Hello, Goodbye

Wednesday,  October 20

What a day!  Surprise!  We got a new car.  I've been wishing for one for a while, but we didn't really decide to bite the bullet until last weekend.  No one makes the car I want, an affordable hybrid that can hold six people.  So, we got a Mazda5.  At first the girls were sad about getting rid of the Subaru, but they love the new car.  Now they can each bring a friend and everyone gets their own seat.  Yay!  Now that soccer season is almost over, have I finally become a legit soccer mom?   Is it really a minivan?  I think they call it a microvan. 

Buying a car is a crazy thing.  I thought for sure we were going to leave the dealership empty handed.  They were trying to charge us way too much, but Kevin held strong and I made a call to another dealership while we were there and reported that they would find us the same car for $1000 lower than invoice.  Finally when we said we were in no hurry and would just drive across town later that week for the good deal, they gave us the price we wanted which was $2000 lower than the number we first gave them.  What a team!  And Kevin, you are awesome!


Dear Forester, We really loved you for 13 good years.  You gave us a little scare last weekend when we thought one of your tires was going to fly off the car when we were an hour away from our destination at 9pm.  Luckily we just needed to balance, rotate and eventually get new tires.  Then we realized you were about to become a little too high maintenance.  Sorry for the surprise break up.  We will always remember you.  Love, The Cantrells

It's not too late to Do Fun Stuff.

Friday, October 1


This post is only a month late.  I'm helping Ryan over at Pacing the Panic Room spread the word about this album of original kids music that he helped to compile as a fundraiser for SMS (Smith-Magenis Syndrome).  I just listened to the album and it's awesome!  I would happily have any of these songs stuck in my head (except mabye the Potty time song) unlike most music for kids out there.

To find out more about SMS, check the PRISMS webpage.

Ryan is a fantastic photographer and also has some great videos including this one of his kids.  His son LB has SMS.    

So Long I'm Six from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

GPOYW & OSDS & other stuff

Wednesday, February 24

I wasn't sure when I would ever post this photo, then I saw GPOYW (Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday) over at Views Infinitum.   Perfect!  I sometimes like to take pictures from the car especially when I'm the passenger, but not usually of myself. 

I wish I had curly hair.  See the fluff and the curls?  I recently rediscovered my electric rollers - I only had to dig through five boxes in my garage to find them.  My hair is driving me crazy lately.  I really need a haircut.  The first time my kids saw my foofy hair they screamed.  Thanks guys.

What is OSDS?  It's Olympic Sleep Deprivation Syndrome!  I keep getting sucked in to the Olympics and staying up way too late.  Why do they wait until 10:30 to even start the figure skating?  I'm getting tired!  Last night I even got hubby to set up the DVR and then I still stayed up to watch.   Oh well, not much longer.  

I've been wanting to blog more, but it has been crazy busy here lately.  I usually try not to over schedule the kids and I for too many activities, but as part of lent I decided we could all handle it for one session of swimming lessons - 5 weeks.  My goal was to get the girls and I away from the screens and out exercising during the cold & rainy part of the year.   We have something every weekday afternoon except Friday: swimming, piano, drama, and gymnastics.  We almost skipped swimming today and it would have been a good idea since Syd was only in the pool for 5 min when then had to clear the place out and cancel lessons for the day after someone threw up in the pool.   Eeeew!
Well, the girls got our showers taken care of and now they are doing a Bindi Fitness video.  

I've been having some chronic back pain, but it's doing better and I've made it to the gym several times last week.   I went to this Zumba (Latin dance exercise) class, which was pretty fun and probably really good for my back, but my hips were challenged! 

That's all for now - I'm half way through our five weeks! 

30 Day Shred

Wednesday, March 31

OK, here is a little extra post for you. I just found out about this giveaway sponsored by the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I think I need to win this exercise DVD, so I can be motivated to workout 20 min a day for 30 days. My jeans feel like they're shrinking. So if you want to join you only have until April 1st, 1pm PST, to enter the contest. Good luck!

Vote for your planet

Saturday, March 28

Don't forget tonight at 8:30pm your local time is Earth Hour. Vote for Earth by switching off your lights for one hour. Show your support by voting against global warming.

This shouldn't be too hard for me. The girls and I are visiting some Grandparents today and they will be spending the night, so I won't even be home. I just have to remember to shut down the computer before I go. Hubby would encourage you to play a boardgame by candle light.

I love Skype and zippers.

Wednesday, September 24

The internet is so great! I just got a Skype account, which you can download for free. If you talk to someone else that has Skype, it's totally free. For only $3/month I can make unlimited calls to landlines and cellphones in the US. For a little more I can have a US number that people can call and will ring on my computer. Did I mention how awesome the internet is? Well, I've talked to a few people and it's been great to be back in contact after going through summer with only a couple short calls. It's especially comforting now that Sydney is having second thoughts about going to school. She did so great the first week, this kind of caught me by surprise. She is really missing her friends and preschool back in Oregon. I'll elaborate more later. On a better note I was able to finally call the insurance company and they're ready to send our check for the stuff that was stolen in Barcelona.

On an entirely different subject check out the new (or old?) alternative to velcro. Sydney got these fancy new tennis shoes that as you'll notice lace up. But she never has to untie them. Look a little closer, there is a little side zipper that works like a charm. What a great idea.