Geordie's BFF...Goodbye Legge Blonde!!!

Geordie & Nora Jane, 06/08

A while back I wrote of my Southern BFF moving away. Well, I'm actually not the only one...

Nora Jane has been with Geordie since he was "IN MA BELLY". She is 4 months older than him and was his first friend. We actually arrived to live in Georgia the day Nora Jane was born.

Last night we told Geordie that his BFF will be moving away in 7 more sleeps!

Just before we were about to sit down to eat I mentioned to Callum that we need to tell Geordie. Accentuate the positives and all that stuff... we get to go visit, etc...

We sit down...

Me: "Geordie, next week Nora Jane is going to be moving away with her family"

Geordie: "Why?!?! Where?!?!" *eyes swelling up with tears and chin starting to tremble*

Callum: "Mr. Kevin is going back to school and they are going to be moving to Washington."

That was it for me. I had to leave the table for some 'alone time'.

A couple of minutes later Geordie came looking for me.

Geordie: "It's okay Mummy, we will go and visit. I'm sad too, but it's okay to be sad"

We talked a bit more about it all.

How did I end up being the one consoled?!?!?

We started to go back to the table...

Geordie: "Nora Jane, Vivi & Noble won't be living in their house anymore. Maybe Caleb can move there. Or Carson, or Ethan, or Cole & Tristan..."

NJ's First Birthday 10/04

02/05

Easter/05

Easter/05

Spring/05

Halloween/05

December/05

Geordie's Second Birthday (02/06)

NJ's Third Birthday (10/06)

Fall/06 First time outside 'alone'

Halloween/06

Summer/07

Summer/07

Summer/07

Fall/07

Fall/07

Halloween/07 (with Vivi)

Christmas Parade/07 (with Jayley)

When they both learned how to drive a two-wheeler
Jan/08

Geordie Fourth Birthday 02/08

Geordie's 'family'!!
Geordie, Nora Jane, Viviana & Noble

They other night NJ and Geordie performed for us. Helping out is DJ NO-NO!!!!





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Yes, HE did just say that the pregnancy was easy!!!!

The other day I wrote to an old friend who is expecting his first child with his wife soon. I asked how things were going.

This is the answer I received...

"Yep, the time is comin' real soon... 1 month to go...Aug. 14th. Everything is going very well...I'm actually surprised how easy this was...I was expecting some crazy woman...but it's been pretty smooth going. She starting to do a little complaining now about the heat and swollen ankles...other than that everything is great."

left; the old friend is somewhere in this picture (07/00)

You don't really need your right arm...can I have it?!?!?

Last night Callum and I were about to sit down and watch a show on the boob-tube together. He got up, walked into the kitchen. I heard some rustling of a bag and the opening and closing of a cupboard and the fridge.



In he walks with ONE drink and ONE single serving of something for himself.

"You didn't get anything for me?"

Callum: "you heard me! you knew I was getting something you could have asked."

Do you believe this?!?!?! Every time I go to get a snack I always ask him if he would like something. Half the time he says no. When he says no I make sure that I include more than what I want because I know that he is going to want some of whatever I have...
Because Callum ALWAYS wants what ever I have!!!!

On top of that he always asks for the last piece!!!

He still has not yet learned that golden rule...

YOU NEVER ASK FOR ANYONE'S LAST PIECE especially WHEN CHOCOLATE IS INVOLVED!!!

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Why can't I act like I'm 4?!?!?!

Okay, I am usually quite a talker and can talk to anyone. I do not have any problems in that department. I also am usually pretty good on a social level. I "try" and stay away from talking politics and religion (down in these here parts) and I keep a smile on my face.

Some might find me a little loud...once in awhile a little obnoxious. I do not need to be carried (as my mother always used to say) and for the most part I do think that I am approachable.

Then...why is it so hard sometimes to make friends?!?!?!

Geordie makes friends everywhere he goes. The other day I finally figured out his secret!

We were at the skate park and Geordie was skating around with a little boy (who was about 6/7) for a bit and then he says, "hey, you want to be friends". The other boy agreed and off they went.

Geordie and his friends! He just calls them all Dude!
(Geordie is the small one in the blue helmet)

This week Geordie was in soccer camp. I highly recommend it!!!! It's great!!! If you have one in your area put your child in it. If you don't talk to your rec dept. This was Geordie's second year.


Day 1; we get there and I put my seat next to a group of mothers, ALL with syrupy southern accents. Tried to add to the conversation here and there. Conversation was around people at church. Someone asked what church we go too. I said we didn't.

Usually this is where I put in the bit of how we are 'associated' with a certain church and throw out a couple of names as we have found (and felt) that we need to do this to be accepted. But I'm tired of doing that!

Got a couple of weird looks and that ended conversation with me!

Day 2; mothers are sitting in a new place I sit a bit away from them, but smile a greeting. Totally ignored. Truthfully, I'm a Princess and not used to being ignored!!!!

Day 3; don't even bother sitting by them especially since their chairs are put in a semi-circle 'keep out' way. Are we thirteen?!?!?!

Day 4; start up a conversation with another mother with 'blue states' plates on the way out. Plan on putting my chair next to her the next day.

Day 5; 'blue states' mother is not sitting with "the syrupy church crew" but is talking to a few as they just met the night before as her family recently joined the country club. Invitations were being passed out for something...I didn't get one!

Now, I do have some friends here and they have accepted me AS I AM (I think anyway!). When they start the church talk I do feel a little bit left out but I've gotten used to it!!

When we first moved down here and Callum's work had just opened everyone was making friends with each other as most were transplants. Unfortunately we were stuck in the middle of groups. There were those who were just married or just about to be married and then those with older children. We were six months pregnant, not fitting in with either.

It wasn't this hard when we moved to Toronto. Sure, we had a lot of friends from back home that were also living there but we also made a bunch of friends that we met there.

How do you make friends?!?!?

Do you ever feel left out?!?!

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Hi my name is Helen and I don't turn the channel when Supernanny is on!

Callum and I are known to watch an episode or two of Supernanny. It's one of the few shows that we can watch together. Really, it makes us feel better as parents...

Through the four years, four months and 22 days that we have been parents we have done it OUR WAY but we have also received many parenting ideas from various places.

Geordie is four weeks old

We tend to stay away from books; we find that they all contradict each other. We kept with the Dr Sears book when needed, mainly for their 'liquor cabinet', or was that 'medicine cabinet'. Another reason is (it seems) at the beginning of every second sentence they write that "all children are different". It made you not feel bad if your child was not doing what THE BOOK tells you they should be doing.

B.G. (before Geordie) I was an early childhood music educator at a Montessori school (still can't spell Montessori though, can never remember if it's 2 - s's or 2 - r's). So I have some child psych courses under my belt and experience...as an educator which is, let me tell you, not the same as experience as a parent!!

Our biggest help, we find, is learning from other peoples parenting mistakes. Come on...you know you do it!!!! Goodness, you can even do it with a family you see for five minutes. You see the parents doing something, realize that it's not working and file it away as 'parenting I will not be using'.

Truth is, we have a family that we get a lot of our "don't parenting" from. It's sad to say, but it's true. Sometimes it's not even that they have parented 'wrong' it's just SO NOT US!!

For the most part Callum and I try to stay on the same page (kind of). Try and not overly criticize each other (well, I try...Callum's pretty good at just NOT doing it). We also feel that living away from all family helped us to be confident in our parenting. No one to tell us what to do or how they did it! It also means that we are stuck, alone, together, doing it by ourselves!!

Do we have the perfect child? YES!!! ...for us!!!!

Here's hoping that we aren't someone else's "don't parenting family"!!!!

Do you have a "don't parenting family"?
Better yet, do you think that you ARE a "don't parenting family"?


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Some call it the bible belt; I might call it hell!!!

It's too damn hot here!!!

It's my fifth summer here and I still find the heat ANNOYING!!! I know, I know everyone always says they would rather have the heat than the cold.

My argument... you can add layers when it's cold!! You can't go around naked when it's hot!!! Although didn't the law change in Ontario in the late 90's allowing women to go topless as well as men?!?! Alls fair in sexism!!

So, what do I do?!?! Better question...what does Geordie do?

This morning we had soccer camp. He plays, I sit in the shade. Then we went to the skate park. Again, he plays, I sit in the shade.

Now we're home and Geordie is playing;

Check out the white streamers from our Canada Day celebrations.

...while I am on here;with the A.C. on!!! We are both in heaven!!!

Yes, this basin with water gives Geordie half an hour of entertainment. Isn't that crazy?!?!? I would be bored after three minutes!!! Add in the ice cubes and you get even more time. At first we were using ice cubes from the ice machine but about a week a go I bought some food colouring and now in the evening I make up trays of coloured ice for the next day!!!

When Geordie's tired of the water, I use rice...another twenty minutes of fun!!

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Conversations with Geordie...

Geordie: "Mummy went to the doctor today for a checkout!"

Callum: "check up"

Geordie: "yeah, check up. She went to make sure her brain was okay."

Callum: "okay?!?!?"

Geordie: "she's okay...one time Sponge Bob, his brain grew legs and ran away!"

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Who did you say was a drama?!?!?

A while back we had a 'situation' with the word Jack-Ask . Well, it came up again on the drive back from Wilmington the other day.

I must add that Geordie has super-sonic hearing now a days!!!

After a car cut us off;

Callum: (under his breath) "Jackass!!"

Geordie: "Daddy, did you just say Jack-Ask?"

Callum: "no"

Geordie: "I heard you!"

Callum: "you heard wrong"

Geordie: "you are a drama!"

Speaking of drama, this was Geordie today at soccer camp...



On another note...I want this!!!


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What's with the hole?!?!?

Had a great l-o-n-g weekend! After having a Canada Day celebration on the 1st we headed over to Wilmington on the 2nd. Just got back last night!

What did we do?!??! Beach, beach and more beach!! Callum and I were also able to go out for dinner one night to one of our favourite places; Boca Bay...and we went ALL BY OURSELVES!!!

On the 4th we ventured out to the beach around 10:00 a.m. We like to do the beach in the morning because (1) there are less people and (2) there usually is a chance of rain in the late afternoon.

While there I went for a walk. I couldn't help noticing the amount of people that were there who seemed to be there for the long haul! Some had propane tanks hooked up to a huge pot, others had coolers upon coolers. But the one thing that stuck out in my mind was how many males dug holes! It didn't matter what the age was!!! There were 2 years olds digging, 20 year olds, 40 year olds and I even saw one man who looked about 80!!! What is it with this hole fascination?!?!?! I don't understand it!!!


I remember years a go when Callum and I were going out. We were getting ready to go to the beach and Callum grabbed a shovel to take down with him.

me; "why are you taking that?"

Callum; (like I'm stupid) "to dig a hole!"

me; (thinking that people would make fun of him) "why?!?"

Callum; "cause it's cool!"

me; (still thinking that people would make fun of him) *sigh*

So, we get to the beach. My cousins are down there, some with their spouses. Also, some friends of my cousins. Callum starts digging a hole...one minute later, all the guys are helping.

HUH?!?!?!?!?!? Does anyone understand this?!?!?

The Apple

Geordie loves apples. Problem is he only eats all the skin, maybe a bit more. There is usually a lot of apple left. Callum or I usually finish it. This time Geordie tried to dispose of it himself...

"I tried to put my apple into the garbage but it fell in the toilet by accident, now its plugged up"

see garbage to the right of toilet, we're not even going to touch on the fact that he was putting it in the garbage let alone the bathroom garbage!

Happy Canada Day!!!!

My top ten reasons why I love Canada...

10. The spelling... colour, favourite, behaviour

9. The poutine...this got me through my pregnancy. I was so sick but for some reason poutine was the only thing I could eat. It's also great for hang-overs!!

8. The people...the peace keeping, the looking out for each other, the ability to separate church from state!!!

7. Smarties & jelly tots!!

6. Gun Control Laws

5. The health care system. It's still not 100% perfect but it's still the one that I would choose!!

4. Keith's - need I say more?!?!?

3. The music of the east coast!

2. Freedom - ex. same sex marriage

1. ME!!!!

...you thought I was going to say Callum didn't you?!?!?! Well, he would be a 1.5 on my list!!!

Honourable mentions;

Our comedy...we are really funny people!!!!
Anne of Green Gables
The culture and history
The cleanliness
The geography & climate (yes, this includes snow and rain!)
If I drank coffee I would say Tim Hortons

Did you know that...

-the longest coastline of any country belongs to Canada.
-Canada is the second largest country, in size, in the world.
-the Bluenose schooner won the International Fisherman's Trophy for 18 years, from 1921 to 1938.
-the comic "Superman" was created by a Canadian, Joe Shuster, who was born in Toronto in 1914.
-Winnie the Pooh is Canadian.
-Wayne Gretzky has the most points in NHL history.
-the Canadarm on the Space Shuttle was made by Canadian scientists.
-the Montreal Canadiens have won more Stanley Cups than any other team in the history of hockey.
-some Canadian inventions include; the zipper, ginger ale, the washing machine, standard time, goalie mask, retractable beer carton holders, pacemaker, insulin (as used for diabetes), insulation, frozen fish (?), lacrosse, the light bulb, IMAX, electric cooking range, disintegrating plastic, fog horn, heart valve operation, and portable highchair just to name a few.

I AM CANADIAN!!!!!

This just in...

Steve is a Stephanie!!!!

Warning, this is an R-rated video...

Baby Geordie is the green one on top!!

Every Moanday morning...

This is what my sink looked like last night...


This is what it looked like this morning when I got up...


Doesn't look that much different in the picture does it?!? Take a closer look...

Just like it does every Moanday morning!! Drives me crazy!!! Sometimes I will just bite the bullet and clean it. Other times I wait and see if Callum will clean it. Funny, huh?!?!? You know he doesn't because, "my glasses are off, I don't see it" and I end up doing it anyway!!

Does anyone else have this problem?!?!?!

On to better things...

As for my weekend project;

It really didn't take that long. We almost have it totally finished. See those pictures on the floor, they need to go up on the wall but we ran out of 'putter-uppers'. Great thing is, it totally motivates you to do more. We even started on the next room.



Here is the next room to downsize and organize...

It is our playroom/office. Yesterday we actually got half way through. We are hoping to finish over the next couple of days.






This weekend we also added a new pet...

Meet Steve - he's a little bigger than Baby Geordie and there is a possibility that it might be Stephanie. The two seem to get along.

Not the best picture but he's still a little too frisky to come out and play.

To Be or Not To Be....Organized?!?!?

When we moved down here, we moved from a 1.5 bedroom/1 bath apartment in Toronto to a four bedroom/three bathroom house. How is it that almost five years later we have...

TOO MUCH STUFF?!?!?!

Thing is we even got rid of a lot of it due to the incident. Moving out of this place into a two-bedroom town house made us get rid of a lot of [crap] stuff. Then moving back into there we deliberately tried to get rid of more...and then we didn't finish!

Is that really a surprise?!?! I am the never ending starter... and unfortunately Callum is not my finisher. Plus, we are also both pack rats.

The other day I was at my super-duper organized friend's house (you know, my southern BFF who is pretty much the exact opposite of me) and sitting in her house, seeing a real example made me really think that I could do this!!

So, I am trying to get myself on an organizational binge. I am reading 'It's All Too Much' and 'The Not So Big Life'. I'm waiting on 'Inside The Not So Big House', as it is not at my library.

Yes, I now am a member of the library.

It took me a while and I still have problems when I think about how the book I am holding was probably in someone else's bed but I'm doing it!!! Going to the library was the first step of this whole downsizing way of life. Not only do I save money by not buying books, I then give them back and I don't have to find a place for them.

What it comes down too is when the time comes and we move from here...which for all of our sanity better be sooner than later... we will never have a house this size again. Therefore we will not have the room for the amount of junk (and most of it IS junk) that we have. Plus, we will probably be the ones moving ourselves and paying for it!!

Did you know that the size of houses has doubled in the past 30 years?!?!?!

Minus our bedroom this is our worst room. It becomes a stopping spot for things that we don't have a place for. On this table includes pictures that we have yet to put up, reusable shopping bags that I have not found a place for some knitting stuff, mail and my purse/bags.

Here's to this weekend and my first room. The plan is to go room by room. Who knows, it might take me...

till we leave this place!!! but it will be done!!!

So.....who's with me?!?!?

BBQ Tip #1...and #2

Since moving south of the Mason-Dixon line I have become quite the little Barbecuer [if I do say so myself!] Look at my resent steak...



Tip #1

- Barbecue is a type of food down here, much like Italian or Chinese. A grill is what you use to make the barbecue. When you are invited 'round for a BBQ you show up and eat chicken/pulled pork/brisket/beans/etc... The term 'grilling out' is also used.

- In Canada (and much of the non-southern States) barbecue is what you do to the food. The BBQ is the 'appliance' that you cook on. Most of the time when you are invited over for a BBQ it's usually hotdogs and hamburgers or you B.Y.O.M. (bring your own meat). You usually B.Y.O.B. (bring your own beer) as well. On the east coast [of Canada] many are known to B.Y.O.C. (bring your own cooler) that way nobody can steal your beer!


When we lived in Toronto, Callum used to do all the barbecuing. When we moved down here I quickly got tired of having to wait for him to come home from work so I took over.

I will tell you that I had to train Callum how to barbecue. How did I do this, you may ask?!?!
Well, that leads me to ...

Tip #2

-if the barbecuer/griller is a little fire crazy and enjoys to cook cajun-style wrap the meat/chicken/pork in bacon.

One evening Callum was to grill and I wasn't in the mood for crunchy chicken so when I was getting everything ready I wrapped two or three pieces of bacon over (and around) each piece. The chicken came out amazing!! It was so juicy and tender and not a black spec on it. The bacon on the other hand, did not survive.

Now, I didn't tell Callum what I was doing. He didn't find out about this until years later...

AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!!

If there is paper around why must one NOT use it?!?!?!?!?

Does your dancing show your age ?!?!?

Do you think that someone can tell your age by how you dance?

Geordie has been a dancing machine lately and we will join in. Callum breaks out all the old school moves. We say this like it's cool...but is it? For some reason using the term 'old school' now seems to be cool/hip/happening/choice/far out/sweet. Why?!?!? and is it just those over 25 who think that 'old school' is cool? Do those under 25 think that we're just trying to relive our past, or just stuck there.

Either way... here is Geordie's version of the running man. That would put Callum and I in our teens at the late 80's/early 90's...EARLY teens!!!!! He ends his 'dance' with the move that Callum does after getting out of the pool/ocean to get the water out of his head! Notice how Mariah Carey Someday Geordie's running man is.

Speaking of which I really need to change the music on my Ipod. It's all 'old school'!!!

Sweet Home Alabama!!

We travel to Alabama a lot due to Callum's work. The plant where they put all the pieces together is there. Callum usually travels there once a week for the day to make sure that everything is running smoothly and (I'm convinced) to hang out with Vijay!!
The plant is in the suburbs of Birmingham. We stay in the Hoover area and I LOVE IT!!!! It's quite pretty and there is great shopping there.
This time we stayed in a hotel that just opened. When Callum booked the room they asked if we wanted the beautiful mountain view or the mall view. This was our view...




Isn't it beautiful?!?!?!?!?! Quite often I found myself in total awe of the topography!!

Geordie and I swam, checked out the shops, met Callum for various meals. We had a great time! Callum, on the other hand, worked until 9:00 each night (which was 10:00 for us) and had to go in on Saturday morning.


Saturday afternoon we went to the Birmingham Zoo. Geordie and I had been there once before, when he wasn't even two and it was a cold day in January (beginning of November cold for back home).
Geordie was psyched to see the elephants. Unfortunately, there was none. So, then he was very excited to see the giraffes. We went, one minute later he was ready to move on. Callum couldn't believe it!! I loved it!!!


I am not an animal person at all. I really can't stand them. I like kittens, sometimes I like the look of puppy's but I rarely ever touch them. We have Baby Geordie so that Geordie can have a pet. [Callum too!] Just because I do not like them doesn't mean that I should ruin it for everyone else, right?!?!? So going to the zoo with a four year old is right up my alley!! We have the same attention span for looking at those damn animals!!! Actually sometimes, Geordie's is longer than mine!

I found someone who was just as enthralled with the animals as I was...


There was a carousel there. It was Geordie's first time on one...'ALL BY MYSELF!!'


...and no trip could be done without the ever present silly thingie to stick your head in!!

Just got back...

We were in Alabama for a few days. Callum had to go there for work so we went a long. It gives Geordie and I a change of scenery, some new things to do and then Callum doesn't miss us!!! 'Cause we are so miss-a-ble!

One time when we were dropping Callum off at work after lunch, Callum was in a rush and mentioned that he was busy...

Geordie; "You're not busy Daddy!!! You're going to work!! Me and Mummy are busy!! We have all kinds of things that we have to do!!! [*with a chuckle*] You're not busy!!!"

That's my Geordie!!! Gotta love his outlook on life!!!

From the office of...

Callum;
"...start doing stuff for yourself man!! What do you think we are?!? Your servants?!? You are our servant! Specifically mine!!!"

then Callum sees me coming into the room

Callum: "you're going to blog that aren't you?"

me: "yup!"

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Geordie;
Whenever there is food being served that Geordie loves he says;

"...there's going to be a party in my tummy"

Stone Mountain, GA