Holiday Travels

begin today. I am not a very good traveller, I admit. I am such a home body and prefer to be in my own house. Could be something to do with the fact that I don't sleep well away from home. I digress though. I am not sure as usual how much I will be able to post if at all while I am away. I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a blessed day, week and holiday! Remember the reason for the season!

And another one falls...

And another one falls. Another one bites the dust.

After keeping Ainsley home on Monday and thinking we were in the clear, Aidan came home from swim class after having been sick in the car. Oh well, Monday night he went to bed and mostly slept the bug off, but unfortunately I had to keep him home from school on Tuesday and he missed his Christmas concert. He was very disappointed. Even if he would have been well enough to go to school that day, I would not have been well enough to go see him. In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, I found myself ill as well. B was gracious enough to call the school to let them know Aidan would not be in and also call the dental office to cancel my appointment for that morning. He also took Ainsley to school picked her up and ran other miscellaneous have to do errands for me. I am paring down what was going to be done before Friday to be ready for our trip. Teacher treats/gifts became gift cards to a local coffee shop, gifts for the family will go unwrapped and I will wrap them when we arrive, etc. Tomorrow I have to run a few errands for trip snacks and other essentials. Today I will take it easy and maybe shuffle a load of laundry or two and do a bit of packing. I did send Aidan to school today but he wasn't very enthusiastic about going. I am wondering if he is embarrassed that he missed the concert. I told him that being sick is something that just happens and that no one is going to fault him for it. They would probably be very happy that he stayed home so as not to pass things around further. I am still thankful that all of this happened early in the week instead of later when we were wanting to hit the road. Well, just praying that my hubby continues to stay well. As usual when something like this happens, he manages to miss the worst of the symptoms. Don't know how he manages that. All is well now at least and the bug, as nasty as it was, passed quickly. Have a blessed day everyone!

Little Girly Sick Day...

What started out to be a fun and productive weekend ended in a bit of a disaster. Saturday afternoon we headed to a health department flu clinic to get the kids the H1N1 flu vaccination. Apparently guidelines had changed once again so B and I were able to get vaccinated as well. The rest of the afternoon went well, we had lunch, stopped by an office supply store to price some items and went to get the boys haircuts. The kids were put to bed and later I went up to get ready. That is when I hear a door open. This is an odd as my children rarely get up in the night. Ainsley came to the bathroom to tell me she was sick. We spent the rest of the night getting sick and cleaning up. Thankfully after the first incident she was able to make it to her bucket or to the bathroom. Lots of laundry later, she is better but still feeling kind of puny today. Sunday we had all kinds of plans, working church nursery, attending services, and getting together with friends before our holiday travels. All had to be cancelled. Even though she was feeling so poorly, the day ended up being a much needed restful day for all. I kept her home from school today as she is still feeling puny and not yet eating much. She is drinking plenty of diluted juices and water so she is staying hydrated. She is on the mend and hopefully I can send her to school tomorrow. I really think that this is not a virus and a reaction to the flu vaccination simply because the rest of the family has not fallen ill. In the past, when someone has a stomach bug the rest of the family will fall rather quickly. Anyway, an exciting end to our weekend. I have tons to do this week to get ready for our trip so I do not have the time to be ill! I am thankful however that this happened now as opposed to Thursday or Friday. That is it for now as I listen to to tunes of Sesame Street and smell cookies baking. Trying to get as much as possible done to day just in case! Blessings everyone!

Snow Day 2009

Tuesday night the weather reports were terrible. 14-16 inches of snow predicted for the lakeshore (actually the report changed based on whose news I had on at the time). I must say when I hear reports like that I tend to panic. I do not handle large amounts of snow well and I don't like to be out and about in it. I am fine as long as I get to say home. I had plenty scheduled for Wednesday as well...helping in Ainsley's class, picking up Aidan, heading to flu clinic and soccer class at the Y. Needless to say, none of this happened yesterday. School was cancelled Tuesday night and with that pretty much everything else on the schedule for Wednesday. I enjoyed sleeping in a bit, not much as my hubby overslept because our power had gone out over night. Thankfully, it was back on at this time...my hubby is lucky that I am a light sleeper. The kids were excited about the snow and happy to have a slow morning. We watched some movies, the kids had some computer time, they helped me make some treats, and we played/worked in the snow. A fun day was had by all.

Snuggled in...
Floor picnic lunch...now why is it so much more fun to eat lunch on the floor?

Nanook of the north...

and his sister...Nanette of the North.

I think the official total for our area is 8 inches of snow, but I understand that there was difficulty getting a measurement because of the high winds we had. Today is very cold, but I am thankful for the sunshine that just seems to make the cold more bearable. Well, I am off to upload more photos. I am very behind on getting Christmas cards ordered. Need to do it today! That is my goal anyway and also the last thing on my list of must do's at home today. Have a blessed day everyone!

Spicy...

I have an easy recipe that I use to make some spicy shredding chicken that I add to quesadillas or make nachos. Because of my healthier eating trend, I have been avoiding making this because I am not eating as much cheese (can I say how much I love and miss cheese!). Anyway, back to last night...I prepared the chicken and made nachos for the hubby, quesadillas for the kids. I had the chicken on salad and some of my guacamole. I was disappointed in my meal, but I saw my hubby go back for seconds and just filled a tortilla with the chicken, added cheese and guacamole. Now why did I not think of that! The tortillas I have are high fiber and that would have been so much tastier than the salad even without the cheese. Now I know better.

To prepare the chicken, place 2-4 thawed chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover chicken in salsa. I tend to use the medium or hot variety for spicier chicken. Then cook for 3-4 hours on high until done. Then shred the chicken and mix in with the remaining sauce in the pot. I think this would also be tasty as an enchilada filling, but I have not tried it as yet. Easy peasy Mexican style dinner!

Have a great weekend all!

First Snow

My children were so excited this morning to see the first smattering of snow of the season. I sent boots and snow pants to school just in case because I would never hear the end of it this afternoon if it turns out that they needed them. When we were saying our morning prayers in the car on the way to school, the kids even added, "and Thank you God for the snow!" Very cute! I never have added some photos I took of the kids playing in the leaves when we helped rake the neighbors leaves. They had a blast and did something nice for our sweet neighbor. Hopefully I will get them up soon. We finally made the switch to a new computer and I can't find much at the moment. Soon soon I will get my act together. I keep saying that. Busy week again this week as both kids have had dental appointments on top of other stresses this week. Making some final scheduling preparations for our trip south for Christmas. I am trying to appease the 2 men in my life, husband and son, and failing miserably. My son is not happy about taking off 2 days from school to have a 2 full weeks down south and my husband wants to leave even a day earlier. I am trying to appease by saying that we can get started on the drive right after school on Friday to get ourselves on our way. Not sure that is going to fly either. Oh well, I am trying. Have a good weekend everyone if I don't get the chance to say so tomorrow. My hubs is taking the day off to spend some time with me, well and Ainsley too as she is off from school as well. Celebrating a big day...not a milestone, but I am not going to say exactly how much either. Is that vague enough for you?