Ummm....

For those of you waiting for an update from me.... I don't have one yet. Nothing happened yet. Sorry. No news is good news I guess!

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about... don't worry about it. Everything is fine.

Sunday at home

Here we are at the last day of September already. It has been quite the month.

Since Olivia has the measles I won't be going to church today. Both the boys have colds as well so my husband gets to go to church all by himself. The funny thing (or not so funny) is that I didn't clue in to the fact that I couldn't take a contagious baby to church until later last night... which means I won't be there to teach my preschool children's church class and it was too late to find anyone else to do it.

I know. You're all thinking how impressive I am right now aren't you?

I try.

I have been rather emotional this week. I have been stressed over some things happening around me and about me. I have been stressed about Aiden and his difficulties at school. I have been stressed about Olivia's measles and the boys colds. And basically that all adds up to me being rather unproductive on the home front. It would seem I am not a very good multi-tasker when I am stressed. Apparently my mind can only be filled with so much before I forget how to do laundry and wash floors.

Which is one reason I am so grateful to have my husband and to have my mother living close by. It is so good to have others around to pick up the slack!

Mr. Shadow

As you all know we got a kitten this summer. His name is Shadow and he is GREAT! He is absolutely the perfect cat for our family. He never gets mad at the kids- even when Olivia pulls his whiskers, even when Aiden chases and catches him and carries him around and even when Owen pulls his tail- he never scratches, bites or hisses. He is amazingly calm.

But he drools. A lot. Every time he purrs. If you pet him, he purrs and drools. Its really gross. And he is still in that obnoxious kitten stage of life where he decides 4 am - every night- is the perfect time to play. Loudly. And preferably on the bed where we are trying to sleep.

But no one can be perfect.

This is a picture of Shadow I took this afternoon while he was playing in the leaves in our yard. He has been spending most of his days chasing the falling leaves. And he is growing rather quickly as well. And he doesn't really run... he lopes.
He really is a very funny cat.

Olivia's Measles

For those of you wondering what Olivia's measles look like....My poor sweet baby has these all over her body.
And here is Olivia looking cute in a little Eeyore outfit.
In other news I have started to research Sensory Integration Disorder for Aiden. Apparently it is rather difficult to even get someone professional to look into it. That doesn't thrill me. My sweet son is having a dreadful time adjusting to kindergarten and the last thing I want is for him to hate school.

And I thought Chicken Pox sounded bad

As it turns out Olivia does NOT have chicken pox. Nope. I took her to the doctor this morning and she has German Measles.

Much better.

What you've always wanted to know

My brain is too... um... tired to fully articulate things tonight so here are a few interesting tidbits for you all...

1. Aiden tried to run away from Awana (kid's club at church) again tonight. He was unsuccessful. I am really hoping he doesn't try to run away from school again tomorrow. I really really really wish Aiden enjoyed school more. It makes me feel sick to think of how hard it has been for him. And his teacher. Whom I adore by the way. I can't imagine trying to do this with a teacher I didn't know.

2. According to the other moms at Awana Olivia might have the chicken pox. Perfect. And she still hasn't gotten any teeth. But don't worry, she can bite pretty hard even without teeth. Trust me. I know.

3. There is an outbreak of lice at my sons' school and I am desperately praying that they will not get it. I just really don't want to do that much extra laundry.

4. I am almost done gathering all the paperwork for the accursed revenue Canada auditors. I am only waiting for one more thing from our insurance company. They told me they would phone me tomorrow morning. We'll see.

5. Our cat Shadow is living up to his name. He has become like a shadow to us. He followed us to school today (as he has done several days in a row now). Then he followed us to the church tonight. Then he sat on the hood of a car staring in my husband's office window looking for us. Then he waited for us to be done at the church and followed us home again. He is a fascinating cat.

6. Aiden and Owen have never (to my knowledge) had chicken pox which means that if Olivia really does have chicken pox then my boys will also get it. I am not looking forward to that. Plus they both still have pretty bad colds. I predict that they will just start to get over their colds and then they will break out in a horrendous itchy chicken poxy rash. And yes, I know chicken poxy isn't a real word.

7. Owen has done AWESOME giving up his soother. And Owen has adjusted fabulously to pre-kindergarten. And Awana. He is just generally doing really great. Except for the whining. Why is it that kids have to whine? And he can be really loud. I mean REALLY loud. My mom says that I was really loud so it is my just dues. I disagree. My mom only had me. I have 3 kids. Owen is constantly waking up Olivia. He just can't contain his enthusiasm it seems.

8. Owen's birthday is in 2 weeks and I haven't planned a party for him yet. I asked him what the names of his friends at school were and he said "I don't know. Just kids. I only know my teachers names." Perfect.

9. I watched Dr. Phil today... well, I sort of watched Dr. Phil in between looking after my kids... and he was talking about parenting mistakes. I am really hoping it isn't entirely my fault that Aiden has such a hard time adjusting to change. But as far as I can tell it is usually the parents fault. Sigh.

10. We are almost entirely out of food. We really need to go grocery shopping.

There you have it folks. Wasn't that fascinating?

I'm going to bed now.

detention

I may have spoken too soon in my post yesterday. This morning at around 5 am Owen woke up crying and wanting his suckie. He chucked his new toy across the room. My husband was the lucky one who got to deal with this joyful experience since I was already up feeding Olivia. Luckily it didn't last long and Owen even went back to sleep. Hopefully this will not be a nightly occurrence.

And Aiden is still not adjusting very well to kindergarten. Apparently he did very well today until last recess... then he went nuts. From what I understand it took THREE supervisors to carry my stubborn child inside because he refused to go back in to the school. Lovely. So Aiden has to stay inside for first recess on his next school day... I am assuming this is the kindergarten equivalent to detention. Perfect.

I'm not feeling so hot today. I would very much like to drink a cup of neo citran and climb back into bed and stay there.... preferably without any children. Ah, the blissfulness of being alone. Even briefly!

The kids all have colds too. Aiden's is worse than the others but he always seems to get hit the hardest. Probably because his asthma is the worst. He just has a ton of obstacles. My poor kid.

The leaves are falling off the trees all together too quickly in my opinion. I'm not ready for winter yet. But oh how beautiful all the falling yellow leaves look in the sunlight. It really is lovely.

Bye Bye Suckie

I can not believe how easy taking away Owen's suckie (soother) has turned out to be! I expected a HUGE fight. I expected TONS of crying. I expected constant whining.

Nothing.

We traded him his beloved suckie for a new toy he has wanted. He was a little distressed last night when he got to bed and realized he wouldn't have his suckie. He wanted to trade us back but I told him his suckie was gone. He cried for a couple minutes. Then he went to sleep. And he slept all night no problem. And he didn't ask for the suckie once today. Not even at bedtime.

If I had known this would be so easy I would have done it ages ago.

Amazing.

I am thinking God knew I had enough going on and was gracious to me by helping Owen through this transition.

What a relief.

Playing in the leaves

Yesterday we spent part of the afternoon playing outside in the leaves. It was good fun!I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! I was looking at a much newer baby in church today and I couldn't believe how big Olivia looked next to her! In 2.5 months I will have a one year old! Wow.
The boys are obsessed with light sabers and swords and play fighting. This is not something I can relate to personally since I am super-girly and I am fairly certain that I never willingly participated in a mock-fight in my entire childhood. But I'll have you all know that I did in fact pretend to be some sort of a fighter type individual for the sake of my sons. They really enjoyed seeing me flail their light saber uselessly around in the air.
Olivia really likes to carry small bouncy balls around. I don't know why. Perhaps because they fit so nicely in her sweet little hands. But she gets very frustrated because she can't crawl and hold on to the ball at the same time. She is so funny.

My boys really enjoyed being buried in the leaves. And there were about a hundred million ladybugs in those leaves! In this picture Aiden is trying to coax a ladybug out of Olivia's jacket.
I LOVE seeing Aiden happy. He has a wonderful laugh. And his eyes just sparkle. On tough days with him it really helps me to see him laugh. It reminds me that he really is such a sweet loving boy who loves to have fun and play.
And my sweet Owen... he has been such a good boy this week. He is really starting to enjoy school and he is adjusting very well to going almost every morning. Tonight is his first night without his beloved suckie (soother) and I must admit it has gone very well so far. Of course he also has a pretty nasty cold and I gave him some cold medicine so that probably helped him fall asleep. We'll see how it goes in the middle of the night if he wakes up and can't find his soother.
I think Owen has a wonderful laugh. And his eyes... wow. My kid has beautiful eyes.

This last picture is of Olivia in her church clothes this morning. I thought she looked super cute in her fun little tights! And now I think my neocitran has finally kicked in. My sore throat seems to have eased some and I am feeling drowsy. Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning cold-free.

High ho, high ho, it's off to bed I go.

I have a sore throat

Well... it has finally happened. My lack of sleep has officially caught up with me and body is refusing to go on. I am getting sick. My throat hurts. My head still hurts. My body aches. My nose is sniffly. I'm not enjoying it.

I don't really have time to get sick.

And it's not like being sick will get me any more rest than normal. My life still carries on as it did before... still just as much to do in a day... just even LESS energy than I had before (if that is even possible) to do it with.

Aiden is also sick.

And Owen is sick.

Olivia has a sniffly nose but so far that is it. She must not get sick. I really don't want THREE sick children while I am sick. And my husband must stay well. Sick husbands are a misery at the best of times, never mind when I am feeling this crappy.

On the up side I have just returned from a baby shower where I enjoyed visiting with some of my friends. And Olivia was adorable (as usual) and so good.

Church this morning went reasonably well too. Except for Aiden. He has continued his miserable state of being from Friday. This morning he ran through the sanctuary, all the way around the pews to the front of the church, yelling "look at me". I didnt' enjoy that.

I also didn't enjoy him calling me a diaper head once I finally caught him.

My kid really has some serious anger issues the past couple days. I know it is because of his rough adjustment to school but it sure is exhausting.

Owen decided that today was the day he wanted to trade me his very last suckie (soother) for his new toy- a lightning McQueen talking flying car thingy.

I'm glad he has decided to do it. But I am not looking forward to tonight.

Those of you who are the praying types please feel free to pray for my son Aiden. He is a wonderful kid who happens to be highly sensitive and a tad on the explosive side. Pray that he adjusts to school and pray that we parent him the way God wants us to. And that we don't go crazy.

Torture by kisses

Some of you may remember that on Monday we spent the afternoon at the park. I had given my son Owen my little camera to take pictures with because he really loves to take pictures and he is usually really good with the camera. And he WAS really good with the camera. Unfortunately he tripped and fell down and broke it. I thought all hope was lost and that I would be camera-less until the money fairies dropped off a bag of money at our door so I could purchase a new one. BUT never fear, my super-smart, highly technical genius (albeit a little on the ADD side) husband FIXED the camera for me! YAY!!! He took the thing apart and fixed it. Genius I tell you.

So here are some of the pictures Owen had taken before his fateful accident. Not bad for an almost 4 year old if I do say so myself!


This morning both boys were at school and I think perhaps I was overly optimistic about how much I could accomplish with those couple hours. 2.5 hours just doesn't seem long enough. Ideally I would have been able to enjoy a leisurly late breakfast with my husband, take a nap while my daughter was napping, drink some tea, and clean the whole house while keeping my never-ending laundry cycle going.

Like I said, I was a tad delusional. I did manage to clean SOME of the house. And my husband did go to our local donut shop and buy me a cinnamon bun (I have an obsession with cinnamon buns). But I didn't get a nap. And a good portion of the house is apparently never going to get fully cleaned. Oh well.

Aiden also had a pretty rough day at school. He refused to listen to his (wonderful, amazing, incredibly patient and understanding) teacher. He wouldn't stay in his time out. He wouldn't do his work. He punched a kid at recess. And he kissed a girl full on the lips.

He had quite the day.

Actual conversation...

Me: "Why did you punch someone at recess?"

Aiden: "I only punched Shawn mom. And he and Carolynn were chasing me and trying to TORTURE me with kisses!!!! And I wanted to play with Hunter. Hunter is my girlfriend. She wears a pink coat and is pretty."

Me: "Well, then why did you kiss Carolynn?"

Aiden: "Mom (in an exasperated tone of voice)... SHE kissed ME!"

Me:"Oh. Ok. But you still shouldn't have punched Shawn".

Aiden: "But he was trying to torture me!"

Me: "Ok, but don't hit. Next time someone is trying to torture you go and tell an adult ok? And you really need to listen to Mrs. Kirk. Why didn't you want to do your work today?"

Aiden: "I like Mrs. Kirk"

Me: "Then listen to her ok?"

Aiden: "But I don't want to all the time!"

Me: "Aiden, if you don't start to listen to Mrs. Kirk better at school then we'll have to start taking away your toys at home."

Aiden: "NO"

and then he ran away.

It was at this point that I remembered how much I hate trying to reason with a 5 year old.

As we were leaving the school Carolynn (the little girl my son kissed) came up to Aiden, placed her adorable wee hands on either side of my sons face and kissed him full on the lips. My son just turned and walked away. So she chased him down the sidewalk, grabbed him and did it again! And my son, again, just walked away.

I am not ready for my son to be chased by girls. Especially girls willing to kiss him right in front of his mother!!! Twice!

Actually it was super cute.

But it wouldn't be nearly as cute if they were 13.

Unfortunately for sweet little Miss. Carolynn my son seems to only have eyes for Miss. Hunter today. Ain't that just the way it goes?

Aiden told me he would make a "love-card" for Hunter and an "I'm sorry" card for Mrs. Kirk. I asked him if he was going to make an "I'm sorry" card for Shawn but he told me "NO. He's a boy.". So apparently we only make cards for girls. I then asked him if he was going to make a card for Carolynn. After all, he did kiss her three times. It only seems right.

He said "no mom. HUNTER is my girlfriend".

Oh. I think to myself... but what about the poor unrequited love of sweet Carolynn?

I don't think I will ever understand the minds of little boys.

Ever.

And if you are wondering why I am still awake late at night when I am exhausted... it is because I had to sneak my sons Halloween costumes off of them after they fell asleep so I could WASH them. They have been wearing them almost non-stop since Monday. Owen's was starting to smell distinctly like urine. That is NEVER a good smell. So now I am waiting for the washing machine to quit so I can put them in the dryer so they will be all fresh smelling for tomorrow morning.

They REALLY love those costumes.

I probably should have swiped Owen's blankie off of him and put it into the wash at the same time but I am too tired to think of everything. That would have been far to clever and convenient.

Family Resemblance

I found this old picture of Owen at 9 months old... he was so cute and pudgy! And I think he looks a lot like Olivia... or rather Olivia looks a lot like him. Owen's face is rounder and his hair was more blond. My mom brought a picture of me over not too long ago. In it I am the same age that Olivia is now. She has more hair than I did.
Family resemblances are fun. Sometime I will try and dig up some pictures of Aiden and Doug at the same age.

Exhaustion vs. Sanity

Exhaustion is the enemy of sanity.

Owen had been perfectly fine with the idea of going to school UNTIL I told him he had to change out of his Halloween costume into school clothes. Then he FREAKED. Sobbing, big crocodile tears, the whole nine yards.

And me being the brilliant stellar example of graceful motherhood freaked back at him. I actually yelled at the child and told him to stop crying.

He hiccuped and sputtered "I (stutter, sniff, sniff) can't (hiccup, sputter, sniff) mommy (sniff, sniff). " Then he sobbed some more.

So I yelled at him to be quiet. Did I mention what an AWESOME mother-of-the-year moment I was having?

For some reason in my addled brain I thought that MY yelling would be less likely to wake up Olivia than Owen's hysterics.

At this time I would like to remind everyone that Owen is not even 4 yet. And he is a pretty sensitive kid. He wasn't trying to be bad. He was honestly upset that he had to take off his beloved cowboy costume.

Yelling at him was not the answer.

So as I wrestled him out the door to school, him sobbing "I don't want to go to school Mommy" it occurred to me that all this crying would not help him look cute in his picture.

Yes, that really was the reason I calmed down. Not because my child needed me to for his own emotional stability, but because I wanted his face not to be blotchy in his pictures.

Oh ya, mother-of-the-year, right here.

He had calmed down significantly by the time we got to school. But he still didn't want to be there. He told me I made his tummy hurt by yelling at him. I apologized. He said he didn't forgive me.

When we got to his classroom he told his teacher that I yelled at him and made his tummy hurt.

I apologized again. By now I was feeling really bad for the mess I had created.

He said he didn't forgive me.

Perhaps we should have a discussion on forgiveness one of these days.

Owen then told me he didn't want to be alone at school. I pointed out that all his friends and his teachers would be there. He cried again.

We did a puzzle together, I gave him a hug and a kiss. He cried. Then I left feeling AWESOME (not).

The moral of the story is to take a DEEP BREATH before freaking out at your kid for being upset. Sheesh.

I know you'll be shocked to hear this but...

I'm tired. So very tired. I just really want to go back to bed. Mercy.

It is just after 7 am and I have been up since 5:30 am. Last night we skipped Awana (kid's club at church) because Aiden was so exhausted after school- he almost fell asleep on the floor. Poor kid. On the upside he stayed at school all day and didn't try to run away at all! He even told me he had fun! So that's a relief.

Anyway, I had foolishly given Owen a nap earlier in the afternoon in preparation for Awana. This meant that Aiden went to bed and fell fast asleep at 6:30pm. I was so tired I could have gone to sleep then too. But tragically Owen was wired from his nap. And Olivia was refusing to go to sleep in case she missed something interesting. The little monkeys didn't go to sleep until after 10:00pm. Then Miss. Olivia and the cat tag teamed me all night making sure I woke up at least once an hour.

There is no justice.

Did I mention Doug is away at a pastor's thingy?

And so here I am this morning getting Owen ready for picture day at school. Making lunches. Getting the boys to eat breakfast. Wondering how I am going to convince them to EVER take off their halloween costumes... which they have been wearing steadily since we got them on monday.

Aiden's picture day is tomorrow. Doug comes home tonight.

I really think the boys would like to wear their costumes for picture day. I wonder what their teachers would do if I just let them?



And I left the stroller outside in the open last night and it rained on it. So now I get to take Olivia to school with the boys in a wet stroller. I'm sure she will enjoy that.

I am thinking that after Owen is at school I am going to come home, put a movie on for Aiden, put Olivia down for a nap and lay my lazy self down on my couch.

If I knew then...

This is a wedding picture of my husband and I - July 31, 1999. I have no reason to post it now other than I was looking through pictures and I saw this and thought - wow... I had NO idea what my life would be like now! And yes, I did have a guy stand up with me on my side. My attendants were my roommate at the time- Ruth, my might-as-well-be-my-sister friend Tinuviel, and my dear friend Dale.

This is a picture of my husband and I on our honeymoon. I was 23 years old, he was 25. The picture was taken 8 years ago on Salt Spring Island in BC. Weren't we cute?

And yes, if I knew then what I know now I would still marry my husband. He's a keeper... even when he drives me crazy :)

Cowboy Woody vs. Darth Vadar

Yesterday we went into town to Wal-Mart. It is Owen's birthday coming up and so we needed to get him a birthday present. While we were there we bought the boys their Halloween costumes. In case you are wondering why we bought them this early it is because we don't get to Wal-Mart very often (the closest one is over an hour away) so when we get there we tend to stock up.So my boys spent the entire day today wearing their costumes. Owen is dressed as Cowboy Woody from Toy Story... but he also wanted to add the pirate sword and telescope so he could ALSO be Peter Pan. Of course. And Aiden is dressed as a GOOD Darth Vadar. In this picture he is dueling with Daddy.
They had so much fun dressed up. I think I am going to let them wear their costumes a lot in the next few weeks. Might as well get my money's worth out of them!

I also tried to take a few pictures today of the trees outside my living room window. I wanted to capture the beautiful yellows of the leaves but these pictures are the best I could do!

I love the fall colours. I really enjoy walking the boys to school in the crisp fall sunshiney days.

Speaking of school I am really praying that Aiden doesn't run away again tomorrow. Scary.

And another scary thing- my sweet baby girl Olivia STOOD UP in the middle of the living room this afternoon. She wasn't holding on to anything she just stood up. Only for a few seconds mind you but still. She is only 9 months old! And now before you all think I am bragging about my advanced daughter... I am not. I REALLY don't want her to be growing up this fast! I am ENJOYING her baby-hood and I don't want to let that go!

With my boys I couldn't wait for them to reach the next stage- crawling, walking, talking etc. But with Olivia I just wish she would linger a little longer in her sweet baby stages! Oh how I am going to miss her infant stage!

Of course I will enjoy sleeping through the night again someday. But I am willing to endure a longer time of sleep deprivation in order to keep her a baby just a little longer. Because oh she is so darn cute.

At this point I would like to remind you all that with my boys I had un-medicated post partum depression (which I REALLY don't recommend) and with Olivia I have medicated post partum depression... wow what a difference! So really, Olivia is the first baby I have just enjoyed! I barely remember the boys infancy- it is all a blur of crying exhaustion and depression. Sad isn't it? If only a doctor had really listened to me and given me some meds it could all have been different.

On the off chance that there is some new mommy out there reading this and you are feeling depressed... please don't try to be a hero (or super spiritual) and go through it all alone. Get help. Don't be afraid of the medications. They really do help. It doesn't make you a bad mother to get help when you need it.

Run Away 5 Year Old

Yesterday we had quite the day. It was Doug's day off and my mom had the day off as well so we spent the day together. Aiden had school though and he seemed happy to be going in the morning. But then he RAN AWAY from the school during his lunch break! He managed to run all the way home. I was out but luckily Doug was home. All of a sudden Aiden walks into the living room! Now, we only live a block or so from the school but still. So Doug walked him back to school and talked to his teacher (who was also horrified). This morning I talked to the principle and she said we could all work together to "help Aiden not make that choice again".

Seriously, the thought of my son being able to run away from school gives me heart failure.

The school does have a supervisor for the kindergarteners and grade one kids but they didn't even notice that Aiden had gone anywhere!

When we talked to Aiden about it he said that he waited for the cars and he knew where his house was! He missed us and wanted to go home. So he did.

He clearly doesn't care that it is against the rules.

Mercy.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

My husband knows that I LOVE the Harry Potter books. Love them. I have read them all and most of them twice. I think they are really really really enjoyable.

SO the other day, knowing my excitement over all things Potter, my husband bought me these SUPER cool candies. ... That's right, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. For those of you who haven't read the books this will mean nothing. Feel free to skip this post.
For those of you who HAVE read the books you will know that Bertie Bott's every flavor beans literally come in EVERY flavor. Not just good flavors.

This box contains the following flavors -Sardine, Vomit, Grass, Ear Wax, Tutti Frutti, Popcorn, Toasted Marshmallow, Bacon, Blueberry, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dirt, Earthworm, Booger, Grape, Soap, Lemon Drop, and Rotten Egg.
My husband thought I should just eat a bean at random without looking at the code to see what flavour it would be. That is, after all, how the Harry Potter characters eat them.

I, however, am not known for my iron stomache so I did look at the code. I daringly tried the Sardine flavour bean... and wow. Was it ever gross! It really did taste like a Sardine jelly bean. Icky. The Grass flavour wasn't too terrible. Not exactly enjoyable but I didn't have to spit it out. I enjoyed several of the "normal" flavours. I have not been brave enough to try the vomit flavour yet.

But I REALLY love that I have these candies in my possession. Love it.

Thank-you Douglas. I love you.

Just as a point of interest to my American readers... in Canada we really do spell "flavour" with a "u" in it. I'm not just confused or a bad typist.

A Perfect Autumn Day

Today was a beautiful day outside and since we know winter is not too far away we decided to go to the park and enjoy the afternoon! It really was lovely. Not too hot. No bugs. A perfect Saskatchewan fall day.

First we played in the playground. Here is my mom pushing Olivia on a baby swing. She loves swings... as long as they are outside. She will have nothing to do with her baby swing inside. But that isn't the point.
Here is my mom and my baby girl enjoying the day and each other.

Owen , for some unknown reason common to most children, is obsessed with climbing UP slides. So here he is pretending to mountain climb up the slide. And as a point of interest today was the first day he wore his brand new red t-shirt and he managed to get a hole in it. Of course.After we played we took a walk on the trails at the park. The leaves are all turning yellow and the walk was really pretty. Here is Olivia with her daddy.
So I had one of those "genius" moments as a mom where I thought I would give my son, Owen, my camera to take pictures on our walk. He really loves to take pictures and most of the time does REALLY well with the camera. Unfortunately he tripped and fell and broke my camera today. That really sucked. Doug is going to try and fix it but who knows if he will be able to. Sigh. But Owen did have a lot of fun taking pictures and the pictures are fun to look at. Even if the camera is busted.
Here is my mom and Aiden studying a piece of beehive they found on the ground.
And here is Grandma and Aiden hiding in a bush to surprise the rest of us as we walked by.
Here is Grandma and Aiden enjoying each other's company.


This was an impromptu picture we took in front of a fallen tree on the path. Why? Well, why not?Here is Aiden resting in the middle of the path. We told him he is too big to carry. He was not impressed.
After the park we went and had ice cream which, in my opinion, is the PERFECT end to a lovely afternoon. I love ice cream.

Of course I didn't get anything on my list done. The house is still a mess. My husband will be up late working. But it was worth it. I love perfect fall days.

Six Minutes does NOT count as a legitimate nap

ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

It took me over an hour to get Olivia to sleep this afternoon because her teeth are driving her crazy. She was overtired and instead of nursing herself to sleep wanted to use my nipples as a teether. Lucky me.

So after a rather uncomfortable HOUR I managed to lay her down and she STAYED asleep... miraculously.

She was asleep for SIX minutes when Owen realized he had left his Lightning McQueen car in the room and ran with all the grace of a baby elephant into the room where my daughter had been asleep for SIX whole minutes. Of course he woke her thoroughly up. I was NOT impressed.

Seriously. What is the deal with my sons waking up my daughter? And how am I supposed to get anything done with three kids pestering me constantly? I don't know how all you super-moms out there do it.

Here is just a PARTIAL list of all the things I need to accomplish in the next day or so...
1. Clean my kitchen (for the millionth useless time).
2. Finish my laundry from last week so I can immediately start on the laundry from this week.
3. Vacuum my floors again so that Olivia stops picking up tiny bits of miscellaneous garbage and eating it.
4. Replant a plant I have in my planter outside because my son dropped it and broke the pot and I had no other dirt so I planted it in my planter so it wouldn't die and then it frosted here last night and so it might die anyway and I still don't have a pot and dirt for it. Although my husband says I do somewhere. But I don't know where.
Perhaps I'll just let it die.
5. Put Olivia's room back together.
6. Find the elusive letter for the cursed Revenue Canada creeps who are auditing me.
7. Plan my children's church lesson for the start of preschool children's church this Sunday morning.
8. Finish cutting out the unbelievably annoying flannel graph pieces.
9. Remove the containers of rotting food from the back of my refrigerator.
10. Sneak my sons "blankie" away from him without him noticing so I can wash the unpleasant aroma of urine out of it.
11. Wean Owen from his beloved "suckie" (soother)
12. Start planning Owen's birthday party.
13. Order Owen's birthday present from the Sears catalogue so that it gets here in time.
14. Feed, comfort, entertain, nurture, read to, play with, and generally cater to three unbelievably demanding dictators.

And of COURSE it is the weekend. I HATE the weekend. I know, that sounds crazy. But I really do. My husband is basically useless on the home front on the weekends. He has work during the day on Friday, he runs youth group Friday night, then he works again usually late into the night Friday night. Is useless Saturday morning because he is so tired. Works again Saturday night. Preaches and does church Sunday morning. This week we have a church social thingy Sunday afternoon. Then he collapses in exhaustion for his day off on Monday.

The tragic part is that all three kids are home all weekend long. No school. So not only do I have the three dictators I ALSO have their exhausted father.

Fun.

Can you tell I am feeling a tad on the overwhelmed side today?

My Top Ten Pet Peeves

I read this post over on Super Mom's blog about her top ten pet peeves and I was in the mood to join in. So here it goes...

1. Pee anywhere other than in a toilet.
2. Bodily fluids of any kind anywhere other than in the body to which they belong.
3. Crushed food on the carpet.
4. Crumbs in my bed that I didn't put there.
5. Wet, dirty, stinky, slimy dishrags left in a heap in the bottom of the sink.
6. People who care more about my lawn than about my family.
7. Cat litter anywhere other than in the litter box.
8. Whining children.
9. Revenue Canada.
10. Church Politics of all kinds.

Where did summer go?

Poor Shadow got neutered today. I don't think he is too impressed.

When Owen got home from school this morning he told me he wanted to play pirates (of course since he is obsessed with Peter Pan). I asked him if he played pirates at school and he told me "no, Miss. Hauser told me to be quiet".

That made me laugh. I can just picture my son jumping around the classroom playing pirates while his poor teacher attempts to get him to sit still quietly. Good luck lady!

In other news it actually started to SNOW here today. That's right people. SNOW. Now, it didn't stay, it just melted as soon as it hit the ground and it didn't last long but still. This is ridiculous. It is only September 13. Winter should not arrive yet. Even here.

imperfect

Whining is exhausting. Seriously exhausting.

My sons are over tired... or over something anyway. And man are they ever whiny. It is going to drive me crazy. It is the tone of voice that nearly sends me to the brink of madness.

I was hoping that while the whining duo are at school this morning my daughter would take an extra long nap and I could sleep too... but alas, that was not to be. Instead of sleeping extra long she decided she didn't really need a nap at all. Typical.

And my energy burst from Tuesday did not return to me this morning. I am sitting here drinking tea and thinking of all the things I should be doing. Oh well. Can't be perfect all the time.

Owen

This has been Owen's first week of pre-kindergarten (called junior kindergarten in some places, preschool in others). He is really enjoying it so far and I'm proud of him.

This is a picture of him running to school on his first day... he was very excited.
And here is Owen in his classroom the first morning. He didn't even care that I was leaving him there. He was good to go.
However, AFTER school was rough. He had to leave his inside shoes at school and that caused him some SERIOUS trauma. So this is Owen hiding from the world and whining about his shoes.
This is a sweet picture of Owen and daddy the day before school started. It is freezing cold here now so it was a good thing they were enjoying the outdoors while they still could!

This afternoon we all went to the dentist (fun.. I know). Aiden and Owen were both pretty good and had no cavities. Aiden threw a few fits but hey, I didn't want to go to the dentist either so who can really blame him.

Unfortunately Owen's teeth are pretty bad from his excessive soother use. The dentist assured me that his teeth should recover no problem as soon as he stops using it completely... but if he doesn't do it soon they will have to put some sort of apparatus in his mouth to fix it.

So today I cut up all but one of his soothers and he and I had a talk. I asked him if he would be willing to trade me his soother for a new toy. (My friend Becky gave me this idea- she did it with all 3 of her kids and it worked). So we looked through the sears catalugue and he choose a talking Lightning McQueen car. We will order it and when it comes in he can trade me his soother for it. We'll see how it goes.

The joy of accomplishment

Today was my son Owen's first day of pre-kindergarten. That means that it was Olivia and I home alone this morning for 2.5 hours.... I can't tell you how amazing it was! You would be amazed at how much I can accomplish in that short amount of time!!!

I cleaned my kitchen.
I washed the floors.
I vacuumed the living room.
I did 3 loads of laundry- I even folded and put them away!
AND I got to have a nice conversation on the phone with my friend Becky with no one interrupting me!

I was starting to think I would never get anything done again but this morning has restored my faith in my own abilities as a housewife.

Pathetic isn't it? But I really did feel a great sense of accomplishment for those few tasks being completed.

I think Olivia liked the brother-free time as well. She got to explore a lot and I think she found it quite fascinating to watch me in my cleaning frenzy.

Tomorrow we all get to go to the dentist for our yearly check-ups. I recruited my mom to come along and watch Olivia for me. Fun times ahead.

Then on Thursday I have another 1-child-at-home-only morning and my goal is to clean my bathroom. I can do it.

I must admit I find it a wee bit frustrating to have Aiden going to school for a full day on odd days on a 6 day rotation and Owen going to school Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Friday mornings. I wish they could have co-ordinated it so that they would at least be in school on the same days or something. Oh well. I am still just so happy to have 2 mornings a week where both boys are gone.

The return of TV

Oh people. I have joy.

All of my favourite TV shows are coming back. It is season premiere time.

Except Gilmore Girls. Which is a tragedy in my opinion.

But honestly. I love TV. I love it.

Sigh. I'm just so happy.

Men are strange

I just called my husband at the church to find out how the light bulb changing is going and he informed me that he didn't have to climb up high after all and that they are all done.

I am feeling several emotions about this revelation.

First of all, relief. I am relieved that it is over. Relieved that he didn't have to climb up high. Relieved that no one fell off any high scaffolding.

Second, annoyance. A conscientious husband would have called me the minute he figured out he didn't have to do the climbing to tell me that so I could stop feeling sick about it. A kind husband would have called me the minute they were finished so I could have known everyone was safe and sound on the firm hard ground.

Third, amazement. I am always amazed at the differences between myself and my husband. Men are just so... different. I put a link on my side bar to the blog "Because I Said So". She also has some musings on the differences between men and women. And she's way funnier than I am.

Fourth, and entirely unrelated to my husband, I am feeling frustration. Does anyone other than me find it incredibly difficult to go through drawers and stacks of paper with three kids around? At this rate I am never going to find all the paperwork I need to send into the cursed Revenue Canada thugs.

That's all. Olivia is presently trying to chew on the baby blanket I am never going to finish crocheting for her.

Alas... so many unfinished projects. So little time. So low on sanity.

Clean the clothes mommy

My sons are outside playing Peter Pan vs. Captain Hook. Owen is dressed in his car jammies that his Grandma Ann made him. Apparently he thinks those are good pirate clothes. Aiden is dressed in his dirty clothes from yesterday.

Actual conversation:

Aiden: "Mom, there is NO clean clothes in my pants drawer so I had to put on these dirty clothes." -looking disgusted.

Me: "I'm sorry Aiden. I will put some clean clothes in your drawers today."

Aiden: "Why do you NEVER clean our clothes?" - hands on hips looking disdainful- "Cleaning the clothes is YOUR homework. You HAVE to do your homework mom."

Me: "I know honey. I'm sorry. Mommy will try harder." - looking appropriately remorseful.


The thing is, he really doesn't have any clean pants in his drawer. But I just haven't put the clean clothes away yet. Not that all the clothes are clean. Don't worry. My laundry room is still full.

Well, that was short lived. Now Owen is in tears on my living room floor because he fell down. Olivia just tried to ingest a battery. And it is raining.

Heights

Today I am feeling stressed because my husband is at the church changing the light bulbs in the gym. This means that he and another fellow from church have to climb up scaffolding to reach the bulbs.

I am terrified of heights.

Even thinking about my husband that high up freaks me right out. My tummy hurts.

Peter Pan

My sons are OBSESSED with the Disney Peter Pan movie. Now, I'm sure I watched this movie at some point in my childhood but I definitely did NOT remember the details. It is BY FAR one of the most politically incorrect Disney movies I have ever seen. Seriously. It's bad. I am sure it offends many people on a very regular basis.

Unfortunately I wasn't really paying attention to it the first few times my sons watched it. I mean really, I thought "It's Peter Pan, how bad can it be? It's a classic." So by the time I paid attention long enough to notice that it is BRUTAL it was too late. My sons had it practically memorized.

Now, don't get me wrong, it is a fun movie in many ways. And it is not ALL bad. There are lots of enjoyable parts to it. But it is set in a time period where people were very insensitive to First Nations peoples in particular. It is simply not ok to use phrases like "Injuns" anymore.

So now every time my kids watch Peter Pan I try and explain to them that the movie is pretend and we are not allowed to talk like that. It is working very well I must say.

Here is an actual conversation I just heard:

Owen: "Let's play Peter Pan"
Aiden: "Ok. You be Captain Hook"
Owen: "Ok" (runs to grab a plastic hanger to use as the hook)
Aiden: "I'll be Tinkerbell"
Owen: "OK. You can fly"
Aiden: (while jumping on the bed) "My guy has a lightsaver (light saber)"
Me: "Tinkerbell has a light saber?"
Aiden: "Yep. And your bed is Captain Hook's ship. You can be a lost boy mommy"
Me: "Ok. But I don't want to jump on my bed"
Owen: "That's ok mommy. You're too big to jump anyway."

Yep. I am. Good to know he's noticed.

True story...

The other day when we got our pictures taken we had to look at them and choose poses we liked. So the lady brings up the pictures of us on her computer. I look at them and I think "Wow. I look really fat in these pictures."....

Insert pause while looking at more pictures.

"Oh right" I think to myself "I AM fat". I had forgotten that for a minute.

Gotta love child bearing.

I love my husband

This is my husband.
He is wonderful.
This morning he let me go back to bed and I got to have a LONG nap- I got to stay in bed the ENTIRE time Olivia slept. It was wonderful. I have a good husband.

I love you Doug.

Revenue Canada is Evil

Ok people. I am really really really not happy with Revenue Canada. In fact... I think they suck. I mean seriously. Don't they have better things to do with their time than harrass me about my measly little medical claim? I can't believe the documentation I have to give them... in 30 days or we have to repay our refund. Stupid revenue canada. I have to give them a letter from EACH doctor I saw last year telling them why I had to see them and why I couldn't see someone in my own town.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't mind them asking for proof of my claims, I just don't think they should be able to ask for MORE proof that they didn't require the first time around!! I mean seriously, this is ridiculous. One of my doctor's went on maternity leave and her snarky nurse told me this morning that she wouldn't send me any letters. I could wait until my doctor returns next year. That's really useful. Thanks. And the hospital where I delivered Olivia is more than willing to provide proof that I delivered there but they don't send out letters confirming all the millions of appointments I had there. And revenue canada says what I have is not enough. I hate revenue canada.

I am simply not sane enough to deal with this crap.

I'd like to see one of them come and live in my house and produce receipts for something that happened a year and a half ago. I HAD them SOMEWHERE. At tax time. I should have just sent them in then. But no, they didn't want them then. They want them NOW when I can't find them anymore. Stupid revenue canada.

And I know, if I was a more organized together person this wouldn't be that big of a deal. But I am not. So there.

And Olivia is screaming.

And Owen is growling at me and shooting me with pretend guns.

Luckily Aiden is at school today.

ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Photoshop

We had our family photo shoot today for the church directory... it went well. It took awhile but it went well. And guess what? They are going to photo-shop out the road rash off of Aiden's face. The photographer also managed to get a really cute picture of Olivia... not that she is too hard to get good pictures of.

I must admit that I find family photo shoots exhausting. Seriously. I'm really tired.

In other news I had a really nice long chat with my dear friend Becky today. Life keeps getting in the way of my time with my friends so it was nice to have a chance to chat. I love you Becky. Thanks for being the encouraging friend that you are to me.

This will look nice.

So as it turns out it won't really matter WHAT my kids wear to the family picture tomorrow. My poor son Aiden bailed on his bike this afternoon and scraped up his face and cut his lip. We spent an hour or so in our little town hospital to make sure he didn't need stitches and so I could let the nurse dig out the gravel embedded in his face. Poor kid. He was so good at the hospital. I could tell he was in pain and his little lip kept quivering but he did everything the nurse asked him to do. He was very brave. And as soon as they left him alone he fell fast asleep on the examination table. Traumatic experiences can really wear you out! I think he will look very handsome in our church family pictorial directory. Typical isn't it? Of COURSE he would have an accident the day before pictures. I can only hope it heals before his school pictures in a few weeks. Sigh.

At least now I can let the kids choose their own clothes and not worry about it. We'll just have a character picture. We are characters after all.

Morning with the Robertson family

This morning our little kitty- Shadow- who really is not that little anymore- caught a bird. He was very proud of himself. Here he is torturing the poor thing. Cats.

And yes, we went and played outside this morning... in our jammies. I'm fine with that. Here is Owen riding his bike in his cool lightning McQueen jammies that his grandma Ann made him.
Here is Aiden playing with his transformer "bumblebee". My kids need haircuts. Before tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day we go to get our family picture taken for the church directory.

Owen felt that the house needed some sprucing up as well. Here he is sanding the front of the house. He told me he had a lot of work to do. I agree.
And here the boys are "fixing" the post. I was informed that it is rusty and needs to be replaced. I'll get right on that.
Yesterday Owen took all the petals off of my Sunflower. Sad isn't it?

Last night at bath time Olivia really wanted to get in the tub with her brothers but I fear that they would drown her (unintentionally of course) but I let her stand at the side and watch. She enjoyed herself immensely. I'm sure a time will come, relatively soon, that the boys would not be thrilled to let their little sister watch them bathe... but until then it makes for a good entertainment for her. Here is Owen giving her a kiss. I just love moments like that.
She fell flat on her bottom after that kiss. Owen just doesn't know the force of his love.

I am debating letting everyone just choose their own outfits for the church picture tomorrow. It might be fun to have the entire family in jammies. Except Olivia who seems to prefer just a diaper.

It almost seems dishonest to dress us all up pretty... it's not like we spend a lot of time looking spiffy. Actually I think what we wear will largely depend on how much laundry I manage to get done today.

Last night I dreamt that I had an upstairs laundry room. When I awoke from this blissful dream I began to plan a way to convert my closet in my bedroom into a laundry closet. I really hate having to tromp up and down my basement stairs a million times a day. It is especially bothersome now that Olivia tries to follow me. I set up the play pen so I can put her in it to go downstairs but she hates the play pen passionately so basically I do laundry to the sounds of a screaming baby and my sons yelling at me "Mom, Olivia is crying. I don't think she wants to be in the play pen anymore. You should come and pick her up." Thanks for the advice boys.