The Land of Cheerios, Sticky Fingers and Muddy Shoes

Babies... More or not?

2010-06-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

I am frequently asked if I am done having kids, and quite frankly, I have no idea! I am quite bitter that i have only one son, but I am not desperate to get pregnant either. Ideally, I would have no more than four kids, would not get pregnant until Rosa is two, but before I turn 34. Ideally, I would love my man to have a desk job at the moment of conception, so his male swimmers would not be disturbed by excessive amounts of chemicals. But most of all, my man would have to be willing, and it is not the case.

Since Luca decided a baby brother should be named Leonardo, I come across that name quite frequently. My favourite encounter was when we went at the library, Luca randomly picked a book and had a tantrum because he needed to read it NOW... And afterward, we realized the main character's name was Leonardo. It's starting to grow on me!

I still get these weird coincidences that when I am sure I want no more kids, I am either told someone is pregnant, or strangers tell me how much fun larger families are!

On the bright side, I don't get as emotional at the sight of newborns!!!

Busy as a bee

2010-06-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Recently, life has become quite busy. It started with guests, first my mom, then asaathi. After that, I started a university course, a support group for local homeschoolers, and now I am on a commitee to get a French school in the area. Oh, and I still found time to write my end of year report for the boy AND I learned to knit. No need to mention that I don't really have babies on my mind at the moment!

Wish me luck!

Life can be so scary sometimes!

2010-05-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

I am finally sitting down to start on my first assignment. Right. I'm writing here instead. Well, at the very least, I drank my cuppa Joe and am now focused enough to do the reading I need to do before I attempt to put any word on paper. I'm scared senseless. I know very well I do not master the English language to the level I would if I had been speaking it since birth, and my knowledge of French is now... well... pitiful. I'm scared!

This is not the only thing to scare me these days: I also want to be done with babies, but every time I get to that conclusion, hell breaks loose and something comes on my path to remind me that I do want one more. At the very least, now I know I do not want 5 children, but I do not want to have that lingering desire for one more child while my husband is firmly against it! Honestly, I do not believe in signs, but if there was any such thing, it would probably look something like what is going on. I can only retell the last two incident, because I can't accurately remember the previous ones, but the idea is the same, every time I decided I was done having kids, something popped in my way!

So last week, I was so done having kids for a few hours, and I was fine with that conclusion. I went shopping for a new pair of pants, but had to apologize to the saleslady, because it is difficult for me to find something that fits well, and with 3 restless children in tow, it is not an easy task. She answered "Oh, I understand! I am one of 6 children myself!", then she went on about how great it was to be part of a large family. *sigh* Of course, my resolution to have no more babies crumbled to nothing. Again.

Yesterday, I was at the same point, convinced that I would be happy with only the three wonderful children I have, then I remembered a dream I had as a teenager, something about a parcel that was meant to go to Leonardo Leo, an 18th century Neapolitan composer. At the time, little was available online about him, so I decided to google him last night. Try that for fun! Since Leonardo is the name Luca wants to give a potential baby brother, you can imagine how my jaw dropped... and the thought of baby wormed its way through my mind. It didn't help to learn that I am going to be an auntie to a baby boy. Now I am doubting it all again.

I just hope I can wrap my mind around the concept of being done conceiving babies soon, because this emotional roller coaster makes me miserable!

A few months worth of updates

2010-05-04T17:43:00.001-07:00

I am not sure where to begin, there is so much to say, so please be kind if I am redundant or if I miss some things...

Me: I am back in the world of puffer users, and it was a life saver. I now breathe so much better, and my mind is clearer too... I guess I was slightly deprived of oxygen before ;) Unfortunately, I have had a cold almost continually since the beginning of April, and I am a little tire of huffing and puffing. For my 6th anniversary as a mom (my son's birthday!), I "ran" a 5k. Now, I was supposed to slowly practice to make it there, but that didn't happen, for various reason, so that 5k was my very first run in 10 years. You can say ouch. And to top it off, I was continuously having coughing fits thanks to Mr. Cold. I was miserable, almost vomiting, then I saw a sign far away: 1km. Yes!!! I was ready to quit before even making it to the first km!!!! I do intend to start running a little again, when that cold finally leaves me alone. I am also supposed to start my first university class...now... but today I am truly dreading it. I am scared senseless. Silly me!

Husband: He is fine. Grumpy as always, but fine.

Luke: He is allowed to watch some television again, but we keep it to a minimum. He still tends to become a little ADHD/psycho when some variables are met: tv+less sleep+full moon. I know Astrogeek will cringe at the mention of the moon, but it is true that the moodiness always seem to happen around that time ;) He is done most of the workbooks he was supposed to do for the year except for one. We are going to start "grade 1" shortly. He is done reading all the Magic Tree House Books and is now moving on to more challenging work. As for math, he has done very little this year, so he is still at the same point, multiple digit addition/subtraction, beginning with multiplications. He is finally starting to attempt to write on his own, but he has no confidence in his capacity to spell. What a shame! He also just announced me that doing ballet was a great mistake, he doesn't like it so much anymore :D

Mia: She has changed so much it is hard to believe she is the same child! Her speech is easy to understand to many adults (those used to listening to children, at least!) She did some skating class and went from spending her first class on her back to being able to skate and getting up on her own. She does ballet but is as graceful as a hippo. What REALLY baffles me is that she started a workbook Luke was doing at the same age... but she understands it much faster!!! She can't count or read the way he did, but she is doing very well. I will not push her, but as long as she wants to do school like her big brother, I'll go with that! :D

Rose: Well, Rose is Rose! :D She climbs over all the furniture (even dressers, kitchen table, etc), understands when we talk to her, responds by yes or no, even says yummy when she gets chocolate milk ;) Because yes, she can consume dairy now, as long as it is in small quantities. She is a remarkable child!!!

Babies:

Many of our friends are expecting, and it is very exciting. I will even be an auntie again this fall. Ok, don't ask, I know the question "Do you want more?" Well.... ask again later ;)

I am still alive!

2010-04-26T17:24:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know I am still alive and haven't given up on this blog, but the past few months have been incredibly busy, and I will have to get in a routine before I get to post regularly again.

I hope all is well with all of you!

Babies!!!... and more...

2010-02-11T06:53:00.001-08:00

I'll start with the babies: NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT, although I get asked that question on a regular basis... no, someone in the family AND Therese from the Aussie Coffee Shop gave birth last weekend! Hurray!

Asaathi is now posting again, and this time, about math. I will most certain print them all for my little guy to read when he is older... eh! this morning, he wrote 10x10, and when I asked him what it makes, he rolled his eyes, said "duh", and look at me like I was the stupidest person in the world to ask such an easy question... so yes, he is a math addict who will benefit from astrogeek's teachings! :D

Since we talk about maths... Amelia is now colouring by numbers, and Luca knows the following times tbles: 0, 1, 2, 5 and 10, and he knows 3 and 4 up to x5... and can figure out the others if needed. That's how I wish I would have learned the times tables, by doing the additions so many times they would have sunk in, instead of memorizing! He can also read half of a Magic Tree House book while pooping.

And Rosa, oh, Rosalina... she now runs, climbs on step stools and chairs, and has a rather large vocabulary, even compared to Luca at the same age!!! She knows mama, dada, baba, dog, up, that, yeah and something else I can't recall at the moment.

So life is crazy busy, and I have very little to say other than record a few milestones.

Life is too busy

2010-02-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, life is too busy for me to blog on even a semi-regular basis.

Quick update?

Let's start with the youngest. Rosa walks, starts talking, pours herself glasses of water from the water cooler and she can now take small quantities of dairy. She doesn'T like dairy very much, but she rarely gets hives, and if she vomits, it's very small quantities, and not forcefully. She is beautiful, delicate, and I love her.

Amelia is now a ballerina, but it's in skating that she shines. In 4 classes, she went from not being able to stand on skates (think flopping like a fish on her back), to walking on skates independantly. A few more times on ice and she will be better than Luca. She also knows most of her alphabet, knows her numbers and counts to 10, and spends a lot of time looking at books, pretending to read. She is getting a little slimmer, and she is losing her baby face. She is beautiful, and I love her.

Luca... well... he's been in a lot of trouble, lying, getting his sisters in trouble, etc. I'm not too thrilled with him at the moment. Other than that, he reads a lot, he is at the point where "Magic Tree House" books are candy reading, so I'll let him read those independantly, and try to find the next step up for him. We also had a major drama when his fourth tooth started wiggling, and it simply refused to come out... Now, he has the two top teeth missing. I love him anyway ;)

My husband is old and cranky as always, so I won't go there. My weight is now around 128lbs, my pre-Amelia weight. 5 more pounds and I'll be back to my pre-Rosa weight! lol

I need to brag a little. As you know, I am going to take university classes, in English... but English is NOT my first language, and I was really worried about taking that university writing course, so I did the placement test online. I was given 180 minutes, so I thought I would be fine, so I started feeding the baby, and with the other hand started the test... well, 19 minutes later, I was done, with a nice 87%!!! Talk about a boost of confidence! Now I feel like no matter what is thrown at me, I can do it!

This is it for now, but I'll try to update more regularly! ;)

Long time no see

2010-01-18T06:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not certain when I wrote last, and I'm not the least interested in looking back. So much has happened that what happened a few days ago could have happened years ago.

I will not go into Haiti, because I refuse to watch the news. I refuse because it hurts too much, and I need to conserve the little bit of mental health I have left for those around me. I can't afford to cry and cry and cry when I can do nothing to help. This tragedy did negatively affect my desire to have more babies, but rekindled my desire to adopt. My poor husband! ;)

Rosa had her first birthday, and a wonderful chocolate vegan cake. I especially loved the icing, made uniquely with cocoa powder, margarine and maple syrup. Maybe some vanilla too. Yummy!

Then we went to see the doctor, was told Amelia is fat (as always), but we had bad news about Rosa. She hasn't grown at all since the last appointment. For her, refusing solids was not good at all. I made sure she gets multivitamins, but vitamins is not the only nourishment the body needs (that's the main problem with large scale farming, but that's a different matter), and her growth has stopped. She is still a decent size, not too skinny, and she is a very bright and alert little girl, so there is little to worry about... and she seems to listen and understand when we speak, and since the doctor told her she needed to eat, she eats a little at every meal. Not much, but she tries. I love her!

Amelia's drawings are becoming really interesting, way better than her brother's when he was older than she is now. She is still interested in learning about words, so I have spent an incredible amount of time researching the ideas of various educational methods, and came to the conclusion that there is a lot that would work for Amelia with a Charlotte Mason approach, so whatever can work for her will be added to our days. I am not certain exactly what and how we will do it, but we have plenty of time to figure it out.

My dear Luca is now very interested in Latin and Greek, so we will do some to satisfy him. Just learning the Greek alphabet should be challenging enough. I did an other reading test, and he tested at RL3.5, and now my husband is so proud it's really annoying! I mean, he actually brags to people about what Luca knows, how well he is doing, how happy he is that he is not in school... Talk about embarassing! Many of our friends have kids about the same age as ours, in public school, and it does make me feel bad for them that he brags. I mean, he doesn'T put the other kids down, but it's almost as bad... that's why I do most of my bragging here and with my dad, so it doesn't annoy too many people...

As for myself, I am trying to get in better shape. I have crossed the 130lbs line and feel great about it. I intend to run 5k by summer, and 10k next year. I could probably do 10k this year, but I refuse to push it. I am also registered at the university now, going back to school after 10 years away... well, they are going to be distance courses, obviously, but I really want to do my best. I owe it to myself and my kids. I want them to see me struggle and work hard to learn something new.

First update of the year

2010-01-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

I have been busy playing with the toy my daddy left me: an ipod touch. Unlike my dad, most of the applications on it are related to books, audiobooks and learning of various kind. I am now enjoying "The Montessori Method" by Maria Montessori. It is fascinating to listen to her work with "idiot" children, that she then put that knowledge to the use of "normal" children.

In the past month or so, I have been rethinking our homeschooling. I have to admit I could not really improve on what we are doing with Luca, considering that he does read and do math well above grade level, and does well enough on the rest. Amelia is the challenge. She learns in a totally different manner. She is amazing with arts, especially drawing and singing. I will have to find ways to use that to help her.

So what is new with all of us?

Luca just started multiplications, and found that it is much easier than he expected, so he's having lots of fun with it. He is really good up to 5x5. He had no problems understanding the 0 times and 1 times, which makes me very happy, since I'm horrible at math! lol As for reading, we are reading "The lightning Thief" alternating pages, slowly. He still loves the challenge. At the moment, he is reading "Lucky 13, story of survival in space". He amazes me every day.

Amelia now draws wonderful pictures, with faces complete with eyelashes and eyebrows. She is determined to learn like her big brother. She learns a lot from him. Her speech has improved so much she has almost caught up to her brother. She still struggles with pronounciation, but her vocabulary is quite amazing, considering the fact that she could hardly talk a few months ago. I'm looking forward to see what she will become in the next few months!

Rosa is now walking. She also seem to react much less strongly to dairy, to my great relief, but still reacts sometimes. She's a pretty little thing.

Both kids are going to start skating lessons this week, and Amelia will start ballet. Luca just started music classes, but said he didn't like it. We will see what happens with that later!

As for myself, I'm getting cold feet and decided to wait a little longer to go back to school... until Rosa is a little better in the evenings. My husband is back to work, and doing well there.

All in all, life here is relatively quiet and enjoyable.

I wish you all a very happy new year!

Resolutions for the next year... and next decade!

2009-12-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Back in 2000, I gave up taking lists of resolutions, because no matter how hard I tried, I kept failing. From that point on, my resolutions were, most of the time, mostly points I wanted to improve. Sometimes I gave myself a specific goal, sometimes not.

So for the next year, I have 4 resolutions:

1-Read one book in French every month (or more if possible). I want to make sure I don't completely lose my French.

2-Try to be a little greener. I have a few ideas of waht I could do to help, but no concrete plan.

3-Try to be healthier. That includes eating better (that will be hard to do) and moving more. I have no problem eating well, so exercise will be my main challenge.

4-Be a better mom. I get mad too easily. So I have a feeling that to become a better mom, I will have to learn to make time for myself to decompress, and enforce that on my husband sometimes ;)

But since the last decade was such a great one for me, I will take two resolutions for the next decade:

1-Get a university degree

2-Run in a marathon, even if I only do a 10k.

I hope all of you have a great time this year and an excellent decade ahead.

Veni, vidi, vici!

2009-12-28T05:44:00.000-08:00

Well, that's what our dear son asked us yesterday, what it means. I simply said I knew the answer, to ask his dad because he probably didn't know... and of course, daddy was clueless. Don't judge him too harshly, he never had any interest in history, and is probably better than any of you at building things. But history, no. You should have seen his face when Luca told him it means "I came, I saw, I conquered"! Priceless! :D

Hearing latin reminded me of church yesterday morning. I certainly did NOT want to go, but it ended up being a wise decision to force myself to take all the family out. The kids were exceptionally good, and it was even more obvious as an other child close by was acting up, being loud and annoying. The sermon was said by the deacon, a very good man, and I enjoyed it very much. That man rocks! I wish you would have met him too, pretty flower, you would have liked him! Of course, he talked about the holy family, and about how important it is to love our family. I lose patience way too often these days, so it was really good.

So at the end of the Mass, we went to talk to a friend who attends the same church, while our kids played with hers. For the first time ever, I saw our priest smile. Usually, he seems to enjoy himself only when he tells us how horrible people we are and how we are all going to go to hell... lovely. Not only that, but I was stopped by an old lady who congratulated me on having so many children, gave me a lecture on the blessing of large families, although she commented that 10+ kids would have been close to insanity, but at least in the old days, people had family around to help, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, cousins... all things I have been thinking about recently. I had a hard time not laughing when she said it was the rosary that kept families together, since they had to spend time together to pray it (the rosary is a rather modern invention exclusive to catholic, so I don't believe it's the #1 thing that kept families together!), but it was nice to hear. I'm tired of hearing comments about "When are you going to get snipped" or "Don't you know about birth control". I don't mind too much "You have your hands full", because it is true that at the moment, my hands are pretty full, and I would gladly grow an extra one some days ;)

I also realized that although I always feel a little envious when people get pregnant (especially if the baby is a boy), I am now at the point where I do not want to get pregnant for a while. A long while. Not until the baby is at least 3, and by then, I should be busy enough between homeschooling and my own schooling that I wont think too much about babies. Anyway, I am now totally sure I do not want more than 4 kids. I probably could have more, but with the horrible pregnancies I have and my patience wearing thin, it would not be a wise thing to do.

On a different note, my boy started reading "The Lightning Thief" two days ago. I find it amazing that he went from saying he was too dumb to be able to read last april, to reading a book he knew was above his level now and asking for help. That he reads the book is nice, but his increasing confidence is what makes me really happy. If you believe in yourself, all is possible!

...and the milestones continue...

2009-12-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

Rosa had her first turkey dinner and loved it all. She also made her first steps for me (she walked for daddy before). One thing that puzzles me is that touching her with a little cheese on my hands sometimes lead to the nastiest hives ever, while some other days, I could give her a milk bath without any problem. I don't know what to think about that, and it really drives me half insane. Try to feed a one year old with no dairy, that's not so easy!

Amelia keeps recognizing the word 'pizza' in various settings. She has no idea what the letter P or Z are, but she knows the word. Isn't it how Luca started reading, when he was 3? She keeps insisting that she wants to learn like her big brother, so in the new year, I will have two students. The idea terrifies me, especially since I just started getting into a good routine and the baby is more mobile... Can't wait to see how THAT goes!

Luca started reading "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan, the first book in the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series. He reads it slowly, since it is considerably above his grade level, but asks for help less than a half dozen times for every page, sometimes, not at all. He hasn't completed the first chapter, but if he keeps going like this, he should be reading these books totally on his own within a few weeks. I am shocked how fast he went from "I'm too stupid to read" to "I know this books is a little hard for me, so could you help me please?". Mr is getting more confident, and there is nothing that could make me more happy at the moment!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was horrible. My husband told me my Christmas spirit was coming out of me and I kept throwing it out in the garbage, and I think he may have been right. Never in my life I have been as blasé about this holiday as I was this year. I think there are a few reasons for this:

-This year, the holiday season had no spiritual meaning for me. I feel dead inside to the point that I can't rejoice at the thought of a little baby Jesus. I usually love Christmas, but our new priest definitely did a great job turning me off our church!

-I HATE SANTA!!! I hate pretending he exists, and I can't wait to tell our kids the truth. I want to tell the truth, while my husbands pushes for believing as long as possible. I hate Santa!

-This year, we had no family AND no friends around. Everyone had plans this year, even the neighbours across the road. EVERYONE. At least Rosa enjoyed her first turkey dinner!

-A nasty cold doesnt help.

-And being awaken at 2am every night for a week... and sometimes also at 4, 5 and 6 o'clock! :S

Now, I have a year to recover my Christmas spirit. I might have to attend a new church or something. I really can't stand the new priest!

My disgusting daughters

2009-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Mia found an old sippy cup under the couch... and it had been lost probably for about 2 weeks. Of course, this happened while I was out of the living room, so she gave it to her little sister right away. Long story short, I had to battle the baby, who would not let go of her bottle, and when I poured it in the sink, it was the consistency of cottage cheese. She didn't get sick.

Now, everyone has a nasty cold, and the kids have that nasty chest cough, and last night, I thought I heard someone vomit, but since the baby wimpered at the same time and my older two kids were snoring peacefully, I thought nothing of it. Rosa kept me up all night, and I heard those 3 kids cough all night.

Now, in the morning, daddy, who fell asleep watching tv, was awaken by a very happy little Amelia who gave him something and told him "Look, Daddy, I puked!" and she seemed very proud of it. So my husband felt, smelt the chunk our daughter had given him, so he opens his eyes and realizes she is covered in that stuff. She says she puked in her bed, so daddy goes to clean up... and couldn't see a thing, so... Amelia flips her pillow, to show the side that was soiled! Imagine, that 3 year old vomitted, got all covered, and instead of crying like a normal child would, she flipped her pillow and went right back to sleep!

I'm not sure whether I should praise her or tell her how disgusting that was! lol

"Just because I speak slow doesn't mean I'm stupid" or Miranda are always right.

2009-12-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

In my husband's favourite chick flick, "Sweet Home Alabama", the red neck ex says "Just because I speak slow doesn't mean I'm stupid". Honestly, that's something I should have taken more seriously.

When I talked about my second child being a "Dumb Blonde", Miranda reminded me not to judge her to hastily, and all that good stuff, and once again, I should have listened, especially since her advice is usually gold.

Well...

Tonight, goldilocks, yes, my Amelia, read her first word. She came by me, pointed to a button on the microwave and said "What's that? That's pizza!". And she was right, it was the pizza button. We don't use it. I had never told her. Luca swears he never told her and so does daddy. The only think I can imagine is that we live close to a pizzeria where the word pizza is written all over... but still...

Well, I should have guessed her first word would be related to food. To each his priorities!

P.S.: Why didn't I add my dad in the title? Because although he is often right, he is also very often wrong and I will NEVER give him a chance to brag about that one! :D

Books, books and more books!

2009-12-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you I'm a bookaholic? :D Well, in the past week, I was lucky enought to get to read a few very good ones, and I can't wait to let you know about them!

The first one was "Canada, my Canada" by Laurier Lapierre. Quite honestly, his style wasn'T great at all, but I liked his position on different topics related to the history of our country, and I'm glad he didn't have the typical "we are victims, poor us, and because we are so oppressed you must repay us" attitude of many québécois... No drama. Don't get me wrong, he still admitted the wrongs that were comitted, but some people back in Québec overreact, and he didn't go that way. Thank you!

I also found part of my son's 6th birthday present: "G is for Googol". It's an alphabet book, and for each letter, a mathematical word is explored, with plenty of pictures. It is quite fun to read, and very geeky. I am not certain whether ds will like it or not (he is finicky when it comes to books), but I certainly will! :D

I read all of Lucy and Stephen Hawking's "George's secret key to the universe" and I have mixed feelings about it. Good news: the science in it is wonderful, explained in such a manner that my ds will understand and love. Unfortunately, there are bad news too: the story itself was horrid. The plot wasn't great, that I would forgive, but what really made me angry is how many characters are simply stupid. Every adult in this book seems to have jell-o instead of a brain, knowing facts, but having absolutely no common sense. You receive an anonymous letter? Eh! Let's act on it! I will still buy it for ds, but I'm not too impressed with the story. You can have all the brains in the world, it doesn'T mean you can write child literature. I have much more respect for the good authors out there, now!

Last, but not the least, "Chroniques d'une mère indigne" by Caroline Allard. I am not certain how to describe it. It started as a blog a mother wrote, about how she is a "bad" mother, but quite honestly, it applies to pretty much all of us, except maybe some neurotic first time moms. I'm sure they get on your nerves too! ;) This book has a humour that would translate well in English, and I certainly hope they will translate it for our anglo friends soon!

I'm going back to my book, now! :D

Two steps forward, one step back

2009-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

I know I should not complain about the way my kids learn, but I find that everytime they learn something new, they go far ahead, step back for a while, then they go forward again, and that dance never seems to stop. Of course, they keep moving ahead, inspite of their regular regressions, but I find it unsettling at times, not to know what will work on a certain day for a certain child. Some days, they want to be as challenged as possible, while some other days, they prefer the comfort of tasks they have mastered a long time ago.

Today, Luca went back to work on his Miquon Orange... a book he dropped almost a year ago because it was too uninteresting and he didn't care about manipulatives at the time. I'm more than fine with it, but it was rather unexpected.

I don't enjoy change when I have a cold! :D

Happy 3rd Birthday princess!

2009-12-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we celebrated princess Amelia's third birthday. I was really nice, but I miss my little fat stinky baby sometimes!

We started on Saturday. We gave her the dress and shoes she chose a little while ago, and went to see the Nutcracker. I was really impressed. Since I moved to Nova Scotia, all the plays/live music I had seen was horrid, so I had given up on the joys of music. Well, Symphony Nova Scotia is much better than I ever expected (it's true my expectations were really low) AND the dancers were pretty good. They were mostly teenagers, but they were very entertaining. Amelia sat nicely and watched the whole thing. She only spoke to ask where some characters/props had gone, and to announce everybody who was the bad guy. :D Her favourite character was the dolly. It's too bad I had a giant sitting in front of me!

On Sunday, we had a cake, and a few people over for the kids to play.... and eat the cake. Mia received her first 2 Barbies, and her and Rosa play a lot with them! :D

Unfortunately, Amelia's birthday was also a day of Milestones. Mia wrote her name. She said her first full sentence in French (Rosa a un nombril). To top it off, Rosa walked. All in the same day.

Stephen Hawking, my new hero!

2009-12-09T12:04:00.001-08:00

No, I didn't develop a sudden interest in physics, and although I am certain his work and life and career are very inspiring to some, it doesn't do a thing to me.

No, it's even better: he might be the one saving me from the evil questions of Mr. Toocurious! He wrote some kids novels, and, of course, they are filled with science facts, on pretty much all the subjects that I can't explain well to my son (think black holes and company). I am not certain how much Luca will be able to read on his own, but I think he is capable to read the story on his own, and the "fact" pages with help.

Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

Sleeping Naked is Green and other books

2009-12-09T05:44:00.000-08:00

Recently, I read a few very interesting books. Some I read from one cover to the other, some others I browsed through until I buy my own copy.

Let's start with the one I read from one cover to the other: "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Faquharson. Just try to imagine a Toronto girl (trying not to say snob!lol) going on a challenge to do a green change every day for a year... on a leap year, of course! :D Some of these changes are small, some of them I would simply not consider myself. What I like the best about her, is that although we have very little in common (she's a single girl who lives in a large city), she never takes herself too seriously during that challenge, and she even made me laugh out loud on several occasions. She also documented her challenge on her blog, Green as a Thistle. It's definitely worth reading, even for old men on their death bed who refuse to admit that making small changes (or not so small too) might help future generations.... Eh, dad? ;)

I also skimmed through "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright. It is exactly the book I was looking for, religion through a historical, rather than spiritual perspective. Prettyflower, you will like that one, I am certain, even Asaathi might enjoy it! I can'T wait to read it all!

Last, but not the least, "Codebreaker" by Stephen Pincock. It is a book about codes and cyphers throughout history, and it talks about a few that haven't been cracked, such as the Phaistos Disk, the Voynich Manuscript, etc. I'm getting a book about undeciphered ancient languages for Christmas, so that's definitely in the same lines... and I have a feeling a certain geek of mine will be interested in these things in a few years. After all, as a kid, I played by making my own secret writings, even tried to make up my own secret language for fun... but my friends were usually too simple minded to understand even the easiest of the codes, so I never had a chance to really use them. Too bad!

Floored

2009-12-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

I am floored. It was enough that I was starting to understand Amelia and her nonsensical talk, but today it went further than I ever expected.

In the past few days, I have asked the kids to dictate letters they wanted me to write daddy, and honestly, Amelia's were quite a challenge:

"Dear Daddy, love want to drink love water. I take bath. I have to go pee tonight. I didn't go outside. Found purple stickers. Later, I go nap. Later, I gonna write because I love eating bananas, I love pink! I wan to go downstairs because bedroom I am mad. I like to fly. I like airplanes. Daddy like pink. daddy like blue. Daddy like green. Rose!!!"

or

"Dear Daddy, I did eat Cheerios. I do pop my bum. I did pop for daddy. I made a pop for my pony. I eat banana and milk. I love Luca and Rosa mess. I eat eyes. I colour Luca's mess green."

or

"Dear daddy, I ate Cheerios with Jello. Rosa likes Jello. I drank water and went outside to finish my math. I want to drink more water. I have water over there.

I like to colour ghosts. Ghosts outside! I did finish my ice. I did colour that one."

and last, but not the least:

"Dear Daddy, I killed a monster. The monster want to go bite me. The monster got to house to poke. I killed the monster because he broke my house."

But this morning, while Luca was reading, she grabbed a book about Alexander Graham Bell, opened and tried to read. Of course she can't she struggles enough talking as it is... then she named all the letters she recognized, not that many. She got really mad, and asked me what a word was, so I told her. She had a full blown tantrum, so I started reading to her, and she got even more mad "*I* don'T know the words!". After a few minutes talking, I understood that she wants to know how to read the words. Ouch.

When Luca decided he wanted to read, he already was a great talker, so I never thought much about it, but Amelia? She honestly wants to learn more about reading! I honestly don'T know how that will go, but I'll try to help her learn her letters and recognize a few words, at least, if it can make her happy... I mean, she writes letters on her drawings, trying to be a big girl....

No pressure! *sigh*

Planning a birthday party...

2009-12-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not planning for Amelia's party next weekend (I have nothing ready yet!), or Rosa's next month... but Luca's in the spring!

When I made baklavas last night, I asked Luca if he had ideas of what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he had no idea, so I suggested a Percy Jackson themed party. Well, he loved the idea!

Now, for those of you who don'T know, Percy Jackson is a character by Rick Riordan, in a world where greek gods exist, but humans are unaware of them, and they keep having babies with mortals (yeah, they are really good at that!), and those half blood will help fight the Titans who try to rise again, lead by Kronos.

So basically, it is a greek mythology theme. As most people would do nowadays, I googled it and found a few ideas, but if something ever pops in your head, feel free to share!

Brag

2009-12-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

I need to brag, not for the brag itself, but I need to pet myself in the back a little.

Recently, I have been having lots of doubts about my capacity to be a good wife and good homeschool mom. I seem to fail all the time, I even have nightmares where I think my kids are doing fine, but someone points one little issue and I fall apart. That added to my mom trying to convince me to give up breastfeeding and the breastfed baby keeping me up till 2am, it's hard.

Feel free not to read, it's for myself, really.

-My man doesn't show feelings. That's just how he is. But in the past few weeks, he has been nice, and one day he even complimented me in many ways. He really appreciates what I do for Luca and the others. And him. And the food. He does like my food, so I guess that means all is right ;)

-In our homeschool, not much is happening these days, and sometimes, it freaks me out. Bu when uncle piggy called, Luca did impress him, I believe, when he told uncle that sound is caused by molecules that vibrate, and the faster they vibrate, the higher the pitch, the slower they vibrate, the lower the pitch. It was really neat to hear him say that as naturally as if he was telling hima bout his teeth that are loose.

Life will be all right. It's just that I find it hard to trust myself these days. Maybe I need some cannoli? Mmmmmmm cannoli!

Strange kids...

2009-12-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

My kids have strange cullinary tastes:

-I have a movie of 3 year old Luca refusing to eat Jell-O and begging for salad.

-At age 4, he had a melt-down in Halifax Shopping Centre's food court because I forced him to eat junk food and he wanted HEEEEAAAAALLLLTTTHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY food! (I got some dirty looks that day! lol)

-I fed him chocolate pudding for breakfastone morning... I thought it was a fun treat, but he whined that he wanted real food, and made a point to tell EVERYONE we met about it.

-If chocolate pudding was too sweet for him, can you imagine his reaction to the baklavas I made with love yesterday? I might as well have served him garbage!

-The other day, Amelia refused to eat her breakfast... until we told her she would go to church only if she ate it all, so she did!

-She also refused to eat her pizza one day, so we had to bribe her with kalamata olives... "Honey, eat a few more bites if you want an other olive".... and she loves to take the pit out of it! Gross!

-Rosa is probably going to be as strange: her new favourite food? Pita with hummus!

One more reason to hate Mirena

2009-12-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

ALERT: BIRTH CONTROL TALK. TOO MUCH INFORMATION. STOP HERE IF YOU'RE A MAN.

...

...

...

Now that it's only us, girls, let me vent about Mirena. First it was the horrid cramps, mood swings, bleeding. After 6 months, it was finally better. Unfortunately, since I am still breastfeeding, it also delayed ovulation, so I had no idea in what way it would be affected by the IUD (or UFO as my husband calls it).

Mirena is supposed to:
1-Make the cervical mucus thicker so the swimmers don't make it
2-Keep the lining of the uterus thin so there is no implantation.

As long as #1 works, I am fine with this. But this is exactly my problem: I still lots of very fertile cervical mucus (ewcm) at ovulation time. It only leaves me with the considerably thinned lining. I know THAT part works thanks to the almost absent periods (that part is nice).

Now, it leaves me in the position that yes, sperm can meet the egg, but implantation is not possible. That's not right to me. Even my husband would agree on that.

It really pains me because I was happy I thought I had finally found something that I could use for a while, then decide on whether going for one more or going for the snip snip. Now, I'm left with nothing but the chastity belt. Honestly, I am very dissapointed.

If there is any other secret ways Mirena is supposed to work, please let me know!

There is no word to describe how down that makes me. I'm not ready for the big V.

Growth spurts... I hate them!

2009-12-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

Why do I hate growth spurts so much? Rosa's growth spurts involve eating almost non stop all day, and parts of the night too, sleeping no more than 6 hours in a 24 hour period.

Worst still is all the clothe I end up donating. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy these clothe will be helpful to someone, but it also means I will never have a baby again and I will never have a boy again. It hurts. I'm not 30 yet, and I'm not one of these lucky women who feel like their family is complete.

I have to do it, but it hurts a lot. My baby is now almost one. She's not really a baby anymore.

All that to say... I hate growth spurts!

All in a day!

2009-12-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be my quiet day, but it is not. Don't get me wrong, I AM relaxing, but today was much more eventful than planned.

At the moment, money is a little low, so I decided to cook only using what is in the pantry until my man comes back, so I made muffins for breakfasts, jello for giggles, and we'll have Ms Frizzle's hair tonight.

I did clean the floors, the kitchen and the bathroom, build a fire, vacuum, and all that's left is a mount of laundry and the kitty litter.

Not only that, but I got three phone calls too, all for me (ok, two for me!), no telemarketers either!

First, Prettyflower called, and it was really nice to hear her voice. I am really looking forward to see her again, she is a lot of fun.

Then it was my grandmother who called, and I also got to speak to my dad.

Finally, the strangest call of them all: Uncle Piggy. Now, Uncle Piggy calls Luca frequently to chat, but being told he wants to talk to Luca about a science experiment was definitely different! :D Basically, he told Luca he needs to learn about Dalton's particle theory, Bohr's and Rutherford's atomic model. All that for an experiment he wants to do with him in about 7-9 years. And the experiment he is proposing doesn't fills me with confidence, especially from a guy who set a swimming pool full of water on fire ;)

It is strange that last week I borrowed a book about atoms for Luca, and it touches all the things that uncle Piggy wants him to learn about. Usually, when such coincidences happen, it turns into great learning opportunities. So we'll see what happens with that in the next few weeks!

Luca and overreacting

2009-12-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

Since Prettyflower mentionned that Luca's problems might be related to anxiety, I have tried to read a bit on the subject, and I must admit that she was right. I also had to face my own shortcomings, and had to admit that most of his fears are similar to mine, but I never speak about my fears. Somehow, his and mine are almost identical.

Thankfully, I figured out that as long as he gets a lot of sleep (10 hours a night+ an afternoon rest or nap), his anxiety diminishes to almost nothing. The only other trigger I found is when he has some extra stress in his life, he tends to start worrying again, so I'll attend some program on how to help kids cope with stress, and hopefully that will help. It should. It will.

http://www.psychologyfoundation.org/kidshavestresstoo.php

I hate music!

2009-12-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

Ok,ok, you all know I love music... but it's becoming a problem in this house. My wonderful son believes he has the worst singing voice in the world and wants me to teach him how to sing better. No pressure! I hate math, but I know I can help him with that. I love singing and sing relatively well, but I'm not sure I can teach him THAT! I guess I will try to get him to calm down when he sings so his voice is more steady, do breathing exercises, sing songs like we already do... but I'm terrified! I'm more terrified of ruining my kid's voice than ruining their education, which makes absolutely no sense since the thought of one of my kids deciding to chose music as a career makes me nauseous!

So that gives me a Manuel, Maria and Pauline, if they all decide to sing ;) Sorry, I simply couldn't resist that one!

2010 resolutions

2009-12-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's never too early to start thinking about it, isn't it? Well, I don't have a list yet, but these are the ideas I have at the moment:

1-Read more French literature (I'll probably make a list)

2-More green (list of green things to improve to come in the next few days)

3-More French for the kids too.

Alors je vais commencer tout de suite.... au revoir! ;)

Congratulations!!!

2009-11-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

It seems that Manbous and Ziabella are expecting their first child (on the first try, lucky them!)! Hurray! I really wish you an easy and healthy pregnancy, as well as a bouncy baby boy. I'm telling you, it's going to be a boy! ;)

Congrats and enjoy!

Babysitting rant.

2009-11-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

I hate babysitting, but sometimes, I have to babysit for my husband's friends. Sometimes, it is great, but most of the time, I end up with rude kids. It drives me nuts. You know, the potty mouths who believe they can get anything they want anytime they want and turns your house into a disaster zone? Yeah, that kind of kids. Some are great kids too...

Well, today, I had my "revenge". For a while, that girl kept saying "Well *I* learn something, *I* know things" because she goes to school... and my boy doesn't. Luca is great about it, never shows off or anything, he just lets her talk. Today, she tried to teach Amelia the alphabet, but my princess was busy "reading" a book. You have to understand, she refuses to learn the alphabet, but she will spend lots of time sitting with books open, pretending to read. Now, that kindergartner was pretending to be the teacher, telling my 2yo that she should know that already, that she is not paying attention... and there, Amelia just turns her head, look at her, and goes right back to her book. You have to know the look she gives people when she is not impressed, but I'm sure you can imagine! ;)

Then, later, my man told that girl she would have to wait 5 minutes before the floor would be dry, so that girl asked something in the lines of "What is 5 minutes? If I count to 10 does that make 5 minutes?". My son rolled his eyes. My husband said she would have to count to 300. She was shocked and asked how you do count to 300, so my son answered "It's easy, you start at one, and you stop at 300"...

Rant over. I refuse to talk anymore about babysitting. Now I just hope my kids wont have picked up some of her annoying quirks! *sigh*

Mea Culpa!

2009-11-29T16:48:00.001-08:00

Oh, I feel horrible! I just re-read the post about Amelia and my husband, and my, does it sound bad! lol My man was joking when he said what he said about Amelia. He is fully aware that she is different than the others in many ways. We plan to get the best out of her, no matter what her best is! lol My man says she is the one who is the most like himself, and she is.

As for RFG (yes, she is back in the blogging business!), it is really tempting sometimes to think about having more babies, especially since my babies are so well behaved and they love younger kids so much... I almost fell apart when a friend told me she's expecting her third and her oldest is about 18 months! lol I'm crazy, I know! But I need a break, and I'm not sure I could do school and babies at the same time.

Only time will tell!

She is growing too fast

2009-11-27T10:27:00.001-08:00

Here is what Rosa did yesterday:

When Amelia and I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, she did the movements with us, and sang along, almost in tune.

She did one step for daddy.

When she dropped her sippy cup and realized I wasn't paying attention to her, she screamed at the top of her lungs "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA" and when I looked at her and asked her what was going on, she said "BABABABABABABABA" pointing at the floor. She can say mama, dada, baba and bad (refering to her older siblings, go figure!)

She showed us she knows how to work the gate at the top of the stairs. She put the hand on the latch, thumb facing down, as it should, but she isn't strong enough to open it yet (even Amelia can't do it). But she knows. She observes everything we do, and copies us.

To that, my husband replied "Well, we'll send the middle one to school so you can focus on the smart ones" I am aware it is not a nice thing to say, but at least he seems to realize school would not be a good fit for Luca for the time being... and for a while. That was a great relief! Amelia is not really dumb, I think, just not as smart as her big brother. Once she gets over her speech troubles, I believe we'll learn that she knows more than she shows. I already figured out she has a great memory, and she can use "big words" in the proper context... if she can just formulate the whole sentence, of course! lol She is very hands on, like her dad, but there is hope for her! You should see hte improvement in the past few weeks!

A few good links

2009-11-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

I just want to share my newest discoveries on the web! :D I hope you enjoy some of it!

Yummy chocolate cake!

High interest/low reading level books (always good to know with little readers!)

Bulk food at Nurtured by love. It is something that definitely appeals to me!

Spinning whool at Nurtured by Love. I am going to start knitting soon if all goes well, and I am also interested in learning to spin, so that post caught my attention!

An interesting post on giftedness. Check out the links, they are pretty good, especially the one on the levels of giftedness.

What we have learned in 30 years about giftedness.

Local soap maker

The Spinner's Loft.

Day 18-July 4th 2009

2009-11-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to go to a barbecue tonight, but that is not happening now. Rosa is cutting her second tooth and is utterly miserable. And she still spits up a fair bit. Poor baby!!!

Amelia too is uncomfortable from teething, and Luca's other bottom tooth is also starting to wiggle. This is decidedly not an easy vacation for us all!

Well, well, well, it looks like Rosa's second tooth cut through at the end of the day. She doesn't scream nearly as much now, my gentle little princess.

I love "Our Days are Numbered" a little more every day! I'm now at the point of craving math, and I will review all I have learned when I get back home and maybe even take a few math classes for fun when I go back to school! I will have to write the author to thank him, that's for sure!

Speaking of writing, I took it upon myself to write people when I want to thank them, be them authors who wrote something that influenced me, or just someone doing a good deed. I think it is important to remind people that they are appreciated.

Day 17- July 3 2009

2009-11-25T18:52:00.001-08:00

A rather uneventful day. A. came to visit, with her fiance, E. We had our Canada day firecrackers at the park... a little late, but the kids enjoyed it so much that everyone was glad rain kept us from doing them on July 1st.

When I decided it was time for me to go to bed, I went to give Rosa her last feeding of the day, in the nice, clean sitting room. Suddenly, Rosa seemed upset, I thought she might spit up a little, so I got up to move to an area where there is no carpet... and my baby turned into a little volcano! I had never seen so much puke coming out of an adult, yet alone such a little child! The puddle on the floor was 3-4 feet in diameter, and both the baby and I were covered in more of the stuff. She had forceful vomiting for several hours, then she fell asleep, exhausted. I hadn't felt so bad for one of my kids since the prednisone days. I managed to laugh at the situation, rather than cry, but it wasn't easy.

And I still find it pretty cool a supermodel thinks my baby is cute.

NOTE: It took quite a while after that incident to realize she was actually having a reaction to the formula that was in the cereals. Gotta love milk allergies! :S

All over the place... literally!

2009-11-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks have been insane, we have been ALL OVER the place, almost never home. Tomorrow will be our first day in weeks that we are not going anywhere!

Now I am reading all I can about kids and anxiety, found a few possible triggers, and will try to work on that before asking for professional help. I have a feeling we may be able to make things go much smoother that way, if we have a better idea of why, when, how Luca freaks out when he does. I also realized how much more messed up than him I was as a child, but no one really picked that up, strangely. I still have some issues, but I work at it ;)

My MIL also asked about how Luca is doing now in math, and I think she was surprised at how much he knows, but the real achievement in my eyes is that he doesn't freak out as much when he doesn't know something. Hurray!

Amelia decided she is going to learn to use a computer, learn her alphabet, numbers, etc. Best of all, Luca decided he is going to be her mentor, so I can now easily get close to an hour of quiet time if I really want to! :D They get along better when they do "schoolish" work than when they play, for some reason, but I definitely wont complain about it!

Rosa spends more and more time just standing in the middle of the place, bouncing on her big fat legs. She's going to be walking... too soon :S

Last but not the least, I'm still debating whether I should have Luca tested or not for when he gets back in school, since my man insists that he should go to "regular school". I am trying to take all the information I can, so I can relay it to my husband whenever we sit down and discuss it. If anyone has any comments on that, feel free to write a little something! Luca is 1-3 years ahead depending on the subjects, and since schools in our area do NOTHING to help even the struggling students, less still is done for those who are atypical because they are slightly ahead. I wish life was easier!

So... what about babies?

2009-11-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

I am asked that question on a regular basis, whether I want more babies or not. The answer? Still the same, I'd like one more some day, but dh doesn't. I get mildly envious whenever anyone gets pregnant, especially if it ends up being a boy, even though I am still happy for the new moms. The only times I get really envious is when women get pregnant with more babies than I have. Or like that friend who is now pregnant with #3 while her oldest is not 2 years old. 18 months, if I recall.

I feel like a bad person sometimes, but although I don't want a baby anytime soon, I can't completely forget how much I'd love an other one.

Thank goodness my man made the decision for me (yeah, whatever :S)

Speech Pathologist Appointment

2009-11-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

Today, Mia went to see the speech pathologist, and we came out of there with good news: there is no major problem with her, she just need to work on a few sounds (probably because of her billingualism), and learn to speak more slowly. She needs to learn to use gerunds (like swimming, running,etc), 's (like in this is the cat's food) and pronounds (him, her, his, hers, etc). And as the lady and I were talking, Luca was already quizzing his sister on the points she needs to practice, so obviously, there will be no problem getting through this. We'll get in touch again just in case things don't progress as well as we want.

We also tried to get her hearing checked, but it didn't work. We asked Luca to do it so he could show her, but we realized one of his ears is not that great, so we'll have him checked anyway, along with his sister. It's probably nothing, but as they say, better safe than sorry!

Now, on the allergy side... Rosa is now capable of taking some goat cheeses without ANY problem, and hopefully, she will be capable of eating cow dairy soon enough! ;)

The aprons are back!!!

2009-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Kitchen Madonna is back in business!!! For those who don't know her, she makes the prettiest aprons ever, and I highly recommend them! Check it out!

Leave the Pig alone!!!

2009-11-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

I don't want to hear about swine flu anymore. I'm tired of paranoid parents (and member of society in general) who go on and on about it. Now, if it was deadlier, I would understand, and I would probably be one of them.... Get over it, please!

Now that my rant is over, we have been sick on and off most of the time since spring, and that includes countless colds and at least 2 flus. Not stomach flus, nasty fever/aches real flu (influenza). I had not had one of those in almost 10 years, and now we get a few this year. My point? Well, with all that sickness, we've probably had the uncle piggy flu (can't help but blame it on him!) already, so we wont bother with the needles. I don't usually get flu vaccines, and I wont make an ecception this year. I'm not crazy about the idea that it was mass produced without being as well tested as the other flu shots, but it's still not the reason we will skip it.

Now, I have a paranoid one in my house, who refused to let my son go to a Beaver sleepover out of fear of the flu, and I must admit I am really ticked off by it. It was very unnecessary. He is also the one who nearly panicked when our ds had a slight fever, and it took me forever to make him understand how a little fever is great to kill the bugs that make you sick and what is bad is high fever, especially very high, or lasting for a long time, or not reacting to medicine... *sigh*

On the bright side... for the first time in my life, I had a cold that lasted less than 2 weeks: I felt like death for 24 hours, then it was over. That's what our immune system is for! :D

Mental Health

2009-11-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

I'm used to think of mental health as something for adults, or at least teenagers, but it looks like our 5yo will need to get some help. I won't go in the details here, but it is getting pretty bad, and hearing things such as "I want to kill myself and die" is really, really hard to take.

I am now very, very tired from being the only person caring for the kids (the husband is very unhelpful in that matter), and that's just one more thing to make my life more difficult. I just wish the boy was not so overly sensitive/anxious/... name it!

Lest we forget

2009-11-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

"They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them...Lest we forget!"

We went to a ceremony close to home, and as usual, I was bawling all the time, crying for those who perished, for their loved one, as well as I was crying of joy for all those who made it home. I know, I'm an emotional mess, but I hate how lives are sometimes taken for meaningless reasons. Don't get me wrong, I don't say that wars are meaningless, just that men should never make it to the point where they believe they have to fight one another, therefore, these deaths could have been avoided. Not only those of soldiers, but also all the civilians, and even the 'enemy' whoever it is at the moment.

My man looked great, with his bright, shiny boots, Luca was proud of his first official Beavers outing, while the girls behaved wonderfully. I was surrounded by familiar faces, some crying for family and friends lost, some there for sympathy. I love them all. It was really nice.

Cool-Love that song!

2009-11-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

The allergist and others...

2009-11-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

Amelia will finally have her appointment with an allergist, next month. I can't wait to hear that she is not deathly allergic to bees! That will be the relief I need to go through countless summers filled with Benadryl!

We are still waiting to see a speech therapist. She has highs and lows, but now we can communicate sufficiently to know that she is a very curious little girl, who is eager to learn, but she has that major hurdle to overcome first. She is not so blonde and not so dumb ;)

There is one thing I had never really mentionned before... since Luca was on prednisone for two years, it really stained the teeth that were being formed at the time, especially the molars... and his adult teeth. I heard him cry a few times because his adult teeth are awefully yellow, as dark as those of a chain smoker who drinks coffee, red wine and blueberries. They are dark and yellow. He doesn't like that, obviously. How can you explain to a child that it is a small price to pay for all the good that nasty medicine did? It saved his vision, probably his brain, and since it kept the parts of his birthmark in his nose and throat from growing, it probably even saved his life. I wish I could make him understand...

Two interesting books!

2009-11-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am now in love with Orson Scott Card. I finished "Pastwatch", and I am now convinced I will read more of his work, because it falls right in my tastes. Loved it. Imagine, in the future, people who invent a machine that allows you to see the past... imagine they discovered they could interact with the past. Should they right the wrongs of the past? Love it!

The other book isn't great, it's a teen novel, "The possibilities of sainthood". It's a 15 yo italian-american girl who wants to become a saint, just as she is lusting over boys... reminds you of someone? ;) Well, if you are italian or know italians, this story will really crack you up!

20 years ago

2009-11-10T06:53:00.001-08:00

20 years ago, I learnt about communism. It was the Berlin wall that brought that subject in our home, and it is not until much later that I truly realized the impact of the Cold War. It broke my heart then, and it still does today, when I think that some humans only have limited rights, or worse, suffer through war.

I wish I could say we will learn from it, but realistically, mankind wont. Men can only see the present and look greedily at the future, so there is little hope. How can we educate the whole planet as to being kind to each other? Is tolerance really that difficult?

Flu

2009-11-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

Long story short, we had the flu in September, Amelia's cough didn't completely go away, she is not eating, complains of headache and has a fever. I guess we're going to have to go to the ER after all. That sucks, I wanted to go to bed early!

Sending kids to school

2009-11-05T03:30:00.001-08:00

My oldest drives me nuts these days, to the point I am considering sending him to school for my own sanity! The good thing is that he'd rather not go to school, so now I have to get him to go back to his normal well behaving self. I wont go in details, but at this point, he may very well end up in his bedroom most of most days, and with a red bum at that. Just Tuesday, he crushed his baby sister, put a "bad" movie on that I had just told him he was not allowed to watch at the moment, AND he almost got himself (and Amelia, who was holding his hand!) hit by a car because he was not paying attention and was too obsessed with the puddle he saw on the street.

Now, sending him to school would NOT resolve these issues, and I am fully aware of it. The only thing that really kept him home is that the English schools have nothing for advanced students, and the French school was too far away and he was still taking naps. Well, he can survive without naps, now, so it makes French school very tempting.

It's so hard, I want to homeschool, I know it's probably the best option (yes, even socialization would go down if he went to school! lol), but I am exhausted, he misbehaves, and I just want it to get better. I guess it's those 6 weeks of being sick that's draining me. I'm almost back to normal, but let me tell you, that bloody flu was brutal and left me coughing my lungs (and Amelia's!) out all that time!

I need some quiet time for myself. I need Luca to behave and listen better. I need not to give up. I refuse to give up at the first problem! The prospect of starting school myself in January is filling me with dread, but I have to keep in mind that it will all come together. THEN, if it's still a struggle, I can always send him in school.

Keep focused, girl!

From Luca's favourite movie...

2009-11-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

More surprises from Amelia...

2009-11-04T11:38:00.001-08:00

She is really full of surprises!

At Halloween, she told me she would take a plane ride up high in the sky to go get her balloon. When I told her it was not quite possible, she said she would make her butterfly wings fly to go get it. Then Luca explained her that her balloon was long gone, she had lost it in June at Prettyflower's place, you see.... and I had NO IDEA she had even realized she had lost it, even back then, even less that she remembered it!!!

Yesterday, she even said a "big word". "I promise" is not that hard, but for a little one who didn't say much last month, it is quite remarkable. She now tries to copy the speach of her big brother!!!

She also learns to use a keyboard and a mouse on the computer, tries to learn to write MIA, looks intently at the keyboard to find the letters and numbers she wants... it's a far cry from what she was before she started talking, like a whole new part of her emerging from the darkness! It's fascinating to watch!

My summer and fall in books

2009-11-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

As you may have realized, I wrote little about books recently, and it's simply because I ended up reading lots of BAD, BORING books. The few exceptions were the math book "Our Days are Numbered", which was obsessing, and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I am totally addicted to those books, and so are my kids, who listen to them on audiobooks. I am certainly going to ask my husband to give me all of the books in hardcover, because they will be read over and over again. Way better than Harry Potter.

I have just finished a book typical of the garbage I have read for most of the time since spring: "Multiple Blessings" by Jon and Kate Gosselin... the guys of "Jon and Kate plus 8". Well, guess what? Reading that book makes me marvel at how they ended up divorcing, instead of becoming a statistic of husbands murdering their wives. She is the most even unbearable person, even in a book where she probably tried to make herself less bad than she is... It's painful to read.

I started "Eat, Pray, Love", which I thought I would love... Italy and India, food and spirituality, something I really enjoy,right? WRONG! The author is mediocre enough to screw up on food, brainless enough to make me want to burn the book, but it belongs to the library, so I will simply return it. I HAAAAATE it!!!

I hope you guys had more luck than I, and please let me know whenever you read something that catch your attention, I am always on the lookout for new books!

The Acadians

2009-11-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

I am watching a wonderful documentary about the deportation of the Acadians, and highly recommend to watch it: "Expulsion: the Story of Acadia".

My dad was right, again.

2009-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

He told me Amelia would surprise me and he was so right!

Two weeks ago, Amelia started speaking in clear sentences, clear enough that on the phone, some people thought it was Luca speaking. Yesterday, she made up a story about a dragon who pretended he was going to eat her house, but it ended up eating all her apples instead. Today, she told me about mice who wanted to bite her in her bedroom, and when I got there, she told me "I got you"!!!!

I also had an other surprise, this time from Luca. It looks like we are going to start grade 2 much earlier than thought. The only things he does at an early grade 1 level is handwriting and spelling, the rest is pretty much all grade 2.

The past two weeks have been hectic and we are just starting our routine again. It's so much fun!!! :S

This gardening season

2009-10-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

This gardening season was a disaster, and not only because we were away for a month and a half. The only things that grew properly were our purple veggies: carrots, beans, potatoes and onions. I harvested some of the beans for seeds next year, and I will definitely plant the other veggies next year again. Seriously, this year I had NO squash,very few tomatoes (most of them rotted!!!) and nothing really did well... ok, cucumbers did, for a change, but still... All that rain in July kept our plants from being fertilized and therefore, no fruits. Even the squash and pumpkins didn't flower until August! Just so you know, we didn't plant pumpkins... they just grew from last years's jack-o-lantern's guts ;)

One more thing, we ended up with so many strawberries we didn't know what to do with them, in our first year, so I can definitely recomend the Veestars. They rock!

I also wanted to tell you about a book I just finished, "Made from Scratch" by Jenna Woginrich. That young (she is younger than me, if you can believe! lol) lady decided to leave the easy life of the city, and get laying hens, rabbits, working dogs, cook from scratch, sew, knit, etc. It was the kick in the butt I needed to start making my pasta from scratch again, and I'm finally going to attempt to learn to sew and knit. I have started talking to my man about getting hens again, in a few years, when the unbearable kids are more bearable, and his main concern is whether I could put an animal down or not... I can't touch raw meat, but I think I could kill an animal who needs it... I just couldn't pluck it and ready it for eating ;)

I am starting to plan what to plant in our "bigger than ever" garden, next year, and it will involve lots of my purple veggies, and as little tomatoes as possible. :D

Let's talk about socialization

2009-10-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

They were right. Socialization IS a problem when you homeschool: too much of it. I'm not kidding, we are out of the house most of the time, so much that it does somewhat interfere with "schooling"... lol

So for the classes the kids take out of the house, we will continue with skating, for both of them, and the princess will start ballet. Luca still likes going to beavers, and he is really proud of his first "badge", or whatever they call it.

I am still trying to focus on the fact that homeschooling will be just fine. Luca rarely gets under 90% in math, had 89% in English, and does well enough in history... but the history test questions are so ambiguous at times that I would definitely hesitate on many of them! Ok ok, bragging over! ;)

I am also taking not of all we do over the course of a week... I was asked "What is a typical homeschool day for you" and I realized that putting it over a week would make more sense... and I realized that from one week to an other, it can change dramatically. Interesting.

A few hard days

2009-10-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to report these days. I am sick, hurt, tired, grumpy. I have too many friends going through hell, and I feel powerless to help them. All I can do is to welcome them with a hot meal whenever they are around.

The kids are doing great. Amelia is finally speaking to the point that the man and I can understand her. Luca is becoming a very fluent reader, but still struggles with perfectionism at time. I love him anyway! ;) Rosa is a great baby, I'd have hundreds like her.

No, I am not saying I want to get pregnant. Not now. Even if I did, at least I know that although I could manage to be a good mom to many kids, I do not want more than 4. I want to give those I have the absolute best I have, and 4 is still a large enough number.

I am now looking into having Luca tested, but we don't have the money for a full psychoeducational assesment, so that probably won't happen, but I feel like I need a better understanding of what he knows and how to help him better. I have a feeling that with a little work from my part, he would be ready for grade 2, except that he writes like a little beginner (which he is).I have to constantly adapt (read: skip a lot) all his workbooks. I will probably try to give him the Canadian Achievement test at the end of the year. After all, he does grade 2 math, has a reading level of 2.8 (8th month of grade 2), etc.

I am full of doubts about everything, I'd like to send the boy to school, but it seems much less realistic every week that passes. I would not want him to skip 2 grades and end up with older kids who don't always behave in an appropriate way for a younger kid...

If only life was easier!

Grand-Papa

2009-10-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

This morning, I had the best dream ever.

My dad told me he had something to show me: a movie of his dad, my grand-father, when he was 16 years old. My grampa died just after I turned 3 years old, and I cried him for a long time, so of course, I was thrilled to see anything about him.

So the movie starts looking like a very modern movie, in colours, with modern clothing, and a pretty (read 'hot') teenage girl was blabbering. I knew that couldn't be my grand-father, of course, so I was a little confused. Then the camera moves a little, and there he is, my grand-father, old, but dressed like a rapper, pretending to be 16 years old, being a real clown. And seeing him old and happy made me so happy because I knew he had manage to survive diabetes while keeping both his legs. The pretty girl was his great niece.

I woke up in tears. If only reality could be so nice!

Luca

2009-10-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

I recently learned that there is a book out there, about a little boy called Luca. The original French version is called "Luca" and the English version (translated by the author, Mireille Messier), is called "Night Flight". I will definitely buy both versions... especially since the little Luca in the book is so much like mine! To fight sleep, he imagines he is a knight, a captain of a submarine, an archaeologist... all that's missing, is an astronaut! lol I will definitely let you know what we think about it when we have the chance to read it!

And here is an article Mireille Messier wrote on raising bilingual kids. I will certainly refer to it frequently in the next few weeks!

Day 16: July 2 2009

2009-10-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's matante M's birthday, yesterday was matatnte T's... I HAVE TO send them birthday wishes....

We are now leaving Sudbury. We went to visit Nanny. She had the most beautiful smile when she recognized my man. She is so skinny she looks like a living skeleton, but she radiates so much love it is easy to forget. Her and Rosa got along very well. She also gave a little toy to Amelia, who refuse to let go of it for even a second. My heart swelled up and I fear we may never see her again.

On our drive to my in-law's, Rosa cut her first tooth! Hurray!

Day 15: Canada Day

2009-10-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "The Witch of Portobello" by Paulo Coehlo, and at the end, there is an interview of the author. One of his answers really explain the way I feel about religion:

"I am a Catholic because I choose to be a Catholic. And then I go to Mass because I choose. It is out of my free will. But then, when sometimes I see the human touch in the sacred rituals, you say, oh, my God, that's not exactly what Jesus said. Jesus was much more open and he was full of joy of living. Because he was the one who was always travelling, surrounded by women, drinking wine. You know, having fantastic conversations with his disciples.

In my church, now more than before, they are, going against the natural flow of humankind.This new pope is a disaster to put it plainly... (...)

But the ritual of the Mass and the words of Christ, well, we'll survive this pope. The Mass is a mystery. And for me, it is the most perfect ritual."

Finally, today I used rum for medicinal purpose for the first time. My mosquito bites on my feet got out of control, so my man used rum compresses to help. It definitely beats rubbing alcohol! ;)

This is our last day at the camp, but the weather was crappy and the mosquitoes still numerous, so we didn'T go out, didn't celebrate. My feet were killing me all day and I tried to ignore it. I must have killed 10-15 mosquitoes, without even going out!

I feel like a terrible person: I forgot Benadryl at D's, the teething meds at Prettyflower's, and who knows what I'll forget here! I hate myself today!

I am now reading "Our Days are Numbered" by Jason I. Brown, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I really wish I could get to know someone like that!

If all goes according to plan, I'll take my first university classes this winter and I'm really looking forward to it!

Note: DoesnT' look like I'm going to be taking classes anytime soon, now.

Day 14: June 30th 2009

2009-10-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

I should have slept inside. I was dry, but cold all night, even with my warmest PJs, and every muscle aches right now. I will probably sleep inside tonight.

Seeing cousin D. pregnant makes me want to have more kids. It's funny how seeing Prettyflower and C. free of kids made me think I'd be all done, but that a pregnant belly changes it all. I remember vividly the pains of childbirth, but I would love to feel a little life growing inside me, choseing a perfect name for a perfectly good little being, even giving birth. I am not sure I am all done now. I doubt I ever will. One more child would give us an even number. I suffer from it all now! I want to rip thatIUD right out of me and make babies, although I refuse to get pregnant until Rosa is AT LEAST 2 years old. Complicated, huh?

Right now, I would like to be home to monitor my mail. I want to get that letter from the department of education, to make homeschooling official, as well as replies to some letters I wrote.

Isn't it strange how my blood relatives feel like weird strangers while my man's family feels more like we could be related. I feel so comfortable with them, I feel like I belong there... like family! No one ever mentionned my accent, not even the first time I ever visited, while people in my family make a point to mention it every occasion they have, that I sound "different". Other than my dad, my grand-mother and aunt M, I don't exactly feel comfortable. I love them anyway.

Today, Luca went fishing with uncle P. and my man, in the middle of the lake. At first, he was worried he would not catch anything, that they would get lost, sink, lose a paddle, be out of gas, not being seen by a rescue helicopter, etc..... in the end, he caught 3 little fishies and he was really proud.

Well, I think we figured out (thanks to my dad!) who the mysterious model was in Quebec City. A Victoria's Secret model called Alessandra Ambrosio... or something like that. She also has a 10 month old baby girl...

They are growing too fast!

2009-10-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Luca: His skating lesson was great. He decided he would try skating without holding on to anything, like a big boy, even when he was told he could use a cone. He's fighting his fears like a trooper! Also, he now knows what a figure of speech is, and even gave me an example today. I had no idea he knew that!

Amelia: Her speech is greatly improving. We understand her better and we can even tell she is saying whole sentences, using humour, etc. Her big brother keeps drilling her about numbers, the alphabet and additions. She is not as fast as him to learn new things, but there is still hope.

Rosa: She is 9 months old. Today, she stood up in the middle of the room without holding on to anything. She is growing way too fast.

Day 13: June 29th 2009

2009-10-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

I didn't write yesteday: I was having SO MUCH fun!!! Anyflower really is the greatest!

We had brunch yesterday, and I finally got to meet her parents, and I want to adopt them! I really do like them! I also discovered I love the area where she lives and want to move there eventually.

Anyflower is also officially done her masters, hurray for her! It really makes me look forward to taking classes again, probably starting next spring.

I have started to read "Our Days are Numbered" by Jason I. Brown. I never would have thought I would enjoy reading a book about math, but I really do!

Since we left Nova Scotia, we have been eating meat in a form or an other, every day, several times a day, and I am really getting sick of it. Even dairy gross me out now. I'm craving vegetarian, better yet, vegan! This brings me to my next decision: from now on, I will eat mostly vegetarian at home, and whatever I am offered outside. But I certainly won't increase the amount of meat we eat, yuck! I feel so sick and disgusted by so much meat! I still enjoy a GOOD steak, rare, but garbage meat? Never again!

For Gravol to work, I have to take two of them, but it makes me very drowsy. I will try ginger one of these days.

Prettyflower gave Amélimélo the best present ever: a cd of French songs for kids, accompanied with a pretty book with the lyrics. It will make my job of teaching her French a little easier, especially since I was already planning on teachibg the kids many of these songs!

It's funny, all the time we were at Anyflower's, I had the weirdest dreams at night, I really hope I will have no more of them now that we are gone!

All the drive from A. to the camp, my man told us about these yummy fries we would eat in a particular town... and they were closed, so we ended up eating nothing. I was rather upset and hungry. To top it off, I almost had a panic attack when I realized how secluded we would be,in the middle of the woods. The first thing that came though my mind was the forest fire we had last year, but when I told him I was not feeling well, that I didn't want to chat, my man assumed I was mad at him about the french fries. Silly him!

So we got to the camp and aunt R. was the fiest one to hold Rosa, since gramma wasn't there yet. I was shocked to see cousin D. is very pregnant. No one told me, as always! And Rosa sat for her, with her hands on the ground.

All the cousins played well together. M's manners were not the best, but it's probably because he is tired and overexcited, but deep down he is a real sweetie.

I was offered to sleep in the camp rather than the tent, but I'm craving one real night in the tent, dry. It will be just fine!

Day 11: June 27th 2009

2009-10-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a nice slow day. I woke up super duper late, well after the kids woke Anyflower and C up, and I feel really guilty about it. I'm the mom, it's my job to be up on duty!

Anyflower made us yummy pancakes for breakfast, a nice egg roll lunch, then we went to the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology. I remembered the crazy kitchen from my own childhood. Luca and Amelia really had a blast, but Luca was not feeling too good without his nap... he cried for at least 30 mminutes because a balloon flew in the sky.

We had some excellent pizza, thank you so much for it, Prettyflower!

So the kids were loud and whiny, the kind of day that make you wish you had never had kids, but the moments spent with A. and C. are always memorable!

NOTE: Even now, more than 3 months after, Luca still talk about that balloon, where it woul have landed, etc.

Day 10: June 26th 2009

2009-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, we watched "The Great Sperm Race" and quite frankly, it was quite funny. They put the trials and tribulations of the little swimmers on a human scale, so you can imagine it was rather... disturbing... but funny at the same time.

If Rosa wasn't such a happy baby, I probably would not hope for baby #4. I'd love to have an other one. I also like my man's objection to more kids: "Where would we put all the stuff we need when we go on vacation?" Well, I'd put it on the roof. And between the seats. Alouette! :D

We are on the road again. Luca and Amelia already miss their new friends, but they will have fun with Anyflower, I'm certain.

We stopped at 'Chez Ashton's', got a poutine, then my dad went to get me some cheese... thanks dad! Merci papa! I don't deserve such kindness after breaking your digital camera! lol

When my man told me we were going to have a Kia Sedona, I started to watch cars a little more and realized there are very few Kia vehicles on the road in Nova Scotia. They are much more common in Quebec. I wonder why.

So we drove to Montreal with my dad, so he could see all his grandkids together. We first stopped at the Cosmodome, but it was slightly dissapointing; it was not really hands on, and the best parts were documentaries aimed at older people.

I have a hard time writing right now, Luca is telling me a story of his own. The first chapter was about a man who finds a clue on a plate, but the bad weather washes it off. Second chapter is named "Darkness, thunder and the crow", about a bad crow who attacks the man. Chapter 3, "The man in the wheel chair"..the man is having a bad time because his leg fell off in the crow's attack. Amazing story, too bad I can't write for a long time in a car (motion sickness).

New Story. Chapter 1: "The Hidden Pawprint". It's a 5 chapter story about an invisible dog leaving paw prints. I really like that child's imagination!

So we dropped grand-papa at my brother's place, I met his new girlfriend and her daughter for the first time. I love them both, and my 3 nephews are great kids. I was impressed with the big girls, they are such wonderful big cousins! The boys played quietly with a video game. All 6 kids ate nicely at the table, devouring some greasy pizza. Amelia is now the one who continuously says "poisson" and my brother's kids got the bug too! lol It was fun and lively, enough to make me wish we lived closer or had more kids. The more time passes, the less I want to have an other child, but I do wish we had more kids around, especially family. It was nice and fun. I must like kids, after all! :D

"Welcome to Ontario. More to discover"

I'm going through so many emotions on this journey, it's hardly believable! We have a crying little Rose, so I guess I should tend to her needs!

We arrived close to Anyflower's much later than expected, and to make matter worse, the marking on the street didn't match those of the map AND it was raining. As soon as I realized we most likely missed the road, I told my man but he argued I must be wrong, so we kept going for a long time. Well, I was right all along :S

Note to self: map reading at night is rather difficult!

Nobel Prize

2009-10-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Could someone explain to me how the Nobel prize laureates are chosen? I'm seriously wondering. They guys who received it for physics received theirs about 40 years after making their discovery/invention, so why did they wait that long? And on the other side, here is Mr. Obama getting the peace prize... whithout having accomplished anything yet! I am sure this man may possibly accomplish things in the future, but isn't it a little premature?

Please, someone, explain this to me. I want to belive that the Nobel prize still mean something, but it's getting a little hard!

Speaking of the Nobel prize winners, Willard S. Boyle is a Nova Scotian... and he was homeschooled until high school. That would be enough to make my day, but I especially liked what he has to say about what science should be, as well as education. I love that guy already! If only I knew what contribution he really made to science... lol

My worst day as a mother

2009-10-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today, for the first time since I became a mother, I wished I was not a mother and would never have kids ever EVER again. I am not certain what happened to me, but I ended up easily irritated, the kids keep acting like there is a storm coming AND they are even being rude (one thing I really can't stand). I even managed to lose Amelia in a crowd!!!

I can't describe how it felt today, I really can't. I was seriously considering sending all the kids in school/day care so I could be rid of them all. I was wondering if anyone would adopt them. Yeah, I'm really proud of myself on that one.

Well, at the end of the day, I became a little more human, and heard news that reminded me that even if they are homeschooled, the kids will be just fine. Ok, I might be slightly retarded, but learning that the new canadian Nobel laureate has been homeschooled until high school really made me feel better, like it was the thing I needed to hear at that specific moment.

So I'll go on being a mom and homeschooling for now, trying not to become a monster again when the kids will act like naughty little imps.

Speech Therapy, Colds... and milestones, of course!

2009-10-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'll get the milestones out of the way: Rosa stands holding on with only one hand, she "reads" books while turning a page at a time (if it's a board book, of course), and Amelia asked "why" for the first time.

I am sick, tired, and tired of being sick. I hardly sleep, I cough, sneeze, care for sick kids, and can hardly think. You know, all 5 of us got sick, the boys got over it quickly, Amelia wasn't too bad, but of course, I'm the sickest of them all. Again. And guess what? The only 2 who tried homeopathy this time are both the sickest, and we've been sick longer. Arrrg!

I have filled the forms so Amelia can get to see a speech therapist. I wont lie to you: part of me is dreading the idea that something else may be going on with her. I know for a fact it can't be autism, but mild retardation would not surprise me that much at all. Well, I should not say that, just wait and see... but I would not be surprised either way.

Discipline.... and milestones

2009-09-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

I forgot the discipline in the last post... well, we are going to sit down together and set some rules, and get the kids to help find consequences to their own misbehaviours.

Now, the milestones... Rosa is driving me nuts!!! She now calls her dad daddy (although sometimes it's dadadyyyy or dadydy, etc). She plays pat-a-cake, waves, when I point somewhere, she looks there rather than my finger, etc. I can't keep up updating all her new milestones, she's going through so many every day or two. She now drinks rice milk from her sippy cup.

BTW.... Happy Birtday to my favourite pretty flower ;)

Discipline... and updates.

2009-09-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Update? We are now all ill again. Just that cold season again. Gotta love it. Well, that doesn't stop little miss pirate to show off... she decided today to hold on to a water bottle, bite the top ring, and flap her hands to make noise with the bottle, while grinning at my husband. She's good, and she knows it. Show off.

Luca had his first religious education class today... yeah, Sunday school.... since there are no other kindergartner, they put him with the grade 1, which is just fine with me... however... he is registered with the government as grade primary (kindergarten), reads and does math at a grade 2 level, writes at a grade 1 level, and the rest is a mix... but in nothing he is at a grade primary. So... what grade is he in, really? The grade he is registered for? The grade he works at? I keep forgetting he is not in grade 1, not that it matters, except that I have to remind myself he is only 5!

With miss Amelia... I'm trying to get her to see someone for her speech delays. It's probably just because she is learning two languages, but she is really messed up. She also seems a little odd at times, so I just want to make sure her hearing is fine and her brains too. I don't know what to think about her. Sometimes, she seems like a dumb blonde, sometimes just normal, sometimes, she almost sounds smart (she tries to say big words like her big brother... but can't manage to pronounce anything, not even the simple words properly!). We had to deal with her major melt down a few days ago when she tried to talk about a face cloth... we had no idea that's what she meant by "lucased" or something like that.

My mom has now left, and is probably already back to her place. You know, I like doing puzzles once in a while, and I had one of those "test your IQ" books, in French. I know they are made in such a way as to make you look more intelligent than you really are, so I really take them with a grain of salt... but they are a lot of fun! Well, my mom kept arguing she is an intelligent woman (she is one of the least intelligent people I know!) so she wanted to do a test for fun... well... not only she didn't understand the questions, but even after I explained how they worked, she didn't quite understand. The only right answers she had were due to chance, good guesses, which happen in multiple choice questions. It was painful to see.

Well, besides that there is not much news, other that I had to cancel all the fun outings I had planned in September! :S

Have more fun than me, guys!

...and the excitement never ends!

2009-09-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

...so.....

Today, I caught Rosa trying to climb up the stairs...

...and she also tried several times to balance on her feet without holding on to anything...

...and she bit me on the chin. I screamed (it hurts!), told her not to do that, that she was a bad girl, and the cat bit me on the toes to defend her! lol

So Rosa has Luca's brain and Amelia's mischief, so we are in SOOOOOOO much trouble! And she has the cat on her side. He lets her pet him all the time! What is going on in our house?

When Milestones drive you nuts

2009-09-24T18:18:00.001-07:00

Less than 2 weeks ago, Rosa started Crawling.

Yesterday, she pulled herself to a standing position.

Today, she made her first steps.

I can now officially say she is reaching all her milestones much earlier even than Luca, and it's driving me nuts. If she is to be my last baby, shouldn't she STAY a BABY longer than the others?

FlashForward Rocks!!!

2009-09-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just watched the premiere of FlashForward tonight, and I must say it rocks!!! It is on A (ABC in the US), and I order you all to watch it next Thursday!

It is after one of my favourite novels by my favourite author (Robert J. Sawyer). Suddenly, every person on the planet blacks out for 2 minutes 17 seconds. Well, imagine all the destruction on the roads, operation rooms, etc. Now, they are trying to find out what happend, while coping with the destruction, as well as the images they saw during their "FlashForward".

Thinking outside the classroom

2009-09-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

CBC did some interviews about homechooling recently, and they are online to be enjoyed now!

Have fun!

My sweetest boy

2009-09-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

I love my sweet boy, he is awesome.

If you remember, before he was 2 years old, Mr Man hated me. He like me only because I was the one to feed him, that was it. Well yesterday, he told me "You know when I was at daycare, I didn't really like it that much because I missed you. I don't want you to go to work so I won't miss you." So now he is not so upset about not going to school. On the other side, he wishes I worked so his daddy wouldn't have to work as hard and go away. When daddy is done, in about 10 years, I'll be more than happy to go back to work, as long as there is someone responsible to care for the kids. And I DO want my man to work less and take it easy, but he will never retire. If he ever does, he will be one of those who die shortly after.

Ds also works really hard at convincing me to have 2 more kids. Quite frankly, I'd like one more, but I don't think I want 2 more, to the point that when he talks about it, it does annoy me. But he is talking all the time about the ways he could take good care of me and his sister when I would be pregnant, how he would care for all of them, etc. My man is really upset about this, since he wants no more kids, but the boy is SOOOOO convincing!

So I now know two things for a fact: I don't want to take any decision until Rosa is 2 or 3, see how much trouble she is, and I also know that I do not want more than 4 kids. If I ended up with twins, or taking home someone else's child, I would, but not by choice.

Well, at least now I have a better Idea of what I want ;) Call me crazy if you want to want one more, but my kids are sweet and easy, and NOT wanting more of them would be unnatural.

School and Unschool

2009-09-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Now that my son reads fluently, I have an other problem: how much structure, or how little should I use in our homeschool. Now, I insist that he needs to know math, grammar, spelling, and the scientific method, but I'm all for approaching it in whatever way will make it more palatable... but he is so eager to learn that it is almost easier to let him explore on his own. I looked at some of the workbooks like "Complete Canadian Curriculum", and with a little work (not that much), he could do the grade 3 work. So I guess that for math and English, I'll keep work to a minimum, following his desires (he already loves both), and let him explore other things that fascinate him... but how much? How? I have never seriously considered "unschooling" (child-led learning), but it seems like it may end up being a big part of our days.

Amelia too is "unschooling", if we can say. She works hard at speaking more clearly, insists she wants to read and do math like Luca, loves doing "workbook", and spent some time reading numbers and letters at the hospital. What will I do with her now? *sigh*

Murphy's law, again and always

2009-09-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Recently, everytime I leave the house on time, I get no traffic and arrive way too early. Everytime I'm running behind, ever so slightly, I get all the red lights, heavy traffic and construction.

Also, when the baby is sick and I bring her to the doc, she is always better before we get there and get bad again after we leave. Of course!

Let's just hope her temperature wont rise again to 39 degrees, it is a pretty scary thing to happen.

Oh, and I found the perfect child's book for Asaathi "Foolish Rabbit's Big Mistake". It's about a scaredy rabbit who think the Earth is breaking apart because he heard a noise, get a bunch of animals to run away, until a wise lion stops them and make the foolish rabbit go back to see what scared him. ;)

Apples and more

2009-09-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty quiet recently. I am now putting together a thematic unit on apples (I'll write it all down when I am done!), and the kids are loving it.

The only other news from here is that the baby is now very mobile, plays peek-a-boo, and I just started yoga classes and I realized I was in a rougher shape than I thought.

Love you guys!

I'm not sure what happened...

2009-09-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

The last few days were a blur, with very little sleep, lots of going out, cleaning, and learning.

It is now official, Luca started Primary Mathematics 2A, but instead of being creepy, the boy actually has to focus on what he is doing, because he has a slight challenge, for a change. He also has a few new jobs, including cleaning up his own messes (2 glasses of juice spilled withing 5 minutes really infuriated me!), and reading to me while I clean up. Really, that is the best arrangement ever, he has me right there to tell him the words he struggles with, while I am not alone and bored while cleaning. Isn't that wonderful?

The only downside is that my son is shallower than I thought. We were talking about friends, and he mentioned that one thing that mattered to him is that he needs to like the way his friends look. It has never been a criteria for me or my husband, so I have no idea where that one comes from. The only mention to physical appearance we do make is that being overweight (yes, we sometimes use the word fat) is bad for your health, especially when you have heart disease and diabetes in the family.

To top it off, a few days ago, he went and hid in his closet with a girl... when confronted, the little tramp was very defensive, even agressive about it, while my son started blushing and looked guilty. He is just as bad a liar as I am!

Day 9: June 25th 2009

2009-09-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Today, Amelia and I acquired our first set of dice! Obviously, she picked a pink set, while I choose a copper-coloured one.

Once again today, the kids were exhausted early on. We went for a walk at Domaine Maizeret and Arboretum. Both kids had a great time, except that they were too hot. It was 31C, 37 with humidex. I definitely didn't miss that kind of weather!

Back at D. and C.'s, my man made a great greek pasta dish, so good I had to have seconds!

I also have to not that L. is being a great kid, patient with Luca and Amelia, telling them politely if they do something wrong, and even serve them breakfast in the morning. I don't know yet how to thank that kid, but he certainly deserve a big thank you!

We are all dying in this heat, so I'll shut the lights off and try to sleep.

Tomorrow, we're on the road again... thinking of the donkey in Shrek ;)

Michael Jackson is dead. I don't really care myself, I find the man really creepy, but musically he was important, I guess, so I might as well note it.

I like what these vacations are doing to my husband:he is being nice, going as far as giving me hugs and kisses!!! :D

Note: After we came back to Nova Scotia, we ended up with several days with temperatures reaching the 30's, almost 40 with humidex. It's funny I was saying we never have that in NS, isn't it?

Day 8- St-Jean-Baptiste

2009-09-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

There are some things I don't miss about Quebec City: hot stuffy humid nights are one of them. At least, in Nova Scotia, we always get a breeze!

Today, we went to celebrate my cousin's daughter 8th birthday. It was nice to see all the family, but it was also a reminder that I was never close to any of them, and I can't really see it happening now that I live a 12 hour drive from everyone. I don't understand who they have become, and they are little more than strangers I share DNA with. It pains me because family is important, and I have almost no connection to mine. But even as a child, I always felt like an outsider among them.

I also deplore the fact that most news from me come through somebody else-usually my father-, so when something is not reported properly, I can't rectify it right away. There is still that urban myth going aroud that when I was 16, I decided not to have kids because my niece was crying a lot at night when they visited. First of all, I decided not to have kids in kindergarten/grade 1 because I thought the other kids were mean and rather stupid. Second, yes I was bothered that my niece cried so much, mostly because it was during school season, I was kicked out of my room and I thought no one was doing anything to calm her down. I heard no parent's soothing voice, no lullaby, no walking around to quiet her AND I could not go in and see if I could do something to help. I was powerless, with no indication anyone was doing anything to help that little girl. Yes, in the morning I was rather p!ssed off, and it seems everyone assumed I just didn't like her.

This makes me mad, because it depicts a very inaccurate picture of who I am. No one really knows me because no one cares to look beyond appearances. No one seems to know what I like, what I want. I'm tired of being seen as a shallow bitch of an aunt, while I always cared for the kids!

Also, I hate how my accent is being brought up in every conversation, but really, how good is their English? And have they ever listened to their accent when they speak in French? Quite frankly, it is rather ugly and I would never try to copy it to "fit in" Ugh!

There is much more I'd like to say, but I am too angry to make any attempy to do so.

On the bright side, homeschooling was rarely mentionned. No one seems to think it's great... and no one seems to even know what it is, or even care about knowing. One point has been proven, though: my kids are not social prunes. They have good manners, enjoy other people's company, no matter what age, what language. Right now, Luca really gets along with L.,a 9 year old. He played with all the French kids. Of course, I was asked if he has any friends: many more than I did at the same age... or ever, for that matter!

I hate people, some days!

The last few days...

2009-09-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Of course, I had to make my own cake and buy my own presents, I didn't sleep for 3 days now because of a teething baby, now, but I still had a blast!

When the first thing you hear in the morning is a 5yo who asks you if you lost weight... to realize he is right, that beats any present! Of course, in my card, he had to write "I love you because you are a little older"... but knowing he only needed help to spell because makes me forgive him.

Yesterday, we had friends over, so I had fun cooking all day, even with a screeching teething baby. I had not had this much fun in a long time, especially since a friend just showed up unexpectedly. The only thing I could deplore is all the Navy talk, but hey, that's the price to pay occasionally.

Luca is getting really impatient because I keep dragging math, and he wants to start right now. I have to admit he is ready for it, but I am still terrified. It seems so unnatural for a such a young kid to do so much math and loving it... I guess that will be good practice for when Rosa is older, because she looks like she is going to be a smart cookie too!

As for Rosa, she started crawling... to sample the cat's food! She also started eating cheerios, so we find them crumbled all over the place... again! *sigh* She also tries to put herself in a standing position, and I have a feeling she may succede in the next few weeks. She also learns to play like a big girl. She does great with cubes. She definitely is her brother's sister.... now... tell me, what happened for Amelia to be the way she is? She is a great girl, but so much slower than her siblings, in so many ways!

Venus

2009-09-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

Luca asked me some interesting questions today, about the planet Venus.

First of all, he asked me what was that very bright star/planet right by the moon. I wasn't quite certain, but I told him it was Venus. He was a little scared that Venus would crash on Earth, it was so big and bright!!!

Now, at bedtime, he asked me: "Is Venus Earth's twin? I think it is, and they call it that because they are made the same and they are the same size. Well, Venus is a tiny bit bigger, but almost the same." I had no clue whatsoever, so I googled it... and it seems he was very right, except that it is Earth that is slightly bigger than Venus! How cool is that?

First day of School

2009-09-02T15:42:00.001-07:00

I only learnt yesterday that today is the first day of school, so I had nothing planned. Here is how our day unfolded:

-Luca coloured the September page of his calendar

-Rosa cut her fingers in a baseboard heater, then crawled all over the living room, leaving a bloody trail everywhere she went

-Amelia coloured and started playing with the "Get Ready for the code". She was very excited at the idea of doing big girl work, like Luca ;)

-Luca did a word search with French words (pets). He deciphered the words with almost no help. He can now read chat, chien, lapin, souris, poisson, oiseau, hamster and tortue. That was a huge surprise!

-The kids started cleaning up the playroom, after playing in it for a while

-Harvested 15-20lbs of blue potatoes, 7 cucumbers, 2 beets, 1 squash, and several onions.

-Luca begged to start "Primary Mathematics" 2A because he says 1B is baby math. We'll try it, then... yikes!

-We went to the library to get some books, and he kept wanting more and more ;)

Now the kids are watching a movie, then it's up in bed.

Today was crazy, busy, but a lot of fun, and Luca surprised me in many occasions (maman, that potato was hard to get, so I used this little shovel, put it under, and used leverage... YES, I know what leverage is and I used in the proper context!!!)...

One last word... yesterday, we finally had a playdate with the other homeschooled kid in our area, who happens to be the same age as Luca and love the same things. Isn't that wonderful?

And the milestones keep coming

2009-08-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Rosa finally cut tooth #4. It was painful for all of us!

I also fed her some Baby Mum Mum crackers, and she had no reaction. There is some milk in them, so at least I know she wont have crazy reaction to tiny amounts. I feel much relieved, since there is dairy in one form or an other in most processed foods! I really don't want to cook EVERYTHING from scratch!

She went from lying on the floor to sitting, all on her own, today. When I saw that, I clapped and called "Bravo"... she answered by smiling and clapping her hands.

Good job, girl!

Allergies and milestones

2009-08-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Amelia's milestones: counts to 10 in English

Rosa's milestones: Claps hands, gives five.

Now... I am going increasingly concerned over Rosa's allergy. Now that she has had several varieties of cereals without formula, I can definitely say that it is not what she is allergic to. Milk is the most likely culprit, unless she has one freakish allergy to some chemical or preservative in the formula...

I have talked to a few acquaintances who have kids with milk allergies... most are mild, some ended up anaphylactic. Since I also have concerns over Amelia's reaction to bug bites, I'll insist on a referal with an allergist. Hopefully, Rosa just has a mild allergy that she will grow out of... because if you read carefully, most foods have milk proteins in it. I would have to make even more of my food from scratch. Hopefully it wont go this far.

It's hard to get a good night of sleep now. I definitely don't want to be that crazy mom who freaks out anytime the child is in proximity of the offending food, but I want to KNOW what to expect, whether I should be worried or not.

What do you think?

Recent Milestones

2009-08-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Luca: He is now reading fluently. He still struggles with some words, but when he reads out loud, it sounds much better, like he actually knows what he is doing ;) He even grabbed a Magic Tree House novel and read it during the storm. Hurray for Luca!

Amelia: She is speaking more clearly everyday. Not only that, she also WANTS to learn more French. Good Girl! And to top it off, she invented her first knock knock joke yesterday. I made one up with Luca, so she made up one with Mia (she wants us to call her that)

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Mia.
Mia who?
Meow!!!

Not too bad for a little 2yo who can hardly speak! lol

Rosa: She just cut her 3rd tooth last night. She is now steady on her hand and knees, sometimes on her hand and feet, and tries really hard to move. She knows what "Maman" means, and if you aske her if she wants to see me, she bounces and squeals. She also tries to "talk" with her siblings. It is really nice to see. She is one smart little girl!

8pm

2009-08-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

For a while, when the eye was close, it was really quiet, not even a breeze. Afterward, it started being windy again, but not as bad as before.

At the moment, we are having the tail end of the storm. No rain, just some wind. All is good with us. Our trees lost a few leaves, but that's about it!

Now it is almost bedtime! :D

2:15pm

2009-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

We still have electricity, obviously. It's not that bad. Hardly a breeze, now.

I filmed this at noon:

8:15am

2009-08-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

Still no storm. It is much windier now. I went to get the newspaper in the morning, and although it was really calm, the humidity in the air was opressing. I don't like that. Right now, I am as crazily worried as Luca usually is. It's ridiculous. But it's looking like it will make landfall close enough to home to worry.

Baby is still teething, but sleeping. A few bad things happened (sour milk, etc), but overall, everything is good.

I'll go back to folding laundry to keep me busy.

5:40 AM

2009-08-23T01:40:00.000-07:00

No sun. No birds singing.... but also, no rain, and no wind!

I am happy, it allowed us to get a good sleep un our beds, unfortunately...we and the kids will be awake for all of it :S Hopefully I manage not to show my fear!

Worst and Best Evening Ever

2009-08-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

Best:

My neighbour came over to gave us some cake, then stayed for a few drinks. I love her! lol

Worst:

My husband wants to start somking again.

I just learnt Bill will make landfall between Halifax and Sidney.

The sky is grey

2009-08-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

The first clouds are here. You can feel the change in the air, suddenly it is getting cold, the birds stopped singing, although they were already unusually quiet today. We are secure for the storm, and are going to sleep in the basement, and spend most of tomorrow in the basement, until the storm is over, just in case. Some may think it is excessive, but in such winds, debris can EASILY break your windows, something you don't want to witness!

Now it looks like we wont get a direct hit, which is great, but the garden will probably be ripped apart anyway, especially after so many rainless days and a husband who didn't water at all... and squashes dying because of powdery mildew... a recipe for disaster.

Here is a link to a cool picture of Buddy Bill.

Keep the people from NFL in your mind, they are going to get hurt too.

See at home on the rock HERE and HERE

This is my life!

2009-08-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Go see THIS.... that's my life right now! lol

The funniest part, is that when you live it, you don't realize how crazy it is... until you SEE it! lol

Teeth and allergies

2009-08-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Luca lost his 3rd tooth last night. Amelia is getting her 3rd molar in a row. Rosa is gettin her 3rd tooth. 3x3=9

Rosa got her needles done. She is tall for her age, and her weight is proportional to her height, so it's all good. She's 19.2lbs, not too bad! ;)

Unfortunately, the Dr also confirmed my suspicion that Rosa is allergic to milk, so that will be fun. Anyone who has seen her puke in Ontario will know it doesn't take her much at all, just a few spoonfuls of cereal with milk, and she pukes large quantities for hours. A little on her skin causes rashes. A little lick of yoghurt, same thing.

*sigh*

Are you ready for Bill?

2009-08-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Bill

Keep an eye on that one, we certainly do here! After hurricane Juan, in 2003, we always made sure we are ready with a 24 hour notice, to go without electricity for several weeks... Nova Scotia Power is not the best, you know ;)

At the moment, it looks like Bill will NOT make landfall in Nova Scotia after all, bu we should get some nasty winds anyway. I am sure my tomato plants will not thank me for this! ;)

John Holt and Classical Education

2009-08-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

After reading through John Holt books and "The Well-Trained Mind", I think I figured out what really bothers me with them.

John Holt always speaks of children as beings that will be harmed by the slightest negative comment, weaklings who must left alone, otherwize they wont reach their full potential. I do agree with him that children deserve to be respected, and told their mistakes in a way you could tell an adult without hurting them. I agree that children can be given some freedom in their learning, but I still believe they still need some guidance.

The classical method is the polar opposite, with a lot of structure, to the point of being ridiculous if followed to the letter.

Quite frankly, it really bothers me when people take camps and almost fight over their "methods", while all that matters is to love and respect the kids, and in the end, find the amount of structure (or little structure) that works for them. They are individuals, not robots, for goodness sake!

So my plan for the fall? Trying to follow my own advice lol.

Homeschool structure

2009-08-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's funny, when I first wanted to homeschool, I thought I would do it in a very structured way, and now that I am about to start, I am not so sure. I am not certain how to say that, but I am hoping to give the kids freedom to explore on their own while still keeping some of the classical idea... like using "Story of the world" for history, following the science seuqence, languages, etc, while letting them choose within these limits... clear as mud, I guess...

I am not sure how things are going to work. I am definitely hoping for the best, and will update whenever. No matter what it is, I have a feeling it will involve lots of reading from the boy! tee hee hee!