In the pool

The weather looked a little sketchy this morning - rain, thunder, lightning. Things cleared up by lunch time though, and then it got hot. Out to the pool. I'm getting better, but I think I would still like it better with a heater. The girls would last longer too. I guess we'll see what next summer brings. We had this inflatable turtle for a baby from Jorja that I found and dug out for CeCe today. She loved it. It is basically a big ring with two little leg holes for her to kick around. It also has a sun shade built in which is nice. The battery on the camera is dead, so I'll put a picture of her up another day. In the meantime, it's back to packing and sampling the new Great Western Pilsner Light. They launched a new beer while I'm off - how could they? Oh well, what can you do? Have a good long weekend. Later.

Shaw out, Sasktel in

Sasktel is back, and it is awesome. Even Julie noticed a difference in the TV picture. I put on a football game, and she commented on how crisp and clear the picture was. Ah yes, I am in heaven. And for the next three months we get all the channels, extra HD channels, movie channels for free. It may be hard to give all that up. But I'm sure once we see what it would all cost, it will be easier. Jorja is happy too. She thanked God tonight that we got our old channels back. Well, so did I for that matter. Later.

Ginny and salmon

Where has the week gone? I'm not sure, it just seems to be flying by. I mentioned on Sunday that we had spent some time in the pool. I got a few good pictures of Ginny after she got out, just relaxing in the sun and looking cool. I know I'm biased, but she is just way too cute. And funny. There's just something about her personality that makes her so special. I can be furious with her and she'll give me a look, and I'll have to turn away so that I don't burst into laughter.

As I'm writing this, Ginny just fell out of bed. As I was putting her back, CeCe started to squeak. Ginny said to me that CeCe was awake. I know I said, I'm just going to go give her her soother. Which one, Ginny asks. I say that I think it's the green one. Oh, she says, rolls over and closes her eyes. I guess she just needed to know.

We were having lunch today and Ginny asked what was for dessert. We asked her what she would like. We usually have some sort of fruit after every meal for dessert. She looked at us and said, "Cake." I don't know where that came from, but we couldn't help laughing.

The other day we were in the car, and the girls were talking about spider webs. Ginny says that they could be pink. Jorja says yes. Ginny says they could be blue. Jorja says yes. Ginny says they could be brown. Jorja says yes. Finally Jorja thinks she is going to add to the conversation. She says that spider webs can be purple. Ginny pauses and says, "Actually, no." Maybe you had to be there, but if you could hear her say actually, you would understand.

The other day Julie and I were talking and the topic of salmon came up. I said that I liked salmon, and she was surprised. But we never buy it she said. I said that it was because she didn't like it. It's not like it is something that I crave or have to have that she despises, such as Miracle whip. Anyway, she asks if she made salmon salad would I eat it. I reply that I would, so she bought a can. Yesterday, we were having 'red' soup for lunch (tomato). Julie told me to stay downstairs while she was getting it ready. I came up to find this picture. Soup, two salmon buns, sliced pickles and three tastefully places crackers. It was awesome, and the presentation was great. I was reminded of my stint working in a restaurant. My boss would look at me and say, "Dave, we not only make good food, we make good looking food." Mark would be proud. Later.

Jorja's birthday par-tay

It has been a weekend of a lot of prep, a great birthday party, and a nice relaxing afternoon in the pool. I'll start with the prep...

Jorja's actual birthday was on Thursday, and it was just us. She opened her presents and thoroughly enjoyed the day. That night after the girls were in bed was when the real work began though. A while back Jorja had said she wanted a Tinkerbell birthday cake, so we thought a fairy party would be fun. Then I don't know what came over me. I started looking up ideas on the internet for party games, costumes, ideas. It was like I had this inner uber soccer mom inside of me. I came up with the idea that we should give them all wings and wands. Then after we had that bought, one little girl canceled so I came up with the idea that Julie could wear wings as well and be the queen fairy and bestow the wings on the little fairies in waiting. Julie kind of smiled and nodded the whole way along and went with it. I'm sure she thought I was crazy. Then as the day approached, she really got into it as well. She started looking stuff up too and came up with the idea to give them all pixie dust on their cheeks. She also created this special 'fairy chair' for the girls to sit in and take their pictures. I looked on the Disney fairy website, and found this game where you create a fairy. Then it gives you a name for your new fairy, so we took down a bunch of different names, and decided to give all the girls a fairy name as well. Then we had to organize the craft, put together the loot bags, Julie had to make and decorate the cake. It was almost two in the morning Thursday when we went to bed. Friday was a bit earlier, bit still busy. I've said once before that my coworker at the brewery would be proud of me, but I think she really would be this time. I used to sit in marvel at the birthday party stories she would tell, but once you get into it, it just seems to consume you. Maybe I've been off work for a while and needed a good project, I don't know, but I think we set the bar kind of high.

The day of the party finally arrived, and Julie got into costume. She talked me into it as well, so I became the king fairy for the afternoon. Julie was Queen Marigold Sparkle and I was King Nimble Thistle. It was actually a lot of fun.

Yes, those are fake leaves on my hat. The covered up the Great Western logo and I thought they added a lot to the Pixie Hollow mood. Julie had all the girls sit on the floor around her as she made them all into fairies. They received their wings, wands, pixie dust on their cheeks as well as their own fairy name. You could have heard a pin drop, they were so into it and in awe as Julie was making each of them fairies. It was pretty cool.

After they were done that part, we went upstairs and did a craft. They each got to decorate their own pair of flip-flops. Then it was back downstairs for a Tinkerbell variation of pin the tail on the donkey and a little bit of freeze dance. They really enjoyed the dancing. Julie was dancing with them at the start, and I was manning the controls. Then we switched it up. I showed them all some moves from the eighties (the classic side to side shuffle with a finger snap) which they all tried to imitate. Then I picked Ginny up to dance with her for a bit, and soon I was getting all kinds of requests for dances. For obvious legal reasons, and well as my back holding up reasons, I opted not to pick any of them up. I did get down on my knees and dance with each of them for a bit though, most of them twice. I've never felt so popular. *sigh*

Next it was time for the cake. Looking back on this picture, I'm amazed Jorja didn't light her hair on fire. Yikes. Julie did an awesome job on the cake though. Lastly, Jorja opened her presents, and posed for a picture with each of her friends. Notice the special fairy chair.

By the time parents started coming, we were exhausted, drained, spent. It was an intense two hours. The girls all had a blast though, so it was worth it. Everyone was in bed early.

It was gorgeous out today, so we all went in the pool for a bit. It was pretty cold at the start, but I did get used to it, and it was a lot of fun. Ginny was so cute, she spent most of the afternoon just laying back and relaxing on this floating lounger we have. I'm not sure what this week will bring, but hopefully a little more sleep. Later.

Birthdays of years past

Today was Jorja's fifth birthday. It's hard to believe how time flies by so quickly. Here are pictures of her first four birthdays. She's having a party on Saturday, so I'll wait until then to post pictures of her fifth birthday. Her first birthday was still in our old house on Avenue B. There was no air conditioning, and a fairly large group of family there, so we held all the 'festivities' in the backyard. Looking back at the pictures and how much I was sweating, I think it was equally hot outside.

Jorja's second birthday was actually on the day we moved into the house we live in now. Needless to say, there was no party, just an ice cream cake from Jerry's in amongst a whole lot of boxes.

By her third birthday, Julie had started to dabble in cake decorating. I'm pretty sure this was before she took any classes though - pretty impressive mermaid. It was a hot day again, and the kids all played in the pool and slip 'n' slide in the backyard.

Her fourth birthday was hot again, and spent slipping and sliding in the backyard as well.

This year we thought we'd switch things up a bit and have the party inside. It's a Tinkerbell theme complete with fairy wings and magic wands. What have I got myself into? Later.

Christmas in July

We got back from my parents' place yesterday. We had a good trip - the visit was dubbed 'Christmas in July' because everyone was there - all my siblings, spouses and kids, as well as my grandparents. It's getting harder to all get together, especially at Christmas, so we found a weekend in the summer that worked for everyone. The weather cooperated too, which was a blessing (there are four of us in the family, plus my parents and grandparents and then 8 kids). It would have been awfully crowded if it rained. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins, and we had a good visit. The ride home went remarkably well too. CeCe had a 2+ hour snooze, and the other two girls both slept for over an hour, we stopped once to feed CeCe, and everyone was fairly well behaved.
We were barely home five minutes, and I had changed two poopy diapers already. Ginny never pooped the whole weekend we were were away, and CeCe only did once. I too suffer from this problem quite often. Some of Julie's friends call it 'holiday lockdown.' When I was still working, they were talking about it on the radio one morning too, so I know it's a real problem. Anyway, Ginny has been cleansing ever since she's been home - twice yesterday, and four times today. Did I mention that my Mom makes really good bran muffins that the girls both love and ate quite a few of on the weekend? I think everyone is pretty much cleaned out now though.


I made the call today to switch back to Sasktel. I just can't believe how crappy Shaw is. Last night when we were watching the Bachelorette (I know), even Julie said how glitchy and pixely it was. That was the final straw. Not to mention, I couldn't go through a whole CFL season with the picture we had. So July 29, we switch back. They've got quite a good deal on too, for people who are coming back from Shaw. Plus, Sasktel has the Playhouse Disney channel, which Shaw doesn't offer. That means no Strawberry Shortcake, Carebears, Handy Manny...It was a bit of an adjustment for the girls. So today I told Jorja that we were getting it back and she was ecstatic. Tonight when we were saying our prayers she thanked God that 'Daddy talked to those boys and that on July 29 we are going to switch TV.'


Jorja's fifth birthday is coming up this week on the 22nd. We're having her party on Saturday, so that should be draining (there will be 7 little girls in the house for two hours). She's pretty excited though. One little girl that she invited wasn't able to come, so there were tears over that this morning. It's a rough life. Later.

Morning itch

I just finished putting some afterbite on Jorja's mosquito bites and told her not to scratch them now. A few minutes later she was scratching and I told her not to. She said she wasn't scratching a bite, it was just a morning itch. I hate those.

Anyway, we're off to my parents' place for the weekend. Be back Monday. Later.

Riding in the truck

Today was the day the dishwasher arrived. Since I borrowed my brother's truck to clean up some yard stuff last week and he told me to keep it while he was on holidays this week, I thought I would use it to pick up the dishwasher. But first I took the old one to the dump this morning. Jorja was still at DVBS today, so I took Ginny for a ride by herself. She thought that was pretty cool, riding in the front seat of the truck right beside me. (It's an old truck with no airbag, and I put her seat in, it was all good.) On the way home, I thought I would ask her if she wanted a treat. Naturally she replied yes. So we stopped at a corner store that has a bakery in it and picked up some doughnuts. I was good with just getting some for us, but she insisted that we get one for Jorja too. I thought that since Jorja was doing her own thing, Ginny could use her own treat too. But she wasn't going for it. It's nice to see she's that considerate. Jorja was the same way when I would stop with her after a soccer game. She always insisted on getting something for Ginny too. Too bad they will likely outgrow that. Anyway, after we get the doughnuts and get home, I go to roll up the window. Ginny asks what I'm doing. Then it dawns on me that she has probably never seen a vehicle where you have to roll up the window without pushing a button. Crazy.

The dishwasher was in after lunch, so I took both girls with me to get it. Apparently Jorja didn't know about rolling down windows either. She really took to it though. She asked if she could roll it down and I said sure. She rolled it down till it was a couple inches from the bottom and stopped. I told her that this window would go all the way down if she wanted. Well, you should have seen the look on her face. She thought she was pretty grown up. It must be a totally different experience riding in the front seat when all you've ever done is ride in the back. They were both just full of questions about pedals, buttons, levers. They thought it was pretty cool.

Then came the task of installing the dishwasher. Things went fairly well. First I hooked up the water and turned it on. No leaks. Good. Then I hook up the water drain line. Finally the power. Then the ultimate test - down to the basement to flick the breaker. No smoke. No fire. No Julie yelling, "What have you done?! Turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off!!!" (She was on the lookout for me while I went downstairs. Then we washed a load of dishes and it worked. Clean dishes and a dry floor. I was pretty proud of myself.

We started watching the new summer show 'Rookie Blue.' (A cop show.) It's awesome. It is really the only thing worth watching on TV right now. Well that, and the Bachelorette (Julie always watches it and I started and now I'm hooked.) Okay, the Bachelorette isn't worth watching, but I just can't stop. Yes, it's embarrassing, I know. Later.

House Hunters

There's not much for TV on during the days (or late at night for that matter) but we usually like to watch something while feeding CeCe. It usually ends up being HGTV. At first I didn't think the girls ever paid much attention when it wasn't a kids' show. Apparently I was wrong. It started with Ginny asking, "Is this House Hunters?" every time I turned on the TV. Hmm. Now lately, the girls have started playing 'House Hunters.' Jorja is the real estate agent and Ginny is the client. The other morning they came up to me and Jorja asked me if I knew of any nice houses for this little girl. I replied that I thought the pink house (their room) would be a good house for her. So she took her there and showed her all the features, and I guess it must have been a sale. Then Jorja came and asked me if I needed a house. I was just about to feed CeCe, so I replied that yes, I did need a house, and one that would be good for a baby. She took me down to the family room and pointed out the chair where we always feed CeCe and the pillow we use under our arms. "I think this would be a good house. It has this chair and this pillow. It would be very good for a baby." Another sale. She's good.

Julie had to have a mole cut off today at the doctor's office. Sometimes Julie doesn't do that well with needles, so I took the girls to check on her when it was done. It just so happened that Julie's appointment was at the time when I had to pick Jorja up from DVBS, so we couldn't just drive her. So I took the other two girls, picked Jorja up and went to the doctor's office. On the way over, Ginny asked if the doctor used pink scissors. I replied that I wasn't sure. Then she asked if she used a pink knife. Jorja replied that the knife would just be silver. "Everything in a doctor's office is either silver, white or clear." It turned out Julie was fine. I guess after three children and all the needles that go along with that, having GBS and getting a spinal tap, she's getting better at handling needles.

Julie's Dad was in town today on some business and he stopped by with Jorja's birthday present. They had also got some fold-up canvas lawn chairs for the girls that they could have today. They even have cup holders in the arm. So they wanted to take them out this afternoon to try them out. They asked for their water bottles immediately of course. Now I know they always like to sit at the top of their play centre to sip their water and I've seen plastic lawn chairs up there before. I thought I would preempt anything bad from happening so I said right off that bat that these chairs were not to go to the top of the play centre, they were not to sit the chairs on top of the swing, and that the chairs were to stay on the ground. They kind of gave me this look of disbelief like I was asking for some outrageous request. I'm glad I did. Later.

Peas

All right, I know I said I was done talking about the big V, but I have one more story. This morning we were getting ready to take Jorja to DVBS. Julie had taken her yesterday, but I was going to today. So we're about to walk out the door, and she says to me, "Oh, you're taking me Dad, I thought Mom was going to. I thought you were going to sit at home with your peas and rest."

Ginny was a little better today, but she sure likes to go pick Jorja up. It was the same when preschool was still on. It was nice to have a little one on one time with her this morning though. We read some stories, and had a little tea party. She didn't want my tea though, only wanted to give some to me. If only life were always like that...Later.

Dishwasher

We have had an interesting couple of days. It started Saturday evening when our dishwasher decided to pee all over the floor. Not good, but Julie noticed in time and it wasn't too bad. I turned off the breaker to it and turned off the shut off valve and thought everything would be good. We got a sitter for the two older girls Sunday afternoon and went shopping. Trying to do any meaningful shopping where you have to converse with a salesperson with the two of them along is a lost cause. It almost felt like a date without the two of them...nice. We found a dishwasher at Sears, but it won't be in until Thursday. That's a long time, and a lot of dishes. So fast forward to this morning and I walked into the kitchen and stepped into a puddle. What?! Why is water still going into the dishwasher, let alone out of the dishwasher. Obviously the shut off valve no longer shuts off, but that still doesn't explain why the water was going in. Anyway, I went downstairs to investigate further, when I saw a bunch of water dripping down there. But it's not coming from where the dishwasher is. I do some figuring and realize it's coming from behind the stove. What?! I went back upstairs and pulled the stove out (gross!) and yes, water is pooling there. What next. So I pulled the dishwasher right out, fixed the valve and now we wait. The valve had me worried for a while because one of the home improvement tasks that scares me is soldering. However, I was able to get it fixed without a torch, so I was happy. $6 and a trip to Rona and we were set. At least it should stay dry. I was beginning to think the dishwasher may be possessed, but hopefully it can't flood us from the patio. And on the upside, behind the stove got washed.

Jorja was talking about aging this evening and how 'old' people get white hair. Julie said that she is getting grey hair, does that make her old. "Yes it does." I say that some people just lose their hair and go bald. "Yeah Dad, like the hole on top of your head." Ah, she sure knows how to make a person feel good.

We enrolled Jorja in a DVBS program at a local church here (she's not old enough to go to our church's program, but we got a pamphlet in our mailbox and thought we would give it a try). She did really well, considering she didn't know anyone. I asked her today if she made any friends. She replied, "I told you Dad, I didn't learn anyone's name." I guess that means knowing someone's name makes you friends. Interesting concept. I guess that means she's ready for Facebook. Poor Ginny was a little out of sorts this morning though without her sister for two hours. She didn't quite know what to do with herself. (Probably because she's used to being told what she should be doing with herself).

I'm feeling pretty good this evening. Things are getting back to normal, not too sore anymore. Suck it up already the women out there are probably thinking. Try giving birth. All right, I'm done talking about it. Later.

Snipped

Well, yesterday went fairly well. The whole procedure only took about 15 minutes, and the doctors were great. They like to joke around a bit, which is nice, since I was kind of nervous. Once I was up on the table, they asked what I did for a living. I said that I did quality assurance at the brewery. Well, they thought this was the best job ever. One said to the other, "It sure sounds better than scrubbing scrotums for a living." That pretty much set the tone for the rest of my time there. When I was done, they said that this was free, but if it wasn't, I could have just brought them each a six-pack, and they would have called it good.

I managed to avoid be jumped on by the girls, and sat around with some ice for most of the day. Things are starting to feel better today, so that's good. So here's hoping things continue to get better as scheduled. Later.

Pancakes and puking

We went to the pancake breakfast at the brewery this morning (I just had the coffee). Jorja was fine when she woke up this morning, and then by the time we got in the car to go, she started saying that her forehead hurt. It was 9:00 already, so we thought maybe she was just hungry because usually they eat breakfast by 8:00. So we got there and got our food, and she starts to cry, saying she doesn't like the pancakes or the juice. We try to make her eat some, but she doesn't really want anything to do with it. So the rest of us finish, we walk outside, and she proceeds to puke...about 10 feet away from the pancake line. She started crying, and then Ginny started crying, and screaming, "Jorja's puking." Where is the hole to crawl into? We got them calmed down and a wonderful volunteer cleaned everything up for us and was super nice to Jorja. Then we went home. So much for that. I felt bad though, I was thinking Jorja was just having one of her 'moments' and then she really is sick. She threw up once more at home, decided she wanted to eat some lunch, was running around by this afternoon, and was fine for supper. Kids are so resilient.

I went and rented a few movies this evening for my recovery time on the weekend. The brochure says not to do anything on Friday except lay on the couch with ice for 30 minutes each hour. Does anyone have any explanations to tell Ginny when she asks why Daddy is laying on the couch all day with peas on his penis? (We have always used the real terms for body parts). Really, I'm open to suggestions. Later.

Nerves?

Well, I'm now sitting at about 35 hours until the 'procedure'. That's what they called it when I went in for my initial consult. I have to admit that up until now, I have been pretty okay with the whole thing. It didn't really freak me out. I'm now beginning to get a bit nervous. I'm not nervous or unsure about being sterile, just the getting there. I don't regret not having a boy, I am incredibly blessed with three beautiful, healthy girls, whom I adore. When I was tucking Jorja in this evening, she told me I smelled good (I had just showered) - you can't really beat that. Plus, Julie and I never really agreed on a boy's name (other than David). She didn't like Virgil and I didn't like Blake. But back to the procedure. It all sounds pretty straight forward, but you never know. I'm getting the 'no needle, no scalpel' option, so there's supposed to far fewer complications. I guess as long as I take it easy, keep things iced, it should go all right. I 'prepped' for the surgery this evening. That was...interesting. I threw that blade out when I was done. Anyhow, I feel better now that I've talked about this a bit.

We're going to go into the brewery tomorrow morning for the annual pancake breakfast. Maybe pancakes and a beer first thing in the morning will calm the nerves. Hmm, maybe I should go on Friday as well. No, that won't be necessary. It will all be good. Later.

60

60 more hours of fertility. 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.

CeCe finds her toes

I haven't been writing that much lately, I'm not sure why, just feeling uninspired. We had a good Canada day yesterday. We went to the pancake breakfast at church to start the day. They had two astro-jumps there, so the girls had a good time. Then by the time we got home, my brother had called and asked if we wanted to come out to Pike Lake for the afternoon. We had a good time visiting, swimming and water sliding. Jorja and Ginny had a blast playing with their cousin, so that was good. I went out to check on them once, and they were 'washing' the motorhome. Well one was spraying it with a water pistol, and the other was wiping the water off with her hand. I asked what they were doing, and they replied that it wasn't easy being servant girls.

CeCe found her toes, and quite enjoys them. Ah, to be that flexible...not that I would want to suck on my toes.








We had a bit of a shower this afternoon. Well, maybe that is an understatement. This is what our street looked like. Crazy. Everything was good in the house though, so that was good. We are a lot luckier than a lot of people in the city.














The other day, I had gotten the girls some gummie bears. They were sitting in the car eating them, and Jorja was telling me all the flavours, "The yellow ones taste like lemons, the orange ones taste like oranges, the green ones taste like limes, and the red ones taste like all the red fruits." Wow, what a magical little candy. Later.