Update for end of October/beginning of November

It's this time of year again...

...and all is well with my world! :-)

Life has been busy. That is good. I shall attempt an update from the past week or so. Some things I have pictures for. Some things I don't.

Keith was gone moose hunting for the beginning part of last week. He didn't shoot Bambi. ;-)

Max and I had more than enough to keep occupied with while he was gone. School...piano lessons...studying for tests (french, social studies and spelling) and a Kitchener Rangers hockey game.

Max's hockey team played the little Timbit scrimmage during the second intermission. A whole three minutes. It's alot of work for the parents for a mere three minutes. But to the kids? Well. It's their chance to play hockey in front of thousands of screaming fans! LOL! It was pretty cute. LeeAnne and Vanessa came along to the game. We were most fortunate that LeeAnne brought along her camera and got a good portion of it on video. I took a few photos but they're terrible. I was at ice level taking through scratched plexi-glass. Not good. (Max was Number 16 in the light blue jersey)

With his proud aunties who came to cheer him on.... 

We had to stop at Tim Horton's on the way home to celebrate the big night with timbits and a hot chocolate. He was still pretty pumped when we got home.

The next day was a school field trip to The Museum...

The grade two's are learning about wind and water energy. I was assigned a group of boys to look after on this field trip. They have lots of energy.  I wish we could have somehow harnessed all their energy into the wind and water projects they were involved in!

I have been to the dentist an awful lot lately. Including today. I have no pictures to show for it either. That's quite ok. The dentist and me...we have a very special relationship. One of those love/hate relationships. I desperately hate going to the dentist. And I'm there alot. I just have teeth that always need attention it seems. But I do love my dentist here. He's the best. So while I dread going to see him and get stressed out beyond belief...it's nothing against him personally cause he's pretty awesome. In fact while we lived in BC, I continued to get all my checkups and work done here at his office when I'd fly back for visits. Except in Kelowna when the whole implant emergency thing went down. Then I had to find a surgeon and a dentist pronto. And fortunately I lucked out there as well so if you need a dentist in Kelowna or Kitchener I have great recommendations. This is coming from someone who spends more than her fair share of time in the chair! ;-)

So glad Halloween is over and done with. I don't like that holiday at all. I wish it would go away. LOL! That being said, I realize it's all a very personal choice when it comes to how people choose to celebrate it or not. So don't take it personally. I went out trick-or-treating as a kid every year and loved getting all that candy... that's pretty much what it's about for kids.  For me now, I just don't like all the ugly/gory/evil costumes that appear. I was completely shocked at Max's kindergarten party in Kelowna. The whole school did a costume parade.  "Cute" costumes were pretty much non-existent across all grades.  It just left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm not keen about celebrating that. When we talked about it with Max this year, right off the bat he said he wanted to go to Bananarama rather then trick-or-treating. Awesome. Bananarama  is an alternative party held at a local church here on Halloween. They have all kinds of bouncy jumpy castles and video games and free popcorn and candyfloss and banana splits and activities. At the end of the evening, each kid goes home with a big bag of candy. Max is already talking about going back again next year. Works for me!  Friday at school his class was having a small party. We didn't make a big deal about it and he just went in a non-scary/evil/gory costume. So may I present to you...Mr. Clark Kent....

Who loved ripping open his shirt to reveal his true identity!

Moving along...

* I'm volunteering with the Strong Start program at Max's school again. It started up last week and will run for 10 weeks. It's a great program and from my perspective I think it's so beneficial for the kids. I love that I can see progress and results each week and then especially at the end of 10 weeks.

* I've been enjoying lots of coffee dates with dear friends. (whenever I'm not in the dentists chair that is! ha!) What did I ever do before drinking coffee? Such a great social thing to do and keep updated with friends. :-)

* My sis LeeAnne babysat for us on Saturday night and Keith and I went out on a nice little date. It's been waaaaaaay to long since we've done that. I'm too embarrassed to say when the last time was. So I won't.

* My mom and dad and two sisters are going to be moving next year. This is pretty big for them. My parents have lived on that farm as long as they've been married (38 years) and it was where my dad grew up so he's lived there his entire life. Big changes for them! My brother Chad and his wife will be moving onto the farm and taking it over. My parents recently closed on a house/property fairly local to where they currently live. It does need lots of TLC but I think once we're done with it, it's going to be FAB and it really suits them. I know exactly what the first few months of 2011 are going to entail for me. One word. Painting. I suspect I will be working full-time on that project! :-)

*  At the beginning of September I decided to make some lifestyle changes and joined Weight Watchers. This past year was a stressful one to put it mildly. I'm a stress eater. I decided if I couldn't change the stress then at least I could change how I handle it.  Best decision I could have made. Not that it's fun trying to lose weight mind you. But it is fun seeing results. :-)

* I'm starting to mull over Christmas in my head. Decorating ideas. Gift ideas. Activity ideas. I can't believe it's that time of year already. Again. Would it be a huge faux pas to pull out my Christmas music and begin listening to it? I'm getting the itch....

* I need to go to bed. I'm tired. My mouth is tender and sore from the dentist episode today and my teeth are super sensitive to hot and cold. Doesn't make tea drinking enjoyable. Time for shut eye instead. I'll leave you with a few pics of Max playing after school. He loves playing under the furniture (chairs, tables, etc.) I find quite the collections of "things" let me tell you. Everything from lego pieces to ribbons from my gift wrapping box to trophies to silly band bracelets to cars to flags to....well pretty much everything. And if we let it go for a few days...wow! It gets out of control! I love it...LOVE IT!! :-)