You're Dead!

Somewhere something is slipping through the parenting cracks. My 3 yr. old just made a gun out of K-Nex and has been shooting me. Then she says, "I'm just joking Mom!" Yeah, good one.

Red Alert

My Mom sent me this package which was super fun and one of the things thrown into it was this liptstick. The note attached said that she bought it and then upon trying it on at home decided it wasn't her color but she was sure it would look great on me because RED lipstick always looks good on younger women. I was scared of the lipstick especially because it was called "lip stain" and also scared of it because it was called "Cherry Pop". Then right before heading to church as I was finishing up my make up job, I decided my white face needed some color. What would I use? Aha, I'd use my new lipstick from my mom.

As I started to draw the stain onto my lips I remember thinking 3 things:

1. Man, I hope I follow my lip lines well.
2. Man, this seems awfully bright and red.
3. Uh oh.

So I tried what any normal person would do, I tried to wipe it off. Nope, it went no where. Although to their credit, it wouldn't have rubbed off onto my glass or another person had I been kissing them.

So I pulled out the big guns and got a hot washcloth with soap and started to SCRUB my lips. It got some of it off but there was still a VERY red tinge. And there was also a bit of redness now on my chin and upper lip. So I did the best thing I could think of, I put on some brownish gloss. Together with the RED, it toned it down enough to not come across as the big, blinking, red alert I was feeling like.

See for yourself.

And for the record, I can see how addicting Photobooth can be for somebody. I'm too picky about the results but it is fun.

Tati keeps staring at me and smiling and saying, "Mom, you look beautiful!" "Your lipstick is awesome on you." "Your lips match your nail polish! How did you do that?" Maybe I'll give the lipstick to her.

I decided I would fit in best with my red lips if I were sketching in gay Paris.

Au revoir.

Remembrance Day

So tomorrow is Remembrance Day here in O Canada. It's the Canadians way to say "Veteran's Day". Today I went to an assembly at Chloe's school. I loved it. I love that religion and patriotism are still alive. It makes me think of when I was in school back in the day, this is how it was in the States and then it makes me feel really sad for how far things have changed. One of my friends on Facebook put this as her status yesterday:

"It's gone from the 'Christmas Party' to the 'Winter Party' and now this year it's the 'Mid Year Celebration'. Seriously? I want to know which group was offended by the term 'Winter'."

I just thought about how lame that is and how much we suffer as a people by denying the spiritual nature of us and worrying about who will be offended by any sort of "religious" things we say. It also inspired me to be a stronger proponent of true patriotism where we acknowledge the help of God in how we govern ourselves and how we work with others and respect others.

Here in Canada, everybody wears a poppy pin. It is really cool to see so many poppies everywhere. They come from this poem called, "In Flanders Fields". I guess there were lots of battles fought there and lots of people died and were buried there. Each spring, the fields were covered with red poppies so when Canadians got back home, they'd remember their friends who were buried in the fields covered in poppies so everybody who wears a poppy is saying they remember the people who died fighting for freedom.

You can buy these poppies everywhere. Well, technically they are free but you can make donations to have them and the money goes to the war vets so how can you really not give them money, right? I used to think it was a weird way to celebrate the vets. That was because it was a different way of celebrating than I'm used to. At home we put up our American flags and play some patriotic music. It is a little louder of a celebration. Here things are quieter, more reverent maybe. I like it. I've come to learn that it doesn't matter so much where you come from but what you believe in and what you're willing to fight for.


Anyway, here are some things that I loved about the assembly:

1. They asked us to not clap and to be quiet during the assembly and not one elementary student made a peep. (And on that note of miracle, Tati sat for an entire 30 min. quiet and in her seat.)
2. The children, not the administrators, read poems and stories about the history of and reason we still celebrate this day.
3. All the children listened intently to the messages of freedom, gratitude and peace.
   
4. The entire school sang a song that had the word "God" in it twice.
5. All the children stood up and sang the National Anthem with the teachers and parents. The entire auditorium stood and sang and nobody walked out or sat down during the singing.
6. They somehow got all of the boys from Grades 1-6 to sing a "oooooohhhhh" background voice as a girl read a poem and nobody laughed or made fun of each other.
7. There was a moment of silence where everybody bowed their heads and remembered the people who fought for our freedom. There were many adults wiping their tears when it was done.
8. At the end before the kids left, the Asst. Principal asked how we can show our gratitude for those who have fought for our freedom and she told us it was by "remembering" them. Which is the whole point of today.

I just came away feeling really uplifted and hopeful. And I am VERY grateful for all the people who courageously fought and continue to fight for freedom.

Are your legs cold?

Chloe's aren't because she is so rocking the leg warmers. This outfit was so epic that I had Greg take a picture. I love this girl. She is so creative with what she comes up with.

She would've loved the 80's. And we would have totally been friends. And I love that this pose just came out of her.

Oh and one more note: That is a shirt and not a dress. It is just a size 10/12 but she decided she didn't want to wait until then because she could wear it now with leggings. Ha ha.

His/Hers

We've had some family visiting this week and although our sleeping arrangements worked out just fine, there was that little detail of all sharing one, small, bathroom. Everything was ok until 3 people needed to go to the bathroom all at the same time. Poor Chloe was downstairs with a panic face waiting for Grandpa to come out of the bathroom. Later, before bed she was talking to me about her future dreams and aspirations:

"Mommy, someday I want to have 2 bathrooms in our house. One for girls and one for boys. Just like they have at stores: with one toilet and then a wall (stall). Then we'd never have to wait to pee."

Way to dream, Chloe.

9 Months Old!

Guess who is all grown up now? It's Gavin. Our super cutie, super dangerous, getting into everything boy.

Here are some things he can do now:

• Crawl fast
  
• Push himself up to standing
• Climb the stairs
• Unplug things
• Sit by himself in the tub without flopping over everywhere
• Eat hard veggies like cucumbers and red peppers
• "Talk" to us. He grunts to get our attention then laughs and laughs when we look and he does this funny seal noise when he gets really excited. We'll have to get a movie of it.
  

Looks like it is time to rethink our toy and bookshelf storage.

Matchy Matchy

It is funny to me how many people from our college ward still have so much in common with us. I like it. It is fun to peek in on the lives of old friends and acquaintances. One of the things I like to see is when other families do themes whether it be from fun colors in family photos to Halloween costumes. It is something I like to do but I'm not going to lie, it takes a lot of work (sometimes too much). This last Sunday, I had the girls dress in their "Halloween Church Outfits". Does that seem so oxymoron or what? I loved it though and started thinking that maybe I should start a holiday hair clips collection for them.

Obviously we were going for purple and black.

P.S. Isn't that such a cute witch painting? My friend Jeanette loaned it to us for our party. We named her Ruby.



So did you Halloween dress up for church?