Fear vs. Fact

It seems the whole world is in an uproar over H1N1 and what to do about it. Everywhere you turn there is some sort of "news". Vaccinate against the deadly virus, don't take this poison, It is too new, There is a pandemic, and the list goes on and on and on.
What are we to believe though? What is the best thing for us and our families? I believe that everyone chooses what they think is the best for themselves and their families and we just need to run with that.
We will not be vaccinating and just practicing very good hand washing etc... I am not comfortable yet with the vaccine although I have seriously considered it for Corey who is asthmatic.
Some of the safe guards we are taking here at home are:
-washing our hands as soon as we come in from any public place
-taking our vitamins
-trying to eat a well balanced diet with lots of fruit and veggies.

All I can do is hope I have made the right choice for myself and my family. If God forbid one of us gets seriously ill I will then of course question my choice and wish that we had taken the vaccine. However, if we get the vaccine and suffer some serious side effects or death due it I will be kicking myself for that choice as well. Is it a lose/lose situation? I don't think so. If we all live today like it is our last day then we should have a fulfilling and happy life :-)

Hypocrite?

As most of you know I am a wanna be hippie ;) I cloth diaper my kids, I wear cloth pads myself (TMI I know...) I use reusable everything I can and only natural products for cleaning as well as on my skin and my children's skin.
I've been thinking a lot lately though about the fact that I don't follow this lifestyle for my diet. If anything I consume more "poison" in my eating habits then anywhere else in my life. With all the chemicals in our foods and additives it is no wonder the human race is full of disease and behaviour problems.
So, I wonder why am I so concerned about our environment and the world we live in but not my own body? The answer I would give is that our world needs to last for generations to come and so my children have a healthy environment to grow and live in. I wonder though wby I don't think my children deserve a healthy mom to grow and play and live with?
I have read quite a bit on "clean eating" and this is something that totally appeals to me. I realize it is quite a task to take on but I would really like to try this one meal at a time.
If anyone has any great tips or books or websites please leave a comment.

Yelling

I do WAY too much of this. Part of it of course it trying to be heard over the chaos of my kids but much more is related to sheer frustration and anger. There I said it. I have known this for quite some time but to actually admit it is a whole different deal.
I consider myself a little bit if an AP (attachment parent) and yelling all the time just does not fit into the life that I want my kids to experience or myself.
I read something quite a while ago about Non Violent Communication. To be totally honest I didn't give it a whole lot of thought or research but I think I might look into this a little bit.
I am also going to count to 10 every time I want to yell. I mean really the things I am yelling about are far from life or death situations so if I need a 10 second countdown to not yell I think it will be worth it.
Anyway that is my thought today. I want a more peaceful house and it needs to begin with me.

Camping at Tulabi Falls Nopiming Park

Our last big hurrah! The "big kids" went to the boat with Grandma and Grandpa and we really wanted to try out Tulabi Falls.
Back in the day when Jay and I were just dating we camped out at Black Lake and it was beautiful. Now Nopiming Park is really situated in the middle of nowhere. There are very few services and no running water or real toilets. Because we were only going for the weekend though we were pretty sure we could rough it for a couple of days ;)
We pulled in on Friday in the dark because of course it is dark by 7:30 now :p Jayson was doing such a good job setting up our big tent by himself and just as I commented one of the poles broke. Totally crappy but what can you do? Jay being the creative and handy guy that he is found a temporary solution and here it is


With the tent being erect we were in business. We had great fire and put the kids to bed. It was a beautiful evening and the stars out there were incredible.
The next morning started like any other morning when you are camping. A big fire and making breakfast. We were going to hard boil eggs instead of scrambling because it is a way easier clean up. However on the way from the cooler to the picnic table our eggs dropped everywhere. So the ones we could save ended up scrambled ;) No big deal breakfast is served. After a while we figure we'll go do some exploring. We grab a map from the office and head off in the van to some hiking trails etc... we figure the kids will nap while we drive and then we can enjoy the rest of the day.
As we are driving down the most gravel and bumpiest roads ever and winding round and round Matthew pukes everywhere. Give it 10 minutes after we have cleaned up as best as we could and it's Jordyn's turn to get sick. Another stop and clean up and Matthew goes again. By this time we are an hour and a half from our campsite in the middle of no where. Obviously we turned back and hoped the puking was done.
Luckily they both fell asleep and we got back to camp.
Had some lunch and continued our day. That's when I broke my toe! I could not believe our luck so far. It was time to pack up and head home.

Oh Yeah... Banff

So I kind of forgot to update about our Banff trip again and to be honest, at this point I really don't remember what days what events happened.
I will summarize it this way. I had a wonderful time. We saw tons of wildlife. There was a bear in our campground. We stayed at Two Jack Lake Main and it was perfect. We drove the Icefield Parkway to the Glaciers, We saw lots of waterfalls including Athabaska. We hiked lots of trails Moraine lake and Bow Falls. We went and toured the Cave and Basin which was really neat.
We went to Lake Louise, Canmore, Jasper, Calgary and even stopped at Drumheller and went to the Royal Tyrell Museum.
We sat in the hot springs at Banff,shopped,swam in cascade pond (it was freezing)

Anyway, it was wonderful and I could easily and happily go back and do it all over again. Maybe next summer ;)

Summer in September

I for one am LOVING this hot summer weather we are finally having! I know some people whine and complain about all this heat but my family is eating it up and savouring every single second we can get.
The backyard kiddie pool is being used daily and we have another camping trip planned for this weekend!!!

Poor Corey-Poor Goldie

I never grew up with fish or little pets. My brother though had hampsters and gerbils galore. We had a dog and I remember when she died but it was a dog.
Well poor Corey has experienced his first death.
His fish Goldie has gone to the big fish bowl in the sky.
Corey bought Goldie with his very own money after saving long and hard at the age of 7 years old. He had his own tank and fed him (when he remembered) ;)
Of course out of all the times for this silly fish to die it had to be when Jayson was away for the weekend.
I waited overnight to decide how to handle this death and talk to Corey about it. He wanted to bury it but could not find a good enough shovel. So we discussed it and I put Goldie in the toilet. Corey flushed and that is when he broke down.
I felt so bad for him and just had to give him a hug and hold back my own tears.