At Least I'm Safe Inside My Mind

Happy 9th Birthday Phoenix!!!!

2009-06-20T12:39:00.004-04:00

Phoenix!!! You are 9 years old today! Wow...this is your last year in the single digits...

You are just finishing up Grade 3, and you are having your Sonic the Hedgehog Party today with your friends...

You are still into Tranformers, LEGO and video games of the PS2 and DS variety.

You love to read, especially topics that interest you...this year included Harry Potter, Star Wars, Knights and Castles and the Titanic...

You also are a burgeoning artist, drawing and writing stories in every spare minute of your day (even while travelling in the car!)...

In some ways, you show a maturity beyond your years, and I am continually impressed by the way you handle difficult situations with wisdom and grace. I am also astounded by the level of your sarcasm, which on one hand, makes me want to yell at you, but at the same time, I often think, yeah, nice one! Genes will out, as they say.

Phoenix, enjoy your year of being nine. It is a great year for still being a little kid without the pressures that come along with becoming a tween. I wish you happiness always, and you know that I love you so, and that you fill me with pride.

XOXO

Mommy

Happy 4th Birthday Ty!!!

2009-05-17T23:02:00.000-04:00

Ty-ger! You are 4 today! At the risk of sounding like your grandmother, it seems like just yesterday that you were born...

You have come a long way in the past year. You are talking a lot more, you dress yourself, you are toilet-trained (YAY!) and are increasingly independent, to the point of giving me anxiety attacks.

You know all of your letters, and can write them too...and know all of your numbers to 30 and beyond. You can write your name, and can read a few 2 and 3 letter words. I am surprised daily at what you can do.

You are loving and affectionate, and sweet beyond words. You still love to hug and kiss and cuddle. You love books, and numbers and running until your legs give out.

You have a lively imagination, and an ear for music. I am impressed that you know the words to most Buddy Holly songs, and the Beatles, and a few Electric 6 songs too. Rock on brotha!

I enjoy seeing the daily changes you bring to our lives, and look forward to the year ahead, with your graduation from preschool in June, and the start of JK in the fall.

Love and kisses,

Mommy

Happy 7th Birthday Keegan!!!

2009-05-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Oh Keegan my Keegan! You are 7 years old today. You lost your second tooth last week and your top two are really wiggly...you are almost as tall as your older brother, even though you are almost 2 years apart...you are growing like a weed!

I am very, very proud of all you have accomplished this year. Your best subject in school is drama/dance, and I'm not at all surprised. You are certainly at your creative best when you are in front of an audience. Your team came in first at the ballroom dancing competition at school, and I was so proud of the way you presented yourself. You seem to have transported straight from the classic movie era; I call you my little Clark Gable as you are so gallant.

You always have a bright smile for me, and declarations of love--you are my joy. Although your temper sometimes gets the better of you (Incredible Hulk!) you are learning to bring it under control (Bruce Banner!) and I know and appreciate how difficult this is sometimes, especially when you are frustrated. I am proud of your efforts.

Your reading has really come along this year too, and I love your passion for learning new things. Every year, every day with you teaches me something new, and I look forward to sharing another year of exciting new experiences with you.

Have a wonderful birthday Keegan. I hope you always stay as sweet as you are now.

I love you!

XOXO

Mommy

2009-02-20T09:55:00.003-05:00

What's new, what's new, what's new....

Well, seeing as my last entry was dated pre-Christmas, I'm sure there is quite a bit...

Speaking of Christmas, we all managed to get through the holiday illness-free...that didn't come until the week after when we all got the flu...but, even with that, that holidays were great, and the kids had a blast, and we got to spend time with lots of friends and family, and really, what more can one ask for? (Well, maybe one could ask for a lottery win to pay the post-holiday bills...)

In more recent, and ultimately more exciting (to me) news, Ty is now out of diapers and into underwear! YAY! He even wipes his own butt, which is great, although I now have to teach him toilet-paper rationing, as he uses about a roll and a half at a time.

Proofing/editing work has also picked up for me lately, and I now have three clients that I work for on a pretty regular basis, which is fabulous. The only downside is that 99% of my work has to be done at night, after the kidlets go to sleep, so 5 nights out of 7, I am hitting the hay in the wee hours of the morning...

I think though, that after having three kids, my body never got the chance to get back to the joy of an eight hour sleep, and I find that I can function (almost) normally on only 4 or 5 hours a night, so it's all good.

I recently signed Ty up for JK for the fall. I was originally going to keep him out an extra year, but he has made enormous strides lately, and I think that kindergarden is a better option for him.

I have received mixed reviews on this decision. Unrequested opinions, if you must know, and this annoys the hell out of me.

Note to all: it is one thing to comment on your own child's development and your plan for that child. It is entirely another to critisize a parent on their choices for eductional development for their own child, especially when you have NO IDEA what is behind the decision. There. Rant over.

So, yes. Ty is doing much better these days. Not exactly a winner of public speaking awards, but his spontaneous speech is much improved, and he seems destined to be a muscian-type, as he is always singing, and rarely without his guitar, strumming along to his tunes...

Keegan finally lost his first tooth, and has another one getting ready to come out.

Phoenix's front teeth have finally grown in all the way, and I have to say, that when your kid gets a few adult teeth in their head, it totally changes the way they look. He went from looking like a little boy, to a little man instead. Sigh...time flies...I can't believe he will be nine years old soon.

My nephew Lucas, at the age of almost-fourteen, is six feet tall. The kid is a giant. He was over on the weekend, and I had to stand on a stair to look him in the eye. He thinks it is hilarious. I just feel...well...short. And I'm glad that it is Ela, and not I, who has to keep him in jeans and shoes, when he grows out of them every two months.

I know, I know, my time of growth spurts will come...at least now, I still have a lot of clothes for the boys to grow into/hand down, so my biggest financial burden in that area is supplying shoes...

Gee, I was full of ideas and news when I started this, and now my mind has gone blank. Hmm. Well, I guess if I remember anything else exciting I can repost as a PS.

Oh, if you are looking for a good read, I recommend the new Wally Lamb (The Hour I First Believed), the new Christopher Moore (Fool) and the new Bryce Courtenay (The Persimmon Tree). And DVD box set-wise, I always recommend LOST, Dexter and The Tudors. Movies? You must see Slumdog Millionaire. Awesome film. Food? Just kidding...that's it for recommendations...feel free to leave some of your own...especially books...

Tis The Season To Be Cranky...Fa La La La La, La La La La

2008-12-18T22:13:00.004-05:00

Crankiness abounds...chalk it up to pre-Christmas anxiety? I'm not sure, but it's been a weird 24 hours...

It started last night at the kids' Christmas concert. I had arrived early with the kids to get them to their classrooms, and went to the gym to await Mark and Ty's arrival at 6:30. Waited, waited, waited. Kindergarden kids came and went. A poem. Grade One's (Keegan's class) came on, and still no Mark and Ty. I was LIVID! Finally they show up, right after Keegan spoke his line. I whisper angrily, "What the hell?!?" Mark tells me he is too mad to speak right now. Uh-oh...

Turns out that Ty had broken into the office while Mark was in the shower...(sidebar here...the office is locked...he moved an 80 lb bench, opened the doors where the furnace is, and slipped between the furnace and the desk to get into the office...). Mark had been working on a duplication project for a client for the past few days, involving two stacks of DVDs of 150 each, one in English, one in French. Ty mixed them all up. AND, jammed 6 DVDs into the drive of my computer. So...rage on Mark's part? 100% understandable...My rage...evaporated. He won that round.

Earlier in the week, I had made roughly 60 Santa cake pops (see photo) for the kids to take in for their class Christmas parties this Friday, and for Ty's party today. Ty wakes up this morning with a fever of 102.1, so he obviously didn't go to school, and now I have 20 spare Santas. Mark was planning on taking Ty to his concert, so he was home. I had a hair appointment. So, he stayed home with Ty, and I went off to get my hair done, with 10 Santas to share with the customers. When my appointment was done, I had missed my bus by 5 minutes, and had to wait 25 minutes for the next one. While waiting for the bus, there was this insane woman chanting rhymes at people with malicious intent, like some psychotic female Dr. Seuss...Mirror Mirror on the wall, shouldn't you be at home watching your kids...maybe I'll pay them a call...Creepy-ass shit like that. Kripes. Glad she wasn't on my bus! Came home rather late. Mark was cranky. He went to work.

Throughout the day and evening, gave away the other 10 Santas...Went to get the boys from school. Ty still feverish. By 5:00, Phoenix and Keegan were at a playdate, Mark still wasn't home from work, and Ty's fever had jumped to over 103. Mark had got stuck in a work meeting (where apparently crankiness was an UNDERstatement) and didn't get home until 6:00. Went to pick up kids. During the making of dinner, Phoenix and Keegan were at each other's throats, and I lost my temper. So now, I was cranky, the kids were cranky, and Mark was cranky. Right after dinner, Mark left for the clinic with Ty, and I sent the boys to their room for quiet, harmonious play out of my earshot. Kids went to bed. Mark came home with Ty, and typically, the doctor said it was viral, plenty of fluids, blah, blah, blah humbug.

Sent Mark off to bed, and went for my nightly walk to Tim Horton's for my steeped tea. When I got there, the staff was all pissed off because the city workers outside had been flushing the water mains since 5:30, so there was no tea, no hot chocolate, no lattes. I tried to keep the peace, and ordered a rare coffee, (which I am enjoying immensely).

Whew. Weird cranky-ass day. Oh, did I mention that (according to the Toronto media...and the Weather Network) we are in for what they are calling, Snowmaggedon? So, now I face the prospect of the last day of school for the year being a snow day, and me being stuck with 40 more Santa pops. Now, that is a thought that makes ME cranky...I hope it holds off until they are already in school, and the damned things have been handed out to the class...)

I hope tomorrow is a day of jolly tidings instead...

It's Not December Unless We Are All Sick

2008-12-12T23:48:00.001-05:00

I was looking through some of my previous years' December posts, and in each one, my house in under siege with illness. And, like all other years, we are again ailing over here. The Norwalk virus has invaded our home. Mark Monday, Keegan Tuesday, Ty Thursday, and Phoenix today. So far, knock on wood, I have avoided getting it, but I am not without my own tales of physical woe...I have strep throat, and an ear and sinus infection...and after spending 4 hours coughing my guts out this evening, I'm thinking bronchial pneumonia is about to rear its ugly head again this year...

That being said, I have fallen behind on my Christmas to-do list. This week was supposed to be my baking week...but seeing as I spent the week cleaning dairy-based vomit out of carpets, this plan has fallen by the wayside. This evening, in desperation, I bundled all of the kids in the car (with a barf-bag for Phoenix) and went supply shopping, so I now have all of my ingredients to start the baking as soon as I am in a germ-free state.

However, I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping, so that is one chalked up for the plus side. This is our year for the entertaining, so I am hosting Mark's family for Christmas Eve, my Dad and 2 brothers for Christmas dinner, and my other brother and his family on Boxing Day. Trying out a few new recipes; should be good times, as long as we all have our health back on track.

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In other news, Phoenix and Keegan both had good report cards and are happy in school. Ty is trucking along at preschool as well. Yesterday, I went to bat for Ty, and finally got him on the (year-long!) waitlist for a psychoeducational assessment, the purpose of which is to determine the extent of his developmental delays, obtain any possible diagnosis, and get the necessary services in place. My optimistic goal was to have him enter JK in the fall next year, but I can see now that it is just not going to happen. Sadly, once he enters the school system, he would lose a lot of the services he is currently getting through the region, most important being his speech and language therapy. Ty is 3 1/2 years old and is still pretty non-verbal. He has what they call self-motivated speech, meaning that he will only say something when he wants something. He will not engage in conversation, but will request things that he wants. We are constantly working to improve his spontaneous speech, but it has been a long, hard road so far.

Ty has also moved into his demon phase. I know, you are thinking, well what phase was he in before? Have you not likened him in the past to Stewie Griffin? Well, as bad as things were before, I now see that that was pie compared to what he is like now. He's just what my mother would have called "a going concern". You know, things like climbing bookshelves, hoisting himself ON TOP OF the refridgerator, general chaos and destruction...his cuteness is his saving grace. It's a true survival tool of his species...just let me live though this year. Hopefully, being 4 years old will be calmer. Ha. Ha ha ha.

I have a bit of a new obsession these days. Well, two really. The first is knitting. I have become a machine for knitting all sorts of little knitted stuffed toys. They are fun to do, and keep me occupied while I am watching tv at night. Which leads to my second obsession: DVD box sets...

In the past few months I have burned my retinas watching Entourage, Prison Break, Smallville, the Tudors, Lost, and most recently, The O.C. The problem with having multiple episodes at my disposal is that I do the "oh sure, just more more episode" thing, and end up going to bed at 3:00 am. No wonder I'm sick....I used up all of my energy stores on teenage tv angst...

That being said, I am going to go watch an episode (okay, maybe two) of The O.C. before coughing my guts out for another night. Hoping that the drugs kick in soon, and I can get back to a normal (ish) life...

Sunday update: Damn....caught the Norwalk virus after all...day 2 of impending death...

A Lot Has Changed In 11 Years...

2008-10-18T13:27:00.004-04:00

11 years ago today, I was dressed in my wedding finery, trying to convince my mother that a smile would photograph better than a nerve-induced rictus. She regretted not accepting the Ativan that my mother-in-law to be had offered her...

Until later that day, I was still living at home with my parents and two of my brothers. I had a room with a twin bed, pictures of Mikhail Baryshnikov on the walls, and a hutch full of penguins. I had stuffed animals hanging in a hammock in the corner...a doll crib bedside the bed with my preemie Cabbage Patch kid, Lucille Claudia...and a cheesy romance novel on my bedside table.

My brother's old room was stacked with items for my new married life, gifts from wedding showers...Tupperware, Corningware, bowls, dishes, measuring spoons and cups, bedding, cookbooks and on and on.

11 years ago, I was a 112 lb size 6 (oh, how I miss those days!), and working for SunLife Financial. I worked in the health claims department under a cruel manager(I won't name names, but...oh, what the hell. CRYSTAL!) who I really hope has got what she deserved, and is now sitting in her own personal hell being poked by devil's minions with razor-sharp pitchfork tines...oh, but I digress. I wore Braemore suits to work, and my hair was Laboratoire Garnier's shade of Red Penny Auburn, not to mention about a foot longer than it is now...I wore contact lenses instead of glasses.

My social life took place at my friends' apartments in Toronto, or at pubs that served $2 beers on Thursdays. I did not have children. I did not volunteer for Healthy Snack days or field trips. I did not spend my hard-earned cash at the Children's Place, but rather on books by the pound at Costco.

My stomach was still able to accomodate 4 cups of coffee a day, and my life was not spent on the internet. I didn't have a home e-mail address. There was no blogging or Facebook. On weekends, I slept until the late afternoon, with no guilt.

Mark and I spent the summer camping in a tent, and staying up around the fire, drinking and telling jokes with our friends...and my canon camera carried 35mm film instead of a memory card.

I did not own furniture, or appliances. I spoke to my mother 100 times a day, and had breakfast with her 5 mornings a week. After the wedding, what is now Ty's room became the office, the boys' room was the spare room. We had new furnishings. All that lay ahead...was our future.

And 11 years later, the office is in the corner of the basement, our billards room is now the toy room, sleeping in on a weekend is something to look forward to in a decade to come. 11 years later, I have three boys, I work from home, and I volunteer at my sons' school. I make cakes, and Hallowe'en costumes, and knit sweaters for Webkinz.

Is this where I thought I'd be in 11 years? Not exactly. Am I happy with the way things turned out? A few exceptions, but I'd say yes. I wish a little more work would come my way...I wish I could see my friends more often...most of all, I wish that I could still call my mother 100 times a day.

But after 11 years, my husband and I still love each other, and I can't even think of living out my life with anyone else at my side. So, to you Mark, I wish you a very Happy 11th Wedding Anniversary...and I hope to celebrate many, many, many more.

It's All An Illusion

2008-10-08T10:21:00.002-04:00

Hiya! During one of my net-surfing sessions, I came across a new (to me) style of knitting, called illusion or shadow knitting. It's really cool. From a top view, the piece looks like stripes. However, if you look from a angle, you can see an image knitted into the pattern. The pattern is done with purl stitches and stand out from the knitted stitches...I recently finished my first shot at this, a dishcloth with a hidden picture of candy corn (in the Hallowe'en mood, I suppose...:) ). Now I am about to start a more ambitious project, which is the Batman Beyond logo scarf...wish me luck!

Recent Conversations

2008-09-16T21:06:00.004-04:00

Recent conservations:

1. Between myself and my husband, as I am sorting laundry to be put away...

Him: Your hair is a little flat today. I just noticed.
Me: What are you trying to say? You hate it?
Him: It's just...flat.
Me: Oh, so it's like a "Carol Brady thing" going on? Is that what you mean?
Him: No. I was thinking more...Liza Minelli...

(Following scene deleted as I give Mark a pelting with rolled up socks....)

2. Between myself and my husband, as we are getting dinner on the table...

Him: I'm going away for a guys weekend.
Me: Oh. Really.
Him: Yep.
Me: Well, that's okay. I was thinking of shipping the kids off to your mother's for the night anyway.
Him: Oh yeah? So you can do...what, exactly?
Me: I thought I'd invite all of my girlfriends over and we could have a sleepover...watch 80's chick flicks...have naked pillow fights...
Him: I could come home early. With the camera...

3. Between myself and my son Keegan, age 6, after school.

Him: Mommy, can we stay at the park to play for a while.
Me: Sure, honey.
Him: Thank you Mommy! I love you so much!
Me: You're welcome. I love you too.
Him: And you're so beautiful!
Me: Thanks sweetie.
Interjection from another school mom: How much do you pay him?

4. Between myself and another friend, who is also a mom

Her: Do you ever want to list your kids on E-Bay and give them to the first bidder over $5.00?
Me: No.
Her. (pause...) Me either.
Me. I'd want at least $100 each, so I could buy some new boots and a purse.

5. Between myself and a friend, discussing the past weekend

Her: What did you do yesterday.
Me: Went to church. Went to my aunt's for dinner.
Her: You went to church? What was the occasion?
Me: (after deciding it would be hypocritical to be offended by the question). Free brunch after the mass.
Her: You're going to burn in hell, you know.
Me: I'll pack the extra SPF when I go.

6. Between me and my son Keegan, discussing his latest piece of artwork...

Me: That's a nice picture Keegan. Is that you swimming?
Him: Yes. See the waves?
Me: Yes. What are all of those squares in the sky above the clouds?
Him: That's Heaven.
Me: And the squares?
Him: Where the angels live. Like where Grandma stays.
Me: Ah....headstones. Gotcha.
Him: Grandma watches me from up there while I'm swimming, to make sure I don't get drownded.

7. Between me and Ty, in the bathroom.

Me: Come on Ty. Go pee in the toilet like a big boy.
Him: Pee!
Me: Yes! In the potty! Don't you want to wear underwear like your brothers?
Him: Yes.
Me: So, go pee in the potty!
Him: Uh...no thanks.

What about you? Any interesting conversations lately?

Trials and Tribulations of Summer Living

2008-07-29T19:16:00.004-04:00

Well, the last time I posted, I was marvelling that it was only 5 days until the end of school, and here we are at the end of July. This summer has flown by! We have been keeping very busy. The kids had a week off of school and then went off to camp for a week. Another week off, and we went to the cottage, this week off, and we go camping. Another week off and the kids are back at camp.

The good news is that Ty got accepted into the CIP program, so he is there 3 mornings a week for six weeks this summer as well. It's nice to break up the summer, and keeps the kidlets from being bored.

I was full of ambition at the beginning of the summer...I was going to have the kids doing math and reading and writing everyday to gear up for the fall and I have to admit that I've fallen down on that one big time. Well, there's still August...right?

Last week we spent near Huntsville at our friends' cottage. The weather was decent; I got my typical sunburn (and resulting lecture from a friend) and of course was eaten alive by insects. It was all good. Spent the week with my sister-in-law and her family and had a lot of fun.

This is not to say that the vacation was without disaster. Oh no. Lots of little ones, actually. Broken glass, crayoned walls, ripped-off hinges were the least of them. The biggies were Ty discovering a nest of leeches, and being covered with them from toes to knees. I lost count at 37, but I am guessing there were up to 60. Bring on the salt! He wasn't bothered by them, but I tell ya, those little suckers make you bleed like a pig!

The biggest crisis occured shortly before this, when Keegan called from within the cottage that he was bleeding. I thought maybe he had a nosebleed, or that a leech had gotten to him too, but no. When I got inside, his foot was covered in blood. When I mopped it up, the top of his foot from toe cleavage upward 2 inches was splayed open like someone had taken a fillet knife to it. Eeps! (To this day, we nor Keegan have any idea how this cut happened).

We took him to the ER in Huntsville. Lovely place, by the way. Very friendly staff. I think they all moonlight at the hospitality office..."Oh, vacationing? How lovely. How are you enjoying it so far?" etc... Anyway, triage was speedy and we were out in an hour. The doctor was prepared to do stitches, but because he had been in the lake, there was a possibility of sealing in bacteria if they stitched or glued it shut. So they just used cloth tape stitches (steri-strips) to close it and told us to keep it dry for 5 days. So much for swimming. Luckily this happened the day before we left. I took the bandage off today, and it looks pretty gross still, so I'm taking him the dr's tomorrow to get it re-looked at.

Friends and family have suggested just sealing all three kids in a bubble and be done with the stress, but that's all a part of raising three boys, right? Right?

So, no sooner have I unpacked, done 1549 loads of laundry and put it all away, than I have to start all over again to go camping this weekend. For Ty's sake, I hope this lake is leech free!

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On a separate note, I can't say that I ever really look forward to August anymore. Not only is it the anniversary of my mother's death, but also her birthday, and the memories, the sadness, and the never-ending longing to see her, come back with full force. Maybe all of the crazy child behaviour is just their loving way of distracting me?

And soon enough it will be September. Ty will be in 5 mornings a week at preschool, and Phoenix and Keegan will be in full-time (grades 3 and 1 respectively). The sad part is that with all of this "free" time I will have, my husband is sure to expect that I actually get some work done around here, instead of lounging around, reading romance novels and eating bon bons like I believe he thinks I currently spend my days...stay tuned.

Hope your summer is and has been sunny and happy, and that no traumas big or small have befallen you. Take care.

Uh...what?

2008-06-19T12:49:00.002-04:00

What's that you say? Only 5 days left of school? Kripes! June seems to have snuck up on me this year...May was such a busy month that I think I left my brain somewhere back on the 31st.

What's new...hmm...well, my baby boy is turning 8 tomorrow! I cannot believe it. Cliche though it is, it just seems like yesterday when he was born...sigh. On Saturday, the Reptile Party Guy is coming over with a slew of creepy critters to entertain the troops. I really hope the weather holds so we can have it in the backyard. I actually kind of looking forward to the party; I think it will be pretty neat to touch and hold snakes and lizards and stuff.

Next week, as I mentioned (in shock!) is the last week of school. Report cards etc...I have a busy summer planned for the boys, so hopefully I won't get too many of the "Mommy! I'm bored!" cries. They have a week off, then Phoenix and Keegan are off to a week of camp. A week off, then the cottage for a week, a week off, then more camp, then two weeks off and school! Doesn't sound so bad that way.

Exciting development! Ty got into the summer session of CIP (Community Intervention Program) which is a short term, intensive intervention program for preschool children who attend child care and are experiencing significant challenges with social and communication skills
that may impede successful inclusion. A small group of children attend six weeks for three half day sessions delivered by a multidisciplinary team of professionals. Child care staff and parents receive opportunities for training and information sharing during the sessions. Keegan attended this program and it worked MIRACLES for him, so I am hopeful for the outcome for Ty.

The goal is to get him using more spontaneous speech, and build on sentence length. He starts in mid-July, and goes for 6 weeks. I was very happy to get him in the program, because otherwise, he would have had a 2 month break in service. This way he keeps to routine a bit, and is still enjoying the social interaction of his peers.

This summer we are renting our friends' cottage near Huntsville. The kidlets are really looking forward to it. So am I. It's nice to get away from the same old routine sometimes. We are also planning a bunch of day trips, and camping weekends, assuming we ever get back on track with the weather.

We've had so much rain lately! Major thunderstorms, brilliant lightning shows, tornado watches, and on Monday, a hailstorm, with fallout the size of marbles! All of these weather occurances seem to happen at 3:01 pm, just as the kidlets are getting out of school.

Speaking of school, apparently this year they are not holding a graduation service for the SK kids. This really pisses me off, and I know I'm not the only parent of a 6 year old to feel this way. We've all been telling our kids that they are graduating into big kid school and now, no ceremony. Word is, the teachers don't want to do one extra second of planning that they don't have to. It's the first time I can remember in the last 8 years that they haven't done it, and I think it SUCKS. I may have to go lay the boots to the administration. Stay tuned.

Well, I guess I should go finish my baking. I'm making cookies for Phoenix to share with his classmates at school tomorrow for his birthday. Next chore: his reptile cake!

It Really Was An Accident Waiting To Happen...

2008-05-14T22:10:00.003-04:00

12 kids. Two 8 year olds, and the rest ranging between 5 and 6. Throw a 3 year old into the mix. Add astonishing amounts of hyperactivity, 5 pin glow-bowling, blaring music, and general uncoordination, and you've got Keegan's 6th birthday party.

Just getting them organized was a nightmare. Shoes, getting them to decide if they want peach juice, apple juice, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Orange Crush or 7-Up. And then giving them more choices in the arena of chips: plain, salt and vinegar, nacho, ketchup, BBQ, cheesies or sour cream and onion.

Then trying to shift them all into three lanes for bowling. This was more difficult than you might think, especially because I wasn't able to put names to half of the faces.

And when you see them actually bowl...yipes! Three kids with crushed fingers because they refused to listen to the 500000000000 times I told them not to put their hands near the ball return. One kid with a bruised foot from when another kid dropped his ball. Of course, this wouldn't have happened either if they had listened when I told them 500000000000000 times to sit down on the bench when it wasn't their turn to bowl. And my personal favourite: the kid who got a rapidly speeding ball to the crotch when he thought it was a good idea (despite my 5000000000000000000000000 warnings NOT to) to straddle the ball return. It took one hour to get through 6 frames of bowling.

Food! Hotdogs. 80% of the kids only ate the wiener. Another 10% took one bite and said they were full. The other 10% said that there was no way they were eating that, or drinking that. (Hmmm....got some sensory issues going on. Okay, I get it).

Then there was the creepy Yoda Cake. (Forgive me as I sidebar here to tell the story of the cake. Keegan had asked for a Yoda cake for his party. I had visions of gateau grandeur. Instead, I ended up with a Yoda head on a platter, whose facial attachments and ears were too heavy for the cake and despite having a box of toothpicks inserted throughout the cake, continued to fall off. (That's a lawsuit waiting to happen, actually...). I asked Keegan what he thought, and he said it was really creepy and it would scare all of his friends. "But thanks for trying Mommy."
So, cake part two. I cut the head in half so I had two half-spheres of cake. Made one into the head, the other into chest and shoulders and made up a jacket to lay on top. Trimmed down the protruding eyes and nose, and reassembled. Keegan's reaction was non-committal. At this point, I thought, screw it! Why am I stressing out for a bunch of kindergardeners?)

Ok, so I bring out the cake, the children were delighted (to my satisfaction, they all knew it was supposed to be Yoda) and Keegan blows out the candle. I then tell them I am going to cut the cake. Then, and I kid you not, they en masse started chanting, "KILL YODA! KILL YODA! KILL YODA!" Little barbarians, every single one of them.

After it was all over, and we were taking the loot to the car, I had that bizzare ringing deafness, akin to post-concert experiences.

Don't get me wrong, over all the party went well, the kids had a blast, and other than the myriad of bowling ball related injuries, there were no tears or tantrums. But I for one, would recommend that bowling parties be saved for those 7 and up. Maybe 8. Make it an even 10. And only invite 2 friends.

PS. I really want to hunt down and maim the parent who invented loot bags. I took a page out of my friend Christy's book, and decided to give the kids Chapter's gift cards instead of crappy dollar store toys that would break before they even got home. As I was handing these out, tucked into thank you cards, I kept hearing, "This is it? This is the loot?" Sigh. You just can't win. One month of rest until Phoenix's birthday party. And I'm going to need it.

Happy 6th Birthday Keeg-a-Roo!

2008-05-11T00:04:00.001-04:00

Oh Keegan, my Keegan. You are 6 today. And as luck would have it, you are sharing your birthday with all the moms out here on Mother's Day.

I cannot believe how fast 6 years have flown by. You are growing like a weed! And you are so smart, with your reading and math, you blow me away. You are also so sweet. Not a day goes by where you don't make me smile with your adorable phrases in passing, like, "After you, your Highness!" or "You are lovely. You are the most beautifulest mommy in the whole world!"

When I see all that you have accomplished this year, I feel so proud. You are popular with the boys and girls alike, and always have a gang of pals around you. When I think of how you used to play off in the corner by yourself, it warms my heart to see you not only engaging in play, but inviting the shyer kids to join in too.

You have moved away from the world of Thomas the Tank Engine, and Pokemon, and have fallen headfirst into the land of LEGO, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. You are my joy, and you should be very proud of all that you are and do. Your enthusiam for new things makes me enjoy and appreciate my world all the more.

Happy Birthday Keegs. I love you!

XOXOXOXO

Mommy

This Saint's For You!

2008-03-26T21:50:00.004-04:00

I also posted this on my book review blog...but in case you don't read that one...here's some interesting reading:

From kindergarden to grade 13, I went to a Catholic school. In school we had religion classes, and when we were being confirmed in grade 8, we had to pick out a saint in whose name we would be confirmed. So we spent the better part of a week poring over books of Catholic saints, looking for divine inspiration...then the girls in the class discovered that our teacher, Mrs. Kelly, was confirmed with a male saint's name, Saint Frederick.

After that, of course, all of the girls (or most of them anyway) leaned toward boy names, including myself. (Saint Robert). I had long-since forgotten what he was the saint of. I always told people that he was the patron saint of sarcasm...but for years I've been wanting to buy a book of saints. Today I found a great one! "This Saint's For You!" by Thomas J. Craughwell has detailed information on "300 heavenly allies for architects, athletes, brides, bachelors, babies, librarians, murderers, whales, widows and you". And St. Robert? Turns out he is the patron saint of catechism teachers. Hmm. Who knew?

Cruising through this book has given me some new saints to pray to though, geared especially to me:

St. Expeditus: The Patron Saint of Procrasination (Feast Day, April 19). In art, he is often depicted trampling on a raven that is labelled "cras", Latin for "tomorrow".

St. Martha: Patron Saint of Those Stressed by Guests. She is a good pick for this, as who would be more stressed than the woman who served dinner to the Son of God?

St. Bonaventure: Patron Saint of Bowel Disorders. As a sufferer of IBS, I now know who to pray to in times of abdominal distress.

and

St. Marculf: Patron Saint of Skin Rashes. I am also the queen of brutal eczema, so this is a good one to know as well.

Listen, there is a helpful saint out there for all of you...
Parents of Disappointing Children? Pray to St. Matilda
Physically Unattractive? Pray to St. Germaine Cousin
Sore Throat? Pray to St. Blaise
To Find a Husband? Pray to St. Andrew

There's hope for us all...

Looking for a saint? Drop me a line and I'll look it up for you...

It's Nice To Hear Something Good For a Change

2008-03-26T11:29:00.003-04:00

I was volunteering at the boys' school this morning. On my way out, I ran into Keegan's kindergarden teacher. She stopped to tell me so many nice things about Keegan that I am sure my face lit up like a Christmas tree.

She told me that she is amazed at the difference in Keegan since September. She said that he is very attentive to his work, that he listens, and is so eager to learn. She said that he has learned to tune out the noise of the classroom to focus on his own tasks, that he helps the junior students with problem-solving, and is the first to volunteer at circle.

She told me that when she was working with him today, she was going through a list of "sight words" (which is the words SK students should know when entering Grade 1) and he read them all. He sounded out another list of words as well, and wrote them down without complaining. It seemed, I think, like a bit of a miracle to her, but I assured her that Keegan has been working very hard at home, and that a little positive reinforcement goes a heck of a long way with Keegs.

That is one of the greatest things about Keegan: if you show enthusiasm for something, he gets excited about it too. He is so eager to please, and beams with pride at all of his accomplishments. I am having a very proud Mommy moment... :)

Flat Stanley!

2008-03-16T18:39:00.006-04:00

Well, Phoenix had a great March break with Flat Stanley. Stanley was out in the blizzard with the snowblower, built towers with Lego, and measured his height in Lego bricks. He would have enjoyed the Starwars and 80s Toy Expo, but sadly, he was forgotten in the car...

Lazy, Lazy,Lazy?

2008-03-09T21:47:00.002-04:00

No, just busy, busy, busy...

This is my excuse for being lax in the way of blogging. In truth, I forget that not everyone I know is on Facebook, and therefore do not have minute to minute updates of my crazy schedule.

In case you were wondering, my trip was AWESOME! We truly could not have picked a better place to go. Weather was gorgeous, food was almost too good, and we went on three great tours.
The night before we left, I stayed at my friend Kristin's place, since she lives nearer the airport, and we had to be there 3 hours before (read: 4am!). We decided that there wasn't much point in going to sleep, so by the time we arrived in San Salvador, we were running on 48 hours of no sleep. But, as soon as our luggage hit the room, we were in our bathing suits and off for a swim, drink and snack. I think we took a nap before dinner. Needless to say, we went to bed early that night, but were raring to go the next day.

We went to the orientation deal, where they tell us about the resort, and about all of the different tours that they offer. After booking our tours and our a la carte dinners, we were going to go play in the ocean, only to discover that the tide was out, and daily remains so until about 3 pm. So we lounged by the pool, sipped our drinks and read our books. But when the tide came in? Woo hoo! 8 to 10 foot waves that knocked us onto our asses! It was a blast.

The next day, we went on our first tour, which was the Mayan route. We saw lots of Mayan pyramid ruins and a few museums with wonderful pottery finds and tools. Our next tour was the coffee tour, and this was by far my favourite. We went to the coffee plantation in the mountains, saw the coffee trees, and the greenhouse where they have the baby grafted coffee trees. We also saw 3 monoliths on the only private archeological site. Next we went to the factory where they process the coffee (that you drink at Starbucks!). It was like being in a 3 hour episode of "How It's Made". We saw production of coffee from berry to green bean. We also got to sample some, and it was sooooooo good. Bought some coffee there, as well as coffee bean jewellery which was pretty neat.

Our third tour was the Culture and Crafts tour. We saw a beautiful church, and lots of open-air craft markets where we spent the remainder of our spending money.

The rest of the time at the resort was spent relaxing, reading, eating, drinking, and dodging those huge waves! We were all reluctant to leave, especially since we came home to snow, snow and more snow. (Props to Kris, who saved my ass on the way home by packing light. I was 5 pounds over, and she was 5 pounds under, so I got to take her weight limit for my luggage. Thank GOD! Or else I was looking at a $50 overage fee.)

And speaking of snow, holy crap! I don't know what we are going to do if it snows again. Where to put it? Our yard already looks like Whistler. Some guys are coming tomorrow to install the chair lifts.

The good and bad of it: March Break. The good? I don't have to make lunches at 6:30 am. I don't have to harass the kids into their snowsuits for the school run. Homework is a leisurely thing. We get to hang out with Flat Stanley (more about that later). I get to do fun stuff with the kids, like LEGO land, Chapters craft afternoons, and playdates that include the moms.

The bad of it: It's March break. Which means that for 7 days, I have to keep 3 kidlets from killing each other for 14 hours a day instead of 5. I don't have any alone time. My living room floor is ALWAYS covered in both LEGO and Thomas the Tank Engine (and friends!).

But hey, you know me. Mrs. Optimism, right? Ha ha. Yeah, I know, my maiden name will always be Miss Sarcasm...

Tomorrow I'm going for session #2 of Ty's speech therapy block, while Oma minds the other two. Tuesday I am hopefully having a kid and mom playdate. Wednesday we are off to LEGO land. Thursday to Chapters...not sure about Friday...maybe Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday at either Bronte or Montsberg. And Sunday I'm taking Phoenix and Keegan to the 80's Toy Expo, so that should be fun.

Now. About Flat Stanley. Ever heard of this fellow? He is a book character created by Jeff Brown. To sum it up, Stanley Lambchop is a boy who is flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. He survives and makes the best of his condition. He is turned into a kite by his brother, nails some art thieves by posing on a museum wall, and can be mailed to his friends.

In 1995, Dale Hubert, a third-grade school teacher in London, Ontario, started the Flat Stanley project, where the kids involved make their own "Flat Stanley"s and document the things that they do with him. Phoenix has to do this with his Flat Stanley during March break, take pictures of F.S. doing different activities, and bring the pictures to school after the break and talk about their adventures. So far, Phoenix's F.S. has been snapped playing with LEGO, and snow-blowing the driveway. Will post pictures at the week's end.

In other news, it is once again Roll Up the Rim to Win time at Tim Hortons. My friend's husband won a GPS. I have won a coffee and a "donut". And, wait, let me roll up my rim here to see if I won anyting....and...hey! A coffee! Sweet. If I win the GPS, I plan to strap it to the stroller and take off to the wilds with Ty. Right now, I'd be happy to win a loaded Tim's card to pay for my nightly caffeine habit. Happy drinking everyone!

On that note, I am off to bed. Even though there's no school for Phoenix and Keegs, Ty still goes 3 mornings a week and tomorrow is one of them. Regardless, he is up at the crack of my crack so I have to be up with him, lest he should wander about the house, in seek and destroy mode. Hope you all have a good week, and I shall return with our photo essay of the adventures of Flat Stanley.

Time's A-Tickin'

2008-02-09T22:02:00.000-05:00

In only 9 days, I will be outta here! My friend Kristin and I have booked ourselves a girls' vacation. One week, all-inclusive, and guaranteed no shovelling of snow. We are off to San Salvador, El Salvador, where this upcoming week, the weather will be sunny, with highs between 30 and 33C, and lows around 18C at night. Pretty sweet.

As the Queen of Procrastination, I have surprised even myself at the amount of pre-planning I have done for this trip. I cleaned out my drawers and closets. Tried on a bunch of summer stuff, and put in a haphazard pile, all of the clothes I intend to pack. I bought a couple of new shirts, a pair of shorts, some capri pants, and 3 new bathing suits. I have sunscreen and chapstick. Cameras locked and loaded to go. And most importantly, I have written up a Husband/Father Survival Guide for the week I am gone, as Mark is taking the week off to be Father of the Year while I am away.

I was surprised at the amount of stuff he needs to know; after all, they are his kids too. He lives in the same house as we do. As my friend would say, God is in the details. Like what time school starts. When it ends. Which days they each attend. Pizza Day. Dance-A-Thon. Library days. Spelling homework. Reading logs. Writing practice. Language therapy. Medication. How to operate the washing machine, and dryer. All of these big and little things and more. It's enough to make one's head spin. My friend Darra said that seemed like too much work to even leave the house.

I say, girlfriend, it is worth it. Take the time, to take the time out. So needless to say, this will be a very busy week for me, getting everything ready to go, not just for me, but for the FOUR boys I am leaving behind.

***************************************************************

On a separate note, how often do you do laundry? I seems, no, it is the reality, that around here, I put the laundry away, and fill up the baskets again. It is never-ending! I am doing laundry as I type! (Okay, well, the machines are, but I have to load them, and fold or hang stuf...so you know what I mean).

Speaking of laundry...have you seen the new Gain commercial? The one where the guy puts on a shirt, and spends minutes smelling and stroking it, until his wife walks by and looks at him like he is some kind of freak? Well, recently, after a static-cling-induced rage of my husband's, I bought some Bounce dryer sheets. Today I washed towels, and threw one of these in. I got out the shower a while ago, and spent a creepily-long amount of time smelling my towel. So soft, so fresh! I guess the Gain Guy and I have some bizarre connection. And that really weirds me out.

*****************************************************************

Yesterday afternoon, I took a rare nap. Not planned, just passed out on the couch, with the back-of-the-mind assurance that Mark was home for the day, and was watching the kidlets. It was such a nice nap. Nice dreams accompanied said nice nap. Until Ty Superfly Snuka, in a rare moment of top-rope aerialist flying attacks, body-slammed me from the end of the couch. He laughed until he peed himself (which he didn't care, mom will change his diaper anyway) and I counted broken ribs. Kripes! (Mantra of that day? "Children are a blessing. Children are a blessing.")

Well, I suppose that I should go and fold the next load of laundry. Even though it is 10:30 at night, and the kidlets are asleep. And husband is in bed watching a movie. Sigh. How long till that vacation again?

Death By Toddler

2008-01-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

A conversation I had today with Ty, after opening his bedroom door to discover that he had taken every single one of 500 wipes from the container, rolled it into a ball, and stashed them all over his room:

Me: OH..........MY..........LANTA! TY!!!! Are you trying to torture me?
Ty: Yes.
Me: Well, don't do that Ty. It's not nice to torture your mother!
Ty: Okay.
Me: Never do this again, got it?
TY: Alright.
Me: I mean it.
Ty: Okay. Alright....I yuv you!
Me: (sighing) I love you too...Are you going to go for a nap today...without destroying your room?
Ty: No.

Rage Beyond Rage, plus a bit of Despair

2008-01-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

Today I am feeling rage beyond rage. In past postsI have talked about my son Keegan, and how he has been struggling for years now with a language delay. He was in a pre-school speech and language program, which did wonders for his language development, then was promptly kicked out upon reaching the school system. The "wise" reasoning behind this? Because apparently students receive these services through the school board and they can't "double-task".

So, at the end of June last year, I sat in a room with a bunch of teachers and therapists etc., who told me that they were going to apply on Keegan's behalf to enter a program that is one term long, called the early language development centre. Then I was told that because he didn't spend a JK year at the school, he was not elegible for the centre in September, and they would reapply for the February-June session. I was supposed to hear one way or the other by Christmas break. I didn't. I called the school today, and apparently, they received "rejection" letters yesterday, and Keegan was one of them. No reason was given in the letter. And apparently, if I want more answers I have to call the school board.

All of his assessments, from the developmental pediatrician, to his speech pathologist, to the educational assessment psychologist all agreed that Keegan has a language delay that puts his language 2 years behind where he should be. If he does not receive intervention at school, he is at risk of a learning disability by the end of Grade 1. So, here we are.

I was so counting on him being accepted into this program. Everyone was telling me that he was a perfect candidate, and now he gets nothing. Rage. Beyond. Rage. And...despair...at the thought of having to carve a new and difficult road outside of school for his learning opportunities. Eff.

Holiday Round Up

2008-01-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been quite busy around here since I last posted. December was a very chaotic month. I was mostly consumed with the planning of my father's 70th birthday party, which took place on the 16th.Those of you who are local may remember that day as "The Arrival of the Snowstorm From Hell." So, my planning of the party, which was supposed to have 70 attendees, with a rented hall, and a boatload of food, ended up being myself, my husband, my kids, two of my brothers and about 10 die-hard family members and friends. The weather definitely put a HUGE damper on the entire affair, but for those that did make it, we all had a good time. Just a little defeating to spend so much time planning, and have it ruined by weather. Sigh!

So with my energy being wrapped up in all that, I found myself with less than two weeks to go to Christmas, and no baking or shopping done. Needless to say, time was of the essence in those remaining days and I was a whirling dervish of activity. As usual, I was stressed to the max and fretting all the while, when, in the end, everything turned out beautifully. This was aided and abetted by the fact that most of the Christmas entertaining was out of my hands. We had a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner and present-opening bonanza at my sister-in-law Ela's place. Christmas morning brought breakfast with my Dad and two brothers, and another round of presents. Then we made our way to my Auntie Cathy's place for an amazing dinner (and yes, more presents! Kripes!) Boxing Day was my entertaining day with my brother and his family coming out for the day.

I thought we were done, but it didn't really end there, which is great too. We got to see a lot of friends, and spend time with family, as the kiddies were off for another week, as was my husband. Tomorrow I have put aside as a day of ultimate vegging, before starting back into the school and homework routine.

We were lucky enough (knock on wood) to have escaped any major illnesses over the holiday, unlike many of my friends and their families who were visited by the Grinch in the form of the Norwalk virus. Not the way you want to lose weight, from what I have heard. I am glad to hear they they have all crawled back into the land of the living. I hope the New Year brings good health for everyone! (Oops, too late. Just got off the phone with my friend Kris who thinks she either has Norwalk or food poisoning from take-out souvlaki. Hugs (from a distance, mind) Kris!)

In other news, I am slowly creeping back into the working world, with proofing and copyediting jobs being thrown my way. It is nice to get back into that scene, and to realize that I have not put any of those skills into the mental recycle bin over the years.

With the advent of the New Year, many people have asked me if I have made any resolutions. I told my friend Shane, "Only to not make any resolutions!", but that is not really true. I think we all see the beginning of a new year as an opportunity to make a new start, and to try to develop some good habits that have fallen by the wayside. I am going to try to get on the treadmill, and am seriously going to put energy into giving up my greatest vice of all. CHOCOLATE. I think I would gross you all out if I told you the amount of chocolate I consume in a week. I honestly believe, if I eat half-way decently, and give up the chocolate, I could lose 20 pounds in a month. So, there's my goal. On February 7, I will let you know if I made that forecasted target.

The other thing I am going to try to do, is to devote a minimum of 1-3 hours a day to my writing. Only I can make that time, and I really want to get back to it. Excuses only go so far.

So, to be a cliche, what are your resolutions? Any? Stubbornly none? Broken them already? Let me know in the comments, and keep me posted on your progress. Let us all be inspirations for each other.

PS. Oh yeah, my other resolution? To get to bed before 11:00 pm on week nights. We'll see how that and the 1-3 hours of writing fall into place together.

Take care.

Poetry Corner by Two of My Favourite People

2007-11-17T19:16:00.000-05:00

The first poem is by my son, Phoenix, called, "On the Night I Was Born".

On the night that I was born,
the whole world came alive with thanksgiving.
Trees were swaying and the
stars were dancing.
And it rained all night, and its
boom was like a drum.
On the night that I was born, I brought wonder
and magic to the world.

The second poem I would like to share, is by my talented friend Christy. She wrote this poem and gave it to me for my birthday, stating that although it wasn't entirely about me, she felt it captured the essence of me. I love it:

Love

Love has big blue eyes, blonde hair and hot pink,
crescent moon-shaped earrings.
She has a wide ass and two rolls of fat over the top
of her black jeans.
She can pick up small objects with her pretty blue-painted toes.
Talk to her--it's so easy.
She smiles, looks in my eyes and slowly takes my hands in hers. Her hands are large and warm.
She likes to dance.
She whispers a secret in my ear.
We cook Kraft Dinner. We eat.
We study the colour orange.
After, it's time to walk the dog.
*******************************************************************************

(And to be fair, I only have one roll of fat...)

Thank you both for such lovely words.

Deja Vu

2007-11-02T21:36:00.000-04:00

I took Ty for intergration screening on Thursday. This is basically a series of skills tests to see if he has any developmental delays. Sadly, he does. We went in knowing that he was delayed in speech and language, so that was not a real surprise. However, he also scored as having delays in fine motor (pencil grasp, bead stringing), and cognitive learning ( following instructions, understanding task instructions).

When we went through this process with Keegan, and got his test results, I came home and cried for three hours. This time I swore under my breath in 7 languages. (Talented, I know...) On the one hand, at least this time, I know what to expect, and generally what I have to do to get him on track. And with Ty, we are getting him in the system a whole year sooner than Keegan, so that can only be to his benefit. On the other hand, it is really, really sad. Especially since they want me to place Ty in a preschool immediately so he can access services.

I had intended on placing him a few mornings a week in the fall, so he could get socialized and ready for JK the following year. Ty is my last child. I wanted him at home so I could enjoy what is left of his "baby" years. I had Phoenix home until he was four. Keegan had to go to preschool at 3 1/2, and that was very hard for me. To have to put Tyger on a bus and send him away from me at such a tender age (for even a few mornings a week) is ripping my heart out. I know that it is what it best for him. I know that. But it doesn't make the decision any easier.

For all that I post about his horrible antics and hair-greying activities, he is my baby. I want him HOME. To put it in the most succinct way possible: this SUCKS.

Sigh.........................................

So today, I called the preschool to have him put on the entry list. I will hear back on Monday. In the meantime, I intend to spend every little second enjoying Ty in the 100% time we have together. Until I have to pass the reins. For a few hours a week.

Official Titles

2007-10-23T23:20:00.000-04:00

You know, I tire of filling out the occupation part of forms with the word "homemaker". Firstly, it is outdated, and secondly, it doesn't even come close to a job description. Sometimes, if they ask to just fill in the blank, I write "MOM". But that doesn't cover it either. It think they should give you more space to fill in all of your accreditations and roles. Mine would look something like this:

BAAJ=Bachelor of Applied Arts-Journalism
ALHC=Associate Life and Health Claims
FLMA=Fellow Life Managemant Association
MOM=Most Outstanding Mother

Other titles or roles:

Wife
Daughter
Sister
Cousin
Aunt
Godmother
Friend
Housekeeper
Cook
Laundress
Seamstress
Costume Designer
Baker
Speech and Language Therapist
Occupational Therapist
Nurse
Doctor
Psychologist
Photographer
IT Specialist
Communication Liason
Homework Tutor
Diaper-changer
Potty-trainer
Proof-reader
Editor
Volunteer

...and maybe Procrastination Expert? As you can see, with all of these "titles", homemaker just doesn't cut it.

********************************************************************

In keeping with my role this month as staff costume designer, I went out this evening and picked up the rest of my supplies from Fabricland to assemble the costumes for myself and the kidlets. Of course, Phoenix being Phoenix, changes his mind at the 11th hour, so I had to scramble to organize the filing system in my brain to accomodate his costume choice. It's all good. Now I just have to put everything together. And I think this year, the glue gun isn't going to do the job. I am going to have to break down and sew. And as you may imagine, with my hurtin' hands, it's not going to be a fun job...but I did, in the interest of personal safety, pick up a thimble for preventative medicine.

Other roles employed lately have been homework tutor (helping Phoenix with his general homework, (well, supervising its completion), studying for spelling tests and a social science test), nurse and doctor (Mark, Keegs and Ty all have colds, and Ty's asthma has flared up a bit, so there's all that to deal with), speech and language therapist for Keegan and Ty, and on and on.

Quite a lot to do, in a job that provides no paycheck. But the benefits are awesome! (Read: love, hugs, and kisses).

PS Any titles I may have missed? Post them in the comments...

Here We Go Again...

2007-10-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

Well, just when I had thought the journey was reaching, if not completion, then at least a flat stretch of road during which I could set the cruise control and coast for a bit, it turns out that Ty need speech therapy as well. As he is now about 2 1/2, he should be using 2 and 3 word sentence combinations, and aside from the few he knows, like thank you, all gone, oh boy, etc., he is not really doing so on anything close to a consistent basis. It could be that he is just a slow talker, but I thought the same thing at first with Keegan, and so this time I am willing to err on the side of caution, and get him into speech therapy a year earlier. Maybe it will help to avoid the receptive language issues that Keegan has now.

So today, he had his first session. It went pretty well, I think. He was a bit shy, as he had never met the speech path before, and he was introduced to many new toys and things. But she managed to coax a few words out him with the aid of toy and food bribes. (Hey, he likes goldfish crackers! Who knew?)

So he goes for the next two Mondays as well, then we take a break to work on all of the goals that the speech path will set for him.

In other news, I had a slew of tests run lately, determining that I am very low in iron, so I am on a supplement for that, and eating lean beef twice a week. My thyroid was acting up, but showed okay on the last test, so I am going to be tested monthly for the next little while to ensure that it isn't fluctuating any more. I had some other tests run as well, and when I get my results back (hopefully this week) I will update on that as well.

School is going well for the boys. Keegs had a few hiccups at the beginning, but I think that they were just due to transition anxieties, and now his teacher reports that he is a very eager student, very willing to please, and contributes regularly to discussions and loves music and library time.

Speaking of library time, at his school, they have this great program in place, where every child in the kindergarten class gets matched up with a grade 4 reading buddy, who helps them pick out books in the library, and reads with them. Keegan's buddy is Mitchell, and he adores him.

Keegan informed me today that he and his girlfriend Rebecca are going to get married, but they are taking Grandpa's advice and waiting until they turn 6. Too cute! Must be a Carroll child, with a girlfriend (and pseudo-fiancee) at the age of 5!

Phoenix's world has turned quite social these days. He is delighted to be going to 3 birthday parties in the space of a month. His reading is much improved this year, and his teacher has indicated that he is now ready to start reading chapter books! Far cry from the kid who used to go into tearful convulsions if you tried to get him to read even a sentence last year. I am quite relieved. It was killing me to have a kid that hated to read, when I am such an avid reader! I couldn't understand. Books. Reading. What's not to like?

Next month I am taking Keegs and Phoenix to get their eyes tested. And also next month is Ty's global assessment, which if you remember from when I took Keegan, is basically a general testing to see if he has any delays in speech, language, fine and gross motor, behaviour and all that jazz. If he has two or more, he will be eligible for the subsidy and subsequent assistance when he goes into preschool in the fall.

Mark spent all day Saturday hosting the Field and Stream Rescue Team's 1st Annual Freezer Open Golf Tournment. For his first year doing it, it went rather well. People were very good about donating prizes for the event, and after all expenses and stuff, he was able to raise about $600 for the cause. I know that next year will be even better! Good job babe!

And speaking of Mark, he and I will be celebrating our 1o year anniversary this Thursday! It's been a wild decade, and I am so glad we were able to live it together. Here's to at least 8 more decades together! ( I realized that we the other day that we had coasted through the 7-year itch without even noticing! Must be a good sign.)

Hope everyone has a good week, and enjoys some better weather than the overcast drizzly crapola we are getting here. Bye for now...

What are you "fancfl" for?

2007-10-03T16:53:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving....turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. The best part of Thanksgiving for me lately has been asking the kids what they are thankful for.

At school, Phoenix drew a turkey, with handprints for tailfeathers, each listing a thing he was thankful for:

"I am fancful for...Canida, Water, Family, Frends, Trees, Life and Food".

Keegan's read "I am thankful for: turkeys."

I asked Ty what he was thankful for. He smiled, and said "Honey!" Thanks, babe.

What am I thankful for? My husband, my boys, my dad, my brothers, my great, great friends both new and old, my wonderful in-laws...I am thankful that after each day, I still am here to experience the next one. Spontaneous hugs and kisses. A letter in the mail. A genuine smile from passersby. For the worst of days that make me more appreciate the good ones.

For my life.

Product Plugging

2007-09-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd take a break from the usual crap about my life, and promote a few products that I have purchased at could not live without:

Best jeans EVER: Cruel Girl Madison jeans
Best chocolate: Milk Mint Meltaways from Walker's Chocolates
Cleaning products: Mr Clean Eraser
Fantastic Orange Power Cream Cleaner (for glass stovetops)
Laundry: Spray 'n'Wash Dual Power
Chappy Lips: Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm
Cold Sores: Abreva (expensive as hell, but worth every penny!)
Hair Product: Sunsilk hair cream (for those prone to fizz)

The best thing I have purchased all year was from the Regal catalogue. On the box, it has the label "as seen on tv" so there were probably commercials about it. If you are like me, and have dry, severly cracked heels and calluses, you must buy the "Soft n' Smooth Foot Care System". Basically, it is like a belt sander for your feet. It comes with this electric sander (which takes 3 AA batteries), with little sandpaper-esque attachments, and buffer pads. I should have taken before and after shots of my heels because the difference was amazing!

And, I am not being paid to promote this, so you know, it's really good!

If you have any recommendations on anything, I'd love to hear them! Leave me your list of fave things in the comments.

Happy shopping!

Poetry Corner: Hints of Housework Haiku

2007-09-20T22:25:00.000-04:00

Chores: A Haiku in 5 parts

By: Shannon

Washing and folding
Baskets never empty here
Damned laundry fairy

Why do you always
Leave dishes on the counter
Not in the machine?

Toilet paper roll
It seems to only get changed
By my own two hands

Diapers you fill up
Oh! What is that aroma?
You little stinker

Shampoo on your heads
Lotion on your round bellies
Powder on your bums

59 Reasons Why I Think Ty Is Turning Into Stewie Griffin

2007-09-05T12:59:00.000-04:00

It all started in January when he discovered how to get out of his crib/playpen. I knew then that I was doomed. This is a kid who has the face of an angel, and the craftiness of the devil himself.

Since that fateful day, he has thrown a total of 19 coasters into the fishtank. He has ripped pages out of 3 of my books, and destroyed 14 of his books. He took the cap off of the shampoo bottle and poured it onto the bathroom floor. He has totally unravelled 3 full rolls of toilet paper. He has pulled uncountable amounts of Kleenex from the box, then proceeded to shred them into 18 trillion pieces. He has gotten into my icing gels, and turned his hair into punk streaks of violet and turquoise. He has taken utensils out of the kitchen drawer and hidden them in various parts of the house. He has systematically taken every piece of clean and folded laundry out of the basket and dumped them all over the floor. He has broken 3 pairs of glasses (2 of mine, and one of Oma's). He has pulled the cable from the tv. He has ripped out stereo speaker wires. He has bashed 3000 dents in my pine dining table. In the fishbowl upstairs he has placed a Webkinz cat, his stuffed dinosaur, a notepad, a light-up UFO toy, and the baby monitor. He has locked me out of the house while I check to see if we have any mail.

And today, in the space of 1.2 nanoseconds, he ran ahead of me into the kitchen, opened a drawer, grabbed the scissors and ran off with them. I went the other way to intercept him, and while trying to pry the weapon from his tiny but amazingly strong fingers, and avoid him taking out an eye, he opened and closed them 6 times in succession on my thumb.

He is okay. I am not. Ou-effing-ch!

Now, I know that you are reading this, thinking, what a bad mother! Isn't she watching him? But that's the point. He sits and waits. And waits. And waits. For that one minute where you are momentarily distracted by the phone or doorbell or concern from another child or your spouse, and then he leaps (oh-so-silently) into havoc-wreaking action.

My aunts will remember the horror stories that my mom and dad told about my brother Paul, and his dastardly deeds as a small (and not so small) child. So I ask you, where is the karma? How did I end up with the kid that was, by all rights, supposed to be his?

But. Then.

He runs into my arms. He pats my face gently with his small hands. He snuggles around until his cheek is nestled against the skin of my neck. He presses his forehead into mine and looks into my eyes. He calls me "Honey". And I think, he may be trying to drive me over the fine edge to insanity, but he's sweet. And warm. And affectionate. And he's mine. For better or for a whole lot worse.

The New Bible Arriveth

2007-08-21T20:32:00.000-04:00

My children seem to have embraced a new bible. Perhaps you have seen it. I'm guessing you even clutched one to your chest for 5 months of the year like my kids do.

The Sears Christmas Wish Book.

The Holy Grail of all things toy (I mean, who cares about the jewellery, clothes, and furniture crap the rest of the book is filled with?). It arrived last week, and already naturally falls open to the page sporting the newest Transformer toys.

"Mom!" Keegan said of a movie replica of Bumblebee, "YOU HAVE TO BUY ME THIS!!!!" Phoenix took a glance, shook his head and said, "Forget it, Keegan. It's way too expensive. Put it on your Grandpa list."

I have to admit, I love seeing the two of them squished together in a chair with the Toy-bible spread across their laps, pointing to this thing and that, occasionally calling out a price, ($17.99???) with the hopeful look that says, I hope this is within a decent price-range for mom to consider...

And with a slow smile lighting up my face, with a look that is almost Grinch-esque in quality, I realize with glee that even though it is only August, I can now put the Santa-threat into full effect for compliance in all matters right up until Dec 25.

"Fine, don't clean up the toys...but Santa and his elves are watching you ALL THE TIME..."

Tee hee hee.

5 Years/A Lifetime

2007-08-13T07:24:00.000-04:00

5 years ago, my mom passed away. Some days it seems like I've been missing her for a lifetime, others, it's like it happened yesterday. My mom was the symbol to me of everything good. Good wife, good sister, good friend. Good mom. I looked to her in everything I did; she was my standard on how to do things right. She still is.

Although it has been five years, I still remember her voice, her laugh, the smell of her perfume, and the feel of her arms around me in a hug. I see her in my children; I see her when I look in the mirror.

I can only hope that one day, I will live up to all that she was, and all that she is in my heart.

Mom, I love you and miss you. Today, and every day.

XOXO

Shannon

It Was a Lovely Day

2007-07-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today was a great day from tip to tail.

Keegan was the sparkle of my day today. He came home from school positively BURSTING with pride. He had written his name all by himself. And I have to say, his printing is beautiful; better than Phoenix's and he is two years older! Plus he actually ate lunch at school, for the first time in three weeks.

We had a great afternoon too. My friend Christy came over with her two daughters, who are the same ages as Phoenix and Keegs, and the kiddies had a great time in the pool. I had a fabulous time chatting with Christy.

Then this evening, Keegan had his last soccer game, and scored the winning goal in the last 2 seconds of the game! Every parent on both sides were cheering! He was so proud. And because it was the last game, all of the kids got participation medals, but Keegan was convinced it was because he got the goal. He practically has sparkles coming off of the top of his head. Too cute.

All in all a great day.

Pictures, Pictures, Gotta Love Pictures

2007-07-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

Phoenix on the tree swing his cousin Lucas rigged up.

Keegs and Phoenix kicking back on Uncle Paul's boat.

Keegan driving Uncle Fern's boat. Note the look of concentration!

Keegan's first catch! A good sized smallmouth bass.

Ty giving me the "For the love of God, Mommy, get me the hell out of this canoe!" look.

Keegan checking out a frog. He asked me if he kissed it, would it turn into a beeyouteeful princess?

View from the upper deck.

Front of the cottage.

Back, Baby!

2007-07-24T22:15:00.000-04:00

Yes, yes, I'm back from vacation. I know you were all on tenterhooks waiting for me to post, so here I am. (Yeah, right.) Anyway, here's the dish.

We rented a cottage for the week on Pigeon Lake in Bobcaygeon. First off, I have to say that the cottage was beautiful. It was very nicely furnished, clean, and with a completely stocked kitchen, from a salad spinner to an electric knife. Very nice compared to other cottages we've rented which have 3 bowls and a spoon.

The bonus of the week was getting to spend extra time with my sister-in-law Ela, who is one of my very best friends, and her kids, who are the best too. They are very good to my kids, considering the age gaps (my niece and nephew are 10 and 12, where as my kiddies are 2, 5, & 7).

I was looking forward to the week also, because my brother took the same week off, and has a place on the same lake, so I figured we'd get to spend a lot of time together, and my two eldest boys were excited about hanging with their Uncle Paul.

Well, here's the ups and downside (s) to the week: Pigeon Lake, while fabulous for fishing, sucks for swimming. It is choked with weeds and is now infested with dead carp (google dead carp in the Kawarthas and you'll see what I mean), so that meant minimal swimming for the kids. And actually, by day three, officials were advising against swimming in the lake (not because of the virus that was killing the carp, as it does not transfer between species, but) because of the bacteria caused by the decomposing fish. Lovely. So, with no swimming, what to do with the kidlets? Well, there's always fishing.

Phoenix and especially Keegan (aka Izumi) had a great time fishing with their Uncle Fern. Phoenix caught a few rock bass, and Keegan, within 3 seconds of casting his first line, caught a nice sized smallmouth bass. Then he caught a rock bass, and a baby perch (which he declared "so cute!" and kissed it before tossing it back into the water). Mark and Auntie Ela took the kids for canoe rides which they greatly enjoyed as well.

The rest of the time, we read, played countless games of Scrabble (never take on Lucas, you can't win against him!), or ate yummy food. One day Mark and the kids and I went into Fenelon Falls to walk around, and stop for ice cream. We found a great little park there with a fabulous playground, and a nice beach and graduated swim area onto Sturgeon Lake. Mark took the boys and Ela and her kids there the next day to swim.

And as for hanging with Uncle Paul? Well, he seemed a lot more interested in fishing with my brother-in-law, than with spending time with me and my family. Pissed me off, if you want to know (in case you are reading this, buster!). I actually had to send my kids off to him at the dock in their lifejackets to ask them for a ride in his new boat. (N.B. I never was offered a ride in his boat, period.) I also had to invite myself and family to his trailer to check it out. I was annoyed that he spent more time with my in-law and his kids than he spent with me and mine. But what can you do?

Evenings were good. We either sat around the campfire, eating toasted marshmallows and drinking Bailey's-spiked coffee while watching the bats swoop around to eat the mosquitoes, or hid from the bugs and played Scrabble at the kitchen table.

Nights? Not so good. Mainly because Mark and I had what I have come to call "the unwanted roommate"-aka Ty. Ty, from night one, decided that 12-2:30 am was a great time to crawl onto our bed, jump on our heads, and sing what lyrics he knows from the Wiggles, count from 1-10, skip along the alphabet song, and run through his repetoire of animal sounds. NOT FUN!!!!!!! Little bugger! Plus, mid-week his asthma kicked in, so I was on puffer-duty all day and night too. So, Mark and I pretty much need a vacation now from our vacation!

All in all, I would give this vacation a 6.5/10. The kids would score it at least two points higher.

It was a nice place, but not for a couple with three VERY BUSY kidlets, that need to swim.

Did get some nice nature shots though. Enjoy! I will post pictures of the cottage and kidlets tomorrow...

All That's New

2007-07-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a bit. Here's what's new, and not all of it good.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, Mark had taken the two eldest out for a haircut, as I attempted to put Ty down for his nap. He was coughing his guts out, and I was thinking, KRIPES! Not sick again! He coughing over the monitor got increasingly worse, so I went to check on him, only to find him in the midst of a major asthma attack.

After a quick call to Mark apprising him of the situation, I called 911 and got an ambulance. While waiting for said ambulance, Ty threw up three times (all over the two of us). Stripped us both down, got new clothes, and hustled off to the hospital. He had the Ventolin mask on the way to the hospital, plus three more doses while we were there. His oxygen saturation level was still below the "go home" level of 92%, (he was at 85%), so they sent him for a chest X-ray, and then a quadruple dose of ventolin after that. His levels finally creeped up to 92%. I was told that I could take him home (after being there for 8 hours with no food or drink), but I had to be vigilant with his care, and blast him with double doses of Ventolin every two hours all night. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.

After a few days, the coughing stopped and he's been okay ever since. But jeez, scared the CRAP out of me.

This week, since we had a temporary lull in illness, Ty decided to get this freaky rash, which had me booking down to the doctor's office yesterday in the 90 degree heat. The diagnosis? It's a rash. Yeah, no shit, buddy! Got some cortisone and went home. (Rash is better today).

Keegan is finally settling into "summer school", after a week of adjustment hell (ie night terrors and separation anxiety attacks). That really sucked, but he seems to be okay now. He is making friends and having a great time. I think that it is the much higher level of expectations that is causing his grief. He was so used to being top dog at his preschool, that it's a blow to his ego to come in near the bottom of the social ladder.

So, now we are in pre-vacation countdown, which means that I'e done absolutely NOTHING by means of preparation. I'd better get off of my considerable ass and get moving. The kiddies are really looking forward to it. We are going away with Mark's sister and her family this year, so I expect that it will be an awesome time. Also, my brother has a place on the same lake that we are going to, and he's taking the same week off, so we get the added bonus of "Uncle Paul" for the week too.

Well, I guess that's about all the news for now. If I come up with anything exciting between now and va-cay time, I'll be sure to let you know all about it.

Oh! Almost forgot! Little boy is in his new toddler bed! He's doing great (he's only fallen out twice...) and loves his Bear in the Big Blue House bedding that I scored for him on E-Bay.

TTFN.

2007-07-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

Keegan graduated from preschool on Friday. The teachers were more weepy than the parents. Keegan was like a king in his court. All the kids came up to him to say goodbye, and he had a kind word and a hug for everyone. "Goodbye Matthew. You are a good boy." or "Bye Avery! You are sweet!" And the teacher! She hugged him. Let him go. Then pulled him back and hugged him again. "I'm gonna miss that one..." she said to me.

No moss grows on Keegs, though. Tuesday he starts "summer school". We are enjoying his 3 day summer. He got to see his cousins, go swimming, go to a birthday party, play soccer, go to Zooz, fly planes in the park, and hang with mom and dad. One day left! Hopefully we will do something "shady" as I am suffering (no, I NEVER learn) from a crippling sunburn of a lovely magenta hue.

I always end up with the sunburn, but I am known throughout the neighbourhood as the sunscreen Nazi for my kids. If I could only find a suncreen that is non-greasy, and wouldn't make my skin rashy, I would wear it. Honest! (Recommendations welcome).

Hope all the canucks are having a great Canada Day!

TTFN

Happy 7th Birthday Bunny!

2007-06-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Bunny! You are seven years old today!!! Wow, where did those years go? I remember when you used to sleep in a laundry basket. Now the top of your head comes up to my breastbone. Your feet have grown so much this year that you've been through 3 shoe sizes. You are still so skinny I can count your ribs through a snowsuit, but you are getting taller every time I blink. At the beginning of the school year, you could read a handful of sight words, and now you read me BOOKS. Every day.

You are still loving Transformers (especially with the new movie out in a few weeks) and Webkinz (although not quite as much), and your newest obsession, Pokemon cards and assorted paraphenalia.

You are very smart and have a great sense of humour. You are learning the carefully crafted art of sarcasm from the masters ( your parents). You are a great big brother; Keegs worships you and Ty believes that you are there for his personal entertainment, 24/7. You have learned to swim, and are like a little fishy in the pool.

You never hesitate to give me a hug and kiss (even in the school yard!...oh, I'll miss that when it stops, and sadly, it will...) and you tell me you love me a minimum of 10 times a day. I love your honest nature and your deeply rooted sense of morality. Daddy says you are like Superman, and cannot tell a lie. Your own guilt punishes you for things I would never know about otherwise, but it is a rare and wonderful quality to have, especially at your age, when fudging the truth is an easy way out. Your feeling are easily hurt by offhand comments by your peers, because you honestly can't understand why someone would say things like that to someone else just to be mean. You are also the first one to point out that what they are doing is wrong, and that real friends wouldn't act that way. A psychic told me that your destiny would lie in a field where you will try to right the wrongs of the world. Professional superhero? I'll have to get started designing your logo.

I wish you happiness, health, love and excitement as you enter your eighth year. Happy Birthday Bunny. I fell in love with you the minute they placed you in my arms, and I haven't stopped for one breath since.

XOXO

Mommy

June Round Up

2007-06-19T23:30:00.000-04:00

Well, well, well. I haven't been here in a while. To tell you the truth, I've been sucked into the world of Crackbook...I mean...Facebook. I'm a bit of an addict, if you really want to know. I like the versatility of the site. I can post notes, snoop on my friends lives to see what's going on with them, and set up millions of photo albums.

But to my readers that haven't found me there, hello!

May was a killer-busy month, and June has followed the same pattern. Lots of parties to deal with, and too many cakes to count. Phoenix's birthday is tomorrow, so I just finished his cake. We are taking him bowling (with 9 of his friends). I went all Martha Stewart and made bowling-ball loot bags out of papier mache, made into mini-pinatas. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but by the time I had finished them all, it was over 11 hours of work. Too much really, for a bunch of 7 year olds that are going to destroy them to get the goods inside, in less than 2.2 seconds. Sigh. Why do I set myself up for these things?

I hope all of the dads out there had a nice Father's Day. My sister-in-law hosted the day at her place this year, and invited my dad and brothers too. It was great. Awesome food as always. I made an unbelievably awesome Chocolate Decadent Torte that tasted like it was 100000000 calories and as many grams of fat, but was actually from a diabetic cookbook. It was the most delicious and chocolatey sample of yumminess that I have ever had. Drop me a line if you want the recipe. (Thanks Darra, for supplying it to me). I also made a nice Lime Chiffon Pie that was a great hot weather dessert (a Kraft recipe).

In the past week, I also made my first ever batches of strawberry jam, and it is quite tasty, if I do say so myself. Phoenix gave it "10, 000 thumbs up", if that gives you any idea. Recipe also from Kraft (strawberry freezer jam). Sunday we are having the whole fam damily over for Phoenix's family b-day party, and then, by God, I am DONE. DONE I TELL YOU!

There is something to be said for having all three of your kids' birthdays in 2 months. Over in a fell swoop. And nothing huge now to plan until December. Oh yeah, Dad, I'm talking about you and the big 7-0. Mark your calendars, people.

I watched the movie "Ghostrider" with the kidlets a few nights ago. I had doubted the wisdom of this; I thought that perhaps Keegs would find it a bit too scary. Yeah, right. He now pretends he IS Ghostrider, to the point of sneaking up on you, getting an inch from your nose, and intoning in a deep James Earl Jones-esque voice, "Look into my eyes!" He's too friggin' cute.

In just over a week, Phoenix will be finishing up grade one. He has really worked hard this term, and I am sure that we will see stellar results on his report card. Keegan graduates from pre-school. (And then 3 days later starts his 5 day a week summer program. Poor kid!) He's really coming along too. I am super proud of my big boys.

Ty (aka Little Boy) has discovered the Wiggles, and dances and sings through most of his day. I can hear him in his room mimicking Captain Feathersword (Quack, quack, quack, doodle-eee-doo!) I am gratified to say that he is finally starting to eat like a human, meaning foods other than Alphaghetti and Kraft Dinner. True to his Polish genes, he has discovered the joy of perogies, and loves German food as well, like Bratwurst and veal schnitzel. He now even eats the occasional piece of bread, which gives me hope that one day I will be able to talk him into a sandwich or two.

In extended family news, Baby Clara is doing well. She has been moved to a Level II nursery, is off machines, and is gaining weight. I believe she is now above her birth weight of 4 lbs, 2 oz. As soon as she gets the hang of breast-feeding, she will be able to come home, hopefully by the end of this week. Yay! Oh, but we are supposed to give them Ty's crib. Hmm...better get him into his big-boy bed, and soon!

In sad news, my friend Melanie's father passed away on Friday. I was at the funeral home today for the visitation. Meli is holding up really, really well considering, and I am very proud of the way she is dealing with it all. Love you Mel!

Well, that's about it for me for tonight. This week rounds up the field-trips for the year too. Phoenix goes to a Provincial Park tomorrow, and Keegs goes to the same one on Thursday and Friday.

Hope everyone has had a less chaotic spring than me, but if not, I feel your pain. Hang in there, summer arrives in two days!

Peace.

Tyger Update

2007-05-28T11:02:00.000-04:00

Took Ty to the Dr today for his 2-year check-up. He is now 30 lbs, which apparently is a bit above average. This made me laugh since he eats practically nothing, but whatever he does eat, seems to stick, so it's all good. He's about average for height too.

His speech is not progressing as well as we had hoped, so I've got him on the wait list for a speech assessment and hearing test as well. Kripes! Will my stress never end? By this age, he should have about 100-500 words, and be using 2 word combinations (Ty up! Mommy juice!). He does have a lot of single words, but only uses a few in combination (Oh no! and Thank you.). So, being the overly-cautious mother that I am, I'm getting things checked out early.

Other than that, he's a happy, healthy 2 year old, so I am content with that. Now, if I can just stop him from being such a bloody troublemaker, then it would be grand!

Have a happy, sunshine-y day wherever you are today.

PS. Our friends Patrick and Christy had their baby yesterday morning (about 8 weeks early) by emergency c-section. Clara Grace is now chilling out in the Neo-Natal ICU. Congrats on your early addition to the family!

The Big 0-2!

2007-05-17T06:01:00.000-04:00

Oh Ty-ger! You are 2 years old today! In one short year you have gone from my little baby to a little boy.

Your smile lights up my day, and your frequent spontaneous hugs make my heart melt.

I love how you call me "Money" instead of Mommy (especially since a friend suggested that you are just combining Mommy and Honey).

I love how you will stop what you are doing to come over and lay your head on my chest and give a contented little sigh.

You are also trouble X 10! You are like a battery that never runs out of juice. Your ceaseless energy is to be admired. I wish I had even 1/10th of it!

You are fearless and a bit reckless. I have seen you vault off of furniture and stairs like you have super-powers, and you land with a laugh. You now climb and slide and run all over the creative playground at your brother's school, when last year you couldn't lift your legs high enough to climb the steps.

You keep growing, but I am not sure how, since you seem to exist on Cheerios and love. Occasionally you throw me a bone by eating something like honey-garlic sausages with gusto, only to pass them by the next time they cross your plate. Picky, whatever it is, it's working.

This year you were diagnosed with not only an egg allergy, but a peanut one as well. I am sure that your determination in all things will serve you well throughout the years in dealing with these allergies.

Your new obsession is with trains, and you spend 90% of your day with your Thomas and Friends toys. You love your brothers and extended family fiercely and without thought.

You are not as wordy as your eldest brother, but you are coming along. Some of your daily voabulary consists of: Money (Mommy), Daddy, Keggie (Keegan), Brother (Phoenix), Guh-pa (Grandpa), Oma, Opa, up, down, go, sit, back, front, head, knees, toes, belly, bee-bo (belly button) Bear, Tutter, Ojo, Teelow (Treelo),Ty, moon, sty (star) cowd (cloud), Tommy, Julie, Bla-Bla (Ela), Dando (Fernando), Pah (Paul), Patrick, Kisstie (Christy), Darra, Heidi...(all of the important name words, obviously), this is__________, stinky, oh no!, no, NO!, bunny, Shabadee (name of his bunny) and more every day. My favourite is in the mornings, when you say, "Money! Herr-row!" (Mommy! Hello!)

Hello, to you to sweetheart. I wish you the happiest of birthdays. You are a daily joy and I love you forever.

Much love and kisses as you start your third year.

XOXOXOXOXO

Money

Proud Mom Moment...

2007-05-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

Just dropping by with a proud mom moment:

Phoenix was recently tested for his reading level, and he has gone up 3 levels in one month! Now he is at the provincial standard, and still has a month and a half to go. Teachers are optimistic that he will be ahead of the game by the end of the school year. I am so proud! Also, he got perfect scores on his last 6 spelling tests. Go Phoenix!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! To my Mom, to me, to my mother-in-law and to all of the wonderful moms out there! You're doing a great job! The most important one on earth.

The Big 0-5!

2007-05-11T08:06:00.000-04:00

Keegan! You are 5 years old today! The changes you have been through this year have been amazing.

Your speech has improved a thousand fold, and through much hard work, you have accomplished so many things.

You can now dress yourself, brush your own teeth and put the toothpaste on the brush. You can button buttons, and zip zippers. You can put on your own shoes. You can correctly identify numbers up to 15, and all upper case letters and most lower case ones. You have tackled the once insurmountable task of learning prepositions and using them properly. You use he and she properly in a sentence. You can sequence events, and re-tell a story. These are all things that seemed impossible a year ago, and now you are an expert.

Last year, you wouldn't look anyone in the eye, or let another child in your personal space. Now you are the most popular kid in your class, with 4 best friends and a girlfriend to boot!

You are loving, outgoing and affectionate, and extremely loyal to all you call friends. You love to dance, and sing all day long. You are my sweet, sweet dolly and I can't say enough to describe how proud I am of the person you are and the big boy you are becoming. I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Happy Birthday Keegan! Lots of love and happiness as you enter your 6th year.

Mommy

Oh, My Lord! So It Begins...

2007-05-09T13:03:00.001-04:00

A note I received from Keegan's teacher this morning:

"Keegan is in love! He spent the morning with Alyssa. They played together, had snack together and were kissing. We did put a stop to the heavy kissing though. They were adorable together."

WTF?

2 days away from being 5 and already snogging with the girls. So, all of the women I've told said, "Oh dear!" or something to that effect. All the men have said, "Alright! Way to go!" and other testosterone-driven comments. Hmpf. Typical.

I gave a petit lecture on kissing, saying that kissing was for family, and if you really like a friend you should hug them instead. He said, "But Mommy, I really like kissing Alyssa May!" Jeez. I was innocent enough to think that I need not give this talk to the boys until the 'tween years. Kids grow up too darned fast!

No Pain, No Ink

2007-05-05T21:17:00.000-04:00

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I did NOT chicken out.

Therefore, I now have a rather larger than originally anticipated tattoo. But it is awesome. Yes, it hurt, but not as bad as the first one did.

You know, I got my first tattoo on my pelvis, 12 years ago. It is quite small, maybe 1 1/2 inches square. It was the most excrutiatingly painful event of my life, and that's saying something, considering I have had gall bladder attacks (and removal), kidney infection, and three children. I walked out of there, although extremely happy with my tattoo, thinking, "NEVER AGAIN!"

12 years later, I overcame the pain memory, crawled to the happy place in my brain, and left thinking, "Hmm. Where should I get my next one?"

Mark is laughing at me because I haven't told the kids about it yet. I told Mark that I didn't want Phoenix going to school and telling everyone that his mom got a tattoo. All of the "good" moms will be looking for my "tramp stamp".

But I know there are a few school moms out there that have tattoos. I'm not the only one, I've seen at least 2. And I know of at least 3 more that want to GET tattoos, so...maybe I'll flash it after all. I guess I'll just wait and see.

Best of all was spending the whole day with Kris, one of my very bestest friends. Haven't seen her since the Duran Duran concert, and that was over 2 years ago. Shame on us. It was a great, great day, and I didn't get home until 1:30 am.

********************************************************************************

So, now that I have posted a picture, let the lecture e-mails from the relatives (you know who you are) begin!

Allergy Alert!

2007-05-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

I took Keegs to the allergist today. Turns out he has quite the allergy to peanuts, so he has to now have an epipen at home and at school, just in case. He also tested as mildly allergic to tree nuts (almonds, walnuts etc.) and corn. Guess that's why he won't eat anything with nuts, refuses to eat corn, and after the first try, won't eat popcorn either. They give him a bad tummy ache.

I have to take him back in two weeks to test for regular allergens (pet, dust, pollens, etc.). Damn! Sensitive kiddies over here.

My nephew Jake did a face plant on the asphalt at school yesterday playing soccer, and cut open his forehead, scraped his nose, put his teeth through his lip, and broke a tooth. OUCH! But, as my brother Mike commented, "It's all good. Chicks dig guys with scars."

That's pretty much the 411 around here. Not much else to report...except...maybe...thinking...of...getting a new tattoo....?

Hey! The Spring/Summer Weather Stopped By...With Squirrel Vandals Included

2007-04-26T11:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, spring/summer weather stopped by on the weekend, bringing with it loads of sunshine and gorgeous warmth. Got my first burn of the season!

And with the warm weather came hubby's desire to get cracking on the yard work. And thought, hmm. Maybe I'll take Ty out for a bike-ride later, and went to go get the bike trailer out of the shed...only to find: a nest of baby squirrels.

I'll say right off that these little guys are cute buggers, but their mom was most destructive to our bike trailer. Chewed the absolute crap out of it. And guess what, none of the parts that were destroyed are considered "replaceable parts" by Little Tikes, so we are screwed. Pissed us off, I tell you.

We took the trailer out into the open, and at dusk, watched with relief as momma squirrel came and took her babies to a new nesting ground. Oh, and did I mention that destructo-squirrel chewed a hub-cab sized hole through 2 layers of Rubbermaid plastic to get into the shed? Arrrrgh!

Where IS the Spring Weather?

2007-04-17T15:40:00.000-04:00

It is the middle of April. Warm showers? I could tolerate this. Instead "STORM WARNING-SNOW EXPECTED!" What the hell? On the postive side, the temp is supposed to rise by the weekend, but I'm not holding my breath.

Braved the misty rain and chill with Ty this morning to take him to get his haircut. Saying he looked shaggy would be too kind. I told Mark that maybe we should grow his hair into a sk8er boy cut, and he said, and I quote, "Over my dead body." Well, seeing as he is still alive and well, Ty has a nice, SHORT boy cut, and looks super-cute. He's so good too. Rare to see a two-year old (almost) that doesn't cry and wail when clippers are taken to his head. Not a peep out of him. He was happy just to hold a comb.

Keegan's nasal spray seems to be working. He hasn't had a nosebleed since we started it. I am worried a bit about the contraindications on the package, including "MAY AFFECT GROWTH RATE IN YOUNG CHILDREN. GROWTH SHOULD BE CAREFULLY MONITORED WHILE TAKING THIS MEDICATION." Uh...yeah. Okay. So, no nosebleeds, but 3 1/2 feet for life?

Phoenix is doing well in his after-school reading program. He seems to enjoy it. That being said, he had a major emotional meltdown after school yesterday when it came time to do his spelling homework. Everything from tears, sobbing,throwing himself on the floor, storming upstairs, kicking me in the leg, and saying, (I still can't believe he had the nerve!) "You're not the boss of me! You can't tell me what to do! Sometimes you're the meanest mom EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well son, guess what? I AM the boss of you, I WILL tell you what to do, and if making you go to school makes me a mean Mom, then I'm in good company with the moms of every other kid in your class!

I'm not sure what brought this all on; but it was up and over with in 10 minutes, after which he buried his head in my stomach and said that he was sorry, that I'm not the meanest mom ever, and he loves me even when he's mad.

Whew.

In more fun matters, seeing as I am a daughter short for life's milestones, my sister-in-law graciously loaned me hers, and allowed me to take Heidi for her birthday to get her ears pierced. She was SO happy! And Heidi, you look gorgeous with your new jewellery! (I also told her to come to me on her 20th b-day and we'd get her a tattoo...).

Remember my mentioning the Webkinz mania that has hit our house? It keeps getting worse, aided and abetted by yours truly. Even Ty has a Lil'Kinz bunny, that he christened "Shabadee" and carries with him throughout the house and always to bed. They're so cute though! I get sucked in, every time. And with 3 birthdays coming up in the next 2 months, I'm sure we will have more "housemates" soon. So to you who haven't caved in to your child yet? Stay strong! Once you start...it's the evil E-bay...

Have a super-duper week!!!! (for those of you that didn't notice, that was my false enthusiasm in place of warm sunshine). :)

Keegan Update

2007-04-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

Keegan's doctor called today and his bloodtests came out fine. (Whew!) We are going to try him on a new nasal spray and see how that works.

Also booked him an appointment for the beginning of May for allergy testing. Thanks to all who asked for updates.

Some Easter Pix

2007-04-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

Keegs, Phoenix and Ty in their Easter finery. Was Keegan made for suspenders, or what?

Happy Easter!!!

2007-04-07T14:46:00.000-04:00

This year's Easter cake collection includes mini-cupcakes of bunnies and chicks...

Wishing everyone a fun and happy Easter!

Strong Advocate For Home Schooling

2007-04-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

I have become a strong advocate for home schooling. Why? Because at least if your children are confined to their own homes all day, they won't be bringing home a new virus every 3 seconds.

Yes, Keegs and Ty are sick. Again. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge.

Ty has some bronchial infection that makes him wheeze like a 10 pack a day smoker. He is on drugs and a puffer.

Keegs has major lung butter and a chest infection so he's on antibiotics too.

Took Keegs to the dr regarding his nosebleeds and general lack of good health on Thursday afternoon. Dr recommended extensive blood tests. He thinks he may be anaemic, as I posted before with the most benign of my suspicions. So they took 5 vials of blood out of him; not like he has much to spare these days. He was great. Not a peep out of him, not even a flinch. The lab techs were all "Oh, what courage! What a good boy you are!" And Keegs looks at them and says, "Yes. I know. I am brave." He's too cute.

So now we wait for some results, which will be somewhat delayed due to the Easter holiday and all, so look for an update on Tues or Wednesday.

Happy Birthday yesterday to my nephew Lucas, who is 12 years old! Enjoy your last preteen year ( or is it tween, now?)

Busy day tomorrow. Mark was in Ottawa all week, so I am way behind on my Easter errands. I have to get a million things done tomorrow including taking the boys for haircuts (although I think I may leave Ty's a bit longer in the front to cover his black eye (up close and personal with the kitchen stool) and the chunk that is missing from his forehead (faceplant from the stairs onto a Transformer toy). The kid is Evil Kneivel, I swear. No fear. Keep your fingers crossed that he survives each day.

Will post in the next few days with my Easter "mini" cakes...

For A Long Month, It Went Fast

2007-04-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

At first, I thought March was going to last forever. And now, here it is, April already. Now is the busy time countdown in our household. For me, it is a busy cake making season. Lots of birthdays here and among friends and family, plus Easter treats to make. We also have EarthJam 2007 coming up, and Mark's band has a set list with 10 new songs to learn, so Mark is in the studio all the time in preparation for the show. Then in May, it's FSRT duck race season. So by the beginning of June, stress levels begin to abate, right? No, because there are more birthdays and parties and preschool graduation and the end of grade one...so really, I'm pretty much screwed until summer.

This week, Phoenix starts his after-school reading tutoring, twice a week. Keegs has his visit with the dr regarding his explosive nose hemorrages (8 last week, one this week so far, but hey, it's only Sunday!). Good Friday we are all off, of course. Saturday is a baking day. Sunday is Easter at Mark's mom's cousin's house (Zosia). Monday is another day off for most; Keegs goes back to school.

I have spent the day filling out forms, mostly disclosure agreements to release info regarding Keegan's psych assessment to various doctors, schools etc. Also filled out forms for summer camp for Phoenix. I am sending him to two, week-long day camps in July and August to break up his summer. He's going with his friend Hannah, so he should have a good time. Keegs we are keeping at the daycare through the summer to keep him in routine. It will be good, because it is at the main centre, and will be all kids in his age group, all going into SK. We ended up keeping the same subsidy level, so costs will be managable, and his transportation will still be covered. And in the off days? Well, play dates, and the weekly trip to the Farmer's Market to pick up fresh fruits and veggies, and to visit Grandpa who works there as well.

I have spent the weekend a: doing laundry, b: baking cakes, c: caring for fever-ridden child, d: losing 8 bids on E-Bay, e: becoming addicted to Facebook, f: all of the above. (The answer is F).

Phoenix came down with a fever on Saturday morning. Weird. No other symptoms, no stomach ache, no sore throat or cough, ear pain, nothing. Just a fever hovering around the 103 F mark. Which meant that we had to miss out on my nephew's birthday party (made him a guitar cake) and going glow-in-the-dark bowling. I did laundry and watched endless episodes of Justice League instead. He is okay today. Mark took the kids to church and they came home proudly displaying the crosses they had made with palm. (Palm Sunday craft...). I stayed home with Ty, who refused to nap and frosted my flakes. Refused to nap in the afternoon too. Was quite pissy by bedtime, let me tell you.

Anyway, it's approaching 11:00, I'm blind from all of the time spent on the computer this weekend, so I'm going to head out. Will update on Thursday with Keegs dr news.

Always Something New To Worry About

2007-03-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, in my world, there is always something new to worry about.

This week, (surprise!) it's Keegan. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Keegs suffers from frequent nosebleeds. This has kicked up a notch from frequent to almost daily. And these aren't your run-of-the-mill, stops-in-30-seconds-type nosebleeds either. More like 30 minutes later, and maybe we can take the Kleenex plugs out of your nose type. He will be sleeping, or watching t.v. or playing, and all of the sudden, it's the red sea. My carpet throughout the house looks like a crime scene. Last week, there was the unfortunate sneeze-and-cough during nosebleed session that turned my bathroom into a scene from The Shining (Tony's not here, Mrs. Torrence!)

That being said, I have taken him to the pediatrician regarding these before, back when they were weekly occurances. She said it was due to his allergies, and to put a humidifier in his room, use Rhinaris nasal lubricant, and she prescribed Flonase nasal spray. Well, turns out, Keegs is one of the small percentage of Flonase users that react to the spray by having, you guessed it, heavy nosebleeds. So that was out. So I've been doing everything we should be, including a daily allergy med, with no avail.

The scary part is, aside from the blood, is the way he looks after. He is white as a sheet. You can't see his lips; they blend right into his skin. And he is cold all of the time. He is always asking for blankets, or an extra sweater, even on days like yesterday, when it was 72F here, and we were all in T-shirts, and he wanted his jacket on and zipped.

So I have made him an appointment to revisit the issue. I did the paranoid mother thing and did a search engine on frequent nosebleeds in children and came up with two viable explanations, neither good, but one infinitely more acceptable than the other. First, that he is anaemic. The other, and horrifying one is leukemia based, and I refuse to even go there (even though there is two cases of leukemia family history on my husband's side...STOP IT! Shannon, please...).

Our appointment is on April 5, so I will keep you posted on any developments in this area.

I did have some lovely things to share, but I am burned out from the above. I will post again later to shed some optimism over this worry-weary blog.

Rock 'n' Roll!

2007-03-25T16:56:00.000-04:00

Electric guitar cake that I made on Friday...next up...well, something Easter-ish.

Enough, Already!

2007-03-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

Kripes! Will this flu virus never leave our home? We had a minor reprieve over the March break, and now it's back again in full force, kicking ass and taking names. Ty, fever yesterday. Keegan, came home from school yesterday, white as a sheet, with a fever of 102.4. He is still sporting a fever today, and is home with me. Mark and I are suffering from major sore throats. I feel like I'm swallowing broken glass. And believe me, the congestion does not make the hubby-snoring issue any better. Ty was up 13, yes, 13!!!!! times last night. Can't breathe. So let's cry! Yeah, that will make the snot flow ease up!

A little sympathy and some cyber hugs would go down nicely (as would serious drugs and alcohol, but I DO have kids to look after...)...pray to the gods of Nyquil and Cold-EEZE that we recover soonest!

Cough.........wheeze............sniff.......................

PS. Phoenix is still standing tall. What a trooper. I told him that his antibodies have superpowers to prevent his contracting this illness. Mind over matter. Mind over matter.

Ooh, Baby!

2007-03-19T11:23:00.000-04:00

Cake I made this weekend for a baby shower...'tis the season for cakes. Got 4 orders this week! Stay tuned for next week's feature: the electric guitar.

And The Diagnosis Is...Umm...We're Not Sure

2007-03-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

Today, Mark and I went to meet with Keegan's psychologist who did the psycho-educational testing with him over the last month and a half. The meeting was to discuss his results, and therefore, his forecasted diagnosis so to speak.

And the results were, well, ambiguous at best. Which, in a way, is kind of a good thing. Perhaps I should explain.

Basically, he was being tested to evaluate if he had a cognitive learning delay, and to explore whether or not he was in-line with an Asperger's profile.

Regarding the Asperger's, the answer is no. With the cognitive learning, half of his results were in the normal range, which was great to hear. This means that he does not have what is called a general or "global" delay. The other results were below average but not critically so. The problem is that since Keegan has expressive and responsive language delays, it sort of skews(sp?) his results a bit. It is difficult to determine whether he cannot perform the task because of a cognition problem, or because he does not understand the language presented to him in the deliverance of the instructions.

For example, Keegan has difficulty understanding linguistic concepts, like many, few, different, same. If you work with him for a long time, showing him examples, he will understand the concept, and be able to complete the task. But if you just say, show me the ones in this group that are different, he may not grasp the words "show me" or "different". So it appears that most of the delays that showed up during testing are language delay based.

To put in all in a nut shell, the hope is that as Keegan's language skills develop, so will his cognitive skills. His delays are LANGUAGE based, and not cognition based. Confused? Me too. But what it all comes down to is that this is something that with a lot of work, he can overcome. It will not impact him life-long. Of course, there is the risk that he may have an actual language DISORDER, which we won't know for about two more years, at which time he may have to be reassessed.

So what do I know? Not much. But it is a good thing, to us. Better to have the hope, than to have a label at this point. What is comes down to is that here we have a really bright kid, who has some walls up in his head that we have to take down brick by brick to open up his information highway.

And as Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley and Lofty would say, "We're on the job!"

And We're Not Circus-Folk!

2007-03-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

Strangest thing to hear yourself saying to your children at 7:50 am on a Monday morning:

"Will someone please take the sword out of your brother's mouth before he impales himself or something?"

Yeah. And we're not even circus folk!

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Health status: Myself and hubby--we're okay. Knock on wood.
Phoenix: occasional cough, but okay.
Keegan: Hacking cough, but no fever
Ty: After 9 days, still coughing, runny nose and now and again fever.

Took Ty to the doctor's again yesterday, insisting that a child should NOT have a fever for a whole week. Chest clear. Ears fine. Throat okay. He's not sick.

Yeah, okay, come over at 2:00 am when he coughs so much he vomits and I have to change his pyjamas and all of his bedding, and tell me he's not sick. Bastards. Well, it's the flu, sunshine. It can take 4 days to 3 weeks to recover.

Ah, yes. That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. Sigh...and to top it off, next week is March break. I need a vacation THIS March, not next one! I keep waiting for Regis and Kelly to call my house for the Blizzard Blast Trivia A-Sno-Go, but it hasn't happened yet.

This Friday Mark and I are meeting with the psychologist that did the 5 week testing with Keegan to get his results. I will post the good (or not so good) results when I get them.

We have a leaky shower pipe and my toy room was flooded on the weekend. Eff.

Will someone please post with some GOOD news to cheer me up, on this miserably cold crappy Monday morning?

Ty Update

2007-02-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Still coughing, still running fever, still river-nosed, but according to the dr, not sick enough for meds. Must be a virus, fluids, rest, blah blah blah. Poor little nugget!

And this morning Phoenix was complaining of a cough! ARRRGGGHHH!

Poor Little Muffin!

2007-02-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

Poor Tiggeroo is sick. Croupy, harsh cough that sounds like it is ripping his chest in half. Runny nose. Fever of 102.4 F.

I complain all the time about how busy he is; always getting into everything and how I can't turn my back on him for a second. And now, he just sits on my lap for hours on end, and cries if I put him down for any reason. Dare I say it? I miss his energy. It breaks my heart to see him so listless and sad.

"Are you okay?" I asked him this morning. "Oh Money, (combo of Mommy and Honey, I like to think;))", he said and started to cry. Then he toddled over to the couch and looked out the window to the driveway. "Daddy...." he whispered. Soon, soon, he'll be home soon. Mark is taking him to the dr's at 3:40. Will update after.

Why? I Ask You, WHY?!?!?!?!?

2007-02-26T08:05:00.001-05:00

Dear Neighbour,

Why!

Why is it necessary to snow-blow your driveway at 5:35 am? There's not THAT much snow!

Why do you do this on a night when Ty has come down with the croup and I only just got him to sleep?

Bastards!

Delinquency Lives!

2007-02-15T11:39:00.000-05:00

I apologise for the sporadic posting. It's just too freaking cold to be here in the office. My hands are chilled and my toes are approaching the frostbite zone. Maybe I should be swilling gin or something to warm me as I type.....hmmm.........

Okay, first things first. The playdate from hell.

Let me just say off the bat that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kids, more than chocolate, and that's saying something. But other people's kids? Meh. (As Leanne would say). (But not YOUR kids. Your kids are great.)That being said, a few weeks ago, we had a PD day at Phoenix's school. His friend's mom called me up in the morning to invite Bun over for a playdate. Sure! I said. Around 1:30? Great. Two seconds later I get another phone call. Can he come over in the morning instead? Sorry, uncle and grandfather visiting at present. Okay, same time then. Bye. Two more seconds later, another phone call, asking if her son could come play at my house for about an hour, because she had a job interview and then Bun could spend the rest of the afternoon at her house. Ok.

(Also scheduled that day, was a psych assessment appointment that I had to take Keegan to, hence the brother/dad babysitting duo. Then, at 12:30, I had a meeting at my house with Keegan's resource consultant to plan our education meeting with various other people that Keegs has been seen by or tested with. Ok...)

When the boy in question arrived, I explained, SEVERAL TIMES, that I had a very important meeting, and they had to play quietly downstairs and NOT INTERRUPT. RC arrives, we start the meeting, and then the agony begins. "Um, excuse me, Phoenix's mom? I need a snack." Go away. I am in a meeting. I will deal with you and snacks later. "Excuse me, can we go play video games out in the studio?" No. Over my dead body. Go away. I am in a meeting.

Things to this nature happen again and again and again until I have to excuse myself and go and threaten death upon all of the kids in a very scary low-volume evil-mom voice.

Get back to the meeting. "Excuse me....". I turned to the child in rage, then in fearful curiosity. What is that all over your shirt? "Oh, we were giving our Webkins (stuffed animals) haircuts. I said it was okay." At this point, my head is about to explode and the RC is trying not to laugh. I run downstairs to the toy room with boy in tow, and see the beauty shop massacre all over the carpet and every child. The look on Phoenix's face was plainly "Oh F U C K ! ! ! !" Pretty much. I gave a rapid and fierce riot act, confiscated scissors and any other potentially heart-attack inducing weapons of mass destruction, and went back up to find the RC packing up. She told me she had written me notes of what she wanted to cover instead, since I was obviously not able to focus. I apologised profusely, and saw her out. Then Ty woke up. ARRGGH!

At this point, I told the boys to put on their gear and chucked them into the backyard. And did I mention that this "one hour" had turned into three? I was NOT impressed. When the mom finally arrived, with an off-hand apology for being late, and a questioning, "How was he?" I certainly did not mince words. When she, in her mortification of her child's behaviour, offered to take Phoenix for the afternoon, even dinner, I told her that I thought perhaps they had seen enough of each other that day.

So. That was my playdate from hell, in a nutshell. Do you have any playdate war stories? Share them! I want to hear "Shann, that was nothing compared to my day!"
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I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. In the spirit of "LOVING" I have composed a list or two. Things That Annoy the Hell Out of Me about my Hubby" and of course "Things I Love About My Hubby" and his list for me. Here goes. See if any of these things are on your own lists...

Things That Annoy Me About My Hubby
1. Snoring. Enough said.
2. How he takes up 89% of the bed, leaving me clinging to a shred of blanket and the edge of the mattress.
3. How he leaves the toilet seat up
4. How he dumps tupperware into the sink without rinsing it out, and piles dishes on the counter ABOVE the dishwasher, and yet can't take the extra 2 seconds to put them inside.
5. Taking off his socks and leaving them in balls or inside out in 100 different places in the house, none of which include the laundry basket.
6. Talking with his hands.
7. Inviting people over without consulting me first, resulting in a whirlwind of cleaning frenzy-induced anxiety for me.
8. How when I am in the middle of a rant, he interrupts and tells me to "relax". ARRGHHH!

Things I Love About My Hubby

1. He will drop anything to "you know what" even if he was sick and dying.
2. He loves to cook and 99.9% of the time, makes dinner.
3. He doesn't like chocolate so I get to eat it all!
4. He is an awesome dad.
5. He is good to his parents.
6. He makes me laugh every single day.
7. He is handy, and can fix most electrical and plumbing issues and does all of the outside gardening work.
8. He feels sorry for my hands, and has taken over bathing the kids duty.
9. How he is always warm as toast and doesn't mind me placing various body parts on him to leach out the heat into my frozen limbs.

Things That I Do to Annoy the Hell out of my Hubby

1. Insist on checking my e-mail right when he is about to do some work in the office.
2. Leaving piles of miscellaneous crap on tables, saying that I am still using it, and will put it away later.
3. How I put off putting away laundry until I have no choice.
4. How I would rather read than do anything else.
5. That I abhor most types of physical activity.
6. How when I drink a Coke, I only open the can a little bit, and not the whole way, and don't suck off the pop from the rim after every sip. (This for some reason drives him insane, so of course, I do it now just to piss him off...)
7. How I will put the milk back in the fridge, even though there is only a 6 drops left in the bag, because I may use it in my cup of tea later.

Thing My Hubby Loves About Me

1. The fact that I am gorgeous, dead-sexy and not to mention, modest.
2. Big boobs.
3. When I wear my hair in a pony tail.
4. My sarcasm. (Yes, there are people who see it for the art it is!)
5. That I am a good mom.
6. That I am close with my family and his.
7. That I do all the stuff he hates, like sorting mail, reading and deleting crap e-mail from his in-box, cleaning toilets, doing laundry and assisting homework.
8. When I laugh in bed, silently as to not wake the kids and the whole bed vibrates. He always says "I don't remember putting a quarter in the bed!"

I am sure that I am leaving out a million things on all four lists but, there you go. No matter what the annoyances are, I love him, and couldn't live without him. And he loves me too, and is too scared to leave ;)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

As Promised, The Before and After Hand Shots

2007-02-08T08:55:00.000-05:00

As you can see, my hands looks much better now, as opposed to before. Eww...gross. But, the 4-step program works. What can I say? Don't get your hands wet. Don't get your hands wet. Don't get your hands wet. Use Prevex-B. I can even wear my wedding rings again! For the first time in years!

Wednesday Morning Serenade

2007-02-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to a serenade under my bedroom window; a guy with an icy body and icicles dripping from his nose. I think his name is "Weather Man"...singing:

I'm Mister White Christmas
I'm Mister Snow
I'm Mister Icicle
I'm Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
I'm too much!

He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
He's too much!

I never want to see a day
That's over forty degrees
I'd rather have it thirty,
Twenty, ten, five and let it freeeeEEEEEEeeze!

He's Mister White Christmas
He's Mister Snow
That's right!
He's Mister Icicle
He's Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser,
What ever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch... too much.
Too Much!

Too much is right! Kripes. It's freaking cold. -27C with the windchill! Can you say frozen baby cheeks? It's been a damn cold week or so here, and we have been miserably house-bound as a result. Which is part of the reason why I have been lazy in posting. One, the kids are always underfoot to bug me with their constant, yet inane demands and questions, and two, the weather outside equals freezing cold basement. My office is there. As is the computer. So, I either type as fast as I can, or, say screw it, and head upstairs to warmer temperatures, a good book, and a steaming mug of tea. Like I have been doing for the last while.

But, after more than a few inquires as to my whereabouts, I have decided to lock the kids in the toy room watching Cars for the 1000000th time, and brave the chill.

What's new, what's new...

Well, Phoenix is on the verge of losing his second baby tooth, and makes me wiggle it at every opportunity so he can cash it in for $ with the Tooth Fairy/Tooth Beaver. He is saving up for a new Webkinz. Have you heard of these? I may have mentioned them before. They are stuffed animals that come with a code that gives you access to KinzWorld, where you can design a room for your Kinz and play games and stuff. Pretty ingenious money-maker; every kid in Phoenix's class has at least two of them. (I admit, I have one too, a leopard named Micah.)

Keegan is half-way through his psycho-educational assessment sessions. He loves going; always new things to try and play with. His assessment with the Occupational Therapist indicated that he needs to build up his core strength (through the torso) so we have daily workout sessions with therabands, doing pilate-like exercises. He also needs to work on his fine motor as well, as he has a weak grasp and this makes things like holding a pencil difficult for him. Speech therapy is also coming along. We are currently working on sequencing and the ubiquitous 3-step directions.

Ty is still a little troublemaker. But damn, he's too cute! New things include (as just announced by Keegan) taking shelves off of the wall, scattering movie cases and -oh fun!- sticking his hands in the fishtank. He's just a whirlwind of busy-ness. No wonder he's not talking. It would take too much time away from raising hell!

Just got off of the phone with my friend Leanne, who has put up the idea of taking a girls' trip together next winter (Feb/March) with our mutual friend Kris. I am LOVING this idea. I am pretty confident that Mark will encourage it. He knows I need to run away and decompress, and this is a perfect opportunity.

I have been returning to the classics, book-wise lately. I recently read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and was itching the smack Tess by the end. It irks me how dumb some characters are. Today I am reading Wuthering Heights, which I am quite enjoying so far, and I have Emma left to read.

Oh, I also read "Through A Looking Glass Darkly". I recommend it. Good chunky read. Now, of course, I feel obligated to go and buy the prequel and sequel...Oh! Speaking of sequels, I am too excited about the Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I loved all the other books. I know that there are a lot of people out there that have not read any of them as they refuse to give into the hype, but trust me! They're great!

I have a story to tell but no time right now. I will try to get back in here tonight to recount to you the tale of "THE WORST PLAYDATE EVER" which occured here last Friday... stay tuned.

Shann out.

Insert Favourite Swear Words Here

2007-01-29T18:42:00.000-05:00

Eff.

Ty has broken out of the crib.

What to do?

(My other GOOD sons never did this....)

The Strangest Thing!

2007-01-19T11:26:00.000-05:00

I awoke this morning (at an ungodly hour, thanks Tyger!) and came downstairs. I looked out the window and saw the strangest thing! Every surface outside was blanketed with a coating of white. What is this substance? I asked myself in wonder. I opened the door, and a flake of this bizarre whiteness landed on my hand. It was crystaline in structure and melted upon my skin, into a drop of what appeared to be water. A tap on my waist interrupted my reverie. "Um, Mom? It's snow. Remember? Last winter?"

Ah yes. Snow. I had forgotten its exisitence. Strange that while living in Southern Ontario, that this was its first arrival of the year. November, December, oh yes, we had rain. Lots of it, in fact. And Monday, freezing rain. Enough to cancel the school buses. But snow! Wow! The kids were thrilled and I was, in hindsight, very glad that I had bought the kids boots a few weeks ago. I went on a whirlwind hunt for snowpants, and found them. Keegs and Bun are anticipating the after-school snowman building.

Snow........

Onto other, VERY DISTRESSING matters, Ty has rocked my safe little world. Cue the X-Files theme if you will...

After breakfast, I plunked Ty in his playpen and went back to the kitchen to make Phoenix's lunch and pack his school bag. I had a eerie feeling of being watched. A glanced over my shoulder to see Ty grinning at me from the top of the stairs. What the...? How did he get out?

I brought him back downstairs. Put him in the playpen (cue Mission Impossible please...da da da da, da da da da, doo doo doo, doo doo doo)and within 2.3 seconds, a leg over the side and a full body shimmy, and he was off and running. I think I might have mouthed the "f" word. Now what? I no longer have a safe Tyger-haven. He is a busy kid. A curious kid. A big ol' handful of trouble. I dread the day he scales the crib rails!

Sigh..............................

I'm Alive!

2007-01-17T10:25:00.000-05:00

Whew! Kidney infections are a bee-otch! I don't think I've ever been that sick. But, with the aid of the new Rx, I am feeling much better now, thanks to all who have posted or e-mailed.

I went to the dermatologist yesterday about my creepy hands, and got a 4-step treatment plan to combat my eczema. (An interesting fact: eczema is an autoimmune deficiency, where there is something in your blood that attacks your skin. Weird. A daily battle every day, and the war zone was literally in my hands!)

Step 1: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 2: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 3: Don't get your hands wet.
Step 4: Try this cream 4 times a day. (Prevex-B for all who wonder...)

So, taking this advice to heart, I used the cream 3 times yesterday, and wore cotton gloves to bed to avoid scratching, and let Mark handle the kids' bath-time. I am not lying when I say that my hands are 80% better today. I'm am going to use this stuff for a week and then post before and after shots of my hands...

Kiddies are at school, thank God. Keegan was off 3 days last week with a killer cough-due-to-cold, and then Monday, they cancelled his bus due to icy road conditions, so we had had quite enough of each other by then!

Keegan starts part 1 of 5 sessions for his psycho-educational assessment tomorrow. Mark and I met with the Dr last Friday for an information gathering session which took 1 1/2 hours. Now he has to go for testing once a week for 5 weeks to see if he has a cognitive delay or not. Poor guy. Of course, I think I will have the tougher part of the series, which is hanging out in the waiting room, not knowing what is going on.

He also has started sessions with an OT (Occupational Therapist) to work on his sensory and fine motor issues. And continued speech therapy. Oh, news there. He was reassessed at the beginning of January.

Over all he has gone from having a severe receptive speech delay, to having a moderate one, which is great. And his responsive language has gone from severe to normal. So, although he still obviously has speech and language delays, he has improved quite a lot, so we did the happy dance that day. He is a hard little worker, and we are very proud of him.

I'm starting now to get paranoid about Ty's lack of speech progress. He has some words (Daddy, Grandpa, Opa, Keegan, go, down, up, no, yes, moo, woof, meow) but that's about it.They say that between 18-22 months, they gain 10 new words every 90 minutes. I don't see that happening, unless he's just filing them away for future use...going to ask the doctor next week.

Phoenix is doing great. He has learned his phone # and address, and this Saturday is his belt ceremony for Karate, where he will be getting his first coloured belt.

I can't think of any other news right now. I have to go put an extremely crabby toddler down for a nap.

Later taters!

Brief Crawling-Alongside-Death Update

2007-01-11T17:07:00.000-05:00

It seems to me that people are in need of a health update from my corner of hell, so here we go.

Weekend before last: Hmm...I think I'm getting a bladder infection. Last weekend: I really should go to the clinic, this is pretty bad. Tuesday: Honey, I don't care if you are at work, I need to see a doctor and NOW! Was prescribed Macrobid. Tuesday: Oh my God the pain! Tuesday night: Fever tops out at 104.2 F. Wednesday morning: takes 20 minutes to pour my son a bowl of cereal because I keep blacking out and have to sit with my head between my knees. Stand up, blackout, repeat. This happened 9 times. Call my Dad and beg him to come watch my kids because I'm scared I'll drop the toddler on the stairs and kill us both. All day lie in coma on couch. Wednesday night: alternate between 50 blankets and convulsive shivering, and panting and dripping sweat on the back porch. Thursday morning (today): still feel like shite. Feel like barfing all day. Back is killing me. Went to Dr's and he confirmed that infection is no longer lurking in the bladder but is chomping away at my kidney. Apparently Macrobid does nada for kidney infections, which is why I still feel like crap. Gives me new antibiotic. Hope this one works for ya, har har! Bastard! Enjoy your freaking Yucatan Peninsula vacation next week...

Whoa. Run-on paragraph. Tsk tsk...

Sorry, but I can't update you on any other exciting family developments. It hurts my back to sit too long. Thanks for stopping by. And Jenny, I feel your pain, sista!

Some Things You Just Shouldn't Ignore

2007-01-09T15:36:00.000-05:00

I have come to learn that there are certain medical ailments that you really should not ignore, or in my case, pray nightly that they will go away on their own...like ear aches...things that look green...day 123 of a cough...bladder infections...

Oh, no. Do not, DO NOT ignore the bladder infection. No matter how much cran-cocktail you swig, it will not go away unaided. In fact, I have found that after a week and a half, the excruciating pain of the undrained bladder, coupled with the pain of where-did-that-horse-come-from-that-kicked-me-in-the-back that signals a migration of said bladder infection to the kidney, is enough to send even the toughest of see-no-evil women into weepy sobs of uncontrollable misery.

That is me. Weepy. Sobbing. Uncontrollable. MISERY.

I felt better after 3 1/2 hours of pushing a child into this world than I do now, and the pain is worse. Pray to the patron saint of internal organs, whoever he or she may be. My back hurts too much right now to Google the info.

Ouch! (sniff......)

Pros and Cons of Literacy

2007-01-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

My son Phoenix has learned to read. This is a great thing. As you know, I am an avid reader, and I so want my boys to enjoy reading. (Although getting him to read a BOOK is still like bamboo shoots under the fingernails for him...).

I love watching him find words on things around the house, and listening to him sound them out letter by letter, and then seeing the triumphant look on his face when he shouts out the word correctly. I remember that feeling; the joy of discovery! A new world out there to explore.

Then there are the words you don't want him to read. Like brick wall graffiti... "What does FFFFFF uuuuuuuuuuuu CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC kkkkkkkk, FUCK mean, Mom?" That sort of thing.

I remember going up to my mom and saying to her, "What does naked (pronouncing it like caked) mean?" "Oh, you mean naked...where did you see that word?" "Right here in the paper. "5 year old boy's body found naked under the overpass". What's an overpass?" And being puzzled as my mom grabbed the Toronto Sun out of my grasp and handed me a Curious George book to practice my reading on instead.

Now I understand. A whole new era, of trying to protect your kids for as long as you can from the evils of the world, now only in written form. God help me if he ever discovers this BLOG!

*********************************************************************************

In other news, I took Keegs yesterday for a speech reassessment. He did very well. He does still have some obvious receptive language issues (he still doesn't understand how or why questions, for example) but in other areas he has improved remarkably since his first assessment back in April of 2006. I will update on his actual results when they get sent to me, but his speech pathologist seemed very happy with his progress to date, as am I.

I am taking Ty back to the allergist next week to get tested for the MMR vaccine to see if he reacts to the amount of egg protein in it. On Friday, Mark and I have to meet with the psychologist who will be administering Keegan's psycho-educational assessment test. We have been told that our meeting with her will be about 1 1/2 hours, and that's just to give background information about him since he took his first breath. I did write milestones down, but kripes, some of the things I'm supposed to remember are crazy. When did he first reach for an object? Hell if I know. If you know these things about your own kids, congratu-freakin-lations!

The week after that, I am finally going to see a dermatolgist about my creepy hands. Which will probably result in another $300000000000 in prescription charges that my piece of crap medical insurance won't cover, as usual. Bloody Blue Cross!

Just finished reading a great book. It's called "Bloodletting and other Miraculous Cures" by Vincent Lam. He won the Giller Prize for this book, and deserved it. It was a really good read. Right now I'm reading "Lullabies for Little Criminals" by Heather O'Neill. It's great so far too.

In a moment of childhood nostalgia, I decided that I wanted to read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I had read Little House In the Big Woods and Little House on the Prarie when I was about 8 or 9, but hadn't realized how many others there were. And since we are on season 6 of watching the tv show, I wanted to read them all. These books are great for all ages, but I would definitely recommend that you buy this series for your daughter if you are blessed with one. Nice wholesome reading, and full of interesting pioneer knowledge.

Well, that's it for book corner. Time to put the kiddies to bed.

Nighty-night.

I'm Not As Think As You Drunk I Am

2007-01-01T01:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

One chocolate martini. 3 Kamikazis. That equals one drunk Shannon...

fjdsjfkw4ibgthi4ol t4hiou2hb4oiw vcjfeiwk fvht4o ht4oi vh4iouth bth4o bht4o bhgruh vvvvv,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Kripes. Passed out on the keyboard. Can't feel fingers. Must find bed.

And bucket.

God, I'm such a cheap drunk....

To my credit, for the past 6 New Year's Eve's, I've either been pregnant or nursing, so my alcohol tolerance is extremely low...

Have you ever had your back fall asleep? That's the place I'm in right now.

Is it wrong that it took me twelve attempts to write the title of this post?

Christmas Photos!

2006-12-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

Check out my photos from Christmas at MyPhotoAlbum!

Merry, Happy, Cheery, Best

2006-12-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone! Merry Christmas to you today. I sit at the computer eating a mid-morning snack of holiday goodies, like fudge, sweet marie bars, mudpies...yeah, baby. It's all good.

Had the big in-law dinner here last night. It was great. The kids were wonderful and had a great time. Ty lasted until 8:30, just long enough to open his presents and pass out. The other boys were up until about 10:30, but the nice part is, they slept in until 8:00 am this morning!

So yesterday was part one. Part two was the Santa presents this morning, and part three is this afternoon when Grandpa (my dad) and Uncles Mike and Paul arrive for another present opening-frenzy. (Part four is tomorrow when Uncle Tom and family arrive).

Kids got very spoiled. Lots of nice new clothes to wear. They all decided to wear their fuzzy warm tracksuits today. (Most likely because when it got so hot in the house last night, we turned off the furnace, then forgot to turn it back on before bed and woke up with icicles in our nostrils this morning!)

I hope you are all having a nice holiday and are enjoying your time with friends and family. To you and yours from me and mine, we wish you the best holiday ever!

Shannon-Claus

'Tis The Season To Be Busy

2006-12-23T22:59:00.000-05:00

Today was the official start to holiday busy-ness. This morning we bathed the kiddies, gelled their hair into submission and spruced ourselves up and made the trek out to Brooklin to my cousin Cyndi's house.

She put on a great spread of appetizer munchies including stuffed mushrooms, crab pastries, breaded wings, skewered BBQ pork, shrimp, veggies and the list goes on. It was all very yummy. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. I promised them that they could open their cousin Christmas gifts after dinner. They were so excited. (Except Ty. He was just tired).

Phoenix got a cool Hot Wheels set, which he was extremely happy about, and Keegan was ecstatic about his gift, which was a set of three Thomas books, plus the stories on CD, a McQueen/Mater t-shirt and a McQueen baseball hat. He insisted on wearing both the t-shirt and hat to bed. Cute. He is so excited about Christmas this year. He got out of bed 300 times tonight to sneak down and gaze at the tree lights and ponder over the presents surrounding the tree. Ty got new pants and two great shirts to match. (Thank you cousins!)

Mark is feeling like crapola tonight and has retired to the couch to convalesce. He is now sipping gingerale and watching the Sound of Music. Me? Well, no rest for the weary. After the kids went to bed, I started the laundry, and am now on load three. I got out all of my Christmas linen and set the table in the dining room with the good china and wedding silver and crystal stemware. I found and washed all of the serving dishes for the desserts. Did the prep work for the dessert I am making tomorrow morning (Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake). Cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Swiffered the basement floor. Tidied the toy room in preparation for vaccuuming tomorrow. Got together 3 last-minute Christmas gifts and now I have to go wrap them and fold the next load of laundry. Whew!

Thank God that last night I was able to escape for a few hours and run away to the hairdresser. Man was THAT a necessary appointment! I had such a skunk-stripe happening that I was "this" close to committing barbacide!

That being said, off to do a few more chores, then I am going to collapse for a few hours before it all begins anew. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, good night!

When Good Parenting Bites You In The Ass

2006-12-22T22:05:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love best about Christmas is the Santa-threat factor. If used properly, a parent can use the Santa-threat for up to 6 weeks leading to Christmas. For example:
"That's fine, boys. Don't go to bed. But Santa is watching you. He's always watching you. And if you don't go to bed right now, he's going to put your name on the naughty list, and all you will get on Christmas morning is a lump of coal in your stocking!" (Cue children running like hell to get in bed before Santa edits his naughty/nice list).

However, I had a shocking thing happen to me last night. My perfect and awe-inspiring parenting skills (snigger...) came whipping around to bite me in the ass. After delivering the Santa-threat to Phoenix when he kept getting out of bed, Phoenix says to me, "Mom, it doesn't matter if Santa doesn't bring me anything on Christmas morning. Christmas isn't about presents. It's about being with your family and loved ones."

KRIPES...

So what do I do to shore up the crumbling wall of perfect parenthood? Do I hug him in the joy of his having learned a very important moral message in this season of commercialism and greed? Nope. What I said, albeit sweetly, was this: "That's wonderful Phoenix. I am glad that you will have the comfort and joy of your family and loved ones. I hope that makes you happy as we are all sitting there opening our presents from Santa, because we were good, and stayed in bed when we were supposed to."

Chalk it up to stress, bah-humbugism, or what have you. I admit, sometimes my sarcasm gets the better of me, as countless friends and family will attest to (no comments from you, Leanne!) I should know better than to unleash it on a helpless child. My excuse is that I am a Scorpio, and a bit of a bitch. So I just can't help it. Plus I read somewhere that children that were not breast-fed as babies (as I was not) are sarcastic due to lack of oral gratification as infants. So there.

But as I lay in bed last night, I did feel a tiny glow. That when all was said and done, I must be doing something right, if beneath all the gimmee-gimmee of the season, my son knew what was important. And he learned it from me.

PS. He got the good-boy hug and kiss this morning...

That's One Unhappy Looking Shepherd!

2006-12-20T23:19:00.000-05:00

Keegan, the unhappy shepherd....

Do You Have Someone Missing At Christmas?

2006-12-18T20:39:00.000-05:00

I heard a song on the radio today, strangely enough while I was thinking of my Mom, and how much I miss her at this time of year. As much as she complained about the stress of pulling the day together, she loved it, and always made the day so special for us, both as children and as adults. The song was called, "Someone Is Missing At Christmas", by Anne Cochran. I heard it at lunch as I was feeding Ty, and balled my eyes out. I just had to share the lyrics with you. If I was more blogger savvy, I would provide an audio link, but as I sadly, am not, here are the words. Grab a tissue:

Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone I loved all my life
Someone I played with and laughed all night long
Someone I think of when I hear that song

Someone is missing at Christmas
Someone has left me alone
Someone so close even though we’re apart
Someone who’d finished the sentence I’d start

Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone who always was here
Someone is missing this year

Candlelit snapshots of Christmases gone by
You in your favorite chair
Memories like snowflakes melt in my eyes
I look and you’re not sitting there

Someone whose love is my favorite gift
Someone whose presence is my Christmas wish
Someone is missing at Christmas

Wait… someone is touching my heart…
Someone has heard me and answered my call
Someone I love is not missing at all

Someone is with me at Christmas
Someone’s right here in my heart
Someone I love is with me this Christmas
And will be each Christmas to come!

******************************************************************************
Sigh....I miss my Mom. But you know, the song is true for me. I know that she is touching my heart, and will be with me this Christmas and each Christmas to come.

Move Over Betty Crocker

2006-12-16T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today was Christmas baking day, part one. I made Toblerone fudge (okay), Score-bit shortbread (yum!), mocha butter balls (dee-lish) and Jello cookies (surprisingly good). My back is on fire from standing at the table all day.

I still have more stuff to make, but I'm going to spread it out through the week. I will be making Score Bars, chocolate/raspberry jam bars, and for Christmas dinner dessert, a Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake. Spent $70 today on baking supplies. Kripes! It's the butter that does me in. Time to buy our own cow. Just think of the money we'd save on whole milk alone!

Still haven't found a present for my Dad, but I have an idea now, thanks to my cousin. He occasionally reads this blog, so I won't spoil it for him here, but I think he'll like it.

Tomorrow is the church Christmas kids pageant. Phoenix and Keegan are dressing up as shepherds. I will post pictures after the event. I will be happy when it is over and I don't have to listen to Keegs singing at the top of his lungs, "GO! Tell it on the MOUNtain!"

It is a very busy week coming up.

Tuesday, I have to take Bun to the dr's for a checkup, and to pick up a vaccine sample to bring back to the allergist for Ty. Also, in the morning, one of the moms in Bun's class is having a seasonal tea party for fellow-moms, so I might go to that. Wednesday morning, my friend Christy is hosting a kaffee-klatch for the Healthy Snack Program moms, and since I contribute in a teeny way by writing a blurb about food in the Parent Council Newletter, I get to go to that too. Wednesday night is Phoenix's school Christmas concert, so we have that to attend, and Friday morning is Keegan's concert. After that, Mark's office is having a little lunch thing, and since Phoenix's class has early dismissal that day, we'll go to that, then later, I'm getting my hair done (YAY!). Saturday, we are off to Brooklin to my cousin Cyndi's house for some Christmas cheer, and then Sunday is Christmas Eve. Mark and I are hosting dinner for his family (as they do the big present/dinner thing on the 24th every year and his sister and I trade houses for the event every year and this year is my turn). Christmas Day, we are having my Dad and my brothers Mike and Paul over for dinner, and on Boxing Day, we are having the same crew plus my brother Tommy and his family over for brunch. Whew!

Wow. Holy run-on paragraph, Batman! (Ha, I just typed Barman by mistake. God telling me I need a drink, I think).

Anyway, I'm tired and my back is giving out, so I think I'll go curl up with my book and the heating pad and then go to bed. How are your holiday preparations going? Busy week for you too? Drop me a line, give me some competition for busy-ness...

Things Just Keep Getting Better and Better!!!!

2006-12-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

Yeah, that's sarcasm alright. Ty has picked up the wonderful world of pink eye, and now has an infection in both eyes. Gross, creepy mess. Try cleaning green gunk out of a 18-month old flailing-contortionist-child's eyes by yourself, and administer eye drops with out the aid of 15 tie wraps and a straight-jacket. NOT FUN!!!

But, let's get all of this nastiness out of the way before Christmas so we can (knock-on-wood) have a happy, HEALTHY holiday. Whew!

Just finished wrapping the latest load of presents. 88 wrapped and ready to date. Still need something for my Dad. Any ideas?

I made the mistake of going to the mall yesterday and browsing children's wear. I mean, for my kids, I was finished shopping. So explain to me this: 2 pairs of pyjamas, 3 pairs of mittens, one shirt and 4 pairs of pants. Kripes! Well, the sales were so good, I could not resist. Two pairs of polar fleece pants for $12? Come on! You'd have bought them too. Pyjamas? Licensed?> Thomas and Spiderman> for $8.00 each? Too good to be true. So my kids are spoiled Johnny Rotten yet again.

(In the spirit of giving and sale admiration, I also picked up a sweater and two shirts for my self. Oh yeah, and a t-shirt for Mark.) Don't worry, my hubby never reads this blog, so..........hey..........I could write virtually ANYTHING about him........and he would never know......unless you tell him. HUSH!

Still have not done one crumb of Christmas baking yet. But Mark has next week off from work, so I plan to do a lot then. Hey honey! You're on baby duty! (Ok, you can tell him that.)

Well, guess I'd better go tidy or do something similiarly industrious (or maybe just have another cup of tea, and read for a bit). Taking Tyger for his allergy testing this afternoon to see if he is allergic to eggs. Will update when I know.

Happy last-minute stress! I mean, shopping!

PS. I am still hacking up a lung, but feel marginally better. I'd say I'm about 63.2%.

PPS. A VERY HAPPY 69TH BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY!!!!!!!(Yesterday). You don't look a day over 68. I love you!

*******************************************************************************
Ty Allergy Update:

DEFINITELY allergic to eggs. Moderate to severe reaction. Allergist said that if he eats something containing eggs, like a cookie, or a piece of cake, or bread etc, he probably won't react. (As he eats none of these things anyway, it's not really an issue!) However, he would definitely have a reaction if he ate something with a high egg concentration such as meringue, or angel food cake or eggnog, or plain eggs, for that matter. So if we avoid those types of things he should be okay in daily living.

Regarding his vaccines, some of which contain egg protein like the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and ruebella, I have to bring a sample of the vaccine to her office. She will do a skin test on Ty with the vaccine to see if he reacts. If not, she will inject him with a 10% dose. If he reacts to that, no vaccine. If not, then he can get it. Poor little bug. One thing after the other!

A Few Tidbits To Tide You Over

2006-12-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hi.

I'm sick.

Here's what's new: Keegan has finally come to the top of the list for OC (occupational therapy), so finally he will get assistance with fine motor skills like cutting with scissors and writing.

Phoenix got his second stripe on his karate white belt yesterday. We are very proud of him.

Ty has a new word. "Sorry!" Unfortunately, he gives himself many opportunities to use this appropriately.

So, to parrot Ty, sorry. That's all I have energy for today. More soon, I hope.

PS. Recommendations for food and drink this season:

Starbucks' Gingerbread Latte and Eggnog Latte AWESOME!

Do you like chocolate? (Umm..yeah!?!) Cinnamon? (Bring it on!) Then you MUST try the new KitKat Chunky Cinnamon bar. Mmmmmm...

Twisted Sister? Oh Brother!

2006-12-06T10:29:00.000-05:00

Last night Mark and I went to see Twisted Sister's "Twisted Christmas" show, at the Danforth Music Hall. I have a lot to say, so I'll just jump in and get started.

First of all, we left early so that we could have a nice Greek dinner on the Danforth before the show. Busted...took us over 2 hours just to get into the city. Effing traffic!!! So, we got there just in time for the show to start, and we were freaking starving!!!

I've never been to the Music Hall before, and at the risk of offending fans of this venue, the place is a hole. I froze my ass off all night! Think of 1973 movie theatre seating and you'll know what I mean. No leg room either; poor Mark had his knees practically to his chin when we were sitting down.

When the show started (1/2 hour late, another thing that frosts my flakes), Dee Snider comes out dressed as Santa and jumps right in with a heavy metal version of a Christmas song. It was really good, I have to say. Actually, all of the holiday songs they did were great, especially O Come All Ye Faithful which had us all fooled because the beginning sounds like "We're Not Gonna Take It". That being said...

Let me state plainly that as a rule, I am not a fan of heavy metal (aside from the cheesy 80's ballads that every band put out in that decade). I won't listen to that kind of music if given a choice. I only know two Twisted Sister songs, "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", so whenever they played any of their other tunes, I took to people watching instead.

I have to say, it was quite a bizarre variety of fans. You had the younger punk set, with the half-shaved heads and Kool-Aid hair. Then there were the "hair-band fans" with hair down to their asses and head banging to every song (sadly, my husband creeped into this category). Then there was a startlingly large crowd of guys that I would bet my life are in their 60's, pushing 70, and they knew every song, lyric and gesture. Next was the covertly drug-smoking, alcohol fumed slobs with beer guts hanging over their skull belt buckles (like the creep that was next to me who yelled out every two minutes "Stop the Christmas crap, play the old shit!"). I seriously wanted to whack this guy over the head with a Yule log. Umm, hello, it's a Christmas show? Effing jerk! And the occasional woman like me: one who was there with their boyfriend/husband in an attempt at making an effort to solidify the relationship bond, or was dragged there against their own will or good judgement.

Reading this back, it sounds like I was miserable. I wasn't. Well, maybe I was cranky with claustrophobia, wheezy with polluted atmosphere, a little stoned by association, foot and back sore from standing, and annoyed as hell with the losers in the crowd who wouldn't shut the hell up, but other than that, it was great.

After the show, Mark asked me what I thought. Honestly, I said that I like the seasonal songs and the 2 songs I knew, but all in all, I thought the whole thing rather sad. It almost always is, when you see these great hair-bands of the 80's, and here they are 20-odd years later, still going at it, but with badly shagged wigs, paunches over spandex, and a singer that has to duck behind the Marshall stacks for oxygen 3 times in every song...

The Twisted Christmas CD? A must buy for any metal fan, or even a fan of holiday music, I think it's great. A Twisted Sister concert...I think it would be kinder to pull out your VHS tapes of the weekly Video Hits and remember them as they were: young, hot, toned, and ready to rock!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............

2006-12-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

Baby! It's cold outside! Winter has decided to arrive. Snow began last night around dinner time. Not a lot, mind you, we're not Buffalo or anything, but enough to cover the sidewalks and grass, picnic tables and tree limbs, in a Christmas-y coating.

Rewind to 11:30 pm last night, where you see Shannon frantically pawing through the cedar chest (aka the respository of shoes that don't fit, used to fit, and will fit someone someday) in search of a pair of boots for the boys. Result? Damn. Need to buy the boys new boots. Phoenix's will do until I can get to the store. Keegan's are a size too small and hurt his feet. Ty has a pair that are pretty much new, so he is golden. Boot shopping has been suspended until Wednesday evening, as Mark is taking me out tonight. Remember I stated on my birthday post that I had received tickets to a seasonal show?

I was all excited, thinking that it was the Rockettes Christmas Show. Ah, no. Not even close. But very cool all the same. We're going to the Danforth Music Hall to see "A Twisted Christmas", starring Twisted Sister. I think it's my husband who's twisted, but that is neither here nor there. I am sure it will be a great time, if only just to flee the house of illness for a few hours.

It is really cold here today. (Compared to last week, when we had a balmy 12 C going on). Today it is -2 C (-11 with the windchill). Brrrrr...frosty!

Keep warm! I'll update about the Twisted show tomorrow...

The Black Cloud of DOOM!

2006-12-01T10:47:00.000-05:00

I am not merely referring to the awful weather...which by the way is torrential rains. Time to build the ark! Instead, I refer to the increasingly awful state of the members of my household. As previously reported, Phoenix has a double ear infection and bronchitis, but now also has an eye infection too (caught, no doubt from Keegan, the walking plague)! Mark spent over an hour at the clinic with him last night, only to have the doctor (who was Doogie Hauser-like in his youth) say that he didn't need drops, because the antibiotic he was on for his ear should clear it up.

Oh yeah, Doogie? Explain to me why a kid who has been on antibiotics for over 48 hours has developed an eye infection in the first place! And clearing up? Then why does Phoenix's eye look like he went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson? It is swollen almost shut, the sclera is bright red, and is yellow-green weepy. Gee, maybe drops would help?

So I called my own doctor who actually went to medical school instead of taking correspondance medical courses from the back of a matchbook cover, and he has called in a prescription for eye drops. Jeez! Will the fun never end?

And to top it all off...only 24 more shopping days.

As my cousin Lori said, "Happy FREAKING Holidays!"

PS. On a more pleasant note: Happy Birthday to my friend Teresa, and my sister-in-law Julie!!!

Just Call Me Catherine Willows

2006-11-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

My Auntie Cathy called me a few minutes ago. I told her that I was in the middle of investigating the C.S.I. crime scene that I like to call Keegan's bedroom. Starting at the bed...sheets and underlying mattress soaked in blood. Bloodspatter on wall and bedframe. Drops of blood on the carpet leading from the bed, out of the room, into the hall, into my room, and onto the bathroom floor. Scene analysis? Major nosebleed with intermittent sneezes with resulting spray. Kripes!

The poor little kid is plagued with nosebleeds. This morning's episode brings the total since Sunday to a record breaking 7. And it's only Thursday. With a combination of allergies and a cold from hell, even a tiny sneeze is enough to rupture his fragile nasal mebranes.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to do a plug for the best laundry product known to woman for removing a variety of bodily fluids, including snot, vomit, round-trip milk, and blood. Yes, it's "Spray 'n' Wash Dual Power". I can't say enough about this stuff. It has saved many a ruined item of clothing and in Keegan's case, lots of sheets and pillowcases. Get it. I swear it works!

That being said, I am off to try to scrub the spatter from the carpet and furniture. I hope you have a great day, and thanks for tuning in to CSI: Keegan the Victim's Unit....

They Say Things Come In 3's

2006-11-29T10:36:00.000-05:00

First Keegs. Then Mark. Yes, he's been coughing up a lung for the last two days and nights, making it an unpleasant sleeping situation for me, his bedmate. And now, Phoenix. Double ear infection and bronchitis. Kripes! Had Ty checked out too, just in case, but for now, he's clear. I feel like a soldier braced for war. I am battening down the hatches, and fortifying my defences. Prime rule #1: Moms are NOT ALLOWED to get sick. It's mind over matter. I have too much to do. Just yesterday I wrapped 37 Christmas gifts. Today, I wrapped 4 more. (That's all I could do. Out of paper and tissue.) So much more shopping to do and less than a month to do it in.

So far I've finished shopping for all of my kids, 2 nephews, a niece and 2 second-cousins. Plus two December birthday gifts. Whew! Still have one nephew, 2 brothers, a dad, two in-laws, a brother and sister-in-law and a husband left to shop for. Not to mention gifts for the "school people". I get off easy with Phoenix, only one teacher. Keegan has 3 teachers, a resource consultant and 2 bus drivers. Kripes! School is an expensive business!

I think I'll go cry now at the sheer enormity of it all. Happy Holidays!

All I Want For Christmas...

2006-11-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

...is three healthy kids. GOD! I am tired of the never-ending viruses that seek to search and destroy all that I hold dear. Poor Kegs has a cold from hell. Horrible cough, low-grade fever, and eyes that leak tears all day. I just hope that if the other guys get it, that it is over soon, and gone from the house before the holidays.

This Christmas is a VERY busy social season for us. We are hosting a friend-pot-luck dinner on the 9th. Hosting Christmas Eve for Mark's family. Hosting Christmas dinner for my family. Hosting Boxing Day get together for more of my family. Plus there's the Santa parade; our charity, Field and Stream Rescue Team, is having a float this year, and Mark and maybe a kid or two may be on that...Kids' Santa party for employees of my Dad's office and their kids/grandkids...dinner with my cousin and his family...gee, good thing that Dad filled our freezer, eh?

Finally started my Christmas shopping. And although the corner of my room is filled with presents yet to be wrapped, I have SO MUCH more to get. Too many kidlets! And we really cut down our list this year too. Crazy. I know my house will look like ToysRUs on Christmas morning too. All those toys that take 1 1/2 hours just to take out of the packaging, let alone assemble. Ah, tis the season!

And baking! Can't even think of that yet! No room in the freezer! ARRGGHHHH!

And how are you doing? Everything okay? Family doing well? Everyone healthy? Haven't heard from you in a while. Let me know how your holiday preparations are going...

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PM Kegger update

By 11:00 am, he had a fever of 100.3. His right eye was leaking tears constantly. By 3:00 pm, his fever had climbed to 102.5, despite the Tylenol. His leaky tear stream had turned from clear to a disgusting yellow mucous. Ewww....Mark took him to the clinic. Apparently, he had an ear infection that was so bad, that the doctor couldn't believe that he wasn't crying all day and night. (Not one word of complaint to me about ear pain). The doctor said that the infection had moved into his eye from the ear. Talk about gross. Poor little punkin! So now he is on antibiotics and eye drops. Took a 2 hour nap and refused dinner. Hope the antibiotics kick in by tomorrow...

What Came First?

2006-11-23T07:19:00.000-05:00

The chicken or the egg? Well, in Ty's case, the egg. I have reason to believe that he has developed an egg allergy, which would really suck for two main reasons. One, there are so many foods out there that contain eggs in some form (can you say cake?) that he would be denied, and more importantly, some vaccines contain egg protein. (See picture of the first time Ty tried eggs. This was when a piece of scrambled egg touched his lower lip...) It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but those red/pink patches were blotchy hives with small blisters around his mouth. Very simliar to the skin contact reaction he had to a trace of peanut butter that was on a cloth.

Yesterday I took him for his 18 month shots (OMG! A year and a half already!) and after discussing things with the Dr., decided to only get the one shot, as the MMR shot contains egg. So now Ty has to go for allergy testing on Dec 15 to see if he adds eggs to his allergy list. Poor little guy.

Christmas Comes Early For the Carnivores/TMI

2006-11-21T07:25:00.000-05:00

Christmas came early around here for us carnivores. Dad said that he would fill my freezer. Now I can barely shut the door! 3 HUGE roasting chickens. Massive prime rib. Enormous rolled pork roast. Chicken breasts. Butterfly pork chops. Sausages. Bacon. And 4 of the biggest sirloin steaks known to man since the Flinstones (see picture). Woo-hoo! Won't have to shop for a year! Now, who' s coming for dinner?
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Mark sat me down last night with the intention of giving me a serious lecture regarding the amount of credit card spending I did last month, particularly at the book store. I gave him a calculating look, and then said casually, "Will morning sex call this even?" He said, "DONE!" So, this morning I got my cardio workout done without having to leave bed, and avoided a lecture at the same time. What can I say? I'm a book-whore. Anything to satisfy the addiction...Oh sorry. What that one of those "too-much-information" moments?

Birthday Round-Up

2006-11-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

Well, all in all, an awesome birthday. I always love to hear what people got for their birthdays, so if you are one of those people as well, here is the sum and total of my loot.

From: Dad: $$
Paul (my brother): 2 Laurell K. Hamilton books
Mike(my brother): 4 bottles of Pop Shoppe Black Cherry Cola-my all time favourite soda-, a Chilly Willy t-shirt, and three pairs of chenille socks (one blue, and two pink)
Mama & Papa: $$
Mark: tickets to a show on Dec 5. Don't know what it is yet. It's a surprise!
Phoenix: black chenille sweater and DVD of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon (more for him, than me, but it's the thought...)
Keegan: red chenille sweater and the new Weird Al cd
Ty: CD Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits (which I've listened to so much that my kids go around singing "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue!")
Christy(my friend): baklava and a tea rest
Darra(my friend): home-baked pumpkin muffins-YUM-and hey, Happy Birthday Darra!!!
Leanne (my friend): dinner and a movie-we saw...um....the name escapes me. The new will Farrell one. It was really good. He was brilliant. Oh yeah! Stranger Than Fiction. See, my brain still works, even though I'm a year older!
Auntie Mo: beautiful china teacup & saucer, 2007 Herb Calendar and a new address book
Auntie Helen: the new Philippa Gregory book and a gift certificate for Chapters
Auntie Cathy: 4 martini glasses and an awesome penguin shaped martini shaker
Auntie Susan: a gold "Shannon" necklace, a la "Carrie-from-Sex-In-the-City" from her trip to Ireland
Lori (my cousin): a beautiful moss green chenille sweater and 3 pairs of black chenille socks (can you tell I'm into that fabric these days?)
Dana (my cousin-in-law): gift certificate to Kate's (where I have my hair done)

All in all, an awesome haul. Thank you all!!!!

Today was my and my Auntie Susan's birthday party. Usually we do a dinner, but this year we decided to do something different and had a tea party instead. It was great! Auntie Susan went all out, and the food was de-lish! Little sandwiches of ultimate decadence-yum! I tried my hand at scones, at they turned out really well. If anyone wants recipes, leave a comment and I'll e-mail them to you. I made spice ones (with cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg), lemon and cheddar. The spice ones were my favourite, served with wild strawberry jam and Devon cream. I also made a "Teapot" cake. It turned out really well; I was quite happy with it. I ended up doing an impromptu tea-leaf reading too, and that was fun. Altogether, a great afternoon.
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Mark went on a bit of a cleaning/reorganizing frenzy today. As a result, I now have four new shelves in the basement, a reorganized laundry area, and a MUCH tidier toy room. When he gets an idea in his head, he goes to town...now if I could only get him to magically make my closet bigger!

Well, day is done, gone the sun...and whatever the rest of that Girl Guide taps song says. Time to curl up with a cup of tea, and dig into one of my new books. TTFN!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-11-16T06:41:00.000-05:00

Last, but not least, me at age 6. The caption on the back of the photo reads "Shannon all dressed up for a birthday party". I'm wondering now if it was a costume party. With that dress and those shoes, I look like Dorothy Gale!

And with that, Happy Birthday to me! All dressed up, and ready to go!

My girlfriend Leanne, from Rye High, is coming to see me today, and we're going for dinner and a movie (weather permitting...it's raining so hard that I may have to cash in my presents for an ark...). I'm looking forward to seeing her, as the last time we got together was 1 1/2 years ago, when Tyger was born.

Last night, someone asked me how old I was turning today. I quoted from a recently read book and said, "The same age as my tongue, as a few months older than my teeth." All kidding aside, today I am 29. Again. Shut up. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I figure I can get away with it until Bun turns 10. I still get carded at the LCBO! So no comments from the peanut gallery.

Birthday Photo Countdown 7

2006-11-15T18:47:00.000-05:00

This picture should have been a sign of things to come (aka three babies!) for me! The note on the back of the photo penned by Mom reads, "Shannon as a "Fat Lady"". She obviously didn't realize that I was determined to be her when I grew up (having lots of kids, that is)...and still, she beat me by one...the most important one. Me!

And speaking of things to come, and babies....Jenny had her baby today! (Finally!) 7 pounds, one oz, 19 inches long. He's here! Name to come... Congrats babe! Welcome to the world of three kidlets.

Birthday Photo Countdown 6

2006-11-14T07:18:00.000-05:00

Another Halifax shot. Note the coordinating ribbons, barrettes and turtleneck. My mother is the reason why, to this day, my socks always match my shirt.

And see those trees in the background? Gone! I went back to the old 'hood a few years back and all those trees are now history and have been replaced with monster homes. Can't even see the Basin...

I'd also like to wish my brother Michael a very Happy 37th Birthday!!!!!! Have a good one, brotha!

Birthday Photo Countdown 5

2006-11-13T07:32:00.000-05:00

I am 4 in this shot, outside of our place when we lived in Halifax. I'm pretty sure that the coat I am wearing is exactly the style I saw at Old Navy the other night, minus the 70's belt. But still...CHEESE!

A Surprise Literary Find

2006-11-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

I was tidying up my bedside table today (insert gasps of shock from the readers at the thought of Shannon voluntarily tidying anything here) and found a notebook. Only two pages had been written on. It was a story. Last year Phoenix had woken up from a rare nap and had found me industrially scribbling away at a short story in my notebook. He expressed to me that he wished that he could write down stories when he thought of them, but he didn't know how to write yet. So I told him that whenever he had an idea for a story, to tell me, and I would write it for him. The following is the story that he proceeded to tell me, and I wrote in "his" notebook.

Superfriends Story by Phoenix

Once upon a time, there was a bunch of people called the Superfriends. They were superheroes and friends, and that's why they were called the Superfriends. One day they went for a walk in the forest. It was called the Warm Forest.

Captain Cold was up in a tree and he froze them but he missed. Superman threw a rock at the tree and it fell on Captain Cold and he was trapped. He was there for ages and ages and ages and ages and ages. It was five whole days. And then you know what happened? Captain Cold's team came and started throwing trees at the Superfriends. But they missed because they all flew away. Well, some of them flew away, and some ran, because not all of them can fly. The Flash runs. He runs really fast.

So they ran and flew away and they came to a big ditch. They all jumped over it. Then Captain Cold and his friends came and they jumped over the ditch too. And then you know what happened?

There was a big ball, a big rock ball, that fell from I don't know where, and made another big ditch and the Superfriends jumped to the other side, but it was too big for the bad guys. So then the Superfriends went home and had lunch.

The End.

Just goes to show that literary genius can start at any age.

Birthday Photo Countdown 4

2006-11-12T07:17:00.000-05:00

This is me on my 3rd birthday. Mom made me a Barbie cake. I was so excited. So were my brothers, who battled amongst themselves as to who would get to lick the icing off of Barbie's chest...

This was also the beginning of the pretty much permanent hairstyle for the next 7 or 8 years. Two pony tails or braids, with ribbons and/or barrettes to match whatever shirt I was wearing, with the slight side-part to accomodate the stubborn cowlick.

Birthday Photo Countdown 3

2006-11-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

In the 3rd installment, a rare photo! Here I am performing my first piano composition, at the tender age of two. Sounded a lot like the Sesame Street theme song...and man, did I love those shoes!
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Happy Remembrance Day to all of the brave Canadians who fought for our country in the wars. We salute you!
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Happy 34th Birthday to my hubby! I love ya! And Happy 34th Birthday also to my friend Melanie!

Birthday Photo Countdown 2

2006-11-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

Second photo in the countdown, the kiddie family portrait, starring me and my brothers. From the left, Tommy, Paul, and Michael and a pretty grumpy looking me, front and centre.

(Let's take a moment to comment on the wardrobe and hairdos. Boys? Nice hair! Did Mom use the same size Tupperware bowl for all three cuts? And Michael, can't say enought about that groovy t-shirt. I think I saw Bobby wear that one on the Brady Bunch...)

Birthday Photo Countdown

2006-11-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

As a fun way to count down the week leading up to my birthday, I thought I'd do a photo journey of my first 6 years, the same age that my eldest son is now. That being said, here is a photo of a very young me, with my Auntie Susan, who is also my Godmother...

Happy Birthdays!

2006-11-06T19:07:00.000-05:00

Wishing a very happy birthday to my aunt/Godmother, Susan! You're the same age as me this year! 29, right?

Also, happy birthday to my girlfriend Jackie! Have a good one, sista!