I couldn’t have agreed with him more.

Some of the letters telling of what people did were truly fantastic. Others would have fallen into the category of plain old using good manners. Honestly, is someone opening a door for someone else with an armload of books a random act of kindness? In my opinion, that is something that should be done as a common courtesy.

I love the idea of a random act of kindnesses. The best part of them is that it might be something that someone might do and not realize the impact it has on the recipient. A random act of kindness could be someone telling a stranger how beautiful she looks, without realizing that that same woman struggled that morning trying to figure out how to put on her wig because all her hair had fallen out due to chemotherapy. That one small comment has a profound effect on the receiver.

A random act of kindness could be something as small as bringing a bouquet of tulips to a busy and harried school secretary “just because”, or anonymously picking up the tab for a young family at the local diner. It is something that is done from the heart with no expectations of anything in return, including recognition.

Perhaps I am being a bit over the top in that I don’t really need to hear about the random acts from the people who have done them. I am all for doing random acts of kindness, just not telling everyone that you did it. I do however love to hear stories from the recipients of these random acts. It is then that you truly appreciate the effect.

The big change over the last six months.

"it'll be fun" she said.

"no it won't" I told her....

My friend D was referring to boot camp.  She wanted to try it, and to be honest, I had looked at a bunch of different companies doing boot camp, but the cost and time commitment was prohibitive.  If you want to sign up for one month of hell, one camp in our area charged $200 for three days/week, and $270 for five days/week.  In addition, they require that you to buy your own stuff too (weights, mats, balls....).  Far to expensive for me. 

D had done her research and the local community center had a beginners boot camp, twice a week at 6:00am.  It wasn't nearly as expensive as the other camps, and they supplied the stuff that you needed.  I reluctantly agreed to join.  We started in July (too bad my 20 year high school reunion was at the end of June...).

The first week was really tough.  After the first day I could hardly move.  I was nearly in tears every time I went up and down the stairs.  It did get easier though. 

We stuck through it for July and August.  And I lost a grand total of ZERO pounds.  But I did feel better. 

I then started to get more serious about my eating.  I liked to think that I ate well, but I was snacking all day and when I wrote down everything that I put in my mouth and figured out how many calories I was actually eating I was shocked.  My version of breakfast, lunch and dinner was basically finishing what the kids didn't eat.  The food I ate was ok, I was just eating too much of it (with the odd chocolate treat).

Fast forward to today - D and I aren't doing bootcamp (it is outside, and the cold and wet just isn't appealing) however we have taken up spin classes, and work out at the gym.  Each of us needs the other to stay motivated, as the only time we can go is 6:00am.  That means we are getting up at 5:30 am most mornings.  We have both lost weight, and I am hoping that we keep this up. 

So what are the chances of having a 21 year grad reunion?  Slim....

Brought to you by the letters O, M and G.

I was in Starbucks the other day with the kids – it is a smaller one near us that has very limited seating, and when it is full, the idea of “personal space” goes out the window. We were lucky to squeeze into a small corner table with a couple of seats, I was a bit nervous though as it was next to a group of businessmen and Renee was dangerously close to full meltdown mode as it was pretty close to nap time.
The three men at the adjacent table were in their early to mid 50’s, and very distinguished looking. And when I say “distinguished” I mean they weren’t wearing the equivalent of my wardrobe of tee-shirts and jeans (on a good day) or yoga gear (did I mention I have never done yoga IN MY LIFE?). I think I may have had my funky rain boots on, so that at least is a bonus.

A youngish lady came up to the men and started chatting with them. I’d peg her in her late 20’s to mid 30’s (hard to judge because she was wearing a ton of makeup). She was an attractive lady though. They obviously knew her, not sure if she was a co-worker perhaps, or maybe a real-estate agent or insurance broker…at any rate, they bantered back and forth for a few minutes. Near the end of the conversation, she had mentioned her dogs – and one of the guys said “maybe we’ll just call you the dog lady” (and then they all chuckled). She laughed right along with them, and then told them she had to go. Just after she left and was out of earshot (but unfortunately, I wasn’t) one of the men said:

“I’d like to make her bark like a dog, OH BABY”.   The other two quickly agreed with him and started to laugh.

I just about spit out my coffee. REALLY???? I’d expect that from a few drunken 20 year olds perhaps, but those words coming out of a guy’s mouth that was old enough to be her FATHER was just icky. So so glad that Nick didn’t hear it. Not too sure how I’d explain that one.

room with a view

this is the view we had this morning from our small side window in the living room.  One day, when we gut and reno the house I'll make this the view from the kitchen.  That is Mt. Baker in WA in the shot.

My extremely talented friend...

I have written before about an extremely talented friend of mine and her ability to make amazing cakes.  She could give all those guys on TV a real good run for their money.  I have written about her sushi cake she did for my birthday last year, the kiwi cake with the Canadian spin that she did for my mom, and the first cakes she ever did for me, a Venom cake for Nick and girly girl cake for Renee. 

Also did a crab cake for my dad and sister-in-law (they are both born in July, so we figured using the astrological sign of cancer would be appropriate)

I haven't written about the pirate cake she did for Ethan this year (which was truly amazing - I loved the hanging skeletons)

And when Nick told me this year that he wanted a star wars cake for his birthday, complete with a couple of cops just to "keep everyone in line", she came up with this for him:

When she brought the cake over to the house, Nicholas took one look at it and said "but that isn't how you spell my name"!  The cake lady told him that she didn't have enough room to print "Nicholas" so she did the shortened form instead.  Nick's eyes lit up, and he asked if that was in fact his name.  I told him it was.  He almost NEVER writes Nicholas now...

So for Christmas this year, the cake lady surprised us with an amazing clay sculpture of our family.  I love it.  So freaking talented...

Weakness.

One of my biggest weaknesses is cookbooks.  In the last month I have bought three.  Three BIG ones.  And this is in addition to the seemingly endless amount of bookmarked online of recipes that I want to try.  And the cupboard full of cookbooks I already have. 

One website that I read frequently is The Pioneer Woman.  I have tried a few of her recipes, most have worked really well.  One of Ken's favourites is apple cake in an iron skillet (he calls it sex in a pan).  In fact, I had to go out and buy a SMALLER skillet because when we used the big one we'd eat all the dessert in one sitting.  Just the two of us.  And I wondered why it was so hard to lose weight....

I must admit, the apple cake doesn't look pretty, but it smells and tastes AMAZING.  And works equally well with pears.  Caution - it is LOADED with butter - which I regularly stock up on when we travel to the US.  Unsalted butter up here is insanely expensive, so picking up a few pounds (ok, more than a few) is a must when we go to south.  In fact, on my last trip down with some girlfriends we were grilled at the border about the amount of butter we were bringing home.  You'd think it was drugs or something.  Never mind the wine we had, that guard was all focused on the 10lbs of butter each of us were trucking back to Canada....

The Pioneer Woman also has a cookbook (which of course, I bought).  I have tried a couple of recipies and they turned out quite well. 

Another weakness is Williams-Sanoma.  I don't really buy stuff there, but I browse.  And dream.  And drool.  I did see this cookbook in their store, but I didn't buy it.  But then, as I was in Costco a few days later (buying aforementioned butter) I saw the cookbook, and it was almost half the price.  I scooped it up. 

I haven't tried anything in it yet, but I have found a bunch of recipies that I will try in the coming weeks.  I love how it is laid out, and the photos are amazing. 

Last but not least, I purchased Baking, by Martha Day.  It too was in Costco, and it was CHEAP.  I'd never heard of her, but a quick google shows that she has written numerous cookbooks.  Again, the photos are amazing, and I can't wait to try some of the recipes.  I am such a sucker for a good cover for a cookbook (I think mine is a newer edition, because I couldn't find it online, but here is an earlier version of her book):

Something went crash and left a mess.

Red Breasted Sap Sucker, originally uploaded by SalteryLodge.com.

A couple of weeks ago we were eating lunch and Ethan asks why the window is "messy". I asked him to define "messy". He told me that there were feathers and other gunk on the window. He then looked down and told me that there was a big bird in the yard.

Years ago when I was studying at UVIC (oh how I miss Victoria...) I took a bird identification course. It was basically a filler third year level course that I needed to get enough credits for my Biology degree. The only textbook required was Peterson's Field Guide to North American Birds, which was a bargain compared to the $100+ textbooks required for other classes. I quite enjoyed the course (not as much as the statistics class where we had to chase grasshoppers in open fields attempting to catch and mark them, but that is a whole other post).

I never did think that I'd use that knowledge that cost many thousands of dollars, but I do, almost daily. After examining the dead bird, looking through the field guide, we came to a consensus that it was in fact a Red Breasted Sap Sucker.  The kids were just fascinated, so much so that Nick asked if we could get a bird feeder. Normally we don't have them out as they are an attractant for the bears (which visited and played in our yard again this year), but most of them are hibernating at this point, so I figured why the hell not.

So the field guide is by the window, and almost every day one of the kids (even Renee) brings it over to see what type of bird is at the feeder.  We have had a huge variety, even the big woodpeckers having a go at the birdseed.  At least it is a break from the endless Star Wars and Lego!

This time last year...

balancing act, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

We were covered with the white stuff. As I sit typing this now, it is pouring rain. I do really like the snow - as long as I don't have to go anywhere in it.

Post number one of 2010 done!

out with the old...in with a new resolution.

So I have decided to revive the blog. I am even debating trying to post something every day, a fair whack of that will have to be photos though, because I am just not that talented to write something daily.

So to all two of you who read this blog, hold onto your hats!

Things to learn at soccer camp...

Ethan just finished a week at soccer camp. He didn't love it, but he thought it was ok (I think being in the scorching sun had something to do with it). Funny how a few weeks ago he dreaded swimming, but in the last week when it has been stinking hot he can't wait to go...

At any rate, he did well. He learned a few new tricks:



He went after the ball (most of the time)



Most importantly he did have a smile on his face




Ethan's fondest memories of soccer camp though is what he learned from his peers. His much older peers...



He is now teaching Nick and Renee all about farting from the armpit. Oh joy.

Me thinks this wouldn't have worked in the Catholic church...