I have been a bad blogger lately! I have to admit what the problem is...Farm Town on Facebook. I spend way too much of my free time there. Gotta stop!

Last week, I took Dex and Cars to the dentist to have their cavities filled. Well, they just resealed Dex's teeth but Cars had a cavity between two teeth. What a nightmare trying to get it done. I was ready to say forget it and take him out of there and find a pediatric dentist who would put him out. I was tearing up because he was crying and so uncomfortable. Just awful! Hopefully things will be better when we go to the orthodontist next week.

We spent the end of the week getting ready for our annual 4th of July bbq. We had a great time. It was very hot so we had the slip'n'slide out for the kids but the water pressure from our hoses is not great so it was a bit of a bust. Especially when Dex tried to slide across it when it was not quite wet enough and his body stuck to the mat and his face banged onto the ground. He ended up with a bloody nose. He told me today that once he stopped bleeding and his nose stopped hurting, he thought it was pretty funny and wished that someone had taped it for "AFV".

After the party, we all walked up to the Commons (city centre) for the fireworks show. It was a great show and the moon was full which made a great back-drop for the fireworks.

Before the party, I called my MIL to ask her to interpret the potato salad recipe that Stephen had scrawled down once upon a time. When she answered the phone I asked her how she was and she said "*sigh* ok I guess". Oh. "What's new?" I asked and she started complaining about the weather (rightfully so - terrible weather in Toronto). We chatted for a bit, I got the info for the salad, etc then Stephen came home so I passed the phone to him. She told him that they had booked their flight to come visit us and that she and FIL were going to France in September.

I was pissed. Why could she not tell ME that stuff? I don't get it. She is always like that. When her brother was ill and they thought he might have stomach cancer she called and we chatted about the weather and different things for about 20 minutes before Stephen got on the phone and she told him about her brother. Same when her sister died. Etc. I am really angry about this. And I guess I am hurt else I would not feel angry. I have known this woman for 23 years yet she still treats me like an outsider or at the very least, definitely not family.

I know that if I mention something to Stephen he will say "Oh, that's just the way she is". Fuck that. Well, just the way I am, I am not going to call her again to let her know what is up with us. She can find out from Stephen.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 8

We met Spy and her kids at the park today for lunch and then I brought all of the boys back here for a couple of hours. They played SuperSoaker, "swam" in the hot tub and then had a hose fight. Great summer time kid fun!

I finished reading "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink and I loved it! I want to see the movie now. It is our book club selection for this month (we'll discuss it next week).

My neighbour noticed that some of her small trees along her fence had been chewed and she found a hole under the fence that made her think it was a mountain beaver so she bought a trap and this morning to called me to come over to look at what she had caught. Sure enough - a mountain beaver. I had never seen one before so it was neat to see him (her?). My neighbour planned to walk back in the woods behind the church that backs onto her property and release it. The kids were intrigued too.

We also have a weird deer on the loose on our street. It keeps trying to get into our neighbour's backyard. And last night it was eating the small shoots that are coming off the tree roots in my yard before I chased it off.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 6 & 7

The boys started the golf program yesterday. I signed them up for five weeks (Mondays only). This year they are doing more than just the basic instruction so it sounds like it will be good for them. We are going to miss one week (camping) but they can do a make-up session the following Friday evening (just hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range). I was happy to hear that they enjoyed it yesterday. Jax usually complains that he doesn't have fun but both he and Dex are in the same group this year so now he had someone to talk to.

Today, I let Jax and Dex stay home for a couple of hours (don't call CPS!) and I checked Cars into the daycare center at the gym and I took the circuit training class. It was tough (hadn't been in 3 weeks) and it totally lifted my mood. I think I will do this every week.

Later, I took the kids to the skateboard park and was so surprised at the number of kids about 10-12 years old NOT wearing helmets! Do their mothers know?! Yikes!

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 6

Jax, Dex and Cars started the summer golf program today. I just signed them up fit five weeks but after that we can pay weekly thru the summer. They all seemed to enjoy it for a change which is nice. Last test, Jax compleined all of the time because he knew no one in HUD age group. This year the 9-11 year old are combined so Jax is happy that he and Dex are together.

I am having a few issues with our 4th of July party and invitees and those not invited. *sigh*. You cannot please everyone.

So, we decided we were ready to buy a new car because last year's models are on clearance with great financing but they do not have any available except for white ones. No thanks. And we thought about this year's (2010) model but *all* they have available are top-of-the-line models. WTF! I don't want the dvd enterainment system (standard) or the special radar that automatically slows your car down when it is on cruise control or the air-conditioned seats. And, we want the middle row bench seat which is not available on this model.

Why is it so hard to buy a new car? Is it time to go back to the drawing board and chose a different car?

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 5

Jax went to a hockey clinic for the day (he has to learn to body check). Dex, Cars and I went to a few stores and I bought Dex his sandals for the summer (thankfully he is not in mens sizes!).

This week really flew by. I hope the whole summer doesn't!

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 4

The kids and I went to the beach to check out the tide pools during low tide. Sadly, the park we normally go to is under construction (the pedestrian bridge over the train tracks that lead to the bridge) so we went to a different beach and there were not as many nooks and crannies for the sea life so we did not see any cool things like star fish or sea cucumbers. I am kind of bummed. We did still see moon snails and their egg casings, tons'o'crabs (alive and dead), eels and geoducks (pronounced gooey-ducks). The kids had a blast. I have decided to try another low tide at the other park (it just won't be super low tide like this week) on a weekend this summer (the bridge is open after 3pm and on weekends).

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died today. Farrah's death was not unexpected and I did feel sorry because she was so ill. A couple of months ago, I watched the documentary that she made about her illness and it was very touching and also somewhat desperate. I felt sorry for her. Especially when her son, who is in jail on drug-related offences, came to visit her in leg irons. How sad to die knowing your son is in jail.

Michael Jackson's death is a shock because it was sudden. I feel only a little sad because I know he had a sad childhood and made him into the man he was. I believe he was a sick man who took advantage of children. Ok, yes, ALLEGEDLY took advantage. I feel badly for his children because he died owing people millions and who knows what kind of crazy he passed onto them. They have only ever been seen outside with masks or blankets over their faces.

Ed McMahon also died this week so no doubt the "things happen in threes" people are satisfied.

And yes, I am in a bad mood. I need to exercise. And I am irritated that the car we want to buy is not available in the colour choice we want or the seat configuration. Why say it is available in this configuration or that colour when really you cannot buy it that way?! Yes, really I want a bench seat in the middle row. Yes, I realize that most people do not. And no, I don't want a white car. Time to look for another type of vehicle, I think.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 3

Jax had a birthday party to go to today so we headed to the Lego store to buy a gift card (and pick up two more gifts for parties that Cars is going to this weekend). The kid whose birthday it is also loves Lego. I am glad that at age 11 they aren't too old for a toy. :)

Cars also had a playdate late in the afternoon which left Dex home alone with me. I asked him if he would like to invite someone over tomorrow to make up for the b-day party and playdate that his brothers were on but he said no, he just wanted to spend time with his brothers tomorrow. I wasn't sure if I felt sad or happy about that. Sometimes I think I have made them a little too reliant on each other.

I have a wicked migraine and I want to go to bed so badly but Stephen is still at work and I am waiting for Jackson to come home from the party. The mom called a short time ago and said they were just packing up (it was a beach party) and they'd drop Jax off as soon as they could. Stephen said he would try to be home at 9 since I had a migraine. Dex and Cars are already in bed so I just need one either Stephen or Jax to get home so I can go to bed too.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 1 & 2

We started off Summer vacation with a trip to the dentist. Dex and Cars both have cavitites (no fluouride in our water). They used some handy-dandy laser thing on Dex's teeth and determined that the cavities were not that big so they are just treating them by putting new sealants on them. Cars' is between his teeth so drill-vill for him. :\

I also have a referral for all three to go see the orthodontist. Jax has a bit of an overbite, Cars has a bigger overbite and crowding. Cars has the biggest problem - cross-bite. We are going in two weeks so we'll see just how expen$ive this will be.

Today, we had some friends over and we tie-dyed shirts. It is always a surprise how they will turn out. Right now they are still soaking and I will rinse them either late tonight or tomorrow morning then wash them.

Later, the kids and I played Snorta.

Now I am scrambling to figure out what to do about dinner. I need to plan my days better!

Tomorrow is the first weekday of summer vacation. I hope the kids sleep in. First Summer'o'Fun activity - dentist appointments at noon! How lucky for them! Especially Dex because he has some cavities that need filling. Not sure if we can get them done tomorrow but I definitely will schedule the appointment.

One fun thing for Summer'o'Fun tomorrow will be to continue to work building the new Lego that the boys got from the geekdad.com contest that we won. Two of the three Legos arrived on Friday (we are expecting the third to arrive tomorrow). What's cool is that they will not available in stores until August.

My dad passed away 10 years ago today. I miss him. I wish he had gotten to know my kids - that saddens me the most.

School's out for summer! And what a day...rain - finally! And it is quite cool. But the rain honestly is refreshing.

My kids' reports were good so I took the boys out to lunch at Red Robin. I really liked all of their teachers this year and the teachers were all a good fit for them. I hope we as much luck next year.

This evening, Stephen and I went to test drive a Sequoia. Geez, I love that car/truck/suv. It is so nice (but oh so big!).

Brrr...I think I have to close the windows in the house for the first time in a month. The rain has really cooled things down.

The end-of-year stuff continues. Cars' class party was a lot of fun. The mom organizing it got McD's to donate chicken nuggets for lunch which rocked. Each kid got 4 nuggets. The kids also made fruit kabobs and they ate the cookies I made.

Today was the last day of any alone time I will have for a couple of months so I went shopping (bought the teachers gift cards and a scarf on clearance at Macy's). Then I went for a pedicure. I had planned to work out but blew it off. Later, while reading People Magazine during the pedicure, I felt so guilty about blowing off the workout while reading about how fat Kirstie Alley is again and that she blames butter and lack of exercise. Yikes!

I have gained 5 pounds and already I see myself getting as big as she is in no time! I need to figure out how I can get to the gym during the summer. Cars can still go in the childcare centre but Dex and Jax are too old. Jax can be left at home alone or work out with me (he is a member at the gym - they have to join the year following turning 9 yrs of age) but Dex is not.

Our babysitter is home for the summer from college (in fact, she is watching the boys tomorrow night) and we are trying to work out when she can watch the kids for me in the afternoons. She has a summer job but some days she might get off at 2pm. If that's the case, I will have her watch them once a week and I'll try to make it to the 4:30pm circuit training class. It will suck that I will have to drive home during rush hour but if that's what I have to do, I'll do it.

I am still trying to plan Summer'o'Fun 2009 activities as well. Stay tuned!

End-of-year ramble...

The kids are enjoying their last week of school. Dex had his class party yesterday. Today was field day for the whole school. Tomorrow is Cars' class party and Jax's class is having a surprise b-day party for the teacher. The kids in that class have planned all of their own parties this year. It is hard when they get to this age and do not need (want) help from parents. I am sure it only get worse as they go along.

Thursday is the last full day of school and they kids get out on Friday (half-day only).

I made some fish cookies for Cars' class party. It is a luau theme and I could not find a coconut/palm tree cookie cutter anywhere so I went with tropical fish. I am not super happy with them and haven't yet decided if the blue fish will make it into the school or not.

I am also in charge of the craft (I just ordered this craft from orientaltrading.com ), the leis and bringing in a stick for the limbo. Finally the bamboo growing in my yard has been useful!

On Thursday, I am not sure what is going on in the classrooms but I know Jax has been instructed not to bring a backpack (his desk gets packed up tomorrow) and a completely disposable lunch only. No word about Dex or Cars' bringing home all of their stuff from school.

I have not yet bought end-of-year teacher gifts. I also want to buy small gifts for the school office staff (secretaries and office manager) and for the bus driver. I will probably just end up with Starbucks' gift cards for everyone since that is what is easiest.

Anyway, here are the cookies. They do taste great (Best-rolled sugar cookie recipe).


Clown Fish


Blue Tang


Extra cookies for the boys to eat later. They look like the Pepperidge Farms fish crackers!

Baseball is all over for the season. Dex had two games this morning. One of the first coaches of the first teeam we played went off on the ump (who happened to be the dad of one of our players) for calling a ball a foul. It was ridiculous! Parents from our side were shouting "Children present!" The thing is too, this is not for a championship nor do we even keep score! At least we aren't supposed to. Apparently their team was because the coach kept saying "we are ahead" to his team.
The second game was much better (sportsmanship-wise).

Our weekends are down to just hockey now. Oh, and church (although I must admit that we haven't been much lately - crisis of faith on my part).

Let's Go to the Mall, today!*

Today was at the mall (I had to get a gift card for Dex's teacher's b-day from the class) and I went into Macy's and they were having (surprise!) a sale. Ok, really, when are they NOT having a sale. Anyway, I found two pair of sandals that I liked and they were "buy two get 20% off" then I noticed a sign that stated if you use your Macy's card you get 20% off. The salesman told me that the offers could not be combined but when it looked like I might change my mind, he gave me both offers. :) Score!

Afterwards, I was in Nordstroms and walked by the M.A.C. counter. I was looking around and a semi-transgender salesperson approached me. Next thing I knew, I was seated in a chair getting make-up lessons! It was an amusing 30 minutes. No sales on make-up but I was happy to buy eyeshadow and eyeliner after such fun.

Then I stopped and had a huge Greek salad for dinner. Yum!

*reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdD0j6wmMNc

One more week of school! This week there was a bbq at the school and today, the kindergarten classes had a little music program. It was so cute to see all 80 kids up there singing their little hearts out. Cars was rather reserved with his hand-actions but he did sing all of the songs. When he was in preschool, he would just stand up there and stare.

Tonight is Dex's sleepover birthday party. It is midnight and they are still going strong. Well, except for Cars who fell asleep about 10:30. One kid went home at 10:00 with a bellyache. I felt badly for him although I am hoping it was just from too much food and that he is not sick! And Stephen is hoping he did not go home because he put that kid in a time-out for a minute for pulling another kid down the stairs! Oops! I think it was a genuine bellyache.

According to pmsbuddy.com, I about to start PMSing. Thanks.

When the kids got off the bus today I was in a glorious mood. The sun was shining and I had a fantastic day. Jax told me that his teacher showed his Legomation movie to the whole class and he was just beaming. Dex was excited to talk about his upcoming birthday party and Cars was just being his happy 5 yr old self. However, by the time we got home, Cars had slugged Jax and Jax was picking Cars up and shaking him. Dex blah-blah-blah-blah'd me all the way home without taking a breath(can you believe that once-upon-a-time this kid had an expressive speech delay?! I can't!).

So, in the door we went and Jax and Cars went to their bedrooms. A little while later, after the time out, Jax had to do some research on the computer. Stephen had upped the parental controls in April so searching can take a long time as it checks the sites before returning the results. Jax was sulking that it was taking a long time and demanded that I "fix" it. I said he needed to be patient and that it was something that I could not fix. He then said something like I just don't want to fix it and I told him that I could not fix and and perhaps he needed to walk away for a bit and come back. He turned to me in the snottiest tone "Did something happen today? Is that why you are in a bad mood?"

O.M.G.

I lost it. I walked over to him and said "Yes, something happened today. The sun was shining and I was having a great day! My kids were happy when they got off the bus then the next thing I know, my 11 yr old and my 5 yr old were physically fighting. So yes, that is what happened! Know anything about it?!" Then I sent him to his room for being snarky. He at least had the decency to act chagrined. And he later apologized.

But, I think the thing that really happened is that pmsbuddy.com sent me a reminder notice that I clearly paid no heed too. I should have self-medicated with chocolate and spared my children all of those time outs. *sigh*

My allergies are kicking my ass today. Well, I assume it is allergies and not a cold. I hope it rains again soon to get some of the pollen out of the air.

My brother who lives in the Toronto-area was sent home from work today. Thirty people on his floor called in sick today. One said she tested positive for swine flu (H1N1) so they sent home everyone who had any kind of sickness (my brother has a cough and cold) and they are not allowed back to work until they can prove that they do not have swine flu. Both of his daughters were home sick today (his MIL had to pick them up at the babysitter after my SIL dropped them off this morning) so the three of them went to the doctor this afternoon and were swabbed and they should get the results in a few days.

My mother is going to FREAK when she hears about this. She is convinced that the next cold she gets is going to kill her. She keeps canceling plans to go to my brothers' because someone there always seems to have the sniffles. If my mom and I had a better rapport at the moment (not quite repaired since our fight when she was here in March), I would just call her "George" which was her father's name. She used to always say that he was such a hypochondriac (and she used to call me George whenever I complained of headaches until I was officially diagnosed with migraines at age 15). :\

Race for the Cure today was awesome! It was wonderful to see so many people out there supporting this cause and to see so many breast cancer survivors! Wow!

Stephen, the boys and I spent the afternoon driving around checking out cars (more specifically, SUVs). The dealerships all seemed motivated. We'll see once we narrow it down and start to negotiate. I will say that I am in love with the Toyota Sequoia which is a behemoth and if I would buy it this instant at full sticker price if it meant I could drive it home tomorrow. Love it! It does, however, cost the same as our first home (ok, it was a condo but still!).

I am pooped so I am off to try to read the book for book club ("The Witches of Eastwick" by John Updike).

Tomorrow I am going to "Race for the Cure" in Seattle. I am going with a group of woman whom I do not know nor have ever met save fir one - Shannon - the whom we are walking to support. Shannon was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in February. She just finished her third of four chemo treatments. I know Shannon through my mom's club and church.

We are just doing the 5K walk, not run. Wish us luck!

Cars' last t-ball game was today. Of course after something like 16 days of sunshine it had to rain. It wasn't hard but hard enough that we had to move our planned after game bbq to a park with a covered picnic area. Cars really enjoyed his season. I know he will play again next year.

Stephen filled our soft-sided cooler with ice and pop and brought it to the game. It leaked water all over the trunk of his car and he had a hissy fit. It is only water! Nevermind that a can of Fresca exploded in the van! Now that is way worse than water in the truck.

Dex has his final regular game tonight and next weekend is the Jamboree where his team is scheduled to play 4 games. He will just attend 3 of them as the 9AM game on Saturday conflicts with his sleepover birthday party. Oops!

Ok, off to change into pants before I head to Dex's game. It has gotten pretty chilly today!

It was another hot day. I was a chaperone on the kindergarten field trip to the zoo. It was hot and very crowded. The kids were all wearing two shirts - the ones they wore to school and the ones they made for the trip. I don't know why the teachers did not have them all change. Maybe it was a logistical problem? I also had a child who kept wandering off and it was stressing me out. By the time we left the zoo I was so done with him.

Tonight it has cooled off quite a bit and the wind has picked up. The blinds are all banging against the windows and Jax got scared and has now shut his window even though it is probably 85 degrees in his bedroom. He started thinking about "Tales from the Crypt" that was shown at a sleepover he was at last week and now he cannot sleep. I am not impressed that they showed that movie. I was told they would be watching the original of "The Blob" which is not scary at all. Now I have to deal with this. *sigh*

We are on day 13 or 14 of no rain and unseasonably warm temperatures. I am not complaining after the friggin cold winter with all that snow but I will say that I would not mind if we had a little rain so I don't need to water the lawn and garden. :)

After my brothers' visit, I was thinking how grey we all looked so I decided to do something about it and I had lowlights put in my hair again. She put way more in than last time but I guess it was still a subtle change because no one has noticed except for me. I'll see what the regrowth is like this time before I decide what to do next.

I took Jax and Cars to buy sandal/shoes today and was aghast that Jax is in mens' sizes (sometimes 7s are youth and sometimes mens). The sandal/shoes I wanted to get him were double the price of the kids' shoes - that unfortunately only go to size 6. And one of Jax's feet is a size 6 (but the other is a 7) which makes it that much more frustrating. Anyway, he is not getting those shoes. I will have to find something else for him. Oh, and for Dex. He had a playdate after school else he would have come with us. He's only a size 3. ~whew~

Cars is having a problem with a girl in his class. She pinches him frequently when he does not do what she wants. He has been telling me about it for weeks and I haven't done anything other than coach him how to tell her to stop and then to tell the teacher if she does not stop.

He told me the other day that she pinched him and I asked if he told the teacher but he said no because he did not want to "tattle" on her. Apparently there is a lot of tattling going on in class and the teacher has said that she did not want to hear any more tattling.

I explained to him that if someone was hurting him then telling the teacher or other adult is not tattling. He was skeptical so I finally emailed the teacher on Friday after school to tell her what was going on and that he was hestitant to let her know because of the "tattling" thing.

Now, I must interject here that this little girl has had some behavioural problems and I know that the vice-principal has been working with her on improving her behaviour.

Anyway, today the teacher spoke to Cars to tell him that he needs to tell her so she can help him. She also told this girl to stop and informated the VP. Then, during lunch recess, she pinched him again. I am very proud of him because he told the teacher right away.

I am tired of this girl pinching him. Things have increased a bit too since they were moved to the same table a couple of weeks ago. I feel badly that I did not contact the teacher sooner but do I feel strongly that my kids need to try to handle things like this themselves first before I get involved. I did not know about the whole tattling thing though until Friday when I finally was able to get it out of Cars that he was concerned about being a tattler.

Hopefully the pinching will stop now. And hopefully this girl will not be in his class next year to lessen her opportunity to pinch him.

Today was Dex's 9th birthday. My children are getting so old!

He had a great day. Stephen took all of the boys to hockey this morning then we went mini-putting in the afternoon. We bought him a Nintendo DSi and he is going to sell his DS to GameStop for store credit to buy more games.

He was so happy about his birthday. Tomorrow for a treat at school he is taking in cheese sticks (like Jax did). Dex also thinks that this is a very clever idea because he (too) is always saying that he loves cheese.

What a funny kid. I love him!

Wow, have had such fabulous weather for over a week now! We deserve it after the crappy winter and spring (and even last summer!) that we've had.

Today, Dex and Cars had baseball games. There is just one more weekend left of baseball...I think. I wonder if Dex will have tournaments after next weekend. I hope not. We've scheduled his birthday party (sleepover - ugh) for two weeks from now so hopefully he will not have a game to interfere with it.

After baseball ends, we'll have a quiet couple of weeks before school ends then summer activities begin. I need to get them registered for golf and I am waiting to hear back from the swim instructor about lessons for the summer. Other than that, I have not registered them in any camps. I've already changed my guitar lesson to an evening timeslot for the summer and I am on the look out for a babysitter for a couple of hours on Wednesdays so I can still go to my circuit training class at least once each week.

I hope this great weather keeps up and that we have a fantastic summer!

Isn't it funny when your first child is in kindergarten and has to make an animal habitat you go all out and help them make something that clearly was not done by the child other than them saying "Ok" when you ask "Should we put this here?" Then your next child you are a little more hands off. By the time the third child comes along, you aren't really doing much at all.

Here is an example... Cars' Tiger Habitat


I hot glued the rocks in the box. And I made an example tiger body and he copied it. That is NOT the way I would have done the head but whatever - and what is with that SMILE on the tiger? If that had been Jax's project we (I) would have practiced drawing it over and over again until we (I) got it just right. Oh, who am I kidding? I would have run out and bought a plastic tiger to put in the habitat! And plastic trees and maybe used blue cellophane for the water. And the rocks would all match because we'd (I'd) have made them out of papier-mâché and have painted them all a nice sienna colour. Maybe I'd have let Jax put one dab of paint on the fake rocks. Maybe.

Anyway, I cannot decide if I am a better mother now or a worse one for not being as hands-on with this project as I would have been (and have been) with the other two kids.

So, this is the tiger habitat that Cars made for school.

Jax had two inches of his hair cut tonight. Cars turned to me just as the stylist was finishing up and said "Jax has a boys' haircut now". I said what did you think he had before and Cars said matter of factly "Girl hair".

I'm glad Jax did not hear him at that! But it was true.

I think I have writer's block. All I can write about is my day-to-day happenings but I have a million little stories and thoughts in my head to share but they just won't come out. So, looks like you get another "Dear Diary, Today I ..." story.

Dex has a friend named J at school. He has been here a few times and he was at Dex's sleepover b-day party last year. Cars is smitten with this kid. He is a nice kid and he pays attention to Cars when he is over and that's why, I think. Anyway, J was one of two J's in Dex's class last year so Cars calls him by his full name which is pretty cute. Anyway, J's mom is a substitute teacher at the school and she subs often in the kindergarten class. The first time she subbed, I did not realize that it was she who was the teacher and Cars kept talking about Mrs. H this and Mrs. H that (I did not put it together that she was JH's mom). When I found out, I told Cars that she was JH's mom and his eyes widened and he was so excited that he had to tell Dex (who already knew).

So, today I was in the class and Mrs. H was helping out the teacher (Cars' teacher was doing individual testing with the kids). Cars was so sweet the way he looked at Mrs. H. Jax thinks Cars is weird for liking a teacher and Jax thinks she looks like a dark-haired Delores Umbridge. She kind of does but she also reminds me of Snow White. Anyway, Cars is very happy that Mrs. H will be in his class again tomorrow. I love it when kids think the sun rises and sets on their teachers. Now Cars also likes that jerk music teacher but I don't think that is cute.

Today, Jean-Paul, Marilyn and Lola left about noon today and then the rest of us headed to the locks in Ballard. I had never been on a weekend before and I was amazed at the amount of boat traffic. I think everyone found it interesting as only Jax, Dex, Cars and I had been to see locks operated before. There were virtually no fish in the salmon ladder of course. My kids and I will go back in July for sure to see the return of the sockeye salmon.

We later went to dinner at Maggiano's. I think I have enough leftover food in my fridge to last a week! They feed you soooo much.

Marc, Marlene, Melissa and Danielle head home tomorrow afternoon. I have really enjoyed their visit and when Jean-Paul et al were here.

I'll miss everyone when the last of them have gone.

I am enjoying our company's visit. Marc, Marlene, Marilyn, Jean-Paul, Stephen, Melissa and I went to a couple wineries today for tastings and a tour. It was a lot of fun. I had never been before and I found the tour very interesting.

Yesterday, we went downtown Seattle to Pike Place Market and walked along the water. We bought tons'o'seafood and had salmon for dinner last night and squid/scallops/mussels tonight (well, I did not eat any mussels - yuck!).

Dex was with Spy's family today and yesterday at Great Wolf Lodge celebrating Cam's 0th birthday, so I haven't been able to take any photos of all of the cousins. We'll do it tomorrow morning before JP and Marilyn head back to Vancouver. Lola is a riot! I love two year olds!



From left: Stephen, Me, Jean-Paul, Marilyn, Marlene and Marc. As you can see, the grey-haired gene runs in the family. I would like to call it premature grey hair but since really at this age it is just grey hair, right?

Tomorrow is the last day of MOPS for me. Forever. Oh, I hope I don't cry. This is a milestone because it means that I no longer have a child considered a "preschooler" (kindergarten is still considered preschool for MOPS).

The MOPS weeks would roll around (we met every other Thursday), and I would think "OMG I AM TOO BUSY TO GO TO THIS FLUFF!" but then I would go and there would be a speaker who would seem to speak directly to me or the craft would be a lot of fun or I would have a really great conversation with one of the other moms at my table and I would think "Wow, I love this!".

I know I almost drove myself back to crazy when I was doing the crafts for MOPS because it really was a lot of work and I did most of it myself instead of asking for help, which was completely stupid. But, I did enjoy planning it and I think the crafts that I did were great (giving myself a fat head here). Anyway, I will miss the crafts a lot.

This year we had "Secret Prayers Sisters". We drew names and would pray for the person whom we chose. I think the person whom I chose knows it is me. Tomorrow is the Secret Sister reveal so I will ask her if she knew it was me. She made a comment once about my hand-writing (we write little cards back and forth) so that made me think that my crappy penmanship gave it away. We'll see...

And I wish that they had a life after MOPS group. I know MOPS is going to start one for Mothers of School-aged children but it is not up and running yet and definitely not in conjunction with our MOPS group. If I were the type, I would try to start one. I would be happy to be involved in getting it going but not in spearheading it. That is not my forté .

On Tuesday mornings, I go into Cars' class to do Reading Naturally with the few kids who are reading at 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade levels. I am to do it in the pod area of the kindergarten classes but the last few weeks, the tables are full with specialists teaching the kids, other parents doing reading Reading Naturally too or crafts. I had been doing it at the little "Listening Desk" but the other full-day K teacher tends to send a few of her kids out there to put their heads down fairly often so, as of today, I am no longer allowed to use that desk. So, now this volunteer time has been moved to Monday afternoons and hopefully I will be able to find a free area.

I am still doing the reading rotation groups on Tuesdays later in the morning. Basically I just watch the kids do Headsprout on the computers. They are fairly self-sufficient though and the biggest help I give them is to untangle their headphones.

I am looking forward to next year and I hope to be able to spend more time in the classrooms or just at the school volunteering. They are always short volunteers in the health room (tending to scraped knees and bumped heads during recess) and for lunch servers although I think I might pass on this. I want to spend more time in the classrooms than I have in the past.

I think I might take a break from Art Start too...or maybe not. I really do enjoy the art work that the kids produce. Maybe I will just the the Art Gallery night work?

And why am I fretting about this today? There is still another 4 weeks left of THIS school year!!

Cars is obsessed with how old people are. Everyday he has a report about who in his class is already 6 and who is still just 5. He was delighted to find out last week how old his teacher is (25). "Mom! Miss K is younga than you because you are FOADY-FOAH!".

This morning I reminded the boys that it was my mom's birthday and Cars exclaimed "That means that Gwanny is seventy-foah!". He could not wait to call her to tell her how old she became today.

Later in the day, after he reminded Granny of her age, he told me with a sad voice that he and his friend K, will always be the youngest in his class because "*sigh* My birthday is August the fifth and K's is August the last" (We and K's parents and are probably the only parents with boys born in the summer not to hold back our kids!).

He sounded so sad that I almost felt bad for not holding him back. Almost.

Stephen keeps complaining that I don't take my "good" camera (digital SLR) with me when we go out (or on vacation). Mostly it is because I hate the camera bag that came free with the camera and I keep thinking "I have a perfectly good camera bag so I don't need to buy another". So, then I grab my small Canon Sureshot to take with me because it fits in my purse and is easy to carry.

So, we went away on vacation to Hawaii and Stephen was really irritated that I did not take the SLR. It worked out because my Sureshot got covered with sand and sun screen. But, it would have been nice to take the SLR. I have been looking at camera bags online but there are dozens and dozens out there and I have realized that it is not really something that I can buy online. I definitely will need to try it on, like a purse. And, I am figuring if I buy one, I will use it in lieu of a purse on the days I take it out so it has to be comfy, allow easy access to the camera, hold my wallet, keys, cellphone and allow epi pens to be clipped onto it.

Now, do I get a backpack or sling bag? A standard camera bag with bigger sections? And then once I decide on a bag, what colour do I chose?

Decisions, decisions.

Summer Plans

I watched "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" tonight. Cedric Diggory is sooo cute! Much cuter than Edward Cullen - must be the accent. ;) I cannot wait for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price" to come out. Just two more months! I'll take Jax and Dex to go see it when it comes out. Stephen will take Cars to another movie.

Before then, though, I am going to watch all of the other five movies again, back-to-back. Nice start to my summer.

Speaking of summer, Stephen is taking Jax and Dex to their first concert in July. They are going to see Green Day. Perhaps "inapprope" as Jax likes to say (short for inappropriate) because of what they will hear, see and no doubt, smell. But, I think they will love it. They love Green Day. I play it in the car but I totally have to work the mute button as we go.

We are going camping this summer too. The weekends were all booked so we are going during the week. We are going back to the place we went last summer so we should have nice weather.

I haven't signed the kids up for any summer activities. We'll probably do golf again and I need to sign them up for swimming lessons. Cars will play soccer in the fall and I think there is a end-of-summer soccer camp so I'll look into that.

Other than those things, I think we'll just hang out during the summer and go to a few places like we've done in the past. I want to go to some places I have never been as well as such as the Point Definace Zoo,
Leavenworth, Deception Pass and Seattle Art Museum. Plus all the regular stuff (beach, tide pools, parks, etc).

And today it was warm (almost HOT) so it was a nice promise of the summer to come.

I have book club tonight but it does not start until 9pm because the hostess had a school activity to go to. It is funny but 9pm seems so much later than 8pm. Normally, we stand around and eat and chat from 8-9 then discuss the book at 9 (then other things of course come up). So starting at 9 seems that we'll not start talking about the book until 10. Of course we could start earlier but it is unlikely.

This morning, Dex dropped one of our Corelle plates and it shattered into a million little pieces. They are break "resistant" so I kind of expected them to be unbreakable. This is the first one that has broken and I cannot believe how far the pieces flung. I swept the floor then mopped it and swept it again and I still keep finding little shards of white glass plate here and there. I hope no one gets any in their feet.

I am teaching Art Start tomorrow in Dex's class and we are studying the picture "She-ba" by Romare Bearden. Then the kids will make a multi-media collage. I made two today for examples and I had a lot of fun (I just used construction paper, newspaper, magazines, felt and markers). I hope the kids in the class enjoy it too.

I miss being so crafty. I really haven't taken the time to paint, draw, make jewellery or knit this past year. Gotta change that. Soon.

Fretting about the next school year already...

Here is a link to our Hawaii pictures if anyone is interested: Aloha. Just a warning that there are about a billion photos.

Today, I asked Cars' teacher about class placement for next year (1st grade!) and I asked her to put him in a class that is a job share class. Now, I swore I would never, ever, ever do that to my children again after Jax's 2nd grade disaster but the 1st grade job-share teachers are both really good teachers and really nice people so I don't anticipate the same problem. I also specifically asked her NOT to put him in the class that Dex had because the teacher would not be good for him. She was perfect for Dex and exactly what he needed at the time but really not what Cars needs. He is more "advanced" than Dex was at this point in the school year so I think he needs teachers who will push him more.

So, I have these forms to fill in by Friday for class placement. Cars' teacher told me to absolutely NOT put any teachers' names on the form or the principal will literally rip it right up without looking at the rest of the form (questions like how does your child learn best and my child's strengths). Then she wrote on a sticky note the names of the teachers I wanted and pulled out a stack of cards she keeps in her desk with all of the kids' names and put it on Cars'). We'll have to wait until the end of August to find out.

Now, I need to work on Dex's teacher. I don't want him to have the same teacher that Jax had last year. No joy whatsoever in that class. Another teacher I have heard just sits and knits all day long (but this is who one of the teachers that I know at the school wants her dd to get so maybe that class is not so bad?). The third class is a job share (4days/1day) and the fourth teacher is mean. Just plain mean. Now, I know that Spy wants her son to get Mean Teacher next year because she is a tough teacher. But Spy is tough and can put her in her place (and has put her in her place when Mean Teacher was mean to Spy's dd). I would not be able to do that if any problems arose with Dex so she is best avoided altogether.

With Jax though, I am running blind because I know absolutely NOTHING about the 6th grade teachers. One thing I could do for Jax today though was send a note to the 504 plan coordinator at the school to find out if the 6th graders will indeed be in the portables next year and request an accommodation because there is no running water - how will Jax wash his hands before he eats without having to run all the way back to the school to use the restroom.

I picked up my guitar today for the first time in 11 days and I realized that I have UTTERLY and COMPLETELY forgotten how to play "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. Lots of practicing needed before my lesson on Thursday.

I went to Zumba class today because the cross training class was just packed and I hate when it is because they then split the class and half do cardio while the other half do floor exercises and then we spend way more time on cardio than usual. Anyway, the Zumba class is still hard because I cannot do the salsa step. As hard as I try, I just cannot do it and I feel like a fool tripping over two big left feet.

Jax and Dex have a lot of school work to catch up on from last week. Their teachers gave them work to do while we were there but Stephen did not want to force them to do it while we were away. So now, I am the one forcing them to do it after school, along with their regular homework. I have banned them from the computer until the work is done (well, except when they need it for homework). Oh, what a rough week this going to be.

Well, we are back and I would like to say back to the grind but not yet. I think we are still on Hawaii time so I hope we can get up for work/school tomorrow.

I really enjoyed our vacation. The condo that we rented was so close to the water and just perfect for us. I loved snorkling and watching my children have a fantastic time playing in the water and the sand, although I think it will take a few weeks to get all of the sand out of Jax's hair!!

I can see why people go back to Hawaii again and again and again. I would definitely love to go back again.

While we were away, we found out that we are runners up in a GeekDad Blog contest! We'll post more details when we get them. My kids are tickled pink!

All-in-all it was a fantastic week. Aloha!

It is our last night in Maui. We've has such a great vacation. My favourite things to do were snorkling at Kapalua and body boarding. I am already planning my next trip!

OMG we are in paradise. Our condo is so close to the ocean . We went to Kapalua beach today. Gorgeous and the snorkeling was a lot of fun. Stupidly, we did not reapply sunscreen enough and everyone has a bit of a burn here or there (mostly on our feet and shins).

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

We are packed (except for my iPhone cable which I will pack in the morning). Stephen is being a hardass and saying only 2 suitcases allowed so we packed über-light on clothes. Now he is complaining that the suitcases are too heavy. I weighed them and they are both under 50 pounds(the max weight allowed per bag). One was very close to 50 so I took the water shoes and flip-flops out and crammed them into my carry-on bag. Now I am a little pissy because he thinks I have over-packed. Pul-ease! There is a washer/dryer in the condo we rented so we can (and will have to) wash our clothes to make it through the week so we have no way overpacked.

I do have four bottles of sunscreen in one of the bags so that probably accounts for almost 4 pounds (ok, maybe I am a little sunscreen-heavy). And my toiletries but I have mostly travel-sized items. The weight in the boys bags is just 4 days worth of clothes and the watershoes. That is 4 days worth of clothes for *3* people in one suitcase! Geez!

Then, he said "I guess we won't be able to buy anything to bring back". Yep, a new suitcase!

Aloha!

I am having a lot of fun learning to play "Brown Eyed Girl" on the guitar. My guitar instructor wishes it were another Beatles song, I think. But he is having fun teaching me the little "lick" at the beginning of the song. Fun but my fingers are sore. Oh, and I play it really, really, REALLY, slow.

Sha-la-la la-la la-la la-la la la te da

The circuit training class that I take at the club is held in this room that is always really chilly when we first start but very comfortable by the time the class is well under way. Today, however, it was warm in there when we first got in and then it just got warmer and warmer and very uncomfortable.

About half-way through the class I said to the instructor "Chris, it is HOT in here!" and he looked at me and said "Do you want me to leave?". I was so uncomfortable that I could not even laugh at his joke. I am sure he thinks I am a grouch.

So, my theory is that the club has turned the tempereatures up to save money. We'll see how it is next time I take the class.

Speaking of businesses saving money, Big Software Company has canceled their annual company picnic. And not just for this year but forever and ever and ever. Bummer.

Ok, things are coming along nicely and I haven't started to freak out yet about the trip. I get so stressed out when traveling, especially when flying. Ok, ~breathe~.

Stephen is working all kinds of insane hours this week to get something completed before we go away. He has not been home for dinner yet this week and will not be home tonight and probably tomorrow night. On the plus side, he is taking Friday off work.

Jax has to build a capsule for the school's egg drop which happens next week while we are not here. His teacher told him "just" to turn it in on Friday. He keeps forgetting to ask her if the egg needs to be in it then. And if so, will it turn rotten by next Thursday when they do the drop? Well, we won't be here so I won't have to worry about the stench from a rotten egg, right?

Yesterday when I was volunteering in the kindergarten class, the janitor came around with a huge can of some disinfectant and was spraying all of the door handles. Trying to kill off all of the germs and potential-swine flu virus, I guess. Too bad he did not spray each keyboard and mouse at the computer stations. OMG, the kindergarteners sit at the computer sucking their fingers or wiping their noses with their hands and then touching the mouse and keyboard. ~gag~ When I leave I immediately go and wash my hands or wipe them with wipes in my car. So gross!

Swine Flu?

I am trying to decide if I should be concerned about the Swine Flu. Some news reports have said that it is not as serious as initially thought while others make it sound as though if I don't have my stash of Tamiflu, I am as good as dead. And we are heading off on holidays in a few days. Granted, it is not to Mexico but it is on a plane for 5 hours, breathing in recirculated air. And at this point I should mention that I have gone to Bartells already to buy some of those face masks (but they were sold out!).

I am a "worst-case scenario" person so it would be quite easy for me to freak out about it but I have decided to remain calm and do something constructive. Like PACK for my trip and also top up our emergency supplies. I need to buy more water and I think we'll be set for 3 Days 3 Ways.

And I promise not to freak out when Jax tells me in the morning that his throat hurts (he was grumbling about it before bed). And I promise not to get worried when my stuffy nose gets a little worse (still allergy season, right?). And I am ignoring Dex's cough (wasn't that antibiotic supposed to clear it all up?).

So there, I am not worrying. But, know that tomorrow I will hit another Bartells (and RiteAid) in search of face masks. Or, I wonder if those disposable respirator masks at Home Depot would be better?

My mom asked again today if we were packed for our vacation. I told her that I do not enough clothes that would let me pack away some a week in advance! Sheesh!

Tonight Cars asked me what I looked like when I was his age so I hauled out this Rubbermaid tub that I have to find a picture of me when I was his age. We had fun going through the pictures. I wish I has a scanner!

While talking to my mom tonight, I found out that my nephew is in Mexico on holidays. My mom is convinced that he is going to come back with the Swine Flu. She said " it is targeting young men" (nephew is 23) as though the flu is a serial killer!

Aargh! My tomato plants did not survive the frost! They looked ok on Friday morning but today when I went out there they are crumpled and brown. Boo! One of the four might be ok but I'll only know in a couple of days, I think.

I bought some Uncle Ian's Mole Repellent to try to get rid of those damn pests! Jax and I spent 40 minutes going around the yard finding holes and sprinkling it in. Hopefully it works. The guy at Home Depot said the only really effective way to get rid of them was traps that kill them. But then I would have to dispose of the bodies. No thank you! A landscaper suggested the product that I bought (well, he said "dried blood" which is what this product is).

Today is Stephen's birthday. He took Jax and Dex to hockey while I took Cars to t-ball this morning. Then we bought donuts in lieu of cake. We had to eat dinner early because Dex had a 7pm baseball game but I think Stephen enjoyed his day.

Today also would have been my dad's 78th birthday. Wow, that sounds so old! It is hard to beleive he had been gone almost 10 years. I guess this is the last "mile-stone anniversary" for a few years. Sometimes I am just amazed at how fast these past 10 years have flown. I also did not realize how much I would still miss him all these years later. I especially miss talking to him about politics (both Canadian and American). But I think of him daily if for no other reason that the password on the main computer in our house is the userid he used on his computer and in playing "Zelda".

Stephen doesn't say much about my dad anymore so I did get a choked up not long ago when he told me that he missed him. And tonight he had the kids say a prayer for my dad. :')

We had an All-hands Cosmo Friday tonight. That just meant that all of the moms, kids and dads met at Ash's house. It was nice to have a Cosmo Friday after such a long time. We played Rockband 2 and I lost my voice singing "Last Train to Clarksville". It was a fun night be we did not get home until 11:30 so the kids are going to be a mess tomorrow.

My mother called me today and asked me if I were packed yet for our trip. Um, it is still over a week away! She could not believe that I had not yet started packing. Then she reminded me to take sweatshirts for everyone. I laughed and laughed because I recently re-read one of my very first blahg entries where I mentioned that she called to remind me to take a sweater to Florida when we were planning our trip there five years ago. Gotta love her, right?

Last week, at a jewellery party (yes, I went to another Cookie Lee party), one of the women I know from my MOPS group told me that I always looked so put together. I was gobsmacked (isn't that a great word?!) because I feel as though I am always sort of a mess. I thanked her but explained that all I ever wear are jeans and t-shirts (long sleeves or 3/4 length or short sleeves but they are all t-shirts). She said that everyone tells her to invest in a good, expensive pair of jeans. I said no, my favourite jeans were "two-fifty". Clearly she misunderstood because she made a comment about how she could never spend more than $100 on a pair of jeans. No, I said, I meant two dollars and fifty cents! I bought them at Sears. They were marked down to $24.99 then were on sale for 90% off the lowest price. I probably love them more for the price than for how they actually look on me!

So, I wear inexpensive clothes. There is nothing fancy in my closet. Well, that is not true. I do have my fancy outfit that I wore to Ramona's wedding. And my wedding dress (my mom brought it down last year she was here) but even that was not expen$ive...I bought it on clearance from a wedding shop! Now, I have been buying more expen$ive shoes the past couple of years because my feet are old and get sore when I wear cheap shoes (but I still look for sales and check out the clearance rack!).

There are several reasons why I do not spend a lot of money on clothes. The first, of course, is that I do not have a lot of money. And as a stay-at-home mom, I don't feel that I could justify spending a ton of money on clothes that would only be worn around the house, to Co$tco or to the bus stop.

Another reason is that there are some perfectly nice clothes out there that are reasonably priced. If that woman thinks that I am put together wearing my $2.49 jeans from Sears and my t-shirts from Costco, how can I justify buying more expensive clothes?

And of course the biggest reason is that one day I am going to lose some weight and it would be a complete waste of money to have to get rid of my expen$ive wardrobe, right?

My SIL called tonight to say that my other niece is coming to visit with them next month. I am happy that their whole family will be here.

Stephen's birthday is this weekend and I haven't bought him anything yet! He wants Rock Band 2 and a sauté pan. ~eyeroll~

How Does My Garden Grow?

Another glorious, sunny and warm day here. After I spent the morning with Cars' class (Reading Naturally then monitoring the computers during Reading Literacy times), I went to Fred Meyer and bought some veggies for the garden. I planted broccoli, walla walla onions, peas, egg plant and artichoke. I also planted seeds to grow carrots, cucumber, zucchini and green onion. I hope my garden grows this year!

Stephen is skeptical about the artichoke but even if it does not bear fruit, it does become a lovely looking plant (my neighbour always has them growing in her garden).

I am still waiting on a bid from a garden service to find out how much it would be to clear out all of our garden beds. Two quotes so far have come in within 10% of each other. One bid was very detailed and said it would be about 18 hours worth of work! I believe it. The beds are such a mess. The front are not so bad but the back are just overgrown with weeds and grass. Just a month of neglect (well, more than a month, I guess. I stopped weeding the gardens in August and our growing season really lasts until November and I haven't done too much weeding yet this year).

Both guys told me to rip out the bamboo. Interestingly enough, they both told me that I should sell it. One guy said I should just put an ad on craigslist and the other suggested that I could sell it to a local bamboo grower. I haven't decided which route to go yet.

Anyway, it will be nice to get the garden beds looking all neat again and for my veggie garden to grow. The raspberry patch has started to green up and I am looking forward to eating some good food right out of my backyard (if I can get over the fact that it is growing in steer manure).

Random Photos

Some random photos...


When did this chocolate bar become an "Energy Bar"?


11 year old boy making a wish


One reason why the kids did not sleep at the sleepover


Deer in my yard


Tomatoes are in


My first income check in 10 years. Please feel free to click on my sidebar ad to help me earn more money. It only took me 8 months to earn this much! ;)

Tonight is Jax's birthday party (a sleepover). The kids are watching "Spiderman 2". I think this will be the last party that is so big (well, 8 kids including my 3). We have a personality conflict with a couple of the kids, I think so while they all get along great with Jax on a one-on-one basis, as a group it just isn't working out. The group basically divided in two and they've been apart most of the evening. Jax doesn't seem to notice (or mind) so I guess that's ok.

Dex is conflicted still about whether to have a sleepover party or an ice skating party. I am leaning towards the skating party then he can invite his friend, C, for a sleepover that night. Dex has been distraught trying to figure out what is best for him and he was even in tears about it last week. Oh geez...

I am testing mobile blogging using my iPhone. Stephen said I was no allowed to take my laptop on vacation with me. I hope this works.

Oh, nuts!

When I went to the school to pick up Dex and Cars for their allergist appointment, imagine my surprise to find them both already in the office. Turns out that Cars was hit in the mouth with a frisbee at recess and Dex had taken him to the office to be checked out. What a great big brother he is!

Anyway, I signed them out of school and off we headed to the allergist. I asked when I arrived how long the "two kid max" limit on appointments had been in place and the receptionist said always but that I could discuss it with the allergist. So, I did.

I asked her about it at the end of the appointment and she said was wondering why I did not have all three with me this time. She said that some children were just so out of control that she cannot (and will not) deal with more than two at a time. Then she told me that I was welcome to bring all three of mine in anytime and just to tell them when I made the appointment that she has ok'd it. Ah, my kids are well-behaved! (I rock as a mom! ;)

So, the appointment was interesting. Because Dex had been diagnosed with reactive airway by the pediatrician, the allergist now treats him as though he has asthma and he had to do some puffer test. And she prescribed Flovent to him to take everyday for the next two weeks. Also, I need to start him back on Flonase as well.

Then onto Cars. We discussed different nuts that he can eat (pistachios which he loves and almonds which he doesn't) then I asked her about macadamia nuts and she suggested that we test him for those and for cashews. She said she was certain he would be fine with cashews since he can eat pistachios (they are "related"). Two minutes into the test he had a small but very distinct wheal under the macadamia nut! Noooo!

That was disappointing but we can deal with it. It is not as though we ate macadamia nuts regularly (or at all!). Just no macadamia nuts in Hawaii for him.

Just re-read my post from yesterday and when I wrote "I hope the kids in his class appreciate it.", I meant appreciate the sense of humour, not in the "they are ingrates" way.

Anyway, Jax took in the cheese sticks and he said everyone thought it was funny. When they sang Happy Birthday to him he conducted them with one of the cheese sticks. He thinks he is such a card.

Jax enjoyed his very yummy dinner and cake. He got some nice loot too and is so happy. It was a successful birthday for him!

My mood is better now. Well, it was HORRIBLE this morning but 80 minutes of OnDemand exercise helped. My mood was so bad that I did not want to go to the gym and expose anyone else to it! But, as I said, exercise helped a lot. And I really limited my carbs and sugar (good-bye chocolate) which helped, I think.

I made a Co$tco run today. One of the things I wanted to get were cheese sticks for Jax to take to school tomorrow for his birthday treat. Most kids bring in cupcakes or cookies or donuts. He wants to bring in cheese. I hope the kids in his class appreciate it. He talks all.the.time about cheese (because he thinks it is funny) which is why he wanted to bring it in.

Yeah, so Jax will be 11 tomorrow. I thought that 10 was big (and I guess it is!) but 11 seems soooo much older. I let him stay home by himself from time-to-time (like if I have to run to the store or drop Dex off at baseball practice). He walks to the library himself and he wants to go to Safeway by himself but I am not ready for that yet. He read his first "Adult Fiction" book last week (Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton).

He has even chosen a "grown up" meal for his birthday. No Red Robin for him. He wants steak, roasted potatoes and mushrooms for dinner! Geez, even my birthday dinner was not that nice.

So, tomorrow Jax will be 11. Wow!

The last few days I feel as though there is a big black cloud hanging over my head. Well, figuratively as there has quite literally been one - all this stupid rain! I have been self-medicating with chocolate.

It might just be PMS but I am feeling very down. I am not evening feeling the slightest bit up when I think about our trip to Hawaii. I must snap out of it. And I also must get rid of all of the chocolate in our house. It seems to be the answer to the doom and gloom that I am feeling but my jeans are complaining as they are stretched to their very limits now.

My face is totally broken out too (hello again, chocolate?) so that is not helping my mood at all.

Woe is me!

Seriously, I think I probably just need more exercise. I think I'll skip that dance class tomorrow and stick to the regular circuit training. I don't want to spend money to feel like a clod with my two left feet trying to Zumba.

I am also feeling a little stressed because Jax has an allergist appointment (along with Dex) later in the week BUT it is also WASL (Standardized testing) time and don't ya know that the appointment interferes with the testing. After a flurry of emails to the teachers (Dex is ok because they just test in the morning) we've now received special permission from the principal for Jax to start the WASL testing at 8:30AM in the library rather than 10:40AM in his classroom so he can make that appointment. Oh, and here is the thing...the test is scheduled from 10:40 to 12:15 BUT if kids are not done, they are welcome to keep writing it for the rest of the day! Also, the principal is concerned that Jax would feel rushed and not complete it in order to be done by 2pm when I would need to take him out for the appointment and being rushed might negatively affect his score (and her job rating no doubt).

Then, I found out there is no testing the following week on the date of Cars' allergist appointment (remember how mad I was three months ago when I made the appointments and they would not allow me to bring all three kids in on the same day?) so I will call the allergist's office to see if I can switch Jax and Cars' appointments.

Just one more thing bringing me down. Quick, where's the chocolate?

Dex and Cars had baseball/t-ball games today. I am chilled to the bone and I cannot get warmed! Brrr!

My brother, sister-in-law and one of my nieces from Minnesota are coming to visit us next month. I am very excited! This is to make up for the weekend that my SIL could not come back in March when my mom was here. My other niece has a job interview coming up and if she gets the job she will have to work that weekend but if not, perhaps she will come too.

Now, I need to convince Jean-Paul, Marilyn and Lola to come down that weekend too so we can all hang out together on Saturday night. It would be great fun!

Book Club

I am off to book club shortly with a plate of chalk cookies (chocolate chip meringues - Stephen says they taste like chalk but everyone seems to like them). I think I read up to page 30 of the book. It was just so difficult to read. Book club will just be 6 members tonight (or maybe just 5).

Let's see, one cannot come because she is in Utah picking out dresses with her sister who is getting married (these two are Spy's SIL's), another is on spring break and going away, I think. A third is not coming because her dh had surgery. A fourth is not coming because she is coming down with a cold and Ash is not coming because her dh has to work late BUT really she does not want to go.

So, that leaves 6 of 11. And, one of those 6 might not be there because I know she is on spring break for work but her kids had spring break last week (she works for a different school district than the one her kids go to). And another of the 6 always shows up about 9 or so and rarely finishes (or reads!) the book. I guess I am one to talk since I barely started this one.

And I wonder if I did this because it was the woman who made the comment about cancer, attitude and my dad last month. She has been a thorn in the side for a few members and I had started to write about it quite a few times here but then thought better of it (who knows who reads here, right Spy? ;) Spy knows what she is like but she is much more tolerant of her than some of the rest of us.

Oh and there goes the timer so time to get my chalk cookies out of the oven.

Dex has an ear infection in both ears. OMG! I am so sick of this poor child being sick. The doctor gave him a strong antibiotic to hopefully kill off every bit of infection in his body and start to get him well again. Oh, he also got a huge scrape on his arm at the park before we went to the doctor so she said that the antibiotic will keep that from getting infected too!

Stephen went back to work today but he still is not 100%.

Tomorrow night is book club and I am on page 23 of a 400-page book. I hate it and just cannot get into it. I will go for the food though. :)

I haven't much to say these days. We've had beautiful weather these past couple of days. Stephen has been home sick for two days now and I hope he is feeling better tomorrow. I tried a new class on Monday and I realize that I am really, really uncoordinated and cannot dance.

My neighbour gave me some plant (I forget the name) that deer HATE so I planted it right next to the hostas and I hope it works! They've eaten the crocus, the tulips and the hyacinth so far. And I have deer prints through the garden where they trample it to get to what they want! It is so frustrating.

Jax has made his list for his birthday. The item he wants most - a computer for his room. Um, no. Next...item is a digital camera to make "Legomation" movies. He uses my old camera so I really do not think we need to spend the money on another one.

His next item is a flat screen tv. ~eye roll~

What is on his list that we might do is money to join the "builder's club" at an online site he likes to visit. It is called Roblox - a virtual world where you build Lego-like worlds. We might get him a six-month subscription.

He also wants the Jurassic Park movies on DVD. I just ordered them from Amazon.com.

Jax also wants Lego too but I am wondering if he is getting too old for that. Or, since that is what he wants and not what I want to buy him, am I trying to force him to "grow up"? Hmmm...

I went for a pedicure today with some women from my MOPS group. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks for tea/coffee. It was a lot of fun! We called it "Flip-Flop into Spring". Stephen took the boys to the first session of summer hockey. Later, we went through our taxes and filed them. I get so stressed out about doing taxes in case we do it wrong.

It was a lovely day weather-wise and the boys played outside a lot of the afternoon. It was not until later that I thought I probably should have put some sunscreen on them. I don't think they got burned and they all wore baseball caps to shade their eyes from the strange-looking yellow ball in the sky.

Tomorrow is Passion Sunday but Stephen thinks the boys need to go to hockey again rather than church and religion class. He just told me he is going to ask them what they want to do in the morning. Of course they are going to pick hockey! Aaargh! This is really not fair. I can only hope that he was joking.

Blah Blah Blah

I took my engagement ring to the jewelers to be repaired. The prongs are worn down and are in danger of breaking off and I don't want to lose my diamond. I always wear my rings (wedding band, anniversary band and engagement ring) so my finger feels weird without the engagement ring. I have a huge callus built up on the underside of my finger from where the skin rubs against the rings and a permanent indentation in my fingers from the rings. I think if I ever stopped wearing these rings it would take ages for my finger to go back to "normal".

Stephen took the day off and went out to breakfast with the boys while I slept it. I am going to have a difficult time getting up next week when we return to our normal schedule because I have slept in nearly every day. I haven't slept in too late but at least an hour or more than usual.

After they came home from breakfast, Stephen went out again on an insane quest for a Lego that Jax wanted for his birthday. Fred Meyer has the Star Wars and Indiana Jones Lego on sale (must be clearing it out) so Stephen went to three FM's to find the one that Jax wanted. I really don't think we need more Lego in the house and have been trying to steer the kids towards other birthday ideas but with no luck.

I received two birthday presents in the mail today so I was happy to extend my birthday "season". :) Ramona sent me a box of goodies which included 4 full-sized Mars bars (yum!), some Swiss Chalet dipping sauce packets and some other fun things. My friend, DeniSe, sent me some cool books, including Book Lust which is a book I have looked at many times but have not purchased. The author, Nancy Pearl, is a librarian at Seattle Public Library and a regular guest on a local NPR radio program. I am excited to go through it!

And now I am off to eat a Mars bar and watch the kids play video games while Stephen frets over our taxes.

Well, Cars' cough is getting better but Dex's is worse. So bad that I felt that I had to take Dex to the doctor today (last night he also had a fever and was very lethargic). I was worried that he had pneumonia again. But, it is just a virus. His fever is now gone but the cough remains.

He was well enough for me to take the kids swimming today so at least this school break has not been all spent hanging around the house. I also took the kids for haircuts. Cars' is really short because he wanted it spiky. Jax's is thinned out a lot and looks much better (still crazy though). Dex wants to grow his so he just got a trim to neaten it up.

Tomorrow if everyone is healthy enough they will go to an ice skating b-day party. Oh, please let them all be healthy!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had such a great day today. First off, I replied to every single person on Facebook so I am sure that my news feed caused more than a few people to click "LESS ABOUT PEZ" today.

We had planned a hike but we had torrential rains this morning (and hail!) so we had to cancel. Around lunchtime it had cleared up a bit so I took the kids to the mall and got some free Lego (a small box that came with the Advent calendar that we could fill with loose Lego between Jan 1 and Mar 31), a free Godiva chocolate bar and a free pair of underwear and $10 any purchase at Victoria Secret (I bought two more pairs of undies that were on sale).

Afterwards, while the sun shone, we went for a walk along the river. We then had dinner and cake and played Rummoli. I had such a great day!

Saturday night we went to Ash's to celebrate her dh's 40th birthday. It was fun!

Sunday, Spy and Ash took me to dinner and a movie to celebrate my birthday. We saw "Sunshine Cleaning". I really enjoyed it and had a great time.

Today, Stephen took the day off work and we went to GameWorks in Seattle. That place is soooo icky but the kids love playing all of the video games and the "ticket" games.

My birthday is tomorrow and I believe I am getting "Twilight" on dvd. I say this because Cars keeps asking me if "Twilight" is one of my favourite movies or if I like "Twilight" more than "Monsters vs Aliens" (which I have not seen but Stephen took the kids to see it yesterday).

Cars has had his "croup-like" cough for a couple of days and he had fever yesterday. The cough got really bad this afternoon so I took him to the doctor who of course said "yes, he has a croup-like cough". No stidor or wheezing though so we just have to wait it out. Dex has started coughing again too so I made him use his inhaler tonight. I just hope that Jax does not start coughing too!

I made my birthday cake tonight and the icing did not turn out! I followed the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" frosting recipe on the tin of cocoa but it ended up with little lumps of cocoa. Oh well, it still tasted good enough and if no one else likes it, more for me!

Last night was Art Gallery night at the school. Since I am the art docent for Dex's class, I had to come up with an art project to display. I decided on Cave drawings based on the cave drawings of Lascaux. I had the kids draw on sandpaper with oil pastels. I thought they really looked great! The kids did a fabulous job.


While I ran the "friendship bracelet" activity (I just had to get pony beads and pipe cleaners), Stephen took the kids around. He took photos of them next to their works of art. Jax's class made and glazed some clay pots and Cars' class painted some terra cotta pots.

Here are some photos:


Oh, and notice the white eye in Jax's left eye again? Weird, eh?

The Fifth Graders also put on a drum concert which I missed because of the friendship bracelet thing. I also forgot to look at the Reflections contest entries (Dex submitted his blue ice photo). Hmmm...next year I think I will volunteer to be a "floater" so I can wander around and not miss anything.

Ha, the blogger dashboard says "Scheduled outage at 4:00PM PDT on Thursday (3/25). Learn more". Too bad 3/25 is WEDNESDAY, not Thursday.

Anyway...

I worked out today for the first time in a week and I feel so much better mentally. Of course now that my mom has left, that might have helped too. I feel like a big baby for complaining about her visit but yesterday was so emotionally draining. I wonder if we fight towards the end of her visits because it will make it easier to say good-bye? Maybe I need to go back to my Crazy Doctor to figure it out? Hmmm...

Stephen asked me to make a list of things that I wanted for my birthday so I went to amazon.com to get the link for a book that I wanted only to see it was no longer listed when I knew for sure there was an April 2009 release date listed last year. The book is the second in the series after The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One by Patrick Rothfuss. What happened to the second book and the April release date? I had to go to Patrick's blog to find out. Oh, I can call him Patrick because he friended me on Facebook last year after I wrote a review of his book on Facebook's Visual Bookshelf. Anyway, Patrick explains what happened to the release date for the next book in this blog post. Aargh! It isn't even finished yet. I was sure that I read last year that it was already written. Anyway, I guess I will just have to be patient. Maybe (hopefully) it will be out soon.

So, I was debating whether or not to add Twilight to my list. I enjoyed the books, liked the movie but is it something that I need to own. Will I watch it over and over again? Probably not. I would like to see it again but I guess I can just rent it through NetFlix.

I think I would like a pair of silver hoop earrings. And some new sports socks. And that is about all I can think of offhand. Well, I would like some work-out clothes but I cannot find any that make me look fit. ;)

My mom is leaving early in the morning for Vancouver. We had a huge fight today. I am a little embarrassed about it because it stems from her always treating me like a child and when I try to take control and call her on her comments or actions, she tells me I am just "too sensitive". When she acts ridiculous and I tell her so, she tells me I am being a bully.

Anyway, we've made up. Next time she comes I am going to make sure I have projects for her to do so she won't have time to focus on what I am not doing (imagine me not wanting to start dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon!). And I am going to insist she comes when the weather is nicer so she can go out for walks.

I do love her and I even like her a lot. But I love her best 4000km away.

And please no comments about how I will miss her when she is gone. You haven't been with her constantly for the past several days.

My mom brought the boys Leafs' sweaters:

Today was Little League opening day. Dex had a game at 1pm so we first went to his game but then my mom, Cars and I had to leave at the bottom of the first inning to get to Cars' t-ball game. OMG, I forgot just how d*mn cute t-ball kids are when they are playing! They hit the ball then off to 1st base or right field or wherever! So cute!

Jax finished up his "Colonial" project today. His topic was "Toys and Games in Colonial Times" and he made some clay marbles (out of polymer clay that we then baked in the oven to harden). He also attached a toy knife and a block of wood to his board. He made sure he had permission from his teacher to bring the knife to school. He was very concerned that he would get in trouble for bringing in a "weapon". I am smirking a little about it because there is no way that anyone might mistake this plastic knife for the real thing but I am glad he checked anyway.

My mom is here for a visit. The kids are very excited that she is here. Tomorrow she gets to watch Cars play t-ball and Dex play baseball (opening day!).

Stephen booked a trip for us to go to Hawaii! I am so excited! Warmth! Sun! Sand! Can't wait! I was joking with the kids, telling them that I needed to lose some weight to fit into a bikini and Dex said "I don't want to see YOU in a bikini!". Gee, thanks.

Jax has an assignment due tomorrow that needs to be written in CURSIVE! It is a story that they have been working on for a couple of weeks and now the final draft is due tomorrow. The teacher said the kids would have one hour tomorrow to complete it if they did not get it done tonight. Jax spent almost 2.5 hours re-writing his story and it still is not done! Arrgh! One thing is that his story is very long (10 pages double-spaced) but he writes cursive painfully slow.

Anyway, he still has a couple of pages to write but he thinks he can get it done in the hour tomorrow. Poor boy. :(

And I cannot remember if I have mentioned but Dex's tics are back. They started just over a week ago. It is the head-shaking tic again but very violent. I know the neurologist said he wanted to see Dex again but I cannot remember if he said in 6 or 12 months. Either way, the tics will be gone before we get back in to see him. *sigh*

Spring break is coming up in less than two weeks. I really want to plan some fun outings for the kids. I had originally hoped that we would be sitting on a beach in Hawaii that week but no such luck.

My mom will be in Vancouver that week so perhaps we'll drive up to see her (and Lola and Jean-Paul - Marilyn will be France). Stephen has been talking about Great Wolf Lodge but I can imagine it will be just packed that week so I am not that interested in going. Maybe we'll just a few touristy things around here and I hope Stephen takes a day or two off. He has four weeks of UNUSED vacation to take on top of the four weeks he will earn this year (June will mark his 10th year at Big Software Company). I am more than a little irritated that he barely takes time off.

Jax started making a birthday list (his b-day is in 4 weeks). Cars, not to be out done, insisted on making one too (his b-day is 4.5 MONTHS away). Anyway, Jax wants Lego (what else is knew?!) and a digital camera to make Lego movies. He and Dex made a great little movie a couple of weeks ago. I will try to upload it to youtube and link it here.

I heard on the "Good Morning, America" today that Seattle has had more snow this year than Denver!! I believe it!

I was watching GMA to catch the segment they did called Possible Therapy Takes Bite out of Peanut Allergy. It reported on the study by Duke University (and others) where peanut-allergic children are fed peanut flour (under a doctor's care) to build up a tolerance to peanuts. I recorded it to show Jax. He told me that if they expanded the program, he would be interested in doing it. Wow! I am going to mention it to his allergist when at his annual appointment next month.

We had a St. Patrick's Day party last night with Spy's family and Ash's family over for dinner. Stephen made corned beef (~gag~) and I made a lamb stew (yum!) we also had a fancy cabbage slaw, barley risotto and boiled red potatoes. Oh, and green Cosmos. I went super easy with dessert and made white cake cupcakes with green butter cream frosting, topped with a green Peep. And a pan of wheat-free brownies with fudge icing for Spy. I had a blast! I love my family and friends!

My mom is coming for a visit on Thursday. My SIL is not coming after all (her youngest dd will be returning on Saturday evening from a trip to Florida so SIL thought she should be home to see her before she heads back to university on Sunday. Too bad but hopefully SIL will come sometime soon.

The kids got their report cards on Friday and I was pleased with everything...except for a couple of Cars' "Life Skills" and the comment that he needs to learn to keep his hands to himself when standing in line. Oops! He always claims that it is not him. ~eye roll~ Riiight.

Jax's teacher mentioned that he needed to write in cursive more but he just does not like to do it. He will only do it when she specifically tells him he *must* (like on final drafts of assignments, etc). It has become a running joke between him and his teacher...only I don't think he is joking. He claims he can print faster than he can write in cursive but I think it is just his own little way of rebelling. I am happy that the rebel seems to be limited to printing and loving that crazy, bush hair of his. At least for now.

Don't you just love when people say things like if you have a positive attitude you won't die of cancer? Then a minute later - "hey, didn't your dad die of cancer?"

Um, do you understand what you just did and said?

I told her I was offended by her words. I am sure that I raised my voice a little bit. I am sure that moment was very uncomfortable and awkward for everyone else at book club and I do not really even care.

I went to Target tonight and it was a ghost town! Where are all the shoppers?! I had to buy a birthday present for my niece and to buy a Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Cleaner (thanks for the coupon, Stacy!). It seemed like I had the run of the store to myself.

Before I went, Stephen and I took the kids to dinner at the same place that Stephen and I went on Friday night (we needed to use the other gift certificate that we had). Jax and Dex had the kids' steak dinner but Cars insisted on "Oodles of Noodles". I resented paying that much money for like 25 cents worth of buttered noodles. Aargh!

I spent much of this afternoon making Origami Jumping Frogs for Dex's Funny Money Bazaar at school. The kids make something (or bring in things) to sell. Normally, we make Nanaimo bars but he wanted to do something different this time so the frogs and he is also making paper bag puppets. The problem with both of these projects is that there was too much parental involvement needed! He was not as precise as he needed to be when folding the paper for the frog so I ended up taking over (control freak much?). Then Dex needed help here and there with the stupid, I mean, silly puppets. Hours and hours worth of work and he still does not have enough for the class yet. Next time he's making Nanaimo bars!!

I stopped by the local jewellry shop today to buy some silver cleaner. I found my stash of 1990's-era silver earrings and bracelets that are all tarnished so I thought I might clean them up and maybe start wearing them. Anyway, while I was in the store I asked to have my rings cleaned. Stephen bought my 10th anniversary band there. Well, actually, I picked it out, ordered it but made him hand over the credit card when it came in. He (really him this time) bought me a set of pearls, amethyst earrings/necklace and I bought his 40th birthday present - a watch - from this place over the years so I figure they owe me a free ring cleaning once a year. :) Oh, the store owner even offered to clean my diamondoid earrings which I was terribly embarrassed about but they do look much nicer now. I bought them for $50 many years ago at Mervyn's.

Anyway, I was told that the prongs on my engagement ring were worn down and I need to have them replaced soon or I might lose the diamond. He told me the price, which I thought was reasonable (way less than the deductible should I lose the diamond!), so I will take it back there in the coming weeks to have it done.

The place was suprisingly busy for two in the afternoon. One lady was buying a ring, another was picking up something that she had repaired. A third bought a gold chain. And one woman brought her husband to pick up the bracelet that she had designed. It was a huge diamond bracelet (think tennis bracelet with BIG diamonds) between two thin, wavy gold bracelets. I guess she had it designed that she could take the gold bracelets off and just wear the diamonds alone. It was gorgeou$! And she was buying it "just because".

Me? I walked out of there with my $5 silver cleaner and some pretty shiny rings. Oh yeah, and clean diamondoid earrings too. :)

It snowed today (this is getting to be a regular thing rather than a rare event). Jax and Cars wanted to play in the snow when they got home from school so they headed out after their homework was done and they played outside until nearly dinner time. I went into the laundry room after they went to bed and I found their coats covered in MUD and SOAKED (and lying on the floor -grrrrrr!). It was 9:30 at this point so I put them in the washing machine but Jax's coat takes two and half cycles in the dryer to dry so I'll be up until 11:45 or so to ensure that it dries. I am sooo frustrated!

Stephen is taking a day off tomorrow because he worked crazy hours last week and he really needs to catch up on sleep. He picked a good day because the temperatures have dropped and the roads will be icy tomorrow. I am wondering if we might have a delayed start for school tomorrow too.

Dex was invited to a birthday party so on Friday we went to Target to look for a gift. He looked in the action figure aisle, the Lego aisle and the video game aisle but there was nothing that interested him that was within our budget. Then, he found the Outdoor Summer Toy aisle and he insisted that we buy this kid, who has an early March birthday, a Slip'n'Slide! And of course it snowed on and off all weekend!

I hope it does not snow overnight because I have an appointment at the ProClub at 9 and my circuit training class is at 10. A delayed start (or snow day!) would mean I would miss both!