It's an exciting week!

Jellybean is on the countdown to her birthday. She wanted a bowling party this time so she was very limited to who she could invite; as it is pretty expensive to do as a party. She could invite 4 friends and those spots were quickly filled up by her "fiance", 2 best friends from school and long time friend, Simon. The wish list went on for ever of who she would like to invite if she could invite just one more...unfortunately we had to be the bad guys and tell her not this time since she had insisted on the bowling party. Next year I can expect an "at home" party so she can invite all of these other friends.

I have a Strawberry Shortcake ordered from Safeway & when I called to see if they had that I realized I should probably specify the character so she didn't wind up with some cheepo version of strawberry shortcake. You know the white cake with strawberry glaze; the total disappointment compared to authentic biscuit type strawberry shortcake.

The juice boxes (veggie with fruit juices) are bought for the treat bags as are the fruitbites that I found in the snack aisle...a couple more healthy things and the bags will be complete.

Her birthday is not until next Monday so I don't have to worry yet about filling balloons and making cupcakes for her to take to school for another week yet but it is on the list of things to do. It's always exciting when you are a kid to have a birthday. I'm not getting that same excitment from Bill who will be turning 39.1 the Tuesday after Jellybean's.

By the way, 39.1 is geeknerd for I am turning 40.

Bug is one funny kid

Last night as I was tucking Bug in for the night, he looked over at me and innocently asked me if his room smelled. I couldn't smell anything so I told him that I didn't think so and asked him why he asked me. His response was interrupted with giggles as he told me, "Because I just farted!" and he then erupted into side splitting laughter.

This must be a boy thing...

Smidge of an update

Parent-Teacher Interviews were last night for Rush and this was the first time we have ever attended a high school P/T interview. We managed to fit in 3 out of 5 teachers so I am thinking it was a mild success. The teachers we missed were the Phys. Ed. teacher and the Practical Applied Arts teacher; I think we covered the critical ones and they would have been icing. No icing on our cake this time.

The general theme/consensus (sp) of the teachers was that Rush needs to communicate better with her teachers. She doesn't ask for help if she doesn't quite get something and none of her teachers knew the "severity" of the health problems Rush has been having and the impact they are having on her schooling. They just weren't understanding why some of her work has been phenomenal and other work has been acceptable...

Overall, we were pleased with what they had to say about her but a note to Rush, start talking to your teachers and don't rush a project. Together we can do this!

Bug is darn near finished his "Come Read With Me" program at the school; he has really been enjoying it because daddy has been able to make it each Thursday. He has also taken it upon himself to practice drums every day at our house.

Jellybean is anxiously looking forward to her birthday and is planning a bowling party for her, Bug and 4 of her friends. We are all ready on a countdown. I can tell you there are 18 days left until she turns 7 years old.

One slightly used tooth and a pink feather for the low, low cost $2.00. Beat that shopping channel!

Jellybean lost another tooth; she's an old pro at this now. She wiggles the crap out of the tooth for what seems like 24 hours a day until it is barely hanging on and then she gets her daddy to take the plyers to it in order to yank that sucker out of there. She lays on the couch like a brave soul and calmly allows her father to pluck this tooth from her face. She is by far the most trusting, so far, when it comes to Dad removing teeth.

The last lost tooth resulted in what we refer to as "The Incident"; I believe I posted it on here but I could be wrong. The tooth was, for some reason, being washed and it ended up that Bug lost the tooth down the bathroom sink. Devestation quickly ensued with us reassuring her that the toothfairy would still show up because she knows about little brothers. A strongly worded letter to the toothfairy regarding her brother seemed to ease her troubled mind and she slept peacefully awaiting her booty.

Today Jellybean knew that her tooth was going to come out today and used a package of sticky-notes giving the toothfairy directions to her room and even, more specifically, to her bed "just in case Flossy gets mixed up and goes to Rush's bed by mistake".

At bedtime, I made sure that Jellybean had her tooth under her pillow and asked her if it was in a plastic baggy so it wouldn't get lost in all those blankets, pillows and teddybears. She assured me it was and informed me that she also had a pink feather in the bag in order to pay the toothfairy. I tried, once again, to tell her that the toothfairy paid her for her tooth and that she didn't need to pay her but she insisted and I know better than to press the matter when Jellybean feels this strongly about something that she feels is the right and proper thing to do.

So, the toothfairy, Flossie (that's our family's toothfairy's name...there is a misconception that there is only one...she would be way too busy if there were only one toothfairy) walked away with quite a bargain today: one slightly used tooth and one fuzzy pink feather from the wand of Jellybean's hair sparkles for a low, low price of $2.00! What a steal! I just don't know what to do with the feather!

My little swamper

Apparently "swamper" is a trucking term for someone who isn't old enough to drive but is there to help with whatever it would be that a truck driver would need assistance with. That is the definintion, reworded, according to my husband. That was what my son was today; he helped his dad in the gravel truck and he is proud to be called a swamper.

(The only other term he had ever taught me was "lot lizard" and I didn't really care to ever know that one. If you were to think about it and know that a lot lizard is a specific type of woman who also assist, you would figure out its definition all on your own... )

Here are the pictures from today of Bug and his dad:

This and That.

I apologize for being such a slacker but I have been consumed a fair bit by Chemistry and, frankly, Facebook and its evil Scrabble game.

Our children have been tickling our funny bones with their insight and wisdom regarding life and the world we live in.

Jellybean has informed us that Bug has to change the name of his favorite lunch time sandwich. Apparenly it is not right for a boy to eat girl cheese sandwiches and when he has one it has to become a boy cheese sandwich.

We have also discovered a new species of animal thanks to Jellybean. Surprisingly it was discovered by Grandma and Pa while Jellybean was getting ready to come home from school and was the absolute, very last kid out of her door. They discovered a snertle! This bizzare little creature is a cross between a snail and a turtle and boy is she ever cute. However, she does not like the name she has been given and protests when you call her by Snertle. Jellybean prefers to be called by her given name.

We have been made aware that Rush has her first boyfriend. I think I felt my health deteriorate by about 20 years when she finally confessed to it. I don't know if I am exactly prepared for this but at least we know and we are not being tricked about it anymore and we can monitor the situation and ensure that there is proper and adequate supervision.

Bug is going truck driving right now with his dad. They are hauling gravel to help a friend and Bug has been so excited. He barely jumped out of bed beofre he was asking when they got to go and he was after me to make him truck driver snacks to take. This meant that we had to phone Pa to see what truck drivers took as snacks. In leiu of coffee he took juice but he took a sandwich like Pa said (I don't think though that Pa takes peanut butter and grape jelly), granola bar, some fruit and a yogurt. I think Pa would be proud of that truckdriver and his snacks. With the sharing of snacking wisdom Pa gave Bug a little bit of a tip as well. "Tell Bug to have a good day and to keep the shiny side up."

Bug and Jellybean are especially enjoying the new Dustin Smith cd we picked up. They are sure to be singing their absolute loudest on song #1..."We will shout it from the mountains, shout it...you are Lord." It is very cute to watch Bug try to rock out this song while he "plays" his guitar along with it.

There's been a little void

Here I am in Brookings, SD on my way back to Canada and this is the first time I have had access to the internet! I have been missing people and being able to correspond with them but I have also been having too much fun to miss it completely! We love it here; here being KC. Our friends here are fabulous and the family we have here is spectacular (and not limited to only LilB and Nat).

The wedding was fantastic and I will post some pictures once I get home and get caught up with a few things I will need to do there, unpack, work, homework, get my chem test done...all that fun stuff!

I do miss my friends and family back home though and am I ever looking forward to seeing and communicating with you (with whatever means we are used to) and I am looking forward to being able to finish that scrabble game with Cheryl!

Skip to the caf my darling.

Rush came home from school today telling me as soon as she walked up to the house that she needed to talk to me in private. It sounded quite urgent and given the circumstances this past week my heart skipped a beat.

Her eyes filled wtih tears as she told me that she was sorry and that she did something that we were going to be very angry at her as she had made a stupid decision. Apparently, she skipped phys ed today. She didn't do it to go to the mall or to visit with her friends or to smoke a cigarette. No, she skipped because she thought she was going to be too busy tonight to study for a science test she didn't know about (they found out Friday after she had left the school due to all the chaos) and so she went to the cafeteria to study for her science test.

How many kids will skip class to go study?

Granted, some people can say that we are gulible for believing that she went to study but those will be the same people who don't truly know her or just want to tease. I know that she is telling the truth(her gym teacher is apparently very hot...who would miss that?) and I also know...

that I have the cutest geeknerd daughter ever!

Boy! Do I ever feel lighter!!

I went to one of our local charity drop-off places and man, did I EVER drop off. I took all that we had put in the shed and all that I had recently taken out of our house and I left them with 10 bags of stuff. 10 bags!!!!! 10 big bags!!!! 10 big, full bags!!! 10 big, full, heavy bags!!!!! Sadly, I have to tell you that I am sure I can still get more crap out of my house...(hear the small, quiet voice that says...) oy vay.

Back to the purge

Today we are doing some massive cleaning, a making sure we can come home to a spotless house when we go on our trip(Jewel willing). We are taking our bags of stuff to give away (we are talking teddybears, clothes that some of our children have left here, tupperware, lunchkits, etc) out of our house today. By out of the house I don't mean transfered to the shed like any other time; I mean out of the house, out of the shed, into the van straight to the donation spot.

This purge has done one other thing for us. It has saved us $100 that we owed to the library due to 2 lost books and a lost kids vhs tape of Thomas the Train! We found all 3 items and that has me completely pumped!!!

I echo my previous sentiments from an earlier post; purging is wonderful!!!

The last we heard...

...some gang members were escorted by the police out of the school. Whether they belonged at the school or not is unknown. FYI: This was told to us by one of the few students who ended up staying the entire day as she couldn't get a hold of her parents and we thought she was gone all ready.

More chaos for our children

Today I went for lunch with Renee and at the end of our lunch I received a call on my cell. At first I almost hung up because I couldn't hear anyone there. A small, fearful voice quivered on the other end of the line, a shaky, "Mom...?" and then silence.

Immediately I had to fight the tears back even though I still had no idea what the matter even was there was that much fear in her little voice.

I found out that she wanted to come home and most of the students from Carlton had all ready gone home. There is a threat or rumor of a threat/attack on our children. The rumor is that today, possibly Monday there will be a shooting at the school. There is no particular target. If you are in their way or in their sight you are the target. This threat is being taken seriously enough that the students were locked in their classrooms and teachers were encouraging them to go home if they felat scared or nervous in anyway; also there were cop cars stationed outside the school today, not just the police liasons.

It is rumored that gang members from Saskatoon and Regina were in the student lounge first thing this morning. I was downtown today and there was a lot more security related issues today than I have ever seen and quite a few more shady characters lurking about.

Apparently, this is not supposed to be linked to the murder this past weekend. That was apparently just a rumor too. Kids were told by other kids not to go out that night because something was going to go down...that rumor turned out to be true. I certainly don't want to risk this rumor being true too...

A little irony with supper

Rush didn't like what I quickly made up for supper tonight, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches with orange soup (to all of you who don't know, that is what Bug calls tomato soup because he doesn't like tomatoes and that is his favorite soup but, I digress.). Anyway, Rush decided to make a taco out of our last night's leftovers. She grabbed some taco meat and dished it up, put it in the microwave to heat it...


...the next thing I knew the microwave was sparking and shooting some small flammage! I ran to the microwave and, in a panic, pushed the button to open the door to find...


...she had put the meat in a metal measuring cup to heat it and threw that in the micowave causing our pyro show. Apparently she thought you couldn't put metal in the microwave only if it had water in it! (Grin)

Okay people prepare your funny bones because this is where it gets good!!! The shirt she was wearing at the time of the incident reads, "What a difference a brain makes".

Ah the memories my children give me. So, to the people who will care for me in my last days, please cut me some slack, don't think I am losing my mind if I start laughing for no apparent reason. I have a lot of reasons to be laughing; you see, by then I will have raised 7 children and have a lifetime of memories just like these.

Success!!

We were up, dressed, fed and ready in plenty of time to get to Pa & Grandma's on time this morning and I made it to work with 6 minutes to spare!!!

First morning of solo parenting for a week a smashing success.

Tonight we have Reading with the Raiders 5:30 - 6:30 and I have school 6:30-9:30. An impossibly tight squeeze but I am thinking we will ditch the Raiders early this week so I can get to school on time. Sounds fair to me...

Edited to add:

Due to an unfortunate mishap at school of gym lockers not opening and of ones needing to get her gym teacher to help her once all the other girls were out, Rush missed 2 buses and had to walk home causing supper to not be quite on time. That folks, was the worst thing that happened regarding solo-parenting day one.

Bug & I got to the library in time to get him registered for Reading with the Raiders; he was too shy to talk to any of the 4 there or even look at them for that matter. We also decided to register Jellybean. I got to school on time (barely but on time) and home. Unfortunately home time was met with Bug crying in his room because he is "sad at Rush because she didn't give me a bed time snack" at 6:30 pm and when he asked to be put to bed at 8 and was offered a snack he declined. This whole school thing is going to take him some getting used to I think...it really tuckers him out and then he gets very emotional.

Tragedy strikes our children

And all we can do about this is teach our children how to hopefully avoid these situations and these people and pray...pray our butts off!


Extra grief counsellors have been taken to the school near by to help the kids out with this situation they find themselves currently in. Things have sure changed a lot since I was in high school.

It continues...

in Bug's room. I have been purging all afternoon and I have so far gotten rid of a huge bag of garbage including but not limited to broken toys and puzzles with 50% of the pieces missing. I have returned half of Jellybean's toys to her room and I also have a laundry basket full of toys to donate somewhere but I don't know where. So, if you know of any place or body who could use some toddler/preschool toys let me know.

Please, do not disturb...

...purge in progress and boy, oh boy, is it ever feeling good.

Why does it feel so good getting rid of things? I completely understand why it feels great once you have them organized because you feel a sense of order and along with that comes a peace and a place you can relax. Perhaps that is all that purging comes down to...order. As you purge, you put back where (insert item here) belongs and you get order.

You can't tell by looking at my house most days (especially when we would have all the kids here) but I love order. I love organizing but with this many kids and a husband, who occassionally doesn't understand my reasoning or my plan, well, you know that saying, "the best laid plans of mice and men...".

Anyway, today I have gotten rid of the mismatched lids and bottoms of rubbermaid containers. Where do those things go?! You can't even blame that one on the dryer!! I also organized that cupboard and created an area and a plan that everyone will be willing and able to follow. No longer are there popsicle containers and sticks strewn about the cupboard; they are all in a nice little container...contained. Ah, bliss...where have thou been my glorious friend.

The 3 million lunchkits we have for 5 people have been purged. Oh! I am not even exaggerating! Ok, maybe a tad. But now, the numbers are normal!!! Normal...oh to see your face again...

I still have so much to do but it will be done! Oh yes, it will be done!!!

And now that I am done sounding like a geek; I must get back to my purging so I can feel even more weight lifted from my shoulders and those fingers loosen from my neck...and that, is not an exaggeration.

It looks like I'm on the right track

Tonight I took that test Marc has on his blog and it looks like I have at least made the right decision career wise...30 out of 40 of my ideal career choices have to do with Healthcare. So, here are the top 10.



1.
Pediatrician
2.
Child and Youth Worker
3.
Family Practitioner
4.
Mental Health Nurse
5.
Psychiatrist
6.
Physician Assistant
7.
Funeral Director
8.
Social Worker
9.
Licensed Practical Nurse
10.
Adoption Counselor

Included in the rest are a variety of different specialty doctors and nurses etc. Not so shabby huh?

Missing

Tonight Rush & I were looking through some of our pictures as she is wanting to do a scrapbook of her own. I thought it would be a great time for her & I to spend some time together while she picked out the pictures she wants to print off and it was fun. We had a good time laughing at some of the silly pictures and remembering some good times. It was great until...

I came across a picture of my soon to be ex-sister-in-law and it really, really hurts. Not only was she my brother's wife but she was my sister and she was my friend and now, she is gone...I am angry at her for what she did to my brother(and I realize & respect that there are 2 sides to this) and I am angry & hurt that she has decided that she wants nothing to do with us. I am angry that I have to retell my younger two children that they don't really have an auntie R anymore because she has chosen to cut herself off from every single one of us and it breaks my heart to see how much it breaks theirs. I feel betrayed by her in so many ways and on so many levels that I can't even begin to sort it out in my head and my heart just doesn't even want to try.

At first it seemed as if their break up would alter our relationship but not eliminate it and I sent birthday cards and phoned and she came to see Rush when she was in the hospital and there has since, been nothing and there is a void...and it hurts...and I feel like there is a big part of my support system gone and that person who I know I could be silly with has disappeared and that big sister who was always there to laugh, to cry, to celebrate, to mourn has just decided to not exist in my world and I can feel her missing...

I haven't cried...but I can feel them there

I only worked until lunch today, went to my dad's and Jude's and picked up the Bug. He & I then drove to the school where I proceeded to snap pictures of every possible part of his first day of pre-k...the only thing I didn't get was a picture of him with his 2 teachers...

He had so much fun and it was great! I loved watching how he immediately felt comfortable enough to let my hand go and socialize with his new classmates but, inside, I felt a bit of loss. My baby has grown up so much and he is the baby. There will be no more. This is the last first "first" day of school. He even let go of my hand at one point on our school tour to take the hand of his new teacher and as beautiful as it was to watch him...my heart bowed down in sorrow...

I will post pictures but right now I am almost late for my class...