February in Photos Day 27

This week we've been driving my dad's Mini, serving three purposes: babysitting it while my dad is away, allowing Mike to take our car on business to Seattle, and showing us just how nice it is to have at least a little space in our regular car. Squishy is the first word I would use to describe two car seats in the back of the Mini! And I attempted a Costco trip which was pretty funny in itself...

February in Photos Day 26

Jack and I saw a very scary thing today. We were driving down a major street, two lanes our way and three the other. We stopped at a red light about 4 cars back from the front. The light went green, our cars started to go... all of a sudden I noticed a lady running across the road from left to right about 4 cars back from the start line/crosswalk on the other side facing us. She was trying to beat all of us who were just going, and most certainly did not have a walk sign even if she had been anywhere near a crosswalk. So she successfully got across the three lanes on that side of the road, behind all those cars who had been waiting at the light. The lead car in our lane saw her and stopped - she kept running. The curb lane to my right, however, had a guy blasting up who hadn't been stopped at the light and she ran RIGHT. IN. FRONT. OF. HIS. CAR.

I don't think Jack saw the actual impact, I hope he didn't see, but he did ask me, "Why you yell NO and then SH*T, Mummy?" The driver did an amazing job of slamming on his brakes but the end result was that the pedestrian was down and under the front of his car. Not the wheels thank GOD. Amazingly, unbelievably, she rolled out from under, stood up, brushed herself off, and walked to the sidewalk while we all gaped at her from our stopped cars. We were all yelling are you ok, and all attempting to pull over into the bus stop. The guy who hit her (although I want to say the guy whose car she hit with her body because: totally not your fault poor guy!) was just too damn shocked to even move. She yelled to all, "I'm fine, thanks, everyone!" gave a little cheerio wave and a smile and started walking briskly away up the sidewalk.
You would expect her to be young and stupid, right? Nope. Late fifties or early sixties, well dressed and obviously in just that much too much of a hurry to give a sh*t about those of us just trying to drive without killing a human.

Anyway. I was an absolute stress case on the way to Costco, but on the way there I saw a sign that made me laugh and totally took my tension away. So here is the photo of the day.

February in Photos Day 25

Today is anti-bullying day, so the boys and I are all decked out in our "Stand Up!" shirts. It was very cool to see all the kids at school wearing these. Jack was thrilled to finally wear a shirt in his favourite colour. Ethan thought he looked fat (!) because we all wore them on top of our long-sleeve shirts. I think pink suits all of us very well!

February in Photos Day 24

Tonight 25 Club did something completely different. (And I was so thankful that I was feeling well enough to attend - I had really been looking forward to this one!)We had a psychic come and do short readings for all of us. Here we all are after our readings, with our psychic! With me, she was chillingly accurate. Here is just one example from our twenty minutes together: she told me there is a birthday coming up very soon, it is a change to five, and it is somehow connected to a rabbit. Jack (nickname Rabbit) turns 5 next week. I will need to think over some of the other things we talked about but I was pretty impressed with her reading. Now it's up to me to use that insight. Also, my good old cat Attila was there somewhere to say hi. She said, there's a huge cat here with attitude, begins with an A. You've talked to him before since he passed. All of which is true - the day that Attila died I kept finding his picture had fallen off the fridge. Over and over again, I magnetted it back up until my mom phoned to tell me he'd died. The photo stopped jumping off at that point but he sure had a starring role in my dreams that night. Now you can read into that what you will, and I understand if you are sceptic. I say it all the time, if these things didn't happen to me I wouldn't believe them either. I'm off to dreamland now... wonder what will come tonight?

February in Photos Day 23

The kids were SO happy to be OUT OF THE HOUSE for the first time in DAYS. They went to SCHOOL and the LIBRARY even and then to SKATING and the whole day was spent in CAPITAL LETTERS which is awesome if you're feeling better but if you're the mommy who's a day or so behind in recovery it is somewhat CRAPTASTIC. Now where did I put the Tylenol?

February in Photos Day 22

I'm still sick. I got nothing. Enjoy the following photo of a cute kitten.

February in Photos Day 21

I could not even get out of bed on Saturday. Not only that, I could not even roll over to answer the phone when it rang. I was in bed, Mike was crashed on the couch downstairs and the boys sat in the living room and watched TV ALL DAY. Luckily the last pukes were wham bam bam, all of us at 3 am... then no more pukes, just feeling like complete and absolute death. Here is a picture of the only thing that brought me relief yesterday: my magic bag. Unfortunately I could only drag my sorry ass to the microwave twice yesterday to heat it up, but I curled my trembly shaky body around that thing and sucked all the heat out of it. Then my fever broke and I became a sweat ball. I think collectively our little household has lost about 15 pounds since Wednesday night. This morning we are eating bagels and Gatorade - dare I say it - we are on the mend! I cross all my fingers this flu does not get to you.

February in Photos Day 20

Can't even begin to talk about today. Worst flu ever; all of us were down. I am posting this two days late because I didn't even have the energy to open my laptop.

February in Photos Day 19

Today I present to you Pukefest 2009.
Love. It.
On the plus side, I have sanitized my bathroom so many times in the last 24 hours that I am thinking of hosting a dinner party in there. And as someone in my household pointed out today, I have such an easy day, what with the kids on the couch all day! Yeah, because I am not washing loads of puke laundry or emptying buckets or force-feeding ginger ale or anything. But it's all good because I am off to work in an hour. Downside to that is, I will be taking my very own barf bag in the car because... don't say it out loud... but I am starting to feel this thing coming too. Blurg.

February in Photos Day 18

There is "Trouble" in our house. At least, our house alarm has been telling us so. Every 10 seconds, all through the night. Yes, every 10 seconds. It has been really "fun" to explore what kind of "trouble" there is at 2:30 am. We discovered that resetting the alarm "stops" the "trouble" if by "stop" you mean that it delays the beeping JUST until you fall asleep again. Mike stayed up for 2 hours to "outsmart" the alarm and it only started beeping again once he had fallen asleep. I got new batteries today for the wireless sensor and it appears we are finally "trouble"-free again. Let's hope.

February in Photos Day 17

Transit is SO much fun. Tuesday is my commute day, which is actually bearable on days it doesn't rain or snow. And today was so beautiful and sunny that I had to close my eyes against the bright sunlight. It didn't take long before I was snoring softly on my seatmate. Luckily, there is a guy on my going-home bus who always gets off at my stop so I was woken up by him passing me and I lunged out the door just in time. I rock.

February in Photos Day 16

We are making invitations for Jack's birthday party. At first I was all, "Let me do it, I want them to look right" and then I realized I needed to stop being a nazi and let the boys help. And you know what? They turned out perfect. Just like little Lego bricks. Here's Ethan, hard at work.

February in Photos Day 15

So I say to Jack: "Go upstairs, get undressed, and run the bath."
And he does:When I ask him what on earth is he doing, he says:
"But, Mummy, I did ZACKLY what you asked me to do. You should have asked me to run a HUMAN bath!"
Because obviously I wanted him to run a bath for turtles.

February in Photos Day 14

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Today we decorated cookies, and by the following picture it's really not hard to figure out which cookie belongs to each of us!In case you need a hint... clockwise from top left it's Jack, Mike, Me and Ethan

February in Photos Day 13

Fridays are Hot Lunch day at Ethan's school. The kids LOVE it, and none more so than my own little hot lunch helper Jack. He gets a visitor tag at the office and he hands out the juices and chocolate milks to Ethan's class while I do the hot dogs, quesadillas, whatever. He is quite the popular little visitor to the classroom and I think it may be going to his head! Today he was inexplicably holding this little white feather ALL DAY LONG. Do you know how many times I had to help him find it after he'd accidentally dropped it and it blew away on a gust? But I had a few good laughs over him trying to pick it up, and every time he'd stop to bend over, it would blow a little farther - it was like a three stooges thing. Cute.

February in Photos Day 12

Today was the new Survivor premiere! Need I say more???
It is seriously too easy to keep me happy. So happy that I am taking pictures of my TV screen. To be honest, it felt a little weird. But good shot, eh?

February in Photos Day 11

Tonight's dinner was homemade pizza. And that is photo-worthy only for the fact that it is the one meal that all four of us enjoy. Of course, the boys just have cheese pizza and Mike and I actually enjoy toppings on ours, but it is seriously THE only meal for all of us. The boys are SO picky and it has resulted in so many tears (mine) and pouting (them... ok, and sometimes me) that I really HATE dinnertime. And I love food. I mean, seriously love it. But for me the most stressful time of day is waiting with baited breath to see if they will eat whatever I have made. And nine times out of ten, they won't. What works around here: breakfast for dinner, sandwiches, spaghetti (plain) with meatballs, chicken fingers and fries. And pizza - that's why this is the photo of the day. And yes, they are still using Christmas plates and it is indeed February. Shut up.

February in Photos Day 10

I needed to get some music for the DVDs I am making for work. I was frustrated to find that what I needed was not on our Media Center, but in one of several boxes buried in the garage. We still need to burn a bunch of these CDs to the computer, and it took me forever to find what I needed because - wait for it - they were NOT in alphabetical order. Wwweeellllll, this is is simply unacceptable. So here is what we are doing today. At least, I am alphabetizing the CDs while the boys throw bouncy balls at the piles to try to knock them over.

February in Photos Day 9

Too cute - the boys started skating lessons again. They are both trying really hard! Level One was apparently too hard for both of them the first time around - Big Ol' FAIL for both report cards. Of course they would never say it like that - it's more of a diplomatic "Please Retry Level 1". This photo makes it seem as if older brother is lovingly helping younger brother along. Not so. Older brother kept yanking on younger brother's coat, making him fall over a dozen times on their way over to me. I was shouting to take your hands off your brother, and just get over here so I can get a NICE picture of the two of you. Not such a harmonious family moment after all.

February in Photos Day 8

We cleaned up our neighbourhood today! Ethan said afterwards, "Thank you, Mummy, for letting us pick up garbage!"
They were very happy to fill this garbage bag, and it was a nice February walk as well!

Love Them Boys

This week’s most awesomest conversation:
Jack: “Mummy why do ladies have three privates, and mens only have two?”

Me: “Because ladies also have breasts.”

Jack: “Why don’t boys have bwestes?”

Me: “Because they don’t need to feed babies. That’s what the mummy’s breasts are for. And after they are done feeding their children, their breasts become a private area.”

Jack: “I really like your bumps Mummy.”

Me: “Thank you Jack.”

Later, overheard from the other room...
Jack: “Ethan, I really like Mummy’s bumps.”

Ethan: “Yes, me too. But Mummy’s bumps aren’t as big as some ladies’ bumps.”

Jack: “No, Mummy’s bumps are not big.”

Me, from the other room: “Bumps are privates! Can everyone stop talking about my bumps!”

Jack, whispering: “They are NOT big.”

Ethan, whispering: “I KNOW.”

Me, whispering in the other room: “I know, too.”

February in Photos Day 7

It is very hard to capture the enthusiasm of a kid's birthday party in a still shot. Ethan went to his friend's 7th birthday party today. They started out bowling, then ate hot dogs, chips, and two kinds of cake... When it came time for presents I had to stand on a chair to snap a shot over the throng.

February in Photos Day 6

It was a rough day.

February in Photos Day 5

Jack is learning about space at preschool. His favourite planet is Uranus. Snigger, snigger. I am far too immature to handle THAT being his favourite planet. We have had conversations like this:
“Mummy, is Uranus big?”
“Mummy, is Uranus hot or cold?”
“Mummy, do any people live on Uranus?”
and my new personal favourite, just today: "Mummy, does Uranus have gas?" (I SWEAR this to be true)
I guess I shouldn’t really call them conversations because that would imply that there are two sides contributing to the dialogue. What really happens in response is me giggling out of control. And he is so serious; he gets so mad at me because I am incapable of answering his questions. Mike says, “What are you? Two?” Um, mentally, yes. ‘Fraid so.
Here is Jack and Uranus (WHEN will that stop being funny?)

February in Photos Day 4

Right now the boys are playing Wii. Lego Star Wars is the game of choice, and they are both pretty good at it. They would literally play for hours if I let them! Ethan is sporting a Valentine's hat he made himself in school. When was the last time you saw deelyboppers?
Can't write any more tonight as I have a carpal tunnel injury. Serves me right for trying to hand-dance along with Beyonce's "Single Ladies". Whoa oh oh, oh oh oh!

February in Photos Day 3

I'm just curious if any of you know how hard it is to take a picture of yourself running? Don't try this at home, kids. Unless of course you have a lot of patience and a lot of room on your camera's memory card. Anyway, Tuesdays are my running club, so here's me running.

February in Photos Day 2

I am working late tonight so I thought this photo was appropriate. You may want to laugh at my padded laptop tray, but let me challenge you this: try one first before you laugh. You will soon understand why this is one of my favourite new things. In fact, if I was Oprah, I would give these away to my audience on my "Favorite Things" show. Since I'm not, here's a tip: $29.99 London Drugs. You won't regret it.
P.S. It's water. I'm not drunk.

February in Photos Day 1

For the month of February, I will be posting a photo every day that sums up our day. Enjoy!
Today I bring you Superbowl. Each of us got to pick a snack at Costco. $150 dollars later, we had a cart full of meatballs, cheese, chips, gyoza, chicken strips, and I don't even know what else. Now it's only 4 o'clock and we are stuffed like pigs on unhealthy food. Thank God that our Green Earth Organics delivers tomorrow.