Child Actors

I have one. I should really rent him out because he's cute and he can make himself cry on demand. Is that talent or what! Ever since my SIL, Sylvie, sprained her ankle (it is getting better but is still quite swollen and she has to take it easy still, thanks for asking) CJ has decided that he has sprained his ankle too. Except it doesn't hurt every day, usually just at bedtime, and I hear a different story each time of how he sprained it. Yesterday's sprain happened while playing soccer after school. I played into it - what else am I supposed to do? I felt all around his ankle and after my hands were away he starts crying Ow, Ow, Ow...complete with tears! I'm not trying to poke fun at him; I believe in his mind he thought his ankle was a little sore and he was out for sympathy. Seeing as the child is almost as tall as me there was no possible way I'd be able to carry him upstairs. He said he couldn't scoot on his bum (didn't even crack a smile when I suggested that) and he couldn't hop, so we got one of the kitchen stools and he used that as sort of a walker. AJ felt bad for him and found some crutches downstairs that CJ was able to use. Crutches make everything feel better. He's not very good with them, so when he would stumble and step on his sprained ankle he would just say Ow, I'm okay.

I was wondering how to handle this morning, fully expecting him to see the crutches in his room and want to use them at school today. But I didn't have to worry. He started coming down the stairs on his bum, but then tested out his ankle and jumped off of the last few steps telling me it felt better today. Obviously. I tell ya, this kid could go up against the best of them in the acting department. He's always had a flare for the dramatics.

Open House

Last night the boys' school had their Open House and did a Patch the Pirate play. AJ was Peewee Pirate and did a great job remembering his lines! Some of the highschool students weren't quite so prepared and it was painful watching them...silence is awkward, not golden.


CJ and TJ were part of the elementary choir and everybody got a big kick out of TJ as he did a wardrobe adjustment by tucking in his shirt and hiking his pants up to practically his armpits near the end of the play.


The auction seems to be off to a good start; I'm worried that we'll have a lot of stuff leftover, but I think we'll do a half-price sale or something for the last 10 minutes of the auction on items that don't have a bid yet. Things keep coming in for the auction, even though the deadline was last Friday...I'm too easy-going. Most of the time. Sometimes. Woman was throwing dirty looks my way whenever we made eye contact last night so I'm trying to think of a good comeback for when she inevitably will tell me her opinions of how things should have been but weren't...I thought of saying I'm tired and I've worked really hard on this, so when I want to know everything I did wrong I'll come and ask you. K? Sylvie suggested saying Why don't you go find a suggestion box and leave a comment. I want my reply to be something not too nasty, but with just the right amount of attitude so that she gets the picture not to bug me anymore about it. Suggestions?

That's about it for today. The boys are overtired from their late night last night and I just made TJ cry by giving him a look...he usually ignores my looks so the tears caught me off guard and now I feel really bad. We hugged for awhile and I giggled when he blew a bubble out of his nose. Yah, I'm mature, but you already knew that.

Sad News

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection, and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The gravesite was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Monday Morning Mush

My basement before:

My basement after:

Lola with S! in the background:

Sylvie & Pudge:

Pudge:


Items are still coming in for the auction; I've secured an auctioneer for the live acution portion of it and he called me last night full of ideas. Having no real experience with actual auctions I have given him many liberties to run it as he sees fit; he might even wear a tuxedo! I think I'm going to be spending much of my day laughing.

There is a couple at church - the Sweets - they just celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary on Saturday...and they spent their day preparing for next year's auction. The Sweets have worked all year on making things for this year - he's a woodworker and she knits and crochets - they have offered to come over tonight to help me load up Husband's truck. Isn't that sweet? They can hardly climb up and down stairs, yet they want to help load the truck. Husband doesn't think one truck will be enough...I don't think it will be either.

Wednesday night is the school open house; the Science Fair projects will be on display, so I'll need to take the fish back to school. The items up for auction will be on display, and the kids are putting on a Patch the Pirate play. AJ is actually Pee Wee Pirate. He's so excited because he's only in Grade 6 and it's usually just the Grades 7-12 who actually get parts in the play. The elementary kids form the choir; AJ's voice will be missed in the choir I'm sure, because he is a very strong singer and on key, which always helps. You should come and see it!

E!'s wife S! is being induced today since her baby is overdue; I have to remember to pick up G! from school. I need to take the boys to get haircuts after school, and AJ is all concerned about what G! is going to do - is she going to come with us and maybe read a book? He's asking me all sorts of questions that I don't have answers for. He's the type of kid that needs everything planned out so that he can play out different scenarios in his head, I think. He is so in the wrong family!

To Be a Kid

And not have to worry about putting on weight. CJ has a problem with food - he steals it out of the cupboard or fridge, especially if it's something special. To us, anything is special because I don't buy things with sugar (unless it's in there naturally) or additives or preservatives. Makes the child go bonkers. So last night as a special treat, I bought McFlurry's from McD's, except I was super full after supper and didn't eat mine; AJ is still away until this aft at the youth conference, so I decided to save mine for him to enjoy later on tonight...except I caught CJ sneaking bites from it and a good portion of it is now gone...and this after I discovered he had opened a bag of Crispers (I had company yesterday, more on that later)...so his punishment is that he's grounded from having his buddy come over on Sunday afternoon, which they've been planning for a whole week now. I don't know how to stop him from this sort of behaviour, unless I take away something that he really wants. But the child is skinny - skinny and muscular. I wish I could eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight...I used to be like that when I was a kid.

Husband suggested we start chasing each other throughout the house with toy swords and make Star Wars sounds with our mouths and maybe we could lose some weight...that's all CJ and TJ do and they don't have an ounce of fat on their bodies, so maybe that is the secret. Couldn't you just see us doing that!

So you're probably wondering why I have Crispers in my cupboard...or maybe you're not...so I'm going to tell you anyway! Crispers are company crackers and I had company over yesterday to help me put starting bids on the items for the auction...except I forgot about the Crispers, so we never did eat them. Lola came over, and Sylvie & Pudge, E!'s wife, S! came over (she's about 3 days overdue with her baby and depressed about it so even though she didn't know any of the other ladies, I thought a day out of the house would do her good and maybe even the excitement of it all would put her into labour) and then in the afternoon the Twin's Mom came over (TJ has twins in his class). We had so much fun...especially when Sylvie found a bag of hats from the 1940's and 50's and we were all trying them on. Oh the laughter! Poor little Pudge was missing his afternoon nap, but he thought we were hilarious and would clap for us...it was just so much fun to be silly. Can't wait to play dress-up with Thumbelina!

I wanted to post some pictures for your viewing enjoyment but blogger is being stupid right now and not cooperating, so the pictures will have to wait for another time.

Happy Birthday AB!

So how does it feel to be at the top of the hill of life? It's all down hill from here on, believe me! Hope you have a special day...have JB take you out to dinner!

What Soda Are You?

You Are Coke

A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer. Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party. Your best soda match: Mountain Dew Stay away from:Dr Pepper

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Ridden With Guilt

AJ is off to a youth conference until Saturday afternoon; he was super excited to go. This morning was a bit rough because I had a lot of things to do; I know, I should have been more prepared and got more things ready yesterday, but we had AWANA last night and my joints were sore (even moreso today). So at 7:30 this morning as I'm ironing shirts for AJ, I'm going through my mental list of what needed to be accomplished before 8:15...way too much. Of course Husband was already at the barn and didn't know when he'd be back. I actually called him at 7:45 to check on him, because it is springtime and it would be entirely possible for Husband to forget that AJ was going away for a few days. Luckily Husband was on his way home, and we even managed to get most everything done...although I didn't actually have time to check CJ's homework to make sure it was correct...I can only do so much. Husband was rushing and trying to do multiple things at once when I asked him if he could take the boys in to school. He said No, I don't have time. Why, is your hip sore? I told him it was but that I'd manage. For some reason it was important to me that Husband be the one to drop AJ off with the rest of the group - a male bonding thing maybe? Husband did take the boys in but I am feeling ever so guilty about the whole thing...even now 1 1/2 hours later...and I'm feeling especially guilty because I'm looking forward to having a break from one of my children. He's been especially ornary lately - hormones I guess - and when I tell him to do something he looks at me like I'm retarded...or like I have two heads...or three noses...and that's even if he acknowledges that I've spoken to him.

I hate writing my deep thoughts but I needed to get them out. I need to go overdose on Tylenol so that I'll be able to volunteer in TJ's class this morning...maybe one of the kids will do something funny I can blog about later...

2006

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself. Go on, forward this to your friends...you know you want to!

YAY! YAY! YAY!

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before September 30, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before June 6, 2005.


We've made it through the screening process! They didn't turn us away!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! I am giddy with glee and all giggly...I've been so worried for the last little bit that the Chinese officials would find something about us that they didn't like and they would turn us down. I can't concentrate. Can you just imagine what I'll be like when we actually receive our referral??? Our LID is September 13, 2005 and my very unofficial prediction is that we will receive our referral in September or October and travel in November or December. And I'm okay with that. YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!!
Oh yah, CONGRATULATIONS to all those who will be receiving their referrals in the next few days!

Weird...or Eccentric?

I'm okay with collections; I collect pigs and chickens myself (and dust) but some collections are just too out there. CJ is always collectiong something; stones, rocks, even kernals of field corn...but I have to put my foot down with his newest collection - pencil shavings. Yah.

Weekend Update

Satureday night Husband was parenting while I was at a singing gig; not really a gig persay, I just like the way it sounds. Anyway, TJ kept getting out of bed with the usual I miss Mommy...don't let him fool you...anytime we have a babysitter come over he's jumping up and down in excitement and asking every 3 minutes When's the babysitter getting here? So the last time he was down Husband asked him what he wanted.

TJ: Is it the 29th today?

Husband: No, it isn't the 29th! Go back to bed!

Keep in mind the child is 6. The next morning as we're waking him up for church, TJ asked again Was yesterday the 29th? I said No, it was the 22nd. Why do you want to know? TJ said Because if it was the 29th, then today would be the 30th and it would be a day off from school. How do you respond to that?!

So back to my singing gig on Saturday night...one of the older adult classes at church had invited a family of singers to come entertain them for the evening. Being as the class is made up of older people and most are hard of hearing, they also invited my ladies trio and flute quintet to play as well. Actually my ladies trio sounds really nice, I'm not real sure about the flute thing. On the order of service, we were the intermission; the trio was singing right after the flutes played...and only 3 flutes were able to come so it was somewhat lacking...anyhoo, I told one of the other floutists that I would just stay on the platform and wait for my singing entourage to join me and I asked if she could take my flute down with her. No problem.

The singing group that was there had brought their own sound system (pet peeve of Husbands as we have a top notch sound system); they had wireless mikes and did a lot of walking around on the stage but their speakers were somewhat lacking; it was at times hard to make out all their words. So I'm nervous when I'm up there because I didn't want to use their mikes - they held them right against their lips and just the thought of using something that someone else held that close to their mouth grossed me out. I could just picture all those little germies running around the mikes. And what if they had bad breath? I shudder to think about it even now.

The flutes did okay and I noticed that there were 3 mikes in our mike holder by the piano. I thought perfect! So I tried to pick one up but the mike chord, although it is wrapped neatly on the floor, was stuck. I had to bend over and pull and pull and pull. Then when I stood up, I knocked a stand that the other group was using as a table of sorts and knocked one of their discs off of it, on to the floor. I heard giggles. We managed somewhat to get the chords untangled and proceeded to the middle of the stage where we rocked. Not quite, but we did sound good. As we were putting the mikes back it was then that I noticed the disc on the floor, but I didn't pick it up...I felt so guilty for the rest of the evening, but if you've ever seen me bend over, you know I'm not very graceful about it. I have limited mobility in my hips and knees and squatting is just something I haven't been able to do in about 10 years. So rather than embarrass myself further I just left it. I was so worried that one of the singers from the other group was going to step on it and break it. But at least I was comic relief...or so I was told.

So Much to Talk About

Science Fair Projects have safely made it to school; the goldfish are now safely home because AJ's teacher didn't want the responsibility of keeping them alive. This sounds weird, but I think they are happy to be home. They were really freaking out on the drive home from school yesterday morning, and I forgot to bring a towel to cover their bowls with (they were too skiddish for me to let them do the driving) so the only thing I had available to cover them up with was my slip...so I discreetly took it off in the van and drove home with my slip over their bowls. It was a half-slip so it was easy to be discreet. When I put their bowls back in their spots, they stopped swimming maniacly and just rested and looked at me and smiled in their fishy smile. Well, maybe not exactly smiled, but they looked content.

** I was sitting at my desk yesterday, minding my own business and doing my work, when I saw something huge and black start to move. I was praying that this icky spider was on the other side of the window screen, but I knew it wasn't...he saw me looking at him and stopped moving. I was slowly backing away in my chair because I knew he was going to jump at me. His steely glare followed my every move. As I stood up, he jumped! Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly at me, but he jumped off of the window on to the window ledge, and it was in my direction. So now I'm starting to panic. What to do, what to do. I tried hitting him with my shoe but that made him fall on to the floor behind the printer stand. I thought maybe perfume would kill him, but I didn't want to waste my perfume on an icky spider, so I grabbed a bottole of Oxyclean foam stuff. After about 10 squirts the spider finally stopped moving. Even better, he stayed dead!


Last night Husband and I went for a little drive in the country...it was a pretty short drive since we're already in the country...anyhoo we went to a place that has puppies. Somebody lock us up and throw away the key please, because we put a downpayment on a black lab puppy. They are 3 weeks old, and I had already made up my mind that no, we're not going to get one, but all that went out the window once I saw them. The Momma dog has a really nice disposition and a really pretty face, and when I held that little puppy and smelled his little skunk breath, I was hooked. Problem is we already have a Jack Russel who is big on attitude. We're not sure we'll be able to keep said terror, I mean terrior, once Thumbelina arrives because he's not really a people person. Yes, he thinks he is a people. He would be a really nice companion for somebody, just not somebody with kids. So I'm torn about what to do. Anyway, the boys don't know about little puppykins; we get first pick of the females, so when it's time to bring puppykins home, we're just going to surprise them with her. So please don't say anything to the boys about this. We should be committed.

**Just so you know, that is drywall dust on the window ledge from blondie; I don't like to dust, but I'm not that messy.

And now my skin is crawling because the dead spider's big brother is creeping around my desk, no doubt looking for revenge...I'm armed with my Oxyclean Miracle Foam...I can't work in these conditions!!!

I've been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Aimee to tell 6 weird things about me. Where to start. Really, I don't find these weird at all, just maybe something you didn't know about me:

1. I alphabetize my spices...not weird in the last - I'm sure everybody does that.

2. The flowers on my dinner plates must be facing the correct way, even in the dishwasher. When the boys set the table they always put the plates upsidedown to irritate me.

3. The glasses and cups are placed in the cupbard in order according to their size...but you do that too, I'm sure.

4. I cannot sleep with my ear uncovered. It needs to be either covered with my hair or with my blanket. Ok, this one might be a teensy bit weird. And I can only sleep on my left side.

5. I have to shave my legs in order - if I do the wrong one first it throws my inner-gyroscope off for the rest of the day. And don't ask me which leg it is because at the moment I'm not in the shower and I really don't know until I start shaving as to which leg gets shaved first.

6. I fold underwear. Fits in the drawers better, but it also looks nicer too.

So now I have to tag 6 people:

Catherine

Julie

Richmond

MaryMia

Kendra

Ninotchka

If you have already been tagged then don't worry about it!
Rules of the tag:

1) Now you list 6 weird facts about yourself and post them on your blog and in my comments section. Then tag 6 more people.

2) Leave a comment in their comments section telling them they are tagged and to go to your blog.

Have Fun!!! And I apologize if I've tagged you and you didn't even know I've been reading your blog. I really am rather normal...well in my eyes...

Antsy

I'm antsy today; I'm wondering when referrals are coming and its starting to drive me crazy. Not my normal crazy, a different kind of crazy. A whole new level of crazy. So in honour of me being crazy, I present to you my newest e-bay acquisition. Isn't it just darling?!?!?
I absolutely love it. Aren't those carpis just too sweet? It's a size 2, so hopefully Thumbelina will be able to wear it one of these summers; and if by chance she is a size 2 in the middle of winter, then she will be one chilly little girl!

Science Fair projects are due tomorrow and we are wondering how to transport goldfish without killing them. Husband suggested plastic bags, but I said that would freak them out too much and they'd die of hyper-ventilation. That's really why a lot of goldfish only live for a couple of days; generally if you can keep them alive for a week, they'll be okay. Salt helps by taking some oxygen out of the water and then they won't hyperventilate quite so much. Goldfish don't like change. So AJ's project was to grow goldfish in different sized bowls to see if they grew to be different sizes according to their environment. It worked; the biggest goldfish lives in the biggest bowl and they were all pretty much the same size when we bought them. Husband thinks we should just put saran wrap over the top of the bowls and duct tape it in place; I'm worried they'll suffocate, but his argument is that they're not going to die in the 15 minutes it takes to drive to school. We'll have to see.

We did CJ's volcano last night just before bed - I made Husband do it with us and it was a success.
CJ was screaming that the 'lava' was burning him so he did his stop-drop-roll technique. And yes, we would not be surprised if he included that in his presentation to the class.

I need to also find my desk; my workstation is buried under boxes and drywall dust. Oh joy.

Just Another Crabby Monday

Oh-oh-oh...wish it were Sunday...oh-oh-oh...

I'm trying not to be crabby but I'm starting to get overwhelmed. Okay, I'm very much overwhelmed. AJ is off working with the guys while I'm in here cutting out his letters for his Science Fair board. I know he should be doing it himself, but I did CJ's letters for his board, so fair is fair. I'm overwhelmed because I have been pushing and prodding him all weekend to get busy on it, and right now I don't have the time to be hovering over him to make sure he's doing it. I need to be hovering over CJ to finish up his board but I don't know what else to put on it for the time being. And I need to help CJ do his experiment - his project is volcanoes - to make sure it's going to explode and all...and I'm upset because Husband is nowhere around to help me out. He's busy - so busy - super busy even - and while most people adore springtime, there are times when I absolutely dread it because it is single-parent time for me. 'Tis the life of a farmer. And I'm upset with the school for assigning Science Fair projects to 3rd Graders. And I haven't even looked in TJ's backpack to see if he has homework and even though he's only in Grade 1, his teacher very well could have given him homework to do. Because she's like that. Her philosophy is If they don't finish their work in class then they have to do it for homework. A good philosphy, I agree, but sometimes 6-year-olds need a push to finish it. You wouldn't believe the amount of homework TJ had to do over spring break. And the silent auction is fast approaching and I'm not near enough ready and I have a whole slew of people yet to call about donating services or items. They all know about it, I think they're just awaiting my call. And my house is a mess and I want to clean it...well, I don't really want to clean it as much as I want it to be clean. My new cleaning girl is working out nicely...except she's not coming until Thursday and she didn't come last Thursday because of Friday being Good and she had to do Friday's houses on Thursday...but she offered to do me on Monday but it was still clean last Monday so I told her not to worry about it. And the boys are coming off of their sugar-high, so they're all a little crabby too. And Blondie is here getting more drywall dust everywhere. But at least he's here.

So I will write myself a list of things to do today, and my reward for all my hard work will be to watch 2 1/2 Men this evening. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I love that show. Or maybe it's just Charlie Sheen...either way, it's my Monday night vice.

Progress...sort of

Science Fair projects are due on Wednesday of this coming week. I have one child who is very excited about the whole thing and another child who needs a kick in the pants (figuratively speaking of course) to get moving and work on his display board. The excited child has been working hard and is probably 75% finished, which I'm happy about. The not-so-excited child is about 50% finished and only because I've been nagging him all day. Who knew 11-year-olds would rather spend their day watching cartoons? Deep down we all knew, didn't we. Too much stress for me. Plus its springtime and a gorgeous day, so Husband and all the men-folk are out on the land doing manly farmer-type things and getting dirty. AJ worked pretty hard all day yesterday and is now overtired, so that's part of his problem. TJ is begging to do a project too...he doesn't seem to think that picking up toys is a very fun project.

Had dinner with the in-laws last evening and spent part of the afternoon with relatives reminiscing about the old days...like I'm old...lets not even go there. Tonight we are having a choir practice for our Easter Cantata; TJ is having some tummy troubles today so Husband will be staying home to babysit...I mean parent. Husband is the sound and lighting guy at church so he is always blessed listening to our dress rehearsals. Is my sarcasm coming through okay, because blessed isn't exactly the terminology he uses...

CJ was out playing baseball with himself and came in crying - he got hit in the eye with the baseball. And he was playing by himself. I'm not trying to poke fun at him, but do you see the humor in this? He hit himself in the eye with a baseball. Hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves and our kids, who can we laugh at?

Good Friday

No school...sleep in...visit with family...reflecting on what Easter is all about...that's my day today. Oh, and helping AJ and CJ do their boards for the Science Fair; and trying to clean up all the dry-wall dust mess that Blondie made yesterday; I'll post about that next week. Our choir is singing the cantata Up From the Grave and my ladios trio is singing one song; I know the tune, just don't know all the words yet, but a portion goes Blessed are they who have not seen, yet in faith they do believe... and I never really thought too much about that before now. Those who accepted Christ when He was here on earth physically got to see Him and talk with Him; for us who are believing through faith...we'll get a special blessing in Heaven because of it. Does that even make sense? Am I just rambling? Anyway those are my thoughts today and I'm thankful that someone took the time to tell me about God's love.

I'm going to try and visit my SIL, Sylvie, sometime today or tomorrow...she fell down some stairs about 10 days ago as she was holding Pudge and sprained her ankle. Not just any sprain mind you, but a level 3 sprain with torn ligaments. Pudge is fine, not even a bump or bruise on him. Sylive, however, is not so fine.

Pretty, isn't it.

I was visiting with her the other day and catching her up on all the drama of Days. She hasn't seen it really since Marlena was possessed, but she knew about the stalker and everyone being murdered...and I had to explain the whole island thing and the parrallel Salem to her. She had no idea about Chelsea/Georgia being alive and Shawn and Mimi and Philip and Belle; and now this whole Austin-Sammi, Lucas-Carrie fiasco...so much to talk about.

Anyway, I hope your Easter is peaceful and one full of spiritual reflection and renewal. Oh...and enjoy a piece of chocolate for me too, preferrably dipped in peanut butter...I'm still working on losing those extra chocolate from Europe pounds.

Seven Months

Today is our 7 Month Anniversary as to when our dossier was logged in with the CCAA. In honour of our 7th Month, I've compiled a list of 7 Things I'd Like to Do...Someday but it's not the ordinary list like Go To China and Get Thumblina...or Go to Hawaii...those are givens. These are in no particular order:

1. Have a bon fire on the beach... I've never been to one and since my birthday is in the summer, I've always dreamed of having one; I do think that the public beaches around here would frown on that sort of thing, so I guess I'll just have to buy myself an island somewhere in the South Pacific where I can have a beach bonfire every night.

2. Take a photography class... I love my camera and I love taking pictures of my kids and I would love to learn to do more with lighting and what-not; I think I'd want to be a freelance photographer because I think putting up with people and doing family portraits would just irritate me too much.

3. Volunteer at a hospital and rock the babies all day... Pretty much self-explanatory.

4. Take professional singing lessons... I love singing and I've taken lessons before but there are still a lot of techniques and things I'm not sure about; would be helpful to pass on the correct information to my 2 students.

5. Buy cross-country skiis... I'm not sure this will happen because Husband doesn't want me to over-exert my hip (arthritis) but I would love love love to go cross-country skiing. Can't you just see me with little Thumbelina in a pouch on my back?!

6. Become a Creative Memories consultant... This way I could make money to support my somewhat-at-times costly habit.

7. Learn to row a boat... You know like on one of those rowing teams? I was watching TV the other night and on came a Lipidor commercial (I think it was Lipidor...something that's for high blood pressure but could potentially kill you...you know the kind) and this guy was in a row boat, but one of those sleek, long ones; looks fun and it would be great exercise to get rid of my European Chocolate pounds. Would also be helpful to have on my private island.

So? Share with me 7 things that you'd like to do.

What kind of Cookie are You?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Names and Things

Did you hear that Gwyneth & Chris named their baby boy Moses? A little brother for Apple. I feel sorry for the poor kids. I'm sure their parents are great parents, but Apple & Moses? I was actually expecting something like Pear or Banana...but then I'm weird like that.

Isn't this a beautiful sight? Spring is coming! In celebration I'm wearing my flip-floppy sandals today. I work from home so I don't really have a dress code I need to follow, although I do draw the line at jammies and a bathrobe. So my sandals make this funny little tooting sound when I walk and it gives me a giggle. Yes, I'm mature like that. The only problem is that my boys are discovering exactly how 'mature' I really am. And they are using it to their advantage and are making me laugh when I'm supposed to be the parent. Last night at supper, CJ said Lookin' great milkshake! I just thought it was extremely funny. Husband wasn't able to eat with us, or I'm sure I would have gotten yelled at again. CJ heard that on Jimmy Neutron - it's apparently part of a rap or something. But it's still funny. I'm just waiting to say it to Husband today; I'm sure he'll be impressed.

But I don't mind laughing and having a good time with my boys. We don't do it often enough. I remember as a kid when my brother and I would be able to get our mom silly; fun times. I want my kids to remember me as being able to have fun, not always getting after them about picking up their clothes...why is it that boys never pick up after themselves? And why is it that they are really disgustingly gross? I think I'm getting used to always wiping off the toilet seat before I sit and having to flush it whenever I walk into the bathroom, that's life with boys. But why oh why do they not change their socks? I'm not talking about just leaving the same pair on for 2-3 days in a row, I'm talking about leaving the same pair on and layering them every day for 4 days or until mom notices and makes you take them off. Feet really stink when they've been in socks for that long.

And you wonder why I want a girl...

Tension & Coffee

Coffee is a great soother of tension headaches...at least today. We got a phone call from our builder this morning - he wanted to come over and collect the last 10% we owe him on the job he did. I never actually started blogging until our job was 90% finished, so just some background info for you: we needed more office space so we tore down the old office, rebuilt it so that it was level with the old part of the house, added a basement underneath, expanded the bedroom upstairs and added 15 feet to the end of it. Now it is much more conducive to conducting business.
Before:
Somewhat After:


At the beginning of the project communication was over and above, but as things progressed and they took on another job (big boss had a friend who was desparate), communication was non-existent. We felt that we were pains in their backsides and they were rushing to complete our job, doing a lousy job in the process. The finished product on the inside looks amatuerish at best. The drywall screws are literally popping through the paint. I have a problem with the attitude of one of the carpenters and I don't ever want him back in my home again. I put up with him at the time by thinking It's almost done and he'll be out of here. The basement stairs have a curve at the bottom and the way he had built them was too sharp of a curve; there was no spot for your foot to go because of the angle and it was actually a hazard. I mentioned this to him because the big boss was never around and his response to me? I blame you. This is your fault. You should have said something before we put the wall in. I don't know if we can fix this without ripping out all the stairs. Well that sent me to my room in tears for the rest of the day. Idiot called the big boss and big boss said he'd bring supplies right over to fix it. It took maybe an hour to fix. I have a problem with people who blame others, whether it was their mistake or not. All he had to say was, I'll talk to big boss and see what we can do about it. Idiot also made a built-in book shelf that I had requested but he made it totally different from how we had talked about it. This was somewhat how our conversation went:

Idiot: So you don't want adjustable shelves.

Me: No, you can measure the bookshelf in the bedroom. I like the height of those shelves.

Idiot: Okay.

So the next thing I know, he has routered out spaces to put in the cheeziest white metal adjustable track system that I've ever seen. I hate them. And I told the nice carpenter guy that I hate them. Nice carpenter guy told big boss and big boss was surprised. It's too late to do anything about it so we're just covering up the cheeziness with books. Husband and I were talking just last week that we thought big boss was avoiding us...anyhoo that brings us to today. Out of my 3 page list of complaints we narrowed it down to just the essentials that the idiot crew needs to fix. Big boss is sending blondie over tomorrow to start to fix the screw holes popping through; big boss will work on the squeaky closet doors himself and finally put up the closet rods that we talked about 4 months ago; big boss will fix the boys' bedroom door that is no longer latching closed; and I think blondie will finish puttying in the nail holes that got missed.

We're going to hire a real builder to re-gut the sunroom (whole 'nuther post there) and maybe fix up the rest of the things I'm not happy about that idiot crew did.

So that's this morning's tension headache. But my 4 cups of coffee have helped. You know, I think I'll do okay in China - coffee is pronouned kaw-fay'. How beautiful is that!

AND I won a donut on Friday on my roll-up-the-rim. I'm not a loser after all!

D'oh Moments

Husband and E! have gone to London today to visit with a vet from England. Cost is a bunch of British pounds. I picked up the pounds at the bank yesterday and when I got home, I counted them out and looked at them. My first thought?

Hey, they have the Queen on their money too!

D'OH! No, I didn't say it out loud. It's Friday and it's raining, I figured you guys could all use a laugh.

Last week when we were in Buffalo, Lola and I went in to the Disney Store. It's just a fun store to go into. Right at the entrance was a display set up for Chicken Little which has just come out on DVD. Looks cute, I think my boys would enjoy it. So I'm looking at the the cover of the DVD and it says that you can get the actual movie at the cash register. Good enough. Lola and I are aimlessly wandering through the store, commenting on this and that and then we leave to go to Christopher & Banks, which was 2 stores down. As we were looking at all the pretty clothes, I dropped something; I thought it was a purchase from a previous store that had just fallen out of my bag, but when I looked at my feet I saw it was the empty Chicken Little DVD cover! Talk about embarrassing! I was tempted to just accidentally leave it in the change room - oh don't give me that - you'd be tempted too! But then I could just picture the sales girl noticing something in there as I was leaving, "Excuse me Ma'am (I hate being called Ma'am - makes me feel old) but you forgot something!" and then she'd have to chase me down the mall with it and it would just make too big of a commotion and embarrass people even further. No, I couldn't do that. I carried it with me as I paid for my new clothes and then while Lola was paying for her clothes, I took it back to the Disney Store...where I quickly glanced around to make sure there wasn't a sales person right nearby as I pretended to read the jacket of the DVD. Then I put it back on the display. I figured we really didn't need the movie that badly if I didn't even remember I was carrying it around. You would have done the same thing too, you know you would have.

I went back to where Lola was finishing up with her purchase and as we were leaving the store I said, "I really like this store. Christopher Banks." And she said, "No, I think it's Christopher & Robin." And I said, "No, I don't think so." Where we proceeded to look at the bags in our hand and the name above the store entrance. Christopher & Robin. That's like Winnie & Pooh. No, I'm not being mean, Lola doesn't read blogs so I'm just posting her D'OH! moment for her.


My chocolates are all gone. Good thing too because now all my pants are tight. But boy were they good. They just would melt in my mouth...I miss them.

So why is that children never hear things that you tell them to do? This morning I was telling the boys to get their coats and shoes on. Nothing out of the ordinary, in fact, they wear their coats and shoes every single day. They all just looked at me like I had said Take all your clothes off and run around nekkid in the rain. No, not really. One of them started reading the newspaper instead. Then I said, "Boys, what did I just finish saying to you?" And their reply was 'get our coats and shoes on'. And my reply was, "So why aren't you doing it?" as the one reading the paper says "huh?" Maybe I should go run around in the rain for awhile.

Change

Change. I always thought I did well with change. I like it when the seasons change and I'm beginning to think that I'm the only one in bloggerworld that actually likes daylight savings time. I try to go with the flow, I really do. My computer has changed. We are having a server put in and now everything has changed. Nothing is familiar; none of the settings are the same; my screen background is utilitarian gray. Ucky. My e-mail program is so totally different. Things are just not the same. And now I find out that all my passwords are gone and my computer up-chucked all it's cookies, so of course I'm feeding her some more. Yes, my computer is female...aren't they all? I crack me up. But you know what else? My list of blogs are all alphabetized. You'd think that I'd think this was great, wouldn't you. In fact, you're surprised that this is bothering me at all, I mean after all, I alphabetize my spices, why not the blogs I read? Because they were plunked under my favourites in the order that I found them and I'm used to reading about Emma first, then about Gwen, then about Mary Mia, then Macy, then then then. I am really freakin you out aren't I. Change is for the birds.

Wednesday Mish Mash

I'm bored. I don't feel like doing my work. And I certainly don't feel like cleaning the house. And I don't know what to blog about. It's snowing today; we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground. CJ's moods ranged from giddy to not giddy; he was mad at me when we got to school because he didn't have any mittens on. Child you know where the mittens are kept and you saw the snow when we were leaving the house. TJ has been grumpy since the time change. The blinds for their room are on back-order so we've pinned up blankets; sort-of keeps the light out at bedtime but obviously not enough.

Today is pizza day at school. Yay! I didn't have to make lunches last night.

I was at the grocery store this morning and I saw this guy in the baby aisle...he was looking at a piece of paper and then looking at the shelves and then back to the paper and then back to the shelves. It was kind of comical. I could sense his bewilderment.

Did you hear that Katie Couric is leaving the Today Show? I remember her as a reporter during the Gulf War...how old does that make me! Husband and I both think she's too perky to be doing the evening news. I think I'll stick with Brian Williams...he's cuter.

CJ lost his glasses again. They've been missing for 10 days now and I don't know what to do. This is his 3rd pair in less than a year. We can't afford to buy him anymore glasses. The last time he had them was on the Sunday that Husband came home from Europe; CJ was outside playing and I noticed that later on in the day he wasn't wearing them. In the past he has stuck them onto a tree branch for 'safe keeping' and forgotten about them. I keep praying that they'll turn up soon. I don't really like our eye doctor. He's too chit-chatty and he'll answer his own questions before you get a chance to answer and they're not the right answers so you never know what misinformation he's spreading around. Small town gossips.

On a different note, a local doctor here in town is making arrangements to go back to China for his 2nd daughter. How cool is that! He travelled last March and I don't know where they are in the process for #2. My girlfriend, Lola, was telling me about this and she thought it was stupidness that he had to do all the paperwork over again...such is the process. Anyway, I don't know if it's out of line to just call them up and say Hey, can we get together in about a year for some playdates? The boys have been pretty healthy this winter...first time ever nobody's been on antibiotics (so far) so I haven't had to take anybody to the walk-in clinic...not that we'd ever get this particular doctor - we'd probably get Dr. Cefzil - as Lola and I affectionately refer to one of the doctors who always prescribes Cefzil no matter what your ailment.

Anyway, I'm probably boring you out of your mind HEY WAKE UP!!! I'M STILL TALKING HERE!!! Ah just go back to work, you know you want to.

Quirkiness Test

Your Quirk Factor: 54%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

Feels Like Monday

Today feels like Monday only in that we didn't have a very good start to our day. I'll give you three guesses as to who the grump was this morning (no it wasn't me) and the first two don't count. Let's just say it was bad and that's the last time he gets popcorn after school.

So last night after supper we're helping the boys study. CJ and TJ both have music tests today (AJ probably does too but he's a little brainiac and doesn't need much help with studying). CJ, being in Grade 3 this year, is learning to play the recorder. Oh the joy of it all. He likes to play songs but he doesn't like to practice. Today he is being tested on a song - Kum Ba Ya - Oh Lord - Kum Ba Ya. Anyways, I was sitting on the couch holding CJ's music in front of me so that he could stand and have proper posture while he was playing. Husband was sitting beside me. Moral support. You know how the song goes, right? Just imagine how a recorder sounds...much like when a violin squeaks...you can't help but cringe in pain as you're listening. And I kept glancing at the clock, not really paying attention to my facial expressions. I was hidden behind the book so CJ was unaware of my pain. But Husband saw. And Husband started to laugh. Then I started to laugh. Then CJ started to laugh. So we compose ourselves and he starts again. And I started to laugh at that same spot. And CJ started to laugh. Okay, I can do this, let's try again. CJ started to play, and at the same spot I laughed. I guess I couldn't do it because Husband told me I was doing a lousy job as a music stand and sent me out of the room. I'm sure CJ will do fine today for his performance.

Today is my little niecies birthday. She is 5. I still need to go buy her a birthday present. I just got an e-mail from my Creative Memories consultant asking me to do a sample page for her Memoranza Day (formerly known as National Scrapbooking Day)...I can't be there because it falls on the same day as my Silent Auction...I think she feels bad because she scheduled it for the same day and now is giving me freebies to do a sample page yay...so what does all this have to do with niecies birthday? The colours for the sample page are pink, blue and brown, and seeing as I have nobody yet that wears pink in my household, and I'm not going to take pictures of myself, I thought I would do a birthday page of niecie. I tried to upload a picture of her so you can see how cute she is, but blogger is acting weird again.

Dilemma

This is my living room. I don't like it. I don't like how the pictures are arranged on the wall and mantle and I don't know what to put on top of the entertainment centre. I used to have it loaded with family pictures, and I liked that, but, and this is just me being anal, it irritates me to no end when the housekeeper comes through and dusts and the pictures are not at the exact angle they were before...and what I mean by exact is that I spend at least 10 minutes moving things just a smidge and looking at them from all angles of the room until I get it just right again. And then I get frustrated and grump at Husband. And he ever so quietly walks to another room all the while rolling his eyes. What I really love is my Live Laugh Love picture; I just bought it on Friday in Buffalo. But I'm not sure if that's the best spot for it.

I don't know how to fix it. I see pictures in magazines of living rooms and I think I want that but then I don't know how to make it happen because I have different kinds of furniture than what's in the magazines. Eventually the entertainment centre will be moved down into the new basement and some day I would love love love to have a Baby Grand Piano right in the corner by the fire place. Ooooo, I can dream right? So that's today's dilemma. I'll tell you about tomorrow's dilemma when it happens tomorrow.

Shopping in Buffalo

Last week, Father-in-Law asked me if I could drive him to the Buffalo airport on Friday; I mentioned to him that I've never driven in Buffalo before and he said,

It's about time you learned.

So I said okay; helps that there's a giant mall just a few blocks away. So I asked my girlfriend, Lola, if she wanted to come along with me. She said 'Sure!' so off we went. Poor Lola had never been to Buffalo before but she had a great time. There was a lot of construction happening at the entrace to the airport, so that slowed us down a bit, but we managed to get through it.

We, well really me, did some serious spending of the bucks and when it was time to come home, I was quite concerned about crossing the border back to the Great White North and what the border guard people would say when they learned I had spent 8 times (conservatively speaking) the limit for the day...I was told today that the limit is $50 if you've been to the US for the day, $200 if you've been there for 3 nights and like $750 if you've been over longer. So we're at the border and of course I picked the slowest line. I didn't want to change lanes because I'm sure somewhere there are border guard people watching and picking out guilty looking vehicles that keep changing lanes. So we stuck it out. I was really quite nervous when the car in front of me had to go over to the customs office. Oh, and it was pouring rain by this time too.

I smiled at the border guard guy and he asked what citizenship we were - Great White North, where is home - 2 hours down the road, how long we had been in the US - about 5 hours...what can I say, I'm a power-shopper, why we were over - had to take Father-in-Law to the airport...and stopped by a mall on the way back, what did we buy - clothes, basically just clothes, how much we spent - swallow, about $a lot...smile, in total for everybody? - swallow, smile, no Sir, just me, swallow, smile, how much did Lola spend? - not nearly as much as me, Sir, any alcohol or tobacco - no Sir, go on through. Whew! I.could.not.believe.it.

Then...wait until you read this comedy of errors...we saw a Tim Horton's and stopped. It had been a whole 5 hours without one so of course we had to stop. Plus they had a bathroom. Except we stopped at the Tim's that's part of the Duty Free Shop. Who knew Great White Northians aren't supposed to stop there! Not me, that's for sure. They could have at least posted signs saying, The only exit leads you straight back to Start. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200 Oh, sorry, that's something else. Not seeing an exit, we asked the Tim Horton's people how to get the road we wanted...they said we had to go back to the US. I enjoy my time in the US but I was feeling like I had just pulled off a major bank heist and if I had to go back across the border, I wouldn't be so lucky and would have to pay duty and GST (good-old suck-em-dry tax). Well, they looked to be all of 12 years old and in the corner of the building was a travel place. A travel place would know how to get us out of the parking lot and on the right road. We went and asked them. Apparently the only way out is back to the Peace Bridge and to the US. BUT we could do a U-e and cross back through the border guard guys, pay the toll again and be on our way. We just looked at them dumbfounded. And that's the way they have to go home too. Silliest thing I ever heard of. They should just post signs No Great White Northians Allowed - You Can Get In But You Can't Get Out. Now what. One lady gave me a map and drew arrows on it and told me the way to go. She said,

Just show this to the border guard guy and tell him you've already been through. It happens a lot.

Okay, we'll try that...feeling a little skeptical about it though. They guy working with her gave me a token for the toll booth. She gave him a dirty look.

So we hop back into the shop-mobile, head back out to the Peace Bridge, made the U-e at the appropriate place, got back into line at the border, pretended to be a really ditzy person holding up my map and giggling saying 'We made a wrong turn - saw Tim Horton's and just had to stop!' I hate it when people think I'm ditzy... He smiled, asked where we needed to go, spoke slowly so we would understand, and told us the correct road to take. I knew what road to take the whole time, it was that Stupid Duty Free Shop with the Tim Horton's that threw me off!

We arrived home safe and sound. Husband was happy that I didn't spend anymore money than I did...driving wasn't bad at all...Husband said to me

I told you you could do it; if Mr. Toad can do it, you can too.

Mr. Toad is the epitomy of country-folk and drives.the.speed.limit. But that's a post for another time.

This is Just Creepy

Your Birthdate: August 19

You are resilient, and no doubt your resilience has already been tested. You've had some difficult experiences in your life, but you are wise from them. Having had to grow up quickly, you tend to discount the advice of others. You tend to be a loner, having learned that the only person you can depend on is yourself. Your strength: Well developed stability and confidence Your weakness: Suspicion of others Your power color: Eggplant Your power symbol: Spade Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Fashion Atrocities

I was in TJ's class this morning, helping out with the reading group and I bought some sandwiches for lunch on my way home. Ham on cheese bread. So yummy. Anyway, I was eating my sandwich and watching Days of our Lives...I know...it's Marlena's and Alex's wedding (does anybody other than me know that Alex is Roman from 25 years ago? Are they ever going to bring him back as Roman or will it get too complicated? Now there's an Oxy-moron - a complicated soap! What would happen with the current Roman...I guess he could become John Black's brother Joe or something). OK, so it's their wedding day...forget the fact that Lucas just proposed to Carrie (couldn't he have found a more romantic place to propose? Honestly, her Mother's wedding???); and Belle broke up Shawn & Mimi's honeymoon (I really only see this show once every few months) and there is Kate...wearing patterned stockings! Oh they were terrible!!! I wanted to shout - My eyes! My eyes! I think way back in the 80's I maybe had one pair and I really really really hope they don't come back into fashion...the soaps are usually the first to wear things in fashion...but these were so busy. Her legs looked like giant diagonal palm trees; I don't even know what the pattern was supposed to be. It was really quite horrid.

Busy as a Beaver

Ever have a really good idea, like say how to raise money for your kids school, and everyone else thinks its a really good idea too, and then you get put in charge of organizing the event? Yah. I know. I need to keep my ideas to myself. Saturday, May 6, we are having our 2nd (Probably Annual) Silent Auction Fundraiser for our school. My boys go to a Christian School that our church has and we pay tuition, so any extra money that is raised helps to keep costs lower for all involved. Last year we (and I say that loosely) threw the silent auction together in 6 weeks and everyone had a really good time...except the woman who was supposed to be helping me collect payment...she spent the whole evening standing behind me telling me I used the wrong font - it was too hard to read, I priced almost everything incorrectly, I should have started out lower, blah blah blah blah blah. I really really wanted to put my hands over my ears, close my eyes and yell Na na na na I can't hear you. But I didn't. I didn't ask for her help this year.

I have a basement full of items that people have been giving me all winter, and now that May 6 is looming ever closer, I guess it's about time that I got off my lazy duff and started organizing them. We easily have twice as many things to auction off this year than we did last year. Some people want part of it to be a live auction...we'll have to see how that all works out. Everybody has an opinion as to how it should go. Last year the big ticket item was a dozen butter tarts every month for a year. Sold for $100.05. The winning bidder gave me one, and I must say, they were worth every penny. Not that it was my money, but it was money well spent.

So I think I'll go finish off my chocolate from Europe; I wish Husband had bought me 2 or 3 or 4 or even 5 boxes, but we figured that $20 Euroes, which is what they cost, is equal to about $30 bucks Great White North. Wow. They are so worth it.

All Things Music

Yesterday my new music arrived for the song The Prayer. Celine Dion performs it and some of the words have been changed in her version and it is really beautiful:

A Mother's Prayer

I pray you'll be my eyes, and watch her where she goes,
And help her to be wise, help me to let go,
Every mother's prayer, every child knows,
Lead her to a place, guide her with Your grace,
To a place where she'll be safe.

I pray she finds Your light, and holds it in her heart,
As darkness fall each night, remind her where You are,
Every mother's prayer, every child knows,
Need to find a place, guide her with Your grace,
Give her faith so she'll be safe.

The reason I wanted this song is because Husband and I plan on producing our own adoption video. He has all the equipment needed, and I thought it would be more special if I sang on the video. So I'm looking for songs. This one is a keeper. I also have music for Steven Curtis Chapman's song Love Takes You In and while it is a beautiful song and he wrote it for his daughter, it leaves me with a heavy heart and feeling sad. So that one is a no. I have a cd of Bryan Adams' Here I Am and I've heard it sung on adoption videos before so that one is a possibility. Thoughts or suggestions anybody?

Florida Pictures

On your mark...Get set...

JUMP!


Toasty!

Future Pilot

Sunsuit

Bathing Suit Cover

All Things Baby

So I found out this weekend that our file is probably in the Review Room; literally made me weak in the knees. It's a good thing I was sitting down. Then my palms got sweaty and clammy and I felt nausious - in a good way of course, but it just seems that our trip to China keeps getting pushed farther and farther out of our reach and we will never go. But now I know the Powers That Be have finished reviewing the files received before August 31, 2005 (our LID is September 13, 2005) because they said so on their website, and logically that means they are reviewing September's files. Wow. But then the last batch of referrals only covered 4 measly days...so the last little day of May, all of June, all of July and all of August still need to receive their referrals before us. And nobody knows how long that will take. It's a good think I've got my European chocolate; I've already eaten 2 pieces (sooooo good) and I think the whole box just might be gone before lunch time.

So since this post is all about the baby, let's talk names. (I just ate another piece of chocolate - coated in sugar - unbelievable!) CJ likes the name Hope. I like it too, although I'm not sure it would flow well with our last name. AJ has horrible tastes in names so I won't even mention his and TJ just is silly - table, sunshine, juice, you get the picture. Husband likes girls names that sound boyish and that's as far as he's willing to talk names since we always change our minds at the last minute; I can live with that. I like Jordan or maybe Jordyn. He likes Samantha but we've had two dogs named Sammie and I'm not sure I want to go there. I am just in awe of people who know right away what the name of their child is going to be. Anyway, I keep trying out names on Husband when I refer to Thumbelina to see what his reaction is; I usually get the grin where he's trying not to smile and he rolls his eyes...

MMMMmmmmm I just had another piece of chocolate - dark chocolate with a creamy filling with little crunch pieces in it.

So in Florida, I managed to sneak off to JC Penneys, love that store, and I bought a few outfits for Thumbelina. Americans, you are so lucky to have the selection of clothing and products that you do. My SIL can always tell if I'm wearing something from the US because it just looks different than what you find in the Great White North. Anyway, I only bought her 4 things and everything was at least 30% off, which makes it even better. Wanna see??? And I bought larger sizes too, so that's my justification this time.
Blogger is giving me grief about pictures again, so I will have to load them one at a time. But isn't this dress sweet?

Home Sweet Home

I'm ba-ack! Miss Me? How could you not miss me! The boys had a great time at Grams & Gramps and enjoyed many hours of swimming, tennis, shuffleboard, mini-golf...and homework. I wouldn't exactly say they enjoyed the homework part - it took CJ 6 hours to do his homework the first day I was there - but it got better from there...until today. Today has been one of those days I will be all too happy to forget about. It's been about one of the worst days we've ever had; I don't know if the comforts of home made him slip into Rosemary's Baby mode or if he had just had too much the past two weeks and this was his way of relieving his stress. I'm just glad tomorrow's a new day.

So back to Florida; TJ is no longer caucasian while poor AJ got the burn 'n peel gene and doesn't look like he got very much sun at all. The first time I went to the pool with them, I about had a heart attack when I saw TJ jump into the deep end! This same child who, in December, failed level 1 in swimming for the 3rd consecutive time, is now treading water, doggy paddling, and doing his own, very cute, little version of the butterfly stroke. Those first 5 minutes gave me at least 5 new gray hairs. And they are so much more visible in the Florida sun.

On the flight home we were comic relief for a few weary travellers. We had a good hour to wait before boarding our plane, and one guy got a kick out of watching the boys have their lunch-time snack of jello, cookies and chips. He was out-right laughing at TJ as he was eating the chips; I was reading a book and when I looked at the boys to check on them, TJ was covered in sour cream & onion crumbs. Ech. Luckily for us we were sitting right across from the restrooms, so I sent TJ with AJ to got wash it all off whilst I was on my hands and knees desparately trying to clean up the mess from off the floor and chair.

CJ and TJ both drew pictures of the plane for the pilot, and not only did they get to go to the cockpit to personally give their pictures to the him and meet him, but they got to sit in his chair! He asked if I had a camera...silly man...so I got some nice pictures of them.

Husband will soon be on his way to the airport to begin his journey home. He should be waking up in an hour to get ready (wouldenchaknowit, tonight Denmark turns their clocks ahead one hour so he has to get up an hour earlier) so he flies from Denmark to Germany, has a 4 hour layover and then flies to Toronto, hopefully arriving on time at 2:35 pm tomorrow afternoon. If all goes well, he won't have to be quarantined and will be home around 5:30 tomorrow evening. With chocolate I hope. I have missed him terribly and I don't ever want to be apart from him again! Even for all the chocolate in Europe!

Oh puey - blogger isn't co-operating with me uploading my pics so that will have to wait for another day. Until next time...

Toodaloo!

Well boys and girls, it's time for me to bid you a fond farewell; try not to miss me too much! Bwahahahaha. I didn't sleep too well last night, knowing that it was the last time I'd be with Husband until next Sunday night...if immigration even lets him back into the country. You know how when you travel internationally and when you're filling out the immigration card and it asks you if you've visited any farms on your travels? Well, that's mainly Husband's trip to Europe...where they have bird flu and mad cow disease and hoof and mouth disease. I told him if they quarantine him and don't let him come home, they had better send someone to come help me out here! I hope my chocolate doesn't melt...

Seriously though, I have that same queaziness in the pit of my stomach that I get before any of CJ's surgeries; I want to throw up and I'm a bundle of nervous energy. I just don't want to say goodbye. Great. Now I'm getting all teary-eyed. But I get to see my boys. I can hardly wait for CJ to scream NO! NO HOMEWORK! I'm bringing lots of bribery, um rewards I mean, to help along with the homework. And all those books are seriously going to put me over the weight limit of luggage!

I'm off to finish packing, tidy up the house a bit, drop the dog off at the vets for the week, go to the bank, get new frames for my glasses (I have the kind with the sunglass clip and one of the little magnets fell out, the guy tried to glue it back in but got too frustrated and ordered me a new pair of frames...I'd like them for Florida), go to the drugstore for shaving cream and what-nots and we need to leave in 3 hours for the airport. Yes, I'm a last minute kind of gal.

I am seriously going to go into blog-withdrawal.

Top O' the Mornin' to Ye

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday to my sweet little niece who is turning 9 today. Her baby brother turned a year old yesterday; I see him almost weekly, especially when I need my 'baby fix'. He's such a cute little chub. This picture was taken at Halloween, so Chubs looks pretty much the same except bigger, of course, and with a lot more hair. He's a doll.

Today's list of jobs are to do the guys paycheques first and foremost, wrap birthday presents for Chubs and Patty, deliver said presents...I don't always see my nieces and nephews on their birthdays, but today I feel I need to. My mom and step-dad left for Florida yesterday, and that has somewhat ticked me off - why couldn't they have left tomorrow instead? Don't they realize how important it is for little kids to have their grandparents share in their birthdays? So I know that I can't make up for Grandma not being around but it's a gesture, right?

Also on today's list is to go shopping in Ancaster! Woohoo!! A mini-city with real stores! And Husband is going with me, so that's sort of like a date. We are going to go to Covers and order blinds for the office windows and for the boys' windows, I want to go to Michaels, and I want to go to Costco. Yay!!! I'd also like to get a new pair of sandals to take to Florida, something really comfortable that can take a lot of walking; something that would be useful in China if we happen to travel during a warmer season.

Tomorrow's list is to pack, do laundry, get the boys' books from school, do laundry, pack...I'm missing the boys and I can't wait to see them.

It's Thursday!

Thursdays are my favourite day of the week because Husband and I have a standing date each Thursday night to watch CSI together. We always make time for CSI. Very important you know. Spring break is almost over for the poor saps that have to go back to school on Monday. Suckers! I shouldn't laugh in their face because my turn is coming next week when I try to get CJ to do his homework.

There isn't much exciting happening around here this week. Most of the laundry is caught up, I did quite a bit of ironing yesterday, the house is still clean...I did want to paint Thumbelina's room but I thought doing laundry was a bit higher on the to-do list, especially since Husband enjoys having clean socks and underwear each day. That reminds me of a joke the boys always say, Mom look under there. Under where? HAH! You said UNDERWEAR! Yes, they're very jeuvenile.

This morning some salesmen were here and we bought a truck scale from them. As I was writing out the cheque for the downpayment, one of the guys looked at me and said, So are you the ass? Thoughts started running through my mind - You really shouldn't call me an ass if you expect to get paid...Is this some sort of slang that you call bookkeepers...Excuse me??? I just looked at him and he said to Husband Is she the ass for jay and ass? OH! You mean ES as in J and S, I get it. Okie-dokie everything's good now. Did give me a chuckle though.

Kidless

It's been 51 hours since we have been totally without children. We've gone this long without our kids around before, but never at home. So weird. And while I miss them and would love to have them walk in the door at any time, I am actually enjoying having a house that is staying clean! I cleaned the bathroom on Monday and it is still clean! The kitchen takes me all of 10 minutes to tidy after a meal! And the living room? It is such a treat to not have to move toys before you sit down on the couch. So I think I will enjoy this for a few more days before my homsesickness for them really starts to set in. Is it possible to be homesick when you're at home?

We were talking to the boys this morning and they are enjoying the warm weather...it is snowing here today and very cold and windy. CJ got a sunburn under his eyes, AJ is enjoying mini-golf and tennis, and TJ met up with some fire ants as he was trying to climb a palm tree. Just wait until next week when I bring school work with me to Florida! Such a tender age for them to have to learn reality.

Spring Break

The boys are gone to Florida and I'm a blubbering mess. Really. Hard to believe, isn't it. They've been gone for about 1 1/2 hours and all I can think about is them and what they're doing; what are they talking about? Have they gotten into any of the snacks I packed for the plane? Are they reading any of their new books? Are they driving Grandpa crazy yet? CJ was very difficult to deal with this morning, but I think it was because he was going to miss us and he didn't know how to express himself. He started crying when he was hugging me goodbye and he wouldn't let me take his picture; then TJ started crying too. How am I ever going to let these boys go off to college??

Yesterday when Husband called the airline to confirm the flights and pay for them, it was pointed out to him that the return flight that he had tentatively booked was for March 24th...instead of March 17th...and there are no available flights from Florida in the meantime. Well, we did find one airline that could fly them back on the 18th, but it would cost us $1,000 US more and that's our China money. So the plan now is that I will fly to Floriday next Monday - I can even go to the same airport as Husband at the same time, because he flies to Europe that evening - my flight will cost $124 Canadian and is a direct one to Tampa. Then on the 24th the boys and I will fly home from Fort Meyers to Buffalo, via Orlando...seems very odd to me that we would fly from Fort Meyers to Orlando, change planes, and then on to Buffalo; we'll probably be in the air for a whole 10 minutes.

So I really see this mix-up as God's divine intervention. I will get the boy's books from school and we will home-school in Florida for the second week; AJ is disappointed that he won't get perfect attendance this year, but it's Florida! And I'm getting excited about it. I'm feeling guilty that I'm taking the easy way out by not spending the extra $1,000 to bring the boys home on time, but Husband said he would worry a lot less about me and he wouldn't feel so guilty about being away and leaving me on my own with the boys and homework. You really have no idea what homework time is like at our house until you've lived through it yourself. And it's only CJ that gives us the homework troubles. That will just leave Friday night to Sunday afternoon that the boys and I will be on our own.

They should be approaching the border soon; we wrote a letter saying that they had permission to travel with their Grandfather, so hopefully they won't run into any difficulties.

And I told Husband he still has to bring me home chocolate from Europe.

Wacky Weather

At 4:30 this morning, I bolted upright in bed because our house was booming and shaking. It was thunder. The power was out as well. We have a safety light in our bedroom that comes on every time the power goes out; helps Husband if he has to get up in the middle of the night to check on the barns. The power didn't stay off for too long; I hate it when Husband has to go out in a lightening storm and hook up generators. We had a few more house-shaking, window-rattling thunder booms go through, lots of lightening, and amazingly the boys slept through it all. AJ has a basement bedroom so that's no surprise, but CJ and TJ don't have any curtains on their windows yet. And their beds are right in the dormers. And still the slept. It's very early in the season for this type of storm to pass through; Husband said the forecast for tonight is for more thunder showers. He'll probably have the generators already hooked up and ready to go as a precaution. I used to be terrified of thunder and lightening, but now I think it's kind of neat to watch. Just please don't send any twisters my way.

People and Other People's Kids

I am not a people person. I am more so than Husband is (he prides himself on not being a people person) but it takes me a long time to really get to know someone and I have a hard time getting close to people...I like to keep them at a distance. I like to have a few different conversations with someone before I decide if they are someone I will want to have as a friend or not. Sometimes my first impression of someone is accurate, sometimes it's way off base, so to protect myself, I put up walls. I am shy by nature and therefore I can only imagine what I must come across to people as.

Last Sunday, Husband and I went and looked at a rental house for E! and his family. The house they will eventually be living in will not be available until July or so, so we need something short-term for them. My first impression of the house was that it was rather dumpy with very small rooms. The kitchen and bathrooms were in pretty bad shape and I just wanted to shiver when I saw it. For some reason, the woman who owns the house doesn't like me and it's really bothering me. I was pleasant and smiling...didn't talk too much; I let Husband do most of the talking as he had set up the meeting. E! and his family arrived in town on Friday (after 50+ hours of driving) and went and saw the house today. They didn't take it. They didn't like the woman. Apparantly she started saying some things about me...I don't know what...but E! came to my defence and told her how hard I work on the farm. Too weird. It's really bothering me and yet it shouldn't because I've spent a total of 15 minutes with this woman and I'll probably never see her again. Still.

So last night we took E! and his family out for supper. We thought we'd try Kelsey's since it just opened in our nothing little town in December. We got there and it was busy - 45 minute wait, so we decided to go to the steak house instead. Sitting at Kelsey's waiting for a table was Bim. He frowned at me and gave me a look like he should know me from somewhere; I smiled and waved as we left but I don't think he clued in as to who I was. This is bothering me too.

On Friday I volunteered in TJ's class for the morning because his teacher was away and I was helping the substitute teacher. I worked on marking books in an effort to help the kids not have homework over spring break. Didn't work for TJ, he still came home with homework. So there's this one little kid there who is loud and obnoxious; he has to be the best at everything and the winner of all the games, and if someone beats him, then this kid gets quite jealous and goes on about how it wasn't fair; he's also quite the little tattler. Back to my story about TJ's class...they were learning something new in Math; Math isn't TJ's strongest subject but he does pretty well in it. This other little kid says, It's so easy even TJ can get it! He looked at me after he said it and I just gave him a frown. I wanted to grap him by his shirt collar and tell him to stop being so mean to the other kids, but I didn't think that would be setting a very good example. TJ is so easy-going that what the kid said didn't phase him. This is bothering me as well. Not that TJ is easy-going, but that kids say mean things.

He's Learning!

Our bedtime routine with the boys is to lay down with them for a few minutes before we say goodnight. Husband's routine is to have a bit of a rough'n'tumble with the boys because they need that. He usually just drapes his arm over top of them and pins them and they try to get free; CJ is very dramatic about the whole thing and quite often will throw himself off of the bed...the rougher the better for him. Last night the 2 of them were having their usual go-at-it and I was laying down with TJ. All of a sudden CJ yells out, 'Stop! You're hurting my phalanges!" It was so funny! Too bad he didn't do that good on his health test last week.

I'm off to get my monthly fix of Scrapbooking. I hope your day will be as fun as mine!

This 'N That

Today is a great day! It's Tuesday. Nothing special about Tuesday...although when I was a teen you couldn't wear red on a Tuesday or people would think you were... you know...and yes, I am wearing red, but I'm not ...you know...but I digress. The reason it's a good day is because on the CCAA website it says, and I quote "The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before July 31, 2005." Now if that isn't good news, I don't know what is! This means that now the August files will be moving into the review room and you know what that means! Our file was logged in September 13th, remember?! One step closer! So very exciting!

Last Friday Husband and I went and picked out cupboard doors and hardware for our new bathroom...the one down in the new basement that never was finished. Here is a sketch of what it will look like and the look I'm after:



I told Husband that I loved it already! It probably won't be installed until April or May, but we've been 3 months without a sink (we do have a toilet and shower in that bathroom) what's a few more weeks.

We told the boys that they are going to Florida next week and they are beyond excited...except CJ - he's so concerned about Marbles being able to come along. Marbles is his stuffed dog that is literally as big as he is. Husband said he'd have to buy a whole seat just for Marbles; I told CJ we'd try to fit him into the suitcase...we already need a suitcase just for Teddy...CJ doesn't go anywhere without Teddy and Marbles. I'm going to try to find a smaller version of Marbles for him to take on his trip. The first thing he said to me this morning wasn't Good Morning, Mom, it was Did you fit Marbles into the suitcase? Oh boy.

Weekend Workout

I had typed up this post on Saturday using Picaso but for some reason it made a fatal error and had to close, so my post was lost. So pppttthhhhhtttt! to you Picaso! On Saturday we had the AWANA Grand Prix, and being the with-it, together people that we are, we painted the cars and put them together Friday night. Actually this year we took the little blocks of wood to our neighbour (so that he could cut them for us) a whole week ahead of time but we just kept forgetting to go get them; and the few times we did call, there was either no answer or he wasn't home. Anyway it all worked out. So well in fact that TJ and AJ both won first place trophies for having the fastest cars! CJ if feeling left out because he's never won an AWANA trophy; TJ and AJ both got trophies last year as well, Teej for having the fastest car again, and AJ for having the best decorated car. It's hard for an 8-year-old to understand that not everybody can win (he came in 4th overall and just missed out on a trophy) and that some day his turn will come.




And Husband is going to Europe despite me not really wanting him to go. But now I'm looking at it as more of a challenge - Yes, I can be a single parent for a week. Yes, I can handle 3 boys on my own for a week. Yes, I may go crazy in the interim, but Husband has said he will buy me chocolate.from.Europe! The real thing! My mouth is watering now as I can almost taste it. Mmmmmm. So I'm going to let him go (like I have a choice) and be happy about it, just to prove to myself that I can do it. I can. I really can. Chocolate. It really is the cure-all to what ails you.

The in-laws are in Florida and have been there for a month now. They really miss the boys and want them to come down for spring break. So tentatively, the plan is that FIL is flying home Thursday of this week and then he will fly back to Florida with the boys on Sunday (there was no way I was letting them fly by themselves, so it was either he or I accompanying them, and since he is coming home anyway for a few days, Husband told him this was what it was). FIL will be flying back home with them the following Friday. The boys don't know and at first we really didn't think we could afford the tickets; Husband did some searching and found some for not a bad price, but they have a layover in Chicago and have to change planes. And since now we probably won't be travelling to China until the fall, we have a few extra months to save up our spending money that we've been spending. I don't know what I'll do without the boys for a whole week. Just blows my mind.

Happy March

March 1st - wow. Spring is almost here and soon (hopefully) the temperatures will reflect the look of spring we've enjoyed since Christmas. Seriously, we have had no snow accumulation since December. A sure sign of spring is that RRROLL up the rim is back at my favourite coffe shop. I get so excited whenever I win something; it's never been bigger than a coffee or muffin, but still. And the boys are at our elbows looking as we RRROLL up the rim (I can't roll my r's); now AJ has taken on the task of rolling them up and he's constantly hounding me - Have you finished your coffee yet?

Last night at bedtime, I sent TJ up to read a book while I was still getting CJ ready for bed; when CJ and I went up to their room, I didn't see Teej, so I called out his name. Up popped his little head from the other side of the bed (he was on the floor reading) and he said, "Just reading a book, my dear. Just reading a book." How funny is that!