The real first day of school

Today Sterling moved into a grade 5 English class. It's been 5 years in the coming, but I think the right decision was made and Sterling will find things so much better, if not easier, not having to fight the language barrier that has daunted him since he started his schooling. Yesterday we went through all his backpack and cleaned out his duotangs and binder and got all his stuff together for this morning.
He slept well last night, after a little bit of restlessness before bed, and was in great spirits this morning. I walked him up to his class shortly before the bell rang and helped him get organized. I don't know if this is what a mom of a 5th grader should be doing, but that is what he wanted and what he wanted is what he got.
I was thrilled when the first of the kids in his new class started milling around the classroom door and a boy that he knows from SK came up and said hi. I could see that he was happy with that and it made it easier for me not to hang around.
I know he is going to do great and can't wait to hear all about his first day, tonight. They both have Spanish after school, so the wait will be a bit longer, but I am sure it will be worth it.


On another note - it is freezing cold here, football practice is on tonight and Craig is working late! Yikes - guess I have to do my motherly duty and freeze my ass off on the sidelines. Crap!

this one's for you, Shirley

October 26, 2008 - Pingle's farm

Harrier Hero

Thursday, Kaedo and I (and hundreds of other screaming kids) spent part of the day at the Ganaraska Forest. It is the largest forest in Ontario and is host of this wonderful event. The students, from 4-8 grade long distance race through the forest on the quest for gold (or the quest to just finish). It was VERY cold that morning. Shivery. Kaeden raced against all the grade 4 Courtice schools boys for his run and came in 4th out of 30. He did fantastic. I was a Course Marshal for the day so I have no pictures of him crossing the finish line but do have one of him on the trail. He had a great time and is now saying, "running is my life". I know this has renewed his interest in Triathlons so he will be able to return to competing in them in the Spring. He also tells me that he is going to run track for his school this Spring. Good for him. Can you tell I am a proud mom?

hmmmm

kaedo: "mom, we were going through newspapers in Media class today so I brought this home for you"

me: "thanks, doll"

kaedo: "look, it's the comics"

me: "awesome"

kaedo: "look at this big dog - mar-ma-duke - have you seen this one before?"

me: laugh at comic

kaedo: reads comic

Kaedo: - "that's us, right?"

oh, say it's not snow!

Snow(flakes) today. Yikes! It is going to be cold on the football field tonight. It is cold - Sterling only wore a thin bunny-hug today so I am sure he will be freezing when he gets in. Kaedo had Harrier this morning - last practice before the meet on Thursday and was bundled up so warm I don't know how he was going to run! He is nervous, anxious and excited. I am too. I will be cheering him on from the sidelines come Thursday morning. Please hope for no snow/rain. I beg of you!

Craig was home with me today. The house wasn't as quiet as usual. It was nice. I am working on a project that is totally out of my league right now and his expert computer advice and ability have been invaluable to me today. Wonder if he can stay home tomorrow?

It seems like Thursday to me today. I wonder why? Hmm. Odd. I'm getting ahead of myself.

The boys are in Spanish this afternoon. While it can make for very productive extra time, it is also a long extra 90 minutes. I am used to our usual routine, so this is throwing me off a bit. It will definitely take some getting used to.

Don't know who reads this but I thought I would just post a little thank you to my sis. (I know she reads - BUT DOES NOT COMMENT!) If you know her, drop her a line and tell her how great she is!

I received a gift in the mail today from Jessica that just brightened my spirits. Thank you. Most of you know this, but for those that don't - Jessica is one of the most giving people I have ever met. She will do anything to help someone. From calling everyday to make sure I haven't fallen in the toilet and drowned (not bloody likely), to teaching my kids bad words, to always telling my gramma E that I say "hi", even when I don't know she has gone to visit her. She calls me without fail, 5x a week, and whether I have anything to say or not, she chatters away giving me a glimpse into her life, reassuring me once again how much she loves me. Anyone who is blessed enough to have her in their life should consider themselves lucky. Thank you, Jessica - for making my day. I love you.

school picture proofs

speechless
*click on image to enlarge

Soccer Saturdays

And so it begins - 6 months of Saturdays sitting in the soccer arena watching this All-Star play ball. He did great! Like me, he suffers from some serious anxiety, but once he got his jersey on, got on the field and got the ball in front of him, he kicked ass! Loved it! He said it was even better than what he had expected. I love to hear that. His team seems nice and there aren't a ton of kids so they will all get a lot of playing time. I like to see that. Here are a few pics so you can see just how awesome he was. The lighting is a little weird there, so I am not sure how many good shots I am going to get but I'll keep trying.

Funny thing - Kaedo overheard the other coach saying to one of the players - "go cover that girl". He then realized they were talking about him!

It was a close game!

fall is here

Thanksgiving 2004

10 Ways I know Fall is here:

1. The boys come down in their shorts and immediately go back upstairs to put pants on

2. Sterling wearing his ski jacket in the house

3. Blow drying their hair in the morning

4. Wearing an undershirt every day

5. Watching all the squirrels gathering supplies for the winter

6. Falling leaves

7. Having to scrape the van windows this morning!

8. Putting the heater on in my office

9. Suggesting the boys wear their vests on top of their bunny-hugs to school

10. Not having to leave the bathroom window open for a little chill in the bedroom at night

For all those things and the way my mood suffers so much in the fall, I have to say that in some weird way it is my favorite season. It is definitely the most beautiful.

Happy Friday

thinking

Been talking to a lot of people lately about how the things that are going on in the world are affecting them and how hard things seem to be (are) right now. I know speaking for myself, life is overwhelming. It is so easy to wallow in my own self-pity and forget about all the wonderful things that are going on so I thought I would mention some of those, if for no other reason than to remind myself.

A new baby coming to Kelly and Petrica next month
A long awaited trip for Stan and Shirley at the end of the month - hurray!
A new start to soccer season for Kaeden - something he has been wishing for for months
A new maturity for Sterling - a sense that he is really coming into his own - wonderful to see
Saturday mornings on the football field for Craig - the best day of the week
Winter in the sun quickly coming for mom and dad
Ken coming home soon and Jessica and Emma so excited

and that have each other

Got to keep remembering that last one
love to all

starting again

So, I wrote this long post about how much I love Wednesdays and everything that is so great about them and then everything imploded. My stupid kid (ya, go ahead, call Social Services - today he is stupid) - got into a fight at school. What an idiot. What's worse is that there was no, "oh, I shouldn't have done that". Nothing. All over a stupid ball and a place in line. I guess when you are that age that is a major deal but geez, kid - think!
We had big plans for today, me and my boys. Now, one of them is in their room until supper time for narking and the other is in his room until tomorrow for being STUPID and lippy. I am not opposed to narking, don't get me wrong. In fact, I like a good nark every now and then. What I don't like is when one tells on the other just to be spiteful. Because then I have to be spiteful and really folks, it is all about me.
So, there you have it. On the upside, I don't have to help HIM with his homework - he'll be doing that on his own tonight.
As an aside, the other him, that will remain nameless, qualified for the Harrier team and will be competing for his school next Thursday. Good job, kid!

brace face

Taking a break from blogging. Will try and be back at it next week some time.
s

This guest edition of the blog is provided by:

Shoreline Welding Ltd
Sonic Body and Paint Shop
Reptile World
and
The Vineyard (that would be the name of my house)

It happened just today. That fateful moment we knew would happen eventually. Moving in we were fully prepared for what awaited us, yet we truly believed this problem only affected others, not us. We were sure no one near us could possibly suffer this terrible fate. Then it happened. Emma had riden her tricycle into the neighbors garage. The neighbor, Lola* (*names have been changed to protect the identity of the victims), was trying to get her children in the car. The oldest child, Hamish*, had electric guitar lessons. The middle child, Bartholemew* had a school thing. The youngest, Oncha*, was simply along for the ride. When I left the garage with my child the neighbor started screaming with force. I thought it was the last straw with her children and quickly grabbed my phone to call social services. I turned quickly to stave off any abuse and that is when I saw her face contorted with the hysterics that were escaping her lungs. It was there, right in front of me. There was nothing I could do. As the danger fled and safety was marginally restored I examined more closely the perpatrator of the damage. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw it was a huge fear, but not our worst fear. Once a small degree of calm returned we heard the sound that broke our hearts. It was Bartholomew, weeping from the hysterics brought about by his mother and I. The other children, mine included, were beside themselves trying to piece back their shattered lives. As we worked as a team to calm Bartholomew, only one question escaped our lips... Would it be back? Can we continue to live like this? We will have to wait and see.

** click to enlarge picture

I'm not complaining - really I'm not

Yee Gads - sometimes I think those were the days when we had nothing going on and we were home all the time and I was bored out of my skull. No, that's not really true, but boy, being busy is really hard sometimes.

This week is very busy with TKD tonight, Ortho tomorrow AM, football and TKD tomorrow night. Friday is a free day - thank you. Saturday is insane. Sterling has football pictures on Sat at 9, bowling at 11 and a birthday party at 2. I know I am missing something in there but right now can't think of what that is. Did I mention Craig is playing football and reffing? He is working so hard right now he definitely needs to get out there with his buddies. Sunday is football and we play in Markham so we need to be out of the house by 7:30AM. Ah, what we do for our kids.

Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining (not really), but boy am I overwhelmed sometimes. You know the weird thing? Some people might read this and think that our kids are too busy, that we have them in too many activities, but it actually really works for us. The boys still have lots of time to do their homework, play with friends, be on the computer or watch TV and they even get meals.

Did I mention that Spanish starts Tuesday and Soccer starts on the 18th? I won't even get into that.