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!

Clown

Exciting time of year!

Well, here we are again. Princess got her dance photos taken yesterday. By the time the recital happens the first weekend in June, the photos will be finished and available for pick up.





Here are some photos for you to enjoy. She went around the house, doing various poses and making up ones of her own that will not be from either of her dances. I am going to post a few photos of some other little girls with her, so you can get the effect of all the pretty little girls in their sequins and boas. SUCH FUN! Talk about chattering and giggling and excitement. Those girls were in their element!






So yesterday we got out the bobby pins, gel and make up. I attempted to do her hair and make up, but being the type of woman that I am, it is not natural for me and I am not sure what I am doing. So far, things seems to turn out looking alright and before I know it, she will be able to take over. Since she is ALL GIRL and as female as they come, I know she will look totally fabulous then. Until that time comes, she seems content with me doing it:)



Clown will be eight on Saturday. His party is tomorrow and we are all going to Shrek the Third. Since all the friends who are coming are home schooled, we are going in the morning to avoid the public school rush after school gets out! Clown can hardly handle crowds as it is, so he was adamant that we do it this way.


I spoke with Princess' teacher and she told me it was fine to take Princess out for this since I volunteered to help in a booth at the school Carnival at the end of the month! Teehee We will miss a field trip to the beach. We left it up to Princess to decide. After a few days of thoughtful pondering (she is her mother's daughter!) she had some good points. She said that since the Ranger for the beach trip came into class last week and showed slides. AND since she has gone to the beach often with our family AND our Home Schooling Group, that she can miss this time. So we are relieved. We usually all attend movies like this as a family AND we ALWAYS do birthday parties together as a family.

I still cannot believe he will be EIGHT! I will obviously do a birthday post on him.

Here are the photos and I am off to the grocery store. Have a great day!

Mother's Day

I was spoiled yesterday!

They woke me up around nine by coming into the bedroom with a dozen roses and some gifts and cards. As well as my latest addiction from Starbucks. A Cinnamon Dolce Latte. YUM!

So that was special. I got a lovely book about prayers for Mothers. A BEAUTIFUL pin that is a butterfly with blue gems in the wings and the body is a cross. When I helped in Princess' class at school last week, I was in charge of helping the kids wrap the Mother's Day gifts. So I already knew what I was getting!

They are frames with a photo of the child in them. I was surprised because they are spray painted black. It is clear the children had nothing to do with them and there is no colour or addition to make them unique and like the children had any part in it. Kind or morbid looking, actually. I was wondering who chose to spray paint all of these frames BLACK for Mother's Day?? LOL Kind of odd. Of course the photo of Princess brightens it up a lot and makes it beautiful:)

So I was settling down for a day of watching old footage of the kids being born, and just them when they were babies. Christmases, birthdays, soccer and basketball games, Jock's first hockey game, etc. As I was enjoying that, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go see a movie.

So we went and saw this which was MUCH better than I thought. I had no desire to see it, but my friend L wanted to. I am glad that I went.

I came back home and settled in for a nice long talk with my Mum on the phone. She was not having the greatest day. Mother's Day is hard since my little brother passed away. She is doing well considering and we caught up on a lot of news. Like I told her, I saved the best for last. Talking to her was the best part of my day! I would love to live closer to my Mum. I have never known what it is like to have her nearby since I have been married. I can't imagine just popping in to visit or her getting to actually spend some time with her grandchildren...*sigh*

Anyway, then I settled down again for more viewing of my babies as babies. We watched Survivor and then went to bed. It was a wonderful day!

Princess has been sick with fever, aches and nausea and is now in the bath tub. I need to go and get her out and then get in the shower myself. Just wanted to toss out a quick update. We are having computer problems and when those are solved, I can post some photos from our day done in Seattle a few weeks ago!

Have a great week everyone!

Strange

Tonight American Idol was very strange for me.

Just before I watched it, I was searching google about my cousin, Rick Ducommun. There is a lot of stuff out there and some boards where people talk about him and how much they miss him doing his HBO specials, movies, etc.

I felt the need to respond to what someone said. They say they miss him and wonder how he is, etc. So I felt the need to update them, while at the same time trying to protect his privacy. I am not sure he knows what a huge fan base he has and took it upon myself to let this person know about him a little.

I was sharing about how he used to babysit Alan Thicke's boys, Robin and Brennan.

Lo and behold, who is on AI tonight!?!? I have not seen Robin Thicke since he was about six years old. Remember meeting them, NTFrog, or was that not a year that you went to Telemiracle?? I can't remember how many times Alan was there, but I will NEVER FORGET one year when we were in line to get autographs from him. You leaned over, pointed at your cheek and said, "Kiss". LOL It was HYSTERICAL! He obliged and leaned over and kissed your cheek:) I was shocked that the shy girl did something like that!


So did we actually meet the boys when they were little?? I have some faint memory of speaking to them briefly as they wandered around the auditorium. Yeah, I think I remember more now. Man, does he ever look like his Dad, eh?? SHEESH!

Anyway, kinda surreal for me.

The kids have announced that tomorrow is my "lazy day". Cryptic will sleep upstairs tonight and be up in the night with Brom. He has recently taken to needing to potty at odd hours sometimes. I have not been getting a solid sleep. SO Cryptic will take him out, and get Princess ready for school in the morning. I can do whatever I want during the day, people will wait on me and totally spoil me. We do this for people on their birthdays, but Stud and I often get overlooked. The kids say I have about seven of them coming to me and want me to use one before Clown's gets his lazy day in a few weeks for his eight birthday. So I am not about to say no. I was going to take them Chuck E Cheese for lunch (we like to go during the week when no one is there and they can have the run of the place) and then to the Lego Club that our HSing group does.

But what they don't know won't hurt them, right??

So I am off to sleep all night, sleep late tomorrow morning and be spiled:) TEEHEE

I guess they don't despise her...

Tonight when I was picking Cryptic up from Tae Kwon Do and we were walking to the car, I heard someone call my name across the parking lot. It was Princess' Kindergarten teacher. She is a true gem!

So I went over and we were shocked to discover that we each had a kid going to TKD at the same place for all these months and have not run into each other yet!

I was asking her how Princess did with "Show and Tell" today. I wondered if it was alright that she took in her two costumes for the upcoming dance recital. She just got them in dance class last week and is just tickled to pieces and wanting to show them off.

She told me how it was fine, she (meaning herself) loves things like that. Then she looked at Cryptic and said, "Princess said the cutest thing today." He mumbled something and she took that to mean that she should continue. LOL

She said that some of the kids were asking about the items, as they are always encouraged to do. Some of them asked why she dances in recitals and Princess beamed proudly and replied, "Because all of my brothers say that I am the best dancer of any of the other dancers!"

I was thinking, "They did??" and looked at Cryptic. He did a grin that he and Jock both do when they are kind of touched or choked up. He ignored us and went to get in the car, like he was humiliated that there was proof that he is sometimes nice to his younger sister!

I just told Clown and Jock about it. Jock did not deny it, like he tends to do often, but did the same grin, and changed the subject by trying to show me his most recent magic trick. Only Clown proudly said, "Well of course we said that! Because it is TRUE! I am surprised she remembered though. We told her that over a year ago."

I told them that proves that what they say, especially when it is positive, doesn't get past her. She really looks up to them and values their opinions. Look what it meant to her; it is what keeps her wanting to dance!

Watch for photos of her in her costumes. She will be a movie star (complete with sequins, feathers, the whole deal!) and a zebra.

Alright, will post soon about our fun day this past Sunday down in Seattle.

Peace out!