Gelica – Page 18 – xangelle.com

LIttle Bit ‘O This and a Little Bit ‘O That

I’m sitting on the main level of my house killing time listening to my baby scream his head off because he,
“WAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNTTTTTSSSSSS MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMAAAAAAA!” and seeing as he is mostly over the whole measles thingy and I’m so tired of his incessant night waking, we have started to institute the

Back to Bed, Baby! Initiative.

This involves getting up every time he wakes up and putting him back in his own bed. He is in a bed, and so he can easily get out and the biggest issue that we have is not even him coming to our bed in the middle of the night.

The biggest issue is the fact that since the while measles thing, he’s been waking up around 11 or 12 and screaming for no reason that we can figure out. He is quite verbal (as in everyone who hears him speak can’t believe he’s only 2 years old) and his language skills are quite advanced and so if he so desired, he could tell us if there was an issue…..I think that he’s OVERTIRED and can’t even really handle himself. You should see the dark circles he’s currently sporting under his eyes. Poor Baby.

The 11-midnight scream fest comes in a close second in the frustration factor. The number one issue is that he’s decided that regardless of whether we let him sleep with us or if we put him back in to his own bed, around 2am, he wakes up and then is basically restless and awake from 2am until after 5am. This time usually involves TONS of thrashing around. Crying because the covers are on. Crying because the covers are off. Kicking mommy and daddy in the head/stomach/back/whatever happens to be closest to the thrashing feet. Crying because we won’t let him watch a movie. Crying because he wants to go to the bathroom. Crying because he doesn’t want to go to the bathroom. Basically, there is lots of crying and very little sleep.

And so, it is time to learn how to sleep again.

This likely means that we will get even less sleep over the next 3-4 nights as we sleep train him to stay asleep or at the very least, to once again stay on his bed. YUCK! but it will be so worth it by next weekend when we are all sleeping soundly. I hope I’ve not jinxed it by saying that.

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It was my baby girl’s 13th Birthday today. Angelica became a teenager today. I’m still a a bit amazed that I have a teenager and yet….it’s really not that different feeling from yesterday as she was quick to tell me. Time sure flies doesn’t it.

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Jon and Jeremy went to church today and Xani and Siah and I stayed home. Siah’s still officially within the contagious time period and Xani was coughing like a mad woman. We made coffee cake and an egg/hashbrown hash-type breakfast. We cleaned the kitchen and then sewed like crazy.

I’ll be showing you over the next little bit some of the fun things that I made. Xani made 2 pillows and she did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

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We’ve filled and hidden the kid’s Easter Baskets and tomorrow morning we’ll have a treasure hunt for the kids. They are looking forward to it and if it weren’t for Geli’s birthday being today we probably would have done them today, but I wanted to make her birthday special. We had her favorite meal of roast chicken, and potatoes, with carrots and asparagus and gravy AND…..Yorkshire Pudding. And she was a very happy girl. We’ve still not given her a gift or even had a cake so I’m not sure how special of a day it was, but ….well…….ya know……it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?

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I’m still trying to come up with a fun activity for us to do as a family tomorrow……ya know, one that involves being trapped inside the house with a contagious child….ya! should be fun! It’s been a long LOOOOOOOOOONG week and I still have a few days left to go.

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The baby has been making the funniest movements. I’ve been bent over the sewing machine and apparently, he didn’t like being squished because he kept trying to streeeeeeeeeeeeetch out and kept kicking out the sides of my body towards my back. It felt so weird, and yet……….TOTALLY AMAZING. Baby movements are the best thing ever.

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Some people from our complex just had a stillborn at 24 weeks. One week shy of when Nathaniel was born. My heart os breaking for them and all they are going through right now. I only hope that I can, in some small way, reach out and be a support or comfort to them. I’m feeling stressed that I’m pregnant, though and am feeling cautious as to how that might make them feel. So many sad conflicting emotions. In some ways, it’s like reliving the whole loss over again. So SO sad!

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Well, after half an hour, it’s quiet and so I’m gonna sign off and head up stairs to bed. I hope you all had a great Easter Sunday with great food and hopefully lots of chocolate…….

Monday Morning Weigh-In

I need to take some pics to add to this post. Hopefully soon….

It’s been a while since I had a Monday morning weigh-in, and I’m pleased to report that as of this morning I weighed 192.4 lbs.

I figure that’s not a terrifying number to get through the holiday’s and end up at.

If you search back….the last time I weighed in, I was sitting right around 191 lbs. So, while I’ve not lost any weight…..the 1 pound weight gain is nothing I’m too worried about.

I’m still exercising a couple of times a week, in fact I’m headed out to class with my sister in an hour.

I’d say that while my weight hasn’t changed drastically, my shape is changing. Change is good, right?

I’ve also wondered if I am a bit anemic as I’ve been feeling so SO tired, recently. Like, ridiculously so….I talked with my Dr. today and I’m upping my iron supplements a bit (my iron was on the lowest end of normal at my last blood test) and hopefully that will help me to feel a bit more energetic. It would be nice if the sun would come out, too! It seems like our winter has finally shown up. Read that as it’s grey and raining, and wet and raining and oh. so. blah…….with more rain. It’s nasty.

I’d post a weekly menu along with this, but I haven’t made one…..yet! I really need to. It makes such a difference in our meals, budget, health and stress levels. Tonight we’re having “chili and rice”. Thank goodness for freezer meals for those days when you’ve been too lazy to cook.

So, how did the holiday’s treat you? Do you have some holiday weight to work off? Any New Years Resolutions regarding exercise and weight loss?

ps. Pic of the oldest and youngest on Christmas morning. He’s just tolerating the camera in his face.

pps. I realize that technically it’s not Monday morning, but that was the original title of this post and I just went with it.

Addressing the Issue of Size……

I thought that I could say something about myself and my size.

I’ve gotten a few comments about how I look good or about how someone would never have guessed that I weigh what I weigh and it got me thinking…...and as it goes, I’m going to share what I’m thinking…..who wouldda guessed that, eh?

I am not a small person.

I have NEVER been a small person……well, maybe when I was a baby, but other than that….

When I was 12 years old, I grew 6 inches over one summer landing me at 5 foot 8 inches tall by the end of that summer. I weighed 120 pounds and modeled for a few years after that. I wasn’t fat or overweight, in fact I was thin……but I am (and was) a BIG person.

Now, I am 5 foot 10 inches and currently I weigh 193.8 lbs. I come from a big family. There are big bones on both sides of my heritage. I managed to get size in my genetic make up. I carry the weight well and fairly evenly distributed….I’d prefer that I have a little less in the truck and a little more up top (if ya know what I mean) but for the most part I’m not completely depressed by how I look….for someone who’s has a million children…..or ya know 4.

I am a big person. It’s taken some time, but for the most part I am comfortable being a big person.

It was difficult as a teenager. I won’t lie. And I struggled with feeling like “Ginormica” compared to the majority of my friends and especially my mother and sisters…..they’re petite! But I came to realize that there was nothing I could do to change my size and that I could be miserable about something that I couldn’t change or I could accept that it was who I am and carry on with life.

There are aspects of being a tall, big boned person that I like. I can hide a few extra pounds on my frame. I am strong. I can reach things in high places without needing help or even a stool.

Obviously, there are things that I don’t like about my size…..I’m not a big fan of the “number” of my weight. I don’t like feeling like I’m taller than all my girlfriends. I hate shopping because most pants are floods and those in the “tall girl” section have a rise in the crotch that makes the waist band sit right under my armpits. It’s a HAWT look!

But, for the most part I’m fairly happy with myself. I would like to lose some weight. Ideally, I’m about 20 pounds heavier than I’m could be, but honestly, I’m totally okay with weighing 180-185 lbs. I weighed 170-175 lbs when I got married and was by no means “large” at that point. I feel stronger and healthier when I weigh a little bit less than I do now. I’m not looking to be super model thin. I am completely realistic with myself and my size.

I currently wear size 11-15 pants depending on the cut, style and fabric. I wear a Medium to Large Shirt. I wear a size 10 shoe.

I am just a big person.

I see Angelica who is 12 years old walking the “big girl” road and I’m doing everything in my power to help her LOVE who she is.

It helps that I’m bigger than her…….for now! It helps that there are WAY more girls out there nowadays who are bigger and taller. It’s more normal now for girls to reach 6 feet tall and to have size 12 feet. It was brutal when I was 12/13 years old walking into a shoe store HOPING and PRAYING that they’d have even just 1 pair of a size 10 shoe and that it wasn’t too ugly. Now, It’s awesome to walk into shoe stores and to see size 11 and 12 ladies shoes and the variety and quantity. Not that I need that size, but if my girls do….no problems. It helps that I know what it feels like to be a big person.

I am a BIG person and I’m working on being as healthy as I can be.

I want to model good exercise habits for my kids. I want to teach them to eat well. I don’t want to see them sucked into the whole “I need to diet to be thin and acceptable” garbage. I want them to be aware of themselves in a healthy positive way. I want to teach them to be responsible for their health. I want them to love themselves for who they are and not for their size.

And so, I am working on myself because I believe that modeling healthy positive ways to live, eat and exercise is one of the best ways that I can train my children….and I think it’s working!

A Few Steps Behind

So, I am sick, AGAIN!

And I’m so frustrated about it already.

First we had that stupid flu for a week…..then I felt better for almost a week and then managed to pick up some stupid cough/congestion thingy. It sucks! Actually to say it sucks is putting it mildly.

And now Geli has the flu…..she’s been out since Saturday….it’s awesome. She’s normally a bit of a grouchy person and right now she is 100 times grouchier than normal….which makes for some AWESOME, AMAZING times at our house.

With me ~~feeling like my head is full of 1,000 pounds of glue and that the glue is slowly oozing down into my lungs and suffocating me and no amount of coughing is helping to clear it away~~ not feeling well, I’m not as “on top of it” as I normally am.

The house is a bit messier and I still have not come up with a meal plan for the week. We had a pork roast last night and I do have a lasagna in the freezer (Crap! I gotta go and pull that sucker out to defrost……be right back…………DONE!) and if we continue along with our “normal Wednesday meal of Soup, then I guess I have up to tomorrow planned. Although before right this moment, all I knew that I was thinking about doing the lasagna tonight as it required no effort on my part….

I still have to come up with something for the rest of the week, AND we desperately need to go shopping, but that’s the LAST THING that I feel like doing……..maybe Jon’ll go when he comes home from work tonight? We need stuff for the kids to take for lunches…..GLURG!

I hate feeling like this.

I hate seeing my house untidy.

I hate feeling like I’m behind on things.

I hate feeling just slightly out of control.

I hate feeling so stinking tired (and like an elephant is sitting on my head.)

I can’t wait to start to feel normal again.

Alright, so now that I’ve complained so much – I’m reminded of the whole “attitude of gratitude” thing and I’m determined to find something to be thankful for…….gimmee a minute…..

……..or two………

……..or three………

……..or four………….

Alrighty….well, that took longer than I’d have liked, and I really struggled to find something to be thankful for in the middle of these circumstances, but right now….

I’m thankful to be sitting here in my beautiful house (albeit a tiny bit messy) with the GLORIOUS SUN FLOODING IN MY BIG WINDOWS. The atmosphere in my house feels so alive and yet peaceful at the same time. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to enjoy the sun shining into my house and on me today.

I could be working. It could be raining. It could be a lot worse than it is right now….but for now……I’m thankful.

Alright, I’m off to figure out the rest of the week’s food and to consider what else I am thankful for.

What are you thankful for today?

Crazy Week…..I’ll Be Right Back

Well, This has been a crazy week and I’m hoping that regularly scheduled ~~blatherings~~ ~~nonesense~~ programming will resume fairly soon.

I’m headed out to my cousin’s baby shower. She is pregnant with the the first in a string of babies to be born into our family. It’s so exciting. I can’t wait to meet her little one.

The girls have headed out to a pumpkin carving contest….we should hear back later today if they won or not. The prize is $500 for their school’s library.

Geli did win a different contest recently. The kids at the school were challenged to submit an entry that pertained to the Olympics…..2 winners were chosen from the school and those two kids got their designs turned into a flag that lines the streets here in our city…. Geli’s was chosen and two weeks ago she got to spend the morning working with some artists to fine tune her picture into a design suitable for a flag.

It will be exciting to go and see it when it’s hung. They will let us know when and we will go and take a picture of her and her flag.

I hope that your weekend is restful and peaceful and full of fun and laughter.

New Stages of Life

Angelica is 12 years old.

It’s hard to believe that I have a daughter who is almost a teenager. It feels like the time has flown by so fast. It was not so long ago that I held all 7 pounds 14 ounces of her and her fuzzy black hair for the first time and thought, “I’m a mom now?!?” I remember being 12. I remember the difficulty of wanting so badly to be grown up and to fit in with all the adults that I thought were so cool and so mature. (People who were my age – Ha Ha Ha HA!) I also remember still wanting to run and play with the little kids.

It was a tough age inside my head and also inside my body as I changed and grew so much that year.

I see the same things happening in my daughter and I’m so excited for her…..for us….for what this all means…..I’m just excited.

She is a really great kid and over the last 6 months, she has really grown and matured in so many ways.

We went to Whistler recently and I took WAY TOO MANY pictures while I was there. I dumped them to my computer in the evenings and while going through the pics. I was so shocked and surprised to see her in a new light.

She really is growing up…..and fast!

Those are my shoes she’s wearing in that last picture. She still has a few inches before she hits my 5’10”, but I’m pretty sure she’ll make it and surpass me.

This is such an amazing time where we get to learn and grow together – Her, as a young adult and Me, as a mother of a young adult. She gets to stretch her wings and provided that I’ve done a good job of teaching her how to make decisions and the weigh the consequences – I should be prepared to let her stretch those wings from time to time as we move toward a time and place where I’m confident and proud and even encouraging her to be stepping out on her own.

She is a GREAT kid and I know that she’ll be a great Young Adult and then eventually an Adult.

I’m not thinking that this time won’t have it’s challenges. Every phase of life brings it’s own rewards and challenges and this time is no different. But I’m looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.

As I mentioned before, we are trying desperately to teach our kids choices and consequences and that we are always here for them and that our love is unconditional. We want our kids to run TOWARD us if they make a choice that has tough consequences and not to be scared or ashamed or to pull away from us. So far it’s working.

They know that we love, accept and embrace them even when they make choices that negatively affect them and others. They are really grasping the concept that “they” are making the choices and that they, are in effect “choosing” their consequences. It’s not always fun, but it’s a great step toward taking responsibility for your own actions.

It also is teaching them to think about what the different consequences of the different choices might me. And… they get to weigh in and choose what’s most important to them. We’ve also found that it has severely cut down on the number of fights and disagreements that we have in the house, and that alone is worth the extra effort that this process takes versus the concept of…..”Obey because I said so or else!”

Angelica has her first babysitting job tomorrow night and she is SO excited. I’m excited for her, too. Even though it’s just 2 doors down from us in our complex, I would have never let her babysit 6 months ago. She’s come a long way in a short time and I know that she’ll do a fabulous job.

I’m so proud of the woman she’s becoming.

Geli’s 12 Year Old Perspective on “The Move”!

Hey Everybody,

I thought that I’d take a moment to get a different perspective on our upcoming move. Angelica is my first victim.

I’ll be asking her a few questions and she’ll answer them……imagine it working that way!!!!

Question #1

What is/are the most exciting thing/s about this move?

I’m closer to school. I am really, REALLY close to Nana’s house. Ummmm…What was the question again? Ummmmm…. (apparently this move ain’t so exciting for her…or she’s just really struggling with that whole pre-teen “what is the right answer” crap.) I kinda like the part where I get a really cool room down stairs. It has a nice big living area for everybody to be in….and if it gets to loud I can just go down stairs to my room and I like that there are lots of bathrooms.

Question #2

What is the most stressful thing about this move….or what are you worrying about?

I have to go back to school with Xandra and Jeremy. I have to share a room with Xandra downstairs. The huge back yard that we have is owned by everyone else and I can’t do anything in it…….ummmm, ummmm, ummmm……oh the TV/Wii room is right beside our room and Jeremy gets up early to play on the Wii. We can’t ride our bikes or play on skate boards on the town house roads.

Question #3

What to you think about moving schools and having to make new friends and leaving old friends behind?

Well, for having to make new friends and leaving the old friends behind. I still have the old friends e-mails and so it’s easy to stay in touch like and and it’s only a half and hour drive to go and visit them. And for new schools, I’ve changed schools ummmm……3 times now and so this one is not too much different than the other ones. I like that I’m going to a French school and that it’s close to where we are moving to.

Question #4

Is there anything else that you think about, regarding this move?

Ummmmmmm……………I am excited that I am finally getting my room clean. We are throwing lots of stuff out and clearing out the excess stuff out (like for winter) and putting it all in boxes and putting it in my dad’s office to get ready to move. We are also going to have a garage or moving sale and get rid of lots of stuff from that.

Question #5

You’ve lived in this house for most of your life. Are you sad to move away or excited?

Kinda both. Excited because it’s going to be a challenge to remember where everything is….but not to much of a challenge…like all the new spots for everything like the cups and bowls and plates…..that kinda stuff….and sad because I’ve lived int his house most of my life and lots of stuff has happened while I’ve been living here….like Nathaniel dying and we’ve made lots of stuff in the big forest in our back yard but it’s been mostly taken down by the teenagers (local kids). I have a few really, really, really, really, really good friends. But overall I am quite excited. It’s gonna be a change.

So, there you have it…..straight from the horses mouth……just kidding, but if you know Geli – you know that she likes horses….. so that was my lame attempt at a little humor.

Stay tuned for more house news in the not to distant future and for more answers from some of the other kids….

Just Clicking Away

I keep clicking over here and looking at this page and then clicking away as I’m not really sure what to say.

I went to see Geli at her Track & Field Day today….

She was in high jump and discus throw, but we could only stay and see her do the high jump and well, she had two tries and didn’t make the lowest attempt, but I would say that 90% of the girls trying didn’t even clear the pads never mind the bar and so they were definitely weeding out the riff raff right off the bat.

I had this whole post in my head about how the “middle school PONG” was so bloody strong at the stadium, that you would have thought that it was an enclosed space. WOW! I can’t even fathom helping out at the school if the open air stadium smelled that bad. I do realize that it was a hot sunny day and that the majority of these kids are full on hitting puberty and also have no working knowledge of either deodorant or showers, but seriously….I was truly amazed at the stench that sat like fog in that place. It was UNBELIEVABLE!

Click on the picture to see some other shots from the event.

Then Jon and I headed out to our weekly Sushi Date. This is pretty much our only “protected” time of the week. Pretty much NOTHING messes with out one hour Thursday Sushi Date.

Siah was too cute. He loves coming with us and we love having him While it’s not the same as a NO CHILD date, it’s still pretty awesome.

We are going into Vancouver tomorrow to look at a bunch of town homes and one house in the hopes of finding something within our price range to be able to move into this summer.

I’m equally excited and terrified and annoyed and worn out. It’s an awesome ball of emotions and probably what’s wearing me completely out right now.

And that is why I keep coming here, wanting to post, but clicking away. I don’t know what to say and like this post shows…..I feel like I’m just verbally diarrhea-ing on you all. I LOVE this place. It’s MY PLACE. It’s my place to talk and chat and emote and I feel so tapped out that I’m not even sure what to talk about or chat about or even to emote about.

I have pictures lined up in iPhoto that I need to upload, and now it feels like they are so old that what is the point….I think that all the travel and uncertainty are just really wearing on me.

I need to get settled and we are working on that. This has just been a very loooooooong year with a freakload of commuting and well….I’m tired.

Is it summer, yet? I need a vacation.

I’d love a child free vacation, but I’m still nursing and so that’s a ways off yet.

That’s a whole ‘nuther post….if I could ever get enough emotional energy to write about. Yes, I am extended nursing. And I realize that Siah is at the age were others think that he (and I) should just stop and well….I’m not planning to yet. I am expecting the comments to start any time now and realize that there are some who are not commenting, but are sure thinking their comments and while I’d love to say that I don’t really care. It’s not the truth. I don’t like to be judged. I try desperately hard to not judge and I’d rather talk about “why” I can chose to make this decision for my son and myself and my family and that we could agree to be different.

But..it’s a big long topic and one I’m not going to try and deal with today. Maybe another day….soon????

I’d also like to talk about working outside of the home. Again, another day…

Also, moving into Vancouver…..BIG FREAKIN’ ISSUE……and terribly expensive and so against what we want in our lives and yet so much a part of what we want in our lives…..and once again…that freaking dichotomy……..

Also, Jeremy….he is at least a few posts in and off himself……oh man…

Well, I’m gonna sign off and hope for better things tomorrow.

ps. Can I just say that after using my father-in-laws camera, I HATE my stupid little camera. I LOVE his Nikon D90 and when we have a spare $grand+ kicking around I’d love to get one.

More Ripples….

I don’t know if you remember, but fairly recently, I talked about how trauma can have some long term affects.

I was saddened and disappointed to see yet another wave rippling through the family this past weekend.

In some ways it’s a good thing (I’ll get to that) and yet it’s still so hard to see those you love hurting.

When we lost Nathaniel, each of us grieved very differently. I worried about Angelica the most through those sad, dark days because where Xandra was open and expressive with her grief – Geli really didn’t say too much. Yes, she cried (we all cried). Yes, she asked questions. Yes, she hugged and needed hugs; but there was a huge part of her that was quiet. It felt like she was grieving from about 20 percent of herself and that she had closed off and turned inside the rest of herself.

I knew that eventually she would talk and share and that as long as we kept the lines of communication open that she would eventually work through what she needed to work through.

Last week, Xandra was in my room and we were getting ready for the day and she sat down on my bed and said, “I really miss Nathaniel. It’s funny, mom. How can I miss someone that I never knew?” Man, that little girl has some deep, DEEP thoughts swirling around in side of her.

I said that I missed him, too. Then we talked about how she misses the idea of him. That she had already had a little brother and that she knows what it is to have a little brother and now with Siah being a baby – it makes that loss even more tangible as he can represent the baby brother that we didn’t get to have. Just like she always has, she grieved deeply and then rebounded and headed on her way to finish getting ready for the day.

I wondered what had reminded her of Nathaniel, as there hadn’t really been anything that stood out…..and then just like her – I let it go and continued to get ready.

Geli came into see me yesterday as we were trying to get ready for church. She put a project that she had been working on early this year onto my bathroom counter. They had to draw a self portrait and then write a poem about herself. One half of their face was a literal drawing and the other half was to be more symbolic. She did a great job of the project and got 100% on it.

I was quite surprised to see the poem, though, and will copy it here for you. It is probably the most open and honest that she’s been and there is a good chance that I’ll get her to work through her emotions this way a bit more in the future. This also explains a bit more about her, because she’s been holding all of this inside. It’s a HUGE LOAD for a little girl to be carrying and I was so happy to read the poem because it enabled us to have a really good talk about her emotions and feelings and fears. I was also so saddened by the poem because she has been carrying all this inside even though I’ve tried repeatedly to talk to her about Nathaniel and how it all affects her. It’s hard to think that she’s been scared for the past 4 years. That just hurts so bad. I wish I could take that pain and fear away and I know that I can’t and I also know that how she deals with all of this will help to define her as a person. I just hate to see my babies hurting.

Happy but Sad

I am happy but sad
I wonder how people live and die
I hear my brother talking to me
I see my brother walking to me after school
I want my brother who died
I am happy but sad

I pretend I still have my brother
I feel my brother sitting on my lap
I touch my brother
I worry that another sibling will die
I cry when I remember my brother, Nathaniel
I am happy but sad

I understand that things happen
I say Iâ€™m fineâ€¦â€¦butâ€¦.
I dream about my brother
I try not to think of Nathaniel too much
I hope that my other siblings will not die
I am happy but sad.

By Angelica
Age 11

Winter/Spring 2009

In the first paragraph she’s talking about Jeremy and Siah and Nathaiel…she not crazy and seeing Nathaniel…..just wanted to clear that up.

The line about hoping that none of the other brothers or sisters die…that one just gets me in the gut. I don’t want them to die either and I have these tiny little moments of irrational fear sometime. Mostly for Siah and then I have to go in and check on him to make sure that he’s still breathing. I hate that about myself. But, for the most part, I know that I cannot keep my kids from dying and I also know that I would survive and that I would carry on. I hate even thinking about that, and even more, I hate that I know that.

But, these are just the ripples of Nathaniel’s death still spreading out and touching us. I’m thankful that it’s not as intense as the early days, nor does it hit quite so hard as it did initially, but it still hurts…..for all of us.

Mismash

So, I got a few things that I could talk about and really I have NO idea where to start.

I had really high hopes that I might be able to post everyday this month, and here we are only a week in and I’ve already blown it.

It’s okay! I’m not too upset. I’ll get over it. It’s not really that big of a deal, and I’m not really sure why I’m so fixated on trying o accomlish this…..*shrugs*

I’ve put some pictures up over in Flickr….one Saturday we went to Graville Island. It’s always so much fun. You can click on the picture to see the whole set.

This particular picture is of Jeremy kissing Aunty Amy. Amy is Jonathan’s psuedo adopted sister. We love her dearly and she’s getting married in ONE MONTH. SOOOOOOOOO EXCITING!

We had a great afternoon hanging out with family and checking out the little shops and taking pictures. It was a great day.

You can also check out this set of pictures that I took on that most fabulous sunny day. The kids were DESPERATE to play outside in the sun and they wanted to play on the slip ‘n slide. Again, just click on the picture to click through to see the whole set.

I’ve already gone on and on about the sun and sadly…there isno sun out today and that SUCKS!

Add into the mix that Jon and I are supposed to be going on our “lunch date” today, but he is barfing because he ate some samosas that I told him to not eat because I thought they would have gone bad and he “pooh poohed” me and well…..he’s barfing. So, that wrecks my day. Thanks so much, darling.

You can also check out the pics over here on Chris’s side of the world and well….if you were feeling so inclined or helpful or whatever…….you could help us out….Think about it? Huh. Huh. Please?!?

I’ve got to get ready for Geli’s 12 birthday party – a sleepover with a few of her school friends…..AAAAAAAAKKKKKK!

And actually, Geli has been practising for MONTHS for a musical that she’s in.

Her school is putting on BEAUTY and The Beast and we went and saw it last night. She did such a good job – she’s a knife – and I loved watching her be apart of something as BIG and FUN as this. It was an absolute blast. She had 13 people from our family out to watch her last night and tonight another 8 are going. She feels special and I hope that tonight goes really REALLY well.
Here are two pics of her in her maid costume after the spell has been broken and they are all “Human Again!” They are crappy pics because I dind’t have my camera – only my phone….

I do have a few things that I have to do today and so I can’t hang around here all day – much as I’d like to just chill and relax. Duty calls.

So, happy clicking!