If He Says 'Redrum' I'm in Trouble

Young children are so pure in their innocence that they are often added to really creepy stories to make them seem even more disturbing. Who can think of 'The Shining' without picturing those two eerie girls in blue dresses at the end of the hall? Or that horrible little girl that crawled out of the TV and slopped her way across the room in 'The Ring'?

I actually don't enjoy scary movies (and will not even consider watching the new genre of disgusting torture porn flicks). My husband has often lamented that they just don't make movies that are scary enough for him. He may be a superhero when it comes to scary movies, but I am certainly not.

I'm not sure what the last scary movie that I saw was - it may in fact have been 'The Ring'. I remember quite clearly that the night after we watched that movie, I lay in bed for hours listening to my husband sleeping soundly, while I imagined hearing quiet sloshing coming down the hall. It was not a good night.

I admit that I can be freaked out. But I don't spend my life preoccupied by the possible existence of ghosts, ghouls, or well-dwelling dead children. 

So, the other day as we were gathered round the front door getting ready to go out, I initially ignored my innocent 3-year-old child when he asked me 'Who's laughing?'. I assumed that he could hear someone outside on the street and continued on with the business of dressing children.

K doesn't like to be ignored and started into the usual repetitive chant that he does to get my attention. 'Who's laughing, Mom?' 'Who's laughing?' I finally asked him if he meant someone outside.

He gave me a serious look, shook his head slowly, and pointed to the ceiling. 'Up there', he said, pointing to the empty attic.

No word of a lie. I had chills run down my spine and I hustled the three of us out of the house right quick.  Thankfully the ghostly laughter has not returned.

Do you like scary movies or have you had any real life haunted encounters? I'd be fascinated to hear about them - even if I have to read the stories through my fingers.

**Reminder: Don't forget to enter my giveaway for $75 in Burt's Bees products (sorry Canadians only) over here.

Giveaway, Awards and Ten Things that Make me Happy

I am hosting my very first giveaway for $75 in Burt's Bees products over at A Lot of Loves Reviews. To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave me a comment on that post (and have a Canadian shipping address - sorry to my American friends).

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It's always nice to receive a blog award. This week I received two.

The first is the Happy 101 Blog Award from Staci at Just Bloggled. Thanks so much, Staci!


The rules for this award are to state 10 things that make me happy.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. My family.I tend to complain about my husband and kids a lot, but they really are the centre of my life. In those few moments each day where everyone is happy and getting along, I feel supremely satisfied. 
2. Books. I love to read. I used to read for a few hours everyday. Now I am lucky to find 30 minutes in a day to settle in with a book. Still, those 30 minutes are fantastic minutes.
3. Sleep. I really do love my sleep. I love being in a cozy bed under a feather duvet. I love the feeling of my entire body just reeeeeeelaxing into the mattress after a long day of corralling children. I even love waking up at 3 or 4am and realizing that I still have a few more hours to sleep. I do wish I could sleep in past 7am more often but I have faith that those kidlets of mine will catch on to the art of sleeping in one day.
4. Eating what I crave. At least two or three times a week I will suddenly have a burning desire for a certain food item. What the item is changes, sometimes it's cheese, sometimes it's peanut butter on toast, sometimes it's milk and today it was Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls from a local Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately for me my husband doesn't like Chinese food, but he was willing to let me order take-out. We rarely order take-out, so not wanting to lose out on an opportunity, I compromised and we ordered Japanese. It was delicious Japanese food to be sure - but it wasn't what I was craving and now I've been feeling 'hungry' all the rest of the night. Of course, I'm not really hungry, but since I didn't eat what I craved I wasn't satisfied. Eating the object of my craving makes me happy.
5. Pride and Prejudice. Book, mini-series, movie from any era. It doesn't matter. I love Pride and Prejudice. What a gift Jane Austen gave the world when she wrote that book. I even love it enough to enjoy zombies running around with Elizabeth Bennett.
6. Disneyland (or any of the assorted Disney-themed vacation options). I know many parents lament the existence of the Disney princesses, and I may be one of them someday if the love that Em is showing for all things pink and girlie continues, but at this point I still love me some Disney. I've been to the Disney parks in the US many times. I almost went to Disneyland Paris when I was in France, but couldn't quite talk myself into the logic of that decision. I railed against my husband for traveling to the gates of Hong Kong Disneyland but not going in. (C'mon he was right there! If I had stood in front of the gates of Disneyland Paris I would surely have gone inside.) I periodically measure my kids to make sure I know when they finally reach the height requirement for the majority of the Disney rides (K has half an inch to go). I have shown K countless videos on YouTube of the Disney rides and he even knows that there is a large candy shop outside the entrance to the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. We are ready to go! The day I take my kids to Disneyland will be an exciting day for me.
7. Finding pants that fit. I have yet to find pants that fit perfectly, but I know that the day that I do, I will be very happy. 
8. Geocaching. We've been out geocaching every weekend for the past six weeks. It's good exercise and I really enjoy the hunt. 
9. Music. Music can soothe, it can uplift, it can energize, it can calm.
10. A day with no time-outs. This actually makes me more than happy - practically ecstatic really.

I am supposed to pass the award onto to 10 bloggers but since I have a yearning for my bed, I've decided that wouldn't make me happy. In keeping with the happy theme I'm passing it onto one lovely and fantastic blogger:
 
Bibi at From Misery to Happiness

Congrats, Bibi. I love reading your blog every day. Feel free to pass the award onto as many (or as few) bloggers as you want. Do whatever makes you happy my dear!

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For my second award I received the very pretty Sunshine Award from Bibi at From Misery to Happiness.

I would love to pass this award on to Staci from Just Bloggled. Staci, feel free to keep this award or pass it on. Whatever you like!

Wanna See a Trick?

This wasn't originally a Friday Follow post but since I just found out about Friday Follow, I thought I'd join in. Friday Follow is put on by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades.

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K loves to be on video. In fact when he looks at still photos of himself he almost always begs me to "make it move".

Lately he's been really into doing what he calls tricks. 'Wanna see a trick?' is a constant question in this house. Of course his tricks are particularly tricky but he's so proud of them that it makes me proud to watch him.

I managed to catch two of his latest tricks on video (excuse my weird voice in the first video - for some reason I decided that instead of speaking normally, talking through my nose was a better option).

Trick #1 Jumping to touch the lights:


Trick #2 Ummm....not sure what this one is:

What I Learned: Costco Shopping Trip

We ran out of coffee today. I could of chosen to go to the local store but since my life is all about the deal I decided that I should stock-up at Costco. This realization came to me while Em and K were having their regular hourly battle over a baby-doll stroller.

This trip to Costco taught me a few things though:

1. The promise of a shopping trip will stop a tantrum in its tracks.
2. Even if all you need is coffee and trail mix, you really should make a list.
3. When your children realize that the store you are going to is not the same one that they thought they were going to, they will freak out.
4. No matter how fast you run your cart through the store, it will not be fast enough.
5. The promise of an Oreo cookie will buy you an extra 10 minutes.
6. 10 extra minutes won't be enough.
7. If the Costco parking lot is underneath a busy flight path near an airport, your kids will stop fighting to watch the big planes landing.
8. If you give your kids an Oreo cookie on the drive home they will be quiet.
9. Oreo cookies are really messy.
10. When you get home you will realize that the chaos and tantrums have meant that you left Costco with a box of unnecessary Oreo cookies, and that you forgot the coffee that was the purpose of the trip. Should of made a list.