Still an empty mantle BUT I think I know where the pics are

Here's a few Christmas pics. I finally found a few quiet minutes to download from the camera and upload for your viewing pleasure: That's Alex and the mini-Christmas tree. The boys were more interesting in decorating that little twig then the big tree, go figure.
Here's JT opening his Calgary Flames jersey. It was a hit!

And here's Thing One and Thing Two in their matching pj's.

Yes it's true, I signed up for Facebook again. And yes it's true, since signing up I haven't been back on it. I'm sure once the holidays are over that will change but for now you're stuck with just quickie blog posts here and there.

Oops! I did it AGAIN!

Do you remember when I blogged about being a good hider? In fact I'm so good at hiding stuff that even I can't find it...

well...

after taking down our Christmas decorations from the mantle I've discovered that I have no idea where I put all of our framed pics that usually reside there.

In previous years I've just put them in the Christmas decoration box so when I pack them up I have the pics right there.

But it seems that I had a better idea this year...I just have no recollection of what it was?!?

We've got a plan. It's a big project but will be FABULOUS!

When I think of MacAulay gatherings there's always 3 things present:

1. Lots of Storytelling


2. Lots of Laughter


3. Lots of Food

Keep that in mind for the next minute.

Yesterday I was looking for a recipe from Janine for Mom to copy out and it was in "The Beck Family Cookbook".

Can you see where I'm going with this?

And then Dad and I kind of looked at each other and said "Why doesn't the Clan have a cookbook?" Considering how many chefs we have in the family I'm sure we must have enough to fill a book with. I don't have many main course dishes to share BUT I can throw together a pretty tasty buffet for Aaron's UFC nights with his friends, and they're all relatively quick and easy.

So, my plan for 2009 is to gather recipes from EVERYONE and make us some cookbooks, if I start in January maybe they'll be ready by Christmas of '09.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays together! Ours have been very busy, we've played almost every new game and have been tobogganing every day. Christmas pics to come soon.

Together again...

Last night Papa went to be with Nannie...

As sad as I am, it's nice they'll be together for the holidays - playing crib and TGIF'ing.

Love you guys!

We've immortalized Bunco FOREVAH!!!

Here's how the night started out. Pretty quiet, everyone indulged in small talk. Here's my sister and CC wearing their Christmas cracker crowns:

And then the bell rang for Round 1 to begin and the gloves were off! There was a Sephora gift card to be had and Andrea and I were ready to leg wrestle for it.Guess who won?Here's Michelle. She's fabulous and kept us entertained with lots of stories. I laughed my ass off!

Some more of the Bunco girls, Micheleen was the only one willing to wear her crown for the whole night. And then the talent show began:

That was me trying to do the splits.

Here's Leanne who can actually DO the splits but I was the only one who was at the right time at the right place to witness this event.

She also has a Gene Simmons tongue:

Here's Andrea. Andrea's talent is good penmanship - please note Michelle and CC laughing their butts off :o)
That's all folks! I have a lot more but the camera operator drank over a bottle of wine to herself and had taken a lot of un-focussed shots.

I'm in walking distance for the January Bunco and won't need a DD so truthfully I don't have high expectations for next months pics. Although it's a Pajama Party so should be interesting. Hopefully the Talent Show will live on!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I've lost my passion for scary movies

I don't know if it's just growing up or being a mom or what but I just can't get into scary movies anymore. I loved SAW -the first one - but had to close my eyes an awful lot and then had nightmares about it for quite a while afterwards. And then there was some movie where they were in a glass house and the dead zombies couldn't get them if they wrote on the floor or walls or some such thing.

So, last night Aaron rented the newest chapter of The Mummy and that too lost it's pizzazz. I swear it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that I realized that Jet Li was the bad guy.

This is what I did while Aaron watched the movie:

What you never want to hear "Mom it's stuck up my nose"

My first instinct was that he inhaled a stray kernel from our popcorn/movie this afternoon.





Nope. That wasn't it and of course Alex wasn't going to make it easy on me. So I looked and questioned and then just closed the open nostil and had him blow out the clogged nostril and out pops:

A wad of chewed up gum from the movie store's gumball machine.

How is it that I have NO gray hairs yet?!?

(not that I'm complaining)

Reason 157 why my kids LOVE Nannie and Papa

They bought them the ultimate thing for burning off crazy energy from being cooped up on freezing cold winter days. This could also go on MY list for why I LOVE my parents!

Guess who turned TWO!

Jonathan!

Happy Birthday to you!

It's our very own Mmmmaaahvelous!

"Alex the boy" has just realized who he was named after

"Alex the lion" of course. You know, from Madagascar.We borrowed it from Easton last week and it was just today that Alex put two and two together and finally came up with four.

Alex:Hmm...my name is Alex. Hmm...his name is Alex. Hey Mom, did you name me Alex because you wanted me to be a cool lion too that puts on shows and sings and dances?

Me:...sigh...No Dear, but you do seem to take after him a wee bit, don't you.

Alex: smiles...ROARRRRRRRRRR

(and hasn't stopped for the past hour)

"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", Muhammad Ali

A little of this:

Led to a little of that:
Please excuse Thing Two's spaghetti face and enormous double-chin in this pic. It's not typical. Really it's not.

Today Alex was playing lightsabers with his two playmates when his best buddy decided to think outside the box and use his arm as a lightsaber. And got a wee bit too close.

The upside is that it was really wiggly and just about ready to pop out on its own. Alex just gets a visit from the Tooth Fairy a little sooner.

Aaron is SO going to be the Tooth Fairy for Halloween next year. Shh..don't tell him.

We never did end up using any of these pics for Christmas

BUT it was a nice drive and we really enjoyed walking around the pond.

Seriously, I need some lessons on taking pictures

I have no idea why but lately ALL of my pictures have kind of sucked. They're too dark, too bright, too fuzzy or just plain fugly expressions. I'm thinking it's the rechargeable batteries. Even though they're rechargeable I don't imagine they're built to last a lifetime.

Today was Thing Two's Christmas Concert. Auntie Leanne was a real trooper and volunteered to mind the dayhome so I could go. Love love love that woman! And despite what Alex says he really does like all the hugs and kisses. Not more than two minutes after she left he was asking if she could come back and chase him around for more hugs.

Enjoy the pics! Please excuse the Santa Hat-Hair and is it just me or does my son look like a GIANT?! Three parents asked me how old he was. I was very proud to say he was5 in August, not 6 like they were thinking. What can I say? I grow big babies.

A quick and easy holiday favourite

Rice Krispie Balls

You'll need 1 cup of brown sugar,1 cup of butter, 4 Tbsp corn syrup, 1 can of eagle brand condensed milk, holiday Rice Krispies and about 40 Marshmallows:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add remaining ingredients (but not the marshmallows or cereal :oP). Stir until boiling and let boil for 5 minutes on low. Stirring constantly or else you will get speckled caramel like I did: Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Beat the caramel one final time. Using a bamboo skewer dip each marshmallow in the caramel and then roll in the cereal. Place in freezer to set the caramel. And voila:

Oh yes we are THOSE kind of people

You know, the ones that take silly pictures of themselves with your camera when you're not looking.

Does it get any better than this?

Today was Pajama Day here at my dayhome. It's been AWESOME! Even a few kids that aren't normally here on Friday's came for the morning and some of the fun.

We started out with some Christmas carols and Christmas crafts, then Joey helped some of the kids write their letters to Santa and finally they headed outside to play in the backyard. The weather was FABULOUS, everyone is playing GREAT and GETTING ALONG.

And then this happened:

A delivered gift of chocolate dipped strawberries from a dayhome parent/friend that just put me over the moon! The sentiment was short and sweet - thanks for all the little things you do, it's totally appreciated!

And when I thought things couldn't get better, this happened:

A home delivery of Starbucks and visit with Auntie Kathryn

Life is good, life is great at the Beck household today.

Yours truly got in trouble today with the teacher.

Apparently sending JT to school with knit gloves, ear muffs/hood, fleece lined jeans and a scarf just don't cut it.

" Please ensure that you send adquate clothing for your child to go outside. Adequate clothing includes: Hats, mitts (not light gloves), scarves, winter jackets and snowpants(when there is snow or extreme cold). "

Hmmm....I thought he was dressed appropriately. Yes a hat would be great but that would ruin his spiked hair so we've compromised with ear muffs to protect his ears and a hood which protects his head and offers warmth while not being stuck to his melon and squishing his spikes. (JT's very OCD about his hair)

And I thought the knit gloves were okay. They're heavier than Magic Gloves but definitely not fleece lined or water resisitant. Guess we need to start wearing the big gloves.

And as for the snowpants, unless it's wet/snowy weather I'd rather forego the pants. JT's got lots of fleece lined jeans as well as second skin long underwear.

Alex was dressed similarly today and the only comment I got was "he did his scarf without choking himself, good job Alex"

Just in time for our road trip this weekend!

Just in time for the countdown to begin

Same advent calender just one pic w/flash and one pic w/o flash. I'm never really sure when to use it. Even when it automatically tells me I have my doubts.

So, what do you think? It's pretty crafty and cute.

My mom used to make really cool teacher gifts when I was growing up and I'm thinking that this might be something I'd make for the boys' teachers - next year. This year it's Beaver Popcorn.

Cottage cheese + fruit = a mouthful of weirdness

I like to try new things.

Okay, that's a lie. I stick to what I know I like and rarely venture to new flavours or combinations. I'm the complete opposite of my friend Michelle who had to explain to me what tar tar meant (or tartar, I'm not even sure) and I couldn't believe she actually ate raw meat and liked it. Just seemed so wrong to me.

Anyhoo, I decided to try something new that's healthy. I bought these a week ago and it took this long to psych myself up to actually try it. It wasn't pretty. I was expecting chunks of fresh strawberries as opposed to the strawberry jamlike substance sitting on the bottom.

Not good.

Then I asked my friend Janine if she's tried this gawd-awful combination and uh, yeah she has and uh, yeah she likes it. It's a good source of protein.

Hmm...maybe I need to get over the initial shock of weird flavours and try again.

In the meantime I'll stick to yogurt and fruit.

Twilight review

It was okay. I enjoyed it but it wasn't the new pop-cult thing I thought it would be.

A little bit corny at times and sometimes I just wanted to die of embarrassment for the B-grade acting. I felt embarrassment for the actors, not because I waited in line to see the B acting.

For a great review with similar thoughts as mine check out Lainey's.

I'm FEELIN' WAY TOO DAMN GOOD

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING thinking it was TOO BAD that Aaron has to work this weekend. It would be a great time to Christmas shop, but I LIKE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY and will just try to Christmas shop with my kids.

Jenn is SAVIN ME from a boring night by coming with me to see Twilight.

Two nights ago I had ONE LAST RUN down memory lane while looking for a PHOTOGRAPH of JT to post for his birthday. The day he was born seems just so FAR AWAY.

I'm sure you've figured it out by now that I'll be singing like a ROCKSTAR at the Nickelback concert in April :o)

Happy weekend everyone!

Thing One is SEVEN today!

After a karate party and family party the official day has finally arrived. It feels like we've been celebrating for 2 weeks...

Today JT brought some birthday shortbread cookies to share with his classmates. They've requested no cakes or cupcakes b/c they make a huge mess. I can handle cookies :o) I'm actually much more successful baking those without burning than decorating a cake as you seen yesterday :oP

Thing One's Family Celebration

Tonight we had the Beck Sr's and Jeff, Heather and Jonathan over for dinner and birthday cake to celebrate Joe's 7th birthday. We decided to have a small intimate gathering as well as the karate party to try and include everyone. The plan was to do this on his actual birthday but it coincides with Beavers and Joe wasn't crazy about missing Beavers, so we planned around the Birthday Boy.

I admit it. I have no cake decorating skills. If you want a nice cake talk to my dad...or Janine...or even Tamara...now if you want a nice card - give me a call, lol!Opening gifts in front of the fireplace - it was pretty cozy. We should have made it a pajama party!
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Joseph/JT/Joe/Joey, Happy Birthday to you!
And here's Jonathan :o) He's still got Auntie's eyebrows. Love that!