Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, Alberta

The entrance into the dinosaurs....

A T-Rex Replica
Real Fossil of T-Rex head

Jawbone fossils...

Screaming child that we tried to let walk on his leash, but he fell on the floor screaming because he wanted to be free of the leash.

Hiding his face from pictures....

Ben is still angry because he cannot get out again....and run away again....

Climbing on the exhibits...because Ben seems to think that it is a play land.... Ben trying to look like the dinosaur is chasing him... How you doin...The spoils...

Today, we went to the Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. It is about an hour and a half away, in the middle of nowhere. Earle has really been wanting to go. So I decided that we would try it. It was a neat place, but I had had my doubts about our children's behavior. I knew they would want to get down and run, but that this was no play land, it was a museum. We ended up having some serious meltdowns....but it was good family time. Earle still enjoyed taking pics and looking at everything. Maybe when the kids are about 3 yrs. older this will be a little easier!! It was not terrible. On the way home, Earle told me thanks because he knew I was not terribly excited about the idea of going. We watched "fireproof" last night...and he told me that today, I was fireproofing. It kind of cracked me up. I am glad he had a great time! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

CB

Pictures are worth a thousand words!

Okay, I was able to take a few pics this week and I have to admit that the pics say it all.
Here are Collin and Ben on a subdued afternoon, eating popcorn and watching a movie.We went to a play place today, to let them run wild. Ben never does things the traditional way....

Ben wanted to teach Collin how to do the big slides.....

But for some reason felt the Lord telling him that he must always "catch" his brother...even it it means mid-slide.....

And catch his brother....

And catch his brother....

I hope he always wants to catch him....Collin was a good sport!:)

We tried to get them to pose for a good picture....they all turned out funny.

This picture totally captures both of their personalities perfectly!


Monkey see, monkey do...but the copy cat here is actually Ben, letting his brother take the lead.

I sure love my boys!

How Much Do you Tip your Hair Dresser?????

Okay, I need some advice. I want to know how much you tip your hairdresser. I am always confused. I used to be the kind of person that just handed them a $10.00 bill and thought that was pretty good. In the past couple of years, my stylists have charged more and I have paid more for the tip...but then again, don't stylists set their own prices?? Today I went to a great place that I thoroughly enjoyed...and I got a cut/trim and had my highlights and low lights done. It had been quite a while in coming and had to be done! The total cost was about $148.00 ...keep in mind that is in Canadian dollars, so it is actually a little less than that in US dollars...but I went ahead and tipped $20.00. Was that enough? Went I went to pick up my kids at a friends house, she said that her sister told her that during the holidays it is a general practice to tip the entire amount of the service. Is this truth or myth??? How much do you tip? I would greatly appreciate your advice!! I cut the boys and Earle's hair so I guess that saves us a bit of money on "hair" in the budget. So maybe I don't feel as guilty about doing what needs to be done when it comes to my own hair....and I probably go about every 3 months...anyway, what do you do? What are your thoughts????
CB

Lesson Learned in Bible Class....:)

If you are looking for a deep and meaningful post I am not sure you will get what you set out for. I am only saying that because Earle and I went to a different class on Sunday morning at church. It was actually really good. It is going to be on parenting..which is something that I think would be great for us to be a part of. As part of the intro, the teacher was describing how the commitment to the marriage relationship is so vital to our successful parenting. The teacher went over some of the His Needs/Her Needs literature that Earle and I had taken about 7 or so years ago. The whole idea of the Love Bank and withdrawals and deposits...etc. While going over this, we discussed the "Top 5" collective emotional needs for the man and the woman....I have heard all of this before...but somehow today what I saw looked different on the note paper I was writing....here is what the teacher said were the men's top 5 emotional needs in pretty much this order:

5. Admiration
4. Family Support
3. Attractive Spouse
2. Recreational Companionship
1. Sex

This is what my brain interpreted the list as:

5. Tell him he's great at everything and rub his feet.
4. Clean his house, do his clothes and make him dinner, and take care of the children.
3. Work out, fix hair, don't wear frumpy clothes even when you are tired and have cramps
2. Always let him watch football..and make sure I am enthusiastically watching with him..
1. Make sure you always have enough sex to keep him satiated.


Come on People!!! Sometimes a woman gets tired!
Yes, this was meant to be funny!! Yes, I am blessed to have a wonderful man as my husband...but Yes, absolutely, the author of the Love Bank and His Needs/Her Needs is a MAN!!! Does anyone share in the same sentiment??? :):):)

Happenings this Week?!!

Just a typical week really! I woke up yesterday morning and both Ben and Molly were laying next to me...Molly virtually on top of Ben, accept for his head...I thought it was funny, because Molly never goes near Ben...so, I ran downstairs to get my camera, when I came back Molly was wagging her tail across Ben's face and tickling him and waking up....Ben was surprised by the situation! I thought it was funny. Ben said he didn't like it.

Last night we decided to try the kids out at a family skate night...the whole family for $10.00. Ben has been talking non-stop about wanting to be a Hockey Goalie..so I figured we needed to start with roller skating first before ice skating! Ben was excited but had never been skating before. When we got there, we realized that his last year's Christmas skates did not even go over his shoe...so he had to wear the real deal or we just had to go home. I was SOOO proud of him. He was very wobbly and fell at least 50 times, but he just kept getting back up and trying again. He really improved over the course of the hour and a half we were there. He was still clinging to the side for dear life, but he could keep himself up, so that was really good! I will say that my muscles are really sore in the arms and shoulders today!! I was the one who kept pulling him up! Earle did go around with him a couple of times!! I think we'll keep going!

Not to be outdone by his big brother, at the end of the night I decided to see if those little skates would fit someone else...he was actually really sturdy on them! I even took him out on the rink like a little pro.

One of Ben's ultimate pass-times is Lego Star Wars on the Wii....this week, Collin and Ben have made it a bonding experience. Collin digs his non-working controller out of the toy box and sits there with Ben thinking he is playing too...it is hilarious, but they love playing the Wii together now!! Ben is good to keep Collin thinking he is actually playing!
This last picture is something that I thought was really fun. I have been stalking Craigslist for a few weeks for a "basement" couch. I just did not want to pay full price for one, so I saw a picture of this couch and the matching chair. They were asking $325 for both, so I thought I would have a look. The photographs are really grainy and do not do it justice...but it is really cute and in great condition. The people were simply, "re-modeling" so the man wanted to get something else. When I got there they offered me the other chair and ottoman for a grand total of $400 for everything!! I thought it was so cute that our old couch is now the basement couch!! I was excited and thought it was a great deal! So you should totally try out Craigslist if you need something..just beware of crazy people and scams!! Have a good weekend!!! CB