"He's not a tame lion"... And other highlights...

Tonight Glen and I went to a movie at the theatre for the first time since we saw The Return of the King in the theatre... I was pregnant with Ben at the time... I guess we need to get out more...

Anyways, we saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe tonight. It was excellent. I cried at least seven times, but I am pregnant and Becky, so that doesn't really tell you that much. I have no real complaints or issues and recommend it to anyone, whether you have read the books or not. I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at a very young age and was deeply impacted by it and so it was important to me that this movie got it right. (Yes, maybe even more important than The Lord of The Rings...) I would say they got it right. The movie stuck VERY closely to the book, and all of my favorite lines and parts were there. (Don't read this next bit if you don't want to know anything about the movie...In particular my favorite parts were when Peter, Susan and Lucy discover Edmund talking alone with Aslan, Father Christmas arriving on the scene, and when Susan and Lucy bury their hands in Aslan's mane and walk him to his meeting with the White Witch. Oh yeah, and I liked the private look Lucy gives Aslan after he announces Edmund can go free... Also, I really liked the music...) I could go on and on, but I think I've probably waxed ecstatic for long enough... I'll just say the whole thing was REALLY well done, and I was completely satisfied. I would like to see it again right now, and to me that is always a sign of a good movie. When you'd like to sneak in to the next showing and start all over again you probably just saw a pretty good show. Also, now I feel the need to re-read all of the books... I can't remember how the professor fits in... (Don't tell me, I'll read the books again and find out.)

Thought you'd like to know what I've been up to...

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas! It is even more fun now that Benjamin is here to enjoy it with! (AND Noah...) Glen and I are so blessed to have him in our lives! We LOVE that little guy with every fibre of our beings and it is so fun to have an excuse to do some heavy duty spoiling!

I also love Christmas because of The Reason for the season... a few years back I came across an Amy Grant song that really made Christmas special to me in a whole new way. For a long time I only thought of Christmas as the day a baby was born who LATER did something pretty amazing for me. This song opened my eyes to another part of the miracle of Christmas:

Christmas Lullaby (I Will Lead You Home)

Are you far away from home
This dark and lonely night
Tell me what best would help
To ease your mind
Someone to give
Direction for this unfamiliar road
Or one who says, "Follow me and
I will lead you home."

How beautiful
How precious
The Savior of old
To love so
Completely
The loneliest soul
how gently
how tenderly
He says to one and all,
"Child you can follow Me
And I will lead you home
Trust Me and follow Me
And I will lead you home."

Be near me, Lord Jesus
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to Heaven
To live with Thee there
Take us to Heaven
To live with Thee there

I love that. It makes me think of all the times I haven't known how to get somewhere and I've followed a friend or a loved one in my car. If you have someone to follow it's so much easier to find a place than if you only have directions or even a map... Especially if the directions are complicated. Sometimes if you make one wrong turn you can end up so far off track it is almost impossible to find your way.

Ever since hearing that song Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning for me. It's a celebration not only of God's birth here on Earth, but of the miracle of having a savior who we can follow to our ultimate destination. He didn't just send us a list of directions or even draw us a map. He came here and He is ready and able to lead us to salvation. He can show us the way to friendship with God! It's a complicated journey, and definately one we can't make on our own, but who better to lead the way than God himself? That's the miracle. HE CAME.

So MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

It's A Boy.

That's right people, no girl for Becky. I have had a raging headache since last night. I think the stress of not knowing finally got to me... And then we added the stress of knowing and not being very pleased. Yes. I know all the good reasons to be happy it's a boy. Yes. I know some of you think it's funny. I don't think it's funny though. I need a couple days to adjust. This is why I need to find out in advance. I would hate to be adjusting while the baby is already here. I already feel guilty enough for being upset that I'm not getting my Hannah, when this baby deserves to be anticipated with joy...

I've disabled comments for this post. I don't want any patronizing platitudes, "Now Ben will have a brother!" Duh. "As long as it's healthy!" Double Duh. I'm not a moron. I'll be fine in a day or so. But just for now I am disappointed and nothing any of you can say is going to help, in fact it will probably make it worse. So I am taking my headache back to bed where it belongs. I just thought I should put some of you out of your misery since Glen said you called... Ang you know who you are.

In other news my Christmas present from Glen was Sims Superstar and it totally doesn't work. So now I am really depressed. Not even Sims to sweep me away to another world... Sigh. I know. Life is hard.

Who is really the geek in our family?

Here is a picture of Ben and his handsome (and SINGLE) uncles Dale and Neil. We're all really looking forward to spending LOTS of time with our families. I think Glen is LONGING for some boys nights out with Dale and Neil. He's been talking about hanging out with his brothers a LOT lately. (And I think some Scotty D time might be on his mind as well.) Here is the big question: Am I really nice enough to let him take off till all hours of the night (morning) when I have no girlfriends in Saskatoon to do the same with? (Actually, I don't think I would stay out as late as Glen does even if Heather Epp was in town... Or even in the country... Or even on this continent...) Sigh... I think Glen will be the only one "out on the town" this Christmas. (And by "out on the town," I mean sitting in someone's kitchen playing long and boring strategy board games.) So here is the bigger question: When did I turn into the type of person who has no desire (or even opportunity) to hang out with friends till all hours of the night AND how come I didn't notice it happening until it was too late? Also, when did I become the type of person who wears clothes that in all honesty should qualify me to appear on some show like What Not To Wear? When did it become okay for me to wear tapered "mom" jeans in public?

I've always thought that I was the cool chick that married a nerd and suddenly it is apparent to me that it is possible I might be the geek... It's like I've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone...

My "Calling"

Last night my little friends Tori and Shae came over to visit Ben and me. Poor girls. Ben wouldn't leave them alone... I gave them some kind of crafty photo frame making sets and they had a pretty hard time keeping them out of Ben's mouth. I think they were pretty grossed out by the sliming job he did on their gifts. Heh heh.

Tori is a student I worked with as a T.A. a few years ago. I loved that job. Too bad subbing pays better, AND too bad that kids like Tori don't come along every day. She is a little sweetie pie and most T.A.'s don't get assigned to sweetie pies. (And subs absolutely NEVER run into sweetie pies, we're to busy dealing with the monster children who think a sub is there to be abused and taken advantage of... but the PAY!)

Sometimes I miss being in schools and sometimes I am so glad to be home. I have such a passion for teaching, it seems so unfair that I have never really had a chance to live my dream. Sigh. Sometimes I feel like my life is SO not what I planned. I feel like I have not reached my full potential as far as my career goes and IT IS SO DEPRESSING. I try not to think about it, but every now and then it sneaks in to the back of my mind and I can't help but feel a teeny bit cheated. I really expected to achieve a lot when I was younger. I thought I was going to be this amazing teacher that changed kids lives... And won awards... And people would write songs about me... And they'd make a movie based on my life... Seriously.

BUT here I am at home with the most precious little angel and I really wouldn't change that. I would hate to leave him to go to work. I love being with him. But every now and then I can hear my teaching dream way down at the bottom of my soul calling me. And I want to cry.

We're Back!

Hi! We're back from our trip to Saskatoon to say goodbye to Glen's Grandpa. We had a good trip, but I've been on the road too much this past week or so... I'm glad to be home.

In other news...

It would seem that I have a VERY active baby growing in me. It's moving all over the place right now as I type. On Saturday it finally kicked hard enought that I could feel it with my hand. So now I have evidence. Right now, it is quite a lovely feeling, but I am getting a bit apprehensive... I hope this baby slows down a bit.

While I was pregnant with Benjamin I had this dream... (Ang told one of hers, so now you have to listen to one of mine.)

I was shopping and Ben was kicking soooooo hard... Eventually I looked down and noticed that there was an unusual lump under my T-shirt. I pulled it up to see what was going on and to my horror discovered he'd managed to kick a foot RIGHT OUT OF MY STOMACH. I had this hole in my skin and this little leg was hanging out, so I gently pushed it back in where it belonged and used some duct tape to patch up the damage. LOL. Can you tell I am my father's daughter? "Just put some duct tape on there and that'll fix it!"

Anyways, at the rate this baby is going I will be needing a roll or two of duct tape to keep things all together... Maybe that would make a good stocking stuffer...

They Got It Right!

I think this quiz may actually be on to something here...

You're Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!
by Mark Twain

With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in black and white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the less it makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard time understanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, your adventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

It's true! I really DO like straw hats!

Some Idle Chatter

Benjamin and I got back from our weekend trip to Regina yesterday. We stayed with my friend Angela and her husband Todd. I love seeing her. I think I overwhelm her a bit with my enthusiasm for her though, I just can't seem to stop myself! As soon as I am with her, I want her to be updated on everything in my life. If you think I talk too much you should see me when I haven't seen someone for a while. Especially if it's someone who used to know every tiny detail of my life, including many things that even Glen doesn't know to this day... Poor Ang, she puts up with a lot.

Anyways... She is such a terrific hostess. She took such good care of Benjamin and me AND our family. My "Aunty" Carolyn (who is younger than me and thinner so it feels weird to call her Aunty, so I don't, unless I'm teasing her) was visiting Regina from Vancouver Island with her sweet little son Ethan. Ethan is about the same age as Ben, but that is where ALL similarities end. They were so funny together. Ben just seemed so confused by Ethan's energy and methods of play. I could see his little brain trying to figure out "What is up with this guy?" while Ethan kicked all of Ben's nicely lined up cars all over the living room. Eventually Ben got into the hang of things and the two of them managed to thouroughly embarass all of us at Moxie's. (I was SURE we were going to get kicked out when they started bouncing on the benches and screaming at the top of their lungs.) It was a good time. Mom and Dad and Angie came too so their was a big crowd of us in Angela's very welcoming home. (She is such a good sport.)

Anyways... We are off to Saskatoon tomorrow. Back on the road. Sigh. Glen's grandpa went home to Jesus on Saturday morning, so we are driving in to go to the funeral. Poor Benjamin is going to be subjected to another trip. I feel bad for the poor little guy, he was so happy to get home. At least this trip he will mostly be with people he knows AND we will have his Daddy along. That will make a big difference I'm sure. I just hope we can convince him that he doesn't need to sleep in bed with me again. It's amazing how someone so little can take up so much space in a bed.

Anyways... That's an update on what's going on here. No deep theological thoughts or anything even remotely resembling that. The deepest I can go today is to say how much I love my friend Ang and how much I love my fabulous family. It's so great to be with the people you love most in the world and it's even greater when you can get a whole bunch of them together in one room.

I'm Getting There

Well, the "guest"room has been sanded and primed... The ceiling and the closet are ALL DONE! Now I can FINALLY put some color on the wall. (The good part.) I actually LOVE painting, it's all of the prep work that comes first that I hate. This house has required more prep work than any of you can even imagine. (Ask my family.) I have never seen a place so banged up. Add that to the smoke stains of a chain smoker from the past... I don't know... 100 years?

Anyways, I'm off to paint for as long as the little monster naps... Which hasn't been very long lately, he's teething, it's BRUTAL. It seems like the moment I get all set up to paint he wakes up screaming from a ridiculously short nap. I've tried wearing him out wrestling with him, chasing him, taking him swimming. Nothing is working. It sucks. All I can think about is, "What the hoink am I gonna do when the new baby gets here?"