Almost back to school

With it almost back to school the boys were driving me crazy but they were running out of ideas for things to do. I thought a scavenger hunt would be fun so I wrote out a list and sent them out. Originally I had thought that all the kids could do it together but Xavier and Niles inform me that Patience is too slow and I could hear the crying from down the block. She came home and the boys continued on. It looks like they had fun.

An exercise in frustration

 When I am home I try to be resourceful and get things finished, while including the children and not staying in the same place all the time. Now that Patience is back walking (so very nice), we try to do things that are therapy but sneakily so she doesn't notice and refuse. (There is a lot of stair climbing and tricycling going on in the house right now). Right now we are working on her symmetry and a good way to do that is to peddle. She learned to ride her tricycle last month (I know she is slow) and now for a different angle we (but we I mean me doing what phyiso suggests) are going to try a bike, a bike that she can't just stop by herself, a pull behind bike. I will call it the buddy bike. 

The buddy bike.

Now to begin the exercise one must get the bike out of the shed. To open the shed you need a key. Find the key. No key. That is right some child has lost all the keys. Oldest child has taken key to a sleepover. Why? Don't know. 

 Me: "Rob do you have a key" (5 minutes after he leaves house).

Rob: "I am all the way across town. I will open it when I come for lunch"

So I wait 2 hours for Rob to come home, then I get the children engaged in an activity (painting) and start getting ready.

1. Get bike out of shed:

Bike shed, arranged by a man. Buddy bike was in the back corner.

Don't worry I came out mostly intact

2. Blow up flat tire: This should not be a problem because we have a very large air compressor in the garage and Rob has recently replaced the broken hose (he told me because I tried to inflate Niles's very flat tire last week and couldn't). To get to the air compressor I have to go into the garage and get to the back corner

I call this the garage of death

Not to bad even. Took some fancy footwork but I can almost park in the garage again so it is not too bad. 

I think I have been a little stressed...

Ah my normally busy house. Many things happen during the week. There is band on Monday and Xavier has track practice in the morning; Tuesday workout, Village Time, Xavier's Tae Kwon Do, and Financial Peace in the evening; Wednesday Xavier has track before school and debate club after so don't forget to drop him off and pick him up, church night (and sometimes a work day); Thursday early dismissal, Tae Kwon Do and piano lessons; Friday nothing (yet). Seems busy enough. So let's add a normally independent four year old. Now make her completely dependent. Arrrgh. It is an adjustment and we have been handling it but I went back to work this week.

Yes I went back to work. I had a good day. I was picking up a few shifts to get a few more hours in when the clerk said, "Diane you can't pick up that shift you are already working it".

WHAT!!!

(I really wasn't working it. I checked my schedule)

So we started looking at my schedule and in the middle of March is changed completely from what I was working. Now our clerk did some looking and found a note that said change Diane to ___________ line on March 18. (Background: I have taking a new part-time position but it is the same number of shifts as the temporary position that I was already working) Ah mystery solved and I had no recourse. New position can = new line. It is kosher. Yuck. So what did I do? I cried; at work. Yep. That pushed me over the edge. Maybe I am coping but just. (It is all fixed now. I pleaded my case and at least my schedule is the same as I had planned for March. We will see ongoing.)

So maybe I have been a little stressed.

New Legs for Patience

Ah Patience. Normally a happy, smiling, independent child. Observe.

Taking care of the tomatoes. It was her job. She would get so angry if I would do it.

She climbed up the slide first with all the toys.

A party with Abby.

Working it at Tae Kwon Do.

Well Thursday certainly put a put a crick in her style.

So now, after her open left hip reduction, Patience is not so active. A body cast will do that to you. She is happy today. We left the hospital with our new and modified car seat that we borrowed, a borrowed wagon in the back and a bunch of sitting gifts and headed home. (There are pictures of her smiling I just don't have them right now). At home she watched a bunch of TV, played with her leapster, talked to her brothers, painted pictures and went to bed. A busy day for someone who can't move herself. We will see what tomorrow will bring.

It has been awhile

It has been awhile since I blogged anything and since I had written Robin the other night I thought I would straight out copy it and add pictures. Maybe I would add on later.

Dear Robin and Samuel,

This week we are getting ready for Patience's surgery. It is scheduled for Feb 23. I took her for her pre-op appointment and she hid under a chair. I tried to get her to weigh herself but she screamed and cried and refused to put her legs down. It is amazing how she can hold up her legs and climb the walls. After the doctor left she said "that was good" and decided that I could weigh her and measure her. The next day we got to have blood work. Good times all around. After that we got to have great big slurpees. She got a large Booster Juice. She picked the pink one but decided that she wanted the purple one. This week it is very hard being almost 4. Every day is a fight. She doesn't ever like supper, she won't share, and she doesn't like to do anything except what she wants to do. She is happy except when she is sad and the mood swings are crazy. Lots of fun.

(At the giant sausage in Mundare AB. You have to go. The meat is great and there is a great convenience store. It has the ice cream with the flavour swirls).

Xavier is super busy. He is in Tae Kwon Do (working on his blue belt), track and debate club. He tells me that he is too busy but he won't pick what to give up. I am sure it will shake it self out later. Next year he tells me he will also be in jazz band. Now he wants to play french horn but I told him that he can't have 2 new instruments. We will figure it out when we get there.

Niles is less busy. We have taken him out of Tae Kwon Do. He only has piano. It is working for him right now. Maybe in the spring we will put him in soccer or something. He gets too stressed out too fast.

Niles and Xavier at Vaegerville

Yesterday we had family movie night. Rob decided it should be a funny family movie so he picked Marley and Me. Have you watched that? It has it's funny parts but at the end (spoiler alert) the dog dies. Niles is bawling, Rob has tears in his eyes, Xavier is crying, I am crying. Good funny movie Rob. Way to wreck the night.

Rob has gotten farther on the bathroom. There is drywall on many of the walls now and the potential for a spout for the bathtub. We can use the tub but the ambience is not there. It just isn't restful sitting the the bath around a whole bunch of tools.

I got a permanent 3/4 time position in the health region. That means I can balance my work and home lives better. I see the kids more and they are happier I think.

The weather this winter has been crazy weird. It is hot. Minus three, plus 4. Melting in February. I don't like it. The kids don't like it. Where has the cold gone?

I took this picture of my flowers in November. See how they are not dead.

These are the strangest November flowers I have ever seen.

I was tired of watering them. Why had they not died yet?

That is all I can think of right now. Have a good week.

Patience visits Vaegerville

See interesting things.

Fun at a playground.

Do fun things.

Love Diane