partial update

i'm out of time but here are some pics...

hallie touching a baby chick

a puppet show field trip at john janzen nature center
the baby chicks...
sisters
woah! scary emmy!
sisters...

dayhome shuffle

well i've decided to keep my current dayhome boy. yes, the mornings suck but they are becoming more routine and we're dealing with it. in the end i decided that we are all pretty happy with the current arrangement so why bother changing, especially when i have no clue how the other 2 kids would have fit in. my kids are VERY excited that L is staying, they love him. L is happy too, as are his parents. we don't know what will happen come fall but we won't worry about it until then.

blue lips & hands?

emerson the other night had purple/blue coloring to her hands, a bit of lower arms, and her lips. i still am not sure why... perhaps she was cold? (she wasn't shivering or anything?!?) or is this an oxygen thing? i took a picture anyway just to see if anyone else could notice it or if it was just me. kipp also noticed... hmmm....

through a child's eye

the kids use our old camera now to take pics... the shots below are taken by the kids, some from the old house and some from this house. i find it funny to look at them after and see what they choose to capture... hallie likes to take pictures of her stuffed animals in various places, or her toys, or things in her room. kai usually takes pictures of people, and he really is quite good at it!

yes, that's my son coming down the stairs in his laundry hamper. hallie must have taken it. where was i?!??!!!! LOL

this was at one of our st.patrick's day parties this past week. hallie was hurt and this boy was being so concerned, he was rubbing her leg, it was so cute. what a nice little guy!

kai took this, of hallie and her best bud mackenzie



kai took this as well...

ok i took this one, it's a pic of kai doing his "dancing" as he calls it. he is pretty good at whatever it is he does!
here is emerson trying to imitate her big brother! so cute!

i was looking through my list of people who are on my "allow" list to read my blog and there are soooooooo many of you who never comment. so, this is your chance to comment! i'm going to delete those from the list who haven't commented, just because it's weird for people to view so many pictures of us, read about us, etc. and yet i have no idea that you're reading. make sense?

so... who is all reading? :)

puke

i just emailed this to a good friend... one who does not yet have kids. and i thought it was blog worthy...

"lindsey --

when you have a baby and you're thinking it's so cute... i bet you'll never imagine you will one day be picking pieces of it's puke out of your washing machine... you know, the big chunks of hot dog and other unidentified stomach contents that won't drain out?!!! EW EW EW at least since the chunks went through the wash, they are clean chunks, but still chunks! very very gross.

another funny puke moment was when i bent over and kai was behind me (a year ago or so) and he threw up, right into the back of my pj pants, all down my butt and legs and onto my feet. another thing you never imagine will happen when you're staring down at your beautiful, new baby! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

be warned!!!! you WILL one day have some gross, but funny (funny later, like way later after they happen!) stories that center around puke."

kai

he is so tough to get a picture of these days, but i got a couple last week. the first one i bribed him, the second one he looks like joe kool but still with a sippy cup ;)

our mess!!!

it's SO messy over here now that everything is melting! i really don't want to complain because i want the snow gone so i guess i have to trade one thing for another. i'll trade my parking in my garage for no snow. it sux... i was spoiled those first 2 weeks we lived here. the ground was frozen and i drove in and out of our garage no problem. now... nope! it's a muddy pit! in these pics you can see my van WAS in the garage, but that was likely the last time until after we get a driveway. they are telling me hopefully by late may. so that means.... july?!? ha ha i hope not!

hallie and mackenzie playing in the MUD aka my driveway

kai, enjoying the snow for a bit longer...

there are 5 boys all ages 3 & 4 who live within 3 houses of each other... twins, then my kai, then 2 boys next door. the trucks were out in full force!
slush!!!

our basement

hallie, enjoying the playhouse

the long wall in the basement... we have to get rid of some toys. way too many for down there...
the girls checking out the house

the cut out in the wall is for a pocket door that will be going in this week ASAP, and that room is home to our new deep freeze, the washer/dryer, my drying racks, and then there is a separate door which leads into our furnace room on the right side. on the left you can see a white door which leads to our future bathroom. for now it is just a storage room.

more toys

we didn't finish the ceiling, and i don't think we will for a while. i don't see the point myself. i think we are getting baseboards but to be honest, i could care less if we do. i'd rather not spend any more money!!!

my sleepy boy.... awwww!!!
the kids enjoying the new playroom (well, kai is enjoying the couch i guess!)



we have this long hallway leading into the playroom area... you come down the stairs and have to walk down this hallway... i guess that is because of our garage.

the stairs going back up... they are carpeted and were finished by the builder. the basement carpet is different.

kipp bought me a new mouse! it's WAY better, i can't believe we didn't get one sooner for the whole $25 it cost. so uncle derek was here all weekend, he just left. the kids sure loved having him here... he plays non-stop! (mommy doesn't play non-stop....i'm not as fun!)

oh shoot! i just realized we got no pictures at all this weekend. oops! that sux.

sick

i have a chest cold. i hate being sick. the older i get, the worse it is being sick. it hurts all over and takes FOREVER to get over it. when i was younger, it seemed to be easier. and i'm not even old!!!!!!!!!!!! that really scares me for when i'm even older.... LOL yikes!

uncle derek arrives tomorrow. we are all excited to have him here for the weekend. the kids have been counting down the sleeps. (derek is kipp's brother from vancouver)

ok gotta run.............. back to lounging in pj's and breaking up fights. actually, the kids are playing pretty nicely today *knock on wood* -- we're aiming to get out for a walk later, it's supposed to be +5!!! woo hoo!

bday party

one of the many parties we attended in the past couple of weeks. i forgot my camera at the one we went to friday, darn! so this is thursday's party -- moira turned 3! they live in our neighborhood, so it was nice and close.

friday we went to chuck E cheese and dominic turned 4! woo hoo! it was also a great party, kids had a BLAST and were sooooooooooo tired that night!

update yer blog already, sheesh!! ok ok....

sunday i took the kids to the muttart again. they enjoy it there! funny thing... i never have actually taken a picture of a flower there, only my kids. you can see where my passion lies, eh?! i bought a multi-facility pass too, i figure we'll make good use of it! it's good at the muttart, the zoo, fort edmonton, and john janzen nature center. good for one year!

sooo....

perogy mess (sour cream)

soooo.... i've given notice to one dayhome family. i didn't give a deadline but just told them to start looking for care elsewhere and explained why. it went much better than i could have thought. i also found someone who wants to do the morning half of the day, and i can still do after school so i presented that. this would be ideal because honestly, i don't want to see this kid go :( it makes me sad and i know my kids will be heartbroken.... ugh. my stomach hurts. :(

house

some of you asked some questions about our new house... our builder is maple isle homes -- a very small, custom home builder. we are very happy with everything, even though we had some bumps in the road to begin with. it's a nice, small company -- the owner also lives on our street, as well as the site super dude, framer, the site super's daughter... it's a close little community. it has been great! they can't run away from us if we do have issues LOL!

and yes, we are done unpacking. totally. we were done last week on sunday/monday. moved in on saturday. we even have 1 picture hung! (i have to still decide on WHERE to put the rest) in case you forgot, my husband is OCD and cannot have things out of place for long. therefore, our unpacking goes FAST. plus, we have done this a few times before ;) this was the first time we hired movers and it still was a TON of work and we also ended up paying them a small fortune... it was nice to have extra muscles and a truck but still.....

ramblings...

so the basement is almost done. the electrical is done, the framing is done, the drywall is done.... we were not planning to mud/tape/paint however we are now considering it. it would have to be done FAST like this week and it would have to be affordable. so we'll see. carpet is being put in either friday or monday....

i am having a dilemma with my dayhome.... now that we have moved, i have to walk the before & after school child to the bus in the morning. this REALLY REALLY sux. i have been packing up 5 kids, most in pj's and driving down the street to the bus stop. it's not working. before, a neighbor walked him but now we aren't close to them. i'm really hating it. when it's nicer, we can walk but even then it's just a pain!! the after school part is fine because i pick him up. it's not a big deal as i'm usually out picking up my own kids from school. sooooooooo financially i don't "need" him and i could let him go... however i know they are counting on me and i just hate giving families notice. i am stuck on what i should do. any advice???? should i cut out some stress and just give notice? or suck it up and work until the end of the school year, and then give notice. i don't think i can keep him for the summer. i have 2 new kids starting in the summer and they will require walking the bus too next fall, however i will have to be up and have the kids dressed anyway as they will be going mornings next year. aaaaaahhhhh help!????

blah!