Cheers to good friends!

Photo credits go to a good friend of mine.
These pics were taken while I was
gallivanting on the other side of the country with Matthew.

My friend used to take pictures for weddings.

You can tell she has a more professional flare than I do.

The kids don't say "cheese" or "peanut butter" for her
EVERY time she takes out the camera either.




Matthew's picture was taken today.
Before he got covered in mud.
Head to toe.

They all got a bath when we got home.
Before supper.
Good thing I had a freezer meal ready.

I have cheered up. (Thanks Marian) I do plan on the canoe trip next week...
but we'll skip the Arctic...
and the baby can enjoy it "in utero" this year. (I hope)
(Hmmm...what would it be like to deliver a baby in backcountry Algonquin?)

It is great having a friend you can call up and say "Can you watch my kids for a while today?" and she genuinely ENTHUSIASTICALLY accepts--but not only that, she also says when you leave "Anytime, (add your name here), call me up to watch the kids again, anytime!" And not only that--but she's great fun to talk to, an excellent mentor, and a good example.
Makes it hard to go home when all is said and done.

Post Holiday Blues

Everyone feels drab except for Matthew. He feels like trouble. And he is it too.

Reading through my hospital preregistration package (and the OODLES of forms I need to fill out all for that) has put me into a rather drab mood. It's muggy outside. Thankfully it's cloudy--or else it'd be too hot for me. Soon I'll be off...I'm relieved to "dump" the kids off at a friends so that I can get an ultrasound done, plus the pregnancy diabetes test. In a few minutes I'll have to chug water and get familiar full full bladder feeling...then after that, the one hour test where you drink some disgustingly sweet beverage and they take your blood an hour later. I convinced myself into doing it by taking a good book along. :) Like a mini holiday. ;)

Nathan's crying in bed instead of being quiet and he's gonna wake up Matthew who can't be any worse than this morning (I hope).

Hope ya'll have a lovely day!

Oooh, a bright red cardinal on a drab looking chain link fence. Now it's gone.

stuff

home grown tomatoes
It's hard to catch them before they rot. Any hints?


Long term project: first 100 piece puzzle

Home Sweet Home

The kids are happy to be together again, no one is so happy as Matthew!! We had a lovely trip (Matthew and me) but he was very concerned about being left behind, anytime I looked like I was going somewhere. So we stuck together like glue. He cried alligator tears when Philip went out last night too, but was content with just me once he was out the door. Poor guy is never going to trust the word "bye" again, since he doesn't know how long it might mean!

Nathan was sure happy to see me too--as soon as he saw me, he said "Can we go get your suitcases now?"
Where does a hello and a hug fit in, I wonder?

Melanie's pretty happy to have us all together too--who can blame her? Now at least, she's not the only female at home!

Less than two weeks 'til my next holiday!

Investment

To save my back for the future, I broke down and got an umbrella stroller for the trip. Walmart special...under $20 including taxes. Hopefully it's worth it.

My back was getting sore just thinking of running haphazardly through the airport with Matthew in my arms (or on my back) stopping and picking up accidentally dropped items every 10 meters. All this done while the last call is being made YET AGAIN for me to make it to my next flight...

Nathan thinks it's a ripoff that he's too heavy for the stroller. Growing older is hard!

more veggies and nuts, less fruits for snack

midwife's orders:
(actually, she'd say not peanut butter, but peanuts instead. and no raisins--they're much too high in sugar!)

Recipe for Bugs on a Log:
celery cut into logs
peanut butter for sap/glue
raisins for bugs...any kind of bug you like...mine were ladybugs and ants and Nathan's were centipedes


Yup, I had a checkup today. I'm gaining weight nicely--nicely for the baby anyways, not as nicely for my modeling career perhaps. But I'm sure that's nothing a crash diet can't fix once the baby is out. Heehee. ;)

I had fun fiddling around with some pregnancy calculators. I'm obese, by the way. But only by 1 pound. If I was 1 pound less pre-pregnancy, then I'd be allowed to gain 25-35 pounds. But alas, I am over the mark, so only 15-25 is considered healthy for me. Actually--that's all true for last pregnancy. This time I WASN'T obese. Lucky me. But that also means I've only got 6 more lbs of healthy weight gain 'til mid November. I'm sure that's gonna happen. ;) Too bad I don't believe the calculators...time to go have another slice of double chocolate mousse pie, followed by an extra creamy strawberry milkshake.
Mmmm.
Too bad there's none in the house.

But seriously, the baby appears to be quite healthy. Yay! And so am I(BMI and pregnancy weight gain calculators disregarded). But I have a bit of heartburn just now. No more tomatoey soups for lunch I guess. *sigh* It was soooo healthy though. Baby just loved it.

A dilemma

My dilemma is this:
If I pack today, I won't be able to sleep tonight.
If I wait 'til tomorrow, Philip won't be able to sleep tonight.
Who should I torture? Myself, or him?

I guess if I weigh things; he gets two kids, I get one (unless you count jr?).
He gets to work while I'm gone, I get to have fun.
Hmmm.
Maybe I'll pack today.
After all, it is fun to be hyper. ;)

Something is not right!

In the middle of the night
Miss Clavel turned on the light
and said, "Something is not right!"

As usual, life with kids has ups and downs.

Life has ups and downs without kids too...but there's no way for me to know that for certain. Things in my domain cycle from
Fantastic!
to
"Something is not right!"
usually for me life requires the "turning on of the light" for me to notice just how bad things are. Today the light is on.
I saw it flicker yesterday:
Melanie was sitting sedately in her booster seat sometime in the afternoon.

Maybe she'd been coloring? I don't know.
But suddenly she bangs her hand up and down on the table and YELLS
"You be quiet and listen to me NOW!"


(Now who's horrible lack of manners, respect and love could she possibly be imitating SO precisely, we wonder?)


That was just a glimmer. Today she was much worse.

Potty training, which I thought was complete (she has the odd accident every week or so, but otherwise perfect), was a COMPLETE disaster today. COMPLETE. Probably nothing went where it should have today.
By the time I tucked her in bed for the night, I felt my voice was strained.
From YELLING. Yes, yelling.
And my body drained.
From ANGER.
That is terrible.

It has come to that.
For a while now.
Once again.

So what's the next step?
I guess it will be to once again go back on my knees
and admit I just can't do it.
I need help.
Tonnes of it.

Time to, once again, realize that these are God's children, not mine.

Time to respect them (again).

Time to love them (again).

Time to stop loving myself quite quite so much (AGAIN!!).

I need to spend some time, once again, trying to figure out what each of them needs. Spend GOOD time with them, not just guilt laden pretend good time.
If I start this way, hopefully, they'll start listening better...
because I'll be listening better!

Then maybe I won't feel like yelling anymore.

Part of the reason things have deteriorated this much just now, I suspect, is because of the forthcoming trip. It's hard to focus on here when I'm thinking of there.

If the older two really get so bad, what does it matter? I can fix it when I get back, right?
Or Daddy can fix it while I'm gone!
(evil cackles)

Yup, I have been full of horrible attitudes lately. But now I'm truly sorry for it.

First I must be mended,
then I'll have a hope with the kids.