My Own Personal Comedian....

Wouldn't it be great to have your own personal comedian in your home, to brighten your day, make you laugh and lighten the stress of life?
Let me tell you, its great! Living with Isabella is quite the experience.

I never would have believed that a person could have an innate sense of humor but she shouldn't get this comic genius from me! She is seriously hilarious.

Firstly, she is the queen of slapstick. She loves it when she finds a really slippery floor so she can do her prat falls, and slides. She is forever pretending to fall down and belly-laughing!

She loves to laugh. The other day I walked into the room and she was a rubbing a feather on her belly. When I asked what she was doing, she said, "Tickling ME!".

Another light moment came when Rebecca threw her pj's at her sister. I told her not to throw anything at Bella (even Bella was laughing at it) even if it is soft. Isabella kept laughing, so I told her to stop because its not funny when her sister throws things at it her. Her response?
"Its a litto bit funny!"

Today she started this....she's been watching Shrek, and there is a scene where the donkey doesn't want to cross the bridge so Shrek starts to shake it so he'll back up and not turn back.
Donkey says, "Don't do that. Don't shake the bridge" and Shrek says, "Oh do it. Okay I'll do it. I'll shake the bridge" And this continues on for a while. Well, Bella thinks this is toooo funny.

Today she pushed her sister in the store. I said, "Don't push your sister." She replies (a la Shrek voice) "Oh do it! Push my sister. Okay!" Then she laughs uproariously.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to discipline a kid when you think they are hilarious?

Excuses, Excuses......

Usually I have a pretty good handle on my eating habits. I over-eat every once in a while but not all the time. I try to eat the right things at the right time.

But this week, its been a different story. I've been working out quite consistently so I think I've used that as an excuse to overeat. Somehow exercise justifies eating tons of junk food.

Its like I only have enough self-discipline either to eat right or to exercise but not both.
This must stop! I need to do both!

Oh, well...tomorrow is another day....I'll start again!

Last night after supper we did some finger painting. Since we happen to have the digit camera from my husband's work, I thought photos were in order...


Some messes are worth it!

Kid's Kutisms:
(My funny little girls, they amuse me so much.)

When D.J. returned from Brandon Isabella yelled, "My daddy! He didn't run away!"

I guess she had been thinking he ran away, she had said so a few days before. "Daddy ran away" and I said, "no he didn't he's just on a little trip" and she said, "maybe he ran away a little bit!". But I didn't realize she still thought that until she saw him and was so happy that he didn't run away.

Rebecca was cute this morning, as I was dressing her. I was doing up the buttons on her vest and she said, "No! Not my gum drop buttons!" in the little gingerbread man voice. I laughed so hard. (For those of you who haven't seen Shrek, this will not be funny)

Here is a picture of Rebecca coming out of her class on the first day of school....
So proud of herself!

This post is for any of you closet "Dallas" fans out there:

There was a commercial on T.V. for a "Dallas" Reunion.
Now doesn't that bring back memories?
For me it does because I grew up in remote Northern communities so that was one of the shows we actually could receive, having only CBC! (I know, I know....poor baby!)

When I saw the commercial, I remembered the night that Bobby died on the show.
Why?
I remembered because I cried when Bobby died!

(now I find it hysterically funny but in the moment I was quite upset)

But in my defense, I was only in grade two at the time! You must also remember, this was before we knew it was all a DREAM!

Just processing the magnitude of God that Brian (one of our pastors) has been speaking about...the glory, the biggness and the beauty of God.

Then I applied these thoughts to people, because I love people.

I was thinking, when you talk to people who have relationship with God, they always have a different focus or perspective than you do. Some love worship, justice, intimacy, truth, grace, or any other attribute of God you could name. We tend to gravitate towards the people who like the same things about God that we do.

The negative side of this can be the bickering that results when we see different likes and dislikes in each other about God. We want to focus on different things, or talk about different things. But one attribute is not better or worse than any other. Its all God and its all good.

God is just too big for our itty-bitty teeny minds and we can't take it all in at once. I am learning to appreciate people who like different things about God than I do. I want to get to the place where the focus is on God, where we can find common ground. I want to be able to say, I love that you love *blank* even if its not my thing, and learn why other people get such a kick out of it.

Not sure if this about unity or just plain old fashioned Canadian conflict avoidance!

Its time to air my dirty laundry in public....

Isabella has a strawberry juice stain on her pajamas and Rebecca has chocolate on her shirt.
*groan*

Did I have you going for a second? Did you think you were about to get a big bite of juicy gossip?
Dang it! No gossip here! My life just isn't that interesting, people!

Ok. That was mean, now I have to think of something interesting to blog about.
Hey, here's news. My brother got robbed the other day. How's that for gossip?

I found a BIG gross bug in my laundry room.
Sooooo disgusting!
D.J. is in Brandon at a conference this week so I had to kill it myself.
*sigh*

That's not the grossest part, after I squished it with a shoe, I had to use a piece of paper to pick it up and put it in the garbage.
It slid down the paper and touched my hand.
*gag*

Bugs are so gross!

Excuse me, I have to go and polish my tiara.

Here are a couple recent pictures of the girls.

Bella being a tough little biker chick!
(its all a facade, inside...she's like buttah!)


Rebecca cuddling the Baba Doll from school.
She is so happy because she GOT to do homework tonight! Soooo exciting!

Back to life, things are pretty much as I left them.
Having a rest was nice.
Its great to be refreshed and motivated to spend time with the kids again.

After a little break, everything they do is super cute and amazing.

I'm amazed at Rebecca's queries about God and where He is, and what He is and what He can or can not do. She keeps asking me if God can do.....
Here one conversation we had in the car yesterday.

R: Where is God?
E: Everywhere
R: Is He even in our house?
E: Yes, He's everywhere.
(we get home and she walks into the house looking for God)
R: Where is God, I can't see Him. Wait a minute, is this a pretend God?


During the same car ride Isabella said Rebecca is sick so maybe we should go see Dr. Lamb to get "fixed."
I asked her, "what if we ask God to fix Rebecca instead?"
Bella replied, "Yeah! God could be a doctor!"

So my oldest child thinks I made up an imaginary friend named God and my youngest child thinks God needs a medical degree. I think I've messed them up enough theologically, perhaps I should move on to messing them up intellectually!

Off to the women's retreat this weekend.
I miss my girls already!
(But that is probably because I know I won't see them for a couple days. Do I miss them enough to take them with me? Noooooooooo.)

There is a difference between the way I respond to someone's behaviour and reacting to it.

Responses are usually controlled, pre-meditated thoughts or decisions. We think about what someone said, analyze it according to our belief system and then answer them in a socially appropriate manner. If what they said is meant to manipulate me, I can be assertive and make it plain that I understand what is going on and be clear that I will not be controlled.

A REACTION however, is not so pretty. Its that gut-wrenching, immediate spark of my infantile self that leaps into action and wreaks havoc on the perceived offender. Reactions, I usually regretted about three minutes after they happen.

Lately, I have been reacting to Rebecca rather than responding to her. It is a great source of grief and guilt. I can imagine the therapy session 12 years from now. "Why do you love Isabella more than me" is the question that terrifies me.

The truth is, I DON'T love Isabella more than her but Isabella is easier than her in so many ways. I just don't understand the whole first born mentalitity, its not in me.

Why does she push every limit and have to force every situation? Its like in every moment, she has to make sure that I'm in charge....but not just check....MAKE SURE! She has to test the limit to make sure its there. She has to try to control everything we do, to see how far she can get before I reign her back in. It is so frustrating and exhausting.

If its an adult, you can meet a control freak on the grounds of equality and there's give in take. How can I be assertive, still maintain authority and allow freedom to grow with a three year old who has as much charisma as I do and twice the energy?

Why can't she just relax and trust me? I want to pin her down and scream, "I'm your mom! Let me love you! Quit trying to be so grown-up!!!!!"

That would really help, don't you think?
First borns out there, any advise? WHAT IS SHE THINKING????

Sorry about the delay in updating my useless facts.
A new and fascinating one is up and running.

Another blogger who shall remain nameless (Athycay) made some unseemly comments about Canadian Thanksgiving being a rip-off of American Thanksgiving.

Once I got over being "mortally offended" (hee hee hee), I decided to take up her challenge to "enlighten" her on the origins of our fine Canadian holiday. My research on the subject turned up this little tidbit of info....

(ignore all the underlining, it came with the article)

Canadian Thanksgiving

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October.

The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which
Canada has been blessed."

Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week.

Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October.

So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

So there you go! THEY copied us!
We Canadians can be proud as we slice up our turkey carcasses! Let the carnage begin!!!
Gobble! Gobble!

Its that time of year again....


My favorite time of year with the outdoors being colored in red and various golds.
Warm fall days playing in the park with my girls.

I'll just pretend winter will be a continuation of this beautiful autumn.
*blink*
*blink*
*head nod*
"Make it so"

Hey it worked on "I dream of Genie"!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope you all eat til you wanna gag. That's my plan! Isn't that what T-day is all about? Mmmmmmmmm.....

We're back from the peace and calm at the cabin!
Our cottage is about an hour and a half from Winnipeg.
While on the highway, the first hour and a bit I saw four deer eating in the ditch.
The last 15 min, driving through the provincial park, I saw SIXTEEN!!!
(needless to say, I was driving very slowly on the last stretch of highway)

They are thick in the park, and sooooo tame....they have no fear of cars....not good!

There is a positive side to the friendly deer however. They are like little pets for my kids.
They wonder through the yard and the girls yell out "hello" and the deer just look at them and keep eating. Both of the girls fed a doe a piece of bread from their hands. And D.J. fed and petted the same friendly little doe.

He was talking quietly and saying, "Its okay baby, we won't hurt you. Here's some food."
Now the girls think they should call all the deer "baby".

They are so cute.
In other news, D.J. cut down a 50 year old spruce that was starting to rot from the top. (It could have fallen on the power lines or worse, the veranda) It was a lot of work and D.J. worked very hard all day.

However, it was the only shade for the deck. My mother-in-law and I were complaining that the yard looks too naked now and D.J. should put the tree back together.

He didn't think it was funny. :P

My wonderful husband took the day off and now he is taking the kids out all day so I can be alone to clean the house! Hooray! It needs a good "going-over".

This whole system of cleaning one room and coming back 5 minutes later to find it destroyed is not good for my mental health! I crave productivity! Must have cleeeeeeeeeeeean!

There was a time not so long ago in my life when the idea of cleaning house all day would not have brought me joy.

How times have changed....back to the scrubbing board!

More Kid's Kutisms

When pushing Isabella on the swings today, she started to go crooked.
She yelled, "Mommy help me, I'm going cranky!"

For supper tonight, Rebecca had a girl cheese sandwich.

When Isabella was drawing tonight, she told me the picture came from her imag-itation!

Isabella told me after grocery shopping that she is very fer-rust-erated because Rebecca was talking back at her!

ha ha ha
The things they say are totally priceless!

At McDonald's this afternoon, Isabella climbed up the playstructure and then couldn't get back down again.

Her little friend Justice came and told me that she was crying. So I had to climb up the playstructure to bring her down.
When I got to the top, I found her crying with her sister beside her offering helpful advice.

Rebecca was saying, "Isabella its okay. Just relax and REMAIN CALM. REMAIN CALM okay.
Relax and REMAIN CALM."

Ha ha ha so funny. She sounded like a stewardess on a flight that's about to go down.
Just REMAIN CALM!!!!
hee hee hee

I am here at the church again!
Another day almost done.
Supper is ready to serve, and we're just waiting for the session to finish.

Much better than yesterday when we were freaking out because the roast beef wasn't fully cooked after 2 3/4 hours in the oven! AHHHHHHH!!!!

I must say, I like the stress-free version of suppertime much better!
Off to serve.....

Another 12 hour day in the kitchen.
Phew!
Two down.
One and a half to go.

Its a challenge.
I love a good challenge! ;)

Today was a busy day.
There is a team of girls (four) from the church who are catering the conference at the church over the next four days. The conference has about 60 people.

Tonight we did a full-on turkey dinner with all the trimmings and pumpkin pie for dessert.
I gotta say, my feet are hurtin somethin' fierce from standing for 9 hours.
My body is not used to this anymore.

I think it was a success however. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and that was our goal.
Now off to bed for tomorrow is another big day!