Tackle It Tuesday - Warm Weather Work

It is officially that time of year when the majority of my time is spent outdoors.  We had some really high temps last week, not normal for this time of year, but we Canadians took it in stride and soaked up all that sun.

We built our house 9 years ago and every year I hint to my husband I'd like US to plant a hedge on the east side of our house.  We have a walkway there, snow blows in really bad in the winter and the walkway is useless.  The hedge would look really good and hide the walkway from the dirt "parking" area for the quads, tractor, old Ford and any other "big boy" toys we may acquire in the future.

I finally took initiative and while shopping for bedding plants I bought all the Cotoneaster shrubs in stock at our local Superstore.  I came home and started digging.  My husband helped out on his days off and voila..... our soon-to-be hedge is finally planted.

My 5 year old daughter helped plant the garden, potatoes and bedding plants.  It took about 3 days to get it all done.  I am amazed at my daughter's focus.  The boys would help for a minute then off they'd go spraying each other with the hose or wrestling on the trampoline.  Our oldest was home two days due to a teacher's strike in our province.  But that is a whole other discussion!

 

I love seeing the flowers bloom, the garden grow and all that comes with summer.  Okay maybe I do not like the dandelion situation that much but I can deal with it by looking at the pretty flowers instead.

What are you tackling today?

Head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom and be inspired.

Quotable Monday's

Toughness is in the soul and spirit,

not in muscles.

~Alex Karras

ReAliTy #2

Still not brave enough to show a closeup especially of the floor.

If you have no idea of what this picture means read this post.

Today I Decided.....

Today I decided that I can finally close and lock my bathroom door when it's MY turn to go.

Only the Mother's of small children out there know what I mean.  As a Mom you need to decide if keeping the door open and chatting with the preschool/toddler age child is better than closing the door and hearing them bang on it repeatedly saying "Mom! Mom! I need you Mom!"

Today I decided I will now choose the latter.

Wordless Wednesday

Guess who came to visit me?
 

Actually it was my friend who was not going for "the wicked witch of the west" look but is too pregnant to care.

Linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom.

Quotable Monday's

There is nothing like returning to a place

that remains unchanged

to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

~Nelson Mandela

ReAliTy

Ever feel like you cannot keep up with the expectations of the world?

You visit a fellow Mommy's house for a playdate and it's so clean, organized all the things you feel you are not.  Maybe you never feel this way but I do.

This post is more for me.  To remind me that right now in my life...this huge pile of dirty clothes is my REALITY and that is okay.

When I turn a corner in my house and see another room ravaged by my children I want to stop feeling frustrated and instead sink into the mess.   I want to stop telling them to go play then get upset when the rooms look like a tornado went through them.  I will always secretly wish they could contain themselves to just one room to destroy but the reality is there are four of them, running, laughing, screaming, and having fun {some of the time}.

So look for more of my embarrassing  reality pictures, I plan on liberating myself from the bondage of cleanliness and realizing where I am at in life.

If You Were Here - May 2011

What I heard over the weekend.........

“Mom you should have had your gun.”

Sasha 5 years

“Oh man my nail polish is coming off”

Samuel 5 years

"Captain Underpants,

never underestimate the power of underwear."

 Owen 8 years

“Sam, NO Worms in the house!”

Mommy 37 years

Wordless Wednesday - What My 8 yr Old Thinks Is Fun

Skidding trees, just like his father and grandfather.

It was a great day off from school and when Daddy got home from most of the trees had been cleared.

Way to go Owen!

Linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom.

Quoteable Monday's

If you've never been thrilled

 to the very edges of your soul

 by a flower in spring bloom,

 maybe your soul

 has never been in bloom.

~Terri Guillemets

Oops I Did It Again.......

And I don't mean eating this much cake by myself...

Remember the goal I had of developing all my pictures?  My hard drive is almost bulging with the amount I need to develop and sort.  I have yet to work on them since that post.   In fact seven packs of developed pictures are sitting in front of me on my computer desk as I type this. 

Why?  I don't know.  I got lazy and they have been sitting there for a few weeks now.

If there is anything about my personality that I dislike it's procrastination.  Now, if a friend was coming over to scrapbook I'd have these mounds of photos sorted and put away so I knew what I was going to scrapbook.  Maybe I need more motivation like that {hint hint}.

Seriously I make this job so much bigger than it should be.  All it would take is 15 minutes of time here and there to get this job done.  I am not one to sit for hours and work on something.  To be honest my kids are not self sufficient either and need some attention throughout the day.

I do have 12 Cotoneaster shrubs sitting outside that need to be planted as well and with the hot weather today you can bet you will find me out there digging and planting.  

Anyone else have that one chore you put off all the time?

Wordless Wednesday - Safety First!

Linking up with

 5 Minutes For Mom.

Tackle It Tuesday - I Just Want A Measuring Cup

I was baking yesterday and decided enough was enough.  I can never find anything I need when I need it.  Measuring cups should NOT be hard to find.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The drawer next to this drawer is the everyday utensil area.  Opened about 1000 times a day.  I decided while I was standing there to get it cleaned up as well.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It may not look like much of a change but trust me it was n-a-s-t-y!

We need to make a trip to a store later to get some more storage containers, and nonslip material.  I plan on picking up something for this drawer. 

Any ideas?  I would love suggestions.

This is where everything went that did not have a home from the two drawers I cleaned out.

What are you tackling today?

Head on over to 5 minutes for Mom and be inspired!



Quotable Monday's

Healing yourself is connected with healing others.

-Yoko Ono

 

Happy Mother's Day

The moments I became a Mother.....

{could not find a freshly born picture of Owen but this was when we arrived home}

Twins!

Surprise #4!

Love them all!

Have had many many moments of "Now I know why my Mom said that..."

Miss my Mom.

But love all the wonderful women in my life that encourage and share my journey as a Mom.

VENT!!!!!!!!!

As most of my readers know my husband is in law enforcement.

We also have a city that is understaffed in the law enforcement area.

His job is tough.  I will honestly say I could never do it, but I know my husband can.

I know what he loves in his job and what he dislikes in his job but he still does it.

I have no idea how many times he has had to pull his gun out with the possibility of using it but I know it is more times than he has told me he has.

I know he kisses us goodbye and there is that chance that something could happen during his shift.  Yes if he worked in a job with less risk he could still get in a fatal car accident on the way to work BUT this is different.

Why?

Because he chooses to put on the uniform and protect.  No matter what people think of law enforcement they still choose to take the risk FOR YOU.

Okay that being said, I will explain my rant.

We have a city website for news and community happenings.  Any viewers can comment on news stories.  Anytime there is something to do with our police department there are many many comments posted.  Some are good and supportive of the police department and some are against the department.  Some are just ridiculous and they come from those that comment on every story because they think they need to be heard all the time.

People have NO idea!!!!!!  The police are so much more than what the complainers say. 

I as a spouse cannot read these comments without anger.  I feel personally attacked.  My husband leaves for a nightshift and I cannot sleep for a reason.  Why?  Because I know there is that possibility he might not come home.   A much higher risk than other jobs.  He is willing to deal with people that most of us will NOT cross the street for.

He is trained to deal with these people.

He is trained in so many areas.

The people that anger me think the men and women who apply and are hired for police work are given a uniform and a gun and off they go.

They are so very very very wrong.

I do not comment back to the negative nellys.  But this is my blog and I can rant how I choose!

{Deep breath}

So if someone you know slams law enforcement officers tell them you know a wife and family and what they feel about their husband/daddy's work.  We are proud but also know he takes a risk with his job and he takes that risk for you.

Wordless Wednesday - Play Ball!

{gotta love big brothers}

Linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom.

Quotable Monday's - Pretty Much Sums It Up!

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness.

When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe.

You relinquish that position to your children.

Jessica Lange