Long Weekends

This is a picture Debbles took of us (outstretched arm with camera pointed at us this was her first try!) at the Kamloops West Rotary Borefest Induction Dinner. I have tons of pictures of the kids and Paul but very few of myself. This is one of 2 pictures I can think of that I have of Debbles and I, so I thought I would share it with you.

This weekend is yet another long weekend in The Great White North. (Not so white this time of year, contrary to popular belief we do get a hot summer it is going to be about 32C today, aproximately 86F. Cool for this time of year in The Loops) There are more long weekends in Canada than in California.

We get one in January, April, May, July, August, September, October, November and December. They seem to be spaced so that you get about one a month. This weekend we had nothing planned so we are getting things done around the house and having a great time playing with the kids.

Paul said it well, "Usually my weekends are like my paychecks, spent before I get them. But not this time!" He is so right (don't tell him I don't want him to get used to being right:)

Peas in a Pod

I posted a recent picture of both Quentin and PJ and so I wanted to post one of Sebastian, I could not find one of him dressed. Would you look at how tan that kid is? I put 50 sunblock on them every morning and he just tans right through the stuff.

That's Canadian water, blue and fresh off the iceberg, anyone need a bath?

Mother Peanut

Me: "PJ, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
PJ: "Ummm, (deep thinking) a Mommy, a mermaid and a pirate."
Me: "Wow, PJ that sounds like great fun."
PJ: "Mommy, what do mermaids eat?"
Me Inside voice: "Mermen." (I am sorry it was the first thing that popped into my head when she asked)
Me Outside voice: "I am not sure, go ask your dad."

Good Vibrations

Quentin is sitting on a massager in this picture and for those of you wondering, yes it is turned on and yes he had a bare bum. Just one small sampling of why the Ouimet house is tons of fun.

Did I Scar My Young Minds?

Today my Esthetition (did I spell that right?) called me, she has been in pain for quite sometime and she left me a message that went something like this, "Kelly, I am calling hoping you look like an Italian man and you need me as much as I need you, I have three ribs out and my feet are killing me, could you please give me a call back at..."

I called Audra back and we set up an appointment at 1:45 this afternoon, I will adjust her and she will wax me. Sounds like a lovely afternoon doesn't it? I warned Audra that the kids would be with me and made sure that this would be okay her, she said no problem.

I explained to the kids that we were going to see Audra and she wa going to spread hot wax on my eyebrows and bikini area and cover the wax with cloth strips and then pull my hair out. "Can we watch?" was the first thing out of their mouths, followed closely by "Why?"

How do you explain why we do this to ourselves to the young and uninitiated? I did my best to explain why I was willing to put myself through this process and I told them yes, of course they could watch. I never even thought about it.

So there I am at Audra's and she is standing at the head of the table, I am laying face up and she is applying wax to my unibrow eyebrows while three kids stand on stools to watch the process. I am trying not to laugh, because I would like to have eyebrows left when Audra is done. I wish I had a photo for you.

Yes, they watched the bikini wax too, the boys are only 4 and 2 and PJ at 3 years old may as well know what the future holds for her (especially if she ends up hairy like her Daddy). I wondered, for a split second afterwards if it was appropiate to let them watch but it's not like the boys are 15 or anything and they shower and hot tub with Paul and I all the time.

Nudity is normal around this house, one day last week the kids went from pajamas to birthday suits. Paul came home from work and Sebastian ran up to him, "Daddy, we didn't have to wear clothes all day!" WHOOT! No Laundry! This was a great day in my book, I did not have to stain spot anything, the red sauce washed right off the kids. I will be sad when the day comes that my children become self conscious of their bodies.

I remember last summer the kids were naked so much that when we went out for a walk and I made them put some clothes on, our next door neighbor came out and said, "Hey Sebastian, is that you? I did not recognize you with your clothes on."

So the question remains, did I scar them for life letting them watch a bikini and eyebrow wax? I don't think so, but we will see if they have any nightmares tonight. Bikini wax anyone?

Lace Take One

This is my first attempt at knitting lace. I am having trouble managing the yarn, it is a bit like trying to knit with fuzzy dental floss, it is hard to go back and find or fix any mistakes I made. I am going to bag this effort and try the same pattern with a heavier yarn.

Lace Take Two

This is my second attempt at lace. The same pattern with a mid weight cotton yarn. It is much easier to knit than the yarn I was trying before. I figured it would be easier to knit lace with a heavier yarn and then once I got the hang of it I would go back to the dental floss.

It was also much faster this go around, the stitch pattern is 10 rows and I have completed it twice. I only have about 200 meters of this yarn, it was a cotton I got very cheap at Elann a little while ago, I only bought two balls because I was going to use it for an accent color for a different project.

"Quick question. How come I can get two children and myself ready to go somewhere on time and Will can't be ready on time? Do other women have this problem too?"

Shannon, I love this question of yours. I think this is a nation wide epidemic.

Paul's story is a little different. He used to get himself ready to go while I got the kids ready to go, then he would ask me why I was not ready yet. "When we first got married you would be ready to go out in 5 minutes, why does it take you so long now?" Yes, he actually asked this question.

You will notice that the above paragraph used the phrase "used to" after I answered Paul's aforementioned question (without even yelling-I deserve the Nobel Peace Prize) he is much better at helping out with the kids when we are all trying to get out of the house.

I am still the last one to be out the door. I can't seem to leave the house with beds unmade and with the breakfast dishes in the sink and oh yes, I always need to get a load of laundry in too. It is not so much that I am high-maintenance it is running a house with 4 children 3 children and a husband that takes so much maintenance.

I have finished all the knitting projects I had going and now I am ready to start a new batch. I am thinking of trying some 2 lace projects. I thought this Branching Out Scarf might be a good place to start. I have also been thinking about doing Lucky the clover lace wrap from stitch 'n bitch Nation. I am in love with this pattern too Fiery Bolero, you will have to scroll down a bit to see it. I think it would be great for almost any season. I thought a cream color would go with anything. I need a little help deciding which one to start. Anyone have a favorite?

What's Your Sign?

Mine is "Please waste my time."

I am stuck in wasted time purgatory.

Today I arranged a baby sitter so I could meet Paul's Grandma Helen at her doctor appointment. This was not a problem, I don't mind helping family out, in fact I enjoy it, it makes me feel good to help people out, especially those near and dear to my heart.

Denise came over to baby sit for me because I was in a bit of a bind. She packed up her van her 1 year old twins and her oldest daughter Martine, to come over to my house and add 3 children to the count and watch them all while I ran downtown to help out Grandma Helen.

I got to the Drs. Office in the nick of time, had a look around the waiting room and did not see Grandma Helen. I figured the doctor may have been running early (what was I thinking?) and she may already be in with him. I inquire at the desk and the nice young lady (I wonder if she wants another job) tells me he rescheduled all of today's appointments to tomorrow.

I tried to call Grandma Helen about 4 times today to confirm the appointment (she is having some memory issues) and she never answered her phone (I will remember to ask the doctor about hearing issues too!). She must have forgotten I was to meet her there because she did not call me to let me know that the appointment had been changed. I can not fault her or the doctor it is Murphy who I am going to blame this on. When you see Murphy could you tell him I am looking for him? I would like him to baby sit for me while I am at the Doctor's office tomarrow with Grandma Helen.

I finished Harry Potter, now perhaps I can something done around here. I just get so sucked into a good book I can't put it down until it is done. Now it's back to the knitting needles, laundry, accounting, and hiring someone.

Got Harry?

I apologize for the lack of blogging the past few days. I have been a bit negative and frustrated lately and did want to impart that energy on my readers.

It is not a big deal, I have been trying to hire an Office Assistant to replace Susan who has worked for us for almost 6 years, she is retiring to work for a higher power, she will be working with her church. After wading through 120+ resumes and 20 first interviews and 5 second interviews, I had 2 ladies I was interested in hiring. Both have turned down the job after wasting two weeks of my time.

At the outset of the first interview I told everyone what the hours and the pay included. I asked everyone I interviewed very clearly: "Now that you know more about the job, the hours and the wages is it a position you are still interested in?" Everyone looked me in the eyes and said, "Why yes Dr. Ouimet that sounds like just what I am looking for!" Then when it comes to hiring them on the story changes, "More $$." "My current boss has now offered me a permanent part time position, I think I will stay there." Thank you all for playing. Back to the drawing board for me.

My frustration over the job is not the only thing that has kept me from the computer. We had our year-end ball tournament this past weekend. We played 3 games on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. We lost them all, but we had a great time.

I am almost done with a small knitting project I am working on, have been trying to get that done so I can try a lace project, something light to work on during the hot weather (which has finally come to Kamloops).

I picked up my pre-ordered copy of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I started it Sunday after the kids went to bed and I am 380 pages into it. I have been sucked right in and I have been spending every spare quiet minute (all 5 of them) reading. I have laughed out loud more than once and I figure J.K. Rowling must be a knitter, there have 2 knitting references so far and of course Mrs. Weasley is a knitter.

I am going to try to finish my knitting project and the book tonight so I can resume the futile search for someone to fill Susan's shoes. Wish me luck in all endeavors please, I could use a little luck right now!

Here is a picture of the moon taken after golf and dinner on Friday night, it must have been at least 10:00 and it was the first clear sky we had seen all day. 

Strike Three!!

The Barking Cows played a double header last night, we lost the first game and won the second. I had a strike out in each game, this would not bother me overly much except for the fact that on our team if you strike out you buy a case of beer for the tournament.

We have a beer cooler at every game and we pay $2.50 a beer (or two for $5.00 wink wink). At the year end tournament (which is this weekend) we drink for free. We do our best to empty the cooler of the seasons beer and we drink the strike out beer.

A case of beer here in Canada is costly. I don't know if I can afford to play anymore. Of course when I buy my strike out beer I can buy what ever kind I like can afford, instead of the CANADIAN, it's like Budweiser, Yuck, only good if the beer is almost frozen and it is 105F outside, the beer cooler is usually full of it.

The beer lingo here in Canada is a bit different than in the States let me fill you in a bit. As an American I would call a 24pack of beer a case. What Canadians call a 'case' is actually a 12 pack in American lingo. A Canadian would call a 24 pack of beer a 'flat'. A Canadian would never put an 's' on the end of the word beer. You can have 12 beer or one beer. In the States I would order 2 beers or 12 beers, depending on how thirsty I was.

Also just a little tidbit on beer cost. A four pack of Guinness will cost me about $14.00. A case of Canadian (12pack) will cost me about $16.00.

This whole beer thing is working for me now I want a cold one instead of chocolate.

Grumpy

I have been very a bit grumpy the past two days or so. I am not really sure why. I feel restless and frustrated. I feel like I need some time to myself and then when I get it if I ever get it I will have no idea what to do with it. I feel like I have a million things to do but I also feel a little restless and bored.

I have not run since Wednesday and that is most of the problem, you see I don't run for fitness. I run because I enjoy it, it grounds me and gives me peace. I have not been eating as well as I usually do and that may be part of the problem too. So today I making myself some promises:

1. I will get off my lazy bum, put on my runner's and hit the pavement.
2. I will try to quit taking my frustration with myself out on Paul.
3. I will get back on my morning protein shakes and start back on my glutamine supplement.
4. I will quit eating a handful of mini Oreo's in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed.
(a high sugar diet makes me tired and crabby)
5. I will hire someone for the office position by the end of the week.
6. I will get the year end accounting done by the end of the month.
7. I will try to breathe deeply and run some more.
8. I will relax and have fun at our softball game tonight (I am trying to hard lately and not having as much fun as I should be, I need to remember I am Barking Cow no one cares if I drop the ball or not)
9. I will run some more and get back to the weight lifting that I enjoy so much.

Mostly I need to cut back on the sugar and up the exercise again. I have been having trouble the past week or two getting up for my workouts. I need to remember that it will someday be bikini weather and when it happens I will be ready. See there, I am feeling less grumpy already, but I really want some chocolate:)

What makes you grumpy?

We took the kids for hot chocolate and scones last week. Here is PJ enjoying a cup of coco that is larger than her head. There are times I look at my children and I feel like I am seeing what they will look like when they are 15 and almost all grown up. I feel like I captured that in this picture of PJ. She looks so grown up. 

Layne, with a lovely tatto on her forehead, blowing on her hot chocolate.  

look at his little finger poking out like he is having a proper tea with the queen, this is clearly not a trait he gets from his american mother. 

They all fell asleep in the van on the way home from softball. Three asleep at the same time, can you believe it? 

Robin, Leanna and Phil modeling the new Barking Cow ball shirts. Don't they look great. Thank you Mom, we love the logo! 

Peace Table

Sebastian and PJ are in Montessori Pre-School.

One of the many things they have learned there is how to solve their differences with other children by inviting them to the Peace Table to work things out. I have seen this in action. Just yesterday I saw Layne ask Sebastian to the Peace table at my house and listened to them resolve a conflict they were having over the trampoline.

Why is it that a classroom full of children ranging from 3-6 years of age can get along and learn to solve their problems with words at the peace table and there are adults in the world that can only communicate with violence and death?

My children teach me things everyday, I think today their lesson is for the world.

If you will excuse me I am going to the Peace table now.

Mother of all...

Poop stories.

Should I post this if I feel the need to apologize for the post before it is even written. Perhaps a warning will make me feel better:

Warning: This post will make those with children laugh their butts off, or may make some wince and look quickly away from the screen causing severe whiplash. This post will likely make grandmothers laugh with sweet revenge and may result in stress incontinence. This post may make those of you who don't have children run screaming to your physicians demanding a vasectomy or a tubal ligation. The author of this post is in no way responsible for any injury, laundry stains or sterilization that may occur during or following the reading of this post.

I am about 4 months away from having the last in my brood toilet trained. This is a goal I step closer to with each box of Pull-Ups I purchase and with each load of urine soaked pants and underwear that go through my washer.

I have been been diapering bums in this house for 4 years now, I thought truly I had seen it all. I have witnessed peanut poops, black bean poops and raisin poops. I have suffered through the 5 wipe poops and topped the charts at the 9 wipe poops, I have even survived the straight to the shower poops.

I have cleaned poop out of carpet, children's toys and from between tiny baby toes. I truly thought I could not be grossed out or shocked by any poop incident that occurred in my home at this point in my life. I have learned never to underestimate the power of poop.

I do about 2 loads of laundry a day to keep up on things around here. One dark load and one light. Yesterday the dark load came through without mishap (do you see where this going?) the white load went through the washer innocently enough, it was the transfer to the dryer where things began to go south.

I put everything into the dryer and I noticed little bits of (if you are faint of heart or stomach now is the time to skip to the bottom) what appeared to be pieces of fiber in amongst the clothing. I even saw a bit of what appeared to be half a black bean. I thought is must have gotten stuck to one of the kids shirts during dinner and I put it in the trash. I thought maybe Sebastian had a stick in the pocket of his jeans and it had fallen apart in the wash. I figured the dryer would pick up these wood-like fiber pieces in the lint catcher and I would empty it after the clothes had gone through. I TURNED THE DRYER ON.

As the dryer was running I had a look inside the washer and I saw more of these fiber-like pieces. I began to wipe out the washing machine and this is when I found a marble sized chunk of brown stuff. Another black bean??? I smoshed the brown marble in question and brought it slowly to my nose for closer inspection. This is when I realized what you have allready guessed.

"Oh, shit."

I quickly turned off the dryer. I was not quite ready to face the dryer and a full load of wet poopy clothes. It seems that Quentin had pooped in his underwear and someone who does not do the laundry had failed forgotten to empty the poop filled underwear into the toilet and rinse them out. I finished cleaning the washer first. Then steeling myself with a few deep breaths I opened the dryer door. The first thing to catch my eye was a large chunk of poop stuck to the hot dryer wall.

"Oh, shit."

I took out the clothes one article at a time. Surprisingly the damage was minimal. I shook everything out, piece by piece. Did I mention I have a large capacity washer and dryer? Putting each now chunk free article of LIGHT COLORED clothing back into the washing machine. I added detergent and bleach for disinfecting and then I moved on to the task of cleaning the laundry room floor.

The floor cleaned up I peered inside the dryer. It was not as bad as you may think. Just the one poop chunk stuck to the hot wall and a few flakes to wipe out of the bottom. Then a wipe with a bleach soaked cloth and the storey has a happy ending.

No clothing was stained in the process and my whites are WHITE and sanitized. Can anyone beat this one??

Debbles Assets

My sweater is only 170 stitches from being complete. I just have to bind off and I am all done! I did not have a chance to do it last night I was cooking the books doing the accounting for the office instead.

Tonight we have softball, I will try to get it done before the game, but I will have to see how the afternoon goes. Debbles is picking up the Barking Cow shirts for me this afternoon. It turns out they were done almost 2 weeks ago and the lady never called me. Not good service. I can't wait to see how they came out. I will take the camera to ball today and hopefully get some action shots for you.

Laundry Confessions:
Am I the only one who forgets about a load of laundry in the dryer and then remembers the next day only to find them all wrinkled up. So I start up the dryer again to get the wrinkles out and then forget about the load again, so I start the dryer again to get the...You get the idea. I think the load I am folding now (with my clean feet?) has been dried 4 times but I sadly, have lost count.

More Sad Laundry News:
Someone has stolen Debbles clothes. I figure this must be someone who wants Debbles to run around Kamloops naked. This must be the reason because Debbles is a size 2 and no one else can wear her clothes. (I can't imagine being a size 2, I couldn't fit my leg in the waist band of her pants) Debbles lives in a condo where they have shared coin laundry facilities. She had a load of clothes in the dryer and someone took her clothes. The worst of it is, there were 2 pairs of brand new pants from the GAP in Vancouver that she had never even worn yet. One pair a size 2 and the other a size 4. Some of her favorite workout pieces were in the load too. Everyone keep their eye out for a size 12 wearing a size 4 and lets get Debbles some pants, we don't need to know any more about her assets than we already do.

I was playing with the camera and this is what I came up with.  

Queintin is a willing participant. 

What a ham! 

Not just for kids. Mnt. Goat and Stephanie on the trampoline on Friday night. Look at the air Steph is getting! 

Happy 4th of July

I had to work today. It was an easy shift though. One of our office assistants is retiring and we ran an add in the paper for a week advertising the position available. We received over a hundred resumes and Paul and went through them all last night. We picked out 20 of them and spent the morning seeing patients and on the phone scheduling interviews.

The amazing thing is that I already have all but two of the selected applicants schedules for their first interviews. I hope to bring the number down to about 5 and then Paul and I will do second interviews next week. I will be glad when this is done.

Hang on doorbell is ringing.

Okay that was funny. A delivery man just came and brought me some yarn I ordered on the internet.
PJ says "Mom, who was that?"
Me: "A delivery man."
PJ: "What did he bring?"
Sebastian: "How big was his truck?"

I will take some pictures of the yarn for you. I can't show you all it though, some I am going to knit up into gifts. This yarn is stinky, it is hand dyed and smells of vinegar to me, or maybe wet sheep. I am not sure I have never really smelled a wet sheep, but if this is what they smell like I'd rather smell a wet dog. The yarn was shipped in a plastic envelope maybe that is why it stinks. Yuck, I think my new yarn needs some fresh air.

It was a weird weekend around here. Paul golfed Friday from 7:30 to 3:00 and Sunday from 8:30 until 2:00, then he bartended a friends wedding on Saturday night. I spontaneously ran a road race up at the ski hill on Saturday morning so I was gone from about 8:30-2:00 on Saturday.

Paul, the kids and I all had fun this weekend, but I missed spending time together as a family. I enjoy it when we all go do stuff together or when we all hang out here doing our own things but still having family time. Next weekend Paul is going to Vancouver after I get home from work on Saturday, so no family time then either. It gets me a little down.

On the up side: (it always helps to view the upside)
New smelly yarn
My sweater is should be done today
I am learning to knit lace (I think)
I had a great run 55:55 10K on Saturday, in the wet cold rain with lots of hills.
I am having lots of fun with the kids.
Had a visit from Paul's cousin Taniel and her husband Jeremy this weekend and they are expecting their first baby in February. Babies make everything better!

PJ is looking tiny at the top of this big slide, you can't see it because of the shadow but she grinning from ear to ear. This girl loves the slides. 

Sebastian poses for me after he sees Quentin playing this game.

I think I caught the devil in Quentin's eye this morning. 

The kids and I went to the park while Paul golfed this morning. We had a great time as is evident by Sebastian's smile. 

Happy Camerican Day 

Canada Day Eh?

Today is Canada Day. Canada day is always a funny day for me. I am still an American girl (mostly) and the 4th of July rings true in my heart.

There are a few holidays that Canadians just don't do as well as Americans. There are also a few holidays that Canadians do better than Americans-Veteran's Day-Canadians do a better job at respecting their veterans than Americans do, this may have changed with the War the US in currently involved in but I don't know. In Canadian you also have Boxing day, the US is missing the boat on this one, it's a doosey.

The fourth of July is about hot weather, back yard BBQ and fireworks at the park. Canada Day is about all of these things but on a smaller scale. It reminds of Thanksgiving here in Canada, "Oh, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we had better buy a turkey and call grandma" A good meal but not quite the bang Americans give the holiday, the whole family over a huge table laden with food, so much laughter and talk you have to yell to be heard.

Canada Day is the same way, "Oh, tomorrow is Canada Day, Lets have a BBQ" Don't get me wrong, I am not bad mouthing Canada, sometimes I think I am more Canadian than American. And often time it is impromptu get togethers that are the most fun and the most memorable, no expectations.

We have made it a tradition in this house to celebrate both the Canadian and American Thanksgiving. I think we need to extend this to Canada Day and the 4th of July as well. I keep asking Paul for the day off, but he doesn't seem to be going for it.

I will wave my flag and celebrate both because I am a good Camerican girl. So here is a toast to both Canada, a country that I have grown to love and to the United States of America where my roots are firmly grounded.