Christmas 2010

This is a bit late but it seems like everything I do lately is late! Hopefully I'll get caught up with time soon and finally mail the rest of the Christmas cards that are sitting in our van.

Surprisingly I decided to make another video for Christmas - can you tell that I've renewed my subscription to One True Media?

Oh and as a side note - the handsome young man (with not a lot of hair) in a couple of the pictures with Bennett is our wonderful cousin Ryan and he is single - just thought I would mention it (you're welcome Lucy)!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy New Year!

I for one am not too sad to say good-bye to this decade. It has been filled with some wonderful experiences (getting married, having Bennett, etc) but it has also had some very difficult, life altering, hard to get up in the morning moments.

For the next year and next decade I am going to try and take some advice from Bennett and William W. Purkey who said:

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth."

I hope you'll try too.

Oh, how Bennett loved those belly dancers....

Well....

...it has been awhile. Like most people, we've been busy with life. My one and only New Year's resolution is more blogging.

December has pretty much been a blur. Since we had such fun at Disney last year we thought we would go again and bring my parents. What we thought would be a relaxing, fun vacation in a warmer climate turned into a bit of an ordeal. On our first day there my father ended up in the hospital with an infected foot and had to have surgery - he was released the day before we left. Overall he had some great treatment and a good experience with Florida's healthcare system - having insurance helped of course. He's happy to be home and the foot is getting better. Hopefully we'll be able to convince him to try Disney again someday.

It was a crazy week with my dad in the hospital and Bennett and my mother both celebrating birthdays. Neither went as planned but that's life I guess. Fortunately, Auntie Bonnie managed to save the day with a quick birthday party the day we left Orlando.

If I were to ever get a tattoo it would probably include the words "*#it Happens". Those who know me well would know that's pretty much the theme of my life - especially for the last four years. Bennett found out when I was 5.5 months pregnant that life can be one heck of a bumpy ride. So you might as well hang on tight, try your best and squeeze in fun whenever you can.

And that's pretty much what we did on our Florida vacation...enjoy the video and the song.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Santa Claus Parade

We went to our local Santa Claus Parade this past weekend. Bennett was so excited all week and would ask about it every morning. It was cold so we bundled him up in last year's snow suit (which is too small - I must go shopping soon). I even made hot chocolate with milk on the stove and filled our thermos. Bennett was so very patient as we waited for 45 minutes for the parade to start and then another 2 hours for it to finish. He cheered and waved at every float and happily sipped away at his hot chocolate milk. As you can see in the video above, he was so star struck by Santa at the end that he waved with his right hand!

Late Halloween

Ahoy there maties - or whatever it is that pirates say! This is so very late isn't it? But still worthwhile I think. Bennett is pretty much the cutest pirate to ever walk the plank. I truly believe Johnny Depp should be nervous.

Bennett had a great Halloween. He had two parties because he goes to two schools! On the actual evening he had a lot of fun knocking on doors. He was actually rehearsing before he left. He would walk up to a wall, knock on it and say "Trick or Treat, then candy, then thank you, bye, bye, next house". By the time it was all done, he was back at home and had even more fun handing out the candy. He kept looking out the window saying, "more kids, I hope so".

He is turning into a bit of a chatterbox (music to the ears)! I'm going to try to get some it on video soon.

Another Good-bye

A couple days ago we had to say good-bye to another beloved member of our family. My parents had to make the difficult choice to let go of their dog, Katie. She was 12 years old and appeared to be dealing with old age well until a few days ago. She was a good dog - a funny dog - who was very set in her ways. She was a real homebody who refused to go out in the rain, walked around every puddle and would sit in a vehicle for hours if she thought someone might be leaving her. She will be missed so much by everyone.

After Bowser died, the vet's office sent us the story about Rainbow Bridge. If you're a dog lover, you've heard of this special place where our pets wait for us to join them. I do hope such a place exists and if it does I have no doubt that our sweet Bowser was waiting there for Katie with a football in his mouth and the full body wag that he was so well known for.

Good-bye Katie Jones...

The Wiggles

A few nights ago we drove 3 hours to go see the Wiggles!! Bennett likes the Wiggles but I think Jim and I were more excited than he was. When we finally we got to the arena Bennett took a quick walk around, started to cry and insisted on going home. We spent the first 20 minutes of the show in the lobby waiting and gently urging him to go inside. He finally started to reconsider when he heard the music start. Once we got to our seats Bennett had a great time and danced his little bum off!!

The Wiggles put on a very good show. We all loved it and I'm kind of sad that by the time they make it back to Canada, Bennett will likely be too old to go again.


Sam - the Yellow Wiggle. Bennett's jaw pretty much hit the floor when he walked right beside us.


The only Wiggle that wasn't there was Murray. His replacement was great though. Of course Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog made appearances.

Anthony - the Blue Wiggle. He carried Dorothy all around the arena floor. Those guys must burn a few thousand calories during each show.

Dancing to Hot Potato.

More dancing...this is my favourite video.

The Wiggles

If you ever have a chance to go to see the Wiggles, I highly recommend making the effort. It was a lot of fun.