Bullies

Ok, I always thought that as your children got older things would get easier don't ask me why I thought that, maybe because you can talk to them better and they will understand more, but as we move into every new stage I am finding that with it comes new challenges.
I am very sad to say that I have a 7 year old who for the past 4 months has been bullied at school which breaks my heart. We thought that it has stopped just after chIt is not physical but emotional and that is very hard. The hardest part is that my normally loving and caring child has turned into some one that is more short in his temper and very emotional, it seems that he cries as that the drop of a hat over the most simple of things.
Today, is one of those days when he just could not bring himself to go to school saying that he is sick. But of course when you are sick you are to stay in bed or on the couch and relax and he doesn't really want to do that, so that tells me that there is something else going on, and once again he tells me that he is feeling hurt by these little boys. The saddest thing is that one of the little boys was one of his best friends last year and some one that Darien wants to have over (even still) because he says that he is nice at our house just not at school. It is all very confusing to me. I am just thankful that Darien has a wondering teacher who is a great support, and very easy to talk to. The other great thing is that Jamie and Darien have a great relationship and Darien is a lot more open with his dad. I am so thankful for Jamie in that he can keep calm when I am just a bundle of nerves and emotion. Thank goodness for balance.

Meetings

I feel like this week has been nothing but meetings. We had a meeting mon. night regarding grade four students having to go to the junior high in Sept. because our town is growing too fast for our schools and as a mother that is a real concern for me. I am not ready for my little boys to go with bigger kids nor do I think that he is ready for what he is going to see and hear. So welcome to the wonderful world of older children and the concerns that go with that. Darien is only going into grade three but that doesn't mean that it is not something that we need to be aware of so we went to the meeting.
Last night was spent registering Keagan for Kindergarten. I feel almost like an old pro at it. I was a lot calmer doing it for Keagan than I was for Darien but that is the difference between being the first and the second. Keagan is so ready for school. He asks me everyday if he gets to go to school and is working hard at learning his ABC's. I am excited for him to start school.
Today was spent at school with Keagan for my duty day, then off to a Relief Society meeting for church and then a playschool meeting tonight. I have decided that even though Rylan is starting playschool in Oct. I am not going to volunteer for anything. I am going to need a little bit of a break, which will be nice.
I think that is it for meetings, and I am very glad. We had a wonderful weekend with Tammy and Patrick. The boys had a great time going to the monster truck show, and just like last year Keagan fell asleep during the show if that is possible. We spent Sat. traveling on the transit train to down town Calgary for something different to do, then we had a little party for Keagan. Tammy made a wonderful cake and we had some good laughs. It is nice to be able to go and visit when ever. We even found time to go and have some new family pictures taken, so hopefully we will get those off soon. Tammy and I love our little trips to VV (Value Village). Of course as I am getting bigger so the trips are not so much fun for me, but I like finding stuff for Tammy and she promised that she would share once I am back to my non pregnant body.
I can't get my camera to work right now, so I will post some pictures later.

Puke Everywhere

Ok, do you ever have one of those days when you don't know what else could go wrong? Well, that was my night from about 5:30 until now. If you had read my previous entry you will have read that I was going to be having bookclub at my house tonight, well in the last 1 1/2 hours that has all changed. Jamie came home sick from work which is fine because he can just hide out in the bedroom, thats ok but then we sat down for dinner and Rylan said that he was not feeling well, and I thought maybe it was because he likes to be like daddy, but then he didn't eat any of his dinner which is not like him. So he got down and went to lay with daddy and the next thing I know he has puked all over Jamie laying on the couch. YUK. So after everything is all cleaned up I am thinking ok just get everyone to bed and all will be well but after Rylan's bath I am just getting ready to sit and snuggle with him before bed and as he is walking towards me he once again pukes (not just a little bit). I have had it and I phone the Relief Society Pres. (lady in charge of our womens group at church, I work with her in planning lessons and education stuff) and tell her that the location has to be changed for bookclub and so now the phone calling begins. All I can say is thank goodness for people who can adjust and change at the last moment. I am sorry that I am missing the meeting but I am glad to be home so that I can recoup after a very busy evening. Everyone is now sleeping and I am going to go and watch some t.v. to unwide. What a night! Lets hope that is the last of it. I already have two loads of laundry to do. (I love laundry LOL)

Buying Clothes

Ok, there are somethings that I just do not like paying full price for and those are new jeans and pants for Darien (7 1/2 yrs.) because I know that they will not make it to the next child. I have found that once they hit grade one the pants are never the same, whether it is just from nomoral wear or because they spend so much time on their knees playing at the park during school but I can not bring myself to spend more than $15.00 on a pair of jeans. So this morning has been spent searching every second hand store for good used jeans and obviously it is a problem for a lot of other people because I found none. I than hit Children's Place and they have a good sale on right now so he got two more pairs of pants. The other problem I have is that my kids are so very skinny that the pants never fit them right and we have to tighten those little straps all the way and they say that it hurts, so again I can not win. I like to make my kids look nice but for the cheapest price possible. LOL.
For this afternoon, I will be cleaning my house and making some treats for tonight as it is my month to host our bookclub. I really like getting together with friends and have a good talk about a good book and then it is fun to talk about other stuff later. If anyone has read any good books later that you think would be good for us to read please let me know, we are always looking for other books.

Re-Group

Do you ever get to the point where you feel like you need to re-group as a family and start from scratch again? Jamie and I came that realization this weekend that we need to go back to do the basics with our children again. What that mainly includes doing is finding the joy in the simple pleasures of life and enjoying one anothers company again. We have decided that there will be no more t.v. for a while, and gone with the game boys and playstations (not that they play them a lot). It seems to us that they and us have forgotten how to play together and how to play with their toys using their imaginations, so it was time for a change for all of us. I can already see a good change in that this morning before church the boys where actually playing together with minimal fighting which was lovely. I don't know how long we will do this but for a while to get back on track and enjoying each other again instead of running off and doing other things.
Rylan and I stayed home from church today as he woke up with croup. It of course comes after we had just gone to the doctors about his coughing and he had no cough only to have it come back three days later. I can see that we will be making another trip to the doctors this week. But it was nice to get everyone else ready for church for 1:00, then put Rylan down for a nap and read for a while with no interuptions. I have been reading "Mary and Joseph" for our church book club which is this Wed. at my house. It has been a very instereing book to ready about what life was like when the Savior was born. I really look forward to each month and book club other wise I might not read as much as I do even though I love it.
Jamie was up this morning getting dinner ready and thank goodness we have two crock pots because in the one he has a lovely smelling roast on the go and in the other one he is trying a new desert. I can't wait I have been smelling it all day. I am thankful for a husband that loves to help and do his part.

Week Is Over

I just have to say that I am glad that this week is over. I have looked forward to 7:00 bedtime every night this week. It has not been difficult, but I have a husband that works shift work and this weeks shift is the one that I dislike the most. He would go to work at about lunch time and return home around 10:00 pm which means that I have the children during that wonderful happy hour just before dinner and then on to bed time. My children are not horrible but I always find this the most challenging time of the day because everyone is tired. (Especially when you get up to go pee 3 times a night LOL) I think that the hardest part is that Darien really misses seeing daddy when he gets home from school. Jamie and Darien get to see each other for only about 30 min. in the morning, and when you have a son that loves his daddy so much he really misses him and has a hard time when he is gone. I am just getting to the point were I can not rough and tumble with the kids anymore and they need to have that. I am thankful for Jamie in that he tries to change out of those shifts because he knows how hard it is on his family but there are times when it can not be help. But that is ok for the next six weeks he will be working a normal job which is Mon. to Fri. home at about 4:00 what bliss that will be. He is preparing to teach the next set of students coming in which is fun but also stressful. I find that he is more stressed teaching than he is doing is normal job which is supposed to be one of the most stressful jobs, but he loves to teach and does a good job at it because they keep asking him. Looking forward to the bliss. LOL

Let It Snow

Yes, it is once again snowing in Alberta. This is the worst time of the year because it seems like it should be getting closer to spring but it just keeps snowing. I just hope that March goes by quickly so that my trip home comes sooner. I can't believe that we are so close to the end of Feb. already. Yesterday was a busy day with going to Keagan's school for my duty day and then in the afternoon I had my R.S. meeting. We got home just in time for Darien to get home from school and then it was off to the dentist. Darien it beginning to realize that he doesn't like the dentist as much as he thought and I can understand where he is coming from because they are not my favorite people either. Jamie was gone all day because he went to court to see if he could have a speeding ticket that he got reduced. He as never had a ticket so he was hoping that they would go easy on him, he did get some off which is good and then he went to work early. I know it doesn't sound very exciting but that is the way life is sometimes. I will be going for another ultra sound on March 6 because the baby was not in a very good position to see his spine or heart so they want some more pictures. I am hoping that I can get one of those 3D ones done so that the kids can get a better idea as to what he will look like but we will see. Today I have to take Rylan to the doctors because of his on going coughs, they think that he might have asthma so we should have a better idea today. Of course he has been coughing since Oct. but he has not coughed in the last two weeks, isn't that always the way.