Today, after hockey practice and before Religion classes, we went to BrickCon at the Seattle Center. It is a Lego Hobby Convention for adults but it was open to the public (and kids!) on Saturday and Sunday. There was so much Lego there (on display and for sale)! It was amazing to see the elaborate Lego designs. The boys loved it and we look forward to next year's exhibition!

Here are a few of my favourite exhibits:

Lego Stephen Hawking

Lego Mosaic Link

Lego Totem Pole

Lego Children...oh wait. Just my kids. :)

Lego Ski Hill

They had some Legomation videos from youtube playing as well. The kids kept hoping that one of theirs would be shown. Here is the latest one.

The new bed arrived on Tuesday and it is ridiculously high - 32" off the ground! But, it is very comfortable and Stephen says his back and shoulder have stopped hurting already. I will admit that it is nice to sleep on such a firm ("ultra firm") bed again. My bedsheets do not fit the mattress so I need to buy some extra deep queen fitted sheets. And I think I will buy a new king comforter, flat sheet and blanket.

I sold the Heavenly Bed to someone from book club. There were actually 5 people interested in buying it! I was worried we would end up being stuck with it.

I think I am coming down with something. I have a bit of a stuffy nose but I have also had an afternoon nap nearly every day since Wednesday. I am soooo tired. Oh wait, could it be related to the new bed? Maybe it is not that good after all?!

All of the running around we are doing these days is starting to wear on us all. Cars falls asleep in the car almost every time we drive for more than 15 minutes. Jax is grumpy and Dex's tics are a little worse than usually. Today, while Cars had a playdate, I lay down for a moment to watch tv in my room and fell asleep! I was so horrified when I woke up because I would die if someone napped while my 6 yr old was at their house!

Stephen is sick (but of course says he *must* go to work). It is so infuriating!

The kids have no school on Friday and I bet that will be the day when Stephen crashes and will decide to stay home because he will then really be too sick to go to work.

I have tried writing this blahg post three times in the past two days but I keep getting choked up and also I cannot seem to get the exact sentiment in words that I am trying to express.

So, I will just say that I love my mom and I am worried about her. She is lonely and I wish I could do something to help her with that. But I cannot. So I will just work on being kinder and more patient with her.

That is all.

Tonight we went to Spy's house for some RockBand. As always, we had a Fab time (The Beatles RockBand tonight!). I don't think I will live down the name Dr. Pepper though (I wore a Sgt.Pepper-esque vest and Stephen called me Dr. Pepper and the name stuck all night).

We are getting into the routine of taking the bus to school. Our bus stop has so many more kids it seems. Last year there were 7 if everyone was there. This year, there are 8 which is just one more but there are five families rather than just three and another mom is always there with two kids who are not school-age yet so it seems crowded! lol

I am learning to play "Oh Pretty Woman" on the guitar and I am enjoying it. I have switched from the acoustic to electric because it is easier to learn bar chords with the electric guitar. I hope to switch back soon.

Hockey starts this weekend for Jax and Cars. Dex is not playing (loooong weepy story). Jax has two practices and one game each week. Cars has one practice and then alternates practice/game every other week. Cars is also playing soccer and taking swim lessons so we will be pretty busy until the end of October. Religion classes start up next month too so I expect a few meltdowns very soon.

Cars joined the Running Club at school and it meets Tuesday after school for 40 minutes. I picked him up today and it was almost 90 degrees and his face was so red from the heat. We rushed home, I gathered the other two boys and Cars changed into his soccer gear and we rushed out to his soccer game. My older two behaved badly at the game and it put Stephen in a foul mood (well, that plus the sitting in the hot sun). What a day.

My kids just cannot seem to get along these days! They are fighting and bickering and I guess it is normal but I hate it because it always ends with Jackson being mouthy to me, Dex getting all weepy and Cars whining. I try to ignore it or make them work things out but I just cannot listen to it anymore! Aargh!

Today was Cars' first soccer game. I was delighted to see how the boys all played together as a team! And to see Cars using some of the skills he has learned in the past month was awesome! They just played 3 on 3 but it was perfect.

Cars also did well considering he went directly from an hour of hockey to an hour of soccer. He was pooped at the end.

Jax also had a hockey evaluation again today I hope we find out team assignments and practice/game schedules soon.

After the day o'sports, we went out to buy a new bed to replace this Heavenly Bed. The replacement bed was only good for Stephen for a month or two and he has been complaining about it ever since. Finally, he says he has had enough so off we went. Ok, who knew that some mattresses were like $3000! And those are not the Temper-pedic or Sleep Number beds! We did not buy a $3000 mattress but I wonder who would spend that kind of money on a bed that was not even all that comfortable (IMO). Anyway, our new bed should arrive on the 29th. I am going to try to sell this one on Craigslist since it is only 8 months old and in great condition. Personally, I would not buy a used bed but I know that it is reasonable to think that others might.

Once that new bed arrives, I hope Stephen's complaints about his back stop!

Finally! The bus driver was trained to use an epi pen this afternoon so my kids can start taking the bus to/from school starting on Monday. It only took three weeks, seven emails to the nurse (the final one being a little pissy).

I have been taking Sudafed and last night I woke up at 2:19AM. I finally fell back asleep about 4:30AM unti 6:15AM when my alarm went off. I guess that is not too bad because two nights before, I woke up at 2:52AM but did not get back to sleep at all! I am now on antibiotics so I've stopped taking the Sudafed and I hope the ear pain I am have been experiencing goes away soon!

So, I did take the kids out to dinner last night after Cars' swim lessons. We just ate at the Bistro at the club. I forgot how expen$ive it was! The kids' meals were $7.50 each and my salad was $13.50 (but oh so good)! The Bistro overlooks the indoor tennis courts (we don't have a tenni$ membership) so the boys really enjoyed that watching people play and a kid taking lessons. We bought two tennis rackets on the weekend and the boys have been taking turns playing with them on the tennis courts at the park when I pick them up after school. We really need to buy a third racket because there is a sharing problem.

For dinner tonight, we just had pasta with sauce (jarred sauce from Trader Joe's) and I made some cheesy garlic toast but that is not really cooking but heating and assembling. I did skip out on clean up though as I went to Cars' curriculum night at school.

Curriculum night was good. I really like Cars' teachers a lot and I think this will be a great year for him. His teachers had already assumed that I would teach Art Start for them (I used to teach Art Start together with one of them when our now 4th graders were in K and 2nd grades together). I also signed up to help with reading one day/week.

I hope that all of the teachers get their schedules together so I can get an idea of what my week will look like and I can plan my own schedule - volunteering, working out, grocery shopping. Oh, and cooking.

I suck at cooking. I think we've discussed this before. But I am trying to do better. I am!

In fact, two nights in a row I have made yummy dinners (well, one was with some small help from Trader Joe's Orange Chicken) and Stephen did not come home "on time" for dinner. This totally pissed me off. When I make an effort to make dinner, I expect him to be home.

Today, I marinated the pork chops more than 10 minutes in advance (they marinated for 5 whole hours in a home-made sauce!!). I bought huge amounts of broccoli and even splurged on a clearance package of Pillsbury Grands (it was 1/2 price because it was near the expiration date). I normally have a really hard time coordinating all parts of the meal to be ready all on time but tonight I was HOT and the pork chops were grilled (and not to the texture of shoe leather), the Grands were golden brown just as the broccoli was perfectly steamed! I was just taking the Grands out of the oven when the telephone rang. It was the exact moment that I was expecting Stephen to walk through the door.

Anyway, the kids and I enjoyed a lovely hot meal. The pork chops were good and all three children ate it without complaints (a miracle really!).

Tomorrow night I am taking the kids to dinner at the club after Cars' swimming lessons. Stephen can fend for himself.

Just found out that since Cars will probably be playing on a regular hockey team (rather than playing in the Beginners' program) we need to buy him hockey equipment too.

Another trip to Vancouver?

Or maybe we can find used stuff since there is no one to pass the equipment down to!

Yesterday it was about a billion degrees and we went to a corn maze. The walk through it is about a mile if you follow the directions and answer the questions correctly. We did not. We sweated our way through the hot, dusty maze and two bottles of water and a lot of grumpiness later (Stephen) we arrived at the end. The kids had a great time and I am sure that had it been 10 or 20 degrees cooler, it would have been a much lovelier time.


Boys with Cars' friend, K

Blah Blah Blah

The second week of school is coming to an end and I still haven't met with Jax's teacher but I guess we have a meeting after school tomorrow with the nurse to finally review his 504 Plan so the teacher knows what is in it. Of course we had already arranged for a friend to come over to play with Jax so they will just all have to hang out at the playground together until the meeting is over. It should not take long - about 10 minutes I hope. The nurse still has not had an opportunity to train the bus driver. I hope it isn't another week before they get to take the bus!

Tonight was book club (we read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett - I must update my sidebar). I had a lot of fun. What a great group of friends!

Remember pinching girl? Well, she had graduated to punching girl.

I know she has been a problem bothering Cars at recess (they are not in the same class this year) since school started because Cars has told me she is bugging him(teasing him, hitting him, kicking him, etc) and I have encouraged him to ignore her or to tell a recess teacher. He is really hung up on the tattling thing though so it was not until she punched him today "...and it really HURT" that he told a recess teacher.

I decided to email his teachers so they were aware of what was going on. It turns out that the girl had been marched into his class by her teacher to apologize to Cars after recess. Oh why didn't he tell me that?! Anyway, the teachers did not know of the history so they said they would keep an eye on things and I should keep encouraging Cars to tell a recess teacher as well as his teacher(s).

The mother of one of Cars' friends told me at soccer on Friday that this girl was bugging Cars all.the.time according to her son who plays with Cars at recess. Cars really is intimidated by this girl. When we found out what class he was in, he scanned the list for her name and told me that he was glad she was not in his class.

I feel a little badly for his girl. She glares at everyone and I have rarely seen her smile. Sometimes I think she just needs a hug. But, I just wish she'd leave my son alone.

We decided that we needed to go to Vancouver this weekend so we packed up and left Saturday morning. We got a late start because we were out on Friday night and I had not packed beforehand. It was a pretty good drive up (we did not have any owls drive into the car) but the border wait was over an hour.

Since we were running late, we checked into our hotel in Richmond then drove out to Surrey to The Hockey Shop to outfit Jax for hockey as he can no longer rent equipment from the beginner program. We were there close to two hours but we got everything we needed and had someone help ensure that his skates fit properly. It was good in that they did not steer us towards the most expensive equipment in the store and everything that we bought was on sale anyway then we got an additional 10-20% off. With the exception of the skates, the prices were the same or better than Canadian Tire, a place where everyone bought their hockey gear when we were growing up.

Afterwards, we went to Jean-Paul and Marilyn's for dinner. Lola is so funny. She barely spoke for the first hour we were there. Then she would say things to the boys like "Pick me up" as she lay on the floor. Or she'd tell them to shout out the front window with her. She is virtually potty trained. Oh how I wish my boys were trained at age 2!!

As I mentioned, we stayed in Richmond near the airport. We normally stay in downtown Vancouver but the Sheraton was booked and the pool at the Westin Bayshore was under construction so we chose a different place. Stephen was not impressed.

I think I have mentioned before that he is a hotel snob and very spoilt. My oldest brother worked for Sheraton/Westin/Starwood for close to 30 years so since I met Stephen, we were used to staying at a fancy hotel at a very nicely discounted rate (including FREE when we went to Montreal, Chicago, Florida). However, my brother no longer works for them so we are playing regular rates for these places now. And for the price of the Westin Bayshore with no pool, we could get a one bedroom suite at the Radisson that had a working pool (or so we thought) and breakfast for four in the restaurant. Stephen agreed so I booked it.

When we checked it, there was a sign that the water heater in the pool/fitness area was being replaced so no hot water. I thought "how cold can the pool be"? Um, pretty damn cold. The boys did swim in it but not for long.

Traffic around that area was HORRIBLE and there were huge signs in the parking lot warning one not to leave any personal items in ones car. So we lugged up all of the hockey equipment to our hotel room. The room had a king bed in the bedroom and a queen-sized pull-out couch so I suggested that the three boys sleep together in the bed. Stephen hurt his back sleeping on the pull-out couch so all around it was a bad choice. I believe next time we'll be back at the Westin. Mr. Hotel Snob will insist.

(On a positive note, we did get a breakfast buffet included in the price. And, the hotel was close to Costco where we stocked up on peanut-free Chewy bars and fun-sized chocolate bars. The drive home was quick and the border wait was only 15 minutes).

Here is a photo of Jax in his gear. He's ready to play (and let's hope he continues to like playing!):

Friday was my 16th wedding anniversary. Stephen and I hired the babysitter and we went out for dinner. This was after I had run around trying to track down the pizza and cheesy bread sticks that I had ordered for the kids for dinner. I submitted the order online at 5pm requesting that the pizza to arrive at 7pm. They are usually a few minutes early but not that day. We waited and waited and waited and I finally called at 7:20pm they said that they did not know what happened to my order then told me it was just coming out of the oven but could not be delivered for 30 minutes because they were so busy! Huh? But, why was it just coming out of the oven at 7:25 when I had ordered it to be delivered by 7pm? Ok, never mind, I told them. I would come by to pick it up.

Three minutes later I walked in the door and after 8 minutes of waiting and them searching, they told me that the pizza had already been delivered. Huh? But, I CALLED and we agreed that I would pick it up. Stephen was still at home and had tried calling me to tell me it had been delivered but for some reason my cellphone did not work in PapaJohn's. Papajohn's said that this order was going to be free (I'll still watch my cc statement to make sure) and I also have a credit for two pizzas of my choice. We'll be ordering two extra-large with all the toppings sometime in the near future.

Anyway, after I went home and reapplied deodorant (it is stressful tracking down pizza!), we went to dinner at this new restaurant that had opened where that other restaurant used to be (they closed at the beginning of May). The new one is an Italian restaurant and this is the third restaurant of this particular chain. The place was packed and there appeared to be a lot of people waiting for tables. Our reservation was at 7:45 and we arrived 5 minutes early and were told it would be about 10 minutes until our table would be ready. No worries. Stephen went to the bar to get us drinks. Ten minutes later when our table was ready, he was just getting back. Apparently the restaurant was out of draft beer. Ok, they had opened 3 days before so perhaps something was up so we shrugged it off.

We were seated and drank our drinks (cosmo for me, bottled beer for Stephen) and we waited and waited and waited and waited for a waiter/waitress to come by. Finally after 15 minutes, I stopped the hostess who was walking by and said "Excuse me, we have been been seated for quite some time and no one has come by" and she apologized and a few minutes later our waitress come over. She told us that she did not know we were in her section (perhaps plausible except that our table was next to the one she was serving before she came by). We wanted wine with our dinner so Stephen asked for their house red wine but they were out of wine. OUT OF WINE! Every kind of wine. At first Stephen could not believe what she said as he had asked for the house red and thought she meant they were out of that. No, they were out of ALL WINE. On a Friday night! So, I ordered their "specialty" cocktail which was a strawberry limoncello martini and Stephen had nothing else to drink.

We then ordered an appetizer (calamari). They were out of calamari! Ok, perhaps they misjudged how much calamari they would sell their first week. We just went ahead and ordered dinner. The waitress came by four times to apologize because my drink was taking so long and then she said that the manager was giving it to me for free due to the wait. The number of apologies for the drink was out of proportion for the wait for the drink, IMO. Maybe it was to make up for the wait we had for her to come over after we were seated?

Dinner was really, really good though so that made the excruciatingly long wait tolerable. I know they were going through some first week opening pains and I definitely will go back but not for a while when they have everything ironed out.

And when they have more wine.

School started this week so I have been busy. Busy making lunches, filling out forms (3 times each!), playing phone tag with the school nurse and buying last minute school supplies (and I still need to get Cars a clipboard and Dex a thesaurus that were not on the original class supply lists).

Cars is in 1st grade and two teachers - a job-share class. One of the teachers was the same teacher that Jax has in Grade 1 as well. She got married and had a baby and now she just works 3 days/week. The teacher she job shares with is the mom with whom I shared Art Start duties with in Dex's 2nd grade class. I really like her a lot and I know parents who had kids in their class last year and said that the job share worked really well so I was happy to guide Cars' kindergarten teacher to placing him in this class.

Dex is in 4th grade. He did not get No Joy teacher no Mean teacher. Crafty-teacher moved down to teach 3rd grade so he got the one that Spy said was a yeller. I don't mind. I think she has got to be better than the other two. As I mentioned earlier, Spy's son is in Dex's class and they are both very excited to finally be in the same class together since they were in 3 yr old preschool.

Jax is in 6th grade and his teacher is a man and fairly young. Jax says he seems nice. The first day when I picked him up I could tell that there was something wrong. He was withdrawn and sullen and when we got home, he went to his room for a while. I has asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. Finally he confessed to me that he felt like he had no friends and that this year was going to be horrible, "just like 4th grade!". My heart broke. He does have a couple of friends in his grade but they are not that close and neither of them are in his class this year. He is very close to Ash's son and two other boys who do not go to our school so that does not help at school. Jax is friendly and nice but very reserved.

I told him that he had to put himself out there and we came up with a couple of strategies to help make friends. First was to recognize that just because the two friends are not in his class this year does not mean that they are not friends. So, he has made an effort to talk to one of the kids in particular and hang out with him at recess (even if it means just watching that kid play soccer since Jax does not like to play it). The other is for him to take a look around and find someone he'd like to become friends with and start making an effort to talk to that kid.

I hope these things work. I don't want him to re-live 4th grade. He was friend-less due to his anxiety over his peanut allergy as he chose to keep a distance from kids and partly because he is a reserved kid who waits for others to approach him.

Any other tips or hints or suggestions would be most welcomed!

Last Day of Summer O'Fun 2009

The boys and I packed our bags and headed back to that private beach today so they could slide into the water and jump off the floating dock. Can you believe the frigging beach was closed again today for a private event?! Shit! I almost called in advance to check but then I thought that it is not the weekend so it should be open. Fortunately, there is another beach a couple of miles north of there so that is where we headed. They had a great time playing in the sand and water.

Afterwards, we headed out to pick up the last of the school supplies. Well, what I thought were the last of the supplies. Tonight as I poured through the reams of paperwork sent home after the Meet'n'Greet, it turns out that I need a clipboard for Cars and a thesaurus for Dex. It is never ending.

And in the First Day Packets, Jax's was missing the Emergency contact card (bright yellow), Dex's was missing the School Closure Release form (white) and Cars had no release form for the student directory (blue).

Ok, I need to head to bed a little early so that I can get up early to pack lunches and prepare to drive my kids to school since I know that the school nurse did not yet train the bus driver. She also did not return my emails about reviewing the 504 Plan with teachers before the start of school. So frustrating!

We were getting ready to go to the beach today to enjoy the last day of summer (ok, the kids have tomorrow off too but today was a nice day so we thought we'd take advantage of it), when Spy's dh called to see if we'd like to go out on their boat on the lake. We spent the day at the lake and the kids went tubing behind the boat and Stephen even water-skied. It was great fun!

And speaking of Spy, she has been away for a while and I miss her! We haven't seen much of each other this summer so I am looking forward to school starting so I know I will see hear at least on Wednesdays at the park. And, her daughter is in Jax's class, and her 4th grader son is in Dex's class so at least I will be able to find out what is going on in those classes! ;)

We had a great time at the Toronto FC v Seattle Sounders FC game today. We had no idea until we got there that our seats were a SUITE! Wow! Of course we had to share it with others (Paul and his counterpart on the player side as well as some super fans who flew to Seattle from Toronto just for the game). This was our first professional soccer, sorry, "football" game (or match?) and we all enjoyed it. Well, I think Cars enjoyed the free popcorn and tortilla chips the most.

Paul was kind enough to bring Toronto FC official replica jerseys for the kids too.

The game was tied 0-0 but it was exciting and we cannot wait to go see another game. Of course we'll be rooting for the Seattle Sounders FC then.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 50

You know that feeling when you see a friend whom you haven't seen in a long time and who knew you way back when? That is what happened tonight. Stephen's friend, Paul, whom I have known for 23 years and Stephen has known for 29 years is in town and he came over for dinner (just pizza). It was great seeing him and catching up. I felt the same way when I was in Toronto at the "reunion" and a couple of days later when I saw my friend, Sheila (whom I met around the same time as Paul as she was Stephen's next-door neighbour and we all used to hang out together).

Paul is in town for the Toronto FC game vs the Seattle Sounders FC game tomorrow. He has tickets for us and I excited to go to our first professional soccer - sorry...football - game.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 49

Ugh - blogger ate my post...

First off, today was a much better day. :)

Today we:

1. had fevers broke
   
2. got haircuts for Dex and Cars
   
3. bought Benadryl for Jax and Cars for school because I misplaced the Benadryl I bought last month at Costco
   
4. dropped epi-pens, Benadryl and the billion forms off at the school to the school nurse
   
5. gathered 6 cups of blackberries at the park
   
6. called orthopedic doc for doctor's note for Jax for the school because I forgot to get one while we were there
   
7. met the kids' teachers at the Meet'n'Greet
   
8. picked up Ash's son from football as her dd is still in the hospital (staph infection but they were able to find an antibiotic that is working
   
9. did 5 loads of laundry
   

Tomorrow will be even better! :)

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 48

Ok, this has stopped being fun. Dex is on this third day of a fever and Jax is on his second. Jax was not able to go to a birthday party today. He slept the day away, in and out of his fever. Even Advil did not bring it completely down.

Dex's is not as high as it was but he still has one. Tonight, I poured two three tbsp doses of Advil for the boys and Dex drank them both. I freaked out and he started to cry as I called Poison Control. Thankfully, a double dose is not life-threatening!

Tomorrow the kids get to find out who their teachers are and we meet them at 2pm. I have not heard from the school nurse this year about meeting with the teachers before school to review the 504 Plans. I know the nurse is swamped with the new regulations for Food Allergies that the schools state-wide had to implement for this school year. But, it would be reassuring to know that the teachers know what they need to know about Jax and Cars as far as their food allergies. Also, I need to find out if any accommodations need to be in place for Jax for his fractured wrist. Who knows that the plan for PE is for the next two weeks and if he can do it with his wrist.

On the good news front, Cars "graduated" to the next level of swimming. These daily swimming lessons really helped. I have now signed him up for weekly lessons and he will take them from the same girl who was Jax and Dex's instructor. I was hoping that his instructor was going to be teaching his level in the fall but she does not. I do like the other one but this one was really great with the little kids.

Ash had to take her dd to Children's hospital today because she cut her foot a week and a half ago and it became infected and the infection is spreading. Her foot is swollen and red and they have her in isolation in the hospital while they pump IV antibiotics into her. Poor thing! I hope she is better soon. I feel badly for Ash's son because I cannot even have him here since my kids have had such high fevers.

I am looking forward to the end of this week.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 46 & 47

My inlaws left today. We were up early and I drove them to the airport at 10am. Then the boys and I went to IKEA, then shoe shopping and finally to swimming lessons. I am so tired and I should be going to be now.

I still have some back-to-school shopping to do. Jax needs more pants. I don't have all of the supplies but I am getting there. I cannot believe how much money I have spent this year!

Looking forward to having more time to myself again very soon.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 45

Ok, that was really yesterday. I took the kids (and my inlaws) to Archie McPhee's in Seattle to spend some money they received from my mom and from my inlaws. They had a blast poring over everything and chosing their goodies. Dex bought a punching nun and "Broccoli v. Corn Dog". Jax bough the nun too as well as fake glasses/nose. Cars bought an "Ark of the Covenant", some plastic space ships and something else that I cannot remember. They were so proud of their purchases.

I took Jax to the orthopedic doc in the afternoon. The doc said Jax's fracture was like a can being crumpled and there is a "slight" chance that he also did damage to the growth plate but we won't know until next year. He does not need a regular cast - just one of those ones that attach with velco and is very similar to what I used to wear for carpal tunnel syndrome. He only needs to wear it for 3 weeks and he can take it off to shower/bath and he is allowed to swim! He cannot bike, skateboard, use his scooter though. We need to go back in three weeks if he still has pain.

Jax was so happy to hear that he only needed to wear it for three weeks. This brace is so much smaller and he doesn't need to keep his arm in the sling. So really, this is the best kind of fracture to have in terms of downtime.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 44

We went to Seattle today to explore the tidal pools in Puget Sound. We found lots of fun things:


Then Dex found a bottle with a note in it:


The note said:

Dear Dad -
You were supposed to be here with us today, celebrating your 70th birthday. You seemed so full of hope here, ready to make a change. I wish you were here to feel the sun, to watch the mist over the Olympics, to revel in nature and your family. We miss you. We love you always. We will guard your legacy with love and ferocity. You are loved. You are missed. You are a wonderful Dad. And you live on in our stories, out hearts and our memories.
Love always,
Lynn
YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Makes me wonder what happened to Dad.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 43

Cars had a fever last night and by this morning it was fluctuating between 101.5F and 105F!! Yikes! Even Motrin would not bring it down below 101.5F. I did end up taking him to the doctor because he was complaining of back pain too. However, it was "just a virus" and I need to take him back on Friday if the fever is not gone. I am hoping it is gone by morning so I don't have to spend another day hanging around the house (and miss out on Cars' swim le$$on).

What a way to end the summer.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 42

So, Jax has a temporary splint on his arm that lasts "about 2-3 days" yet no orthopedic doctor can (or will) see him for 5-7 days because of swelling. WTF?!

I did get him an appointment for Friday afternoon at a pediatric othopedic doc who takes our insurance. Seriously, who knew that our insurance would be a problem? I have heard grumblings amongst other Big Software Company people that this doctor and that doctor no longer takes it but apparently there is a HUGE number of doctors who do not because the insurance company (and no doubt Big Software Company is self-insured) does not reimburse the doctors enough.

Anyway, Jax is still in some pain but not as much as yesterday but I figure that is because the splint is not allowing him to twist his wrist. He was in good spirits today and stopped listing all of the things he cannot do.

He stayed at Ash's today while I took Dex and Cars to swimming lessons. Then we came home and I tidied like a mad woman because my inlaws arrived tonight for a one week visit.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 41

The day started off fun.

It wasn't warm enough to go to a beach so we decided to go to a park in Redmond that the boys really love. I pulled out the PITA bike rack and put the kids' bikes on it and we met Ash and her kids at the park. While there, Jax decided to go over a skateboard ramp that some kid had brought along to the park and he went up and over and landed on his front wheel and somersaulted a few times. Of course I did not see this but I did see Ash's son racing his bike over to spot behind a little grassy knoll. Then Dex jumped on his bike and raced over to me to tell me that Jax was hurt.

He was holding his wrist but he could move it so I was not worried. We left the park and went to the club for Cars' swimming lessons (he is two weeks of daily lessons). Jax said his arm hurt too much to swim so he just sat on the side and watched Dex while I took Cars to the lesson pool. It was cool because there are just two kids in his class so semi-private lessons for half the cost!

I saw Jax's swim instructor (his lesson is tomorrow) so I told her that he hurt his arm and there was a small chance that he would not be at lessons tomorrow but I would call her. She told me she hurt her arm when she was a kid and her mother did not believe it hurt as much as she did but finally took her to the doctor 4 days later and her arm was BROKEN! And that it had probably would have been less severe if she had had immediate medical attention. Hmmm.... I decided then that I would take Jax to the doctor.

I called the doctor's office but they had no appointments left for the day and the nurse I spoke to told me to take him to urgent care. I thought briefly about just waiting until tomorrow but Jax could not turn his wrist without wincing in pain so off we went.

Sure enough, his bone (ulna or tibula - the thicker one) is fractured. So they put a temporary splint on it and I have to call an orthopedic doctor (orthopedist?) tomorrow to get a regular cast on his arm.

He took it all in stride. He was in a lot of pain and only cried once at the hospital from the pain. And on the way home he started thinking of all of the things he cannot do - swimming, going to the beach (he is invited to a beach b-day party at the end of the month), riding his bike, skateboarding, tumbling down the big hill at the Locks, and he was pretty upset. When we got home I told him he could cry if he wanted to because I could tell he was fighting back the tears. He is worried about hockey "try-outs" (just evaluation because he is playing in the rec league) at the end of September.

And he is even a little worried about homework once school starts (it hurts for him to turn his wrist to write). Poor boy.



If you look closely, you can see the grass stains on his right shoulder from his fall.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 38, 39 & 40

I have been horrible about updating my blahg lately!

On Wednesday, the kids played at Ann's again and I practiced guitar and cleaned the house a bit. I had a terrible migraine so I took the kids out for a quick dinner and asked that they play quietly when we got home so I could go to bed. Just after 8pm there was a huge eruption of screaming and crying. Dex and Cars were fighting. I got so mad and yelled at them both (not my finest parenting hour) and sent them to bed. The both then could not go to sleep because I apparently hated them ("No, I love you and like you but I don't like your behaviour"). Now I had a migraine and I was riled up and could not sleep at all. Aargh!

Thursday, I took the kids to the aquarium. We met some friends there but they were about an hour or so later than we had originally planned to meet so we did not have much time together because the parking is limited to 2 hours. It was still a good time for the kids though. It is a really nice aquarium and I love the little tide pool-like display they have so the kids can touch the marine life.



There was face-painting and Jax asked for a soul patch and Dex had a moustache, soul patch and an otter. Cars just loved his shark!

Friday
Spy's youngest son is coming over to play with Cars today. Cars is very excited to have a friend over to play. Lately, the older two have gone off on bike rides together leaving Cars home alone and he is feeling rather neglected. Of course, he makes up for it by fighting like mad with them when they are home. *sigh*

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 36

A little more rain today but that's ok. I won't complain about it (but I do wish it were a little warmer).

Today was an errand-filled day and terribly exciting for the boys. I dropped off school forms at the allergist and then mailed prescriptions for epi pens to our mail-order pharmacy. I hope we receive the epi pens by the 27th (Meet'n'Greet and the day that I usually hand over the epi pens and Benadryl to the school/teacher).

The boys then had swimming lessons. Just two more left of the summer. Hockey does not start until the end of Sept or beginning of Oct so perhaps I will see if their instructor will be able to schedule some lessons on the weekends in September.

Dex is having a sleepover with Spy's oldest son tonight. We had tried for months to schedule it and usually as soon as it gets scheduled, Dex gets sick. He is healthy this time (and we had some back-up dates this weekend in case he was not). :)

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 36

Jax and Dex spent the morning riding around on their bikes with their friend. I took Cars to Target so he could spend some of his birthday money on a Transformers toy. I also picked up 4 cans of hand wipes for Jax for school. I have to supply them for him this year as the 6th graders will be in portables with no running water.

Starting tomorrow one of the main streets off the Plateau closes for one full week. And the other main route towards Redmond is under construction (repaving!). Going south, the main way off the Plateau is also under construction because they are building a roundabout. The third way off the Plateau to the north is also under construction as is the second main route off the Plateau to the south. We are basically held captive! It is outrageous that all of these construction projects were allowed to go ahead at the same time. Granted, two are being done by the City of Issaquah (the ones to the south) but still, the could have coordinated so it was not happening at the same time. And the morons running out city scheduled the repaving project to run the same time as the road closure on the other route. I wish I could vote because then I would vote against every single member person who is currently in office. Yes, I am irrationally annoyed by this. Aaargh!

I went to hockey to watch the boys for the first time in weeks (ok, months). I had decided that hockey was going to be Stephen's thing since 1) I cannot tie their skates tight enough and 2) I have been the one to always take them to practices for every other sport forever so I figured it was his time.

Anyway, I was so pleased to see how well they are skating considering they all really only started in January. Jax has improved the most. He seems to be the most interested in hockey. We've signed him up for PeeWee hockey (recreation team) for the fall/winter session. We need to get out and get him some gear because the rental equipment is only for beginners and the session ends next weekend. The try-outs for him will be in early September so we need to get him fitted and accustomed to his new gear before then.

Cars will do beginner hockey again next year. He enjoys it but he doesn't seem to have the drive to chase the puck. We'll see what happens after this year.

And Dex. Poor Dex. His skating has not improved as much as Jax's has. He seems to like being at hockey and enjoys the time there but I think he would be just as happy staying home or doing something else. He says he cannot decide if he wants to play again in the Fall or not (he'll just do the beginner program again - he is not ready for a team). We'll wait a couple of weeks before we make him decide. Too many tears right now forcing him to make a decision.

Probably unrelated to his weepiness but his tics are back after being absent for a few weeks (head shaking and throat clearing). :(

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 35

Just three weeks of summer left! Wow!

Today, the kids painted some wooden alligators that I bought at Michael's back in the spring. Then we pulled out the foam crafts and they assembled some tanks. That hardly filled our day. Jax is now working on building yet another Lego set (the third free one that the kids won).

In a bit, we'll go out because I need to get new passport photos for my Canadian passport. I wonder how much they are this time. Probably about $30. I miss the days when Canada accepted US passport photos because I could get those done at Walgreens for $7.99.

Summer o'Fun 2009 Day 33 & 34

Day 33

Today was Cars' 6th Birthday! I cannot believe that my baby is 6 already! Really the time has flown. I think of all of the things that have happened in these 6 years. Most of them are chronicled here on this Blahg because it was started as a type of therapy for me to write while I was suffering from PPD.

Cars had a terrific day doing what he wanted. He watched tv and played video games. He played outside and then chose where we went to dinner (Red Robin). He so badly wanted the staff at the restaurant to sing to him and then he pretended to ignore them when they did. He is a card!

Here are some photos from his party this past Sunday as well as one from his actual b-day.



Sad looking cake. See the icing is falling off the side because it was so damn hot that it was virtually a liquid!


Cars and his friend M


Cars with the Lazy Daisy Cake that he wanted on his actual birthday

Day 34
My friend Ann invited my boys over to play with her boys from 11 until 4 today! Whoo-hoo! I browsed around REI and then looked at virtually everything in Co$tco. Then I came home and read for an hour. Great Summer O'Fun day for me. :)

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 32

The temperature was finally reasonable today! It was cool in the morning then the sun came out and I took the kids to a great park in Redmond. They love, love, love this park. Afterwards, we went to swimming lessons.

Jax is working hard on the next Legomation movie. I am super impressed with his determination to get it right.

And today is the LAST day of Cars being 5 years old. He cried a bit tonight while telling me that he is going to miss being 5 even though he is very excited about being 6 and all of the great things that it will bring (he has a loose tooth, he'll be in Grade 1, etc).

And I cannot believe where the time has gone. Really...

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 31

Cars' birthday party was yesterday at one of those bouncy places. There is a large room of bounce houses and blow-up slides and the kids run all around and get all sweaty. Fortunately, it was air-conditioned so it was a nice time away from the hot, hot house.

The cake was a wreck because it was so hot that the icing melted and slid all off the cake. I am too embarrassed to even post a photo of it. Thankfully, Cars still loved it because I plopped a few Transformers action figures on top and that is all he saw when he looked at it. He loves Transformers!

Today, I took the kids shopping because both Jax and Cars needed new swimsuits. I bought them white swimsuits from Old Navy before we went to Hawaii and from playing in the sand there and at the beaches here, the white suits are now a beigy colour. They will not come clean no matter how often I wash them! It looks so gross that I could not face taking them to the club again to swim in the pool with this very dirty suits! I found the last two of three bathing suits left in Fred Meyer! Now I won't be ashamed at the club tomorrow during Jax and Dex's swimming lessons.

As I walked up the stairs to the kitchen from the family room tonight, I nearly stepped on a gargantuan spider! I shrieked and asked Stephen to kill it. He said "Oh boy!" and admitted that it was a bit big and that it creeped him out. A-ha!! He finally admitted that the spiders in the house are HUGE. He said it was only huge because of the legs. Duh! All spiders are small when you just count the bodies.

Anyway, the spider has been properly smooshed and flushed.

My Reunion

My trip to Toronto was a lot of fun. It was nice to go home alone although I did miss my family. The main purpose of my trip was for a little high school reunion. This was not an official one of course, just one that a bunch of girls (women) who hung around together in school organized

The reunion ("Chicks Rule, Boy's Drool") was so much fun! I think there were 18 people invited in all but just 9 showed. It was really great to see everyone. One of the women, V, I did not hang out with in school but she was close to one of the others (Denise) and she works at the same hospital as Ramona. Apparently she had gone through a bitter divorce and told us all about it. Also, she announced just before she left about 6pm that the only reason she had come was to see Sharon who was a no-show. Gee, thanks.

About 6:30ish Megan showed up (she was arriving from work). Megan, Ramona and I were one of 8 girls who skipped from Grade 3 to Grade 5 so we were in the same class those two years in a row (and Megan was also in my Grade 6 class). Anyway, our Grade 5 year was really special. We had a great teacher - Mr. L. He was young and fun and handsome and on Fridays he would bring in his guitar for music and we'd sing songs. My favourites were "Jamaican Farewell" and "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" if only because "...she'd be drinking Pepsi-Cola when she comes..." and Chris Kyle, if he had been well-behaved during the week, would get to let out the loudest burp he could. Our class loved it so we would all work together to ensure that Chris was on his best behaviour during the week.

I loved Grade 5 (can you tell?). We learned all about Australia (and what marsupials are - I did a project on the platypus). We went on nature walks in the ravine behind our school and laughed when two boys brought what they thought were "owl pellets" to the teacher but they were really just rabbit droppings. We studied owls and dissected owl pellets (I can still remember the musty smell of them). And the whole class seemed to love the teacher. He received five bottles of
Hai Karate aftershave for Christmas. I wanted to buy him a bottle too but my mom made me give him a book entitled "The History of Scarborough". (BORING!).

Mr. L was originally from South Africa. He was of mixed race and he told us that he came to Canada because of the Apartheid in his homeland. This was the mid-70's and there were many teaching moments for him on racism and I remember many of them.

This past year, Jax was in Grade 5 and I would tell him over and over again that it was my favourite year in school and I hoped it would be his too. He had a good teacher but I know that this year was not the magical year for him that Grade 5 was for me. I really had hoped that my kids would have a year like that.

Anyway, so that is the connection that Ramona, Megan and I have. One other person who was going to try to make it, Joan, was also in our class and one of the 8 girls who had skipped. She unfortunately did not make it because her dad passed away a couple of days beforehand.

So, back to the party.

Megan showed up and I noticed that Ramona was a little antsy. A few moments later a car stopped in front of Ramona's house and a couple got out. Ramona kind of nudged me away from the window and said "Oh, those are just my neighbours". I noticed the man getting a guitar out of the trunk and they started walking up the driveway. Ramona said "They are just stopping in to say 'hello'". I thought nothing of the guitar because Ramona's dh is very musical and in fact was away that day working as a guitar tech at a Sass Jordan concert. Ramona's "neighbours" walked in and everyone looked at me expectantly. This man and woman looked a little older than the rest of us. "Do you recognize him?" Ramona asked. It was Mr. L! I could not believe it!! First of all, that he came to our party (Ramona and Megan thought they might as well as because the worst he could do is say no and Megan was able to track him down) and the fact that he looks 15-20 years younger than he really is! It was a wonderful surprise!

Mr. L wanted us to call him by his first name (hard to do after 34 years!). His wife is lovely and it was nice to meet her because we always heard so much about her during our year (she had given birth to their second daughter that year too). They stayed about an hour and we chatted and Mr. L broke out the guitar and we sang some songs. I know it sounds really, really corny but let me tell you, I was so touched by Ramona and Megan arranging for Mr. L come to the party. And, what a great man for taking the time out of his day to come. He told us that our year was his favourite year teaching which is really nice considering it was just the second year that he taught. He later became a principal and superintendent and a race-relations liason in the district so perhaps he did not really "teach" that many years. He retired last year and is now working as a consultant.

The whole party was so much fun but that was the highlight of it for me. There were old yearbooks there and we poured through them and talked about who was married to whom, who we had crushes on, we listed the names of people we knew who had died, who we still kept in touch with, etc. The party broke up about 1am when Denise had to go to bed because she had to get up at 5am for work in the morning (she stayed at Ramona's). I drove Megan home because she lives with her dh and son in the house she grew up in.

I did not take any photos so I have had to rely on others' photos.






Grade 5 picture. Megan is on the very left in the first row, I am three to the right from her (my dress was pink and white but looks just white). Ramona third from the right in the second row.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 29

I arrived home from my trip last night to 107F degree heat. Ok, it was91F when I got home but it had been 107F earlier in the day.

It is still super hot so we went to the beach today. The beach is a private one on the opposite side of the lake but it was so much fun for the boys so well worth the admission fee. Jax and Dex jumped off the floating dock and slid down the slides into the water for nearly 3 hours straight! Cars just swam and waded along the beach.

It is 91F in my house. The weather is supposed to drop into the 80's by Saturday. That sounds funny because normally the 80's is pretty friggin hot. The kids have slept in our room all week as we have the one room air conditioner!

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 24

I spent a good part of this morning crying because of course my plan to go to Toronto is falling apart. Well, that is not entirely true. My plan to easily go to Toronto is falling apart. Stephen had said "No problem" about him having time off but of course something has come up and he has to be in an all-day meeting on Monday. So, after a lot of frustration last night and this morning I was able to get it worked out. Ash will take the kids in the morning. My friend Jane will pick them up at 10:45 to take them to golf (her kids go too). Then she will deliver them back to Ash's house about 4:15 and my babysitter will pick them up on the way home from her summer job and she will take them home and watch them until 9pm when Stephen is due home. Sounds so simple now but it was very frustrating when I had no prospects earlier. I am so grateful that I have some fabulous friends who are willing and able to help me out.

Oh and tomorrow after Stephen takes me to the airport? He is taking the kids to work with him. And people say comment on the summer activities that I plan like the dentist and school supply shopping... ;)

I certainly hope he does not plan to take them in on Tuesday and Wednesday too.

Oh and somewhere in there I have thrown together a birthday party for Cars for a week and bit away and hopefully at least one child will be able to make it to the bouncy place where we are holding it.

I finally started packing and realized that virtually everything I own is black and white with one or two blue things thrown in there. Looks like I have packed for a funeral.

Ok, now I have to finish packing and decide if I am taking my laptop with me. I won't be able to use the data/network with my iPhone while I am gone because the cost is astronomical in Canada to use the data network. I will just have my phone on for calls only. If I take my laptop I will be able to check email (and farm at Farm Town!) without my mom looking over my shoulder while I use her computer.

Ok, I am taking it. Now...time to finish packing. Few updates between now and my return next week.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 23

We went to the beach today. A different beach than we usually go to (but still on Lk Sammamish). The weather was just perfect! Sunny, warm but not too hot and a very nice breeze blowing. The beach had a little pier that the older boys spent their time jumping off into the water. I loved watching them having a blast doing it. I really hope we are making good memories this summer (even with dentist appts and boring stuff!). ;)

I am going to Toronto on Friday. Alone. Aaahhh... It came about in a weird way but some high school friends are having a reunion of sorts and I wanted to go to T.O. for that but not as a family due to the cost. So in the end, I am going alone. It will be nice though because I will spend a day with Ramona (and other high school girlfriends), a day with my mom (including a visit to my brother's house and to see him, his wife and their girls and then some time to see friends whom I would not normally see if I had the whole family with me. I am really looking forward to it.

And I will admit that went out this afternoon and I bought an outfit for the reunion even though it will just be an afternoon party at Ramona's house. The reason I did so was due to the last two times I was in Toronto ('07 and '05) and I went out to dinner with Ramona and Alicia, I would show up in a t-shirt and capris and they would be dressed to the nines! Seriously! It was so embarrassing. And even after Ramona swore that she would wear capris last time, when I came to her house in my capris she ran into her bedroom and changed into a skirt! Aargh! I felt like such a frumpy stay-at-home housewife.

Anyway, I'll post photos of the reunion and hopefully you'll see that I won't be under dressed this time.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 22

Today we went to the Mall so I could pick up the make-up I had pre-ordered from M.A.C. at the Nordstrom's sale. Then we went to the kids' shoe department and I bought Cars two pairs of shoes. He had been wearing his sandals a lot lately then when he put his shoes on, he realized that they were too small. Almost 2 sizes!!

Then we went to the Lego Store and the kids entered a contest to guess how bricks in a Lego Pirate Statue. One of my kids guessed 500 000. I don't think he will be winning.



Then we went for swimming lessons. The pool was deserted until 3:30 (swim team starts then). I guess people were at the beach or elsewhere enjoying the 90 degree weather.

After dinner, Jax and I went for haircuts. I love his! He looks so much older!

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 21

The boys had golf today. I dropped them off right at 11 (drop off is 11-12 and the program starts at 12) then hustled over to the emissions testing centre for the van. Passed! Then I went to Target to get the bulk of the school supplies purcha$ed. Ouch!

Jax is going to get all of his hair cut off. He says it is bugging him. I had jokingly said I would pay him $30 to cut his hair short like Cars' not knowing that he had been considering it himself so now he is going to get it done and I am going to have to pay up. I will miss that mop but it is time. His hair is so coarse and wavy. I am taking him to the fancy salon (it is only $5 more for a kids' cut than SuperCuts or SuperClips or CostCutters or whatever it is called).

Dex still likes his hair the way it is and Cars likes his short so he can spike (but he never wants it spiked - he just likes the idea that he can do it).

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 19 & 20

On Thursday, Jax and Dex had swimming lessons that we had moved from Tuesday due to camping. Cars and I swam in the rec pool while the other two swam in the much colder pool. Later that evening, I had my guitar lessons. We are ready to move onto another son. So far I have learned "Hey Jude", "Maggie Mae", "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Let it Be". I think that only Maggie Mae is recognizable when I play the whole thing. But, I'll keep practicing but it is time to move onto another song. I am thinking of "Fire and Rain". I bought The Best Fake Book Ever so there are plenty of songs to chose from.

Jax and I also finished making the light box for their Lego videos.
I think it will work well for them because it takes the glare away and the camera will focus where it needs to be.

Today, it was very, very hot and we did not do much other than a trip to Costco, gassed up, got a car wash and then hit Safeway and the liquor store. We had our first Cosmo Friday in about 5 months and the kids decided that they wanted to have a Lemonade Stand at the end of the street so they set it up and sold lemonade (25 cents) and cookies (Chips Ahoy! 2 for 50 cents). They made $13 (net, not gross - I insisted that they pay me for the cost of the lemonade and cookies). Last year they had one and made $38 (I did not take out funds for my cost that time). So now that kids have $51 to split 8 ways.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 16, 17, 18

We went camping at Lake Wenatchee State Park on Sunday and returned home today. It is the same place we camped last year. We arrived Sunday afternoon and I was bitten 8 times by mosquitoes while I checked in. Ouch!

The first night there was an incredible storm. The rain was coming down in buckets (and we found out that our tent leaks!!) and lightning and thunder. The ground even shook at one point. Dex was terrified but Cars slept through the whole thing. Jax awoke, sat up, then went right back to sleep. The next day was a little chilly and after burning through $30 worth of wood, we decided to head to Leavenworth which was about 30 minutes away. It is a cute little town that the built in a "Bavarian" style. Very cute! It was so much warmer there too.

The next two days of camping were warmer and far less windy. My kids had a great time hanging out at "Fort Wenatchee" (a little wooded area near the beach) and looking for frogs, horseback riding and burning sticks in the fire.

Stephen and I decided to take up both cars in order to cram everything in. I took Jax and Dex and folded down the 3rd row seats and he took Cars and put our new second cooler in his trunk along with the camp stove and all of the pillows. The drive there was not too bad but coming home was a little frightening for me. Driving down through the mountain pass with a steep drop off on the right made my hands very clammy. Let's add fear of heights to my fear of driving across bridges. Yikes!

Anyway, we missed Spy and her family but hopefully next year we will be on the ball and will book our campsites earlier so we can go over the weekend rather than through the week.

We are off in the morning to go camping. No car hissy fits this time because we are taking two cars.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 15

The boys all went to Spy's house for a playdate this afternoon and I did some camping prep work (including a stop at Oil Can Henry to have the oil and washer fluid in my car topped up). This morning, I had the tires rotated and balanced on my car and we all walked to Target while we waited.

Best summer ever! ;)

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 14

The kids went to Ash's house for a couple of hours this morning while I ran a few errands. Then they tidied up while I panicked about camping. Now they are all resting quietly. We are heading to a park shortly to meet a friend and then we have to drive to the brewry so Stephen can return the keg of beer (he did not want to put it in his car in case it leaked so now we have TWO cars driving up there since he did not leave the receipt for the deposit). *sigh*

Toyota apparently has changed their minds about not selling us a car and have located what we want a mere 1900 miles away. I guess we'll need to pay shipping or something. Stephen asked for a price on the car and they gave us the sticker price. I don't want to play this game. I told Stephen we should just tell them our *only* price and let it go if they won't meet with us. That back and forth stuff sucks.

Ok, off to fold laundry and try to get the kids' clothes packed.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 13

We were up at the crack of dawn to get to an 8am orthodontist appointment. Of course the office is less than a mile from here and originally I thought it might be fun if we walked but then I was having hair issues so, in the end, we only arrived 3 minutes early (not good for new patients).

All three kids were x-rayed and photographed and assessed. The orthodontist, Dr. N is as cute as everyone says, btw, although Ash thinks that he is too grey now. I guess she likes younger guys. ;) Anyway, he was super nice and explained everything. Jax has some crowding and a couple of baby teeth fused to his jawbone which Dr. N believes will fall out on their own - they will just pop out from the pressure of the teeth beneath them, not get wiggly first. His jaw also cracks when he moves it (Jax later told me that he thought that was normal). He has a bit of an overbite and some crowding but Dr. N suggests we wait a couple of years before we start any treatment to see how his molars come it.

Dex has no jaw issues. :) He has a huge overbite and a lot of crowding. It was recommended that he gets a palate expander and then braces. Dr. N said Dex's issues were "moderate" but he thought it might be a good idea to wait on treatment until he gets more permanent teeth.

Last up was Cars. *sigh* I thought I saw dollar $ign$ in the orthodontist's eyes. He said that Cars will definitely need early treatment but nothing would start until he had lost his 8 front teeth. He will need a palate expander to fix his cross-bite and then maybe braces. We'll see about that though.

So, it looks as though all three kids will start treatment about the same time. Maybe I need to find a job to pay for all of this?! Yikes!!

In the early afternoon, we went to the pool at the club and Ash and her kids were there. Afterwards, her kids came over for a couple of hours.

Tonight, Jax and I started on a light box/tent for their Lego movies. They get some glare on the pieces and sometimes the camera cannot focus due to that glare so we'll see if the light box will help. I forgot to buy bristol board today else we would probably have completed it. He is itching to get going on their next movie.

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 12

I worked out again today and put Cars in the daycare centre at the club. We headed back to the club in the afternoon for Jax and Dex's swim lesson and I had Cars evaluated to see what level he would be placed at in the group swim lessons.

We then met Stephen for dinner and I went shopping for supplies for our camping trip.

Stephen is irritated that our camping trip is nearly here and we do not have a new car. I am packing super light this trip to try to keep the van from scraping the ground as we cross the mountains. ;)

Summer O'Fun 2009 Day 11

It has cooled off considerably so it was a little chilly at the golf course today for the kids. They survived though. I spent the day running errands (including going to AT&T and getting them to explain my bill to me line by line - our plan is touted as $89.99 for two lines then $9.99 for each additional line but billed as $80 and $9.99 for my phone and $9.99 for the extra line{emergency for Jax}. Weird that they would not just have $89.99 for mine and Stephen's then $9.99 for the other).

After I picked the kids up from golf we went to the garden and harvested these:



Yes, that is broccoli! And it was yummy! The kids mostly picked the raspberries - 1.5 quarts! I made raspberry tarts which were very tasty although Cars would not try one because they looked yucky. I still have tons'o'raspberries left so tomorrow I may try a cobbler. Or maybe freeze them to make freezer jam at a later date.