We has the sick :(

I don't even know what to say..i am exhausted..it's been a week of sick here. Orange started being sick last monday. Hero started getting sick on thursday night. I am still only feeling the tickly gaggy throat and foggy awful headache..and well the Mr is like bloody ironman i tell ya. He works in a hospital and has insane immunity. GAHH.
Anywho..here's a pic of Orange just chillin', she's not really all that sick anymore, just a hint of cough here and there..


And Hero, well she's spending a whole lot of time in bed with the black-out curtains and the humidifier and orangejuice.
And me, well i'm just drinking as much soothing tea and orangejuice as humanly possible! I have been dealing with sick for a week, so therefore i REFUSE to get sick myself. I am putting my foot down. I have a moms night out with a big bunch of ladies tomorrow night, and I ain't missin' it for the world i tell ya!

** How's everyone doing out there? Have you all had the sick? Did you avoid it and think you were out of the woods like me(forehead slap!)??

**and yes, you may notice that i am participating in quite a few blog hops this weekend(see buttons on the top right side)..I'm hoping to expand my followers a bit more, and find some new fabulous blogs to read! :)

wow! mailbox goodies!

Yesterday was a great day for mailbox and delivered goodies! I couldn't believe the fun that showed up! I'm so excited! :)

First up, the UPS guy brought me a fantastic new book from Penguin Group called 'The Uncoupling' by Meg Wolitzer. I will be participating in a blog tour for it at the beginning of April. It looks to be a VERY interesting read! :)





Next up was a package in the mail from BzzAgent. I get to checkout these cool new Multibionta Probiotic Multivitamins!
I was excited to try these because they have probiotics in them and they were said to be easier to swallow(and i've noticed they are a MUCH better shape than the multivitamin i was taking!)
(*side note: i am also participating in the Dove Ultimate VisiblySmooth campaign for BzzAgent too! but that pkg came last week!)

Next the FedEx truck came(while i was at the optometrist) and they brought a package of IronKids Gummies that i had won on a blog-->
http://www.maijasmommymoments.com/
This one i was also VERY excited for! $40 worth of vitamins and supplements for the girls! woot!
(now i just need to figure out how they're supposed to take them..the one pack is a multivitamin and the others are supplements..are they really supposed to be taking like 6 gummies a day?! MUST research this!)

**Did you get anything fun and cool in the mail this week? Let me know!

YUM! Swiss Chalet!

Family Day(Mon Feb 21) did not quite go the way that I had planned. The Mr had worked the night before and therefore had to sleep until 1pm, and then I found out that piano lessons was cancelled for the holiday like I thought, and then Orange started complaining of a headache and got sicker as the day went on, and it just ended up being a big lazy(and so relaxing!) day at home!

So I was so excited when I remembered that I didn't need to make dinner that night! Insert BIG sigh of relief here!! As part of the Mom Influencer Group on EverythingMom.com I was offered a $50 eGiftcard to check out Swiss Chalet's Online Ordering System! YAHOOOO!!!!

I had never ordered ANYTHING online before so I wasn't quite sure what I was in for, but it was surprisingly easy! It took a couple minutes to enter in all my information to create an account. Then I moved on to the fun task of picking out our dinner!


The Mr and I both ordered chicken and rib combo's with fries, and the girls both picked out kids meals. Hero chose the chicken sandwiches with fries and m&m's, and Orange chose the chicken fingers with fries and m&m's. Total time so far approx 14 minutes, but i think it was because the system was busy with a LOT of Family Day orders! We decided to pickup our order instead of delivery because 'our Swiss Chalet' is less than 2 blocks away. Our order time was 5:24pm and pickup was guaranteed for 5:54pm. Half an hour! Not bad! Again, it might seem long, but we were ordering AT dinner time on a holiday!

When the Mr got there he found that it was ready a couple mins early, but it was still SMOKIN' HOT! Order was quickly confirmed, utensils and condiments were there, and the service was friendly and efficient! When he got home and we unpacked our goodies we realized there was a chalet sauce missing, but everything else was there and the food was PERFECT! $50 got us an INSANE amount of food which we gobbled all up(re: totally overate!) but it was JUST SOOOOO YUM! Even Orange(sickie of the day) ate 3/4 of her kids meal!(she's normally a pick at it kinda girl)

I would definitely order online again in a heartbeat! I have a 'thing' about talking on the phone, and this just made ordering dinner SO VERY EASY!

Thank you so much to EverythingMom.com and Swiss Chalet for saving my Family Day and giving us a fantastic dinner together!


Now YOU have the chance to win! EverythingMom is currently running an online chat talking about family dinners. Everyone who participates in the chat has a chance of winning 1 of 2 $50eGift Cards to Swiss Chalet. Good Luck! :)

"As part of a Mom Influencer program with EverythingMom, I was offered a $50 eGift Card from Swiss Chalet in order to experience their online order system and share my dining experience with you.'

OGRE VAN!

I have been absolutely in a funk today. A horrible nasty funk. AND IT WAS SUNNY OUT!
I spent 4 hours in bed because i just wanted to end the funk.

AND when i went out to move my van back into it's parking spot(had to move for snowplow guy) i decided to take a short trip to get myself a roll up the rim cup of tea ;)

And what should i see at the red light while i was waiting???

OGRE VAN!


(ok, so i may have doctored the photo a little bit, but i swear that was totally what i saw!)

Ogre Van totally pulled me out of my funk. i think i was honestly grinning like a lunatic..and the cars beside me and across from me likely wondered what the heck i was taking a pic of!

Family Day! etc.

Not too much has been going on around here lately. Mr has been working some crazy hours, therefore working all night and sleeping during the day only to repeat over and over. And little Orange is sick with a nasty cough, so we've been home just chillin'. Wasn't exactly what i had planned for our Family Day(holiday monday) but staying home and just playing and having fun ended up being a nice refreshing treat. I forgot exactly how much i love to colour in colouring books! :)
(And besides, sunday nights 20cm snowfall kinda ruined any plans we had anyways! It can stop dumping these insane snowfalls on us ANYTIME!)

I also got to bake some strawberry apple bread!--totally NOM! It was supposed to be just an applesauce bread, but i didn't have applesauce(i had a large jar of pureed strawberries--yes, baby food) so i used that instead and threw in a cup of grated apple for fun. It's more of a breakfast bread, but again, it's SUPER NOM! :)

And last night we got to enjoy an awesome HUGE Swiss Chalet meal(thanks to a blogger influencer program)!! But I'll write more about that in my upcoming review of said dinner! :)

And now i'll just leave you with a pic of...

ROLL UP THE RIM TO WIN IS BACK!!! woot! I'm kinda hurt that they didn't factor in that i am not supposed to be drinking caffeinated beverages, and their decaf teas are limited and sucky!(hello, i am not 90, i do not like chamomile yet!!)..so I've been limiting myself to a weak chai here and there for fun! I'll miss you Starbucks! But i'll be back asap!
OH! and on a sidenote, i am 0/2 this season so far :(

bento etc.

I've really been working at getting Orange to have a little more variety in her diet, try new foods, eat healthy ones, etc..
Having the kids pick meals each week has really been helping with that! It's hard to not eat a meal that you have personally chosen! :)
But lunches have always been the sticky one! The kid will just not eat sandwiches unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessary(and i think that has only been 2x this school year so far, maybe once!). I have finally found a way to make her little lunches more fun and actually get her to eat more than 2 bites; BENTO! I have become slightly addicted now to packing her cute little lunches. Whenever i am out now I am always looking for new little containers, food picks, new tiny cutters, shaped silicone 'cupcake' cups, etc etc. (if you don't know what Bento is, i HIGHLY recommend that you google it. There are some AMAZING blogs/pics/etc out there! And some of it is absolutely INSANELY intricate..I plan on sticking to the americanized simple yet frickin cute method! I like to be able to pack a lunch in 15 mins or less! lol)
On Friday, Orange took bunny shaped tortilla's, and acorn shaped kielbassa in her lunch, and cute little panda cookies(this was not her whole lunch! lol)..and when her containers came home, ALL the cute food had been eaten! :)
So yesterday(even though i had a RAGING headache) i decided to check out the new Asian Supermarket, i NEEDED to go and see if they had more fun and exciting stuff...and yes i was THAT GIRL who is weird and takes pictures in a SUPERMARKET! lol.


The left pic is some yummy cookies and cracker sticks, etc..
And the right pic is what i bought, all the fun stuff is the top right that is barely visible..i bought some kid chopsticks for Orange(like tongs), some panda cookies, some cookie sticks with dips(these are cool cause each stick has something printed on it like animal names and sounds, some dried garlic peas(i went in specifically for the peas-i saw them mentioned on LJ's blog and well we NEEDED them! lol), and some shaped potato crisp snacks(think like lucky charms!), etc etc.
I am very excited about making lunches this week! :)
I'll try to post pics too! I took a pic of fridays lunch but i just didn't like the look of it..sorry!

BBQ!!!

Yesterday we were finally able to shovel over to the bbq, cook dinner on it, and NOT have the Mr freeze his butt off! WOOT! 7 degrees C in February! woot! (too bad it's supposed to drop about 20 degrees overnight! wahhhh!)

(sidenote: yes, my kitchen window is VERY dirty! lol. AND today, pretty much all that snow is gone! but there is also now a 'lake' in my backyard!)

Love Day!

I love Valentine's Day. Well actually i love all holidays(including cinco de mayo! taco night! lol)..because i LOVE to do cute little crafts and decorate and be all cheezy. It gives us a reason to celebrate and have fun! (side note: did you know that this Thursday is 'random acts of kindness day? awesome)

Anywho..so while i love these little celebrations we do try to keep things low-key and non-stressful..we put effort into treating each other with little things and just really thinking of each other..i got my pink controller for the ps3 that i wanted! and a beautiful decorative rose plant...oh and another starbucks mug for my collection! :) BUT i didn't receive them yesterday, they were on different days for the past few days! i like that!

Last night it was nice to just chill and relax, Mr.OHM reserved us(all) a table at EastSideMario's(YAY!) where it was rather funny to be seated 2 tables over from my neice who was on a date at the time(oooohhhh! lol).

And then after we came home for some yummy cake(atrocious writing! lol) that i made, and give the girls their valentine gifts.

Then once they were off to bed, the Mr and i snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie together.

Hope that you all had a fantastic day too! :)

Do you celebrate?

An Unlikely Blessing - book review

ABOUT THE BOOK:
An Unlikely Blessing is a heartfelt story about a new pastor and life-long city dweller Alex Armstrong, who reluctantly accepts his first assignment, a two-point parish in the wilds of North Dakota. Hilltop Township, a farming community, blooms from the prairie like a wild pink rose—lovely and prickly all at once, much like the people who live there.

Alex quickly finds that this lovely place is in quiet peril. Farmers are struggling to make ends meet: Jonas Owens, a faithful member of Hilltop parish, is on the brink of losing the farm. Alex believes that part of why God called him to Hilltop was to help turn things around, and steps in with ideas for saving the Owens' land. But can even God's minister help save this rural community?

There are a lot of firsts for the new pastor—the annual Hunter's Breakfast, julebukking (also called Christmas fooling), King Oscar's fish balls, and the melody of the musical saw. And the new, single pastor creates remarkable excitement among the unmarried women in the community. If you could die of hot dish overdose, Alex would be a dead man. Whether performing weddings, counseling his flock, or herding cattle by snowmobile, Alex soon discovers that his new church home has as much to teach him as he will teach them. Day by day, he falls more in love with the people of Hilltop Church. People may leave Hilltop, but Hilltop never leaves them.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Judy Baer is the author of over seventy-five books for adults and teens. She has won the Romance Writer of America Bronze Medallion and has been a RITA finalist twice. She lives in Elk River, Minnesota with her husband. Follow the Hilltop characters on Judy’s blog and find out more about Judy and her books HERE.



MY THOUGHTS:
I absolutely loved this book, and devoured it in only 3 sittings. It was the perfect comfortable book that i needed after reading a few 'heavier' books. It was so easy to just sit and imagine the characters as you were reading, and there are definitely some 'interesting' characters to enjoy! lol. I also loved that they included some of the recipes for the MANY MANY foods that are incorporated into this book(puppy chow! and apple crisp!).
I wasn't familiar with Judy Baer before reading this book, but i am very much looking forward to reading 'Surprising Grace', the next book in the Hilltop series! And now that I am done with this book i plan on donating it to my church's library, so that others can fall in love with her wonderful words.


In celebration of the release of An Unlikely Blessing, Judy is giving away a KINDLE prize package worth over $175.



One lucky winner will receive:

•Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
•A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
To enter just click HERE and then tell your friends! Winner will be announced on February 21st on Judy's blog.


Click here to read more Blog Tour reviews.

Click here to buy the book!

I received An Unlikely Blessing as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group.

THEY'RE DONE!!!

My 'Alice Mitts' that is! :D
I am sooo excited to wear them!! They're wool(therefore warm) and yet softie, and i am also in love with the colours! *swoon*
And the bestest part? They only cost $5.09 plus tax to make! ;)

Here we go again :(

This post tonight is going to be simple and short..i have a brutal headache(and frankly i am blogging from bed, and yes, it's 9pm on a friday night) :(

I'll start with the frustrating news..I went to the doctor on Thursday morning..my high blood pressure is Ba-a-a-a-a-ck!! :( I knew that i'd been having more headaches again lately, but the weather had been so INSANE i just chalked it up to that...So immediately i need to cut my caffeine intake and my love for crap food. wahhhh. Which i suppose goes hand in hand with what i was told next..LOSE THE WEIGHT! Yes, it's true, and i am rather miserable about it..the weight is throwing itself back on me, and i feel horrible. So before my end of March appt, i need to make a noticable difference in both. GAH.

Ok, i was going to write more..i had pics too..but not tonight..i will share my chocolate cake in a mug(oh goodness!!), and my update on my Alice's Mitts, and a pic of my cute little Orange reading, tomorrow(i think)..i have my saturday morning knit and coffee meet tomorrow, and there will likely be more to post regarding those wonderful Alice Mitts tomorrow.

Hope y'all are doing well! :)

Bloggin' at Starbucks

I got 'little red' for Christmas..Mr.OHM said that it was to encourage me to do more blogging, and also so he could ship me off to Starbucks more often ;)
I can't believe that it's February 1st, and this is the first time that we made it here together for the intended purpose! lol.



Last night I continued on with my quest to do more family fun things! So i pulled out a TON of our craft supplies and said 'hey! let's make some fancy pantsy hearts to string up along the front window', and it went VERY VERY well, and it turned out so darn cute! I am gonna love seeing this cuteness in my livingroom for the next 15 days! :)