Common Sense

Yesterday, my 4 year old's DSI wasn't working.  He told me that "Daddy, can fix it. He has big hands."  Good to know that all you need to fix itsy bitsy computer parts are big hands.  He was right though.  Daddy was able to fix it.

It made me think of the many other pearls of wisdom that they have come up with in the last few years. Here are a few memorable ones. Once we were outside and could smell raw sewage or something equally as disgusting.  My daughter took a sniff and then said matter of factly.  "Hmm, smells like daddy."  Awesome.  If you smell raw sewage, Daddy must be nearby.  

We were tarring the driveway last summer when Noelle commented, "I know why you chose black for the driveway!  It is mommy's favourite colour!"    She was right.  It is my favourite colour. Although, most of Canada must love black as well as there are a lot of black driveways.

I bake frequently with the kids.  They like to tell me what they believe to be the next ingredient. We were making cookies when one said, "Now, 1/2 cup of salt."   Salt does make everything taste better.  However, 1/2 cup might be a little on the heavy side for cookies.  (I never add the salt anyway, so I'm not even sure where that one came from!)

Recently, Leyton took his sister's cookie that we put aside for her and ate it.  I let him know that he was going to have to tell her what happened.  He said, "And I'll tell her it was delicious"   Was she relieved to know that it was gone but at least it was very delicious?  She took it well.  Perhaps, she was just glad it was delicious.  Interesting. I might have to try that on one of them some time and see if I get the same reaction.

It is amazing to see how their little minds work.  I try and write down some of the things I remember that they say but I'm sure I've missed some great ones.  However, I'm always reminded what my favourite colour is when we pull into the driveway.

Birthdays & Little Sisters

For one of her teen birthdays, I remember my youngest sister and I gave our middle sister a framed saying that stated, "God made us sisters, We made us friends."    We're not overly religious but I thought it was cute at the time.  My middle sister, who is not emotional at all, immediately burst into tears and called us mean.

I'm thinking about that birthday while we're having the surprise 9th birthday party for Norah today. We're constantly telling our daughters that they are each other's best friend.  They will go through many friends in life but their sister is always going to be there for them.  Hmmm.. Sounds like solid advice.  Now... take a look at the pictures below and specifically the person in the background.   Yep, Tornado from my earlier post. Would you really want to be friends with this person?!?     

 

She is usually pretty hyper, but I think she has eaten way too much sugar tonight or else she thought the theme of the evening was, "How to be the most annoying sister ever."   I almost deleted all the pictures she partook in against my wishes.  You can tell how pleased Norah is just by looking at the photo.  Good times. I then thought that maybe I should save a few of them and show her a few years down the road.  She can see how much her sister had to tolerate.  I think if she does get a similar plaque like we gave our sister it won't be for a LONG, LONG time.  

And it's not even bedtime yet.  

Terrible Twos

I think the people at Bath and Body Works must hate me.  Yesterday, I decided to get some errands  done for my daughter's surprise birthday party this weekend. I had to bring along my 2 year old and 4 year old to help.   Initially, my 2 year old didn't want to go into the store.  That should have set off warning bells. However, I only needed a few things so figured we would be fast.  Nope.  I spent the first 5 minutes chasing him through the store as he wanted to see everything.  Finally, he calmed down and hung around long enough for me to get a few items off the shelves.  I turned around and I noticed he had a large sample hand sanitizer pump in his hand.  I immediately took it away and put it back on the shelf.  Meanwhile, I was thinking "Boy, he sure managed to pump out quite a bit of santizier on his hands."   I finished my shopping and then we left.  Only then did I notice the hand sanitizer all down his shirt.  I am starting to think that he opened the top and took the pump off which would explain the amount of sanitizer he managed to get out... I really hope it was the sample.  Otherwise, I think they may ban us from entering the store again.  (or hopefully just him)

 Here is the best picture I could get with my unwilling model.  At least, he smelled lovely for a good few hours afterwards.

Washable pen would be a great invention...

After a busy March break full of discoveries I'm ready for school to start again.  I  learnt my 2 year old has no fear after disappearing into the tunnels at Adventures without me and trying to crawl across the monkey bars in our backyard. My 4 year old starts crying whenever something minor doesn't go his way. (which needs to be stopped).   We should have named our 6 year old Tornado as there is devastation in her wake whenever she leaves a room.  I also learnt my 8, almost 9, year old needs a break from the chaos once in a while as well.  However, it is much easier for her to escape to her room.  Lucky girl.

This morning, there were leaky pen marks all over the floor which I initially believed to be the work of a 2 year old.  Wrong.  It was our 13 year old dog.  I'm not even sure where she got the pen and I have yet to find it.  She was covered in pen.  It was in her ears, underbelly, neck, between her pads on her paws, etc.  I'm scared to look in her mouth.   After a long relaxing soothing bath.... oh wait, did I mention she's scared to death of baths?    I think I am just as wet as she is.  

Here is the picture of her after the bath and after she decided a roll in the mulch was just the thing she needed.

It appears pen isn't as washable as washable markers...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh Where, Oh Where can the remote be?!

We've lost the Blu-Ray remote. This should not be really surprising in this household but with an open concept main floor things usually turn up pretty quickly. This is mostly because I'm a tad obsessive and can't sleep until I find the missing item.   The remote has been gone about a month now. I've checked every room at least twice, even pulled out the refrigerator and overturned the couch.  In the couch, I found some matchbox cars that I liberated from within it's depths. I cut open the bottom with surgical precision (although I'm sure if I was a real surgeon I'd have a few complaints.) :)    I even came across $70 cash!  Score!  However, no remote.  Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt.  Is the journey/process really as important as the result?  I scored 70 bucks, the floor under my fridge is sparkling, and 10 or so matchbox cars are probably ecstatic to be freed.  Perhaps.  However, I still don't have the remote and have no idea where it could be!  I'm really starting to think my 2 year old threw the remote into the garbage as he tends to do with plates when he is done with them. I'll keep you posted.  I'll be obsessing in the meantime.


In other news, we are experiencing amazing weather so we enjoyed some family time today outside at the neighbourhood park.  There was a firetruck in the neighbourhood the kids could visit as well.  It appears my photography skills are right up there with my crafting skills.  They need serious work.  I took some great pictures, or so I thought.  As I was about to send the picture of my 2 year old to everyone and put it up on Facebook I noticed the crazy lady in the reflection of the firetruck. Oh, how wonderful!  What a lovely self portrait.  I don't think I could even photo-shop myself out. It's going to need some serious cropping.  Why do firetrucks need to be so freaking shiny?  I think my finger is in it as well.
 

I'm off to investigate photography classes for people who have no clue how to take a great picture.  I wonder if I'd be remedial or just special?  I think I'd be in a category all by myself. :)

MONSTER HIGH BINGO CARDS

Monster High Bingo Cards

1. Print off all cards

2. The last two cards without the title are the dealer cards.  Cut out each monster individually and use to      call the monsters.

3.  The first one to get a line of 3 is the winner or you can fill the whole card for a longer game.  There will be multiple winners on some games.  I've added a few more monsters to elimate some multiple wins but when they were first created there wasn't a lot of monster high dolls out yet.  Enjoy!

My love/hate relationship with Pinterest

I am not very crafty.  I don't scrapbook.  I have even told people that the kids helped me decorate their birthday cake even if they didn't. (shhh!  It's only happened once or twice!)  I can do things only if they involve a computer like video editing, making our own party invites or Monster High Bingo Cards.



I have discovered Pinterest along with the other millions of women in my demographic category. My first project turned out pretty great, or so I think, even for a craft adverse person.   You can see for yourself below!  I have blurred out our current address so the paparazzi can't find me.  :)  The project only involved a computer, a visit to Staples, which resulted in bribing my 2 year old with a visit to McDonald's as well. There was no scrap booking necessary!  I managed to convince my husband to build the frames,which only cost about $6, and we used some left over black paint.  It isn't too precious either just in case the boys decide they want to play soccer in the front hall while I'm doing laundry and the whole thing gets destroyed. I went with generic rules as I figured people didn't want to see "Leave the poor dog alone" and "Stop picking your nose." front and center as soon as they walked in our door.  It would have probably turned out a little better if I had let the glue dry instead of needing to hang them immediately after completion on the wall as they did bubble a bit.

Anyway, my second undertaking from a pin I saw on pinterest was crepe papering my 7 year old into her room for her birthday so it would be fun to break through in the morning.  Sounds easy!  It sounds like it would be fun as well for the birthday girl, right?   It's now morning time and I'm getting ready so missed it but she comes out of her room, opens the door and is totally confused to what to do so she crawls under the crepe paper!  Hmmm, that didn't quite work out the way I expected.

The current project I'm working on is an Angry Bird Pinata for my daughter's 9th surprise birthday.  It first started as a project for my 4 year old and I to work on together.  He was very enthusiastic so  I assembled everything, make the glue, blew up the balloon and then he decided he didn't want to get dirty.  Sigh.  I continue, alone, and am just done the first coat of paper mache, patting myself on the back as it is looking pretty good so far.  The phone rings, I answer, the balloon pops and I am covered in paper mache.  My 4 year old thinks it is HILARIOUS!    Another balloon, and we've managed to get 4 coats of paper mache on and it is now dried.  My 4 year old decides he wants to fill it with his cars.  Do you know how hard it is to get metal vehicles out of a paper mache pinata without breaking it!?!?  I succeeded.  The paint is now drying and it doesn't quite look like the photos off Pinterest but I think it turned out pretty good.  I can always tell people my kids made it, right?   Anyway, I figure pinatas are just like people.  It's what is in the inside that counts.

Pools, shoes, and a crazy lunatic woman tiptoeing across the deck

At the moment, I believe there is nothing worse than forgetting your pool deck flip flops when you're about to enter the local public pool. Okay, maybe forgetting your bathing suit is equally as bad, but that would cause a few more issues and maybe a call or two to the local police...  Anyway, the moment comes when you open your bag and you realise you have forgotten them.  In your head, the little voice is screaming, "Retreat!  Retreat!"  However, that is not really an option since you've gotten all the way there and have psyched yourself up for the workout.   So, you must proceed.    You are now leaving the change room.  One step. You cringe as soon as your foot touches the pool deck.  You can only imagine that bacteria and micro-organisms that are happily climbing up your foot."  Only 30 more steps to go.  Hooray.  (I'm being sarcastic)    You finally manage to get across the deck without looking too much like a crazy lunatic.   You proceed with your workout and then reluctantly get out of the pool to repeat the steps above all the way back to the change room.  Maybe a little tiptoeing hoping to have less actual foot to deck contact.  You made it.  A horrible experience, hopefully not to be repeated anytime soon. Unless, of course, you managed to leave them behind again.