U2 - Beautiful Day on July 11, 2011

After ordering my tickets in November 2009, the day finally arrived for my brother and I to go and see U2 perform at the skydome or The Rogers Centre it's now called. It was a hot but beautiful day. While approaching the dome it was observed that it was closed, but once we were seated they started to open it up which was great. The band Interpol opened for them. Never heard of them before, didn't like them much either. The guy didn't even talk between songs or introduce themselves or anything. It was about 9:05 when U2 started the show with Even Better Than the Real Thing. And it was! It was so great. I found the entire playlist which I've attached here so I can remember in the future :) It was a great show, will always remember it. I didn't hear what the final attendance was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 60 0000. The Dome was packed all around with people on the ground too. Bono made some political issues made known as usual and I respect him for this. I'm quickly reminded of how rich we are, maybe not rich by north american standards, but the fact that I have water coming out of a tap in my kitchen that has power and a roof that covers is a blessing that more than half the world does not have - MORE THAN HALF. "What you don't have, you don't need it now". With this in the back of my mind, this morning on the news they said that 10 million east Africans are on the brink of stravation, there is a refugee camp in Kenya that is over populated and they are running out of supplies and the women and children are suffering the most. Would you be willing to donate? http://www.worldvision.ca/give-a-gift/Pages/DroughtintheHornofAfrica.aspx


1.Even Better Than The Real Thing
2.The Fly
3.Mysterious Ways
(with "Someone Somewhere In Summertime" snippet)
4.Until The End Of The World
(with "Anthem" snippet)
5.I Will Follow
6.Get On Your Boots
7.I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
8.Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
9.Beautiful Day
(with "Space Oddity" snippet)
10.Elevation
11.Pride (In The Name Of Love)
12.Miss Sarajevo
13.Zooropa
14.City Of Blinding Lights
15.Vertigo
16.I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
(with "Miss You", "Psycho … moreKiller" and "Discotheque" snippets)
17.Sunday Bloody Sunday
18.Scarlet
19.Walk On
Encore:
20.One
21.Where The Streets Have No Name
(with "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" snippet)
Encore 2:
22.Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
23.With Or Without You
24.Moment of Surrender

Camping....Take it or Leave it.

This past weekend we camped in Alliston at Earl Rowe Provincial park with a bunch of our friends. We had beautiful weather, a great campsite, a pool, seems lovely doesn't it? Well as lovely as it sounds, it is so much darn work! The pictures will remind of me of why it's worth it, but living in the moment of it, I was ready to throw in the towel and cancel our coming week long trip. I just was not enjoying myself. It was hot, I was tired (staying up late around the campfire while the kids sleep, and waking at the crack of dawn when the kids do isn't a good idea) the kids were wild, these 3 things are not a combo that someone orders up because they want to!


The kids had an amazing time. All their little buddies were there running around, biking around, playing together. All together we had 15 adults and 10 children (6yrs old and down!) and 3 babies baking in the oven! On Saturday we had another family come for the day bringing their 4 children too. Sounds a little insane?? Maybe a little! There were good laughs had, great conversations, comforts from friends who were going through the same as me, all of us looking out for eachother's children. Memories made.

Such as:
*Joel eating bird poop (almost tossed the cookies with this one)
*Marshmellow beards
*Burned or Burnt - is there a difference?
*Amberly running down the road shouting I have to go potty and waving at the strangers.
*Having the strangers ask me on the way back if we had success.
*Biking with Caleb around the different sites.
*Hearing her sing to herself at bedtime.
*The guys running into the discusting water for a swim and Amberly following right behind.
*Caleb sitting with me telling me how dirty the water is and his decision to just watch with amusement.
*Men and their love for bacon. (wrapping bacon around the wiener before roasting on the fire)
*Being too hot to nap in the tent, so the kids napped outside in the trees.

CARS 2 - Collision of Worlds music video

Definately not my cup of tea when it comes to music. But this one is for my boy. Caleb loves it!

Joel finally crawls

And I use "finally" loosely because I really wasn't in any hurry for him to do this. Actually I was kind of hoping he would hold out until August after all of our camping trips. Oh well. I'm still so proud of him :)

My Girl is 3!

It was 3 years ago my baby girl entered our world, in a hurry! I never knew how scary the situation was until I had Joel and some of the nurses remembered me and had to come and tell me what they remembered on July 3, 2008.


She's full of life, keeps us on our toes. She's entertaining and exhausting! We love her to bits.



Happy Birthday my precious sweet thing. Mommy and Daddy love you so very much.

The Pinery

It was back in March that we booked our sites for this past weekend at The Pinery. It's one of the toughest parks to reserve a site because it's so popular. Our weekend quickly arrived and we hurried to get everything we could think of together, our camping gear and needs for all of the kids and ourselves. Caleb and Amberly were so excited, so much so, they didn't nap on the way there. We stopped half way on the side of the road at a rest stop to feed Joel his bottle. Amberly announced she needed to use the potty. This rest stop unfortunately didn't come with port-a-potties. So I taught her how to pee like a girl in the bush! She didn't even dribble a drop on herself, she excelled in it!

The Pinery is a big ground, once we got booked in and found our site, we quickly went to work at setting up our tent while the kids explored the site finding bugs and sticks and stones. We got everything up in good time and then Amberly and I went to find our dinner (not in the hunting with a gun or rod term) thinking I would head into Grand Bend. Well, I got lost in the campground, it took me forever to figure out where I was, that I just ended up at the camp restaurant and ordered our meal there. Once we got it and made it back, we in total were gone for an hour. Long enough that my brothers were there and had their tents up!

The weather wasn't so great, it was windy and cold, but we had to venture to the beach to check it out and we were so happy to see it. The kids were thrilled. They ran up a head of us, but one lady who was sitting down told us that their excitment at seeing the water lit up their eyes, she said she was thrilled to see their joy on their faces.

We had a wonderful time there, and I'm so thankful for every moment that passed by like campfires, swimming, walking, sleeping in tents, sunny weather for the last half, snack foods, checking out Grand Bend and their shops, ice cream cones, birthday celebrations, sand creations, sand food samples, a little baby boy who will crawl to find the dirt, laundry tub close by for rinsing little girl accidents, first lost tooth the whole campground needed to know about, playing hide and seek with flashlights, asking to go to bed, laughter amoung cousins, super loud hand dryers the girls thought was neat to put their heads under, spotting the tick before it made it's way into my boy's shoulder. So many things to take into memory and have for life. It's fun creating these memories, and I hope to hold on tight to them for a very long time.

Here it Comes

Here comes the busy! Here and there and all the prep that goes along with it all! Ooo La La, I love summer time. First camping trip coming this weekend. Hello Grand Bend!

Official Stats

The following is the message sent through email from the gym....

Well, our 3rd Biggest Winner Challenge has come to an end, and with great success we might add! Our total weight loss between all teams this round was 539 lbs!! Below are the final standings. Congratulations to everyone who completed the challenge! It was hard work and it definitely paid off! If your team is not listed it is because one or more of your teammates did not complete all 3 weigh-ins which disqualified your team.

1st Place: The Fat Bottom Girls 7.96% lost
2nd Place: Thin It to Win It 6.0% lost
3rd Place: Die Tryin' 5.68% lost
4th Place: Belly Busters 4.34% lost
5th Place: Cruisin for a Losin' 4.08% lost
6th Place: The Bourne Losers 2.61% lost
7th Place: The Fabulous Five 2.23% lost
8th Place: Team #1 2.09% lost

Individual Winner: Charlene Snyder 11.29% lost!

God be praised

These words are beautiful, heartfelt, crushing.....enjoy.

We Did It

The Fat Bottom Girls won the grand prize of $1500 in our local gym's Biggest Winner competition. I don't have all the stats, as I haven't gotten them through an email and I can't really remember what they announced that evening because they lost me after announcing us as the winners. I think overall the 5 of us lost somewhere above 70lbs and over 7% in body weight. I took the honourable mention of losing the most pounds out of everyone for the 6 weeks. Yes, I'm 26.5 lbs lighter (plus 2 more since the contest ended). We each were sent home with 3 $100 bills. They are still sitting in my wallet, I haven't had any time for myself to go and shop! And that is the plan, I plan on spending those dollars on myself.
I do admit I had a mini meltdown after winning the money. I was overcome with guilt, feeling like I couldn't spend that money on myself, there's things around the house that need to be done, there's cute things I would love to buy my kids, heck, there's a hungry child in India. But after some encouragement from the hubby and close friends I was again convinced that I derserve something for myself. I haven't had new clothes for myself (outside of maternity clothes or the odd work clothes) in a very very long time. Right now I'm wearing a shirt I bought just before my wedding and I'm wearing workout capris I bought when I found out I was pregnant with Caleb. I won't even admit how old my underpants are right now! ha ha ha!
This contest was great, it was the perfect blend of motivation, challenge and encouragement I needed to get myself back to where I need to be. I still have a ways to go but I huge chunk of me is gone! There will be another contest in September and it may be an individual one, I think I would join it, not just because I have a chance to win more money, but I loved their bootcamps. If we could afford it, I would join the gym just for the classes alone.

Joel entertaining

Everyday I realize how quickly my little guy is growing. I am trying so hard to take every moment and imprint it on my mind, I don't want to miss a thing. I love him to bits!

Our Weekend of Fun

This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity. Friday afternoon my in-laws picked up all 3 kids and took them up to their trailer for a fun camping adventure. Dave and I had the weekend to ourselves! Friday night we took a nice loooong walk around town. Saturday morning we had a nice quiet morning and headed to the gym where I went to boot camp and Dave did his workout. After that was over we headed to Toronto to watch the Blue Jays take on the White Sox. Our seats were in the 500 level and I haven't been up there in years. Let me tell you...I had a slight anxiety attack I think. Walking up those steep steps I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see really how steep and high we were up. Now yes, I've always been afraid of heights, but not like that. I guess with age comes more fear?? It took 4 innings for me to feel o.k. there. Dave quietly reminded me that I am going to be up there for the U2 concert which made me freak out. But it will be dark, so hopefully it won't be as bad...right? ha ha ha. The game went into extra innings, and Dave decided that we would leave after the 10th inning and find somewhere to eat. We went to Jack Astors. It was good. The game was still going by the time we were done. It went into 14 innings, Jays winning it 9-8. We made our way to the hotel by the airport. There we spent the evening watching t.v. and playing games. It was really nice.

Sunday morning we headed to my parents place stopping at Vaughn Mills first. It was nice, we wandered around the mall and spent most of our time in the Bass Pro Shop. Once at my parents we waited for our little ones to be dropped off. They had a great time at the trailer. Full of little stories, Caleb's favourite part was finding a penny in the river! We celebrated Dave's birthday while everyone was there. Then in the evening Dave and I attended the Robin Mark concert at the O'ville Baptist Church. It was so great. We spent the night at my parents and in the morning we ventured to the zoo.



It was a perfect day weather wise. I was so excited, anticipating the joy on my kids faces while they discovered animals. To my dismay, they didn't enjoy it like I thought they would. They were so tired from the weekend. Caleb hardly wanted to get out of the bike stroller. He was excited to see the hippo, only to tell us to look at his poop! Amberly enjoyed herself. I think the highlight of our day was sting ray bay. It was so neat to touch them, I was amazed that they actually just slow down and surface so you can touch them.


I admittedly felt disappointed at the end of the day, I set my expectations too high. But I learned some things, like the kids need a good day of rest before starting a new adventure. But none the less, memories were created and a little more wisdom added.

So Proud of Her

Is it a girl thing? Amberly knows how to push my buttons. We bang heads all the time. She's stubborn. She's independent. She's so darn cute. But man, she causes me the most grief and I think she loves it. This whole potty thing has been the worst thing about the whole parent world. For me anyway. Caleb was a gem, he was born to be our perfect child. Is it a girl thing? A middle child thing? I don't know. But my challenge will be raise my beautiful girl to be so loving and accepting with a joyful heart and spirit. May I honour God in how I raise her because He is the one who has given her to me as a most precious gift!
It's been 2 weeks now and Amberly is officially a toilet sitter/flusher. There is the occasional accident (like this morning when playing with her friend, she forgot and just peed!) but she's fully aware of the things that need to leave her body and when usually! At Christa's she's been working on a poop potty chart, and yesterday she reached the 10 sticker goal and was taken to the store where she could pick her prize. She was so thrilled with her reward. (We have 4 of these princesses now)


Also, I have a talented artist on my hands. Amberly did this all by herself. I'm lost for words really. The only thing Christa did was the pink circle and the purple star, and my daughter turned them into flowers, added the sky and the grass and stems. I'm just so amazed! THAT'S MY GIRL!!!

Validation

Who else watched the last show of Oprah? I admit I was a little bored at the beginning but then she started talking about validation and how it's the common thread amoung everyone. Everyone wants validation. As she was speaking about this, I began to feel how I am robbing my children of that in little bits of our days spent together. Her words "I hear you, I see you, I care about what you're saying" rang out to me. Oh how often do I ignore the "Mommy can you...." or the little stories that come from their mouths because I have something on the go or that is taking up my time at the moment? I then get frustrated and angry when they do something wrong. When all along, it was because I didn't take the time to "validate" them.

I feel this way too around people. I want to be heard and seen and yet many times I feel like I've been a wall hugger and slipped out of every one's radar. Many times I get asked a question but the asker doesn't really care for my answer, perhaps out of politeness they asked in the first place, but never really hoped for a reply. As a mom I struggle day to day to find my worth. But I'm learning that I'm worth everything to my heavenly father. I count, I matter and most graciously and amazingly I'm loved beyond my comprehension. It's now my daily prayer to ask for the grace and patience my children deserve, and now I will add on top of that, for the validation my children need.

Wow - My New Favourite!!

I LOVE this band!!! Wish I could see them, but unfortunately they are opening for Taylor Swift (ECK!) and it's sold out!

The Farm

After spending a day at Shannon's parents farm, I quickly realized that Shannon (Dave's cousin and my good friend) and I had a very similar childhood, and was also reminded how dear I hold on to my memories of the farm. (Looking back at the days with open fields and 4-wheelers to drive in them!)


Our children had a blast, with freedom to run, with many things for them to do, not once did I hear "Mommy can you...."
There was a huge swing set up in the barn, we went on a long wagon ride through a marshy bush, 4-wheeler rides, ice cream and lounging around in the beautiful sunshine.

On the wagon ride we drove through so much water and marshy land.
Once the trail stopped at some dry area, we got out and explored a little in the bush. Shannon said as children they called it something which I can't remember now, but it reminded me of the springs and waterholes that were on our farm that my brother and I used to call our secret garden.
The boys were having fun throwing things into the water.
This weekend had a mixed bag when it came to weather, but all in all, it was beautiful. I did get lots of things accomplished, and survived the 3 days without my husband. Seems like things are in full swing now that this holiday weekend has gone. Our summer on the calendar is getting full of things happening, and I'm looking forward to them all.

Half Way There

Our team, "The Fat Bottom Girls" are leading the way in this contest, I'm so thrilled about that. We're a good 1% ahead of everyone else and have lost more than 10lbs over the other teams. With 2 & 1/2 weeks to go, I hope we can keep this lead and be the winners! I think we can do it and seeing the mid point results gives us more motivation to finish off strong.

I Think We Did It!

It's been two weeks now. I decided that Amberly was just being lazy and stubborn when it came to potty training. So instead of giving her what she wanted (each morning she asked if she could wear a diaper)I put her straight into underwear. At first it was a disaster. She would constantly pee or poop and have no worries or regrets or even 2nd thoughts. I was drowning in frustration and anger. I only allowed her 2 outfits a day, so she spent half her days naked. Which she at first thought was great, but then it started to get to her that Caleb could go outside anytime, but she couldn't. The start of this week I took away an outfit only allowing one outfit a day and finally on Tuesday she was perfect all day until late afternoon in the backyard she peed. I brought her in and took her clothes off and she was so upset and cried for a while because she couldn't stay outside.
We haven't had a naked girl since then......
Granted, we had one little poop accident yesterday, but it was a easy clean and I'm o.k. with that because I know it can be harder to master that on the potty.
I'm so proud of her and I'm just over the moon! We attempted to jump the potty hurtle and this time we cleared it and we're not looking back!

Transforming

I think it's safe to say now that spring has officially arrived. The buds on the trees are starting to push out and the world is looking more green every day. I love it. It's been wonderful having the sun come and stay for a bit too.

Three weeks ago I joined a team of 5 ladies and entered into our local gym's Biggest Winner contest. It runs for 6 weeks and the goal is the team with the greatest percentile lost wins. The prize is $1500. When I stepped on the scale three weeks ago I was ashamed of myself. I went home and had a little bit of a cry. It turned out I didn't lose much of my Joel weight. So the challenge was on. It's been a rough road. I've been doing something almost every day in the form of exercise. 30 minutes and up. Anything from biking to walking and the lovely boot camps which are provided by the gym. I go to 2 boot camps a week and get my butt kicked. Between the squats and lunges, my legs are going to be whipped into shape! They are what usually hurt a day or two after! Then there comes the food. It's been really hard to change my eating habits but I have. I don't love salads, but I'm making every effort to enjoy them. Who knew my new favourite food is chili! But after 3 weeks I've lost 16 pounds! I'm so happy about that. My goal is to try and lose 25 lbs in total. So I have 9 pounds to go in the next 3 weeks. I know it's going to be extra rough, and that I'll have to work harder at getting more exercise in, but I hope I can do it. Why 25? Well this contest has run a few times already and the most lost in the 6 weeks was 24 pounds, so I want to try and beat that. I'm not going to stop at 25 either, I've got a ways to go to get to where I want to be. But I'm thankful for this contest for kick starting me! And hopefully we'll win the prize. $300 would be awesome to get new clothes with!

Celebrating 7 Years

This past Sunday Dave and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for that long already. We've been on this road that takes up hills and down. Around sharp corners and through vallies. Along riversides and desert. I've grown more in love with him. He is so much better than I am. (He would be gloating too if he reads this!) His patience is remarkable, his wisdom is impressive. He is so well respected amoung his co-workers, our church family and our closest friends. I love him to bits! The day he became a father, I'll never forget. Those butterflies returned to my heart when I saw him hold Caleb for the first time. He is such a great dad, I'm so proud of him.

This year we marked the occasion by going out to The Keg for a over the top yummy meal. And we've been talking about getting an iPod for some time, so we also did that and together are filling it quickly with our music and his apps!

I love my man!