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. :)

Christmas Eve Eve

The presents are wrapped, the goodies are baked, and the house is starting to become presentable. I'd say we're just about ready!

The kids have really been fun this Christmas season. Every morning the boys are excited to get their daily chocolate ration from our advent calendars. Every afternoon Emmett asks to listen to my circa 1983 Raffi Christmas album (I've taught him to say "Let's get our Raffi on!"...so awesome.) While Seth is still in toddler Christmas Oblivion, Emmett knows what's coming. He heard me say the word "presents" the other day and shouted out "Presents? Santa's coming! Oh, I hear the doorbell!" Someone clearly isn't used to living in a house with a chimney. ;) He also sat on Santa's lap at the preschool Christmas party, which is HUGE for him (he usually has a total "stranger danger" reaction when he sees Santa).

I'm really looking forward to spending some time with my family this weekend. I can't wait to see my boys in their matching Christmas eve PJ's (matching outfits is probably my *favorite* thing about having same gender kids), opening presents and enjoying all the goodies I made for them. It's all so exciting and magical for them, and watching them enjoy things totally makes my Christmas. I vividly remember being Emmett's age and fully believing in Santa, lying in bed on Christmas Eve and pretending my hardest to be asleep (and hoping Santa couldn't tell!). It's hard to believe that now I'm the one telling kids to go to sleep so Santa can come!

Merry Christmas!

Sweet Procrastination

I've got a to do list a mile long and a house that looks like a herd of wild goats meandered through, so I figured, what better time to catch up on my blogging?

So far this month has been really, really rough for us. The day after we got back from Lethbridge, James got really sick - we suspected food poisoning until I came down with it a couple of days later. When we found out that James' parents were suffering the same fate, we realized that stomach flu was our lovely souvenir from Lethbridge Regional. Thankfully, the kids only got a really mild version, and James and I weren't deathly ill at the same time. Once we started to slightly recover, James got rear ended on the way home from work (not hurt though), and about an hour after that his Oma passed. He wasn't able to attend the mid-week funeral, which was a real let down. Oh, and did I mention I've got my annual mid-December cold? I swear it's become a Christmas tradition.

Ok, I'm really over being this. Onwards and upwards, I say!

It's Emmett's last day of school today before Christmas break, and they're having pajama day! They're having school-wide milk and cookies as well (yay for gluten free oreos!!), I'm sure he'll have a blast. Sethers and I are going to head down at the end of class to wish all of Em's teachers a Merry Christmas, which works out well, because for Seth going to "big kid school" is practically Christmas!

Emmett drew his first self portrait yesterday, which is such a HUGE step for him. A couple of months ago he couldn't copy a horizontal line or draw a circle. I reminded him to draw a circle for his head (which he did, perfectly!), and then just asked him "What comes next?" and he added eyes, a nose and smile, arms, legs, feet and hair! You'll notice I left "body" out of that list, so it ended up looking like one of those Mr.Men cartoons - so cute. ;) I made a big deal out of his accomplishment and he seemed pretty proud of himself!

Seth has been talking more and more...we're starting to get phrases now! He likes to say "There it is!" and "Thanks. Buh-bye!" a lot. I also notice him trying to copy lines from songs and tv shows...he's really trying hard to communicate now. He's also discovered he can push boxes and things around to use as a step stool, so we have to really watch him like a hawk now.

And me? I'm just trying to get into the Christmas spirit. Once my cold is gone, the gifts are all wrapped (2/3s of the way there now!) and my house is back to rights, I will hopefully be full of Christmas cheer, or at least less Grinch-y.

To Lethbridge and Back

On Tuesday night when I walked in the door from shopping, James had an absolutely downtrodden look on his face. His mom had just called and told him his beloved Oma was in the hospital in Lethbridge. Her health has been declining rapidly in the past few months, and it looked like she might have only hours left. We had to make a quick decision. We knew James could probably only take 1 day off work, so we decided to make the 5 1/2 hour trip down, stay for a few hours, and then come right home.

We took off around 7:30am Wednesday morning. It was pitch black and cold but with a couple of warm blankets and sippy cups of chocolate milk, the boys were comfortable. Thankfully, I was able to prepare and pack lots of gluten free food for my guys on short notice, so they didn't have to go off their diet. The kids were perfectly behaved on the long drive down, and played quite happily for hours in the hospital. James was able to sit with his Oma and hold her hand - she was very weak, but she knew he was there and was happy to see him. I'm so glad he was able to be there for her, and most likely say goodbye for the last time to the woman who helped raise him.

The drive home was very tough. It was already completely dark when we left Lethbridge at 5:30pm. James was in no condition to drive, and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Seth was content the whole way home, but Emmett lost it around Calgary - he cried off and on the rest of the way home. Thankfully we made it home safe just after 11pm and then we all collapsed into bed. I did end up sleeping a full night, but I don't feel rested. I'm glad to just have today to play catch up with laundry/cleaning and just be there for my guys.

I'm having a good day.

I'm sitting here enjoying the quiet bliss of "school/nap time". The only sounds are of my ticking clock, my typing fingers and the furnace doing its job. I'm warm, comfortable and enjoying watching the snow blowing outside my window.

I'm feeling thankful. Thankful to live in a safe, peaceful country. Thankful to have my own home. Thankful for my furnace, stove, and hot water tank. (Oddly specific, no?) Thankful that my husband is employed in a job that's in-town and doing work he finds challenging and engaging. Thankful I can pay all of my bills, every month. Thankful to have a full stomach and food in the cupboards (even when it's getting close to grocery day and I have to start getting creative!). Thankful to have two beautiful, healthy, vibrant little boys. Thankful that my oldest son has amazing teachers, therapists and other supports to help him learn and grow. Thankful that my youngest son heals fast and gets over things quickly (he fell head first into the sharp edge of my headboard yesterday and is currently sporting a huge bruise and cut right between his eyes).

I woke up this morning under my warm covers, with a little body snuggled up against me. Emmett always wakes up when James' alarm goes off early in the morning, and as soon as James is down the stairs Em hops into the "big bed" to take his place. I rolled over, gave him a kiss, and the first thing he said was "Mommy, I love you." It was the very first time he said "I love you" without me saying it first.

So yeah, I'm having a pretty fantastic day. :)

We made it!

We did it...tomorrow marks 1 full month of eating gluten free! (Ok, ok, *I* haven't been totally GF, but my guys have). For the first week or two, I was skeptical. It was a lot of work, and while James reported feeling a bit better, I didn't notice much change in the kids. Then around the 2 week mark, I noticed that Emmett was much more energetic. He always seemed more lethargic than other kids his age, and I would really have to encourage him to get off the couch and be active. Now, he spends his days running loops around my kitchen, jumping and watching himself dance in the mirror. ;) His teachers at school have noticed a real increase in his energy levels too. I would also say he seems happier - he's laughing more, he runs to the school bus every afternoon, etc. I think he's just feeling better in general. Seth was never lethargic, but he's had chronic eczema since his was a small baby - at times he would have huge patches all over his legs, arms and stomach, and his elbows and ankles were always really bad. He hasn't had an "outbreak" all month, and he just has a few tiny patches on his arms that are almost gone. James says his stomach pain is gone, and it's a lot easier to get up in the morning.

Needless to say, we're staying gluten-free. It's been a real learning curve trying to menu plan, but I think I've got it down now. I'm getting pretty darn good at the baking aspect, too. (I can make rice flour sugar cookies that taste every bit as good as the real thing!!) Eating out is the most challenging part...Emmett really misses Wendy's cheeseburgers, but he's happy with just fries and a frosty, too. It's actually a good thing, because having very limited eating out options forces me to cook at home which is so much better for us.

I guess the other good news is that I think I've figured out that my guys don't actually have Celiac Disease, but "Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity". People with NCGS will test negative or inconclusive on tests for Celiac disease, but still have the symptoms and feel better off gluten. It seems like the non-celiacs have less problems with small intestine damage, malnutrition, anemia, etc, so that's good. Emmett was given some pretzels by mistake at school this week, and he didn't have any ill effects. Hopefully if we try our hardest to avoid gluten the boys won't suffer too much from any "oopses".

My boy has a "three kid scream"!

Yep, one house that Em went to expected to find 3 or 4 kids and were surprised to find out that the very loud "TRICK OR TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT!!!!!!" was just from one little guy! The kids had a blast this year. It was Seth's first year TOT'ing, and he had a pretty typical 1 year old experience I think. He didn't totally get what was going on, he forgot to carry his bucket half the time, but he enjoyed himself (for 3/4 of a block or so, anyways). Emmett was full on into it; running, laughing, screaming at each and every door. He went as "Super Emmett" this year and enthusiastically told everyone who asked that he had "the power to help!". He covered a few blocks and got a pretty big haul.

And as for the loot, I noticed some pretty distinct patterns emerging. Emmett is a "gorge myself on as much candy as possible as quickly as possible" kid. Seth is a "savour one tootsie pop for over an hour" kid. I predict in future years that Emmett will blow through his stash in less than 48 hours, and Seth will still have some candy tucked under his bed come Easter.

Quick Update

Well, we've survived a week without gluten. :) The first day was rough...it was a busy day and I didn't have time to bake, so the kids had to make do with rice cake sandwiches. Em took it in stride, Seth just about lost it. Once I got the hang of things though both kids were fine, and have happily accepted my homemade substitutes for their favorite foods. So far I've made cheesy biscuits, muffins, pumpkin spice bars, pie crust and bread. Bread has been the trickiest...my 1st attempt was a dry, blobby, half-baked failure (although my carb-starved kids attempted to eat it anyway), 2nd attempt produced something that actually looked like bread but didn't rise (kids still gobbled it up and begged for more), and my 3rd attempt produced two nicely risen loaves that look and smell like real bread!! My homemade loaves cost an estimated $2 a piece to make, (which seems excessive for homemade product) but when you factor in the (much) more expensive ingredients and the fact that a store bought loaf costs more than 3 times that, I figure I'm doing pretty well!

Going gluten free

A few months ago some routine blood work that we had done on Emmett came back showing he may have Celiac disease (intolerance to gluten). He had a biopsy done on his small intestine, which came back negative, but they told us he needs to have the blood test every 6 months because he's still at risk of developing the disease. I've since learned that the biopsies can be unreliable, and some chronic (mild) health problems that James and the boys have may be due to gluten intolerance. So, we've decided to go "gluten free" for 4 weeks (starting tomorrow) to see if anything improves.

Although I'm the only one not suspected of having a problem with gluten, as the family shopper and cook I've now got a whole bunch of extra work to do! Gluten is in almost all baked goods - bread, cake, muffins, etc, as well as in pasta and a lot of pre-prepared foods (bye bye cream of mushroom soup!). You can buy a gluten free version of pretty much everything, although you're paying a premium (a small loaf of gluten free bread runs around $6.50). We'll be buying a few snack type GF products (for in the car/preschool/nursery), but mostly I'll be cooking and baking everything from scratch. Yesterday I went to bulk barn and stocked up on rice flour, potato flour, tapioca flour and potato starch. We've also got xantham gum (makes GF baked goods taste more like the real thing) and rice pastas. Of course, there are tons and tons of foods that are naturally gluten free that we can still eat...we're just going to have to be a lot more careful about things. The thing that really worries me is Em getting upset if he can't eat the same snack as his friends at school, or that he won't understand why he can't get a cookie or muffin from the bakery at the end of a grocery run. I suppose he'll just get used to it.

Now I've got to go pack up all of my flour and pasta and get ready for "G Day" tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Wait...why am I doing this again?

Kid 1 likes grilled cheese sandwiches, but not tomato soup. Kid 2 loves tomato soup, and will eat grilled cheese but usually just nibbles at them and throws most of it on the floor. Gave kids 1 and 2 their preferred meal items for lunch. Kid 1 refuses to eat anything and wanders off. Kid 2 sips at his soup until he spots kid 1's abandoned sandwich. Kid 2 decides grilled cheese sandwiches are now his FAVORITE FOOD EVERRRRRR and pulls the tablecloth toward him in order to obtain said sandwich. In the process the now neglected (and rather large) bowl of soup hits the floor in such a dramatic fashion that it could have been recorded and played in slow motion in a paper towel commercial. Kid 1 of course must investigate the crash and wanders straight into the soup mess while I'm scrambling to clean up.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!! Of the past 21 days, I've been sick for about 19 of them. I'm pretty sure I managed to pick up another virus literally a day after I recovered from the last one. I was starting to improve but I'm feeling worse today. I'm just tired and cranky and apparently about to send kid 1 off to preschool with an empty stomach. Sigh...

Mr. Simpson? Gary spilt his ear medicine.

Man, have we been a family of "Gary"s lately. James and I have been miserably sick for the past 4 days and we've been shelling out for all kinds of pills and potions promising to subdue our misery for a few hours. James has discovered that combining Sudafed with his daily dose of ginseng tea gives him the kind of euphoria normally reserved only for those on speed and 12 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. I've discovered that using a Neti Pot (go ahead, google it) is quite effective, although a little awkward and highly unattractive.

Emmett has managed, miraculously, to avoid this plague, but Seth is suffering along with us (and without the aid of OTC meds). To add insult to injury, he's rashy from head to toe and now has 4, count 'em FOUR, different ointments that need to be applied at various times throughout the day. For a child that can barely stop moving long enough to eat, you can imagine how well all that "greasing" is being received.

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is, other than I haven't blogged in awhile and have absolutely NOTHING going on in my life right now other than trying to keep my sinuses from imploding and trying to make sure the right cream is going on the right parts of my toddler. We've got to get better eventually, right?

13 going on...13

My mom brought over a big bin of my childhood and teenage keepsakes yesterday, and I just went through it. The items ranged from the adorable (my little brownie uniform, complete with sash, belt and dues pouch!!) to the absolute cringe worthy (various diaries from 1993-2000, the worst of which was the one from 8th grade). I discovered that I was just as naive, shallow and overly dramatic as any other 13 year old. My best friend was Stephan, who I apparently had a bit of a crush on! ("Stephan and I are going trick or treating as an old married couple. It's going to be so wicked! PS. I (heart) Stephan. I hope he (heart)'s me back.") My family was investigating the church at the time, and I ranked all of the missionaries who taught us according to hotness...how deeply spiritual of me. ;) Oh, and every time I got punished or my parents wouldn't drive me to the store, my life was ending.

Some of my favorite excerpts:

August 1994: "I had a bad dream about school starting last night. I dreamed that my math teacher was Hitler."

July 1994: (on vacation) "There was a cappuccino stand, and they wanted $1.25 for a pack of gum...what a ripoff!!"

January 1993: "I learned that they have clear Pepsi now. To be honest it doesn't really taste like Pepsi but its still pretty good."

Ah, memories. ;)

I have a short memory.

Short memories can be useful, on occasion. They say, for example, that women purposely forget how painful childbirth is so that they may actually decide to go through it more than once. I can attest to the truthfulness of that statement, as I distinctly recall having an "Oh, right. This is what agony feels like." moment during my labour with Seth. I seem to also have a short memory when it comes to being wronged by others...occasionally some moment from way back when in high school will come up in conversation and someone (usually my mom) will say "Remember when so and so did/said ______? You were SO upset.", and they answer is almost always no. I figure that's a really good thing, as we're supposed to forgive and forget. Clearly I've got that going for me. ;)

I also seem to have a short memory when it comes to eating at a restaurant with my small children. I haven't been feeling great the past couple of days, and my kitchen is a mess as my sink has been backed up (with what turned out to be long dark hair. HAIR. In the KITCHEN sink. I don't even know what to say to that one.). So when James got home I announced that I wanted to go out for dinner, and he obliged. Now, normally when we eat out it's fast food, preferably in the car where the kids have no choice but to remain strapped down, but for some reason tonight all common sense left my brain and I decided that we were going to eat at a REAL restaurant, with menus and real cutlery and everything!!

Here's the highlight reel:

-Seth CHUGS a large (almost adult size) glass of chocolate milk in literally less than 5 minutes. I ponder whether it's too late to cancel his dinner order. His food came like 2 minutes later, so yes.
-Seth reacts to me trying to feed him ravioli like I'm trying to poison him. We're talking flailing around in the high chair, howling and trying to throw anything within his reach to the floor for full dramatic effect.
-Seth decides he's too full for food, but still has plenty of room in there for crayons! Not unlike Smarties, red ones are his favorite.
-We take the ravioli away, but not before he has a chance to dip some of the crayons in the sauce, and then paint his colouring sheet with that.
-Since I finish my meal first, I offer to take Seth for a walk to burn off some energy. Cue Emmett meltdown. So now I'm trying to herd both of them around in the same direction while James finishes his meal and orders some previously-promised ice cream.
-Seth discovers if he takes a spoonful of ice cream, holds it in his mouth until it melts a bit and then leans his head back, he can make a melted ice cream volcano out of his mouth!! He is VERY please with his new discovery. Thankfully, Emmett was way to engrossed in actually eating his ice cream to notice or copycat.

Yeah, I think we're going to go back to solid diet of Wendy's, in the car. Just for the record, we DO correct the bad behavior when it happens, and the fact that Emmett sat nicely, ate his meal, said thank you to the waitress and was completely fine other than the "Mommy can't go somewhere without ME!!" upset gives me hope that someday going out to eat won't be a freaking circus.

Waning Summer

I love this time of year. It's getting cooler at night, school supplies are front and centre in all the stores, and every once in awhile you'll see a few yellowing leaves. Summer is on its way out, and it's time to get ready for fall! I'm not a huge fan of summer...I'm a big wuss about the heat, being out in the sun for even a couple of hours makes me all useless and sleepy, and the mosquitoes have been brutal this year. But there's something wonderful about the last couple of weeks of August - canning, pickling, buying new school clothes and supplies. I love this time of preparation.

Of course, I haven't done any canning or pickling this year...that would require me to have my crap together, which I don't. Maybe next year. Oh, I have big plans for next year...I'm going to do some container vegetable gardening, and hopefully I'll end up with something worth canning.

Emmett heads back to preschool in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait. Emmett/Seth cat fights are now happening with much more frequency...everyone is bored and cranky. It will be interesting to see what Em thinks of having afternoon class and taking the school bus from our new place. Hopefully he'll have the same teacher so something remains the same. Fingers crossed!