Bed and Breakfast

So we just spent the weekend at a great little B&B called Nagel's Sunset View in Redclif, AB. The original plan was to go to a B&B that Ethan and J had been to before way up north above North Battelford, SK. But that got cut short the week before when they called to inform us that the Manager of the place had gone in for emergency surgery that day. So we searched for a new place and found this one!

It was a nice relaxing place where we had the entire basement to ourselves (Ethan, J, Jordan and I). We had use of everything from their 32" TV, DVD, VCR, and Satellite to the Hot Tub in the back yard (which is great at -5^oC). They had these beds that they had specialty ordered from a company called Labbe in Calgary (they were kinda like memory foam, but way better). The breakfasts were incredible and more then we could all eat. The Family was extremely nice to us and tried to accommodate us at ever turn (She is a Landscape Designer and He is a retired RCMP). Overall it was a great trip and I would recommend the place to anyone!

J playing Trivial Pursuit
Ethan doing L5R (Alone!)
Me twiddling my thumbs (Seriously!)
Great little fireplace we got to use

Tagged!

Did you know that....

Four jobs I've had:
1. Big Bike for Stroke
2. Security Guard
3. Swamper
4. More inventory jobs then I care to remember

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Star Trek (even numbered)
3. Airheards
4. Boondock Saints

Four places I've lived:
1. Red Deer
2. St. Albert
3. Calgary
4. Regina

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Dr. Who
2. Star Trek
3. Alias
4. Gilmore Girls

Four places I've been on vacation:
1. Oregon Coast
2. Disneyland
3. Alaska
4. 99% of the campgrounds in the Rocky Mountains

Four of my favourite dishes:
1. Anything from Simba's Grill
2. Anything from Julios Barrio
3. Anything from Singapore Sam's
4. Anything from Chianti's

Sites I visit daily:
1. People's blogs
2. Moo.ca
3. Ebay
4. Google.ca

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Vancouver
2. Australia
3. Calgary
4. A Scottish pub!

I don't tag anybody, that would be rude and inappropriate!

Intrinsically Evil?

After spending some time reflecting on the weekend with my nephews I realized that I had some interesting thoughts and insights, and maybe a conclusion or two.

What is up with kids!? Or really, Human nature? As I was watching these two boys run around the house (and on me occasionally) I noticed some behavioral patterns. Some of these were easy to define and identify their source, but others were more elusive. The times when they would go to bed or take a nap you could easily see where they had gained their attitudes; their parents. You could just see all the work that Beth and Jeff had put into them really paying off. The same was true of the "please" and "thank you’s" that where said. But it was some of the other things that they did that got me thinking.

TV has a huge impact on people, anyone who disagrees we can argue that later, and I could see it in the way that my nephews would behave at certain times. They watch a lot of Disney cartoons (mostly older shorts like Donald Duck, or Mickey Mouse) and in 99% of these cartoons there is a gun, sword or cannon. In all of them there is a winner and a looser (no compromise or win-win scenarios). And the win-lose situation is almost always derived from one person not liking someone else which leads to words like "you're despicable, I hate you" -Daisy Duck. Now I know that I never thought about these cartoons in a bad way before, and never really considered them to influential, but when I heard my 3 year old nephew saying those same words I have to think about it.

My point for this whole post, if its not completely lost at this point, is that there was a 3^rd area that I saw this last weekend. The times when their behavior was not derived from what their parents have taught them or from what the TV has shown them. This was most evident when one of them wanted something that the other had. What do you think most kids do when they want something? They grab for it! Well at least until they are taught not to. But their very first instinct without being taught is to grab, "MINE!". The only conclusion that I can come to is that there must be something behind this behavior otherwise not all kids would do it. And as I said in my last post, my nephews are two of the most well behaved kids I've seen, but even they do this occasionally. When the younger of the two does it, you can tell that most of the time its because he wants to be like his older brother, but that’s not always the case. And when the older pulls the same stunt it almost purely out of jealousy. This makes me think and believe more then ever that Humans are sinful by nature (I've been having this discussion with a few people as of late). I personally can't see any other way around it. Maybe I'm wrong, you tell me.

Now I really can't decide

So I just spent the weekend babysitting my 2 nephews while my Sister in-law and her husband take a weekend off and yes I'm still alive! Now you might not think the last statement important until I tell you that the boys are only 2 and 3 years old. I could tell you that Jord and I had our hands full, but the truth is that aside from being worn out from all the playing the weekend was awesome! They are the 2 of the best behaved kids I have ever seen. There is of course the occasional altercation where one of them take something from the other one or accidentally gets hit with a hockey stick, but they are otherwise really really good. They nap when the need to, they eat when they are hungry, they are polite, and best of all they go to bed when you tell them and sleep the whole night without any accidents. But this brings me to a point in my life. Having kids. Not that Jord and I are actually considering it, more that I start to think about what my kids will be like. Will they be behaved and nice like my 2 nephews? Or the more likely; will they be like I was at that age? I'm not sure I can handle that. I mean, I had a great weekend, but I'm tired, oh am I tired! What if I had to do that everyday (not just for 2) and they are not as easy to handle? I know I'm just stressing about something I can't control for the most part, and I do believe that when I do have kids, God will give me the strength I need, but still, little me's running around? Scary thought!