The toilet box has been converted into a playhouse. The boys are in it all the time!They've been turning off all the lights and playing their projector slideshows in there. See it on the wall of the box?
me - "Peek-a-boo AJ."AJ - "Mom. Go away. This is a secret clubhouse. No girls allowed."
Dex - "Yah... go-way mom! No geeyeez oud!"
Getting the new toilet last weekend at Home Depot.
Phone pic - so it's not so great, just like the ice-skating photos.
I can't remember Monday. All that I remember is that I started getting sick with a cold. My first cold in about 2 years. I've started to get many colds, but have managed to ward them all off and stop them before they turned into a full fledged cold. This one, I wasn't so lucky.
You know when you wear yourself out and it's a really busy time (like report card time), and as soon as it's all over, your body says, "Hey, she's starting to relax! Let's get her!"? Well, that's what's happened to me.
But there's this really weird part of me that's enjoyed it. The coziness of it. I let myself off the hook for going to the gym the rest of the week. I've been bundled up in a blanket on the couch much of the week at nighttime, and sipping on tea. Just thinking about it makes me smile. I guess I needed a cold just to slow down a little. Nice.
I've had lots of cleaning up to catch up on after Richard left for the lodge. This is not because Richard is messy, but rather that his presence makes me lazy. I'm super-mom when he's away, but when he comes home, I just want to sit around. I don't know if it's just knowing that the other parent is there to 'share the responsibility' even if I'm encouraging him to just sit on the couch, or if it's just wanting to share his company on the couch. Anyhow, my counters are a disaster.
Throw in a pretty busy week and being sick and whoa... it's like a tornado hit the place. And, I'm behind on my laundry. I hate that.
Tuesday
Jen took AJ and Makenna to preschool. I went to the gym for a short time and then ran some errands. I came home, had Jen drop off Emerson and Jaxon, and Jen went to the preschool to watch Makenna and AJ perform their Christmas songs.
Jen brought AJ and Makenna back home to me and then left to head to school to go help out with the Christmas concert. I stayed home with the 5 kids and had a near perfect day until there was a juice-spitting incident (courtesy of the Notorious Duo known as AJ and Makenna). "We promise we'll be careful with our drinks downstairs" = sticky hair, sticky clothes, and sticky floor. I went mildly irate for about 5 minutes, then it was back to an awesome day. I kept the kids all for dinner until their Auntie Allison came and got them around 6pm. It was a good day and left not much clean-up! I guess I cleaned up after them as they went.
Wednesday
Auntie Kim came the night before so I could head to work on Wednesday morning around 6:40am. I contemplated calling in sick the night before due to my achy body and eyes, but it's just so much more work and worry to call in a sub, I'm only there once a week, and it was my last day with my students before the break. Even though they're hormone-crazy-hyped-up-on-a-Christmas-high, I really wanted to see them. I knew that if I lazed around and stayed in bed all day, I'd just feel worse. So, instead, I just drugged up and headed to school. I'm glad I did, but I was drained by the end of the day. I had to set up for the first day back and stuff.
On the way home, I ran some errands and picked up my last of the Christmas gifts (Auntie Kim's), and then headed home. Kim was getting the kids into bed and then her and I shared some sushi as a nice little treat. Good times.
Thursday
Whoa! What a full but fun day.
Makenna came around 7:15am and Rya (Erica's daughter - because Erica was going to be helping out in Jack's kindergarten class) got dropped off around 8:30am.
We did preschool drop-off. I skipped the gym due to feeling sick, and instead ran a few errands with Dexy and Rya who thoroughly enjoyed their time together in the back seat and did not fight like brother and sister back there like they used to! The just laughed and laughed and laughed like AJ and Makenna do.
I brought them back for some Meet the Colours movie-time, and then we picked up AJ and Makenna from preschool, dropped off Makenna at daycare, and came back to the house.
Erica came close to lunch, stayed for a visit and when she left, she took AJ with her to Jack's school Christmas sing-song-party.
After Dexter's nap, Erica brought AJ back to me (thanks Erica!) and the boys and I headed for ice-skating! I've only taken them once before (back in the spring). AJ was a totally different person this time! It's like he came on the ice thinking he could already skate like a super-star. He got on the ice and just took off skating to the other side to go get one of the training bars! He played with that racing around for about 15 minutes and then just switched over to skating without the bar. He was turning in circles and everything! It was so fun to watch. He was loving it! He fell lots too, but was well padded from his snow suit, and eventually started falling on purpose just for fun!
Dexter
Dexter and his bob-skates, but one has fallen off.
AJ early on.
AJ after a few minutes.
AJ on the left and Dexter on the right, racing.
Dexter taking a break to watch for a bit.
AJ trying to go fast.
Dexter falling.
Dexter showing me how he skates without help. "I do it Mom! Go way!"
Dexter eating snow off of his mittens and AJ falling in the background.
Dexter eating snow off of his mittens.
He kept eating the snow off his mittens. Ewww.
Dexter wore his bob-skates this time. He had a blast too. He could skate (walk) on the ice unassisted, but much preferred to use the bar and have fun getting around faster.
This is what Dexter's bob-skates look like.
This is what I remember my bob-skates looking like when I was about Dexter's age. They had leather straps on them. I remember going on the ice after my dad's hockey games. He made me my very own miniature hockey stick made of a real hockey stick cut to my size.
I asked if I was allowed to not skate so that I could help them out and they gave me these cool spiky things to slip over my boots so I could walk on the ice. Because I chose not to skate and Dexter's still free (because he's still 2) and the boys have their own skates, the skating experience only cost $3.10 !! Very affordable fun!
It's much like a backyard or outdoor skate-rink. It's barely ever Zambonied (I just invented a word there!) and there's 'snow' all over it and everything. It's great for beginner skaters because it's not too slippery. The real ice rink was open only to lessons at that time.
We came home for dinner and then headed back out to drive around and look at special Christmas light displays at people's houses!
Followed by hot-chocolate and a sugar-rush that kept them up way too late!Friday (today)
Off to my gym (I had a sauna instead of working out) so the boys could attend the gym-daycare-Christmas Party. After the gym, we decided to take full advantage of the sunshine and dry pavement by going to the skatepark. The boys were given the choice between Mill Lake playground or the skatepark and it was a unanimous 'skatepark' vote. We headed home for warmer jackets, a potty-break, and mittens, then headed to the skatepark where I sipped my coffee and boys scootered around.
Dexter's just having his nap right now, AJ's having quiet room time, and I'm about to go empty the dishwasher before we take Toboo for a back-shaving. He's got some bad matting on his back. I think he cannot clean his back himself anymore. Sad. If that doesn't take too long, we may head to the skatepark again later.
Richard
He feels really crappy. The chemo drug ate away at the lining of his bladder causing a VERY constantly painful bladder infection so to speak. He says he gets about 30-45 minutes of a pain-free break in between having to deal with the pain again. He sounds exhausted just explaining the pain he has to endure.
Poor guy.
He's probably going to come home on Sunday to pick up some supplies. I anticipate him staying at the lodge right up until the 24th. We'll see how he feels and how his appointments go.
I'm hoping he has the energy to update his blog soon to give you more details of how he's coping.
We miss him lots.
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