Last week

So the new schedule last week went nicely. I was a tad sore and tired (stupid Aunt Flo!) on Thursday so we took the day off and just lazed about.

I have been very impressed with the kids sticking to the schedule and doing their chores and school work. Jock fights it and mutters, but does a good job of keeping up with his on-line school. Cryptic spent a lot of time with the younger two and they were just tickled. When he has limited time that he is permitted to spend doing his writing and (we had been allowing him HOURS every day and that has been drastically altered) surfing the net, he actually enters in on their games and they love his input and ideas for the games they make up and play together. The three of them spent a good amount of time out on the trampoline this week.

Clown was nervous about his gymnastics class this past Monday at noon. His coach is Russian and quite hard to understand because of the accent and also because he speaks very quietly. Clown went out onto the mats and started the warm up with everyone else. Soon he was smiling and talking quietly with the other boys. He didn't want me to take any pictures but I told him I wouldn't do it often, I just wanted some from his first class.

When they got to the rings, he was the only one who was able to just jump up from below and grab them. THEN, he was also the only one who held his body the way the coach was showing them. I felt bad for some of the other boys, they gave up and were nears tears. Clown just seemed to be a natural.




His coach told him to pull a big thing over to use to stand on so that he can jump up and reach the rings. Of course he is waving me away and saying, "NO PICTURES!" LOL





Explaining that he needs to jump up there and grab on...but first...













You will want to use some chalk on your hands so you don't slip...














WOW! You got up there the first try! Now try and grab with the other hand...















Excellent!



He just loved it and says he wants to try a few more times. At one point they were by the bars trying to do a "Pull Up" I think they said it is called. You hold on with just your hands and then try and just pull your entire body under and up and over the bar by lifting with your legs and core. The kids were struggling and struggling and the mothers were all saying how hard it is. One mother, whose kids have taken classes there for a LONG TIME said "It usually takes about a year before they can do it. It is REALLY difficult". Right after she said that, we all saw Clown flip himself over! We sat there shocked for a split second and then all the mothers and I started hooting and hollering and clapping and yelling "YAY CLOWN!!!"


Of course he went today again (was convinced he was going to vomit on the way there *sigh* but got himself calmed down once he got on the mats) and Jock and Princess came to watch him. I would rather it just be time with him and me on the drive to and from. However, he asked them to come and watch him and they were excited to see him in class. There is a class for girls going on at the same time that Princess wants to be in. I told her she is in too many things right now, this is just for Clown. She wants to drop something so she can do gymnastics! I told her once some of her eight week sessions are done, she can start this. Jock actually may join Clown in class next month. We can pay month by month and the woman who set it up from our Home Schooling Assoc. got us a screaming deal!

So Princess and Jock were impressed with Clown's abilities also. They enjoyed watching him and he was so proud to have them there:) Was cute, one time as Clown was walking past with the rest of the boys, Jock waved and just said, "Hey Clown!" and Clown beamed and looked a bit shy and waved back but was too shy to say anything back to him:)

Princess is loving her ballet and hip hop. Our Sugar cube pyramid didn't turn out that great last Monday, but that is OK, now we are onto Sumeria and working on other things with clay. Trying to make a "Sumerian Seal". We shall see how that goes!

I open up a local clubhouse for our Friday morning Science Class now. Cryptic and Jock have taken it for years and now Clown and Princess get to try. Their class is first and I have keys and meet the teacher there.


Of course Clown was a nervous wreck before class on Friday. Once he got settled and Brian started talking and teasing Princess, Clown settled right in. He raised his hand and spoke up many times and didn't even flip out or get upset when one time Brian called on him and Clown ventured, "Mandibles??" and Brian said no, that's wasn't quite right. Normally Clown would have shut down then and there and never volunteered an answer again. Not this time! We are making progress! He took it in stride and within a few minutes was answering Brian's questions again and doing his sweet shy look whenever he got something right. Which was most of the time! They are learning about insects and Clown always reads up on them. So he knew a lot of the material but of course learned plenty of new information as well. He came running inside after class and flew straight to Stud's office downstairs and told him all about the class. Again, he says he will continue all year, no need to quit after the first eight week session:)

Clown will start piano lessons soon and Cryptic is resuming his violin lessons from years ago. Princess is starting violin as well. Jock isn't playing an instrument at present.

Jock is having a good time on his new hockey team. He is Bantam this year and has five girls on his team!!! The most he has had before in one season is two, so this is different. They played their first game this past Sunday. We had issues with try-outs for the AAA team, but I won't get into that here. Maybe I mentioned it?? I don't recall.

Cryptic is taking a writing class on Fridays at 2PM, so we hope that goes well. He is not sure about sharing any of the stuff he is currently working on, since he hopes to publish it one day. I said we could just get people to sign a non-disclosure agreement! LOL He said he will just get more ideas and use those, but he really enjoys the class. Just something to help him move along and really get going with his ideas. He has amazing ideas and shares them with me on our daily walks. I can't keep up with all of them! He is really a gifted writer.

He bought a new book the other night and sucked it right down. I am going to go cuddle in bed and finish it. I started it yesterday and it is freaky how similar it is to some of the ideas Cryptic has had for his stories!

Enough rambling for now. Hope everyone had a lovely week!

Fall Schedule

So today is the first day of our new fall schedule. I only have 12 minutes of computer time left, so we shall see how fast I can spit out all my news!

Cryptic showers now, as the other kids clean up from breakfast. Cryptic and I got up and went for an hour long walk and then came back and made breakfast. He poured juice, cut up strawberries and warmed up muffins while I toasted toast and scrambled eggs. The younger two should be starting their independent school work while Jock does his few chores for Mondays.

Clown has gymnastics this morning, so that should be interesting. He is very nervous and a friend and I have gone through all kinds of drama and stress and nonsense to get our boys in this class with our Home Schooling group. Both our sons need a very small group of kids.

Jock got his lap-top for his on-line school. I am not sure where it is based (can't recall at this moment) but they don't seem to have their act together. I actually have a pretty bad feeling about how this year will go.


This is a different place than the one we used last year for Cryptic. They sent him his lap-top and got him all set up. Then they called and were frantic this past Friday. They had given us the wrong form for the out of district thingy. So they called our home phone, Stud's cell and my cell and told us they needed us to fax them a different form from our school district. Fine. So I went and got that taken care of. The next day we got a big envelope of stuff from them in the mail. It was the SAME FORMS they sent WEEKS ago that we have already filled out and returned!?!?!? They were saying something about hurry and fill these in so we can get your student registered and connected and ready to do school!??! YIKES!?!?

So here is Jock with his lap-top...




Pretending to be mad:)









Much better.










OH NO!!! I am two minutes late! I am now off to Ancient Egypt with Princess and Clown. We have to try and make our pyramid again. We tried to make blocks from sand and glue so it would be more authentic...let's just say that did not work. So we are going to use sugar cubes. We agreed that will be more realistic anyway, since the pyramids all used to be white, but over the centuries, all that was worn off from the desert winds, etc.

This will take some getting used to!

On Monday I went to my appointment at the sleep disorder clinic. NICE to know I have a "disorder".

It took about 5 minutes. I got home and showed everyone my lovely new mask. Ya wanna know the FIRST THING out of Stud's mouth??

"I am sleeping with Darth Vader". He said he was going to get a photo of me wearing it and post it on his blog. I asked how he could do that when I will wake up if he tries to take a photo, since I sleep so lightly. We both thought at the same time, well if this thing does it's job, I will sleep SOUNDLY. All I can say is that he had BETTER NOT!

So it worked a lot better than the first one except it makes my nose itchy and I need to keep on reaching under the mask to scratch it. When I do that, it is very loud as the suction around my face is broken. So I lasted until about 2 AM Tuesday morning and around the same time this morning. My goal is to last until 4 AM by Saturday.


They all say it takes some people a week or two to get really used to it all. My friend who started using one four years ago said it took her a week to notice a difference in sleeping better, so I am assuming part of that was training herself to actually keep the dang thing on all night! The people at the clinic told me to just do it as long as I can and work my way to eventually keeping it on all night.

Below you will find some photos of the mask itself and then where I keep it. Note the machine on my lovely night stand...it is small and compact but I would still rather it not take up that room. You can keep them on the floor, but you need a longer hose so I will see what I decide to do. I would think it would get pretty dusty and dirty sitting on the carpet by someone's bed...

And yes, I have stuffed animals on my bed...Poor Stud! He handles it quite well though:) I see now that my poor bunny is missing a slipper! OH NO! I need to go look for that.








Hopefully soon I will have something more exciting to post about!

CPAP Machine

Ok, here is an update.

I went last week to get "fitted" for my CPAP thingy.

It was quite interesting. Took about an hour. The lady asked me straight off if I "mouth breathe". I told her I had no idea. I don't pay attention to what I am doing when I am asleep. Pretty much impossible, in my mind. She said that I would know if I did, because I would wake up with a very dry mouth and be very thirsty. I said then I guess I don't because that doesn't usually happen. It has happened here and there over the years, but it is not the norm. Ok, she said then you need just a nasal mask, not a full facial mask. Fine.

So she went and got four various types of those. We spent a lot of time trying them on and fiddling with the machine. It was very odd to get used to all this air blowing up my nose! I had to keep my mouth closed all the time, if I opened it...I don't know how to describe it! I guess the best way would be to say it was like there was a cyclone or something IN MY FACE. Like, inside my head really. Felt like my cheeks were flapping in the wind caused by it and I couldn't get a breath. She said always keep the mouth closed and it is no problem. She was right! Sitting there awake and keeping my mouth closed, really helped.

You know how you sometimes have one of those thoughts way in the back of your mind but it can't seem to make it to the "surface" and be voiced out loud?? It doesn't get to the part where the vocal part of the brain says "VOCALIZE THIS". It was just a little tickle or something that just didn't come all the way really even to the conscious thought area.

Well, that happened. It wasn't really until I got home and was playing around with the machine, filling it with distilled water, showing it to the kids, that the thought of mine FINALLY surfaced. What if my mouth falls open when I am asleep?? What will happen then?? I told myself that I would wake up and shut my mouth, because I would not like the feeling of what it does wearing this mask with the mouth open.

Not so, apparently.

I woke suddenly at 2 AM. I don't even know how to describe what I felt in my entire mouth, throat, & on my tongue. If you took sand and rubbed it all over those places and then dried it with a blow dryer and left it that way for about ten years...that would be close!

I was in agony and my mouth was SO DRIED OUT that I could hardly move my jaw to close my mouth and gather up a pittance of saliva to attempt to moisten things. It felt like everything in there was made of paper and was going to rip and tear, but that paper was also on fire and burning! It was SO PAINFUL to finally gather up spit and close my mouth and try and swallow. I went and got a drink and then brushed my teeth and drank some more! I shut the machine off, needless to say.

I left that morning to watch my friends' little 16-month-old. I have been doing that once a week or so all summer. That is another story, though. I went to spend the morning with my wee friend and while he was napping, I called the sleep disorder place.

I told them that I think I need a full facial mask, not just the one that goes in the nose. I can't find a picture of my mask on-line, but it is something like this but not really! Mine is just a softer smaller looking thing with two separate things for each nostril. Clear like that, but something goes into each nostril.



I am hoping to get something like this


So I have an appointment tomorrow at one PM to get that taken care of! OH! People are so silly. When I was talking to the guy on the phone and explaining what happened and how I think we need to switch to a full face mask, he put me on hold to talk to someone. He came back and said, "Yeah, it sounds like you are going to have to switch to a full face mask". NO! YA THINK!?!? WOW! I wish *I* had thought of that!

Is that a guy thing?? My husband does that to the kids and I ALL THE TIME. We say something and then he repeats the exact same thing we have said, but in a way like HE thought of it. Anyone else experience this?? It has honestly never happened to me with females before. It is only guys who ever do that, in my experience.


Alright, off to feed the homeless at the Gospel Mission. I need to find a place that lets the kids do it too. The place we went to a few years ago is too far away...

If you take the time to read that, please remember that L=Cryptic, B=Jock, R=Clown and
Bee=Princess. This was before I thought of their "nicknames" and I just used their first initials. Obviously, Jock and Princess have the same ones, so my friends and I started using "Bee" for Princess when she was born. When we e-mail each other about our kids, we just use initials instead of typing out their entire name all the time. Mothers need anything to save time, you know:)

Anyway, the place I am going today will only allow Cryptic and I. Well, I mean Stud could come too but you have to be 16. Cryptic won't be 16 until November, but they are making an exception:) teehee. But yes, I want to find somewhere closer that we can all go to regularly. Another thing that bothers me about the place I am going today is that it is only once every two months!?!? Sorry, but I want to help more often than that, ya know??

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

It's that time of year again...

Princess and I went shopping for her new dance items. She needs new shoes every year obviously. Since she grows and all that weird stuff kids do.

This year she is not only doing ballet, but is now old enough to start hip hop! OH MY! Could there be anything better?? She is SO EXCITED!

Behold my baby in her new (expensive! *cough*) garb...





Her stinkin' hip hop shoes alone were FIFTY BUCKS!?!? Ballet was never this expensive!

Of course we had to get this amazing shirt...she is SO tickled and in love with the fact that it is off the shoulder and has those straps...










She just had to go and check it out in the mirror...









She also chose a new tutu. When she was in Saskatchewan I found this pink Leotard at Toys R Us for $7.








She is now at a size/age where the ballet slippers come like that we need to adjust them. I will sew the straps where they need to be. I want her teacher to have a look first and see where they are supposed to go, I know nothing about this stuff!

So we are set with that. She starts next week and cannot wait! I ordered her a beautiful dance bag from here that has her name on it. Isn't that stuff pretty?? She got it in the mail on Monday and was SO SURPRISED! She LOVES that it has her name embroidered on it:) It is even better quality than you can tell from the photos on the site. I am so impressed and will buy more things from there. The service was amazing as well!


We got the kids a trampoline while they were in the Great White North! What a great surprise to come home to. Guess what paid for it?? THIS!

That's right. The insurance company wanted to shut me up so they paid me a little bit for my "injury". It was the exact amount of the trampoline I have been wanting to get the kids for about four years. So now they have it. We had to pay extra for the enclosure of course. Safety first! Photos will follow.

I need to go fill my face with my favourite chip dip that Stud brought me from Canada when he went to pick the kids up from my brother. He forgot my chips, so I need to use American ones. It's ok though. Don't worry about me. The man tried his best and no one is perfect, you know?? The American ones are better than nothing, at least I have my dip...aaahhhh... the best EVER.

Guess what else I get?? One of my FAVOURITE Chocolate bars:)


I'll worry about losing weight (an on-going battle for the past SIX YEARS! that you all are sick of me whining about, I am sure) next week:) When the Canadian goodies are gone:)


Oh yeah, life is good...

Sleep much??

Well I found out some interesting information this morning.

I don't recall if I blogged about it or not. I went and had a sleep study done about a month ago. That experience in itself should have a post devoted to it. I don't have time, though! LOL

I have been wondering why I am so tired, need to nap most days, don't feel rested when I rise and have worse "brain fog" than ever! Everything was made clear to me today when I went to meet with the Dr. and have my results explained to me.

Apparently, at least the night I had the study done, I woke about 95 times in five hours! I stopped breathing most of those times and my blood oxygen level went as low as 82%. They said that I actually turned blue once and was not breathing for almost 18 seconds, when I guess I started again. It took me 54 minutes to get to sleep in the first place (I usually have issues with falling asleep and there it was much worse!) and I guess I woke up an average of 16.5 times an hour! NO BLOODY WONDER I don't feel rested.

I was there for 11 hours and actually "slept" for almost five. The rest of the time I was fully awake. I only remember waking up three times, and many nights here at home I wake up as many as ten times. Of course these are times that I am aware of. Clearly I am waking many more times than that! The interesting thing was after the study when she woke me up and was asking questions, I said that I felt like I slept for five hours, but that I did not get five hours of restful sleep. I had no idea how accurate I would be! I thought it would end up being 7 or 8 hours.

So I obviously need a CPAP. This will be hard to get used to, but I am SO EXCITED at the idea of actually sleeping soundly and getting restful sleep. I can't imagine! WOW! Another plus will be remembering things better:) I am hoping to lose some weight also. The main reason I even checked into this in the first place was because of an article I read about people who used to be slender and then gained weight with no explanation. That is me! My thyroid is still unbalanced and I know that, plus my age and metabolism slowing certainly add to it. I am wondering if getting a great sleep will increase my energy and therefore my activity level. I find it odd that I had more energy and was still slim just five or six years ago when I had small kids and toddler and was up in the night nursing babies. You would think that THEN I would be tired and have more brain fog.

So there it is. Pretty weird to think that I stop breathing at all, let alone for that long! I will try and update on my machine when I get it and be better about updating in general.

My kids all came back on Sunday night and I am just thrilled:) More on that soon!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Real men wear kilts

So Stud borrowed a friends kilt the other night when they went to a party.

Is it just me, or is this AWESOME!?!?!? This one is too short since the person who owns it is about six inches shorter than Stud. You get the idea, though.


He is looking into getting a few of his own. LOVE IT!

That is all.

Creepy...

I just saw this on a friend's blog and it creeps me out how accurate something this silly can be!!

You can go here to do it if you want:)




What Your Feet Say About You:
You are not very expressive. You tend to keep your emotions to yourself.

You are a somewhat passionate person. A few things get you very fired up, but you're usually pretty laid back.

You are an assertive person at times. You'll pull out all the stops to get what you want, if it's worth it.

You take a while to fall in love, but once you do, you stay pretty attached to your partner.

You are not afraid of anything. You are brave and courageous, even when most people would be terrified.

You are intellectual and philosophical. You are more concerned with thoughts than action.

You are an amazingly hard worker. You aren't spoiled and you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

You are easily influenced by other people. You're quite impressionable, so you should only be around people who are a good influence.


The only statement that is not really true is the fifth one. All the others are extremely close to fact. Although I have been told that # 1 is true, that is changing as I age. I am becoming much more clear about my feelings and emotions and if you were to ask Stud I am certain he would say that I am more open than I used to be.

Cool, eh??

Phone call from Clown

Well, I have been a negligent mother:(

Yesterday afternoon the phone rang and it was my parents' # on the caller ID. I picked it up and there were some snuffling sounds. A tiny voice ventured..."Who...*sniffle*...who is this??"

I said, "It's your mother!". For a moment I thought it was Princess. I realised it was my wee little Clown. He still has his darling little boy voice so sometimes even at home here, it is hard to tell who is who if they are not within sight. In fact we have some issues with that sometimes. I hear one of them in a hallway or something and they ask for a snack or what have you. I am trying to train them to either come to where I can see them or say who they are! LOL Clown forgets (I think he is mad that I can't tell him from his SISTER, so he will just show me by not lowering himself to tell me who he is!) most of the time, but Princess is getting it. She usually says, "It's me, Princess!" We think it is fun because her name actually rhymes with "ME" so it is like a little song when she sings it out all cute!

So Clown began truly sobbing outright and I eventually gathered that he was saying he was SO HOMESICK. Poor little man! I had not been calling because I assumed they would be busy and visiting people and doing many things. I did not want to bother them and told them I would wait until THEY called. I had talked it over a bit with Princess before they left and like a goof, I don't even know if Clown and I discussed it. Princess doesn't get very home sick and welcomes a break. Clown is so very different and it was pretty miraculous that he went at all. It is the first time in his life that he has been gone from Stud and I for more than a few days, and that is always local, when he spends a weekend at a friend's house or something. I should have known better:(

I talked with him for about 45 minutes. He filled me in on what all they are doing there. Apparently he has been eaten up by mosquitoes. We don't have any here (I know! COOL HUH??) and he is not used to them. I forgot that every time we go to the prairies, they have a blast with him. Something about him they just LOVE! The thing is, he swells up a lot from them:( I looked for a photo to show, but I don't have any digital ones. If they get him near his eyes, they swell shut. So he was telling me how my nephew has some plant at his house and you just take a leaf and rub it on you and the little buggers don't bother you as much! I told him to remember to do that a lot of else get Granny to put bug spray on him.

Most of the family had gone to the EX, but obviously he opted not to go. WAY too many people! He would have...I dunno what he would have done. He just can't handle things like that. I hate it for him, he would love the rides, food, sights, etc. If only he could go when there is hardly anyone there.

He is SO CUTE! He was saying how he wishes he was seven or eight again. Those are the best ages to be, he informed me. He doesn't want to grow up and get older. He said, "Like...I wish I could be seven or eight again...but still like...you know...increase my vocabulary and learn all the fun stuff with you when you are teaching us stuff, but just not grow...you know?? Like if it could be much more gradual that would be the best!"

He asked if we were working on moving the bedrooms around. The plan, while they are gone, is to move Stud's office into the "schoolroom" (which is an extra kitchen in the basement) and then move Jock into the office (the 5th bedroom has always been used for Stud's computer and guitars). Then Clown will move out of the biggest bedroom that he and Cryptic share, into Jock's old room. We can't just move Clown into the office and leave Jock where he is because of how the window is in there. The house is built into a hill and that window on that end of the house is one where you need to crawl into a recess in the ground and then pop off a plexi-glass cover that is set on the ground above it. Since Jock is 13 and Clown is only 9, we would prefer Jock deal with that in case of a fire or something and allow Clown to have a room with a "normal" window. This way, everyone will FINALLY have their own rooms.

Also, we are re-doing the boys' bathroom down there AND hopefully getting all the new school books and everything organised in some fashion so as to make daily school work flow a lot more smoothly. So he was asking all about that, he is excited to come home to his own room and choose the paint colours and get it arranged how he wants it:)

At one point Jock spoke with him while I prepared a snack for him. He is so funny, he is loving his holiday. He sits in the office on his computer and then calls me with his cell phone asking for snacks! He is loving the attention, normally I am much more focused on the younger two. So when I went to give him his cheese and crackers, he said "I love you, buddy" to Clown. HOW SWEET IS THAT!?? They seldom say things like that, but I could tell from Clown's voice that he was thrilled to pieces that his big brother actually misses him! So he feels a lot better and said that if he can talk to us every day, he will be fine. Stud was out getting a hair cut and called Clown when he got back. They had a nice talk as well, so I think things will be OK now:)

So, I am off to call my little Clown and hopefully speak to Princess a bit?? She hasn't had time for her old Mum yet, but hopefully today she will see fit to grace me with some news. I did speak to Cryptic yesterday for about 5 minutes and he filled me in on some new happenings on the web site that he is the co-administrator of. He has been grounded from the computer, but we lifted that for while he is on holiday. Makes things easier on everyone up there. So he was tickled to be able to catch up on some things on there.

I will update you all on my wee Clown. MAN I LOVE THIS KID!! He is SO PRECIOUS!

Here, you need to see a photo of my little man:) You may not THINK that you do, but yes...you DO. teehee. HOW SWEET IS THIS KID!?




Here he is doing his "kitchen chores". That week it was to clean off the counter tops and wipe them down...










Here he is making a smoothie...see the mouth?? That is typical Clown. That could mean a few things: Either he is self conscious...he is worried he may do something wrong, or he is concentrating. I think it was a combo in this instance!










Here?? He is just being handsome! Now I miss him more:( *sniff* I better go get busy cleaning some more. I just called to talk to the kids and my Mum said they are all out doing various things. Clown is out for lunch with my brother and his wife.

Summer time...

...is almost over.

THANK GOD. Me no likey.

So anyway, I guess I should post something. I have not even felt like publishing any of my comments that you lovely folks have left. Just don't seem to have the energy. Weird. Maybe I can make some time to do that soon.

So yes, my boys went to the movie and had a great time. I certainly hope they make a habit of this!

Cryptic, Clown and Princess are at my parents in Saskatchewan. It seems odd. Feels VERY weird. SO QUIET around here!! Jock is LOVING being the only child for a short time. I am trying to get a lot of cleaning and organising done around here.

On Friday I drove to Abbotsford and met my brother who drove them to his place about three hours away in BC. Then the next morning he got them up at 5 and they drove to our other brother's in Calgary. On Sunday, they made it to our parents in Saskatoon. I guess they got there in time for Princess to attend a family reunion on my Dad's side. I am anxious to hear about that!

We were not sure if Clown would be able to go. We are starting to wonder if he may have some autism tendencies. I have been doing some research and he has some of the symptoms of some types, but also is not anywhere close to many of the more common symptoms. So I am not sure. I need to remember to ask his Doc when he gets back. She has already had him see a doc who is teaching him relaxation techniques. He went once and then needs to be seen when he gets back from Granny and Grandad's. So I can ask about it then.

He just gets himself SO UPSET about things and cannot handle any type of change or any crowds. It gets hard to plan around his needs in that way. I have to remember to prepare him for certain things, yet sometimes if I prepare too long ahead of time, he panics and it is worse. I can't decide which is worse; telling him we are going somewhere or just springing it on him to avoid him stressing himself about all the whys and what ifs that he seems to worry about. It seems to depend on his mood AND the situation.

So, we got him packed up JUST IN CASE. I suspected once he saw his uncle again that he would want to go. My kids all ADORE this man and he is a real card. They have a blast with him and tell all their friends all about him.

As mother often knows best, when he was sitting in Tim Horton's with his Uncle Sean, he decided he couldn't pass up this awesome opportunity. He was excited to see his cousins and everyone as well, but wasn't sure how his tummy would deal with the driving. Since he got sick in February and has had all these sinus issues, his tummy is incredibly sensitive. I have since spoke to him and he said his tummy was fine. He said he did not even need the gravol that Uncle Sean bought for him.

So we plan to get a lot done around here while the kids are on holiday. Jock would have gone but he has try outs starting soon for the AAA Bantam team and there was not room in Uncle Sean's car.


Oh, before I forget! Check out Jock's blog. He and I were rear ended a few weeks ago:( He tells the story better than I could. Except that the "tap" felt just as hard to me as the original BANG! I thought the guy was doing it on purpose. Was SO WEIRD! To be hit twice, I was thinking, "WHAT!!?? WHAT DO YOU WANT!??! WHAT DID I DO TO YOU!?!?" LOL


I will close with photos of Princess making the "fairy hats" and "fairy punch" a few days before she left for Canada.





















Pretty fancy stuff, eh??

Summer time

The weather has been very sunny for over a month with very little rain. The past few days it got overcast and was cooler, which was very good news to Cryptic and myself. We are not fans of brightness and heat!

As I sit and type this, my two eldest babies are on their own in a movie Theatre! For the FIRST TIME. EVER. I am so so SO excited for them:)


Stud and I have been going to take them to see "The Dark Knight" and have been trying to figure out who to pawn the younger off on so that we can take the older two. The older two are our awesome babysitters and if Stud and I want to go out, we just pay Cryptic and Jock to watch the younger two. A week or so ago they each made $15 watching them for a few hours while Stud and I went out with friends. Mainly the six of us go out as a family, but some movies the little ones just can't see.

So as I was doing some school with the younger two this afternoon, Jock came to me and said "Why don't Cryptic and I just go see the movie ourselves??" DUH! I can't believe I did not think of it:) So I dropped them off and Stud will get them when they call. They had to pay for it themselves. As I was dropping them off, Cryptic checked with Jock to make sure he had enough cash for his ticket. I thought that was thoughtful. The difference between the two is cute. The whole excitement for Jock was that it would just be them. Cryptic wanted me to go with them! He and I are very close and share a lot. We read the same books, watch the same movies, listen to similar music. So he likes to share it all with me and doesn't mind his ole Mum along. Jock is really trying to get some distance, which I can totally respect. Stud told me not to stay and that he will take me to see it later. Clown and Princess were fussing and not wanting me to stay at the Theatre either. They wanted me home. I feel very loved:) Everyone wanted me with them except Jock and I can totally understand where he is coming from, so I still feel loved:)

I hope they make a habit of this. They really need to get out more! I know Cryptic is looking forward to turning 16 in November so he can finally get a job:)

Princess, Clown and I did some fun history today and we played math Bingo and did history and a lot of grammar yesterday. I am getting some really great books from Amazon and we are going to really do some fun activities this next school year! I will post photos here and there. We are going to do cave drawings tomorrow and within a few weeks we are going to make a pyramid out of home-made blocks we will make from sand/glue.

Princess has a cute Faerie Recipe book. I need to get off of here and help her make Faerie Hats and Faerie Punch. That is the main reason she didn't want me to stay out with her brothers:) Hope the photos turn out!

Peace out!

About time

Well, I guess it is about time to post something. Just haven't felt like it recently. Don't read as many blogs any more either. I have about 49 faves and cannot keep up!

The main news is that Princess is FINALLY riding a two wheeler. She just has never had any interest. She got a bike about...let me look back and see...WOW! I TOLD STUD it was a long time ago. Yikes! LOL She has had this bike for almost five years! I told him yesterday it was too small. She got it the Christmas she had just turned THREE.




She never really cared much about it and would ride on it a few times a summer and maybe here or there in the spring or fall. I bet she spent a total of two hours on the thing the whole time she has had it.

So the other night Stud, Clown and I were going to go for a biek ride and Princess wanted to roller blade. We said no, she needed to ride her bike. She said she was too big to ride with training wheels. We reminded her that she has not yet learned to ride a "two wheeler" and we will work with her. For now, we need to keep the training wheels on.

I forget what transpired, but I think just Stud and Clown went or something. So a few nights later (or maybe the next night) I hear them all saying that Princess is riding with no training wheels! I go out and sure enough, she is doing it. It is hard for her, since the bike is too small and her legs are so long.




Clown is very glad to have a sibling to ride with now! Jock sold his bike last summer and Cryptic has never learned to ride. I thought perhaps Princess would be following in his foot steps.

I wish I had photos of Jock learning. It was a few months after his fourth birthday. He asked Stud to take off the training wheels, Stud did and Jock took off down the driveway! It was incredible! He never slipped or tipped over or even wobbled. Clown was the EXACT SAME. They were the same age and everything. Jock had turned four in June and that October is when he took off. Clown was four in May of 2003 and that September, off he went!

Nope...can't find one. Will have to see if Stud has any. He does the photos all funny and I can't ever find half of them!

So Princess is kind of wobbly and not as steady as her brothers were when they started, but still. She has a great time and has only scraped up her leg once. Cyrptic was fine and totally took off on his when he was eight or nine, but freaked out when he realized that I had let go and he had gone on his own for about 20 yards. He felt so betrayed that I had not warned him (I knew not to or he would stop and not try!) and was SO upset at me, he has refused to try since:( He honestly doesn't care, so we have left it. If he wanted to do it badly enough, he would have kept at it, right?? Princess is very determined and tries and tries. She has spent hours out there now.

So that is the main news around here. Princess wants me to do something with her. Cryptic is playing video games, Stud is playing his weekly Sunday night hockey game and Jock took Clown up to the local school playground for some "brother time". Since he has turned 13, he loves to take one of his younger sibs each at a time and go for bike rides (he uses my bike) or walks and various things.

Hope things are going well with everyone!

Not much

Just thought I needed to update this.

What to talk about?? Hmmmm...well Cryptic is reading a book to Clown right now. Jock is watching a movie upstairs while Princess tries to sleep nearby in the Rec Room. I am sure it is hard with me here typing and clicking away on the keyboard. Stud is playing his weekly Friday night hockey game.

We went to a BBQ at friends' tonight. They have been in the Home Schooling support group that we are in and we have been meaning to get together. We finally did! He is from Saskatoon, the same as me and she is from Calgary. Pretty cool to have some fellow Canucks in the group. So that was nice. They have two adorable little girls, ages 6 and 3. Her hubby works at Microsoft so he and Stud had a good time "talking shop" while she and I enjoyed looking through some scrapbooks she has made. She also set up "Dance Dance Revolution" and showed the kids how to do that. Jock had a good time and it appears Stud is a natural!


Tomorrow Princess is having two friends stay overnight. We have implemented a fun little thing lately. Every Monday morning, we choose names of family members. Whoevers name you get (My grammar is horrid, what is the correct way to word that??), you do kind things for them all week. You do some of their chores without them knowing, leave them treats and coupons throughout the house for them to find. On Friday night at supper, we reveal who had who (whom??) and whoever is right, gets rewarded. Whoever is right five weeks in a row, gets a special prize. I am winning! So far, I am the only one to get mine right every time:)

Anyway, someone left Princess this coupon that said she could have two friends over. So she is using it tomorrow night. Clown got one that said he can take a friend to a movie, so I am taking he and his friend A to see this tomorrow. I took Cryptic and Princess this morning, while Jock stayed with Clown. It was his first time babysitting and he did a great job. Got him food, played with him and did not pick on him or argue, so that was awesome!

Princess was just in her room for three days. She LIED TO ME on Monday night. She was grounded from playing her DS Lite for a week. She got it back on Monday. So she was playing for about an hour when I told her that she had five minutes to shut it off and get it back to me (I keep them in our room and only hand them out as a treat sometimes.) and I went to tuck Clown in bed. When I came out, I asked her where it was and she said she didn't know! When pressed, she opened up the piano bench and imagine my "surprise" that there it was! So she was in her room for two days as punishment for lying. She and I and Stud sat and talked it all over and she BEGGED to get a spanking. I am not sure she has ever had a spanking, but Jock has a few times. I told her I don't spank (I don't believe in hitting children, sorry to those of you who do!) and that is Daddy's department. My parents did not spank us, his parents did. So he knows about that area, I don't! LOL Anyway, she begged us to spank her instead, which we got a kick out of. After some discussion about what she should be spanked with, how many times, where on her body and would it change anything or teach her anything, it was agreed that banishment to her room was the proper thing to do.

She had another day added on for coming out of it often and talking to all of us over the course of the first two days! So she was glad to come out this morning and have freedom!


What else is going on?? Hmmmm...Ah yes! Jock turned 13 this past Sunday! Is it just me or is that WRONG!?!? I don't like this at all. I am happy for him, he is one of those people who cannot wait to grow up and thinks it is great. So he is tickled pink, of course. But me?? Not so much.

I will close with some photos of him with his new "toy". I believe he blogged about it. I am shocked he did not post some photos. We only took about 89! LOL The only wrapped gift he got was his cell phone back. We paid off the remainder of the bill and shall see how long he can keep it this time:) He was totally surprised and very happy!








Ok, I am tired. Better kick Jock off the TV and get him to bed too:)


Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Amusing

For some reason I find it amusing that Stud puts photos of our yard and flowers on his blog and I, the woman, do not.

I love flowers. LOVE THEM! I try to plant them and grow them and all that. I love to look at them and smell them (most of them) and get them as gifts and have them all over the house in vases. I love outdoors. I love the view of the ocean and sunsets we get from our house. I love to look at photos of the same things on the blogs I frequent.

Yet for some reason, I don't post any of the photos. I don't even take them. Stud does.

So if you want to see some of our pretty flowers, mosey on over to Stud's place. I suppose I may as well call him by his true name on here, since the dork broadcasts it all over the blogosphere! *sigh*

Princess got a hair cut!

Last week Princess got nine inches of her gorgeous locks cut off. She has very thick hair like me, but it is tidier and smoother. Like mine USED to be when I was younger. I told her that I will pray that her hair does not go bonkers like mine did:)

I especially adore the back and how it goes up that way:) Her hair is PERFECT for this cut and she and I are both just thrilled!

Behold...










Have not really felt like blogging or reading blogs lately...not sure why. May be more regular again at some point, but I am really trying to get a schedule going with the kids and get more "seat work" done with the school. Weather is improving and I want to get them out to the parks with their friends more, and just do more outdoor family things. Summer is NOT my favourite, but the kids love it so I want to make it special for them.

Hope that everyone is doing great!

Frustration

Just thought I would toss a quick post out here before I go to bed and read. Cryptic and I are reading these books and I am on the third one.I am half way through and really want to get in bed and find out what happens.

We took the flannel sheets off most of the beds and were thinking of taking off the electric blankets. No...we are NOT wimps, it is just lovely to climb into a nice toasty bed, is it not?? I turn mine on high for about 15 minutes before I get into bed and then shut it off. Ahhhh...bliss. Anyway, I am glad Stud said to wait to take those off because MAN! It is chilly:( I even had to turn the heat back on. I thought it was June now...???

Before I climb into my cozy bed and read my book, I wanted to share some photos and explain why I am frustrated.

I can't find anything for Princess to eat! Poor child is getting bored with the same stuff over and over. I have got to get cooking and perusing the recipe books I have out of the library. Yesterday I made some cookies for she and Clown to share, but they hate them:( Jock and Stud don't mind them, so at least they won't go to waste. They taste great for a few seconds and then suddenly it is like one is standing in a barn. They "taste" like manure. YOu know how sometimes you can taste something that you have never (and WOULD NEVER) eat?? Well, they taste like manure smells. Not really strong, but faint. The bite I took made me home sick for my childhood on the 80 acres I grew up on, but not enough to EAT IT!?!?

Eating out is clearly problematic...no one knows if they have soy in anything?? AND I forgot to have her epipen with me tonight when Stud took she, Clown and I out for Mexican after his hockey game (they lost) so I was really nervous with her ordering the food she ordered, not knowing for sure what was in it. Stud made the point that she has never had any anaphylactic trouble or anything, but still. The allergist prescribed the epipen for a reason, ya know?? Her testing obviously concerned him.

Here is a photo of her chopping carrots and celery to put in some Quinoa pilaf that I made the other night. Jock is typically the least picky person in our family, but he is the ONLY one who didn't like it! I love how she has her roller blades and helmet on:) Oh, that's right...my computer is totally messed up and I can't posy photos or watch any videos that any of you have on your blogs. I need to get Stud to fix it!

I was also going to show a photo of Clown, Cryptic and Princess playing the Wii yesterday and a craft I am attempting to make. I wanted advice on what to change and how to improve a centre piece that I am making with silk flowers...I have not done anything crafty in years and am attempting to see if I have any talent left at all! LOL

Well, those will have to wait. I just have to share how appropriate the name "Clown" on here is for my third son:)

Princess had a friend over this weekend. Last night as the three of them were playing, the friend giggled at something Clown did and said, "*insert Clown's true name here*, you could be a Clown when you grow up!"

Little does she know...

Dr. Appointment

Well, my alarm didn't work and I woke suddenly half an hour after I was supposed to be at the doc.

I rescheduled for noon and ventured out. All showered, smelling great and squeaky clean!!! Ready for my lovely pap. I was wondering about getting my first mammo. She did not mention it, so I didn't say anything. I mean come on! Why invite something like that into your life??

So turns out she didn't need to do the pap (YAY! WHAT A GREAT DAY!!) and I am not due for another pap until January 2010 or something?? COOL! I am not going to argue, ya know?? Sheesh!

I have been reading a bit about sleep apnea and wondering if I have it. I am ALWAYS tired and have taken to napping during the day, and after 10 hours of "sleep" at night, I feel like I got none. It is really hindering my doing anything with the kids and the house isn't as clean and organised as it used to be.

She said that the opening to my throat is less than half the size of most people and that often people like that have sleep apnea. I need to go get a sleep study done. So I made an appointment for that and won't get in until mid July!

I normally do not let them weigh me, but decided since it is a physical, that I should. OUCH. Wake up call! I have been wanting to lose, I blabber on here about it enough. I just had NO IDEA how much I weigh. Well...not true. I had a bit of an idea. I was close. I just never stick with Jenny Craig because it is SO EXPENSIVE. I know people who lose on their own without doing that, and I try for a short time and do well and then reward myself with food. I am SO SMART:)

What really hit home was when I asked her to look back to 2002. I knew that was about when I started gaining. It is also when a lot of things changed with my sleeping and I got extremely forgetful and slow in the brain area. Well, I have gained 19 lbs in just 6 years! I remember at that time, being upset cause I was about 25 lbs heavier than I wanted to be. And now there is 19 on top of that!! See what I am talking about when I say "wake up call"??


I am so anxious to get this sleep study done and see if that is part of the trouble. Any excuse for this weight gain:) I have read that sleep apnea can cause weight gain and all kinds of health issues. It would make sense. I always chalked it up to aging and my thyroid nonsense, but who knows.

Tomorrow will be spent doing more shopping for ingredients to try new recipes for Clown and Princess' food allergies. The poor things have been living off this weird bread, cheese, yogurt, fruit and some meat. Princess can't have any processed meats. She also can't have the peanut butter we all eat, so I need to find another for her. Her sandwich choices are limited, so I really want to try some fun new recipes to add variety to their diet.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Back and Forth

Well, this should be interesting.

I just read Jock's blog and as usual, he has things a little twisted.

He was indeed banished to his room for a week. It happened on Clown's birthday. Monday the 19th. However, he got some things wrong. Poor kid has a habit of hearing what he wants to hear and convincing himself of something even when it did not happen that way. For example he tried to negotiate getting out of his room a day early. When I said I would talk to his Dad, he heard, "Ok, sounds good." or something like that proceeded to argue later and INSIST that I had said he could come out?? THANKFULLY Cryptic had been present and was my witness that I had not said what Jock convinced himself that he heard. I know everyone has a different perspective and you can have ten people watch or experience the same thing and they all have a different story. This is not the same, however.

Anyway, his sister was indeed unloading the dishwasher. He is known for calling all of us names and just generally getting people worked up. The younger two have been taught to ignore it or walk away, if they possibly can. I often can't tell the difference between when he is doing that and when it is all innocent playing. Sometimes Clown comes to me in tears, saying Jock has frustrated him to a point where he is going to seriously beat something or scream. Sometimes he does scream. Sometimes he punches things or knocks them over as he walks past. Sometimes I try and step in before it gets out of hand, only to find out that Clown or Princess is fine with it and all is well.

Even though Clown and Princess are so much younger than Jock, they are quite good at ignoring him when he calls names or tries to get them worked up. I think he is bored and just wants something to do. One of my brothers (also the second born) was (and STILL IS!) the same way.

So he called Princess a freak because she was humming or singing to herself or something. Often, she doesn't dare do anything for fear of some comment. She told me later that she really didn't care and felt like she should be able to relax and do that in her own home. When Jock called her a freak, she called him a freak back. What he did not mention on his blog was that he then decided to go and proceed to punch his seven-year-old sister. Apparently he can dish it out, but he can't take it. He calls her a name, she decides to do the same back and what is her reward?? Becoming a punching bag. This type of thing happens often and Stud and I had finally had enough.

I think I need to move my blog somewhere else. Cryptic found it and has shown Jock. So now Jock will read this and rant and rave on his blog and it will be like high school! He said, she said.


Jock, if you read this; I love you buddy. VERY MUCH. You know that, I tell you so often it makes you mad:) But dude...get your facts straight, eh?? Don't forget important "plot points" in your stories:) Such as...oh...HITTING YOUR PRECIOUS SISTER!!! Like I have told you before, just remember when she was a baby and could do no wrong, in your eyes. She really hasn't changed that much, it is how you guys treat her that makes her all defensive. Seriously. She is a sweet little girl just wanting attention from her amazing big brothers. Let the girl make noises! YA KNOW!?!? Who cares, really. Was it worth it?? Hurting her, scaring her and making her sad?? Being in your room that long?? Didn't think so, especially when you got TWO DAYS ADDED ON!

I missed you and am glad you are out with us again:)

I must get to bed as I have my lovely annual physical bright and early tomorrow morning. *sigh* The joys!

Gotta love it!

Just wanted to share with you all another reason I love home schooling my babies.

Not only do I get to enjoy time with them and REALLY have the time to connect with them well and have a strong bond, but *I* am the one who is there when they have a "light bulb" moment. That happened today with my wee Clown.

Clown goes in spurts where he just LOVES to do Math. Normally, if I stick to a curriculum, it takes about 45 minutes a day for a lesson. Lately, two hours at a time is not enough! I tell him I need to take a break and he begs for more!

He can go through an entire grade in just a few weeks at this rate. Jock did grades 3-5 in about four months a few years ago. That is why I feel ok not doing any set curriculum for months at a time, because they can "catch up" (whatever that means! Who decides when someone should know a certain thing anyway?? LOL) very quickly. We just play games and do fun activities. Then if we decide to approach a certain concept, it is already familiar to them and we breeze right through. Not only that, but how many nine-year-olds do you know who seriously almost start crying when they are told they need to take a break from math and have a snack?? LOL

So we had some fun doing math this afternoon. I finally convinced him it was snack time and he scarfed down his latest discovery ~ Hummus. He has these rice chips that he can have and he doesn't like them plain. He slathers them in hummus and almost inhales them!

OH! Just now he came in and asked me if I saw the math problems he wrote down. He makes ones up for himself and tests himself:) HOW CUTE!??! I am being summoned to the chalkboard...

Lots of news

I want to post photos from Clown's party and all kinds of other things.
Don't have time right now but did want all of you to at least know that
Clown DOES NOT have Celiac disease! We are SO THANKFUL! He is needing
more iron, though. Apparently he is low on something calledferritin so
we have him on multivitamins with iron. Which should REALLY help with
his constipation from this wheat allergy...*sigh* Yes, that IS indeed
sarcasm. Thankfully, I have spent this past week trying to really get
some foods in the house that he can eat.

I have been busy making
him his own bread, driving from store to store trying to locate foods
that he and Princess can eat. She can't have many breads either because
they put soy oil or soy ANYTHING in them. I am going to be baking a lot
of
home made breads now, which is healthier anyway. We have discovered
many of their favourite crackers, cookies and treats are off limits
either for Clown, Princess or both. So this has been an interesting
week, really cracking down. I allowed Clown to have make the choice if
he wanted cake and pizza at the party and he said yes. His last "hoo rah!" if you will, before we really crack down. He was pleased for the treats, but really suffered, I felt so bad for him:(

I will close now and tell you all a bit about this photo. Clown loves the video game
Golden
Sun and we had our cake making friend make a cake that he
designed himself. He wanted it to look like a sun and then have the
four elements on the surface. Fire, water, wind and earth. She did a
great job and he was pleased with it. Lemon cake with lemon filling!
YUMMY! She crumbled up a cookie and put candy rocks on the earth
section. I will also show a photo of Cryptic holding it, so it can
really be appreciated.




Ok, can hopefully catch everyone up with new later. Cryptic and I are off for our daily walk. I love it! We can get exercise and I can keep updated with all of his news:)