There Is Something Terribly Wrong With Me!

If your not sure what I mean let me explain....

I have a disease called the " can't say NO to anything " disease. Let me go further...

Tammy can you cut my hair RIGHT NOW? Why sure come on over. (never mind the fact that it's 10pm and I've been up since 6am)

Tammy can you find a gift for my parents (my in-laws) to give to them in two days? Sure I'm up for the challenge of buying for the two hardest people in the world ever.

Tammy can we bake cookies and peanut brittle and rice krispy squares shaped like candy canes and fudge and chocolates and make christmas cards TODAY? Sure I only have 4 clients and a Weight Watcher meeting to do tonight.

Tammy can you watch 12 kids, cut hair, bake for the neighborhood, sing in the choir, dance on your head, sew a new dress, wrap all the presents and keep the house clean and not serve corn dogs for dinner. Sure I'm at your service.

HELP ME I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!!!

I cannot say no to anyone, why is that.

I love to make people happy that's why I cut hair and teach Weight Watchers. I love to make people love themselves and love what I can make them become. I need to remember though that supermom was my mom and I do not need to be that women. My mom was amazing but I can bet my life she was probably very tired some days. I am tired most days. I have this thing that when I'm tired my body lets me know by starting to ache. It usually starts in my legs and works it's way up my back and If I've really pushed my self my arms start to ache as well. Yesterday I could barely lift up my arms to drive home from my W.W. meeting and I arrived home only to be joined my a full head of highlights, which if you want to do a half decent job you do need to lift them slightly higher then my waist. Well three Advil later I was on my way to giving said client and beautiful head of hair that I know will knock her hubbys socks off. I on the other hand was not a happy girl when the alarm went off at 6am and I dragged my butt out of bed to start a new day this morning. I need some calgon take me away time. Not happening though. I am heading off to Edmonton tomorrow to do 8 more heads of hair before the holidays start.

Why do I do this you ask? Well we will have a very merry christmas this year because of it and in the end I REALLY love what I do. I love making women good about themselves and I love feeling needed and I know that alot of my clients could never afford these luxuries if I didn't offer them. I keep prices low so we can afford to feel good and not feel guilty. So hey I will back on Sunday night and if I can make you good this holiday please let me and if not I will sure as heck be waiting for buisness in the new year.

Are We There Yet?

Crap this holiday is exhausting!! Have I mentioned I have 18 people coming for Christmas this year. It's not that I'm not excited because I'm totally pumped, but holy crap I am tired. I have tried to be as relaxed as I can but all of a sudden I realize that the gifts are not bought, the tree only just went up yesterday, the house is still a disaster (even after a full trunk load went to the 2nd hand store) and I'm really stinkin' tired. So what am I doing to remedy it, I am sitting here on Jen the Mom's computer while she pick's up her kids and I hang out at her house and pretend that the mess in my house doesn't exist. Is it working?

I have had lot's of drama in my life lately none that I can go into great detail about at the moment but let me tell you life is never dull when you have friends and family like mine. I love the people in my life but WOW am I grateful for my uneventful life and my boring kids and husband. Knock on wood life stays boring for awhile. Jen the Mom was right when she said I suffer from a disease called the can't say NO disease. I am going to duct tape my mouth shut on the first of January so I can hopefully have a restful month. How much you wanna bet that that won't last long. Oh well at least I'm never looking for something to do.

On a positive note the kids and I did get a good start on the holiday shopping last night and we may be done by the end of the weekend. Well maybe not done but at least almost there. I hope all your preparations are going well and don't worry the Christmas cards will hopefully be mailed out by Monday. Miss Tricia Price was the official first holiday card that arrived at our home today and was soon followed by one from Ron and Bel Bishop.

See you soon

A Growing Family!!

Don't get all worked up, It's not what your thinking. Our new additions have come in many forms and shapes and sizes. First off we are the proud parents of a 18yr old teenage girl let's call her Sally ( sorry creppy people no real names used here. ). She comes to us from Kamloops B.C. and is a Massage Therapy student going to school and working here in Calgary. We LOVE her. She is a wonderful addition to our home. The kids love her and so do hubby and I. She is the teenage pregnancy I should have had. She is funny and charming and so well matched to our little family. Yes she is member of our church and so family prayers have been added onto. Now we are learning how to worry about a teen when she goes out on dates and I find myself waiting up for her. Hubby checks out all the guys she brings around ( although it's only one guy she's smitten with ) and we have an extra set of hands to help with the kids and that is priceless. We have tried to make her arrangement with us as similar to home as we can and according to her weve done a good job. Welcome home Sally and we hope your here for while.

Secondly we have also adopted my hubbys latest baby, a 52 inch LG t.v. It's a DLP, rear projection t.v that hubby has been looking for for almost 6 months now. We looked and looked and had given up the dream for awhile when sweet Sally called from work ( Electronics store ) and said that one had been returned, repaired and left behind and the store wanted it gone for $800.00 including the stand. Well that's better then the $4000.00 we thought we would have to spend to get what we wanted. So needless to say it is proudly displayed inour basement and hubby is feeling like the million dollar man right now. Thank you Sally!

I on the other hand have the project of getting ready for this up comming holiday of merryment. Am I feeling merry yet? well it depends on the moment. Last night after picking up a few gifts and wrapping them I felt pretty good. Today while I dusted the house and tryed to re organize the entire house Not so much merryness here. I have 18 people comming for the holidays and my house is only 1350 sq ft. It's good thing we developed the basement or I would be Merrily screwed. It will be a tight squeeze but we will make it work somehow. If you have any suggestions please let me know I could use all the help I can get.

I'm a Skinny Hairy Girl!!

If you havn't noticed it's almost 11:30 at night and I am awake and talking to myself on the computer. I started my day dashing off to a Weight Watchers meeting I was asked to sub, very last minute night before last. Then I rushed back to pick up my Son at school, come home and make lunch, putter around in the afternoon, make dinner, then rush back out (in the snow I may add) and do another meeting for my loyal over weight fans, then I came home and spent two hours giving a new male client a fantastic head of highlights that he loved and when I was finished that I proceded back to the kitchen to put away dinner (funny how everyone else missed that) and make lunch's for the boy's for tomorrow. Now when I should be crawling into bed beside myself with exhaustion I have cleaned up the basement and ended up with you folks filling in my time on this my ever faithful blog. CRAP I'm crazy. Would I trade this for anything? NO. I love both of my jobs and when people are happy I'm happy. Although I think I should try a little snoooze, this desk is looking pretty good, I wonder what would happen if I put my head down here..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Why Am I Awake??

Well It's 7:15am and the first time in a week I'm up way earlier then I need to be. So here I sit trying to thinkof something profound to tell you. I gotta say I'm stumped.

I used to be the worlds best morning person and now two kids, one husband, multiple jobs later I would give anything to be able to bury my head in my pillow till noon and not even acknowledge the fact that life began at 7am. Oh well kids grow up and one day I will look back on this think that was such a quick moment. Then I will roll over and go back to sleep, honest I will.

Well this past week has been interesting, my hubby has taken on a seconf job in order to purchase a few extra toys that he has been dreaming of. He didn't want to take from the family budget and for that I am thankful because it's tapped out. On the other hand that kida have barely seen him this last week. There missing him but they will have most of saturday with him and in the long run they will be fine. I grew up not seeing my dad as often as I'm sure he would have liked, but jobs and early bedtimes sometimes don't always mesh together well. I still love my dad and when he was with us we got all of him 110%. It won't be forever and when he buys me my very expensive birthday present (that he will I'm sure) it will make everything all better.

I have always been the one to work multiple jobs for our family, before and after babies. I know there are many dear friends out there who have always thought I work to much and should be able to just be at home and relax, but unfortunalty I'm not made that way. For example I currently juggle being a stay at home mom, with 3 that's right count em up 3 part time jobs. I have a small day home with 2 lovely kids in it, I work 2 to 3 times a week for weight watchers, and I also do hair at home for an increasing group of wonderful clients. I am proud to say that I drop off and pick up my son everyday at the school and even though I would like to volunteer more it would be hard with my daughter who is still pretty little (16 months). I have no regrets and have worked hard for everything we have. I'm happy that hubby is having a small taste of my life and hope he gets those toy's soon, so can enjoy his rewards.

Well speaking of school it's almost time to go and I don't think it would appropriate to drop him off and head out to walmart in my house coat (as sexy as I am.) See you after work!

It's not a Tumor!!

It's my son, attached to my back that is already aching. Why is it when I want to take a few minutes to check my e-mail and catch up with a few friends the kids decide they should glue themselves to my body and drive me nut's.

I decided that the kids were not to play any video games at all today. Not because they have been bad but because I wanted them to actually use there very vivid minds that I know are in there. They are becoming so used to being entertained that they don't want to play lego or do puzzles any more and it's kinda sad that they would rather shoot people and monsters and not stare longingly at a square box. So today I made them actually play together and you won't belive it but they actually got along quite well. The boy's even sat in a chair together and read a book. What a crazy thing eh? I think I need to do this more often and find a few more thinking toy's for them. I know they have imaginations, they just don't use them enough. Computer games and video games are fun and useful for sometimes but not for all the time.

Am I a bad mom for doing this or should I have done this sooner? Let me know.

I Gobbled Till I Wobbled!!

And that is no lie. I can't belive how much I ate, it's almost embabaresing how much I stuffed in body, and then expected it to function normally. Well let me tell you it was struggling. I did manage to have a really good visit with my In-laws and that was the most important part. I have to tell you I am really fortunate to have a mother and father in law who treat me like one of there own. I my hubby ever died or ran off if someone floozy who was hotter then me ( yeah right he knows a good thing when he's got it) I know that my in-laws would never let me go. My father in law is especially good to me. He treats me like the daughter he's always wanted and nothing is too good for me. He is responsible for purchasing all my salon equipment and also for instaling it all. He always cooks all my favorites when I visit and then send me home with a car full of goodies. This weekend was no exception. I came home with ALL the leftovers. And when I say all I mean I came home with 10 count em up, that's right 10 tupperware containers full of Turkey, Stuffing, Veggies, Potatoes, Jelly, Sweet Potatoes, Cherry Pie, and all the Gravy. That didn't include the whole pumpkin pie that was on the floor of the backseat. And I also got the leftover carcass for soup as well. How's that for the mother load.
The only down side was my mother-in-law woke up sunday morning with a terrible flu and slept the whole day. Then I took home all the leftovers and she got none. Just on my own defense I was unaware that I was inheriting all the food or I would of made sure she got a plate of something. Oh well who am I to complain.

The kids also had a nice visit with my hubby's grandmother. She absolutley adores her great-grandkids and you can see it when she looks at them. That my friends is true love. That is the soul reason why women have kids in some case's. This women raised four of her own children and also raised my husband when his mom died when he was just 2months old. Grandma Hanson took over and raised him as well.

If I've totally confused you now, let me give you a brief summary. My husbands mom died when he was an infant. His real Father never wanted him. So when his mom passed away, Grandma raised him and when he turned 8yrs old, she took on the help of her son John. John raised him till he was grown with Grandma's help and so that is how he grew up. Now the man I call my father in law is actually Uncle John. Do you follow me now. My mother in law is John's long time girlfriend Sharon. They have been my in laws for the last 8 1/2 years. Which makes there love for me even more amazing because the ties we have created were just there and It show's me how much we were meant to be together.

Now back to the turkey, did I mention how freaking great it was. My father in law is the most awesome cook and he dominated thanksgiving dinner this year.

It is good to have another holiday over so that we can move ourselves a little closer to Christmas. I know I'm crazy for saying that but that's when the family arrives and that's when the fun starts. I can't wait to show them the city and do all the touristy stuff with them. We will even take an overnighter to Edmonton and do the mall and visit with my in laws once more.

Well I hope all your weekends were wonderful and you enjoy your turkey sandwich's all week. Till then.

I Blame The School For This!

My Son was complaining about a sore ear on saturday and I thought nothing about it, then yesterday he woke up with a slimey green eye. Can you guess what disease he has now. That's right you guessed it, Pink Eye. Even though it's more green then pink right now, that's what they are calling it. Not to mention the disgusting ear infection that caused the eye problem in the first place. Can it get any better. I blame school for this I know that it's not directly there fault but better them then me right. I didn't give him any of this, so which little minion with the dirty fingers did. Luckly for me Liam actually enjoy's being medicated and the drops don't bother him at all. He loves the doctor and was quite insistent that I take him to the clinic last night. I wasn't moving fast enough for him. Anything to be the center of attention wonder where he get's from??

Now it's Monday morning and I woke up to a beautiful snow fall this morning. I love waking up to white, and no that's not sarcasm. Growing up in Vancouver white was something you only saw once a year and the whole city would shut down. Now White is just part of my everyday life this time of year and it doesn't bother me at all. We had a beautiful summer and a short but lovely fall and now it's time for old jack frost to come a nipping. The only thing that I did realize this morning is that my poor baby girl has no winter coat. So off to the mall we go this morning to try and find one. I've waited many years to try and find just the right pastel pink or purple coat with hopefully a little faux fur on it to dazzle and woo all that are in her presense. Perhaps we will be able to find a matching pair of boot to accompany it. How lame am I but hey I only to get to dress her for ashort period of time and I'm going to froof her up till she's vocal enough to say no. Wish me luck and if your child has been any where near mine in the last four days keep a close watch on there eye's to. Sorry!!

The Incredible Hulk Mommy!!

That is what I look like tonight from the wrist's down. I had the privilige of coloring a young man's hair black and bright teal green today. and Lucky for me the grenn had left me with two lovely well stained hands that make me look like the Incredible Hulk. It's a good thing I lost some weight or I could give h im a run for his money. I was able to salvage them a little bit with good old Javex and a good scrubbing but needless to say I'm a little bit tender now. Oh well, he walked away a happy boy and I was able to purchase some groceries with my green hair money. Actually now that I think about it, he kinda resembled the twenty dollar bill he gave me. Funny how that worked out.

I love my job for that very reason. What other job can you possible have where people actually pay me money to make them look slightly freakish. I get to have a creative outlet that walks the streets and frightens small kids at your local Booster Juice. It doesn't get any better then that.

I also worked for Weight Watchers today and that to was also very rewarding. I love being a stay at home mom but I sure don't stay home much lately. My kids are with me most of the time, but I never seen to stop moving. I love working (most of the time) and feeling like there are people who need me and depend on me. Where else can you have three jobs where people really do need my support and knowledge. I feel like I have more then just my own two kids I have lot's of people who need me to help them and I get to watch people, grow, shrink, blossom and transform right before my very eyes. It doesn't get any better.

Well now it's my turn to relax and take care of myself. Hope your all feeling beautiful and If not come see me and I can fix that.

Time for the PROZAC!!

O.K. maybe it's not that bad but today was very close. I have taken in another day care boy. He is 4 yrs old and very well mannered and I only have him from 10-3:30 so it's really not that bad, but today being the first day he needed to test the waters and see how far he could push his boundaries. Well hopefully tomorrow will be a little smoother or this woman will be digging up two big rocks and fixing her hubby the old fashioned way. 4 kids at home is alot so all you people out there thinking 4 is your magic number, come and spend the day with me and see if I can magically shrink that idea. All in all they are really good kids but today was just one of those days I wish I had no conciense and could drink away the hours that just plauged me. Funny I can give birth and run a home and even help my friends through life a crisis, but let 4 little people run a muck in my home and all hell breaks loose.

Oh well bedtime approaches and then it's my time to put aside my worry's and let Gill Grisham (CSI) take me away. Yes that's right I like my men on the mature side. Actually I just like them old and rich and besides he's kinda sexy in a bug loving, corpse finding way. If there are any other eldery loving women out there; who take's your mind away from the real world. Come on I won't tell. Although I'm not responsible for anyone else who might read this.

Eat, Drink, And Talk Dirty!

That seemed to be the theme for last nights girls appy night. Even though all we drank was Pepsi and ate more food then we should have we still managed to share some of our nastiest moments and still look each other in the eye. It will never cease to amaze me that we can go from hi how are you's to remember when you gave birth, what kind of drugs do you prefer in labour, how bad your boobs hurt when nursing, how do you prefer to make love and what are your favorite tools of the trade, wanna hear a totally gross story about this guy, and when's the next scrapbooking night and finally I think somewhere in there solved world peace and cured world hunger. It was a very uplifting evening and came away a little bit smarter and looking at my friends in a totally different way. I never had sister's growing up and I guess this is as close as I will get. I love these girls, Jen, Mary, Gwen (a newby to the group) and so many others who have been around late in the nights to discuss world peace over chocolate and ice cream. I love this stage of life were in and how we all walk the same path together. Something strange does happen after 10:30 pm though and that's when the girl talk gets really good. We either totally grossed out the staff and cheesecake cafe or all there boyfriends got very very lucky last night. I have a feeling all the hubby's of our group probably did. Well here's to friends and food and we really need to that more often. Thanks girls!!

A "Fatty" No More!!

Well folks I finally did it! I have reached my goal weight with Weight Watchers and am now a full fledged Leader for the company. It took a lot longer to shed these pounds then it did with my first pregnancy but in the end my backend is much smaller and I am back into my size 10 jeans. I have never been really skinny but now I don't have to control my gag reflex when I step out of the shower each morning. Am I cured of all sweets and uncontrollable urges to drown myself in food NO! but at least I don't think it's the end of the world or at least my eating habits when I do. I am also alot more active then I ever was before. I am the newest follower of the Mari Windsor Pilates Workouts. I love this woman, she is pretty much like any other workout trainer, cheesy and way to excited about what she has to offer, but her workouts areeasy to follow and in the last two weeks I have started to notice a difference in my abs. I still have a muffin top at times but it's not nearly as hard to hold in my tummy has it has been in the past. I am also walking up a storm and I love my evening walks with Madonna in my ear. I just hope I can keep it up even with the rain that has now arrived in Calgary.

So tonight is my very first meeting that will be my own without any other leaders to bail me out if I totally screw people up. Hopefully though I shouldn't totally mess up. I have done this before. So every wednesday night you can find me at the North Hill Weight Watchers center weighing in people and trying to motivate them to stick to the plan and keep on shrinking. I mean honestly who wouldn't want to look as good as me. Ha Ha that was really a joke. Maybe. hee hee.

In other news I want to share with you all the birth of another beautiful baby. Miss Aliza Marie Price has joined our world and made mommy Tricia and daddy Justin very proud. Congratulations you three and way to go with the whole home birth thing. Your crazy but daring and I'm glad your experiance was so wonderful I couldn't be happier for your whole family.

As for the rest of our family Our oldest son is loving the whole kindergarten experiance and comes home every day so happy and excited and I say "so what did you do today?" and he say's "i don't know" I guess that's typical boy for you. Well as long as he's happy I guess I will eventually hear the rest at some point along the way.

Well until I have some more excitment I'll catch you later.

From Toddlerhood to Boyhood!

Those are a the words my husband used when he gave our son a very beautiful blessing last night to start his first day of school off right. Well needless to say I have been crying ever since.

Today I dropped my first born, baby boy off at Kindergarten. He's not a baby anymore and I can't belive the first 5 years are comming to a close. I love this little man more then life itself and I can't belive he's now starting school. Where did the time go?

He was so excited to embark on his new journey, with his new jeans (like daddy's), his army shirt (like daddy's video game), his batman lunch kit (once again like daddy's), his Incredibles backpack, spiderman and superman shoes (indoor and outdoor), and his favorite Koolaid juice boxes. Oh how simple life really is to these kids. He had no fear and was ready to leave us behind and enter this new world of fun and learning, but I clung on just a little bit longer to make sure he got into class and was really o.k. no suprise he was just fine.

So there he was being left behind with a teacher I hardly know, a room full of kids I have never met and I'm leaving him for three hours on his own to fend for himself. Isn't that bad parenting? Well we all did it so it must be the right thing to do.

Well to all you other first time mom's who are doing the same thing today, here's to us and a little more freedom, even though I'm sure your all looking around for your 5 yr old as well wondering where there hiding, enjoy your day and remember they will alway's be your baby's.

Trying to Cry!!!

I have had the roughest week of my life and know it's my turn to share it. I got a terrible phone call late Wednesday night from one of my very dearest friends informing me that her twin baby boys who were not supposed to arrive until the fall had suddenly passed away. After I wrapped my head around the information I had just recieved I cryed as only a women with two baby's of her own could. Once I pulled myself togther I headed out to comfort this friend and try to give as much love and support to her a possible. I had no profound words to offer as I am not what you would call an eloquent speaker but I had two good shoulders, one for mom and one for dad and I tryed to give them all the love I had to offer. My sweet hubby joined me soon after and we gave them all the peace we could. Mary (mom) asked if I would help her through the delivery that would take place the next day. How could I have said no, she's a sister and a friend and I know if it were me she would be right there as well. So first thing in the morning I pawned off my kids and fortunatly for me I have been blessed by Jen the Mom who always steps up and takes over for me when I need her. She took the kids and kept then over night so I could take care of Mary and Craig. So off we went to the hospital where we waited forever for the doctor to come and start the induction. That was at 2pm and by 8pm we were still only 2cm dialated. They gave her another dose and by 10pm we were pushing. In the mean time all of Craigs family had arrived from out of town and were patiently waiting outside with my hubby for everything to be over.

Well sweet Mary pushed for almost 50 minutes and finally got them both out. Two beautiful, perfect little boy's. This first one to arrive was Matthew Leo Knaus, and the second one was Aidan Michael. I have never seen anything so amazing in my life. They were truly the most perfect little people I had ever seen and I am so blessed to have been a part of there birth. Mary was so amazing. She was calm and cool and such a strength to the rest of her family that night. We were all there to hold her up and she was the one doing all the lifting that night.

After they were born the nurses took them away immediatly to clean them up and dress them for the parents. Craig and Mary saw them first and had there chance to say goodbye and it truly broke my heart to watch them hold these two little angels in there arms and have to give them up so soon. It's really hard to accept a divine plan when it means giving up your little one's. After they were done the nurses put them in a seprate room for the family to see them if they wanted to and most were brave enough to go and see them for the first and last time. Afterwards we had a small little funeral in the hospital room and heard some wonderful words from two men from the church. We had the opportunity to bear our testimony's and join in a little song together. The spirit was beautiful and there is no doubting the two boys touched each of us in a very profound way.

I have spent the last few day's keeping my emotion's tucked away so I could be strong for those who needed me but today I am really feeling an ache inside. I'm longing to let out my own hurt for this family and by sharing this experiance it's allowed me to let some of my feelings go.

I know there are many I havn't informed of all of this and I am truly sorry but my heart and mind have been busy with others.

I don't doubt our purpose in life and I certainly don't waiver in my faith, but sometimes when you see people you love hurt this way you just wish somethings were a little different. I hope I never have to experiance this again but I want all of my friends to know that should I have to my love will not falter and I will do this all over again as many times as I need to and I want Craig and Mary to know that no matter what I will be there to help them as often and whenever they need me to.

I apologize for the typo's but it's not easy to type through the tears but blogger therapy is effective therapy. Thanks for listening.

Reunion's!!

Today was a great day. I had a visit from a friend that I havn't seen in a long time and I have really missed her. She is one of those friends you can go months without talking to her and it doesn't make a difference in our friendship. Do you know those friends? The kind that if you need them no matter how long it's been there right there and no matter what's wrong in your life or there's you can alway's count on them. It's funny because when Lisa (the friend) and I were single I didn't even really like mostly just because she was skinny (unlike me), popular (unlike I was), and the guys loved her because she was funny, athletic, pretty and just the kind of girl they were all looking for ( and I was not ). So it was quite comical when she met Dan and got married and all of a sudden she was my type. We gained weight at the same time, put our hubby's through school together, had baby's together and just really enjoyed each other company. So when I moved away I was happy to see our friendship stick. She's been out to see me a few times ( not only for a great haircut but for my wonderful company as well ). Then tragedy struck this year when her 9 month old son Parker passed away from SIDS. It broke everyone's heart and and we all grieved right along with Dan and Lisa. When I saw her this visit she was looking strong and holding it together but you could really tell that her spirit was broken inside. Not only has her heart been broken but her faith and spirit as well. It makes me sad to see her question all that we have belived for so long. And no matter what people may tell her it brings little to no comfort. I know there is a plan for all of us but I've learned that sometimes that plan can bring real heartache to us for a time. I wish with all my heart that I could take Lisa's pain away but I feel so helpless that I can't. I don't know if she will ever read this but if she does I just hope that she will know that my faith in her will never falter and my love for her and her family will be here for her alway's. I know the phrase " You'll be together someday" may bring little comfort right now but one day I just hope that you can find joy and comfort in knowing that you will be together and you will never be seperated. For all you other mothers out there, kiss your babies a little more often and savour each and every moment you have, good and bad. To all my friends out there, I value all our friendships, new and old. I have been blessed by some of the most wonderful people in my life and I hope you all know how much I adore each and every one of you.

It Finally Arrived!!!

Yah!!!!! My Carpet has finally been installed and my basement is nearing completion. I couldn't be happier. I have to say you really do get what you pay for. We got a great deal on the carpet and the instalment but when two men show up on your door looking such as they did I was ready to hide my kids in the closet and call 911. Don't get me wrong they were very polite and nice but scary all the same. It's a good thing I didn't have to run out anywhere or I may have been missing then just capret downstairs. Then to put the icing on the cake, 20 minutes after they left I got a call from moneymart confirming my cheque so Mr. Scary could cash it. What is it Holmes on Homes say's never hire anyone who ask's for the cheque to made out to him personally, oops I forgot. Oh well it's still a better job then I could have done so at least its finished. Anyone wanna come and sleep in my basement?? Can't wait for a reason to party so I can show it off.

Does anyone remember me?

Well I can't blame anyone for not rembering me, it has been a very long time but I'm still here and living my life as usual.

I did however spend 10days in Kamloops B.C. with my good friend Tara and her kids. I took my little hellions with me and we took over Tara's house completly. We spent our day's swimming and being tourist's (me and my kids that is) and I did some hair but not as much as I would have liked. It was a good visit with Tara, I miss our chat's and no one pampers my feet like she does. We made some new friends and got re-acquainted with some old one's. Tricia and Marcy came up for a weekend and we had some good old fashioned girl time. We wandered the downtown strip and ate on a patio and also had an amazing sushi dinner that Tara even got brave enough to try a few new things. Belive me that was a feat and we are so proud of her. She won't eat pea's but liked the deep fried tofu, go figure! Tricia and Marcy are both expecting there third child and I am so happy for both of them. They were both glowing and radiant and I hope this heat isn't killing them. I have to admit though I'm not really envious of either of them. I do feel there is another baby out there for our family but he or she and I are not ready to be aquainted just yet. I finally got my body back to a shape I can reconize and I'm not ready to give it up just yet, but to all you expectant mommy's out there. Good Luck!

Our basement is almost finished. The paint is on the walls and the laminate floor goes in this weekend and then carpet on wednesday. YEEHAW!! I'm that much closer to not killing someone over my gross upstairs carpet and having to live in chaos.

The other big news is that I no longer do daycare for my girlfriend anymore and I have to say two kids is definalty easier then three. Once again good luck Tricia and Marcy. I have to admit I was pretty good at hauling around three kids but I am really happy to only have to do it with two.

I can't say anything profound has happened in the last few weeks, lot's of baby's being born and lot's more to come. I'm just trying to enjoy the last little bit of summer while I can and make the most out of my time with my oldest before he goes off to school in September. It's crazy he's that ols and even crazier that I to am getting older. The good part is so are all of you and that brings me great comfort. So here's to middle age girls and the best is yet to come.

Dirty Girl!!

So now what pray tell would I be about to tell you about my life with a heading like that.....

As you all know we are in the process of developing our basement and it's been a long and dusty road. Dusty you say, well right now we are still in the sanding and mudding stage. I was starting to lose my patience with my husband for taking so long but I decided to stop complaning and actually get down there and help out. Holy Crap it's a tedious job. I spent the whole time sanding our stairwell and it's a job I can't wait till it's over and done. Hopefully this weekend we will be all finished with all the really dirty work. My whole house is a complete destruction zone and I can't wait for it to all be done.

We have been so busy with so many other things that the basement has unfortunatly taken a back seat. Oh well good things come to those who wait right?

Not much else is new around here. I've been busy with lot's of hair and I was fortunate to have been part of the Walton/Giles wedding on the weekend and that was loads of fun. Now were getting ready for ou baby's first birthday on the 14th of June. Then we have Patrick's on the 18th of June. Party, Party, Party. For those of you who havn't gotten to know me really well yet, I tend to get carried away for my kids and my spouse. I love to spoil those I adore and well family is the first to reap those benefits.

Well I'm off to party plan see ya'll soon

Lovin' dat man of mine!

I have had a CRAPPY day. My baby girl screamed at me all day, I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn to do hair, my son drove me crazy and I'm not even sure what he did, and then I went to Weight Watchers and was up 1.6 lbs. I know that doesn't sound like much to some people but when I keep gaining and losing the same pound it's a little frustrating. So I came home and shoveled in my dinner then when no one was around I inhaled a huge bowl ice cream with chocloate sauce and then I felt like crap, so I had a good cry and do I feel better, no not really. So what did my man do. He gave me a huge hug and told me that I shouldn't give up and told me that we would try to be more help to me and what ever he could do to help he would. He even offered to get up at 6:30 am with the kids so I could go running in the morning and get my excersise over with. That may not sound like much to some people but for me that's huge. My hubby is not a morning person and I don't think he realizes how much that meant to me. He's also been trying to keep me sane by picking up after the kids more and paying more attention to my moods lately. He know's when I need to get out and just send's me on my way and never question's what I do when I'm out. As long as I come home happy, he's happy. I think he's the only reason my children have survived the last few day's and I havn't pulled out all my hair. I'm a lucky girl to have him, I just hope it last's for awhile. He's not perfect but hey at least he's trying.

My sweet hubby and my baby girl have just spent the entire weekend with there heads in the toilet. We had a wicked round of stomach flu go through the house and thankfully my 4yr old and I havn't caught it (yet). I had never heard my honey vomit before. He managed to freak out the cat's, frighten the kids and make the neighbors think I was killing him. Not a pretty picture let me tell you. I thought I was bad. Well at least he doesn't sob like a baby when he's doing it. Unlike his dainty wife.

I also went to Edmonton to visit our good friends the Brown's and do a little hair. That was nice visit but I'm sure that little visit didn't help the old diet much. Who knew they even made 10 point cake, but sobey's does and it's quite good. To good I have to tell you. Stay away from that.

Well here's to another week of mommyhood and weight watcher's. Wish me luck!!

Crusty Butt Tammy!!

Today is not a good day to call me for a little sunshine. I went to bed feeling miserable and those feelings havn't gone away yet. You know how you feel when you open your eyes in the morning and you can just feel the cloud of crustyness draped around you. Mostly I'm feeling lousy because of my own selfishness but it's hard not to sometimes. I'd like to think that I'm not normally self-absorbed but there are moment's in my life when I would like a moment to shine. I don't want it all the time but every once in awhile would be nice. Unfortunatly higher powers feel that I need to be a little more humble. I guess one day I will understand it all but for now I'm just going to pretend I'm my son and stick out my bottom lip and pout a little.

The major problem with feeling this way is I also have a great desire to eat everything in my pantry. Those chocolate pop tart's are calling my name. The sad truth is I really don't need to do that to myself. I was up a pound at weight watchers last night and I know it's because I spend to much time making excuses for why I deserve a piece of cake, or pie, or cookie, or chocolate bar or any of the other thing's I think bring me comfort. But do they really, unfortunatly YES they do. When I feel lousy food makes me feel better, plain and simple. What do I do about it, well nothing. I go to bed deprived and hope the feeling will pass over night. Does it? Well sometimes other times I just have to keep busy. My house had never been so clean, and that makes me feel great.

So tell me if you don't find comfort in food, where do you get your comfort from? Let me in on your secret's and maybe I can re-invent my own self.

Nothing really exciting!!

Well I can't think of anything really exciting to fill you in on. My life has been rather dull lately. The whole family had been down with sinus colds and so were a pretty snotty bunch right at this moment.

I'm still trudging through the weight watcher lifestyle and it's moving along slowly, but as I've learned in the past slow and steady wins the race and keeps you where you should be. For those of you reading who think you can't afford to do weight watchers, just think of it as an investment in your future. Besides if you hubby or kids were struggling with there weight you would budget where you needed to for them, so why not yourself. I couldn't really afford to do it either but I decided that I couldn't afford not to either.

Well now that my W.W. plug is done I'm struggling as to what to share with you next.

As I've mentioned in the past, I have a number of dear friends that are all with child at the moment and I beaked off a few post back about my desire to not follow in there footsteps but I want to let them all know how happy and excited I truly am for all of them. As I look at my baby girl tonight and realize that she will be turning one next month I have been taking the time to reflect on how fast she has grown and how short our time with them is. I mostly enjoy my pregnancy's although her's was a paticular challenge. I do remember the wonderful sensations of her moving about in my belly and I will never forget the elation I felt the moment they told me that she would be girl. I was actualy getting a daughter. She is my little bundle of love and even though there are day's I wish she was still in my belly where I couldn't hear her screaming and whinning, I wouldn't trade her for the world. So as I feel your pain as you start each morning with your head in the toilet or wake up to realize you have now gone a full week without a half decent night's sleep, or you are really wanting your swollen ankles back to there beautiful curvy selve's again, just remember it's only a short time in the grand scheme of things and then you will have your little miracle with you forever and lay awake at night wishing you could put back. No ever said motherhood was glamourous. But I think your all beautiful, club feet, wide hips. big boobs and all. Try and get some rest and I'll check in later.

Getting To Old For This!!!

I spent a fantastic evening with 3 hilarious women last night. All of a sudden I was flopping myself down in a strange bed at 2am and thinking that I'm really getting to old to be doing this but you know what I really don't care. It's worth the zombie brain to know that we bonded over brownie's, cheesecake, and more laugh's then I can even remember.

I will never cease to be amazed at what women can talk about and find so hilarious that our husbands would die if they ever knew what we were discussing, and it's not like we go into details about our personal lives in fact it's even more fun to discuss the people who were unfortunatly
for them not invited. People's lives are alway's more fasinating when discussed over chocolate and in the wee hours of the morning. Don't worry my friends I would never share any secrets that you wouldn't disclose about me in the heat of a moment. Most of my really funny stories are about Tricia and she herself knows she could write a blog only on her embarrising moments. And I know she shares these stories freely herself. Love Ya Tricia.

Well I know bed time will come early tonight but I really do hope to revisit this evening very soon. Thanks girls it was great!

BABY'S BABY'S EVERYWHERE!!!

I swear my friend's are all out to get me. You all know I'm trying to lose weight and everytime I turn around another person is pregnant. And what do these women what to do know. EAT!!!!
4 of my dearest friends are now bearing child and have left me to eat my rice cakes alone, thank's alot you guys. I just previously mentioned the burning love I have for my babies but that sure does not make me what to run out and create another one. My cup is full right now thank you. I watch you girls hurl your food, I observe your inablity to bend, twist, pick up stuff or even get a half decent night's sleep, I watch your ankle's swell, not to mention a few other luscious parts that are growing and I'm not talking about your belly's and your back's ache and you walk funny. You know what better you then me. I adore you all and couldn't be happier for all of you and I am hear to be your sounding board, your food rubber, your cookie supplier, and your shoulder to lean on or hold you up what ever come's first, but boy am I glad to have my body to myself. I only just recently got my boob's back from nursing my baby and now my body is my own to pollute at my every whim. My time will come again someday and I will eat my word then, but for the next 2 years I'm gonna bend over freely and eat all the garlic, salty, spicy, aspartame infested food I can.

Go baby's go!

A Mother's Restful Moment!!

It doesn't happen very often but every once in awhile I can get all three kids to sleep in the afternoon for a couple of hours. Now if I was good wife and mother I would be up stair's cleaning the kitchen that blew up and tidying up the wave of toy's in the living room, but NO I am hiding downstairs in my office where I can't hear them if they scream and just enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet. And also sharing a few moment with all of you in cyberspace.

I really do enjoy my kids and all there little antic's even though I want to strangle them at least once a day. When my little boy hug's me each morning and tell's me he loves me and then my little girl's first words each morning are MAMA MAMA MAMA, at the top of her lungs from her room, and then my little day care boy cry's when his dad comes to pick him up because he doesn't want to leave my house it makes me think I must be doing something right. It's moment's like these when I'm glad to be a women and have this chance to be with these little creatures. I love my life and every day I'm glad to be living it.

Construction / Destruction!!

Well no I havn't been eaten my aliens, just taken over by construction workers in my home. We decided that it would be fun to develop our basement and finally put it to some good use. Who's idea was that anyway??

We spent the entire Easter weekend doing it and thanks to my dad, my father in law, my husband, and a couple of very devoted friends we managed to get all the wiring done and all the drywall up. What a mess!!!!! The good news is that we passed all the inspections and now we need to finish it up. My father in law has returned this weekend to help finish the walls and what ever else they can accomplish. The good news is once the wall are up most of the destruction will be over. The bad news is my house looks like a war zone. I refuse to have anyone over who isn't family because I'm actually embarresed by the mess but what's the point in cleaning really! Oh well were making progress. My hubby has taken on the attitude that he won't stop until it's done and for that I am gratuful.

My salon area is very quaint, cozy and slightly cramped but we will make it work. We have picked out our colors and we didn't even have to raise our voices, pretty good eh? Were going with blues in the rec room and a pretty soft green in the salon. I want to make the salon a very peaceful and relaxing place to be in. It may be the only place I have for some serenity or was the sanity, either way it's my room and I'll do what ever I dang well please in it.

Easter was nice the kids (meaning my husband and son) got pumped full of the usual chocolate and candy. My daughter also has discovered the wonderful world of chocolate and is much happier when her mouth is stuffed full of it. There you have it her first step into womanhood.

It's always nice to have family visit but it's also nice to have our home to ourself again. I don't think anything will be the same until after the basement is complete.

Well I hope all is well with everyone out there. See you soon

Sore Assest's!!

I know the pursuit for the perfect body is a standard way of thinking these day's but we really should put a limit on what were willing to do to ourselves.

I decided since the weather has been so good to us lately I would try getting out and walking with the kids. I get exercise and they sleep more, fair deal right. Well yesterday I walked down to Liam's playgroup tp pick him up and they hiked home UP HILL for 30 minutes. Needless to say my ASSet's are killing me today. I could feel it as soon I regained conciousness this morning. I ache all over and this is suppossed to be good for me, yeah right. I will be thin I will be thin, I tell myself but at what cost I'm not sure. What kind of sacrifices are you guy's willing to take on your poor body's, let me know.

Hello Friends!!

So who thought I had dropped off the earth completly, well surprise I'm still here.

Now I know that I have been neglecting my weight confession's, and I did inform everyone that I was returning to weight watchers to try to redeem myself. Well three week's later I am a whopping 7lbs and 6oz lighter. I am enjoying the program and even better I'm enjoying the company of great friend who is a great encouragment to me and my struggle.

I have had the pleasure of much company from friends lately. One of my best girlfriends "Tara" and her three kids came and spent a weekend with us and we had a great time visting and hanging out. Tara and I got to go to the Cardston LDS Temple and just enjoy the peace and quiet of the temple which neither of us get to do very often. I think the most fun we had though was the 2 hour road trip there and back. She had no idea that I could be such a menace on the road. Neither did the moron in the little Hyundai that had to be taught a lesson. Never screw with two chicks who think I mean know that they already own the road. Obviously he's not married or he would have known better. He must have been realted to the "not so smart" waitress we had for lunch that wasn't told it's not customary to make your customers wait an hour for there food, especially when all I ordered was salad. I know were commanded to love everyone, but sometimes even the one's we love need to be wacked upside the head.
Tara and I also enjoyed sharing my bed ( wait there's more) and staying up late and chatting all night. ( sorry if that last part was disapointing ) It was good to catch up and pour out our hearts to each other, it's been a long time and was very much missed. There are some thing's that just can't be shared over the phone. We really miss having the McCarthy's around but were so happy the there new life is turning out so great.

I have also had the pleasure of having my Mom and Dad visit for awhile and they will be returning on the 12th of April again and hopefully we will be able to comence work on our basement and start building my salon. I can't wait to have space to let my creativity fly and also let the hair fly also. I'm also thinking about bringing in a makeup line. I was thinking Mary Kay. If anyone would be interested in anything let me know so I can get an idea if there would be much of a need for it. I would try to keep stuff in stock so when you get your hair done it would be readily accessible.

Not much else is new. My kids are growing and I am really enjoying the nice weather right now for them to get outside and spread there wings. Kelsey is starting to walk now. She's up to three steps now and her vocabulary is growing. We hear Daddy, Mama, Nana, Yucky and Uh Oh. Not bad for 9 months. She's a real gem and we love her so much. Liam is our little man and he's growing up to fast also. He got his first bike from nana and papa for easter and he's having a blast.

Well I hope to be a little more diligent in keeping up to date but I make no promises.
See you soon

Miss Me!!!

Surprise! I'm still here, just barely but I'm back now. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I don't even have anything super exciting to share. I know I havn't weighed-in in a long time either and for that I am truly sorry, especially to dear Alison who has been so diligent, sorry babe, I promise to do better. I realized last week that trying to lose weight on my own ( even with all the cyber help ) I just can't do it. I finally conceded defeat and went back to weight watchers. I re-joined with a friend and have actually had a pretty good week I thought. We'll see what the scales say tomorrow when I weigh in. It was really good to see all the girls I used to work with there and it's nice to be missed. Hopefully this attempt at regaining my once girlish figure ( or at least seeing my pants do up without the ever growing bulge ) will be more successful.

Liam has started skating lessons and is enjoying himself very much. The first lesson was a rough one and he came home a little frustrated and sporting a lovely black bruise on his hinney from landing on his skate ( OUCH ) I went and watched him today though and he's starting to catch on. At least now he stands up on his own when he does bail. It's fun to watch him learn it's like watching him learn to walk all over again, only this time it's acceptable to wear the crash helmet and elbow pads. I remember being a kid and if you had a helmet on it usually meant you were one of the "special" kids. Now it's mandatory that they all wear safety gear. Good thing to, I remember smashing my head into the ice many, many times and it's no wonder the kids are smarter then we ever were, it's amazing we can even see out of both eyes and talk in complete sentences. I think the best part about the whole skating thing is, all the time he's spending with his dad. It's a great thing to see them both out there laughing and learning together.

I also am taking a course in something new. I am taking a Yoga class every tuesday night for 7 weeks. Let me tell you how unflexible I really am.It's fun though. I must admit I am really seeing my age now though. I am approaching 30 this year and the old body is starting to lose it's spring. For those of you who don't know the lingo, we seem to spend a lot of time is a paticular postion called downward facing dog and when you are bent over completly and your butt it way up in the air and your blowing out all your bad air it's kinda hard to not blow your bad air out of places you would rather not when there is an innocent bystander right behind you. Needless to say Chili before Yoga, not a good plan. There's something you don't read about everyday. All in all though I do find it really relaxing and feel like my chi, or yen or whatever you call it is in a good place when I come home.

Well now I must retire so as to prepare for another fun filled day tomorrow. See you soon.

Tender Moment

Last night my son had another one of his barfing fit's. He has these quite regularly and I think it may be stressed related. He had a rough day (all self inflicted I must add) and I think that's just how he reacts to stress. It's something I have come to get used to and it's pretty sad when I can detect the sound of his hurling from the other end of the house. Nothing like that to drag you out of bed. The best part though is after everthing is cleaned up and were trying to calm him down he loves to crawl into our bed and wrap his arms around his mom and snuggle in. He is such a mama's boy and I love that. I can even deal with his puky breath on my face because I know he just loves his mom and that is where is draws his comfort from. I love my baby's and my baby's they will be forever!!

Chinese Food, Monster Trucks, and lot's of Girl Talk!

We had a great weekend. On friday night we were surprised by some friends ( Craig & Mary ) who had planned a fabulous evening for us. They had been planning it for some time and would not tell us anything. For those of you who don't know me well enough, I hate surprise's. I don't mind it if I don't know there comming, but the whole idea of someone planning something for me and not giving me any inside knowledge drive's me nut's. I guess I'm a little of a freak that way. If I have no idea it's comming then I'm fine but when I know something is comming my way I go nut's with that idea. I'm sure Mary enjoyed every moment of torturing me with her plan's as well, in fact I know she did and I can't blame her it's rather funny to watch me get all worked up and I'm sure she would really get a chuckle over some of the ideas I had running through my mind wondering what she had planned. Well her and her hubby brought over chinese food (my favorite) and chocolate fondue (everyone's favorite) and we ate ourselves silly and also left us with all the leftovers for the next day. I was a great evening. It's funny I see and talk to them everyday since I have there son (Conner) here while they work but I really don't get to visit too often with them so it was nice to have a real grown up evening to relax and socialize.

Then on saturday night Patrick took Liam to his first Monster Truck show. They had a great time. I mean what's better bonding then time spent with greasy stadium food (pocket dogs the food of choice this evening) lot's of really loud truck's, a whole lot of dirt and a stadium full of red necks. It's sounds like true male bonding to me. All though I have been known to attend a few of these events myself with my man by my side, it just wouldn't be safe to go alone, I mean really a woman with all her teeth and not a sister or cousin, I could end up clubbed and dragged off to a shotgun wedding and made a right purdy bride. I on the other hand had the extreme pleasure of having jen the mom over for a fun filled evening of Rolo ice cream and scrapbooking. It's become mandatory to scrapbook together because if we didn't we'd never get anything done because we always seem to be swaping each other's paper and embelleshments. It was a great weekend all around and some fabulous memories were and made and documented for all the family to enjoy.

I sure hope your weekends were just as memorable. See you soon.

Tooting My Own Horn!!

I want to take a moment to let you know I do not have a self esteem problem. Today I'm feeling like I'm a pretty great person. I feel the need to boost my own ego.

I am a great wife and mom to my family. My husband is very lucky to have me. I cook, I clean, I take care of our kids, I work from home and have also worked outside the home. I bend over backward to be a good friend to everyone in my life and think I do a pretty good job of it. Today I made my husband his favorite pie for dessert "just because" and let me tell you it was awesome. I'm planning on making cookies for a pregnant friend tomorrow and today I also made extra supper for a friend so when she picked up her son tonight she wouldn't have to go home and do it herself. I do these things not for praise but because I love all the people in my life. Now for those of you who don't know me don't you wish you did. Please don't think I'm arrogant but as most stay at home mom's know we don't always get the regonition we deserve. So here I am deciding I could rot away and die before any may come my way, so I'm giving it to myself.

TAMMY YOUR DOING A GREAT JOB!!! I LOVE YOU.

Think whatever you like about me now but I'm feeling pretty good. Now I'm going to try and work off that pound I put on this weekend. See Ya

A Few To Many Cinamon Buns!!

I had an absolutly fantastic weekend. I spent a few day's in Edmonton with a girlfriend that I don't get to see nearly enough. Tracy and I go way way back to our single day's and no matter how old we get we never seem to lose intrest in each other. We really didn't do to much, we just let the kids play and squeezed in some scrapbooking, and managed to get her hair looking wonderful again. The only bad thing was she made these absolutly amazing cinnamon buns and I think I over indulged because I put on 1 lb over the weekend. Well it's back to the old drawing board. I plan to start fresh tomorrow and hopefully I can shed that extra weight. Oh well was it worth it?? You bet it was.

You know I've made some pretty interesting friends over the course of my life. Some I've know for years and others I've only known for a short time. It's funny how some people from the moment they enter your lives they become a part of you and you just don't know what you would do without them. I really miss my two best buddies from back home, (you know who you are!) but I've been blessed with some great friends out here in Calgary. It's just not a good day without at least 4 or 5 calls from Jen the Mom during the course of my day. Mary is a good escape because she helps me escape from my worry's and makes me take time out for myself. Tara has been like a sister to me and we've leaned on each other through many a trial over the last couple of years. Her and I have been through more in two years then some friends go through in a life time. All of which has made us stronger. It's to bad she had to up and leave me for a new city ( big jerk ) All in all I love and adore all my friends and appreciate all they do for me. I just hope I can be as good to them as they have been to be.

Well perhaps I should get some sleep so that I won't be pulling out my hair tomorrow. Till then.

So much to say and so little time!

Well I hope you've got a few minutes because I have a few things to share and get off my chest.
I've decided that Valentines day is far to over-rated and I don't know why we set ourselves up for disapointment. I thought I did a pretty good job letting my man know that he is loved and adored. I put a card in his lunch, left him a love letter on his computer desk, made chocolate dipped strawberries, and had our son make him a valentine poster for his office wall. I also had other romantic ideas for the rest of the evening but seeing that were both suffering from colds the rest of the evening didn't go quite as planned, much to my disapointment. Now my husband had offered to take me out for dinner last weekend, but then the kids got sick and it never happened, so he figured he was off the hook for the day and would just take me out on another available evening. WRONG!!! It still would have been nice to have gotten a card or a note or something. I don't think that's expecting to much is it? I love my husband but sometimes he forgets he lives with a woman and not just his dad anymore. Oh well, better luck next year.

Now I heard from a little birdy that my mom is feeling a little left out that I havn't mentioned her anywhere in any of my blog, well Mom this one's for you....

My mom is an absolute, grade A, number one, world class mother and friend. She has been my mentor, my friend, my example and most importantly the best mom ever to me. She is smart and funny and very attractive ( I know that for a fact because everyone say's I look just like her) She is the most amazing cook on the face of the planet, and some of my most precious memories growing up are of her and I just spending some quiet time together. It doesn't seem like that long ago I used to sit in her room and watch her put her makeup on and curl her hair. I learned that beauty is an art and comes from deep within a person. She not only taught me how to apply foundation, and eyeliner, but how to be graceful and elegant and truly classy when other's may be trying to break you down. She also taught me that I can be anything I want to be if only I belive in myself and stick to my beliefs. She never talked down to me and always respected my choices even if they may not have alway's been the best ones. She is a wonderful Nana to her now 3 grandchildren ( my brother and sister-in law just had a baby girl last night read on for more details ) and I hope that they can also appreciate her beauty and wisdom when they are older. Mom I love and adore you and hope you always know how much your love means to me. I will always be your little girl and you will always be my inspiration.

Now that I've told you how wonderful my mom is let me tell you what a rotten mom I am. I'm absolutly embarrased to admit what I did today. I didn't get much sleep last night as I was up watching Dr. Phils love match program until 11:00 and then my sweet daughter kept me awake. So needless to say I was a bit cranky this afternoon. I couldn't seem to accomplish anything I wanted to and the baby's were a little noisyer then usual. My daughter has found her voice and she can shriek at a decibal you could never imagine. Happy sounds they may be my nerves were not in the mood. Then I was fighting with the 1yr old to eat his lunch and it was a battle I was not going to win. So for no good reason I totally lost it and threw the tupperware all the way across the kitchen and then a plastic cup soon joined it. My 4yr old just stared as I screamed in frustration and proceded to freak out. I then quietly asked him to go and play downstairs and I then cleaned up my mess and sat down to contemplate what has just happened. I think I need to get more sleep or something because my poor kids are going to lock me away if this keeps up. I decided to go out for a couple hours tonight alone to try and unwind from the day and I must say I do feel much better. Please tell me I'm not alone, and there are others out there who also freak out once in awhile. How do you bring yourself back down to earth and out of crazyland? I would love to know your secrets.

On a good note though, My brother had a beautiful 7lb baby girl last night. We are so happy for them. Her name is Emma-Lee Belle Tyrrell. We can't wait to meet her and look forward to lot's of pictures.

Well that's ny story today and Tina when you read this I havn't forgotten you your bio will be next time. Till then See ya soon!

Big number's baby!!!

Well here we are, another week of watching what I eat and daydreaming of rolling around in mountains of chocolate fudge and marshmallow creme and eating my weight in it. Well I wasn't that bad, but I do have my weak moments. Like when I was making the chocoalte suckers and all I wanted to do was lick the entire pot clean then eat all our hard work as fast as I could so as not to be caught. Even though the temptations were there I still came out a whopping 3lbs lighter. I'm sitting at a lushious 165lbs. I'm rather proud of myself actually. I didn't get a chance to excersice last week the evenings just slipped away for one reason or another, and now I'm suffering from a cold so lovingly given to me by my 4yr old. So who knows if I'll get any activity in this week either. I have to say though, it's a real struggle to watch others around me be able to eat as they please and not have these same struggles. I know most of my friends are very conscious of what they put in there bodies, but when you have to study the nutritional value of everything you what to eat, it tends to take the joy out of eating somedays. Especially when your home all day and you walk past the fridge about one million times a day and all you want to do is eat the entire container of cool whip without any sexual thoughts invloved you just want to eat its fluffly goodness and make an entire pig of yourself. Can you tell I have food issues??

On a different note, I must apologize for my pity party yesterday. You can always tell when I havn't gotten out much and need a little down time. I'm going to make a point of having some this weekend, with a very close friend.

Well until I have something else exciting to share, I'll catch ya later!!!!

The Purpose of Life ???

First and foremost I want to say that I love being a mom and a wife. Never have I felt more loved and needed in my entire life. My children are wonderful and my hubby's a wonderful man so how could I possibly want more. Well today I'm feeling like I need to find something to do that is also going to make me feel fulfilled. I have hobby's but I just never seem to have the time to do any of them. I also don't have a designated space to set everything up (ie: scrapbooking) Mu husband has the chance to hide out in the basement in the office to unwind from his day while he attempts to conquer the world and achieve total world domination, and if that doesn't cut it he can sit at the Playstation and outrun cops and other hooligan type characters on his games upstairs. I on the other hand can't seem to find an escape that can be done in just a half hour time. I do love to read but once I start I'm up until 2am, that just doesn't work with little people who demand things such as food and clothing on a daily basis. Maybe it's just a mommy moment and I need to soak in the bath and regroup for awhile. Sometimes it just feels like the mountain of diapers and laundry are to tall for me to climb. Perhaps instead of climbing them I could just dig a small passage through and leave it for now. Who say's my house has to be perfect, and if anyone tries to tell me that I will put you in the mountain just mentioned and collapse the whole dang thing right on top of you.

On a much lighter note, my son is quite excited about the up and comming Valentines Day (unlike his mother who personnaly hates this paticular day) He has cards to hand out and with the help of a friend made yummy yummy callebeaut chocolate suckers to hand out to all the ladies in waiting. He also has a very special gift for his favorite girl Brittany that I have to send out to Kamloops. Brittany is our old nanny who by the way is only 14 yrs old and used to babysit for us all the time. He misses her terribly and looks forward to her visit in March. My only wish is he turns out to be far better liked by his peers as he grows up and doesn't have to dread this day like his mom did. It's o.k if only the boys could see me now they'd be kicking themselves for passing this up. Who knew I'd be this great of a catch later in life. My husband is one lucky man, let me tell you. ( no one else will that's for sure)

Well tune in tomorrow for the big weigh in, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. See Ya!

Battle of the Buldge Week 1

Well folks I did it. I survived a full week of watching what I ate and trying desperatly to excersise. I was down 2 lbs from 170 to 168lbs. Not bad! I was always taught 2-3 lbs a week is a good healthy weight loss, so YEAH for me. I see one fellow blogger has joined my crusade and welcome anymore to hop on the band wagon. How did I make it you ask? Well those Crispy Mini rice cakes are a life saver and have you tryed to the dairy milk thins chocolate bar. OH MY WORD!!!!! If you need a bit of a quick chocolate fix, that is the only way to go. Now it comes with toffee in it. I swear a women works for Dairy Milk and she personally loves me. I'm still struggling to get all my water in everyday, so if anyone has any water consuming tips I would love to hear them. I just have a hard time choking it down. Well the road is long but yellow polka dot bikini here I come...

Savour Each Moment!

I have had the most emotional day. There are things that happen all the time in your daily life that make you very grateful for all the blessings you have in your life, and then there are times that events take place that you just can't explain and you really need to really on your faith to make things make sense but also teach you to really savour each moment of your life. Today was one of those days. A family I have known for quite sometime and consider dear to me and my own family, lost a child today and that child was only 3 weeks older than my own daughter. The devastaion they must feel I just can't seem to imagine. I have spent my whole afternoon crying for there loss but I just even fathom the rollercoaster ride they must be on. I only wish I could bring them some comfort but I know that what there searching for right now I can't provide. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that I know that our family's can be with us for all of eternity, but I'm sure my world would still crumble if anything happened to either of my two children or my husband. I don't know if these friends will ever see this posting but if they were to read it I would just want then to know how much I love them both of them and no matter what I will always keep them in my heart and in my prayers. I feel so helpless right now and wish I could just come up with something deep and meaningful to help them cope with there pain but to be quite honest I can say is I love you guys and I wish I was closer to be a shoulder to you. To anyone else who may read this please take a good long look at your baby's tonight, no matter what age they may be and be grateful for the gift they are to you. Tell your loved ones how much love and care for them and each and every moment that you can and please savour each moment for as long as possible.

Just to Make Jen the Mom Happy!!

Fine Jen here you go...

Four jobs I’ve had:

McDonalds was my very first real job after High School and I actually really liked it, would I go back; never in a million years. I'm to old and my metabolism has slowed down way to much to not look like a blimp at the end of the day.

Doria & Co. The first real salon I ever worked in and taught me everything I know. It's because of them I am the stylist that I am.

CIR Realtors is my current employer even though I am on Maternity leave. They have the best perks for support staff and I would hate to miss out on the yearly christmas party and my personal lunch dates with my realtors.

My favorite job of all (besides motherhood) is being self employed and cutting hair at home. I love working myself. I just think I'm very good to myself.

*Four movies I can watch over and over:

Every girls favorite... Grease

Chicago, mostly for supery hotty Richard Gere, that man can dance his way into my heart anytime.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a family tradition in my home, Great sunday movie!!

Sister Act, one again another musical, am I lame or what?

Four places I’ve lived:

The Funny thing is I've only ever lived in four places.

Home in Surrey B.C with my mom and dad. Same house for 21yrs

New Westminster B.C when I was first married

Lived in Spruce Grove AB when we first moved to alberta almost 3yrs ago.

And now we live in Calgary and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Four TV shows I love:
Four highly-touted shows I detest:

I don't watch a lot of T.V but if I do get a chance...

CSI is definalty a must watch. Vegas being my ultimate favorite

Any Friends re-run, as long as it's not centered around Rachel and Ross. Those two make me what to gag.

I could watch MASH all day long. I swear my dad looks just like Alan Alda, only my dad is way more cuddly, must me moms cooking.

That 70's Show is also good for a chuckle now and then

4 T.V. Shows I Detest

The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Survivor, and any other reality T.V. show you can think of. I really just don't care about real people making complete fools of themselves on public t.v.
Four books I’d recommend to anyone, anytime

All the Harry Potter books, I just can't get enough of that Mr. Ron Weasley, he's starting to turn out to be quite the cutie, Yes I'm weird so keep to yourself.

The only other books I ever read are cookbooks or kids book, so if your up for the The Poky Little Puppy let me know it's a favorite.

Four places I’ve vacationed:

California as a child, Disneyland is just as magical as the commercial say it is. I can't wait to take my own kids.

Salzburg Austria, I went on a student exchange when I was 17 and it was the most amazing time

Banff on my honeymoon was a wonderful time and for anyone wanting a tip for your honeymoon, don't go horseback riding on a honeymoon trip especially if your a virgin, you really won't walk right for a good 2-3 days.

It's pretty pathetic those are all the holidays I can think of.
Four of my favorite dishes:

Butter Chicken with my little brother at this little Indian resturant back in B.C.

Sushi (any kind) at Su Shi Ya with my best girlfriends back in B.C

Any kind of Pasta at Olive Garden with Mary is a treat for me.

And my favorite dish is steak and crab at the Keg with my husband on our Anniversary.

Four sites I visit daily:

Jen the Mom . com is definatly my favorite. She's a hoot!!

My own, I love to hear what I have to say. Ha Ha

Coulda Shoulda Woulda is FREAKING hilarious.

Google gets me where I need to be

*Four places I would rather be right now:

Eating dinner at my mom and dad's I miss them terribly

Eating dinner with my big brother Donn and his wife Brandy, I miss them just as much

Laying in a Spa somewhere getting rubbed and listening to the sound of nothing. (how can you tell I have kids)

Anywhere warm and tropical and looking extremly hot in my bikini that I will never own.

There we have it, my life in a brief nutshell. Now if anyone makes me do this again, Death to you I say. Have a great day.
Tune in tomorrow, It's monday I have to weigh in, I sure don't want to miss it.

Why do I do this???

Whe I gave birth to my son I had quite a bit of baby weight to lose and after denying it for a full year I finally got my butt dragged to Weight Watchers by two very good friends. 9 months and 30 lbs later I felt like a million bucks. The best I had looked in years. Funny how marriage and kids make you fat, happy but very very fat. Well we decided to have another baby and 7 1/2 months ago I gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl you will ever lay eyes on. Now I am facing the very same dilema as I did after the my son ( #1 baby ) WHY DO I DO THIS??? The funny thing is I know how to lose weight, I worked for Weight Watchers as a leader and teacher, but for some reason when it comes to myself I seem to forget everything I ever learnt or taught others and fall into the same pit. I am faced with losing the same 30lbs all over again and now all I want to do is crawl into a hole and eat Krispy Creme out of business ( trust me I could do it! ) So this week I've done pretty good but now here comes the weekend and the hardest part of the week. Why as women are we so obsessed with how we look on the outside. I think I'm a pretty darn good person on the inside ( and not to bad from the neck up ) so why isn't that enough? Why do I feel the need to be a smaller size on the outside. Dang you skinny moms who bounce back like Elastic girl after your fourth child, I hope you trip over your skinny ankles and break your perfect neck with only one chin, and let me tell you that will not soften your fall at all.

Since purchasing our first home this year I try to pinch pennies everywhere I can and I just can't justify returning to Weight Watchers and paying the weekly fee, so I have decided that I am going to be accountable to you my cyber space world. I will weigh in with you every week and hope that this will keep me on the straight and skinny path to the body I once had ( or at least back into my old jeans ) I last weighed myself on monday and havn't stepped back on the scale since. I will return to the scale monday morning and let you know I hopefully succeded. My current weight is 170 lbs, so wish me luck and if you have the courage to join me on this crusade please feel free to tag along. Us fat chicks need to stay strong together, or else we'll just end up eating one another.

Good luck!

Princess Practise!!

I had the extreme pleasure of attending a 4yr olds birthday party on saturday. Not just any party, but a Princess party at that. I'm teaching my son early that it's ok to be a boy at a chick party because the greatest reward is cake and ice cream at this point in his life. I happily volunteered to make the princess cake and I had so much fun cutting this big block of chocolate heaven into a beautiful pink crown for the birthday girl. I'm not sure if I had more fun decorating this masterpiece or eating all the leftover jelly beans and licorice and whipped vanilla icing. If I never see another piece of cake again it will be to soon. I have also had my fill of pink princess paraphanilia to last me a life time ( or until my daughter hits that stage ). I do look forward to making more birthday cakes though. I have already volunteered to make my girlfriends son's Batman cake for his party in march. I just have to work on my urge to cry when I see the parents unmercily cutting my masterpiece into serving sizes only for small hands to mash and smoosh it into something unreconizable. Oh well what do you expect when you use a chocolate fudge cake mix. ( Thank you Betty Crocker!! )

One rather sad moment did occur at this swingin' shindig. 98% of the party population was family and my son Liam and one other little boy were the only outsiders there. Liam was teased a little about not being a cousin and he didn't understand what the whole cousin thig meant. I come from a very small but very very tight family. I have two brothers and up until this last christmas only one grandparent. I have no Aunt's and Uncle's, and I have one cousin who is much older then me and has never really been a part of my life at all. I'm used to small family gatherings and it's never bothered me, but I was a little sad for Liam that he will probably never have what these kids have with there cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. I hope that Liam will be able to really see the value of family by having everyone he's realted to fairly close together. Liam and Kelsey will never have to worry about ever wondering if there loved because there are smothered with love from every angle. They do have a one future cousin on the way in the next week or so and we are so looking forward to greeting this new little person to our family. There may not be alot of us but there is definatly enough to make us my favorite family.

I may not have the most exciting life to write about but hey at least I can still find things to think about on a weekly basis.

I did get to have a great visit with my wonderful girlfriend Tricia at the Calgary Airport on sunday. She of course looked stunning. It's amazing how someone who just spent a week in a farm house in Saskatoon, with no shower, is 11 weeks pregnant, just vommited on the plane while desending can still look absolutly gorgeous when I see her. Tricia you are a true jewel and I'm so glad I could be seen in public with you even if it was just for a short while. How did that sound Tricia aren't you glad I didn't tell people how rough you really looked. Just remember I love you anyway!!!!!!

Well till next time, keep commenting.

Keepin' your man happy!

I did something else today that I felt really good about. This last weekend was a crazy one and the only reason I survived it was because of a wonderful husband. So I took a moment to write down my appreciation and leave him a little note in his luch box today. He felt really good when he read it and I only hope he's half as touched by it as I am by his support. I run a hairdressing buisness from home and sometimes it consumes my household, but Patrick really eased my burden this weekend by helping with the kids and keeping them our of my hair (and everyone elses that was all over the floor). If you havn't told your other half lately how much you love and appreciate them perhaps it's time. Give your man an extra squeeze and see how good you both feel.

Mental Momma

Well today was definatly a day I am glad to see end. I really do love my kids, even my part time baby who hangs with us all day, 5 days a week, but today was truly not the best day for any of us. Our morning started out just fine and then at 11:30 when nap time rolled around all hell broke loose in my house. Even though sheer exhaustion set into both of the babies, they were in complete denial that they wanted to nap. So with both of them screaming like I'd beat them we had a full hour of sreaming, crying, and all out wailing. ( and that wasn't just the baby's) So while this is all going on I got the crazy idea that I should attempt to try and make lunch for Liam (my 4yr old). I mean how hard is it to make a grilled cheese sandwich, well obviously alot harder then you would think when two small children are both trying to out wail the other. I managed to burn two sandwich's to a crisp and drop one on the floor. Then I proceeded to throw my spatula in the sink with unnecessary force with caused it to ricochet out of the sink and into my blinds and on my window, which of course followed with a few words of frustration. All of this witnessed by Liam, who then told me I was being to loud!! (Can he not hear the wailing comming from the other rooms?) I eventually managed to get one child to go to sleep where he must have decided that for his own sake he sould stay asleep for quite awhile (3 hours to be precise) and I only had to deal with one infant. I'm sure the people who called during this episode must have been ready to send the big white van with matching coat over to save the children from my wrath, unfortunalty they never came and I had to find my own way of returning to planet parent.

I find great comfort in my kitchen when I'm ready to fall apart, so in order for me to get it together, I proceded to bake until I felt better. 8 dozen cookies later I felt much better. Funny how when nothing goes right something with chocolate always make the world right again. I have been trying desperatly to shed my execess baby weight but if these days continue, I'm going to look like I'm with child once more. Well here's hopin' tomorrow goes a little smoother.
Wish me luck!!

last night a few of us mom's decided that we needed an evening away from hubby's and babies. So off to the Cheesecake cafe we went and had a fabulous time, giggling and laughing and bonding as only women can do over rich dessert and great appy's. I love my time with my family and my husband is truly my favorite companion, but there's something very special about time with the girls. Your husband may love you unconditionly but he doesn't want to relive your labour story's, your waxing experiances, and share old boyfriend moments. Your girlfriends on the hand do and they enjoy reliving those moments with you. It's funny though how whenever a group of women get together it almost always revolves around food, and not just cheese and crackers but the kind of food that makes you fat just looking at it. Then we sit there and talk about our baby weight and love handles and shove another spoonful of cheesecake banana split into our mouths. I love that about women. When we moved to Calgary 2 years ago I thought adjusting would be hard, but as I sat around the table last night with 9 women ( 4 of which I just met) I felt truly blessed to be with them. My friends back home are un-replacable and our memories are near and dear to me, but the memories and friends that I'm making here are wonderful too. I have made some truly dear friends who look out for me on a daily basis and I don't know what I would do without them. They keep me laughing and are always willing to be the sound board when I need to vent. I know I was brought to this city for a reason and I can't think of a better place to live and couldn't ask for better influences to be around. I also have a wonderful man to support these friendships and encourage me to get out and have some fun and I can be at peace knowing he's at home with our babies. I am definatly looking forward to the next outing we embark upon and hope it's sooner then later. See you soon!

Well I've locked myself and the two babies down in the office with me so I can share a few moments. I always thought people who did this were crazy but now that I have my own I must eat crow and say it's actually kind of cool. I have friends and family in different areas of the country so now they can check up on me in the middle of the night if they feel the need.
Today was a typical day of craziness around my home. Me watching other peoples kids as well as my own and then more stopping by to have a quick visit with there kids. 6 to be exact. I really do love kids but days like this ensure I will not be having 6 of them. I have some friends who are so eager to watch there familys grow and I admire them for there devotion but I am just not there yet. I love my two right now and am enjoying having one of each and if I'm still writing in two years you may see me soften. I have a 4yr old son (Liam) and a 7 month old daughter (Kelsey). They are the my reason for being and the cause of my grey hair, but hey who said motherhood was perfect. I have a very devoted hubby (Patrick) who try's so hard to keep me sane, and he does a pretty good job. My day's are fairly typical, get up, feed three mouths, dress three bodies, and by the time that's done one is ready for a nap, then when that's done I can clean up the hurricane that swept through my kitchen, then another baby naps, then the other wakes up and by that time it's time for lunch and the hurricane starts over. Sounds awfully luxurious eh. Well it won't last forever and they say to enjoy these early years right? When does Kindergarten start??? Well I'm off to find more excitment, keep you posted.

A good friend of mine thought that this would be a good idea. Unfortunately I am surrounded by children right now so she has to write this for me. When I get a minute I'll write something intelligeble and hopefully entertaining.