Water in places we didn’t want water….

After a long day the last thing we needed was this.  We put the kids to bed and we were both in our own little worlds downstairs.  Next thing I know Ian is in a panic and I’ve got no idea what’s going on.  He’s rushing around in the dining room and then leaps up the stairs and says something about the washing machine.  As I’m getting closer to the stair well that’s when I hear and then see the water coming down from the ceiling.  Oh my _____!

Now we are both rushing for towels and buckets and bowls and pots, anything to catch and sop up the water after Ian had turned off the water.

Remember how we often have a laundry monster aka the pile of clothes that never get put away, well we had one of those again so the clothes absorbed some water which helped.  They are all now in the kids bath tub so that we could sop up the rest of the water under the two machines.

Ugh.  So much wetness.  Now today I am spending most of my free time re washing the clothes that got wet.  However this time they will all be put away rather than be on the floor.  Oh this is so not what we wanted to have happen.  Now to figure out how to fix the water damage.  Something I’m sure that *I* is not going to be overly eager to do.

The kidlets are doing well.  Isabelle and I went for a visit to her Grandma and Grandpa’s house yesterday and she was quite excited to go.  Even Maddy was excited to go, however she was staying home with Aidan and Daddy.  The twins had a good time at home with Daddy.  It’s amazing how much better they play without Isabelle.  We had a good visit at my parents and Isabelle very so sad to leave.  She kept asking for Grandma to get in the car. 

The kids are all napping and I think I hear that the laundry has stopped so up I go to fold and continue chipping away at the pile in the bathtub! haha.

As a side note, most of you know that I had a balloon explode and hit me in the eye.  My eye is healing up nicely.  Still some pain and redness and a dull headache but I’m feeling good and seeing just fine!

Take care all have a good weekend!

Waiting….

We (the RCMP family) are waiting to hear about the missing member in the Yukon.  My heart goes out to his wife and their little one on the way.  How terrible this is.  I can remember the times we had in the north when Ian would go out on the boat and if he was so much as 2 minutes late I would start to worry.  This truly is a nightmare coming true.  We are all just devastated for his wife.  We all are clinging to hope that he survived and is just down stream.  But in the end I think we all know that this is most likely not going to be the outcome.  My heart, thoughts and prayers are with the Potvin family.

Is it wrong?

That I absolutely look forward to my kids nap times?  I always seem to have friends and even strangers asking me how the kids all sleep.  Sometimes I think I should lie to these people.  Isabelle started sleeping though the night by 3 months of age.  The twins too a bit longer but were about 4.5 to 5 months.  And the three of them used to sleep twice a day for 2 hours.  The next question I get asked is what is their bedtime.  The twins go down by 7:30pm.  Isabelle anywhere between 8 and 8:30.  We let her stay up a bit to feed the dogs, read some books or have a bit more play time outside.  The kids all get up around 7am but I don’t often find myself out of bed until 7:30 or 8am.  They are all happy to wait.  They hang out in their rooms until I come and get them.  I’m lucky.  I know that.  I don’t show off how great my kids sleep because I know a lot of my friends have had a hard time with their kids.  But on the other hand we worked hard to get our kids to sleep.  It wasn’t easy, but we did what works for us.

While bedtime is nice, I prefer naptime.  The mornings and part of the afternoon are so busy and chaotic that it’s nice to have the three hours to myself.  Whether I’m doing something for the house, or reading a book or watching tv, sleeping, playing Wii.  I love their nap time.  Right now, the twins are most likely either talking to each other or sleeping.  Isabelle is up in her room making a lot of noise moving around.  She will eventually give in and go to sleep.  Doesn’t matter to me what they are doing so long as they are safe and I can have my free time.  Oh free time.

We bought Isabelle and the twins an outdoor climber/slide toy.  So far Isabelle loves it!  The first word out of her mouth this morning was “slide!”  The twins think it’s okay, but they aren’t quite ready to be climbing or sliding on it yet.  This time next year it will be perfect for them.  I set up the sandbox nearby because the twins like to play in that and Isabelle can slide to her hearts content.

I think I forgot to post about our trip to Springridge Farm here in Milton.  Isabelle’s Auntie and soon to be Uncle were visiting for the weekend.  I decided that we should spend the day out on the farm.  They have a giant sandbox for the kids to play in, tractor rides, some animals, pony rides, corn maze and a neat cafe with gift shop.  Isabelle went on a her first pony ride and loved it.  I was so proud of her because she seemed a little leery of the idea at first. *I* went with her and she giggled the entire time.  And when the ride came to an end, she said “again”.  We went and had lunch and before leaving the farm, *I* took her around again.

Well time to catch up on emails and facebook.  Check out the photo site or facebook as I have posted some pictures.

The weekend is here and I’m ready for it!

Sorry *I* but you are taking over starting tomorrow.  I’m so ready for a break.  I don’t know how I’ve managed to hold on to my sanity for this long!  It’s late but I’m enjoying the silence and being alone so much that I can’t bring myself to go to bed.  FYI I’ll be checking into an unknown hotel somewhere in Ontario and I’ll be back on Sunday(maybe).  Ha!  I wish. 

This week has been torture.  Another blog writer that I follow had written about her kids starting their own “Fight Club”.  You all remember the movie with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.  “Welcome to Fight Club, the first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.”, that movie…well toddlers must be starting up clubs all over because my crew has started up their own.  I’ve been dealing with hitting and screaming and biting.  I’m just waiting for some brass knuckles to make an appearance in these living room brawls.  Isabelle is a fan of hitting and kicking.  Madeline has started with the biting and it’s starting to drive me nuts.  She’s left some serious marks on Aidan and Isabelle.  And of course this is teaching the other two to retaliate in the same manner.  Aidan is big on smacking anyone right in the face and he’s also bitten Maddy a few times too.  He’s really good with weapons, anything he can find to hold on to he will hit you with.  He stabbed *I* with a spork the other day.  Thank goodness it was made out of plastic and has rounded tips.  I don’t think he meant to do it really, it just sort of happened. 

Regardless, there is way too much of this going on in my house.

Why has no one figured out how to have instructions come with children?  As a parent I feel like I’m losing the battle and and I’m losing quickly.  I don’t know how to stop this and I’m frustrated.  I don’t like spanking or hitting my children because I don’t feel it teaches them anything.  How is spanking them any better than them biting each other?  Time outs?  Seriously, does a 1 year old understand a time out?  I’ve tried to start some time outs with Isabelle.  And while she sort of gets them it’s not quite teaching her anything yet. 

They have toys to play with but they always want what the other has.  And while they can play nicely on their own, all of a sudden one of them realizes that they are all playing nicely and has to go over and ruin it.  I do let them try to sort things out themselves at times, but obviously I can’t do this all the time.  The twins can play well alone.  Isabelle plays alright on her own but wants someone to play with so long as she can have the toy or be in charge of whatever it is that is going on.  I think too that Isabelle would like to be doing more one on one things with me, however now that there is only 1 nap a day for all three kids which is at the same time, there is no option for one on one time until the twins go to bed.  And it’s hard for Isabelle to understand that we just can’t do certain things until they are asleep.

The other set back this week was the weather!!!  It was far too hot to have the kids outside for any great length of time.  We usually spend from 9am until 11:30 outside.  But the heat was just too much for the twins and even for Isabelle.  Then it rains.  Come on mother nature, I need a break here!!!  The kids have been at each other all week and it really is because we haven’t been able to go out much at all.  We took them to the grocery store the other day just to go and do something out of the house with them.  But by the end of it they are always ready to go home so that they aren’t confined to the carts or car seats.

I love them dearly, but this chaos has got to end.  Someone is always in tears, I’m always being asked to kiss some body part better, wiping away tears, being a ref because someone stole someone else’s toy, applying the boo boo pack (ice pack) to a boo boo, putting an entire box of Kleenex back into the box it was plucked out of one by one, or wipes back into the wipes container, toys go from the living room to the kitchen and dining room and back to the living room via me kicking them there, reminding someone that pulling on a dog’s tail is a no no, as is playing in the dogs water, constantly reminding them not to play in the garbage can, leave mommy’s purse alone, do not eat the crayon, where did you find a crayon, do not touch the buttons on the fan, do not stick your fingers into the fan, do no poke the dog in the eye, do not throw your sippy cup at (insert child’s name), get down off the tv unit, do not touch the tv, do not climb on the back of the couch, my laptop is not for children, share the toys, do no throw blocks, we don’t eat mr. potato head parts, do not set the van alarm off again or it’s a time out, do not unlock the sliding door and let your siblings out onto the deck, put the contents of mommy’s kitchen drawers back into her drawers(mine were designed in such a way that I cannot kid proof them, otherwise yes, I would not have this problem), picking Aidan up off the floor because Isabelle or Maddy stole the walking toy he was using, etc…..  It’s constant.  I swear this is my whole day when we can’t go outside even just for 20 minutes.

Don’t take this post the wrong way, I love my kids and every day I’m reminded of how blessed I am to have such wonderful children.  I am a better person with them in my life.  I just need a break.  And what’s silly is that even if I had a break, you know all I would think about is what are the kids doing?  Are they okay?  Do they miss me?  Do they need something?  Guess that’s all part of being a Mommy.  I guess I should write my own instructions manual for my kids.  Give my kids, cheese, goldfish, grapes, milk and or juice, fruit to go’s, roni’s (macaroni and cheese), put on an episode of Dora or Yo Gabba Gabba and my kids will do whatever you want!

This little hard bit is almost over and then the next hard bit will start.  Ha.  It’s never ending.  Thank goodness for all the little good parts in between that help us forget the hard parts.

Well I suppose I should work on convincing myself to go to bed to recharge my patience level because I know I’m going to need it.  For Christmas just give me a black and white shirt with REF on the back and a nice loud whistle!  Sweet dreams.