Inner Ninja

I forgot that Rhys was to have his turn at Show & Tell in preschool the other day, so we didn't bring in anything. I felt bad.  I had even written it on my calendar to remind myself! *sigh*

At the end of class, his one teacher, Mrs. Nikki, told me that since were studying the letter "U", they decided to try to find something to show off the word "Under". And Under his snack section in his lunchkit is a spot for his juice container. So they unzip it and they pull out the thermos to show the children. On the thermos (and lunchkit...we bought them separately and without realizing they were a matching pair!) is a picture of a ninja, so Rhys starts to do these kicks and jumps and ninja moves! They kids were just cracking up laughing! One boy is literally rolling on the floor in laughter, Nikki told me!

Dayton (a classmate) says, "Oh, Rhys, you are so funny!"

Rhys stops and says, "I am?"  So they all burst out laughing again.

My boy, the comic genius, with his inner ninja moves!  It made me smile.

And, on that note, I must share with you the song Inner Ninja by fellow Canadian, Classified! It's a fun one!

lost and found money

Abi was selling chocolates in the beginning of the year for a school fundraiser. My family has been waiting for this one to pop up since September, and I was starting to feel like a fraud when it didn't happen over Christmas. (she sold dumb poinsettias instead. pfft.) But finally they released a bunch of cases of chocolates and there was much rejoicing. See, these aren't just any kind of chocolates. Nay. These are World's Finest Chocolates. If you haven't tried them, you are missing out of, seriously, the World's Finest Chocolates.

It helps that this company is from a small town where my father grew up in, and that our family has a bit of an obsession with it. We are kind of chocolate snobs, to be honest. My Dad wouldn't buy some little girl's chocolates that she was selling at his door a few years ago when he found out they weren't World's Finest. *snicker. Horrible.

So there was much happiness when we finally got to sell these. Abi did a quick walk around the block once, sold a few, but then sold the rest to her extended family. 6 cases in all! $300 in total, to be exact! Nice! Except that when we gave the cheque for the amount to the school, they never cashed it. We waited for over a month. Do you know how stressful it is to have money in the bank that you know you can't touch because it is earmarked for a removal due to cheque? It was painful for my Hunny! We asked the school about it, to be told that they deposited all of the cheques. H'mm...that's strange. Did they not notice they were short $300? We didn't hear anything back from them, after they said they'd look into it, but finally two weeks later, it was suddenly deposited and all is fine again.  (To be honest, I was really hoping they had lost the cheque and had decided that we didn't need to owe them any money at all, that it had all been miraculously been covered. Oh well.)

Meanwhile, Abi was finding money!  She had received an art easel for Christmas from her Grandma Lynn that had came all shrink wrapped in a black bag. She has used the easel and has painted a few times, but the bag had hung on her door handle for a few months already when she looked through it one night. And pulled out a folded 100 bill! What? Sadly, neither her father nor I were missing any money, and it didn't come from her Grandma being sneaky with money, so where did it come from? The black canvas bag that the easel came in was shrink wrapped as well, so couldn't have been just randomly placed there. It was a neatly folded bill too. It was a bizarre find!

We held on to it for a while, trying to decide what to do with it, when in the end we thought that since Abi found it in her possessions that the money was hers! Nice!  She really wanted a new camera, although her father really didn't like the idea. He wanted her to upgrade her phone, that has an upgraded camera, but she just doesn't even use her phone! She is never on it! (she has a Blackberry, which is crapping out on the battery, of course, so it's flakey.) She doesn't have any friends that she texts with, even though most of them all have their own phones. The only time she is on it is to check out youtube videos for her favourite songs. (one of the rules to her having her own phone with wifi access is that we are allowed to inspect it at any time, for any reason. The good news is that Abi is pretty boring and really doesn't do anything on her phone, so her history isn't anything to worry about!) She wanted a camera. This camera to be exact. But Hunny was so against the idea! He thought she would be wasting her money! I reminded him that she is only 12, and sometimes wasting money just happens at this age. Yes, we could advise her on purchases and investments and spending wisely, but in the end, she is the one that will have to make the final decision. And sometimes you just have to buy something fun!  In the end, she (and I) won! She got her camera!

I am excited for her. I remember my own Polaroid camera that took sticker pictures. It was so much fun! (and so much smaller than her camera. I was so surprised at how bulky hers is!) I still have those photos in an old wallet. (a few taken of Abi as a baby, even! so it wasn't that long ago. But it's too bad that they don't make film for it anymore. Or do they? If you know of any being sold, let me know! I still have that camera hanging around somewhere. The kids love to play with it!)   **It was the Polaroid i-Zone. I just found out that it is still available on Amazon! Sweet!

So far, she likes to take selfies (haha), but come summer time and more fun activities, she will have more opportunities to play around with it. I am glad that she was able to buy something "silly"!

She started a paper route a few months ago, and we already have got her putting some money aside for long term savings (such as university or car or whatever), short-term savings (such as a new camera, lol, or an iPod), for tithing (giving to our church or to an organization she feels led to support), and for spending. So far, some of her spending has to go to her brothers for helping her with her route on busy days. but it's a start! I never had money management training from my parents, and in a lot of ways I feel like Hunny and I are the worst ones to learn from as well, but we need to teach our own children to take care of what they are given. It's so easy for them to just assume that the bank card holds unlimited amounts of money. If I tell them that I don't have any more to spend, they think that I should just be able to go to the bank for more. Oh, how I wish I could do that too! So we are trying to teach them. Eventually they will get it. Hopefully before they are out of school and into the world!

Top Ten List of Random Updates

I can't believe that there are only weeks left of school for this year! Our winter went by so slowly; it was such a struggle and now, hello June! Sheesh, once Spring Break hit, the weeks seemed to go by much faster!

In January, I was reflecting over 2013 and thinking about how the stress of the unknown and finding some sort of diagnosis for Rhys really weighed over me. I decided that I didn't want to spend 2014 focused on that. I didn't want all of my thoughts, all of my posts, all of my top concerns to be about him. So that meant that I stepped back from blogging and from doing searches and from all of my thinking and just took a break. I needed to just enjoy who he was without looking too deeply.

But now half a year has gone by! It's crazy to think of!  So, just to catch up a bit, here is my Top Ten List of Random Updates:

1. We had our share of events as well as sicknesses. Full of illnesses. Oh, the illnesses. *sigh*  The Strep Throat that Abi caught in December returned in January and spread. In fact, for one week, Abi, Kai and myself all had it! Except that it turned into Scarlet Fever for both the kids.  Then in February, Strep Throat hit Bryn, which also turned into Scarlet Fever! What are the chances of that happening to three children in the family? (Since it comes about from the way your body reacts to a toxin created by Strep, that is, and not everyone will get it)

2.  We got ourselves a new computer for Christmas. (a gift from Hunny's grandma)  Our old one is slower than molasses and keeps telling me that it's memory is full. BOO! So Hunny came home with a funky tv/dvd/computer all in one. It's apparently the way to go! This one has Netflix already installed (nice) and access to cable and the internet, so the kids are happy. However, it also has Windows 8 installed on it! Oh good grief, what a terrible system that is! It is *not* user friendly at all! In fact, it is one of the main reasons why us adults still hardly use the new computer! (go figure)  We now have Firefox installed, but it still feels "different" to use. Maybe it's the huge screen, or the way the keyboard feels so....jelly and flexy.  I don't know. I"m sure we'll get over it...because eventually the old computer really will die on us.

3.  I have been without a cell phone for three weeks now. *sigh*  I know. #firstworldproblems eh?  I can't help it, we live in an area where cell phones just are used all.the.time. I dropped my cell and it cracked on the back, but no big deal. A week later, I dropped it again and it cracked the screen a bit at the bottom. That sucked because some of the letters wouldn't work anymore, so I had to do a lot of flipping my phone in different directions just to get my texts written. It made texting very slow. (and I pride myself on being darn fast! lol) A week after that, my kids dropped my phone and it cracked across the whole screen! It looks scary! It is so bad that I can't swipe to unlock my phone now! The kids felt bad. I felt bad. It's sucks all around. What doesn't help is that we can't afford a solution right now. We just got these phones in the fall, so we can't afford to pay out the $300 for a new contract to get a new phone (since our warranty doesn't cover the break. Hunny covered that on his, since he works with heavy machinary. Well, now he knows that children are just as bad as machines!) and we can't do the $180 (or whatever) it will cost to have the screen fixed yet. *sigh*  It is painful.

Out of everything, I miss most not being able to text people. It's as if my social life took a hit! No one really emails anymore, and calling people at home never seems convenient anymore, so I have to wait for any news to come through on FB Messages!  I also really miss my Bible Study! I was doing a few of them through YouVersion and it would send me reminders every day to do my next devotional; it was great. I don't find it as convenient at all to go online on the home computer and check it out! I somehow never remember! So that is disappointing. I feel like I was really getting somewhere with these devotions, too. *sigh* But maybe this just shows how complacent and lazy I (or we, really, since many can relate I'm sure) have become. It's too much work to call someone and have a live conversation?  I can't do devotionals on the PC? How sad.  ...I'm still finding not having a cell phone really sad still though.


 4. This song makes me Happy. It seriously does. How can it not make you want to dance? It always makes me smile.

 It's no Happy Happy Joy Joy, but it still makes my heart happy. And it makes me want to dance. No wonder the song is huge all over the world!

5. My Hunny finally got his knee surgery! He had been on the wait list for about 6 years when he gets a phone call from the doctor asking if he had the surgery yet and if he still wanted it! (they were cleaning up the list, I guess, and had to go through everyone. I guess they didn't realize it had taken so long)  He went in for a day surgery on his torn meniscus. They cleaned up his knee, fixed the muscle, removed some floating around cartilage, stuff like that.  {shudder}  He came home on crutches, used a cane for the next day or two, then worked on putting pressure on it for the rest of the week.

He was hoping to be only off of work for two days, but it ended up taking a week. And then on top of that week, he was struggling to return to work since he has to stand on concrete floors all day, working with machines, so that added stress and pressure. It was a rough time. He stayed downstairs for that week too, in the spare bedroom and on the couch watching Netflix. I wasn't bothered about it at first. I figured it would be like when he is gone for his hunting trips, no big deal. Except it hit me that it wasn't like that after all! I'd have to be nursing on him as well as the kids. Bringing his meals downstairs, getting him coffees, checking if he needed anything, stuff like that. And when I realized that, suddenly I felt very stressed. It was a long week. But I am happy to say that he is doing great! No more knee popping out when he climbs stairs or turns or tries to crouch. Hooray!

6. After seven years of being with  Stampin Up!, I let my demonstrator-ship lapse. It was so tough. To be honest, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't have. In fact, I'd sign up again right now (since there is a special deal on joining) if I could. But it just isn't something I can do right now. Suddenly, all of my past customers went into different life phases: money wasn't available for crafting, or their interests changed, or they moved.  It was disappointing. I still love the company though, and I do love to create and make cards, so I'm still doing those things; I'm just not holding classes or making money at it. And that sucks.  I guess there is a reason for it, and maybe something better will come up for me, but right now it is just disappointing to not have this to share with others. I loved teaching others how to create! I loved having friends (and people I didn't know become friends) over and being crafty with them! It was so enjoyable to get together and just make something. *wistful sigh*

7. We had talked about cancelling our cable for three years before Hunny finally agreed to it. We weren't really watching it. The only shows that we did watch were on the specialty channels, and even our watching was sporadic!  We loved a few tv shows, but were never serious or faithful viewers that had to watch every episode. (we also don't have a PVR so we weren't recording shows to watch later either) Really, we were watching Netflix, and the kids were watching Treehouse or Teletoon. So we cut our cable for a whole year.

And then the cable company called us and offered great promo deals to Hunny. He had always been able to tell them a firm, "no thanks!" but not this time. They offered HGTV and a few other specialty cable shows for $5/month! He couldn't pass it up! So we have been engrossed with Income Property (man, that Scott McGillivray is sure pretty! Look at his white teeth and his perfect locks!) and Leave it to Brian, and now Decked Out and Sarah Richardson.....it makes me think that maybe, just maybe, we can reno our house too! Hunny is a great handyman and he has done so many great upgrades to it since we moved in 12 years ago (such as a complete gutting of the kitchen when we moved in, and a new bathroom, wood flooring in almost the whole upstairs, etc) but we just needed a push to start again. Watching all of these shows have inspired us again! So I can handle that he signed up for cable again.

8. I discovered two things the other night: our organics bin that sits out of our deck (before it gets emptied every Thursday for pick up the next morning) really is critter proof when it is latched properly, and two, we have raccoons at our house!  I was hearing a 'scratch scratch scratch" and looked out the window to see this large raccoon stare up at me from atop the bin!  He slowly jumped off and sauntered away. So sneaky and casual and over confident!  (I have also recently found out that if you don't latch that bin properly, it isn't critter-proof and your organic waste gets spread across your deck in the night. It's not always fun to clean up. ugh)

9. To celebrate my Mom's birthday, my sister purchased tickets for us three to go see Stars on Ice! It was such a blast!  We got to see Kurt Browning (who has always been my favourite), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (who was a crowd favourite...man, they are beautiful. I took a picture of them introducing the second half of the show by telling us that we would all be getting some Lindt chocolates at the end! Sweet!) Joannie Rochette, and Patrick Chan to name a few. What a fun evening! We are already talking about pre-purchasing tickets for next year's 25th Anniversary tour!  My Mom has always been a huge ice skating fan, and I remember always watching the competitions with her on tv, but I haven't paid too much attention to it in the past few years. (other distractions in my family) It was a fun way to spend our evening together!

10.  I saw the dentist again. I don't like the dentist. At. All.  I will do all that I can to avoid going to the dentist for a cleaning/work, even if I need it done.  It occurred to me one day that I don't just "not like" the dentist, because there are a lot of normal people out there who don't like the inconvenience of going to one, but they get over it and get it done (like my husband). But me, I have a fear of it. There is something about the dentist that makes me feel cornered and frightened and full of anxiety. (probably due to them always finding something that needs to be done at every visit. I am not blessed with great strong teeth. I take after my Dad and his sweet tooth. Too bad, because my Mom has great teeth.)  I will sit in the chair and I will be all tense, I ball my hands into fists and I hold my breath without realizing; I have often left the office with sore legs from tightening up my muscles!

There is a new hygienist in the office now though. I saw her and it was 100% better! I have never had a visit like that before in all my 30-something years!  She was so wonderful and fun and nice and gentle. We had a great conversation! I realized halfway through it that I wasn't holding my breath or keeping my legs all tense! I was breathing just fine and felt relaxed! What a change! By the end of it all, I wanted to invite this girl out for coffee and a shopping date!  I just may never cancel an appointment again!...except that the dentist says that all of the fillings that we did last year may need to be exchanged with crowns "soon".  What? *sigh* Way to ruin the moment, Mrs. Dentist!



So there you go. A few random things to update you!

A Mother's Day Liturgy

I tend to approach Mother's Day timidly. When I was first married, I was under the impression that becoming a Mother was something easy to achieve. Within a year, I found out that it's not always so simple and easy for everyone after all. My first ectopic took a year to physically get over, and even longer emotionally. It also opened up my eyes to the struggles many women and families face.

I have been blessed incredibly with 5 children here but I think of those who are not able to hold on to their children. Whether through infertility, pregnancy loss, early childhood death, giving up a child for adoption, or relationship strains...the list can be long. My heart aches for you. I pray that you had peace this day.

This was shared this morning at my church, and I want to pass it along to you.

A Liturgy for Mother’s Day – by Amy Young

“To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
 
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
 
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.”

frustrating fevers

**vent warning!** 

 I feel frustrated, but that could be from the lack-of-enough-sleep and worry. Rhys has been sick for three days with an off-and-on fever. He had no other symptoms, so I treated him with Advil and he would be fine again. But last night he started to cough, and I ended spending much of the early morning watching over him and getting his fever down and giving inhalers. I am tired. I thought maybe I'd need to take him into the clinic, but he was fine all day (after he finally decided to get out of bed!) And that's great! Except now his fever is coming back and so is his coughing.

I hate that when he gets sick I immediately start thinking worst-case scenario, such as ER trip and pneumonia. I hate that I now question every cough and fever. I hate that I seem to have lost my ability to determine a simple cold/flu apart from an asthma cough. And I hate that I stayed up most of the night with him, worrying over his health, and I'm no closer to figuring if he needs anything more than what I'm giving at home.

product recommendation

Rhys has some sort of sensory issue when it comes to his feet. He absolutely HATES having them touched, even the *thought* of them being touched freaks him out! I have had to hold him down, while bribing him and letting him scream, just to clip his toenails! sheesh! I'm sure you sensory-moms understand!

He's had a plantar wart on the bottom of his foot for a few months now and I was hoping it would go away on it's own (wishful thinking) But as it got bigger and more noticeable (and he started to complain), I started to worry about how I would even get a doctor near enough to his foot to even look at it (much less touch it) But guess what? We bought a box of the Compound W wart remover "pads for common warts" for kids...it has 10 colourful medicated bandaids in it. We let Rhys put them on himself and he was okay with that. And it worked!! Woohoo! His wart is gone!

So there you go, my product recommendation! It worked and there wasn't much fuss. Yay! No more wart and it didn't need medical intervention or me holding him down! (he did start to get anxious when the bandaid folded over and he couldn't get it on properly and I stepped in to offer help... but that was averted too)

I just had to share because I was happy. 

 

 

***and, no, I wasn't compensated for writing this. However, if Compound W....or anyone else for that matter.... would like to pay me, or give me free stuff to recommend, let me know and send it my way! *big innocent grin*

victorious

Just a reminder as we start off 2014!