Five Questions Friday

I've totally been slacking this week...but what can I say, life (you know, playing with the kids, canning, picking apples) got in the way!

I'm not a very good blog-commenter...I often just don't know what to SAY...but I love following Mama M's blog, and so I'm taking part in her blog carnival this week! So, without further adieu....FIVE QUESTIONS FRIDAY!!


1. What is your biggest Pet Peeve?
People who ask me if A & H are twins, and then continue on with "well then, which one is yours?!" and "that's impossible" when I tell them they both are. It's none of their freaking business, and I don't like going into further detail, especially in front of the kids!



2. With no worries about finances, childcare, or travel time...where would you most want to vacation?
Disney World. We love Disney World. We go there way too much according to most people, but it's easy. When the kids are older I'd like to go to Europe, but not until they're old enough to appreciate history. Cruises and fancy resorts don't interest me, I'm not a sit around by the pool/lake/ocean type of person.

3. If your house was in the path of a tornado and you had time to grab 3 things before the house was totally destroyed (children, husband, pets are already out) what 3 items would you grab? (Thanks, A.!)
My quilt that my grandmother made me, my baby bag and my wallet.

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
I love it here, and I'd stay....but if you ask me again in the winter, I'd probably say either BC or somewhere sunny and warm in the States.

5. What is your family's favorite homecooked meal?
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, or steak and roasted potatoes!

...there...that was fun! haha, now it's your turn!

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday is a blog carnival birthed by MckMama, copied by her many obsessive loving readers (I am certainly not one of them! Nope! Not me!)

This week I did not give in to the children and help my husband bring the big TV back upstairs from the basement so I could have a few minutes of peace and quiet without them whining that they wanted to watch TV or beating on each other. I would never let them spend time mindlessly watching TV when they could be doing something productive like helping Mama bake or colouring or reading books!

I also did not wake up on Saturday to see that the rain had knocked tons of apples off my tree, and proceed to pick up all the ones that still looked okay, clean them up, and make a couple dozen jars of apple-rhubarb jelly. I would never make jelly out of something that had fallen on the ground!

I did not neglect the laundry this week to the point that I ran out of pants. I am always on top of the laundry, and even if I were to get a little bit behind somehow, I most certainly would not resort to wearing a pair of maternity jeans and find myself wishing I could have another baby because they are so much more comfy!

I most certainly did not get so sick of trying to keep up with everything that I finally called the housekeeping service to book someone for an hour a week. I love cleaning my house, and am always on top of things on my own and never wish that I could just take a day off from cleaning once and awhile!

Now that I got all that off my chest, you should head on over to MckMama's blog to see what everyone else has not been doing all week, and grab all the stuff you need to join in the fun!

My name is not UP!

I'll be first to admit to being one of "those" moms, the one who thinks her kids are all total geniuses. But I am very seriously not exaggerating when I say that, at 8 months, A has started talking. Only one word, mind you, but talking nonetheless. She's been doing the typical baby babble since about 6 months...except she never says Mama. Ever. Maaaaaybe once, but really, mostly never. Try as I might to repeat "mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamama" and "dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada" to her, she just isn't catching on.

She has, however, learned to say "UP!". And it is very seriously, not babble. It's on purpose! REALLY! She crawls up to me, uses my legs to stand herself up, looks at me right in the eye and says "UP!". Just once. She doesn't babble it any other time.

Genius. Really.

Oh, and H learned to jump in the jumperoo today! Also a very exciting milestone...the babies are in their neglecto-saucers as we speak (H in the jumperoo, A in the saucer) chatting to each other and comparing toys and jumping. I am making granola...and blogging while I wait for the molasses to drip into my measuring cup, because I'm pretty sure I have just enough.

Wash Day!

There is something about drying my laundry out on the line that makes me feel so awesome...the way they look, the way I know they'll smell of fresh air when I bring them in...I love the act of hanging them, with my children playing in the yard around me, a baby crawling in the grass and another on my hip...wearing my Nana's apron to hold the clothespins.

My absolute FAVORITE laundry to line-dry? My Diapers! Well...not mine, I don't need diapers, but the ones that I put on my babies! I love it so much, that when I last had them all hanging on the line I just couldn't help myself...I had to snap this picture...



Thats A, she loves crawling around naked...and what better place to let her air out her bum than outside? It was a beautiful morning, and there were no mosquitoes in our back yard for a change. Of course, she crawled her way into the garden and covered herself in mud, and then it was time to come inside for a bath and a nap...but that is one of my other favorite summertime experiences...letting the kids get covered in mud and grass stains and sand, and then giving them a nice warm bath and nice clean, warm jammies before putting them to bed (or down for a nap, in this case).

And now I hear all my little ones waking up, the girls are chattering to each other in their room, which means it is time for a very busy start to the morning since all 4 have woken at once!

My poor girl...

My eldest daughter (I have 4 children...J (boy) is 7, L (girl) is 3, A (girl) is 8 months and H (girl) is 4 months..

...we're in trouble when they're all teenagers!

Anyways... my eldest daughter was up all night with a tummy ache...we were out floor shopping yesterday, and she started complaining in the van that her tummy hurt and she needed uke (puke). She never did, but she clearly felt lousy all day...we came straight home, and let her lay on the sofa to watch movies and eat cheerios. All through the night she'd wake up crying that her tummy hurt, and then go right back to sleep.

So that was a tough night. Nothing takes over the weekend like a sick preschooler (unless, of course, you count a sick baby, or any sick child for that matter...


So that has been our weekend so far. We did manage to pick out a new floor for our kitchen, though! We're hoping to have it changed soon, because the current one is sticky, and no amount of mopping will remedy that apparently (I am assuming it is because it is a wax-free floor, and the lady who lived here before us kept waxing it...I didn't even know that anybody waxed their floors!)

Checking this out...

This ISN'T my first blog, but I haven't kept one up since I was a teenager (on livejournal)...

since I did that, I have:

graudated high school (7 years ago)

graduated a short college program (4 years ago)

found my dream job, which had nothing to do with my college program (3.5 years ago)

bought a house (3 years ago)

gotten married (3 years ago)

been diagnosed as infertile (3 years ago)

became a foster parent (2 years ago)

discovered that my dream job was nothing in comparison to staying home with my children, and quit said dream job (2 years ago)

got pregnant (1 year ago)

developed a bizarre addiction to cloth diapers (1 year ago)

birthed my first baby, third child (8 months ago)

got the most shocking phone call of my life that there was a new baby girl coming to live with us (4 months ago)

moved, yet again, because our first home was now too small for our four children (1 month ago)