From infant to toddler...

Kieran's First Birthday was a perfect, fairly relaxed day. (As relaxed as parents can be while throwing together a 1 year-old birthday party.) We kept it small, just the 4 of us, my mom, Kieran & Jaela's childcare lady, Michelle, and her family and our friends John & Alyce. It was a postcard day, so off to the park we went...

GumbyBoy had a snack while we got set up. He came out of the womb with his feet in his face, and that still seems to be where he likes them. He's the biggest toe-sucker, which would be really gross if he was walking on them yet. I think maybe that's why he isn't bothering - the way he crawls keeps his feet nice & clean for chewing on. Yum!

The balloons were wonderful - big bright colours and all - but Somebody, who shall be nameless, didn't tie them tight enough to the stroller & they floated away about 2 minutes after we got to the park. Oops. Not that I'm feeling guilty or anything...

My mom, being the cake decorator extraordinaire made Kieran a Caterpillar cake. Everything here is edible, except the foil. It's one of my favorites so far. And then he had his own cake to dig into - not that he barely got past the gummi worms, but it's the thought that counts.

So the boy child is 1 and I am just trying to figure out where the last year went. A year ago we couldn't really imagine

another child on our lives, especially a boy child. And now here we are, where it is impossible to imagine our

lives without our laid-back, sly-grinning son. Even harder to imagine Jaela without her constantly adored & adoring brother. Kieran has brought us back into baby world, where the 'littlest' things are huge and every single second of every single day is about learning & exploring. And maybe most of all, he brings us his giggles! Right now we're just feeling really grateful for such a healthy year for Kieran and looking forward to the next...hopefully we can keep up!

Dirty Dozen takes on Kelowna

The annual Girl's Weekend was held this year in Kelowna - not too far from home, but just far enough. This is my 3rd one and it's been great getting to know new people each year as well as seeing some familiar faces. We rented out a terrific heritage house right out of downtown - the kind with the big staircase bannister and the wood floor that creaks just enough to remind you it's there. The highlight had to be the back patio where breakfast coffee, BBQ-ing and evening chats happened.

We saw a couple local wineries, a Goat Cheese farm, and some local 'wildlife' in downtown Saturday night and at Gyro Beach. We found out how many grown women can fit in an '07 Mini - 6, plus wine bottles and cameras. (Sorry folks, we also set limits on which photos are blog-able and which are not - professionals that we are in our regular life ;) ) We treated ourselves to a delicious day at the Heaven on Earth Spa, but no matter how I begged, my gal Cara just wouldn't come home with me. Some people just won't work for Cheerios, I guess.

And so now it's time to think about planning for next year. Our fearless leader/organizer extraordinaire (aka Brenna) is hopping across the Pond for 2 years, so it'll be up to the rest of us to take it on. What trouble can we stir up for 2008?!

TMI alert...

When you have a four or five year old and decide to bring a new baby into the family, a lot of interesting conversations come up, and they don't stop until, well, I'm not sure when they stop. (I'll get back to you on that.)

And they come up in ways you can not imagine. There's no sitting down, reading The Book and having a Little Chat. Nope, there are conversations about cows udders and how the horse 'udders' do not make milk. (Shut UP, they do NOT!) There are conversations about why Mommy's torso looks like a smiley face with the c-section scar as the smile. And in between there are General Vocabulary lessons. The other surprise is that even though you may think you've covered everything reasonable to cover with someone less than 5 ft. tall, that person has a fresh approach every time, just to keep you on your toes.

So yesterday Princess Z starts 'reviewing' the proper words for things.

"What's the boy part where the pee comes out again?"

"A penis"

"M'k, a pee-nuss...And then there's the part the girls have that babies come out of."

"Mm-hm."

"Right. And then... is the part the poop comes out of."

"Yes, that's all of them."

"But...if pee comes out of the peee-nuss, shouldn't that be the pooop-nuss?"

Ah, there's no arguing with logic, is there?

Giggle of the Day

Pass me the real estate listings, wouldya?

The Daily Show kindly identifies this loon as being from Seattle, so I'd like to thank them for not revealing that he's from the suburb I'm in. Sanjaya already has us wondering about the 'flouride' in the water...

Bye Fly

Princess Z likes bugs. (And spiders, which aren't technically bugs, apparently.) And worms. And so Princess Z has a new bug catcher. But it's been pretty rainy in our parts lately and not ideal bug hunting weather, so she's resorted to a more domestic prey - the common housefly!

The other day she finally caught one - after much pouncing, climbing and general acrobatics - including fighting off the cat who thought the fly would make a delicious snack. And Sam, as he was named, had a lovely home with leaves and sticks and lots of air. I'm sure he was thrilled. But no amount of love is going to fight the fact that you're a house fly and you're going to kick it any minute.

A very distraught 5 3/4 year old came to wake me up at 5:45am to tell me that he was dead. I expressed my sympathies and rolled back over, mumbling something like 'getbacktobed,don'twakeupKieran,eatyourcerealatthetable,notinfrontofthetv.'

A while later, I got up and this is what I found in the living room - a funeral service in progress. There are moments in parenting when I'm not sure when to be really impressed/proud/amused & when to start worrying...


RIP Mr. Fly
And yes, we do use Charmin :)

More meaningless blathering...

Blame it on a high stress, often serious job or just that I'm a sucker for stupid quizzes, but I got this in my email and thought I'd copy Mrs. Turcotte and put it in here. I thought the picture was amusing - apparently my soul looks drunk and has some kind of nasty cold. Otherwise, the write up is kind of scary-dead-on. Now you have to do it too, dontcha?

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or eve a completely different life. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you for how you are, not how you look. But deep down, you know that's not exactly true. Your near future is in a very different place (both physically and mentally) from where you are right now. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

I'm weak, okay?!

So, I love watching the first week of American Idol - I'm not proud of it, but I do enjoy knowing that there are people out there in the world who actually sing worse than I do. I also find it fascinating from a psych point of view to figure out which ones are just innocently deluded, which ones are glory-hogs, who was sent on a dare and the best - the truly psychotically & verbally damaged. And then I resume my normal life and never think about Idol again until the next season.

But this season I have caved a little, mostly because 2 of the remaining 12 are from my area and it's been in my face A LOT. Sanjaya is actually from just down the street from my place, so of course I have to root for him, although truth be told that may be the only real reason. Blake, is geographically further away - just another Seattle suburb - but is good friends with my supervisors family. So now I have torn loyalties, and I'm not even watching the damn show! If any of you are - please throw a vote in either of these two directions - it will ease my conscience. (I didn't even know Smithers was back into Hockeyville until the vote was over, so my conscience is in bad shape!)

From my Flatlander sisters...

Two boys are playing hockey on a frozen pond in Red Deer, Alberta, when
one of the boys is suddenly attacked by a crazed Rottweiler.

Thinking quickly, the other boy takes his hockey stick, shoves it under the
dog's collar, twists it, and breaks the dog's neck, saving his friend.

A reporter is strolling by, sees the incident, and rushes over to interview
the boy.

'Young Flames Fan Saves Friend from Vicious Animal' he starts writing in his
book.

'But I'm not a Flames Fan' the little hero replies.

'Sorry, but as we are in Alberta , I just assumed you were.' says the
reporter and he starts writing again.
'Oilers Fan Rescues Friend From Horrific Attack' he writes in his notebook.

I'm not an Oilers fan either' the little boy says.

'Oh, I assumed that everyone in Alberta was either for the Flames or the
Oilers'.

'What team do you root for?' the reporter asks.

'I am a Maple Leafs fan' the boy replies.

The reporter starts a new page in his notebook and writes:

'Little Bastard from Ontario Kills Beloved Family Pet'

Some people have way, WAY too much time on their...um...hands...

So, you clicked the link? It's okay, you don't have to thank me. Your shock & awe expression is thanks enough. Please, don't send flowers.

Don't ask about the squirrels!

Anyone who has driven in a car with children will totally get this. The rest of you may be confused, but hopefully amused as well...

Princess Z: Can we watch Mickey Mouse tonight?
King Z: No, not tonight. If we watch anything, let's watch something different.
PZ: Awww, but I want to watch it tonight.
KZ: Do you know if Mommy picked up the mail today?
PZ: Yes.
KZ: She did?
PZ: No.
KZ: She didn't pick up the mail?
PZ: No.
KZ: But you said 'Yes'.
PZ: No. I said Yes, I know if Mommy picked up the mail.
KZ: Oh.
PZ: And she didn’t.
KZ: Okay.
PZ: Kipper.
KZ: Pardon?
PZ: Kipper.
KZ: What about Kipper?
PZ: I want to watch Kipper tonight.
KZ: Are you asking a question?
PZ: Yes.
KZ: What are you asking?
PZ: I'm asking that Kipper's what I want to watch.
KZ: That's not a question.
PZ: I want to watch Kipper, please.
KZ: You know how to ask politely...
...
PZ: I don't like squirrels.


(Photo Credit: Jim Bailey)

Cold hands, warm heart...

Another trip to Smithers & back meant lots of snow/ice driving, testing new tires and tiring not-so-new parents. We were welcomed by a perfect foot or so of fluffy white stuff the day after we got there, along with some -25 days. (Brett discovered the fun of Insta-Nose-hair-freeze!) We celebrated a late Christmas with my family & Santa even came again! What a guy! But mostly it meant visiting with people we hadn't seen in far too long, like my little sister who came from Edmonton and my baby sister who is about to move there. And we met the new cousin, Ainslee, who despite being almost a whole month older than Kieran, seemed to catch his eye. We're just sorting out a dowry & it's a done deal...



PS - She's not a 'real' cousin, so I don't expect any fish tails on my grandchildren. Not that I wouldn't still love them and all...

Last few memories of 2006

Happy New Year Guys & Gals! 2006 has been a hell of a ride. New baby, New jobs, New friends, Old friends, Old friendships made new and on & on... Hope next year is everything you hope for! Bring on 2007!

If you leave the webcam going on Xmas Eve...

...you never know what you might catch!

Add your own caption...

~ "Lobster claw mitts?! WTH!"
~ "I already sat on some big red fat guy's lap today, for your amusement, so what NOW!?"
~ "Do I look like Blogger Fodder to you?!"

Nothing puts the Xmas rush into perspective...

...quite like a Natural Disaster!


This tree limb came from across the parking lot and impaled itself into our building, right through the wall. Luckily, the 2 yr old sleeping on the other side didn't even wake up and no one was hurt.


You have to give credit for keeping a sense of humour! (Photo credit- Mike Lawsom)

I'll comment a little more later, but here's a couple pics from our area in this week's mess. Starting with unbelievable rain (think car wash), lightning, hail, and then wind so strong I could feel the building shaking. We're hoping that everyone will have power soon - we're extremely lucky to have it back already after "only" 3 cold dark days. later...
**So I was all ready to give you the detailed account of all the drama around here and about our personal adventure of days with no heat, hot water & power. But, a) that would feel like whiny gloating when some people are still waiting for power and in a lot worse shape than we even came close to and b) it would bore you to tears. So, suffice to say we learned valuable lessons about disaster preparedness, learned that Jaela does without TV just fine (yay!), learned that Kieran doesn't like cold bottles, but will take them nonetheless, and that candlelight bedtime stories rock!

It's no Bon Jovi...

but it's almost as good as T.E.S. Grade 6 Air Bands! Almost... ;)

Mt. Rainier Sunrise

These days, I see a lot more sunrises than I used to, so I've come to appreciate a really good one...

Numbers of the Day

3 - # of "Snow/Ice Days" we've had this week
1 - # of short people in the house who are having major case of cabin fever
1 - # of even shorter people in the house who have 'kid hasn't been in school for 3 days' fever
2 - # of times job interview has been post-poned due to weather issues.

3646 - # of emails in over-stuffed work email box (the website job) No, really!
3458 - # (approx.) of emails that are spam or junk
124 - # of emails to let me know that my girlfriend is unhappy with my 'size'. It's so darn nice of them to let me know & to offer to help me find the right medication to fix it!

4 - # of people in this house who have a cold/sore throat/overall yuckiness feeling
2 - # of noses I have helped get snot out of today. (I can see how envious you are!)
1 - # of apologies I am issuing for the image of the last sentence.

6 - # of minutes spent blogging this that should have been spent clearing out the work email and/or snot extracting.

That's my day - what are you all up to?

Who's who?

Okay, boys & girls, this is today's game...
Can you guess which of these children was born in the Great White North and really, really enjoys snow, no matter how cold it is? And which one is the not-so-impressed version? I'll only give you 3 guesses...