Cold Stone Good!

Cold Stone Creamery opened up near us and ice cream is what Callum wanted for breakfast. Carter is at big kid camp this week so we're having a "Camp Callum" closer to home. This is how our day began.... can it get any sweeter than that?

Neighbours

Neighbours. There are good ones and bad ones. I have a lovely family who lives on the West side of me and the Wicked Witch of the East who lives on the East side of me. The lovely neighbour is the one who delivers me a Toblerone bar when she knows I'm having a not-so-great day, I can leave my kids with her when I'm in a pinch and she invites me over for Ladies Nights with other lady neigbours in her hot tub and around her backyard fireplace. We drink wine til I literally have to crawl back to my house. She grew up around here and has lived in the court since it was built 20 years ago. She is awesome. The perfect neighbour I'll call her, although her name is Teresa.

The other witch is the bizzaro version of Teresa. She is anti social, fairly new to the court and nasty, nasty nasty. She has created a crazy shrine in her yard and has boarded up our fence so she doesn't have to look at our what must be totally repulsive sandbox and kids toys that lay around our yard. She screams when she speaks and she had made enemies with many of the neighbours around here. She tells me (well, screamed at me) that this was her 18th home.... so I'm thinking WHEN IS SHE GOING TO BE MAKING HER MOVE TO THE 19TH?? WHEN ALREADY? What the hell did I do to deserve her and why hasn't she moved yet?

Susie & Jenn + Ten

ABOVE: My group of seven.

It seems whenever I meet up with my friend Susie we have an abundance of children with us. Either I have 5 and she has 5 or if she just has her own 3, then thats the day I end up with 7.... regardless we call them "Susie & Jenn + 1o" days. It's what our lives have become and we wouldn't want it any other way. Our children are growing up together.

There was a time I recall way back when (pause for a moment as I drift down memory lane) when Susie and I were young, unmarried and childless. Neither of us were ever bad-ass kids but we did have our fun. In high school we had a few classes together and the most memorable was definitely German class. I'm embarrassed to say this but I think we may have been the cause of Frau B's nervous breakdown..... seriously. (We did earn an OAC in Deutsch Klasse though!)

As I look at our own children now I wonder what friends they will have, what sort of teenagers will they be and what kind of person will they become? My hope for them is that they have as much fun on their journeys through life as Susie and I are having and that they find life long friends along the way. Hey, if they all turn out to be like her & I, then they'll have done alright in life.

"The" Conversation

Someone close to us, but I won't say who, is going for a vasectomy tomorrow. As a gift we bought him coconut cream pie and a sympathy card in which we wrote "When life eff's with the cream in your coconuts, eat coconut cream pie and feel better." We thought it was funnier than he did. Although Chris and I both think we are done having kids, we just can't go "there" yet. I am very happy with two children and I am not yearning to have a baby in the house again but neither of us are ready to take that conversation just yet.

Chris hasn't admitted this but I do think he feels a vasectomy would compromise his manhood. Let there be no mistake; when the time comes to consider getting it done, I will NOT buy into that crap. He will be frozen for the procedure, the pain will last a few days and he gets to sleep it off! It's really nothing in comparison to what us woman have to endure. Including the pregnancies where I miscarried I have been pregnant a total of 25 months, was in labour for 31 hours WITHOUT drugs (not even for the episiotomy!) and had a six week recovery period times two where I was completely sleep deprived, hormonal and.... well, lets not get into the gory details.

No, we haven't gone there yet. "The" conversation hasn't hit the table in our house.... yet. We can't make the commitment to get snipped, because getting snipped means we would be making the commitment to be done....

I do NOT have a big mouth!

I'll admit it. I've been told I have a big mouth. More than once even. But today, those people were proven WRONG!

I enjoy going to the dentist almost as much as I would enjoy eating my own arm. I went to my new dentist today for my new patient visit. The hygienist cleaned and scraped and counted and measured and poked and told me she was going to perform a probing exam.... Excuse me?? A what? Turns out it was NOT what I had thought and it wasn't so bad after all. While the dentist was checking my teeth (and commenting on how cute the one baby tooth I still have is; I totally got ripped off by the Tooth Fairy) she said to me "You have a really little mouth".

And there we have it. Spoken by a true professional. I "have a really

l-i-t-t-l-e mouth." I think I'm gonna like this new dentist!

But How Much Will I Get Paid?

Here is a link from momversation.com where the ladies talk about the subject of giving an allowance to your children.
We have certain things we expect Carter to do for this allowance he has requested. The tasks linked to the money he gets are for jobs that make my life easier and would not typically be expected of him. I expect him to keep his room tidy, scrape his plate and put it in the sink after he eats as well as many other "must do" tasks that contribute to the overall well being of the family. We give him money for making his bed, dusting etc etc. We have a catch though.... for every job that he is paid to do and skips doing it, he gets docked $1.00 meaning in a few short days he could be down to zero. This allowance thing has been ongoing now for five months and there has only been one week where he had to docked... and it was only for $2. So far so good! Also, it has COMPLETELY taken the pressure off me having to cave when we go to a store and he wants something. He now has his own money to buy the things he wants and has been making very wise spending decisions I must add. I do like the idea from the video where the child gets a certain amount to spend, a certain amount to save and a certain amount is set aside for charity.... I'm thinking we'll incorporate that in the raise I'm sure he'll be asking for sooner than later!

I Want To Live Forever Young

I always think of my childhood friend Laura when I hear this song. She introduced me to it way back when.... when we had very little cares in the world. Our days consisted of hanging out talking about our plans and dreams. We have grown up now and have realized many of those dreams, created wonderful families of our own and have many, many cares in this world. I hope those childhood days will never become vague in my memory. I know in my heart we will always live forever young.

P.S. 22 Chorus Singing "Forever Young" Children from this world-famous Staten Island public school sing "Forever Young"

Hot Bowtie Pasta

500g box of farfalle pasta (bowtie)

2 Tbsp veg oil

1 cup thickly sliced white mushrooms or small button mushrooms whole

1 green chile sliced thin (don't discard the seeds)

2 cups bruschetta

1/2 cup snow peas (optional)

salt & pepper to taste

Boil the pasta according the the package directions and drain.

In 2 tbsp of veg oil, sautee the mushrooms. Stir in the snow peas and sautee until plump and crisp.

Add in green chilies and bruschetta and sautee for just a minute or two before adding in the pasta.

Mix well, add salt & pepper and serve.

Roller Coasters Will Never Be The Same

Never ever in my life was I afraid of roller coasters.... until I became a mother. Carter asked me to on Dragon Mountain with him and I pulled at his seat belt and safety bar making sure it was on properly until the second we started to move. I stretched my arm across him diagonally (like I was going to catch him if he were to fall out!) and away we went. We looped upside down, went through tunnels and at a speed that made me feel like I had a facelift. When we got off, Carter was "whoot whooing" about how great that was as I tried not to show how much agony I was in! I had pulled something in my neck & back. I had clenched my muscles the entire ride to be sure I could stop Carter from falling out if by chance he did, and now I had injured myself. That was once me "whoot whooing" after a cool ride..... but now I'm that parent needs to sit and take some ibuprofen before I can carry on for a fun filled day in the theme park with my kids.

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals

I just finished reading the story "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals" by Ruby Roth to my vegetarian-since-birth children and it explained what factory-farms are in a very direct and clear way. It was sent to us by my sister and I'm certain it will be a story my kids will want to hear again and again as the questions were flowing!