September 9, 2009 at 5:03 am (House, Miscellaneous)
Tags: boys, Harley, House, summer
Aah, yes. Home. This is where we have spent our summer, and where we will be living until our modular home is ready to be moved onto our basement. Living in a fifth wheel is rather cramped, but we’ve made do. The clutter is driving me insane, but hopefully now that the boys have started school I’ll be able to keep things (toys!) somewhat less underfoot than they have been! They get to take a bus this year and are very excited, which I think will wear off after a week or so of walking down our 600m driveway (it takes 9 1/2 min.) to make it on time for a ride that arrives at 7:20 am.
Summer has been good. Stressful, but fun and busy too. We put the boys into swimming lessons for six weeks, saw an air show, went to drag races, saw my brother Mark and his family, and travelled to Edmonton a couple times. We also added to our little family. Meet Harley.
He is such a fun puppy. Very playful, smart, and generally calm. A little nippy, but what puppy isn’t? We also got a kitten who as of now has no name. He used to be Scamp, but the boys have other ideas. No pictures yet, since the rain hasn’t really let up since we brought him home.
Now that school is beginning, I imagine I’ll probably update quite a bit more often. And yes, Mark, the footings and foundation are poured, though that was an adventure I’ll save for next time. Toodle-loo!
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June 30, 2009 at 9:51 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: boys, House, rain
Just a quick note to say that I’m still alive. Living in an RV with three boys and a husband make for close quarters, but I’m sure it is something the kids will remember the rest of their lives. It keeps raining and our driveway isn’t totally gravelled yet, so we are often stuck here at the top of the hill. No power, no water (except from the water tank on the back of the truck – oh, and the rain) is an interesting way to live. Thankfully we can run our generator when we need to plug something in, although I’m going to have to teach the boys how to start it on their own. I’m tired of running out to it in the rain!
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December 15, 2008 at 6:35 pm (Kids, Miscellaneous)
Tags: boys, Christmas, Life, Snow
Whew! The last few weeks have been stressful, not because of all I was doing but because of the kids Sunday School Christmas pageant. Throw in hockey tournaments and games, driving on the snowy, icy roads, kids getting sick, husband getting sick, and the Christmas panic that sneaks up on me about the middle of December and I’m about ready for a nap or two. It will be so nice when the kids aren’t in school and we can just enjoy the season!
I was so glad I had my dad video the kids’ play last night. Titus was priceless – pure fodder for when he has kids who are just like him. His class was reciting a poem, but he was ticked off because people were touching him. He just stood there and made the angry face and sulked the entire time. So funny. Ethan got the biggest laugh. The line he had was funny, but the way he said it was the icing on the cake. So serious! Totally deadpanned it. And Caleb, my little superstar, singing his heart out in the choir. Man, does that kid like to sing!
I guess today is a stay-at-home kind of day. I’m gonna be cleaning, cutting fabric for Titus’ quilt (that was supposed to be done in August – oops!), and drinking hot tea, hot chocolate, and hot coffee. I have a feeling the pajamas are going to be on for the most part, so I hope nobody decides to stop by, otherwise things could get a little embarrassing! Hope your day is as cozy as mine.
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October 28, 2008 at 4:09 pm (Kids)
Tags: boys, Caleb, oatmeal
I have stumbled onto something in my mothering journey that I think only happens once in a lifetime. Somehow I made my nine year old a believer in the healing properties of porridge, and although I know how it happened, I don’t know if I will ever be able to pull it off again.
One morning in September, Caleb woke up with a tummy ache. He told me that he didn’t think he would be able to go to school, but me, being a particularly unsympathetic mother, told him he was going.
“Just eat a bowl of oatmeal,” I said. “You’ll feel better.”
After he was done, I asked him how he felt. He surprised me by saying he was good now and off he went to school like a good little boy. I thought nothing more of it until a week ago after he’d had a particularly bad night (I don’t know how a growing nine year old gets insomnia, but this one does). I saw him get out the packet of oatmeal and made a comment, because he usually goes for the Honeycombs.
“Mom! This’ll make me feel better.”
“Oh, right! Of course it will,” I replied. That night at hockey while I was tying his laces I told him he didn’t have to work as hard as he usually did because of the bad night he’d had. Imagine my surprise when he looked at me like I had a third eye in the middle of my forehead.
“But Mom, I had porridge this morning. I’m just fine. I’m gonna skate as hard as I usually do, maybe even harder!”
Magic in a bowl, indeed. Now if I can just keep this up I may be able to get him through adolescence!
before porridge
after porridge
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September 9, 2008 at 4:11 pm (Kids, Miscellaneous)
Tags: boys, conversation, school
Summer’s done, fall is here, and children have been safely deposited in school. Caleb and Ethan were happy to see their friends and catch up on the latest playground news and Titus had his first day of kindergarten last week. He doesn’t start going regularly until next week because of the staggered entry system, so he’s rather bored with only me to converse with. A typical conversation…
Titus: “Mom, can I have some stuff?”
Me: “What kind of stuff?”
Titus: “You know, stuff?”
Me: “No, I don’t know. Stuff to play with? Stuff to eat? Stuff to do?”
Titus: “Your kind of stuff.”
Me: “What’s my kind of stuff?”
Titus: “The stuff you like to do.”
Me: “Like what?”
Titus (in an exasperated tone): “Like draw and stuff like that.”
I really wish I was a mind reader, because we have this type of conversation three or four times a day. Trying to narrow down what he’s getting at is an art. Usually there are various hand motions and plenty of sound effects that “show” me what he is trying to communicate, but those are usually as vague as the conversation. I will admit to pretending to know what he’s talking about just so he’ll stop making me guess! I pity his poor teacher.
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August 5, 2008 at 5:00 am (Family Fun, Kids)
Tags: boys, summer
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July 10, 2008 at 2:51 pm (Family Fun)
Tags: birds, boat, boys, tubing, water
After sending the two older boys to camp last week, we visited some friends at their cabin. It was a nice, laid-back weekend with a lot of tubing, barbecuing, visiting, and fireworks. I found out that little girls are very aggressive when it comes to little boys, and was on constant boy/girl watch. I know I was crazy about boys at a young age, but I don’t ever remember fighting over them or having to be in constant contact. Wow! Makes one wonder what goes on at school…
The first night we got there was gorgeous. We took a boat ride to the far end of the lake and enjoyed the sunset after getting the boys toweled off.
Saw some weird birds nesting in dead trees. The local forestry guy (whom we knew from Rainbow Lake) told us the name but I can barely remember the names of the people I meet, much less bird names. Started with a “k” or “c” but that’s all I’ve got. Look at all those nests. I think I counted seven or so in the one tree alone!
Yep, a fun weekend all in all. Even got some knitting done! What more could a girl want?!
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June 30, 2008 at 3:54 am (Kids, Miscellaneous)
Tags: boys, presents
There is never a time where it is wise to let your child go unattended to a neighbourhood garage sale with a cool five bucks in his pocket just waiting to be spent. Never. If going to a garage sale must be done, it is always an adult supervised event. Otherwise, said child may come home with two grocery bags full of ratty old shirts, another grocery bag of broken down toys, two cell phone cases for you and your spouse, and a present just for you. Anyone want it? The faster I get it out of sight, the faster he’ll forget about it.
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June 28, 2008 at 4:11 am (Kids)
Tags: Bikes, boys, sand, summer
School’s out! The kidlings are home for the summer (except for a brief stay in camp) and the general feeling is one of emancipation. Today’s frivolities consisted of a picnic breakfast, bike riding, bike fixing, skateboarding, golf practice, watermelon slurping, freezie headaches, strawberry chomping, and sand dumping. Sand dumping, you say? Oh, you don’t know what that is? They say pictures are worth a thousand words…
Notice the form – how Titus holds his shirt open for maximum sandification, how Ethan has to get on tiptoe just to be able to lift the shovel high enough to pour it through the neck hole. Here is another example.
What Caleb is demonstrating here is known as the pail dump, or the solo sand dump. Technique is especially difficult to master, as the shirt needs to be held open and the bucket of sand must be dumped at exactly the same time.
This may motivate me to put a little bit of structure into their summer. Maybe something along the lines of bootcamp?
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