Pink Party

Has anyone had a Pink Party?  In trying to come up with a way to raise funds for Run For the Cure.  I decided I would have a desert party and invite friends to come and bring a donation.  As I took an invitation to my neighbor she told me about the kit her sister ordered from the Canadian Cancer Society.  Amazingly, I got my kit in two days, just in time for my party.   It includes Thingamaboobs, trivia on Breast and Cervical cancer as well as a self exam doorhanger.  The kit is free of charge and can be ordered from your local cancer society.  Here's the link for New Brunswick. http://www.cancer.ca/New%20Brunswick/Prevention/Have%20a%20Pink%20Party.aspx?sc_lang=en   And here's my Smilebox.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My mom was coming for the weekend and so I thought it was a perfect time to have the party.  She had breast cancer three years ago.  She lost her mother in 1973 to breast cancer after a three year battle.  Two of my grandmother's sisters have also had breast cancer and one is currently waiting for a mastectomy after having had radiation 12 years ago.  We had a great time and raised about $200 for Run For The Cure.  The Pink Party and Run For the Cure are two seperate objectives as there is no fund raising involved with having a pink party but I thought the two complimented each other.

Thanks Girls for a great evening.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...There's always tomorrow.

So my husband pointed out the fact that it's been a week since I blogged.  Ooops.

It's been a busy week. Tuesday and Wednesday we went to playgroup.  Lydia was sooooo excited.  It doesn't run over the summer and we really missed it. 

Thursday Cara and I met at the pool and took the kids swimming.  It was a great time, I'll add pics when Cara sends them to me.  Lydia and I went down the waterslide together.  It was fast.  i think that's a daddy job.

Friday night we went to McD's for supper.  It's only been about 4 or 5 months.  Sat morning we got up early and hit the road.  Mil has a huge two story garage and had rented a dumpster.  We went to help clean it out.  Jeff and Parker had been there a few weeks ago and needed another dumpster.  Old furniture and odds and ennds that have accumulated over the years.  We got to throw them out the second story window.  Styrafoam does not fly well.

After lunch we hit the road for Calais, ME.  It's a half hour drive from mil's and we hadn't been there for two years...not since our car accident.  Since it was grocery week, we thought we'd get them in the US.  Got lots of good deals and a new game.  I'll post about that another day.

It was late by the time we got home and Lydia was a bear the hour and a half drive back.  She woke up cantankerous in the morning so she and I skipped church.  That's about it for the week.

Irving Neighbor Day

I live next to the Irving Oil Refinery.  Parker's school has a partnership with the refinery and they often contribute back to the school with donations and time.   The program is called CHEER.

 

 Yesterday, Irving held a Neighbor day for the community. 



 They had a free BBQ with hotdogs, hamburgers, salads. beverages and sweets.



Airbrush tattoos



Bounce Castles





Cookie decorating



Health and Wellness displays



Informative displays on pollution reduction- notice Lydia intently paying attention.  She lugged her bag around the whole school.





We also got to take a bus tour of the refinery.  Since we drive by almost every day, the kids were excited to see the inside.







They have their own fire department.





A safety sign- reminding employees that the best reasons for working safely are the smallest ones.



Oil tank



Here's what we brought home in our goody bags



3 bags of chips, 3 treat bags, 3 bags of cotton candy, 3 puzzle magnets

8 shoelaces, 3 popup frisbees, 2 first aid kits, 3 apples, 1 Irving bag

4 cloth shopping bags, 4 pens, 2 pencils, 5 penlight key chains, 1 tire gauge

Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

4 years ago

Four years ago today I was in the hospital.  I had just had an induced miscarriage.  I had gone to the hospital a few days before for my 18 week ultrasound.  There was no heartbeat.  I met with an OB and discussed options but it's all pretty foggy to me.  On monday I went in and was induced with misoprostal.  I regret never having a picture to hold onto or finding a suitable way to remember this child.   It was a devastating experience that so many women have been through.  We all deal with it in different ways.  For me  healing came with another pregnancy and my little spitfire, Lydia.  For those around us, life goes on and it's not something to dwell on. They move on and forget about it as a distant momory.  But mothers can never forget the life that could have been or ignore all the what if's.

Good Golly Miss Molly

What a week. I've pretty much had the summer off from doing daycare aside from one little one yr old who occassionally comes for a half day and the rare full day.

On Monday that all changed.  Full steam ahead.  I've had a full house everyday.

We've also had to get Hannah her third retainer as her second one broke after only 5 weeks.  A suppertime birthday party for Lydia to go to.  And a nasty computer virus.  DH is spending the evening reformatting the desktop computer and his laptop.  I am using Parker's XO laptop. 8pm and I had my jammies on. I'm watching some tv and crashing.   Tomorrow- I have a post all about Cara's Finn and his crazy escape antics.

Who have you met?

A few weeks ago there was a post about who we've met on CPO.  I can now add a name to my list.  HELEN!!!  Helen is the Senior Producer  for CPO.  She is in town for meetings with Cara and Tracey so tonight Cara, Helen and I met at Vito's for some yummy desert and chit chat.

It was a great time to get to know someone on the other side of the screen and another part of our CPO world.    Thanks Helen for taking the time to meet. :)

Call me crazy

My plans for today were pretty simple.  Picking up Hannah at the dentist and dropping her off at school, prepping supper and then the two boys that I look after for the afternoon.  It was their first day back since June.  Last night I got a call from a friend.  Her nephew's sitter was dealing with a flood in her basement from Hurricane Hannah.  Could I take an extra for the day?  Sure.  I had watched him a couple of times as an infant and he's a pretty easy going kid.  So that made one extra for the morning and three for the afternoon.  Not a problem.  Lydia and one of the boys would be napping.  Then this morning I got another call.  Could I watch 3 darling boys for an hour?  Sure.  What's a few more.  Lydia had explosive poop all day and needed lots of bathroom attention.  Then at 4 pm I realized I had frogotten to make the peanut butter pie for desert.  Oops.  we were having company for supper and it needed to be frozen. We ended up having peanut butter pudding?  Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer.  I know I'm ending the day with yoga.

Thank You, Gracias, ありがとう, Merci

To all those who work with youth.  To those who give of your time and volunteer for the job that so many of us don't want to go near.

To all those who worked with my church youth group growing up.  The Austin's, MacKenzies, Howards and everyone else involved.  When you are a teenager you do not realize the time and effort put into making a group run and activities happen.  Our Solid Rock high school youth group was a busy one and they always had amazing events planned for us and did it all with their busy families and many kids.  Wild and crazy games and activites, lock ins...

Tonight Jeff and I had a barbeque for the kids in his youth group.  It was a pretty simple one.  We fed them and played Wii.  Kids sat around and chatted and bantered.  A small group of kids but big for our small house, 17 of us all together.  Add in an active toddler and it was a little noisy.

I have a new appreciation for what dh does every week.  I'l stick to working with the younger kids.

Beware the power of Hanna

Living with a Hurricane Hannah on a daily basis, don't underestimate the power of her potential.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/09/04/hanna-maritimes.html

NEW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - Maritimers are being warned to brace for windy, rainy weather Sunday as Hanna, now coded a tropical storm, moves through the region.

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Hanna was whirling east of the Bahamas early Thursday, with sustained winds reaching 111 km/h. It was expected to reach hurricane status as it moved past South Carolina, but weaken to a post-tropical storm as it continued to move north.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre said Thursday morning that it was too early to issue details, but it appeared that Hanna could bring wind and rain to the Maritimes on Sunday and Monday.

Your School vs. My School

Hannah and Parker have gone to two different elementary schools.  Since they always like to one up each other, it's actually made their comparing easier.  I can just say, two different schools, they do things two different ways.  So this morning they are eating breakfast and talking about who knows what and how it's done at their schools.  Lydia wants in on the conversation.  "I saw my teacher on Saturday"  She went to Vacation Bible School this summer and whenever they are talking about teachers, that's what she refers to.  Funny thing is she didn't even form an attachment to anyone there.  And she didn't see her teacher on Saturday.  She just wants to join in the school talk.  Can't wait for playgroup next week so she has something to talk about.

Two years ago...

Two years ago today I was in a hospital in Bangor, Maine.  It was a scary experience and one I'll never forget. 

 



September 3, 2006
We were on our way home from Atlanta Georgia. My brother had gotten married the day before and we wanted to be home in time for school to start on Tuesday. Our flight was 5:30am About 2pm we were finally making our way from the Bangor airport. I was exhausted from the wedding the day before and having stayed up late to pack everything up. Dh had gone to bed a couple of hours before me. Kids and I settled in for naps while dh drove. A couple of times I asked dh if he wanted me to drive but he declined. All of a sudden the van is bouncing, my nose is throbbing and my face is burning. The van stops and I am out the door to Lydia as fast as I can while yelling at dh. Her seat was on the driver's side. I grab her and run back to the other door to check on the older two but before I can, I crumple in pain. I couldn't sit or lay down. My face is cut and mosqiuitos are eating me alive. An EMT who owns a restaurant/convenience store comes to the scene. he heard the crash as well as the people whose lawn we are parked on. Someone hauls a duffel bag out of the van and I layed on top of it on my stomach. Kids are checked and they are ok aside from seatbelt bruises. Thank God. An ambulance arrives and takes Lydia and I. I am strapped to a backboard for the second time in my life and I wasn't too happy about it. I remember insisting I didn't need it while at the same time I couldn't walk. Lydia was terrified of the strangers taking care of her and they kept hauling out Care Bears for her. She was one at the time and looooved Care bears. She had just had a Care Bear birthday. The state troopers transported Jeff and the kids to the hospital. I had xrays, CAT scan and the whole nine yards. the guy in radiology had to undress me. He was going to cut my bra but I told him I had just bought it and if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't dare. Have you ever had to breastfeed while strapped to a backboard? Once that was over, I was in a bed in the ER. I had to pee so bad.. They tried to take me to the bathroom but i still couldn't walk. So an orderly brought a port-a-potty and assisted me. No dignity left. The doctor told me I had a compression fracture at T12.   Apparently if you are going to have this type of injury to your spine, this is the best possible place to have it. 

To make a long story, slightly shorter. family and friends dealt with the kids and made sure they had what they needed to get to school. Mil came and stayed with jeff and Lydia in a hotel. Someone got our stuff out of the van. The accident was on Sunday and I think we left the hospital on Wed for a very long and painful 4 hour drive.

After 3 weeks on bedrest, cara(ladybug mom) and Joanne coming and doing laundry and cleaning the bathroom, taxing me to appts, the church delivering a months worth of meals, I finally get the clear to start physio and get back to life. I was still terrified. What were the long term affects going to be? How was this going to affect daily life?
Physio made things worse. then I discovered yoga and over the past year and a half, I am now, for the most part, in better shape with aches and pains than I was before the crash.

So what were the scariest parts?
Not knowing why we went off the road. Did Jeff have a heart attack at the wheel? Were the kids OK? Would I recover and be able to take care of my family? I am so thankful for all that has come out of a horrible accident. Jeff has taken his health seriously and had a major weightloss of 100lbs+ as well as dealing with his sleep apnea. I am doing Yoga regularly for my over all health and can now do things that I couldn't do beforehand. I can touch my toes and lay flat on my back. I also appreciate the kids more and their health and advocate for better car seat safety.

2 kids in a small room

In our house we have the challenge of rooming an 8 yr old boy and a 3 yr old girl in a room that is about 8 feet square.  Not easy to do but I thought I woould share some of the tricks we use.  Just this weekend we finally painted it.  We've been in this house for 4 years.

Here's Lydia sanding and painting.





Dh being funny.



A couple of years ago, when Regal was going out of business, I picked up these cd holders.

They were on the inside of the doors but since the kids all share the Adventures in Odyssey cd's I put it on the outside to minimize the fighting.  BTW we've got about 35-40 hours of stories on these cd's and they've been using them for 5 yrs. 



On the inside of the door, we have Groovy Girls for Lydia and finally tamed Parker's Webkinz collection



Still need to paint the doorframe.  One challenge of a small space and doing home daycare, is finding a spot for Parker to do his homework where he can't be bothered.  I found this folding tabletop at the Bargain Shop for $12.  It attaches to the wall and folds against the wall when it's not being used. 

  

One of the challenges of bunkbeds is a lack of space for the one on the top bunk.  We bought these cones at IKEA a couple of years ago.  A great spot for a boy to hide his treasures.



Shelves are up high and hold collections.  We need to get more supplies to do the perimeter.



Picked up this Fisher Price wall pocket at a flea market for Lydia but instead of attaching it to the wall, it's on the side of her bunk bed.  It gives her a spot with in reach to stash her treasures and bedtime books.



Parker's clothes are in laundry baskets under the bed.  It keeps junk from accumulating under there, makes it easy for him to put his laundry away and makes use of valuable space.

 

An extra rod in the closet doubles the hanging space.  When we moved in, the closet doors were original to the house.  Bifold, metal and falling off the tracks.  we took them off all the closets and use curtains with a suspension rod instead.  I'm having someone tie dye curtains for this room for the window and closet.