Gremlins

Hubby and I have both come to one of those lows in our married and parenting life. The little buggers, darnit, are winning!! Despite our best efforts to stay consistent, to provide them with safety, love, food, fun, education, attention etc. it just doesn't seem to be working in our favor. We know we have three very busy boys who require a lot of commitment. But at this point it feels like it is more than we can bear. We are losing ground. We are losing ourselves. We don't know what it is like to do anything other than for the kids. And when they act like little gremlins in return, it is all we can do to hold it together and not lay down and bawl our eyes out.
So things have definitely got to change. We need more time together, alone, doing things for us. As we all know, there is no parenting manual we can turn to. There are no two people that have been in our exact situation with our exact children, so we are the ones who are going to have to stumble through this. It is lonely and frightening to feel like we are botching it up. I really thought it'd never be such a struggle, so it is really sad and I know unhealthy to have those thoughts of "why did we ever think we'd be good at this?".
I started a new Monday morning Bible study today with a large group of women. It is a Bible Study by Beth Moore called Living Beyond Yourself. It had some good verses in it for my aching heart today.
So ya, that's where it's at. Greg is away for four days, so he is hopefully getting some time to regroup before he returns to the chaos. As he often jokes, we need a good German nanny. She needs a name like Helga, with a tight bun in her hair and larger in size than he is. Know anyone?!

Wedding bells!!!

My sister in law's sister was married today. It was a very fun day of celebrating this long awaited wedding. I got to tag along and take some candids, but I won't post the bride pictures just yet...






There are a pile more on facebook...

in case you need a pick-me-up...

The fall has been great so far. The weather is crisp in the mornings, but sunny and clear all afternoon. The boys are busy with school, meeting new friends and teachers. I love having Liam in school. It makes him seem years older to be attending the same school as Riley. He's a confident and charming soul. Today I had some money to give to Riley's teacher and Liam wanted to deliver it to her. I told him to wait for me as I didn't want him just throwing some money at this teacher who didn't know him. But he confidently ran up to Riley's class. Are you Ms. Housden? Yes. I am Riley's brother and this money is for you. So brave. So cute. She saw me and gave me a wink. Her son is in Liam's class, so she made that connection with him and it is all so sweet. I love school. Liam is going to grow by leaps and bounds this year and I'm so glad to be part of it all.

Big brother

On Friday afternoon our oldest gaffer, Riley, took his first trip away from home. My parents invited him along with them to the coast where they were to celebrate my great grandma's 98th birthday! (How cool is that, he has a great-great grandma!)
So with no hesitation, he and his cousin Claire, went on the road trip on Friday. It was so quiet and peaceful at our house for the rest of the weekend! We all slept in, we went shopping in Vernon, we were relaxed. Two kids were a breeze! I know this all sounds so cruel, but Liam has been "on edge" his whole little life, as Riley has always been ready to pounce on him and his toys. Liam is such a nervous wreck when Riley is around, but is so calm when he isn't. Sad really. I keep waiting for "that day" when they will magically get along like best friends, but deep down I really doubt it will ever happen. I imagine that when they are older and moved out of the house, that they will share common interests and humor, but they are just the type that can't live together well. I'm trying to think of ways to give them more space...that's part of it. They are together almost all the time. I'm sure this is a common problem in many households. What helps? I'm getting tired of trying to make them get along, but I hate that the only solution seems to be keeping them apart.

Lunch with Shea

So kindergarten is officially going full hours. Finally. This means that Shea and I get to enjoy a quiet lunch together. He is such a crazy little guy lately. Keeping us all very busy, and also keeping us laughing. He is like a little parrot, copying the boys with whatever they do, and also copying any words. Fun! Right now he's trying to copy daddy's dance moves. Pretty funny! I wish I had a video function on my camera!

Making cards

I am not one that has ever scrapbooked. I have been making cards for about 7 years though. Love it. I love the paper. I love the fact that it only takes a few hours to make a stack of cards that are useful to me and can be appreciated by others. I used to take my sweet time and bend wire into letters and string on beads. Now I'm a bit more simple...lately just adding a few cardboard buttons on with sewing thread and a needle, or gluing on some ribbon, stamping some letters etc.

I'm getting quite a collection of paper and supplies, and should start up a monthly card-making party at my house. Anyone in?

Cookie time

I have been tagged by Elizabeth...

Here’s the deal with this meme: If I have tagged you...choose one ingredient from my recipe and post a recipe using this ingredient on your blog, linking back to the previous blogs that have posted a recipe.
- Then tag four new people, and we will see how it grows.
- To keep it exciting please post within a week of receiving the tag.

So...from her yummy pumpkin bar recipe, I am picking the ingredient eggs.

I'm not picking this recipe because it is an overly outrageous recipe, but because it is a simple cookie recipe and I love cookies. Also, this is a cookie recipe of my mom's which she would make and put in my lunches when I was a kid and which is what I just did for Riley yesterday!

MOLASSES SUGAR COOKIES

First part
1 1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar

Second part
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs

Third part
2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Place all in your mixing bowl and mix well, adding one part at a time.
Once all are mixed, roll into balls (slightly smaller than a golf ball).
Roll them in sugar.
Place balls 2" apart and squish down slightly with your two fingers.
Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 8-10min.
Makes 6 dozen


So brace yourselves....I will tag Heather, my SIL...because she loves to cook and bake. She also has quit blogging, and I would love to give her a reason to put up a new post!
I will also tag Lisa, my good friend from Calgary who is usually brimming with recipes! Ruth, because she too loves baking and will take beautiful pictures to illustrate! You should see what she can do!
And last...Melissa, a friend who bakes her own bread, and I'd love to hear her recipe!!?

KINDERGARTEN begins....finally

(All these poses were done of his own accord...he's such a poser!)
So today was FINALLY the first day for Liam. After all the hype and the waiting, I think he was rather let down!! He said it "wasn't fun at all", and all they did was sing and he didn't feel like telling her what song he wanted to sing. Aww...he'll get into it. They have about 18 in the class, one of which is our forever friends daughter (Marie and Matthew's oldest girl).
Riley also found out today where his classroom is, who his teacher is, and who his classmates are. He's in class with his best bud again and couldn't be happier. I am quite excited about it all.
I just signed up Liam for gymnastics today, and after gulping while writing a cheque for Minibacks (Riley's hockey) and now Tumbling Tots...I then realized that we are saving $100 a month now that Liam is done preschool payments, so it will all even out to the same as before. Phew.

Off to school!

So Riley started grade three today. He was a little anxious, and held tight to my hand as we approached his old friends (most of whom he didn't see all summer). He just smiled, but didn't say too much. It is kind of neat how they return to their previous classroom and teacher, and they actually know everyone. By the end of tomorrow, he will be placed in his new room with a new mix of kids. Exciting!!
By the time I picked him up, three hours later, he was back running around with his good friend Ben and they are currently having a playdate.
In order for our school system to save some money on bus fees, they moved the school hours up to a ridiculous hour of 8:13am, so we had to leave the house right after 8am. It was ok, but having them done already at 2:10pm is not my favorite. Another thing that drives me absolutely bonkers is the kindergarten set-up. I don't get it! After one or two years of preschool, and hyping up the whole idea that they get to go to kindergarten!!! Then they have to wait til Thursday to start. But wait...it's only half an hour the first day. Then 45 minutes the next day. Then an hour. Then an hour and 15. Seriously. It is so frustrating. Half of these kids are in day-care or have been out of the house before!! He'll be getting up to a normal day by next Wednesday and then Friday is already a pro-D day!! Get on with it!
I don't know if you read about this yet. My friend was letting me know that the B.C. gov't has been proposing the idea of full-day kindergarten (every day) for 2010. I don't know if it'll fly, but this would apply to Shea if it does. I'm kinda split down the middle as to what I think of the idea. It is mainly to help the parents who are working and trying to juggle day-care and kindergarten schedules. I can imagine that it would SO hard for them. It is hard enough for me to go to the school three times a day and I have Greg at home to stay with Shea while he's napping. I suppose some kids have a hard time leaving home, but I know that Liam would definitely be able to handle a full-day of school this year. He hasn't napped since he was three and would love playing with friends (as we all know, kindergarten is mainly organized play time). I wouldn't want it forced on my child if I knew they needed more quiet time or I wanted more time with them. Maybe it'll be optional. Curious what you think.
So there won't be pictures of Liam til Thursday. He'll be darn cute, so stay tuned!

Dinner time

After a lack of routine pretty much for the entire summer, it is somewhat refreshing to know there is a rigid schedule soon approaching to help us all be more productive. I have learned that children thrive on routine and schedules, and I'm sure I do as well. We kept some of our routines over the holidays, for example, nap for Shea at 1pm, and bedtime was pretty much 8pm. We did enjoy the break from the early morning run out the door to school, packing lunches, memory homework, clubs, sports, etc.
Anyway...we start up again tomorrow. And we are READY! Bags packed, names on all the shoes and backpacks.
One thing that I hate not having a routine for, is meals. I hate sitting there at 4pm and trying to come up with an idea of what will be for dinner. I also hate making up last minute grocery lists. So this year I am going to try to do up a whole month of meals at a time. That way nothing is repeated in a month, and I don't have to think too hard when it's time to get groceries. It also saves money and will prevent me from saying..."I have no idea what to eat, let's go out."

So here are 36 or more dinner ideas for you to add to your list. Most of them are very basic meals, but if you want to know what something like "Chinese Hekka" is...give me a shout.

Beef:

Taco Salad
Meatloaf
Hamburgers
Shepherd's Pie
Beef dip
Chinese Hekka
Paul's Chili
Sweet & Sour meatballs
Steak
Spaghetti

Fish:

Tuna Casserole
Shrimp on skewer, Rice, Veggies

Chicken:

Sweet &Tangy Chicken
Shake and Bake Chicken
Stir Fry
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chicken Enchiladas
Kebabs
Curry noodles with green beans, chicken
Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken
Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Rice

Egg:

Quiche
Omelet
Hashbrowns, eggs and toast

Pork:

Brown beans with wieners on toast
Pizza
Soup (Corn Chowder)
Thai Pork Burritos
Broccoli Casserole
Hotdogs
Bacon, Rice and Peas
Perogies with farmer Sausage
Pork Chopettes

Other:

Baked Mac & Cheese
Clubhouse and Fries
Turkey meatballs
Pitas, Tzatziki, lamb

Rock Band

In all honesty...I'm pretty much at the end of my rope with the whole "summer holidays" season. Love the sun, love the activities. But keeping three boys from seriously driving me insane is getting hard. We did really really well for the first two months. Now everything is "boooooorrrrrinnng" and we're picking fights over things like who sits where again. I think we're all just sick of being together day and night and need to see some other people.
Our back deck is built! did I not mention this before? During the mayhem of the wedding week, my brother and dad came and put up our freshly sanded and stained boards. It looks wonderful!

They came this week to put the stairs up, and as we tossed ideas around, we determined that it would be best to jackhammer up all the current back sidewalk as it slants into the house, re-level the ground, make a brick patio on the ground that the stair can come down onto.

In the photo above, you can see where the current sidewalk is...well it's covered with wood and a bbq tank. There will be bricks starting from the edge of the deck coming all the way over to the back gate and covering up most of the nasty dirt/grass you can see in this picture.
Yikes! We just signed up for another huge project when we haven't even finished filling our hole or fixing the front retaining wall. We're hoping to get started and finished all this stuff before the snow flies. Lots of work ahead.
ONE DAY our yard will be beautiful. And mostly level. With grass.

What actually happened...

:)

so many pictures...

My sweety niece Olivia...getting her two year molars, so has either a soother or fingers in her mouth! She just bounces from one thing to the next and is bubbly and affectionate.

I've never had so many pictures of myself! Nice to prove that I was actually there!

This picture was taken close to the end of the reception, almost 2 hours past Shea's bedtime. He was a little cranky during this pose, but otherwise did just wonderful the whole evening.

My parents sat with me, both during the wedding and in the reception. Thank you SO much! Mom took Shea out during the ceremony so I could watch it, and as you can see...dad kept Riley quite entertained at the dinner table. Greg was running up on stage here and there to play songs with his trombone and his banjo (not at the same time)! He also sang!

This day had many deja vu's for me as Greg and I had our reception in the same room 10 years prior (can you say OLD!), and had our parents and family celebrating with us.

Heather is the baby of the family, with two older brothers. So the family is complete...until she has some babies!
During these photos, Greg was teasing the photographer and saying..."I need a treat for being so good!" which is what the kids would get during the family shots. Well Shea heard Greg joking around and right away came up to give Greg one of his candies. Aww.
Would you believe that I didn't get ONE photo of the five of us?? Oh well....we'll try to do one before the summer is over.