I thought today would be an awesome day. I thought the kids would sleep in a bit, as they went to bed at 8:30 last night. Well, they got up around 7 am. which was fine. I was finished feeding Caroline. So, I checked on the kids and Claire is standing on the kitchen counter taking out a sippee cup for Catie. That is fine. So Claire and Catie are up. I fill up the cup for Catie. I tell the girls I am going to shower. I shower (and seriously my showers are literally 5 mins from start to finish!) I get dressed and I come out to find everybody up. That is fine, but what is NOT FINE is watching Carly and Claire fill up 8 oz. baby bottles with new liners, clean bottles with water from the water cooler. THAT IS NOT FINE. So, I tell them that they should not be in that cupboard again. And now I have to wash all of the bottles and dry them and put them away. Done. These bottles are older ones from Catie as Caroline has not had bottles (well one the day I had my hair done.) So, I go into the rooms of the kids, and all I ask them to come to their rooms and put on their day clothes, and I have to specify SUMMER clothes. Claire and Carly come out of their rooms with winter long sleeved, dark shirts on. I ask them to PLEASE change into summer clothing. So, they do and I asked them to make their beds...they did. Everybody is dressed. Now Caroline is crying, I change her and I soothe her long enough to make breakfast for the 4 kids. Done. Cereal. I sit down to feed Caroline. I then clean up the mess. I also went through stuff in Cameron's room to clear out his messy room as he is a little packrat. So we did a clean sweep of his papers and things. That was good.
The next thing I do is ask Carly to go to the bathroom, so she goes and it is too late. AGAIN and AGAIN. Time and time AGAIN. Poop in the panties. AGAIN. She knows she shouldn't be waiting, and so I get frustrated with her. I feel bad for being frustrated. But I am tired of cleaning out poopie pants. She throws her panties in the garbage. I take them out and ask her to PLEAAAASSSSSE use the toilet when you need to go, not after. SOOOOO FRUSTRATING. So, she gets new clothes on, I wash out the poop panties in the tub. Then I need to clean the bathroom. Meanwhile the kids are tidying up so that they can go downstairs and out to the back yard. They successfully clean everything up. Catie comes into the bathroom and slips on the cleaning products that were sprayed around the toilet. I strip her down and send her out of the bathroom. I finish the bathroom completely. Sanitized and ready for the next mess. I notice that the pump soap is completely filled with water. NO SOAP left. This soap was purchased about a week ago. IT IS ALL GONE ALREADY. My kids love to play with the soap. There is NOTHING left in the bathroom. I have to hide the toothbrushes and toothpaste. I cannot leave spare rolls of toilet paper. Cliff had to drill a drawer shut in the bathroom because they used that drawer to "lock" the door so we couldn't get in there. I had to keep their combs and elastics in our room. This bathroom is EMPTY except for a few towels and washcloths. Pretty nutso around here.
Anyways. We are trying to come up with ways to keep the kids occupied and out of trouble...especially with me being a nursing mom to a newborn and 4 other kids that are on "holiday." So my MIL two days ago bless her heart brings up an assortment of buckets, dixie cups, utensils etc. to use in the backyard to dig and make stuff with. She said she doesn't mind that they play with the outside tap. Oh yeah. Can you picture the 4 of them out there?! I can and have witnessed what these kids are capable of doing! They are little scientists all right. Yesterday FIL came home went into the freezer and found mud in cups (dixie cups given to the kids by MIL) that fell and dirtied up the freezer!!! Nobody can win around here.
So there you go. One minute things are fine, the next minute I am in trouble. I CANNOT stand this. I feel frustrated, and then the frustration is taken out on the kids. And on pour old Cliff because he is always in the middle.
What to do?
So, instead of having a nice morning. I was going to walk them up to the library to enquire about an extreme reading program for Cameron, and instead it is 11 am and all I have had time to do is really have 5 dried apricots and 3 glasses of water. I look soooo terrible right now. My hair is puffy, and I am wearing clothing I do not like and I feel sooooo gross. Not even enough time to get myself ready for the day.
Where are the kids right now? I let them downstairs with sunblock on, and I asked them to stay out of trouble. lol. Ya right. I am completely outnumbered!! lol. Caroline thankfully is sleeping. I have slipcovers in the wash, and more wash to do. I will keep checking on the kids. Running the dishwasher which now needs unloading. Oh yeah and had to get Catie dressed again as I took off her clothing that went into the cleaning chemicals! And then put her block on.
I am ready to fly this coop and move out! This isn't summer holiday, this is H E Double Hockey Sticks.
Woweee. 4 hours of really chasing around the kids and their things, and really going nowhere. What a morning. I sure hope the afternoon is a bit better.
Left to do: Sort through clothing that is too small and pack away, marinate the chicken for dinner. (Wanted to do that early this am) and keep checking on the kids and make a lunch for them all. Then I get to sweep and clean up AGAIN. lol.
Maybe I can do my hair now!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Grade One - Check
Cameron finished his last day of Grade One! Wow. Summer holidays are officially here.
It is so hard to believe that our first born is going into Grade Two in September. Today was a fun day at school. I took the girls to go watch the local talent at the school Talent Show! Wow, it was so fun to watch all of the kids perform on the stage infront of their peers. Cameron didn't participate this year, but next year he said he would like to sing. So, we will see. A couple of his classmates performed. Everything from dancing to the sax to singing. A lot of talent out there. I don't think I would have the guts to go do something like that in front of my peers! The girls were having fun watching and of course Catie being the entertainer started dancing on the gym floor and the older kids were laughing and smiling at her. Too cute! I was laughing so hard, and I felt really proud of all of my kids at that point. They were so well behaved to sit (with healthy snacks) for way over an hour! Yay GIRLS!
Cameron did well on his report card, and I am so proud of him. He also received a certificate for reading 350 books during the year in his home reading program. He is reading levels are above many of his classmates and the teacher suggested him take the summer reading program at the library. I am going to check up on that. He also did well in Math! That is all good. I am not so good at math. So that makes me feel pleased too!
Happy Claps for Cameron!
It is so hard to believe that our first born is going into Grade Two in September. Today was a fun day at school. I took the girls to go watch the local talent at the school Talent Show! Wow, it was so fun to watch all of the kids perform on the stage infront of their peers. Cameron didn't participate this year, but next year he said he would like to sing. So, we will see. A couple of his classmates performed. Everything from dancing to the sax to singing. A lot of talent out there. I don't think I would have the guts to go do something like that in front of my peers! The girls were having fun watching and of course Catie being the entertainer started dancing on the gym floor and the older kids were laughing and smiling at her. Too cute! I was laughing so hard, and I felt really proud of all of my kids at that point. They were so well behaved to sit (with healthy snacks) for way over an hour! Yay GIRLS!
Cameron did well on his report card, and I am so proud of him. He also received a certificate for reading 350 books during the year in his home reading program. He is reading levels are above many of his classmates and the teacher suggested him take the summer reading program at the library. I am going to check up on that. He also did well in Math! That is all good. I am not so good at math. So that makes me feel pleased too!
Happy Claps for Cameron!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Pam N Pat's Paradise
Pam N Pat's Paradise
One of my fellow www.kidswap.ca Mom's blog! Pam your yard looks fabulous! You must be pleased! I am sad I missed the dinner. I look forward to November's Dinner!
Cathy
One of my fellow www.kidswap.ca Mom's blog! Pam your yard looks fabulous! You must be pleased! I am sad I missed the dinner. I look forward to November's Dinner!
Cathy
Sherocious: Notes from the Motherland
Sherocious: Notes from the Motherland
Another BC blogger with two cute little boys! She seems really fun!
Cathy
Another BC blogger with two cute little boys! She seems really fun!
Cathy
Can a girl have it all?
Yesterday, I accepted a part time job. And, that job more than likely will start in July. Can you believe it? I am excited yet nervous. I am not sure how my kids will do it? I am not sure how Cliff will manage? How will I manage? Will we manage?
This job means opportunity, and the excitment of what a paycheque will bring? It can help fix up the kitchen, purchase two prints I have wanted for ever, new sheets? Whatever we feel like. Even pay off debt. It means freedom, and time for me to be Cathy. Not Mom. To prove to myself that "I've still got it." Or prove to myself that working is not for me at this time. So many emotions, so many feelings are welling up. It means my life is moving on, and my family is growing up.
Cliff has booked himself a consultation with the dick doc. Yes, the big Vasectomy appointment is in Cliff's future. Although I think I should feel happy to be "moving on" I really feel angry and mad that he is actually going through with it. I don't know if this is the right decision. Everybody else says it is, but to me it just feels wrong. I guess because I have spent a lot of time being pregnant and nursing and raising our kids. This August I will have been home for 7 years, with another 5 to go atleast. Except for this pt job I am starting. I guess Cliff and I need to talk about it some more. So that I feel heard, and that he feels heard. And that we both REALLY agree this is for the best. No matter what others have to say about the issue. Because really, it is for us to decide. It is after all our reality. And the decision to go ahead is very FINAL.
Yes, I know I promised. I am sure everybody that knows me knows I said that. But, sometimes I make mistakes. And, I don't want to make a mistake when it comes to our family. Just bear with me. I am just going through many changes and emotions these days. It feels very different than I am used to.
I wonder if I can truly have it all. Can I?
This job means opportunity, and the excitment of what a paycheque will bring? It can help fix up the kitchen, purchase two prints I have wanted for ever, new sheets? Whatever we feel like. Even pay off debt. It means freedom, and time for me to be Cathy. Not Mom. To prove to myself that "I've still got it." Or prove to myself that working is not for me at this time. So many emotions, so many feelings are welling up. It means my life is moving on, and my family is growing up.
Cliff has booked himself a consultation with the dick doc. Yes, the big Vasectomy appointment is in Cliff's future. Although I think I should feel happy to be "moving on" I really feel angry and mad that he is actually going through with it. I don't know if this is the right decision. Everybody else says it is, but to me it just feels wrong. I guess because I have spent a lot of time being pregnant and nursing and raising our kids. This August I will have been home for 7 years, with another 5 to go atleast. Except for this pt job I am starting. I guess Cliff and I need to talk about it some more. So that I feel heard, and that he feels heard. And that we both REALLY agree this is for the best. No matter what others have to say about the issue. Because really, it is for us to decide. It is after all our reality. And the decision to go ahead is very FINAL.
Yes, I know I promised. I am sure everybody that knows me knows I said that. But, sometimes I make mistakes. And, I don't want to make a mistake when it comes to our family. Just bear with me. I am just going through many changes and emotions these days. It feels very different than I am used to.
I wonder if I can truly have it all. Can I?
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
tiny pink sleepers
Today, I sadly and reluctantly had to put the little, itty bitty baby sleepers away as Caroline has outgrown many of the tiny pink sleepers. Forever. We will no longer need them EVER.
That is so hard for me. This step is so FINAL. All these sweet little pink sleepers no longer needed by our family. As our family will not grow anymore. Except up. But not in numbers. I will have to make the decision about what I should do with them. Do I save some for her memory box? donate them? or save them for my sister's/cousin's in hopes that they too can experience all of the joy a daughter brings?!
Just the thought of no longer having a sweet tiny baby of my own in my arms brings tears to my eyes. Our family is complete. And the scary thought is that I am not sure if that feels right. All common sense and family members tell me this is right for our family. But, even today somebody asked if we are done. And I said yes. We are done. My husband wants to be done. But me...I could have another. And it is hard when people say we make such wonderful kids and that we do such an amazing job of raising our c crew. I will probably always wonder who number 6 could of been. But I know I will never find out. Somebody has to be the last, and Caroline is our last.
Caroline is growing so fast, and today she is officially 8 weeks old as it is a Tuesday. She has grown up so much, and is really exploring her world, and watching her hands, and making vowel sounds once in awhile. Smiling at us and her siblings!
And has outgrown her tiny pink sleepers.
That is so hard for me. This step is so FINAL. All these sweet little pink sleepers no longer needed by our family. As our family will not grow anymore. Except up. But not in numbers. I will have to make the decision about what I should do with them. Do I save some for her memory box? donate them? or save them for my sister's/cousin's in hopes that they too can experience all of the joy a daughter brings?!
Just the thought of no longer having a sweet tiny baby of my own in my arms brings tears to my eyes. Our family is complete. And the scary thought is that I am not sure if that feels right. All common sense and family members tell me this is right for our family. But, even today somebody asked if we are done. And I said yes. We are done. My husband wants to be done. But me...I could have another. And it is hard when people say we make such wonderful kids and that we do such an amazing job of raising our c crew. I will probably always wonder who number 6 could of been. But I know I will never find out. Somebody has to be the last, and Caroline is our last.
Caroline is growing so fast, and today she is officially 8 weeks old as it is a Tuesday. She has grown up so much, and is really exploring her world, and watching her hands, and making vowel sounds once in awhile. Smiling at us and her siblings!
And has outgrown her tiny pink sleepers.
Things to do still
I need to buy her two soft dollies for her crib (so that she has the same things as her sisters)
Nonna will create a beautiful C quilt just for her. I think it will be in greens/whites and a hint of purple - Nonna has purchased the fabric and it is beautiful and perfect for Caroline
buy c a r o l i n e letters for the wall - well since I cannot buy the letters as they are unavailable to purchase anymore, I am going to try to MAKE the letters from playdough as a mold, and then pour plaster of paris into the playdough molds...I hope it works
Need to give my Dr. a photo of Caroline for the baby board - that will happen next Wednesday when Catie and Caroline get shots at the same appt.
Yesterday
Yesterday was a very hot, and busy day around here. I took 3/5 kids to a park for a year end bbq in the park for Cameron and his grade one class. Thankfully 2 kids were able to stay home. What would I do without the support of my family. My Mom came over to watch Carly and Catie. As Carly was a bit too young, and Catie naps during the time we were gone.
It was a beautiful park, and the kids had a great time there. We left the school at 10:30 am and got home at 2:40 pm or so. They had face painting, bbq hotdogs, and all of the parents brought something to share. It was a really great day for all of us. Caroline did awesome...she must of loved the fresh air. She slept almost until the time we had to leave. And Cameron and Claire enjoyed participating in the games and the face painting.
I didn't feel like making dinner last night as it was too hot. MIL created a nice pasta salad, and we had bbq sausage and flat bread. The kids had ice cream cones in the back yard, and then into a cool tub to clean up and cool down. After everybody was bathed we got them into their pj's and took a drive in the van with the a/c on to cool off. The kids liked that, so did we. Got home put them into their beds. Caroline fed and we had some DQ as a cool treat. Then, I fell asleep on the couch, then got up to use the computer (got my second wind at 11:30) Cliff went to bed, and I stayed up. I eventually went to bed around midnight as I was getting the nods at the computer.
It was a beautiful park, and the kids had a great time there. We left the school at 10:30 am and got home at 2:40 pm or so. They had face painting, bbq hotdogs, and all of the parents brought something to share. It was a really great day for all of us. Caroline did awesome...she must of loved the fresh air. She slept almost until the time we had to leave. And Cameron and Claire enjoyed participating in the games and the face painting.
I didn't feel like making dinner last night as it was too hot. MIL created a nice pasta salad, and we had bbq sausage and flat bread. The kids had ice cream cones in the back yard, and then into a cool tub to clean up and cool down. After everybody was bathed we got them into their pj's and took a drive in the van with the a/c on to cool off. The kids liked that, so did we. Got home put them into their beds. Caroline fed and we had some DQ as a cool treat. Then, I fell asleep on the couch, then got up to use the computer (got my second wind at 11:30) Cliff went to bed, and I stayed up. I eventually went to bed around midnight as I was getting the nods at the computer.
the word altruistic
altruistic
adj : showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
Do you ever wake up with a word stuck in your head, or a song stuck in your head? Well this morning I had this word stuck in my head. Just thought I would share!
adj : showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
Do you ever wake up with a word stuck in your head, or a song stuck in your head? Well this morning I had this word stuck in my head. Just thought I would share!
A really large turkey
I have to record the things people tell me...
Yeterday, I was asked how I keep myself looking so "beautiful." with 5 kids in tow. I said to her, I have to make time for myself. I need to feel good about myself and so I do my hair, waxing and pedicures on a regular basis! If I don't feel good it reflects back on the family. I encouraged her to take time for herself.
Today, on our walk home from school I was asked if they were all mine...I said yes. They are all mine (and Cameron was already in school) She said it will be wonderful when your kids grow up. How rewarding that will be. And, she also threw in you will just have to make a bigger turkey...I laughed and answered yes a really LARGE turkey!
Yeterday, I was asked how I keep myself looking so "beautiful." with 5 kids in tow. I said to her, I have to make time for myself. I need to feel good about myself and so I do my hair, waxing and pedicures on a regular basis! If I don't feel good it reflects back on the family. I encouraged her to take time for herself.
Today, on our walk home from school I was asked if they were all mine...I said yes. They are all mine (and Cameron was already in school) She said it will be wonderful when your kids grow up. How rewarding that will be. And, she also threw in you will just have to make a bigger turkey...I laughed and answered yes a really LARGE turkey!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Saturday Summary
This morning EVERYBODY slept in until 8 a.m.
That is so unusual, but I am not going to complain. Our day was really all about running errands. We went to get meats, groceries, bread store, fruits and veggies. We went to the post office to mail off a parcel. I also got some waxing done, and a pedicure. The colour of my toes is "Dancing in the Isles" aka Cathy's pink. I had a fun chat with my two cousins who also go to Kelli. They were in there getting pedi's before me. They stayed for a bit of my appointment which was a lot of fun to chat and catch up! I never laughed so hard! Tears were streaming down my cheeks from laughter. We always have such a good time together. I really loved that.
Came home, ran some more errands. Between feeds etc. There was dinner. BBQ burgers. Yummy. Kids played outside. I folded two loads of laundry and cleaned up some dinner mess.
Cliff had fun spraying the kids with the hose in the backyard...the kids absolutely loved that! Even Cliff got all wet! That sure cooled them off on a very warm Summer day.
Kids went to bed a bit later as we are starting our "summer hours" so bedtime just before 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Cameron went to bed easy, the 3 girls no so easy. They fooled around until about 9 or so. That was a bit frustrating, but their room gets very warm as it is southern exposure for them.
When I was done feeding Caroline, Cliff and I sorted though mounds and piles of artwork from the past 2 years. I layed out all of the artwork on the kitchen table by child...and took a photo of the whole table. Cameron had 3 tables worth, Claire 2, and Carly 2. We kept the best pieces of art we could find. I also now have a spot for all of my beautiful mothers day gifts etc. from the kids. It is so neat to think that I will always receive 5 presents every mothers day. Very exciting. I am going to get some gallery style frames to hang the best art pieces in our hallway. Make it a hallway that the kids can be proud of! I think that will make them feel very special to see their stuff on the wall! We will have a large gallery that is for sure.
From now I am going to take a photo of the artwork being held by the artist. That way I can have a visual of both the art and the kid together! Yippee! I will only keep the best...
I am in the process of working on a Home Management Binder. I am really loving that! Feels good to have EVERYTHING in one place! EVERYTHING from weekly menus, school calendars, to birthday lists, to movies we want to watch, to recipes and gift ideas etc. All in one large binder. That will totally prepare me for my busy days ahead especially when all of the kids will be in school. Yippee. I am going to need a very large binder!
We also sorted through all of our manuals, certificates for appliances and recycled/tossed the ones that are no longer with us.
We also sorted through all of the cookbooks, and found a better spot for them in the computer cabinet in hopes of trying out some new recipes etc.
Well it is late again. What else is new. Weekend is almost over...
That is so unusual, but I am not going to complain. Our day was really all about running errands. We went to get meats, groceries, bread store, fruits and veggies. We went to the post office to mail off a parcel. I also got some waxing done, and a pedicure. The colour of my toes is "Dancing in the Isles" aka Cathy's pink. I had a fun chat with my two cousins who also go to Kelli. They were in there getting pedi's before me. They stayed for a bit of my appointment which was a lot of fun to chat and catch up! I never laughed so hard! Tears were streaming down my cheeks from laughter. We always have such a good time together. I really loved that.
Came home, ran some more errands. Between feeds etc. There was dinner. BBQ burgers. Yummy. Kids played outside. I folded two loads of laundry and cleaned up some dinner mess.
Cliff had fun spraying the kids with the hose in the backyard...the kids absolutely loved that! Even Cliff got all wet! That sure cooled them off on a very warm Summer day.
Kids went to bed a bit later as we are starting our "summer hours" so bedtime just before 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Cameron went to bed easy, the 3 girls no so easy. They fooled around until about 9 or so. That was a bit frustrating, but their room gets very warm as it is southern exposure for them.
When I was done feeding Caroline, Cliff and I sorted though mounds and piles of artwork from the past 2 years. I layed out all of the artwork on the kitchen table by child...and took a photo of the whole table. Cameron had 3 tables worth, Claire 2, and Carly 2. We kept the best pieces of art we could find. I also now have a spot for all of my beautiful mothers day gifts etc. from the kids. It is so neat to think that I will always receive 5 presents every mothers day. Very exciting. I am going to get some gallery style frames to hang the best art pieces in our hallway. Make it a hallway that the kids can be proud of! I think that will make them feel very special to see their stuff on the wall! We will have a large gallery that is for sure.
From now I am going to take a photo of the artwork being held by the artist. That way I can have a visual of both the art and the kid together! Yippee! I will only keep the best...
I am in the process of working on a Home Management Binder. I am really loving that! Feels good to have EVERYTHING in one place! EVERYTHING from weekly menus, school calendars, to birthday lists, to movies we want to watch, to recipes and gift ideas etc. All in one large binder. That will totally prepare me for my busy days ahead especially when all of the kids will be in school. Yippee. I am going to need a very large binder!
We also sorted through all of our manuals, certificates for appliances and recycled/tossed the ones that are no longer with us.
We also sorted through all of the cookbooks, and found a better spot for them in the computer cabinet in hopes of trying out some new recipes etc.
Well it is late again. What else is new. Weekend is almost over...
Friday, June 23, 2006
You have 5 kids?!
I had a funny thing happen last night at the graduation. I was sitting in the pews with my parents, my Grannie, Cliff, and all of my girls. These ladies behind me saw me pull Caroline out of the infant seat. She said...she wasn't there before?! I said yes she was. She said, are those two girls twins? (meaning Claire and Carly and we get this a lot) I said nope. They are 18 months apart. They asked about Catie's age too. I said she will be 2 in September.
So, you have 3 girls? Nope. We have 4 girls and that boy up there in the blue shirt, he is ours too. He is the big brother to all of his sisters. We have 5 kids. And they are 6 and under. They were freaking out in a funny way of course. They said to me, you look so put together for having all of those kids. You are only 20! How can you have all of those kids. I said that I am older than that, and I look good TODAY because I had my hair done yesterday. I kept hearing them whisper back and forth about our family to their family members. It was so funny. I had to share this, because these kinds of stories happen a lot when you have a larger family. I just need to start writing them down!
So, you have 3 girls? Nope. We have 4 girls and that boy up there in the blue shirt, he is ours too. He is the big brother to all of his sisters. We have 5 kids. And they are 6 and under. They were freaking out in a funny way of course. They said to me, you look so put together for having all of those kids. You are only 20! How can you have all of those kids. I said that I am older than that, and I look good TODAY because I had my hair done yesterday. I kept hearing them whisper back and forth about our family to their family members. It was so funny. I had to share this, because these kinds of stories happen a lot when you have a larger family. I just need to start writing them down!
The Graduate
Claire with the other graduates of the class of 2006 preschool year
Claire receiving her certificate of "graduation" from preschool last night. Claire would like to be a doctor when she grows up!
We are very proud of you Miss Claire.
Caroline in Claire's Dress
Caroline Mae wearing Claire's Little Dress. She is 7 weeks and 3 days old here.
Claire and Caroline
Here is a photo from last night. Caroline is wearing one of Claire's many old dresses. This is the first sister to wear this dress as Carly and Catie were born in the wrong season. It is amazing to me to see my eldest and youngest daughters together. It is hard to believe that Claire fit into this little dress 5 years ago...and now she has graduated from preschool and is heading to Kindergarten in September. You are growing up my darling Claire. How I love you.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
things change instantly
I just want to share a few seconds of my day. It was really frustrating!
I was feeding Caroline, and in the bathroom is Carly. I hear Carly and Catie in there. I hear loud noises in there. I call for Carly. She comes out of the bathroom wearing different pants. I pull Caroline off of me to find out what happened in the bathroom. I pass Caroline off to Claire as my hand now smells like poop because Carly did not wash her hands. I wash my hands well. Then I take Carly to go give yet another lesson bathroom habits and handwashing. Poop bits are on the floor, on the toilet seat and to boot. I get the cleaning supplies, and assist Carly in cleaning up her mess. I ask her where her panties are. They are on our bedroom floor. This girl gets around eh. I threw them away. Definatley not worth saving.
I take a look in the girls' bedroom. Poop on the stool. I ask Carly to clean that up too. I sprayed she wiped and threw out the paper towel. Cameron's room has been raided so Carly cleaned that up. I tidy up a few things too to help make it go faster. I go back to the living room. Catie is out on the patio with Carly. Carly is sitting IN THE BBQ. Man. I was frustrated. I pull her out, and say no more patio. I closed the slider to them. I come back in, and extra/double photos are on the floor. I pick those up. I finally put Caroline in the bouncy seat, out of trouble. She is sleeping. Cameron is now home, and now the dynamics change. He gets loud, and then the whole house gets loud. Snack time...Gotta go.
I was feeding Caroline, and in the bathroom is Carly. I hear Carly and Catie in there. I hear loud noises in there. I call for Carly. She comes out of the bathroom wearing different pants. I pull Caroline off of me to find out what happened in the bathroom. I pass Caroline off to Claire as my hand now smells like poop because Carly did not wash her hands. I wash my hands well. Then I take Carly to go give yet another lesson bathroom habits and handwashing. Poop bits are on the floor, on the toilet seat and to boot. I get the cleaning supplies, and assist Carly in cleaning up her mess. I ask her where her panties are. They are on our bedroom floor. This girl gets around eh. I threw them away. Definatley not worth saving.
I take a look in the girls' bedroom. Poop on the stool. I ask Carly to clean that up too. I sprayed she wiped and threw out the paper towel. Cameron's room has been raided so Carly cleaned that up. I tidy up a few things too to help make it go faster. I go back to the living room. Catie is out on the patio with Carly. Carly is sitting IN THE BBQ. Man. I was frustrated. I pull her out, and say no more patio. I closed the slider to them. I come back in, and extra/double photos are on the floor. I pick those up. I finally put Caroline in the bouncy seat, out of trouble. She is sleeping. Cameron is now home, and now the dynamics change. He gets loud, and then the whole house gets loud. Snack time...Gotta go.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Like my hair?
I finally got my hair done. It is amazing how just a hairstyle can change how I feel. I feel more human again, but perhaps that is because I am getting a bit more sleep too.
Man, I missed my hair dresser Crystal. She is working again, and I got an appointment this evening. I am very happy with it. I got some layers put in. These photos were self done, and just a few minutes ago. Thus the tired face. lol. I should be in bed, but hey. I wanted to finally put a photo of myself up here. Today was the first time I have left Caroline as I am breastfeeding her. I went out for just over 2 hours. I fed her just before I left, and then my MIL fed her 4 oz of formula. I felt bad initially giving her a bit of formula, but really...I needed that time to myself. She took it with no problem. Now I know I can have a bit of me time if need be in the future. I missed her, and was glad to see her again.
The Many Faces of Caroline - from June 18th
6 weeks and 6 days old photos taken June 18th in my favourite sleeper from Nonna. It is a Carters brand and came from Las Vegas.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
It is technically still Tuesday...well for 5 more mins anyways...
Wow. Busy afternoon. Laminate boards were delivered. The kids had fun today putting little stickers all over themselves. And, I sorted through and purged old stationary items like old note cards, and envelopes from my Benwell days when I actually had a great income lol. The kids loved pretending to write letters, and put "stamps" on them. Then the stamps got all over them. They had a blast, and it kept them happy for about a 1/2 hour or so. Then they picked them off one by one. Great fun and free fun!
Dinner was good. BBQ chicken burgers with baked low fat fries, greek salad and vanilla pudding for dessert. The kids were all filthy dirty from playing outside all afternoon so baths and showers for all! MIL came up and watched the girls so that Cliff, Cameron, Caroline and I could go out and run errands. We went to get sandals for Cameron at Payless, then we headed to Wal*Mart to get a gift card for the preschool teacher, and finally picked up our photos from Caroline's birth. We also had odds and ends to buy. Did that. Then I headed to Reitman's to buy a pair of pants and two t shirts. I still don't fit into my old clothing which is really quite sad. So, I didn't want to wait for another 20 pounds so I bought a plus size bottom. It is temporary. Caroline was crying so badly that I could hear her outside the store when I quickly tried on my clothing. Mommy ears...I hear EVERYTHING!! So, I quickly purchased the items and then fed her in the van which took about 2o mins. Do do do. Waiting waiting. Put her back in her seat and did the Tim Horton's drive thru to get another gift certificate for the other preschool teacher. Came home, Cameron made his lunch. He got into bed after 10. Yikes. That is a first and a last for that. He was tired.
Funny story Cameron told us today in the van on the way home. He told us that he has been kissed by two girls in his class in the tree at school so nobody could see them. Cliff and I look at each other and say oh yeah, calmly...Shaelynn has kissed him on the cheek once. He told her to stop. She did. And Hayle has kissed him two times as well in the tree. I asked him if he liked the kisses and he said no with a laugh. Wow. eh. Wow.
This is why we will never have a DVD player in the van. For moments when we as parents receive this kind of info. He is 6 turning 7 in August. So it begins already. Cameron is well loved by the girls in his class. It is quite funny to us now, but maybe not as funny when he grows to love those kisses! He plays with girls over the boys in his class. He is going to make one heck of a wonderful husband one day!
So now everything is ready for my busy day tomorrow. Caroline is in her crib, Cliff is in bed, the girls are all tucked in. It is my turn now. I am very tired. Tomorrow is the last time I will drive the girls to preschool together ever again. Thursday night Claire "graduates" from preschool. My girl is going to Kindergarten. Carly will be the only one in preschool in Sept! Wow how they grow.
Good night!
Cathy
Dinner was good. BBQ chicken burgers with baked low fat fries, greek salad and vanilla pudding for dessert. The kids were all filthy dirty from playing outside all afternoon so baths and showers for all! MIL came up and watched the girls so that Cliff, Cameron, Caroline and I could go out and run errands. We went to get sandals for Cameron at Payless, then we headed to Wal*Mart to get a gift card for the preschool teacher, and finally picked up our photos from Caroline's birth. We also had odds and ends to buy. Did that. Then I headed to Reitman's to buy a pair of pants and two t shirts. I still don't fit into my old clothing which is really quite sad. So, I didn't want to wait for another 20 pounds so I bought a plus size bottom. It is temporary. Caroline was crying so badly that I could hear her outside the store when I quickly tried on my clothing. Mommy ears...I hear EVERYTHING!! So, I quickly purchased the items and then fed her in the van which took about 2o mins. Do do do. Waiting waiting. Put her back in her seat and did the Tim Horton's drive thru to get another gift certificate for the other preschool teacher. Came home, Cameron made his lunch. He got into bed after 10. Yikes. That is a first and a last for that. He was tired.
Funny story Cameron told us today in the van on the way home. He told us that he has been kissed by two girls in his class in the tree at school so nobody could see them. Cliff and I look at each other and say oh yeah, calmly...Shaelynn has kissed him on the cheek once. He told her to stop. She did. And Hayle has kissed him two times as well in the tree. I asked him if he liked the kisses and he said no with a laugh. Wow. eh. Wow.
This is why we will never have a DVD player in the van. For moments when we as parents receive this kind of info. He is 6 turning 7 in August. So it begins already. Cameron is well loved by the girls in his class. It is quite funny to us now, but maybe not as funny when he grows to love those kisses! He plays with girls over the boys in his class. He is going to make one heck of a wonderful husband one day!
So now everything is ready for my busy day tomorrow. Caroline is in her crib, Cliff is in bed, the girls are all tucked in. It is my turn now. I am very tired. Tomorrow is the last time I will drive the girls to preschool together ever again. Thursday night Claire "graduates" from preschool. My girl is going to Kindergarten. Carly will be the only one in preschool in Sept! Wow how they grow.
Good night!
Cathy
It's Tuesday...again!?
Well, my days have been so busy I don't have time to update these days. The school year is coming to a close next week. There are things to buy for the teachers etc. Cards to write in etc. And pair that with my 5 kids it gets a little crazy. Well OK, A LOT CRAZY. lol. Tomorrow is the last day of preschool for the girls and they have a summer Carnival in the morning at preschool.
I lost 5 pounds! I have been on the treadmill for 6/7 of the last week. I have been watching my portions etc. And drinking lots of water. I am determined that by the time school gets back in Session in September that the parents and the staff at school will not recognize me! And by my 35th bday that I look absolutely fabulous! Well I can try can't I?! I will do it! I am a Mom on a mission.
I just got a phone call about the flooring for our place. The laminate flooring is being dropped off today get ready for the installation starts on Thursday, and hopefully finishes on Friday. That is good news. Very good news. Finally that will be done...and just in time for summer!
Caroline is 7 weeks old today, and she has been very gassy and upset and crying it seems like for about a week . This morning on our walk to school she cried the whole way there and back. That was brutal. It seems as if all I do is feed her these days. I stood on the scale with her, and I think she is about 10 pounds + so I know she is doing well. She is growing and and changing. When I look at her I see a lot of Cameron as a baby in her. Crazy how that is. She does look different than all of the others. Really cool. Last night she was up at 3 something in the morning. That is after I finally got her down around midnight, and this morning we were up at 6 am. I am glad the holidays are almost here. She must be going through another growth spurt. That is all I can think of.
Last night I made a good sweet and sour chicken from scratch. On the side was a big pot of white rice, broccoli and cauliflower. It was a hit for the whole family. Most surprised at this were Cliff and my MIL as I deboned all of the chicken thighs myself. They almost had a heart attack. lol. I don't like touching or cooking with meat with skin, bones and veins etc. It totally grosses me out. But it tasted pretty yummy. And Cliff has lunch for a couple of days and I froze one container and I fed my In Laws. Tonight is bbq chicken burgers and red meat burgers. And a salad. Cliff and I have started meal planning our dinners so that we don't have to think about what to have for dinner. We have a schedule up on the fridge and we refer to it each night. Works well for our family.
Today, well. I am going to work on my "office in a box" with the kids. Basically get all of my office type supplies into one area. Caroline is sleeping right now. And my 3 other girls are playing in the playroom.
My Mom also had a good idea and that is to pre buy gifts for all of the bday parties our kids get invited too. That way when somebody has a party to attend I can go to my "gift" basket and the kids can choose a gift for the child. That is a time saver!! I am all over that. Now I just need to get the time to do that.
Tonight it is off to get gift cards for the preschool teachers and get Cameron some new sandals and runners. He grew! Again. And pick up my photos as they have been waiting for me to pick them up for weeks!!
All is well for now. lol.
Cathy
I lost 5 pounds! I have been on the treadmill for 6/7 of the last week. I have been watching my portions etc. And drinking lots of water. I am determined that by the time school gets back in Session in September that the parents and the staff at school will not recognize me! And by my 35th bday that I look absolutely fabulous! Well I can try can't I?! I will do it! I am a Mom on a mission.
I just got a phone call about the flooring for our place. The laminate flooring is being dropped off today get ready for the installation starts on Thursday, and hopefully finishes on Friday. That is good news. Very good news. Finally that will be done...and just in time for summer!
Caroline is 7 weeks old today, and she has been very gassy and upset and crying it seems like for about a week . This morning on our walk to school she cried the whole way there and back. That was brutal. It seems as if all I do is feed her these days. I stood on the scale with her, and I think she is about 10 pounds + so I know she is doing well. She is growing and and changing. When I look at her I see a lot of Cameron as a baby in her. Crazy how that is. She does look different than all of the others. Really cool. Last night she was up at 3 something in the morning. That is after I finally got her down around midnight, and this morning we were up at 6 am. I am glad the holidays are almost here. She must be going through another growth spurt. That is all I can think of.
Last night I made a good sweet and sour chicken from scratch. On the side was a big pot of white rice, broccoli and cauliflower. It was a hit for the whole family. Most surprised at this were Cliff and my MIL as I deboned all of the chicken thighs myself. They almost had a heart attack. lol. I don't like touching or cooking with meat with skin, bones and veins etc. It totally grosses me out. But it tasted pretty yummy. And Cliff has lunch for a couple of days and I froze one container and I fed my In Laws. Tonight is bbq chicken burgers and red meat burgers. And a salad. Cliff and I have started meal planning our dinners so that we don't have to think about what to have for dinner. We have a schedule up on the fridge and we refer to it each night. Works well for our family.
Today, well. I am going to work on my "office in a box" with the kids. Basically get all of my office type supplies into one area. Caroline is sleeping right now. And my 3 other girls are playing in the playroom.
My Mom also had a good idea and that is to pre buy gifts for all of the bday parties our kids get invited too. That way when somebody has a party to attend I can go to my "gift" basket and the kids can choose a gift for the child. That is a time saver!! I am all over that. Now I just need to get the time to do that.
Tonight it is off to get gift cards for the preschool teachers and get Cameron some new sandals and runners. He grew! Again. And pick up my photos as they have been waiting for me to pick them up for weeks!!
All is well for now. lol.
Cathy
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Happy Fathers Day
What Makes a Dad?
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagles in flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
And there was nothing more to add,
He knew his masterpiece was complete,
And He called it – Dad.
Author unknown
I just want to say Happy Fathers Day to all of you Dad's out there!
You Father's do an amazing job with your kids. If it is your first Fathers Day! Enjoy your day with your baby/child/children!
I especially want to say thank you to my wonderful Hubby Cliff for being the best Dad to our wonderful kids Cameron, Claire, Carly, Catie and Caroline. Our world is a better place because you are in it! Thank you for loving us the way you do!
We love you Cliff. Happy Father Day. We hope you Golf game is good! Enjoy your time off!
Cathy xo
This is the entry I submitted to Today's Parent magazine. Cliff to my surprise was not picked, but he is the winner in my eyes.
Here is the entry I submitted:
Stop the presses -- allow me introduce you to my husband Cliff, our Dynamite Dad! Cliff, who is best known as Daddy at our house, is father to our 4 children, Cameron, Claire, Carly and Catie. When baby number five arrives in May, our troops will total 5 children, all 6 and under. That alone should earn him a Medal for Father of the Year.
Cliff has two jobs, his paid position as a full-time Journeyman Electrician, and his unpaid job, father, chef, chief tickler, humourist and family treasure. Somehow he manages to support us all in his own magical and wonderful way.
When our dynamite daddy is home, be it morning, noon or the middle of the night, Cliff is the first one to pitch in. He is a pro at changing diapers, finding lost articles of clothing, reassuring a fitful child. He presides at the nightly bath ritual. He makes potty runs and gets up nights to sooth a sleepless child when they call out for their Daddy.
All that and he cooks too! He can whip up a batch of fabulous pancakes for breakfast—our Saturday morning favourite, make his famous guacamole, BBQ like a pro, makes bread in the bread machine, he even makes his own pasta, and his father-in-law raves over his beef jerky! He is a great cook. And if that weren’t enough, he does bathrooms too! All this is done without complaint.
Before Christmas during an unusual cold snap, including snow on the west coast, Cliff bundled us all off to the Christmas Tree farm to cut down the Christmas tree. So much better an experience for the kids in the snow. Why wait for the rain? That’s our Cliff.
In the evening when the kids are dressed in their jammies and are ready for bed, they fight for a place on his lap at night. They love their Daddy. And that shows on the faces of our children.
I asked the kids why their Daddy was the best; these are their responses:
Cameron: I like to watch and help Daddy with wires and tools
Claire: He likes doing puzzles with me and give me great big hugs
Carly: I love it when Daddy tucks me in at night
Catie: (Mommy has made this observation about Daddy and me) I love it when Daddy gives me a bath and then tickles me to make me laugh
The icing on the cake here is that really, if you could picture his heart you would see that it was made of pure gold. He has the biggest heart of anybody I know. It bursts with love for his family, and friends. I am so proud of my Husband Cliff. Contest or no contest, I publicly wish to express my love, gratitude and appreciation for Cliff the best dad around.
Shalom in the Home
I love that show, and so does Cliff. We try to watch it every Monday night. I was at his website doing some reading and I read a pretty interesting article about breastfeeding and it's affect on a marriage. I found it to be very interesting.
This is taken directly from www.shmuley.com he has lots of good advice on his site!
Should Mothers Breast-Feed if it Disrupts the Marriage
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach - Tuesday, 13 June, 2006
The Science Times, a column in The New York Times science section, has a long report today about breast-feeding and its benefits for children. We always knew that breast-feeding was very important for an infant in helping to reduce the chance of infection and illness, but now they are even saying that breast-feeding is essential to reducing the risk of childhood obesity. I don’t deny any of these benefits of breast-feeding. Having said that, what the report neglects to mention and what I have personally seen is that breast-feeding often gets in the way of the marriage itself.
One of the episodes of Shalom in the Home this year involved a young couple who were madly in love but after having a baby they saw their love life terminate completely and utterly. Even Harvard University published a study years ago which found that in the first year after a child is born a couple’s love life would decreases by about 74%. In this particular case, the mother nursed the baby well into his 11 month and because the baby was always attached to the mother’s hip it gradually alienated the husband.
There are two effects of breast-feeding that we often do not focus on. One is the de-eroticization of a woman’s body, as in her husbands eyes one of the most attractive parts of her body becomes, in effect, a cafeteria, and second it often means that a husband and wife can’t even sleep in the bed because the baby is either in the bed or the baby cries and takes all the mother’s attention.
So why we must always glorify the benefits of breast-feeding, if it begins to disrupt the marriage itself we have to begin to question if the family is better off with a baby on the bottle because no matter what benefits there are to a baby with breast-feeding, these would all be severely undermined if the parents marriage itself began to crumble.
This is taken directly from www.shmuley.com he has lots of good advice on his site!
Should Mothers Breast-Feed if it Disrupts the Marriage
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach - Tuesday, 13 June, 2006
The Science Times, a column in The New York Times science section, has a long report today about breast-feeding and its benefits for children. We always knew that breast-feeding was very important for an infant in helping to reduce the chance of infection and illness, but now they are even saying that breast-feeding is essential to reducing the risk of childhood obesity. I don’t deny any of these benefits of breast-feeding. Having said that, what the report neglects to mention and what I have personally seen is that breast-feeding often gets in the way of the marriage itself.
One of the episodes of Shalom in the Home this year involved a young couple who were madly in love but after having a baby they saw their love life terminate completely and utterly. Even Harvard University published a study years ago which found that in the first year after a child is born a couple’s love life would decreases by about 74%. In this particular case, the mother nursed the baby well into his 11 month and because the baby was always attached to the mother’s hip it gradually alienated the husband.
There are two effects of breast-feeding that we often do not focus on. One is the de-eroticization of a woman’s body, as in her husbands eyes one of the most attractive parts of her body becomes, in effect, a cafeteria, and second it often means that a husband and wife can’t even sleep in the bed because the baby is either in the bed or the baby cries and takes all the mother’s attention.
So why we must always glorify the benefits of breast-feeding, if it begins to disrupt the marriage itself we have to begin to question if the family is better off with a baby on the bottle because no matter what benefits there are to a baby with breast-feeding, these would all be severely undermined if the parents marriage itself began to crumble.
Saturday
Today I spent the majority of the day purging like crazy. I FINALLY got to clean up our bedroom. When we moved to this space, I was pregnant, and I didn't really feel like cleaning anything up, or sorting. I felt really gross back then. So, TODAY was the day. I sorted into boxes just like my favourite professional organizer Helen from NEAT www.neattv.com does. Her website has AWESOME tip and suggestions for doing things in your own home. Check it out! IT is wonderful.
I has a toss, recycle, garage sale, and donate bins. And I managed to get 6 boxes of stuff out the door! That felt great. Our room feels so relaxing now, knowing that it is cleaned up! I made space and found ways to repurpose our things for other uses. I managed to clear up a cheerful yellow bin for Caroline's baby memory box too. I also sorted through gift bags, rolled up fabric ribbons, went through my craft and artwork bins. I went and sorted through my creative cabinet (my dream cabinet that is ONLY MINE!!) and also used my p-touch label maker to label my bins and boxes! Our closets look awesome. I also want to redo our papers and home office area. I am going to create a home binder and also a home office in a box so all of my supplies are in one easy to find container. (and easy to keep away from our kids!)
I still have stuff left to do. I still want to sort through all of the kids' artwork and recycle a lot of that. I also have to go through my stuff from when I was a kid. I am going to narrow 3 large boxes into on smaller container of stuff I really want to remember and cherish. And, I will have more closet space. And my brain will be clutter free too...well maybe for a bit ;D
I put some of my paintings away, and my blank canvas that has been staring at me for months. I will also sort through some magazines and clip out and store my favourite parts/ideas for my idea folder for decorating ideas. That will further clear out a pile I don't want to look at. My goal is to create a serene, peaceful bedroom that is relaxing and not a drag to be in. It is too busy for me. My life is busy enough, so I am going to create that space for Cliff and I.
It will be mostly white, with the reddish brown laminate flooring. White duvet cover, pillow slips. Maybe a matlasse cover too. New white 2" blinds flanking both sides of the bed and purchase 2 inexpensive roman shades from IKEA. I love my dresser already. I am going to find 5 black frames with nice white matting to hang them over our bed with a b&w photo of each child in each frame...and 5 is the perfect decorating number! well, all odd numbers are! and I will hand my 3 old windows over the dresser to balance that out on the opposite wall. I am also on the hunt for a small scale black chandelier to hang over the bed, and I will get Cliff to put a dimmer switch in there. With our white pieces of furniture, and the white cubes, and the contrast of our darker wood bedframe will give it punch, but still be relaxing. I will complete the room with some nice throw rugs on the floor by where our feet hit the floor on either side of the bed in some sort of pattern and colour for interest. Maybe floral. I will be sure to post before and after photos.
We are also going to paint the main bath in white, Cliff will install a couple pot lights as the bathroom is VERY dark. I will purchase an inexpensive white waffle shower curtain, and maybe some new artwork. And white towels to complete the look. It will be awesome and will easily update the bathroom.
I am still working on what to put up over the mantel in the kitchen. I have a few ideas, but need the $$ to do so!
I has a toss, recycle, garage sale, and donate bins. And I managed to get 6 boxes of stuff out the door! That felt great. Our room feels so relaxing now, knowing that it is cleaned up! I made space and found ways to repurpose our things for other uses. I managed to clear up a cheerful yellow bin for Caroline's baby memory box too. I also sorted through gift bags, rolled up fabric ribbons, went through my craft and artwork bins. I went and sorted through my creative cabinet (my dream cabinet that is ONLY MINE!!) and also used my p-touch label maker to label my bins and boxes! Our closets look awesome. I also want to redo our papers and home office area. I am going to create a home binder and also a home office in a box so all of my supplies are in one easy to find container. (and easy to keep away from our kids!)
I still have stuff left to do. I still want to sort through all of the kids' artwork and recycle a lot of that. I also have to go through my stuff from when I was a kid. I am going to narrow 3 large boxes into on smaller container of stuff I really want to remember and cherish. And, I will have more closet space. And my brain will be clutter free too...well maybe for a bit ;D
I put some of my paintings away, and my blank canvas that has been staring at me for months. I will also sort through some magazines and clip out and store my favourite parts/ideas for my idea folder for decorating ideas. That will further clear out a pile I don't want to look at. My goal is to create a serene, peaceful bedroom that is relaxing and not a drag to be in. It is too busy for me. My life is busy enough, so I am going to create that space for Cliff and I.
It will be mostly white, with the reddish brown laminate flooring. White duvet cover, pillow slips. Maybe a matlasse cover too. New white 2" blinds flanking both sides of the bed and purchase 2 inexpensive roman shades from IKEA. I love my dresser already. I am going to find 5 black frames with nice white matting to hang them over our bed with a b&w photo of each child in each frame...and 5 is the perfect decorating number! well, all odd numbers are! and I will hand my 3 old windows over the dresser to balance that out on the opposite wall. I am also on the hunt for a small scale black chandelier to hang over the bed, and I will get Cliff to put a dimmer switch in there. With our white pieces of furniture, and the white cubes, and the contrast of our darker wood bedframe will give it punch, but still be relaxing. I will complete the room with some nice throw rugs on the floor by where our feet hit the floor on either side of the bed in some sort of pattern and colour for interest. Maybe floral. I will be sure to post before and after photos.
We are also going to paint the main bath in white, Cliff will install a couple pot lights as the bathroom is VERY dark. I will purchase an inexpensive white waffle shower curtain, and maybe some new artwork. And white towels to complete the look. It will be awesome and will easily update the bathroom.
I am still working on what to put up over the mantel in the kitchen. I have a few ideas, but need the $$ to do so!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Sweet Caroline
Peacefully sleeping...
Doesn't she look so cozy...
These photos are of Caroline taken 1 day shy of turning 5 weeks.
I thought she looked rather sweet all in pink and lying on pink. The sleeper was gift from her Great Aunty Madeleine.
Crazy Hair Day June 16th 2006 Preschool
This is tonight, taking the twisties out...
Me taking out the twisties!
(Carly is sleeping in hers again tonight!)
Taken last night before bed...ahhh sisterly love...while it lasts :D
The girls Claire and Carly had Crazy Hair day today at preschool, so last night we did their hair...I did Claire's hair, and Nonna did Carly's hair. That was to prepare for the busy day we had.
When I got the girl's to preschool there were so many CRAZY hair styles! From jello coloured hair, to ribbons, and braids and pony tails and spikes! Very fun activity for the kids, and a great preschool to organize it all. Very fun! I know Claire is going to miss her teachers, and I know Carly is very excited to go to her preschool next year, when Claire is off to the big Kindergarten.
Cameron and his First Sports Day Friday June 16th 2006
Cameron, age 6 Team Black!
Sports Day
Today we had lots going on! It was one crazy Friday. Cliff took the day off of work so we could manage the whole day! And so that we both could cheer Cameron on during his first sports day! Last year in Kindergarten he had his ear tubes put in so he couldn't participate! Today he did. Team Black Won! Yay Team Black. They had a lot of fun. Makes me remember back to tha day...so fun to watch! Thankfully the rain held out. He had to be at school at 7:45 am to go decorate his bike for the bike parade. The ribbon he is wearing is for participation in that!
It was fun for all of us! It was neat when the local fire department came to the field and put on their big spray and sprayed all of the kids! They loved that!
more crazy dreams
What about have Taylor Hicks the latest and greatest American Idol to serenade me with In the Ghetto...
What about having a huge High School Reunion party for my Grad Class of '89?
What about Cliff and I renewing our Wedding Vows somewhere fun like Las Vegas and then going on a wild honeymoon/trip somewhere really cool like somewhere in Hawaii on our own island somewhere?! That would be cool!
What about having a huge High School Reunion party for my Grad Class of '89?
What about Cliff and I renewing our Wedding Vows somewhere fun like Las Vegas and then going on a wild honeymoon/trip somewhere really cool like somewhere in Hawaii on our own island somewhere?! That would be cool!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
My Crazy Dream
My Crazy Dream – The Ellen Degeneres Show
I was looking at the Ellen website, and there is a contest for My Crazy Dream. On the website it says no dream is too big or too small to give…I have thought long and hard today, on what my crazy dream would be. It has been driving me nuts, as I cannot come up with one idea that I like. Maybe you guys can give me some ideas from what I have here.
Here are my ideas so far:
What about college funds for all 5 kids?
Or please pay off of our debt so we can start saving for our kid's future...ours too!
I thought about having Canadian designer Sarah Richardson come to our home and design a romantic bedroom and bath for Cliff and I. And give Cliff the kitchen of his dreams. Complete with all of the fixing like dishes etc. With me assisting Sarah…like a member of Design Inc. That would be fun!
A new roof for our home, as the roof over our head is wearing out.
I thought of proving myself on national TV as a decorator in some sort of decorating challenge/contest and if I won, receiving a scholarship to an interior design school. And Paid childcare so I can take 4 years to do so!
What about helping us to build a brand new home, on property that I could use to not only live, but create a business for myself and still take care of my family!
I thought about my Mom, and her wanting to have a hug from an orangutan
Or being flown to Paris, to have a romantic fling with Cliff sans kids. So we could celebrate our love together!
I thought about the possibility of having Ellen send our whole family take a trip to Disneyland! And not having to wait in line ups for rides. Having a lunch with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
I thought about asking Ellen to give me a complete makeover – an Extreme Makeover to take care of all of my physical “problems” so that I could feel beautiful again, and wardrobe to go with it. From head to toe!
I thought about asking Ellen to get Sheila Kelley or Carmen Electra teach me in Pole Dancing so I could open up a dance studio. And then an makeover to change some things I do not like about my body! Especially a work out with their experts! Whip me into shape! Get me looking youthful again, not like this frumpy Mom to 5 I am today.
I thought about asking an Extreme Makeover – Home Edition as they do not come to BC.
I thought about asking Ellen for a trip to LA to have a complete makeover with her stylist so that I could have her good hair for a day, and get to meet Ellen. I think I would suit her hairstyle.
Or having Ellen give my Sister April a brand new baby nursery complete with everything required, and some bucks so that she can be a stay at home mom like me!
Are any of these a good idea? What do you think I could submit that might get picked? What would your Crazy Dream/s be?!
I was looking at the Ellen website, and there is a contest for My Crazy Dream. On the website it says no dream is too big or too small to give…I have thought long and hard today, on what my crazy dream would be. It has been driving me nuts, as I cannot come up with one idea that I like. Maybe you guys can give me some ideas from what I have here.
Here are my ideas so far:
What about college funds for all 5 kids?
Or please pay off of our debt so we can start saving for our kid's future...ours too!
I thought about having Canadian designer Sarah Richardson come to our home and design a romantic bedroom and bath for Cliff and I. And give Cliff the kitchen of his dreams. Complete with all of the fixing like dishes etc. With me assisting Sarah…like a member of Design Inc. That would be fun!
A new roof for our home, as the roof over our head is wearing out.
I thought of proving myself on national TV as a decorator in some sort of decorating challenge/contest and if I won, receiving a scholarship to an interior design school. And Paid childcare so I can take 4 years to do so!
What about helping us to build a brand new home, on property that I could use to not only live, but create a business for myself and still take care of my family!
I thought about my Mom, and her wanting to have a hug from an orangutan
Or being flown to Paris, to have a romantic fling with Cliff sans kids. So we could celebrate our love together!
I thought about the possibility of having Ellen send our whole family take a trip to Disneyland! And not having to wait in line ups for rides. Having a lunch with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
I thought about asking Ellen to give me a complete makeover – an Extreme Makeover to take care of all of my physical “problems” so that I could feel beautiful again, and wardrobe to go with it. From head to toe!
I thought about asking Ellen to get Sheila Kelley or Carmen Electra teach me in Pole Dancing so I could open up a dance studio. And then an makeover to change some things I do not like about my body! Especially a work out with their experts! Whip me into shape! Get me looking youthful again, not like this frumpy Mom to 5 I am today.
I thought about asking an Extreme Makeover – Home Edition as they do not come to BC.
I thought about asking Ellen for a trip to LA to have a complete makeover with her stylist so that I could have her good hair for a day, and get to meet Ellen. I think I would suit her hairstyle.
Or having Ellen give my Sister April a brand new baby nursery complete with everything required, and some bucks so that she can be a stay at home mom like me!
Are any of these a good idea? What do you think I could submit that might get picked? What would your Crazy Dream/s be?!
June 15th, 2003
Remembering our Angel Baby Today is the 3rd anniversary of our loss of our 4th baby.
We lost an early pregnancy at about 7 weeks on June 15th, 2003.
The loss happened after Carly, and before Catie.
I still think about you, and who you might have been today. I thank you for giving us the courage to try again. I am thankful for all 6 of my beautiful blessings.
I miss you today, and I will miss you for always.
I took a photo of the angel in my garden that I bought in honour of you.
Always loving you.
Mommy
and it is only what time?!
Yesterday: Wednesday, I did have our van yet from the dealership. That really sucked as we had to keep the two gals home from preschool. They were sad to stay at home, but I tried to make it fun anyways. I made a yummy slow cooker Salsa Shredded Pork in wraps (like soft tacos) for dinner. It was a hit. I got on the treadmill for 1/2 hour and did lots of stretching. Cliff and his Dad went to pick up our Van finally. NO Charges on the bill thankfully!
After a crazy evening (normal LOL) I fed Caroline, and we packed her up...inlaws were listening for the kids as they were sleeping in bed. We went out to Wal*Mart to run more errands. Got what we needed, picked up a bottle of water, mailed a letter in the post box and then headed home. I think we got home around 9:30 pm. Watched some TV whilst feeding the baby. Cliff sent some emails. It was a busy day yesterday.
Wow, I thought yesterday was a day...I think this morning has taken the cake.
My morning started really at 12:00 am. I had finally showered and got into bed by 12:15 am. Night went well, although I had troubles winding down from my busy past two days. Finally I slept. Only to be awoken by the sound of Cliff's alarm at 4:45 am, and up gets Caroline (she went to bed at 10:30! that is good) and the sound of Catie crying out on and off. She settled back in for a few minutes.
Carly, got up at 5:15 am...I am in bed feeding Caroline. Every precious minute counts at this time in the morning. I finish feeding her, up gets Claire, who drags Catie out of the crib. And then up gets Cameron. They are all out of bed at 5:45 am. There are fights immediately. I hear Cameron say get her out of there...that is Catie at the full water cooler. So I get up, and there is water on the floor. I ask the kids to clean it up.
I go to my bathroom to get ready. Thankfully I am showered etc. I hear screaming as they are fighting over spots on the couch. I come out and tell them to cool it and get dressed for the day. Cameron gets dressed right away (surprisingly) and the girls are getting ready. Well, I hear more crying (Catie) which I rush, and drop my make up powder on the floor. SMASH...no more powder left...it is in chunks on the floor. I head to the girls' And Claire has Catie undressed and has changed her diaper - there is a first time for everything. I quickly make the bed in there, and I notice Carly has pee pee soaked bed sheets and quilt. Strip the bed, only to find pee pee undies and pj's under the bed. Awesome. So, after a few words with Carly I get her to help me bring the pee pee stuff to the laundry machine. I am thankful that our machines were working at this point. We throw her stuff into the laundry. We come back up, and I put stuff away that was drying on the drying rack in the kitchen. I put away my crockpot aka slow cooker in the cupboard, and I notice I am bleeding. I must have caught my knuckle on the cupboard. Get a bandaid. Get it on my finger. Get vitamins and breakfast out for the 4 kids. Thankfully Caroline is still sleeping. Today, Cameron will be picked up by Lisa. That is good, that will allow me time to get ready for the morning. It is only 6:59 right now.
This morning I will have to vacuum up my powder from the bathroom floor, and do a quick vac around the house as I have my other friend Lisa (my other friend with 5 kids basically the same set up LOL 1 boy, and 4 girls) over for a morning playdate. There will be 10 girls in the house! Can you say ESTROGEN overload?! LOL. We are going to do beading for a craft, and bake some ready made cookies and eat them for a snack. I also need to do more laundry, as when I was down in the laundry room I have about 2 more full loads to wash and dry and put away. I also have to get Catie fully dressed. She is missing pants. Claire didn't get those one Catie.
After a crazy evening (normal LOL) I fed Caroline, and we packed her up...inlaws were listening for the kids as they were sleeping in bed. We went out to Wal*Mart to run more errands. Got what we needed, picked up a bottle of water, mailed a letter in the post box and then headed home. I think we got home around 9:30 pm. Watched some TV whilst feeding the baby. Cliff sent some emails. It was a busy day yesterday.
Wow, I thought yesterday was a day...I think this morning has taken the cake.
My morning started really at 12:00 am. I had finally showered and got into bed by 12:15 am. Night went well, although I had troubles winding down from my busy past two days. Finally I slept. Only to be awoken by the sound of Cliff's alarm at 4:45 am, and up gets Caroline (she went to bed at 10:30! that is good) and the sound of Catie crying out on and off. She settled back in for a few minutes.
Carly, got up at 5:15 am...I am in bed feeding Caroline. Every precious minute counts at this time in the morning. I finish feeding her, up gets Claire, who drags Catie out of the crib. And then up gets Cameron. They are all out of bed at 5:45 am. There are fights immediately. I hear Cameron say get her out of there...that is Catie at the full water cooler. So I get up, and there is water on the floor. I ask the kids to clean it up.
I go to my bathroom to get ready. Thankfully I am showered etc. I hear screaming as they are fighting over spots on the couch. I come out and tell them to cool it and get dressed for the day. Cameron gets dressed right away (surprisingly) and the girls are getting ready. Well, I hear more crying (Catie) which I rush, and drop my make up powder on the floor. SMASH...no more powder left...it is in chunks on the floor. I head to the girls' And Claire has Catie undressed and has changed her diaper - there is a first time for everything. I quickly make the bed in there, and I notice Carly has pee pee soaked bed sheets and quilt. Strip the bed, only to find pee pee undies and pj's under the bed. Awesome. So, after a few words with Carly I get her to help me bring the pee pee stuff to the laundry machine. I am thankful that our machines were working at this point. We throw her stuff into the laundry. We come back up, and I put stuff away that was drying on the drying rack in the kitchen. I put away my crockpot aka slow cooker in the cupboard, and I notice I am bleeding. I must have caught my knuckle on the cupboard. Get a bandaid. Get it on my finger. Get vitamins and breakfast out for the 4 kids. Thankfully Caroline is still sleeping. Today, Cameron will be picked up by Lisa. That is good, that will allow me time to get ready for the morning. It is only 6:59 right now.
This morning I will have to vacuum up my powder from the bathroom floor, and do a quick vac around the house as I have my other friend Lisa (my other friend with 5 kids basically the same set up LOL 1 boy, and 4 girls) over for a morning playdate. There will be 10 girls in the house! Can you say ESTROGEN overload?! LOL. We are going to do beading for a craft, and bake some ready made cookies and eat them for a snack. I also need to do more laundry, as when I was down in the laundry room I have about 2 more full loads to wash and dry and put away. I also have to get Catie fully dressed. She is missing pants. Claire didn't get those one Catie.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Fitness Goals and Plans for myself!
I finally entered the Fitness Fantasy Contest today. I am glad I am trying that! It would be cool to win.
My Entry:
Finally our family is complete, and now I really want to get my groove back!
Our youngest baby was born May 2nd, 2006, and I am currently breastfeeding. My fitness goal is get my body back, and stay there forever! I am a stay at home mom to 5 wonderful kids all 6 and under. Finding time for myself is challenging with our large family but I need to learn to make the time for me, because I am worth it. When I look ahead to my 35th birthday in October I know the best gift I could give myself, and my family, is to be a healthy weight and in good shape. My ultimate goal is to become the best me that I can be for today, not the high school me, but looking back now, I was pretty terrific! My fitness goals for myself are to find ways to fit fitness into my busy schedule, make fitness fun, I mean what better role model is there but a fit and healthy mom? I have always dreamt and talked about running a marathon by the time I am 40. I know childbirth is often equated to running a marathon, now I want to test that theory out! Being chosen as a participant in this contest would make all the difference in the world! Choose Me, PLEASE!
My Entry:
Finally our family is complete, and now I really want to get my groove back!
Our youngest baby was born May 2nd, 2006, and I am currently breastfeeding. My fitness goal is get my body back, and stay there forever! I am a stay at home mom to 5 wonderful kids all 6 and under. Finding time for myself is challenging with our large family but I need to learn to make the time for me, because I am worth it. When I look ahead to my 35th birthday in October I know the best gift I could give myself, and my family, is to be a healthy weight and in good shape. My ultimate goal is to become the best me that I can be for today, not the high school me, but looking back now, I was pretty terrific! My fitness goals for myself are to find ways to fit fitness into my busy schedule, make fitness fun, I mean what better role model is there but a fit and healthy mom? I have always dreamt and talked about running a marathon by the time I am 40. I know childbirth is often equated to running a marathon, now I want to test that theory out! Being chosen as a participant in this contest would make all the difference in the world! Choose Me, PLEASE!
I started with my eating better, drinking water, and watching my sweets yesterday. I am back to walking...I need to walk before I can run! It felt awesome to do that! It felt good to sweat! I am trying to lose about 50 more pounds. Since Caroline was born, I have lost 20/40 pounds. And I want to lose a bit more than what I gained.
I am hoping by Christmas it will all be gone! That would be amazing. I am tired of wearing my 3 skirts that fit, and feeling frumpy. I am hoping my exercise and Carmen Electra Cardio Striptease DVD's will assist me in my goal of getting back into some of my clothing! It sucks not to be able to wear any clothes that fit last year...sucks when I go and try to pull on a larger size pant and they only go up to my thighs...that sucks. So, I have to take action, and anybody that knows me, knows I will accomplish my goal! I stick to it, and get it done...just like I have in the past. Winning the contest, would sure kickstart my program! That would be awesome to be chosen. I just hope that the photo I submitted won't scare them away. It scares me when I look at it!
I have started a weightloss journal, and so have many other of my friends over at www.kidswap.ca, but you have to become a member to read that. I have posted my photos there too. I am not posting them here LOL! Sorry. Maybe I will post my after photos tho.
Today I FINALLY booked a hair appointment with my awesome stylist Crystal...she was away, and now she is working Wed nights and every second Sat. I have an appointment!! No more grey hairs and roots! I can get my bright blonde highlights back!
Mom and Dad: Stop reading now...If you are reading this...stop now LOL. This is TMI...aka Too Much Information below, especially for Dad! Stop now!! close this page!
I also booked a pedicure for the 24th, and my waxing of unmentioned areas...can't give away all of my secrets! LOL. That will be good, and since Caroline is six weeks...hhmmmm. Maybe somebody will get lucky again...but not before the big Vasectomy...that is a whole different story for Cliff to tell LOL. He still needs to book that appointment, or else we will end up with 6 kids...
(Mom and Dad I hope you are not reading this...this is TMI for you even though I have 5 kids LOL. )
Follow up to my Tuesday Morn...my afternoon so far!
This morning has been a write off really. Between phone calls to the insurance company, the car dealership, the flooring place...I feel like I lost the morning. I was really stressed this morning, but thankfully the causes of my stress are worked out! Girl Power!! LOL
I also finally got ahold of our wedding photographer who took our photos 8 years ago, and she is going to fix a photo that needs retouching in our book, and she is going to give us our stack of proofs for being patient with her! That is awesome too.
The lawnmower is fixed and back at home!
All of our annuals and books that we thought were thrown out in the flood, were saved and ozone-ated and the smell clean! They are in the warehouse waiting to come back to us. *insert Happy Dance here! I found out this morning!
The other stressful part of my day, was dealing with the car dealership. I knew it would be trouble, I cannot get ahold of Cliff as he doesn't have access to a phone during the day. When I took the kids to school this morning, when I got back there was a phonecall from the dealership. My guards go up. This cannot be good. It was a done deal I thought...the air conditioning. I called the guy Byron in the Service Department, and he informs me that we need to pay $900 and something to fix the A/C. And I say "Pardon?!" and I told him how our sales guy Tommy was to have that fixed for free, as we noticed the problem within the first week of purchase. They told me to call the main office, they couldn't even transfer me...grrhhhh. I asked for Tommy, and they said: Tommy is out of town until Thursday! I am was not satisfied with that answer.
Yah. I gets better. I ask to speak to his boss. So I get Dave on the phone. I deepen my voice, remain calm, although I am mad, and straighten up my back, stick out my chest to talk to him! First I introduce myself, and explain my situation, and I told him how the van was to be fixed. Explained how we had an appointment back in mid May to have the dye put into the a/c a couple of weeks back to find the leak as they could not find it then. So this is still during the 30 day purchase period. Tommy assured Cliff that this issue would be resolved for us.
I said to Dave, if you expect me to pay almost $1,000 dollars on a van we have just purchased, you have got to be kidding. We did not buy a new (new to us) van only to be spending money on it. No way. So, he goes on to explain how the powertrain warranty is the only thing covered for only 3 months. I said, you need to speak with Tommy. He was not the nicest of men to be chatting too. Meanwhile I have Caroline, in my arms, the girls are nowhere to be found, and Catie is in the sink playing with water...LOL. EEEKKKK! So, anyways I give him my name etc. and make sure he gets back to me. Well, lo and behold, about one hour later...I get a call from Denise from the dealership to say the authorization has been placed and they will fix the van for us! Yahuh.....(that is in my angry, biatchy voice LOL.)
So, I solved another dilemma in the household! I swear I have a black cloud over my head right now. LOL. It follows me wherever I go. When it rains it pours. I hope we get the van back tonight, now that it is after lunch. I need the van for driving to preschool tomorrow!
I even managed to get a good lunch made for the girls. Caroline is sleeping, and Catie is napping. Carly and Claire are playing with their clickits. They love those little dolls. Our vacuum loves those little dolls! LOL.
I sure hope I get back on the treadmill today...I am sure I can burn out my frustrations of the day!
I also finally got ahold of our wedding photographer who took our photos 8 years ago, and she is going to fix a photo that needs retouching in our book, and she is going to give us our stack of proofs for being patient with her! That is awesome too.
The lawnmower is fixed and back at home!
All of our annuals and books that we thought were thrown out in the flood, were saved and ozone-ated and the smell clean! They are in the warehouse waiting to come back to us. *insert Happy Dance here! I found out this morning!
The other stressful part of my day, was dealing with the car dealership. I knew it would be trouble, I cannot get ahold of Cliff as he doesn't have access to a phone during the day. When I took the kids to school this morning, when I got back there was a phonecall from the dealership. My guards go up. This cannot be good. It was a done deal I thought...the air conditioning. I called the guy Byron in the Service Department, and he informs me that we need to pay $900 and something to fix the A/C. And I say "Pardon?!" and I told him how our sales guy Tommy was to have that fixed for free, as we noticed the problem within the first week of purchase. They told me to call the main office, they couldn't even transfer me...grrhhhh. I asked for Tommy, and they said: Tommy is out of town until Thursday! I am was not satisfied with that answer.
Yah. I gets better. I ask to speak to his boss. So I get Dave on the phone. I deepen my voice, remain calm, although I am mad, and straighten up my back, stick out my chest to talk to him! First I introduce myself, and explain my situation, and I told him how the van was to be fixed. Explained how we had an appointment back in mid May to have the dye put into the a/c a couple of weeks back to find the leak as they could not find it then. So this is still during the 30 day purchase period. Tommy assured Cliff that this issue would be resolved for us.
I said to Dave, if you expect me to pay almost $1,000 dollars on a van we have just purchased, you have got to be kidding. We did not buy a new (new to us) van only to be spending money on it. No way. So, he goes on to explain how the powertrain warranty is the only thing covered for only 3 months. I said, you need to speak with Tommy. He was not the nicest of men to be chatting too. Meanwhile I have Caroline, in my arms, the girls are nowhere to be found, and Catie is in the sink playing with water...LOL. EEEKKKK! So, anyways I give him my name etc. and make sure he gets back to me. Well, lo and behold, about one hour later...I get a call from Denise from the dealership to say the authorization has been placed and they will fix the van for us! Yahuh.....(that is in my angry, biatchy voice LOL.)
So, I solved another dilemma in the household! I swear I have a black cloud over my head right now. LOL. It follows me wherever I go. When it rains it pours. I hope we get the van back tonight, now that it is after lunch. I need the van for driving to preschool tomorrow!
I even managed to get a good lunch made for the girls. Caroline is sleeping, and Catie is napping. Carly and Claire are playing with their clickits. They love those little dolls. Our vacuum loves those little dolls! LOL.
I sure hope I get back on the treadmill today...I am sure I can burn out my frustrations of the day!
It's a Tuesday
Our van went in for servicing, and so I am without a van all day today. I feel housebound. Oh well. Today it is more rain, and we are walking to school in it. Thank goodness for a rain cover on the stroller!
Cliff is working all day, and then heading to a work seminar. He will be home way after dinner so that means I am on duty for over 12 hours today...I am hoping to get on the treadmill tonight! We'll see.
Caroline is officially 6 weeks old today. Hard to believe that. For the past 5 nights she has slept from about 11-5 or 6 in the morning. Awesome! She is a great baby. I feel bad for her in the evening, as she gets really bad gas...then after she gets it worked out. She is happy again. She sure has been looking around with her big eyes. I see a lot of Cameron in her! She has given a couple of really large smiles, but I look forward to when it is more often. I couldn't ask for a better baby, but I have said that with virtually all of them! I have been blessed!
Stuff to do! Later...
Cliff is working all day, and then heading to a work seminar. He will be home way after dinner so that means I am on duty for over 12 hours today...I am hoping to get on the treadmill tonight! We'll see.
Caroline is officially 6 weeks old today. Hard to believe that. For the past 5 nights she has slept from about 11-5 or 6 in the morning. Awesome! She is a great baby. I feel bad for her in the evening, as she gets really bad gas...then after she gets it worked out. She is happy again. She sure has been looking around with her big eyes. I see a lot of Cameron in her! She has given a couple of really large smiles, but I look forward to when it is more often. I couldn't ask for a better baby, but I have said that with virtually all of them! I have been blessed!
Stuff to do! Later...
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Kidswap Contest!
As you know
I love
(my second home.)
Kidswap is having a contest to win a $50 dollar gift card to Wal*Mart. If you sign up (TOTALLY FREE AND FUN) to Kidswap. We both get entered into the draw for the gift card!! Shelly is trying to get 1,000 members in her forum (Canadian or American Friends WELCOME HERE!!) by August 1st!
She tells us there are really big things planned for the forum, and she needs our help!
Please help me, help yourself and help a local Langley woman (Shelly) fulfill her small business dream!
www.kidswap.ca or http://www.kidswap.ca/login.php
Please help me, help yourself and help a local Langley woman (Shelly) fulfill her small business dream!
www.kidswap.ca or http://www.kidswap.ca/login.php
to sign up!
IF you do sign up please sure to put your user name in the comment area and put my name down as a referral so I can post your new user name in the forum listing! Yippee!!!
IF you do sign up please sure to put your user name in the comment area and put my name down as a referral so I can post your new user name in the forum listing! Yippee!!!
I hope we win!
Thanks guys! I hope to see you all there!
Thanks guys! I hope to see you all there!
I love the support I find there with all of my friends I have met there!
And if you find you love it as much as I do, put a link to her site on your site! Spread the word! Kidswap ROCKS!
Cathy
Cathy
Sunday Morning...early Sunday Morning
I should be in bed, but nope. I wanted to update on our busy but fun Saturday yesterday. We all got up early, and ate breakfast early. Stripped all of the beds, and washed that all up. Took most of the day to get that done. In fact, our bed still needs to be made! Fed Caroline and headed out the door to the bank. Cliff took Cameron in to deposit his 5 bucks that he made doing some recycling with his Nannie and Papa last weekend. So they did that. Then we headed to the market for our fruits and veggies. But of course along the way I really wanted and Ice Cap so we picked some up. I had made some snack bags up for the kids. They had a choco chip cookie and dried apricots and water bottles to drink. Then the fruit/veggie market for our weekly supply. Then we headed toward home, but we made a pit stop at a local park that the kids have REALLLLY wanted to visit. They had a blast, and Caroline slept and got some fresh air. We played for about a 1/2 our and headed back to home for lunch. We then headed out again to a local neighbourhood days. The kids loved sitting in the back of the police car that was on display! I told them that I hope we never see you in the back of a police car again lol. So, we walked around, entered some draws etc. Then we stopped back at home to get the propane tank, and then filled it up, and then headed to buy our meats for the next week for dinners etc. We got home closer to 5. Cliff did dinner which was oven fries and chicken and beef burgers. They were good. The kids had corn too! I enjoyed watching Catie devour the corn on the cobb! Too cute. I felt like I fed Caroline all evening. She was quite fussy, and not sure why. Last night she slept for almost 7 hours! Wow. That was weird and good! The 4 other kids went down easy. They were down by 7:30...
Anyways, tonight Cliff and sorted through all of the stuff that was flooded out. The good stuff left behind. We purged a lot, we made piles for keep, sell and garbage. It was AWESOME. The main purpose of this was to first clear out the garage again, and to make room for the treadmill. I will begin my working out on Monday. Yippeeee. I will also start my Carmen Electra DVD's too. See if I have stomach muscles?! I also found my skipping ropes! Yippitty Skipitty! LOVE IT!
The worst part about sorting this stuff tonight was not finding our high school annuals. We think they were thrown out. We cannot find them. Those are/were our personal belongings, and they were not marked on the loss sheet. We will call the restoration company on Monday to find out more. Very sad. I felt angry tonight. I think that is why I cannot sleep right now.
On a good note, I finally got ahold of our old photographer from our wedding 8 years ago. She is going to give us all of our proofs for FREE! And she is going to touch up a photo we had picked for our album. She is going to do that too. Thank you Mary! You still rock.
Well, Caroline is asleep, Cliff is practically asleep on the couch. The kids will be up in less than 6 hours. We will be doing our house clean, and doing Caroline's hand and foot prints for her baby book. Probably we will do prints for the olders too, so they can see their feet prints from when they were little too. Nice memories. I am tired. Dog tired.
Cathy
Anyways, tonight Cliff and sorted through all of the stuff that was flooded out. The good stuff left behind. We purged a lot, we made piles for keep, sell and garbage. It was AWESOME. The main purpose of this was to first clear out the garage again, and to make room for the treadmill. I will begin my working out on Monday. Yippeeee. I will also start my Carmen Electra DVD's too. See if I have stomach muscles?! I also found my skipping ropes! Yippitty Skipitty! LOVE IT!
The worst part about sorting this stuff tonight was not finding our high school annuals. We think they were thrown out. We cannot find them. Those are/were our personal belongings, and they were not marked on the loss sheet. We will call the restoration company on Monday to find out more. Very sad. I felt angry tonight. I think that is why I cannot sleep right now.
On a good note, I finally got ahold of our old photographer from our wedding 8 years ago. She is going to give us all of our proofs for FREE! And she is going to touch up a photo we had picked for our album. She is going to do that too. Thank you Mary! You still rock.
Well, Caroline is asleep, Cliff is practically asleep on the couch. The kids will be up in less than 6 hours. We will be doing our house clean, and doing Caroline's hand and foot prints for her baby book. Probably we will do prints for the olders too, so they can see their feet prints from when they were little too. Nice memories. I am tired. Dog tired.
Cathy
Friday, June 09, 2006
Catie Girl 21 months old today?!
Now!
Then...
Catie Girl, how did you get so big?! I looked at the calendar today and realized you are now 21 months old! Wow. You do so much! You eat with a big people forks, and place settings. You say many words like Yellow, hi, hello, milk and bye bye. You also say Mommy and Daddy, Nannie, Pappa and Nonna and Grandpa! You try very hard to say Caroline...you say Lola instead!
You sing and dance like a performer. You laugh hard, and you keep us laughing! You love to be tickled and you can do so many things like help clean up, throw dirty diapers into the garbage pail, you can help unload the dishwasher! You can climb onto counters, your can say click when I buckle you into your carseat. You listen to me, you love to "read" books. You can count one, two, three! You are one amazing, happy girl! You are such a great big sister to your little sis Caroline! I love how you kiss her and touch her when you are gentle.
I love you baby Catie...you will always be my baby Catie girl.
Mommy
I love you baby Catie...you will always be my baby Catie girl.
Mommy
My Dream
I just remembered about my dream of Caroline Mae that I had on Claire's 5th bday. It was my dream of Caroline. Usually I have a dream or two, and usually the one closest to the birth is right. Well, I only had one dream, and this was it! I think it is cool!
I had a neat baby dream last night too. My first one of this baby. My Mom gave birth for me (I think that means she was trying to take away all of my pain of the pregnancy), and I went running to the hopital to find out what I had had. And the nurse says its a girl...and I run into the room and say "Caroline Mae" I love you. She was a beauty in my dream. Chubby with dark hair. I just held the baby and cried. She was everything I could imagine and more. And she was completely healthy as far as I could tell.
I had a neat baby dream last night too. My first one of this baby. My Mom gave birth for me (I think that means she was trying to take away all of my pain of the pregnancy), and I went running to the hopital to find out what I had had. And the nurse says its a girl...and I run into the room and say "Caroline Mae" I love you. She was a beauty in my dream. Chubby with dark hair. I just held the baby and cried. She was everything I could imagine and more. And she was completely healthy as far as I could tell.
Like Humans Do
This was from my sister April who thought of me when she heard this song play on her ipod. I love it, and it is a lot of fun. Download it if you can. It is called Like Humans do (radio edit) by David Byrne! Thanks Ape!
For millions of years, in millions of homes
A man loved a woman, a child it was born
It learned how to hurt and it learned how to cry
Like humans do
I'm breathin in
I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Dishes in the sink, tv's in repair
Don't look at the floor, don't go up the stairs
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I work and I sleep and I dance and I'm dead
I'm eating, I'm laughing, I'm loving myself
I never watch tv except when I'm stoned
Like humans doI'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Dishes in the sink, tv's in the pad Don't look at the floor,
don't go up the stairsI'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin
like humans doI'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Wiggle while you work
Anybody can
The rain is pouring in on a woman and a man
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
For millions of years, in millions of homes
A man loved a woman, a child it was born
It learned how to hurt and it learned how to cry
Like humans do
I'm breathin in
I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Dishes in the sink, tv's in repair
Don't look at the floor, don't go up the stairs
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I work and I sleep and I dance and I'm dead
I'm eating, I'm laughing, I'm loving myself
I never watch tv except when I'm stoned
Like humans doI'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Dishes in the sink, tv's in the pad Don't look at the floor,
don't go up the stairsI'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin
like humans doI'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
So slip inside this funky house
Wiggle while you work
Anybody can
The rain is pouring in on a woman and a man
I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin like humans do
I'm breathin in I'm breathin out...waaaaoooo
From a Mom friend Lisa
"Before becoming a mother, I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have 7 children and only one theory: love them, especially when they least deserved to be loved."
- Kate Samperi
Finally Friday - Revised
I cannot believe it is finally Friday. Yesterday was so tiring and busy for both Cliff and I.
My day on Thursday started with you guessed it! Laundry. Washed my white cube covers and slip covers in the kitchen. Hung them to dry. Did a warm load and folded and put away, and did a baby load folded and put away. Thankfully everything worked, and nothing leaked! Other household chores included: Getting beds made, kids dressed etc. Making breakfast, lunch, sweeping and wiping up messes, changing MANY DIAPERS. I also got Caroline's birth announcement lined up, and set up to be put in the paper today. So, look for that eh! And, started a shopping list. I know there was more, but I have forgotten!
In the afternoon we walked in the rain to pick up Cameron from school! Rain in June...yuck. We had to pull out the rain cover for the double stroller. Felt like November for goodness sakes.
I prepared dinner after school. And we had quite a good one. And it was on time right at 5 pm. I made a baked ham, homemade oven baked french fries in big wedges with olive oil, a bit of Mrs. Dash and parmesan cheese. And the veggies were steamed carrots and broccoli. For dessert we had Jello Jigglers with fruit cocktail added! The dinner was a hit!
Then I did some around the house stuff, like sweep, write thank you cards etc. And, after the dinner and clean up of the table and of the kids etc. We got them ready for bed. Brushed teeth etc. When the 4/5 kids were in bed. After I finished feeding Caroline, we headed out to first drop off a lasagne for Joan our neighbour who has been helping us so nice with a thank you card. Then I popped over to our mail box, then we headed to Wal*Mart to do a major shop where I ran into AndreaH, that was fun to see her there! And after 300 dollars spent there, we headed to Safeway. We also got gas in the van after all of that. So, by the time we got home it was 10:30 pm. Now we had all our bags and bags stuff to put away, and there was A LOT. We then made lunches and snacks for today, and then we watched a bit of TV. Caroline was still sleeping. I got ready for bed, and so did Cliff. Caroline woke up. I took her to bed to feed her as it was almost midnight again. Thankfully last night Caroline fed only once. I cannot even remember what time it was!
This morning Catie was the first one up at 6:30 am. I got her out of the crib, and then I got ready for the day. The other kids got up around 7 am. I got their breakfast on the table, and then Caroline wanted a feed. I fed her. I cleaned up the table, and then got the kids ready for school. Cameron was picked up today thankfully, and then I got the 4 girls ready and out the door. We were on time right at 9 am. They had pj day at school. They looked so cute. Well, Catie is in the pantry again, and Caroline needs to eat. I have one hour until I pack up these girls and get their two sister's from preschool. I also have another load to take out of the dryer. I will have to fold that.
This weekend to the fruit and veggie market for produce, I want to do Caroline's hand and foot prints in her baby book. Also go through all of the stuff in the garage that was packed up by the restoration company. I am going to make room for the treadmill to start walking on there! I also got my Carmen Electra Cardio Striptease DVD's back from my friend Louise, so I can start working my core! Hopefully I can find it! LOL.
On Tuesday Caroline will be 6 weeks already! Yippee. That means I can start working out again! Trying to get back to where I was back in the summer of 2005! I HOPE! I know other things will creep up, but that is pretty much our weekend. We also will do our regular cleaning and stuff like that tomorrow morning. I am glad we got the shopping out of the way so our weekend will HOPEFULLY be less busy. Sunday I plan on doing NOTHING except enjoying our family.
My day on Thursday started with you guessed it! Laundry. Washed my white cube covers and slip covers in the kitchen. Hung them to dry. Did a warm load and folded and put away, and did a baby load folded and put away. Thankfully everything worked, and nothing leaked! Other household chores included: Getting beds made, kids dressed etc. Making breakfast, lunch, sweeping and wiping up messes, changing MANY DIAPERS. I also got Caroline's birth announcement lined up, and set up to be put in the paper today. So, look for that eh! And, started a shopping list. I know there was more, but I have forgotten!
In the afternoon we walked in the rain to pick up Cameron from school! Rain in June...yuck. We had to pull out the rain cover for the double stroller. Felt like November for goodness sakes.
I prepared dinner after school. And we had quite a good one. And it was on time right at 5 pm. I made a baked ham, homemade oven baked french fries in big wedges with olive oil, a bit of Mrs. Dash and parmesan cheese. And the veggies were steamed carrots and broccoli. For dessert we had Jello Jigglers with fruit cocktail added! The dinner was a hit!
Then I did some around the house stuff, like sweep, write thank you cards etc. And, after the dinner and clean up of the table and of the kids etc. We got them ready for bed. Brushed teeth etc. When the 4/5 kids were in bed. After I finished feeding Caroline, we headed out to first drop off a lasagne for Joan our neighbour who has been helping us so nice with a thank you card. Then I popped over to our mail box, then we headed to Wal*Mart to do a major shop where I ran into AndreaH, that was fun to see her there! And after 300 dollars spent there, we headed to Safeway. We also got gas in the van after all of that. So, by the time we got home it was 10:30 pm. Now we had all our bags and bags stuff to put away, and there was A LOT. We then made lunches and snacks for today, and then we watched a bit of TV. Caroline was still sleeping. I got ready for bed, and so did Cliff. Caroline woke up. I took her to bed to feed her as it was almost midnight again. Thankfully last night Caroline fed only once. I cannot even remember what time it was!
This morning Catie was the first one up at 6:30 am. I got her out of the crib, and then I got ready for the day. The other kids got up around 7 am. I got their breakfast on the table, and then Caroline wanted a feed. I fed her. I cleaned up the table, and then got the kids ready for school. Cameron was picked up today thankfully, and then I got the 4 girls ready and out the door. We were on time right at 9 am. They had pj day at school. They looked so cute. Well, Catie is in the pantry again, and Caroline needs to eat. I have one hour until I pack up these girls and get their two sister's from preschool. I also have another load to take out of the dryer. I will have to fold that.
This weekend to the fruit and veggie market for produce, I want to do Caroline's hand and foot prints in her baby book. Also go through all of the stuff in the garage that was packed up by the restoration company. I am going to make room for the treadmill to start walking on there! I also got my Carmen Electra Cardio Striptease DVD's back from my friend Louise, so I can start working my core! Hopefully I can find it! LOL.
On Tuesday Caroline will be 6 weeks already! Yippee. That means I can start working out again! Trying to get back to where I was back in the summer of 2005! I HOPE! I know other things will creep up, but that is pretty much our weekend. We also will do our regular cleaning and stuff like that tomorrow morning. I am glad we got the shopping out of the way so our weekend will HOPEFULLY be less busy. Sunday I plan on doing NOTHING except enjoying our family.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
06 06 2006
Today is the day everybody has been talking about, especially pregnant Moms. Would you want your baby born today? Apparently there are a lot of Mom's that are due today are changing their c-section dates to avoid having a baby on 06 06 2006. If I were to have a baby this June, would I change the date if I could? Probably not, as if the baby was ready to come out! Come out already. Especially in the heat of June...I would be happy to just get the labour and delivery over with, no matter what the date is. But, obviously there are many Mom's out there that feel differently about it. I guess I understand to a point, but for me it is a non issue. I guess if your are superstitious you would want to change the date for sure. Thankfully Caroline is out!
As for today, it was actually a very good day. The washing machine is fixed! *insert my happy dance in here!, the lawn is mowed, and get this. By our neighbor Joan. She is so helpful to our family. She was the one who dragged the shop vac out when our machine decided to flood the main floor and crawlspace! I tell you as far a good neighbour goes, she is THE BEST! The lawnmower will be ready in a couple of weeks. It was certainly nice to have the sun out today too! The kids had a blast in the back yard. We even had a visit from Uncle Gil today. We haven't seen him for so long! Even nicer was chatting on the phone to my Sis April. That was cool. She is having my first Niece or Nephew in October! * More happy dancing here!
Dinner time, well...it got a bit late. We ended up eating around 7 pm. We were going to have pasta, but we decided to BBQ chicken and some sausage and some burgers (different items for different members of the family) and the propane ran out on our tank. Yup. Things are so interesting here all the time! There is never a dull moment here. Anyways, so after that problem was solved we ate. Carly decided she didn't want to eat. She went and found her ladybug in a little plastic container with a lid from somewhere in her room. We said how would you like to be kept in your room with the door shut forever. So, they let it go.
After dinner 4/5 kids had baths. Cameron was a hollering from the bath as his "owie" on his leg was sore. (He fell on the way to school on the pavement wearing his flip flops) so Cliff put on the magic foam and Polysporin and some bandaids to clean up the wound. Catie, after running around nude after her bath pooped on the kitchen floor. So I cleaned that beauty up, and Cliff cleaned up Catie. Then I got the kitchen and the floor cleaned up. I made the lunches/snacks for tomorrow. I also swept up the deck from the green playdough we played with this morning. And Cliff got the kids dressed and their teeth cleaned. They all were in bed at 8 pm.
We are pooped. Caroline still needs her bath. And then I will probably sleep on the couch again tonight. I cannot get off of there even with Cliff's help. I am dog tired at night. Cliff and I both. We hardly have a moment to ourselves.
As for today, it was actually a very good day. The washing machine is fixed! *insert my happy dance in here!, the lawn is mowed, and get this. By our neighbor Joan. She is so helpful to our family. She was the one who dragged the shop vac out when our machine decided to flood the main floor and crawlspace! I tell you as far a good neighbour goes, she is THE BEST! The lawnmower will be ready in a couple of weeks. It was certainly nice to have the sun out today too! The kids had a blast in the back yard. We even had a visit from Uncle Gil today. We haven't seen him for so long! Even nicer was chatting on the phone to my Sis April. That was cool. She is having my first Niece or Nephew in October! * More happy dancing here!
Dinner time, well...it got a bit late. We ended up eating around 7 pm. We were going to have pasta, but we decided to BBQ chicken and some sausage and some burgers (different items for different members of the family) and the propane ran out on our tank. Yup. Things are so interesting here all the time! There is never a dull moment here. Anyways, so after that problem was solved we ate. Carly decided she didn't want to eat. She went and found her ladybug in a little plastic container with a lid from somewhere in her room. We said how would you like to be kept in your room with the door shut forever. So, they let it go.
After dinner 4/5 kids had baths. Cameron was a hollering from the bath as his "owie" on his leg was sore. (He fell on the way to school on the pavement wearing his flip flops) so Cliff put on the magic foam and Polysporin and some bandaids to clean up the wound. Catie, after running around nude after her bath pooped on the kitchen floor. So I cleaned that beauty up, and Cliff cleaned up Catie. Then I got the kitchen and the floor cleaned up. I made the lunches/snacks for tomorrow. I also swept up the deck from the green playdough we played with this morning. And Cliff got the kids dressed and their teeth cleaned. They all were in bed at 8 pm.
We are pooped. Caroline still needs her bath. And then I will probably sleep on the couch again tonight. I cannot get off of there even with Cliff's help. I am dog tired at night. Cliff and I both. We hardly have a moment to ourselves.
kids say the weirdest things
Today, we walked to school, and we are heading around the corner to drop Cameron off at his door, and a little school friend Amy, and her friend (I am not sure of her name) peers into the double stroller to look at Caroline, and she says...
She looks dead, with her head all like this (she turned her head to the side to show me what Caroline's head looks like!) and then the girl makes a funny noise and I say she is definately not dead! She is alive and kicking!
I started to laugh...that is the first time I have ever heard a comment like that one before! Strange, but kids say wierd things I guess!
She looks dead, with her head all like this (she turned her head to the side to show me what Caroline's head looks like!) and then the girl makes a funny noise and I say she is definately not dead! She is alive and kicking!
I started to laugh...that is the first time I have ever heard a comment like that one before! Strange, but kids say wierd things I guess!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
need i say more?
I love my kids, and my kids love me...
If things aren't bad enough, I go into our room a couple of days ago, and I find my angel of a mom and child looking like this. But, this is plain old sad.
I had to share what I found. I think she may beyond repair, just like me.
Weekend Update
We have had a busy weekend, especially yesterday. I felt like we driving all over the place trying to get everything done. We still don't have a laundry machine. So, thankfully my Mom will take home my laundry and do it for me. The part that the repairman brought in from Calgary was BROKEN. So, he had to order another one in. HOPEFULLY TUESDAY. I don't want to go back to the laundromat AGAIN.
Friday, well I cannot even remember Friday, except during the day the restoration company was here. Travis was here. He was checking up on the work that has been done over the past week. Apparently the chipper guys that were taking up the laundry room subfloor did not chip enough away. So, the chippers will be back on Monday to make some more banging noises. I would think they will be at it all day. Travis also wanted me to peek my head into the crawlspace, he thinks there may be other leaks in the foundation of the house. NOT GOOD. He will check that on Monday I guess. Oh yes, by Friday night I had enough of being in the house so I said to Cliff lets get out for a few minutes to get an Ice Cap from Timmys. So we did that, and Caroline cried in the van. We came home and I fed her! She likes the Ice Caps too.
Saturday, we had lots to do. We did photos of the 5 kids at home finally. Cliff made french toast, and then we went for more Ice Caps...I am in love with the French Vanilla one. Cameron went to my parents to sleep over and spend some one on one time. We had a bank appointment, Cliff had a dental appointment. We did market shop for fruits and veggies. We went to Safeway for groceries. We did some more banking stuff in two places. Then, we came home. The girls played in the backyard. Then the girls had pizza for dinner. Baths and bedtime at 7 for the girls. Caroline stayed up with us. Cliff and I watched the movie Rumour Has It. It was pretty good. I fell asleep on the couch, as I was too bagged to go to bed. I told Cliff to leave me there. Then Caroline woke up at 2:15 am for a feed. Then another feed at 5:15 am. That brings us to today. I have no clothes to wear. I feel gross. I need clean laundry! Cameron will be home this afternoon. He is going to see Over the Hedge at the theatre! It is all the rage in his classroom right now!
Tonight will be tacos for dinner, and our night routine, and prepare for our busy week ahead. Nothing too exciting really. I am sad that it is raining. I am tired of the rain. Bring on the good weather!
Cathy
Friday, well I cannot even remember Friday, except during the day the restoration company was here. Travis was here. He was checking up on the work that has been done over the past week. Apparently the chipper guys that were taking up the laundry room subfloor did not chip enough away. So, the chippers will be back on Monday to make some more banging noises. I would think they will be at it all day. Travis also wanted me to peek my head into the crawlspace, he thinks there may be other leaks in the foundation of the house. NOT GOOD. He will check that on Monday I guess. Oh yes, by Friday night I had enough of being in the house so I said to Cliff lets get out for a few minutes to get an Ice Cap from Timmys. So we did that, and Caroline cried in the van. We came home and I fed her! She likes the Ice Caps too.
Saturday, we had lots to do. We did photos of the 5 kids at home finally. Cliff made french toast, and then we went for more Ice Caps...I am in love with the French Vanilla one. Cameron went to my parents to sleep over and spend some one on one time. We had a bank appointment, Cliff had a dental appointment. We did market shop for fruits and veggies. We went to Safeway for groceries. We did some more banking stuff in two places. Then, we came home. The girls played in the backyard. Then the girls had pizza for dinner. Baths and bedtime at 7 for the girls. Caroline stayed up with us. Cliff and I watched the movie Rumour Has It. It was pretty good. I fell asleep on the couch, as I was too bagged to go to bed. I told Cliff to leave me there. Then Caroline woke up at 2:15 am for a feed. Then another feed at 5:15 am. That brings us to today. I have no clothes to wear. I feel gross. I need clean laundry! Cameron will be home this afternoon. He is going to see Over the Hedge at the theatre! It is all the rage in his classroom right now!
Tonight will be tacos for dinner, and our night routine, and prepare for our busy week ahead. Nothing too exciting really. I am sad that it is raining. I am tired of the rain. Bring on the good weather!
Cathy
The aftermath of our photo session on Sat...
I had to share these two photos. It is not easy to take photos of 5 kids at once. This was after the photo session. Carly wanted to hold Caroline again, and Catie was tired. Thankfully we got a few good shots out of MANY attempts...these were just priceless and I wanted to share.
And then there were 5...
FINALLY a photo of our Fab Five!from left to right: Claire, Cameron, Carly, Catie and Caroline in front
(taken Saturday, June 3rd 2006)
May 2006 Kids Artwork and Projects
These were the lovely creations and projects completed by our kids for the month of May 2006. I will update these boards every month! Stay tuned.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Caroline is Officially 4 Weeks Old Today
Seriously, where does the time go? I keep telling Caroline to stay small, but she keeps on growing.
I cannot believe that Caroline was born 1 month ago today. She is really an awesome baby. For the past 2 or 3 nights now, she has slept for 5 hours at a time. Already her weeee little size 0-3 month sleepers are getting tight. When she straightens out, her toes curl downward, and her chest is exposed. I need to take a photo of her in her cute little outfits. It seems I never have the time to do that. Today I will.
Last night Caroline, Cliff and I spent another night in the Laundromat. We did 4 loads. We had fun last night though, just enjoying Sweet Caroline by ourselves. Enjoying her new-ness. And loving her. She is beginning to look for me, and she opens up her eyes really wide. We can see her pupils working. So neat. On the way to the mat, Caroline projectile vomitted in the seat. Lucky I had a sleeper and a change of stuff for her. We actually had to change her on the folding table, and put her items into the machine. I will be glad to have our machine working again. Hopefully tomorrow. The part should be in today we hope.
I ordered Caroline her Gerber spoon, and I have been in contact with the newspaper to get her birth announcement in. I have to call them back today when I have quiet moment. I still need to do her hand and foot prints in ink into her baby book. The plaster handprint we did a couple of weeks back.
I am looking forward to seeing Caroline smile. I love that. So many firsts to enjoy with her. It is so exciting.
Cathy
I cannot believe that Caroline was born 1 month ago today. She is really an awesome baby. For the past 2 or 3 nights now, she has slept for 5 hours at a time. Already her weeee little size 0-3 month sleepers are getting tight. When she straightens out, her toes curl downward, and her chest is exposed. I need to take a photo of her in her cute little outfits. It seems I never have the time to do that. Today I will.
Last night Caroline, Cliff and I spent another night in the Laundromat. We did 4 loads. We had fun last night though, just enjoying Sweet Caroline by ourselves. Enjoying her new-ness. And loving her. She is beginning to look for me, and she opens up her eyes really wide. We can see her pupils working. So neat. On the way to the mat, Caroline projectile vomitted in the seat. Lucky I had a sleeper and a change of stuff for her. We actually had to change her on the folding table, and put her items into the machine. I will be glad to have our machine working again. Hopefully tomorrow. The part should be in today we hope.
I ordered Caroline her Gerber spoon, and I have been in contact with the newspaper to get her birth announcement in. I have to call them back today when I have quiet moment. I still need to do her hand and foot prints in ink into her baby book. The plaster handprint we did a couple of weeks back.
I am looking forward to seeing Caroline smile. I love that. So many firsts to enjoy with her. It is so exciting.
Cathy
Thursday, June 01, 2006
If you give a Mom a muffin
Thank you Dawn for emailing this to me today. I love it. Thank you.
---------
If You Give A Mom A Muffin
If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind hershe has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in her pursethat is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind herthat she was going to have a cup.
And chances are... If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
--Author Unknown
---------
If You Give A Mom A Muffin
If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind hershe has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in her pursethat is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind herthat she was going to have a cup.
And chances are... If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
--Author Unknown
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