I'm a bad, bad Mommy

Ever have one of those moments when you realize someone from Children and Families could be coming by any moment? The moment when you realize, this is just baaaad parenting?

Well, yesterday, Spud and Sprout decided they wanted to finger paint with shaving cream. We've done it before and it has been fun and incident free. So, I got them set up at the table and they were industriously spreading shaving cream from here to yonder.
Good, creative Mommy.

I decided to run upstairs quickly and grab some laundry to bring down and put away.
Naive, Multi-tasking mommy.

Sprout took this opportunity to rub huge fistfuls of shaving cream in his eye. Upon hearing the bloodcurdling shrieking I ran downstairs, grabbed him, hollered at his brother to keep his hands off his face (at least three times) and started getting Sprout in the tub as suggested by poison control on another occasion.
Caring, but dumb, dumb mommy.

In a minute, as I am flushing Sprout's eye I hear new shrieks coming from downstairs, but they are hard to hear over the cacophony still issuing from the tub. (Y'all know where I'm going with this eh?) Another minute later I now have two SHRIEKING children in the tub getting their eyes flushed out. I've been to quieter monster truck rallies.
Poor mommy.

I could not stop laughing. Laughing so hard I nearly cried.
Bad, bad mommy.

10 reasons to like winter

Well, I found myself grumbling a lot today about the advent of winter. It's just not my favorite season. However, I have also had the indisputable privilege of listening to or being around the umpteenth showing of Madame Blueberry. As a result I have "A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart" running through my head over and over and over again. At some point I have to pay attention.

So, because I could use this whole happy heart thing, and not the grouchy mommy who appears at our house on an all-too-frequent basis I have been thinking of the top ten reasons I am thankful for winter and I will share them with you.

10. No more mosquitoes. This is especially good because Spud has this compulsive need to pick at his bites until they bleed. Over and over again. Oh, and Alana, you don't need to comment and sarcastically ask where he got that from, I know I did it too, but I kinda wanted him to inherit my winning smile and my killer wit, not the weird, compulsive need to pick at anything abnormal on his skin.

9. My deck and my garage can now double as an extra freezer and fridge.

8. I no longer have to sit on the bus and wonder if that lady is wearing a bikini top or if she is just wearing her bra. And nothing else on top. On the bus. In front of my kids. But then I realize that they probably don't make purple satin bikinis with lace.

7. I no longer have to wonder what would possess someone to wear just a bra and cut-offs on the bus. In front of my kids.

6. Wintry days are perfect for cuddling up in front of a fire with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately Sprout would make for the fire like a moth to a flame, knocking my hot chocolate over onto my book on his way. But winter days are still good for thinking about a fire, with a book and hot chocolate while I help my kids paint with shaving cream.

5. Snow is pretty. So are flowers, I miss flowers

4. The steady stream of unwanted door to door solicitation pretty much dries up in the winter. The only ones brave enough are the missionaries (of all faiths) and I have sympathy for them. I might even give them a cup of coffee. But it'll depend on how well this whole happy heart thing holds up.

3. Way Cooler no longer has to mow the lawn giving him more time to watch hockey play with his kids.

2. Tobogganing. Because there is nothing like careening down an icy hill on a thin piece of plastic (with no steering) in -20 degree weather to say, I'm a crazy Canadian.

1. And the number one good thing about winter, it only lasts for 4-5 months!

That's m'boy

Gotta love a man who is in touch with his feminine side.

Public Service Announcement #3

When the clocks switch from Daylight Savings time back to normal time, make sure that your husband changes his clock. That way, Monday morning when you hear the baby cry at, oh say 5:00am you don't think it's 6:00am and go in to get the child. The same child who if you put him back to bed once you realize what time it is will think that this is akin to having his arms and legs amputated all at once without anesthesia and scream as if the procedure was actually being done.

Happy Monday.

Sunday Stuff

So, it is Sunday and this Psalm has been running through my head all day, so I want to share it with you!
Psalm 103

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Happy Sunday!

A potato and a skinny veggie? Really?

I'm sure that is what you are thinking when you realize what web names I gave my two precious off-spring. As previously mentioned I'm web-paranoid so I cannot use the perfectly lovely names that we agonized over.

Most of the agony belonged to Way Cooler as I pestered him about names non-stop from the moment I saw the second line on the little stick until he gave up in sheer exhaustion. We lived in the sticks and had to drive 2.5 hours (each way) to the nearest city of any note and every single time we drove, I brought the baby name books. Poor man, I can't think of anything worse, locked for nearly three hours in a car with a VERY hormonal pregnant lady who wants to know "Why" you don't like every single last name that you veto. Sometimes I even cried. I also threw up a couple of times, but then, I did that no matter what he said!

Sorry, big tangent there. Anyway, let me explain the web names. Spud is actually my oldest son's nickname in real life. He is kinda shaped like one. He is nearly the top of the growth chart for weight, and just about at the bottom for height and he isn't fat. He is a solid little chunk of deliciousness. The other inanimate object he resembles is a brick, but I think Spud has a bit more of a ring to it! I know he'll be discussing this whole nickname thing on Oprah some day, but hey, mommy's have got to have some fun in life!

Then there's Sprout. That's what we are hoping he will do some day. Sprout up. Unfortunately he didn't exactly win the genetic lottery. I'm 5'2" and his Dad is 3 inches taller than me. This is a big week for Sprout he has pretty much outgrown his 6-12 month pants and I turned the car seat around to be forward facing as he now weighs enough. Did I mention he's 19 months old? At least his height and weight are in the same place on the charts - well below the last line.

I suppose I could have just used their first initials, or given them a beautiful, thoughtful name that is reflective of their personalities like Veronica, but I am a geek and thinking inside the box, well, I'm just not good at it. So, instead I think inside the crisper!

Because I know you can't start your weekend till you know this

First of all, let me just say, that by entering my first ever Fall Y'all contest, you are all winners. There really are no losers. (Can you tell I also taught elementary school?) The only difference is one of you actually gets to keep the outfit, and not just the title of "winner".

So, my little winners, imagine my dismay when the VERY FIRST entry to my contest nailed the exact price. Seriously. Elizabeth F guessed $3.98 plus tax which is what it is. I thought, "wow, here I'd thought I'd stump them and the VERY FIRST person gets it right. No more contests for me." But on the upside, I did get lots of traffic from a whole bunch of disappointed Americans. They were just dying to get an outfit, but they'll have to settle for the 600 other prizes that I don't qualify for being Canadian and all.

The first runner up is my sister (who has since been told she can't enter, being family, but don't feel bad, her girls are too big for the outfit and her son might have issues wearing it.) Should Elizabeth decide she no longer wants the very cute (and cheap) outfit then Dawn (not the one who reads this blog on a daily basis, sorry) is the winner being only 6 cents away.

Thanks for playing, and if you are new to this blog and want to keep reading then you just go for it. If you don't, well, that's fine. (This is me sticking my tongue out at you!)

Happy weekend!