Simple Inspirations

Every now and then I have to have  arandom post just reminding myself about the things I want to rememeber RIGHT NOW…..

Asher walks every where, a little wobbly but amazing!  He also climbs furniture (beds, couches etc). His favorite food is bologna and ketchup (yuck).

Abby’s favorite sayings right now are: Can I?  Can I please?  Thats cool.    I have an idea.  Wait a minute.  She loves to listen to audio books and classical music.

Freedom is still missing her front teeth and has developed a great love of reading, she moved up 5 reading levels this grade so far.  Only 3 left and she has met her yearly goal.  She loves Hannah Montana. She grew almost 2 inches this year so far.

Zoe loves to visit. She also loves Hannah Montana (and quotes it every opportune moment).  Her quick wit makes her hilarious, or incredibly rude depending on the situation. She is quite clever. She has to pee every time you ask her to do something or she knows that she has a responsibility (yes Mom I know , I had to pee when there were dishes to do too at that age…but that was totally different)

Cheyenne is only an inch shorter than me.  Her feet are actually bigger.  She is nearly twelve, this is the year I stopped growing so HA!!!! She loves High School Musical, Hannah Montana, baking and Sophie the horse, I mean dog.  She takes good care of her.  She is growing so fast..its not right.  She still loves to eye roll and let you know she thinks…whatever!

This song will be stuck in your head all day long….(Bwahahahah)

No wonder I love her so much…..she is so……um…UNIQUE

It seems to me that here are few things you can do with snow that are fun.  Sledding, maybe (I detested walking up the hill for 20 minutes to slide for 2), skating (balance, maybe not my thing either)..but I however can enjoy skiing.  And being from Winterpeg (they really do call it that) I am a SNOW EXPERT.  Maybe not a ski expert, but I know a good time when I see one.  Check out this site for Park City Mountain Resort in Utah. 3300 Acres, 104 Trails, 9 Bowls, 4 Parks, 1 Superpipe …not priceless, but worth the cost (check out the packages..kids under 6 are free). One thing I have been dreaming about since I started school was going to Utah, I mean the pictures you see of the awesome landscape features and geological foundations ( fancy words for big pretty mountains, spiraling rivers, deep cut valleys and rugged gorgeous terrain).  It is the first place I am going to take my family when I am done school and this resort is top of my dream vacation list. 

They have a bunch of features that make it a great place to visit : interactive vacation planner, tons of great places to eat including my choice  - for the view  - The Summit  (picture to the left), guided historic tours through the town, kids signature lessons very hands on and interactive with less than 5 students a class, private lessons, alpine coaster - gravity propelled ride, twisting and turning through the mountains on a mile-long track(this I would be all over like white on rice), At Gorgoza Park enjoy lift-served tubing on seven different lanes, romantic sleigh rides (also a must do for me), or mini snowmobile rides around a designated track for kids ages 5 to 12 years old.

Check out the new ADVENTURE blog to hear the most up to date info and testimonies from other Mom’s who have been there to make sure you get the best out of your trip. DONT MISS THIS CONTEST!!! You could be going for free….

 

So …who wants to split rent??  20 car garage, 12 acres of coastal hillside, infinite pool, private spa, only 21 million….

the inauguration.  Being a Canadian you would think that it would have less impact upon my family.  But it doesn’t really.  Our fates lie as one, and in many ways our countries exist as an extension of each other regardless of our differences.  The first black president.  It’s an amazing thing, and I meant no disrespect.  As was pointed out by many, this in many ways is the equivalent to the first man on the moon.  Historical.  Celebratory.  Amazing to watch as a million (perhaps more) people joined together to celebrate what many feel will be a revolutionary Presidency. That President Obama will change the fate of a nation (in my opinion…nations). I pray each day he is a man of his word, and that God will be with him. He has a long hard road ahead of him and a great many issues to overcome. 

What is interesting also is that this is the first time in 8 years, nearly most of all of my children’s lives, that they have experienced an election, or change in office. That they understand the importance of this one event. Their input has been intelligent and profound, talking about the war, terrorism, poverty (okay poor people) homeless people…and I think that is amazing that they witness this momentous event and be part of it. They have been with me as we have watched it all unfold on the news, seen the effect it has had on both countries, I mean they have pictures of people from Calgary crying and overcome by the immensity of this event.  They understand the impact this will have and I have tried to take the time to answer thier questions fully and immerse them in the different aspects of the transition to allow them to get the most out of it all. I was not alone in this venture….

Mom Central shared with us this story of DC24 (<—click to see the site).  The DC 24 are 5th and 6th grade students from Frazier Preparatory Academy (inner-city Chicago) who were chosen for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity based on a series of criteria, including a written essay, grades, test scores, an oral interview, but most importantly, citizenship. Once they were chosen they participated in a weekly civics course where they learned more about the Constitution, election process and African-American history. They were also lucky enough to witness firsthand the inauguration of President Obama. They got to visit the Capital Building, Smithsonian, and on top of getting to see the inauguration they were also able to attend the inauguration ball.

This jam packed visit was shared with their peers, parents and school through this amazing site and will be followed up by a presentation and newspaper to share their experiences. A major goal of the McCormick Foundation (who funded the venture) as well as the DC 24’s principal and their teachers, is to inspire and enable a lifetime of giving back to community and country. Inspiring isn’t it.  This is something we can all incorporate into our lives at this time.  To inspire our children. To see some great footage check out their youtube page

Some of the comments made by the DC24 capture the significance of the moment:

My favorite part was the oath and his speech, because I felt like I was really there with Obama. I really felt the spirit. Although it was very cold, it was still worth it, because this is a big part of history and I got to be there.
-Eniya, 6th Grade

My favorite part of the Inauguration was when Obama swore on the bible that he was going to be the President of the United States of America. It’s a very big opportunity for me, an African American to experience this.
-Tyler , 5th grade

Take a minute to check out these amazing kids experiences and share your experiences, feelings, emotions and how you involved your children in this milestone event.

Does this not figure????

of my love of food, the healthier the better (cheesecake aside). I LOVE this site (found through Mom Central) it is a must for Mom’s and anyone else interested in living a long healthy life (if this is not you take a peek anyways and maybe we can bring you over to the dark side  *ha ha*). The site is Stop and Shop’s Living Healthy pages. If you need a place to put that resolution to eat better to work for you..this is the place for you! Stop & Shop Supermarket has launched the Healthy Ideas program to help us make healthier choices, taking the guesswork out of shopping by placing the Healthy Ideas symbol on over 3000 food items to highlight those foods that are lower in fats, sodium etc and has at least one nutrient we need such as fibre (hey we all need it once in awhile..you know its true) calcium and minerals.  

Its great, and it can be trusted,  its criteria was developed by a team of dieticians and reviewed by physicians and nutrition experts including Dr. George Blackburn, associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. This program follows the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the USDA Food Pyramid (Mypyramid.gov) and the USDA/FDA’s definition of healthy as a basis for its foundation. This is a lot of writing which basically means that people who are smarter and likely healthier than me or you developed this amazing shelf symbol program to help us get on the healthy wagon too.

Just a few of my favorite recipes off the site (that you will likely see being put good use in following posts…) Chicken with Cheese Tortellini, Black Bean and Tortilla Soup, Black Bottom Peanut Butter Pie, Cranberry Fluff, Wafflasagna (yup its spelled just like that).  It’s a kid recipe…you can access these and literally hundreds more of healthy recipes HERE. You can add these to a cook book and shopping list to make sure you get everything you need the first time you are at the store, it also looks like you can check this weeks savings to save a few pennies and check for a Stop and Shop near you.

the house is clean, Asher is in bed (perhaps not sleeping but half the battle is already won), its sunny outside, I don’t have a five foot long to do list, I ate lunch (and didn’t share or wolf it down to make sure I got to to eat it warm), Abby’s potty only got spilled once today and the horse, I mean dog, is relatively laid back and quiet today.

Tonight we volunteer at church, then come home, study for a while and perhaps even an early night in bed and if I can find my pillow I may even..SLEEP!

 Last night before  me and Wendell played a bit of Mario Kart together, and I won.  Once. Out of 12 races.  But I still won.

It also looks like I may need a new van, it jumping and stalling and acting like a difficult child.  Doing whatever it wants.  It stalled in an intersection yesterday, that was embarrasing .  Especially when they see a woman driving, we all know what they think about us already..do they really need more ammunition????  I am hoping that this van will quit playing around and get its act together and last (more safely) another 3 years.  That would be great for the budget.  We just got rid of our car payment a few months ago..not having it was great!  But…ce la vie, its a good thing my hubby is smart with his finances and  so we would probably be able to shoulder the extra $ burden. 

Anyhoo…Abby is done lunch, so school work and naptime beckon me forth.  C ya later! (the dog is now barking and Abby’s lunch is EVERYWHERE …but it still a good day)

The list of what I have NOT been doing would be shorter

sleeping

reading a good book

winning the lottery

losing 5 pounds a week (is that too much to ask)

laying on the couch nursing my headache

feeling good (again see first thing I have not been doing)

having a good hair day (I did once, back in 86)

And to make things even more enjoyable I have nothing but High School Musical songs stuck in my head and my socks don’t match, and sadder yet I am not to worried about it. HA!