Out with the old

I've done it.  I'm moving blogs.  Whew!  My new address is http://carmensthreesons.wordpress.com/ and I hope it is all I want.  Blogger just hasn't been doing it for me lately and I hope Wordpress and I are more compatible.  See you there!

Grammar, how I love thee...

I have stumbled upon a site that seems to be entirely devoted to grammar and language.  How lucky am I!?  The second I saw the home page my heart fluttered and my soul leaped.  The Grammar Curmudgeon is written by an English professor and speaks of grammar with words of love and respect.  Is anything more perfect than this?  You'll just have to go see for yourself.  Click on his name and it will take you right to him.

The other sport

This is the other activity going on in these parts...

...generally a serious business, getting that ball to go where you want it!

Softball

Ethan on first...

Caleb playing shortstop...

We've ventured into a whole new sport.

Don't they look adorable in their "uniforms"?

Mud

You'd never guess by looking at them, but those are the faces of two master criminals doing hard time on the chain gang for their involvement in a bug kidnapping.  The incriminating evidence were two jars with holes punched in the lids, sugar taken from the kitchen for said jars, and a trail of muddy footprints all over the sidewalk.

They claim scientific research as a defence and I told them they could use all that scientific knowledge to get my sidewalk sparkling clean before their grandparents showed up.  Apparantly their specialty is in entymology and not soil mechanics.  I had my work cut out for me the next day.

This is what Titus did every night before going to sleep on our summer vacation last year.  Found Waldo.

lightsaber gymnastic

Ha ha ha!

Feeling a bit antsy

So, I walked right into that clinic and demanded to see the doctor.  Well, maybe not demanded.  It was more like request.  Oh, who am I kidding.  I was so polite and friendly the woman behind the desk probably thought I was trying to sell her Amway or something (I am such a wuss!).  Anyway, my turn came and when the doctor came in I started telling him what had happened.  He looked like he did last time (which was the way I look at my kids when they tell me some sob story), but I kept talking and talking and gradually a wee bit of concern came into his face.  He sent me for x-rays (in the same building - how convenient) and saw me right away afterwards.  No breaks in my foot.  Thank goodness.  However, he did say something in a medical language that I couldn't repeat for the life of me and told me to stay off my feet for two to three weeks.  Weeks!  That puts me very behind schedule in this whole marathon training.  So, here I sit on my ever-growing bottom while I should be outside shrinking it.  Very maddening.  

Of course, while we were in the examination room, Titus had some choice remarks.  The doc was South African and Titus and I had a lengthy conversation about the colors that people come in and how they are the same color on their whole body.  Why he had to have this conversation in front of someone we don't know I'm not sure.  Of course, I mentioned that Riley( his best friend) and Kyle (Riley's brother) and cousin Micah were all that color too.  Titus came back with the reply that Kyle was not that color, he was a different color.  Sometimes a person just has to laugh at how a four-year-old views the world.

Just another wintery day...

I guess putting new tires on the car was a little premature this year.  I didn't realize winter was planning on making an encore, much less five or six encores.  It has snowed and snowed and snowed.  Even the boys are depressed!  Well, at first, anyway.  Until they realized they could start making tunnels and snow forts again.  

This whole marathon thing (okay, half marathon, but it's just so awkward to say!) isn't going quite the way I planned.  My foot is still in pain and I'm going back to the clinic today to get something done about it.  Last time I wasn't quite prepared for the "you're just being a whiner, go home and stop bugging me" routine, but this time I'm ready.  The hard thing about being me is that I can't think and talk at the same time.  I knew something more was wrong than mere soreness but I just couldn't shape the words before all was done and I was kicked out the door.  In fact, it wasn't until I was actually driving home that I came up with something that would have been intelligent enough to make him take me seriously.  Today I will play out all likely scenarios in my head before I get in the little sterile room with the cold plastic bed covered with paper (really, is that paper supposed to protect us from other people's germs?  If so, they should make it cover the width of the bed, not just the length!) and my brain seizes up.  If only I could plan every conversation ten minutes in advance!  That would sure make life easier.

Now for a drastic change of topic - how about some new music?  I've been listening to CBC Radio 3 podcasts about new Canadian music and found my new favorite band!  The Tom Fun Orchestra is a great Nova Scotia group with a cool sound.  I love Johnny Turbo's voice - all gravelly and rough - and the music is awesome!  They remind me of a band you'd hear at an old-time carnival, the foot-stomping kind.  In their own words, their style is a cross between soul, western swing, and post punk.  Watchmaker is a great song.  Another of my favorites from their newest album is Bottom of the River.  The album name is You Will Land With A Thud.  Go check it out!

New things

You know it's bad when your mom tells you that you haven't posted since March!  And I don't have any excuses besides a wee bit of apathy towards writing at the moment.  Nothing major, just an "I don't feel like it" attitude that has been getting in the way and blogger being a pain.  I'm thinking of switching hosts, but want to be sure before I change everything.  Anyhow...

Guess what I've gone and done.  Go on, guess!  If you said something to do with fabric or yarn or books or music, you're wrong.  It is something sporty.  Something outdoorsy.  Something it would be hard imagining a woman with an extra fifty pounds doing.  Can't guess?  I've started training to run a half marathon.  Yup.  I can hardly believe it myself!  Not that I'm anti-running or anything, just that it's been 15 years or more since I last laced up my sneakers.  And I've never done it for twelve miles.  That's over twenty km!  The worst part about it is that I managed to hurt my foot after the first training run.  So now I'm laid up for a bit while I heal and everyone else in the course (yes, it's a college course) goes on with training.  I have to say that I loved it and am more than a little frustrated at this setback.

And just in case you think I haven't been sewing or knitting, I have.  In fact, I knitted most of a sweater and then had to unravel the front because my tension changed somewhere and the front was a good six inches longer than the back.  Things to remember the next time I take on a project!  I also have a quilt on the go and a dress that is waiting for me to do a few adjustments to it.  I'll get pictures when I can find my camera again  (I really have no idea how it gets lost so often!).

Before I go, I'll leave you with some child humour.  The setting: the supper table.

Me:  So what did you boys do at recess today?

Caleb:  I played soccer.

Ethan:  I chased girls.

Me:  You chased girls?

Ethan (smiling shyly now):  Yeah.

Me:  What did you do when you caught them?

Ethan:  I let them chase me!

Another baby, more sun

There is another new nephew on the Willms' side of the family.  Ken and Sara had #3 - Nicholas Jacob Eli.  Great name.  My grandpa on my dad's side was a Nicholas, and it's a name Luke and I bandied about for one of our boys (don't ask me which one because I don't remember due to baby brain and all).

And the sun has come out to play!  I am happy to report that our lawn is half dead grass with an overlay of gravel and half snow.  Titus has been going outside to play (he doesn't like winter - too cold) and the older two are waiting for the snow to finish melting at the skateboard park so they can take their BMX's and try them out on some real jumps.  I've tried loading a picture, but Blogger is all screwy and our internet has been down for a while so it's a no go.  

Speaking of pictures, I must have used a roll of film at my parent's place this Easter weekend.  8 week old Benjamin came for a visit and 9 month old Owen was showing off some toothless grins.  Such cuties!  I love being an auntie.

A long winter

Yes, I have been fairly neglectful of this, my little blog, lately.   I officially blame lack of sunshine.  While the days are indeed getting longer and the nights are shaving minutes off each side, it still isn't enough.  Aah, the heady days of sunshine past midnight, where are you?  I'm afraid we've moved too far south to enjoy them in the summer.  And yes, I've been jealous reading other blogs where spring is blooming and green abounds.  Instead, the only taste of spring here is the shedding of the heavy winter parkas in exchange for very thick sweaters and lined jackets.  At least the road is now clear of ice and snow and bikes that were given for birthdays can be used for the first time.  

See what I mean?  Where's my lawn?  I miss it!

Thimbleberries Reject

Yes, that is my latest quilt.  It's called "Thimbleberries Reject" because I used all my Thimbleberries fabric from a club I was in up in Rainbow Lake.  Never finished most of the projects because I was so over Thimbleberries stuff by then.  Easy; no pattern, not much measuring, not much cutting.  All I did was cut 3" strips, sew them all together lengthwise, cut every other one in half, and sew enough of them together to make a twin size quilt.  Talk about fast and stress-free.  Well, all except for the deadline of a week.  And my constant procrastination.  Good grief, you'd think I'd have learned a thing or two about leaving stuff until the last minute, but I haven't.

Anyway, the quilt went on the prize table at one of the boys' hockey tournaments and was won by someone who really wanted it - nice, eh!  The rink manager/zamboni driver had his eye on it and put his name into the draw specifically for the quilt.  Needless to say, I didn't see that one coming.  Somehow he didn't strike me as the quilt buying type, but was he ever happy when he got it!  Just a reminder to myself never to judge a book by it's cover.

A Valentine's Day Grouch

Yep, that'd be me.  Snarly with the kids this morning and sure to be snarly later on today.  I still need to bring a snack over to Caleb's class and reschedule my worship team practice yet again.  Not to mention pick the rest of the music, put it in the computer that sends it to the projector, and get it to the right person.   Man, am I ever being whiny!

My day will get better.  Once I do all those things it will feel like a load has been lifted and I'll smile again - probably just in time for Luke to get home.  I might go buy some fresh lobster for supper and we'll have us a Valentine's day feast after the kidlings are all tucked into bed.  The thought of that is cheering me up already!  A little seafood, a little wine, a nice conversation with my very funny husband, and a cuddle on the couch while we watch a movie.  Sounds like heaven.

*I just got a phone call from school.  Ethan forgot his valentines at home.  Aaaagh!*

Famous relatives

Luke and I were watching Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday and who should pop onto the screen but good ol' brother-in-law Ken!  No, he's not one of the jovial folk with a microphone in their hand, but the somber, watchful security man in the toque on the bottom left.  The lucky guy got to be security for Ron MacLean, famous Canadian sportscaster.  Ken, I don't know how you pulled it off, but I hope you got to talk to him a bit.  I can't believe you got to meet him!  It should've been me!

9 Already?

I can hardly believe Caleb turns 9 today.  It seems like only yesterday I was in the hospital in High Level competing for the one and only delivery room with another couple from Rainbow Lake!  And won it, of course- the competitive gene runs strong in my family.  Caleb is no exception to that rule.  Sports, sports, cars, and more sports.  Right now hockey is the main thing but soccer also has its day, as does running, biking, and countless other such occupations.  He is such an awesome kid.  Smiles alot.  Likes TV a bit too much, but what kid doesn't!   Happy birthday, son!

 

Yes, this was the temperature the last two weeks.  During the day.  Talk about bone-chilling cold!  It's been much warmer this week.  Thank goodness, because today my house will be full of boys celebrating Caleb's 9th birthday, and I'm hoping they will play outside in the enthralling (to them) mounds of snow the grater and front-end loader have left on our lawn.  Caleb and Ethan have also been adding to the pile by dragging large blocks of snow and ice from the school grounds to our house with the help of their sleds.  Endless entertainment, I tell you!  Of course, Titus is much more his mother's son and prefers the warmth of the indoors.  I'm hoping that the lure of many new children outside our house will prove too much for him to bear and he'll head out sooner or later! 

New nephew!

My baby brother now has a baby himself!  Lindy had Benjamin Levi on Friday, the day before her own birthday.  Eight pounds five ounces.  So big for a first baby!  He looks so adorable from the pics.  I was so sure they would have a girl - how many boys can one family produce?  Mom and Dad now have 7 grandsons and only 1 granddaughter.  Wow.  Hard to believe.   Congrats Luke and Lindy!  Can't wait to meet Benj!

I'm such a Dummy!

     I love games.  Always have, always will.  When I am on the internet and a page isn't loading as fast as it should, I play a game.  It's called Zuma and a person has to shoot a coloured ball at a row of other coloured balls to knock them out.  Anyway, I was on the computer the other day with Titus on my lap, playing this game and I missed.  The ball went to the wrong place.  

     "You dummy!" I said to myself.  Then noticed the boy on my lap and said, "Not you, Titus.  Me.  Because I made a mistake on the game."

     "Oh," he said, quite visibly relieved.  The game went on for a few more seconds and I messed up again.  

     "Mommy, did you make a mistake?" he asked innocently.

     "I sure did," I replied.

     "You dummy!"

     

Books

Remember a while back when I got all excited over the books that Yann Martel was sending to the Prime Minister?  Remember how I said that I just couldn't resist reading lists?  Well, I have been going through the list for a few months now and decided to write my impressions of the books.  The first one on the list was by Tolstoy.  The Death of Ivan Ilych is about just that - Ivan Ilych's death.  I have always been a huge Tolstoy fan, but hadn't even heard of this book.  Quite short, very readable, incredibly illuminating.  It deals with how a person deceives himself throughout his life and can only see clearly when it is all done.  Very interesting.  Two thumbs way up.

Number two on the list: Orwell's Animal Farm.  I was looking forward to this book.  If you can believe it, I have never read anything by Orwell.  Unfortunately, I really hated it!  Not entertaining but depressing.  I know, it's a classic.  I'm supposed to see the value in it and all that bunk, but I didn't.  Communism among farm animals.  It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.  Power corrupts absolutely.  Man is bad.  Ideals get

 smashed in the face of ego.  Blah, blah, blah.  I almost quit reading halfway through, but soldiered on in hopes that the end would make up for it.  It didn't.  About as disappointing as The Catcher in the Rye.  Which I also hated.  Why do people think existentialism makes a book an instant classic?  Where is the rule that hopelessness in literature is smart?  I really want to know.  If you liked Animal Farm, please comment and tell me why.  I truly want to know.

Thanks a lot, Dan and Joce!

I hadn't laughed this much for a long time.  Nothing like a little game of "Twister" to get the giggles started!  I can't even believe I'm showing a picture of my behind.  Oh well, nothing like a little humiliation to jump-start a New Year's resolution!  By the way, Luke called me a dork for blogging this.  I just thought it was too funny to keep to ourselves!  And yes, there are four of us on the mat.  You can just see an extra leg.  Apparently, Caleb is reeeally flexible! (Thanks for the great Christmas present Dan and Joce!)