Putting My Big Girl Panties On

I apologize for yesterday's post. As soon as I hit "publish", I was annoyed with myself for being so cranky about nothing, really. Everyone is struggling with back to school woes, and I am fully aware that my woes are minuscule compared to what some of my friends and family are going through right now. When I look at my life through a worldview lens, I am downright disgusted with myself for being such a wuss. Anyone else haunted by that image of the young refugee who washed up on shore? If you need a big club over the head with a firm dose of reality, that image will do it. Oh. My. Land. I can't even imagine what life is like right now for so many Syrian mothers and fathers. 

I come from a position of privilege and I am fully aware of that. Yes, my house is overflowing and busy with children, but they are a tremendous blessing. Five amazing blessings that I chose to love and care for. Yes, I ran out of milk yesterday and had to drive thirty minutes to get Zoe's soccer stuff to her, but I was able to replace that milk and I have a car to retrieve my children's forgotten items for them. Yes, I forgot the sling to carry Harriet in on our trip to Costco, but I have a mom who is retired and lives a mere ten minutes away who was willing to drop everything to help me out. Not to mention, I have a loving husband who supports my decision to stay home and raise our children even though that decision has tightened our budget far more than we initially imagined. So, I am going to stop whining about my burden of lilies, I am going to put my big girl panties on and I am going to get 'er done! I can do this. I have done hard things before. I'm a fighter and I never give up!

Anyhoo . . . 

On Sunday, Shenanigans Inc. had their annual Back to School Feast. This year we invited Zoe's friend Kenzie to join us. I had to do something to thank him for giving me a selfie stick! Oh, yes, you can all thank Kenzie for fueling my Instagram addiction and for making me even more obnoxious than I already am on social media. This year's menu consisted of honey garlic chicken wings, rice and salad.  My observant and borderline ungrateful children complained that I forgot to include an appetizer . . . next year, I promise. For dessert, I made vanilla cupcakes topped with lemon buttercream icing . . . they were delicious! I was concerned that I would never be able to pull this meal off this year thanks to the two-under-two crew, but Mr. Level-Headed, Zoe and Kenzie all helped out. While I nursed and tended to the two babies the evening before, Mr. Level-Headed made the wings and Zoe and Kenzie frosted and decorated the cupcakes. The next time you see Zoe ask her how she feels about chocolate sprinkles . . . tee hee! All I can tell you is that Zoe has strong feelings about how cupcakes should be decorated and a very low tolerance for anything outside of her ideal and very limited margins of acceptance. Gosh, I love that girl!

Like other years, this year's dinner had a theme that I mindfully and prayerfully chose according to the needs of our family. Unlike other years, I only took one picture of our dinner:

I think it sums up our dinner nicely, though - it was a yummy, laid-back affair  . . . tee hee.

This year's theme was service. My family amazed me this summer with their willingness to step up to help me after Harriet's birth. Zoe did all of our laundry this summer and the boys cleaned all of the dishes and were in charge of loading and emptying the dishwasher. Now that they are all back to school and I have taken on these chores once again, I realize what a tremendous service they did for our family this summer. So . . . I decided that this year we need to make a more concentrated effort to look outside of our family for opportunities to help others:

Perhaps when we come face to face with our maker, we will not be asked, "How many positions did you hold?", but rather, "How many people did you help?". In reality, you cannot love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people.

-Thomas S. Monson

It is far too easy to become overly-consumed with your own life and your own trials (ahh . . . hello, I am the queen of this!), and so I want to instill in my children that the best way to deal with your own burdens is to help someone else lift theirs. 

After dinner, we all watched this video about a tremendous and touching example of service.

Then, while everyone played a game of Monopoly, I took my tired, two-under-two crew for a walk. Once they were asleep, the Monopoly game was done and Zoe's skyping session with her good friend, Hannah, who went off to BYU last week, was finished, we all headed outside for our first bonfire of the summer. Yes, I did say the first, and so the kids finally got to burn last year's school work and roast marshmallows. It was a fabulous evening and I am so grateful to have a such a wonderful crew of people in my life.

  . . . and a Selfie Stick!

and so it begins . . .

please excuse my lack of capital letters today; i am holding a once-fussy-but-now-sleeping baby on my lap and i do not want to risk waking her up by setting her down.

so, yeah, i slept-in on the first day of school. that made for a fun morning. when elliot returned from school all he did was complain about his teachers, the rules, his classmates, his work and life in general. when i glanced at a two-sided sheet his teacher gave to the class to fill out so she could get to know them better, i was discouraged to see that elliot only filled in four questions:

i do not like homework

i spend a lot of time working

someday i will be tired

my feelings about school it's long

elliot hit his stride this summer: he was happy, he was social and he was confident. i really thought he had turned a corner . . . but nope. this is going to be a fun year.

then yesterday afternoon, i found out that elliot's soccer practice was no longer after school and was now at 6, which meant the two-under-two crew, avery and i were out late last night waiting for practice to finish. thanks to all the hullabaloo that hit once the boys returned home from school, i suddenly looked at the clock and realized it was already 5pm, supper was not started and we all had to be out of the house by 5:30 to make the above-mentioned soccer practice. that was also fun.

this morning we ran out of milk. i had to do the dishes that i was too tired to finish last night so that the kids could take water bottles to school today, and i had to fill out three forms that i found in elliot's book bag, which according to him was empty and never contained any forms for his mom to fill out the night before when all school matters were to be addressed and completed to allow for a smoothly-run morning. that was fun too.

just now i received two separate texts from zoe and her friend, karlee

there is soccer practice after school today. please bring my stuff.

-zoe

and

there's boy's soccer today. bring elliot's stuff. and text him.

-karlee

i have tried texting elliot three times to clarify this because he was told practice is on friday, but he was told he is not allowed to use his phone in school by his teachers yesterday. i wish they had said in class because now he will not answer me until he is on the bus. 

just found out elliot, in fact, does not have soccer today. his sister was mistaken.

this is a lot of fun too.

and to think i spent all summer long wondering how i would ever manage being all by my lonesome with the two-under-two crew once the kids returned to school. seriously?!

make room for harriet and i, leif, on that car of yours because i think the three of us need to run away . . . far, far away, and fast.

oh, but first, put some pants on.

 . . . tee hee.

pray for me . . . please.

I Guess They All Really Do Grow Up

This morning I sent Elliot and Avery off to school. Today is Elliot's first day of high school and it is Avery's first day of middle school. They were both very excited! While eating his breakfast, Avery could not stop talking:

This is a big day for me, Mom. I am taking a big step, probably the biggest step of my life . . .

Then after a couple of bites of his Captain Crunch cereal 

(Don't judge me: it was on sale at Costco for $4 . . . $4!!)

In fact, I think this is the first big step I have taken in my life!

Really? Preschool, kindergarten  . . . none of those were big?

Nope. This is it. This is The Big Step. It's the first time I will be the only Webster in a school. I am going to be all alone, and it is going to be awesome.

As he paced around the room waiting for me to tell him it was time to catch the bus, I could tell he was excited . . . nervous, but excited.

How do  you use a lock, mom?

How much homework will I have?

Is Mr. Dumont strict?

Will he only talk french even on the first day?

and so and so on.

I love that Avery still needs me, or at least he still thinks he does. When shopping for school clothes he wanted me by his side and asked my opinion on everything; meanwhile, the two teenagers couldn't get far enough away from me and would immediately roll their eyes if I made a suggestion.

Elliot has been seeking Zoe's counsel more and more lately, and he has barely addressed the issue of going to high school with me, until last night. As I was bringing up a load of laundry from the basement and passed by Elliot's bed, I stopped because I heard him chuckle:

It's so strange, mom. It feels like it was only yesterday that I was starting school and now I am going to high school.

And my heart broke. All I could picture was the little boy who barely reached the window in my classroom door, while standing on his tiptoes. My classroom was right across the hall from his kindergarten classroom, and my students would holler for me when they would see the top of his head pop up out of nowhere. I would groan and then go to the door - Yes, Elliot? Mom, we need to go. We need to go home right now.

Where did that little boy go? Elliot stands eye level to me now. He is snap-chatting with girls, going to bonfires with his friends and talking back to Mr. Level-Headed and I. He knows everything! He is filled with confidence, and he walks with a swagger . . . a swagger?! When did he start to swagger? Elliot always reminded me of Peter Pan; he was going to be the boy who never grew up.

I guess I was wrong.

Trust me, Bud, going to high school may feel strange to you, but it feels even stranger to me.

In Hindsight

Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers.

Oh. My. Land.

Last night I took Leif, Harriet and Avery to MCS's annual Open House. Before we left, Avery pointed out that this year will be the first time in his life that he will not have a sibling in school with him and he figured that this meant it would be a great year. I am excited for him and really hope he enjoys middle school.

We piled in the van and as soon as we got to the school, Avery took Leif and they ran inside to find some friends. I strapped Harriet to my chest in her sling and we were off. It only took about five minutes for me to realize that bringing Leif was probably a mistake - a big mistake. The school hallways were crowded and busy. There were booths set up for the local Girl Guides and Scouting programs, and of course, their pamphlets and bookmarks enticed Leif. He could not pass by them without trying to snatch some goodies for himself. Then the meeting started in the cafeteria, and it was hot, very hot. Not surprisingly, Leif would not stand still. He roamed through the crowd until he decided the best place to stand was beside the principal as she addressed everyone. Thank heavens we attend a small, rural school where everyone knows everyone and where people are much more laid back because his presence did not seem to phase the principal or bother anyone. Then he bolted outside. I chased him as best as I could with a backpack on my back and a baby on my chest. Thankfully a friend slowed him down a bit for me. For the rest of the meeting, I followed Leif around the hallways of the school, preventing him from playing in the fountains and going into the newly set up classrooms. When he tried to go somewhere he was not supposed to, I would try to redirect him by grabbing his hand, and then he immediately would go limp and scream like a banshee, drawing everyone's attention. Ugh! I felt bad enough that I was missing the meeting and that Avery had to stand in there alone, but now I was also embarrassed and frustrated with my uncooperative little minion.

Once the meeting was done, everyone headed outside for a corn boil. Avery took off to the playground looking for friends. Of course, Leif followed him. Exhausted from having to chase Leif around the school, I asked Avery if Leif could go with him. 

Sure.

But he looked less than impressed. So, off they went while I hovered at the top of the playground with the other moms and dads keeping an eye on their kids while they played. I am not going to lie; I was quite relieved with this break from being Leif's shadow.

When the evening was done, and we were driving home in the van, Avery seemed quite grouchy. 

What's wrong, Bud?

None of my friends were there tonight.

Some of them were. I saw Will and Parker.

Yeah, but every time I would start to play with them, Leif would go somewhere else and I had to follow him.

Oh.

Here's the thing: we all love our babies at Shenanigans Inc, and as much as we enjoy them, they do make things difficult at times. In hindsight, I should have sent Leif with Mr.Level-Headed to Elliot's soccer try-out, where he could run and play on the big, open field. Last night should have been Avery's night, and I feel bad that I did not recognize this at the time. Sometimes being a mom of five seems impossible; not just because there is more laundry, more mess, and more fights but because these five individuals all have needs and it is my job to try and figure out what those needs are (before they even need them sometimes) and to act accordingly. Last night Avery needed some time to shine and do his thing, and I did not realize this until it was too late.

Sorry, bud.

And Leif is sorry too:

Yeah, right . . . tee hee!

Some Thoughts and Pictures on the First Week of September

I love September! I love the sunny afternoons and the cool evening breeze. I love the return to routine and the spark for change that this season calls for. I started the week out by rearranging my bedroom. It looks fabulous and we have so much more room in there for Thing 4 to join us in just ten weeks . . . eeeek! And before I go on, I would just like to give Mr. Level-Headed yet another shout out for being the best hubby in the world. When I texted him and told him that I was rearranging the room with Zoe's help, he was less than enthused because he was scared that I had moved our bed, which currently looks out our huge picture window sporting a spectacular view of the Kennebecasis River. I assured him that this was not the case and that all I needed him to do was to take the closet doors off for me when he got home. This did not elicit a response from him, but as soon as he came home, he went straight to work at taking the doors off for me. Truly ladies, I have the best husband around . . . sorry. Oh, and in case you are wondering why the closet doors had to come off, it was to create more space for my large antique mirror that now had to go in the corner of the room with the closet. Anyhoo . . . our room looks great, there is lots more room, and the change of scenery has boosted my spirits. Does anyone get that way when they change their furniture around? It is the best cure for boredom!

Another big change that happened this week was that my Baby Girl went and grew up on me . . . again! She was all done up for her first day of grade ten and my heart stopped. She looked like a woman! Then, I became even more freaked out when I realized that she is the exact same age I was when I met Mr. Level-Headed. Now, I think marrying your high school sweetheart is a fantabulous idea because you get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend, someone who grew up with you (in a sense) and stuck by you even when you were going through that awkward teenage angst stage of life, (and not to mention you make the most adorable babies together), but to think that my Baby Girl is actually old enough to meet the man she could marry blows my mind. How did my baby get to be this old? How did I get to be this old? Oh, and for the record, I am not encouraging Zoe to go out and find the man of her dreams just yet. She has big educational aspirations to accomplish first, but I am just saying that if it happens, it happens. It worked for me!

Even though the boys and I were already into our second week of school, we attended a Back-to-Homeschool party with our homeschooling group, the Charlotte County Homeschoolers. The boys had a blast! In total there were thirty-nine kids and the sun broke through the fog just in time for all of those kids to hop into the pool. 

Avery's "class" (Grade 4)

Elliot's "class" (Grade 7)

It is interesting to note that Elliot hangs out with all the kids in the grade 5 "class" and even asked to join them when we start up our science lab classes at the Huntsman Aquarium in November. If you look at this picture, he even looks like a grade 5 kid not one of those grade 7's, which really makes me wish our world was not set up the way it is. It drives me crazy that we assign children to grades according to their age and not their capabilities. Some kids mature very quickly and others take a little more time. In fact, I had a paediatrician tell me this once after she examined Elliot. She said he is simply younger than his age: physically, intellectually, and emotionally. I wish I could white out his birth certificate and change the year of his birth to 2003 rather than 2001. As a ten year old, he would rock the world! Unfortunately, this is not an option, but thankfully, I do homeschool him and this offers me a little more freedom in choosing curriculum that are better suited to where he is in his intellectual development. Ooooh! Profound thought: I wonder how many of these "disabilities", "syndromes" and "deficits" we could actually eliminate if we simply taught and treated children at their own level rather than the one we expect them to be at!!!! 

Anyhoo . . . sorry about that tangent. It is just something I have been thinking about lately.

While the boys ran wild with all of their friends, I spent the afternoon talking about homeschooling high school kids with a woman I just met, who also happens to be the breastfeeding mentor at the hospital, and so I also drove her crazy with all my "what if I forget how to do it" questions . . . tee hee! She assured me that breastfeeding is like riding bike and that I will have no problem, but I am still unsure and informed her that she better be working when I go in to have Thing 4. Oh, and to make my afternoon even more spectacular, I got to hold the cutest three month old baby girl. She was adorable! She had lots of brown hair (oh, how I love babies with hair!) and slate blue eyes like all of my  babies did. It felt so good to be holding a baby again, but let me tell you, Thing 4 was not impressed. He or she kicked up a storm and kicked that poor baby something terrible. Elliot suggested that perhaps Thing 4 was simply happy to have a friend so close by, but call it mama's intuition, I think Thing 4 was put out.

Hey! I am the only baby she is supposed to coo and fuss over.

Later that night, as Thing 4 was performing his or her happy dance for me just as I was about to fall asleep, I had a stern talking to with him or her. 

Thing 4, you are number 4. That means you have to share me. I am sorry, but that is just the way it has to be. 

To which, Thing 4 gave me one more giant boot to the rib cage, in what I can only imagine to be his or her first temper tantrum, and then went to sleep . . . tee hee!

Sadly, I really am this crazy.

And here are this week's bump pictures. Can you spot Avery? CREEPY! For the record, do not take your kids into Value Village right now if you don't want them to become Halloween obsessed like my two monkeys currently are. 

Oh, but do go into Value Village right now if you are desperately looking for some maternity jeans that fit just right and that fit into the budget even better. Seven dollars and they fit like a glove!  

And there you have it; all my thoughts and pictures from the first week of September. Fascinating, right? 

tee hee!

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! :)

The First Day Back

Okay, so I know I said I would not be blogging this week, but I am on such a high right now that I can not help myself. We had the BEST first day of school EVER! I mean it, and I am not talking about just for us, but I am talking about the best first day back to school for all of humanity. It was truly amazing! I don't know if it was due to the fact that this is our third year of homeschooling and perhaps I have finally figured it all out. I don't know if it is because Elliot, after three years, has finally caught the vision, and I don't know if Hell has finally frozen over, but whatever it is, whatever guardian angel was sent to smooth things out for us today, I will take it, and I am forever grateful for it. Seriously, I was expecting all kinds of awful, but none of that happened. I had two, cooperative, albeit not impressed that summer vacation was over, boys who worked their butts off. Sure there was a time out for pushing, a time out for a change in attitude, and a time when the mama had to raise her voice in order to reign in her hoodlums and stop them from jumping on the couch, but heck, that is nothing! There were no tantrums thrown, there were no tears, there were no shut-downs and there were no mutinies. Yep, I can safely declare this to be the best first day back to school ever!

The day began at 7am, and much to my shock, although the boys were exhausted from our Back to to School Feast and Festivities the night prior (more on this tomorrow), they got out of bed and went straight to work doing their morning routine. No big deal, right? WRONG! This was a huge deal because it was just last night that I informed Elliot that he no longer gets a half an hour of screen time before school starts for getting up out of bed on time and performing his routine within the allotted time. The even crazier thing is that when I first informed him of this new change to the routine, which I thought alone could bring upon the apocalypse, he rolled his eyes and simply walked away. 

What no screaming? No accusing me of being the worst mother on the face of the earth?  No cry for an end to this cruel and unusual punishment inflicted upon innocent and deserving children?

I guess not. The alarm went off this morning, and he was ready to start the day by 8am. It was kind of anti-climatic.

Then, he worked his hardest all day long. I heard him chuckle while reading his new novel, The Indian in the Cupboard. He got really into a project we did for our study of Ancient China, where the boys decorated our bulletin board with illustrations and facts about the animals of China. He took notes in Science, wrote out his spelling words in both cursive and print, and he did his math warm up of 80 multiplication facts in the blink of an eye AND with only one mistake. Folks, I don't know where my son is, but if you find him, there is no need to return him. I am quite happy with this impostor . . . tee hee!

Sure, I am going on and on about Elliot, but Avery had a great day too. Yes, he was the one who had the two time outs and he was the one who instigated the mid-school break of rough-housing in the living room, but he aced everything he did! At one point, he was doing his math, his grade four math (I can't believe he is in grade four!), and he turned to me and exclaimed:

This math is soooo easy, and you were afraid that summer vacation would rot my brain . . .  wrong!

. . .  tee hee!

I love that kid!

Yep, the day was pretty spectacular, and it even ended on a good note. Elliot did his homework without complaint (he completes his corrections from that day as homework now in preparation for high school,which is only two years away . . . eeek!). We had no where to go and so the boys spent the evening golfing with crab apples in our backyard (again, I have the funniest kids!), which allowed me to tackle one job on my chore list. Baby Girl did a fashion show for me with all the clothes her Grammie bought for her today during their girls-day-out, and we had leftovers for supper (no fuss, no muss, and more importantly, no mess!) Pinch me, I must dreaming! And now for the proof:

Our jam-packed lesson plan, which was way too much because we did not finish it all until 4pm, but no one complained!

Two hard working boys:

Our Animals of China bulletin board:

One of Elliot's drawings. I had to laugh when I noticed that he was putting funny captions alongside each of his animals. This one is of the Takin, who we learnt is considered the rarest animal in the world; therefore Elliot wrote: "The zookeeper says I'm special!" . . . tee hee!

Here is Avery's camel. Avery LOVES to draw and so he took this assignment very seriously. I love how he coloured the camel in two tones of brown, and he included the fact that camels do NOT carry water in their humps. This fact blew his mind! I swear he found this even more shocking than the Santa Secret, which he also just figured out today. It's a long story, but let's just put it this way, he handled it much better than his brother . . . tee hee! 

The very yummy, and definitely not nutritious in any way shape or form, lunch that Grammie delivered to the boys when she picked up Zoe for their lunch and shopping date. They were in heaven, and I lost track of how many times they exclaimed: "Grammie is the best!"

Yep, this indeed was the best first day back to school ever!

And now I am preparing myself for the inevitable crash that I like to call "day two" . . . tee hee! Come on, let's be realistic here. This was just one of those cosmic irregularities, which will never come along again in my lifetime . . . but I can hope.

Wish me luck!

Eleven Days Worth of Nonsense

You are going to have to forgive me, but I am about to cram a whole lot of nonsense into today's post because this will be the last one for awhile. We are taking a quick jaunt up to Halifax tomorrow for Baby Girl's appointment at the IWK, then we are rushing home to begin our whirlwind weekend of soccer, soccer and more soccer. Go Hampton U16AA girls!  On Sunday, we are going to church (as long as a certain someone's head remains lice-free . . . keep praying for us), and then we are having our annual Back to School Feast 

Our theme this year is "Seek Learning", and we will be reading this article to inspire and encourage the Wee Websters and Mr. Level-Headed in their upcoming year of studies. I know . . . I am such a geek! I don't even know when I am going to have a chance to make all the food we have planned.

Then, it is showtime: Monday morning the boys and I will be waking up bright and early to kick off our first day of school . . . eeeeek! Where did the summer go? I am taking the first week of school off from the blog because I foresee having to channel all of my energy into motivating, consoling, and prodding my boys of summer back into a routine. Ugh! This is not going to be easy.  . . . again, keep me in your prayers.

Anyhoo . . . 

11 days worth of Shenanigans Inc. is about to commence in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

This week marks my 27th week of being pregnant. I am really enjoying this pregnancy, but I am reaching the point now where all I want to do is to meet my baby. People always ask me what I think I am having, and in all honesty, I don't have a clue. Sure, some books say that mom's have a keen intuition about the gender of their baby, but that has never been the case with me. For Zoe, I thought I was having a boy. For both Elliot and Avery, I thought I was having girls. Clearly, I am not a reliable source, and since I have never had success with my past guesses, I haven't even tried to make a prediction for this little one. Some days, Thing 4 is a Leif and some days, Thing 4 is a Harriet. Even my dreams seem to be confused!

Last week I had a very vivid dream, where I was taking Thing 4 to the doctor because he or she had a diaper rash. When the doctor took off Thing 4's diaper to see the rash, this little penis popped up. I was shocked and exclaimed:

You're a boy?! I thought you were a girl.

Then I picked up my baby and held him close to my face. I whispered:

Really? You are my Leif and not my Harriet.

I could not get over the shock, but I was pleased nonetheless. When I awoke from that dream, I was convinced that Thing 4 is a boy.

Then . . .

A couple of nights ago, I had another dream. I do not remember the premise of this dream, but I do remember Mr. Level-Headed sitting in a big, comfy chair, talking to our baby girl, Harriet, who at this point was a toddler. She had a head full of curly, brown hair and was asking him a million and one questions. When I awoke from this dream, I started thinking that perhaps we are having a girl . . . tee hee!

Ultimately, I guess we will have to wait another 12 weeks before we know for certain, but I am having a lot of fun speculating on who this little person I am carrying actually is.

27 week bump

 But there is one thing I know for certain, and that is that this craving for poutine has got to stop. I am not even going to tell you how many poutines I have had since Friday night, but know this, it is more than two and less than four . . . tee hee! Oh, and for the record, Costco makes a ridiculously good poutine and it is super huge and it is super cheap. Costco, you just keep getting better and better in my eyes . . . 

Look at those cheese curds! Some of them were as big as the french fries . . .  Heaven!

Yesterday, was a big day here at Shenanigans Inc. Not only did I discover Costco poutine, but Elliot finished a honk'n huge novel that he actually started during the school year. It took him 30 minutes a day/ five days a week for about three months, but he got through it and more importantly, he enjoyed it! In fact, he has already picked up the second book in the series and asked if he could read it just for fun.

Ummmmmm. . . YES!

How long have I waited to hear those words being uttered from one of my children's mouths? Far too long if you ask me.

The book is called the Beyonders and the third one just came out.

Funny, Elliot. Very funny!

Oh, and since we are talking about books, Baby Girl ACTUALLY read a book this summer. A big kid's book, nonetheless, and it was fiction . . . gasp! This may come as a shock to you, but as smart as that girl is, she is not a reader. Sure, she has a stack of non-fiction books, fact books, and Baby Mouse graphic novels by her bed at all times, but she is not one to sit and read a novel. Well, that all changed this summer and I am giddy about it. Perhaps we need to start up our very own mother-daughter book club . . . only kidding Baby Girl. I promise to take it slow . . . tee hee!

And that is all, folks. I hope you had your fill of us. See you in September!

Weekend Plans

It's Friday and the weekend is finally upon us. For most of the summer, our weekdays just blended in with our weekends. There really was no distinction, but, since the boys and I are starting school in just 10 days . . . eeek!, life here at Shenanigans Inc. has been slowing returning to our usual ebb and flow, and I like it. 

Being the weekend, do you have any big plans? I do . . .

As it turns out, and through nothing short of divine intervention, Mr. Level-Headed and I have an entire evening home alone with no kids. Well, Thing 4, of course, will be here, but no big kids. Hallelujah! At first, we considered going out to dinner and seeing a movie, my favourite date night package, but then it dawned on us that we don't have to go anywhere. We have no one to escape! So, we have decided to bring food in and rent a movie. I am giddy about this!

My other plans this weekend include going to a baby yard sale and then onto Toys R' Us with my fellow preggo mama, my baby sister, to register for our baby showers. See Marjorie, I do listen! This is going to be so much fun! Baby shopping is the best.

And finally, I will be doing lots of colouring, cutting and laminating. Yep, like I said, school starts in just ten days and I have lots to get ready. Oh, and don't think for a second that this is the least exciting thing I have to do this weekend, because, quite frankly, I live for this kind of stuff . . . tee hee!

See you on Monday!