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!

Exciting news!

Well, we got the tats last night. I ended up getting a really pretty butterfly on the back of my left calf. I may add to it later although it hurt pretty bad! I was surprised, I assumed there would be enough fat there to make it less painful. I guess my legs are more muscular than I thought and the muscles did not like it! LOL

I did not get my Canadian bar code yet. We were there for five hours and Scott only spent three of those putting any ink on us. Well, no I guess it was more than that since he spent 25 minutes fixing the cross on Stud's calf since Stud let it get infected when Scott first put it on a few years ago! *sigh* So that took time away from MY ink time. He said he will be back in a few months and he will do the bar code then. I also want my shamrocks and my brother's name in my Mum's writing at that time. So we shall see. Mine are much smaller than Studs and don't take near the amount of time that his do.

I will post a photo of my butterfly when the swelling goes down and it is not as pink and blotchy.

In other news, Stud's little sister is going to be in a movie with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger!! How COOL is that?? She called Stud yesterday to tell him. The parts she will be in start filming next week, right near where they grew up in South Carolina. Apparently the people were looking into filming some on the land that Stud grew up on and their Dad told them to put his daughter in the film or something?? I mean, he suggested it. She has always loved acting and is quite cute. She is a prettier version of the girl Haley currently on American Idol. She also looks a bit like Julia Roberts.

Anyway, they opted not to film any of it on that land but somewhere nearby. Stud's parents are in the process of selling the land right now. There will be a Medical Center and Shopping Center, etc. We are really sad about it, because that land has been in the family for generations. However, times change. I am still unclear about how small or big of a part it is, whether it is a speaking role or not. I need to talk to her and find out!

Not sure if I mentioned, Stud is playing Jesus in the Easter Production at our church this year. He has often had parts in it, and this year they finally asked him to play Jesus. He is VERY excited. Gonna be interesting to see how much make-up they need to cover up his tattoos!!!

Well, I had better get off of here and clean up a bit. Finally getting the basement organised and tidied. I am having a Pampered Chef party tomorrow after church and need to make sure the kitchen is cleaned up and functional.

I hope to post about Brom soon, still waiting for Stud to make this short video clip of him barking at the hand held vacuum. Pretty funny!

OH! If anyone wants to see Stud's new ink, go here



Have a great weekend everyone!

New Tattoos

Stud and I are SO excited!

He is planning to get a new tattoo, finally. He has decided on the one he wants and we both like it. So last night, we decided to go check out prices at various places. It is funny to go into those places, because most of the people who work there are completely COVERED in tattoos and have lots of piercings. Not my cup of tea, but they are very nice people and that is what matters. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE tattoos. Obviously. As addicting as they are, I think you still need to stop somewhere and have SOME blank skin showing, you know??

The first tattoo Stud got is a total mess. It needs to be fixed badly. We asked about it last night and it will cost as much to fix it, as it will to get his new one! So we will just get his new one right now.

We ended up at the place we really like and some guy we have never seen was asking when Stud wanted this done. He said this week or next week. The guy said that would work well, they had things pretty much open and some guys from their Montana shop had just arrived. They were actually unloading the trailer right out front. We had seen the trailer when we drove up. So we asked who had arrived. We were both hoping to hear the name "Scott" since that is our favourite guy. He is the one who did my dragonflies and the cross on Stud's calf. I get compliments on my dragonflies ALL THE TIME.

Sure enough, Scott had just arrived from Montana!!! He came in and saw us and we were all saying "Hey! How's it going!?!?!?" and all excited. He is such a sweet guy. Very talented too.

He will only be here for five days, and Stud got an appointment for Friday. This one will take 2-3 hours. We just could not BELIEVE that he happened to show up the one day we decided to go check out when it could be done and how much it will cost.

So I was going to ask Scott when he would be back again to do some of the small ones that I want. I assumed we could not afford to do what I want as well as Stud's. Stud was SO SWEET! He said to block out some time for me too, because I can get two of the ones I want! Since Scott is only here for such a short time, he wanted me to be able to get some too and not have to wait. Isn't that sweet??? I am PSYCHED! FINALLY! It has been over a year since I got a tat and I am going through withdrawal.

Scott is also going to touch up the cross that he put on Stud's calf. DORKY Stud let it get totally infected right after Scott did it. So he will touch that up for him while he is in there getting this one done on his right arm. He asked to see my dragonflies and when I showed him he said it looked like I was taking good care of them:)

So now comes the hard part. Narrowing down which ones I want and where to put them. I want about eight more, but then I don't like the idea of being covered with them. It is so hard, because there are so many ideas I have and then figuring out where to put them is SO HARD. I want to be able to see them when I want to, but I also like the idea of ones on the back, shoulder blades, back of the legs, etc. I always forget what the one on my neck looks like and I need to get a mirror to look sometimes and remember what it looks like! LOL

We know for sure one of them will be this COOL one that Stud found. It is a Canadian Flag that looks like a bar code thing. It says "Made In Canada" and then the bar code #'s will be my birthday. I want one on my hip and Stud thinks that is where I should get this one. I want to be able to show it off though and who ever sees my hip besides Stud?? Cryptic and Jock think I should get it on my shoulder blade somewhere. I also want one there, but I am thinking a butterfly or something like that should go there. I want one on my hand, but this is too big for my hand. What a pickle I am in, eh???

We also found this awesome butterfly that I want. Who knows where, possibly the shoulder blade idea. I really want this pretty shamrock one, and I am thinking that one will go on my hand. I want to do my brother's name in my Mum's handwriting that she sent me. I just cannot for the life of me figure out where to put it! I was thinking along the inside of my right arm but now I am not so sure. I think I still need to wait a bit more on that one, I just can't seem to figure out where to put it. So hang in there, Mum. I will get it eventually!

Watch the blog for photos of new tats! I will wait until Saturday or Sunday to take pictures, I don't want them to be all red. May wait a bit longer, because they are always all shimmery with the ointment you need to keep on there.

We were just amazed at the timing. Scott shows up for a short time RIGHT when we get there to see about this tattoo?? Freaky. There is no such thing as coincidence, God wants us to have these tats now:)

Heart attack

Well, Jock has succeeded in doing it YET AGAIN.

That child will seriously be the death of me one day soon.

Today I was out running errands and on my way home was talking to Stud on the phone. I asked him to have the kids ready outside to help me unload the car.

He asked me if I knew where Jock was. By this time, it was 90 minutes since school had let out and Cryptic had been home. Tuesdays and Thursdays Jock has been staying for "after school activities". However, he knows he is supposed to let us know if he is planning in participating in those. He is to call us. He claims that the office will call and check to make sure it is alright, but they have yet to do that the six or seven times he has stayed after.


A local kid kid was almost abducted a few weeks back. His sister saw these guys trying to drag him into an SUV and ran and grabbed him and ran to a neighbours and called 911. Since then, I told Jock that he has to walk with Cryptic. To and from school. He is ready for school about ten minutes before Cryptic most mornings and is MAD that he has to wait for Cryptic. So he was not pleased with this and now has taken to staying after without permission. Cryptic has said he is not interested in the after school activities, wants to get home ASAP and doesn't think he needs to wait for Jock. I agree of course.


Not only is Jock in major trouble for not telling us he was staying at all, but he didn't even call to let us know he would not be home until 5. I got home around 4:30 or 4:40. I took Clown and Princess up to the school with me, while Cryptic unloaded the car and put everything away. I wanted to check and see if he stayed after for a program they have for the kids to catch up on school work. Sometimes he and Cryptic stay for that.

The office was locked, so we went up to the track and looked around, asked some people if they knew who he was and had they seen him. No one even knew who he was. There were just a few kids and some other people throwing frisbees to their dog.

We continued on back to our neighbourhood and stopped by the three houses where he might be. Sometimes he goes to his friend K's house after and calls us from there. We can see K's house from our's and I often wave to him from the window as he talks to me on the phone from there. K's little sister said he was at wrestling and she had not seen Jock.

Went to his friend D's house. He is in high school and gets out earlier. He said he saw him up at the school, but that was hours ago.

Went to his other friend D's house. We were praying and Clown was muttering, "OK, I am getting concerned now." Princess held my hand tight and was trying not to cry.

When we went to D's house and he was home and his Mom said he had been home a long time and she had no idea where Jock was, Clown said, "Ok, now I am FREAKED OUT!"

I got home and was trying to stay calm. I asked Stud what we should do. He was getting ready to come help me look, when he suggested I try the gym at the school, if K's sister said he was at wrestling. Maybe Jock stayed to watch him. He is usually really good about letting us know when he will be later than he should be. Most of the time. And he has NEVER been this late!

So I took the car up to the school. There were a bunch of kids waiting for their parents to pick them up after wrestling. I asked them if they knew him, they said no. Then as I was walking to the gym, I saw a kid that Jock can't stand. He is also in high school, so I am not sure what he was doing at the middle school. We shall call him J. Anyway, I asked him if he had seen him and he said no. I asked if he had seen K and he said yes.

Now I was really freaking! K and Jock are pretty much inseparable. I know J and Jock don't like each other, so there is a possibility that he HAD seen him with K and was lying. I wouldn't put it past this kid. He is one of those who is all sweetness and light when I am around, but when he thinks I am gone and I listen in, he has a filthy mouth and picks on Jock and K.

So, I was ready to call the cops when Stud called to say that Jock was home.

*whew*

He was acting like I was a nutjob when I ran in and grabbed him and was crying and hugging him. Princess started crying too and he was looking at us while we were nuts while Stud let him have it by yelling a little. Not too much, but he spoke firmly and Jock knows we are not happy.

Just a FEW of his consequences:

I am walking him to and from school. LOL HA! How is that one?? Man, he will be mortified that his mother will walk him there and back, eh?? Little dork.

He sat on a chair all night, and then cleaned up from supper and put away anything Cryptic did not get done while the search for Jock was underway. He is now on his way to bed early.

He may not attend his hockey tournament this weekend. That is still up in the air.

He most certainly will not be staying for after school activities AT ALL the rest of the year.

What an emotional time that was:(

KIDS!!!

Off to watch Survivor!

Update on accident

So you may recall that a young boy smashed into my car a few weeks back as I tried to park in my driveway.

I spoke with our insurance person on the phone and various calls have been made and things done. She called today to let me know that both sides have agreed that each company will pay 50% of the other's damages??

I said, "Wait. Why should you guys pay anything?? HE crashed into ME. He was obviously not paying attention, are his parents still trying to claim that somehow he is not at fault??"

She said that his insurance company was trying to place the whole thing on me and that the only thing that got them to stop that nonsense was the statement of the girl who saw the entire thing.

It seems the boy changed his story and tried to say (LIED OUTRIGHT) that I was in the wrong lane, over to the left and trying to turn into my driveway from that lane!?!?!? It is almost laughable, if it was not so blatantly OUTRAGEOUS.

The witness said no, I was not and that HE was not paying any attention at all. I am sure she saw that he must have looked down or was playing with his cell phone or SOMETHING. I have no idea and am totally speculating obviously.

He said the day it happened that he did not see me. Now he claims I was in the wrong lane?? If he didn't see me, how can he say something like that?? It is a total fabrication and since I was a DORK and moved the vehicles to get out of the way of oncoming traffic...look at the mess.

This kind of thing INFURIATES me. Thank goodness for that girl stepping forward, though. I want to thank her. I still see no reason that our insurance should shell out a penny, though. This is so maddening. Stud is livid and is going to call her back and talk to her. That kid knows DARN WELL he is 100% at fault. That is why he was so frantic to get it all taken care of before his Dad even found out about it. I am sure he is scared and that is what caused him to lie about any of it.


I have told the total truth since the second it happened. I was truthful about the fact that I don't think I signaled. I still don't see how that has anything to do with it, though. If someone doesn't signal, do you ram into them to teach them a lesson?? But if they DO, then you stay back and let them pull in and THEN carry on?? Makes no sense at all. I am always signaling and have been made fun of, it is such an instinctive thing for me to do. I remember that day going to and then thinking no, why?? It is obvious what I am doing here. Stud said later when the kid pulled into our lower driveway for them to look at the damage, that HE didn't signal. So why am *I* being punished for not doing it??

Anyway, there we go for now. I need to get Princess in bed and finish playing a game with Clown while Cryptic does his homework. Stud and Jock are...where else?? Hockey!

Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!!

Loch Ness Monster

*sigh*

I am NOT in a good mood. I was up far too often during the night and now have not made it for my walk to Curves, my work out and then my walk back. Which I LOVE to do.

Apparently, Princess saw a picture on the Loch Ness Monster in a book at the library at school. Now she is TERRIFIED that it will somehow get in her room.

No amount of comforting and common sense works.

I told her it does not exist.

I told her *IF* it does, it is in a deep lake, in a country on a continent across the ocean, far from here. Drew a picture, so that she would understand better.

I said that also if it did, it cannot come out of the water, even if it wanted to, which it wouldn't want to. I told her it is scared of being out of water and won't be able to breathe.

I told her that kids live right near the lake that it is in, IF it exists, and they are not afraid because they know it can't get it out of the lake and that it doesn't want to.

She needs every light on possible and I am losing patience. I have tried praying with her. I have cuddled, joked, hugged and let her choose which nightlights/lamps to use.

Jock got her a really cool Tinker Bell night light for Christmas a few years ago. The thing spins and lights up her entire room. Not good enough.

Fine, he also got her a string of Tinker Bell lights that are all on her headboard and light up right above her head. This was one of her gifts from him this past Christmas. Nope, still not enough.

I let her turn on the Hello Kitty lamp on her dresser across the room from her bed. It looks like daylight in the room, but it is still not good enough.

I got her settled with two of the nightlights/lamps turned on and woke up at midnight, to the puppy growling. I get up and see that she has turned on the Princess lamp on her bedside table, as well as the bathroom light down the hall AND the lights in the stairway going downstairs. She has turned on her music and is sitting straight up in bed, wide awake.

*sigh*

I took the dog out to pee, since he was now awake, I might as well take him, right?? So I turned off lights and told her she gets TWO and the Hello Kitty lamp and one of the night lights was PLENTY. I told her if she turns on the light in the bathroom or hallway again, she will be punished. If she continues to wake Brom up, she will be punished. I told her I am sorry she is scared, I have tried everything, it is not considerate to wake the entire house because she needs lights on and thinks something that doesn't even exist is going to come into her room somehow.

I know I should be more patient, but I am REALLY losing it here!!!

I am sure that all the light is part of what is waking her in the night. She thinks that is silly of course and has herself convinced that the more light, the better. I find it interesting that when she used to sleep with one soft night light, that she slept fine and slept through the night, for the most part.

I just got settled, when I hear Brom growling again and hear stomping and am just getting out of bed when I almost collide with her. She was coming to tell me that her ribs hurt. Something always hurts and I can't take it seriously, because I don't know if it is just an excuse to be out of bed to avoid the "Loch Ness Monster" or what.

NOT a good start to the day!!!

Mutants

Well, today Cryptic was home from school.

There was a mishap last night during all the excitement to watch Survivor.


Thursday nights used to be our "Family Night". We would hold a short meeting, discuss concerns, praise people for improving since the previous week, bring up new concerns if there were any, etc. We would have a snack, play some games (we have set up obstacle courses, played hide-and-seek, as well as board games etc) and then try to fit in watching "Survivor". Soon, it ended up being just Survivor night and the kids all sleep in the Rec Room together, which is a huge thrill, especially for Princess. Since she is the only kid with a bedroom on the main floor with the boring old parents. She loves to be downstairs with her cool brothers.

Monday nights are Family Nights and Thursdays are strictly Survivor nights. We may work in a few board games prior, depending on how things go.

Ah yes, the mishap.

So last night Jock and Cryptic were sent down here to set up the sleeping bags, pillows etc for everyone to get settled down here to bed after the TV show. Jock came upstairs and told Stud and I that Cryptic had hurt himself. We didn't hear anything, so were surprised. I guess he is maturing past the screaming like a banshee stage???

I found him crumpled in a pile in one of the hallways. Apparently, in all the commotion, he had somehow slammed his foot into the baseboard, I believe at a corner, no less. The last three toes on his foot is what took the brunt of it.

His toes were a bit swollen, so I carried him upstairs (can you imagine being able to CARRY your 14 year old son?? That is how light he is! Dude is the exact same height as me, but since he weighs almost fifty pounds less, it is very easy to carry him) and we got some ice. Princess got her "Hello Kitty" ice pack from when she always needed it for "boo boos" and Cryptic was very sweet. He was in pain but still struggled to find the right words to ask her for something bigger without hurting her feelings:)

He moaned and groaned all through Survivor and I decided to make sure and take him to get it checked and hopefully X-rayed today.

This morning the middle of the three was still swollen, but he said it wasn't as painful. I told him I wanted it checked anyway and he was all too happy to miss school!!!

Now to explain the subject of this post!

She ordered x-rays. When we went back in to look, she furrowed her brow and put her chin in her hands and then muttered, "Well, that's funny."

Cryptic was sitting on the exam table reading. He looked up and asked in a hesitant voice, "What's funny?"

She told him to come and look at the bones on the ends of his toes. She said that they are very pointed and funny looking! Especially the one on his pinky toe, it was a tiny little claw like thing, instead of broader and rounded like it should be.

As we were marveling over that, I noticed that he seemed to be missing a bone in his pinky toe. I brought it to her attention and she was totally in shock!

She said, "You are right!!!!!!!! Look at that Cryptic, you have two bones in your pinky toe and you are supposed to have three!!!"

She got a book and showed us how people's toes are supposed to look and sure enough. Dude is missing a bone in his pinky! It simply is not there. She told him that he had to have gotten it from his Dad and/or myself. So we were all laughing and he asked me to take off my shoes and socks (which I was all too happy to do, since I hate wearing anything on my feet anyway) and let her see if I was that way.

Yes. Poor kid gets it from me! WHO KNEW!?!?! We were laughing and she was calling us "Mutants". It was so funny and weird.

So I came home and Stud and I inspected his toes and the guy is totally normal! Who would have thought it???

Alright, Clown wants to play some board games and Princess wants some more food. Stud and Jock are at Jock's hockey practise and Cryptic is watching TV. I slaughtered Clown today playing some games of this and I think he wants a rematch! He has not played it before, he has played the kids' version. So he did pretty good for a first time player.

I hope to FINALLY post about Jock's hockey tournament in BC this weekend. I have some nice pictures to share:)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Awesome changes:)

Stud has been AMAZING with me being sick!!! He has REALLY changed the past four or five months. It is SO NICE:)


It truly is amazing, the changes that have taken place. Yesterday, he took Princess to school, and picked her up at 11:30. I took Cryptic to the Dr. and got some groceries and tried to do some things around the house. By 4:30 I couldn't do anymore and was resting on the couch. He took Cryptic to Tae Kwon Do, went and picked him up AND made supper!?!? This last one DOES NOT happen (I can count on one hand the times it has happened in 17 years of marriage) and man was it DELICIOUS! Hamburger Helper and canned corn. YUMMERS!! The BEST part was that I never even asked him to do it. He just did it.

THEN!!! This morning he didn't even wake me up. He got Princess up, fed her, got her dressed and got her to school. Clown and I did not even get up until almost 10 this morning! He also went and got her from school again and then let me sleep most of the day away. Man, I must have needed that! I feel like a totally different person now and think I am on the road to recovery finally!

Sure does help to have a hubby who works from home! When he has worked from home in the past, he would not help AT ALL. With ANYTHING. I could never leave a kid here to just run and get something done or anything. Had to drag them all with me to get a 20 minute errand done, on and on. Since he started working from home again this past fall, I can leave Clown with some school work and go and get all manner of errands done and am sometimes late so he needs to get Princess from school. He has not complained once.

This is SUCH an answer to prayer!!!

So, I just wanted to share how incredible the Studmeister is being:) Sure does make me feel loved and cared for and not like a burden anymore:) teehee LOVING IT! Can you tell?? LOL

Exhausted

Well, I have been sick since about Wednesday or Thursday. *sigh* I don't get sick, so I can't complain. I just feel like I have hardly gotten anything done at all and it is most frustrating. I can hardly breathe, am constantly sneezing, nose running, runny eyes, etc etc. I need to be in Princess's class on Tuesday and unless some miracle happens, I don't see that actually transpiring. I am sad, I really look forward to working in her class. That age is SO CUTE and fun!

What a week. Especially what a weekend! Let me backtrack a bit.

Monday I got up and walked to Curves, worked out and walked back. I LOVE doing that, it really wakes me up and gets the day off to an awesome start!

When I got back, I found that Jock was not feeling well and was in bed. Cryptic had gone, even though he really wanted to stay home. I doted a bit on Jock and soon discovered my tummy was upset also. I was feeling quite sick and went back to bed. He and I felt a little off all day, but by that night were right as rain again.

Tuesday I made an appointment with the school counselor to meet with Jock and myself. He has been complaining about this one teacher a lot and said he is constantly humiliating him. Jock is one of those people who is very easily influenced by others and a real people pleaser. If the people are those other than his immediate family!!! I cannot tell you how often I get complimented about him when I go places. How polite, kind, funny, considerate etc etc that he is. The other parents in our homeschooling group used to be shocked when I would tell them that he was not allowed to do such and such for a consequence for negative attitude or disrespect or anything like that. After about three years, they started to see the side of him that we always see at home.

It is very important to him what others think of him, yet at home, he can be incredibly rude, disrespectful and belligerent. Which I hear is quite normal. Cryptic is the opposite. He can often be rude, condescending, snotty, very serious, aloof and distant outside the house, and states often how he could care less what anyone's opinion of him is. Conversely, when people we met at the HSing group have come to our house for supper or a birthday party or what have you, they were shocked to see a sweet, helpful, mature and light-hearted Cryptic and a butt-head Jock!

My point is that it is not common for Jock to have trouble getting along with anyone. He idolizes pretty much every adult in his life (except me! He is at an age where he is really pulling away from me and maybe I will do a post on that soon) and people just adore him. He can be an absolute perfect kid and angel, if he wants to be. So to hear that a teacher is treating him badly, is kind of a surprise. Then, we found out that the teacher has gone through his back-pack on at least three separate occasions.

Stud went with Cryptic a few months ago to meet with this same counselor about one of Cryptic's teachers. The man yelled continually and was making Cryptic very scared and nervous. The counselor suggested that Cryptic switch teachers and he is the one who stated that he would keep trying, he just wanted her to be aware of how uncomfortable he was. So when I took Jock in, I expected the same thing.

She said how proud and impressed she was with how Crytpic had handled himself and how in this case, she thought that maybe Jock's teacher is not aware of how he is coming across to Jock. She admitted to being very disturbed about the back-pack thing, but was constantly trying to find excuses for why he may have done that. After meeting with Jock for about half an hour, we agreed that she would talk to this teacher and see what his view of it all is. I expressed my concern that after how Jock feels is brought to his attention, that he be even worse to Jock. She said, "Not gonna happen. That is not tolerated." Well, I would hope what he has been doing up until this point will not be tolerated either. I continue to be blown away by what goes on in these public schools and what all is tolerated and what is not. It is very backward and VERY different from when I was in school. Of course, the fact that it is a totally different country may have something to do with it.

The rest of the week is pretty much a blur. I know on Wednesday I went to Costco, Target, grocery store etc and loaded up on stuff since Stud had just been paid. I think I was getting bad with this cold by then. We have been spending a lot of time playing a really fun new board game that the kids got for Christmas. The kids have watched "Open Season" many times since I went and purchased it on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Princess started a different dance class.

She had been taking ballet/tap all last year. She started again this past fall and after one month, wanted to quit tap. She is a ballerina at heart and found tap too difficult. She was good at it, but is naturally more graceful (not sure where she gets that from, must be Stud's side of the family??) and wasn't having fun. So we had to change our schedule around and ended up missing so many of her ballet classes, that is why she was so unprepared for her Christmas recital. I have been trying to take her to make-up classes and they ended up being on the original day (Wednesday) and time. She saw the other girls doing tap and told me she wanted to start again. PERFECT timing, because now is the time of year that we put the down payments on the Spring Recital costumes, get measurements, etc etc. So her teacher said she can go back in that class for good, there was plenty of room. We are SO EXCITED, we saw what she will be wearing for each dance.

Her ballet outfit is a Zebra pantsuit. Her tap outfit is a 20's flapper dress, purple sequins and rainbow coloured feather boa and trim on the bottom of the dress. She and I have always wanted her to have one of the sparkly costumes, so we are VERY HAPPY!:) That was exciting except that she can't fit her tap shoes that she wore for one month this past fall! *sigh* So we need to go get new shoes and sell these on Ebay.

That was very exciting. Oh, I know. We went to a meeting at the school about Jock's band trip this Spring. The plan is to go to Spokane for a Spring Parade or something in May. We have been very psyched about it and that meeting got us even more excited. Jock was beside himself, Stud signed up to be late night security at the hotel, etc etc.

Jock has been a BUTT. Truly. Getting worse and worse. The mouth on him is just...*sigh* He has always been our hardest kid, and we try desperately not to make him feel that he is, because he will just fulfill that label. I have read all about it. We focus on the positive and praise ALL THE TIME. It is a constant dilemma, trying to figure out which negative to ignore, and which to point out and use to guide and teach. I have recently become aware that if Cryptic does something similar to Jock, I am not as hard on Cryptic. Jock is an "in your face" type of person, always around, mouth constantly going. Cryptic is more in the background and sly, kind of sneaky with his antics. So even though he may be a butt, it seems to take a while for that to register with me.

Since I have become aware of this, I sat them down and told Jock that I am sorry. I told Cryptic that I will crack down on him more and I have been. I can tell that Jock feels that things are a bit more "fair", so that is good. Still, he has this attitude that he knows everything and is the authority on everything. He knows it all, just ask him and he can tell you. He is never wrong. Apparently, I was the same when I was a kid. I am sure I have not lost it all, but I know I have improved. Stud is that way, always has been since I have known him. So poor Jock came by it naturally and really did not stand a chance. Since Stud and Jock spend so much time together and Jock worships Stud...you get the picture.


We have told Jock that he has GOT to get his act together and treat us all better. We had been giving him chores for any time he lipped off or was rude, calling sibs names, etc etc. The house is getting cleaner and cleaner, because if he has attitude about that, he gets chores added. Here is an example:

Me - Jock, don't talk to Clown that way. You don't like people to call you names, right?? YOu need to tell him you are sorry.

J- Whatever. *insert rolling of eyes here and a lovely glare*

Me- Ok, you can fold Clown's laundry for him, since you cannot treat him nicely.

J- So?? Geez. You think I CARE??

Me- *trying to stay calm* Go ahead and clean you and Crytic's bathroom as well.

J - FINE! MAN!

So then I am thinking, that was rude. Do I keep adding, do I ignore? He has a right to be annoyed, that is fine. Yet he is choosing to be a dork. He KNOWS the consequences, yet is always testing. He claims that Stud lets him get away with acting a certain way, yet if I am around, then I crack down and Stud backs me up. He gets frustrated to tears and says that is not fair. When they are alone, Stud lets him do that. Maybe that is why he doesn't want me around ever, cause I am harder on him and don't allow it??

Anyway, today he was a royal D*ck. Depending on the offense, we have said that he will miss a hockey game. He had two games yesterday and then this morning was being a turd. So I suggested Stud bench him when they got there. Then I decided that he should just stay home. Srud went to coach the game and Jock turned into an angel. When we used to take him to his counselor, he admitted that he is fully aware of what he does. I was concerned that he was bi-polar for a while, but he doesn't have the rages they do and then when we know that he is aware, that is clearly NOT bi-polar. We told him if there was ANY other incident that he was not going on the band trip in May.

He was a dream. As reward, I allowed he and Clown to send messages to each other on their DS lites that they got for Christmas. I keep them and then bring them out when the kids have been pleasant and worked well together, been respectful, etc. Clown has been BEGGING to be able to spend time sending messages back and forth. So I told Jock they could do that for a while.

Within FIVE minutes Cryptic came up to tell me that Jock had typed in Jack*ss to wee little Clown and called him a Bi*ch!?!?!? He hears these words at school and I am sure has heard them in some movies we have not screened very well. His father and I DO NOT use words like that.

So we called Jock up and told him that he was NOT going on the Band trip. He was MAD and proceeded to go to Clown and say "Thanks to you, I am not going on my Fu*king band trip!"

I am not sure that we have ever used a belt on one of our kids. Stud has wanted to use it before and I have avoided it at all costs. I was totally 100% on board with that today. Clown came to me crying when he found out what was happening to Jock. He said that HE was the one who started typing in names on his DS. I asked him if it was names like what Jock said to him. No, but they were bad. "Stupid", "Idiot" and things like that. He said that he was kidding around and that he and Jock have done that before and he thought it was goofy. He didn't know Jock would get mad and type those other words. I said thanks for your honesty, and you will have a consequence for that since you know those are not allowed. But I told him he is not responsible for Jock choosing to call names back.

Jock could have ignored him, told him he was not using the DS to send messages, and CERTAINLY not typed in those worse names that Clown has not seen/heard before. I hugged him and told him he was not at fault for Jock getting what he was getting right then. We didn't hear any noise, it was handled quickly and quietly. Yet it still really upset Clown to know that his Dad was doing something like that to his big brother. I told him how those words were bad enough, what Jock typed, but then to go downstairs and say that to you, use that horrible word in front of you AND Princess, and on top of it all, try and guilt Clown into the fact that Jock CHOSE not to go on the band trip...no way. Not gonna fly.

Since then, Jock has been a totally ANGEL. Playing with the younger two, being sweet and loving, etc etc. So we need to stick to our guns here. I was really looking forward to that trip:( I will remind myself that we are saving MAJOR money and Jock is learning a valuable lesson. He was hard enough, but the child he is becoming since starting public school is just...scary. I thought I was prepared for it and Stud has even said if we need to, as a last resort, we will pull him out and have him home again earlier than originally planned. He complains about it sometimes, but overall he still loves it. So that would be the ulitmate consequence.

Alright, I know this was a lot to take in. This has taken me a long time and I have sneezed all over the monitor many times already. My chest is just burning, feels kinda like bronchitis or something. *sigh* May have to go to the Dr. I was getting so good about keeping active and working out, now that is all on hold.

Nighty night!!!