last fling

Yesterday we went on our last holiday fling to the big city (Saskatoon). We left yesterday morning, bright and early, hit Tim's for some crappy tea, went back home to pick up some stuff we had forgotten (life jackets, razor and pablum), stopped at Turks for lukewarm coffee and a weak steamer and made it onto Hwy 11 before realizing Steve had forgotten his sun glasses. We were beginning to wonder if maybe we shouldn't be going. However, the rest of the drive there was uneventful.

First thing we did when we hit the city was stop at Broadway Roasters for some Monk tea ( and as I look back now I should've bought some hot chocolate 'cos they are one of the few places that make their hot chocolate with actual chocolate milk that in my opinion tastes WAY better than chocolate syrup in white milk) then off to the exciting Saskatoon zoo. Now if you haven't been to many zoos I strongly recommend going to the Saskatoon zoo before hitting a bigger zoo, something like Calgary. Otherwise, the whole time you're walking around looking at animals that you would normally hit on Saskatchewan highways, you're children will be like "where are the dinosaurs? I want to look at something else? Are the elephants here?" etc, etc. Doesn't really enhance the viewing pleasure. Altho' the bull elk was quite aggressive and would charge the fence everytime a vehicle would drive by. That was pretty cool.

Then there was the fishing pond. Now I have to say that lately I find fishing quite relaxing and soothing. It doesn't really matter that I haven't caught anything. However, when the stupid fish are jumping all around the place where you've cast your line, that can tend to be kind of nerve wracking to say the least. And before you know it, the peaceful lull of casting and reeling in is covered by a gentle stream of "loving" words geared towards fish. All in all, an hour well spent.

Now off to the Days Inn. Luckily, for some freakish reason yesterday every major road in Saskatoon was either closed or backed up thanks to construction and a stopped train. So travel on Circle, Idyllwyld, 20th, 22nd, and Warman were completely retarded. It took us over an hour to get from the Days Inn to Fuddruckers. Anyway I skipped ahead of myself. So we decided to stay at the Days Inn 'cos they've been really good to us in the past. This time was no exception. We even got Shrek goodie bags for the kids. We thought the pool and waterslide would be a nice treat after a day of walking around and we were right. Add onto that the fact that we actually remembered the kids life jackets (after forgetting the first time I mean) and it was clearly a highlight. The best thing that happened tho', I'd have to say was when Matthias came down the slide and swallowed a bunch of water, which in turn made him cough spasmodically, making me grab him and hold him against me to pat his back which resulted in him throwing up down the front of my swim suit. Good thing I have cups, otherwise that mess would've wound up in the pool!! Ha... ha... ha...

One thing I regret was not taking the camera into the hotel with us. There were plenty of memorable moments playing fish on the beds with the new Shrek cards, jumping from bed to bed and making Keziah shriek with glee. Today wasn't as eventful. We did some shopping, went swimming again (and not to be outdone by her brother, Callah, not wearing her life jacket, right before we were going back to the room, walked right up to the waters edge, plugged her nose, actually said, "weee!" and jumped into the deep end feet first. Steve dove in after her, but it'll take a few days to get the image of her eyes, open looking at us, as she was going down, out of my head) and hit a cool playground before piling back into the van and coming home.

Now I can say that summer is over.
I feel content, at least for awhile.
A new year is upon us.
Change is in the wind and things are happening.

Did I mention that Matthias has to catch the bus at 8:12 am? I don't get out of bed until after 8:30 if I can help it.

Summer please come back!

proud grandma

"So when does Matthias start school?"
"Actually his first day is today."
"Ahh...first day of learning how to swear."

*conversation as told to Lisa by Steve (with his Mom).

This is what I have to deal with.

whereabouts

This is what happens when spur of the moment meets strategically planned. Note Callah is wearing a grubby ol' Dora shirt and the jeans that she's wearing, the fly won't stay up, so her shirt is perfectly stretched over the zipper. Nice. Goes very well with The Kez's fancy flower print.

So we just got back from 4 days holiday at a cabin. Note to self: might want to tell someone where we're going or at least that we are infact going somewhere so people will know and stop leaving messages on our answering machine wondering if we're dead. But in fact, if we were dead, we wouldn't be checking our messages 'cos last I heard dead men check no messages. Or at least that's what I heard. I could be wrong.

For those who know Kim Dunphy, it was brought to my attention that she's recently joined the world of blogging. You can check her out here and she'll be added to the list on the side.

Have you seen those furry, fat caterpillars? Steve informed me the other day, while driving on the highway, that he really hates running over them (if you've been on a highway lately you may have noticed that they are ALL OVER THE ROAD). I said," good luck! How can you miss?" To his credit, he started swerving attempting to avoid contact with the little buggers. That's my husband!

Tomorrow Matthias starts Kindergarten. I know I'm more nervous than he is. I'm afraid he'll beat his fellow classmates up. He's becoming more and more "tough" lately. Might have something to do with his Dad actually placing a wager on whether or not he could take down his 6 year old 2nd cousin. Or the fact that his parents struggle with Hulk-like anger issues. Let's face it, he's been doomed from the start! I'm also afraid of him going on the bus. You see all sorts of videos of kids being beaten up on the bus. 5 seems so young to be sending them off into the world! Who's bright idea was that? Hey, the kid just turned 5 let's ship 'em off to some big scary brick building for hours of brain enhancing "fun" play!! Aack! Gag! Forget about whether or not he's ready for this! Am I ready for this?

Sigh.

My little man is growing up.

dog days

I'm not really sure what "dog days of summer" actually means, but for my purposes, this is what I refer to as the "dog days of summer". You know the time when school starts up again. Groups start up again. If you go camping, wearing a toque to bed is a necessity. You don't have to cut the grass quite as often. You don't salivate every time you drive by DQ, or the local cone shop (well okay, maybe you're one of those people that live off of ice cream even in the winter...well good on you!) and slurpees are no longer your favourite drink of choice (again, maybe you're one of those people that like to stand in the freezing cold of winter sucking on a slurpee b'cos you honestly believe that by making your insides really cold it will somehow make you actually feel warm). The leaves start to turn colours and you have to start worrying about frostbite on your baby tomatoes. The temperature is a steady 15 - 20 degree C, which amazingly enough feels quite cool. So cool that you find yourself wearing slippers and a nice cozy bunnyhug with the hood over your head (sadly remembering that only a few months earlier this same temperature made you believe it was indeed summer causing you to dust off your tank tops and shorts).

Yes these are my dog days of summer.


I went for a massage yesterday. I might've cried and I think I stopped breathing 3 times. It sure felt good.

Mom's Morning Out starts up again soon. September 11 to be exact. 9:30 am at the Alliance Church. Check out the link on the side for the hot topics.

minute by minute

I seem to be waging a war with myself on an emotional battlefield lately (hurting those around me in the process) and the best piece of advice I received today was to just take things minute by minute.

Right now that sounds about all I can do.

"take me to your leader..."

Yeah, Keziah's already a real head turner...and she's only 5 months!

So this is how you do it....

Well according to Mr. Clear Blue (thankfully) I am not pregnant. However, I cannot say that taking the test was quite exciting. I can see why people get addicted! I was really nervous at first, this being my first test I've ever taken before. I didn't want to take it too soon, but then they say they need the first urine of the day (and now I'm wondering, do you really want to know about this?) and I was actually loosing sleep over the whole situation until I finally got up and took the stupid thing. To be honest I'm a little disappointed. For some sick reason the thought of having another baby right away was kind of exciting. But whatever. I'm not, so you can all rest easy now that you know.

And last week Steve and I took the youth group and our own 2 kids camping at Narrow Hills. It was alot of fun as I knew it would be. Some of the highlights were the fact that our 2 kids were the ONLY kids that caught fish the entire week. I wasn't out in the canoe with them, but I hear it was quite the event. I guess they (the kids) were fine reeling the fish in and then watching as Steve slugged it unconscious, but when the fish jumped again Callah just freaked and wouldn't stop screaming until they landed back on shore. I wish I had seen it. We had a hard time getting her to pose with her big catch. This was as close as she would get. And always a sucker for sunsets, this is why I love camping. Matthias also did us proud once again but climbing the fire lookout tower. I don't know how much truth there is to this, but I heard someone say that he was the youngest person to ever climb it, which he did last year at the age of 3. That's him, 2nd from the bottom, green shirt.

And now reality is once again upon us and Keziah has been fussy ever since we picked her up from the sitters on Friday. I don't know what special gift that family had so I'll just leave it to the luck of the English. That accent must hold some sort of magical power to soothe. Maybe we'll just play some Sean Connery movie over and over until she settles (and yes, I know he's not English, but who can resist that voice??).

Wind down

There's nothing like a cold drink to take the edge off an emotionally stressful, dusty, hot, tiring long weekend at your step-father-in-laws family reunion.

there's a reason

If you check around, there's not alot of blog action happening around the web these days. I'm blaming it on the heat (as I sit here, all stinky and sweaty...yes I know I have to shower). If all else fails, blame everything on the heat, that's what I say. That and the fact that our household has just been busy. Here's what we've been up to...

As it turns out Callah didn't eat the sea shells. A few weeks after the incident we found the shells in a cubby hole in the van. Matthias was ecstatic and claimed Callah was his hero for the rest of the day.

Keziah is teething and a drooly mess.

We spent a week in Regina, where we checked out Chuck E Cheese for the first time. What a hit! I'm glad they're still young enough to know that it's not about how many tickets you get, but how much fun you have. Right?

We then spent a week at my parent's cabin at Marean Lake. Where we went minnow fishing EVER SINGLE DAY at least 2x a day. Now I gotta tell you, the funniest part of this whole experience was when Callah fell off the dock into the lake. She completely freaked out! Matthias and I were on the next dock and I started to run towards her, but when I realized that the water only came up to her chest, I slowed down a bit. She was fine. We also caught a few frogs and a crawfish (which Matthias still believes to be a "baby lobster"). Lots of "cool" wildlife and a week well spent.

Immediately following our return was Callah's 3rd birthday. You know the phrase "it's my party I can cry if I want to..."? Well she took it literally and not only cried, but pooped on the sidewalk (in her swimsuit) and threw up her cake in the new pool her dad bought her! It will be a birthday to remember (for us anyway).

Add onto that with a few melting hot days, a hot trip to Waskesui for the day, a 24 hour whirlwind trip to Regina, a box of ice cream sandwiches, a slurpee a day (thank goodness for 99 cent refill cups!), the start of Pablum for the Kez, and me literally thrusting my body forward 2-3 times a week wildly flailing my arms around trying to continue on with my running (or more accurately jogging)...believe me, it's not a pretty sight. And that's what we've been up to.

Now if you'll excuse me, my eyelids hurt and and I have to wash off this layer of sweat before the next one starts to stick.

heartburn...a cause for concern

I know normally heartburn wouldn't be a big deal, but you see, for me I only get heartburn when I'm pregnant. So last night, when I had some heartburn, I was a little concerned. I asked Steve, "wouldn't it be funny if I was pregnant?" He just kinda dry laughed and it was one of those funny/scary moments, not really a funny ha ha moment. And it doesn't really help that I haven't had my period yet since going off the breastfeeding.

I suppose I should drink now while I can...

And on another positive note, at least I'd be done.

mmmbblllaahhhhhhhhh....

for those who don't know...that's the sound of me melting.

I don't do well in heat.

Callah

Three years ago today I was dreading the impending thought of possibly being induced the following morning. Already 14 days overdue, the doctors didn't want to wait any longer and looking back, I was pretty ready to get this baby out too.

I remember shopping at Sobeys and then heading back home for supper and a relaxing evening on the couch watching TV and the thunderstorm approaching from the north west. A few hours later and about 15 minutes into America's Funniest Videos I started having some contractions. They were a little tense, so I timed them to the clock on the VCR. I finally told Steve and my folks (who were in town at the time) that I think this baby is finally ready to be born! 4 hours later out popped little Callah and we've never been the same since!

(unfortunately Steve and I were never very technologically advanced so we didn't - and still don't- have a digital camera, so I went back as far as we have on cd and these are some of the best that I can come up with...)



Life with you has been anything but dull. Happy 3rd Birthday my little princess.


I know you'll stop eating things you shouldn't soon.

a little delay

I know it's been a while and you may be thinking "she's been gone, like, forever and this is what she posts when she gets back?" (or maybe not...) but I swear I have more to say, just not enough time right now.

Anyway...

TICK WARNING!
I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and I have even done it
myself a couple of times unintentionally...but this one is real, and it's
important. So please send this warning to everyone on your e- mail list.

If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due
to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around
with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.



I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.

sea shells

"Mom! Callah took my sea shells!"
"Callah where are Matthias' sea shells?"
"In my belly."
"No really. Where are the shells?"
"In my belly." She points to her belly.
"Oh no, you didn't." I look at my daughter. "Callah, did you eat the sea shells?"
She nods her head yes.
I put my head in my hands and sigh.

This is my daughter.

fred the fly

Today we mourn the death of fred the fly who was brutally murdered by a 2 year old girl early this morning. It would appear that fred flew out of nowhere and scared the little girl who ran and got a pretty blue fly swatter and proceded to "fwap" poor fred until there were little pieces of him everywhere. Fred will be sadly missed by his hundreds of relatives.

*the reason this is so notable is that it's her first "kill". She was pretty excited.

the cereal game

I've been wanting to post this for awhile, but never did. Until now. Lucky you.

Every morning I have this breakfast routine. First I pour about 10 mini-wheats (preferably the brown sugar ones) into a bowl. Then comes a handful of Shreddies ontop of the mini's. Followed by another handful of Honey Nut Cheerios and a "sprinkling" of Fruit Loops. Now of course, there's a certain way I eat this concoction. First I dig deep for the mini-wheats and eat those. Then I carefully spoon out the cheerios and fruit loops. And finally I eat the soggy shreddies. How sweet it is. For a little adventure I have frosted flakes instead of the "o's".

I need a life.

no words

I'm totally getting hooked on this whole Facebook thing. It's addicting and as a mother of 3 I'm finding it hard to be addicted to much of anything (other than caffeine). While endlessly cruising last week I came across this one from my sister's "page". I knew Chris when he helped out with this youth retreat event that I was co-organizing like 5 years ago. He was a solid faith guy. I was instantly weeping when I read what happened to his wife and when I was explaining to Steve what Chris had written, I started weeping again. That's all I'm going to say. I hope the links work.

sorry for treating you....

There is a reason why I haven't blogged much lately. If you haven't noticed anything odd, then don't worry about it. It's because of my new neighbours. Of course not directly b'cos of them, but they've had a hand in my madness. You see when we first bought our house there was a super sweet 90 year old man living next door. He was the best neighbour you could ask for. He'd give us fresh veggies from his garden and bring candies and snacks over for the kids. He was a great guy. Then came the time when he felt like he just couldn't shovel the ol' walk anymore or mow the lawn. Time to sell and move into a seniors place. Life just hasn't been the same since. The people who bought the house were younger and so we were excited. Then we realized that they were making it into a rental house. Not good. Well I shouldn't say that, b'cos we were renters ourselves for the first 2 years of our marriage. So instead I'll say we were hopeful. That hope quickly turned to fear and hate. I won't go deeply into that 'cos that's a whole other story on it's own. Anyway, a year later (and 5 renters later) the house sat empty for a few months. We were glad. Then a few weeks ago, Steve noticed something stirring next door and sure enough a new family was moving in.

Now as far as I can tell there are 3 little girls (around the 5-6 year age mark) and a baby/toddler in there somewhere too. 2 women (one possibly an aunt) and they just got a puppy on the weekend. So far, they seem good. The girls are polite and play well with our kids. My only complaint is that they want to come over ALL THE TIME. We've told them numerous times that they're welcome to come over and play when our kids are outside. I guess that must translate into "keep coming over and knocking on my flippin' door and asking me if my kids can come out and play." Seriously they come over all the time. At least 2x in the morning and again in the afternoon, followed by a few more times around supper. And of course, they don't have "normal" sleeping hours like most children do. Oh no. Instead they're out playing on the grass (which is right outside our window, which is right by my head when I'm suppose to be sleeping) till 11:30 or so, laughing hysterically. I guess I should be glad they're getting their excercise. (??)

Whatever.

So all this to say that I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost 2 weeks. Therefore I've been a grumpy ogre, storming at my children and freaking out at the hubby, wanting to hurl things across the house and maybe hit something along the way. Which brings me to the main brain attack. Mother's Day 2006. We went to a friends house to watch the Survivor finale and they had bought a DQ ice cream cake.
This is what they had written on it. At the time I couldn't fully comprehend the statement. But now I know quite well what she was thinking. A few days ago I was thinking that if this were a real job, I would have quit long ago. Fortunately (or un- depending on how you look at it) this particular job I can't run away from. The perks may seem few and far between some days, but they are there. You just have to look for them. Now I need to listen to my own advice and look for a perk before I lose my sanity for good.

finally...

..ha ha just kidding. Hot off the press, here are a few shots of our exciting Mom's Nite Out 2nd Annual Golf Nite. If you have any complaints, write to her. I don't remember if I mentioned anything about the actual night itself, but it was a blast. It always is. There's nothing more therapeutic than hanging around, kid free talking to a bunch of other Mom's about stuff that your children have done. There were anatomy stories and bowel movement stories and your everyday good kid stuff stories. I loved it!


I also just noticed that our Galaxy Cinemas has started the stars and strollers program, where you can go watch movies with your babies. I don't know how long they've been doing it, but I can remember seeing an ad for it a long time ago and then finding out that it's not offered here in PA. So anyway, now it is! You can check it out here for details.

Today...

...is a day that I wish I could just start over.

drool

Did I mention that I seem to have a problem drooling out of the left side of my mouth?

tick...tick...tick

It's amazing how slowly time seems to slip by when you're laying awake in bed listening to the partygoers down the street. Before you know it it's 3:37 am and you've decided to give in and phone the cops (who were already on their way for the 3rd time that night!!).

All is quiet.

KAW-KAW-KAW! Apparently every crow in a 5 mile radius decides to catch up on the latest news...in the tree right outside your window. 4:13 am.

5:07 am and Keziah starts getting fussy. Feeding time!

6:24 am you finally crawl back into bed, hoping to catch a few zzzz's before the alarm goes off in just over an hour and your hubby starts snoring. The kind of snore that sounds like one of those toy noise makers they give to little kids at parties. Only this noise maker has been stepped on a bit so it's really low and super wheezy.

7:32 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

7:37 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

7:42 am the alarm goes off. You hit the snooze.

You finally leech out of bed (at the promise of bacon & eggs at A&W) and begin your day.

I

love

summer.

note to self

I watched Oprah today (for the first time in a long time) and saw a clip from a previous show about forgiving yourself. The clip was about a woman who was driving home with her 6 small children in the car and she fell asleep at the wheel. The van (I'm guessing) hit the side rail, flipped and slid down a deep bank landing in a river or lake. She was able to free herself and one child and paramedics freed 2 more, 3 other children died. I can't imagine that. There's been times when I've been driving on the highway and my head has dozed. I've had to stop the vehicle and get out and stretch or stop somewhere and buy something to snack on. I just can't imagine what might've happened. Something we need to remember. Wherever we're going is not so important that we need to take such chances. Note to self.

snipits

I hate days that involve alot of poop that's not my own.

What's the difference between a cabin, a cottage and a house that are all at a lake?

I wonder what babies think/dream about? Giant boobies?

I watched this movie last night while Steve was watching the Stanley Cup playoffs called Griffin & Phoenix. Highly enjoyable. Highly recommendable. Total chick flick. Have kleenex nearby kind of movie.

The previous obituary was comical b'cos Steve is a total Chuck Norris fan. He always goes to this one website and gets these ridiculous quotes.

I was thinking about my life list and thought of a couple. Backpack across the UK. Hang glide. Rally race. Go to Spain and take part in Tomatina. Camp out in a hut on a beach. Go on another mission trip. There's just a few that I've thought of so far.

Whenever I spend time with another couple I'm reminded of how much I love Steve. It's not that the other couple is bad, but I see how well I don't "fit" them and how well I fit with Steve.

We just came back from a weekend with the Mother-in-law. I'm feeling nice at the moment so I won't be too negative. But I will say it has got to be hard to be that negative towards other people.

I love garlic bread.

sweet

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

May Long

Ahhh...there's nothing like a May Long Weekend. Sitting out on the beach, with blankets wrapped around your legs, toque covering the head and mitts on your hands enjoying the beautiful SNOW falling on the ground. Gag!!! Snow! I can't believe it's stinkin' snowing!! My furnace just cut in, I'm freezin!

This is so not how a long weekend is suppossed to be!!

girls week

This week is officially my girls week out. Meaning just Keziah and I are home right now. So far, it's had it's ups and downs. It appears that neither of us sleep very well when Daddy isn't here with us and we don't eat very well either. Actually I suppose that depends on what you call "well" as I am eating my 2 favourite things: ice cream cake and macarooni.

Thankful

Lately I'm becoming more aware of things. More aware of how fortunate I am to have 3 happy, healthy children and the fact that I had no problems getting pregnant and delivering them. Last weekend I was at my brother's place in Melfort and Jill, my sister-in-law, was telling me about this little guy that she knew who was born with some sort of bone disorder. I don't know exactly what it is, but she said that his bones are very brittle and brake at the slightest movement. Shortly after he was born his parents couldn't figure out why he kept crying. After numerous tests they found out that he had broken his leg and arm. So they had to go to Regina to set them and on they way back from the hospital he broke his other leg. Jill said that the mother can't nurse the little guy or burp him or anything. All they can do is lay him on the floor and just watch him. How sad. My heart aches at that and all I can do is pray for them and the little guy.

A friend of mine has 4 children and her youngest is named Elisabeth. This is the latest e-mail from her...

Hey there. I don’t know if most of you remember about a year and a half ago I sent an email about a heart condition Elisabeth has, it’s called an Atrial Septal Defect. We have been for 2 check-ups since then and yesterday the doctor told us that open heart surgery is the only option and he wants it done this year. So we will be going to Edmonton Children’s Hospital to get this done probably late summer or fall. We have been praying for healing constantly and will continue to do so. So if you think of her send up a prayer. I know God has protected her throughout her life so far with this condition. Most children have recurring chest infections, she has had none. And there can also be problems with growth etc. but she is a very healthy girl. So thank you for the prayers sent so far on her behalf and we will keep you posted as to the exact time of her surgery. Thanks for your prayer support. God is in control, I know that and trust that He is with us and will be with the doctors through the surgery. Thanks for your prayers.

Elisabeth will be 4 in September.

NOW

Awhile back I saw this ad on TV for this NOW show. It was hosted by Phil (from Amazing Race, which is one show that I would LOVE to be on and I think Steve and I would win, or at least come in top 3. Aim big right?) and I just think he has the coolest job, so I thought it would be neat to check it out. The whole idea stems from a near death experience and how we should be thankful that we are alive and therefore not "waste" the time we have. N.O.W. (No Opportunity Wasted). The fact that it's coming to Canada I think is the coolest, 'cos so rarely do these shows allow Canadians to apply. I'm just excited.

Anyway, so after this near death experience Phil made a list for life (which I'm sure you've heard of in one form or another). I just spent a few minutes checking out the site and now I'm wondering what my biggest fear is? If I had 72 hours to do something for someone (or the world), what would I do? What would I put on my list for life? I was reading one and I kinda chuckled. This woman's biggest fear was dying before she had the chance to model. Yeah....... But I guess it's her fear, however whacked it might be.

So I'm going to think about this for awhile and I'll get back to you. In the meantime, what are some of yours?

better

After my last post, I fed Keziah again, then went for a run. The last song on my MP3 player was one of my favourites. It was just what I needed.

Video by India Arie
Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Am I less of a lady if I don't wear pantyhose?
My mama said a lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all an illusion, confusion's the name of the
game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change
Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson I was sent here to share with
y'all
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Clear your mind, now's the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go on and love yourself
'Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your Kristal and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of crystal
Don't need your silicon I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

nothing

Nothing is more depressing than having nothing to wear. Then in a moment of defeat, going to a store to try on clothes 2x bigger than what's all in your closet, and still not finding anything that fits.

I think I'll go on a starvation diet for the next year.

da do run run run da do run run

Last Thursday I hauled my lazy, sluggish bottom out to Summit Physiotherapy to join a Learn To Run class. Once there I was quite glad to see 5 (including myself) Mom's from Mom's Morning Out. Last fall we had a session at Mom's about fitness put on by some of the staff at Summit and they put a plug in for this Learn To Run class. So, whether or not they were there b'cos of that class, I don't know, but I secretly (altho' I guess not so secret anymore) took a little pride in the fact that I, at least, would not have been in that room full of women, if it had not been for Mom's. Cool.

The class itself was alright. I think it should be interesting as the weeks go on. I'm glad I have some knowledge of breathing techniques and posture that I've oozed off of other people in the past. That's right, I used to be in peak physical form! You can't really tell by looking at me today (especially in my jazzy, new running pants I bought on the weekend - eek!!) but back in the day (over 10 years ago) I was firm in all the places I'm not now. In highschool I was on the soccer team and my french teacher was a long distance runner, so she would take us out after school for cross country runs (and I mean cross country! Those runs went FOREVER!!!) and give us pointers on breathing and posture, so that we wouldn't tire ourselves out. For some reason I can remember eating Oh Henry bars every day before I ran. Oh to be young again... Then I got interested in cycling. I'll add that I got more interested in cycling b'cos of a hot guy after I was already interested. So you can't say that I did it for a guy, b'cos I didn't. That was how I got interested in guitar (which is a completely different story). And at the height of my cycling "career" I was training with the Sask Team for the Junior Canada Games. We went to Utah and rode hills in the rain. I'd like to say it was awesome, but instead will settle for "it was an experience". As we all know, coming down was way easier than going up. Then to top off my physicality, I decided to try out for the RCMP. Passed the first written exam but when it came time to get my sight and hearing checked, having failed both and not having the $5000 to fix it, I dropped out before actually taking the Physical exam.

After that I got married and had little time (or need ha ha ha) for cycling, running or any sort of weight training. Shortly thereafter I had children and had even less time. Until now, and for some reason, I have even less time, but the "lipids" (as Steve likes to call "fat") on my belly are growing and stocking up and so I feel that something must be done and done soon. So this Thursday I will return to my running class, having done my homework (of running 3x a week) and I will feel great for it!!

At this time I'll post a picture of me standing on a hill with my hands on my hips wearing my jazzy new pants with a cape (b'cos that's cool) blowing in the wind.

But I don't have one.

Lucky for you.

the sum of it

To sum up the type of day I've been having I'll just say that I just got back from dropping supper off at Dixie's only to find out that I had locked my keys in the van. Luckily, the back door was open so I was able to remove a carseat and climb over the back seat enough to reach over and unlock the sliding door. After crawling back out I opened the sliding door and grabbed my keys and let myself back in.

I think a good drink is in order for tonite.

Vanderbaby

A huge congrats to Marc and Dixie on the birth of their baby girl Olivia Kate. She's a cutie! Well done you two!

those days

Today is one of those days where I feel like I could be The Hulk. I think Steve is in that zone too. It's probably just 'cos we're over tired. Hopefully.

I should probably go take a nap.

First health lesson

Yesterday Matthias called out from the bathroom "Girls don't have pee pees". To which I replied, "yes we do, they're just different." To which Callah hollered from the kitchen table "yes I do!" And then Matthias once again replied, "no you don't." To which Callah again hollered "yes I doooooooooo!!!!!" (the girl likes to argue VERY LOUDLY) I then decided to intervene and went in to tell Matthias that we do, they're just different. "Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina." I explained. He repeated the information I had just handed out.

A few minutes later we were sitting at the table eating lunch when Matthias once again said that girls don't have pee pees. I reminded him that we do. "Do you remember what Mom told you earlier? Remember? Boys have....?" He replied, "penis". "And girls have....?" I asked. Then Steve, in his infinite wisdom, says "I told him that girls have 2 bums."

I stopped. Laughed. And then asked him, "can you say vagina?" To which there was no reply.

Anyway, that was our first health lesson.

Today was our last Mom's meeting. I'm relieved in a way, simply because I don't have to get up anymore. There's still lots of planning to be done for the fall which means lots of work I should be doing. I'm also sad tho' to see Mom's done. I really do enjoy my Tuesday mornings. It gets me out and gives the kids a chance to hang out and play with different kids. This year I got to meet alot of new women who I really enjoy talking to and hanging out with. I hope if they have more babies, they'll once again grace our group with their presence. To those of you going back to work, take 'er easy and keep in touch. Those of you staying home, I really hope to see you again at Mom's in the fall. On May 8 we have our final wind-up out at the Little Red. Start praying for nice weather and we'll see you (hopefully) there!

Man I'm suddenly extremely tired. So I'll finish with this. We're having another Mom's Golf Nite. Last year we went to Silver Hills and had a total blast. This year we're going to Fairview and then heading out for snacks/supper afterward. It's Thursday May 24. Tee off time is 6:30 pm so we need you there by 6:15 at the latest. If you're interested let me know. Club rentals are $4 or if you know someone else going who has a set, I'm sure we can share (we're not that professional!). Like I said, last year was alot of fun and I'm sure this year will be also. Hope you can come!

Chow!

could this be it?

We're going on 3 nights now of 8 or more hours between nightly feedings!!

tease

Last night Keziah slept for 10 hours btween feedings. I know it's just a tease, but I'm still excited. Now if only the rest of the family had co-operated in her efforts (for my xtra sleep) it would have been sweet dreams for me. You see I thought it would be a treat to make some popcorn for the kids. We'd cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. Steve was out in the garage working on his baby (I'm going to go on a side-step here. Before we were married Steve had this Landcruiser. To be honest it was one of the things that attracted me to him and I love it as much as he does. This baby will never leave us - or rather, we will never leave this baby. It's great. The roof comes off and it's such a thrill to ride it. We should seriously charge $ for rides. It's just awesome.) with the baby monitor hooked up to the TV so he could hear our heroes play their game while he worked.

It was going great until Callah started playing with the stove controls. I didn't realize she had had them on that long until she started screaming bloody murder. To cut to the chase she was up till 10 pm crying with ice packs on her hand. This morning she has a nice coil imprint to show for it. (This morning her accident prone self continued and while jumping on the bed she fell and slammed her chin on the windowsill biting her lower lip.)

And actually that was it. Matthias stayed up till 9 pm to comfort Callah. Keziah, after being fussy all day, had finally fell asleep. The only other thing that kept me awake was the thought of looking for a babysitter for Saturday night.

Oh well.

*yawn*

Let's see what tonite brings.

A running thought

This just cracks me up. My Dad used to tell me stories of how him and his buddies used to fart in a can and then light it up. Crazy juveniles.

Anyway, today Keziah is 5 weeks old. Lately I keep referring to things in weeks. She's 5 weeks old. Last week was Easter break. This week is the Covenant Annual Convention at our church (which just means that it's going to be busy chaotic). Next week we have our first parent meeting at St. Anne school for Matthias and I start a learn to run class. It's also the last week of April. Then it's May. Mom's Morning Out is finished. Keziah will be almost 2 months old, which means she's halfway to 4 months and that excites me b'cos I usually start Pablum and formula when they hit the 4 months stage. And at times it seems like each day is taking forever, but when I look back I'm like "gee...she's 5 weeks already!" And of course, you want them to remain small forever b'cos that's when they cuddle and appreciate you.

Anyway back to my running thought...so May. May will fly by 'cos Steve is leading a youth event in Strathmore, my parents bought a cabin so I may actually get to be in a cabin for a May long weekend for the first time ever. Party!! (yeah rite, c'mon here. I'm under 30 with 3 kids!!) Then before ya know it it'll be June and June always holds the promise and preparation for summer camps. July will soon follow and if it's anything like last year we had a camp every week followed by 2 weeks of summer "vacation" and this year we have a "family" (I say " " because it's on a side of the family that really has no relation to us) reunion in Weyburn (of all places) in August. And then it's September.

Sigh.

The next few months are just going to fly.

One day at a time Lisa, one day at a time.

Outta my mind

I'm kinda actually bored altho' I know there's no way that's humanly possible as Matthias and Callah are doing laps behind me in the basement shrieking bloody murder over who hit who and I think I hear Keziah waking from her nap in the distance. I feel like my eyelids could be held open with toothpicks and I'm starting to count down the minutes to my afternoon nap (approx 96.5).

Steve is going to S'toon for a day and a half and for some reason the thought of being home alone, for the first time since baby came, makes me feel kinda scared and depressed. For the first time in a long time, I'm making a mental note to do nothing but rest in the hope of keeping everyone's sanity while he's gone.

And so knowing there's tonnes of stuff that I should be doing, but I'm mentally telling myself to forget (altho' it's kinda hard to forget about feeding screaming kids) I'll leave you with this picture of what I want to look like in the future. The guy in front, that's Steve. Ooooh yeah...that'll be so sweet (only I'll have a whip!).

New Addition

Bonnie had this 'Motivation for Moms' on her blog and I know more often than not, it's little stuff like that that can make or break a day, so I thought I'd add it to this blog. Hope you enjoy the little motivations as much as I do.

Thanks Bonnie.

"she's so good!"

Lesson learned : never talk about how well your baby is sleeping. She'll do the exact opposite for the next few nights.

emotional

The other night Steve and I watched Blood Diamond. It was a good show, but not in the "that was so cool, I want to watch it again" kind of good. It was more of an eye opening kind of good. The kind that make you think kind of good. Know what I mean? DiCaprio's accent drove me crazy (do Africans really talk like that? Saying "yuh" after every sentence??) but otherwise the acting was good. Djimon Hounsou was awesome as usual (I have yet to see a movie that he hasn't been great in). If you want to watch it skip to the next paragraph, if you have no intention keep reading. One of the things that hit me was the story line following the son. The rebels (and I could totally be wrong on who's who) kidnap his son and make him join their force, meaning make him kill his own people. I'm just amazed and shocked at how they can do this. How they can make children, no more than 10, fire machine guns and kill women, children their own age and babies? At one point in the movie they have these kids saying their new "names" to the general (or whoever) and one of the boys says "I am baby killer". I know it's only a movie, but I know that this stuff has really happened and is still happening in parts of the world. How can we be so messed up? What is wrong with humans? It reminded me of Hotel Rwanda. Another one of those good, makes you think kind of movies.

Anyway, I recommend it. Then while blog surfing I came across this on Peggy's blog. You'll need a kleenex (seriously) if you want to check it out. I've been getting a few of these in my e-mail and pictures of troops and stuff. This war is so beyond stupid. Again, what is wrong with humans?

In baby news, last night we had our first really rough night and I know I should be napping right now, but there's just so little time in the day to do stuff that I enjoy (one being catching up on the blogging world) and so here I am, sitting at the computer, half baked.

And finally, I know I haven't written about Mom's lately, but tomorrow is our final Marriage Talk. Wendy Demers will be speaking and she's been married for 25 years. These talks have been awesome so far and I'm sure this one will be no different. It's been good to hear how we all have our troubles and really, are no different than anyone else. Kinda comforting.

Oh yeah, in case you care, our house is a COMPLETE mess. That's what happens when your basement is leaking in opposite sides of the house and you decide to repaint a bedroom and install laminate in 2 bedrooms and the living room. All in one week!! Yeah!!

Nursing baby

Yesterday when I was nursing Keziah, Matthias came and sat beside me on the couch. He had brought one of their baby dolls. He lifted his shirt and brought the doll's head to his breast.

"I'm feeding baby too Mom!"

I was too busy laughing to correct him. I'll have to remember this story for when he grows up and gets married!

I knew it

I knew it was going to come. It's been coming every March for as long as I've lived here (true it's only been 6 years, but that's a long time...). It was only a matter of time.

Snow.

And alot of it.

For as long as I've lived here, there's been a major snowfall in March. I remember this b'cos every March there's a youth retreat in Strathmore that we drive to (more often than not during or right after the big March snowfall). This year we (Steve and I) didn't drive so I suppose it's only fitting that the snow waited till after the retreat (altho' seeing pictures looks like they had to drive thru some whiteout conditions anyway) to come. And boy did it come!

Sigh...

I was so looking forward to spring and the smell of summer coming.

Oh and Steve sent me this personality test thing. I thought it was pretty cool and seemed to describe me head on. Check it out. I hope the link works.

2 weeks

It's been almost 2 weeks now since we've had Keziah and there are a few things that I've noticed since we brought her home.

I hate waking up at 3 am.

I hate waking up at 7 am.

Having a baby is harder than I remember, yet at the same time, I find myself thinking about the possibility already of a #4.

Memories of "periods" are too hard to ignore (one of the reasons I like being pregnant is that I don't have periods for 9 months!).

I hate breastfeeding. To me breastfeeding is more of a nuisance than bottle feeding. One of the reasons I breastfeed is because I feel like I will be publicly "marked" if I don't. I love how nurses and other people get this tone in their voice when you talk about formula feeding. This one nurse in the hospital even said, "you do know the consequences...". Uh yeah, my baby will be fed instead of shrieking for milk that (at the time) was not coming in. Anyway...

I'm ALWAYS tired. I thought the lack of sleep in the 9th month was supposed to prep you for the lack of sleep you'd get after baby arrived. No deal in my case.

The kindness of other people is mind blowing.

Keziah looks like a snapping turtle.

And I realized how much I love my family. How helpful and supportive Steve is. The joy Matthias and Callah bring me and the love I feel already for Keziah as I rock her to sleep. I feel so completely blessed!

It's a girl!!

Yeah for us!! Keziah Ruth arrived quickly (once we were "accepted" at the hospital) Monday early evening (5:03 pm to be exact) with only a few minor complications. We're all super excited to have her with us and now that we're home, are glad to start making her a part of this family! She was 6 lbs-3 oz and 20" long. Blue/grey eyes, dark brown hair. A picture of beauty!!

* A HUGE thanks to Dixie for bringing her camera (taking the pics) and the yummy drink!! Thanks!!

Just call me wimpy

The contractions started this morning around 6 am. I thought nothing of them 'cos I've been having them off and on for awhile now. Usually I just get up out of bed and they stop. A little more intense than usual 30 mins. later I got up out of bed and stood around waiting to see if they'd keep coming. Sure enough. They came. 30 minutes later still, they were coming every 2 minutes. And finally another 30 minutes later I woke Steve up.

We got the kids away to the families and were on our way to the hospital before 8. I should've known it was too early when everyone kept asking me if I was in labour. Oh yeah, and the fact that I was laughing between contractions. That definately should've given it away!

The head has come down more (altho' not all the way) and I'm definately having pains. In comparison, with Matthias from start to finish it was close to 27 hours. Callah on the other hand, from the time I first felt any sort of contraction to the end, it was only 4 hours. So that's what I'm basing things on. Good grief, if this were Callah, she'd be out by now. The rate I'm going this time, looks like it's going to be very long, very uncomfortable, back pain filled day. I felt like such a wimp when they were examining me and I was barely even dilated. And of course, once again the nurse there said I should be back within' 24 hours. Right, I'm not holding my breathe. I asked her, if my contractions are like 2 minutes apart and I'm barely dilated, then when should I come back to the hospital. She said, normally they look for contractions to be 3 minutes or so apart (okay??), my water actually breaks (none of this slow leak stuff) or the contractions get unbearable.

Right. Thanks for the help.

I hate waiting...

..especially when every 2-5 minutes I have to remind myself to breathe!

uhhhh....

yeah.....

...no baby.

I'm at the point where I'm sitting in front of the TV with a slurpee and a bag of chips.

Ohhh....baby.

And we're off!

I woke up yesterday to a gooey gush in my pants.

I know...nice.

It continued for awhile and I started to freak out. Luckily I had an appointment with my doctor at 10. I left early for the appointment hoping he'd be able to see me early. It was a good thing I went early as he was heading out to deliver another baby, so he quickly saw me and put me on a day of rest. It turns out that I was leaking amniotic fluid and he said it should heal within 24 hours. If not then I would have to be induced or if the leaking got worse, then again, I would have to be induced. So I spent the day pretending to be a vegetable, which drove me nuts!! Only to wake up again this morning to a gooey gush in the pants. Granted it was a smaller gush, more like a gob, but gooey all the same. So off we went to the hospital.

Once there I got hooked up to the monitor where we listened as the babies heartbeat kept a nice steady pace (except for one really low dip that caused some concern, but after waiting another 30 minutes, we were given the "ok") and saw the little "tightenings" which led the nurse to "swear on supper" that I was going to have this baby in the next 24 hours. Hey, as long as the babies head drops I don't care when it arrives. The doctor was just doing rounds when we showed up and it was kinda unnerving how he had no idea who we were, even tho' I had just seen him yesterday. And again unnerving when he said the exact same thing that he had said yesterday. "If it's still leaking in 24 hours you should be induced." Sure he's busy, but c'mon.

Anyway, so now we just wait. I'm suppossed to do this little "funky chicken dance" every time I feel a "tightening" to help drop that head. It's my Grandma's 89th b-day party this afternoon, so the family will all be up for it. I hope the baby doesn't come till after, I really don't want to take away from her big day. When you get that old, you don't have many special days and I know she's REALLY looking forward to it all.

So if you're the praying type, please pray that we wait till after the festivities and that the head drops. It would be greatly appreciated from all of us here.

Until next time...
...we'll keep you posted.

conflict

Do you think conflict in a relationship is a good thing? Or should one just keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves?

backtalking and babies

The other night Steve and I went to a movie. Steve is very determined to sit in the middle of the theatre and I like sitting more in the back, so that's where we sat. Unfortunately it was right infront of 3 teenage boys (I'd say around 17). As soon as we sat down I felt the urge to move. It wasn't really that they were talking loudly, the movie hadn't started yet, but more so what they were talking about. They were talking about "hot" girls and their sisters and who they wanted to hook up with. It made me think of property or a possesion. It didn't make me feel right. And then they mentioned the name of one of our youth girls and they phoned her and told her to get her "pretty little ...." down to the theatre. I totally wanted to turn around and tell them to grow up and treat girls better. Then I thought of telling this youth how these guys were talking about her and I thought, but wait, what would she think? Would she be glad that they were even talking about her or would she feel offended like I felt?

I've been talking this bible study called "Fight Like A Girl" by Lisa Bevere for a few months now and the whole idea behind it is how women have been losing sight of their true selves. That (in some cases) we've been ashamed of our femininity and the actual power that comes with it, of course now she's challenging women to discover their beauty, strength and wisdom and celebrate it instead of hiding it. I've felt kinda ho-hum about the whole study, but I do agree with how she thinks that society has been giving women a bum wrap for awhile now. That God did not intend us to be seen as how society has placed us as we are right now. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the more I try to be thoughtful and "deep" the sillier I sound. All I know is that the way these young guys were talking felt really wrong. And it's up to us, as parents, friends, etc to teach the next generation how to properly respect the opposite sex and treat them with as much.

As a side note and back to baby I've been thinking lately about the whole labour/delivery thing. With roughly a week and half to go, it would be silly to say I'm eagerly awaiting it. True I want this baby out, but then I think about the hospital room, the screaming, the pain, the pushing and all the other wonderful joys of childbirth. There's no real easy way out is there? You're in pain and uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy, then you want the pain to get worse so you can go into labour, and then you finish with a different kind of pain as the uterus shrinks down to it's original size and you recover with a screaming infant. Someone remind me why we do this again?

*as a side note, I'm trying hard to sound intelligent in this post. Seriously. So if I said something completely absurd, please keep it to yourself and e-mail me later about it. Thanks!

What's been on my mind?

I just rec'd an e-mail from my Babyzone calendar thingy and there was an article highlighted that started like this "Four Ways to Boost Your Energy During..." and then you had to click on the link to actually read the article. Well the first thought that flipped through my mind was ..."sex". A bit disappointed to find out the article was actually about boosting energy during...pregnancy.

sweet menopause

So I have Oprah on at the moment. They're talking about menopause (and actresses getting older) and they just mentioned that your armpit hair and your hair "down there" grows less often and starts to fall out. Sweet! Finally something to look forward to!!

floating head

I went for another check-up on Friday. Once again everything looks good and clear. He said the babies head is still floating (ie. hasn't engaged yet...still sounds like a rocket launcher or something completely odd like that) and so I've ran with that. I googled "floating head" and the only real thing that came up was this.

It's late and I'm tired. What else can you expect?

sleep

As I was writing the post last night, Steve was in bed reading. So by the time I actually got to bed, he was already fast asleep. Which reminded me of another thing that I most often think about when I can't sleep.

And that is how incredibly cheesed off I get when I'm tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable and then when I finally do, he starts snoring to high heaven! Not only is he enjoying his night of slumber while I lay in bed covered in pillows that don't work, but then his "plumbing" is louder than any of my thoughts could ever be, and that continues to keep me awake. There's nothing more that I would enjoy doing at those moments than to push him off the bed.

However, I did have a better sleep last night (only 1 "official" pee break!) so there is still hope.

this and that

Last night I had one of those nights. I usually have one or two of them towards the end of a pregnancy. The kind of night where you have every intention of going to bed early, but then you wind up peeing every 20-30 minutes for a good 2-3 hours. Thrown into that is the complete lack of comfortableness, so you're constantly tossing and turning. Thrown into that there's some sort of "domestic dispute" by our "lovely" neighbours that we can actually hear down in our corner room of the basement. At times like that, I find myself sitting up in bed and just sitting. I'll lean against a wall and just pray that God will help me fall asleep.

And then I start thinking.

I thought about moving ourselves back upstairs. It's not like people haven't had 3 kids in a room before. We can do it. If we moved this here....and that there....and took away the other thing. Totally do-able!

I thought about the many other pregnant people I know of and those who have had babies in the past few months. How they're coping and their lives have been changing.

I thought about how sad it was that Ryan Smyth got traded to NY. I always thought he'd be one of those players who spent their whole career with one team. ( This is how much Steve has influenced me, I cried this morning when we saw his news conference at the Edmonton airport.)

I thought about my different bible study groups. How upset I am over getting annoyed with different people in them. That is so not the point of a bible study group! I'm totally evil and deserve to be called out and shot in the street!

I thought about our kindly neighbours and once again the thought popped into my head about how you should not be afraid in your own home. Home is the one place where you should feel safe. Non?

I thought about how this was probably all due to that half a slurpee I had had a few hours ago.

Eventually I think I must have passed out around the 3 am mark.

So here it is again. 11:22 pm and counting. Please God let tonite be better!

Pain pain...

Go away!

Actually, let's bring on the pain so I can GET THIS BABY OUTTA HERE!!

This past weekend I was away at our church Ladies Retreat. In my opinion it was one of the best that I've been to with this church (well done organizers!). Friday and Saturday night we had Vespers and I really enjoyed them. We do something similiar at my Wednesday night biblestudies. Something about ancient prayers heaped with tradition that I find soothing and comforting. This is just a sample of what we did on the weekend.

The Lords Prayer (taken from here)

Because we love God, we say:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Because loving God means that we yearn for God to make his glory known, we say:
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Because loving God means we love others as God loves others, we long for all to have the necessities of life, and we say:
Give us this day our daily bread.
Because we love others, we seek to unleash God's grace of forgiveness and say:
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Because we love others, we long that they will love and live God's will, so we say:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Because we love God, and because we love others, we lift our hearts to God and say:
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen.

We say this today becuase we love God and love others.

In the name of the Father precious,
and of the Spirit of healing balm.
In the name of the Lord Jesus,
I lay me down to rest.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Magic words

When you're pregnant there are certain words that bring a smile to your face and there are some that don't.

When you walk into an office and the secretary takes one look at you and says," Whoa, you don't look good."

Those aren't no magic words.

Tuesday...

Is usually an enjoyable day. I get to go to Mom's and hang out kid free for a bit. The kids get a chance to go out and play with other kids. Steve spends most of the day at the church which frees us up to do whatever we want at home. It's usually a good day.

This morning I could barely keep my head up after I "woke" up. The kids didn't get to come to Mom's with me 'cos I had to leave early for a doctor's appointment (2 stones...the kids didn't get out and I had to leave early). Then Steve and I waited for 2 and a half hours (that's right, 2.5 hours!!!!) to see the doctor for a 10 minute pre-natal check up. I still can't believe it! Ugh!!

2 and a 1/2 hours...

So of course by the time we actually got home, the kids were up from their "nap" meaning I was given a slim-none chance of napping myself. And Steve took off right away for a chiro appointment that he had made, thinking he'd have tonnes of time beforehand to do some computer work himself.

What a waste.

I just hope the rest of the day goes well.

Oh yeah, and incase you're wondering, baby is fine. Meeting the delivery doctor went good (Steve made some crack about how we like to eat the placenta- which we don't- so I'm sure he's really looking forward to delivering our baby!) and now we just wait.

Pathetic I am

The kids have been home roughly 18 hrs. 10 of those they've been asleep.

I am

SO

TIRED.

It's amazing how much energy they suck out of you. Now I really know why I'm so tired this pregnancy. It's b'cos I have two extremely energetic kids.

Not to mention 10 minutes after they got home they managed to torpedo all the toys from their room into the living room.

This morning there's Rice Krispies falling from the roof. I mean where else would they come from to wind up all over the kitchen and living room. It's a miracle!

I can't wait for a nap.

Feet

I love feet. I love all the lines and muscles and veins that stick out and add character to a person's foot. Back in my drawing days (and Steve usually gets on me for not "re-living" my drawing days more often. My excuse is that I have no time nowadays, he says that's a lie, I say alright...I have to be in the right mood, he says it seems like I'm only in the mood to watch TV these days, and then we sit there glaring at each other for a while until I mutter something about he's right, that's all I feel like doing nowadays) I would take black and white photos of people's hands and feet and then sketch them. A person's hands and feet can tell alot about them. If they're workers, they're hands will be rough and grainy, if they're old they'll have wrinkles and life lines, and the young are smooth and sleek.

One of the things I love most about my body are my feet. I love how the veins stick out the top and you can see all the bones. One of the things I HATE most about being pregnant is that my feet swell up and I can no longer see any of these things that I love. It's like the last straw. I'm okay (well, no not really, but let's pretend) with the weight gain, the heartburn, the cravings and painful kicks, as long as I can still see and love my feet. But I tell ya, once those feet turn swollen and ugly, all hope is lost.

Same goes for my hands. I hate how they turn into little porker sausages and there's no hope at all of ever getting my ring off my wedding finger (well unless I stick it in the snow or the freezer for a length of time).

I really thought I'd avoid the whole swelling thing with a winter pregnancy. Sadly it appears not.

Happy BirValentine's Day

A few years ago I received a card from my hubby that said, "Happy BirValentine's Day". At the time I was both impressed that he remembered both (Valentine's Day and my birthday) and upset that he had combined them. You see today is my birthday. The day after Valentine's day.
The whole time I was growing up they never got entwined. It wasn't actually until I married Steve that they became one. And it wasn't until this year that they got righted again. B'cos the kids were gone all week we celebrated my birthday on Monday with supper out. Desserts with friends on Tuesday. Wednesday was Valentine's Day and today we headed to S'toon for a day out. In fact I'd have to say that this year has been one of the best in recent years. The phone rang this morning to wake us up. It was the kids singing Happy Birthday. I can only think of one better way to wake up, and that would be having them here. Then my 2 yr. old nephew phoned to wish me Happy Birthday as well. We had clear roads to and from S'toon. Got to see an awesome movie and had yummy burgers in our favourite pub for supper. It was a really good day!

In less than 24 hours the kids will be home and our "freedom" week will be done. I accomplished everything I set out to do, plus some, so the week in my opinion was a complete success!! I feel ready for the new arrival and can't wait to see what the next few weeks have instore!

First thoughts on "freedom"

The kids have been gone now for about 46 hours. The first thought when we got home, after dropping them off with my parents, was how quiet the house was. Steve quickly solved that by turning on Hockey Nite in Canada.

I'm thinking of things I can do this week without them. Get a massage. Eat cookies and not have to worry about sharing (that's so mean to say...yet so true!). Go out with the hubby and not have to worry about finding a babysitter, time constraints with babysitter and paying the babysitter. Bake apple pies without getting flour all over the kitchen (thanks to my little "helpers"!). And numerous other things. Mainly my goal is to go thru all the kid stuff, find and wash all neutral babystuff and organize the baby room.

What I've done so far?

Gone bowling till 2 am Saturday night. Napped for 3 hours Sunday afternoon. Watched movies again till 1 am Sunday night. Slept in till 9:20 am this morning (I had a doctor's appointment at 10).

So not alot.

And I miss them. I missed them before they even left. I actually miss hearing them cry out at night. I find myself checking in on their room at night, just to make sure everything's fine. I feel the urge to call my parent's and make sure everything is okay and I'm sure it is, they raised 4 kids of their own, so it's not like they can't handle 2.

But I'll use my emotional pregnant state as an excuse. After all I cried numerous times during the Grammy awards last night. That in itself is pretty sad.

So the clock is still ticking. The music is louder than it should be and we have over 96 hours left to go. I'm sure my opinion will change as we get closer to Friday.

Russian video

I received this in my e-mail today and thought it was pretty cool. Check it out. The story goes:

This tunnel in Russia is the longest in-city tunnel of Europe. There is a river running over it and water leaks at some points. When the temperature reaches minus 38 degrees like it did this particular winter, the road freezes and the result is the attached video taken during a SINGLE DAY with the tunnel camera. Congratulations to the dual bus driver .

What I can't believe is that after some of these major crashes, the other cars just try to get around them and continue on their way. Nice.

*Apparently I have no idea what I'm doing. When you click on the link above it takes you to the UTube site, but not the crash video, so you have to type in "russian tunnel" in the search area and then it will link you to the actual video. I still think it's worth checking out.

The new ketchup?

For lunch today Matthias wanted KD (a boy of my own true heart) and I asked Callah to help by getting the ketchup and chocolate sauce (for chocolate milk of course) out of the fridge. Which she did.

And I turned my back.

And she poured chocolate sauce into the pot of KD.

To be honest, it didn't taste that bad. Really sweet. It looked completely disgusting tho'.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

Congratulations?

Monday I went for another check-up to see if the baby had turned. It had. I was hoping that was all they would do, check the position of the baby, but no, I had to get the whole "experience" done once again (weighing, doppler and measuring). At the time I thought it was quite comical, the whole weighing thing, as I am 2 lbs short of being the biggest I've ever been (this is where the congratulations comes in?). You know I thought it would be funny to invent a card for pregnant mother's...Congratulations on being the biggest you've ever been! But that (sick) humour quickly faded and came to a sobbing hault last night, lying in bed. I felt repulsively huge. Definately not funny anymore.

I think tho' one of the things that's annoying me lately is myself. I'm getting jealous and angry at people who seem to have it all together. Seem so perfect. And I know that's just so wrong.

Last night I apologized to Steve for not being a trophy wife. For not being some pretty, little, "perfect" wife. I apologized for being a butch (big boned...yeah whatever....) and he said that's one of the reasons he married me, 'cos I AM a hard worker and not some trophy there to look pretty. I think that was a good thing, at least I know it was intended as a good thing.

And now I just feel miserable. A friend of mine loves being pregnant and loves to show it off (the fact that she is pregnant) and I guess I'm just annoyed 'cos I don't look like that, never will look like that and I don't have her confidence to show it off like that (even if I did). And so sometimes when I'm around her I feel like a large freak of nature. But what can I do to get around that? Avoid her? I honestly do enjoy her friendship, and like I said, I know it's just me 'cos I'm annoyed with other people too. So definately, I'm the problem here.

Argh...females are so complicated. Pregnancy sucks. And emotions can be so nasty.

I hate this moment right now.

That was totally wicked!!!

For the past 6 years (basically since I've lived in PA on my own - meaning without my parents) I always drag myself out in the bitterly cold to watch the Canadian Sled Dog Challenge. One year I even went out to watch them come in and close the race. To me there's something really exciting and ...well...Canadian about watching them. Maybe it has to do with the fact that when I was 5 I jumped off my bunkbed and landed feet first onto a miniature wooden dog sled. The handle part at the back broke and stabbed into the sole of my foot. I don't know, but the whole idea of battling the frigid cold and terrain with just a pack of dogs and a sled is really exciting (something you'd NEVER see on Survivor). This is just something that you don't see in very many places. I feel proud that I can experience a little bit of it. Now that I have children of my own, I drag them out to watch too. So that's what we did today. Right after my bible study we came home to pack on the clothes and headed out to the Lil' Red to watch the dog sleds. The kids were totally excited until we got out there and waited in the freezing wind for the first sled to come. But they lasted longer than we thought they would and Matthias, altho' complaining that he was cold, kept making snow angels in the ditch all the way back to the van.

We were watching them at the turn off the main road to Pine Grove. The organizers did it differently this year, as they had them run around the Lil' Red Park. Which maybe had it's good points, I don't know, but what I do know is that where we were watching, the road was pure ice. We watched 7 sleds go by and 4 of them slowed right down to a stop to turn the corner and one tragically overturned and both the musher and the passenger were thrown from the sled. The musher seemed a little out of it and the passenger had a bleeding nose, but otherwise unscathed. Steve felt like a hero as he ran ahead to catch the runaway dogs. That's my man!

Then we drove out to Emma Lake (my parents are looking at cabins out there) and on the way back we passed a HUGE accident that invovled a semi-truck and an SUV. The front tires of the trailer on the truck were completely destroyed and the whole front of the SUV was bashed in. Steve said it looked like the SUV hit the semi, got sucked under and spun out. I hope everyone was alright. The crash was right beside where the dogs run, so that too, I hope they are all alright.

And that's been our day so far. At least Steve is feeling better!

Random Blurbs

You know that scene in Fried Green Tomatoes when Kathy Bates' character is looking for a parking spot. She finally finds one, waits and signals her intention, and then backs up to let the other car out. Meanwhile a car comes around from the opposite direction and takes her place. A young, "hip" woman gets out of her shiny, new car and calls Kathy Bates something (I can't totally remember...it's been awhile). Today I felt like her...Kathy Bates' character. A "frumpy", tacky, "older" woman who was going for this spot when a younger woman came from the opposite direction to take my spot. I was sure feeling like smashing my van repeatedly into the younger woman's car (what Kathy does in the movie), but instead I just settled for the "evil eye". Oh yeah, I think she knew where I was coming from.

My children can't be trusted. When they're hungry and there's food anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE that they can reach. They will reach for it. We have this rule that if they don't eat supper, they don't get anything else to eat. Well this causes all sorts of problems in the morning when our kids wake up around 7 am and neither Steve or I are morning people, so come 8:30 -9 am when we finally make our way to the kitchen we find all sorts of surprises. Whole bunches of grapes mysteriously gone. Cookie jars half empty. Bananas half eaten (and then put back in the fruit bowl). Containers of chinese food (rice no less) on the kitchen table with spoons sticking out of them. Yesterday Callah actually came downstairs with an orange and a very sharp knife. They just can't be trusted with empty bellys. But it's not our fault they don't eat their suppers and we're not morning people...right?

Did anyone see Extreme Makeover Home Edition last weekend? They rebuilt a farm house for a woman and her 6 children after their father/husband died. It was a real tear jerker, especially then they replayed the 911 call. Very tragic.
Anyway, one of the designers put a sandbox in a 2 year old's room! A boy's room no less! Are they crazy??? The designers actually "polled" a crowd of Mom's... and the Mom's agreed it was a good idea!!! You name me 2 Mom's who would love to have a 5ft long sandbox in their 2 year old boys room!! Crazy.

I went for my 32 (or as I like to think ahead...33) week check-up on Monday. I was looking forward to it. This was the day I was suppossed to switch over to the replacement who will be delivering our baby (our real doctor is in Africa somewhere I believe). Well first off, I weigh more than I apparently should (the doctor always tells me that my weight is coming along "a little too good" - cheeky english doctor guy who is replacing my real doctor...that's right, this pregnancy I'm seeing 3 different doctors!) and then he does the hand to belly probe where he checks the babies position only to tell me that the baby is breech again. But don't worry, it's not something we worry about till 34 weeks (uh yeah...that's like A WEEK AWAY!). Then to ease my mind he has trouble locating the heartbeat, and according to my ears, it appears a little slower than it has the past 6 months. No, I'm not worried at all. So back I go to the little english man in a few days, and this baby has rotated again into the proper birthing position, then hopefully I can switch to the other doctor.

We had a really good Mom's Committee Meeting today. I feel like we're going to be touching our inner "child" with some activities coming up. Should be ALOT of fun. I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway, Steve's sick in bed (I tell ya, he's gone all weekend at a youth "retreat" comes home and is in bed the next 2.5 days with a severe head cold...sometimes I wonder about him...), the kids are fast asleep and I hear a warm bath calling.

Later.

George

Last night was a bit of a mess. I don't sleep very well when Steve isn't around (I know I would nearly die if he was doing shift work or gone for weeks like many of your husbands do) so I try to stay up as long as I can and then go to bed. Friday nite I watched Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 'till about 1 a.m. Last night I watched Must Love Dogs 'till 12:30. And I thought I was tired, but not tired enough I guess. Maybe it was the 2 tall glasses of ginger ale that did me in, as I was up every 20 minutes to pee or maybe I'm just not used to sleeping in the basement yet as every little squeak and noise caused my tired eyelids to bolt open and become completely alert. Either way the last thing I remember was thinking about George for some reason.

Ahhh...now there is one sexy man.

Ho hummm

Even tho' Steve technically hasn't left the city yet, so begins my 48 hours of being housebound. He's leaving to take 6 youth to Norquay, Saskatchewan on a youth retreat 'till Sunday. This isn't the first time, but for some reason, this time really sucks. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, maybe it's because it's winter, but more than likely a combo of the two as I've been left home alone before, carless, in the winter and it hasn't bothered me this much before.

Ho humm...and already the kids are testing my patience. It's like they know that Daddy is gone and Mommy's tired and slow, so let's take advantage of her.

Oh well, Steve should be back in roughly 47 hours, 48 minutes and 15 seconds.