A matter of national security

When we packed to go to Florida (which is where we were last week), we packed way smarter than when we went to Texas last fall. Last fall, we had it in our heads that less is more -- meaning the fewer things you have to carry, the better.

A good theory, really. And one that should be practiced when travelling. But when you decide to use just two suitcases between four people -- so that there's less to cart around airports -- don't forget that the damn airlines will charge you an extra arm and a leg for going a mere ounce overweight. So, when we flew home from Texas, one of our bags was too heavy and we had to pay an extra $50 on top of the $25 per bag you had to pay when you checked in (again, damn U.S. airlines charging bag fees at check-in.)

So, with this trip, we decided that we would take three suitcases -- two big and one small. And then, we had the brilliant brainwave. We realized, that since we weren't just going to Florida, we were going to Disney World, there would likely be a lot of 'stuff' on the return trip home. Afterall, we were going with grandparents -- and they like to buy things for the kids. A lot of things.

And of course, mom and dad wanted to hit the outlet malls too.

So this brainwave was simple -- pack an empty duffelbag into one of the suitcases. It doesn't cost anything to bring it back full because we're four people, meaning we're allowed to have four checked bags.

And sure enough, having an extra bag was a briliant idea Because we needed it. We had toys, we had dolls, we had Mickey clothes, we had two new pairs of adult shoes each and a bunch of other clothes from the outlet malls.

So, when we were packing up, we used the duffel bag to throw all our dirty laundry in. Then everything else -- the toys, the dolls, the new clothes and shoes, the unworn clothes -- went into the other suitcases. And we balanced the weight almost perfectly.

And when we got home, we unpacked and discovered this in our laundry duffel bag:

Our bag was searched. I'm sure it was random or something. But it's much funnier to think that our dirty laundry is a matter of national security.

Five misconceptions my kids have about me

Recently, it dawned on me that at the ages of 3 and 5, my kids have certain misconceptions about me. So, in honour of Mother's Day, here are five things my kids think they know:

1) My kids think I can sing. Both my kids love singing (and dancing to) kids songs. Learning through song is a big part of how kids grow up, and I find myself singing to them a lot. The other day, I was trying to wake my daughter up by singing our good morning song, when she opened her eyes, smiled and said "again". And I sang it again. It dawned on me, that she thinks I can sing. When in all honesty, I can barely carry a tune. Although how hard is it, really, to carry a tune when the extent of your repetoire is ABC and Wheels on the Bus? I wonder how many more years it'll be before they realize I can't really sing?

2) My kids think I'm crafty. Let me put it very simply. I'm not. Over the years, I've learned how to do simple kids crafts with the help of my dear friend the Internet. 19 times out of 20, a craft we do together was someone else's idea. I just followed their directions.

3) My kids think I know everything. They have questions for everything. I have answers. The relationship is as simple as that. Although at least half the time, I'm talking out of my ass.

4) My kids think that on the mornings they're both at school (2 mornings a week Alex is in preschool and 5 mornings a week, Austin is in Kindergarten), I'm sad all by myself. It takes a lot of willpower every time one of them says that to not tell them that what I do when they're gone is the happy dance.

5) My kids think I'm supermom. Well, at least they get one right.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.

Running right down the middle of Yonge Street

I did it. I accomplished my third 10K run in less than two years, finishing with my best time yet -- by far. 1:09:37.4. That's 69 minutes! I was targetting a 70-minute finish, so let me tell you, right about now, I'm pretty proud of myself.

It was an amazing running experience -- and a very different one from running at the zoo. At the Zoo Run 10K, the number of runners is capped around 2,500. Here, it's not. So there were more than 12,000 runners, running down Yonge Street.

At the zoo, after the first kilometre or so, the pack spreads out and you're pretty much on your own -- well at least you are when you're nearer to the back of the pack. At the Sporting Life run, you are always amongst the pack. It is simply a sea of people running straight down Yonge Street -- from north of Eglinton to Richmond, and then across Richmond and over to Fort York to the finish line.

And yet, it was such a rush. So much so that in a way, it seems like a bit of a blur to me. I just ran. And waved to Ryan and the kids who were cheering me on around the 1K mark. And found some friends standing around 3K hoping to catch a glimpse of me (and they did because I started smiling and waving madly). And looked around at the stores as I went by. And looked down and realized, "hey, I'm running right along the yellow centre line -- and I'm at Yonge and Dundas!"

And before I knew it, I was passing Yonge and Bloor and passing Yonge and Dundas and passing the Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond. I was just running. And enjoying every minute of it.

I felt like I was flying. I had no idea how fast I was going, but it felt faster than I'd ever gone before (and it was!). I messaged Ryan as I stopped to walk around 4K and then again around 7K so that he'd know where I was. He and the kids wanted to see me near the finish line, but it's a little more complicated with this race than at the zoo which is contained in a small space.

When I messaged him, I had no idea how long I'd be running, but it didn't feel like it had been very long.

And then, I was there. I could see the finish line, Ryan and the kids were yelling "Go mommy go" and I found a new speed I didn't know I had.

It felt incredible. And, I have to admit, although I complained about having to get up early (I was up at 5:45 a.m.), drag the kids out of bed (we got them up at 6:30 a.m.) and get my butt to Yonge and Eglinton before 8 a.m. on a Sunday, I may just consider doing this run one more time next year.

But first up is the Zoo run one more time this fall. Austin wants to do the kid 500 metre run that follows the 10K, so I figure if we're going to go for that -- I might as well run another 10K.

Please no rain, please no rain, please no rain

Sunday is my third 10K race. I've been wanting to do this particular one pretty much since I crossed the finish line of my first 10K race in October 2009. (Damn crutches having got in my way last spring).

I'm excited. I'm ready. I can do it. I even think I can do it faster than I did the Zoo Run in October 2010. But please, please, please weather Gods, don't let it rain. Because right now, Sunday is calling for a 70% chance of showers all day.

It's not that I can't run in the rain. I've done it. It's not that bad -- but it's not that pleasant either. Especially when a light rain turns into short downpour. Then it's just downright unpleasant. And since Ryan and the kids are getting out of bed to watch me (it's a 8 a.m. start), they might grumble if they have to get out of bed just to stand in the rain for an hour and a half.

I don't care what the rest of the day does -- but maybe, just maybe, between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, you could all ask the rain to stay away. Or at least stay away from Yonge Street.

I'm going to Disney World!

I may be in my thirties, but I'm not embarrased to admit that I fall into that category of honestly believing that Disney world is the happiest place on earth.

Of course, I know there's many other places to visit in this world, and I've been fortunate enough to visit some of them over the years...but Disney World is well, Disney world!

We booked the trip in early March - a really good deal that my dad found in the paper (and we're going with my parents) - but until yesterday, I've had to be quietly excited. And have had to quietly go about planning and reading up. Because the kids didn't know.

Yesterday we told the kids. They were quite muted in their excitement at first. Not because they don't know what Disney World is - because ironically, right after we booked the trip, Playhouse Disney (the TV channel they watch all the time) started showing commercials for Disney World and the kids' mouths would drop open and they'd start asking if we could go. I think they we're a little muted because they were in shock.

After about 5 minutes of Austin asking a million and one questions (when are we going? how long are we staying for? Where are we staying? How are we getting there?), he got up and danced out of the room while singing "We're going to Disney World! We're going to Disney World!"

The excitement really sunk in for both of them this morning, as they asked me another million and one questions over breakfast about what there is to do there. And every now and then throughout the day, one of them would break into song about how "we're going to Disney World!".

I'm excited. I'm really, really excited. It's been 14 years since I was there -- more than 20 years since Ryan was last there.

And even though my kids are the ones who are the kids, somehow, just the thought of going makes me feel like a kid again.

A Mickey Mouse birthday

This past weekend was Alex's birthday, and once again I created a cake for her.

Or actually, cupcakes.

Deciding what to do this year was difficult. The idea for Mickey cupcakes was actually tossed around a few months ago and then forgotten about. So as her birthday was approaching, I fretted about what to do. Having been sick for much of the week and a half before her party, the idea of doing a big cake was daunting. Yet, the only thing I could think of was to create a Belle cake (from Beauty and the Beast) because she recently developed an obsession with her.

So two days before her birthday, at 7:30 p.m., I headed over toBulk arn to see if I could get a cake pan and Barbie torso to make a Belle cake. And while I'm standing there in the store, I realize that I could do Mickey Mouse cupcakes instead. Afterall, she may be obssessed with Belle right now, but she LOVES Mickey. No characters in the world are better than Mickey and Minnie.

So now I'm standing in the store with an idea, and no idea how to go about making them. So I called Ryan and he Googled it. And together we came up with a great idea:

This website was what came up when Ryan Googled 'Mickey cupcakes' and they were really easy to make. All I had to do was ice the cupcake, dip it in Oreo cookie crumbs until all of the icing was covered and then using toothpicks, I stuck on two Oreo cookies for ears. Finally, to top it off, I added two little white dots (I used labelling stickers, but you could use chads from a hole punch too) to the front of the cupcake liner.

Ta da. Mickey Mouse cupcakes.

But why, do you ask, does that picture have one Mickey and one that looks like it could be Minnie without a bow? Because, at first, I made chocolate cupcakes in plain white liners. You see, Alex wanted chocolate cake, of course. I figured, after they were baked, I could slip the red liner on top to make the Mickey cupcakes.

It was a great plan, except for one small problem. The red liners were bigger than the white ones I had used to make the cupcakes. Oops.

So I had to make another batch of cupcakes -- this time using white cake in the red liners. But since Alex really wanted chocolate cake, I slipped a polka dot liner (which thankfully fit) on half a dozen of the chocolate ones to create Minnie cupcakes.

Which meant, on birthday party day, Alex just wanted one of each. And what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets.

It's just like Christmas all over again...

...but not in the fun way where you get lots of presents and eat lots of yummy food. Instead, more like the way we spent this past Christmas.

A week and a half ago, Austin came down with a flu - fever of 102F or so for 3 days. He stayed home from school and was all around miserable. When the fever cleared, he was left with a knock-you-on-your-ass kind of cold.

By last Friday night Alex was running a fever. By Saturday morning, I was. For Alex, the fever lasted on and off for 5 days. She never really got knocked out with it - well until she got the knock-you-on-your-ass cold.

Me, I couldn't get out of bed for the first day of the flu and was barely functional for the next two days of the fever. And on the fourth day, I got 'the cold' - which, lucky for me, also turned into a chest infection.

And just when we thought we were in the clear, Ryan's gone down. He barely made it out of bed today. Friday is not looking promising.

Something tells me this family needs a lot of vitamin C in a hurry. Either that, or some nice summer-like weather.