Katelyn coached her first soccer game last night. You must pester her to blog about it. Dan has decided he needs to lose weight. He says, "Look at the size of my thighs". Um ... has he been watching infomercials again?

When we were camping on PEI last weekend we came home without Sammy's special blanket which he calls "Boochie". We tried things to ease the pain like lieing down to go to sleep with him. But he has been waking up at 5 am, demanding that I watch him poo and generally very fussy & temper tantrummy all day. We suspect he isn't sleeping well & I know I am tired from being woken up & listening to him whine. So today I took him to Frenchies & searched for a replacement boochie (not at all sure that you could replace a favoured boochie). There was nothing in the baby bins, though I did try to sell him on a couple of receiving blankets. He said, "Mom those not the ones. Those are sheets". I prayed, pleaded & begged God for a boochie. Then I went to the bin with adult blankets. I held up one awful looking adult-sized afghan & asked if that was the one. He said, "Mom that's not the one". Finally I found a baby-sized granny-squared boochie with all different colours for the granny square. Let's just say the grandma that made it wasn't a colour expert. At first Sam said that it wasn't the one. But I got him to hold it, while sucking his thumb. Then he said, "Mom, this is the one". So for $1.25 I hope Sammy will once again sleep well & not wake us up. Please note that in fact it was Ron that finally got up with him this morning to watch him poo. However tonight at supper Ron made clear to Sam that we don't actually LIKE watching him poo, just in case there was some sort of communication breakdown & Sam was under the delusion that we were enjoying it. I've probably confused the kid terribly by the many times we've called everyone into the bathroom to sing, dance & celebrate a poo sitting in the toilet.

I asked the teenage cashier at the gas station today whether her eyebrow piercing hurt. She said that she had expected it to but it wasn't nearly as bad as when she had her bellybutton pierced. There was a teenager behind me who said, "and having the top of your bellybutton pierced above your bellybutton is nothing like the pain of having a piercing below your bellybutton. And the worst is having your nipple pierced". Two questions occurred to me: #1 How do I get myself into these situations? #2 Do WOMEN actually get their nipples pierced? Having endured the pain of breastfeeding 5 children I can assure anyone out there that this is a BAD idea.

We stayed overnight at some friends house who had a little swimming pool.  Later I heard him telling Charlie Ritchie, "my underwear are still wet from going swimming last night so this morning I am going commando".

We went to the dentist yesteray & Katelyn mentioned that her jaw has been hurting & she can't open it all the way. It turns out it was dislocated. So the dentist put it back into place & now Katelyn is supposed to be on a soft diet, take ibuprofen to reduce the swelling & apply heat 3 times a day. This proves once and for all that we are bad parents as she complained for about 3 weeks & we figured the pain would just go away. The mystery is: how do you dislocate your jaw in the first place?

I'm doing a little project on the 'best of the blog'. If there is a blog that you especially enjoyed, send us a little note in the guest book.

Cheers, Marsha 

I love the new colour changers.
 
When mom and Dad were telling Dan what our campsite was going to be like, they said "well, it has beach, and rocks, and a childrens program, and a baskat ball court, and showers". At that opoint Dan piped up really excitedly SHOWERS?! I honestly don't see why he likes them so much.
 
Today we had swim lessons, only I didn't, so I just swam laps. There weren't any trouble makers today that we saw, but we didn't go in the afternoon. There are people who come every day of the summer for the entire day who are talking about leaving. They have come here for at least 4 years now. I think it is really sad.
 
Matt was talking to three women at the beach yesterday about deep sea chicken. All the women really liked him, and one asked if there really was a deep sea chicken. Dad said no, and they said that we should make it a real restaurant. One of the ladies promised that if she ever won the lottery she would try and find Matt. He was giving them random code numbers, and whispering them into there ears. They sounded somewhat like 98214 or another random combination of numbers. It was very funny.

Our campsite on PEI was right on the ocean - there was a huge cliff -dropoff thing & down below was a great sandy beach. You non-Atlantic Canadians should be aware that the ocean water does not get warm until September. So it is not great swimming water, but the kids swam nevertheless. I went to talk to someone around 10 pm Saturday night & Ron thought Matt went with me. I thought he had stayed with Ron. So by this time he had been missing for 30 minutes. I of course assumed the worst - that he had plunged to his death over the drop-off. I started asking people at other campsites if they had seen Matt. The answers were, "oh you mean the cute little redhead that owns Deep Sea Chicken?" and "We saw him earlier - he invited us to your campfire". In the end I found him at a campfire of a kid friend he had met. I am still really perplexed why the parents wouldn't bring him back. They probably are perplexed why I was letting my kid wander around in the dark next to a drop off at 10 pm. Sam has also gotten into the act & will often go up to people & say, "Do you know Deep Sea Chicken". I found him next to the drop off talking to a very nice man named Byron. He told Byron his first name but whenever Byron asked his last name Sam would show him his hand in the SpiderMan web-throwing position. He also spent an hour on the weekend pretending to be spiderman by throwing his blanket (which looks like a web) over the van while standing on the back bumper & then jumping down, while at the same time screaming "look Mommy I'm spiderman".

We've been taking swimming lessons this week at the beach. The guards were telling us that in the afternoons they have been having trouble with large groups of children who won't obey the lifeguard rules. The police have been there every day & the guards have to be escorted to their cars by the police. Sounds like a great place to take your kids, huh? Actually the hoodlums only come in the afternoon & we take lessons in the morning. Today it was so hot that we went in the afternoon. There was a large group of kids in the parking lot & I said to Ron, "there are the kids that are giving the lifeguards trouble". Ron said, "I don't think those are the kids". And then the fun began. It was a classic rumble. The profanity, the jockeying, the girlfriends screaming either to do it or not to do it.  And then the fists came out. It was better than television. Unfortunately for the police the only weapons involved were a plastic knife & a baseball bat that was not used as a deadly weapon. They couldn't do anything. I feel bad for the lifeguards. Lets face it: 17 year olds are way too young to be handling 20 hoodlums & still guard the beach.

We also went to the dentist today. There was a kind of Little Tykes doll house & a Little Tykes castle. While getting my teeth cleaned I heard Matt say, "Dad we've blasted everything out of the dollhouse by shooting it with cannon balls."  Only our kids would think of combining the toys to make one super destructo toy.

OOOOOOOOOOohhhhhhhhhhh, they have new text and font changers here.
 
Well here is the story.  Mom and Dad every year don't tell us when we are going on vacation so that we don't get exited.  So they did it again this year.  It was cloudy for the first week, and the bugs were awful, but don't get me wrong I had loads of fun. First we stayed at a campsite with a lake, and it had a dock that you could jump off of and it was really fun. Like I said, the first week was really cloudy, but the second week it cleared up, and we had bonfires and made s'mores almost every night. Then we went to a different campsite with some other people from the navigators (the company dad and mum work for)  for the last weekend. There were loads of people there, and we played hide and seek with them. We also played croquet, and I discovered really how bad I am. We also went swimming in the ocean, I went in my clothes, because it was really cold, and there were jelly fish that we would pick up and throw at people. Then we had to leave, and so we went on the ferry, and while the ferry was still docked we saw some portueguese men of war (very poisonous jellyfish) jellying around. It was really crowded in the ferry because it was cold and foggy outside. Then really late last night we got home.
 
Today mom and me are going to get me a new bathing suit because my old one is dead. There is a hole in it (fortunately in a respectable place on the strap, once I had one with a seam up the back, and you can guess what happened, this was when I was 9) and the elastic is coming out. I hate bathing suits because they don't last very long, I have gont through three in the past year, and they are like 30 dollars each. So this time I'm going to get a polyester swim suit because they are supossed to last longer.

Okay that is sweet.  Now you can change the font and color of your blog.  Well we just came back from vacation and we had a blast.  We were away for such a long time that I couldn't remember where my room was.  Of course I thought
I knew and WHACK!!! my head hit the doorjam.  And it hurt too.  Ha ha ha... I love the new colours you can do. I am going to do black from now on so you can see. Sam just threw a toy dump truck down the stairs and it very narrowly missed my foot.  We went up to New Brunswick and stayed overnight at Charlie Ritchie's (A friend of ours studying at the UNB) and then went straight to the campsite. We put up our tent and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs and during the daytime we would play crochet  and go swimming in the ocean.  And of course having showers whenever you want. I had 3 showers in 1 day.

Well I had better go now

:)D

I bet you guys didn't even miss me.

So tomorrow is Dan's (and mine, because I'm the assistant coach) tournament, one of the teams dropped out, and they want us to take their place. So instead of two games tomorrow we have three. And I am going to coach one of them. I'm a bit nervous. Colin (the coach) said that it didn't matter if they didn't win, and I believe him because I doubt the players would really draw a connection with me and their loss. One of the parents said that if the team goes undefeated for the whole season he would take the whole team out to burgers. So the team wouldn't be so happy if they lost.

Today was the last day of swim lessons for this week, and it was also our regular swim teachers day off, and so we didn't do any dry stuff today, because our different teacher was already wet and we got a lot more done.

It has been raining all week, very bad weather. Today it was cloudy, and then the sun broke through, and then it clouded over agian and we had a thuderstorm. I hate clouds, but I like thunderstorms.

So I am going to do a blog because you guys are getting bored eh?

So we played the Saints in soccer. Our team name is the Devils. The Devils and the Saints. A pair of twins play on our team. Devin and Brendin. Their Dad said that if we go undeafeated the whole season he will take the whole team out to burgers. Tonight we are going to play the Trotters.

We are taking swimming lessons now and my best friend/my only friend is taking them in the same level as me. He also plays on our soccer team and he has a blog.

We might go to P.E.I for vacation and we just bought a double-roomed tent. The whole tent can fit into a little bag. It is so funny because, Dad takes the tent out and puts it together and there is enough room for the whole family. But then you can squash it up and it fits in a bag!

I can't wait until 9:30. Because then we go learn how to dive in swimming lessons. Actually we already know how to dive, but it is the funnest activity in swimming.

Gotta go

:)D

O what a crazy day. But that is another story. I think our kids have ants in their pants.

I put a new audio link in the interviews. I thought I'd try and record a bed-time story with Matt.

Hope everyone is having a good summer!

So today was the day for my root canal. It was being done by an endodontist - a root canal specialist. He did all kinds of tests, took x-rays, etc. Bottom line is that he doesn't think I need a root canal. He said, "to be honest if it was my tooth I wouldn't get a root canal". So the mystery is why I have been having the pain which has now largely but not completely subsided. He didn't have any great ideas. This sounds like a pretty unsatisfying experience & there is a small part of me that wonders if it might be something really serious. But really I am quite happy to still have my tooth intact. He had given up his lunch hour to see me so I took him a bottle of wine & his staff a bunch of chocolate bars. So at the end of the appointment he slapped me on the shoulder and said, "so do you want your bottle of wine back now". He was a nice guy.

Sammy has taken to walking around in the buck most of the time. Today he was wearing a big winter hat & nothing else. And then he was wearing flip flops and nothing else. Our neighbor called to tell us that he was sitting on the front lawn wearing only a shirt with his bits exposed. He also likes to 'attack' dad wrestler-style naked. This provides quite a view from across the room.

Whopeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Tomorrow is the first day of swim lessons. I love swimming, and I swim A LOT, and I am going into level 12 (last level) and I'm quite exited. Dan said yesterday "Whoa, your going into level TWELVE??!! When you pass I want to shake your hand." So you see I'm under a lot of pressure.

Yesterday we rented a veggie tales movie called the ballad of little joe...the movie was ok, but the silly song was really funny. They had it set up like a music video, the group was called the boyz in the sink, and the lyrics were really funny. It was all about how Mr. Lunt was telling his girlfriend something that he was keeping a secret from her... the fact that he didn't have a bellybutton. You will have to see the movie to know how good it is.

No other news...will sign off now.

I had a surreal conversation with a 12 year old named Susan at church today. She said Matthew had told her all about his restaurant Deep Sea Chicken. He hired Susan's sister on the spot. However felt that Matt doubted Sue had what it took to work at Deep Sea Chicken. At this point I was starting to wonder about this conversation. She said Matt told her he was planning to form a committee to brainstorm ideas for a site. Sue suggested an abandoned restaurant building "that place is close to your house, right?" Had she actually gone scouting for possible locations? At this point I had to stop myself from blurting out, "you know its not real, right?". I fear Matt may have drawn this girl into his imaginary world a little too much.

I had a toothache last week & will be booked for my first ever root canal tomorrow. Right now I am on antibiotics which is just about killing me. There are the regular side effects of being tired, low energy, stomach upset etc. as the pills systematically kill all the good & bad intestinal flora. But you are supposed to take them 2 hours after you eat & an hour before you eat & not before bed. But the problem is there are rarely times during the day when my stomach has been free from food for 3 hours.

The kids watched a new Veggie Tales movie with a music video by "Boys in the sink" called "I have to tell you somethin' / I ain't got no belly button" (this is sung by a gourd) Somehow this just all struck us as very funny & we have replayed it many times. See it soon & see it often.

I should also warn you about a movie I watched with Debs called "The Notebook" Did I mention it already? It got very good reviews but it isn't really that good at all. Mystic River is a very good movie (out in video) Also "House of Sand and Fog". Watch these 2, avoid the Notebook.

Oh, well it is time to blog

Yesterday was canada day as you all know, and the kids really wanted to celebrate, so I made a pizza and cake. Unfortunately the cakes didn't really come off the pan ideally, and so one of them had the bottom all ripped up, and they other one was completely ripped up. It was going to be a layered cake anyway though, so I just put the ripped apart pieces of cake at the bottom and then put the cake with the top still intact on the top. It tasted fine. The kids were busy finding red and white things the whole day. I painted my toe nails with little canada flags on the big toes, and I painted the little toes with red and white stripes. I also wore my Canada Eh! shirt. Dan and sarah went to the drug store later on and got gummy worms and a big bottle of pop. We used the gummy worms to spell canada on the cake, as an alternative to red and white icing. Then we went and watched the fire works. It was pretty cool, but there was a big cloud, so some of the fire works that were fairly low in the sky we couldn't see. We all sang O Canada while they were going off, it was a very nice time.

Today I went to a bead store, and bought some beads. It was a lot of fun, but I don't really like the owner, and she was working today, so I exited early. Then I came home, and here I am now. Today has been pretty boring.

Happy Canada Day and stuff.

I took Kate, Dan, Sarah and Matt to watch fireworks tonight. We went down along the coast a fair way away from the hussle and bustle of downtown Halifax. A few other people had the same idea so we stood there together and watched the fireworks from a distance. There was a lot of OOuing and AHhing. Then Matt said, "We should sing O Canada." He said it in such a cute way we all laughed. But I noticed that the laughter sort of turned into a nervous chuckle. One guy got up and got Matt a couple of Canada flags that he had in his car. Matt past one to a woman sitting in front of him and started waving the one he was holding. Then Matt started singing O Canada. Everyone joined in. Matt has this way of turning ordinary things into spectacular things. It was a lot of fun and I'll bet the people who were there will remember it for a while.

This is Sarah blogging. Hello. Matthew has a new job at the beach. He is called the "Sunscreen Supervisor". The lifeguards made him a badge today. It says,"Sunscreen Supervisor on it". He goes up to people and says, "Excuse me, do you have sunscreen on?" If they say no he says, "You need to put it on. The lifeguards have some if you need it". It really makes me embarrassed to have my brother has the sunscreen supervisor but I bear it. I am always the first one in the water this summer. The other kids think it is too cold. So I'm making little tickets that say you have to put sunscreen on. Matt will give them to each person that doesn't have sunscreen on & tell them to read it. The lifeguards also made a badge for Sam that says, "Sam the sand supervisor". He always likes to play in the sand. Matthew made a flag for Deep Sea Chicken's army camp. But he keeps changing the design. So stay tuned.

I am so happy because it is Canada Day today. We had homemade pizza & chips. We had a huge cake with ice cream for dessert & a bottle of pop. Boy wasn't that great. Our best friend Debbie is here to visit although a lot of people have come to take her on trips because they miss her. Tonight people came & took her away.

Almost every night I have worries although I can't remember what much of them are. Mommy is working too hard these days. She does a lot of work & she looks tired tonight. She also gives us a lot of dates.

Once when we were about to pick up mommy & Debbie from downtown, mommy decided that she would give me a treat. So I chose a lemon square. It was really nice. I love her a lot.

Daddy has some ant poisoning & I had to use it for a long time before the ants ate it all up. Then more ants came looking to see if there was more poison for them. Ant poison is a lot tastier than other foods (to the ants - I didn't taste it because it is poison) That was fun watching them because they had almost a straight line of ants. They are gone now.