And If Not

Friday, September 9, 2011

....and so it goes on.....

Good Morning Company Girls!

So...it's been an interesting week this first week back at school.....can I leave home now? Oh, the drama.....

Last weekend was unbelievable....a roller coaster...well, maybe more like a drop tower of emotions...in a nut shell....on friday night it was confirmed that Emma indeed has been going out her bedroom window after hubby and I go to bed quite regularly....(I actually waited in her room for her to come back....from 2-3:15am).... Then, after we talked to her about it and then sent her to bed she took an overdose of megan's ADHD medication....rushed her to the hospital...spent the next 15 hours there while they neutralized the meds and had her see social workers and psychiatrists......came home and the next day hubby and I had to head up north to bring Maya home from her summer camp job....spent a lovely overnite in a hotel....went on the next day ..picked up Maya...then went onto Parry Sound to see our youngest grandkids and their parents....poor parents....wee Samuel has developed colic.....parents are already soooo sleep deprived that they are having difficulty functioning......oh, I remember those days so well...the nightmare that never seems to end..( now we just have the teen version)....the fun just keeps coming people!

Tuesday, school started...the coldest back to school day I think I've ever experience.....it's like over night, summer left!

Emma continued on her merry path.....coming home after curfew two nights in a row, going to a store and stealing some clothes ( she keeps doing this...one day I hope someone catches her). Constantly lying, Threatening to either kill herself or move out....

Maya had been giving us a hard time....she needs to get a job,....so far, she hasn't made any attempts, spending all day long watching movies and tv shows on YouTube....we keep telling her she is an adult now but she's resisting....I guess her teen years are a more comfortable place to be right now..so that's a battle we don't need....

Megan and Ben are back in the swing of things in their special needs classroom...this is the last for Ben...he should graduate next June...special needs kids can stay in school til their 21....which he'll be next march.....Emma should also graduate since she only needs the credits from this semester to graduate....this is her second year at grade 12, which isn't unusual in Ontario....a good amount of kids do it in two years...makes you wonder why they thot it was such brilliant idea to do away with grade 13!

Anyways, today I must drive to my chiropractor and pick up some digestive pills...yes, I know what you are thinking....it's not a wonder that this old woman needs help with her digestion!

Then come home and this afternoon pick up two grand girlies from an art class cause their mama is tied up at a teacher's meeting to bring teacher up to speed about how our oldest grandson functions.....Jairus is non verbal and delayed by a few years and once again the school and school board have cut his education assistance even more...now it's one third day, every other day...and they're insisting he takes French....French!! The poor guy is having a hard enough time with English! So, I'll get my grand girls, come home and make supper for 8 people...son Paul is going back to the army base after his summer leave and him and his girl Sara, will be here for supper. Than the kids have been yammering about going to youth group tonight...not real sure if they'll get there or not...all depends if hubby and I can find the energy after the week we've had...and so life in this household as it is, moves on.....leave you with a couple of pictures....sweet Samuel and the kids first day back to school pic...good grief...just thot...next September it should just be Megan in the pic.....yes!...things are moving along aren't they?

Have a good one ladies!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, September 2, 2011

The Last Week of Summer

Good Morning Company Girls!

Ah yes....I'm very well aware that summer doesn't officially end for a couple of more weeks...but...I'm still a mom of kids going back to school this Tuesday and to this mom, summer is done this weekend....I've often wondered when I don't have kids going 'back to school' whether I'll finally be able to change my thinking..I don't know ...it has been over 30 years of sending kids 'back to school'...time will tell I guess.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine again...of having my days to myself...except for the never-ending appointments with the kids.....it will be nice to have the kids actually doing something with their days instead of staring, open mouthed at the television!

Maya comes back home on Monday! In the last year she's been home two months....I think there will be some adjustments to be made...on all our parts...I spent all day last saturday getting her room ready....Maya is a hoarder...that really is an ugly name isn't it? Let's say that she just likes to keep things....everything.....I was ruthless and I really hope she doesn't get upset with me....maybe she won't notice the tag from a pair of work gloves...old candy canes....valentine cards...
cards of all sorts....running shoes that were worn to death....a plethora of unmatched socks with gigantic holes in them....school reports that she handed in 3-4 years ago....and the list goes on....and she has the smallest room in the house...about 8 x 9......so, her room is definitely cleaner than when she left....someone said I should take a picture cause when she returns, with all her stuff it probably won't look like that again! I hope..that it will be good to have her home....she really is a pretty good kid...with a smile that lights up her whole face....we'll see how next week goes.

The grandkids are suppose to be coming and staying overnite tonight....their mom and dad have to travel to a city a couple of hours away first thing in the morning so, they will stay with us...it's actually a pretty good trade cause hubby had some Marriott hotel points saved up so instead of spending Monday going up north to get Maya and coming back on the same day....we plan on leaving on Sunday, going to a town not too far away from Maya...staying the night...going to pick her up on Monday...then travel to Parry Sound,..another hour away...Maya hasn't seen new little Samuel yet...and she's dying to...Maya loves the babies....then....we'll make the 3 hour trek back home....that will be much, much longer since it's the end of the holiday weekend and EVERYONE will be coming down from up north....it's safe to say that it will most definitely take longer than the three hours! All this to say.....daughter and family will stay at our house Sunday night...to keep an eye on our teens and dogs in a trade off to us looking after their kids tonight and tomorrow....sounds good, right?

That's about all for now.....Emma was up to her usual tricks this week...but you really don't want to hear about that..suffice to say..if your a praying person that we could really use some!

Take care and have a lovely long weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, August 26, 2011

Good Morning Company Girls!

So, I've been back home for almost a week now. It's been a quiet one, well besides the usual junk that Emma hands out. Somedays she's just been acting very weird...only speaking when she absolutely needs to and when she does in an extremely quiet voice, barely above a whisper. She stays in bed every day til 3 pm. And then gets up to go to her friend's house, til 9 pm....except for one night when she kept sending me text messages asking to stay overnight. My phone was off, it was charging. Instead of coming home when she didn't receive a reply she stayed past her curfew. Finally, when I turned my phone on, I sent her one back, telling her to please come home now....she took her time and sauntered in at 11 pm..a half an hour later. We spoke....or rather I spoke....she sat and stared at me like a zombie. I told her there would be a consequence for her action. She asked what...I told her that i'd tell her the next day ( I didn't need her going to her room and cutting just because she was upset over the consequence). I did entertain the idea of not letting her go to her friends the next day...but that would be like shooting myself in the foot.....so the next day I told her that because she chose to come home two hours late that tonight she must come home two hours early...amazingly that was accepted without weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth! She had a few other things she did, but I've mentioned enough......I really do love Emma and I care what happens to her but she's really pushing the limits.....

This week I spent a couple of days emptying my fiction book shelf, cataloguing and entering their ISBN's onto a computer program called Readerware....it would have been easier with a scanner, but I don't own one....and some of my books are so old that I had to individually google some books to get their numbers. So, after two days of that...and dealing with all the dust.....I'm embarrassed to say, some books hadn't moved in 3 years and thus hadn't been dusted....but 404 books later...my fiction books are done! Now to get the energy to do the non-fiction...some of those are still packed away since our Reno 5 years ago...I think I'll sort through and purge some of those....after all, if I've done without for 5 years I imagine there are some that I don't need anymore! My fiction ones are a different story....there's like old friends...some even hrad my maiden name in the flyleaf....and I've been married 37 years! Good friends for sure!

Had a few conversations with DIL Jenn this week....Samuel is doing well, gaining weight...although not letting her get much sleep...which we all know is compounded by having an active toddler in the house...and William is ACTIVE! He's an extremely smart little boy and is not content to let the world come to him! I wish I could still be up there but hubby really needed my help at home. He's not been well for over a month now...has been to the doctor's twice.....since iVe been home I've been plying him with vitamins and other pills my chiropractor has me on for healthy digestive system...he grumbles and complains about taking them but I think he's starting to feel better....he says he just needed me home...sweet talker, he is....
I miss my boys! But glad to be back with this one....

My hubby...he's a keeper.....

William...

Don and William...

On our walk to the beach....

William....

THE most comfy position for Samuel....

- son ryan and his son...............Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, August 19, 2011

My week in Parry Sound....

Good Afternoon Company Girls! I was a little busy going to the beach with daughter-in-law, Jenn and grandsons William and Samuel to post this morning but everyone is napping at the moment so here's my chance!

It's been a very good week, albeit a little tiring....okay, really...I'm 60......what do you want from me....I do realize just why the good Lord made our bodies to NOT reproduce at this age....good grief....toddlers and new borns can wear you out!

Samuel has been a very good baby....so far.....I think Ryan and Jenn are waiting for the other shoe to drop, as the saying goes. He sleeps well and is even content to just lie in his bassinet when he's awake. Once Jenn got him staying awake long enough to nurse, he started to do very well at that too.

William , the explorer,...always on the go....tries hard to be a good big brother...bringing him his blanket when he needed to sleep...or a book to read....unfortunately Samuel didn't always appreciate his thoughtfulness or exuberance with which William presented his gifts!
I will be glad to get home to be with my hubby again but I will miss these little guys. A couple of mornings William and I would go down to the bay to see the tugboats at the pier.....the weather was perfect and we had some special times....even though Parry Sound is a very hilly place...everywhere you walk there are hills to go up and down so my leg muscles got a work out as well as my pitiful arm muscles pushing the stroller....man, I'm out of shape!

Now, if I can do this again, I'll try to put some pictures up....

Samuel.....and William

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Friday, August 12, 2011

Good Morning Company Girls!

What a week it's been in the family! Such exciting goings on....and they're just wonderful!

You may already know that our grandson was born on Tuesday afternoon, after 22 hours of labour! Yes, you read correctly....a very long time.....and the poor wee guy has been making up for it ever since....he's being a little bit of a concern because all he wants to do is sleep...which in one way is nice because mama gets some rest but in another way a very much a concern because he would rather sleep than eat! It's hard getting his breastfeeding established if he doesn't have the energy to do it!

My son and his wife live in a town a little over three hours away and DIL was being induced first thing Monday morning so we got on the road by 9 am. They hadn't induced by IV drip but rather using some gel, so she was waiting at home for things to get happening. Her and I went on a long walk in the afternoon and there was some minor activity but not a lot to speak of. At about 4pm they went back to the hospital to have more gel in and ended up staying there because there were some contractions, although irregular. After we had some supper, hubby and I and DIL's mom, Deb went to the hospital. We spent the evening as the contractions increased but by 10pm they still weren't accomplishing a lot. I'm saying all this to explain that hubby ended up going with son to get William from the people that were looking after him and then hubby stayed with William while son, Deb and I spent the night with laboring DIL. It was a very long night....we were hoping for a babe by morning but he really didn't cooperate. By this time DIL was exhausted and the doctor came and broke her water. The contractions picked up in intensity but because of her extreme exhaustion she needed pain medication and an epidural was put in. This allowed her to get some much needed rest to do the work that was needed to get the babe out. Unfortunately the babe didn't care for the epidural and showed it by decelerated heart rate during contractions...who knew that would happen....I guess some babes have this reaction, but we had no idea that it would. They monitored carefully and thankfully after two hours of the Medication they let it wear off so she could push.

So, it was some drama and some excitement......I don't remember the last time I stayed up all night....oh yes, I think it was when our very first grandson was born! Hopefully little Samuel wakes up enough very soon to start feeding properly and stop stressing everyone out...about that anyways...I'm sure there will be other things over the years....

On to the other excitement...you may remember a few months ago, in April I told you about son Paul re-enlisting in Canadian army....then he went to New Brunswick for artillery training. Today is his graduation from this training. His girlfriend Sara is down there to witness this prestigious ceremony, with our video camera and her mom's digital camera so I hope she gets a lot of pics since we couldn't be there. We are really proud of Paul..he has a 'good head on his shoulders' and is becoming a man of integrity....his papa would have been very proud, as are we. After his grad, he and Sara and another guy will drive back to Ontario where he will report to his new home, Pettawawa....down near Ottawa.

Tomorrow, the plan is that we drive back up to Parry Sound so that I can stay and help with the new babe and 20 month old William (the Explorer)...on the way we will stop in at the Baptist camp that Maya is working at, because this week she called and said she is getting baptized ! This is a big step for Maya and we are pleased that she has decided, all on her own, that she wants to do this. The only thing that she is sad about she says, is that her papa won't be there. You may remember that my dad passed away a year ago May and it's had a profound effect on Maya,...several times over the past year she has become quite sad and emotional that her papa is no longer here.

So, that is our week.....told you there was lots going on!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.....I'm anticipating a tiring but wonderful week getting to know Samuel and enjoying William...I hope you all experience God's blessing this week in your lives. Take care!

Now, I'll try to post some pics but don't know where they'll be in the post or how they'll turn out so bear with me.....