10 Years

I slept through the actual event though dreamed of it. I woke up to horror in the real world. It played out like a movie, but CNN doesn't play movies. I went to my sister's house where my poor newly 4 yr old nephew thought it was his fault because it was his birthday (it took several years to have a happy birthday again). We watched in disbelief of what was unfolding in front of us.

Even here in Canada, all government buildings were evacuated just in case the next plane came here. My then-fiance worked as a janitor in one of those buildings and his boss would not let them leave. Threatened to fire them if they did. I was livid. Thankfully he made it home safely unlike so many others.

This morning I watched the "live" footage of that day with Brianna. It was like seeing a movie I've seen before with someone who's never seen it. Through her questions and comments, all I could say was "keep watching". I watched in as much awe and silence as I did 10 years ago.

In my thoughts are the people who lost their lives that day and the many since who have lost their lives fighting in the subsequent war.

Brianna's first lemonade stand

Brianna spent the morning planning. She made up a big sign, a grocery list, a price, ect.... She went grocery shopping with Grandma and got set up. Her cousin came over and offered to stay and keep her company

She made back the money she spent on supplies and even made a profit! We've still got more than 1/2 a bag of ice, 2 cans lemonade and a lemon left so next weekend's business will require even less start up. Brianna's beyond thrilled!!!

Brianna's 9th Birthday!!!

Today my oldest girl turns 9. Here are some of my favorite pictures of her *Note: There's a few years missing where we lost our entire harddrive. Also, pardon the pics of pics*

Bunk Beds!

Brianna had a dream come true this weekend. She finally got the bunk beds she's been begging me for! And she had no clue. We tore apart the girls' room, Brianna saw her bed taken apart and her mattress in the hallway and wondered what was going on. We told her she can sleep on the floor. I think she thought we were serious! While bringing the pieces of the bed in from the car and putting it together we put her in charge of keeping Olivia occupied with a movie, to make sure *Olivia* didn't come upstairs. Because we made it sound like she was doing us a favour instead of trying to keep *her* from upstairs, she was happy to do it and never once came upstairs. Once we were done putting it together I called downstairs (in my normal "mommy's asking you to do a boring chore" voice) to come up and make her bed. I sat, prepared with the camera!

First sight of the bunk bed

So excited!!!

Pretending to sleep

Daddy and Olivia checking out her new bed

Best shot of the new bed with how small the room is

First sleep

Olivia only takes up 1/10th of the bed lol

Humidity Relief

No, not a break in the weather. It hit 37C (98F) here today with the humidex (heat index I think in the US). Ewwwwwww. However, I had a light bulb moment and suddenly remembered my brother-in-law giving us a kiddie pool a couple years back. I had tried to refuse it, saying we had a perfectly good one, but he insisted since we may need it later. Well sure enough, last year our pool got a hole in it and it hit the trash. We found a similar one, but with Lee laid off, $40 is a little out of budget. I swear the kids wanted to kiss Uncle Steph's feet this afternoon LOL

Brianna wouldn't even wait for the pool to fill up!

Once she got over the initial shock of "this aint my bath!" Olivia looooved it!

Apparently "swimming" for 20 minutes is very tiring

Triathlon

I introduced the idea of the triathlon to Brianna today. She seems interested. She's quite out of shape though. We walked the bike route (3km or 1.86m) at around a 3.8mph pace and she was out of breath a lot. We have lots of work to do! She's excited that she'll get a medal though (any child who competes gets one).

So right now, we'll stick to walking. I hope to have nice enough weather to do the routes 3-4 times a week. This will also be good for my exercise and I'll be tracking our times here. For the next 4 months, this will count for Brianna's Phys. Ed. class.

Today we did the bike route (3km or 1.86m) in 31m 48s.

30 Day Challenge

Something you couldn't imagine ever living without (April 14th)

 

 My rotten kids :)

 

30 Day Challenge

A picture of your day (April 4)

My day pretty well revolves around these 2 monkeys :)

Triathlon

Yeah, not for me lol I did however enter Brianna into a triathlon and will be training with her as part of my workouts. Her age group does a 50 meter swim (I'll be skipping cause I have no issues with swimming), 500 meter run and 3 kilometer bike. Right now, I know I couldn't do it. Right now, I know Brianna couldn't do it. Thankfully the tri isn't until August.

I've printed a map of the routes (you can see it here). Once the weather is nicer, Brianna and I are going to do the tracks Mon, Wed and Fri, weather permitting. We'll start with just a couple weeks of walking. Then worry about the bikes or picking up the pace.

Here's hoping I don't bust my knees!

Random Tuesday

Come check out the randomness at The Un Mom!





This thing with Japan really sucks. They just can't get a break! Like was the original earthquake really 5 days ago??? With all the stuff happening since it's like a never ending nightmare :(

Looking into Brianna having Sensory Processing Disorder. Would explain a LOT.

Bought some Quinoa. It's supposed to be really healthy and versatile. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it yet, but at least it's in the house!

Kids And Chores

I recently read a blog post over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers about kids doing chores. Awwwwwesome!

I think a lot of kids nowadays think mom and/or dad are their personal slaves. I know of a child who is *over 10 years old* who can't even tie their shoes because the adult in their life does it for them. Every. Single. Day. And no, not putting the kid in velcro. Actually tying their shoes everyday. When I was a kid you'd be totally embarrassed if you hit even Gr. 2 without knowing how to tie your shoes!

I know of children who are 6, 7, 8 years old who own iPods, cell phones, the latest gaming gear, ect... Then the parents have the nerve to complain that their child spend 3576 hours a day in front of a screen.

Then there's the parents who complain about slaving over the house all day to have it trashed 3 seconds later. And I'm not talking parents with nothing but toddlers or babies at home. I'm talking parents with children that are 5 years old. Or 10 years old. Or even 15 years old. These are people who LET their child trash the house, do nothing about fixing it, then have the nerve to bitch about it!

Do they really think the cleaning fairy is gonna pop into their kid's head and teach them how to take care of themselves? Do you want to either be having the child live in a condemned house or do their housework for them once they are living on their own? No, of course not. We how the hell are they gonna both know how and even have an inkling to do it if YOU DON'T TEACH THEM?!?!


Children as young as a little over ONE YEAR OLD can be taught to clean up after themselves. My almost 20 mth old thinks it's great fun to put her blocks back in the bin. She even helps me unload the dryer! Of course at this age you can't expect them to scrub the ceiling fans or cook dinner, but when you're picking up the toys, make it sound like a great game and get them to help you.

My 8 year old does more chores than most nowadays teens. She changes the cat litter, wipes down the vanity, sweeps the whole 1st floor, vacuums the 2nd floor and more. Heck she even helps with the bigger chores as needed, scrubbing baseboards, cleaning the toilet, washing floors, shoveling, ect... Guess what, I'm the parent, she's the child. I don't care if she doesn't want to do it. I make her do it. This is part of being in the family. This is learning how to take care of yourself. No she doesn't do it perfectly, the first time, every time. But I take the time to teach her the right way of doing it rather than letting her do a half fast job then fixing it for her later. Next on our list is doing laundry and dishes.

Post in a point.... rather than complaining all the time that your kids do nothing but make a mess all day, make them DO something!

30 Day Challenge

The Month You Were Happiest In This Year And Why.

Since it's only Feb, we'll go with the last 12 mths. I'll say November as it was the month that I finally got to do what I've always wanted to do, start homeschooling Brianna. Yes, it's been a rough ride, but I know we'll all be better off because of it!

30 Day Challenge

Something You Always Think "What If..." About

Well, a more current one would be what if I had started homeschooling from Kindergarten like I wanted to when Brianna was 4. Unfortunately I knew the laws by rumours and the rumours (incorrect as they turned out) made it impossible for me to homeschool. If I had only actually researched it further I would have found out how easy and legal it would be for me to do. Then maybe I wouldn't be having the problems I am now with Brianna.

Brianna is a Timbit!

Brianna's having a blast in her curling lessons. Today they had the year end Christmas party and the kids got their vests with their names on it. Brianna is just tickled and won't take it off lol Lee asked to day if she's enjoying curling and wants to stay in it... I don't think there's any doubt of her sticking it through for at least the rest of the year!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

RAWR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bad day for Brianna. Grounded for life or so....

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We have had such a rainy September. I'm sick of it! Spring is supposed to be rainy, not fall! Grrrr.....

Brianna has started walking to and from school by herself. She's very proud of this fact. She asked yesterday if she can stop at the mall, so we had a big discussion about why the mall is not a place to "hang out" and the fact that at her age she wouldn't be allowed to anyways!

Olivia is saying more words. Her newest one is pretty. Now everything is pretty lol She's also climbing more and getting into more trouble!

Sickness....

Last week Brianna was home from school for 2 days with a nasty head cold. Olivia picked it up a couple days ago and now Lee and I are starting to feel it. I hate head colds!!! Thankfully Brianna was fine after 3 days, so hoping Olivia's almost done and Lee and I don't get much of it :( I'm soooo not looking forward to winter colds/flus!

Library Cards!

We made Brianna's dream come true today and her and Lee went out to get her a library card. You'd think we just gave her free rein of the toy store LOL I took her back to the library later today to pick out some books and she was all how much is it? We get to take them for FREE?!?! It was awesome! And I explained how we could come back all the time to return our books that we've read and take out more and you'da thought I had given her the moon!

Homeschool???

I have been seriously researching homeschool this past week. It has always been in the back of my mind since before Isaac started school, but now, after homeschooling Brianna this summer I am seriously considering it. So many aspects of it impress me and encourage me. While I love Brianna's school and her teachers, I just don't look forward to the coming years in school. Brianna's previous behavioural problems diminished over the summer and have started coming back again as school has started. So many things to ponder. My biggest concern is her French Immersion. I am looking into some options for that right now. This is totally a middle of the night rambling, will go into more detail as I go....

$19.90

That's how much Brianna charged to Lee's cell phone. Now she gets to pay me back. Roger's thankfully took the charges off my phone, but I need for her to learn that doing things like that costs REAL money! If it happens again, Roger's won't take the charges off so I want to make sure it won't happen again. So she gave me all the money in her kitty bank and paid off $12.90. Still owes $7 but is willing to work extra chores to pay me back faster. Let's hope she actually does it!