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. ;)