My Birthday Boy

He doesn’t like having a birthday in winter because he can’t do anything outdoors for his party.

He rolls his eyes at me when I call him cutesy names and hates it when I grab his face and kiss his cheeks!

When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, his response is,

“I don’t know. I don’t have to think about that yet. I will decide in a little while.”

Sometimes, he is too witty for his own good.

He is always ready with a good comeback.

He is ultra competitive.

I can relate.

He has now had two asthma attacks in the last 3 weeks.

Last time he was at the hospital, he kindly told the nurse that he “wanted to go home soon. Please.”

Last night, he asked me to try not to wake him up when I gave him his puffer during the night. He just wanted to have a “good sleep.”

My poor guy has had such rough nights lately.

Trouble breathing… Up coughing… Being woken up to take medication…

Anyhow, we wanted to get him something special for his birthday this year and it just so happened to be on sale for boxing week! I wrapped it in paper, tied it up tight with string, wrapped it again around the string, wrapped it tight with saran wrap, wrapped it with paper again, and then covered it with tape. I have a video of him opening it, but I took it with Scott’s phone and can’t figure out how to get the sound to work on the blog. It went something like this…

“MORE paper??? Is this the last layer??? It’s something Nintendo!!! It’s a game!!! I think it’s a DS!”

“IT’S A NINTENDO 3DS!!!!!!! THANK YOU MOM! THANK YOU DAD!”

He hasn’t wanted to put it down since.

You have never been an easy child. From your emergency entrance into this world, to your bad temper as a toddler, and your mischievousness as a big and little brother… You are always one to shake things up when they get boring.

Happy 8th Birthday to my little sweetie-pie, hunny-bunch!

You know that I love you!

Can’t help my-self…

Ahem

He especially loves it when I sing to him…

Love ya, bud.

Christmas Eve & Day

We started the tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve 12 Christmases ago! I think that originally, it was just out of impatience, as Scott and I both couldn’t wait to give eachother gifts… but over the years, it has worked out quite well for our family. We always call it a pyjama day, and just open gifts from eachother. Then, the kids get to open all the other presents from grandparents and aunts on Christmas Day.

 

I expected to be woken up early, and I was! But not how I expected… I was up at 5am, feeding Lily when I heard someone else in the hallway. I peeked out my door and saw Prayer coming out of the bathroom. She looked a little odd from a distance, so I called her over- her eye was swollen to the size of a ping pong ball and she couldn’t even open it. Jeddy, had pink eye earlier that week- we thought that we had successfully rid the house of it. Apparently not… I gave her some warm compresses for her eye and sent her back to bed. It did look much better in the morning, but she still tried to hide it in all the pictures!

 

I didn’t hear kids again until about 8am. Even then, they were playing quietly in their rooms! Scott ran out to Shopper’s to get some eye drops, while I fed the kids breakfast so that we could open gifts as soon as he got home. :)

We began with each of us thanking God for something. Ella, was thankful for “all her presents!”

We  kept it pretty simple this year. Money was not in abundance after a big move. The boys got Lego sets, like they asked for. Eve, also got Lego along with some scarves from Ella. Keona, got a jewellery box and some jewellery to go with it. A gorgeous jewellery box that we found on kijiji for less than we planned to spend! She also got a Bath and Body Works set. She’s such a preteen…

 

Charity, has wanted a guitar for years now. We looked, but decided we couldn’t spend that much money this year. I prayed about it and kept my eye out on kijiji. We had a budget of $25 each, and I found a brand new- still in the box- student guitar for $25!!! We tricked her by just giving her a dollar store basket with a pair of sunglasses and a hair band- she thought that was what her dad had bought her! She was just a tad bit excited when he pulled out the guitar. :) Ella, got dollies like she had asked for from her big sister. All the girls got some jewellery from mom and dad. Prayer got her easel- another kijiji find! We tricked her as well, and just wrapped the giant roll of paper for the easel and said that she could roll it out on the floor… The easel was hidden behind the couch. ;)

 

I love my kids. There’s nothing quite like watching the joy on their faces as they open presents. AND presents that they picked out for eachother…

Scott spent the next 3 hours helping to assemble Lego sets. I took care of Lily, helped Charity tune her guitar, and hung out with the girls. We ate pizza for dinner and relaxed in our new pjs, in front of the fireplace, in our new home. I am feeling extremely blessed this Christmas Eve.

________________________

On Christmas Day, I stayed home from church because of the colds my kids had, the pink eye, and Elijah’s asthma acting up. 

We had family and friends over for dinner…

This doesn’t even show the kids’ table!

I didn’t take many pictures- but I guarantee that we enjoyed the day. Aunt Gail, kept Lily more than content (Fast asleep!) while I cooked. Scott, played PS3 hockey with Adam, James, and Robbie. They were LOUD! Well, mostly James… He is hilarious! We love James and Tracy. I’m so glad they were able to come! My sister, mom, and mom in law, were a huge help in the kitchen. Not to mention, Eve! She took everyone’s drink orders and filled their glasses. Uhh… cups. ;) The girls played cards with great grandpa- Keona was quite excited when she actually beat him at a game of crazy 8s!

 

I am so very, very thankful for all of our family, and adopted family this Christmas!

God’s been good.

 

Off to Wasaga Beach tomorrow, to spend the day with more family! And no, despite what Jeddy and Ella may try to tell you- we are NOT going to be building sand castles or going swimming at the beach! :P

Merry Christmas!

Our card this year…

  

Now I just have to work on getting a picture of all EIGHT of them together! :)

I decided to use the card to double as a birth announcement for Lily, as well.

The inside… 

Back of the card…

 

Please forgive me if you usually get a card from us and didn’t this year… I only ordered 75, and barely got those out in time. Some are still coming late! :)

 

We had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I’ll share photos soon.

For now… Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Her Is So Cute!

“I just lub her! Her is SO cute!!!”

Why do I have a feeling that this photo is going to define their relationship?…

In Point Form…

I’m blogging in point form because I’m tired and I don’t feel like trying to make a post “flow” tonight.

  - In the last two months, I’ve spent a  night (or several nights) in the hospital with three of my children. Most recently, Elijah. Elijah, who at almost 8 years old, had only ever seen a doctor for a regular check up.  He had an asthma attack, and had to stay over night in the paediatric ward of the hospital. His O2 level was at 85% when we got to the ER. They rushed him right in- no 6 hour wait for us! He barely had any energy at all when we got there, but after the meds (and steroids) kicked in, the kid couldn’t stop smiling! Not to mention that Elijah, Lily, and I got our own room and at 10pm at night, the nurse rolled in a TV and xbox 360. I don’t know whether the xbox, or the elevator ride on a stretcher was the highlight of his stay. Or maybe it was the chest xray. Or the fact that they serve coffee with breakfast in the paed wing??? I didn’t let him drink it…

Ah yes, the joy of hospital stays. It was quite the reminder of how thankful I should be for my kids’ health.

- We had friends over for homemade poutines. Scott cooked. JosieAnne and I decided that next time they come over, Scott and Marcel can cook, while we paint!

- We went to the seniors’ home for our Christmas service. Rita, must have pulled Elijah’s head in (Elijah, who is very standoff-ish- doesn’t even like hugs!) and she rubbed noses with him over and over again! I was extremely proud of him for being polite and not running away from her. :) Ernie came down to see the kids even though he isn’t doing so well these days. He gave them all quarters and hugs. Lily and Ella got more kisses than I could count! Everyone was quite excited to meet Lily for the first time- she was a hit! One old lady ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhhed’ at her while Keona had her and kept saying, “Oh, isn’t he cute!” When Keona corrected her and said, “She’s a girl.” The lady responded with, “Oh, don’t worry. He’ll grow another eye soon!”

We love our seniors!

 

- We teased the triplets that they’re like a zoo attraction. “ Look! It’s triplets! Come see this! They’re identical!” Said a group of nurses as they walked by… Then they all proceeded to walk over and touch them and talk about them. Ha!

 

- I still haven’t edited my photo session of Lily… It’s kinda hard to do without a mouse. Hopefully, Scott will hook up my PC this week. *Hint, hint* ;)

-This may sound incredibly frivolous, but I miss my laptop. I miss my perfectly calibrated screen; my files and filing system; a mouse to use while I edit photos; my laptop… Still very angry with myself.

- As I was cutting Jed’s hair tonight, I said, “I need you to turn this way, hun. Look at me.” To which he replied, “Sure! I like looking at you. You’re pretty!” This kid is going to be a serious charmer…

- Ella’s new favourite phrases, “Oh man!” “Stink!” (Kinda like ‘shoot!’ or ‘darn!’- but she says ‘stink!’) “What!?!?” When she thinks something is crazy… and “No way!” She has also learned to roll her eyes, and has decided that she’s too old to go in the nursery.

 

-  It’s “weird” that my body makes milk “like a cow.”  According to Elijah…

 

-My little brother slept over last night and we all played Quelf. A game in which I had to do a square dance while singing, pretend to be a stand up comedian, end every sentence I said with “izzle”, and smell Prayer’s shoe.

Fun stuff!

 

- Eve and I finished making the wreaths that I started about… 2 months ago? I’m pretty happy with them. Less than $15 for both of them. They may be too plain? They will have to do for this year!

- Keona is getting too big, too fast. Just had to buy her a women’s small in pyjamas… Tomorrow night, she goes to a youth Christmas party with her friends. I’m old…

 

- I am finished my Christmas shopping! Can’t wait for the weekend… 3 more sleeps! :)

Check out those cheeks! Baby is gaining weight!

P.S. She smiles cause she is in my bed again… I’m sure of it!

Just When I Started Blogging Again…

Just when I started to get back into blogging mode, I dropped my laptop. Dropped my laptop on my new ceramic (read: stone-like) kitchen floor. I dropped my laptop while I was moving it to KEEP IT SAFE from the kids. Can you tell that I’m still mad at myself??? I dropped it a week ago. Thankfully, after spending a small fortune, we were able to get everything off the hard drive. But… the screen was shattered and the laptop itself- is toast. (Insert crying smiley here)

Later that night, Jeddy came over to me and said, “I just can’t say it!!!”

I asked him what he was talking about, and said, “Oh, just a Christmas present I’m going to get you!”

I said, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! I’m going to buy you somethin’ but Dad’s gonna pay for it. Cause I don’t have enough money…”

Me: “Does Dad know about this?”

Jeddy: “No. But I’m gonna tell him!”

I love that kid.

So, I promise that there will be some pictures of Lily and the house soon- but they’re waiting on Scott getting my PC up and running again.

But for now…

On a brighter note- we are done school for Christmas break! We ended today with a debate- Who’s Smarter: Women or Men?

Keona is getting into debating now. It was always one of my favourite parts of Jr High… when we got to debate! So, we started her off debating her Dad- just for fun and good practice! Keona sat on the couch across from Scott, and we had the triplets and Elijah as an audience. The debate went back and forth with points such as, “All the greatest inventors were men!” to… “Who were homeschooled by their MOMS…” ha! Followed by a list of great minds who were taught by women. (You go girl!)

Anyhow, eventually Scott started to pull ahead and Keona was running out of arguments. That’s when the triplets jumped in… Scott had 4 girls arguing with him at the same time! I’m laughing just picturing it in my head… They are passionately debating their points, while Elijah sits on the couch across from them with his fingers pinched in front of his eyes saying, “Squish, squish, squish!” The kid was pretending to squish his sisters…

Then the argument got into Adam and Eve and Scott made the point that Eve was deceived and not Adam. The girls started to argue it and Elijah shouts over all four of his sisters, “Read your Bible!”

Oh man, this, after Scott saying that the feminist movement was dead (as a joke about something) and Charity piping up, “No, it’s not!” I explained to her what the feminist movement was today…

They crack me up. I had to laugh today while Scott was in the livingroom with seven (SEVEN!) women! These girls love their Dad, and I am loving their personalities, and seeing their own opinions form on things as they grow up.

 

Lily, is doing extremely well. She is now fitting into all of her newborn-sized outfits. She does however, refuse to sleep in her crib. I can’t complain though. I can’t really blame her either. Technically, she would still be in the belly- so she has an excuse! :)

Ella, who we worried about being jealous. Isn’t jealous at all so far. Possessive of “her baby”- yes. But jealous- no.

 

Scott, went out grocery shopping today and came home with a princess costume for Ella. And a tiara to top it off.

He tried to put the tiara on her several times but I guess he wasn’t doing it right, cause she took it out of his hands and said, “Just let Mom do it!” Once I had put it on, she ran back over to him with her big puckered lips and gave him a big I-love-you-daddy kiss on the cheek!

 

P.S. Have I mentioned lately that I hate our cats? Anyone want to take them off our hands??? Free to a good home! ;)

Lily Elizabeth