My Husband, The Toy Maker

I was going to write about our revenge on the wasps, but forgot my pictures at home so instead I'm going to highlight my husband's creativity (more on the wasps another day).

Jim has always been quite artisitc. His latest outlet is making wooden toys. He has such fond memories of playing with his Little People Playsets with his Sesame Street Little People. He has been making his own characters (and some Sesame Street characters) for his own boys for years now and has recently started selling them on Ebay. Lots of people still have their Little People Playsets (we do) but they don't make the characters to go with them anymore. Now the Little People playsets and characters are different, quite a bit bigger. I told hubby he needs to figure out how to make a playset to go with his characters. He is thinking about it, he might start out with a car they can sit in and go from there.

Here are some pictures of what he has made:

Oscar the Grouch

McDonald Land Characters

Laurel and Hardy, in black and white!

Bob and Larry from Veggie Tales

Kermit and Fozzie Bear

Starwars




As you can see, my boys love Starwars. They play the Starwars Lego game (computer and Wii) all the time and that is the inspiration for these Starwars characters.

Here are a few of my husband's original characters:

Fall Characters

St. Patrick's Day Characters

Snowman

These are the current characters for sale on Ebay right now:

*click on the names to go to the Ebay auction
Zoe Elmo Grover

You can check out all the characters he has made by clicking on the button for Little Wooden Guys on my sidebar or by clicking here. Be sure to look back through the archives to see all the characters including one done to look like our son, cute!

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't planned a menu in a few weeks, with the kids being gone some of the time but no more excuses, time to get back at it! So here is what this week looks like:

Monday- Leftovers from the weekend

Tuesday- Breakfast Casserole

Wednesday- Spaghetti Pizza (using whole wheat noodles) and salad

Thursday- Easy Slow Cooker Pork Chops with rice and corn

Friday- Oven fries and hotdogs (using whole wheat buns)

Saturday- Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Meatballs with rice and mixed veggies

Sunday- Best Tuna Casserole

For more meal plans and recipe ideas go visit The Organizer Junkie!

Good Ab Workout

It is the video, not the actual product that is great for your abs.... you laugh so hard watching it!

STUNG!!

Jim was out on the deck yesterday and somehow stirred up a bunch of hornets or wasps. They swarmed him but luckily he only got one sting, just below his temple. He wasn't too bad yesterday. It throbbed but the pain wasn't too bad. Not so lucky today, it is quite swollen and very hot to the touch. Anyone got any home remedies for bee stings? He wasn't able to sleep very well last night, I feel bad for him. Also, any suggestions on how to get rid of the hive (if we can find it)?

I didn't realize how much I missed the boys while they were gone until they were back. The house just isn't the same without children's voices, giggles, running and jumping. I enjoyed the quiet but really, after a while, that gets boring. Now if I'm bored, I can join the kids in some game, story or craft. And of course, now that they are home, there is always cleaning to do!

How has your summer been so far? Have you done anything or gone anywhere special for the summer holidays yet? We are planning a trip to New York next month to take in a Wiggles concert with the kids. They are really looking forward to it, and we must remember to bring the Gravol!

I leave you with a cute picture depicting brotherly love! (Of course they are embarassed by this picture now so I thought I'd share it with the world on the internet! Why not?)

Travel Horror Story

*This post is not for the queasy. If reading about someone throwing up makes you feel unwell, you might want to skip this one!

Okay, here is my most recent travel horror story. In April we headed off to district conference where my husband was going to be ordained. We were pretty excited, this was a big deal! It took us about five and a half hours to get there and everything seemed fine. Anyone who has ever been to Saint John New Brunswick (Canada) knows that city is a nightmare to drive in. There are so many one ways. The street signs sit on an angle so that you don't know which road they represent. Anyway, we got caught in this one way loopy thing and we had to do it a few times to finally find the road we needed. I get car sick easy (which means I have a lot of travel horror stories from my childhood) and it seems I have passed this on to my kids. We were trying to find the big church where an opening banquet was being held. The kids were hungry, tired of driving and feeling all those loops. We finally find the church and walk in and immediately have to stand in a long line to register for the conference. While in the line, my youngest starts gagging, I quickly rush him off to the corner to a garbage can but nothing comes. Whew! I was worried he'd throw up in front of all the people in the line, waiting to eat! So we register and find out the kids are supposed to go downstairs to a kids program so we head on down. We walk in, get them all registered and all of a sudden he starts gagging again, only this time he throws up all over the floor in front of all the kids. Nice. I am not good with vomit and can't clean it up. My husband and one of the ladies clean it all up. Now I figure, okay, he's done it and should feel better now, after all he is only carsick, right? I decide to sit with him a while...wait...where did the oldest go. Oh, my husband informs me he is in the bathroom and seems to have diarrhea, great. I see where this is going. Oh, there goes the middle one, off to the bathroom too. Uh oh, now the youngest has thrown up again, this time all over me. Time to go back to the motel, this is not just car sickness, but first we must stop at the garbage can again...poor little guy. So we get the motel and it is brand new, so nice and I love that there is actually white duvets on the bed. White duvets....this seemed like a good thing at first. Hubby runs out the the grocery store to get us something to eat. We all snack a bit on some fruit, and that sends the two youngest to the bathroom throwing up. Our good friends are coming the next day and we are looking forward to visiting with them only I can now see I'm going to spend the whole three days in this hotel room. So my poor baby is up all night throwing up, won't keep the gravol down. In the morning I feel like I've been run over, so tired. I can't let Joseph up on the bed because of all the white so he has slept on the floor all night. Oh ya, the carpet is a nice light shade too. My husband goes to the store to get liquid gravol this time and the pharmacist tells him to buy some Gatorade. So he buys Red!! Do you see where this is going? I give this red drink to Joseph and he precedes to throw it up all over the nice light carpet and the white pristine towels. I took them down to laundry apologizing. They were great, they gave me new towels, pillowcases and lots of rags and disinfectant. The next day our friends arrive and no one has thrown up for a few hours so we think we'll try and go out for lunch and bring a cup for Joseph with us, just in case. So we are at the table, waiting for our food and Joseph drinks some chocolate milk and then throws it all up into the cup at the table. I go dump it and then Andrew uses it because seeing his brother throw up makes him sick again. I feel so bad for the people at the tables around us! It didn't make for a nice lunch! Back to the hotel jail! Thankfully, my friend offers to stay with the sick one so I can at least attend my husband's ordination ceremony. We are both haggard and tired and look it! Time to go home, we invest in some sand buckets for the drive home. They were used several times but we made it. What a long trip that was (3 days but felt like at least a week!). Poor Joseph kept this up for two more weeks. That is my travel horror story! Head over to Absolutely Bananas for hers and more travel horror stories. And hey, if you have one yourself, blog about it and link up too!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

SSSHHHHH!!!

Do you hear that?????

Really listen...... well? Do you hear it?

Me either!

It is The Sound of Silence! My boys have been gone since Tuesday in PEI and is it ever quiet. They called the first day, twice, but we haven't heard from them since! We went out for supper yesterday. You know that feeling you have when you think you are forgetting something? I had that feeling leaving the restaurant. I literally held out my hand expecting a smaller one to grab it, but no one was there. I wasn't carrying someones hat or restaurant toy, I wasn't breaking up any squabbles. It was strange. After shaking it off, I grabbed and held my husband's hand. It felt strange to hold a hand bigger than mine, but nice at the same time. We got home and popped in a DVD and just relaxed. No bedtime routine, no crying, no fighting.....no little hugs or slobbery kisses, no sweet little prayers, no snuggles and giggles...sigh. When are they coming back?

They will be back on Sunday but they are having such a ball! Our friends were kind enough to send us a few pics of their first day there and I'd like to share them with you (tip: you can click on the pictures to see them full screen size):












Doesn't it look like they are having a blast? I wish I was there too! We are planning a trip over next month so I won't have to wait long. I miss my babies but I am proud if their independence too! See you soon my little men!

Thursday 13-Knock Knock

 

13 cute  knock-knock jokes:

1. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Norma Lee.

Norma Lee who?

Normalee I don't go around knocking on doors, but do you want to buy a set of encyclopedias?

2. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Yo momma.

Yo momma, who?

Seriously, it's yo momma, open the door!

3. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Aardvark.

Aardvark who?

Aardvark a million miles for one of your smiles.

4. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Little Old lady.

Little Old lady, who?

I didn't know you could yodel!

5. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Woo.

Woo, who?

Don't get so excited, it's just a joke.

6. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Repeat.

Repeat who?

Who Who Who!

7. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Archie.

Archie Who?

Gesundtheit!

8. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Despair.

Despair who?

Despair tire is flat.

9. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Centipede.

Centipede who?

Centipede on the Christmas tree.

10. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Omelet.

Omelet who?

Omelet smarter than I look!

11. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Pencil.

Pencil who?

Pencil fall down if you don't have a belt.

12. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Underwear.

Underwear who?

I underwear my momma is?

13. 

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Rita.

Rita who?

Rita books instead of reading these dumb knock knock jokes!

Okay, most of these are pretty corny but I bet your kids will think they are funny!  Try them out!

LOVE IT!! (WFMW)

Big shout out to The Apron Queen! I followed a link from Works for Me Wednesdays and it led me to her site. I was awed by the pictures in her post. She was gracious enough to share with me the info I requested (what camera she used, editing program) which I think she has been asked for a hundred times! Through her, I found Picnik! It is amazing! Here are some before and after pics to give you an idea what you can do with this program:


Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before: (not sure why blogger turned this picture!)

After:

This was actually quite fun. You can get your pictures from the computer, facebook, photobucket and many more places! These three pictures are my first attempts, so not the best but it was quick and easy and they look much better and that works for me! Check out Rocks in my Dryer for lots more Works for Me Wednesdays!

Great Safety Idea

Here is a great idea!  Are planning a trip where there will be a lot of people like an amusement park? Check out SafetyTats.  These are temporary tattoos that contain your cell phone number incase you and your child get separated.   Check out this post by Dawn at Because I Said So.  If you comment on her post, you could win a free pack of SafetyTats. If you want to order some, she has a code you can use while ordering and you'll receive free shipping until the end of July.  I'm all for anything that makes outings with my children easier and safer!  While you are there, check out more of Dawn's writing, she is so funny! 

I got a call from our good friends in PEI over the weekend and they are taking all three boys (aren't they brave) tomorrow until Sunday.  The house will be so quiet!  I have some things around the house and yard I need to get done while they are gone but I'm sure Jim and I will find time to get out!  We never go anywhere without the boys! It will be nice to go out and not have to watch where they are, what they are doing and get after them for fighting or touching breakables!  Of course, one can only take so much quiet, by the end of the week, we'll be looking forward to picking them up!  They took them for 5 days last year but I spent the whole time re-doing the bathroom, this time I intend to enjoy it!

                                                   Happy Monday!

                                                               *picture taken at Fort Louisburg, NS

Calling all Veggie Tales fans!

I love Veggie Tales! I love the videos as much as the kids do. I love that they are clean, funny and that they teach them important lessons and about God! If you love them as much as my family does, check out this giveaway! You could win a copy of the new Veggie Tales video!

Who Knew?

I saw this when I checked out Sara's blog today so I tried it (totally expecting my blog's reading level to be kindergarten or something) and look what came up?

There must be a glitch or something! I've never been mistaken for a genius before (now I realize they aren't saying I'm a genius but I'm going to take this and run with it)! When I get home, I'll have to make sure everyone refers to me by my new title of Genius......um ya, that's gonna happen.

Thursday 13

13 Things about me:

1. I have been married for 11 yrs. next month

2. I got married at 18, was a mother by 19.

3. Each of my boys were born in a different province (British Columbia, Yukon and Nova Scotia)

4. I live several thousands of kilometres from all my family and closest friends (sniff)

5. I moved a lot as a child, 5 different schools in kindergarten alone!

6. I was painfully shy, probably from all the moving!

7. I gave my heart to the Lord at 14ys. old and have never looked back. (Thank you God for saving me so young!)

8. My mother suffers from schizophrenia and is bi-polar (and raised us as a single mom)

9. Needless to say I had a very "interesting" upbringing!

10. I am very much in love with my minister husband

11. I am also in love with my 3 wonderful sons

12. I talk to my mother-in-law almost everyday online (we are close)!

13. I am not much of a writer, but I am addicted to the mommy blogging community!

Thanks to all the moms out there who blog! I benefit from your advice, tips and tricks! Yes, I am not alone! There are many other moms, moms to boys, pastors wives and working mothers!

To check out more Thursday 13, click here.

Time wasting fun!

Here is something neat I found on Jenny's blog. It is called a Wordle and you can make your own here. Here is a few I made today:

This one I made just by using a bunch of words to describe me and my family


This is one I made for my friend Peanut, using her blog

This one I made using my husband's blog


This one I used words that spiritually speak to me


Same thing again but with colour


Pretty fun to do if you have some time to kill, or if you have a lot of time to waste try this!
Oh, and while you are busy wasting time, have a listen to this, really funny!

P.S. I noticed that if you click on the pictures, they will take you to the full size ones, I didn't know how to make them bigger!

A Taste of Summer