I have nothing..

I am EXHAUSTED.
We got a puppy. She is 6 weeks old. Her name is Belle (clearly Ellie named her but whatever... the things you do for your kids). Her name should of been... land shark. She gnaws on EVERYTHING. She also has to pee every hour. Clearly not sleeping. I know this all sounds very complainie. She is VERY cute. She is a black lab/ golden retriever cross. Well....
My mom's birthday was also this weekend. We went to the lake. I am BURNT. It was fun. My arm hurts from playing catch. It was awesome. I missed catch. I was supposed to teach at church BUT Lucy woke up this morning COVERED in hives. GREAT! My guess is sunscreen but who knows.... she could of come in contact with numerous foreign things in her adventures at the lake.
Have I made you grumpy reading this?
I feel grumpy.
Do you want to know what makes me happy?
Dusty's home!
YAY!

The Grass is Greener on this SIDE.

Okay.

I may have a tendency to over-react the the bear situation.

I enjoy giving our furry friends a good razzing about all the potential grief they may cause

BUT

I honestly am glad I left THIS:

"One man is dead and another is in custody following Medicine Hat’s first murder of 2009. Police were on the scene at 515E Washington Ave. S.E. home shortly after 11 p.m., after receiving a 911 call indicating someone may be dead inside the residence. Upon arrival, officers found the man’s body inside the home and an injured man just outside the home. "

Medicine Hat Newspaper

I used to live next door to this house.

I'll take the bears.

Random brain thoughts

I am tired.

It feels like I've had an exhausting week.

I exhaust myself.

I have been obsessing.

Obsessing over getting a dog.

Is it too soon?

Am I just doing it to fill a void?

What do I get?

How much do I spend?

How far is too far to get it?

Why is it so difficult to find one?

Oh bother.

Lucy's birthday is coming up. I am excited but Dusty wants to get the yard done. He's crazy. It's a BIG yard and it needs lots of work. He's spent the last three days working out there and he only has ONE corner done. Insane. It is a very nice corner. Oh and by done I mean rota tilled. Hmmm. I think it's going to take a while. We're trying to do it cheap. Really cheap. So if you have any fab landscaping ideas on a budget of ..... free, let me know, I'd love to hear them.

I went for a walk yesterday. First walk without Midge. I missed her. I really missed her at the hill. I made it up the hill. By myself. I was impressed. The girl/lady/partner in-crime said she could feel her leg muscles developing..... I'll take her word for it. I don't know if the walking has helped my "figure" but it's helped my mental state. I love walking for an hour and a half with no kids, no hubby, no house, no mess, no nothing but the bears, deer, elk, and the chatter of two to three ladies who are also adult deprived. It's seriously a piece of heaven (except for the hill).... can't wait to go again. Seriously. Find some peeps to walk with. It will save your life.

Hair today, Gone Tomorrow

I have been thinking about getting my hair cut for awhile. I go through this often. I grow it out. I chop it off. Cycle. So I grew it out and now I chopped it off.

I looked for a before BUT surprise surprise I don't have a picture of me!

Midge

I'm sad to report that our family dog got run over at my parents farm on Sunday. We're sad and we'll miss her lots and lots. She was a GREAT first dog for our family. She was cute and funny. She was happy to see anyone. She was great with our kids and was always up for a cuddle. The dog could jump straight up at least 5 feet. She was kinda amazing like that. I'm going to miss my walking partner (I now have no one to pull me up death hill). She will be missed.

Parfaits, Veggies, and Bears

I'm starving.

I just ate but I am having a quiet afternoon so what better way to pass the time than look at food blogs??

Wrong.

All I can think about are cinnamon buns, strawberry cupcakes with frosting, chocolate swirl banana bread, and parfaits.... yum who doesn't love a parfait?

Much better than onions.

don't you think?

I think that if I was to have "layers" then I would have delicious strawberry cream layers.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day here.

I want to plant my garden. I probably will but on Monday or Tuesday. It's getting so close I can hear the distant tilling of the rototiller... the sweet music of fresh veggies. Its shocking to me how late we have to start our garden here. I mean it was still snowing last week. Well, snow or no snow it's getting done.

I'm getting impatient.

We are also building a fence.

Any offers for help???

NO?

I didn't think so.

If it wasn't my fence I'd try to get out of it too. It'll be so nice to have a bear free yard. I am looking forward to sending my childrens out into this great big world and to not have to monitor for ferocious carnivores (I am clearly aware that bears are omnivores and that they don't hunt small children to eat them... just a little extra to add to my story... you know I have nothing against the great Canadian black bears... grizzlies are pushing it though. did you ever see the movie Grizzly Man... doesn't end well.)

where was i?

Oh my fence. My lovely lovely fence. Do you know what I see? I see me sitting on my deck... sipping lemonade and reading a book or knitting and my children going bonkers running and yelling and being merry children in my yard...

doesn't that sound lovely?

I think I will dream of that some more...

have a good weekend folks.

I know I will.

whose Room?

I picked up some pre-cut out letters awhile ago. They've been sitting in my closet taunting me. I needed to make some room for some up coming projects. I painted them then sanded them then hung them up. Cost was about 6 bucks. They match her room perfectly. It was fun to do these with Ellie in the afternoon. She did a really great job. She painted the purple one. Ellie wants letters for her room but I think I'm going to make them out of felt...

Life's missing Button

I'm crazy. Whew glad I got that outa the way.
I've been trying to write in this thing for 20 minutes and I'll go off on a long tangent and realize how bizarro I sound so I delete delete delete till all the crazy is gone. Don't you wish you had a delete button in life? I do. I'm constantly saying mortifying things that end up replaying in my head a bazillion times. It is inevitable. I wish I had a delete. Maybe it's Gods way of keeping me humble. If it is I'd like to have a word with him when I get up there. I'm trying to think of an example.... I was meeting a friends friend (you know the situation... friend meets friend because the in between friend wants the whole group to be friends but usually it's awkward) and we start talking about dying (odd topic I know) and I say, "Wouldn't it be cool to go out in a totally unexpected manner, like a plane crash or a shark attack, instead of just a heart attach??". Um yah well little to my knowledge the friend's dad died in a plane crash...
serious.
My life it like this.
It's full of me and my feet.
why?
I try to think before I talk but still after 25 or so years it's still not working out for me.
Hopefully I would go out unexpectedly anytime soon so I can keep workin' on it...

Bear Deterrent

The last day of the long weekend was spent pulling stumps out of our yard. I know that it's stuff that needs to be done but still.... YUCK. I was grumpy. I wanted to do something "fun". I thought all was lost. I took Ellie to soccer. She was the ONLY kid who showed up so the coaches cancelled it sooo there we all were sitting in the truck... packed up... nothing to do. Dusty all of a sudden pulled outa the parking lot like he was on a mission. Mission PICNIC. He pulled over to the store and bought hotdogs and buns and chips. 10 minutes later we arrived at the BEST picnic spot ever. There was a tiny stream that the girls played in. Big grassy area to run and cook and sit. It was awesome.

Ellie kept running around yelling, "HONK. HOOOOOOOOOONK." Clearly trying to keep the bears away. (Dusty has instilled fear into this child that bears are mean.... I've tried to reverse this new belief but it's impossible.... mind you I was oddly comforted at the loud and spontaneous honking as well).

Filling up the ketchup bottle to put out the fire.

Heading back up the hill. Had to stop for a little pose.

Putting out the fire. The look on the kids faces was PRICELESS.

This was the look on Lucy's face. This kid kills me.

Family

Made this at craft group. Super Easy. Most of the people used ribbon. I used sisal. The words are just vinyl. Family is on the top of the glass. Ummm Not too much else to say. A thank-you to the ladies running the class.

EWE're Such a KID

It's my 100 post. I was going to hold off until I had something FANtasTiC to write about but then I remembered.... ummm EVERYTHING in my life is fantastic. Jokes. But seriously I have two words for you...... prepare yourself.....oops that's not the two words....

FORT STEELE

I gotta say PHENOMENAL. I don't use that word lightly. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've said it and if I'm going to attempt to spell it then you must be absolutely assured that it is going to be well worth the trip out there.

Our family headed out there on Saturday and it was splendid. I packed a picnic (mostly because of the cheapness factor) but seriously the place is cheap. It's a family gem. Ellie and Lucy got in free and for both Dusty and I it was 10 BUCKS. It probably should of been more because it would of deterred me from shopping but hey 10 bucks plus shopping items I think I walked away only spending a total of 45 dollars (and the kids had icecream in that). I would keep ranting about it but I think the pictures will say what needs to be said.

the animals were a HUGE hit, especially for Lucy, but Ellie had a fondness for our FOUL (if you know me you know why it's spelt like this) Friends.

kickin it at the park behind the school. Dusty had more fun on these bad boys than the girls did. I threated to give him a butt buster. He had a spaz. It was funny. Maybe you had to be there.

Too cool for school er Church

All the KIDS. We saw EWE. (sorry for the lameness) . All the lambs were out and the piggies and the goats and the cows and the horses and the the foals.

A tractor. need I say more?

The end of the day. Happy children.... they actually were. Both of the Them LOVED it and we don't find many things that the WHOLE family likes. Lucy was just mad cause we promised her ice cream.... don't mess with this kid and her ice cream!

LoVely BeaUtiful MaDnesS

Don't you LOVE new stuff. I do. I especially have a fondness for new things for my house...

This is the new couch we got to replace the other ones that we took back. New and soft and real leather. Seriously delightful.

The "old" but new to me chair. Dusty's parent gave us this beauty. She fits in just Perfectly. I was going to recover her but I think I'll keep her the same for now.

This rug I found on sale at Pier 1. I needed something a little.... kristin"ish" for the house. I was getting a bit too Dusty for me. It is LOVELY.

And check this bad boy out. It's not quite finished yet but I thought what the hey I'll debut it anyhow. Dusty build a 6 1/2 foot cedar bench for under our big window. It has an opening top for additional storage PLUS I found this cushions on SALE I paid 19 bucks for them. MADNESS!

Name Plaque

This is my 50th post. I know not that many but still 50...

I have been doing A LOT of crafts lately. There is a lady who I got to visit with the other day and she's really into wood signs and such. It reminded me of the good ol' days when my mom, aunt, sisters, and I used to paint wood crafts for craft fairs. I was the one who lacked talent in this group. I figured there's not better time than now to practise up. Who knows when it'll come in handy! I snagged my mom's scroll saw and plan on going through a few patterns to test my luck but I decided that I had better finish up a few of the crafts that have been lurking in my closet.

Hanging Initials on the door is pretty dang popular right now but I kinda like the old school name plaques... This was so easy and the best part was that Ellie actually got to do most of it herself. She painted it and stuck the stickers on and she even got to Modge Podge (every child's dream). It was fun. I may have created a monster. She's decided that I need one for my door......

Home, Motherhood, and Brownies

I weirded myself out with my last post. CLEARLY on something (but nothing illegal... it's against my religion). Today is another day. I woke up to snow. The price I pay to live in the BEST PLACE ON EARTH. Seriously. (minus the snow of course). Okay so I woke up this morning with a list. You know the kind. The kind of list that says get your act together you have LOTS to do. I made a decision that I don't care what the list says. I'll do it later. (yeah right). I wanted to bake today and I mean BAKE. I'm in the mood BUT yesterday I cleaned. REALLY cleaned and I made 4 pizza's. One for dinner, one for Dusty's lunches, and two for the freezer. I thought (or hoped) Dusty and the girls would of cleaned the kitchen (I went for a walk last night) but alas I spent the morning cleaning up last nights supper. Oh well. The day will be better. I know that. I know this because today I GET to shower. It's funny how perspectives can change. I used to shower at least once, sometimes twice a day. Now I feel lucky to get to shower. (I still do shower frequently... not that you need to know my shower schedule and all but ). I feel like I have to plan it. Plan it during nap time. Plan it so it doesn't interfere with Dusty's time slot. Plan it around laundry and dishwashers. It is a far too rare of occasion that I actually get to just stand there and use all the hot water. Motherhood.
Do you want to know my favorite song ever... well ever is extreme but it's one of my favorites to listen to... especially on the days that my kitchen isn't clean, or I feel like I'm putting out more effort than I'm getting back, or on the days that I have to cancel my shower....
It's this one.
Well maybe I'll go bake... sour cherry cake OR chocolate brownies. Tough call. Maybe I'll decide after buns....

Woeful tale of Kristin and her Religious Fellow

Guilt.
We all feel it and sometimes over the SILLIEST reasons. I am feeling guilty. I have been feeling guilty the past couple of weeks but I've kept suppressing it. I know this is sounding more and more dramatic and it's really not but feeling guilty has been making me think a lot about guilt and the effect it can have on our lives.

Situation

A man and woman of a particular faith have been coming over to my house regularly. They are super nice and we chit chat about the house being renovated and the kids and whatnot (you know just regular old small talk). It's actually been nice. They are the ONLY people besides our families that have seen the house from square one and have really acted genuinely thrilled about all the new stuff we've done. SOOOO (so much for the reader digest version) The last couple of visits the talk has turned to religion. They asked if they could come over and discuss a question I had. I was fine with that and I made it clear that I was asking BECAUSE it was a question I had but I was very happy with where I was at spiritually. We made an appointment BUT he had to cancel. Again I was fine and he rescheduled for the following Saturday (I think.... but a day of the week anyways). So Saturday morning came around and I'm sitting on my couch in front of the window eating my breakfast. All of a sudden I hear the door bell. I am in my underwear. Problem yes. (clearly if your reading this and paying attention you'll probably be like why were you sitting in the window in your UNDERWEAR??? well I was I had a blanket on. I have this thing about getting dressed. maybe I'm lazy but clearly it should be remedied for exactly these instances!) So I run to my bedroom and throw on some clothes. Dusty answers the door and that's when I hear the familiar voice of (INSERT Name HERE) and I can hear Dusty telling him that I'm not up yet and that this isn't a good time. SOMETIMES dusty comes across less than enthusiastic when talking to people. In fact, sometimes he sounds annoyed that he has to talk to you. It's his thing. SOOOO he had that voice. The man has not been back since. I'm fairly certain he saw me sitting in the window so I think he thinks I'm blowing him off cause I didn't have the stones to do it to his face. I really liked him and his wife. Yesterday I got a different couple of that particular religion. I feel abandoned. I feel so GUILTY that I would call him up and invite him over BUT I can't remember his name. (that teaches me for labeling people instead of learning their names). That's my woeful story. Dusty says I'm being ridiculous and that he didn't like the idea of them popping over all the time and he ESPECIALLY didn't like the idea that he would come over by HIMSELF while just I was home. Still doesn't make me feel better. I feel awful because he thinks I was deceiving him. Clearly now I'm sounding dramatic. Anyways, GUILT.


We may have just opened a can of worms with this guilt subject....

Daily Endeavors

I feel so behind on my blog. I don't know what's going on. I feel busy. Blogging was easy when I didn't have friends.... so maybe it's a good thing I'm feeling behind. Ellie has soccer today but it's raining. Do I really need to be the hardcore soccer mom who drags her contently playing child out into the bitter cold to kick a ball around for a half an hour?? I don't know... well see what happens. Ellie started swimming lessons today. I thought they started at 1030 but they actually began at 10. OOps. Well it's a good thing I HATE to be late so we actually got to go to the last 15 minutes of swimming lessons. After the lesson I asked her how it was and she looked at me and said, "You need to pay more moneys so they are bigger". Okay Ellie (maybe we'll just show up on time).
I went walking last night. It was fun. Sometimes I love it when there is just one other person. You feel like you really get to know them. I still can't talk to whole way up the hill so it was a good thing that this person chatted the whole way up! Last night after we got back from our walk, Dusty dragged (drug) in a bench that he made for under the window. I'll take a picture of it and post it later. It seriously looks so good though. Sometimes that guy impresses me.
Today I'm watching a little boy and it's been so nice to have him over. Lucy LOVES him and follows him around like a little puppy. He's a little bit older than my girls ( I think he turns 5 this year) and he's been so great with both of them.
It's been a quiet rainy day. (minus the potential soccer and the swimming lesson). I feel like soup and a great book.....

Death by Walking

Seriously.
I started walking with a friend from down the street. We've only been out three times and the walk is awesome. It's about 5km and it's very pleasant. It's a beautiful walk down a gravel road and then we follow a trail and go over a small bridge. Seriously very nice and serene and just lovely. You can chit chat the whole way along UNTIL your eyes fall upon a hill and not just any hill but DEATH HILL. It starts out on a "nice" incline and you walk and walk and walk. Then it dawns on you that your legs are starting to burn and burn and burn. You look back and realize that you're only half way up! You sigh, look upward and continue to climb and climb and climb. By this time your thinking PLEASE someone drive down this hill so I can catch a ride home PLEASE PLEEEEASE. My legs are burning and there is that familiar pain in my hip. It's pleading for me to abort the mission and then RELIEF. I am actually on flat again. OH thank you controller of the universe for saving me from more hill. I pause, take in the moment and congratulate myself for making it up the hill. I think maybe I might be able to do it with out complaining next time (probably not but one can always dream).

Two Worlds Colliding

Okay. My parents are seriously considering moving closer to Dusty and me and the girls (mostly the girls ;) ). and I am super excited about it. My mom is alone a lot and I would love to have her close by to go walking with or supper or just to pop over and stuff BUT with them moving here it means that "our" family acreage would be sold and thus meaning that my horses would be homeless. I have been so fortunate that my parents have kept them out there for as long as they have, especially because they hardly get ridden anymore and my mom and dad have had to the upkeep of them. But because of the prospect of the farm being sold I've had to think about what to do with them. I was down to two solutions.

1. sell the horses or at least find them good homes
2. find land to either rent or buy near our house

Well, I don't really WANT to sell them. I feel like I'd be giving up on the dream of that country life that both Dusty and I really wanted to give our kids. Dusty doesn't really want to sell them either. So that left us with the later. Land is extremely expensive where we're located so it was more of a rental situation that we would have to look at. But both of us felt pretty skeptical that we would be able to find pasture that someone would be willing to rent out UNTIL last night we had some company over and it just so happens that one of the gentlemen MIGHT know of someone who would be willing to rent out some pasture. AWESOME. I am so excited.

Biscuits, Tucker, and Booger

I'm trying hard not to get my hopes up too high BUT this could mean that I could actually start working and riding my ponies again. I would have the best of both worlds. I have a house in town with town water and sewer and all those lovely amenities PLUS I would have space and freedom and a hobby that I LOVE and really thought I'd have to give up.

Well, I guess time will tell if this will all work out...

Shrimp and Dill Soup

I threw this soup together for a mothers day lunch I had yesterday.

Recipe

(these are approximations because I made this up)

1 onion

1/2 pack of bacon

fry bacon and onion in bottom of pot

once cooked cover in flour

1/2 cup of flour

slowly add

4 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of water

2 cups of whipping cream

2 cups of milk

(if your just making this for your fam. you can EASILY cut down on the fat but if your serving it for guests for special occasion I would use the cream BECAUSE it makes the difference between good soup and great soup)

2 Tablespoons of Louisiana hot sauce

2 Tablespoons of dill (dried)

2 teaspoons of minced garlic (two cloves)

coarse ground pepper

salt

parsley

cook over medium heat until boiling

4 potatoes cubed

2 cans of corn

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 shrimp ring (take tails off shrimp)

add the above and cook over medium low for an hour.

Serve

Review

Our furniture situation has been rectified!!!!!!!! Hip horah. We got that all taken care of over the weekend (which was exhausting and I wish I could have another just to recover). I am sitting right now on our new couch which is lovely and soft and squishy and perfect because it's in and I don't have to move another one for quite some time (cross my fingers). Dusty and I had a great anniversary. I was so WORN out from running around the couple days before that on the 30th I asked Dusty to scrap the plans and just do NOTHING. It was great. I don't even know what he had planned but he didn't make a big deal out if and we watched a movie with the kids and went for a small walk and ate food. It was relaxing to just do what we normally do. Monday, Ellie started soccer. She'll tell you it was great. I thought it was hilarious. She stood on the sidelines and WATCHED everyone else. When she got her own ball she was awesome but as soon as she had to compete she was done. We'll see how Wednesday goes. I had some ladies over for lunch today and it was yummy and I enjoyed seeing everyone. I have so many pictures to download but I'm too lazy to walk out to the car and get the camera so maybe tomorrow.