Handsome Fellow

Noah came home with his very first school pictures earlier this week. Handsome little fellow, isn't he?

He is wearing one of those 'I'm smiling only because you told me to smile' kinda smiles, but it's still cute. :)

Viva Las Vegas

I have to say, I never had any desire to go to Vegas. Shocking, I know, since I want to travel just about everywhere else on the planet!

Well, our dear friends James and Tara have gone to Vegas twice. It was a great location for them, since they live on the west coast of Canada. They couldn't say enough good things about it. So, that got us thinking....

When my Mom and Dad extended the offer of keeping the kiddies for a few days so we could get away, the Vegas research began. Then Kevin found a great half price package, and that sealed the deal. The trip was on....

We stayed on the strip, at the MGM Grand. Over the top doesn't even begin to explain Vegas. It is larger than life, and totally crazy. It is really fun to see it once in your life, and we enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

We spent almost two wholes days just walking along the strip, in and out of the hotels, checking out all of the themes. We decided one of our favourites for its theme was New York. It was also really neat to see the Venezia and Paris, since we have traveled both of those destinations in the recent past.

The above pic is inside the MGM front lobby.

This is a real lion...it lives inside the MGM hotel. Unbelievable. There are about 5 lions that rotate into and out of the glass enclosure in the hotel. They have trainers that are employed full time to feed, exercise and care for the lions. They really get up close and personal with those lions too! We watched one trainer exchange kisses and rub noses with one of the lions. It is really amazing to see.

Having said that, I don't think either Kevin or I are anxious to quit our day jobs!

While We Were Out.....

Since August, Noah has had a security object. He has never in his life had one before...not as an infant....not ever. Well, that changed in August when my good friend Paula and her daughter, Alexa came to visit. They brought Noah a Webkinz black Lab which he named Blackie. Blackie and Noah have been inseparable ever since. Blackie goes to school, the doctor's office, out to play and to bed with Noah.

The second week of October, Kevin and I went away for four days to Las Vegas (still on my list of things to blog about). The kiddies stayed with my Mom and Dad who were visiting us at the time. Well, while we were away, Bekah developed a security object too....it was a rat. Yes, you did read that correctly.

Back in the heyday of Ty Beanie Babies, I admit to having collected them. When the Beanie Baby bubble burst, they ended up in storage, while we went off to Switzerland. Since being back in North America, and having all of our belongings in one place again, the Beanies are back. The kids have been having a field day playing with all of the unusual animals. That's where the rat comes in.

His name is actually Tiptoe, according to the tag that he once had. My Dad, however, dubbed him 'Ratty' and that is the name that stuck. Apparently, Bekah slept with him and carried him around by the tail the whole time we were away.

My reaction was, 'why not a bear or a horse or a cute little kitten...why a rat?!'.


So, hear is my adorable little girl playing with a pink boa, and yes, that is Ratty in her right hand.

Here is a close up....Bekah and Ratty.....I can't help but shake my head!

Trick Or Treat

The whole 'choosing a Halloween costume' experience was a little less than smooth for us this year. Bekah decided that she wanted to be Fairytale Dora and Noah decided on Scooby Doo. So, I went online to discount costume warehouses and started comparison shopping.

The first problem arose when I found out that the Fairytale Dora costume had been discontinued. Any website that listed it in their inventory was followed by a notice of 'currently unavailable'. Each time I would get my hopes up, and then they would be dashed! Why don't they just take it off the site entirely?! It is no longer being produced....it isn't like they are going to get more in stock!

Upon a suggestion from my friend, Audra, I decided to buy a Belle costume and try to alter it. I am not enough of a seamstress that I could tackle making a costume from scratch, and although my Mom was coming for a visit, she was looking after our kids for four days (while we went to Vegas) and I didn't want to burden her with making a costume too!

Well, the costumes arrived and I was sorely disappointed. They were flimsy and cheaply made. I investigated returning them, but the shipping costs to do so just didn't make it worth while.

The Scooby Doo was supposed to be a size 6, and it barely fit Noah is is wearing a size 4-5. The Belle was the same deal....barely able to fit a small 2 year old, despite the fact that it was a size 4!

So, Belle got tossed into the costume trunk to play with....when it wouldn't have to fit over outerwear and we decided to make due with the Skimpy Scooby.

Now, what to do about Dora?!

Mom to the rescue...she decided to make one. We bought the fabrics for an affordable price and Nana went to work. Complications arose (no surprise there...considering how things were already going!) and Nana didn't finish the costume and had to take it back to Canada with her. Kevin picked it up there when he visited about 2 weeks later. Dora ended up with lace sleeves instead of fabric, because some ripping apart and re-sewing ended up causing a shortage of fabric. Sigh......

Well, all in all Dora turned out wonderfully, and Bekah was thrilled!



Here is the Skimpy Scooby....it actually looks kind of cute in the photo. Too bad it wasn't as good in person! It already has come apart on a seam!

This is Fairytale Dora. The hat caused another whole drama. I made the hat out of foam covered in fabric. The hair is made of pipe cleaners that I rolled around a shot glass to give them the look of loose curls. It looked really cute, but it was SO heavy with the weight of the pipe cleaners that it wouldn't stay on her head!

You can see in this picture that Scooby is holding Dora's hat in place so it doesn't fall off! The hat only lasted as long at it took to take these photos. It didn't even make it out of the house..... I quickly did a swap and put a pink cone hat on Dora. It was one that was in the afore mentioned costume trunk. It was cute, but it didn't have any hair on it. That one lasted for half of our street and then I ended up carrying it.

The sad thing is, my kids probably won't even remember how hard I tried!

Please Comment!

I know you all are out there....either that or you are lying to me! Please leave comments for me in the comments field....so that I know that you have been here, and that you are actually reading. When I don't see comments, it makes me feel like I am spending this time for nothing! I look forward to seeing what you all have to say. :)

Thank you GoMom for your diligence to this matter!

Pumpkin Carving

I took on the task of carving pumpkins with the kiddies while Kevin wasn't at home. It would have been a lot easier with another adult present, but what can you do?!

We went online to choose some patterns...that was a bit of a production in itself! Noah decided on Scooby Doo...after much deliberation. Bekah decided on a kitty cat, after two milliseconds of deliberation.



This was Noah's first attempt at scooping the guts from his pumpkin. Right after this picture was taken, he informed me that he didn't like the feel and he needed to wash his hands.



Bekah wouldn't even stick her hand in the pumpkin. This was the closest she got.....three feet away and scooping one seed at a time with a spoon.

Here, Noah decided to try it with a spoon......

The 'cheese faces'........

Bekah with the finished product. To hear her tell it.....it is called a 'coo cat' instead of a kitty cat.

Noah with his Scooby Doo jack o' lantern. We had to prop him up a bit because otherwise his chin wouldn't show. Well, actually, that is Noah's book under the pumpkin....some light reading for him. :)

Meow.....

Blogging by the Fire

Tonight, we are having our very first fire of the season...and the first in our new house! I am sitting with the laptop in my lap right in front of the fireplace as I type this. :)

The air has become crisp, and with the American Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Christmas festivities will be going in full force before we know it! I am starting to be in the mood for hot chocolate and fireplaces on a regular basis now.

Earlier this week I went on a wood hunt. I am looking for a supplier from which to buy wood for the fireplace...and so far I haven't been overly successful. I sent out an email to several people that I have met since moving here.....that email only netted me one lead...and it seems to be an expensive one at that. I then started calling places from the yellow pages. I left about 4 or 5 messages and none of them even called me back! I guess they aren't too hard up for business!

In the meantime I stopped at a garden center and bought a small amount of wood that had been dried and seasoned for 9 months. Apparently, this is less than ideal for a fireplace, but better for a wood burning stove, which can tolerate wood containing a higher moisture content. I was told that for a fireplace, one would want wood that has been seasoned and dried for a year to a year and a half, but that it is harder to find (and more expensive). So here I am typing this and sure enough, the fire is beginning to sizzle. The flames have all but disappeared and I have three unburned logs sitting in there.

Back to the yellow pages......