HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER!!

It's hard to believe that today you are 14 years old! It really does seem like yesterday that you were just a little baby in my arms. Today you are taller than me!

I remember the day you were born.........

I was admitted to the hospital on December 22, 1995 as they were monitoring your movement and since they weren't happy with the lack of movement, they decided to induce me.......well they got really busy with other deliveries and told me I'd have to spend the night. There I laid in the room where patients came in to make toast......hooked up to a monitor listening to your heartbeat and scared out of my mind at the thought on induction. I had to listen to all these women deliver their babies. Around midnight they moved me to my own private room.

The next morning I woke up early, showered and was so nervous about what would happen to me in the next few hours. The nurse came into my room around 6:30 a.m. to tell me that they were ready to get started. So off I walked to the delivery room, with my chapstick in the pocket of my housecoat and a glamour magazine tucked under one arm.......ya like I ever read that magazine that day! lol

Daddy got there after they'd broken my water and hooked me up to an IV with pitocin to start the contractions.......and boy it worked fast! I was up and walking around, and had to go back and lie down as the pain was getting bad.They called my Dr. as I had asked for an epidural. In the mean time they gave me nitrous which took the edge off. Trouble was that I sucked so hard on the mask that it bruised my nose! Dr. Docherty arrived to check me and found me to be 5-6 cm dilated. She went on some rounds and told the nurse to page her over the intercom as she'd forgotten her beeper at home. Well, they called her back pretty quick as I went from 5-10cm in less than a half hour!

At 12:05 p.m. you came into this world with blonde hair and a loud cry. You weighed 8 lbs, 12 oz and were 21cm in length. You had so many visitors. On Christmas Eve Daddy brought supper to the hospital from Nonna. It was delicious! There we sat that evening staring at you and feeling such joy that we were now a family.

And here you are today.... you have grown into such a wonderful young man. You're a good student, and a good athlete, and you continue to make us proud of you.

Happy Birthday Christopher! We love you!

Bulletpoint highlights of July...........

Here are some high lights in bullet form of July 2009:

• The weather was H O T!
• 2 forest fires in the hills behind our house.One was caused by lightening.
• I took the boys to Vancouver to see American Idol Live
• The boys LOVED the concert.....3rd row baby!
• Had a spike in my tire so that delayed us at the coast for an extra day till they could locate a tire to match my other three
• Didn't pack enough clothes or puppy food for the extended stay, so spent that afternoon driving around with a teeny spare tire and looked for Shiloh's brand of food.
• Missed going to the lake as we didn't arrive back into Kelowna until Friday evening,and I was just too exhausted to go anywhere else.
• Gianna, Derek and the girls came for a visit. They all enjoyed the hot summer weather and the pool
• Canada Day soccer tournament for Michael. His team finished in 2nd place
• Our good friend Rob suffered a massive heart attack while in Bellingham for the girls soccer tournament
• So many people prayed for him.
• We were thankful for the updates from Elaine's brother who was in Bellingham
• Rob stayed in ICU for 8 days.He was very critical,and we prayed harder than we ever had for his recovery
• Elaine had the loving support of her girls and her siblings as well as the many e-mails she received which helped get her through each day.
• Rob was taken off the ventilator, and continued to improve a little each hour
• He came home the middle of July.
• We had them over for dinner/swim,and Rob looked good, but tired. We continued to pray for his recovery
• The boys attended a golf camp and a soccer camp this month
• Nicholas won the coaches award at soccer camp
• Our puppy Shiloh is amazing! She's just a dream puppy.
• The boys all had pool parties
• I can't remember a summer with such fantastic weather
• Landscaping continued to go well.
• Andy hired one of the teachers sons to help. He was a God send and the work got done
• Slowly things are coming together with regards to landscaping, and furniture for our living room

The trouble with posting AFTER the fact is that I forgot.....

to blog about stuff and now it's all out of order!

In May Michael and Nicholas competed at the school track meet. There were 2 other Christian Schools competing. The boys did well. Michael qualified to compete in the district championships in long jump and Nicholas qualified for triple jump. Michael also qualified for the 4x100m relay(an event I LOVED in school).

The day of the Districts came and the sun was of course shining brightly.....the boys were a bit nervous to say the least.

Nicholas placed 6th in the triple jump.

Michael placed 4th in long jump.

His relay team placed 2nd in the District! He was the lead runner for the team, and man alive he was FAST! Unfortunately they slowed down at the third exchange and that cost them the race, but what excitement at the Apple Bowl that day!

St. Joseph School won lots of events that day. We were all cheering the kids on and enjoying the excitement of the day.

June 28, 2009

My baby boy turns 8 years old today!

My goodness where has the time gone. Jacob you are a joy, and such a wonderful part of our family. Your sweetness and thoughtfulness will carry you far in life.

You are a determined little boy....always trying to keep up with your older brothers!

This year he wanted a Monkey Cake...so off I went in search of a Wilton Monkey pan. He loved the cake!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY JACOB!

Schools out for summer!!!!!!!

Another school year came to an end. The boys are thrilled to be out of school and are looking forward to a long hot summer!

June...........last month of school!!!

I LOVE the hot summer type weather we've had so far. The boys have been in the pool a lot since we opened it at the end of April.

I took on the task of putting together the photo show for the Gr. 7 farewell....oh my gosh! What a logistical nightmare that turned out to be. Of course I should have left it alone, and not volunteered, but no one else stepped up to do it, and I know how much the gr. 7's appreciate this, soooooooooooo I jumped in with both feet. It probably wouldn't have been such a big ordeal if my computer photoshow program would have let me use some up to date music, instead of the canned garbage that they offer. So then I had to try using powerpoint which I'm not familiar with, and oh the stress I put myself under was something that I don't want to repeat anytime soon. Also, if the deadline for photo submission is May, then why on earth am I still without photos for some kids in the middle of June????

So, I plugged away at it day and night editing, moving stuff around, etc. and the perfectionist in me took over and needless to say I didn't eat or sleep for 3 days! The darn program wasn't doing what it was supposed to do, the photos weren't transitioning with the music, and I was going crazy! It was right down to the wire with glitches, and finally I called a friends brother who was a computer genius and he walked me through it.

The Gr. 7 Farewell was lovely. Speeches were great, and all in all it was a good evening.

The photo show was good despite one minor glitch with the audio, but everyone liked it, and my job was done!

Back to updating events from the Spring..........

May continued to be a busy month with soccer games for the boys. May long weekend took us to Kamloops for Christopher and Michael's tournaments. Michael's team placed 2nd in an intense game against Kamloops. Christopher's team losing against Penticton.

It's hard to believe that the boys only have one month left of school. One month left with all my boys at the same school. Never again will this happen, as when Jacob is in grade 8, Christopher will already have graduated. I wish there was some way to slow down time just a bit. It seems to be going by so quickly.....

The landscaping of the yard continued this Spring beginning with the installation of our putting green on the back burm. The boys were eager to help,and fascinated with the heavy equipment used in the process.

First Communion Day and Party............

Our little Jacob received his First Communion on Sunday May 3rd. It was a beautiful day!

He looked so sweet all dressed up in his suit. Mass was lovely and that was followed by breakfast in the Parish Hall.

That afternoon we had a combined party for Christopher and Jacob at home. I had rented tables, chairs and Lynda was catering the dinner. It looked amazing in our living room with all the tables and linens.

God Bless you Jacob throughout your life!

Jacob and Sophie

Christopher and Jacob

Nicholas turns 10!

Our sweet Nicholas turned 10 years old on April 26th!

Wow time sure does fly by.....

My favorite memories are:

• He was in such a hurry to be born, he didn't even wait for the Dr......a lovely nurse named Marion delivered him!


• He was such a dream baby....ate, slept and sigh, just a dream!


• He was the youngest of the boys to walk at 11 months.


• When he would wake at night I'd go to his room and he'd be standing up in his crib. I'd go over to him and he would reach out for my face, and then put his forehead against my forehead and just hold my face there. Sooooooooo sweet!


• He cut the cord to the baby monitor(that was plugged in at the time)with a pair of scissors!Ok, not funny!


• He sat in his kiddie pool fully clothed!


• He rode a two wheeler at age 4 after begging Andy to take his training wheels off


• He loved his chucho....so much so that he still had it when he was almost 4! One day he came outside with it in his mouth and Andy told him to take the silly thing out of his mouth...he then reached for it in Nicholas' mouth but Nico put up his hands to block him and that resulted in the choocho becoming airborne and landing right in the gutter! Good bye chucho!


• I loved all his chubbiness!


• He's a great soccer player


• He's a great hockey player


• He has lots of really nice friends


• He rode the California Screamin Roller Coaster all alone this past March!

We love you Nicholas you are a joy!

April/May

These were going to be busy months for us with Christopher's Confirmation and Jacob's First Communion.

Christopher asked Carlo to be his Sponsor. We had prepped for the big day and at last it was here. I bought him a really nice suit at Mexx with a bright blue shirt and new tie. He looked awesome!

You know it seems like yesterday when I held him in my arms at his Baptism, and here we were at his Confirmation. He did the first reading....and of course I had tears in my eyes watching and listening to him.

His chosen name was John after Andy and Nonno Giovanni. After the ceremony we came home for a small family celebration.

Meet our newest addition.........

Shiloh is our new mini labradoodle puppy, and she's gorgeous! We brought her home on May 29th. Up till then only me and the older boys had seen her at the breeders. Nicholas and Jacob fell in love with her instantly, as did Andy. She weighed lonly 8 lbs when we brought her home. The car ride home was interesting. She cried most of the way home(a 2.5 hr. drive) and then around Monte Lake she threw up all over Christopher. Poor thing...luckily he had some other shorts to change into.

We settled into life with a new puppy quite easily I might add. She's was a dream from day 1. We followed all the instructions from the breeder. As this is our first puppy, I didn't really know what to expect,and we'd heard horror stories from friends who have had dogs....but really she's slept well in her kennel beside our bed since the first night. She only cried a bit and I'd put my hand beside the door and she'd nuzzle her nose up against it and fall right to sleep....and sleep she did, for over 8 hrs each night!

Spring Part 2

Once the snow finally melted, and hockey was finished for the season, the boys happily moved on to soccer. Both Christopher and Michael were playing with Kelowna United Select Teams and had great seasons. Michael's team came 2nd in two tournaments and Christopher's team was undefeated in regular season play...only to lose in penalty shots in the playoffs. That was a very hard game to watch.

Nicholas and Jacob also played soccer in the U10 and U8 age groups. They break for the summer and have now resumed play for the month of September. I'll get some photos of them soon and post them.

My oh my where has the time gone?

My last real update was in the Spring after my Dad has his surgery, and now it's September, the boys are all back in school, and I finally get some time to sit at a computer!

So, the updating process will be quite lengthy as I recount all our happenings since March 2009.............

SPRING BREAK:

We went to Disneyland....and what a GREAT time we had! The day we arrived we met up with Franca and her family for dinner at Downtown Disney. One of our fav. restaurants there is Napoli. The kids were so excited to see their friends from school. The next day we met at Universal Studios. The weather was somewhat uncooperative, and we crossed our fingers that it would improve as we were just beginning our holiday. We had soooooooooo much snow this past winter, we just wanted some SUN!

Universal Studio's was fantastic. I think I left my stomach at the top of the Jurassic Park ride!

Oh my what a free fall at the end! The boys, Andy and even Franca and John went on alot of the rollercoaster rides there with The Mummy and The Simpsons Ride being their favorites.

The Studio Tour was fantastic....we had Front of the Line passes, so we didn't have to wait in line which was nice. They were filming Desperate Housewives that day. Andy's favorite attraction was the Terminator Show...one of his favorite movies.

The next day we started our 5 day passes at Disneyland. The weather was gorgeous, hot and sunny.....just what our winter skin was begging for! The boys loved being back in Disneyland.

Jacob being the youngest, and tall enough for all the rides in the park has a totally different Disneyland experience than his brothers......all they wanted to do was ride the California Screamin Roller Coaster.....in fact they all rode it 21 times in 5 days....ho hum, it got a bit boring for me around the 15th time watching....but they had so much fun it was hard not to laugh.

I think my favorite thing to do was to spend an entire morning with Jacob just in Disneyland. We got new hats, went to Minnie's House, saw Mickey, Donald, Pluto and all the gang....we even got to see the Fairy Godmother!

Soarin over California has to be one of my fav. rides. Here I am with the boys waiting in line.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Here we were in hot sunny California(everday that week it got to 86F) and at home they were still shovelling the snow.

Michael had his 12th Birthday in Disneyland.....he got a gift card from the resort so he bought whatever he wanted...a Mr. Potato Head, a stuffed Mickey, a football, 2 t-shirts. Here he is with his Birthday hat..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!

You are a wonderful boy with so much love to give. We love you and hope you had a wonderful day!

The evening of his Birthday we surprised the boys with tickets to an NHL game....their first ever! Anaheim Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers.....and the Oilers won.There were lots of Canadian fans on hand cheering them on.

The following day we headed back home. Exhausted, but filled with lots of good memories.

Summer time, summer time...............

I can't believe it's been soooooooooooooo long since I logged on here to tell about our day to day happenings.

The summer is flying by and we're loving our hot, hot weather!

I will post some photos and a complete update real soon.

My Dad..........

I haven't had time lately to blog as we've been busy with hospital visits with my Dad. He went to the hospital last Monday (March 9th) and the surgeon removed a portion of his lower intestine. Everything went well with the surgery, no complications. I saw him the day after the surgery and he looked better than I could have expected! The incision is HUGE! It's a vertical incision that goes from below his belly button to his chest! It is the nicest incision I've seen. Very clean and healing well. He continued to progress well, but was getting hungry as he'd been off food since the 8th. On the 5th day post op, he suddenly wasn't feeling well, was sweating profusely, and was agitated. The nurse called in the Dr. who then called the Cardiologist who ordered some tests. Now I'm getting all this info from mom who is completely overwhelmed with all that's going on, so it may or may not be accurate. Anyway, he's been off his diabetes meds, blood pressure pills, anti anxiety meds and my theory is that he was going through withdrawal of some sort. They gave him something in his IV and that calmed him down. Then they had to call his Dr. so that he could put the order in for the other meds. He's home now and resting. He'll see the Dr on Thursday to have the staples removed,then see his Dr. on Friday to discuss the 'irregular heartbeat' that they found after administering the heart tests. They also have him on Warfarin...not sure why, but Andy thinks it's to prevent blood clots after surgery.


Now for news from the complaints dept.

1. I think my sisters could have come home this week while my Dad was in the hospital
2. I think they could have sent flowers themselves instead of calling me on Day4 post op and asking me to get them
3. I think that since he's home now and it's spring break, that one or both of them could have come home.

Andy says " they're not all like you Maria" I take that as a compliment actually, and secretly wish they were more like me! I know this surgery wasn't life saving surgery, but c'mon, if I was living at the coast, I would have made the trip home regardless of the kind of surgery it was!

So, do I say something to them? Probably not as it would start a huge fight ....sigh

Featured Person of the Day


Kelowna dentist Dr. Andy Macdonnell has been brightening smiles in Kelowna for 15 years. His practice is located in Orchard Plaza, at #209 - 1890 Cooper Road. Whether it's cosmetic dentistry, crown and bridge work, or prosthetics, Dr. Macdonnell is committed to rehabilitating people's mouths and allowing them to regain the smile they once had.Dr. Macdonnell keeps active around Kelowna, getting outside for golfing and skiing, depending on the season, and coaching soccer & hockey. He would really like to see more homes & shelters provided for homeless citizens of Kelowna, and volunteers with the Kelowna Gospel Mission through their Dental Clinic and the 30K Club. He enjoys Rockets games at Prospera Place, and looks forward to our seasonal Wine Festivals.Have a great day, Dr. Macdonnell!

Uugh!

Another vent..............

Andy's away at a conference with his staff. They were all having a great time by the sounds of it when I called last night......I don't have a problem with them having fun, but they were all in Andy's room watching TV, and I think that's inappropriate. I mean imagine his reaction if he'd have called me at a hockey tournament and I had 8 men in my room! It's not to say I don't trust him....it's to say that he shouldn't put himself in a situation where everyone thinks he's their friend. They feel comfortable, and don't respect the fact that he's their boss! I don't like it and I let him know it.....I hung up on him. I know probably not the maturest thing to do, but I was pi$$ed off!

Then a half hour later I called back, and they were STILL there! I asked if they were there and he says NO....so I ask him another question and he says NO, all those one word answers made me fuming mad now, so I hung up on him again! Now I'm steaming mad and if I could have jumped through the phone then I would have.

He calls me back a half hour later....I was on the phone with Tina venting at the time so it went to voice mail. I called him back, didn't really have much to say other than what I said above.

Then tonight I text him because he's forgotten to call the boys to say goodnight(whole other issue that I won't go into now), and so he obviously got the not so nice text I sent, so he calls home. The boys all talked to him, but I don't have anything to say to him. He then says that they all went out to dinner tonight and that his Visa was declined.....so I call Visa, only to find out that it's because it's reached it's limit. So I call him back because he was supposed to have paid it the other night when he paid some other bills. Well, he didn't, so I had to promptly make a payment online. I tell ya, I'm completely sick of being the one who stays home, drives the kids all over the place(and this week has been extremely busier than most) while he's out having a grand old time with everyone. And no it's not a jealousy thing that they're there and I'm at home, it's about staff not behaving and acting stupid because they've had too much wine!

He can take a cab home from the airport on Saturday.

Today may you be blessed.........

Awhile ago I signed up for a daily newsletter that was inspirational and motivational. I have enjoyed reading the verses, quotes and most days it helps put things into perspective for me. Some days I need a kick in the arse to make me realize I have nothing to complain about.

Here's a really good little movie clip that brought tears to my eyes.

http://beblessedmovie.com/

The snow is starting to melt......................

Yipee, yippee, yipee....the snow is starting to melt....we woke to pounding rain this morning, but I'll take that any day over snow!

I just want to see some sunshine and feel the warmth of it. We leave for CA soon and the boys are really looking forward to it too.

I feel like I don't have much to blog about...don't feel much like talking either. Ok, I have to vent somewhere. You know the saying that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Well, lately, I've had LOTS of time to think or should I say evaluate the 'friendships' I have and quite frankly, it sucks! Days, weeks can go by and not a phone call, or a wave in the parking lot. I just say 'whatever' and try not to let it bother me, but it HAS bothered me. Do I say something? Is it worth it? I don't think it's ok to completely ignore someone for weeks, only to call on them when you 'need' them. I don't want to always be the one who's picking up the phone, going out of my way to send a gift etc. I realize this sounds so petty, but you know what, I'm 42 years old, and I'm just sick of this high school stuff. Why do I wait for them to call me? Why don't I pick up the phone you ask? Well, cause I'm sick and tired of a one sided relationship, and I've chosen to distance myself. Trust me I have a LOT more important things to do in each day than to sit and listen to boring diatribes of nonsense. I'm not on my high horse. I do not think I'm better than anyone else, but no person needs to be sitting there between two people who are supposedly your friends and have them talk across the front of you like you're not even there Now this happens once...ok, get over it, but it happens A L L T H E T I M E!!! Ah, I had to get that off my chest. Now to make dinner.

My husband is the biggest baby!

You'd think that Mother Nature was taking it out on him personally by dumping all this snow on Feb. 25th. He says he's so sick of it all....blah blah blah, aren't we all?

He started to get his boots and coat on to go and shovel the driveway, and then had a hissy fit and said forget it, I'm not going! (Oh my!)

Ok, as I stated in earlier posts, I'm done with winter too, but you don't see me getting mad at everything that's living do you?

He says he's going to retire somewhere hot in the winter.....sionara dude, send me a post card!

Mother Nature has a funny sense of humour because..............

ahem, it's SNOWING outside right now! They weren' t kidding when they said 10-15cm of snow tonight! It started after school and it hasn't let up at all! In fact, now the wind has started and it's blowing all over! I can't even see across the lake atm.....waaaaaaaaahhhhh, I'm sooooooooo done with winter!!!!

Time to hang up one pair of hockey skates...........

Michael's team fought the good fight this weekend, but unfortunately they lost to a much stronger team that should be playing either AAA or AA level hockey!! The whole thing was just lousy from the get go.....really rough play on their part, as well as horrible officiating. I could tell the outcome from the get go. Michael's ok about it....I think he's ready to move on to soccer.

We win...........we advance to round 3!

Bring on Winfield.....round 3 of the playoffs for Michael's team starts next Saturday.....and we're ready! (insert maniacal laugh here)

The boys got to play game 2 vs. S. Okanagan at Prospera yesterday. Playing in that arena is always a great time for the boys....kind of like playing in the big leagues!

It was my turn to sell 50/50 tickets and I sold the most to date! The jackpot was $160. Not bad eh?

Michael woke up full of a cold, so he's home from school today. I took the others to school, stopped to pick up some stuff for dinner tonight and when I called home he didn't answer. I became concerned when I tried again and still no answer. I ran up the stairs calling his name with no response.....only to find him asleep in his bed under his duvet!

Stews in the crock pot, homemade chicken soup is cooking on the stove.It smells GREAT in here!

Playoffs round 2...............

Michael's team is now in round 2 of the playoffs, and they're out of town today. We just won in OT!!! Woo Hoo! Game 2 is here tomorrow.

Jacob's team is in a tournament this weekend and they've won both games so far. Tonight they get to play during the Rockets intermisson and are VERY excited!

Images from Granny Margaret's Life

http://www.mem.com/ViewImages.aspx?ID=2851088

Today was Granny Margaret's Funeral

My heart swells today with love for our boys. They were wonderful participants in their great granny's life and today she would be proud of them for their participation of her funeral mass. My husband was heavy hearted as he stood at the pulpit today to deliver a speech about his granny. I love him, and today my heart broke for him as I sat and listened to the many stories he had about this wonderful lady, and how blessed we were to have had her in our lives for so long.

Unfortunately, Jason wasn't able to attend the funeral, but he was here in spirit and sent along a note for Andy to read.

The funeral service was beautiful, the soloist had the most beautiful voice.

We are home now briefly to change clothes and then will join everyone for dinner at Andy's parents.

God Bless you Granny Margaret.

A poem about Granny:

Her smile can light up a room, her presence is of grace Her opinions are heard without one word but by the look upon her face Her touch is so gentle, her heart as big as the moon Her spirit is kindhearted and warm as a summer’s afternoon Her hair a river of gray, her eyes radiant as the sun Her time she’ll take no matter how long until the work is done Her kisses are so soft, her hugs preferred from the rest My granny is mine forever and ever and she’ll always be the best.

High School.........

Christopher had a really good day at high school yesterday. They all made the gr. 7 students feel welcome. They started the day off with prayer in the gym, and then were split into three groups who then rotated through the classrooms and other stations. Snack and lunch were provided.

All in all they had a fun day and a 'taste' of high school.

Last night Andy and I attended a parent meeting at the school. Got to meet all the teachers and see the school. Wow, it's so hard to believe that we have a child old enough already to go to high school!

Yesterday the gr. 6's held a science fair. Michael and Emmet's project was on Explosions. They did a really good job of their display board and got 77% on their written report.

Its another snowy day here today. Cold out too. I'm quite tired of it already. The poor little cedar trees we planted have been thinned by all the deer we've had in our yard lately. Andy thinks the trees will rebound once the weather gets warmer, but I'm not so sure.

Dad is a the hospital this morning for a colonoscopy. We're all praying that it goes well and everything looks good.

Tonight are the prayers for Granny Margaret.

Andy's Granny...........

On February 7th, 2009 our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, who lived to celebrate her 96th birthday, passed away peacefully. Margaret endured much pain after her stroke, but she fought valiantly, for six years in an extended care facility, to be with the ones she loved. Margaret lived for her family and was deeply loved by them. Daughters: Anne Marie (Manuel), Fran (Jim), Chris (Gordon) and Joey have been blessed to be surrounded by a mother’s unconditional love, kind heart, unselfish spirit, delightful sense of humour and courageous ability to overcome challenges. Granddaughters Anette and Michelle and grandsons Andy and Jason cherish their Granny’s gentle spirit, strength of character, great stories and storytelling ability. Margaret’s eight great grandchildren are proud to have a Great Granny who lived to be 96. Margaret lived through the pain of war immigrating from Romania to Austria, then Poland and finally to Germany. In 1948, Margaret with her husband Johannes (John) immigrated to Canada with three children and a single wooden suitcase holding all their belongings. They worked tirelessly at Stewart’s Nursery and within a few years purchased their own orchard. Margaret worked in the fields, orchard and packing house around the clock for many years so that her children could have a better life, and indeed she accomplished her goal. We cherish the time we had with our beautiful mother, honour her spirit, and are comforted to know that she is now in a more peaceful place. Prayers will be recited at Valleyview Funeral Home, 165 Valleyview Road on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 7:00 PM. Funeral Mass will be at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, 750 Rutland Road N. on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or Children’s Hospital. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.mem.com

Class of 2014............

Tomorrow is a BIG day for Christopher....he gets to spend the whole day at High School with all the Gr. 7's! I'm to drop him off in the morning and the school will divide them into groups for the day. Snack and lunch will be provided. He's pretty excited about it all....I on the other hand am not quite ready for the 'leap' to high school! gulp.....because I'm definitely not old enough to have a kid going to high school! lol

It really hit me today when was reading the letter from the Principal at the high school....class of 2014.......that sounds so weird to me......how could it be that he's THAT age already?

Thankfully, we still have a few more months left of Elementary School where all the boys are.....next fall we'll have 2 schools to get to in the morning!!

We Won!!!

Michael's hockey team has advanced to round 2 of the playoffs!

What a game this morning! Awesome hockey. All the boys played well.

Maria

Andy's Granny..........

We received a phone call today from Andy's aunt Joey. Granny Margaret passed away this morning.

She lived a long time........96 yrs! It's still sad though as she was such a great lady.

We will miss her. The boys will miss her.

I love that our boys have compassion. Michael was saddened by the fact that his Dad had tears in his eyes when he got the phone call. God Bless him, I hope he continues to have a heart like that through out his life.

We did manage to get a hold of MIL/FIL in Mexico. They're be flying home this week sometime. Andy found out where Jason is staying in Hawaii and we called there tonight. I don't think he'll be flying home for the funeral as they just arrived in Hawaii today.

Why do they wait till the kitchen is clean before........

they decide to fry up some eggs? It's not like they could have done that before I spent a half hour in their emptying the dishwasher, loading it and wiping down the counters!

Jacob just decided that making some nachos in the microwave would be a GREAT idea too, and of course Nicholas followed suit!

Chris is at a Confirmation Retreat all day today and we're meeting him at the 5:30 pm Mass.

Dinner out tonight.........yippee!

This is too funny and so true about people today......

This was sent to me today. It's so funny and so true!


http://barefootmeg.multiply.com/video/item/56

Update on the past week or so...........

Seriously, it's FEBRUARY already???? Oh my!

The boys have all had colds lately, with Nicholas and Michael needing antibiotics for their throats. Both are better now. Then Jacob and Christopher came down with a tummy bug...and not to leave mom out of the picture, I came down with it on Monday evening. We all had stomach cramps and were running for the bathroom, but no vomiting thank goodness.

Andy's finally decided to start taking Fridays off again, and I'm so glad as he's been a really grouchy guy lately. He needs a day off where he can run errands and get stuff done, or just exercise so that he feels better and not so tired.

Yesterday Michael's class went cross country skiing. It was a beautiful day, and we had fun. It is however HARD work getting up those hills, and I was hoping that around the next bend we'd come across a nice little Starbucks and perhaps a bench to sit and enjoy my latte on,but no such luck!

We're into playoff season for Michael's hockey team. Unfortunately the series is tied with Merritt atm, and we HAVE to win this Saturday or we're hanging up the hockey skates till next season. Seems that his season went by so quickly, but in fact he's been playing since September. Really great group of parents, so it will be kind of sad to have to say goodbye to everyone. Think positive though,these are the come back kids and haven't lost a game all season.....the tied so many games though!

The other boys still have hockey till March.

We're all looking forward to our trip to Disneyland! Wish we were there now so we could get away from all this snow!

Oh,this morning at 6:55am I was woken up by this really loud screaming that seemed to be coming from outside....but then I thought it was one of the boys dreaming so I went upstairs. Christopher was at his window and he says"mom come here, did you hear that screaming?" I looked out the window expecting to see some animal dying in my backyard, and there it was............ A WOLF up in the hill behind our house! OH MY! Apparently he was howling at his friend and then he/she showed up and they sauntered off into the hills! It wasn't a coyote because the tail wasn't bushy like one that a coyote has, and it was BIG and blackish grey. I wish I had my camera. Anyway, it freaked me out that's for sure!

A little funny from Jacob yesterday:

"Dad, look at my muscles they're getting bigger" (as he makes a muscle flex in his bicep while holding his breath and grunting to make the 'muscle' pop out)

Andy: "wow Jacob it is getting bigger"

Jacob: " Ya, and look I have a six pack"(as he lays down on the kitchen floor kind of doing a crunch all while grunting and holding his breath again). " See Dad, do you see it, it's a six pack, count them!"

Oh my! Then Michael and Nicholas had to lie down and see if they too had a 'six pack'

Third headache this week............

Migraines! I could live without them...they used to come sporadically. Since last week I've had three 'episodes' that were heading into migraine territory.

I had these weird lightning bolts in kaleidoscope colors last week, then I took my Advil, and went to bed. Managed to escape the vertigo that comes with my migraines.

Had slight vertigo and then the headache started the other day in Trail, so I took my Advil straight away and the headache never materialized.

Today while at Office Depot I got that same spinny feeling and took my Advil and went straight home to bed. I fell asleep at 10:30am and woke at 1:15 pm this afternoon!

I still have a minor headache, and NOTHING got accomplished today at home! Uugh!

Tomorrow I'm going x-country skiing with Michael's class. I know it's good for me, but it's sooooooooo cold out! Wahhhh!

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow!

Hockey Tournament Update..........

Man alive, it is freakin freezing here in the booming(not) town of Rossland, BC!

I have yet to regain feeling in my fingers and toes. The rink was sooooooooo cold that even with the small little heater on above where we were sitting, you could still see your breath!!

We are here for Michael's tournament. Jacob came along too because he really wanted to ride on the chartered bus! It's a 4 hr trip here through windy mountain passes filled with snow! We left home on Friday morning ...had to get up at 3:35 a.m. so we could catch the bus which left at 5 a.m. Michael and I slept on the bus, but Jacob only slept for 20 mins,and then proceeded to stay awake ALL day until we got back to the hotel after the evening game!! I was about ready to collapse, and probably fell asleep before Michael that night.

Unfortunately, the boys lost both games on Friday so that meant they played at 7:30 this morning. Michael had to be up at 6:00 a.m. I got him up and dressed/fed and out the door as they were all going on the bus with the coaches. I then went back to bed....just for 10 mins, and woke up 2 hrs later! Jacob was still snoring away but I had to wake him up or we'd miss the entire game! Turns out we only caught the third period, and the boys lost that game too. We had one more game in the afternoon and we managed to WIN that one....21-1! Seriously, they could have spread all those goals out between the other games and maybe we'd have done better than last place. Oh well.

Tonight the boys went to the aquatic center and swam for 2 hrs. They're winding down now with a glass of milk and a pb&j sandwich. I'm ready for bed. We head home tomorrow.

Andy, Nicholas and Christopher are in 100 mile house for Nico's hockey tournament. They drove there on Friday. Andy said it was a loooooooooooong drive into the middle of no where! It's absolutely freezing cold there too. Today he sent me a text message saying that his privates had frozen and fallen off! lol, what a funny guy!

Nicholas is playing very well and scored 1 goal in the first game, a hat trick in the 2nd game, and a hat trick in the third game tonight! He also got player of the game tonight too!

Ah, it will be nice to be back home tomorrow. Tournaments are all finished for Michael and his team starts playoffs the first week of Feb. The other boys all play till mid March....we're almost on the downhill slope.................to Spring! Counting the days till we see and feel the sunshine again.

The 44th President of the USA!

Today I witnessed history!

Today Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th American President!

It gave me goose bumps to watch it all.

I've recorded it all for the boys to watch later on.

Here's a link with footage of the events of the day.

God Bless Obama.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/20/obama-inauguration-speech-ceremony

Asleep!

Finally Jacob is asleep!!

Michael's heading back to school tomorrow. We just found out his hockey tournament schedule, and that we have to be on the bus ready to depart at 5 am! Waahhh! That is going to be horrible! That means getting up at 3:45 am when no one should be awake! lol

We play 2 games on Friday. One at 10:45 and the other at 7:30 pm. It will make for a L O N G day that's for sure.

Why is it?

That bedtime was an hour an a half ago, and I still have a 7 yr. old that's wandering the halls? The other three have been asleep for an hour, but no way will Jacob settle down to sleep!!!

I'm watching Jon and Kate plus 8 and marvel at how Kate can just point to the corner if one of her kids isn't behaving and they ACTUALLY go to the corner!

Apparently the night owl wants me to lie down with him............stay tuned for a report! lol

Also, I can't believe how diligent I've been in blogging the last few days! Good on ya Maria!

Home sick today.........

Monday....three boys at school and one home sick today!

Michael has a throat infection and is currently on antibiotics. He also has a really bad cough.....although I haven't hear him cough in hours now.....hmmm back to school tomorrow....I have WAY too much to get done and organized before heading out of town this week for a hockey tournament!

Both Michael and Nicholas have out of town tourneys this coming weekend so that means Andy and I are going opposite directions on the highway....last time for the season....but then there's playoffs to contend with and I'm not sure where that will take us.

Apparently the deer are loving our succulent cedar trees that were planted in the fall. We found a family of deer eating the cedars on Saturday morning. They're not frightened either as the papa deer was eyeballing me as I drove by! I stopped and watched then(sorry Andy!) they were so darn cute! Today Andy wants me to go to Buckerfields store to buy burlap sacks so that we can cover the trees before they eat them all!

Trascending: Words on Women and Strength by Kelly Corrigan

This video clip was sent to me by the numerous wonderful women in my life. I watched it with tears as I related to what she was saying. It's so true!

Love you all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_4qwVLqt9Q

Pizza and movie night.......

Pizza and a movie.....that's what we have planned for tonight.

Although Christopher had other plans because he wanted one of his friends to come over and have a sleepover. Normally I'd say yes, but it's been awhile since we've had any ALONE family time, and I don't think it's wrong to have said no.....he does though and has been just a joy since he got home from school today.

Christopher's team was in the newspaper today!

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/sports/37720704.html

Had dental work done this morning and the freezing came out about an hour ago. It's made eating a challenge, and quite funny for the boys to watch!

Busy weekend of hockey coming up with 4 games tomorrow, and three on Sunday.

What is it with boys and wrestling????

I so don't get the whole wrestling thing!

Currently, Nicholas is watching Drake and Josh on TV and Christopher has Jacob in a hold and is pretending to 'slam' him on the couch! WTH? Jacob is of course screaming at the top of his lungs and laughing and I'm losing my mind with all the noise and the fact that the TV keeps getting L O U D E R!!!!!!!!!!

Uugh, I break it up, get them to change gears and then it starts all over again...... 90 mins till bed time, 90 mins till bed time, 90 mins. till bed time...................

Great..........chicken pox!!!

Not the kind of phone call you want to receive from the parent of the kid yours was playing with and even had dinner with last night!!!

Apparently Nico's friend Drew woke up covered in chicken pox this morning! LOVELY!

Thankfully all our boys were vaccinated....although so was Drew apparently....hmmmm, we watch and wait, tick tock, tick tock......I'll freak if they all get them now!

Waaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Jacob

Jacob's teacher says that he's a leader in the class. He's been working so hard at school, and sometimes she has to tell him to put his pencil down and go out for recess as he's so focused on getting his work done! lol

Back home from the tournaments.......

Funny how the weekend goes by so quickly when you're having fun.....the boys teams did well with Michael's team coming in third at the Kamloops Pee Wee Tier 3 tournament and Christopher's team WON the Enderby Bantam House tournament!! Michael's team had the worst draw...not only did they have to play most of their games on the Olympic size ice, but they also had to play till 10:00pm both nights. That meant bed time was after 11 pm and then up at 5 am on Sunday. We met the other Kelowna team in the semi final. I so hate that team! The parents are a nightmare too. But it wasn't meant to be and we lost in a shoot out. Andy was with Christopher in Enderby this weekend and he said that Christopher played really well and in one game he scored 2x and had 2 assists. He also got the hard hat award from his coach(for the hardest working player on the team). Way to go!

Right back at it on Monday....the house was a minor disaster, and it took me awhile to get the laundry caught up.....it's washed and dried but not folded yet. Floors are vacuumed and washed and counters are sparkling!

The fog was something else earlier today. It's finally lifted now and I can see the lake from the kitchen window.

Andy's parents gave him their car, so he's taken that to work today. It's a newer car than he had....although I'm sure it came with strings attached.

Looks like it will be another busy week, but no hockey tournaments this weekend.Yay!

Ok better get back at it. The Christmas decorations need to be put away, and I'm guessing they won't jump into the boxes themselves(darn). Most of them are put away already last week, but the last little bit is taking it's time being put away as I don't have the energy to get it all done atm. At least the main floor of the house is orderly and clean. Not enough hours in the day...and I have a first communion meeting to go to tonight.

The snow is melting slowly and it's nice to see a bit of the concrete again....I was thinking it was going to be April before we saw it again with the way the snow kept falling and falling.

Dinner is cooking in the crock pot too so that will be nice to come home to tonight after Nicholas hockey practice.

Re-cap of the Christmas Holiday 2008

It seems that December flew by at such a speed that I didn't get the chance to blog about our day to day happenings.

Here's a re cap:

The boys finished school on Dec. 19th and their cousins Julianna and Matteo arrived on the 20th. The amount of snow we've received so far has been unbelievable. We've shovelled more than we'd hoped,and it still keeps coming down!

On December 23rd we had our family and some friends over to celebrate Christopher's 13th Birthday. It was a fun evening, lots of good food and fun.

Christmas Eve was spent at Mass with mom, dad, Mina, Carlo and all the kids. Christopher was an usher at the afternoon Mass. He looked so handsome all dressed up. Hes growing up so quickly, and is such a nice boy. I hope he continues to grow into the young man I know he can be. We all had dinner at mom and dad's and then went to Uncle Sal's for dessert. I kind of miss the days when we ALL got together for dinner. Times have changed since Nonno Giovanni died, and it seems that some of our extended family has become distant. Sad really as I have such fond memories from my childhood and even through to three years ago, when my cousins. aunts and uncles were so much a part of our lives. I still invite everyone over for the boys Birthdays. Sometimes everyone comes and sometimes only one of my cousins and aunt and uncles comes. Nonina is getting older and it's harder for her to get out. I love it when she's there though and it's so wonderful for the boys to have her in their lives. All this talk of families has me thinking that I've never typed out Christopher's birth story, so I will have to do that and add some photos. I'm on my laptop atm, so don't have access to his baby photos.

Christmas Day!

The boys got all sorts of new gadgets: A cell phone for Christopher, digital cameras for Christopher and Michael, a new PSP for Jacob and new ski boots for Nicholas. Lots of PS 3 and PSP gmes, DVD's. I bought Andy a new watch which he loves and he got me this fantastic lap top computer! I'm loving it! One thing we did learn though this year, is that we seem to have been caught in a situation where some of the boys feel they're hard done by compared to what some of their friends received for Christmas. It's ridiculous, and makes me crazy. Next year we may just go away for Christmas and that can be their gift!

On the 27th we spent with Mina and Carlo taking the kids to a movie and other stuff.

Dec.28-Jan 2nd:

BIG WHITE!!!

We stayed in the nicest chalet at the ski hill. It had three bedrooms, lots of space and a great view of the Monashee Mountains. They got lots of snow while we were there, but it was COLD!

Had dinner at Jen and Tim's pizza one night and then yummy ham the next. I cooked a Turkey for New Year's Eve and we completely gorged ourselves......it was delicious, but then we all felt like we needed a nap afterwards!

New Year's Day:

I cooked dinner for all of us and for Jen, Tim and their kids. We had spaghetti and meat sauce. I don't know if it's the fresh mountain air that makes all the food taste so good, but man alive this spaghetti sauce was amazing....if I don't say so myself!

I didn't ski alot....it was nice to just hang out by the fireplace in the chalet, and the day to day stuff like laundry, and dishes weren't such a chore when I could putz around in complete quiet most of the day, It was nice.

Headed back to Kelowna on the 2nd.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!