Beam Me Up - I Wish

News Flash: we're all still sick.

Max seemed to be a bit perkier yesterday, although sleeping in till 10am will probably do that for you. Logan's still down. He got up at 9am and had a bottle with me. We sat in the big soaker tub for the bottle because the day before he drank it and the puked it all over my bed, and I just didn't feel like washing all the bedding again. So we sat in the tub just in case. He was fine. We were on and off all morning, but seemed to be doing a bit better so I was hopeful. So we got busy cleaning and disinfecting the house, hoping that we could rid ourselves of this. I cleaned bathrooms, doorknobs, light-switches, countertops, blankets, bedding, pillows...pretty much everything I could think of.

Logan took a few minutes to fall asleep for his nap, so I thought that was a good sign too...at least he's not passing out in a moments notice! Just as he fell asleep I got a call from Lucy's school telling me that she's sick and I need to come and get her. Now what do I do? Logan is asleep with the flu, Max is watching Sonic on the iPad, and Tyler's at work with no vehicle. So I throw on my shoes and run next door hoping my neighbour is home. "Hey, can you come and sit with my sick boys while I run to the school to get Lucy who is now sick? Logan's sleeping so you just have to listen for him on the baby monitor." I have great neighbours. He was happy to help.

So I hop in the car and run to get Lucy and hope all goes well at home. Tyler texts and says I might as well pick him up from work too since I will now be dealing with 3 sick kids. So we do that too. Poor Lucy. I know it's awful to feel sick AT school. She was just a bump on a chair in the office. SUPER headache and fever. We hop her up with meds right away. We get home and Logan is awake and Miles is trying to calm him. Max has instructed him that logan has a bottle when he wakes up so he's attempting to give him one. Logan is totally out of sorts, probably because he wasn't expecting our neighbour Miles to be the one walking into his bedroom. I discover after that some friends stopped by to drop off some popcorn we had ordered from their boys for cubs and I imagine the commotion of the door and all woke Logan up. So Tyler takes to dealing with getting Lucy settled and I try to get Logan to go back to sleep. He did, for about 40 minutes.

The evening was on and off and we decided to have our chilli as a picnic dinner while watching a movie. It was nice. Especially since I started feeling under the weather too. A little dizzy and flushed cheeks. Today, I still have bouts of dizziness, so I'm wondering if I have an ear thing going on. My sinuses were hurting a bit last week, but nothing came of it. I have a bit of an ache in my chest, but again, not much to speak of. As I was attempting to work out today I realized that I must not be 100% because I just couldn't do it. At one point, the instructor says she wants you to feel like your gargling your heart when you do the cardio...I felt like I was gargling my stomach, so I decided to stop. Even sitting here typing I feel a bit spiny.

Sickness bugs me. I'm getting through it, and when I look back, it doesn't seem as bad as when I'm in the moment. So then I get frustrated with my impatience when my hindsight is more clear. I wish we had technology like they do in Star Trek where you feel sick and you take a trip to sick-bay and they inject with something into your neck with a cool 'chhhh" sound and then you're better. That would be my number one Star Trek techie wish. Uh oh, my inner geek is showing. Actually, I have a top 3 techie-wishlist.

#1 - the 'medical injector 'chhhh' thing
#2 - the 'anything you can imagine you might want to eat, just ask the computer and it will replicate it for you instantly' thing (although, they obviously have some sort of solution for gluttony aka, not gaining 1000 pounds with this invention, because everyone always wears those one piece jumpsuits and there's not a chubby person in sight.)
#3 - the teleporter, because come on...instant travel would be awesome.

There you have it. My inner-geek. Actually, I will have it be known that the reason I know about these things is because I grew up watching Star Trek. My Dad has an inner-geek and outer-geek that are pretty much the same person. And that person loves Star Trek. The original series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...yup, I've seen pretty much all of it. And all the movies.

Back to the sickies. Max is at school this afternoon because he is LITERALLY bouncing off the walls. As sweet as it is to see him with his energy back, when other people are still sick, it's less than fun to have someone who just can't help bouncing everywhere they go around you. He will pause for about 15 seconds exactly when I ask him to be aware of his sick siblings, and then it's gone and the bouncing is back. I looked up the meaning of his name the other day...did you know it means "Spring"? Huh.

Lucy's resting, as she should be. She tries to be positive and up-beat and just take it in stride, and I appreciate that. She even acknowledges that she may begin throwing up at some point, since both of her brothers have...but I think we're past that point with her now. Sweet girl.

Should I add to this that I'm stressed that all these days of just trying to get better is stressing me out since Christmas shopping is getting more and more delayed. It is. I have to plan for a Christmas morning at our house here in Kingston for the 17th, because we just can't bring ALL the gifts on the airplane with us...especially the bulkier stuff. Then we have Christmas in Calgary...so what stuff to bring...and still leave room for presents from other people to bring back home again. I wonder if any of us will be able to bring clothes on our trip?

Boy, a tele-porter is looking more and more appealing.

Short Story Long

Last night, we ended up in the Emergency Room. (How's THAT for an opener!) First of all, it was more like 5pm, and second of all, if wasn't an emergency. And thus the story begins.

When you move to Ontario, you have to register for OHIP (Healthcare) and obviously get an Ontario Driver's License. We have done these things. Tyler and I took a morning, quite a while back, to go to the government office to register for OHIP, register our vehicle, and change our drivers licenses. You take a number, wait in line, and hope to be seen in a timely fashion. As we take a number, we tell the greeter/receptionist the reasons that we are there, and she says that's great and we could take a number and wait. That's it. Let me clarify, this detail is important, at the government office you register your vehicle and register for OHIP, but getting an Ontario Driver's license is done at the DriveTest office. We were headed there next.

Our number is called fairly quickly, and so we begin. We had to bring with us our birth certificates, current drivers licenses, proof of residency, (which, since we don't have drivers licenses yet means bringing in our mortgage documents and a bill addressed to us at our current address). We don't have a birth certificate for Logan yet, because I ordered one in a panic the week we were moving because I thought we needed it to board the plane. Somehow lost it in the last 2 days in Cochrane. Didn't realize this until we were AT the airport checking in. "Where's Logan's Birth Certificate?!" "It's ok ma'am...it's a domestic flight, you don't need it." This was a relief because we could board the plane, but also a concern since anyone can board a plane with any child and get all the way across the country from where that child is supposed to be, and no one will stop them. Hmm. So, when we got to Ontario, we asked family to look for the birth certificate. It couldn't be found. I still have no idea what could have happened to it. I had it in my possession for like 24 hours. So we have to order a new one. We decide to go ahead and register everyone else for OHIP now, instead of waiting, because it takes about 3 months for the OHIP to come through...3 months.

Back to the Government Office. We walk up, tell them what we want to do, and start to show the myriad of documentation. "Have you filled out the forms?" "No, what forms?" "Didn't the greeter give you forms?" "No." "OK, well, you have to fill out this, this and this for each member of your family." So we tag-team it. He does two, I do two. "You want to register your vehicle too?" "Yes." "Do you have an Ontario Driver's License yet?" "No, we're going there next." "OH, well, without a valid passport or drivers licence you can't register your vehicle." "But we DO have a valid drivers license, it's just not Ontario." (Something the receptionist probably should have mentioned...we could have done the drivers licence first and come back). "That's not considered a valid form of ID. Here, I'm just a trainee, let me check." Why is it that whenever you want something to happen quickly and it's a convoluted procedure you always get the trainee...? Apparently if we sign these forms and show these 5+ pieces of id, then it will count. Swear on a bible...you get the gist. So we decide to do all that. "Oh wait, your vehicle is a lease? Well, then you have to have a letter from the Dealership telling you it's OK to register it in Ontario." Well, then we might as well get the drivers license first too, if we have to get a letter as well. Shred that paperwork...we'll be back.

So we head to the Toyota Dealership for the letter, and to DriveTest for driver's licenses. Tyler's license goes no problem. My turn. "Here's my current driver's license and my birth certificate." "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a Passport or marriage license? Because your birth certificate says Bourne, but your license says Williamson." "Umm...no." "Sorry, we can't issue you a license then." Really? Fine. So we go back to the Government office with our letter and Tyler's license. We finish registering our vehicle in Ontario and registering for OHIP and go to Loblaws to get Max's halloween costume. Fortunately we only had Logan with us and we were able to entertain him with a milkshake, Dora on the iPad, and lunch from the Deli counter at Loblaws.

We drop Tyler off at work and Logan and I go home exhausted. He goes down for a nap and I go online to figure out how to request a marriage license and a birth certificate out of province. Fortunately it's just one form, that Tyler has to fill out, because I figure it's just easier to not have to deal with name changes and all the hullabaloo that is being a married woman in Ontario apparently. We fax off the forms and we wait for the certificates.

Seriously, it was easier for Tyler to register and get a license for a GUN in Ontario, then it was to register our vehicle. What does that tell you people?

By the way, the certificates came and I am now a licensed Ontario driver.

And the point of this short story long? Here we are in November. No OHIP yet. Max is sick and needs to see a doctor. Tyler is out of town (again), and we don't have a family doc yet (need OHIP for that) and you can't go to a walk-in without OHIP...so our only option is Urgent Care (which closes at 5pm), or the Emergency Room. So....Emergency Room it is. Fortunately there are two hospitals in Kingston and it's not a huge city, so it wasn't too busy. One person in Triage before us and then we're seen. I'm in a bit of a panic because I hate doing this stuff by myself. Not because I'm not capable. I can find parking downtown close enough to the hospital so I don't have to drag all 3 of my kids down many blocks in the dark when one of them is barely conscious, AND I can get to a doctor and ask them to please treat us even though we don't have OHIP yet...I am capable of all that...I think Tyler just calms me down.

The doctor sees us quickly too...we only got halfway through a story before he came by...not bad. Max is fine. It must be a virus because his ears and throat are fine and his lungs sound clear. So we just have to keep waiting it out. I was kind of hoping it was something. I'm glad he's ok, but sometimes if you can get them on some penicillin they start to perk up and feel better faster than just waiting it out. So we've been doping him up on alternate rounds of tylenol and ibuprofen to keep his fever in check and his headache to a minimum. He keeps telling me he has a forehead-ache, and when he was up in the night with dry-heaves earlier in the week, he'd go through a bout and then turn and say, "Sorry, excuse me." What a sweetie.

He got to wear this cool mask because of his fever and cough, and he felt like a superhero. Fighting diseases at every turn! And he got a hospital bracelet with his name on it...pretty cool. We came home and ordered pizza and hung out until bedtime, reading Lucy's library book about giant lizards.

He slept most of the night last night. Only called for me at about 5am because he had to pee. Lucy had a bad dream at about the same time, so I was back and forth between bedrooms. Tyler was passed out and I didn't want to disturb him because he's got bronchitis and I didn't want to start the coughing again. All in all, a much better night than the one before, in which Max called me about a dozen times throughout the night. "Mom, I'm cold." "Mom, I'm hot." "Mom, I need a drink." "Mom, I have to pee." "Mom, I have a headache." "Hi Mom." (That one was cute but bugged me a bit...3am is not the time to say hello.) "Mom, I can't sleep." Funny...neither can I.

Emergency Brake

Lucy is growing up way too fast. She's gone at school all day, and I feel like we hardly see her. And it's getting to the point where I'm getting used to NOT having her here, rather than the other way around. It's like trying to figure out being a mom of 3-kids all over again every weekend. And I don't like it.

Yesterday she was complaining that her lips hurt and Tyler and I told her they were chapped. She said she licks them all the time, and we told her that was the problem. You can't lick them. Then they dry out. I'm sure this is counterintuitive to a 6-year-old. Tyler put some cream on her face and sent her to bed (it was bedtime by the way). Then he asked if I had any lip-stuff she could use. Here's where the big girl came in.

"Daddy, all my friends have their own lip stuff. They keep it in their pockets. I would really like some too. I know you can get it a Shopper's Drug Mart and it's not very expensive."

He came out of her room and sighed. It felt too soon to be having this conversation.

But today, Tyler came home with girlie, fruity lip balm from Shopper's Drug Mart. That girl has got her dad wrapped! It was a sweet surprise.

Because Max has been sick we haven't been making our usual trips to the park this week. I think Lucy has missed playing with her friends after school...even though she plays with them all day at school. So today, a few of them asked if she could have a snow-ball fight outside. We said sure.

It started out with a handful of kids. And the numbers slowly petered down. They were playing in front of our house, so Lucy was one of the last to go home. At about 5:00 I went to call her in because it was getting dark and dinner was almost ready (it's so sad that it's dark by 5:00). When I opened the door it was just her and one boy left. He's in Grade 5. They were giggling and laughing together and throwing snowballs at each other. Wait a minute? What's happening here? Was this a date?!
Let's just slow down here a minute. Things are moving WAY. TOO. FAST.

I blame Tyler...he introduces lipbalm and now she's dating.

If Laughter's the Best Medicine...

So Max is still sick. He was up a number of times through the night with dry-heaves because all he had to eat yesterday was a waffle and a few slices of apple. I felt so bad for his trembling little body. And my sleep was restless as I dreamt about sick kids during my sleeping time, and dealt with sick kids during the awake time. I'm not sure what parts were real and what parts weren't. Oh well. Max was feeling so awful this morning that he begged for a blessing. Begged. What a sweet, humble little spirit. After the blessing, he dry-heaved a few times and then told us he wasn't sick anymore. He ate breakfast, played a game of "Guess Who - Mix & Mash" (so fun) and played around with Logan for a while. I was really hopeful.

Lunchtime comes and he actually makes a few requests. So I oblige and tell him he only has to eat what he wants and as much as he wants (sick is sometimes good). He has 1 pretzel stick and a cucumber and then starts to shiver all over, cuddles in a blanket on the couch and then vomits again. And again. And again. With a few naps in between.

Now he's resting on the couch with a bowl and water bottle watching X-Men. He's watched 17 episodes in the last 3 days. Again, sometimes sick is good.

Tyler made it in to work today, finally, although he's not feeling 100% either. He has to drive to Toronto tonight for a meeting tomorrow and isn't really looking forward to it. Neither am I. I have to admit, that earlier in the week I was. I was thinking about the girlie shows I could watch while he was gone (since it's only one night), and a bed to myself...but now all I'm thinking about is dealing with sick all by myself.

While Max was passed out on the couch and Logan was eating his lunch, I decided to try and make our family out of "Mix&Mash" faces. Here we are:

Lucy -

Logan -

Max - (today, because he's sick)

But normally -

Me -

and Tyler -

Tyler is so cartoonable. I think his looks the most accurate.
Max is SO sick, these didn't even make him laugh. I'm wasting my best stuff here. But Tyler laughed...so obviously he's feeling better. There is hope.

First Snow

This morning, we woke up to this

Actually, I woke up to Max calling, "Mommy!" at 5:45 this morning. I had a pretty rough night. Tyler's been sick since he got home and now it appears that Max has got it too. Headache, tired, achey. No appetite. Rough. He settled down again around 7, so I went back to bed. I was a little slow going this morning. Lucy came bounding into our room, excited for the day. A firetruck had woken her up...but fortunately it was time to get up anyway. And she came in saying, "I looked outside and it SNOWED!"

Our first snow in Kingston. It's wet. It's white. Looks familiar.

For Logan, however, it's a whole new world! I don't think he remembers snow, so today was fascinating for him. I got him out of his bed and told him I had a surprise for him. His eyes got REALLY big. He was fascinated by the snow on the road and cars. "Cars!"

Lucy and I bundled up for the bus stop. Max is staying home. Logan and I have plans to play in the snow today. Snowman for sure. This wet stuff is perfect for it.



I'm sure I'll get tired of snow eventually, but right now, it's awesome. I have no where to drive. I have a warm house. And the snow is beautiful. Even on my little berry bush.

Max came out for a bit (look how pale he is), but it wiped his energy pretty quickly and he was down for a nap as soon as we went back inside. our little 'no-man'
Poor Max - he's so down and out today. He's just not himself.
When Lucy got home, she wanted to play outside too, so Dad and the boys suited up and joined her.
After dinner, Logan saw our Christmas plate after dinner. "Plate! Plate!" "That's right buddy! Who's on the plate?"
"Jesus!" - Well, he's got the season right anyway.

Reverence

Sunday was another busy but fun day. It was our first full day with Dad. Max had to give a talk in primary, Tyler had early morning meetings, and I had choir practice after church. Busy.

I was also pulled out of primary at one point to go and meet with the Branch President. (This sounds like going to the principles office). I was extended a new calling. To clarify, an additional calling, because when I told Lucy I was getting a new calling she was really disappointed...I'm still her primary teacher, and the primary pianist.

I am now a ward organist. Crazy. I've never played organ. Well, I had a few lessons when I was in Grade 10 because my seminary teacher was really good at the organ and somehow it was decided that she would teach me in between seminary and school. I'm not sure who's idea it was. I ended up learning how to play Come Follow Me...and that's it. I blame it on the attention span of someone in grade 10.

So now, I am a ward organist. My branch president reassured me that they wouldn't ask me to play right away and that maybe in the new year I could give it a try, but I could start practicing and familiarizing myself with the organ. Sure! The ward music chair person asked me to play this Sunday. Sigh. So I went and practiced before choir practice for a bit and completely psyched myself out. I know nothing about the organ. Fortunately, the current ward organist came and showed me the preset stops. Wow...that sounds way better!

So I have been stressing and practicing all day. Now hopefully I will get the songs for Sunday soon enough that I can find time to practice on the organ this week before I show up. I feel this is a lot of pressure.

Max's talk, on the other hand, was great. We didn't get as much time to practice it as I would have liked, so I had to whisper it in his ear...but he did write it and he repeated it well:

Reverence is love and respect for God.

We have learned a lot in primary about how to show reverence at church. We can be reverent in other places too. We can have reverence for God even when we're not at church by showing respect for His creations.

We can be kind to animals

We can help keep the earth clean.

We can thank Heavenly Father for the things we enjoy in nature.

I am thankful for trees, and mountains, and grass, and rivers, and oceans.

I am thankful for my body too. Heavenly Father created it. Heavenly Father also created your bodies.

When I treat others with kindness, I am showing reverence and respect for God.

I know that when I am reverent I show love and respect for God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

On Saturday, we spent most of the day hanging out...waiting. We tidied a bit. We watched a movie. We waited for the time to pass. I made supper. Dad was scheduled to arrive at 5:15pm. That was hard to wait for. But the time finally did come and we barely made it to the airport on time. Isn't that always the way?

The kids peered through the window at his plane...waiting for him to come down those little stairs. It was a connector flight from Toronto to Kingston, so the plane was small...as is our airport. Boy oh boy, do I love the Kingston airport. One tiny waiting area, little parking lot. NOT busy. My kids liked being so close to the planes too.

He arrived. To our pure delight. The kids had made welcome home signs for him too. My nerves were pretty much shot. I had been praying like crazy for 2 days that he would travel safely. I got some paranoid thought on Friday about something happening and I just couldn't shake it for two days. It was suffocating. Random spurts of tears at random times (usually when listening to a sappy song on the radio)...panic.

And as it turned out, he arrived totally safe and as we drove home from the airport, a car in front of us lost it's trailer which went skidding and swerving across the road in front of us, sending sparks flying. Everyone was fine, and Tyler was able to hop out for a few minutes to help the guy reattach his trailer. While he was out there I realized that our trip home wasn't complete yet, and the kids and I said a quick prayer of thanks for his safe arrival, and prayed that we would continue to travel home safe.

He's kinda my life, ya know. I kinda like him.

Anyway, we got home and ate some yummy Mulligatawny soup for dinner while listening to Christmas music. We set up the tree and hung decorations. It was so fun. Logan is very into Christmas and the tree this year. "Don't Touch The Tree" is something I have said MANY times since Saturday.

Dad even came home full of surprises for us. He bought some souvenirs from Banff for the kids (cool rocks, magnets, and pencils that look like trees), and a tree topper for me! Our tree has always been as tall as our house previously so we never had a tree topper on it...this year there is finally room, so he surprised me with a star. It's awesome. OH, and a jar of Salsa from my sister. Dug into that on Sunday afternoon already.

It's so good to have him home. So good. Like, so good. Get it yet? So good. We love him.

Holiday Frenzy

All week Logan and I have been singing that song. It's true what they say, that absence makes the heart grow fonder. It's also true that your 20-month-old doesn't get that repeatedly talking about how Dad is gone and the the left on an airplane does not help time pass faster. Every morning, Logan would come into my room and point to the bathroom and ask, "Daddy, shower?" "No, Dad's not in the shower." "Airplane?" "Yes, Dad went on an airplane." "Grandma's house?" "Yes, to Grandma's house."

Painful.

Yesterday was our last full day without dad, so we lived it up a bit. Lucy and Max were at school all day, so Logan and I got busy getting stuff done. Then, when they got home, we headed to the park for a bit, which didn't last long because it was cold. The plan was to go to the mall, have dinner and wait for Barney and Santa to show up. I wasn't sure what to expect, or how busy it would be, so we gave ourselves LOTS of time. They were scheduled to arrive at 7pm. We got there at 5:15.

So we ate beneath the Christmas tree. Mall food is amazing and fascinating for my kids. I'm less than thrilled.

It started to get louder and louder in the food court as it got busier and busier with kids. We decided to head back to the stage where Barney and Santa were to appear to see if it was busy yet. It was starting to fill up, so even though it was only 6:00, we decided to take a seat so we could count on a good one. We were about a 1/4 of the way back. Good seats, even if it was on the floor. So now what to do for an hour with 3 kids?

I'm glad I thought to grab their library books as we headed out the door. So we read one...and had a few onlookers from around us. Then we tried playing the animal guessing game. That lasted about 3 rounds. Every few minutes, they would ask me, "What time is it now?" "6:15", "What time is it NOW?" "6:20"...you can see how this went. At one point they surprised me and asked, "How much time left?" "35 minutes."

The mall-people gave out some fruit snacks at about 6:30...that entertained for 5 minutes. Then I went scrounging in my purse, which almost always has SOMETHING in it...I came up with a goose happy meal toy from McD's...evidence of another 'treat-night' meal, a tractor, and two containers of play-doh. Awesome. The play-doh was a hit and managed to entertain the kids for 20 minutes or more. Plus we still had one more library book to read and we were set.

Of course I was annoyed with the two 'moms' who show up 10 minutes before the show and crowd in right in front of us with their infants. (I say 'moms' because I have no idea if they were actually the parents of the children...but they held them...and I can assume they weren't there to see Barney for themselves). We had the sweet pleasure of seeing 'mom-1's' butt-crack the entire time. Thank you.

Then, it was loud, crazy, chaotic fun...the arrival of Barney. It was the mall-people's intent to get the kids into the biggest frenzy possible. It worked. Lots of screaming. Barney arrived and he sang a handful of songs. It was sweet. Logan stared wide-eyed for a while and then would tap me on the shoulder and point and say, "Barney". Yup. He finally danced near the end. My kids were pretty exhausted by the time Santa arrived. Rosie-cheeked exhaustion. Hoarse-voice exhaustion.

Then, everyone started singing, "Santa Claus is coming to town." Snow started falling from the ceiling of the mall (which turned out to be some kind of soapy bubbles being sprayed out of some machine. Basically it made for a lot of wet floor and wet coats, that we were sitting on...at one point, Max turned to me and said, "OW I got soap in my eyes!" Oh mall-people. This happened because Santa first appeared in the sky-light so all the kids were looking up while the soapy-snow fell down in their faces.

Santa appeared for all of 20 seconds to sing jingle bells and then he left for his display set up in the middle of the mall for all those crazy parents who wanted to line up for photos with Santa. I was not one of those crazy parents. We will go back to see Santa...when my kids are not exhausted from screaming Barney for 30 minutes, and from sitting on the floor for an hour and a half...and when the line is a little shorter.


We went home exhausted and I HOPED for a good night's sleep for everyone. It worked. My favourite parts? Hearing Logan say, "Ho Ho Ho", spending time with the kids doing something different, and knowing that not all aspects of the holidays will be this loud, or crazy.

Pieces of Max

Max is a sweet, stubborn little boy. And has been since day 1. Stubborn that is. Where Lucy did everything by the book, Max did NOTHING by the book. Stubborn. He left me guessing for a long time, and it took me FOREVER to figure him out. Still working on that.

But there are a few things I HAVE figured out (hooray me). I have figured out that he is a tender, sweet spirit. And when his tender sweet spirit feels at all threatened, or backed into a corner, or if his agency is in danger, he fights back with all the fierceness that a 4-year-old can muster. And this 4-year-old can muster a lot of fierceness.

I think he doesn't like succumbing to the 'sweet' feelings very often. Ever since he was a tiny baby, he has NOT liked to be sung to. Fitful tears would ensue. I try not to take it personally. Lucy and Logan both like my singing, so I figure it must be Max, and not me. Turn on some ACDC or Metallica and he's a happy camper. And when music is playing, he only dances or sings along if it is a boy singing. Because he's a boy.

He DOES NOT like me to pick out his clothes for him. This is a hard one for me, because I just want to get it done! And he comes up with some of the craziest outfits sometimes. Like the thickest, wooliest sweater paired with basketball shorts, black church socks and once he even attempted flip-flops with that...but switched to vans because he couldn't get his toes in the flip-flops with his socks on. So one day, if he looks back at pictures and thinks he looks ridiculous...it's because he dressed himself that day. I carefully try to point out outfit combinations for him without appearing to step on his agency and right to choose...just a little guidance. Usually it works out. Or, we just buy clothes that look like Daddy's...and he'll match what dad is wearing almost any day of the week. He is on a new Star Wars kick in the last month, and so he has exhausted his 3 Star Wars shirts like nobody's business.

Same thing goes for trying new foods. He's strangely picky. I say strangely, because he's not picky about everything...just odd things here and there. Like Peanut Butter. He does not like peanut butter, and will not go near anyone that is eating it. But he loves Peanut Butter cookies, granola bars, peanut butter cups, peanuts. yup...something about the butter makes him gaggy. Weird. He also doesn't like cereal...at all. Except for dry fruit loops. And he will not sit beside you if you're eating cereal. This makes breakfast time a gambit most mornings as I try to guess what he will eat that day. I've taken to making waffles for dinner on Sunday evenings, and then freezing leftovers to pop in the toaster during the week for Max. It's working so far. Strange. But he LOVES veggies. Like, he will eat buckets full of peppers, and asparagus, and carrots, and snap peas...but not frosted flakes. Who is this kid?

One other crazy but completely WONDERFUL thing about Max is that his sweet little spirit just can't handle hearing, or watching injustices happen to babies. Even cartoon babies. Even if the thing happening to the baby is not really that bad...or even bad at all. If the baby is not being rocked or cuddled by a loving mommy and daddy...then the threat of tears is close. I'm sure I've mentioned before that Megamind was not a hit in our home at first, because it starts with two babies being hurtled through space in mini-rocketships. Not good. Toy Story 3...not good. Creepy baby-doll did not go over well with Max. Prince of Egypt. Not good. Baby Moses in the basket floating on a river of hippos and crocodiles? Yeah, not good.

So, on Sunday, when I'm teaching singing time in Primary and the kids are learning Away in a Manger, I look over at Max and see his face getting red. He's holding his hands really tightly, so at first I think he's hurt himself. I pause and get down on my knees in front of him and whisper in his ears. (He also doesn't like to be made a spectacle of...'Privatecy' is a big deal). I ask if he's hurt. He shakes his head no. His face is getting redder, and I can see hot tears starting. Then it clicks in my mommy brain...Baby Jesus. "No crib for His bed." Quick fix time, before this melts-down. I whisper that he needs to trust me, and that this is a happy song. "Can you trust me?" he nods yes...his mouth is still frowning and his eyes are still wet. Deep breath. Primary ended fine. He sang the song. Tears went away, quite quickly actually. And on Sunday evening, over waffles, we talked about it.

It is in these moments that I am SO grateful that I pray everyday to be a good mom. I'm not saying I'm a good mom...but the Holy Ghost definitely makes me a better mom. Snippets of inspiration. Other people might call it mother's intuition...but I know the source. How do I broach this really BIG subject, without overwhelming him with details about crucifixions, or talk to him for too long that the message gets lost in what appears to be a lecture? Welcome Snippet. A light goes on in my brain and I realize that I need to talk to him about 'being special'. And that being special isn't based upon the clothes we wear, the colour of our hair/eyes/skin, or the place we were born. Jesus was a King and he was born in a manger. He was still special. Being a child of God makes you special.

It worked. He accepted it...gladly too. It seemed to click. Now, I hope it sticks.

So there you have it. Pieces of Max.

Did I mention he's hilarious and probably doesn't even know it? Yup. At lunch yesterday, while eating a muffin he says to me, "You're gonna need to vacuum when I'm done!"

Thanks buddy. I already guessed that.

The Art of Distraction

Today was day one without dad. And we always try to fill day one without dad (D1W/OD) with fun things to make it pass quickly. I call it the Art of Distraction. The first day is hard. Then we get into a routine of not having him around. And then we get excited for when he's coming home. So we just need to get through day 1.

Today, after sleeping in a bit because we had a late night last night at a Relief Society activity that I was teaching a jewelry class at, we headed to Chapters to pick up Lucy's fairy books that had come in. It was a lot of fun. The kids got to hang in the kids section for about an hour. Played with trains, coloured, read books, checked out toys and listened to story time.

And while they listened to story-time...I bought Christmas presents. I love the art of distraction.

I haven't been to Chapters on a Saturday. I don't go there very often. I will not go there on a Saturday again. It was fun...but too busy for me. And we had to wait in a 20-person line-up to get the books. Not fun.

After we were done, we headed to the mall for lunch and some shopping...for me. I got a coupon in my email, and had to take advantage of it. Because I'm a coupon lady these days.

Logan is getting so big. I have broken a new barrier. I now have to order 3 whole kid's meals when we eat out. He's no longer satisfied with a few bites of my burger and sharing fries. My boy is big enough to eat his own kid's meal. And he sat at the table in his own chair.

He ate up most of his fries and was done with them, so I threw them out. As we left the mall, I got him out of his stroller and a stray fry fell on the ground. A seagull approached quickly to scoop it up. It was really windy, so he kind of hovered above us for a while, so I let Logan watch him. But when he got the french fry off the ground Logan melted down. I guess he wasn't interested in sharing his stale, mall-parking-lot fry with some bird. He was upset for about 10 minutes, and kept saying, "Bird...Fre-fry!" Until I found a bouncy ball in my purse to distract him with. Again, the art of distraction is beautiful.

We skyped with Dad and watched a movie this afternoon while Logan napped. We made cookies. We skyped with Grandma Bourne. We had tortellini for dinner (one of my kids favourite meals). Then it was showers and bed-time. There were a few melt-downs. I attribute it to missing dad and the late night. I'm sure tomorrow will be better...right?

Point is, we made it through D1W/OD. I am staying up WAY too late because I hate going to bed alone. The Art of Distraction may hit me hard tomorrow...but for now, it works.

Homesick

Today, for the first time in 4 months, I'm feeling homesick. Like, achey homesick. I've done really good so far. For weeks leading up to our move, the kids and Tyler and I would always ask in our prayers and fasting that the transition would go smoothly, and that we would make friends quickly when we moved. And we have. Actually, the transition has been so smooth that I can only describe it as a miracle. We've been having a blast exploring our new city, getting to know people, and settling in to our new home/job/school.

My parent's came for a visit in the summer, and we loved seeing them and showing them around our new city. Tyler's parents were just here last week and we did the same. There wasn't feelings of homesickness either time. Just happy to see them, sad to see them go.

So why is today different?

My husband flew on an airplane to Calgary today for a week. He's there, we're here.

To be fair, he's going to be in Banff most of the time at a conference. He's been travelling for work like crazy lately. Last week he was in Montreal. Now he's in Banff. Next week he's in Toronto. He's away more in November than he's here. And normally I don't begrudge his travelling, because he gets to talk to grown-ups all day every day whether he's at work or travelling...whereas my conversations are with little people most of the time. Not much different.

Plus, traveling stresses me out. Traveling WITH my kids stresses me out because I'm constantly thinking about sleep-arrangements, and eating-arrangements and schedules and stuff like that, and it's just far easier to stay home. And traveling WITHOUT my kids stresses me out because then I have to find someone to watch my children for me that will worry about sleep-arrangements, and eating-arrangements and schedules as much as I do, so I can actually leave and have some peace of mind while I'm gone. Again, it's often just easier to stay home.

In a few weeks we're all traveling to Calgary for Christmas. And I'm trying REALLY hard to focus on the excitement of being there, and Christmas and visiting with our people rather than worry about sleep-arrangements, and....you get the idea.

But let's bring it back to today. Homesick. My husband is there for a conference. And he will be staying at the Banff Springs Hotel (beautiful!), but spending most of his time in conference rooms and meetings, and throwing in a few runs down the ski-hill...which doesn't thrill me at all. So no, I do no begrudge those things. But today, he was greeted at the airport by his dad. They went to Costco together and then met up with his mom. They went out for dinner (which he just informed me was at our favourite restaurant out there). He visited with his brother and his family this evening. He's sleeping at his parent's house tonight. On Sunday he is going to church at our home ward. Sometime this week he will be seeing my family and hanging with them. And all these things make my heart-ache, and bring a lump into my throat that is hard to swallow.

These are my people. And I miss my people. And I miss them more today because he is seeing them and I'm not. The distance seems greater and all the more real today. Up until today, I've been able to revel in my new life here, and not focus too much on what I'm missing. But I feel like I'm missing stuff this week. I imagine my husband and his brother laughing together, and teasing each other. I imagine hugs. And meals. And hanging out. Ok. I need to stop, because this is making it worse.

Christmas is in 44 days. And I am going home for Christmas in 40 days. And I'm sure that by the end of my two weeks there I will be longing for my own bed, and my own shower, and my own schedule again...but today, I just want to be with my people. Home.

Play Date

Today, Max had his first play date. His very own. There have been many times where we have gone to friend's houses, or they have come to ours to play with Lucy AND Max...but today, it was just Max's friends coming to play with Max. (And Logan).

When we were at the park after school on Wednesday, I got a chance to push Max's two friends and Max on the swings. They were having a riot and kept asking to go higher than the other. I decided it was time for the play-date. I asked them if they would be interested in coming over on Friday, and Jack and Caleb kept asking, "Is tomorrow Friday?" and, "Do you have a backyard?"

It was hard to wait, but Friday finally came. After dropping Lucy off at the bus-stop. The 4 boys and I walked home. It was way too exciting.

We played in the basement with toys (well, they played...I worked out). Then, they coloured for a while. They soon moved upstairs to Max's room to play. There were a few tears when a few of the boys were brave enough to climb up on the bunk-bed...but not all were.


There were tears again when they got hungry. So we headed downstairs for a snack.

Then it was time to clean-up. We got coats and mittens on and headed back down the street to meet up with their day-home mom and to go to the park for a bit.

It was freezing. And the boys were kind of at their limit, but all-in-all I think the play-date was a success. It was great. I'm sure that will be happening again soon. I'm so excited that Max has his own friends. And they're good kids.

Worth It

Max got a shaving kit for Christmas last year. Every once in a while he either sees his dad shaving...or he sees it in the cupboard and gets the urge to shave. And every once in a while, I make time for it.



And when I see these faces...I think that shaving cream all over the bathroom is worth it.

A Day with Max

Today I got to do something wonderful. I got to spend nearly 2 hours in Max's classroom with him. I was able to visit with his teacher and check on his progress. She gave me a casual report card (the real deal comes out in February), and I was able to watch him do what he does. This is heaven to me.

Not being a part of my kids every moment is very difficult for me. Plus, as most mothers probably feel, when my kids get home from school, I get tiny snip its of their day, but never the whole thing. I want details, they sum-up. So today, I got details.

It was awesome. They read a story with their teacher. The did 'planning board' which is basically centres. Max went to the listening centre with his buddy Jack. They got to listen to a book on tape.

Then we went and played with building things.

He got to show me his writing book, and math book.
It was seriously heaven.

I was able to lay to rest some issues that I was having, by asking the teacher some questions. Max had come home a few times and complained of a boy pinching him, scratching him, or biting him. It's hard to not get your back up and go 'mother-bear' on the situation. The kid is being dealt with. The teacher knows...things are better. It was all good.
Then we got to drive home together. He loved it. I loved it. It was a love fest. Loved it!