The Shoe Challenge

My friend Cathy challenged me to this – take a picture of your newest shoes and your oldest shoes, and tell a little story of each.

On the left, we have Ol' Faithfuls. I bought these loafers in California when we were living there, at least a year before Ethan was born. They were a fancy brand name but I don't remember which as all identification has been rubbed off. These shoes have really held up well; I wore them to work all through my pregnancy with Ethan. The next time I needed to use work shoes was after I had Jack, so I pulled these out of storage and crammed my feet inside. The first few times back at work they hurt me, since my feet went up a size with my pregnancies (thanks boys). But the miracle of these shoes is that they have grown with me. They are the only ones that have survived my childbearing years; thus they are my oldest pair. Since they are "loafers" I only wear them with "slacks". It's only right.

On the right, my cutest newest pair of flats. I bought them only a month ago to go with a brown dress Chantal handed-me-down. I don't normally do brown, but the dress was cute and I needed brown shoes all of a sudden! Also, I'm happy that flats are still fashionable this year. I don't need the extra height (although when I tried on a pair of 4 inch heels - hoo boy I felt pretty powerful. But in a hookerish way) and I love the comfort. Also, flats are great to take with you to parties as your "indoor" shoes. More fashionable than slippers, yet just as comfy.

So there you have it. Interesting, no? Then tag you're it!

Reading is Sexy

I got tagged in a meme, so I hereby present to you: Reading is Sexy

Rules: Pass it on to five other bloggers, and tell them to open the nearest book to page 46. Write out the fifth sentence on that page, and also the next two to five sentences. The closest book, not the coolest, or the one you think will sound the best. THE CLOSEST.

So I honestly did this and grabbed the closest book – a book I really enjoyed called Water For Elephants. Turns out that sentences 5 – 10 of page 46 are kind of dirty birdie and I simply cannot reproduce them here. It’s the only part of the whole book that is like that! So instead I opened the book at random and here are sentences 5-10 from page 179:

She has learned to follow August from the elephant car to the menagerie tent, and in return for this he has stopped beating the hell out of her. Instead, she trudges alongside him, and he walks with the bull hook snagged firmly in the flesh behind her front leg. Once in the menagerie, she stands behind her rope, happily charming the crowds and accepting candy. Uncle Al hasn’t actually said so, but there don’t appear to be any immediate plans to attempt another elephant act.
As the days pass I grow more anxious about Marlena. Each time I approach the cookhouse I hope that I’ll find her there. And each time I don’t, my heart sinks.

From Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Picture Tag

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture


I had to go a little deeper - 4th subfolder of 4th subfolder of 4th folder, etc. That's our filing system for you - man, we have a LOT of photos. Anyway, here is an adorable picture of Jack from April 4th, 2005. He was just over 1 year old. He was new to walking and so would use my legs to pull himself up, or to steady himself. I was washing dishes (SO Cinderella, I know) at the sink and it was pretty common for Jack and Ethan to gravitate towards me. They were always convinced I was doing something interesting and of course would bring me helping objects such as toys, twist ties, lint, or really, anything useful like that. I'm glad it was picture #4, and not others in the series - the rest are all total ass shots of me. It is cute, though, the other pictures have Ethan on the other leg. Ethan is wearing clothes at age 2-1/2 that Jack wears now at 4-1/2, and I only just realized that now in looking at that photo. And speaking of outfits, the one Jack is wearing here was one of my absolute favourites. The hood on the sweatshirt had little ears and there was a Pooh logo on the front. Awwww!

White Eyes

This morning when I looked in the mirror, I saw this: Old. And Tired.

Both of which were confirmed by Jack as I lifted him up to his stool for breakfast. He said, "Mummy are you tired?" and I said Yes. He said, "I know, I see red lines all over your white eyes"!!!

Thanks bud. I appreciate the support. I'm off to put some cold spoons on my red-lined white eyes.

Scaling Back for Christmas

My friend Linda sent me this as an email. I laughed for half an hour.

Christmas is tight this year, so I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below.

Materials Needed:

* 4 Maxi-Pads (more for super-plush models)
* Tape or Glue
* Items to Embellish

Instructions:
You need four maxi pads to make a pair of slippers. Two of them get laid out flat in front of you, for the sole of the foot. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top of the slipper. Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Now you have a pair of slippers you can embellish. Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, charms, beads, silk flowers, etc.

You can attach a gift card to your slippers with these descriptions:

* Slippers for the descrete woman (or man who is comfortable with his masculinity).
* Soft and hygenic.
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles.
* Built in deodorant feature to keep feet smelling fresh.
* No more bending over to mop up spills.
* Disposable, biodegradable, and environmentally safe.
* Comes in 3 convenient sizes: Regular, Light day, and SUPER Absorbent.

By the way, because of their absorbent nature, these are not especially good to use at the Y or other shower areas. Home use only is recommended.

Friday Fill-Ins #15

1. Snow is awesome and I hope we get some soon.

2. I'm looking forward to - duh - Christmas!

3. Cheese is the best food ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is Friends.

5. I'm done with Shopping. Already.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is shortbread.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing the boys with Santa, tomorrow my plans include the annual Christmas par-tay with our good friends and Sunday, I want to try to sort through the piles of stuff in my closet to see what I have actually bought already!

Why I am Evil

The boys and I drew two stockings out of the pile at Jack's preschool to fill up for underprivileged children - specifically, for two 11-year-old boys. They are kind of difficult to buy for at that age, but I felt so bad seeing that whole pile of empty stockings that I had to take two to fill.

I went to the mall and got a pile of stuff for each of them...

...but here is my confession.

I ate the chocolate bars that I bought for these poor boys' stockings. In the car before I even made it home. Both of them. I am going straight to Hell.

Thursday Thirteen #14

Having just this minute returned from seeing the movie Twilight for the second time since it opened less than a week ago, I would like to share with you thirteen reasons why I would make a good vampire:

1. I’ve already got the vampire skin – that pale, glowing whiteness crucial to vampirity.
2. I love to drive fast. And even more, I love to drive fast cars fast.
3. I am already cold all the time so no difference there if I had unnaturally cold skin.
4. In the car on the way home, I think I perfected my vampire snarl. It sounds really good and I can’t wait to try it out.
5. I don’t feel any older than I felt 10 years ago, except through watching the kids get older. So presto – I’d change them into vampires too, and problem solved. None of us would age!
6. In yoga, one of the poses reminds me a lot of the vampire-about-to-pounce crouch, so I’m good to go there.
7. OK so I don’t like blood much. I don’t even eat most animals. But I think wolverines are mean so I would probably just live on those.
8. I would finally have free time – you know, since I wouldn’t sleep – so I could nail the rest of the things on my 40 before 40 list.
9. I think I would look really good in black leather. Which is totally what I would wear if I was a vampire.
10. I have recently taken a self-defence class, so I would completely be able to kick anyone’s ass.
11. I get a headache in the sun anyway. So if I had to avoid it, no biggie.
12. If Mike was a vampire too, that would be sexy.
13. Did I mention the skin? I’m so white it deserves mentioning twice.

Tea anyone?

See this?
It’s a tower of tea bags. And you know why I am building a teabag tower? Psychological warfare, people. I am waiting to see how high it will get before Mike buckles and trashes them in a fit of rage. Then I will pull out my What-Is-Bugging-Me-This-Week List and girl will go on the offensive. Heh Heh Heh.

San Diego Pictures

I was a little bit excited to eat at In N Out.

The Del Hotel Coronado.

Me dipping my toes in the ocean on a hot sunny day!

A self-portrait of me and Nancy on the beach.

A lifeguard station at the beach on base that we had all to ourselves.

On the boardwalk

Mission Bay

Here's my wave!

Up for a millisecond!

Here goes Nancy!

And she's up!

Surfing was so much fun! On my last wave, I totally wiped out and the fins on the board whacked my elbow. It turned out to be only a tiny cut but my whole arm went dead. I thought I'd broken my arm! I couldn't feel anything but the lower half of my arm swung and hit me across the stomach and I thought "Oh no, that's not good". I thought it was somehow disconnected from the top half of my arm! Luckily, Nancy's neighbour who was teaching us to surf is a doctor, and he checked my arm out right away. I guess it just hit my funny bone really hard! My arm is still numb 24 hours later. I have feeling back in my thumb, index and middle fingers but ring and pinky are dead still. And the backside of my forearm too! I initially got some feeling back a few hours after it happened, but my elbow swelled a little on the plane ride home and it got numb again. So I got a surfing injury - can you believe it? It was so much fun; I can't wait to try it again. And the best part is that both Nancy and I got to cross it off our bucket lists.
What an awesome weekend!

Greetings from south of the border - way south...

Buenos dias on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning! I am posting from San Diego this morning and it's gorgeous and HOT! I am staying with Nancy, Troy and their three children and we are enjoying ourselves mucho! (I talked to the boys at home last night and "Party Time" - i.e. anytime Mummy is not home - is in full swing. They are having a great time too!)

Yesterday morning we dropped the kids off at school first thing. Their school is really cool. It's so funny, coming from a different climate to one where you don't have to worry about weather. Their school has no gym. Why would you need one when it's sunny 364/365 days a year? They have a large school yard to play in instead, and assemblies are held outside also. The kids all eat their lunch at the picnic areas outside every day. They have had one rain day since they started school. Also, all kids need to swipe in and swipe out through the security system which is freaky but also good to know they are locked into the school and the bad guys can't get them.

Nancy and I went for brunch in La Jolla (delicious pesto scramble for me, tuscan omelette for Nancy) and then drove down to Coronado where we strolled around on the beautiful beach on base and did some tax-free discount shopping at the Nex store for Armed forces members and their families. I got a cute purple purse for CHEAP! Then we went to the famous landmark Del hotel in Coronado, shopped at the sweet shop and saw them building the ice rink outside where the pool normally is. The ice rink is basically right on the beach and it was very incongruous to see ice and palm trees together. It was 25 degrees!!!

After Coronado, we hit Target. Oh, I did some damage there, let me tell you. I got a LOT of Christmas shopping done for the boys, all for $220 so I am still well within my $400 duty-free allowance. Goody goody! I started to feel a little uneasy as she bagged it all up, wondering how on earth it would all fit in my luggage! (Don't worry, I unpackaged some Transformers and packed everything last night to be sure. I'll be busting at the seams, but I will make it home)

We picked up the kids from school and came back to the house. We took Katie to the park. Katie is 3 going on 13 and she is adorable. She is a daredevil, and with two older brothers who would expect anything less? Aidan and Spencer are getting handsomer every day. They play hockey, so later today we are going to watch their game at the rink. We went to In N Out Burger for dinner last night. I was very excited!

So today we are going to the beach at Mission Bay and then after dinner, Nancy and I are escaping a little for some drinks or something. I'll post the pics when I get home!

It's Here! Well, Not Quite...

So today I felt it. The first tingle, the first little tug. The irresistability of my favourite season has reared its festive head.
Christmas is in 41 days, y'all!

Jingle jingle.

Friday Fill-Ins #14

1. My blueprint for success includes sleep, which I could use more of.
2. If you count what’s currently in my mouth, a Tootsie Roll was the last candy I ate. Have to say, not my favourite!
3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is butter. Kidding! I read that in the Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood).
4. Spending time with kids can be good therapy.
5. I'd like to tell you about my cold. It’s lovely to swallow snot. My favourite thing ever.
6. Helping others is my strongest characteristic.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to packing a bag for Victoria, tomorrow my plans include Liam’s 7th birthday party and Sunday, I want to maybe have a movie night here with a few girls!

Halloween 2008 (subtitle: I Hate Glitter)

The boys had a great day yesterday! Ethan was a knight, and he looked really good. Smart kid, too, since there were about 10 princesses in his class. He just needed a white horse and he could have swept them all away. Jack was an adorable Peter Pan, and all the preschool moms raved about his costume (Value Village finds, all assembled together).
More on our Halloween activities later.
Ah, glitter. I banished glitter in our house a long time ago. Sandy laughed at me when we went to her house to do Christmas crafts a couple of years ago – my boys were the only ones who didn’t use glitter. She asked them why and their little heads snapped around to stare me down. Without saying a word, it was pretty obvious that the OCD Glitter Nazi was the reason why they didn’t reach for the small bottle of Instant Mess. I am so glad I have boys and glitter is not part of our daily lives.
However, in honour of Ethan’s recent loss of his first tooth, I decided to be the Tooth Fairy for Halloween. I kept it a secret from the boys and rushed home after dropping them at school on Halloween. I got into my costume, and honestly, since any fairy worth her salt needs to be glittery, I got glittery. I only glittered my arms and neck, then did pink shimmery eye shadow with silver glitter makeup around, and applied pink crystals to my eyelids. Then I drove to pick Jack up. I hadn’t even gone 1 block before the whole driver’s seat was covered in glitter. The armrest too. (Sorry Mike) Throughout the day, I was like Pigpen from the Peanuts comic, floating around in a cloud of glitter. I shed everywhere. In fact, I bet you could easily track my day’s activities throughout the city just by following the silver trail. (Oh look, she ate lunch at Taco Del Mar – see?)
After we tucked the kids into bed, I could not get into the shower fast enough. The glitter had spread everywhere. It was absolutely unreal. Because I’m pretty sure I did not apply glitter to my armpits. Yet there it was. So now my house is, once again, declared a glitter-free zone. Just as an FYI, pick your Christmas cards to me VERY carefully. One sign of fake glitter snow and your card gets trashed. Sorry; it’s just the way it has to be.
But back to Halloween. I definitely surprised Jack with my costume; he was pretty thrilled to see the Tooth Fairy picking him up. Then we went on to Ethan’s school to hand out the Hot Lunch. (The kids got glittery hot dogs this week; not so Food Safe, sorry) I had kids coming up to me to ask if I could take their loose ones now. And I had to admit I never found the tooth that Declan lost on the soccer field. Ethan’s reaction when he first saw me was so cute – your classic double-take.
Then I sped Jack to inhale tacos for our lunch before returning to Ethan’s school in time for the Costume Parade assembly. I would venture a guess that 100% of the kids and teachers were in costume. I didn’t see one person (besides the uncool parents watching – us cool ones were in costume, obviously) who was NOT in costume. It was actually pretty great to see the participation and how much fun all the kids were having.
After school, we dropped by the kids’ daycare to drop off some goody bags for the kids’ friends. Then home, where I still had two of the seven pumpkins to carve (I had finished the other five at 1 am the night before) and my giant toothbrush to repair before making dinner for 7 people prior to trick-or-treating.
The kids were wired and ran out the door as soon as we said GO. We just stayed in our complex again, which was great. Lucky we were close to home, too, when we heard our first firecracker of the night, because Ethan sprinted for home as soon as he heard the crack-boom! I ran after him and managed to calm him into two more trick-or-treats, then he was content with handing out candy at our own house. Jack was just about done as well, so we came in for them to check out their loot. Good haul, even after we weeded out all the nut ones.
It was such a busy week – took Ethan and a friend to their first Lego Builders class on Monday, I worked Tuesday and Thursday, went to a friend’s play on Wednesday night (an Agatha Christie, and it was great!) and hosted a Diwali dinner here for Aaron and Marzia on Thursday night. And in between I got all our costumes ready and did all the other Halloweeny stuff. So it was exhausting and I’m glad today was calm.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our lovely 25 Club Girleez Road Trip to Seattle last weekend. I escaped with Chantal, Marzia and Kim on Friday afternoon and we got to our hotel by dinner. Kim’s sister-in-law works at the Fairmont chain so we got the Friends and Family discount, with an upgrade thrown in to boot, and so ended up staying at the nicest hotel in Seattle, walking distance to everything, for about the same price per room that we would pay at a Comfort Inn. We dined at the swanky restaurants in the area – seafood one night, French the next – and shopped during the day. Now I’m not much of a shopper, but I enjoyed myself! Pike Place Market was great and visiting the first Starbucks ever was also an experience. We enjoyed our wine and cheese in our rooms before dinner, and simply having a whole weekend of relaxation, good conversation, and excellent company was an amazing escape. Thanks to my fellow 25 clubbers for a fantastic weekend. It was just what I needed!
Happy November everyone...

100th Post (and nothing momentous to say)

In less than 12 hours, I have changed pee sheets 4 times. Jack at 8 pm, Ethan at 11 pm, Jack again at 2:30 am and Ethan at 7 am. I don’t know what the F is going on in my house but I am more than ready to leave for my weekend in Seattle with the girls.

I made a phone call while in the car yesterday, and after I hung up I started to relay the conversation to Ethan and Jack in the back seat. Silly me, I thought they would be interested! Ethan interrupted me to say, “Umm, Mummy? You know we can HEAR your part of the conversation when you’re on the phone, right? Cause you don’t ACTUALLY have to tell us everything again.” Smartass.

I am just sick to death of wearing pink. I vowed to wear pink every day this month, to honour Breast Cancer Awareness month. And I have followed it faithfully. Every single pinkalicious day. I used to like pink. Now, not so much! And to be perfectly honest, one day I wore all blue, except for pink socks and wearing pink pyjamas that night. (Are you singing in your head, or maybe out loud if you’re like that, about the lady who’ll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes when she comes? And riding six white horses? ‘Cause I am.) So I felt like I was breaking the pact but I could not bear to wear another pink sweater. Today – another pink sweater. Anyway I will keep going with this until October 31st – thankfully my Halloween costume has pink in it too. But my costume’s still a secret so I can’t confess what it is.

Jack has started belting me in the eye every time I bend over to kiss him. I’m starting to get a complex. I asked him why he keeps punching me and he just said, “Oh, sorry, Mummy” like it just never occurred to him NOT to hit me. He can be quite affectionate, but also just plain ol’ violent. I told him to go upstairs about an hour before bedtime last night because he’d just hit me in the face again. Unfortunately I told him that I didn’t want to look at him right now. Great parenting, eh? Ethan cried out dramatically, “Why can’t everyone stop fighting and get along?” Gulp. Then a few minutes later when I saw Jack again, he asked me plaintively if we were friends again. Gulp gulp gulp. Oh, the guilt. This parenting thing will be the death of me.

I went to my Self-defense class on Sunday. I was feeling all strong and powerful, and a little self-confident too, until I got home. Then Mike laughed at me for trying to look tough and POOF – I’m back at square one. It was good, though, and I learned a lot. I was a very good kicker. I nearly punched myself in the face once or twice, but I escaped from my partner’s grasp and even from a choke hold with no problems. The instructor (a double black belt) used me as an anatomy chart of sorts when he was demonstrating where on the neck and throat you can poke to drop someone like a ton of bricks. He didn’t want to press too hard on the trapezoid pinch but I asked him what was the worst that would happen if he really pinched me hard there. I wanted to see what it really felt like. He said, “a bruise, and your legs will buckle” so I said go for it. One millisecond I was standing there, and the next I was on the floor. I never even saw it coming. The good news is that it didn’t hurt and I have no bruise, but the other ladies said it looked pretty gross to see him lift my trapezoid muscle up like that. Anyway, it was valuable and worthwhile and I really think that every woman should learn some basic self-defence in order to protect themselves from becoming a potential victim. My most valuable lesson of the day was about appearance. If your attacker thinks you may be too difficult to prey on, he may not choose you. And that’s a good thing. Be aware of your surroundings, be confident, and you may not end up a victim.

Jen, Shannon, Sonia and I saw Secret Life of Bees on Monday night. All I have to say about that is that you’d better have Kleenex. And backup Kleenex for when the purse-size one runs out. And greasy popcorn-butter napkins ready for when THOSE run out. Sonia and I agree that we would like to hunt Queen Latifah down in a completely non-creepy way and ask her if she will adopt us. That woman is beyond awesome and I love her.

Our lives have settled into a routine of school, soccer, and storytime. We’ve also done some skating and the boys are starting their skating lessons at the end of November. Oh wow, and in other great news, Jack had his pediatric allergy appointment and he tested negative for EVERYTHING! Yippee! Woohoo! We are staying nut-free here in the house, but it’s nice to know that I don’t have to send an Epi-pen with Jack to school.

PS Ethan is currently singing upstairs at the top of his lungs: “O Canada, I just pooed in the toilet! God keep our land, poo poo poo poo poo poooooo!” He’s very patriotic like that.

Friday Fill-Ins #13

It’s been a while since I did a fill-in, so here we go...

1. Follow the light.
2. My pillowcase is something I always take with me on vacation.
3. To achieve your goals, you must write them down, make a plan, and set about accomplishing them.
4. Everything I talk about is something I'd like you to know about me.
5. I have a sore neck.
6. Crap floats. Actually it doesn`t but I liked the way it sounded.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Thai food with some friends, tomorrow my plans include playing on one of Surrey`s newest ice sheets with the Olympic mascots and Sunday, I want to kick some butt in my self defence class!

How? Why? What?

Moms such as myself are all too familiar with the following questions:
How?
Why?
What?

With a 4 year old and a 6 year old, I have to know a LOT. They are very inquisitive and are constantly thirsty for knowledge. They always ask how things work or how they are made, why things work the way they do, and what do things mean. My IQ is up there, but I still can't keep up with these guys. Luckily, I have my Phone-A-Friend - my dad, who answers space, math and science questions that I just have no clue how to answer.

Also, I am competing with Ethan's teachers. I used to be THE authority in his life, my word was the gospel, but alas, I have been usurped. (I like to use words like usurped to prove that I do indeed have an IQ of some sort) Now he says things like: "but Madame pronounces it this way" or "Madame says lunch is called diner NOT dejeuner".

So the other day we were talking about the movies Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda, which they want for Christmas. Ethan asked me,
"How do they MAKE DVDs?"
So I take a deep breath and I'm about to launch into a whole spiel about the fabrication process of DVDs, which by the way I know nothing about, when he says,
"I know, I know Mummy, it's ok".
I'm all like,
"You do?"
and he says
"Yes, Mummy, it's the ELVES. THEY make the DVDs."

"Yep. It's the elves, sweetie."

Thank God for the elves.

The Many Faces of the Boys

Happy
Sad
Scared
Trying to be Mad
Confused
Angry
Silly

The Blogs in my Head

Just so y'all know, the blogs I post in my head are awesome. They are amazing, witty, insightful, so well-written, and just slap-your-knee hilarious. The trouble is, they mostly occur to me when I'm driving, watching soccer practice, or dressed up in a helmet and breastplate playing knights. So you never get to read them. Too bad for you; you'll just have to take my word for it. They are terrific.

Just a Roadrunner Here

All of us parents were standing around waiting for the kids to come out of the classrooms for their Grade One Mingle Day / Parent Picnic. I was talking to Forrest and Cathy, and I was completely focussed on the conversation, watching my words fly out of Cathy’s fingertips as she signed for Forrest. (It was a much faster conversation than any other I’ve had with Forrest so far!)* Then somewhere in the back of my head I heard this little “Help Help” and on the edge of my vision I saw this little blue figure, impossibly high on the climbing wall. Yes, it was Jack. My head snapped around, and you won’t believe it, but I actually gave myself whiplash racing for him. It felt like I was the cartoon Road Runner, where he “meep meep”s and the legs run off first but the head stays behind for a second. Then the head snaps forward in a cloud of dust to join the racing body. I’m sure it looked just like that too. Right. But anyway, that’s what it FELT like, and throughout the day my neck got worse and worse until now, where I am immobile on the couch with a heating pad, waiting for the painkillers to kick in. And getting my manservant to keep the G&Ts coming. And BTW, Jack was just fine. He did tell me that he had been hanging “a vewy long time” just to lay on the guilt nice and thickly.

If ever you think of radio or music in the car as just background noise, and that your kids aren’t listening, think again. I screen the kids from TV commercials at home – they only watch Treehouse, which has no ads, or DVDs I have approved. As for radio commercials, though, I haven’t really been paying attention until now. On the way to school on Friday, here’s our conversation:
Jack: “I want to go to 95 Crave sometime” (one of our local radio stations)
Me: “Oh really, why is that?”
Jack: “Because if they don’t play five in a row, they will jet you to a sun destination” (I’m not kidding, this is the four-year-old talking)
So not only do they listen, they listen so hard they can repeat verbatim what the commercials say. I’m on alert now, and I may have something to say to the Beat 94.5 about their latest condom commercial. It’s on at driving-to-school time and seriously, it’s a little too sexy for that time of day. Even for me. I think we’ll be flipping to another station for a while! I have no desire to answer what lubrication and pleasure have to do with Trojans.

Search terms that have led to my blog:
apple orchard langley school tours
girls filling their pants with poo
how often should you bathe a jack a poo
lifepoo
my baby pick out hard poo 3 month
perler bead poptart
zigazig ah oh yeah ferris bueller

It’s all slightly alarming. Most often, it’s poo that brings you here.

*One of my previous conversations with Forrest was when I signed Good Morning, then forgot how to finger spell my name to introduce myself. So Forrest gave me his cell phone to type it in. Unfortunately the “smart” writing was turned on, so when I started typing in my name, T-A-M-S-I, it spelled V-A-M-P-I then suggested R-E. So the poor man thinks my name is vampire. He made a fang sign and we both laughed but then the bell rang and I didn’t have time to correct him. So I think instead of trying to tell him my real name, I will just go by the alias of vampire. The fang sign is much easier than finger spelling my name anyway!

Party Days

The party days started with the comedy night for Marzia’s birthday. The headliner was very funny although the layout of the venue was terrible. Anyway, it was a fun evening and nine of us made it out to celebrate on a school night – unbelievable!

On Saturday we had a Kung Fu Panda party for Ethan’s sixth birthday and it was a big success.
12 crazy 6-yr-olds doing kung fu chops through balsa wood and slurping away in the noodle-eating contest. Great fun for all! Here was the cake – I made it myself. Do I rock or what?

And although we were exhausted after, we still had dinner at Mike’s Gram’s with that whole side of the family. Hoo boy. I thought she was crotchety 15 years ago when I first met her, but at the ripe old age of 95 she censors nothing. She has zero tolerance for the boys, and she is quite vocal about it! And I almost lit her on fire when I brought her the cake – I forgot about the whole oxygen tank / potential explosion thing. If there is a next year, no candles.

I had to put my mom off until Monday – three parties in one day might have killed me. But we had a very nice afternoon at the bird sanctuary out on an island in Delta, and still had time for a coffee and presents.

Jack wanted to get her a mouth for her birthday. So that when he isn’t there to kiss her, she could kiss the mouth. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a suitable mouth, so he and Ethan got her a stuffed bird from the Audubon society that gives a very realistic bird call when you squeeze it. She said her cat Misti was VERY interested in it when she got home.

And in other extremely exciting news, Ethan lost his first tooth today.
It’s been wiggly for a week or so, which is utterly disgusting to me. Ethan’s friends first noticed my squeamishness about a year ago, when they started losing their teeth. It’s kind of the joke around school, go wiggle your tooth to Ethan’s mom, and watch her choke on her own puke. So Ethan has been wiggling away, which is ironic since he HATES talking about the human body. Don’t mention blood or bones to him. Jack wanted to be a skeleton for Halloween, but Ethan panicked and shakily blurted out that it makes him feel like he’s “cracking apart inside” to think of those things. Awww poor kid.

Anyway, it fell out at soccer tonight while he was practicing drop kicks, and it was probably the best place for it to happen. He was with guys his age, the coach thought it was cool, his friends picked up the tooth off the gym floor, and I couldn’t cry about it because I was the only mom there; the rest were dads.
I also couldn’t puke or I would have completely lost face. But I’m glad I’m writing about it now because the tooth fairy better remember to do her thing tonight. E tried to say that teeth go for about $20 each these days, but I’ve done a little research on the playground this week and it’s $1 in these parts. He may well be disappointed tomorrow! Stingy fairy.

Jack also started his soccer class and is loving it.
There are two boys and one parent in his class that I want to deal with, though. One of the boys obviously has a behavioural problem of some sort and the other speaks no English, which makes it hard for him to do what the coach says. And because those two boys aren’t listening, the other 5 or 6 (including Jack) get distracted more easily. I feel bad for the poor coach. And the parent I have an issue with keeps letting her 1-yr-old run into the practice area and kick balls around. I have no problem with giving the little one a ball and letting her play elsewhere, but it’s totally disruptive to the ones who paid $80 for these 8 weeks, and it’s also unsafe for the 1-yr-old. She’s going to get creamed by the ball sooner rather than later. Hmpf. I was very proud of Jack and his behaviour. You know he gives me grief, but he was listening very well to his coach. He totally got a treat when we got home.

It was a far cry from the other day when we heard the door beep. Uh-oh, a child has left the premises – unauthorized! We went out to the driveway and there was Jack, dressed only in Spiderman underwear and sandals. He was dancing and singing something about “Captain Underpants” while the neighbours laughed. That’s my sensible boy; he paused long enough in his escape to put on sensible footwear. Kind of forgot the clothes part, though...

Now we’re looking forward to Ethan’s real birthday this weekend. Like we haven’t already had enough cake!

Hey Ladies

I’m sure you’ve heard it already, but you do know it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month, right?

And I don’t know about you, but I have lost too many lovely ladies to breast cancer. Even one person is too many. And there are still more ladies close to me who are survivors.

But they shouldn’t even have had to go through this.

So what can you do?

• Donate money to cancer research when you can (I bought a pink ribbon Sharpie today – it’s ok to start small).
• Get a mammogram.
• Pledge to walk in next year’s Weekend to End Breast Cancer.
• Wear pink every day this month (I am).

Anything, really, just do something and let’s cure this thing.

Today is Thursday and I`m panicking

Craziness.
I am working three days this week and man, does that interfere with my life. Whew!

So the dentist’s went well. I was frozen for about four hours and I sounded ridiculously furry during that time, (which made for an interesting preschool pick-up – I think they thought I was drunk at first until I explained about the dentist) but once that wore off I felt nothing from the procedure. Except for the tooth that they had fixed the rubber dam to; that one hurt. Those rubber dams are the worst thing ever. I always forget and try to breathe through my mouth and then I totally panic until I remember that I also possess a nose that does a pretty good job of breathing too.

I totally got called out on Monday at school by one of the other moms. Chantal wearing the exact same clothes as me - sweater-jacket from Costco and jeans from Joe Fresh. It was very funny! We really need to call each other first. She also informed me that she sees me in the mornings doing my makeup in the car on the way to work. Busted! I`m guilty. Now I have to get up five minutes earlier every day so I don`t get caught again.

Super short post today, sorry. We have the comedy club for Marzia`s birthday tonight, Mike`s Gram`s 95th birthday dinner, my mom`s 64th birthday and Ethan`s 6th birthday party all this Saturday... yikes!
I`m off to work - again. More after the parties!

Deep Thoughts

On the way home from work today, I was idly watching the man in front of me on the bus clean his ears. And by “idly”, I mean staring with my mouth open and a twisted snarl of disgust on my face. Moments like this can be earth-shattering, you know? As in “what’s wrong with my life, that I have to be HERE, right now, watching three, then four, fingertips get coated in ear wax, carefully examined, then disappear beneath the seat to get wiped clean somewhere I’d better try to remember the next time I take the #345.” I’d just like to point out that, as previously blogged, I have witnessed booger-picking and wiping onto bus wall, fingernail clipping, and now ear wax removal. From BOTH his ears, no less. I am TRYING to stay committed to transit, but WHY do you people make it so HARD?
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Can anyone FREAKIN’ read this? I can NEVER read these things and I see them more and more. Every site has these to avoid spammers or automated somethings and I just have to say – this moron here cannot DO these things.
PS I got it wrong.
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Mike woke up the other morning to a bare-assed Jack sitting on his bare back. Then Jack said “There you go, have a nice day” which meant he’d just farted. Nice. But I laughed because it wasn’t on me.
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I was feeling glum the other day and I laid down with Ethan for a moment after I’d read their bedtime story. He was falling asleep, with his back to me, and he whispered, “You know you can always talk to me if you’re feeling sad, Mummy.” Which of course made it impossible to talk through the lump in my throat.
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I got really sick of doing the Thursday Thirteen and the Friday Fill-Ins so I am on hiatus. I started doing them as an extra couple of posts per week, and then they became the crutch that WAS the post for the week and I lost focus on everything else that was important that I wanted to write about. I’ll probably still do them from time to time, though...
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It’s been SO long since I actually wrote about our family. Both Jack and Ethan are firmly entrenched in their school routines and loving it. I mean, REALLY loving it.

Mike’s birthday has come and gone – not much fanfare this year, really. But the ice cream cake lasted a nice long time. Mike’s grandfather has also been visiting from Florida, so we have all spent some time together in the past week or so. I have tried really hard to tone the boys down a little in honour of his visit, but the truth is that they are animals and I cannot contain them.
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Last weekend was a glorious Vancouver weekend. Trev and Shanty called us Saturday morning to invite us boating with them and Lori. It was so beautiful and such a great way to spend the afternoon. I mean, for everyone except seasick me. I stayed on dry land while everyone else rode the waves (Jack was driving for a time – too adorable). They had to rendez-vous with me at the dock a short while after hitting the open water. Turns out Ethan’s not a sailor, either... so us land-lubbers had lunch and strolled around Granville Island. Still a pretty great way to spend the day!
The next morning, Kim and Gene called to say their pool was open if we wanted one last hurrah before the weather turns. Of course we took them up on it and had a relaxing afternoon lounging poolside. Pizza for dinner and Kim’s homemade pie for dessert. Ahhh...
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My finger is aching now which means we have about 36-48 hours of nice weather before the rain hits. (Have I never told you about my weather finger? Remind me next time...) So I plan on enjoying the sun tomorrow. From the dentist’s chair, anyway. Wish me luck with my filling!

Whassup in Da Hood?

It’s been a while since my last confession blog, but this time I really have something to talk about.

On Monday, I was washing vegetables at the sink just before dinner when I heard this insanely loud tire screeching from outside on the street. I have a little window above the sink and through it I saw a black muscle car (Mike’s dad would call it a “greaseball car”) billowing white smoke out its tires as it burned rubber up our sleepy little kids-playing-everywhere street. It skidded and lost control, flipped around on the curb just opposite our house, flew into our across-the-street neighbour’s yard, destroying their fence like matchsticks and knocking down two trees. (This last is unforgivable to me; one tree was about 25 feet high and beautiful. Poor tree. And the one between the sidewalk and the road was only small, but was annihilated.)

So now this moron was parallel to the road, facing back the other way now, entrenched in our neighbour’s front yard. Incredibly, he was still revving the engine and burying himself into their dirt. (Used to be fence, trees, and grass, but hey – he made short work of THAT) Smoke was pouring up and over the car, and he was roaring the engine. About 40 or 50 people had poured out of their houses and driveways, and everybody was yelling their heads off at him. He sat in the driver’s seat, SMILING, as he revved, revved, REVVED. The street was full of cars, three or four of which had followed him from the main street and they were yelling that he already caused four accidents up the street. People started blocking traffic both sides of this lunatic and diverted cars through our complex so they didn’t have to drive by this guy. I saw tons of people on their phones calling 911.
These pictures were taken by our neighbour Tammy - we should see them in the local paper, eh Tammy?

Then the car caught on fire. We could see flames licking out from underneath his engine. He was STILL hammering on the gas pedal.

I stared open-mouthed from my balcony and yelled helpful comments like “Get away from there”, “What the Hell is going on” and “Aaahhhh the car is on fire”. When my mind finally caught up to my open mouth, I did actually do some useful things. I yelled to the kids to stay inside and called 911. While I was waiting for the fire department to come on the line, I yelled down to Mike (who was out on the street) did he need me to throw down the fire extinguisher? From my end: lots of yelling.

From our neighbours: lots of action. Four men ran to the car, reached through the open window and wrestled the keys out of the ignition. Then they hauled him out of the car and ran him across the road, where they all sat on him. Two other guys blasted the car with fire extinguishers until it was all covered with foam and the fire was out.

Then my future husbands the fire department showed up. Although they looked pretty (and they did look pretty :) sorry Mike but they were in uniform and you KNOW what that does to me), in reality they were pretty useless as our neighbourhood had controlled the situation very capably on their own. Let me add too that the fire station is 4 blocks from our house, and the time elapsed from the first 911 call to the arrival of the first emergency vehicle was probably 10 minutes. That is pathetic. The police arrived after that and got the loser into their squad car.

Now the 100 or so residents who were out and about (it was SO loud there was no way you could NOT go outside to see what on earth was going on) were all discussing who saw what, giving statements etc.

It took about two hours for the excitement to die down, the police to evidence the scene and the car to be towed. The police pulled a lot of little packets out of the car; looked like drugs to me but let’s just say “allegedly” so I don’t get sued.

And the kids? Excited, upset, and a teensy bit traumatized. Our 10-year-old neighbour was playing with the boys when this all happened, and I had yelled to his mom (yelling again!) that he was safe inside. Ethan, Jack and Kaz were all watching this out the kids’ windows upstairs. When I came inside after making the 911 call, Ethan was crying and the two other boys had eyes wider than saucers. Kaz had his arm around Ethan to comfort him (I love that kid... best neighbour ever). We got them calmed down and took them outside once the man was in custody. Then they were excited and we played catch and chattered nervously to all our neighbours.

Later, after dinner, I overheard Ethan saying to his Star Wars figure, “Silly Wicket, the man is in jail. It’s all ok now.” And then turning to Jack and saying, “Can you believe Wicket is scared right now?” I don’t know the psychological term for that – transference of anxiety or something – but I do know that Ethan required a lot of extra cuddles at bedtime and somewhere around 2:30am when he awoke from a nightmare. Jack, on the other hand – more like water rolling off a duck’s back. That kid is so laid back.

So there you have it, news from da hood. You think you live in a nice area, but damn – it’s still Surrey, man.

Thursday Thirteen #13

Thirteen Emotions I felt yesterday when taking Ethan to Grade One

1. Anxiety – He had a nervous stomach the night before, and actually threw up once. He was anxious about whether he would know anybody in his class, whether he would like the teacher, whether he would have too much work in Grade One, etc. I was nervous that he was going to throw up again, because yuck.
2. Exhaustion – I’ve been getting Ethan up twice a night to pee. So I have sacrificed a lot of snooze time these past two weeks since it is so freaking hard to get back to sleep. Added to which, I have to drag their butts out of bed to make it in time for school. Oh, I am never going to be a morning person.
3. Jealousy – Grade One is going to be COOL! I am going to live vicariously through Ethan! I am going to have playdates and recess and hot lunch Fridays and assemblies... oh wait, that’s not all for me? Poo.
4. Disappointment – I’m going to miss the little guy around here. Sigh.
5. Panic – What? The other kids brought school supplies with them? But I bought them from the school... where ARE they? Ethan, are they in your new desk? Your cubby? WHERE? How will they know which ones are YOURS? Oh never mind, there they are.
6. Fear – I am scared of bullies, scared he won’t make new friends, scared that I will not be there to protect him.
7. Pride – He looks so grown up! I MADE that kid! And he’s the cutest one in there! Look at Ethan, everyone, isn’t he the best First Grader ever?
8. Boredom – OK Jack, so now what? What are we going to do together every day?
9. Anger – He is NOT going to be sitting next to THAT troublemaker. I will have a word or two to say to his teacher about THAT.
10. Surprise – Ethan will have two teachers this year. One will teach Mon, Tue, Wed and the other will teach Thu & Fri. The idea didn’t faze Ethan, but I was a little taken aback. That’s not how they did it in my day...
11. Excitement – Any way you look at it, there is just plain excitement in the air around the school today. Just a little bubble of giddiness bubbling over into the air.
12. Sadness – That some of his good friends from Kindergarten won’t be in his class. Most are just next door, but a couple have changed schools and I will miss the moms almost as much as Ethan will miss his friends. I sense a few Starbucks meetups in the future...
13. Joy – And lastly, just plain joy when I looked at Ethan’s face at the end of the day and asked him how it went. “I loved it, Mummy, it was GREAT! Grade One is SO much better than Kindergarten!” Given how much he loved Kindergarten, that is high praise indeed.
    

Sorry for the crummy quality photo – I snuck my hand around the door and snapped a shot of Ethan with my phone.
PS No comments about me being a stalker-mom, please... :)

Friday Fill-Ins #12

1. When I'm sick I'm forced to continue on with regular life. I am, after all, a mom.
2. When I take a walk, I think about one foot, two foot, don’t trip, one foot, two foot, don’t trip...
3. Money can't buy happiness but it can help me travel to Hawaii which makes me VERY happy.
4. Cotton makes me comfy and leather makes me sweat.
5. The strangest person/character I've had lewd thoughts about was Wile E. Coyote. And let me clarify, it was in a dream and I drank a Neo Citran before bed that night. Weird.
6. My favourite colour these days is teal because it looks pretty good on me and it’s everywhere this fall.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to nothing, tomorrow my plans include a party at Kim and Gene’s and Sunday, I want to BBQ at Shannon’s!

Thursday Thirteen #12

Thirteen things that every woman should know how to do

(I stole these...)

1. Take off a bra through a shirt sleeve
2. Choose the proper people to accompany you to the bathroom at the bar
3. Select a trashy novel for reading at the beach
4. Keep kids busy in order to go to the bathroom alone
5. Prepare an elegant appetizer from random pantry supplies for unannounced company
6. Respond to a child's midnight announcement of, "I have to bring 75 brownies to school tomorrow."
7. Filch the phone number of a good babysitter from the neighbour
8. Get makeup off a cell phone screen
9. Extract the good candy from the Halloween bags without the kids noticing
10. Actually download pictures from the digital camera
11. Create 3 or more plausible reasons to "stop by Target"
12. Drive in the snow
13. Surprise a child by going to 7-11 for a "treat" without him knowing it's because you need a slurpee

Friday Fill-Ins #11

1. Dancing to the song while playing Rock Band makes me mess it up completely. I have to stand there motionless while singing, usually with one hand in my pocket.
2. The last time I sneezed I nearly peed my pants. Oh, the joys of motherhood.
3. When I drive I speed, shamelessly and consistently.
4. I saw Gwynneth Paltrow standing near my locker at a spa in Santa Monica. She was tiny, like a size zero, and I was pregnant and gigantic in comparison. I heard she’s 5’9”, same as me, but she was a waif.
5. Give me space, give me room, give me this girls weekend NOW.
6. Next week I am looking forward to taking the kids to the fair at the PNE. Not looking forward to all the money I’m going to have to spend there, though. Seriously, a pickle for $5? I know it’s a Pickle with a capital P, but seriously?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to belly dancing with the girls, tomorrow my plans include kayaking and enjoying our girls weekend and Sunday, I want to join Mike and the kids at my company picnic for some fun, food and games.

Flush

Dear Family:
Although we have had this discussion an infinite number of times, it bears repeating since it appears as if my message has been falling on deaf ears. (And by “discussion”, I suppose that I mean one-way rhetorical monologue)
The issue at hand:

I suspect the five-year-old when it comes to unflushed excrement, and the leftover urine can be attributed to either the four or the five-year-old. But stray pieces of toilet paper could have belonged to anyone. And the toenail clippings? Feel free to hypothesize but I will give you a clue and hint that his name could start with “M” and might possibly end in “ike”.
My personal feeling on the matter is that if an object is of so little value and quite disgusting enough to be placed in the toilet anyway, then said object should be flushed away forever, preferably immediately. Walking past my own bathroom in our first-world country and having that bathroom smell like a sewage ditch from an undeveloped nation is simply not acceptable.
Here is the solution, located conveniently on the side of the tank:

Simple, no?
With gratitude and appreciation for your immediate attention in correcting this deviant behaviour – The Matriarch

Thursday Thirteen #11

13 things you probably never knew about me

1. At night, I keep myself at the ideal temperature by using The Regulator. This is a process that involves sticking my right foot out of the covers. Just the toes in winter, up to the hip in summer.
2. I hate the phone. I loved it when email became more prevalent; it is definitely my communication tool of choice. It started when I was little and my parents had me phone the airport information line to check Gran’s flight arrival time. They dialled a wrong number and held the phone to my head as I had to talk to a stranger. He asked me my name and then he said, “Tarzan? Do you live in the JUNGLE Tarzan?” until I burst into tears and my dad realized his mistake.
3. I have always wanted to own a sword. I used to go into House of Knives and stare at the swords until the salesperson got all shifty and uncomfortable. I don’t know what I would DO with a sword if I had one, but there you have it.
4. Although I love chocolate and I love Pop-Tarts, I don’t love chocolate Pop-Tarts.
5. I actually like rain. It's refreshing, peaceful and smells good. And it appeals to my melancholy.
6. I have a brown spot in the iris of my right eye, which is mostly blue. The other eye is totally blue. I just had to go to the mirror to check which one has the spot.
7. In my earliest memory I'm walking down a street in England with my dad. It was before we moved to Canada in 1975, so I wasn’t quite 2 years old yet.
8. I will never own a minivan. NEVER.
9. My first name is derived from Thomasina, and some say it was commonly given to witches during the Middle Ages.
10. I have an ancestor who was a pirate and there is an island named after him just off the coast of Central America.
11. Clowns scare me.
12. Same with ghosts, but I will talk to ghosts. I won’t talk to clowns.
13. My porn name would be Whiskers Francis (first pet, street I grew up on). Or else Mog Church. Neither one is remotely sexy, so I definitely would not make a good porn star.

The Frantic Fading Weeks of Summer

It dawned on me today that there are exactly two weeks left before school starts. A little sort of a hyperventilating panic set in – there are many things I still want to do with the boys before September. And yet, I am excited to have a little more non-boy time on my hands once school is back in full swing. E. will be in school 8:40 – 2:30 EVERY weekday! Woo hoo! And J. will be 3 mornings a week. So even if I volunteer one morning in E’s classroom again (if the teacher wants me!) I will have two mornings to myself again. And one day at work, which is all about me, me, me. (Oh, and about work, too) Ah, freedom!
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Sorry, I was sidetracked for a minute doing a little happy dance. Wish you could have seen it... naw, I’m glad you didn’t. Any last shred of respect you may have for me would have disappeared.
Well, we still have a ton of things to squeeze in, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been idle for these first two weeks of August. Silly fools that we are, we have been jam packed:
Aug 1st: Bowling with the boys. And Mamma Mia for me in the evening.
Aug 2nd: Day at Granville Island with our guys, Briana, Rob, Liam & Kieran, Jen, Laurence & Hannah then dinner at my M&D’s.

Aug 3rd: Played Wii with Barry in the morning, then went to the Sandcastle competition at the Spirit of the Sea festival in White Rock.


Aug 4th: BC Day – decided to run errands, forgetting that places like Costco close on holidays. Came home and rode bikes instead.
Aug 5th: Played pirates and Pokemon all day. Tired us out:

Aug 6th: Worked.
Aug 7th: To my friend Linda’s on one of the hottest days of the year, where we picked blackberries and all the kids organized and ran relay races like they were competing in the Olympics themselves. Swim lessons in the evening.
Aug 8th: Abbotsford Air Show all day, then watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony in the evening. There began my Olympic TV obsession for 2008. Next Olympics I’ll be too busy to watch any events on TV, and hopefully I’ll be at some of them!

Aug 9th: Took the ferry over to Sooke on our camping trip. Waited out a rain squall to erect the tent. The boys jumped on the trampoline in swim shorts and rain jackets. Went to bed and froze throughout the night.
Aug 10th: The day dawned beautifully sunny. We spent some time at the beach, had a picnic, then swam off the dock in Sooke Basin. Ate a great BBQ dinner and then had s’mores.

Aug 11th: Another great Sooke day. Lots of Lego, Slip N Slide and Stomp Rockets.

Aug 12th: Laundry (like 18 loads) then to the Vancouver Zoo. Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! And a hippo.

Aug 13th: Worked.
Aug 14th: Saw my parents in the morning, swam in Kim’s pool all afternoon, then the kids went to swimming lessons and I went and tried archery for the first time. I had a great time and won two donut holes and an apple for hitting the right targets!

Aug 15th: Saw Nancy and her kids, up from San Diego for a vacation. Spent the day at the lake with them!

Aug 16th: Spent the day at the other side of the lake with the Mintens, Kim and Gene. Then that night our neighbours set up a projector and screen so the kids could all watch a movie outdoors. Curious George was a big hit, but the kids didn’t go to bed until 11!

Aug 17th: The boys hung out with Mike while I had my Olympics interview and training. (It went well, I hope I’m in!) They went to Susan’s for dinner while I hit the Night Market with Carrie and Ivana for some Dim Sum and Bubble Tea and cheap shopping.
Aug 18th: Jack and Mike had their father-son Woodworking class where they made a wooden train while Ethan and I had some quality time building a treasure chest at home.

And today we’ve done nothing but bead. Those Perler bead crafts are still a huge hit around our house! We still hope to hit the waterslides, the PNE fair, the waterpark and lots more before September. Wish us luck!