A Royal wedding with Royal excitement...WHY NOT?!

Okay listen up all you haters out there, seriously?!  Did your mother not ever teach you "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?!"  Why all the hating on the excitement of the Royal Wedding?!?!  I can remember how just down right GIDDY I was planning my own wedding so why should we not share in the same excitement for the Royals??  I sat this afternoon watching my PVR'd version of the events and explained to my sons that this was a REAL LIVE prince and princesss!!  To which Blaine responded, "but what's the NAME of this show?"  LOL  Not TOTALLY getting it.  Parker wanted to know if they were going to have a baby in this show.  Okay so REALLY not getting it! hahaha.  But it was still exciting to them.  A real live prince and princess.  Why not??  It's a bit of a fairy tale.  NO fairy tales are not logical nor do they even make sense sometimes, but they are exciting and infuse a feeling of HOPE. 

So yup, I was excited for the Royal couple.  And I wish them all the best.  And I really wish all you haters would just SHUT UP.  No one cares you don't care about the wedding.  If you don't want to watch, go out into the big beautiful world and live a little of your own life and stop hating on others lives. 

For me, I've hunkered down, put my own life on hold for a bit, and am replaying that famous SECOND kiss over and over again. 

Tooth lost!

Parker has lost his FIRST tooth!  My baby is growing up so fast.  I can't even believe it.  

Here is the picture of his new tooth fairy pillow.  Next one will have bigger 'legs' and a larger 'pocket'.  



What is the concensus on what the tooth fairy delivers these days??  Parker got $5 for his FIRST tooth, but we're thinking a toonie will be what she leaves after this.  

I have a new job!!

So tonight I met a bunch of AWESOME ladies and signed up to be a Pampered Chef consultant!! 

I'm really excited about this new opportunity because I LOVE Pampered Chef products.  They are high quality and innovative.  And I really love the recipes you get with the products!!  The products actually make me WANT to cook!  LOL 

So if anyone wants to earn some FREE stuff, contact me and we'll have a party!!

Snuggle bunny

Snuggled my little monkey to sleep tonight.  Okay not the most interesting blog post, but I just wanted to say, I LOVE IT. 

So many parenting books would say I'm not doing my kid any favors by snuggling him to sleep but you know what?!  I think I AM.  I am definately giving something.  A sense of love.  A sense of comfort.  A sense of security.  I think those are HUGE favors. 

That's it.  I snuggled and I loved it. 

:)

Clutter - the untold love story

We've moved three times now, as a couple and family.  I myself have moved many many more times than that, as my LOVING father can attest to.  I'm sure my Dad will never forget getting whistled at on Church Street as he moved me into my first downtown apartment.  He was whistled at by another man...to which he responded, "you'll be very safe in this neighborhood Krista".  Gosh I love my dad!  :)  As we all know with moving comes PURGING.  Getting rid of all those items that you haven't really used since the last time you moved.  Generally speaking, I am a tidy person.  I like the look of clean, and am trying very VERY hard to break my "pack rat" ways. 

**As an aside, can I tell you as a good piece of advice, two pack rats should NEVER EVER marry.  I currently have a large box of those mini alcohol bottles (that I am sure most of are older than I am) in my basement.  My husband assures me, that one day they will be worth something.  Worth a damn good night of drinking and a hangover like you've never seen is what I'm thinking!**

But back to "Clutter", I recently had a little get together at our house.  Just a few girls over for a Pampered Chef party.  It's the FIRST get together I've had in our 'not-so-new-anymore' house.  So of course, first impressions are everything, and we have been here for over a year now, so out come the cleaning gloves!

As a part of our last house sale, our real estate agent provided us with a house stager.  She came in and told us all the areas of our house we need to tidy up, or de-clutter, and even gave us tips on what colours of paint to use and what sorts of art were appropriate to hang on the walls.  I tried to take a few of those lessons along with me while I cleaned up for my party. 

CLUTTER.  There should be no clutter on counters, shelves, the floors.  The less clutter you have the bigger your home looks.   So I started looking around.  GEEEEZUS.  There's clutter everywhere! 

Above is a picture of one half of our entertainment unit.  The top shelf boasts a family portrait recently taken.  It was a labour of love.  The hour long photo session consisted of chasing the boys around, begging and pleading for them to stay still long enough to take a decent photograph, and corralling them long enough to not break any of the photographers equipment.  Despite our harrowing experience, we did end up with a decent photograph.  So it's something we look at and laugh. 

Also up there on the top shelf is Parker's hockey trophy.  His first trophy ever.  He's SO proud of it, and as he should be.  Many early weekend morning practices were clocked, a few out of town games, and hours of hard work and determination were invested in getting that trophy.  I hope it's something that he has years to come. 

One of my favorite pieces of art, albeit small, joins the other items on top billing.  A canvas piece that says, "the best things in life aren't things".  After giving birth to my three beautiful and wonderful sons, I couldn't believe that more. 

Move on down and you'll find a "Kiss Me" wooden craft recently painted by my rockstar son, Blaine.  As well as his picture as a baby.  A picture does speak a thousand words doesn't it?  Coupled with those, are a small tile talking about soul mates, that Paul gave me for Valentines day. 

Most touching of my "clutter" on these shelves is a picture of Kiefer on my chest just seconds after being born, VBA2C.  A very proud moment for all of us. 

What other 'clutter' lies around my house??

Our fridge spotted with art projects by the kids, and family pictures. 

Board games that sit on top of our fridge, so we grab them whenever the mood strikes.  Some of the BEST times we have had with the boys have been around our kitchen table playing these games.

Art drawer on our kitchen table with a card that my oldest son Parker has made for his best friend who now lives hundreds of miles away.  :( 

This last item of 'clutter' finally hit me.  I do have clutter.  I have kids so of course I have clutter.  But on top of that, we have memories.  We have tokens of affection.  We have trophies marking our proudest moments. 

All of the sudden I was fine with not having a model home.  You won't find a picture of my living room in an interior decorating magazine.  But I'm okay with that. 

My house is cluttered with LOVE. 

And that kind of clutter is nothing but GOOD.

Easy dinner

So the other night I was NOT in the mood to cook and had resigned myself to a dinner of grilled cheese when I opened the fridge and realized I had some 'starting to wilt' broccoli.  DRAT.  Now what am I going to do with it? 

AHA!!  THIS is what I'll do with it:

Broccoli garlic pasta

Boil pasta to your desired tenderness and in separate pot, boil broccoli - and I mean boil the CRAP out of it.

In small fry pan, saute 3-4 cloves of garlic and 1 white oinion until soft. 

When broccoli is VERY soft, drain with the lid of the pot to perserve as much of the broccoli as possible and MASH like you would mash potatoes.

Drain your pasta and and then add to it the mashed broccoli, oinion and garlic.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of butter (or your favorite cooking oil) and serve with a sprinkle of parmesean cheese.

**You can add roasted chicken or even tuna to this recipe to add some more protien! **

My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe and it's SO easy and simple to do.  And it is PERFECT for that broccoli you've left just a little too long! 

Feeling tired and weak

Recently, I've been trying to make some changes in my life.  I find myself getting annoyed and frustrated with certain situations in my life but I know that sort of energy only to be damaging and not productive.  How does the saying go?  You can only control your own actions, not the actions of those around you...or something like that.  I subscribe firmly to that statement. 

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".  I believe this is even more true when raising children.  I am not, or at the very least, do not WANT to be a "Do as I say, not as I do" sort of parent.  If I want my children to learn something, I believe they are going to learn it best from my example.  

All that being said, I have started going to church, every week for the last couple of months now.  I'm looking for some "bigger" answers, some "bigger" truths, and hey, if you're going to get 'help' from someone, who better to help you than the Big Guy himself.  :o) 

Only I'm at a loss.  I don't feel like any answers are forthcoming.  I don't feel renewed or stronger.  As a matter of fact, I'm feeling tired and weak.  I feel like I have taken steps BACKWARDS, instead of forwards. 

SIGH.  So then I turn back to what I believe.  "Be the change...you want to see".  So where do I find some answers.  This may shock some of you, but I do in fact own and even READ, a bible. 

So then I find 2 Corinthians 12:9.  "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

So I'm thinking, that despite my feeling weak, I should have some Christful power in me right now???  Why doesn't it feel that way?  And how do I get that feeling?? 

Am I going to the wrong church?  You know when you go to church and the sermon just seems like it was written for you and you alone?  That somehow the priest knew EXACTLY what to say to reach into your heart and soul and lift you up and make you feel stronger?  I've had moments like that, and they are so empowering.  So awesome.  Today, this morning, at mass was the EXACT opposite.  After the readings and then the sermon, I thought, wow, that wasn't helpful AT ALL. 

How can that be??  Am I missing something???

Somebody help me out here....