Hock-u-pied

Yep.  Thats right.  Hock-u-pied.  Hey!  That's my word - I have been using it for the past couple of years and people always laugh when they hear it.  Especially if they have a kid in hockey.  Or a kid in hockey, playing both house league and select, add in some skills school, extra ice time, a rink in your backyard... you know the type.  Those (read: us) crazy, wonderfully crazy, hockey families.

Say it with me all you hockey parents out there...hock-u-pied.  Now use it in place of saying something like "we have a busy weekend coming up - we will be at the arena 4 times in the next 2 days times 2 kids"... you get the picture.  This will now read "We are hock-u-pied this weekend".  Hock-u-pied fills in the gap nicely.  One word that covers so much.  Hockey families will now smile knowingly at each other when they hear my word.  

Now, I'm not one of those moms that you would call a Hockey Mom.  I can't lace up my kids skates, I forget which order the equipment goes on - "Is it your chest pad thingy now?"  No mom - not yet!  And he goes through the correct order of the equipment going on.  And which jersey is it today?  How do you know if you are Home or Away?  And really, I feel like I'm that mom at the rink.  You know the type.  The other parents are whispering "Is she still really asking what does offside mean, again?"  I mean, really.  My 11 year old daughter who never goes to the practices or games understands the game better than me!

Seriously though, to all the hockey mom ladies that I know, you are all wonderful.  One more question though - Is that frosting?  I mean, icing.  Icing, yes that's it.  Frosting - no wonder they all roll their eyes at me.

Keep smiling!

Bart Simpson

My dad loved the Simpsons!  Some of you may remember that the Yes Man won my dad's heart the day he showed up at our house for the first time, knocked on the door and when my dad answered, there stood Bart Simpson smiling.  It was actually Brad wearing a Bart Simpson mask, but hey!  It still made my dad laugh and laugh.

A month or so later, my dad and I were driving into work (we worked for the same company) and we heard the song Unchained Melody.  As we both sang I remember being surprised that he knew the song.  After all, I was 20 and thought I knew everything, but my dad?  He told me that alot of songs that were current hits were actually remakes of classics.  Pretty smart guy.  These really were the last memories of my dad before he passed away in February 1991.

I'm taking this trip down memory lane for a few reasons.  On August 4 my dad would have turned 70.  Wow.  Unfortunately, he didn't even see 48.  Too young, that's for sure.  And we all really miss him - his laughing fun side and his serious side.  And the side of him that reminded me that sometimes when things happen that "it's just another pit in the cherry pie of life".

My auntie Jul sent me a text that she was thinking about my dad and I.  Even after 22 years without him, we all still remember.  We each have our own way of healing.

I took a few moments to talk to him and wish him a happy birthday.  And then I flew my kite and looked up at the bluest sky and fluffy white clouds knowing that he's smiling down on Bart and I.

Just another thought on how things come around...our kids love to watch the Simpsons - just like their grampa Jack did.  And it makes them laugh too!  Ben even bought a Bart Simpson ball cap the other day - I just know that grampa would've wanted one just like it.

Keep smiling!

The Bingo Lady

At the end of the season last summer here at the park, our resident volunteer Bingo Ladies announced that after 7 years they were retiring.  Time for someone new to take over the job.  The room was packed as it was our last bingo hurrah - a Bonanza Bingo (huge prizes to be won).   And the room went silent.  My friend Anna who was sitting next to me, nudged me with her elbow and whispered "You should do it!"  Ok!  I put up my hand and said "I'll do it!"  Yipee!  The crowd went wild!  Well, as wild as you can get at Thursday night Kids Bingo.  Ha! Ha!

So...fast forward...last week was my first run as the new Bingo Lady.  I think I'll get a shirt that says "I'm the Bingo Lady" as I seriously love the title.  Is it serendipity?  My dad worked in the bingo world for many of his adult working years...not in the halls, but in the manufacturing end of it.  And then I followed along and worked there too.  I loved that job.  I think that's were I really earned my customer service chops - but that's another blog!

Anyway, the bingo night went well, Anna my sidekick for that week did a fantastic job of watching and listening for "BINGO!" as well as the other jobs like head counter and prize hander-outer.  Thanks Anna!

The Yes Man stood at the back of the hall and gave me signals on voice volume control and calling speed.  Boy, there's a lot of stuff that goes into this one hour / week of kids entertainment.  So glad that I signed up for it.  And a perk is that when the little kids see me (in or out of the park) they tug on their moms sleeves, smile and whisper "Mom, it's her! It's the Bingo Lady!"  Awesome.

Keep smiling!

Three Bones

So, I was sitting here typing a different blog, and my little friend Brooke came over and sat beside me on our deck.  We looked at these quotes together and decided that we liked this one.  However, Brooke informed me that she only has 2 of the required bones from this quote.  She is in fact, missing the Funny Bone. Hmmmm.  I said "I bet we can find it".  And then she told me that she thinks it may be in her foot.  Hilarious!  Kid humour is the best and most priceless.

Keep smiling!

Winding Down (or is it up??)

School is almost officially done.  Of course, this past week was full of end of year parties, final assemblies and report cards.  Yeah!  Summer here we come!  No more teachers, no more books...you know the tune.  Love love love it!

Our budding cake decorator, aka Naomi,  baked a special cake to mark the occasion - and the kids went crazy over it!  Here's a sneak peak:

That's the rough sketch - now here's the real deal (note the few changes from the original sketch):

Maybe she'll save a piece for me...

Keep smiling!  

Catching Up

Where oh where has June gone??  Packed with end of school activities, volunteer appreciation lunches, and plain ol' fun fun fun.

Adventure Mommy and co. headed to Wonderland on Friday - what a great day that was.  We met up with some friends and spent the day riding the rides, eating lots of candy floss, hot dogs, Tiny Tom donuts (and yes, sadly, in that order!). Ben and I even went Go-Carting - first time for me in a Go-Cart and driving it too! Ben kept on asking "Why are we going so slow?  Is everyone passing us?" Yep.  But I had a blast!!

Now we are just packing up and getting ready for summer vacation - only 2 more days, but hey!  Who's counting?  Me!  That's who!!!  I love summer vacation probably just as much as the kids.  And the Yes Man will be hanging out with us to kick it off this year.

I will still be blogging throughout the summer - hopefully a little more than I've been doing the past few months - so keep checking in :o)

And, a little update on our chippies...ta da!  They were bunnies!!  And we hear they are doing fine.
Thanks to my a/Jul for your sweet email to me about the babies.

Happy end of school to you all and keep smiling!

Snow White and the Squirrels (or are they Chipmunks?)

On Sunday afternoon, while the gang was outside gardening (yes, kids too!) we found a little litter of baby squirrels.  We thought that's what they were.  Hairless and eyes still closed - 4 all grouped together at the edge of our grass.  Where did they come from??  The nearest tree (and we have lots of trees on our property) was 15 feet away.  How did these helpless little things get here?

We saw that one wasn't alive - but the other 3 were.  Naomi (aka helper of all living things except her little brother) was on the scene.  Please please please can we keep them?  No way.  I was adamant for about 5 seconds - then I caved. Okay. 1 night only - and then we figure out what to do with them.

So we made a little box for them with shredded newspaper and a small cloth to keep them snuggly warm - and tried to feed them a little milk.  I didn't think they would survive the night without their mama.  Lo and behold, they did.

Monday morning, my friend Steph (aka Snow White of the neighbourhood) saw my Facebook posting of the pic and was here in under 5 minutes.  Ok - let me see them.  Well, she was hooked.  While I was busy calling every possible agency in this area as to what to do with these babies, Steph was figuring out how to raise them.  Gotta love that girl.  I always tease her about her Snowy capabilities.  She lives on the ravine and can open up her doors, sing a little tune, hold out an apple and voila!  A beautiful creature appears.  Seriously.

Well, we finally tracked down someone (an angel) who would take in these little babes - and we found out they were not squirrels, but chippies.  Yep.  Chip and Dale.  Oh yeah.  We only had 2 remaining.

Last night, Naomi said she missed the little guys.  I told her what an amazing job she did with them and that perhaps she may think of volunteering at an animal shelter.  That's a great thing to do!

Here they are:

3 Little Chippies

Keep smiling!