OUCH!!


Yesterday, hubby and I decided to play tennis after work. I have never in my life played tennis before but we thought it might be fun to try and I really need the exercise (since I sit on my butt all day at work). Well...it was interesting! We had a lot of fun but we weren't very good at it. I was happy to have my 6yr. old play ball boy, that saved a lot of running around! Today I am SORE! It is a good sore though, you know? It hurts but I feel like I accomplished something. I hope to be very active this summer, drop some pounds, so there will be a lot more SORE days in my future! I want to pass on a more active lifestyle to my kids too, already they would rather play video games than play outside. That needs to change, or they'll have to fight the same battle I do! Anyway, I got myself a new bike too, so soon I will be riding to work. What do you do to promote activity to your kids? Not difficult when they are toddlers but as they get older and want to sit around and play video games or watch tv? Do you just tell them to go outside and play or are you active with your children? That is where I need to step it up, how about you?

Here it is, Monday Again! May sure flew by fast. The boys are pretty excited that they are in their last month of school before summer holidays. I wish I had the summer off with them! I didn't follow last weeks menu plan all that well, but I'm willing to try again! There will be a few repeats from last week, since we didn't get to them. So here it is, my menu for this week (the red items are links to the recipes):

Monday - Cheezy Italian Bake

Tuesday - Lemon Dill Haddock with egg noodles (same as in last week, better name!)

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Bean Casserole, Biscuits and salad

Thursday - Cod Fish Cakes, Green Bean Salad and rolls

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Slow Cooker Meatloaf with potatoes and corn

Lots of new recipes for me (including the ones I didn't try from last week), Hopefully I am able to try them all. They all sound so good. A good friend of mine makes a salad like the green bean salad and I am hoping it tastes like hers, very yummy! Okay, now it is time for lunch and all this menu planning is making me hungry, Thanks for reading!

It is finally spring here in Nova Scotia!!!



It has been a long time coming but finally spring has arrived. The grass is green, the leaves are coming out and the tulips and daffodils are in bloom. I just love this time of year. After what feels like a year of winter, it starts to warm up and the landscape begins to be painted with colour. It starts with a few dots here and there, some green sprouts of grass and patches of blue sky. Then splashes of colour, green grass all over, crocus and daffodils line homes and the smell of fresh cut grass fills the air. Finally, the masterpiece is done! There are Tulips of all colours, the trees are full of lovely green leaves, the sky is full of radiant blue and bright sunshine! The kids are all out playing in the fresh air, riding bikes, swinging on swings and sliding on slides! I enjoy summer, no more winter jackets and snowsuits but the next breath taking masterpiece here is fall. I just love the amazing brilliant colours that are painted in fall. I thank God for his amazing artistry. Here are a few pictures of spring from my home. They were taken a week ago and so much more has come out or bloomed since then, lovely.

Laura at http://www.orgjunkie.com/ is having a basket carnival! Reading Laura's blog really inspired me to get organized and I think her love of baskets is contagious! I just started reading her blog a few weeks ago and have since made a few trips to the Buck or Two to stock up on baskets. I am still just beginning on my quest to get my home organized but here are a few pictures of what I have done so far. It isn't much but we all have to start somewhere, right?

This is my soon to be scrapbooking center. I have a shelf that I am waiting for Jim to put up for the blue baskets to go on. There is a five drawer shelf beside the table to organize too. I am shopping around for different ideas to organize all the supplies (which are currently hiding under the table).


My boys were making fun of me for putting everything in baskets and then when I had them clean the basement I found they had "borrowed" a few of my baskets for their blocks. Can't make fun of me now!


Baskets are great for remotes and these game controllers! Now I don't have controller chords hanging down in front of the vcr.


I just love this I got from the dollar store. I keep it under the kitchen sink and is great for doing a quick clean up, like when unexpected company is coming. I keep paper towels and dish cloths in it so I can just grab it and go.


I wish I had some before pics, this was a complete mess before I organized it. I love how easy it is to see what I need.


This drawer was truly a junk drawer! It was full TO THE TOP with junk, it took awhile to sort through but I am so glad I did. Now when we need something small like a pen or battery, we don't have to sift though a drawer full of junk to find it!The kids are getting better at putting the pens and pencils back there too.


So there it is. It is a start and it feels good to see some progress. There is so much more to do but I am getting lots of good ideas from The Organizing Junkie and other organized moms! There's my contribution to the basket carnival, let the festivities begin!

Well, Menu planning last week was a success so here I go again:

Monday - Chicken, stewed potatoes, steamed asparagus

Tuesday - Veggie Shrimp Stirfry (not a big hit with the kids, all those veggies!)

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Bean Casserole, Biscuits and salad

Thursday - Lemon Dill Fish casserole (My own invention, I'll explain below)

Friday - Cheesy Italian Bake

Saturday - Hashbrowns, Turkey Bacon and eggs (Sometimes we just love breakfast for supper!)

Sunday - Sundays are very full for us, we usually eat a late lunch out after church and don't eat much for supper, maybe a snack on our way out to do the children's evening program)

Okay, now for the Lemon Dill Fish Casserole (for lack of a better name!). I just take a few filets of Haddock (or whatever fish you like) and fry it with some olive oil until it is all in flakes. Then I add Lemon Butter Dill sauce (a bottle I found in the grocery store, really yummy) and whatever veggies I choose. I boil some egg noodles (you can use rice or any pasta, my boys like the egg noodles best) and add to the fish mixture. Sounds strange but it is quite good and the sauce has so much flavour, they like to add Parmesan cheese to it too. I like to make strange things sometimes and this one turned out to be a keeper.

No More Baby!!


Today I dropped my youngest Joseph off at school for his first day of school, well orientation. He gets to meet his teacher and see what school will be like. He was so excited. He had his shoes, jacket and backpack all on and waited at the door for half an hour! When I dropped him off, I noticed he is pretty much the smallest in his class and he looked so little, like I was dropping off a toddler. He was a bit shy but seemed happy to be there and had no problem with me leaving so that was good. There was a little girl there who was crying very hard, clinging on to her big sister, who dropped her off. My heart went out to her, I remember what that was like. I went to 5 different schools in kindergarten and I was painfully shy. I remember all too well how that felt! Luckily, Joseph didn't cry or I might have too! Here are a few pics of Joseph, now big school boy:

Looking forward to Summer Beach days!!


Hello Everyone!

Finally the sun is out today. We have had so much rain! It is only expected to be out for today but I'll take it when I can. The meal planning is going very well. I have tried it in some form or another before, thinking of some meals so I knew what to grocery shop for. But I never had a definite plan before and it is going over well. No more worrying about what is for supper when I'm at work! (not much I can do from there!). Spring is slowly popping up here, small flowers and buds on the trees that look like they could open soon. Tomorrow is Joseph's big day. He is so excited to go to school for orientation. He will be in french immersion and has already learned a lot from Andrew who is just about finished his first year in French immersion. I always get just a little nervous, will he cry after I am gone? My kids are good that way and pretty independant but you never know. Andrew admitted to me that on his first day of school, he cried just a little bit. He tried to hide it but the teacher noticed and cheered him up. Now he loves school and hates to miss a day. I hope that Joseph developes the same love of learning. Nathanael is a whole different story. He has always disliked school and it is hard to get him to do his homework. It isn't that he isn't smart, he really is. He taught himself to read long before he started school. He struggles some with math but when I sit down with him, I quickly find out he mostly knows what he is doing. He just doesn't want to do it. I don't really know what to do to help him with his attitude about school. I worry that although he is very smart, that he will do poorly because of lack of interest. He had a different start to school too. He started Primary here (or kindergarten) just before he turned 6. Now in BC he would have been starting grade one but the age cutoff dates were different then. We moved to BC from NS two months into Primary and they put him into grade one. That was fine but his attitude changed then. I think he missed that first year of adjustment, making friends and having fun before the harder work, tests and homework started. Anybody have any suggestions? He does well enough but I know he isn't putting in his best effort, just what he needs to do to get by. Okay, now I'm rambling on! Hope you are all getting some sunshine today! Summer is just around the corner, yay!!

Okay, Here goes, my first crack at Menu Planning Monday!

Monday - Whole wheat macaroni and tuna casserole, homemade bread

Tuesday - Marinated pork steaks, stewed potatoes and veggies

Wednesday - Whole wheat spaghetti and salad

Thursday - Baked garlic and herb salmon, rice, veggies

Friday - Homemade Pizza

There it is. Nothing too fancy but should help me be more organized and prevent those "I don't know what to eat, lets eat out" evenings! Hopefully I'll stick with this and it will help in saving time and money. We had a very nice weekend with our dear friends visiting us on holiday monday. I always find it hard to go back to work after a long weekend, I enjoy being home with the boys so much, but at least this will be a shorter working week! Hope you all had a nice weekend too!

I thought this picture was too cute not to share!! Joseph was trying to give Sammy a kiss, Sammy looks ready!

Hey Look at me!

I'm figuring this blog thing out. See all my nice new things on the right hand side? Blog world is so much fun, I'm glad I discovered it. There are so many kind of blogs out there. I love it because you get to know some of your long distance friends and family better and you get to make new ones! I also love connecting with other moms. I find it reassuring to see that others have the same struggles as I do. We can share the struggles and the blessings! There are a few that give me so many great ideas, like the organizing blogs, food planning and my newest interest, making my home a sanctuary. I have become a company girl! I love the idea of doing the little things that I can to make our home a sanctuary and welcoming! I am so busy with my husband's church, fulltime work and the three boys that this is something I hadn't thought about, and I love that Rachel at Home Sanctuary(http://homesanctuary.typepad.com/rachelanne/) has some great ideas that I can impliment along with the rest of the group. I love that those with ideas are willing to share for those of us that don't!

I was snuggling with my 6 year old yesterday before he went to school, he kissed my cheek and nestled his face into my neck and said "this is where the word kiss comes from" I chuckled and told him he was right, that was where the word kiss comes from. Kids say the sweetest things!