Well - I'm back from the doctor's and it looks like my little "episodes" that led me to the MRI came back that my brain is normal - yay! (whatever normal really means) The episodes were probably a new extreme migraine or could be stress related. But, it also led them to find that I have "Klippel-Feil Syndrome" - my C2 and C3 vertebrae are joined together and I guess this only happens to 1 in 42,000 people - so I'm special - I always knew I was!!!
Anyways, now I'm going for a bunch of tests to make sure that the inside of me is working as it should and I don't have any abnormalities in my kidneys or heart or other parts that they'll be looking at through all the tests - fun! (that was sarcastic, in case you didn't get it!).
Oh - and so when the chiropractor said that I had "Tractor Neck" when I was a teenager, I guess it was a bit mis-diagnosed because my vertebrae were joined together and my motion is lessened because of it. . . oops! Oh, . . . and . . . those 'twist your head quickly to make it crack' thing . . . well . . . that could have killed me . . . another "oops" on the doctor's behalf . . .
So now it's to live my life like I've always done because I've always had this and just never been officially diagnosed. If only they could have said that I shouldn't ever do housework again in my life and laundry was a danger to my health . . . if only!!!
Emma came home this morning from a sleepover with something in an envelope - A TOOTH!!! Is losing teeth contagious??? She was so excited because now she could get money from the Tooth Fairy (as Kaleb has been really cleaning up with 4 teeth gone). She put it under her pillow, but was wanting something special to put it in. She has some shirts that have become too small and have a few stains/holes in them, so we went through the pile and came up with this one. She wanted a "rock and roll" tooth pillow and thought that this would be perfect for it (her words - hee hee)! So, here is our 8 year old in action - she's good - I think I see another sewer coming up!!!
First we start with a shirt that doesn't fit Emma anymore and has some holes in the bottom of it.
Then we cut it to the shape we wanted.
We then cut the arm cuff to use as a pocket and pinned it where we wanted it.
Ta- da . . . The pocket is now sewn on.
Now to pin the front to the back to create the pillow!
Sewing time!!! This is Emma's first time using the sewing machine - she did very well!
All ready to stuff...
And stuff . . .
and stuff . . .
And the finished pillow - complete with pocket for teeth or notes!!!
She loves it because it has a double pocket - there is one behind each other due to sewing on a complete cuff - which she thinks is soooo cool! I love my little girl - she makes you see things in the way that you used to. Yep - she's a keeper!
Well, now that I'm going back to SK I can't go empty handed to see my new babies, so I talked to their mommy's and took their "orders". On Friday night I made 2 "wet bags" for Charlene, one 13"x11" and one 9"x8". She's doing cloth diapers for Avery so this will make it so that she can put the dirty ones in this waterproof bag and not worry about it leaking into her diaper bag or purse. One is for the trips to the mall and the other for a bit longer, wknd type trips.
This one kinda shows you the size with the CD container beside it
Coralie order a bunting bag type sleeping thing for Riley as the ones he's using now are getting a bit small and since a scare with a blanket (trip to the hospital, etc) she's not using blankets for him anymore. So, she ordered the type of material and I made one this afternoon while Navia was home sick - yep - it's onto #3 now!
Nope, that's not Riley, that's Navia's doll - the only baby that we have in the house to test this!
Anyways - I think I'm going to be making myself a couple of the wet bags because they would be soooo perfect for swimming lessons - no wet swimming suits in the bags, etc - that would be nice - and they're just so cute!!!
Concerning the patterns, well, there weren't any. I looked online at a few different ideas of each and used my memory and what I thought would work out best and did a bit of trial and error things for each. There really wasn't 1 particular site that I used - sites figuring out how to do separate lining /outer pouches, etc.
My sick little girl (sleeping on the pillow that I made her for V-day that matches her pj's from Christmas that I made her)
Right now Braden and Kaleb are off on a "guy's night", Emma is at a sleep-over, Navia is sick, sleeping on the couch and I'm on another sewing project - yep - I think I really like this sewing thing!!! Tomorrow is Family Day, so hopefully the littlest will be okay so that we can go skating on the Canal and other Winterlude type things - we'll see. Have a great weekend!!!
The buses didn't run yesterday because of a freezing rain warning so I kept the kids home from school (didn't feel like walking 3 times back and forth to school) and we had a pretty good day - did some Valentine's for their classes, got caught up on piano and spent the morning skating in the backyard (before it rained).
This morning Kaleb was crying about not wanting to get ready for school and I kept pushing him to do it. As he was just finishing putting on his winter clothes I felt his forehead - oops - he was burning up! Then he started crying because he didn't want to miss school - it's the 100 Day Celebration. Poor boy! I convinced him that we'd do something special today just us for the 100 Day and then he settled down.
I'm upstairs working on my MYC Lesson Plans and I glanced downstairs (Kaleb and Navia are watch a cartoon) and my little boy is fast asleep. Awww...
I hope that tomorrow he'll be doing a bit better otherwise he'll have only gone to school for 1 day this week (Friday is a holiday here)!
The tickets are booked, the time off is booked, the kids are excited and we are looking forward to going back home to SK this summer!!! Brade will be there for the first 2 weeks and then leave the 4 of us who will be spending a bit over a month there altogether!
I know, some of you might not understand the excitement over going to Saskatchewan, but when that's where your family is - well - it's exciting to go back home!!!
So, put it on your calendars:
Bailey's Arrive in Regina - July 3 @ 10:07am
Braden Leaves Regina - July 19 @ 10:30am
Carrie, Emma, Kaleb & Navia Leave Regina - August 5 @ 10:30am
This might not be the "official" flag of the province, but it really should be!!!
My alarm went off at 1:00AM last night so that I could get up and drive 30 minutes to the Civic Hospital for my MRI. Some of you know, but I've had a couple of "episodes" of getting really bad headaches, not being able to speak properly, and a few other things - not fun. Anyways, my doctor wanted to get my head examined (no jokes!!!) and I finally got in, but my appt was for 2:00AM. Not impressed!
My GPS directed me to where I was supposed to be, but it couldn't help me after parking. I don't know if you realize how scary it is parking in a parkade at 2AM in the morning and then walking down empty street and walking into an empty hospital. I was on the first floor and had no idea where to go and there was no one around - anywhere! I finally pressed the door button to go through the Emergency Radiation door and I met a Dr. who directed me upstairs to where I was supposed to be. Up there they just finished construction in this ward so it was kinda hard trying to figure out where I was to go until I finally ran into this sign:
I knew I was in the right place - for the first time all night. I got in right away and must say, no one tells you about what having an MRI is like. My sister warned me about the closeness of the machine to your face, but not about the thing used as a head stabilizer - kinda claustrophobic!!!
And, no one warned me that suddenly the whole thing would feel like an earthquake and you weren't supposed to move - okay - next time give the patient some warning!!!
Anyways - after 20 minutes of it running I was free to go, walking through an empty hospital, through empty streets, in an empty parkade and then try finally drive home. Oh, and did you know that there are a HUGE amount of taxis out at that time of night? Not very many "people" vehicles though ;) So, now just to wait for the results - that will be much easier!
Me at 2:30AM, after the MRI in probably the most beautiful robe that I have ever worn!
(this was sent to Kaleb from Gramma and Grampa McGifford)
Today our little boy turns 6 years old. Kaleb not only is an amazing boy, but also amusing :) He sees the world in his own special way and helps those who are lucky enough to share in his life to catch a glimpse of it in his magical way as well. As Daddy says to his every morning "You are smart, strong, brave, gentle and kind." Yep, that's our Kaleb! Happy Birthday Buddy!
Okay - so it's Kaleb's birthday today and he came into bed with us this morning to play on his new DS - yep, we caved - when he turned to me and said, "Mom, here's another tooth" and just nonchalantly passed another tooth to me! That makes it FOUR TEETH in less than a week!!! Maybe he just doesn't like brushing his teeth and is pulling them out instead ; )
This is the invitation that Braden made for Kaleb's Party - yep it's pretty good!!!
Kaleb has really gotten into Star Wars Clone Wars in the last little bit. He has the Wii game of Lego Star Wars and has gotten various Clone Wars characters, Clone Mask, Lightsaber and some other of their "stuff". He decided that this year he didn't want just a regular birthday party, but a Clone Wars one . . . so suddenly I'm off trying to figure out what to do.
We decided that the party will be a Jedi Training Academy Party (like I've seen some parents do online) and hopefully with Master Jedi Braden in charge it will cut down on the Light Saber duels. They will be learning various Jedi "skills" and once they have been able to master them they will turn from Padawans to real Jedi's.
I also found free posters to download at the www.starwars.com site. This is an example of one of them. I'm getting Braden to print a couple of these up in a larger format to put around the food table.
I came across some really great sites - Tip Junkie especially - this one had a Star Wars bingo game on it. I took this idea and went a bit further with it to create a Clone Wars specific bingo game, with 12 different cards and a "key" to all the characters. I think I will be playing this at the party and also sending home 4 cards and a key with each child so that they can play it at home as well. I'm "enclosing" a pdf of what I did in case you would like to use it with your own kids sometime.
On the Tip Junkie site it showed how the mom had made outfits for each of the boys. So I, of course, had to run out to Fabricland and I was pretty happy when I found that there was a HUGE sale on felt. I bought enough to make 11 jackets for the boys (tied with robe around the waist0 and then I have another brown material that I will be making a jedi robe for Kaleb and for "Jedi Master Braden" to wear as well - I know he'll just love it!!! Tee hee!
Are you scared?
So - the party is now officially over and a huge *sigh* of relief - over and successful!!! Yay! Out of the 11 boys only 6 were able to make it, which actually made it easier and way more manageable. They all got along really well and I didn't have to worry about fights or anything - another huge YAY!
When the doorbell rang Braden would great each guest, along with Kaleb, in their matching Jedi robes and Kaleb would escort them over to myself and they would put on their own Jedi tunic. Then I had the Star Wars Ship along with characters ready to play with, Episode 1 of Clone Wars on and coloring pages of Clone Wars for them to color. This was to keep them all busy until all the boys came.
Once they were all here I sat them in the kitchen and showed them a picture of the Star Wars Galaxyand all the numerous planets that the Jedi need to defend. I then gave them each small styrofoam balls so that they could create their own planet with paint and special "gems" that they would be entrusted to protect as Jedi Knights.
After that it was downstairs for the Jedi Academy Obstacle Course. They needed to show their agility (jumping, climbing, crawling, running) and how they could pay attention to all details by searching for hidden "planets" (marbles) in another galaxy (a box of legos). Once they completed that they proved that they were worthy of being a Jedi Knight and each received their very own Light Saber. Their first task was to learn how to keep a balloon from touching the ground with only their Saber - yep - it was crazy and the kids had a blast!
Now, a room full of boys (and 2 sisters) with Light Sabers could be very dangerous so the next part of their training was learning that Jedi's DO NOT ATTACK people with their Sabers - it will not touch another person - ever!!! They did pretty well at it too. Master Jedi Daddy then showed them a bunch of choreographed moves (left shoulder, right shoulder, left shoulder duck - left leg, right leg, jump) Once they mastered them they each had a turn to training one-on-one with the Master - and Braden didn't even get the bruises that he was anticipating!
Then it was upstairs to have Yoda Soda (ice cream and Ginger Ale drinks), Darth Malts (ice cream and pink Fresca) along with Blue Light Sabers (straight pretzels dipped in blue chocolate - yum!!!), Separatist Chips (ketchup chips), and of course - CAKE! I made the cake last night and decided to make it simpler - just a brown planet with hills and bumps that the Star Wars characters could stand on.
After cake we opened presents.
Then we Destroyed the Death Star Pinata. It was the easiest pinata I've ever done. I found a soccer ball one at a party store on clearance - took off the black crepe-paper and then painted the entire thing grey. I then took a black sharpie and drew a straight line around the middle. Then with a lighter grey I made a few dots and lines and ta-da - Death Star! Oh, and for the dent in it I just cut a circle for the goodies and when I replaced it I just put in in concave - "easy-peasy" (as Emma would say).
Then we had more time to practice with our Light Sabers and receive our Certificates of Jedi Training. After that we did a bit more "Saber-ing" and playing with the toys and then the doorbell started ringing!
It was done - each child gathered their loot bags, certificates, planet and Light Saber and they were off. Now it's just us here - procrastinating from cleaning and blogging instead - heehee!
So - Kaleb had an awesome time, and it seemed the the kids did too. And this was the last of the birthday parties in our house until December - YAY!!! Now just to do Kaleb's actual birthday tomorrow and we're done!
On Thursday an old (not in age, but in knowing her back when we first moved here and Kaleb was just a baby) came over for supper and to practice a couple songs that we were singing at a friend's mother's funeral. Rachel has a boy, Riley, just a little younger than Kaleb and a girl, Brooke, just a little younger than Navia. Needless to say it was kinda hard practicing with the kids because they got along soooo well. Yep - lots and lots of noise!!! The little girls had so much fun playing dress up that I just HAD to take a picture.
Today was a two-tooth day for Kaleb. After breakfast he was walking up the stairs when he looked down at me and told me that the tooth fairy was going to come today because his front left tooth just fell out! He was excited about this one and we made sure to put it in a safe place that Navia wouldn't be able to reach ; )
This afternoon he had a previously booked dentist appt to pull out a baby molar that wasn't coming out and the adult tooth was already coming in and starting to cut off the baby's roots. So he figured that he was extra lucky because he'd have TWO teeth to put under the pillow tonight for the Tooth Fairy.
Well - the excitement soon changed when he got into the dentist's chair. Suddenly he changed from loving the dentist to refusing to even open his mouth for her to see inside. That was the first sign that the next 45 minutes might not be good ones. Not to get into too much detail - the next moments consisted of bribery, threats, closing doors so other kids wouldn't hear him, manipulation and Kaleb even telling the dentist that he wanted "paper money" and she came back into the room with a $5.00 bill!!! He didn't like the taste of the topical freezing which set him off to start with - he didn't even feel the needles, but there was a lot of pressure when the dentist went to take out his tooth - it actually broke in 2. There was a ton of blood, but he has no idea about it. It's kinda funny because he was watching Ice Age 2 on the ceiling while there were needles and pliers and blood flying all over the place (okay, bit of an exaggeration - tee hee).
Kaleb after it was all done - with gauze in the hole where his tooth used to be
When all was said and done Kaleb came out of there a bit tired, a bit sore from opening his mouth and $5.00 richer. Actually the dentist did us a bit of a disfavor because now he expects even more from the Tooth Fairy - inflation!!! So, I'm off to bed, but not before I go through all our drawers and try and find money for the Tooth Fairy - hopefully he won't be too disappointed - but really - he already got $5 from the dentist!!!
Oh, and as an aside - our dentist was absolutely amazing and we are soooo glad that we took him there and not somewhere else. She is a keeper!!!
Brade produced 2 videos for the Gov't of Ontario and their Mumps campaign. Yep, this is what my hubby calls work. He had fun on the project and I thought I'd show you a glimpse of the finished projects. . . beware - they're targetted at ages 18 - 25 - hee hee!
A couple of videos of skating in the backyard. The best part - I can stay in the house, nice and toasty warm, while they go outside and make all the noise they want out there!!!
Our little girl now thinks that she is really Barbie from Barbie and the Nutcracker - yep - it really is supposed to be called "Navia and the Nutcracker"! Enjoy! We're going to have to sign this little one up for dance lessons next session!!!
It was a beautiful day on Sunday and so after we had brunch at Cora's we came home and Brade shovelled off the 20 or so centimeters of snow off of the rink that had fallen a couple days previous and the kids had fun skating and playing hockey with daddy for the entire afternoon! It was a great day. Meanwhile, I was inside making 10 tunics for Kaleb's Birthday Party this upcoming wknd, and it was nice to be able to do without disruptions :)
After skating the kids decorated a cake for me (I had to cut it and creatively figure out how to make it back into a cake seeing that Navia had eaten the middle of it the other day - my "humph" entry . . . yep, you know the one! So, it was a small, double layered cake that Emma thought should be shaped like a heart - awww!
Daddy's cake almost burned up because of the candles, but mine, well, I'm not as old!!!
Today I made Kaleb's jedi master robe with hood. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - especially because I didn't have a pattern of any sort to make it. It turned out really well although I really wish I had a surger! Instead I made all the seams into French seams so that they were enclosed and you don't see the edges. Kaleb is wearing one of the tunics underneath to complete the ensemble - hee hee! Now to make daddy's!!! Yikes - that one will be a little more challenging and I'm thinking a pattern would be easier for an adult, but oh well, I can do this - at least I think that I can (and I don't have to make his as study as Kaleb's because I know that Daddy won't be playing dress up with it like the little one will be. Emma's now begging me to make her a robe for the tunic - we'll see...)
Jedi Master Bai-ka Mcott
(At least that's his name according to the name generator)
"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when not feeling it. I believe in God even when He is silent." - Jewish inscription in Nazi Hideout
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it knows and loves the One who is leading. Oswald Chambers
Let's see . . . a busy family of five going crazy and loving every minute of it - that would be us! What can you say with an active dad, fun mom (yep, I'm the one writing it - hee hee) and kids that are 11, 9 and 7!!! And - to top it all off we are a few provinces away from all our family. So...what better way to share our lives with the ones that we love than blogging and letting you all in on not just the big moments, but the little ones too! Welcome to the little things that make us a family!
