Sleeping Beauties

... REDHEAD BEDHEAD!!

I couldn't resist.

Patio Partay!

Saturday, Mike built another deck on the left side of our stairs. It literally took him a couple hours... Show off. The Sunderlands were in town, so perfect timing for a BBQ on our new patio!

Gramma's favorite kids, and Avery's favorite toy.

Love you Andrea!!

Mike has this next week off! The first week in a long...long, since our honeymoon long time. So, we are pretty excited. Our plan is to make no plans. So, I'll keep you posted what we actually end up doing!

Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher Movie Review....

In the states, this movie is rated R. In Canada... PG Something. Basically our standards our lower, and if there are not 500+ F-Bombs or 78 Sex scenes than eleventeen year olds can go to the theater with all their co-ed friends at the awkward, flirty stage. Basically every seat that filled the row behind us. I'm going to sound like my parents for half a second here... but when I was their age I saw Cool Runnings in the theater. Remember that one? With John Candy? Still a classic. Well pretty much anything with John Candy is perfect.
Anyways, It's hard to find a movie lately that omits the inappropriateness.
With that being said, so all of my precious naive friends don't judge me...
I really enjoyed the movie! It was pretty funny! Typical Cameron Diaz with the similar personality in Charlie's Angels. Justin Timerlake, really is there anything he can't do? Singing, comedian on SNL, and acting. Kudo's Justin. Kudo's.

I'm not going to get into the story line. Just go see it yourself...

Friday Challenge

Well... Alex & Arianne (the sisters that no one can tell apart...but really you CAN tell them apart) have weekly challenges, with the goal of completing by Friday! These girls are talented. Doing crafts, cooking, sewing curtains?... yep, the list goes on. I offered the suggestion that this Friday they create a poem/rap of what their week was like! Yah. Why not? You're never too old for a little poetry. So, I figured I would crash their challenge and invite myself to do the same!

It's Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday
7pm drove to the mall.
Yah. Don't get too excited. That song's not going to work.

Shopping with my sister and Avery at the mall,
Food court, pet store, and free sunglasses!
Maybe next week a pub crawl?



My friend Alicia came to town.
Slumber party, pictures & jamming.
Fresh off her mish... she's not a run around.

Saturday a lot was done
Our poor cars were fixed.
And don't forget grocery shopping. Way overdone.
Yes, I rhymed done with over done. How dare you poke fun.
Becaaaause Saturday is a special day, it's the day you get ready for Sunday.
You clean the house and you shop at the store, so you don't have to work until Moooonday.

Happy Father's day, Sunday.
A lunchbox & garage opener, thanks for being such a great Dad
We're all grateful today you didn't wear plaid.
Also, that your name isn't Chad.
Or that you live in Baghdad.

An evening with the Shanks
Delicious snacks & laughing
We had such a blast. THANKS!


Monday, I burnt cookies
Oops, to my VT ladies
Instead you got candies.
If you don't think that rhymed or chimed, It could have been better timed.
I'm not exactly a poet, and you know it.

Mike took the pool down
There was a leg that was sinking too low to the ground.
The lawn now smells so lovely...
and even looks like we had a visit from an Alien or the Grand Prix.


A movie with the Kutarna's for FHE
Nacho Libre, 1st time watching, it was funny to see.

For supper on Tuesday we went out.
When we noticed that's not pin striping on the side...
That's a long scratch on the side of Oprah, no doubt.
To whomever keyed our Jeep.
Were you dared? Angry for taking our pool down? Jealous I'm prettier than you?
Whatever it was, or whoever it was. Go to... Bleeeep.
It could have been worse, an accident or a hit.
But, if we catch you. You're in deep... trouble.

That evening, I made something for Avery. You may have laughed.
I'll use my mother-in-law's word. I'm a bit of the anti-craft.
Avery loved the magnetic alphabet.
A little too much, that she chewed on 2 letters and they got soggy & wet.






Wednesday, It's My Mom's last work day!
Hurrrrrrraaaay!!
Nath, hung out most of the day.
I got to go to the gym and play.
Shouldn't have had that last buffet.
Say no to the McDonald parfait.
Guess it's time to repay.
What do you say?
Should I take up ballet?

Don't forget a letter to clean up our yard
I felt a bit like a retard.
We've been cleaning our place up so hard.
Then I decided to make a fake card...
A letter to the Biebers from the Shanks
But you thought it was the Housing Authority... Thanks.
That laugh made Alex and me feel a bit better,
Hope you guys liked your warning letter.
Especially because your yard is the cleanest,
It was probably confusing why it was the meanest.

Thursday, glad Mike has a heart.
We are now sponsoring a child.
Let's add that to the shopping cart.
His name is Elias from Ethiopia
I hope our contribution can help...
To prevent diarrhea.


And now it's finally Friday Friday, we so excited!
Tonight we are going to see the movie "Bad Teacher" It looks pretty funny.
Stay tuned for a movie review.
Happy weekend Ya'll!!

Clutch on Crowchild...

It's been raining on and off most of the day...What a cozy day to be inside!

We got a call from Nath that his clutch went while he was driving on Crowchild. So Mike left right away. Mike's a lot like his Dad, he can fix anything and will drop what he's doing to give someone a hand. Probably shouldn't share that... Now I will never see him!!
They got some parts, some supper and were able to fix it on the side of the road in record time!
All while I was cozy at home watching T.V. with Avery...

Fat-Free Frozen Friday Fun!

How's that for Alliteration?...

This afternoon, I tried out a new dessert recipe! It's fat-free, tastes AMAZING... AND only took 15 mins to make!

It's called Raspberry Sensation...

Sooo tasty and refreshing!

Next time, I would use a different serving tray instead of a cutting board... and maybe add a graham crust too!

Here's the recipe for anyone interested!

Raspberry Sensation recipe at Kraftcanada.com

What You Need

2 cups (1/2 of 1-L container) raspberry sorbet or sherbet

1 cup cold skim milk

1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Fat Free Instant Pudding

2 cups thawed Cool Whip Light Whipped Topping

1 cup fresh raspberries

Make It

SPOON sorbet into foil-lined 9x5-inch loaf pan; press firmly to form even layer. Freeze 10 min.

BEAT milk and pudding mix in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in Cool Whip; spread over sorbet.

FREEZE 3 hours or until firm. Unmould dessert onto plate about 15 min. before serving; top with berries. Let stand until dessert is slightly softened before slicing to serve.

kraft kitchens tips

How to Soften Sorbet

To soften sorbet, spoon measured amount of sorbet into microwaveable bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM 10 to 15 sec. or until slightly softened.

Beautiful SUNday!

Why are Sunday's always the most beautiful day of the week?

Well, we definitely took advantage of this 'day of rest'.
With some hanging out on the patio, eating watermelon and a quick cold swim for the first time!
Then later a BBQ with the Kutarna's!

Even tho it was a hot day.... the water was ICE cold!

So, we put Avery in a child's tube. Which she loved except when her feet touched the water...

.... A taste of Summer. This is only the beginning!

Summer?

It is finally, kind of... sort of... SUMMER! This weekend was full of lot's of fun!

Mike took Friday off, because Avery fell down the stairs... We weren't sure if we needed to take her to the hospital. So he just took the day off. A couple bruises... but she's fine! Kids are so resilient. I fall down the stairs and I'm out of commission for a few days. Nath says: I'm at the age where bones don't break... no no... they shatter. haha...

So with Mike home we all got to go the Pannenkoek Haus with Sar, Nath, Sal, Uncle Eddie & Aunt Marilyn. Mmmmm, what an excellent way to start the day! Fitting that we are all Dutch as well... So lucky it's really close to our house!!

We set up our pool when we got home!! Another really great deal on Kijiji! It was brand new, never opened still in the package. Regular 450$, we paid 200$... I'm sure our water bill will be a few hundred extra this month... so it evens out! haha. With the ground being slightly uneven, it gives the effect of having a deep end and shallow end. Seriously tho, it's going to be a blast!!
The hard part will be having to say NO to all the neighborhood kids...




For supper, we were invited to Uncle Eddie's & Aunt Marilyn's campsite for a BBQ. What a great time catching up & laughing. These two are so inspiring, with all the obstacles they have been through they still come out with an extremely positive optimistic attitude!
(I'll try & post some pictures once I get them)

Saturday morning... garage saling! Need I say more? We found a community that was having 29 garage sales! It was pretty chilly and gloomy... but on the plus side by the time we actually started garage saling, everyone was more than willing to get rid of things then stay another minute outside! We got some great deals! Some swimming toys for Avery, an amp, books for Avery, lot's of free stuff! But, the find of the day was the rare lunchbox for Mike for $1.00!!! He now matches Nath. We have been trying to find a lunchbox like this for a long time! The company was on the show Dragon's Den, and are finally going to start producing the lunchboxes once again after L. May's granddaughter took over the company. Boring?... Well, we thought it was pretty cool.




Oh also... I sold my kayak a couple weeks ago. A bit sad... but, this weekend I replaced it with the model I was looking for! We can even practice our rolls in the pool! Now we really are itching for it to be SUMMER!!!