There is not much going on. Today it is warm so we worked in the garden and yard. My neighbour had a huge pile of mulch sitting on the road in front of her house since the beginning of July. She has been digging away at it all summer but there was a lot still left over. She told me I could take the rest. I filled up the wheelbarrow 8 times and only managed to fill in half of this little "island" that is in my front yard. But, the road is now cleaned up and I got a good work out. Next year we'll really need to do a lot of work in the yard and garden to get a handle on it all.

My vegetable garden was a bust this year. I got six measly carrots out of it, three snow peas. My tomato plants finally sprouted some tomatoes but they are still green. Not one of my pumpkin plants have sprouted fruit (although they did all flower). Next year, I will plant the seeds much earlier or only put in plants rather than seeds in May.

Here are a few pictures:

Green Tomatoes

Pumpkinless Pumpkin patch


Six carrots


Need more mulch

One nice thing is my yard is my hydrangea bush which is very happy living next to the hot tub.

My very happy Hydrangeas

Are You Doing It?

I went for my annual mammogram today. I love the centre that I go to. They hire the warmest, friendliest women who are kind and caring and make a huge effort to make one feel comfortable and relaxed during a rather uncomfortable procedure.

Our centre recently moved to digital mammography so I had the "benefit" of being able to get some extra images taken. The tech explained to me that in the past, when film was so expensive, they just took 4 standard images. Based on what she saw (nothing serious, just fibrous tissue), she knew she would need to take additional images whereas in the past, I would have had to wait for a radiologist to review the films then call me back in to have images taken at different angles.

She also showed me where I have a little marker in my right breast from my past stereotactic breast biopsy. Cool but weird at the same time.

All this and it took less than 15 minutes.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Remember that early detection is the key to surviving breast cancer. Ladies, if you are over 20, do a breast self-exam every month. Have your doctor do a breast check at your annual pap check (you are getting that done too, right?!). If you are 40, schedule a baseline mammogram (or at age 35 if your insurance pays for it*). Go for an annual mammogram. Do it!

Great information can be found at:
Feel Your Boobies
Susan G. Komen
National Breast Cancer Foundation

* I had a baseline mammogram at age 36 and a half (I was pregnant and nursing at age 35+). When I had a follow-up mammogram at age 40, they were able to see a clear difference between my baseline and the new images. Follow-up images and a stereotactic breast biopsy ensued. Fortunately, it was "almost certainly" not cancer. These teeny, tiny calcifications would never have been felt with a breast self-exam.

Cars' homework last night was to put something "brown" in a paper bag and then at school today, he would give hints to the class and they would try to guess his brown item.

Now, my children are notorious for getting the most obscure item, giving the lamest hints, then getting upset when no one guesses what they have (Jax and Dex have had similar homework). So, I tried to steer Cars towards some really obvious brown items such as pine cones, some dirt, a twig, a plastic horse that was brown, etc. Cars would have none of it. Jax tried to convince him to put a brown paper bag in the brown paper bag (apparently this is very funny to 10 year old boys). Nope, Cars did not like that idea either.

When Cars finally decided on his brown item, I groaned. He wanted a piece of cardboard because "cardboard is brown". Ugh.

"What hint will you give?", I asked him.

"It comes from trees", he said.

Well, yes but that makes it sound like it is a pine cone or an acorn. I tried coaching him. "It is made from ground up trees" and "Boxes are made from it". He was so dismissive when he said "I don't want to say that".

So, I cut a piece of cardboard off a box. Then I tried coaching him again "It is very stiff paper". All he wanted to say was "It is squiggly in middle", which is true but too vague.

Anyway, off to school he went with his square of cardboard box in his bag. After school I asked him about his project and he said in disbelief "Nobody even guessed what it was!" He had apparently told them the "It comes from trees" line and he was indignant when someone guessed "pine cone".

Hopefully his next oral assignment will go a little better. In the meantime, he wants to keep his little piece of cardboard because it was his "homework" and he was proud of coming up with the idea all on his own.

I made the call and canceled my surgery. Even though I had already decided not to go ahead with it, just making the telephone call to the doctor's office was an even bigger relief. Whew! Well, I just left a message for the doctor's nurse.

Today I also had to go out and buy my annual pink bra for my mammogram which is scheduled for Thursday. I stopped by Nordstrom's first to see if they had any pink bras in my size on their clearance racks but no luck so it was off to Victoria's Secret. It was so dead at the mall today so I cannot believe the service I got at VS. Made me feel a little special (when really, I think they were all just bored). Anyway, I used my $10 off coupons that they seem to send me every other month so it was a good deal.

So, I left VS feeling special with my pretty pink bra (and free panties!) and thought I would treat myself to a hazelnut creme truffle at Godiva. When I walked in the store I noticed a few customers hanging around the counter but no salesperson. I walked over and spied the yummy one that I wanted and I waited and waited and waited and waited for a salesperson. No salesperson materialized. One of the people waiting at the counter walked out and another drifted away to look at something else. Still I waited. Finally, I heard a voice from the back say "Oh, do you want something?" and I said "Yes, I want to buy something" and she said "I'll be out in a minute. I am just doing something for a customer who called in". And I replied "Well, I am a customer and I am right here waiting to pay". One of the others who had been waiting snickered. But the salesperson did not come out so I said "Well, I was a customer but now I am leaving your store". and I skipped out of the store. Drats, no chocolate! But, I had some smug satisfaction of saying what was on my mind. I laughed out loud as I walked back through the mall.

I did not really need that chocolate anyway.

I have several email addresses but one of them is my favourite. It is justmyname@#####.com. Yes, just my first name! How lucky is that? No weird characters or spelling or random digits at the end of my name. I signed up for it years ago but I did not use it regularly until about two years ago. Now it is almost my main email address.

The problem is that other people out there with my name seem to think it is THEIR account. I get shipping confirmation emails from potterybarn.com, amazon.com, requests for renting the same dub equipment that is used on The Hills (?), etc. Someone even tried to reset my password since they could not "remember" it. Um, you cannot remember it because it is my account!

So what happens to your information/emails/stuff when you can not remember your password (or perhaps even email account)? I heard an interesting program on NPR last month about computing "in the cloud" which is what it is called when you work and store documents, emails, files, pictures on the internet. Problems can start when you forget your password and cannot get it reset. How do you access your information? What rights to you have to that information or those files? Ever read the user agreement? Probably not (who does?!) so you'd be surprised by the answer!

Anyway, if you are interested in reading (or hearing the article, you can find it here.

And all of you who think you own the account that is mine? Hands off!

A little less crazy

I am feeling a little more in control of my emotions today. I have decided NOT to have the surgery next month. I am just not ready to die. ;) Seriously, I am worried about recovery time and this time of the year is just too busy. I'll wait until January. I need to call the GYN's office tomorrow to let them know.

Just making this decision has been a huge relief. I am getting some control back. I think that is part of it. I am a control freak and when things are out of control, I do not handle it well at all. My time was not my own last week plus I made a mistake scheduling the garage sale for this time of the year. Next time (if there is a next time), we do it in the spring.

I also need to get back to exercising. The week before last I did some long walks (and one trip to the gym) but nothing last week. I need that exercise to keep me sane.

Oh, and chocolate has been helping too.

Today it pissed rain so our garage sale was not as successful as I thought it would be. I did sell the dinosaur bedding from Cars' crib, along with the custom pillows that I made out of an extra crib bumper, the curtains I customized with blue trim and the two dino paintings I painted for the room for a good price. I loved that bedding so much and wished that I had purchased the twin-sized quilts too (of course, that never would have happened because I think that PB is expen$ive and I bought the crib quilt and bumpers on clearance and they were already out of the twin-sized quilts).

I have a lot of things to take the Goodwill on Monday (the Goodwill trailer behind Safeway fills up on the weekend so I will just wait until Monday when they bring a new trailer). Our garage will look more like a garage than a storage unit.

As I mentioned, the rain is back. It has been pouring all day long and it is cold. I think we'll have to turn on the furnace in a few days as the temperatures are supposed to keep dropping. Brrrr!

I just re-read my post from yesterday and I have a typo (not should read now) plus an unfinished sentence. Man, it was just a bad day.

Today was day 1 of the garage sale. I am STUNNED that people dicker over stuff that costs 25 cents. Seriously, T and I price our stuff very inexpensively (we've been told our prices are too low) and yet people still ask for free stuff (or to knock money off). I can understand bartering for things that cost more than a few dollars or if you buy many things that comes to $5.50 and asking if you can get it for $5 (sure!). But to want to buy three 25 cent items for only 25 cents. C'mon!

I managed to get rid of two old dressers that would otherwise have meant a trip to the dump. T sold a lot of her furniture that she brought over plus a lot of kids' clothes. She was re-folding an old skirt of her dd's and felt a lump in the pocket. She reached in and found $16! Good thing she had not yet sold the skirt. Also, in a bag of "old toys", she found a brand-new Webkinz of her dd's. She figures her dd was playing with it in the basement and left it there then it was shoved in a bag with the old toys. Boy, someone really could have scored at our sale!

Day 2 tomorrow.

Today was a super busy day and I am still feeling completely stressed out about the garage sale. I have priced most things (except for clothes) but the rest of the stuff I cannot do until tomorrow morning (move bikes out of garage and start putting out stuff for sale). My friend, T, with whom I always have the sale, has tons more stuff than usual so our garage is jammed packed. I will be happy to see it all out (and sold!).

I still have to make signs for the sale and should be doing that and out putting them up but I am super stressed and am at a point where I had to walk away from it.

The stress is not just from the garage sale (this is just the immediate stress). I have a laundry list of things that are making my mind churn:

1) Dex tics - no, I have not yet called the neurologist. I figure there is no rush because we won't get in for 8 weeks anyway and the tics will be long gone by then anyway
2) I am about to fall off the roof and when I do, I am to call my GYN and schedule the surgery to remove the endometriosis that is seeping out my c-section incision. Except now I am terrified that I am going to die on the operating table. Or worse - end up with a hysterectomy. Why I think that is worse, I don't know. I am not thinking of putting off the surgery until January because
3) My mother bugs me every other day to find out when my surgery is going to happen because she wants to make sure we trek up to Vancouver to see her when she is there watching Lola but
4) Stephen's passport expires in November and it needs to be renewed (and returned) to us by mid-November because we are going to a hockey game in Vancouver so we either renew now and possibly not have it in time for my mom's visit or renew it after that and not have it in time for the hockey game. And yes, I know we've let it late and typically they can be renewed within 2 weeks but it would be just my luck...
5) I have been so weepy lately. I cry at everything and even cried today at MOPS. I would like to think that no one noticed but I am sure people did. To be fair, it was God's love and compassion that drew the tears today but once they started it was almost impossible to stop them. I am just glad that I did not blubber like an idiot. Just lots of tears.
6) I blurted out to my guitar teacher that I was having a shitty week and I almost burst into tears again (this was after MOPS). He told me that he was a trained counselor (as well as a recording artist) and started talking a bit about it and I am now sooooo embarrassed!

I am so looking forward to next week.

So I am having a garage sale this weekend and am so ill-prepared. I have everything in the garage but nothing is priced or sorted. I also need to put an ad on Craigslist and make signs. Ugh! I had planned to do the signs tonight but something happened today (a friend lied to me and my kids and just putting out the fires from the fall-out).

And tomorrow is the first MOPS meeting of the year then I have my guitar lesson (I only practiced 4 times this week!). Then tomorrow night is Curriculum night at school (from 6-8:30!!). Aargh!

I don't really want to say this out loud because then I am am admitting what I have been trying to ignore for a few days now...

Dex's tics are back.

I guess Zyrtec was not to blame. It was almost exactly six months since he exhibited any head-shaking. I guess it is time to call the neurologist again as he wanted to know if they came back if Dex were not on Zyrtec (and I was so confident that we would never need to call him again since there was no way I was ever giving my kids that poison again).

*sigh*

Stop the Bus!

Good lesson for my kids today. A little girl got off the bus at their stop. She looked lost and she was! She was supposed to get off at the previous stop but the driver drove off before she got to the front of the bus (I think a lot of kids get on/off that stop as it is beside an apartment complex). She decided to get off at our stop then because it was the next one. But then she did not know how to get home. I had her call her mom on my cell phone (her mother apparently does not meet the bus). Then I walked her home (via my neighbour's backyard as she has a gate that opens to the church property that is between my next-door neighbour's yard and the apartment complex. Anyway, we met up with her mom and then I took my kids home.

I never, ever, ever considered what might happen if my kids missed their stop. I guess because I am virtually always there (twice I was on my way to the stop when the bus arrived). Also, Jax and Des rode together last year and this year all three of them ride together. But, there might be a day when they have to travel on the bus by themselves. They now know the plan which is to stay on the bus and tell the driver so s/he can either bring them back to our stop or take the kids back to the school and I will pick them up there.

And I hope that the mom of that girl meets her dd at the bus stop from now on. The girl told me that she just walks to her apartment after she gets off the bus. Maybe I am waaay overprotective but I think meeting the kids at the bus is probably a good idea.

We heard from Stephen's cousin today. She lives, well, lived, in Galveston, TX. She believes that she has lost all three of her homes (two rental homes supply her income). She wrote that she hopes to get back home very soon to see if there is anything that she can salvage.

I worry about my friends who live in the Houston-area. I know that Robin evacuated but I hope her home is ok. Pley, MissFish and Tabitha - are you guys ok?

edited: Doh! Just realized that Tabitha is not in Houston...still hope you are ok though!

I spent the day rummaging through the garage. I am going to have a garage sale next weekend. Since we put our house on the market and moved rather quickly last year, we just packed up all this junk rather than spend the time sifthing through it. It is now time to get rid of it. My garage is a spider haven but I do not have the same fear of them there as I do in the house.

Stephen and I went to the movies tonight. We saw Tropic Thunder. It was very funny and I will even mention that Tom Cruise did not make me gag like he normally does. I actually did not even know that he was in the movie and would not have gone to see it if I had known. Anyway, I am still boycotting his movies but since he was a minor character, I guess this does not count as a "Tom Cruise" movie.

I started guitar lessons today! Finally! I am so excited even though my first lesson consisted of learning the parts of the guitar, learning how to hold a pick and practicing moving the fingers on my left hand up and down. Next week, I am going to learn how to re-string my guitar. This is great!

Book club was this evening and I took Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! They were so good! I am definitely going to make them again.

And I feel as though I should write something profound and thought-provoking about 9/11 but all I have to say is thanks to my friend Jill, who was pregnant at the time, for naming her dd Hope when she was born. Hope gave me hope and whenever I despair about the state of the world, I think of Hope. Jill (and Hope) also helped me make the decision about having a third child and really there are not enough words in the world to thank them for that.

Jill and Hope will forever be in my hearts when I look at my baby. Even when he is a man and I sneak into his house to rock him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. ;)

The driver is trained to administer epi pens so onto the bus the kids went this morning! Hurray! Of course, I then jumped in my car drove to the school to spy on the kids to ensure that when their bus arrived, Jax and Dex would walk Cars to his classroom lineup outside and wait with him until there were a few other kids there. They did a great job!

I went home and read the newspaper, had a cuppa tea, went to the club to work out and stopped at Target on the way home to buy my oldest some DEODORANT! He suddenly has become so stinky. I noticed yesterday after school. He says that he has noticed that his armpits smell a bit after he plays wall-ball. I bought him some Tom's of Maine Deodorant (unscented) because I did not want him to start using antiperspirant yet. Anyway, we'll see how he smells tomorrow after P.E. Oh, and OMG my baby is growing up!

Oh and speaking of my baby...I read "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch (good Canadian author) to Cars tonight. You know the one with the song in it:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be

Ok, so my cousin gave me a copy of the book just after I was married and wrote that she hoped one day I would have kids and that I would love the book. This book totally creeped me out! What kind of psycho mother would drive across town, break into her son's house and rock a grown man while he slept? The creepiness of the book was reaffirmed in my mind when, on a visit home, my MIL told me that it was one of her very favourite books. ICK! Typical "mother of boys", I thought. That will so NOT be me. No way.

So, I think over the years I have read this book to my kids exactly twice. Once to Jax and once to Dex and so I thought, to be fair, I will read it to Cars before I get rid of it (garage sale next week). I cracked the book open (it is virtually brand-new although I've had it for 13 years) and started to read. By the time I got to the page about how the little boy grew and he grew and he grew and then he was a teenager, I could feel the tightness in my throat. Then I even teared up when the mom drove across town (still friggin creepy!). However, the waterworks started when the mom calls the son to say that she is old and sick and he has to come see her. I was almost sobbing! Poor Cars was looking at me and then he put his hand on my arm. I could barely finish the book. I closed it and said "I don't like this book" (but now for a very different reason) and he said "I don't either. I don't want to read it again". (ok, I am all choked up just writing about this!).

So, I still don't like it. However, I will admit that it is less creepy than I used to think. Who knew it could make me cry? And, I have put it back on the bookshelf. It will not be going to the garage sale.

Today we went here:

From Fall'08

And we sat in the "peanut controlled" section that was cordoned off:

From Fall'08

And although the seats were up really, really high (I used a 3x zoom in this shot):

From Fall'08

We all had a fantastic time! Thanks to the Mariners for providing two small sections for people with severe peanut allergies to safely attend a game! They rock!

From Fall'08

My plans for the day were scrapped when Dex woke up sick. He has a bad cold/virus, he has a fever and he is miserable. I spent the day telling him to blow his nose. I did not do any of the things on my to-do list such as go to the gym, go to the post office or pick up some books that are on hold at the library.

And since he has a fever, I really should not send him to school tomorrow...unless his fever breaks in the night and he feels ok then perhaps he should go. Ok, we'll see.

Cars: [while watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark"] Some people call him "Dr. Jones" instead of Indiana Jones. Why do they do that?
Me: Indy is a professor at a university and went to school for a long time to get a degree called a doctorate so people can call him Dr. Jones instead of Mr. Jones.
Cars: Oh.
Me: You know your dad went to school for a really long time too and he can be called Dr. Pez instead of Mr. Pez.
Cars: I'm just going to call him Daddy.

Well, we survived the first week of school. The bus driver is not trained to use an epi pen yet so we are still driving back and forth to school. I don't mind so much as I can chat and get caught up with some of the other parents.

I spent the day cleaning my house. My plan was to start at the top and work my way down, leaving the kitchen for last. I cleaned all of the bedrooms and two upstairs bathrooms, vacuumed and dusted the living/dining rooms, ironed a table cloth and put it on the dining room table, did three loads of washing and dusted 3/4 of the family room until I saw a HUMONGOUS, GARGANTUAN, MAMMOTH spider. It was HUGE! I started to shake a little bit and left the room. I kept running up the steps to the kitchen and trying to think "Ok, Spy and Ash will be here in...too many hours to wait to have them kill the spider" then running back down to make sure it has not disappeared. Then I would run back to the kitchen and think "Can I justify calling Stephen to come home to help?" and "I wonder if Spider-Killer Old Neighbour up the street is home" then back again to make sure the spider had not moved. It was HUGE!

I finally decided I had to bite the bullet and expose my irrational fear to one of my current neighbours and ask if they could help. I peeked out the dining room windows and saw that the new neighbour was home (at least his van was in the driveway) so I snuck back down and through the family room, into the laundry room where I slipped on my shoes and out through the garage. As I was walking up the driveway, I noticed that my other neighbour was home and out the front of her house so I went over and shouted "ARE YOU AFRAID OF SPIDERS?!" She was not so she came over and squished the beast for me (not without a bit of a chase - these monsters are FAST!). ~shudder~

Then, she took the corpse outside and proceeded to tell me that it was a hobo spider and they sometimes chase people. OMFG. I did not need to hear that. Even if it is not true, I did not need to hear that.

Now I will be walking around, jumping at every little piece of something that I see on the floor. I will probably not enter the Lego room without shoes on for the next month or so. Geez, I hate spiders.

15

Today, I have been married for 15 years. Stephen and I went out for a nice steak dinner. We chatted some which is something we do not do nearly enough.

September 4, 1993
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

From MoreMisc

I am not exactly sure the date of this photo but I believe it is Summer 1987. Look how adoringly Stephen used to gaze at me (though, it could have been the beer... and yes that is me when I was thin).

From MoreMisc

First Day of School Part II

Good thing that we are not taking the bus because we would have missed it this morning. The driver came five minutes early. I will have to make note of that once he is Epi Pen trained and the kids get to ride.

So, Cars' first day of school went well. I showed Jax and Dex where Cars lines up and made them swear on their skateboards that every single day they would ensure that he gets into line after getting off the bus. Cars was very, very quiet today which made me think that he was nervous. When the first bell rang, the teacher came out and promptly handed each parent a piece of paper with a poem on it that I could not read because I suddenly had tears in my eyes. They filed in and Cars did not look back. I walked quickly to my car and burst into tears. Wow - that was unexpected. I mean of course I am sad that he is in kindergarten and won't be with me all day or for half days but I have been so looking forward to this "me time" (or vacation as I have also been calling it) that I really did not think twice about being that sad. Yet there I was, crying in my car as I drove home.

Also, I am not nearly as terrified of his allergies at school as I was of Jax's when he started kindergarten. I guess because Cars is not allergic to peanuts and I don't imagine any kid will bring in walnut butter or pecan butter (I don't even think anybody even makes that). So no little smears of deathly butter to worry about. I have confidence that his nut allergy will be a non-issue at school. He will not eat snacks that others bring in (he has his own "safe snack" box at school for birthday celebrations).

And as for Jax's 504 Plan, the letter went home today. I sent a note to the principal and school nurse and they found out that the teacher did not put it in the packet as she thought it would get more attention going home with her regular communications on Friday. I can understand her reasoning but the point of it is to alert the parents of the allergy ASAP and hopefully any of them with a heart will not send in pb with their kids. Of course the kid sitting next to Jax today had a pb sandwich. Jax seemed to take it in stride (the kid did not tell him until after he ate it) but we'll see if that sets him back a bit on his anxiety level.

Dex is just as easy-going as usual and he is happy that a lot of his good friends are in his class again this year. He is striving to be the class clown and I have already lectured him about it. *sigh*

Here are some photos from the past two days:

From Fall'08

From Fall'08

From Fall'08

First Day of School Part I

Jax and Dex started school today. We walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus to show up. It arrived with a new bus driver who has not been trained to use an Epi Pen so back home we went and hopped in the car so I could drive the kids to school. I met them at the park after school today and will continue to do so this week until the driver is trained (hopefully by the end of this week).

Cars starts tomorrow and I am so happy. I am happy that he is going to school and happy for him because he is so excited! However, I did get choked up tonight and I now know that I am going to bawl tomorrow. I don't want to let him see me cry though so hopefully I won't cry until after he has gone into the school.

One disappointing thing about today is that Jax's 504 Plan was violated(Stephen is mad that I am using that word but that is what it is). The violation was that no note was sent home in the first day packet stating that there is a kid in Jax's class with a life-threatening allergy. I cannot believe it! I mean, it is in his 504 Plan, we covered it at the meeting last week with his teacher and the school nurse. Sh!t! I called three other parents in Jax's class to make sure it was not just our packet that was missing the letter but no. I have sent a note to the principal and nurse (there is a new school counselor but I am not 100% sure that she is the 504 coordinator so I did not copy her) asking what happened and when will it be rectified. I hope that there is one in Cars' first day packet or I think I will lose it. Incidentally, there was one in Dex's packet as there is a kid in his class with a peanut allergy so I know that the letter was at least published for this year (standard form letter written by the district and signed by the principal). *sigh*

Back to the Grind

Well, for Jax and Dex. Kindergarten is on a staggered start so Cars starts tomorrow. I had to drive the kids today because we have a new bus driver who has not been trained to use an Epi Pen. He should be trained by the end of the week though.

I am not looking forward to the deluge of paper that will be coming home today (and tomorrow). Every year I try to keep myself organized but to no avail. Last year, I bought a bulletin board to keep important papers on but I would end up pinning up note on top of other notes and losing track. I am going to try the binder method again this year (it failed for me a couple of years ago but maybe this time...).

I filled up safe snack boxes for Jax and Cars to keep in their classrooms. They will eat from them when other kids bring in birthday snacks. We stocked up on the snacks in Vancouver. We went for an overnight trip this weekend (I will spare you the details of the 45 minute border wait one way and the 2 hour wait the other) and bought $100 worth of snack items - all peanut/nut-free and made in peanut/nut-free facilities (thanksDare)!

It was great seeing Lola this weekend too. She is so sweet and so funny. She seems to really like her cousins. Here she is with a chop stick "helping" Dex with his game.

Summer O'Fun 2008 - The End

Today was the last Summer O'Fun Day. I had a meeting with Cars' teacher so Ash watched my kids at the park as her kids were just finishing up soccer camp there. The boys had a grand time whipping around the park paths on their scooters. However, the park is getting smaller as they are getting bigger. I cannot see the older two wanting to hang out there after school much longer (well, we just do it on Wednesdays).

This afternoon, we worked on Clone Trooper masks. I had made one for Jax back in October but he decided to turn the mask into a "Commander" (he drew lines on the mask with a blue highlighter). Of course Dex decided he now needed a mask so I made one from him (luckily we had a white box because I was not hauling out the paint). He then made him an orange Commander. Cars, who received an actual Clone Trooper Helmet for his birthday decided that he needed a cardboard mask too so we made a third one (green). They then played outside with them for almost an hour. I guess it wasn't too much bother afterall. :)

I woke up this morning with a bad, bad migraine. Visual disturbance, nausea and pain! It was a very slow day for me until it finally went away.

I had a meeting with Jax's teacher and the school nurse. The nurse was 15 minutes late so the teacher and I chatted for a bit. She seems really, nice and afterwards, I heard so many nice things about her from other people. Jax told me he was so happy that she is his teacher.

Dex's has the same teacher Jax had in grade 3 so I am delighted with that. I think she is a terrific teacher. I was told that the class was going to be a 2/3 split but it turns out another teacher has that 2/3 split so this is perfect!

Cars' teacher seems really nice. I think this is her 3rd year teaching. They are doing a staggered start so he won't get to go the first day of school which is a bit of a bummer for him.

After we met the teachers and looked around the classrooms, Cars had an appointment for his shots. He was soooo brave as they gave him four shots. Somewhere in my ppd days I overlooked the request for him to get Prevnar so he has been given those all this time. :\

Anyway, so after all that we are all set for school for next week. Well, I have a few more supplies (still reams and reams of paper to buy) and Jax needs new runners. We may take a day trip to Vancouver too. Stephen seemed to think I might go by myself so maybe I will and take his fast car! ;)

Summer O'Fun Day ?? ++ (2008)

We had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge. There are 11 of the Lodges around so if there is one near you, I highly recommend it! They say you cannot check-in until 4pm but may arrive at 1pm. We arrived at 1 and our room was already ready so we checked in and were in the waterpark before 2pm. There are some great slides and not huge lines since only the guests of the hotel can use the park. They use a ton of chlorine (understandable, especially since we saw POO in the kiddie pool before they promptly closed it to treat it -ick!) so my skin is super dry and I don't know how long it will take to shampoo it out of my hair.

Anyway, we stayed in the waterpark until about 7:30pm then went and put our name in to wait for dinner at one of the restaurants (we avoided the buffet due to cross-contamination concerns with peanuts/nuts). We went to our room, changed and were back down just as our table was ready. There are a lot of things for the kids to do but my kids were completely exhausted from the waterpark so they did not even grouse too much to play in the arcade or do the magic wand thing. Holy cow that is expen$ive ($25/kid plus more if they want to fancy-up their wand). I could see perhaps doing it if we were there a few days but not for a one night trip. We were there for the waterpark!

So, we were back at the park shortly after 10 this morning and stayed until 1pm (you can actually stay right until closing time - 10pm). We changed and drove home. I arrived home to a message from the school letting me know that Cars is "out of compliance" on his immunizations and cannot start school next week unless it is corrected. OMG! I have been running around getting epi pens, arranging meetings with teachers, stocking up on Benadryl, getting school supplies, etc. Everything I need to do but I forgot to schedule his 5 year wellness check appointment with the doctor to get him his 5 year old shots! Boy, do I feel stupid! I called the doctor's office in a panic and they can squeeze him in tomorrow for his shots at 2:40 (right during the Meet'n'Greet, of course) and we've scheduled his wellness check for October since his doctor is on a sabbatical.

So for tomorrow, I have a meeting with Jax's teacher to review his 504 Plan (and no babysitter they will just sit in the hall with their Nintendo DS's, I guess), then the Meet'n'Greet, run ot the doctor's office for Cars' shots, run back to the school (if it is before 3:30) and hand in proof of his up-to-date immunizations). Friday, I have a meeting with Cars' teacher (to go over the 504 Plan) at noon. Ash will be picking her kids up from soccer camp at the park behind the school at the same time so she will watch my kids there for me.

And on the long weekend before school starts, we need to buy some clothes for the kids and hopefully squeeze in a (quick) trip to Vancouver. Go! Go! Go!

Summer o'Fun Day ??+1 (2008)

Stephen has taken the next two days off and we are taking the kids for some real end-of-summer fun. Perfect considering the weather is too cool for summer.

Summer o'Fun Day?? 2008

I think I screwed up the days last week so now I really haven't any idea what actual Day of Summer Fun it is...oh well!

Today it felt more like Fall than summer. Jax had a birthday party to go to so we dropped him off while Dex and Cars and I took care of some business - renewing Epi Pen prescriptions and buying Benadryl. Oh, and more school supplies (two bottles of Purell).

It was cold and wet most of the day so we just hung out until after our trip to the drug store.

Oh, and while admiring my bookshelf, I noticed another book that is personally signed to me. It is The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari. I had forgotten about it. He is a friend of one of our book club members and came to our September 2007 book club meeting. I missed the meeting due to 1) migraine from stress of 2) putting an offer in our this house. Ash was kind enough to take my book with her and have it signed. I enjoyed the book and would have liked to have met the author.

So at IKEA yesterday, I also bought three new dressers for the boys. Cars' dresser was still the baby change table/dresser combo that we bought before Jax was born. It served its purpose well through three children but it is time to move on.

Both Jax and Dex had dressers that were originally from IKEA but were very cheap. They had plastic slides which broken many times and the drawers were not that deep so it was hard cramming all of their clothes into them.

The dressers we bought from IKEA yesterday are the MALM dressers. OMG! Those dressers are $30 cheaper online than they are at the Seattle IKEA! WHAT?! And I bought three of them! Looks like the shipping rates are high though. I cannot believe it!

~settle down~

Ok, anyway, so we bought three of those dressers. Stephen put them together today and the kids and I went through all of their clothes. It took hours! I now have two garbage bags full of clothes to go to Goodwill and another bag of "good stuff" to sell at a garage sale (yes, I am planning another one). Also, I now have a huge checklist of things to buy for the kids. Jax apparently now only has three pair of underwear, Dex has no socks and Cars needs long-sleeved shirts. All of the clothes they have fit nicely into the new dressers with room to grow.

Ok, I am still irritated about the price of those dressers, besides the shipping rates. The Seattle IKEA catalogue also lists the price at $159. Here I thought I got a great price (they were $169 last year!) but now I feel as though I were robbed. Hrmph!

Now I've put them in my shopping cart and the total shipping is $281.44 (not including taxes). So, I feel better now. ~whew~ I also checked the bookcase I bought (same price) but the shelves are $0.50 cheaper online (not counting shipping). A few other things are cheaper. Is everything more expen$ive at the Seattle IKEA?!

See this box?



It was a moving box from our move from Minneapolis to the Seattle-area in 1999. The reason it was never unpacked was because it was full of books.



Books and book shelves have been a point of contention in our marriage since um, we were married. Stephen reads books then gets rid of them. He does not understand why people would keep books unless it was a dictionary but even that is moot, in his opinion, as these days one can use an online dictionary.

I, on the other hand, love books. Love them! I was a varicious reader most of my life. As a child, I would sneak flashlights into my bed or lie in bed with my head at the foot of the bed to get the light from the hall so I could read well past my bedtime. As an adult, I would read on the train, subway, bus. I would read while walking from the train, subway, bus to my building and right up to my desk.

I also believe that if a book is really good, it is worth keeping to be read again and again. I had a fine collection of books that I kept in boxes as Stephen really did not like book shelves. He thinks they look messy and sloppy. So my books stayed in little piles under our bed.

When we moved here from Minneapolis, I whittled down my books to just one box. That box. For the eight years we lived in the other house, that box remained mostly untouched in a corner of the master bedroom closet. When we bought this house, I did go through it and squeezed in a few more books. Oh, and this box did not represent all of my books. I did have some piled under our bed.

Anyway, I decided that I wanted a bookshelf for my books and when I was at IKEA last week, I saw this tall, narrow bookcase and I knew it would fit perfectly in the corner of our bedroom, in a location that Stephen would not necessarily have to see it all the time (for instance, when he was lying in bed watching tv, it would not be in his line of vision).

So, today, I went back to IKEA and bought it and he assembled it and stuck it in the corner. I bought out my box of books and gathered the others that I had in piles under my bed and started going through them.

I must admit that there are a couple that I really don't think I need anymore but I just cannot get rid of. For instance, "The Mom-To-Mom Guide to the Baby Years" published in 2002 and updated in 2005 (with a new title). Of course I am keeping them because I am a "contributing editor".




My collection also includes two books that are personally autographed to me by the authors. One is OS/2 Warp - Administrator's Survival Guide (out of print of course - I mean who among you have even heard of OS/2 besides former IBMers and anyone who was in IT in the 90's). I worked closely with one of the authors back in my old life as an "Engineer - Financial Technologies" (I also found a stash of my old business cards in that box).


The other one that is personally autographed is The about. com Guide to Owning a Dog: From Sit and Stay to Positive Play--A Complete Canine Manual:

Even though Krista is no longer the About Guide, I hope she still gets money if anyone buys this book. If not, don't buy it! Ok, let me check on that and get back to you...

Ok, so here is my bookshelf. I need to buy more shelves (they are $8 a piece!) next time I go to IKEA as clearly I have more books than I realized.

Summer o'Fun Day 50 (2008)

It was the last day of skateboard camp. Jax and Dex had such a great time and I am glad that they went.

The week has been a little rough on Cars. He has felt left out. It was unfortunate that this week was not a good week to arrange for playdates do to his friends' schedules so basically he got to spend a lot of time riding in the car with me and having temper tantrums in Target. :(

Next week we have a special end-of-summer activity planned for the kids. I hope they like it!

Tonight, I went to a friend's 40th Birthday celebration. It was a cocktail party (no kids allowed). Of course we had no babysitter so I went without Stephen. Nanny does not babysit on Friday's anymore as she takes a dance class that night and I had given Katie's name to our new next-door neighbours who were desperate to find a sitter for this weekend as they have a few things to go to. Of course two days after they booked Katie, I received the invitation to this party. Aargh! Anyway, she is going away to college in mid-September too so our babysitter situation is at crisis level. Not that we even really go out much but it would be nice to have a few on the line for the odd times that we do go out. I must work on that...

Summer o'Fun Day 49 (2008)

Skateboard camp is wearing me out. All of this driving in rush hour traffic. Ugh. I usually drive 100-150 miles per week and now I am driving about 80 miles each day. However, the boys are still having a great time at it though and have learned how to ollie, tic tac, pump and manual (I think I know what it all means) so it is all worth it.

I also found out that there is another indoor skatepark not too far from here (but on a much smaller scale) and that place offers skateboard lessons. I am going to look into it for them.

We played Snorta tonight and it was hilarious watching Cars try to remember the sounds. This is such a fun game to play with the kids (even though Jax and Dex say their animal's sounds are "Cheesy BK Fries" or "Bob". Oh wait, Bob was Cars' snake sound. Oh yeah, Dex's Jax's animal was "Big Mac". Stephen lost the game (and honestly, he wasn't just letting the kids win). We hadn't played the game in ages. We'll have to bring it out more often.

Summer O'Fun Day 48 (2008)

Why are my kids wearing mouthguards? Because Gav fell today at the skateboard camp and broke off one of his front teeth. I am sure my kids will hate me for this but I insist that they wear them at least while I am in the building with them while they are at skateboard camp. Especially Jax since he has had a lot of "worry thoughts" concerning his teeth in the past month or so. I am surprised that he did not freak out about Gav's tooth.

And poor Gav. The dentist said the nerve is not exposed and they cannot get him in to have it repaired until Monday. His tooth kind of looks like this now. Ash took it all in stride and I am just glad that she was the one who picked up the kids from camp today and not me. It happened not long before she arrived. He lost his balance and fell on his face.

At the beginning of the summer, I was chatting with a woman I know who started back to school to become a dentist. She asked me how I liked my new house and I told her the kids loved being able to scooter and skateboard on the cul-de-sac. She told me to make sure that they wore mouthguards and I laughed it off. No more!

I hope they aren't laughed off the half-pipe...

Summer o'Fun Day 47 (2008)

Ok, a much better day today. :)

The older boys had skateboard camp again today (they have it all week). I drove all of the kids there then Cars and I went to IKEA. He went into the play place there while I shopped. It was nice to have that hour to myself, wandering around, imagining fancy new kitchen cabinets in my house and looking for a mudroom solution.

After tonight, we have a three week repreive from Jax's therapy appointments (various conflicts). I am looking forward to having the time off.

Summer O'Fun Day 46 (2008)

Jax and Dex went to their skateboard camp today and appeared to have a great time. Ash's kids went too - we carpooled there this morning and I picked all of the kids up this afternoon. Boy, was my car stinky from all the smelly, sweaty kids!

Now they are all here while we wait for Ash's dh to pick them up. The have been SCREAMING. Yes, screaming. I gave them two warnings before I hauled Cars out and put him in time out. The third time I heard screaming I separated everyone. Jax is in his room reading, Cars in his room reading, Gav is reading in the living room, Kins is reading in the family room and Dex is reading in the Lego Room. It is blissfully quiet at the moment.

Why on earth do kids think it is ok to SCREAM. I don't just mean holler or yell but they were screaming. Even after I told them they must not do it. Normally, my kids do not scream in the house because they know it is not allowed. I do know that the last scream that I heard was not from any of my kids but since they were all given fair warning they should all lose the same privilege (no more making videos - they were dancing around to "Paradise City" in costumes and recording it).

*sigh*

Now, I have the timer on for another two minutes at which time I will tell them they can go play quietly in the Lego room or watch a movie (of my choice) on tv. I hate being the mean mom (or friend's mean mom). Aargh!

More hot weather so we did what every one seems to do when it is really hot - we went to see a movie! We took the kids to see Star Wars Clone Wars which opened up yesterday. They loved it, of course.

Afterwards, we drove to the club and were one of a billion groups of people in the swimming pools. But at least we were cool. We left there about 5:30 and headed to Safeway to buy a pre-cooked turkey breast for dinner because there was no way we were turning on the oven, the stove or the grill.

Now I am sitting outside trying to catch a breeze but the air is almost completely still. I am even too hot to get up and water the raspberries or the garden.

Dex and Cars slept in our room last night - the room with the air conditioner. Jax slept over at Gav's. Tonight, I think they will all be in our room.

So, we were supposed to go on a beach vacation this summer. We were a day or two away from booking it (had a tentative booking at a condo in Maui but were waiting to finalize flights) when Stephen's car blew up. He said he could only concentrate on one thing at a time so all of his efforts went into deciding which car, getting the best deal, etc. During this time, his parents were visiting and next thing I knew, our beach vacation was but a distant dream. I am terribly disappointed. The thing is, it is not like we had not budgeted for it. The money for the car did not come from the vacation funds. Stephen then got busy again with work and then all these summer stuff started and here we are, nearing the end of summer, no vacation and one disappointed Pez. Stephen has mentioned a couple of times about a quick trip to Disneyland or Legoland but I do not want to go to either of those places. I want a nice relaxing restful trip where I am not running around to wait in long lines.

Anyway, we are heading into a busy time for work for Stephen so no vacation this year. Thankfully this summer has been good weather-wise. Even the cool spell in July, which of course I complained about, wasn't as long as it has been in past years.

I am thinking I just might take myself on vacation for a few days. Ramona said "Come to Toronto" but I don't want to go there. If I go, I will feel obligated to spend my time with my mother and honestly, I have spent nearly every single vacation for the past 15 years visiting her (the one exception was our trip to Florida nearly 5 years ago). I briefly thought about going for a few days and not telling her but I could not do that. My mom lives 10 minutes from Ramona. I could NOT not tell her I was there (assuming I would stay with Ramona). But even if I stayed at a downtown hotel, I could not do it.

Anyway, the Pez Only vacation will no doubt have to wait. Or will slide away like the Pez family vacation did. :(

Summer o'Fun Day 41 (2008)

It was stinking hot today! We went to the beach and for the first time in ages (years!), I went into the water. I mean more than just past my knees. This lake is sometimes pretty chilly and I hate getting my hair wet in lake water (ick!). But, it was beyond hot as we were sitting there so Spy, Ash and I took the boys' floaties out and floated around the swim area for about half an hour. The cool lake water was very refreshing. Did I mention it was hot? It seems to me that I had never been so hot! I see that it hit 96 degrees in our city but only 90 in Seattle so that is the official high temperature for the day. Tomorrow we are expecting even more heat. I am not complaining, at all! Especially with the bone-chlling winter and spring that we had. I just dream of winning the lottery and installing central air conditioning.

As I am sitting here typing, I am noticing some scabs I have on the back of my knuckles. I got them from trying to install the bike rack on the car the other day -I was trying to get the rack back off after I had wedged it on and my hand slipped and hit the windshield wiper on the back window (this right about the time I started to cry!). Anyway, last night when I was shopping before our book club outing, I stopped in Claire's because apparently I think I am a teenager (I was carded on the weekend, afterall!). Seriously, I decided I *needed* to buy a black bangle bracelet. I tried to try on every black bangle bracelet in Claire's but I could not get them over my knuckles. The clerk asked me if I needed help and I just said that I was looking for a black bangle but I was having a hard time getting them on. She looked at my hands, noticed my huge, scabby knuckles and said "Whoa! Do you box? You have the hands of a boxer!" I could not tell if she were serious or not! I was so embarrassed, said no and rushed out of the store. Humilitated by the Claire's clerk! Ouch!

Summer O'Fun Day 40 (2008)

We took our annual trip to the locks today. The salmon run this year is supposed to be the biggest since sometime in the 1960's but I think we were a few days (or a week) early because the fish ladder was not teeming with fish as it has been during past visits.

After the visit to the locks (the kids were far less interested in watching the boats this year), we stopped at Archie McPhee's in the Ballard neighbourhood of Seattle. My kids love this junk store. I let them spend up to $20 (of their own money) and this is what they purchased (don't ask me why they bought these things):
Jax: Fake leg and a plastic shrunken head
Dex: Bacon V Tofu and a pack of Itty Bitty Devil Ducks
Cars: Cowboys V Indians plastic figures and pirate bandaids

Weird stuff. Half of the fun was picking out the items, I think.

Tonight, I went to book club. It was stinking hot in our house so I left early to get into some air conditioning. I ducked into the Black and White store (it has some other name but I don't know exactly what it is...oh, I looked it up - White House Black Market and bought a skirt (regularly $88) for $18! Then I went to Macy's and found a pair of Clarks wedge sandals for $16 (regularly $60). Then I sat in the little plaza (there was a nice breeze), wearing my new stuff (I dumped my jean skirt and wedge flip-flops in the car) listening to a band play while I waited for the 8pm reservation for our book club's annual summer outing.

I definitely had fun today. Still making up for yesterday. :)

Summer O'Fun Day 39 (2008)

Today was hard. The kids have had too much togetherness, I think. Bickering, fighting, screaming. Too much! It has worn me out.

I had a crying fit when I tried to get the 40 pound bike rack on the van. Our driveway slopes down to the house and the rack scrapes on the driveway when it is installed on the van so we must put it on/off on the road. After I hauled it up the driveway and hoisted it onto the hitch, I pushed it in too far and it got stuck so I could not put in the pin. I tried for about five minutes then the tears started. I finally had to call Stephen and he offered to come home to help. After we hung up, I gave it one more hard pull and got it off so I called him back and told him not to come home. I managed to get it back on and in the correct position while the kids watched in complete silence, staring at their mess of a mom.

After the tears, the boys' behaviour improved dramatically. We went swimming then picked up Subway subs for dinner and met some friends at a park in Redmond. The weather was just perfect and the park has a bunch of new playground equipment which suited the older kids. I am glad the day ended on such a high note.

Summer O'Fun Day 38 (2008)

I took the boys to the skateboard park today. They really love going and are practicing up for their skateboard camp next week. Well, Cars is just practicing on his scooter as he is too young to go to that camp.

Jax had his psychologist appointment tonight too. I am glad things are working for him but it is getting weary driving up there every week. It is a 30 mile return trip and none of it on major highways. At least I get a guaranteed 30-40 minutes of uninterrupted reading each week while he is in his session.

Summer O'Fun Day 37 (2008)

Today, we went golfing as a family for the first time ever. We went to the course where the boys take their lessons/classes and they are super flexible so we were able to golf as a five-some. Cars teed off then he'd putt but did not do a whole lot of golfing in the middle. It was still slow-going. It took us over three hours do golf 9 holes! Thank goodness the course was virtually deserted so we did not hold anyone up. Jax and Dex got a kick out of driving the golf carts too.

This was the first time I had played golf in over 10 years! I have been to the driving range from time to time but really the first time playing a round since Jax was just a few weeks old. Golf is so fun and frustrating at the same time. I totally sucked and had some wonderful shots and many more crappy shots. I lost two balls and got stuck in the sand trap and swore a blue streak in front of my kids. It was great fun!

It's Heavenly

Here's a quick review of my Heavenly Bed. It is definitely Heavenly! It has a pillow top which I was a bit unsure of - my last mattress, before it got too old, was very firm and hard - almost like the floor. I love firm mattresses!

That said, however, I always loved the soft, cushy feeling of the Westin Heavenly Beds when I would stay in a Westin (my brother used to work for Starwood so we could get us discounted rates and we stayed in the Westin in Florida as he was the general manager there). If you have ever stayed at a Westin, you will understand. A plush pillow-top mattress with a crisp fitted sheet, flat sheet, down blanket, down duvet and duvet covers. Also, the down pillows. So luxurious and, well, so heavenly. Therefore, when we finally figured that we needed to replace this bed, and I was able to get this bed at a discount via my connections, I went for it!

I wish I could have ordered the nice white bedding too but it was too expen$ive. I have a down duvet already anyway. The last two nights I slept better than I had in months, I think. In fact, I even had a long dream that I was sleeping on a mattress in the sky. What a cliché! But it is true!

Stephen says he still is "trying out" the bed and will reserve judgement about how heavenly it is. Part of it is that he was very reluctant to buy a bed without being able to lay down and try it out. And he was a huge fan of our old super-firm mattress. I told him that if he does hate this bed, in six months we can buy another and this one will be passed down to Jax (who complains that his bed is too hard but I love his mattress but it is only a full-size rather than queen size).

I have not been feeling well most of today and have spent a great deal of it lying in bed, reading the paper, my book, watching tv and surfing the net here on my new bed. Love it! And no backache which I would have with the other bed since it was so old and lumpy. My kids have fun flopping on this cushy bed too. Let's hope Stephen is as convinced as I am.

Why am I smiling?

Because tonight I got CARDED when I ordered a margarita! Whoo-hoo! I guess in the dim lights the grey streaks looked blonde. And the wrinkles were not visible, kind of like the soft-focus cameras they use on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Real Me vs Oprah Camera Me:


I told Stephen that the waitress probably thought I was out to dinner with my dad instead of the date that we were actually on since she did not ask HIM for ID. ;)

So yeah, we actually had a date. First one in what seems like ages. Nanny was available to sit for us (she is hard to get a hold of, mostly because she is busy and Ash has snatched her up during her free weekends!). We went to see "The Dark Knight". I really had no intentions of seeing this movie but Stephen would not go see "Mamma Mia" (I want to see it again) so we saw the Batman movie. It was good in that it actually had a story to it. It was definitely very dark and I appreciated that besides the huge explosions, there was no graphic violence - it was all off-screen. Definitely not a movie for kids.

After the movie (we went to the 6:30 show), we stopped at a restaurant for appetizers and a drink. That is when I got asked for ID! I must have reminded Stephen a dozen times that I got asked for ID!

Earlier today, we took the kids to Gameworks. Jax "earned" a trip there way back at the end of April with buying lunch and not asking a billion times if food had peanuts in it. Sad that just took them now. Anyway, they had a great time. I reminded him how proud he should be to have earned this trip and reminded his brothers how lucky they were that Jax earned it and they benefitted from it.

Oh, and did I mention that this evening I got carded?! ;)

Summer O'Fun Day 36 (2008)

Dex went on a boat today with one of his friends and the friend's dad. He had a blast flying around the lake, being towed on an inner tube.

While he was off having that fun, I took Jax and Cars to the skateboard park. It was nice and quiet there so Cars was able to scooter without being in anyone's way.

The best part of today though was that my Westin Heavenly Bed arrived. Ok, so it was the Heavenly Bed without all of the bedding but still cushy! I am hoping I have a heavenly night sleep tonight, especially as I have not been sleeping well at all lately. Either a lumpy bed or peri-menopause is to blame, I guess. Tonight will tell if it were the bed. :)

Summer O'Fun Day 35 (2008)

We went to the beach today. There was a lovely breeze blowing off the lake so it did not seem hot at all. There was a big group of moms nearby with all little kids (3 and under). I loved looking at the chubby legs on the kids but I so do not miss the craziness of being a parent to a toddler and watching their every move! One little girl (who was maybe just 2) decided she had too much sand in her bathing suit so she took it off and shook it out then then ran into the water. Another girl who looked about 2 and a half, went in the water and refused to come out. Her mom, who was not wearing a bathing suit, had to wade in after her. It was fun to watch. Are girls harder to handle than boys?!

The kids also wanted to walk out to the sand bar. We had to trudge along the trail through the steamy woods and watch out for prickles on the blackberry bushes (the berries are not ripe yet so no benefit to walking through them at this time of the year). Then we hiked through some mud out to this little point where the water is only about a foot deep along this huge sand bar. The kids love to go out and find flat rocks to skip. Of course after we hiked out there we saw this new sign (well, it may have been new last year as we only made it to the beach once, I think, and did not go out to the sand bar):



Oops! Well, they technically were not swimming, just wading, so I figured it was ok.

Summer O'Fun Day 34 (2008)

It was hot and humid today - ick! Reminded me of a Toronto (or Minneapolis) summer day. We even have a smog alert - so definitely more like Toronto.

I was no not motivated to do anything after I put in 10 minutes of weeding and was drenched in sweat. So the kids played hand-held video games for a couple of hours this morning. After lunch, the older boys had swimming lessons and Cars swam in the rec pool at the club.

The mom's club I belong to had a family picnic at a park so I took the boys (Stephen worked late) and they had a blast running around the park, eating pizza and drinking one can of pop each (then water). Fortunately, it had clouded over so while it was still hot, it would have been very uncomfortable with the sun beating down on us too. I had a good time catching up with the other moms. It is weird a bit too though because my kids are all so "old" and this coming year is the last year that I am eligible to be in this mom's club (you "graduate" once your youngest enters 1st grade). Jax was definitely the oldest kid there.

Lots of people asked me what I was going to do with all my time this year when Cars is in school and I told them I was going to be very selfish with my time and that this school year is all about me! The year of PEZ! ;) I have a few personal goals for the year that I have not yet accomplished (ok, pretty much most of them) but I will get to them. I promise!

Ok, off to bed. It is early but my bedroom is the only room in the house with an air conditioner!

Happy Birthday to Cars! (also SoF Day 33)

Cars is 5 years old today. I really cannot believe that it has been 5 years since he was born. He is such a big boy. He can write his name, read a few words, loves to draw, sing and play the drums in Rock Band (he still needs help with the foot pedal though). His favourite things in life are Star Wars and Indiana Jones action figures. He picks up every stick he finds and pretends it is a light sabre and he loves to wear the brown felt fedora around the house. He loves his brothers, his Sophie, his friends Col and Kins and cheese sticks.

He was impatient with me today when I started telling him about when he was a baby. He asked me to "Please stopping talking about babies!". It is funny because the other two love to listen to stories about what they were like when they were much younger and to their baby stories. Maybe Cars is still too close to babyhood? *sigh*

For his birthday today, he insisted that we go to the "fast-food Mexican place" (Acapulco Fresh) and for a Lazy Daisy cake. He decided that we were going swimming today at the club and since he was now 5, he could swim a length of the pool (with his floatie, but still a long way).

Here are some photos from today:
I'm 5

Opening the birthday card he insisted on making for himself.

With his "well-done" cake (oops!)

With one of his favourite presents (from his aunt J,uncle G and cousins)


Happy Birthday, Baby.

Summer O'Fun Day 32 (2008)

I had a day'o'fun. I hired a babysitter for four hours and I went for a pedicure, browsed in the craft store and bought more school supplies. It was nice to have time to myself.

When I got home, I set up the slip'n'slide for the kids since the hot weather has returned. Then I made a dinner that nobody liked. Well, it was sweet'n'sour pork over rice. Jax liked the pork and pineapples but not the green pepper or carrots. Dex liked the pork and the carrots but not the pineapple or green pepper. Cars liked nothing except for the side dish of raw sugar snap peas. Stephen was caught in a meeting so he did not eat dinner until about 8 (and he liked it all, thankfully or I think I would have cried).

After dinner, I took the kids to the skateboard park. The tone is definitely a lot different in the evening and the teens let the effinheimers fly frequently despite the "NO PROFANITY" signs posted. My kids had a great time - Cars is now actually scootering rather than running around with sticks and Jax and Dex are trying new things all of the time. They are really looking forward to skateboard camp in two weeks.

Today was Cars' birthday party. We had an Indiana Jones theme pool party. Here is the cake. He could not decide whether to have the "boulder" scene or the "fighting the bald German" scene so we did both:




And swimming:


And cake:


Cars had a great time at the pool and his friends had fun too. We decided not to open his gifts at the club but brought them home to open later. It really was a little nicer that way and gave the kids more playtime.

Anyway, his "real" birthday is in two more days. My baby will be *5*! I must be in complete denial though since I only took 4 candles with me to the party. Fortunately, there was an extra one in the party room.

Summer O'Fun Day 31 (2008)

I dropped a crap load of money at Co$tco today. It had been ages since I had stocked up on tp, paper towels, Bounce sheets, Oxyclean, etc. Plus, my membership was due so yike$! Plus we were out of ink for the printer. I usually go one of those places that refill your ink cartridges but I kept forgetting to take in the old cartridge so I decided to buy new today since I have been out of ink for over a week.

After the heart attack at the checkout, we came home, had lunch then went to the skateboard park. The kids love it there. Even Cars "graduated" to his two-wheeled scooter from the 4-wheeled one. It was crowded with lots of teenage boys who apparently do not know that ones pants are supposed to be pulled up over ones underwear. I swear I now know who wears boxers, who wears briefs and what brand they all are! Hopefully my kids will know enough to pull their pants UP when they are that age.

Dex with blue-underweared teen boy




Cars and Kins with black-underwear teen boy


And lastly, I need to show you my hostas. Ash was over on Wednesday night and we noticed that my hostas has been nibbled. Upon checking in "Sunset Western Landscaping", I found out that deer love hostas (why not - they have eaten the rest of my front garden!). On Wednesday night, I saw the motion-detector light go off so I looked out the window as a huge buck (4 or 5 point!) walked along my front path. Unfortunately, I did not get the camera in time to take a picture. I was in awe until today...when I saw my hostas!

About five measly leaves left! The deer have not eaten the buds to the flowers - maybe they will wait until they bloom at least. I am ticked! This plant was so lovely last week!