a month later...

i keep meaning to stop in here, but I usually think about it as I'm falling asleep, running through in my head all the things I would have liked to do but didn't.

These pics are from my parents, taken when Tom was one day old - just after he was sent home. He looks about the same now. Just a little bigger. How much bigger, we're not sure. It took him a full two weeks to regain his birth weight, which is a little odd for my kids. But he seems much bigger now. Just waiting for him to be assigned a health number so I can take him to the doc. Because he's a BC resident, and we're so fresh from Alberta, we're still considered Albertans, he has no health coverage anywhere in Canada right now. In fact, I have a big fat bill for his birth, because the hospital didn't know how to bill it. Apparently, it costs about $1500 to have a baby and spend one night in a hospital in Canada. We don't have to pay it - we just need to get it sorted out as things make their way through the governments.

Tom's a great baby. He's been sleeping from midnight to 5 a.m. from about three days old. You can set a watch to him most nights. I've been pretty spoiled, really. But I know enough about newborns to know it won't last. I was actually a little worried about him going such a long stretch every night so early on, so I mentioned it to his doc. He told me it's Mother Nature's way of procreating the species - Moms would go mad if every baby had the sleeping patterns of the first, compounded with taking care of older kids, so generally, the more kids you have, the better sleepers they are. It was the final installment of our doc's crusade to get us to have more kids. He came by to check on us the morning after, and he was marvelling about how easy our labour was. I agreed - the easiest one yet. "Good!" he said. "Maybe it'll convince you to have a few more!" When I looked a little horrified, he went into a huge speech about how great big families are, because it forces the kids to take care of each other, because mom and dad are too busy to settle their disputes. Sounds like Lord of the Flies to me, but he insists it works out. I think he's just paid a unit rate per birth, and likely gives the same speech to everyone of childbearing years. The fact is, five is our limit, because we don't want to buy a church van to haul our kids around.

We're starting to enjoy BC, and Mike is getting right into the whole hippie thing. We had the VW van already, but we recently bought a little grain mill and several sacks of various localy grown organic grains from a little granery north of town. We use it to make all of our own breads and muffins. Buckwheat pancakes are really good, we've discovered. Especially with real, organic maple syrup. No offence, Aunt Jemima. We've started making our own lemonade from lemons, pasta sauce from tomatoes, and we've decided to go one step beyond the all natural organic yogurt the kids already eat, and make our own, flavoured with local organic fruit. We're just deciding on the best maker to get. We've decided we should probably start making our own ice cream too. If we start making our own cheese, you'll know we've completely lost it, but so far it's been pretty fun, the food tastes a lot better, isn't any more expensive, and it's nice knowing exactly what we're eating. It's resurrected the whole "we should get a farm!" discussion, so we can get our own eggs and milk, too. Mike's been ogling this 600 acre (NOT a typo - six HUNDRED acres) farm on Keller Rd outside of Dryden, but I think it'll probably be gone by the time we're ready to go anywhere near Ontario again. Getting a little farm and filling it with a zillion kids has been a recurring discussion since before we were even married - I think we were both in high school the first time it came up - so I'm sure we'll do it someday. We have the kids already - just need a few cows and chickens and enough space for them all and we're there!

The other kids are doing well. I was expecting a bit of regression after Tom, but didn't get too much. Dave had the roughest time. He didn't seem too sure of how he stood with me anymore. He became pretty clingy for a bit. But I made sure he got lots of cuddles whenever Tom was sleeping, and he seems alright now. John and Joan generally fight over him, each trying to out tickle and out cuddle the other, to get the most face time with the baby. John's teacher said he was REALLY excited after Tom was born, and announced to the class that "Tom was full of cuteness."

There have been some not-so-happy moments since Tom came along as well, though none related to Tom. We've been getting the kids caught up on their immunizations, which is never good times. My parents were here while Dave had his appt, so he wasn't too bad. But the day John and Joan had theirs was an epic day, indeed. It was my very first outing with all four by myself, making it a bit traumatic for me to begin with. John, being almost 6, could be reasoned with about getting shots. he was fascinated by the science of the vaccines, and was actually looking forward to it. But then, the needles themselves came out. The nurse kept telling him not to look at it, so of course he couldn't take his eyes off the thing. He watch as it jabbed him, and of course, he was bawling. "It...*gasp*... doesn't ...*sniff*...feel ...*snort*...gooooood!" he wailed.

Joan is of course watching all of this, and probably thought she was off the hook - at least until the nurse plopped her on my lap, and started pulling out more needles. "NOT ME!!!! NO MOMMY!!! NOT MEEEEEE!!!!!!" she screamed. It was gut wrenching. What made it worse was the fact that she had fallen behind. One of the little known risks of shots are strokes, apparently, and when I saw that after her diagnosis, I panicked. I couldn't afford to have her suffering multiple strokes in her life, so she had gone largely unvaccinated. I know, I know. I'm usually a huge pro-vaccine person, but when it's your own kid, thoughts become kinda clouded. Anyway, her pediatrician gave me a huge package of information, which basically said that she's far more likely to get brain damage from the diseases the vaccine prevents, than from the vaccine. And her CP puts her at a higher risk of complications than other kids, so if anyone should be vaccinated, it's her. Then, when I found out that there had been a huge measles outbreak through BC from the Olympics, that was the final straw, and I made her an appointment. I thought it was dumb to live in fear of measles. The nurses were great - they weren't judgemental. Instead they thanked me for bringing her in and assured me it was the right move, because of her risk factors and so many diseases resurfacing because unvaccinated kids are becoming so common.

But sadly for Joan, it meant she needed six shots. So how exactly do you give six shots to a scared and squirmy 3-year-old? Well, now I know. They pulled in a second nurse to help, which is never a good sign. They plopped her, screaming, onto my lap. My job was to pin her arms hard against her sides, so she couldn't move. Then each nurse took three needles, and on the count of three, they both started a-jabbin! But it didn't end there. She was so full of holes, they couldn't get the band aids on fast enough, so she had a secondary freak-out as she saw blood dripping down both arms. If anything could cause a life-long irrational fear of needles, that was definitely it. She still talks about it. We went to see the doc for Tom, and as she clutched her shoulders, she shook her head and chanted "NO MORE OWIE! NO MORE OWIE!" Can't wait to take her in for the boosters in a couple weeks!

Well, the house is erupting into chaos, so I'd better go. But I'll leave you with a little gem from John. I don't know where this is coming from, but he likes to make up "food chains" in his head. This was his latest, after seeing a mosquito:

"Mosquitoes eat us. Then dragonflies eat the mosquitoes. Then fish eat the dragonflies. Then we eat the fish. That means...WE'RE EATING OURSELVES!!!"

update...

I sat down to write a bleary-eyed e-mail update, and remembered this place. Saves the trouble of looking up everyone's e-mail, at least.

First, the old news - the new baby is here,and just had his one week birthday! We named him Thomas George. Thomas, because we think Tom Walchuk sounds good. george is the name of Mike's great-grandfather, who died very early, while his grandma was still a teenager. And it turns out, Thomas was his grandma's brother as well, so also a family name. it's also Mike's middle name. He was born at 10:30 p.m., April 28. Our first non-Thursday baby. But he was close - it was a Wednesday night.

The labour went well. My doc is still raving about how "civilized" it was. I saw him for a regular appt a day and a half into my early labour. Contractions had been about 10-20 minutes apart since the Tuesday morning, but I was only 3 cm by the appt. But it was real labour, so he told us to get some raspberry leaf tea, and he'd see me at the hospital soon - likely that night.

I'd already packed my bag, and left instructions for the grandparents, thinking that he'd send me straight on to the hospital, so I was a little disappointed. No offense to everyone who was at the house at the time, but I was feeling like a bit of a sideshow and didn't feel much like going home to be stared at in my pain, so we decided to stay out until it was time. It didn't take long. We ran some errands - Mike got his driver's licence changed. We walked around a bit. Shopped for the tea. We went to Dairy Queen for lunch, but I couldn't eat anything, let alone stomach the thought of ice cream, so I mostly just had the tea instead. After that, we went for a drive, but it was cut short - 45 minutes after taking the tea, we were in admissions, with contractions suddenly 4 minutes apart! Yikes!

He was born four hours later. I got the epidural, which was awesome. I felt nothing. They had to break my water carefully, because he wasn't lodged in right, and they were worried the water would sweep the cord out. It was done by the OB on call, and involved positioning the baby straight, then breaking the water with a contraction. He was born shortly after, with two quick, painless pushes. As the doc said, very civilized. Well, I lost a pair of socks in the deal, so it wasn't all good, but I'm not going into that here.

The doc stopped by at 9 a.m. the next morning to approve my discharge, but it took the nurse until 2 p.m. to do the paperwork. We were hoping to beat our record of being discharged 12 hours after the birth - a record set by Dave - but no such luck.

I was a little nervous to see everyone's reactions to Tom, but all of the kids love him! Especially Dave, who tells me 'he saaaad" every time the baby cries, and tries to soothe him by bringing him blankets and stuffies. Joan has claimed him as her own, and says "My baby love me!" and showers him with lots of gentle strokes, hugs and kisses. John thinks he's cool, and this morning, chose to sit in the back on the drive to school, so he could sit next to Tom, instead of his usual favourite spot in shotgun.

Being a newborn, Tom has already had a rash of doc's appts. He failed his initial hearing screen in the hospital, so we had to go yesterday for a more extensive test. But everything is fine - both ears tested perfect. They said he probably just had a lot of gunk in his ears at the start, because he was pushed out so fast - he wasn't squeezed enough to flush it all out.

His jaundice test came high, so we were asked by our doc's colleague to come in for a check. But our doc said because he was a bigger baby, it's within the acceptable limits, and he was looking healthy and alert, so he wasn't concerned. he was, however, mildly concerned by his weight - after a week, he still hasn't recovered to his original birth weight. He was only 8 pounds - 5 ounces short. He said we'd wait another week to see how he does or doesn't grow, but repeated that he looks very healthy, so it's likely all fine. But he told me to drink lots of water, in case it's a supply issue, and eat more high fat and calorie dense foods, including lots of fatty milk and cheese in case it's a milk quality issue. So, last night, I snacked on ice cream, and I've switched to the kids' whole milk to see if it makes a difference. I was hoping to drop my baby weight, but if he needs me to eat more ice cream and rich fatty foods for a while, well, that's just a sacrifice I'll have to make.

Well, better go. I'll keep you posted as things go - probably here, because it's easier than e-mail and I can say more than on facebook. I'm hunting for my camera cord, so I can post my own photos. I thought I had set it aside, but the move happened so fast, a lot of things have gone missing. In the meantime, if anyone has a good one of the kids or Tom, send it along, and I'll post post it up.

ugh

ugh about sums it all up.

sorry for such a long delay, and this update won't be much of anything, trust me. It's late. We're only up because mike wants to wait up to check his jobs for tomorrow. His van needs a new battery - it dies every night. he was given the day to get it fixed but the mechanic who handles the fleet at ATI wouldn't touch it, because it's under warranty, and needs to go to a dealer. So he still has a battery that dies after about 2 hours of sitting off. he wa promised a fast-paced day with lots of jumping around, so the van doesn't die in the field.

Things are ok here. the big news - we're moving to kelowna. pretty old news by now. no idea when - sometime between now and feb 1 for mike. roughly a month after that for the rest of us. John was pretty upset by it at first, but now that packing has started, he's actually excited and looking forward to it. though he has told me that he wishes we could bring this whole house with us, because he likes the way it looks. we're hoping to get something sort of similar out there - a family room AND living room. maybe even upgrade to 4 bedrooms, for the growing brood. I want a main floor play room, where we can set up all thier toys and shelves, and a fruit tree in the backyard, but I'm told I might be asking too much. we'll see.

everyone's doing pretty well. Everyone is looking forward to school getting back in. probably no-one more than me. I've been really tired lately. It started well before the news of the move, and has escalated. My doc wouldn't test me for anemia last month, but I had it several times growing up, and severely enough in college that I had to take mega-doses of iron for months, so I kinda know how it feels. And my old family doc gave me a couple of tricks to spot it on my own, and I failed each test- white skin on the insides of bottom eyelids and bottom lip. I've looked like a racoon, with pale skin and dark circles. but the last straw was getting out of breathe and dizzy every time I climbed our stairs - not normal at 5 months pregnant, but exactly what happened in college that wound me up on those wretched iron pills. So, we went to the health food store and got some of that florodix liquid iron stuff - apparently it doesn't build up, so you don't need to worry about taking too much. It actually seems to be working. After just a couple days, the dizziness and windedness was gone. Now almost a couple weeks later, I feel a lot more energetic, and I'm starting to get a bit of normal colour back - and inside my eyelids are bright red. Not sure if I should mention it to my doc on Friday. Some are ok with you taking extra stuff - others, not-so-much. The dose is really pretty small, compared to the iron pills I had to take before - even less than what I have in my normal vitamin. All together, it's actually less iron than what was in prenatal vitamins when i was preggers with John - they've since cut the levels way down. But it seems to be enough. Mike's been taking it too, but hasn't noticed any difference in himself.

Joan had her 3rd birthday on the 28th! We didn't feel much like a big party so soon after the mayhem of Christmas, so we took the kids out for burgers and then to Diary Queen for banana splits. We didn't even do presents that night. She talked the whole way home about how much fun she had, so I think it was the right thing to do. She's never been too big on cake anyway, because it makes her hands dirty, which she hates, and it was nice to get out of the house and have some fun. Can't believe she's three already. She's come so far this past year. It's hard to imagine her a year ago, taking her very first steps, but still relying on that little walker of hers. She had so few words, and so much frustration. Hard to imagine that was the same person as the happy, bubbly, mile-a-minute little tornado we have now. She's had a huge word explosion over Christmas! She knows most of her colours now, and can count to 10 (with a little prompting. Well, ok a lot of prompting). She talks non-stop. She talks about her feelings, things she sees, things she remembers. It's just great. Today, for the first time she said "love Dad." Obviously, Mike was pretty happy about that!

I have a zillion pictures to download from the camera. Even a video of john's christmas concert to pop on youtube! Max the Moose made his stage debut! It was supposed to be the "teddy bear twist," but John doesn't like following the crowd, and claimed he didn't feel ownership of any of the teddy bears we own. Fair enough - the younger kids have claimed most of them. David is madly in love with one my parents had sent to John - Dave calls him Arfarf, as though he's a dog. He has a stuffed dog by the same name. In fact, most soft, cuddly things are called Arfarf. Anyway, John, being John, wanted to take a stuffed yellow crab to the concert. We vetoed him. We convinced him it'd be a bad idea, by telling him he'd be sent to the back row. That put a quick end to that! So we went hunting, and there in the cupbourd was a Max the Moose stuffie that Mike had given me when we were first going out, in high school. John wasn't convinced he was the right choice, until I told him that Max was in fact, Dryden's mascot. That was enough! So now I have a little video of Max the Moose doing the twist with 60 teddy bears.

In lieu of pictures, I'll leave you with a Johnism that made me chuckle. John is very big into crafts, and has copious gobs of googly eyes, which seem to wind up everywhere. One escapee landed on the bottom of John's foot. John, feeling something, turned his foot over and said "ACK! My foot is looking at me!!!!"

baby 4 update

sorry for the delayed posting. things have been a bit difficult here - everyone was sick for all of October, then H1N1 hit, and then Mike got transferred to Kelowna. It has been a bit tiring, to say the least!

So I had an OB appt today. I had to miss last month because I was in the hospital with Dave, and sick myself, and she didnèt have another spot for another four weeks.

It all went fine. She said all my test results to date look perfect. They did find some sort of a white spot on the babyès brain in the ultrasound. I forget the name. But she said itès nothng -a good percentage of babies have it, and it normally clears up by week 30. They donèt even do a follow-up, itès such a nothing. The only time they follow up is if there are other visible defects, esp in the heart, which isnèt the case.

I am measuring three weeks ahead. I got that with Dave too. It could just be so many babies passing through in there. could be a problem. It will be monitored. itès likely nothing.

I brought up my fatigue issues. She said itès still too early for anemia to be a factor, and my last iron test was good. She said, watching John spin in circles and Dave tear apart the cupboards in her office, ÈItès probably more due to your, umm...lifestyle... at the moment.È

Sheès probably right.

Iève been having nosebleeds, too. She confirmed itès nothing - high levels of estrogen, she said. Totally normal.

Iève been feeling lots of squirming! Every day now, I feel it at least once, which is nice. Hopefully, it wonèt be as squirmy as Dave! He used to wake me up at night with all his craziness - and heès still a very busy little guy! My appetite has picked up too. Joan has been marvelling at the sound of my rumbly tummy. It makes her giggle! Iève had to add a couple meals each day to keep it at bay. John is cute - he keeps bringng me things to eat, to see if the baby likes it. itès usually a share of his cookie, or oranges, or other sweet things, because I told him the baby moves more after I eat sweet stuff. So really, everything seems to be going smoothly! So far, so good.

The other kids are doing well. Theyève all managed to stay healthy these last few weeks, though i noticed Joanès nose dripping today. hopefully a good nightès sleep and a couple days off will clear it up. She was sent home early today, because of a big storm that blew through. They put them all on the bus, and brought them home at noon, without calling first. Of course, i was in the north end of the city, at my doc appt. So, they called Mike - who is in Kelowna right now, so not only didnèt know it ws storming, but couldnèt do anything anyway. They had to take her back to school and wait for me - luckily I made it back in time before the schoolès early closing time. She started crying when she saw me. She was the last kid in the ISMD classroom, and apparently had just had a marvelous afternoon, with lots of time in the multi-sensory room, and loads of attention from her therapists, and was NOT pleased to see me come through the door to bust up her fun!

Johnès doing just great. We just jad a parent teacher conference. At ths school, they ask that you bring your kids with you, which at first seemed a little odd. But it actually worked out well - he got to show me his school work, and he got to have input on the discussion. She says heès doing well with the french, and school in general. his tantrums during upsetting situations are becomming more and more rare as he grows and matures. She says heès very meticulous with his schoolwork, and puts a lot of care into the things he does. We got a stack of his work to take home - lots of tracing, mazes, shapes, colours and number type games. I had flashbacks of kindergarten looking at it all. I think we did the exact same worksheets, only in english. He did really well, but messed up a few of the patterns. He had talked about his patterns at home - he told me that some of them were really tricky. But heès doing great.

Dave is my little wildman. Heès been walking well for a while now- a couple months, I guess. And he just loooooves to run! He and I do groceries together while the others are in school, and at the checkout, he just canèt seem to resist all that open space at the front of the store, and always squirms and wriggles with all his might so Ièll let him down. Iève learned to fight him with all MY might - one time I put him down thinking heèd just cling to my leg or putter close by. Nope. He was off in a flash, bolting for the other end of the store, giggling all the way! At Johnès interview, I let him walk in the school. he generally follows the herd. But when we turned the corner, and saw that long, long hallway. Oh boy! He made a run for it, and poked his head in the next classroom, which was full of kids. And when he saw I was on his tail, he shrieked with laughter, and scurried the other way as fast as his little legs would go! Luckily, mine are still longer, so I won. But he sure is a speedy little guy! Now that theyère all walking, Ièm going to try to find them all a gym program. They had one at the Y where we used to live - theyèd fill the big gym with balls and slides and all sorts of fun stuff, and let the kids go hog wild. I think theyèd all get something out of that now, itès just a matter of finding something like it close by - itès a good way to let them burn off excess energy in the winter, rather than bouncing off my walls. The last time I took the kids, Dave didnèt exist, and Joan was still bum-scooting, so itès been a while!

Dave is doing well since getting sick with swine flu. For those who donèt know, he got seisures from it, and had to go to the hospital, because we found him lying on the floor unrespensive, pale and barely breathing. Hopefully, that will be my first and last ambulance ride. He was in hospital for five days, undergoing a battery of tests, and being treated for...everything from infection to meningitis. In the end, the only positive results were swine flu and an ear infection, which may or may not have passed into the bone behind his ear - depending on which radiologist was asked. His seizures were very scary - they had a hard time getting them to stop. They had to use three kinds of medicine, and very large doses to finally stop them. And then, he slept...and slept...and slept. And when he woke up, the medicine had eliminated his sense of balance. He couldnèt walk for three days, which he found incredibly frustrating. When he first woke up, he couldnèt even hold his head steady. We had to prop him up, and he was a wobble-head doll for the first couple days. The pediatricians were really concerned about brain damage, but the neurologist assured me that it was just the side-effect of so much medicine. He told me to look for personality changes, or physical regression, but we donèt see that. Heès still the same little guy he was before, and heès progressing well physically - he still hasnèt chosen a dominant hand , heès walking on uneven surfaces now, and heès much faster, and trips much less! There will be follow-up appts and tests, to make sure it was just a flu and fever induced seisure. The feel thereès a chance it could happen again with his next flu, so they have him on clobozam, an anti-seizure medicine, for a few months, just to play it safe.

well, itès getting late here - about 2 a.m. (Hmmm...these late nights might have something to do with my fatigue..) so I had better head to bed! The kids will be up soon, wanting to shovel and build snowmen. Ugh.

Happy Birthday Dave!!!

Happy first Birthday to Dave! Well, it was yesterday. But still. This picture was taken on the beach at Ghost Lake while we were in Dryden - about an hour before heading to the fair. His party has yet to take place. With permission from John, who was burned by the splitting of dates on his 5th..or was it his 6th, or maybe 55th, depending when you talked to him...it's being delayed until my parents return from their vacation in BC, sometime in the next few days.

Dave did something really sweet the other day. Mike had a hockey game, so he was catching a nap on the couch before heading out. The kids were horsing around, but Dave went up to his dad, and made little questioning tones to get his attention. After a minute, he seemed to figure out that he was asleep. So he left, found his favourite stuffed animal, and nestled it into mike's arm. I wish I had a picture, it was so cute. I also wish I had a picture of Mike's reaction to waking up snuggling a little stuffed dog!

a day at the fair - part one

Joan, beaming from the roller coaster at thefall fair! John wasright beside her. It was tons of fun, until she dinged her head on the bar during a ride that evening. Somehow not to fun after that.

This was taken the thursday night, and was coooold and raining the entire time. But we went, thinking it would rain all the days it was on. Thankfully, the next day was beautiful, so we went back and had a ton of fun. But isn't she so cute in her raincoat!? It was a gift from my parents, from thier shop. I can't wait for it to rain, so she can wear it to school. It's like it was designed just for her.

Mike had a lot of fun showing John the big kid rides he was old enough to ride - as long as an adult rode with him!

The Octopus was actually John's favourite ride!

a day at the fair...

John, Mike and Uncle Adrian shiver in line at the bumper cars. This ride definitely stuck out in John's memory. He rode with dad, and thought it was lots of fun to smash uncle Adrian.

John, Joan and Mike prepare for a whirl in a giant strawberry. the kids are at that magic size where they can go on lots of rides...but only if an adult comes on too. Mike had a blast going on all the rides with John - he even convinced him to go one one that twirls upside down!

John teaching his sister the ropes on the boat ride. Joan LOVED the rides - this was her first year being big enough to get on them! Her favourite was the merry-go-round. It was funny to see her huge smile, only to see it melt away as the ride came to an end. I lost count of how many times she went on.

My mom and dad, with David, and Joan, waiting to see John, Mike and Adrian on the bumper cars. The lines were long by that point, so we had actually taken the little two around to see the animals. Joan of course loved the horses. But I'll never forget her reaction to seeing the little ponies! She let out a gasp, and tore across the barn! Dave didn't come out with quite the same love in his heart for barnyard life. The pigs were in pens that had a circle cut out of the wood, at just about the right height for Dave to stand and look through, and see them close up. Unfortunately, it was also snout level. So Dave put his face up to peer at the pig, and out pops this ginormous twitching, grunting snout, snorting right into his face! I have never heard such blood-curdling screams from that poor kid! We hurried our way outta there, boy! After we got out of the barn, we stopped to watch some people riding their horses. Joan just loved that. Not sure my dad did - she was riding his shoulders at the time, and she started bopping up and down, pretending he was a horse!

I have a few minutes to kill, while I wait for Mike to be ready for timesheets, so thought I'd pop in and start posting some of the Dryden pictures - with more to come. I'll sort out the album and post it online as well, so you can see all the pics. Better late than never, I guess! It's been a whirlwind fall, but things are settling into a bit of a rhythm. I feel like I can breathe - and post - again.

Mike's reading up on converting his van Ruby to a diesel. We'll see if it even comes back from the shop. It's been there since we got home. Even the guru himself can't figure out why it's pumping out black smoke. He says he's just about out of ideas. But he doesn't want to see our van die, so the next step is to replace the fuel injector, which is causing all the problems with...a carburetor. Apparently, he did it on one of his own vans, and it did the trick. He's really a great mechanic. He's been tinkering with it for weeks now, but told Mike he wasn't charging him for very much of the work, because he loves our van, and just wants to see it back on the road. (that and he hasn't FIXED anything.) Anyhoo..

The kids are doing pretty well. Joan is in her first week of morning preschool. The administrators decided it would be best for her to endure one upheaval at a time, so they decided to move her as soon as they could, to get used to the new kids and the new morning routine. It has been a bit rough. She was a little spooked out by the whole thing on day 1. Mike stayed home with the sleeping boys, while I took Joan to school to settle her in. That alone threw her off. "Yaya seep?" (John's asleep), "Beebee seep?" (Baby asleep?) She seemed ok on the drive, and went for her class - but then stopped dead in her tracks when she discovered her room full of strangers! She spent a good 5 minutes just...staring. The teachers were great - they all made a point of coming to see her, to show her that they were all still there. Then her favourite teacher introduced her to a couple of girls, and another teacher lured her over to the art centre, which is her most favourite, to help her settle in. Today was day 3, and the fatigue was starting to show. In the lobby at pick-up time, she laid down on the floor and made pretend snoring noises. She thinks that's really funny, but she only does it when she's actually tired. I've also seen a lot more bum-scooting lately, which is also typically a sign that she's beat. We're trying to get her to bed earlier, but I think she needs to go earlier still - especially when she starts the full-day program in a few weeks.

I don't know if I've done a very good job in describing exactly what renfrew is, or how the programs in it work. I call it preschool, but that's not really accurate. The preschool program is called the PUF program - Program Unit Funding. It is funded by Alberta Learning, which is their ministry of education. But it's group therapy. the "teachers" are actually therapy aides, who are there to enact the prescribed goals of the resident OTs PTs and speech therapists. Everything in their day is geared to fulfill these goals. snack time isn't just about eating - it's a fine-motor activity, which they tweak to require two hands for Joan. Follow the leader isn't just about following rules, it's a gross-motor activity, usually involving an obstacle course of overs and unders and big steps and unusual textures. They play all the usual games just...tweaked, so that therapy is worked into the play. Now, the therapy program she's starting in October is a whole other ball of wax. It's sort of like 2.5 hours of gym class. It's Integrated Services for children with Motor Delays - ISMD. It's funded by the government through an agency called Services for families of children with Disabilities - FSCD. Part of what they are willing to fund is a personal aide, who comes to your home for 10 hours per week, for intense therapy. This program provides that, but in a social, school setting, which allows for group games and activities. It's often referred to as the Cerebral Palsy program. They all have it, to varying degrees. Typically, the kids who they think will see the greatest benefit, get access to it first. But everyone there has a completely unique set of goals. For some, it may just be to walk independently. Others, it may be to be able to feed themselves. Others are there to work on balance issues - they're running all the time, but fall constantly. All are there to build strength and flexibility. Both of these programs run 5 days a week. She'll have an hour and a half lunch in between, when she can relax, have a nap, read books, have some general down time. We've applied to have her bussed while she's in the program - they do door-to-door delivery, but it can't start until she's right in both programs - likely after thanksgiving. It sounds so harsh, but they've all assured us it's a great program, and we'll see results very quickly, and they take everything one day at a time, and she'll be fine.

As for John, he's doing...ok. We had our first parent teacher interview last week, and it went well. She says he's doing great, is listening well and following directions. But this week, things have gone a bit sour. Something happened today that he's really mad about. Something like he was at the magnetix centre, and a bunch of other boys came up too, and they were all talking loud, and the teacher thought he was the only one being loud, so she refused to give him a checkmark. But he maintains his innocence - he said he was being quiet, and the other boys were yelling. I'm going to ask about it tomorrow, just to get her side of what happened. It's hard to give him advice when things don't quite add up. And yesterday, something happened at snack - the floor was left messy - but that resulted in everybody losing a checkmark, which really upset him. But generally, he seems to be enjoying it still. He likes gym time, and music class - he got to play a drum! She said he's very supportive of his classmates - he cheers them on when they have to get up to speak in front of the class "great job, so and so!" That sounds like him. But I find with him, a little discipline goes a long way. I have a feeling he's blowing some relatively minor incidences out of proportion, and taking the refusal of checkmarks too personally.

Dave's doing awesome, too. He's so funny to watch. He picks up on everything. He's started to play with cars now, and he'll drive them along the floor, making the appropriate engine sounds. He takes probably a little too much delight in annoying his big sister. He really knows how to push her buttons, whether it's cuddling with her favourite toy, or taking something he knows she likes and crawling away really fast, with her running behind. It's really funny to watch him at work. I think them being away for those two weeks helped him - he's a lot feistier now, and will stick up for himself. Before he would just let them all take his toys, and do nothing but look sad and miserable. Now, he fights back, either verbally, or by chasing them down!

He's started walking! He can get about halfway across a room now, before falling. He still prefers to crawl, though - much faster. But he practices his walking more and more every day. Won't be long now before I have three walkers!

Oh - John started Beavers this week. That was really fun! We headed out to the Scout store first thing after dropping off Joan, to pick up his uniform, and that night, off he went. They just read stories and talked, which he found a little boring. But he did well - he did everything the leader told him to do, when he was told to do it. He was a great little Beaver! Sadly, our troupe doesn't have enough leaders to maintain it yet. But lots of parents took home the volunteer info, with the intention of joining as leaders, so hopefully, it will continue. Mike would be an awesome beaver leader, but he's not ready to sign up. His work is generally demanding, and he doesn't want to commit to something he can't completely commit to. But I'm sure it will work out fine. John would be devastated if he couldn't go.

One question - Joan has started calling John "Yaya". She came back from Dryden doing it, and no-one knows where it came from. It's starting to stick - now John even calls himself Yaya at home! Does anyone know why or when she started doing this?

Can't think of anything else. Things have generally been chugging along. I've been tired, with this new schedule and everything else and have tried to take it as easy as possible. Mike lets me catch naps where I can and stuff like that. But we're really all doing just great. I'll post up more pictures soon!

Joan's in!

We just finished round one of a great visit with my parents - they're coming back though in a couple weeks on their way home.

While they were here, we got word that Joan is officially IN the intensive therapy program at school! They switched her to a morning preschool class, so she's going to have to start over with all new kids. But they managed to keep her with the same teaching team, which I really appreciate. I like her teachers a lot - one in particular is very good with Joan, though they're all great, so I'm glad they did their best to create as little disruption as possible for her.

So she starts Monday in morning preschool. Should make life a little interesting, because the therapy program won't kick in for a few more weeks, while the funding gets lined up, and John is still of course in pm kindergarten. I think in many ways it will be better, because I can do more with 2 than three, and there are things I need to do with each older child, like clothes shopping, that would be easier with just Dave and the kid in question. So, it makes things a bit more complicated, but there's some good to it.

As for the funding, I can't get her assessed by the gov't worker until Oct 6, and the funding won't be released without it, obviously. But the school assured me they're willing to wait until everything is sorted out - the spot is Joan's.

She was put on a "waiting list" during the summer. It was already a long list, but I had been told by one administrator that they just call them waiting lists - they don't do ANTHING first come, first served. The kids who need it most, get it first. So I guess they looked at Joan's assessments, and moved her to the top of the priority list, because they said they started the year with one open spot, and it went to her.

Anyway, we're pretty excited. Not sure how she's going to fare in full-day school at the tender age of two. But she loves school, and that will help. We'll just have to be prepared not to see ehr during the week, because she'll need to get to bed so early.

Anyway, better go!

school updates...

John had his first Terry Fox run today, and in true John fashion, was quite moved by it. He got to go to a big assembly with the whole school and watch a film, followed by the run itself. When I went to pick him up, he excitedly announced that his school had raised $2500, and that he ran really fast. But he was so excited, by the time we arrived at home, the school had raised a whopping $30 million, and had found the cure to cancer! Hmmm. What other Walchuk male does that remind you of...

Joan also had a momentus day - she finally started speaking in class. They hadn't told me she had been completely mute until that point. Apparently, she smiles a lot, but says nothing. But today, she really opened up to her teacher by naming all of her body parts.

When we got home, we got some more exciting news - they have an opening in the intensive therapy program at Renfrew, and they'd like to give Joan the spot! It means a half day of therapy, followed by a half day of preschool. It's a lot for a little kid. But they're apparently sensitive to the fatigue until they adjust. The problem is, it's an afternoon opening, which is when she's in preschool, so it may not be able to happen. But the administrators will be meeting on Tuesday to see what they can work out for her. they may need to move her to a new class, or see if another family is willing to shift thier schedule. There's a funding issue as well - it's funded differently from school, and we're not completely through the intake process for the organization that pays the bill. But they figured it could all get worked out somehow. So please keep all your fingers crossed. It means a lot of work for Joan, but it's a great opportunity to help her reach her potential.

school daze

Both kids, ready for a fun afternoon at school in their awesome backpacks from Boffo Home and Cottage in beautiful Dryden ON.

I don't think I've felt more like a "mom" than I have this week, with two kids in school. Well, ok, one's in preschool. But it feels the same. The honeymoon is still in full swing for both of them, but so far, it looks like it could be a great year.

Joan is in Renfrew - an awesome little special needs preschool - she's been discharged from the hospital's infant program, so this is the next phase of her therapy. They mix preschool with therapy in a kindergarten-like setting. It reminds me a lot of John's Best Start program, where he went when he was 3. Very loosey-goosey, rule-wise. They have stations, but are allowed to move around them freely. The only formal thing is a circle time. But the rest of the day is spent in free play. After they get settled in, and the therapists get to know the kids, they'll be directed a little more into more therapeutic type of play, using the things they like to encourage development. But for now, they're just spending some quality bonding time.

I was really concerned about her starting school. But after seeing her at her staggered entry, I knew I'd have nothing to worry about. She's very shy, but when I went to pick her up, she was leading her teacher by hand to a bench. They sat down together, and Joan shimmied over to her, until they were cuddling. Then Joan took her by the hand,and they just sat cuddling, holding hands for a while, with Joan giggling away. She likes the baby station best apparently - she likes pushing the dolls around in strollers. And apparently, she loves the playground - it's a great design, with disabled kids in mind. The one at John's school is completely inaccessible to her - she has to climb a ladder or worse to get to a slide. Not even a set of steps! Joan's is filled with ramps and tunnels and stairs - she would be able to get everywhere on it, with effort.

I know they're working her hard, because she's completely fried when she comes home. She generally curls into a ball and screams for an hour or so. I'm assured this will pass as she gets used to it. I think the teacher is worried I think she's not liking it, because so far, she hasn't even made it out of the building before melting down. "She really had a wonderful time, I promise," she said emphatically on Friday. I assured her that I can tell she is from how excited she it to get there.

She was actually mad at me for the first couple days of the week - her school didn't start until Wednesday. But John started Monday, and I had to take all three right into the classroom to fill out paperwork, because he had missed his staggered entry. We walked in on a room filled with kids reading books on a carpet. John was instructed to find himself a book and join them. Joan was all set to get herself a book and join right in! She was not a happy camper when it was time for us to go - without John. It began a two-day funk. When her day finally came, she was so excited. She knew exactly what was happening, because I was packing her pink backpack. I said "ok Joan, let's get you to your school!" and she threw her arms up in the air and said "Woohoo!" She says that every day as we leave for her school now. This weekend, I've had to hide their backpacks, because she was following me around with it, chanting "School? School? School? School?..." So nothing to worry about there. And Tuesday is music therapy day, which I know she's going to love!

Then there's John. John, who we put in French Immersion, firmly against his will. We've been arguing with him about it all summer long. If we said the word French, whether it had to do with school or not, he would fly into a tantrum. He said he hated french, he just wants to speak English, that french was bad, that he wouldn't do it. He would refuse to speak in class, and just play with toys all day.

So, we get him there...and he LOVES it! He comes home every day all excited about the new words he's learned. He learned rouge, and goes around the house pointing out everything rouge he sees. He thinks his teacher is fun, and pretty. She's very young and energetic. Now, whenever he sees a brunette with long hair, he says she looks like his teacher. It seems to be just the challenge he needed to keep him focused. His preschool used the K curriculum, so now, they're starting with the same unit pre-K started with - I Am Unique. We think he would have been bored if we'd gone with English school, and he may have been up to his usual antics. So far, he seems to be listening and connected. One day, leaving school, he actually thanked me for putting him into french school! He seems to be really proud of it - he tells strangers in the street that he does french school, and will teach them a few words if they seem suitably impressed. I know he was nervous about not being able to handle it, so I think he's really proud of himself that he's able to keep up. It's mostly in english for now, but every day, they learn more words and phrases. It really moves quite quickly. The teacher uses quite a bit of conversational french with them, that they're just expected to pick up naturally. Then they learn vocabulary on a more formal basis, from a puppet named Sluggy. Once sluggy teaches them the french, though, the english equivalent "goes on vacation" and can't be used in the classroom again. So far, he can say hello, goodbye, pencil, September, yellow, red and backpack, and can tell you if the weather is either hot or nice. We were sent home an assignment to help them do about their likes and dislikes, all in english. But the note to us was that they will be repeating the exercise completely in french at the end of the year. I think that's pretty impressive.

We've also got him into scouts. That was a whole other battle. Ugh. The registration night was this week, and we wanted him to actually be there for it. So he and I went down after dinner. But up until we left, he was determined to stand at the door, yell "hate it hate it hate it!" and run home. Mike won him over by reminding him that he could earn badges. he has a check mark rewards system in school - they get a check mark for doing nice things to help classmates or working extra hard on projects. He responds really well to the system - it's always his goal to get a check mark that day, and only missed one day. So we compared badges to getting check marks in school, and he was all over it. Then once we got there, he met some other boys being registered, and he was completely sold. I'm surprised so few people brought their kids, but he was able to have an entertaining conversation with a Cub about what Beavers was like for him, and he assured John that it's lots of fun. But he warned him that the badges aren't very easy to get. We may have simplified the badge earning process slightly, to get him interested. "If I'm nice to a plant and give it water, or if I do something nice for someone else, I'll get a badge!" John tells the Cub. "Well, good luck with that," he replied. "It wasn't like that when I was there. The requirements were pretty insane." But John was not put off. In fact he was so excited, he insisted on registering himself, and made me give him all his forms and cheques so he could deal with the volunteers directly.

So it's been a busy week, all around. Even Dave had a little excitement. I took him in for a check-up on Wednesday, and brought up his habit of attacking his food like some starving, rabid dog. He eats like a horse, but never gets fat. He Doc laughed at me, and said that's a good thing. So he weighed and measured him, and sure enough, he's a great size. He's above the 98th percentile for the weight to height ratio. He's 30 inches and 21 pounds, which are both perfectly fine. He said third kids are often like that, because they have to keep up with the pack. They tend to be stronger, more advanced and more active than what their older siblings were at that age, and as a result, they often have much faster metabolisms, because they burn through calories like crazy. So he said we're doing great - just keep stuffing him up, as much as he'll eat. He said he looks beautiful and very healthy, and can't see anything to suggest anything is going wrong. He's always been very active. He's been climbing the stairs for months. And even with baby gateswe have to watch him - if he's in bare or socked feet, he can climb right over the gate! It's a game to him - he likes me to find him climbing, then have me chase him up. He's so close to walking. He can take a couple steps, but only if he has something to fall into. But it won't be long. Some scary days await.

Anyway, better go! it's getting late. Well, it's 10, but I'm beat, so it feels really late.

my birthday!

I usually like to ignore my birthdays, now that I'm quickly approaching middle age. But this one was really pretty funny, so I'm going to share.

Mike and I aren't big on birthdays, but John is. So Mike took him to the store to pick out gifts and a cake. He picked out a bouquet of sunflowers, which he's been marvelling over for weeks. I got a card, signed Mom + John. And then I got...a dinosoar cake. It's complete with two toy dinosoars, and an icing volcano, spewing red gel icing. How many 33-year-olds can boast a cake anywhere NEAR as awesome as that!? To top it off, he got a bulk bag of "giant candy sprinkles" - otherwise known as Mike and Ikes - something like jelly beans. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

My favourite part of the evening was watching each kid pretend to feed cake to their respective toy dinosoar. That and John dipping his finger in the volcano to show me it was safe to eat - "Look, Mom. It's not hot!"

visit from great grandma!

John taking his new bike for its first spin, with Great-Granda - it was her birthday present to him.

Off for a ride - they went out every day on the bike, learning the rules of the road.

Dave's first feel of sand. He looooved the beach! He was crawling all over, exploring away.

Helping John get suited up tot he water. He's still nervous in the water, so he swims with his life jacket on.

An awesome visit all around! The kids had a blast, and John really missed the daily bike rides with grandma after she left. She brought her poodle Mac, who was a huge hit with the kids. On her first day here,s he tookt eh kids out to walk him. John was so excited, because he got to hold the leash! "I've never walked a dog before!" he said in amazed wonderment. Having another adult around made things lots of fun for me, too. I was able to go do some shopping. We all took the kids to get new sandals. The kids picked their own - Joan of course picked out a pretty pink pair, which she refused to take off at bed time. She wound up sleeping in them. She even passed on a bath, because she didn't want to take them off for even a second.

I'm sure Mac - AKA Puppy - is happy to be far from all the groping hands around here. But the kids had a blast, and both are welcome back anytime!!!

a couple more random pics...

This is what I get when I let Joan eat chocolate pudding unattended.

Have I mentioned how happy David is now that his siblings are out of the picture? We thought he might feel sad and lonely. Nope. He smiles all the time, and giggles. He can play with toys without having them snatched from him. He can go about his day without getting smacked or sat on..or smeared with chocolate pudding. He is one happy camper.

Ah, the sad saga of John's very special glow-in-the-dark silly putty. It was a special grocery trip when he bought this - it was just him and me, together. No dad, no other kids. It was a happy evening for two, and he saw this stuff and just had to have it. So I said yes. He brought it home all excited to see it glow, only to discover it had to be charged. So what does he do? He puts in on a lit lightbulb, when no-one is looking. I was making dinner when I heard his horrified screams. Then I came in to see black smoke billowing from the lamp. We managed to get the lamp off and unplugged. Mike unscrewed the bulb, as John whimpered that he'd just wanted to make it charge faster. It was actually fine in the end - a little singed, but it still glowed. Unfortunately, it still met a sad end, because he had taken this glob of goo to bed with him. He awoke to silly putty ground in...everywhere. It was coating both cheeks, all through his hair, all over his PJ's. It was EVERYWHERE! We managed to get most of it out of his hair - I think when he left for Dryden there was still a tiny glob stuck right on top. The PJs were ruined. But he managed to peel enough off his face to make a tiny ball, which he made into a miniscule, glow-in-the-dark snail.

birthday pics!

the Wall-E cake! He was "soooo exciteded!"

A cement mixer transformer!

Busy unwrapping

more birthday pics!

Waiting for supper

having fun with a noisemaker - that made no noise. But he didn't seem to care.

What kid doesn't like hot dogs on his birthday.

I'm still working on the videos. They're hard to download from this camera. I don't know why. But now I have all this time! So stay tuned! We weren't going to do videos - Mike had requested not. But I couldn't resist, and they're really great. He did a thank-you message for each of his gifts. He really liked that part of his birthday - he asked for me to start filming at the end of each gift opening.

It was a fun birthday. Mike's grandma was there - we held off a couple days so she could. Vicki and Billy couldn't make it in the end, but he understood. They spoke on the phone, and he was alright with that. He was even OK with having it at home, even though he had really wanted a picnic on the beach. The only mistake we made was telling him that his party was going to be on a separate day from his party. BIG mistake. Sometimes, we assume he's so bright, he'll just get it. But he's still just a little guy, and sometimes things just don't make any sense to him. This was one of those times. We had told him on the Wednesday, that that was in factg his actual birthday, but we were going to celebrate the party on Sunday. He was ok with that, until the sun started going down. He had a royal freak-out, because he thought everyone had forgotten his party. So, we decided at the 11th hour to have...two parties. We told him he'd get two because he was so special - one for us, and one for everyone. So, we got hotdogs and all the stuff to make sundaes. We let him make his own sundae. Everything was great. That night, because his carpet was wet from steam-cleaning anyway, we moved his and Joan's beds down to the livingroom, and they were both allowed to stay up "all night" and watch TV. They had a blast. Joan didn't last long, but John, we figure, from what he claimed to have seen, was up to about 4:30 a.m. It made the next day a bit interesting, but he was happy. All was well, until the day of the party. Everything was great - we did cake, presents. He had fun. Then, he had a little time to digest it all...and he figured out that he must in fact be 6, because he had just had another birthday. No amount of rationalizing would convince him otherwise. He had two birthdays, therfore, he was 6. After much argueing, he was starting to get very tired, very mad and VERY confused. "I'm six!" he yells. "You're not six, John. We have TWO FIFTH BIRTHDAYS," says Mike, getting irritated. "Dad!" he says, voice quivering with half rage, half horror, "why did you make me two fives!" "I didn't make you two fives," said Mike. "You're not 55." Well, that was the end of all reason. From that point, John turned into a raving lunatic, because now he was convinced he was 55. Sigh.

It took me a long time to help him unwind from his moch midlife crisis. He finally fell asleep, which is really what he needed. The next day, he made me promise never to split his party from his birthday ever again. I think it will happen again - now we know not to actually TELL him about it.

We're both missing the kids - they're visiting grandparents now. Things are so quiet without them. We find Dave is a lot more needy now, without them to entertain him. But this is good for him - he's getting a little taste of single childhood, so he's getting showered with lots of attention, and is loving every second of that. I hope the others are having fun too. But we do miss them a lot. I'm not too blue to enjoy it, but I am looking forward to getting them back.

A little annoying news - we're completely carless. Grrrr. The van's clutch gave out one night on the way home from dropping Vicki off. It was still drivable, but hard to change gears, and probably doing damage to the transmission in the process. So off it went to the Vanagon Guru. We should have it back on Wednesday, if all goes well. So we've been booting around in the little car. In fact, we had to take the kids out to Sask in it. It was a tight squeeze, but it was better than the rediculous cost of renting a van. I had visions of it falling apart in the driveway as soon as we got it home, and it was almost like that. It made it home alright, but on the way home from getting groceries the very next day, it all started going wierd. The airbag light started flashing, the dash lights went all dim, the radio stopped working, the windows wouldn't work...and then it stalled. That could have just been me freaking out - it's hard to drive a standard if you're tense. But after the stall, it wouldn't start again. I was just heading into a busy intersection when I died, and I was alone with David. When I got out, a family driving by offered me their phone. Luckily, Mike was off work, so he came out in his work van to help me out. On his way to me, he saw a tow truck, and flagged him down. The tow truck driver was really nice. He said it was our alternator, so he hooked up his little booster pack, and followed us home. He had just gone off shift, and was on his way in to finish paperwork when Mike flagged him, so, seeing is it was easy - just a booster pack and a couple blocks of driving - he didn't charge us! But he made us promise to get CAA for our car. We have it on the van, but it makes sense to get it on both. I don't know why we didn't. It's not expensive, and pays for itself with just one call a year. Anyway, it's going in on Wednesday, for what looks like it's THIRD alternator. Or is it the fourth. Apparently a weak point in Nissans. So now we'll have two big car repair bills in a week, followed by a trip to Dryden. Ugh. Good thing Mike's been working extra hard lately!

Anyway, better go. I'll keep working on those videos - they're really cute.

a few random photos...

It's been a while since I've posted, bu I'm getting ready for our trip tomorrow, so don't really have time today either. So I'm just throwing up a couple random photos of the kids, for your amusement. Our computer has died, and the new one has Vista and is confusing, so our picture supply is in fractures all over the place. But I do have birthday photos ans videos and Greart Grandma visit photos and dinosoar park pictures, so I'll get them sorted and posted when we get back from dropping the kids off in Saskatchewan.

Mike took this one of Joan, lounging on the couch. She saw her neurologist yesterday, by the way. He's really impressed with her progress, but wants to do an EEG, to see if there's any electrical activity around the area of the stroke. If not, that's great - he says that area is very valuable, because it can be tought to take on the roles of the missing chunks. If there is activity, it can interfere with her development. If it gets bad, it can trigger seizures. He said usually, it's all quiet, but if she has some activity there, they'll just giver her a prescription to quiet it down, so that area can be better utilized.

John, sharing a cuddle with Dave. Their favourite game together is when John picks Dave up from under his arms, and "walks" him around the room. Dave loves it!

John, sharing a cuddle with Joan. He found her napping on the couch, and decided to snuggle in.

Dave at the beach! He loves the sand. So yummy!

Sorry so few today. But i will get more up there soon. In a few days I'll be down to one kid, and won't know what to do with myself - may as well get the blog updated! Just a few tidbits for the grandparents, who will be taking the kids for a couple weeks - if you give John green beans, he will split open the pods, and eat only the beans. Just to warn you, so you're not surprised. Also, he's in a big Wall-E phase, so if you don't want your newspaper crumpled into a little ball, you have to tell him so. Joan likes to help unload the dishwasher - it's her favourite job - she'll hand the dishes to you to be put away. So just be mindful of knives and such - I usually whip them out before she has a chance to get there. John also likes to help tidy up, but be forwarned, his idea of dusting is to twirl in the middle of the floor, to scare all the dust and germs to the next room. Not terribly effective, but it's nice that he wants to help. Anyway, better go!

just a quick note to let you see-our old house in Hamilton is back up for sale!!!!
the MLS number is:
H3017492

check it out - it's really stunning! Looks like he did everything he should have - including move the kitchen into the den. Not sure if he's going to make any money on it, but we're really glad we sold it to the right guy. That's EXACTLY what we wanted for that poor old place.

Lots to update, but no time today. I have pictures of John's graduation! It was bittersweet. We had explained who whole end of year thing to him, but when he asked why mrs engelman gave him all these presents (a memory book, with pictures from the year, and a story book) I made the mistake of reminding him that he was finished at pre-k, and will be starting in a new school in fall. I thought that was understood, but he spent a good chunk of the night sobbing, and has slept in our bed every night since. Mike thinks I was a big jerk for telling him, but I really thought he already understood!

All the kids have been sick - likely with swine flu. It matches all the symptoms, but they're almost over it - John is fine now. We got a note that it was confirmed in John's school, and he was the first to get it. We called public health, and they said just to treat it like a normal flu - lots of fluids, yadda yadda. Only bring them in if they have breathing problems - that's when they test to confirm. Dave had a bit of croup with it, but she told us we did the right thing - as soon as it started, I sat with him in the bathroom with the shower on hot until it settled down. They're all on the mend - it was pretty mild, whatever it was. Mike and I got a touch of it, too, but shook it off pretty easily.

I took John to register at his new school, in an effort to cheer him up. We chose french immersion after all. He likes the school, and I let him play on the playground for a while. There was another little boy out there, but he was heading into grade 1. I think it will all be fine. There's a city park program starting shortly in our area. We did it last year - they play games and make crafts. John really enjoyed it last time, and it'll give him a chance to play with kids his own age. A lot of the parents at John's school swapped numbers at the end of the year, but they all knew we moved to the south, which is too far to drive for a playdate. But I'm sure between the summer programs, school and beavers, he'll have a group of local kids to play with soon.

anyway, I have way too much work to do! I'll update for real soon. But anyone who saw or lived in our old house, look it up on mls.ca - you'll be shocked!

banff trip

Dad and Joan at Peyto Lake

Joan, overlooking Banff

Lunch in Chez Vanagon on the trip home

John, being John, while guarding food from the squirrels

Dad setting up camp and building the fire, and John, taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him.

Just can't get enough? Here's a link to the complete album. Warning - some are duds - it's all the pictures we took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoandave/BanffKeepers?authkey=Gv1sRgCPavvaX0uIDIFA&feat=directlink

So, there's our trip on pictures. We saw Peyto Lake, Mistaya Canyon, and then we went on a gondola ride. These are just the views from Mike and I. I haven't downloaded John's camera yet. I'm sure he's got some gems in there. And then there's the return trip - I was a little shakey after the gondola trip, and you have to hop out kind of fast, before it zooms up the mountain again, and I was carrying two kids out, all resulting in me forgetting my purse on the ride. So, we had to head back a couple days later to pick it up. We took Vicki and Billy that time, and went up again. We have pictures from that, too.

The kids seemed to really enjoy the trip. John had been asking to go camping for a while. He was pretending to do campouts in the living room, and was dressing up in what he thought a Scout might wear - complete with Thomas baseball cap and backpack filled with a water bottle, blankie pink, and spare batteries. (I don't think he'll ever leave home without batteries ever again. We took Vicki and Billy for a drive to the mountains a while back, and the batteries in their camera died while trying to take picture of deer. "I have batteries!" pipes in John. No-one paid him any mind, until he reached into his coat pocket, and out came a handfull of frech batteries. He was so proud to have saved the day! Turns out, he's always got little stashes of stuff with him all the time, including batteries - just in case, assorted pet rocks in case he's lonely, and little boxes of raisins, in case he gets hungry. We told him he'll be an excellent Scout, and he's adopted that into his persona. He kept saluting us during our camping trip, like he was some sort of soldier.)

It was a pretty fun trip. Very crowded with tourists - mostly from overseas. Lots of then stopped to talk and meet the kids. They loved the red hair. We had a couple from Holland in the campsite next to us. I know John has pictures of them. The man was named Jan, and didn't know too much english, but that didn't stop John, who led this poor guy all around, showing him every detail of our campsite and van.

Joan liked the hiking, but tired out quickly. She kept taking breaks, which meant laying spread eagle on the path, to the amusement of all the international tourists.

I think the only thing we'd change was the bedtime routine. We had brought glow sticks for the kids, to be like a nightlight so they wouldn't get scared, but they had never seen them before. So it was like "here's this awesome new toy, kids. Now go to sleep." Yeah. That worked out just great. The next hour were spent trying to shush sqeals of delight. John used his to make all the blankets glow. Joan used hers as a microphone, and sang into it with all her heart. In the end, they had to be confiscated.

We're thinking dinosoar provincial park next. Maybe it will be warmer at night than the mountains. I'd better get going. I've spent too much time on the computer, but I wanted to get those photos out. I'll post more soon.