Monday, November 29, 2010
The house we are thinking of...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Carpet Time
This morning I enjoyed, for almost an hour, hugs, kisses, cuddles, slobbers and more with Austin and Olivia.
I had not gotten ready for the day so I didn't mind having my face washed by Olivia's drool/slobber. Austin kept us warm with blankets and we just hugged and cuddled each other.
It is in these moments that I find such great joy and am so thankful for the opportunity to be a mother.
This grounds me, brings me back to reality and focuses me on what life is all about.
The past two weeks has been mentally exhausting as we are deciding on some major decisions. It felt good to let that go and just be a mom.
I had not gotten ready for the day so I didn't mind having my face washed by Olivia's drool/slobber. Austin kept us warm with blankets and we just hugged and cuddled each other.
It is in these moments that I find such great joy and am so thankful for the opportunity to be a mother.
This grounds me, brings me back to reality and focuses me on what life is all about.
The past two weeks has been mentally exhausting as we are deciding on some major decisions. It felt good to let that go and just be a mom.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Ready for church today (Austin opted out of the photo shoot). We had to take a photo as Livi is sporting the same coat that Madeleine wore when she was her age. A coat given to us by Aunt Shellie. It is so fun to see Livi in Madeleine's old clothes. It is amazing how different they look in the same outfit. I should try to scan a photo of Madeleine and put it next to one of Livi.
Justin gave his first talk by himself in primary today. It was on service and he dictated (I wrote for efficiencies sake) and he read the talk beautifully, including great intonation.
His reading has just blossomed! He is so excited.
Madeleine is so sweet with Olivia.
She enjoys taking care of her and making her feel safe and loved.
Snow Days
We've enjoyed lots of hot chocolate with croissants to dip in of course.
I tried taking Livi and Austin sledding and my nose hairs were frozen after 5 minutes. Austin was ok but Livi couldn't keep her mitts on and was happy to return home.
They played well for a while and then Austin decided to throw a snowball at Justin's face and it ended poorly for the two of them. They recover quickly though and were pals minutes later.
Livi did not want the game to end and showed my with a good pout and sprawl on the floor.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Who needs teeth anyway?
Eric was on call (away) for almost three days which left me with lots of time to prove myself worthy of the stay -at-home title I so proudly bare. Each day brought with it an unexpected challenge(s). I find that when time is involved and a crisis happen I am not as patient as I wish I could be.
Day #1 We had our first snowfall. Roads were slippery and we do not have our snow tires on yet. It is my week to carpool so I needed to leave extra time. It was also Austin's soccer night (across town). I had not been feeling well so I asked Austin if we could skip Soccer. He was clear in his disappointment and his desire to go. So, I needed to get dinner done and on the table by 4:45, at the latest, so we could be out the door by 5:10 to make it to soccer. We arrived home from school at 4pm and I got dinner on the table by the appointed time and was feeling quite good that I wasn't going to disappoint Austin. At 5:10 I asked the bundled Austin and Madeleine to head out to the car while I changed Livi and finished up dinner. Within 5 minutes I could hear screaming and crying. Austin emerged from the garage with snow on his hat, face, neck and down his coat. Instead of getting in the car they had a snowball fight and Madeleine unintentionally got him in the head. Well, when Austin is worked up it takes TIME to calm him, time we did not have. I tried to patiently remove and replace his clothes and get him into the van. I still needed to get Livi. We piled in at 5:22, we'd be late but could make it. A few minutes into the drive I realized Austin was wearing boots and his soccer shoes were back home. I turned around went home and got the shoes, time 5:33 soccer already started but we can still make it. We have to, I have done everything I can to make it possible. Arrive at soccer with 10 minutes left. We get to the field and Austin says, "Go home." And begins to cry. I try to coax him onto the field and he cries harder. At this point I break. I am frustrated and do not understand, he only has 10 minutes, we made it and he can play for a little bit, what is wrong. He says he has to go pee, I leave the three others and go to bathroom only to find a sign that says CLOSED use the upstairs, around the corner bathroom. We make it up to find that the lights don't work in the upstairs bathroom. I am beyond rational thought and just want to erase the evening in my mind. We finally end up together in a Men's bathroom, finish there and grab our stuff and go home. It would have been so much easier to have stayed in on a cold and slippery night, not to have rushed dinner and yet I was trying to do something good and it fell apart. I fell apart. Did playing soccer really matter? No, Austin's feelings should have been more important at that moment in time.
Second day of Eric's absence. The morning had passed uneventfully and I was encouraged by some good cleaning, playing and cooking that had been done. As I turned to get the bread out of the oven I hear a crash and screaming. I find Olivia pinned by a stool with one of the rungs in her mouth. Blood is coming from her mouth. After10 minutes or so of trying to stop the blood I get a look at her teeth. Two of her front teeth have been repositioned, back. I am devastated and wonder at this point if there is anything that can be done, blood resumes. I call the dentist and he says he will take a look and see if he can push them forward and give an assessment. He asks if I can make it in after I pick up the kids at 3:30. The kids usually take 10min. or so to get out but after 20 minutes there was no sign of Justin and Rawley. Olivia is crying and bleeding and I am supposed to get the other kids dropped off for their judo lessons. I see Justin, finally, carrying one boot and looking around as if he'd lost something. I wonder, "Why is he holding a boot. He should be wearing his boots. What is he wearing? Where is the other one? I don't have time for this, we are late, I have to get Livi to the dentist. What is he doing." Not calm and collected.
I run out, in my tennis shoes, into a foot of snow. Justin says he's lost his boot and doesn't know where. We start canvasing the playground and field to no avail. He was wearing his indoor shoes and had thought to carry his boots home, why we'll never know. When it snows we wear BOOTS!
I am not patient and we finally leave empty-handed. Drop kids off and head to dentist, still bleeding. He says there is a good chance she won't lose her teeth but we won't know for a week or so. I feel so bad and wish I could have rewound time and saved her from this accident. I was right next to her. We leave the office with hope that they won't rot and that her tongue, with its natural thrusting motion forward will over time move the two teeth forward again. We hope. Poor little girl. We return to the school and I run in to check if his boot is there. FOUND IT! At least there was one victory.
I am tired and go to bed.
Day #1 We had our first snowfall. Roads were slippery and we do not have our snow tires on yet. It is my week to carpool so I needed to leave extra time. It was also Austin's soccer night (across town). I had not been feeling well so I asked Austin if we could skip Soccer. He was clear in his disappointment and his desire to go. So, I needed to get dinner done and on the table by 4:45, at the latest, so we could be out the door by 5:10 to make it to soccer. We arrived home from school at 4pm and I got dinner on the table by the appointed time and was feeling quite good that I wasn't going to disappoint Austin. At 5:10 I asked the bundled Austin and Madeleine to head out to the car while I changed Livi and finished up dinner. Within 5 minutes I could hear screaming and crying. Austin emerged from the garage with snow on his hat, face, neck and down his coat. Instead of getting in the car they had a snowball fight and Madeleine unintentionally got him in the head. Well, when Austin is worked up it takes TIME to calm him, time we did not have. I tried to patiently remove and replace his clothes and get him into the van. I still needed to get Livi. We piled in at 5:22, we'd be late but could make it. A few minutes into the drive I realized Austin was wearing boots and his soccer shoes were back home. I turned around went home and got the shoes, time 5:33 soccer already started but we can still make it. We have to, I have done everything I can to make it possible. Arrive at soccer with 10 minutes left. We get to the field and Austin says, "Go home." And begins to cry. I try to coax him onto the field and he cries harder. At this point I break. I am frustrated and do not understand, he only has 10 minutes, we made it and he can play for a little bit, what is wrong. He says he has to go pee, I leave the three others and go to bathroom only to find a sign that says CLOSED use the upstairs, around the corner bathroom. We make it up to find that the lights don't work in the upstairs bathroom. I am beyond rational thought and just want to erase the evening in my mind. We finally end up together in a Men's bathroom, finish there and grab our stuff and go home. It would have been so much easier to have stayed in on a cold and slippery night, not to have rushed dinner and yet I was trying to do something good and it fell apart. I fell apart. Did playing soccer really matter? No, Austin's feelings should have been more important at that moment in time.
Second day of Eric's absence. The morning had passed uneventfully and I was encouraged by some good cleaning, playing and cooking that had been done. As I turned to get the bread out of the oven I hear a crash and screaming. I find Olivia pinned by a stool with one of the rungs in her mouth. Blood is coming from her mouth. After10 minutes or so of trying to stop the blood I get a look at her teeth. Two of her front teeth have been repositioned, back. I am devastated and wonder at this point if there is anything that can be done, blood resumes. I call the dentist and he says he will take a look and see if he can push them forward and give an assessment. He asks if I can make it in after I pick up the kids at 3:30. The kids usually take 10min. or so to get out but after 20 minutes there was no sign of Justin and Rawley. Olivia is crying and bleeding and I am supposed to get the other kids dropped off for their judo lessons. I see Justin, finally, carrying one boot and looking around as if he'd lost something. I wonder, "Why is he holding a boot. He should be wearing his boots. What is he wearing? Where is the other one? I don't have time for this, we are late, I have to get Livi to the dentist. What is he doing." Not calm and collected.
I run out, in my tennis shoes, into a foot of snow. Justin says he's lost his boot and doesn't know where. We start canvasing the playground and field to no avail. He was wearing his indoor shoes and had thought to carry his boots home, why we'll never know. When it snows we wear BOOTS!
I am not patient and we finally leave empty-handed. Drop kids off and head to dentist, still bleeding. He says there is a good chance she won't lose her teeth but we won't know for a week or so. I feel so bad and wish I could have rewound time and saved her from this accident. I was right next to her. We leave the office with hope that they won't rot and that her tongue, with its natural thrusting motion forward will over time move the two teeth forward again. We hope. Poor little girl. We return to the school and I run in to check if his boot is there. FOUND IT! At least there was one victory.
I am tired and go to bed.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
First Snow of the Year
We woke up today to snow. Well, this morning was more like a blizzard with strong winds blowing "snow ghosts" (as the kids called it) across the road. Poor Madeleine felt quite threatened by the wind as it seemed to be taking her breath away. I stood at the bus stop cold and trying to avoid facing the wind as it had such a bite to it.
Austin got dressed and enjoyed a bit of time in the snow this morning. This is the beginning of snow clothes, boots and everything else that goes with it...I am glad that at least two of my kids can dress themselves in their gear. It gets to be a bit much doing it over and over, especially when the young ones only stay outside for short periods of time.
Organizing the playroom and more
I love the shelves and bins!
o
The couch, tv, train table, kitchen etc. can't be seen as it is behind me, but we reorganized all of it. The door on the left is where the storage under the stairs is located. We took everything out and donated and reorganized. That was a huge job.
This is my tupperware cupboard and we donated the old cheap containers and replaced them with some better quality ones that snap together so I won't be losing lids or having things fall on me when I open it. Also notice the nice white culking behind Amy. The culking was looking pretty bad so Amy suggested we replace it. I said I didn't know how. She went on Google and a few minutes later said she knew how and she'd be back as she was going to run to Home Hardware to get what we needed. She is such a go-getter! She doesn't just think about doing something, she does it. She was as dedicated in getting my house in shape as I could imagine she would be with her own house. I hope I can be as good of a friend.
Notice what time the clock says, this is in the a.m.!
My good friend Amy came down last week with some new shelving and bins. I regret not taking a before picture of our basement as it was not only cluttered but the shelving was in bad repair. Olivia is such a climber and just in to everything that I worried the shelves would fall on her. So, Amy was so sweet to go into Calgary and pick up the new items. We put the shelves together, with Sonja's help, and they look fantastic! We not only organized but purged my house of unused toys, books, stuffed animals, plates, cups, tupperware, but also tackled the laundry room and some of the garage. We worked for hours taking us into the wee hours of the morning (between 2am and 4am). I am still recovering days later as my body is not used to such little sleep.
o
The couch, tv, train table, kitchen etc. can't be seen as it is behind me, but we reorganized all of it. The door on the left is where the storage under the stairs is located. We took everything out and donated and reorganized. That was a huge job.
This is my tupperware cupboard and we donated the old cheap containers and replaced them with some better quality ones that snap together so I won't be losing lids or having things fall on me when I open it. Also notice the nice white culking behind Amy. The culking was looking pretty bad so Amy suggested we replace it. I said I didn't know how. She went on Google and a few minutes later said she knew how and she'd be back as she was going to run to Home Hardware to get what we needed. She is such a go-getter! She doesn't just think about doing something, she does it. She was as dedicated in getting my house in shape as I could imagine she would be with her own house. I hope I can be as good of a friend.Notice what time the clock says, this is in the a.m.!
My good friend Amy came down last week with some new shelving and bins. I regret not taking a before picture of our basement as it was not only cluttered but the shelving was in bad repair. Olivia is such a climber and just in to everything that I worried the shelves would fall on her. So, Amy was so sweet to go into Calgary and pick up the new items. We put the shelves together, with Sonja's help, and they look fantastic! We not only organized but purged my house of unused toys, books, stuffed animals, plates, cups, tupperware, but also tackled the laundry room and some of the garage. We worked for hours taking us into the wee hours of the morning (between 2am and 4am). I am still recovering days later as my body is not used to such little sleep.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Halloween time
Our new neighbors, who are in their 50's, were to be away for Halloween and dropped off individualized Halloween bags full of unique gifts for the kids. What "nice neighbors we have" was heard over and over from the kids.
Making the individual pieces with triangles and mouths cut from different meats.
This year's costumes: Madeleine-angel, Justin-batman, Austin-knight and zebra, Olivia-bumblebee.
We held our second annual Baker Orr Halloween Party. Last year Olivia was just a few months old and now Marla's little guy is a few months old. The kids enjoyed creating pumpkin faces on their pizzas, bobbing for apples and decorating cookies.
With Halloween on Sunday we opted to not trick or treat on that day. We are fortunate to live by a town, Raymond, that was inviting all to celebrate with them on Saturday. So, Grandpa, Dad and the kids headed out (our neighbors the Cullen's met them there) and they had a good time going door to door. I did not join them as I had surgery on Friday.
The surgery was for my troublesome vericose veins that are always so painful in pregnancy. I was pretty nervous for this one as it just really disgusted me (vein stripping). I reacted to the general anesthesia and woke up to me throwing up all over myself, head spinning, and not able to focus or breath very well. I stayed in the hospital for a few hours until the nausea and pain was under control and then headed home around 8pm. Thankfully the surgery day was during Ted's annual Halloween trip, we couldn't have been more fortunate. The recovery is not pleasant but I am hoping things will improve this week.
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