We bought a new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not what you were expecting???????

10 Signs You Should Not Hook Up With Him...

1. He pauses your make-out session to grab a video camera and tripod from his closet so he can 'capture your love'
2. The dude has highlights in his hair...down there (can we say p*rn st*r wannabe?)
3. Hottie on the prowl has singled you out at a party and is flirting mercilessly, but...you're at a family reunion. Is a 2nd cousin really kin?
4. He tells you that since his ex left him for another woman he hasn't been able to 'perform' until you came along and could help cure him
5. On the way to your apartment, he gets teary-eyed and whispers "I've been saving myself for this perfect moment my whole life"
6. You're at a wedding and he's the groom
7. He's a dead-ringer for your ex
8. It took 5 shots of tequila for you to put him in the 'maybe' category
9. He admits that although he is looking for a serious relationship he'd much rather just have a sexual relationship with you
10. He dumped you last week to go back to his ex who wouldn't have him and now he wants to come crawling back to you

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things You Didn’t Know About Aaron…

He is fanatical about working out
His main staple (besides supplements) is fish and brown rice
He loves outdoor sports
He is known by his first name at Popeye’s (the supplements store)
He still fits his jeans from high school, they’re not cool anymore but that’s not the point
He volunteers at Joseph’s school a lot and does it because he enjoys it (versus the preschool Alex was enrolled in where it was mandatory)
He drives a big truck
He owns enough Popeye’s shirts for every day of the week in both black and white
He has a thing for shoes ( not something he’ll admit to)
When we first started dating he’d only wear combat stuff handed down from Dad – now he’ll only wear trendy stuff
He’s hoping to be the next Ultimate Fighter (no, really)
He is an avid gun collector and also has a superhero toy collection.

He’s a great role model for anyone!

Guess who was WOOT WOOT-ing all night???

Not me, it was AARON!!!

Great concert, not much of a stage performance but Nelly can definitely sing! Jon Levine was the opener and not so good. Saukrates was also opening and wasn't that good but he did sing with Nelly (Promiscuous) and did an aiight job of it.
One of Nelly's female vocalists sang "Sexyback" and was freaking a-ma-zing!

Our permits for the Garage-mahal have been approved! Yeah, so once the gourd has thawed the mudpies will be flying all over the yard. I'm hoping it's a simple/quick process for the dayhome kiddies. It's not easy to walk all the kids to the park, it's do-able but not easy. Tonight we're going to look for a playhouse to add to the backyard. Much to my chagrin we've nixed the hot tub plans. I can't get home insurance for the daycare with the hot tub so we're just going to wait until I'm finished with the dayhome which won't be for quite awhile. We're still deciding on Baby 3 and if that happens then I'll stay at home until they're in school for sure.

Hope you're having a happy HUMP day!

And one more thing, how often should you call someone and leave a message before giving up and waiting for them to call you? (I've been doing this for almost two weeks now/every other day) If you're reading this (you know who you are) then pick up the phone or email me....

I seriously need some drawing lessons...

I've been drawing Joseph's superheros (at his request) in a little notebook which he takes to school each day. Yesterday it was a hulk rendition, and he came home with an enlarged version turned into a booklet of things Hulk doesn't want to do. Was I embarrassed? YEAH, JUST A WEE BIT!!! So, today Joseph comes home with his blown up book of "Wolverine", I could just about DIE OF EMBARRASSMENT!!!

Anyways, must start prepping my boys bedtime stuff and figure out what to wear to the Nelly Furtado concert tonight. Will have deets later!

Only 7 Top Make Out Songs???

Thanks to the readers who actually look the time to answer me, you guys rocks! I was expecting at least 15 songs so I'll have to skip the blogging tonight so I can google some Top Makeout Songs...

I'm retiring the "WOOT WOOT"

After hearing Aaron say it over and over this weekend (totally making fun of me) I've decided to come up with a better expression. I have no idea what mind you, but it's got to be better.
Tuesday night is VIBEFEST featuring Nelly Furtado Woot Wo...almost slipped up already (not a good sign) and Friday night is Bunco night with my girls so I'm sure by next Saturday I'll have something new to say.

I've got an upcoming bridal shower next weekend and I'm looking for the TOP 20 SONGS TO MAKEOUT TO. I have almost 100 readers per day so if each of you can take 30 seconds out of your day to comment - anonymously is okay - that would help me out!

Love you guys!

PS-The boys had a lovely time with Auntie Kathryn this weekend and Aaron and I had a romantic dinner (and then evening of house cleaning, it's re-decorating time at the Beck household) and night without the boys. LOVE LOVE LOVE sleepovers for my boys!

My little home-boy!

Alex has had another unbelievable growth spurt so I had to buy him a new spring jacket and hat this evening. He's quite like me and loves to have his picture taken:

Yeah it's almost Friday!

Tonight was my Matron of Honour dress fitting, and it went fairly smoothly. The colours are very good and work well with my Pochahontas skin tone :)
Woot Woot for weekends!
My lovely girlfriend is taking my boys for a sleepover Saturday night. WOOT WOOT! You gotta love Auntie Kathryn! Aaron's birthday is Saturday so we're celebrating by taking the boys to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie on the big screen. (I still remember seeing the original at the movie theatre in Summerside and the HUGE line up) And then Aaron and I will probably go out for dinner for a more grown up celebration.
Thank goodness for weekends!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Blogs I Read Frequently (if not Daily)

1. My blog - have to see who's reading and what they're saying
2. Lil Salmon House - that's my mom, I like to keep tabs on her too
3. Posh News From the Valley - got to see if my sister has posted any new pics of my nephew
4. Cheaty Celebrity Gossip - must get my daily dose of smut
5. The Cheaty Monkey - a fab mom who loves her daughter aka the monkey
6. My Life in a Nutshell - my blogger buddy Jenn, whom is also one of my dayhome parents. Jenn is the first blogger that I've met online first and then met in person
7. The Ingram Family - got to check up on my girls...and JJ too
8. My Circle of Family & Friends - the author Tracy is a funny, down to earth person who usually has some pretty good jokes and funny pictures and even some words of wisdom
9. The Manley's Crazy Life - Natalie has 6 biological kids and 2 step children...all under the same roof, and a whole shwack of animals. Natalie and I went to school together, well actually she was in my sister's class but we still knew each other.
10. Life In The Middle of Nowhere - My long time galpal Tina is the owner of this blog but doesn't update very frequently AHEM! That's a subtle hint Tina to update....
11. The World As I Know It - try and follow this one...the author is my husbands' aunts' best friends' daughter. Did you get that?
12. POSTSECRET - this is only updated on Sundays and some of them are creepy but sometimes life is creepy. This site is where the authors post postcards that have actually been made and mailed into them with a secret written on the back. I'm currently working on my own to send them...I'd keep you more informed but then it wouldn't be a secret if I told you about it, now would it?
13. Our 3 Boys - my cousin Alli and her family. We weren't close growing up and now that we're all grown up we're kind of getting to know each other through our blogs

It's All About Alex

Well, today poor Alex had a meltdown. It was actually pretty cute. He was washing dishes with me and got water all over his shirt so I ran upstairs to get him a new shirt. And it was one of Joseph's hand-me-downs...that's where it all began. Alex totally freaked out, he said "That's Joey's, I can't wear Joey's, Joey's going to yell at me..." and it went on and on and on. I tried to explain it to him that Joseph was too big for his skater shirt but it's just the right size for Alex to wear...it was just not happening! In the end, he put it on under protest and when Joseph came home from school he had to hide so Joseph wouldn't see he was wearing his old shirt. It was funny! I didn't realize until now that Alex never knew that a lot of his wardrobe came from his big brother originally?!

And I'm still feeling the love!

My starter collection of Willow Tree ornaments! I LOVE THEM!



My goofy Joseph! Actually today he's going by Joey, I can't keep up!



Child labour can't start too young can it? Alex has taken a liking to washing all the lunch dishes and I'm going with it!

Another special delivery today from a very special auntie of mine! So, two days in a row now I've had to try and explain to all the kiddies that I'm crying because I'm so happy (versus being injured or having hurt feelings).

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Hug the people you love!

Aaron had a rough start to his day, he made arrangements for a woman yesterday and got the call this morning that her husband died last night. That's just about the saddest thing I've heard. It's stuff like this makes you stop and think about how precious life really is. Love you guys!

I feel the love!

I've had a great day so far, lots of phone calls and some very thoughtful gifts! My flowers and bath goodies from down east arrived at the perfect moment, I'd just finished changing one nasty-ass diaper and was thinking "Couldn't I find a better way to spend my birthday?" and then the doorbell rang. WOOT WOOT! That was way better! And one of my dayhome mom's brought me a Caramel Macciatto from Starbucks. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Another friend gave me a homemade CD and it's awesome! These are the gifts that brighten my day and this is the love that makes my world a happy place!
And this is me as a baby...see Dad...I really am Pochahontas, look at that natural tan!

Me and my Birthday Buddy !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY! Next time we see each other we need to get more pictures, this is one of the only shots of us. We're still hot!

You Are Wonder Woman

A true goddess, you have the strength and skills to rule the world. You're one sexy amazon... all of the superhero guys are fighting over you!

What Superhero Are You?

I already knew that! I've been calling myself Wonder Woman for years...well at least since Alex has been born. LOL!

It's almost here.....

the beginning of the last year of being able to claim being twenty-something...sniff sniff...

Today has been relatively uneventful, the nappers are napping, the big boys are reading Joseph's new Biscuit books and I've just finished cleaning up dog poop.

Apparently Lyla has a bit of a tummy ache, all I can say is thank gawd she's doing it outside! Cody was a bit off this weekend so you can't help but wonder with the dog food recall if they got a bad batch?

We have nothing fab planned for my b'day tomorrow, we're taking the boys to get their spring pictures done so I can mail out the spring cards/updates to everyone. And maybe we'll splurge and eat out. A quiet evening is fine with me!

Some quality time together!

Here's my baby Alex - please ignore the hot pink water gun he attached himself to this weekend
Ooooh, look at me....just call me Pochahontas!

So, I'm re-thinking the kick-ass shoes I wore to the Great Dames event last Saturday where I danced my ass off until the early hours of the morning. A week later and I still have huge sores (open sores at that) on my tender tootsies. Mom and I did some power shopping yesterday with the help of Thing One and Thing Two and I bought some silver bandaids to help promote moist healing which is supposedly the fastest way to heal sores like this. Yowsa!

Note to Tina: the silver bandaid insert says that a lot of people commonly mistake a silver allergy with a nickel allergy and a pure silver allergy is extremely rare. But nickel is often used in jewellry/watches and stuff because it's a harder metal. Not that I'm calling you a liar or anything but it's food for thought. Just looking out for you kid! LOL!

And Aaron made a new BF this weekend, besides Dad of course. Steve is a buddy of Dad's and the boys went to the zoo for some green beer on Saturday and traded war stories and such. Then they came back for a few more cocktails, and then some tequila shooters and then it started to go downhill. Not mentioning names but some boys went to bed early on Saturday while Mom and I watched chick flicks with Thing One and Thing Two.

Hope you all had a fun St. Paddy's Day!

We're on our mini holiday!

We had an uneventful drive to Morinville today. The boys have finally given in to wearing the headphones so we can have dual systems on and Aaron and I didn't have to watch Beauty and the Beast. I can' t believe the boys hadn't seen it before??
Mom and I toured the bridal stores of Edmonton/Saint Albert today in search of Kathryn's unity candle holder. And the boys stayed at home with the guys and played in the snow. I can't believe the difference in weather here, we have barely any snow...Mom has a lot....

Yowsa yowsa yowsa what a great night!

Christina was freaking amazing! I have no idea how on earth she can hold her notes for so long but it was awesome! She played a lot of new stuff from Back to Basics but also got most of the classics. Her last song was Lady Marmalade and it rocked! She even had a little heart to heart with the audience about domestic violence, definitely brought tears to a lot of eyes.
And then there was the Pussycat Dolls...hmmm...lots of T & A, that's for sure. Their music was pretty good but it was all about the T & A I think. Kathryn and I had awesome tickets and had some pervs sitting in the same row (the one guy reaked of beef jerky, shudder-shudder), anyhoo, he brought his video camera and was totally getting his mack on while watching PCD. Dis-gust-ing! Thank goodness security came and took away his camera! He was still a perv though, probably the only two over 40 guys without/daughters at the concert. Yucky!!!
My night out with Kathryn was my early birthday gift from Aaron and it was very memorable. What a guy! (smile)

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I Love About My Girlfriends

1. We never judge each other
2. When we haven't talk in awhile we can just pick up where we left off, we don't question why it's been so long. We realize that life keeps us busy and we make time for each other when we can
3. We can share clothes and admit that our dress looks better on the other
4. We talk about sex like the girls on Sex and the City
5. We can share a change room while trying on clothes and not try to cover 'the goods'
6. We have some common interests and hobbies that give us projects to work on together
7. We don't keep track of who buys coffee/dinner, it all works out eventually
8. We accept our differences of opinions, we might not agree about everything but we're all entitled to our own opinions
9. We're invited to family functions and don't feel out of place
10. We watch each other's kids when needed and it's no big deal
11. We plan parties and celebrate birthdays and special events together
12. We buy things for each other just because we think they'd like it, no occasion needed
13. We cry together, laugh together and share the good times as well as the bad times

It's a crafty post

This one has the little sprinkles inside, oh so cute and fairly easy to make, might be a birthday invite for one of the boys in the future...
This is actually sideways and the colours are metallic but you can't really tell...
And this was a wax paper/iron technique. Chocolate is still a hot colour!

Only one more sleep until....Christina Aguilera!!!!!WOOT WOOT!!!!!! I'm almost as excited to have the Pussycat Dolls for the opening show.

Must go find something to wear tomorrow. I have the dayhome kiddies until 5:30 and won't have time to sort through the closet at the last minute like usual!

So, what's the protocol for concerts? No cameras allowed? I wonder if cell phone cameras count?

Crazy 18 hour snowstorm

Last night we headed to IKEA after dinner and we had some hail like stuff coming down, by the time we left IKEA it was almost white-out conditions and continued to snow for the next 18 hours. It wasn't very cold out so the kiddies and I played outside for about an hour and a half and then half the snow melted away by suppertime.
Mother nature must hate us! We're hoping our ground is thawed out relatively quickly so we can get the garage/hot tub project underway!
At least the kids got in one more snow day!
Aaron's on holidays this week and is looking at replacing the van with an suv. He'll be out kicking tires tomorrow, maybe we'll have a new vehicle by the weekend! My only request (actually it was more like a demand) was 7 passenger seating minimum and DVD player. Once you have videos you can't go back!

Next year Joseph is wearing WHITE for picture day!

After last year's fiasco when I dressed Joseph in gray camoflauge which totally worked with the camo'ish background the photographer had I swore I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Well, I screwed that one up!

Once again, we received a notice 'claiming' that they would be using a 'traditional blue background' and once again I believed them.

I picked out some chocolatey cords and a coordinating spiderman shirt, and if it weren't for the red sleeves I don't think you'd see Joe at all...

Next year, it's definitely going to be white!

Yep, there's no denying it, I'm no longer 18 years old

and my body doesn't recover from a night of hard drinking and dancing like it used to.

So, last night was the Great Dames night with Leanne and her girlfriends. It's a fundraiser by the Canadian Danish Club to help raise money for abused women. Very good cause and very successful!

The food was so-so but the atmosphere sure made up for it. The girls and I danced and sang along with every song the DJ played. It was to the point that my feet were bleeding from where I had made blisters in my hot high heels. (Good thing I always carry clear bandaids for just such an occasion) I think by the time I got home and into bed it was just about 3...I still haven't figured out if that was with or without the time change difference.

And like the Supermom that I am, I still managed to get up with my boys this morning and take them to the zoo with Heather and Jonathan, and go for ice cream and clean house...

Can't wait for next year's gala!

Must Re-Set My Boys' Internal Clocks!

I'm currently reading the no-cry sleep solution for preschoolers (for Alex). It's a great book full of great ideas. Alex has never been a great sleeper much like myself. We were at Cindy's last night and the boys ran around with their cousins for a few hours and then went to bed at about 9:45 last night. Well at 6:30 this morning they were both wide awake, ready to play. Aaron had to be at work at 7 this morning and he tried to get them back to bed for me (love him for that) but it didn't work. I was hoping for an hour to get a few things done before they were awake but no such luck, I'll have Thing One and Thing Two help me all day long, cleaning, and trying to beautify myself for tonights' night out. My spring cleaning is well under way, today's task is to tackle the linen closet. It is jam packed with towels, blankets, quilts...I've been buying new towel sets to replace the ones that are almost 10 years old but still haven't gotten rid of the old ones yet...

Someone finally realized the important things in life are free!

Although I won't go into details about it, that statement and phone call that delivered it sure made my day!

Our babysitter last night was fab! The boys loved her, we loved her it totally seemed like a win-win for everyone. The sitter even said we could call her again, lol! There seems to be a huge shortage of trusty teens for sitting in this area. I found our 'gem' online through a canadian sitter website. I paid almost $40 for 3 months access to this list of sitters. I posted a general ad and had some real 'winners' call me back. (shudder shudder). One conversation went like this:
Me: Hello
Girl X: Hey, like, how's it goin man?
Me: Pardon?
Girl X: Like hey did you post an ad for a sitter.
Me: Yes, I did, are you interested?
Girl X: Well, yeah, that's why I'm callin'. So, like what's the deal?
Me: This is a phone interview. Tell me about yourself and then I'll tell about the kids.
Girl X: Well, I'm like 6 months pregnant and got fired from my last job and I totally need the cash, man.
***At this point I had visions of my household possessions being carted off to a moving van and my children held for ransom***
Me: Oh, I'm really looking for someone who's interested in being an active part of my children's activities and I would hate for you to strain yourself trying to keep up. Good luck though!
Girl X: So, did I like not get the job?
So, finding a good babysitter has been somewhat stressful for us. We had another girl who was awesome but she moved back to Dartmouth.

Jonathan had his shots today and howled and howled and then Heather and Jeff got their shots updated and I'm sure they howled too, just kidding. The little pickle has gained 4 pounds already! He's obviously trying to catch up to his cousins. The forecast for Sunday is +19 so Heather and Jonathan and I are going to take my boys to the zoo. Guess we'll test Jonathan's sense of smell...ugh, I hate going into the enclosed areas. Love the animals - hate the smell. Going into the elephant exhibit actually made me throw up in the early stages of pregnancy with Alex. (shudder shudder)

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm attending the Great Danes dinner/silent auction fundraiser tomorrow night. Maybe I'll get some good pics of Leanne and I watching the strippers...just kidding Aaron...maybe

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I Have to Do Today

1. Make new playdough, the old stuff is getting a little hairy
2. Take the gaggle of kids outside
3. Break up the remaining snow in hopes of making it melt away faster
4. Interview a new babysitter
5. Go to the gym with Aaron
6. Buy a Unity candle holder for K & J
7. Haul a whole bunch of stuff upstairs to donate
8. Drive to the donation depot to unload our treasures
9. Clean the outside of the back windows, they're totally covered in grime from snowballs being thrown at the window all winter
10. Phone my sister
11. Cancel dinner at the Carriere's and arrange a playdate visit instead for Friday night, Aaron is working late, ugh
12. Figure out how I'm doing my hair for Saturday night's Ladies Night with Leanne
13. Buy milk & bread

You can clearly see that my life isn't always so glamorous, LOL!

Product Review - Great Idea Jenn!

This is a HealthPod. It's a new product developed by Moms and doctors. In this handy little zippered binder you can record dr's visits, there's a spot for immunization records and so on. It's such a great idea to have, I wish they had something like that around when the boys were born. Yesterday when I was filling out the preschool application it asked when was the last doctor visit and when did Alex have Chicken Pox....Hmmm...If I had one of these handy dandy little things I bet I would know that. http://www.healthpod.ca is their website if you're interested.

This is what Alex was up to today...

Isn't he a little stinker? I can't seem to hide much of anything from him anymore! Looks like I need to find a better hiding spot for the scissors...and chips too.

Tonight I had the pleasure of waiting in line outside in the cold for almost an hour and a half to get my little stinker enrolled into preschool next fall. That's love!

Happy Monday!

More like "Thank goodness Monday is almost finally over". Why do Mondays seem to drag by so slowly? I think for me personally it's because it is the only day of the week that I have all of my dayhome kids. A lot of them are part timers so Mondays are a bit hectic...and throw in the fact that I'm potty training this week and it was a crazy day. Mostly dry - yeah!
It was very saddening to talk to H and Mom today. It's always sad when you lose a pet, and for all you pet owners out there I'm sure you can attest to how they're more a member of the family than just a 'pet'. When Dad's been overseas all these years and Heather and I had already moved out, I was so thankful that Mom had Chow and Cody with her. They kept her company and made sure she got her exercise with running Cody and giving Chow her belly rubs. She'll definitely be missed!

Our trip to Banff

Here's Aaron and Joseph on the sleigh. Yippeekiyay! (just kidding!)
This is a picture from our 45 minute sleigh ride, gotta love those mountains!
And here's our sleigh, drawn by Hercules and Rundle.

Yesterday Kathryn and I took the boys to Chuck E Cheese and Toys R Us for some fun and then we had Kathryn and Jeff over for turkey dinner (yummy) and UFC Fight Night.

Aaron had today off so we headed up to Banff to take the boys on the sleigh ride. It was pretty fun, Joseph sang Jingle Bells for most of the trip. Alex enjoyed the trip except for the horse poop smell.

Finally the music meme...

Favorite Song From Childhood: Dinky Doo sung by our very own Candice ( which is really Skinnamarink by Sharon, Lois and Bram)
Favorite High School Dance Song: Hard to Handle by The Black Crowes
Senior Class Song: I Will Remember by Madonna
Song That Makes You Think of College:
Favorite Rock & Roll Song: Paradise By The Dashboard Lights by Meatloaf
Favorite Disco Song: Rasputin by Boney M
Favorite Country Western Song: Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy by Big 'N Rich
Favorite Pop Song: Sexyback by Justin Timberlake
Favorite All Time Love Song: You're the One That I Want by Olivia Newton John & John Travolta
Favorite Break Up Song: Lips of an Angel by Hinder
Favorite Slow Dance Song: I Believe by Blessed Union of Souls
Song That Always Makes You Cry: Chasing Cars by Snowpatrol
Songs About Your Kid/s: Just the Two Of Us by Will Smith
Song That Reminds You Of Your Husband: Eternal Flame by the Bangles
Favorite Christmas Song: Where Are You Christmas by Cindy Loo Hoo
Favorite Gospel/Praise Song: In The Garden
Favorite Ringtone on Cellphone: SOS-Rescue Me by Rhianna

And I'll Add

Favorite CD to House Clean to: Songs From Black Mountain by LIVE or their greatest hits album

Deal or No Deal

Was anyone else embarrassed by the gay cowboy from Calgary? C'mon Howie, I can see picking a cowboy but did he have to be so flamboyant? Him and all his friends doing their cutesy pie dances off to the side? Not all cowboys are like that. Aaron and I watched it but thought it was a little over the top. Although I guess they pick people that do stand out and get people like me talking about it...

Aaron's got the gift!

What gift is that, you ask? The gift of bartering. It's definitely a guy thing.

We went to the Home Show tonight to see an actual garage built by the company we've hired to build our garage. So, while we were there Aaron mentioned that he'd like to upgrade one window to a slider and extend the garage by another 2 feet in width. So, we're now building a 24 by 26 Garage-Mahal. (Note to Christina: Aaron may be borrowing your term "Garage-Mahal")

And the best part of this, is that these 2 upgrades Aaron got for FREE. You heard it here first. Aaron has mastered the gift of bartering. He referred a co-worker to this company so in exchange they gave us a couple thousand $ in free upgrades.

WOOT WOOT for Aaron!

Thursday Thirteen

13 Trends That I Have Tried and May or May Not Wish I Hadn't...

1. Tight rolling jeans
2. Spandex leggings
3. Crimping my hair
4. Neon colours
5. Huge hoop earrings
6. Teased bangs
7. Preppy blazers
8. Wearing men's ties
9. Vuarnet tshirts
10. Baggy clothes
11. The perm
12. J-Lo glasses
13. Micro mini skirts/dresses