Howza Bout a Little Update?

Sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time. I know I'm always a little annoyed when I visit someone's blog for, oh, the 50th time to find that they still haven't updated. So I thought I should get my rear and gear and let you know what's been going on around here. Maybe it'll be contagious and others (Heather) will do the same...

First major news in the Murphy household: Jordyn will definitely be the baby in our family. That's right, five is enough and we are now incapable of producing anymore Murphys. Which is unfortunate considering how cute and bright they all are. P.S. Don is fine, recovering quickly, just walks a little funny.

Now, onto less momentous news: the office is coming along nicely. It's all framed, wired, and sheetrocked. Don is currently doing the taping and mudding, which is a slow and dirty job. He did buy the primer for the next step and we're going to look at paint colours later this a.m.

Nathan is busy at school and cadets. His classes are keeping him busier than he'd prefer, as his teachers this term have these incredibly high standards for student work and are sometimes encouraging Nathan to do work over to get a higher mark. While Nathan feels this is unnecessary, Don and I encourage him to take advantage of the opportunity, if you know what I mean. This weekend he had range practice, next weekend he and Sean return to Quadra for a weekend of sail training. I hope they have good weather there. He is busy directing a one-act play and is getting frustrated at the lack of commitment from his actors. He might even can his leading man and take that part himself.

Dylan is at school 10 hours/day most days. Starting with jazz band or Senior Chamber Choir at 6:45, and ending with volleyball practice or games that sometimes end at 6:30. We see little of him, but we know where he is and what he's doing, so it's all good. He's also swimming on the school swim team this year. It's a short little season, but apparently they're going to have an incredible relay team so he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. He continues, somehow, to get straight A's in the very few hours he has left in the day. We're looking forward to his first band/choir concert of the year on Nov. 30.

Sean is getting hit with the reality of school. His teacher, Mrs. Cuthbert, is making it her personal responsibility to make sure all of her students are ready for Secondar School next year. So, Sean has homework every night, as opposed to...never. He's doing well, though, in all of his subjects. He's playing trombone in the elementary band and is on the Grade 7 volleyball team. That season ends soon, and then there's a short break until basketball starts up. Sean is still enjoying cadets and has joined the Guard, which means he marches around with guns on the parade square (real guns, not loaded). They practice Monday nights, and thankfully Nathan is willing to drive him there because Nathan has work that he can do at the Cadet Training Centre during that time. I'm going to really, really, really miss Nathan (and his car).

Patience is three and 1/2 now and is pretty much ready to take on the world. She loves preschool. She loves swimming lessons with Marianne. It's hard to believe that four sessions ago she spent most of her time sitting on the side of the pool (in timeout) crying, because now she's belle of the pool, showing all of the other kids how to do what Marianne wants them to do. She has her swim lesson on Tuesdays right after preschool, so when she gets home she's tired and starving. Last week she ate two entire peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before she even came up for air. Then she willingly had a nap. Tuesdays are good : )

Jordyn is now the age that Patience was when I had Jordyn. I cannot imagine having a newborn right now. She is starting to have more and more words, and of course she is very capable for such a little person. For example, she was able to open the gate we have at the top of our stairs. So we padlocked it. We didn't even try to get an easy-opening lock...she'd have that figured out in no time. (The combination is zero-Jeremy Roenick-Kyle MacLaren; guess whose lock it is?) Despite her hyper-busyness, she's doing really well and we all love her to pieces. Even certain older brothers who used to not have the time of day for her are coming around and calling her sweet nothings while carrying her around like a baby. She's getting under his skin, that's for sure.

I am busy. Among other things, I am trying to be deliberate about our food around here. It's the one area of our budget that I can control, so I'm putting more time and energy into the planning and procuring. I'm going to be posing about some great leftovers. I'm trying to eat out of the freezer as much as possible this month because we are getting a quarter beef in late November, early December and I need to make room for it.

We've had a ton of rain lately, but today dawned bright and sunny (still cold, but that's okay). We'll be able to go out and play today...the girls will really appreciate that.

The best news I received lately: Lee is coming back : ) I'm always pretty sure that he won't re-up because let's face it: December around here with all these kids and the farm is not a lot of fun, and it's a lot of work! But he thankfully comes back, year after year, to help and keep me sane. What a blessing he is in December and always.

Okay, that's about it, except for photos which I haven't taken in a long time.

Love and hugs,
Cathi