Friday has come and gone and I think we made it count. This morning Trinity decided to get EVERY moment out of it she could and woke up around 6:30! Thankfully Ken had been sleeping on the couch in the living room as he was working off and on all night on some deadline sensitive stuff so he took her and gated off the room. In fact, he let me sleep in until 9:30! And when I woke up the kids were already fed! (signs of Ken’s improved health I do believe) Granted we had a bit of a war over clothes with the boys… for some reason they got down to undies and decided to run around NOT getting dressed for over 15 min!

At least the letter L went relatively smoothly. We drew logs and talked about loons. Had to draw a stick on a lollipop and of course watch the computer bit. A nice and easy letter to write thank goodness… Emanuel even got a little ambitious and made a capital E and A on his page.

We did up 4 more frames. The boys are totally in love with the crystals. I think I need to find something else we can do. As much as they love the frames we can only give away so many! Add to the list for me to source out this weekend I guess.

The boys decided we needed TWO games of Candyland today… in fact, they would have gladly gone for a third if not for the fact that I had to get baking today. So far so good having the boys agree that we all win by getting to the Fiesta.

Actually the backyard tree is taunting me – I had enough apples that Ken could reach on the ladder and the one or two that had fallen overnight for one batch of applesauce. I know there are at least one more batch up there in that tree – I can SEE them, but of course I can’t reach them. I have to admit I am a little sad about being done making the sauce. Doing it every day made me feel like I was really helping out in the family in a concrete and visible way! I figure I will watch the apple prices and next year ask around to see if we can get our hands on cheap or free apples once we have moved from this location. I did manage to get a batch to take to mom’s and tonight made my oatmeal applesauce cookies with whole wheat flour instead of white. (they seem to be the same!)

Almost Last Batch??

I got adventurous with the breadmaker today as well – made two loaves of 50% whole wheat bread (the first I forgot the 1 1/2 tblsp of honey). The kids seemed  to like it, we’ll see if I can win Ken over. Of course I am working on the proportions of ingredients, as you can see below – the first loaf grew WAY too much! I will take the second loaf to mom’s alone with the leather, muffins and sauce.

On a stitching front I have another pattern posted – this is a Chemist themed one I have done up for my cousin but been unable to deliver to him. I do believe I mentioned the possibility of it going up last night. Hopefully a couple more will follow in quick succession. I do not have any further advances to report on the stocking BUT I have managed to complete one of 3 monsters for my own sons and get a fair start on the second. I am hoping Ken will have the time tonight to finish up a couple more patterns for me to get working on. Although the distraction from the stocking may NOT be in my best interest. Small projects make that larger one much more palatable!

Ken had one of his last appointments with this set of doctors. After the 15th he will meet with a new group of specialists to work out his future care etc. Thankfully today I REALLY saw improvements. Short nap, a little procrastination but much more in tune with the family and motivated. It is so lovely to see. He is by no means up to 100% but you really get the feeling now that in the future he WILL be better. The only harsh reality – he got his prescription filled and it was 80.00 for a month’s worth! We are hoping he can get some sort of medi card, apparently it was a suggestion they gave him, but Ken is also going to look into the cost of getting Blue Cross added since we don’t pay for basic in Alberta any more. We are pretty sure the medi card would only cover him. And we are STILL fighting to get the 3 boys into Public Health to get their teeth cleaned – /frustration as Ken says.

Today has not been a banner day for Emanuel. Not only did he step on a soft apple with bare feet and get stabbed a bit with the stem but he also had an accident. But at least now he KNOWS what happens if he pees in the undies. He was so sorry and I just kept telling him it is ok, just when you have to go GO. Threw him and Trinity into the tub and let them at it. Trinity’s first bubble bath in the big tub!

I have to admit that lately in the back of my mind has been worry… worry and struggle and a shaking of faith, in Ken and his ability to move up in the world financially, in myself and my ability to hold it all together much longer, in the world and the idea that it is NOT out to get us (and some close and wonderful friends also in much the same position). Don’t get me wrong, things ARE improving, Ken has even called a couple companies who have pledged to work WITH us to get us back up to date, offering payment plans and minor deals.

Food wise I am still keeping a tight hand on the buying. I check the flyers, watch for sales, ask around about prices and it is paying off.

For the kids I am on the hunt for the eternal bargain, asking, looking, searching online… I am determined that I will outfit these kids smartly. I have already spoken with Ken about the end of the winter sales so that we can kit the twins and Trinity out in winter gear for the next year. Kijiji has already come through for us and my mom is always on the lookout for clothing for our 4 angels. I am going to have her teach me tomorrow how to properly patch a pair of jeans which will save us from having to buy as many pairs this year (we won’t be able to escape getting a couple pairs just due to height growth but it will leave Emanuel with a lovely variety of play clothes).

Myself, well I am holding out hope that the budget can stretch to get me a new bra in October. The ones I wear are so pricey (nursing and larger) so I have to bide my time. Thank goodness I have my two nursing tank tops that can work in a pinch before it gets overly cold. As Ken says, all it takes is one good contract and we are off and running, I just hate to admit that my faith in that ever elusive contract showing up is shaken. He has been under bid but what can you do? Work it for next to nothing? We are waiting on images from a company that Ken has been working with for almost a year now to get an extensive website up and running – but until the images are received and the site completed we see NONE of the money. So a non entity right now really.

There are those fanciful things that I am still waiting on – my birthday party (June 24th I turned 30) and the iPod touch I was promised are still not any closer to becoming a reality. The boys’ curriculum… no idea… Christmas is mere months away and Ken has promised me the kids will have gifts. Regardless of budget I was planning on starting this year differently – their stockings are going to be full of useful stuff from the dollar store – crayons, maybe colouring books, etc etc and then each boy will get his own toy and then a gift to share between the 3 of them (perhaps the chairs and table they need so badly?). I am also going to make each child a cross stitch and some candy of some sort. Nothing extreme but still something substantial I think.

There are other little things – plans made and now cancelled… and bigger things that are now put off all due to the past 3 months… planning for the future has always been a huge part of my life. It is all part of being an optimist and when even the more vague plans are for the most part postponed it is a bit down heartening. Thankfully a chat with Ada this afternoon helped remind me what is important. It is not the concrete plans or the having of money and things… it is friendship and love and commitment and the knowledge that you are NOT alone in all of this. There are people who understand and care and are there to help where they can. We are all where we should be and the bad that happens – well it happens, it is not that we deserve to flounder here and there… it is more that we are going through this journey together and gaining experience and creating our personalities. And I can definitely say that my journey to date has been colourful! Thanks for reminding me Ada!

Tomorrow is going to be very exciting. For the first time for all 6 of us we are going to try out a corn maze. The one near the town my mom’s lives in has kids ages 5 and under free (talk about bonus!). All 3 boys are going to go to the thrift store my mom works at and pick out their Halloween costumes and I am going to wander around the two children’s clothing thrift stores in town to hunt down a green top for Trinity’s Halloween costume. Add to that a visit with Harley the not so tiny puppy and Mike and his bike and the whole family is going to have a blast! That and I get to do some sewing with my mom and share my baking and get her opinion!

I am also on the road to getting organized – Ken was able to go and get my very favourite organizer today… it starts December of this year. I have been using the small year calendar on the back of the 2008 version so this will definitely ease up some of my scheduling stress. I already have appointments for January after all! Organization is the key right?

YAY!

And of course I could NOT resist sharing this picture! Happy Weekend all!