Lessons Learned about Lying (7 year old style)

When going to be last night, I stopped in Noah's room to give him a kiss (my usual routine). While there, I noticed the water in his fish tank looked rather murky and saw a little pile of something 'foreign' in the water. So I made a note to self: must clean fish tank tomorrow.

This morning, not only was the water murky but you could not see a thing - the stones, the shark or even the fish, Rachel. I assumed she was dead.

When I asked Noah if he knew what happened, he said, 'No'.

Then it hit me, the "pile of something" that I saw last night looked the same colour as the fish food pellets (you know, the little pellets that they only need one a day of, but this pile probably consisted of 150 little pellets). And this his how our conversation went:

M: Noah, did you put a bunch of food in Rachel's tank.
N: Yes mommy.
M: Well WHY would you do that? Fish only need 1 pellet a day. I thought we had talked about this. If you give her more than she needs she could die, and I think she is dead.
N: Well, I didn't like her anyways.

Okay, at this point I'm kinda in a freak out mode thinking that my child just KILLED his fish on purpose because he didn't like her (or possibly the responsibility of taking care of her). I was in SHOCK to think my son was capable to do such an act just because he simply didn't like Rachel. So this is how our conversation went from here:

M: Noah, why would you think you can just 'kill' a living creature (and one of God's creatures) just because you didn't like them. When you and a friend get into a fight and you don't like them, would you kill them? What do you think God would say knowing you killed one of His creatures? Do you think he would be disappointed?
N: (obviously shaken) he agreed with everything I was saying....No Mommy. He would be upset Mommy. Yes mommy.
M: Now go say a prayer and ask God for his forgiveness for killing one of His creatures.

After his prayer and while Jacques was cleaning out the mess in the tank, the three of us got talking about what happened. Noah broke down and totally confessed. It was OBVIOUS that there was HUGE remorse and sorrow by him trembling and the tears he was fighting to hold back. He told us (and I can't remember word for word) but basically each time we asked him if he had fed Rachel and he had said yes, he was lying. Several times he forgot to feed her. He was worried that by forgetting to feed her she would starve her to death. SO, to try and cover this lie he put in a bunch of food so she would have more than enough. So then he killed her anyways!!! When he tried to cover THAT lie by saying he didn't like her anyways!!

I have to admit something, though Jacques & I did EVERYTHING we could NOT to laugh at his confession there were two little giggles. And honestly, I really think that THIS moment may have been my funniest parenting moment so far....

I hope he's learned his lesson about lying now!

Ski Doo Mishap

Our first night with our new ski doo/snow mobile (ski doo is easier to type, fewer letters - so from now on I am going to use this word)! You would think with all the snow we have it would have been fun, RIGHT?

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

We rush eating supper to get out for 1/2 an hour or so before it gets dark....get geared up, fire the engine up, Jacques makes a path up over the snow bank next to our house, we get the toboggan tied to the back and we're off.

In about 1/2km, Noah falls off the toboggan so we have to loop back around to pick him up. We pick him up and boot her up again. Jacques 'gives her' and we're off only to sink in the snow like all of a minute or like 50 meters later....grrr. We get Jacques unstuck, Noah & I stay behind with the toboggan so Jacques can loop back around to come and get us - then he get's stuck about 100 m from us.....double grrrr. So Noah & I make our way towards him (in thigh deep snow). Then the machine either floods or won't start because she's buried in the snow....

So now we have to walk (or shall I say 'truck') back too the house in thigh deep snow, in the DARK, for about 3/4 of a kilometer (or about 1/2 a mile). NOW, Noah could walk on the top of the snow NO PROBLEM. Jacques walked on top the snow and only sunk (thigh deep) every so often - but considering I am heavier (in weight) I SUNK plenty of times more. The boys took off (so I told them) and I ended up crawling MOST of the way home. By the time I got home, I was SOAKED in sweat and COMPLETELY out of breath!!! (by the way, for those of you who have never experienced snow: crawling in deep snow distributes your weight better and helps you to NOT sink in the snow).

SO, we're all home safe & sound. Jacques is snoring on the couch and our NEW ski doo remains in the dark field behind our house!!! LMAO This is going to be a story we will remember: Our first night with a ski doo!!!

Hope you all are enjoying yourselves laughing as you read this - just remind Jacques that it IS funny!!! I don't think he feels this way just yet!!!

A new saying....

I'm big into 'signs'. I mean the kind of signs that are 'country' wooden wall signs with special sayings on them. In fact, I'm so into them that I had all my rustic type signs custom made to fit my style, our decor and colours and I have many of them.

The signs I had made are ve are:

• With God, all things are possible
• Bless this home and all who enter
  
• Home is where your story begin
• Bath 35 cents
• Towels 10 cents
• Soap 5 cents
• Count Your Blessings
• "M" Est. 2000
• and more....

Noah walked around tonight noticing all these signs and read them aloud. He came to me and in his brilliance he asked if we could get another sign that says:

"May those who enter share our BLESSINGS"

Hmmmmm.....I absolute adore this kid (if I haven't said this before)! What a guy and I'll definitely have to do this one day (the reason for a dedicated blog post - to NOT forget it)!

We're SO hooked...

Okay, here's the truth! We are SO hooked on snow mobiling - just can't wait to get out and do more 'sledding'! OH, but wait a minute we don't have a machine: OR DO WE?

Yes we do NOW! Jacques just bought a snow mobile last night!!! Excitement is bubbling in our house, while we all are itching to get into the great outdoors and ride our new machine!


This morning, I went out to get us all equipped with helmets and of course a good toboggan for the boys to pull me on so the 3 of us can go out together. Funny, but I enjoy being pulled in the toboggan better then on the machine!

Possibly it was a tad impulsive, but "hey you only live once". PLUS, a snow mobile is something Jacques has wanted since the day I met him. He doesn't ask for too much (EVER) so when the opportunity presented itself (at a good price) Jacques "hummmed and haaaaaed" and without a doubt, I said 'go for it'!

Jacques works hard for our family and provides us a good life so he deserves this! I am so happy for him! If you could have only seen him driving on Sunday - BIG smile from ear to ear the WHOLE day!!! AND if you think about it this purchase is a WIN/WIN situation for both of us. When Jacques & Noah take off for the afternoon that leaves me to do WHAT & WHERE? You gotter - "ALONE" time!!! Ahhhhhh.....I love the sound of THAT!!!

So that's our news, announcing our newest 'baby' of the family!

Great Weekend (Sunday Activities): Snow Mobiling

Like I said: 'What a crazy, fun and AMAZING weekend?'

Sunday's activities:

We went snow mobiling with Nico & Amy (Jacques cousin & his wife). This was Noah's 1st time on a snow mobile and my 2nd time (but my 1st time driving). What a thrill!

How do my boy's look on 'that' snow mobile? Do they look good? What do you think?

Okay, who the heck is that FOOL with the big camera on the back of the snow mobile? You wanna believe it, I wasn't missing this photo opportunity without my 'good' camera!!!


Nico took Noah for a ride......teaching him all the ropes.

Then, Noah took Nico for a ride......showing him all the ropes.

Then Noah took off by himself.....the little dare devil!

Check out the video of him riding ALONE!

After we rode around in the fields (and got stuck several times)....the 'big' boys took off and went for their own ride. Amy & I relaxed and chatted (oh and ate yummy homemade nacho dip).

Once the boys returned, we ate more and then loaded up the ski-doo's to head to the woods to a little 'camp' for a fire to roast some marshmallows & hot dogs.

Check out the video (below) as I catch Amy on video and capture some of our ride. I think my most fun time was riding in the 'make-do' toboggan that the ski-doo pulled.

Noah sitting by the fire ready and waiting to roast wieners & marshmallows.

Nico carved some 'spider dogs' for Noah. One lucky kid! This is the 3rd time this winter that Noah's had spider dogs - more than we did in the summer!

A little 'overview' of the little 'Grand Falls style' camp! What a great little 'down to earth' get-a-way!

What a FANTASTIC weekend.....I am SO thankful that our family is healthy and able to participate is fun activities like this. Hopefully one day we'll have our own snow mobile to have fun like this more often.....keep posted on 'that'!!!

Great Weekend (Saturday Activities): World Pond Hockey

What a crazy, fun and absolutely fantastic weekend!

Saturday:
We went to the the WORLD Pond Hockey Championship. It was the first time we had ever attended and it was so COOL!


I pulled this below aerial view from their website. It really makes you appreciate the enormity of this 'lake' transformed into 20 + ice rinks for this world event. There were teams from all over the world. The two most interesting being Egypt (they said this team had never seen ice before) and the Bermuda Triangle. Though we didn't see Egypt play, we did see Bermuda Triangle and they were pretty good!


I loved when I saw this opportunity for a photo below. The parked snow mobiles pretty much circled the lake. You know you live in the Great White North when people use ski-doo's as modes of transportation rather than recreation vehicles.


It was the PERFECT day for the event. The temperatures hovered around the 0 Celsius mark, but after being outside for sometime - it was chilly. Noah refused to wear his snow pants 'in' but we MADE him bring them. Guess what? He got cold and needed to put them on!!!


The photo below is some men sporting one of the original Montreal Canadien's jersey's. Jacques told me that these jersey's were worn for only a season or two - cool, eh!


Noah's big excitement came when he had the chance to meet BOBBY HULL. Now, something he doesn't know and something that was kinda weird and funny was that Bobby Hull appeared (and smelled) to be HAMMERED (you know, 3 sheets to the wind, intoxicated, DRUNK)! LOL

Noah even got his autograph on a 'flag' he got to hang in his room AND an autograph on his jacket. He thought it was pretty cool that we let him have someone DRAW on his coat, especially an NHL player.

Excited to sport Bobby Hull's signature on his jacket!


But, I think he was even more excited to be able to watch a former NHL Montreal Canadien player: Brian Skrudland play then getting his photo with him. When Brian asked him if he played hockey, he said "No, but I curl now". Then when their conversation finished, Brian said 'Have fun at curling & I hope to see you one day playing on a national team". As we were walking away, Noah said "Mom, how did he know I do curling?" So cute. He was so excited and nervous to go 'stand beside' a 'real' hockey player that he had forgot all about telling him that he does curling!!!

Congratulations...

I can't even tell how excited I am to share this. A friend of mine whose family has been waiting 22 months for their referral from Vietnam, just received it yesterday. I am BEYOND excited for their family. I even lost sleep last night in sheer joy for her family. When I woke up early, I immediately came to the computer in hopes to find a photo of their little beauty on their blog (unfortunately, that didn't happen so I guess I'll just have to be patient).

I love what one of her blog readers said "I am so enjoying your joy" and this SO describes what I am feeling! "L" - you know who you are and just know that your little beauty is in my prayers until she is safely in your arms.

Congratulations!