The Big Switch

The last week has been quite eventful for the ol' Johnson family. Last Thursday, James got laid off from his current project - work is very slow for commercial plumbers right now, and isn't expected to pick up until January. Some guys that have been out of work since July are only now picking up jobs! A couple of weeks ago I applied to be a "product demonstrator" (aka free food giver outer) at Costco, just on Saturdays, to bring in a little extra cash. Because this is their busiest time of year, I was able to start working full time for the Christmas season instead - what a huge blessing!

I've been working full time for the past week - quite a change considering I've been a stay at home mom for almost 6 years now. It's not a bad gig - people tend to be pretty nice when you're giving them free stuff! I miss being with my boys, but everyone is adjusting pretty well. James is turning into Mr. Mom...he's getting the hang of this whole cooking/cleaning/running a household thing. I think he's enjoying the break from getting up at 4:45am and dealing with some of his more annoying co workers.

I will admit it's stressful having everything turned upside down on us, but we're making it work. I cherish my time at home with my kiddos a lot more now, and I'm very thankful to have this job to help make up for James' loss of income. I am grateful for my many, many blessings - right now I'm sitting in my warm home with a toasty fire in the fireplace. I've got my family with me and just finished eating a delicious meal I didn't have to cook. Oh, and a snuggly kitten on my lap. It doesn't get any better than that!

Epic Update

Well, epic in terms of length, not of "epic-ness". ;)

Where to begin...my guys and I had a great summer. It was pretty low key, but we managed to get out there and have some fun. Seth rediscovered his love for slides, especially tall metal ones (pretty anxiety inducing for me, but I stopped spotting him after about his 50th successful climb). Emmett attended day camp for the first time and really enjoyed it. He did a nature camp in July where they learned about different kinds of birds, insects, rodents, etc, often with stuffed or mounted "specimens". The stuffed woodpecker left me wanting to hang out on the other side of the room, but Emmett had a great time banging Mr. Woodpecker's beak up against his plastic case and saying "Cheep!! Cheep!!" while giggling. Boys.

In August we took our first ever overnight trip as a family of 4, to Drumheller and Calgary. The kids weren't too thrilled with the drive down, especially Em ("We have to go home now. I need to watch TV!"). Once we got to the badlands though they got very interested in the change of scenery! They loved the dinosaur museum, the world's biggest dinosaur, and the hoodoos. But nothing could compare to spending the night at the SUPER 8!!!! Wow!!!! Really, they were beyond excited. Watching TV at the Super 8! Having a bath at the Super 8! Eating breakfast at the Super 8! It was all too much. I think Em finally fell asleep around 10pm, and they were both up at the crack of dawn...apparently the big beds at the Super 8 were too exciting to do much sleeping in. We hit the road early and headed to the Calgary Zoo, which was fun but HOT. Every single time I go to that zoo, it's a million degrees out without a hint of shade...it's like they know I'm coming. Anyway, the whole trip was pretty exhausting for James and I but it was totally worth it. Two months later and Emmett is still asking when we're going to stay at the hotel again!

Summer did end on a bit of a rough note. In June we adopted a stray kitty from the Humane Society that we named Monty - a big ol' tom cat, pretty chill around the kids but NOT a fan of other cats. At the end of August he couldn't attack the feral cat outside our door who was trying to get in, so he attacked me instead. He cut up most of my instep and heel, and left a few deep bites/tears in my leg. I went to the clinic right away and got cleaned up/started antibiotics, but my leg still got really infected. I ended up on IV meds for 5 days and now almost 2 months later the tears are just now fully closed up. I've got some nasty scars, but I am SO thankful that it was me and not one of the boys. We were already quite attached to that cat and it was sad to let him go, but we were able to find him more of a "barn cat" position that I'm sure he's quite happy in. We adopted a couple of sweet kittens last month, which has helped ease the loss. They are fun boys and are working out much better for our family.

Emmett started kindergarten in September at Tevie Miller School - a program that specializes in kids with severe speech problems. He goes full time, which I was a bit concerned about at first, but he's adapted very well. He's happy to get on the bus each morning and his teachers tell me he's a happy boy at school. He's got a lot of difficulties, as well as the attention span of a gnat, but he IS making progress. He can now print his name, and he is learning to print a new letter each week. With his fine motor delays I never thought he'd be printing this early! I'm so proud of him and so happy that he's in a good school with good teachers.

Seth is still a character/total ham. I'm fairly certain he's in love with Jamie, the lady that teaches his weekly preschool music and dance class at the rec centre. Today he told me "It's Jamie's CLASS!" and went for his shoes...I told him his class wasn't until tomorrow and responded "No, no fanks Mommy...Jamie's class." and kept on with the shoes. Something tells me this kid is going to do back flips when he gets to do actual preschool next year!

Spring Break!! Wooo!!

The kids and I had a pretty great spring break last week...we made a trip to WEM and did our usual pet store/hermit crab kiosk/Booster Juice circuit, went swimming and went to library story time. We even got to ride the bus!! (Seriously, I think that was the highlight of the week. ;))

The library story time we went to really highlighted how polar opposite my kids are. Emmett was in a bit of a grumpy mood because he couldn't get on the library computers and play his favorite game, and absolutely refused to participate in any of the activities or even look at the book. As per usual when we do any kind of group activity, I spent most of the time trying to animate Em like a puppet and get him engaged in what the group was doing (which, um, now that I think of it, never works. Anyhoo...). He definitely prefers to be off doing his own thing...so apparently Thing 1 is a chip off the ol' block. ;)

Seth, on the other hand, acted like a puppy that had been in his crate all day and had just been let out. When we first got in the program room Seth noticed the circle of parents and kids, and was delighted that his audience was ready and waiting for him! He immediately ran to the middle of the circle and started to perform, complete with a "ta-da!!" at the end. Throughout the program he ran and sat on just about every other mom's lap, and honed in on one particular (grumpy) grandpa to "entertain". Seth was alllll up in this guy's face until he finally cracked a smile. I'm not sure who this child belongs to, I suspect he may have been left on our door step by a travelling circus and I'm just a bit fuzzy on remembering the details. He's so sweet and funny, but I definitely see a lot of parent-teacher conferences in my future...

It's my own personal pity party!!

And you're invited!! Aren't you excited?

I've decided that spring/sunshine/green grass is just never, ever coming. If I don't get to spend more than 30 seconds outside soon, I don't know what I'll do. (Whine some more, I guess.)

Also, the 4 of us may never be simultaneously healthy again. In the past 2 weeks, we've had 2 doctor visits (soon to be 3, Emmett's up and complaining of ear pain), 1 ER trip and have spent a small fortune on prescriptions. Also, I pulled my back while attempting to spring clean. Nice one!

James is in school as well, which is always stressful in and of itself. He only goes for 2 months of the year, but they condense about 4 months worth of work into that time. He eats, sleeps, and studies. I think the children are starting to forget what he looks like. I just keep telling myself he's got one more month, and (hopefully) he'll be done for years. I can survive one more month of this, right? Right?!!!?!?!!! (Cue nervous/maniacal laughter)

It's really not that bad, just a triple combination that's got my emotional and physical "tanks" pretty dang low. I think I'll go back to bed now and try to get a few hours sleep before I drag yet another kid the to doctor...yaaaay.

The Corner Drugstore

One of the things I really love about living where we do is how close we are to everything. I don't have vehicle access during the day, which can be a challenge, but I have enough things within walking distance that we haven't suffered too much. We have an excellent medi-centre literally steps from my back door, which has really come in handy. I took Seth there today to get him a stronger prescription for what feels like his 137th eye infection (he's got a blocked tear duct that will probably have to be surgically opened), and then hit the mom and pop drugstore next door to get his new eye drops.

I have fond memories of heading to the mom and pop drugstore near my house as a kid. My brother and I would head there immediately after receiving our $1 allowance - they had penny candy on a rotating display right near the front door. Kyle and I would usually get 100 sours (in a little brown paper bag), and then eat as many as we could before the insides of our mouth were too raw to continue. This drugstore by my house is very similar...just a few of each item on the shelves, discount chocolate bars, "surprise bags" (for a boy or a girl) and small candies for a nickel. I love the idea of the boys going over there and carefully counting out their allowance money for the patient older lady behind the counter. Admittedly, I do 99% of my shopping at the big chain stores, but there's something to be said for friendly little small businesses just down the street.

Our Excitement for the Day (/Month/Year/Life)

I'd been hoping for something blog-worthy to happen...be careful what you wish for!

Let me set the scene for you: Emmett's school bus has just arrived, and I throw my coat and boots on to dash outside and get him. Please note: I have just worked out and I am sweaty, have seriously greasy hair and am wearing yoga capri pants. I leave Seth inside while I get Emmett off the bus, and Em and I come up to the front door. Which is locked.

Please also note that all house keys are either inside the house, or with James (who is a 45 minute commute away). My cell is also in the house, of course.

Okay, what to do? Don't panic, don't panic...at this point Seth is sitting on the other side of the door, screaming. I know my back door is locked (with the deadbolt), so that option is out. I ended up calling 911 from a neighbors house, and 2 nice police officers showed up a few minutes later. They calmed me down enough to remember that we could probably break in through one of the living room windows in the backyard.

Let me describe the current state of my backyard...the grassy area behind my backyard literally has higher than knee deep snow, some of which is packed, some not. The officers and I were randomly sinking into it as we treked down 9 units to get to my yard. The yard itself only has 2 feet of snow, but also about 14 bags of garbage and recycling that we've been throwing back there to avoid hiking it down to the dumpster about 150 yards away each time we have a full bag. I figured, who cares, no one can even get to the backyard, no one is going to see it!

So we finally get into my garbage pile/yard, and I'm looking through the window and Sethers is nowhere to be found. Greeeeeat. Meanwhile, one of the officers is cutting the screen off of my window, which *thankfully* was not locked. This window is about 12x18 inches, by the way. We figured the easiest thing to do would be to fish Emmett through the window and get him to open the door. (Emmett, BTW, has been totally cool up to the point and clearly doesn't even know something is wrong. He's been mostly admiring the officers' nifty uniforms/belts!) We stick Em through the window and instantly he knows something is not right and starts to panic. He's quite upset and can't manage the back door deadbolt, but we convince him to go unlock the front door and open it. Meanwhile, Seth comes to the window, and is quite amused that mommy and two strangers have just put his big brother through it!

The officers and I head back through the snow and get to the front door...Emmett is rather upset (although he was being heavily praised for saving the day!), Seth is performing a little jig for our visitors, and I'm (just barely) holding it together. All's well that ends well, and the officers are on their way. I'll probably be their easiest call of the shift!

I've learned my lesson...NEVER step foot outside the door without my key. And take my garbage out!

Five Little Degrees

It's amazing what a temperature of 5 little degrees above zero in January can do for one's psyche...I swear I feel like a new person! Being a one car family, the frigid temperatures and the more than 2 feet of snow we've gotten this month has basically made me a shut in. But today the sun is shining, the snow is melting (if only a little bit!) and the kids and I got out there and enjoyed it. I feel lighter, more energized, and definitely more productive!

Not that the past month has been a total waste, mind you. I've been in the kitchen constantly, whipping up all sorts of gluten free stuff. Emmett's preschool provides a snack every day, which at least half the time isn't safe for him to have. I could just send whatever I have on hand along, but I really don't want him to feel left out so I've tried to send along a GF version of the day's snack whenever I can. Today they're having chicken noodle soup and crackers, so I sent along some homemade chicken rice soup (even made the stock from scratch!) and some GF "saltines". (Which, no joke, are about 10 times better than actual saltines...buttery and with that crunchy cracker texture!) Earlier this week I sent GF gingerbread dough so Em could make cookies with the other kids (and then hunt for them after they "ran away" from the oven!). James says I'm doing a great job at making sure he doesn't feel deprived. It's nice to know I'm good for something! ;)

In other Emmett news, he'll be going to the full day kindergarten program at Tevie Miller School (a special needs school for kids with communication disorders/delays). James and I were really impressed with our school tour and we think he's going to do amazing there! The early ed program at Hazeldean has already done wonders for him...he has made SO much progress in the last year. Now he can say things like "Mommy, I no go to school. I want to stay home and watch "Espiggable Me". My friends is nothing there." Every day he tells me that his friends aren't at school so he can't go either. Interesting excuse, I must say! (Of course once he gets to school he's so excited he can barely remember to take his coat off ;))

Seth is moving into a "copy everything the adults say" phase, and starting to verbalize a lot more. We drove by McD's the other day and heard sweet little cries of "Fwies!! Fwies!!" from the backseat. His favorite thing right now is trying on James' shoes and hats, while checking himself out in the mirror and calling himself "pretty!!". What a character!

James is going to school in 1 month, for what will hopefully be the last time. I am very much looking forward to having the apprenticeship portion of his career over and done with (although not nearly as badly as he is, I assure you). At least he'll be heading back to class in a sweet new ride...our old car needed major repairs, again, so we decided to get a new car. We ended up buying a Toyota Matrix lease return...talk about an upgrade! Now, I'm very much a low maintenance, frugal/simple living, couldn't care less about appearances kind of girl, so it's super weird for me to be driving this really nice new car. Maybe it'll grow on me (I will admit, I'm loving the working trunk and heating system. Yeah, it doesn't take much to impress me.). James is having the time of his life though! Now he can worry about school and not about stalling out randomly on the Yellowhead, so that'll be a nice change. :)