I love a good weekend and this weekend was a GOOD weekend. Although not the conventional way to celebrate a VERY special day… as of Satutrday June 16th Ken and I have been married for 11 years! Good and bad, thick and thin we have been together and I am so glad that we have decades more to look forward to! With my pet sitting vacation set up to start on the 16th we decided to celebrate more properly AFTER I get back. Instead, we simplified each of our lives by dividing up the child care. Trinity and Echo headed into the big city with Kathy and myself around lunch time and Ken and the boys remained at Grandma’s with plans of their own. 

We had a car full of stuff to bring with us including a playpen, stroller and the necessary carseats. I am always amazed at how much I need to take when visiting people who are not accustomed to babies and small children. Thank goodness for the 1.50 booster I picked up during JayWalkers at mom’s store. 

Boosted baby

Of course we had a few stops along the way… Mac’s on the way out of town (of course… company loyalty and all that for Kathy), and then a bathroom stop at the next city. THEN lunch! A late lunch but a YUMMY one! With all the Gasoline Alley had to offer we chose a family favourite – KFC! We had popcorn chicken and fries and gravy… and another potty break.

Lunch

After that it was on to Kathy’s and the kitties… settling in took little or no time, once we got everything out of the car and in the door. Mom’s playpen is smaller than ours so takes up less room in the spare room which is awesome. Thankfully Echo is tiny so really does not need much space to begin with. Once everything was safely stowed and kids refreshed it was grocery store time. Not the best trip as both girls were cranky but necessary. We picked up all sorts of fun foods all given the Trinity stamp of approval. This week is going to be a Trinity friendly meal week. She has not been eating much lately and I am thinking that is partially due to the creative meals mom has been making us. She is just in need of old familiars. So we are definitely obliging. 

Thus she was eating Kraft Dinner at like 9pm that night but she was EATING! 

Sunday morning Echo once again reminded me of how much she LOVES early mornings… 4:30, 5:30 AND finally 6:30 when we got up. Thank goodness we had no concrete plans… Ken and the boys on the other hand had FOUR viewings to go to back where we used to live and all this on… FATHER’S DAY! I did my part by having Trinity send her Daddy flowers online (yay app), messaging my dad through my stepmom on Facebook (I do not have US long distance available right now sadly), and making sure that the Father’s Day books the kids made at the library were given to Mike and Ken. 

After breakfast, kitty time, washing laundry, changing Echo MULTIPLE times and sorting through what we wanted to do for the day (not much thank you)… it was time to head to IKEA! Ohhh it has been an age since we have been! But first Trinity and Kathy decided to take advantage of the lovely morning weather (good plan as it did NOT last the whole day) and go out front and plant some flowers. 

Out in the sunshine

This coincided nicely with a bath for me and a nap for the early bird… then after we got motivated and into the car it was time to head to IKEA. Kathy needed plastic dishes and stools for Trinity. I love love love IKEA stools. They are the perfect bathroom height. And of course to check out the food section. 

Then it was time for Sobeys and picking up the groceries we missed on our tired walk through Superstore the night before. Trinity got her own tiny cart of which she was VERY proud! 

A Trinity sized cart

After cookie club and check out it was a mad dash out to the car as the weather decidedly turned against us. So of course, a drive through Starbucks was required and Trinity got her first fancy drink from there! Strawberries and cream milkshake thing… was she ever proud! And for supper we HAD TO introduce Kathy to the world of pita pizzas… she is another convert! We even had PINEAPPLE! What is there to do after supper but a bath for Trinity and some medication (she has a nasty bug bite under her chin I noticed on Saturday and it is taking FOREVER even with the Benedryl to go down) and then bed for her with Echo following around an hour later. 

The first I noticed it... it is smaller now and not as red

That left two adults up with free time… what better to do with it than play a Wii boardgame style game?? Seriously! Add in more cherry pie (we had that the night before), white chocolate Magnum bars and Pepsi and we had a blast. The kitties supervised of course. 

Neko

Ghostly Ozo

This is actually pie from Saturday with white chocolate ice cream but you get the idea

I have to admit, not having all the boys to chase and the house to tidy and the extra people in general to deal with was marvelous. I spent some time searching the elusive rental, enjoying time with a good friend, playing with my girls and generally being more… ME! A much needed respite even though I am missing Ken a lot… I am sure he is finding life a little more relaxing without his womenfolks! 

Girls together

Ozo looking gorgeous

People always say things happen for a reason, and with Thursday’s chain of events I can almost believe it to be true! We were supposed to leave late after noon to head south to see properties in TWO towns/cities… first a few in the one we used to live at and then onto the ones near my brother. Well Ken had an implementation day (and actually, first thing in the morning we had not gotten the address for the prize place yet either!) which is always an up in the air day. The joys of contract work, you have to be there to get it up and running and as long as ALL the code works from EVERYONE you are home free, if not you sit there and hash it out. The contract MUST be completed on time our you payment is decreased… so we try REALLY hard to NOT plan anything on implementation days. 

Well, as I am sure everyone is aware, right now we are at the whim of the world and are trying to see what we can… we had tentative plans to see at least 4 properties Thursday with one being a set group view in the city. We made a back up plan of James seeing that one if we couldn’t make it (he was a short bus ride away) and had all the others aware we may need to reschedule. We found out less than 2 hours before we would have had to leave that we simply could not… BUT we had an address and an amazing brother getting ready to go… until an hour later… one hour before the view… the people from the week before FINALLY decided they wanted the place and BANG no viewing no nothing. So that little bit of trouble at work… well it saved us a trip to a severe disappointment.

So we rescheduled the others, regrouped and keep going… prayer, hard work, calling (thank you mom for your cell at times!), emailing and lots and lots of searching. I have not lost faith but at the same time frustration has set in. Please keep prayers and positive thoughts going for us! They are much appreciated!

Anyway with us grounded suddenly and plans all messed up and yours truly a wee bit out of sorts… well we DID flounder a little. What is better when you have some sunshine and a decent dishsoap? BUBBLES!! But add Echo into that and you get… MUDDY BABY! A very happy but muddy baby. 

Bubble baby

One more cuz I love her face in this one

I had a special paper purse made for me by Zander! How very creative! AND he put his favourite blue marble in it since my favourite colour is blue. 

For ME!

And then as a pick me up the twins and I (when they other 3 were napping) took some change and had a nice long walk to see what there is to see… and share a slurpee and some nickle candies! When I say walk I mean more of a quick trot… boy when they get going they GO!!!

Treat break

Don’t they look all grown up with their shaved heads??? I am so glad that we are having these moments where there is a bit of joy and fun… I just wish we could push past into the settled life we are ALL craving. Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am that my mom and Mike are able to keep us here while we search our hardest? Cuz really… it is  that above most else hat has allowed us to stay in Canada and feel safe.

Friday with the crazy of the day before was a bit of a let down. I don’t think any of us were really completely motivated but we rallied… played and learned and had some moments of fuss and fun… but most of all ALL of them were TOGETHER. Two neat things on the street? Well, the people came and trimmed back our trees (the kids watched from inside and then drew special pictures and talked about it) AND the street was cleaned (more pictures in our books!). So we had some excitement. 

And then the kids convinced me that we HAD TO walk to the library… get some books and movies and say hi to their friend Charlotte who was at the library on the computers, oh and we ran into their friend Kristie who lives next to where mom USED to live on our walk and THEN we ran into the lovely lady who used to come once a week to do a special play program with the twins when they were just over a year old! She recognized me and was so excited to see the twins and Emanuel and meet Trinity and Echo! We really ARE memorable!!! Lots of fun run into’s AND a walk to get a slurpee and then home. 

Leaving the library

That got us home in time to help make dinner, bathe the masses and put on a couple library borrowed movies. Echo has still been rather out of sorts from growing pains and teething. I am hoping our mini girl holiday will help the attitude issues. In fact, Friday night = packing for trip, laundry and cleaning since I cannot depend on the males of the family to keep the house to the level I want mom coming home to. Hopefully while I am at Kathy’s I can also do some viewings… visit with a special cousin AND see my sister in law… maybe?

Baby with her baby

Sharing her popcorn

And now we get to the near weekend… The weather has not been pretty come weekend, wind, rain (though not as much as projected), even some hail in our area… oh and don’t forget Saturday’s tornado warnings with at least two touch downs (out of our direct area thankfully). We have been trying to get through to the boys that even with the stresses and upsets of the past few months we have to deal with each other with respect, patience and understanding… on BOTH sides. Both of the twins have been going out of their way to find things to ask to do that they KNOW we can’t do… or at times when they cannot do them. I am hoping that this coming week I see some sort of a change in attitude, especially with my leaving on the 16th for almost a week to watch Kathy’s cats. 

I really am hoping that this month marks the end of our moving Odyssey. I have done my best to continue with our teaching, to bring normal moments to the chaos and to be the best mother, husband, bestfriend, etc that I can be. I am not sure I will ever know if I have done a good job, or even ENOUGH of a job… all I know is that I have done my very BEST. I hope that the world and my family know that that is the most they can ask of me. I hope that the those same people feel that it is enough (well really that my FAMILY does, because really… in the long run my family is what matters… the rest of the world is all on the outside looking in).

Anyway, Friday… Friday marked the date we FINALLY got Emanuel that much sought after haircut. Zander rounded out the party as we were hoping Walmart would have their glasses area open. They did, but too long of a line up… that left me with 3 of the 5. Gavin and Trinity took time to work together on a special picture for Gavin’s book. Faeries and trees and sunshine all played a part. 

Hard at Work

All done

After the 3 menfolk returned there was further time for creativity. In honour of the glasses repair that wasn’t Zander created some replacement glasses out of pipcleaners.

Very creative

And Emanuel was a pro with his workbook. He looks so grown up with his new haircut! 

Well done

Add to all that adventure the fun of making biscuits with Grandma while waiting on Aunty Karyn’s arrival and the general school stuff for the day and it was a VERY good day! 

Biscuits

And then Saturday… and the craft sale!!! My first ever… and while we and my friend who was one of two people running the event were the only handcrafted tables we did ok. I sold one headband and 9 owls. Sadly we did not sell any of It’s a Hoot‘s friends’ items BUT Karyn and I are already debating the merits of a Farmer’s Market for something more in our… theme range? It was fun though, I saw friends from town, got in some good visiting AND got to hang out with Karyn. And while we didn’t sell tons, we DID get lots of compliments.   

The table!!

Which led to the OTHER promised treat… Trinity got to use that loonie she had been saving for… well a month or more… to buy a slurpee with her Aunty Karyn… that included riding in Karyn’s car, paying HERSELF and getting compliments from the staff at the convenience store on her purse, coin bank and outfit (the first two were Hello Kitty themed). 

Dressed up special for slurpees

The kids were overjoyed to have time with their Aunty and had her hopping frogs for over an hour! 

Froggy time

She and I got our outing after supper and putting the littles to bed… nothing fancy, McDonald’s and some minor window shopping but I think we both enjoyed it. It was hard saying goodbye again. We have been so spoiled in the past with weekday evening visits.

So that was my foray into selling my crafts… I definitely want to try it again!!! AND I reconnected with friends… made tentative plans for getting Ken out of the house with a friend (we wives can conspire). 

The cat who figured it should come in with Karyn