Nightly Ritual

This has become a nightly ritual for Jonah and Daddy:

First Jonah climbs up Daddys back. Daddy of course will wiggle to make it difficult.


Once he gets up on Daddy's back, he "belly surfs" and tries to not fall off.

After the bellysurf, Daddy makes a back slide and Jonah slides into bed!

No wonder Sean has a bad back!

But it is worth the smiles!

Hallowe'en Fun - times two!

Jonah is right into his Transformer Stage. Naturally, the costume choice this year would be all about this stage. His first pick was Optimus Prime, but we could not get one that would fit my very tall 6 year old. We settled with Megatron along with his blaster of course.

Jonah's class did a Hallowe'en party where they all got to dress up. They of course had some rules for safety. No masks, no props, no weapons. So much for dressing up as Megatron for school. To make it easy, we bought a cape and some face paint - voila! Count Jonahcula!
Of course he was thrilled to get to have two costumes this year. What 6 year old boy wouldn't?

What did your kids dress up as??

Hope you all enjoyed your Hallowe'en!

Knox Pumpkin Farm

One of my favourite things about Fall is heading out to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to a new farm - well, new to us - called Knox Family Farm. My friend Stacey (who is a frequent commenter here ;o) ) recommended it. I am so glad she did!
The weather was beautiful, the animals were out and there were still lots of pumpkins to choose from! Good ones! We enjoyed candy apples, horse ride, wagon ride to the patch, a tire swing - remember tire swings?? We will definately be back.

Here are some photos from our wonderful family day!

Altered Hand Soap

This is a bottle of Purel Antibacterial Soap that I altered during the Seasons Class at Feeling Scrappy. I had made it for Jonah's class, but I did not know that they are not allowed to use this soap because of the kids putting their hands in their mouth! Alcohol content is too high. Sigh.

So we are enjoying it at home!

Thanks Feeling Scrappy for a great class!

ED: My links do not appear to be showing. Please check out Feeling Scrappy at http://feelingscrappyclasses.blogspot.com

Happy Hallowe'en!

H1N1 Vaccine - yes or no?

There have been many, I mean MANY discussions in our house on whether or not we should take the H1N1 vaccine. I admit I have never been one to get the regular flu shot. I never saw the point. It doesn't cover all threads of the virus and the chances of you getting the flu are still pretty high.

Swine flu is a whole different level. The WHO is declaring it the next pandemic. That right there is enough to get people into panic mode. My main concern is that they have no idea what the long term, or even short term effects of taking this vaccine are. Sure, it may prevent the virus, but what if the effects of taking it are much more worse than getting the flu itself??

Add to this the tragic story of the 13 year old, healthy, athletic boy who died 2 days ago from H1N1. There are people who I know who were "on the fence" with me about getting the vaccine. The death of this boy has pushed many of them off the fence and they are on their way to stand in line for the vaccine. Even if they do not "qualify" for it right now.

My main concern, of course, is Jonah. Am I a bad mother for not vaccinating him? Will I be a bad mother if I DO get him vaccinated and he ends up with some kind of long term effect? I just do not trust how quickly this has been approved without the research to support what effects, if any, there are.

I am curious on how others feel about this. Will you get the H1N1 vaccine? Are you doubting it? Would love to hear your thoughts!

History of the Velociraptor - FUNNY

Ok, maybe I was over tired, maybe I watch Friends WAY too much, but last night the episode where Ross speaks to his class on the history of the Velociraptor was on......I was laughing so hard I was crying.
I am sharing the laugh with you!! Tell me you didn't laugh....I dare you ;)

Happiness

A wonderful email I received from my friend Jeanie:

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.' 'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied..
Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. 'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Have a fantastic day my friends!

TADA!!!!!

How do you like the facelift on my blog??

The very talented (and easy to work with!!) Diana of Custom Blog Designs
made my signature and header for me and did some fine tuning on my colours. I am thrilled with it! I was just not happy with how it was before. I needed it to be a little more personal. I have a few minor adjustments to make on the right panel but other than that, its done!

Now I just need to update more regularly! HAHA

Thanks again Diana!!

My Fantastic Family :)

Here are some family pics that were taken at Thanksgiving. I am very lucky to have a fantastic family! Clearly I had a headache that day as I am wearing my glasses (like I am supposed to). Very annoyed that I forgot to take them off.

Here I am with my best guys :) Wish I knew photoshop well enough to get rid of that hideous elbow scar.

My sister Dawn and I. We are four years apart in age. And yes, we get along!

My sister Dawn, her boys Ryan and James and her boyfriend Ian.

The annual family shot. This was take 20 I believe! By then Zeus, my sisters dog, gave up. I like to get a group shot every year.

Have a great day!

Char