Up too early

It is Saturday morning and by their standards, Jorja and Ginny are sleeping in.  It may only be 7:20, but for them, that's pretty good.  Why am I awake?  Unfortunately, the youngest one needs some supervision.  I'm not sure why CeCe was up so early today.  She was crying this morning at 5:30, so I went into her room to give her her soother back.  As soon as it was in front of her mouth, she said, "Yeah!" and proceeded to lunge at it.  At this point I was surprised when she was still quiet when I left the room.  Then at 6:30, she was awake again.  This time when I went in the room, she said, "Hi!"  I knew it wasn't going to be good, but I tried to rock her for a while, but sleep was not happening.  So here we are, up too early while everyone else sleeps.
Jorja went to a birthday party last night after supper.  It went from 7:00 to 8:45 which could explain why she is still asleep.  It was at a gymnastics club in town and she had a blast.  As I was walking her in, she said to me, "I'm so excited I'm almost crying tears of joy."  Oh my.  When I picked her up, she tried to say that she wasn't tired.  "I did yawn once while I was there Dad, but it wasn't because I was tired."  She was a little wound up, but it didn't take her long to fall asleep. 

While she was at the party, I did some grocery shopping and then had a little more time to kill, so I walked around a mall for a while.  I went into Bootlegger to look at some jeans.  I must be getting old (at least perceived old by 20 year olds).  I was standing there looking at the jeans, and this kid came over to me and asked, "Do you need help finding a size because you look really confused?"  And we're done here.

Yesterday morning I took all three girls to the doctor.  Ginny and CeCe were getting their yearly checkups and Jorja was getting something else looked at.  There are times when they all make me proud and this was one of them.  They were all well behaved and listened really well.  I'll have to admit I was a bit nervous as to how the whole thing was going to go.  Our doc is awesome though and made them all feel so comfortable that at one point Jorja was trying to tickle her.  As we were sitting in the room waiting for the doctor to come in, I asked the girls who was going to go first.  "CeCe!" was the unanimous answer.  That's it, throw the youngest one under the bus, she can't argue.  CeCe is in the 85th percentile for height and weight and Ginny is in the 90th for both.  Ginny was 39 inches, which is a full inch taller than Jorja was at three.  I guess it's no wonder that she has to wear size 4 clothes already.  Ginny said the alphabet, counted up to 39 and said she liked broccoli.  I was impressed.  I'm not sure about the broccoli thing, but they claim to eat it at Dee's house.

Well, I guess I might actually have to wake the girls up soon.  Ginny has music lessons this morning at 9:30, so we need to get them fed and watered first.  Later.

Decisions, decisions

The conversation heard yesterday as I was making lunch in the kitchen while the girls were watching TV:

Me:  Do you guys want ham or salami?
Ginny:  Sawami!
Jorja:  No response.
Me (louder):  Ham or salami?!
Ginny:  Ham!
Jorja:  No response.
Me (the neighbours could probably choose now):  Jorja!  Ham or salami?!!
Ginny:  Sawami!
Jorja:  Ham.
Ginny:  Ham!
Me:  So you both want ham?
Jorja and Ginny:  Yes!

Well, that was easy, wasn't it?  Later.

Potatoes

Growing up on a farm, potatoes were a staple.  They were served with almost every meal and they were good.  Everyone liked them.  Julie grew up pretty much the same way.  What's not to love - mashed, baked, boiled, roasted, fried, barbecued - the possibilities are endless.  I guess we just assumed that when we had kids, they would like potatoes.  Wrong.  With Jorja, it doesn't matter how they are done, she has never liked them.  Ginny has turned out to like the deep-fried variety (naturally) as well as the occasional hash brown.  The jury is still out on CeCe.  This is a fairly long preamble, but it is leading somewhere.  We had the kids at the new sitter two days this week.  After the second day, we asked them what they had for lunch.  They replied that they had potatoes.  A look of shock and awe crossed our faces.  "What kind of potatoes?" we asked.  Ginny said, "White ones."  That narrows it down anyway.  "Did you like them?"  Both girls said that yes, they did like them.  Again, shock and awe.  This was going to require a little more digging.  Julie called and asked what kind of miracle potato was served that the girls ate.  It turns out they were No-Name frozen hash browns done up with some dill and seasoning salt.  I guess Jorja looked at her plate and said that she didn't like potatoes.  The sitter said that she should at least try them, so she did.  Her response: "I like these.  They're better than the potatoes my Mom makes."  I guess that's what we get for trying the unprocessed variety of the food.  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.

First tooth

I know it's a few days late, but I finally got the pictures off the camera, so here is a shot of our thanksgiving spread. Notice the ketchup bottle in the corner that I forgot to get out of the shot. Oh well, just in case I thought we were too classy, that brings me back to reality.

Here is a shot of CeCe and her first tooth (you have to look pretty close and you'll see a little bit of white on her gums.) I like the triumphant fist pump, as if to say 'that's right, I've got a chomper now!'








We had our first of many school picture days this week. I'm curious to see if Jorja 'posed' as much for a strange photographer as she does here whenever there is a camera out. The head gets cocked to the side, hair flings over the shoulder, the pose it struck all right.

I've got pretty much exactly three weeks left until I go back to work.  I have to admit that it is getting me down.  I'm trying to enjoy the rest of the time that I do have instead of looking ahead and worrying about going back to work and all that that will bring.  It's a lot easier said than done, but today was a better day.  Later. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving to everyone.  A lot has happened this year that I am truly grateful for.  Julie is doing much better, CeCe was born a beautiful and healthy little girl, Jorja and Ginny both continue to amaze me.

This year Julie cooked her first turkey.  We took the slightly more citified approach (as opposed to Jorja's method) and bought a turkey breast from Costco.  That way it was already dead, much less hassle than taping it's beak shut and cutting off it's wings.  Anyway, it turned out awesome.  She made stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey (obviously), carrots, cranberry sauce, cherry pie, banana cream pie (we don't do pumpkin pie).  The two older girls ate everything except the potatoes and gravy (they never have liked potatoes).  Somehow, they prefer ketchup on their turkey rather than gravy.  Crazy.  CeCe on the other hand, loved mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as the cranberries and banana cream pie (minus the crust - basically pudding I guess).  Maybe if we start her early, we will have one potato eater.  We picked up a bottle of sparkling fruit juice in a wine-looking bottle complete with a cork, and let the girls drink out of wine glasses.  They thought that was pretty cool.  We even got out the fine china which I think we'll need another setting of when CeCe gets a little bigger.

All in all, it was a great long weekend.  The weather was super - I heard on the radio that we had snow last thanksgiving.  Here's to a week filled with turkey sandwiches and farts.  Later.

Long weekend

Our long weekend was filled with Kleenex, cough drops, Vicks, and a whole lot of snot. It all started Thursday night already. Now I was fully expecting rounds of sicknesses to come through the house after Kindergarten started, but not on the first day. I don't really think that it came from school that fast, but it is a pretty good coincidence. Poor CeCe has been doing the worst I think. It's so hard when they're that age, they lay there in bed and choke on their mucous, cough and sputter, and don't sleep well at all. She wants to suck on her soother, but then she can't breathe. It's a no win situation. She has spent a fair bit of time sleeping while being held just to keep her somewhat upright so she can breathe. Yes, it's been a restful long weekend. I think the girls are all on the upswing now (hopefully), but Julie and I are getting it now. Ah, the circle of life.

Jorja's second day of Kindergarten went better than the first. She still isn't super bubbly after, but you could tell that things went better. Hopefully she's not too sick and has to miss on the first whole week.

By Saturday afternoon, we were all getting sick of being sick and needed an outing. Jorja had a Toys 'R' Us gift certificate to use from her birthday, so we thought we would go there. Julie's brother and his wife have started doing that for the girls and they love it. It's such a thrill to go into the toy store with your own money and buy what you want. At one point, Jorja was looking at the princess dress-up dresses. They were all hanging on a circular rack, and she was standing there with one hand on her hip, head cocked to the side, and flipping through them. She could have been a teenager the way she looked. "Jorja, what are you doing?" "Just looking at dresses Dad." We are so doomed.

By the time we were done shopping, it was getting late, so we decided to go out for supper. We ended up at Boston Pizza, after a failed attempt to try Chili's. We went there, were seated, and then apparently forgotten about. Over 15 minutes we sat there without anyone coming by. So Julie wrote a note for the manger, gave it to the hostess on the way out and we went to BP's. (On a side note, the manager e-mailed, and said how sorry she was and that if we wanted to give them another try, let her know when, she would reserve a table and the meal would be on her. That was pretty cool.) So now we're at BP's, where we get drinks almost immediately. Sometimes now, we let the girls get pop for a treat, and we did on this occasion. Ginny got her drink, took a good pull on the straw, looked up with watery eyes and said, "Sprite makes me happy!" Then back for another drink.

There were several TVs visible from our table, all showing sports. There was a tennis match on one, which Jorja took an interest in. "I'm cheering for that boy," she says. Julie asks her why. "I like his outfit better." Have I mentioned yet that we are in trouble?

So yesterday and today have been pretty low-key days. We watched the Riders win yesterday (I made the girls endure it, and tried having a chat about some of the rules and player with Jorja, but to no avail. She does know who the Roughriders are though.) Here's hoping to getting some sleep tonight. Hope you all had a good weekend. Later.

Check-ups

I don't want to sound like a stuck record, but today was another sleep-deprived days. Last night's culprit - CeCe. Two nights ago was amazing. She had her normal bottle around 7 pm and then slept until morning. I was thinking, hey, maybe she's going to cut out her midnight feed and go straight through now. That would be awesome. Not so. Last night she woke up at 1 am, so I fed her then. Then she was up at around 4. This time she had pooped. Who poops in the middle of the night, really? She has got to get that schedule changed. Anyway, after changing her, she wouldn't settle. She didn't even want her soother. Her teeth are getting really close to coming in now, and she has been kind of miserable. Anyway, I think it just hurts too much to suck sometimes. So I gave her some Oragel, and that really ticked her off. She was screaming for quite a while. It's a miracle the whole house wasn't up by this time. Eventually I did get her back to sleep, but I was exhausted in the morning.

CeCe had her six-month doctor check-up today, and other than the previous paragraph, all is well. She's is 18.5 lbs and 26.5 inches long. When does it switch from long to tall? Are you long until you can stand, and then you are tall? Just some food for thought.

Julie and I were cleaning up the other night, and I put our wii games out on the shelf with our movies instead of leaving them hidden away. Jorja and Ginny sure picked up on this in a hurry - they don't miss much. So yesterday I let them play Mariocart. That had to have been the world's longest race. Eventually Jorja did finish, but it was painful to watch. Her whole body moved as she steered and she kept getting closer and closer to the TV until she was right there. Of course Ginny had to follow her, but she didn't really get how things worked. Today I let them play some guitar hero. That was interesting to say the least.

Tomorrow is haircut day before going back to school. That should be good for lots of posing, posturing and preening. Jorja is going for her 5 year check-up at the doctor too. I can't believe how much she's grown in last year. We have marks on the wall in the kitchen, and she grew a whole 4 inches from her fourth birthday. Crazy. Well, I guess I should attempt to scale the mountain of laundry. 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.

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.

Storm

It's amazing what a good night's sleep will do. The girls all slept great last night, Jorja got up at 7, Ginny 7:30, and CeCe slept from 11:30 till 8. It was great, and they were all in a much better state of mind today.

We had intended on BBQing this evening, but around 4:30, it started to look pretty ominous out there. It's too bad, because Julie had the beef sliced, skewered and marinating in the fridge (all prepared while I was napping with CeCe - did I mention it was a good day?). Anyway, I decided not to BBQ and it's a good thing - I would have been standing out there in torrential rain, wind and hail. It got pretty nasty - thunder, lightning, power outage. Poor Ginny was pretty spooked by the whole thing. I felt bad for her, but she is so cute when she's all cuddly like that. It doesn't happen very often with her. Jorja was a little freaked out too - she went and got Ginny her blanket and baby, but made sure to bring along her own favourite two stuffed animals as well. So we waited till the storm passed, decided we didn't feel like cooking anymore, and went to McDonald's. Later.

A week of firsts for CeCe

CeCe had a few 'firsts' this week; an arrowroot cookie, the jolly jumper and rice cereal. I forgot how messy they are. (It's a good thing Julie was doing the feeding.)

Later.

4 month shots

Sitting here this evening, we remembered that we were out of both bread and milk. That could make for a pretty slim breakfast, so I went to Walmart at 10:00. It was kind of nice at that hour with no kids - probably mostly the no kids factor that was the real selling point.

I was reading Jorja a book today about fish. One page had an octopus on it that was swimming away from a shark. She informed me that it was swimming to get away from it's 'creditors'. Aren't we all?

Today was time for CeCe's four month shots. She did pretty good, as good as you can when you're that small and get a needle jabbed into each one of your legs I guess. She weighs just over 15 lbs now, so that's good - 75th percentile I think. The nurse was going over the whole rundown of things with me and we started talking about introducing solid foods. She said that the thinking now is to introduce meat as one of the first things. Meat? Better iron I guess. But really? She suggested that when me have meat, like chicken, say, take a drumstick that you already cooked and boil it in a bit of water. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that all we buy are chicken breasts with no bones.) Then scraped it off the bone, and along with the water you boiled it in, put it in the blender. Doesn't it just sound delicious?

Well, it's time to go feed the little one. Just a bottle. Later.

Out for supper

We just got back from some friends' house for supper. We had a great time, good company, and the girls are wasted. Their kids are a little older than ours (youngest is 6), but they always have a blast out there. We made Ginny have a nap this afternoon so that we could make it through. (On a side note, we have gone without naps for probably a week now, and things have been great - she goes to bed no issues, and usually before 7:00) We were upstairs visiting when our friends' six year old son came up with Ginny close on his heels. He went to a closet and proceeded to get out a pair of real scissors. I noticed this, and made his father inquire about the situation. It turns out Ginny had been styling his hair, and apparently it was time to step it up a notch. Close call.

I was another rainy day today, and the forecast has rain each day for the next week. Julie was able to get a bit more planting done yesterday (some annuals in pots), but we still have some more to do. I got the grass mowed too, which is a good thing as well. We took turns holding CeCe and watching the other two while the other one did some work. The girls were putting on performances again at the top of the play centre. Jorja had apparently gotten over her stage fright from the last time she tried, and was belting out the songs. I always wonder what the neighbours must think. She's all right, but I don't think we'll be seeing any footage of her childhood singing when she's the Canadian idol.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold. This is the first week without preschool, and it already seems to be tough to keep track of the days. Maybe a trip to the library. Later.

Cleaning

Things have been a bit quiet on the writing front here for a few days now. I think I blame the weather. It is getting seriously depressing. I think we're all starting to go a bit stir crazy. Hopefully things turn around tomorrow.

We used to have a university student come in and clean the house every two weeks when we were both working. However, with Julie on disability and me on parental leave, we decided that that would be one of the things we had to cut. Boy, do we miss her. It is so hard to get things done with the kids in the house. One wants this, one wants to help, then the first wants what the other has. Soon, there's screaming and someones having a meltdown. And sometimes it's one of the kids.

Anyway, we decided that in order to get a handle on things today, Julie would take the kids out for a couple of hours, and I would clean. I worked like a dog, but I think I still got the easier deal. The three of them are definitely a challenge. Julie took them to Market Mall, and let them play in the little play centre there, and things seemed to go fairly well. She came home with all of them anyway. They even made some new friends. Ginny would go up to another little girl, get in her face, and say, "What's your name?" "Ava." "Oh." And then she would carry on her way. She's got tact.

Does the laundry ever end?

Here are some random observations of a four year old:

• I like ketchup, but I don't like tomatoes. Isn't that weird?
• I like honey cheerios and honey ham, but I don't like honey. Isn't that weird?
• I like peanut butter, but I don't like peanuts. Isn't that weird?

Here's hoping we can get outside tomorrow. Later.

Preschool graduation

Today was Jorja's preschool graduation/year end party. The day was spent on a field trip to Market Mall. What better place to have a preschool trip than to a mall filled with old people. It was a great time though.

Jorja woke this morning almost beside herself with excitement. Julie did her hair all fancy, and she was thrilled. So she and I set off for the school this morning (the day started at 9:00). We all boarded two school buses (I forgot how much I dislike school buses) and headed for the mall. First on the agenda was mini-golf. I was a bit worried about this - I didn't know if she would enjoy it. But she had a blast. She has never held a golf club before, so it was interesting. I helped her with her first shot to show her how, and then she did most of it herself. Mind you, most of the holes she played resembled more of a poor example of stick handling than golf. As far as mini-golf courses go, this one was fairly tough, complete with sand traps and water hazards. A few holes had downhill slopes with water at the end, so I told her to just lightly tap it, and it would be all right. After that, she kept asking me on her first shot if she should shoot it light or hard. Like it made a difference. If she thought the ball was heading for trouble, she ran after it and stopped it. It was pretty cute. At one point, she told me I could call her Miss Shooter.

After the golf, we killed some time in the mall, and then Julie, Ginny and CeCe met us for lunch. There was enough fundraising that every preschooler, one sibling, and two parents got a free meal. The meal consisted of 2 chicken fingers and fries for adults, and 1 chicken finger and fries for kids.

After lunch, it was off to the children's' museum for the program and some craft/play time. Jorja sang her heart out during the program, and was thrilled to get her 'diploma'. After that, there was a craft, some structured play time, and lots of free time. They had a whole outdoor scene with a canoe, tent, logs and red ribbon for a fire. The girls enjoyed the canoe, and managed not to hit anyone with the oars. It looked scary at first. There was also a stage with a bunch of dress up clothes and musical instruments, so we got treated to quite a few rock stars.

When it was all over, Julie rode the bus back and I drove the other two girls home. I though for sure Ginny would fall asleep, but she stayed awake.


I'm not sure what it was about the day, but both Julie and I felt exhausted when we got home. The girls were well behaved, they played well, CeCe was good. It was a pretty easy day for us, but it welt draining.

Anyway, time for bed. Later.

The great balloon rescue

Today was Jorja's last day of preschool (except for the full-day year end party next week) and as part of the celebration, there were balloons. They each got to take one balloon home, which wouldn't be that bad if you weren't walking a couple of blocks in a strong wind. We were walking home and I was pulling the wagon with Ginny and CeCe in it and Jorja was walking, clutching her balloon. We were actually talking about the 'mortality' of balloons and that they are fun to play with for a while, but don't last that long. Sometimes they pop, sometimes they just go flat, but they don't last forever. We had no sooner finished this talk than the balloon got away from her, and it went flying (I'm lucky it wasn't filled with helium). Oh, the irony. For one brief moment, she looked as though she would be okay with losing it, and then the reality of the situation set in and she started to cry. I'm talking about the talk-show type 'ugly cry'. It was loud and it was strong. Then for whatever reason, I decided to abandon the two children in the wagon (don't worry, I told Ginny to stay there) and chase down the balloon. It was going pretty good, but I was gaining on it, until I saw the bus. It narrowly escaped and paused briefly and then took off in a wild swirl in the wake of the bus. Now it was in the middle of a busy street. Another truck was coming, but I went for it, and a couple of houses past the busy street, I got it. I then turned around and realized how far I was away from the wagon, which Ginny was still sitting in much to my surprise. I ran back, and held the balloon for the rest of the walk home. This same balloon is now wedged in behind the computer desk and virtually forgotten about. But I got it.

I fired up the rototiller during preschool today, and it worked great. I got quite a bit done, but three years of neglect makes for some pretty tough going. It looks good now though, ready for some veggies.

Julie made spaghetti and sauce for supper tonight (she make great spaghetti sauce). We don't usually eat actual spaghetti, it's usually rotini or something, but tonight it was spaghetti. The girls had way too much fun eating it. Julie and I were long done, the table was all cleared, dishwasher loaded, and the two of them were still sitting there picking up one noodle at a time, holding it up and sucking it in. They were laughing and giggling and having a gay old time. They were probably there 20 minutes after we were done.

Jorja, Ginny and I went for a walk after supper. We were talking about dandelions, and how they go from yellow to white and to seed. She found this quite interesting and then she switched the conversation to mosquitoes. She told me that you only had to worry about the girl ones, the boy ones wouldn't bite you. I asked her how she new this. She replied that it was just something she knew. Then she said, "One Thursday when I was three, me and Mommy were just having a talk about bugs and mosquitoes, so that's how I know." All right then.

Have a good long weekend. Later.

Mother's Day Weekend

I call this post Mother's Day weekend, because we've kind of been celebrating all weekend (Julie deserves it). It all started when I called around last weekend and realized that I was too late to make a reservation somewhere nice for mother's day. Who knew? I guess people are organized. So we thought in lieu of mother's day brunch, we'd go out for supper on Friday night. We went to Tony Roma's and it was nice. The girls were reasonably well behaved. They get an 'appetizer' with the kids' meal there - Kraft crackers and cheez whiz. I think that was the highlight for Ginny. She used that little red stick and got every last bit of cheese product out of that container. It's weird, because they never eat cheez whiz at home.

Friday morning, Jorja decided to make Julie a Mother's day card. She also decided to give Julie one of her pens. She had finished the card, and came down to the family room, where Julie and I were sitting. "Mom, close your eyes." She then proceeds to 'whisper' how she made Mom a card, Ginny made one, and she had made one for CeCe to give to Julie. And she had found the perfect gift - a pen with a heart and feathers on the top that lights up when you press on it. This pen was Jorja's but she had decided to give it to Julie, 'because Dad, I have like four pens, and I don't need that many, so Mom can have this one.' It's hard to argue with logic like that. It's good to see I'm raising a Mennonite. She then tells me that she is going to go hide all the loot in her closet, and runs off to do so. She then returns to tell Julie not to look in her closet, because that's where the surprise was. She's got a lot to learn yet.

Saturday I took Jorja to piano lessons. She goes every Saturday at noon. It's a crappy time for the lesson, but she seems to be enjoying herself for the most part, and does pretty good. She can play with both hands now. It's amazing how much they learn in a year. Her only problem is that she doesn't like not being good. So any time they learn something new, it's a struggle to get her to do it. She gets all goofy and doesn't want to play. "Do you want to go to piano lessons?" I ask. "Then you better try this. It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. That's why we practice." Eventually, she will try it with me there, and then over the next couple of days, she goes to the piano and tries it herself, and soon she has it. It's just that getting started part. And sometimes she plays my bluff. "Do you want to go to piano lessons?" "No" "Well too bad, we're going anyway." Ah, the mind games. Anyway, back to this weekend in particular. After piano lessons, Jorja and I went to get some stuff for Mother's Day. Our first stop was to get a gift certificate for a pedicure. What's the perfect gift for a mother of three small children? A nice evening relaxing away from the children I figure. Then it was off to M&M to pick up some steak to BBQ and then to the flower shop. Jorja carried in the flowers all proud as punch, and gave them to Julie. She was most proud of the little swirly card holder that she had picked out.

That brings us to today. Jorja awoke this morning pretty much beside herself ready to bestow her treasures upon Julie. She presented her with all three cards, and the precious pen, that 'if Daddy wants to use it, he has to ask you Mom.' I am dying to use a pen with a flashing heart and feathery wisps on the top of it, so it's good to know I just have to ask.

After church, we thought we'd take a chance on Jerry's. Apparently it wasn't the hot spot for Mother's day. I thought everyone loved Jerry's. We were done eating and the girls were playing in the play area. CeCe slept through the entire meal - it was great. Julie and I were just enjoying some quiet time after lunch when Ginny came up to the table and uttered those two words you just don't want to hear when you're enjoying a cup of coffee after lunch. "I'm stinky." Great. Since CeCe had eaten in church, we had left the diaper bag in the car, so I told Ginny I would change her outside when we were done. Our SUV has a fold down tailgate, which has come in handy as a change table before. So there I was, in the Jerry's parking lot, changing Ginny's diaper. Julie was standing beside me jiggling the car seat, because CeCe had woke up by this time. Then this car drives by, the window rolls down, and this woman yells out, "It's nice to see the Dad doing that." Happy Mother's day!

This evening I BBQed steak and potatoes. I just get everything in off the barbecue, and Ginny comes up and asks what's for supper. After I tell her, she says, "I want tomato soup." Grrr. Then Jorja says to me, "I don't like steak." Grrr "Yes you do." "No I don't, I tried it when I was two, and I don't like it." Ginny had decided that she needed help eating hers, so Julie was helping her and I asked Jorja if she needed help too. She said yes, so I stabbed a piece of steak, smothered it in ketchup (because that's our dip for all our meat) and fed it to her. She makes this awful face and chokes it down. A few nights ago, each one of them scarfed down three barbecued wieners each (they don't eat them in buns), and now it was the end of the world to eat some steak. I think Jorja did like it, because after the initial bite, there was no hesitation, or carrying on . She just wouldn't admit that she liked it. If it wasn't mother's day, I might say 'typical woman'. Bazinga.

And that pretty much brings us to now. I hope you all had a good mother's day. Later.

Shots

Today, CeCe had to have her first set of immunizations - one shot in each leg. I've always hated that part, but I'm the shot guy. I've taken both girls for all theirs so far, and it works better that way. Anyway, she did pretty good, and now weighs 11 lbs 9 oz.

After the shots, CeCe and I came home, and it wasn't quite time to get Jorja from preschool yet, so Julie, Ginny, CeCe and I went to M&M to pick up some kabobs to BBQ for supper. On the way home, we stopped at the Coop and Julie picked the girls up a can of orange pop to share, and some 5 cent candies. Then we picked Jorja up and went home and they had a 'picnic' with their treats in the back yard. It could have been a five star restaurant the way they thought this was so special. Except for Ginny trying to talk with gummy candy sticking her teeth together - that was pretty funny.

They took their shoes off after their picnic and were playing in the yard. Ginny was colouring with sidewalk chalk when she saw a spider. Jorja came running by with very determined look on her face. "I've just got to get my shoe so I can kill this spider. I've got to smack it in the head." Ahh, the mighty hunter strikes again.

We went for a bike ride after supper, Jorja on her's, and I had Ginny in the seat on the back of mine. As we were biking Jorja asked, "Does God love us all the time? Even when we do bad things?" I assured her He did, and asked if there was something she wanted to tell me. "No, just wondering." Hmmmm...

I got a blister on my finger yesterday working in the yard, and it popped and ripped off before I was done. This evening Jorja grabbed in and I said ouch. Then I showed it to her. She got this really serious, concerned look an her face. "What is that Dad. Will the skin come back." I assured her it would and she wanted to know if it hurt. A little I said. "You shouldn't let anyone touch that Dad, not even you. You shouls use your other hand for stuff." I think it was quite unsettling to her, kind of cute.

Well, here's hoping there's some sleep tonight.

It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine.

I was getting a little worried this morning - the day was shaping up to not have much to write about. I guess that's not a bad thing, it would have meant no drama. But all that changed after preschool.

We all went to get Jorja today - we loaded Ginny and CeCe up in the wagon, and off we went. When we were getting packed up to come home, I noticed Jorja's backpack was leaking. It turns out her cup that she keeps in her lunch pack was broken. It was a princess cup with a second lining and the middle is filled with some sort of liquid and glitter (kind of like a snow globe around the cup). Well, pretty much all the liquid was gone. I say liquid because I don't know what was in there, all I know is that is was made in China, so let's just hope it wasn't toxic. I think it was leaking on the outside, and not the inside, so we should be all right.

Anyway, back to the drama. I asked Jorja if she was sad about the cup, and she said no. She was trying to put on a brave face, but you could tell she was fighting back the tears. We played outside at home for a while, and then she finally let go. She cried...and cried...and cried. That was her favorite cup. Ginny tried to console her, "It's all right Jorja. Why are you crying. It's all right." In the end, it was decided that we would make a Walmart run after supper to get a new cup. I needed new socks anyway. I've been wearing black ones now for three days in a row, and although Ginny feels they are 'pretty', I prefer white for every day.

I finally fired up the BBQ this evening for supper - the first time this year. Too bad all we had to go on it were hot dogs. Oh well, the girls and I enjoyed them. I made six, and they asked for more. Julie had left over sausage. She finally started eating BBQed hot dogs last year, but then a coworker of mine (who is taking food science) ruined them for her by saying they are mostly organ meat. Sheesh.

We found a suitable replacement cup at Walmart this evening - several princesses on it and some jewels. This one is even dishwasher safe, which the other one wasn't.

When we got home, a Shaw salesman showed up. We're going to switch from Sasktel - TV, internet, and phone. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, we're sitting at the table filling out the paper work and Ginny asks, "Who's that boy?" Julie replied that she didn't know his name, he was the Cable Guy.

That's about it I think. There's nothing on TV Friday nights. Lots of hockey, but the Oil didn't quite make it this year, so it's not that exciting. Later.