Egg Anyone?

Owen spent the morning search for eggs that they Easter Bunny had left him. I do however, suspect that at least a few have been left hidden - and I will happily eat those later.

Egg anyone? Because I don't need them all..

Earth Hour - Pass it along

I am going to be a bit of a copy-cat and borrow a topic from Mom on the Run who just recently wrote a post about Earth Hour.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.

I am not sure what the savings will be for turning off the lights and other energy sucking equipment for one hour. However, if it encourages more people to consider their energy consumption and find ways around their home and office to reduce their own emission footprint in the long term - it will be a success!

Here are a few ways we conserve energy at our house:

• Turn off appliances when not in use
• Use energy efficient bulbs
• Replace older energy sucking appliances (yes, that deep freeze in the basement counts!)
  
• Use Warm or Cold water for laundry
• Use reusable bags for grocery shopping
• Instead of bottled water use reusable bottles (most bottled water bottles never make it to the recycling bin and they cost the environment in transportation and manufacturing!)
• Turn off your car - don't idle!
• Programmable thermostat can save you money and save the environment
  
• Teach your kids the importance of conservation early on!

Thanks to Mom on the Run for pointing out this great campaign. Turn it off on March 29.

A Mom's Dream

I love my son, and I love my husband. But some days I dream of a day all to myself. One where I can sleep in, really sleep in - not with one eye on the door waiting for the barrage of "mommy, where's Lightning McQueen." and "Wake-up time mommy!". Or the guaranteed guilt if I stay in bed and hear from downstairs the sound of crying, screeching or even laughter - that I am not involved and missing out on something!

Once I decide to get out of bed I would make a cup of coffee, turn on MY music (not the TV) and read a good book. Later, I might consider shopping since I could actually try on clothes without having to chase a toddler - every two minutes when he crawls out of the dressing room. I would refrain from making lunch, and just munch on crackers and cheese, cereal, and ice cream. For dinner I would make salmon, mashed potatoes and carrots. That night I would no doubt watch a romantic comedy.

I suspect, however, while dreaming of sleeping in, an uninterrupted cup of coffee, and shopping alone sounds wonderful, reality is a day of missing my little boy and counting the hours until I see him again. Just writing my dream of my day to myself makes me miss Owen!

Freaky Chucky Child

Is it just my kid who does this?

Middle of the night, tip-toes into your room. Makes no sound. Then stands at the side of the bed staring at you. Until of course you wake up screaming.

Country Boy

Not sure how, but it seems that my three-year old son, likes country music. It can't come naturally because neither my husband or I are BIG country fans.

I have rather eclectic taste, thanks to my parents who seem rather schizophrenic in their music taste (my mom swung from 50s pop to country, to American Idol Pop to Bon Jovi in a matter of my lifetime; and my father has records (literally) from Chet Atkins to Dire Straits, and CDs from Roseanne Cash to Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young to Sheryl Crow). My iTunes catalogue includes Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, so-called "alternative", acoustic, and dance music. When QueenofSpain tweeted looking for song suggestions I gave her a good variety of ideas: Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai, Buddy Holly by Weezer and Poison by Bel Biv Devoe. Notice no country. While I have a few "crossover" country on my iTunes (Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks) and a few "'cause the title is funny" ("Did I Shave My Legs For This" and "Here's a Quarter Call Someone Who Cares") - I have likely never played them for Owen. He is on a strict diet of rock, pop and Raffi.


This morning while I was getting ready for work Owen rudely changed the channel on the radio alarm from all news radio (where I can get my update on the TSX, politics and traffic!) to a random Hamilton country station. No idea what song was playing, but the kid went nuts wiggling his butt and doing something that can only be referred to as "head banging". Now do I have to encourage this musical interest? Or can I kick it?

Frosty the Snowman

An odd title this time of year.

Perhaps not this year if you live in Canada where we have had an unbelievable amount of snow. I have a four foot tree in my front yard that is just peering out of the snow.

However, this isn't about your favourite ice creature. This is a plea for good baby names! Currently, I have one suggestion from Mom on the Run to name him Hunter. We have pondered over the name Jack (but are there simply too many out there - with Jack Sparrow, Jack Shephard and Jack Bauer?).

We asked Owen, and his suggestion day after day is..."Frosty the Snowman".

So...do you know a good name for a boy!?

So Baby Number Two is a...

Can you tell?

It's a boy!

Baby name suggestions accepted in the comments...!