A trip to the market and other such fairy tales........

Today we headed to Value Village and I was going to stop at the small farmers market there and grab some milk and a few other things......yeah, "going to" are the operative words here.

As we were walking to the place the children were happily discussing what they might find to spend their money on and so on and so on. We arrived and headed straight to the Toy section (I figured I wouldn't make them wait any longer) they had a tough time deciding what to get so as to stay within their budgets, but at long last, they all had treasures. Now, I say we need to head over to the clothing section so I can find some clothes for Mariah. No such luck, apparently someone had been there recently, looking for the exact same age range of little girls clothing and had tossed everything here and there, I tried to sort through things and sift, all the while I am attempting to make sure I don't lose any children, which have decided that they need to go back to the toy section to exchange an item for that other thing that was much cooler than what they originally had....grrrr. Kayla has decided that hiding in the clothing racks is just TOO MUCH FUN, especially when Mama get's all panicked and starts yelling her name!! Then Alyssa has to pee (and suddenly Robbie and Alex have this uncontrollable need to pee RIGHT NOW too)At which point Mariah feels it necessary to begin ripping her seatbelt off and throwing all my neatly collected items off the stroller at innocent passerbyers and screeching as though her toenails are being ripped off one by one. As we are making our way to the OTHER side of the store where the bathrooms are located, we soon discover that the ladies bathroom is OUT OF ORDER and that we need to use the MENS bathroom. Which of course is LOCKED and we need to find an employee to come and unlock it, which turns out ot be an adventure all on it's own. So here's is this crazed Mama with five children wandering around Value Village, which includes a 2yo not so graciously dancing around, screaming at the top of her lungs that she needs to pee NOW, while her 8yo is telling her to just hold on while he's chasing her around and the 5yo is whining that if he doesn't pee soon he is just gonna 'implode', and of course the 6yo who started the pee scene is hanging on the stroller moaning about her urge to pee. Finally we find an employee who graciously takes time out of her OBVIOUS coffee break, to come and un-lock the door. I'm not sure which motivated the young lady more, the fear of 4 children peeing on the floor or the daggers that were by now shooting from my eyeballs.

After we survive the torturous ordeal of deciding who was worthy of peeing first on the one and only toilet available, and succeeding in no pee appearing on the floor, we proceed to the women's section, where I'm hoping to find something for me. BIG mistake, the children are now starving and are loudly protesting their anguish over the rumbles in their tummies. Of course all the strangers who by now are glaring at me seemingly because of my horrible mothering and inhumane treatment of these poor creatures, has no clue that I fed them a nice BIG snack of cheese and crackers and fruit and juice at the table OUTSIDE of the store BEFORE we entered the store!!!!

Okay, fine, we will leave and go get lunch. We head over to the til to pay. Each child has just got to pay for their items on their own, so as I am organizing the chaos, Kayla apparently had plans of her own, and they did not include any of us.
After I got the kids all organized, I turned around to tell Kayla to move up beside her brother.....uh, Kayla? Um, no Kayla to be found. Just as I am about to SCREAM her name, a lady walk into the entrance of the store with my little blonde renegade, who has a gloriously triumphant grin on her face. As I am about to thank this 'kind' lady for rescuing my daughter, she loudly retorts "IS THIS ONE YOURS?" to which I reply "Why yes, thank........." and I'm interrupted with " I FOUND HER OUTSIDE THE DOORS" okay, I realize that this could have easily been a very tragic story, I realize that my little blonde sweetheart could've disappeared without a trace, I realize all the terrible things that could've gone wrong, but they didn't and I'm thankful that this kind lady brought her back to me, she on the other hand was obviously disgusted with my negligent parenting. (remember, they are starved, I don't let them use the bathroom and now I don't even keep an eye on them)
Of course, the punishment for such a heinous crime is banishment to the stroller!!! *GASP* yes my friends it was a truly horrific scene...........
Crazed mother whisk two-year-old up off her feet and FORCES her into the stroller, thus rendering her un-escapable and unable to move. The two-year-old LOUDLY protests and screams and yells, to which the mother only responds with a stern look and quiet words. As the toddler screams and arches her back, the innocent baby sitting next to her is bashed in the head by a flailing arm and this begins her screams of agony.

To the sweet lady who was standing behind me:
Thank you for your *kind* smiles and eye rolling, as well as your deep and heavy sighs, as you may have noticed they helped the situation immensely. Either you never had kids, never been around kids or you gave birth to a perfect child, in which case, I'm glad you were exposed to this gruesome scene!!!

To the kind lady who was standing beside me at the other cashier:
Your tongue clicking and toe tapping was almost as entertaining as my two-year olds temper tantrum, I was most impressed when you flipped your hair back over your shoulder and gave me a great big "PFFFFFFT", once again, please read above note.

To the wonderful cashier: Thank you for attempting to get us through quickly, I know you may have thought I was some out of control whack job of a mother, but I assure you, that is not the case. Normally my children are somewhat rational and can endure the painstaking process of mama shopping, however this was obviously not that time.
It was most beneficial though, when you took it upon yourself to offer me the un-solicited advice of taking my children home and putting them to bed....THANKS!!

Oh, if only to have been a fly in the wall at that store as we exited stage left.HA!!

We made our way to McDonalds so I could feed my poor starving children, who weren't sure if they would have enough energy reserved to make it the 5min walk. But alas, they survived and lived to tell the McDonalds cashier what they would like to eat and which junk collecting Neo Pet they would like, to which the cashier looks my way with his pimply face and braces and doles out the wonderful comment..."ARE they all yours?".....Ahhhhh, yes and so it goes.

A Day at the Lake!!!

Good afternoon!!

What a nice day it has been!! We just got back about an hour ago from the lake, it was such a nice day. Kerri and her three kids came along and everyone had a great time.
The weather cooperated, it wasn't too hot nor was it cold. The kids played in the pool and at the park. My guy's are totally wiped out now, though!!LOL

They seem to be a bit cranky now too, early baths and early to bed tonight. The kids were also up pretty early as well, so that doesn't help.

Tomorrow is another busy day, we'll be heading off to Value Village bright and early.
I really hope I find some good stuff, Thursday I think we'll take it easy and catch up on some housecleaning and laundry, then Thursday Kerri and I decided we'll hit the lake again. Saturday we'll be there again, and Monday we're hoping to head to the Zoo with Uncle Rob and Auntie Shellie!!WHEW!!
I cannot believe the summer is half over, although Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, I still love the summer months.

We'll guess I better finish un-packing the bags and then start getting things together for supper. I was really wanting hotdogs and mac 'n' cheese for dinner, but I completely forgot to take out the hotdog buns this morning!!!GRRR!! So, I guess it'll be fish and chips!!! and some leftover chow mien noodles from last night!!LOL

Have a great evening my dear friends!! I'll post tomorrow and let you know of all my interesting finds!!!
God bless!!!!

Change of Pace!!!

Well, it's my holidays!! Today I have officialy claimed as a lazy day, other than of course the normal daily things, I'm just floating through the day!!!

I forgot to write about what we did last weekend!!LOL (Bill and I)
We didn't go to the Stampede, it was just a lost cause. BUT, we did go see a movie!!!
We saw Star Wars: Episode 3!! That was a fantastic movie, I have never been one to really be into Star Wars, but now I am!!!LOL( besides, Hayden Christensen (aka: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader) IS nice to look at!!!ROFL!! He IS a Canadian!!!Born: April 19th 1981, in Vancouver British Columbia!!)

It was nice to be out with Bill, and apparently (according to my children) Bill and I are 'supposed' to go on another date VERY soon.....like this weekend!!!LOL!!
So, we'll see....maybe I can talk Grandma into playing with the Grandchildren this Saturday!!!


As for this week, I'm just going to be enjoying my family. Wednesday we are heading over to Value Village, the children have some hard earned chore money to spend. I need to get my Miss mariah some new clothes!! I do believe she had a growth spurt!!!
Most of her pants are about an inch too short and her belly sticks out from her shirts!!LOL Which they should by all rights, seems how she is 14 months old and most of her clothes are 6-9mos!!!LOL I was also going to take her and get her weighed to see about doing a car seat rotation, but I decided that I'm just going to keep her rear facing for awhile longer, regardless. (Her rear-facing carseat is good to 22lbs) I know she is not 22lbs yet!!! Maybe 19lbs....maybe!!!

Tomorrow we are heading to the lake with good friends of ours, (who's oldest just turned EIGHT!!!!!LOL I used to change his diapers!!!ROFL!!!)Where did the time go, Kerri?????

Speaking about time, I do suppose I should get off this chair!!!LOL I do have to do a laundry switch (Yeah!) and, judging by the smell that is wafting from Mariah as she just crawled by......I have to change a diaper!!!LOL

Have a great Monday!!!
God bless!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

James and Rebekah!!!! They just had their fifth blessing on Tuesday!!!
Praise be to Him!!!!!

My week hasn't been the greatest and at the same point it hasn't been the worst!
HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY TO ROBBIE!!!!!!!He turned 5 on Tuesday!!!!
Just a quiet celebration at home, we're hoping to get a lake day in to celebrate like we have since he turned two!!!

I am not sleeping well, mostly because of Bill's wonky hours, and for some reason I am having nightmares, really terrible ones. Ones that I can't even write about because they freak me out so badly. I wish I could turn them off, I've tried thinking 'happy thoughts' before I fall asleep, I always have some wonderful prayer time before I fall asleep....I just dunno.

For those MOMYS who read my blog....Thank you for your prayers for Bill!!! The doctor was wonderful and has put him on the same meds as before. (at least we know they work!!) She's also sending him for a complete blood work up.

Other than that, not much to report on. Just pluggin' along.

I've decided that I think I am a weird parent, don't get me wrong the two females I am very close with (waves Hello!!!, you know who you are!!) know me and accept me and all my wonky ways!!LOL But for the vast majority of people I talk with (strangers or acquaintances) I get the feeling I am not the norm. There was an instance a bit ago, regarding a certain person who wished to take my children on an outing to there house. I am not comfortable with this person doing so, and I feel I have legitimate reasons why. Said person on the other hand, does not and challenged my parental decisions. I am by far a confrontational person and I get weak at the knees and sweaty hands at the very thought, I have however (I feel anyways) become much more confident in my ability as a parent as I've gotten older. I'm not afraid to be 'different' if it means protecting my children from things I perceive as wrong.
I perceive this persons house and my children being there without Bill or myself as wrong and dangerous (to them spiritually, mentally and emotionally) I however could not bring myself to tell this person the truth because it would hurt them tremendously. So, I left it as, "Hey, we're just weirdo's who aren't comfortable having the children go to other peoples houses without one of us present" Thankfully that was enough, but I know it will come up again. What would you do? Do you risk telling someone (who is VERY close, like a SIL?????) that you don't want your kids going there unsupervised, or do you continue to save face and just make it humorous and light?
I have my reasons and I know in my heart most of you would agree and feel the same.
(would you allow your 6yo dd to 'hang' with a teenage boy and possibly his friends, OR your 8yo ds to 'hang out' with teenaged boys, OR would you feel comfortable having you children exposed to violent verbal fights between a Mom and her son and sometimes the dad, OR explicit language, OR,,,arg the list goes on)
It's a tough situation and it's weighing on my shoulders very heavily.(*lightbulb*Duh!! Maybe that's why I'm having nightmares?!?!?!) I know that's not the only thing weighing on my shoulders, but it's stressful when you keep 'dodging' conversations and avoiding visits!!! The most hard part, is I really care about her, but we are just so different. Any advice????
I know I'm different, and quite frankly I don't really concern myself with it anymore, I used to be afraid of what everyone thought, now I don't care. In this secular world, it's tough. But you do the best you can, and I'm blessed to have a wonderful husband who is right on track with me (most of the time anyways!!!LOL)

Well, there's my small vent, haven't had one in awhile!!!LOL

I am going to try very hard to post my grocery list tomorrow night (it's the big one on Saturday)But we'll see, I'm in much dire need of sleep!!!LOL

PS. I wanted to share with you a wonderful page I found it clearly states what I believe and she (BlessedMama) has put it so wonderfully, I just had to share it!!!
READ IT HERE!!!
God bless!!!

Happy Friday!!!

I know I say it every Friday but humour me!! I LOVE FRIDAYS!!!!

Today was pretty good, the weather did not cooperate with my plan of hanging the sheets out to dry...grrrr!! It looked as though it was going to rain all day and I just knew that if I went to all the work of hanging 6 sets of bedsheets out to dry, it would rain for sure. So I didn't, and it didn't rain until dinner time! Ha!
Oh well, there's always next week!!!

Not much in the plan for this weekend, other than my mom and I slipping out for me to get a few groceries. Then she offered to stay with the kids so Bill and I could go out for awhile!! We have our annual Calgary Stampede and Rodeo going on right now, where they have tons of rides and games, as well as tons of food and of course the rodeo. We were thinking we may go down there, but I don't know, it's SOOO expensive!! I would rather us go out for dinner or maybe even a movie...gee can you tell I don't like large crowds?!?!? Not only that, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow!! Personally I don't want to walk around in the rain!! (as much as I love the rain!!)

Oh!! I created an album of Mariah's 1st b-day and various pics of the kids, you can check it out HERE

It's funny because I see them everyday, but I don't realize how much they've grown until I see pics of them!! I guess I should have the other 6 rolls of film developed that I have sitting in my cupboard sometime soon. One of those rolls has pics of Robbie's 3rd b-day, and I believe there are some from Christmas as well!!
I really need a digital camera!!LOL All in God's timing!!

Well my friends, have a great weekend!! I will post soon about what 'exciting' things we did over the weekend!!!LOL

Oh, I thought you may like to see what we actually got for the backyard for the kids!! It's birthday gifts to the kids all year long from Great-Grandma and Grandma!!
TAKE A LOOK!!!
They have been having a wonderful time with it, I hope to add to it as time and money allow!! They have really neat things, picnic table, sand and water table.......
Goodnight and God Bless!!!

Hello!!!!

Good evening all my dear friends!!!

Today was such a busy day, and I'm a little tender tonight!!LOL Must be sure to get at least 7hrs of sleep so as not to set myself up!!

Not too much exciting though. I hung some rope to make a clothes line to dry the clothes on!! mmmmmm, I love that smell. I discovered I will need to hang some more, then I will be able to dry more!! Tommorow is sheets and towels!! I can't wait to crawl into bed tomoorow night in fresh line dried sheets!!!

Alex had a dentist appointment this morning to get his two eye teeth pulled out. If he didn't there wasn't enough room for his other molars to come in (12yo) rather than wait for them to become impacted, we opted to get them pulled now, so everything can realign. He did very good Bill said. He's in a bit of pain tonight, so he took a tylenol, so I hope that helps him!! He was slightly swollen along the sides of his nose as well, poor guy.

Oh, Mariah now pulls herself to a standing position!! She started this about two weeks ago, she has gotten pretty good at it too!!! No walking yet, but she does walk on her knees, just like Kayla did until she was almost a year and a half old!!
No new teeth to report, still only has the four. I know she is teething the top ones right now, drool baby or what!!!LOL
We are all done nursing...:o( I'm sad, but I think I've gotten used to the whole thing now. She just stopped althogether and would only bite, and giggle. I couldn't even get her to latch on at night, she just bit!! Guess I better change my blinkies. :o(

Well, I guess if I'm going to go to bed earlier, I should go and take my medicine now, it seems to take about an hour to kick in fully. Hurray!! It's Friday!!!

Have a great night everyone!!
God bless!!!
~Penny

Long time, no hear!!!

Hello!!!!
First off, thank you to everyone who emailed me!!! What a precious blessing it is to have you all in my life!!! May God bless you all!!

Everything is going pretty good here. We had a few more instances of strep with the kids. Praise the Lord, I think we kicked that out of here!!!
Alyssa had a kidney infection. Oddly enough, we've since discovered that it was caused by an allergic reaction to the soap we've been using!! Go figure, I've only ever used Ivory or Johnson's baby wash on the kids, turns out it's the Johnson's baby wash!! I should've known, because she's allergic to all their shampoo's.
We also had Kayla on antibiotics, she had a severe allergic reaction to a mosquito bite on her foot 2 weeks ago. It turned into a pretty bad infection (very quickly too) Poor little girl, it was basically like cellulitis. Her foot was doubled in size, and bright red and hot to the touch, then the bite started oozing this gross pus. That all happened over night!! Luckily the antibiotics cleared it up very quickly, and now we have to just give her Benadryl every time we go out. We covered her in the lotion AND sprayed her and she still got bit. Praise the lord for Benadryl!!!
I have no idea how the kids did on their report cards, they didn't end up going the last two days of school. Quite frankly, I'm not to worried about what their marks or teacher comments were!!LOL
I'm all geared up and excited for next year!!! The kids are really excited too, we have been re-doing our home chore lists, and will have a family meeting on Sunday night to go over it all. I've been busy making all these nifty little cards that have pictures of all the chores they will have. As well as their praise 'money'. I will post a complete description when I get it altogether.

As for me......well......I have to say I am almost 100% symptom free!!! I have been singing praises to our heavenly Father!! The medicine I am on (Amitriptyline) is working wonders!!!! I have not been in pain since about the third or fourth day of taking it! Which is partially the reason I haven't been on here!! I have been out and about enjoying life again with my family!!! I am happy again, and I feel like the old me!!! I am back to running up and down the stairs again, chasing the kids outside, walking everywhere. Cleaning my house, playing barbies and making crafts, doing gardening, taking the kids to the park and our lake!! Whew!! Non stop!! It has been wonderful. I take the lowest dosage there is available before bed. I now sleep through the night (unless of course Mariah or someone else needs mama!!) I have not had any restless legs symptoms, no cramps in my legs. I wake up feeling well rested and happy to start the day. My memory is coming back, my coordination is well on it's way, and the drug hasn't even taking full effect yet!!!LOL (it takes about 4-5 weeks of continous use to get the maximum benifits) I never feel drugged or dopey on them.
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That upper part was started on July 7th!! LOL
It seems as though everytime I get on here, I get interuppted!!

Just thought I'd post to say Hi and thank you again for all your wonderful emails!!! I have tried to respond to quite a few, but there are amny more I have not yet. If you haven't received an email, I have forgotten you!!!!

I'll try to post more often again!! I miss it so much!!

I'm going to try and visit all your blogs to!! Off and on throughout the day. My mom and grandma bought the kids a really nice swingset/climber apparatus for the yard. It's by Step 2, and it's really cool. I'm so happy they have something to do in the backyard now. I am getting a very late start on my garden, but we'll see what God allows my garden to grow!!

But, for now, I must go and water said garden (I've only got the front planted, working on the back later this week)!!
Still feeling awesome!!

Take care all my dear sisters, and my thoughts and prayers to you who need them!!
God bless, and much love and hugs!!
~Penny