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!

T-Shirt

Here is another t-shirt Princess enjoys wearing. I got it for her last year on sale and forgot about it. We recently found it in a box when we were getting ready for the city-wide yard sale happening this coming weekend.

Isn't it GREAT!?!? Her brothers don't even mind and got a kick out of it. They have some shirts about selling sisters and blaming sisters, etc. So they know she should be allowed some too. It is all in fun!

Update

Does everyone like the new shirt that Princess got?? I thought she needs it:) Now if only I could add a sparkly "S" onto the end of the word "Brother"!!!






Well, it has been a while since I posted anything. I have been busy enjoying my kids being back at home! Cryptic agonized but choose not to return to public school after the Easter break. It is ultimately his decision. Stud and I tried to encourage him, told him there were only a few months left, he made it this far, yadda yadda. Still, he wanted to be home. We are looking into an on-line school for him for High School.

Some friends have commented at how relaxed I seem and how much happier I seem to be. I had no idea that it was that obvious. I did not realise that I was THAT upset. I hate pretending to feel a certain way, though. I wanted my kids home, but was trying to please everyone. Stud really wanted them to try this, Cryptic had the idea originally, I had to pretend that I was supportive of it when in actuality I wanted to scream every time the kids went out the door and walked to school. I wanted to yell "COME BACK!!!" I had to smile and act all happy and excited for them, when I knew it was a waste of time, for the most part. Cryptic needed to figure that out for himself. There are certainly positive things about it, I don't mean to imply that I am totally against it. It just doesn't seem to work for us. Princess is begging to stay home with all of us, but we have explained since she is in Kindergarten and goes only a few hours in the morning, she can continue. Cryptic is older and we need to allow him more freedom and let go a little bit, so he can make more life decisions. She is still young enough that we need to decide pretty much everything for her.



Jock took the news that he was not returning to public school very well. He seems happy to be back home and complains only sometimes of missing lunch and some of the kids. He has improved significantly in his attitude and demeanor. He is sweet to the younger kids, helpful and less sassy toward his father and I. He is hugging me often, says, "I love you" out of the blue many times a day like he used to and is just impressing us. So we shall see how this goes. I have been telling him how proud I am of him, how happy it makes me and how I missed the old Jock. He flashes me his gorgeous smile. Now we need to work on Cryptic. *sigh*

It seems when Jock has his head straight, Cryptic goes nuts on us. Cryptic likes to joke about it. He says when Jock behaves properly, just to shake things up, he will cop an attitude, argue, sass, etc. Just because he feels SOMEONE should. We don't find it funny. When Jock does, it, Cryptic shakes his head, grumbles, antagonises Jock and makes it worse, etc. Now when Jock is really trying, Cryptic is a butt-head! He stayed up until four this morning when he was told to go to bed at midnight. Kept Clown awake watching Star Wars movies, so Clown got hardly any sleep and slept funny on the couch here in the Rec Room. I am worried about his neck issues. Cryptic is having various consequences.

He takes it well. He knows he deserves it and just calmly says yes when I tell him, equally as calm in my tone, what all is going to happen. Jock was laying on the couch when I was talking to Cryptic about all that he would need to do to make up for his choice. Jock often complains that we are harder on him than we are on Cryptic and that he can do things wrong and doesn't have any consequences. I realised in that moment that Cryptic DOES get as many consequences. It is just that he accepts them without argument, knows it is realistic and he expects it all. Jock lips off, gets more chores added to his already large list, uses choice words so he gets money docked from his allowance, is LOUD, so we get louder to be heard above him, etc. This draws more attention and is more easily remembered, thus causing it to SEEM as if it happens more often. I brought this to Jock's attention once Cryptic was gone and he just grunted, but I let it sink in. I am sure if he thinks about it, he will know it is true. He would never admit that to me, but still. I made a great observation!

So I am thrilled to have my kids back home. Can't wait until Princess can be with us as well. Jock will attend Clown's weekly art classes with him, they are both very excited about that! He and Cryptic went last week to try it out. Cryptic doesn't care as much, but Jock LOVED it as much as Clown does.

I will fill everyone in on more news soon, but must get to bed. I was very good all last week about getting to Curves, walking, etc and want to continue. Yesterday and today were the first time that I did not do anything really physical since last Sunday when all six of us took Brom up to the school grounds and played catch, freeze tag, soccer, etc. We had a blast and I was active every day since. So I want to keep up with that, as well as start and eat better like I was back in January.

I will close with a few photos from last Sunday up at the school.












Hope everyone is doing well!

Forgot something

Hi Everyone! Forgot to share something with you all that happened when we were in Alberta a few weeks ago.

As some of you know, I was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1969. When I was two and a half, we moved to a town near Edmonton, called St. Albert. When I was seven we moved back to Saskatchewan. I lived on 80 acres west of Saskatoon until I left for University in Regina in 1988. The year we left St. Albert (1976), it became a city.

I had not been back to the neighbourhood that I lived in for 31 years!!! The few times I have been near there, there was never time to go look at the house or school or anything.

When my parents came to see Jock play hockey a few weeks back, they took us out there!!! All these years I had envisioned the school I went to and the hill I used to toboggan and crazy carpet down. I pictured the fence near the school and the sidewalk next to our house that led back to the alley behind all the houses. I was desperate to go back and see if it was just like I still pictured in my mind all these years later.

IT WAS!?!? I COULD NOT believe it! The house is a different colour, but I picked it out from all the other houses. I remember driving away from there and being so sad, but excited to go to this mysterious place called Saskatchewan, where they told me I had been born. The only thing that changed in that time, besides the house colour, were the trees! They are now everywhere and HUGE! When we lived there of course they had all just been very small and young. It looks very nice.

We drove to the school and I was certain that the hill had been big and amazing only in my seven-year-old mind. Dad had barely stopped the van, when I pushed past the kids and ran to the side of the school that the hill is on. SURE ENOUGH! It is a HUGE hill and goes way down into a field and then there are trees at the other end of the field. I remember it seemed like I would slide WAY down and it was a long walk back up. Well, NO WONDER! I even remember one time this boy trying to take my crazy carpet from me and being very annoyed, but not knowing what to do. I was absolutely shocked that everything looked just the same so many years later. I was certain that my child's mind had remembered it in a different way than it actually is. It was just fascinating and thrilling to me that it is JUST like I imagined it and recalled all these years. Every time I would think about it, that is what I pictured! I wish I could have gone IN the school. I remembered the gym being down some stairs and to the left when you walked in the main doors. Sure enough, it was clear that the gym was down beside the hill and built into the hill. So pretty clear that you had to go DOWN to get into it once you entered the school.

It was so amazing to show to Stud and the kids. There were only two problems that make me sad...

1) Jock was not with us. He was at the Water Park in West Ed Mall with his team. Of all four of the kids, so far, he is the one most interested in Stud and I's past and our childhoods. He would have gotten something out of it. In fact when we told him later, he was pretty sad that he missed it. That was our only chance to go, though. Cryptic is not at all interested in that type of thing and is quite bored by the whole deal. I remember when I was a kid, I LOVED for my Dad to drive us all through the fields where he grew up and point out where he played with his cousins and which Uncle owned which quarter sections etc. I LOVED IT! I would try to picture my Dad as a little boy, playing in the dirt on the windblown prairie. Jock must be like me:) AND HE is the one who missed it all:( Clown and Princess were quite excited, though. They ran over and exclaimed about the hill and were jealous that I got to play on something so awesome:)

2) We forgot our camera in our van at the hotel the hockey team and my parents were staying in. THERE ARE NO PHOTOS OF MY CHILDREN ON THE HILL THAT I PLAYED ON!?!?!? *sigh* Ok, I am fine. I can go back one day, but what I would not give to have a photo of my kids standing on that hill, or standing in front of the house I lived in.

So there you go, just wanted to share. I don't know if the time on here will be when I started this post, or now, later on Saturday night, when I came back to it. All of us cleaned and organised today. We have a yard sale coming up in two weekends and need to get rid of all kinds of stuff. We spent the day doing that and then Stud and I went out to see "The Reaping". We just got back. It was certainly interesting. Kind of predictable, but I don't want to say anything to ruin it for anyone.

Off to bed. Church tomorrow and then we will try and go up to the Tulip Fields! Check here to see what I am talking about. We have not gone in five years! Clown was a wee toddler and fell in a puddle and Stud freaked out and vowed we would not go back. I have convinced him that the kids are at an age where they now handle it better:)



I will leave everyone with a photo of my baby sleeping on the couch the other afternoon...*sigh*. Is he the CUTEST!?!?!?!

Just stuff

We had a weekend of freebies. Was kind of cool!

Saturday morning as Stud and I went to the last soccer game that Princess would play in until fall (if she plays then as well), we stopped by Starbucks for our morning coffee before the game.

When we drove up, there was hardly any line. I think there were two vehicles ahead of us. The vehicle in front of us took a ridiculously long time acquiring their purchases. By there, there were a lot of people behind us. When we reached the drive thru window, Stud just said something about, "You sure are busy!" and smiled.

So when she handed us our drinks, she said, "This is on us, guys."

We were stunned. It had not been that big of a deal. Still, who says no to something free?? What a great start to the day.

Easter night, we went out to eat. Some years I cook a big Easter meal, but since we don't live near family, it is a lot of work and no one really cares. So we started eating at the Olive Garden after church Easter morning. Just a new tradition we started. Stud did not want to go there with all his make up on and his hair and beard all stiff and with all the gunk from being Jesus. Princess was most unhappy and he promised her we would go for the evening meal instead.


We got there and were seated right away. It was clear that our server was very new and we were patient when it took him five minutes to take a simple order. Princess and Clown always share my meal, Jock wanted spaghetti and Stud just wanted the soup that came with the bread. Some milkshakes, hot chocolates and a pop for me. Simple, right??

Apparently not!

GOOD GRAVY as Stud says. Seriously, this guy repeated it back to us I am not sure how many times. He asked Stud to wait a few times, as he wrote and wrote and checked things off. I was a server years ago. I know how it is. But the place was pretty slow, it is not like they were "Slammed" as we used to call it. It was such a simple order.

Fine, we get it ordered and sit back. Immediately Jock starts in with his attitude. Whining about something, who can remember what. After about eight minutes, the guy brings a few of the drinks and says the others are coming. Fine. By the time we had been sitting there for twenty minutes, our order comes out!?!? Just a few minutes after Jock and Stud finally got their milkshakes and Jock's was wrong anyway. The guy had repeated to us a few times, just to make sure and he STILL did it wrong. And yes, it was him. Not who made it.

We still had NO BREAD, no plates, no alfredo sauce for the bread, NOTHING. So as the person is bringing out the food for us, wondering if she is at the right table, we tell her we still have no bread and no plates for the bread once we do get it. So she goes over to our server, who was waiting on some other people and asks him what she should do with the food, why don't we have our bread yet?? He waves her away and she leaves.

About five minutes later, he brings out some bread. He goes to leave and I say that we would like some plates. He put his hands together and looked very impatient and asked me what for. I said, "For our bread. And did you forget our sauce??"

Again, he gives me attitude. He asks what kind of sauce and I felt like smacking him and telling him, "The same kind that I repeated to you FOUR time when we placed our order!!!!!!!!"""" GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

So he finally brings out the sauce exactly when they bring the meal!??! *SIGH* THANK GOODNESS the manager was going around asking how things were. She asked us and I spoke for us. I said I hated to complain, but it was clear he is new. She said relatively, what is the problem. Told her simple things seem to fluster him and explained about the bread, etc. She was SO COOL! She was horrified that we had no bread or plates and no sauce for the bread, etc. She got things fixed right away and came out a bit later and told us the meal was on them, not to worry. I felt bad and said no no, that was fine. She insisted. It was kind of funny, because I had just been telling the kids stories about my days as a server and how stressful it can be, and on and on. How my manager had to deal with rude patrons and how some people go around and complain about anything just to get a free meal and how we learned to peg them as soon as they walked in, etc.

So we got two free things in one weekend!

Also, we heard from our good friend who helped put together the Easter Production. He said that people are still raving about it. He has heard things such as, "Best in Twenty Years" and "I was weeping through the entire thing". I am not sure of the number yet, but many people accepted Christ this weekend. The kids are bursting with pride that their Dad was Jesus in a production that had such an impact on people. I am also very proud!

I will close on this note. I forgot to mention a hilarious (yet accurate) observation that Clown made while we were at the water park in West Ed.

I was trying to climb up the many staircases to one of the slides to go down it with he and Cryptic and Princess. Jock and Stud were off on their own at this time.

I am TERRIFIED of heights. As in, totally...I dunno. I don't have many fears. Am fine with bugs, bats, snakes, mice, spiders etc. Heights never bothered me until I was about 19 and spent a day at Niagra Falls. It didn't even really bother me that much at the time, but I noticed that since then, I am petrified.

I LOVE water slides and was dying to go on this one. I was trying to think about just getting to the top and then not looking anywhere but on the slide and then just letting go and having a blast. The kids were so excited. If you look in the photo here , you can see the light tan slide is about the tallest. We were attempting to walk up the stairs to it.

I suddenly realised about halfway up, that I could not do it. It did not help at all that I was not in the greatest mind set since the last time I was at a waterpark/wave pool, was my brother's last day alive. I did not know at the time that my parents had him at the ER and that he would die that very night, while I lay at my brother's house trying to sleep and knowing that something was very wrong, but not knowing what it was. We had enjoyed an incredible day that day and I remember even wishing my brother was with us and thinking how much he would love to be in that water. I had not been to a water park since and it was quite emotional for me. I hid it well, though. I am sure Stud had no clue and won't until he reads this.

Anyway, add that to my fear of heights and I was not in a good place.

I stopped and Cryptic and Princess continued up the stairs and were soon out of site. Clown waited for me and I told him to keep going, I was going down and would wait for them at the bottom. He insisted I continue. I told him I could not, I am sorry, quickly, go catch up with his brother and sister and I will find Daddy and Jock and meet him soon. He begged me and I was so torn. I wanted to do with him but I was honestly terrified.

He looked me in the eye and said, "MUM! COME ON!! This is RIDICULOUS! You know this is an IRRATIONAL FEAR!!"

LOL That cheered me up! It was so funny. I did not even know he knew that word! LOL I know he is right too. That made it worse. He kept saying to just watch his feet and not look out into the park, just look at his feet as he walked in front of me. I tried a few more steps and just couldn't. By then, he had to come down with me, we had wasted too much time. I found Stud and Jock and they took him and all was well. I still feel so bad, though. I did end up doing a few of the lower down ones and had a great time, but man! I hate fears!

Ok, better get to bed. Went to my Home School Support Group meeting tonight and then went shopping at Target. A friend is due with her first child soon and I needed to get him some more goodies:) I love to shop for babies!

Good night!!!

Happy Easter!

Well, we have had a nice day thus far. I got up at 5 with Stud and hid the baskets and eggs. He had to leave to go to church and get dolled up to play Jesus in the annual Production.

The kids slept until about 8, and we found baskets, eggs and goodies. The Easter Bunny always makes maps and makes it fun to hunt for the main basket full of toys and candy. Last night I was SO TIRED, I just wanted to put the baskets at their spots at the table. Jock was begging me to draw maps!!! A few more years and we can let the younger two in on the "secret" of Santa and the EB, etc. It is SO MUCH harder when they still believe, but sure is worth it. Jock and Cryptic found better things to do yesterday and had no interest in dying eggs or decorating cookies. This was the first year in their lives that had happened. So I was hoping that meant that I could get away with no maps this year. I had planned to draw up elaborate and fun ones a few days ago, because I know how tired I always am the night before and I need to wait until everyone is in bed before I can get all the goodies ready. Not surprisingly, I never did find the time to be to be well prepared.

So, I threw together some lame maps and the kids found everything within a few minutes. They seemed pleased, however. Jock was whispering to me about how cool it must have been growing up on 80 acres and asked if Grandad drove the tractor around to hide the eggs in the pastures:) The kids were commenting on how I had told them how often I hunted for Easter stuff with snow all around. They find that fascinating!

The boys kicked up a stink about what to wear. I bought Clown a darling outfit the other day, but he asked me if I have the receipt because he does not want me wasting my money and I need to return it because there is NO WAY he will EVER wear it:( *sniff* So I basically let them put together their own outfits and Clown was in tears that I would not let him wear a toque to church. He is mortified with how I cut his hair and is in denial that it had grown out. Still feels the need to hide it and is convinced that everyone is concerned with his hair! DRAMA! So far, in my parenting experience, boys are much more dramatic than girls. We shall see if things continue this way or if Princess joins her brothers in their...moodiness.


Stud and I need to nap this afternoon. He did AWESOME as Jesus. Was very convincing. We heard comments such as "Phenomenal" and one woman came up to me and said, "Your husband's eyes just GLOWED. It was INCREDIBLE!" We had many unbelievers there today, so are hopeful that we got through to some of them:)



The older boys were holding back laughter. Hard to take seriously when you know it is really your Dad in that get up! I could tell they were proud as well, however. As I type this, he is showering as much of the gunk off and shaving off that horrid beard!

Enjoy these few photos and I will attempt to catch up on your blogs this next week:)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Back from the Great White North!

And was it WHITE! Snowed often while we were there, which was just beautiful of course:)

We left on Monday, March 26th and arrived home around supper time on Wednesday, April 4th. Jock's team did very well, won three out of four games. He scored a goal during the first game when my parents were there, of course that was most exciting.

It was SO entertaining to watch my mother watching her grandson. I thought *I* was protective. I guess you need to toughen up, always seeing your son knocked onto the ice and smashed into the boards. Comes with the territory. I get quite frantic when he is laying on the ice for a long time and the game is stopped, but other than that, I have come to expect it of course. It was clear that my Mum has not seen a loved one play hockey in many years! My older brothers had all quit by the time they were Jock's age and that was over 30 years ago of course. I don't think they had reached the level of checking yet and it was not as physical as Jock's level.

Some boy checked Jock and Granny was convinced it was an accident. When we told her it was indeed on purpose, she was determined that we seek the boy out later and have him tell Jock that he is sorry! LOL THEN! I almost fell off the bleachers from laughing! A boy checked Jock into the boards right in front of us. Mum almost jumped out of her seat and yelled "HEY!!!!!!!!!!!" very loudly. Jock told us later that he heard her from out on the ice.

The kids spent the night in the hotel with my parents and Jock was also able to go on various "team building" escapades with his team-mates, so that was nice. We had a great visit with the friends we were staying with. They are incredible hosts and showed our kids an awesome time, not to mention feeding us lovely tid bits such as puffed wheat cake, perogies, butter tarts, ice cream and all manner of treats!

One wonderful surprise came on Thursday night. Stud, Jock and I had spent the afternoon and evening with the team and had gone out to dinner with them. Cryptic, Clown and Princess had stayed with our friends and had a picnic at the river, and a nice afternoon and evening together.

We got back from the restaurant to watch Survivor with everyone. When we walked in, a familiar person was sitting on the couch! NTFrog, who comments on here often, had popped down from the Northwest Territories for a visit. She and I have been great buds since grade two, when we were seven years old. She married a Canadian and stayed in the country. We try to get together with the husbands and kids every summer, but it has not worked out the past few summers. It has been at least two years since I have seen her and I was so tickled! What a wonderful surprise!!! She and our hostess had planned this a few weeks prior! I met our hostess (R) when we were about eight or nine at Bible camp up in Northern Saskatchewan. I always told them about each other and then when we were all about 12 or so, I took NTFrog to the camp I had raved about and the two of them clicked and we have all stayed in touch! Was a great reunion:) We went shopping on Saturday, ate at the Olive Garden and had an awesome time! I would like to post a photo of the three of us on here but I have not asked R yet and NTFrog requested that I not do so. So I will respect that:) I may convince her yet:)

We spent a day here and also saw "Meet the Robinsons" at the Theatre in the Mall. It was pretty cute and the kids had a good time, which is what the goal was of course. If you look at this you can see how amazing this mall is:) I have been there three of four times (I got married and left my country before I had much Independence and could explore and do things on my own) and have still not seen half of it, I am sure.


Maybe Stud will let me post a photo of him as Jesus. He has to be at church by 5 tomorrow morning, they need to spend at least two hours trying to cover up all his tattoos with make-up before they crucify him. We don't think Jesus had tats!

I think we are ready to dye Easter Eggs now.

Have a great Easter everyone. Will try to make it around to all of your blogs soon!

Brom, Jock and Beast

Jock was home quite sick today. I am taking him to the Dr. tomorrow. We leave on Monday, so he is really missing a lot of school. We are pulling him out and HSing him again, so it doesn't matter that much. He doesn't know that yet though. So any of you who may talk to him in the meantime, please don't say anything to him. Stud and I need to tell him in our own way and we have it planned as to when that will be.

So here are CUTE pictures of Brom sleeping with him today. Jock slept most of the day and has the seal bark cough. Don't think it IS Croup, but I will take him in anyway. If he is sick for this tournament, we will be REALLY bummed!

Another thing to note happened today. Clown found this costume I got him for about $7 during the sales in November. He tried this on and was annoyed that his hair got in the way. So he asked me to shave his head. I don't know if it is just me because I gave birth to him, but I think he is pretty darn good looking!

Enjoy!

Lots going on

Well, things have been incredibly chaotic around here the past few weeks. Even more so than usual.

I will just list the main things that have been going on ~

Cryptic is going to Tae Kwon Do more regularly, which is great! He took TKD off and on for about a year when he was around four or five, when we lived in SC. It took this many years for Stud to sign him up again!! Cryptic kept on asking and asking and Stud would forget to look into it. When I would mention taking care of it myself, he kept on saying that I didn't know the good places and not to do it, he would do it. Finally, when he was looking into it, we found out that Cryptic needed surgery last February. So we had to wait until after Cryptic's surgery and for him to recover and all that jazz. He got everything all set up this past fall. He enjoys it but is of course a bit annoyed that he is in a class with tiny little kids. There are a few kids closer to his age, so that helps. He has also greatly improved in getting himself out of bed and to school on time. He and I do devotions together and he really looks forward to that. That is the main reason he gets out of bed, is to do the devotions. So I am glad of that, of course. He prefers me to do them with him, and not just do it on his own. So I won't complain about that! He won some spelling bee for his grade level a few months back and was going to go on to the next level or whatever, but he says no one has updated him so he is not sure what is going on with that.

Jock is...as always, Jock! LOL I need to read more about the strong-willed child. He is keeping busy with hockey and all the practises preparing for the tournament in Edmonton next week. We leave in six days. He gets up twice a week at 5 am to go play hockey with his Dad and a bunch of others. He somehow worked it so that he has his first "job". He helps serve food at lunch at school and when he is done and takes off his hair net and gloves, he gets to eat anything he wants and as much of it as he wants. The main thing he likes about Public School (really the ONLY thing he says he likes about it) is the lunch, apparently it is very good. They have a large variety of foods and he is very pleased to have as much of it as he wants. He is definitely going through a spurt. He is eating non-stop. I have heard of teens that do this and have witnessed it before. Cryptic still has not hit that stage and Jock has always been a better eater anyway. It is nice to see a healthy appetite!

He "forgot" about a band concert he had last Wednesday and when I picked him up from school after his rock climbing field trip he only had 45 minutes to go home, eat and change and get his Sax to the school and help set up. I had to get Cryptic from TKD, somehow get kids fed and change and rush to the concert also. Stud had spent almost three hours gone at the gym that day, so needed to work and could not help me. Was pretty crazy!

Clown is now taking an art class in Bellevue. It is awesome and I am amazed and thrilled to have found something that will entice him out of the house once a week. It is Tuesdays from 10:30 to noon. Today they did a still life of fruit with chalk pastels on coloured paper. Last week was a rainforest bird with oil pastels and water colour on top of that. I wanted to bring it home today and post a photo of it on here, but his teacher wanted to keep it until next week because she wanted to display it and get photos of it. Sadly, we won't get it for a few weeks, since we will be gone. We won't see her until summer either, since she is going to have her first baby any week now and is going on maternity leave. Found out today she is FROM Edmonton and was very excited that we are going there!!! We were visiting for a while and talking about how we will never give up our Canadian Citizenhip, I asked about the baby, etc. When we left, Clown said, "So she is pregnant?? I WONDERED what that lump on her stomach was!?!?!?"

Princess is BUSY. Stud is trying to get her out skating more, since she starts hockey in the fall. She is playing soccer and is psyched to sign up for T-Ball when soccer is done. Of course she does ballet and tap and is talking of starting hip hop when she is older. I don't think she will be old enough this next coming fall. She also wants to start violin lessons and get back into swimming lessons! I will let her take these same art lessons that Clown is taking, once she is finished with public school and can attend the homeschool classes with him. She is our busy one! We need to limit it of course and pace ourselves.

This next week/weekend we have an allergist appointment for Cryptic, his TKD belt testing (FINALLY, possibly more on that later), four or so hockey practises for Jock, soccer pictures, two games, a practise, dance lessons and a birthday party for Princess. The same birthday party for Clown, packing for Canada, keeping the house clean, getting last minute things done for the care of the dog, mice and cats, and I think that is most of it!! *whew* Nothing major, you know.

I will close with a photo of Clown in art class today, as well as a cute photo I found of the four kids when Princess was a few weeks old. I will do what I ADORE doing and compare that one with one I just now took of them as I was posting this:) I just love to see how they have changed!

Inevitable and Encouraging

So I was lazy this morning and did not get up and go to Curves.

I got up later and did devotions with Cryptic as he has requested. We had a nice time, this mornings was very convicting. We had just finished praying and I had hugged he and Jock good bye and told them to have a great day. They were doing last minute leaving for school preparations in the kitchen when I told them I loved them and to be sure and walk to school together.

Just as I got back in bed with Stud and was snuggling up to him, we heard massive noise, yelling and thumping against cabinets. Lately Jock has this thing he loves to do. He asks, "You want me to BEAT YOU!?!?!" A friend of his says it in a funny way and they all get a kick out of it. He now says it many times a day and we heard him say that in the process of all the commotion. This confused me, since it is a playful thing and the rest of the noise sounded serious.

I jumped out of bed to check into it and as I came out of the room, I saw Jock shaking and crying and backing away from Cryptic with a very scared look on his face. Cryptic was still in the kitchen and was staying far away, with poor little Brom in between them barking his fool head off, running back and forth between them looking very confused and worried. They were still screaming at each other and poor Princess was now awake. Her room is right off the kitchen and Stud and I's is around the other corner. Not the best planning, but I guess it worked for the woman who built the house.

Anyway, what happened seems to be what we have been waiting for. We knew one day, Cryptic would stand up to Jock and let him know who was stronger and that he was not messing around anymore. They fight physically sometimes and Cryptic always backs off and gets control first and tries to sort it out without fists. Jock has it in his head that he is stronger and can prevail over Cryptic if need be. By the look on his face this morning, I know Cryptic made it clear that he better watch himself from now on. He had a few red marks on his neck (from Cryptic's hands) and a scratch that was bleeding quite a bit. Cryptic was slightly teary, not frantic as Jock was and kept repeating something about Jock watching out for himself, he is done fooling around and he better look out.

So that was an interesting start to the day. I told Stud what happened and he said good for Cryptic. It is about time. Various doctors have always told us this day would come and some have even suggested encouraging it, to put Jock in his place and have Cryptic feel a bit better about himself. Just because Cryptic is scrawny, Jock assumed (until today!) that he is stronger. He plays hockey, is constantly outside skateboarding, riding his bike, swimming at school, and has more defined looking muscles, etc. Well, he saw the light today, man! I don't feel the slightest bit bad for him. I hope that doesn't make me a bad mother, but I am sick of his attitude and glad that his big brother is finally doing something other than just yelling at him.

What set it off was as I walked away, Cryptic was playing a song on glasses of water that he was to take to school for his Science Project this morning. He was perfecting it before he left. I reminded him to wrap them good so they would not break when he transported them to and from school. Jock asked why they would possibly break. He constantly asks ridiculous questions like that. Often, if we ignore him, he takes a few seconds to think and comes up with the correct answer on his own. So I ignored him and went to bed. I found out later that Cryptic sighed and shook his head. Which caused Jock to tell him he is ugly. Which set him off and the beating began.

As to the encouraging thing from the title of this post. I will close with a quote from Princess overheard today. Cryptic needs this computer for some homework.

Today Clown, Princess and I were walking from the grocery store to the car. Princess was being Princess. That means skipping along like little girls do and singing. She wasn't paying close attention to the traffic, as usual. I was about to say something, when Clown did it for me. Although, he uses quite a different approach than what I usually do.

"Princess! What has Mum ALWAYS TOLD US!?!? Watch where you are going! Stop flitting about! Man! Do you want to get your butt splattered all over this parking lot!?!?"

She slowed down and looked sad and said quietly, "Clown...that is NOT very encouraging."

Butterfly in a Winter Wonderland!

Time for some photos. I have a long-winded post started that I may have time to edit later and have it make more sense and be a bit nicer of a read. I can't make any promises though!!

Until then, I wanted to post some pictures of the fun times in the recent snow and finally unveil my new body art!

Where to begin??

Sorry to have been so scarce. Been spending a lot of time trying to de-clutter the house and organise things.

Lots has been going on. Yesterday morning as I was walking back from Curves, moisture was hitting my face. It was not rain, but not snow. Seems like it was trying to decide if it was going to sleet or hail. I was all happy and grinning the entire walk home. I was happy for varying reasons.

I had finally hauled my fat butt out of bed and gone to Curves for the first time in over a week.

The idea of snow or anything close to it always makes me incredibly peaceful and happy.

So, I got home, showered and loaded up wee Brommy to take him to the Vet for his castration. Poor guy, but it must be done, right???


I had set out clothes for Princess and Stud was left in charge of getting her to school. I had been too tired the night before to help her count out 100 chocolate chips to take for yesterday. Today is their 100th day of school and they were to count out 100 snack items and were planning on making a snack mix with all of the donated items. Which confuses me since we are not allowed to bake home made items or take unwrapped candy or anything, but we can take loose goldfish crackers, raisins, chocolate chips, etc?? Seems pretty illogical to me.

So Stud was to help her count those out and get her off to school, since I would be taking the boys to school on my way to drop Brom off. Then I needed to get some groceries since I was near the grocery store anyway.


I drove Jock and Cryptic to school and then took my little boy to the place where his "doghood" as Cryptic calls it, was to be torn from him. I took him back and got him settled in his little cage. I also gave them his ear ointment. He had an ear infection a few weeks ago. I had been instructed to put ointment in his ears once a day and gently pluck his ear hairs, little by little. I never even attempted to pluck the ear hair, it was an absolute fiasco just to get any ointment in his ear. The Vet demonstrated for me when I was there and Brom sat and let him do it. Totally different story at home. He goes out of his mind, BERSERK. So I knew that I was most likely not getting enough in there and had given up fighting with him, that he likely still had the infection and asked them to put the ointment in while he was under for the surgery, as well as pluck some of his ear hair. I left him with his blanky and favourite stuffed toy to chew on and was really upset at the thought of him being there all alone and sad, whining and whimpering and not understanding what was happening to him:(


Then it was off to the grocery store for some groceries. I started talking to a woman in the pudding aisle. We ended up talking for half an hour! She just moved here from Florida in August and we talked about home schooling (she has her kids in private school, says there is no way they will ever attend public) and our kids and their interests, weather in the south and how I can't stand it, etc. Her daughter takes dance at the same place as Princess, but the reason we have never met is that even though her daughter takes three different dance classes, she is never there on a day that Princess is. We agreed that perhaps we will see each other at the Spring recital. Her kids are in the local Theatre and I have been thinking of getting Jock and Princess in there. I am glad I spoke with her, she couldn't say enough good about this group. Her kids have always done theatre, but of all the places they have done it, she said this particular one was the best, most organised and well run, etc.

Back home to unload the groceries and discover that our little Clown had finally emerged from bed and was getting himself some breakfast. He helped me put groceries away and then it was time to get Princess from school. We had lunch and she opted to stay home with her Dad and watch a movie while he worked, while Clown and I went for essentials at Target.

I LOVE shopping with this child. He and Cryptic are so similar in many ways. One of them is the fact that they save money very well. This child is 7 years old and has had almost $70 cash in his wallet for the past few months. The reason he got dressed and ventured out of the house was because I was going to buy him a $15 gameboy game and he wanted to be there to choose it.

Princess wanted one, since she doesn't have any truly girl ones. Problem is, she has no money. I suggested she use her bonus points that they earn for good behaviour. When we went to look at the chart, she discovered that she has under 100 points (new gameboy games cost 400) and Clown had almost 500! LOL He saves those very well too. She spends them on various privileges that they choose out of the "Pick a Privilege" container. So she had spent most of her well earned points. Once she realised that it will be a long time before she can afford a new game, she decided to stay home and do one of her favourite things ~ watch a movie. She and Cryptic would sit in front of movies all day long if allowed.

Anyway, once at the store, Clown discovered some shirts that he liked. I was buying Cryptic some new jeans (he is finally growing and is now about an inch taller than me. His waist is about that of an average eight year old, but his height in the pants is a size 16. ) This poses a huge problem! So I was searching for jeans and new trunks for swimming at school in PE class. We recently discovered that his new trunks from last year are WAY too small. This is hard to get used to. This child used to wear the same clothes for three years running and I could not understand when people said they cannot keep their kids in clothes. Like the Doctors always told us, he is finally catching up. I found a new shirt for Cryptic and a cool one I knew Jock would LOVE. So I told Clown I would buy him a new shirt too.

Well, this turned into a twenty minute ordeal. He LOVED the dragon one that I chose for Cryptic, but also wanted one that said "I love video games". I told him I would buy one and to chose. He finally decided that he would get them both and he would pay for one himself. Fine, off we went to look for light bulbs for Cryptic's Lava Lamp.

On the way, the word "Beethoven" caught his eye. He has always been interested in pianos and wanted to have one and learn to play. Even though Stud's mother is a pianist and taught in their home all during his childhood and he and all his siblings play, he has no interest in encouraging this in our children. Clown has begged and asked for his own miniature piano for years. I found one online this Christmas but Stud would not let me buy it.

So what he had seen was the CD sampler thing. He wanted to listen to Beethoven. So he pressed the button and once the music started, he got this precious look in his eyes. Like total rapture or something. He just loves this stuff. We ended up standing there for THIRTY MINUTES, listening to various CDs. I told him I would buy one and to try and narrow it down. He ended up loving the Celtic ones and could not decide between "Celtic Flutes", "Celtic Passion" or "Celtic Hymns". He finally settled on "Celtic Passion" and of course we found out that they were out of that one. We ended up purchasing "Celtic Hymns". You can tell he is Irish/Scottish. He LOVES this stuff and can't get enough of bagpipes. That's MY BOY!

Finally, I was able to pull him away from that and we went to the video game section. I told him 400 points would get him a $15 game and I was not buying a $30 game. The only one he wanted was $30, so he decided to buy it himself and save his points for other treats at a later date.

Then we were off for cereal, canned goods, etc. I told him to choose a treat for he and his siblings. We have a large bowl in this one cabinet in which we store granola bars, fruit snacks, and the like. Sometimes we get Little Debbie cakes, and things as a treat. I told him to choose one of those. He decided that he wanted a particular kind. He put it in the cart and then he was choosing "Sweet Cereal". We get some gooey cereal that they are only allowed to eat on Weekend mornings. We had been out for a while and it was time to get more. He was thrilled to see "Fruity Pebbles". He put them in the cart and as we made our way down the aisles to look at the Easter stuff, he suddenly stopped.

"Wait a minute. How much was that bigger box of 'Fruity Pebbles'?? Is that a good buy?? I can't remember, how many ounces it was. We need to go back and see, Mum."

So off we went as he calculated in his head if we were saving money with the cereal he chose. I loved watching as he worked out in his mind and came to the conclusion that it was about the same. Then he took the snack cakes out of the cart and put them back. I asked what he was doing and he said we didn't need those, it was fine. We have enough junky cereal, we don't need those cakes also.

Then as we got to the check-out, he asked which shirt he had to pay for. He pointed out that one was on sale and I could pay for that one and he would buy the regular priced one. I told him that the ones I was buying his older brothers were the same price as his regular priced one, thanks anyway but he can just buy the sale priced one. He asked if I was sure, and I said of course, I am the parent and I have more money anyway. He is SUCH A HOOT! I just loved that time with just him:) We must have taken two hours in that store and it was such a nice time, especially for people like us, who hate shopping! LOL

So, we went on to the Pet Store where the groomers are and made an appointment for Brom to get groomed in a few weeks, after his incision heals. We chose him some toys for being so brave. It was snowing and sticking to the ground by then, looking very pretty.

I dropped Clown at home and walked to the school to pick Jock up. He was nowhere to be found. Cryptic was mad because I made him go back to his locker and get the winter coat that he stores there, instead of wearing. So he shoved that on in a mad frenzy and ran home. I went to the office to have them page Jock. Normally if he is paged, he shows up within a minute or two. Ten minutes later, he was still not around. I was not sure what to do. I called home and Stud said Cryptic was home, Jock was not. I went home and called his friend K's house. His grandmother answered. They are from India and this poor woman doesn't speak English very well. I knew the only words she would recognise were her grandchildren's names. So I said them and she just said their names and then "school" after. Meaning they were still at school. Not much help.

I was late to get Brom, still had not unloaded the car from shopping and had to leave. I asked Cryptic to get Princess ready for dance class, feed her something, etc. So I got to the Vet's and they charged me $274 for this?!?!?! I am SO LIVID. This is the thing that gets me, though.

They charged $14 to pluck his ear hair and then the woman says something about how we shouldn't do that and it is not necesaary!?!? Then why did YOU GUYS tell me to do it!?!? And why did you do it, if you don't think we should!?!?!?? And why charge me for it anyway? The puppy was out of it, under anesthsia, can't you take 20 seconds and pull some hair out of his ears??? RETARDS. I am so looking for a new vet.

By this time, I had begged Stud to go look for Jock. He calls me and says Jock was at school, in the home-ec room, making cupcakes!?!?!?! WTH!?!?!? The teacher said there were 30 kids in there, it was loud, they did not hear the page from earlier. Well, I wonder if you could think to ask the kids if they have permission to even be there!?!?

That kid is truly UNREAL. When he pulled that crap a few weeks back, we made clear that he CANNOT stay after school again and we set up a place that he is to meet me EVERY DAY immediately when he is dismissed. When I met him on Tuesday, he had the nerve to start begging and ask if he can PLEASE stay and play a bit of football?? I reminded him that he can't stay for anything, NOT to ask again and not to be late when I am there to meet him, I have enough to do and am not pleased that I have to drop everything to be there to walk him home from school. He grumbled a bit and dropped it.

So then he pulled this junk yesterday and had the NERVE to act shocked and wonder why he is being punished YET AGAIN. He claims he didn't hear any of this news before and had no idea about any of it!!!!!!!*sigh* He has also tried acting amazed and "out of the loop" when we reminded him that he is not going on the band trip? Read the February 4th post titled "Exhausted" if you do not know what I am talking about. The nerve of this kid!

Stud said he thinks he is brain damaged. I reminded him it is called "selective memory" and "selective hearing" and that they both have it! Jock does totally get it from his Dad. Truly, and no offense to Stud, it is just a fact. They are both just incredible at convincing themselves that something did not happen or was not said. It causes quite a bit of problems, obviously.

I won't continue with the rest of the day, this has taken long enough and people are wanting lunch. Obviously, the kids are home from school today because of the snow. I will save this and add to it later!

Ok it is now later at night and I want to get this posted. I already put out some photos from last night. Poor Brom had to go to the bathroom, but I was worried about his incision. We had no choice and had to take him out in it.

He LOVED the snow and we got a few seconds of video of him running all through it, it was SO CUTE! Then we realised that he was forming small snowballs in his fur and we had to put him in a bath with warm water to melt those off, then use the blow dryer and set him on a blanket on the heating pad. Every time we took him out last night, this happened and back into the bath tub he went. He was getting tired of it and honestly so was I. Man did he look cute out there bounding through the snow!!

LM, I just got the comment from you about him not looking happy about his coat of snow! LOL How right you are!

There is so much more to share, so much going on. Jock got a job working in the kitchen at school, Cryptic wants to quit school (well, actually all of the one who atrend are wanting to quit) on and on it goes. Of course I can't share everything and this is long enough anyway.

I will close for now, since I will be amazed if anyone even read to the end anyway:) Hopefully I will update this a little more often in the future! I really want to do a post dedicated to our Brommy Baby soon:)

Peace out!