Money Monday !!!

Since the Queen did the music week ....it looks like I just followed right along with my own theme .. cleaning week .. or perhaps month? I will keep you all posted .. cause I know it's super interesting ..

Let's see what did I do since the big bottle drive .. well I had all my outside windows washed .. hired a nice man that was very cheap and did a fabulous job .. then I have to mention my Mommy AGAIN .. cause she did all the insides PLUS all the screen (she scrubbed them in the laundry tub, what a lady) Boy does clean windows make a difference ... Oh and I also cleaned up the fish tanks .. they are much happier now and can actually see out the sides of their tanks ... I'm such a good Mom!

Today Mom and I rolled all of my change from the piggy banks .. those pennies do add up, believe me .. Ry and I's piggies held a smashing $131.00 so if I break that down into landscaping dollars .. well that's basically 2 trees or 4-6 shrubs .. or 3 yards of mulch .. yep it does cost a lot of money for your yard to look good .. and then you get taxed more .. sounds reasonable and makes a lot of sense ?!? !!

A little about "L" .. two words "Competitive SWANSON" .. I was downstairs tonight pitching the usual 50-100 balls for him to bat .. (I have been teaching him all the baseball lingo .. such as .. bad pitch, tic ball, foul ball, strike, ball, out .. etc .. ) I pitch him a ball, he swings and misses, naturally I say "Strike One" .. we looks at me with disgust and says "No Mom, tic ball" .. I thought maybe I didn't see the tic so I'd let it pass. I continue to pitch and then he misses another ball .. I say "Strike One" .. we looks at me like he can't believe that I would call that a strike .. he says, "BAD PITCH MAMA, NO STRIKE" I sat there in disbelief, is he this competitive already?!?!?! I guess if you add Ry's competitiveness and then mine .. oh my goodness we have created a monster ..... ha! ha!

I will end by again copying the Queen .. Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go .. but my saying will be Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to the cupboards I go ... plan to clean the kitchen cupboard this weekend with .. you'll never guess .. no not Ryan .. okay I will tell you .. my MOM !! Stay tuned for more cleaning updates ...

PS- I've never cleaned so much and felt so good .. who said that having a dislocated hip and being on crutches for 6 weeks was a bad thing .... ????

Crazy Cleaner ..

SO this will have to be short and sweet .... Ryan and I are heading out to my good friend's surprise 30th b-day party .. we were going to bring "L" but it's pissing down rain and now the party is being moved inside .. "L" hates being cooped up specially if he doesn't have his bats, balls, hockey sticks, pucks, golf clubs, ..etc .. so he is staying with Nana and Papa for the night ..

Today was another clean up day with my Mama and "L" .. we sorted all my bottles .. most people would think that this would take an hour at the most .. oh no ...not at the Makow's house .. I was saving my cans and bottle for my volleyball team .. to help with the fundraising .. but couldn't stand the mess any longer .. turns out after 3.5 hours .. Mom, "L" and I sorted enough of these messy things to make $$$$$$ 111.00 ... soooo Ryan and I have decided to take that money and buy 2 tress for our yard! GOOD IDEA !!!

Ryan worked in the yard all day .... yes in the pouring rain .. but accomplished some quality stuff! I have a very hard working man!!!!!! After our hard day was over we all sat down for a couple of coolers and beers so that we could start the collection again!!!

Pictures ..

"L" getting ready to help Daddy .. thanks Jared for all the safety equipment .. The big guy LOVES dressing up in his carpentry get up .. he then goes to his little tool bench and starts hammering everything in sight ..

Daddy and "L working in the yard ..now you can see the landscaping ties that I have been talking about .. do you see the grass .. so cute.. a little sparsey but it will get thicker .. good work Ry !

Nana and "L" at swimming lessons ... tomorrow is his last day so we will see what his report card says ...

Changed my mind

SO I have totally changed my picks for SOTYCD .. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Benji and Heidi .. they are the BEST .. and did you know that they are cousins?? Yep, my good friend told me that they are .. she works with a guy that knows them and even brought in some home video of them when they were little .. like my good friends says .. you learn something new everyday! Now I also have changed my mind on Natalie .. she is silly .. especially when they were saying how bad Ryan was and she just stood there and nodded .. who does she think she is?? She is no Heidi .. that's forsure ... I DO love Allison ... she is so cute .. maybe next time I let everyone know who my picks are I should watch more then 3 episodes .. OH WELL .. As for Canadian Idol .. my guy is still there .. gooooo Rob James ..

Nothing new on the home front .. went to the lake to visit the in-laws last night .. it was much too windy and rough to go in the boat but "L" was fine with that .. he loves just to throw sticks for the dogs ALL NIGHT .. then when we left the lake Ryan insisted that "L" should get a treat so he bought him a GIANT freeze .. "L" loves freezes but is only used to the small ones .. you should have seen his little face light up when he seen his treat .. all he kept saying is "BIG ONE, Mama" "BIG ONE" .. sooo cute ..nothing like giving the big guy some sugar right before bed ..

A little of this and a little of that!

I love that "THE QUEEN" asked the question why isn't anyone blogging and then 'poof' .. everyone blogs everyday .. she must really be a queen ! Thanks you ..I just love reading everyones blogs .. it totally keeps you in touch ..

So since baseball is now over and volleyball hasn't started yet, I have some time to watch TV and I would like to get on the tv band wagon .. Canadian Idol ... I LOVE Rob James.. sooooo cute .. the way he looks at the camera you actually think he see you sitting there... I think he like me .. just me.. no one else .. SO glad that Andrea won Canada's next top model .. not that I have watched more then 4 episodes but last night I really like her and wanted her to win .. she is soooooo skinny .. I think she went from geek to chic ...good for her! So you think you can dance .. love Natalie and Heidi .. think Ryan is super hot .. that's all for now on the tv side of things ..

Last night Ryan, "L" and I were outside working in the yard, honestly, I was drinking one of those pomegranate martini coolers (soo good), watching Ryan and "L work .. they were putting in more landscaping ties ... it was so cute .. if Ryan shovelled then the big guy would shovel, if Ryan was hammering, they the big guy was hammering .. I have SUCH a little boy there are no if ands or buts about it .. "L" is nothing but boy ... I will post pictures of our cute grass and yard ... maybe tonight or tomorrow!

Mom's are the BEST ...

So sorry that it has been so long .. I've been very busy .. this weekend while Ryan was fishing, Mom came over and helped me accomplish some tasks that have been driving me crazy .. first she sat me on my bed and basically dumped my whole closet on the floor ... I sat there like the princess that I am .. yes I will keep that .. give that old thing away ... and then there was a lot of ... that doesn't fit anymore .. too fat! The second thing that Mom helped me with was cleaning my office/spare room .... we took 7 garbage bags full of shredded paper to the dump .. man does it feel good to be organized again .. I think having a baby and then building a house might have something to do with my organizatinal skills .. now I just have to stay on top of things .. thanks Mommy .. as for Ryan and his fish ... WHAT FISH .. he got skunked .. no fish for him .. but like my Dad says .. catching a fish is just a bonus on that trip .. it's just about hanging out with the boys!

I went to the doc yesterday .. he thinks that I should stay on the crutches for another 4 weeks so that my muscles can strengthen and keep the ol' hip in place .. things are better on the crutches .. I think because the pain isn't as bad ... I still HATE .. HATE .. having to depend on people to do things for me .. poor Mom has to basically do everything I need everyday until Ryan comes home from work .. which can range from 4:30 to 6:30pm ... but Dad says that when you have kids you have to support them and do everything for them until you can't anymore .. that's what having kids is all about .. ??? I just pray that I will be as great as a parent to "L" as my parents have been to me ..

Did some shopping in PG while waiting for the doc appointment .. I've been buying stuff for my yard as things go on sale .. I just bought a bunch of solar lights .. they will look so nice next year when we have tons of grass and trees .. speaking of trees we plan to go get these this weekend if the weather hold outs .. Ryan has been busy putting landscaping ties in to seperate the driveway from the lawn .. and then the trees from the lawn .. it's so exciting to have a yard .. living in the dirt is just sooooo ugly!

Crunchy on Crutches ...

Being on crutches has never been so hard ... you know before I had "L" being sick or having surgery or being disabled was hard but nothing like it is now ... I have been struggling ...it's been a tough week .. just coming to terms with not being able to be the best Mama I can be .. it's hard when you're little one asks to be packed or even picked up and you have to say that you can't .. I'm struggling with depending on people and having them do everything for me .. including helping me get my pants on .. thank goodness that I have a Mom that doesn't work and can be at my beck and call .. she's the BEST .. and I have a husband that stands by me through thick and thin .. listens to all my problems whether they are petty or not and gives great advice .. THANK YOU .. okay enough about this ..

This week "L" started swimming lessons and is doing great .. he's learned how to blow bubbles, kick his feet, jump off the side of the pool, go under the water and squirt people with the little toys that they have .. most of the kids just gentle squeeze the squirt toys but Nana says that Linden actually aims at kids or herself .. Nana got the big squirt up the nose yesterday .. what did you say .. he reminds you of when Ryan was little .. nooooo, not sweet little "L" ! Ha!

What else is new .. husband left for Terrace today with the boys for their annual fishing trip, he wasn't going to go cause of my injury but I convinced him to .. wasn't that hard... Mom and Dad are moving in with Linden and I to take care of us .. once again... THANK YOU ..

Oh good news .. we have GRASS .. yes .. a lawn .. well the start of a lawn .. it's just so cute ..

Hippy Bithday ... I mean Happy Birthday

So I won't be able to send you pictures of the famous baseball cake as it landed between my legs and then was spread all over the floor and my pajamas as I crashed to the ceramic tile floor with a dilocated hip ... (Thanks Amy for being there for me) ...oh yes it happened again .. 25 days after the first dislocation .. funniest thing is .. June 20th was the first time which happen to be my good friend Marnie's birthday and the second time was July 15th which is Ryan's birthday .. I have to admit I hate other people getting all the attention .. I know this is a bit harsh to steal the floor but apparently it had to be done! Joking! Poor Linden he came running up to see me and the only thing he could say was .. "Momma... broke ".. I thought ahhhh .. but then he quickly added CAKE ... Yes Mama broke your cake .. then he added "No eat cake ...Mama" Wow did I feel bad .. poor guys didn't get a piece of the ball cake .. oh well everyone got a piece of Ryan's strawberry pie ... which turned out not to bad .. thanks to Grandma Swanson's pastry recipe!! All in all the week with the family here was sooooo precious .. it was short but will never be forgotten .. we were still able to get the family photos done so that's good and then Ryan (the birthday boy) treated us all to ice cream .. the day started a little shaky but ended calm and cool!

THE BIG DAY

"L" is sleeping so I'm getting ready for the big day .. Ryan and toddlers birthdays .. I'm doing a ball theme for "L" so as we speak I'm attempting to make a ball cake .. yep, I said a ball cake .. I will be decorating it as a baseball .. but it was a hard choice as my son LOVES all sports .. I think maybe for his real birthday on Tuesday I might do a beach ball ... more challenge for decorating .. since I'm a pro at that .. kidding of course .. I will post pictures once completed so everyone can laugh .. actually it shouldn't be that bad as my assistant decorater (Sister Amy) will be here to help .. thank goodness!!!!

Saturday is actually Ryan's 31st birthday but since everyone is home we will combined the two and have one big party .. Now don't worry I made a special strawberry pie for Ryan so he feels important and not forgotten .. the day should be fun, we're doing BBQ burgers, and salad .. a lunch thing cause we have a family photo shoot that night! I LOVE having my family around!!

Well my oven buzzer is telling me that the cake is done .. wish me luck!!! Hope eveyone is doing great!

Hello Bloggers

Oh my goodness I'm in blogland, cooool ... it's so fun .. blogging .. blogger .. bloggy .. blogtastic .. bloganater ... I like the name blog .. it' s cool and hip .. and COUTRY MOUSE has finally caught on to the new rage ... you cousins must be so proud of me .. but don't get too excited as I might not be a regular blogger .. I have a ton of things going on .. okay maybe I will have time at work .. God knows you ALWAYS have time at work for fun things like email and now the newest thing .. blogg'in .. what else should this blogging machine tell you ... planted grass this evening .. or let me rephrase that.. lawn .. I can't wait for all the dust to go away .. "L"is doing wonderful .. always up to something ... he will start swimming lesson on Monday so that should be fun and might tire him out a bit .. the guys has endless energy ... ahhh to be young again .. ohhh my brother, sister-in-law and nephew are in town .. so good to see them as it's been a while .. baby "N" is soooooooooo cute .. I just love him .. he's one of those babies that you just HAVE to hold and kiss .. the cutest thing is .. if you show him that you have a camera he looks right at you with the perfect smile .. ahhhh .. Sister-in-law looks like a million bucks, makes me want to get my butt in gear and lose all my baby chub .. Brother looks good.... as usual and is extremely good with "L" ... my little guy doesn't know how lucky he is to have a great family like we do .. well this has turned into a big blog for little country mouse ... I'll be back .. .