pros and cons of pregnancy...

pros...

1) slow down... think more... read more... possibly blog more...

2) only heightens my love for food... even if it's coming up after i devour it...

3) amazement and creepiness of something good growing in you...

4) makes me want to be healthy

cons...

1) nausea sets in

2) kinda turn into a hermit in my house

3) hubby has to deal with massive mood swings

4) the whole upcoming c-section/recovery thing... no big, right???

pregnancy is teaching me at this point though to really slow down, enjoy little things like reading to the boys, watching them play.... i seem to have time now to read and to think more... i'm really hoping that this will kick start a much more healthy, relaxed and peaceful version of me...

why the bible is so interesting...

so... as i'm tucking brandon in to bed tonight... he says, "you know why the bible is actually so interesting mom?"... i'm thinking something really neat is coming next and i say, "why?"... and he says, "because it tells all these cool stories that never happened.."

oh, i laughed... and very hard i might add - seriously, what was wrong with me as a child that i never wondered about someone coming back to life from the dead or a flood covering the earth??? i'm excited that he thinks - and that we can talk about what he's thinking about... ethan i'm sure will get to an age where the conversation doesn't always have to center on 'poop' or his 'pee-pee'...

difference between them....

so, before i had ethan, i thought that parenting was the major factor in the actions of a child... i still think it's about 60% or so, but there is definitely room for God-given personality in there...

such as - when given a box of tic-tacs, ethan polished his off in under three minutes and brandon still has his locked in his safe in his room today - five days later ....

ethan has always found it interesting to try to kiss girls - where as that thought would not even cross brandon's mind...

brandon will clean his room, brush his teeth, and tuck himself into bed... where as ethan will wander around saying 'poop' and 'pee -pee' until i walk him through our bedtime routine....

it's also amazing that i love them both equally - i could never dream of wanting their personalities to change at all.... but i do want them both to follow my rules... so they probably will see life very simularly... (is that a word??)

there... that's my thoughts on that...

the lake won the battle...

why do i suck???? these things tend to happen to me... my eye is almost swollen shut today and i have various bruises on my legs from my attempts at skiing and kneeboarding and my tubing experiences....

why can't i just relax ever and not come home sunburnt and aching sore all over from the lake????? other people do relax at the lake - but i grew up with constant action... we liked to schedule our days in 30 min. incriments and keep it going all day, from one sport to the next...

the one thing i could do at the lake was tube - and that's what i got the black eye from!!! i see brandon go kneeboarding... i see jason ski and wakeboard... i get excited and i try to ski... twice... not good... then i try to knee board - which looked more like glorified tubing, as i never got off my belly....

and the sad thing is... i will try again - why don't i give up???

fishing too... i suck at that as well... i caught my first fish, screaming and broke the line... then my second fish... screamed, and when jason was reaching to get it, it somehow got the hook off and swam away... brutal... and yes, both the boys caught fish - brandon caught three...

oh well, i do have a good time... just not good at anything....

ranger lake free for all...

the boys enjoyed a day of horse riding and wall climbing....

i think the girl bascially pulled brandon up the wall...

i don't have much to say about this... either than that they did it... and i will never own horses... or any animal...

who gets to go first?!?!?!

you might ask - what do these pictures have in common???? well, they are both in my story of last night...

so, i sit to enjoy a burger - and not just any burger - one with fried garlic, onion, mushrooms, and bacon then with melted cheese and a nice slice of tomato on it - on my newly built muskoka chair (which i did build!!!) and along comes my father-in-law with the sprayer... to do the field across from my house...

funny thing is jason and i were discussing and he's going to try to start doing this - telling people when he is spraying near their yard - like, real creepilly just going up and knocking on farm doors to tell them....

so, i'm eating supper, smelling spray in the air (the wind was going the other way)... and thinking, i could go inside, but really, why do i want to be as healthy as ever and jason is around this stuff all the time... kinda would like to exit this here earth at the same time as the ol' hubby... so, i ate my burger and smelled the spray...

the end...

what kind of sandwich

this is for cute girl ... and i could not for the life of me figure out how to put the actual quiz thingy on my blog... so i copied and pasted it... kinda boring i know... but i am boring - according to this quiz.... and according to cute girl's quiz, her mortal enemy is the ham sandwich which is my best friend... so where does this leave cute girl and myself???? very rocky relationship to say the least... it's funny how they nailed me to a tee in this personality quiz...

You Are a Turkey Sandwich
Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust.You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible.Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend.Your best friend: The Ham SandwichYour mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich

going green as they say...

so... over the past year i've been attempting to go green as i have quite the concerns about global warming... and also a sense like i need to make sure i'm raising the boys in a way that is taking care of their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs as well as teaching them to take care of what has been given to them to take care of...

so, i have done the usual composting, growing a garden, recycling everything i can, reusable shopping bags, keeping the house's temperature at a reasonable level, changing my lightbulbs... and now the latest - planting almost a hundred trees yesterday - now, i do have to say that this is more of a priority for shelter from the wind than going green, but never-the-less... it is trees...

also, not to sure how many of these trees will survive... i'm also getting the house evaluated by an energuide worker to see what improvements can be made through windows and such...

it's a little frustrating when you live on a farm and have to drive everywhere and your husband is a farmer and uses a crazy amount of gas and chemical... so, don't really know what we'll do about all that, but i do think that we will start to see some better inventions that will maybe help out a little?!?!?!

there you have it... call me a crackpot all you want... but brandon told me that he thinks he'll be living underground in tunnels someday and i really don't want him to, even though he thinks it'd be fun!!!

my birthday wish.... GRANTED!!!

soooo... a certain lady in the 'know' as we say in the industry... she gave this mag subscription to me for my birthday... and i'm very happy....

although, this does not help with my lil' shopping problem... but i do love it... happy birthday to me!!!

seeding is underway...

so, seeding began last week and now we are in full swing and jason just loves this time of year... although very stressful....

the boys seem to enjoy when we are moving vehicles and taking out suppers... they get semi and tractor rides so they are happy...

and i'm happy cuz i don't have a kid in diapers or a baby to be dragging around with me this year... it's crazy how easy suppers are to get ready when the boys can just go watch tv or play outside and then we just pack up and go... now that i said it's easy - i'm going to mess up next time i'm sure... but i am enjoying the boys older ages for this whole farming thing...

at the pace we are going right now, we'll be done seeding by harvest time!!! he,he... sometimes you do wonder how on earth you are going to get all the acres seeded, but then i just choose to forget and to just watch oprah or something...

top gun fans...

this is the lil' guy that went on a date with me last night.... i know ... poor ethan!!! i really need to let him go... but i'm having trouble..

he wore these glasses all day - inside the stores.. everywhere... almost like he had something to hide... very suspicious... hmmm....

ethan's third birthday party

ethan's second birthday party - he had a dress up party - he was a ninja turtle... i think that is michealangelo, but i'm not sure (i have seen the new movie twice now, i should know)...

a few kids couldn't make it... but the ones that did ranged from princesses to goalies... very cute... he really enjoyed his presents this year and the kids did get to go outside to play afterwards... which is nice for me...

i'm celebrating cuz this is the last 'kids' birthday party at my house... hopefully... i plan on the parties being in other places from now on...

now the only birthday left is mine... and it's during seeding... so i won't be celebrating it... and i've already bought myself a few birthday presents anyways... so i'm done until christmas now... feels good...

good times to be had...

so...
just started on http://www.facebook.com

really fun to find ol' pals on there or new pals...

check it out - lots of time well wasted or spent...

that's how we do it

so, i did pick this team to win... as i forementioned on my blog... and i was not dissapointed with the intelligent acceptance speaches... especially noah's .... 'we're going to do it all night and all day, that how we do it, you have no idea what i'm talking about, but gainsville (florida) does...' meanwhile, his coach trying to get the interviewer to put the mike on someone else... sooooo funny... in the past few days i've said to jason numerous times... 'you have no idea what i'm talking about, but gainsville does'.... he,he

mr. most improved!!!!

pretty cute seeing brandon get his award last night... his medal count has already surpassed that of my own... (which was including the medals my parents got made up for me, such as 'world's greatest daughter' or 'your teeth aren't that bad')

he was actually jealous of the runner up prize, which was a coupon for a movie rental... but then later on has come to enjoy this medal and wants a place for it in his room...

no nap for ethan...

so... one day ethan never got around to his nap... and around 4:30 this is where i found him... sleeping on the floor in my kitchen.. i have never had a child fall asleep anywhere other than in their bed or the vehicle... so this was very humorous for me and not so humorous for him when i woke him up...

new family picture

so, if you go to this website:
http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/tryFaceRecognition.php
you can put in your picture and it'll come back with a list of celebrities that you look like...
mine came back with a 86% match to jessica alba!!!! unbelievable... but my brother, marcus, told me that it's not really fair when it's just face shots and that it should be the entire body - whatever, marcus, your first match was some crazy old, hairy man... it was also interesting that about half of my results were oriental...
jason's was fred durst.... he also had aretha franklin
then, we put the boys in and both of their number one results were oprah winfrey!!! well, look how that face did on tv... brandon was very upset...
anyways, thought you all could go and try it out and let me know what your results were...

pirate birthday party

happy birthday to you... brandon turned five!!!!

he got a party at the gym and we had pizza, pop, chips and cupcakes in the home ec. room and tag, races, floor hockey, soccer, and more floor hockey in the gym...

this pirates of the caribbean theme came from him seeing the first movie when jason and i were watching one evening and he had snuck out of his room and watched the entire movie without us knowing... the second one he saw on a hockey bus and just really loves it...

this year i actually have to throw ethan a party though - in the past i have gotten away with pretending like brandon's party was ethan's... when he says, 'when's my party?' i would say, 'oh, you don't remember that fun party we had for you' and then i'd turn the tv on and he'd forget...

actually, after the party i did have for ethan on his second birthday - which had around 10 two year olds here - i kinda decided smaller is better...

... and speaking of smaller is better, one might notice my cakes getting alot more.... lazier??? yes, i find that putting toys on a cake is very easy... and they like it!!!

when in rome...

there had been a few (by that i mean one) request for pictures of this whole mid-life, 'hockey playing' craze i'm in right now... here i am... and yes, that's all me in those shoulder pads...

i played three games now and one against my son's initiation team (didn't put all the equipment on for that, but i have a strick rule of not skating without a helmet on?!?!)

i was thinking that in the community i live, the only opportunity for sports is... hockey, badminton, volleyball, skiiing, waterskiing, and baseball... unfortuneatly, after attempting all of these, i've realized why my parents encouraging me in the basketball area... i really cannot do anything else... like, not even remotely well...

i'm hoping the boys don't get anything from my personal gene pool - my family's is actually ok i think, just not mine personally...

'narnia' with the boys

couldn't find a nice picture... you get the idear...

chronicles of narnia... my favorite story

i just watched this with my boys tonight and it's so funny to see the difference between the two in a movie - i'm sure some of it is age related, but none-the-less, very different reaction to it...

brandon cried when asland was killed, bawled actually, and then said after the movie that his favorite part was when asland became alive again and his least favorite when he died..

ethan said his favorite part was when they killed the lion... should i be really, really concerned at this point?!?!?

my favorite part is the conversation at the end between thomas the fawn and lucy the lil' girl... when thomas says, (referring to asland) 'you don't want to press him, because he is however not a tame lion. (and lucy says) but he is a good one'... just liking that quote... kinda reminds me of my relationship with my heavenly father, that being God...

i tried to sit the boys down and have a conversation about the allegory this movie is to the Bible story of our salvation and after my 10 minute speal... brandon says, 'that was so cool how the white witch had polar bears pulling her chariot' and ethan said, 'and then the lion died... got killed'

my birthday present - two months early

my new thing in the kitchen... and yes, this is my own picture from when i made a french loaf, some cookies, daquiri's and had flowers just sitting there...

i'm loving this bosch... i've made orange julius, iced mocha's, buns, bread sticks... not dieting obviously...

and then sometimes i just stare at it and touch it... it's really lovely...

michigan wolverine's fab five

ok, i found the picture of them... you wouldn't believe if i told you how this impacted my life...

i even had a huge leather michigan jacket that i wore... just horrible...

and i got black shoes and wore black socks, cuz they did...

this is when i fell in love with march madness.. also, after i had brandon jason and i got to watch the entire first round in the hospital... good times...

my favorite hockey player

this lil' note is going out to my favorite hockey player... he tries very hard on the ice for a four year old boy and now has to wait until next year to resume his play on the ice...
the only redeeming factor now about the spring is that i get to coach him in ball again.. fun, fun..
brandon got his first penalty this last tournament at swift current... for body checking!!! he was so excited to get to sit in the penalty box, so that's not good... and it's all he could talk about after the game!?!?! i'll miss sitting at the rink, listening to strangers talk about the 'girl' with curly blonde hair... (that being my boy)..

March Madness Begins

well, thusday is when it all begins... i had pictures of the winning team to put on here, but it just so happens that i put a new antivirus program on my computer and now i can't have pictures... have to get to the bottom of that quickly...

the winner will be... drum roll... FLORIDA GATORS!!!

as usual, i am completely guessing and wishing it was still michigan's fab five playing...

March Madness Begins

well, thusday is when it all begins... i had pictures of the winning team to put on here, but it just so happens that i put a new antivirus program on my computer and now i can't have pictures... have to get to the bottom of that quickly...

the winner will be... drum roll... FLORIDA GATORS!!!

as usual, i am completely guessing and wishing it was still michigan's fab five playing...

26 HOURS WITHOUT POWER

so, jason and the boys and i just survived through
26 hours without power.... it was funny to watch
brandon keep turning on light switches... not so
funny when our thermostat read 5 degrees...
things i learnt from the "blackout":
1) i love electricity
2) back in the day, people must have drank alot
in the evening...
3) i was not crazy to have my checklist for survival
4) i should have checked some stuff off on that
list...
5) one should own a generator

note: thanks to the brown's for taking my poor,
helpless family in for the day... with your sweet heat from the generator going...

blonde's have more fun?!?!?!

so, new hair color, new woman, right??? i'm not too sure about this whole brunette thing... i feel even whiter now...

this came after going in to get more blonde highlights - i can be easily persuaded... this proves that i am not a leader... i am a follower..

and this also proves that i take too many pictures of myself

so, not sure how many months i'll stay with this color for... i do think the summer will be calling my blonde tendancies back again...

ethan told me i had red hair and that he wants dark green hair... i'm so excited for him to go to a hairdresser some day and come home with dark green hair

Double Decker

so, this is what 'double decker' means in the kelly household... i'm pretty sure i grew up with sayings that no one else had and have passed this horrible tradition on to my boys...

for instance, yorkshire puddings... otherwise known as popovers... each family has a way of saying things.. mine, not so cool...

i'm not sure exactly how to tell brandon that the kids at school might not know or want to know what 'double decker' is... unfortunately, he already introduced this to one boy at playschool - i guess they went 'double decker' down the slide...

half time performance - should have been

as jason and i were driving home (ok, only he was driving and i had a headache as the sun was in my eyes, none the less, we were talking) we discussed possible better performances for the super bowl half time show...

these guys came to mind and we think this would be excellent for next year - PEARL JAM... who doesn't love pearl jam - i know nickelback seems like the obvious choice, but i've heard of alot of people, including myself, who don't like nickelback, but i've never heard a person say, 'i can't stand pearl jam', never heard it...

so, i'm sure this will get into the right hands and that i'll see pearl jam next year at half time

superbowl disappointments

so, i can tell you who didn't win the superbowl last night... the great steelers... and only because of a brutal start to their season...

but i was very happy to see tony dungee and the colts win... i'm neither here nor there about manning, and it's just annoying that he doesn't even show emotion or seem happy when he get's the ol' monkey off his back and finally wins a superbowl ring!!!... show some emotion!!! but i was happy for them and was wishing it wasn't raining so hard, which i think ruined the game...

anyways, that's all i have to say about it... either than i thought it was one of the most boring superbowl's i've seen, with the exception of the kick return on the first play of the game (which i failed to see anyways as i was still getting food ready)

and what's with PRINCE doing the halftime show... you can't tell me that the average football fan has PRINCE in his music collection!!! brutal... and Canada needs to show some better adds than trucks driving up mountains and turning into snakes...

there, had to be said, now i'll rest from football for awhile... on to MARCH madness soon...

so, these two pictures were in a vain attempt to show a picture of myself and the kiddies toboganning... oh well, i guess now my job for the evening is to go and name all the pictures i have failed to name....

so, the idea behind the toboganning picture, if we could all just imagine that one there, is that my most peaceful moments in life... i was going to list them...

1) sea-dooing on the lake for the whole day - the feeling of being out on the water

2) being out in the snow with my boys - ski-dooing or toboganning

3) laying on a blanket on the grass - while the boys are playing in the sandbox

4) having a coffee while reading 'house and home' magazine

5) i saved the best for last - snuggling on the couch - not by myself of course!!! (that probably made my brother think that he's never going to read my blog again)

these are my moments of peace and i try desperately to have more and more of them - i really feel like life has become a competition to see who can do more and be busier... and i officially am rejecting this as a bad idea and attempting to put my moments of peace a priority

.... that is, right after i spend three hours naming pictures... cuz i really need to get that done!!

so, finally, finally, finally i have published a picture on my blog - this is cause for celebration!! i thought i'd put one on of me and the hubby.... taking a picture of ourselves - i wonder where all our friends were???

i do have to say that this picture thing now opens a whole new avenue for my writing on the blog - so much more can be told through a picture than words, correct???

so, here is my new table, which i recently wrote about jason shopping for wood for this.... the picture was supposed to show up after this, but i'm not very good at this i guess...

well, i do have one more to show, but it'll have to come in a seperate post... hope the pictures really add to this exciting diary of mine!!!

men and wood...

jason just took the boys on a venture to kindersly - sort of a 'right of passage' as they say - to shop for wood... they are going to the lumber yard, with a pad of paper, a pencil, and a tape measurer, and jason is going to show them the ageless art form of purchasing wood...

i believe it starts with smelling the wood, then touching it, holding it up to one's eye and looking at the levelness of the wood, and then lastly, doing some 'figuring' in one's head (and then purchasing triple of what they need)

but if more is bought than necessary, this is not a bad thing, as jason has a 'wood pile' in the quanset that he has been adding to for seven years now... i am not allowed to sort it, use any of it, or throw any of it away, as a man needs his wood pile to remain untouched...

i'm sure the boys will come back 'men' after this momentous event with their father... and probably annoy their future wives some day with wood piles of their own...

***note: jason is making me a table, so my mocking of him will stop here...