Breathtaking

Life is not about how many breaths you take, but about the moments that take your breath away.

Why when you let them can children take your breath away on so many simple occasions. Big Daddy's cousin is getting married next weekend and Joseph is going to be attending the wedding with us. So, he needs something to wear. We have this suit that is a hand me down and still in the box. It is close to Joseph's size so I dig it out and figure we'll have him try it on and if it fits, great. If not, well... we all know how some people think I am a Shopaholic . So we are getting ready for bath time the other night and I ask Joseph to try the suit on. We get the shirt tucked in the tie straightened and the vest buttoned up nicely. I decided to send him in to the computer room to ask Big Daddy what he thinks. Joseph shyly walks in and says in a quiet voice "Daddy, do I look handsome and debonair?" Big Daddy look up from the computer monitor and is pretty much breathless. His little man in a suit. It really was so sweet. Joseph did look handsome and debonair. But whatever you do, don't ask Big Daddy to admit that a)he was on the internet reading up on what happened on his soaps that he missed this week or b)that he almost teared up at the sight of his little boy in a nice suit.

Now for shoes..... Big Daddy says sneaker are appropriate footwear for Joseph. Well, I don't. So shopping it is!

How unfortunate

There are some things that happen in this world that are so unfortunate such as the recent bombings in London, 9/11, war, major accidents or even things such as the loss of a loved one. There are some things in the world that are a little less unfortunate, but still unfortunate all the same. I guess it makes a difference when the unfortunate things can be avoided... but aren't.

I am a major car seat advocate, so much though that Big Daddy dubbed me the "car seat nazi". But I believe that the 5 minutes that it takes to a) read the manual b)properly install a child safety seat and c) buckle the kids in properly can save their lives at some point in time. I most definately couldn't live with myself if I didn't take the extra few minutes to do what I could to make my kids safe. But that is completely my opinon. But as far as I am concerned its as easy as shutting the door on the car, just because your in a hurry you don't drive with the door open... do you? You know to save tall that ime opening it when you get to your destination. Hmmm, or could that really be a huge timesaver? I think if you were to drive with the door open to save time, it would be best to buckle up.

Another thing that a parent can protect their children from is teasing... to an extent. What you name your child defines who they are. Today at work I came across a most unfortunate name (my aplogies to this gal if she stumbles upon my blog) her name is Muffie Bowser. What are people thinking when they name their children? Sometimes I wonder. Like with the last name Bowser do you really think it was appropriate to name the girl Muffie? In my opinion it really is never appropriate to name a child Muffie but especially so with the last name of Bowser. I hope she is able to get married soon and change her last name and if that is her married last name she must really love her husband to endure the torture of that.

Big Daddy and I spent a fair amount of time considering what we would name the boys. I mean there probably is someone out in the world who dislikes my kids names...but at least I don't think they are torturous. I was careful to check what their initals would be... with a last name that starts with M you don't want to end up with SNM , BUM, DUM or something else as your intials. Or am I one of the few who thinks to check that out. I would hate to name my child something that is easily poked fun at. Kids have a hard enough time in school with getting picked on for uncontrollable things that their name was something I could control.

I once met a fellow who's name was Bill. Are you wondering if that was his first name or last name? Well it was both... Bill Bill was his name. And no, not William Bill, that was his Dad. Now why? I guess it is a "family name" but still odd as all get up. Like if our last name was Bird, I would not name my son Jason (read: JAY) Jay Bird. Please folks if you last name is Davidson, don't name your son Harley. Even if you do like the bikes, its just not a good name for a child.

Maybe Big Daddy and I have lucked out and have a pretty good last name, not that teasable and not much can turn it into something too laughable. I just wish some people thought twice about what they name their kids, and really at least be smart enough to buckle them in to their car seat.

If only life were as simple.

Last week Big Daddy, the dudes and myself packed up and headed off to Emma Lake for 4 great days. It was a good time, we had a wide range of weather from stiffelling hot to cold miserable and rainy. But we had fun and spent some time together, that was the great part.

For our first camping trip as a family of four, things went pretty well. For the most part the boys were superbly well behaved and travelled great. Sleeping wasn't as much of an issue as it could have been which was nice. Joseph slept right where he said he was going to and never woke up afraid. Trent, well... we weren't sure how this was going to go. The first night I cracked open a glow stick and laid with him for awhile and then Big Daddy (much more patience than myself) laid with him for over an hour. Finally Big Daddy gave up and left Trent in the trailer to explore. I came over and said "kids asleep?" and the response I got was "Well, the little bastard isn't yet." Big Daddy enlightened me on how he sat at the picnic table and watched as Trent with the glow stick in hand explored the camper. Big Daddy finally clued in to the fact that there was no noise to be heard and no glow stick to be seen. Big Daddy opened the squeeky 1972 camper door to check on toddler status. I think he had high hopes for a slumbered child. But as Big Daddy was soon reminded that no noise generally isn't good noise. Trent had found a 300 box of kleenex... and I think he had pulled out each sheet and torn it at least 5 times. All 17 feet of the camper were covered with a white fluffly coating of 2 ply tissues. So poor Big Daddy grabs a pail and the glow stick all the while trying not to wake Joseph and scoops up as much of the kleenex as possible. I wonder how 300 tissues ever fit into that little box when they filled a 20 gallon pail??? One of life's mysteries.

But all in all we had fun and got to spend some time on the golf course, at the beach and lounging in the sun. Hunkered under a spiderman umbrella wasn't the highlight so we won't go there. But the $8 rain suits I bought for the kids were the best purchase I could have made.

I think the kids had fun too since we loaded up all of our soggy stuff and climbed into the truck waving goodbye to all the friends who were staying another night and Joseph says "Mommy, our house is boring I don't want to go home. Let's sell our house and move to the lake." If life were only as simple as children think it to be. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was thinking "when your 65 son, when your 65." But I was happy to hear he had a good time. Since before we left he whispered to me how afraid he was to go to the lake. I questioned him as to why and the response was "there is no tv there". I don't think he missed tv.... even when it was raining.

We can't wait to go again next year, even if there is no tv.



Fun on the beach


Big Daddy


Go Fish!


The rain gear


I'll show you mine... if you show me yours.

Better than an alarm clock

Why is it I lay in bed at night not able to sleep and make mental lists of all the things I should do or blog about. I think of all these superbly funny & witty things to blog about thinking you'll all get a good laugh out of them. Then I slowly doze off. A few short hours later daylight comes and I am ripped from my sleep with the realization with one eye 1/4 open that Trent is using Big Daddy's nightstand as his colouring palate. Damnit! What the hell takes red crayon off of some fake piece of crap mdf/wood. Well, my mental "list" & funny witty blog is now shot to hell except for my new list that I started after I tripped over the pile of CD's laying on the floor in my lunge to stop Trent.

MY TO DO LIST ~ July 11, 2005

1. Teach Trent what paper is used for.
2. Find a Mr. Clean magic eraser.
3. Hide all crayon & colouring substances.
4. Ice my hamstring, I think I ripped the shit out of it tripping over the CD's
5. Throw all our CD's in the garbage and invest in a MP3 player.
6. Phone Big Daddy and whine about it all.
7. Blog about something no where near as witty and funny as I had planned while dozing off.

Other than all that, today was a great day. Big Daddy shot a round of golf with male family members today. I am glad he got to enjoy his Sunday. Does that sound sarcastic? Because it really wasn't meant to. He doesn't get to golf very often anymore so it's nice when he can go.

The only downfall is that we are getting ready to go on holidays for a few days and we need to pack some clothes. Of course we prefer to pack clean clothes so I brave doing some laundry.

I will be the first to admit I am spoiled Big Daddy does our laundry. Well except for my disgusting cloth diapers and I don't blame him for trying to get out of those... that was the deal when I started using them. So, I sort the laundry and take a load down there. Well, if I don't forget about it. What is wrong with me??? I am the most useless laundry do-er in North America. I need some kind of bar to come out of the wall and whap me upside the head to remind me to go switch it around. Not only do I get through 2 loads but I discolour all our towels??

Don't worry, it was NOT red crayon. But I guess a new towel I bought leaked blue dye onto everything. You would think you would get something a little better in quality than leaky blue towel for $2 at Wal-Mart. Sheesh. But thank goodness they were only towels, but now at the lake we will all have matching blue towels. I am sure Big Daddy will be really appreciative of my efforts tonight when he gets home. Do you think? Right, better go pretend I am asleep. I think I might cover the red crayon on the night stand with a towel.

The best of the best

Happy Canada Day!

I haven't had the chance to blog since Canada Day!
Big Daddy, the kids and myself had the BEST Canada Day. It was sooo great. Joseph had his cousin Dylan sleep over the night before and in the morning we all got up and got ready and went for brunch. Then we hopped in the truck and headed for the farm to pick up the trailer we are going to be using at the lake. We could not have had a more beautiful day, the drive was great, the boys were well behaved and had some interesting conversation. We spent a few hours at the farm visiting and playing. We lathered on the bug spray and sunscreen. I spent about half an hour jumping & wrestling on the trampoline with the kids and somehow I got a sunburn. How I did and the kids didn't is beyond me since they were in the sun for about two solid hours. Then we hooked up the trailer and headed home. All the boys cried they didn't want to leave the farm and all the fun. But all three of them were so tired. Trent and Dylan slept most of the way home and Joseph read books. It was a really great day to drive along some secondary highways and look at the lush farms busting out some beautiful crops, cows basking in the sun, puffy white perfect mashed potato looking clouds in the picture perfect blue sky. It was great. I love Saskatchewan scenery on a day like that. I know the old joke is that you can watch your dog run away for days. But I love seeing the fields go for miles.

Farm life is like a different world. It is slower paced and seems so relaxing and peaceful. I like to belive that I could live on a farm and enjoy some of the solitude the acres provide, but I think I would still need my close by convieniences and 24hour drug store.

To top off our weekend Big Daddy and I went golfing yesterday. It honestly is the first time I have swung a golf club since before Joseph was born, so at least 4-5 years. My game could definately use some improvement, but I was just happy that never once did I swing and completely miss the ball. So for me, it was a success.

On a side note, I have noticed that since having this bit of a sunburn I have come across a pet peeve. Why is it that when you tell someone you have a sunburn they proceed to slap you on the back where your burn is. That really chaps my ass. Thats like when someone says they have a headache and people proceed to hollar towards them saying "how are you feeling?" and thinks its funny. Next thing you know it will customary for people to kick you in the crotch when they come to see you at the hospital right after you've had a baby.

And that folks, was our Canada Day weekend.