some more on religion

My last post and the comment I got on in made me think abou this one. For me religion is so important because there is such a wide variety of believes and faiths and I would never dare to judge anyone for their belief. Even within the same denomination there are lots of different ways of seeing things and I think that this is so important for this world. But we all should be aware that although we might see things differently or believe in different things we are still living in the same world having lots in common.

This basically means to me that the openness to other faiths and believes is an important part for me. I always respected people for what ever they believed in, even if I was not able to agree at all. This is why I had such a hard time with the children at church because they didn't seem to respect the space of church and it being sacred for the people there... that's it for now maybe more to follow

Taking the kids with me to church

Today I had to take two of the kids with me to church. This is the 3 Sunday now that I went to the St. Albert Parish, before that I usually went with the family to the Grace Family Church, which as far as I know is a baptist church; the people there were really nice, but I just didn't like the way of the service, so I decided to go to the catholic church to get the kind of mass I have been used to all my life.

Now this week P. the 9 year old kid was to get his bible for school at the Parish church so I was told to go there with him and E. the 6 year old decided to come along. Then today in the morning she insisted on going by bike, all the way up Mission Hill. I asked them if they were sure, and they said yes. But then on the way back home they were complaining, and also on the way there E. started, when I told her not to whine because she was the one who wanted to take the bikes.

then at church, just after P. got his bible he told me "Now we go home" which was no option as I wanted to stay to the end of course, so he was sitting there with a frown on his face for the rest of the mass. And then he told me that he didn't like the music and the rest of it. I think E. didn't mind it so much, but P. didn't want to go there in the first place already anyway.

and then on the way home I had to explain things like the first communion to them... and they are going to a catholic church!

strange feeling....

wow, time flies! I can't believe it is just 10 more days to my flight back home.

it's somehow strange, but I can't really look forward to it as you would think I would after weeks of exhauting work here with 5 kids surrounding me all the time, having rarly any time off.... but somehow I still enjoy working with kids, even doing the house chores I don't really mind, I have to do them at home too anyway, even if it is just for myself and I don't have to clean up after children, vacuum 4 bedrooms... well, I never really minded all that kind of work as long as people are aware that I am doing it and that it is work. Does that make sense? Well, I guess seeing things that way also has to do with the simple fact that my mom always had a full-time job and did all the house work and my dad always took that for granted, and when she was gone for some reason he expected me to fill in most part for her, and maybe my brothers, but I don't remember of having heard him say thank you even once.

I hope I didn't sound resentful now, but sometimes it is just hard to not get mad at someone who is that way. I know I am a lot better off than some other people and I should not complain, but I want to make the best out of my life. So I will still complain if things are not right! But I try to keep complaints of that kind away from here.

Sorry if I have not been writing lots lately, just being a nanny here keeps me pretty occupied, and right now my health is not tops either, got a sore throat, and the kids have runny noses, which causes me to run after them with tissues in my hands. FUN, YAY!!!

I was tagged by Yankee Mom

ABOUT ME>>>

Body:
[] really short under 5'2
[] 5'2 -5'6"
[] 5'6.25-5'8''
[X] in between 5'8" - 6'
[] tall over 6'_________

Hair?
[] blonde
[] redhead
[X] brunette
[] dirty blonde/brownish
[] black
[]white
[]gray_________

Eyes?
[] blue-eyed
[] brown-eyed
[] green-eyed
[X] hazel eyed
[] gold/gray-eye
[] silver/gray- eyed
[] blue/green-eyed
[] brown/green-eyed
[] glasses
[] contacts

_____________Hair length?
[] short hair
[] med.
[X] long hair

___________________Your nationality includes...
[] Chinese
[] Indian
[] Taiwanese
[] Japanese
[] Hispanic
[] Cuban
[] Spanish
[] Nicoya
[] Puerto Rican
[] Chicana
[] Italian
[] Scottish
[] Filipino
[] Armenian
[] Dutch
[] French
[] German
[] Irish
[]Greek
[] Portuguese
[] Pirate
[] Polish
[] English
[] Trinidad
[] Korean
[] Jamaican
[] Canadian
[] Lithuanian
[] Native American
[] Russian
[] Swedish
[] African
[] Peruvian
[] Hungarian
[] Ukrainian
[] Czech-slovakian
[] you aren't sure what else you are {EVER HEAR OF HEINZ57????}
[] Rumanian
[] Finnish
[] Egyptian
[] welsh
[] Norwegian
[] Croatian
[X] Austria
[] Persian
[] Dominican

____________________Your favorite color(s) are?
[X] red
[] khaki
[] pink
[X] yellow
[] black
[] grey/gray/however u spell it
[X] green
[X] blue
[X] white
[X] silver
[X] purple {DEEP DARK COLORS}
[] brown
[] orange
[] clear seeing through things is cool!
[] anything bright
[] Gold
[X]Burgundy

{my #1}_______________________________Some sports/physical things you have done?
[] soccer
[] charlatans
[] dancing
[] lacrosse
[] field hockey
[] hockey
[] football
[]softball
[X] ice skating
[] wrestling
[]gymnastics
[] track/cross country
[] basketball
[] baseball
[] golf
[] playing music
[X] hiking
[] kayaking
[] camping
[X] horseback riding
[] tennis
[X] volleyball
[]Martial arts
[] rugby
[] frisby golf
[] surfing and skim boarding
[]bmx
[] wakeboarding
[] snowboarding
[] skateboarding
[X]skiiing

_______________________Your personality is sometimes...
[X] talkative
[X] shy
[X] funny
[X] serious
[] bubbly
[]spazzy
[X] fun loving
[X] laid back
[X] strict
[X] hyper
[X] weird
[] ditzy
[] sarcastic
[] slow

___________________The music you like is?
[X] classic rock
[] rap
[X] alternative
[X] rock
[] pop
[X] country[
] r&b
[] slow jams
[] christian (had too much of that lately!)
[X] classical
[] techno
[X] oldies
[X] punk
[] metal
[X] reggae
[] emo
[] screamo
[] latin
[] hardcore
[] noise
[] ska
[] 80's
[] reggaeton
[] dancehall
[]hip hop
[] blues
[] jazz

_________________The pets you have had?
[X] cat
[] dog
[] lizard
[] mouse
[] rat
[] ferret
[] rabbit
[] fish
[] ducks
[] chickens
[] rooster
[] horse
[X] bird
[] frog
[] hermit crab
[] prarie dog
[] none
[] turtle
[] hamster
[] snake
[] gerbil
[] guinea pig
[] goats
[] chinchilla
[] tarantula
[] squirrel
[] grasshopper
[] turkey
[] geese
[] vermicious kind
[] frumious bandersnatch

________________________Clothes you like to wear are?
[X]plain tshirts
[]sweatshirts
[X]sneakers
[X] jeans
[X] flip-flops
[] sweatpants
[X] ball caps

____________________Clothing Brands you like?
[]American Eagle
[] Hollister
[] Abercrombie & Fitch
[]Target
[]Nautica
[] Wal-mart
[] Wet Seal
[] Billabong
[] O'neil
[] PacSun
[] Aeropostale
[] Hot Topic
[] Dickies
[] Anchor Blue
[] Guess
[]Forever 21
[] champs
[] nike
[] salvation army/goodwill
[X] if i like something i'll buy it no matter what brand

________________Shoe Brands?
[] Nike
[] Adidas
[] K Swiss
[] Steve Madden
[] Vans
[] Etnies
[] Converse
[X] Saucony
[] flip flops
[] new balance
[] brooks
[] skeechers
[X]whatever

________________States I have been to.
[] Alabama
[] Alaska
[] Arizona
[] Arkansas
[] California
[] Colorado
[X]Connecticut
[] Delaware
[X] Florida
[X] Georgia
[] Hawaii
[] Idaho
[X] Illinois
[] Indiana
[] Iowa
[] Kansas
[] Kentucky
[] Louisianna
[] Maine
[X] Maryland
[X] Massachusetts
[X] Michigan
[X] Minnesota
[] Mississippi
[] Missouri
[X] Montana
[] Nebraska
[] Nevada
[] New Hampshire
[] New Jersey
[] New Mexico
[X] New York
[X] North Carolina
[X] North Dakota
[] Ohio
[] Oklahoma
[] Oregon
[X] Pennsylvania
[]Rhode Island
[] South Carolina
[] South Dakota
[] Tennessee
[] Texas
[] Utah
[X] Vermont
[X] Virginia
[X] Washington
[X] Washington D.C.
[] West Virginia
[X] Wisconsin
[] Wyoming

Riverbend's Baghdad Burning

I just added a new blog to my blogroll today, which I found through a book, I got from the local library, called Baghdad Burning. It is a blog by an Iraqi woman my age who writes about her experince of the war and life in Iraq. Some of you might like her writings, some might feel offended. I just like the way she writes, I am even thinking about pointing you to specific posts, with reasons why I liked them. To me she appears a very openminded person who deserves being read and respected for what she writes.

Ain't that ridiculous?

it's kinda funny that sometimes international flights are not more expensive than flights within one country! I am going to have to fly from Ft McMurray down to Calgary to get my flight and the total of the flight will be about 160 Canadian Dollars, and my flight back home was a total of 230 euros, but that flight within Canada is already a sale price! don't know how much it would be otherwise!

And I was thinking about visiting people from here but I was just not able to find any reasonably priced flights from here to the states, and now out of curiosity I was checking on flights from back home which seem to be even cheaper! something wrong here? I just can't believe that!

Day at a waterpark

I want to say something before I go on with my entry here, I know my blog has changed over the past few months, not only that I am not writting as reguarly anymore, but that I am writting about different things, well most of you know that my life is quite a bit different right now, and I am pretty sure it will go back to the way it used to be, whether you like it or not, but the job as a nanny for 5 kids is quite a challenge and it makes you think of different things than if you are at home as a student...
well, I still think of a lot of things that would make great blog entries here in my old style, but I don't really find the time to write them and when I make it here, I don't really write them down, or don't find the rigth words for them, does that sound silly now?

well, here now a short account of a busy sunday:
I got up early because I had decided that I wanted to go to the catholic church here, as I have not been to a catholic church since I left home, and I would not have believed how much I would miss it. So when I got there, I found out that there were 3 children who were going to have their first communion during that mass, and that there was to be a pancake breakfast after mass. I knew I was not to stay for the pancake breakfast, as I was expected back home because we had planned to go to Water World, the water park of West Edmonton Mall, which opened at 11, so the family did not even go to church at all, and when I came back they had already put my pancakes in the fridge, cause I got back 90 minutes after the mass had started... Then all of us (8) went in the truck to WEM, where we got our tickets for the waterpark right away, and then I was to spend a lot of time with children in the wave pool, or running up the stairs to some slides. It was fun but also very tiring, so I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend in the hot tub, just relaxing! I expected my legs to be sore today but it is only my bud muscels that turned out to be really sore this morning...
the scariest slide I went down yesterday was one you went down on a sled, and when you did a great job you didn't get wet at all. The first time I managed that but the second time I didn't do that great and was not able to go that far, so I had to carry my sled for a bit, and the other scary one was a sleep closed slide which ended up in a thing where you go in circles when you are fast enough and then drop into a 10 meter (30 ft) deep pool without knowing which direction to go.
more updates on me soon I hope.

kids:your own or someone else's

hmmm, have been thinking today a lot about kids and so on, well the chance is pretty high that I spend time thinking about kids lately as I spend about as much time with kids right now as most mothers do...

I take them to all kinds of activities (today we spent the morning at a gymnastics place), go to the library, stay home with some of them when Mom takes the others somewhere or have all of them at home with me when Mom has to run some errands, take them to school, pick them up from school, prepare their meals, change diapers, wipe bums... You get the idea. So I came to thinking that having your own kids can't really be any harder than this, as you don't have to raise the kids to anyone else's ideas. It is somehow strange how I sometimes feel like just telling the kids what I think about something, although I know the parents disagree with me. And how somethings the kids think really upset me, but I don't want to get into an argument with the parents... just on religious issues that can get pretty tough, never thought I would have such a hard time with that. I was raised Catholic in a Catholic country, went to a Catholic high school... so for me all the at makes sense, whereas they just call themselves christian and have quite a different point of view on many issues....

exhausting day!

What do you do about a sore shoulder? You would not believe how I came to have that, I had to fight one of the kids to get him in his seat in the car, and then he would not have me put on his seat belt.... well I was just holding him in his seat while he was kicking and thowing his body in all directions, and somehow he must have done something to my shoulder, although I don't know what....

Hope it will be over tomorrow morning.
And then all of the kids were taking turns in crying today, as if they just didn't want it to ever be quiet,.... do you get the idea?

First day of school

For the past week or so I was looking forward to the day when school starts so not all 5 of the kids will be around the house all day anymore. So today was the big day. So last night we got lunches ready, labeled all the school stuff, and tried to get the kids off to bed early. but the tough part was this morning, the kids were to have breakfast at 7:30, so they were to be awake by 7. So I had be awake even earlier. Did not like that so much! And then I had to distract the younger ones so they would not make a big scene when mommy took the big ones to school.
Later we went shopping and all kinds of stuff. As long as children are listening that kind of stuff can be fun, but when they start to climb around shopping cards or start sword fights in the dollar store it is not that much fun anymore....

Some Pictures from my trip to the Rockies

This is one of the few pictures I got where you could see more of the mountains than just a few trees at the bottom, and I really liked this one as it shows very clearly that glaciers are nothing static but that they are moving. Moving down the mountain, almost flowing like some very thick liquid.and that's one of the dangerous parts about glaciers, as they crack...



some more water than the rain, the river in the very wide river bed, which I am sure can be pretty flooded at some parts of the year. The thing I really loved about this is that the river bed is not touched at all, so the river can flow the way it does.

In the icefields that's what it looked like, busses and cars driving through the snow, and in the visitor center they had cancelled all the snowmobil trips, due to the bad weather. This is where I spent some time inside just to escape the weather for a while. The following picture is another one from the icefields.

Taking off to the Rockies

Got a weekend off.

Decided to make a 3 day trip to the rockies, dunno if I will be able to update while I am on the road...

Exhausting morning

wow, it is early afternoon and I feel ready to get some sleep. all I did today was:
make breakfast for the kids at 8:30 (cream of wheat) put the baby to bed three times (he has a cold), took a shower and had lunch but I feel like I was working way more!

and even more exhausting afternoon

just after lunch today mommy had to go to the bank and run some other errants so I was left at home with all five of them. The tired, sick baby, the 2 year old who was not told that mommy was leaving the house, and the three others who had the job of distracting him. Somehow of course some of them got into fights, hurt each other...
and the baby always just went to sleep to wake up right away again and cry....

thank goodness I got the chance to go to the Salvation Army thrift store to get a sweater! so I had some time to myself!