Christopher, Christopher, Christopher..........

Christopher had an accident at school during volleyball practice this morning. He rolled his ankle and then someone landed on it.

We went to the Dr. and then for an x-ray, and it looks like he's broken the 5th metatarsal bone in his foot just anterior to the ankle bone.

What this means is:

1) He has to wear the robo boot for about 4-6 weeks
2) X-Ray in 2 weeks
3) Physio after that for a number of weeks
4) No soccer try outs, no soccer tournament this weekend, and no hockey for 6 weeks.

He's resting now and playing Mario Kart on the Wii.

Back to school tomorrow with crutches for a week, and then he can put some weight on it.

He's obviously upset that he'll miss all his sports.....but if he doesn't listen to the Dr's orders he'll be out for much longer.

Pray that time passes quickly for him.

Thanks,

Maria

We just about have a schedule..........

You know, I'm starting to dislike the first 6 weeks of autumn because of all the hockey/soccer overlap!

Not only have Christopher and Michael been on the ice since the first day of school, but we're still waiting to find out which days two of the boys practices are on.

Being anal about schedules, this of course is driving me nutty!

So far this is what we know:

1. Michael is the only one of the boys to have made a Rep. Hockey Team
2. Michael made the select soccer team for the Spring
3. I had to move Nicholas' music lesson to another day due to a conflict with blessed hockey Uugh!
4. Christopher is a sports fiend and is playing school volleyball, hockey, and is wrapping up his select soccer season...next week on to try outs for select soccer in the Spring
5. Jacob likes piano, but not practicing!
6. Nicholas rated very high at his hockey evaluations, but apparently not high enough to have made the Development Team he tried out for!
7. Nicholas is a fantastic drummer and is enjoying his lessons
8. Christopher and Michael can play smoke on the water on their electric guitars!
9. We're still waiting for a phone call about when Jacob will have hockey practice and the suspense is nearly killing me!
10. My husband is wonderful and is being very helpful with driving/picking up the boys from their activities after he's finished work
11. The landscapers finally came back today...they're tackling the front yard
12. Michael's hockey team won their first game this past weekend.
13. I have amazing friends who took me out to lunch today to celebrate my belated Birthday.

Maria

Is it me, or are young girls today more aggressive than when I was a preteen?

Ok, so there's this new girl in Gr. 7 and all the boys liked her....until recently when her true colors started to show and now they avoid her like the plague! I've seen her in action at school and she's a classic bully. She makes kids look like fools to make herself look good, and using a loud voice so all can hear.

She has our home phone number and calls here all the time wanting to speak to Christopher.....sometimes he answers the call, and other times I screen the calls.....like last night........

The phone rings around 8:50 p.m. and Nicholas answers the phone...he immediately gets this weird look on his face, so I take the phone from him and the conversation goes like this.......

Maria: "Hello"

Girl: "Is Chris there?"

Maria: "Sorry, he's not home right now, can I take a message?"(he was home, but there was NO way I was going to get him on the phone at that time!)

Girl: " Where is he?"(in a very rude manner I might add!)

Maria: (at a loss for words because no 12 yr. old EVER has to speak to an adult in those tones!) " He's out with his Dad, do you want to leave a message?"

Girl: "No, bye."

Then tonight we just got home from Christopher's hockey evaluation and there are 3 messages from this girl!!!!

"Hi Chris, we just called to say we love you, and we'll see you on Monday"

"Hi Chris(insert giggling here), and then she hung up.

"Hi Chris, we hope you're having a good Birthday, and I'll be giving you your present on Monday" (his Birthday isn't until DECEMBER!)

Maybe I'm making too big a deal about this, but it's making Christopher feel uncomfortable, and he wants me to block her phone number!

What's your opinion?

Other than the rudeness(which still ticks me off), it's just school girl stuff, but it's getting to the point of annoying and harassing.

Help!

Maria

Recap of the last few weeks.............

It's been quiet around here lately......sorry I've been MIA, I had the stomach flu last week, and it knocked me flat for a few days, and the lingering vertigo I had finally is starting to go away.

The boys are settled nicely into school, with three of them already having colds, and a letter came home on Friday that someone in Jacob's class has head lice! Uuugggghhhh!

Hockey season is in full swing already with only Michael making a Rep team this fall, so that means only one of the boys has a early practice during the week.(yay)

It's been a nutty few weeks around here with weird stuff going on. I think I told you that the dirt bikes were stolen, right? Well, the police are on the case, but nothing has been found as of yet. We had some lovely teenagers, er complete idiots light a fire behind our retaining wall in the wooded area behind our house. Nothing better to do on a Friday night! My kids were on the trampoline in the backyard when all of a sudden the two little ones came in crying.....I figured someone had gotten their head bonked when they were jumping, so asked them what was wrong....Jacob said that there was a fire in the back, so I took a look and sure enough, there was a fire burning 100 ft. from our retaining wall! I called 911 and they sent the fire dept. It took them 40 mins to put it out.........with shovels and OUR garden hose! The teens didn't disperse either...they're not scared of anyone with authority it seems. The firefighters told them to get the heck out of there after they reprimanded them and asked them if they were stupid to have lit a fire in the treed area. There were approx. 20-25 teens up there having a great ole time....and you know what some parents down the street had to say? " Well, they're just kids they need to go somewhere to have fun." WTH? So, let them light a fire in YOUR backyard! No respect I tell you. It makes me really angry that society today tolerates this crap. They're your KIDS, not your FRIENDS....parent them!

Christopher got a letter sent home from the principal the other day. Usually that's not a good thing, but in this case it was great news. Apparently a fight broke out at school at lunchtime and Christopher saw this and tried repeatedly to break it up. They weren't listening, so he went to get a supervisor. The letter was commending him on following the rules and for being brave when fists were flying. (Aww way to go Christopher, you are listening to us!)

Ok, better get going. I have three hockey bags to get organized for after school today.

A beautiful sunny day, just ripe for a burglary!

Yup, you read it right.........

Today I was outside most of the day as it was sunny and hot....I even folded my laundry outside on the pool deck today!

After school Jacob had a friend over, and they went swimming. Christopher, Michael and Joseph went for a walk in the hills out behind our house. They left at 4:20 p.m and came back at 5 pm, when all He** broke loose.

The events unfolded like this:

Michael: " Mom, is Dad home?"
Maria: "No, why?"
Michael: "The shed door is open and Dad's dirt bike is gone"


So, I went to look and sure enough both Andy and Christopher's dirt bikes were gone, as well as Andy's helmet, boots and chest protector.

I called the police and filed a report and am still waiting for the officer to call me back for the serial numbers etc.

Bums, must have come in while Jacob and his friend were swimming and I was trimming the rose bushes by the pool! Michael swears he and Joseph looked right at the shed door(garage door type) on their way out to their walk and it was shut, so this theft occurred during the 40 mins that they were gone and while I was pulling weeds along the hedge!

They busted the lock on the garage door(a bolt that slides sideways to prevent anyone on the outside from getting in).

Thankfully we have insurance, but it makes me so angry that this happened in broad daylight and while we were home.

Next on the agenda.......getting a BIG dog!

Uugh!

Maria

Mommy, go to Jacob.com

So, Jacob sits beside me tonight and the conversation goes like this

• J:"mommy, go to Jacob.com"
• M: "there's no such thing as Jacob.com"
• J: " Please mommy"
• So I type in Jacob.com and this is what I find......anyone want to bid on it????

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120301586918

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

Andy's Granny isn't doing very well. She had a heart attack last week and is deteriorating every day.

Andy will go and see her tonight.

Praying for you Granny Margaret.

Labour Day Long Weekend.............

Hey y'all....hard to believe the kiddos will go back to school on Tuesday! Where did the summer go?

Recap:

1. July- Soccer Provincials
2. July- Lisa & Ron's Wedding
3. July- Golf Camp
4. July- Pool Party for all the cousins/Aunts/Uncles
5. Auntie Gianna/Uncle Derek and the girls visit
6. Auntie Mina/Uncle Carlo and the kids visit
7. August- Hockey School for Christopher, Michael and Nicholas
8. August-Uncle Jason/Auntie Jen and the boys visit
9. August- Soccer Camp
10. August- Pool Party/Birthday/Sleepover-Nicholas
11. August- Pool Party/Birthday/Sleepover-Michael
12. August- Pool Party/Birthday-Christopher
13. August- Pool Party/Birthday- Jacob
14. September- Back to School!
15. September-Fiesta(for our adult friends only! ) Ole!
16. September-hockey try outs
17. September- Soccer resumes for Christopher,Nicholas and Jacob

And there you have it....................

Maria

August 14th.......Nicholas' Party

Thank goodness it was hot out today for the pool party!

Nicholas had 5 friends over for a pool party and they all had fun.

I'm so done with parties, and sadly I still have another three to go this month!

August 11th

Jen and the kids left today.

We had such a good visit, I'm sad to see them leave.

Alex is such a cutie,and sooooooooo funny!

One day I was helping him get his shoes on, and I asked him to slide his foot to the front of the shoe, and he winds his fingers through my curly hair and says........"you're pwitty"

Then the next day he had jumped into the pool with his diaper on, so I asked him to come out so that I could put a swimmer on him. We peeled off his massively wet diaper(had to re fill the pool after that load came out!) I asked him to jump so that I could slide the swimmer on which is not an easy task when you're soaking wet and 2 yrs. old! He says......."Ok pwitty Mawia" I laughed myself silly!

Lucas grew a ton while he was here. He's so sweet. The boys had fun playing with Alex and carting Lucas around.

August 7th..........Andy's Birthday!

Andy went golfing today, and I'm so glad that he took the time to do that. He's been so incredibly busy with work, that playing golf has become a distant memory.

The weather was fantastic today, and he played a good game.

We had a BBQ tonight.

Were originally going to have steak and chicken, but Karin P. called and asked me if I wanted a fresh salmon that they'd caught at the coast. They were kind enough to drop it off here and we cooked it on the BBQ for supper. It was amazing!

We got Andy a golf cart cake which was delicious by the way! Two cakes in two days, are not good for the old saddle bags! lol

Here are some photos. One is of the beautiful sunset we could see from our patio.

Happy 42nd Birthday Andy!

It's my Birthday!

I think this was one of my best Birthday's ever!

I had the most relaxing day which started with sleeping in! Andy took the boys to hockey school this morning, then came back and made me breakfast, and I was told to just go and sit by the pool and read my book! H E A V E N!

I did just that, and even had a nap in the lounge chair.

I got spoiled again with flowers that arrived from Jason, many phone calls and Birthday cards, and two beautiful charms for my bracelet, and a cream and sugar set from Pottery Barn that I love!

Hockey School Week....August 3-9th

Well, it's upon us again...........another round of hockey...in the summer no less.

As much as I like watching them play hockey, I have a real problem with going to the rink in the summer! I mean do you dress for the scorching heat of the outdoors, and then freeze you're butt off inside the arena, or do you dress for the cold rink and then sweat off 10 lbs. when you get outside?

The boys had a great week of camp. Christopher and Michael were in the same group this year which was fantastic. Nicholas was in the younger age group and made some friends as well as met up with a boy who's been in his camp for the last few years.

They all came home with medals for the Ironman which is a team relay skating laps around the ice.

Christopher also won for the hardest slap shot clocked at 53 mph(84km/h)!

Here's a photo of them with their medals.

August 2/08

The Macdonnell's arrived from Vancouver!

Alex and Lucas are so sweet!

The boys are loving having their cousins here and I'm thrilled that we can all be together for the week!

Here are some photos taken in our pool, and one of all the Macdonnell 'Men'!

The last week of July.............

The last week of July was filled with pool time, and just hanging out. Jason and Jen were to arrive with their kids at the beginning of August, so we were gearing up for that visit and getting excited, as they've never stayed with us before.

The weather has cooperated a bit more, finally realizing that it IS summer and it SHOULD be HOT!

Andy finishes work this week and then will have two weeks off! Yay!

We are enjoying our pool this summer! (July)

Christopher

Jacob surfing in the pool!

Our first outdoor dinner at our new table!

Our first pool party July 19/08

Julianna and Matteo are having a blast at our place!

Everyone came over today for a pool party.

When I say everyone, I mean all our cousins, Uncle Sal, Auntie Darlene, Mom and Dad etc.

We had the best day, and it was freaking hot out!

Everyone arrived in the early afternoon and stayed till about 11 pm. I love it when we all get together...we may have to make this an annual event!

Maria

July 15/08

Uncle Tony and the boys stayed in town for a few days after the Wedding. They came over for dinner and Jeff helped me cook Linguine and Prawns! Here are a few photos that Jacob took of us.

July 14-18/08

Golf Camp for the boys!

This week starts the beginning of summer camps for the boys. They've been attending this camp since Christopher was 6 yrs. old. Both Christopher and Michael set course records at the mini tournament they had on the last day of camp. The weather cooperated for them too which was nice. I got to have an hour and half to myself each day...and learned that you cannot possibly go to Costco and back in that time frame! Uugh! They managed ok though for the 20 minutes they had to wait for me. The staff there was great and gave them a bucket of balls to hit at the driving range.

My sister Gianna arrived on the 16th and they're staying with us till Monday. My nieces are having a great time swimming in the pool! I tell you Sofia is a fish! She was in the water yesterday from 10am-10pm! She only got out to eat!

Maria

HAPPY WEDDING DAY LISA AND RON!!

Today we woke to a beautifully sunny sky! What a great day for a Wedding.

Mom and Mina got up early to get to Lisa's so that they could do all the hair for the bridal party and Auntie Darlene. When I say early, I mean 5:30 a.m.!

Carlo and Andy made pancakes for the kids this morning. The ceremony was at 12:30p.m. and Lisa wanted Christopher and Michael at the Church early to start handing out programs.

Mom and Mina arrived back to Mina's at 11:30 a.m. and mom quickly pinned my hair up.

The Wedding was spectacular! The flowers were amazing....the food was delicious! We all had such a good time, I hated to see it come to an end....as did the boys as we had to haul them off the dance floor at 1:15 a.m.!! They didn't sit out a dance all night!

Here's a photo of me with mom as she's pinning on my corsage.

All 4 boys at Church.

The entire extended family!

Andy and I

July 11/08

We arrived safely into Vancouver. Mom and Dad travelled with us.

I spent the better part of the day finalizing the writing of everything required for my duty as MC at the Wedding.

I am praying that it all goes well. I'm not exactly a fan of speaking in public.....ya I like to talk, but not in front of 250 people at one time!

Everyone went to the rehearsal dinner and mom and dad had dinner with us at Mina's.

The suits are all laid out, my dress is ready to go. Have to get the boys to bed early cause tomorrow will be a fun day and I'm sure we'll be dancing till well into the early morning.

Maria

July 6-11/08

This week was spent getting ready for my cousins upcoming Wedding in Vancouver.


The boys needed to try on their suits, dress shoes etc.

Michael and Nicholas needed new suits, and three of the boys needed new dress shoes. Darn it anyway, Christopher is now into a men's shoe and it's getting pricier to outfit him in clothes/shoes! :(

I was happy to have found suits for Nicholas and Michael at The Bay and they were on sale!

We also had dental appts. this week(no cavities), orthodontic appts.(no braces required yet for Christopher or Michael), and Michael had a follow up with our family Dr. (He can resume normal activities now as he's been headache free) She also gave him the ok to go to hockey school in August.

I had my follow up with the OB/GYN and all the test results came back ok. No signs of anything sinister going on with my uterus! Yay!

We were supposed to leave for the coast on the 10th, but this freak storm came in with winds in excess of 100km/h and snow was flying on the connector so we decided to wait till Friday to go down for the Wedding. That afternoon during the storm, the boys and I were literally running all over the place chasing seat cushions that had blown down the hill, our patio table was turned upside down and the glass shattered, our pool cover that's on a roller blew into the pool and became submerged and had to be fished out. There was a lot of damage done to boats in the marina and trees were uprooted all over the city.

Went to bed early on the 10th as we wanted to head out early the next day.

Maria

Dropped our bags, and then packed some more.........

July 2-July 6/08

The boys and I are off to the coast today(July 2) in preparation for the Provincial Soccer Championships.

Unfortunately, Andy has to work this week, but he will be joining us on Friday.

The drive down was pretty good. Thankfully the boys travel well.

We arrived at Jason and Jen's in the afternoon, and Alex was thrilled to see/play with his older cousins.

We only got to see Jason for a day as he was headed to Paris on a business trip the next day.

Granny and Grandpa travelled to the coast to cheer on Christopher's team.

Unfortunately, we didn't play well and lost most of our games.

Auntie Chris, Uncle Gord, Auntie Joey, Auntie Jen, Uncle Jason and Alex, Uncle Carlo and the kids all came out to cheer us on too. It was so nice to see all of them!

The weather was less than spectacular....it rained almost every day! :(

We finished the provincials in 7th place. Not too bad.

Of course there were some parents who were disappointed that we finished that low in the standings as we claimed the 1st place position at home in league play. It's an entirely different ball game at the coast. Bigger kids, stronger teams. Greater population to pull talent from etc.

We did win our last game though so that was good for the boys morale.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Maria

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!

June 28/08

Happy Birthday Jacob!

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is 7 today!

You are such a sweet and loving little boy, and I thank God everyday for you.

Here are some photos of you opening your presents!

Maria

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

HAPPY CANADA DAY LONG WEEKEND!

We went out to the lake with Jen, Tim and the kids. The weather was hot and sunny.The boys had fun tubing, wakeboarding and just hanging out with their friends.

We had a big pasta dinner one night and a BBQ the next few.

Andy and Tim bought some fireworks in town, and set them off. They did a GREAT job!

As usual the kids were sad to leave the lake.

Here are some pics from our weekend at the lake.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, what a great day! This school year went by so quickly....my brain is telling me it should only be May, but my body and mind are ready for the relaxing days of summer!

The boys all got great report cards, and will continue on in the following grades:

Christopher: Grade 7 (GULP!)

Michael: Grade 6 (When did that sneak up on me?)

Nicholas: Grade 4 (What?)

Jacob: Grade 2 (NO WAY!)


Despite Michael missing the last bit of school, he managed to get the best report card yet!


Today after school the boys are going to various pool parties. Christopher is coming along with Nicholas and Jacob to Sophie's pool party. He's going to help supervise the younger kids.

Jen hired a lady to come and build teddy bears for goodie bags! The kids each got to pick an animal, stuff it and then decorate it's t-shirt. They turned out great!

Now that school's done, we can start getting ready to head out to the lake for the long weekend!

Maria

The last week of school!!!!!!!!!!!

The boys are on cloud nine this week. The LAST week of school before Summer Break!

Michael's been feeling much better. He's been back at school for only short periods of time, but is doing all right and has been headache free.

Nicholas and Jacob wrapped up their soccer for the summer this past Saturday with some wins. Christopher's team will play till the end of July and take August off. His team is going to the Provincials July 3-6th in Richmond. Michael had to quit soccer due to his injury...he's not that bummed about it as his season was just so so. Not a lot of organizational skills on his coaching staff this year, which is too bad.

While Michael's been at school I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to pick up Teacher's gifts etc.

The boys also have a few Birthday parties to go to before School lets out.

Maria

June 23rd.......Looking ahead day!

Hi everyone,

Today is a day the boys look forward to....it's when they get to line up in their next years grade, meet their new teacher and spend 2 hrs. in that classroom!

I'm sooooooooo thrilled with all the teachers the boys got!

Maria

June 20th Family Fun Night...........

With so many things going on in our lives this month, I had to step aside and let the others take over the organizing of the Family Fun Night at school.

They did a great job. Everyone had fun and we made money to boot!

The kids loved the inflatable obstacle course and the bounce house. They came home with all sorts of treats and prizes.

Maria

June 19th.............

June 19th I had surgery(hysteroscopy). The lead up is always the worst, and I had made myself sick in the past worrying about stuff. This time was different though as I had so many people thinking about and praying for me. I will admit that I was a bit nervous, the unknown frightens me, but it all went well. Whatever they gave me for sedation worked really well, cause I was in recovery until after 4 p.m. Andy took the afternoon off to take me to and from my surgery.

I was pretty groggy for a good 24 hrs. afterwards and had some bleeding, but not as bad as I'd expected.

The next few days I took it easy, but was getting bored of watching TV, so I decided to go outside and pull some weeds in the backyard. Andy told me to go lie down, but you know me, I don't take orders well (lol). I paid for it though as the bleeding got worse and that was accompanied by cramping.

The nurse told me that my cycles probably wouldn't return to normal for 6 weeks(right on!) I was looking forward to missing a cycle....but alas my body runs like a Swiss watch and my cycle arrived right on the date it was supposed to! Shockingly though it was THE lightest cycle I've ever had! Makes me wonder why I didn't opt for this surgery sooner!

Michael and I are quite the pair though. He's still pretty tired and will nap during the day. We both had a nap this afternoon...I don't know who looked after who more today!

Looking forward to summer holidays!

Maria