Five's a Party

Hope you all like the new photo and background :) It feels festive and wintry to me :)

The tree is up. Yes, I know, Dec 1st is the "proper" day, but i just couldn't wait! I am really looking forward to Christmas this year, because my brother and sister in law  will be here for the fun of gifts, family, and feasting along with my sister C, nieces and nephew. Maybe even G's family will come for Christmas! Nothing better than a house full of young 'uns and family!

 I like food. I like trying new tastes, textures, and flavours. Food is a central part of life for most people, and I am no exception! I started thinking the other day about what MY favourite things to eat are. It's really hard to pinpoint an absolute favourite, something I could eat all the time and never tire of it. I don't think I can do it.  I decided to make myself a list of my ten most favourite foods. It was much, much harder than I'd anticipated! 1. Roast beef dinner (OK, I cheated on this one.) 2. scones 3. Lobster with butter 4. beef stew 5. thin crispy fried pork chops 6. cheesecake 7. scallops 8. ham 9. cheese 10.sub from subway

  ever wonder what the homemade laundry soap actually fills? If you read my blog at all, you will already know that I make my own laundry soap . I figured out last year that I save quite a bit of cash doing so! I made soap yesterday, and seeing all the bottles sitting there on my kitchen counter made me think that maybe you would like to see how MUCH soap just one recipe makes. My sister has saved and given me many empty laundry soap bottles, which I fill with my homemade soap and store in the drawer of my washing machine. I keep the big tide container on a shelf above my masher and refill it as I use it up from the smaller bottles.  so, here they are, all lined up: and sideways, so you can see what size the bottles are: kind of impressive, huh? (and almost 500$ saved, since I started making it :D )

I just realized I never posted about my quad driving experience on here. It was scary, and I went reeeaaalllly slowly, and then I killed it. yup, the quad wouldn't start again after I stalled it! There's a picture, somewhere, but I need to find it so I can post it :)

 I write that with a question mark, because the feat #7 on my "10 new things in 2010" list IS a big deal for me, but wouldn't be for most people! I free climbed a rock wall. (the side of a stone bridge) Yep, shimmied on up there, right to the top, with no ropes or gear. Ok, so the rock wall was only about 10 or 15 feet high, but for me, who is a *titch* afraid of heights, (ok, technically of falling from any amount of heights)  it was an accomplishment. So, #7 on my list of "ten new things" is... free style rock climbing :) Yes, all my kids did it as well~ They've decided they need to do the new adventures as well.  For #8, I am planning to go play paintball with boy#1~ but really, I am running out of time for numbers 9 and ten! I don't have any ideas as to what to do for them. any ideas? and no, parachuting/skydiving is not an option.... refer to previous fear of falling from heights statement haha.

 It is Remembrance Day today.  I love this song and video by Terry Kelly, because it speaks to the idea that you are not truly gone until you are forgotten. This post is dedicated to all the young boys and girls who lay in forgotten places but are still remembered.

 Yes, winter is on it's way Boo hoo! I *know* it comes every year, but every year I seem to hold a faint hope it'll delay it's arrival a little longer. I can't complain about the summer or fall, they were absolutely lovely this year, so maybe ol' man winter will be kind to us as well.  The kill frost finally came a few days ago, and the whole world was white and fuzzy in the morning. We also had a bit of snow, but nothing that stuck.