missing out

I miss being a stay at home mom. Working all day is tiring and my heart just isn't in it. I've got a good (talkative) bunch of kids and I love working with my collegues again, I just miss being home with C. I miss the freedom of hanging out with friends. I miss making supper in a relaxed atmosphere. I miss so much of C's day it hurts.

I really miss just hangin' by the kiddie pool, getting some sun, laughing with the best girls and watching the cutest kids.

That's right boys and girls....

Yup.

We finally did it.

For the first time since oh, I'd say January 2nd or so, we finally did it.

That's right.

I'm pretty proud of myself. The other car will never fit, but at least mine will be kept warm in the winter! :D

Parade of Pictures...

Forgot to post these. We went to Morden's Corn and Apple parade with some good friends. I was craving a good parade (and no - GP's doesn't count). It was cold, so we all snuggled up.

Here's the three kiddies, Ari, Noah and Chelsea in the back. They were very intent watching the parade.

However, if you look closer, it looks like Noah is just ticked right off, but when I saw the picture, I think Chels is more ticked than Noah! Look at that face!

And although we felt a little ripped off sitting at the end of the parade because a lot of people had already thrown out all their goodies, we did manage to grab some candy and a whole whack of post-it notes.

All in all, good times were had. Until C had a meltdown from missing her morning nap and we had to leave before actually going into the C&A fest. Oh well, there's always next year.

Fashion show

This post is courtesy of my mom who took pity on my ill-fitting wardrobe and sent me some back to school money for clothes.

Thanks mom!

Oh and this also shows why I would never try out for ANTM. Same pose, every time!

first day back at school.

good group of kids. should be a good year.
oh, but they are stinky already. stinky stinky grade 6s. had the deodorant talk today and it's only the first day of school. sigh. that might make for a long year. Glade plug ins, here we come.


too tired to think straight.
g'night.

How much is that Doggie in the window?

I love blogging, and check so often during the day to see who has updated and I must say, you guys need to update more!

However, I know the pendulum swings two ways and so I try to update often too. Not much interesting has been going on lately just getting ready to go back to work. Rather than blogging about that not so happy event, I will leave you with an interesting saga that continues in my household.

I was given a ceramic dog statue for my birthday. The thought was sweet, but it really wasn't suited to my house decor. However, my beautiful daughter fell in love with it and would carry it around, kiss it and share her "soo" with it. Despite my efforts (a few times) to share the love and pass the dog onto a more loving family, he returned (even into my bed). Well, the other day, C took Doggie outside and well, silly neglectful me, forgot to bring him back inside. I was absolutely devasted to come outside in the morning and discover that Doggie had a boo-boo.

Upon closer inspection, we determined perhaps it was time to put Doggie down.

I was sad, yes, but deep down I knew that Doggie would be much happier in a field chasing bunnies in imaginary Doggie heaven.

However, my husband would have none of that. He knew Chelsea loved this Doggie so much and couldn't bear to put her through the pain of losing her friend. It truly was Daddy (and ducktape) to the rescue.

He had some help, of course.

And, you know, maybe Daddy was right. This girl had to smile when she saw her Doggie wearing his new jacket.

However, I'm still convinced that perhaps this isn't the best home for Doggie. We're still searching for Doggie's true home, perhaps a home with little boys to play with. Boys and dogs go hand in hand...

me, me and more me.

Amanda...
- mowed the grass today.
- prepped for Science and Social.
- didn't touch math or LA.
- finished putting up everything on the walls in her room.
- needs a foot rub.
- is annoyed the mouse on her laptop no longer works.
- is glad she's getting a new laptop from GVSD.
- can't believe summer, and her mat leave, is officially almost over.
- wishes she had spare money to get her hair done and do some clothes shopping before school starts.
- is glad her husband is finishing closets tonight. The basement is DONE!
- secretly is glad school is starting, just to get back into a routine.
-'s heart still hurts that she is going to miss out on so much of C's day.
- is glad H. showed her how blog feeds work. They are awesome.
- has no cakes to do until the end of September.
- really should have gone for a run tonight.
- is going to say "g'night" and go cover some books for her classroom.

Cleaning that changed my life

Okay, so this is not me trying to sell you anything, but rather me just raving about my newest "addiction", if I can call it that.

Something you may not know about me is that I'm all about naturopathic medicine and herbs and all things natural. I hate having to go to the doctor. When my husband and I were told a few years ago that we wouldn't be able to conceive, I went crying to a naturopathic doctor and she laughed and said she'd have us pregnant in 3 months, and she did! In addition, she helped me discover that my allergies that kept getting more and more intense were caused by eating eggs. As soon as I stopped eating eggs, my allergies have pretty much disappeared, but yet, eggs would never show up on an allergy test - weird, I know. This experience, combined with my allergies, caused me to look for more natural ways of doing a lot of things.

Anyways, back to the original topic of this post. All things natural. For years, I've had to use special laundry detergent after a crazy bout of hives in university. I don't use soap with fillers or scents, and I don't and won't ever use fabric softeners or dryer sheets. This was hard to get adjusted to in the beginning, but now I love the simple smell of clean clothes with no scent. I started using the Norwex laundry detergent and the dryer balls years ago. I love how there is no scents or irritants. LOVE.

However, a couple years ago, with having a young baby and small dog, I started looking for alternatives to the chemical cleaners that I was using. I hated that I had 5 or 6 bottles under my sink to use for cleaning. Well, Norwex to the rescue again. Now, I have no chemicals under my sink (except for toilet cleaner - only because I haven't tried the Norwex one yet.) All I use now are the envirocloth, window cloth and a little cleaning paste to shine my taps. That's it. I love it.

After using these cloths for a couple years now, my favorite part about Norwex isn't even that it's all natural and safe without those chemicals - it's how quick it is to clean. I used to HATE cleaning the tub. I had finally decided that Tilex worked the best so I would stand in the shower, spray the walls and tub, let it soak, come back and scrub with a brush, rinse, wipe with water, then wipe dry, all while having to take a few breathing breaks because the chemicals smelled so strong. It was very time consuming.

Now, I go in, wet my cloth, wipe for 2-3 minutes and I'm done and it's sparkling. So easy and quick.

I love that I can give Chels a cloth and she can copy my cleaning without worrying about her ingesting chemicals. I can wash the floor and let her and Maggie play on it right away with no worries. I love it.

I know that it's hard sometimes to let go of our favorite brands or what we've always used - at least that's how I am. I also know it's hard to believe that just a cloth and water can actually clean and disinfect our house. But this is one change that I will not regret. I love doing things without chemicals.

So that's my thoughts on cleaning. Don't worry. I'm not trying to sell you Norwex, and I'm not even having a party. It's your choice if you want to switch over, (I do happen to know a certain someone who does sell it) I just wanted to write out a few things I do to keep my house cleaner and safer!

Pet peeves.

This post may reveal that I am easily annoyed. Maybe I am... who knows? Just thought it'd be interesting to think of some things that irritate me easily.
• people who randomly drive across parking lots. There are lines for a reason!!


• people who choose not to signal when driving. If signalling were optional, you'd be able to buy cars without those fancy lights telling drivers what you are about to do. It isn't optional, so just reach out and click that stick and let's hear the tick, tick, tick as it signals.


• telemarketing computers that know to call your house right when you are doing dishes, or changing the stinkiest bum ever.


• using "l33t speak" or whatever the heck it's called. Bad grammar annoys me on one level, but those short cuts make me think way to hard when I am reading. My brain knows how to decipher written language as it is intended not... u, r, ur, y.. etc. I ALWAYS will read ur as "err" not your.


• Further to the "l33t speak" what is the point of "wuz"? "Sally wuz here." It's not even shorter than "was". I just don't get it.


• stinky dish cloths. Seriously. How can something that we use to clean with smell so bad, so quickly?


• one ply toilet paper. Again I say, "seriously?" Do people actually think it's saving them money? We all know that when it's one ply, you just use three times as much. (This pet peeve is inspired by having to go back to school in Sept. I'm tempted to bring my own TP in my purse.)


• people who stare. Enough said.

• stubbing my toe. I think some people, mainly myself, were simply not meant to have toes. I have broken my second toe more times than I can count, because it is longer than my big toe and I'm constantly ramming it into things.
• bad/rude service in a restaurant. I just have no tolerance for this for some reason. Maybe it's my years of experience as a server... I don't know. I just can't stand it.

That's it for now. What are some of your annoyance-creators?

The making of fondant babies...

No, this post does not involve talk of the birds and the bees, or storks, for that matter. It's about CAKE!

This week I had a special cake order. I was asked to make figures out of fondant to place in a swimming pool cake. I was very excited to do this, as I really wanted to try figure molding. It was thrilling to watch my little babies take shape!

Here are some heads on toothpicks. I was so thrilled with how they were looking. I wish I had taken more pictures along the way.

Of course, they needed hair. The mom who ordered the cake kindly sent me some photos of the children, so I tried to match it as close as a cartoon can get! (Notice the abandoned head in the background? He/she didn't make the cut.)

After more carving and shaping and molding, my fondant babies are done! I made their swim suits and toys according to the pictures and for my first attempt at fondant figures, I couldn't be happier!

You'll have to head over to http://amandascreativecakes.blogspot.com to see the final product!

Because H. asked so nicely...

1. The name you would have chose for yourself if you had any say at all: Never really thought about it before. I kinda like Trish.

2. Favourite Jelly Belly flavour: I don't eat them, but I once had a "popcorn" one. It wasn't popcorn, it was butter. A mouth full of butter. Yuck.

3. If you could trade your citizenship with any other country, what would it be? I agree with Heather - Ireland. Looks so amazing there.

4. Have you ever been skinny-dipping? Oh no - way too self-conscious and prude, am I!

5. Favourite cocktail: Used to be a Silver Cloud - now it's rum and diet coke. Mmmm.

6. Last place on earth you'd ever want to be: Up North. Brrr. I hate winter.

7. Most recent kiss - when and from whom? A bedtime kiss from Chels.

8. Three earthly friends you can't live without: Chris, Heather, Jenelle.

9. A meal memory that surpassed all others: The Thanksgiving meal when Chris threw up on his plate. (Please note. This was also the first time he met my parents.)

10. How many times in your life have you moved? Too many to count. Chris and I have moved 4 times in 5 years. In University, I moved probably 2-3 times a year. But pretty much grew up in the same house that my mom and stepdad still live in.

11. We can't all have our own Italian Stallion. But what kind of 'Stallion' would you have? I like my Stallion freakishly tall.

12. Quick! Right this second, if you could be transported anywhere, where would you go? I really want to hang out in Australia.

13. A toy from your childhood that you would still play with: Slinkies all the way.

14. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? Chris was boyfriend #5.

15. Flip-flops, knee-high boots, or Reebok Pumps? Flip-flops.

16. Ever waxed anything before? Yup. Today even.

17. Favourite dance move? I married a Mennonite. I'm not allowed to dance. ;)

18. Best sunrise you've ever witnessed: Not sure...

19. The one food that you make that nobody else can come close to (in your opinion, of course): I make a mean lasagna, I'm told.

20. Chrissy, Janet or Terry? Not sure who this is referring to.

21. The band or song you secretly love but would never tell until now: I regularly listen to The Beatles.

22. Article of clothing you wouldn't be caught dead in: skinny jeans

23. Sprawling one-story or multi-storied mansion? definitely a multi-storied mansion (perhaps a red multi-story...)

24. Do you dance in front of the mirror? See #17.

25. Weirdest food you've ever loved: Grilled cheese sandwiches made with cheesewhiz and dipped in cornsyrup. Hey - blame mom for this one!

26. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very strange, how strange do you REALLY think you are? 4.8

still here

too busy to blog
still here
keep checking
possibly a post tomorrow?

August is an absolute whirlwind and I'm not liking it.

Cuteness.

:D Check out my yogurt-faced, bedhead little girl.

School Stuff

Clever title, I know.

So, it's time for me to think about going back to school... Okay well, truth be told, I should have been thinking about it a while ago, but have just been so busy and it doesn't help that I really REALLY don't want to go back to work full-time.

See, I was silly. I had kinda been offered to take a 50% job at another AMAZING school. I loved that school. I loved the admin, the collegues, the cohesiveness of the staff, the location, the atmosphere, the resource support, everything. I felt so at home (after the first 3 weeks of adjusting to those crazy grade 1s.) But in my head, I thought I needed 100% financially.

Now looking more closely, I could have gotten by with 50% and still been able to spend way more time at home. Now, I'm in a 100% position, which means I go back to seeing my girl for 4-5 hours a day. That is not enough. I'm so torn and sick when I think about leaving her all day again. So, instead of thinking of the "couldas and shouldas" or all the negatives about going back to work, I'm going to focus on the positives.

So, in no particular order...

• seeing my friends at my old school
• knowing the names of (most) students
• moo-la
• the feeling of teaching good lessons
• the confidence boost that I get each time I walk into my room
• knowing that I am making a difference to my students
• joking around with my students
• challenging myself to come up with new ways to teach
• the challenge of being tech facilitator this year
• no more snacking! eating well balanced meals and not constantly looking in the fridge
• ...

Yeah, I'm running out of good things. There have to be more I'm sure. It won't be as bad as I'm thinking, right? It'll all be okay...

Advice needed

Please tell me how you store your necklaces. I have lots of long ones, or big chunky ones, and they don't fit in my jewelry box - actually nothing really goes in my jewelery box except extra buttons.

I just want to know how you store your jewelery, especially chunky necklaces.

Do tell!