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. ;)

Finally some pictures!!!!

Making up songs

Playing at the Natural History Museum

Team work for a puzzle!

Playing nicely

Ready to Trick or Treat

Blowing bubbles

Can we go out yet?!

Stuffing pillows

Pumpkin shaped cookies!!!

Halloween Howl at the elementary school

Big smiles

Sergeant's Iron Man pumpkin

Smarty's pumpkin

Monkey's Pumpkin

Girlie's pumpkin

catching up!

Way way way way WAY too long since I've posted.  Crazy busy with life, but that really shouldn't be an excuse.  So my apologies for those who like to keep updated and I am not holding up my end.

School is in full swing with nearly two months down. Lots of driving for me, between getting boys to school and Girlie to preschool.  It's been amazing as always watching the personalities and understanding grow in these children!  Smarty and Sergeant enjoy their reading and are more than capable in their understanding in what they read.  Some of the conversations we have! Out of the blue topics like "Was Jacob a sinner?" "What does the eye of a needle mean?" "How did we grow in your tummy?" "Mom, did you know that your eggs are so tiny you can't see them?!" some very heavy discussions and some lighter ones too.

Monkey is talking!!  And lots!  She is loving being more clearly understood, and we are obviously loving being told what to do and where to go by that adorable toddler.  She really is such a tyrant!  Yesterday we went to a Halloween party at the school and the kids were so excited that they were ready way ahead of time so I told them to sit and read for two minutes while Daddy and I finished getting ready.  Well, more than two minutes later she was telling Dad that it was time to leave because mom said two minutes and she kept pointing at the clock on the wall.  Two minutes were obviously over.

I think she gets all that cute and attitude from her big sister.  Wow, Girlie might be four but she's going on sixteen!  I simply can't wait until she really is a teenager! oh, give us strength!  But they are both so cute and have no shame, which is exactly how we want them to be.  We're working of curbing and focusing all of that, though.  I managed to convince Girlie to be a tiger for Halloween and Monkey is going to be a caterpillar.  The world's most adorable caterpillar.

Sergeant is going as Iron Man and Smarty as Batman.  "I hate this place" (points to anyone who gets that reference!). Smarty has joined the running club at school which runs two afternoons a week after school and is nearly over, I believe.  Smarty was disappointed that he isn't old enough for that yet, but it's only for grades 3-6. And, as something for us to do together, the boys and I have started tae kwon do two evenings a week while Daddy does tea parties and bedtime with the girls. So both the boys and I are working on our kicks and punches, doing push ups and hitting things while the girls and Dad have their bonding time.  Working out so far! and my muscles have been sore, so I know something is working!

Hubby went away for a couple of weeks at the end of September but has been back and super busy with work ever since.  Sorting out the commute, uniforms, where he needs to be in a day, all that fun stuff. Health wise he's doing pretty good so far as we know. Keeping up with the suggested follow up of blood tests and scans to stay on top of anything that might show up.  So far he's still clear, though.  Very, very grateful for that.

I lost most of my voice this week, but this afternoon it seems to be back.  Thankfully! I hate not being able to sing along to the music I have playing or to the kids.  And it's always better to be able to use your full voice when trying to get a child's attention!