Wicked Sick

Today while watching Princess Enchanted Tales featuring Aurora and Jasmine, with my little dressed up princess Masyn, my son was running around with a dayhome boy, both dressed up like Spiderman fighting the evil force known as Doc Ock. With one eye focused on the boys desperately hoping that I suddenly wouldn't be targeted as the evil doctor, my other eye was engrossed in the movie of Jasmine attempting to find her father's horse in the desert. Admiring her cartoon beauty and the sing song of her voice as she soared high above on her flying fibres, I remarked to Kaelen, "Wouldn't it be so cool to have a magic carpet buddy? Instead of walking everywhere, we could fly everywhere."

Kaelen's reply? "Ya! That would be wicked sick Mom!"

Uh huh. Bursting out in laughter, I couldn't help but wonder where my little sponge heard that lingo. I mean, aren't I supposed to be dealing with that kind of communication in say ten years from now?

And, thinking that I am the clever person I am, I replied: "Ya, it would be like totally awesome dude". I got the raised eyebrow as a reply.

Flashing For Beads

On our last night in Disneyland, we decided to have dinner in the New Orleans section where pirates roamed streets and your feet kept rhythm with the array of music about. We dined at the French Market Restaurant located right beside the Haunted Mansion. The restaurant has delicious creole dishes along with fabulous entertainment, which we were one of the chosen ones to partake in the highly entertaining show. And, because we are the parents that we are, we eagerly shoved our children into the foray in hopes that got us adults off the hook. Luckily, the prerequisite was children to be a part of the travelling band.

Kaelen enthusiastically grabbed the tamborine and began shaking it with zest in an attempt to keep pace (and tune) to the music. He travelled around patio in the music train having the time of his life. And where was Masyn this whole time?

Well, she decided that she would entertain the crowd by taking center stage and dance to the music. And being the attention seeker she is, she even lifted her sweater to show off her belly which she was promptly rewarded with two beaded necklaces thrown her way. And, as if she had won the lottery, she eagerly scooped up her prizes and ran over to Kaelen to share the wealth.

My husband swears they get their attention seeking ways from me, but the truth is that they are all him. He is a closet seeker meaning that he acts all bashful and humble at first, but then that light switches on and suddenly it's "show time folks".

Her Diva-ness

The good news is that the cold is under control. The bad news? Well, if you want to call it bad news, is that Little-Miss-Diva will no longer let anyone else use "her" potty. Meaning specifically that we are counting our lucky stars that there are two other toilets in the house because it is the end of the world if the main bathroom potty is utilized by anyone other than Miss Diva-ness. She stands guard at the door and only will allow admittance if she is reassured that you are taking a bath or brushing your teeth ......

The other interesting news: is that she will make a point of going to the potty to take a pee and we have now had one poop in the toilet despite it literally scaring the shit out of her. I guess at 23 months, pooping in the potty is a fearful adventure ......

This is almost too easy .... I wonder when the fascination with the potty will end and we are back to soggy diapers .....

Thoughts for Thursday

I am finding that my brain is much too scrambled over the past few days to even attempt to write something that makes sense. Masyn has a nasty chest cold that won't allow her to get more than a moment's respite from hacking her lungs out nor can she breathe through that clogged little nose of hers. We have tried everything that I can think of to help bring comfort to her: humidifiers (warm and cold mists), Vicks Vapour Rub, eucalyptus room scents, raised bed, extra pillows, suctioning snot out, warm baths, every child cold product on the shelf available, lots of water and fruit. Nothing is working. Anyone have a tried and tested true secret that they are willing to part with? I would be willing to pay for it too .... because this Mommy can't go much longer without sleep, nor can my tolerance level handle a miserable child who cries 24/7.

So, with said lack of sleep and little patience, these random thoughts have been whirling through my head:

* In one month today, my precious little diva will turn 2. How can that be possible? I am not ready for this yet. Why do children have to grow up so quickly?

* When not crying, screaming or coughing, Masyn is adamant on spending all of her time sitting on the potty. She is obsessed with pretending to do her business and then wiping herself up with a whole roll of toilet paper. She has only peed twice on the potty in the past four days and that totally took her by surprise. But let me tell you, the smile that the pee produced could split a watermelon. Why can't she just pee on the potty all of the time instead of cry, scream or cough 99% of the rest of the day? And to contradict myself, isn't potty training at almost 2 a little too ambitious to contemplate or even attempt?

* Last week, I received a visit from that pain-in-the-ass visitor that insists on coming once a month. Yes - the dreaded period. I am a good person with my period. For the most part, you would never know when I am menstruating despite me having clotting issues while having it. And while for some women, it is a beautiful, natural Mother Earth kind of thing for them (and trust me when I say that I have friends that think it is the most beautiful thing in the world to experience and happen to them), it is a total pain-in-my-uterus issue for me. How I loved getting pregnant and being excited in knowing that I would have a reprieve from dealing with this unwanted visitor for at least a year or so. I am getting sidetracked here. The other day while I was doing my business on the toilet, I was changing my feminine pad only to choke on the slogan written on the sticky tab of the pad. It read "Have a happy period". Uh huh .... my first thought was that a man must be the Marketing CEO for the company because really, who the heck has a happy period? Couldn't they come up with something like "Hope that you have a pain free (or bloat free) period" or at least, "You go girl!"?

Must run now, nursemaid duty calls ..............

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Ready for take off .....

Morning Citrus

This is just one of the many reasons why we really didn't want to come back to cold and snowy Canada:


Fresh grown citrus trees right outside of our door. Whether it be the front door, or the back door, we could take our pick of grapefruits, oranges and lemons. It was an added luxury to what was shaping up to be the perfect family vacation.

Stay tuned for tomorrow: A Goofy Dinner

Visiting the Pixies

After watching the TinkerBell movie at least twenty times before heading off to Mouseland, I knew in my heart that I wanted to be a fairy. I mean, aren't they all so gorgeous, talented and utterly adorable? I raved about this movie and was so very happy when the daycare kids would choose that movie as their movie to watch during quiet time. My husband thought that I was on glue .... until he met Fawn at Pixie Hollow in Disneyland. He even admitted to me that getting to meet her, took the sting out of waiting in line for an hour for our turn to meet these gorgeous creatures. In fact, it put a great big smile on his face upon first site of her.

Unfortunately, only Fawn and TinkerBell were present during our visit, but it definitely instilled the curiosity in my husband of what this adventure held for him for the remainder of the trip. I am sure the thought whirling through his mind was, "Now .... think Paul .... just how many pixies or princesses are here?"

Paul and Masyn waiting at the entrance to Pixie Hollow.

Our first encounter with a fairy, Fawn; the animal fairy.

Kaelen giving us his token cheesy smile with the gorgeous Fawn.

Masyn was too shy to go to Fawn on her own so she insisted that I come with her. How nice. Me the ogre holding an angel towering over gorgesity who happened to be incredibly sweet.

After an enchanting encounter with Fawn, we rounded the corner only to excitedly meet TinkerBell.

Adventures in Mouseland will continue tomorrow ........

Nostalgia and a Good Dose of Reality

Well folks, so much to share and so little time to sit down and type it all out. I guess I will start first by telling you our disappointing news: we have come back home to Cranbrook. Yes. It was devastating really. We were really convinced that we would make a perfect fit within the Mouseland family. I secretly think that the deal breaker was my husband; he couldn't find his cute and cuddly factor quick enough. For a while I thought that since my children were oozing in their charms that we had it made, but alas, no job or housing offer came through upon check out day. So sadly, and lethargically, we slowly left the Magical Kingdom with a few tears and a steadfast determination to make the trip down there again soon in the future.

But, reality is screaming at me so I don't have the time to take a trip down memory lane at the moment. I will however leave you with a teaser and proudly show off our family photo with Minnie Mouse. Believe me folks when I say, upon seeing this picture, I thought that we had the makings of becoming part of the Mouseland family because never are we capable of taking a photo just once and all look half decent in it. I mean, everyone was looking at the camera and attempting to smile. It was a miracle folks!