Kill girl

On Saturday I decided that it was time for a haircut.  It had been quite a while since my last one, so it was needed.  I should clarify that when I say haircut I mean buzz it all off with a clipper.  I decided a couple of years ago that it no longer paid to have someone cut the few hairs that are on the top of my head.  It maybe wasn't the best timing considering the weather out there - it was quite the shock to my scalp to feel the -40 degree windchill.  Anyway, Julie buzzed me after the girls were in bed on Saturday.  When they woke up Sunday morning, the first sound that escaped both Jorja's and Ginny's mouths was a giggle.  I'm not sure how I should have taken that.  I decided not to let it bother me.  On Monday when I picked the girls up from Dee's house, I was wearing my touque (a necessity now).  Ginny asked me, "Did you get your hair back Daddy?"  Not quite yet Ginny.

This evening Ginny found an ant on the bathroom floor.  I'm not sure where they come from at this time of year, but there it was.  Usually when Jorja sees a bug it's the end of the world.  Screaming, kill it Daddy, I'm scared, the whole nine yards.  Ginny has kind of taken Jorja's lead in this matter, except for today.  I'm not sure what clicked in her head, but she was on a mission.  "There's an ant Daddy!  Let me get it!  I'm the kill girl!"  All right then, I'll stay out of your way.  Later.

Speaking of...

The other day at breakfast, the girls were looking at the flowers on the table.  Jorja asked if they had drank all their water.  I said that I had put some in yesterday.  Then Ginny said that she would like water to drink for breakfast.  Jorja then piped up, "No Ginny, you should say, 'speaking of water, I would like some for breakfast.'"  Where does she get this stuff from.  Then she did the same thing at lunch time.  It was Friday and I was getting her backpack ready for school.  I asked her what she wanted to take for a snack.  Then Ginny said she wanted a granola bar for her snack.  Jorja said, "No Ginny, you should say, 'speaking of snacks, I would like a granola bar.'"  Sheesh.

Friday morning, CeCe had her one year shots.  She did pretty good, all things considered.  She cried of course, but who wouldn't.  Julie works Fridays, so had all three of them to take with me.  Ginny was a little upset by the whole thing - she doesn't like to see her sister hurt.  "Will there be a hole?"  she asked me.  Poor thing.  She held it together though and didn't quite have any tears.  They've changed things again though and combined some vaccines.  There were only two needles instead of three like the other girls had.

Ginny is now pretty comfortable pooping in the toilet.  So much so that she and Jorja have started discussing it.  Ginny had went yesterday and Jorja asked her, "How many turds did you have Ginny?"  "Six," she said, "they kind of looked like a flower."  If only they smelled that way.

Last night Jorja came into my room in the middle of the night quite upset because something was wrong with her clock.  "Daddy!  Daddy!  You've got to come see my clock!  There's something wrong.  It says '1 h two dots h.'"  I tried to assure her that it was fine, but she was not letting go of this, so I went to look.  I have to admit that in my semi-conscious state I was a bit confused myself.  It really did say '1h:1'.  Then I looked closer.  Somehow the clock got turned upside down.  It was 1:41.  As Pooh and Tigger say, 'this mystery is history.'  Later.

How long can she go?

Things have been happening slowly with the plumbing issue.  I called insurance and it looks like we should be covered, to that's good.  The adjuster was too busy to come out all week, so probably next week.  In the meantime, we had a plumber in to fix the issue and another company came in and took care of all the mold and cut out a big chunk of carpet.  Now we have the couch blocking a triangular area in the corner with no carpet and we can function pretty much normally for now. 

I also forgot to mention that our desktop computer crapped out last weekend too.  A friend of ours is looking at it, but he's pretty sure it's the hard drive.  Originally I was worried that I hadn't backed up any pictures from the past year, but I did some last May.  At least we still have CeCe's baby pictures.  We don't have her first Christmas though, or Jorja starting school.  I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself - I don't know for sure that they're gone.

Through all this stuff, I was trying to stay positive and look at the bright side (I'm not too sure what that is).  I guess it could have been worse.  Despite the brave front I'm trying to put on, the knot in the middle of my back tells me that this is all bothering more than I would like to think it is.

Ginny has not pooped since Sunday.  Every night she gets ready for bed, puts her pullup on for night and asks if she can poop in the pullup.  We say no and then she doesn't go.  Poor thing.  It's just going to fall out here again pretty soon.  She was walking around this evening looking pretty uncomfortable.  She's stubborn, but I'm not sure how much longer she'll be able to hold on.  My guess is she'll let loose tomorrow when I'm home alone with them.  Good times.

CeCe turns one on Monday - it's hard to believe.  All her grandparents are coming for the party, so that should be fun this weekend.  Now to get the house presentable.  Later.

Plumbing

This weekend has had it's ups and downs.  It all started a little over a week ago.  There was a wet spot on the carpet in front of the computer (right where you put your feet when you're sitting there).  We asked Ginny if she spilled her water there and she said that yes she did.  Poor thing is admitting to crimes she didn't even commit - I'll get to her innocence in a minute.  We put a fan on the floor there and it took two days to dry out.  That probably should have been our first clue.  A couple of days later it was wet again.  It didn't seem to make much sense, because it was right on top of a concrete floor.  So last night after the girls were in bed, I started to peel back the carpet to see what I could see.  Well, the whole corner of the room under the computer desk was wet and had been for a while - long enough for there to be mold there.  My brother came over (bless him) and helped me find the problem.  A fair bit of soft, wet drywall later, we found the culprit behind the wall.  The main sewer drain pipe from our upstairs bathroom had a leak from one of its joints.  Talk about gross.  This had been happening for I don't know how long, but way too long none the less.  So tomorrow I'll call the insurance company and see if we're covered and the plumber is already booked in for tomorrow afternoon.  Meanwhile the family room is slightly rearranged furniture-wise to keep the kids out of the contamination/construction zone.  Fun stuff.

On the upside, Ginny finally pooped in the potty today.  She has been wearing panties quite successfully for some time now, but still had not gone poop in the toilet.  She usually asked for a pullup after supper and we'd let her do her business in there.  Not any more.  She wanted one so bad today, the poop was basically falling out by the time she finally gave in and went on the toilet.  But she did it!  Yahoo!  One more to go.  Later.

The case of the missing soothers

I think the sickness in our house is finally on the upswing.  The antibiotics seem to have CeCe's ear infection under control and Jorja isn't coughing at all anymore.  Ginny still has a bit of a cough, but not too bad.  Last night was the best night CeCe had in a long time.  She woke up once before we went to bed and I gave her her soother, and then she slept all night.  It was monumental really.  If is wasn't for Ginny falling out of bed once and then me waking up with Jorja beside me once, it would have been a perfect night.  Apparently Jorja had a bad dream and crawled in - I was oblivious to that until my arm was asleep and I woke to find a little head on it.  Crazy.  Anyway, back to CeCe.  We always keep a spare soother on her dresser for when she wakes up in the night.  It's just easier to grab that and plug her rather than fishing around in the dark trying to find the one she lost.  So last night I had given her the spare before we went to bed and not found the other one.  Fast forward to this morning.  I turned my alarm off and went back to sleep.  I woke up to Jorja standing beside me asking if I was going to work.  Well, I shot up and and got dressed, put Jorja back to bed and brushed my teeth.  That's when CeCe started to wail.  Loudly.  I went in there and couldn't find any soothers anywhere.  She was screaming.  I started looking under the crib and still couldn't find any.  Julie was in there by now and rocking CeCe, but without the soother, that was still a pretty noisy affair.  I turned on her night light and still couldn't find them.  I moved the crib away from the wall because that is where they often fall.  Still nothing.  Finally I ran downstairs and got the one we keep clipped to her snowsuit.  Julie got her calmed down and I was out the door.  I still made it on time (pretty much) and CeCe went back to sleep.  It was an interesting way to start the day to say the least.  Later.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

I hope everyone is having a good start to 2011.  Our new year has been a little less than smooth.  Julie went back to work on Monday, and that went pretty well.  She's doing all right so far - just half days this week.  The girls are not adjusting quite as well.  CeCe remembered being left at the sitter's place before Christmas and immediately voiced her displeasure with being left there again on the first day.  And on the second day.  And on the third day.  Tomorrow?  We'll see - I'm guessing more of the same.  Ginny seemed to do fairly well on the two practice runs before  Christmas, and the first day wasn't too bad.  The second was not pretty and today was even worse.  It started last night before she went to bed - she was crying  that she didn't  want to go.  Then she was up at 6:30 saying she didn't want to go.  Jorja has done remarkably well with this change - maybe her reaction is still coming.  Needless  to say, there  is going to be a bit of an adjustment period. 

I start work at 6:00 am, so Julie gets to be the drop-off person.  I get the pick-up job.  Who got the short end of that stick?  The first day I picked them up, CeCe was so excited she didn't know of she should laugh or cry.  It was kind of a mixture.  The other two gave me a greeting fit for someone  they hadn't seen  in years.  Yeah, I've definitely got the easy job.

Anyhow, one more day of work for me, and then I get the three little darlings all to myself on Friday.  We've got a trip to the pet store planned  - I had to give Ginny something to look forward to and that seemed to do.  It's a cheap and easy fix - there probably won't be many more of those as they grow up.

By the way, what the heck happened to Canada tonight?  5 goals.  Really guys?  Really?  Later.   

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year

It's been a busy couple of weeks here, and a while since I've written anything.  I guess I should squeeze one more post in before the new year.  I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a safe New Year.

Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve.  We went to the evening service at church which started at 6:30.  It's a tradition that the last song (Silent Night) is sung by candle light.  Everyone gets a candle and the lights are turned off and the flame is passed from one person to another starting with the Christ candle.  We decided this year that the girls could each hold a candle.  Ginny did fine (surprisingly), but Jorja had a bit of a mishap.  She was getting into things and decided to hold the candle above her head.  The only problem with that was that she didn't keep it very level and dripped hot wax onto her head.  Ouch!  It wasn't a very silent night after that, but we made it through and combed some wax out of her hair when we got home. 

We then opened presents Christmas eve when we got home from church.  (Except for CeCe - she had had enough and was ready for bed)  The girls were pretty excited and had a lot of fun.  We got them a doll house this year.  It's funny, one doesn't realize the scale of a doll house when it is set up in Toys R Us.  It didn't look that big, but once it was home and set up, it is a real presence in the room.  Oh well, it will only be around for a few more years, and the shade of hot pink looks great in the family room.

Christmas toes

Jorja and Ginny in their new PJs opening presents

CeCe in front of the aftermath

Christmas day the weather was beautiful and I took the older two girls to the park to go sledding.  Jorja had mentioned once that a friend of hers brought a sled to school one day and they went sliding down the 'biggest hill ever'.  I've seen the playground and I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, but I thought we'd see.  Her 'hill' was basically a large trench through the park - pretty lame.  Across the field at the public school, there is a bit of an actual hill, so that's where we went.  We had a lot of fun.  The hill wasn't too big, and for the first few runs, I ended up being the chair lift and pulled the two of them in the sled up the hill.  I came to my senses and made them walk up.  Then we all piled in and went down a few times.  Here's the view heading down.

Not the biggest hill, but we had fun.

On boxing day, we set out for Julie's parent's place where we feasted that evening.  We had another Christmas and the girls had fun again.  CeCe wasn't too into the presents yet this year, but she did have fun with a bow for a while.  The weather there was nice, and we went sledding in some hills in the field.  This was considerably bigger than the school hill, and I think the adults had more fun than the kids.  The girls had fun playing with their aunt and uncle and Nanny and Poppa.  They also got to spend some time with both great-grannies, so that was nice. 

Jorja must have been hearing some politically correct greeting this year, because one afternoon out of the blue she said to me, "Seasons ingredients!"  I smiled and said "Seasons ingredients" back to her.  (Yes, I did correct her after a while.)  Another afternoon she was helping Poppa in his office punching some holes in some papers.  She proudly came up afterward and declared she was his 'secondtary'.  So close on both occasions.

We came home on the 29th, and now it seems like the crunch is really on.  Julie goes back to work on Monday, the girls start at the sitter full time and Jorja goes back to school.  I'm back at work too.  It seems like this January back-to-work date for Julie has just sort of been looming in the distance, but now it's here and there seems like there is so much to do.  We went on a big shopping excursion yesterday to buy all the supplies for the sitter - diapers, wipes, zinc cream.  Plus we needed all that stuff for ourselves.  Julie needed some new shoes and uniforms for work, so we got that taken care of as well.  It was rather draining by the time we were done - physically, mentally and financially.  But we're getting there.

Now we are having some friends over tonight, my parents tomorrow for one last Christmas and then it's back to reality.  Have a good New Year's and try to stay warm.  Later.

Ho Ho Ho!

As close as Ginny would get.

With the exception of the Roughrider game, we had a great weekend.  Julie and I were able to attend my Christmas party and the new sitter did great.  Even though (surprise, surprise) our middle child pulled some fast stuff at bedtime and CeCe was a bit unsettled later on, we were still able to stay out until midnight.  The supper was great and the dessert table was to die for.  The entertainment was a game show and it was fun for a while, just went on a bit too long.  That was followed by a dance and Karaoke.  I sang 'Sweet Caroline' and was waiting for my Waylon song to come when the phone rang.  CeCe was awake and not settling.  Oh well, it was good while it lasted.  We arrived home to find all quiet, the sitter rocking CeCe and trying to get her back to sleep.  Did I mention I was impressed with her?

I want a doll house...



I'll stare you down old man.



Sunday evening brought the kids' party.  The girls were beside themselves all day long.  We were barely home from church and they were asking if it was time yet.  It was held at the Fun Factory and the girls did have a blast.  There is this whole jungle gym set-up with slides, tunnels, ball pits.   Ginny turned out to be a bit short for a couple of spots.  There was this one spot where a slide came down into a ball pit and then there was this tunnel to crawl out of.  The only problem was that she couldn't get up into the tunnel.  So when I came to check on her, here she was stuck in this ball pit dead end.  Poor thing.  This meant that I had to go in though.  I managed to get through the tunnel and fish her out and gave her strict instructions not to head that way again.  "Why not?" was the response I got.  Good question.  We had supper and then Santa came.  Ginny was  having nothing to with him.  I'm proud to say we had the only child that freaked out and screamed when trying to be coerced into sitting on Santa's lap.  Even CeCe did good.  She tried to stare him down, didn't crack a smile, but there were no tears.  The gifts they got were awesome too.

  

The other day I was wearing a Tshirt with the Superman symbol on the front.  I have had the shirt for a long time, just hadn't worn it in forever.  I don't think Ginny had ever seen it.  (This is another one of those examples of how doomed I am, being the only guy in the house.)  I was trying to explain to Ginny what it was - the S for Superman.  She just didn't get it.  The next day she told me that she like my jewel shirt.  Need I say more.

Jorja has informed us that everything she knows she has learned 'from Kindergarten and commercials.'  The more time we spend in the toy aisles before Christmas the more I am inclined to believe her.  They always love to push all the buttons on everything and see what wondrous noises things make.  When something doesn't work, she says, "Batteries not included."  Later.

Broccoli

I like potatoes.  I like cheese.  I like broccoli (really, I do).  I like cheese on broccoli.  So when I saw the baby food jar labeled 'Potato Broccoli and Cheese Casserole,' I thought it sounded like a good idea.  Let me start by saying that each of the girls had at least one flavour of baby food that made them gag.  For the older two, it was peas.  Once they were old enough to eat real peas, they loved them.  But the pureed variety - not so much.  CeCe has had a few flavours that she is not that fond of, but nothing that she absolutely couldn't stand.  Well, I found it.  I gave her a spoonful of the 'casserole' and she proceeded to gag and sputter.  Hmm.  I gave her a few spoonfuls of cereal and then I thought I'd try again.  Maybe she was just choking.  No.  Again the gagging and heaving.  Enough said.  I brought out some fruit and all was well.  I guess I was an adult before I liked broccoli, so we'll see.  Maybe once she is onto more solid food she will like it.  Maybe she'll be like her sisters and not like it.

Let me tell you about one of the first times I ate broccoli.  The year was 1999.  Julie and I had just started dating and she lived in LaRonge at the time.  I went up to see her for a weekend and she cooked for me.  Now my idea of vegetables at that time were peas and corn.  Well, she made a stir-fry with all sorts of things that scared me half to death - broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, zucchini.  What was I going to do?  Here was this girl that I really liked and wanted to impress, yet every fibre of my being told me I wasn't going to like this.  One rule my Dad had always impressed on me as a child was that when you are at someone else's house, you eat what's on the table.  So, sweaty palms and all, I bit the bullet.  And it was actually good.  I was shocked and impressed all at once.  Who knew?  To this day, that is one of my favourite things.  Later.

Freedom

This weekend we had a first since CeCe came - six hours totally kid-free. A good friend of ours offered to take our kids (all three!) for the afternoon. What a blessing. It was nice to just relax and go out for once as a couple again. We went and looked for new cell phones, got some new shoes and went for supper. It was strange not having to worry about any kids during supper. Then last night we had a sitter for the older two while we went to our small group meeting with friends from church. Such freedom.

I'm not sure if it's the transition of Jorja in Kindergarten, the impending return of me to work, or just her age, but Ginny has started acting out some of those terrible twos tantrums on a more regular basis. It's funny, because she seems older than two most of the time (with the exception of diapers). And we sort of thought she went through the terrible two stage when she was one. Not so lucky I guess. Oh well, there's plenty more changes coming to rock her little world yet in the coming months, so I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better. Let's hope there's still a bit of hair on my head by then.

Jorja is doing good at school - most days she comes home bubbling. You can tell on the days when something upsetting happened. Last week one day, three boys were getting in trouble and it seemed to bother her. Then today, another little girl was throwing sand at her on the playground at recess. And so it begins. I think she seemed to handle it fairly well. She said she asked the girl to stop, and when she wouldn't, she tried going and playing somewhere else. Maybe she'll get a bit of a tougher skin yet.

CeCe's first tooth finally broke through today. It has taken forever and given her constant grief. She actually napped well today for the first time in a while. I guess it's a little early to comment on the night yet, but here's hoping. Later.

Sunday school

Today was the first day of Sunday School for the year. It was also Ginny's first time ever. We had her pretty psyched up about the whole thing - she knew her teacher's name before she went in and was all excited. She did really well too - dropping her off was no issue - no tears, no nothing. It must have been stressing her a little more than she had been letting on, though. After church we went to Fuddrucker's for lunch. The girls both wanted booster seats to sit in, so we went to get some. I tried to hold Ginny's hand and all of a sudden she just freaked out. I'm talking laying down on the floor, screaming. Where did that come from? I tried to pick her up and she did the whole going limp thing - I don't know where they learn that, but it works well. I finally got her to the booster seats, and she picked one up, carried it, and screamed the whole way back to the table. The strange thing is that I wasn't even really embarrassed by it. It's funny what I person gets used to - a couple of years ago I would have been mortified, now it was like 'eh, whatever.'

Julie's parents are down for the weekend. Originally just Julie's Mom was going to come (she has tickets to the Johnny Reid concert tonight) but with the weather being as crappy as it has been and no combining going on, her Dad came too. Last night we went out for supper to Chili's. This was our free meal for the last time we were there. It was much better this time - the food was good, the service was great. When it came time for dessert, Jorja decide she was going to share with Nanny and Poppa. Well, you would swear she hadn't eaten any supper the way she dove into that chocolate cake and ice cream. Now there is one thing you should know - Nanny loves chocolate - you don't mess with her chocolate. Up until this time, I didn't really think the grandkids could do much wrong in her eyes, but Jorja crossed the line. She's laughing about it today, but last night Jorja was getting the look normally reserved for Poppa when he comes home from an auction sale. That is not a good look.

In the girls dress up clothes, they have some pompoms. On Friday before the Rider game, Jorja was pretending to be a cheerleader. I asked her if she was cheering for the riders. She replied that yes she was, and then she picked up a magic wand and said, "And if they start to lose, I'll just use this to help them win." Where was she at last year's Grey Cup game?

While Jorja was in school on Friday, Ginny and I went out by ourselves. Canadian Tire had a car seat on sale, and we are going to need a new one pretty soon. I had also told Ginny she could have a treat, so she found some gummy worms. The clerk put them in a little bag for her, and she thought she was pretty hot stuff after that. There was no getting that bag out of her hand after that. I asked her if she wanted one in the car, and she said no, she was just going to hold the bag. I had to stop at M&M after that, so when we were getting out of the car, I asked her if she wanted to leave her bag in the car. Again, the answer was no. The bag was coming in with us. After I had bought some chicken, and the clerk put it in a bag, Ginny piped up (loudly), "Look Dad! Now we both have bags!" That was the first time I heard that. Later.

Scratched cornea

Yesterday morning we were going to go outside and 'harvest' the garden. The weather is pretty miserable lately and the forecast is for frost this week, so we thought we would get the tomatoes in. There were a few more zucchini and cucumbers, but not much. For some reason, we didn't get any potatoes. I have now dug up all 2o plants, and there was not even enough there for two meals. Anyway, back to where the story had started going. Jorja and Ginny went out first while Julie and I were still getting organized. All of a sudden, the death wail was coming from the back yard. Jorja rounded the corner screaming and covering her eye. The long and short of it was that she found a bungee cord that held the pool cover on that I didn't clean up and got the end of it in her eye. After we got her calmed down and got her to open her eye, there was a visible scratch on her cornea. So Julie called the eye doctor and they were off. I didn't know eye doctors did emergencies. He confirmed the scratched cornea, but thought it would be all right in a couple of days. He gave her some eye drops and she has to go back tomorrow to get it checked. This time he is going to dilate her pupil though to see if anything was done inside. Poor thing. On the upside, she is looking cool wearing sunglasses to Kindergarten.

This afternoon I went outside to work at getting the rest of the garden ready for the rototiller. Ginny came to 'help' me while CeCe napped and Jorja was in school. We have some big, unruly shrubs the backyard that we don't like, and I ended up digging one out today. That was a lot of work. It's a good thing I had help. Well, in her mind anyway. About halfway through, she told me that she pooped. So she went in to get Julie to change her (I was way too muddy). She told Julie that she had to get back out there to work. She had fun though, talked non-stop for over an hour, worked on her slide, pretended the Nemo sprinkle was her baby brother ("SHH Dad, you have to be quiet. He's sleeping). Like I was the one making the noise. Then she was looking over the fence at our neighbour who was in his garden (he's probably 70-something). "I see a boy over there Dad. He's working in his garden too." I wonder how long it's been since he's been called a boy. When you're two, you don't really have that sense not to talk about people when they are right in front of you and listening. Oh well. Later.

Kiersten

The girls like to play little role-playing games where they change their names and act out various scenarios. Most of the time up until lately, Jorja has picked names for both of them, but Ginny is starting to exert some Independence. For the past two days, she has been Kiersten. (She has an older cousin named Kiersten that she is pretty fond of). She has taken this game to a whole new level though - she never stops being Kiersten.

"Ginny, it's time for supper."

"Actually, I'm Kiersten."

"Ginny, time for bed."

"You can call me Kiersten."

"Ginny, clean up the toys."
"Actually, I'm still Kiersten."

Last night, she woke up at 4:00 am and wanted a drink of water. So I got her one, tucked her back in, and said, "Good night Ginny." "Actually I'm Kiersten." At 4:00 am?! Really? She's persistent anyway.

Julie went to a conference for work today in Regina, so I was flying solo. The day went pretty good, but it's nice to have this quiet time now. The girls wanted to go somewhere, so after lurch we went to the pet store. They wanted to see the sharks. Never mind the cute kittens and such, they are more interested in the lizards, tarantulas, snakes and fish. They had fun looking at everything, and then we came home so CeCe could have a nap. I got them all out of the car, locked the car, locked the garage, and then went to look for my house keys. I felt my pants pocket. Nothing. Jacket pockets. Nothing. Pants. Nothing. Jacket. Nothing. Okay, this is not good. I've got three little girls in the backyard and I'm locked out of the house and the garage. We always meant to hide a key somewhere outside, but never did. So I had to break in. I got in through a window, and then had to call upon my Backyardigan ninja training to get to the alarm without setting off the motion detector. I made it, opened the door, disarmed the alarm, and got the girls all in safe and sound. I put CeCe down for her snooze, the girls played some computer games, and then I had to break into the garage. After I did, I saw my keys sitting right there on the front seat of the car. At least they were there and not at Petland.

After all that, the girls wanted to make a craft. Puppets actually. I asked what this entailed, and it was just a piece of paper cut out glued to a popsicle stick. I guess I could handle that. So I asked them what kind of puppets they wanted to make. Jorja wanted to make a heart. Ginny wanted a triangle. I'm not sure what kind of puppets those are, so I made an octopus. Anyway, they had fun, but soon were wondering where to put on the puppet shows. Then I remembered the dishwasher box was still downstairs, so I cut out a hole on one side for a stage, made a door on the other side and voila, a puppet theatre. I even made a sign which the girls decorated. All in all a pretty good day. Later.

Kindergarten

So today was the first official day of kindergarten. Jorja seemed pretty excited all morning right up until she went. Julie took her and then we all went to pick her up when she was done. The 'drop off' went well - everyone kept it together. Julie had a few tears when she got home, but all in all, pretty good.

We kind of thought Jorja would be beside herself when she was done, talking nonstop the whole way home, but she was surprisingly subdued. She was quiet and almost a bit sad it seemed. We got home and she and Julie had a chat. After much coaxing, Jorja said that she had been quite nervous and scared beforehand. We never would have guessed, she just seemed excited. She definitely is hard to read and a worrier sometimes. Here's hoping everything is better tomorrow.

Ginny was quite out of sorts for the afternoon. She wasn't quite sure what to do without her boss around. We played snakes and ladders, read some books, listened to some music, but she just seemed kind of sad too. Hopefully she comes to see this as some special time alone with Mom and Dad (CeCe sleeps during most of this time).

So all in all, not exactly the way we saw this day playing out, but at least we didn't peak too soon. Later.

Crash

Last night around 11:00, Julie and I were still downstairs when we heard a thunderous crash from upstairs. Jorja had fallen out of bed. I hurried upstairs as soon as I heard it, and saw her walking out of her room, holding her head and doing the 'silent scream.' I brought her into our bedroom to assess the damage, and then the screaming started. Much to my surprise, no one else woke up. I couldn't see any scrapes or feel any bumps, so after she was calmed down, I put her back to bed. This morning, she had a bit of a scrape and a bruise on her knee which 'made her leg stiff and hard to walk'. That is, whenever she thought about it. It didn't seem too stiff when she pedalled around the block this afternoon, but it was again at bath time.

Today turned out to be quite a nice day. I spent some time this afternoon in the backyard trying to tame the thistle patch beside the house. There's about a four foot wide section between the backside of the house and the fence that had had landscape fabric and crushed rock laid on it, but now the thistles are starting to grow. And it's in an area that you never really see, so when I looked the other day, it was like whoa! I've got to get a handle on that. So hopefully it is under control for now...until all the seeds grow.

Even though it has been fairly nice here, I have officially given up on getting back into the pool. I started draining it this afternoon. It will probably take a couple of days - I've got a hose strung out to the street so that I don't flood the neighbours out. It's kind of depressing because we never did get back into it after the algae incident got cleared up. I guess we'll see what next year brings.

Jorja is pretty excited to start Kindergarten tomorrow. We got the final thing she needed ready today. They are supposed to bring one of Mom or Dad's old T-shirts to wear for painting. So I found one today, and she and Julie wrote her name across the front in big block letters. She was pretty thrilled by the whole thing. When she was going to bed tonight, she gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for the shirt. You're the best Dad." Almost made me a little teary. Later.

Downpour

This afternoon, I took all three girls on a little outing. I had a couple of errands to run, and then we had to go to Safeway. The first stop was to Shaw to return all their equipment. I decided it would be easier to leave the oldest two girls in the car and just take CeCe while I ran in. It was mid afternoon, so I had brought along a snack for them to occupy their time just in case I had to wait a couple of minutes. It wasn't super warm today, but I thought I would crack the windows just to give them some fresh air. It had been cloudy all day, but nothing was really happening. So I had them all set up, took CeCe and the cable box inside, and had to wait in line for a minute. Then the sky opened up. I'm talking torrential downpour. Out of nowhere with no lead up. Just sheets of rain. I'm standing there with CeCe and I realized that I left the windows in the car open. Now what to do? There was a bush between the window and the car so I couldn't actually see them, but the direction of the rain looked like it shouldn't be too bad. I decided to wait. It took a few minutes until I was done, and then I threw a cloth shopping bag over CeCe's head and ran out. From the building out to the sidewalk I was soaked. I opened the car door and realized that perhaps I should have came out sooner. The girls were in hysterics. "The windows are open! The windows are open!" I got them shut and me and CeCe in and then proceeded to try and calm them down. They weren't wet, so that was good. Had I left CeCe in the car too, she would have been soaked. Eventually the wails turned to sobs and then to sniffles, and then to just tear stained cheeks. Boy, did I ever feel like the good Dad. I waited a few minutes more before driving away because the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. The storm sewers couldn't keep up, there was water up on to the sidewalks. It was a serious storm. It was over in ten minutes, but it was nasty. It just had to happen for those particular ten minutes. There was no sign, I mean, I wouldn't have left the windows open if I thought it would rain. Crazy. Just another reason to get rid of Shaw. Later.

38

Today was my birthday - it was a good day. It began with Jorja serenading me with Happy Birthday. She was beside herself wanting to give me my presents first thing this morning. She and Ginny had a good time 'helping' me with my gifts. Julie got me some really cool beer glasses made in Poland. Since I began tasting beer, she thinks I've become a bit of a snob. I no longer like drinking it out of the can. You can't really experience the whole aroma and flavour if you don't have a glass. These are tall and narrow, thin-walled with a heavy base, perfect for experiencing a cold beverage.

I went for lunch with the lab people from work. It was the last week for the summer student we've had for the last four years, so they were going out for lunch. It was nice to catch up.

This afternoon we had eye appointments - all of us except CeCe. The girls did really well. Julie and Jorja ended up going together, and Ginny and I went together. Ginny was a little reserved at first, but she did really well - sat a lot better than I thought she would. There was one time though while I was having mine checked that she wiped out and started to cry. So she came and sat on my lap and was wailing. The technician then asked her if a bouncy ball would make her feel better. Through the sobs, she mustered a yes. It was pretty cute. Both girls got free sunglasses too, so that was cool. My eyes are still perfect. Apparently the age things usually start to go downhill is 42. We'll see I guess.

We ended up ordering some supper in and then eating cake. Julie made a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream covered in a chocolate ganache. Are you sensing a theme? She put a layer of cherries in the middle, which was nice. She called it 'Death by Chocolate Covered Cherries.' It was awesome. Later.

Catching up

It's been a few days since I posted anything (other than the video of Ginny). I was going to last night, but I didn't have the energy after the drive home and watching the finale of the Bachelorette (I know, but it's over now - I had to see it through). In case you watch or want my opinion, I think she picked the wrong guy.
Let me start by showing you CeCe in the pool:


.













That was Friday afternoon, before we went away for the weekend. We ended up going to Julie's parents' place for the weekend, but didn't leave until Saturday morning. Julie's brother and his wife were there as well, so it was good to see them too. Before we left on Friday, Julie's Dad called and asked if she could find him a couple of kittens for the shop. Julie looked on kijiji, and was only able to get one little charcoal grey male. She went and picked him up after the girls were in bed. We had him set up in the downstairs bathroom and put the baby gate on the door. He was still in there when I fed CeCe at 5:00 am, but by the time the girls were up, he had figured out how to scale the gate. So the girls get up at 7:00, and head downstairs. Now in hindsight, maybe I should have warned them, but it was just a kitten. They get to the kitchen and that is how far the cat had made it as well. He was under the table when they spot him. (Keep in mind, he is only 9 weeks old and tiny.) They started screaming like little girls (okay, bad analogy). 'AHHHH! There's a kitty! AHHHH!' I come down, and the two of them are both in tears and cowering in the corner pointing at this ferocious beast. I couldn't believe it. I'm not sure what has gotten into the two of them lately, but they both seem to have developed this fear of animals. The sitter they went to every day before CeCe was born had a big dog and two cats, and there was never any issue. I don't know.

We left Saturday morning right after CeCe finished her bottle, and drove the whole 3 and a half hours in one stretch. It was pretty good. We had a good visit, the girls had a blast with their aunt and uncle. This time CeCe suffered from holiday lockdown. I'm not sure why, it's not like her diet changes (we bring our own water for the formula). Anyway, she finally broke through on the drive home, but it must have been fairly close to the city because she slept most of the way and never got crusty when she woke up.

This morning Jorja started swimming lessons for the first time. She did awesome and had a blast. So she goes every morning now for the next two weeks. This afternoon we went to Superstore and bought school supplies while we were there. School supplies! That sounds so strange. It's still hard to believe she'll be in school in less than a month.

We ate our first two cucumbers from our garden today. We were pretty impressed. Despite our almost complete neglect, things are doing pretty good. I finally got out there with a hoe last week and knocked down some of the weeds and grass. I was attempting to get cages around the tomatoes when the neighbor across the fence started talking to me. He's an older guy, probably 70ish, and his garden seems to be his pride and joy. It takes up half his backyard and is spotless. He says to me that we 'have good soil - it's very fertile.' At this point, the only thing you can really see on our side of the fence is a sea of weeds. Where is that mole we had last year so that I can crawl into one of his holes. I agree with him, as he continues to hoe at weeds that are coming through the fence onto his side. So later on that day I went back when he wasn't there and attacked the weeds. It actually looks pretty good right now. Later.

Pouting, the zoo, and cleaning

Today turned out to be a particularly trying day. It rained all day for starters, so there wasn't much to do. We had a couple of errands to run, so we decided to go to Market Mall. They have a little play center there that the girls have had fun on before. I sat down at a table with CeCe while the girls went to play and Julie went to Fabricland for a minute. We were barely there and Jorja was coming over to the table moping - 'I'm thirsty...Is it lunch time yet...I'm tired.' I kept telling her to go back and play. Finally she went back and then just kind of sat at the top of the slide area, slightly out of direct sight. After a while, she peeked around the corner, and started to come down the steps toward me. She was kind of pouting, and then she slipped on the stairs and fell on her butt. This was all the excuse she needed to burst into tears, flop down at the table and feel sorry for herself. Shortly after this, Ginny came over to investigate what was going on. Then Julie came back and all of us were sitting at the table. I explained what was going on, and we sent the girls back to play. Jorja continued moping around, so we packed them all up and went home. We gave her a time out in her room after lunch to think about things, and it was a bit better this afternoon, so hopefully we got through to her. Well, that wasn't very funny was it?

Yesterday we went to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day out, and we hadn't been in a couple of years. Ginny asks every day what kind of animals are at the zoo, so we thought we would finally go and show her. The first things we saw was the grizzly bear. This kind of freaked her out - she was pretty scared. We got her convinced nothing could hurt her, and then she had fun after that.

And we managed to keep out of the duck pond, so that was good. The last time we went, we only had Jorja, and we had stopped to feed the ducks. We left the stroller at the top of the hill, and forgot to put the brake on. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the stroller careening down the hill toward the water. It hit the bottom of the hill, ramped off some rocks, paused in the air for a moment, and then sank. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion, like it was right out of a Mr. Bean skit. Without thinking, I raced after it. I was balancing on some slippery, slimy rocks while trying to reach it. Yes, I fell in. Half way up to my knee in duck poop infested water. And it was early in the spring, so I was wearing jeans, socks and shoes. It was gross, to say the least. This time was much better. We only had to leave the area when the mother goose though we were getting a little too close to her young. We got out before things got ugly though. Our children won't have a fear of geese.

We had some friends over for supper on Saturday evening. Naturally we were running around trying to get the house cleaned up. Jorja asked me, "Dad, are you cleaning up because we're getting company?" Busted. It shouldn't be that obvious should it? Later.

Drama

What do you get when you combine two overtired preschool children? Drama. CeCe was up this morning squeaking at 6:18, and both the other girls woke up. I tried to make them go back, but at that time, it wasn't happening. I finally let them come out at about ten to seven (they are supposed to sleep to seven). By this afternoon, the slightest little thing would set them both into full born meltdown. I thought I was going to snap. I try to be patient, but when my sleep has been deprived as well, it gets a bit thin. I went for a nice bike ride this evening, just me, and it was a nice way to escape for a bit.

On the upside, CeCe had her first trip to the brewery today. Julie had taken the other two girls out to a friend's place this morning, so I took the opportunity to go visit at work. It's always nice to catch up, and CeCe hadn't really even met anyone yet. So she got some love and was really well behaved. She didn't even puke on anyone. Later.