Of course!

It's the first week of summer vacation. Daddy's away on a business trip. We have daily swimming lessons for all 3 boys in the morning. I have a million things to do around the house and in the garden. My sister just had a baby and could probably use some extra help with her kids. So you know what that means right?

Yes, somebody had to go and get sick. Kira started a fever yesterday afternoon, but it cleared up with Motrin and she was cheerful and busy in time for Damon's lacrosse game. She ran all over while I tried to watch him play (he was the goalie). Then when we got home, her fever went up again, to 103.5. This morning, Damon came into my bed with a fever too. He took Tylenol and it cleared up, so 2 hours later when it was time for Patrick and Campbell to go to swimming, he begged me to go in. I would have preferred to say 'no' to him, but he can't afford to miss too much swimming and I figured that the other kids in his class were exposed to him yesterday anyway. He came home and went to sleep and has been on the couch ever since. Kira is very clingy though.

My sister's kids are sick with an ear infection and a gastro infection. Luckily my mother has the week off of work to help her out.

Take me to the river...

drop me in the water...

Patrick made his kayaking debut today.

He did pretty well for his first time.

But he had a bit of trouble with steering! LOL I had a serious case of deja vu watching this happen. I still have nightmares about being made to paddle in one of those when I was about 10!*

Campbell is helping Grandpa. He even got a chance to steer later on.

Damon is on the lookout for swans, beavers, ducks, turtles, fish and hopefully a crocodile.

*(In case you don't know my dad's family is very involved in canoe and kayak racing. My grandpa, uncles and father have been to many Olympics amongst them. Now they are coaches of some of the top paddlers in the world. Two of my cousins are on the Provincial and National teams. *I* on the other hand, am a paddling failure. Patrick has dreams of making up for that though.)

When we got home

we were greeted by Puck, at the door. THE DOOR! Yes, he had managed a jail-break from his travel crate! For as long as 8 hours. Unreal. We ran all over the house checking rooms for damage.

We found one of Kira's diapers half-eaten at the bottom of the stairs and a trail of poop all the way up the stairs, but that was IT as far as we can tell. I'm impressed. He tore around the house and yard looking guilty because of the poop and the diaper, but quickly got over that when he smelled the hot dogs I made the kids for dinner.

Happy Birthday Canada!

So today is Canada Day, our nation's "birthday". My sister was being induced, so we went to her house to help "distract" 3 1/2 year old Peyton and 19 month old Maddox. Poor Maddox fell down the stairs again last night! (This is the same boy who fell down the stairs in my sister's arms and fractured his skull at 11 weeks. For his sake they need to move to a bungalow!) So the night before her induction, my sister sat in the ER with Maddox to see if his cheekbone or browbone was broken. He freaked out when they tried to put ice on it, so when I was putting Canadian flag tattoos on all of the kids, I put a "just add ice" tattoo on his face. Here he is modelling with me and Damon.


All of the kids together (Campbell forgot his matching Canada Day shirt at his grandparents house).

We also went to visit my grandfather. After a few close "urgent" phone calls from the doctor over the last week, he seems to be doing better. He was very boisterous today and was screaming out, spitting out his drink, trying to bite my hand. The kids thought that it was awesome and can't wait to go back to the senior's home! Here he is chewing on his own fingers and Kira, the copycat, is inspired to do the same.

My sister had an easy labour and soon we got the call that Tenley, had arrived. She weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. and both her and my sister are doing great.

Patrick couldn't wait to get her into his arms.

Meeting Kira...

who insisted on holding her baby. ("Me, baba, no, me")

Welcome to this world, happy birthday and Happy Canada Day to Tenley!

The poor kid shares her birthday with 2 other Canadians, Pamela Anderson and Dan Akroyd. Now how do you top those 2!

Puck at 6 months

Hey, Mulan, you only need to ask me once to show off your cousin Puck.  (they are cousins, right?)  LOL  Here he is in my yard stalking everything that moves.  He just figured out that he's supposed to NOTICE the birdies.  First he's guarding the birdfeeder...

And chasing flies...

He's pretty good at catching them too!

Puck is a great dog.  He has his occasional naughty moments, but it is still hard to believe that he is still a 6 month old puppy.  And a 6 month old GSP puppy at that!  I'm amazed at how well he listens off lead already.  The only time he doesn't listen is when he is hunting puddy cats, he is quite "cat sharp".  There may be hope for him as he does obey me when he is carrying Buddie by the ear and I say "Drop it". ;-)

Mulan, Congrats on the field dog test!  After seeing those pictures of her going after the ducks, I'm sure she's having a great time with it.  Thanks for clearing up the question about the ants on the peonies. 

Hello Kitty, Dirty Kitty

Hello Kitty loves lacrosse! She came to Damon's lacrosse tournament last weekend, but the arena it was at was filthy! I'm so NOT going to blog a picture of the ass on my white capri pants!

at the playground

This is why Mommy prefers Patrick's Track to Hockey. I think that the other kids look much happier too!











Would you believe that rep hockey practices start again in just over a month! ACK.

I was tagged

by my dear friend, Lissa. Thanks a lot! The things listed below that I have done are in bold letters. The rest are just part of the list.

01. Been an adoptive or foster parent
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said I love you and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Danced in the rain
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was totally plastered
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Taken pictures of complete strangers
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
65. Bought food for a stranger
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a goat
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Been in a movie
74. Tried scuba diving
75. Been to Lililth fair
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78 Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Have Regrets
81. Been to Tijuana
82. Discovered that someone whose not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Been a bully or been bullied
89. Camped out all night for a show, movie, or beanie baby
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Breastfed more then a year
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Lied about your age
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Eaten snake
103. Stayed somewhere different then what you told your parents
104. Had a poem published
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Been intimate in a public place
107. Ran a red light
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Shoplifted
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen The Cranberries live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Read every book in the Bible-
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone - well a verbal confrontation, not a fist fight.
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children - well I'm still in the midst of that
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. Ran in a marathon
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a seizure
143. Piloted an airplane - no license but I've had lessons
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Sent a message in a bottle
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had s*x on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Hunted an animal
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Been in a car accident
173. Are an organ donor
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Ridden an elephant
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Given gifts or notes as a secret pal
181. Met an online friend
182. Bought a homeless person a meal
183. Been to Mardi gras
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt-
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Seen a dead person that you didn't know
191. Slept on the beach
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Taken in a stray animal
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Been born again
199: Watched a whole film in a foreign lanuage
200: Been arrested

I would like to add one more.
201: Stood on a volcano and watched the lava flow to the sea
Now that was cool!

Peonies

Probably my favourite flower in the garden.  Too bad they don't last longer.  When we bought our house we were lucky enough to inherit 4 different peony varieties.  I'm going to try to get photos of all of them eventually, for now, here is our most prolific. 

We have 2 "bushes" of these, each with dozens of blooms.

I'm waiting for my fuschia one to bloom.  The ants are at work.  What are they doing anyway?

Here's a little bit of peony envy.  Aren't these gorgeous?

Kira at 17 months

Wow, my baby is growing up fast.  It's not that 17 months is so big.

As my friend recently said, "children don't reach developmental milestones in a gentle daily progression, but in a lurching, daredevil approach filled with moments of sparkling brilliance."  That's Kira.  I think because I was sick for a few weeks, I didn't notice, but suddenly she's speaking in mumbled sentences, jumping, running, cleaning up, bossing Puck around, "reading" books, saying "ABCD", preferring to get in and out of her carseat by herself. She's a independent dynamo.

Her eating behaviour has drastically changed.  My "baby" now refuses to drink from baby cups, but needs to use a big glass with no lid.  She does really well and doesn't spill much at all.  She is amazing at using her cutlery too.  See her eating cake at Grandma's:

She just doesn't seem like a 17 month old, but more like a 2 1/2 year old.  Or at least her tantrums seem that way.

I feel sort of sad, like we missed out on her "toddlerhood" and went straight to pre-schooler.  I guess we'd better start thinking about whether we will be having a fifth baby, and hopefully that one won't be in such a hurry to grow up.

Oh no! Look at what the vet did to my dog...

This is how he has been lying for about 15 minutes, about 2 minutes after I took the picture he fell asleep.  He had his rabies vaccines and he was a big suck the whole ride home, except for when the lady at Wendy's told him how handsome he was.  He was bouncing in his seat for that.  Can I just say that the new all-in-one flea/heartworm/parasite medications ROCK!  They multi-task, just like mommies do.   I remember when I had Maddie and George and I used to have to SPRAY with flea spray, give heartworm pills AND do fecal tests and give more pills for worms.   

Lacrosse is a tough sport!

I told Damon that some internet friends wanted to know what he wore for Lacrosse.  He was thrilled to model his gear!  Here he is about to leave for his game.

Hockey shoulder pads with the black kidney pads underneath.

Arm pads with arm shields over top.

I love the serious look.  LOL  He was so putting that on for show.

A bad day at the track

But I feel like I got some good pictures anyway.  Here is Patrick racing agains kids who range up to age 14.  He's 9.  No wonder he got elbowed in the face at the start.  His head is as high as their elbows.  Even though he wasn't happy with his finish, I am still proud that he beat some of those big kids.
Sizing up the competition.  I love this picture.

The word of the day is...

D I C K W A D


Yes you heard me. I was driving Patrick’s friend home because it was raining and there was a lot of traffic in front of us, so Damon says, “Hey Dickwad, move it” to the cars in front of us.

Me: Damon, we don’t talk that way.
Damon: Okay Mommy.
Patrick: ACTUALLY, I’ve heard Daddy say that before.
Me: It’s still rude and Daddy gets in trouble for saying it too.
Damon: Bob (FIL) says it.
Me: No he would NEVER.
Damon: Yes he does, when he yells at the cars.
Me: No he says "stupid old goat" and "you you you stupidhead"...
Patrick: Yeah Damon, THAT is Bob. And Mommy, don't forget he says "you old biscuit".
Me: That's right Patrick.

Just now, Campbell was helping Kira ride on her little car and he yells out “Hey Dickwad” to the phantom traffic.

Nice.

Getting by

It has been a slow recovery. Thanks for all the get well wishes. I think they must be working.

I've been trying to watch more tv in bed. Here I'm trying to watch Crash Test Mommy, but Puck's big head gets in the way.


To add to my stress, I was trying to tackle Mount Washmore on Sunday night and a sock got stuck in the drain and we had a flood. Second floor laundry room flood, BAD. It flooded the laundry room floor, the family room floor and down onto the kitchen below. UGH. The worst part is that it got into the cat litter box! EWWWWWWWW. So I cleaned up what I needed to. I still have to wash the floor in the laundry room, but that can wait until I'm 100%.

Monday afternoon, I noticed that my phone isn't working. I can dial out, but nobody can dial in. Annoying. I try a few times to get through to the phone company. Finally I talk to a lady who tells me that due to a strike, it may take a week before somebody can fix my line. In the meantime they forward all my calls to my cellphone. As in the one that charges me by the minute. I want to get my calls, so I just bear with it.

On Wednesday, a man shows up to fix our line. He looks at our wires outside and the first thing he asks me is if there is a jack attached to the wire that goes up to the back of the house and could there be any damage to that jack because it seems to be shorted out. Umm, yeah there is an outlet in the laundry room...uhh a flood...oh my, yes, yes. Well, it will be an extra charge of $85 for him to come into my house and disconnect that outlet. I think that I can manage a screwdriver thanks.

I saw my hairstylist on Thursday. I am embarrassed to say that it had been 10 months since I last had him do my hair. 10 months! It was in awful shape. He cut off 5 inches and had his girls straighten it. The man is a miracle worker. I have the thickest, frizziest hair in the world and he makes it seem smooth and silky and manageable. He wants me to come back next week for another complimentary straightening. Cool.



I saw the doctor on Friday. I'm doing much better, but she reminded me that it takes 4-6 weeks to get over pneumonia and that I still needed to take it easy. I am not able to overdo things without suffering for it with fatigue, body aches and nausea. Kira started breastfeeding again and she seems greatly relieved.


I had a pedicure today. I had to postpone it when I was sick. Not crazy about the colour of my toes, but it is nice to have human feet again.

Oh but it's GOOD for the planet hunny.

My husband went golfing and on the way home he almost picked up one of these Volvo XC90 V8.

He's seriously considering it anyway. BIL can get us a good deal. In the meantime, I'll keep driving my 6 year old Dodge van into the ground.

Anybody need a bed?

So at the auction yesterday, Matt bought a new bed set for us and for Kira. It was a great deal for $200. Only problem is trying to find places to put the other 41 bed sets that came with them. Yeah, my husband went out and bought 43 beds (a mix of doubles/queens/kings). So he managed to sell 5 of them to his fellow bidders for $20 each. But that still leaves us with a LOT of beds. He didn't know what to do, so today I called The Good Shepherd Centres in hopes that they can put them to good use, either in their shelters or to give to women who are starting a new life and moving into second stage housing. They seem interested, I just have to wait to hear if they can manage to pick them up by Tuesday evening.

Kira seems to be okay. She never started a fever or vomitted. She still has loose stool and it continues to cause a rash, but I think it is just the lack of breastmilk. She takes particular pleasure in kicking Matt and I in bed. She is mad at us because there are no more boobies so she kicks our heads. She does it hard too! I'm going to end up with a black eye before this week is through.

I'm still feeling pretty weak and tired today, but I am breathing better. I am improving more slowly than I had hoped. I expected that after 48 hours on antibiotics I would be feeling almost normal. I forgot what a long recovery pneumonia can be. Now I'm flashing back to 11 years ago when I had it the first time. A month later, I was still having sweats (day and night). I think it took me about 2 or 3 months to get back to full strength. And that was when I was 23, 20 lbs lighter, pre-asthma diagnosis and without kids! Oh yeah and I didn't have a house to tidy up! A week without anybody taking care of things has left my house and yard in shambles! This sickness has cost me months.

Out of the frying pan into the fire

Bad development. Now Kira is getting sick. She has had loose bowel movements, but this morning, she had the foulest smelling diaper ever. I haven't smelled anything but the awful smells inside my own head for almost 2 weeks now and it was knocking my socks off. It made me think of Kathy D's discussions about the smell of Rotavirus. I'm not assuming yet, because she has had a terrible dietary change. She has refused to try the formula, or milk. She prefers to sip on bottled water. And she has been very clingy and lethargic, which I have to say works out kind of nicely for me. I'm trying to get her to eat something. I think she is starting a fever because she feels almost as hot as me. I'll take her temperature after lunch.

Where is my husband do you ask? Oh, well, there was this really cool old hotel, and they are auctioning off the contents, and you know it's a moment in history. So much of a moment in history that he came back and picked up Patrick and took him too! DUH that was my lifeline here. I'm married to a child, my mistake, if I think of it that way, I can understand the egocentrism and not murder him. For now.

I went to the doctors on Friday. Thursday was pretty bad so I booked an appointment. My back was hurting whenever I coughed and I was losing my voice. Friday I woke up feeling worse, feverish, headachey, disoriented and I couldn’t even cough anymore. She listened to my chest and said, “Oh, Adri, this is bad, you have fluid all through your lungs now.” I asked her to check my tonsils because I was feeling some swelling there and she said that was because my larynx was infected now too. She said I had to take antibiotics and the only kind she could give me was toxic through breastmilk, so I would need to wean Kira. I begged her to try one I had already had an allergic reaction to that was safe during breastfeeding. I said, well you know the reaction I had with that one wasn’t so bad, let’s try that. Nope, apparently that doesn’t treat lung infections. She reminded me that if we waited any longer I would need hospitalization. OMG, I burst out crying. You are telling me that I have to wean my baby when I am feeling this shitty? Kira is not a delicate little thing. She’s a beast, and I was literally afraid of saying no to her in my time of weakness.

So I got my antibiotics, picked up my kids and came home. I hit the bed and I thought I was going to die. My mother called me and I told her that if the drugs did not work by morning, I would be going to the hospital, could she drive. I was drowning, there was no more room left in my lungs for air. Thankfully, I was able to cough a bit on Saturday, but I’m still pretty bad. I'm not eating much even when I try because everything tastes like vomit. Tonight I actually had to throw out 1/2 my bowl of ice cream. My boobs are KILLING now.

My kids have been pretty good to me. Even Kira. She isn't happy about our new arrangement, but she seems to have accepted it. She cries herself to sleep in my bed, but doesn't ask for the boobies. My husband is still an asshole, I don’t even want to tell you the bonehead things he has done. I have decided not to fight with him about it until I have gotten my full strength back. Then he’d better start sleeping with one eye open.

I had to miss my high school reunion, but before I left for the doctor's on Friday, I made sure to remind my girlfriends who were going to say 'hi' for me and to let everybody know how youthful/thin/successful/rich I am these days. And I didn't even have to diet!

Just what are the British teaching their schoolchildren?!

The Sun Online - News: Meet the kid sisters: "Moaning mum Julie last night insisted their school was to blame for them getting pregnant." Did she really say that? WTF?