Just Jordan

Calder is getting so excited for the end of school. He happily told us the other day that they were done reading at school for the year. This is his perception since they having the leveled readers sent home anymore !  Calder is counting down the days to summer (not surprisingly of course and the number is 8 including today). Calder was incredibly excited last week when one of his favs hoisted the Stanley Cup. We recorded it so Calder could soak in every moment when he got up the morning after. He is going to be in TV withdrawal the next few weeks. We don't have a lot of time for TV in the evenings typically, but we were letting Calder stay up later to watch the playoffs! Late = 8 pm.  Hugh was SO pumped that Calder got obsessed with the playoffs!  Calder was recently speculating how great it would be to be a bird. "I could fly wherever I wanted. . . I would mostly want to just fly home or to the lake, though." In other bragging news, Calder can add and subtract integer...

1.  I am watching things grow with the kids these days. Hugh's Aunt Judy got me started growing romaine lettuce. You just stick the end in some water and watch. I will eventually transplant it to the garden when it has roots. It is amazing how much it has already sprouted up in the week we have had it in water. Calder also brought some beans home that will go in the garden. Two weeks ago the kids and I started beans, pumpkins, and butternut squash. They are growing like mad as well (forgot to get a picture!).  2.  It has been cold and rainy this week. I am not going to complain about the rain. We desperately needed it, but seriously, did it have to be this cold?  The incessantly cold weather did give me a chance to make some soup. I think soup might be one of my favorite meals to cook from scratch. Night one I made the broth. I always freeze any chicken or turkey bones so I typically have a store for rainy weather. I also had some celery from my mom and dad's ga...

I get such a kick out of Lawson. Whenever we empty the dryer, Lawson is sure to find her way to the pile. She loves to carry around socks, but also likes to practice getting dressed. She will try to put any item of clothing over her head to wear as a shirt. She has the best luck with our underwear. Like Mother, like daughter. 3.  I'm pretty sure there were a few women in The Centre bathroom who thought I was looney last week, but this sign bothered me. Does it bother any of you (other than Deena, because I know it bothers her!)? 4. A friend and I took our kids bowling over the break. The kids had a blast. Lawson even snaggled throwing a ball down the lane (more like dropped it and it rolled down the lane that was two over!). They had glow bowling in the afternoon. Teenie bopper music was blasting and the kids were rocking. I should have taken some pictures of us bowling, but quite frankly I was too busy being annoyed at my terrible game! Lol. Seriously, though, it lo...

1.  I am thoroughly enjoying my new closet organization. I have worn approximately a weeks worth of shirts and like this new system more and more everyday. One of the unexpected loves of this organization is that I have all my "layers" organized by color in one section of my closet. I have all my layering tees together and then all my blazers/cardigans together. Once I have my top in hand, it is easy to see the pieces that will go with it.  I also pulled all of the seasonal items from spring and summer that I thought I 'might' use in the winter out of my rotation. This is partly because I unexpectedly have way more tops than I thought (about 30). The number I have actually made me think I need to start getting rid of some of the tops I just like rather than love.  If I don't eliminate some, it will be too long between wears of some of the items I love. Boone wouldn't model with the book for me. Lawson was happy to ;-) 2. One of Boone's favorite boo...

Things that make me happy: Connecting over the phone. This is sort of a weird one for me, because I typically don't phone people and my introverted self occasionally even ignores the phone when it rings, but after having a good chat with someone I always feel elated. I need to figure out a way to make phone calls more a part of my routine. . . such an easy way to get a bit of a high. A good book. The problem with this one is that it typically will consume me. I will binge read it until it is finished. I won't do housework. I won't cook. I will even ignore my children. oops.  I haven't read anything since the summer. Clearly this is for good reason.  Coffee. Man, I love this drink. My acid reflux does not. I have found a product that reduces the acidity in the coffee that allows me to have the occasional cup. It has been a little piece of heaven on the occasional morning. My kids getting along. Don't the sounds of siblings who are working, sharing, and playin...

Boone-isms He calls cats "meows" and fire t rucks and ambulances "ah-wee-ohs". He likes to pretend sleep all the time. Even did it at Costco last week. I felt seriously jealous. I wanted him to shop so I could crawl in the cart and actually sleep.  Calls his fingernails toenails. This caused some laughs before we realized his mistake. He would say, "I chew my toenails" and "dare toenail in my mouth". Chewing fingernails isn't all that appealing, but it is certainly a step up from toenails! Lawson's new moves She is seriously motoring these days. The forward crawling has picked up speed and she has figured out how to get herself from crawling to sitting. This accomplishment has meant a much happier girl in our eyes. She doesn't get stuck places and can stop and play wherever she wants. Lawson eats a lot and will eat just about anything. Some of the more interesting things she likes include salmon, souvlaki pork chops, lasa...

 Who knew that those onesies with the folded neckline like Lawson is wearing above are designed to open up wide enough so you can slip them off over their hips if they have a poop explosion?  I didn't, but my friend, Heidi's, husband did. We were both wishing he had shared this with us when we had our first kid, rather than wait until we had our 3rd - 3rd at home for me! Who knew Q-tips were good booger pickers? I didn't. My friend Danielle was using them to grab some visible boogers out of her son's nose. I thought it was brilliant and a bit disappointed in myself that I hadn't thought of it. I hate visible boogers, eye sleep and ear wax. My kids will attest to my constant picking. Lucky for Lawson, my days of trying to put my fat fingers into her tiny nose are done. Who knew you could do a baby book online? I didn't. My sister, Jes, was wanting a 2015 way to organize her son's milestones and found a great one.  OMG. I haven't done a NEW AUNTI...

I know I may be ahead of myself, but I am already thinking about back to work and it is making me a little crazy. I will be starting semester 2 (Start of Feb.) in a new school and my teaching load has a number of challenges. One of the challenges will be the kind of students that typically take the classes. The majority of the students I expect to see in my classroom in February will not like math, nor will they be motivated to do it. I want all kids to succeed in my classroom, so this will be hard (particularly when some of these students will not care if they are taking away from others'  learning in the process). The other challenge I will be facing is that I haven't taught two of the 4 classes I am scheduled with. I am a planner, so right now this seems overwhelming. I found out about the assignment at the end of August and I am feeling a bit deflated that I wasn't told sooner. . . I am not blaming anyone. It is just how it worked out. . . Doesn't mean it doesn...

I have so much to say about our summer, but I am afraid that I have left it so long that it will likely be a collection of photos telling the story rather than me. It has been a while since a wrote (a month!) and I think I am going to start off with something easy today. • • • I made my first pumpkin spice latte today. So yummy. The recipe is  HERE and I followed it to tee, minus the whipped cream on top - I added some cream in with my milk instead.  I also used frozen pumpkin rather than canned that I got from Deena last fall (we traded - I can't remember what I gave her, but this is my last bag of pumpkin and I think she got the raw end of the deal). Oh and I guess it wasn't a latte. It was a steamer. Because of my reflux I didn't add the expresso. So I guess I didn't follow the recipe quite to a tee, but it was absolutely delicious. And on this cool fall day, a yummy treat. • • • With Calder I often play an "I love you" game. We alternate turns telli...

I am getting SO excited for Christmas and have been doing some thinking about what Christmas means to me. . . Love and family are the first words that spring to mind. They make me think about the reason we celebrate Christmas. The birth of Christ. His story is filled with love and family.  Other words that spring to mind are awe and joy. The excitement surrounding Christmas morning has been strong in our house every since I can remember. In fact, as a kid whoever woke up first of my siblings and I, would rush to the other one's room and crawl in bed with the other. We would then wait until 6 am to get up. We had a rule at our house that stockings could get opened at 6 am and presents could be opened at 7 am!  Getting up that early didn't end when we realized when we got older. In fact, even in our 20's we would get up at the crack of dawn to race to each other's rooms. Now, we all get up with Calder. It is such an exciting, fun time. . . . You often here people say, ...

Calder's Due Date: March 31 Calder's Birth Date: March 8 Tripp's Due Date: March 21 Tripp's Birth Date: February 18 Boone's Due Date: March 5 Boone's Birth Date: March 14 Baby #4 Due Date: February 23 Baby #4 Birth Date: ? But you may want to ask Calder. . . He was 4 hours off predicting Boone's! The first thing you will notice is the timeline. Hugh and I both believe that kids who have early birthdays have an advantage. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the advantage when it comes to playing in the NHL, but there is also something to be said for being one of the oldest and most mature in your grade. Hugh and I made a purposeful decision to start trying to get pregnant when we knew the date would give us a January baby. It is normal to take anywhere from 1 month to a year to conceive. We couldn't predict we would have a baby in the first three months and would have been happy with a baby born during any of the months. We wanted a baby more than an...

I haven't been around much lately. I have been feeling crappy. Pregnancy crappy. I am not a puker, but I basically felt like dirt for the last 2 months. I am slowly coming out of it, but feel like there is still a ways to go. In fact, I am fairly certain, I won't be out of the first trimester grossness when my treatments start next week. If you are new here (I do have a few new stylish friends!), go HERE to see what those are all about. You could also scroll down and look at the Neonatal Hemochromatosis and IVIG Treatment labels to read more.  While pregnant with Boone I did treatments on Wednesday. This time I have chosen to do them on Thursdays. It is better for my students (we have this crazy Thursday schedule where I only see 1 or 2 of my 4 classes depending on the day) and I think it will be better for me. Thursdays and Fridays after my treatments were really exhausting. I think only having one day of work after them will be good. If you are wondering why I didn't...

Best parts about spring: 1.      The setting aside of winter coats. I actually wore mine on Monday, which will hopefully be the last time until well past Thanksgiving. Over the break we are going to do some spring cleaning around our house and the winter/summer outerwear flop is on the list! 2.      Sunshine feeling warm. Saskatchewan is one of the sunniest places in Canada, yet the sun shining down on you in freezing temperatures just doesn’t feel as good as when it shines down in the spring.   3.      Style MeChallenge . I have been really enjoying searching for items. I haven’t had much success so far, but hopefully a trip to the mall today will get me on track. Stayed tuned next Wednesday for a post about the first few days. I will be linking up with Deena and a few other bloggers to share our outfits.   4.      Picking the boys up from daycare – outside. I love pulling up...

My favorite drink at Star Bucks? Vanilla Latte. Half sweet. Low fat. I know you are thinking. . . Why doesn't she just get a skinny Vanilla Latte? It tastes exactly like aspartame, that's why :-).  My favorite drink at Tim Horton's? Either a French Vanilla with 1/3 coffee or regular coffee with 2 cream, one sugar. My favorite alcoholic beverage? Beer and orange juice. My favorite pop? Ginger Ale. My favorite milk? Homo (3.25%) with ice.

Back. To. Work. It has been crazy. So crazy that I looked at my blog for the first time in 4 days, yesterday. The first day of school was chaos. On the second day, things started looking up. By yesterday, I felt like I was finally catching up to the pace the treadmill was set at. I am definitely still running really hard, but I am in pretty decent shape so I can manage it. I think. Last week Hugh and I were reading with Calder and he came across the word, "Yes". He got so excited, threw his arms in the air and exclaimed, "That is my favorite word." Hugh and I were confused until Calder explained that when he is playing his monster truck game on the iPad, "Yes" is the button he presses to buy a new truck when he has made enough "money." Oy. Boone refusing to drink milk at daycare. He doesn't care if it is in a cup or bottle; he doesn't want anything to do with it. My doctor said that he should be getting about 20 ounces at his age. I a...

. . . Last Sunday, for the first time since delivering Boone I stepped on the scale and didn't see a decrease in my weight. I was deflated. I had started my walk to run program and thought that would be an aid in getting back to my pre-pregnancy shape. I did a quick inventory of my eating habits last week. Breakfast consisted of an apple and low-fat muffin. Lunch was a salad. Supper was a free for all and the only snacks I had during the day were bananas. All in all pretty darn good. Unfortunately, in the evenings I ate a total of 2 bowls of popcorn (drenched in butter - is there any other way to eat it?), 2 Blizzards, and a chocolate bar. I think I see the problem! I got all 3 of my runs in this week and needless to say I didn't eat ANY junk after supper! Even if the scale doesn't move, I will be feeling ALOT better about myself come my Sunday weigh-in! . . . Did you hear about the transgender who wanted to try a dress on in a wedding boutique and was denied by the own...

Parent Teacher Interviews are over. I actually told less parents about Tripp than I had planned. Turns out as soon as you say, "Medical Treatment" people don't want to impede on your privacy and will either make a consoling face while shaking there head or immediately flip the subject. LOL! No harm done. I was prepared to do it and I think that was just as important. • • • The evenings are getting darker which is causing me the blues, but I can't help but think that on the plus side it means that it's candle season! I only lit a candle during the spring and summer when I was really missing Tripp. Pumping the A/C and having a seance really seems counter productive! I love the warm glow of a candle (or 5) in the evening. Lucky for me, my sister-in-law, Abbey picked me up a whole bunch of tea lights from Ikea earlier this year! • • • Depending your perspective, you might find THIS appalling or humorous. I found it a bit of both. I just hope I don't s...

Can you wave at me if I let you merge into my lane when you come out of Tim Horton's? Myself, along with MANY other Martensville north enders, let cars merge when we creep by (traffic is horrid leaving the city in the morning and 20 - 30 cars are constantly waiting, backed up past Timmy Ho's ). It makes me feel good if you acknowledge my good deed, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. As well, don't muscle your big Ford in behind the car I allowed to merge. TAKE YOUR TURN, you big bully.  Deena has been raving about Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. They are as good as she is saying. I recommend getting them with 1/2 the sugar. They are sweet :-) Tonight I was laying in bed with Calder saying goodnight and as his hand was laid on my belly we started talking about the baby. Calder told me that, "She will be able to sleep in my bed when she is bigger." I asked him if he thought it was going to be a girl, and he sternly replied, "...

The top 5 things I am loving this week: Spending time with Calder in our backyard. Calder splashes in the paddling pool, I pick weeds and read. Rice and veggies. I am topping them with a bit of seasoning salt and margarine. Mmmmmm. My current read: The Host by Stephenie Meyer (you may recognize her name from the Twilight series). Swimming lessons with Calder. I am a proud mama. He is improving with every lesson. Master Chef - Hugh and I's summer t.v. addiction. What are some things on your list?

On Wednesday President Barack Obama tweeted, "Same-sex couples should be able to get married." Alleluia.  And yet there are some things about all the attention this is getting that is seriously sad for me. The first is that as wonderful as that statement is, it's just that - a statement. Obama doesn't make any election promises. He just says takes a side. I wished he would have made a commitment to making that dream a reality. The second is the fact that the American economy is in the tank and people are saying that this statement could may make or break the election for him. This fall we sat down with friends of ours from the states. Hugh's buddy is a firefighter. His union has negotiated wage cuts the last 2 times they have been to the bargaining table. And things are so bad where he lives that he is glad to take the cut. Could you imagine seeing your friends, neighbors and people in your community in such dire straights that you would be willing to take...