Sunday, August 29, 2010

THE tutu

So the horse show was yesterday.  The Girl and Strawberry Shortcake were ballerinas.  Strawberry was a good sport and Girl was in her glory.



Friday, August 27, 2010

flying. stinky but flying!

I did it.  I did it.  I'm flying (figuratively speaking, not literally -- literally I'm running!)

Last night I ran 2 miles (that's a smidge over 3km) in 28 min.  28 minutes is not a great time, but for me it's more about continuously running without passing out or puking.
I am flying 'cause I'm amazed, I never thought I'd be able to say that I can easily running 2 miles.  2 months ago 90 sec. of running was a stretch for me. 

More and more I am rediscovering the joy of accomplishing "the impossible." 

Now, maybe my goal ought to be to run the distance without the subsequent stench of the run sticking to me and dripping down my back. 

It's bad people, it's bad.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

costumes

This is the Girl's doll, Brianne with her horse, Ice.  Brianne is a Maplelea doll.  Maplelea Dolls, if you are unfamiliar, are the Canadian version of American Girls.  They come with more outfits and costumes per doll than I have in my closet.  (Yes, I'm jealous.  Do you see those purple cowboy boots?)

I'm thinking costumes right now because I have to make a tutu for a horse.  Girl and Strawberry are going in a costume class at their horse show this weekend.  They are being ballerinas.  I hope the judges are ready for a plethera of pink touling and ribbons!!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

freaked out

Yesterday I stumbled upon a website about my school board.  The cowards that put it up did not have their profiles listed, but called themselves the Union of Parents.  On the site were photos of administrators taken from websites and from their personal blogs.  The Union of Parents called one principal a pedophile, called another a bad mother, and several others liars and cheats. 
The comments that most freaked me out were the comments taken directly from the principal's personal blog, which by the way is very, very much like mine.  She's just a mom blogging about life with her kids.  The comments and photos were taken completely out of context and very twisted.  It was scary.
Scary to think what could be taken from this blog -- I swear; I beat my cat; I drug my kids; I'm a redneck (well, that one's not much of a stretch...)
It hadn't occurred to me that people would hurt someone so publicly with internet content, stolen really.  I've fretted about it all night.  I didn't even know if I would write today.
This has caused me pause.

Pause.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Get Gas

When Girl was about 3, and Boy was 7, we loaded up Jeep to head to an appointment.  Heading out the driveway I noticed we were really low on fuel. 

The conversation:
Me:   Boy remind me to get gas when we get home.
Boy:  'K, mom.

But Girl started to bawl.  Cry. Cry. Cry.   Both Boy and I were stumped.

Me:  Did you hurt her?
Boy:  Nope.  I don't know what she's blubberin' about.
Me:  Girl.  Girl.  What on earth is wrong?
Girl:  Sniff.  Sniff.  You, you said when we get  home you're going to kick ass and I don't even know what I did.
Me:  I said 'get gas' not 'kick ass' you silly. 
Girl:  Oooohhh.
Boy:  laughing. Ha ha, you said "ass...."

Sigh

Friday, August 20, 2010

baby

He digs in my plants and bats at their leaves.  He shreds hanging plants.
And he jumps into the bathtub -- whether anyone is in the tub or not. 
He roots around in my papershredder.
He leaves toys all over the house.
He wakes me early morning with his wet nose in my ear.

But he's our baby....















And we love him....
How could we not?

(I think the above photos explain serve to explain exactly how Rocky gets away with the crimes listed above on a regular basis.)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

swear jar

This beautiful bone china teacup is our swear jar.  I love the irony. 

This spring we were having difficulty with the potty-mouthed Boy.  We instituted the swear jar.  One dollar per explitive for everyone in the family.  The difficulty at first was that the money-hungry Boy was using it as a bank account.  He'd swear as often, or more so, and gladly put the cash in the cup.  Once he understood that the profits were NOT going to be divied up, but rather given to charity, he quickly decided to watch his mouth.  I have to say it's been a pretty effective means of stemming the tide of swear words in our house.


But here's the thing, sometimes I pay in advance.  Sometimes that bad word is the only one that will effectively convey both the emotion and sentiment that I require.  Paying in advance means I have to be fully conscious of what is coming out of my mouth.  And sometimes I still decide that's the way to go.  When DH sees the china cabinet door open and a loonie drop into place, he knows he'd better brace himself, 'cause what follows won't be pretty.

I say this so you will understand my actions earlier this week.  Boy had been bothering Girl all day long.  He wouldn't let  her sit on the couch.  He kicked her doll.  He said everything he could think of (that didn't involve swearing or money) to bug her.  While she complained a bit, she largely put up with his bullying.  That is, until late afternoon.  I was in the kitchen so I didn't see what happened, but I can imagine based on the rest of the day's antics.  Girl shouted "Boy, you are being such a dick!" 

I paused.  Thought about it for a moment.  Decided she was right, and put a buck in the cup on her behalf.  And that was that.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Google Kitty

Seems like a really smart kitty, huh? 














Really technologically advanced....















Then you realize he's not so far up the evolutionary continuum afterall. 
See small hole.  Me put head in hole....  Meow.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

animals

This is my girl riding her beloved "Strawberry Shortcake" at the Games Night last week.  I got weepy watching her ride.  It's beginning to look effortless, and you can just tell she loves, truly loves, "Berry."

I got weepy today too.  I've been taking summer riding lessons this year.  Today was my fourth lesson.  It's a fluke that I got started, but I wanted to do something "for me" and watching Girl reminded me how much I used to love to ride.


Today I rode the beautiful Joe.  He's huge and I wish I had a picture to show you what a gentle giant he is, but it's hard to ride and take pictures at the same time.  My weepiness occurred on the way home from the stable.   Weepy because I can't remember a more completely selfish, enjoyable, heart-uplifting morning. 

I think there is something really wonderful about the communication between beast and human, horse and rider.  You ask the horse to go fast, he goes fast, to slow down and he slows down.  Joe understood what I wanted and he did it, and then some.  Cool.




I think I am over analyzing an amazing ride this morning.  Or maybe it's wishful thinking.....


This critter pays absolutely no attention to what I am saying.  Rocky understands perfectly, but chooses to do his own thing.  He says "screw you" in his quiet kitty way on a daily basis. 

I just want to be heard, animal, I just want to be heard.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Neighbour Girl

This is our neighbour girl.  She's four and adorable.  She regularly comes to play with the Girl.  They play babies -- in the playhouse, or spread out on blankets under the shade of one of the big trees. 

The thing I love about NG (neighbour girl) is that even though she is small and angelic-looking, she knows her own mind.  This is a good thing because the Girl is also head-strong. NG does not let the Girl push her around, and vice-versa.  Sometimes that means one goes home early, but usually it means they find a compromise.

NG calls the Girl by her first name, but she refers to my son as "Boy."  She knows his name, but she calls him "Boy" regardless.  You often hear her yell to her mom, I am going to play with Z and Boy.  It's hilarious. 

I changed my blog posting from referring to my kids as DD and DS (dear daughter and dear son) because NG inspired me.  Girl and Boy work well -- and sometimes, depending on the post and my mood,  the "dear" was a stretch anyway.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

sunflower

There is a field on the edge of town that has caught my attention this summer.  Caught my attention because of lone sunflower in the field of beans.  In my idle times I wonder how it got there.  I wonder what it thinks of being surrounded by beans. I wonder if it thinks it's a bean.  I wonder if anyone but me stops to look at it.  I wonder if it thinks I'm nuts for thinking such thoughts.  In my more lucid moments I do.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Rocky likes to get into things....literally



helping to load the frig.... (It's really hard to see him in this photo 'cause he's so well camoflaged...)











okay, now you can see him
keeping an eye on the the Girl's babies

Did I mention that not only does he "hide" in stuff,  he's also so very, very helpful.....





Friday, August 13, 2010

Just sayin'

This represents about 2/3 of the line of  "coloureds" that I hung out yesterday. 
I do a load of laundry a day, roughly, so this is less than a week's worth hanging from my clothesline.
If you look closely you will see that of the 23 pieces of laundry, 17 belong to the Girl.  That ratio seems off to me....
Didn't, apparently, seem odd to her, but I can't fathom how a person can dirty 17 pieces of clothing in 4-5 days. 

In her defence, I must say, that had the load been a load of whites there would have been nothing representing the Girl on the line.  Since the great spaghetti disaster of 2007 she's been banned from the whites club.

The whites club consists of DH and the Boy.  Their work t-shirts are all white.  You see, their logic is that.....  Well, I don't know what the logic is.  Grease shows up better on white, perhaps? 

Laundry is the bane of my existance.....

Thursday, August 12, 2010

no mercy

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE
(and be grateful there isn't)


I am nearly 40 years old and I've never had a cavity before.  Well my crooked dentist said I had one and I got it filled today.  Never having had to get a filling before, freezing is a relatively new concept to me.  On the way the to the dentist the Boy filled me with dread.  The needle is soooo big.  They stick it all the way down to your jaw bone.  And the Girl said things like "I hope you won't cry mommy."

Well, it was a relatively painless process.  Nothing hurt except my pride (I"ve NEVER had a cavity before, you know.)

The dentist told me I'd be frozen for about 3 hours.  After 1 1/2 hours my children were STARVING.  Dying of starvation, possibly.  We went to Crabby Joe's for lunch.  I figured a bowl of soup would be okay, but the Girl really, really wanted to share natchos, and the boy wouldn't split anything with her (except hairs.)  So, I figured I could just chew on the other side of my mouth.  My children promised me they would tell me if I was drooling or if I had spoogy stuff on my face. 

Part way through the natchos I said "my mouth feels funny inside, did I bite my lip?"  Boy looked and said "a little bit, but it's small like a cankor."  I kept eating.  A few minutes later I asked the Girl "is my lip okay, it feels funny with my tongue."  I curled down my lip and she said "yep, you've bit it, but it's not bad."

Now, had I been looking at her, and not the plate of natchos I might have seen a "look" pass between my peeps....

When we got back to the Jeep I looked in the mirror.  My lip was swollen.  Swollen like Popeye's, but with no pipe.  I looked inside.  An area the size of a quarter was chewed raw and was bloody.  Had that happened to one of the kids I would have ordered them to stop eating, found ice to put on the swelling, and cuddled them telling them it would get better soon.....  But no they let me go on, and on....

"Hey," I said, "I thought you said there was a small cankor.  That it wasn't too bad?  It's bad, people.  It's bad.  I have a GOITER on my lip.  I can 't feel it, but I can see it!"

The look passed between my peeps (like the one I missed earlier, I'm sure.)

Boy said, "you can't feel it can you?"

"No, because it's still frozen!"

Shrug of shoulders.

No mercy.  My peeps show no mercy.

Mercy me.

once, again, stumped on a title for this post

Conversation with the Boy:

Boy:  Mom, I just ate a LOT of jube jubes.
Me:  Uh huh
Boy:  I mean A LOT.
Me:  Uh huh.
Boy:  If I were to have a poop right now, it would be multi-coloured.

...and you know what my thought was?  I'm glad he used the word "poop."   Yep, right there, that's mother-or-the-year thinking, folks....

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Macro images


Morning Glory buds



































I decided to haul my Canon (point and shoot) camera out of the closet because my usual SLR is sometimes cumbersome to carry around.  The p and s has a neat super macro option that I'd forgotten about.  I went out early this morning while there was still dew on the ground to get some close ups (and also to show DH that I do get up while there is still dew on the ground -- it's not all sleeping in and bonbons while he's at work!)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Yikes

These are my feet.  These are my feet before I declared myself dufus of the day.

I have taken up a bit of jogging again.  I say "a bit" because it's more like a walk/jog event right now.  More on that and my motives another time.

Any way.  I've already established that I hate sweating.  I have issues.  Then I read about some workout wear that "wicks away sweat" to keep you dry.  Brilliant. AND SportCheck had it on sale.
I bought myself a running bra -- not for support (also been established that that is NOT one of my issues), just 'cause I hate the wet feeling of my wonderbra after running.

The particular running bra I purchased happens to say "constriction" on it.  Silly me, thought it said "construction" as in "constructed for running."  Nope, it turns out it means it squeezes you tight so it's constricting (as in boa constrictor).  Once I got used to it, I could breathe okay.

So here's the dufus part -- stop here, if you currently consider me relatively able and intelligent, cause I'm gonna blow that image right now!  

So after doing my run I was really sweaty, but my clothes were not stuck to me (go Nike!), but I definitely needed a shower.  Trouble is, when you are really hot, and your skin is wet with perspiration it's really hard to get the constricting contraption off.  I did some weird contortions, debated calling DH.  Died of mortification and humilitation at the thought because I know how hard he would laugh.  I pulled the thing from the back up over my head.  I think partially dislocating a shoulder in the process but more painfully pulling a muscle in my neck.  Like really pulling it.  Like cry out and then lay on the floor pulling it.

I'm a dufus.  Why?  'Cause I'm gonna put it on again tonight because it did "wick away" sweat, but I'm gonna keep my scissors close by so if I get stuck again I can cut myself out of it.....

Monday, August 9, 2010

Tea Party

Every now and then the Girl asks if we can have a tea party.  It's just the two of us with some tea and treats.  And we always use the tiny pink tea set she was given for her third birthday.

Yesterday the Boy asked what we were doing.  This is the conversation:

Boy:  What are you doing?
Girl:  Having a tea party, want to join us?
Boy:  What are you drinking?
Girl:  Tea.  It's mommy's fancy chocolate tea.  Want some?
Boy:  Why are you drinking real tea?
Girl:  It's a tea party.  It's really good.  Want some?
Boy:  Why are the cups so small?
Girl:  They're tea cups, for the tea.
Boy:  What are you eating?
Girl:  Cookies.  Want some?
Boy:  What kind?
Girl:  Chocolate chip.  Want some?
Boy:  How come you get the chocolate chip cookies?
Girl:  They go with the tea.  You know, for the tea party.  Are you having some or not?
Boy:  Nah.  I don't like the little pink cups.
Girl:  (disgusted) You should go find dad and have a beer or something! (unsaid:  you slovenly, uncultured, disgusting boy-freak)
























(notice the pinky fingers....)

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Aquatic Kitty

Completely normal looking cat here.

Rocky was laying on my desk watching me get ready to give myself a pedicure.  Watched me soak my feet in lavender scented water in my big stainless bowl.  I thought it was so nice to have some company.  Yeah, well he was just biding his time....





































Have I mentioned that our cat LOVES water?  He splashed and played until the office floor got too wet and he started to slip around.  Also, I wanted to get "Pink Vamp" on my nails quickly 'cause then I had to mop the floor.

Crazy cat.

Friday, August 6, 2010

feeling my pain....

Shockers of shockers this week.  While the Girl and I were out, the Boy decided to clean his cave....without me even suggesting it would be a good idea.

I know, my first thought was that he felt he was in trouble with something and was making a brownie point deposit before confessing.

But no, he said he just felt it was pretty messy (did I mention his tendency for understatement?) and needed to be tidied.  And tidy he did; everything off the desk and dressers, dusted, vacuumed, even asked for Windex.  I know, crazy.  I didn't think he even knew Windex existed.

It took him most of the morning, and when he finished he flopped down on the chair beside me with a big sigh. 

This was the conversation:

Boy:  Geez mom, that took a lot longer than I thought.
Me:  uh huh
Boy:  That cleaning was  pretty hard work.
Me:   uh huh
Boy:  No, I mean that was really tiring, hard work.
Me:  Imagine if all that cleaning you were doing was someone else's mess.  Wouldn't that be even worse?
Boy:  I hear what you are saying.  
Me:  uh huh
Boy:  I feel your pain.
Me:  Thank you.  Does this mean you are going to work harder to help me, and to not make a mess in the first place?
Boy:  Not likely.  But know that I feel for you.

Bless his ever loving, messy heart.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Rocky loves hats

This is what happens when Rocky is really glad to see you.  He sits on your head.  If you have a hat on, it's game over.

He looks evil.  Really he's just trying to figure out how to balance on the Boy's head and get at his ears at the same time....

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Rocky loves shoes. Part 2

It has been established that Rocky, like me, loves shoes

His current passion is for little blue maryjanes with red embroidery on the toes.  They belong to the Girl's dolly Bitsy Baby.  Poor Bitsy is always without one shoe, you see hers are more fun to scoot around the kitchen.  Also they smell like dolly and not Boy.

Here Rocky demonstrates his superior dribbling skills, like David  Beckham.


 

This is where he plans his next attack.



And here, the little shoe clearly got away on him.  Go shoe, go!

Monday, August 2, 2010

new battle

I have been very upset with my peeps in the last week.  They've been messing around in my office, specifically with the paper shredder.  Every day, I've been sweeping up bits of paper.  Of course the standard answer has been "it wasn't me."  It never is.

Only this time.  It really wasn't.

Darn Cat.