Back on the Flylady wagon again!

Yesterday, I did the cleaning in the Living Room Zone that Flylady suggested.  My living room is very small not what you'd expect for a family of 10 and it's a real pain sometimes when we all get in there with snacks and games and books etc.  Especially books when we're homeschooling.  That does us in so many times it's not even funny.  Anyway, because it was the zone, I took down the Christmas decorations in the Living Room yesterday, did the zone clean and a bit more.  room looks fairly good now.  Today, was grab the clutter and so I did it in 5 min flat!  Go me! lol.  My little man helped me and is now happily reading a book.  I'm working on reminding my family that they must take whatever they bring into the living room... back out.  Sigh... Biggest offender?  HUBBY of couse!

My girls are lugging the garbage to the street which normally isn't a big deal, but since the town decided to completely plow us in with 3 foot high drifts.  I do mean COMPLETELY!!!  Sidewalk, driveway totally except that my sons shovelled a tiny little hole at the end of our walk so we could get in and out.  Now,  our car is plowed in again this year and I am SO sick of it.  Everyone else had a driveway last year, we did not.  They made us one this summer.  Now, it's winter and they have plowed in the driveway!!!  Everyone else has theirs cleared immediately by the plows, so why not ours?  GRRRR.  Have to call and complain because there is NO WAY my boys or husband can shovel all that snow away from the car.  It's just too much!

Hubby decided I needed to eat so he sent me a plate with 2 pieces of toast, bacon, and an omelet.  I sure hope I can eat it all!  I'm not very hungry in the mornings.

Today's anti-procrastination day on Flylady and so I'm going to clean my room after all the holiday shoving the kids did with laundry and books and other things when we were on the go for the past 2 weeks and then I've got to pick up a table from the church and the year end papers and sort, file and whatever else needs doing.  Sigh... I want to get on it though while Derk's home to keep the kids on the straight and narrow and send me food and drink lol.  It works better when I can just focus on MY work for a day or two... maybe a bit of scrapbooking thrown in there as well.

Just saw my girls through the window.  They have big red cheeks!  It's not super cold, only -15 but the windchill is making it more like -21 so it's cold for them.  They are such troopers!

Well, time to see what I can eat of this omelet!  Thank you hubbykins!  Luv ya!

The Journey back to ROUTINES

Today there is a south wind blowing but it's making the temp feel like -30 out there.  Not fun for sending kids to play so I guess we'll have to begin the process of cleaning up after Christmas Festivities and try to get some of our routines back before the New Year hits.  We took a rather long break prior to Christmas in order to prepare for the Church concert and other thing, but  now with my due date anywhere from April to June depending on what happens and how many are in there... plus Josh's grad to plan, we need to get things done earlier and work hard.  I usually take January and February anyway and push the school, longer hours, harder at it, so that while the kids are not playing outside due to the cold and dark hours, we work hard inside and once the warmer weather arrives, they can then slack off on the books abit and enjoy fresh air.

Right now, my oldest boys are still in bed!  Josh doesn't usually sleep in so late, but we stayed up last night and he does have to work at 2pm.  All the younger ones are up though and Derk's decided to make pancakes for breakfast so he's at it in the kitchen.  I am pretty sore still from that shopping trip, but at least I can move!   So I'm going to work on making up some charts for the kids so that we can do flylady's system a bit better this year.  We have renovations that need finishing too so we've got a long way to go in the next 5 months, but with baby steps and doing things 15 min at a time or even an hour or two (renovations or other projects) we will make it!

Well... here I go... wish us luck!
My timer is my friend in 2010.... now I just have to get a new one lol.  The microwave or oven is not convenient.

Boxing Day

It's Boxing Day already!

How quickly time has flown by this holiday season.  It all began around noon time Christmas Eve when Kyla-Dawn showed up very much earlier than expected and never called to say she was on her way.  So here I was, worried about the roads and weather all morning and she was in that weather on those roads but thank God she left when she did and God bless he work staff who decided to send her on her way earlier.  The roads were pretty bad when she was on them and got far worse later on.

Derk also texted me around 10 am and told me he was getting off at noon instead of his normal 3:30 time and so by 12:30, everyone was here but Josh who worked till 3pm but was in town at least.  During the afternoon things got worse and worse outside, snowing constantly and blowing everywhere.  A blizzard.

Once everyone was home, Derk made his famous homemade pizza trying out his new pizza stone or our new pizza stone I guess... a present from the church and we declared it a success.  Desserts and munchies and then relaxation after we opened the presents.  We always open them on Christmas Eve.  Dispells the santa myth quite nicely for our littles!

Christmas morning, we all got up and were quite lazy even though we were still baking some things.  Later in the day we opened our stockings, made pies and things and just lazed around for most of the day and evening.

Today, a different story lol.  I made the kids do their chores, then sent them outside and Derk went too.  First thing though, Josh had to work at 7am just till 10am and he got stuck at the corner and so Derk went and helped get him out.   Then the snow plows came through later on and we had to move our van and KD's car.  now, our road is terrible with the plows making a half-hearted pass through it and leaving tons of snow for us to deal with some how until they get around to doing a proper job!

So now, all the kids are outside except Kyla-Dawn & Josh who went for coffee, and Charlotte our female dog who has been out but has been let back inside again.  Derk's out there with them and hopefully his foot doesn't hurt too badly.  He has plantar faschitis in it and it's causing him a lot of pain.

Not too sure if KD and I will brave the trip to the city afterall.  I've not felt well the entire holiday and especially not today.  I'm going to lie down now and see if I can get some energy back and shake this thing.

Tuesday, December 22nd - Halfway Point

The halfway point!  Yaaay!
140 days gone, 140 left to go.. well according to my due date anyway, doesn't really MEAN that for me though you could add up to 15 extra days on there possibly and still be on time. sigh...

Today I'm resting on my bed, feeling kind of icky, stuffy nose and clogged throat, feeling faint and feet feel like sticks instead of feet so... good day to get the girls to help me fold laundry and clean up my room after ransacking it for play props, dumping laundry that there wasn't any time to deal with, and the presents and aftermath of wrapping everything.  I'm almost completely done getting the presents for everyone and then stockings and that's it.  I'll be done.

Michael's cleaning his room and back hall which is our laundry room and hopefully the littles are not ransacking the downstairs too much while Larissa cleans the kitchen.  Josh has baked and taken his second order and has tons more to finish up tonight.  I'm so super proud of him and his little baking business that's getting going.    Jenaya is helping me in my room now.  I really feel light headed at the moment so will cut this short today.

Monday - The Morning After!

It's over!  WHEW!  Now, just to clean up the mess left in my home from the last minute cooking, baking, furniture taken over to use as props, dishes either from home that were left undone due to the lateness of the hour and the tight schedule we had going yesterday or were used at the church during the dinner to serve and now are at MY house... dirty of couse.  All the props we took over had to return but nobody was in any condition to put everything in its proper place last night when we collapsed around 9pm.  Sooooo that means we get it ALL today.  I'm so sore I can hardly move and so that's really hampering the process, Michael STILL isn't out of bed at almost noon although he's been called many many many times already today and rooms that he takes care of are messy.  Some of the kids are wanting to help but some are still cranky or giggly due to the stressful weekend we had and so that means they are either goofing off together or at each other's throats!  SIGH.  AND... Josh has to work after lunch so I won't have any decent help for four hours or so and even then, hubby's going to be worn out having had to get up this morning and get to work for 7am so not too sure how much we'll accomplish today, but we'll keep plugging away at it.  We have to deep clean for Chistmas too in all of this so it's not just surface cleaning and putting things back in order.

The sun's shining and although it was -20 this morning at 9am, it's now up to -14 and I've heard going to -8 yet today.  Bring it on!!!  I want to send these guys out for some sun and fresh air later on.  Just a few minutes peace and quiet for mama to recharge HER batteries!

last night was so exhausting I couldn't even eat at the church and asked hubby to sit later than everyone else left in the peaceful now quiet chuch that had just been cleaned because I couldn't face going home to my noisy sugar filled kids and messy house.

Tomorrow is the halfway point and I'll be officially 5 months on the 23rd.  Getting bigger too.  Sigh... forgot to get a pic of me in my black lace maternity dress!

While I type this, Audi is using q-tips and toiletpaper along with water to "practice being a doctor" on mom.  Before this, she was combing my hair with water and a comb getting more in my face than anything, but still, she's having fun and ministering to her mama even if it's kinda bizarre lol.

Time to get a few kids who aren't doing anything moving!!!

Concert Day!

Well it's here folks!  Our annual Christmas Concert and we made it through a successful dress rehearsal this morning and hopefully a good concert this evening as well.  I'm already exhausted!

Hubby cooked Sunday Dinner for us today.  Roast Chicken, potatoes and veggies and I'm totally ready to chow down!  I'm Starvin!!

After lunch there are more rehearsing for our own family  to be done and then getting ready for the performance this evening. yaaay.   I'm wearing my new black maternity dress for the first time and I'll be 5 months on the 23rd so basically I'm 5 months now.  I can't believe my girl is coming home in just 4 days!  So much to do... but after the concert stress has ended, then the rest of the work will be more fun!  last minute baking, shopping, cooking and all that stuff.  i really wanted the concert last Sunday but due to other issues, it had to be postponed.  I'm really hoping next year we can start even earlier and be ready earlier.  But, I won't be pregnant next year so that will make life easier!.

Ahhh Dinner's ready!  Listening to Vinyl Cafe an old tradition.  Feels like my teen years lol!

Panic Day - Afternoon Rechaging Mom's Batteries

Today has been a total waste of time as far accomplishing anything on my part.  I feel exhausted and totally burned out.  Panic attacks and feeling frustration and smothering is how the morning went, but this afternoon, I sent the kids outside to play in the snow and Michael my 14 yr old has taken the 6 youngest (including himself) to the dike to go sliding.  Josh has just walked in the door, home from his job but for about 15-20 minutes it was just me and the dogs.

I went searching for some way to re-charge my batteries as I'm quite frankly burned out with homeschooling after doing it since 1993 and graduating one child in 2007 and having one graduating this year, so that means seven in school and one on the way!  Whew!  I found several sites that are very encouaging and helpful.  Now Josh is home and wants to talk so... here I go lol.

Panic Day.... I mean Friday!

Today is one of those days where I feel awful everywhere you can name on my body.  Blurred vision, puffy fingers, upset stomach, (will discuss more on that one in a second) and itching eyes.  Blood sugar was 4.6 while still in bed with nothing to eat or drink this am and haven't tested it since coffee, diet coke and chocolate cake, eaten because there's nothing else but oranges here.  Seriously nothing else.  Today's payday and I need to see where we are at moneywise.  I lent money to Josh so he'll be paying me back.

About the upset stomach.  This pregnancy is totally different from any other!  I was sick for 4 months which only happened with my twins.  The rest were 3 months.  However, I have a gag reflex that is so sensitive that if one of the kids doesn't flush the toilet or the dog stinks or someone tells me something gross, that's all it takes.  Last night it was the toilet and although I tried to overcome it by opening the window and getting cold fresh air which usually works, it didn't and I ran into the bedroom while hubby went in and flushed for me, and then once I got on my side of the bed, my morning coffee was sitting there and one whiff of that and I started gagging so badly that I couldn't stop and almost lost the sub sandwich hubby'd just fed me an hour earlier!   Crazy!  Only by trying to think of other things, sipping diet coke and hubby removing the offending cup of coffee did I regain control over myself.  This is NOT normally me at ANY time, not even during pregnancy!  Even when I am in the throes of morning sickness (or night sickness as it was this time another first!) I have to MAKE myself get sick.  Not this time around!  Nope!  Totally different.  Also only feel flutters not really much movement although once or twice there were kicks that moved my stomach. I really don't know what to think.  My ultrasound isn't till the 4th and I really can't wait to see what and how many are in there!  It's different that's for sure!

Well, Derk and Josh are both at work today and will get home within an hour of each other.  I need them and am NOT getting much help from the rest of the kids and I'm literally too exhausted to even yell at them.  I woke up every hour last night to Derk pulling off his mask and so my sleep was not a good one.

My back is sore, I'm itchy all over today and with the gross feeling and exhaustion all added in, I'm a mess!  On the day I CAN NOT be a mess!  Tonight we have a LOT of work getting ready for the concert on Sunday and of course it's all up to my family to get it done.  Only one person has offered and stayed to help one night out of all the nights we've been there working and she's an elderly lady who stayed to help us paint the last of the murals for the backgrounds of the play.  MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

Josh has taken on the food, I've got the props and logistics of the concert plus programs and everything else.  Our family is doing most of the acts in the concert as usual.  Two ladys are going to read poems for us and that's great news.

Oh well... I just needed to vent a little!  Somehow I'll get through this.  Just let one person complain about my prego belly showing too much in my new black lace dress though or that black lace is slutty or something and I might deck them rotfl.  I FINALLY found a long sleeved, long (mid-calf) maternity dress but it's a black lace over cream fabric and has a vee neck that while not too low, will be filled in by me.  It's snug to my body though not a tent like we all used to wear and I'm sooooo super sick of so I'm pretty sure someone will complain about that.  TOO bad rotfl.  I feel like a queen in it.  Will post pics after Sunday.

Time to get something going here.  Washer water pipes are apparently frozen and so now we've got no washer OR dryer.  sigh....   so the laundrymat it is!  Got to get the kids gathering the laundry up for Josh to drive over when he gets home, and then some cleaning needs to be done.  ONce that's taken care of, they need to practice their parts and I need to make a few more things for the play and then we'll be good till tonight when we go over and clean the church and set things up properly for Sunday night.  So much to do... so little time!

Here I go!  Wish me luck!

Thursday, Week 19

Got my ultrasound appointment finally!  Had to call them and book one myself basically.  It's set for Monday, January 4th at 2:45pm but am also on the cancellation list for the days hubby has off between christmas and new years.  We'll see.  It'd be nice if it'd happen then because he would be off already.  If it's January 4th, I'll be about 22 wks I think so it certainly will help pass the time by!  I think January is going to be long with my doctor's appt on the 13th then nothing really more to wait for until my February appt.  No appointments, nowhere to go, I'll feel it then lol.

Went shopping with Josh yesterday for stuff for play and lunch and also to finish his christmas shopping which he nailed down in 10 minutes lol.   By the time we got home, I was absolutely exhausted, ate supper, had a bath and sat getting my hair braided into a million little braids all evening.  When I take it out, it's going to be huge lol.  I only meant for Larissa to maybe do 4 or 8 but I think there's at least 20 there ha ha.

The sun is shining and the temp was -13C this morning.  It's -11 now with a windchill of -18.  So still pretty chilly but waaaay warmer than before.  Maybe it will be nice enough later to get my kids outside for some fresh air!

I'm going to rest most of the day on the couch.  Hubby said my eyes looked like they'd been punched and he is concerned about me overdoing it.  Well, I'm trying to be good but this week and last, there was so much to accomplish before the concert which will be held Sunday night and then I can basically collapse until Christmas Eve when Kyla-Dawn comes home for the holidays and Derk and Josh are off work for a few days.  Then they all can pamper mama lol!

I need to get my kids going on their chores.  Apparently chores to them mean playing with huge handfuls of soap suds!  Since I'm not supposed to be doing anything, I have to keep them going or else the house would fall apart totally!  Well probably is in places because nobody cleans like mama right?  (or Josh). lol

Oh well, I have plenty of computer work to accomplish so, guess that will keep me occupied for much of the day.

Tuesday already? How time flies!

We woke to beautiful sun shining in the windows and on the white sparkling snow outside but oh my is it cold!  No hot water again today because we forgot to leave tap running last night.  We've got the heater tape or whatever it is, plugged in on the pipe in hopes of thawing it out quickly.  They have promised warmer weather is on the way but not until Thursday and we definitely need that water before then!

Kids are not in a very co-operating mood this morning and I'm finding I'm exhausted at every turn.  Worn out, breathy and my vision isn't so great.  Pretty blurry.  I guess I'll have to mention this to the doctor next time I see her.  The good news is, the issue with my backside (spine, tailbone whatever it is) seems ALOT better this morning. Sitting around with my feet up all day yesterday seemed to really help so I think I'll try to do more of the same today too because I won't be able to rest much for the remainder of the week until Monday and I can guarantee that I'll be on that couch come Monday!!  After the concert and all the stuff that goes with it and before it?  Ohhhh yeah!

So I had a guy call here last night.  He barely comes to church these days and suddenly shows on Sunday and then last night calls about using the church for a birthday party.  ON FRIDAY!  I couldn't even believe he'd ask!  Our Dress Rehearsal is Saturday night and we still have things to do in the church all this week to prepare for that and the play on Sunday night.  There is NO WAY I'm letting a bunch of people who never clean the church anyway even when on the cleaning list, in there on Friday night so I can spend another 4 hours cleaning up after them.  Nope.  Sorry.  Isn't going to happen.  In fact, nobody is doing ANYTHING in the church except Sunday Services until January.  I've cancelled all extra activities for December anyway and we are planning on painting the sunday school room between Christmas and New Year's bright cheerful colors instead of the flat primer drab white it is now.  This has been planned since late November and we've taken Children's church to the sanctuary for the week in between Christmas and New Year's so that we can leave the room torn apart until we're done.  Then... we'll let everyone in there and voila!  It'll be all fresh and pretty!  Lots of work, but it's all fun!  Not that they'll let ME paint... sigh.....  the prego thing again.

Anyway, that's how life is going to go if all goes well for the rest of the month church wise anyway, and family wise?  Well... our oldest gal is coming home for Christmas for a 4-day stay and we're looking forward to that!  I've given the two oldest a choice, either they get a gift from us, or a shopping trip on Boxing Day to buy clothes or whatever they want with money instead.  They both chose that.  I figured they would and it sure does make life a LOT easier!

I've pretty much done all my shopping.  We don't get much for Christmas anyway so it wasn't all that hard and we did the shopping on the NO TAX day at Superstore.  That helped!  I sure wish they'd have another one before Christmas, but guess I shouldn't get too greedy right? lol.

Well, it sure feels nice not to have so much pain in my backside right now and to be able to stand from sitting without screaming and gasping for air so guess I'm on the mend.  Let's hope it stays that way for awhile!  One or two days bedrest?  Sure.... that's fun!  Permanent?  Well I've never been on strict bedrest but I think it'd be awful.  Even though I was sort of on house arrest with the twins because it hurt to walk anywhere or get in or out of vehicles, it wasn't something that was DOCTOR ordered and enforced and I was just told to REST.

I'm anxious to hear when my ultrasound is scheduled for.  Haven't heard anything yet.  I'm 19 wks tomorrow!

Almost 19 wks!

Well, I finally figured out my password.  Not sure what was going on, but I could NOT get into this blog!  Oh well... it's been quite the wild ride the past few days or more.  Not sure when I last wrote, but 18 wks was memorable by my doctor's appointment, a frozen car so hubby had to drive me and Josh, hearing at least one heartbeat, right where everyone said the baby is, but there's movement on the other side too and she said don't rule out two.   Josh had an ekg and now has cream for his eczeema which is brought on by washing so many dishes at work, and a ventolin puffer to see if his breathing improves when he runs and hopefully the feeling of hot blood splashing across his chest will stop.  If not, then more tests on the heart will be necessary.  yaaay.  Asthma runs in the family so we aren't too shocked that he might have it.  He tends to take after me healthwise and I have it and got it at 18. He's 17.

Thursday was pretty much uneventful except hubby was home all day too.  Then Friday morning I woke around 3am with a band of gas pain around my middle chest front and back and hubby had to rub my back for almost 40 minutes before I could sleep. The other thing that happened sometime in there was a trip to the bathroom where I went in just fine, but came out not hardly able to walk for no apparent reason!  That set the day going just fine!!!  I had to be ready by 8am to travel to Winnipeg to go shopping for christmas and groceries on Superstore's NO TAX day.  I made the presents part then spent the rest of the time reading my book in the deli chairs while hubby shopped.  As soon as he was done, we got through the till, loaded it into the van and after a quick dollarama stop, one at Wendy's for food and Co-op for gas, we were headed down the #1 to Kenora where my daughter was anxiously waiting for our arrival.  More shopping there and me in so much agony and gasping for air because of the pain everytime I sat down or stood up!  Dinner at her place with me putting on the happy face and grimacing my smiles through the pain, then I had to drive Josh's car now, her's before, home for a 3 hour 10 minute trip through blowing snow on two way highways.  Not fun and we white knuckled it for the first half of the trip.  We made it and I couldn't hardly get out of the car!

Saturday was me sitting on the couch, barely able to move but slightly more mobile than Friday and it seemed to be on the right side of the tailbone instead of my whole lower back.  Saturday night I had to drive in to the city with Josh on a whirlwind trip and back then head straight to play practice when we got home.  After it was done, which was almost 8pm by this point, Josh drove all the littles home and the girls friends and Derk went home to make lasagna for supper while Michael and I started to paint the background murals for the play.  We were so proud of how much we got done!  Then Josh picked us up and we ate yummy lasagna and went to bed exhausted and sooooo sore!

Sunday morning was play practice again and I lugged my tired sore body to the church.  Sunday evening, we had a more relaxed service with dvds from a missionary and CFC to show and then cake and drinks in the back room afterwards.

Today?  Oh my... what a start!  Or NON-START as it really should be written.  Derk's van wouldn't start, so he lost 3 hours at work.   The rest of the kids are just in slow motion in reverse.

I'm hoping to get moving myself in a few minutes and see what I can do with my painful body today. Last night we stayed and Derk and a lady from the church helped too and we got the murals all done so that's a huge load off my back.

Tuesday's Trials

Well, we are some of the frozen chosen this morning!  Literally.  Our house was down to 63F this morning.  Our "fixed furnace" obviously is NOT working!  Sigh... we've already put plastic on the front porch, girls bedroom and one small living room window that is always cold and those are the worst windows and should make a real difference but... it's not!

Last night we washed clothes, then it went down to -23 C and guess what that means?  Yup pipes froze.  No hot water, a tiny trickle of cold, washer frozen, running a heater in the crawl space and another in the living room and our fireplace electric heater is going full bore, both switches!

Josh woke up to a major bloody nose and was trying to deal with children, bloody nose, cold house and trying to make coffee by the time I got dressed and then the town called wanting someone at the church to read the meter which meant JOsh had to go since he was the only one up and dressed.  His nose still trickling slowly on one side.  sigh... poor guy, and the lumina was frozen solid as of yesterday.  Low gas, freezing temps taking us by surprise and not plugged in meant it was going NOWHERE!  sigh....

Sooooo I'm sitting here dealing with some emailing and things and then once this blog is done, there is a bin of towels waiting on me to fold them.  The house has warmed to 64F now, after an hour of heating it with other methods, and we all have extra clothing on except Zachary who refuses to put warmer shirts on. 

Ember looks silly.  She has tights, boots, two skirts on (yup they are the same type of skirt and FULL lol,) with the bottom skirt which is teal caught in the waistband of the pink one so it looks pretty silly and then two tops on with a night shirt which is really an old tee of mine, overtop of that all and it's partially tucked in to the pink skirt.  Honestly!!!!  It was good for a laugh which was MUCH needed around here lol.

Well, on to housecleaning with no water and chilly cranky kids who would rather huddle in front of the fireplace than clean, but the cleaning needs doing and they need to get their blood moving so....

once all this is done, then we have to practice for the play.

Tonight is lessons for Michael and I really don't want Derk to go anywhere!  sigh...

Okay.... I'm having a baaaaad day!

Monday

Another FREEZING COLD day here in Manitoba!  Cold outside and inside too.  We're not too sure why our house doesn't appear to be heating properly since the furnace was just fixed but it's not and it was 66 degrees in our house this morning!  A shocking way to meet the new day that's for sure!

Hubby is off to work and my children are kind of antsy and pesty today.  They want to fool around, bug each other more than help me get things organized and planned for the coming weeks ahead.  That's not a good thing today!!

I feel icky.  Nose is stuffy, stomach feels all messed up, tired and my eyes are soooo itchy.  I sure hope this goes away soon!  Four months, 1 week and counting and still feel sick at times.  Not that much movement either.

Got to go out tonight and do some things.  Not looking forward to that!  My jacket already barely zips and sitting down with it done up is terrible! lol

Friday - Pay Day means lots of work and things to accomplish

Friday and Derk should be here, but he's not. He's working hard slaving at the dumb plant and I'm really upset about his "new" hours for the 3rd time in as many days. This is the worst yet.

Our house is quite chilly this morning and we aren't sure why that is. It should'nt be this cold but there is a lot of cold air blowing in the windows. If we can't figure it out after changing the filter and putting up more poly, then we'll have to get a new thermostat.

Time to get back at it I guess... nothing more to say at the moment.

Thursday Already?

How fast time flies by!  It's already Thursday which normally would be hubby's last day at work for the week, but now that he's switched back to 8 hr shift and 5 days a week, it isn't anymore and our lives have changed.  Soon they will change yet again and he'll go on afternoon/evenings bringing another huge change into our lives.  It's going to be really interesting.  I'm already thinking maybe our main meal should be at noon if he's going to do this.  It just might be easier on us all.  Right now, Supper can go back to 4:30 instead of 5:30 or later.  That will make a huge difference in our evenings.  Actually although supposedly we had more time together with the Friday's off, I found we often were so exhausted we wasted much of the day just trying to get moving so what was the point!

For the time being, I'm hoping till January at least, he will go for 7:00 and get off at 3:30 and be home by 4pm.  So today, I'm making a new schedule for our family that will reflect that vs the later times.  The one thing it might ruin is playtime for the kids.  It gets dark at 4pm and we often let them go to a friend's place at 3;30 till 6pm and then because it's dark, they are then in for the evening.  I don't let my young daughters walk the streets after dark not even four houses up so their brother's go get them.  It is much safer that way.  Even in a small town.

Today, I feel tired, itchy, have a headache sort of, and nothing I've eaten feels right in my stomach.  I can't seem to see well again.  Very blurry.  I sure have a "bump" now days and it's hard to hoist myself off the couch already!  I'm only 17 wks!!!  Much more to come!

Change is good... Right?

I sure hope this all is for the better!   I just told my son's drum teacher he won't be coming back after the holidays.  Looks like Derwin is going to straight afternoon shift monday to friday and that means there won't be anybody to look after the kids.  I can still do the art lesson since that's later, but not the drums.  It's going to be interesting, but I think with the drums gone, it'll be alot easier to accomplish.

The wind has picked up here like they said it would and it's starting to blow the big hunks of snow off the trees.  There's an evergreen across the street and it's just loaded with thick soft snow but it's all going to blow off now and not look near as nice!  Last night we kept looking for a car outside because it was so bright out due to the snow!  Very pretty!

Well, I'm not going to worry about all these changes.  God knows what we need and when we need it, so I'll just say this is for the best and we'll adjust as we always do.  Hmmmm does this mean twins though since the last time Derk worked shift work, I was pregnant with the twins!!

Wednesday's Woes...

Wednesday!   Should be a good day but so far... hubby's laptop is acting up, Jenaya and Larissa need to take the garbage out, but don't have boots.  I'm sure theirs are back there somewhere but they can't find them and Jenaya who is supposed to do the garbage can't find her shoes and wants to borrow Larissa's.  Honestly.  These kids have like two pairs of shoes.  HOW can they lose them all the time?!  sigh... so they are bickering over the shoes and have ended up grounded for the whole day since they want to fight over taking out the stupid garbage!  grrrrr.  So that's how my day is shaping up!

Josh is home today and its a good thing.  I woke up with my left side killing me.  That silly round ligament pain thing.  I've been feeling kicking on both sides of my stomach and not sure if this is one fast baby or more than one, but won't even see my doctor till next Wednesday.  Sure hope it's not as snowy then!  I have to drag the entire bunch of us to that appointment because I went and made an appointment for the two oldest boys along with mine.  Silly me... no babysitter now!

Our life is flip-flopping big time right now and I'm not sure how its going to land!   For starters, Derk now has to work Monday to Friday instead of Monday to Thursday and 8 hr shifts instead of 10.  So... good side, he's home earlier and goes to work work later, but now has to work 5 days instead of 4 so not that great either.  THEN... he's been asked to work the afternoon shift maybe and his boss is thrilled that he said he would do it.  So not sure if or when that starts or if it's straight or on/off type of thing.  That means he'd be home during school hours and could help with the littles and with the kids when they don't want to do their work etc... but also for my dr's appts as well.  Also, it means that if Josh can't switch his days off to Tuesday  instead of Wednesday, then I would have to drive Michael to lessons.  AND... I'm getting more and more prego by the day sigh...  not good for ME because I'd also have no sitter since Josh works most Tuesday nights and therefore would have to drag the entire family along!  YAAAY!  NOT!!!  Nope this won't work out for ME at ALL!

SIGH... something has to give and I'm not quite sure what that something will be yet.  Oh well.. .God will work it all out somehow I guess.

Time to get this day hopping.  Some of the kids are doing their chores but we've not eaten yet so need to get that going and drag my 14 yr old son out of bed as usual.  Hopefully this day will turn into something better than it has begun!!

SNOW for my Twins 6th Birthday

This morning I awoke to white frosty snowy branches for the big tree in my yard showing in my dark bedroom and a white glow out the window pane. I didn't even have to lift my head!   it was beautiful.   Upon going to the bathroom and opening the window, mild temperatures of -2 C and softly falling snow on an entirely white world.  It was an awesome moment.  Everything is pretty, white, clean and soft looking. 

Today I remember how cold it was 6 years ago while I sat waiting for my doctor's appointment to arrive and my parents to arrive so I could go to it.   I remember shivering as we drove to Winnipeg to the appt and how we waited from 4pm until 7pm  before we got to see him only to have him send me across the street to the hospital for ultrasound and them to keep me.  I remember the fear adn excitement I felt when the doctor told me sorry, you need the c-section after all and we'll do it soon.  I remember Derk calling the kids to let them know we'd be staying and then the kids got on the internet which was dial up at the time and so that meant when he tried to call home we couldn't even tell them the c-section was happening in a few minutes.  Next time he got through, I had two beautiful little girls in my arms!!!  What a shock for them!

Today has been a very slippery and awful day on the highways and probably worse on Derk's way home.  He had to stop and help a couple who drove into the ditch right in front of him!  Scary!

Josh and I are talking Christmas this morning, then I need to get some housework on the go and get my kids in school.  Josh works this afternoon.  We got paper yesterday to make murals and things for the play at church so that should mean several hours of painting but it will be fun!

I need to figure out the costumes for each child and make sure we have them ready to go.  So much to do and so little time, but it's all coming together at least!  Working on some songs and things too and we should have a good concert.

I also need to find some clothes somewhere for my poor prego body to wear!   I'm outgrowing everything!

Derwin and I are planning on attending a conference and I need clothing plus need to make sure everything is prepared for us and kids.  So more stuff to do.

Time to get started!

Double Trouble

Today has turned into a quite different one than we'd planned.  First of all our oldest girl Kyla-Dawn can't  come home after all.  The roads were icy and visability was poor plus her engine light came on and she was close to home, so I told her to turn around and go back.  She had been white knuckling it already.  It's great here with sun peeking through the pretty blue sky and clouds that look like cotton balls.  It's going to plus 3C today here, a fitting end to November that has been just out of this world for sunshine, temperature or the lack of snow.  It's just been great! 

Now, we have snow forecast for tonight or tomorrow and my 5 youngest all need boots which has to wait till Friday.  Oh well... we'll make it as we always do.  I'm just thankful only 2 in our family needed winter coats.  Zach has his, but Derk is still waiting.  So much to do, so little time or money to do it with.

So, our twins will hopefully not be too disappointed with the fact they will get only clothing for their presents today as their sis bought toys and we got clothes.  Since she's not here... sigh... this could be interesting!

Cake is going to be a baked alaska and they get hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch.  They are overjoyed and daddy is taking them to the store with him which has caused Zachary AND Jenaya to be upset.  Jen not so much, Zach terribly.  They wanted to go to, but it's the twins bday and two is about all you want to haul with you for a small little shop like he's doing.

Hard to believe I was hugely pregnant with these two little trouble makers.. i mean daughters lol, just 6 years ago and praying I'd go in.  In fact, I was in labor with them all that Sunday night and all day Monday and when we went in for the doctor's visit, my 37th week checkup, he felt something had changed too as I had when my stomach heaved earlier that morning and sent me for an ultrasound.  Sure enough, Autumn-Rose had turned face down, cord first and so since I was already 3cm dilated, it was dangerous to send me back to Iles des Chenes which would be a 25 minute drive away from the hospital.  Thus came the c-section which took place within an hour of being admitted.  I was MORE than ready!  Autumn-Rose was born at 8:44pm and Ember at 8:47.  Audi was 5lbs 12 oz, Emmy 6lbs 3 oz.  Funny now, since Emmy is the skinny one and Audi is more normal weight.

So here I sit, 6 yrs later, another baby later and pregnant again with #9.  This one will be a spring baby again as was Larissa and MIchael.  I'm heading for 17 weeks.  I have a cough today and a tightness in my chest and stomach area.  I still get nauseated at night but not as badly.  I think I'm almost to the end of this but just when I reach it, I'll get the heartburn stage so it's never gonna be over probably till I deliver.

The smell of brownies is wafting through my house and the sun is shining in.  I have roses on my end table from the other night that are fall colors and still alive.  Christmas decorations are up and house is reasonably tidy.  Just need the laundry done and it would be great!

Think I'll send my littles outside after lunch.
Yup... sounds great to ME!

Sunday Songs!

Sunday afternoon, Great Service this morning and now the rider's game along with an even better Service tonight I hope.  No snow to be found, -2 at 12:38pm and the sun is streaming in the windows.  What a better way to say good-bye to November.  Oh I know, tomorrow is the real last day of November, but still, we've made it thus far with weather that is so warm and awesome that it is worth celebrating! lol.

Have some work to do this afternoon to be prepared for the evening but not too much.  Josh and I are going over to the church later to see if we can take down some of the fall decoratations and get prepared for our christmas concert which will be in 3 weeks on the 20th.  It was supposed to be on the 13th, but we had to push it back a week due to some travelling my hubby and I will be doing and it will be too tightly scheduled to be back for the play on time.

Dinner is just about ready and I'm starving!!  Can't wait to eat!
Zachary has shut himself in the kennel with Buster!  Honestly... who needs toys!!!  He loves it in there lol.  It's hilarious to look at him in there playing but Buster is enjoying it as much as he is.

Had to make my daughter apologize to her teacher for her bad behaviour the past few weeks.  Ember has to learn to respect others who are in authority.  She was better today at least!  Whew!

Twins are sooooo mischievous!  I think it just comes with being a twin!  One is more calm and well behaved, but more pouty while Ember is the sly, smiley, one who would smile at you while she stole your favorite treat out of your hands!  sigh...

Well, break is over and it's time to get ready for dinner.

Staff Appreciation Dinner

Tonight we held our first annual Staff Appreciation Dinner for our church at Burkes Steak Pit and it was SO good!  I was starving and could actually eat!!

Headache is still hanging on but is bearable.

Spending the evening with my kids and hubby.

I've been thinking about all the things I'm going to need for this baby.  I have to start all over from scratch.  Now there are stroller and crib recalls, crazy world we live in.  Nothing is safe it appears.  So far... I have a few wash cloths and a few bibs and that is literaly IT.  Oh well, it will be fun shopping and having the newest stuff... our of necessity! lol

I just decided to add a lilypie to this blog to keep track of my pregnancy and update those who want to know.  So far, my doctor says May 11th for a due date, but I had May 12th at least and usually go 8-15 days over so... we shall see.  Still haven't had an ultrasound, am waiting on my dr's appt on the 9th which is my 18th week.  Until then, I have absolutely no idea of what is going on.  I have my suspicions, but we will have to wait and see. 

The sun came out so brightly a few minutes ago but is now fading away.  My girls say they saw a few snowflakes.  It's supposed to be flurries all weekend so what we get will be a mystery as far as snow goes.

Been working on church projects all morning.  Finally approaching the end.  It's time to enjoy my potato salad, bbq chips and ham on buns.

Saturday Morning

Sun is shining again this morning. Soon it will end, we've already pushed our luck well past the normal Oct 31st when snow usually arrives to stay, but it's SO nice not to have it yet. None of the kids have boots right now, but luckily I had to only get one jacket for Zachary this year since he didn't get a new snow suit last year and has outgrown his.

Not sure exactly what I will be doing today. There is so much that needs my attention that I hardly know where to begin. I know the next month will be a time of craziness as we prepare for the concert, christmas and perhaps even go away for a few days in there as well. So much to do and so little time. Time... is flying by, except in my pregnancy. I still feel sick at times, and my stomach is growing so fast suddenly that I have nothing to wear and I do mean that! One dress left that really fits. sigh... I hate clothes shopping especially when there is nothing pretty for pregos out there right now.

Josh works all day today and we have a church staff appreciation dinner tonight so whatever I do, will have to be done well before 6pm. Derk is home and apparently is going to try to find the leak in our pipes which has developed. Honestly... these pipes are new as of 2005, but we've had more issues with them than use it seems sometimes. I wish dad had left things alone!!

House is reasonably tidy this morning so not much there. Just need to do alot of puter work I think first and get the church calendar ready for tomorrow.

Time to find something to eat.

TGIF

Here comes the sun! It's been a weird day so far. Hot chocolate in bed, (no coffee this morning) and then the sun began to shine. Looks like a nice day out there! It's Friday and hubby should be off today but instead had to go into work this morning. Although he was kind of upset about it, it's working in MY favor because our daughter Kyla-Dawn will be coming home on Monday to celebrate her twin sisters' 6th b-day and after we decided on that, we realized that dad works till 5:30pm, Josh goes to work @ 2pm and Larissa and Jenaya have a party @ 6:30pm with KD having to leave on the trip home sometime in there as well. Impossible unless.... Derk could get Monday afternoon off! He did! When he told me he had to work today, I said barter with your boss and get Monday afternoon off and it worked!!! So, the party is a go around noon on Monday which is a day before they really turn 6 but close enough.

So, the kids have drained the milk yet again and Larissa has gone off to get more. In the meantime the kids are waking up their lazybones brother and hopefully we can get this day underway. I'm not feeling so great this morning. Lots of flutters in the belly, eyes are tired and itchy and my eyesight is blurry again. I'd be worried if not for the fact that I had this problem before getting pregnant and just think it's middle age vision changes. Need to see my eye doctor, but that won't happen until after Christmas.

Since today is Friday and dad's usually home, we don't school usually and the morning is reserved for getting the house cleaned up for the weekend and the afternoon for other things like appointments and things dad helps with. Speaking of appts, I've forgotten the time for the boys and my doctor's appt next Wednesday. I'll have to call. They'd just added my appt in along with the boys.

Time to get moving and try to get something done. I'll be so glad when this exhaustion phase has moved on and I feel a bit of energy. I can't even open a bottle of pop! I'm that weak.

Three blogs in ONE day! WOW!

Well, I can sure tell that I'm not feeling so great and am bored to boot! Here I am on here again having just rediscovered this blog because my laptop was completely overhauled after water destroyed the insides of it. Luckily, my unlimited 3 yr warranty covered it! Something to be said for getting the one that covers anything even coffee spills and dogs chewing charger cords! Yes did that one too lol. Anyway, it's 1:26pm and here I sit watching my soon to be 6 yr old Ember watch my 8 yr old Jenaya do her Switched on Schoolhouse on the laptop. They look cute together except for Ember's two eyes! one is black because Zachary slammed her head in between the bathroom door and the jamb! Then Emmy would NOT leave Buster and Charlotte alone and so one of them scratched her under the other eye! Honestly! That child has banged herself up or had more stupid accidents happen to her than any of our other kids I think! A picture fell off the wall once and hit her on the cheek, another time she tripped and fell right into the corner of the piano bench! Luckily those were both several years ago, but we were pretty scared at the time! For awhile it seemed she was hurt more than she wasn't! She's taken over the injury thing from Michael I think! Jenaya was pretty rough when she was younger too. She was tough as nails though and once Derwin was sitting on the couch and suddenly down the stairs came Jenaya thumpity thump all the way down. She was almost 2. She jumped up and said... It's Okay! I'm fine and off she went! Guess my kids are pretty tough, but they play prett tough too. So far it's only been a few that needed stitches and Josh was the only one who broke a bone, his elbow twice in 2 years but I'm thankful they are healthy vibrant children and for the most part, stay injury free! Now... to get Em to leave those dogs alone!

Anyway, I'm not sure WHY I got into all of that, but I guess Emmy's poor eye reminded me. The sun is finally shining outside after a gray morning. I am starving and since hubby bought me a TV diner the other day, I'm waiting for it to heat up so I can chow down! The girls have done most of their school for the day, Josh is leaving for work now, Michael is putting up christmas lights and the littles are dancing around with sandwiches or at least they were, now two of them are fighting over one sandwich each saying it's theirs (it's down to crust honestly guys!) and Autumn-Rose is dancing frantically in front of the fireplace which is electric and so she can see herself in the glass! She's our resident dancer/singer. She's also pretty bossy lol being the older twin by a whopping 3 minutes!!! Charlotte our 1 yr old mini daschund has discovered Michael's outside and is whining at the front window but since we moved the couch two days ago, can no longer jump up into the window. I don't think she's impressed lol.

Hubby's at work of course and I've asked him to see if he can get Monday off because it's the day before the twins' birthday and the only day we can all be together to celebrate! Luck may be on our side because his boss wants him to work tomorrow when he's not supposed to and so he might just be able to barter a bit. He also is going to FINALLY yes 4 months 1 day into this thing... break the news that his wife is pregnant and is high risk which might go up if we find out there are more than one in there. I've felt movements on either side of my stomach but not at the exact time. yet when the movements come, they are always about the same two spots so dunno... I was 18 wks pregnant with the twins before we discovered they were there. Now, however, I know what to look for, so the possibility exists. We shall see.

Well it's time for this prego to hoist herself off the couch. I might post a pic later if I can on here. My camera is broken somehow and hubby says looking online, it'll take more money to fix than to buy a new one! This one, was from airmiles!

Morning around here...

I'm not too energetic this morning. Yesterday did me in! Joshua is making pancakes and it smells wonderful. I must confess I'm on my second cup of coffee although I'll probably only have a couple more sips of this one due to wanting the hot liquid on my itchy throat. I usually limit my coffee to 1 cup or less per day especially when pregnant. Its rare I will have two. It's heading for 10 am and Michael is not up yet. Sigh... typical! He was up late last night and when that happens we get this the next day. Still, at 14.5 you would think he could handle that!! It was only 11pm and that's not so bad!

The littles are playing while they wait for breakfast and Jenaya's watching Larissa do SOS grammar on the puter waiting for her turn. No doubt by the time she gets the laptop, she'll have figured out all the answers and can just breeze through it lol.

Josh works this afternoon so I want him to hurry and get some schoolwork in before 2pm when he leaves. Michael, can work any old time today since he doesn't have a job. Derk gets tomorrow off and so our weekend sort of begins tonight.

Me? well, I'm pregnant, uncomfortable and sore today and obviously bored. I have tons of things I need to do, but they all involve walking around or moving which this morning is way too painful. I seem to get every symptom of pregnancy that's annoying in the book! Always have. I've even prayed and asked God to let me have one symptom free but nope... still get all of them. sigh... well, this too shall pass.

Guess I'll go back to planning my menu's. I can do that on here and not have to move. It's just not fun and something I always struggle with. Not sure why.

Thursday morning moans n' groans

woke up this morning with itching eyes, nose and a cough. Got physically sick two night ago and last night felt sick as I went to bed. Thought this was all going away but...here I am 16 wks and 1 day and still feeling it! Yesterday I went to the city with Josh and we had fun. Ate a double quarter pounder!!! I was starving! Ate all the fries too! Discovered I like a new juice I've not tried before, pineapple, passsion mango! It's sweet, great and not so acidic so I didn't get heartburn from it which was awesome for me! Got the twins birthday tops/skirts, another skirt and some pj's from Zellers. It was all on sale too so I was SO grateful we went there!!

The kids decorated the house after we got home. Did a nice job even though it caused some bickering between some of them. Enjoyed the lights and clean rearranged living room later on after the littles were in bed. I had re-arranged the living room on Tuesday.

This morning, I'm sore and groggy. Drinking my morning coffee and answering emails and writing this. it's gray outside and dry. Not sure if there's much snow left or not. They are threatening a few more flurries either tonight or tomorrow night and possibly some on the weekend.

Everyone slept in this morning. Larissa's up, been up since 7am and I woke up Josh once I finally dragged my sore body out of bed. Seems in the past week I've exploded in the belly deparment. I hurt, am big, can't hardly get off the couch myself and my knees which bother me anyway, are so super sore when standing or sitting that I can't take it. Think that's the weather. I wore wedge heels to the store yesterday because that's all I have at the moment and ouch today!!! lol. I'm down to one dress that fits that I can wear outside the house and one older maternity dress that I wore painting and therefore can NOT wear outside the house! Everything that fit me last week doesn't this week so guess I can't put off the shopping trip any longer. I hate shopping for myself! Maybe on Monday when Kyla-Dawn comes home IF we have time as we're celebrating the twins' 6th birthday that day. their real birthday is the next day but we have lessons and everything on that day so... doesn't really work well.

Gotta get this show on the road!
Time to wake the lazybones and feed them so we can get school going around here.

16 weeks pregnant!

Well here I am, finally getting around to figuring out the new google addy so I can blog again. It's the 16 wk anniversary of my pregnancy with baby #9 (any more in there? dunno yet) and I'm finally beginning to feel a bit more like myself. Having a lot of weird sensations and feelings with this one and hoping all is okay. Just feel off. Have already been on antibiotics for an infection which didn't please me too much but couldn't be helped. Now the fevers and chills have gone and for the most of the day I am feeling pretty good.

My kids are decorating for christmas tonight although I'm definitely NOT in the christmas mood. I'm trying. Rearranged my living room last night and went shopping today for the twins 6th birthday which is December 1st. Last birthdays in our family of the year now that my father is gone. It's hard to fathom that he will never know that I'm pregnant again or what I have. He barely knew Zachary who now is 4 years old as of November 14th. This one will be sometime in May of 2010 and will be my last. I'm 43 and its getting too hard on me now to be pregnant and I'll be homeschooling until I'm 60! lol. Then I can retire.. not... the kids are already threatening to send me THEIR kids to school lol.

With my first baby girl born in 1990 and my last born in 2010, then I'll have been having babies for 2 decades! Wow! My oldest girl Kyla-Dawn has lived in Ontario for almost a year already and how the time does fly! She's doing well and we are proud of her. Hard to imagine she'll be 20 just a few months after I deliver.

Well, I did promise to make pork chops for supper tonight and so I'd better get myself up and cooking away. It's much more fun to sit here and watch the kids decorate. At least I get say in what goes where lol. They can decorate away as long as they put the right colors in the right rooms. That's all I care about!!!

Thursday August 6th 2009

I've not written for ages on this thing. I tend to get caught up in life and forget it, but I guess it's time to update everyone on what's going on around this place!

First of all, our new puppy Buster has arrived and is 3 months old today! He sure is growing! I have a light in my bedroom ceiling instead of my wall where it was formerly, and one more drywalled dining room wall and almost all the ceiling done. The other two walls are going to be cut to make it more open in here, and so we couldn't just drywall them. Life gets so incredibly busy with our church functions, district events and all that and our renovation work seems to constantly be put on hold. REALLY ANNOYING!!!

It's almost time for school to start again and I've gone through a real upheaval trying to decide how to get each kid where they need to be by year end next year. In particular, Josh. He's come so far, but time is running out for him. Next week begins his 17th year and his final year of highschool. He's doing awesome but we have a lot of academics to fit in to make sure he's caught up in everything before graduation day next spring.

Today is going to be spent planning out textbooks and school and figuring what else needs doing before Monday. Lots of work ahead!

it's been awhile since I've been on here, but today I'm stealing a few minutes. I feel so groggy anyway can't seem to think about anything or do anything except plan for our weekend away and listen to the heavy equipment as they dike our bridge. It's supposed to close in 2 hours but the good news is they're not diking the south entrance yet anyway. Doesn't help me any, we use the north one to to go to Winnipeg or else the west one, which isn't diked yet if we need the doctor.

I should be used to this by now, but each time we flood, it brings heartache to someone. Our businesses are not going to do well and now that my son works at the local motel/resturant here, and will have his hours cut, we are feeling it here too. We also are wondering if my husband will be laid off during this time too because the trains aren't getting through.

They expect the water to cover the bridge tomorrow. That's why the diking today. It's going to be a good three or four weeks before it'll all go away again and we can get back to normal!!

Well enough of that for today, I need to focus on something else and get things accomplished. I have suitcases to pack for our trip to Kenora on Thursday when we get to see our oldest daughter again! I'm excited for that! So are the kids and Derk!

February Feelin's

What a month! It all started with us leaving our 18 yr old daughter, Kyla-Dawn, in Kenora Ontario where she will play piano for the church there. So far so good except she was home sick from work today. I'm wondering if texting can send a virus to her. LOL... I'M ONLY JOKING! hee hee.

WE all were so sick here for the past week and just when I thought I was going to get a nice valentines dinner, I started getting sick 3 hours before and ended up eating only a little bit of my yummy dinner cooked by hubby and refusing any cheesecake my son Josh made me. The entire family enjoyed it on Sunday after I recovered from being so deathly ill I thought or at least wanted to die! I don't get that sick often, but when I do... it lays me out flat for days!

Today, I am working on my desk and gearing up for some major hibernation and bookwork. I still have school and life to manage along with church functions which this weekend means going to Youth Convention. Haven't figured out why they have a youth deal a WEEK after the long weekend, makes no sense to me, but oh well....

Our first weekend in February was spent in Fort Frances where my husband preached for the Wards. It was awesome. Josh and Michael took care of puppy Charlotte, Autumn-Rose & Ember and Zachary at home while we left Kyla-Dawn and her things in Kenora and headed on out to Fort Frances with our middle daughters Larissa 10 and Jenaya 7 who are able to dress, feed and do most things for themselves so we had no littles to care for.

Services were awesome! Things happened there that were life changing and I'm so glad we went. I of course, broke my toe next to the amputated one, the NIGHT before we were to leave! Literally about 9pm, I stumbled into a board placed across my bedroom door since September when we got Charlotte to keep her out of my bedroom because we are renovating and only have a curtain up right now. After all this time, crutches and amputation and all of that included, I slam into the stupid thing trying to answer the phone and go flying. Sure enough it was broken! I ended up going in the morning after not even being able to walk the night before. I could barely walk but as I journeyed towards our destination, I began to feel better all the time. The whole weekend was filled with pain except when I was in church and there the Lord met me in such a wonderful way that I was filled with joy I've never had in my life up till now! I won't get into all the details, but I now have a peace that nobody from my past can remove no matter how hard they try.

Coming home and getting sick, finding more pipes burst, water heaters dying was a hard thing for me but I'm hanging on to the peace I found and it has worked. I have gotten through it all somehow. Tonight as I am typing this, my children are playing on a tourquoise mac someone just up and GAVE lock stock and barrel to my family. In this case, that means keyboard, computer, printer, and matching mouse! lol. My 7 yr old daughter is bathing her injured leg which she cut open while playing on ice this afternoon in nice warm water and singing happily and my husband sits relaxing at his puter while I'm at mine after a nice hot shower when he first arrived home this afternoon. We have food, we are warm, we are a family and for that I'm so thankful!

God is working in our lives. To some of my friends who don't believe in God the way I do, you may not understand, but believe that I could never have made it through the things I've been hit with in life without HIM... the source of my joy.

To those of you who do believe and share my faith, you know what I say when I write all of this and you will share my heartaches and joy right along with me!

I am thankful for friends, family and the things that have come my way to shape me into the person I am today and I'm wondering what is in store for my future!

Well enough of the mushy gushy stuff... must be because it was just valentines' day lol, but I must get back to my sorting receipts, bills, homeschool papers that need filing or just plain tossing, books/papers that must be marked and of course, the accounting that must be done AND studied! Ahhhh soooooooo much to do and SO little TIME!

nitey nite!

Starting the New Year with Frozen Pipes

[Edit]
Well here we go again. A new year and frozen pipes. We spent the New Year in Kenora Ontario with the Wittmeier family because our daughter will soon be moving in with them to help out in their church.
God blessed us with a mysterious couple sending us a cheque for $400! It was american so we got almost an extra hundred. We were so in need that day and I had been sitting there so badly depressed over our financial situation. We had not even been going to have Christmas except our two oldest kids had bought the food and presents and a wonderful new fireplace (electric - stone) for me.
We ended up having a great Christmas with both Josh and I on the mend. I had half of my third toe on my right foot amputated on December 5th. Another story that one.. including running out of gas! Then while I was still recovering and not even walking yet, Joshua had surgery on his right foot for an ingrown toenail on his big toe. SO both of us sat the entire holidays out pretty much. However, he recovered much faster than I did of course as his wasn't as serious, and he also was way younger.
We enjoyed our time out and had fun at the WIttmeiers too. During the Christmas season, someone also bought boots, ski-suits and other things for our family which were and still are such a blessing to us. God has shown us that in 2009 He is blessing us.
However, the problems still multiply. We came home to frozen pipes. sigh... they stayed frozen for an entire week. Well the HOT water was, then it warmed up on the weekend and we got it back. Our washer however apparently had a leak in the pipes somewhere and we never got that back. It is a sheet of ice around the pipes down there so the boys are trying to deal with that issue today. However, the hot water has frozen again due to the windchill sending the temperature so low. It was down to -48 C last night! Extremely cold. Our van will not start today and I do not even know how Kyla-Dawn got to work.
So here I sit at 10:46 am, nobody has had breakfast yet because we are trying to work on pipes and get things in place to warm them up and get our hot water back, and I am sitting here with my foot throbbing and burning trying to get everyone organized and myself in gear. So much for school or anything else I had planned.
Depressed? Yup!!!
I am trying to not think of the money this is going to cost us that we do not have. I am trying to stay positive about it all but it is not easy today when the boys keep arguing over everything we need to do. I know it is not fun for poor Michael who at 13 is the only one who can get down in that back crawlspace, but he has to do it and there is nobody else!
So that is how my new year has begun. I went about 20 hours with no diet coke then the stress got to me when the adjustor for our insurance company came yesterday and later that night, I went and had some diet coke again. We are trying to at the least cut back on it but preferably quit.
Well enough whining on here. I need to focus on something more productive I guess now that I have vented.
We just called the company recommended to us and he refused to even come. He is too busy. Call the town he says it could be their issue so now my husbad is doing that and in the meantime, I am sitting here paralyzed at all of this that is beyond my control and knowledge and most definitely finances!!!