Not One, but Two Amazing Daughters

One of the greatest things about being a parent is being able to watch your children grow and reveal bit by bit who they truly are. When they are little, it seems like everyday you capture a glimpse of their identity and it is exciting! Like right now, Harriet has been working hard on learning how to control her hands and manipulate them so that she can grab hold of a toy and place it in her mouth. She would get so angry when she tried to will her arms and hands outward to grasp that toy dangling right in front of her but her fingers would remain interlocked and her hands would not go any further than the tip of her nose. Oh, she was mad. I know she was dropping a few F-bombs in her head. But no matter how discouraged or frustrated she would get, she refused to give up, and oh, how we all laughed when we would watch her eyes cross and her nose crunch up as she tried to channel the force to get those two appendages of hers to move. And then it happened. I am not sure the exact moment when she was finally able to control her hands and arms, but all week she has been basking in the sweet glow of victory and showing off her newly acquired skill. Often, I would enter the living room to find her lying off of her playmat but still holding onto one of the toys attached overhead with the biggest, cheesiest grin on her face.

Yep, mom. I did it. This one is not getting away from me.

It would not surprise me one bit if Harriet breaks the Webster record for walking. Seriously, this girl is determined, and she's a mover and a shaker. I don't remember any of my other kids being quite this mobile at such a young age and my kids are active kids. Go, Baby Girl! You show those brothers of yours.

When your kids get older, though, you begin to assume that you know everything about them. You create a clear picture for yourself of the adult they are going to become, but every once and awhile they surprise you. They reveal another dimension to their personality; this trait was probably always there but just lacked the opportunity to present itself, or more likely had to develop and grow before it could make its appearance.

I have known for a long time that Zoe is intelligent. I have known that she is a hard worker, that she is funny, that she is strong, that she is confident, and that she is beautiful, both inside and out, but this past week Zoe unveiled a new trait and it is one I never thought my baby girl had: Zoe is incredibly brave. As many of you know, Zoe's colitis has once again reared its ugly head and has come back with a vengeance. It is mad, and it is smart. It laughs in the face of diet changes and homeopathic remedies, and most recently, it has unlocked the secret to conquering modern medicine. And we are talking about some hefty, expensive drugs. Yep, the latest medication they gave Zoe only lasted a couple of days. It didn't stand a chance . . . RIP Sinfoni.

Upon realizing that her body could no longer be fooled into remission, my big, baby girl, who has battled this disease for four excruciating years, who has had to spend far too much of her teenage years in the hospital or lying on our couch rather than experiencing life, decided that she has had enough and that she is ready to once and for all rid her body of this disease. It was then that my big, baby girl made the bravest decision of her life:

Mom, I am not going to try any more medications. It is time I have the surgery.

  And I cried. Initially, I cried because it felt like were giving up, like we had lost the battle. For a moment it felt like all the doctors we consulted, all the medicines and procedures we tried, and all the hospitals visits we had made were in vain. It felt like colitis had won, and I hate to lose, so I cried. But then, I looked in Zoe's eyes. This was not the girl who I had skipped out of the first doctor's office with when her initial symptoms had disappeared and we were told it was probably just some bacterial infection she had eventually beaten. This was not the same girl who a year later had decided to go on a paleo diet to beat the disease naturally even if that meant she would never drink another glass of milk or eat another white roll again. This was not the girl who also decided that year to be homeschooled in an attempt to reduce the external stressors in her life. This was not the same girl who during our eight day stay at the IWK became so fed up with me that she texted her father asking him to text me and tell me to get out of the room. This was not the same girl who cried in my arms just two months ago when her symptoms became bad once again. No, I was now looking into the eyes of my grown daughter, my daughter who over the course of these difficult four years has become a woman, one of the bravest and most beautiful women I know. So, I wiped the tears from my eyes and tried to be the woman she needed me to be at that moment. As I sat there and listened to her reasoning, I realized that we were not giving up and we had definitely not lost this battle. Nope. My daughter is a fighter. She is the victor of this tale, which if we were in a Disney movie makes me her goofy sidekick, but I am okay with that. My daughter is brave and after witnessing the grace and the courage she has displayed as she has time and time again had to deal with this disease at such a young age, I can honestly say, she is a much stronger woman than I am, and I am so proud to call her my daughter.

I love you, Baby Girl. Now go kick some colitis ass!

Zoe's surgery is on Monday morning. Please keep her in your prayers. And please excuse me while I take a brief hiatus from the ol' blog. My girl is going to need me. Thanks.

C-Words

I love words! I love how powerful they are: they can paint pictures, evoke memories, stir up feelings and create worlds.Words are my thing, but there are two words that I detest. These two words should never have to be uttered. These two words destroy people, beautiful people and for this I believe they should be immediately banished from our world. You got that God? And if this was baby school, I would point out that they both start with "C" - cancer and colitis.

Yesterday was a really difficult day. In the morning, we learned that Adam MacNeill, a beloved friend and family member, had passed away after a difficult battle with cancer. Before I knew Adam as Mr. Level-Headed's cousin and way before I knew him as Zoe's godfather, I knew him as Lindy's big brother. Lindy was a close friend of mine from my Seawood Elementary days. She lived directly across the street and I remember fondly spending many lunch hours there and enjoying sleepovers in her basement. Lindy's brother Adam was always around, and he teased Lindy relentlessly, or was that the other way around? But, I somehow implicitly understood that at that time, she was his world. That he loved her and he would protect her with the same tenacity that was typically devoted to teasing her and her young, annoying friends. I didn't have anyone like this in my life, and being the oldest of two girls in my family (these were the pre - John and Emily days), I was somewhat fascinated with idea of a big brother, and Adam was the ultimate big brother. In fact, he risked being born prematurely and coming one month before my Mr. Level-Headed was born just so that he could say he was the oldest of the boy cousins. 

Yesterday, I marveled at how many people posted on his facebook page that he was like a big brother to them; however, if you knew Adam, these statements would not surprise you. Adam was a jokester, with a huge heart, and although he would never ask for anything from anyone, he was the first one to offer assistance if his friends, family, or neighbours were in need. He would go out of his way to help anyone and he was always there for you, even if you didn't ask. After Avery had his stroke, Adam and Nicki, his wife, came up to visit Mr. Level-Headed and I in the hospital. It meant a lot to me and in that moment I finally understood what it felt like to have a big brother.

Cancer is a terrible, terrible disease, and in Adam's case, it has broken all the rules. A father, like Adam's dad, Brian, should never have to sit and watch his son die, especially after having to say goodbye to his wife, Jennifer, only months before. His three young children, Lauren, Carter and Lucas should never have to say good bye to their daddy at such a young age. His wife, Nicki, should not have to face the future without her loving husband by her side and his sister, Lindy, well . . . the world needs more big brothers like Adam and so she should not have to lose hers just yet. None of this is fair and none of this makes sense. I hate you, Cancer. I. Hate.You.

Then because life is well . . . life, my day quickly became even more difficult. As I cleaned up the kitchen with a heavy heart, Zoe, who has been home off and on for the past couple of weeks thanks to a flare-up of colitis, walked upstairs. I took one look at her and knew that it was time to call the doctors. Zoe is a fighter. She has been fighting this disease for four years, but sometimes it gets the best of her, and so yesterday afternoon, Zoe was admitted to the hospital to receive some much-needed fluids and to reevaluate her current medicinal cocktail, which is clearly no longer working.

We could really use your prayers right now. All of us need them - Adam's family and friends, my family and Zoe. Sure, I know that Adam is finally at peace and we look forward to being reunited with him someday, and I also know that Zoe is going to be okay, but it is a lot to deal with. So, even if you do not believe in God, or perhaps you have not prayed in a long time, or you are unsure of how to do it, could you please take a moment and just try it? I know prayer works, and I really need your prayers to face this day with my typical enthusiasm and energy. 

Thank you.

Adam, Nicki and Zoe

Until we meet again, Adam . . .

  

Tear Down These Walls!

Many people think that when life does not go their way that this is a sign that God is not pleased with them. That He is punishing them or that the Universe is against them. I do not believe this. I know that life is meant to be tough and each obstacle we face is merely an opportunity for us to grow, to strengthen and to become refined if we choose to do so. Recently, I read a quote on Facebook that really struck me. 

Physical illness is not a sign of spiritual weakness, but rather it is a sign of spiritual strength. It is the spirit saying I am ready for a challenge. I am ready to grow.

After spending a week at the IWK, the children's hospital for Atlantic Canada, and being surrounded by countless sick children, including my own, witnessing just how strong they can be in the face of adversity and marvelling at all of their smiles, I know this is true. 

 

This is going to be hard a blog post for me to write. Not because I don't have anything to say (trust me, I always have lots to say), but because I have not allowed the walls to come down just yet. People always comment on how strong I am or marvel at how well I handle adversity, but the truth is I am just very good at putting up walls. When placed in situations where I am in danger of becoming overwhelmed by immense heartache, fear, or uncertainty, I instinctively place barriers around my heart and my mind. I seal them up good and tight, put my head down and charge at what lies before me head on. I disconnect myself from my emotions, push them deep down inside of me and go into auto-pilot. 

That is how I deal with adversity, that is how I survived our eight days in the IWK with a heavy heart, full of worry for my precious Baby Girl, and that is how I have been operating all week. You see, the walls don't come down easily. It takes time, and I do not seem to have any control as to when or where they will spring their first leak. I often think my spirit is in control of these walls and will only allow them to crumble when she knows I am truly ready to handle the emotional onslaught that inevitably follows. It is never pretty, but it is always welcome because until these walls come down, I can not feel like myself. I feel somewhat distanced from those around me and slightly disconnected from what is going on. It's like I am not truly living: my senses are dulled and my mind is programmed to merely operate, not to think, to feel or to create.

I have tried to force these walls down all week, but with no luck. I have had countless hot baths by candlelight hoping that the hot water would melt away this crusty exterior,  but it is persistent. I have curled up beside my hubby at night and tried to talk about all the thoughts and fears running through my head, but the words won't come to me. I have tried to look deeply and directly into my loved ones' eyes searching for a spirit-to-spirit connection that will jolt me awake , but I always turn away. I can't bring myself to tear these walls down just yet. Once they are removed, I am left alone, defenceless, and vulnerable. But they will come down, and once they do, I will finally cry. The past month's pain, fears and heartache will finally flow freely through my body, and I will emerge stronger, ready to feel life intensely once again and to face whatever may come our way with hope, faith and optimism. Until then, though, I will make the most of of every little moment I am blessed to be at home with this amazing, and very strong, family of mine. 

Thank you everyone for all that you have done to help my family through this difficult time. We appreciate your acts of service, your prayers and your kind words of support. We love you!

The Home Stretch

35 Week Bump

I am currently hiding in my room with the door locked and a can of Coke by my side. I am done. I have nothing left in me, and I am waving the proverbial white flag to announce my surrender. 

Do you hear me, God! I am done! This girl can't take anymore! Whatever lesson you want to teach me, or whatever trait you want me to develop needs to be put on hold. I am done.

With only three weeks and five days left until Thing 4 arrives, I am tired. All I want to do is to lie on the couch with my feet up, a can of Coke in hand, and a tray of bonbons by my side, while I watch endless hours of mindless daytime television. Oh, and we cannot forget the muumuu. Yes, I definitely want to be wearing a muumuu.

Unfortunately, though, this is not what the world has in store for me. Instead, this week, my husband as been working both day and night everyday. Elliot is in shutdown/Mr. Negativity mode, Avery was sick with some weird stomach/cold combination, and Zoe has made no improvement at all. In fact, I received a phone call on Monday from the IWK informing me that she needs to be admitted next Monday and that we will be staying two days in the hospital, possibly three, possibly four. Who knows! And Thing 4, who is defying all the baby books and is still managing to kick up quite the ruckus in spite of the limited space my uterus has to offer, is really hurting me. Not to mention, this 37 year old body of mine, which has just begun it's 36th week of pregnancy, is tired, oh so very tired and can barely climb the basement stairs let alone do any housecleaning . . . ugh!

Yeah, so that's my life right now. Jealous, right? You are probably wondering why I have just dumped this rant on you. Well, on Sunday, thanks to my lovely teenage daughter, everyone was laughing at me for always posting the sunny side of our days and for always trying to find the silver lining. Sure, I am guilty of this, but I write my blog to help me drown out the negative. No one can say I do not acknowledge that my life is not perfect or that my life is hard, but I find it pointless to dwell on these aspects. No ones life is perfect. Everyone is dealing with some form of hardship, and I want my blog to be a refuge from the harsh reality of the world. I want it to be uplifting for both me and my readers. I want it to be a source of comfort, a source of inspiration, and a source of laughter. I want people to keep coming back to A Ferry Crossing Away because they leave feeling a little more stronger, a little more optimistic and far less alone.

So, with that being said and the miserable, ugly week that I have been dealing with laid out before you, let's turn this around and find the silver lining.

Well, right now, within the sanctity of my room, I can hear my boys playing cheerfully with one another in the basement. They are not fighting, they are safe and they are happy. Each kick from Thing 4, although they hurt like heck, reassures me that we have a strong, healthy baby on our hands, who I will be holding in only three weeks and five days! As much of an inconvenience as it will be to be away for a few days next week in Halifax, I know that Baby Girl will be receiving the best possible care and that we will be one step closer to calming this flare-up down. Oh, and not to mention, I will not have to cook, clean or teach during those days. Perhaps I should pack my muumuu and my bonbons . . . tee hee! Seriously, though, it also humbles me beyond words to see how our families and friends are willing to step up and help us out next week. We could not do it without them! And finally, with 350 ml of refined sugar and caffeine making its way through my body as we speak, I can honestly say I am ready to unlock my door now. I am ready to face the disaster that has currently taken over my kitchen and to finish up our homeschooling day.

Bring it on; I can do this!

See, doesn't that just feel better. 

Happy Thursday!

Choices

One of my greatest fears in life was that one of my babies would be sick. I am not talking flus, or colds or ear infections; I am talking about sick, real sick. I would hear about families and parents raising sick children and think:

How do they do it? Where do they get the strength . . . the courage?

Now, I know. It is a choice you make. You choose to be strong in spite of how much you want to break down and cry. You choose to be courageous in spite of all the uncertainty before you. You choose to never, ever give up hope in spite of all the disappointments that litter your path, and you do this for your kids. You make these choices because this is how your sick kid faces each and every day. In your heart, you know that they are the ones who are truly suffering, and if they can make the most of a rotten situation then you can to. You owe it to them.

Yesterday, I dropped by Baby Girl's high school to pick up her homework. I was frustrated to see that only two teachers had arranged packets for her. I understand that the teachers do not want to burden her with school work while she is dealing with this flare-up, but she has to go back at some point. The real world does not just disappear when you are sick. It keeps going, and with each passing day, she is falling further and further behind.  As much as I wanted to throw a tantrum right there in the office, I kept my cool. I thanked the secretary and walked out.

As I walked out of the office, I found myself in a sea of young girls, all dressed up, who judging from the amount of hand flapping, giggles, and squeals, were very excited to be together. As I scanned their faces, I realised that many of these girls were Zoe's friends. In fact, they were her soccer teammates, and after speaking with a few of them, I learned that they were leaving school early to attend a game at Fundy High School. I wished them luck, and as I stood outside the school's entry way watching all of them climb into the bus, a wave of anger flooded my body, but this only lasted for a second because quickly following behind it was a wave of despair, which washed away any strength I had remaining and left me crying on the stairs of the high school. 

She should be with them.

WHY does she have to endure this?

WHY?

Luckily, I had my sunglasses on and I quickly pulled myself together. 

Girl, you can't fall apart now.

With tears streaming down my face, I walked over to my car, where both Avery and Elliot were waiting for me to drive them to Sussex for Elliot's school soccer game. As I was about to open my car door, I realized I had a choice to make. I could either allow my frustration and my pain to take over and debilitate me, or I could continue to enjoy this beautiful afternoon with my boys. And it had been a beautiful afternoon. We had gone apple picking, the weather had been and was still absolutely perfect, and now we were going to spend the remainder of the afternoon with friends cheering Elliot and the MCS soccer team on. Really, it had been a wonderful day; therefore, I pushed aside the should's, the what if's, and the this-is-not-fair's, and I embraced what was in front of me - a beautiful, but imperfect life.

Life is filled with disappointment. It is filled with injustice, pain and heartache, and the way I see it is we each have a choice to make. We can either choose to allow these things to overcome us and to stifle our spirits, or we can choose to look past them and see what else life has to offer because life is also filled with beauty, with peace, with love, with laughter, with hope, and with tremendous examples of strength and courage:

With her in my life, it is an easy choice to make.

And my other monkeys help too . . .

Thing 4 collected some apples too.

It truly is a beautiful life!

Counting my Blessings

Eeeeek! It has been almost two weeks since I last wrote a blog post. Sorry about that, but as you may have guessed my life has gotten a tad bit crazy. Unfortunately, it is not all the good kind of crazy that we here at Shenanigans Inc. thrive on, and I am sad to say that Baby Girl's colitis has reared its ugly head once again and is giving her fifteen year old life a major whomping . . . again. Grrrrrrr! I probably should not share this, but the other day, after I had to pick her up from school for the third time that week because she was too weak to carry on, I texted Mr. Level-Headed the following message:

I really wish colitis was a person rather than a disease because then I could kick its  f*%$#^@   a%6!

Sorry for my profanity, and yes I did have a good long chat with Heavenly Father about my terrible lack of self restraint when it comes my use of the f-word when I am angry, and He assured me (perhaps not in the spoken word) that although He was disappointed, He completely understood. I really love that Guy!

Anyhoo . . .

So, since last week, we pulled Zoe out of school, ramped up her medications according to her doctor's orders, visited a Naturopath for the first time, started her on a dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free diet (which surprisingly has not been very difficult to institute), and have watched a whole lot of the Voice and America's Top Model on the computer. 

Then because colitis is not enough of a trial for our family anymore (I said I was sorry for saying the F-word, Heavenly Father. Really I am!), we all came down with a nasty head cold on Monday. On top of her other unpleasant symptoms, this cold has absolutely sucked the life right of poor Baby Girl and has left me bed-ridden for a couple of days. So, while I was laying in bed on Monday with the laundry and dirty dishes quickly piling up around me, listening to my already-very-sick-Baby Girl cough and sniffle, tallying up the additional costs of Baby Girl's medicines and Naturpath appointments to our already-very-tight-budget,and knowing that my boys had already exceeded an entire year's worth of screen time in just one day, I became discouraged, and I began to cry.

Really, how much more can we take?

Even writing this, I am embarrassed because in the grand scheme of things and compared to the trials of those I love and care about, my trials are small potatoes. I should be ashamed that I allowed myself to get down, but I did. We all have a breaking point and Monday was mine. Then after one awesomely refreshing ugly cry and a warm bath, I put my big girl panties back on . . . quite literally . . . tee hee! I didn't even see that one coming . . . awesome! And I started counting my blessings. Sure the past two weeks have been challenging and at times utterly frustrating, but there has been a whole lot of good going on right now too, and so I am going to share with you my blessings list.

1. Thing 4 . . . duh! Seriously, the fact that I have been blessed with a Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, and now a Thing 4 plus a handsome stud-muffin of a husband, with whom I get to make all these adorable Things with, is one ginormous blessing, and in all honesty, surpasses any and all nastiness that life can throw my way. 

Oh, and here is where I should post an adorable picture of my 32 week baby bump, but due to the fact that I have not gotten out of pyjamas in a couple of days, you will have to wait for it.

2. The boys and I are having the best homeschooling year ever. Until Monday, we went for four weeks straight without missing a day or even a lesson, and even though we are sick, the boys and I have curled up in bed to read our history lessons and do some fun art projects to go along with them. Today we read about the Terracotta Army in Ancient China. The cool thing is that we have seen a replica of this archaeological treasure at Disney's Epcot, and the boys are fascinated by it. 

3. The boys and I have joined another homeschooling group, which means we have not one but two awesome groups of families to share this homeschooling experience with. Last week, we went on a fun photography scavenger hunt at the zoo with our new group and the boys were thrilled to learn that there are a ton of boys their age in this group. Also, we recently found out that friends of ours, who belong to the same group, attended the field trip with us and who live right here on the Peninsula, are also homeschooling this year. Seriously, I think we are going to have one phenomenal year! 

Next week, we are going on a field trip just five minutes from our house where the kids are going to trek through the woods with a guide and learn how to identify the different types of trees, leaves, and animal tracks. Then, they are going to learn how to build a fire (Really, Krista? Perhaps I should think this one through . . . tee hee!) and roast hotdogs and marshmallows on the fires they start. How cool is that? My boys are in boy heaven right now just thinking about it!

Avery mimicking one of the Great Auk statues at the Zoo (a scavenger hunt requirement)

4. And finally, I have done it. I have achieved my goal for 2013 and have found the ultimate poutine, but first, a back story: 

On Friday afternoon, my friend BJ and I drove four girls from our church to PEI to participate in what we Mormons like to call Super Saturday. These are monthly activities set up for our youth, typically from ages 14-18, and they involve long drives . . . tee hee!, a much anticipated and always enjoyed dance for the youth, followed up the next day with Sunday-school-like-lessons, and then a big culminating activity. This month, the kids put on their yellow Mormon Helping Hands pinnies and went on a food drive for a food bank in Montague, PEI. Thankfully, Baby Girl was feeling up to going and she had a blast dancing with all the cute Mormon boys (Mormons make some handsome boys . . . just look at the three I have in my life). Seriously, though, they are a great group of kids, and it touched this mama's heart to watch a group of about twenty of them (there were probably 60 in total for the whole weekend) playing frisbee on the front lawn of the chapel, laughing and enjoying themselves. Baby Girl was feeling pretty worn out by this time, but a couple of her friends sat with her and they were all laughing together in the sunshine. It took all of my will power to walk away and to not stand  hovering over soaking up this moment. Most of them know about her struggles with this disease and they are always so supportive of her. I wish all teenagers had more Super Saturday-like experiences in their lives. Then when it was time to depart, the youth were all hugging, snapping photos and carrying on as if they would never see each other again and as if that they wouldn't be texting one another within minutes of getting into their cars . . . tee hee!

Anyhoo . . .

Yikes! I totally went off on a tangent there. Poutine . . . so the winner of my 2013 Atlantic Canada poutine challenge is the BOOM BURGER in Charlottetown, PEI. You have to check it out! The food is made from all local products and the poutine is to die for. Thankfully, they mixed up my order and gave me a large rather than a regular like I had asked for because I didn't want to stop eating it. In fact, I was so full that each bite was starting to hurt, but I couldn't stop. My mouth waters just thinking about it, and the best thing about their poutine is you can order it with grilled mushrooms, my other, less talked about, pregnancy craving. I was in heaven!

Look at this sucker! It is huge!

Mmmmm . . . and the cheese curds are made by Cows Ice Cream . . .  yummy!





Yep, life has been ridiculous around here, and there have been a few tears shed and a few curse words said, but all in all, it's still been pretty fantabulous and I really have nothing to complain about.


Happy Wednesday!

Oh, and please keep Baby Girl in your prayers. We could really use them. :)

Hodge Podge

So, forgive me today if I am all over the place with my thoughts, but I have so many ideas swimming in my head right now that I have this overwhelming need to share them, all of them.

First of all, homeschooling is going phenomenal so far. I can't believe it! I really thought we were in for a doozy of a day yesterday since it was day two and also because our school day had to be interrupted for a doctor's appointment, but much to my shock, that was not the case. As soon as we arrived home and even after the boys got to eat copious amounts of treats and play a ton of video games at their Grammie's most of the afternoon thanks to my second flat tire this month (grrrrrr!), they got right to work and didn't even complain. Then, today, both the boys finished all of their work an hour early . . . craziness!  Even Elliot has noticed how remarkably different this year is going, and after he finished his math in record time (and received a B+ on it to boot), he exclaimed:

Mom, I think this is our best homeschooling year so far!

To which I full-heartedly agreed and then gave him one ginormous hug to thank him for being so awesome these past three days. Who knows, we may just survive this school year after all?

After school each day, the boys have gone out to shoot crab apples off of our hill using their golf clubs. Their goal is to shoot one into the river, but I have not seen it happen  . . . yet! Last night, though, they grew tired of this game and decided to have an all-out crab apple war. Thankfully, they put their protective gear on . . . I love these two!

As you know, last week I took Baby Girl to the IWK for another check-up and I am pleased to announce, according to her doctor, she is doing amazingly well! Her blood work is perfect and he thinks we may finally have this colitis thing under control . . . for now. Keep your fingers crossed. What you may not know is that after our appointment we participated in a study the IWK is doing between the correlation of a  child's family dynamics and the degree of pain they experience and how they manage it. Zoe and I had a blast doing helping out with this study! First, she had to put her hand in FREEZING cold water, while I watched her endure the discomfort. We were left in a room all by ourselves and videotaped. Of course, we could not stop laughing and cracking jokes. I guess this is just how we deal with things at Shenanigans Inc. Then we had to fill out a ton of questionnaires about our family and how we get along. Afterwards, we had to choose two topics that Zoe and I have recently argued over and we had to sit in a room together and come up with a solution to these problems, all the while being videotaped. It was so funny! We didn't do as much laughing during these two sessions because these points are hot topics between the two of us, but we did come up with solutions. In the end, we were each given $15 for our time (oh, the things we will do for a bit of cash . . . tee hee!), and Zoe received a Junior Scientist Certificate, of which she is very proud!

As we were leaving the IWK, Zoe and I laughed at the fact that someday she could be sitting in an auditorium during one of her med school lectures and have to see these videos of us, but then again, maybe not, since we also fear they will disqualify our results on the basis that we are both clearly crazy . . . tee hee!

Oh, and if you are not a friend of Mr. Level-Headed's on facebook then you missed out on this tidbit of information: he has decided to enter his first body building competition, The New Brunswick Championships, which is only nine weeks away. If you are any good at math, you will also realize that his competition is only two weeks before Thing 4 is due to arrive; therefore, we figure we may need to seek out separate living arrangements at this time since we will both be feeling a little surly and uncooperative . . . tee hee! But for now, we will continue to share our living quarters and fight over the bedroom mirror each night oogling over how big our bodies are getting. If you ask me, though, it is far more fun and a whole lot easier for me to get bigger. :)

The third trimester bump (or week 28)!

Also, I learnt yesterday at my doctor's appointment that I actually lost a half of a pound over the last three weeks, which is perfectly okay according to the doctor, but I found it shocking!  Especially since it was just last week that I went on a four day poutine binge  . . . craziness . . . and yes, very gross. I should be disgusted with myself, but heh, I'm not.

And as promised, albeit a day late, here are some pictures from our Back to School Feast and Festivities. Might I just add, we had so much fun! The food was delicious. In fact, the kids and I could barely move afterwards because we ate so much, but Mr. Level-Headed, or Mr. Discipline as I should call him from now on, stuck with his broccoli and chicken and seemed to enjoy himself too. This year, I decided to serve the appetizer while the chicken wings were cooking, which gave us a full forty-five minutes to sit around the table and talk. And just so you don't go fool yourself into thinking that life here a ferry crossing away is somehow magical and perfect, let me assure you, while I talked all about the importance of pursuing as much education as possible in your lifetime, the kids discussed everything from bodily functions, bodily noises, to soccer. Oh, and I am pretty sure they were making those bodily noises as well . . . tee hee!

Mmmm . . . Skor Cake!

And our goals for this upcoming school year . . . that Thing 4 is so gosh darn considerate . . . tee hee!

There . . . I got it all out, and I feel so much better now. Thanks for listening! :)

How Quickly We Forget

On Saturday, Zoe's volleyball team played in their first tournament. It was a varsity tournament, but Zoe's team did not have their varsity players there. In fact, their entire team was made up of junior varsity girls, and they did awesome! They went undefeated until the semi-finals, where they lost one game out of three. In the end, they won second place, and although they were disappointed, they were all shocked that they had actually gotten that far.

I was particularly proud of Baby Girl. She is so confident on the court, and I marvel at how calm and level-headed she remains even when things are not going well for her team. She was playing against girls three years older and at least a foot taller, but that didn't intimidate her. She went out on that court and got to work. I was most impressed with the fact that even though Zoe can not do an overhand serve yet, her coaches still encouraged her to try in the game, and she would stand there fearlessly and give it her best shot. She is so close, and I know it won't be long before she is sending that ball clear over the net.  

While Mr. Level-Headed and I were cheering the team on, I kept leaning over to him and saying how proud I am of our girl and how thrilled I am that she is playing high school sports.  Even though she is knee deep in the trenches of teenage-hood and all the drama that surrounds that most difficult time in a person's life, she has managed to remain focused and firmly attached to who she is and what she wants.  Sheesh . . . it took me a good thirty years to get to that point. What a kid!

But it wasn't until later that night, after Zoe returned home from a babysitting gig and was safely tucked in her bed, that the full magnitude of the day hit me. This was the first sporting event that Zoe has played in since she became sick last fall, and it was only three months ago that she was spending up to four hours a day receiving medicine intravenously. She was too weak to go to school or to play sports. She spent day after day watching television on the laptop and napping. I remember watching her play last fall during the soccer season and only noticing how weak she was becoming and fearing that she may be pushing herself too hard.  She could only take quick spurts out on the field, and spent the majority of the time sitting on the bench feeling frustrated and disappointed. It broke my heart.

On Saturday, however, that sick girl was no where in sight, and like I said before, the thought never even crossed my mind. She played hard, she hit hard, and she laughed hard. Baby Girl is back and she is on fire!

Don't you love the socks! Her mama found those in Portland.

 

Unfortunately, none of my action shots turned out. :(

Here they are clapping for the winning team.  They look so impressed . . . tee hee!

Happy Monday!