this week I am busy
making gift bags
decorating a cake for the church
making pizza from scratch
hosting a dinner party
celebrating my little one's birthday
cleaning the kitchen
doing laundry
making playdough
making chocolates
planning a simple birthday party
shopping
making a blueberry pound cake with an excavator
watching 19 kids and counting
visiting socialworkers
dreaming of a second child
skyping
cooking beef & brocolli on rice
reining in a three year old that has lost some of his listening skills over a busy summer
taking photos
reading LOTS of stories to my son
eating the last of the peaches
finishing sewing the birthday banner
well, that is some of the things that are keeping me busy this week...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
and the calm...
I am very happy that our crazy busy travels seem to be done. I have barely been home in the last couple of months and now I am looking forward to spending every night in my own bed. Not that this week is going to be uneventful. My baby is turning 3 this week...I have troubles believing it. So I have decided to invite some of his friends over on Saturday to play and have cake. I don't want it to be a big hoopla of gifts and craziness. He really has no need for anything and I have been to other children's birthday parties in the last year and it makes me sad how 'stuff' crazy they can get. The kids just do a mad dive into the gifts and don't appreciate what they are getting or who it is from.
I am hoping I have not bit off more that I can chew for this gathering, but I want to make most of the things going in the loot bags (making it for Chase a time of giving more than receiving...and the delight in just spending time with family and friends) Just a couple of things. The guest list has ended up bigger than I had first envisioned but he will just be happy to have kids over so hopefully the weather will be nice and everyone just comes and has a couple of fun hours of play and some cake.
He wants an excavator on his birthday cake. Which is something I am looking forward to doing. Hopefully this week I get the chance to finalize the menu and make some cookies and other construction themed treats.
This past friday I was at Walmart with him picking up some birthday party things and work called...it seems I was scheduled to come in at 3 rather than 11...oops...I really should have checked my day planner...but since I was at Sarah's all week and then came home Thursday evening because I remembered the computer guy was coming to find out why I couldn't connect to my wireless with my new laptop...I forgot all about checking for work schedule. I ended up making it to work, just a tad late, and I didn't get all the birthday prep stuff I was wanting. Hopefully I get a chance to get out early this week to get some supplies.
I am also doing a cake for the church for sunday. They want the church on it. So I need to do that as well.
this weekend at work.....TERRIBLE! It was awful. It was like the movie Groundhog day but in less than 2 minute incriments...I am so glad to be home in the calm...
I am hoping I have not bit off more that I can chew for this gathering, but I want to make most of the things going in the loot bags (making it for Chase a time of giving more than receiving...and the delight in just spending time with family and friends) Just a couple of things. The guest list has ended up bigger than I had first envisioned but he will just be happy to have kids over so hopefully the weather will be nice and everyone just comes and has a couple of fun hours of play and some cake.
He wants an excavator on his birthday cake. Which is something I am looking forward to doing. Hopefully this week I get the chance to finalize the menu and make some cookies and other construction themed treats.
This past friday I was at Walmart with him picking up some birthday party things and work called...it seems I was scheduled to come in at 3 rather than 11...oops...I really should have checked my day planner...but since I was at Sarah's all week and then came home Thursday evening because I remembered the computer guy was coming to find out why I couldn't connect to my wireless with my new laptop...I forgot all about checking for work schedule. I ended up making it to work, just a tad late, and I didn't get all the birthday prep stuff I was wanting. Hopefully I get a chance to get out early this week to get some supplies.
I am also doing a cake for the church for sunday. They want the church on it. So I need to do that as well.
this weekend at work.....TERRIBLE! It was awful. It was like the movie Groundhog day but in less than 2 minute incriments...I am so glad to be home in the calm...
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Ottawa
We returned from our almost two weeks in Ottawa this past Thursday. I have LOTS of photos that I will select through to share hopefully this week. We travelled down by train and had a lovely time. CO got to spend time with some of his cousins that he hasn't seen in over a year. It was great for them to see him again and to know that he is healthy and happy in his new home.
CO is at the trailer with my parents for the weekend while I am at work. I will be joining them this afternoon and then heading up north to visit my cousin for the rest of the week.
CO is at the trailer with my parents for the weekend while I am at work. I will be joining them this afternoon and then heading up north to visit my cousin for the rest of the week.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
week recap
Well my week went anything but planned...up until the last moment on Sunday I still wasn't sure what I was up to this week. I was contemplating going up to visit my cousin for a few days but due to a bunch of things, those plans were put on hold for a few weeks. Instead my SW called and asked if I'd do a respite for 30 hours this week with a 14 month old. I agreed. By this point I had already told K and CO that we'd go to the cottage. The SW was fine with me taking the baby with us, and I arranged with his fp to pick him up from there. So I went and picked up baby G from his visit with his mother at the cas office, I spent the morning packing to get us ready for the cottage and the plan was that as soon as CO woke up from his nap, we'd head out. Thankfully my aunt was around to help, as she held baby G while I loaded up the truck and packed up the food. CO was VERY excited and he was concerned that my aunt would keep holding the baby and forget to put him in the truck to go with us :) Overall, a great experience. I very much enjoyed my first respite. He was an easy child to look after (despite the list of food allergies he had and it took a bit to figure out his food). He really seemed to enjoy the freedom and peacefulness of the cottage. We spent lots of time at the park. CO played in the sand and baby G just tottled around laughing at this and that. Bedtime was a struggle as it is hard to put a 14 month old and a 35 month old to bed at the same time on two different floors. But in the end, they both were settled and in bed (an hour later than planned). I took LOTS of photos of the boys. They are still on my camera so hopefully I'll remember to come back and add them to this post at a later date. I am also going to try to get copies of the ones of just baby G for his bm. After baby G was picked up, CO and I spent some time foraging through the woods picking berries for Grandma. There is some debate as to the name of these berries. They are what I grew up calling thimbleberries, but they didn't quite taste the same as the ones we pick up at my uncle's. We headed home on Thursday (after stopping for supper at K's request) and I really need to remember to make sure I get home either past CO's bedtime so he can be just slipped into bed, or early enough so he has lots of time to check out all the things around the house and get some playing in with Fred. The next door neighbour gave him a new (used) toy. He loved it so much that he took it into the bath with him, and had a hard time not taking it to bed with him. (I said no because it was wet and on the large side).
Friday was a day to spend some 1:1 time with CO (he was wired into crazy mode so not much quality time happened) and for packing as we leave early Monday morning to catch the train.
My weekend at work is going well. I just finished Take Four by Karen Kingsbury and I am extra tired from all the crying. At the cottage this week I finished Beluga Cafe. I found this book quite interesting. It is about 3 artists journey in Northern Canada that set out to play music with beluga whales. I would recommend them both.
Well, it is getting late, and I am at work and need to try to catch some sleep. I have LOTS to do tomorrow. After work I need to finish packing us three and the plan is to have everything loaded into the car so all we have to do is get up and get dressed in the am, pack the cooler and head to the trainstation. Feel free to pray for our journey. I am a little nervous about the 1.5 hours that we will have at the station in the city to change trains. I will have to transfer all the luggage (wasn't the option to check baggage) and at the same time not loose the toddler or my sister....
take care and goodnight!
Friday was a day to spend some 1:1 time with CO (he was wired into crazy mode so not much quality time happened) and for packing as we leave early Monday morning to catch the train.
My weekend at work is going well. I just finished Take Four by Karen Kingsbury and I am extra tired from all the crying. At the cottage this week I finished Beluga Cafe. I found this book quite interesting. It is about 3 artists journey in Northern Canada that set out to play music with beluga whales. I would recommend them both.
Well, it is getting late, and I am at work and need to try to catch some sleep. I have LOTS to do tomorrow. After work I need to finish packing us three and the plan is to have everything loaded into the car so all we have to do is get up and get dressed in the am, pack the cooler and head to the trainstation. Feel free to pray for our journey. I am a little nervous about the 1.5 hours that we will have at the station in the city to change trains. I will have to transfer all the luggage (wasn't the option to check baggage) and at the same time not loose the toddler or my sister....
take care and goodnight!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
rip LAPTOP
My laptop is gone...well I still have it but I can't do squat all with it...which is kinda sad...but on a positive note...a new one is on the way and should be delivered next week. Crossing Fingers! As the following week we leave for our two week vacation!! We are getting on a train. CO is VERY excited that he is going on the train to visit Nana & Papa. He calls it Papa's train. I figure this will be the easiest way for us to travel there (we shall see if I still feel that way after we have experienced this adventure). My biggest worry is the fact that I am taking my sister along and that there isn't a way to check luggage. So we are restricted in the size of our luggage (considered to be carry on) and the fact that I have to look after it, CO & my sister when we have to wait at the train station for over an hour in the BIG city to switch trains. Here's to hoping a Train Employee with be of some help and find me a luggage cart.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
weekend
I surprisingly had a good and peaceful weekend at work. A rare event. Usually I come home SO exhausted due to Sundays being stressful for one of the fellows. For some reason he was totally at peace today...so in the future if you are looking for something to add to your prayer list on Sundays....add for me to have peaceful Sundays at work....it was so nice to be able to come home and have energy to interact with my son. He on the other hand was his usual Sunday evening emotional wreck (I have decided it is his way of punishing me for abandoning him for the last 40hours). This evening we were able to spend a BIG chunk of time just reading, singing and praying together before I put him to bed.
He is really liking the books we borrowed from the library Chicka Chicka ABC, A Boy A Dog and a Frog, Titch, From Head to Toe and The Freight Train. I will read them to him and he will often chime in as he remembers parts from when we read them on Friday. Also he has begun to read the story to me right after I read it to him. We have just started doing this and he does fairly well to remember the story.
I finished reading 'I Will Carry You' by Angie Smith....this book is definitely a book that requires you to have a box of kleenex close by.
My kitchen floor is sticky even though it has been washed twice already this evening. My lovely niece somehow dropped and shattered a large dish half full of sweet and sour rib sauce and a rib all over my kitchen. It was even on the ceiling and some of it went through the kitchen window and landed on the stairwell to the basement! I see much floor washing in my immediate future....it will probably take a few more washes (maybe just one if I do it on my hands and knees with HOT HOT water)
Depending on the weather I may just take the kids to the park in the morning so they can run and play and be tired so I can get a LONG nap out of CO and maybe get some housework done. I still have troubles doing it when he is awake as he is constantly wanting his turn with the vacuum, mop, etc. Some days I just give him his own bucket of water and a rag so I can get some scrubbing done with my rag and bucket of cleaner.
My Uncle and Aunt are arriving tomorrow for a few days. They are bringing supper (which is great as nobody in my family seems to enjoy cooking on Mondays).
Once again it is late and I am heading off to bed...maybe I'll get a couple of pages read before I just fall asleep.
He is really liking the books we borrowed from the library Chicka Chicka ABC, A Boy A Dog and a Frog, Titch, From Head to Toe and The Freight Train. I will read them to him and he will often chime in as he remembers parts from when we read them on Friday. Also he has begun to read the story to me right after I read it to him. We have just started doing this and he does fairly well to remember the story.
I finished reading 'I Will Carry You' by Angie Smith....this book is definitely a book that requires you to have a box of kleenex close by.
My kitchen floor is sticky even though it has been washed twice already this evening. My lovely niece somehow dropped and shattered a large dish half full of sweet and sour rib sauce and a rib all over my kitchen. It was even on the ceiling and some of it went through the kitchen window and landed on the stairwell to the basement! I see much floor washing in my immediate future....it will probably take a few more washes (maybe just one if I do it on my hands and knees with HOT HOT water)
Depending on the weather I may just take the kids to the park in the morning so they can run and play and be tired so I can get a LONG nap out of CO and maybe get some housework done. I still have troubles doing it when he is awake as he is constantly wanting his turn with the vacuum, mop, etc. Some days I just give him his own bucket of water and a rag so I can get some scrubbing done with my rag and bucket of cleaner.
My Uncle and Aunt are arriving tomorrow for a few days. They are bringing supper (which is great as nobody in my family seems to enjoy cooking on Mondays).
Once again it is late and I am heading off to bed...maybe I'll get a couple of pages read before I just fall asleep.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
finally...an update
my laptop is finally back up and running...which means I am back to the blogging world. I have been away for too long.
Update...well my house got rearranged in the fact that my sewing/craft room in the basement was emptied out to make room for my aunt to move in and so I have had to downsize my stuff and make it all fit into a little corner space in 1/3 of the basement sitting room. Also I moved my tv to the basement. I just found that it was sucking up too much of my life and CO was becoming so attached to it that he was having temper tantrums if I wouldn't let him watch it. In the basement it is out of sight and out of mind. He still does watch tv. But just mostly on weekends when he is being babysat by my parents. I do set the PVR to tape the occasional episode of Curious George for him to watch. But on the most part he is just under 3 years of age...he doesn't need to be watching tv. And in all seriousness...who does? Since I moved the tv down, I have found more time for reading, etc. Which is great. Now I just need to find the energy to do some housework in the evenings. More often than not I am tempted to just curl up with a book after CO is asleep and then crawl into my bed.
This summer has been BUSY! I have my niece M on and off through the summer. I have taken hundreds of photos (that I have yet to edit as I lost photoshop when my laptop crashed...and have to wait until the end of August for my FIL to reload it for me)
Last weekend I worked my friday night and then I went home and loaded CO and my sister up and we headed to Orangeville for a China friends BBQ. It was great to see some old friends and to meet their new little ones. I also spent the next couple of days getting together with some old friends. Then we (now M too) packed up and headed to my friend's trailer where we spent less than 24 hours but FILLED our time with beaches, water slides, boating, fishing, etc. I am going to try to upload a video from my flip camera this week if I can. I took some video of the kids going down the water slides. After leaving the trailer, we headed to the cottage (which I am trying to spend much time at this summer as I have taken over my family's portion of the taxes and in all reality it is a GREAT place to spend time with. There is a pool, parks and space for CO to ride his bike around) We swam and swam and swam at the cottage. We also slept well at night! :) I like taking my sister up there as she is a little more social. At home she tends to just hang out in her bedroom listening to the radio.
Upcoming summer plans....well we still have our yearly visit to China Town, we are going to take the train to Ottawa for a couple of weeks at the end of August, my aunt & uncle are coming up and I am hoping to get them to join us for a couple of adventures (centreville, a zoo, etc.) the kind that are just too stretching to take a 16, 11 and almost 3 year old by myself.
I was going to start a vegetable garden this year but in all reality, I'd rather have the summer that we are having without having to be tied down to weeding and watering the garden. Maybe in a couple of years I'll plant a couple of vegetables with CO. I am even tempted to run over the flowerbed with the lawnmower. I attacked it at the beginning of the season but I should have mulched it as it is just crazy with weeds right now. My aunt may have a small heart attack when she sees it this week (she has a big green thumb. her yard at home is practically 99% flowerbeds)
I have been researching a lot these days about the different possibilities for CO's future education. I know he is only 2 (almost 3) but in all honesty I don't think public school is for us. I have found a bunch of book lists online that are for children his age and we have been LOVING spending lots of time just reading together. It is so nice to be able to read him short stories these days instead of just simple board books. He is loving stories like Mike Mulligan and From Head to Toe. I think it is great that I can read stories with repetitive lines that he is picking up and chiming in. I want him to grow up to love literature. I am also challenging myself to read more classics and biography type books that are based on people's adventures and challenges rather than fiction that are easy reads and not much of a challenge or learning experience.
In the Spring I read Not Without My Sister which was about three sisters that were raised in a cult. I found this book very fascinating, some parts disturbing, yet amazed that this happened in MY lifetime. In July I finished Oliver Twist which I absolutely LOVED! I have never read it before and I love the musical based on the book. Currently I am reading I Will Carry You which is by a lady whose blog I have been following on and off for the last couple of years and The Lake Erie Shore which I am not far into, but am hoping to get farther along soon. I am struggling to get past all his facts of millions of millennia, etc. as I am not one that believes that the world is that old. It isn't really something that is up for debate I just don't personally believe that the world is millions of years old. I have my 2010 book list in a book at home and am hoping to add to my list to this blog sometime this week. (I am currently at work).
This summer I also decided that I wanted to take up drawing. If I am going to homeschool one day I want to be able to at least know some of the basics when I teach CO art one day. I am quite impressed with my meager attempts thus far. I have probably spent TOO much time at this and I should head back to work (though everyone is asleep and not needing me so I should probably try to catch a couple of Z's myself)
Update...well my house got rearranged in the fact that my sewing/craft room in the basement was emptied out to make room for my aunt to move in and so I have had to downsize my stuff and make it all fit into a little corner space in 1/3 of the basement sitting room. Also I moved my tv to the basement. I just found that it was sucking up too much of my life and CO was becoming so attached to it that he was having temper tantrums if I wouldn't let him watch it. In the basement it is out of sight and out of mind. He still does watch tv. But just mostly on weekends when he is being babysat by my parents. I do set the PVR to tape the occasional episode of Curious George for him to watch. But on the most part he is just under 3 years of age...he doesn't need to be watching tv. And in all seriousness...who does? Since I moved the tv down, I have found more time for reading, etc. Which is great. Now I just need to find the energy to do some housework in the evenings. More often than not I am tempted to just curl up with a book after CO is asleep and then crawl into my bed.
This summer has been BUSY! I have my niece M on and off through the summer. I have taken hundreds of photos (that I have yet to edit as I lost photoshop when my laptop crashed...and have to wait until the end of August for my FIL to reload it for me)
Last weekend I worked my friday night and then I went home and loaded CO and my sister up and we headed to Orangeville for a China friends BBQ. It was great to see some old friends and to meet their new little ones. I also spent the next couple of days getting together with some old friends. Then we (now M too) packed up and headed to my friend's trailer where we spent less than 24 hours but FILLED our time with beaches, water slides, boating, fishing, etc. I am going to try to upload a video from my flip camera this week if I can. I took some video of the kids going down the water slides. After leaving the trailer, we headed to the cottage (which I am trying to spend much time at this summer as I have taken over my family's portion of the taxes and in all reality it is a GREAT place to spend time with. There is a pool, parks and space for CO to ride his bike around) We swam and swam and swam at the cottage. We also slept well at night! :) I like taking my sister up there as she is a little more social. At home she tends to just hang out in her bedroom listening to the radio.
Upcoming summer plans....well we still have our yearly visit to China Town, we are going to take the train to Ottawa for a couple of weeks at the end of August, my aunt & uncle are coming up and I am hoping to get them to join us for a couple of adventures (centreville, a zoo, etc.) the kind that are just too stretching to take a 16, 11 and almost 3 year old by myself.
I was going to start a vegetable garden this year but in all reality, I'd rather have the summer that we are having without having to be tied down to weeding and watering the garden. Maybe in a couple of years I'll plant a couple of vegetables with CO. I am even tempted to run over the flowerbed with the lawnmower. I attacked it at the beginning of the season but I should have mulched it as it is just crazy with weeds right now. My aunt may have a small heart attack when she sees it this week (she has a big green thumb. her yard at home is practically 99% flowerbeds)
I have been researching a lot these days about the different possibilities for CO's future education. I know he is only 2 (almost 3) but in all honesty I don't think public school is for us. I have found a bunch of book lists online that are for children his age and we have been LOVING spending lots of time just reading together. It is so nice to be able to read him short stories these days instead of just simple board books. He is loving stories like Mike Mulligan and From Head to Toe. I think it is great that I can read stories with repetitive lines that he is picking up and chiming in. I want him to grow up to love literature. I am also challenging myself to read more classics and biography type books that are based on people's adventures and challenges rather than fiction that are easy reads and not much of a challenge or learning experience.
In the Spring I read Not Without My Sister which was about three sisters that were raised in a cult. I found this book very fascinating, some parts disturbing, yet amazed that this happened in MY lifetime. In July I finished Oliver Twist which I absolutely LOVED! I have never read it before and I love the musical based on the book. Currently I am reading I Will Carry You which is by a lady whose blog I have been following on and off for the last couple of years and The Lake Erie Shore which I am not far into, but am hoping to get farther along soon. I am struggling to get past all his facts of millions of millennia, etc. as I am not one that believes that the world is that old. It isn't really something that is up for debate I just don't personally believe that the world is millions of years old. I have my 2010 book list in a book at home and am hoping to add to my list to this blog sometime this week. (I am currently at work).
This summer I also decided that I wanted to take up drawing. If I am going to homeschool one day I want to be able to at least know some of the basics when I teach CO art one day. I am quite impressed with my meager attempts thus far. I have probably spent TOO much time at this and I should head back to work (though everyone is asleep and not needing me so I should probably try to catch a couple of Z's myself)
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