Face meet pavement

On Thursday Jason tripped when running back from the mailbox. He did quit a number. The scrape starts at his forehead, has the full effect on his nose, & his lip is scabbed where his tooth pushed forward. Today it is at full scab & is much darker, therefore looks much worse than this picture represents. I am thankful that his school isn't getting their pictures done yet.

Yes, he also has a cold so trying to wipe his nose & not hurt his sores is a bit of a challenge.

Dressed for the weather

Well the night at the corn maze was cold, but it was fun. Brad & I were not the only ones who decided to make it a family event so there was a big pack of us going through the maze together. At one point the girls had all run ahead & once we found them (from following the sound of excited chatter) they were told that an adult needs to be in front at all time. The last thing the leader wanted was to lose site of the girls in a corn maze in the dark.


While we were waiting for everyone to arrive another couple arrived with their son. Brad & I were commenting that we were out in the cold because we had to be, but these guys chose this night to go to the corn maze. I figure that like me they made the promise to their child without looking at the forecast & since kids don't care about the cold they had to hold up their end of the bargain. When we were leaving there was a big group arriving to go through the maze with kids that were probably around 12 years old. Glad we were out before they took over the maze.


I must admit that a corn maze at night is much more fun than a corn maze during the day- as long as you can keep the "Children of the Corn" references out of your mind.

It snowed today!!!!!

This morning I was downstairs working out when Brad was leaving for work & he tells the kids to come upstairs because "It's snowing"! The kids run up all excited to see yelling "Really! Really? Really!". I followed them, but I cannot say that my tone was filled with excitement. Now it has not snowed anymore today, but it definitely is far from being categorized as "brisk". It is darn right cold & we are so "excited" because tonight is the night for Sydney's Sparks group to go to the corn maze...yippee! Why didn't I check the weather forecast before I agreed to this being a family night out?

So, I am heading downstairs to pull out their snowsuits to get ready for tonight. They are definitely going to need them.

Thanksgiving Miracle

Art courtesy of Jason's craft at Bunny School (potato turkey) and Sydney's craft at Sparks (pumpkin turkey)

Sydney & I created our fall tree to put the leaves that Jason had collected to use

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite long weekends of the year for many reasons. The biggest reason is the time that we always spend with family, both immediate & extended. This year when we went to the Robinson gathering I had every intention of taking lots of pictures, then realized at the end of our visit that my camera did not even come out of my bag. Emily took Sydney by the hand when she arrived & downstairs they went. The only time we saw them after that was when it was time to eat. I am disappointed that I did not think to take any pictures, but I am happy that Sydney had so much fun with her cousins. Hopefully by next year things will be more fun for Jason too when the boys are older & want to play together.


We also gathered at Brad's parents for the Taylor Thanksgiving & Maddy chose this day to finally walk on her own. She has had the capability for a while now, but just wouldn't take those steps on her own. Well, she did it yesterday & was quite proud of herself & didn't want to stop. Since I was negligent in getting my camera out at the Robinson's I made sure not to make the same mistake again, but the kids move so much and so fast that in a close space I didn't get many good pictures.


Another reason I enjoy Thanksgiving is the "Rockton World's Fair". It is a really good fair & this year the Trampoline show was worth our price of admission. The kids like to watch some of the animal shows, the song & dance shows and of course they love the rides. This year we saw a bolder, braver Sydney at the fair. She always sat up front for the shows & often volunteered to go on stage. She was selected for the Bingo song at the Polka Dot Door show. She tried to get her brother to come up & dance with her afterward, but he's not brave enough for that yet. Maybe next year. The fair is my attempt to remind the kids that there is a world outside of a city or town for that matter. The exposure to animals and agriculture is not something that they are in contact each day like Brad & I were growing up. I want to be sure that our kids appreciate that we need farmers to bring us the wonderful food we love to eat & the milk that they love to drink. I want them to appreciate that food does not just come from the store.

The "cornbox"

Jason had a mini freak out when we tried to direct him to the Dragon roller coaster for his last ride. He wanted the "Jeeps!!!, Jeeps!!!!"

The third reason I typically love Thanksgiving weekend did not really present itself this year. The best weekends include at least one day that is warm enough to wear a light sweater & enjoy the sunshine and beautiful colours of the year. This year we had the sunny day, but the wind was so cold & when the sun wasn't out it was darn right chilly. So, I will hope that next year gives us the day that makes you love Fall more than any other season of the year.

Those Crazy Boys

Each day when I pick Sydney up from school & we talk about her day it seems that more & more often the stories that she has to relate are the ones about the boys. She says the boys in her class are "bathroom crazy" and will go 4 or 5 times a day (however she is only in school for 2.5 hours). She also states that they don't play with the toys right, move all around the classroom when they are not supposed to & can no longer go the bathroom using the "buddy system". I asked Sydney if she thought that Jason would be crazy like these boys when he is in SK in a couple of years. She gave me an emphatic no, however she must be a little worried about it because I heard her ask Jason a couple days later if he was going to be "crazy" like the boys in her class. He of course answered "no", but time will tell.

All was quiet

This morning was a first in...well, I think maybe it was a true first. I woke up this morning, looked over at the clock & saw that the time was 7:30 a.m. I then laid there, listened & what did I hear? Nothing. I was the first one to wake up in our household. I didn't bother getting out of bed, instead I laid there & enjoyed the silence. I was surprised that Brad was still sleeping, but not overly since last night was his first night for hockey & he plays at 10 p.m. I was shocked that Jason was still in bed (he is usually up at 6:30 a.m.) & that is the reason I did not get up. If he heard me, he would quickly be out of bed too. So I laid there in silence for 15 minutes before Jason was out of his room like a shot & downstairs looking for us. Of course, nothing he does is done quietly so within minutes we were joined by Brad & Sydney too.

However, this morning gave me hope that we may have a winter where the kids may sleep a little later. Although Brad is the one up at 6:30 on the weekends, it would be nice if he too could have some silence before the kids get up.

I will treasure my "late" morning, however if I tell Robb & Michele about it they will laugh. Last weekend, their household did not wake until 10:30 a.m.! I cannot imagine starting the day that late with a household filled with a six year old & two 18-month old girls.