Clara: Seven Months

Clara is seven months old now. She sits up really well, eats solids twice a day, and is starting to get mobile. She's not crawling yet, but she can move around to try to reach anything that looks interesting, and can get herself across the room doing this if she wants to.

She continues to charm the rest of us with her smiles and easy-going personality, and especially her contagious laugh.

She still sleeps in her cradle, which is unheard of for our other kids when they were this age, but she doesn't try to sit up or anything when she wakes up. She just lays there, smiling at the ceiling and blankets and sucking on her fingers until someone realizes she's awake.

Losing a Tooth is Really No Big Deal, According to Brett

Brett lost a tooth at school. He's lost teeth before - this was number four. Still, he didn't even tell me about it. In fact, he didn't even mention that it was loose.

I noticed the hole in his smile when he got home and said, "Brett, you lost another tooth?" (all excited)

He said, "Yeah, Mom. My teacher put it in an envelope for you."

I went in for a closer look and found two more loose teeth!

I remember when Samantha's teeth started to get the tiniest bit loose. She would give us multiple updates throughout the day on each tooth's progressive wiggly-ness. And if anyone tried to give her something hard to bite, like an apple, she would quickly remind us that there was no way she could eat that with her soon-to-be-missing teeth.

Brett seems to pay about as much attention to loosing his teeth as he would to watching wet paint dry on the walls.

At least he was a good sport about letting me take some pictures.

The Missing Cottage Cheese

I mentioned in my last post that Scott and I went out of town on Saturday night.

Well, about 8 minutes before it was time to pick up the babysitter, Samantha and I pulled into the driveway with a van loaded to the roof with groceries and stuff from our shopping trip to Costco and Superstore.

I quickly put the perishables in the fridge, and plopped all the non-perishables in the back room, still in the shopping bags, to unpack later.

While on the highway en route to the concert, I realized the two containers of cottage cheese we had purchased had never made it into the fridge.

I quickly called home and asked Samantha to please go to the back room, look through the unpacked bags, find the cottage cheese, and put it in the fridge.

I listened while she went downstairs, but after several minutes of searching, she said that none of the bags had the cottage cheese.

Scott suggested asking her to check the fridge, in case I lost my mind and had put them away without realizing it (which I had to admit was very likely).

She went up and checked. No cottage cheese.

I then asked her to get the keys, go outside and check the van to see if we forgot to bring one of the bags into the house.

A few minutes later she had found a grocery bag with the cottage cheese, which had been left forgotten in the van.

We hung up and went off to enjoy the concert.

Several hours later, when we returned home, the first thing we saw when we walked into the house was the grocery bag with the cottage cheese sitting on the floor.

Apparently, after all the trouble that went into finding it, Samantha forgot to actually put it inside the fridge. Go figure.

Easter Weekend

We celebrated a fun Easter weekend with friends and family.

Thursday I spent about 5 hours working on some Play On! stuff that I had told Scott I'd get done before the end of the week. Since it wasn't a school night, we went for a family walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

We stopped by a video store on the way home and rented Bolt. The kids thought it was pretty good, Scott went to bed partway through it, and I think I enjoyed it the most. It's a fun flick if you're looking for something to entertain the whole family.

Good Friday there was no school of course, and Scott took part of the day off. Our kids played outside with some neighbourhood friends during the day, and then later Samantha invited a friend from school to sleepover. They had fun setting up a "Spa" and invited Scott and me to come visit. They had scented lotion and body spray, back massages, fingernail and toenail painting (Scott opted out of that part) and some relaxing music and magazines.

On Saturday Scott left early in the morning for a huge building clean up he was in charge of at Church. He had over 90 people there and it was a huge success.

While Scott was working hard, the kids and I went out to Delaware for an Easter Egg Hunt with some friends. We ended up staying for lunch and the kids all played in the backyard since it was a beautiful day outside.




Saturday afternoon Samantha and I took on the crowds as we ventured out to Costco and Superstore for some groceries and and a fresh turkey for Easter dinner.

Saturday night we had a babysitter come watch the kids while we drove to Kitchener to see my friend Meaghan Smith in concert, opening for K.D. Lang.

(I managed to snap a couple of pictures before an usher came over to tell me that photos were strictly forbidden in this venue and that if I took one more she would be forced to confiscate my camera. So, it's kind of far away, but this is the best I could do...)


Sunday after church we had Easter dinner with Pat, Bill, Jeff, Lindsey & Tyler. I was so busy cooking, eating, and enjoying the day that I forgot to take a single picture.

Monday morning we went to the London Children's Museum with some friends. We came home and the kids played with friends before our Monday night BBQ. Scott did a great job with the steaks and salmon. We had some friends over along with Jeff & Lindsey again for a fun Family Home Evening.

Thanks to all of you who have called or emailed. We've been so busy these past few weeks that I sometimes forget it's been ages since I've been in touch or had a minute to post something on the blog.

We're still here... Doing fine... Just trying to figure out how to cram everything that has to get done every day into 24 meager hours. Usually we collapse from exhaustion at around 11:30 PM or so, even though we're only about 2/3 of the way down our "To Do" lists.

We still love you all and think of you often from under the piles of laundry and homework and Lego and diapers and hope that you're all doing well and that you had a wonderful Easter!

Their Future Wives Will Be Grateful One Day

I had Jesse and Brett with me for a quick trip to the mall yesterday.

While walking by Merle Norman just before heading home, I decided to pop in and get my upper lip waxed.

As this was the boys' first experience with cosmetology, they had a lot of questions for the lady working there (who was very nice and had a good sense of humour, fortunately).

What's that green slimy stuff you're putting on her face?

Is this a spa?

Are you going to put cucumbers on her eyes?

When it was time to pay, Brett piped up again:

It cost $8.40 just for that? That took like 2 seconds! If I worked here, I wouldn't charge that much.

Lady: Is that so? What would you charge?

Brett: (thinks for a second) I would charge $6.99.

Lady: Wow, that's pretty cheap.

Jesse: Well, if I worked here, I would charge $3000.

Clara Turns Six Months and the Baby Talk is Out of Control

Our baby girl is 6 months old!

This is probably my absolute favourite age for a baby to be. I just love love LOVE this stage of life. Still little enough to cuddle and rock but old enough to interact and make cute talking noises and laugh and smile and roll around. Love it!

If I had a wish today it would be for time to stand still right now so I could just sit for hours holding and cuddling and kissing this precious baby. I just can't get enough of her!

You'd think that with number five, I'd be past the googly-eyed mama stuff, but no.

Sometimes I make such a fool of myself gushing over Clara's cuteness that the older kids stare at me like I've lost my mind.

Like when my voice jumps up 3 octaves too high and I start calling her the most ridiculous names and kissing her cheeks over and over.

Yeah, it's pretty bad.

But tell me, what would you do if you were face to face with this precious bundle of cuteness all day?

Bath Pictures

Clara has always loved bath time. Here are some pictures from several weeks ago.

Update: The Rest of March Break

Back to school again. The kids have been pretty tired. Even Jesse, who usually jumps out of bed raring to go, had a really hard time this morning.

We had a busy week and an even busier weekend, so I think we're all exhausted from that.

Here's a summary of what we did from Wednesday to Sunday:

I spent a few hours at the church making favours and decorations for Tasha's shower with Adrienne and Alexis. The kids played in the gym.

We all visited the dentist. Not fun, but the worst part was paying the mondo bill at the end. I miss our dental coverage.

Scott put on a presentation to a group from the London Newcomers about the church and gave a tour of the building.

We took the kids to a fun new place called Kidscape. They all had a great time. Nathan was in heaven. We stayed until closing.

Brett and Nathan went to play at a friends house. Samantha and Jesse had 4 friends come play at our house. Samantha's one friend slept over and they were up until late watching movies and having fun.

Scott went to the Youth Temple Trip.

I took Samantha and Clara to another baby shower, for which I made 3 dozen quiche tarts. Lindsey watched the boys, since Scott was in Toronto.

While taking Brett to another play date, I noticed 2 Open Houses in the friend's neighbourhood, so I did a quick walk-through of both of them. Beautiful new homes, and we're starting to get ideas of what we want in a house, even though we're several months away from buying.

We went to a potluck end-of-spring-break party. There were about 7 families there. Lots of good food and socializing.

We put on a Teacher Training Luncheon for Primary workers on Sunday. We had a couple of teachers away that day, but ended up feeding about 16 people (plus a few kids). We did some training while they enjoyed a luncheon of various soups, salad and buns. I think it went well.

Pat & Bill surprised us with a visit on Sunday afternoon. We also had a missionary farewell to stop by at and then Scott, Jeff, & Bill went to a Stake-wide Bishoprics Meeting together.

All that, plus any other activities the kids could cram into the remaining hours: more bike riding, playing in the yard, Wii, lego building, games and more.

Jesse is getting really good at pitching the baseball to himself. He can throw it in the air, swing, and hit it across the yard. He rarely misses. He's so coordinated, that kid!

Scott is off to Toronto this afternoon and evening, and I've got a big RS Anniversary dinner tonight that I'll be dragging the kids to. (They are providing babysitting there, which is nice. Hopefully it won't go too late though.)

That's it for now. Gotta run shower while Nathan is distracted for a few minutes with his cars and a cartoon, otherwise I'll be in my pj's until naptime.

Update: March Break

March break is in full swing around here. The kids have been staying up a little later, sleeping in, eating pancakes at 10:30 in their pj's, and hopefully having a nice break from school.

The weather's been beautiful so far, so we've been able to visit a couple of parks and spend some time playing outside, riding bikes, and walking to the nearby school playground.

I don't know what happened with me, but I feel like I was totally unprepared for this week. I guess I was trying to be laid back about it and just do whatever we feel like doing instead of planning activities to fill up the days. I pictured spontaneous trips to the children's museum, parks (weather permitting), libraries, and having more time to do fun stuff at home.

Instead it's been a little chaotic, as I'm finding it difficult to juggle fun activities for the older kids around a toddler and baby's schedule. It seems like we change plans so many times in a day that neither myself or the kids knows what's happening next.

Tonight was fun though. Scott took Samantha out to the movies for a daddy-daughter date while I took the boys and Clara to the Jesse Davidson Park. It's great to have some one-on-one time and the kids alway look forward to their "Daddy" dates.

On an unrelated note, I've also been dealing with some crazy mood swings this week. One minute I'm so happy I'm getting teary-eyed over the littlest things, and the next minute I'm feeling irritable and grumpy and can't think of anything I want more than to crawl back into bed for a while. Hopefully this will pass before my poor family gets completely fed up with me (if they aren't already).

Tomorrow afternoon I'm getting together to make shower favours and decorations. Brett has a play day with a friend from his piano class. Jesse's going to the dentist. Our home teachers are coming over. I'm going out with a friend for dessert to celebrate her birthday. And Scott has a playoff hockey game later at night.

Oh, and Clara turns six months old.

(Maybe that has something to do with the mood swings...?)

Update: More Sickness

Clara was up most of the night last night - coughing and stuffed up. She just wouldn't settle and fall asleep. I held her and rocked her from about 12:45 AM - 3:30 AM. She would doze off for no more than a couple of minutes before she would cough and wake up and cry again. I finally gave up and brought her into bed with me.

She was still crying quite a bit, and I ended up holding her in bed (and dozing off in-between coughing fits) until 6:30 AM.

That's when I decided to put her back in her cradle (crying or not) so I could sleep for 30 minutes before waking up the kids to get ready for school.

Scott had spent the night in the family room with Jesse as he was still sick and in a lot of pain from his molars and fever. I think they got a little more sleep than previous nights, though. He did come up and offer to take a shift with Clara, but I told him to go back and stay with Jesse.

As Scott left to take the kids to the bus, he sent me back to bed. Then he came back kept an eye on Jesse and Nathan while trying to get a little work done in the office. Luckily, by that time Clara was exhausted we both slept for almost 3 (glorious) hours.

I called the doctor to see if we could get Jesse in today, and Scott was able to take him in this afternoon. He had a terrible ear infection on his right side, and she prescribed Biaxin for 10 days. (Jesse is allergic to penicillin).

Hopefully this will help him to finally get some rest and relief.

On a happier note, a couple of friends and I are busy planning a surprise shower for Tasha, who is expecting a baby girl in a few weeks. The girls came over yesterday to discuss themes, decorations, food, and favours. So fun!

Update: Daylight Savings Weekend

Scott took the three older kids to the Monster Truck Show at the JLC on Saturday. Samantha liked it, but Jesse thought it was too loud. Apparently he didn't handle the noise very well, even with ear plugs.

I was up until just after midnight on Saturday night trying to get caught up on Primary and other stuff. I was getting ready to head to bed when I realized that with Daylight Savings, it was actually about 1:15 AM. I changed the clock in our bedroom and set the alarm, as Scott had to be at the church for a 7:00 meeting.

I heard him get up and shower, but made the mistake of rolling back over for a few more minutes of sleep as he was leaving. Bad idea.

Needless to say, we were late for church. But as we were walking in at 9:47, I couldn't help but think that since it felt like 8:47 to us, and considering how much I slept in, that was actually pretty good.

We had the Bridge family over for Sunday dinner, along with Jeff & Lindsey. It was fun to get together and visit and enjoy the day.

Monday I went in to Jesse's school to help in the lunchroom. Nathan wasn't on his best behaviour, so I had to spend a lot of time giving him my attention. He has been very demanding since being sick last week. He's also picked up some bad habits, like wanting to have his soother and blanket all day long.

After school Samantha came home really grumpy. She had tons of make up work to do from being away so much last week and she was completely miserable.

After a couple of hours of attempting to do Social Studies and getting virtually nowhere, she was sent to her room. Scott went up a little while later and found her sleeping!

Honestly, I don't think Samantha has EVER gone to bed before 8:30 PM in her life. Maybe as a baby a few times, but even then she was more inclined to stay up late.

We had dinner and Family Home Evening without her and she slept all night for a total of 14 hours.

Jesse, on the other hand, barely slept at all last night as he was up for most of the night with terrible earaches. His mouth was bothering him this morning, and he seems to be cutting his 6 year molars.

We just had lunch and Jesse's resting on the couch with his blanket watching a movie now. I just gave him some Advil, so hopefully he'll be okay for a bit while I shower and give Clara a bath.

Scott went back into court today, as he was summoned for jury duty in an eight victim murder trial that took place outside of London. The judge excused him though, as the trial is expected to last several months, during which he wouldn't be able to run his business.

Although he knew it would be near impossible for him to be on the jury for the next few months, he was still a bit disappointed, as he thought it would be a great experience.

Uncle Arden passed away on Friday and the Funeral is tomorrow. My grandpa is now the only sibling alive in his family of seven children. I can't imagine how hard that would be.

Update: The Neverending Sickness

Clara's eye has improved, although it is still kind of goopy.

Brett is back at school today for the first time since Friday (when I had to go pick him up).

Samantha is still sick, although I think the worst may be behind her now. She hasn't vomited since Monday.

Nathan was fine until about 15 minutes ago, when I got him out of his crib, and noticed he too has a brutal fever.

Actually, my first clue was the fact that he was in his crib until 10:45 this morning. I had been up there a few times to see if he was ready to get out, and he wasn't even sitting up. Usually if he's left for too long after he's awake he starts jumping up and down and yelling, "Get out!"

Jesse, Scott and I have been fine so far. Hopefully it's because our immune systems are strong enough to boycott this bug.

Okay, gotta run. Nathan's aksing for a sippy-cup refill and Clara's trying to latch onto my arm while I type.

Update: Getting Sick

Yesterday I stayed home from church with Brett, as he had been throwing up on Saturday night. We had gone over to a friends house for pizza & wings night, and our poor baby-sitter had to clean it all up.

Today he and Samantha are home from school with fevers and Clara woke up with an eye infection. When I got her out of her cradle this morning she looked like this:


Her eye was crusted shut. You think she would have been sad about it but instead she was as happy as ever and smiling at everyone.

She also has had a decrease in her appetite since Saturday, which worries me a little. But I think it might be that she's just not been feeling well. Yesterday she only had about 4 solid feedings.

Today was the deadline for RSP contributions, so I had to go the bank to set that up. Talk about leaving it to the last minute.

I really hope things start to settle down a bit around here because I'm pretty sure I'm reaching my limit.

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.

6 Uninteresting Things About Me

Thanks, Jordana, for tagging me. That was a (not so) subtle way to get me to post an update. I'm sick of looking at those pretzel hugs too, although they were quite tasty.

My 6 uninteresting facts:

1. I love Excel Spreadsheets. As soon as I think of a new project, task, schedule, chart, anything, I race to my laptop to create a spreadsheet for it. I think I'm addicted.

2. Up until about 4 weeks ago, I had never seen the show, The Office. Scott and I started renting it after Christmas and now we're on Season Three. How long is Jim going to be working at the Stamford Branch? (Don't answer that - I hate spoilers)

3. I used to have straight blond hair, but it has become increasingly dark and wavy over the years (having children really helped with that). I usually get highlights to keep a little blond in it, but if you look at my roots - which are way too long at the moment - they are dark brown. I now have to use a flat iron or round brush to get my hair to go straight and smooth.

4. I played classical guitar for five years (all through high school). I was in two guitar Ensembles and we travelled to Boston, Chicago, Montreal, and New York City to compete in International Music Festivals. I still have my guitar, but haven't picked it up in nearly 8 years.

5. I have my own Webkinz. He is a Buffalo named Barnwell, and was a Christmas gift to me from Samantha. I don't spend a lot of time in Webkinz World, but I do have an outdoor strawberry garden and I like to send my kids virtual gifts through Kinz Post, especially secret recipe creations.

6. I am currently in the middle of updating 28 Appendices for our Play On! Operations Manual for 2009. I need to get them done today and I am on number 16.

Okay, I will tag Lindsey, Shelley, Cheryl, Diane, Robyn, and anyone else who feels like posting unspectacular things about themselves. Go for it! I promise to come read them all.

Update: Jesse Humour

We're all sick with colds here (or have been in the last week). Nathan and Clara have it the worst.

Jesse started it all. He missed two days of school last week. He only had school on Tuesday and Thursday, so essentially he had the week off. Since then it's just been passed around to the rest of the family.

I'm taking Clara into the doctor today for her 4 month checkup. I doubt they'll give her any shots, given that she's sick. She had a really bad diaper rash last week that was so raw it was almost bleeding. It's better now, but still not gone.

We saw Pat & Bill last week when had them over for lunch on Wednesday after Pat's doctor appointment. They also came in on Saturday to have dinner with us at Jeff & Lindsey's as Lindsey's parents were here for the weekend. That was fun.

This morning Jesse said that he thinks Clara is going to be a cowgirl when she grows up. I asked him why he thought that and he said, "Because, Mom, look at her! She's swinging her arm around just like a cowgirl."

Update: LASIK is Booked

It's amazing how a week goes by without a post, and I don't even feel it. Just a blink and the week is gone.

And then I see Scott checking the blog and I realize that I haven't updated in a while.

Quick summary of events:

LASIK appointment was great - not only am I a good candidate, but the surgery is booked for February 6!

Pat & Bill got back from their trip to California with the Stewarts. Scott picked them up from Toronto on Sunday night and they stayed the night here.

Two birthday parties for Brett, Jeff & Lindsey over for dinner, Ward Conference, Sharing Time, and homework / projects pretty much sums up the rest of the weekend.

Today Jesse is home sick from school. I hate keeping him home when he's obviously well enough to move around / play / do stuff, but he has a really bad cough and is sneezing and blowing his nose non-stop. With his school schedule, it looks like he's only going to go one day this week (Thursday).

I wish I had something more exciting to write about today, but the reality is I'm up to my ears in laundry to fold, I just got Nathan down for a nap, Clara will be awake and hungry any minute now, and I have to run to Loblaws before Samantha & Brett get off the bus or we'll be having leftovers for dinner.

Update: Nathan Turns Two

Nathan turned 2 on Sunday. We had Jeff & Lindsey over and another family we've become friends with recently. We wanted to keep it simple, so we did walking tacos and Oreo ice cream cake.

Nathan had a fun day, although I don't think he knew it was his birthday. But he loved the extra attention and excitement.

He surprised me when he tried grabbing the flames on his birthday candles. None of our other kids have ever done that, and he just kept trying, even after I told him they were hot.

And I think he enjoyed having his friend Jacob over to play. Mike & Shannon have three girls, and Samantha just adores playing with them, so it was really fun for her too.

Nathan all of a sudden seems bigger. I'm not sure if I just noticed it because he had his birthday, or if he's really doing more things these days. One thing I'm sure of is that we somehow bonded over the weekend and he's been more clingy to me lately. Always wants to play together and be doing whatever I'm doing. It's so cute, especially coming from such a die-hard Daddy's boy.

I spent a good part of the day today entering in receipts for business expenses. Took a while, but it's nice to get it checked off the never-ending To Do list.

I also spent about 2 hours with Jesse, then Brett, and Samantha doing some much-needed one on one piano practicing. It's been so long since they've had lessons and really didn't play much at all over the break, except for their Christmas songs.

Samantha really likes her new teacher, but she seems to give a fair bit more homework than her old one, so that's keeping her busy.

The kids and I have been reading the chapter books they got for Christmas every night at bedtime. I read to the boys together (hockey and Pokemon books) and then Samantha afterwards. Right now she and I are reading Inkheart and I really like it. Tonight I was tempted to read ahead just to find out what happens next, but I didn't.

Tomorrow I go in for my appointment with LASIK. I'm a little nervous, but very excited too. If I'm a good candidate, we can book a date for the surgery. Hopefully all will go well.

Update: Nathan' Soother

We had Pat & Bill here for dinner tonight, along with Jeff, Lindsey & Tyler. Lots of yummy food - it was a joint effort and turned out wonderfully - and it was really fun to visit and see everyone and hang out together talking and playing games.

Pat & Bill fly to California tomorrow to vacation at Disneyland with the Stewarts for a week! Scott's driving them to Toronto early tomorrow morning.

Nathan did the cutest thing last night. He was upstairs with Scott and I before bed (in our room) and Scott took his soother and put it in his own mouth for a tease. Nathan was trying to think of how to get it back without asking for it. He decided to start offering Scott things in return for his soother. It went something like this...

Nathan: Walk?

Scott shakes his head no.

Nathan: Book?

Scott shakes his head no.

Nathan: Cereal?

Scott shakes his head no.

Nathan was then stumped as to what else he could possibly offer. By this time we were so gaga over how cute this was that I think Scott just gave it to him, but I can't really remember.

I love watching his personality come out a little more every day. He is definitely a peace maker, and loves his siblings so much. He's always saying sweet and thoughtful things like "Whoops... sorry!" and "You okay?" He loves it when everyone is happy and laughing and always joins in on the laughter even if he doesn't "get it". He is very sensitive and perceptive to the general mood and atmosphere around him. He is truly a special boy.

I cannot believe he only has one more day to be ONE! I can't think about it too hard without getting emotional, so I'm just ignoring it for now.

A Boy After My Own Heart

Brett did something so cute yesterday.

He got super excited about something I bought at Costco.

It was in a box on the kitchen floor, and as soon as he ran over to get a better look he said, "You bought that?! That's awesome! I love those! Good job, Mom!"

Guess what it was.

Brand new Ziplock containers.

Yes, a box of 22 count Twist'n Locs and Snap'n Seals made Brett very happy yesterday.

Do you see why I love this boy?

Scott's Car Accident

So tonight was quite stressful. I'm pretty tired, so without going into a lot of detail, here's what happened.

At about 5:30 PM, Scott went to pick up Samantha & Jesse, who had been having a play day. These friends live on a very steep road, which is currently covered almost completely in ice.

Scott got about 3/4 of the way up the hill, when the Magnum fishtailed, lost control, and slid backwards into a snow bank and a telephone box (I'm not exactly sure what these are called, but picture a metal box with cables inside).

He couldn't back out because of the box, and he couldn't go forward because he was stuck in 2-3 feet of snow and ice going uphill. He called me to come pick up the kids and take them home, then called our Roadside Assistance.

When the tow truck arrived, they called the police (because of the damage to the box) and then tried, unsuccessfully to get the Magnum out. Finally, with the help of Jeff, who arrived with his Jeep (4 x 4) about 45 minutes after the tow truck, they were able to get Scott out.

The police weren't done with Scott though, and were threatening to charge him with reckless driving and fine him for not having valid plates and insurance.

First of all, they were upset that the call came from the tow truck, and not Scott himself, and were really mad that he damaged the box thing.

Second, our plates expired last week, and we've had the renewals on the side of our fridge for weeks, but hadn't gotten around to renewing them yet.

Third, when Scott made the call to Roadside Assistance from inside the van (when I was picking up the kids) he had left all of the documents from the Magnum on the front seat of the van, which was at home, so he couldn't produce them for the officer at the scene.

The officer followed him home, where he produced the insurance documents and explained the situation regarding the ice and the slipping, etc. and finally the police decided not to charge or fine him after all.

By the time the officer left our house it was after 9:00 PM. I had long since missed Ward Council and the kids were still a bit worked up about everything (getting stuck, Dad being gone so long, the police coming over) so they were having a hard time getting to sleep.

Anyway, it's all over now, and I'm so thankful everything worked out fine. The only thing damaged is our rear bumper, and I guess we'll have to take a look in the morning to see if it's worth filing an insurance claim.

Yesterday we got shocked back into real life, starting with getting up at 6:00 AM for early church. Scott's meetings start at 7:00 AM now, and I had to get up equally as early to get myself and all the kids to the chapel in time for Sacrament Meeting, which starts at 9:30. Luckily, I was able to set up the Primary Room on Saturday when we were at the church all day for the Floor Hockey Tournament.

I was also doing Sharing Time, and trying to make sure everything was organized for the new Primary teachers and classes, etc. But I have to say that everything went really well. We got to church 15 minutes early, everyone was dressed, hair was done, faces washed, and we were even in good moods with no fighting or yelling in the process.

After church we headed straight down to Kingsville for a visit with Pat & Bill. It was good to see them and we had a nice (but too short) visit. Scott & I popped over to visit Grandma Paton, who is in a nursing home in Kingsville. This was our first time visiting her there, and it was hard for both of us to see her. She's regressed a fair bit since moving in there, and is so unhappy, but knows there's nothing she can do about it. She says she can't do anything anymore - she has a hard time seeing (ever since the cataract surgery), can't hear, can't read and write anymore. Anyway, I was glad we got to visit her, even though I left feeling very sad.

Today the kids started school again, and it was back to full time work for Scott and busy days and routines for the rest of us. The kids grumbled a bit when they had to come home and do homework and piano and grumbled a whole lot when they had to get out of bed this morning, but overall I'd say it went okay.

We have zero groceries in the house right now, and I was intending to get out today but it didn't work out, so I'll have to go tomorrow. As a result of being short on time and groceries, I did the unthinkable and served my family beans and wieners for dinner. I wasn't sure what to expect from them, since this was their first time having this particular cuisine. But as it turned out...

The kids loved it. They sat there, all four of them at the table, with their bowls in front of them, a little shredded cheese sprinkled on top, eating happily and saying how fantastic this dinner tasted.

And I was forced to admit that Scott was right - again.

(A little background...)

Three days ago I was complaining to Scott about how our kids are too picky for my liking. This was right after a meal of baked spiced salmon, vegetable-herb rice pilaf and cooked carrots, which the boys ate begrudgingly, Nathan mostly played with, and Samantha missed because she was (very happily) eating over at a friends' house that day.

And Scott's response to my griping was that, well, they're KIDS. They like mac 'n cheese, chicken fingers, and Ramen noodles. They don't get excited about stuffed mushrooms or mango-red pepper salsa, but give them some peanut butter and jelly and they're all good.

Sometimes I hate it when Scott's right.

I woke up today feeling sickness coming on. Hopefully it will be short-lived.

The kids and I did some much needed tidying and cleaning. I'm going to try to do some organizing this afternoon / evening if I can get Nathan and Clara occupied for a bit while the others are out. (Scott's planning to take them to play hockey at the church when he gets back from his meeting.)

We've had a couple of New Year's Eve invites, but have decided to stay home and hang out with the kids. Maybe rent a few movies, eat junk food, stay up late. I remember doing this with my family growing up. More fun for the kids than getting a baby-sitter.

Last year Scott and I went to a party at our friends house while Mona baby-sat on New Year's Eve. Feels like just yesterday and yet it's been a whole year since then. Hard to believe.

This holiday is just flying by... Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were pretty much extensions of Christmas Day. We stayed home and relaxed, built Lego, talked to family on the phone, played with new toys and games, and ate leftover Christmas dinner and homemade turkey soup.

On Friday Samantha spent the day with her friend (Samantha) and ended up sleeping over! This is a huge deal because she's only had "sleepovers" at family (like Pat & Bill's) or when we've gone away and left all the kids with friends or something. She's had friends sleep over here, but that's different obviously. Anyway, she had fun and got to go see her friend play Ringette on Saturday morning.

We've also enjoyed our family movie nights (High School Musical 1 and 2 have been big hits).

On Saturday I spent a few hours working on Primary Stuff, including finishing putting together our teaching binders for the New Year.

Nathan has still been pretty sick. Yesterday Scott and I traded off at church (he went to Sacrament, I went to Primary with the kids) so that Nathan could stay home.

Clara started sucking her thumb yesterday. She's done it before, but mostly just by luck, as she's not very good at getting it in her mouth when she wants to. Yesterday she was able to suck it for over an hour and she was so happy! As much as I dread having another kid to break of the thumb-sucking habit in a few years, I can't help but think how CUTE it is at this age!

And I think that part of the reason she is such a good sleeper is because she sucks on her hands and fingers in her cradle. In fact, this morning she woke up extra early (considering she didn't sleep until 12:30 last night) and I noticed that her sleepers were covering up her hands.

Anyway, I hear another child or two rolling out of bed (it's almost 10:00 AM) so I better go and get this day started before it's over and we're all still in our pajamas.

It's hard to believe another Christmas Day has come and gone.

And what a wonderful day we had here. The kids slept in today, so we didn't go down to see what Santa brought until about 8 AM. Nathan had been up during the night (still sick) so he and Scott were quite tired!

After Santa gifts we took a break so the big kids could adopt their new Webkinz, open Pokemon cards, and just have some fun while Scott took a quick nap.

Then we opened up the presents under the tree. We all got spoiled this year, especially the kids and me. Some highlights:

New bikes! Scott picked them out - they're awesome. Oh, and 3 new hockey sticks too.

Books, books, and more books. I got a new John Grisham and Dean Koontz which I'm excited about, along with some parenting books (one by Stephen Covey). Samantha got the entire Geronimo Stilton series (her favourite) and even Nathan got really excited about his new Panda Bear book. There are more, many more, but too many to list. I'll just say that we will definitely need a new bookshelf for all the new books around here.

Toys... lego, baseball mitt, bakugan, and a ride-on toy (for Nathan). Games.. lots of good ones, can't wait to try them all out!

Samantha surprised me with my very own Webkinz (a buffalo) - how cute is that? I'm planning to adopt him tomorrow as soon as I come up with a name. Right now I like Woody or Benji or Raymond. Any other ideas? (Leave me a comment)

I got a whole bunch of kitchen appliances: toaster, griddler, wok, food saver (sealer). This is funny... Scott and I got each other the same gift - a scale.

Some of Scott's gifts were ties, an electric razor, and lululemon pants.

The best present was to me from Scott. An appointment with LASIK! How cool is that? Definitely one of the most thoughtful and creative gifts ever. I need to go to the consultation before I get ahead of myself, but if all goes well, I may just be able to give up my contacts and glasses. That will be a dream come true for me!

Oh, and if that all wasn't enough, Scott scored with the VISA points this year. We always use up all of our VISA and Air Miles rewards to get Christmas gifts. I thought my Kitchen Aid Mixer topped everything (that was about 3 years ago now), but this year's VISA gift was pretty awesome... a Wii! And somehow Scott managed to get his hands on a Wii Fit, which is supposedly one of the most elusive gifts of the season this year. I don't know how he does it...

Nana and Papa arrived around noon with Grandma Paton. We had a great time with them, and it was so good to see them (it's been a little while).

We also talked on the phone to Mona, Jordana, Karri, Kim, Jeff, & Mark (all briefly). I called Sami, but got his voicemail. We didn't get to talk to my parents either, but hopefully tomorrow.

We had our big turkey dinner around 4:00 PM. Dinner was great, but the best part was that Scott ate everything (even the turkey, buns, and mashed potatoes) without any trouble swallowing. I can't remember the last time he had a meal like this with no trouble. I am SO happy about that.

The kids spent the rest of the day playing with their new stuff and hanging out. We watched the new Indiana Jones movie with the kids before bed tonight. I hope it wasn't too scary for them, as it was their first time watching a PG movie.

I was sad that Jesse and Nathan were still sick though. They were feeling better on and off, but by bedtime tonight Nathan was so hot his skin was just burning. He wouldn't take any Advil. He was congested too, so he couldn't have his soother. Scott gave him a blessing. He and Jesse both were so good and happy today, but I just felt so bad for them to be sick on Christmas.

There's so much more, I could go on and on, but it's late and I'm tired. This was a very memorable Christmas for me in lots of ways. First Christmas with five kids (I don't know why, but that was a big deal for me). We had a good experience with service (I'll post the family letter tomorrow). Again, there's more, but I hear Nathan now, so I need to sign off.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve and I'm ready for bed. We had a great day though, so I wanted to write a quick note.

I managed to accomplish about 95% of my To Do List, thanks to Scott. He tackled the laundry and the bathrooms. The sweet potatoes are baked but not made, but I'm not stressing about it or anything else. The house is clean, presents are wrapped, and tomorrow is going to be wonderful.

Jesse and Nathan were feeling a bit better tonight so we ventured out to the Christmas Eve Party at the Reeve's. Puddicombes and Bridges were there too. Decorated cookies for Santa, had our traditional loaded nacho buffet, Santa visited with gifts for all. I made the usual - cocktail meatballs. It was lots of fun for everyone. We have wonderful friends!

Kids went straight to bed tonight after opening their Christmas pajamas and hanging their stockings. Oh, and the Samhuri Christmas tradition... "The Little Match Girl" was read by Scott this year.

The living room is full. Santa's been good to us this year. I can't wait for the kids to wake up - it's just so exciting!

Last night as I was going to bed at 12:45, I noticed that Nathan was awake in his crib. I thought he must have lost his soother, so I went in to tuck him back down, when I noticed his body was burning hot. I took him downstairs to the kitchen and he started asking for water over and over. He had a temperature of 102.2, so I gave him some Advil and put him to sleep in our room so we could keep our eye on him a little more through the night.

He was a little better today, but still had a fever and did didn't eat much.

Jesse woke up sick with a fever as well, and spent the day on the couch and in bed. He took a nap, too. He said his mouth hurt, and all he ate all day was some chicken soup and an orange.

Hopefully they'll be better tomorrow so we don't have to cancel our Christmas Eve plans, and so that they're not sick on Christmas!

As for the rest of the family... Scott took Oscar to the doctor to check how his wound was healing. Everything looks great!

Samantha had her friends Tijana and Anastasia (sisters) over to play. Really nice girls and I think they had fun together.

I came down this morning to find Brett had taken all the presents out from under the tree and sorted them into piles according to who they're for. Scott and I just shook our heads and laughed because this is such a typical Brett thing to do!

Our home teachers came by tonight, and after they left I ventured out with Clara in the terribly stormy winter weather to get a couple of groceries. It was quite busy at the store, the roads were treacherous, and we ended up getting home just before 11:00 PM. I watched an episode of House while making some treats for tomorrow night. Just one less thing to do tomorrow. Speaking of which...

Here's my To Do List for Christmas Eve Day:

Package the rest of the treats for our friends
Make the sweet potatoes and butter tarts for Christmas dinner
Wrap Pat & Bills gift
Make meatballs and a huge bowl of icing for our Christmas Eve party
Tidy the house
Catch up on some laundry
Do a quick vacuum and spot mop on the main floor
Clean the bathrooms
Get everyone ready to go so we can get loaded up by 3:30 PM
If we have time, make some cookies for Santa... if not I have a bag of Oreos hiding downstairs as a backup plan

I guess it's technically Christmas Eve Day already. I really need to stop staying up so late. It is nice to sleep in a bit during the Holidays though. Today I didn't get up until 8:15 (other than to feed Clara around 6:00, but she went back to sleep right away).