Winnipeg Zoo Trip 1

I didn't take a lot of photos on this trip, I'm sure we'll be heading back to the zoo sometime as the girls and I both love the animals and they have lots of special events throughout the year too. Maybe some day we'll get a annual membership.

Brooke loves Hudson the Polar Bear and Chloe loved the Penguins who are visiting and will travel to a new Zoo in September. I, of course, did not get photos of either of those. lol

The Camels were pretty exciting for the girls. Brooke seemed to know quite a bit about camels, however, she did learn why one camels humps weren't standing up. But she knew you rode on them between the humps. 

 What's a trip to the zoo without seeing a bunny??? This little guy was right at my feet. 

 4 trips to 3 Zoos and I finally got to see Zebras. They were always hiding at every other Zoo we went to. lol  Just to prove it, I snapped a photo of them. lol

The other exciting exhibits are the Australian walk about...where you can actually walk around inside the fence with the Kangaroos and Birds (I forget what kind). That was lots of fun, altho the Roos weren't jumping around...they were also quite a bit away, we were told they are very shy.

There is also a Butterfly area where you walk around inside of the a dome while the butterflies flutter around you. It's quite neat.

There are tons of Prairie Dogs that run wild around the Zoo, the girls loved watching them run around.

Pre kindergarten Graduation!!

I'm a couple of days late Geting this post up but Friday, June 21, 2013 was the pre-k graduation for Brooke ane Chloe in Shilo, Manitoba.  Even though we have moved to Winnipeg,  Brooke, Chloe and I made the 2 hr (one way) trip back just for the graduation. They were very excited on the way there and sang and talked the whole way. I found out that Chloe loves the song "I love it" by Icona Pop and Brooke's favourite is "Crazy Kids" by Kesha,  so of course we had to turn the music up for those songs. We also sang the great hits...ABC song, You are my Sunshine,  and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Lol

After many are we there yets we arrived in Shilo. We went right into the MFRC,  where the girls were wisked away by their teacher, Miss Chelsea. To start preparing for the ceremony. I went to find a seat on the aisle so that I could get good pictures of the girls. Since Brooke is actually graduating to kindergarten she had a blue cap and Chloe who will be returning to pre-k in the fall had a yellow cap. The director of the MFRC gave a speech and then Miss Chelsea shared some tid bits about the kids with us. Just before the kids came out Miss Chlesea stopped and told me a funny thing Brooke had said to her. Chelsea said I feel like I haven't seen you two in  forever to which Brooke replied with "well,  we've been in Winnipeg cuz we moved there you know" lol

Next the kids made their way to the stage. First the returning students and then the graduates. So Chloe passed by me first,  followed by Brooke.  Brooke came in holding hands with Cale,  who she calls her best friend. It's odd because it's been a long time since she seen him. 

Tanis (Cale s mom) got a good photo of them.

Then the kids sang their favourite songs from the year. Please see the video. 

And then we jumped right into their binders and gifts. Chloe first then Brooke

After the presentations we had a bbq and carnival games in the outdoor rink. The kids had a fantasic time playing the games and they really enjoyed their hotdogs and juice. When we were ready to go we stopped for a photo shoot with Miss Chelsea and the girls cashed in their tickets (from the games) for prizes.

But before we could leave Shilo for possibly the last time we had one last play in the splash park.

Overall,  it was a great day.

In prep for Christmas

I love Christmas.  It reminds me so much of my dad.

Today, we drove into Winnipeg. It was a long drive as the Christmas excitement had me up at 430am.

Once we got to wpg I brought out all the gifts from family and this is what the tree looks like.

Jeremy's in Hawaii

And we are stuck in Shilo! That's what this post is going to be about. lol

I am very happy for him to be off on an adventure, but I think it calls on me going on a girls adventure somewhere...and somewhere other then Canada! lol I would love to go to Hawaii...so many great things to see there.

He just left yesterday, so the girls and I have been trying to keep as busy as possible while he's gone. Seems I have rarely been home in the last few days...but this is a good thing as the girls are tired when we get home. Today, we went to the MFRC for a free Slushie....I did not get one...it's not 7-11 so there is no point in getting one! lol We got home and the girls have been playing outside. This morning we went into Brandon to get our van back...I made a quick stop at Michael's for some yarn and the Future shop for a new adapter for the Satellite radio (which I had to return because it didn't fit...grrrr)

Jeremy however did send me a few photos from his journey this far that I thought you might like for me to share.

This is the airplane that Jeremy traveled from Winnipeg to BC.

This is the seating and accommodations of the Flight. Comfy eh?! Jeremy did mention that they would allow them to sleep on the floor...how kind of them. lol

This was the inflight movie. The Rockies from the air! Beautiful Picture!

Creativity at it's finest!

Sometimes, my children amaze me with their imagination and creativity. It's interesting to see how their little minds work, to watch them put a plan to action and see the outcome of  the plan.

For the last couple of days my dining room has looked like this.....

Anyone with little children might be able to guess what this is.....if you guessed Choo Choo Train you are correct. Chloe is the train driver, and all the stuffies and babies behind her are her passengers or Cussomers as Brooke calls them. Chloe likes to play Choo Choo the best...never know where in the house I might have a train set up. Brooke isn't in this picture because she was very busily working on something else...which is the second part of this post...

This is Brooke's creation....go ahead take a guess at what it might be...lol

If you guessed "Finish Line" you are correct. I should have taken a zoomed in picture so you can see what it's made of. Brooke spent and hour yesterday creating this. It's made from little leaves and tiny stickers. It took her an hour to make and her and Chloe played with it for 5 mins. lol

Tree Removal Excitement

So today we had guys come to trim the trees that border our house and the park. My driveway got a bit messy.

You couldn't really come out our back steps. The girls however had a great time watching the guys cut the tree branches from inside the house. I would get play by plays from them.

Just when I thought the day couldn't get anymore exciting, the guys found a wood pecker nest in one of the trees...which Jeremy and I call the wood pecker tree as there have been wood peckers in that tree since we moved in.

When he started trimming this branch of the tree..he realized there was holes inside and that something had made a nest in there. So he started taking smaller chunks of the branch off...He wanted to cut where the other little branch comes off. He took a cut about an inch or so down from the end of the branch and when he did he seen the baby wood peckers. 

This is a better picture of the branch where he would have cut and you can see the where he made the cut and hammered the tree back together. The guys were a little worried that they may not come back to the nest. As you can kinda tell from this picture one of the guys hammered the piece he cut off back onto the tree to put the nest back a little to the way it was. The mommy and daddy spent most of the day fixing their nest up and I got quite a few good pictures of them.

I was worried this wee little birdy would get in there and eat the babies...I kept a close eye on him. lol I don't even know if birds eat other birds especially ones this small but I couldn't think of another reason he was hanging out near the nest.  All in all the mommy and daddy have returned to the nest!

Pinterest Recipes I love! Part 1

Earlier this year...I found a new site along with many other people in the world called Pinterest. It's basically a bulletin board on the internet. If you find a picture, recipe, craft, video that you like you can "pin it" to your own personal bulletin board.  You can organize your boards by subject so that you pin all like items together.   If I have you interested in checking it out the website is www.pinterest.com, be careful as you may become addicted! haha!

I started pinning recipes when I started on Pinterest and for a long time (months and months) they sat there in my Cooking and Baking board. Recently, I've decided to start making these recipes and if I don't like them I can delete them, or if I do like them I move them to a new board called Cooking and Baking - Tried and Love.

Here are a few recipes that I found that I LOVE. Some are really easy to make and have ingredients that you likely have at home.

Sweet and Spicy Bacon Chicken

4 Chicken Breast

Garlic Powder

Bacon

Chili Powder

Brown Sugar

Olive Oil

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Cut each of the 4 chicken breasts into 3 strips.

Mix together the garlic powder and chili powder. I put the mixture on a plate. (I didn't give amounts to use as it's really a personal taste thing...the more chili powder the more spicy it is. etc)

Roll your chicken strips in the mixture until coated.

Wrap strips in a piece of bacon.

Roll bacon wrapped chicken strips in brown sugar

Put a little olive oil in the bottom of the baking dish.

Cook in the oven for 30-40 mins.

I loved this recipe, the girls didn't seem to care for it as much as I did....sorry that Jeremy missed out on this one...I'll have to make it again when he is home. I served mine with potatoes and frozen green beans and corn.

Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne

6 tbsp butter (more for baking dish)

Pepper and Salt (we left out the salt)

1 pkg of Penne noodles

1 tsp Olive Oil

2 bonless, skinless chicken breast  (cooked and cubed)

1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp Flour

6 Garlic Cloves (I used garlic powder and it's 1/2tsp per clove)

6 cups Milk

10 oz mushrooms (we didn't use these)

1 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained (I didn't use this either couldn't find them at the store)

1 1/2 cup cheese (we used marble)

1 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400

Butter 2 shallow 2 quart baking dishes.

In a large pot, boil pasta for 3 mins less then the instructed cooking time. Drain and set aside.

Cook chicken in olive oil until opague 3-5 mins each side.

If you are cooking mushrooms...saute them in the hot pan without the chicken.

In a 5 quart dutch oven, melt butter. 

Add garlic and flour. 

Cook, while whisking for 1 min.

Whisk constantly and gradually add milk.

Bring to a simmer.

Keep Whisking frequently while sauce thickens.

Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook for 1 min.

Take the pan off the heat and add Cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese.

Add the chicken and pasta to the pan.

Divide mixture between the two baking dishes.

Add remaining parmesan cheese to the top.

Bake, uncovered for 25 mins.

Let stand for 5 mins before serving.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy this dish. I also added frozen broccoli and cauliflower to the dish. I let it cook with the sauce for a min or two. I also seasoned with parsley.

One more fantastic recipe for you to try and then I'm going to end this post for today.

Fresno Potatoes

4-6 medium Potatoes

6 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup Milk

1 1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp flour

2 cups shredded cheese (we used marble)

Salt and Pepper (we didn't use salt)

1/4 cup Panko crumbs ( I couldn't find these at the store either so I just used regular bread crumbs)

5 tbsp melted butter

Boil potatoes, until just tender but not fully cooked.

Drain, cool, peel, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. (I suggest doing this earlier in the day if you can)

Preheat oven to 350

In a greased, 9x13 pan layer half the potatoes.

Add half the bacon on top.

Add half the onions.

Whisk the milk into the sour cream.

Spread half over the 1st layer, top with cheese.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add another layer of potatoes, bacon, onions, sauce and cheese.

Sprinkle panko crumbs over the top.

Drizzle the butter on top of that.

Bake uncovered for 30 mins.

This was a huge hit in our house. Chloe gobbled them all up, Jeremy had seconds and I had to fight the urge to eat more!

I have a few more recipes that are easy and don't require (odd ingredients) I'll add those another day. Thanks for stopping by!

Freedom of the City Parade and Dinner

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and went to the Freedom of the city parade in Brandon. It was raining and thundering and lightening. It was so loud and the lightening lit up the sky so much that poor Tucker was shaking in his skin as we were getting ready to head out the door. I didn't want to leave him...but, Jeremy assured me that he'd be fine...and of course, he was perfectly fine by the time we got home, except that his milk bones went untouched...which he normally has gone before we even get out the door. lol I got a couple of small videos of the parade, it took me a while to remember that I had a phone/camera/video camera to take photos/videos with, and then I couldn't figure out how to make it so that the videos were longer.

I'm a little upset at this point because I had wrote and awesome little write up for my blog and for some stupid reason it didn't save, so here I am trying to figure out what to say....AGAIN.

The Freedom of the City parade is where the 2VP PPCLI ask permission to march the streets of Brandon and to beat their drums and pipes.

I have no idea why...but I can't seem to upload a video and it's kinda pissing me off. So I'm going to try to figure it out at a later date and hope that I can put it on if not...I'll throw it up on FB and share the link. lol

After the parade, we headed home for brunch. Then, I got the kids ready to head to their friends, Faith and Logan, for a sleepover. (Thanks so much Erin!!! I owe you!) Brooke and Chloe were excited to go to Faith and Logan's house, but I was worried that Chloe wouldn't want to spend the night. I asked her several times on the way to their house "Chloe, Are you going to sleep at Faith's house?" Chloe: " No mommy" But once she was there she settled in quite quickly, and my only text from Erin that evening was letting me know that the girls were settled in for the night.

Once I had dropped the girls off at Erin's house, I headed home to get ready for the Mixed Mess Dinner. I gave myself about 2 hrs to get ready for the dinner, and I think I should have given myself more time as I needed to iron the dress, as well as shower, do my hair, put on my face, get dressed and add finishing touches.

I had originally made a daisy headband to wear...but I really didn't like how it looked once I got my hair done and added it to the hair...so I decided to put a few daisy's in my hair instead. I couldn't get them in where I wanted them, so I ran next door to my neighbor, Melissa, who was quick to save the day and place the flowers in my hair. Once they were in, we added hair spray.....and I'm really happy with how my hair looked. Thanks Melissa!

Melissa helped with the finishing touches as well...she loaned me her pearl necklace, and painted my finger and toe nails. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE my neighbors?!?! I love them all!!!

At the dinner, we had a great meal, good conversation, and heard plenty of speeches. It was 2am before we got home, which I think is the longest mess dinner I have ever been to, and the longest that I think Jeremy has ever attended. Our seat mates, Rose and her husband were nice enough to take this picture of the two of us. Somday, we will get a good picture of us at these mess functions!

Since everyone else there was wearing black or a dark color....I really stood out in my yellow dress...lol Even if I had worn the other dress I have, which is white with burgundy trim, I still would have been the brightest one there. Makes me wonder if it's a fashion faux pas to be brightly dressed at a mess dinner. lol I mean the guys are wearing red! lol

My feet were so sore at the end of the night, I decided to walk home bare foot. Normally, we go to the Officer's Mess for these functions and it's literally across the road from the house, but last night's dinner was at the Sgt's & WO's Mess...which is on the other end of base....really not that far since the base it's too big....maybe 500meters. We made it out of the parking lot, across the road to the side walk, and then an MP stopped and offered us a drive home!!!! Thank You Mr. MP!!!! I've learned a good lesson...pack flip flops in the truck/van for the walk home as my feet are likely going to be sore!

Tanis's Pool

On Wednesday, it was muggy and hot and just all around yucky. I had the kids out playing in the yard and trying to teach Brooke how to use a slip n slide. Which only resulted in me getting soaked, trying to teach her. She'd much rather jump her way down the slide.

After a few mins of that, the girls weren't playing on the slip n slide, so I decided to turn it off and get everyone in the house for a little bit...mostly because I was soaked and wanted dry clothes. lol When I got in I had an invite from Tanis to go to her house so the kids could have a swim in her pool. So we got our water wings and towels and away we went.

 Tanis doesn't have the ladder up yet for the pool, so there was a lot of us lifting kids in and out of the pool. lol The kids preferred to go in the boat anyway. At one point all 3 of them were in the blue boat.

 Cale taking his turn on the little boat.

 Finally got the girls to look at me to take their picture....they were too busy playing and talking to Cale. lol

Cale is really good at getting around in this little boat. It has feet holes in the bottom so the kids can kick their feet and move around.

When we first got there and the kids decided to get in the pool, Chloe took off her shorts...only for me to find out she doesn't have any on under them. Little Monkey must have taken them off when we came in the house to get changed. It was funny because I didn't even realize that she had no bottoms on until then. lol Then she was upset with me because she didn't want to get her shorts wet. lol What a crazy girl she is sometimes. The kids had a great time at Tanis's house and are anxious for our next visit on Monday!

Military Mess Functions....and some ramblings.

I keep thinking that I should post more often....and then things happen and I forget to post.

Tonight, I took a walk down memory lane (looking at old blog posts) with my friend, Erika, and I realized how nice it is to have my memories all in one place. That is, after all, one of the reasons I started this blog, so that I had some place to come watch videos, see pictures and read stories of my life, for when I'm old and can't remember the stories on my own. So, I'm going to try to start again with updating more frequently, so that I can have some place to read my life story.

I feel bad that there isn't as many posts of Chloe as there is of Brooke. I know that it was A LOT easier to write, update, photograph, and video when I only had one child. When Chloe was a baby, I was very busy chasing a 16 month old toddler, now I'm very busy with two toddlers. Between their activities at the Shilo MFRC and normal life happenings, I find myself running out of hours in a day.

Let's see what's new....well....2 weeks ago Jeremy and I went to the Spring Ball for the Officers here in Shilo. The meal was delicious and I heard that the dancing was awesome as well...since we didn't stay for the dancing, I can only go by what I heard. By the time the meal was done, my feet were sore and I was tired of being braless. Serves me right for forgetting that I threw out my old strapless bra...must remember to get a new one before the next mess function that I might need it for.

We have another mess function this weekend, but it's a cocktail dress code. I had to buy a new dress for that one and new shoes...which is a story all on it's own. lol I'll be sure to post new pictures of that mess function when I get them.

I guess I could share the shoe and dress stories....the dress really isn't all that entertaining as I bought it off the website www.ever-pretty.com and it was delivered to me here in Shilo all the way from China. It arrived on time and is exactly what I had envisioned. I actually got two dresses because they had a buy 1 get 1 sale on. So I paid 72 dollars for 2 cocktail dresses and 25 of that was for express shipping to make sure I had it here in time for the dinner.

The shoes, however, are a whole other story on their own. I spent 4 hours in the Polo Park Mall in Winnipeg searching for the perfect shoes. After going to all the stores in the mall looking for a particular style of shoe and not finding it in white, I decided to just go back to all the stores and look at ALL the available white shoes and make my choice from that. 4 hours later I walked out with a nice shoe to wear to the dinner.

Excuse the quality as the photo was taken with my cell phone in the mall. lol But these are the shoes I decided to go with. I also bought the inserts for the toes. Total spent 52 dollars. Needless to say, when I mentioned buying a purse to match, Jeremy suggested that I go purse-less. LOL

New Laptop for me!

My computer finally died on Sunday. Well it didn't really die but it was on it's last legs. The guy who looks after the "No Lemon" policy was not in until Tuesday, so I went laptop shopping on Tuesday. Erika and Patrick came with Brooke and I, good thing she was there because it took me forever to pick one out that I liked. You'd think this would be an easy task, but my goodness it was anything but that. The one I really liked was going to cost me 330 dollars extra. So after talking to Jeremy, I realized that I didn't NEED that laptop, but that I only really wanted it because it was pretty. lol So I picked out another laptop and the guy told me that they didn`t have any in until Thursday. I told him that I had already waited since Sunday to get this dealt with. He went to check on another color and Erika went to ask him if he would sell me the demo instead. He checked with his manager and he found that that he could infact sell me the demo! So I came home with the computer I wanted! Here is what it looks like!

I love the color of it! But you know what has me the most excited?!?!? The battery works! LOL I can use it for like 3 hrs without being plugged into the wall! My old computer battery died a long time ago and since then I have had to always have it plugged into the wall....it's so nice to be free! Now if only I could talk Jeremy into a wireless printer I'd be all set! lol

Halloween 2011

This year is our second year trick or treating on a base. It's always such a feeling of community here, lots of candy, lots of people out trick or treating, lots of costumes on both adults and children and so many awesome decorations!

On Sunday night, we carved our pumpkin. Jeremy had a blast cutting it open, and Brooke was all to excited to see the inside and couldn't wait to "poke" holes in it!





Brooke was so excited to clean the pumpkin out, she quickly got her hands dirty cleaning out the pumpkin. Chloe, however, was not so interested in touching the pumpkin "guts".



Chloe says "no I don't wanna" lol This is the face we got after asking if she wanted to help Brooke clean out the pumpkin.



Brooke and Chloe are anxiously waiting for daddy to finish the scary face...Daddy stops to smile at the camera...which was quickly picked up on by the girls who were saying "keep cutting daddy!"



Brooke's job was to help get the pieces out (like Calliou)



The finished product!



Since Jeremy and I both go out with the kids, we left a bowl with candy on the step for the kids to take one. When we got home at 730pm the candy was all gone...but Jeremy kept some candy for the bigger kids and we put them in the bowl. We didn't actually hand out much candy...we were busy sorting our candy when we got home.



Chloe found it easiest to just walk around with her bag opened. At first she thought every adult should give her candy. lol She would stop people walking down the road to ask for candy.

I didn't get any pictures of Brooke, because she was too fast running from house to house getting candy. She did well until we got to Erika's house. I asked if she needed to go pee and she said no. I said this is a good chance to go if she needed to. No mommy I don't need to pee. about 4 houses later she was standing by the wagon with her head hanging low. I said what's wrong sweetie. I pee mommy. Awwww poor baby. I said it's ok sweetheart, we'll go home now.  She was quite upset that she pee'd in her costume and was done trick or treating.

But we got tons of candy anyways!!! Look at it all!



Chloe checking out the loot!



This house had awesome decorations! There were so many houses with great decorations...but I only got the one photo!



Happy Halloween Everyone!

Negativity

Negativity sure seems to spread faster then positiveness. I know we all have days where everything seems horrible and nothing is going right....but really is a Facebook group the right place to post all of your negative thoughts and feelings?

I know Facebook is all about our own opinions and views...I reserve those to my own personal page, I try to keep my negative thoughts out of forums and groups....no one else needs to know how bad my day is. lol 

This morning I woke up to a post on one  of my Facebook groups complaining about the new trees they are getting in their yard here on base...Really?! you're going to complain about getting something for free??? lol Yes it looks like crap right now because it's late fall, it likely has no leaves, it mostly looks like a stick...but in years to come it will keep your house cooler by offering shade, maybe it will grow big enough to put a baby swing on, maybe your kids will spend hours climbing it or trying to...there are so many other things that tree will bring in the years to come.

The same person went on to complain about the lack of grass in her yard...seriously...if it bothers you that much that you are going to openly complain about it, then maybe you should head to Canadian Tire or some other store and buy a bag of grass seed...it's really cheap this time of year. We spent 30 dollars on grass seed this fall and spring to get our yard growing grass.

Since I live in base housing and we have had some problems as well, and when I first moved in I complained about the lack of grass, the dust levels in the house, along with half a dozen other things I'm sure....but I've done something about the problems that I've had. I know we are limited to what we can do, but seriously grass is something that is easily fixed...and when you call them for a problem I've found them to be really quick at coming to fix things. If they aren't I just think they are likely really busy with other people and will get to me when they have a chance. They seem really good at prioritizing the list of things they need to do. 

So, I guess it annoys me when people complain all the time and don't do anything to fix the problem. If you don't like something, fix it.

Busy Weeks

I've been so busy lately, I forget to update my blog. Maybe I just suck at blogging! lol I have such good intentions, then it all falls apart and I forget to update anything.

Since my last up date...I had a hell week. Chloe was whiny, Brooke was in a not listening mood, the dog was sick, and the cat was into things she shouldn't have been....OHHHH and Jeremy was gone. Not a very good week for us...but we all survived! lol

I was sick for like a week...which made it impossible for me to do much of anything. I didn't even want to be on the computer that whole week. It was very hard to keep up with two toddlers while wanting to just lay on the couch. However, I am very lucky that I can catch a nap on the couch and my girls will play in their playroom or watch tv on the couch with me. I know that not everyone is that lucky and on days when I want to just relax...I'm so glad I have easy going children.

This week has been really busy.
Monday - Brooke had Pre-K in the afternoon, Chloe and I spent time cleaning up the yard and the garage. Erika was there to help me and we got it all cleaned up and all the outdoor toys have been cleaned and moved to the basement.

Tuesday - The girls and I went to a halloween party at the MFRC. I found out after I got there and had planned on staying, that I infact...could have dropped both girls off and came home to relax...ALONE!!! Imagine! lol I'll keep that in mind for the next MFRC event like that. We went to town after supper to get a few groceries that I had forgotten to get.

Wednesday - We didn't do much of anything on Wednesday. I did some cleaning, some laundry and had a nap in the afternoon. Boy was it ever nice to have a nap! lol

Thursday - Brooke and I have The Learning Circle (TLC) in the afternoon. Normally, Erika looks after Chloe for me, but this week she was busy so I dropped Chloe off at the Occasional Child Care (OCC) for a few hours. When it came time to pay, I found out it's free because Brooke and I are doing TLC...that is freaking awesome! They told me that Chloe took a little while to warm up, but once she got warmed up she was set to go. It was so good to hear, as she's so used to having Brooke to follow I was a bit worried on how she would make out on her own. She proved that she will be just fine on her own! I am thinking I might take her there for the last few weeks of TLC as she seemed to really enjoy herself. Brooke made out well at TLC. It's a program for helping teach kids to learn literacy. We start off by singing  songs, then we read a story, then we make a craft or do an activity, then it's time for SNACK, then the kids make their own book to take home. Brooke has so enjoyed this program that I will likely sign her up for the next one.

Friday - Today.....I knitted and knitted and knitted some more! lol My friend Tara, had surgery on both of her feet and is in need of a pair of socks to fit over her casts. I have one sock done and am working on the second. I'm hoping to have it done by tomorrow evening...however...I'm not sure that is going happen...keep your fingers crossed that I can find some spare time tomorrow before they get here to work on them!

Saturday - I plan to take Tucker to get his rabies shot. Poor boy...must remember the mussel, wouldn't want him snapping at anyone. Then I cam coming home and working hard at getting the house ready for company. Then in the evening Tara and her family are coming over for supper. I look forward to having some company here.

Sunday - I plan to go to brunch with some of the officers wives, then I'm going to the big craft sale here. I'm quite excited. I hope to get some Christmas presents bought for the family back east. I even have a baby sitter for the girls. It'll be my first girls free day in awhile. I sure hope the girls are good for the babysitter. If this works out...I may get her to come again next week while Jeremy is still gone so that I can get my hair cut. I'm in desperate need!

I'll let ya know about next week...when I get to next week...but it's looking to be busy too.

My happenings this week....

Ok so I'm already over a week...lol I forgot when I blogged last and didn't know when it was due again...so here I am a little late...but better then never.

We had a relaxing weekend here, and now Jeremy's in the field. My week is always shorter when he's in the field for some reason. I swear, he goes away and I have no time to do anything. crazy how that works and he thinks I'm too busy having fun...hahahahaha!

So Brooke and I have started a new program offered at the MFRC called The Learning Circle. We had a great time last week singing songs, reading stories, and they even hid apples around the classroom for the kids to find. Brooke had such a great time...once she got past the fact that I was staying (she kept trying to send me home because it was her school) lol. Unfortunately, like most programs, Chloe is too little to participate...maybe next year she can go too. But this year she is staying with Erika while Brooke and I participate.

Monday was Brooke's Pre-k Day....she was so excited. The teacher says she's doing very well and had better listening ears this week, however she still did not want to clean up.

Today, I made Carrot Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I haven't tasted one yet, but the girls both had one and they were in their bellies pretty quickly! lol

I think that is all the going on so far this week. Til next time!

Baby Blankets

So lately, I've been busy knitting baby blankets. I've made 2 so far...here is how they turned out.

This is the blanket I knitted for my niece, Sophia Ellen Grace.

This is the blanket I knitted for my friend Melissa's baby, Kaylie Ann.

Been a long time....

Hello my friends....if you are still with me...lol

I haven't posted in forever because let's face it Facebook is much easier to post things in. lol I've decided that I really need to get back into blogging. I miss putting my thoughts and opinions on here. Sometimes, a blog is a better place then facebook to put your feelings and opinions.

Well since my last post...I'm way out here in Manitoba. I don't mind it out here too bad...but Shilo, is definitely not one of my favorite postings. We are 20 mins away from a Tim Hortons and a mall. I kinda feel like I'm living in Doaktown again...except even in Doaktown now, I'd have a Tim Hortons less then 10 mins away! lol The mall in the closest city, Brandon, is worse then the Regent Mall could ever think of being. It's small and has very little in the way of variety, with a Safeway, Sports Check and a Zellars taking up most of the mall space, it leaves little room for other little stores.

Winnipeg is 2 hrs away....but I do really like Winnipeg. My favorite thing about Winnipeg is that is has many "mom and pop" type stores with store fronts along many of the streets. There is always a new store that catches my eye every time we go down Portage Ave. I really think I could spend days walking down the streets and still miss half of the stores.

Manitoba itself has a large number of Provincial Parks. They have a Manitoba Provincial Park Passport book, that when you visit a park you get a stamp and when you have collected 5 you send it in to receive a special pin. We have already been to 3 parks...only 2 more to go to get our first pin!

This summer we have done some camping and the girls have loved it. I'm hoping we get the chance to do lots more camping next summer...now that we are settled in, and have an idea of where we'd like to go.

One place I would LOVE to get to is Churchill, Manitoba. It's located at the top of the province and the only way in and out is either by small plane, or by train. There is a Fort up there that looks really cool, it's also a great place to see Beluga Whales and Polar Bears....not to mention the Northern Lights. I think it will be a lot of fun to go there and stay a few nights to see everything.

I think this is a pretty big post so I'll end it here...and I'll try to do weekly updates from now on. Have to try to keep myself busy and my followers interested. Please comment on my blog as it gets discouraging to write and write and have no comments.

Take care!

New Fad for me! lol

I have a new fad....it's entering online contests. I mean let's be realistic here...I'm home all day with two kids under 3. LOL I need something to do and hey if I can maybe win something for free even better! I've found a couple of cool sites so far. The first one is OneSavvyMom. There are tons of giveaways on this blog. My favorite one so far is for a Joovy Caboose stroller. It's got a place for both the girls!!! The lady who's blog it is also writes a review of different products. If you get a chance you should check it out she might have soemthing there you are interested in!

Here is the link to the Joovy Caboose giveaway....
http://savvycouponmommy.blogspot.com/2010/09/joovy-caboose-review-giveaway.html