Crazy hair day...

Yesterday Aidan's school had crazy hair day. Aidan said he wanted his hair all spikey on top and coloured blue. So, being the dedicated Mom that I am (or, totally forgetful if the truth be told!), I headed out at 7:00 at night to find blue hair gel. Three stores later I finally found it, and yesterday morning we had a field day with blue hair gel and hair spray. Of course Quinn wanted in on the action so we did his hair as well. Quinn got a bit upset because he couldn't understand why his hair wasn't sticking up as much as Aidan's. Try explaining to a 3 1/2 year old the difference between straight and curly hair - it's a bit tricky!

Here are the end results:



This second picture just kills me - I can't believe how old and mature Aidan looks! Then again, he is almost six as he LOVES to remind me!! ;-)

The Magic of Christmas Lights

Our boys (particularly Aidan) have an absolute fascination, no - obsession - with Christmas lights. So much so, that Aidan can remember exactly where each strand of Christmas lights go when we decorate the outside of our house. (Let me highlight that he is 5 1/2). If you give the child a few strands of Christmas lights he can entertain himself for a solid hour (minimum) setting up different 'creations' with the lights.

We put our lights up about two weeks ago, but our rule is not to turn the lights on until Dec. 1. Well, every time we are out driving Aidan pipes up about a new house he sees that has its lights on. We routinely hear comments like: "Look Mummy, that house has it's lights up and on." or, "Daddy, that's a crazy house - look at all the lights." Quinn of course joins right in the merriment, chiming in: "I see it too Ee-den" or, "Mummy, you must have missed it."

I think we've probably fostered this love of lights with our annual Christmas drive tradition. Every year we put the kids in their PJs, pack them in the car, crank up the Christmas carols and drive for about half an hour to an hour just to look at all the houses decorated with lights. The kids just love doing this, and have already started to ask when we're going for our Christmas drive this year.

Just today when we were driving to school Aidan said: "Mummy, if we had a bigger front yard we could REALLY go crazy with lights. And if our backyard was bigger we could do the back too." Whenever we are in a store and the kids see Christmas lights they ask: "Mummy, can we get more lights?"

It is just so adorable to see how absolutely enchanted the kids are over Christmas lights and decorations. I know it has nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas, but it is magical nonetheless. I just wonder how long this particular magic is going to last....

She's a walking!

Well I guess it's officially official now: Ms. Shannon is walking! Yep, she's doing the Frankenstein walk (you know, the walk where the legs are pretty rigid and the hands are up?) and just loves it. She toddles around with a big, self-satisfied smile on her face - it is too cute!!

Here she is:


Note the extremely articulate nature of the child when she says "hi". How cute is that?!?!

The Price of Children

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream or pizza regardless.

You get a front row seat to history, to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So, one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!Love &enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!

We have so much to be thankful for.

November 18, 2008

The first snowfall of the season - and what a snowfall it was / is:


I can't tell you how excited the boys were to wake up to 6 - 8 inches of snow. Aidan ran and got himself dressed, and went outside with Chris to shovel for 45 minutes!! I feel it important to add as well, that while we did hang our Christmas lights up on Sunday, they are not allowed to be turned on until December 1 (much to the chagrin of the boys!!)

Because the snow is a touch depressing, I have to include pictures of my girl that will cheer anyone up:


Yes, she managed (in the span of about 2 minutes!) to pull every single tissue out of the tissue box. She was so pleased with herself....



She is a little monkey this one! Unfortunately she is under the weather right now because she was throwing up yesterday, and then it moved to the rear-end. Poor baby! You would never know she's sick though - she's as smiley and happy as ever!

We remember

From canoe.ca:
Why the Poppy?

A writer first made the connection between the poppy and battlefield deaths during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century, remarking that fields that were barren before battle exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended.

During the tremendous bombardments of the First World War the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing 'popaver rhoeas' to thrive. When the war ended the lime was quickly absorbed, and the poppy began to disappear again.

After John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields was published in 1915 the poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in battle.

Three years later an American, Moina Michael, was working in a New York City YMCA canteen when she started wearing a poppy in memory of the millions who died on the battlefield.

During a 1920 visit to the United States a French woman, Madame Guerin, learned of the custom. On her return to France she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for the destitute children in war-torn areas of the country. In November, 1921, the first poppies were distributed in Canada.

Thanks to the millions of Canadians who wear flowers each November, the little red plant has never died. And neither have Canadian's memories for 116,031 of their countrymen who died in battle.

Survey says......

On Thursday I went in for my second ultrasound. Everything looks great with the baby, and it was busy putting on a little show for the ultrasound technician and I. When we came to the especially important part of determining the gender, the results were a little fuzzy (literally and figuratively!) The technician agreed that we think it's a girl, but we can't be 100% sure. So, we'll have to see if the radiologist has any better luck making a determination. But for now we think we're going to have an even balance of power in our house - 2 boys and 2 girls!! Should make for an interesting household!



On a totally different note, I love to keep track of what the kids say, because they always come up with great gems. The latest came during a conversation I was having with Aidan. I was explaining to him that instead of putting the Christmas tree in the living room (where we usually have it), this year I'm putting it in the Dining room so that Shannon can't get to it. After a few questions about the tree's new location Aidan paused. Then he said: "Mummy, why are you going to make Santa walk further to get to the tree?" Oh - my - gosh!! Out of the mouths of babes!!

Halloween - a photo montage