5 More Things in 5 Minutes

I have been following T's holiday blogging, and feel like I have not been living up to her example. Maybe it's the extra child, or the fact that I prefer napping to blogging. Anyway, here are a few quick things before I bathe my children and head out for our last day of vacation "up north".

1. We went for a tour of the oil and gas plant where my brother works the first night we were here. This was the second time for me, I did this tour in December at minus 40 degrees. Much more enjoyable this time. And again, I am so impressed with my bro's extensive knowledge of anything and everything that happens at this plant. It's a complex system of heating and cooling and adding water and removing water. (I'm sure he will laugh at my simplistic, and probably incorrect summary.)
2. We have become acquainted with a lovely collection of Black Bears. We find them each evening at the town garbage dump. Its a popular spot for wildlife watching. The bears go there in search of food, of course. The image of these large, wild creatures digging through trash and trying to ignore the human spectators is contrary to our usual thoughts of a bear standing triumphantly in the middle of a fresh-water stream with a shiny silver fish in their mouth. But whatever. A bear's gotta eat!
3. The other night we went to Jackfish Lake. The kids swam and swam, even the Little One dipped a foot or two in the water. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs over the fire, made smores, then the kids swam and swam s'more. It was around 10pm when we got home.
4. Everything here happens late. At least for us it has. Don't get me wrong, the Little One still wakes up at 7:15am. But we laze around and do nothing all morning, eat breakfast at noon, and then start planning how we will spend the late afternoon and evening. We started the tour of the plant after 9pm. We went to the lake in the evening. The reason for the late night activity? It is still hot and sunny! The good thing about keeping the kids up late every night, they fall alseep mid complaint about having to go to bed.
5. This is not only a small town, about 800 inhabitants, but it is isolated. Last night we went for a drive to the farthest place possible to drive in the summer, 12 kilometres from town. If you want to go farther, you'll need a plane or a boat. Living on the prairie, this is an unnerving concept to me. The people here are very friendly. They wave and say Hi to everyone. That is one of the best things about small towns.

Well, time for me to go have "breakfast" and get this day started. See you soon.

5 Things in 5 Minutes

Okay, I am on my way out the door in a few minutes, so here are a few things I've been pondering lately.

1. Friends-How do you know when someone is your friend? I'm serious. When you start dating someone, at a certain point you ask them how they feel about you. You have "The Talk". But what about your friends? Did you ever ask them if they feel the same way about you as you feel about them? (I am aware that might be a strange conversation, I'm not saying you should try it.) We just go about hoping our friends actually like us, and are not just staying around so as not to hurt our feelings. i love you all, by the way. Feel free to let me know exactly how you feel about me. Good or bad. I can take it.
2. Summer-There is no better season. Don't get me wrong, I can find a reason to love all times of the year. But summer??? Sun, heat, water play, tans, playgrounds, zoo... I could go on and on. Its all good!
3. Work- Need more of it. As much as I love having very little to do all summer but play with the kids, a family of five cannot survive without some paid work, dammit! (And I feel bad that my husband carries the load.)
4. Writing- I have been writing less in my blog lately, and more in my journal. I feel a need to write things out in a place where I am almost guaranteed no one else will read it. I find I censor myself on the blog for privacy reasons and entertainment value. (Please do not let me know how entertaining my blog posts are or are not. Not sure my fragile writer's ego could take it. ;-)
5. My five minutes are up. Going out to play with some friends in the sun and water. Cuz I got no work to do. Might write about it later in my journal.

A List....of Reasons Why I LOVE Having Boys

In light of recent events involving great friends and their great fortune to have had and/or be having more boys, here is a list of reasons I love being the Mom of boys. No offense to all the beautiful, sweet, wonderful little girls out there. They're so quiet, and cute, and they wear those pretty little dresses. But I digress. We are talking about BOYS here!

• Boys teach their Mom things she never knew she wanted to know, like the names of all the Pokemon, or that it is possible to break a limb while watching television.
• Boys get excited about things like camping in the basement, or eating lunch at Zellers.
• Boys will ask to play outside in the sprinkler or wading pool anytime it is sunny, regardless of temperature.
• Boys do the same things, acting goofy, climbing trees, wresting in the dirt, jumping into water fountains, whether they are wearing shorts and a t-shirt, or expensive dress up clothes.
• Boys create sound effects for everything. EVERYTHING! Pushing toy cars. Flying toy airplanes. Putting garbage in the trash can.
• Boys are low maintenance. Comfy clothes. Velcro shoes. With the right cut, you don't even have to brush their hair.
• Boys can create the most creative and interesting stories out of any small bit of information.
• Boys adore their Mommy, and grow up to be a lot like their Daddy!

There are many more reasons to love having boys. Feel free to add your own. And parents of girls, let's hear about them as well. (Maybe they like cold water fights and tell great stories as well. I just don't know.)

Congrats to all the parents of boys! When, one day, you find yourself reading a story about Professor Poopy Pants, who has recently changed his name to Tinkletrousers, think of all the things you would not have experienced if not for your boys. :-)

101 Video Scrapbooks

I create Video Scrapbooks of everything. In fact, it has gotten to the point where I imagine how I will edit it as I take the pictures and video.

Of course, I know that not everyone is going to be able to edit their own videos of every long weekend camping trip and afternoon at the zoo. But there are some occasions where it is worth it to gather the photos and videos and pay someone (me, for example!) to create a lasting collection of memories.

Wedding Planning-The Maid of Honour or someone else close to the prep process can snap photos and take video of the dress and tux fittings, bridal fair visits and all things related to the planning of the wedding. Then have it edited (I'll do it!) to music as a wedding gift to the couple. It makes a great compliment to the Wedding Day video.

Family Reunions-Have all the family photographers and videographers send their digital files to one point person, who will then bring it to an editor (possibly me!) to create a keepsake of the family event. The cost can be shared, and everyone will love to share the memories.

Graduations-Assemble all your child's school photos and video of select concerts, sports days and science projects, as well as some photos and video of Graduation festivities. Bring it to an editor (could it be me?!) with a couple of their favourite songs, and create a montage of their school years for them to take with them to college. A great keepsake for you, too!

Video Scrapbooks. Not just for babies.

Foto Friday

Movie Monday-A Blast From My Past

I found this in a stack of DVDs in my office. I can take credit for all of the writing and producing. I think I edited some of the spots, but some of you may recognize your editing handy work, too.




Ha ha ha! It still makes me laugh to watch it!

A few observations about this video...

1. Watching this reminded me of all the fun we had back then.
2. My production style has changed considerably.
3. There is a glaring lack of "Razer" promos on this video. Weird!?!
4. As much as I enjoyed watching this video, it did not make me want to go back into television. Decision confirmed.

Foto (Story) Friday

This is what the kids at school call a "photo story". We had some camera issues on Wednesday, but still ended up with enough pictures to tell the story. (We left the house with a Digital SLR and an HD video camera, but due to lack of battery power, many of these shots were taken with my cell phone. Ha ha!)

This video contains my favourite photo of the year, so far. Let's see if you can guess which one.