Cakes, cakes, cakes

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in my last post, I have been making cakes for people like crazy. Im not advertising at all, it's just been word of mouth. I'm having a GREAT time doing it & happy to make some extra cash. I'm not spending any of the money either, just holding on to it just in case we need it or want to spend it on something. It's mad $$$, I figure I'm not counting on it as income, so if I get extra $$$, I just hold on to it. No point adding it to the family budget, unless we need it of course. I'm anticipating using it to fund our house hunting trip if Bryce gets into med school. We have just about enough to pay for the trip & hotels with the money I've made in the last couple months. Yay! And if we go to Edmonton, the military will pay for the house hunting trip. Then I don't know what we'll use the money for. ??? I haven't thought that far. Either way, it never hurts to have a little extra. (And it's about time we have a smidge extra! It's only taken 13 1/2 years! lol)

Anyways here are the cakes I've made this past year. This month (April) marks the 1 yr anniversary of me taking my first cake decorating course. I've done ALOT this past year! SO FUN! Loving this hobby ☺

My fearless children ☺

Today we took the kids to the Family Day activities that they had on the base. Bryce calls it the "mandatory fun"... they are required to be there. Tonight he's at another mandatory fun thing for work. I think he's going to just make an appearance & head back home. (yay!) Anyways. back to the afternoon activities! (I'm always getting side tracked, lol) We took the kids to the base, and usually the activities are held outside but we are having a blizzard right now. Can you believe it?!!? This place makes me crazy, for real! So all the activities were inside the 2VP building. They had bounce houses, face painting, petting zoos, LAV (light armored vehicle) rides, the kids could climb all over everything, they had a spot where they could lie down on the ground with machine guns (crazy!), a night vision room and a zip line. The kids had a blast! I was glad to get out of the house with them. ☺ You should have seen them all go on the zip line! The guys set up a zip line from one side of the building to the other side... the kids zip-lined (if that's even a word, lol) above all the activities. MADI even did it! And none of them were scared & they all LOVED it! So awesome! Glad my kids like to try new things & weren't scared! Seriously, I thought Madi would back out. Nope. She jumped off and off she went, smiling the whole way & kicking her little 3 yr old legs! Go Madi! I was a proud mom watching my fearless kids!

June was having a saucy day (not sure why, I never really know why... I'm just here for the ride, I guess). Bryce had talked to the kids before going in & went over the rules. You know, like behave yourselves, use you manners, that kind of thing. Then he added in, please don't embarrass me, we are going to be with all my co-workers, soldiers & his bosses. Not a biggy, I thought. When we went in, June started acting up & being super saucy. Sigh. At one point she wanted to do something & when we told her she had to wait a moment, we weren't quite ready. Do you know what she said?!? It was something along the lines of "you better do this or get ready to be embarrassed". Man oh man, Bryce & I both had words with her! Now I'm not saying all this to rip on June... here's the funny thing. When we came home Bryce & I were talking to each other about her remark and we were thinking of ways that we could embarrass her (all totally in a joking manner... not for real... although, maybe we will, lol). I told Bryce next time she makes a comment like that, we should turn and give each other a big hug & kiss in front of her and everyone else. SHE WOULD DIE of embarrassment!! We had a good laugh... gotta find something to laugh about ;)

I'm feeling pretty good about things. Still don't know where we are moving yet. Only a few more days (5 sleeps!!) til we find out if Bryce gets in to med school. But I'm not crying every day like I was a couple weeks ago. Somehow the stress of not knowing feels like it's lifted. I just feel peace. Whatever happens, happens. I know that we, as a family, will go where the Lord wants us to go. I do really hope Bryce gets in, but I trust whatever happens will be what is best for us as a family, as a couple & as individuals. Still praying like mad that it's med school... soon this will all be a memory...

Well Bryce is back from his mandatory fun. Good man he is. Glad he's back. I'm exhausted tonight, so glad to have him here to help with the kids. I'm going to go now. I want to spend some time with him while I can!

Monday, Monday....

Today is going well. The kids are in school today, Bryce has the day off, we went to town to get groceries in the morning, fed everyone lunch & sent them all back to school, babies are napping (Dallin & the other little day home boy), Bryce went to the gym to work out while I went on the elliptical this afternoon. So far, so good. ☺

It's actually warm outside & most of the snow has melted (YAY!) and I am wearing capris for the first time this year! HAPPY DAY ☺ Annnd, the capris I put on, I couldn't fit last summer and I am wearing them comfortably. Ahhh. Baby body is finally going away. Not gone, but at least I'm headed in the right direction. Bryce put an app on my phone called Daily Burn. We both are using it daily to keep track of what we are eating & what we are doing for exercise. It's basically is journaling. Funny, I did it just out of curiosity to see how I was doing calorie/nutrition wise. Now I am doing it every day (except I didn't bother for Easter, too much food & truthfully, I didn't really care!). I have lost a few pounds just by keeping track of what I'm eating. Bryce has been doing it longer than I have and I think he said he's lost 7 or 8 pounds. Not bad. I don't even feel like I'm on a diet, cause I'm not! I still eat what I want * when I want, I'm just more aware of what I'm eating/ I sure feel good. Funny, hey, I feel good when I'm taking care of myself, novel idea, lol!

Well, I think for Family Home Evening we are going to put up the trampoline tonight. There are going to be some happy kids tonight! (not to mention all the kids in the neighborhood who end up over in our yard, they'll be pretty happy too!)

Well, this was another quicky blog entry. I better get going. I need to start making some dinner. Kids will be home from school soon & babies are still sleeping. So I am off!

Oh, and we still don't know anything about med school. I'm biting my nails (not literally, that's gross!) it's just driving me crazy not knowing!!! Oh well, this too shall pass & it will all be a memory soon enough...

Now I'm off!

Remembering why we celebrate Easter

Just remembering WHY we celebrate Easter.
**Turn music off on sidebar so you can hear the video clip**

Just checking in ☺

Yes, I am still alive. I realized that it's been a little bit since I've posted anything. Things are such a ZOO around here half the time I don't know my name or if I'm coming or going! Oh well, that's what I get for having a full life. ;)

Not much has changed. We still have 5 kids (yes, a big pat on the back for having the same head count at the end of every day, lol!), I'm still doing my day home, still teaching cake decorating at Michaels, still decorating cakes for people just about every week now, STILL waiting to hear where we are moving (this one is making me a little crazy not knowing!), still doing the church stuff (of course, wouldn't change that for anything), still working out however which way I can 3 to 5 afternoons/week)... yup, I'm still alive & doing a bit too much, as always.

15 sleeps til we find out if Bryce gets into med school or not. Bryce has his posting message to Edmonton now, but we're just sitting on it until we hear back from NOSM (med school). So we're either moving by the end of June to Edmonton or by the end of July to Thunder Bay or Sudbury, Ontario. We'll either both be gainfully employed in Edmonton... or students & working PT in Ontario. Nothing like not knowing what's going to happen. I'm trying hard to stay blissfully distracted... it's either that or I cry... I'm overwhelmed a bit, I admit. So blissfully distracted it is! Can't cry every day... OK, well , we all know that I am perfectly capable of crying daily (just ask my family)... but that's no way to live life. Monday I cleaned like mad to keep my mind off things. Yesterday I worked on cake things all day (rather in every spare second I wasn't taking care of kids), grocery shopped last night, today I took June, Madi, Dallin & 2 day home kids with me to Brandon for Junes appt. Now I'm blogging (kids are sleeping... woot woot!) & I'm off to get on the elliptical & drown out my worries/stress & just forget about everything for a short time. Then to make dinner, then feed everyone, then to the church tonight... and on it goes, and goes, and goes. Two weeks technically should go by fast, but a watched pot never boils and I keep peeking at the pot. This may be the time where I loose my mind (lol, as if I haven't lost it already!)

OK, that's my quicky blogging post. Off to get on the elliptical before babies decide to wake up!

What a busy day...sigh...

Today was such a busy day! I completely forgot the kids had the day off. Noah came home from school yesterday and announced that they had no school. What?!? How did I miss this? Honestly, I even had it written down on the calendar, although ironically, it was written down on for Thursday, not Friday. I had it wrong all along. Sigh. Whatever, it's not a big deal to have the kids home, they are MY kids after all. But then I still had the day home kids here and I thought, well at least *N* was going to school today ~ he's in a different school division. Then *N's* mom called me just as I was going to send him off to school, and she told me that his school was cancelled because the weather was colder than -46c. Really?!!? So evvveerrryone was home today AND it's so cold I can't even begin to have the kids go outside! And I had forgotten about it, so my mind wasn't in the right mind set to begin with. Sigh. And June and Adam were fighting by 9:15 and *N* was tattling left right and center by 7:40am. Not really a great start to the day. So I read everyone the riot act (as I always do, lol) and let everyone know what I was expecting from them... you know, be NICE to each other, quit tattling on everyone and everything, keep your hands to yourselves (& teeth too!) and let's TRY to make this a fun day! Nothing like reading the riot act by 9:15 in the morning. Sigh. There was alot of sighing today, if you couldn't tell. In the end, the day went OK, nothing a couple snacks, waffles & fruit for lunch, crafts, crafts and more crafts, and the Wii and a couple movies couldn't solve. Oh and June & Madi went across the street to Rejeana's house for a couple hours during nap time... sweet. (BIG thanks to Rejeana for inviting them over!)

I also decided to make a ton of bread this morning. I figured if I'm stuck inside, I may as well make as much bread as I have time for. So I made 10 loaves and 2 batches of buns (I use the buns for mini pizzas). It's kinda funny though, I feel a bit like a hoarder when it comes to bread. I feel like I can never have enough! I made 6 loaves a couple days ago, so I think I now have about 14 loaves total in the deep freeze? Something like that. I think it should hopefully last until next weekend. Hopefully next Monday (that's about 9 days away from now). Bread is such a staple in our home, we can eat a loaf in one meal. So if we have toast for breakfast and then sandwiches for lunch, that's easily 2 loaves in one day. We are eating machines! And then the kids LOVE to have toast and honey as a bedtime snack. (For Noah, it's almost a ritual to eat toast before bed, no kidding. He's almost incomplete if he doesn't have it, he's funny that way. I swear that boy has a hollow leg or 2, he just eats and eats, I can barely keep up... and he's not even a teenager yet. Scary!)

So next week Dallin turns one. My baby! He's growing up! What happened to this year? I feel like I was pregnant just a little while ago. He's changed alot in a year. My mom always is the first to remind me how much a baby changes in one year. She's right though. A year ago he couldn't really do anything other than eat, sleep and poop... and now he's crawling and laughing and walking around furniture and he copies so much of what we do. He's so much fun! I'm so glad we chose to have him! What a blessing it is to have another baby in our house. I'm trying hard to enjoy these last moments of him crawling around... before I know it, he'll be walking... and then he'll get an opinion... and before I know it, he'll be going off to school. Sob, sob... I wish they could all stay babies! Although, when they grow up, there are so many more fun things we can do together. It's all good. One of our favorite things about this year is that we have and 11 yr old, 9 yr old, 7 yr old, 3.5 yr old and a baby. We have every age & stage pretty much under the age of 11. It's great! (most of the time, lol... I might now say it when they're being stinkers, lol) What a blessing though to have these people in our lives. I'm so glad that we've chosen to have me stay at home and raise our babies. It's not an easy thing to do, and heaven knows when I'm changing the 5th or 6th dirty, yucky diaper in one day, I'm not loving it... but it's worth it. When things are good, they are oh so good. ☺

I'm taking Noah to Winnipeg tomorrow for the Cub Car Rally. He's really excited! I'm excited for him and I admit, I'm SO excited to get out of Shilo! I love going back to the city. I miss living in a city, and I really miss the amenities a city has to offer. Hopefully soon we'll be somewhere bigger... at least where the grocery stores are only a few minutes away, not 1/2 an hour ride down a small highway!! Oh the things that make me happy these days, lol. But that's another story for another day.

Well, I'm off to spend some time with Bryce. ☺ The house is finally quiet and peaceful. ☺ So nice! We may actually be able to have a conversation without being interrupted 90 times, lol.

Night!

May 5th...

Bryce told me today that May 5th is when NOSM (Northern Ontario School of Medicine) will be notifying applicants of acceptance/rejection. Sigh. It feels sooo far away! I'm trying hard not to think about things. I just wish I knew what was going to happen this year. Move 12 hours west or move 12 to 18 hours east? Will Bryce be employed or a student again? Both situations have their pros and both have their cons. I'm starting to get my head around Bryce going to school again... although I still wish the military program would have sponsored Bryce. Stinky cutbacks. Oh well, one way or the other, something will happen and in the end, all that really matters is that Bryce & I and the kids are all together. I'm hoping that regardless of what happens, Bryce will be home more months of the year... or how about this, the WHOLE year! Although, really I can't complain too much lately, Bryce has been home alot this past year, he's only been gone a couple times and not for very long stretches of time.

And that's what's on my mind today. That and I really wish I could wiggle my nose and the laundry would do itself... but that won't happen... it's a nice dream though!