tiffany's spot

I'm thinking that calories from baked goods don't count when the baked goods aren't yet cooked, right? Thought so. My cupcakes are baking. I let Steven lick a beater, only to have him say that cake batter isn't as good as cookie batter. I disagree. I told him that I could take a spoon and eat a bowl of the stuff. He gave me one of his looks. Who's he to look at me like that? Cake batter is so yummy. It's Tennyson's 4 th birthday tomorrow, I mean, it's his 7 th birthday on Thursday, and his name is actually Enrico Poopantsius . I know, you're not supposed to give birthdays on the internet , but seriously, his birthday is tomorrow. He's very excited. He's been counting sleeps for a couple of weeks now, and today he counted the hours until bedtime, beginning before breakfast. He's nuts. He was beside himself all day because we weren't baking cupcakes yet. Finally (after vacuuming, cleaning three bathrooms, and doing umpteen loads of la...

and I would walk 500 more... That's right! Half done my miles ticker. I was hoping to hit 500 by the end of May, so I'm a month early!

I had a really good idea for a blog post, but I forget what it was. Either that or I'm lying. Guess you'll never know. Spring is here. I am so relieved to see the patches of snow and ice clear up more each day. Crescent "Lake" is more "Lake" and less glacier every day too. Would you believe that there are already ducks and geese swimming in that "lake"? Actually, the Canada geese have been kicking around here for weeks already - even before the water was back. Not sure how those things could get any dumber. Last summer I fantasized about punting them into the water on my morning walks. I think I may have mentioned it on facebook and started a days-long conversation with a couple of friends about it. Isn't it cute the way they hiss and beat their wings at you as you run by? No? Didn't think so. Apparently all I have to do is feed them loads of bread and they'll all cripple up and drown. I'm not really going to do that. Punting them ...

Here's my baby: She's only a week shy of ten months. She thinks she's about eight years old I'm sure. To be honest, I kind of think this outfit is a little unattractive. Red sort of makes me think it's a boyish outfit, but the purpley /baby blue stripes are a little unboyish . It's an odd colour combination. Yet, I love the outfit, because it's soft, she can move in it, it doesn't irritate her muffin top, and it's so super cuddly that I can't help but scoop her up and squeeze her until she grunts and wiggles to escape. Does it make her look like a boy? Well, I'm not really sure. Does it make her look like a girl? Not sure about that either. But it just begs to be hugged. Unfortunately for her, hugging isn't all that high on her list of priorities. She'd rather cruise furniture, race for an open bathroom door, or drag as much tupperware out of my tupperware drawer as she can before she's busted. She pinches her fingers a lot in...

Firstly, I would seriously not write a weekday-sensitive post a day late and try to pass it off as being on time, because I do not procrastinate on just about everything on my to do list. The other day, when picking up my son from nursery school I did not show up extra early so my younger two children could sneak in some free nursery school playtime a year (or three) early. If I had, I certainly wouldn't have grabbed Elliot, Tennyson and Angela's son Aaron and head out to the parking lot, waving goodbye to the teachers and Tennyson's friends before piling my kids in the van only to realize that I'm short one. I certainly would not be one of those mothers who forgets a kid somewhere and leaves the building. If I were to do that I would n't make excuses afterward, based on the fact that I usually didn't have him in there with me (because I certainly don't leave him in the van when I run in), or that I had Angela's son with me, so the head count would h...

This Easter was made possibly the best ever because my brother came out from Alberta. I haven't seen him since Christmas of 2006. That's almost 4.5 years ago. We talk on the phone from time to time, but an actual visit was long overdue. He actually hadn't even seen my youngest three kids yet. Tsk tsk. I think I've decided that next summer we're going to trek out to Alberta with four kids and our camping gear in tow and camp somewhere near where Trevor lives. Yes, I'm prepared to stalk. Unashamedly.

I have so much crap to do and so little motivation to actually do it. This morning I actually planned a nice, comprehensive to-do list layout. It has two columns, one for the daily breakdown of my weekly chores, and a second column for extra things I need to do this week. Doesn't it sound efficient? Too bad it's only in my head thus far. To Do: make list Sometimes I plan (in my head, where all the best laid plans are soon forgotten) ways to make my plans better. You should see the cute little to-do list book I'm going to buy. To Do: buy cute book to keep ongoing to-do lists in. Of course, I don't know if anyone has actually designed or created my cute little book yet. To Do: patent some sort of cute little to-do list book. All the best moms/wives/indentured servants are entirely on top of their daily tasks and chores. I bet they're all on their couches right now, dreaming of ways to make planning on completing household chores more efficient. To Do: rewrite that las...

I'm a fantastic, conscientious, consequence wary mother. That's why I most certainly did not tell my son to step off to one side so I could bat a tennis ball the length of the back yard, only to send it off to the side in a line-drive directly into his kisser. Nope. Not me. Because I am more careful than that. Also because I'm way better at baseball than someone who nails her kid in the face with an errant baseball. I also did not eat a giant piece of wedding cake yesterday. Had I had access to wedding cake, I most certainly would not have eaten a piece the size of a small child.

Babycenter: (on life with my 5 3/4 year old) No matter how hard or how frequently your child pushes your buttons, try to keep your cool. Anger only fuels hot tempers. Try to remember the guideline: Speak to your child the way you would want to be spoken to. I know, I know, be the example. It's so hard some days. Today is one of those days where I woke up grumpy and try as I may, everything has me annoyed today. Doesn't help that the kids are overly wild. It's tough sometimes to try and turn myself into the parent I want to be. I don't pretend I'm perfect, I know I'm far from it. It's hard to remember that right now is this tough, tiring phase where I have four kids 5 years old and under, but for them, it's their whole life. Their lives, very existence and happiness depend on me for the most part. If I'm grumpy all the time, then that's what they deal with. If I'm happy, they're happy too. There is so much responsibility on Mom sometimes...

Today Mitchie got a bank statement in the mail. I didn't think much of it. I usually just shred those, or put it in the file and shred the one it replaces. Today someone told Mitchie that it was his mail. He hugged it to himself and carried it around all evening. Each individual page is topped with his name. You should have seen his joy. I just tucked him in to bed. I took the book he was reading and slid it under his pillow. The kids love to have a book under their pillows at night. What did I find under the pillow? His mail. Man I love that kid.

For the kids' lunch today I made this recipe from the kraft website. It seems weird, but they're eating it. Even Mitchell is reluctantly eating his. It's not bad at all!! What You Need 1 pkg. (225 g) Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn) 1 can (170 g) white tuna in water, drained, flaked 8 Ritz Crackers, coarsely crushed (about 1/4 cup) Make it: PREPARE Kraft Dinner in large saucepan as directed on package, adding vegetables to boiling water for the last 2 min. ADD tuna; mix lightly. TOP with cr...

Hello everyone!! I'm going to be participating in the Supercities MS Walk again this year. It's May 1st. I've joined my friend Amy's team "Amy's Army" and we hope to raise money for the MS Society of Canada. If you'd like to pledge me, click HERE and then click on "pledge a participant" and search my name. It should be that simple. I'll likely also be walking for Cancer Care this June. I know, it's a lot of fund raising (which I'm a little shy about), but they're both good causes and I have friends and family who have been touched by both of them, so it's hard to pick just one! So. If you'd like to pledge money, you can do it online or get in touch with me to make a cash or cheque donation. If you'd like to strap on your walking shoes and join us in our walking and fund raising efforts, that would be even better!

Once upon a time, a friend of mine said "Hey, you're probably the coolest person I know in the whole wide world, and I can't get enough of you. You should blog about all the fantastical details of your extraordinary life so that I can follow you through the ins and outs of your minutes, days, weeks, months and uber fascinating years of your existence ." That Lyla , such a flatterer. I said no. Seriously, I'm sure that not everyone finds me that central to their thoughts. Then one day, I thought okay, playing solitaire on my computer is getting old, surely there must be something else to do on the interweb . I started a blog. The thing with the popular Internet stuff is that I'm always the last to sign up. Friends used to invite me to join Facepage . Facepage ? What's that? Sounds dumb. I wouldn't be the least bit wooed by something with such a dumb name. I now hit refresh on Facebook throughout the day, even though the page automatically refreshes ...

I'm Dead Sexy!

My baby is trying to suck on my computer. I'm sitting on the love seat with my feet resting on the coffee table and the laptop on my legs. Elliot, who quite possibly wants some attention, is standing here and turning her head sideways so that she can suck on the edge of the computer screen. She sucks on a lot of things these days. She's got five teeth. They are some pretty far out teeth. The middle two on the top have opted not to appear yet, and the ones to either side of the front two are there. She looks like a vampire. Then she's got three on the bottom that are as crooked as can be. I'm thinking of fashioning her some baby braces out of twist ties. We're on a budget. The baby (in my humble, non-biased opinion) is gorgeous. Even today, when she's mouth breathing because any of the snot that's not oozing down into her mouth is blocking her nasal passages. She's also teething and has rosy cheeks and loads of drool and she's got her super-long tong...

This week was our first ever spring break! Jordan (my oldest) is in kindergarten this year and she had this entire week off. Of course, in spring break tradition I planned some activities with the kids, some friends, and my mom. On Wednesday Mom and I took the kids to Playtime in Brandon. It was fun! It's basically a big indoor play structure with a bunch of different tunnels and slides, as well as a big bouncy castle and a few arcade games, air hockey and ping pong. The kids had a blast. Of course there was a constant need for "just one more quarter" for just a little more candy, or just one more chance to win a stuffed animal with the claw. From there we took them to MacD's for supper so they could play in the playplace there and eat loads of unhealthy food. A good time was had by all. On Thursday my friend Lorelie and her three cutie pie kids came out from Dugald and spent the day with us. We don't all get together very often, but when we do the kids are th...