Thing 1 and 2 - Glee karaoke at its best

Who said pajama parties can't be co-ed?

This is from last months pajama party. As promised there are no pictures posted of the boys in their pink nighties and fuzzy slippers, mwah ha ha ha...one day when they least expect it BAM I'll have those pictures ready. Kidding. ... Maybe ...

And at what age am I too old to be wearing zebra stripes? (please say at least 60, please say at least 60, please say at least 60, lol)
And my dahling husband wearing his "don't pretend like you don't want some of this" shirt. Why oh why did I buy him this? Oh that's right, it was for sleepwear. It was a pajama party which means fair game, right?

Fave song of the day

Santa doesn't roar Liam, he says HO HO HO!

Busy day at the Beck's once again

A few birthday pics

A few karate pics of JT

A few karate pics of Alex

Karma at its finest

A few weeks ago our youngest went to see our family doctor for a checkup and do talk about some health issues. He's a bit on the husky side and we were wondering if we should be concerned now or if he's just in need of one good growth spurt to even out. Well, the doctor had zero bedside manner and gave poor Aaron a talking to about healthy food choices. Hmm. Has he met our other son who has the exact same diet as his brother and is a stringbean? That's why we were thinking it could have been something else.
Anyways - the whole point to this is that I said : I think I need to start actively looking for a new family doctor. In Calgary that's pretty much unheard of, we're actually lucky to have a family doctor.
Well, lo and behold we get a letter in the mail yesterday that our family doctor is going back to surgery and giving up most of his family practise so we have 3 months notice to find a new doctor.
It sucks getting dumped. It feels just as bad now as it does in Grade 11, lol.
I can see why he wouldn't keep us on his preferred client list though. We're generally healthy people that only see him once a year for routine checkups. It's like we're being punished for being healthy though?

Mom's CAN be cool. Really, they can

I had heard about these belts from another mom and just had to find them.
It became an obsession. The belts themselves are pretty cheap - $20. The taxes/import duties/shipping on the other hand are not. $20 per belt. Which makes each one $40. BUT in the big picture Aaron and I would pay that much for a nice belt so who am I to judge?
Heather found the belts at a mall by her place but there's no such kiosk at Southcentre or Chinook Centre. Maybe Market Mall?
If I can manage to keep them a secret they'll be for Christmas...no guarantees though. They're just SO COOL. And my kids will actually be able to buckle/unbuckle them without a problem, lol.

Who needs to pay for entertainment when you have kids that do it for free?

Snowboarding 101

The boys tried out snowboarding this weekend with some lessons Saturday/Sunday. It was definitely hot and cold. Yes they loved it but man oh man was it ever flipping cold out there! Sadly enough it was exciting to see it was only minus 16 this morning. Welcome to Winter!

Some Friday humour from cousin Lee Anne

At a dinner thrown in her husband's honour, a man turned
to Madame Chretien and said, "Your husband has been such
a prominent public figure with such a busy schedule. How
quiet retirement will seem in comparison. What are you
most looking forward to in these retirement years?"

"A penis." replied Madame Aline Chretien.

A hush fell over the table. Everyone heard her answer yet
no one knew what to say next. Jean leaned over to his wife
and said, "Aline, in Hinglich dey pronounce dat word, "Appiness."

It's days like this that we stop to appreciate what really matters

Why does America have way more variety than Canada?

Yummy!

My foodie friend sent a nice treat in her son's backpack for me today. One tea bag, some frothy milk a dash of spice and mmmmm a little slice of heaven.

It pays off to read the manual sometimes

Apparently my camera is wayyyyy cooler than I thought. Who knew it could even do this stuff? I thought my friend had the same camera that I had but then seen her lovely colour accented H'ween pics and then had second thoughts.

So, when Aaron was at hockey the other night I dug out the manual and then yesterday remembered to charge the camera batteries and then this morning.

Voila.

The kids and I discovered something new. Where did the colour go? What colour should we accent. Nathan liked red the best because of his Diego shirt ;o)

You know what I love about tonight?

Finding out at 9 o'clock that my child did indeed NOT complete his homework that he started last night.

Guess what we're doing right now?

But we did manage to have a relaxing day up until this point...

Seriously? Was I really attempting to climb up the wall? ...shaking my head...I dunno folks...

All I wanna do is just zum-zum-zumba!!!

That's next on my to-do list.

Have you checked it out yet? Any Zumba choreographed by Nathan Blake looks like so much freaking fun if you're into dancing and not giving a crap if you look like an ass while doing it.

Welcome to Holland

This is a must read for everyone. It's an essay written about embracing the differences in our children.

It wasn't that long ago that our son was described as non-typical and labelled as developmentally delayed.

I think I've forgotten those feelings of guilt that I caused this, or the frustration from other parents and family that just couldn't understand or accept that he was different.

Reading my wonderful friends blog and how she's feeling as she expereiences this has brought back all these feelings and questions.

It's not a happy place that's for sure.

Why can't everyone just be accepting and embrace our differences.

It's probably easier to criticize and eye-roll then offer a smile and understanding.

Where's my checklist?

When is it okay to send your kid to school when they're feeling a bit sick?

No, really. I want to know.

Alex had a persistent cough last night that didn't really subside until the wee hours of the morning. He woke up feeling fine but with the nasty cough still so he's having a home day. He seems good at this point which makes me wonder if he should have just gone to school.

On the other hand I don't want him to spread his coughing germs around the classroom.

Is there a checklist?

Do the teachers get royally ticked off when a sniffling kid comes to school and is blowing their nose all day long or coughing?

What's your criteria for staying home from school?

Women will laugh - guaranteed.

I asked one of my friends what her plan was for her day off today. Her reply:

"I'm going in for my SCOOCH N SCRAPE".

Priceless. It almost makes it sound like something fun to do like the Hokey Pokey.

Why JOE? Why?

I love JOE clothes. On OTHER PEOPLE.
Everytime I buy something "JOE" I wind up looking frumpy or pregnant which are two looks I try to avoid on a daily basis.
This will be strictly dayhome use only. The kids don't judge, just wonder if there's a baby coming.

Ew. It's Monday

JT was wide awake last night.
Sugar high I'm sure you're all thinking but that's only the half-truth.
After trick or treating we headed to our friends and JTs good buddy Andrew gave him a can of Coke which he chugged after showing off his hip-hop routines and having a run around time with his bro.
In Mexico JT had Coke and it didn't really seem to have any effect on him but last night I was woken up at midnight, 1, 2, 2:30, 3:45 and 4:30. At the last wake up JT asked if I remembered that one time when I slept on the couch while he was sick and he just laid and watched a movie...I vaguely remember that, it's been YEARS knock on wood since they've been stay-up-all-night-throwing-up sick. Knock on wood. Anyways, I was just about to say yes we'll go downstairs and then reality set in and I sent him back to bed. It's not like he's sick and why wreck my sleep any more.
It's lucky for JT there's no school today.
Is it coincidence that there's no school the day after Halloween?

That will teach me for leaving the camera at HOME!!!

Friday night we headed to Great Falls for some Great Shopping (ha ha) and there were about a kazillion things that I would have loved to get a picture of. Stuff like....a grown man wearing tiger striped pants circa Napolean Dynamite...and then how about the LARPER convention at our hotel - complete with faux battles outside on the lawn...and then the Falls themselves.

And I could have probably even snuck in a video of the Becks singing along to some old school tunes last night on the drive home. You know Aaron's practising for a karaoke night...

Yeppers, that will definitely teach me to leave my camera at home.

Sigh...

Long weekend at the cottage

Obviously I didn't remember to charge the camera batteries before or during the weekend. We have a few pics to share:

Here's Aaron and Alex sitting around the fire waiting for marshmallows...Here's Grandma and the marshmallows and JT ...Alex and I sitting around waiting to toast marshmallows...yummy!!

Corn Maze with my favourite Beaver

I know, I know. I'm getting really blog-lazy again.

Here's the pictures from my excursion to the Corn Maze with Alex.

He had a great time racing around the maze with his friends. I'm glad the corn stalks were already dry and yellow and that Ashton wore a bright pink sweater because it made it so much easier to find Alex.

Next year I think the whole Beck clan will go check it out together. I had low expectations- it's a corn maze I mean really, how fun could it possibly be? They proved me wrong. We were there for almost 90 minutes and didn't even do both mazes. There are tons of activities too.

Do you like it Hot?

Last night we belatedly celebrated Michelle's birthday with a Mexican 101 cooking class. It was pretty good - the food was hot, we learned a lot about peppers and we even knew our table mates which made it more entertaining. I heard lots of funny husband stories - mostly about them acting tough and eating hot peppers...I even had my own husband like that to share. And of course Michelle was the only one that had a story about her eating a freaking hot hot pepper that just about killed her. Crazy girl! Yet, was I surprised? No. She's adventurous like that.

We made beef burritos, quesabilla's, enchillada sauce, salsa and had a drink made from hibiscus flowers.

Very fun evening - good thing I wore loose jeans!

Everyone makes mistakes so why lie?

Today I called my fave waxing studio to re-book my appointment (Darn Beaver Corn Maze field trip got in the way but I'm sure you'd rather pictures of Alex at the Corn Maze than my appt, ha ha.)

Anyways.

I'm greeted with ___ ___, will you kindly hold?

I say "absolutely".

And then the phone is placed on the counter for the next 7.5 minutes. They did not push the hold button or mute button so I just sat there and listened while I washed up the lunch dishes. I know that someone left the studio "smooth and polished" which is code for bare-down-there. Another woman bought a gift certificate for a friend and just lovvvvvvved the wrapping and cute little bow that came with and seriously for no charge? are you sure? and someone that works there is trying to grow out her leg hair so she can go back to waxing....

I tried pushing buttons on the phone to attract their attention. I even called out HELLOOOoooooo a couple times but no dice. They forgot about me.

So, I hung up, called back, left a very detailed message and about an hour later they called me back.

They apologized but were very busy at the front counter. Hmm. I call BULLSHIT and did indeed call BULLSHIT. I said it's not a big deal that you forgot I was on hold but please don't lie to me. I was on hold long enough to realize that I was forgotten but still held on thinking you'd look down see the receiver and pick it up.

Don't be too impressed - I copied the idea.

But it's cute anyways, n'est pas? And what it makes it really great is that it's easy enough for the kids to make themselves for their friends/teachers.

Pity party - table for one ...KIDDING...

Aaron's schedule sucks a-s-s.

Instead of taking the bus for a tour of Fredricton and to Amy and Mitch's wedding I stayed home and decorated the playroom...and bugged my parents all day for a playbyplay of what was going on. Sorry about that Mom but I appreciated all the pics :o)

Here's the bus. I'm missing from the pic because I was the photog but woohoo what fun. And here's the alphabet all in place:

Yeah, I just can't get that excited about it either. Still cranky about missing out on the fun down East.

Could the day have gotten any yuckier? Oh yes it could

For those on FB you know that yesterday Thing 2 had a gigantic poop that plugged the toilet. But have no fear. Alex grabbed towels to soak up the water overflowing the toilet. Thankfully it was just water on the floor.
An-y-ways
After that fiasco I was in no mood to throw on my apron and whip up a fabulous dinner for the fam so we decide to go to Jack Astor's.
Yumm-y!
Thing 1 decided he was big enough to cut up his own steak but apparently he didn't cut it up small enough. He chewed, attempted to swallow and choked. Don't panic - he coughed it up and was a-okay. But then the poor kid couldn't stop throwing up.
The first time it was wonderful, we cheered him on (that's what you're supposed to do when you see someone choking). So we had serviettes ready and when all was said and done I disposed of the evidence, Aaron took him to the washroom to freshen up and then we thought we'd carry on with dinner.
Yeah. Not going to happen.
Poor boy continued to throw up phlegm every 5 minutes, it's like his gag reflex wouldn't shut off.
Thing 2 had zero problem downing his food but after one phlegmy serviette flew across the table (accidentally) and landed in my fajitas I knew it was time to put this meal to rest.
We came home and watched Pirates of the Caribbean in our jammies and had an early bedtime.
Whatdya know - tonight we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and are ready to call it a night.
Guess what's in store for us tomorrow night???

Flips flop season is officially over

I love flip flops! They're comfy and cheap. You can find them anywhere and they're cheap enough that you really can buy one in every colour and not feel guilty ;o)

See you girls next spring...sigh...

The playroom gets Seuss'd!

I love Dr. Seuss!

Next task will be to install the alphabet but I still haven't really figured out how that's going to work. The letters work out to be about 15 feet long and the playroom is only 12 feet long/wide. Time to put my thinking cap on...