Hair, Scissors and Tears!

My son is like me in many ways... MOSTLY the AWESOME ways! HE HE, however one downside is He has inherited my side of the families hair line.  He is "blessed" with what we affectionately call the "PRESTON HAIRLINE".  Basically its a very severe widows peak, it is common among the men on the Preston Side.  Along with the "Preston Hairline" William also has very slow growing hair just like his mommy.  (Side Note- I am continually told that I didn't have hair until I was 3). 
William fortunately has hair it just hasn't grown incredibility fast.  As most toddlers usually have their first hair cuts around 1 year of age, William's first Hair cut was at 20 months.  (Side note- there was an earlier attempt at a haircut, however it ended with two small clips with the scissors and a large shouting match between Clayton and My self.)

(The Before shot- Notice the Infamous PRESTON HAIR LINE, sort bald on each side of center)

So this week we cut Williams hair, he was developing a pretty good mullet (Side note- Clayton and myself have vowed to never allow our Children to have a mullet!)

  As patience is another virtue that no one in our house has, we opted to use the hair clippers, to be more efficient.  So I 'affectionatly' detained our son (which is kinda like trying to wrestle an alligator), as Clayton used the clippers to remove all the soft little baby hairs on my baby's head.  I shed a couple tears... and there was only one slightly heated discussion on how Clayton was ruining my baby's hair. 



(Action shot- prior to me having to detain the busy arms and legs)

However all worked out well, and in the end we transformed William from a sweet little baby boy in to a busy little boy! (well the transformation happened prior but now he looks like a little boy).  William did really well, no freaking out with the clippers and other then the difficulties we had holding him no issues!

Hopefully future haircuts will go this smoothly!

(After Shot- Notice the towel used half way to lovingly bundle the child during the clipping)

(Yep, that's all the hair)



Our Little Boy





(This is just a random shot of how you cant turn your back for a minute!)

"A nice little Saturday"

"...Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."- Frank Ricard, Old school(2003).


As Frank the Tank explains quite eloquently in the above quote, Saturday's can be exciting.  Now that we don't have to nurse Friday night's hangover, (because Friday night is the night to catch up on PVR shows and staying up 'late' equals bed by 1030pm); We get to enjoy a "nice little Saturday". 

This Saturday was very 'nice'.  William slept in... Yep 915am, I felt totally lazy staying in bed that late! (Side note- Unfortunately Clayton did not get to "sleep in" as he worked a couple hours this morning, however he got home just as we were eating breakfast!)  Then we loaded up and headed to Home Hardware, Canadian Tire and Walmart!!! Exciting!  After spending our hard earned money on very important things we headed home for a left over homemade hamburgers and naps! 

(William Checking out one of the NECESSITIES that we bought)

While William napped, I was able to convince my hubby to help me reorganize the living room!  No sarcasm intended, I love reorganizing furniture!!!  My husband, he humors me.  He lasted until 230pm before he needed a drink, pretty good I thought!  I have not been blessed with a brain that allows me to visualize how things 'may' look... thus I must actually 'see' things in order to determine if I like it... So that is why it took us about 3hrs to get the living room the way I liked it... Yep, only 3 hours to move one book case and switch the love seat and sofa around.   (Side note- I think that it was after moving the love seat for the 3rd time that Clay needed the drink- which I made for him.)

(William and Clayton both ecstatic about rearranging the living room)

(Me and Tessa In our element!)

(The After Shot!)

Then when William got up we took Tessa out for a run.  We have been dabbling in training Tessa with a Pulling harness, and because Tessa is such a "perfect" dog it did not take her long to figure it out.  Saturday was the first day this year we loaded William in to the sled and attached Tessa.  She did really good... however It was probably very interesting to watch  us.  Our very UN-husky dog pulling a sled with a child that cant move because he is so bundled, (Side note- it was approx -15C); then they would have seen 2 adults running behind... very behind.  (SIDE NOTE- Clay who is much faster then I actually kept up pretty good!)

(Tessa "Lining out" getting set to pull)

(William Bundled up ready for a Ride!)

Gotta love these "nice little Saturday's"!

(video of our Saturday Night Dance Party- Hosted by DJ William)

The hectic Supper Hour!

Supper is always a hectic time in any one's house, Ours included!  Supper time always comes at the worse time of day... It tends to sneak up on us and then all of a sudden we have a cranky child, cranky parents, hungry animals and no home cooked meal on the table!

Although there still is those day's where we "finger cook" (thanks Boston Pizza and Pizza Delight!) Our house has found a way to help decrease the supper time stress, with meal planning! 

Introduced to this concept shortly after we were married thanks to a WONDERFUL cook book we got as a wedding gift called Life's on Fire-Cooking for the Rushed by Sandi Richard (http://www.http//www.cookingfortherushed.com/books/life.htm)  This cook book has collections of 5 recipes with a corresponding grocery list for 12 weeks.  The recipes are easy, quick and diverse, which makes meals more interesting! 

Any way after using this cook book for a couple years we found that meal plans worked really well for us.  Then once we found out that William had so many different Allergies our 'fall back meals' no longer worked.  I made a resolution last New Year's to only cook meals that the WHOLE family could eat, (a goal that has not always been easy and has taught us allot about food!)  So we have started our own meal plan book using the countless other cook books we have laying around in an effort to only cook meals friendly for the WHOLE FAMILY!
(This is my reason I make Meal Plans!)
 
What we do is each time we go grocery shopping (about every 1.5 weeks) we plan a 5 recipe meal plan using one cookbook and make the grocery list up for that week.  We use to take a collection from several different cookbooks for each plan but I found it was confusing and disorganized, so now i just use one cookbook and keep it set out on the counter for that week.  We keep our meal plans written in a notebook so that we can have access to a meal plan quickly when we need too.  Ive started to add a special extra recipe (like muffins or cookies) to each meal plan so we have a yummy treat each week if we want to make it! 

Today I made up a new meal plan titled " THINNER Meals" from my LOW FAT COOKING Company's Coming book. (SIDE NOTE- I enjoy making up creative titles for each meal plan, helps me feel cool!! he he) 

Lyndsay's TIPS for developing your own weekly Meal Plans:

1-Write the plan in a note book to keep them all together and handy for future reference.
2- Use one cook book to decrease confusion and make sure you write the recipe PAGE number down.
3- Only plan 4 or 5 recipes for each meal plan.  I find that life usually gets in the way and some times you have to improvise on a meal one or two day's.  Plus it puts less pressure on you to cook every night!
4-Make sure you plan a variety of different meals, including length of prep and cooking times and different ingredients needed.  This will allow for those really busy nights and for those family members that have more "limited" cooking skills!
5- INCLUDE your family (especially those Hubby's) in your meal plan.  Cooking duties can be shared, and using a meal plan will allow everyone to have access to cook a nice meal for the family!

William "coloring" while I make up the meal plan for this week.

Thanks for Reading!  Let me know what you do in your House to plan homemade suppers! Leave a comment in the comment section!

WE REMEMBER!

In lieu of Remembrance day Nov 11, 2010, William and I did a special poppy wreath craft to show our support to the Veteran's and current armed forces soldiers that are fighting for freedom. 
Although I'm not a huge "army" fan (a fact that I do not usually express, because i still support the troops and their family's, my objection is more for the "need" of the army).  I feel that it is so important that we take the time and pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life.

 I urge everyone to not let REMEMBRANCE DAY be forgotten.  It is not a super over-commercialized holiday and its not glamorous by any means but it is still IMPORTANT!  That's why William and I did this craft to honor those fallen.
I encourage everyone to discuss the importance of remembrance day with there children young or old and to show that WE REMEMBER!

The following is the craft project with instructions:

1-Print off poppy template from http://www.dltk-holidays.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-holidays.com/remembrance/images/bpoppywreath.gif

2- Color the poppy's with your Children and while doing this discuss the importance of Remembrance Day and why it is Important.


3-Cut out the colored poppy's (I did the cutting)


4-Print or Write out a Special Remembrance Poem like 'In Flanders's Fields' By John McCrea http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

5- Cut a Wreath out from card board and paste the poem in the middle,  then put a ring of glue around the outside and have your child place the poppy's they colored around the poem.

 

Finished Product

Please let me know what you do for Remembrance Day, or tell me about any special  crafts or projects that you do with your kids to help REMEMBER our Veterans!  Leave me a comment!

Lessons

This week has been a week of learning valuable LESSONS for the Russell Family!

We have been learning new things about dog training and how to parent when you have been hit by the figurative illness TRUCK!

This week I got sick.  Then William felt sick (never know how bad though as he was still running about like a terror!).  Then Clay jumped on board the sickness train this weekend.  Luckily it was a nice easy week... NOT!!! I worked on Friday, then we headed to Edmonton as we had Dog Whisperer Tickets for Saturday evening.


 Clay's Sister Meagan and brother in-law Matt watched William Saturday night.  They all got dressed up and headed to a formal dinner for Auntie Meagan's school.  Meagan and Matt ensure us that he was great, but I'm pretty sure they arent telling us everything!  Then again when you only have to deal with the craziness that is William for a few hours, his eccentricities are much easier to handle!
We stayed at Matt and Meg's in Fort Saskatchewan.  They have a wonderful little duplex that Meagan has decorated amazingly!  I'm still pea-green with envy over how nice it looks, in comparison to my toy strewn, hair infested, finger printed home!  It was such a nice visit and we totally are thankful for their hospitality to their voice-less diseased family!!!

Saturday night me and Clay headed to Rexall Place and braved the mobs of crazy dog people (side note- If you ever have a chance to see 'dog people' in their natural habitat amongst other dog people, you will get many lesson's in fashion, hair and makeup  and personal fitness do's and dont's!  Almost as good as Walmart on Saturday mornings!)  Ceaser Millan is our personal dog training guru.  We really like his philosophy's,  The show was really great!  Most of the stuff Ceaser discussed was stuff that we knew from watching his show but we both took away a couple of things that turned on the cliche "light bulb" for us.  Ceaser was actually very funny, and he kept talking about "moose-es" and how cold it is up here!  As good as the show was we were both really feeling icky by the end, we got out of Rexall Place in record time and after a couple wrong turns headed back out to Fort Saskatchewan. 

Our weekend was full of learning.  here is a review of some of the lesson's we learnt this weekend;
1- Children still have endless energy when they don't feel well.
2-Parents don't have endless energy when they are sick.
3-Toy robot fighting RC cars will leave a huge dent in brand new hardwood floors.  (sorry M&M!)
4-Sending William to a Formal dinner with his Aunt is a lot easier then doing Auntie Meagan's hair.  (side note- Meagan's hair looked pretty good).
5-"Dog people" are an interesting group, and the Mullet is still alive and Kicking!
6-Loosing your voice causes your partner to think that you are either upset or yelling at them all the time, it tends to fade in and out at the wrong time.
7-Hand washing is VERY IMPORTANT in infection control! (that one we knew already but in my true nursing form I wanted to get some health teaching in to this post!)

Halloween 2010- Spooky Dec's, Candy, Screaming and Torture!

Halloween night was sure a spooky scary night in the Russell house this year.  Complete with spooky decorations, candy, screaming and torture!  We had about 65-70kids this year come up our spooky walkway to threaten the traditional TRICK OR TREAT!  The screaming and torture was endured inside the house this year!

As i mentioned earlier we were having a Family Halloween Party this year instead of trick or treating.  In total we had 6 kids and their parents attend the appetizer buffet, and kids free play.  It worked out well people stopped in while they were on there trick or treating routes, had a bite to eat and let the kids wear off some energy before heading out again or going home.  We dressed up in our costumes (minus William who refused to put on his, most likely due to a major distraction that is discussed in more detail later), and enjoyed the HALLOWEEN SPIRIT! 

(SIDE NOTE- Clay is Suppose to be BABY JAGUAR from GO-DIEGO-GO, I have no pictures of me as ALICIA Diego's Sister, and as mentioned William refused to wear his costume on Halloween)

Earlier that day Clayton and I decorated the outside path and with our limited resources and time I think we did a really good job!

For next year Clayton already has many gruesome Ideas to decorate outside!

Now the TALE of the Torture and Screaming.

As may of  you know I love hosting party's and organizing events!  My wonderful husband does a good job of helping me prep, set up and host the evening,  My son still oblivious to his mothers joy of entertaining has not learnt the joy of hosting, yet.  And unfortunately at this Halloween party the screaming and torture was supplied on behalf of William.

 I was partly to blame. Balloon's were my first mistake.
(SIDE NOTE=My son is a balloon enthusiast.  If there is a Balloon in a 5 mile radius he will hunt it down and secure it for himself.)  I went to our local dollar store and purchased 12 balloons.  Because I thought it would be FUN!!!  Well the instant William saw these balloons he was on a mission to have them for his very own.  And once the balloons started leaving (with each child)  the temper started brewing!

My second mistake was not force feeding some REAL food in to my toddler.  Candy, chips and juice does not sustain an active toddler (who once distracted by the all mighty balloon) refuses to eat. 
Thirdly, In my hostess exuberance I did not take an active approach to mediating my son's behaviour, and "laughed" at his inappropriate behavior, suggesting my husband deal with it.  Hindsight 20/20!

All though Halloween 2010 was full off scariness,  I must look at the positive side,  at least our decorations looked cool!

 
(A couple of the Kids that attended-  I didn't get pictures of everyone unfortunately)

The Balloon Aftermath, MORNING AFTER!  As you can see we didn't learn anything!