up to date!

This one is more pictures, less writing. Back at the beginning of October we drove out to Wolfville with some friends to pick apples and check out the pumpkins, corn maze, and such.  It was a great day and we brought home four new pumpkins to gut out for Halloween. The story alluded to in my pic that had the finished products is this:

The 30th of October rolled around and after school the boys were going to start gutting and carving their pumpkins. I cleared the table, laid out the garbage bags to catch the mess, got tools and bowls for various muck and seeds, then I cut the hole in the tops for the boys to clean them.  They already had a few ideas for what they wanted to put on them, so I asked them to draw it out. They took a sharpie and started drawing on their pumpkins (cue my inner screams that they needed to figure it out on paper first or they'd have black marks all over their gourds!!!) Sergeant drew a Tree Rex Skylander, Smarty wanted his to look like a clone trooper mask. I basically left his design as it was, since he actually did an alright job of it.  But I had to explain to Sergeant how cutting worked. It was like cutting out paper. You can't cut out a circle for a face and expect the eyes to just ... be there.  So I got him to take the paper and he decided on a different design to cut. And he was really happy with it! 

Next the girls were called up for theirs, but when we went outside to bring their squash in we discovered that they were rotting.  Yup. Rotting pumpkins the evening before Halloween.  I should mention that this happened to us last year too. But it was Sergeant's pumpkin and mommy tried 5 stores before finding something remotely suitable. This year Daddy took to the roads, trying store after store. Texting me with update after update. There. Were, No. Pumpkins. I got onto the computer, searched Reddit for info on anywhere that might still have some left.  Made a couple phone calls and texted Hubby. There were some pumpkins left all the way across the city, but they were selling pretty quickly. Off he went and came home to make two little girls happy :) But their carving would happen the next morning.

Smarty has been taking Cello lessons and had his first recital a couple weeks ago. He did so well! And he's been practicing and loves using his bow :)

 The kids saw Santa at a Unit Christmas party a couple weekends ago. Something we discovered last year is that Monkey is afraid of Santa. She would not go to him last year at all. So when he came in this year, she clung to Daddy and scowled at him. When Daddy said that she wouldn't get a gift unless she went to the big guy in red, she hopped right down and sat with her siblings.  All three of the older ones answered Santa's question "Have you been good this year?"with a resounding "Yes". Monkey got the same question and, bless her heart, she answered very very honestly with "Not really." 

Our house became very very festive November 22 this year. Hubby had a busy Sunday of services and such so the kids and I brought up some boxes from the basement and started setting things up. Nativity scenes, sparkly baubles, winterscape candles. Then the tree. I was hands off for the tree, only putting it together and fluffing the branches. 

I confess, I did help rearrange the garland, even though now you can't tell...But the children kept busy and didn't fight! 

And the boys made sure that there were ornaments on the very bottom of the tree too. There was only one casualty this year. One of my glass nativities that hangs in the tree fell and shattered within minutes, but I'm counting that lucky so far. 

Last week was crazy for school. They had Tuesday and Thursday off. Happily we were able to have much needed pajama days. And played with Lego so much! Both the little Lego and the Megablocks. They all (and it really was all four of them) played so well together. Sorting and building, playing with the characters. 

 

We also got our yearly Perogs made. Yummy yummy bacon filled buns!!

And the school Christmas Concert was this week too. They did so well, sang loud and with the group, All dressed up and shiny. They really are growing way too fast!

Okay. That was way more writing than I anticipated. ;) But I think that more or less brings thimgs up to date! 

technical difficulties...

Okay, I've been fighting with technology enough and (fingers crossed...) I have it figured out. I've been working on getting pictures from my phone emailed to myself to download onto the computer to post here and I've gotten so frustrated! Likely my own fault. Whenever there are technical difficulties I'm more apt to blame myself than the equipment. Maybe...

But here are some pictures!!! For Halloween this year I was asked to make some of the costumes, So I actually did! This is really the first year I've done it and I am crazy proud of myself and the patience shown by this amazing crew.

Monkey wanted to be a caterpillar. That was easy enough, she was one last year and the costume is still too big for her. Excellent!

Girly wanted to be the character Scratch from Skylanders (google the image. That's what she wanted). Okay... I can see what fabric I have on hand for that and can kinda see how the pieces should go to fit together...

Sergeant wanted to the Pop Thorn from Skylanders (again, google that. Here I was really REALLY at a loss for how to make it work). I took a deep breath and told him I'd try to figure something out, but please have a back up plan, just in case.

Smarty had two costumes. He had a history project due the last day of class before Halloween and he was to dress up as the person he was researching (he'd chosen Si John A MacDonald) and then he wanted to be Sheep Creep from Skylanders. Okay, that was probably the easiest off all the crafting costumes this year. So okay!

First up, I tackled Girly's costume.  Some felt, some elastic, hot glue for the mask and claws. Thrift store for wings. Hunted in the fabric box for the rest, and I started sewing. I used another costume as a very, very loose template and went to work.

I cut out legs and belly and started sewing and then I realized I didn't have quite enough for the arms and the tail! Thankfully a crafty friend, Judgey Momma (over here) was able to help me out with a close match that absolutely thrilled the girl! 

Doesn't she look pleased!!

Next up was going to either be Sergeant's crazy costume or Smarty's relatively easy one. I opted for starting the easy one while looking online at anything that might work for Pop Thorn. I cut up an old bed sheet that wasn't going to get any more real use, and I did what I could think of for a sheep. Stuffed and stuffed and stuffed! Bearing in mind, this crafting was mostly done while the older three were at school and I didn't have them around for measuring. 'Cuz, You know I'm crazy like that.  

So with the help of Monkey and a friend of hers that I sometimes look after, we stuffed what I thought would look like a sheep. And it would have too if I put the cotton batting around the outside. But Smarty decided that he wanted to put a halt on that for a bit because he was going to just go with being the Father of Confederation for Halloween. 

I was absolutely most nervous about creating Sergeant's costume. Inspiration did strike when a thought formed around paper mache and my exercise ball. So I started looking up different recipes, trying to figure out what would work best, dry relatively quickly, and then I got started. Monkey was sad when she saw me rip up some old colouring books for it. But once she saw and understood, she was great about it.

I made a horrible mess!

 

It got goopy, messy, and very pasty.  I'd never worked with paper mache before so I was kind of just going with my gut. I had no clue at this point how I was going to make spikes or wings, but I knew I had to at least get a couple of base layers down first.

Took a lunch break and came up with an idea for the spikes!! I taped some other colouring pages into a cone shape, cut the bottoms so it could be mached to the base! Aren't I smart?? So Monkey helped me with the tape and a few minutes later we had enough spikes to surround the sphere with space left for arm holes and wings. 

Woohoo! Then I got to deflate the ball, wash it, and sweep up the mess. I cut some arms out and started painting!!

Cut wings out of cardboard and smothered them with paper mache as well and hung them to dry.  Then I got to paint them as well and hot glue them to the finished body.

Made some straps for his shoulders as well to make wearing it easier. I lined the inside with spray adhesive and duct tape and he was good to go! He wanted his face painted blue for going out trick or treating, but that was easy peasy.

The actual pumpkin carving might be a post for another evening. But here are our finished products this year!

And the crew, ready to bring in tons of sugar! 

food!!

Food. Food, food, food.  Something that the whole family enjoys. Both the preparing and the eating. It is a real source of smiles when we're out at a restaurant and the boys in particular suggest that we try making some of these at home. Doesn't matter what it is, but they are sure we could figure out a way to make it at home from scratch., Awesome :)

Yesterday we made wraps. Not the first time we've done them, but it really is much easier to simply buy flour wraps instead of make them. But I wanted the home made ones yesterday, so I got the kids involved. Lots of flour and giggles later we had a nice stack of about 16 or so warm on the counter under a cloth napkin.

As I started wiping up the paste, I mean flour, the kids's imaginations just took off. They were grabbing wooden spoons, hunting for the toy dishes (ended up using some of our actual dishes), some forks, the empty juice pitcher... so many things left their spots in the kitchen and moved to the living room.

They had dialogue with each other about who was making what food, what everyone's order was, then they sat down, prayed, and had a "meal". As far ass I could tell, they had eggs sunny side up, toast, juice, and who really knows what that Monkey prepared. They did pretend bed time, pretend wake up, then the game morphed into restaurants, where Smarty made a logo for his "hamber mania" that was his burger place, Sergeant had a soup restaurant, and Girlie had a fruit place. They made little menus (like 3 or 4 items on it and crazy prices!). When I told them they had to take their playing downstairs Smarty decided that they absolutely NEEDED the coffee table down there so he convinced his brother to take an end and they actually got it down without marking up the walls!

They played and played. Working on the menu (Smarty NEEDED it printed off from the computer so he typed it out himself) and making a grand old mess, but they were happy, they were busy, and I was able to get as much of that fine, powdery white flour off of as many surfaces as I could. Then set about to finish preparing the meal. Hubby came home from work in the midst of this, Ran the printer and encouraged them to add more (who has a restaurant with only 3 things??)

yummy chicken salsa tacos!

Everyone had lots to eat, going back for seconds. After forcing some toy and dishes clean up and then having some ice cream cones we all went to the park to play catch. Even Monkey hit the ball (Daddy might have helped) and they were all tired by the time came to put pjs on and brush their teeth. Hooray for a great crew!!

In a nutshell

Crazy fast summer holidays! And packed with activities. Hard to believe that it's September 2 today and everything starts up again tomorrow.

There was the incredibly successful VBS at Shearwater Chapel, a trip out to Cape Breton, Dr appointments, playing in the sun and fog, trips to the library, and wonderful food. always wonderful food!

The oldest turned 9! That Smarty is growing up way way too fast. Taking the time to slow down and enjoy the moments with them doesn't make the time pass any slower but it sure will store up those memories to take out and polish when they are bigger . Smarty discovered Origami Yoda. It's a series of seven novels and there are instructions to make the different characters in the stories. So the kitchen table has been covered with pieces of paper, tape, and him branching out from the instructions and using his imagination to expand that craft he is working on! And listening to the play, knowing that all four of them are playing nicely and they aren't plugged in is fantastic. I don't mind picking up bit of paper and consistently reminding them to tidy up after themselves if the end result is as satisfying ass that!

Girlie lost her first tooth and she was beside herself with excitement! It's been loose for a bit, and the adult tooth was coming in behind it (not underneath it) so only some of the root had dissolved. We experienced this with a few of Smarty's teeth so we knew when we were about! She was determined that it needed to get out but didn't like to work it herself because it hurt, so momma set about doing it. I'm very practiced at it now! I tried before bed but thise lips of hers!!! As soon as my fingers were anywhere near that pearly white those lips moved up. And they are strong! She's going to play a brass or wind instrument... But it did't come out that night. Before Daddy left for work the next morning he held her lips down and I rolled up my sleeves (figuratively). But it came out! And she was over the moon! Couldn't fall asleep that night, didn't want to stay asleep, but the Tooth Fairy came and brought her some plums as she requested in a note. Which she promptly shared with everyone. Such a sweetheart!

She is both anxious and excited for school to start tomorrow. At bedtime her anxieties come out as she's fighting sleep. Some nights she's crying because she misses preschool, some nights it's because she misses Alberta, other night it's that she thinks school wil take forever and ever and ever and she'll miss being home. Sounds like concerns her brothers have had. It'll sure be an adjustment. It always is.

Sergeant is excited for school. Last week he wasn't, this week he is. He says he's looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. And he's really hoping he has the teacher his older brother had in Grade two. He keeps trying to placate Girlie by saying that she'll see him every recess and lunch time, and he can play with her, and help her with the rules, and, and, and... It's very cute.

Monkey suddenly decided last week that she wanted to toilet train! We've been trying off and on, not usually worth the fight (since it'll happen eventually...maybe?) but she started one day and every time I turned around she was in the bathroom going pee! That went well for a couple of days and now she seems back to where she was before. Hopefully it'll pick up again with the older kids being in school. She mentioned that she wants to go to preschool but she can't do that until she's out of diapers and pull ups. Maybe that'll be thee incentive.

Hubby has tomorrow off work! For the first day of school and for our 10th anniversary. Yay! Since we don't know how many anniversaries we'll be in the same time zone for, we're taking advantage when we can! So together we are dropping the older three off at school, taking assorted pictures and giving the needed hugs (mostly Hubby needing them from Girlie) we'll go to the MFRC and drop Monkey off there so we can have a morning date :). Go for coffee, spend some time, grab some lunch.  Then we'll pick up the toddler, maybe get her down for a short nap, then do the pick up of the older kids. Done done! And, just becasue, we'll find a McDonald's with a play place for supper for that first day of school.

And the race continues Friday, when Girlie turns 5!!! So many milestones in one week! First tooth, first day of school, finally 5 years old. She requested a lemon cake in a bundt pan with cherry frosting. We'll see what Momma can produce! I'm sure it'll be awesome.

finally pictures!

Hugs!

cold cold water!

Splish splash

Silliness shoppping

Listening to music 

Silly girls

Funny faces!!

Chillaxin'

Fishing with Dad

Hanging out by the water at camp

Fun with birthday gifts :)

Trying to lick the birthday cake!

sitting on the new soccer ball

way too long...

Too long.  Way, way too long.

Another school year complete, another summer holiday in full swing and it has been a gorgeous one so far! Very few rainy days, lots of warm weather. So our motto has become "If it isn't raining, we're going places!" We did a visit to Shubenacadie Wildelife park a couple weekends ago, a trip to Rainbow Haven Beach, and quite a few trips to Lawrencetown and Morris Lake.  After supper it's great to go somewhere and get toes wet. We keep our beach toys in the van, and a bag of clean towels stays by the front door!

The last couple days have been used for building. The kids have gotten out the lego, mega blocks, and the duplo and have just gone to town with the building and the play! It is absolutely wonderful to see and hear. Until the bin was dumped on the hard floor... that was just loud! The groove we've had this week has been to have a bit of lazy time in the morning, do some cleaning/work go to the gym (booking all the kids in isn't all that easy!) home for lunch and naps, then outside until supper time.  The table is usually covered with paper and various writing implements, we had one morning that they demanded play dough. That meant a trip to the store to replace our salt later that day. But they are having tons of fun :) So am I

There was a church doing a soccer VBS the week before last and the three older ones had so much fun doing that! All that running around, chasing balls, mixed with scripture reading making new friends was great. Really tuckered them out though! I'm enjoying having some cuddles with my boys that are seriously lacking during the school year. And trying to get fewer Monkey cuddles...working on it! Last night she stayed in her own bed until 5 this morning!! That was fantastic :D

Yesterday morning I sat back in bed with my coffee after the kids were fed. Listening to the kids play while basically wasting time before getting dressed. I heard the girls running around, doing laps in the house. I heard the boys talk to each other about the games they were playing on their devices. Then I heard Girlie as she was running around.  In a monotonous voice she was saying "I am unstoppable! I am unstoppable!" She was being a robot and was making me chuckle so much!

There was one really warm night last week. Fans were working on moving the air around, but it was just muggy! So Hubby slept in his underwear. Nothing wrong with that. Getting up the next day, though... Both girls and Sergeant were in our room when Hubby got out of bed and they were all chuckles! "Dad! You're in your underwear! Why are you in your underwear?? Did you see Daddy in his underwear?! Teehee! Underwear!" The number of times that word "underwear" was used in that first two minute period was hilarious! So Hubby decided to pick up some shorts to sleep in... didn't want a repeat on that morning ;)

Smarty discovered body surfing! When we went to Rainbow haven beach with a school friend of his, the wind was cold, the water was cold, the sand was glorious, and the sun was bright. We settled the blanket down, dumped the sand toys, and the kids walked right onto the surf. When we'd been there a while and realized that Sergeant had come up to warm up, the girls had come up to warm up, but Smarty was still in the water, bracing for the waves, riding them in. He didn't walk out far (he's a smart kid, afterall) but he stayed in the water until we called him in to leave.  It was fantastic to see!

That should be about it for this morning. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Pulling through

Grey and foggy, buds just starting to show up on the trees and shrubs. I think this means that the winter might be over. Fingers crossed!

We've survived a day and a bit with Hubby gone.  He's taken a week of leave and flown off to sunny Alberta to spend time with his mom and stand as best man for his best friend. So he's having fun and we are too. Got Girlie off to ballet last night without any issue, bedtime was as is expected the first night with Daddy gone.  And so far so good today. Regular fighting and yelling, but that's all normal ;)

Mother's Day was very relaxing for me.  Silly children can't keep surprises well so they gave me their gifts early. The migraine I woke up with didn't help, but it did help me not feel guilty about being shooed back to bed where I spent most of the day!  Yesterday I was so tired that I fell asleep after school with the girls going crazy in the living room and the boys on the bed beside me playing on the phones. But today is great so far.  Don't feel exhausted, no headache. Looking forward to a busy afternoon of cleaning up that basement (again) and enforcing homework.

I'm also looking forward to a slower day tomorrow. With the gym three mornings a week, I feel like it's been way to easy to not take the time to get baking or cleaning done. But tomorrow I'll drop the older ones off and Monkey and I will grab groceries, tidy a bit, start some baking. Do more laundry. Regular things. And it'll feel good to accomplish that.

Smarty got to bring a soil sample to school from our yard for an experiment. He was so excited to dig up some dirt! Then he forgot his jar in the van... Good Momma to the rescue!

And I've figured out a way to wake the girls up from their naps without them yelling at me! All I have to do is put some music on! They can't sleep with it playing (not even quiet instrumental music! Drives me crazy sometimes) but about 5 minutes before I need them up I just put some music on, not terribly loud, but not super quiet, and they are up! Girlie before Monkey, and Monkey still needs cuddles and her milk before she's fully functioning, but there is much much less fuss. And I like that!

We have a four day weekend coming up! PD day Friday and Victoria Day on Monday. So the kids are all excited about the home days all in a row, Monday we'll be up early to pick Daddy up from the airport and we'll have all day together to catch up.  So excited!

Gorgeous weather!!!

It is absolutely gorgeous out!!!!!  Hats, hoodies, sunscreen, sandals. That's what we're in right now.  Hubby had to scrape ice off his windshield on Monday but that's it! Glorious, wonderful weather.

This shift in weather has also brought the first bike wipe out of the season. Smarty took a corner too fast and had to hobble his way home with his head hung low. The pants saved his knees but they didn't survive the fall.  Guess they need to be replaced!

Sergeant won a red frisbee at school.  He was so excited!  I don't blame him. Played with it after school with friends and with Hubby when he got home from work. I think I'll be bringing it to the school again today when I go pick them up.., too nice to hurry home where they will only want to plug themselves in!

Girlie had her preschool's Mother's Day Social this morning. Books were read, songs were sung, Pictures brought home, and a gift unwrapped. A little basket with an adorable poem about hugs and kisses between mom and child. Silly dusty room made me cry :/

She's been a real Momma's girl recently. Wanting My hand a bit more, when she had a nightmare she wanted me instead of Hubby. I'm honestly not sure how to handle it.  Since Monkey is still very Mommy-centric it's sometimes a problem  But Monkey is starting to go to Daddy a bit more too... hmmmm.

Yesterday we all left the house after supper and ran a couple errands.  Picked up Hubby's suit from the tailor's, ran in to Kent for some hardware, then on to Old Navy in search of a maxi dress for me.  I've been wanting go get some but never seem to get that far. So thanks to my wonderful Hubby who said "Let's go!" I now have two,  And I might not wear anything else until the snow flies in December! Holy Crap, they're comfy!! Such a great feeling!!

I'm completely torn right now with how to spend my afternoon/evening.  I want to stay out here, on the front porch with my coffee. But I also want to do the baking that I have to do... Very tough decisions! But I have a feeling the baking will win. With all windows open and the music of childrem playing nicely outside together... Okay. That might be a bit of fantasy, but I can hope! And they do "mostly" play well together :) Lucky momma!

responsibilities...

Adulting is hard sometimes.  Being somewhat self aware, I know that when I have an overwhelming urge to bake and bake non stop what I really need to do is clean. It means that there are other things I really don't want to do. Don't get me wrong; there are times that I want to bake because I simply want to bake and everything else is more or less done (or one enough in a household this size...). This morning I want pie. And scones. And cinnamon buns. And maybe brownies. Mmmmmm. Yummy...

But instead I cleaned the fridge, did dishes, changed more laundry, swept the living room. The irony is not lost on me that I'm sitting here writing when only about half of the cleaning I need to do is done and none of the baking I want to do is done. But I am sitting here. Not enough time to start and finish another task, but enough time to write a brief post before picking Girlie up from preschool.

I am loving the shift as the kids are getting older and seeing more.  These last three mornings I haven't had to ask the boys to make their beds! They go in to get dressed and they leave their room with beds made! Still clothes all over the floor, but it's one step at a time. And it's nice.  They also have (finally)gotten into the habit of picking their toys up in the basement before coming upstairs. More or less... Yesterday Smarty took the green bin out to the curb without me asking because he saw that the other houses on the street had done it. Such wonderful kids I have!

They are still obsessing over Dragon Vale but they are diversifying, New games being asked to be downloaded to their devices almost daily. But they are good with hearing the word no. They have no choice about that!

Time to head out now.  Hopefully I will have a few more minutes later to write more,

So many feels!!

It's gone! The snow mountains of the winter are nearly gone! Hard to believe that only three weeks ago there were snow banks taller than me and now we have a lawn again. Nice sunny days, freezing nights, a couple rainy days, and there has been very little flooding in our area. I am very grateful! 

The boys received their report cards last week and they are doing wonderfully well (not that there was any doubt!). Smarty was given and completed his first school project (complete with bristol board) and had to present it to the class (he totally aced it!!).  Sergeant lost a tooth yesterday (okay, he didn't want it pulled but he was tired of it bleeding during meal times) so we had a night visitor last night. 

Girlie has started Pre-Ballet. It's a program through the rec centres and she is currently two classes in. Lots and lots of twirling happening! She is absolutely loving it! Hubby is the one who has been taking her, and to avoid distractions the policy is that it's drop off and pick up only. Apparently there are a lot of tutus and spinning. So now every place I go with her, if it has an open space she is leaping, twirling, arms out, and checking to see if I think what she did was beautiful. 

With that girl in ballet, the boys are taking all sorts of sports through the same rec program. So they are doing a different sport every week. Last week they did some soccer :) tomorrow it'll be something else. And we're growing geodes! Waiting for water to evaporate in this humidity is taking a very very VERY long time, but it's coming along. 

With the shift in weather come the crazies. There have been so many emotions and feelings in this house! And ears that seem to be more selective than usual. The result is a lot of hugs, one on one talking, and soothing ouchies and hurt feelings. Reminding the olders that the youngers don't know yet and we need to teach them instead of demand that they know how to react with empathy and kindness right away.  I know how lucky we are with our kids, They're fantastic, and always better behaved when we're out and about. Picking Monkey up from the babysitting at the gym the women working there are always surprised when she screams out "mommy!" and runs to give me a hug. They keep saying that that is the loudest she was all morning!

And the boys have just discovered their nicknames I have assigned them here on the blog and they have decided that they are going to call each other by them this morning. Such goofy kids! How did I get so lucky!!

oof, my head

Hips are sore, head is sore, arms are tired, rest of me is tired.  But it was fun!  Last night I went to my first ever Zumba class! Dancing, hip swinging, clapping. Disco, jive, salsa. Combined with the exercises in trying to keep doing in the cardio/weight I think my body may just be in shock! I've done running before. I've done pilates and yoga. Just so difficult for me to focus on it when I'm at home with the kids! But the girls love meeting new people, they enjoy being at the gym while I'm there, and the boys are jealous because this all happens while they're in school! So the boys are registered for "All sorts of Sports" through the rec programs. They will be doing a different sport every week.  And Girlie starts up a pre ballet. She. Is, Going, To, Be. ADORABLE!! Only Monkey is too little still. But next year...

Girlie's life was nearly forfeit yesterday. I got Monkey down for a nap, looked at the clock and realized it wasn't worth it to fight with Girlie for a sleep so she stayed up and "helped" me put dishes away, ect.  She went in "Just to check, Mommy"on her sister. Next thing I knoow there is a grumpy, yelling Monkey stumbling through the house looking for mommy snuggies. Oh, that Girlie!

Smarty is learning power point in school. And he's so excited that he gets to bring hoe his memory stick and work at home and show us what he's worked on at school! So he got the computer all fired up and such then he calls me down to come see what's he's done.  As he's reading the slides, I'm commenting, Maybe you could add something about this, what about that part... (his presentation is on Dragon Vale, his new game). He briefly mentions what the rest of the class is working on. Apparently he asked if he could switch topics to Dragon Vale. Cudos for him to ask and change it! Such initiative!

Sergeant is as Sergeant is/  He has been playing Pokemon with his sisters, but not in the conventional way.  They pretend they are the Pokemon and trainers. So occasionally I'll hear "Aksew! Use pretend bite!" (pretend, because the littlest sister WILL take that command literally and her teeth are really, really sharp!) He's getting impatient with all this snow, wants to pay outside more and gets really upset if no one else wants to go with him. So many emotions for that guy! And he seems to loose control over them so easily. So we sit down with him and talk to him. Again. He'll get it eventually. More talkie, less hitty...

Pranks!!

Another early morning for me! Wow.  I hope this isn't starting a trend...

Yesterday was April Fools Day.  Tuesday Smarty came home with the stuff he ordered from his book order.  It was a prank book and set.  He. Was. Thrilled.  Every time we got a hug from him we got zapped. Last night I went to brush me teeth and there was salt on my tooth brush. A cock roach was put on Monkey's pillow, water squirted on every person. He is having a ball! There was a sticker on the bathroom door. "Toilet is Voice Activated. Say PLEASE FLUSH loudly". I opened the fridge and saw eyes on the yogurt and lemon juice. And he's just giggling away like a crazy person. He just mght come by it honestly, though.  Not entirely sure, but might. So much laughter!! It's wonderful.

Sergeant ordered a rock book and set from the same book order. He is fascinated! The book shows how to make your own geodes, so that'll likely be our next experiment.  Just need to wash out some egg shells next time I'm cooking or baking with eggs.

The boys have discovered the game Dragon Vale on the phones. I'm almost wishing they hadn't. They are better now, but the were waking up at 5 to see if they could check on their dragons, asking if we can buy certain things because "the time's almost up! We can only buy it today, Mom. Tomorrow it'll be gone!" To which both Hubby and I say that we play the game with the money you earn in the game. Yes, it takes longer. Yes, you will likely miss out on some cool stuff. But that's how games are played. And it means you learn patience. Or try to learn patience...

The girls are loving having a new place to play.  Monday and Tuesday I put them in to the baby sitting room at the rec centre while I went and attempted fitness :)  But they love meeting people and feeling like they have places they need to be too.  The boys have school, Daddy has work. We have our "work" too.  Monkey still thinks our "work" is shopping, but I try very hard to convince she otherwise. Yesterday I decided to wash the floor while Girlie was in preschool.  Monkey loved that because the floor was clear of all toys and she got to run around singing "Let It GO!!!!" and dancing to the music I had playing.

Sunday morning I decided to curl my hair (not sure why, since it's so time consuming and it rarely turns out the way I want it too. Always looks good, though) so I was using my hair clips to hold other hair away. The girls both thought this was awesome so they wanted their hair in clips.  Once I was done fighting with my curls I put their hair up.  Just a pony tail and a clip to put it off their neck.  Girlie took hers out within minutes and kept just the pony tail.  Monkey kept hers in all day! And requested it on Monday and Tuesday. I think she found a new favourite hairstyle!

We have more snow forecast for Monday. We had sunshine yesterday, supposed too have sunshine today. We shoveled slush on Tuesday morning...  I hope this snow is gone my August... Hope on hope ever!

In a nutshell...

Can't sleep, Which is very very rare for me.  In the last five months since my last update, have had Christmas, New Years, Valentines day, and St Patricks day.  We had a house full of sick people from the last day of school until the middle of January. We discovered than the wiring in our basement isn't what it should be when I threw stuff in the washer while the dehumidifier was plugged in and on in another room.  We came home to a circuit blown and smoke in the room with the fuse box. Our dryer died. We ran out of furnace oil. We had a green Christmas but are now currently under four feet of snow.  And that;s because a foot melted from Sunday until now. There is another system coming.  Rain and snow.  The kids have used up all their snow days! It certainly hasn't been boring!

But I'm up at 5:30 today.  This week Hubby is renewed in his running commitment (he's tired of the treadmill at the gym on Base so he has been running outside in the mornings again) so this is day four of him being up just before 5 and pounding pavement.  Monday I barely noticed him getting out of bed, Tuesday I noticed but rolled over again and didn't wake up until he was home.  Yesterday I kinda woke up but stayed in bed, This morning I did.t bother pretending.  I left the toddler, who keeps finding her way onto my pillow even when I move her back, and put the kettle on.  Then the toddler found me :/

The sleeping arrangements have been redone here at the Macintyre house.  The bunk beds that the boys have been in four four years are now possessed by the girls.  Smarty has his original single bed he had when we were in Calgary and a new bed for Sergeant.  He was very upset when he realized that he'd be out of the top bunk, but both boys are really enjoying having their beds parallel to each other.  Now they can see each other when they stay up later talking!

The idea behind putting the girls in the bunk beds was to see if it would keep Monkey in her own bed. It's been up and down, but overall progress has been made and I'm getting longer stretches without her beside me. Girlie loves her top bunk and has been staying there longer too. Fewer trips into Daddy's arms.

Smarty has glasses!!  We got eyes checked in January and found out that even though his vision was perfect a year and a half ago when we left Alberta is certainly isn't now.  It's worse than mine (which really isn't saying all that much...) and he's wearing them now and rocking them :) Sergeant was very sad that he didn't need them.  But with the genetics these kids have, they likely all will have glasses at some point.

Yesterday I finally got Girlie's registration in for kindergarten (people here call it Primary) so I'm going to have only Monkey home with me all day every day.  It'll feel very different with only one child in the house all the time.  It's been a long time!

With Hubby running more outside and the weather being what it has been (yuck) Monkey and I picked up a family membership to the rec centre yesterday morning and I'm looking forward to using it.  Family swimming!!

I'm also trying to commit to trying out new recipes.  We have been, but it's been almost accidental.  Did a chicken curry in the crock pot that the kids didn't fight as much as I thought they would... That'll be a repeat. It would be nice to try a new one out every week, but I'll settle for twice a month.  I don't like fighting over getting kids to finish their dinner THAT much.

The house is awake now, so I should probably feed the spawn their breakfast. ;)