Celebrations

It has been a whirl wind last few days.   Finishing off school,   Tae Kwon Do,   Piano,   chasing strawberries and hay balers,  and attending school awards ceremonies.     Hannah did her end of the year belt testing and went up to yellow belt.    She is so cute and scarey to watch when she spars. 
Ciara received a medal for academic honour roll all year round  as well as a medal for top honour roll for grade 4.   (this sounds very bragging but it's too keep all family in the loop)

BC Wildflowers and Making a Hubby Happy

So hubby needed to get out of the house this weekend.   So we all went along with him on some back roads bumping around and exploring nature.   It made him happy and we well..... survived.    We saw lots of wildflowers,  purple lupine,  buttercups,  maximillians sunflowers,  and tiger lilies.

Piano Recital

This last week of school before summer vacation is going to be crazy!!!   We all have so much on our plates.   We started it off with a weekend piano recital.    The girls did great and each got a red rose after their performance.   They were tested last week.   Ciara got the 3rd highest score.    We don't know where Hannah placed as the teacher forgot the paper she had written everyone's passing grade at.   So she could only remember the top 3.   I should know on Tuesday when their last class is and then I can update this. 

Forage Harvesting

This is what I did every summer since I was maybe 15.      I think the last time I drove the forage harvester I was pregnant with Ciara.     Mom was appalled me driving with the air conditioner on the blink.     But I loved it.   Not always grant you especially when I wanted to go out in the evening and I was still driving this around at 8pm at night!!!  
So this week taking photos and listening to the sounds of the machinery,  smelling fresh cut hay,  smelling  dirt and diesel just made me want to hop on the tractor again and drive around the field for a few hours.    I miss it. 

Mommy Brain or Just Genetics?

The story behind this photo.    Picture early morning trying to get ready for the gym.   Mind going a million miles a minute thinking of all the things to do today.    Had to manually open the garage door and then as I pulled it down I squashed my fingers between the slates.  "Oooh get it off,  don't go down, go up,  go up. "   I then sink to the ground oh my god this #$&*% hurts!!!!!   I crawl to the front door and ring the door bell it takes Eric forever to get to the door.   But then I remember it's 6am and he's probably wondering what nutter is at the front door at this time of the morning.   He opens the door takes one look at my hand and grabs some ice.   I crawl in and place my face on the nice cool floor waiting for my head and stomach to stop swimming.     The picture doesn't look as bad as the pain,  it's a little purple these next days and the tips of my first three fingers are numb and tingly still.    But this leaves me with the title.   Is it just mommy brain setting in again and I do stupid things or is it that Cowbrough's at some point in their  life have to squash their fingers nearly flat or until the skin bursts and fat pops out?     I don't know but I think I am officially a Cowbrough because I've joined the club!

Memories

Watching Hannah chase butterflies in the clover made me flash to being her age and doing the same while waiting for dad to come back down the row so I could give him his afternoon drink and cookies.   Course I would have been bare foot but the memory was the same.    The other two were in the car watching from the windows so maybe just maybe I'm giving them a little taste of what their mom's child hood was like.

Let the Haying Begin

Father's Day/ Sunday Brunch

Before and After

Too late to give any option whether you like it or not it is done and we will have to wait 6 months for it to  grow it out.    But for now I like it.

Mining

 

These photos are random photos taken over the years by my husband at various mines in various countries.   So don't ask me about any details!!  

Why I am writing about mining today is because I read an article in the local newspaper that got my blood boiling.    Over the year as I have read the newspaper here in Kamloops I get more and more annoyed with how everyone complains about everything.    How everyone rejects anything new coming into town or new for the province.     It just makes me unhappy reading the paper and I have contemplated getting rid of the paper all together.   I don't need to feel this way about the town I'm living in on a daily basic.    Because it just makes me want to leave. 

Today the paper wrote about an open house a proposed new mine was having for the city.   Everyone was upset about everything!!!    But what really hit me was the lady saying " This is the only mine I have every heard of so close to 85,000 people"       The mine is to be located 10 km away from the town.    Well I have lived in towns with the mine being a lot closer to the population then this!!!   But excuse me I guess 10,000 or under people doesn't matter.     I guess the hundreds of hours,  years,  and man power of research and testing that the mining people have down doesn't count.   Therefore I should have kids with arms growing out of their heads and purple skin because I've spent the last 12 years of my life living in a mining town so close to the mine!!!   The fact that people in Kamloops don't trust their government upsets me.    The paper work and regulations that the mines have to pass before the government will even look at them is unbelievable and still people don't think their government has their  best interest at heart.     Well I guess that is true because the government spent millions of dollars on the Stanley Cup for the citizens best interest and still the people rioted.     I could go on but then that would be talking with emotion instead of facts which many many of the people at that open house did.    They couldn't give the courtesy to the project manager to do some research of their own to back up stuff they were spouting from their mouths. 

Seriously............Seriously this kids can sleep anywhere!

So last night as we were trying to get the little ones to bed with relatives visiting.   Owen went off to bed.   Or so we thought.   Looking around for him proved hard.    My room was dark, no light on at all but some strange snoring could be heard.    I turned on the lights only to find no little man in my bed.   Hmmmmm!     Trying to track just where that snoring was coming from lead me to look under the bed.   Sure enough there he was fast asleep with my dust bunnies!!!    Must have been a hard night after dragging him out and putting him in a bed because he snuck off again this afternoon to have a long 2 hour nap in his bed.   

Red Sweater Adventure at Riverside Park in Kamloops

We began our adventure to Riverside Park in Kamloops after dropping off the girls at school.   It was a little chilly so we put on a Little Red Sweater.   We hit the swings,   looked at how high the river was.    As you can see in the photos the river is up to the path now.   There is no beach like the photo taken by http://www.panoramio.com/user/80712 .   Little Red Sweater man was wondering what was happening and then all of a sudden the water park started to go on.   (they were testing it to see if all lines were working)     So for the next 30 minutes we watched all the different parts of the water park go on and proceed to get Little Red Sweater man very very wet!!!
On the way back to the car we came across a mother goose with her babies and she gave us what for for getting too close.  

Back and Forth, Rain and Shine

Rain and Sun,   Makes for interesting days.    6 weeks in to by garden and I have my first crop of radishes.    They are huge.     Something to be said for the rain.   Lots of reading when the rain happens,    and then lots of heads hanging out the windows when the sun is shining.                              A Happy Birthday shout out to my mom to day.    Hope she has more sun then rain today where she lives.

A glimpse around the house

More what I've been up to

Sun, Rain and Headaches for the past few days

It has been going from sunny skies to raining back and forth all day long.    It's hit me hard and I have had a huge headache for days.   

My Stay At Home Mom Day

 I didn't take photos of everything that happens during the day.    Mornings seem too rushed to just stop and take a snap.    After I get the girls off to school and return home the day slows down.   So I put the garbage bins back in.   Stopped to smell the roses while Owen ran around the house exploring.    Took a look at the bumble bees busy at work.    Then off to get some ingredients for dinner and more fruit we are all out again!!   Dishes in and out of the dishwasher.       Then decisions is it Chicken Stroganoff or Kung Pow Chicken?    Don't know but I have ingredients for both!!!!    It's raining now.   So maybe time to clean a little more before the girls come home and homework and music lessons take up the rest of the day. 

I had a good giggle from this article.    Hope you have a giggle with it too.

Stay-At-Home vs. Working Parents

Questions to help spouses bridge the communication gap

By Heather Rigby  |  May 19, 2011

My husband always asks how my day went. And he really wants to know. He’s nice like that. As we slowly push the girls around in the stroller, he shares what went right during his day at the office, and I share funny things the kids said. On bad days we vent stresses and offer support and advice.
But lately I can’t help wondering if when I mention that my day was sort of stressful, he mentally thinks, “Yeah, my days are like that too.” Because I really don’t think that our days have the same sort of stresses.
When you decide to become a stay-at-home parent, you enter into a different realm — one ruled by illogical two-year-old dictators, school schedules, and choosing the correct color yogurt. As much as I can explain this to my husband, I don’t know that I’m getting through. Now I’ve done the next best thing: creating a list of questions that will help him and other office-bound parents gauge how (cough, cough) similar their days are to ours.

1. When you walked into work this morning and pleasantly greeted your co-worker Jim, was his first reaction to scream “NO! WANT JASON!" followed by an office supply being thrown at you?
2. Has a colleague ever climbed up on your lap while you were using your computer and slammed the keyboard with both fists until the up arrow no longer worked?
3. Do you have to lock yourself in the supply closet or bathroom on a regular basis in order to make phone calls?
4. Did you finish a complete thought at any time during the day?
   
5. When you went out to lunch with your fellow workers, did you have to pack a diaper/juice/extra outfit for them? Did you have to wipe their faces? Smile an apology and leave an extra tip for the waiter on their behalf?
6. When a co-worker needed you for something, did she sit at her desk with her head tilted back toward the ceiling and repeatedly scream “SEAN! SEEEEANNNN! SEAAAAAAN!” until you came to find him?
   
7. When you needed a specific colleague, did you search all over for him, only to finally find him giggling in the cabinet under the sink? Did you also find six pairs of your church shoes under there with him?
8. Have you had to come to an associate’s aid because she fell off her desk after trying to climb on top of it using a rolling chair?
   
9. When you reached for the report a co-worker was handing you, did he snatch them away at the last second and scream “MINE!” while shoving you backwards?
10. Does your colleague lift up her shirt and pick things out of her belly button every time she comes over to ask a question?
11. While you are using the restroom, do various co-workers come in the stall and ask you to settle a disagreement or open a packet of fruit snacks?
12. During a board meeting when everyone is present, do you notice a smell and then have to check all your colleagues’ pants to locate it? In fact, at ANY point in your day do you have to deal with another person's feces?
    

If the answer to most of these questions is no, it’s a safe bet to assume you’re in an office. That said, if your answer to most of these questions is yes, and you know you’re in an office, it’s safe to assume you might need a new job.

A Day in the Life of......

School,  successful potty training finally,   snacks,   playing with his boys,   giggling and a nap.   What could be better.

Sunday Happenings

This is how our Sunday has been.    Beauty,  weeding,  watching and baking.   Amy I made the cake!!!!    Very pastel in colour,   tasted very yummy but has to be made a few more times to get it perfect.    So now your it.   I want to see a photo.  xoxo