a walk gone awry

since ben is beginning to skip his afternoon naps, i've decided that having a morning nap from 9:30am - 10:30am just leaves waaay too much time open until bedtime. in order to push the morning naps back a little, i've gone for a couple walks so far this week to give ben some fresh air before his one and only (sigh) nap. now that ben has become mobile, things that hold him down such as carseats, strollers, and straightjackets really frustrate him. we go on a lot less walks these days, however, not being in a rush to be somewhere or meet someone, i popped him in the stroller and then let him out to walk whenever he gave the signal. (the signal being the sign for "all done") it works well. while out of the stroller, he met some squirrels, played with leaves and acorns, watched the garbage truck go by in awe, picked up rocks, and pushed the stroller. while in the stroller, he took his shoes off, put a necklace on and off his neck, played with the garage door opener (that i brought with me instead of a house key), and looked at a book. lots to do.

as we came up the hill towards our house, i was huffing and puffing and thinking that i need to get back to the gym. ben's got the full on whine going and it's definitely nap time. perfect timing. i start digging through the cupholders to grab the garage door opener. it's not there. (did you see the foreshadowing in the above paragraph?) i check my pockets, i lift ben out of the stroller and check his seat, and i check the thing under the stroller. no garage door opener. no way for me to get into the house. shoot. i turn the stroller around and start running down the street. then i stop because i'm tired and think again, i need to get to the gym again. haha. i retrace our steps and ben is totally stressed that the "all done" sign is not getting him out of the stroller now. the whole way back down the first hill and then the second hill, i'm making a plan in my head of how we're going to get into the house. then i remember a house that we'd stopped in front of that i'd pulled ben out of the stroller to walk and i hope, hope, hope that it had fallen out there. and it WAS! phew.

then i turned around and walked back up the two hills. at least i got a little workout in already today.

busy boy

this kept ben busy for a good twenty minutes and then he was unhappy that i was taking him away. i wondered if maybe it wasn't right to be taking the neighbours rocks and throwing them away...we stayed hidden behind the motorhome for a reason.

what's up?

ben loves to wear his sunglasses around the house. the cowboy hat and soother are just an extra addition to the outfit today.

tim and ben

last saturday, when i went to the island, tim took ben all the way to the chilliwack river valley and took him on a hike to lindeman lake. he said there was no crying on the drive there, the hike, or the drive home. i was amazed and ashamed to say that if i'd been home, this trip would have never happened because i would've expected the car ride to be too long and there to be too much overtired crying. i'm glad i wasn't around to hold them back and that tim had a great time hiking with his son. here are the few photos he snapped before the camera died.

(he thinks it's funny to pull his hood over his face)

this lake had way more room for ben to run around when they got to the end which was a lot nicer than our lost lake hike.

(i hiked to this lake with sharelle in our hiking class in '06 and blogged about it here)

classic rebecca

this past saturday, i headed out to tswwassen for a quick walk-on trip to vancouver island. i LOVE taking the ferry and wish that i could drive my car on for much less money but then i think to myself, "remember when you went to the maritimes and had planned to catch the ferry to newfoundland from cape breton? then found out that it cost $400 and was 14 hours? but when you decided to do it anyways, realized that you HAVE to have reservations and couldn't even get a spot on the 1am ferry? yeah - our ferries rock." anyways, i parked my car in tswwassen, dropped my luggage on the trolley so that i wouldn't have to lug it around, and had a lovely, carefree ride to the ferry. as i rode, i wrote this blog post in my head about how fabulous the ferry is and how silly everyone is to not check their luggage. it makes for such a nice, weightless trip. i got off the ferry on the other side, found my favourite island friend waiting for me, grabbed my bags that were instantly waiting for me at the luggage pick-up and off we went.

on the way home, luggage drop-off is a little more complicated. not a lot more, just a little. but i've done it before. no problem. there are three types of tags to attach to your bags. as i walked up to the tags, there was another girl grabbing tags. they were white. they said vancouver. yep - that's where i'm going. i glanced at one of the other three tags - it said something about a bus. alright - vancouver it is. (here is where my mom inturrupts and says, "you aren't going to vancouver! you're going to tswwassen!" yep. i know that NOW - let me finish my masterful story.) i throw my bags down the shoot and hop on the ferry. i enjoy my ride and read my book and honestly, continue composing the blog post where i tell you all how silly you are for not checking your luggage when you ride the ferry.

i get off the ferry and find that i have to wait for the luggage. after a few minutes, the door rolls up and the luggage guy starts tossing suitcases on the rampy thing. then, i see one of my bags. he pulls it off the cart and takes it behind the cart. hmm. weird. then he continues throwing bags. when the cart is emptied, he says, "that's it" and rolls the door down. i shout, "what!?" and the lady beside me looks at me funny and says, "he's kidding. there's another cart." the second door begins rolling up. phew. he begins tossing more bags. a bus starts to go by behind him, getting off the ferry, and all of a sudden, our luggage guy runs away from his post, grabs MY bag that he'd put behind the cart and starts to whistle and wave down this BUS. the bus stops. he's motioning to the bus driver that MY bag needs to be on that bus. at this point, i yell, "that's my bag" and i run up the luggage ramp, leap off the back of it and chase down this guy. "this is my bag!" i tell him. "this tag says that it's going to vancouver." yep. "okay. well i have another bag on that bus." luggage guy leaves me to my own devices while i discuss with the bus driver. the driver gives me a glimmer of hope by asking, "does your suitcase have red on it?" "no..." "sorry!" and off he drives. shoot. i guess tswwassen isn't vancouver.

if my one bag hadn't been on this trolley accidently, i would've been clueless as what to do to get my bags or even as to where they had gone. at least, i had one bag and knew the other one was on a pacific coach bus. i made a call when i got home, located the bag, and thankfully have a dad who drives all over the lower mainland who picked it up for me. so does checking your luggage on the ferry make for a stress-free 2 hour trip? yes. is it important to read all the tags before before putting them on your bags? it sure is.

"come with me!"

ben's latest way to try to tell us what he wants, is to take us by the hand and drag us there. he leads me to the fridge and knocks on it if he wants a drink or food. he leads me to the spare room if he wants to get up on the bed and look out the window. he often leads me to the stairs so that i will take him down and outside. the problem with knowing what you want means that not getting what you want is frustrating. ben's current way of dealing with said frustration: wail. oh brother.

yesterday, i was off to a tupperware party and tim was here with ben. ben grabbed his hand to lead him to the stairs - they went downstairs. ben knocked on the front door. tim opened it. ben ran to the truck and knocked on it. tim put him in the truck where he crawled from one seat to the next, over and over, having a great time. then, according to tim, ben climbed into his own car seat and pointed at the steering wheel. (really, tim? seriously?) so tim took him for a drive. apparently, they drove around town and ben just sat and looked out the window without making a peep. what a kid.

into music?

if ben is awake, we cannot be on the computer. he is desperate to get on our laps to bang on the keys, plug in wires, and pull all nearby electronic devices off the desk. even though i know this is how it goes, i'll try it out again every so often if i'm waiting for an email and want to check my inbox. today, i made the mistake of introducing ben to earphones. he couldn't believe that music was coming out of these little white things. i realized that i maybe shouldn't have introduced him when i tried to take him away from the computer - all out tantrum ensued. oops.

so i introduced him to the ipod. take your music with you, ben!

thanks, mom.

(don't worry, this is not a regular thing - i know earbuds are not good for adults, let alone toddlers. it was really for the photo op and now they are hidden away.)

a visit to the pumpkin patch

we discovered a great pumpkin patch to visit with little kids - willow view farm. when i posted about the applebarn, i failed to mention that you had to pay to get in and that most of the fun activities were for children much older than ben. it's a fun place but after checking out willow view, we will be coming back here for the next few years while ben is a toddler.

besides u-pick pumpkins, apples, corn, a petting zoo with a great variety of animals, and hay rides - there's a field of little plastic houses and climbing structures for little kids! probably about 20 little tykes-type structures in this field. kids are everywhere, climbing in and out of all the structures, going down slides, opening and closing doors - it was ben's dream come true!

after playing there for awhile, we headed over to the pre-picked pumpkins. ben wanted to pick up as many pumpkins as he could and throw them. no pumpkins exploded though.


then we headed over to the real pumpkin patch (but not without a detour to the petting zoo! good times!). the terrain was a little treacherous for a little guy though. we mostly carried him and then we returned to the pre-picked pumpkins. maybe next year we'll really pick our own.
here we are wishing for our own photographer...

we also just picked our apples out of the boxes in the store instead of off the trees this year - another plan for next year...or the year after that.
we finally had the good sense to grab a wagon - next time we'll start with this mode of transportation.
a honey crisp apple for the ride home.

pillow woes - next generation

all those of you who know me well will be tired of hearing my pillow woes by now. (like here or here) but the other day, i started wondering when kids start sleeping with pillows. and why do we start giving kids pillows? if we never gave them one, could they be content to sleep without one into adulthood? ben already shows signs of being a similar sleeper to me. it often takes him a long time to fall asleep and he just rolls around and around in his crib at bedtime. he wakes up many times in the night - we can hear him kicking his mattress and moving around. he's a fairly light sleeper waking at little noises. when he's woken up, he's instantly awake, standing up in his crib. none of this laying around trying to figure out what's going on. with all these similarities to me, why would i want to introduce him to the never-ending pillow search? maybe i won't ever give him a pillow and he'll be fine. as for me? the search may never end.

gratitude sunday

joining A Journey to a Simple Life, a weekly post to remember all that i am thankful for...

on this thanksgiving sunday, i am thankful for...

> my husband of 6 years this weekend

> two wonderful sets of parents

> this little face looking at me from the backseat

> a great brother and sister-in-law as of this weekend 2 years ago - happy anniversary, guys!

> healthy, little kylie elsje born to our friends kara and james on october 8th

> a bonus day spent with rachel

> turkey and all the fixings

> a sunny, fall day at the beach (if only for a short walk)

> a long overdue massage

> free pizza

> good health for us and our family

what are you thankful for this weekend?

6 years

"what's with today, today?"

(10 pts. to whoever can name the movie that quote is from...)

ben woke up at 6:15 - an hour and a bit earlier than normal. we got up with him and went about our morning routine but naptime came so early - he was back to bed at 8am. since it's so rare for naptime to be over by 10am, i thought we'd take this opportunity to hit up Open Playtime at the rec centre which goes on from 10 - 11:30am.

it took a little bit to get out the door but we still made it to the rec centre at about 10:25am. i get ben inside and stand in line to pay only to realize i'd forgotten my wallet. grr. we turn around to go back to the car and ben begins to wail because he wants to play. our house is a good 6-7min drive away - there and back, 14 minutes. it was starting to seem like a big hassle for some goodtimes in a bouncy castle. then i thought, "maybe tim's parents will be home" since they live 2 minutes from the rec centre. i pull into their driveway, leave ben in the truck, and run up to the door to ask my father in law for the $3 to get into Open Playtime. he laughs that i've stopped in for some money and willingly lends me some. we quickly return to the rec centre and ben plays until his heart's content. when 11:30am rolls around, we head back to the truck to go get some groceries.

i unlock the front door, throw my bag and keys onto the seat, press the unlock button and slam the door. i pick up ben and go to open the back door...only to discover that i pressed the lock button and not the unlock button. ohh noo. at least ben was with me and not in the car. i'm now locked out. i go back into the rec centre. the girl at the desk was super nice and i ask her if she can call BCAA for me - she does. she chats forever with them and then is telling me that tim will have to be here to show i.d. when they come. i'm shaking my head, holding a kiddo on my hip, and trying to tell her that that isn't going to work. she hands me the phone. yada, yada, yada - no help is coming. i get off the phone and am at a loss. she says, "i could give you a ride home?" and i burst into tears saying, "but i don't even have a house key!". she dials my inlaws - no answer. she dials tim - no answer. who else is left to dial? by now, i'm standing there crying and all these women who work there are standing around asking what's wrong. "i just cry easily! it's all okay!" i say, trying to make light of the situation. again she offers to drive me and i say that i can just call a cab. then i realize i won't be able to pay for a cab when i get to my house and have no house key. i take the offer of a ride home from her.

i had the idea to have her take me to tim's parents' house because i was pretty sure they'd be there and they are. she waits until i get in the door. wow. talk about going above and beyond for a stranger. i was so thankful to be sitting in the kitchen with my father-in-law, eating pretzels and drinking a diet coke when tim came home with the spare keys. now i'm home again, in one piece, waiting for ben's nap to end so that we can go buy a starbucks card and take it back to stephanie at the rec centre.

a hard way to cut the grass...

the 1000th post...

tuesday, january 10, 2006, i started a blog. that was 999 posts ago - way back when blogging was "new" to me (i was a late adopter). why have i continued to blog? i blog because i like to write. i blog because i have things to comment on and jokes to make and you're not always with me for me to say them to. "i blog because i need friends to constantly assure me that i'm still awesome" - anonymous (you know who you are) haha - hopefully that's not that true but i haveappreciated all those of you, friends, family, friends of friends, and strangers who have followed along with me for the past 4 and a half years.

"Our past will always be a part of us. Now, this does not mean we should live in the past, but we should be aware that it informs how we act today. There is beauty in watching people grow, but there is also beauty is seeing where they came from. Perhaps the most fun is noticing the little kernels of themselves that will always betray exactly who they are." --sharelle d

thanks for watching me grow and listening to what i felt like saying. thanks for putting up with my lack of capital letters, my overuse of commas, and my run-on sentences. thanks for listening to the ever-changing focuses - teaching, working out, counting points, random thoughts andmotherhood. (this last one may be ongoing for quite awhile). i read back over some old posts over the last couple days and found a few of my favourite posts for reminiscing's sake. you know, if you have some time and are looking for something to read.

i once raised salmon from eggs (and then posted about it a zillion times until we released them)

the ingrown toenail that kicked started the beginning of not cutting my own toenails....

i still have a scar from this cross-country skiing trip.

i'm 3 years older than i was in this post but i still have days like these

my mind-boggling dancing phase...

reminders that i could quit drinking if i wanted to...

the time i took swimming lessons

the time i took sewing lessons

my first triathalon: the swim, the bike, the run

i have mad softball skills

and an appropriate last fav:

my favourite haiku

rebecca update

tim found my camera. (in my diaper bag pocket that i never use)

i did not beat my record in Tupperware sales but instead added two people to my team.

i survived my fillings and went with white. i have two more to be filled next week.