Have you ever?

Have you ever taken a picture for no reason at all?

Have you ever done something that terrified you?
Have you ever laughed so much you peed a little?
Have you ever choked on your own saliva?
Have you ever allowed your children to do something just because you were too tired to argue about it?
Have you ever worn orange?
Or bright green?
Or a skirt as a dress?

Have you ever smelled your dog's feet?
Have you ever barbecued a banana...with chocolate chips...brown sugar and marshmallows on top?

Have you ever appreciated another person's kindness?

Written a thank you note for something small?

Told someone they are "swell"?

Have you ever thought that summer would be even better without mosquitoes?

Have you ever thought that Lindsay Lohan might die young?
And thought Bret Michaels might just have 9 lives?

Have you ever wondered why anyone would allow a picture to be viewed by the world (Kate Gosselin)?

Have you ever eaten cottage cheese?
Why?
Have you ever had poop soup cramps so bad you thought you might not make it to the bathroom?
Have you ever wished for less freckles?
Wrinkles?
Stretch marks?
Cellulite?
Have you ever wished you looked like this?

Have you ever {really} missed someone?
Have you ever felt alone?
Have you ever wanted to be alone....just for a bit?

Have you ever stopped...looked around and thanked God for your life?

Me too.

Studley the Stud

Studley sportin' some shades.

You're welcome.

Hosted by Cecilyand Mamarazzi

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Do-Over Wedding

What a co-inky-dink. I was just telling my Mom the other day that I am so happy that the "planning a wedding" part of my life is long past.

When I hear about others who are just engaged and in the beginning stages of planning their wedding, I get hives and panic attacks for them because it just isn't my "thing" to plan once in a lifetime events.

Stress and Momma do not like each other.

Mr. Momma and I were married almost 10 years ago. We had a long engagement and traditional winter wedding

Church ceremony.
Formal pictures.
Sit down catered meal.
DJ.
Lots of drunk guests.

And we don't speak to half of them anymore.  Not because they were drunk at our wedding, but because people change and lives change.

Soooooo......if someone were to pay me a million bucks to plan and go through another wedding, this is what I would do.

*See my doctor for an increased dosage of my happy pills and some plastic surgery .
*Invite close family and our closest friends
*Fly to a tropical island with everyone
*Buy a simple dress like this

*Have lots of pink flowers because I like them

*Wear lots of bling
*Marry my Prince.  His name is also Mr. Momma.
*Have a huge party

Then spend 2 weeks lounging on the beach doing absolutely nothing and loving every second of it.

You wanna come? 

Go see MamaKat.  She is swell.

New Life.

New Life.

In a nest at the back of our open field.

Tucked away on our tractor.
Amazing huh?
I think so.

Randomness

*Yesterday was a holiday in this fabulous country of mine. It is known as Victoria Day...but better known as May 2-4. In my younger days, this weekend represented parties, hanging out with friends, camping and lots of...umm...liquid beverages.

Now it represents just any old weekend....except the children are home for an extra day. Yippee.

*This weekend also usually represents cold weather and rain. But this weekend we did alot of this ...even with Studley*Just in case you were wondering how Studley the almost 11 year old arthritic beast is doing, I will tell you this.  He crapped about 8 times today....ate alot of people food....tried to hump another male dog three times in front of my Grandma and ate some sticks. 
*Can I tell you how frickin happy I am that Bret Michaels won Celebrity Apprentice?  He deserved it no matter what anyone says.  Throw in a brain hemorrhage, diabetes, heart condition and fake hair and he deserves it even more.*Have you seen "Starstruck"?  If not, you should.  I have about 7 times....with my children and without.  I cannot get enough of the music.... and the storyline is so teeny bopper perfect that it gets me every time.  Just sayin'. 

That's all I got for this week folks.  Happy Tuesday!!!!

Weekly Winners

Beauty

Trunks

A leisurely stroll through the weeds

Chrome

To see more weekly winners, click here.  You will be happy you did.  Honest.

*All pictures taken with this beautiful piece of technology.  Now if only I could figure out how to use it to its full potential.

Gardening.

Now we just need the weekend to get here so we can plant it all.

And an instruction manual.

And some guidance from experienced gardeners.

Because we are new to this country living stuff.

Just because I wear aprons and my hubby listens to Bluegrass music doesnt mean we know how to be successful gardeners.

Help needed.

Advice welcome.

Merci.

Hosted by Cecilyand Mom24

Boys and things they teach their Mom.

I have learned alot since becoming a parent.
Alot about myself.
And how little I really knew about myself before bringing little people into this world.

It kinda scares me actually.
That adults are bringing children into this world when they really don't have a clue who they are to begin with.

But anyways....

As my boys grow older and develop their intense likes and dislikes, I am realizing that I had some "expectations" for them right from the start.

My boys would love sports.
Hockey actually.
Because I like it.
And my brother played it.

So it is just "right" that my boys with some of my genes would like it too.
They were signed up for skating lessons at a ridiculously young age.
And eventually signed up to play "real" hockey.
It was going to be fun.
Waking up before the sun in the dead of winter, heading to the ice rink and spending 20 minutes getting the equipment on.
They would get out on the ice, score an obscene number of goals while their proud hockey parents watched and cheered from the icy cold seats.

That was how things were going to be for the next few years.

Umm...no.

The boys hated it.
They had no interest in it at all.
And I hated getting up at dawn in the middle of winter to go to a stupid rink.
I also hated getting their equipment on.
And my boys didn't score.
Instead they followed the pack of other kids who loved hockey or made ice angels at the other end of the rink.

Hockey just wasn't their "sport".
Neither was karate.
Or soccer.
Or baseball.

Instead the boys love horseback riding.

And dirt biking.

Lesson #27848086068 learned
Allow your children to develop their own hobbies.  Avoid the desire to influence their decisions.  They know what is fun for them and what is not.

Realization #7949075609
My boys are just like their father.  The only way I know they are mine is because I carried them, but I am beginning to wonder if they did a switcheroo in the hospital.

They are darn cute though.  I think I will keep them anyways.

Gum.

Chewed gum.Thrown on the floor.
And left there for the Magic Cleaning Fairy to pick up.
Chewed gum thrown underneath beds and forgotten about.
Until Mom looks for dirty socks.

Apparently my children think they run this home.

And have it pretty easy.

So help me think of a creative way to let them know that this is not acceptable......

other than yelling....having grown up sit down talks about why this isnt ok and taking the gum away.

Because that doesnt work and they end up throwing garbage from other food on the floor.

And then it is an entire new battle.

And Momma is tired.

And fed up.

And is thinking of sending them out to live in the barn.

Randomness

*It is Tuesday. Again. How does that happen? Time is going by too fast...especially considering summer holidays begin in just over a month and I will have all three kids home for 2 months.

Hold me.

*So I was doing my motherly duty and playing soccer with middle child. Ok, I stood there and he took shots at me and I pretended to be really good. I wasn't. Middle child informed me that "little kids are better soccer goalies than human beings". I agreed...because I was just ecstatic that he considered me a human being.

*I was shopping for a bathing suit over the weekend. One that actually fits and tightly covers my boobs because the others I own are...umm...loose...and when I bend over it is quite a show. If the men like deflated balloons.

Anyways, as the bathing suit store lady informed me how great it looked on me, I quickly replied with a "I threw up a bit in my mouth".

Then I bought it.

*While discussing extra curricular activities with my oldest child, I gave him the speech about not quitting something just because you're not the best at it. I blabbed on and on about trying your hardest and committing to getting better rather than just stopping altogether.

I gave examples of him playing hockey, joining Boy Scouts, soccer, baseball and karate...and hating them all when he didn't get goals or home runs.

He huffed and puffed and let me know that the only reason he quit karate was because he did not like seeing and touching other people's feet.

Smart kid.

Feet are gross.

*Studley smiling. Just because.

Happy Tuesday y'all!!!

Hometown

Go to Kelly's Korner to see more hometown posts and then click on the button below.....after you read about my home.  Thanks!

I must admit, when I was asked to write about where I live for blog-trotting.com, I had a little, teeny, tiny panic attack.
What would I write about?
How could I make it sound fantabulous?
What makes my town stand out from other communities?

And then I drove around.
Me, and Trudy. That is my camera in case you were wondering.
Yes, I could have written about the 17 donut shops and the 22 pizza places.
I could have also shown you our many parks, grocery stores and schools.
But every community has those.
Bor-ing.

We have a McDonalds.
A Home Depot.
Even a Walmart.

We have a public library.
A recreation complex is being built as I write this.
And we have a few arenas.
Because hockey is huge in this town.

Oh yeah, have I mentioned I live in Canada?

Ontario to get more specific.
I am in a medium (but growing rapidly) town approximately 30 minutes north of Toronto.

My town is known for something special.
Something unique.
My town is smack dab in the middle of the Holland Marsh.
My town is the Heart of Canada's Vegetable Industry.
Onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, radish, endive and even bok choy are grown in my backyard....and across the road.....up the street...around the corner and across town. 

I know.  You are jealous. 
I would be if I couldnt go across the street to pick carrots for dinner.

But I have never done that...nope...not me.

The town I live in is surrounded by marshland that has been drained and worked for agricultural purposes.  This is some of the most fertile soil in the entire, enormous, gigantic Universe.
Honest.

Surrounding this marshland is the Canal System. 
The Canal (which flows into Lake Simcoe) provides water for irrigation and a waterway for recreational activities such as fishing, snowmobiling, and picking seaweed if that is something you enjoy doing in your spare time.
Just sayin'.

In 1942, my Grandfather-in-law moved to this small town to break the Marsh.  That means he was one of the first people on the land with horses after it had been drained.  The ground was so soft that they had to put paddles on the horses hooves to keep them from sinking in the muck.
Yes, really.
True story.
Today they use tractors without paddles because it isnt 1942.

Why do I love it here you may be wondering?
Because I enjoy living in the country but also being close to everything.
It takes me 3 minutes to get to the store or my children's school.
But.....my children can come home and dirt bike in our backyard, build bridges just for the fun of it, watch tractors across the road and pick onions for dinner.
Oops.....umm...no they dont do that.


So now that I have convinced you that my town is a gem and you have decided to move here, you can reward me with some bok choy.
I can tell you where to get some for cheap.