Band-Aid Brand Jingle__Vote for the Boys

Please vote for the boys, and we could win some travel certificates to see Canada, and you could win some Johnson & Johnson Product Prize packs.

https://www.stuckonme.ca/gallery/32E5

Click on link above to see actual video--this is just a still shot!!! 

Thanks!!!

We made it to the bus---and on time!!!

Success!!!  We made it to the bus on time, with little whining, but a little bit of crying from Na-Na!!!  7 am came way too early for this momma though!  Gone are the mornings that started at 9 am, at least until next summer! 

Sent both the older boys on the bus this morning, even though Tree doesn't have his first day of school until Thursday.  We got pictures of both boys at the bus stop, and then again at school.  Hard to believe, I have a second grader and a kindergartener!!  Cob is in a 2/3 split, which I think will work out just fine.  It was a little different to only see a handful of his "old" classmates in the room.  We stopped by the 1/2 split (just to say "Bonjour"), and see the rest of the class!  Looking forward to another fun filled year!

I know you have all been wondering, what made it into Cob's lunch for the 1st day--pretty much the exact same things we took everyday last year....
*Jam Sandwich
*Apple Juice in Resusable container
*Cheese String
*Minigo yogurt
*Apple Chunks in lemon juice (to prevent browning)
*Kiwi (cut in bite size chunks)
*Chocolate Chip Granola bar

A little more packaged stuff than I would have liked, but I guess I have to get back into the routine as well!!! 

Lunch Ideas

This was from a couple of years ago, as us parents struggled to keep making lunches after Christmas.  A survey was sent home, and then I did the compilation, which was then sent back out to parents.  Thought it might be helpful this time of year...

Parents’ Ideas of Healthy Snacks:
• Fruits (apples, oranges, blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, strawberries, grapes)
• Vegetables (carrots, celery, mushrooms, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, alfalfa sprouts)
• Yogurt
• Granola
• Dried Fruit
• Popcorn
• Cheese
• Wheat Buds (Sobey’s)
• Homemade muffins, banana bread, Carrot Zucchini Cookies, snack bars
• Cereal
• Raisins
• Mixture of cereal/raisins/other dried fruit
• Crackers
• Applesauce
• Nutri-Grain Bars or Munchems
• Yogurt tubes


Parents’ Ideas of Healthy Lunches:
• Whole wheat sandwiches (egg, meat, jam, cheese, corned beef) (take a cookie cutter and cut out a shape or make a puzzle)
• Crackers, cheese, meat
• Noodles, pasta with sauce
• Wraps with cream cheese/jam/meat/cheese/spinach and cheese, cut into wheels
• Pizza
• Bagels with cream cheese/jam/honey/meat
• Soup/Stew in a thermos
• Vegetables
• Leftovers in thermos
• Meatballs with pineapple chunks
• Milk (white, chocolate, or strawberry)
• Homemade “Pizza Pops”—Dough (either homemade or Pillsbury) with ham and cheese/jam/hotdog/pepperoni stick folded inside or rolled, and then baked
• Cold pasta salads
• Grilled cheese sandwiches
• If you have more than one child in school, make one sandwich per kid, and then split the different sandwiches amongst your children—this way everyone gets a little variety
*Salad--lettuce, cucumber, carrots, croutons

 Children’s Ideas of Healthy Snacks:
• Fruit (pineapple, banana, pear, apples, berries)
• Vegetables (grape tomatoes)
• Popcorn
• Cheese and crackers
• Fruit cups
• Banana bread/muffins
• Granola bar
• Raisins
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Cheese Strings
Children’s Ideas of Healthy Lunches:
• Sandwiches (on buns, bread, wraps, hot dog buns) (honey, jam, cheese, meat, veggie)
• Crackers, cheese
• Yogurt
• Fruit (watermelon, apples)
• Noodles in thermos
• Soup in thermos
• Cinnamon Toast


If anyone has any other suggestions, please feel free to comment!!!  I am always looking for something new for my picky eater (as we took jam sandwiches almost every day last year.....) and always willing to try things out on Tree (who eats anything!!!). 

I am off to run in the Disneyland Half Marathon in 4 short days! I am very excited, and yet very nervous! I have set a goal of 2 hours (or wishfully thinking, less than 2 hrs) for myself. I am hoping to meet this goal, and am worried I won't, and then I will have to tell everyone, and I will be so disappointed in myself. But, I needed some accountability......if I don't have a goal, I have nothing to work towards, and won't get it done. Side note: (I am quite a procrastinator!!!)


I am also nervous to go and travel without my family. We travel alot, and you would think I am seasoned, but I haven't gone solo in a long time!!! I am travelling with a group of 5 other ladies, so I am not totally alone, but I don't know their travelling styles. My husband and I are are fairly similar, relatively stress free, unfazed, etc. Hopefully, I will remain that solo!!!

I am looking forward to some nice meals out, some shopping, a massage after the race at the Grand Californian (Disney) Hotel, and maybe even an afternoon nap or two!!
I'll make sure to post some pics of the run (maybe I will see Mickey along the way!!)


More on Disney--we have booked a family trip to DisneyWorld in November. 10 days. We have booked our flights (in and out of Tampa, not Orlando, but it is only a 45 drive to the Disney area). I have also just booked the villa. The villa will cost us about $800 for the 10 days, as we are sharing it with another couple as well. We have yet to rent the same villa twice, but seem to always have a different number of people accompanying us.


I also registered for the DisneyWorld Half Marathon, which is Jan 8, 2011, but not sure if we will make it back down as a family, if I will go solo, or if I just don't go at all!
In case you haven't figured, I am crazy for Disney! And I have a wonderful husband who tolerates that!!! My kids love it.....

Back to School

Last day of summer---yuck!!!  Tomorrow, it is back to school for us.  Cob will be starting second grade, still in french immersion, and Tree starts kindergarten, french immersion as well.  Na-na will be off to preschool next Thursday, Sept 9th, leaving just Goob and me all to ourselves on Tues/Thurs afternoons. 

I have registered us for all the activity programs for the fall--skating for the younger 3, swimming for the younger 3, and then some preschool classes for the younger two on Tues mornings.  Cob doesn't get to do much, but I was trying to keep our evening relatively empty!!!  The 3 boys can all skate at the same time, and swim at the same time, as I refuse to sit somewhere for hours on end, cycling kids through the different sessions!!!  If it doesn't work out for them to go at the same time, then we don't end up doing it!!!  Maybe not the best attitude, but it is the one that keeps us sane around here!

We will also have Beavers (www.scouts.ca) for the older 2 on Tuesday nights.  I am the section leader for Colony A, and I love it!!!  We have 3 colonies this year, so hopefully we will have 90, 5-7 year old boys.  We are split into groups of 30, with 5-6 leaders for each colony, so it is very manageable.  Lots of fun things planned for the year--sleepover at Tyrell Museum, Winter Camp, canoeing, and a few other afternoon day trips. 

I had my last day of sleeping in--til 8:45 am....tomorrow, back to 7 am starts.  I am sure it will take us all a week to get back into early morning starts!  This was the first summer in 7 years, that I have been able to sleep in.  I guess the kids are growing up--some privileges come with not having any more babies!!!  PS--I love babies and would probably have 100!!!!  I just don't really want any more kids...they become too time consuming, but a baby, under 3 months old....gladly!!!  Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but 4 is plenty!!  We are always busy!!

Anyways, back to making lunches, maybe Cob will try a few new things.  I am looking forward to making Tree lunches, as he eats anything!!  We went and bought bigger lunch kits, to hold all the food as the boys grow, and need a little more!!  I can see our grocery bill getting larger and larger every year!!  Right now, it is around $700.  We may have to take out a second mortgage on the house someday, just to afford to feed the kids!!

Bought some new hoodies for the boys at Walmart this morning, for only $10!  I am sick of buying them $40 ones that just get lost....Also found a reversible coat for Cob, for $10!  Tag said $30, but the flyer said $10, and so it was.   Again, no worries if we lose things.....I have bought Mabels Labels (www.bluebyyou.mabel.ca) with just our last name on it (good for passing items down!), which I label all containers for the lunch kits, shoes, sweaters, coats, mitts, etc.  I think we are ready!!

I guess I should do more frequent posts, then I don't have as much to go on about.....sorry! 

Tutu Giveaway

Trying something new....

A friend of a friend is having a Tutu giveaway.  They are gorgeous, but unfortunately none of them will grace my home, unless maybe I start wearing one occasionally!!  You just need to visit her site, and follow the rules...
I am thinking they might make great presents for some of my younger nieces!!! I tend to go a little crazy at birthdays and Christmas for the special little girls in our lives---it is fun!!!  My boys really don't care what they wear, as long as it isn't the "Church clothes".....on a regular basis!!!!

Time for Me

I have taken up Half Marathon running.  I guess it was a New Year's Resolution, as my first run was 2 weeks into January.  It is something I have talked about doing for a few years, and my baby was 18 months at the time, I wasn't pregnant (and have no plans to be), so the time was right.  I signed up for the Calgary Half Marathon (May 30, 2010), and found myself a training schedule.  I would say I was in okay shape.  I had been taking a boot camp in Okotoks, since the May 2009, up until Oct 2009. 
I used to enjoy running, and I have found that I still do.  Since my first run in January, I have logged 300+ km.  I ran in Florida, at 6:30am, while we were on vacation.  I have ran in light snow.  I have ran in rain, and I have ran in the hot, hot sun.....I actuallye nded up doing my first half marathon (21.1km or 13 miles), April 25.  I had a friend who was unable to do the Policeman Half (Calgary), so I took her bib number and ran it for her.  I had only trained up to 14 km, but I made it to the finish line in 2:07:51.  Not as good as I had hoped, but not terrible.  My second half, I managed to run it in 2:03:16.  My next race is in Disneyland, Sept 5, 2010, and I hope to run it in 2:00:00 or just under.

I enjoy the quiet of running.  I run 5 days a week, just short runs during the week days (3-5km), and then a nice long run on Sunday (today was 16km).  It gives me a little "timeout" from the kids, and I also like the health benefits.  Running helped me to lose the last few pounds I had lingering, and I eat a little healthier too, as I don't want all my hard work to go to waste!!! 
My schedule was from the Running Room, but I adapted it slightly, to suit me.  I didn't end up doing all the hills, but overall, it was a good schedule. 
I also bought myself a Garmin 305 Forerunner, a GPS, which helps me with my pacing.  I really like that.  I logs all my splits, distances, etc, and can be downloaded to my computer.
Anyways, the short of the long, is that running is a great break from the kids, and I really enjoy it!!!! 

House still for sale.....

So, the house has not sold.....We have had 9 showings, 2 of them being second showings, but still nothing...  As some may know, it was our plan to sell the house here, in southern Alberta, and make the move down to Orlando, Florida.  I had quite a few conditions on this big move, but haven't had to impose any yet, since we haven't sold.  It has been tough keeping the house clean, as I have the 4 tornadoes that move through the house with record speed, seconds behind me.  We packed away some stuff, so that helped alot!!! 
At first, I was really on board with moving to Florida.  We would spend the school year down there, but then vacation in Alberta for the summers.  Best of both worlds--missing most of the cold of Alberta, and the hot of the summer in Orlando.  We would get to see lots of our families in the summers, probably come home for Christmas, and maybe on other visit spring or fall.  We are hoping we would have lots of vistors to Orlando, and plan to have a house with an extra bedroom or two! 
But, as the summer went on, I was spending lots of time with good friends, and really enjoying the life I have here.  It would be hard to move away from all that, and have to "rebuild".  Decisions.....I really don't like them!  For the time being though, it looks like Okotoks will remain our home.  School starts in Orlando on Aug 23, and at this point, I just don't think we could be down there in time, even if we got an offer tomorrow.  If we do get an offer (and accept it), I think we will be renting a place for this school year, and then make the decision in the spring if we decide to still move. 
Some of my conditions were:
1) not moving part way through a school year
2)not moving into a rental house down in Florida (I want to move into a home and get settled!!)
3)and finally, it was either this summer, or next, as I do not want to move Cobb once he is past Grade 2. 

Maybe some of these are unfair, but we have a great life here, and I want to continue to give ust he best life!  I want to make things easier for the kids, and the move would be a big transition for them.