How to Get Youself Known at the School Office

I had an embarrassing moment today, and when I told my sister about it she was laughing so hard she could barely talk to tell me that she was totally going to tell her friends about THIS.

Today I had to call the school to see if Jesse had made it to there okay.

Because I wasn't really sure.

That's what had her laughing at me.

But here's the whole story.

This morning I was extremely tired because I was up way too late talking on the phone to my sister (same one). Anyway, I slept in a little, but still had plenty of time to get the kids ready for school, until I got distracted talking to Scott about what Jordana and I had been talking about on the phone.

So. Then we were really running late, and it was pouring rain outside, and Scott was getting ready to go to Toronto, but said he would take the kids to the bus.

Jesse was the first one ready and headed out the door on his own.

Brett, who was complaining that he didn't feel well, (more about that later) was uncharacteristically lagging behind and left a couple of minutes after Jesse. He decided to go to the second bus stop because he knew he was late.

Scott and Samantha were the last ones to leave. Samantha ran ahead to make it to the first stop, but Scott followed Brett to the second one.

A few minutes later Scott came home and told me that when he got to the end of our road, before he followed Brett to the bus, he didn't see Jesse anywhere. He was pretty sure he got on the bus because, where else would he go at 7:50 AM, but he didn't actually see him. At all.

In typical Cassandra fashion, I started freaking out. Scott had to get his stuff ready to go for his trip, but suggested that I call the school to make sure Jesse was there. I told him I would do no such thing.

I had a church meeting to go to that morning, so I considered stopping in on my way to see for myself instead of calling. But my meeting wasn't starting for almost 2 hours, so I really couldn't wait that long to be sure.

SO.....

That is why I had to swallow my pride and call the school secretary to ask if our 5 year old kindergartner had made it to school safe and sound.

And he had.

Then, wouldn't you know it, a couple of hours later, the secretary called me back and asked me to come pick up Brett, who was sick in class.

Brett spent the rest of the day watching movies and resting in bed.

I spent the rest of the day checking on him every 15 minutes to take his temperature and see if he needed anymore chicken soup / apple juice / soda crackers / Advil / blankets.

And hoping not to get a phone call from Children's Aid.

Clara at 5 Months

Time for some pictures and an update on Clara.

When we went in for her 4 month check-up, she wasn't gaining enough weight and had dropped from under 75th percentile to under 25th percentile. I started feeding her more frequently during the day (since she sleeps so well at night) and also supplementing with bottles occasionally.

Two weeks later she had gained enough weight back to please the doctor and now, a month later, she is taking about 2-3 bottles a day. If things keep going this way, she will wean herself completely by the time she's 6 or 7 months old. That's a few months earlier than our other babies, but I think I'm actually okay with it.



Clara is one of the friendliest, happiest babies ever. She just grins and coos whenever anyone looks at her. She has started laughing too, which is SO cute.

She's starting to outgrow her swing. She likes playing on a blanket, and will grab for toys and try to hold on to them for as long as possible. She is really good at rolling over onto her tummy, and can support herself really well with her arms and look around. She's starting to get better at supporting her weight with her legs when we hold her up, but mostly she prefers to sit or be held up.

Sometimes she wakes up for an early morning feeding and I just love going to get her out of her cradle around 5:30 or 6:00. The house is quiet and dark and I can just cuddle her in the rocker and enjoy our one-on-one time together. I cannot get enough of her soft little hands and feet, her wonderful baby smell, her cheeks that are so kissable. I just soak it all in and try to cherish every minute of this precious age. Because I know all too well how fast it goes by and how much I will miss it in a few months.

Play On! Nationals Weekend

This past weekend we had our Play On! National Championships in Windsor.

After Family Day on Monday (we had a fun Primary Activity at church about Families Around the World), we were glad to get some of the kids back in school so we could get organized and ready for the big weekend.

Scott had the usual pre-event stuff to do, including a trip to Toronto all day Wednesday to pick up the jerseys, coats, and other supplies.

I packed for the four older kids to go to Pat & Bill's house. Then I packed for Scott, Clara & myself to go to Windsor. Finally, I packed all of the Master Scoreboard supplies and printing.

Scott left Thursday morning in the big Discount truck and I left Thursday afternoon with all the kids. We stopped in at the Hills to drop off Nathan with Nana and pick up Papa, who was taking the older kids to a Spitfire Game after taking Clara and me to the hotel.

The tournament started on Friday morning. We had 16 teams from across the country, including Vancouver, Halifax, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, and more.

I spent about 6 hours at the site before returning to the hotel with Clara because, did I mention that this event was outside? In February.

Yeah, it was really cold.

And even though I had Clara bundled with extra layers of clothes, 2 coats, snowpants and 3 blankets, her feet were still cold when I got her back to the hotel. I quickly put her in a nice warm bath, bundled her up again, cranked the heat, and put her down for a cozy nap in our hotel bed. Then I promptly fell asleep next to her. You know, to make sure she stayed nice and warm.

Saturday was the Playoffs, and we had CBC there covering the event as part of Hockey Day in Canada. Scott was interviewed by Scott Russell of CBC on national TV. The very end of the final game where the Redwood Cup was awarded to the winning team was also on CBC. We also had some local media coverage throughout the weekend.

You can read more details about the event here.

As it turned out, our other kids ended up joining me on Saturday morning. We decided to stay over one more night at the hotel as a family. Scott took the kids swimming, and we had take-out and watched movies and hung out.

We got home yesterday afternoon. Well, except for Scott, who had to do some more things in Windsor and will be back home sometime later today.

It was a really fun weekend, and I'm so proud of Scott for all the hard work he put into making it a huge success.

LASIK Eye Surgery

Well, I had the LASIK surgery and I'm here to tell about it, so you know I didn't go blind or anything.

The whole procedure was fast and painless, just as they said it would be, and my recovery was very easy too. Just lots of sleep the first day and then lots of eye drops for a while after that.

I'm still using some moisturizing eye drops now, as my eyes are quite dry without them. I guess that's a common side effect. I'm not sure if it eventually goes away, or if I'll be dry-eyed for the rest of my life, but either way it sure beats not having to put in contacts every morning.

The day went something like this:

I got to the clinic early on Friday morning. They did some more vision testing just to double check everything and gave me instructions for post-surgery care. Then I just waited to get called in for the surgery.

I think I was in the surgery room for about 10 minutes. It could have been 15. They used some drops to numb my eyes while I met and chatted with the surgeon (Dr. Bains) for a few minutes. Then they told me to lie down on the table and then proceeded to tape my left eye closed and prop my right eye open using a small tool.

Without going into too much gory detail, I will briefly explain what the surgery entails. First they make a thin flap in the cornea, and open it up (it's still attached to the surface of the eye at the top).

This first part is a little freaky because your vision goes completely black for a minute when your eye is still open. I was squeezing the stress balls the nurse gave me and was feeling grateful for the Ativan they had administered a few minutes earlier. But they do warn you ahead of time so you know it's coming.

Then they use the laser to change the shape of the corneal tissue underneath. This part is very loud. The weirdest part is that while they are lasering your eye, it starts to smell kind of bad (like you can actually smell the burning off of the corneal tissue).

The actual laser part takes about 1 minute or less per eye. Then they put the flap back down and secure it with a kind of clear contact for about 30 minutes.

After removing the contacts, they checked my eyes, gave me some really cool sunglasses to wear, and sent me home.

Scott was driving of course, but I went back the very next day and was cleared to drive myself. Twenty-four hours after surgery!

So that's it. After 18 years of needing glasses, I now have 20/20 vision, thanks to a surgery that was less painful than a trip to the dentist (and a husband who was good enough to pay for it).

I am so happy to be able to have the freedom to not wear glasses and contacts.

I love being able to open my eyes and see the clock in the morning (or middle of the night).

I love being able to nap in the middle of the day and not worry about my contacts getting wrinkled or dry or lost in the back of my head.

I love being able to fall asleep watching TV without worrying about my glasses getting broken or lost.

I love waking up and getting in the shower and being able to see what I'm doing when I shave my legs.

I love that I will be able to go swimming at the cottage this summer and not have to worry about my contacts floating away.

I could go on but I think you get the picture.