Not much

Just thought I needed to update this.

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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








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


Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Amusing

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

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

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

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

Princess got a hair cut!

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

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

Behold...










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

Hope that everyone is doing great!

Frustration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Little does she know...

Dr. Appointment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Back and Forth

Well, this should be interesting.

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Gotta love it!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of news

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

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

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




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

She's a hot one...

...outside today. I despise heat and sunshine and all that silliness. Especially since I sit here in pants and a t-shirt. Why am I not wearing shorts you ask??

Yeah. Good question. I have a good answer too.

It is because my two guys who wax my legs seem to be on strike. Jock used to do it to earn money but refuses now because he is sure that "none of my friends wax their mother's nasty hairy legs". He could be right. I don't see the relevance though when it earns him $10 each time he does it. Stud appears to be on strike as well. Apparently since he is trying to earn his full time living as well as start two "side businesses", not to mention playing all the hockey and always playing guitar...he doesn't have much time.

*sigh* So here I sit. Sweltering in this insane heat:( Woe is me! I may resort to my last resort.

Nair.

Anywho, I thought I would throw some shots of Princess ready for her ballet photos this past Monday since I promised you all that I would do that. It has been nutso here this past week with Princess being disagnosed with a soy allergy, being prescribed an epipen, Clown being really sick with his recently diagnosed wheat allergy. He had to have four vials of blood taken this past Thursday to check and see if he has Celiac Disease. We will find out the results early next week. If he has that, we alter his diet for life. If not, we alter it for a few years to see if we can desensitize him to the wheat allergy, assuming that is all it is.




Those are just a few tidbits of what has been going on. Today is Clown's 9th birthday party. It is a laid back affair, so I got time to get on here quickly whilst the young lads are running through the sprinkler.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and I will update more in the coming week. I am sure I will have a lot of time on Monday since that is Clown's actual birthday and we tend to all get a day off on each other's birthday. I still have to post about my AMAZING Mother's Day. I was TOTALLY SPOILED:) It was PERFECT:)

Toodles!

No Surprise here!

You Belong in Winter

Quiet, calm, and totally at peace... You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter.

What Season Are You?

COOL!

Your Native American Name Is...

Kakawangwa Yepa Your name means: Bitter Snow Woman

What's Your Native American Name?

Oh my!

*sigh* I just read Jock's blog. *AHEM*

Ok...I think more
hand-holding is going to take place. He told me today that he is
regretting telling me about it and doesn't want me to read it. So I
went to read it.

YOWZA! THE LANGUAGE! I need to talk to Stud
about this. I thought it was cute that he listed on his profile movies
and music he is not allowed to see or listen to. I left it alone,
figuring I can let him live in a fantasy world, not much harm done, eh??

But then to see how he speaks on there and stuff. Not to mention the grammar and spelling mistakes! LOL Yeah, so go ahead and comment if you want and maybe talk sense into the young man, eh??

Thanks! Oh also meant to say. He is sad that none of my readers comment on his blog yet:) LOL So g'head if you have time!

I have had a horrid and stressful day so hope to post a real post soon. Need to collapse right now.

Peace out!!

Jock's BLOG!!!

Well, I guess it was inevitable.

Jock now has his own blog. He has been teaching himself how to do many things on the computer. Stud never believes that he can, and Jock proves him wrong EVERY TIME!

The really weird part is that he chose names for us and he just happened to choose the same names for Clown and Princess that I use, not knowing what I call them on here! LOL I wonder what that means???

Photos of Princess in her ballet garb later, lasagna is READY!!!

Cryptic's surgery

Cryptic came through his surgery with flying colours yesterday! He is
as surly as ever, although he was very sweet when he walked in the door
and saw the banners Clown and Princess had spent hours working on for
him. I think it is because he was still drugged:) Seriously. Soon
after, the surly king was back! He is going strong now. *sigh*

If I ask if he has taken his pain pill, cleaned his nose with saline, needs help
changing his "nasal sling" or what have you, I get a sigh and a "Yes,
mother." Or "No, mother. Father can help me."

Seriously. He has taken to calling us that all the time! Pretty funny. The REAL funny
part is that his voice is even deeper than Stud's now so I get a kick
out of this for some reason. This deep voice muttering "Yes, MUTH-ER" in a condescending tone. I learned my lesson! I don't ask anymore, I leave him alone. Or at least try to:)

When
the surgeon got in there to break his septum yesterday (well, it is
cartilage of course, so I don't know if "break" is an accurate term.
Although I guess it is, eh??) he discovered that it was not only
crooked, but pushed all the way over to one side!?!? POOR LAD! NO
WONDER he can't smell anything or hardly breath and keeps getting these
dang infections!ARG!

So he should be on the mend. Stud is
enjoying taking great care of Cryptic. He prefers his Dad doing all the
care this time, which is totally different from the norm, but I am glad
and happy for Stud!!!

He got up with Cryptic at 3 AM to give him his pain meds,
took him to all the appointments and the surgery itself, sat with him
in recovery, the whole deal. Just two years ago when he had his other
surgery, he wanted me with him, holding his hand, hugging him, always
touching him and needed lots of affirmation and me telling him I love
him. He even refused to go into surgery without me and they allowed it.
I was there with the mask and gown and the whole bit, holding his hand
and stroking his face as they put him under. Now, he wants me out of
his face. What a difference two years make!

Watch on Monday for
some stunning photos. Princess goes for her annual dance photos and I
will of course post some. She always looks so pretty with her hair up
and a bit of make-up on.

Have a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day all you Mother's! Jinny, enjoy your first one:)

This was fun!

Take the Quiz here!

Weekend

First I would like to say that I can't get to any of your blogs! I am going NUTS! Something happened to my internet explorer thing and Stud has not fixed it yet. I can't get to barely anything and an shocked that I am able to post this entry. I hope he can fix it soon so that I can catch up! And Dooney, if you are reading this, please e-mail me your e-mail adress or something. I have a long e-mail started to you and have nowhere to send it. Chas, I want to e-mail you soon also and can you let Dooney know I need her e-mail please?? THANKS!





I will sprinkle some photos from yesterday all through this post:)


So yesterday morning we got up and took the kids to see "Iron Man". It
was quite good. The younger three all say it is the best movie they
have ever seen. They say the same thing after every movie they see and tend to
forget that. Cryptic and Stud and I really enjoyed it, but some parts
were far too predictable for me. Still, it was fun.

Then we ventured down to Seattle to the Pacific Science Center. You may recall
I had taken Clown and Princess a few weeks back. The "Strange Matter"
Exhibit was ending soon and it was very important to Clown that his Dad
and brothers see some of the things we saw. Cryptic and Jock whined and
fussed and begged to be taken back home after the movie. At their age,
they think it is more fun to yap with their friends on their cell
phones or be on the computer than spend "Family Time".

Ah well, too bad for them, right?? We actually did fairly well and as far as I
know Jock only got two or three calls while we were gone and one of Cryptic's friends called him as we were driving home. So all in all, I was impressed with that.






Of
course as I predicted, it was Jock and Cryptic who took their time and
tried most displays and wanted to stay. They acted like they wanted to
go, but every time we said it was time to go, we heard, "Hang on. Can I
just do this one more time, please??" or "WAIT! This is SO COOL! Did
you SEE THIS!?!?" When I asked later if they were glad they went, I
just got grunts in return. Teens are SO STRANGE!





Like for
instance just now. Cryptic just got out of the shower and came to ask
me something. He is to put his ointments and creams on his skin at
least once a day. He has a certain one for his face, one for his neck
and one for hisarms, legs, etc. He seldom, if EVER puts anything on his arms and legs and thus, they look and feel like sand paper. His neck is all wrinkled and dry like a turkey. His face is shiny, indicating that he has indeed medicated it. So I asked him why he didn't put anything on his neck.

"Oh here we go!! How did I know THAT question was about to be asked??"

So
I mentioned maybe he could just answer it then. He grunted and walked
away?? WHAT IS THE DEAL!?!? If he KNOWS I am going to ask, why not just
PUT THE STUFF ON HIS NECK AND BE DONE WITH IT!! He has had this disease (his derm actually calls it that, uses the term "disease") his entire life, is the dork EVER going to learn?? ARG!!





There is one funny photo of Jock in Cryptic's face that just shows Classic Jock and Cryptic. Jock poking into others' affairs and Cryptic just quietly dealing with things.

Cryptic hid from the camera quite well, but I was able to snap a few shots of him.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!!!

General Update

Stud has the younger three kids up at the local school grounds to play catch, football, etc. I got Princess her own pink bat, ball and glove a few weeks ago and she has been begging Stud to take her to play catch so he finally got a chance tonight.

Cryptic is working on catching up on over-due assignments with his on-line school (I won't even GO THERE right now! ARG!) and I just got done doing some lovely yoga and ball exercises from one of my many exercise DVDs that I have not done in MONTHS. Stud and I are not doing good about going to the gym anymore and I am eating horribly AGAIN, so I am still attempting to get myself feeling better. I feel MUCH better after doing this and walking for about 30 minutes with Cryptic at 6:30 this morning. We plan to do that every morning before everyone else is up and before things get too bright. Neither of us like sunshine and bright light, so we go early! LOL

Stud was 40 yesterday! I feel kind of weird that it was almost like any old day. I made him blueberry muffins (eewww, from a mix, but he LOVES THEM!) for breakfast and went to the local espresso stand to get his vanilla latte that he has daily. He laid around watching hockey and played his new guitar for a few hours. Then I got him Taco Bell for lunch and he left to play in a hockey game. Got him a card, Clown and Princess made him darling cards and I got him some of his favourite candy and left it around for him to find. He got his gift a few weeks ago and since it was so insanely expensive and we were BAD and put in on a Credit Card (SHAME SHAME!) we didn't really do much.

So Clown is still struggling with this dang sinus infection. As it gets better, he has more drainage which causes him to feel even more sick:( I feel so bad for him! I didn't make him go to his Monday morning "Adventures Around the Globe" class this morning and he didn't really miss anything. The teacher was not even there and they had a sub, so it was no big deal. He ended up spending the day organising his hundreds of Pokemon cards, watching Bill Nye Videos and reading books I got he and Princess from the library.

Jock is loving his cell phone (did I post how he and Cryptic bought their own and pay the monthly bills?? I can't remember!) and is learning to control the texting that he does. He keeps on taking pictures and videos of Brom and sending them to me and his friends!??! So now he will have NO money for at least a month, since his bill is so big! Good life lesson, I say:)

Cryptic was supposed to have his sinus surgery last Tuesday. Stud drove him down to Seattle and they were getting things set up, only to have them stop, drive home and for Cryptic to go back to bed. The surgery is rescheduled for May 8th. Why, you ask?? Because people are incompetent!


We got his Cat Scans from over the years and all the records sent to the surgeon weeks ago. I wondered why they were not doing the surgery in the same hospital they did his surgery in two years ago, but didn't think much of it. It is a simple thing, just a day surgery, so whatever. Oh cool, I also found this! Look how little they were and how scrawny poor Cryptic ("Brain" back then!) was! Thank goodness that surgery finally helped him!

Back to this recent episode. *sigh* They did not look close enough at the records and had no idea that he has a latex allergy and they are not a latex free clinic!!! So there was no way they could risk doing it and are now sending him to the hospital he should have gone to in the first place. ARG! Ah well, at least he will have it. I bought him a gigantic cookie that said "GET WELL CRYPTIC!" on it and had to give it to him. He is still only done half of it almost a week later and he has been sharing with the sibs. Which is more like his old self, so that is nice:)

Princess is going to a weekly hockey class for about eight weeks. Every Wednesday night. She is thrilled to be back on the ice! She got her costume today in ballet class and is very excited! She will be a marshmallow and has been anxiously awaiting the distribution of the costume. That is always the highlight of the year! Next year will be interesting because she wants to add Hip Hop classes so will be starting that this fall along with hockey and some other activities. This girl is a busy one!

I got a frame recently that has space for three photos. I want to find different ones of the four kids together from over the years. As I was looking for what photos I want Stud to print out for me, I came across this~



I barely remember her this age! I miss that red hair and those blue eyes! Ah well, she is darling with the lighter hair and green eyes, who cares, right??




Here she is with her best friend and Big Brother Clown. Blows me away that he will be nine in a few weeks and she will be eight in October! ACK! Where has the time gone??





Speaking of them, they are back from playing catch and waiting to read a book to me and get tucked into bed.

Have a great week everyone!!!

New T-Shirts

After the derm appointments today and leaving Princess at her friend's house, Jock, Cryptic and I ventured over to the mall. Cryptic has been awaiting the release of the next book in one of the series he is reading and apparently also "needed" a new video game that was just released as well.

After he made his purchases, we were looking for a few posters for Jock's bedroom wall. Of course he wants ones with bikini clad females and I told him I will not pay for those, but he can purchase them if he wants. Since he is broke from his cell phone bill, he can't even afford a new poster for his room!??! HA HA! I say. That will teach him.

So as we were looking we saw some shirts that the boys LOVED and I decided to buy for them. Following are photos of them in their shirts. Even young Brommy got a new one:) I hope that none of these offend anyone; they are all in fun:) The boys are excited to wear their's to their Science Class on Friday! Cryptic was very angry with me that I made him pose. He has informed us that he hates us all and can't wait to move out. *sigh* What happened to my sweet little easy going darling??:(






Blogger is not co-operating and I must leave to get Princess and run some more errands. I will try again later, please enjoy this one of Brom in his new shirt:)

****UPDATE**** I will try the photos of Jock and Cryptic's shirts. I am glad that you like Brom's Jude:) LOL I do too! Jock is the one who found it at the store. If it hard to read, just click on the photo to enlarge it.









I guess he wanted to clarify in case it was unclear what the shirt implied:)













One unhappy teenager! Neener neener I say. Jerk! LOL

How sweet it is...

...to be loved and adored by your younger sister.

As any of you who know our family well or pay close attention to what I babble about (teehee) you will remember that Clown and Princess are 16 months apart. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed where she was born, ran and brought me blankets because "baby's toes coooooood" when she was just a few days old...you get the idea. She totally adores him.

So he was picked up today by a friend of mine (you may recall me talking of "Giggles" and "Smiley" before?? Maybe in posts over a year ago or so...well, he is staying with them) to spend a few nights. They will bring him back on Wednesday.

Princess cried and cried when he left:( We had to cuddle for a while and Jock came to ask her what was wrong. I thought he would start and make fun of her, but he was very sweet.

So tonight she asked if she could call Clown. I told her yes and I called and talked to him first. He sighed when I told him what the deal was, but you could tell he was flattered and felt loved as well.

So she got on the phone and yelled, "HI CLOWN! I MISS YOU!!!"

I heard him say, "I know, Mum told me. Princess...you DO realise I have only been gone for FIVE HOURS, don't you???" and then he chuckled. She giggled and admitted yes she knew that, but she missed him a lot. He chuckled again and asked her how her day had gone.


She then asked him the ALL IMPORTANT question...what had they fed him for supper?? Well, my friend made him his own because he did not like what she offered the rest of the family!?!? ACK! I don't blame her, because he apparently told her he would PUKE if he ate it, since the last time he had it here at home, he did indeed puke. With all his health issues going on now, so I can understand her caving and catering to him. She normally doesn't!

Anyway, Princess then said, "Well, I will let you get back to playing with Smiley, ok?? I love you!"

He said he loved her back and I could hear in his voice how pleased he was that she called. He was not annoyed at all.

They are honestly such incredible friends, it is awesome.

Just to refresh your memories, I will show you some of my fave pics of them together...

Ok, if you go to this old post and scroll down just a tad, you can see them together. *sigh* Is it just me or are they SO CUTE!?!?


http://muddledponderings.blogspot.com/2006/09/school-pictures-and-quote.html


Then here are a few from last week when I took them down to this fun place where we had a grand time!

I also took them for some rides, etc. Princess BEGGED Clown to go on this one that he did not want to go on. I felt SO BAD. It is blurry, but you can see that she is having a blast and looking at him and he is trying not to vomit:( He honestly almost tossed his cookies:( And all in the name of love for his baby sister. I can't wait until this sinus infection is totally cleared up and my poor little man is back to his old self! He had just had some ice cream and I told them it was not a good time to go on the ride, but what do mothers know, right?? Princess got some goofy fake teeth instead of the ice cream.















Princess has been invited to her friend's house tomorrow, so she is excited about that. This little girl will be called..."Fluffy" from now on. I don't know what to call her, and she has VERY THICK hair, just not curly like mine. If it were not straight, this girl would be in bad shape, honestly. It is GORGEOUS hair. She is so sweet, we met when Cryptic started babysitting her.


So I will drop Princess off there on the way back from taking Cryptic and Jock to their early morning dermatologist appointment. Cryptic is just not taking care of his skin and I am worried he is heading for some more infections, mainly on his feet. Jock is getting more and more moles all the time and wonders if he needs to have more removed. He had one removed off of his back when he was about Clown's age and has 12 stitches. Really cool scar that he is proud of:)

When I pick Princess up, I am going to stay and look through my friend's cook books. They have wheat allergies and since we just found out that Clown does also, we want to really take it seriously and change the diet. I will attempt to weed out dairy and egg for a while for Cryptic and Jock as well and figure out what we can all eat.

Then on Wednesday it is down to Seattle for Cryptic's sinus surgery. Princess starts some hockey camp...*sigh*. Never mind, I am getting tired just thinking of it, I guess I will sign off for now! Hope everyone has a great week!

Spectacular!

Today Cryptic and I went to his first concert. It was my first since I saw this amazing talent way back in the late 80's when I still lived in good ole Canada. I think the only concerts I ever saw were her and...some band with one of my brothers. I can't think of the name right now. Or maybe it was Eric Clapton?? Wow. Brain fuzz is REALLY BUGGING ME!


So anyway, Cryptic and I have been waiting for months and it was well worth me having to drive down to Seattle. I don't like leaving the house, let alone driving in a big city and trying to find parking.

I was totally willing to step out of my comfort zone for this, however. Cryptic and I have every CD this group have put out thus far and it is almost all we listen to. If we are driving and any of this is playing and someone DARES utter a word or a sound, Cryptic shoots them daggers with his eyes and starts whichever song totally over.

This is Princess' favourite. It is another name for "Scotland" and Princess and I both adore it. She begs me to have a baby sister and name her "Caledonia"!!! Poor thing:(

This is one of Cryptic and I's favourites. We were really hoping they would perform it today and they did not disappoint.

I am still just in awe. These people are all so amazingly talented. We bought a DVD and I just watched the whole thing. It tells about each woman and a biography on them. We knew that Chloe was young, but we had NO IDEA that she is about Cryptic's age!?!?!?! Cryptic is one day younger than this young lady
and we both feel that Chloe is MUCH more talented. You be the judge. She put out her first album when she was ELEVEN!?!?

The violin player is HYSTERICAL! She flits all about the stage and really gets into her playing and moving all around. She is so neat and amazingly talented. She was the lead violinist for all the River Dance concerts and DVDs. Cryptic was saying after watching her that he may start playing violin again:) I am excited! He played for about four years and was really good, but tired of it.

I hope that these links will work and that you all have time to get just a short nugget of these songs. They may not be to every one's taste. Maybe it is the Irish in me or something, but this stuff is...it leaves me speechless. It is the best EVER. Cryptic and I could have stayed there about 24 hours straight. As it is, they sang for over two hours! I really want to take Clown and Princess next time. Jock could care less and has no interest. Princess was just in awe that we actually saw them and pretty sad that we got to go and she didn't. When I told her how much the tickets cost, her jaw dropped and she said, "I understand why you guys only bought two tickets then. I can wait until next time!!"

Enjoy!