They seem to be better!

Woot!

My kids are better. Poor Jock missed his pizza party on Friday night. Somehow he managed to gather the energy to play in a 3 on 3 thing they had yesterday morning after awards.




Clown and Brain did not want to go, but Princess wanted to jump in the "jumpy things". So we dragged her and ended up being there from 11-3:30 or so. She was bored to tears, as was I. Jock was bored later when Stud was playing a coaches game. I kept on telling him to go play with his friends, but he didn't have any energy left. He just wanted to go home and sleep.

Jock took her out to play on the inflatables off and on, as did I. Wanted to save the table that we got so we could see down into the rink without having to go sit in there in the cold. So sometimes Jock took her outside for more fun, and sometimes he stayed at the table looking through the yearbook while I took her out there.



I never realised how small my kids are. It lists weight and height of the kids in this yearbook. There is a guy who used to be in Brain's class when he attended Public school. This kid is not big, he appears to be one of the smallest on his team. He weighs more than me, more than twice as much as Brain and is 8 inches taller than Brain. There are kids younger than Jock who weigh 40 and 50 lbs more and are 5 and 6 inches taller!?!? I knew Brain was pretty small and scrawny, but I did not think Jock was all that small. He is a few inches shorter than Brain, but weighs about 5 lbs more. Brain is 2 years and 7 months older than Jock.

So yeah, I found that interesting. I really hope Brain gains lots of weight and grows at least 4 or 5 inches by fall. His appetite has not really increased. I keep on trying to get him to drink ensure and things like that, but he refuses. *sigh*

I bought "Chicken Little" and if you bought a Chicken Little game for PS2 (which Brain has) or Gabecube (which we don't have) then you got a $10 gift card. So I bought the one for PS2 and told Brain and Jock they can earn it. I said that Brain will need to let Jock play it, even though the PS2 is his. He agreed. I told them today what they need to do to earn it and Brain looked at Jock and said, "It would be easier to just buy it from her, don't you think??" Jock nodded his agreement.


*GASP* What kind of people am I raising!?!?!? You want to know what they need to do to earn it??

Ok, get ready, it is radical and "out there".

I said that for the next week, they need to do what school work I assign AND their chores by a predetermined time each day without one word of complaint and without me needing to say one word to remind them. Their counselor has suggested this. She says I spend too much of my time reminding them of things. I have enough to do and this is one reason I am getting burnt out and looking into them going into Public school in the fall. She said it is not unreasonable for them to have things done by certain times. If they do not, they get extra school work/chores. They had agreed before that this is reasonable. They complain when I remind them of things, yet if I don't, nothing gets done.

I realise that they are male, and they have that against them from the start. I can't fault them for that, (I am only half way kidding here, by the way) but I also know they are old enough that this is not acceptable. So I told them they can buy it if they want, (little do they know I will raise the price to $100 and they won't have permission to play it *evil laugh*) but we are "cracking down" on this nonsense of not being responsible.

Although something strange happened yesterday. When I came back from taking Jock to see "Eight Below", Brain had unloaded the Dishwasher and loaded it up again. I was surprised. I had not asked him to do that. I was sure there was no way it was him, so I asked Stud if he had done it before we left or something. Nope. He was as shocked as me. So there IS hope! LOL

Yesterday after the awards/games, etc, I took Princess to the Pet Store. She has been wanting to go, so we went and took our time looking at little critters. We think we may get some wee mice for her to have as pets. Stud joked than when Brain has enough money to buy the ball python he is saving for, that we can feed her mice to it. She did not find that amusing at all. MEN!!


Stud played in a hockey game last night also. Since he had to be at the Pizza Party on Friday night, we have not gone on our twice monthly date. Our friends will come watch the kids this afternoon so we can do on a date. I think we will drive up to Deception Pass or something and go out to eat somewhere.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!!!

Sick

My poor babies!

Last Friday Clown and Princess had a swimming birthday party to go to. Princess had been complaining of tummy aches and while we were there, she developed quite a fever and was just miserable. The fever broke on Saturday. Her eyes were all red and funny looking and ran and watered like crazy. They weren't itchy, though. She still complained of tummy ache and could not eat.

Then it was Clown's turn. We felt bad for him, but tired of the rolling around and flailing about, yelling that his tummy "felt weird". They seemed hungry but nauseous simultaneously. He had a fever for a short time and said his eyes were itchy. No redness or running like Princess's, but just itchy. Princess gagged and heaved a few times Sunday morning, but never actually vomited. I think that gagging was only because she had eaten so little all weekend, that she needed food. I get like that if it has been a long time since I ate. Once she ate some cereal, she seemed to feel a lot better.

Brain has been coughing up a storm as the others were a few weeks ago and is doing the nebulizer quite a bit. Took Princess to the Doc on Monday, she had a rough weekend. Diagnosis?? Some viral thing, just watch and keep an eye. Brain has no fever yet and eats fine. He had felt weak last week and I had to get him early from his Thursday classes and he missed his Friday morning Science class. Yes, I remember now. He had this whatever it is first. Then that afternoon, Princess started getting worse at the party. I had been trying to decide if I should take them or not, but they were SO excited!

Now Jock has a fever of 102.9. That is VERY high for my kids. I have a friend whose daughter(incidentally, it is the child whose party we went to) develops fevers within minutes and they go so high that she has had convulsions. They come on so suddenly, I have never heard anything like it! Anyway, I am keeping an eye on Jock. I will have to leave him home when I take Brain to Science class. Or I may take him and he can sleep in the van or something. We shall see. His end of the hockey season Pizza Party is tonight. He gets his trophy and awards and has been SO looking forward to this, I hope he can go.

Just wanted to add that on here, with those pictures that he and Princess took of each other last week.




They had a good time. There are a lot of pictures to sort through. I decided on these ones.




Jock also took some yesterday on our way to pick Brain up from his classes. The mountains were very clear and he took some of those. The camera he likes to use is not the best one, though. I am not happy with how it takes pictures. The one Princess has is the better camera. Jock prefers the other, because it is more compact. He is not concerned with quality! LOL




Princess sat on the couch, snapping pictures of her feet and legs! I think she is pleased with the pedicure she got a few weeks ago when her Dad took her for "special time". Each of us tries to spend time with each kid individually at least a few times a month. We call it "Special Time" and the kids get to choose what we will do. She was tickled that her Daddy agreed to take her for a pedicure!!! She loves the flowers the lady painted on her big toes.




Princess fell asleep on the couch last night, and Jock did not have energy to go down stairs to sleep in the Rec Room like they always do on Thursday nights. So he slept in her bed up here. He just called me for more water. His fever has gone down a bit, but I know he will spend a lot of time in bed today. I need to go and wake Brain and Clown up so we can get going to Science class. I don't want them to miss another week! Especially when the teacher was able to get some liquid nitrogen for today's class!

Have a great weekend everyone! I am still shocked that anyone reads my ramblings! LOL

"Hump Day" update

Princess is so excited! Stud stayed home from work today and is taking her to her dance class! She has been hoping this would happen for a long time. I have suggested it to him various times, when he has worked from home on a Wednesday and he has not been able to do it. Today he said he can and she is beside herself with excitement!

He is working from home because he and I need to go to Sylvan to get the results from Jock's assessment last week. Since we have been "unschooling" for three years, we wonder where Jock is in his math skills. We are of the belief that the kids will learn all that they need to learn, eventually. They may not learn the same things at the same time as their peer group in public school. However, WHEN they do, they will actually be ready to understand it and it will stick, not just be "in one ear and out the other". That is what happened to me! LOL I memorized what I thought I would need to know for an exam and then promptly forgot it. It meant nothing to me. We want better than that for our kids.

However, since I need them in PS next year, we don't want him to go in there way behind the other kids. So we had him assessed and are going to find out the results this morning. The main thing we want to know, is how to present concepts to him so he will learn best. We think we basically know his learning style, but wanted it figured out by people trained in that area. Then we can work with him better. Stud and I seem to be confusing him with our different styles and ways of teaching. So Stud is coming with me to hear it first hand and then we can work together to help Jock enjoy math more. I want him not only to learn, but to enjoy it as much as possible and have a good time! He loved the assessment and has asked to go back. We cannot afford to have him tutored there, unfortunately. It is THOUSANDS of dollars.


Stud also took Brain to work with him yesterday and then got him to his appointment with the surgeon. Brain has gained NINE POUNDS!! PRAISE GOD!! We are thrilled and hope he gains another nine in another two weeks. Who knows, though. I just would love for him to be in the 80 lb range soon and maybe even high nineties or even (dare I dream it???) ONE HUNDRED by fall. I was only 98 pounds when I got married, so I guess I need to chill on the dreaming of him gaining weight. But he IS a guy and he IS about as tall as me, and by fall I am sure will be a few inches taller. So 100 is not very unrealistic, I don't think. Is it???

I will close with some photos that Jock and Princess were taking of each other the other night, with different cameras. Clown has finished much of the school work he wanted to do, need to prepare our study of the human body and get going on "Colonial America".

Ok, all the ones through this post are ones that Jock took. The camera Princess used has not been unloaded yet. Will get some of those posted in a few days. I can't seem to stop them from being staggered like this. Ah well.



This is Brain and Jock when Brain was almost 4 and Jock was 18 months. I think Jock really likes this picture:) He remembers when it was just the two of them and they got along really well. There was seldom any conflict (unless I have blocked those years out??) until we had four and things really got nuts. The ironic part is the chaos is caused by Brain and Jock, not the younger two! Maybe it was inevitable.

How odd

Ok, so all that stuff looks like it DID post!??!

Sorry for the repeats, since I am sure there will be a lot of that!!!

Hockey

Well, I spent almost an hour the other night, close to a week ago, trying to get some photos and a short video posted on here. I tried three times and it refused to work! So I will send you elsewhere to view the video if you so desire.

Jock had his final practice of the season last week. They had a scrimmage with another team and were having a pretty nice time. There is another boy on that team who has been tormenting Jock all season. Any time they played together, he would swear at Jock. It is so sad, the kid has a filthy mouth. He would follow him all over the ice and just be tripping him, slashing, etc etc.

So finally last week at one point, he slashed Jock and Jock had enough. We got it on video. Not only did he slash him, he called him an "F-ing moron." I am glad he will not allow people to push him around. He can be a smart mouth and have attitude at home, but I constantly get complimented about his behaviour outside the house. He is polite, respectful, kind and thoughtful, etc etc. He is that at home too, don't get me wrong. It is just that the kid is an absolute angel anywhere he goes and people just love him. He is funny and a joy to be around. Whenever I make comments about his mouth at home, people seem totally shocked!

He has many many friends and I know will be very popular at school next year. This is also why I am glad he will stick up for himself and not allow people to push him around or mistreat others. He can be shy at times, but will speak up or (as you can see from this video clip) react physically if need be. You will need to go to Stud's blog at

http://perrysrandommusings.blogspot.com/


because it refuses to work for me here.


He is the one in red. It seems to me that he was just going to take it again, and was skating away and then thought better of it and went back for the pay back time! It doesn't show in the video, but he went back over right away and explained what happened to the coach.

So his team's season was over, but he was asked to play on another team for a tournament they had made it to this weekend. He agreed and then found out they did not need him for his regular position so he was not wanting to do it. Stud said something to them and they said they needed him and their own players would move around, they HAD to have Jock.

So I took him yesterday morning to the one game he was going to play in. After the game he was talking to some kid outside the locker room at one point and the kid was pretty rude. Jock was just talking all nicely to him and later the kid went away and I was thinking how rude he was when Jock told me "HE is the one who swore at me all season!" Jock defended him and said "He is just mad because coach wouldn't let him play any more that game since he was being mean and pushing the team mates around on the bench." Sounds like the kid needs an attitude adjustment BIG TIME. I feel so bad for him, wonder what is going on with him.

They lost that game but the coaches and team mates BEGGED Jock to stay and play in the next one. I had left Stud home painting Jock and Clown's bedroom and we had an appointment to get to at 3:30. I said that I could not come back and get him and they offered to take him home. Stud knows them well and some of them had been on Jock's team last year, so I felt totally fine doing that. Turns out they won the next game and Jock got two goals and I MISSED IT!!!!

So they wanted him to play in the next game this morning. We were all going to go but most of the kids are sick. I didn't know if I should leave Brain watching Princess and Clown when they are both sick, but he seemed fine with it. So Stud and I took Jock. Stud got to be in the box and take great video. They creamed the other team 13-1 and Jock got a hatrick! We told him before the game if he got one he would get $5 and a latte. Hopefully Stud will explain more and better on his blog how they needed Jock and how he helped the team. Jock was explaining to me how the coaches asked him to do such and such to set so and so up for a goal and he went out and did it. Some of the girls had not gotten a goal all season and Jock was to try to set them up for one and he tried and I don't think it worked. That is part of why they wanted him, their regular players don't have some of the strengths Jock has or something. I don't understand it all, all I know is my baby is a great in demand player and has a blast doing it!!!! They all kept on saying how they wish they had had him all season and they knew what a great player he is and that is why they wanted his help this weekend.


Jock LOVED playing with this team. There were three girls on this one, as opposed to just the one on his regular team. I found it interesting that during the game yesterday, when he got hurt badly and was laying on the ice for close to two minutes (and I was having a mild coronary as we all waited and the coach checked him over) that the first people to him were his female team mates. They hovered like worried little mothers, it was SO CUTE!!! Everyone was so nice and welcoming to him. He says he felt like a star and they all really appreciated his help and they kept going on about it. He said the coaches are encouraging and don't call him names. His head coach has called him names all season and it really bothers him.

He moves up to Pee Wee in the fall. Gonna be a fun season. He was making brownies tonight and teared up when he spoke of the season being over and how he wishes he had been with such a nice team all season. We hope to get him on a team with some of them this coming season. And he has camps all summer, hopefully some of them will be there.

Clown is trying to sleep in our bedroom here with me typing and he can't. I need to get in bed and cuddle with him and he will go off to dream land I know.

Next post will not be all about hockey!!!

Hockey Drama & Princess's career

Princess announced she is going to be a photographer when she grows up. She took the camera around tonight and took some nice shots. I will scatter some shots here and there in this post. I love to see things from her perspective. The one of my baby brother's school picture from last year is very special of course. It is right down on her level and is important to her. I sometimes find her standing and gazing at the frame and looking at him with tears glistening in her eyes. It is heartbreaking to see her miss her Uncle so much. Sometimes she just comes running to me sobbing, seemingly out of the blue. I don't even have to ask what is wrong and we just cuddle and cry together. It hits her suddenly, as it does me. Very odd, this grieving business.




On that note, my Doctor has told me that I am depressed. I have every single symptom and it is not just because of my brother's recent death. It has been creeping around in the background for some years now. She has suggested anti-depressants, which I will avoid at all costs. I will somehow work through it, with God's help and the support of my family and counselor. Counselors are good! LOL Just wanted to mention it to explain why some of you don't hear from me as often as you used to and why sometimes I go a long time without posting. No need to worry, just a fact I thought I would put out there. Still hard to get used to, I never understood the concept of depression and always thought people needed to "get over it". HA! Easier said than done.





I tell you, there has been a lot of commotion over hockey around here lately.

The season is almost over and Jock's team did not do that well. They had fun and that is what counts. I never did let any of you know what happened when the Rep team wanted him. He decided not to join them and chose to stay with his original team. So that worked out.



This past Monday, he had his last practice. It was a scrimmage with another team. There is one boy on that team who is always swearing at Jock, following him around the ice, trying to trip him, etc. I guess Jock had finally had enough and, possibly thinking "this is the last time on ice for the year, I am fed up with this punk, I am going to do something about it", here is a short video clip of what happened.

Jock is the one in red. As you can see, the child with the foul mouth and attitude slashes Jock. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but then again I have not been dealing with it all season. Not only did he slash him, he called him an "F-ing moron" as he did it.

Obviously, Jock was fed up and did something about it. You will also see the slow motion version. I find it sad that children this age even know these words at all, let alone speak them so freely. According to Jock, this kid needs his mouth washed out every few minutes. Very sad.

I must say I am glad Jock will not put up with being pushed around or being treated badly. When I was his age, I think I would have just left things alone. I never stuck up for myself. I am pleased that my kids do.

So he has been asked to play on another team who are in a tournament this weekend. It has been observed how good he is and his services were requested because for various reasons all their players could not make it. Stud was told that they needed Jock to help them score, they have seen him play before and wanted his help. So that made him feel good. All kinds of miscommunication has gone on and he is quite upset and now may not play at all, he says.

First, he was not told that he would not be playing his regular position. He panicked and said he could not play any other. They said that was not a problem, they needed him and would put him in whatever position he chose, move other players around if need be, no problem.





Then we found out, they only needed him in two games, not all four. Now tonight he was told it will only be one game on Saturday morning. He claims there is no point and was crying and very upset. When Stud was tucking him in, he said to call the guy and tell him he was not playing in any games. By the time Stud went into his office to play some guitar and came out again, there was a note on the floor in the hallway saying DO NOT call the guy and say no. Stud went into his room and asked him what he should do and Jock just sighed and said "I DON'T KNOW!" Poor kid. Drama Drama Drama







Of course there is a lot more news, but I must get to bed. I have been getting up at 6 and doing my yoga, weights and walking out in the cold every morning. I still eat horribly, but one thing at a time, right?? LOL





We have Science class tomorrow, a birthday party, I am watching a friend's son, blah blah blah.

Friday Excursion

Yesterday after Science Class, I surprised the kids with a trip the Seattle Aquarium. It has been 4 or 5 months since we went and we need to make use of our membership. I can't remember when it expires, but it is within the next few months, I think. So we need to run down there a few times a month at least. They just love it and I adore watching their faces light up when they see the fur seals or otters flitting all over. Even Brain never tires of it:)



We had a rushed trip yesterday. Did not get down there until 2 pm and had to be back up North (where we live) by 5:30 so Jock could make it to hockey practise.


You will note here, standing under some salmon, Jock is explaining in detail something he learned on a field trip to a Salmon ladder one time. He may be a jock, but he is a smart one:) LOL






Jelly fish are so amazing!!!






I took many photos, but have narrowed it down to some of my favourites to share with you fine folks. They REALLY love the Octopus. Brain and Princess especially enjoy talking to it. After the Aquarium, we ran across the street and up the many steps to Pike Place Market.





Princess with her buddy. Note the fake tatoos on her face and neck. She earned those this past week for exceptional behaviour. Clown earned the Power Rangers wallet with chain that you may be able to detect in his front jeans pocket. They have been AMAZING with their attitude. I asked Clown to unload the dishwasher the other day. He was conversing with a sibling and did not hesitate. Just said "Ok Mom" and kept talking as he unloaded. They have both had their beds made, been dressed and ready for breakfast and devotions every morning this week. They have not fought and Clown took it upon himself to dust the living room furniture yesterday!?!?! They are just amazing and deserved a reward. So we played "hot and cold" and they found their treats throughout the house. I love doing things like that. Princess also got a doll she has been wanting really badly for months. Has to do with a "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus" DVD. Clown got some bubble gum and pez dispenser.





No trip to Pike Place is complete without a photo of people sitting on the famous brass pig. Not that you cannot really see much of the pig itself. Who is kidding who, my kids are MUCH nicer to look at:) I did not even notice that until I looked at the photo now. I thought I got more of the pig in the shot! OH WELL!

So there you are. Brain and Jock are trying to be nice, I am sure. They are fighting the hormones, so I try to cut them a little slack. I remember. It is no fun at that age. Brain has been much better about doing his school assignments and even Jock is having a better attitude and not complaining. Which is nice. However attitude is still not hard to come by.

Brain won a Gameboy SP from a gogurt tube (yogurt in a tube for you people who are scratching your heads) weeks ago and it came in the mail this week. They are all sharing it and were great about that yesterday on the drive down to Seattle.

Today we are working in de-cluttering and cleaning Jock and Clown's room. We will start painting next weekend and get things ship shape in there. Maybe I will post before and after pictures. It is quite the sight right now!!!

Later tonight, Stud and I are going on a date. The kids with have fun with their friends at their house and then Stud and I can have some time to converse without constant interruptions. So we are looking forward to that!

Ok, will try to be better about posting. I am just keeping my computer off a lot of the time and doing more fun things with the kids.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

YOWZA!

We have been having quite the conversation on another blog about abortion. Very, very interesting. There are some well educated people out there. I am impressed. I certainly need to educate myself more than I am.

Just wanted to post my two babies (guess I can't call them that much longer, eh?? *sniff*) on the way to church this morning. Don't they clean up nice???




So in local news here at home we have the following-

We are leaning toward putting all of the kids in public school this coming fall. Try it AGAIN for a year, see if things work better this time. We have had them home for four years straight now, maybe five?? Can't remember. Anyway, I need a break, they need to experience something totally new, and we are thinking of attempting it again. We are excited about it. Well, the kids are not! LOL But Stud and I are.

A yeast infection that I had about a month ago is back with a vengeance! LOL Or maybe it never totally went away. No, I am not shy about these things. Not normally, anyway. Bloody thing. I hope it decides to vacate for GOOD this time. Stupid thing, I have only had one other one, when I was about 18. Nothing since, until now. ARG!!!


The kids are all coughing and hacking up a storm. We have Clown on steroids and he and Princess both on strong cough syrup. Almost all of them are doing the nebulizer. Princess was at the Doc last week because she sounded a bit croupy, but it never did turn into that. We have had her showering, which helps a bit but she fights. She prefers to laze about in the bathtub and play with her Barbies and write with her bath crayons.

Jock still has an eye infection. Dern kid won't keep his fingers out of his eyes. He always sticks his fingers RIGHT IN the eye, touches the sensitive tissue. Then can't seem to figure out why his eyes won't heal when he is always introducing more germs in there!?!??! INFURIATING!


Tried to make a pot roast in the crock pot to have a nice hot meal to come home from church to. Stupid thing isn't even CLOSE to done, even though Stud put it in there at 7 this morning. Yes, you all read correctly. Those of you who know him will be shocked!! LOL I left instructions written in detail for him. I did not want to get up as early as he needed to so that he could play guitar during the first service. Since he needed to be up anyway, we decided he could try his hand at this. I think the crock pot is too old or something. Can that happen??

Stud is in some small skits at church tonight. They are doing a dessert theatre and we need to leave here just after 5 to get there in time. So we can't even eat the roast for supper:( WWWAAAAA!!!!! He has to be AT church by 3, so there is no way he can have any. It will be fun, they do improv stuff and it is always really enjoyable. We have some really talented people at our church.

Friends of ours have joined with us to so that we can each go out as couples once a week. We were going to do every other week. They watched our kids last Saturday night and we went to a movie. Then last night we watched theirs and they went. We both would like to do it every week, so that our night is Friday and theirs is Saturday or something along those lines. We are really excited. Brain is old enough to leave with them, but as you saw in previous posts, we can't really leave Jock. This puts our minds at ease the and kids are all together playing and having a grand old time!!!

So those are some pretty major things going on. I need to get off of here and we are all going for a walk together before Stud leaves for the church.

Update

Ok everyone, I am back. Thought I would post a little bit while Brain is eating his late breakfast and the younger two are playing together. Jock went to work with Stud. They have some hockey thing after anyway so sometimes he goes to work with him. He is not happy with me, I sent a backpack full of school work for him to do!!!

Lots has been happening around here. Took Brain yesterday for his post-op check. The surgeon had said most people lose 10 lbs the first month after surgery, from eating such a limited diet. I gasped when he told me that, cause Brain needs to GAIN a minimum of 20 lbs. We are talking a 13 year old, almost 5 feet tall (thank GOD he is short) that weighs less than 70 lbs. He looked at him and said "With him, it will be more like 2-3. He doesn't look like he has much to spare."

Turns out he has lost 8. The surgeon is very concerned and wants to see him back in two weeks, which normally isn't the case. He told Brain that he could try a hamburger. Told us various other ideas and inspected the incisions. Two of them are very nicely healed, won't likely show at all. Two of them have a big hard chunk behind them. One of those will go away, but the other one will likely always be there. A small bump. The one IN his navel, we can't even see. He said they have healed up nicely.

He asked Brain if he is glad that he got the surgery done. Brain said YEAH! He asked why and Brain said "Because I feel better. It sucked at first, but I don't feel like I am going to puke all the time anymore. It is awesome." He actually WANTS to eat now, but since things are still a bit limited, he can't.

I got him a hamburger on the way home and he ate it slowly. I let him have about 3 bites and then we set it aside for 5 minutes or so. Three more bites, etc etc. he said it felt SO GOOD to have something of substance in his tummy. All he has had is yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding, jello, milkshakes, soup, mashed potatoes, eggs, bananas etc. No crackers, bread, veggies, meat or anything like that. So we are very excited. It seems that he actually has an appetite. Just frustrating that he can't eat anything. He says he can't wait, he is going to go nuts and eat everything in site when he gets the go ahead!!! He can't wait for pizza.

So I am hoping he can put on at least 30 lbs between now and the end of summer. I don't think that is unrealistic, but who knows. He has grown over an inch since December. So he keeps getting taller, which is nice. I just want to stop being able to see every bone in his body. If only I could give him 30 of my pounds!

We are off to Science class today. Lots more news, but I must get off and get things done. WHOA! I got Clown a book about bugs the other day. His latest interest. And now I hear Brain explaining something to him, about females and males attaching to each other. I better go make sure he isn't taking it upon himself to do the "Birds and Bees" talk!

Long Break

Yes, I am going on one. At least a week. I am not sure when I can make myself start, but I am sure it will be on Monday, if not before.

I need to shut this thing off and focus on the kids, and getting more active. I have cut out sugar and wheat, am drinking more water, eating far less meat and quit my beloved Starbucks treats cold turkey. *sniff* It has been three days since I had one and the fact that it is torture to me is pathetic. Says a lot right there. I COULD just do the less fattening one, but I won't even allow myself that much until I get to a certain weight. I have put on 5 lbs in the past few months just from drinking those blasted things 3-4 times a week. Enough is enough!

Perhaps by the time I turn this on again, I will have located the photos I want to put along with various posts.

Although I DID want to announce that Brain was nominated "Student of the Month" at his classes that he attends. He got an award for being respectful, considerate and helpful. There is a funny story that goes along with it, but I need to get to bed.

I will miss reading all the blogs and yapping on here.

Ttfn!!!

I find this amusing

This is not what is amusing. I just wanted to add this:) Princess on her way to the HSing Valentine's Day party. Note the Hello Kitty Necklace. Stud gave that to her that morning! Was she pleased!



I am watching my friend J's two boys today. We shall call them "Giggles" and "Smiley". They are the SWEETEST BOYS I have ever come across. Giggles is the same age as Jock and Smiley is the same age as Clown. They all get along famously. Never been any conflict. The names I have thought up are exactly how they are. Giggles is always giggling and Smiley never stops grinning.





So Brain is playing a video game that Giggles brought. Giggles and Jock are playing Lord of the Rings Stratego while Clown and Smiley were downstairs playing Checkers. Princess was taking photos of the cats laying about. She is quite the photographer lately, I think I will post some of her work on here.




So I agreed to let the younger group play video games. Clown and Princess have recently caught the bug, but Clown gets very agitated and is grounded from it for weeks at a time. He yells at the TV, calls characters "Moron" and "Idiot", throws controllers to the floor, etc.




It has been a few weeks since he has played, so I told him if he controlled himself, he could show Smiley a few games. Princess and I decided to colour in a colouring book while they played, then she and Smiley would play.

This is what you would have heard if you had been down there -

Clown: OH YEAH! Take that! UH HUH, I am coming after you!!!

Smiley: What am I supposed to press??? What DO I DO!?!?!?

Princess: Smiley, press the A. NO NO! THE A BUTTON!!! Mom, can you pass me the yellow??

Clown: WE DIED!?!? WE DIED!?!? NO SMILEY!! If you had just pressed (then tells him details of what he was supposed to do) your guy would not have fallen off of there and we would have defeated them!! Let's try again, ok???

Princess: Clown, be nice to Smiley. Smiley, when you and Clown play 3 more rounds, I will play with you, ok???

He ignores her.

Princess: *shrug of shoulders* Hmmmmm...I guess Smiley doesn't hear very well. Mom, what colour is this, it's ugly!!!

Me: Looks like baby poop, but it is called "Bronze Yellow".

Princess: EEEWWWW...I can't use that for her dress!?!?!? What about that pink over there, can you pass me that?? OH NO!!!!!!!!!! GET THE WAND!! GET THE WAND SMILEY!!!

Clown: PRINCESS! We are TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!!!

Princess: *holding back tears* I was just trying to help! He needs to get the wand! Smiley, did you know what to do when Yoshi falls off of there???

Smiley: No! What do I do??

Me: CLOWN! Would you PLEASE tell poor Smiley what to press!?!?!?

Clown is immersed in the game and has no idea what is being said most of the time.

Princess: Ok, Smiley. Press R if you want to (I can't remember) and then go over to the left and jump on the (Again, can't remember details) and you can...


On and on she went. I think Smiley is going to get it eventually and I know that he will get more help when Princess is right there playing with him. I find it amusing, how she was desperate to help him, but Clown just got annoyed because Smiley did not instinctively know exactly what to do on a game he has never played before.

At one point Princess muttered "Sheesh. I am just trying to help." I should have prepared her and told her that no matter how much she tries to help guys, even when they ask for it, it won't be appreciated. I will prepare her one day, but for now, I kept out of it for the most part.

Maybe you had to be there to see/hear it, but it was quite entertaining. Let me look through some of her recent fascinating photography and add it to this for you all to enjoy!

Jock

I don't think I can post the picture I spoke of in my last post. I can't find it!!!


Ok, so I knew I was pregnant with Jock, long before any test results would agree with me. We women know our bodies, right???

Finally, the blood test revealed that yes indeed, I would have another baby in June of 1995.

I was sick. Very sick. I was so sick we decided we would only have two kids. I was sure I would not be able to live through something like my pregnancies again. I am sure I was just as sick with Brain, but since I had to work for a while, I had no choice but to "suck it up". EEEEEeeewwwww, that can be taken in a bad way.

Let's carry on and get that awful vision to go away.

So yes, since I was so sick and we thought we would only have these two, we agreed to find out what this baby was. I wanted one of each and thought that if it was another boy, I better find out now and give myself time to get used to the idea of no daughter. I have since matured past that silliness, but at the time, was very serious about it. My parents were down from Canada and my Mom was in the room with us when we found out. That is a very special memory for me!!!

He was also 11 days overdue. I was induced with him also, just as I was with Brain. Opppsss, almost typed his real name in there. LOL!! I was even going to give birth to them in the same room, when I got a nasty prank phone call. The staff looked things up in the records and apparently the same thing had happened when I was in there giving birth to Brain. Maybe there is something with that particular room, but they said it had only happened with me. Weird. So they moved me.


So he was born easily, a few pushes and there he was. We took him home and started the adventure with two children. I remember when he was about 4 days old, trying to go get groceries. I was near tears. I could not figure out how to get him strapped to me (I have never understood those people who carry small babies around in those car seats, you know??? I want the baby next to me as much as possible) and get Brain out and then get them both settled and back into the car after we were done shopping. It was quite a feat somehow. That was a scorcher of a summer, so I remember standing there and being over tired and VERY HOT. YUCKY. I don't like hot.

By the time he was 4 months old, he was the weight Brain had been at two years. Yes, you read correctly. That is not a typo. I remember he could not get enough food and I would sit trying not to cry, I was so happy. When he was 10 and 11 months old, he and I got up at 5 every morning. He had a HUGE bowl of oatmeal, a banana, and toast. By eight o'clock, he was tuckered out and went for his nap. Brain got up and he and I had time together while Jock slept.

He had strawberry blonde hair that stuck straight up on his head. Similar to a baby with FAS. That is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, for those who do not know. I had many foster brothers and sisters who had that. His hair reminded me of that. This lasted a few months and then the red went out of it and it was laying straight against his head, white blonde.


He was always very interested in cars, trucks, etc. He was a typical boy in that way. Brain had never cared, but Jock would sit and babble to his toy trucks, stroke them lovingly and just chatter away to them for as long as 45 minutes. It amazes me how early their personalities are clearly shown.


If Brain was in the room, Jock never took his eyes off of him. It was SO CUTE!. Brain ate it up too, he loved the adoration:) Man, those were the good ole days!! Brain would be talking about something and walk past Jock. Jock would keep his eyes on Brain and try to eat anything that went near his face! LOL It was SO FUNNY!! He was just sitting there, but if I leaned over, or someone reached for something, he would try to eat them and then look all timid and ashamed when he realised that whatever it was, was not food:)


We moved from here to SC when Jock was 6 weeks short of his 2nd birthday. I told him I was going to write about him here and he forbid me from telling some of the adorable little phrases he would say when he was learning to talk.

A few things I CAN tell though. Within the first few weeks of being there, any time he saw a Van that looked like our good friend's from here, he would freak out. It was adorable but very sad. We would drive along and he saw a van like their's. He would start bouncing in his seat and smile and wave to anyone who may see and say with a huge contented sigh "Go home now!!!!! BYE!! Ok. Ok, go home now." The van would get farther from us and he would frantically start calling his friends Ashley and Johnny, convinced that they were in there and for some reason were leaving him.

"AAAAAAAAA-EEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Joh-eeeeeeee! GO HOME NOW!! GO HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!" He would be patting his chest frantically, because he could not say his name, but was trying to get them to see that HE wanted to go home now with them.

This happened almost every time I took the boys out anywhere. After about a month, he quit. It was so hard for me, though. Because I wanted to come home here also. I wondered what was going on in his little mind. I knew that he honestly believed that was them. I can't imagine how confused he must have been, wondering why they would always drive away and ignore him.

So I will continue this soon. I have pictures to go along with these, but it will be a while before I can get them on here. So now that I think about it, I may just wait a while to continue the posts on the kids.

I don't want to delete this or save it, so sorry. Will talk about other things until I get photos arranged that will go with these posts. Maybe you all don't care, but I do:)

That is it for now!!!

Pet Peeve

OK, this is one of my biggest ones. Something that makes me want to SCREAM loudly like a lunatic.

WHY, oh WHY, when you are in the bathroom, do the kids feel the need to wiggle the door knob as they talk to you!??!?! ARG!!!

First of all, I have just recently been able to shut the door again, after years of needing it open and having NO privacy. The kids panic. People with small children know exactly what I am talking about.

So after years of putting in my time of peeing and showering for the entire house to see, now I get a break. I get to have a closed door. I almost forgot what it is like and sometimes still forget to shut it, out of habit. This greatly distrubs my older children, so for their sake, I try to remember to shut it.

Their father is home, but for some reason, suddenly when I shut the door to the bathroom, they feel the need to come talk to me. Not only can I hardly hear them through the door, but as they talk, they stand there hanging onto the doorknob!??! I think they are doing some manner of acrobatics or something, from the sounds of things. Sound like the thing will be ripped out of the door sometimes.


WHY!?!?!? ESPECIALLY if their father is home. WHY DO THEY FEEL THE NEED TO COME TO ME ALL THE TIME!??!?!

And why can they not just stand there and talk?? I don't understand that.

For some reason it drives me bonkers.

Have a great day!

I totally forgot!

Ok, I am not done raving about Brain. I completely forgot to fill you all in on his health issues and what led up to his recent surgery.

He always had the food allergies, skin disease and was small and scrawny. Even as a newborn, when he was gaining like crazy and nice and chunky, he just did not eat. I had to wake him up all the time. He would go hours and hours without eating, if I did not try to nurse him. Never seemed to feel hungry. I was concerned, but when I DID try to feed him, for the most part he would eat. He was gaining weight, etc, so I did not worry too much.

Then when he was failure to thrive, losing weight and would not eat at all, I got really concerned. He was incredibly picky, and I did not want to encourage that. However, if there were 3 things he would eat, I gave them to him over and over again. I was not about to start lecturing on trying other foods, etc. He seemed to always feel so sick, and was so cranky because of it, I did not want a melt down. Stud and I had to walk on eggs shells because if we did one wrong move or said a certain thing, it would set Brain off into a fit that would end in him vomiting anything he had actually ingested. Which was usually not much, so we avoided that at all costs. We knew it was not misbehaviour, the poor kid felt HORRIBLE.

Had him on Pediasure and vitamins and just prayed and hoped that he would start gaining. Once he got through that horrible time from 14-18 months, he seemed to be not too bad. he did start gaining, slowly but surely. The sweet little boy we remembered was in there somewhere. He appeared again and we were on our merry way.

By the time he was 6 or so, we took him to an endocrinologist. He weighed about 35 pounds and was very tiny. Stud and I were scrawny as kids too. Our parents reminded us of that when we worried about Brain. I knew it was more than that, though. I wondered if he had some kind of nutrient absorption problem, but the Dr's all shrugged it off. He was diagnosed with "Constitutional Growth Delay" by the Endocrinologist. Did a "bone age" test and his bones were the size of a typical 4 year old, at almost 7 years old. They told us when he hit puberty, he would suddenly grow and it would be incredibly painful for him. So far, that has not happened.

We carried on like this, with him never even ON the growth chart at the pediatrician's office. Well, that is not true. A few times he made it on and was just under the 5th percentile. As long as he did not LOSE weight, people seemed fine with it. He went for periods of a year, without gaining one pound. He did not lose, so no one seemed too worried.

I went to Costa Rica in April of 2002, to visit my brother's three kids who lived there at the time. While I was gone, Stud took Brain and Jock to get updated allergy tests. I asked him how it went, and he said fine. Told me it was no problem taking care of them all (I had been gone close to a week) and getting them to their activities, etc etc had been a breeze. He did not have any idea why I was ever frazzled at all. He thought what I do every day is a piece of cake. Although the kids told me that Daddy seemed impatient and was pretty grumpy at them:) LOL He would never admit that he got a bit frazzled. They were sure glad when I got back! LOL


Brain seemed to be always snuffling and when he read things out loud to me, as he loves to do, it was torture to listen to. He seemed completely clogged up. I took him some months later to the allergist and asked about it. They did a CT scan and could not believe it! His sinuses were totally infected and packed full. We have NO IDEA how long he had been that way. They put him on major meds, we had to do a steam sauna at least twice a day, stay in the steamy shower for a long time (which is opposite of what he needs to do to care for his skin problems) etc etc. After three months, we went back to check and they were much better, but still incredibly packed. We kept on the meds for more than 6 months and the allergist spoke of possible surgery if this did not get remedied.

I asked him to remind me what Brain was allergic to, maybe I am missing something. He looked through the chart and said that when they had been tested, about a year ago (when Stud took them), it was discovered that they are VERY allergic to chicken, of all things. CHICKEN!! I almost jumped out of the chair! We eat chicken AT LEAST 3 times a week!?!?!? I had to laugh at Stud. He said he thought it sounded a little familiar. He seemed to recall Dr. M mentioning something about the allergy test results, but he was so distracted with all the kids, etc, he totally forgot. Hmmmm....everything went fine with me gone, hmmm??? Piece of cake, eh?? LOL Now he knew what I dealt with ALL THE TIME, but would never admit that it was kind of hard to keep track of things and what I do is the least bit difficult.

Once we cut that out, Brain cleared up quickly. However, he got worse again, even with no chicken. We went back and forth trying to fix his dern sinuses, talking about surgery, etc. September of 2004, he started feeling nauseous all the time. Started having what we thought were panic attacks. That is an entire post on it's own, though.


He had never really known what it is like to feel hungry. We would ask him once in a while and he said no, he was not sure what we were talking about. As he got older and I did not make meals regularly, he would go all day without eating. Jock would make himself something for lunch and ask for snacks. At supper, I would call them all and ask Brain if he had eaten anything. He would think hard, shrug and say "No, I guess not." We have a picture of my brother's kids, my little brother and my kids taken a few summers ago. I will post it. Brain is the one in the green Costa Rica shirt, hanging onto my brother's wheelchair, looking like he is about to pass out/throw up. Because he was. My mother was frantic. Things would get so chaotic and I would forget to remind him to eat. I got impatient with him doing that. It was just another thing thing for me to do, remind a kid to eat?!??! Who needs to be reminded to eat!?!?!? I thought this was just the way he was, but if you read more, it will make more sense.

We took him to the allergist last May (2005), because he had said if Brain got another sinus infection, we would do surgery. He had yet another and were tired of all the pills to swallow, etc etc.

When we were there, he was flipping through the chart and saying, "Hmmmm...hmmmmm...uh huh..." etc over and over to himself. Then he looked shocked and asked "Has he not ever done the GERD study before?? Has he had an upper GI and been tested for GERD???"

Now, I knew what GERD was because a friend of mine has it. It had never occurred to me that my child would have it?? I thought heartburn was for pregnant people and older adults.

I said no, why would he?? What does that have to do with Sinus infections?!?! He looked like he was trying not to kick himself and like he had just made a most amazing discovery. He said that if you have GERD, the stomach acid can leak and irritate the Vegas nerve, near your diaphragm. If this nerve is irritated it can cause...

Excema

Sinus Disease

Asthma.

We sat staring at each other with our jaws dropped. My mind was just racing, thinking "You mean to tell me that my child has had this GERD since infancy and THAT is why he doesn't want to eat and has all these conditions?!?!?!"

There was no point in getting mad that the poor man had not thought of it before now. He had been Brain's allergist since he was a toddler. Too bad it took over 10 years for him to think of this, at least he thought of it now, right???

He gave me the # of a GI specialist to take Brain to. He said he would be surprised if she did not get him into surgery right away. He briefly went over the surgery that Brain just had on the 9th of this month and let us know what it would do, etc.

I won't bore you with the details and why it took 9 months for them to finally do it. That is why he had the surgery that he did on the 9th. They went in and tightened where the esophagus connects in the stomach. When I mentioned what Dr. M said to the surgeon, about the nerve and this maybe causing all Brain's health problems, he looked skeptical and claimed to never have heard that before. They said though, the reason he has not wanted to eat is because no matter what he eats, it causes pain and discomfort. Why would you voluntarily do that to yourself?? So I imagine him as a tiny baby, not wanting to eat because it made him feel icky:(


I had noticed the past few days that the skin on his chest, back, arms, legs etc has looked smoother. It was always scaly and rough. He sheds like crazy and his chunks and flakes of skin are all over the house. There has seriously always been a fine layer of skin all over the floor of his room. Whenever I change the sheets on his bed, it looks like it is snowing in his room. So this is very exciting for all of us:)


Saturday, as Brain and I drove to see "The Pink Panther" and spend his gift card at TRU, I asked him if I could feel his back. He grinned and leaned forward and I reached up under his coat. It was not like our's, but it is MUCH smoother and not nearly as rough. Pieces did not come off in my hand, as they always have. I was trying not to cry, but I know he knew how choked up I was.

He beamed at me and put his head sideways how he does when he gets emotional. He could not stop grinning. I said "Maybe Dr. M knows what he is talking about after all, eh?? The surgeon just fixed you, but he doesn't know details. How is your nose??" He said very proudly, "I can breathe out of my left nostril."

I tried not to scream with delight. It tends to frighten them when I do that.

So there you are, longwinded, but I hope it makes some sense. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I will start the saga of Jock. I will look for the photo I mentioned, but can't now. I must clean up the school room. Clown has been after me to sit down and do math lessons with him, so I need to jump on that. I can't do it when there is disorder in the area we do "school". I want to to start math with him tomorrow and have a big clean up job ahead of me. They have gotten into all the craft stuff, paints, etc and it takes a while to clean up and organise again.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend!

Nose warmer

Just remembered I told my mom I would post a picture of Clown with the treat she crocheted him.

This is his nose warmer. Apparently, when we were up in the prairies this past holiday season, Clown and his Granny had a discussion about this. She got it finished and mailed it with their Valentine parcel.

He is pleased as can be and it came none too soon. Things are getting chilly indeed.

Dad, please do not forget to show this to Mom.

Deo-DORANT

That is how my bro and I used to say deodorant.

HOW on EARTH does the stuff get all over everything??

I make a point of putting on my shirt FIRST. This morning, I am wearing a sleeve-less shirt. Of course it is black. So I make certain that it is on like it is supposed to be.

Then, I lift up me arms and carefully swipe the stuff underneath. I learned the hard way not to put it on and THEN put on the shirt or whatever the top part of my ensemble is. No one taught me this, that I can recollect. It is just amazing that I figured this out.

I vow to let my kids in on life's little nuggets of wisdom such as this. Save them some time and humiliation.

So I am pleased that all is well, and move to get the shirt that goes on over top of said sleeve-less shirt. Something seems to be glowing in my peripheral vision. Seriously. Luminescent almost.

ACK!!!!!!!!! A large glob of blasted deodorant is sitting on the front of my shirt!?!?

Down low, near to the tummy region, no less!?!?!?


HOW ON EARTH DOES THIS HAPPEN!?!?!? I only put it UNDER MY ARMS. HONESTLY.

Am I the only freak that this happens to???

Speak up people.

I know you are out there reading this.


*****************************************

Alright, the little ones and I are off to a birthday party. I guess non church going people do not think about church going people when they plan these things?? LOL

Stud and the older two just left. He plays guitar during both services, and the older ones are NOT staying home alone. They have not been to their SS classes in months. So they get to go early and watch Stud and the rest of the worship team get ready for the services. Then it is off to their classes.

The party is from 10-noon. At some type of Playground Equipment selling place. If it is the place I think it is, we have been to one party there about 4 or 5 years ago. I know the kids will have fun, but Clown is being Clown. Very nervous, because there will be people that he does not know there. I told him that he can stay with me and visit with M and M.

The birthday child is the granddaughter of friends of ours. The aforementioned M&M. Stud has worked with this man since we moved here from SC in '91. Besides from '97-00 when we were back in SC, that is. Since Stud's family lives in SC and mine is in Canada, these guys have been like surrogate grand-parents to our kids. They try to make it to all the dance recitals, the HSing talent show where Brain will play his violin, some hockey games, etc etc.


Their grand daughter is right in between the ages of Clown and Princess. Princess just turned 5 in October, this birthday girl is 6 today and Clown will be 7 in May. They all three get along wonderfully and love to play together. We missed her past two birthdays, so are going to for sure make it to this one.

I will leave you with a quick snapshot from last week, when Jock suddenly decided to get his hair chopped off. He has had one trim since September of 2004. It was quite long and he tired of being mistaken for a girl. I totally forgot about his earrings! He has two piercings in his left ear and I have not seen them in months! LOL He is not thrilled, because he has a lot of moles and forgot about them. There are a lot, especially on the left side of his neck. I think they add character. He doesn't like moles, he had to have one removed a few years ago, but more on that when I devote some posts to him.

When he was getting the cut, Clown decided since Jock looked so good, he would get his curls cut off. So here they are, with Princess, at the haircutting place.

Saturday update

Stud just took the younger three skating and I am waiting for Brain to get out of the shower. He has expressed an interest in getting out and about. When he does this, we jump on it. It does not happen often! I am glad he is feeling well enough to do anything. He had to do a few chores yesterday, and seemed almost happy about it! He is tired of laying around.

He and I are planning on some shopping at Toys R Us, so he can spend the gift card he got from friends whilst in the hospital. He has some gift cards for book stores also and would like to look into spending those. After that, we hope to take in a movie. Most likely "The Pink Panther" or "Eight Below". He has not decided as yet.

So yes, I am trying to think of more ways to describe him, so that I can move on to Jock and eventually my other two. Still need to yammer on about my friend C who was recently here (I miss her dearly! *sniff*) as well as my baby brother. I want to include photos with much of these, but our scanner is on the fritz, Stud keeps talking about buying another. Lo and behold, the funds are often needed elsewhere, you know how it is!

Let's see...he is very caring, as I said. Can't stand to see anyone, including animals, hurting. If he hears one of his siblings scream or yell, he jumps up protectively to see what, if anything, is wrong. Notice I said "If he hears". If he is playing a video game, reading or watching TV...he WILL NOT hear it!!!

He has always been social, enjoyed other people's company. He gets that from his Dad. I am more of a loner. I enjoy talking, don't get me wrong. I am just as happy to talk to myself as to anyone else. LOL Clown in like me in that area, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Yes, he enjoys other people and has surprised me in his confidence level. I was not as confident as he is until I was about 30! He does not hesitate to speak his mind and unfortunately can come across as rude and condescending. He has been told not to be so cynical. He is small and wiry, but has no problem going over to someone who is picking on another and speaking up boldly and telling them to leave the person alone. Something about him causes people to listen and take him seriously.


He is unusual as a teen in that he cares nothing about what he looks like, wears, says, etc. He is just happy in his own skin and I love it! Jock gets embarrassed often going anywhere with Brain. Brain won't comb his hair, tuck in his shirt, etc. Jock is beside himself and pleads with me to do something. I remind him that I want them all to be who they are, and to concern himself with himself, his brother is fine how he is.

He is mature for his age, but also still enjoys typical "child" things. When he feels himself getting impatient or bored with something juvenile, it seems like once that occurs to him, he panics and kind of seems to force himself to enjoy it or sit through it. Like he is thinking "OH NO!! I am getting older, I need to stop this somehow!"


He has NO desire to drive, leave home or grow up. He was so dreading his 13th birthday this past fall, I felt SO BAD for him. I remember being the same way, not wanting it to end. I knew there was no going back and enjoyed every day. Stud and I keep on telling him before he knows it, he won't be able to get away from us soon enough. He still doesn't believe us! LOL He won't even let us drop him at a movie or the mall to just hang around with friends. He thinks that is ridiculous and wonders why we would suggest it. So we obviously do not force it, when he is ready, we will let him. He had a friend over last night, she just walked over after school, had supper, they visited, etc and then Stud took her home around 8:30. He will spend a weekend at a friend's house, a friend will spend a weekend or a few nights here and he is fine with that. Seeing friends at church etc. Sees no reason to go out to a movie/mall etc without us. Whereas Jock is chomping at the bit for us to allow him to! LOL

He seems to really be able to look ahead and realise the consequences of his actions. I am very proud of who he is becoming and know I can trust him explicitly. He has lied 4 times in his life, was caught every time and cried miserably and was harder on himself than his father and I. So far, besides health issues and a bit of attitude, he is an easy son to raise.

There is much more, but I need to move on to Jock. Maybe tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!!!

More about Brain

Here he is at 2 years old:)


I have told him about this blog and what I named him. I explained that I considered "Bookworm", since that describes him more accurately, but that I was too lazy to type that out all the time. Brain is shorter.

He asked me to call him "Viper" on here. I said I have already confused people, I am sorry, you are Brain for the time being.

Where was I??? Ah yes. Bana Spit.

So things were good. He loved preschool. It was actually more like a day care centre, I realised later. He was allergic to milk and they continued to give it to him and not listen to me when I reminded them. They did not listen to him when he told them either. So he did what any other kid would do when given a forbidden treat. He drank it!! Luckily he was growing out of the allergy, but still. What if it was VERY serious?? I was not impressed with that.

He was almost 3 when he started there and he LOVED IT. I have since understood that there is no need for preschool and have not sent my younger two. Just another expense and place to remember to drop off and pick up. They learn on their own, and Clown is my prime example of that. I will save that for my posts on him! I did it then, because I thought that was what one does when they have children.

They did some educational type things sometimes, but mainly just sat them in front of the TV most of the time. Which is not a good thing to do with him. He loses himself in it and won't move for hours.

He sat in front of Pooh Bear movies for about 4 months during my early pregnancy with Jock. He was SUCH an easy toddler and baby, etc. I had no choice, I was horribly sick and would vomit if I moved. He sat in his little seat at the foot of the couch where I laid all morning feeling guilty that I could not get up and play with him like always.

He assured me all was well, he was in his element!!! Nothing has changed in that department. This past week, recovering from surgery, he has watched more TV/Movies than he normally watches in about 3 months time!

His skin condition would settle down from time to time and then get worse again. He was always itchy and scratching and every time we gave him a bath, we had to smear all manner of ointments and creams on him and then cover his feet AND hands with socks, to let it all soak in. He got very self conscious about this and when he was about 5, told me of a nightmare he had.

He said he was laying in the tub soaking (we had been instructed to submerge as much of him as possible and get him good and wet before we got him out and "greased him up" as we came to call it) when he got itchy and was scratching so much he could not stop. He said that he looked down and the bath tub was full of blood and all his skin was floating on the surface of the water and that he was just a skeleton. What five year old should have to be tormented that way?? It was heart breaking for me to see him suffer like he was, but I always thanked God he did not have leukemia or CF or anything life threatening of course.

He is a very sensitive person. Incredibly caring and thoughtful. He is like his Father in the way that they are both off in their own little world much of the time. They literally tune out everything that is going on around them. My other kids enjoy things, but are more like me. If they are doing something they really enjoy, they are still aware that other people are around and there is activity.

If Brain is watching something, playing a video game, reading, etc. You literally have to go over and touch him a few times and put your face in his face to get him to come "out of it" and realise you have been talking to him or that you need his attention. The others can be doing those things and you talk and they just look up from it and respond to you. Jock and Brain will be playing a video game and I start saying something and Jock will finally have to pause the game and he yells "BRAIN! Mom is TALKING to you!?!?! HELLO!?!?!"

For this reason, when he is left caring for the younger two, he is not allowed to do any of those things. I am terrified that one of them will be hurt or something and he will be oblivious. They play board games or do something crafty. He is starting to be able to control this a little bit and be more aware that he is this way. He wants to be able to watch a movie with them or something when we leave him with them. He is showing great promise in this area.

Somehow, even being this way, he does have the ability to multi-task in some areas. I remember when he was in grade three, I was HSing him again. He had attended a private Kindergarten in South Carolina. Only reason I put him in there was because we had just moved down there and knew NO ONE. I wanted him to make some friends. I had planned on HSing them, but wanted to give him a chance to meet some kids. Then I HSed for grade one. By the time he was in Grade two, we had moved back here {PRAISE GOD!!) and I was pregnant with Princess. I did not think I could do a good job teaching he and Jock as well as caring for a toddler and a newborn. I now know better, but hindsight is 20/20, right?

So when I had them home again, I thought I was not teaching them all they needed to know, so I put them back in. He was in grade three, I guess it was. I would go volunteer in his class and was amazed that the teacher would allow him to be reading a book while she was teaching. I asked her about it. Don't the other kids get jealous that they can't, etc etc?? She said no, everyone is fine with it. Watch this.

So I was at my table, doing whatever and she was talking and asking questions. Brain was reading, but when she would direct a question at him, he would not hesitate. He would not even look up from the book sometimes, just keep reading, and give her a detailed answer and even add some extra info for good measure. She would look at me all excited like "Uh?? What do you think of that??!?!" I thought it was rude on his part and was surprised she permitted it! She just seemed so impressed.

Around that same time, we got a letter in the mail, saying something about a Highly Capable Program that they wanted him in. We had not heard of this, but apparently he would be bussed to another school the next fall. I had planned on HSing them again, but Stud wanted to check into it. They sent us various test results and it showed that he was reading at the level of a 2nd year college student. He was 7 years old.

I started asking around, to see what other mothers knew about this. I knew he would do well at home. He learns at his own pace. Takes his time on things he needs to (Math) and speeds along at things he excells at. I didn't want to mess with that. Not to mention I want to be the major influence until they have a good foundation to stand on. There are MANY reasons why I Homeschool them.

It was the saddest thing. The mothers I asked, were all JEALOUS that Brain got into this!?!?!? Apparently this was a coveted letter and some of them actually said to me, "My son could have gotten in to that school, if only he would apply himself."

THEY ARE LITTLE BOYS!?!?!! What do you want them to do!?!? They are busy learning how to spit and snap their fingers and whistle for crying out loud!?!? Only reason Brain got in is because his passion happens to be something that is academic. When you are passionate about something and it interests you, you will tend to excell at it. Or at least enjoy it immensely. HE taught himself how to read, because he was passionate about it. He knew there was something magical about this thing I did with him for hours a day, that he begged for more and more. He knew if he worked at it, he could unlock the code and do this wonderful thing for himself. So he did.

I don't understand people who push thier children to be someone they aren't. I guess that is another blog for another day.

Clown is here telling me about a dream he had, signing off for now...

More pics of my boy:)

The sibs came to visit before heading to Jock's Hockey Tourny in Spokane.




Sleeps a lot. Balloons from friends in Spokane.




Back home. See all the cards, gifts and goodies??



Able to stand up better now. Showing his incisions.

Will explain what the surgery was about soon, when I discuss more of my sweet Brain. I need to get some pics of him when he was younger, to go with the posts:)

Jock has decided to get his long hair chopped off, must take him before he changes his mind:)

Brain

So I guess I will explain some history on my boy.

I remember a man that Stud and I worked with (I was the receptionist at Stud's office for a few months during the pregnancy) told me that I was having a boy.

We had not found out what the baby was going to be and I remember the moment he said that it dawned on me that the baby would actually be a certain gender. Until that point, I was just so glad to be having a child, that it honestly did not register with me that what I gave birth to would not just be a person, but someone with a particular gender. I felt kind of stupid about the whole thing! LOL

I was put on bedrest the last two months of the pregnancy. We had 4 cats and they lounged around all over me and got knocked off of me often by Brain jumping around in there. It was SO BORING and I was not able to get up and clean or anything. I finally had no choice, we needed clean clothes at some point! So the turd decided to be ELEVEN DAYS OVERDUE, after all that.

We found out that the man was right. We had a little boy. His father is the 4th in line with the EXACT same name. I cannot stand that and think people should have their own identity and not be named after people. Especially so many on and on...and on...and on...give it up already!


Stud told me before we were married that it did not matter to him if we did not name a son after him and his father...and his father...and...you get the idea. I told him that was good, because if he married me, he would be guaranteed it would never happen. He was the end of the line with that particular name. Once we were expecting Brain, he changed his tune and tried to convince me to cave in. It is one of the few areas I have stood my ground on. Brain actually goes by his middle name, which causes confusion and is annoying. Stud did not want his first name to be shortened, so did not want him to go by that. What a pain that has been! LOL

So on we went. The first few years were rough, being that we lived in an apartment and I had no driver's license or way to get around. We had hardly any money, but there was always food and heat and light, somehow.

While I had been pregnant with Brain, a woman we worked with was due with Twins. She is a fellow Canuck and we were SO SAD when she lost both her little girls during about the 6th month. By the end of my pregnancy with Brain, she was expecting again! This time she had a baby boy and I ended up caring for him in our apartment two days a week, for some extra spending money. It was very helpful and Brain had a playmate. Actually, he had a baby 6 months younger than him who he could beat on if I could not get to the baby fast enough to stop Brain! LOL We cared for him until he was a year old. We have kept in touch sporadically since then.

When Brain was 13 months old, he was rattling off all the shapes, colours, etc etc. He loved to sit and colour (what kid that age colours!??! Don't they usually chew on crayons?? Not this one!) or just read books. Our Doc was blown away and said he would be reading by the time he was two. By the time he was 18 months old, he could carry on a conversation with any adult. I did not realise at the time how unusual this was, I just enjoyed his company! LOL

At this time, he also got quite sick. Until he was 3 months old, he gained weight well and seemed fine, except for a horrid case of excema. He was 2 months old and had the motor skills to reach around and actually scratch his little head. We had to grease him up with creams and gels and still do to this day. Well, he does it himself now:)

By the time he was 7 months old, the Doc did not know what to do with him and sent him to another one. He was losing weight, would not eat and was dubbed "Failure to Thrive". My parents had taken care of many foster children with this problem over the years, so I had seen it first hand. I never expected my own child to not thrive. He had NO appetite and grew extremely slowly.

From the time he was 13 or 14 months old, until he was 18 months or so, he and I were at the Dr's office a minimum of twice a week. He was vomiting constantly, coughing like crazy and started doing a nebulizer to get medicine into his lungs. Something else he still does to this day, he just did it last night. I need to remember to get him to clean the mask off.


He had bronchitis, pneumonia AND Croup all during that time. Lost weight, which was horrible since he weighed about 15 lbs at the time. That is what a healthy 6 or 7 month old child weighs, if not more. And here he was almost a year older than that. He did not get to 20 lbs until he was almost 2 years old. He was very sickly and it was a horribly scary time.


I remember being at the Dr.'s one time and he threw up all over the bathroom. It was just slime, like always. The veins would pop out of his head and he was just screaming (when he could catch his breath) and this was about the 14th time in as many days that we were there. I did not want to scare him, but I finally collapsed on the floor and started crying along with him. I was exhausted and worried beyond reason. It all just erupted at one time. There seemed to be nothing they could do for him, he was on all sorts of medications, they tested him for Cystic Fibrosis (talk about being terrified!), were always taking blood (that was SO FUN when they made ME help them hold him down and he would scream and plead at me with his eyes. He did not understand why I was helping them hurt him) and doing x-rays and could not find anything. Almost as quickly as the horror of those 4 months started, they quit. He was well again. Well, as well as he could be.

When he was almost 2, we took him to his first movie in the Theatre. It was the "Lion King". I will always remember him sitting there all tiny surrounded by Stud, myself and two of our friends. When the big screen came up that is all green and says...whatever it says. He SCREECHED "Oooooooo...BIGUN...GEEN...TEEFEEEEEE!!!!" In case that is not clear, allow me to translate-

OOooooooo, big one, green TV.

Almost a year later, he started music lessons. By now Jock was born and was a wee babe. After his first lesson, I took him to DQ to get a Banana Split for a treat. They were taking a LONG time to make it and he and I were getting tired of waiting. It had been about 15 minutes and NO ONE else was in there. They had forgotten all about making it. I was just about to go say something when tiny little Brain sauntered over to the counter, leaned over on one foot and screamed back at the people -

"HEY!! Where's my BANA SPIT, you DOUGH HEADS!!!!"

To be continued.

Photos from Brain's adventure!

Ok, so this one is him once the IV was in...let's hope this stupid program co-operates with me this time!









Now this is once he was brought back from Recovery.

Ok, that is all I am doing for now. I have 4 or 5 more, but these two have taken 15 minutes!?!?!? I need to go play wid my babies, they are back from Spokane. I will do the rest another time.

Talk about loved and spoiled

So Brain is now sitting up and getting up on his own. As I type this, he is putting together a big Bionicle Set that a woman from our HSing group bought for him.

She had e-mailed me all upset because she felt bad because she had not known he was even having surgery or anything. Wanted to come over and help clean, do laundry, anything.

I told her there was no need, so she insisted on buying him a book or something. I sent her a list that he e-mails me frequently, with updates of what Bionicles he has purchased, what ones he is saving for, etc. Suggested she buy him one of the $8 ones at the end of the list, I was not sure which ones were cheapest, but some things on the list are the big expensive sets he gets for Christmas/Birthday or saves for months.

So I had to go to Target yesterday for tooth paste. I believe I mentioned earlier that my darling husband and sweetheart of a son (who are two peas in a pod in many areas) took it upon themselves to take the only two decent tubes of toothpaste in the house with them to the hockey tournament in Spokane. They were staying in the same hotel room in but for some reason, they each needed their own tube??

Oh sure, I could use some nasty fruity flavoured Barbie or Power Ranger junk out of Clown and Princesses bathroom (incidentally, Stud neglected to take them any toothpaste OR toothbrushes and said that I was supposed to pack it for him. Oppps, sorry, I was sitting in the hospital all day with our son who had surgery. Can't do it all! Yes, you sense bitterness and extreme frustration) but I did not see the need. I want to CLEAN my teeth and have my mouth feel fresh. I need mint. They refuse to use mint because it "stings"?? Whatever. Talk to the hand.

So when I was in Target, getting said item, as well as a new Xbox game for Brain ($18 down from $50, you gotta love it!!) lo and behold, there is my buddy H, with this big, expensive Bionicle Set for Brain!?!?

I told her to put it back right now, she was not spending that on him.

She laughed at me! LOL So she gave it to me and said how great it was we ran into each other. I call those God moments. He truly has His hand in every small detail of life.

Stud's mother sent Brain some pretty flowers in a mug, with balloons attached. C, since she could not be here for him and had to go home early, gave me money for a Bionicle for him. I also admit to buying him two books to complete his "Series of Unfortunate Events" collection that my brother (the writer, who teaches at a college and has stated the wish that Brain was in his class instead of some of those people who are!!) started buying for him a few years ago.

So he has gotten all kinds of goodies. My friend, who is in Nursing school dropped by yesterday with a milkshake for him. He fell asleep when she was here and she blew him a kiss when she left. He woke up later and looked around all sad and mumbled "Where is E?? Did she have to leave??"

I must go check on him now and get him to drink more water. He has not had pain meds since yesterday afternoon sometime. I really need to coerce him into the shower!!!

Rice Krispies

Brain just ate some! YAHOO!! Washed them down with some apple juice and is now sitting up watching TV.

We got home yesterday afternoon. That is a story in itself, which I may or may not divulge here. I don't want to be too negative or critical, but seems the hospital staff need to pay more attention to their patients. I was not impressed with some stuff that happened.

Anywooo, here we are. Last night was a bit rough, he needs help moving at all. He hurts to bad, can't even shift his own weight, laugh, or even talk. I got up at 2 to help him, he said he needed to walk around a bit. He and I had worked together since we got home around 4, to get up every few hours and walk around the house a bit. Took great pains to get him up from where he was, and settled again.

So you can imagine my delight,when he came into the bedroom this morning, glanced at me in the bed, and then turned and padded away softly in his moccasins his Granny and Grandad got him a few years ago. Sweet guy had gotten up by himself and walked over here, but not only that, thought I was asleep and left, hungry, to let me sleep more.

HE is the one who needs help and what does he do?? Thinks of ME and my comfort?? I tell you, this guy is a keeper:) He has always been that way. I love it!

So I got up and asked him what he needed. I suggested the cereal because I saw on the dietician's sheet that he could have that. After 2 days of water, jello, pudding, broth and juice, I am sure that was very welcome! He did seem very excited and ate it all up!

I will post a few pictures of him in the hospital etc soon, after I have his permission of course.

Stud and Jock took every tube of toothpaste in the house to the Hockey Tournament in Spokane, for some odd reason. So my goal for today is to go and buy more and help Brain. I am just SO HAPPY that this morning he is moving on his own and can eat something like Rice Krispies.

Toodles!

Update on the Brainster

Off to the hospital soon. What a day yesterday!

They changed the times around and told me to get him to the hospital by 8, not 9 like they had told me just a few days before. I am very glad Stud remembered to let me know that, cause I was gone taking C back up to Vancouver when they called. I would have had no idea unless he told me.

So we left at 7 yesterday morning, to make sure we got there by 8. I knew morning traffic into Seattle would be bad, but had no idea HOW bad.

We averaged about 25 miles an hour until we got right INTO the city itself!?!? Even in the carpool lane. Was very anxious and I knew better, because I suspected that we would sit for half an hour or so once we got there anyway, and I was right.

The surgery was mentioned back in a November post somewhere...let me go look...Ah yes, November 10th of last year. I explain a wee bit. I will explain in greater detail shortly, when I post about each of my kids.

Have not heard anything this morning, but last I heard when Stud just arrived there and called me at a little past midnight last night, his oxygen level had improved and his fever had gone down. When I left him in the hospital to rush back here so Stud could go and be with him, his oxygen was 90 and he was getting quite a fever. The people at the hospital were great, until we got him settled in his room. Those nurses sure are interesting. More on that later, perhaps.

The surgery took about 3 hours. The surgeon had originally told me that he would be in there for 2-3 days, but yesterday told me he may be released today. They found adhesions on his liver, so we need to ask more about that. He thought that was from all the stomach acid or something.

The main complaint Brain had was his shoulders and collarbone hurting. They had him on a morphine drip and he was out of it most of yesterday. The surgeon told me that those places would hurt more than the 5 incisions because of them pushing around in there with the cameras, etc.

It was horrible to see him how he was. I guess I did not realise what a big deal it was or something, but he was just pitiful. When you give him a new video game and he just looks at it, mutters "Sorry for the lack of gratitude, but I just can't focus on things..." and then goes to sleep again, you KNOW it is serious! I came home last night and Stud went in to stay with him.

I need to figure out how to call and get an update while the other kids are taking turns having their showers. Cell phones are not allowed in there and I can't find where Stud put the # to the hospital room so I can call. I would have thought he would have called me by now to update. So I am going to find the # and call and see how my poor guy is doing. I hope he is better than yesterday so his sibs don't get too scared when they see him!!

Brain goes under the knife

Ok, getting closer.

Tomorrow morning at 9:30, my baby will be cut open in 5 places. Small incisions, to be sure. But incisions none-the-less.

I am getting nervous. He is very nervous. This is what he wrote in his journal today:

I'm getting pretty nervous about my surgery now. It's tomorrow. I hope its done quickly. I know I won't feel a thing, but I keep having this weird vision popping up in my head,where the anesthetic wears off in the middle of the procedure.

MY POOR BABY!! I know it will all be ok, and will be SO GLAD when it is over.

He just got out of the shower, must go talk with him...

Ok, I guess I feel a bit like talking

Alright, some stuff rattling around in this noggin. Nothing organised, but who are we kidding?? Is it ever?

Had a nice weekend. Got to go looking around a bit (I guess they call that shopping??) with C and went to a movie.

Princess got a bed last week and everyone is very excited about that. She needed out of the toddler bed long ago, but Stud did not want to pay for a twin bed. We compromised and got her a twin mattress, so the child has been sleeping on the floor. I finally convinced him to spring for a bed and we found a CUTE one for a very reasonable price. Got her a matching night stand also. Her room is so cute, I would have loved it when I was 15, let alone 5! She has way too much, but luckily she really appreciates it all and gets hours of fun from all the goodies. We are almost done getting it how she and I want it, but we are focusing on Jock and Clown's now. All three boys used to share it and nothing has been done to it in 5 years. It needs an update bad.

The first night she got it, Clown wanted to sleep under it. They were so amazed that Princess actually HAD an under, to sleep under! LOL Jock and Brain have beds handed down from Stud's parents' lake house. They are very low and you can't get under them. Brain has a high loft bed, with desk etc under it. NO one is allowed in his room anyway.

So they wanted to sleep under there, argued over who could until Princess agreed with her Dad and I that no one would. So Jock slept on the floor on one side and Clown on the other, with Missy girl in her fancy, pretty bed. Funny, the things that please and excite kids.


Brain will go for surgery on Thursday morning. I am starting to get a wee bit nervous for him. I have a new GBA game all ready to surprise him with and will stay with him as much as I can. Will come home nights, etc. I think he may get out as early as Saturday, no later than Sunday if there are no complications.

Today Jock scared us all a bit. He asked to go up to the school with some of his friends. They are 11, 13 and I think one is 13 or 14. If I ever let him do that, I normally send my cell phone with him, but neglected to this time. I guess I figured he was with 3 guys, things would be fine. If anyone bothered them, they could handle it. So he was gone about an hour when I sent Brain to find him.

He is usually very good about letting me know where he is, when. If he tells me he is going somewhere, he will let me knows if plans change and he is back earlier, or what have you.


So I sent Brain up there and he kept on calling me and saying he could not find any of them. He was so funny, he really does talk...well, he is very articulate. People always comment but I am so used to it, I don't pay much attention. He was talking about "walking around the perimeter" and other things I can't remember right now. He was up there over 20 minutes and I was getting scared. When I called Stud to see what we should do, I was pacing and happened to glance out the window and saw Jock across the street at one of the guy's houses. I called him in right away and then called Brain and told him to come home.

The reason I say this is that I thought Brain would be upset and mad at Jock. He had been after me all day to let him read certain books, he had done his chores and all the assigned school work. He had JUST settled with a book when I asked him to go get Jock, and then come to find out that he was across the street the entire time?!?!

This is a quote from Brain's journal entry about the whole ordeal. He describes what happened and then says:


Of course this greatly relieved and infuriated me.

I find that amusing. He is so funny! He just gave Jock and look when he came into the house and Jock tried to hug him and then they discussed it and Jock agreed to do all Brain's chores for a certain amount of time.

Dern kid!!!



So tonight Clown and Princess wanted to sleep in her Tinkerbell Tent. I snapped this from the hole on top of the tent. I could not see them at all, just hoped to get them both in. I thought it turned out kinda neat! Hope it doesn't do too much of a number on your eyes!!

Off to bed!

Funky

I appear to be in a funk. I was planning on writing about my little brother, but nothing is coming. I am avoiding it. Guess I am not ready. Also, I think that I will go on and on because there is so much to say about him. So maybe I can do it in stages. Not sure what will happen.

He w0uld have been 14 this past Saturday. Was weird not to call him and listen to his precious noises as I asked him questions. I could always just picture the grin on his face when I talked to him.

I will post a picture of him, from 3 summers ago. My Dad was just getting him ready for bed here.

When I feel closer to myself again, I may post some more. I guess I am going on hiatus. We shall see how long it lasts.