Siblings

How cute is this?? Princess trying to play her Dad's "Guitar Hero III" that he just received for Christmas. You can tell she is struggling a little bit.











Enter Cryptic. He saw her struggling, so stepped in to help. How precious is this??

*NOTE* The odd mark on her neck is a tattoo of a rose that she got in her stocking.

Merry Christmas!!

Yesterday we finally got the gingerbread house made and last minute shopping done.

Today was spent doing some last minute cleaning, finally getting my fudge made and going to our lovely Christmas Eve service at church. After our traditional supper at Olive Garden we came back here and exchanged gifts with some friends of our's. Then we set out Santa's snack, read the true Christmas story and then "T'was the Night before Christmas". The kids are still all hyped up and can't seem to settle down. *sigh* You gotta love it!!

I know you all want to see photos of these goings on...








Clown and Princess work together to organise a drawer in one of the bathrooms.



Jock sweeps...



Ready for church...





As you can see by a few shots, Princess is quite grouchy and seems to be behind on her sleep. As I finish this post, Clown has laid a sleeping bag on the floor of Jock's bedroom and seems to be camping out in there. Princess had hoped to sleep in her new horsey sleeping bag that she opened today from her Poppa in SC. She wanted to sleep in Cryptic and Clown's bedroom but then Clown decided to be with Jock. So Cryptic, sweetheart that he is, told Princess to get her sleeping bag ready in the Rec Room and he would put in a Christmas movie out there and they can fall asleep watching that.

Have a wonderful holiday with plenty of good food and good times with loved ones!

Much Excitement

Well...here I sit with a belly full of my Favourite Thai food. I just mentioned to Stud that I would like some and away he went! Ordered it, picked it up and brought it home! I am SO SPOILED! I am taking advantage of all the fattening yummy foods that I can. Starting January first, I am going to take this eating healthy thing and getting some exercise very seriously. This is ridiculous! I am far too young to be in the pathetic physical shape that I am.

That is why when I get off here, I will eat some cookies. Christmas cookies. Am I hungry?? Of course not! I have a gut full of Thai. But they are there. They smell good, they look amazing and they call to me. You know. Logical, right??

I will share with you all some recent photos of the goings on here at our house.




Princess wanted an ornament up high and was very pleased when Jock offered to lift her up and help her reach! Was pretty funny. He used to carry her all around when she was a cute little baby and toddler but it has been a few years I am sure since such an act of affection and charity hit him in regards to his sister. He gasped and huffed out to her,as the veins popped out of his neck and face, "Hurry Princess! Hook it on somewhere! You are heavier than you look!"







In other news, Princess' holiday dance recital was last Saturday and she had fun as always. The only issue we had was that her teacher was stuck in traffic, so was not available in the wings to give pointers. Princess and her fellow ballerinas has to go completely by memory. Imagine, remembering something you have been practising weekly for over three months! LOL I am kidding, they really did awesome for being seven years old. It was quite cute. One of them would kind of start to do some things and the others would watch and then follow along and then they would soon kind of stand there looking worried. Then another would do something else, and the others would pick up on it. It is not clear who was ever doing any of it correctly, but it was fun to see them try! I will see if Stud can put a small part of it in video form to post on here soon. It is really cute!


We are glad she got that done when she did, because by Tuesday she was ill. Quite ill and still is. She was determined to attend hockey this morning and did just fine. We think she is on the mend! The bad part is that Stud had gotten she and I some very good tickets to the Pacific Northwest Ballet's verson of "The Nutcracker" for yesterday afternoon in Seattle. We were going to all go downtown and make a day of it. See the sights and lights and holiday decorations. They would drop she and I at the ballet and then pick us up again.

Stud woke me yesterday morning at 5:45 on his way out the door with Jock to play "Stick and Puck" to tell me that Princess had just barfed AGAIN. My heart sank. There was NO WAY that she could come. She had been planning for weeks just which dress she would wear, asking me about it and just gushing about how amazing it would be. She was just heartbroken yesterday when Cryptic and I left to go. He was the only brother I could convince to go. I think Clown would have enjoyed it more, but getting that child out of the house proves quite a task. He is even more introverted than I am! I am sure he would have at least stayed awake for the performance though. Cryptic slept through much of it. *sigh* TEENAGERS! I only wanted to go because I knew it would be very special for Princess. It is not my cup of tea at all, but I muddled through:)











So have a peek at Stud's blog to take a gander at something exciting that happened at the rink today. We took Princess for her hockey practise and lo and behold. Some nice young man was there signing jerseys, sticks, etc. What a great kid! He is the same age as my nephew and was born the year before I graduated from High School. Man, I feel OLD!







What else has been going on...? As you can see by one of the photos, Princess is back with Mr. Charlie. She gets to go to private lessons every few weeks and she is DELIGHTED!



It appears that some of the family members have requested that I play some card games with them and then watch a movie.

I hope to post a bit before Chrismas Day. If not, I hope that all of you have an incredible holiday and best to you all in the New Year!

Nuffin' much

Wow, as I went to get on here, it says I have 64 comments that need to be "moderated". I KNEW I was behind! LOL

So yeah, Stud and I had a great time on Kaua'i. I will tell a bit more about it soon, I promised Princess that I would have a tea party with her and watch Frosty the Snowman. I need to bake and clean Stud and I's room too. I want to rearrange Princess' room so her bed is not against the wall. That will be a few hours' undertaking, so who knows if I will get to it today. I was going to do these things earlier, but then remembered that the HSing group was going to meet at a Bouncy place that the kids LOVE and we have not been in a long time. So I took them to that and then out for lunch at the Golden Arches. There is a lot more to do also, so I better get to it!!

Before I do all that I wanted to just post a few shots from the holiday.

Behold, my new tat.



If you want to see Stud's, you can go to his lame blog









Here is one of Stud snorkeling ~













The view from our patio (or should I say, "Lanai") was GORGEOUS!





Ok, that is all for now!!!

Santa!

Well, even though Cryptic just turned 15, I don't think it has occured to him to refuse to be in the annual Santa picture. I daresay he enjoys it!??! LOL He even dragged himself out of bed hours before usual, in order to sit in the car and wait while his sibs were in their Monday morning classes and we could stop by the Mall on the way home!:)

I let them all wear whatever they wanted this year. He chose to wear the same sweater he wore last year, which is too small! He actually asked me to buy a new green one, but I never found one we liked or had much time to search. I suggested he wear something that fit, but that was my only small does of input. LOL Jock and Clown chose just an every day shirt and of course Princess...well, we all know Princess had a blast putting this outfit together! She is especially fond of the bow on the collar of her dress and her snowflake necklace and earrings:)

Do any of you regular readers even recognise my sweet Cryptic?? I shaved his head a few weeks ago:) NO more "Mop Head"! That is what his Oceanography teacher calls him:)

Ok, off to Vancouver tomorrow to pick up my parents who are flying in to stay with the kids while Stud and I head here...

Satisfaction!

Wow, that felt good!

I just sprayed Cryptic and Jock with cold water! I have been telling them to get up for the past 45 minutes. I think they have slept long enough and it is time to leave soon for our weekly Science class. They know if they don't get up when they are told, they get sprayed. I have not been able to bring myself to do it for a long time. And honestly, there is often no reason. We seldom have to get up at any certain time.

That was very fun! I hope I get to do that again soon! *insert evil laugh*

I guess I will post a photo from Wednesday night. Man, I am glad that junk is over. Me no likey.

Here are the Ghoul (same as last year, but he just handed out candy. He has no interest in getting any anymore!) some kind of "hobo" that Jock put together himself last minute, Beast from some movie Clown has never even seen and the "Hollywood Starlet". She wanted to be a witch but when Stud took her shopping, there were no witch costumes in her size:(

Can you spot the little furry pumpkin?? LOL

Off to Science! But first stop, my white mocha from the little stand near the house. MUCH better than Starbucks! I still get Starbucks for some things, but their white mochas are far too sweet. This place makes them PERFECT!

Yet another perk...

...to homeschooling. Here is Jock doing lessons in one of his favourite spots! I snapped this a few weeks back:)





I don't do blogs much anymore. I have discovered Facebook and really enjoy all the variety that it offers. Not to mention how exciting it is to keep in contact with family members and get in touch with long lost friends from elementary school!

I will attempt to be more active on here again as time permits. I am trying to spend more quality time with the kids, get more scheduled (it goes against my nature but appears to be the only way anything really gets done!) and organised with my time, etc.

Hope everyone is doing well! I do miss you all, but try to limit my time on the computer. My babies will be gone from the nest before I know it and I want to soak up every moment with them:)

Brom is ONE!

Seems like such a long time ago that he was just this wee scrap of fluff.






Baby boy turned one year old on Thursday:) We stuck a candle in a little container of moist dog food and lit it. None of those photos turned out. Mainly because NO ONE TOOK ANY! *ahem*

Ok, it's ok. I just had no idea that Jock or whoever had the camera didn't know how to take pictures.

We got him a few gifts and gave him that treat. Took him on a few extra long walks. At one point Princess' Kindergarten teacher drove by when we were out on the front lawn with him. She asked me if I was done with Princess and would send her back to school and "let me have her again." I laughed and said "Sorry. She is mine. We need her here." She looked all sad and Princess was grinning. Then her teacher said a few more things about how she misses her so badly and please let her come back. I said not a chance. Then she said, "Fine. I guess that means you will have to have another baby and when she is old enough, give THAT ONE to me!" We chuckled and she drove away. Princess has been BEGGING me to have a baby and this only intensified the pleas!



Enjoy some photos of the birthday boy on his special day. We are off to Princess' first hockey practise. Photos will follow, I am sure:)

Just a little update

Well, Jock made the PeeWee AA hockey team!! That means much more ice time than previous years. Which is good. He is determined that he will make the NHL one day, so the more ice time for him, the better. We had four games this weekend and will have four more next weekend. Was pretty hectic this weekend, especially since Clown and Princess are coming down with something.



Yesterday I took him to his last game so that Stud could stay home and spend time with the younger two and give Cryptic some free time so that he didn't have to always babysit. We were running a little late and Jock was none too pleased that I had Stud take a photo of us. Jock looked SO GREAT in his suit, I needed a shot of him.



He is # 12 in the white. His position is center, if anyone knows anything about hockey. He is upset at me, because I still don't understand the game. He chided me because this is the start of his fifth season and I still don't get it. I missed so much the season of '05-'06 because I was in a funk from my brother dying and all. I still have not caught up. Many of the people in the association had never even seen me and I am sure they must have wondered if Stud was a single father or something.





After the game we were starved and he wanted to go to the Olive Garden. He LOVES it there. He had to check out his hair in the mirror on the wall. He is so funny:)I love it when he needs to wear a suit to church or the hockey games. He looks so handsome. At least to me. And all the girls who stare and titter and giggle with each other. His brothers love to point out to him how the girls all seem to really like him.








Stud put shiney pink highlights in Princess' hair yesterday and painted her nails. She LOVED IT! Sure looks like they have been drinking or into some kinda drugs, eh??


It is Tuesday night now, not sure when it will say this posted. Princess and Jock went to a pottery place yesterday and got to use the wheel and everything. Jock LOVED IT! Clown is waiting for me to play Mastermind with him, so I need to skidaddle.


At some point soon I will sort through people's comments and post them...I hope!

Freaky Teeth

So I took the younger two kids to the dentist this morning while the older two were in their weekly Science Class.

Princes has THREE CAVITIES!?!? ACK! I am mortified! Cryptic and Jock have each had maybe two...actually I don't think Cryptic has had any. Anyway, Clown had two when he was Princess' age and I was shocked then. Now to find out that Princess has THREE!? *sigh* I guess we are getting more lazy with each kid and I know we don't supervise like we should. We need to floss more too.

So anyway, they called me back to show me something concerning them with Clown. He was laying there with the head phones on, watching a movie on the screen in the ceiling above his head. He looked so cute, holding the suction thing in his mouth. I forget names of teeth, but it is one of the two front top ones that they showed me. I was not surprised and wondered before I took him if they can do anything about it. It came in all strange and it bothers him that it is quite far behind the other one. So the dentist showed it to me and it is actually bad enough that we need to take him to the orthodontist that Cryptic and Jock see. Neither of them have braces yet, he is watching and keeping an eye on things. Clown will need something put on for a few months, to get this tooth to move forward more and be where it is supposed to. So I went back out to the waiting room and called my friend who was watching the older two boys and making sure they were behaving in the class. She said they were fine.

They call me in AGAIN after they do the panoramic x-ray of Clown's mouth for me to take to the Ortho when I get an appointment. The dentist shows me something that concerns him. Clown was born without one of his permanent front teeth! I forget the one, I think it is an incisor. On one side, we can see where the permanent one will come down and on the other side...NOTHING! So when he is old enough, he will need an implant put in there. *sigh* It never ends with these kids!

In other news, the kids LOVE their Monday morning classes. Clown especially. I was most concerned about him, since he is SO introverted and was so upset at me forcing him into this class. He actually raised his hand and answered a question TWO TIMES and LOVES the teacher. He was not able to sit beside his sister, but I did catch him talking to a few new kids he doesn't know. So all is well there.

Cryptic is adjusting to High School. He thought it was too easy at first and was convinced that he only had two classes. When he logs onto his lap top every day, the assignments are listed. He was saying he only had assignments in two classes. I thougth that odd and pointed out that perhaps he should contact his mentor or any of the teachers. He assured me all was well. He came to me the other day and sheepishly said that indeed I was right. He got some e-mails from concerned teachers of the other three classes who were wondering why he was not doing his assignments! Apparently, he had to go to another site or place or something to access those classes! He spent the past few days catching up and after doing a lab tomorrow in his Physical Science class, he will be all caught up! *whew*

Jock made the PeeWee AA hockey team!!! Stud and I told him we knew he would make it and even if he did not, we didn't care. We placed no pressure on him and left the decision up to him as to whether he wanted to even try out or not. He opted to try. He had gone for four or five try outs and last night they made the final cut. It is hard to tell outwardly when he is nervous, the only way I know is if he comes right out and tells me. OR if he snaps at anyone even more than usual. That is the clue that he has himself worked up. He told me he was nervous, but I couldn't tell at all. When I saw them all coming back up from down in the room the head coach called them into, I went to talk to Jock. I walked past a friend of his who I knew tried out for one of the goalies. There were three goalies left and I knew they were cutting only one last night. So I walked past "P" and said, "UH??" He knew what that meant and grinned and gave me the thumbs up sign. I was about to ask him if Jock made it or not, but then decided I wanted Jock to tell me himself.

I was watching a friend's little girl who is Princess' age. They also have three boys older and also home school. Her Dad was there, but she wanted to hang around with me so I let her. When she and I went to ask Jock, I wasn't even thinking! Her brother was trying out for goalie. So when Jock said yes, he made it and he did his grin at me, I was so excited and happy for him! Then G (Little girl) piped up, "Did J (her brother) make it??" Jock and some other boys he was with laughed and said, "No!" Then I think Jock realised how mean and rude that was. This was J's little sister. She took off running to tell her Dad. By the time I caught up with her, her Dad already knew. J himself did not even get to tell him! I felt SO BAD, but Stud says I shouldn't, it wasn't my fault. I also feel bad that Jock was so rude about J being the last goalie cut. He has never liked J for some reason. They used to take swimming lessons together. Seems not many of the boys like the poor child. I guess he always brags or something and is actually not nearly as good as he thinks he is. I told Jock that since J made it that far and was the last goalie cut, that is saying something. He just shrugged.

Anyway, Princess is in the tub and Jock has a friend over to spend the night. We brought him back with us from Science class this morning. I had better sign off for now!

In love

Princess is in love. I know she seems a little young, but we all approve of this guy. He smells a little funny, and has HORRID bathroom habits, but he makes her VERY happy and she LOVES to spend time with him. His name is Charlie. Here is Princess, helping him get groomed and feeling cleaner...














She has been spending two hours with him every morning this week.








She LOVES the classes and we hope to get her set up in private lessons this fall. I was thinking of putting her in the Homeschool classes that they have. Yet when I watch her every morning, I just really feel like one on one instruction would be a lot more cost effective. It is INSANELY expensive and she spends so much time waiting and just sitting there since there are other students in the class.






She is one of the few who feels secure enough to be permitted to ride on her own and not be lead around as much like most of the other students. She is very comfortable and confident and listens well. She takes it very seriously just like ballet and she has learned SO MUCH in this short amount of time. I think she would get a lot more out of it with no distractions and waiting around. So we shall see. Tomorrow is her last day with Charlie for at least three weeks and she is most distraught. She goes to sleep every night honestly MOANING over and over..."Oooooohh...Chhaaarrlliiiieeeee...I miiiisssss yoooouuu...OH! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! I loooooovvveee yoooouuu!!!!"




As I type this, she is telling her brothers about how excited she is to go on the trail ride tomorrow:)

High School

Cryptic starts High School this fall. I can't believe it!

Just wanted to show a photo that I just took of him with his lap top. He was VERY annoyed with me for taking it. Too bad, I say.

So I snapped it and he asked, "Do I look bewildered??"

I confirmed that he did. He then turned back to the laptop and mumbled "Good."

Well, it is has certainly been a while...

Sheesh! It just took me about five minutes to get on here. It has been so long since I posted anything, I COULD NOT recall my username and password for the life of me! teehee

So I just have not felt like posting...ah.


Lovely.


Clown just came running in from the pool and yelled for me to tell Dad that the lady was coming with her dog again.

There is some woman who comes around all the time and encourages her dogs to crap on our front lawn! Stud told the kids to tell him the next time they saw her coming.

We JUST spent an insane amount of money getting new sod just a few months ago. And this woman just walks by almost every day and stops at OUR LAWN and let her dogs crap on it!?!? She picks it up and bags it (sometimes!) but still. She even SNIFFED THE BAG the other day, the kids told me. *shudder*

We always take Brom up the hill to public property where there are weeds and dried up things by the fence to the school. We pick up any poo, too. There are laws, you know?? Not to mention common courtesy. If we allow him to go in our yard, then we also just pick it up at the time and it is over and done with. I guess we should begin walking him around the neighbourhood and encouraging him to dump a load on other people's lawns??


Everyone else's looks horrible now compared to ours. Ours is GORGEOUS since we got it re-done. It was overrun with clover, had yellow dry patches and was just disgusting. It is now a lush deep green and the kids love to play tag on it. It is SO SOFT. Our one neighbour actually jokingly commented on how now we are making the rest of them all look bad because of this gorgeous stuff. We told him we were trying to help, since our old stuff looked SO GROSS. We have gone from the worst, to the best.

I just can't get over people, though. What it the point in bringing your dog to someone else's lawn?? When we pass people's yards, I steer Brom away and he knows not to go in any one's yard. Hello?? Common sense to me.

So we have had an OK summer. I can't really stand summer and am anxious for it to be over. Princess is going to horse camp this week and is in her element. She is LOVING it. I am looking into classes for she and Jock and Clown this fall. Cryptic has no interest.

So I was doing well on Jenny Craig until I went to Sask. I told myself I could have a few treats and call it good...but man! Once I was around all those yummies...like this ...and this ...and the kids and Stud's fave and my BELOVED Big Turk. It was impossible to resist. How could I resist these ??? Or what about these ?? Mainly the top ones in red. Fruit Cremes. Or Goodie Rings .

I craved my wondrous Dill Pickle dip with my Old Dutch Ripple Chips. Popcorn Twists. *slobber* Good Host Iced Tea, not that other junk. Wunderbar, Eat More, and various other delectable treats. So much more variety of foods to choose from up there. I am sure everyone gets the point. So I lived on junk and buns with cheese and jam. I was certain I would have gained back all that I lost and then some. I was pleasantly surprised to go for my weigh in and find I had gained just over one pound! LOL

So this week, I am back on track with sticking to it accurately. I will start back to Curves and walking daily within the next few weeks. My tummy stretched out again and it will take it a while before it can only fit small amounts at a time again. Once that happens, I can expend more energy. I can't wait to have motivation and feel good again! Feels horrible to eat junk and lay around. Kind of:) I have been sleeping late every morning, just because I CAN. So many years of not being able to, now I take advantage since Stud works at home and the kids are so much more independent.:)

Cryptic starts on-line high school this year. His lap top and printer arrived (they provide that) today and he will meet the other kids in person at a BBQ next week. I am anxious to see how many there are and if he hits it off with anyone. He is also going to be back to taking Science on Fridays from our beloved teacher Brian Raven and then a Lit class on Monday mornings. While he is in Lit, Jock will be in "Math Explore" and I will be helping in Clown and Princess' class called "Around the World Adventures". I am so looking forward to fall and getting to do all these fun things!



Jock has been waiting for my computer patiently. He was supervising the younger kids in the pool while I caught up on e-mail, etc. So I will leave you all with a photo of the kids with their cousins this summer at my parents' house.

Hope all is well! I will catch up and read all your blogs soon!

Nothing much

Just figured I should try and post something. See if the dumb thing will let me put pictures out here.

Today we are going out to some friends' who have two acres. We will light fireworks out in their front field and have a BBQ. GOOD TIMES!

Tomorrow we leave with some friends for a beach house in Oregon. We get to stay for four days. Again...GOOD TIMES!

I never even said anything about Jock's birthday. He was twelve on the 22nd of June and it came and went. Very uneventful. That always seems to happen!

G was here, things were chaotic. At least Stud took him shopping and to the new Fantastic Four movie. He couldn't decide between a new bike and one of these. Finally a few days later, he opted for the latter. Now he wants to return it, because (SURPRISE!?!?) Stud and I use it as an incentive for decent behaviour. Shockingly, he doesn't get to play with it much. Once he faces the fact that HE controls that and determines his own life choices, I am sure he will get to use it a lot more!

What else can I yap about??? Hmmm...ah yes! We hope to leave for holiday in good ole Saskatchewan on the 20th. We will drop Jock at hockey camp in Banff and then go on to my parents' in S'toon. Their basement flooded (along with 200 other homes) and we hope it is fixed in time for Stud and I and the kids to stay down there. Otherwise, we can't go. We hope not to miss seeing a lot of family and friends and also don't want to miss my 20th HS reunion!

I graduated in a class of fourteen. Including me. We have all gotten in touch with each other in the past few months and are planning a fun shindig! I am so excited, there are some I have not even seen since our Grad TWENTY YEARS AGO!?!?

Some more news is that I started Jenny Craig again. Stud got a raise, so we can afford it now. I did it for three weeks last August, but there was no way we could afford it. I LOVE the food and it honestly works. It is the ONLY thing that has ever worked for me, aside from basically starving myself. I also did not lose enough then to please me. I expected to lose at least ten pounds in those three weeks. Anything I have ever done on my own, I lose very quickly. Unfortunately, those things are too hard and torturous. When I was only losing two pounds a week, I quit. I hated to spend the money for that "small" (now I know I should have been elated and that is very good! LOL) amount of weight loss.

So I decided to try it again and stick with it at least a few months. I signed up and today is my seventh day on it. Even with cheating a few times, when I went to my weigh in yesterday, I have lost 4.6 pounds! In just SIX days. And the REALLY weird thing is that I had not gained anything back. When I lost those six lbs last summer I kept all of it off this whole time?? It HAS to be from Curves. Even though I am far from regular at that (I have gone about six times in the past two months) even that small amount does SOMETHING.

SO! Only about 25 more lbs to go and I will be at my goal weight! Just in time for Stud and I's trip to Hawai'i this November:) I have not been in a bikini in about thirteen years. And when I was, like LM said on her recent post, I did nothing. I lived my life, ate anything I wanted and never exercised. Not only that, I did not even appreciate how good I had it. I would listen to people whine about diets and weight and clothes sizes and wonder what their problem was and what they were worried about. NOW I KNOW! LOL

Alright, I need to get off here and pack.

Not boring!

Pardon me for being scarce. Much has been happening.



Thus the title!



I don't have time to tell much news, but I did want to announce that our homeschooling group is almost done our yearbook. We always have a contest for the front and back covers. The kids draw something, enter their art and then we all vote. This year Jock won the back cover! We are very excited and proud. Those art classes are paying off:) The winner of the front cover is a sweet young friend of Clown's. Jock himself voted for that one! It is very nice.



I will also post a few pictures of the recent visit from our niece G. You may recall last summer I posted pictures of when Cryptic and Princess went up to spend a few weeks at my parents house. They had a wonderful time with G then and again this past visit.



She was Princess' show and tell. She taught her classmates some basic Arabic, showed them on a map where Syria is and told them some things about her past four years living in Damascus. She was quite a hit!


This will have to do for now, I hope to post more news soon!

Ok, this is not working and won't let me add photos right now. Maybe later!

Just an update

So we are still working on the link to photos of Clown. It gave me an idea, I think I will also do it for all the kids. It takes time though, so it may be a while.

Jock is off this weekend, camping with friends. The mother of a friend of his called me and said that they let each of their children choose a friend to bring on this long weekend camping trip. The specifications were that the friend had to be nice to the sibling (there are two kids, Jock's friend and his younger sister) and respectful to herself and her husband. Jock was chosen and I was kind of surprised. Then I remembered that Jock is his sweetheart self around others, it is just here at home that he can be rude and mean. So to them, of all their son's friends, Jock is the most respectful and considerate. We were proud to hear that!

He left on Friday while Cryptic and I went to see the third Pirates movie. He will return tomorrow sometime, depending on traffic. They took a ferry out to an island and are camping there. Jock was very excited and I can't wait to hear how it went.

Life here without Jock around is very peaceful. He is not here to instigate and antagonize. Yet, all of us except Cryptic have expressed how much we miss him. I can't wait for the little fart to get back tomorrow, but try and remind myself to enjoy the peace and quiet:)


Another reason I can't wait for him to get back is so that I can see the Pirates movie again:) We planned to get a sitter for the younger two and then Stud and I wanted to take the older two to the movie. Then this camping trip came up and the sitter had not gotten back to us. We have not used a sitter for a long time, but of course since the little ones are not old enough to see this movie (or any of the Pirate movies) we need a sitter if Cryptic is going with us. So instead, I took him on Friday and then Stud took him yesterday. Cryptic was thrilled to see it twice and then I get to take Jock for his first viewing. I really loved it, I just love these movies. They are SO FUNNY to me:)




We are anxious for Princess to dance in her recital this upcoming weekend. She was sad because she was invited to a birthday party that she will need to miss because it is at the exact same time as her first performance this coming Friday night. She refused to speak to me for a while because I was making her miss the party and attend the recital. She was giving me the silent treatment for a while. Being female, it of course lasted all of ten minutes before she could not stand it anymore and began to talk to me again:)

Well, this was just a quick update while I wait for Cryptic to get his butt out of bed and come and finish a board game we started last night. Clown and Princess want us to finish this game of "Life" and we can't get Cryptic up! He likely stayed up reading until four this morning or something, as he tends to do.





Here is Clown, proud of his cursive. I got them all this cool book with wipe off pages. They use markers and then after I check it, they can wipe it off and another kid uses the page if they want to practise that particular letter. Came with a fun little eraser too. Note the dark thing on his desk behind him. It is the "Dead Man's Chest" from the second Pirate Movie. It is actually a CD player and when you open it, there is a heart in there that lights up red. It is really cool. He and Cryptic share this bedroom and they really enjoy this CD player:) I got it for them as a surprise a few weeks ago.


Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

American Idol

I don't know what any of your thoughts are on this show or who all watches. I just feel the need to tell my thoughts on it.

This is only the second season I watched. I normally don't get sucked into these types of things. Last Winter when my friend C was down here from Saskatchewan for a month, we got hooked on it and I decided to try again this season.

Last season I thought it was a joke that Taylor even made it as far as he did. I thought he was an OK singer and seemed like a nice guy. I thought it should have been between Kat and Chris Daughtry. I was quite annoyed when Chris got voted out and then really upset when Taylor won. It was like a joke. Now, no surprise, Taylor's CD is not doing well and Kat and Daughtry's are.

This season, at least the final two deserve to be there. I will be very pleased with whichever one that wins, although I do tend to lean toward Blake Lewis. And NO, it is not because I know a guy who works with his Dad! LOL It is because he is versatile and can do such cool things. Also, he is older than Jordin and she will have more chances.

Jordin is an awesome singer, GORGEOUS (not that it matters) and will go far. She is a lot younger and her life will be forever changed. So I hope that Blake wins!

That is all.

Clown's Birthday Weekend

Well, yesterday my baby boy turned eight years old. It was an interesting and unusual weekend.

On Friday soon before lunch, Stud left in the van with some of the kids to meet one of Clown's friends at the Theatre where we were going to watch "Shrek the Third". I took the car to a weekly Science Class that our kids go to when they are not in public school. I picked up another of Clown's friends there, where his older brother atrends class. There would be eight of us and our van only fits seven, so this is what we had to do to get everyone. There would be two other guests later, but they attend public school, so could not come to the movie. It was very important to Clown that we go in the morning and miss the crowds.

We had a nice time and then came home for the kids to play in the backyard. Soon, the other two guests arrived. We had cake and then he opened his gifts. He got some very nice things. Two video games for his Nintendo DS. He was thrilled with those!

One guest (the only female) had to leave to go to her school carnival. The other is a next door neighbour who was not permitted to sleep over, like the two home-schooled boys were going to. The kids played video games and we ordered pizza.

We discovered that the gold fish that we got from Princess' friend last week, had died. It seemed to do fine in the huge flower vase we had kept it in. Once we invested $90 on a ten gallon tank with all the fixin's, food and three new friends for it, it did not even last 24 hours! Princess was playing video games and did not know. Cryptic thought it was hysterical and got a kick out of the fish dying. So he took it upon himself to rush and break the news to his little sister. *sigh* She handled it better than I thought she would. I think she was distracted with all the commotion of the guests.

So we kicked out the neighbour boy at around nine o'clock. He had come over right after school and had his fill of pizza, chips, cake, ice cream and junk food. Before you all think I am evil, I also offered the kids plenty of fruit and they ate that also:) He was gone for about 20 minutes and Stud and I had just settled down to watch a movie when the doorbell rang. There he was, in his jammies, pillow in hand. He announced loudly that his parents had changed their mind and he can indeed spend the night, as he pushed past Stud and raced back downstairs!!!

Stud and I just exchanged glances. He is LOUD and very active. Things are much calmer when he is not around. We have even forbid him from having anything to do with our kids for certain periods of time in the past, because of the language he uses and how...what is the word?? Obnoxious he can be. Sweet enough kid, but WOW. I am sure you all know what I am talking about. When we discovered he was not going to sleep over, both Stud and I were relieved and knew we would have a calm night. The two HSed boys are very calm and sweet.

Anyway, I had a rough night. I heard said boy coughing quite a bit. I was not only worried he would keep people awake or they would catch whatever he had, but I was being kept awake. I went down at about 1 am and told them to keep things down, because there was also talking and yelling. He basically SCREAMED at me (he honestly has NO concept of what keeping your voice down means) that Clown was flashing the flashlight in his eyes, and look at the kind of bed he made from cushions, isn't it cool!?!??! I reminded him four times to whisper, there are people sleeping. On about the fourth time, he got it! *sigh*



After that, I slept alright once I got to sleep. Stud had put Clown's main gift (a brand new bike!) in the dining area. I always get so excited about things like this and want to see the child's face when they see whatever it is. That is why we video tape Christmas morning, so we have their reaction on tape, etc. So I was thinking how sad I was that he and his friends would discover it without me witnessing it. I consoled myself with the fact that it was HIS birthday and he would be thrilled and it would be nice for his friends to see him get something ON his actual birthday. I guess I don't have to witness EVERYTHING in their lives.

I woke suddenly at a few minutes to seven. Someone was jabbing me in the shoulder. I wondered if it was Clown or Princess, since Jock and Cryptic don't do that anymore. I was turning over and opening my eyes and was about to ask what they wanted, when I saw that no one was there!?!? I looked all around and was confused about how that could have happened. Pretty realistic dream. I decided to get up anyway. I was just walking out to the dining area and as I came around the corner, Clown and two of his buddies walked around the other corner and their jaws dropped as they saw this bike with a big huge bow sitting there!?!? teehee So I saw the reaction anyway. I feel like God knows how important the little things are, and gave me that gift on Clown's birthday. Was pretty sweet!

When the neighbour boy's mother came to the door to get him, one of the other guests took it upon himself to answer the door. Our kids don't EVER answer the door unless they have permission and I had told the kids to always watch for the puppy and have him in his crate or someone holding onto him before they open any doors to outside. I am used to my kids just not doing that and this particular boy has a dog and his mother was so annoyed later. She said he knows better than to do that. I was just walking to the door and about four people called at the same time, "WAIT!! DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!!" Too late.

I am sure you see where this is headed. I was CERTAIN that Brom was going to die on Clown's birthday. He took off SO FAST, it was unreal. He ran directly for the main road that is down the hill from us, toward the ocean. This is a busy road and the speed limit is about 40 something at this point. He was a little grey/brown/black blur. I was in my housecoat and no shoes or anything. I ran as fast as I could, in the state I was in, cutting my feet open as I went. No bra, which as any of you women know, is NOT comfy when you are running, let alone downhill. I wanted to grab the stupid things and press them against my chest just so I would be more comfy, but alas. I was on a mission and even in that state of mind, knew that my sons would be mortified if anyone saw their mother grabbing her boobs that way. It was bad enough I was in my housecoat and barefoot:)

So I continued on in agony and humiliation, praying that God spare the retarded little goof for my childrens' sake. They LOVE this guy. Well, so do I. That is not the point though, I was worried about him being splattered all over, and right in front of my eyes but I knew the kids could still see the whole spectacle at this point. IF they were outside and watching, that is. I was calling to him and yelling in as friendly as voice as I could, "TREAT!! TREAT!" He knows that word, but didn't care. He smelled FREEDOM! I have been wanting to get him into classes and for sure teach him to come when called, etc. I have GOT to do this ASAP.

He turned left and went onto the main roadway. Saturdays there is always a lot of traffic on that road, going toward the ferry to some local islands. So of course, there I am, in all my glory. My fuzzy house coat, red face and no shoes, walking along this main road. I had quit running, my boobs honestly could not take the abuse. Much as I love my boy, I could not put the girls through anymore of that, you know?? When I got around a curve, I saw a vehicle pulled over to the side of the road and it was all crooked. I was positive that I would see him smashed underneath. A few people were pointing behind them as they drove past. I thought that was sweet, trying to let me know he went that way. I already knew that, but I appreciated that they had seen the goof and were trying to help.

Turns out the vehicle had stopped because one of the women in it got out and was also trying to chase him down. I thought that was SO SWEET. The first thing she said to me was, "He is FINE! He is totally fine, he went in that yard there." I thanked her over and over and as I went into the yard and glanced to my left, I saw our neighbour coming to help me. She is the mother of the loud boy and the one who had come to the house to collect him. I think she somehow thought it was her fault that he bolted when she was at the door!!! I am sure Brom would be dead if she had not come to help. I cannot believe that she came all that way to help me. It was a bit of a jog down the hill and then a fair piece along the main road.

So I went into the yard of this house. I was considering telling the people that I was trying to get my dog, but I didn't take the time. I figured if anyone was home, they would figure that out on their own, by me calling him the way I was. I heard his tags jingling on his collar, but I could not see him. I kept on calling and clicking my lips like I do to call him and he finally popped out from behind some trees and looked at me kind of as if to say, "OH COOL! You came here to play too!?!?!"

He truly thought it was a game. I was just about to give up and go home and leave him to risk it all (and at least get on a bra and some shoes of some kind) when I saw the neighbour lady at the end of the driveway. She had continued on past a little bit and was now on the left side of it, as you came out toward the road. He was running STRAIGHT out the driveway, into the path of the traffic. I remember just muttering, "Please God, NOT on Clown's birthday!" when I saw him run to the neighbour lady. She had distracted him and now he was along the side of the road again. The speeding traffic was SO LOUD, I had to yell to her, "Say, 'Treat!' If you say 'Treat' he might come!'" English is not her first language and we don't know each other well because of the language barrier, but she tried it. It worked long enough for me to get there and grab him from behind. *whew*


We hung onto that dog and clung to him the entire walk home.


So after that adventure, it was no surprise when another fish died. *sigh* It's tail got caught in the filter and for some reason it could not get out. When Stud noticed and shut everything off, it was just all bent and awkward looking. It basically suffered all day and I felt SO HELPLESS. I knew it would die and wanted to put it out of it's misery but didn't know how.

There were more antics like Jock picking on one of the guests, Stud upsetting Cryptic to the point of Cryptic screaming (in front of all Clown's guests no less) that he is sick of Stud's "CRAP!" and slamming downstairs. Poor Clown was mortified, but handled it well. I have spent much of the day looking through photos of Clown to post. There are far too many to put on here, so we are putting them into a link that I will post later, when it is ready. That way if anyone wants to see them, they can. But those who don't want to, don't have to. I think I will do the same for Jock next month when he turns twelve. Pretty cool to look through all the pictures and see the kids change and grow.




The Brown-Eyed Half of our Family:)



I will sprinkle a few photos of Clown through here and leave you all with some photos from our Birthday supper at Azteca last night. We could not go to Clown's first choice because it is a Mongolian Grill and Cryptic and Princess won't eat the food. You have to pay per person and can't just go in and get as much as you want and only pay for four plates when six people go. So we told Clown that we could leave them at home and the rest of us could go. He said no, he wanted us all together as a family:)

So then we went to his favourite Thai restaurant. It is a bit of a drive, on the water in Edmonds. When we got there, we saw that they are closed for a week! POOR CLOWN!

So he opted for Azteca and BEGGED me to not let them sing to him. He didn't want any attention.





The Green-Eyed Half of us last night at Azteca.


Watch soon for a link to many more photos. I know this small taste of wee Clown won't be enough for some of you:)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!