Summer recap

Sunshine then rain, then more rain. Rainiest July on record. Park playdates, Backyard bbq’s, camping weekends, Freezies, Swimming with floaties only, baby pools, sprinkler, eating al fresco, painting on the fence (not to be confused with fence painting!), bike riding, hats, sunscreens, summer camp, birthday parties.

I think that about sums it up. In all seriousness tho the summer has been truly wonderful (except for all the rain!). We have made some great memories, shared great moments with friends and just really enjoyed ourselves. It was the first summer that the girls were old enough to go out and do stuff unassisted (like the park) and I made some great new friends that have become like family.

I think the girls have had loads of fun and that they remember it fondly. I have tons of pictures that I will be able to share with them when they are older. Now on to the next phase of our life, kindergarten!

Gluten Free Update: Day 5

After feeling sluggish, bloated and gaining a few lbs (and all it’s frustrating side effects) I decided to resume eating Gluten free. It’s a great time of year to change my diet. Especially since I can easily replace delicious, in season fruit and vegetables for my beloved bread and other wheat products. I knew going into it that the first few days were going to be tricky. I tried to plan for it by making sure that I always had healthy, gluten free snacks on me at all times, just in case. Now that it’s been 5 days, the momentum is rolling and I have noticed some encouraging changes. Mainly an increase in energy, better quality sleep, waking up more refreshed and just a general sense of balance in my body. I know it sounds hokey but it’s the only way I can describe it. I remember last year after following the diet (and I hate using that word!) for several months I felt “light” in a way that I hadn’t, possibly ever.

I know that it will not always be easy, and that I need to get better organized and work on planning my meals. I don’t like eating something different than the rest of my family and that can be avoided by making gluten free meals for everyone. I am sure we can all benefit from cutting out much of the processed, refined foods not to mention the intestinal benefits.

Julie and Julia Movie

The world is a really funny place sometimes.

A few years ago I read this blog called The Julie/Julia Project. I found it towards the end of her experience but I really enjoyed her writing and her humour. Basically she had decided that she was going to spend a year making every single recipe from a Julia Child cookbook. I believe that she began working from the beginning of the book but later mixed it up a little. She had lots of successes and some really funny stories along the way. It was a great blog about discovering food, and what one person was capable of doing. As a novice cook I loved reading her interpretations of French cuisine and also her mishaps. Last I read on her blog, she was in the process of writing a book and hoping to get it published.

Fast forward to last night. I’m sitting on the couch watching What Not To Wear (and btw, I SO need that show!) when I see this trailer for a new movie called Julie and Julia. As I watch the preview I think: “self, this all sounds so very familiar, could it be?” So I pull out the trusty old laptop, do some google-ing and find out that I was correct! Her story has been made into a major motion picture! How cool is that!

I was so excited that something that I found in the early stages could become a movie that will be shown in theaters all around the world. As big as the internet is, it is also a pretty small network.

Congrats to Julie on getting her story published and made into a movie, and alongside Julia Childs own story as well. Fabulous!

Jumping!

One of the first of many interesting facts that I learned about my friend Mireille early on in our friendship is her love of jumping. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking jumping? Really? but, what she meant was jumping on a trampoline. Not a backyard trampoline, not a small round circa 80’s aerobics trampoline (although she does have one of those!) but a full size, competition size trampolines. She is always on the lookout for people to join her to keep the class running and to save money. After talking about it several times, I decided that it was something I would like to try and we decided to go together.

My first reaction upon entering the gym was “Wow, it’s been WAY too long since I had been in a gymnastics club”. I never realized how much I had missed the smell, sounds and sights of a gym. Not since I was a preteen had I spent any time among balance beams, uneven bars and vaults. It was almost like coming home. Then I turned and saw the trampolines. They are much bigger than one would think, and very tall! I was a little nervous to say the least. I wondered what I had gotten myself into and whether or not I would actually be able to do this.

As I first walked on to the tramp, I was surprised at the give and the support that it offered. It took me what seemed like forever to get up the nerve to actually start jumping. In fact, I think I just bounced for a bit, trying to get a feel for it. My first day was spent learning some of the basics and conquering my fear of falling through the trampoline or being bounced off. Once I realized that I could trust the mesh I was able to try new sequences.

I have been 3 or 4 times now and every week I am improving. I am still working on some of the basic moves but last night I decided that it was time to try front flips. I started small, and with a crash mat and by the end of the class I was able to do it alone, unassisted (although spotted!) and was so proud of myself. I was ecstatic and on such a high at having achieved something!

I realize this video is not very flattering and it’s not a perfect flip but I thought I’d share it with you, my faithful blog readers J Enjoy! And THANK YOU! Mireille for introducing me to this awesome sport, and YES! It is an Olympic sport! I love the time I spend jumping with you and am so glad that I have someone to share this new interest with!

My newest Idea

I always get these great ideas, mostly about ways to save time or money. My newest one involve saving money on our hydro (electric) and gas bill. You see, as much as I love my dishwasher, I am debating going the old fashion route for a couple of months to see the impact a change like this will have on our monthly bills. See, I run my dishwasher daily, but I could just as well be doing those same dishes by hand throughout the day. I want to see what kind of savings we would have with this new way of cleaning dishes.

I could be totally crazy and not make it through a month or two but I really want to try. I plan on getting a drying rack very soon and am going to set a date. I will keep you all informed of my progress. I am sure you are all just dying to know the outcome! ;)

Anyone want to place any bets? Have any thoughts?

MISSING: Boy and UPDATE!

Update at bottom!

MISSING


Have you seen this Boy?

Missing for several days, and much searched for. Have looked in all the usual places including some not so usual (laundry baskets, refrigerators, closets, dresser drawers). Boy has a receding hairline, chewed on hands and feet and has very loose joints. Was last seen wearing navy pants, brown knee high boots and purple patterned long sleeve shirt. Recent activities include excessive drinking while on a recent camping trip. See exhibit A.

If you have any information please comment or email. There is NO reward offered however a replacement might be purchased at Wal Mart should his disappearance last much longer.

Exhibit A:

Breaking News!!!!

Boy has been located! He was hiding out behind Lea's desk. Possibly comatose. All seems well and he has already had a bath, courtesy of Lea

Summer Lovin'

Thanks to Grease for the song title. (here's a fun fact about me: I have NEVER seen that movie. Yet. )

What a week it has been! I really don’t want this to turn into a huge list of all the stuff I’ve done, I am just going to jot down my thoughts and I’m sorry if it seems that way!

The last few weeks have been about being busy, busy busy. After I let go of some of the negative people in my life, I was able to open up and finally meet some really awesome people and also to reconnect with some old friends as well. It has been so great to have friends to txt, talk to, have coffee with, email, IM, do kid stuff with and do grown up stuff with. On top of some of my other commitments like the Preschool Spring Fling garage sale the first few weeks of the summer have been jam packed and it’s been truly great! Those of you who share my sense of humor and make the time much more fun are the ones I want to thank!

For the first time ever, the girls love playing outside. My park moms (you know who you are!!!) make that time enjoyable for me as well as the girls. We are like a small army fighting in the war that is the Playground (hummm potential future blog post???) but the sharing of watching, pushing, feeding, wiping nose of, running after etc. makes it so much easier. It also makes for more time for just hanging out and talking to other adults, and one of them usually has coffee or a baked snack. I love our park dates and impromptu lunches and dinners, that you always reply to my txts, and that you understand when during a 30 min phone call, there was maybe 10 minutes of real talk. But I love that that’s ok with you because you too have one, two or 5(ha! Ha!) kids in your charge.

My Online/internet/long distance friends, I know you have suffered in this shift in my time and that you may be feeling a little bit left out. I’m so sorry that you may feel that way. I can play during the day because I know that all of you are only a txt, phone call or email away. You are truly my support system and because of all of you I now feel like I can go out and be myself and it has been awesome! And I have you to thank. You all know that I would move heaven and earth for any one of you if the need arose and I hope you know that I will do my best to keep in touch as much as possible. I miss all of you so much too!!!!

I just want to apologize for all the times I used commas and lists in this post, (and also brackets). I am aware that it is not grammatically perfect, but it's 10:20pm I was out late last night and I spent two hours jumping on a trampoline. BUT I will happily trade my proper punctuation for all the fun I have been having!