Destruxercise

With the onset of some cold weather it has been difficult to coax the kids to get exercise outside. We have been getting creative with Dan, sending him on successive errands because we "forget" to tell him to do everything which could have been done on one trip.

Today Marsha told Dan to take some books back to the library. I was sitting next to him on the couch doing a SUDOKU - meditating quietly on the numbers. He YELLED, "Arghhhhhh!!!" Detecting a little frustration I told him he did not have to, but we still wanted him and the others to go out for some fresh air and a workout. Lots of complaining ensued.

I have been working on renovating our bathroom so there is an old sink and ruined vanity siting out on our back deck. I suggested that they go outside and see if they can destroy them. Suddenly there was a mad rush to get on hats and mits and coats and shoes. They disappeared into the back yard in a flash with my hammer. As I type they are out there clobbering things to bits. I can hear them singing.

This reminds me of my childhood. I LOVED breaking things. I think it is the precursor to being able to build; to being resourceful; to not being afraid of tools and potentially dangerous things; to learning about why safety might matter; to having a deep appreciation for still being alive at 30 because of a few close calls.

Things are quiet now - I think they have destroyed everything. They are playing hide and seek! Ah to be a kid.

Dish Drain Disaster

Katelyn usually washes our after supper dishes and for this I am very thankful and grateful. I did it once last week. Dan said, "mom, no offense or anything ..." (this is always a bad sign) "but Katelyn stacks the dishes in the dish drainer better than you. When I try to pull a single item out of your dish pile, the entire thing comes falling down."

I smiled ruthfully & Dan knew that he had said the wrong thing. "Fine" I said, "I won't wash the dishes anymore & that will solve the problem."

Ahh ... I love teenagers.

Ron flies off the handle A RARE OCCURRENCE

If you know Ron you know that he has an extremely even temperament. He is kind. He rarely gets angry or raises his voice unless life and limb are on the line. But on Boxing Day he got angry. We had read an article about a 2 year old boy who was attacked by two Rottweilers in a city park. They kept bashing his head against a cement walkway. A bulky 40 year old metal worker intervened & just kept punching the dogs until they finally let the boy go. He was rushed to hospital with very bad injuries. The owners of the Rottweilers were not aware that the dogs were missing until informed by the police the next day. They thought they were in the back yard. To be fair, they were upset & immediately gave permission for the dogs to be put down.

So Ron says, "if that happened to us I would sue the dog owner's homeowner insurance. We have to get the message through to our culture that this kind of savage dog attack is unacceptable." I pointed out that Rottweilers were probably not covered under homeowner's insurance. Ron said, "well, where did it happen? A city park? Then I'd sue the city. Then the city's insurance company would put pressure on the city to not allow Rottweilers in cities." So a note to all of you: don't buy a Rottweiler if you want to be friendly with Ron.

Scary ...

Ron & I went to the gym to work out this morning. When we returned all was very quiet in the house. I said, "Dan, it appears you did an excellent job of babysitting ... all the children have disappeared."

JUST as I said that there was a loud roaring, the kitchen cupboard doors flew open & Matt, Sarah & Sam emerged. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Moses

Sam is right now breathing chocolate chip breath over my neck, and is now playing with the window blinds. He is a curious little boy. I have started telling Matt and Sam stories about Dann, who is strong and intelligent, Matt, who is skinny but loves extreme sports and there is Sam, who is fat and dumb. Every time I say this Sam says "And Ugly!". Sam loves his character even though it isn't very flattering.

Now he is dipping his tinkertoys into Mum's tea.

He has been extracted and peace follows.

I snagged mom on a christian joke

Dann: Mom, name five different pairs of animals that were on Moses' Ark.

Mom: Elephant, Tiger, Giraffe, Bird and ummm Mouse

Dann: Mom, Moses didn't have an ark.

Mom attacked me after that. After I got myself out from under the tiger, I asked Dad. He fell for it too. I can't wait to ask our pastor's wife that question.

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Jesus Christ Super Star

On Christmas Eve we watched Jesus Christ Superstar. I alternatively held Matt or Sam on my knee & explained things to them. "The guy in red is Judas/Those guys in black are wearing the ephod - that is what Israel's priests wore ... each stone represents a tribe of Israel.", etc.

My favourite comment of the evening was when Sam whispered, "you are right, mom. Jesus IS a boy." For about a year he has been insisting that Jesus is a girl. Though I repeatedly told him he was a boy, Sam was adamant. I think perhaps he was looking at Sunday School papers & in his cultural frame of reference if you wear a dress, have long flowing hair & no facial hair YOU ARE A GIRL. Glad Jesus Christ Superstar helped him straighten that out.

On Christmas Day there were long, sometimes impassioned discussions about Jesus Christ Superstar ... giggles about the low costume budget ... the Roman soldiers wore fatigue army pants & purple tank tops silk screened with pictures of Caesar. Was Jesus too anemic in the movie? I was struck by Jesus silence when questioned first by the Jewish authorities & later by Pilate & Herod. I know that is what the Bible says - he didn't defend himself. But somehow seeing it visually made it pop out Why did they have Jesus wearing traditional clothing while everyone else was in 70's clothing. My friend Debs giggled, "I would quite fancy seeing Jesus in a pair of flairs and a fitted waistcoat." (It was Christmas when she said this, she is British, and to be fair, she & her family do like to dip into the Christmas sauce)

Two days later we are all walking around singing the tunes. I have even been seen doing Herod's dance routine. Yep. We ARE weird.

Bathroom renovation Saga - Part XXVIII

Ron & I headed out to Home Depot this morning to get some needed supplies for the epic bathroom renovation. We HATE shopping, especially on cement floors. When my feet start hurting I can't make decisions anymore. Should we get a steel-based sink or porcelain? What colour of grout should we use? When my feet start hurting my brain stops working. I willingly throw the closest thing into the cart.

I hope we got the right stuff.

While we were out we got a nervous phone call from Dan asking if we were OK. He was worried that we had been in a car accident with all those frantic Boxing Day shoppers. When we got home Sarah looked terrible. She claimed Dan had "lost control" of the little boys. She got a headache from it all. Katelyn slept through it all. All's well that ends well though. At last sighting Matt had a book called "Pick It Up" - the most favourite Christmas gift sent from Debs in England. It is an encyclopedia for kids - all kinds of interesting facts in fun colours, lots of great pictures, etc. Thanks, Debs!

Post Christmas rush

I'm just kidding with the title of this post. We are not really rushing around here. We had a lovely, restful Christmas. The turkey seemed to not only be sleep-inducing but also gas inducing. I won't mention any names ...

Sam got a teddy bear from Sarah for Christmas. She has one called "filthy animal" that he liked to borrow. Sam named him Al Ick. That's not Alex or Alec. That's Al Ick. Ron has been teasing him about the bear.

Ron: Sam, keep that bear away from the fridge. He has been eating leftovers again.

Sam: Dad, he is stuffed.

Ron: I know he is stuffed. That is because he is eating too much. Like I said, keep him out of the fridge.

Sam: No dad. I mean he is stuffed with cotton.

Ron: Oh, you caught him? Well so did I. Keep an eye on him.

Sam, giggling. : Da-ad!

Sarah said it would feel more Christmasy if we did some after-Christmas baking. On Boxing Day we made muffins using leftover cranberry sauce. This morning we made banana blueberry muffins. I think it is funny how little boys can get so much flour on their clothes when they bake.

Yay. Christmas Part 1

Well, when Christmas lacks snow, the whole day kinda turns a bit boring. Christmas started at about 1:00 AM, when I sleepwalked. Then waking up tired and exhausted at 8:00 AM by the doorbell ringing continuously. Sarah, who was already awake in done her stalking answered the doorbell. SURPRISE!!! WHUMP. I hope that our neighbors didn't hear me falling out of the bed in a frenzy to get dressed and go down to meet the surprise visitors. Turned out that our visitors were actually our neighbors. The gave us three different Lays Stax flavours, a box of Pot Of Gold (mint collection), and lots of other stuff. A bad wake on christmas. Anyway, then we moved off to sandwich point (it was a lovely day of 8 degrees) to go for a hike. We met a nice young couple there enjoying the views with their border collie, Casey, who played with the kids while Mom chatted. Then back home we went only to tell me that I would have to stay home with Sam, to look over the turkey, while Matt and Sarah went for a walk and the rest for a run. I played a depleted game of Parcheesi with Sam, then mini air-hockey, which he beat me at. Babies are meant for this little set of hockey. But Sam insisted we play it so we both ended up cabooting each other's knuckles.

Part 2 will happen tomorrow (if i can manage it)

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Christmas Unplugged

Thought I'd share some of the sights and sounds around here:

Sam wanders around with a roll of toilet paper in his paws and leave little wads stuffed with juicy boogers all over the house. But he's happy.

Matt moves about with books in his hands and is often seen perched on whatever was closest when he found something interesting that required more concentration. I've seen him on a couch arm rest, our rocking chair arm rest and the edge of his bed - and that's just today.

Sarah and the others clamoured into our room this morning where we usually hang out while I enjoy the last vestiges of slumber. Unprompted Sarah began massaging my feet and then Marsha's. I managed to slip my foot over Marsha's body as Sarah was finished one of Marsha's feet and about to move to the other one. She picked up my foot instead and massaged it for a while before realizing she had been tricked.

Dan torments Matt and Sam for fun. If there is too much noise all I need to do is remove Dan and the noise level drops. This morning we sent him out to return a video and promptly upon his return we sent him out again to get me a Tim Horton's coffee. When he returned from that I couldn't think of anything to send him out again for so we played cards. He beat me at cribbage.

Katelyn wanders aimlessly throughout our house missing school. She brought up her clarinet to see if I could get it working. She went out for a run. She cleaned her room. She messed up my professor Rubik's cube (5x5x5) so I had to redo it.

Marsha was in the kitchen for a significant amount of time today baking bread and sweet buns. I like her sweet buns!

I put in a pocket door on our bathroom. It was a tricky thing to do because I was tight on space in the wall and to reuse the old door I had to trim it down. Today I slept in and then felt fluish for some reason so have moved slowly throughout the day. But I am in good cheer. I got Katelyn's clarinet working.

Yoga Burn Near Death Experience

I am trying to get into Yoga. My friend Mary insists it will cure all your ills. I am having trouble with a calf - perhaps a shin splint, perhaps a stress fracture. Mary says yoga will fix it. I was complaining about my knee ... Mary thought that could be fixed by stretching my hip flexors. She showed me how to stretch them in church. We have quite a laid-back church that way - another time the music director showed me a back-strengthening exercise that looked like the cobra stance - in the main aisle of the church. That said, we don't really do yoga DURING the service. But afterwards is fair play. Ron is having trouble that his new physiotherapist thinks is his hip. Mary thinks his pelvis might be frozen & yoga would loosen that up.

So I brought home a DVD from the library called "Yoga Burn" by Rodney Yee. I like his teaching style but the exercises nearly killed me - very advanced. Last night I tried yoga on the ball for beginners. It was good - though the burn scars from when I was burned at age 9 do not stretch so it felt kind of like my muscles wanted to stretch but my scar tissue wouldn't co-operate. Today I got a "Yoga for dummies". I give you a sun salutation, a down facing dog, a cobra and a warrior stance. As they say "Namaste" or something like that.

Matt gets help at the library

Matt went up the information desk today to ask about a Magic Tree House book. The librarian working is a favourite of ours named Nick.

Nick: Matt, how long is it taking you to read the Magic Tree House books.

Matt: About 15 minutes.

Nick: Do you think it is time to move up then?

Matt: Yes, maybe. I am a big fan of Mary Pope Osborne. What kind of books do you have that are bigger than Magic Tree House?

Nick: Oh, lots and lots. Let's go to the shelves & take a look.

They find a Mary Pope Osborne book in the fiction section. Matt says, "really I like non-fiction" Nick turns around to the non-fiction section.

Matt: I like books about technology ... I like books about people ... I like books about World War II ... I like books about the Bermuda triangle ... I like books about bridges.. oh look at this book about Egyptology. Nick are there more books in this series?

Nick, exhausted, went back to the information desk to rest.

Renovations are Crazy making

So we are into phase 2 of renovating the bathroom. Last night Ron & I went to Kents (like Home Depot but distinctly Maritimish). We needed ceramic tile which we got for 99cents each. We needed to look at pocket doors. Our bathroom is designed so that if you are brushing your teeth or shaving a kid can open the door & bash you in the hip. Ask us. We can prove it. We have bruises. We were joking with the man from the contractor's desk about the pocket door. He said, "well I have never put one in, but look, it says tres facile so it can't be too difficult". Ron has been working on it for about 1/2 of the day. He isn't thinking it is tres facile at this point.

Ron dropped me off at home while he went to the grocery store to get himself something nice for supper (turkey - or cold cuts as he always calls them & havarti cheese). Sam didn't want to go to bed. He was desperate for a reason to stay downstairs after the regular excuses of I need a drink, I didn't get my songs, and I forgot to kiss you good night. He looked at me with those big brown eyes & said, "can I butter your toast for you?" I looked at him, kind of scared, and said, "is that Daddy coming to the door?" He ran upstairs quickly.

Rebuttalbuttal

I guess we are environmentally friendly after all. And now that I am thinking clearly our Christmas tree WAS ugly and deserved to be given away to charity. If you happen to buy an ugly bent Christmas tree at Salvation Army - it's from us. Merry Christmas!!

The Rebuttal

I can't believe that post that Ron blogged! He did it in the middle of the night. Perhaps in the end you will be on his side but I have to set the record straight on a few things.

1. I will give him the point on the cloth v. disposable thing. I quickly realized that I could use ONE disposable diaper per day because they were so absorbent. Katelyn pooed only once a week and gave a lot of warning so we used two diapers a day (one morning, one night) in her diaper using days.

2. What Ron didn't tell you was that our garbage gets picked up only once every two weeks. And yes, during the time that he ripped apart the rotting bathroom tiles we did exceed our 10 bag limit. I have recently felt guilty about our garbage & decided to take a closer look at what was in the garbage. In TWO people's garbage I found a lot of paper which is recyclable here. I asked those TWO people to keep a recycling & garbage can in their office/room. They said they didn't have room which is true. Our house has a multitude of 10X10 rooms. So now every Thursday I sort through all the garbage & redistribute the paper to the recycling bag. It really doesn't take that long. We have been putting two less bags of garbage out since I started this.

3. The Christmas Tree. It was ugly! It was so small we had to put it on a side table to make it look like it was big. Debs & Melanie, you must remember it - help me out here - it was ugly. Though it was fake the needles were coming off. Every day. Katelyn told Ron, "every day I would sweep up a pile of needles". Our house also lacks storage. So I decided that since the tree was pathetic & we didn't have storage space for it I would "donate it to charity". I have donated many many things to charity over the years which people have gotten upset about. This is a bit of a running joke in our house. I did offer to buy a new, better fake tree as I am sure they are "reduced for quick sale" at Canadian tire by now. We could store it in the closet of one of those people who said they didn't have room for a recycling container. THAT shut them up.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.
Now where did SHE put your branches?

I came home tonight and it struck me that the kids had not yet put up our Christmas tree. Our Christmas tree is nearly as old as our marriage. Marsha and I bought it when Katelyn was a baby and we were still environmentally friendly. Our environmentally friendly days began their demise when we realized the amount of work cloth diapers were (I think it took 3 weeks) and that nothing really compared with pampers. Then we had more kids and bought an eight passenger van that drinks gas by the metric ton. On garbage day we are the only home on our long street that exceeds the 10 bag limit consistently. Not only was our Christmas tree as old as our marriage, it was the last vestige of environmental friendliness we possessed.

So I asked the question.

Marsha looked at me and said, "WE decided to throw it out because the branches were bent." The anti-pack-rat strikes again. Bent. Our Christmas tree is filling up some hole in a landfill this Christmas because the branches were bent - and WE decided this! I think I could have straightened the branches had I had the chance.

O well. No one seems too upset. The kids have decorated a fake plant in our living room with some lights. What we are lacking in festive accoutrements we compensate for in cheer. Everyone is happy. This is the happiest place on earth.

In other news - tomorrow we begin project "finish the bathroom". We got it to a workable state last month, but now we need to replace the floor. I also decided that since I have to be fairly invasive (must take out the toilet and vanity) I will also get rid of the door and replace it with a pocket door. I've been hit in the hip by the door knob once too many while brushing my teeth. Whoever designed the door to open into the bathroom should have had their head examined. If it goes well I will maybe put a pocket door on our bedroom too. Our bedroom is 10x10 tiny (the boys sleep in the master bedroom) so a little more space will be welcome. I you read this and are in town and not afraid of a hammer and saw, come on over!

POPCORN!!!

Well, our good friend Kat came over the day before she had to go off to Russia for an exchange. We decided to do something with her that she wouldn't forget. We made a miniature castle. Not just any castle. On made out of popcorn stuck together with melted marshmallow. Anyway, we spent 25 dollars (and 3 trips to the store) to get this behemoth built. We melted 4 bags of marshmallows, and we used about 30 cups of popped popcorn. We decorated it with fruit roll-ups for tapestries, and m&ms for people bowing before the jube-jube king. Anyway, behold...

Do you like it??? It took a long enough time to make.

In this city, there is a set of triplets. They are 6 years old. This set of triplets are learning how to read and write, and they are far more intellectual then they let on. They are smart too. And anyway, they love playing. One of the triplets, Steven decided that he would hold onto my legs. I don't know why, but he thought it was pretty funny impairing me like that. I knew I had enormous ability to get him off, but I decided to wait him out. Only he punched me. I felt it in my neck. He punched me as high as he could reach and he was holding onto my legs. I think you can interpret WHERE he punched me, but anyway, his Mom showed up and that was that. Or it wasn't. I wanted to go home. It hurt so bad. Anyway, I've decided to stay well clear of them for a while. They need somebody else to pick on.

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Well, if you read our previous blogs, you will know that Revenue Canada performed at a high school coffee house. For those of you who haven't the foggiest idea what I am talking about, Revenue Canada is the name of me and Katelyn's band. Anyway, I created a logo for it.

Then me an Matt came up with a cool poster for Nathan Wallace. Melanie, if he doesn't read this blog, you need to save this picture and show it to him.



Anyway, I hope you love em!!!

The Quilt Makers

Sarah & Dan have decided to make a quilt. But first Dan has to teach Sarah how to sew. I got them two bags of fabric scraps at Salvation Army today. I suggested perhaps looking for instructions on how to quilt. But no they want to walk on the wild side. Ron says, "knock yourself out kids". Tune in to the blog for updates.

I believe some of our readers know HOW to quilt. Any advice out there?

Crazy Kids

It was 9 C outside today. So I had the kids outside for about 3 hours. It is 10 pm & I just went into their room. Sammy was reading "Super Diaper Baby" & Matt was reading a Magic Tree House. They claimed they weren't tired. Very strange. Perhaps they will sleep in tomorrow.

Katelyn's busy week

I can't make excuses why Katelyn hasn't blogged much this term. But I can make excuses for this week. On Monday she had her big choir concert. On Wednesday she went to see the musical Oliver. Today she started model parliament - she had a session tonight, another one all day tomorrow & part of Saturday. She is writing a take-home English test tonight. And on Monday she has a term paper due for Canadian history.

The Van is Back!

We got our van back today. And just in time because Kat needed a ride to the airport to go to her parents' place for Christmas. On the way Dan was warning Kat about an experience Ron had recently. The ticket agents were slow & so his plane was boarding when he got to security. When he tried to butt in line they told him he couldn't. He had to go to the back of the line & sweat it out. Once he got through security he started sprinting for his gate. But he was tapped on the shoulder by a security agent and told, "we are doing random body searches & wondered if you would like yours right here or in a private room." Dan added darkly to Kat, "cavity searches",though in fact Ron just got frisked.

Then Sammy asked, "what do they do if they FIND a cavity?"
Dan answered, "they drill out the rotten stuff & fill it in. They wouldn't want you going on an airplane with a cavity."

This satisfied Sam & left the adults & near adults giggling to ourselves.

Leonardo

Well, as you may know from the previous blogs (which you have to read), there has been a lot of stuff going on. The van being tipsy, Kat coming, and the Metro Mayhem. I am going to delve into the spot where, we metroed to Katelyn’s concert. I was roaming the halls because I had to leave early with Katelyn (due to mom being fairly safe about the Metro at night), and so had nothing to do, except play with my Rubik’s Cube and that was getting kind of boring after setting a record on my own behalf of 1 min, 30 seconds. Anyway, I saw a bookshelf and was looking at the books when I noticed a sign that said: $1.00 for Hard covers $.25 for paperbacks. I immediately went to mom who had recently arrived and after a bit of hassle, I left the place with a perfect copy of The Da Vinci Code. Yay! Already, I am immersed in this thriller. Although it says some bad stuff about the bible, it already has put some interesting views on the bible as well. Some of you have read it some of you have not, but anybody would think that the act of self mortification is a pretty sick and ungodly thing to do. The basic bad guy of the book, Silas has this type of religion where the whole thing is formed around the basis of “Pain Is Good”. Anyway, he uses that excuse to go around shooting the people who hold the secrets that form the synopsis of the book. Anyway, it’s quite exciting

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The very impressive Dan

I have a very nice Eddie Bauer shirt I bought for $2.50. But it had a hole in the seam. Since Dan is taking sewing lessons he offered to sew it up for me. He found our sewing machine (a small miracle really). Then I saw him threading the bobbin (I've never been clear on how to do this). Then he threaded the machine & did a gorgeous job of sewing up the seam & reinforcing it too.

I'm not sure there is anything more satisfying than seeing your kids acquire skills & abilities - especially if I don't have them! Kat said from now on Dan should stay home and mend things while we go out and have fun. We would call him Cinderfella.

The Wild Adventure - and "Being with the People"

Yesterday I had to drop Ron off for an important meeting he couldn't miss. Just as we drove up the van started acting funny - revving very high as he put it into park. We called our mechanic & he said that the idle plates were sticking. He said to bring it in right away. He cautioned that it was a bit dangerous & if it revved high like that I needed to put it in to neutral & get off to the side of highway right away. Then I would have to get towed. Um ... did I mention that my neighbour & I had a big talk YESTERDAY bragging about how we didn't own a cell phone & didn't think we would ever want one. Hmm... today I changed my mind.

So we got on the highway & the little boys were giving me helpful tips like, "get into the THIRD lane - that is the emergency lane". We arrived at the mechanics without further incident but I left it with him anyway to check things out.

I had left for a quick trip and suddenly looked at the kids. Sam wasn't wearing a coat. Matt's pants were on backwards. Sarah's hair was uncombed. I hadn't taken a shower yet. But no matter. Sarah found an extra coat of mine in the van. She wore it & gave Sam her coat. We went and waited for the bus for 10 minutes. Halfway through the trip I thought, "you know we should really give up our van & use public transportation. You get to meet really interesting people. It would be good for the environment and quite economical"

When Katelyn arrived home she was shocked that there was no van in the drive way. After all, this was the night of her big all city high school band concert where she was soloing on her flute (flautist, Katelyn A. it said in the bulletin). She thought that she could just take the bus down by herself in the dark. I thought not. I sent her & Dan down first. They were meeting Kat who was coming to the performance with us. The rest of the kids & I went down close to the concert start time. It was beautiful. The church was a gorgeous old stone church tastefully decorated for Christmas. The evening started with a soloist who was fantastic. Then Katelyn's act was on & I thought she played beautifully. She looked beautiful too. Then the little boys started acting up & asking to go to the bathroom & that they were dieing of thirst. Matt pointed out that there was a Starbucks across the street. I took them out. I knew they were not going to sit still for what clearly was designed as an "adults only" concert. I asked the barrista if they had nice drinks for little boys. She suggested kids hot chocolate. Matt said, "No we would like water please". I convinced that to get hot chocolate & water. While they were waiting for their drinks they told the Starbucks staff all their cannibal jokes & a few knock knock ones too. We stayed at Starbucks for about an hour. And then we went outside and ran around for another 30 minutes. By then I thought the evening would be winding down. We went in to find that someone had taken our seats. I thought we could slip up to the balcony - that there would be no one up there. No luck. It was full. So outside we went again, trying to be as undisturbing as possible. The concert ended at 10 pm! Way past the little boys bedtime. We then trooped over to the bus stop with Kat & 5 kids. We caught our first bus after a brief 10 minute wait. When we got to the transfer place Katelyn checked on the next bus to our 'village' ... in 25 minutes! The novelty of bus riding was quickly wearing off! I needed some red thread so we killed time by going into Wal-Mart. It worked perfectly ... the bus arrived just when we got back to the terminal. On the way home we made the acquaintance of a 45ish year old man who had been drinking. He tried to ignore us at first by playing an annoying loud game on his phone. But the kids all crowded around him to check out the game & cajoled him into talking. Kat said, "Hey let's all sleep together in the living room." The guy said, "ooh, that sounds like fun." We were glad that he didn't follow us off the bus. Dan pointed out that Kat had forgotten that having a "sleepover" means a different thing to adults than it does to kids.

It all ended well - we were not followed off the bus & made it home safe and sound at 11 p.m.

Today Kat & the kids are making castles out of marshmallows & popcorn. It is a big production & I have been sent to the store 3 times for more supplies. We still don't have our van but the novelty of taking public transportation has worn off.

Mothering Mayhem

Surprise! Ron & I slipped away for a two day retreat. I got this brainwave of an idea when I found out that Air Miles can be used to book Holiday Inns. We had a great time. We worked out twice, ate sushi, went to buy Ron clothes, got caught in a snowstorm, went to see the new James Bond movie "Casino Royale", watched 2 Everybody Loves Raymond & This Hour has 22 minutes while sitting in our hotel bed AND SLEPT IN. I also had two baths & used all the hotel room's little shampoos and lotions.

Here is a tip: In big Superstores now there is a Clothing Store called Joe Fresh ... really cheap prices & the same quality as everywhere else ... long sleeve t-shirts are $14. Ron's Value Village/Frenchies wardrobe has been transformed for $50!

While we were away our friend Kat babysat.

Here are some thoughts from her that she e-mailed me today.

I have to say, babysitting for you was quite the experience...After I passed out unconcious for 45 minutes when I got home, I met up with a friend and since then I've been pretty much lauging ever since, just remembering funny stories as I go.

I've discovered the secret to babysitting: all you need to be a good babysitter is unlimited amounts of icing sugar and chocolate chips....hee hee...don't worry, we also made real food, using all the electric appliances we could manage - grilled up some goat cheese sandwhiches on the grill, mixed up some icing sugar in the mixing bowl, blended some pasta sauce in the blender.
you also need snow. lots and lots of snow. i don't know what we would have done without the snow. although, i forgot how lethal sledding with kids can be. but i'm proud to say i survived, and didn't do too badly at that.

Some unforgettable moments:
-Matt's faceplant. We all did a train-style descent each in our own sleds down the slope, dan leading the way, sammie hanging off me at the back. It was going pretty well until the back three, sarah, sam and i, started veering right off track. leading us all into the ditch, and before I know it, I'm under a heap of bodies. I look up, and see Matt emerging from the snow, or who I guessed was matt, although I couldn't tell because he looked like a snowman with no facial features. He was at first laughing hysterically but then very quickly he turned to crying. and what was the solution to the tears? Dan offered him the leading role on the next train-descent, and before I know it, he's lauging and we're racing up the hill to do it again! This time, the train was a success!

-trip to the Sobey's, all dressed in blue plastic bags (ed. note - it was raining & the kids thought that would keep them dryer).
-the coffee house at Katelyn's school!!! Now, this was hilarious. We walked into the auditorium, and immediately stuck out, like russians at an irish pub (i've seen it). It was filled with really cool high school kids, and there I was with three little ones. I looked down and realized that I was dressed in a completely hap-hazard way, and covered in icing sugar and smeared chocolate from building the gingergread houses. I had a surreal moment of: Good Lord, I've become my mother!!!!!!!! (I remember being so embarrassed when she used to go out in public in messy clothes! )
Everyone was really nice, but from some of the looks I got, I could tell that alot of people thought I was the mother of these kids...and I didn't mind pretending.

The first couple acts were sad, serious songs about love, passion, isolation, teen angst...real tear-jerkers...and then Katelyn and dan get up there. Everyone was expecting a silimar sort of thing. Katelyn began playing the first desolate chords on the piano, Dan started dejectedly singing the first 'depressing' line. (Editor's note: they did this song called "I am so happy" in a minor key - sounds completely depressing but they are singing, "birds are singing, I'm full of joy" )There was an initial moment of uncomfortable silence, where everyone seemed to be asking themselves, "are they being serious?" and "i wonder if they really are depressed...do they need professional help? Children's aid society?" And then Ms. C. let out the first deep throaty laugh, and everyone else followed suit...

After their act, the heavy metal screaming rock and rollers started and the four of us jetted for the door and took off...
unforgettable night...

...and i love being with your kids...they not only crack me up and challenge my mind with quirky facts (i.e. Matt spent half and hour with me explaining the in's and out's of the Bermuda triangle, and the flight of Flight 18, the Avenger, from Fort Lauderdale to its watery death, after a series of low-level bombing) but they also make me really really happy. I love them so so so much.

Love Kat
************
Today we spent almost 3 hours at the dentist - for 5 appointments. It was pretty torturous by the end. But we survived. I am not sure dentists offices are equipped to accomodate large families like ours.

Feeling Boring

I am not sure our lives are particularly exciting lately. But since some of our blog readers worry about us when we don't post, I am posting. Plus I miss blogging.

So what have we been doing?

1. We watched our weekly MythBusters last night. It was the one where they try to beat the Police Radar machine. We also watched the crash test dummy get dropped from the top of a building & get all smashed up. I HOPE our kids learned from that.

2. Katelyn is working on an 1200 word essay on the unethical behaviour of the Ontario government in exploiting the Dionne Quintuplets.

3. Katelyn has been shanghaied into joining the choir by her music teacher. She is now practising for the Christmas concert, which involves singing the "Hallelujah" chorus which she says is very challenging. Katelyn also got a clarinet this morning - a very nice woman at church had it in storage from her high school days.

4. The kids watched Superman III (or is it Spiderman III). They get frustrated because I can't remember - the one with Clarke Kent in it. They said it was very predictable.

5. Tomorrow they are very excited because they are inviting our beloved Kat over to watch "School of Rock" which they are shocked she has never seen.

6. Tonight for supper I made Pad Thai. Our friend Mary took Ron & I out for Thai food the other night at her favourite restaurant. It was divine. We had this amazing coconut milk based soup, then shared Pad Thai, Green Curry & a Beef & Broccoli thing. So I thought I would make Pad Thai for supper. It didn't taste anything like what we had at the restaurant. But it was good & the kids said I could make it again.

7. For dessert I had a made a beet chocolate cake. I had some beets I had to use up & I remember eating a beet chocolate cake as a kid. I wrapped the beets in tinfoil & threw them in the crock pot. I found a recipe for it on www. recipezaar.com (a great site which I access all the time). You had to peel & then puree the beets. The kids said it tasted like beets but they ate it up.

8. Ron & I are working on a Christmas letter. Writing is a very emotionally-draining process & on top of that Ron's internet connection isn't working. So we are feeling emotionally drained & Ron is frustrated by his internet.

9. The little boys were nervous about going to church this morning because they hadn't memorized their lines for the Christmas pageant. I helped during the practise. It is a funny business - the cute thing is the kids all dressed up, forgetting their lines, coming in at the wrong moment, etc. The pageant director & I were having a good laugh about this.

10. Sarah wore a blue t-shirt, black track pants & a hand crocheted shawl as a skirt to church today (she weaved a belt through the shawl to turn it into a skirt). It was very Sarah & I quite liked it.

11. I have botox-looking lips again thanks to the return of eczema on my lips. I have "winter eczema" -meaning it is worse in the winter.

12. My neighbour who is an estetician told me that her shop is now doing lazer hair removal. I was excited until she told me the price. $500 for your upper lip, $2500 for your legs. We figure that it is like computers - in another 10 years maybe you can get your legs permanently clean for $100. She said they are doing a swift business & she thinks over the next 10 years there will be quite a market for people wanting to get tatoos removed.

OK. Sorry I am feeling boring so will sign off here. Sending love to you all.