Sunday

Damon with his First Communion certificate.  The little brides were taking too long on the altar and our whole family wanted to get going, so we found a quiet place for Damon to pose.

A wee bit relieved to have it behind him, Damon says, "let the partying begin."

Present time

We had hoped for some nice weather so all the kids could play in the yard, perhaps in the pool, but instead we got bitterly cold wind and rain. 

It was also my birthday, so we had a special cake for both of us.

Charlie: "Puck is bad."
Kira: "Puck not bad Charry."
Charlie: "Yeah"
Kira: "No"
Charlie: "Yeah"
Kira: "Bye Kitty"
Campbell: "Puck's bad cuz Charlie gets hurted by him. I've seen him."
Kira: "No Cambo."

Mother's Day

Matt came home on Friday and within minutes we had friends come over for beer and pizza. Then Saturday we did some shopping, took my mom out for lunch and visited my Grandpa Sam at the nursing home.

That brings us to today, Matt and I were awoken at 7:30 am when Patrick and Damon's brawl spilled over into our bedroom. Some moms got flowers and breakfast in bed, I got a demonstration of the human nature of violence. I wasn't feeling great today, so it was nice to sit around in my sweats. I had mentioned a craving for lobster in garlic butter, so Matt created a seafood EXTRAVAGANZA. Garlic shrimp grilled on his brand new barbecue, escargot cooked in herb butter, a baguette, a salad and a lobster for each of us. The boys were excited about getting their own lobster, but Kira's reaction was the best. She climbed up to the table and in a half-laugh, she pointed and shouted out, "Look at my dinner!!!!!!!"

Life lessons - agony of defeat

So Wednesday was a big day in our household. It was the semi-annual Cross Country Meet for our school board. There seemed to be more kids there than usual. Normally, there are roughly 300 kids in each race, but there were at least 450 kids in some of the races. And the kids were competing against schools we've never seen at the meets before. Many of the other parents and I were wondering if they had condensed the 3 day event into 2 days.

Now last time, Damon's buddies finished 1st and 4th and he finished 7th. Here they are finishing 34th, 36th, and Damon was 40th.

He was initially disappointed with this finish and cried, telling everybody he was crying because somebody had punched his back during the race. But then he overheard other kids who were thrilled to have finished 89th, 94th, and even one boy who was calling his dad from his mom's cellphone to proudly announce that he finished 315th. After that he stopped rubbing his back and didn't mind telling all the kids at school that he finished 40th of 450 kids.

Then we come to Patrick. He was extremely nervous and felt a lot of internal pressure to win. But he saw a lot of his teammates who normally had top 10 finishes finish in the 40s or 50s. He was running in a race that was for grade 5 and 6 boys and since he is a very young grade 5 (being born in November) he has a disadvantage there. He didn't have a great start, but by the time they went over the bridge, he was moving up into the front pack of 10 or so boys. When they were coming back over the bridge we could see that he was 6th, and there was no way to catch the boy who was in the lead, he had about 100 m on everybody and he was only gaining speed.

Here he is looking a bit deflated after receiving his 6th place ribbon. He wanted to go home immediately after this photo was taken.

I told him how proud I was of him and reminded him that the competition in this race was much tougher than any he had ever faced and that he had probably run his best race ever. But I'm not sure he was ready to listen to me. Next fall he will have a much better chance when he doesn't have to run against boys who are almost 2 years older than he is. But hopefully this has taught him not to have such demanding expectations of himself.

Mondays

(warning - may contain subject matter that is disturbing to some readers)

So on Friday, I woke up and realized that I didn't feel nauseous. I was sure it was a fluke and that the nausea would be back soon. But hour after hour went by and I did not feel nauseous. Gaggy, yes but as pregnant women know, that is entirely different.

So today, being Monday, me not being nauseous and the first day that all of the boys would be in school after the weekend, I had high hopes of cleaning today. I woke up, got dressed, woke up the kids and went down to let the dog out of his crate and was met with a wall of stench at the bottom of the stairs. Unbeknownst to me, Puck had a difficult night and had quietly pooped all over the inside of his crate and on himself. One look into the room and the nausea made a quick comeback and before I could help out my poor dog, I was vomitting into the bathroom sink. I let him out and tried to do a quick clean up, but I wasn't able to be very thorough because I had to keep running to the bathroom for more retching. I got the kids ready for school and dropped them off and with all the windows in the house open, I was able to finish the clean up. In the meantime, Puck had another round of diarrhea. After I was finished cleaning, I went over to his "bathroom" area to inspect and see if I could find any towels or length of rope thinking we probably had a repeat of our Halloween Horror. But instead, I found a whole stick from a fudgsicle (that was eaten by the kids in the backyard on Saturday). I had a flashback to around this time last year when I was laughing at this post at Dooce, Dear God Almighty, Lord in Heaven, Everlasting Father. So far *I* haven't taken a picture of it yet.

Puck is feeling much better now, but I think I'm going to need a few more hours before I can eat.

Harassment

For Kathy

To go along with your barn cat post, here are a couple of photos of my "gun dog". I was never happy about the boys having toy guns, and worse yet, that they just leave their toys lying around. But one by one, Puck has been taking care of them for me.
In the evening after dinner, he holds them tightly in his mouth and tries to shine them against the wall. Then he chases the reflection. His favourite is the Star Wars "laser" gun. After a couple of days of play, the brittle plastic starts to crack, and OH NO, for safety reasons mom needs to throw out yet another toy. Tragic.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Daddy, call home! Kira needs to wish you a "Happy Dird-day" just one more time. The kids and I wanted to send you more birthday wishes!

We hope you had a great day even though you were far away from us. We love you and we miss you and we wish you were here with us.



Damon wanted to make sure that I included this photo of you. He loves it and thinks you look so cool. He is hoping that you still have those glasses so he can wear them.

Matt at work

You can watch him work at Amherst College - Museum of Natural History

Matt is away with work for the next 2 or more weeks.

Hockey tryouts are officially over for us! Woohoo!

Patrick was happy to be chosen to return to the AAA team. He looked pretty good at the tryouts. He has his signing on Saturday. His track club training starts this week and he has been invited to join a summer hockey team.

Last night, Damon was ecstatic to be chosen for the Novice Hub team. It is the highest level of hockey available for Damon's age group. Hub is the equivalent of A hockey. Because our area has so many competitive hockey players, a league was set up just for A level hockey within the local area. So that means close travel! YAY.

After the cuts had been made, the parents were called into the dressing room where all the boys who had been chosen were sitting. All of the boys were sitting quietly, except Damon who was grinning from ear to ear and pumping his arms in a "YES! I just scored a touchdown" gesture. It was cute and embarassing all at once. Then they "signed" him and he even had to sign his own name. Now that the whole team has been chosen, they will use Sunday's tryout time to have the team go out for a skate. He also has a lacrosse evaluation this week, but we have turned down the rep lacrosse coaches who would like Damon for their teams. We were hoping to have some freedom of movement this summer.

So after the weekend I move on to ONLY juggling lacrosse, track club and Campbell's soccer schedules.

A Sneak Peek at Baby #5

I had a 12 week ultrasound yesterday as part of my Integrated Prenatal Screening.

The tiniest little feet I've ever seen

There is the baby's profile.  Baby is measuring about 3 inches long right now.
Here's a view of Baby's little tush.  See if you can guess Baby's gender.  It's a bit early to tell, but gender differences are already visible at 12 weeks.

Scenes from a warm spring day

The perfect spot to watch for critters and catch some rays.

"I love the mud!"

(You are supposed to notice the training wheels lying on the patio next to his bike)

Spring

Sharon O'Neill Fair

September 22nd, 1942 - April 11th, 2006


Sharon was a Teacher, Artist, Activist, World Traveler, Explorer, Puff Ball Hunter, Dreamer, Daughter, Aunt, Friend and Inspiration to all of her family and those that knew her. I have always felt a special connection to my Aunt Sharon. I learned so much from my aunt. I think many of the choices I have made in my life were influenced by the experiences and times we had shared together.

Sharon and I shared countless memories. Some of my fondest memories are as follows: travelling to both the East and West Coast on summer vacation; staying in Ottawa with Sharon and Gerry; the many trips to the CNE and food pavillion, dinner at restaurants in Toronto where Sharon often could not decide what she wanted to eat so she would order several dishes that we would all enjoy;
walking through fields looking for Puff Balls; taffy at the Highland Games; fireworks at the Beach; drawing pictures on the floor; building a pink and blue castle in the backyard at my parents' house; taking photographs at the dinner table; spending time at the cottage in Wawa; and of course, building The UP-SHACK with Andrea, Kent and Barclay.
Last summer, under Sharon's supervision, I got a chance to build the UP-SHACK 2 with my kids. I was able pass down some of the same memories to them that I shared with Sharon after building the first one. This summer the kids and I will gather the materials and build a wing in her honor.

Sharon with Patrick and Damon - Wawa 2002
Sharon, thank you for everything you gave us. We will miss you forever and never forget you.




Turtle Island Sunset - Wawa 2005

Happy Birthday Campbell!

Today is my little man's 6th birthday.  Campbell is a fun and quirky guy.  He is a diligent hard worker with an upbeat attitude.  He is very eager to learn. We all love him a lot and hope his birthday is a special one.

I took him and his best buddy out for lunch at their FAVOURITE restaurant.


Then they played before going back to school for the afternoon.  Tonight we will have a quick dinner before Patrick's tryouts and then we'll have cake when Patrick gets home.

I think that my grandfather Bert's farewell was all that he could have hoped it would be.

He died peacefully at a nice old age, with his children at his side, and without much suffering.

The newspaper coverage continued all week and his death was eulogized by all of the major Canadian newspapers.

Yesterday we had a celebration of my Granbert's life. It was a beautiful sunny day by the river. The canoe club building was packed with people who knew him or admired him. The walls were lined with his artwork and photo collages of various aspects of his life. Some funny stories about him were shared by his friends and children. Food and drink were enjoyed by everyone. Damon asked me on the way home, "Why wasn't everybody crying?" I tried to explain to him that even though we will miss Bert a lot, we were there to celebrate what a great life he had lived.

It was as it should have been, and as I wish it could be for all of us. I think that somewhere Granbert is sitting on a beach with the biggest grin on his face.

Kira's new knock-knock joke

Kira: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
Kira: Me.

All of us giggle when she says it. It sure beats her old knock-knock joke.

Kira: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
Kira: Knock Knock
(repeat)

She laughs when her brothers tell her knock-knock jokes and responds with the appropriate "who's there" and "banana who".

He would have been thrilled

I picked up my morning paper to find a hunky photo of my grandfather in his youth and a headline on the front page, "Olympian Bert Oldershaw of Burlington dies at 84 page A3". This article was on page 3:
Beach-loving Bert spawned a canoeing dynasty

Bert Oldershaw 1921 - 2006

Last night my Granbert passed away. Today, I'm just remembering him. He was an athlete, a salesman, a gardener and an artist.

Canadian Olympic Committee

Bert Oldershaw

Born in Toronto in 1921, Bert Oldershaw has demonstrated an unparalleled passion for the sport of canoeing that began during a childhood spent paddling around Toronto Island where he lived for 35 years. Oldershaw won national titles in canoe and kayak from 1939 to 1956, and competed in the Olympic Games in 1948, 1952, and 1956. He holds the distinction of being the only Canadian to reach three successive finals in Olympic paddling competitions before retiring from racing at the age of 38.

Oldershaw founded the Mississauga Canoe Club in 1957, a paddling powerhouse that sits along the banks of the Credit River. 'Missy' paddlers have long dominated the Canadian canoe/kayak scene with countless athletes representing Canada in international competitions thanks in large part to Oldershaw's numerous contributions as a coach. In 1976 Oldershaw cemented his dedication to sport by building a training facility at his home, which included an indoor pool, adapted with weights and pulleys to simulate outdoor water conditions, and used by national team members to train.

Oldershaw's community contributions include 12 years as a member of the Board for the COC representing canoeing. He created Canamtur Ltd. to assist in amateur-sport fundraising and development, and in the process raised more than $1.25 million from the private sector. These days Oldershaw is working to restore Native canoe culture, by re-establishing canoe and canoe-building in Six Nations' communities.

Oldershaw's most important legacy in building the sport of canoeing, however, is evidenced through his family. He is the father of five children, Dean, Reed, Scott, Lee, and Lynn - all of whom have competed in canoe competitions, and three of whom have represented Canada at the Olympic Games. Two of his grandsons continue the family sport tradition, and are currently strong hopefuls for Athens 2004. Should this happen, the Oldershaw family will have sent three generations of canoe-kayak athletes to the Olympic Games.

The Curse has been broken!

The not-making-it-to-Super-Saturday Curse.  In the 8 seasons we have had a child playing house league hockey, this year is the first time that any of them have made it to Super Saturday.  Campbell's team made it, just barely.  There was a 3 way tie for second place, they were tied for wins, tied for goals against.  It came down to goals for and Campbell's team was ahead by 2 after Sunday's game.  Here he is in the center, warming up with his team.

We are amazed at how much he has improved this season.  Sometimes when we are watching a game, we don't recognize him because he is skating so well.

Damon's team did not make it to Super Saturday, but at least they went out with a 5-1 win.  Damon plans to try out for a rep team next year.

Kira is better now.  Last night as she was going to bed, she told me "I all done with my sick now."

The kids are back in school today!  Now I have to clean up the messes that were created in the past week.