SCHOOLYARD CRYBABY

Well, it happened again...there I was standing at the school with tears flowing....5 year old crying her heart out for her mom. No, not MY 5 year old....Avon Lady's 5 year old. She calmly turned her back to the little one, pursed her Magenta Lips, clicked her high heel shoes and started walking....away...without a care in the world! Probably had a makeover to perform! Could have slapped her right upside the head with my big white sneaker.
You know me...I stayed to see if the little one was all right (from a distance - didn't want her to see me cry). Okay, the real reason I stayed at a distance was just in case Ry spotted me and started yelling at me to go home!!!

CABIN CAPERS

We headed up north to our cabin Friday morning...picking up Rylee from an overnighter with Lao Lao. It was a beautiful sunshiny day....leaves are turning and not a bug in sight! Perfect! The chitlins stayed with Grandma while Big Daddy and I took a bottle of wine to our favourite ridge and had some "big people" time. Man it's beautiful there!!
We stayed overnight at Grandma's and wouldn't yah know it, Rylee falls out of the single bed and cracks her noggin on the dresser....now on top of having a broken arm, she has a cut on the corner of her eye and on her eyebrow. Unbelievable!!
Saturday morning we got up and headed back to the cabin to go for a long walk and post our "no hunting" signs. So with spray paint in hand, hiker boots on feet, and Little Piddle squished into the baby backpack, we were off to walk the perimeter of our 100 acres.....

Just a thought...but why do I have to post "no trespassing/no hunting" signs on my property? It just doesn't make sense to me....if you don't OWN the property, why would you think you could just go onto it? That's like me heading to the city and setting up a tent on someone's front yard. Well, there wasn't a no trespassing sign posted. Like I said....it just doesn't make sense!!!!

Bellie girl sporting her new "do":


Trekking through the bush:


Rylee's all done walking NOWWWW:


Red dots...hmmph, I say trip wires and land mines...that ought to keep 'em off my land!!

IF......YOU JUST MIGHT BE A REDNECK

Listen, I grew up in a tiny pocket of inbred madness....I know allllll about rednecks. But really, this takes the cake....
Tell me, when, oh when, is it OKAY for the school crossing guard to graciously extend an offer to show my 5yr old her new false chompers? Hmmm? I ask you....and not once mind you, but twice in the same day.
I wish I was making this stuff up....
And tomorrow when we have to make the trek across the street, and she invites us to take a closer look while they're in her hand....I'm definitely moving....to Arkansas!

KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME...

It all started with a very fussy little one who would NOT go and play with her sister. I was multi-tasking in the kitchen...which usually means stirring something while watching a cooking show...and now was holding this fussing child on my hip. I offered a cup of juice to the fussy one and that's where it all went so terribly wrong.

I got distracted by Paula Dean and some wild Southern salad...turned quickly to the right just at the same exact moment that Baby J finished her sip and thrust her tiny hand into the air towards her Mama's face for me to have a sip. That's when the searing pain engulfed my nasal cavity. A nanosecond later, I was on my knees, with this now frightened baby on the floor, and holding the contents of what was left of my nostril. Rylee comes flying around the corner and says, "that's blood from inside Mommy's nose." From my nose? Are you kidding? That tiny raptor claw of a fingernail went a lot further in than that...that blood came from my frontal lobe!

Think I'll switch to TVO...

NAME DROPPING

3 weeks into this Kindergarten adventure and Rylee can name a few of her classmates. Their names are always prefaced with a description. There's denim dress Kayley, white hair Charles and the ever popular picky-hair Jack. Hmmm, sounds oddly familiar. Although I don't know the names of the other Moms dropping little people off at school, I do have their descriptions down pat.

There's Trendy Mom...with her fabulously toned body poured into her sleek yoga gear. You've probably seen her at your school too...perfect ponytail positioned just right out of her ballcap, with the brilliantly white happy smile and dark sunglasses.

Then there's Crunchy Granola Mom...with that straight, long hair down to her bum. You just know her kid has hummus in her lunch.

There's the Babysitter Mom...pulling a wagon load of littles who don't belong to her.

Then there's the mom whom I've dubbed the Avon Lady. Classically dressed in a tailored suit with nylons and heels. Impeccable makeup every freakin' morning!! And the hair...oh my word, the hair...honestly, it looks like she just stepped out of the beauty parlour...at 8:45 am?! This one looks like she's always ready to whip out the latest lip colour and perform a makeover right on the spot. She's been eyeing me up real good! lol

I'm probably described as Sloppy Mom. You know, jeans, sneakers, old white hoody with little bits of someone's breakfast on the sleeve and shoulder...not always mine either. Not yet showered, hair up in a bun....now if only they knew I was wearing Lyle's boxers....wonder what my name would be then?

3:15

Little Piddle's favourite time of the day....getting ready to pick up Rylee. Or as she says "Ryree" and then signs "school". Too sweet!

GUESS WHAT I DID...

Don't worry...Lyle's just fine....lol

I pickled beets today!!

I HAD A MOMENT!!

....more of an out-of-body experience really. It happened right after Ry's shower and I had finished unwrapping all the saran wrap off of her cast. She was silently standing in front of me looking at herself, then at me, in the mirror...I was blowdrying her long, black, shiny hair. Each time I ran my fingers through her hair, I was just overcome. I was wondering who would have done these motherly things for her if she hadn't become our daughter. Would someone have cared that her hair was even clean? Would someone have bought fancy ponytail holders, just for her? Would there have been someone who gently brushed the tangles? Who...?

It's always moments like these when I am reminded of how precious this child's life is...and that I have been chosen to protect, care for, and love her.....forever!

SOCIALIZATION

Rylee brought home her first school friend last week...freakin' cold virus...and it's steamrollered its way through this household. It especially attached itself to Baby J. I tell you, we were all much healthier when we were ANTISOCIAL. lol Can't wait to see who she brings home next!

SPANISH 101

We were doing our night-time reading routine when a new book was slipped into the pile for Mom to bring to life. A riveting tale, filled with adventure and intrigue. A nose-less, strange-voiced character is having a sleepover with a very happy and energetic monkey. Oh I know it sounds an awful lot like a Michael Jackson biography, but it was only Good Night Dora!

As Dora and Boots make their way to Dora's house, they encounter many little animal friends that they must say good night to...in Spanish! Why oh why does Dora have to be Spanish?! Hmmm? I'm trying to introduce as much French as I can into their little minds, early, and yet I find I'm bombarded by a spanish speaking, funny haired character more...

Well, to do the book justice and to give my kids the biggest giggle of their lives, I donned my thickest Spanish accent and set out on the page-turning journey:
Good night, birds! Buenas noches, pajaros!
Good night, bees! Buenas noches, abejas!
Good night, snakes! Buenas noches, culebras!
Good night, frogs! Buenas noches, ranas!
Good night, owl! Buenas noches, lechuza!

We came to the end and thinking I had done an excellent job of teaching them this new phrase, I whispered to Rylee, "how would you say good-night Mommy?"

In her finest accent, she leans over to me, starts to laugh and says "buenas NACHOS, Mom!"

CAST UPDATE

I had to get Her Highness up early this morning so Big Daddy could take her to the Fracture Clinic. She said she absolutely was NOT going in the car with Daddy....she wanted a ride in the ambulance! lol Too funny!!

When they removed her old cast, she had bleeding blisters on her upper arm. They were also told that her original cast wasn't put on right. Soooo, they had to set her arm again!! Poor Rylee screamed and cried through the whole process! Poor thing! The Dr. also said he probably would have done surgery on her arm. End result: she has a fancy new cast that's much lighter for her to carry around, and it won't come off for another 3 weeks.

Here she is re-enacting the "painful" part of the Dr. visit (what a ham):

DUNKIN DARLINS

Baby J and I had our 2nd Moms and Tots swim lesson this week. She is now the star in 2 areas at the pool. She's the best jumper and now the best at floating on her back. Darlene, our instructor is very impressed with her...and so am I. Can you believe that they had us dunk our little darlins totally under the water this week? Yeah, I was thinking maybe...maybe...on lesson 6 or 7. All the Moms did it and then it was our turn. I held her close to me and counted...one...two...three...go! Both of us went under the water and when we surfaced, Jayme was absolutely fine! She wasn't scared, she wasn't spitting up water, she was just cool. Her Mother on the other hand didn't fair so well. All I could hear was Darlene saying "praise your baby, Cath...praise your baby!" I just swallowed half the freakin pool...give me a minute, would yah?! lol I guess I should sign up for some lessons without Little Piddle...because I'm sure, when we do this exercise again on Monday, I'm going to hear Darlene say "praise your Mama, Jayme, praise your Mama!"

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Around supper time last night, Rylee received a special delivery. These lovely flowers arrived with a note: Sorry you broke your arm! Wish I was there to sign your cast. Love Lucy.

In a separate email Lucy hoped that we would think of them every time we looked at the flowers. Awwwwwww, isn't she a gem! Whatever your tactics are with raising your babies, keep it up Penny!!

Thank you Wolfe Clan for your thoughtfulness!!!!

KINDERGARTEN KID

Well, after a whack of sleepless nights, hemming and hawing about what will benefit Her Highness the most, we came to this decision....we would send Ry to Kindergarten! It's a trial run.

This morning at 8:40am, Big Daddy hand-in-hand with Ry Ry and Mommy pushing Little Piddle in the stroller, walked to her first day at school. She was soooo excited! I held it together beautifully....until I had to hand her off to Cory in the schoolyard. Yes, I had a momentary boohoo filling my throat. Must...not...embarrass...the...child! lol We stood at the fence watching her run with the other kids for a few minutes.

Was I ready to let her go? Absolutely not!

Was Ry ready to be let go? Absolutely...and in true Rylee fashion...yells over at us "Mom go home!" Ahhh, it's good to be loved! lol

THIS ONE'S FOR JANICE

Being autistic, Rylee has some rather quirky behaviours and some real weaknesses in the fundamental areas of everyday life. However, she has some absolutely outrageous strengths that astound us time and time again. Along with being a fantastic artist, she can memorize the weirdest (to us) stuff. Once she gets locked onto a specific subject, she has to learn everything about it...there's no stopping her. For the past month, the topic has been molecules. She and Big Daddy will sit for very long periods of time, perusing the internet for pictures of molecules while she names them. Honestly, if you're learning the periodic tables at the age of 5, I really don't think there's enough brain power left over to be able to grasp basics. lol Anyway....

This past week while Little Piddle and I were in the middle of some serious and somewhat smelly potty business, Ry shuffles in to see what was going on. She takes one big sniff into the air and calmly walks back into the hallway, throwing these words over her shoulder..."yup, that's methane gas." Yup, that's our Ry Ry!

LITTLE PIDDLE PIDDLE

A couple of weeks ago I tried Little Piddle on the whole potty training routine. It was exciting...we filled the potty treat jar with little candies, hauled the potty into the powder room, purchased some pull-ups and away we went. It went really well the first day. Every time I sat her on the potty, she'd go, we'd do the potty dance and head straight for the potty treat jar. Oh life was good...so easy that we decided to chuck the pullups...until day 2. For some reason, she wasn't getting the signal before actually wetting every little pair of size 2 Dora panties we owned. In my infinite wisdom, decided she wasn't really ready and we'd put it off for another month. Fast forward to this past week and what does she do? You got it...she'd find me, undo one side of her diaper, do a little shimmy, kick her diaper into the air with her right foot, yell "peepee" and run like mad to her potty. Too funny!

I started a Moms and Tots swimming class with Baby J last week....oh what fun! While the other little people are listening intently to their Moms instructions: stop, look, listen, ask to jump in the water....my little one just grins from ear to ear, signs and screams "jump, jump, jump" and flings herself off the pool deck into the water. She's too funny!

J wins the Best Baby Sister of the Year Award this week! Can you believe that she's been so worried about her big sister's arm, she's been wandering around with one water wing on so she looks like Ry. She's been bringing toys for Ry to play with, told me several times that it was time for Ry's medicine ("Ryree meddy"), and even took their plates into the kitchen after their snack. She's just so kind, loving, sharing and caring...just the best baby ever!!

"UMMM...NOTHING"

"What are you guys doing up there?"

Rest assured, they are now properly immunized against any future diaper rashes...well on their faces and hair anyway. And so are my sheets, my comforter, my curtains, my bedroom window and screen, my towels....

ANOTHER BREAK

I know, I know, I said 28 days...but I'm feeling a little like a celebrity in a California rehab center. lol I'm making a break for it....

Speaking of breaks...get a load of the cast:

Magoo was doing some kind of wild trapeze act at the park...and missed it....by that much! Broke her arm right above the elbow! She was in agony...but man what a trooper! She's more upset about not being able to go on her swings than how much it hurts. That's our Ry Ry!