Another gem worth documenting....

Yep... someday I've got to write that book about my kids and their quirks!  Because they are a constant source of amusement for me.  And long after they've moved on, I want to remember the funny little things they said, once upon a time when they were my babies!

This evening I'm trying to settle Brooklynn down to nurse and then to sleep.  But everyone is still buzzing with post-dinner energy bursts, so I tell my older three to run off and play somewhere else until I've put Brooklynn to bed.  They continue to hover noisily.  Suddenly Alex covers his eyes and starts counting loudly to ten. Kirstin and Connor bolt in different directions, in search of the perfect hiding spots.  The house is quiet.

"Thank you, Alex," I say, smiling.

"What?" He says with mock innonence.  "I'm not playing!" And he settles himself on the couch beside me.

A Modest Proposal...

Connor and Alex went on a field trip to the local RCMP station last week. Connor got arrested (voluntarily) and was locked in a cell for a couple of minutes, which he thought was just great!  Which inspired some interesting dinner conversation. For instance, I did not know that our cells here in town don't have bars, but sliding plexiglass doors.  They also have "only a toilet!!!"  And apparently the prisoners eat turkey dinner once a week.

Really? Not too sure about the validity of that one...

But, as the boys were relaying their adventurous school day to myself and their younger sisters, my daughter said that funniest thing.  Well, maybe not the funniest... but the funniest that day, for sure.

       Kirstin: Why do they put bad guys in jail?

       Me:  Well, they have to put them somewhere.  Where else would you put them?

       Kirstin (with a completely serious, thoughtful look on her face):  How about in volcanoes?

Oh my, I think that my daughter just might have the answer to our failing economy.  Close the prisons and throw all the criminals into volcanoes.  That's going to save us tax payers a bundle!!!

Big Families...

I don't know... I never really considered us a "big family."  Extended-wise, yes.  Nuclear... not so much.  I have four children.  Thirty years ago, that was pretty normal.  Now... people think we're nuts!  The perfect family, in this day and age, seems to be one boy, one girl.  If you are lucky enough to get both on the first two tries, then anything additional is just masochistic.  Or so it seems.

Anyway, because I love sharing photos... here are my four babies this month.  And yes, I do have a husband.  He doesn't often factor in my photos. But he will.  It's coming.  We're getting a family photo done this year, whether Cory wants to or not!  My Christmas card will have my husband in it, too... promise!  :)  

But I digress...

True story:

My boys stay up too late.

Way too late!

They go to bed around 8:30, a socially acceptable bedtime for children who have school the next day.  But I'll admit, even that's pretty loose... sometimes I don't even get dinner on the table until then.  And then I spend the next two hours going back and forth from the living room to their bedroom telling them to stop talking and go to sleep - because for some reason, when the lights go out, suddenly the boys become the best of buds!  Meaning that our mornings are epic grumpfests.  Yet, they keep on talking and talking into the wee hours of the night.  Making it very difficult for Cory and I to have any kind of adult time together...  you know, to watch HBO without being overheard!

Last night, around 10pm - way too late for other people's normal children with normal bedtimes, I went in to the boys' bedroom to tell them to stop talking and GO TO SLEEP.  In the dark, lit only by the hallway light, Connor was up on the top bunk lying next to Alex, reading to Alex from a Garfield comic book.  Alex was helping him sound out the hard words.  You could see how proud Connor was of his ability to read and how happy he was that Alex was "teaching" him how, and how excited Alex was that his brother was actually reading to him.

My heart overflowing with mushy, maternal pride, I turned the lights on and  and them stay up for another 15 minutes.

How could I not?

And that, dear readers, is why when people ask me, "Four kids, you do know how that happens, don't you?" I say, "Yes, we do, we have the perfect family, two brothers, two sisters.  Couldn't have planned it better if we tried!"

I'm very happy that our children have siblings!

Giggling at her Big Sister

A Bouncing Baby Girl

For our relatives that are abroad...  your baby fix!  Enjoy!  Kirstin is the one beside me who always manages to get Brooklynn giggling.

Seventy-five and counting...

A few weeks ago, twelve to be exact, Cory and I started a weight loss challenge through HealthyWage.com.  
We were excited by the fact that the grand prize in the team event was 10,000 dollars!  Our share of the grand prize would go a long way to helping us realize our dream of seeing Newfoundland next summer. I shamelessly plugged it on Facebook, begging for votes.  Well, it was kind of a bust.  We didn't win any of the mini-challenges and by now, at the tail end of it, Cory and I are the only ones still left updating our weight loss weekly.  But, that's okay, because 7-eleven paid the cost of our registration, so we aren't out of pocket any cash.

Anyway, long story short... we won't be winning any prizes in this contest because our team average isn't all that impressive.  We just don't have the numbers to pull it off.  The top team, right now, is reporting a loss of 214 pounds... which if you do the math is 42.8 pounds per person.  Whoah...

But, we don't suck too badly, either. Our team is currently ranking 53 of 219 teams.  Once all the teams are verified, we'll know for sure.  But... yeah... I can safely say, we didn't win.

Still, Cory and I feel like winners, regardless of whether or not we actually won.  See, even before the flyer announcing the contest went up at Cory's work, we had already started working on losing the weight that we have acquired in our almost 15 years of marriage.  On January 2nd, we started following Weight Watchers (the day after Connor's birthday, who starts a diet on a cake day, anyway?)   I'm pretty impressed and want to shoutout that he has lost a total of 50 pounds already.  I have lost 25 pounds. So, in four short months we've lost the equivalent of our middle children, Connor and Kirstin!

This "diet" is working for us and we're pretty committed to our point counting obsession.  Probably because it isn't a diet.  At least, not in the sense that we're starving all the time because we're living on lettuce and grapefruit.  It's a lifestyle.  We still eat food we like, we just control how much of it we eat.  And we fill up on free foods. Fruits and vegetables in unlimited abundance. Turns out, I actually love spinach! I've had it three days in a row! :)

We still have a long way to go.  I have 27 more pounds before the snotty little Wii Fit scale tells me I'm at a "Healthy Weight" --- but I have to say, it's looking quite manageable at this point.  In fact, 8 pounds from now I will be at my wedding dress weight... so I might just have to pull it out and try it on for our 15th anniversary in July.  Cory still has significantly more to lose, but that's okay, because he's doing it!

Just thought I'd take the time to brag a little.

I'm proud of you, Cory... keep it up!