Saturday, July 29, 2006

tired

So tired. So very tired.

What made me think I could do 3 weeks of holiday with only 2 nights of sleep in my own bed?

What made me think handling 2 kids (under 4) with messed up schedules would be easy?

Must find energy.

Must enjoy myself.

Must make the most of every minute.

Must go to a movie.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

thoughts from week 1

1. I swear I'll NEVER forget diaper rash cream again.

Ever.

Even if I don't have kids, so that if some other uncaring, evil parent forgets their diaper cream, I'll be able to offer them mine.

2. It's a loooong walk from the tent to the outhouse piggybacking a near 4 yr old at any time of day.

3. Kids eat sand. Sand scratches up bum. Which leads to point #1.

4. Sunsets are always beautiful up north.

5. Mosquitoes like backs and bums. Always spray repellant on the area of your back that becomes exposed when you bend forward and your shirt rides up your back a bit.

6. PB & J is always a good thing to eat. No matter what meal it is.

And finally (well there are many high/bad lights but these are just the ones I can think of right now) when you feel that you should go home, follow your instincts and go home early. It's usually better than staying, freaking out and causing more pain that was necessary to make.

Monday, July 17, 2006

A week here and there


Yesterday we celebrated Callah's 2nd birthday with some close friends and family. I'd have to say it was a good time, altho' I can't read minds, so who knows what other people thought. She may be miserable and sickly of late (to prove this, she puked up something incredibly stinky and nasty at about 3 am last night) but I love our little angel. Who knew she could get so incredibly dirty while eating, or create something truly "special" with a bottle of ketchup and a spoon. That she'd love her thumb so much it takes an "army " of fingers to pry it from her mouth. And that she'd delight us in unimaginable ways with her laughter, her non-stop questions, and overall cuteness. So here's to you Callah girl, may God bless you richly and may you always know we love you!


Call me crazy, but today I'm heading out camping for a week with our youth group (7 of them) AND our 2 kids. I'm still having doubts. It'll be an adventure if nothing else.

Then when we get back from that, we have a day to regroup and repack before we head down to Katepwa (near Regina) for a week at a cabin with my parents.

Then we'll head to Regina (not home to PA) to regroup and rewash before finally heading to Calgary and Edmonton for our family vacation.

I already can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. Pray for me! ;-)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

what would you do?

9:45 am

It's been a busy morning.

8:17 am - Matthias comes into our room and says, "Callah's making a mess with the ketchup."

8:40 am - We listen to the kids rendition of the Veggietales theme song (which includes a bunch of screaming and head bobbing from Callah)

9:07 am - The 3 of us watch as Callah turns in circles, falls down, has difficulty getting up and then does it all over again.

9:23 am - Matthias throws a blanket over Steve's head, gives Steve directions on where to walk, and Callah has a blanket over her head hanging onto Steve's leg.

and here we are...9:49 am and the kids are playing hide-n-go-seek.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

blowup dragons

It was really hot today. Sickly hot. Humid hot. I hate hot hot. The kind where you go outside and the air is thick. Granted it's not as bad as down south (Florida-ish) but too hot for me. So thinking of cooling off the kids and I went hunting for pool toys (you know, in the odd chance we ever own a house with a pool). We went to JYSK, Dollar Store, Wal-Mart and Liquidation World. We actually bought a blue ring with handles at the $1 store and a baby floaty thing (which wound up having a hole in it, so we took it back, I really don't know why I bought it anyway as the weight limit was 25 lbs and Callah is nearly 30...wishfull thinking I guess) . Then at Wal-Mart we found this cool "easy ride dragon" for $6.95 (which I thought was a good deal, and I still do, so please don't tell me if it's not). Of course the kids couldn't wait to get home and blow it up so they could ride it. Funny as hell. They would sit on this thing and rock it back and forth, then it would flip and they'd be flat on their backs. Well, to me it was funny, I guess you had to be there. They wanted to take it to the park thingys (every day of the week at local parks here in PA, they have a "hang-time" where they have games, snacks, and water in a paddling pool from 1-5-ish...it's pretty cool) but I said they couldn't. Of course, now I'm the "bad Mommy".
Whatever, so we get to the park, there wasn't too many kids there (Hazeldell area, I was given the "411" that there weren't going to be many kids) and my kids completely forget about any blow-up toys the second they hit the water and start splashing. Fun, fun!! The only thing I'd have to add is that I stepped on a piece of glass in the pool. It broke the skin and went in pretty good. I'm just glad I found it and not some 2 year old.

Hmmm...that could be a weight thing. Maybe if I hadn't had that revel bar at lunch, the glass wouldn't have gone in so deep. We'll never know...

I'd still recommend the parks thingy. Just maybe let them run around in sandals.

driveby's

I love plums.

*Yeesh. As a side note, a few minutes ago the sun was shining and there were few clouds. After sitting down here a bit, watching the weather station, seeing thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next 36 hours, and then looking outside to see dark grey clouds, I'm thinking it was a good thing I took down the tents.*

Right.
I love plums. I love how sweet, soft and juicy they are. How when you take your first bite, the juice runs down your chin. They're just so good. On the few occasions I've had the luxury of going to the West Coast, one of the highlights has always been buying fresh fruit at one of the roadside stands. Plums, peaches, and cherries. Yum. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I think it's time we head out west again.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

sleepless in PA

Last week Steve was away at a church camp. The kids and I had planned to go along, but more kids than we had planned on signed up (which is a good thing) so there was no room for us. Which was fine. My parents were coming up to stay with my Grandma, so I knew that I wasn't going to be totally "out there". I don't know about you, but when Steve leaves over night I have the worst sleeps. I try everything. Staying up late till I can't possibly stay up another minute-being so tired that I'll just collapse into bed completely unconscious, drinking alcohol (same result), grabbing a pillow and pretending it's Steve (the "cuddle" factor), and sleeping with one or both of the kids. I honestly don't know how I got thru the week.

Then of course when he gets back, having another body in bed again, throws me off and I couldn't sleep anyway. The next night Matthias was up sick from 2 am to about 8 am. I don't know how he manages to stay so active on VERY little sleep, me on the other hand, was a complete zombie yesterday. To complete the sleepless nights, last night Steve went to bed at 10 pm, but me, in my so called "infinite wisdom" had a nap yesterday making me less than sleepy last night, so I stayed up to watch the 2nd half of A&E's Pride and Prejudice. Again resulting in an after midnite bedtime, to which God answered with a vicious thunderstorm that woke both the kids screaming postponing my bedtime to after 2 am. As much as I love thunderstorms...well I'm just to tired to continue that thought.

And of course there's no EDO being a Mother, so there's plenty of stuff I have to get done today, so the nap is looking pretty slim, and the kids still have an abundance of energy. I think I'll take them to the park anyway and try to drain them a bit. Might make my day a little easier in the long run.

If you're in the PA area, next Thursday (20th) is the annual KIDZFEST at Kinsmen Park. I've taken the kids the past 2 years. There's cheap food and drinks (either $0.25 or $0.50) lots of games and activities for the kids to play and participate in. It's definately a good way to kill an afternoon. So mark it on your calendars and hope to see you there!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

"Mom."

Today Matthias started calling me "Mom". For some reason it makes me kinda sad. Like he doesn't "need" me anymore. Like he's all grown up. I miss being his "Mommy".

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

sand, beer and men in tights

We had a really good anniversary last week. Makes the 5 years of marriage worth it. Hopefully it was productive as well (more on that hopefully soon!). The weather was stupid hot so the pool and waterslide were a cool comfort after a day of shopping. True to my mother-in-law's word she booked us at the Days Inn. Here's my hotel plug, if you want an enjoyable stay, this would be my choice. They also had a good breakfast selection and the price wasn't too far out there. It's also a CAA/AAA choice hotel. We had the best burgers at McGuires Pub in S'toon. If you're ever in the area you gotta try these burgers. They are so HUGE. Thursdays just happen to be their beer/burger night. You get a choice of 3 burgers and a choice of a 12 oz. beer for $6.95 (burgers are regularly $7.95 and beer is $3 something). Like I said, awesome deal. Then we went and saw Superman. I tell ya, nothing gets a girl in the mood like seeing a man in tights. And the actor who played Superman, well, by the end of the movie, I was ready to faint. What a great guy!! So that was our anniversary. The next day we hit Princess Auto (yeah!!) then went to pick up the kids and found out that Callah had dunked a 3 week old kitten in a bucket of oil.

When we got home I found out that my Grandma had been admitted to the hospital. My parents came up the next day and it's been non-stop action ever since. Today we just came back from the beach. I think Callah is finally over her fear of not seeing her feet in the water. But boy, was it funny when she was. We weren't home but 10 minutes when she pooped and tried to take her diaper off herself. That was disgusting. Now after a quick shower (for Callah) I left them upstairs eating apples and cheeze. Suppose I should go check on them. She has a habit of doing things she shouldn't. Like spraying disinfectant on the floor until there's actually a puddle. Or opening the playdoh and rolling it on the carpet. Or my favourite, helping herself to the juice in the fridge and winding up dumping it on the floor.

Tomorrow it's suppossed to be 37 degrees C.

Ugh.