my pet dragon

trick or treat!
we had such a good time over the wknd with friends and getting ready for Halloween...
We had a costume ready for William since his birthday in the summer, found it for a killer deal at Old Navy and he has worn it many, many times. William is really good at learning about a "new thing" by practicing what might happen and trying it a few times, hence the "practice" trick or treat video below. I think it's so weird we send our kids to strangers doors for candy. LOL! What a strange tradition. However we tried it a few time and come that evening he was ALL OVER it. He would run to the door and say " YOOOU WHOO Twick Tweat" and kept saying "this fun mum, i lub that house". So we just enjoyed it and tried to capture every last moment...another BIG first in his little life. We also got together for a fun breakfast with friends at our house that morning and got some really good hang out time in with more great friends visiting from medicine hat. soooo...a couple late games night and much in between we are all laying low today and thank ful for the extra hour in the time change.




love love

good morning Monday

Daddy and William practicing Guitar... we were leading worship at Church Unlimited and William was so funny, at home he had to be apart of it and play his own guitar. THEN when we did it for real at church, he just played his nintendo and pretended we didn't exist.
LANDY and W doing their Fall Faces
I have ALWAYS wanted to goto a pumpkin patch. It was like out of a movie...picture perfect fall and rain boots we a must in the muddy mud mud. W didn't want to pick out any of the dirty "punkims" he searched and searched till he found a clean little one




It's obvious I have blogged in a while and I wanted to update the happenings around here and hopefully bring a little life to this blog of mine and have it a warm and cozy spot to read and catch up again. I have been having deep and intellectual thoughts lately just haven't been sure how to translate them to type. One of the major trains of thinking I have been on is writing a children's book AND blogging about the idea of parents getting PAID to parent based on some sort of merit scale. Rather than being faced with the daycare/preschool/nanny deli ma. Perhaps the Government should institute a PAID parent hood feature...raise a smart kid...we will pay ya to do it....FOR THE FUTURE of out NATION * cue the national anthem :)


Here are some photo op's from the last few weeks






I went to palm springs with some wonderful girlfriends and i have to mention this shot. we went into a hotel for the free boat ride around the property, it was very fun and while i was in there I thought to myself this REALLY looks like the hotel from the episode of Saved By The Bell when Jesse's dad gets married. She steals the boat and a golf cart ...and on and on I went. While Kristin and Abby were like "ohhhh, mmhmmm really? you think so?? wow!" I don't think they were avid Zack Morris fans, well anyhow...I post that idea on my FB and sure enough a friend wrote back and confirmed my suspicions. It was the SAME hotel from all that time ago-- her sister had asked when THEY were there one time. SOOOO I had to try and google the episode and YouTube it...to no avail. It's not anywhere I can spy it. BUT I do feel satisfied to know that it was the spot and I was there!


4 D experience!





I WISH I COULD ROTATE this but I can't figure it out...anyhow it's L and W at the pumpkin patch having a ho down with this guitar playing pig thing...








Well a regular day for us around here is some sort of adventure in the morning and while W naps I'm busy doing sales and admin for Jimi for Valley Tech. Things are coming along out here. We have been busy with quotes and installs. We are thankful for the breakthrough we are having in such a tough market and looking forward to seeing what will keep opening up as we keep going!
I looked at putting W into a part time daycare so I could have a little more time to work without interruption, but honestly, it's just not the right one...so we will continue to search for the right person or place to have him attend. I'll keep ya posted.



LOVE LOVE

BRAND POWER

I was shopping for regular house/life things this week and I found myself purchasing brands not so much out of satisfaction as it was familiarity. You know....my mom always bought TIDE and DOWNY so I do as well. My husband and I use different kinds of toothpaste because we each grew up on a different brand and don't really want to try the others...plus it gives me a sense of "in dependant woman" ("married almost 4 yrs and buy whatever kind f toothpaste I want" LOL rightttt) So the list goes on as I notice things in my house as we go about lifeand I'm just curious: DO YOU do the same, AND what sorta of products are they? Is there one that you've switched to out of pure rebellion OR independence or a bad memory/experience with a certain something you hated as a kid and will NEVER buy on your own volition. When I do the grocery shop I buy certain brands and items and if J does it then there are all sorta of unfamiliar things to me but to him, I think it's just like what he use to have. The other side to this is now that I am health conscious and somewhat chemical aware I am branching out into new territory but you know it's not like this just applies to boring house hold needs, maybe you always buy GUESS jeans because when you were younger the ones in white with the triangle on the back pocket were the HOTTEST and you never got them for back to school because mom and dad said NO to designer (OK just me!??!?! too much information?? WHITE JEANS...yes I'm serious) OR you always buy PC instead of MAC because that's why you learned on in school. I'd LOVE to hear what your thinking...

the preschool blues

I know W just turned 2 but I now have the task of finding a preschool and there are a few things I want to know. Do most kids go to preschool? Is there serious pros and cons of this? As an only child, so far, I think he'd like to go and have some learning and interaction. The city is tough, it's like in the movies where you see kids have to interview and lobby for prestigious spots...almost as difficult as getting into a ivy league university. Most of the schools are FULL for NEXT year or have people on their wait list who have registered as early as they found out they were preggers! Is this FOR REAL? I'm a little lost in the preschool jungle and could use any tips that are out there. I have decided at least that I would like him to go, and if it means standing outside at 3AM on the morning of registration in Feb. than so be it, by the way, this is a REAL scenario as told to me in confidence by the receptionist...she said " Mrs. S just so you know if you show up at 9am all the spots will be gone, they may even be full the day before registration opens...most parents line up rather early on the day of ...just to be sure" .

I have this panic-y feeling like I've missed the boat already, that he is two and we are falling behind, that we are missing fundamental moments in his 10 yr plan IF we don't get into the right preschool how can he be expected to get into the right post secondary....of course by three I assuming these city kids speak Latin and go sailing at the club on weekends *grin

for my boy

my baby turns two tomorrow. and i feel happy for ALL of the exciting times we have had the last 730 days of his life, but watching him today play with other kids and sing-a-long to songs he adores i realize that this next birthday will be marked by my baby turning into a kid. a big kid with an opinion, likes and dislikes even the capacity to hold memories and affection for special people in his life. I am SO proud of my boy, he is kind, he is funny, he is smart reciting his ABC's and counting to 15 even reminding me that he'd like to "go for a little walk to the park and play with the kids". W holds a special capacity to really love on people. he is really fond of our network of friends and family and he has the most exciting way of embracing all the adventures we take. my parents and sister are coming in for the weekend, I am so happy to celebrate with them, who knows what the weekend will hold, but i'm sure as long as their is balloons, and some cupcakes W will be tickled.

i can't help and feel a little nostalgic this time 2 yrs ago i was antsy and uncomfortable with NO idea what was about to change. i was writing sermons and getting ready for another fall kick off for satellite. i think it's safe to say that although my boy has changed immensely the last two years, so have i. the first year we sort of trotted along with baby in tow, going about out usual schedules and duties... then when we decided to move it really changed how we went about life. less family around to help when we needed and we went from a large space to very small living quarters . after working downtown i left the corporate world, so to speak, to help my hubby get the business off the ground...at this point i am mostly MOM and on the odd nap time i'm working and helping administrate. i have never in my life, until these past 5 months not worked. i am calmer, less stressed, i am more likely to just take the days as it comes rather than dictate how it will be. I remember my first few days of not working i was in FULL gear, all over the city getting as much done in a day as you can imagine only to realize how needlessly exhausted W and I were and that taking more time to enjoy it would go a long way. I know that we are about to kick up the busy season for the company and church is not far behind so even though i feel like it can sometimes be too dull, i know very soon i'll be remembering those quieter days.

right now we are a happy family of three, over the initial phase of moving, past the getting settled and quickly progressing to building a life here. if i knew 729 days ago what the last two years would have looked like i might have decided to hide out and run...(as if that's possible with an 11 pound baby tucked inside of your body) i don't think i would have been brave enough to go thru, had i known. and i wonder if i'll look back in another two years and say a similar story... but what i have learned is that it isn't always necessary to know what's ahead, in fact it's probably better that way.

SO TO MY SON: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I SIMPLY ADORE YOU!

(just in case your interested, our tradition of celebrating W's bday is this:
a morning breakfast with just the three of us, then off to the toy store where he is allowed to pick out ANYTHING he wants. i know that he will open presents from family and friends so we let him PICK out what it is he really wants to have. I don't remember ever getting to leave the toy store with an armful of loot and i think that once a year it might be called for :) i'm hoping he will pick out a bike this year, last year it was a leap frog guitar (not much of a splurge, but he was only one, i'm sure he will learn ;) )

i find it rude when

i find it rude when...

i pull up to a parking space in front of a bank, find myself out of change and the security guard at the bank opens the door comes out and says "we don't give change"

your skirt is so short your bum is playing peek a boo

the fitting room attendant asks me to hang up my own clothes before I leave?!

I'm walking down the aisle at the market with my stroller and my basket and you push me over without making eye contact


we are eating out and every ones dinner is served and eaten before mine, and all I ordered was a salad


OK YOUR TURN. Sometimes it's SO good to vent!

THE HEAT IS ON

It is suffering HOT. In fact right now I am RELISHING the early hour in the day just to have a bit of rep rive from the sweat I've come to be so used to. I have experienced high temps before, however I always had the convenience of a/c. We were told the weather was NOT super extreme here, for both winter and summer...ahhhh relief we thought. Well so far we have experience extreme SNOW and now HEAT. Granted we aren't far from water but with a kidlet in tow, it's not always enjoyable to drag all the stuff down there only to get so hot and want to come home a few minutes later. This is from the online weather watch as of yesterday "The early afternoon reading of 33.7 degrees Celsius at Airport broke through the old record of 29.4, set on July 30th, 1965." Ok so you think not such a big deal...just a few degrees but I can vouch for the long hot night, my little on waking on the hour dripping in sweat, so we've no congregated to family sleeping in his room, to huddle around the ONE fan we own. Yesterday I was at the hardware store and they miraculously had TWO fans left...they are sold out everywhere and I DIDN'T buy it!!!!! I don't know I'm a bit of a penny pincher and I thought to myself....is the heat gonna last? Will it really be SO bad. My husband just about disowned me for passing on the fans.

So, now I have almost become a professional at beating the heat. We don't have air in our house, but we do in our CAR! So off to long road trips that may or may not cover nap time, I do my makeup in the car and when we hit traffic, even the kind that's at a standstill....we simply sit back and enjoy the cool air. I've happened about a few discoveries as well, the malls here do not have a/c either, it's called "forced cool air" translation, we were sweating in the mall " oh well back to the car!" Ikea IS nice and cool! Minus the fact that it is riddled with small screaming children it was a nice reprieve. Our neigh boors have air and I like to hint hint hint "oh I notice your windows are closed...you must have air...is it nice!?!? (thinking PLEASE invite me in PLEASE have us over....PUULLEASEEE) To hot to cook so we head to the restaurant, after waiting for 10 min for a table I realize that this place has the forced cool air thing too-- meaning it's SO HOT, we sweat and after our server NEVER appeared I pick up my kiddo and headed out the door only to have the manager follow apologizing profusely and I say in my exasperated, heat stricken, starving...if I don't get some cool air sooon sorta way " I'M JUST SO UPSET!" and she looks a little off kilter and says "ok I'm so sorry" POOR THING...what I am upset about is not the LACK of service, not the emptiness of food. IT's SOOOOO HOT IN HERE!!!!!

Finally we retreat to the movie theatre, after paying THIRTEEN dollars for parking (***tears)
We head into the MOST glorious air conditioned happy land ever. Now, I know my son is only 23 months...almost two years, but not quite the attentions span for a movie but I thought "who cares if he is interested for 10 minutes it'll be worth it. WELL, bless his little stinkin' heart he LOVED the movie, sat thru the WHOLE thing, LOVED it and I just put my head back and let the cool air breeze on.

The only downfall to this experience...when we got home and out of our air conditioned car after the air conditioned theatre only to sit in our house and remember why we left and somehow it feels HOTTER now that we have experienced "the other side"


love love.