Carpet

We were sitting around the table after lunch today & my brother was trying to explain to his wife, the purpose of a carpet rake.  My parents house had shag carpet, the colour of dark green grass, since the house was built in 1971.  About a month ago, it was finally all taken out & my brother Brian, as per usual, is pointing out all the things that are different now from when he lived here.  I think if he had his way, nothing would have changed at all, & the bedroom he slept in would have been made into a shrine.

So, we talked about the neighbour kids coming over & begging to use the carpet rake, since not many of their houses had them.  WE loved having the long carpeting, since it worked great for farming with our tractors.  And then Brenda said, "I understand it was fun, but what was the PURPOSE of the rake?"

Brian responded, "It's shag, Baby, SHAG!"

Asher was playing not too far away, & we heard him start repeating, "Shag, Baby, shag!"

PChad's going to wonder just what we are teaching the kids on our holidays.  He sounds like a little Austin Powers!

Flying Lessons

A few years ago, I wrote about taking a trip to my Grandmother's funeral as being the worst trip I'd ever experienced.  Well, yesterday certainly topped it.

The kids & I are visiting my family for a few weeks, so we flew out yesterday morning at 6:30am to Toronto.  When we arrived in Toronto, we had to go pick up our luggage in order to take it through customs to enter The States.  When we got to the luggage carousel, we had a short wait for our suitcases, but Chancery's carseat didn't appear to be forthcoming.  So I went to ask a customer service rep. if it might be in a different spot since it's a large, bulky item.  They looked for it, looked on the computer for it & discovered that somewhere between Charlottetown & Toronto it was lost, but they asked me to wait a few more minutes just in case it showed up, since you are supposed to take all of your luggage through customs yourself.  At this point I tried to call PChad to tell him the humourous tale that the carseat was missing, but alas, I couldn't reach him on the phone.  My next flight was leaving in 1 hour, so I told the baggage people that I had to go.  The told me to look for it once I got to my destination & if it didn't show up, to put in a "lost luggage" form.

So, the kids & I headed off to clear customs.  Of course my passport was "randomly flagged" for further questioning.  We were ushered off to a small waiting area while the border guards thought up a bunch of questions about my parents, & finally they came to ask me what I did for a living & if I'd been to the Middle East.  As a final comment, the officer left me with this gem, "Just so you know, your flight started boarding 1/2 a hour ago.  I'm pretty sure you've missed your flight.  Sorry about that."  Though he didn't seem to be the least bit sorry.

The kids & I managed to get thought security & to our gate with 2 minutes to spare before the flight was supposed to leave, but the door was closed, the plane was gone, & there was no one at the counter.  So off to customer service we went.  I was told there was another direct flight at 5pm, but seeing as it was only 9:30 in the morning, I didn't feel like waiting that long if I didn't have to.

The other option was to fly to Vancouver, & then to Seattle, arriving at 3 pm.  I asked if I'd have to go through US customs again to do that & was informed that I would, & in addition, I'd also have to go though Canada customs in Toronto.  I decided to take my chances & got the new tickets.  The woman ushered the kids & I off to the secure area where incoming  international flights' arrivals go, directed us to the elevators since we had the stroller, & then she left.  We walked down the short hallway to discover there were doors leading into the elevators, which were magnetically sealed, so we turned around to take the escalator...  To discover there were more doors which were also locked.  We then headed back to the door we had come in, to find that it was locked as well.  So we were trapped in a glass cage.  I may, or may not have lost it then.  A kind gentleman saw my plight & went to find someone to let us out.

We made it back though Canada customs uneventfully, retrieved our luggage once again, got new luggage tags, put them on another belt & were off to find our gate for our flight to Vancouver.  Much to Asher's delight, I asked a golf cart driver for a lift, so we sped off to the gate, a kind traveller let us cut in line ahead of her, we boarded the plane & were off!  The flight was relatively uneventful, we watched TV, changed a few diapers, threatened eachother not to take off seatbelts anymore, you know, the usual.

In Vancouver, we found a pay phone to let my parents know why we they couldn't find us at the airport (we were 2 hours later than they anticipated at that point), but that we should be there by 3 (instead of 11:30).  We then headed off to security, were held up due to a forgotten Swiss Army knife, & had to fill out paperwork for that (did I mention we had a hour until our flight left?).  We made it through, & were off to customs.  Once again, we were pulled aside for more questioning (doesn't seem like such a random thing anymore, does it?) due to the fact that Asher & I have US passports & Chancery has a Canadian one.  I think they also had an issue with the fact that we were flying into The States, but driving back, so we had no documentation proving that we planned on leaving (trust me, at this point, I was ready to tell them I didn't even want to enter The States anymore).

Once again, we were told that we had most likely missed our flight, but there was another one leaving at 4 (an hour & 1/2 later).  AS I passed the departures board, I noticed the 4pm flight was cancelled (of course!), and the next one was at 6pm (at least Chancery would have a chance to get out of the stroller & Asher might have a chance to get to the washroom).  But we got to the gate & much to my surprise, the 2:30 flight we were scheduled on, was delayed 45 minutes!  Finally, something had gone my way!  We had 10 minutes before boarding time, so Chancery was released from her confines & given a chance to be bullied by Asher for a few moments.  Asher took the opportunity to knock a gentleman's suitcase over onto another child who happened to be nearby, spilling the man's documents everywhere.

We had a short flight from Vancouver to Seattle, finally we made it!  I went to file a "lost luggage" form to discover that the airline's policy is to give a new carseat instead of loaning you one (I was glad at that point, that I had decided to take the older carseat for Chancery, which was already a little broken from the last time we had flown with it).  If my old one does get found at some point, they'll send it back to me too, not that I really care about it at this point.

My parents asked if we still wanted to go out for a meal as originally planned.  I told them that we really, really needed to since the kids & I had gotten up at 1am local time & had been travelling ever since (it was now 5pm), and all we had eaten was raisins, dry Corn Pops, & fish crackers all day.  We had literally run through airports all day & not had a chance to stop for anything.  I was really glad I had packed such large quantities, because we were nearly out of food.  Also, the kids had not slept a wink all day, but they did remarkably well considering the circumstances.  But gone are the days of leisurely reading a book on a flight.

I was just really glad that my day ended with a trip to Taco Bell, complete with Dr Pepper in the soda fountain.  Don't you wish you could travel like me?

Pizza Time!

Conveniently, as I was making pizza for dinner the other night, PChad & Asher were reading a book about pizza.

I thought it only appropriate for Asher to have a pizza hat for this momentous occasion.

So I utilised my seldom tapped craft skills, & fashioned him an

uber-cool headpiece.

 

(Yes, that’s just a pizza box…

but don’t you wish you had thought of it first?)

Faking It

A few months ago, I went to a jewelry party & saw a necklace that I really, really liked.  Now, I’m not a big spender, & I just couldn’t justify spending over $100 for a necklace, despite the fact that it had a lifetime warranty (meaning that no matter how many times your kids broke it, it would be replaced at no cost).

I decided to see if a friend of mine who makes jewelry could make me a similar one.  So I send pictures & described the stones in the necklace & much to my delight, she was able to make me a knock-off for less than 1/4 of the price!  (Or as PChad puts it, “you could break that necklace 4 times & still come out ahead).



My friend, Ann, has made a few pieces of jewelry for me now, & I love every one of them.  They are made really well & I think it would actually take a bit of effort for my kids to break any of them.


Ann started making jewelry to help offset the cost of Christian Education for her kids, & now she just does it for fun (& people like me who don't want to drop a bunch of money on name-brand jewelry).

Thanks for the great work, Ann!

Water Fountains

We were driving in the car last week, & Asher & Chancery were arguing quite heatedly about something.  I turned the radio off so I could figure out what was causing such trouble, since they weren’t fighting over a toy.

 

Asher: “It’s like water!”

 

Chancery: “NO!”

 

Asher: “It’s like a water fountain!”

 

Chancery: “No it’s NOT!”

 

Asher: “It looks just like a water fountain!”

 

Chancery: “No!  Stop it, Asher!”

 

So I turned around to see what they were talking about…

 

Apparently Chancery was quite upset about her hair being compared to a water fountain, but in Asher’s defence, I do think he was right.

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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Chancery: “I really don’t feel like doing this today.”

 

Asher: “Chancery, don’t you know this is the last time before we go see Grandma & Grandpa?”

 

Chancery: “Oh, I suppose it is!”

 

Chancery: “Let’s show our excited faces… ready?”

 

Asher: “Yay!  We’re going to Grandma & Grandpa’s house!”

 

Chancery: “And we’ll get to sleep there, like this…”

 

Asher: “And we’ll get to see all of our cousins!”

 

Chancery: “And we get to go to the beach!”

 

Asher: “We’re going to have such a fun time, Chancery!”

Mr. Yuk

I was cleaning toilets & Chancery saw me pick up the bottle of cleaner.  She informed me, “Mummy, that’s Mr. Yuk!”  I don’t know if you can even get the Mr. Yuk stickers anymore, but I remember when I was little, they were on everything in the laundry room.

 

Did you know there was also a Mr. Yuk song?  True story!  And the song just happens to be one of the kids’ favourites as well.  WARNING!!!! –If you play this with small children around, you may be requested to play it over, & OVER, & OVER!!!

 

Happy Friday!

The Punisher

We were visiting friends earlier in the week, & Asher discovered a fly on the window.  He asked for a fly swatter, so he could get the fly & he managed to hit it, but it became stuck on the window.  Apparently he figured that was good enough, so he gave the fly swatter back, but about 10 minutes later, I guess it was too much for him to bear to see that fly on the window any longer.

 

Asher asked, “May I please have the fly swatter back?  I want to hurt that fly again.”

 

************************

Today I was telling Chancery that we would drop Asher off at play-school & then I was going to take her to get her shots.  Evidently Asher didn’t want to miss out on the fun because he interjected, “I want to come & see Chancery get her shots, because I want to hear her cry.”

 

You’d think he got enough of that at home, since he seems to have a special gift of making her cry on demand.  But he would have been disappointed had he come along, since she didn’t cry at all.  She chose instead to stare down the nurse after each injection.

Name Change

Asher woke me up this morning to tell me, “I want to change my name.”

 

“What would you like to change it to?” I asked.

 

“I want my new name to be ‘Daniel’,” he replied.

 

“Why do you want your name to be ‘Daniel’?” I inquired.

 

Asher explained, “Because it’s a cool name.”

 

So, I told him, “Well, when you get older, if you really want to change your name, I suppose you can, but Daddy & I really like the name ‘Asher’, so that’s why we gave you that name.”

 

Asher then informed me, “Well, when I am 100 and a half, I can do whatever I want, and I’m going to change my name to ‘Daniel’…

 

“…and I’m going to drink iced coffee!”

Argumentative

We were at a friend’s house today & Chancery somehow managed to get a hold of a crayon & colour on the window.  A little while later, Chancery pointed it out to me & said, “I colour on the window!”

 

“Is that good or naughty?” I asked her.

 

“Good,” she replied.

 

“No,” I told her, “that’s naughty, you shouldn’t colour on the windows.”

 

She then told me, “When I grow-up, I can colour on the windows!”

 

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A little while later she got a time-out for climbing on the table & as we were discussing it afterwards, I told Chancery, “You go play, and be a good girl.”

 

As she walked away I heard her quietly say, “…I’m a boy!”

 

I suppose she may think from watching her brother, that that gives her license to be naughty.

Helping Hands

Why is it that when kids want to help with chores, they always gravitate to the ones you don’t mind doing?

Emptying the dishwasher, no big deal
Laundry, I can handle it.
Dusting, well, someone should do it from time to time, so why can’t they take over THAT?

Asher has decided it’s great fun to load the washing machine, then transfer the clothes to the dryer, but the BEST part is when the dryer is done, because that means he gets to clean out the lint trap.

Luckily, he also finds matching socks to be an enjoyable activity, which is probably my least favourite part of laundry.

Somehow I’ll have to convince him that cleaning sinks & showers is fun, but perhaps I’ll wait a few years ‘til he’s past the water spraying stage.

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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Chancery: “Take a picture of my Baby Emily first.”

 

Asher: “And one of Frisbee, too!”

 

Chancery: “She doesn’t want a picture of your DOG!”

 

Asher: “Of course she does!  Frisbee is just as special to me as Baby Emily is to you!”

 

Chancery: “I suppose that’s possible, they ARE good buddies…”

 

Asher & Chancery: “…and we love them so!”

 

Chancery: “Are we done now?  I have things to do.”

 

Asher: “Let’s go tickle Mummy!”

Lookin' Like A Fool

Every now & then I hear a song that, despite being stupid, is quite catchy.  Sometimes it gets re-mixed & it’s better.  In this case, Jimmy Fallon re-mixes American Idol’s “Pants on the Ground”, & yes, it’s better than the original, but wouldn’t it have to be?

Just in case you missed the original, you can find it here.
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Spoke Too Soon

At dinner the other night, we had cookie for dessert.  Asher had finished his & said, “I would really like another cookie, please!”

 

I replied, “Of COURSE you may have another cookie!  That was a VERY polite way to ask for another!”

 

To which he replied (with a full mouth), “I have good manners tonight!”

 

Perhaps we should delve a little deeper into what constitutes good manners…

True-A-Loop

I took the kids to Walmart last week, both to pick up a few things & to get out of the house for awhile.  As we were walking down the toys aisle, Asher suddenly proclaimed, “Mummy, it’s a ‘true-a-loop’!  Girls know how to do these!”

I was trying to get him to join me in the next aisle, so I said something along the lines of, “oh, that’s nice!”

Apparently that wasn’t quite where he had been heading with his little speech.  His next query was, “Mummy, can YOU do it?”

I sadly told him, “No, I don’t think I can.”

So then he decided to inform me, “Katie (the neighbour girl) can do it, because she’s a girl!”
*****
A few days later, we were again in Walmart, this time with PChad in tow.  As we passed by that aisle, Asher decided he needed to show PChad these cool ‘true-a-loops’, but much to his delight, there in the middle of the aisle was a girl with her grandmother, working their true-a-loops like nobody’s business!  Asher turned back to me & said, “Mummy, that lady can do it, and she’s a LADY, not a girl!”

That's a Wrap!

Asher came to the dinner table last night, to discover we were having chicken wraps for dinner.  He let out a "Woo-Hoo!" then followed it up with, "We're having wraps!  We have them at play-school sometimes, and I don't like play-school, but I like THESE!!!"

I'm glad to know there are some aspects of play-school that he likes, and what makes it even better, is that it's something I can replicate pretty easily.

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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“Asher, I can’t see you…”

“Chancery, I can’t see you either…”

 

Chancery: “Elmo, Mummy said she can’t see me, so you have to move.”

 

Chancery: “You can sit right there.  Ok, Elmo?”

 

Asher: “I don’t WANT to move my buddies, I LIKE them in front of my face!”

 

“But I want to see YOUR sweet smile, Asher!”

 

Asher: “All right, fine.  Here’s a smile for you.”

We Can Dance If We Want To

I’m loving that Glee is bringing back a bunch of songs that I love, even more than that, I LOVE that they are doing group dances to them.
What could possibly top that?  A flash mob for the “Safety Dance”!

Sharing

Every now & then I decide it’s time for ME to share MY toys…

The kids think it’s great to get to play with “new” toys

The only trouble is that I have to supervise to make sure nothing gets broken…

 

but sometimes I can leave that up to PChad

It’s a great way to while away the hours on a rainy day!

Impatience

We had some friends come over this morning for a play-date for the kids.  Asher kept asking, “When’s Miss Bonnie coming?” and, “will Miss Bonnie be here soon?”

 

And I had to keep telling Asher, “I just don’t know when exactly she’ll be here, but I’m sure she will be here in a little while.”

 

Finally he figured out what must be the reason for her delayed arrival.  He came up to me & said, “Mummy, I think Miss Bonnie must be a slow driver.”

Holiday, Brand New Park… Does it Get Any Better Than This?

Last Monday was a holiday, & PChad decided to take the day off!  We started with a special breakfast, then headed off to a park that I’d been wanting to visit for awhile, but hadn’t gotten around to yet.

 

It’s the perfect park for kids our age, since it’s totally fenced, and there are LOTS of play structures (so no fighting over territories), which are geared towards younger kids.

 

Even more enjoyable, the park was empty of other kids, so it was really easy to supervise!

We really enjoyed the down time, & having Daddy around made it even better!

 

 

The weather was beautiful, and after being cooped up in the house all winter & spring, the kids had a great time.  I think we’ll definitely be back many more times over the course of the summer!