back - kind of

we're having some mild camera and computer issues, so I haven't been online much since getting home. But I've managed to rig something up, so I'll post really quick before I get swarmed with kids - they'll probably wind up getting electrocuted if they horse around here.

We are back from an extended multi-part vacation to Dryden, and we're slowly but surely recuperating. There were lots of tears from John on the trip home, but once we got here, all was well - he said it felt nice to be in Kelowna again, and he seems to be looking forward to starting school next week. For Joan, the obvious highlight of her summer was pushing great grandma evans' wheelchair - she talks about it all the time! And for John, it seems to be a tie between the fall fair - of course - and making cookies with grandma and grandpa Phillips - he's been asking me to make sugar cookies almost every day since he got back. I've been careful not to let him know that I have the cookie cutters, or he'd never let it go! He's talked alot about taking great grandma down for tea, too, and meeting Adrienne Ashton's little guy - they played together at the park at the start of summer. They clearly both had an awesome summer - Joan says she loves everyone. And there seems to be some sort of space/alien game going on, with paper telescopes that she's been very excited about. Lots of good memories!

But sadly, now it's back home to boring old us, and our boring old life. Though we had a birthday party for me - that was very ummm...exciting. Just buying the cake was an event in itself. Mike was been working full tilt, to fill the financial hole left by the vacation, to it meant me grocery shopping with all four kids - always an exciting time. We had a bunch of stops to make, and I had to use a card from Mike, so we had to hunt him down in the field, do some banking, and make a few other stops, so by the time we got to the grocery store, they were all already done. John had been given instructions to pick out my cake by himself, so he wanted one of those little tiny kid carts to do it. I told him no, because I had visions of 1) all three of them fighting over one little tiny cart, or 2) a convoy of three tiny carts, smashing into the ankles of strangers. Neither was an appealing option, so I said no, and explained why. He insisted. I relented. Big mistake. The inevitable happened, with much screaming ind wailing and tugging and shoving in the middle of the bakery. So I took a deep breath and gave John an option - either the tiny cart goes back, or the cake does. He chose wisely - he chose to keep my cake. As he was returning the kiddie cart, an elderly lady came up and congratulated me on dealing with the situation so calmly, and how wonderful that some people are still choosing to have larger families. She had come from a family with four girls, and had lots of good memories of growing up with so many siblings. I didn't want to be such a spectacle that people noticed us, but I'm glad at least one person thought the whole freak-out had gone well, because at the time I sure didn't! Unfortunately, they were ultimately still spent, so it didn't get much better. They weren't being bad in particular - they were just being themselves. But they were all just being themselves all at the same time, which can be a little overwhelming in public. I was in the dairy isle when it started to get to me. John was jabbering way too fast about something he thought was super-duper uber exciting. Dave was popping up and down in the cart, Tom was hungry and had started to cry, and Joan was twirling in circles. I guess I looked a little weary at the moment, because a man came up behind me - he was maybe 70 or 75. "I had four this age once," he said. "I know." Then he nodded sagely, and wandered into frozen foods. I gotta say, that really made my day. It's amazing how sometimes so few words can convey so much.

My party was pretty funny. Both John and I had totally forgotten to buy candles, so all we had was cake. Mike had to work until after dark, but he still made dinner on the barbecue. And he didn't let a lack of candles spoil anything. He got out some skewers, and tried to light them on fire instead. But when they wouldn't stay lit, so he dipped them with 151 proof alcohol that he had gotten for some flaming dessert or other. It lit alright...then ran down the skewers...then spread all over the cake. That stuff is like lighting gasoline on fire, so by the time it got to the table, the whole top of my cake was up in flames! It was quite spectacular, and the kids thought it was hilarious. Everyone howled. It was the best candle yet. Too old to fit all the candles? Just light up the cake!

Anyway, better go. I hear Dave is poopy, Tom is hungry and John wants to make muffins. Never ending excitement!