Generous

We have an overproductive crab apple tree in our backyard. I don't do a thing to it (except pick the weeds at it's base) and it always wants to give me a million little crab apples.
One year, I made some desserts with the apples. Most years, Trevor has lawn mowered them. Some years, I pick them up so as to not attract the wasps.
This year, however, Simon has discovered them.
"Simon pick apples."
"Simon eat apples."
"Simon is super apple man."
"Simon give apples to Baby Claire."
"Momma pick apples off tree for Simon."
"Momma say Gross."
"Simon Gross."
He eats so many apples (rotten and not rotten) that some of his diapers have been atrocious.
Claire likes to bite hard and suck. She's teething and this seems to make her happy.

I get to pick weeds in peace.
Thanks, crab apple tree. I'll miss you, your blooms and your fruit when we move to the Someday House.

Unruly

When Trevor and I first bought our house, I spent the summer inside painting and organizing our nest. I completely ignored our yard until August... BIG mistake.
The next summer, I was much, much more dutiful in my yard tending. I changed a few things around the yard, I resurrected our crappy (literally - the previous owner had a big dog and multiple cats) grass and I planted tons of perennials.
For our third summer, I enjoyed yard work and took tender care of my little plants.
Then I had Simon.
We spent a lot of time in our back yard, Simon and I. We sat on our picnic blanket and watched the wind blow the leaves of our huge tree around. If I tried any yard work in his presence, his shrieks of despair convinced me to stop. Other then a few frantic weeding sprees and some disgruntled petunias, my yard was largely ignored.
Last summer, Simon slept every afternoon. Ideally, this would have been the perfect time for me to do yard work and, I did, on occasion. Usually, I just slept. My pregnancy with Claire and mornings with a demanding toddler took all my energy and I desperately needed my afternoon naps. This led to scraggly pansies and an outbreak of Creeping Charlie in both my front and back grass.
This year, I am taming the unruly! I have a great baby monitor and Claire is just going to get better at sleeping during the afternoons. (Hopefully, she'll get better at nights too so, I won't need to nap anymore either).
Look out, dandelions. Enjoy your last days, Creeping Charlie. Have one final foray, stinkweed. I am going to take my yard back!!!

Today, I finally got to my front yard. Ironically, when Trevor was cutting our grass earlier, our neighbour across the street complimented us on how cheerful and nice our yard was. (Thank the yellow tulips and the fact that Creeping Charlie can't be seen from across the street.) Thanks... I guess.

Outside... peeease!

All my boy wants to do is play outside. We go through so many pairs of pants (falling in puddles) that I may just start potty training to justify the laundry. It's much more fun now that he can walk. It's also a little frightening because he can get away so quickly.

This year...

Dear Riders,
Last year, you broke our hearts.
This year, could you pretty please bring home the Grey Cup?
Simon turns 19 months old today. He loves to say "Go Razzzz" (Go Riders) and he loves to throw his hands up in the air when we say "Touchdown". He's wearing his "Ri-dehzzzz" shirt and is excited to watch the game with his buddy Kade.
Good luck, guys! You have an entire province watching with baited breath to see how you do (and if you can count) this year!

Thrifty

Sometimes, the stereotypes do apply. My Mom's Scottish (and Swiss, etc.) and my husband's a Mennonite. I am thrifty or cheap or tight-fisted with my cash. I think I come by it honestly. I like to buy next year's winter outfits in the spring, when they're on sale (and summer outfits in the fall). I always head to the back of a store first because that's where the bargains are. I'm addicted to sites like BabySteals and used"City" sites. Also, I LOVE used baby clothes and toy sales. Today, I went to one.
After perusing the clothes and toys, I'd picked out a laundry hamper full of cute stuff (for just over $30). The piece-de-resistance was an all=terrain jogging stroller for $40. Don't get me wrong, I like our Peg-Perego. This stroller just gives me some terrain options and could allow for me to jog (or walk really quickly) again.
I think that, even if I win the lottery (which is highly unlikely seeing I'm too cheap to buy tickets), I'd still enjoy bargain hunting.

Giveaways - Linky, Linky

I found a cool blog with some great giveaways. Thanks Colleen
Thought I'd mention the coolest diapers at this site. I hope she picks me.
(Wow! Two posts in one day... must be a hockey game on TV - Go Canada!)

Green is the new blue

If you were to drive down our street, you would no longer see a shoddily painted blue house. Instead, you will see a fabulous green house. It is spiffy. We're glad to have it done. It just took 2 1/2 days. We hired Cloud 9 and they did a fabulous job.

One man's junk...

Would you buy a partly used candle in a colourful, although chipped, candle holder?
What if it was just $0.25?
How about a fabulous brown sofa set from the mid 1980s?

Can you believe that we sold almost $300 worth of junk in just 2 days?
My Mom sold ~$150 worth of junk as well.

Thanks for buying my crappy items so I didn't need to fill up
my dumpster and add to the volume of the city dump.
Enjoy that nasty old vacuum (dirt included).

Clothology

The laundry's going again.
I have Simon in cloth diapers.
I love them.
There is no garbage.
There are no chemicals.
There is no false dryness.
I don't have to worry about running out of diapers.
I don't ever have to add diapers to my grocery list.
(This means we're saving TONS of money.)
Simon has a really cute, big cloth diaper bum.
Simon loves being changed.
Simon hasn't had any bad diaper rash yet.
I'm happy to be doing the laundry again.

Sustainable

Today, my enviro club and I went to a cute little prairie town to see their sustainable living project.
It was an amazing trip. We learned about composting toilets, solar energy, straw bale walls (insulation), non-chemical water treatment, geothermal energy and local dining. My kids were riveted. I came home with a pile of ideas. If I had a million dollars, I'd build the most amazing little house... (Right now, we'll settle for some new siding in the spring... maybe.)

Today was also cool because as our van drove down the highway, the kids sang and sang (they're also the choir kids) Christmas carols. This was the perfect way to usher in the snow of winter/08-09. This made me think that when this snow melts... I'll be closer to being a momma. :)

I ended this fine Wednesday with a high tea at the church's Pioneer Girls Gal/Pal night. My little pal and I dressed to the nines (I realized that I'm growing when I could barely find a bridesmaid dress or other fancy dress that fits). A fabulous evening to a great day.