We're having a baby.....

"Inconclusive" was the final judgment of the ultra sound tech who did my 20 week scan today. Although she reported not having seen anything that looked like I was having a boy, the legsdidn't seperate long enough for her to get a good enough look. So, we still don't know what we're having. We're going to name it Pat.

Christmas is here again (almost.)

Christmas is my favorite time of year. A season where I truly do feel a stonger desire to give, a time when we remember Christ our Saviour's birth. It's such a magical time and special time and family time and fun time. People seem more friendly, the season is fresh and (a little rainy here I guess.)

Yesterday I pulled out all our decorations and Spence and I watched the good ol' classic, 'A Christmas Story.' I especially love the way this movie feels so Christmasy with the snow and the fun family dynamics and the traditions. The school scenes with Ralphie writing his 'Theme' about what he wants for Christmas especially cracked me up this year since I am working with similar aged kids.

Anyway, it's so delightful that Christmas is just a few weeks away. So I wanted to share a few Christmas-y corners (and stock pic of lights on a tree) here- these hopefully bring a smile to your face like they do to mine.





This nativity scene helps me remember the true meaning of Christmas.

THE LINK

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Movember Cont.

Ok I'm jacking the family blog and spamming it with more Movember pictures. This will be the last time. Honestly I can't wait to shave this lip worm off and be done with it. I have a special character from Napoleon Dynamite per request and a Tom Selleck look alike that I think is pure gold.

I'm hoping to raise $500 right now I am at $260 so I need some help. The deadline is Nov. 30. In case I didn't already tell you I am doing it because a friend of mine who lost his grandpa to prostate cancer asked me to join his fund raising team and I agreed. The money donated goes to cancer research for men particularly prostate cancer. Movember leads to some nasty facial hair but it is for a good cause. Here is the link I hope you enjoy the photos and like I said this is the last time unless someone really wants to see another look alike picture ...... Once again thank you to all who have already donated. Follow this link and it will allow you to make a donation by credit card. Thanks guys!

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Breaking Dawn

I have been a Twilight fan from the getgo. I first heard about these books as i was walking out of a party a few years ago. A friend mentioned how a vampire's in love with a human and he wants to suck her blood... curious. But then my coworker was reading them, and couldnt put them down! Finally I thought,'ive got to check these out!' I went to the store and got a copy of the first book. Then I became the person who couldnt put them down!

So I was excited to watch the next installment with a classmate this weekend. It's getting more interesting as the stakes are raised and Bella enters deeper into the vampire world. I think the story is so fascinating! Yea, it's a simple read and there's not TOO much in terms of writing form and style, but I think there are interesting themes and emotions in these books and movies. For example, Bella and her transition to a new place and group of people, Jacob and his unrequited love for her, Edward and how he's made the most of beign a vampire and tries to be good... The situations are impossible, but the feelings taht stand with such life transitions and choices remain. I think the Jacob character is especialy interesting in this respect. He has to honor Bella's choice of husband even though it breaks his heart. Although we dont choose whether to marry a vampire, we do face loss, struggle, balance between what we want and what others want, connecting with family... and using our talents - the vampires have interesting gifts. Anyway, I thought the Twilight books were an enjoyable read and I equally enjoyed the movie.

One Year Ago

So this is a few days late, but that's ok....



One year ago, I joined this great family by marrying the love of my life. It's been a great year and I've loved becoming a member of this family. I'll go ahead and play favorites (Lindsay wins, of course!) but everyone's been great and extremely welcoming. Looking forward to continue to get to know everyone (Lindsay included) and wish everyone a Happy (United States) Thanksgiving!

"Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day."

Beej, those dictator pics made me smile today - thanks. I know I'm being kind of a brat here, but if you could do a pic where you look like Kip, I promise to donate. (I think slumping your shoulders will be key to your success.)

Movember

Alright I'm having some more fun with this. This is a picture I took yesterday. The stache is kinda starting to become irritating but ......... I persevere. This is the latest. I will probably post a couple others as well.

I've noticed that most of the more memorable dictators have had some sort of stache which is the inspiration for this photo. Coming up I hope to do an excellent Tom Selleck impersonation.

I've been lucky to raise $220 and I have a personal goal of $500. Thank you Mom and Dad, Bonnie and Bob, Grandma Schneider and Woozie for your donations. If you haven't donated yet and would like to here is the link

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

I hope you can even if it's only a few dollars. I'm having too much fun with this so sadly there will be more pictures to follow. I've also submitted these photos to Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro to see if they would take me on as their apprentice and then seize power once they're gone ....... I'll keep you posted on what they say.

Movember

Staches have a treasured history in our family. Dad sported one for many years. The day he shaved it off around 1994 or so it was like a part of the family died. 5 year old Woozie Schnitzel was inconsolable she cried and cried and demanded to know what this strange clean shaven man had done with her father. The crying went on for hours and since that day the Schneider men have generally refrained from rocking the stache on the upper lip ............... until now!

So each year for the month of November some men grow moustaches. It began in Australia about 10 years ago as an effort to raise money for men's health issues. Some do it for fun and others do it to raise funds. This year me and a group of friends are doing it to raise funds. Some of you have asked me about the lip worm creeping along my upper lip so now you know, I'm not doing it to be stylish (although that is certainly a beneficial byproduct, see picture above) I'm part of a movember fundraising team.

The funds are used for research mainly for prostate and testicular cancer but also for other men's health issues, such as depression which is on the rise among young men. The stats are pretty disconcerting 1 in 7 men get prostate cancer and 1 in 28 die from it. 60+ year old men have the greatest risk.

It's not very big in the States but in Canada it's pretty popular with lots of radio DJ's, hockey players and other celebrities participating. Now if you see a non-police officer or non-airline pilot with a stache you now why ...... they may be doing a Tom Sellick impersonation (see picture above) or making their best attempts at stlying but more likely they are participating in Movember. Especially if they appear normal in every other regard ie) they aren't a single dude who drives a mini van with tinted windows, they don't have long greasy hair, they don't play video games for days at a time and forget to shave their face etc.

Last year a little over $22 million was raised worldwide. Right now our team is at $1,550 and we're hoping to get to at least $3,000 by the end of the month. Please donate here's the link http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/ for my mospace page. I will provide pictures of the luscious stache, push broom, savour flavour, mo whatever you want to call it once I have something that I'm comfortable going cyber with (probably a couple of days). But I won't post any pictures unless there is at least $20 donated to my mospace page so hopefully somebody puts in at least $10 (Haha I'm donating $10 right now so that means somebody else needs to donate at least another $10, even if you only want to donate $1 that's cool). I'm pretty sure the more money that goes to my mospace page the faster my moustache will grow too so maybe I can get one that rivals Dad's stache from the early 90s! Don't worry wooz my stache is pretty pathetic compared to Dad's so I'm pretty sure you will be able to recognize me!

Quarters and States

So back when I was in high school in 1999, the US Mint decided to start releasing quarters with a design for each state on the back. This intrigued me at the time, so for Christmas I got a map of the US with a spot to put each quarter as it came out. They were only coming out 5 per year, so it was going to take some time to collect them all. But collect them I did:



This wasn't enough for me though. When I first started, I wanted to collect an entire roll (40 quarters, or $10) per state. I quickly realized that this would take forever, so I downsized my goal to collect one roll per year, or 8 per state. I also wanted to collect an entire roll of the bicentennial design that came out in 1976. Over the past few days, I finished my goal:



So what's next? Well, they're continuing the program using US Territories, then National Parks, so my collecting days will continue. By luck of the draw, when we went to get quarters for laundry a few days ago, I got an entire roll of the Gettysburg National Park, allowing me to complete that particular one very quickly. But it's nice to be finished with the initial goal.