Mustaches, Lessons, and Brunch

So I thought Movember would never end, but it did and a few days earlier because even Trev couldn't stand looking the way he did. I mean just look at him!!!
Too funny. I couldn't stop laughing the whole month, but I couldn't kiss him either.

So I just read The Peacegiver again and took copious notes this time. It is like I missed 3/4 of the book last time. Talk about lessons that have to be learned.
One big one I learned and I think it has to do with the fact that have been experiencing a lot of physical pain lately is this...
When our body is causing us pain, or is in pain do we hurt it further? No, because it would only be hurting ourselves further. We dress it, succor it and nurse it back to health. We give the most love and attention to the parts that bring us the most pain. The need us the most and we realize how much we need them so we want to save it. So take this one step into the spiritual realm and apply this thought to that analogy: "We are all the body of Christ". Think about it, keep thinking. WOW!! eh? If someone is hurting us.....
So Mason here I come. You are my 'little pain' right now. Just this afternoon he got into the Vaseline AND Zinc oxide and put little dabs everywhere, then WHILE I was cleaning that up he went into the kitchen and filled my toaster with drink crystals, THEN he peed on the floor while I shook the toaster out. I LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!!!
That lesson has far deeper implications but that was my application for today.
On the weekend we had the Crook Annual Christmas Brunch. This year it was a a place near Okotoks called the Saskatoon Farm. Super cool place. It had a million things I would love to make my home look nice if only I knew they would last more than a week. We saw a bald eagle when we went to the lookout point over the frozen river.
It was nice time with the family.
The house is about as decorated as it will get this year. What peace it brings to me to have chosen not to worry about anything after the 1st. If it isn't up just put it away until next year. I got Christmas cars out this year though; hooray for that. Anyone who didn't get one it just means you haven't given me your mailing address.

Croup and Mason

So I just spent 2 nights and 40 hours at the hospital with Mason. He is such a little maniac that he literally had to crash before we could see how sick he had become. It wasn't until he fell asleep that we could hear how difficult it was for him to breathe. I took him in after a dose of cold air didn't do any good for his barking cough and the retractions. Thank goodness I went when I did because the ER was so quiet we got in within 10 min of checking in. Mason was so cooperative when he needed to be checked out and even for most of his epinephrine treatments. He also had two doses of Dexamethasone during our stay. All the nurses and doctors thought he was adorable. He was quite adorable once they put him into the little striped pjs they have, making him look like a little convict. Also his scratchy high pitched voice just added to the cuteness. I need that once in while with him because he can be such a little scoundrel some days that I don't see cute at all.
I am sorry that I didn't have a camera to take any pictures now. I was lucky I got a toothbrush and shampoo (there was no toothpaste or brush that came with those things, THANKS Trev!) It was hard not to cry every time he cried. He mostly cried when the coughing hurt too much and when he wanted to go home. It might also be because I have been feeling under the weather myself that it was more difficult than I thought.
I am glad for priesthood blessings and prayers from family and friends. I am also thankful for wonderful nurses and doctors and respiratory people.

Stake visit

We went to another ward last Sunday because I needed to do my Stake duty and go to the Primary Presentation. Well we got there a little late because it was early church and at a chapel that is further away than our regular one and so we ended up at the back. Our kids listen way better the closer we are to the front so this was not good thing.
The first thing that happened that made me laugh was shortly after we sat down another family had sat down a few rows ahead of us. The mom was on her own that morning and so she was preoccupied with the baby and one son while the following occurred. So at first I thought what the girl had done was an accident, as she sat down she elbowed her younger brother in the face because he lunged at the same seat, but then as he persisted in trying to get the seat next to his mom the girl without even looking at him stuck her hand in his face and pushed him out of the way. With his face!?! He was fighting back and making a little noise but the hymn was going so the mom still didn't even notice any of this going on. I am looking on in amazement and horror as I am trying not laugh because it looked so funny. Only one other person seemed to notice and she had the same look on her face as me.
The kids were doing alright but the Presentation was moving slowly and going over time (25 min) and so I was trying to keep Mason occupied by drawing some pictures for him. He wanted a monster and it didn't seem to matter what kind I drew it was wrong and when I asked him questions about what he wanted it only made him madder and he would start yelling 'Monster, draw monster mom'. I could see this was not working and headed for disaster so I tried to switch what we were drawing but that only pushed him over the edge and he lost it. It made me laugh that he was so fixated on this one thing but wasn't willing to help me get him what he wanted.
So it is still snowing. It was cool for a couple of days finally and suddenly there is snow and winter is here. The kids are loving it and I am grateful. It almost doesn't seem real, yet it makes the fact that Christmas is coming real. So we will stick to the plan and have decorations up next week and I need to sort through what I have already got and see who still needs a gift or two.

French

So I read a book last night to the kids in French (not the first time) and the whole family got so wrapped up in speaking French that I pulled out Trev and I's Livre de Mormon's. Then Graydon did the most amazing thing and said his personal prayers in French. I can't even tell you how cool it was to hear him do that. Maybe I will be speaking better French sooner than I think. I even had a deja vu moment with it, except in my dream we were getting ready to move to France. We continued on tonight and did our family scripture reading en Francaise.
I am finally getting a little impatient with the bathroom project. Our flooring is still not here and that is holding up the whole project. Once it shows up we will be full steam ahead.
We had the missionaries over for dinner last night and they didn't even call to confirm until 3pm in the afternoon. GRRRR... but they did make up for it a bit when they offered to help clean up (first time for everything) and then for their message the one Elder played a song on our old piano that almost made me cry.
I have also been reading the Fudge books, and am laughing out loud because Fudge reminds me of my sweet little Mason.
Well with my goal setting I am getting myself revved up for taking on the basement tomorrow. I would really like to make a dent in it. Anyone need any scrapbooking stuff? I don't really use any of it anymore and even though it will be hard to part with some of it, it really needs to go. once that happens I will have room for things I actually want to work on.

Getting Focused

So I have been listening to these cds that come with my hubby's motivational magazine and I am feeling totally pumped but I am not sure what to be pumped about. I am really feeling a little lost as to what I am currently passionate about. I do though have a few ideas about what I would like to learn more about; so perhaps one of those will turn out a passion. I need to learn more French, I would like to continue piano lessons, I like to knit, I need to know more about money, and ever since my own miscarriage I have been wondering why there is no support for that here in Lethbridge. Oh there is more but I'll start with these for the next few months.
Well I finally committed to not putting pull ups on Mason during the day and I think we are making head way in our potty training again. I just need Trev on board now, and I should probably throw in another load of laundry.
I am also working on the kids and helping them set some goals and ways to achieve those aspirations. I really excited about helping Graydon with getting ready for baptism in May.

Did I mention Halloween?

So Halloween
Everything went smoothly with the help of my mom. She decorated the van while I got the kids ready. My dad was working on our bathroom. Amandine was a witch, Graydon was the Scarecrow from Batman, Mason was a dragon and Maggie was a bee. I ended up being the witch's black cat and my mom was herself, no hahaha she was a weird geeky lady.

We missed Trever as he was picking up his Grandma from the airport in Calgary. But the kids made a decent haul for trunk or treat. I have to say I am glad that the candy is already almost gone. I have decided it is better to let the eat it all as fast as they can than it is to hang on to it and prolong the agony. Mason is quite funny though; he thinks he likes chocolate but he can only handle a couple of bites and then he ends up leaving the rest.
I love doing their make up and making them look nothing like themselves.

Changes

So I started this new program because of Trev's aunt (who we visited this summer), and I've lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks. I was starting to feel a little down about not getting the baby fat off and it has been over 4 months now, but then I thought I would try this and it worked. I also wanted it because sometimes my kids don't eat as well as I think they should and the shakes really make me feel like they are at least getting the nutrition they need. Plus when we were down there they loved drinking them. So whoot whoot for losing some weight and good luck to not putting it back on with Halloween candy. Oh by the way it is called Herbalife.
Amandine has also lost her first tooth. I have to admit I didn't believe it was loose at first because she is a little young to be losing teeth and I thought she just wanted to be like her big brother who was losing teeth, but then another starting growing in behind it.
Maggie started eating rice cereal this week. She loves it! And last night she slept through the night again. So I love it!
I went for an ART massage yesterday and I have hope that my leg will stop burning soon. It is amazing what an ART massage can get done in 10-15 min that an hour massage won't. As a busy mom this is a luxury I don't feel guilty about spending too much time doing. Minimum time maximum benefit. Gotta love it.

The Bathroom

So we are gutting and redoing the main/kids bathroom, and boy are we having fun. There are always interesting things to discover when renovating. Like maybe I should have potty trained Mason earlier. This picture was taken one afternoon this week when I told him to go potty downstairs and then I left to grab the crying baby upstairs. Shortly after calming the baby upstairs I hear Mason's cries and they are escalating. So I run and stop dead in my tracks when I see this. He had stopped at the kitchen for something to eat instead of going to the bathroom. He is crying hysterically because there is poo on his sock. I am laughing hysterically because there is poo on his sock and the floor and the stool.




The tub for the bathroom came 2 weeks early which was great. Of all the things to come early that was a good one. It is the first thing to go in before everything else comes. It is going to feel so good to have a new bathroom because cleaning an old yucky one never feels like you got the job done. Also walking by it everyday is a little depressing and when it is done it will be the highlight of my day. Oh the little things that mean so much.I got my Christmas cards ordered and they also have arrived quickly so I am trying to spend some time getting them labeled and ready to be sent in a month. So many people have moved this year and I didn't send any out last year because I was so sick, so I have a little catching up with people to do.

Road Trip 2010

Man what a trip! We traveled long enough and far enough that we saw 46 different states license plates plus 5 provinces and some weird US government one. Tracking the plates you see is a fun little game that we do on road trips, we even met some other plate trackers.
The first night Trev refused to stop until it was about 11pm and we couldn't find a place to stay. The drive was interesting for the first few days because it took us that long to figured out that it wasn't Mason's diapers that were leaking it was Mason keeping his legs up that made them leak. By the time we got to Denver we had a lot more laundry than I ever imagined we would have after 3 days in the van. This pic is from one stop we made. Mason had run out of clean pants and we were in the middle of no where Wyoming. I fed Maggie while Graydon kept reading his book. Trev and the other 2 kids got out and walked around a little on the pretty little road. Amandine was trying to catch a hopper.

I'm back, I hope

WOW! It has been a long time. I am now 7 months along in my pregnancy and finally feeling well enough to take back on some things I was doing before I got pregnant. I have had something on my mind for the past 10 years and I think that I will add that to my thoughts on here. It has to with being prepared but this is the financial part. I will hopefully be posting some things that we can discuss and to get people inspired about taking care of (managing) their finances. 8 years ago my family got our answer to our very fervent prayers about how to budget in a way that worked for us and I am still sharing it with anyone who will ask.
So as I prepare a lesson for something else on this subject I will post some of it here.