Halloween!

Well, she has the costume thing down, but the trick-or-treating is still a little fuzzy. She's never going to be okay with someone handing her a piece of candy and then NOT being able to eat it right away! All I can say is I'm glad it's Don who's out there with her and not me : ).

Mind you, I'm here with sick and fussy Jordyn, so we're about even!

Don has Dylan, Patience, Sean, and a friend of Sean's from school at a nearby neighborhood where they supposedly give out really good candy! Nathan opted out of trick-or-treating in order to get together with friends (Mac and Andrew) who he hasn't seen in ages.

Tomorrow I'll let you know how things were out on the street!

A lesson in "sweet"

Did you know that clothing comes not only in sizes, but also in "sweet" or not? I learned that last night, when Dylan complained that he didn't have any "sweet" clothes! "Sweet" is what cool used to be, way back when I was his age. Dylan has had quite a growth spurt these past few months. He's now the second-tallest person in our family! He's thin, and he has really long arms....just like his dad at 14, I'm sure. So it wasn't unreasonable that he should get some new clothes.

So, back to "sweet." Dylan, Patience, and I headed off to Value Village. We looked at all their shirts in his size, and I learned which ones were "sweet." I'd hold one up. "Sweet..." (into the cart). Another. "Not sweet..." (back on the rack). By the time we had 6 or 7 shirts in the cart, I was getting the hang of it! I even had a streak of three "sweet" shirts by the end! So, Dylan is now the proud owner of a dozen new "sweet" shirts. Apparently his jeans were already "sweet," so we didn't need to go down that aisle!

Oh, he also got a pair of white leather high-tops for gym, several binders, and new pjs. Gotta love Value Village...we walked out of there $100 poorer (or less rich) and now my son is wearing "sweet" shirts.

Sweet....

Sissy's Hat!

JoJo took advantage of her sister's nap by wearing Patience's cowgirl hat! I turned it around so she could actually see something...you can tell she's pleased with her little self!

Good Monday Morning!

Well, here we are at the dawn of another week!

As I sit and write, my younger daughter is sleeping soundly and my older daughter is trying to convince me that I should open a package of cookies for her! We should have called her Persistence...

The boys are all in school right now, although I will Sean's sunny little face at lunchtime. The weather is cold and clear, perfect for a brisk bike ride during the lunch hour! Dylan stays after for volleyball practice today and Nathan has drama practice.

Don is off site at a client's all day, so it's relatively quiet at the homefront. This weekend Don painted parts of the mudroom floor (strategic parts so he could put down trim and still walk around in there), and that project is quickly coming to an end! Yeah!

Sean, for some unexplainable reason, is now intrigued with "spring cleaning." I have no idea where he even heard the term, but he made me promise that we could do some spring cleaning when he came home from school today, and that I wouldn't clean the bathroom before he came home! He's going to make one heck of a husband some day! ; )

Jordyn is getting quite tall and quite capable. Just this morning, she used the kitchen chair to get into a standing position, and then reached up as far as she could, to reach Patience's cereal bowl, which she the proceded to spill all over the kitchen floor! Thank the Lord that Patience has just recently gone through a "cereal without milk" phase! So it wasn't a real mess. And besides, JoJo then proceded to clean it up by eating all of the Honeycomb that had just fallen! Yes, it's obvious that she's #5...not only do I let my 8.5 month old eat Honeycomb, I'm grateful that she's doing it so I don't have to clean it up. Sheeesh...

Well, I'm off to do something. Not sure what yet, but there are many options.

Cheers!

Everybody Up and At 'Em!

This was an early morning at Murphy's! Miss Jordyn woke up at 6:45. I let her cry for awhile, thinking she might be tricked into going back to sleep since it was still pitch dark outside. But, no, she was smarter than that and kept at it until I got her up. I gave her a bottle and then played with her for awhile until Miss Patience tore down the hallway in her usual exuberant fashion.

I got the girlies their breakfast and then went to workout at Curves. I got home in time to relieve Don, who is spending some time working with his Dad today.

The boys had Duncan over after last night's volleyball tournament, and I'm sure they have a big day of electronics planned. Right now they're just starting to make noises downstairs in BoyLand.

Nathan has a cadet thing today; he's standing outside of Save-On-Foods asking for money in exchange for a paper Poppy. This is fundraising for the Canadian Legion instead of his Cadet Corp, but then the Legion turns around and thanks the Corp by giving them a cheque! Whatever...

Sean's goose egg is gone but now he has a black eye. On the eyelid. It looks like he got carried away with blueblack eyeshadow. He's hoping it'll stay like this until Halloween. I let him stay home Friday so he could be "carefully supervised." You don't want to take any chances with head injuries, you know! : )

The weather is okay here. Not sunny, but not rainy. I might try to get outside and do some cleaning up. I'll write more when anything newsworthy happens!
Cheers!

A Busy Thursday!

My excitement for today was getting a call from Sean's principal! At lunch recess Sean was on the receiving end of a gate getting kicked open...he caught it, as you can see, right above his left eye! He's fine now, and was very happy to be able to come home from school early.

My poor Miss J is still sick...stuffy, coughy, and very, very clingy. It's difficult to do much of anything besides hold her. And she's not cuddly. She wants me to hold her, but to hold her outwards and be walking around. Sitting and cuddling in the rocker will not be tolerated!

A Quiet Wednesday Morning...

Here are the girlies playing on the kitchen floor. Patience has the coveted Barbie Dollie and Jordyn has a Cheerio that she found on the floor!

Jordyn seems to be coming down with a cold. She's been so healthy, but on Sunday she was in the church nursery for 90 minutes and now she has a cough and a runny nose! Grrrr... I know in theory it's better if she gets sick now and again, that it'll boost her immunity system, blah, blah, blah, but for right now it's wreaking havoc with my sleep schedule! I was up with her three times last night. I rocked her, gave her a bottle, and she went back to sleep at 11. At one, I gave her some more bottle and some Tylenol Cough/Cold medicine (thanks, Mom!). At 4:45, I repeated the 1 o'clock routine. At 6:00, Dylan and Nathan were up showering and having breakfast. Ugh...

The really good news is that Don painted the mudroom last night (I pleaded) and it looks fantastic. It looks like coffee with the perfect amount of cream! He's going to do one more coat (more pleading, I imagine!) and then the trim will finish it! Yeah!!! And to celebrate, he's lit the first fire of the season this morning. I love the smell and the feel of a wood fire.

Sadly, our VCR finally bit the dust after I don't know how many years and countless videos. I think I'm going to venture out today and try to pick up a VCR/DVD combo for the girlies' t.v. Maybe I'll see if Waneta wants to go...there's safety in numbers!

The boys are incredibly busy with drama, volleyball, cadets, school, and whatnot. I'm basically at home enjoying the babies, and venturing out just to be a chauffeur when they boys need rides! So my life isn't nearly as busy as theirs are!

The modified cabbage soup diet is working for me. I've lost about 4 pounds, which is pretty good considering I'm getting two totally undiet meals each day! I still like the soup, and made a new batch this past weekend. Speaking of breakfast, I think it's time for me to eat!

More later...

By Popular Demand...

I cut Jordyn's bangs! Mom has been "suggesting" that I do that for awhile now, as Jordyn's wispy bangs were quite long...but so thin that I was pretty sure they weren't affecting her eyesight : )

At any rate, they're no longer an issue because they're GONE!

And of course while I had Jordyn on her changing table to do her hair, Patience was left unattended for, what, 60 seconds? And can you imagine what SHE was doing during that time? She found my haircutting supplies on the bathroom counter and proceeded to cut her own hair! Thank heavens she only had my thinning shears...even though I found lots of locks of long hair on the bathroom floor, I couldn't tell where she had cut it from. Phew!

After the dueling haircuts, I gave them a bath and put them both to bed! Patience hasn't had a nap in several days but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway...

More later!

Jordyn Makes Crepes!

Daddy is making crepes for dinner and he's letting Jordyn "help." You can't really see it in this picture, but her hand is in the mixing bowl feeling the flour. He's since decided that it's much harder to make crepes with Jordyn's help, so she's now back on the floor where she belongs. Actually, she's going to bed because, as you can see from the picture, her eyes are a little bleary.

The girls and I went to church today for the first time in a L-O-N-G time and Jordyn did just fine in the nursery. I went in at about noon and she was just about collapsed on the floor from exhaustion, as she didn't get her morning nap and she was up since 6:30 or so. But she didn't cry when I left her there!

I was little nervous about leaving Patience in there because, while she's very reliable toilet-wise, she also always has a toilet handy, and there isn't one in the nursery. So I went in mid-sermon and took her to the bathroom, and then again toward the end. I didn't want an accident!

Tonight we're all going into Langley to get Halloween costume stuff, some paint for the stairs, and a light fixture for the mud room. That room is very nearly complete. Don has the whole thing primed and the ceiling painted. I chose a nice color called "Naturally Calm" for the walls, which he'll paint tomorrow hopefully.

Today was a beautiful, sunny day here. Don and the kids worked outside for awhile after lunch and I had a "piece of quiet," and then I had a nice phone call from my mom! Lucky me : )

Okay, I'm off to pick up toys : )

Jordyn Rocks to Sleep...

Tonight Jordyn is really tired because she napped so poorly today. Don sat her in this rocker and started rocking it and she started nodding off. It was so funny that I went to get the camera so we could get a shot of her falling asleep in the rocker. But as soon as she saw the camera she bolted straight up and smiled! She's so well trained.... Oh well, we didn't get the sleepy shot, but this is still pretty cute : )

The Weekend Already!

Wow, this week has just flown by!

It's a beautiful sunny (but cool) day here, and we're expecting more of the same for the weekend. Tonight and tomorrow Nathan is scheduled to go "begging" for cadets, only they call it "tagging." Nathan is one of their best beggers...he can money from nearly everyone he meets!

Right now Sean is at a friend's house, Dylan is down playing Maple Story (if you don't have children who are addicted to this internet game, you should be very thankful!), and Nathan is downstairs with five cadet buddies watching a movie, or playing video games, or something!

Don will hopefully get the mud room painted this weekend. That's our goal, anyway.

I'll post more later. Cheers!

Good Report!

Yeah! All of the teachers I talked to said this about Nathan: "he's a great kid, he's doing great, you should be proud of him." And we are!

I only spoke with one of Dylan's teachers, who stated, "Dylan is brilliant." Well said.

Okay, that's all, folks!

Guess Who Has A Tooth?

Me!

Jordyn is my youngest baby ever to have a tooth at this young age (8.5 months). Patience got one sometime after her ninth month, and the boys were all toothless until after their first birthday. I guess Jordyn is working on growing teeth instead of big feet : )

That would explain the fussiness the past couple of days. I looked in Patience's mouth and found two lower molars had just erupted. Okay, now I feel bad...I should have been doling out the Tylenol these past couple of days.

I'm off in twenty minutes or so to have parent-teacher conferences at the high school. I hope to come home with glowing reports from all of Nathan's and Dylan's teachers!

Oh! I can't believe I forgot to blog this! Dylan, Jordyn, and I went to watch Sean's first volleyball game yesterday afternoon. It was great...Sean's team won three out of four sets and he played really well! It's his first year and he's just learning the game, but we can see definite potential!

Last night we had some really yummy turkey chili. Don had an elders' meeting so I got to be a single parent again last night. I am looking forward to next summer. I think it'll be easier to have both girls when they're more able to play together and when Jordyn isn't so needy. It's not that she's more needy than normal, it's that I have less time than "normal"...

Okay, wish me luck...I'm off!

JoJo Wants Sissy's Lunch!

If she were a puppy, I'd have to train her to not beg!

This picture isn't very clear as I was shooting right into the southern window. Oops!

Both girlies are very fussy today. A couple of times I had both of them crying/screaming loud. I'm wondering if Miss J. is getting teeth, because she's not normally this fussy. I don't know what Patience's problem is. She probably misses her Aunt Babadee!

Magnificent Five!

Someday I'm going to get a shot of them where everyone is looking at the camera and there are no toys in the shot! But for now, this will have to suffice!

We survived yesterday without Don. I was going to slack off and not bathe the girlies (that's Don's job!) but last night, at 6:45, Jordyn crawled down the hallway, stood up at the closed bathroom door, and started pounding on it! She knows the routine! So, they got bathed : )

Last night Nathan had band practice at cadets from 6-8. I dropped him off a little early so I could pick up Dylan from volleyball practice just a tad bit late! Last night's supper was wraps made with homemade whole wheat tortillas (yummy!), lunch meat left over from the 4-H banquet, cheese, and bunch of veggies either chopped or shredded. That's a really easy way to get some veggies in! And a good supper for those times when people have to eat at different times.

Lucky me! I just got to fish a sucked-on post-it note out of Jordyn's mouth, and she did not want to give it up! Babies...gotta love 'em!

Sean just asked me if I could arrange a sleep over with Hailey Lawson this weekend! Sounds okay to me...how 'bout you, Val?

Today Dylan has a volleyball game. I'll probably leave the girlies with Sean and Nathan and go watch for awhile. It's a home game, which is convenient.

Okay, I'm off to watch Spirit (again!).

Cabbage Soup Diet...

Okay, I need to lose some weight. I am, unfortunately, at my all-time non-pregnant high weight. Darn. Apparently you can't eat whatever you want even while breastfeeding. So, in addition to working out at Curves three times/week, I am going to change my eating habits. Here is what I'm doing, so you can keep me accountable : )

I am doing a modified cabbage soup diet. I've never been able to follow it strictly for more than two days, but I think the soup itself is a pretty good way to cut back calorie consumption. I'm going to eat a sensible breakfast, usually cereal and 1 % milk, and I'm going to eat a sensible dinner with an eye on my portion size. In between those meals, I'm only going to eat the soup.

Oh, and because I basically don't like cabbage soup the way it's usually made, I modified that, too, to make it tolerable. I pureed it! It's quite good...almost like tomato soup with some extra flavors added in.

I'll let you know how it goes!
Cheers!

Happy Monday Morning!

This morning Don left for two days of tree-cutting up at Tulameen. Lucky me...single parent! Jordyn woke much earlier than usual this morning, 6:30, and chose not to go back to sleep after a bottle. Oh well, it gave me the chance to get this great shot of her and Nate. I figure I'll take bookend pictures periodically...she's 8 months and he's 17 in this shot.

Dylan was up and out early this a.m. for Jazz Band. Mr. Sean has no school today so he's still sleeping!

Not much on the calendar for the week outside of parent/teacher interviews for Thursday, and half days for Nate and Dylan on Wednesday and Thursday. Of course there are various volleyball practices, play practices, volleyball games, and even a Cadet fundraiser, but nothing out of the ordinary to report!

My mom and Lee have their own blog now! How cool is that? Her link is on my page so you can jump over there and read all about their lives : )

More later!

Don and His Girlies...

This is right after bath time when Don needs a rest from the vigorous workout of bathing, shampoo-ing, splashing, and playing with Patience and Jordyn in the tub! It's a hard job but someone has to do it! As you can see, Miss Patience was not cooperative like the lovely Miss J. Oh well, you can't win 'em all!

Miss Jordyn is growing up so quickly. She crawls fast and is vertical more often than not. She's almost completely on a bottle now. I was hoping to have the weaning process take more than three days, but it looks like she's switched gears! It will be more convenient and easier for everyone (except maybe me). She also loves her solids and her multi-grain Cheerios.

The boys had a blissfully empty day today. Absolutely nothing on the calendar for all three of them, which is pretty close to a miracle. So, they've hung out with a friend, played basketball, played video games, and basically enjoyed the day to the fullest : )

More tomorrow!

Ahoy, Matey!

Here's Sean at the Langley 4-H District Annual Awards Banquet. This year's theme was pirates, and each club decorated their table in theme and then the winning club gets a prize (usually candy). Woodlands has won 12 out of 24 years, but sadly last night we lost to another club who, quite frankly, didn't have anywhere near the quality or creativity of decorations that we had. But, it's okay because this year the prize was only jelly beans!

Nathan did get his Program Pin there, which means that he rocks in the communications program (speeches, demos, ed displays, etc.). The pin is equivalent to 4 high school credits, which might come in handy some day! It was a lot of fun, but it turned out to be a late evening...we didn't get home until nearly 11. The good news is that Don and both girlies had a nice evening and we wasn't even frazzled when I got home!

The other picture is of most of our club...obviously Nathan is missing along with 4 or 5 others. But you can see how well the kids get along!

More later!

Slumber Party!

Here are Sean, Patience, and a very happy Jordyn having a slumber party in the kitchen this morning!

Right now Jordyn is napping, Patience is terrorizing the house and me, and I was able to go work out thanks to Don's flexible schedule!

Sean and Dylan have volleyball practice after school, and Nathan has a driving lesson. That's a snapshot of our day!

On a technical note, something is wrong with my photo software, making it difficult to impossible to upload photos to my blog. My tech support person is not very responsive to my computer issues. Imagine that...

Here's a funny story. Sea Cadets had their annual general meeting on Tuesday night. Don wouldn't let me go, because he was sure I'd come home with a "position." His last words as he left the house were, "I'm not signing up for anything!" Yep, you guessed it. Don has a position! Better him than me...

Patience got her first Barbie. It's one that came in a McDonald's kids meal (date with Dad). She loves it. And so does Jordyn. Therein lies the problem! And Jordyn isn't easily distracted. She's focused. She wants that little dolly. And whenever Patience sees her playing with it, she immediately wants it. I guess this is our first lesson in two girls close in age: two of everything, exactly the same. Younger and more energetic parents would use this opportunity to teach character values...sharing and all that.

Okay, I think that's all the news from this corner of the world!

More later...