Helping a Parent Along...

Canada is a little different than USA and we are using this to our advantage!!

Last week I was caught on the ice at Geordie's school. A couple of the father's had to help me out. One noticed the Georgia license plate and commented. I will admit to saying, 'yes' with a slight drawl.

But our real usage of the USA/Canadian difference is in parenting.

We have been known to say such things as;

"No, they do not allow that in Canada!"

"They do not have that in Canada!"

"Yeah, Canada, it's a little different and there are different rules"

So now, if we do not have something or say no to doing something Geordie automaticly thinks that Canada just does not have it;

Geordie was watching tv one day and needed to leave the room for a second;

Geordie: "Mummy, pause it please!"

Me: "Oh, sorry Geordie, there is no pause here."

Geordie: "UGH!!! They don't have pause in Canada?!?!"

So, are you happy to be home?!?

That's the number one question we get!!
Seriously thinking of answering the question with, "NO!" just to see what kind of reaction I would get.

Yes, we are happy to be home.

The next question is; "Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

Ah, I guess. We didn't really know what to expect.

The last time we lived here, we were not married, Geordie was not around and we were students rather than professionals. Much different life! We could also go through the day without complaining about any aches or pains AND have more than one drink and wake up fine the next morning!

Here are a few things that we did expect:

The ocean, and how much Geordie loves it!

Walking/scooting to school... 1km (.6mile) each way

The culture... yes, that is a beer!

Wearing long johns under your Hallowe'en costume. Geordie wanted to be a skeleton, I went looking at all the costumes and they were horrible so...we made it! Less than $20 for supplies; horribly cheap looking pre-made costume $30! ...and this one glowed in the dark!

Snow in November!!!

by the way; while everyone else was cursing this snow Geordie and I were strolling in it, loving every minute of it!!

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HELLO WORLD!!!!

It has been three months and fourteen days that we have been back in The Great White North, eh?! -and that is one of the only times that I have said "eh"! I will admit to making statements sound like questions though!

I'll take you back to October; the travel up was great! Callum's brother came down and helped us drive back. One 26ft Uhaul with trailer carrying our car and our other car driving in convoy. We broke up the drive over five days.

Day one saw not one, but two flat tires. Luckily it happened when we were parking the Uhaul at the hotel in the evening.

Day two was a long day of driving but all were in good spirits and Callum's brother was a demon with the Uhaul! A demon in a good way...he left 15 minutes before us and we never caught up to him!

Day three we took out the brand new Nintendo DS...it was a quiet day.

Day four; Freeport...need I say more?!? -although when shopping Freeport do not go with 3 males!

Day five was the home stretch! We stayed the night before in Houlton, ME so that we would be fresh for the border crossing. All paperwork was in order, plus copies of everything just in case! Stopped on the US side to deal with the cars (one is Canadian the other American). That took about 15 minutes.

Then on to the Canadian side...lots of paperwork but we had everything that was needed. Finished in about 20-30 minutes then the Customs person smiles at us and says, "Welcome back!". That was it, we were done. They didn't even look in the cars let alone open the truck. Callum was mad! All that strategical packing...

Walking back to the cars;

Callum: "Well, we're Canadian again!"

Geordie: "I don't like Canadians."

An hour later he was back to being happy about being Canadian!

Now he is loving it!! First day of skiing, after one lesson he was ready for the big hill;

...although once in a while he will remind us that when he's 18 he is moving back to Georgia.

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Moving right along...

Finally on the road;

Not without some drama;

On our way home;

Counting Down!

11 more sleeps and we're gone!

Lots to do, trying not to get sidetracked. As well as packing and dealing with all the paperwork also trying to get resume up and at'em as well as looking for work. So, trying to stay away from my cute little computer...kind of...

Geordie's doing well. He goes back and forth between wanting to go and not wanting to go. Most of the time he is more for the 'wanting to go' side but once in awhile he gets a little teary-eyed at the thought of leaving his friends.

One afternoon within half an hour he called for his gurls 4 times. They were doing homework. Finally on the fourth time when they said that they couldn't come out he said, 'Fine then! I'm moving to Canada tomorrow and you will never see me again because I will be there until I die!!"

Drama Queen anyone?!?!?

Speaking of which. This was Callum just seconds a go when Geordie had a small toy up to his lips;

Callum: "Get that out of your mouth!! You don't put small things in your mouth. You could swallow it and choke then we will have to take you to the hospital and spend at least $500! Wait until we are back in Canada!"

Off to be somewhat useful!!! Be around soon!!

Busy Bees!! ...well, people!

We have been crazy busy!

Trying to get everything together for the move.

This is not a complaint...AT ALL!!!

I am merely stating a fact!!!! :)

All summer Geordie has been talking about 'running a race' so we found a children's race for him. He did it this weekend. The US 10K Classic;

It was 0.5K (0.31 miles). There were 5 races for children and they were broken up by age, Geordie's race was for 5 & 6 year olds. Parents were allowed to run with the children, so Callum did. To be honest, I was more afraid for Callum running it than Geordie.

Look under the ( d's ) you will find Callum & Geordie

When the race started Callum was running behind Geordie but Geordie kept turning around to see where he was. So Callum quickly changed his strategy and moved in front of him;

Look at that form... and that hair...

Both 'boys' ran the whole race. I had told them both it's perfectly fine if you need to stop and walk. They had paced themselves well and did a lot of passing down the 'backstretch'. By the time Geordie thought about walking he could see the finish line.

If you ask Geordie he thinks that he came in second. The first 10 girls and first 10 boys receive a medal.

We just know that he was in the top 10 for boys and his time was somewhere around 3 minutes and 23 seconds;

...take note of the 'cheese smile'

The proud parents and the tired of pictures Geordie!

**update; Callum slept well that night! ;)

Sweet Home Nova Scotia...

Well, it's final! We are moving home!

Kinda' crazy! As most of you know we have been here, in the south, for almost 6 years (OCt 24th will be our sixth 'anniversary'). Unfortunately, we have been trying to get out for four and a half of those years.

Since spring, Callum has been actually looking for a job outside the automotive industry, just like everyone else.

We had decided that we would go anywhere from Toronto to Halifax. We were also not going to totally rule out some countries in Europe. During the week I would weed through jobs and send them to him. On the weekend Callum would apply.

Skip to now. We are signed, sealed and about to be delivered!!!!

If Callum was to write down everything that he wants in a job, this would pretty much be it. It's a toaster bonus that it happens to be back home.

Now, it's my turn! Weeding through jobs for me and then applying. Meanwhile, getting everything sorted here. We have had 4 moving estimators come, and a quote from Uhaul.

Uhaul is looking pretty good right now.

...and just when I started liking grits!!!

I am SO going to heaven!

A cute little 112 year old (not looking a day over 80, I might add!) arrived at the pearly gates;

St. Peter: "Yes my dear, what makes you worthy of entrance?"

Cute Little 112 year old: "I lived in rural Georgia for five years, 11 months, 5 of those years under the Bush Administration..."

...and with that the bells rang, the choirs sang and the gates burst open...

St. Peter: "Come in, come in, my dear. You have served your time in hell!"

What's really in a name...

I was a single parent this weekend.

Callum was away so it was just Geordie and I!

It just happened that my brother's girlfriend was near by for the weekend so we went over to visit. It was a quick trip as she was here on business and didn't have that much time. We left Saturday around noon. Checked in to the hotel and then went swimming for a bit.

Geordie knew that 'my friend' was coming to meet us. He kept asking questions about her.

Finally when 'my friend' knocked on the door Geordie went and hid under the desk.

Tara walks in and as she talks Geordie peeks out. For 30 seconds he just stood there. He didn't know what to do. Then...the showman appears!

What a showoff he is!!! It's insane!!!

We had been in the hotel room for a bit and Geordie whispers to me; "what's her name again?" Of course, you know that a five year old whisper is the equivalent to an adult talking!

Geordie has the ability to remember EVERYTHING about someone...except their name! He can tall you what size shoe you have or what you ate when you were with him, but tell you your name...very unlikely!

So, we went out to dinner

This is Geordie's new 'cheese smile'.

When we were waiting for our table Geordie was even more rambunctious than usual. When I went to tell him to settle down I get;

"I know Mummy. It's just that I'm so excited that Tara's here. I can't help it."

Again, using the whisper!

After supper we took Tara to try a donut from Krispy Kreme as we do not have it back home...just the commercial!!

eat your heart out Greg!

Geordie enjoyed it too;

Geordie didn't stop talking about Tara for the rest of the night, and half the next day! aaaaahhhh...young luv!!

update: girlfriend is now soon to be sister-in-law!

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Wordless Wednesday - sk8er little dude!

We Survived...with a phone call home of course!

Well, we have 2 days of big school under our belt and now into the first full week.

Day 1; I picked him up and everything was great! The whole car line thing down here is definitely something to see! He enjoyed his first day. In his class is a girl (cute, blonde) who was in his class two years a go in nursery school. Back then she went back and forth between Geordie and his friend. Now she goes to church with Geordie's friend so she is his friend's girlfriend. We'll see if that's the same by the end of the week.

We have been told that he needs to look good everyday because she is in his class.

Before I tell about day 2 I will try and explain about the discipline system in his class.

Everyone starts with a green stamp. This is Groovy Green, it means you have had a good day.

Proud Purple - you had an exceptionally great day!

Okay Orange - you have been talked to once.

Watch out White (I think) - you have been talked to again and during play time after lunch you have to do laps of the playground.

Yikes Yellow - your parents are called.

Boo Blue - office!

Now...

Day 2; Callum dropped him off in the car line. Everything went fine. Around 1:oo I get a phone call from his teacher. Yup...Geordie was on Yikes Yellow!

He was 'cutting up' (didn't think it would be appropriate to ask what that was at the time, figured it meant messing around and asked a friend later on) not listening, etc...

The teacher said that usually there are a couple of children who test them in the first week of school (for us day 2!). They just want to get a handle on things right away. She was incredibly apologetic. As we all know, Geordie is beyond a tester (he had a letter home in his first week last year at nursery school as well, same deal...seeing how far he can go) and he needs to be put in his place right away or he will keep trying.

Then I had to talk to Geordie. He was upset;

Geordie: "Mummy?"

Me: "Geordie, what's going on?"

Geordie: "I don't know." (through tears)

Me: "Well, why aren't you listening?" Totally nice voice

Geordie: "I don't know. (again, through tears) I don't want to be here. I just want to be home with you forever!"

Me: "OKAY!!! I'll come and get you and you can stay with me forever! You'll never have to go to that bad school again!!!"

Seriously?!?! Do you think I said that?!?!

Of course I didn't!!!! But it didn't stop me from thinking it!!!!

Went on to tell him that going to school is like Daddy going to work and reminded him what he likes about it. Also the whole love you but disappointed, yadda, yadda, yadda...

When I picked him up an hour and a half later. All was well!

Callum and I discussed it and we felt that he was disciplined enough...this time! If it happens again, he won't be so lucky!

That evening when I was talking to Geordie;

Me: "Geordie, did you do laps during your play time outside?"

Geordie: "Oh yes, we ran them."

Me: "WE?!?! Who else?"

Geordie: "Me and 'the girl'!"

...and so it begins!!!!

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He's not ready for school...

He's still my baby!!!!

Okay! Maybe it's not him! Maybe it's me! Callum tells me it's me!

Today was Geordie's first day at school, school. Not a nursery school, but an honest to goodness public school where they HAVE to take him!

The other night we went for orientation where we met the teacher, checked out the classroom, the school, etc...

There was quite a celebration going on with various inflatables and food. It was actually a great way to start things off. The only thing we found a little different was that they were giving out free Bibles, again public school ;

It ended up that the local church, where many of our friends go and work, were putting the whole thing on. They also donated all the school supplies, including back pack. Thanks!

Last night Geordie was in bed by 7:30, I had his lunch and bag packed by 7:45. At about 8:15 I heard some noise up in his room. After a bit I went up to check on him. There he was in his boxers and a t-shirt lying in bed. When we put him down he was in his cute little pyjamas. I asked him why he changed;

"I'm a big boy now, I'm starting big school tomorrow so I have to wear this to bed now. Just before I fall asleep I'll have to take my shirt off and just sleep in my boxers. Remember Mummy, I'm getting older now."

This morning when I went in to wake him up. He was a little awake and asked if it was time to get up. I told him he had a couple more minutes and laid down beside him. He told me he needed a little bit of alone time. *sniff, sniff*

As Callum pointed out, he is not making it any easier on us.

Look how far I went! I pulled a 'my father' and took a picture of him waking up.

Didn't even realize I was doing it until after it was done. It's like my father was sitting on my shoulder saying, "Princess, get your camera, go to the bedroom and call out 'Geordie', SNAP!"

To Geordie, I apologize...still putting it up though!

While Geordie got dressed, including gel and 'oderant so that he smells good! I worked on the breakfast. Whole grain flax seed waffle with smoothie. One of his favourites! Note; smoothie seriously takes 3 minutes to make (frozen bananas, yogurt, milk, orange juice, ice)

Lunch had been packed the night before. Homemade pizza pockets and fruit salad. Check out the spork! Love it!!

Lunch is packed. Last week I had ordered some new products for lunches from One Small Step. Great new company that have amazingly great service. I was going back and forth between the lunchbots and another product. I ordered the other product and when it arrived I was very unimpressed with it. They had no problem exchanging it and within less than a week I had lunchbots.

Sorry about the picture, totally bloggers fault! :oP

It is going to be interesting to hear how many other children bring their lunch. When we asked the teacher and teacher's assistant about Geordie bringing his lunch, we kind of got the feeling that they thought that, that was not normal! You can get lunch at the cafeteria for $1.65.

We decided last night to start the first day exactly as it will always be. Callum will be driving Geordie to school so we didn't want to freak him out and have me go as well. Although I really wanted to go. We just thought that having me go would be more for me than for Geordie. Since the orientation was the other night and we knew what teacher he was getting, had met her and checked out the classroom we figured all was well.

Here is Geordie's 'camera' pose.

First time in his new seat.

Before this we had just been switching off cars because we were so close.

Truth, didn't want him to go! He is telling me to close the door.

There they go. Here comes the sniffles.

Callum called me after he dropped him off.

That's where Callum learned that he wasn't ready either.

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Wordless Wednesday; and so it begins...

Child Labour?!?!?

Last weekend Geordie asked to have a lemonade stand. Conversation went like this;

Geordie: "Mummy, can I have a lemonade stand?"

Me: "Sure, you can have it tomorrow (Saturday) morning in front of the house."

Geordie: "Oh no, that wouldn't be good. Nobody comes down our street. We need to find another place."

Me: "People will be coming down tomorrow. There are yard sales going on throughout the neighbourhood so there will be a lot of traffic."

Geordie: "okay." not totally convinced!

So Saturday morning...well before 9 AM this was the scene outside our house;

Of course...it was slow moving at first and someone was just as excited to have access to non-stop lemonade.

The first car came down and Geordie stood beside his table and waved. The car turned around in the cul-de-sac and came up, stopped and gave him some money. He was okay with that! He quickly figured out that, that was what he needed to do; stand up and wave. His next customer was a very southern woman. He tried to only fill her glass up half way to which she responded, "oh no baby! you need to fill that up!".

So, little by little business picked up. Some just gave money. Others did buy a glass. Most people asked if this was the only thing that we were selling. The yard sale down here is a way of life! It's crazy. I am positive that some people make their living from it. You would not believe the amount of vehicles that drive around with trailors behind them going from yard sale to yard sale.

Well, in the end Geordie made $7.78. He was very happy;

What did he do with the money?!?!? He bought 'checkmarks'!

Sounds weird, huh?!? Or should I say, "eh"?!?

This idea started from a friend. Her children do various 'chores' to get checkmarks. Each checkmark is worth a dollar. They work their way up to the amount they need, to get what they want. For example her 8 year old (who was 7 at the time) got a Wii this way.

Geordie wanted the Lego Star Wars game which was $20 so he had to get 20 checks. He would do various things like clean the garage, help with laundry, vaccuum. We do not give checks for the regular things that he has to do such as clean up his toys. Once or twice we gave him a check just because he was incredibly well mannered somewhere or did a good deed.

Once he had the money from his sale we thought, why not let him buy some checks as well?!?

So, 7 check marks he bought! ...and is he ever happy!!

What do you do to teach your child that not everything comes for free or when they want it?

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Maybe those NRA guys aren't that bad...

Recently we have been having many phone calls from the NRA. Usually we have not been home to answer, or I did not get to the phone in enough time.

Today I did;

me: "Hello"

NRA: "Hello, could I speak to Mr Wright please?"

me: "I'm sorry, he's not here right now. Can I take a message?"

NRA: "No, that's okay, we'll call at another time."

me: "Can I ask who is calling?"

NRA: "This is the National Rifle Association"

I will admit, hearing that was a little weird.

me: "Oh, is it possible for you to take us off your list? We're Canadian!"

NRA: "Sure, I'm sorry. We did not know of your circumstances. I will take you off the list right now!"


I never realized that being a Canadian was a circumstance!

I will say that the representative I talked to was incredibly polite and did not push anything. I still would not like to meet up with them for some 'fun' though!

Wordless Wednesday - My Rednecks!

Please summer just end...

While everyone back home is just beginning their summer (or quarter of the way into it) I have had it with summer. March/April here is like June back home; May is like July/August. There is such a thing as having too much of a good thing!

School gets out here at the end of May, for the first two weeks the children on our street are outside all day long playing. It's great! and takes me back to my childhood (*sniff*) when we would go out for the whole day and play. Well, as I said, that happens for approximately two weeks, then it's too hot for them to go out. Some are then in all day camps and others stay in their house ALL DAY LONG!

This week is our first week without any classes or lessons. At this point I am so tired of summer I am ready to just stay in the house all day and do nothing. Luckily the last couple of days have had a nice breeze (usually there is no breeze what-so-ever at all!). But the 2 weeks before that it was hot and humid and I was just tired of it! I found that I didn't want to do anything, especially make supper at the end of the day. We had one week where we ate out three times!!! For us, that's huge!!!! We might eat out once or twice a month.

So for me, I am done with summer. Although give me the chance and I would love to enjoy some of the summer back home... with the breeze and wearing shorts with long sleeve shirts/jackets (a popular fashion of the eas' coast). All I know is that when the time comes and we are finally back in Canada...I will never complain about the cold again!!

COLD!!! BRING IT ON!!!!

We have to find a lot of indoor activities...here's one!

Geordie loves the Chipmunks although he calls them Simon and the Chipmunks. His reasoning; "Simon is the smartest, and my favourite so he should be in charge!"

If I Want It, I Get It!!!!

This weekend past was pretty big back home!

Sir Paul McCartney played Halifax, in his only Canadian show!

Now my Father is an incredibly huge McCartney fan and believes that they have some kind of bond as they are both left handed (remember my bubble and that bubbles do not fall far from the sky). So, the 'children' (a.k.a. The boys, Callum, and I) got Dad tickets.

In the end it was the 3 MacKenzie Boys that went. **

They said that they had a great time.

Now, as I am in Georgia, I was not there. Of course this killed me. I actually have seen Paul McCartney in concert and he's amazing!!!! If you ever get the chance...GO!! So it wasn't entirely that, what bothered me is the fact that they were all doing something together and I wasn't there. Me?!?! Princess?!?! Seriously?!?! How can they have fun without me?!?!?

Yes, my friends I suffer from F.O.M.O. (Fear Of Missing out).
Unfortunately, I have passed this fear on to Geordie as well.

Since, in my bubble, I get everything I want...

WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!!!!!

**Nobody leaves Sissy out!

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Why Was I Not Warned?!?!?

Geordie has always been a sweet easy going child.

Sure he has bad ass tendencies, a stubborn streak so long it might get me home, and negotiates till the cows come.

...but he has pretty much been a go with the flow kind of guy!

Don't get me wrong...he still is that way, for the most part, but a couple of months ago once in a while we get this child who looks like our sweet, adorable easy going, non tantrumy Geordie but instead we get a tantrum throwing, talking back, demanding little bugger!

At first we were worried. I had never heard of this 'stage' we thought it was just us! Luckily, mum's talk, and I found out that everyone was having the same problem!! One friend even referred to it as, "the f-ing fives".

We are dealing with this 'phase' using 'time outs', alone time (which we know is the worst thing for Geordie), and taking things away. We have been doing well (yes, I'm patting ourselves on the back). We are following through (99% of the time, okay maybe 92%..but still!!!), and we are not raising our voices.

...but, how much longer will this last?!?!? how much longer will we last?!?!?

Why did I not know about this stage?!?
Did you go through it? Are you going through it?
What did you do?

If you have yet to get to this stage, be warned!!! This makes me want to go back to those 'attitude threes'!!!



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Wordless Wednesday...almost