Hallowe'en

ICK. I detest this STUPID time of year. I loved it when I was a kid and enjoy seeing my kids so excited, but I can't stomach it.

On that note, I am going to do a Hallowe'en Meme. Mr. Ramblin' tagged me so here we go ~

1. What is the scariest movie you have ever seen??

Probably "The Ring". That was just wrong on all levels.

I rememeber seeing "Jaws" one summer when our family was at the lake. I was probably about nine. That scared me pretty bad and I was too terrified to go near a toilet for a long time. I don't recall a toilet scene?? Of course, I don't recall much besides being really scared and then worried my brothers were going to make fun of me for being scared, so not wanting to admit how scared I really was.


2. What was your favourite Hallowe'en Costume from childhood, and adulthood??

All I remember was a Clown Costume that I think my mom made or got from somewhere. My brothers and I took turns using it. It fit really well over our huge parkas and scarves, boots etc that we had to wear to trudge through the snow. Yes, we often had snow by Hallowe'en up in good old Alberta and Saskatchewan:) Ahhhh...the memories... I am sure I was other things and vauguely recall being a cat one year and I think I have seen pictures of me dressed as a "hobo". So, I guess I don't have a "favourite".

3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Hallowe'en??

I truly could care less. I don't get into this stuff AT ALL and, as Tim said, am kind of a dud! LOL I suppose something really pretty and fancy like some Princess or Queen from long ago. Something with lots of layers and hoops and sequins, feathers, you name it! I am sure it would be horribly uncomfy, but still...it would look cool:)

4. When was the last time you went Trick or Treating??

When Stud and I took the kids last year. We normally go to the "Pumpkin Patch Party" at our church. The past two years, they wanted to try this Trick or Treating thing they had heard so much about and seen kids doing. So we let them do that for a short time and then we were off to the party. They have Pony rides, games, inflatable things to jump and play in, prizes, and unlimited candy! This year, they want to just go Trick or Treating so we are going to let them try it out. Princess was so scared the first year, even though it was day-light, that she was reciting Joshua 1:9 to herself over and over again. For those who do not know it, it goes something like this ~ "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go." So imagine this little pink "BooBah" (dunno what it was, never watched the show. But she saw the costume and it WAS PINK, after all!) glancing all around her, muttering this verse under her breathe! Here are the kids before we went Trick or Treating. Jock had wanted that scary thing and had paid for it with his own money, 75% off, the year before. Always planning ahead!




Again, I digress...

5. What is your Favourite Hallowe'en candy??

CHOCOLATE!!! Hands down, no question! Candy corn is ok, but chocolate is AWESOME!

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.

I can't right now. It was a few days before my brother died. It appears to have been a premonition. I still have no idea if it was a nightmare or if I was actually awake and sleep walking or what. It was incredibly bizarre and upsetting. Maybe when I feell strong enought to start to write more about my brother, I will be able to talk about that.


7. What is your Supernatural Fear???

I don't quite understand the question. I don't really have any "SuperNatural" fears. My main fears are heights, water and small spaces.

8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie fear???

Don't really have one. I am not fond of scorpions and have been even more unimpressed with them since I had one in bed with me when we lived in SC. *shudder*

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost or heard something go bump in the night.

Again, this has to do with my brother dying last summer. I wouldn't call him a "ghost". However, I am certain that I saw him less than 12 hours after he died. It was a few times. Inside, he was a transparent form, that moved extremely fast. Outside in the yard at night, he was a shimmering...light. I can't really describe it. I also heard him speak, which was especially amazing, since he could not speak when he was alive. I wasn't scared though, I was happy and sad at the same time.

10. Would you stay in a real Haunted House at night??

I am not sure. Maybe.

11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?

I don't do that. Stud handles that area and to answer the question, I will post a photo of the one he did last night...









This is from last year. Stud did that one beside Jock there. Hopefully Stud will finish the other three in time and you will see photos of those soon.

12. How much do you decorate your house for Hallowe'en??

Not too much. We have Autumn looking things and some pumpkins. But I don't have any scary stuff. Unless you count those Jack O' Lanterns the kids love to have:) Hate the stupid season and as I said, can't wait for it to be over.

13. What do you want on your tombstone.

I am not gonna be buried. I will be cremated. But if someone wants to erect a stone of some sort, I hope it is in Canada (preferably next to my brother, but I think my parents have claimed those spots) and says something nice:)



I don't have many readers, so I am trying to think of who to tag...

Vince, Jude, LM, L, Happy (if he likes these things), Dooney (if you can find time to read this! LOL) and whoever else wants to do it!

Peace out!

Stud's blog

Ok, so Stud did not post about "The Great Pumpkin Patch Fiasco" yet. However, he DID write a short (to me, since I can blab for hours) blurb on something he and I are very passionate about.

If anyone is interested, go here and see what you think.

Reading through the comments on the link that he has there, is really interesting. I have still not found time to wade through the entire thing, but hope to at some point soon.

Anyway, just FYI!

Nighty night!

Puuuuuddy Tats

It is that time of year again. Too cold out for our kitties to be outside all winter. So we have brought them in for the next four or five months. Time to load up on kitty litter again!

We only allow them downstairs. Since all the boys' rooms are down here, they need to keep the doors closed because I don't want cat fur all over their beds and pillows and everything. There is a door we can shut that leads upstairs, so no worries about them getting into anything up there. Now that Princess has mice in the house, we have to be especially careful.

I would post a precious photo of the kids and cats cuddling together, but the retarded things are still so freaked out (Clown and I let them in about 9:30 this morning) they have not come out from behind the futon all day! Princess has squished herself back there now in an attempt to coax them out. OH! It is working, one of them is now exploring a little bit and sniffing at things. Usually takes them a few days and then they relax and laze about. Same in the spring, they freak out when we put them outside. You would think they could remember from year to year!

Ok, Clown is now out of the shower, I need to go give Princess a bath (she refuses to shower) and then we are all going to hunker down with some popcorn and watch "Over the Hedge". Stud has not seen it yet, so the kids are excited to see what he thinks!!

Have a great night everyone!!

Curves

Yes. That is correct. I joined Curves! I AM SO EXCITED!

Stud goes to the gym a few times a week. There is one near his office and he goes during lunch time. He plays hockey as well as coaching Jock's hockey team, which involves some physical activity. Thusly, he has lost over 30 lbs in the last year and is slowly building more muscle, which will burn MORE fat.

I weigh now what Stud weighed when we got married. He is six feet tall. I am almost five foot two. I am sure you see how this is not healthy??

At one point, he had gained over 60 lbs. I think it was about ten years ago, he was nearly 200 lbs. Yes, he didn't weigh very much when we got married, but neither did I. I was 98 lbs. He was 135, which means we were both on the scrawny side. Yes, I realise I just told you how much I weigh!! LOL

So you can also figure out that I have gained close to 40 lbs since getting married. Yes yes, I know I have been pregnant with and given birth to four children. That is no excuse, in my book. Especially since I was always known for being slim and cute (if I do say so myself! LOL) and easily shed all the pregnancy weight with no effort. People hated me and I could not understand why.

Until about five years ago. I noticed soon a bit before getting pregnant with Clown that rolls were developing and I was horrified. Looking back, I wish I was that weight now! LOL I was about 112 and had never been that heavy non-pregnant before. Once Clown was born, the weight was not melting off as quickly as it had with Brain and Jock. Before I could do anything about it, I was pregnant with Princess. I didn't get as huge with her as I had with all the boys, and soon after she was born, I was fairly slim again. Not nearly as slim and trim as I had been used to, but not too shabby. Around what I was when I got pregnant with Clown, which was good enough for me.

I noticed things jiggling and being a bit uncomfy and then once she weaned herself around Christmas of 2001, the weight seemed to come on pretty suddenly. Since then, I have gained about 30 lbs. NOW, I know why people used to hate me! I have to THINK about what I eat (which is a lot of the problem. I panicked and started making food a huge part of my life and thought far too much about it. Started living to eat, not eating to live) and really be more aware of things. I guess it is the aging and the metabolism and all that.

So anyway, as you may recall, I joined Jenny Craig in August. I lost ten pounds fairly quickly and have miraculously kept it off. I only did it for three weeks because it was far too expensive and I learned what I needed to learn from them. Now, if I would follow the plan I set out for myself, I would lose another ten at least! I have been eating pretty badly, back to my Starbucks treats etc. But I have not gained any and I think a lot of that is because I am still trying to remain active.

Stud and I are really clicking and connecting. We are doing better all the time and I find myself really wanting to spend as much time with him as possible. I had placed the kids above him and put them first. It is complicated as to why I did this, but the fact is it happened. All subconscious and stuff. The Brain is amazing. Now, I am totally focused on him and kind of neglect the kids. Not neglect, but don't focus on them as much as I had been. The result of that is not what I always feared would happen if I did that. Even though I did not consciously do this, it was a result of being so tuned in to Stud that I would sometimes realise I was not with the kids as much, etc. I thought it would damage the kids, but instead (as I knew deep down from all my reading, etc) they feel more safe and secure and are just fine. They are happy their Dad and I are going out more and cuddling all the time. We talk with each other MUCH more and are just not in our own corner of the house when we are all home, we are usually with each other. This makes me extremely happy and I think the kids are enjoying it.

All that to say that I asked Stud if he would go to a gym with me. I said that since he gets to join one and work out and get fit, that I would also like to. I suggested that he do that WITH me. It would be a common interest and activity that we could do together. I also wanted him to show me how to use the machines, etc. I have never been in a gym in my life and have no idea what to do. He said he can't get up in the morning and do it (which is when I wanted to) and he likes to break up the day and do it mid day to have a break from work.

So I was telling my friends this and one of them suggested Curves. There has been one right near our house for at least a few years, I am not sure why I never thought of it. So I went and got my figure analysis done yesterday. I told her I want to be 110 lbs and a size 5/6. I am now a size 10. She asked me if that size for my goal was realistic!??! I wasn't too impressed. I said "Of course it is. I used to be a 2 or a zero, I think a 5/6 is not unreasonable." GEEZ! What a MEANY!! *sniff*

I did the work out with her and MAN! That KICKED MY BUM! LOL This was yesterday afternoon. Then I got up at 6 this morning and went in. I couldn't even finish the whole thing! LOL I plan to go at least once a morning (it is a half hour work out) for a week or two and then hopefully go through the thing twice, to make it an hour every day. Then I want to "power walk" a few times a week at least, if not every day. Then I am still doing my twice weekly water aerobics, which I LOVE. So by Christmas, most of this flubber better be melted off and I hope to be more toned by then. I am still pretty toned under all the padding. I am very excited, though!

Anyway, that is my exciting news for today:) My calves hurt SO BAD. As well as my obliques, now that I think about it:) YAHOO FOR ME!!

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

While I am waiting for Stud to come home from his weekly hockey game, I feel well enough to post about the party festivities from yesterday.

She says she is going to be a ballerina when she grows up. LOVES her ballet classes (recently quit tap, wants to focus on ballet) and just loves anything ballet related. We were going to do this theme for her party, but she was torn. Ballet, or Princess?? She had done Princess last year, and never done ballet. She was tormented!?!? WHAT TO DO!?!?

We went shopping to get ideas and came across this and realised it was PERFECT! Ballet AND Princess things combined!?!? What could be better!?!?

So that is the theme we went with, as well as the ballet slipper pinata (I can't get the squiggly thing to go above the 'a') and she was just tickled pink. Our friend who makes the kids cakes did a ballet slipper cake. I can't post a photo of it since her name is on it. I don't know how to cover that up, maybe Stud can help me. She really makes awesome cakes. Home made, from scratch, with a filling and everything. Princess requested strawberry cake with strawberry filling. I don't like cake, so a, not sure how it was, but people seemed pleased with it. I also made pink strawberry punch which no one but the birthday girl really liked! LOL At least SHE liked it!




So we did musical chairs and the pinata and had a wonderful time. Six friends from her class at school came (three boys and three girls) as well as various family friends who try to never miss our kids' parties. She was spoiled rotten as always and got four of the Twelve Princess dolls that she plans to collect. Stud took her to buy another one today, when they returned a duplicate gift.




Clown was shy and held back for a while, but finally joined in the fun and put a huge dent in the pinata!








You can't see a lot of the kids clearly, so I don't think it is a problem to post these. There are some cute pictures of her opening gifts and doing the whole cake thing, but her little friends are all gathered around her so I don't feel right posting those. I thought to ask the parents' permission, but chickened out! We had kids ranging in age from fourteen to about three. Seemed that everyone had a great time and I know Princess slept well and was very happy. That is what matters.




Ok, head ache is back and I am suddenly exhausted. I will go wait for Stud to get back.

Hope everyone had a lovely and restful weekend!

The Day Princess turned SIX!!

So as previously mentioned, our baby girl was the big six on Tuesday.

Normally, our kids awake to at least one of their gifts hidden somewhere or sitting on their bed or at their place at the table. They may discover it when they get out of bed or go to eat their birthday breakfast, which is usually anything they want. One time Clown chose to eat a small bowl of chocolate chips. We also planned to meet some friends at a movie after lunch and the poor child had such a tummy ache, his entire day was a wash. He has not forgotten and carefully chooses a healthy breakfast on his birthday ever since then.

We could not do anything as usual this time around. I had an MRI scheduled for early that morning, and it was the only time I could do it. I was also scheduled to help in her class that morning. Stud took the day off of work and drove me to and from my MRI. They wanted me to take some drugs prior to it, so I could not drive or anything. I did not know how the drugs would effect me and Stud went with her to the school. Turns out the drugs had no effect at all and I would have been fine. Of course, she was tickled to have her father in there and it was a very special day in that way.

So everything was on hold for much of the morning. Daddy went and got her McDonald's for lunch (her FAVOURITE) and we played a bit and stuff. She has been BEGGING for mice or turtle or frogs or some small pet for a few years and I convinced Stud that she was old enough now. He agreed with me that we need to encourage our kids in their gifts. She has a gift of compassion and adores animals and babies, etc. Instead of seeing that as an annoyance and just something else to deal with, I feel our job as parents is to encourage and support our children in whatever their interests are. Within reason, of course! He is now on board with this as well and I was very relieved to find that out!

Brain was sad that he would miss much of her special day. Our kids are used to spending their birthdays with each other and they fall all over themselves making the days special and the birthday child feel like the King or Queen for the day. He was really sad that he could not do that. He is SO HELPFUL and got her ready for us while I was at the MRI. By the time Stud and I got home, he had her fed, dressed, hair and teeth brushed and waiting by the front door with her coat and backpack on. I had e-mailed his first period teacher to let him know that he would be late. We are so pleased and impressed with how responsible Brain and Jock can be!

Much of the fun was put off until the boys got home from school anyway. Stud stayed here and watched a movie with the younger two, while I ran to the pet Store to get the mice and all the necessities. She had wanted a pink castle cage, but the man there said that was mainly for hamsters and mice don't like it and don't use much of it. It was $42 before tax anyway and then he showed me the tank he recommended that I get. It was $12. You don't have to tell me twice, buddy!

So I got pink bedding stuff and all the things we needed. By the time I got home, Brain and Jock were home from school and wanting to help prepare. Jock was very excited and wrote out all the clues for the treasure hunt and set it all up. She would find various things needed to care for mice along with some of the clues. Eventually, she found the mice themselves in her room!!!


Here she is, with her little babies. "Frostine" and "Snowflake".







As the day wore on, my head started to hurt very much. I eventually had to take some Aleve, which really helped. I don't normally take anything for pain, but really got to the point where I could not stand it. I can only assume it was from the dye they injected and it was trying to work it's way out of the my body or something. Who knows. All I know it is that it hurt a lot and has not really gone away since then. I got the results from the MRI, which are that everything looks fine. The next step is to go to a neurologist.

I somehow made her requested supper (chicken, chicken flavoured instant rice and broccoli) and she shared a fancy dessert that I chose for her at the grocery store. All in all, it was a very nice day!



I want to also post about her party yesterday, but my head is really getting worse, so I will lay down for now.

The Birthday girl!

Here is a photo tribute to Princess.

What started out like this ~
















Soon turned to this ~


















Before we knew it, this beautiful creature had emerged (along with one of her brothers, a tiny Clown) ~



















Pretty soon, we were blessed with the presence of this...






















Before all her hair was cut off at three years old, with cousin G ~



















And then, we see the beauty that she was a year ago, at five years old ~












Oppps, maybe that is not one of her best moments! LOL



How about this??? With Jock, using her new Easy Bake Oven :)




















On her sixth birthday, about to be tucked into bed by big brother, Brain ~






















Here is the big girl, lazing about with brothers...









Happy Birthday Angel Girl! Can't fathom that you really are not a baby any longer!

Six!?!?!?

Today, Princess turned six. I need to go to bed, it has been a day. So I will leave you with a few photos and a detailed description of the day will have to wait.

Enjoy!

Life with Jock

Ok, I started this on Saturday, will hopefully get it posted TODAY sometime!

I will attempt to do a bit of an update on our Jock before Stud and I go out on a belated birthday date.

His first hockey game of the season was today. They played a team of all girls, who range in age from 12-16. Even the 12 year olds were clearly larger than the boys on Jock's team, since girls hit puberty sooner and all that jazz. Jock is average sized for his age, possibly leaning toward the smaller side. Many of his team mates are quite a bit larger than him, but most of these girls just seemed HUGE comparatively.

They won anyway! These little boys totally beat the big girls! It was AWESOME! Especially since Jock scored one of the four goals:) I love that! He gets SO EXCITED every time he scores and skates around with his stick high in the air. It is so fun to see how happy he is.

His first year playing hockey ('02-'03) he scored 8 out of 11 goals in one game. The kid was truly born to play this game. Last year near the end of the season, another team needed him to help. I wrote about it here if you have any desire to read about it. There is also a video clip in that one.

I learned today that apparently, if girls want to play hockey, but not check, they join an all girls team. There are two girls on Jock's team and that is what you do if you don't care about checking. Be on a Co-ed team. The team Jock's team played today do not want to check or be checked, but they seemed pretty aggressive to me. Jock got a penalty for slashing a girl on the head. He honestly didn't mean to, however I am not sure what his stick was up that high for in the first place. I was glad he got put in the penalty box. At one point he was mad cause he was in a pile with all these girls and as they struggled to get up on their feet again, one was hindering him. The little turd actually kicked at her, to get her out of the way!?!? He was anxious to get into play again and I can understand that. The problem is, he has SKATES on. Even with all the equipment on, you could really hurt someone with the blade of your skate, I need to talk to him about that. Oh, I just told Stud and he said he did not see that from where he was, he will talk to him. He is one of the coaches, so that is cool.

So that was very fun to go and watch. We dragged Brain with us and I did not notice that he had a book with him, until we got settled in the rink. He always has a book on his person somewhere. I meant to remind him not to bring books or anything and focus on watching his brother in ONE game, but things were hectic and I forgot. He despises any of this sports stuff and was quite irritated at having to go support this brother, but he hid it fairly well and I am hoping Jock was none the wiser.

That is the hockey update. Now I will talk about his schooling.

He is really enjoying grade six. As in, LOVING IT. Like gets up before his alarm can even go off. Eats his breakfast, does his inhaler, brushes his teeth, has everything ready and then paces anxiously until he is allowed to leave the house. He wants to be up there at least half an hour before classes start, and is irritated that Stud and I won't allow it. There is no telling what trouble he could get himself into hanging around outside the locked school. What is the point???

He is pretty bored with the classes so far, but loves the socializing aspect. He finishes his assignments before most of his classmates, hands them in and then spends much of his time running errands for the teachers while his classmates do their work during class time. Some of the teachers are great for keeping in contact with me through e-mail. They have made comments about not having any idea that he had been home-schooled, how they enjoy that he is a free thinker and has such a great work ethic. It is kind of funny to me, because we have been "unschooling" for the past three years. If any of you are not sure what that is, feel free to read a bit about it here and see what you think.

I was leery (is that how you spell that word??) of it at first. I had to get out of the mind set that I grew up with, where you need to sit in some rooms all day long, being fed things from books and not taught to question or think for yourself. When I first started Homeschooling, I had a little school room, desks, a schedule, etc etc. As I read and discovered and watched my kids, I saw how that doesn't work very well. My kids are proof that unschooling works just fine. What does anyone think people did hundreds of years ago?? They learned what they needed to, when they needed to. I feel like people need to relax and not think that someone needs to know a certain thing at a certain age. Look at how the education system is in this country anyway. It obviously doesn't work! Kids learn to walk and talk and all kinds of other things on their own, they need our support and guidance, they don't need to sit in some room day in and day out. That is not "real life".

Oooopsss, sorry. Maybe I will save my feelings on that for another post:)


Clown has never had any type of curriculum and is far ahead in many areas of where kids his age in public school are. More importantly, he has time to be a kid and feel relaxed and peaceful, not stressed or scared or bullied. I am talking being bullied by teachers, as well as kids. I was more concerned sending my three who are in PS this year because of how their teachers would treat them, than their peers. I was right to be concerned.

Here is a perfect example. Jock's band teacher does not seem to be "teaching" anything. He spends all of his time talking about his personal life, what he did on the weekend, and telling stories from his life. I have met the man, he doesn't shut up. When we went to the open house thing to meet the teachers, I finally had to walk out of the class to get to my next one and meet another teacher. Once I did it, other parents followed. It took me to be the one to stand up and leave. Jock is not being taught how to read music or play the Sax. Apparently, the teacher says that is up to him to figure out and seek help from the grade 7 and 8 kids. Well, how is he supposed to do that, I wonder?? Why does he even have to bother going to class??

Jock has just said some things over the past few weeks that made me want to contact the teacher and get some things clarified. Wow! I am not doing THAT again!

Instead of just replying to my e-mail like the other teachers do, he decided to humiliate Jock in the middle of class!?!?!? I asked him what Stud and I can be doing at home to help Jock with the Sax. So the next class Jock had, he asked the kids if they needed help. No one said anything. He looked Jock in the eye and asked again, "Are you sure you don't need help?" Keep in mind, Jock had NO IDEA that I had contacted this guy. Jock and the other kids insisted they do not need help.

So the guy decided to say to Jock, "Are you absolutely positive, Jock?? I got an e-mail from your mother saying you needed help."

GREAT! Way to totally mortify an 11 year old, you IDIOT. First of all, I never said he needed help. I asked how he was doing in class and WHAT we can do to help him, if anything. BIG difference, in my mind.

What is the need in that, I ask you?? Why not reply to the mother's e-mail and answer the question ~ Jock is doing just fine. Or perhaps, Now that you mention it, here are a few things you can be doing at home to help him. And then give me suggestions. What is the need in humiliating him that way, right!?!? ARG!!

I wanted to update some more and talk about Jock's horrid attitude and what Stud and I are thinking we may need to do about it. However, Princess turns 6 tomorrow and I have gifts to wrap and things to ready and prepare. I hate so much that this STUPID MRI I have is scheduled for tomorrow morning, it messes up her birthday plans. At least her Dad will be helping in her class and taking birthday cupcakes! She is pleased about that. Seems odd that six years ago today I was still pregnant and have not been since then. I was either pregnant or nursing for so long, still seems weird (but blissfully wonderful in many ways!) not to be!

Note to Jock...from Jock!

This was so cute. I just saw on the table that Jock has left himself a note, written on a napkin, set atop his beloved hat that he wears daily.

It reads~

To Jock,

Remember trunks and towel in dryer.

From,

Jock.

Except he used his full name, not just his first:) He cracks me up!

He got to swim at school for the first time and I guess must have thrown those in the dryer while I was at my water aerobics class (which, by the way, was the toughest one yet! I LOVE IT!) so he would have them ready for school tomorrow.

TOO CUTE! I went to his room to hug him, because of the irresistible & squish-able cuteness, but he is already asleep. He was up at 5 to go play "stick and puck" with his Dad before school and was obviously exhausted.

Clown is growing up!

Clown finally lost one of his top baby teeth. This is only the third tooth he has lost. It was loose for months and was dying. I noticed it was turning grey and made an appointment with the kids' dentist. Their regular appointment is not until late November and we needed to get him in there before that.




He has worked it and worked it and was finally able to get it to pop out last Monday night. His appointment was on Wednesday morning, so I had time to cancel it.

Here is the proud and excited young man with his gap. He has three other loose ones and is anxious for them to be out and receive even more moola from the tooth fairy!

Long update

I am sure this will be a long post, so be forewarned. When I plan a short one, I ramble on. So I am sure when I have so much news to tell, it will certainly be long.

I wanted to show a few more pictures from our zoo trip. The kids and Stud all had fun climbing in this big spider web made of thick strong rope. We try to make sure every trip to the zoo that the kids get some time in that area. There are huge trees to climb and a stream and some forest. It is really pretty and we like to spend time in that play area if we can.

Stud climbed onto the spider web and got in a funny position. He like to get silly with the kids sometimes and they love it! Brain told me that night that the highlight of the zoo trip was when Dad was on the web and in the trees with them:)





I got on with Clown while the other three shook the web. I truly felt like I was flying through the air! In reality we were probably hardly moving at all:) I thought this photo turned out pretty funny~





This past Friday night, Stud and I went to a Silvertips game. It was the season opener and we had a great time. We were all excited that we got centre ice seats. In actuality, that was not a good thing because the visitor team's coaches stood on the benches and paced!!! Since we were in the first row directly behind them, we had a hard time seeing a lot of the action. Stud FINALLY bought himself a Jersey, so that was exciting. It was funny, we were talking on the drive home about how Jock would be jealous when he saw it. Stud said, "He will say 'NO FAIR!!!', you just watch." Well, sure enough. Like we both knew. Stud had even said it in the same tone and whiney voice that Jock did later on and everything. It was hysterical, you likely had to be there! We sat beside this woman who knew me from when Clown and Princess were in music class a few years ago. She remembered their names and everything! I would not have even recognised her, if she had not spoken to me. I have no idea who her kids are or anything. She told me, but I don't remember. I felt bad, but I guess I am getting old!

This past Saturday morning, Stud and I left the kids at Giggles and Smiley's house (don't worry, their parents were there!!!) and then headed two hours East to a wedding of good friends of our's. They have been together for about six years and we are all saying, IT IS ABOUT TIME they got married:)

It was AWESOME! Very, very fun. It was incredibly elegant and fancy. The bride is also Canadian (she and I get along well:)) and her family came down from various areas in Alberta, one of the best, if not THE BEST provinces in the country:)

I even loosened up and danced with my husband. Pathetic as it is, that has never happened. It was just a slow dance, none of that cool stuff you need to have rhythm for. I had a great time and am really glad that I did that. Stud doesn't dance, but he finally cut loose and danced up a storm. It was so entertaining to watch! I am glad that he finally did it, I am not sure why he hasn't until this point.

It was nice to have a night away from the kids! The next morning we left the hotel and went to the bride and groom's for the gift opening. Man, they got some AMAZING stuff, very unique and cool.

Sunday was also my birthday and I found a card on the seat of the car that morning from Stud. I thought that was so sweet, he knows I love stuff like that. He also got me some new perfume and this was delivered today. Isn't it neat?!??! It feels SO NICE and amazing on my tired old eyes:) When we picked the kids up, they had made me cupcakes and put candles in them. They all sang to me and it was so sweet:) Then J (Giggles and Smiley's Mom) gave me a card with a Starbucks gift card in it. She knows I love my treats from there, I thought that was SO THOUGHTFUL!


My friend L sent this home with Stud last night. Our husbands work together (her hubby is the older brother of the groom from this weekend) and carpool every day. So Stud is over at their house every morning and night going to and from work. This is a glass "purse" that the flowers are in. Isn't it NEATO!?!?






I feel bad, she feels so horrible because she forgot my birthday and spent some of it WITH me (we all four ate breakfast together in the hotel that morning), and didn't remember. I told her she was a bit preoccupied with the wedding she helped put together, it was totally fine. We had lunch yesterday at McDonald's with the kids and in the course of the conversation, in my attempt to tell her something sweet and funny Stud had done, my birthday was mentioned. So in the time between lunch (we left the golden arches quite late, after 2 pm) she somehow went home, made a GORGEOUS card for me with her Stampin' Up! stuff and got those flowers. Now *I* feel terrible, I didn't want her to feel bad or anything. I seldom do anything for HER birthday. In fact I feel really bad because I missed her B'day this past February. It was her first since her mother passed away almost a year ago and I vowed I would do something special for her. It came and went when Brain was having his surgery and all the mess happened in Spokane with Stud leaving our friends to take Clown to the ER etc, etc. I was a tad distracted, as she was now with all she has going on.

Lots more to tell, like how things are going with the kids in school, etc. But I have to clean some things, I need to catch up on housework! I will post more regular updates, I hope.