October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Almost all of us has been touched by this horrible disease. Whether it be your mother, your sister, your daughter or friend, you have been affected. Let’s not just bring awareness, but let us all do our part in working toward a future of early detection and less invasive treatments. One step at a time, we can all participate to bringing the number of people affected by Breast Cancer down to almost none.

There are any number of things you can do.  Daily you could go to The Breast Cancer Site, click the big pink button to donate free mamograms.  You could drop coins in any can offering to give the monies to research to fight breast cancer.  Or you can be open to heaering about it.  As a woman, you also need to check yourself regularly with the self breast exam.  It may not be prevention, but it could mean the difference between one more year or 40!

After many attempts to get all three of them to smile …. these were the best.

On this day seven years ago, a wee dote arrived …. and the world changed forever!

Now, this is not the heart break when your children just won’t behave and you have to discipline them.  This is when your heart breaks because your child’s heart is broken …. and she has not discovered boys yet!

The soccer rosters were posted and Oldest Large Child was the only girl from her team last year to not make the Tier 2/3 team.  She’s crushed.  An appeal was sent in, but so far there is no sign that OLC will be moved.  I could make a huge deal out of it with the soccer club, but at the end of the day, there are A LOT of girls playing U12 this indoor season and OLC did not work on her skills all summer long.  So this year will be a year of getting OLC up to snuff and work on her skills so that come outdoor season she will be playing at a higher level.

we took the Monsters and the dogs for a walk along the Bow River in Bowness Park.  Im sure that Winsome01 and I were more worn out than they were! (they=kids and dogs!)

The weather lately has been really, really good.  I am not complaining.  This year, our autumn has been more of the dog days of summer.  Not joking the temps reached +29c in today and are looking to stay that way for a few days! 

Its great because I can be outside with the kids more and I don’t have to hear them fighting or wreaking the house for being house bound for wet miserable weather.  But it does make me wonder what the coming winter will be like!

Here’s proof … taken at 17:35 ….

If you ever have a chance to see a Cirque du Soleil production …. GO!  They are amazing.  After a quiet Saturday from NOT going to a YMCA retreat the Monsters were looking forward to, we went to the previously arranged show of Ovo today.  This is my third Cirque show and the Monsters first.  They LOVED it.  I really enjoyed it, but I have to say that the show, “O” in Vegas is by far my favourite.

The Foreigner and the Lady Bug (two of the main characters of the show)

The show is about a day in the life of bugs … what a better theme to keep children entertained!  And if you have an incling of my children, you know they were bouncing in their seats wanting to join the performers on stage!

the Carimba da Creatura

This was a fun number with the Creatura changing shape and evolving through out the song.

The Crickets. 

They jumped on trampolines and moved about the wall at the back with such agility, you had to wonder if they really weren’t the insects they were portraying!

The Scarabees (on the trapeze).

These little high flying bugs made you wonder what fun some insects have in thier lives!

The final farewell. 

What a show!  I can’t wait for the next one!

This is one of those weekends that I hate being a parent.  The Monsters and I were supposed to go on a retreat to YMCA Camp Chief Hector for the weekend.  Notice I said were??  All week Healthy Weighty Wee Man and Wee Blonde Child have been pushing my buttons.  And by pushing my buttons I mean not listening and doing as they were told, arguing with me when asked to do tasks, not doing tasks, back chatting and generally being asses.  After many different tactics, including but not limited to, reasoning, talking to, shouting at, timeouts, being removed from play/company of others, I pulled out the big guns … “If you do not start listening to me and behaving yourself, we are going no where this weekend.  Starting with Camp Chief Hector!”

They pushed further after that. Now we get to stay home.  Winsome01 graciously bought tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo for all of us on Sunday … here’s hoping that he won’t have to find two other children to take …

Dumb grown up responsibilities! >:(

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, COMMON SENSE who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:-Knowing when to come in out of the rain; – Why the early bird gets the worm;- Life isn’t always fair; – And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies, don’t spend more than you can earn and adults, not children, are in charge. His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, do nothing—