Dancing on the moon!

Look! Mummy! We're dancing on the moon!











The undies finally came off and a damn was built....it is an ongoing project every day.....I guess I can tell their teacher/facilitator they know about water flow, damns and lakes....











Budha and Holdy!

How much longer?

I have dreams of a long trip across the country camping and seeing the sights. Of course, after a 3 hour drive from Victoria (broken up by a short ferry ride and a Cosco stop) and hearing after 30 minutes "My butt hurts!" And "I want to get out!" I realize that my dreams might not be a reality. My kids go non stop. Today when we got home just after 4 they hunted for frogs, checked out their mud dam in the muddy ditch (argh), did something suspicious out in the greenhouse, built balloon getters from tinkertoys (helium balloons up on the roof) and flew paper airplanes folded out of a new book....

Did I mention that we have our piggies? Yep Hambone, Porkchop and Bacon are here! They are 12 of the funniest little pigs I ever saw. Ranging in color from pink - orange - black to all sorts of spotty combinations and little, they are soooo cute and WAY too easy to identify. I think I liked it better when they were all pink with no way to become attached to one or another. They are also very happy in their pasture....they run around in circles like like puppies..... Happy pigs=good healthy organic meat. Food, Inc. is being released soon....Should be an eye opener for a lot of people....

Highway to ....

Yes they are all caterpillars, much fun and excitement for HOURS.....too bad they turn into gypsy moths!

Yep, went to a family bbq (to celebrate my sister's graduation from Med School) in Victoria that threatened to be a family blow up. My mother, wonderful that she is, just can't contain herself sometimes. Instead of being thrilled for my sister and happy and excited it turned into a big drama about her. Once on the road we couldn't help but laugh when Holdy kept telling us we were on the 'Highway to Hell' - oh the innocence of children. My mother has now informed us not to invite her to any more events (birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter....) where my father is going to be. Great. Some say that's her choice, invite her and if she chooses not to come great. I mean really what am I supposed to do, abandon my dad? My sick, blind, deaf, elderly father? Does she really think I wanted to take him to the doctor on my birthday? (Don't even ask me about her blow up and storm out at my birthday dinner that my dad wasn't at......basically because he never remembers it's my birthday....but also to appease her somewhat.....) It's based in jealously. She does sooooooooo much for us - canning, cooking, planting, babysitting and etc and he is just my dad. She feels he doesn't deserve us. I think. My theory. We do what he needs doing because that's what one does when one's parents get older....and when she needs help, I'll be here. Simple or should be.
I was reading "Cat and the Hat" to my kids, again. And the kids had nothing to do but to sit sit sit sit, because it was raining. Sawyer says to me "That's kind of dumb, why would they just sit all day?" Ok, I've read this book my whole life, hundreds of times, and never vocalized this thought.....

Priceless Early Morning Faces

Note to self: When you decide your kids really have forgotten their chocolate easter bunnies and that you can eat them late at night, be sure to put the chopping board, bunnies and any other evidence away before you go to bed.........picture three very upset boys waking mummy up very very very early.......

Blogger copier

I find so many neat ideas on the blogs I follow...like the rhubarb compote here - I made it today, of course I doubled the recipe, added a cup of frozen strawberries and had to add extra honey .....It is DIVINE with vanilla yoghurt.....I have a HUGE rhubarb patch (over 120 plants we put in last year - I asked an old local farmer for some of his - I wanted 60, 200 plants later we were a bit overwhelmed......), we are hoping to sell rhubarb with strawberries.....so now I have to harvest it ALL now, so that it grows again to be ready with the strawberries......good luck! Rhubarb anyone???

And I found fried Dandelions here - I did the sugar version yesterday and called them Dandelion Doughnuts......they were well like Dandelion Doughnuts, and as one small guest said "they're good except for the yellow stringy things," which would be the dandelions of course ;) I suspect they may be a once yearly tradition.....I've been told they detox your liver....I also found a recipe for and made Dandelion Massage Oil here......Do you think there's any money in Dandelions?? The farmers field down the road is a yellow carpet.........My kids beg me to let them at it but they only get .02 cents for dandelions picked on our farm!!!!

So now I need to come up with something original to pass on.....and I have it....but it's the wrong season. Make your favourite pancake recipe. Get 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen raspberries out of the freezer. Smash them up in a ziploc bag, still frozen. Really really smash em up. Add to your pancake batter. Cook pancakes. Add maple syrup. Swoon.....

Darn Pescatarians...

Heard recently at a family meal......
"My kids don't eat Beef" says lofty holier-than-thou pain. in. the. butt. FULLOFPROCESSED vegetarian food um er much loved sister...
"Neither do mine..." says my hubby (Way to go dude! I would have come up with that quick comeback sometime in the middle of the night.) I think she missed the answer though as her daughter was pouring creamo ,sugar and jam into her koolaid....
Did I mention we eat almost entirely hunted (ergo organic) or farm raised meat?
FOODINC. and TOP TEN TIPS TO GET INVOLVED! It's going to be a shocker!

PS I have nothing against veggies or pescies!!!!!

Head Down Full Speed Ahead

Some days I don't feel like being friendly. I just want to get done what needs doing. Get my errands done, get home to the family. I've been accused of being pushy. Well after 10 years in Hong Kong NO SHIT. I mean in Asia people push to get in the elevator the minute the doors open, and noone's off yet, same with the subway....bank machine line up? No such thing....just push.....Rainy day downtown??? Put your head down, hold umbrella slightly in front of you and motor, if you make eye contact with anyone YOU will have to move......So there I am with my sister in a mall in Ontario. We motor thru Walmart and when we get to the exit and are walking out to the car my sister says to me "You're awfully pushy you know..." I laughed. I can tell Asian asians, if that makes sense. They push by you on the ferry, on the street, in the shop. So on those days when I feel grumpy I revert to my grumpy head down HK persona. Great. I feel myself pushing...then I have to pull back, stop myself, make eye contact, smile and let the others go first. But what if I don't wanna????
August read the first chapter of his first chapter book by himself today!!!! YAY!!! (I hate to admitt it was a Junie B. Jones...... :)