Birthday season is drawing to a close

Our family gets hit pretty hard with birthdays it seems. The husband is a bit before the holiday season, I’m just weeks before Santa arrives and then Isabelle is two months later followed up by the twins a month later! It’s a lot!!! I basically need to sell organs on the black market to afford anything from September to April!

Isabelle invited 2 friends to go bowling, have dinner at Harvey’s(her choice, not ours) and then home for cake and gifts and a sleepover! Isabelle asked from the beginning that her brother and sister not be involved in much of her birthday party. We agreed to a point. Her party was on her actual birthday this year. We decided with her that it would just be her and her friends to go bowling. Then we would meet up as a family for dinner. Later at the house we would do our best to entertain the twins so that Izzy and her friends could just have some girl time.

This almost went well. Izzy agreed to everything but also insisted that Madeline not be allowed to sleep in her room for the sleepover part. We understand that Isabelle needs her space and she should be allowed to have it. She just goes about it all wrong. Instead of saying nicely or asking Madeline nicely, she was pretty rude about the whole thing. Face palm. The husband and I smoothed things over with Madeline. Aidan was more than happy to let her camp out on his bedroom floor. One condition of Madeline not sleeping in her own room, decided by Madeline, was that she would be taking their little radio with her into Aidan’s room. Isabelle was not impressed but I shot her a “Mommy isn’t putting up with anymore crap tonight!” look and Isabelle let it go. Mommy fact: I have  been known to sing “Let it Go” loudly and off key on purpose to the kids when moments like this occur. They hate it. Ahahahahahahahahahah!!!

The rest of the night went fairly well. Madeline only cried a handful of times because they didn’t want her around and she just kept going back for more. All in all, it went well and gave me a smidgen of hope for the two parties yet to come.

The twins have separate parties. They have separate friends. They like different things. Honestly, it’s like they aren’t twins at all.

Aidan had his party over March Break. I realized a little late that I am working solid weekends until the end of April and likely will be in May. It’s hard to have sleep overs during the week, what with getting their education interfering. Thankfully Aidan is not big on birthday parties. He only wanted to invite his bestie over. We took them to Springz, and indoor trampoline place. Then we headed to Aidan’s fav place for ribs, Rock Bottom. Then it was home for cake and presents and another sleep over. This time it was more Isabelle who struggled with not feeling included in what the boys were doing. I was constantly after her to leave them alone. I tried to have her recall what we went through for her party less than a month before. That didn’t seem to matter of course. In the end fun was had and Isabelle pouted for a while but eventually seems to have gotten over it.

Madeline is having her party this weekend. The twins birthday is this weekend. So again, she is doing something with just her friends and then we will meet up with the husband and other two spawn for dinner at Maddy’s fav spot, Swiss Chalet and then home for cake, gifts and sleep over. Already, Isabelle is demanding that she get to take the radio when she has to sleep in Aidan’s room. She has been making sure we are aware of this tidbit for the past two weeks. She is going to make sure she gets exactly what Madeline got. There is no doubt in my mind that my entire evening will be spent refereeing Isabelle away from Madeline and her friends.

This brings me to the talk I will be having with the kids tonight over dinner. If this crap continues during Madeline’s party. Then this is the last party that will happen in this house where friends are invited. It’s takes away from the enjoyment of parties when the grown ups have to police the kids. Not to mention how much fun are they really having when they spend more time arguing with siblings than just hanging out with their friends. So, if there is any crap pulled this weekend it will be family only birthday parties until they can show us that they are capable of not being assholes to one another(this could take a few years I think…..)

I will post a brief update on this situation next week!

 

10 teeth

Last Wednesday was a big day for someone in our house. Aidan had his first visit to the dental surgeon. Both Isabelle and Madeline have already had at least two trips each to have some teeth extracted. Aidan was the lucky guy who got 10 teeth all at once removed.

All of our kids are blessed with my tiny jaw it seems. There are a whole lot of teeth that need to come in, but have no where to go. It also seems that all of  my kids teeth are going to hold on for as long as possible. The roots on some of their teeth that have been pulled are crazy!!

Aidan has only had his two front bottom teeth come out without the help from a dental professional. I may have popped them out, but I certainly do not hold a dental certificate of any kind. All the kids see an Orthodontist and he is the one who said these teeth needed to come out. Aidan has a tiny jaw, some big teeth and not a lot of room for any of them. He already had a permanent tooth growing in sideways because the baby teeth were not about to come out. Rather than having to send Aidan twice, we decided it would be best to take them all in one shot.

The morning of his procedure he was up bright and early. We were told to get some EMLA patches. It’s pretty much what they use to numb the skin before inserting a needle into people. We got him all patched up and hung out a little watching some Netflix. His apt was nice and early so he could spend the rest of the day just relaxing at home.

Once we were in the procedure room, Aidan seemed relatively calm. He got on the scale for the nurse and then hoped up into the chair. It wasn’t until he was having stickers for the various monitors and the chair laid down that he started to panic. This is not my first time so I did my best to calmly talk to Aidan, the nurse also helped out with this and we chatted about movies to watch on Netflix later in the day or shows to find that her kids say are really good for boys Aidan’s age. He calmed down and was just about to relax until the Dr came in. That was much cue to kiss the boy goodbye and tell him he was going to do awesome. I was out the door and back to the waiting room.

I think it was about 30 to 40 minutes later that I was called to the recovery area to sit with Aidan as he woke up out of the anesthesia. He was a little worried about the needle still in his arm, but was also sleepy enough to get over it quickly. It was removed shortly afterwards. We had him sitting up and choosing some stickers while I paid and was given care instructions.

Once home, he settled into a nice cozy spot on the couch and crushed quite a bit of Netflix for the rest of the day. He did really well. He’s been enjoying his pudding, ice cream, yogurt and other soft foods. We have kept him home the rest of the week just to ensure that he doesn’t injure his very exposed gums and to cut down on the chance of any infection (kids put a lot of weird shit in their mouth when parents aren’t around!!!)

I’m really proud of him, he’s done really well for having 10 teeth removed. He sounds absolutely adorable when he speaks. He’s having his friend over on March Break to help his celebrate his upcoming birthday. I don’t think he will have many teeth in just yet, but he still wants to go to Rock Bottoms for Rib Night!! I can’t wait to get a picture of that!!! Here’s some photos of his big day.

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It’s been a while….update time!

I don’t really know where to start. Christmas was good. We had a few germs hit our household. Jersey is comfortable and happy most days. She is quiet and stiff the rest of the days.

I’m really enjoying working. I have an interesting job, and get to see all kinds of interesting things, some nice, some not so nice, some smelly, some tragic. It’s just interesting.

Isabelle is really thriving in English. She is so much happier and she no longer dreads going to school. Her reading is improving every day! Spelling is coming a long slowly but surely.

Madeline is excelling in the French Immersion. She needs to work on her reading in French, so I bought some French story books for her to read to me. She’s getting there. She is excited that they finally brought back the French Immersion Choir. *Izzy would really love for their to be a choir for the English students.*

Aidan is struggling in the French Immersion, so we will be switching him to English for September. Our hope is that, just like Izzy, he will feel less pressure and start to thrive in school as well.

The twins class sang the National Anthem for the Windsor Spitfires game last Thursday! The Spitfires won their game also! We had a great night, however had tired little people the next day.

Isabelle just celebrated her 9th birthday. I can’t believe I’ve kept a human alive for 9 years!! I feel pretty accomplished!! Isabelle and her friends went bowling. Then we had dinner out and home for cake and treats and a sleepover. She says she had an awesome party. I’m so glad she feels that way.

The twins will be celebrating their 8th birthday next month. I’m already getting crap for working every single weekend in March. Madeline suggested I quit my job. Probably not going to happen kiddo.

What else…..We got our van back just before Christmas. I have mixed feelings about this. I drive it because I have to, however I’d rather just have a different vehicle. My purse and wallet were brought to the house. I had to go through it with the police officer to sort out what was mine and what wasn’t. It was sad. My nice, well taken care of purse was destroyed. She had it for only a weekend and she made it look liked it was dragged on a gravel road. It was filthy and filled with all her crap and my wallet. The insurance company now owns those so I was glad to not have to keep them.

I am an auntie again! My beautiful niece was born on February 6th! I love her so much!! I miss having tiny babies!

Hmmm, I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff but my brain can only hold so much information! For now, I will leave you with photos my friend took of the kids!

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Trying to move forward

Those of you who are close to us or are on my Facebook page already know what happened to our family last Thursday night. For those who don’t I will explain.

Last Thursday our kids were playing outside with a friend. As usual, they had our garage door open so they could have access to all the kid toys. When done they came in and we went about our evening routine. The next morning the husband was about to take the kids to school when he realized something was not quite right.

The garage door was still up, and our new van (purchased last year) was not in the garage. He looked to the street thinking I had perhaps parked it there. Realizing I had not, he came in to the house and asked me where it was. Everything went downhill from there. The van was gone. Next we realized that my purse was missing from the kitchen counter(this is where all my anxiety started exploding. The realization that someone was in our house. In our house, while we slept.) Then we started to notice all the other things that were missing from the garage. Among those things, our daughters bike. A Christmas gift purchased for my nephew. The list just went on.

We phoned the OPP. They arrived quickly and the process of giving statements started. Since it was my purse missing, I jumped on the phone and started calling credit card companies and banks. Turns out, they used my credit card at a gas station(asshats) so I quickly gave that info to the Officer speaking to my husband. We later learned that they were on camera using my credit card. Criminals are fucking stupid, that is something I am thankful for.

I was moving in circles. I couldn’t think straight. Someone had been in my house. I was asked to give a description of my purse. I could hardly remember the pattern. It was so frustrating! It’s my favourite purse, it shouldn’t be that hard to give a description. How much money was in my wallet? I knew I had cash, which was weird for me as I never have cash. I stumbled over every detail. The only thing I could confirm 100% was the location of my purse in the house. I had stood at that spot in the kitchen where I kept it and was telling Madeline how my keychain had broken at work. She stood there with me as I took my keys off of it and then put them back into my purse. It never moved from that spot until one of them came in and took it.

Insurance let us know we could rent a car, I decided that I should go and report my license as stolen and get a new one. When I was getting ready to leave I realized that I had no way to pay to replace my license.  It was depressing having to ask my husband for money. Any other day I could ask for money no problem and wouldn’t care less. This was just so different. My money was taken from me. My access to my money was taken from me. It was and still is a terrible feeling.  I was a wreck that day. I likely shouldn’t have left the house. It really bothered(s) me that someone was in our home while we lay in bed sleeping. Yes, things could have been much more worse. They could have been even more evil people and hurt  us physically. Yet, somehow I feel much more traumatized just knowing that one of them was in our home and I had absolutely no idea. I haven’t slept properly since Thursday night. Exhaustion usually takes over and I eventually drift off only to be woken hours later by a bad dream. I lay awake wondering to myself “how did I not hear them in the garage?”

“How did I not hear them opening and closing van doors!?” They had to move our garbage cans and recycle bins to get to my husbands, new in the box, power washer. HOW DID I NOT HEAR THIS!

Every sound I hear has me nervous. I have to check and re-check that I have locked the door from the garage to inside the house. I have to check that the rental car in the garage is locked and that the garage door is down. I’ve done this at 3am despite knowing and telling myself that I already fucking checked this before I attempted going to bed.

The next thing that has me so irritated about this whole thing is that my children were in tears thinking they were to blame. The kids stayed home from school that day. I didn’t need them to be worrying about this at school. We did our best in between calls to the Insurance company and dealing with the police to reassure them that this was not their fault. Still, there were some tears shed and legitimate fears expressed. As the weekend went by the kids seemed a little less worried about the situation. I am thankful for that.

Monday during a lunch date with a friend, I got the news from the husband that our van was found and an arrest had been made. I was very happy to hear this, yet it doesn’t relieve the anxiety I still feel about this. I am hopeful that as time goes on the anxiety will lessen and the OCD will pass. For now I am trying to focus on the facts. We were not hurt physically. The things they took can be replaced. I have great friends that I can talk to. Wonderful neighbours have been there for us and even gave us some delicious pickles.

We now wait to hear what was recovered, if anything, and to get our van back. The police have my purse, but I am not sure if anything inside of it is mine. They also have my wallet, but I was told that only some of my ID was found. Sigh…. Getting all new stuff is such a royal pain in the ass. We also don’t know if anything they stole from the garage has been recovered. Isabelle asked if her bike was found, but it’s likely long gone. Poor girl. If it truly is gone, then thankfully her birthday is in a few months.

If you are curious about how the two asshats were arrested here’s a link to the article in the Windsor Star.

http://windsorstar.com/news/crime/windsor-pair-face-charges-following-pursuit-in-chatham

On a happier note, I will be picking up our photo Christmas cards tomorrow! I plan to mail them out before my 27th(again) birthday! Now I’m off to kiss my kids goodnight again, check that the garage door is down again, lock the inside door again and attempt to get some sleep.

I’m done adulting/parenting for today

This post is brought to you by the letter “P” and the colour Brown.

 

I have just put the kids to bed and I’m loading the dishwasher, then the following happens.

 

Isabelle: Mmmmmoooooooommmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: Yes??????

Isabelle: Uh, my poop won’t go down the toilet!!!!!!!!!!

Me: ……………………I had no appropriate words for this so I chose to remain silent for a moment. Then asked if the water was going to overflow the toilet.

Isabelle: The water goes down, but my poop won’t!!!

Me: FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!! (Said in my head, but I’m pretty sure the expression on my face said enough.)

If it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t want to make all my reader vomit on their computers, I’d post the photo I took of the massive turd my eight year old managed to birth from her tiny butthole. I took a photo to send to the husband as he’s not home tonight. I sent the photo because of his “ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha” comment he sent me when I texted him the problem I was faced with.

First thing I do is send the children back to bed. Yes, they all had to come and have a good look at the poop baby that just came out of Isabelle’s butt. She had to retell the story to them despite the fact that they all heard her telling me the problem the first time around. In fact, if the weather permitted open windows the neighbours would have heard about her enormous poop baby.

Next, I decide to go get a plastic bag. An arms length of paper towels (unnecessary yes, but I am taking no risks here), and one of the many dollar store paint brushes we seem to own. Then I head back upstairs to the wedged poop baby in the toilet.

Clenching my jaw together, so I don’t vomit, I use the handle end of the paint brush to turn the poop, immediately wrap the paint brush in all the paper towels, put in plastic bag, tie several knots in the bag, flush toilet. Now the fucking thing is stuck going down. I plunge the toilet that is filling with murky poop water, still clenching my jaw as not to vomit. Success! Poop baby has been flushed! Clean up and take plastic bag out to the garbage in the garage.

First thing going on shopping list for tomorrow: foods with more fibre for Isabelle. Now, this girl is done. The kids will just have to survive whatever happens between now and tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off at 6:45am, adulting/parenting time is over. Bring on the pj’s and Netflix!

The girls are going camping!

*I wrote this post yesterday but I am only getting around to posting it today. What happened? Well, I left this to the last minute before having to go pick up kids. Went and picked up kids, frantically drove kids to a hair place because it’s picture day today. Aidan looks less scruffy now, Madeline can see out from under her bangs and I had them straighten Isabelle’s hair for me. Then it was home to do homework, laundry, make dinner and get ready and go to Brownies. We weren’t home until just after 8pm. Rush kids to bed, do more laundry. Try to have a relaxing bath only to realize that there won’t be enough hot water. Give up and go to bed. **Run around like a crazy person getting kids ready for picture day only to realize I forgot to put Aidan’s clothes in the dryer. The shirt he absolutely has to wear is still wet….crank up dryer to get it dried in time……

So please enjoy yesterday’s post today!!!  🙂

I’m not really sure who is more excited, myself or the girls! After a bit of trouble, we finally got the girls signed up in Brownies. Madeline has been wanting to go camping forever and I figured this might be the best way for her to experience it! Isabelle hasn’t been quite as keen on it, however it finally starting to get excited. This also means that Madeline is going to start getting nervous.

Yeah, I can’t win. Who knew 7&8 year old girls were such emotional roller coasters. I really didn’t expect this for a few more years!! This is typical Madeline and Isabelle however. Madeline will be really excited to do something or try something new right up until it’s time to actually do whatever it is. Isabelle will be shy and nervous and not want to do it all, but when she’s got no other choice, ie. Mommy dropping her off at Brownies for the first time and walking out the door, she always says she had a great time. Kids are weird.

The girls successfully sold all their cookies. They had some help from Daddy who sold a lot to his co-workers. The girls did a great job going to some of the houses in the neighbourhood as well. Isabelle really enjoyed doing this. I’ve never seen her so enthusiastic about something!! My favourite part was when a house down from us said they couldn’t buy a box because they had just spent a bunch supporting Scouts. The girls faces went from all smiles to that pitiful sad look kids get. Both of them practically said in unison “oh….okay…….thank you.” Two seconds the later, the woman hands over $5 and takes a box from the girls. The girls couldn’t figure out why I was chuckling to myself.

This weekend Aidan will have the house to himself. It’s always a little strange when it’s just Aidan home. The house is so quiet. This likely makes me sound like a bad parent, but Aidan can be so quiet that I forget there is even a kid at home! I am trying to think of something that we can do together that he will enjoy since most of our outings are based around something the girls would also enjoy. The nice part is that all I really need to do is offer to shoot nerf guns all day and he’d be happy!

Halloween is approaching quickly! I need to seriously get my ass moving on making these wands. They shouldn’t take me too long once I get going on them. I’ve looked up a few idea on Pinterest. Here’s a peek at the scarves my talented mother in law knitted for the kids in Gryffindor colours. I ordered these patches from someone on Etsy and will put them on the robes my Mom is making for the kids!

I think they are going to look fantastic! The wands are on my to do list for tomorrow while the kids are at school.

Tomorrow is picture day, fingers crossed Isabelle doesn’t make a goofy face again this year. The photo we have of her is from two years ago. I’d like to update it!! I spent the better part of the morning at the mall trying to find something for her to wear for picture day. Her hair kills me because all the stuff I know she’d love to wear just doesn’t really go nicely with her hair. Think hot pink. Barf. Aidan has chosen to wear a long sleeve plaid shirt he picked out from Joe Fresh. He’s going to be my little lumberjack. I have no clue what Madeline’s plans are for her attire. For the most part she usually does a pretty good job of choosing something decent so I will just have to wait and see what tomorrow morning brings.

So far so good this week

Well I’m not sure what’s happened, but we have been able to safely cross the road for the last two days. I am likely screwing us for the rest of the week as I type this. Last week myself and a few other concerned parents received the following email:

To everyone concerned

 

There has been a number of concerns brought forward to administration recently by several individuals regarding the situation during school arrival and dismissal times at the above-noted intersection. (The email was titled IC Roy & Oakwood Intersection) The Town of Lakeshore remains committed to ensuring the safety of all pedestrians throughout the municipality, especially for children walking to school.(Do they really? Because the previous email basically said “We can’t do anything and it’s not our problem, have a nice day.) There are a few points of clarification to be made:

 

1. The OPP have been contacted by the Town regarding these concerns and will be increasing their patrols in this area to monitor any HTA infractions So far this hasn’t happened. When there was a police car present last week, his back is to where the problem is. Yes, the police car presence slows down vehicles speeding on Oakwood. However, the problem is at the intersection where cars and busses are turning during the walk signal.

 

2. The Community Policing Officer for the OPP has been, or will be, visiting the schools to educate staff and students on the proper steps when crossing at a controlled intersection (either traffic signals or Crossing Guard) While it’s good that they will remind children how to safely cross, this to me seems pointless. It’s not the children who are the problem. It’s THE DRIVERS!!! I watched children having to wait during a walk signal for cars to finish going through the intersection, thus not giving the children enough time to safely cross the street before the signal changed.

 

3. A School Patrol Program is being investigated with the School Boards is implement a program whereby senior students will assist with the crossing of the younger students at the signalized intersection. Investigated, hmmm….this feels like something that’s going to be forgotten about and pushed off agenda’s at meetings. You literally have parents writing you daily, weekly telling you that there is an urgent need for a crossing guard. This does NOT need investigating!! Not to mention all ages of children need protecting from the drivers who are failing to pay any attention to the signals at the intersection of Oakwood and I.C. Roy.

 

4. A report is going to our Council next week proposing some changes at the Mancini/IC Roy intersection to provide a safer crossing location for the children. Details can be found online under the Consent Agenda for the September 27^th Council Meeting. This intersection is less ideal for children to safely cross at due to the kiss n’ ride traffic exiting the school.

 

5. Crossing Guard requests must be vetted through a Crossing Guard Warrant Analysis. This is the process we have had in place for some time now. A recommendation would then go to our Council and funds would need to be set aside for the addition of a new crossing guard. What’s the time frame on this process? Again, you have many parents telling you that a crossing guard is needed. What are you waiting for?

 

Thank you, This to me translates into, *#^& you have a nice day

 

You went and angered the Mama Bear

 

I’m calling out all the people in Lakeshore, ON who drive their kids to school or are driving to work or simply just out for a drive between 7:55am and 8:15am every Monday through Friday. I am just a Mom, trying to drop my kids off at school and return home from doing so safely. What the hell is wrong with all of you that you think it’s perfectly okay to ignore the fucking traffic rules and make your left or right turn when the WALK signal is CLEARLY visible!!!!

School started September 6th, and I have been walking our kids to and from school most days. Of those 13 days of school, we have been nearly hit either on our way to school or when I’m on my way home! This is unacceptable. How am I supposed to let my children walk to school without an adult?!!! Ever since the transportation group decided they needed to have our bell times changed there is now a huge influx of traffic in the morning.

There is a high school just down the street from our Elementary school. An online petition was made to try to encourage the bell times being changed back.  They received this as their response:

I personally don’t have a problem with the bell times, my problem is with all the traffic. It was pointed out in this petition the influx of traffic. I have copied and pasted below.

• St. Anne Catholic High School is located less than 1km away and on the same road (Oakwood Drive) as Lakeshore Discovery School. St. Anne’s has similar bell times as the newly slated bell times for Lakeshore Discovery School. Current enrolment for St. Anne’s is 1300 students, together with Lakeshore Discovery’s enrolment of over 800 students that means over 2100 students will be coming and going at the same time. Being that there is no kiss & ride on Oakwood Dr., coupled with the Oakwood parking lot always being full causes parents to park on the side of the road. Does Lakeshore Discovery School have a plan to address these safety concerns with the influx of teenage drivers at 8am and 2:30pm? Will there be a crossing guard hired for Oakwood Dr?

I’m least looking forward to winter as our morning bell rings at 8:00 am so the children can be on the playground. They go in for 8:15am. The sun is just barely up now so in winter the streets slippery, sidewalk goes unplowed and now it will be dark. This is going to be a complete shit show. Just think of all the extra traffic because even more parents will be driving their kids.

I wrote to the town today…Here’s what they had to say about my concerns:

Good morning Leanne,

 

That is a shame cars are not waiting for the light when you are in the intersection.  You are welcome to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 (non-emergency number) to report this and they can have a car stationed there to watch and ticket.   Unfortunately it is out of the Town’s control.

 

Have a good day.

Have a good day. HAVE A GOOD DAY!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!! How is it NOT in the best interest of the town to pay for an adult crossing guard to keep kids safe? Sure, I can call the OPP and let them know we’ve been having trouble. They will come out one day and things will be perfect. The next day, they won’t be there and some asshat will nearly hit us or maybe worse! I mean really does the town expect that the OPP will station an officer there every day for the rest of the school year? Nope. Hire a crossing guard!! It’s that simple. The school wants kids who live close by to walk. I am TRYING to do this. However, it’s become clear that I have to start driving them because they aren’t safe on foot. The whole point of buying our home where we did was because of it’s distance to the school. We were happy that our kids would have a short distance to walk. So much for that.

Perhaps the next step is to contact oh let’s say The Windsor Star or CBC? Maybe they will care that students aren’t safe walking to school in the morning??

 

Have a good day she says…………..

When your kids school day screws up your kid free time

The spawn’s school changed their bell times this year and I have not yet adjusted to it. We are doing well getting up on time and making it to school, however it’s everything I do afterwards that’s all screwed up!

I used to be able to drop the kids off at school. Go home, let the dog out, get the dog fresh water and a bowl of food. Then I lock up and head out to run errands for the morning. I could make it to Starbucks and then head over to whatever store and get my stuff done. Then I’d be home, unloaded, everything put away and I could do whatever needed to be done around the house. Also known as having a nap.

I worked last night. I fell asleep some time just after 1:30am. I was woken up by the red head searching through the hall closet. When asked what she was doing up so early so explained that she had sooooooooo many bug bites. I thought she was holding a band aid which made no sense to me at all. I was half asleep after all. She informed me, nearly in tears, that she was looking for the bug cream. She got herself all fixed up and went back up to bed. I am pretty sure I fell asleep before she hit the first step to go upstairs. You may think I am a bad Mom for not getting up and helping her, however I believe I am teaching her how to do things for herself. She’s nearly 9, and can apply her own bug cream!

Alarm went off at 6:45am. I wanted to smash it with my baseball bat. Fast forward to taking the kids to school. I drove this morning, this means we have to leave earlier than normal due to the first week of Kindergarten chaos. Honestly, I am glad we drove. I had to dodge a puking kid coming off the bus the other morning. I was also nearly exposed to vomit last night at work. I had had enough of close calls. I left the kids at school and went home to do the usual routine. Headed out to the stores I needed to go to. Pull into deserted parking lot and realized that since it’s only 8:25 am. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS OPEN!!! I was torn with going home and just going back to bed  or doing what I ended up doing which is grabbing a Bacon and egg mc muffin from McDonalds and waiting for all the stores to open.

Going home was just not an option. I had things to do that needed to be done today and I was already out there so it’s not like I would drive the 20 minutes home, hang out for 20 minutes and then make the 20 min drive back.

Sigh, my point of all this is that I hate the new bell times. I’m sure it’s great for some people, but so far I am not experiencing this greatness. I don’t see the brilliance behind this plan. I just see the traffic screw up, the bags under my eyes and the line up at Costco which apparently begins at 9:20am (they don’t open until 10am). I tried to have a nap after coming home today but all I did was lay there and roll around. I am at the point where I am so tired and want to nap but can’t. Honestly it’s better this way. Hopefully I will just be good and tired and be able to sleep tonight no problem. I even have the bed to myself for a few nights!! Hooray!

Survived the first week of school!

I am loving back to school. The kids are back into their routine and while the first week was busy, I am glad they are enjoying being back at school. The school bell now rings at 8:15am, this means the kids need to be on the playground at 8am(ish). We made the mistake of driving the first day. Well to be honest the kids back packs weight more than Aidan so we decided there would be slightly less grumbling if we drove.

Big mistake.

While there was no grumbling from the children, there were swear words from myself. The Elementary school and High school now start at the same time. This equals a shit show of traffic. It’s a good thing that Kindergarten doesn’t start the same week as the rest of the school otherwise shit show wouldn’t even begin to cover what a mess that would have been.

The kids all seem quite happy with their classmates, class rooms and teachers. Madeline was a little sad to find out that one of her friends moved away during the summer. She was really looking forward to seeing this friend so it was a little hard on her. They re-organization could bring some changes, but hopefully the kids stay where they are.

We have been managing well getting up an hour before they need to be at school. This will have to change come winter. There is so much crap to get on and then of course I am planning on getting them to walk as much as possible so this of course means, leaving earlier than normal as well.

I tried to salvage some of the front garden. I had plans for it this spring and then I had to be all grown up and get a job. So the plans kind of fell through and the garden basically turned to weeds. Oh so many weeds. The hedges around this tree also became quite over grown. So yesterday I decided that since the weather was nice, it would be a great idea to tackle the weeds. Oh my god. Today. Everything. Hurts. I have to work tonight and as I sit here typing this, my arms ache with every keystroke. How the frig am I supposed to do my job tonight. Basically, this blog entry is warming up my stiff muscles so that work doesn’t suck tonight.

The worst part is that I’m not even done the damn garden!! There is so much more to rip out and then I want to put down that weed fabric so that next spring I don’t have as much crap to pull out when it gets neglected for weeks on end. This garden sucks. It wasn’t dug down deep enough and then filled with good soil. It’s pretty much clay with a bit of dirt and mulch thrown on top. Frustrating. I’d like to start over, however this girl is not made of money!

In other kid related news, the girls are starting Brownies this week. We haven’t put Aidan into anything yet. All three will continue with their swimming lessons starting next weekend. The girls are in Swimmer 5 and Aidan is in Swimmer 3. Aidan has improved so much this summer! We are so proud of him. He went from not wanting to let go of the side or a parent to being able to swim to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve a ring! The girls are doing well of course as well. They graduated from Swimmer 3 and were able to pass 4 and go directly to Swimmer 5. I hope to keep the kids interested in swimming as long as possible. It’s something I always enjoyed and certainly can cost less than other sports!!

Time to go clean the house so that the babysitter doesn’t think we are total slobs. She is picking the kids up from school today and hanging out with them until the husband gets home from work. I’m working afternoons and won’t see the kids again until my alarm goes off at 6:45 to get them up for school. Ugh. Some serious high 5’s to all the working parents out there. And high 5’s to awesome babysitters. I’m so glad we found two great ones. The kids are always so happy when they get to spend time with them!