Getting a Little Nervous

First of all, you will need to read this Wee Confession to find out why I'm nervous.

Eleven months had really managed to make me forget my crime. It came back to me suddenly when were at our friend's house picking up our Christmas boxes that they are storing for us. It was like a light bulb going off. "Oh, oh I think some decorations were broken last year"

Even then I thought maybe the decorations might be broken. But having re-read through my wee confession I am even more nervous at what I am going to find. I only vaguely remember the event and not at all of seeing broken ornaments. This is where I want to swear. S#@$.

Do I confess to my husband what happened or do I let him think it was the result of being carried to storage and then from storage to our friend's house and then from there to our house that caused the damage?

Dare I be so sneaky or do I suffer the grave and disappointed look on his face. My husband is not a yeller (unless it's at the kids). He wont yell and stomp and storm and tell me he's mad at me for being so stupid, nothing so sane as that. Oh no, he will go all silent and grave and not want to talk about it. He certainly won't give me the "it's okay, I understand" speech or even attempt to make me feel better. Nope. Not that my husband delights in laying on guilt trips or anything like that. It's more that he's inclined these days to avoid arguments and so thinks it's best to say nothing at all. Manlike, right?

Only my man never used to really be like that. I'm not sure what has changed with him over the years. Or, maybe my rose colored glasses have finally come off and the man I thought was a great communicator is really just like all the other noncommunicative men out there who finds a measure of security in silence.

Still.... there is something to be said for silence when you've been bad.

Let's put it to a vote. I won't make any promises to abide by the decision though. ;)

Do I tell him or do I just let it slide?

Looking for a Good Movie or maybe a house?

Wow, I just sent off two very long emails to people that I've been meaning to get in touch with for a while now. It seems crazy that I spend so much time blogging and reading other blogs on top of all the rest of the things that I do at home that I forget to take time out and actually write a letter to friends.

Although I have been a bit neglectful of my blog lately as we've had three house showings since

Saturday and a lot of time and effort has to go into maintaining a pristine look for these events.

Yes, we are still trying to sell our house. Although we have said that if we don't sell by the end of November, we are going to take the house off the market and try again in the New Year. We don't want the hassle of showing the house with all it's Christmas decorations over Christmas.

The showing last night seemed to go well. The people were very enthusiastic and really seemed to like the house. This was through their realtor talking or my inlaws. They wanted to see the house between 7 and 8 pm. They didn't get there right away so we have no idea how long they were in the house but we had to nudge them out at 8:10. My kids were desperately begging to go home and go to bed (I know, you can envy me right now, my kids go to bed at 7 ;). We only agreed to that time because Friday is an extra day off for E.

Anyways, we shall see. Time will tell.

Not to mention I have a lot of work work on my plate. Someone K knows used to put movies to rent in conveniences stores on the island here. Well he's got boxes and boxes of movies that he was going to toss in the dump. K said why do that, bring it to me and I'll sell them.

So he did. 2,000 plus previously viewed movies. 1,100.00 of those are sitting in my house waiting for me to sort, post on Amazon and take the doubles to my store. As this is the shopping season, it makes sense to spend as much time as possible getting them online so we can take advantage of the shopping window.

So any of you... if there's a movie out there that you've been trying to find... let me know. I just might have it and the prices are cheap, cheap, cheap. ;)

So even crafts have had to put aside while I do this. I can't remember if I actually posted about the Christmas cards I made to sell in K's store. I haven't sold one. Not a one. Sigh. They are so cute too. The only upside is that I can use them myself if they don't sell. No waste there.

My MIL did ask me to make 15 for her because she thought they were so pretty. She is always supportive of anything crafty I do and is always ready and willing to gush over my projects and make me feel like I'm the most talented person in the world. 

Still it would be nice if people, other than friends, bought them.

Have a Great Weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Memories

This was last year. I wonder what we will get this year.

For those of you that this weather is normal... it is so totally not

normal for my part of Canada.

Overwhelmed and Unorganized

I did not know when E started grade one just how much more was going to be on my plate. Not only does she have homework every day but her planner needs to be read, initialed and put back into her backpack, newsletters and notes need to be read and somehow filed away, and dates need to be written down and remembered. While I am teaching E to be responsible and she's learning that her job is to empty her backpack every day and replace the stuff in the morning, I am still that one that's behind her making sure that it gets done. After all, she is only 6 and has a long way to go before I can completely rely on her remembering to do it herself.

While it's not the true kind of homework that you get marked everyday by the teacher, she still needs to learn and practice her letters and numbers everyday. That means that the hour between 3 and 4 has now turned into the witching hour. I work 3 of her school nights so I have to have dinner ready to go before I pick her up from school so I can supervise her homework time, keep the other two from bothering us, and get supper cooking. Add to that the frustration of dealing with a child learning.

This reminds me of why I did not homeschool. I so do not have the patience and my child would surely have ended up scarred for life. Why is it that she can go through her entire work book from school sounding out f sounds and reading knows that fish starts with f but when you ask her to sound out a similar word in a book, she suddenly asks you what the letter is? WTH? okay minor stuff but add to that all the other stresses and you're just trying to get it done so she can go play with her sibs. I have to catch myself numerous times to keep the frustration out of my voice and inject some cheerfulness into it as I try to make it seem fun. I have to admit, some days I don't succeed and those are the days I pack up the books and put them away because I know I just don't have "it" that day to keep things light and it's better not to do it at all than to have her feel like she's stupid.

I wish I was that mom who doesn't let her frustration show, who doesn't take things personally or let the days frustrations get the better of her. All I can I say is that I am a work in progress and I pray that I will eventually get to be that mom.

So what with all the juggling and the endless papers piling up on my counter that I am trying to keep control and a looming parent/teacher conference coming up and a timeline homework project I knew we had to do this weekend, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. I had found out upon dropping E off that I had not only forgotten to get her book order in, but also a busing fee that was due for her trips to a local garden. So I went home and tackled the papers which I thought I had all organized. After all they were in a school folder, weren't they?

They were but not all had made it in and were mixed with J's preschool stuff. It took me at least an hour to sort through all the papers, decide what needs keeping, what can go, write cheques for the stuff that needed paying. I discovered that I had missed submitting the sign up form and payment for E to participate in an after school fun day. It was too late. Crap. I missed popcorn day because although I did write that on my calendar I forgot to give her the money. I'm not in the habit of referring to the calendar every day. Thank goodness the hot lunch day is prepaid so I don't have to worry about that.

So while I tidied all that up I realized I needed to keep a better track of due dates for things. It occurred to me to write the dates on the front of the folder. Now having been a secretary for 13 years, I couldn't do something so messy as write and had to sit down and create a quick form with headers and once printed I glued it to the front of my folder. It looks great and works great. I keep the file folder tucked at the end of the counter for quick reference and I can glance at it every day to see what's coming up and cross off what's done. Now I have my missed things paid up and was able to drop it off with the teacher when I picked up E after school AND I am all ready with her hot lunch order for next week and it's in her planner being delivered to her teacher as I write.

It's amazing but that hour of sorting really gave me a lift and prompted me to sort out one of my junk drawers. Of course, you can't really tell what I spent all my time on but it's nice to open the drawer and see it's not a total mess.

I find myself reflecting though while I'm sorting all the junk that so much comes into the house and I am the one left to sort through it. It would occur to hubby to sort out the junk drawer. He just gripes all the time at what a mess it is when he's hunting for something and yet he's the biggest contributor to it.

Part of our problem is that we're trying to sell and move and so much is put away and we are short on space so what we do have left out there is no more room for it to go anywhere. Thus our drawers get stuffed. And it's always the minute after you toss something out because you have no idea what that little plastic thing is for and it's been sitting in your drawer for a year when someone comes along and tells you that if you had that little plastic thing they could fix whatever with it. ARGGH!

Anyways the point of all this was that if you're feeling overwhelmed this week, tackle an organization project. It doesn't have to be a big one, a little one will do but you will be amazed at how much better it makes you feel.

Christmas Crafts

I don't know what it is about this time of year but it makes me want to craft more than any other season. Perhaps it's my love of Christmas and all things Christmassy. I am a sucker for snowmen and Santa dishes, candles etc. Perhaps it's because craft fairs abound at this time of year and inspires me with tons of creative ideas.

For some reason though this craft bug doesn't hit me until mid November. If I were to even attempt to make a profit with my cards or crafts, I'd need to be working up an inventory way back in August so come November 1st, I'd be all prepared to offer up my wares.

Combine this with the fact that finding time to craft what with three small kids, ferrying them back and forth to school and pre-school, working four evenings a week is almost impossible.

This year I am determined, however, to make at least one project. I did a digital photo album and calendar up this year for the parents via Shutterfly so I do have that under my belt. My other more ambitious plan is this:

Isn't that adorable? I don't have those exact colors but you get the idea. (For Pattern go to Bernat.Com) I thought this was so sweet I had all these grand ideas of how many small rugs I'd make for families and friends. Till my husband asked... "how much did the wool cost?"

Ummmm... "well it was $23.00"

him... "$23.00 for a rug?"

Okay, dearest. I get the picture. What you think of as "a it almost costs nothing" gift cause I made it myself turns into a $23.00 price tag per each. Add that to the fact that I never factor the costs of home made gifts in to the budget amount I've got fixed for a specific person cause after all... it was homemade. Yeah, I'm not a great business woman.

Add to that the fact that it turned out to be somewhat more complicated than I had figured. What I dreamed of whipping off two squares in an evening turned into a multiple evening project as I crocheted and subsequently tore out my stitches as I either had too many or too few stitches. Which is why I like the good old traditional granny square which practically crochets itself, not counting required.

So while I have it figured out now and actually completed my best square yet yesterday, I had to sit the children down with play doh at the table in order to even do a 1/4 it. Worked great and was even worth having to clean up the mess. I hate play doh mess. It always sticks to your clothes and feet cause they never like sit still. So we are on for day two of this only they are getting almost play dohed out have reduced their play doh creations to smearing it across the table.

In the meantime, I have grand projects of making little blankets and beds etc for the hamsters (electronic) we've bought the girls for Christmas. Yeah. We'll see how that goes. But not one Christmas craft project is on my list. Sigh. But then just how many wall hangings and home made angels can you make?

Has your husband put his foot down and told you to not bring one more Christmas craft into the house? Mine hasn't yet.. but he's getting there. ;)

Hand him Lowes Promotional Codes and maybe he'll be inspired to create something of his own.

Top Ten Thursday - 10 Things I'd Rather Do than Clean

I recently stumbled across a blog called Should be Cleaning and thought girl, that is definitely a metaphor for my life. Should be Cleaning. I should be cleaning something but instead here I am. So I thought I'd do my

Top Ten List of Things I Do To Get Out of Cleaning

1. Blog - okay that was obvious and a no brainer

2. Read - anything and everything. I will pick up a science book, comic book, reader's digest magazine, newspaper, back of the cereal box.. literally anything just so I can read something. (my husband says this should be #1) *L*

3. Surf on my Blackberry. It's so fun looking up free apps. Free cause I wouldn't spend money for some weird little program that sits on my phone. Okay, I did pay for my Pink ring tone but after that I draw the line.

4. Play dolls and any mom who has two little girls knows how mind numbingly boring it can be to play with Barbies for 2 straight hours. I can only do her hair and change her clothes and say hi back just so many times.

5. Fix a snack. Why clean before I eat, right? It will just get dirty again?

6. Lie on my (unmade) bed and stare at the ceiling. Pretend I'm resting my back.

7. I can't clean now, my favourite show is on television.

8. Sit with O in the bathroom so he can pee two drops into the toilet five or six times a day.

9. Take the kids for a walk.

10. Have a cup of tea.. goes with number 2.

Would you like to play along? It's easy. Grab our button, post your top ten and come back and link up.

Be sure to stop by my lovely co-hosts blogs too. Sara at Domestically Challenged is offering a giveaway to a commenter on my blog. How cool is that? So get on over check out her blog, see what's up on the giveaway block and then come back here and comment. Thanks Sara!

Domestically Challenged

My Messy Paradise

It's a Beauty Filled Life

Olympics - Commoners Not Allowed

The 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in my province. I am of a mixed mind about this. While I am not overly involved in winter sports and I do not enjoy watching it on television, I struggle with whether I should actually be proud that the Olympics are here and what exactly do I teach my children or do I just gloss over it like it's not happening.

You see I think the Olympics were originally supposed to promote friendship and unity and a coming together of many different countries, cultures and nations.

Does it still stand for that? I think not.

The Olympics are only for the elite.

For the first time since 1988, the Olympics are being held close by. Close enough that I could hope aboard a ferry and take my children over to Whistler and watch. Watch what? Well anything really. Who cares, it's the Olympics! I'd go to just about anything just for the experience of being there.

But is this actually a real possibility? No. The tickets are so far beyond any ordinary person's means that doesn't even begin to define the word expensive. Some tickets would take a month's worth of work. Six months of food out of my children's mouths. You get the picture.

Who then can afford to attend? The volunteers maybe, I don't know how it works for them but I live to far away to volunteer. The wealthy? The celebrities? In short, the elite.

So we spend millions of dollars improving the roads, building venues, advertising, marketing etc.. just to be told that I can't afford to actually go to one of the events? Does that really make sense? I think not.

They say the Olympics will be a big economy boost to the area and there are lots of outside benefits to holding them in your country. I don't see how that can be. They've spent so much money, our already congested city will become even more congested with tourists that I really think we'd be lucky to break even on the debt load of hosting.

So again, I struggle. I should be proud that my province was chosen to host the Olympics, that international attention will be upon Vancouver and Whistler and in part I am proud. I see others in my community that go all shiny eyed as they talk about the importance of the Olympics and what it means to me and I wish I wasn't so cynical. That the Olympics isn't just about getting a higher brand recognition by Corporate sponsors. Kind of like how Christmas is over commercialized. They've over commercialized the Olympics.

The other part of me... well I'm tired of society being divided into the haves and have nots.

Pithy Parenting Tip #159

Never leave your toothbrush out on the counter. You never know what they are going to "clean" with it.

In the Mommy Trenches

YVR - A Place To Go

I was recently contacted by Rebecca Irani from Vancouver International Airport and asked if I wanted to have a tour of their New Public Observation area. While I was unable to take her up on her lovely offer since I don't actually live in Vancouver, I certainly had no objection in letting others in the area know about something different that they they can do with their children.

How much fun would it be to hop on a train and head out to watch the planes take off? Besides there are lots of other fun things to see and do.

Check it out at YVR Observation Area

In the Mommy Trenches

Some advice for new parents

I've been asked by new parents what is the one gift or baby item that was an absolute must have or Godsend when we had our children. This has always kind of stumped me. K and I were not really gadget people, as in although we love gadgets we just never received any as gifts.

Some moms swear by baby swings. They couldn't have survived without it. Mmm not really a problem for me. We managed just fine without it. Then again, none of my babies ever were colicky and by baby #2, I seemed to work out a pattern with my kids fairly quickly for sleeping. So I didn't miss it even though I gazed at them all the time in the catalogue or felt my heart rate quicken whenever I saw one on sale, I never succumbed to the temptation to buy one.

Bum wipe warmers? While cool in theory. Who wouldn't want those bum wipes to be nice and cosy warm for this late night changes but really it's just an unnecessary extravagance.

Diaper Genies? By the very number of these that grace our local Goodwill store, I know these are pretty much useless. Don't want your house to smell like urine or poop.... take the garbage directly outside. That's what we did. We never had to mess with refills or emptying a pail that fills up surprisingly fast.

Soothers? While each of our children enjoyed theirs for the first few months and I would say that it certainly helped me get through some rough spots, every child is different and not all children take to soothers.

So what is the one item that every parent needs?

The answer came to me today. A Carpet Cleaner. More specifically a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment.

Please note this is not a sponsored post or anything. I am absolutely serious about this. Sure while I was young and naive with my first child, I would never have dreamed of how useful a carpet cleaner would be to me.

Three children later and I realize what an important tool this has been in our house and find it hard to believe we survived so long without it. Especially since the (shudder) summer of spew. You may recall here just how bad that was. Since then we've experienced more of those less joyful aspects of parenting many times. If it were not for our carpet cleaner we surely would be in the process of replacing our carpet and our couch as we speak. As it is we have been able to keep the stench of sour milk and urine at bay and can safely say that our carpet cleaner has been a smart investment.

One small tip though.... make sure you clean your carpet cleaner immediately after using it on vomit etc because if you don't, that water that's still sitting in the hose will spill and cause the most unholy of stenches in your storage room. Not speaking from personally experience mind you ;) and can I just say that the operation of and cleaning of said carpet cleaner is not my province whatsoever.

So new parents... forget the toys, invest well in a carpet cleaner.

In the Mommy Trenches

Thank you Unknown Dad

I must extend my thanks to you oh unknown dad. I may have never spoken to you and only seen you three times at my daughters school, you have made my day oh somewhat more enjoyable just for having seen you.

When I first saw you it was on the designated school Halloween dress up day. So you must forgive me for mentally giving you kudos for your school spirit in dressing up. Imagine to my surprise when I discovered that this was no mere costume but your regular wardrobe. Instead my kudos must go to you for daring to be you.

I don't know what I love best from your erect posture as you strut around the school, to your rather large gold glasses that you wear (is that hint of lilac tinge I see in them?) to the many gold and jewelled rings that deck every finger of both your hands to your electric purple wool sports coat you donned for us today. A look I can only put down to Austin Powers meets Elvis.

I learned that you are a car salesman. Enough said.

I simply cannot hide my smile when you grace our lowly presence and you took what was a somewhat miserable morning and lifted it to a whole other level. It was with a rather lift in my step that I walked back to my van this morning as I contemplated you in all your glory.

So thank you unknown dad for helping me forget that I was feeling off and having one of my dizzy days. You may just have cured me of my dizziness today as I have not had a dizzy spell since. I look forward to many more encounters with you upon our school ground. I just hope I can keep my smile from becoming too broad.

Yours truly,

an unknown Mom

*I have been assured by other school moms that while this dad dresses somewhat eccentrically for his age, indeed for any age, that he really is a nice man and not sleazy or slimy at all despite all outside appearances. I wish I had a picture of him because it really is too hard to describe his look. It makes me giggle every time I see him.

Top Ten Thursday - Birthday Edition

It's time for another Top Ten Thursday. This week our TTT is hosted by Sara at Domestically Challenged. It's Elijah's 7th Birthday and well.... I'll let her tell you with a sneak peek in to her list. Don't forget to head on over to Domestically Challenged for the rest of the list. Would you like to play along? Grab our button from the sidelines, post your list and link up. Easy, right?

That's right. Taking a break from my chaotic week to bring you TOP TENTHURSDAY. Birthday Edition.

It is Elijah's 7th, yes 7th, 7th, 7th, birthday. I am the mother of a seven year old. Seven. Seven.

not in denial, not in denial

Here are my TOP TEN SEVEN MEMORIES of his past seven years:

7. The time he ate his own poo. It was a bad time for him, even worse for me. A young 15 months, he decided to give it a try. Luckily, as the nurse line informed me, eating your own poo is not toxic.

6. How he was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and all things train until he was 3 1/2. When I say obsessed, I mean OBSESSED. Think Twilight fans. He only played with trains, talked about trains, watched train shows, and did train things. If it was not trains, he did not care. He is currently the same about NASA. Apparently he has an obsessive personality.

Let Us Not Forget

New Clothes and a Date

Wowee. It's amazing what a few new clothes and a date night can do for a gal.

On Saturday, I dropped the hubby and the kiddies off at one of those inside play places and headed off for the shops. At just one store, I managed to score myself some new pants and tops. I splurged a little since it had been so long since I had bought anything. I even bought myself this really lovely deep blue silk top with silver chain entwined spaghetti straps and a black sequined shrug to go over it.

Guess what I wore on date night? A new look that felt great.

It is funny though. After I was done trying on all the clothes I had picked out and narrowed it down to the few I would actually buy I was embarrassed to put on my old jeans. Until I had tried on the new ones I hadn't realized just how bad the old ones were. I cannot stress enough how bad the old jeans were. They were washed out with discolored knees that were verging on thread bare. Not to mention, that they didn't fit properly so were loose waisted. I was down to this and one pair of yoga style black pants. This was what I had to wear to work, taking the kids to school, shopping etc and it looked appalling.

They always say that mothers need to take care of themselves. Reality is that is very difficult to do. The children grow so fast that it seems like every other week they need longer pants or bigger shoes, new winter coats and boots. That leaves very little room for me or my husband. I realized that I had been wearing the same ill-fitting jeans for probably 3 years at least. No wonder one pair quite frankly broke down from exhaustion and the other pair looked like my gardening pants. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I had to dig deep in my closet for an old pair of loose waisted cotton pants that I had worn when I was pregnant. While not actually maternity wear, I can tell you I felt pretty dowdy in them.

Well, I can frankly say that I never want to see those jeans again. I've now replaced them with 3 lovely pairs of jeans, all different with two snazzy everyday tops along with the silk blouse and shrug. Makes me smile just thinking of them. If only I could have snuck in a new pair of shoes and a wrap or shawl. Maybe next month.

Then on Sunday, my husband and I got all dressed up and went to see the Christmas Carol in 3D with Jim Carey. It was really good. The 3D effects were pretty neat. Just a word of warning to you all out there, it is definitely not a movie for the under 12 set. It had lots of dark and scary bits that in my opinion would be just a little too intense for younger children. Some parents may think it's a Christmas Carol and ignore the ratings. The ratings are accurate.

Like I said it was extremely well done. The dialogue true to the original with a few liberal licenses in imagery. My husband really enjoyed it as well.

After that we broke out the BB and looked up seafood restaurants in our town. The one we chose was a little more upscale but after all we were dressed for it. It turned out to be a great choice. The food was delicious. Which was a relief. We have in the past walked away after dropping $60.00 to $100.00 on a nice meal with a bad taste in our mouth. I hate it when you spend all that money and the food is less than appealing.

We had a enjoyable time reconnecting with each other and best of all I think hubby only talked about work for maybe like 5 minutes. He's just started up a new facet to his business, online selling through Amazon, and that is all that is on his brain lately. Every conversation is interrupted with some thought that had been running around in his head about work. So it was a nice break from work talk. It makes us realize how important it is for us to do this. Not necessarily going out and spend money but sitting across from one another talking and laughing. It seems too many nights these days are spent slouched in front of the t.v. together.

After that we went to Wal-Mart. J's birthday is coming up and we need to get going on the planning. I said to K that wasn't it funny that every time we had time to ourselves we ended up going shopping either before or after for family things? But then we're a family and you know that is what family is about. Nothing wrong with that bit of reality. ;)

I realize that we need to find ourselves a proper babysitter. We use K's parents usually but don't like to take advantage so we try not to ask very much. Add to that my FIL is still recovering from his surgery in September so they haven't even been able to babysit much for a while. This is probably the first big sitting job we've asked them to do for 3 months. It's hard to let go and let some stranger look after your children. But we are going to have to suck it up and do it. I think it's good for our children to see that we spend time working on our marriage.

Well, I've got to clean the house now because we may or may not have a showing this afternoon. I just love how realtor's just leave you guessing. Hopefully, this will be the one. I don't know if I mentioned that we've lowered our price another $30,000.00 under much pressure from the inlaws. She wants to get settled and is tired of waiting. So am I but I don't think it will make a difference. It's not the price, it's the house. It needs someone with unique circumstances like ours to be interested in it.

The good news is that we've approached another mortgage specialist and he seems much more encouraging about how much we can borrow than the last guy. Being self-employed can make the process more difficult.

Well Happy Monday to you all.

Top Ten Thursday - Why I shouldn't Have another Baby

So I thought I was done. I mean done done. This womb is closed for business. My milk supply is in a permanent drought. Especially after my last delivery of O. Some of you have heard about that. That was, however, 2 1/2 years ago and now there are people all around me or so it would seem having babies. One mom of a girl in E's class just had her 7th, yes 7th baby and he is just so sweet. sigh.

I know I've mentioned this subject before but lately it's just been ever present on my mind. It makes me sad to think I might never have another child. So I thought this week's top ten would be the

Top Ten Reasons Why I shouldn't Have Another Baby

1. I hate pain. I spend the last 3 months stressing over how awful labor is going to be. There are no pain free guarantees except schedule c sections.

2. We have three kids already. Three should be enough. We are already busy busy busy.

3. Financially - we are just getting by the way we are. A third child would strain those already slim finances.

4. We are this close (holds fingers an inch apart) to being rid of diapers... for good... freeing up extra cash. *doing happy dance*

5. We are out of naps. No more hold up of the schedule for one child to be at home sleeping. My babies always liked their own beds.

6. Travel is easier without babies. My babies never slept well in a strange bed/place. O is big enough to actually fall asleep in a hotel bed or campter.

7. I developed FIST or FIRST disease with my last pregnancy. Serious life risks to mom and baby.

8. My mom would have a cow. Not my major deciding factor but still there it is.

9. I am 2 years away from 40. I know lots of women have baby in their later years but it doesn't strike me as something I want to be doing personally. Unfortunately I started having babies late.

10. My babies were born at 8, 10 and 12 pounds. Do you see a pattern there. There is no way I'm going to be the woman on t.v. for having delivered a 14 pound baby naturally. Yiii.

I actually thought it might have been difficult to come up with 10 reasons but there they are. That alone should tell me something.

Want to play along? Join in by grabbing the button off the side bar, posting it on your site along with your Top Ten Reasons. You can use my prompt or one of your own. Then come back here and link up so we can come and check out your lists.

Don't forget to check out more Top Ten at my lovely co-hosts

My Messy Paradise

It's a Beauty Filled Life

Domestically Challenged

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Bubbles

Halloween 2009

It's amazing how each Halloween gets easier. Of course the first Halloween's were pretty easy. We dressed E up and took her to a half dozen houses, had all the old folks ooh and aww over her cuteness then home to happily divide up the candy between K and me. ;) Who says we don't live through our children. *L*

Last year was a bit of a trial though. I actually had to push and prod my oldest to continue on to each house. She had focused on one house in particular that she wanted to go to... on the other side of the street. Now in my grown up orientated and organized mind I wanted to go down one side of the road and back up the other. By the time we got to that house we were both frustrated and it turned out the people who dropped the big spider had moved. Arg. I realized that it would have been better to be flexible saving us all frustration.

This year; however, notwithstanding the fact that J told me that I would surely have to say trick or treat for her because she was too shy to say it, by the third house she was gayly running ahead with her big sister to each house and answering promptly inquiries about her costume. Amazing. Is this the same child that has to Dora the size of her to preschool just so she won't cry when I leave?

Stamina my children do not have, however. By the end of one block and half way up the other side of the street they pooped out. Not cause they are lazy, inactive kids but because they aren't night time kids. They play so hard by the supper time they are barely making it to bed time. We skipped the last half of the houses and simply went home. They barely made it out to my mom's property for the fireworks. I think they did sleep in the van on the way there but thankfully they got their second wind and managed to stay awake this year for the fireworks.

Nothing makes a halloween evening than heading out to my parent's property for a bonfire. There is just something about roasting hot dogs over the fire, drinking hot cocoa and eating chili that is so much fun. My brother usually invites his friends over and there are always a bunch of kids ready and willing to play together in the dark. This year they built up leaf piles and jumped in them. How they could see I am amazed, we grownups stuck closer to the fire. Then my brother started setting off the fireworks and we all oohed and ahed. It was so much. We all pitch in for the fireworks so we end up with some really good stuff. The last firework of the evening had so many starbursts, flares and swirly sparks that it outbeat anything the City ever put on for Canada Day. It was great.

This year we have to be a bit more wiley in stealing their candy. For even O has developed a sincere attachment to his treats. He refused to allow us to empty his bucket into a waiting bag just for him because he insisted on seeing his candy. Fortunately they hate coffee crisps and I don't much like any of the other suckers and sticky sour treats so they are pretty safe from me. Daddy on the other hand....

Here are a few photos from our Halloween. I hope you guys had a fun time!

O would absolutely not put his hands inside the pumpkin.

J on the other hand dug in with gusto.

My scared construction worker, E's princess pumpkin complete with earrings and J's scary pumpkin complete with green boogie. J was very adamant about that green booger.

My Tiger

My Little Puppy

My Tinkerbell

It's hard to hear see in this photo but there's a sign there that says Halloween at the North Pole. The people were dressed up in snazzy christmas outfits. Not the typical chubby Santa though. Really well done.

A spooky walk

Happy Halloween!