Braceface

The time has come - as we always knew it would. Sterling is getting braces. Tuesday morning we went to see his orthodontist and Dr. Pong told us that the time is now. Or almost now. His first appointment will be September 4. On that day he will get all his impressions done and his xrays. Two weeks after that we will have a consult with Dr. Pong and he will map out exactly what has to be done and approximately how long it will take and how broke we will be. A week after that he will get his tracks. Right now he figures 2+ years. Sterling is not thrilled, "but I love gum!", but that's what needs to be done and Craig and I don't see it as an option seeing as his teeth are all over the place. He has 12 more teeth to come in (not right now) and he only has space for about half of them. One side is good, the other, not so much. Tracks, it is. The only upside for him was that there are different colored elastics that he could wear. Apparently orange is on his list for a test drive.

Personally, I love braces. Personally, I think he is going to look awesome. Personally, I have been told that obviously I love Kaedo more. hmmm. It is looking like Kaedo might need braces as well, but I need to get Sterling done before I can consider dealing with him. He's good for another couple of years.

me: "Sterling, braces as sparkle to your smile"

sterling: "whatever"

On the Gridiron

Well, football night one finished and it was, well... let's say interesting. Where do I start, let's start with the bad. When practice started one of the league organizers was giving some of the highlights of what to expect while the coach was with the kids and as it turns out there is a pretty firm rule when it comes to age and weight. (I might mention that we brought this fact up when we registered him and they said it would not be a problem for Sterling to be in Tyke, 7-10, max 90 pounds) So when I asked about this the organizer told us that they have no control over that fact and that in some cases, kids have run around the track in a plastic bag to lose water weight or gone on a crash diet to make weight. As he's talking I can feel Shannon start to overheat. She told him, Sterlings perfect and doesn't need to lose any weight and that they should have told us that from the beginning if he should be in the higher division. He attempted to try and smooth things over by saying it would probably be fine but then started talking saying if Sterling really wanted to play in the lower division he could probably drop enough weight before the weigh in to make the division. Halfway through his spiel Shannon just walked away. I heard him out and then stuck around to talk to the team manager a.k.a. 'the coach's wife'. She says to me 'I'm a pretty good judge of body language and I could tell your wife wasn't too happy'. I'm thinking, no shit Sherlock... I could have been legally blind and 30 feet away and still picked up on that one. But on the upside, she doesn't believe in that and felt the same as us, and that it is better that he practice with this team which is made up of more first year players then move up if he weighs over 90 pounds at the end of summer. For the record, I just weighed him and he came in at 91.8 without clothes. Not bad considering he hasn't done much physical activity lately. A few weeks of football practice twice a week for two hours should fix that. Oh yeah, the organizer also said to Shannon's chagrin that if he doesn't eat junkfood throughout the summer he should be fine, to which Shannon replied, 'he's with his grandparents through the summer, I'm not gonna stop him from having ice cream.' So word up to the grandparents, strict diet of veggies and chicken this summer :) All kidding aside, he'll probably eat better there than here... and no Shannon that wasn't a jab at your cooking.

On the upside, things got better from there, coach was great, he mentioned a peanut allergy on the team and asked everyone to respect that without mentioning Sterling's name. He also was very big on the kids having fun. I know Shannon mentioned earlier that this is a Rep team. What we didn't know is that all the other teams they play against are all playing in a house league right now where the Rep coaches will pick the best of the best for the Fall. Apparently the Tigercats get killed every year and have only won one game in recent memory. The coach's wife recounted the memory with a tear in her eye how the kids acted like they won the Grey Cup after that one. Maybe this will be the year for win number 2. I just hope Sterling has fun and learns something, he really seemed to enjoy himself tonight. All and all the night was redeemed by the awesome coach so let's hope Sterling will be able to play for him in the Fall.

Here are some pics from the night.

I pity da' fool!

Eye of the tiger(cats)
After practice smiles all around.

Just damn cute!

Later,

C

Why do they call it a sleepover...

Why do they call it a sleepover when no one really gets much sleep... especially the parents! Well, we survived the first ever sleepover and only a few bags under the eyes to show for it, no major damage. The friends (who were also brothers) got here around 7 and the first thing I heard Kaeden's friend say (he's 6 and this was his first sleepover) was 'I'm sleeping over here tonight, this is the bestest day ever'. So exciting for all of them. Shannon made a cake and they had pizza, chips and pop. The four of them then proceeded to play GameCube, then continued to play outside until it got dark. Once they couldn't see each other anymore it was time to come inside and watch movies. They watched until about 10:30 or 11 when we said they could take the party up to the boys rooms where Sterling and his friend watched movies on the PSP and Kaeden and his friend played their Nintendos. Finally, around 12:30 I asked that they turn off the games but they could keep talking (have I mentioned that Shannon was already sound asleep by this point). At about 1:30 (I still haven't slept) Sterling is asleep and his friend decides he wants to be with his brother which as it will caused a bit of an argument so I told them they had to get to sleep. At 2 they are still awake and at 3 Sterling's friend came to our room as he was a little scared. I think everyone finally got to sleep at about 3:30. Needless to say we had a couple of tired kids the next day but I'm sure they would do it again in a minute. I think we will try again on Kaedo's birthday but probably just one kid.

Sorry for the rambling post, just thought I would fill the gap until Shannon is back in action. Football and TKD tomorrow night so I'm sure we'll have some pics to post. Sterling is really looking forward to football so let's hope he still feels the same way after a 2 hour practice... twice a week at that.

Later,

C

hello -

It's been a while. Don't know how much I have to say but we'll get going here and see where we end up. Breathe - what a busy couple of weeks. I am sure I have never worked so hard as I have lately. Dropped my projects off yesterday and am now ready to start on to the next thing. Lots going on now for the next 6 weeks until Chicago. Everyone in my office is under considerable strain with all the deadlines right now. Speaking for myself, my feelings have been stepped on numerous times in the last little while. Every one's life is busy and hectic and people always have lots going on. Unfortunately it is during those times that feelings get hurt. Speaking for myself I can honestly say my confidence is a little shaken and I think I just need to take today off and re-group.

The boys are having their first ever sleepover party tonight. They are so excited. I could probably get them to do anything right now if I held their party over their heads. But I wouldn't do that - would I?

School is winding down - don't quite understand that as they still have a month left, but whatever. All the dictees, spelling tests, math tests, etc are finished as of today. I know teachers are starting to work on report cards, so that is probably why - it probably does take a month to get them completed. I don't envy that job!

Football starts on Tuesday. Sterling is very excited and I am sure Craig is excited to see the next generation. He says one of his regrets was having not tried out for football in high school. Here's his chance to live vicariously through Sterling. I think Sterling is just as excited to wear his new Under Armour cleats as he is to play. We are hoping our new system will work for us. Kaeden is going to go to TKD at the same time as football meaning less travelling for us and Kaedo will get to go to the all ages classes. With the field being in Bville, we should be able to do everything at once.

Well, that's it. Party tonight, recovery tomorrow, and back to work on Sunday.

you know...

...it's going to be a long day when the police ring your doorbell at 7:30am. The shock of the ringing doorbell, jumping out of bed and into my housecoat, racing down the stairs, only to open the door to the police is one of the most terrifying things ever!
Once I opened the door and asked what was wrong (who was dead, maimed by a wild zebra, etc) the kind officer simply handed me a summons. I need to be a witness for the police officer who came to my accident for the idiot who hit me. Little did I know that Craig had looked out the upstairs window and had virtually vaulted from the upstairs to entry way. I think there are skid marks on the tile from where he stopped. Oh, my bad, that's just dirt.
When I asked why in the hell he would ring my doorbell at 7:30am, he replied, "that's when we catch you at home."
Oh ya - just so you know - the police have to wear their hat to the door when it is something serious. Interesting fact. Scary, but interesting.

Off to a BBQ where I can consume the last of my daily calories with one all beef hot dog, no bun and a thimble full of ketchup. mm mmm good.

breathe

While I am in no way done with the monstrous project, I am seeing the light at the end of the first tunnel. Ramping up to the busiest time of the year for me. There will be a lot of creating and a lot of standing in front of my desk scratching my head in the next few months. I have just learned that on top of my regular duties at CHA I will also be teaching a 50pp class (at 7AM! yikes). Love those big classes. They give me a kick. So looking forward to that. Now all I have to do is design the project! eek. Have some things brewing. We'll see. The fall also brings Scrapfest at the Mall of America. It is a busy weekend in which I will talk to around 3000 insane women and teach 175 of them. Looking forward to that. It is tiring but good and it gets our name out and it's always fun to see women I have met in past years. I know I already have a dinner and drinks date with some women I have seen quite a few times in the past year. I look forward to that. It will keep me out of the stores!
Long weekend - not too much going on. Kaedo will go to TKD tomorrow am and Craig will go to football and Sterling will watch TV and I'll work. Sunday we have been invited to a big BBQ with fireworks. Hopefully the weather is good. They have opened up their pool for the season, so hopefully the boys will get a chance to be fish.
Well, that's about it. Have a great weekend. I promise I will post pictures of my trip.

later

hmmm

Working under some tough deadlines right now. Will try and blog more on Thursday. This picture reminds me to take a breath and just be.

Happy Birthday the Sequel

Well, all is done including the cleanup. Shannon loved her present even though Sterling spilled the beans yesterday, accidentally of course. We bought her a tablet for the computer that will hopefully allow her to do more design work for her company (and herself as well) by letting her write on the tablet using a pen and it shows on the computer. The boys each made her a picture using a CD case that she will hang proudly in her office. On another good note the cake never gave any of us food poisoning. In fact, Shannon said it was the best dairy-free cake she has ever had :) Actually, she said it was the best cake she ever had but I'm sure she meant dairy-free. To be honest, I'm surprised at how good it was, not quite chocolate sour cream, but damn close. I think everyone has called and wished her a happy birthday and even her children have given her birthday wishes, although the little toad Kaeden decided to wait until after school to do so. Now she is working feverishly to a deadline, not exactly the way to spend a birthday, but she works better under pressure and the sugar rush from the cake should help. She got a lot of nice stuff and anything I fail to mention here I trust she will correct in her comments to my post.

As Shannon called us, 'the master bakers at work'.

Ta-da, the finished product :)

Tulips (her favorite) from the Backyardigans.

Her new favorite drink, a treat for her birthday, thanks to Jessica for getting her addicted to mistos made with soy milk(blech).

Ipood, I mean Ipod, from Jessica, Ken and Emma, rock on!

Zee works of art, voila!

Bamboo for you.

Lights out.

And a special mention to the Denis and Irene for making it possible for her to celebrate with you as well. Mom and Dad, thanks for the 'stairbox' and the Tim Horton's card and Kelly and Tica for the movie and Chapters cards. She loved everything.

That is all for tonight, the blogging pro will be back in action tomorrow.

C

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Shannon, Happy Birthday to you!!!

I case anyone is wondering, this is Craig posting and Shannon isn't actually singing to herself in the third person. I'll post pictures after the celebration is over tonight and the aftermath of the dairy-free cake, damn I hope it tastes good.

C

Happy Mother's Day

While I know that today is the day to celebrate all things mom, I want to give a shout out to Craig who helps make me the mom I am

what I love about him:
1 - I love how he sucks at loading the dishwasher but kicks ass at unloading it
2 - I love how he always makes sure the back door is locked before he comes to bed
3 - I love how he always kisses me on the back of the neck when he gets home from work (probably what got me the two kids!)
4 - I love how he does things without me even expecting it
5 - I love how he bought me flowers AND took time to write a wonderful card
6 - I love how he doesn't complain when I don't make supper although he is groaning inside
7 - I love how he puts my MP3 books on the computer and never complains when he is in the middle of a hockey game and I ask him to put one on my phone - NOW
8 - I love that he makes me "mixed tapes"
9 - I love that I don't need to teach division or photosynthesis to the boys because he's got it covered
10 - I love how he always tells me he loves me - even when he is ready to throttle me
11 - I love how he bought me an awesome gift for Mother's day and he is already putting it together
12 - I love how he has helped make me the mom I am

It doesn't hurt that he is the best looking guy I know.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. Especially you, Shirley - you done good .

sorry

Not too much posting over the next few days. Have another kid home sick today. No, mom, it has nothing to do with my house! Lots of work this weekend. Will be taking some time off to spend with the fam on Sunday afternoon and to take the boys to the doctor tomorrow morning. Have a happy mother's day to all the mom's who read this. All 4 of you.
Hope to be back with details of my trip.
I will only say one thing - a lot of daiquiris were consumed.

ha ha

So much to write about I don't even know where to start. Will get my thoughts together tonight or tomorrow - and get my photos downloaded. Sad to leave, glad to be home.

s

Gourmet

Well it sounds like everyone is having a great time in Alberta and thanks Mom for sending the pictures, the kids really enjoyed them. Everything is going good here, had football yesterday and it was fun as always. At Shannon's suggestion, I laid the seats down in the back of the van, laid out blankets and the kids watched movies while I played. The weather was a little cool and damp so they were more than happy to sit there and watch. After the game and 'post-game analysis' I came back to the van and was promptly told, 'we are at the good part in the movie, go have some beers with your buddies, we'll be done in a bit'. As a treat for their good behaviour, I suggested we make our own pizzas for supper. Sterling didn't want them on pitas as we usually do so I asked if he wanted to buy the dough and make them from 'scratch'. The were enthused and after a quick trip to the grocery store, the following pictures are the result. They had a fun time making them, probably more than actually eating them. There was a bit of mess, but worth it for the experience. Guess which ones are Kaedo's, as a clue, he made three (of course).





Who knew you could make pizzas with cookie cutters?

The kids, up to their usual antics, also had a game of what I can only describe as 'Plastic Bag Sumo Wrestling'. Each pilfered our stockpile of plastic bags for their traditional Sumo garb and proceeded to wrestle downstairs, until I came around with the camera at which time it became 'Evade Dad for Fear He Might Post These Pictures On the Blog'. I caught an unsuspecting Sterling as he donned his gear, Kaedo was much more elusive as I only caught blurs of plastic and white hair. Sterling will spaz if he knows I posted these but I risked it before and thankfully they don't read the blog. Besides which, I think its a flattering picture, not like he's naked or in his unders, he is fully clothed in plastic bags :)





In baby news, our Momma robins eggs finally hatched and here are some pictures of the butt ugly babies. Thank God this camera isn't that good. Once Shannon comes home we'll try and get some pictures of them with feathers. See Sterling, now these are some embarrassing pictures. Nudity alert, nudity alert.






Until later,

C

day 3

Dear Craig -
Hi Honey - having a wonderful time.
Spent the afternoon with your mom and dad. They are darling as always and we had a lot of laughs. Your dad was red faced when I told the Mike Hunt story and was very uncomfortable throughout the childbirth and piercing conversations. He was a great sport and laughed when he wasn't cringing. Your mom was game as always, playing and dancing with Emma. She laughed so hard she was crying. Of course, lots of pictures were taken. Lots of tears at the end of the visit, as usual.
Having a great time with mom, dad and Jessica. We have been spending a lot of time together and enjoying it. Everyone (minus me) is sitting around Ken's huge TV watching to Habs. They are winning right now, so hopefully they stick with it.
Emma is hilarious. I hope you get to see her when you come to Alberta. I have laughed so much and we get along so well.
I am missing you and the boys and while I am having a great time I look forward to seeing you guys on Tuesday night.

I love you,
Shannon

PS - did I mention that Jessica and I got our noses pierced again?

day 2

In Medicine Hat now, enjoying myself at Jessica's. Emma is hilarious and I think she may get a complex from me laughing at her so much. No, I'm not laughing with her. Jessica's house is beautiful and you can see how much work she has put into it. She has set up a great room for me to stay in and I feel so comfortable here. We had pedicures this afternoon followed by a late lunch at Earls where a bottle of wine and two Malibu daiquiri's were consumed. I think we ate too. Now we are just hanging out and who knows where the night will go. Missing the boys and Craig like crazy but am happy to be seeing Stan and Shirley tomorrow.
Hopefully more from the road will come. If not, look forward to Craig's more entertaining posts through the weekend.

Tearful Goodbye

Well, so begins 5 days of peace and quiet... just kidding. Shannon is off to Alberta (Hi Shann) and we have settled into a boy's routine. (Not much different than when Shannon is her 'cept we're all boys) A little tearful this morning as usual, Kaeden got a little choked up that Mom was leaving for 5 days and once again as soon as we got home and ready for school he was back to normal. Sterling was feeling a little under the weather this morning but the mean Dad I am, I forced him off to school with true words of encouragement, 'Here's some Tylenol for your headache and Sucrets for your sore throat, call me if you need to come home' Strangely enough, for a kid who claims to dislike school, his words back to me were, 'Yeah, I might as well go learn something today' and he stayed the whole day. I wonder if Sterling got sick after I had to drag him around last night looking for football cleats. To steal a line from Shannon, the person who invented men's shoe sizes must have been a woman. The junior sizes go up to size 6 while the men's sizes started at 8 or 8.5. Bigfoot here is a 7.5 in men's cleats, so it turns out the only cleats I could find that came in that size were Under Armour (after telling him when we left the house, 'you are not getting Under Armour'). The other convenient thing is that Under Armour is the only brand in the store that never, I repeat NEVER goes on sale. Signs everywhere, 20% off all cleated shoes... then in small print, excluding Under Armour. So $75 later Sterling is thrilled with his new shoes (even though they are technically baseball cleats, they have the same pattern as football) and hopefully he gets some good use out of them. Really, with two practices a week then practices and games when the season starts, I'll be happy I got him good shoes.

Until tomorrow.

C