Anybody's guess

Howaya

2007-05-24T17:47:00.000-04:00

Eep. Once you don't post, you don't post.

I kept meaning to get on here and say anything. But then I didn't. No excuses.

It's Sprummer! Totally HOT today and muggy/balmy for May. But it's kinda great. Mostly because there are people in my house right this very minute installing central air.

Lots of other things to be glad about.

My brother and his wife had a baby boy! Can't wait to see him and kiss him a hundred times!

Susie .

I am home again with the kids, full time.

I turned 37. Hmm. Maybe not glad about that, per se. But there it is.

There is still over a month until the older kids are out of school.

And that's all I have for now. I know, a bit light of a post, but better a bit than nothing, eh?

G'day mates. Will be stopping by soon.

A.

Happy Blogiversary to Moi!

2007-03-02T14:31:00.001-05:00

Three years! When i started this blog Luca was a baby still on the boob and Sam was in grade three and monty was still home all day with me. They've all changed so much! I haven't though. I just went and read through some old posts from three years ago. I am still struggling with keeping a tidy house with three little messmakers and my love of sugar. I still don't have my BA. I am still a fledging amateur stand up comic, a rabid ebayer. But there are good things that havent changed, either. Same good friends IRL. Some of the same blogfriends. Same Jay.

So that's that. Good on all of you who are still blogging away. Good to know ya.

A.

Me oh my oh.

2007-02-19T11:38:00.000-05:00

Hoo boy no post from Army in a long time!

No excuses. Just life. In no particular order, I've been busy with:

Snow shoveling

Two comedy gigs

Play memorizing

House (keeping Up with the Messes)

Kids activities

Getting smooches from Lucy. "Yer bes' my friend, Mommy."

Keeping Monty from further dental disasters.

Ebay.

Reading. (Just finished "The Boys From Brazil" and "Choke" by Chuck Palahaniuk. Just started "The Glass Castle" and "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work". I am almost always reading two (or 3) books at once.)

Getting kids in and out of winter gear.

Crock pot cooking. (beef stew tonight.)

Movie watching. (Saw Little Miss Sunshine on the weekend. LOVED.)

Yelling.

Trying not to yelling.

Story reading. (had to put something after yelling to make me look better.)

Cleaning snow off my van.

Helping Monty learn how to tell time.

Listening to Sam play piano.

Washing Lucy's favorite brown dress that twirls so well over and over.

Hiding the brown dress so she won't wear it EVERY DAY.

Work.

Driving around.

Lighting candles and making tea. These are top priority activities and should have been closer to the front of the list.

Treadmilling. I have actuallly gotten on to the thing several times a week for a month now! I actually LOOK FORWARD to it. Because I get to wear earphones and listen to music and ignore everybody for half an hour! It's kinda great!

Alright. Back to woik. Amy update over and out!

a.

A bit of Sweetness

2007-01-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

This is a short video of Lucy singing. It's pretty damn cute if I do say so myself.

Tidbits

2007-01-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well kids are back to school tomorrow, thank you very much. It's time, too. Jay and I had one of those weekends where we just look at each other and go, "Whose idea was it to have three kids?"

I am no longer full time employed. YEAH BABY! Jay actually left the place we work at, found something new/different/better and I told them I can only do two days a week, and some stuff from home. And they went for it. Cool eh? I was hating on the full time thing, let me tell youse. And I think my MIL was about done with it too. So a good way to start the new year! Back in my house, most of the time! I can give Lucy triple the smooches! We can go out for lunch together! And shopping and lady time! Forget about it!

On Christmas day I had picked out the nicest gymboree black velvet jumper for Lucy (secondhand of course, it cost me 2.99) with cherries on it. I agonized over whether she should wear a red blouse or a white blouse under it, finally settling on white (bought new! for $11.99!).
Unfortunately (but only a bit unfortunately) she got herself a Supergirl T shirt from Santa, and inSISted on wearing the super girl shirt under the black velvet jumper. And she worked it. The kids'll wear anything these days!

I am memorizing like a fiend these days. I am going to be in a play! In March.
It is called "I Never Saw Another Butterfly". I am playing the lead, God help me. They should have given the part to someone with much, much younger brain cells than me.

We got the kids a new keyboard for christmas, and Sam has been playing it non stop. He also got a 'how to' guitar book and has been playing that too. I love it. I just wish he would try something else besides the canon in D minor and Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song. Just for a change.

Well that's all the bits for now. Rec Room date with hubby. Amy out.

All I wanted for Christmas is......

2007-01-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

Monty's four front teeth.

We had a nice Christmas around here. Lots of food, lots of presents and crazy christmas chaos.

The one glitch was a little event that happened on Christmas Eve, after I had put Monty to bed. An hour later he came running out of his room screaming with blood pouring out of his mouth. It seems that he tried to tie a shoelace around one of his teeth to pull it out. The shoelace was hanging from Sam's loft bed. Monty was sitting on the edge of his (much lower) loft bed with the shoelace in his mouth and he fell. Basically hung himself by his teeth.

One tooth was about six feet away. The other was nowhere to be found. The two teeth in the middle were almost ripped out but not quite. The dentist took them out on saturday. So in one night, the kid lost four of his beautiful baby teeth. And almost gave me and his father a heart attack. The blood! The shaking! The not knowing what the hell had happened! We spent a few hours at the emergency dentist on Christmas Eve.

And one of the kickers too is that jay just changed jobs and we have no dental coverage for three months! So a nice little four hundred dollar expense right at Christmas! I am overdoing it! on the exclamation points but I can't help it!

For dramatic effect, here is how monty looked before Christmas eve.

So cute! Like a kid in a crest commercial!

And here is the after!

Are you ready?

I know. At least he is still smiling, eh. Again, I write these three words....
What a kid.

Well, happy new year to everyone. May 2007 be your year.

A.

First Ever Family Portrait!

2006-12-15T14:38:00.000-05:00

Well there it is. One of them, at least. It is freaking me out how much Sam looks like me!

Sugarplum Fairy

2006-12-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

Here is Lucy, in the basement of a church last saturday night. I made the colossally stupid assumption that she would be fun to bring to Sam's violin Christmas concert.

Not that fun. At all. She did not last more than a song and a half, then she was climbing all over me, trying to throw hymn books off the balcony, sticking her fingers up my nose, lifting her dress over her head. So we spent 94 percent of the concert in the basement, where I watched her twirl around and around while straining my ears to hear the violins upstairs so I could tell Sam I heard him.

Next year, I go sans the sugarplum.

A.

Sheesh

2006-11-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

Little hitch with blogger! My blog up and disappeared itself for a bit there.

Luckily, I was able to figure it out. Because it was easy to fix. Not because I have any great knowledge or anything.

Is it bloody November 30 already? Aye Yai Yai.

I don't even have anything interesting to write!

Well there are some things. But I can't say much about them yet.

And no, I'm not pregnant. In case that was one of the things you were thinking of.

Promise to put up a lovely long post soon. With pictures. Hey! I get my family portraits back from Sears on Monday! That was FUN. Trying to get three kids to be normal for a picture. While Monty was falling off the sled and laughing like a hyena, while Lucy was being shy and pulling up her corduroy skirt every two minutes. While Sam was lunging from side to side in some weird way.

We shall see. I know some of them turned out. I didn't pay ninety bucks for crap.

Hope everyone has a great thursday November 30th! NOVEMBER 30th!

A.

Forgot this.

2006-11-06T16:19:00.000-05:00

I tried the treadmill. Jay supervised me and I hopped up there and gave it a little whirl. Cept I got in trouble because I was eating a Dorito when I got on, and a little crumb fell down and rolled along with the rolly thingy and disappeared under the treadmill. Oops. Jay said,

"Aim! Who knows where that crumb is going to end up! No eating on the treadmill!"

Sheesh. What was I supposed to do, put the Dorito in my pocket while I tried the thing?

What's on YOUR work desktop?

2006-11-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

I found the perfect desktop picture for my new job. Because I get frustrated not knowing so many things, and I am kinda tired some days and I miss my old life. And this fits all that and more.

The more would be the good bits, that i am learning new things and the sun sometimes comes through my window just right and once in a while I go, "Aha!"

And I get to eat lunch with my hubby every day. There's that.

Shirley sorta expresses the weekend just past too. It seemed like my kids fought all weekend. Everytime they were in the same room together (and sometimes even when they weren't) they were arguing about something. There were karate chops, too.

Shirley is so cute! Look at that one curl. Focus on it, and it will make you feel better.

A.

postess with the mostess

2006-11-03T10:41:00.000-05:00

It is such a different feeling, now that it's November. I love that dark after supper light a candle cosy feeling.

Sam is playing indoor soccer this season. He has gone hog wild for soccer this year. He walks around the house balancing a soccer ball on his foot like Ronaldinho (sp?). He had a game last night and played well! Woo hoo! Two goals and an assist! He has never been a real sporty kid, more into drawing and violin and trying to teach himself chinese. But now it's all about le football. And what a rush to see him scooting around the field, making contact with the ball!

Jay bought the treadmill. It's bloody huge. It will be handy for hanging clothes on, I am sure. I may even string some Christmas lights on it. I will try the treadmill, of course, but I make no promises. I hate working out. When everything is done (which is never) around the house, the LAST thing I want to do is exert myself. There is just so much great TV to watch and books to be read and surfing to do. On my arse. In a chair.

Tomorrow is Saturday! That means German school for the boys and orchestra practice for Sam and music team rehearsal at church for Jay and I in the evening. Saturdays are busy for us. I also plan to hit a couple of church Christmas bazaars with Luca while German school is going on. LOVE bazaars. Penny sales! Baked goods! White Elephant table!

Picture time. Kids on Halloween night.

Lucy is wearing Sam's Teletubby costume that Grandma made him when he was three. Monty is a karate guy wearing his own gi because the Power Ranger costume I got him second hand did not come with a mask so he refused to wear it. Sam is, what else? A German Soccer Player.

Have a fantabulous friday folks!
A.

It's Kinda Ghosty Out

2006-10-31T08:29:00.000-05:00

Oldest and Youngest

2006-10-27T13:34:00.001-04:00

Last night, I was puttering around in the kitchen and I could hear sam up in lucy's room talking.
So I went and listened at the door,
Sam was reading her Charlotte's Web. It was so sweet to hear his voice reading the words I had read to him when he was a little guy.

"But it's unfair," cried Fern. "The pig couldn't help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?"
Mr. Arable smiled. "Certainly not," he said, looking down at his daughter with love. "But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another."

I looked in, and there they were, snuggled side by side in lucy's bed. Lucy had her favourite blanket and was all hunkered down, sucking her two fingers. Sam looked so big beside her, so cute, with his freckled nose and long black eyelashes.

I left them alone, went back down to the kitchen. Finished my puttering with a big, happy heart.

A.

Playing Catch Up

2006-10-24T14:42:00.000-04:00

Feels like what I do, mostly. We leave at 7:15 in the morning and get home about quarter to six. Then I try to do all those things that I used to do mostly at my leisure, like cleaning and cooking and homeworking and checking school stuff and snuggling and airplane ridesing and bathing little people and feeding little people and shopping and a million other thinging.

Sounds nuts, eh?

But. Jay has adjusted nicely to carrying half the load, and things are not just my worry anymore. I love that. We BOTH think about what to have for dinner and what to put in the boys lunches and we both get on Sam to remember his school stuff and violin practicing. We fold laundry together while watching TV at night. It's very romantic. Heh.

It has been a busy month. Both boys birthdays are in October so we had a 10 big boy party with push up contests and Dance Dance Revolution contests (which I just LOVED. I mean, how much longer will they all be into DANCING?) and a small boy party with six little people playing musical chairs and duck duck goose and whatever other games I could come up with off the top of my head, can't even remember it's all a blur. I even forgot to get the brown paper bags I was going to get for them to decorate their own loot bags, so I found some big yellow envelopes in the filing cabinet in the basement and had them decorate those, lol!

Our van had a little hit and run. I was driving with Jay on a busy street and we got sideswiped. By the time I got my bearings they were long gone didn't even stop. Buggers. So off to the cop shop and calling insurance and then to the body shop blah blah blah.

This weekend I am having one of my Girls Night Out product parties. Should be a good one. And then sat is the family party for the boys birthday. 30+ people! Just me and my siblings and our kids and my parents alone is 18 people. add a few friends and a couple aunts and uncles and voila, instant crowd. So we gotta give the house a good spit and polish at some point, buy the food, plan something for all the little ones to do, etc.

And of course because I have this weird disorder where when I have tons of things to do I decide to ignore most of it and take on a project, didn't I take most of Lucy's border down in her room with big plans to paint it before the party, WHY I don't know. But I also took her dresser out to the garage and stripped it and there it sits, all apart and waiting for paint! Aren't I just a gem?

So that's wots bin happening around here. I am liking my job pretty much. Really, life is busy but good.

Last night Jay was saying we should get a treadmill. I was like, for WHAT?

A.

Wha?

2006-10-13T08:36:00.000-04:00

I just looked out my window at work and

It's totally snowing.

3 Movies

2006-10-12T14:57:00.000-04:00

Saw "The Departed" on saturday on a date with me hubby. It was good! Jack Nicholson is getting a bit weird though. A little overacty/old/cuckoo/dramatic or something. But really, quite a good movie.

Saw "The Prize Winner Of Defiance, Ohio". LOVED it. LOVED IT! Julianne Moore, a true story, and the fifties. How much better can it get?

Halfway through "Water" an Indian movie Jay and I started on sunday. It is mostly about a little girl in 30's India who is an eight year old widow and has to live apart from society. Heartbreaking! But beautifully filmed and charming in a way.

And that's it fo now. Back to work for me!

A.

You Remind Me Of.......

2006-10-06T11:23:00.000-04:00

Got this from Effie's blog. It's cool, and a little surprising.
All me life I've been told I look like:
Ally Sheedy
Helena Bonham Carter
Bernadette Peters.
Now all of a sudden I look like these people.
Who the hell is Helen Clark?

I am going to do this again with a different picture, just to see.
Try it your self!
A.

Wedding Belles

2006-10-02T09:27:00.000-04:00

Wedding was lovely. It was a great day. Bride (my cousin Nat) was way past beautiful. Everyone looked great! Lucy's dress was so full and fancy she looked like she was floating when she walked. She did pretty good. Did not look up even once all the way down the aisle and back, she just watched her shiny black shoes pop out the bottom of her dress. It was kinda cute.

Here is the part where I was trying and trying to get her to stay in the shot for a wedding party photo. It was a little stressful.

Here is just a cute pic.

And here is one flower girl way past her expiry date.

It was a great day. Funny and happy and teary and family filled and just, great.
A.

Jobservations

2006-09-27T08:47:00.000-04:00

1. Mug warmer-LOVE it. I'd like one for my house. And wouldn't it be nice in the winter to have a bum warmer on your chair so you are all cosy?

2. My eyes get real tired by 2pm.

3. It's nice having the radio on all day.

4. It's nice to make a half a toasted bagel with peanut butter in the afternoon and have not one person ask me for a bite or say what about me and MY snack?

5. I have to ask a lot of questions. I am sure people are getting tired of me and will start hiding from me very soon.

6. It took me a week to remember unconsciously to shut the bathroom door when I pee. So used to keeping it open and keeping an ear out for the kids.

7. Afternoons go quicker than mornings.

8. I miss my kids.

9. Gotta go!

A.

Where i bin

2006-09-22T13:06:00.000-04:00

Hola.

Guess what I did?

Started a full time job. For real.

Haven't worked full time for a real long time. But an opportunity came up at my husband's workplace and I went for it.

So for the past two weeks, I have learned

Fax machine, Photocopier, Scanner, Fancy Business Phone,
How to Invoice, How to cost jobs, How to enter bills and pay bills and receive parts,
Two different kinds of business software, Excel,
How to work a stapler and letter opener, plus the thing that takes the staples out, I am really good at taking staples out, by the way, you would barely know they were ever there except for the little Dracula bites in the paper.

HuGe LeArNiNg curve. And I somehow have to figure out how not to get home at 530 and have to run around like a chicken till 1030pm.

Thankfully, Jay's mom lives with us, so it's a big big plus for childcare. Along with the fact that Sam and Monty are both now full timers.

Monty got in trouble at school yesterday for standing in the sink. Neat, huh?

I have a nice office. Big window and lots of space. I can see a bridge highway out my window, watch trucks gliding along it.

So, yeah! If I didn't stop by your blog in the past bit, forgive moi. Will get back on track now that I am not so new at everything. Blogging from work! Always wanted to be one of those people!

The wedding that lucy is a flower girl in is NEXT week. Should be so fun.

And now I better get back to stapling. Don't want to get in trouble! Get meself feered.

Have a super weekend, folks!

A.

Back 2 School!

2006-09-05T20:46:00.001-04:00

First day of school today! It was weird saying goodbye to Monty for the whole day, grade one and all. Felt a little like my heart got emptied out when he went into his classroom. Me and Lucy had some serious 'ladytime' though. Puttered around the house, did laundry, went for a walk and looked at everyone's flowers.

Here is a pic at the bus stop. The extra kid (in the blue) is the neighbor's. Monty looks a little overwhelmed by his gear. Sam looks like my big grade six boy (inSISted on wearing his Schweinsteiger jersey on the first day, very German-proud, that one) . Wah! Lucy is happy because at this point she thinks she is going to school too. The tears came after, when she had to be restrained from jumping onto the bus behind them. "I go sool too, mommy! I'n a big girl!"

Back 2 School!

2006-09-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

First day of school today! It was weird saying goodbye to Monty for the whole day, grade one and all. Felt a little like my heart got emptied out when he went into his classroom. Me and Lucy had some serious 'ladytime' though. Puttered around the house, did laundry, went for a walk and looked at everyone's flowers.

Here is a pic at the bus stop. The extra kid is the neighbor's. Monty looks a little overwhelmed by his gear. Sam looks like my big grade six boy. Wah! Lucy is happy because at this point she thinks she is going to school too. The tears came after, when she had to be restrained from jumping onto the bus behind them. "I go sool too, mommy! I'n a big girl!"

2006-09-01T09:23:00.000-04:00

Tagged like a year ago by Annejelynn, finally getting around to it!

The Instructions: List five songs that you're currently diggin' on - it doesn't matter what genre they're from, whether they have words or not, nor do they have to be any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions and the five songs including artist names on your blog. Then tag five people to see what they're listening to...

Mine are:

Robert Downey Jr cover of Yes's "Your Move"

My whole cd called The Vamps, especially "Caramba! It's the Samba!"

"Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake. I actually PAID $1.19 on napster for this song! Help!

The CD from my kids Vacation Bible School. It's the music of our van when we are on the road. It's getting to me just a bit by now.

"Tomorrow" from Annie, currently on Lucy's roster of songs that she belts out. SO GREAT.

Alright! done!

I tag anyone who is up for it. No pressure its FRIDAY.

A,

If You Could Give A Kid A Ticket

2006-08-30T13:18:00.000-04:00

Monty would be getting one for purposefully and quite carefully taking a pair of blue handed scissors and chopping off half his sister's ponytail while she sat coloring in her pony book.

There would be an extra fee added for bad timing. Because his sister is going to be a FLOWER GIRL in a WEDDING in one month. And now we will have even less hair to work with than we originally had.

What a kid.

A.