Happy Halloween

The kids were great and the treats were many. J remembered at 4pm that we had not carved the pumpkins, so I brought in the biggest one and a small pie pumpkin and got to work. Thank goodness Apple decided to nap, so we got them done in record time, even though J would not stick his hand in the pumpkin, it looked 'yucky 'according to him. Also according to J I do not carve a pumpkin as well as his teacher and he wished she was here doing it for me.
The kids posed for me in their Old Navy shirts. Apple's reads "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" and J's reads "Mummy's Boy". We had a great day weather wise. And a perfect evening for the kids to do their rounds.With barely enough time to snap a photo, poor J was having itchy neck issues due to the wool sweater I put on him under his Darth costume. I got a neck warmer for him but he was still a little itchy. Apple kept her cat costume on for about a half an hour, long enough for me to hand out the bulk of the candy and check out stuff going on out on the street, all while she was bundled in the front carrier. Then we came in and waited for the kids to come.

All in all another successful Halloween. Not bad considering I didn't Trick or Treat as a kid.

November is upon us

J singing his "spider on the floor" song.

This time last year I was gearing up for Nanowrimo. And truthfully, it is pulling me in. I really want to do it again to see if I had it in me to write another novel. Even if the first one isn't finished. But, I just don't think I have enough time. Last year I wrote for two hours every evening and once in a while during the day too. I don't have enough free hands this year, but after two solid nights where Apple has gone to bed by 7:30 like her brother and stayed there until morning (well, staying in her bed as opposed to my arms, she still wakes up to eat) I have started to think it might be possible.

On the other hand maybe I should just go for the NaBloPoMo. It would give me a challenge to work towards and get me through November.

I still have a whole day and a bit to decide, will see how today goes for me to see what I will do.

Saunders Farm

Saunders Farm is a must see for children and adults of all ages. Hubby took the afternoon off on Friday and we had a blast, it was a great day weatherwise too. We had not been in a few years as A had gotten too old and J was not old enough. As long as you go during the daytime with younger kids, then it is perfect for them.

Truth be told, Saunders wasn't actually open yesterday afternoon, but we didn't know that until we got home. I bought our tickets at the local grocery store in order to save a few dollars. And when we got there we thought it was strange that no one took our tickets, but onward we went. J and Hubby were having a great time. And Apple and I were taking photos (125 of them!) so we thought nothing of it. We did find it a bit strange that none of the canteens were open and the store, but figured they didn't open them for the bus loads of kids that were coming from the schools. And there were a few other small families, but nothing like the weekends, which we were trying to avoid, that and it rained all day today. After we got home and I was checking out the website, that was when I realized it wasn't actually open. We had a boatload of fun anyway.

The Farm is actually a working farm and it all started with a few mazes and some pumpkins when A was a young child. Now it is a full blown day of fun. There are more mazes, a stage for plays, a storytime corner, a children under 8 section with wooden structures to play on. There is a couple of discovery houses, more playstructures for all ages, an apple and corn toss, a mini-putt and in the warmer weather a water park. I am most likely missing a few things, but all in all it was a great time. I am just happy we were too hungry to wait and ate at Rotten Ronnies first because we would have been eating fruit snacks for lunch and nothing was open.

And before you even ask, nope no photos were taken of me. I should have taken some self-portraits, but as Apple woke up right at the end and we did a fast escape I totally forgot. But, I got lots of J having fun as well as a few 'artistic' ones for my pleasure. I did load a bunch to flickr, feel free to check them out.

And WOW are we having another great Fall weatherwise or what? If every Fall was like this, I would be one happy camper.

B is for BIrthday

Thank you all for the early birthday wishes. We are having a good day here.

Playing with my new computer, getting a haircut, and lunch with Mom. Just waiting for the other half of the family then we are heading out for dinner.

Don't mean to run, but the other Apple is calling me :)

A is for Apple and other fun things

I have so much to blog about and not enough time. Time and that I could post twice a day for the next two weeks and probobly still have lots to say. Now watch, next week I won't be able to think of one fun or interesting thing to blog about.

Let's get on with the show. Last week I was tagged by a grrls wrrld with a meme to list seven random things about me. I know I have done similar ones to this one, but let's give it a go shall we.

1. I have a toe ring. I have had one since 1986. The particular one I am wearing is 15 years old and was made out of beads by my youngest sister. The ones before that were all rubber rings that would only last so long then break. This one is going on strong.

2. I used to drive a motorcycle. And if I can remember to bring the photo to my sister's house and scan it in, one day you will all get to see me on my former ride. I sold it to buy a convertible, still only had two seats, but it was much more convenient in the rain and while wearing skirts.

3. I lived in England for a year. February 1977 - February 1978. I still remember all the castles and Brighton Beach and our little house in Sutton, Surrey. I remember my best friend Liana (who still sends cards, along with her Mom for birthdays and holidays) and our school Devonshire Public school. My younger sister was born there, but has never been back.

4. I play a cello. Not very well anymore, I could use a little practice to get up to snuff again.

5. I also play a flute. I taught myself and then gave my sister my flute and haven't seen it since.

6. I worked at Cineplex Odeon for two months shy of 10 years. It was the longest ten years of my life.

7. One person (and only one,ever) told me I would make a terrible mother and should never have kids. I never knew why he said that and wish I knew where he was today, so I could go over and smack him in the face. And of course brag about my kids.


You are probobly all wondering why A is for Apple?

Because I have the best Hubby in the whole entire world. You see, my trusty Dell laptop is starting to give me trouble. I love it to peices and it is our second Dell laptop, my fourth if you count the two I used at work. I also used Dell desktops at work and loved them too. But, now that my photography passion is taking over again in my life, I wanted my next laptop to be an Apple. I was waiting until I had a complete handle on my camera and learned all the ins and outs of Photoshop Elements.

But Hubby was tired of me getting frustrated with my Dell, although he tried to convince me that a new Dell was all I needed and even the professionals aren't using Apples for photography anymore. I stood fast and declared, "I will buy my own next year when I can start earning some money again". So, Hubby did some research and visited a few shops. His research identified the fact that I was right. Can we hear that again folks. I WAS RIGHT. Apples are awesome for what I want to do.

Hubby decided that I should have one. You see tomorrow is my birthday so for my birthday this year I got my Apple. I have no idea yet how to use it entirely, but I am learning. And for now I cannot do a full post, complete with links from Safari. I will need to keep posting from my Dell until my migration. So far so good, I love it to peices, I just uploaded all my photos, so we are off and running.

Here's to Apples.

Summer or Fall?

Which is it already?

Not that I am complaining one bit but, we went from mittens to shorts. It is a balmy 24 degrees (celcius) today and we are heading back outside. Just wanted to post about this awesome weather.

Will check in tomorrow when it is cold and rainy again.

PHOTOS!

Gotta start the trip off right...
J being Mr.Cool. Funny we were dressed for Fall, but we were a litte over dressed, we should have been in shorts.

Apple. Sleeping oh so soundly, until right after this photo was taken. Later at home, the kids were being silly.
J took a photo of us girls, thank goodness he takes pretty good photos or there would never be any of me!
For more photos, check out my flickr badge at the side, I was able to upload to there yesterday.

"Oh Happy Day!"

A direct quote from my Grandmother. Mind you she would say it every single day whether or not it was a happy one, but perhaps that is how she made it through the depression.

Not only did we get to the pumpkin patch (well, not quite a patch but the place that J likes to buy pumpkins) but, J let me leave him at school today. As in drop him off, no waiting by the fence. And on top of that he grabbed his new friends hand and ran and played on the playstructure! I am so happy, it made my week. This means that either I can drop him and head back home or... gasp... Hubby can drop him off and grab his bus and I could... gasp stay in the warmth of my house in my pj's until I need to pick him up. Or better still I could actually dry my hair with a hair dryer in the morning. Oh happy day indeed.

Now, here are some fun photos to make up for my not so fun post yesterday. ... oh blaspheme.... Blogger won't let me post photos and now Apple is awake. Darn. My migration to my own domain should be ready soon, so hopefully these errors won't occur anymore. That and no more anon comments.

I will post those photos later though.

"Oh Happy Day!"

Dear Anonymous,

I am not sure why you were so chicken to to hide behind anonymity, but I feel I must reply.

I never once said that I wasn't breaking the law. That being said, this particular stretch of road is not a road that you would ever walk on, unless you were terribly drunk and since I am always sober behind the wheel, I would have seen you and slowed down before Officer Olaf had a chance to even see me. You would have received a ticket for walking your dog on this road instead of using the bike path far away from the cars. The fact is that this stretch of road is 80 clicks in its entirety except for this one tiny little stretch in front of a mall that has hardly any occupants.

I do feel I deserved a break, and still do today, because I am the one who is holding up traffic doing the proper speed every day instead of the bozos who only go the speed limit when there is a speed trap. The officers could have been serving us better by putting the speed trap in the school zone by our house.

Not five minutes before my Mother and I were watching "Jack" drive like a demon and pass BETWEEN cars on the highway, now why wasn't there an officer there to witness that one? Not sure.

And yes, I agree, they are underpaid for serving and protecting us. I just hope when I do actually need them, they are available to me and not sitting in a speed trap wasting time giving a non-deserving citizen a ticket to make the coffers of the city richer.

I am sure you are a perfect citizen and never once accidentally didn't drop down your speed upon entering a new zone, and for that I commend you. For the rest of us, well these things happen once in a while, and we should be forgiven.

I do believe I admitted that years ago I did deserve a ticket, but was given a warning. So, yes I did take one for the team, but truly this time, it was undeserving.

May you never be caught.

Sincerely,
BeachMama

Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. I did have a fun post ready for today, but was sidetracked and felt the need to respond.

Enough already

I can't stop thinking about Officer Olaf* but, alas I will pay the fine and let it go. Now, of course, I am slowing down even more thanks to getting pulled over that one time. The last thing I need is another ticket. Argh. If only he parked outside J's school every morning and caught all the bozo's running the stop signs and burning rubber while small children are trying to get to class. Instead he sits on a stretch of road where the speed drops down for no apparent reason, except maybe that there is a mall that is almost empty there. Anyhow, I digress, I will let it go. Now.

Onward.

These photos have nothing to do with my post today, but I shot them on Friday and love them to bits, so I thought I would share with you.

We had a great weekend, lots of rest for me, which was totally needed and Hubby was a trooper taking care of Apple even when she was screaming at him, so I could have a long shower. Then, I actually got two extra hours of sleep yesterday morning while Apple laughed and giggled with J and her Dad. It was a sweet two hours let me tell you.

J has been into making movies lately with his Lego. This weekend he made his second movie which is even better than his first. Now if I ever figure out how to download the movies to my computer from the camera I will post a snippet here. They are very, very cute.

Since I am always on a search for the perfect Mascara and since the Prescriptives one I tried last did not work out (left my lashes very straight instead of curly and made them look short instead of long) I wanted to ask you, my readers, what is your favourite mascara? Some of you did post the ones you used in the comments last time I posted, but I have a few new readers out there since I last posted about mascara (Hi and welcome to Kellan Rhodes, Family Adventure, Kami) and want to see what everyone is using. I may just have to go out and make multiple purchases to try them all. For now, I am sticking with my Clinique Lash Curling Mascara until such time that I find a suitable replacement.

I want to write an article, so I thought I would poll my oh so trendy and knowledgeable readers to see if you guys are similar to me or if there is something in this make-up world that I am missing. Feel free to play along if you like If you only had one make-up product to use everyday, what would it be? (for example: I cannot live without mascara because without it I look very tired).

Dear Officer Olaf*

I know it is your job to pull people over who are breaking the law. I know that when you set a speed trap you expect people to slow down, before they get anywhere near your radar gun. I know that the speed limit in that zone is 60km/h and I know you have and will continue to be there all week long.

But, if you aren't there, does it mean that I can speed?

When a new Mom with obvious dark circles under her eyes and two kids in the back tells you that her baby was screaming so she was distracted, could you not believe her instead of sticking your head through the window to question why she isn't screaming anymore?

I know you were just doing your job, but when you keep telling me that the limit was 60 and I had not slowed down from the previous limit of 80 so much so that I break down and cry, while now feeding my again screaming baby. That of course, you did not hear because you were running my licence and seeing that I had no prior convictions or speeding tickets... EVER. Could you not have just forgiven me and pulled over the five other people that were behind me doing the exact same speed? Just wondering.

When my son started crying because he thought his Mom was going to jail, could you have not just walked away with giving me a warning. You know like the two I received when I was young and stupid and doing 60 over the limit on the highway instead of 20 over with screaming kids and a singing Grandma? Oh you didn't know that woman was my Mom, the one trying to calm the kids down in the backseat at the same time she was trying to justify my oversight. Yes, her, she is the one person who could have told you, if you had wanted to listen, that I never speed with the kids in the car. It was just one of those days. When all the distractions possible in the world, except a ringing cell phone, were happening in my car.

So, Officer Olaf. I know that after writing up my ticket and seeing me and my son crying, while I was feeding my new baby and my Mom was singing some U2, you felt terrible for writing that ticket. Maybe, just maybe next time you will give that new Mom a chance and let her off with a warning. I should acknowledge that you did drop it down so I wouldn't lose any points, but you know... you just killed my perfect driving record. And the worst part of it is... that if the baby hadn't been screaming I would have gone a different way home to drop off my library books.

Thanks,
BeachMama xoxo

*named changed for you know security reasons.

And for the record, I will admit to previously being a fast, very fast driver. But, I no longer drive like Mario Andretti, so I guess you could say I took one for the team, but I really don't think it is fair considering I am that annyoing Mom who drives the exact speed limit now. Yes, that is me in front of you... and you better be prepared to stop at the stop sign too, because if you don't you will be rear-ending me.

Giving Thanks

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend. And I just wanted to show some of the things I am thankful for.
I am thankful that my Dad's brother was able to make a trip accross from Montréal to meet his newest great neice. The reality is that they won't be driving for much longer, at least not long trips. So it was wonderful that they were able to come. We will have to start making more trips to Montréal again like we used to.
I am thankful that J, despite being pretty much a vegetarian, was so excited for Thanksgiving supper he was at the table way before anybody arrived.
I am thankful that Hubby was able to run his half-marathon, in under two hours, without feeling like he ran a full-marathon. And for the beautiful day he had to run it.
I am thankful for J and Apple, who keep us going everyday and don't let us stop for a minute. They are the sunshine in our lives and make parenthood so much easier than it really is.
I am Thankful that I was able to make a turkey dinner, despite my neice and nephew being so sick that my brother-in-law had to stay home with them. My Sister made it solo with the veggies. We had a nice, quiet dinner together. Which brings me to the fact that I am so thankful I have three Sister's. Even though they are far away from home, they were thought of, talked about and missed terribly.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Four Weeks

Or one month old. Little Apple has been here for a month and it seems like she has been here forever. J is slowly getting used to her being around. Hubby is helping out with J a bit more and I feel like I should be my old self and wonder why I am not. Duh, because it has only been four weeks!

For some reason I thought I was back on my feet so much faster with J, but I do remember thinking, when he was six weeks old, that there would be no way I could go back to work if I lived in the US. Not that I went back to work after J was born but, at least I had a full year to decide.

All you wonderful comments about me getting around have helped keep me going. And truth be told is that if I didn't have to walk J to school and pick him up, I probobly wouldn't be going out at all. now if I could only find the magical solution to fitting in my old jeans before the cool weather arrives all would be perfect.

p.s. I still visit all of you but cannot always comment due to baby in my arms :)

Lunch with Grandpa

My Dad, bless his heart, will be 70 in a couple of weeks and is still going strong at work. He was hit with a triple whammy this past couple of weeks. My eldest Sister went back to Regina. Then, my Mom went to Regina to watch her three kids while she went to Las Vegas with her hubby to a conference (which I would have been doing last week with my Hubby had we not just had Apple, next year) apparently at my suggestion. And of course youngest Sister left last weekend.

When youngest Sister left, she left more than just the house. She was his extra 'man' on the job for the last two months. So this week he has had to work extra to make up for her leaving. We keep inviting him to dinner, but with the great weather he has been working until 8 or 9 at night, much past our suppertime.

To make up for all this aloneness (if that is even a word) today, J and I decided to take lunch to him. We picked up some Harvey's (hambergers, "a beautiful thing") burgers and fries, chicken strips and onion rings for J and headed out to his job. We offered to bring his other partner some Harvey's too, but he opted for his home-cooked lunch by his wife. Since my Dad had made his own sandwich today (a shock to all of us) he was more than happy to opt for the burgers.

J, Apple and I arrived with lunch in tow and had a great visit. If only we could do this everyday, it would help pass his day at work and ours too for that matter. Hopefully this will be his last winter on the job and he can officially retire next summer. Somehow, I doubt he will ever officially retire, but when he asked J if he was going to work for Grandpa one day, like his Mom did, J replied "no thanks Grandpa, I won't make a good worker". I laughed and said, "Dad if you are still working in another five or more years, there will be more to worry about than giving J a job."

Cheers Grandpa, hope you enjoyed your visit at lunch today!

*photo of Dad with Baby Neice, from Regina the morning they left.

Another Tearful Goodbye

Littlest Sister left for Charlotte on Saturday. I don't usually cry when she leaves knowing that Charlotte is where she loves to be. But, this time I just couldn't help myself. Call it hormones, call it sappy, call it what you will but I miss her terribly when she is not here and wish that we had what it is that she loves about Charlotte right here in Ottawa. She will be back at Christmas after a trip to Israel. She does travel that girl.

Our playdate last Thursday went really well. J and his new friend have so much in common and they get along so well that J was comfortable to play upstairs without me. I was shocked, but it was good. Their house, which is the same layout as ours, is also decorated similarly. Ok, not in decor perse, but in the arrangement of the furniture and such. It was pretty neat to be in the same house but with different furniture. I foresee a few more playdates together.

We went to the orchard on Sunday, Apple Hill Berry Farm (sorry no link) , just up the street from us really on Jockvale Road. I wanted apples to bake some apple pie and instead of just stopping for some pre-pick, we decided to pick our own. It didn't take very long, but we had a nice time and J finally knows where apples come from now.

J got right in there picking them. He was so fast that I couldn't see what he was grabbing, but he did very well. I showed him how to make a pocket with his sweater so he could carry them to the basket. They fell a few times, but he enjoyed it and it was really cute.

Now, all I have to do is get off the computer and make some pie!