Gotta Teach That Kid to Whisper

We went to a wedding today.  the first one we’ve been to in a looooooong time.  I guess all out friends got married around the same time, and now we are seeing the next generation have at it, or maybe it’s just that we don’t have a lot of young singles in our church.

Anyway, we all got dressed up this morning and that in itself was a hoot seeing as most of what we own is bought at Superstore from the Joe collection for under $5…gotta love those cheap t-shirts.

 The bride and groom looked like babies, beautiful, lovely young babies, but babies none the less, made me feel terribly old with my 4 kids and all dressed up so “Mom” like….

They ceremony was nice too, not too short and lot too long, but try keeping a 9 month old quiet and also one little wriggly 7 year old still and quiet…it’s a recipe for a disaster.

We were most of the way through the ceremony and this couple had decided that the first act they would do as a couple was to wash each other’s feet as a sign of respect and love.

It’s not my cup of tea, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I CAN’T STAND FEET!

Baby feet are okay,and my kids feet (once they’ve been washed, I mean REALLY washed) are okay, sometimes, but most of the time – I have a foot aversion that starts somewhere about the time that baby’s turn into small children, and the feet get dirty and stinky and just plain yucky.

Well, who knew that you could pass a foot aversion on to your children, because as the bride knelt in a loving act of respect towards her new husband and gently while gazing adoringly into his eyes removes his shoe and sock from his right foot………Jeremy rather loudly whispers, “She’s touching his foot……THAT IS SO DISGUSTING.”

This was said loud enough that the grooms brother who happened to be sitting across the aisle from us and 3 rows back…..busts a gut stifleing his laughter…he is doing the whole “lips pressed together, red faced, shoulder jiggling, clutching his sides, trying to hold himself together” thing.

It was awesome….that’s my boy.  Of course, we looked at him and told him to not be rude and to try to whisper a little quiter, but truth be told, I was thinking the same thing, and trying to imagine myself doing that to Jon and well……I just couldn’t go there…..FEET!  Yuck!

Working Out My List

It’s funny, (or maybe it’s not, but it is to me) that as I keep thinking about the “Important” things, that the list keeps getting longer and longer.

I’ve not actually written anything down, as of yet, and some of these are much more inclusive than just the word, but I’m just going to start with some of the things that I’ve been thinking about.

Family

This means both my immediate family of 6 and my larger family as well.  I want to be available for my kids.  I will only ever have this time with them once.  And I want to make it count.  I want to be present, here and now.  not just at home when they come home from school, but off the computer, and actually paying attention to them.  I want to be able to help out with their homework and to teach them how to cook and bake and to do crafts with them.  I want to not be so tired from half assed doing other things that all I want to do is foist them off on the TV so that I can sit and veg. on the computer.  I want to grow in friendship and trust with them and to teach them how to communicate their feelings and wnats and desires and how to effectively communicate even the negative emotions. I want to have time to spend with my extended family.  I want my kids to grow up knowing their grandparents, and aunts and Uncles and Cousins and even their great grandparents and great aunts and uncles and second cousins.  Family is so important and I really want to have a sense of closeness in what is rapidly becoming such an “Island” world….I want to cultivate (as much as I can) the sense of “Village”.

Health

This is a huge one including Food, cleaning, Exercise, and a buch of other stuff as well.  I want to be able to cook good healthy food for my kids and I want to train them to love to put healthy stuff into their bodies.  I don’t want it to be a fad…I want it to be a lifestyle.  Not so stringent that they feel the need to stuff their faces every time Mom or Dad isn’t looking, but I want them to be able to make good choices for the long haul.  I also want to make the healthiest choices regarding cleaning supplies.  At this point, the decision that slightly been taking out of our hands just because ‘Siah seems to have a reaction to SLS and so that means that we have to find alternatives, but now, I use things like vinegar for all my windows and mirrors and I think it works WAAAAAAY better than Windex ever did.  And I like the fact that my floor cleaner residue won’t get all over ‘Siah as he’s crawling around.  i could go on and on about this, but I’ll spare you.  Also, included in this section is exercise.  I HAVE to make time to exercise.  I WANT to make time to exercise and so it will be done.  It just hasn’t been done, yet….soon, though…soon!

Jon

I want to clearly set aside time and effort to put into Jon and I’s relationship.  I want it to be deliberate.  I don’t want to find out 20 years down the road that we wished that we had put the time it…..I want to continue to build on this GREAT friendship that we have and to be an example to our kids for years to come.

Me

I want to have time planned for me to do things like the different crafts that I like to do.  Already since just trying to slow my life down, but not being entirely purposeful about it, I’ve crochetted or knitted two kimono style sweaters, three vests, a hat and I’ve started a few other pieces.  I made a bead necklace.  I’d like to paint some more and to do some more paper crafts as well.  I also want to set aside more time to find and make more healthy baking for my family.  I enjoy baking and to find stuff that we can all eat and that tastes delicious, that makes me happy and brings a sense of satisfaction.

None of this is in any particular order of importance and there are still more that I’m thinking about and even more to flesh out in each particular category, but it’s a start.  To know what I want helps me to see what I shouldn’t be doing. 

I think that I’ll be taking stock regularly of where I’m at and what’s important to me and why?  See, life changes and things move up and down the importance scale, and I’ve lived enough to know and recognize that just because this is where I’m at and these are the things that are important to me right now, that doesn’t mean that I get to go on autopilot like this for the rest of my life…..NO!  What was important to me in the months and years before I had Josiah changed when he came and when he turns 1 or 2 or 5 – it stands a good chance of changing again…in September it might all change or over the summer months or when Geli goes to middle school.  I think that any big life shift or change necessitates a peek inside as to what’s important to me “NOW”!  and how can I accomplish that and what needs to be re-evaluated and possibly let go of…for a time or forever…..

It’s about what’s important to you……..asking yourself “What is important to me?” and “How do I accomplish that?” 

If you want something enough, you will figure out a way to make it happen.

I want a slower, more simple life.

Oneupmanship

Exhibit A

He is just so cute…and trying so hard….see the arms, as if he could somehow hold up the hula hoop by sheer will power alone….and the arch in the back…’cause you know…that the problem…it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the dollar store hula hoop. Nope! Nothing at all.

And now, because the older sister can ALWAYS do something better than anyone else in the world….

Exhibt B

She is SOOOOO tall and skinny….it’s hard to believe that’s the same person who as a baby had a SERIOUSLY HUGE bum…like GINORMOUS…..enough so that many, MANY people commented on it….and now…..SO THIN! Do you see the short hair too….she got a haircut for her Birthday with her Nana! How fun is that. Only problem is now she looks sooooooo much older.

Green Smoothies, Poop and Blood….that just about covers it all

So, here is part of my breakfast this morning…

Green Smoothie
Yummy looking ain’t it?  Actually it was delicious.  It’s Peaches, Banana, and Spinach and just for fun, I threw in some Calcium powder. 

It really is quite green……see…..

Green
And, can you see my baby standing at the gate in the background….YUP…standing.  Can you believe it?  He pulled himself up there all by himself…he’s growing up too fast.  it happens doesn’t it.

Anyway, I read about smoothies, especially green smoothies over here, and she got it from over here. 

I’d also like to show you our latest treat/cookie/yummy goodness also via here from here…

May I present you with what we lovingly refer to as Gorilla Poop.

Gorilla Poop
It’s soooooo delicious.  Tastes like chocolate….like beautiful yummy dark chocolate.  MMMMmmmmm Good!

You can get the recipe at either of the links up there, but just to note, that I added the sesame seeds and flax seeds all by myself….’cause I’m all creative like that.  Adds extra crunch (and fiber).

Also,

Today I will be giving blood for the first time in WAY TOO LONG.  It must be since before I got pregnant with Nathaniel back in July 2004, and then with the almost constant getting pregnant and then getting un-pregnant and just not wanting to “give” anything but only reveling in my misery, I didn’t give blood once, even though I’m sure there was at least one opportunity to do so in there some where.

So, When Canadian Blood Services called to book my appt I said, “Sign me up, Baby!”

So, today at 2:05pm, I’m headed in to see if they’ll let me do my part to give back.  I really don’t think I’m anemic, and I’m healthy, so it should just be business as usual. 

I did an excellent job of doing nothing yesterday and I’m proud of myself for it.  Things get a little bit busier for this week, starting with today, but hopefully nothing that I can’t handle.

See, I’m wanting to pare back and just “do life” at a slower pace.  I don’t want to be so busy that I’m too tired for the things that are important to me.

So, I’ve already been thinking of the things that are important, but I’m going to be writing down some of the things that are really important to me and working towards those things.  I know that it means letting go of some of the things that are “cluttering” up my life…not even in a bad way.  Lots of the things I’m doing are good things, but they are not helping me to accomplish the things that I find “MOST IMPORTANT”, and at the end of it all I don’t want to look back and think, “Man, I did sort of a little bit of a lot of good things, but I was so tired and I never really did a “great” job of the things that I really wanted to” and so I’m re-prioritizing.

I’ll keep you updated on that list.

How about you?  What things are really important to you?  Do you have “stuff” cluttering up your life?  Unnecessary stuff that you could let slide in order to really and truly focus on the things that you want to focus on????  Want to do a list – your list – with me?

I’ll leave you with one of my most important things…..Jeremy.

Here he is talking to Jon about the airport and going on the plane and can you hear the inflection in his voice?….too cute.  Does he has a future in Television????  I obviously don’t have a future in video recording….it’s a little dark, but it’s just so darn cute….

Catching Up…

So, It’s been a few days, and I almost feel human again.  I’ve discovered that me being tired = not much witty banter…or just not much banter at all.

In fact, I’ve rarely taked to Jon the past few days…I’ve been SOOOOOO tired.  I’ve pretty much gone to bed at 9pm every night and even slept during the day when ‘Siah went down, and finally…….FINALLY, on Sunday morning I woke up and didn’t feel like I had a 10 ton gorilla sitting on my head and forcing my eyelids down.  Mind you, I stayed up until midnight (stupid, stupid me) and this morning I was a little bit less than chipper, but it’s 8:22am, and the kids are ready for school and have been for the last half hour and they are just sitting around waiting to leave and Geli is holding the baby and so I have a few minutes to blather on and on about not too much.

I do have some pictures up here and here, and if I get a chance – I’ll actually comment about some of them, but even if I don’t, you can still look at the one of LaLa and I and wonder why I would let some kid take a picture of me with no make up on after a full day of travelling.  It’s amazing how a one hour plane ride can wind up being a WHOLE FREAKING DAY’S TRIP, and throw in two little boys and it’s a major party.

So, I have a busy week of trying to do nothing…I’ll explain that in a bit….it’s harder than it seems.

So, what have you been up to?

And I’ve Finally Arrived……

Wow, that was the longest plane ride to Prince George EVER!  A whole week…..MAN!  I’m really looking forward to posting every day about all the fun times that we will have and I’ll be sure to just LOAD each and every post with TONS of pictures…….

Actually, I’m home!

Turns out, Girlfriend……doesn’t have Wireless access and so I connected a grand total of 3 times and pretty much only to check my e-mail.

We had SO MUCH FUN.  We talked and laughed and cried and talked some more and laughed some more and did laundry and cleaing and ate and herded kids and laughed more, and it was a most wonderful, wonderful week.

I still have to download and go through my camera and think about what else I can say about this past week……

But, for right now, the kids and Jon and I are having some family time as a WHOLE!  Nothings more important than that, and so I’ll talk to you maybe tomorrow if I’m able to wake up……

I’m a teeny, tiny bit tired.  ‘Siah was a complete and utter mess during the night…..nothing was wrong, but he was just extremely restless and wouldn’t actually fall “hard” asleep, and it all culminated in last nights most amazing…..wake up but not really awake-ness from 12:30am until 2:30am and then finally falling asleep but waking again at 4:30am, and being half awake until 5:30am, and then I got up at 6am to get packed and ready for the day……..so, I think I’ll be going to sleep when the kids do tonight, and Jon gets to deal with ‘Siah tonight. YAH!!!!!

Leeeeeeeeeeaaaaaving……on a jet plane….

….except I do know when I’ll be back again.

I’m headed up to Prince George to hang out with my friend’s dog…..well, and her chickens…..are they even still alive, darling?

 She is my dearest and longest friend and we’re more like family than friends.  Well, her darling husband is down here working very close to where I live….when opportunity knocks you gotta answer…..and she is back at home working a full time job (in a stressful working environment) with 5, yes you read that right FIVE children.  She has her 4 girls and one 10 year old boy (exchange student), and well, she never complained to me, but something in one of her recent e-mails to me had me wanting to go and love on her a little, and if I’ve worked this out right – I belive that her hubbie is headed back up there to see her in the days just after I leave, and how cool would that be for him to come home and for her to not be stressed out.

I can’t imagine how she’s coping with everything. 

So, I leave tomorrow and I’m taking the two boys with me.  Yup, me and JJ and ‘Siah are headed out on a plane….I got wicked cheap seats (YAH Westjet ROCKS!) and we’re gone for a week, but dont you be worrying none.  I’m hoping and aiming to post every day that I’m gone. ‘Cause I gotta blather on about Jeremy’s first plane ride (did I mention how excited he is to be going on a plane – he came into the baby’s room this morning where I was standing in my bra and underwear (I know you needed that detail….wait, you’ll understand in a minute) and changing the baby’s diaper, and he walks up to me and hugs me so tight and says in a whisper “Only one more sleep, Mom.  Only one more sleep, and then she snuggled in even closer and whispered again…..mmmmm you’re so warm…)  Ahhhhhhhhh, he’s so sweet…..

Okay, and now that I’ve given you all way too  much of a mental picture of me this morning, shall we talk about sweet hot monkey loving….no…..you’re not really into that right now???….I’m not either, but I’m really trying to distract you…is it working?

Moving on…..It’s…ummmmm…..10pm here, and I’m not packed AT ALL, and I’m feeling a little bit panicky about it, but we’re leaving our house at 11am tomorrow, and i figure that while I’m being all spontaneous I might as well just go full throttle and just throw some stuff in a bag and hope for the best when I get there. (Me planning a plane trip with two kids with one weeks notice is terrible spontaneous, if you don’t know that about me, then you dont’ know me at all…..Typically I’d plan for 3 or more months for something like this…so this is ALL NEW TERRITORY for me.)

And so in the spirit of honesty, NO, I’m not packed, but I’ve been thinking about stuff that I need to take and while that’s not exactly the same as doing it, It’s not quite the same as flying by the seat of my pants……but, i really should get busy, ’cause speaking of monkeys…..Jon’s calling me.

Talk to you next from the wild snowy wasteland of Prince George.

Sunday Afternoon Family Painting

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday, painting as a family……what?  Don’t you do stuff like that?

Actually, this was a first for us too.

We’ve been so insanely busy and just needed to have a weekend away from everything.  We feel like we’ve been going, going, going, going for a looooooong time now and every once in a while you just need to step back and out of your regularly scheduled programing and take a vacation, and what better way to do one than to do it for free in your own house.

So we did that.

We got up yesterday morning and stayed in our jammies and then we made a HUGE delicious breakfast with bacon and eggs and hashbrowns and toast..mmmmm.  The kids set up our dinning room table with our fancy dishes and the special tea cups and we had a very nice breakfast.

Then we eventually got cleaned up and the kids played for a bit and then we decided to paint as a family.


‘Siah helped out by keeping track of the paint bottles….I’ve actually been wanting some “art” for my walls for a long time and have been after Jon to get his butt in gear and paint me something.  He’s very artistic and creative and he keeps saying that he’ll do something and then he never does.

So, we pulled out some canvases yesterday and some acrylic paint and sat down around the big table and had at it.

I picked 4 shades of blue and then told the kids that the theme was birds, and let them get busy creating.

They had SOOOOO much fun.  This is definately something that we’ll do again.  They already asked what the next color’s and theme were and had some suggestions, so it looks like I might have some art before this is all done.

It also gave us a chance to talk about how each of us can create something special, and that Xani’s ideas are not better or worse than Jeremy’s ideas, but that their art is special and unique to each of them.  Of course, Jeremy wasn’t buying that, and just wanted to know if we liked his picture “MUCH better than Xani’s or Geli’s“.

Everyone actually stuck with the theme except me.  I started painting, and then i couldn’t figure out how to work a bird into the picture and so I just left it.  Oh well!  Maybe next time I’ll stick with the theme!

Click on the picture to see all of our “creations”

Conversations in the Van

We were driving home from picking up Xandra yesterday afternoon.  She had slept over at my sister’s house on Friday night…..anyhow…..

As we were driving home, we stuck a DVD in to keep the kids quiet to entertain the children, but before the movie popped up on the screen the kids started asking what movie we had put in.

“Enchanted” Jon answered.

“What?” Xani asked

Jon answered, “The movie is enchanted.”

“What do you mean, enchanted?” Xani asked

And I replied, “It’s enchanted….if you rub the disc on your butt 3 times then a genie will pop out of the hole.”

11 years ALREADY????

It’s hard for me to believe that my baby…my first born….my little tiny…..okay, who am I kidding?  She was a GINORMOUS FAT BABY, but still, she was my first…..and now she’s ELEVEN!

Where did the time go? 

Angelica is growing up so fast, and every day she’s getting more and more beautiful.  Every day she’s getting older and more mature and responsible.  Every day I’m a little bit prouder to be her mom……except for those days that the pre-PMS hormones are taking over and I just want to ship her to Antarctica because those days….those days are BRUTAL.

The eye rolling and the sneering and the look that says “Whatever!!!” as loudly as if she were screaming it to our faces, the sobbing and running down to hide in her room because we DARED to question her on one of her choices…..all of these, BOY ARE THESE FUN!

But, the realization, when she “gets” that what we are trying to do is to “help” her to learn “How to make wise choices.”  When that realization hits and she understands that we are on her side, cheering her on and wanting her to suceed…..that makes up for all the other stuff that I mentioned that’s not so much fun.

But it’s all fun.  We’re learning together, and growing together and it’s fun and we’re making memories that will last a life time…..and some of those memories are soooooo funny, maybe Geli can’t laugh about them right now, but one day….one day this will all be funny!

Until then, we will hug lots, love hard and laugh often.