Christmas

Christmas Morning:

Waking up at 4am to two very excited children. Sneaking downstairs with them, catching their excitement as they open 'only 1 now and go back to sleep'. Realizing at 4:45am that there isn't going to be any more sleep, allowing them to open their stockings, on the promise that they'll be quiet and stay in their rooms. 5:30 when we're all up, opening all of our stockings.

I finally have my Sony Alpha 300 DSLR. With 2 lenses, 4GB card, tripod and camera case. Now, to learn to use it!! I am finding the flash very bright. Probably because it's new.

It was a busy few days, Christmas afternoon spent with Gord's family, then heading to Brighton to visit my family. My Dad is a bit exhausting, with his constant need to be funny, and not realising that it gets tiring. He doesn't get that every quiet moment doesn't mean he has to say something. There is never a quiet moment when we visit. After a day and a half, I'm ready to go. Rowan gets snapped at, yelled at and misunderstood constantly. Due to his condition, my Dad cannot understand that Rowan is a typical, busy, active 5 year old boy. He will be more active than the girls. If I could keep my mouth shut and just let it go..but I become 'mama bear' defending her son.

Calla received a digital camera from Santa. She LOVES it. I have to pick up a multicard reader so that we can transfer her photos (and mine) without draining the batteries.

Rowan's big gift was the Star Wars At-te (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer) Absolutely huge. It's his favourite toy. We had to do a minor fix (thanks YouTube!) so the legs would stay attached. Now the legs are secure enough that I don't think we could remove them if we wanted to!! Before, if R touched it, the legs popped off.

Eliana has her 'two dollies' as she says. They were a gift from her Aunt and Grandma.

Good thing one of us is born organized. I'd be knee deep in clutter if it weren't for Gord. He helped me tackle the classroom today. It's clean again. The basement has been 'Roomba'd', the kitchen is neat and tidy.

I pulled back the carpet in the living room, to better clean the cat corner. The carpet is bleachable, so I poured 1/4 strength bleach on it, then rinsed it out with a litre or more water. With towels under the carpet to absorb the water, the carpet finally smells and looks clean. The real test will be after it dries. We really want to get the tree back in place.

The kids and I are making Christmas crackers. We plan to make bracelets for each female family member (9) and have small dollar store items for the men & boys. It's Dec 20th and we have 2 done. Eeek. Guess what we'll be doing this week!!

As much as I like snow, we do have enough. ENOUGH! And we're going to be getting 10-15 by noon tomorrow, plus another 10ish on Wed, and they're calling for 30-40 next Saturday. At this rate, we'll be house bound until March.

Snow

Well, Snowmageddon 2008 has arrived. We have piles of the white stuff. One of those days where you finish the driveway just to start again. During the winter, we 'rent' out one parking space to our neighbour's daughter, so that her car doesn't get ticketed for parking on the street. With that, comes some help with our driveway. I went outside to discover my neighbour just heading in after shovelling the bottom half of our driveway. Much more of it than I expected, so I was very thankful! The bottom 10ft are joined with our neighbour, causing us to shovel all the snow back UP the driveway or completely to the east side. My kids and their friends played on the growing pile of snow between our house and the neighbour's while I finished it up, with some more help from another neighbour. We've fondly named it "Mount Barrow" which appears every winter. Last year was the biggest we've seen it grow. Maybe this winter will break the record. Hmm, or not.

Had a great time today with my friend and her kids. They trudged across the street to our place and we had a chance to catch up while our kids played. E is now old enough to play with the 3yo, the two of them had so much fun with the Polly Pockets and Pet Shops.

Off to wrap presents! 6 sleeps til Christmas

Update: The house still smells like cat and vinegar. Eww.

Enough already!

My house is beyond disgusting. It smells like cat urine and feces. There's cat feces in the corner, where our Christmas tree once stood. The smell of urine permeates the main floor. The smell of cat vomit permeates my bedroom. The cat puked at 1am, which left me cleaning cat puke from the carpet at 1am, nearly causing me to puke at 1am. Gord didn't even notice the smell. Huh? She's a very old cat. She needs to be put to rest. Why won't my dh just bring her in? I keep asking him. I just wish for once he'd make a decision and not leave everything always up to me. I'd do it, but I'm an emotional person and wouldn't be able to drive back home safely.

My kids are fighting, snipping at each other. We tried to go sledding, only to have C throw a massive fit after her 2nd trip down the hill. She screamed the whole walk home, which thankfully is only about 2 mins. (2 too long imho) C calmed down once we were home, but this afternoon, declared she couldn't do school because our classroom is a mess. WFT? and the Playdoh/beads/kitchen toys in there are MY doing? The whole house looks like no one cares. And yes, you may be saying "But Julia, you're online blogging when you could be cleaning it up" It's such a mess that I can't even fathom where to begin cleaning it up. I'm sure the cat feces in the corner is a good start.

I just heard the LEGO being dumped on the floor. I'm surprised they found space to dump it. There are crackers on the basement floor from Monday afternoon, cookies from yesterday. Juice boxes with varying degrees of contents thrown everywhere. Only good thing: The laundry is done. It's hanging to dry in the basement. yes, HANGING. My dryer makes loud noises still. Hanging it isn't a problem, the laundry gets folded right away that way, but it still requires someone to put it AWAY.

My shoulders and neck are stiff. I'm beyond exhausted. I don't know where to put half the junk that needs to be put away. I haven't a clue how to make the carpet not smell. It's so bad, I took pictures of each room, just to prove the point. It makes me want to cry.

What I really need: Someone to take my kids for 2 days, some good 'moving' music, and coffee. An extra set of cleaning hands, or even someone just to keep me on track while I work. I'd ask my Mom, but with my Dad's condition, it's too difficult for her. I'd ask my mil, but she has health problems. I feel very isolated and alone.

Some days I think "lets move! That way I have to pack or toss everything in the house, and a new place would be a fresh start" But to where? And who would want this place, in it's deplorable condition. Cabinet doors falling off, flooring peeling, carpet smelling of cat. Not to mention the torture of keeping it show-able all the time. I am trying to stay positive. It's been easier to just let things go, I'm not stewing about the problems like I did in the past, but I'm so done with this. This mess, this house. It never stops.

I'll get off my rant now. I hear R yelling "STOP" at C again, she doesn't listen to me or him.

I'm going to get my Zen, put some happy music on, and attempt to salvage this house.

Ohh, and if you're a telemarketer and call me, violating any of the DNCL rules, I WILL report you. (ok, ADT just called, and I just did)

an Aha! Moment

After reading the 10 tips for teaching highly distractible children, I put one to practice today during our lesson time. All R wanted to do was play with the Magnadoodle, since he found the stencil sheets hiding on the shelf. So, as nothing was to change his mind, I just continued our language lesson with C, asking R to join in on the oral repetition parts. He remembered each part, no flaw. Almost better than C, who paid full attention during the lesson.
Now, if I could just be less distracted...

Grrr cat

My 'dear' cat decided to use under the Christmas tree as a litter box. We will now be rewrapping 3 gifts and having the carpet cleaned. ANYONE WANT A CAT???? She's fluffy and generally a beast. She spends her time sleeping or outside. She would prefer to be outside. When she's left indoors for too long she goes crazy.

Wine and family time

We had a Wilson family gathering today. Celebrated 3 birthdays, enjoyed a few glasses of wine with my sil. Yep. The wine was good. We became a little silly. My nieces (and nephew) are great kids.

Meltdowns

Rowan has a meltdown this morning because Calla wanted to play Lego Star Wars on Wii, and had controller 1. His problem: she has controller 1. His solution: throwing anything he could get his hands on while crying uncontrollably. I finally picked him up, rocked him back and forth, while playing LSW with controller 2 until he realised I wasn't very good at it (haha). I realised as his tantrum started that a timeout would only prolong the event (more than the 10 mins it DID take), causing him to hurt himself or break something (like the door to his room, his mirror, his bed...)

Is this the behaviour of a typical 5 year old boy? Is this something I should be concerned about? He gets so frustrated at times that he hits and pushes his sisters. He gets hyper, jumping off the furniture, climbing the door frames. When we settle down to do our daily lessons, he's inattentive, can't sit for 2 mins, and touches everything around him, quite often causing me to let him leave the lesson so that Calla can get some value out of it.
He cannot go into his gym program without a major meltdown and me having to hand him over kicking and screaming to the instructor, who he calms down for shortly after I leave. He's been going to the same gym class since Sept 07 with Calla. We tried soccer w/o Calla this summer. When I took him, it was a disaster. When Gord took him, he was a little better, not quite so stubborn. When I take him anywhere with the girls, he runs off, climbs something or touches everything. When we're one on one, he's awesome, a sweet child that you'd never believe could do the above stuff. He's also good going to Sunday School, though he clings to Calla side and goes to her class instead of his K class. I could go on. Is this typical middle child behaviour? 5yo boy behaviour? Close sibling rivalry?

Right now they are trying on every pair of shoes I own and parading around to show me. It's quite cute, Rowan in high heels is quite the sight.

A calmer day

Today was a calmer day. Maybe, since we've 'done school' 3 days in a row, after lunch, during Eliana's nap, the routine has helped us. Maybe it's today's sunshine. Or that Calla and Rowan are still in their PJs. Or I actually had time for a shower this morning. It IS a luxury that most people take for granted. When there's a 2yo in the house, leaving her unattended during a shower is asking for trouble. Although I did leave her under the care of C & R while I shovelled the driveway yesterday. Probably because ... oh good grief, they're screaming at each other right now. Must break it up before Calla hits Rowan

We're trying a new 'time-out' routine. As calmly as I can, I place the offender in time-out, with the rules that if they leave the designated spot before the timer beeps, the timer will be reset. Once time-out is complete, they get a hug and 'Thank you for sitting out'. This way, they know what is expected of them and that the issue has been resolved/forgiven. We'll see how it works. I don't like that we were resorting to spankings and yelling, as the kids just mimic this behaviour.

Well, that's my day in a nutshell.

homeschooling freedoms!

The snow was beautiful this morning. And with +6&rain in the forecast for the rest of the day, we quickly donned our snow gear and headed to the hill. It was wonderful! With Calla and Rowan's new sled, they made many treks down and back up again, leaving the yellow sled for Eliana and I to enjoy. What fun! The more we went down, the fast and further we'd go. Eliana had the easy task of hanging on while I towed her back up the hill.

Now it is pouring rain. A dismal afternoon, good for hitting the books in our bright basement classroom.

Winter wonderland

I love days like this, the snow is bright and clean, the sun is shining. Although, I could do without the -10 (-22 windchill). The kids are excited that they'll be seeing Santa tonight at Grampa's Christmas party.

Santa Claus Parade

We watched the Whitby Santa Claus parade this morning. It was cold and it was snowing a bit. This made the parade so pretty. By the end, the kids were cold and ready for hot chocolate. Good thing it's only a few minutes from home.
Have a happy weekend everyone!

Calla's missing tooth!

Calla lost her first tooth tonight! She was very brave and let me pull it out. (with very little effort) She's a little frightened by the red spot where her tooth was, and went to bed with a cloth in her mouth for comfort. She's excited that the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight. I made her a small pocket to put her tooth in, so that it isn't lost under her pillow before the Tooth Fairy arrives.

Yes folks, I had a sentimental moment, my eldest, my firstborn, lost her first tooth. It was a joyful, tearful moment. Calla gave me a big hug. Silly Mommy.

I will take pictures of Calla's new smile in the morning.

Jeans like Mommy!

It's really cute, my dear 2 year old only wears 'Jean like Mommy' as she fondly puts it. Even when I'm NOT wearing jeans. Yes, 6/7 days I am wearing jeans, it's a practical thing. Everything I own matches, I don't have to think about it. They take the abuse of being home all day with kids.

Last night I finally cleaned my kitchen. The only thing that kept me going was my Zen V+. While listening to the playlist, I realised that one should not put an entire CD on it without taking the crappy stuff off first. Yes, the Juno 2008 CD has some good tunes on it, but there are some that just aren't my listening style. And how did Bjork's Earth Intruders get on there?? I still haven't figured that out. I need some new and recent music to add. Any suggestions? Something different that I may overlook? Something motivating.

Wiggly Tooth

Calla has her first wiggly tooth. She is so scared. She cried and didn't want me to look at it. Finally after many calm words I was able to wiggle her little tooth. Maybe next week we'll have the Tooth Fairy visit. She's afraid that it will fall out while she's asleep. Poor kid. She's a very emotional child when she's tired.

Slow day

I'm trying to blog daily.

Sometimes I have a day where nothing gets done. Not one of those "I have so much to do, nothing gets done" days, but a I just don't -WANT- to do anything. My book and I became well acquainted, my kids played well together. A friend stopped by for coffee with her kids.
Maybe it's the weather, maybe we just all need a day of 'nothing'. I don't know, but I do know that I am feeling much more refreshed, although now the house is 10x messier than when I got up this morning. Just proves I do do something everyday.

Best phase I uttered today "Do not use the force on your sister!" to Rowan.

Alzheimer's

Feeling a bit helpless. My Dad has Alzheimer's. He's had it for a few years now, and is on Aricept. His behavior has been changing lately, he's become more aggravated, outspoken. I have not seen this firsthand, but what my Mom tells me. Living an hour away with 3 kids makes it difficult to just go and visit for a few hours. Plus, when we are there, the kids get rowdy and this unsettles him too. I really want to be there to help my Mom, as she has now been told that he should be with someone when he goes out on his own. He's fine going into town alone most days, but sometimes he says and does things that are inappropriate. My Mom has a very active life, she spends many hours volunteering throughout the week. To expect her to give everything up is unreasonable. I just wish I lived closer, or had an idea how to help them.

Strange Noises

This is going to sound crazy, but there's this strange buzzing noise, repetitive, almost chirping, sound somewhere in my dining room (Where I type right now) It's VERY annoying, but only audible when it's quiet. Thought it might be the CFLs but, no, the lights are off.
Oooh! Just found it!!! It's my daughter's notebook. When it's off, but plugged in, the battery light flashes and make this chirping noise. Wonder if that's been the source of my headaches the past few days.

Quiet time

It's quiet here. We had friends over for a Christmas get together. 9 kids. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now, the basement, kitchen and remaining rooms are a mess. It's grey and dismal outside. I pushed lunch off too long and now have a fuzzy head.
We decorated gingerbread cookies with the kids. Rowan's had the most icing. Probably more than all the other cookies combined! I had one cookie with just a bit of icing, and still feel off, an hour later. I'm going to make a cup of tea and hope that helps.
It's good to get together with other homeschooling moms. It helps me realise that everyone is doing just fine, we're all in the same boat, even if some of us unschool and other are more conventional.