We're going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

Yesterday we took advantage of the great weather and headed out to the Zoo first thing in the morning. The kids were all excited and Auntie MC came along for the trip. We packed up the red wagon and after renewing our membership were off. We started with the Tigers, headed over to the Polar Bears, the Seals and on and on... Declan pulled the wagon with Greer in it and not in it, and in it and not in it (rinse and repeat) most of the day. The kids ran (and walked) their little butts off and crashed immediately after loading ourselves into the car 5 hours later. It was a good walk for all of us. There was the sleep of the dead in our house last night.

I struggle sometimes with the idea of a Zoo. Should these animals really be in enclosures for us to look at? But then I read about conservation and re population efforts that the zoos are involved in and I feel a bit better about it. So this time, instead of just looking at the animals I tried to talk about them with Declan - how some of them were rare and how the zoos were helping to keep them and their families alive. I'm not sure how successful I was - but I'll keep trying.

A Pita-bird

What you may ask is a "pita-bird"? I'd ask too. In fact I did. My son kept pointing to trucks this morning telling me to look at the pita-bird. After asking for clarification several times I finally got an answer that made sense to me. A pita-bird is a Peterbilt. As in a Peterbilt truck http://www.peterbilt.com/ He knows about Peterbilts from the Cars DVD in our house. Which we watched incessantly immediately following Christmas. Its a little better now - once a week or so it is played over and over again.

And its about my mom car. Once upon a time I promised myself I'd never have a mom-car. You know the kind; toys all over the place, crumbs from goldfish crackers that were consumed in the last calendar year still on the seats, empty water bottles and extra clothing cluttering the floor. I have failed. There are endless trails of food particles strewn across the seats, plastic straw from the Easter craft at son's nursery school still on the back seat floor, four toys cars, one book, a butterfly craft hanging from the rearview mirror and more water bottles in various states of empty than I care to admit. There must be a self help book for this. But then again - I'd probably lose it under the seat. Maybe for mothers day I'll ask for a car detailing.

Benign scissors

My children are demanding benign scissors. As they were leaving the little one's daycare on Tuesday they found a craft basket sitting on a table in the common play area. Inside were some pieces of construction paper, some glue sticks and the now beloved, all plastic, can't cut a human, scissors. So being the ever co-operative mom I headed out yesterday to buy some for my small fry. I'd left my lunch hour free for this task. Apparently I should have left the whole day free. Who knew these were items that are hard to find?? I figured the lovely people at Crayola would be able to help me out, so I headed to the local Zellers which has a significant Crayola section... nope, nada, nyet. Two more stops at places that sell paper and crayons and the like and I was no more successful. Who the heck makes these things?? Each day the kids ask for the scissors, this morning darling daughter was asking for them before breakfast. So I'm off again this afternoon. I feel a bit like I'm looking for the holy grail of crafting. With all this focus on scrapbooking these days you'd think that someone would sell these things. If you have a suggestion - please feel free to send it along. I'm almost ready to dip metal scissors on resin to de-sharp them.

On other topics; trying to find someone who can clean my carpet which is currently in basement storage and will be adorning our new living room. I'm willing to drive it to the location so now its just about finding the best price... oh and actually going to the basement to measure it so I get an estimate that is at least fairly accurate. And the purge has begun... last night hubby and I went through the kids toy basket area in the living room and liberated the Happy Meal toys, the dollar store potty training incentive toys and other various broken, missing pieces and less than complete toys. It was cathartic. On to the next challenge - the basement storage room. Or maybe just my closet, its smaller.

Looser pants!

Its only been a week or so - but I swear my pants I'm wearing today are a little bit looser.... baby steps people. Baby steps.

Hubby's sister is in town for a while and the kids are quite excited by it all. She's been over for dinner the last two nights and they've been very good with manners at the table. Getting to bed has been a bit different, but still fun. They are calling for a crappy weekend on the weather side so our planned trip to the zoo may fall apart. Bummer.

I went back and looked at the new IKEA plans that I created and I'm really quite annoyed that I lost six inches of counter top due to the official measure. Means my sink moves and ends up in a corner... and then the cupboard over the fridge gets all complicated.... If I find a way to make this all work well I may just have to consider a career change. The file of ideas for the house, decorating, furnishing, painting etc etc is getting larger by the day. The good news is that the things that we like are frighteningly consistent - bad news is that we are going to have to pare it all down sooner or later. Sometimes I think that there is no way we are going to get the things done that we really *want* done before we move in, and some days it seems much more plausible. I guess only time will tell.

Well must head out and make some dinner for the troops.... "I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight" (and if you recall that jingle you are as old as I am).

What a weekend!

Well - sunny and warm all weekend long - it doesn't get much better than that. The kids enjoyed every minute of it, playing outside and meeting new friends. We decided to go and play at the park near our new house on Saturday morning. Declan and I had already been up and around the neighbourhood for a jog stroller power walk. Unfortunately someone was late to open up Mt Pleasant so we just meandered through Leaside. Once everyone was up and ready to go we headed over to East Lynn Park and the kids played on the equipment and Declan organized a full on construction party in the sandbox. We all left reluctantly for lunch and a few errands before heading home for naps and quiet time.

Sunday Dec woke up and announced that he wanted to go to the fun park near our new house. So after a failed attempt to go to church (note to self - one hour is not long enough to get everyone ready and all the way to a church in the new neighbourhood), we did the grocery shopping in a very empty WalMart and then (after dropping the groceries back at home and having an early lunch) headed back to the park. Declan made more new friends and Mommy and Daddy got to chat to some new neighbours and then Declan and his new friends found an old tire hidden in a corner of the park and proceeded to push it up a small hill and then let it roll down, spewing the pine cones they'd filled it with, over and over again. They were so proud of their new game and they had no help from the adults at all. What was most impressive is they way the four kids worked together each time with no fighting, no arguments and no trouble. It was a thing of beauty.

As the kids started to show visible signs of exhaustion we headed home for naps and dinner. Unfortunately no one napped and Ken had them all make rice krispie squares instead. I spent some quality time with the IKEA kitchen planner (amazing to note no two walls of our kitchen are the same length - not that I expected square - but I thought two might match) and have what I think is the new and almost final version of the kitchen. Now we meet with the PEG guys at IKEA and finalise the plan.... its a process that's for sure....

No more incandescent lightbulbs

So day two. Well lets see, I didn't eat with reckless abandon, I did have lots of water, and I went for a walk with the kids after dinner. It wasn't exactly a fitness actvity - but it wasn't a sloth activity either. So - baby steps. Baby steps.

Got the kids off to school this morning with minimal effort - they only took their shoes and socks off after I had already assisted with putting them on, once, each. That's progress. I did stop for a Vente Misto on my way home. I needed to get more beans so I bought a coffee. Small indulgence.

Upon my return I actually had a few moments to glance at the paper before sitting down to work. It seems that my local municipality has voted to outlaw 'traditional' light bulbs by 2012. I am impressed. Its actually something that I agree with from city hall. We've already started replacing our incandescents with compact flourescents. Its important to make sure you don't buy that version called "cool white". Nasty. Makes my rooms look more than a little bit institutional. A throwback to bad dorm lighting. No one needs to go back to that.

So today's goals.... salad for lunch, more walking, more water, a visit to a potential daycare and oh - getting my job done :) Have a good one.

And a big shout out to my sister - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEANNE

Wednesday - a good day to start

Wednesday - I'm sure its not the most common day to start a new "routine". But its the day I'm picking. It doesn't have that pressure of Monday, or the first day of the month, or - god forbid- New Years Day. Its the day I woke up and decided that things had to change. I needed to feel less rushed, I needed to feel more in control and I needed to make sure that I found time for me. So here I am. I've never been much for diaries, or journals - but I *want* to. Maybe this time it'll work.

*sigh*

Today I commit to getting in a walk as I prepare for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. I commit to healthy eating. And I commit to water.

Last night as I lay in bed after dealing with buckaroo's midnight potty wakings I wondered why I keep thinking I am capable of more? Why I felt that somewhere along the way I let "this'll do" enter my vocabulary. It wasn't there before. And it doesn't belong now. So - I commit to being fully committed to what I do today.

Let's hope we're not 'committing' me by the end of all this.