Well since my Baby left me.....

...I haven't been singing Elvis tunes, that's for sure! It's official. I am a single mom. I woke up this morning determined to make the best of things. When your handed a lemon...right?

Right after breakfast the kids and I got in the van and headed out for slurpies and a bit of shopping. So far so good. By noon though we were hurtin for things to do so we went to Wal Mart and bought a couple of kids sleeping bags and went "camping" with popcorn and a movie, of course. (We really rough it here) By 5:00 pm we were once again wondering how to pass the time. Normally at this time of day, we'd all be at the window waiting anxiously for Daddy to pull into the driveway. Not today. (For some reason knowing that John isn't coming home makes the time go by so much slower) So instead, we headed out to go kite shopping. Yes...our little pocket book took a small hit today, but it is one hour away from the kids bedtime and I actually still feel sane. All in all things went well. This whole "single parent" thing is tough. Lucky for me it's only because John is down south trying to line up a house for us. Pretty brave of me I think to leave the house hunting up to him. In only 36 hours and 45 minutes he'll be back. I know...poor me:) I can hardly wait!!
9:00 am

1:00 pm...

5:00pm...




As always Jessica is perfectly content though she no doubt misses Dad as much as the rest of us do!!!

Home

So John spent a couple of days in Southern Alberta this past week helping his Dad. While he was there, he managed to line up some work as a substitute teacher in that school division starting on Monday. MONDAY!!! This works out great for him as it will give him a chance to get to know the staff and students at the High School where he will be working full time (physics?) come September. Not only did he make arrangements to start subbing on Monday but he also came home with two keys to our new postal box so that I can start switching our mail over. Ahhh...my head is spinning. This is happening so fast!! It is hard to believe that it is already time to move...again. You'd think I'd be an expert at this by now but I'm a little bit nervous this time around. Why? Not sure. Maybe it is because we have to move in a month and have...no house? Maybe it is the fact that we are now finished with our transient, nomadic student lifestyle. For the first time ever we are moving somewhere knowing that it is most likely where our kids will grow up. I can see myself going to that same post office box when I'm 80 years old. Talking to me about our upcoming move can sound like a good thing or a sad thing depending on what time of day it is, what my mood is like etc. John being hired is SUCH a blessing. We really are so fortunate. But there is a lot that I will miss.

PROS:
-We will be much closer to Johns AMAZING parents. I really want my kids to know their two grandparents well as they are all my kids have.
-I will not have to worry about being pulled over by the flashing red and blue lights of my brothers cop car...for no reason at all:)
-can you say "income". Yeah that will be nice.
-No more long waits in emergency rooms
-Jogging in fresh air
-The sound of the wind. I LOVE to hear that wind blow.
-Waterton will be a very short drive away. Talk about a day at the park. It can't get better than that.
-Close to the temple.
-I love that my older sister and her husband will be moving down south soon as well.
-I love that we won't have to store empty boxes (for future moves) anymore.
-It is awesome that John will be able to go to work everyday in an awesome place and do something that he is terrific at.

CONS:
-I'll miss being pulled over by my brother (sort of), and I'll miss his afternoon visits
-I'll miss living above my younger sister and her family. They have been SOO good to us.
-I'll miss being able to move often and meet lots of people, live in different wards, and cities.
-I have found a lot of comfort in not having to reach out and invest a lot into other friendships because hey...we've never stayed in one place for very long. I'm a little bit nervous to move somewhere permanently. My "friend making" skills are definitely rusty.
-Abby will miss her little friends

I'll keep you "posted" (hee hee). We really are excited about this next opportunity and adventure for our little family. Besides it doesn't really matter where we are as long as we are as happy as we are now. "Home is where the food is." I mean "home is where the heart is....and where you hang your hat."

Jessica seems excited about the move!

Our little Boxer

At this very moment Sam looks like he just got in a fight...with a ten year old...and lost. Not so. Just an ordinary Sunday afternoon at our house:) It seems like there is an hour in our home, always between 5:00 and 6:00pm where chaos rules and bad things can happen. I'm usually preoccupied trying to think up what I'm going to cook for dinner. The kids are all hungry and delirious with low blood sugar and I usually get the bright idea to ease the chaos by letting the kids help. On a normal day their efforts to help in the kitchen would result in a spilled pitcher of juice, or a broken plate. Not today. At 5:15-right on cue...disaster hit. In a split second an innocent childhood fight over who "gets to stir" resulted in the first case of stitches I've ever had to deal with as a Mother. Now it was all an innocent accident. I'm sure Abby didn't mean to push Sam off that chair but she did. In a matter of seconds there was blood just dripping down his face. Abby frantically apologizing and telling him, "you can have the chair Sam...it's ok." Too late for that. Good bye peaceful Sunday afternoon...hello emergency room.

Needless to say, after 6 hours of waiting, and 5 minutes being restrained in a "mummy bag," while a doctor stiched him up, our little boy survived his first real injury. I am doing ok now. uh...I mean Sam is doing alright.

It is so hard to see your kids go through things like this. I kept wishing there was a way I could just take it all away for him. I think every parent feels like that, whether we are wanting to protect them from a bully, or a sickness...or from getting hurt. I think that is the part of parenting I will never be able to get used to. Watching your kids experience difficult things. What a trooper though. Despite my crying- he took it like a real little "man."

Hopefully this marks the one and only visit to the emerge this year! Hope you all have better luck this week:))

Circus Time

We had a lot of fun today with some friends of ours at the Shrine Circus. It reminded me of going as a kid. The only difference this time being that we actually had to pay and not our parents. Kids are so unaware of the fact that flashing swords and twinkling wands cost a lot of money. More then they are worth...but oh what memories. Abby rode on an elephant with her friend Jenna. Jessica slept peacefully in John's arms, and Sam played happily in a puddle just off the stage. I'm now fearing E-coli.:)) The kids were so tired after. I did feel a little bad as we entered the parking lot and drove through a small crowd of people protesting the circus. I kept my eye out thinking "Auntie Crystal" was perhaps one of them. That would have been awkward. Fun day.

I've posted some of my artwork (see the link) I've done over the years. Not fantastic but I'll blame it on poor scanning quality. :))

Top Ten

The Mayo Clinic recently released a list of the top ten foods that we all should be eating in order to be more healthy. I saw someone bake this cake on a cooking show today and it is actually pretty healthy (for a cake). The bonus part is it contains 4 of the 10 "healthy" ingredients. Add a little ground flax seed like I did and you've got 5 out of the 10. Hooray. Whoever said delicious can't be nutritious never had this cake. As I was baking I couldn't help but think of an old roomate I had in college who ate apple crisp everyday because of the nutritional benefit of apples.:) Perhaps I will have this "Apple, Almond and Blueberry Cake with Maple Cream" everyday too! Ok so maybe packing a lot of good for you things into a "cake" is not the ideal way to go but it is tastey. Enjoy!


Apple, Almond and Blueberry Cake with Maple Cream
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced, room temperature
• 4 medium Gala or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into
• 1/3-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• 2/3 cup dried blueberries
• coarse & powdered sugar, for sprinkling
• 2 cups chilled whipping cream
• 1/3 cup good quality maple syrup
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Sift first 5 ingredients into large bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Mix in apples and brown sugar. Whisk eggs and milk together; stir into apple mixture with almonds and blueberries (batter will be thick). Transfer to pan. Sprinkle top with coarse sugar.
3. Bake cake until golden and springy to touch, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly on rack. Cut around cake to loosen; remove pan sides and dust with powdered sugar.
4. Whip cream on medium speed to get some air into it. Add maple syrup and whip on high until soft, pillowy peaks form. Serve each slice of cake with a dollop of cream and a dusting of cinnamon.