Happy Easter from the Egg Family!

Meet our Egg Family!

Baby Stinkbreath - This egg is an evil space alien. He has one eye, 2 feet, and one very large hand protruding from his foot. He is going to destroy the whole egg planet.
Her name is Kimmie. She is the hottest egg eva', nevertheless she will probably crack due to the evil scheming powers of baby stinkbreath.
Gerardo - is a lonesome, but sophisticated buisnessman who lives in an apartment by himself. He's looking for a date.
Miss Yokelmire - is an eccentric, fun loving Mom.

Wendy - Loves to shop, her favorie color is pink and she's an eggstraterestrial!

Happy Easter From the Egg Family, also from Ben, Taylor, Tannis, Mc Kenna and I!!!!

Well, I'd just like to say that if Ann Murray is correct and the answer is indeed "blowing in the wind..." I am pretty sure we have got all the answers in this little corner of the world! This picture is just a tiny glimpse into how incredibly windy it was today... This is our front lawn... yes, I do mean LAWN!

The property accross from us was razed for construction recently and therefore there is no longer any grass to hold down the dirt... gross, eh? It looks like the Sahara in my front yard.. I'll try not to look.
So... by now you've noticed... I got SPOILED!!! Carol sent us a new camera.. I feel like a pooper for complaining that I missed the other one, but on the other hand I am SOOO excited, and just in time for the kid's play this weekend, and our road trip to Calgary on Thursday for Avril. Get ready for photo/extravaganza. For today, I settled on the big news only... 1. The dessert sands come to Coaldale. 2. Fridge art:

I suppose you can't read our crazy acrostic about our family that we have arranged with the magnetic scrabble letters that we created, but you'll have to trust me when I tell you just how cool they really are! Cool as well, is Ben's picture of a monster posted below the letters... impressive, I know... Picasso, look out! And finally 3. Yes I did make a totally new funky recipie with ingredients we don't normally incorporate into our diet, and yes indeed it was healthy and full of antioxidants and dang was it good.. we really liked it.. Mangos and all!!!! WIERD!

It is called Brazillian Black Bean Stew, and it Rox! If you click on the title you can get the recipie... if i'm that coool - then you too, can make whacko, mango, sweet potato, healthy anti-oxident stew! Not sure if I was successful tho... Anyhow, Hope your day was as fulfilling as ours.. and hope you can get some sleep, cause the wind's not ROARING in your ears! Cheers!

Another One Bites the Dust

It has been a fairly social week at the Chartier's. Monday Jamie and I went out with some friends and partied like it was 1984... I really don't know what about 1984, but we had a great time, stayed out a little late, and paid for it like old people. Nevertheless, it was really nice to see some friends that we haven't seen in a while, and connect socially with the rest of the world. Tuesday was spent working and trying to cement it into our minds why we don't usually go out late, also on Tuesday Jamie joined the gym!!!! Collective applause from accross cyberspace please!! I was sooo impressed, I worry about that guys heart and really want him to be healthy, plus it is fun time we can have together when our schedules permit. Tuesday night Brenda and I went to Bible Study sans Jamie (he was studying). We are still discussing Nehemiah, and the topic this week was discouragment.. hmmm... what are the causes... stress, sleeplessness etc. Funny, Tim our "leader" told me that he thought of me as an Otter, fun, fun, fun, and never discouraged.... baha!!! I still havent stopped laughing. Aside from that the entire night was quite enjoyable, I feel like I got to know the people in our group just a little better. Any input you have into dealing with discouragement, or causes of would be greatly appreciated, we're continuing our discussion next week.. I love our group! Wednesday Brenda and I spent most of the day pre-planning and shopping for Friday, we had two major catering events totalling about 450 people, so we made meatballs and Lasagna for 2 different events for about 200-250 people each, It was a long but reallllly productive day. At the end of the day, Brenda and I were scanning the internet researching her plans for a trip to Cuba when suddenly a bird was chirping in our midst. You have NEVER seen two more afraid people, we jumped so high we nearly hit the roof, What the.... heck!!!???? We looked around and suddenly felt incredibly foolish to realize that the sound was actually coming from the hidden computer speaker. It was a sound effect from the website... hmmm.. I'd say we blushed (and giggled) a little! Thursday was my day off and was spent cursing the gymnastics club and T4 slips, I am NOT, I repeat ... NOT meant to be an accountant. We are talking about the girl who couldn't organize herself out of a paper bag, nor add a column of numbers twice and end up with the same answer, but the long and the short of it was it is done (mostly :-) In the evening we had friends over for a BarBQ, it was a fun, but NOISY evening, our kids were REALLY rambunctious (if that is even how you spell that word). We watched our new favorite show, "Big Love", it is really quite an interesting show about a group of polygamist mormons. It's not anti-mormon, it is obvious that these people are a unique sect, but the whole concept is kind of intreiging (?) in a creepy and crazy sort of way. Friday we catered, catered, catered and still found time in the middle of the day to stop for a cheeseburger at "Good ol' boys" (tee hee) what a trashy week! It was really fun, and thanks to mucho prayers all the catering turned out well. For the evening catering we made lasagna for 250 people. When we took it out of the oven, finally.. we were worried it wouldn't be hot enough.. at the last minute it was, but... it was runny like soup. We were thinking Oh no! Do we need to bring bowls, spoons and crackers... ARGH, we were 1/2 an hour until show time, and there were no adjustments that could be made... so we got in the van and prayed. Our destination was about 20 minutes away, and when we arrived I sneakily peeked under the foil of a pan and... VOILA!!! Perfectly set.. Thank you Lord! I don't know how it happened, I knew it would "set" a bit, but really, it was way more than I could have hoped for! Everything was set and it was home to bed! Saturday Tannis and I went on a shopping spree! Probably we should not shop together, as for the one child that recieved almost 100% of my DNA, it was crazy! You have never seen two more distracted people. We needed Jeans for Tannis and Runners for me, we got both... and a bit more.. and ALOT of "oooh look at this" and "check this out.. I really should...." and "Hey one time we could get something like this for..." Wow, it's a wonder that we made it home by our deadline, we had a blast! We got 2 pair of Jeans for Tannis... success since she's so skinny and long, and I got a pair of CRAZY FANTASTIC runners that I've been begging for. To punish myself for spending a ridiculous amount on runners (even though my old ones had holes right through each of the soles) I went for a SUPER long run when I got home, I beat my personal best, I ran 7.5 miles in 65 min. It was SOOOOO fun! Anyhow, after that we have mostly just watched Connor and Ben playing their new Monopoly game that Tannis and I picked up at Value Village, and waiting to make the fridge magnets from scrabble pieces from the game we also picked up... fun eh??? I can't wait, maybe we'll post a picture once we're done and writing words on our fridge with magnetic scrabble peices. Anyhow, that was our action packed week.. Also, another Praise item :-) Jamie got %84 on his most recent EMT test, and is carrying an average well into the 80's. His next section is about learning how to read EKGs, and he's a bit worried, so keep praying. Any test scores under 80 are a fail and if your average at the end of the course is below 80 it is an automatic FLUNK... so far, so good, my man is brilliant, but he's still got to work at it and prayer never hurt! So, that is life within the walls of this house, full of fun, busy, crazy, little bit of everything but all in all... I am the luckiest gal alive! Mmmm.. me and my coffee are going to trip over a "middle of the floor game of Monopoly" and stumble bleary eyed but cheerfull to a really warm shower. Hopefully today will be somewhat productive! Cheers!

I miss my Camera!

Ho humm, I really do miss my camera.. I'm actually blaming the petty, selfish theives who stole it from my van for my lack of blogging! Somehow, a picture of Tannis riding the Chair Lift back down Castle mountain (because she forgot to get off), or a picture of me bleeding out as Jamie was practising IV's on me at the firehall, would be much more fun, than just plain words! Boo Hoo, I know, I really should still be writing, but there are a million circumstances that you've just got to see to believe. Crazy stuff happens around here. I believe I live in a zoo. Not that I don't love my zoo!
This afternoon, Ben was reaching for a "Sunny D", I said to him, "Ben, please check your backpack and finish the one that we sent to school with you for snack time." Ben said " I drank alot, are you checking,.... don't check" (little liar :-) Taking this opportunity for a teachable moment I told him that Jesus could see what we did all the time, he loved us and he didn't want us to lie. He, in turn looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said "Is he peeking in my backpack???" Awww, sometimes I just want to freeze frame the moments. So, generally what I'm saying is that life is going as usual here. Our quest for health is going well, I have been a dilligent gymite for 2 1/2 months now, and am down about 13 lbs, and back running again! It feels so good! I'm up to six miles a day, I'm just waiting for the perfect race to finally take the plunge and run with some others, maybe I see a 1/2 marathon in my future... MAYBE! I'm just starting to add some weight training to that and my body doth protest.... LOUDLY, but you know what they say.. no pain no gain... idiots! Jamie and I are taking walks on a more regular basis, he often refers to them as the "walk to skinny" or "journey for lives", at least he has a sense of humor to go with that hot body:-) The girls are trying really hard to eat healthy and try new stuff... like fish, smoothie building, brown rice and a few new fruits and cleverly disguised vegetables. The boys... well, I believe that they believe that they need junk food for survival.. we still cave... alot! The great part about life in this part of the country is the variable weather conditions. If one were to go outside today he would think to himself... "what an amazing spring day!" ... at least a month early!! This morning we had snow... now it's beautiful.. aside from being a bit confused, we are loving it... I'm pretty sure a run outdoors is in order, seems silly to hop on that old treadmill on a day like today when the sun is shining like... well, like my flylady sink! I suppose I should get my little fingers off the computer, I've been feeling alot of mother-guilt lately for not spending more quality time with the kids and currently ben is manipulating his toes with a log pincher from the fireplace set and begging me to "see if we have all the stuff for play-dough", I on the other hand am sitting with a blank stare, considering making supper and sipping a cup of tepid coffee... hmmm... time to burst into action I'd say... off to playdough and dinnerville! C U Soon! Hopefully I have something more exciting to add, or maybe even insightfull --- hey, what about some pictures! (tee hee!) Hopefully soon!:-) Cheers!

A Valentines Rock Out!

Upon my arrival home from work at about 8am on valentines day I was greeted in the street by my daughter's music. Not unusual. Avril Lavigne's "Hey, Hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend" was being belted out in the way only distorted computer speakers could manage on their way to being blasted to smitherines. It was one of those belly laughing, doubled over moments when Ben greeted me at the door with a shout: "Taylor is listening to this song..... and it's not very VALENTINESY!" Who would've thought that a four year old could be so astute, all day we were tutored about our actions having them labled as valentinesey or not valentinesy. At least we have one day in our house when the kindness police are on our side, it's usually such a lonely task... THANKS BEN!

River
This is a metaphorical poem Taylor wrote for her dad in English.. she's SOOO smart.

River

My Dad is the river
The soft smooth flow
Of calm and alming
That makes one smile

The vigorous rush
Determined to be somewhere
Faster and faster
Never stopping

A current that pushes you
Places where you don't kow you could go
And you scream because it's hard to swim
But all of a sudden you arrive and you're happy

A river that is hard to swim against
And will never change it's direction
A river that knows it's purpose
And never stops flowing

A river that gets frozen over
And you think it's only ice
But there is so much life and activity underneath
It's just hidden for a while

A river that makes sure
If your arms are tired
All you have to do is float
And let it's current carry you

A book meme' Fun!!!!!

So, some love these, some hate em' - but it was really fun. Leslie tagged me for a book meme'. Here are the rules, and here is my contribution! Have fun!!

Here are the rules:
Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

"Put peppers, onions and garlic in pan. Saute' until soft. Add tomato and soy sauce, beef boullion cube, water, mushrooms and juice. Break up and dissolve cube."

Fun!!! Company's coming casseroles was mine... Chineese Pepper Steak mmmm. Although I'm reading John Grisham's "The innocent Man" pretty interesting non-fiction. Anyhow, thanks for the fun Leslie!!!

I tag Carol, Kalie, Dale, Taylor, Cola :-)

Notes from Nehemiah

Don'tcha' Love, Love, Love mornings when it's still dark outside, everyone else is still sleeping, the coffee is hot and a new day is about to begin. I love the thought of fresh starts, new beginnings, and morning is my favorite time of day... when I can get my sorry fat butt out of the sack! Anyhow, morning it is and another day is upon us. Last night at Bible Study (we are studying Nehemiah), we were talking about what makes an influential person. The question was posed... Think of someone in your life who has a positive influence on you... why? what characteristics do they have that make them influential. Of course the group was pretty quiet, those are some pretty heavy questions, but I am intrieged by the different responses.. and so I put it out to the blogsphere... What qualities make someone influential in your life? I came up with consistency (fleeting friendships come easy... are you in it for the long haul... even when it gets tough???), honesty - they tell it like it is (usually without being hurtfull, although sometimes the truth hurts a bit), kindness, and compassion, they see your needs and come along side, and also vulnerability - the flip side, they allow me to be there for them, being honest about where they need me as well ... a gal always needs to be needed right??? Anyhow, it was really an interesting study, we then discussed how we can be influential in other people's lives putting into practice prayer AND action. How often do we say "if there is anything i can do....." or "i'll pray for you....". These are some thoughts to ponder for all of you out there, how do you influence people???? Hmmmm... I'm pretty sure I drive them to drink, but... I'm workin' on that :-) Hope your day is as full of promise as mine appears to be, I'm off to shower... always good to start the day clean :-) Don't forget to weigh in..

Birthday Party Shinanigans

Our littlest man attended his very first birthday party yesterday sans mommies. It's like a rite of passage. A little hard, we had tears over the present that was to GIVE away. He woke with the words "I just can't get up mommy, I'm too jelous of Isaac!", these moments morphed into excited rantings over the activities to be, which then morphed into tears that it wasn't time to go, by noon I was ready to go insane, madly rooting around in my head for any parenting technique I may have learned over my 14 year journey... nada. I finally relied on distraction. It worked. In the end, he had a fantastic time, Isaac enjoyed his presents, Isaac's mom says that our son did not throw a fit... I'm not so sure I believe her, but nonetheless, it was an enjoyable afternoon for all!

hmmmm.....

I don't know how it is that an entire week can pass and I have nothing to say!!! I mean really, this is me we're dealing with! Nothing to say??? hmmm... probably I am the most talkative, o.k, noisy, obnoxious person on the planet, yet when it comes time to try to say something profound, or that sounds moderately interesting about my life... hmmm.... I got nothin'. This is what's been up lateley. Saw a couple movies: "The Nanny Diaries" Scarlette Johansen is hot, but the movie, not so much, O.K, just not fantastic. Saw "Hairspray" LOVED ITTTTTTT!!! Loved every obnoxious song!!!! Especially when the mr. and mrs. tunblad, are singing to each other... awwwww! My most current pet peeve, is my cats.... when you open the door for them because they are meowing like the house is on fire, and they stand there staring at the -40 degree weather, with their tail in the air and then turn around and walk back in..I know how they feel, I'm a little jelous that there is nothing beyond these doors that is so important that they need to brave the weather, none the less, it is irritating, and still..... they haven't "done their buisness" hmmmm. We're still eating healthy... impressive huh? Also, I am still hitting the virtual track... not bad eh? We're three weeks into it and this week I have run 16 miles, I love it.... when it's over! Actually my biggest new years resolution was to not hit snooze.... EVER! Still good on that one, I figure snooze is slowly robbing my life! Nevertheless, I still can't manage to leave for work on time. Well, there is always next years resolutions. Oh, yeah and the healthy thing, I've got a few great recipies that we've come accross, like last nights dinner when my parents were over..... Jambalaya, "simple" salmon (has become a staple), and a yummy tirimasu type dessert that is NOT on my eating healthy list! Kids, let seee...... Tannis is FURIOUS with us bcause we won't let her go skiing on a bus to westcastle with her friend and said friend's 16 year old brother for the day.... Uh..... NO! We've got tears, whinning, gnashing of teeth! Veeeery unlike Tannis, but still.... NO. Finally Jamie has made peace by offering to take them skiing over Feb break, whew, crisis averted, are we unreasonable??? Actually, I don't care, the answer is still NO, no daytrips to other cities, ski hills, towns, countries when you're 13, sorry... nope :-) Taylor is writing exams... lots of days off, I think she will enjoy them... study??? we'll see. Connor, is back from skiing with the Bezooyens, and had a blast... yes, Connor got to go... with a FAMILY! He had fun and is still recovering. Ben has learned to count to ONE HUNDRED!!!! It is wayyyy cute, but difficult to listen to AGAIN! Jamie is loving school, and our new routine, if only he could get paid for going to school! Really everything is just honkey dorey here, boring, boring, but that's what I love. So, that's our little corner of the world for this week, Peace out! I'm off to work... 15 min to shower and get there... oops :-)

Healthy Choices

O.K, so EVERYONE in our house has "resloved" to eat healthier (well, maybe not Ben, we're thinking of enlisitng him in a five step program for sugar addicts! :-). Jamie and I want to set a good example for the kids, and the kids are in on the madness, we've seen a transformation, kids are reaching for salad and vegetables, after a couple weeks of holidays the kids have emptied all the cupboards, including the produce drawer... so far so good. We've been eating lots of produce, brown rice, whole grains, lots of fibre, but it's tricky. I still haven't figured out how to master the sodium factor... well, that being said, I'm running out of plans... already, and lasagna is sounding like a viable option for dinner, Pizza pops a tempting snack option. We've done salmon, we've done stir frys but we need MORE variety to keep us on track, so, I'm looking for your best HEALTHY recipie. I figured this would be a good place to start collecting, well... on that note I'm off to finish my oatmeal and apple! Take care and PLEASE, leave us a comment or a link to your favorite HEALTHY treat!