SO PROUD!!!

Check this out!

I know I am giving out family info, don't know how to not.

We are SO proud of B and his accomplishments!

In a few weeks we are headed off to the first Pan-Am games of martial arts.

COOL EH?!?!

I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked.

what a little man!!!

Mr. M's day in court

Mr. M was in court today. 

This is not USUALLY where he finds himself, he's a teacher.

In November, he got a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign. 

He came home and was ticked (I mean really, who isn't when they get a ticket)

He was talking to me about how there was a truck and trailer parked on the road where he was exiting from.

I said to him, "Let's go and BUY a disposable camera (That is really key) and go and take pictures.

So we went and stopped at the store, got a disposable camera and went to take pictures.

This is the truck and trailer that was blocking him from view of the cop. 

We went there, he took pictures and we timed how long a vehicle was hidden behind the truck and trailer.

It was 6 seconds.

Mr. M's defense was how could he receive a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign when he could not be seen for 6 seconds.

HE WON! 

$287 in our pockets!

The key to this was the disposable camera.

Because we used a disposable we could hand over the negatives and they could see that we did not alter the pictures.

Digital pictures are not always upheld in court because they can be altered.

The only thing that he did wrong was not take pictures of the policeman's point of view.

But he WON!!!!

And the thing I am most proud of is when Mr. M and the police officer left the court, they shook hands and had a chat for a few minutes, no hard feelings. 

I know sometimes when we go thru a hard time hard feelings are easy to be had, but it was left at the courthouse.

What a blessing. 

mish mash and a holy crapload of pictures.

I have not done pictures in forever. I try to do pictures so my family who don't live here can see what we have been up to and see how much our kids have changed. Sometimes I shock myself with how quick they have grown up myself! Heavens only knows I love those little kids to bits. Get comfy.

SERIOUSLY????? ABSOLUTELY!!! It was a super proud day in our house when he got it! I cried. I am so proud of him and his hard work. What I really love is now that he got it, he want's to stay on the Honor Roll! He works so hard. Bringing home 90's on tests. Oh he has to work super hard for it. Studying in a very different way than I have ever seen, but it works for him! I am so proud of his hard work.

So one night L comes to me and said, "Mom, do you know that strawberries are really good dipped in icing sugar?" There was a mess made but he seriously loved it!

M and B had a karate tournament in Prince Albert, SK. It was M's first tournament. It was so fun to watch her! She really had no clue but did great! The last one is her when she was going around asking people if they wanted a "muckle Sammwich" It is cute but totally un-girl like. We say, "It's not the brother's M's boyfriends will have to worry about, it's M!" She is tough and not shy about it. 

B showing off his batons from Aunt M and A. He LOVES them! 

B's toothless grin! He has the most crooked tooth on the bottom I am worried about. We shall see.

This is the day B got his GREEN STRIPE on his orange belt! It's a big move! It means he is progressing. I am so proud of how hard he works at it. He has qualified for the Pan-am of Martial Arts in Regina in June! We are going and holy am I ever nervous!

I love this picture! We were visiting my parents and M was sick. She was sleeping and her cousin S was trying to go down for a nap. I love this picture because you can see S's smile just barely but you can tell how excited she was by her eyes! It was a blast.

This is how L, B and M spent the week of spring break, they all got a nasty flu! L got over it pretty quick but B and M were awake for only 2 hours a day! It was horrible. Glad it's done.

So I went out to one of my friends farms. Oh my, how fun was it! The baby chicks and ducks were SO cute and I wanted to kidnap them. No dice. L rode on/drove a quad for the first time ever. He screamed like a girl when he took off but LOVED it! B loved it too. It was so kind of them to take the time so we could see their farm. I drove a quad too. I was terrified but it was SO much fun! I am so grateful we could go!

M and B at the karate tournament here. M did good, she even got 2nd out of 3 places in her kata! I was shocked but we have practiced so many times and she did great! 

We saw a solar power car! Cool eh?

So this is M and her "driver" We have a Mennonite family who moved in next door to us. They have 5 kids. This is the 2nd oldest child. M has been watching these kids ride these around for a few days. Today she got the nerve up to ask for a ride. This entertained her for at least 1/2hour! She would just go, sit in there, hold her purse and let him drive her up and down the sidewalks. The kid kept going back and forth. I loved watching it! Don't you just love how they have the battery rigged up? lol

That's it for a bit. I am so gonna try and be better about this. Summer is coming up and so lots of pics will be of my garden. I can hardly wait!

meh

So last night I wanted to blog but blogger had issues.

So do I.

I know, "WHAT? someone will admit to having issues?" 

Yep, I have issues.

Which is why I have not blogged. 

This winter kicked my trash! 

Seriously, I could not get outta winter quick enough.

Not sure why, I don't think it got to -40 even this winter. 

I think for me it was that the snow came quicker than the last few years and for 9 weekends in a row we had snowstorms. 

I don't travel unless the weather is nice.

I am a chicken, I will freely admit it.

We have studded tires on our can, still won't go.

So it meant a LOT of weekends sitting around doing not much at all.

I know what you are thinking "Oh, her house must be SO clean!" 

yeah, no.

I have been trying to work thru my issues. 

I started going to see a counselor. 

I am ok going most of the time, sometimes it's hard though.

I have been trying to figure out how to let things go.

I am so not good at it, actually I really suck at it.

Lots of things just roll off my back really easy, so stick there like they have been stuck on with crazy glue. 

I hate that about myself, I wish I could be better at letting things go.

Hoping the counselor can help me learn to let go of things.

I have been reading a book about being ok with things not being perfect (J, I will do another book report for you if you want when I am done.)

It's actually been really good to read. It's helped me to realize that things don't have to be perfect all the time, it's ok if somethings are just "good enough"

SO 2 nights ago I went outside to weed my garden.

It turned into weeding the garden AND mowing the lawn.

I went to bed with a smile on my face! 

I forgot how good it felt to get dirt under my nails (I don't use gloves)

I love the smell of freshly cut grass and paired with dirt under my nails, loved it.

I was looking thru my seeds for planting.

We have our garden out back and a community garden plot.

Hopefully by Monday night we can have our community garden planted.

Potatoes and green beans are going in there.

The rest of the garden may go in on the long weekend.

Then B gets baptized the 28th. 

Wild. 

To think I have had my miracle for almost 8 years.

Wow!

Last week and holy boring Saskatchewan!

Last week was crazy. Like ridiculous crazy. I hope I don't have to do another week like that ever again. I had 2 really BEST parts of my week though!

1. We went up to Calgary for Mr. Miller to have a conference. It was nice to go as a family. The BEST part was seeing my cousin and her family that I have not seen in maybe 14 years! It's been WAY too long. I was greeted with the best hug I could have been given. So I got to see my cousin V, her daughter T and meet V's boyfriend J. It was so nice to see them all after so many years! T is battling cancer. 18 years old and has fought so hard her whole life and now she is battling cancer for the 2nd time. She has the BEST smile around! I admire her and how hard her fight is but she has this amazing smile that she flashes! I loved it. She inspires me to be a better person. The next day we played in the pool and then went to Ikea. I got this bookcase for my kitchen. I know what you are thinking. For her kitchen, really? I have limited counter space in my kitchen and no where to put things, a shoe shelf that blocks my doorway downstairs. I am just finishing getting it all put together but when it is I will post a picture.

2. I went to Prince Albert Saskatchewan. Ok, really, THAT is not a highlight. But the karate tournament that was there was a highlight. B and M both fought! We went there with the intention of only B fighting but we enrolled M in there as well. It was so cute. B got 1st in his kata and 2nd in points sparring and 2nd in weapons sparring. M got 4th in weapons and points sparring each. Here are a few pictures.

B getting his first! Photo by Marla Fehr

M during her first weapons fight. She could not even see thru the masks. It was quite hilarious to watch! What patience the refs had with her.

M showing her "muckle samich" She was convinced she was supposed to do that when she went out to fight. Now to teach her self defense. 

Before we went to Saskatchewan I was almost excited to go. I live 45 minutes from there and have never been there before. Well, now I have been there and I can report that there is not much to see. Mapquest said it was 7 hours and thank-fully it was only 6 hours. I drove for about 4 hours. And then I was so tired because there was NOTHING to look at, so I had Mr. M take over. And then apparently I was talking too much so Mr. M said "Is there anyone you can text?" So I found my niece who literally saved my sanity and texted me while we drove. I had to hold my cell to the roof of my van to have it send/receive texts but I was desperate so I did. She's a good texter and entertained the heck outta me. THANK-YOU A! 

The following is my thoughts on the drive. I say it all with a sense of humor that hopefully will be understood.

1. It's BORING, like really boring to drive SK. I am so not a good person to get bored. Not good for anyone. I get really annoying when I am bored, like beyond annoying.

2. Spring is here. I am pretty sure of it. You know those swarms of bugs you see on the highway. I saw 3 of them right in a row.

3. Mr. M does NOT know what a red diamond sign means on the highway. Do you?

4. 5 minutes into Mr. M driving I was the one asking "are we there yet?" It was THAT bad.

5. I like to travel the speed limit. there are a few reasons for that. Gas is beyond ridiculously expensive and the faster you go, the more it guzzles. Also I think, "We prayed for safety on the road but we are driving like a madman" If Mr. M had his way he would go faster. But he does not like to be asked to slow down. So I tap his leg so he will slow. By the end of the trip he would slow when I started to move my hand over. Smart man.

6. If I have family that moves there they won't get a visit. This is my forewarning. So if they move there I will take it as a hint that they don't wanna see me ever again. 

7. I always wondered why there are so many people that come here from SK. It's cause they are looking for SOMETHING to do. SOMETHING, ANYTHING!!! 

8. We had people stop in the middle of the road to look at deer. SERIOUSLY, PULL OVER!

9. With all that said, I know we have to go back to SK in June. B qualified for the Pan Am Martial Arts Games in Regina, so I will go back for that! I have a rule where I don't say "I will never do this or that" because I have learned that when I say it, I have to eat my word. I don't feel like eating my words in this case.

10. I may have to get Ativan to go back in June. Funny, I thought Ativan was just for plane rides and dentist appointments.

11. the GOOD thing about the trip? I got my eyebrows tweezed really good. Same with my chin hairs.

A lesson in Forgiveness

For Christmas L got a DSI. 

He has since purchased his own games (other than the one he got as well) and has loved playing Pokemon Heartgold.

He has worked so hard to progress in this game. 

He was on the 2nd last Gymleader. 

(What that means I don't really know but I know it's taken him and his brother B a LONG time to get here!) 

They have always been very careful with where they put the DSI so their little sister M would not get it. 

Well yesterday they made the mistake and put it down and walked away. 

Sure enough, little miss M got it.

And she deleted all their hard work.

When L figured it out, there was tears, the crocodile kind. 

He was mad, he was upset, he was bawling. 

M walked into the room and I asked her if she got into his DSI.

She admitted she had.

She could see how mad/sad/upset L was.

She started to cry.

"Mom, I don't want L to be mad at me."

The following is a moment in my life that I will never forget.

L gets down on her level, looks her in the eyes and says,"M, I am upset you got into my DSI and never asked. I am mad that you deleted all my hard work, but I love you and I forgive you."

I love that little 9 year old man who melts my heart and helps to teach me on a daily basis.

Good mom/bad mom

K so this will kinda be a mish/mash post. Thoughts on my mind and a question. 

(This is how I feel about the kitchen)

I am trying to get more creative with cooking in the kitchen. I loathe the kitchen to say the least. I love different foods but because I am not good at cooking I don't like to cook it. But I found a blog I LOVE. Check it out here! So I have tried a few different to us meals. Usually I get an upturned nose and protests. My rule is if I make a meal, that is what is for supper. I will not make several meals, I will not negotiate, that is what is served so I expect my family to eat it. (Unless it really turns out so totally disgusting and then there is always spaghetti!) 

Question

Am I the only "mean mom" out there. (that's what my kids refer to me as! That's ok, I own it.) 

On a totally different topic, we were driving into the city today. There were quite a few areas that had flooding and one road was closed and residents definitely had the risk of water  flooding into their houses. It was like last year all over again. It's kind of scary to think about. Just hoping we are prepared enough. As we were commenting about house sad and scary this must be for those who are living there, my 7 year old piped up. This humbled me.

"Mom, this is not as bad as Japan, we are blessed to not have a tsunami"

Wow! How humbling to have my 7 year old remind me how blessed we are, that we are safe and didn't have our house washed away. I am grateful for his wisdom. 

On another totally different side note, I don't think I should have to wrestle my 7 year old, yep, that 7 year old, for 15 minutes just to give him a kiss. I hate this phase.