Wilsonworld

Hot dog cakes

Summer has offically started..I know this because at 9:13 am my Bug exclaimed...I'm bored there is nothing to do!!!!!!!! I think its going to be a LONG summer. The Hot Dog Cakes in the picture were my contribution to Munch's year end party at school. They were really easy to make, involved NO BAKING, and the kids really liked them. The desks have been cleaned out, awards handed out and report cards signed and returned. Munch did really well on his report card (nothing new there...) and Bug has successfully completed her first year of school. To celebrate, the family loaded up the car and headed down to watch the Windsor-Detroit Fireworks, which is one of the largest fireworks displays on this half of the globe....Since moving to Windsor eighteen years ago i have only missed 3 years of this show...Keith figured out that in his lifetime he has missed 2 shows....Millions of people line up on both sides of the border to watch the fireworks above the Detroit River.....What a wonderful way to say goodbye to the school year and hello to summer. Off to make the children do some well needed chores ( No i am not going to make them do chores ALL summer, but there are some things that need a'doin!) Don't forget to check out The JunkYard for today's JUNK YARD POETRY Challenge!

Hot dog cakes Originally uploaded by rileymom.

You would think that i

You would think that i would learn from my mistakes..but apparently i haven't.

Last year on crazy hair day, Munch asked me to dye his hair using Kool-Aid. And i did.....which resulted in my white bathroom tiles being a lovely shade of strawberry red...not to mention that it looked like i had been part of some type of bloodbath. My hands were stained for days......(OUT OUT DAMNED SPOT!)

This morning he asked again..but i thought i had gotten smarter. We dyed it outside using the garden hose..and this year the colour of choice was LIME GREEN.....

His hair looks great, and no tiles were stained in the process......HOWEVER.....
My hands and especially my nails are now sporting the GREEN which we all covet in shoes and clothes...NOT SO MUCH ON SKIN AND NAILS.
I have managed, using AJAX, to remove most of it from my hands...they are itchy and raw....BUT my nails are another story...instead of a bloodbath i look like i have spent some time with little men from mars.

You would think i would learn.......

Construction ( or de-construction, pending on how you want to look at it) down at the Exhausted household is coming along nicely......It has been an educational experience for all of us i think. As Shelley has mentioned, we now know that all a woman really needs is a butter knife and a good shoe and she can do almost any repair job there is!
We have learned not to ask her hubby why he is cutting a post ( never question a man with a saw in his hand)..and my Hubby has learned NOT to put his appendages under the fence that he is helping to put up...that is not before the fence is secured.....He is not limping as much this morning.

I wondered aloud last night that it will be a shame when all of the work is done, because it really has been a good work out for all of us.....and it doesn't even feel like exercise...ok maybe the part when we were lifting and laying the patio stones....and then re-lifting and re-laying the patio stones because we had thought we should line them up one way, but apparently it was not the correct way.....

Next to work on my own back-yard....i have rescued some lattice from the destruction down there and will be building a trellis to shut out the view of my neighbour's side door....

Linda tagged me to answer

Linda tagged me to answer these questions about books. She says i have to tag people too, so I'm tagging...Lets see if they will play! ( look at the end of the meme to see if i have tagged YOU)

1. The number of books I own: My guess, is that we probably have over 1000 books in this house. I am not joking. See I have a problem....I can not get rid of a book. I have books from my childhood, from my parents childhood.....we have novels both fiction and non fiction, science fiction and reference books, picture books...books to make you laugh and books to make you cry. Books that make you want to go..WHAT were they thinking? And books that make you think. I married a man who also loves books. We have 2 children who love books.....and a Papa who has his own book collection..So there is not a shortage of books EVER in this house. ( Yes i also kept all of my University textbooks...I know,I know..I have a problem and admitting it is the first step! Our dream is someday have floor to ceiling bookshelves all around the Library...there are still boxes of books in the basement that have not been unpacked....)

2. The last book I bought: It was either Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, or Time Off for Good Behaviour by Lani ( Maybe Baby also by Lani, but i won that one)..they were around the same time.

3. The last book I read: Well i usually have 3 or 4 books on the go at the same time...So currently reading:
Sorry Walter by Judi Curtin,
Left Behind ( a Novel of the Earth's last Days) by Tim Lahane and Jerry Jenkins
Native Son by Richard Wright.
The Bruce Trilogy by Nigel Tranter
4. Five books that mean a lot to me:
This is harder than i thought it would be!
Here it goes, although I am sure that i have forgotten some

A. Mein Kampf
Yes a strange choice, but let me explain. When i was a child ( probably Munch's age), i found this book on my grandfathers shelf. I wanted to read it, but he told me NO..I had to be an adult to read that type of book. Every time i would stay at my grandparents i would sneak out while i was supposed to be sleeping and read a few pages of the book.
When my grandfather passed away, he left instructions that the book be given to me. It is my way of realizing when i became an adult...and a way to remember him.

B. The House at Pooh Corner
Yes, Pooh Bear.....this book is a reminder of the joy of childhood, and even today, if I get to stressed out, i pick up my copy and let myself travel back to the 100 acre woods.....comforting to be around old friends!

C. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
A gift from my then future husband. My original copy had been stolen from me while i was at University ( it had been my fathers) and after seeing how upset i was, he went out and found me a copy similar to the missing one. We have read it to each other, and to used it to introduce our children to Shakespeare.....But my favourite writing in it is the inscription...written by Hubby :)

D. Anne of Green Gables
I have several copies of this book, but my fave is the one given to me by my late mother-in-law, Faith. It is dog eared from her reading it as a girl and i hope to pass it on to Bug when she is old enough to appreciate it. I taught me about Kindred Spirits and how to be true to yourself.

E. Only one more????? Um...How to pick????
Ok....
The Bible ( you knew some one was going to pick this one).....
Coming from a long line of Irish Catholics, the bible was /is a large part of my life. At my grandmothers house the Family Bible was kept in her library ( the same one i would sneak into to read Mein Kampf) and it held all of the snippets of our lives with in its cover. Grandma painstakingly recorded everything that she felt was important....
I have the bible that was given to me as a child, and i too have been recording ( although not quite as often as i should have) things that are important to my little family.
In times of trouble and pain, it is a book i turn to, to help me make sense of things.
In times of reflection, it helps me remember who i am and where i came from.
It is a book i freely share with my children, whether it be in the form of my own bible, or the children's bibles that they both have.

5. Two books I read as a kid:
The entire Nancy Drew series...I would get 5 books for Christmas, and then 10 days later get 5 more for my birthday...I loved those books! I still have the series ( of course i do...didn't you read my explanation in the first question of this meme)..it is waiting at my Father's house for when Bug is old enough to read them.

The James Herriot Series..It should never happen to a vet)
My parents gave me the first of the series and i was hooked. Herroit made me laugh and cry and taught me life lessons that were easier to learn in a book, rather than have to listen to my parents. They sit on the shelf waiting for my own children to read them.

Green Eggs and Ham ( yes i know i am only supposed to do 2, but its my blog!)
We have several copies of this book here in Wilsonworld. My mother bought me a new copy when i was pregnant with Munch, since my own copy had fallen apart from use. Bug has her own copy too........it is very much a part of our lives .....and i think should be mandatory reading for all parents. TRY IT TRY IT YOU WILL SEE!

So now its time for someone else to take a look at their books and tell us about them......
I tag.....
John Strain, Mark (will you actually do this one Mark?), Shelley ( if she can tear herself from the home improvements for a bit) Kim (same thing about the home improvement stuff) and
Keri ( if she has stopped running for a bit!)

Now i remember how much

Now i remember how much i love working with and teaching kids! Today i went into Munch's class and did a poetry workshop using JUNKYARD Poetry! And they loved it. It was great to see all of the light bulbs going off abouve their heads as they realized that all poetry is is a group of words...they don't have to rhyme, you don't have to be worried about punctuation......and it can be fun! I talked to his teacher after and she wanted to know if she could spread the word about me to other teachers in the school....WOO WOO Maybe this is something i should look into....Maybe a new way to fill my time..and someday get paid for it..Wouldn't that be great?

THIS WEEK'S JUNK YARD TOPICS ARE POSTED OVER AT THE JUNKYARD....GO TAKE A LOOK AND JOIN IN....(THIS MEANS YOU MARK!)****Link has been fixed Mark, sorry about that!

A big thank-you to all

A big thank-you to all of you who emailed and commented on my Gus-kitty. He has not come home, and we are working through the grieving process with heavy hearts. Bug, in a typicaly 4 year old fashion will be upset one minute and fine the next, but its Munch that I am more worried about. He still hangs on to the fact that Gus may come home. To the point that he won't hear anyone else say what all of the grownups are thinking. That Gus has joined all of our loved ones in a better place.......and ever time someone mentions it he breaks down. I wish I could take away the pain that is filling his heart. But I can't, and he needs to learn from this. He needs to realize that we are all mortal, and that someday each and everyone of us will shuffle off from this mortal coil and find a better place. I just wish there was an easier way for him to learn.

I have some great neighbours.
They have been helping us all week in our search for Gus...one of them knocking on the door at 6am because he thought he saw Gus up at Tim Hortons........it wasn't him, and there is now one really pissed off cat up there on Windemire street!

School is slowly winding down,only 6 more school days left...and then 8 weeks of freedom ( or 8 weeks of hell...pending on whether you are a parent or a child).
I am going in to Munch's class on Thursday to do a workshop with them on JunkYard Poetry...
and i have had to promise that i won't do anything to embarass him....

Father's Day has come and gone, and Keith had ....a day.
While out cutting the grass Sunday morning..the wheels fell off the lawnmower......He thought he would take a break from cutting, and so he went and got his weed-whacker......and promptly blew the motor.
So it was off to Home Depot.....
The new weed-whacker works really well..I know this beacuse i assembled it and i used it..HE is not allowed to touch it!

We should be in our new car by the end of the week.....new to us......and we will be finally parting with the big blue bus ( mini-van) that has served us so well......

I am spending the day doing chores around here that i have been neglecting all week.
During my little break from you all i have done some thinking and healing...but no housework!

Guess life really does just keep moving on.

asparagus

Apparently at some point Gus decided to go for a walk. He has not come back. When i came home at noon today I thought it strange that he didn't come to the door to say hello, like he does whenever Keith or I come home. He didn't try to crawl on the material i had laid out on the floor as i was working on a new project.....So i went looking for him. I checked all of his fave spots in the house, and then started just frantically looking everywhere. There is not an inch in this house that has not been opened or crawled in. He is not here. So outside i went, and i checked under porches and shrubs,first on my street, and then on several streets over on either side of me. Not there either. After Munch came home from school, i tried to piece together a timeline of when Gussy may have planned his escape. Last night the side door blew open in the wind; it hadn't been closed properly. I was at a ball game and Keith was late in coming home....But Keith swears that Gus was curled up with him last night.... This morning Munch swears that Gus was in the window, meowing good-bye as he hopped on his bike. ( he likes to perch in the window as the kids and Keith are leaving in the morning). I had left while still dark, so i didn't expect to see him.....probably still curled up with Munch, dreaming of mice, or cheesies ( or whatever kitties dream of). All i know is that he is gone now..... and at one point it was a neighbourhood search....with 7 kids on bikes, one Bug on her tricycle, and 2 parents....going up and down the street calling his name. Gussy was a wedding present i got my husband..he has been in our lives for what seems like forever....and there is a hole in our hearts because he is not here. He is going blind, he has no front claws, and is a INDOOR CAT. He is on medicated food, and I don't know if he could survive outside. I put some food and water on the porch, and i'm going to sleep by the downstairs window, just in case he finds his way home...So i can be there to open the door and let him in. The kids didn't go to bed well tonight, Bug is full of questions about where cats can hide, and Munch is freakishly quiet....he can't stop crying...and says he can't sleep without his gus-kitty curled by his side (his nightly snoozing spot). I hope he makes his way home. I hope he is safe If someone has found him, I hope they know that there is a family out there who loves him very much and needs him to come home.

asparagus Originally uploaded by rileymom.

SHE IS BACK! Yes...SHELLEY is

SHE IS BACK! Yes...SHELLEY is back and more exhausted than ever! Go and see her...... read what she has been up to...and while you are there, click on her Buy the Book link and well...buy her book!.... She has a lot of concrete to pay for...( ok... its concrete removal, but just go and see her!)

All dressed up

We had the neighbour snap a picture of us all dressed up. It happens so rarely that i wanted to be able to prove that i didn't wear my jammies and fuzzy slippers all the time!

All dressed up Originally uploaded by rileymom.

Today was errand run around

Today was errand run around day! Keith took a day off work, and we used the day to do all of the things that we have been meaning to do....unfortuanately they all required spending time in line at some sort of Gov't or Ministry office. But it is all done, and I only grew a few more grey hairs after dealing wih red tape for most of the morning. We are looking at a new car. Its not a NEW new car, but it will be a new one for us...kindof. When my MIL passed away, she gave her car to my BIL. They have gotten a new van, and now the car just sits there......and since our van is on its last legs (it has been for some time now but we have been in denial)..it seems to be a win-win situations for all parties.

Tomorrow we are off to a wedding....Keith helped me pick out shoes and handbag to match this awesome summer dress i picked out...NOTHING I would have ever worn before, but times they are a changing! I think that if he ever gets tired of doing design work, he could go into ladies fashion...... ( so why can't he pick out his own stuff? Is it just a guy thing?)

Have a great weekend doing whatever it is that you are doing!

Junk Yard Poetry Day...... First...The

Junk Yard Poetry Day...... First...The Rules.....

1. NO EDITING! ( you are on your honour on this one)

2. Must post within 24 hours of the issuing of the topics...( originally it was that the poem had to be posted in mere minutes, but given the different time zones and locations it makes more sense to allow for these things) Please Use comments to let me know you are in!

3. Poem has to be written in less than 10 minutes.....Yes you heard me 10 minutes or less, with again i repeat..No EDITING

This weeks topics....
1...The heat is on! (in tribute to the Lovely Humid Hot weather we are having)
2...The games children play ( inspired by AGK)
3....Around the World (as seen by your suitcase)

Come along and play! Leave me a comment to let me know if you are playing this week!