I'm Like The Wicked Witch Of The West!!!!

Aww.....it's like Oz around here..."I'm melting! I'm melting!" Kripes! Is it ever hot here today! About 33C, that's about 90-ish F, for you Americans. Closer to 100F with the humidex. Great day for the TTC to go on strike, stranding 700,000 commuters in the GTA. Then again, I'm at home. No commute, just kids and laundry. Today, and most every day, I have the better deal. But, man! It's hot.

I am reluctant to turn on the air conditioning this early in the season, however, the temperature indoors is rapidly rising, and this weather is wreaking havoc on the allergy sufferers in our house, especially poor Keggers. Maybe time to bring out the kiddie pool instead?

We had a great weekend! The FSRT duck race was a success, as was the Festival, and we brought in an estimated 5000 people...awesome! The kids had a great time, and they were as good as gold.

Now, back to the grind. School, laundry etc. I think I hear an ice-packed glass of iced-tea calling me, so have a good week, and try not to melt!

Could It Be? A Cake-Free Week?

It seems like all I have been doing all month is baking cakes. A Barbie cake for the school raffle, a Saturn cake for Keegs, a Pocoyo cake for Ty...now I have a blessed week off. Until next week, that is, when I am making another one. My next cake venture is for my friend Teresa, who, with 6 of her friends, are raising money for the Run for the Cure for Breast Cancer. They have each pledged to raise $2000, a total of $14,000 for their team. Good luck guys! In the spirit of their fundraising event, I am going to be making a cake modelled on my very own double D's. Anything for charity!

Looks like we may finally get some warm weather in the coming week. It has been wicked cold these last few days. I was pulling out the hats and mitts for the boys over the weekend. By Saturday we are supposed to have sun and 26C, which will be awesome for the FSRT Rubber Duck Race that day.

Keegan resumes language therapy on Thursday, where we will meet with his therapist, and develop a summer program for him. I'm anxious to get started. He has come a long way already, and many people have commented that his sentence length and clarity has improved since we began with his exercises. This morning, he actually uttered a 10-word sentence (yes, now I am constantly in the habit of counting his words...). He said, "May I please go downstairs and play with my trains?" Absolutely, doll! And so polite too, which is always nice to hear.

Mark took Phoenix and Keegs to a turkey farm yesterday. They were quite excited when they came home. Keegan got to hold a baby turkey and some eggs, and Phoenix petted a baby chick. They came back with a turkey feather, and 4 farm fresh, straight-from-the-chicken's-butt eggs. Keegan wanted to know when they would "'atch". Mark said, as soon as I put them in the frying pan! He didn't appreciate that answer.

Ty is a ramblin' man these days, making continuous circuits of the main floor of the house: hallway, kitchen, dining room, living room and back to hallway. Over and over and over. At least he's worn out for his naps!

Well, I suppose I should get over to Keegs and get some lessons in before lunch. Later taters.

OY! My Aching Back!

7:00 am. Woken by children. Stumble to bathroom. Crawl back into bed with hubby. Hoping for some rare morning action. Foreplay interrupted after 2.2 seconds by first and second child crawling into bed with us. Abandon hope. Make bottle for Ty. Feed Ty. Throw in a load of laundry. Give boys breakfast. Do dishes. Get kids dressed. Get Keegs off to school. Pack Ty and Bun into the car. Go scouting for patio furniture en route to grocery store. Go grocery shopping. Go to bank. Come home. Uppack food. Bake a cake. Make lunch. Put Keegs and Ty down for nap. Make icing. Help Mark unload new patio furniture. Laundry. Ice cake. Feed Ty. Go to hairdressers. Get Ty's haircut. Come home. Put kiddies into jammies and into bed. Feed Ty. Put Ty to bed. Make food for party tomorrow. Walk to store because I forgot three ingredients. Come home. Make more food. Laundry. Dishes. Put on jammies. Too tired for action, but determined.
11:33 pm.

The Big 0-1!!!

Happy Birthday Ty! You are one year old today! Boy, did that year go fast...with several false labours, you finally arrived with minimal fuss, and great joy. How happy we were to finally meet you! And your brothers were so excited to have a new boy in the house.

People generally have a hard time deciding who you look like, and it's no wonder! Everyday, you seem to change. When you were a newborn, you looked just like Keegan, and at 8 months, just like Phoenix, and now you are a combination of the two that is ultimately TY. Your hair is the colour and texture of cornsilk, yet when you were younger, we held out hopes for red. Your beautiful eyes are like your great-aunt Susan's, blue one minute and grey the next. Your smile is daily reminder to me of your Uncle Tommy, but your laugh is truly your own.

You are a sweet, good natured little guy. You blessed my tired soul by sleeping through the night at 7 weeks! I thought that babies that did that were urban legends until you arrived! You always have a 6-toothy grin for everyone you see (especially the girls!) and still love a bedtime snuggle.

Yesterday you woke up from your nap, and decided that you could walk, and went from one side of the room to the other without your familiar furniture hand-holds. Of course, you promptly fell on your butt, but I'm sure you were just startled by my enthusiastic cheering! Chasing after you will shake those extra pounds off of me, I'm sure!

Happy, happy birthday, my little Tyger. I wish you love and happiness and a whole new vocabulary (which now only consists of Mama, Dada and the constant "NO!") as you venture into your second year.

XOXO

Mommy

Lost And Found

My friend Teresa called me last night to see how my Mother's Day was. Very sweet of her, I thought. It wasn't until I got off of the phone that I realized that the reason she was checking on me was because my mom wasn't here for me to spend the day with. And then I had another realization: that this was the first Mother's Day in four years, that I didn't cry.

Not because I miss her less. Not because accepting her loss has become any easier. Not because the pain in my heart has eased in the slightest. I think it is because for the first time, I can see her clearly, in every part of my day. When she comes to me in dreams, she looks healthy, and not sick, as she has for the past 4 years in my sleep. I see her in Phoenix's troubled brow when he struggles with a problem, in Keegan's dark, navy-blue eyes, in Ty's delight at the smallest surprise. I see her when I look at my own hands. When I hear the love for her in her sisters' voices, and in the mannerisms they share with her. I see her when I look in the mirror.

So, although I lost my mother to cancer, I have found her again. She is all around, every day. And I think that that's a reason to smile, instead.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day...
My dishes went unwashed today.
I didn’t make my bed.
I took his hand and followed where his eager footsteps led.
Oh yes, we went adventuring
My little child and I.
Exploring all the great outdoors,
Beneath the sun and sky.
We watched the robin feed her young.
We climbed a sunlit hill.
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.
That my house was so neglected,
That I didn’t brush the stairs,
In twenty years no one on earth
Will know or even care.
But that I helped my little child
To noble adulthood grow,
In twenty years the whole wide world
May look and see and know.
- Anonymous

Wishing all the MOMS out there a wonderful Mother's Day to enjoy with their little darlings...

The Big 0-4!

Happy Birthday Keegan! You are 4 today! Wow, I remember when you were a tiny little baby at 5 lbs, 15 oz. My friend Leanne said, upon observing a diaper change, "That's not a butt! It's a hole with legs!" Yes, you were teeny. Then by six months, you were so chubby you looked like a sausage in a casing! Once you started to walk, the fat rolled off, but you are still a cute, solid kid, with pure muscle power and equiped with amazing lung power to shatter the strongest of windows in the middle of an awe-inspiring tantrum...

You are a loving affectionate child, with a passion for trains and outer space. You have had a rough year with lots of different doctors and therapists to see, and you have a tough road ahead, but I know that you are smart and strong, and will pull through!

You amazed your Grandpa the other day by reciting the names of all of the planets in order, and then pointing them out correctly in pictures. You can also name and visually identify all of the instruments in the brass, woodwind, string and percussion sections of the orchestra, and even identify individual instruments by sound.

You have a smile that can light up a room, and a hug that can steal a breath. And your laugh! It is infectious and adorable. I wish you love and luck and happiness in your journey into your fifth year.

XOXOXO

Mommy

Introducing...................

Introducing...my three fish. In the bottom left of the picture is Hans, named after Hans Lipperhey, the inventor of the telescope. Thanks for that awesome name suggestion, Tommy! Directly above Hans, is HereBoy, which I always thought would be a great name for a dog, but since I will never have one due to allergies, I pass the name to my fish. And last but not least, Fishy-Swa.

Thank you to all who participated in the name game.

I can't believe that it is May already. EEK! Only two more months left of school! Then what will I do!!!???!!! But May has a lot of great things in store. My Keggers is turning 4, baby Ty will become toddler Ty in two weeks...Mother's Day...a birthday party to attend...birthday parties to throw for my boyz, FSRT duck race...the list goes on. Hope your May is merry.

Shann out.

PS. I was watching American Idol tonight. They started by having the remaining contestants sing a song from their respective birth years. Paris' birth year was 1990. 1990! I was in grade 12! Made me feel old, dude. Very old. Kinda like using the word "dude". Maybe I should take a page from Randy's book and say "dawg" instead.