30-Before-30 #19 Ride A Bike

This spring has been amazingly strange...someday's it feel's (and looks) like summer, and other days we get snow all over the ground.

Thankfully this past Monday, when we were enjoying our day off together, the weather decided to be summer :-) (But Tuesday morning we woke to snow)

So we found all the kids helmets...made sure they all fit properly, and allowed them to ride their bikes for the first time this year!  It was great fun having them all back on bikes ~ and especially now that there are no training wheels for anyone!!!

While we were setting up all 4 of the kids bikes, with pumped tires, and ensuring that all the brakes still worked.  I took spin of 3 of the bikes to make sure everything worked great (no I didn't ride my sons tiny little bike...that would have been impossible :-)  So I rode 3 bikes (yes they were all kid bikes) but none the less I completed another 30-Before-30 :-)

Our youngest daughter "Happy" had outgrown her cute pink bike...so we headed to Canadian Tire and bought her a new 20" bike.  She was so happy to be able to pick out her own, and because Happy is a Tomboy she picked blue boys bike :-)  ~ Oh and we purchased her $299 bike for only $119!!!!  What a pleasant surprise at the store!!!

appreciating our family day together

Melodiejoy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Another Fill in the Blank friday,
from Lauren at the little things we do

And today's theme is....COLOR!  
Hope you'll play along!

1.  My favorite color is     pink or blue (I can't decide).

2.   My home decor color palette includes   a whole rainbow of colours, some rooms are brown, white, yellow, pink, blue(this colour I regret painting my walls), red, purple, cream...I think I may like colours :-).

3.  Other people always tell me I look good in the color     brown ~ yuck ~ I still don't wear it very often.

4. The color I detest is    army green ~ I grew up in an army home ~ nuff said.

5. If you were to look in my closet most of the colors you'd see would be   bright bold colours, pinks, reds, blues, greens, yellows, oranges... except my pants I keep them all in neutral colours.

6. A color that I simply cannot pull off no matter how hard I try is   because I like bold colours...I'm not too concerned with "what I can pull off or not" so I just wear what ever colour I feel like :-).

7.  The color of my favorite dress is  black with white polka dots all over it :-) .

Realizing I may be addicted to colours....

Melodiejoy

Planning Ahead: For April's Photo Challenge

# 18 of my 30-Before-30 is "Do a 1 Month Photo Challenge"

So I found a list that I like from this blog and I intend on starting on April 1st...

So if you to would like to join in, please do ~ and let me know that your doing it also, and I'll be sure to check out all your photos!

Excited to do my first Photo Challenge!

Melodiejoy

Working Out ~ Again

Ok...So I was working out really hard before going on a 10 day vacation in February ~ Then it's been rare workouts since we arrived back home ~ but I'm determined today to get back at it, on a regular basis!!!!  Plus I really want to reach my goal weight for my 30-Before-30 goal #1 :-)

Here's what my weight loss chart currently looks like:
Please note the sudden jump was due to weighing in after vacation :-)

So even though I gained during vacation, I'm glad that I'm still below where I started!!  ~ Seriously who doesn't gain weight on vacation :-)

sweating myself back into a workout routine

melodiejoy

30-Before-30 #27 Have Family Photo's Done Professionally

Today, we did our annual family photo's at Wal-Mart

 

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This was actually our best photo session yet,
I guess as the kids get older that's to be expected :-)

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If you have had/have multiple kids I'm sure that you can relate to some photo's being a "tense" time, because for an hour or more, you attempt to get multiple kids to look at the camera, give "normal looking" smiles, and not blink all at the same time.  I know we have had a few very long photo sessions, with kids in tears before ~ and the poor stressed Mom and Dad before us today, had one of those photo sessions :-)  We really ought to be sure to thank photographers lots when we have our pictures done, because I am sure it's stressful for them too have crying kids in and out of their studio all day :-)  

But we had a great photo time!

The kids were so attentive!

The smiled beautifully!

We rarely had to take any retakes!

And the photo's turned out great!

And the best part is, we ended up getting lots of photo's
(2 different poses) and the sitting fee for only $36.00!!!

Happily awaiting the photo's to come in print

Melodiejoy

30-Before-30 #22 Reorganize My Walk in Closet

OK ~ Confession time...

I only put this task on my 30-Before-30 because I've been procrasting about it for way too long :-)  And I knew that if I put it on my list, I would do it, just to check it off :-)

I absolutely love to organize things....however this was a BIG job, so I was dreading doing it.

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Some of the items our closet contains are:

• most of my husbands clothing
• all my hanging clothing
• all my sweaters
• my shoe collection
• all of our "construction" clothing
• my hope chest
• my husbands tie collection (well it's not really a collection...but he's a pastor so there is a tie in every shade and design imaginable!)
• all our belts
• my purses
• laundry hamper

But I did it I tackled our closet.
It took me many hours!!!  
Sorry I have no photo's of this project :-)

I sorted through all my clothing
(while I was at it I went through all the clothes in my dresser as well)

Reorganized my husbands clothing

Installed a new wall shelf to hold my sweaters

Installed a new track lighting fixture, so that there would be more light in our closet

Hung up a 6 peg wall hook, for my husbands "to be worn again" clothing

And I hung a cute new curtain over the closet door 

~ a door will be installed someday...but our home is a work in progress, so a cute curtain will work for now :-)

Enjoying knowing exactly where all my clothing is

Melodiejoy

30-Before-30 #16 Teach 1 or more Dogs a New Trick

Well one of my dogs Mocha knows a fair amount of fun tricks. 

Somehow though we never taught her how to shake paw? 

Such a simple trick yet we had spent more time on the “funnier” tricks, like imitating a gopher, or playing dead when we shoot her, ect....

So I sat on the floor with Mocha for 5-10 minutes with lots of verbal praises (and zero treats).  And she can now shake paw!

I taught her this on Friday, so yesterday, and today, I’ve made sure to just go up to Mocha randomly throughout the day, and ask her to “shake”.  I like to do this to ensure that she has put this trick into her permanent memory.  So another 30-Before-30 crossed off my list!!!!

Enjoying my smiling dog

Melodiejoy

Fill in the Blank Friday

From: The Little Things We Do

1.  My favorite room in my home is    my kitchen    because     it's where all our company gathers, for fun, food and games.  Plus it's also where our family sits and chats about things as we eat out meals together.

2.   My current decor style is   thrift-ed & re-purposed.  but I wish it were more    Victorian.

3.  I wish I could redecorate the     girl's room     room in my house to make it more      "grown up" for my 3 girls .

4. My dream house absolutely has to have a   3 washrooms ~ 1 for my hubby and I ~ 1 for the kids ~ and 1 for our guests.

5. One house item I am willing to splurge on is   a 28cu ft. fridge....I'm saving up for it now, I'm over halfway there!!!!

6. A decor trend that I just don't "get" is   modern 70's decor??? I'm really not sure how that's catching on again :-)  .

7.   Lots of bins for organization(& for hidden clutter)   is a little touch that makes my house feel like home

To be Absent from the Body, is to Be Present with the Lord

Today a friend went home to be with the Lord.

I miss her dearly.

She was a friend to all, a wife, a mother, and a child of God.

She battled an extremely aggressive brain cancer, that was only discovered in November.

She fought for 3 & 1/2 months to defeat this cancer, undergoing 3 separate brain surgeries.

This morning all her suffering ended.

I'm tearfully grieving her passing, yet also I'm glad to know that I will see her again in glory someday.  

I'm happy to know that she is now with her mother, and I am praising God that she is with her Lord and Saviour!

I met Heather years ago, at a bible camp in New Brunswick, where we both were counselling.  She later married Kevin Burrill, and they moved out West as a Pastors family, where we have enjoyed their fellowship at retreats, and conferences.  

Please pray for our friend Kevin, as he prepares for life with his two young boys (2 years old, and a baby). Please also pray for these little boys as they grieve the loss of their young mother.

We are so thankful for this couples amazing testimony during this extremely difficult time.  My husband and I have both been challenged by the many loving updates that Kevin has posted over these months.  It's been amazing to watch him keep his eyes on the Lord at all times, despite the ongoing trials in their lives.  May the Lord find us all this faithful during times of trials we have yet to endure.  

Here's a photo posted by Kevin today.  This picture was taken early the same day that she underwent her second brain surgery.  As a friend on facebook labeled this photo:

" Her smile is because she knows the Saviour." 

remembering Heather's contagious smile

melodiejoy

Coffee for the Memory!

A good friend (Heather) posted this on my facebook wall today:

So I just saw that drinking 1-3 cups of coffee a day helps to retain memory!!! Yours must be amazing!!!;)

I wonder if it's actually true???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I checked... it's all over the internet.... Coffee helps with short term memory :-)

• newscientist.com
• webmd.com
• sciencedaily.com

Joyfully improving my memory

melodiejoy

30-Before-30 #14 Buy a New Espresso Maker, and use it Everyday for a Week

Back in December, a friend purchased me some new coffee syrups for my espresso drinks, and when I turned on my espresso machine the next morning to try one out...my machine died :-(  So sad, this is actually my second espresso maker to kick the bucket since I've been married ~ sigh ~  

So I began the shopping experience of looking for a new one....sadly I purchased not 1 but 2 different espresso makers (from 2 different stores, and 2 different brands) that I needed to return because they didn't work at all!!

Finally however, while we were vacationing in Austin MN, I found an espresso maker at Target!  Because of having to return 2 machines already, I took the machine to my hotel room, and tried it out before travelling back to Canada where I would not be able to return it.   Thankfully it worked great.  So I packed it back up...and a brought it home.

I was happy to be home from vacation, and on the first morning home, I made myself a yummy espresso drink.  Then to keep with my 30-Before-30 goal, I continued on for not 7 but now 9 days, having not 1 but 2 specialty drinks a day :-)

So I will share with you my favourite homemade coffee drink :-)

Hmm, for the sake of this post...I'll call it....

"Melodiejoy's Caramel Mocha"

First you need an Espresso Machine ~ just stating the obvious...because I wanted to show you a picture of my new machine.

Next, compress your grounds into the espresso ground container (or the what-ya-ma-call-it)

Then I start by brewing 4 cups of espresso, into my "brewing" mug... (yes I do love my coffee)

After this I pour 1/4 cup chocolate milk into my "frothing" mug...

and froth it nice and "poofy", till it bubbles over the top of the mug.  (you can also use white milk...but chocolate milk was on sale this week ~ cheaper than white ~ and it tastes sooo good)

Then I pump in some syrup into my "serving" mug  For this drink I use caramel flavoring...but lots of flavors would be great with this, just experiment with what you love!

I then pour the espresso on top the syrup...no stirring needed...but you can if you want too :-)

Next I pour the frothed milk on top...once again no stirring...

You can stop here if you like...because this also makes an amazing drink (it's what I had this morning)
Or you can continue on with whipping cream
This was a "splurge" purchase with my groceries last week :-)

I shoot some whipping cream on top....then drizzle some caramel (ice-cream) syrup on top
-I also sometimes sprinkle cinnamon on top

Finally I serve it with my breakfast...which the morning I took these photos,was a homemade iced cinnamon bun.  mmmm....

Then enjoy your creation ~ just avoid reading calorie content...because it could be discouraging ~ But I don't drink the whipped cream/syrup drinks everyday so I don't feel bad about having them once in awhile.

contently sipping coffee

melodiejoy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Ok...So I've never done one of these before...but they have always looked fun! So here's my first.

I found this list on "The little things we do" blog

1.  The highlight of my week was   going aqua-jogging for the first time with a good friend.

2.   If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be   a little bit of everything (although I would love to do it all Victorian), with lots of colour!

3.  My first vehicle was   a 1996 SL1 Saturn, this was a great car, so amazingly good on gas!...we just needed to replace it when our third child was born, because you couldn't close the back doors with 3 car seats in the back :-)

4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is  a sweat homemade snack.

5. My favorite way to waste time is  playing simple online games, like boggle or angry birds.

6. Right now I could really go for   a homemade caramel macchiato, with a homemade brownie, while enjoying a hot bath.

7.  This weekend I will be spending time with my kids and husband, and attending church on Sunday.