My nephew is so very charming

After school today, my sister was signing off on my nephew's daily agenda, and she stares at his entry from today and says to mom "What is this word?" So mom told her what it said. Then she calls my nephew over and says "Read what you wrote, to me." So he reads "Bring paint shirt tomorrow". And she says, "What is that word?" He says "shirt". She says "Sound it out." He does so and claps his hand over his mouth as his eyes got BIG. Have a look at the last sentence:

:

Diet Tip

Craving Chocolate? Really want a good homemade chocolate brownie to fill that craving? Trying desperately to stop thinking about the gooey chocolately yumminess?

Get two 10 year old boys to bake them for you while you sit nearby to 'supervise'.

Maybe this will help you get over the urge: While one is boy pouring the batter, the other one is sticking his tongue waaayy out pretending to lap up the batter as is drips down. If you're really supervising, you might get to see a little spittle.

Is that enough to stop you from drooling? No?

How about when they gleefully discuss how the batter is plopping down into little poo patties.

Thank you boys. I'll stay with the carrot sticks tonight. My scale thanks you.

This is why I have kids

The boys and I have a deal that when we go to Scouts or Cubs, I am not "mom"; I am "Scouter Sunny". This works well for all of us, even if we each have moments of forgetting.

This weekend I joined the Scouts on an overnight camping trip. When ds11 and I got to the meeting place, the leader gave me directions and I drove in to the campsite. As we started along I realized that the other kids were being dropped off back there and had to hike in. I said to ds11 "Maybe I should drop you off too. I don't want them to think you're getting special treatment"

"No," he replied. "They won't think that. I just have a special Mom."

He was completely unfazed, and it was all I could do to keep driving without getting all gushy on him.

Balancing Family and Work

DS 11 reports:
"I went to the park and went down the slide on my feet and I broke a bone and now I have a cast"

My report:

What will be remembered:

"Mom woke me up really early to go to the hospital, I was in pain, and on the way there she stopped for an oil change."

What really happened:

I got a new truck engine ($5000) that in order to keep the warranty was required to have an oil change before 500 km. BEFORE. Not 1 k after. Saturday was booked, and I had deliveries scheduled for the rest of the week, so Monday morning was the only chance to do it.

Sunday night, ds11 wanted to go down the slide, but didn't want to get his butt wet (it had been raining off and on). So he surfed down on his feet, it was slippery and fast and he fell and landed on his wrist. (No I didn't let him... he was out walking the dog, showing us how responsible he is.)

I took him to the ER and the doc said come back in the morning for an xray; they open at 8:30 am.

The truck was within 30 k of that oil change, and they opened at 8:00 am.

Ergo, oil change on the way to the hospital.

We were in the hospital at 8:25. Multitasking at it's best.

To be fair, I asked ds11 if he was okay with that plan. He said yes, though that was before he woke me up at 2 in the morning for pain reliever. Then I woke him at 7 am, and bribed him with hot chocolate.

-------------

Me: "First one in the family to get a cast! High five!"
Ds11: Glares really hard at mom. No high five. But he smiled when he thought I wasn't looking.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I made the mistake of reading this on my lunch break at work. Good thing I was the only one around, I almost had to change my pants I was laughing so hard.

I really want to incorporate this with the next facts-of-life talk I have with the boys. I'm sure I won't make them squirm. Much. Mwahahahahaha

http://www.dadgonemad.com/2009/06/why-we-dont-talk-about-sperm-at-the-dinner-table.html

Warning: don't be sipping your drink when you're reading this - I'm not responsible for any splatter on your screen!

Through the Eyes of a Child

Ds11 comes through the kitchen gazing around this morning and says "Wow, it's like hi-definition television!"

I stare quizzically and ask "What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that I washed my glasses"

Backpacking Trip - I did it!

Scouter Mom here. (I've been officially asked to become a Scout leader next year... I'm contemplating it - I've been having too much fun with being a parent helper on the camping trips, but that's a whole other post)

The Plan:

C Lake Backpacking Trip: 12 km hike - (each way!), pack our own gear and food and a share of the group gear. 10 boys, 1 girl, 3 leaders.

Thoughts before the trip:

• What have I gotten myself into! Ahhh it'll be fun.
• It's snowing! ARGHHH
• Did I remember everything? Good thing ds11 reminded me about the t.p.
• This pack weighs 40 pounds already? Carp.
• Do I really need a sleeping pad?
• These shoes will work great.
• That's all I've got for food? Okaaaayyyy
• Am I just fooling myself with this tin can stove?

Thoughts after the trip:

• Make sure the ice has opened up before I pack my fishing gear.
• Pack Ibuprofen for pain relief, not Midol. It will work, but apparently it also has enough caffeine in it to keep me lying awake.
• Ouch. Two blisters. But they're little. Ish.
• The pad was nice, but my tent was in a mossy spot and the ground wasn't too cold and I have a good bag - I could have gotten away without it this time. Maybe.
• I had lots to eat, I only came home with leftover butter and some milk powder. It was great tasting and filling.
• The tin can stove worked better then when I tested it at home. This size is good for one or two people.
• I've got bony clavicles where the shoulder straps are. OUCH!

We:

• saw some bear tracks
• saw some moose tracks
• saw lots of wolf tracks
• heard the wolves howling way off in the morning
• found a geocache
• didn't catch any fish
• talked about the pros and cons of the tin can stove vs. the fuel stoves. The kids were impressed with it, especially when ds11 and I were eating while they were still waiting for their turn on the group stoves. I was surprised at that - both in the kids being impressed with such a simple thing, and that we were eating sooner then they were. But maybe the kids were just wishing they had their own little fire to play with.

When the scouts lined up at the end to get the badge they earned for this trip, I got in line too. You bet I earned it!

Will I do it again next year? Probably, but will someone remind me about the Ibuprofen?

I would walk 500 miles

Coincidentally I was listening to this song by The Proclaimers yesterday.

By the end of the day I fell down at my door. I was exhausted!

I helped my son with a fundraising activity his scout troup was doing yesterday evening. Roadside clean-up. We were assigned a 3+ kilometre stretch of highway, given orange vests and garbage bags, and told it should be about three hours of work for our group to earn $500. And off we went!

Three hours later, we were a little over 1/2 done. The full-sized pickup we had was filled with bags of trash. The leader said it was the most trash he'd ever seen doing this fundraiser.

There was
a bike with a trashed seat.
fast food wrappers
newspapers
paper cups
Styrofoam
hubcaps
blown tires
gas caps
gas cans
plastic wrapping
bungee cords
wire
plastic lids from paper cups
straws
underwear
pop cans
beer bottles
flyers
plastic bags
Broken windshield glass from at least two different accidents, amongst several other plastic car parts

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.


I do want to say though:

Mr. X: I found page two of your tax assessment form. I know your full name, address, birth date, and SIN (SSN). It wouldn't take much effort for me to assume your identity and wreak havoc to your credit report. Lucky for you, I'm not like that. But we never found page one...

XYZ Auto Parts: I haven't seen your delivery truck with the lit-up plastic yellow ball cap decorating the roof of the cab roaring past my workplace lately. Now I know why - apparently your driver rolled it sometime this winter. I picked up the pieces of that plastic ball cap. And your product catalog. And some bumper, and headlights, and windshield glass. I guess being an auto parts store you knew you could get it all replaced and had no need to clean up after yourself.

And finally, to the guy walking around without your ginch... seriously, you had to remove your undies and toss them in the tree? Oh, wait, you were the driver of the auto parts delivery truck? Wet your pants and didn't want to be embarrassed when you were picked up huh. Oh, well, that's sooo okay then.

Pardon me, I didn't mean to drool my sarcasm on your monitor.

The clean up is done, and a little stretch of the highway that I go by daily is a little greener. More importantly, my resolve to continue reducing and eliminating my plastic is stronger. In my little corner of the world I am finding it to be a huge challenge, but everyday I'm doing something different.

Even more importantly, there is a group of 11-14 year olds who also got quite an impression of the waste in our area. There were several comments of disgust coming from all of them. Who knew an 11 year old boy could get disgusted? I didn't; I still live with a daily barrage of burps and farts!

So, I didn't walk 500 miles yesterday, but I got a start. This weekend I'm joining the same scout troop for an overnight hike. We practice "Leave-no-trace" camping. At my side will be another garbage bag. You never know where you'll find more trash, even if it feels like you're out in the middle of the nowhere.

What about you? Why not grab a small bag and just make a five minute stop on the roadside. Every little bit helps! Teach your kids that just like at home, we can all pitch in to help tidy. Many hands make light work!

I think if we all took a few extra steps, it wouldn't be long for that 500 miles to add up.

Mom's Sheppard's Pie

A friend's post told a story of a recipe that she got from her mom that she now makes for her family. That got me thinking of what recipe of my mom's do I make with some measure of skill.

Sheppard's Pie is that recipe. I had no idea growing up that she used leftovers, but once I learned that my cooking actually improved. Who knew? Of course she made other good dishes, and we were all pretty good at eating them but there was the time she tried serving escargot to us... can't see that being a tradition here, but it's something to tell the kids:

"You don't like my cooking? Have I ever told you how Nana fed us snails? You will eat your dinner and thank me for it mister... or I'll pull out Nana's cook book!"

(Do I hear a whisper of "There are starving kids out there who'd love to have half this much food")

Yup, bribery and threats. Do I know how to parent or what?

I like this idea. Think I'll share it with the boys. They're good kids, and they could probably benefit from random moments of innocent rebellion!

I Had A Holiday Arranged By My Own Event Coordinators

I had a holiday this past weekend. Everything was taken care of for me. It was a great deal too.

It was awesome, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

All of the food was provided, cooked and clean up taken care of. It was included with the rooms. I drove myself, but transportation would have been provided if requested. The company was great. The view was fantastic. The activities were fun and relaxing.

And all I had to do was pack my own bag and show up.

Intrigued?

My oldest son is a Scout, and while most of them are of the male persuasion, there are a couple female scouts. So, when they go on a camping trip, they need a female leader to join them.

That's where my holiday came in. I went camping at -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit). AND IT WAS FUN!

The scouts preplanned the trip, the menu, provided all the food, provided the camping gear, planned the activities, cooked the meals, did the dishes and so on and so on...

If you've ever planned your own camping trip, you know there's a lot of prep work. Post work too, making sure all the gear is dried out and put away for next time. I love camping, but that part of it can take a lot of time and can get overwhelming.

All I had to do was show up on time with my own gear and help supervise, and of course, stay warm. It was pretty easy really. I could be as involved as I'd like, or I could just step back and, uh, supervise.

I learned too. Can you start a fire in the woods with frozen grass and 2 matches? And still have one match left over? How do you dry dishes with frozen towels? And what do you cook on the second day when everything is frozen?

Why on earth would you need to know that? Eh, you never know when some skill that may seem odd to you can come in handy.

Not trying to scare you away from my little corner of the world. I like it here. The next scout trip is planned for the end of January; it could be 30 below zero. Celsius or Fahrenheit, that's cold.

I'll be enjoying every minute of it. Dreaming of my trip to Mexico, but still enjoying the snow.

Stay warm everyone!

Should I know better?

This weekend I got a lot accomplished at home. I'm talking major decluttering and clearing and *gasp* putting stuff away even! It feels great, and was long overdue. The boys were involved in some of it, but I kept in mind that I didn't want to overwhelm them and get in a fight about cleaning. All in all, it went well. Dh kept out of my way by working on the basement renovations a little bit. Coward. Reminds me of this too.

Then, as a reward to them, I let them have friends over.

Within 5 minutes half of the toys put away downstairs, in their rooms, were dragged out and hauled back up to the main floor. While they're were *cough* destroying all my hard work *cough* I mean playing and having a grand time, they were also making plans to *cough* take a wrecking ball and a bulldozer to my kitchen *cough* that is to say, bake some treats and make some ice cream.

I'm having a vision of the future... it involves me and a bottle of rum. Is it time for their friends to leave yet?