Monday, May 31, 2010

Off to see the Wizard...

Psssstttt.....

Hey...it's me. I know, I know...I haven't had anything to say for quite a while. To be honest, Dave does a really good job of speaking for both of us. Plus, he's far more entertaining than I am! ;P

Today, I was off to see the Wizard, aka, Dr. K, my neurologist. It was time for another check-up. I told him that I was experiencing more numbness back in April, and that it felt as though things were getting worse again. Now, these sensations have seemed to have levelled out, and have backed off a bit. He said that he would still considered this "setback" to have occurred within the postpartum period, but basically, anything that happens now re:numbness, weakness, etc., counts. SO, I still don't know if it was "simple" Guillain-Barre Syndrome (although my case was never simple), or if I'm headed down a chronic path of CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy). I am scheduled for another nerve conduction study next Monday (the electric shock therapy test), and that will be the true definer as to how I'm really coming along.

I have to give Dr. K kudos...I almost NEVER have to wait on him. I was about 20 minutes early for my appointment and got in immediately. He's always very personable, to the point, and never pulls any punches, and if I needed to get in to see him, I would never have a long wait - 2 days at the most!

I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of this being a chronic condition, but the one thing (of many!) that I've learned is to not put the cart before the horse.

After this, I headed to Shopper's Drug Mart to mail off my first two tu-tu creations! I am so excited about this and am really enjoying making these foofy creations for lucky little girls. I can't believe how expensive it is to ship something. The tutu and packaging weighed .090 kg. It cost me approximately $11 to ship this to Golden Prairie. Say What?!?? But get this! It cost me approximately $9 to ship it to Edmonton, which is further away and in a different province! I asked the post-mistress why the cost was different and she said that it costs more to send things to a rural community. Huh. Who knew?

Next stop was to pick up a triple barrel curling iron that I purchased for super cheap off of Kijiji. I love Kijiji.

Then, home, to rescue Dave from the monsters. We ate lunch, and then, as Dave mentioned, it was off to the Market Mall for some fun and adventure. I needed to stop at Fabricland, so there was lots of warnings and reminders about good behaviour and such. Of course, that lasts for all of 3 minutes, and then the naughtiness and misbehaving starts to kick in. At one point, while we were standing in line, an elderly lady came to stand in line behind us. She asked me how I had time to sew when I had three little ones. I replied that I did this while they were in bed! To be honest, I find making these tutus rather relaxing. Freakshow!

We then headed to "PlayLand". The girls had so much fun, so it was worth it. I was sitting near the back of the play area, and I can hear Jorja bossing Ginny around from where I was sitting. "Ginn....Ginn....no, no..don't go up there, you have to go up the red stairs first....Ginn....Ginn..." What a bossy little thing, not to mention a loud talker! Ginny still does Jorja's bidding, but it will be interesting when she starts to exert her personality more. It won't be long before Ginny's wearing the pants in this sisterhood. It will be interesting to see what CeCe's personality brings to the mix. CeCe had a nice snooze in the car seat, and then woke up and was content to sit and stand.

Then, it was homeward bound. I must admit, I was feeling thoroughly thrashed after surviving this little outing. I still notice that my stamina isn't what it used to be before this "issue" struck, but hopefully it will continue to return. Screw you, Guillain-Barre! I WILL win! Hah.

Anyhow, I hope that you're all having a great evening. Don't be shy...feel free to post a comment and say hello! We are always curious to see who is reading this thing!

TTYL

~Jewels

Cleaning

Things have been a bit quiet on the writing front here for a few days now. I think I blame the weather. It is getting seriously depressing. I think we're all starting to go a bit stir crazy. Hopefully things turn around tomorrow.

We used to have a university student come in and clean the house every two weeks when we were both working. However, with Julie on disability and me on parental leave, we decided that that would be one of the things we had to cut. Boy, do we miss her. It is so hard to get things done with the kids in the house. One wants this, one wants to help, then the first wants what the other has. Soon, there's screaming and someones having a meltdown. And sometimes it's one of the kids.

Anyway, we decided that in order to get a handle on things today, Julie would take the kids out for a couple of hours, and I would clean. I worked like a dog, but I think I still got the easier deal. The three of them are definitely a challenge. Julie took them to Market Mall, and let them play in the little play centre there, and things seemed to go fairly well. She came home with all of them anyway. They even made some new friends. Ginny would go up to another little girl, get in her face, and say, "What's your name?" "Ava." "Oh." And then she would carry on her way. She's got tact.

Does the laundry ever end?

Here are some random observations of a four year old:
  • I like ketchup, but I don't like tomatoes. Isn't that weird?
  • I like honey cheerios and honey ham, but I don't like honey. Isn't that weird?
  • I like peanut butter, but I don't like peanuts. Isn't that weird?

Here's hoping we can get outside tomorrow. Later.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Piano recital

Jorja had her piano recital today. I'm pretty proud of her. At the start of the year, they were just learning where middle C is. Now she's playing with both hands.

Later.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Pretty coat

So I was watching hockey this evening, and Don Cherry comes on. Jorja asks, "Does he always wear such a pretty coat?" It's amazing what passes for pretty when you're four. Jorja has such an amazing memory. We watched Don Cherry once before and she was asking about him, so I was telling her. Today she says, "He was married to a girl named Rose, and now she died, and he always wears a rose to remember her." Pretty amazing. Later.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Toilet training

We are starting to think more seriously about toilet-training Ginny. We had some Pull-ups left from Jorja, so we started using those. We also bought some more today, as well as some panties. The new pull-ups have the newest Disney princess, Tiana, on them, and I think Jorja was a little put out by this. Anyway, we tried making her sit there a few times today to no avail. We told her to tell us when she had to go, and so far today, she told us three times after the fact that she was stinky. Oh well, it was only the first day.

Shortly before supper today, the girls were playing ring around the rosey in the living room (on the hardwood). When it came time to fall down, Jorja did a face plant. She said it was the floor, but I think it may have been Ginny's knee. In any case, the poor kid's nose is quite swelled up. It didn't bleed, and you can apply pressure so I don't think it's broken, but it looks nasty. She may get a bit of a shiner out of it yet. I'm not sure what that would do to the little princess. Just in time for her piano recital on Sunday. Fun and games. Later.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Nice hair

This morning I went to work for a little visit/coffee/sanity break under the guise that I had to drop something off there. It was great to catch up with everyone. So this evening, Jorja asks me how my visit was with my friends today. Good, I say. "Did you ask them what kind of apples are their favourite?" she asks. Hmmm, no that totally slipped my mind.

This evening, after her bath, I was getting Ginny dressed. Sometimes after her diaper is on, and her bottoms are started, I get her to stand up on my knees while I pull them up. I always tell her to hold on to my head. Today, she looked at the top of my head, kind of stroked the side, and said, "You have such beautiful hair." I haven't heard that since the '80's. Later

Preschool graduation

Today was Jorja's preschool graduation/year end party. The day was spent on a field trip to Market Mall. What better place to have a preschool trip than to a mall filled with old people. It was a great time though.

Jorja woke this morning almost beside herself with excitement. Julie did her hair all fancy, and she was thrilled. So she and I set off for the school this morning (the day started at 9:00). We all boarded two school buses (I forgot how much I dislike school buses) and headed for the mall. First on the agenda was mini-golf. I was a bit worried about this - I didn't know if she would enjoy it. But she had a blast. She has never held a golf club before, so it was interesting. I helped her with her first shot to show her how, and then she did most of it herself. Mind you, most of the holes she played resembled more of a poor example of stick handling than golf. As far as mini-golf courses go, this one was fairly tough, complete with sand traps and water hazards. A few holes had downhill slopes with water at the end, so I told her to just lightly tap it, and it would be all right. After that, she kept asking me on her first shot if she should shoot it light or hard. Like it made a difference. If she thought the ball was heading for trouble, she ran after it and stopped it. It was pretty cute. At one point, she told me I could call her Miss Shooter.

After the golf, we killed some time in the mall, and then Julie, Ginny and CeCe met us for lunch. There was enough fundraising that every preschooler, one sibling, and two parents got a free meal. The meal consisted of 2 chicken fingers and fries for adults, and 1 chicken finger and fries for kids.

After lunch, it was off to the children's' museum for the program and some craft/play time. Jorja sang her heart out during the program, and was thrilled to get her 'diploma'. After that, there was a craft, some structured play time, and lots of free time. They had a whole outdoor scene with a canoe, tent, logs and red ribbon for a fire. The girls enjoyed the canoe, and managed not to hit anyone with the oars. It looked scary at first. There was also a stage with a bunch of dress up clothes and musical instruments, so we got treated to quite a few rock stars.

When it was all over, Julie rode the bus back and I drove the other two girls home. I though for sure Ginny would fall asleep, but she stayed awake.


I'm not sure what it was about the day, but both Julie and I felt exhausted when we got home. The girls were well behaved, they played well, CeCe was good. It was a pretty easy day for us, but it welt draining.

Anyway, time for bed. Later.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"There's poop on the ottoman!!"

This morning after breakfast, Ginny came to me and told me that she was stinky. I was in the middle of unloading and loading the dishwasher and told her I would change her right away. Well, I got side-tracked and forgot all about it. She was ready to get dressed, so I found her some clothes, and told her she could take off her pajamas. So she did, and was running around in her diaper for a while. Then she and Jorja went downstairs. Several minutes later, Jorja came running upstairs and says, "Daddy, Ginny took her diaper off and there's poop on the ottoman!" Then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I came downstairs to find Ginny standing there holding her diaper, and there was a turd on the ottoman. Thank goodness it was a solid one and that the ottoman is fake leather. This could have been sooooo much worse. Later.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Circus

This afternoon, I took Jorja and Ginny to the Shrine Circus here in town. I only vaguely remember going to a circus once when I was a kid. I think they were probably a bit young - Jorja wasn't too bad, but it was a bit much for Ginny.

First of all, it was at 2:00 in the afternoon, so she is kind of tired at that time (we've been napping her every other day). We got there plenty early, but there was already a big line-up. We ran into someone that Jorja goes to preschool with, and his Dad gave me a free ticket, and preschoolers were free anyway, so the price was right. The line moved fairly quickly into the tent, but then we had to sit. We were about 20 minutes early, and then at about 5 to, they announced they were going to start later because there was still a big line up outside. So they didn't start till 2:15, and by that time, even Jorja was getting pretty antsy. Plus it was smoking hot in there. And kind of stinky. My guess is the elephants.

I thought cotton candy would be a nice treat. Apparently not. Ginny took one bite, and got the most revolted look on her face. I thought she was going to puke. Who knew?

Before the show started, they were offering elephant rides (we didn't go). Watching the elephants circle was entertaining for a bit, but the thrill of watching these lethargic, old elephants walk around in circles wore off far before the show started.

We were talking before it started, and Ginny was asking what kind of animals there were going to be. I had read the program, so I knew there would be dogs, horses and elephants. I told her there would be puppies. "Oh," she said, "What else? Chickens?" No, no chickens. That would have been entertaining though.

It was kind of hard for Ginny to see, and she can only sit still on my lap for so long. In the end, she was just as happy dancing in front of her chair to the music. To make a long story short, we ended up leaving at the intermission. Maybe we'll try again in a few years. Later.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Tutus

Today was a cold and miserable day. Rain, rain, and more rain. Well, most of the rain was last night, but it was still cold and miserable today. To get a little bit of fresh air, I took the girls out for a little walk with umbrellas. They thought that was pretty cool. Ginny held hers kind of in front of her face, and couldn't see where she was going. It was just kind of misting at the time, so the umbrellas were more of a novelty than a necessity, but it was fun all the same.

Julie made the girls some tutus, which they enjoyed prancing around in. They're cute, but they're no ballerinas. Not yet anyway. They seem to lack a little coordination and balance. And grace.

Yesterday was Jorja's second last piano lesson. Next weekend is one more lesson and then the recital. Everything is ending for the summer. Preschool is done Wednesday, two more weeks of Sunday school. It's hard to believe she's going to be 5 this summer.

This is kind of boring, but it's been a lazy couple of days here. Later.

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Friday, May 21, 2010

The great balloon rescue

Today was Jorja's last day of preschool (except for the full-day year end party next week) and as part of the celebration, there were balloons. They each got to take one balloon home, which wouldn't be that bad if you weren't walking a couple of blocks in a strong wind. We were walking home and I was pulling the wagon with Ginny and CeCe in it and Jorja was walking, clutching her balloon. We were actually talking about the 'mortality' of balloons and that they are fun to play with for a while, but don't last that long. Sometimes they pop, sometimes they just go flat, but they don't last forever. We had no sooner finished this talk than the balloon got away from her, and it went flying (I'm lucky it wasn't filled with helium). Oh, the irony. For one brief moment, she looked as though she would be okay with losing it, and then the reality of the situation set in and she started to cry. I'm talking about the talk-show type 'ugly cry'. It was loud and it was strong. Then for whatever reason, I decided to abandon the two children in the wagon (don't worry, I told Ginny to stay there) and chase down the balloon. It was going pretty good, but I was gaining on it, until I saw the bus. It narrowly escaped and paused briefly and then took off in a wild swirl in the wake of the bus. Now it was in the middle of a busy street. Another truck was coming, but I went for it, and a couple of houses past the busy street, I got it. I then turned around and realized how far I was away from the wagon, which Ginny was still sitting in much to my surprise. I ran back, and held the balloon for the rest of the walk home. This same balloon is now wedged in behind the computer desk and virtually forgotten about. But I got it.

I fired up the rototiller during preschool today, and it worked great. I got quite a bit done, but three years of neglect makes for some pretty tough going. It looks good now though, ready for some veggies.

Julie made spaghetti and sauce for supper tonight (she make great spaghetti sauce). We don't usually eat actual spaghetti, it's usually rotini or something, but tonight it was spaghetti. The girls had way too much fun eating it. Julie and I were long done, the table was all cleared, dishwasher loaded, and the two of them were still sitting there picking up one noodle at a time, holding it up and sucking it in. They were laughing and giggling and having a gay old time. They were probably there 20 minutes after we were done.

Jorja, Ginny and I went for a walk after supper. We were talking about dandelions, and how they go from yellow to white and to seed. She found this quite interesting and then she switched the conversation to mosquitoes. She told me that you only had to worry about the girl ones, the boy ones wouldn't bite you. I asked her how she new this. She replied that it was just something she knew. Then she said, "One Thursday when I was three, me and Mommy were just having a talk about bugs and mosquitoes, so that's how I know." All right then.

Have a good long weekend. Later.

Step-father

Today was a first - I took all three girls out by myself. Julie is suffering from a bit of a stomach flu and didn't feel like venturing out this morning. So I took the plunge - packed them all up and headed for Walmart. I escaped relatively unscathed, the girls were somewhat well behaved (I only had to threaten them once), and all in all, it was a success. Except that it started to rain quite hard while we were in the store, so we had to run for the car not really dressed for the rain. I don't like getting wet.

The weather got a bit better for a while after lunch, so I took to tackling the dandelions once again. It's amazing how many there are. Jorja and Ginny came out too to keep me company, and were playing there own little game. Well, Jorja was anyway. The two of them were princesses and I was the step-father. She told me exactly what my lines should be and how I should act. "Daddy, just say 'Get back in the house and do your chores!'" It made my part very easy. Eventually I asked her why I was the step-father. She replied, "Because you're mean." I think Disney needs to rethink their evil step-parent philosophy. Apparently all step-parents are getting a bad rap.

Later on today, we got quite a good thunderstorm complete with some hail. Seeing as how the girls have never seen hail before, I called them to the door to check it out. I've always enjoyed watching hail. They didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. They looked, said 'Oh yeah' and went back to what they were doing (Jorja was playing computer games, and Ginny just leaving a path of carnage in her wake).

I think my addiction to Glee is having some detrimental effects on the girls. I have to admit that I usually buy at least one song that they do every week. I've always kind of had a soft spot for Vanilla Ice, so I bought their version of 'Ice Ice Baby'. I know, it's not something I'm proud of. Anyway, the girls have kind of taken a liking to it and Ginny walks around singing it a lot. 'do-do-do-do-do-do-do, Vanilla Ice Ice Baby' What have I done?

I bought a rototiller off Kijiji today, so I'm quite excited to try it out. We're going to attempt a bit of a garden this year, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the rain stays away long enough tomorrow to get out there for a bit. And a friend of mine soldered my sprinkler pipe today, so we should be ready to go in the backyard.

Anyhow, I am up much to late after watching my PVRed CSI and The Mentalist. Time for bed. Later.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Soccer

Today was another hot day - must have been close to 30. Here's a picture of the girls driving their Jeep yesterday.

We took a trip to Canadian Tire this afternoon to get some stuff for the yard. Our hoses were shot, so we needed a couple of new ones. Also, much to the delight of Jorja, we are growing a bumper dandelion crop. I'm not sure the neighbours will share her enthusiasm though, so we bought the Fiskar weed puller. I don't usually get excited about such things, but this thing is awesome. Mind you, I just tried it a little bit to check it out, and it was kind of fun. I guess the true test will be after the front lawn is tackled. Then I may be a bit more pro-chemical.

I finally turned the water on in the backyard to hook up the hose, and the pipe leading to the underground sprinklers is split wide open. I'm not sure how it happened, because they were blown out in the fall. Anyway, I'm not impressed, mostly because I don't know anything about soldering.

So tonight was Jorja's second soccer practice/game. There were no tears this time, so that was a plus. She actually kicked a ball around with another little girl before the game. This is huge. She's not very outgoing with other kids usually. She even asked her her name. I was impressed. The game itself was a thriller and by thriller I mean kind of painful to watch. Well, it wasn't that bad I guess. But the only action shots I have of her were taken in the pregame warm-up. She kind of got involved in the play briefly, but the thing she was most excited about was the blade of red grass that she found. I was so proud when she came running to the sideline in the middle of the play to show it to me. The only saving grace I have is that there were no dandelions on the field.

Anyway, I guess it's time to go out and check out the dandelions before dark. Then it's back in to watch Glee. Later.




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Monday, May 17, 2010

Who's who?

I'm not really sure what to write about today. Julie granted me a reprieve and went with Jorja to preschool today. We've been napping Ginny every few days, and thought she could use one today. So I put her down for a nap, held CeCe while she slept, and dozed in front of the TV for an hour. It was heaven.

After preschool, the girls took turns driving their new car around the backyard. Not really any better today - lots of "Dad, I'm stuck... Ouch! Dad, Ginny drove over my toes." I ended up putting a couple of rocks in the back of it, it seems like they are a little too light to get good traction. It looks like a 4x4 jeep, but only one wheel spins.

So here are some pictures of our three girls, all round the same age. Any guesses as to who is who?





Later.
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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Garage sales

We had what seemed like a fairly busy weekend. Thankfully there were no more major bodily function mishaps. We had enough of those on Friday. Let me start with a picture of Jorja from this morning. She had a new hairpiece, and was pretty proud of it, and looking pretty cute if I do say so myself.

This weekend was the Parkridge Community garage sale, so there were tons of garage sales in the area. Friday night, I bought a hedge trimmer, and started attacking the unruly cedars in front of our house. It worked pretty good, I just have to get a ladder out now.

Saturday morning, we set our again, and ended up buying a pool for the backyard. It's above ground, 4 feet high, 12 feet across, and should take up a fairly good chunk of our backyard. It's a good thing our grass is so poor anyway. We could have had it set up already, it was so nice out.

On our way home from church this morning, we thought we would drive around a bit, just to see if there were any more deals to be had. We ended up spotting a battery powered jeep for the girls to drive. It was a bit too big to fit in the back of our SUV, so I rode in the back with it holding the hatch down till we got home. Thankfully we didn't encounter any police officers - I may have had to drive it home. We took it out to the backyard, and the girls had a blast. Ginny was so funny. She didn't get the hang of steering, but figured out the forward/reverse thing. It looked like the scene from Austin Powers when he is trying to turn around this cart in a narrow hallway. She would drive straight ahead until she hit something, spin for a while, and then hammer it into reverse. She would go until she hit something, spin for awhile, and then slam it back into forward. It was pretty amusing.

The girls were playing outside this afternoon, and I thought I should go investigate. I happened upon a bit of a performance. They had their four little chairs set up in a row to observe the show, one seated a soccer ball, one had a watering can, one had a Nemo sprinkler, and the last had another ball. Jorja would then climb to the top of their play centre (the stage) and get ready. I think my coming outside cramped her style a bit, because I never did get to hear her sing. She had to come down and adjust this, and then try to make Ginny sit. "No Ginny, it's not your turn. This is my performance." She got pretty frustrated with her little sister, who seemed oblivious to the fact. Eventually Ginny snuck up there herself and made up a few of her own songs, one which was called 'The Speckled Frog.' I honestly don't know where they come up with this stuff.

Tomorrow is Jorja's last special day at preschool, which means I'm the parent helper. Hopefully it's better than the last one. I can't believe she's done preschool in another week. Time flies. But before I get all sentimental over that, I should go to bed. Later.
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Friday, May 14, 2010

Hand appetizer

Today was, shall we say interesting. It all began normal enough. The morning was pretty standard - Jorja and Ginny were playing dress-up, and Ginny was the prince. I wonder how much longer it is before she refuses to be the boy. Maybe by that time, they will be able to boss around CeCe.

On the way home from preschool, Jorja was telling us that she got to hold her teacher's mice. She has kept the mice at the school for a while now, I think since she got a cat, and is looking for a home for them. Anyway, Jorja says that while she was holding the mouse, it pooped in her hand. She didn't seem that grossed out by it, which was kind of surprising. "It's okay," she said, "I just had to use hand appetizer." Well, I guess as long as you used hand appetizer, it should be good.

Later on, I was getting burgers ready to BBQ, and Julie had just finished feeding CeCe. She was holding her standing on her lap, facing outward. Well, CeCe thought this would be a good time to have a fairly large spit-up. All down Julie's shirt, capri pants, legs, feet and the carpet. Yup, it was a gooder. Julie decided that would be a good time to take a shower.

That brings us to the BBQ. I was standing out there, flipping the burgers. Suddenly, I feel something hit the top of my head, and then there was a white splat on the side of the BBQ. Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it. A bird actually shit on my head. Do I have a bulls eye on my bald spot? I didn't think that actually ever happened to people. I had to make sure, so I came in to get Julie to check. I asked her if there was something on the top of my head. Apparently the piece that struck me was black because she asked if I burnt myself. She then made a move to touch it. "DON'T" I said. "Why? Does it hurt?" I then explained what happened. She laughed and I went to wash my head off.

Then we went for a walk after supper to check out some garage sales in the neighbourhood. We had just walked in the door, and I was bending over to help Ginny with her sandals. Jorja was standing there, kind of bent over herself, and decided she needed to sneeze. All over my neck. Are you sensing a theme yet. Ginny then informs me that she is stinky, and proceeds to start to stick her hand down the back of her diaper. "Get your hand out of there!" I yell. That's all we need.

So it's now bath time. Jorja and Ginny were already in the tub, and I was bringing CeCe over. I was carrying her from the change mat to the tub naked. I got about four feet from the tub, when she started to pee. All over my bare feet. I panicked, and lunged toward the tub, so she finished over the bath water. Why I didn't aim for the toilet, I don't know. A few minutes later, Ginny says that she peed. A few minutes later Jorja asks me if she can pee too. Why not? She then says,"Hey, all three of our pee is mixed together now, what does that make?" Gross, that's what that makes.

So yeah, it's just been one of those kind of days. Hope yours was cleaner. Later

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Wedding boy

This morning, I was cleaning up in the kitchen after breakfast and the girls had gone downstairs to play. Soon, they came back up, and Jorja informed me that her name was Diamond, Ginny's name was Jewel, and that we would be getting married this evening. Oh, I asked? "Yes Dad, you will be my wedding boy, and Ginny is my kid. What's your name?" I asked if I was a prince, because usually when she wants to get married, she is a princess and wants to marry a prince. "No," she said, "you're just my wedding boy." I decide my name would be Alexander. She then shakes my hand and says nice to meet you. Hmmm...we're getting married, we just met, and she has a kid. The whole thing seems a little sketchy to me. And it turns out Diamond is kind of a jealous little thing. I walked into the other room and started talking to Julie. Diamond walks in, puts her hand on her hip and says, "So, who is this? Is she a friend of yours?"

Well, apparently it's time for my wedding. Later.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

No naps

The past two days, Ginny has gone without a nap. It all started yesterday afternoon. Julie had to go to a physio appointment right after lunch. So I went to put Ginny down for a nap. She is so independent these days, and if she can't do something herself, it results in huge hysterics. Falling down on the floor kicking and screaming. Going totally limp when you are trying to carry her. Where do kids learn that? Is it instinct? It's very effective at any rate. I forget what set her off, but she was not happy. We always start time by singing a couple of songs, which she picks. She didn't want to pick any, and did not take kindly to any of my suggestions. So finally I had had enough, and just put her into bed. But you can't put her into bed, she has to get in herself. Now she sleeps in a toddler bed, so it's like six inched off the ground. Well, you'd think she was scaling Mount Everest to get in when she doesn't want to. Yet she can climb to the top of the play centre in the backyard with no issues. Funny how that works. Anyway, we were getting nowhere with going to bed, and CeCe was waking up and ready to eat, and I was by myself, so I finally told her that if she wasn't napping to go downstairs. Julie got home about an hour later, and everyone had calmed down by that time. She said she never would have guessed. At least it appeared that I had everything together. So when I took Jorja to soccer, Julie stayed home with the other two, and had Ginny in bed and asleep before 7:00 with no issues.

So we thought we would try it again today, and it went reasonably well. If this does work out (and I know enough not to let two days be enough of a trial), it will be nice to have more of an evening without children back.

The Shaw guy came today, and the internet seems to be better, but I'm still not happy with the TV. I'll have to call again once I calm down.

Anyhow, it's late, and I should be sleeping. Everyone else is. Later.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Parakeets

Let me start by saying we had internet troubles today. When I say troubles, I mean it didn't work. At all. I called Shaw, who we switched to last week, and they couldn't do anything over the phone. They have to send a technician out. It just so happens that one was already coming tomorrow. Our HD TV kind of sucks. The sales guy said it would be better than Sasktel, the installer said it would be better. It is no where near as good. It's all pixely and very disappointing. So I called about that this morning, and they said they would send someone out tomorrow - they probably need to boost the signal. Julie said she was surprised that I called, and I said I don't like my HD being messed with. I hope all this gets sorted out, because so far I'm regretting switching. They're coming between 9 and 12.

Tonight was the first soccer game, and I forgot the camera. I took Jorja by myself just because Ginny wasn't having a very good day, and we didn't want to try to contain her for the whole game. The team name is the Parkridge Parakeets. Really? Really? The parakeets? Could they have come up with a lamer animal. It didn't seem very intimidating playing the Caswell Cougars. I couldn't believe how much bigger Jorja looked than last year. Her shin pads actually fit. The shorts didn't come down past her knees. She looked pretty good. I won't go into all the details, but there were some tears, some coming and trying to sit on my lap saying she was tired, some saying I have to pee. If you remember my piano lesson post about how she doesn't like to try new things and not be good, it will make sense. Anyhow, I talked her into going back, and there was one brief shining moment when she actually kicked the ball. Twice. While on a breakaway. It went wide, but she actually ran and touched the ball. It's already better than last year. I guess we'll see what the rest of the season brings.

Anyhow, I've got to go watch Glee now, which we have PVRed. That's the one thing I am enjoying so far. Later.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Soccer shoes

After preschool today, we went to Walmart to get some new runners for Jorja. Soccer starts tomorrow, and she doesn't have any. We had decided that it didn't really pay to buy cleats, so we were just going to get her some regular runners. I tried on some brand name ones that were in the $20 range, but they didn't have velcro or laces, just kind of an elasticized tongue. They were next to impossible to get on over her soccer socks. And I'm not about to get her anything with laces - that's just too much work. So I found a pair of no name velcro ones for $8. I'm not opposed to spending more money - if I really believed the shoes would make any difference in her soccer-playing ability, I would buy them. But the $8 ones fit good, and I asked her if they were good enough. She looked at me, looked at the shoes and said, "Yup, they have pink on them." Enough said.

We also had to pick up some new plastic pails for playing in the dirt in the backyard. On the weekend, we were playing soccer, when I inadvertently stepped on the 'carebear' one. It spent all last summer outside, the winter in the shed, and most of the spring outside. The plastic was so brittle, it basically exploded under my foot. Well, I thought the world was going to end. Jorja cried...and cried...and cried. Even upon my insisting that we would get new pails, she said thinking about the carebear one still made her sad. I even said we would get two pails - one for each of them - to replace this one sacred pail. Finally she agreed. So today we walk into Walmart, and they have lots of summer stuff in a section right by the front doors. I walk down the aisle without pointing anything out, and see some princess pails for $4.93 each. I couldn't believe it was going to cost me ten bucks to replace this brittle, old pail. So we walked to the toy section, and I ended up spotting some for a buck. And they had pink, so all was well.

CeCe had been kind of fussy, so Julie stayed home with her. Lately, when I go somewhere with just the two girls, they insist in driving the red car. We went to get propane for the BBQ on Saturday, and Jorja said, "Yeah, this car is better. It has more power."

Ginny spent the whole car ride today singing 'Cecilia, you're shakin' my heart'. She gets the lyrics a bit mixed up, but she was right into it. She would close her eyes, tilt her head back, and just belt it out.

I went to work this afternoon by myself for coffee. It was great to see everyone and have an outing on my own. I love my kids, but it was a nice break.

I think that was about it for today. Later.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day Weekend

I call this post Mother's Day weekend, because we've kind of been celebrating all weekend (Julie deserves it). It all started when I called around last weekend and realized that I was too late to make a reservation somewhere nice for mother's day. Who knew? I guess people are organized. So we thought in lieu of mother's day brunch, we'd go out for supper on Friday night. We went to Tony Roma's and it was nice. The girls were reasonably well behaved. They get an 'appetizer' with the kids' meal there - Kraft crackers and cheez whiz. I think that was the highlight for Ginny. She used that little red stick and got every last bit of cheese product out of that container. It's weird, because they never eat cheez whiz at home.

Friday morning, Jorja decided to make Julie a Mother's day card. She also decided to give Julie one of her pens. She had finished the card, and came down to the family room, where Julie and I were sitting. "Mom, close your eyes." She then proceeds to 'whisper' how she made Mom a card, Ginny made one, and she had made one for CeCe to give to Julie. And she had found the perfect gift - a pen with a heart and feathers on the top that lights up when you press on it. This pen was Jorja's but she had decided to give it to Julie, 'because Dad, I have like four pens, and I don't need that many, so Mom can have this one.' It's hard to argue with logic like that. It's good to see I'm raising a Mennonite. She then tells me that she is going to go hide all the loot in her closet, and runs off to do so. She then returns to tell Julie not to look in her closet, because that's where the surprise was. She's got a lot to learn yet.

Saturday I took Jorja to piano lessons. She goes every Saturday at noon. It's a crappy time for the lesson, but she seems to be enjoying herself for the most part, and does pretty good. She can play with both hands now. It's amazing how much they learn in a year. Her only problem is that she doesn't like not being good. So any time they learn something new, it's a struggle to get her to do it. She gets all goofy and doesn't want to play. "Do you want to go to piano lessons?" I ask. "Then you better try this. It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. That's why we practice." Eventually, she will try it with me there, and then over the next couple of days, she goes to the piano and tries it herself, and soon she has it. It's just that getting started part. And sometimes she plays my bluff. "Do you want to go to piano lessons?" "No" "Well too bad, we're going anyway." Ah, the mind games. Anyway, back to this weekend in particular. After piano lessons, Jorja and I went to get some stuff for Mother's Day. Our first stop was to get a gift certificate for a pedicure. What's the perfect gift for a mother of three small children? A nice evening relaxing away from the children I figure. Then it was off to M&M to pick up some steak to BBQ and then to the flower shop. Jorja carried in the flowers all proud as punch, and gave them to Julie. She was most proud of the little swirly card holder that she had picked out.

That brings us to today. Jorja awoke this morning pretty much beside herself ready to bestow her treasures upon Julie. She presented her with all three cards, and the precious pen, that 'if Daddy wants to use it, he has to ask you Mom.' I am dying to use a pen with a flashing heart and feathery wisps on the top of it, so it's good to know I just have to ask.

After church, we thought we'd take a chance on Jerry's. Apparently it wasn't the hot spot for Mother's day. I thought everyone loved Jerry's. We were done eating and the girls were playing in the play area. CeCe slept through the entire meal - it was great. Julie and I were just enjoying some quiet time after lunch when Ginny came up to the table and uttered those two words you just don't want to hear when you're enjoying a cup of coffee after lunch. "I'm stinky." Great. Since CeCe had eaten in church, we had left the diaper bag in the car, so I told Ginny I would change her outside when we were done. Our SUV has a fold down tailgate, which has come in handy as a change table before. So there I was, in the Jerry's parking lot, changing Ginny's diaper. Julie was standing beside me jiggling the car seat, because CeCe had woke up by this time. Then this car drives by, the window rolls down, and this woman yells out, "It's nice to see the Dad doing that." Happy Mother's day!

This evening I BBQed steak and potatoes. I just get everything in off the barbecue, and Ginny comes up and asks what's for supper. After I tell her, she says, "I want tomato soup." Grrr. Then Jorja says to me, "I don't like steak." Grrr "Yes you do." "No I don't, I tried it when I was two, and I don't like it." Ginny had decided that she needed help eating hers, so Julie was helping her and I asked Jorja if she needed help too. She said yes, so I stabbed a piece of steak, smothered it in ketchup (because that's our dip for all our meat) and fed it to her. She makes this awful face and chokes it down. A few nights ago, each one of them scarfed down three barbecued wieners each (they don't eat them in buns), and now it was the end of the world to eat some steak. I think Jorja did like it, because after the initial bite, there was no hesitation, or carrying on . She just wouldn't admit that she liked it. If it wasn't mother's day, I might say 'typical woman'. Bazinga.

And that pretty much brings us to now. I hope you all had a good mother's day. Later.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

What Mother's Day Means To Me

Doesn't this title sound like an essay that we would have written in Grade 5?


Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I am now a mother, so I am legitimately remembered on this day. But I have to be honest. It feels weird.


I think that this may be the first Mother's Day out of the 5 that I have been at my home with Dave and the girls to celebrate it. I've either been away at a conference (this happened twice), or we've been at my folk's house, as this is the weekend that the Mother-Daughter Salad Supper happens. There is a flurry of excitement in the house, especially from Jorja. She's been telling me that there are surprises hidden for me in her and Ginny's closet, so I can't go in there and look, but I'll be getting them tomorrow. So, no peeking, Mommy! I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers today, and yesterday, we went out for an early Mother's Day supper. I truly am spoiled!


Why does it feel weird? I don't know. I am having feelings of inadequacy, as though I don't deserve to be celebrated, because I'm really not a great mom. Sure, I get by - the kids are clothed, hair is brushed, food is on the table, etc, etc, but a lot of this is because they also have a really great dad! I think that Dave and I balance each other out, but it's more of a 65/35 split....where I'm slightly below average, he's in the exceptional/gifted status.


Don't get me wrong - I love my girls, and would do anything for them. I just think that I don't score high in the super mom quotient. I guess that's okay but the important thing is that I am continually trying to do my best, and am always striving to be a better Momma - more patience, less annoyance, more attention, less frustration, more understanding, more laughter, and more love.


That being said, I hope that my girls grow up to be exceptional young ladies, knowing that their Momma loved them to the best of her ability. I hope that they grow up to have the wonderful kind of relationship with me that I have with my Mom. I hope that, someday, they will get to experience the joy that comes with being a mother -having sticky little hands clasped inside of theirs, slobbery kisses, big, sweet hugs from tiny little arms. I hope that they will get to experience the wonder of having a little person growing inside their body. I hope that they will hear the beauty of four magical words that can cross a child's lips - "I love you, Mom."


And to my Mom - what a lady you are! I am so blessed and privileged to have such a role model as you, and I am proud that you're my Mom. I'm glad that you're one of my best friends. You're a great source of wisdom, advice, laughter, fun, and not to mention, great recipes and cooking tips. I'm thankful for all of the love and support that you've given me, and I don't know where I'd be without our almost daily phone chats.


I love you, Momma - have a wonderful Mother's Day. I hope that I can be half of the mother to my girls that you were and are to me.


~Julie

Friday, May 7, 2010

Meltdown at the mall

Today we had a few errands to run. Julie had something to take back to Sears, and I had to take our TV and internet stuff back to Sasktel. We switched to Shaw today - they had a really good deal that lasts for a year, so we thought we'd try it. So far so good. I love PVR - it's awesome. Anyway, back to the story. There is a Sasktel store in the Confed mall, and the Dollar store there is a Sears outlet, so that's where we went. Julie took CeCe into the Dollar store, and I kept the other two girls with me. We were done slightly before Julie, so I was letting them play on those little loonie rides in the middle of the mall. Julie came out shortly after and wanted to go into Mark's, so I let the girls keep playing. There was a 'hotdog truck' that had a front seat, and a back seat off to the side that had some buttons by it that still made sound even without putting in any money. Jorja had decided that she was the driver, and that Ginny should sit in the back and not push the buttons. Yeah right. Ginny was pushing buttons and Jorja was reaching back trying to tell her to stop and pretty soon hands and pony tails are flying everywhere and they are both screaming (and I mean screaming) at each other. That was the end of playing in the truck. I pulled Ginny out and told Jorja to get out as well. She said no. I told her that if she didn't get out, I was going to take something away (we've been having some listening issues lately, but that is another whole story). She again said no, so I told her that she couldn't do any puzzles tomorrow. Well, then the wailing really started. I said we were going to find Mom (because I didn't want to keep all this joy to myself). So we set off for Mark's, me holding Ginny while she was crying and Jorja pulling up the rear, still crying. We get to the entrance to Mark's, and Jorja refuses to come in. I ask her if I need to take something else away. Well, then the wailing really starts. It's a good thing we were in the Confed mall, and since Walmart left, the mall is pretty dead. Shorty after Julie walks out and says she recognized the wailing from the other end of the store. Everyone gets calmed down, and we head to Safeway (still in the mall). Pretty soon Jorja and Ginny are sprinting down an aisle. Needless to say, I took the two of them out to the car and Julie finished getting what we needed. Ahh, what a fun day.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Haircuts


Well, today we took the girls for haircuts. They were absolutely thrilled. It was Ginny's first time, and she did great. She even got it straightened. Jorja just got a trim, and the the stylist put it into a braid for her. She was pretty proud of that. We got bangs cut for Ginny, and it's amazing how different it made her look. She is so cute, if I do say so myself.

The girls have decided that they want to shower the past two days. It was actually Ginny's idea, and then Jorja decided that if her little sister could do it, she could too. Ginny has been sitting on the toilet for a bit before bath time lately. She was before CeCe was born, but then quit after, and now she's slowly warming up to the idea. She wants to 'pee in panties.' I try to explain to her that you don't pee in panties, you have to pee in the potty. Anyway, yesterday she sat there for a while and actually squeezed out a few drops. Well, the excitement from that must have sealed her up a little prematurely. She went running from the bathroom naked bragging of her feat. She ended up going up to the kitchen, and I'm not exactly how things work down there, but all of a sudden, there was this stream coming out almost straight forward from her. And there was a lot left. At least it was on the lino and not the carpet. Well, this shocked her pretty good, but we managed to keep her from getting too traumatized by it.

Jorja had preschool today, and it must have been a good day because she talked non-stop all the way home. She was just hyper. They were learning about teeth today, and made a craft out of apples where they iced marshmallow teeth into the apple and got to eat it there. She also got this cheap little toothbrush, and proceeded to come home and want to throw her spinbrush in the garbage. If we bought her a plain, red toothbrush, there is no way she would ever be that excited about it.

I think that's about it for today. Later.





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Let's go get them squirrels

The last time we were at Julie's parents' place, Julie's brother and his wife were there as well. One afternoon, they went out gopher hunting. This was the first time Jorja had ever seen a gun. Fast forward to yesterday when Jorja was watching 'The princess and the frog' (the new Disney movie). There is a scene where some bad guys have some guns. She says to me, 'Those are what Uncle and Auntie had when they were going to get the squirrels.'

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Snow

Well, tonight was supposed to be Jorja's first soccer practice. But it's been snowing here all day. The ground is now white. What is up with that?

Are farts innately funny? It seems that the girls have found them funny right from the start. Today after supper, I was getting ready to wipe Ginny up before she left the table. I usually swing her chair with the booster seat out, so she is looking right at me. Well today, I move her chair, she looks me right in the eye, pushes her right arm down on the arm rest to lift her cheek, and proceeds to let out this loud ripper. What was I going to do? There was no way I could keep a straight face over that.

Bedtime continues to be an issue - it appears the stickers are not incentive enough for Ginny. How can kids be so cute and funny one minute, and so frustrating the next.

The girls are booked in for hair cuts in the morning tomorrow. We took Jorja to this stylist once before, and she was great with her, so we thought we'd try it again. Ginny has never had a hair cut, not even a trim, so we'll see how that goes. It should be all right. For how rough and tumble she is, she really likes the girly stuff too.

Anyhow, I am sooo ready for this weather to turn. We are all beginning to go a bit stir crazy here. Later.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Sunday, May 2, 2010

The weekend

I've got to be honest, the reason I didn't write anything yesterday was that I was too irritated. By the time the girls were in bed and asleep, I was done. Let's just say that Ginny didn't get a sticker this morning. CeCe was not very happy most of the day - she's been such a good baby, we've been spoiled. We were at the Pet Land in Stonebridge yesterday afternoon, and she screamed the whole way home, just inconsolable.

Today has been a much better day, except for the usual few hiccups. We went to church this morning, and that was good. The girls really love going now. Jorja has had such awesome Sunday school teachers all along, and Ginny loves to go play in the 'toddwer woom'. She knows most of the other kids names, and talks about going to play with them.

We went to Jerry's for breakfast/lunch after church (we go to the early service, so we're done by 10:30). We sat in the back by the new kids' play area, and let the girls go play before our food came. I've got to say, it was the most relaxing time we've had in a restaurant probably since we had kids. There was no telling them to sit still/quit drinking all your chocolate milk/stop fighting with your sister/put that down/do you want to go sit in the car?/leave your sister alone. They were well behaved, we could see them, but couldn't hear them (and we were within earshot, so that was good). There was no fighting, just getting along. It was nice. On the downside, CeCe was ready for her bottle, so Julie was feeding her. There's one thing I should know by now after three kids is to always have a change of clothes for the baby in the diaper bag. This is a rule we usually live by, but I forgot to replace the clothes after our last explosive outing. Just as our name was being called saying our food was ready, Julie noticed a discolouration on CeCe's tights. Oh oh. I took her to the bathroom to change her, and it wasn't good. The diaper shirt was affected as well as the tights, and there was nothing in the diaper bag. So I changed her, put her poopy clothes back on, and we gave her a bath when we got home.

It was actually nice enough to go outside this afternoon. It was cool, but it was dry, so we took advantage of it. The girls wanted to go for a bike ride, so we did, Jorja on hers, Ginny and me on mine. There's one thing Jorja lacks when riding her bike, and that is focus. She likes to ride in front, which is fine, but then she wants to talk and see us, so she turns her head around while still riding. When you are four years old, this is not a good idea. 'Jorja, look where you're going. Don't hit that car...Jorja, there's a car coming, stay on our side of the road...You can't just stop right in front of me.' Yes, it's always an adventure. We had just went by a parked car, and there was a guy outside in his driveway that I didn't see till we were right there. He was laughing when he said hi and waved. He must have thought we were crazy. Then Jorja asks me, "Dad, is your bike as fast as mine?" Yeah, like it's the bike.

We got the call this evening that soccer starts this week Tuesday. I'm curious to see what Jorja is like this year. She was pretty timid last year, kind of followed the play around, and made sure the ball didn't actually come to her. She was more concerned with the way her hair was bouncing around while she ran. And the water bottle. The Tim Horton's water bottle was always empty at the end of a game. However, the forecast is for a high of 7 and rain, so we'll see.

Right now, Julie is watching 'Animal Autopsy' on the National Geographic channel. This episode is of an elephant. She is fascinated with it. I told her that strange things pop out to her on the program guide. There is no way that would have even registered for me, and she picked it out right away. "Animal autopsy, what's that? Click on it once, let me see. Yeah, give me some HD." And she accuses me of being a high definition snob. Let me tell you, an elephant's bowels in HD are pretty impressive.

Anyhow, I think that's about it for tonight. There's no preschool tomorrow, so I'm not sure what we'll do yet. There's actually only 8 more preschool days (one of which I'm the helper), and then we're done for the summer. What are we going to do for three months?