Elizabeth is 11 today! Happy birthday sweet girl.

Eleven! –> Legs Eleven –> when I was a kid in the middle east we used to play bingo in our village coffee shop. The caller was the Thai barman and he had all sorts of great sayings for the numbers.

Legs Eleven –> pronounced –> Regs Eeereven!

Sexy number sixty-nine (that one made us snicker) –> pronounced –> Secky number sicky nine!

I said, “Regs Eeereven” to her so many times before she went to school this morning that she was right sick of me before 8 am.

Then I packed her off to school with several dozen cake pops and she was a happy girl.

Regs Eeereven seems so old to me. Time is going so fast …

I hope I’m around to annoy her with Secky number sicky nine. It’s highly unlikely, but a girl can hope :)

MK xo
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Spring skiing that is …

The above video is Lizzy and Sam skiing the ski cross course at Norquay in Banff. They love that last jump.

We’re just home from 4 great days in the Rockies. Lizzy had a race at Norquay. What a great family ski mountain. I love the fact that you can buy hourly ski passes. It makes it affordable and very ski-able for a family with a 4 year old beginner.

It’s so much fun to watch. She is getting VERY good.

Thank you all for your emails over the past several weeks checking on me. I appreciate it.

MK xo
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Today, like all other days I plopped myself down on the loo, and realized that there was NO toilet paper on the roll. As I stretched and contorted to reach into the vanity …

I saw this note, written in sharpie on the side of a normally closed and rarely used drawer.

Apparently, it was written by my girl many years ago. I’m glad I found it today. I needed it.

It’s not quite as funny, but so much nicer than the one my boy wrote me a while back.

What made you smile today?

MK xo
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Edit 2: She changed her mind. She doesn’t care what folks think!

Edit: I’ve been busted … and threatened with physical violence. I’m taking it down. I’ll be back tonight (Friday) with a giveaway to make it up to you. Damn giveaway won’t make you laugh hysterically though :( –> Kids … they are so touchy.

This just isn’t right, for so many reasons.

Sienfeld’s Elaine has nothing on my kid.

I found this tonight while clearing off a memory stick …

I can’t stop laughing …

It’s also important to note that she didn’t get this from me.

MK xo
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I never should have picked ‘hope’ as my inspirational word for ‘one word February’ after the first day I ran out hopeful images.

Here is an example:

I let my kids watch Oprah last week. There was an episode about ‘the worlds most talented kids’. One of the acts were contortionists (maybe from a circus?). They’ve been practicing ever since; in the livingroom next to the glass/metal coffee table. I ‘hope’ they don’t need stitches.

(note to readers: I accidentally deleted every photo but this from my camera for this particular day. The horror when I discovered that this was day 16 whether I liked it or not).

I guess I can ‘hope’ that I am more diligent in the future, when it comes to photo deletions.

Here’s a few more ‘hope’fuls:

About nine p.m. EVERY night I get all freaked-out, because I don’t have a picture and start taking photos of my nineteen year old’s valentine bouquet (don’t ask)! “GO GET YOUR FLOWERS! AND MY CAMERA CARD!” She’s ‘hope’ing that at some point in her lifetime I stop hollering orders down the basement stairs. (I know I can, I know I can)

Or my nine year old still wet out of the tub. She’s thrilled (I ‘hope’).

I think you’re supposed to see ‘hope’, then photograph it, NOT take a photograph and then try and see ‘hope’.

Can you see ‘hope’? (psst … if you can tell me!)

MK xo
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Sam and Lizzy are in downhill racing this year. Sunday was their first race.

Here comes Sam. My first thought when I realized it was him was, ‘for the love of God, do your coat up!’ Then I snapped out of it and started taking photos.

As you can see, he’s enjoying the run. He was also taking in the crowd, he managed to holler out a HUGE, “HI MOM, HI DAD” as he whizzed by, which earned him a round of applause, cowbells (yep, they ring cowbells), and laughter.

He liked those cowbells! I’ll have to have a little chat with him about wind resistance –> DO UP YOUR COAT!

Go Sam Go!

Here comes my girl. Unlike her brother she is focused on the race, not the crowd. She skied really well.

Will ya look at that sky? It was a glorious day with temps around 5c (40+f), not a cloud in the sky. It was seriously GOOD for my cabin-fevered soul.

Go Lizzy Go!

Mr. MK is in charge of skiing, therefore, I didn’t even get out of bed when they left the house at 6:30 a.m. If I had aroused, I would have insisted she braid her hair. The rat’s nest … AHHH!

Then again, I was in charge of getting this wild child ready at noon, and she doesn’t look much better!

Not to be outdone Georgia managed to get in a little downhill speed herself.

It was a great day, in a fabulous city! Winter really does have it’s ups!

How was your weekend?

MK xo
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Thanks for all the emails making sure that I am alive and well! With my memory the way it is, I’m pretty sure I would have forgotten I have a blog if you all hadn’t reminded me.

We had a great holiday filled with grandmas, grandpas, great-grandmas, uncles, aunts, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins, baking (BAKING), presents, the rockies and even some skiing. Santa was kind, so kind that I am going to have to ‘ship one of the children to an orphanage’ or ‘purge and organize’. It’s sad, because we really, really enjoy Georgia and will miss her.

Speaking of Georgia, this is my favorite holiday photo. Even though I came down with a chill, in early December and have had to be forced out of the house ever since, I did do a bit of skiing and went on a wee winter hike over Christmas, hence the opportunity to take an outdoor photo.

Here’s my Sammy, cuter than a speckled pup in a red-wagon wearing my dad’s crazy hat.

Lastly, here’s our Lizzy aka MISERY GUTS. Honestly, too many late nights, sweets and doting grandma’s turned her into a BEAR over the holidays. Hmmm … maybe she’d do better in the orphanage than Georgia. Hmmm … I’ll have to think on that one.

OH YEAH, I bought YOU a gift in Canmore too, but I’ll tell you about it next time. Kay?

MK xo
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Last night Mr. MK and I, left our nine year old standing outside in -20 degree weather, in the dark with no hat or mittens and drove away!

Let me explain …

Then again, it’s all been said on facebook, so I am just going to copy the conversation here (my friends names have been changed to protect the innocent).

Status: MommyKnows thinks Mr. MK & I deserve the worst parenting award! 8:50pm – 14 Comments

MTT at 8:53pm December 17
Oh oh, which one did you break?

MommyKnows at 8:55pm December 17
We left Lizzy at the school after her concert! I guess her door wouldn’t open so she couldn’t get in the truck. Obviously we didn’t notice and when we got home … she wasn’t with us! We turned around to go back but she was pretty much home! No gloves, hat, it’s DARK, it’s COLD! We suck!!

MTT at 9:00pm December 17
I bet she had some nice things to say to you guys!

NMH at 9:04pm December 17
We have all been there…
After a soccer game this summer we all got out of the car and left Adam (6) behind. He could not unlock the door because his hands were full of sunscreen and he didn’t know about the unlock button. I found him a few minutes later hiding in the car….hiding because he was afraid the police would find him and put me in jail for leaving him in the car alone.

IIT at 9:04pm December 17
omg… that is too funny. But not like funny “ha ha”, just funny. Poor thing. I hope she is ok.

MommyKnows at 9:13pm December 17
@NMH – Thanks :) poor guy!
@IIT – I actually started to laugh, because I’m awful like that! Will nearly started to cry, because he’s nice like that. Lizzy was running down the road … all red faced and cold! She’s fine and thought we were playing a joke on her :(

GB at 9:56pm December 17
Poor Lizzy….i guess she’d better come live at Auntie’s house. Sounds like she’ll be OK, even tho’ you did laugh at her ;(

MommyKnows at 10:02pm December 17
Hahaha … I couldn’t help it! We checked the whole suburban, I thought she was hiding. Then Will said, “she has to be here, I was talking to her!” I burst out laughing. I was laughing at us! I actually felt bad for her and her red little face :(

GB at 10:36pm December 17
Tell Will that talking to someone and getting no response might possibly indicate the person is not present. :)

KS at 2:04am December 18
OOPs, only having the 1 helps avoid this kind of thing! But D was away last night and W and I woke up this morning at 8.25, W starts school at 8.40. Cereal bar in the car and money to buy lunch! OOOPS

SB at 5:22am December 18
You’re all terrible lol….sounds like a movie script

JA at 7:50am December 18
You need to blog this one!

KS at 8:59am December 18
I see the kids got a ride to school this a.m., that has got to count for something!

MommyKnows at 11:05am December 18
Yes that is what you call a — GUILT Trip (pun intended).

Are we bad parents? Ummm … on second thought, don’t answer that! What’s your worst parenting oops?

***
All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win a $25 iTunes Card (includes shipping and handling) in my $25 iTunes Giveaway. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose the winner on December 22nd, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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Every year I buy the gingerbread house kits from the supermarket. They’re easy and tons of fun (when you’re not yelling at the kids to stop eating all the candies). This year all our ‘gingerbread crafting fun’ took place under the super-happy SNL Gumby Christmas slogan, that I unhappily drew yesterday. Naughtiness, therefore, was kept to a dull roar. No-one likes to have their lungs ripped out while crafting (or ever for that matter).

A couple of days ago, I noticed Cookie Magazine was having a gingerbread house contest and I figured it would be fun for Lizzy and I to enter. I am sure there will be all kinds of marvelous Marthas out there who bake their own gingerbread and create multi-storey ginger mansions that will make our ‘frosted mini-Wheat’ thatched cottage pale in comparison. I’m afraid, I am a ‘kit’ kind of girl and keeping it simple means less stress and more fun.

Notes: We added our own additional red and white candies and frosted mini-wheats to the Safeway Gingerbread House Kit. Those big red feet next to the chimney are Santa’s foot prints, idea courtesy of Sam.

I saw this thatched roof idea on a magazine cover last week … I think it was Nigella Lawson, but I searched and searched, and couldn’t find the magazine again when I went frosted mini-wheat shopping.

My only regret is that I didn’t make one more trip to the store to buy the fruit roll-ups to do the stained glassed windows, maybe next year.

If you are wondering why my Gingerbread house is outside, well the lighting in my house is bloody horrible. I haven’t taken a decent photo after 1 pm, since October. I wanted a 1/2 decent photo for the contest, so I waited until daylight and carried it out on to the back deck. Silly, but necessary.

Of course, we couldn’t leave Sam and Georgia out (and we couldn’t have them help!).

This is the Midnight Express to Candyland. I was so immersed in my own creation, that I gave up ownership of the sacred icing bag to Sam. They had tons of fun.

See the lighting? Horrible …

I want to see your gingerbread creations, if you have photos, post the links below. It doesn’t have to be this years. If you don’t have a gingerbread masterpiece, feel free to rave about mine :)

MK xo
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Lizzy loves chocolate, well any sweets really. She also likes crafts.

This morning we made some chocolate lollipops from a Wilton kit.

Lizzy loved it — Can’t you tell.

Thanks for all your kind comments and emails. I am actually feeling much better. The doctor actually made me go into the hospital to see him. I have to report ALL symptoms to a study nurse as part of my drug trial. However, by the time the doctor got back to me, I was feeling nearly 100%, I felt like I was wasting his time and mine. Oh well. All’s well that ends well.

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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