Kid Picture of the Week

We move houses on Monday, I guess Jeremy wanted to make sure we brought him with us too :o)



This picture is posted as part of Clever Mamas' Kid Picture of the Week meme. You can join in by posting your own picture and linking up with us here!

Jonathan got me a great present :o)

Thanks to Jonathan's love of Ebay, he bought me a Canon rebel for a great price last week. I've just started trying it out and know I have a lot to learn yet. A lot!
I'm really impressed with the pictures I took already, just as an introduction. These were taken on some of the automatic settings. I really want to learn how to use the lenses and set things up myself.

One more picture for Dad

My Dad found out the history of the Montague lighthouse for me "The lighthouse near Montague is the Georgetown Range Front light.. there is an older decomissioned light nearby ..."
I did get a picture of the two together and thought I would post it for him. Love you Dad :o)

Yes I am

For those of you wondering, and not observant to the additional ticker on the side...yes, I am pregnant! The baby is due in February. We're very excited about it and feel like we can share the news a bit now that the baby's heartbeat has been picked up (we've had our share of miscarriages over the years and weren't sure if baby #3 would ever come our way), we've also grown pretty cautious in sharing the news. Looking forward to sharing more at a later date :o)

Lighthouses for my Dad

My Dad's hobby is lighthouses. When he visits anywhere he looks for lighthouses. He now keeps a lighthouse blog (it's pretty good too) http://nealslighthouses.blogspot.com/. So when we're away generally at some point one of us will say, we should get a picture of that for dad or grampa. So here's a couple from PEI, the one I'm in front of with the kids in North Rustico, the other is outside of Montague.

Camping is a pretty funny thing

We got back from a camping trip in PEI yesterday. While we were there, I became highly amused at the amount of people who walk to and from the washrooms in the morning in their PJ's and no makeup and messy bed head. Normally, we wouldn't be caught anywhere in public looking like this, but camping brings out the necessity of it. This is me, I have to pee, I'll look nice later.

Sad News

My parent's dog, Brodie passed away a couple of days ago. He was a real Scottie, a big dog trapped in a little dog's body. He loved to guard my parent's place, keeping watch over their complex. He also loved attention, walks and pets. He will be missed.

Are we becoming less literate?

This is something that has been bugging me more and more often. We are being presented information visually via pictures and video more often than via the written word. Look at the fast food restaurants. Do they print their menu anymore? Nope. Just a big picture wall really with prices on it. And the online news. You used to be able to link to a news story where you could choose to read it or watch the video clip. Now, quite often the option to read it is not available. I like to read. In fact I love to read. I can read and take in information much faster if it is written than if it is on video format. Sure, the video can enhance it, but sometimes I just want to skim over the gist of it, not sit there for 5 minutes while everything gets detailed out to me. Just my Monday morning vent.

I need more days like today

We took today off. We didn't do any packing. We didn't work at cleaning the house. We didn't spell each other off to get some things done around the house.
Today we drove to the beach.
Today we ate a makeshift picnic.
Today we taught our 5 year old about seagull aerodynamics.
Today I sat in silence and read.
Today I watched my kids on the playground.
Today I laid out in the sun.
Today we went for ice cream.
Today I watched my 2 year old battle ice cream and win. (and laughed at the process).
Today we took the long way home.
Today I watched my 5 year old light up because he was having family time.
Today I didn't worry about dinner until 7pm.
Today I let my kids eat in the living room with the TV on.
Today I let my kids stay up a little later.
Today I had hugs and kisses and cuddles.
Today I am relaxed.

Does Pressing 9 really work?

I'm just curious. I'm sure you all get them, the pre-recorded telemarketer messages. You know the ones that call at dinner, nap-time, the kids' bedtime and pretty much every other inconvenient time you can imagine. I listened through one today and found out that I could press 9 to be removed, so I did (this is different than my usual instinct to just hang up right away) - I'm just wondering if it really works, or just makes it worse because now they know someone actually stayed on the line long enough to get to that part of the message. What do you think?

Thoughts while packing

I was packing up our photo albums today - remember those? Big, heavy, full of memories. I found one that was just Elijah. Jeremy asked, "Where's me?" I don't have a photo album of Jeremy. All of his pictures are on the computer - easier for packing purposes but does not satisfy my son's curiosity for pictures at that moment. Should I print some of his off and put them in an album?
Also I was noticing how terrible some of the pictures were - this is what life was like before photoshop and other editing software, what you see is what you get.

Entitlement

Do you ever wonder how much a sense of entitlement people have these days and what it really means? I mean we get constant news. Every story has to top the next one. Celebrities can't just be people, they are constantly watched and we are constantly demanding to know the real story. Why? What does it really matter to us?
And then even us with our small lives and communities have opened ourselves up to it. I think about things like Facebook, (which I enjoy) and I wonder how much have we opened ourselves up to people feeling that they need to know more about us than they do. Think about it. We have 'friends' lists. Now everyone has 'friends' who are really more aquaintances, someone you know from work, or an old neighbour. You don't really want to leave them off your 'friends' list do you? That would be considered rude. Yet, you don't really want them knowing every detail of your life do you? Sometimes I forget about these 'friends' until someone comments on something that I wasn't expecting, or asks about something that I didn't really think should concern them. I get taken back. "What do you mean by that? Why do you want to know? Why do I have to answer you on that one?" Has the open concept of Facebook allowed people to a sense of entitlement that they would not normally have? Sure I have lots of aquaintance friends on Facebook, but I'm not looking at their pages constantly. Good friends yes. I love to see the new pictures and updates. Now there are some ways to combat it a bit. I upped my privacy settings quite a bit. I don't log in as being available for chat most of the time(I feel too obligated to actually chat with people that start conversations and then you have the whole awkward, well I've got to go part). I'd rather just share with people who are really important to me. Is it wrong to feel a little imposed upon? I don't know. Maybe I'm making too much of it and just rambling now. I know it's kinda funny because here I am blogging about it on a page that any one in the world can read. Kinda ironic really.

Sometimes I wish...

Summer is one of the rare times I can enjoy fresh air. I don't think I realised how fortunate I was weather wise when I lived in BC. Living in the Maritimes has some great perks to it, the weather is not one of them. One of the things I take full advantage of in the summer months is having the windows open in the house. Even on nights when we get rainstorms (I love the sound of rain). I just really like having the fresh air. When we lived in the uptown of the city I couldn't do this. It got really really noisy out there. And now I'm starting to wonder if I'm spoilt living in this house in the suburbs (or just getting picky). Tonight I've been sitting here purusing through facebook and catching up with my email and it's really bothered me by all the noise outside. I know I really shouldn't complain because it isn't yet 10pm. But sometimes I would like to live out in the country somewhere, maybe by a lake and then all the noise I would hear would be quiet, nature stuff - crickets, birds, frogs and the wind in the trees. Wouldn't that be nice? Ahhh, I guess I'm really overdue for a vacation!

Out of the Fog Belt

So I thought having a crappy summer weather wise was just part of living in NB. Then I started hearing from people in Fredericton that it was hot. Then friends of mine staying at Camp Medley came for a visit with tans. What? You mean there is sun in this province? I decided that the next foggy day was the next day we were headed up that way. So we did. Today we went to Medley and basked in the sunshine (of course me having dressed the boys in the morning fog did not have t-shirts and shorts ready for them, but they adapted with rolled up pant legs and rolled up sleeves). Oh it was so nice to just hang out at the dock and you could feel camp life just start to blanket over you.
We then went to CFB Gagetown for a look at the military vehicles on display (can you tell I'm the mother of boys) - "oh cool!" from both of them.
And we finished of the day in balmy Fredericton for supper.
We had high hopes that by staying in Fredericton until bedtime the boys would in fact fall asleep on the way home, so I stopped in at Wal-Mart for jammies. It didn't work. They were incredibly noisy and got a kick out of shouting "moose" whenever possible (not fun when you are driving on a highway known for moose. Other than that, it was a great day :o)

Sandra Bullock's Hair

We went to see "The Proposal" this past weekend. Really enjoyed having a night out together. As I was watching the movie I kept thinking about Sandra Bullock's hair. I think out of all the celebrities I've admired over time she's one whose hair comes closest to mine. I just wish I had a stylist to help me get ready in the morning. I know it would mean more than just throwing it up in a ponytail after a shower. Her ponytails look fancy and mine well...they keep the hair out of the way.

Discontinued

It's almost a given with me that if there is a product I like, chances are it won't be around for very long. I may be exaggerating a little but yesterday I went shopping and found out they no longer make the scent of deodorant I like. I know there are tons of other scents, but do you know how long it took me to find that one?
Also, we've been working with Jeremy's sunscreen allergies. We discovered that the sunscreen we bought in England has no effect on him. And the sunscreen they used at his daycare worked fine too. Of course that sunscreen is no longer made. We think we've found one he doesn't react to as much, but he still gets the itchies.
I used to find this in restaurants too. When I used to frequent Earls (in BC), I loved their black bean soup (good luck finding that one now), at Milestones it was their ceasar salad they made with black beans, chicken and corn nuts (also gone) and with Wendy's it was their Southwest Chicken Salad (sometimes back as a specialty item, but not on their regular menu).
So before you fall in love with a product, ask me if I like it. If I really love it enjoy it while you can 'cause it won't be around for very long :o)