Welcome Ginger

We got another cat.

We got home on Saturday to a message on our machine. Some friends of ours was found by a cat. They were out BBQing and she wandered up to their deck and didn't seem to want to leave (no wonder, it's cold out there!!). Their girls lured her inside with some tuna and she decided that she'd rather not go back out (no matter how many times they opened the door for her). After a week of hanging posters and visiting the SPCA it didn't look like anyone was going to claim her. However, after a week, the Mom's allergies were off the chart. Knowing we lost our dear Roxy a couple months before they gave us a call. 

We were planning on getting another cat...but in maybe three years when Paris calmed down a bit (assuming she ever does). This upped our game plan by a few years. However, once they sent her picture to us we were sold. She's a Roxy look-a-like. I thought for sure Rene would say no but he didn't even hesitate. He claims he likes the assurance of no mice in the house but we've been here for 3 years and never even found a mouse dropping...I think he has a soft spot for cats that he's trying to deny.

After much deliberation she has a name...Ginger. This time we're going to take our time introducing her to Paris. And we're making her an indoor cat, at least that's the plan. I'm hoping that since she didn't want to leave our friend's house she prefers the indoors but I think spring will be the test time. 

The plan for now is to have her in the toyroom until she seems settled with the house. Then we'll crate the dog and let her wander the house, then maybe in a couple weeks they'll have supervised visits. I really hope this works. Roxy freaked out every time her and Paris met which made Paris go nuts. Hopefully Ginger will have a calmer disposition around dogs. 

Only time will tell. But for now, she sure is a sweet cat. Very friendly, loves to be pet and so far very gentle. Even when she swats she doesn't bring her claws out. Hopefully the girls won't be scared of this one!

Evelyn's Piano Recital

Evelyn was invited by a good friend of mine to be in a piano recital. She's a teacher and holds a small recital for all her students. When she found out I was teaching Evelyn on my own she said she would love if Evelyn played with her students. When I asked Evelyn what she thought she got sooooooo excited. I love when Evelyn gets excited about something. Even as a baby she was so expressive, she wears her emotions on her sleeve, her body barely able to contain what she's feeling. So, we picked a Christmas song, Carol of the Bells and went to work. It is 2 levels above where she's at so I was a bit worried about her being able to play it but she was determined that was the song she wanted to do.

She did fantastic tonight. I know I'm biased but when a couple of 13 year-old boys rank her as second best of the night (there was a 10 year-old girl who played beautifully) I know she really did do well. There were about 12 students playing and she was probably the 3 youngest. I was so proud of her.

Another thing (of many) I love about Evelyn is her smile. She smiles the whole time she's going something she loves. And it's not just a little closed mouth half-smile, it's a full-open-mouth-toothy grin (or in her case, toothless). She smiled the whole night, she was beaming.

If I can get better at being consistent with her practicing I think she has some real piano talent. I'm learning with her that she's better to have 3 or 4 ten minute practice sessions through the day rather than a 30-40 minute sit down. At this stage though she wants me sitting beside her the whole time to help her out. But where I am, Lucienne is, and she's not the most helpful when my attention is on someone other than her.

She loves playing and I hope we can keep that love alive. It's hard to know how much to push and when to back-off. Some days she really doesn't want to practice but I know it's the only way she's going to get better. And as she gets better I think she'll love it even more.

Where did I put that Evelyn Instruction Manual?

My Lucky Day

I've been an on-and-off listener of CHUM-FM since way-back-when.  It was the young people's station when I moved to Toronto back in 1970 and over the years it's mellowed somewhat -- and the Morning Show has always been a favourite.  Since the additon of Darren to the team, mornings always have at least one good laugh!  That guy has a real King-kind of humour...Anywho, since Murphy the Dog has come into my life, the timing of their early morning contests usually happen right as I'm preparing to take him out for his morning walk so if I'm near the phone, I start dialing.  I particularly like the BEAT THE BANK contest and over the past few years that they've been running it, I've made it through about 3 times but always before being the 25th caller.  But this past Tuesday, my luck changed.  I knew right when the call was answered that I was Caller Number 25, but when she asked me "And why are you calling?", all I could think of was "Santa and money"..."You mean, BEAT THE BANK?"  Thanks goodness they're not too sticky on contestants knowing the exact contest name!  The bank vaults started at $300, then $400, then $600, then $900 and I was prepared to go all the way to $50,000 until Roger commented that the previous day's caller had stopped at $900 and it had gone all the way to $50,000.  It was then that I knew the gig was up -- No way would it go "all the way" two days in a row...so I gave it one more try and $1000 was mine if I wanted it: "I'm going to take the money and run!"  Fortunately the bells rang after $1,300 so I was totally jazzed with my winnings.  What a great way to start the Christmas season!!!  Mind you, the money's already tagged for spending, but it was totally fun to finally make it through the phone lines to win.  As far as I know, niece Wendy is the only who knew it was me on the radio.  She commented that she was getting ready to go out for her morning coffee when she heard BEAT THE BANK start and didn't even give it a nod when she heard the name Mary, but then she said she heard me laugh and stopped in her tracks...she knew that laugh.  And then I mentioned I lived in Huttonville, and she said "that's my Aunt Mary!!!" 

Winning won't stop me from dialing in, but I'll leave it for this round of the contest.  It feels kind of greedy to keep trying.  Could have driven down into Toronto today to pick up the cheque, but I'm thinking this being Grey Cup weekend is no time to be venturing into the Big City.  It can wait until Monday.  It will feel good to have the winnings in hand...

Merry Christmas!
The Lucky Mom

Move Over, it's my Turn

Today I had a good friend look after Lucienne and Audree while I took Amelia to the dentist (more on that in a bit). Lucienne has really started showing recognition of people she knows lately. At church, if she sees this friend she will run up to her with a huge grin and ask to be picked up, often not wanting to come to my arms (which is okay because it means I get to snuggle with her 5 month old...good deal!).

So today I left her and she barely blinked as I walked out the door without her. When I returned my friend said she was completely fine until her little baby got up from her nap and needed to nurse. I assumed that it was because Lucienne then looked around for me, wanting to breastfeed herself but it turns out she spent the feed trying to get the baby off so she could have a snack herself. Good to know I'm so easily replaced!

When I told Rene he asked if I would ever nurse someone else's baby. I would, if they asked. Lots of communities enjoy communal mothering, and wet nurses were the norm not too long ago. I remember reading a story about a mother who died during childbirth in the US and knowing how important breastfeeding was to her, the father asked for help from lactating mothers. Her friends rallied around this mourning family and took shifts nursing the little baby.

Now for Amelia at the dentist. She's had this molar that started to reabsorb itself the past few months. The dentist just said to keep an eye on it and come in if it starts to bother her. Erica mentioned that on her last cleaning she thought it looked like it was time to pull it out. I made an appointment and the next day Amelia complained that it was hurting her. Nice timing! So we went in and the dentist said it was holding on by about 20%. I said pull it (Amelia wasn't as gung ho but eventually consented).  So out it came, quite easily. When I went to pay the bill I was floored...$178 to pull the tooth. I could have bought a few fancy pliers to the job myself at that price! Thank goodness for insurance.

The Santa Claus Parade Fiasco of 2012

The Orangeville Santa Clause Parade was today. For the past three years our ward has put together a float. Or rather, Rene and few other guys have built a float. Last year we were Mary and Joseph with Lucienne as baby Jesus. This year I was a shephard, Amelia was a goat, and Evelyn, Audree and Lucienne were time travellers from the 21st century. In other words, they refused to wear costumes. I figured smiling children was more important that period costumes so I didn't push it too hard.

Leading up to the float was a mass of miscommunication and mayhem. People weren't where they were suppose to be, there was confusion on what time the parade actually started (it was an hour earlier this year) and keys to the chapel were forgotten. The float was built, it had no lights, costumes were forgotten but once remembered were locked in the attic of the chapel with no key holders in town. We walked the staging ground of the floats for an hour, met up with other members but our float was not there and the parade was due to start within 1/2 an hour. When the float finally arrived (which also meant we were near the back of the parade making the night even longer for all the kids...waiting to start) there were still no costumes. Rene decided to go back to the chapel to try his locksmithing skills. That left me with the four girls and our dog (yes, we brought Paris). Popular items on a float are babies and dogs so we thought we'd play the crowds this year with both. 5 minutes after he left a couple of the guys came back with costumes in hand (I guess he's not the only one able to break in). This is one of the few times I've wished we were more of a cell phone family.

I got a little antsy as the parade started and no Rene. I guess it was lucky we were near the end so it would give him more time but I couldn't figure out how I was going to hold Lucienne and walk the dog and keep Audree happy. Just as it was about our turn Rene shows up on rollerblades. He figured out that the costumes had been found but then had to figure out how to get to the staging area on time. Turns out rollerblades are crowd pleasers too so we were covering lots of bases.

In true style, Audree was asleep about 5 minutes into the parade (she's done that every year). Lucienne decided she'd rather walk so spent 80% of the parade crying and trying to get out of my arms. We had mini candy canes for the kids in the crowds but I spent the time I wasn't wrestling Luci unwrapping the candy for the 10 kids on the float. I toyed with the idea of getting off half way and heading home (the route is about a 5 minutes walk from home at one point) but couldn't get my roller-blading-wise-man-husband's attention to get his keys so I carried on.

The end is always the hardest. The parade doesn't end where it started so the positioning of the car is key. If you park at the beginning then you've got to hike over there at the end of the parade and if you park at the finish you've got to give yourself enough time to get to the start. The latter was our plan this year until costumes were MIA and everything was running late. I'm always left sitting with cold, tired, hungry children, waiting for Rene to fetch the van. Early in the day I had made an off-hand comment that in the time it took to sort out the car I could just walk home. Turns out this year he took that to heart and had parked the car at home and rollerbladed to the starting line. However, I hadn't included details like if we were going that route I'd make sure to have a stroller for the sleeping 3-year-old and cranky 1-year-old not to mention the fact the other two would be cold, tired and hungry. So once again, we waited in the cold while Rene rollarbladed home to get the van. At least this year it wasn't raining. I remember last year huddling under some soffits of a garage to keep out of the cold, slushy rain, singing Christmas carols to the girls trying to keep them from crying with a 6 month old baby trying to nurse. Fun times. 

There has to be a better way. I hope at least we're creating warm, Christmas memories for the girls.

Costumes and Candy Holiday

Halloween, my least favourite holiday of the year. Even as a child I don't remember loving it (although Mom might have different thoughts). I did love the candy aspect but don't remember loving the dressing up part. Now the thought of gathering and coordinating costumes for 3 (and next year 4) children makes me want to just go out and buy a couple boxes of candy and call it even. 

The only thing I do love about Halloween is that it's a quiet night in for me. My plan was to put Lucienne to bed a bit early, put in a chick flick and put my feet up while Rene and the girls collected candy I would eat for the next couple of weeks. We don't get too many kids knocking at our door so it really is a relaxing evening.

However, I married my perfect match and Rene is officially in charge of Halloween in our home. He LOVES it. This year I consented with the girls to purchase costumes for them...as long as they stuck to the 70% off rack in Zellers. I must say, we had a couple cute pirates (Evelyn and Audree) and a very realistic looking Merida from the movie Brave (Amelia). I told them that if I bought them something they were in no way going to change their minds. There would be no last minutes indecision.

It turns out Evelyn is a lot like me. She was a pirate for a party the weekend before, a gorilla for school and 5 minutes before we were set to go out the door proclaimed that she didn't know what she wanted to be so was going to stay home. Her gorilla suit was wet from it raining all day and she couldn't find the dagger she put in her boot for her pirate costume and said no one would know what she was without it (no comment). I really wanted to tell her fine, just stay home but I knew she wouldn't be happy so we quickly got some pjs that would fit over her winter coat and put some rosy cheeks on her, a cop out baby.

But, I should probably back up in the week. Sunday night, all three girls got sick within hours of each other. I spent the night up between the three of them and  cleaned two bathrooms from missed spewage. To Rene's credit he did get up around 4am during one of Amelias puking episodes and was ready for battle only to find a very tired me downstairs cleaning the floor of the bathroom for a second time.

Luckily, it was an 8 hour bug and they were all fine by the following afternoon. Not so lucky, I got it last night and Rene got it this afternoon. Just in time for Halloween. Since I could technically walk without running to the bathroom my quiet night in became a cold, wet night out.

It was a little more fun than I thought it would be. At one point we found the cutest little kitten outside a home and I made an offhand comment that perhaps we could have the kitten instead of candy. Evelyn's eyes went huge and with a huge smile said "Really??!!" Whoops. No, not really. But I would have.

But, now it's over for another year and I can deal with sugar high children for the next couple of weeks. I let them gorge on candy after school so that they'll get through the loot in about 2 weeks. I heard it's better for their teeth that way anyway and I don't have to deal with the sugar whines for months on end. Let the games begin.

Amelia's Book Club

Amelia has been begging to start a book club ever since I started mine (about one year this month I think). I've been dragging my feet because I just didn't feel like planning evenings with 6 or so of her friends over. Once a year is enough for their birthdays, and even that can get a bit much.

But, I've left the discussion open with trying to decide what the best format would be that would make us both happy. We talked about picking a series of books that everyone could just read one and share. We talked about everyone bringing their favourite book.

Then the other week I was browsing other blogs and found one that had a mother-daughter book club. I approached her with the idea of having all her friends come with their mothers to discuss a book. If the mothers are involved I would be willing to request multiple copies of the same book from the library to pass around the group. I wasn't sure if she'd be up to all us uncool kids crashing her party but she was excited about it. It also meant the book had to be something that mothers would enjoy, no Geronimo Stilton or Rainbow Magic Fairy Books. It will be a great opportunity to expose her to some childhood classics.

So, our first book is going to be Pippi Longstocking. I never read it as a child but heard it's a great book.

I talked to a few Moms about the idea and so far they've all loved it. When bringing it up with a good friend she thought her son would love the opportunity to join. I told her I'd have to check with Amelia to see if boys would be allowed and she was totally open to the idea. We've been trying to think of another boy who would want to come but have come up with nothing yet. We'll just have to be careful to not get too girly in our book selections.

Next was a group name. On our way to Thanksgiving Dinner #2 at Grandma's we came up with lots of ideas in the car. The winner was one Amelia came up with: Book Divas and Dudes. She was hard at work making invitations yesterday to hand out.

I really hope this takes off. I love reading. And I've loved watch Amelia learning to love reading. It was a bit of a shaky start but this summer she's really gotten into it. I've loved watching her read to her younger sisters too. It's been quite a relief to have her help out at bedtime while I put Lucienne down. Evelyn is trying to keep up with her older sister and working hard at learning to read. I think I'll read this book to her so she can join the club too. Audree and Rene will have to have a "Daddy Daughter Date Night" the night of our meeting. I'm excited to read the same book as her and hear her opinions and thoughts about it. 

Carpet Search Finally Over

Since our newest family member, the couch, entered our home we have been on the search for a companion carpet for it. I feel like this is the first time Rene and I have been really picky. Usually we're both fairly easy going and make quick, easy decisions. We usually go to one store and find something that we both like at a price we can live with. This carpet though has really put us to the test. Rene's price cap is waaaaaaayyyyy higher than mine. He's willing to spend a small fortune on something that will look and feel really nice figuring we'll have it for a long time. I'm not willing to "invest" in a rug that may or may not survive Paris and Lucienne.

We have visited 6 stores, bought four carpets, returning three of them. It became a family affair with the girls all weighing in with their opinions. Turns out the couch, in addition to being big, is also a bit of a camillion colour. You think it has a bit of grey to it until you get a rug that has a bit of grey. But a rich brown one makes it look a completely different colour. A 2x2 sample of leather was proving to not be accurate on how these rugs are going to look with the real deal.

One of our searches lead us to The Brick. Amelia was off at Activity Girls so we took the other three with us. I wasn't sure if they had any so I ran in by myself to check then signalled to Rene to park the car and come in to look at their selection. Evelyn came in and immediately ran to watch Avatar on the "big screens". They've been begging to see that movie but we really don't think it's age appropriate. However, during our Couch Expedition we found ourselves at The Brick before and the girls were more than happy to stay out of trouble by watching this black listed movie. I wonder how often they switch their showings?

Anywho, Rene and I wondered the store for about 20 minutes looking at rugs. Finding some we liked out of our price range and some that were okay within it. As we went to gather Evelyn to leave we both looked at each other and asked, "where is Audree?" Neither of us remembered seeing her run with Evelyn to the t.v.'s and we were carrying only Lucienne. The salesman who was helping us said, "Pretty sure you only came in with two." With that, Rene ran in a panic out to the car to find a sobbing, half hysterical little Audree still strapped into her carseat at the back of the van. It took 5 minutes to get her calm enough that he could bring her into the store. When she saw me she said, between crying hiccups, "I saw you walk farther and farther away until I couldn't see you anymore and I got very scared." I turned to the salesman and said, "Thank goodness we don't even have all our children tonight." Insert nervous laugh. And we made a quick exit.

We brought one carpet and some pillows home that night only to have Amelia burst into tears when she saw them laid out and run up to her room yelling that she hated them and they were ugly. When I asked her about this reaction the next morning she nonchalantly said that "she was just feeling grumpy."

So today we decided it was time to leave Orangeville and broaden our search. Mom took us to Costco and a light shone down on their shags as we all agreed on a rug...right colour, right price, done deal. Since getting it home Paris has adopted it as her mega pillow and rarely leaves it's surface. I'm so happy we were able to find something we all liked, including the dog. 

Anything is Possible at Erica's House

I love how much the girls love their extended family. A trip to Addison's is like a trip to Disney World (only a lot closer and a lot cheaper). And those parents of hers are pretty fun too. Grandma's house has Treehouse, need I say more? A trip to Montreal means I'll only see them appear at dinner and Grandmama and Grandpapa's house has their favourite flowers named after each of them.

Every now and then I can talk Erica into taking one or more of the girls for a sleepover. A day at Erica's often means a trip to McDonald's and time to be spoiled on their own. They get their own room, pick what they want to watch on t.v. and walk a dog that won't pull them off their feet (although that little Georgia is stronger than she looks).

Tonight was Evelyn's turn. Over dinner, once I realized Erica wasn't working tomorrow, I discreetly asked if she wanted to take Evelyn for the night. Amelia was off at a birthday party and Audree had already had a turn (she hasn't offered to take Lucienne yet, not sure why). When Erica asked Evelyn if she'd like to sleep over she got the cutest grin, hopped down from the dinner table, gave me a kiss and said "bye Mom". She wasn't leaving any room for us to change our minds. She had her bag packed in record time (I wish I could figure out how to get that to happen for school mornings) and was pulling Erica out the door.

Erica had a Scentsy party to go which made Evelyn feel very grown up and special to attend. There was a neighbour garage sale to help out with in the morning and who knows what other adventures. I did get a hopeful phone call Evelyn late morning asking if she could get bangs cut into her hair (something she's been asking for weeks but I just haven't had the time to do anything about).

Perhaps Erica will write a blog about their fun-filled day? (hint, hint)

A Lucienne Update

Lucienne's theme song: set to Diana Ross' "Ain't no Mountain High Enough"

Ain't no counter high enough
Ain't no cupboard low enough
Ain't no scream that's loud enough
To keep me from you.

(you being the phone, or toothbrush, or computer mouse or pen or toilet paper or oatmeal bin)

There is nothing too tall to climb. There is always a way up whether it be to get into the bathroom sink, on top of the diningroom table (where she spends half her time), or perched on the toilet. Thanks goodness she hasn't discovered the splash of what's inside or what happens when you flush but I have glimpses of this in the future. Many a toilet paper roll has been unfurled (then eaten by Paris, they really are quite the pair).

Evelyn would be a close second to the amount of things she got into at this age but Lucienne is the climber of the family. I don't remember any of the other girls being so determined to be at eye level with the world.

And her screams are still earth shattering, they leave my ears ringing. She's taken to a frantic scream when she's discovered getting into something, white-knuckling the item in her clutch.

She's working on a great pout whenever the word no is thrown in her direction. A slow, deliberate frown with big blinking eyes.

But, she gives a killer hug with her arms wrapped tightly around your neck and is liberal with sloppy, wet kisses.

She loves to laugh. When we're all laughing she'll match it with a boisterous belly laugh as if she's in on the joke.

Aunt Becca has nicknamed her Chewie for her being able to speak Chewbacca. She has perfected the language and we're just waiting for her to translate it into English. Words that have appeared are bye, mama and poop (the girls love that one).

She'll never keep hair elastics in and I'm scared to keep trimming up her bangs in case it turns mulletish.

She is persistent, inquisitive and loves her family. This is a girl who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing until it's in her hands. A trait that keeps me on my feet but will serve her well as she gets older.


Gosh we love this baby.

General Conference Thoughts

Last Thursday I was finally able to go to my first Enrichment Meeting in years. In the past I've had La Leche League meetings that conflicted with the time. One day it dawned on me that as the leader I could change the time we met...so I did! That was months ago though and it seems like life quickly filled up my Thursday night with other commitments.

This one was on how to get our children interested in watching General Conference, or at least quietly occupied in the same room while it's running. There were so many great ideas presented that it made me realize that I need to be way more proactive to create teaching opportunities at home. This has been on my mind lately.

With only one day to really work on something I took a few ideas from those presented and worked out something for the girls. I bought them each a Conference Journal which would only come out during conferences. I photocopied pictures of the General Authorities, Seventies and Auxillary Presidencies along with some clip-art pictures of common themes. Their job was going to be to find who is speaking, cut out their picture and glue into their journal, write the person's name and listen for a keyword on what they're speaking about then glue in the corresponding picture or draw one of their own.  Friday night I told them they would find a special conference basket in their room the next morning that would hold treats and activities. It was like Christmas or Easter...okay, maybe not quite the same but they were pretty excited.

Can I just start by saying I love that I have girls? This kept their attention for 3 of the 4 sessions (the fourth was at a Thanksgiving bash with the cousin so they were excused to play). Sure there were lost scissors, stressful moments of not being able to find a picture and misplaced glue sticks (most of them ending up being in Evelyn's dress-up dress she choose to wear for the occasion that had about 50 layers of crinoline that hid things very well...she often just had to stand up and the missing item would fall from her dress). It was hard for them to listen for the topic of the talks but most of the time it's hard for me to sum up a conference talk in one word. It was funny when Rene and I couldn't even agree on the "correct" topic.

Rene and I also got new conference journals. So often we just write notes on whatever paper is lying around (if we even take notes) and they're lost as soon as they're written.

What a fantastic conference. There are so many talks I want to listen to again. What really resonated with me was how hard it is for youth these days. They're going to need very strong testimonies and self-confidence and knowledge of who they really are and recognition of their true potential to navigate the coming years. Makes me want to keep them small forever and never let them go. But it also reiterated what I've been feeling lately...I really need to increase the teaching moments I create in our home to strengthen their testimonies and capture those that come naturally. It's not enough to just go to church once a week. They need to be learning at home.

The questions is how to fit it in between the cleaning and cooking and swimming and cleaning and activities and friends and cleaning and homework and music lessons and baby and cleaning and dog and renovations and family and cleaning. We've been pretty good at holding Family Home Evenings every Monday but many times they are a story read from a Friend and a quick discussion over ice cream before sending them off to bed. Morning scripture study is often me screaming at them to hurry up getting ready for school so we can sit down to read a verse or two before sending them out the door to their bus, Rene already long gone to work. Prayers are often repetitive catch phrases with little thought.

It all goes back to proactive parenting. Creating opportunities to learn instead of waiting for them to show up (which usually get missed as life rushes on). Talking about things that are important at the dinner table. Doing things together as a family. Being examples of lives of service. At some point I'm going to have to stop thinking about this and put something into action. It's pretty easy to physically take care of these precious spirits but to help them grow spiritually is a completely different story.

New Couch..Let the Transformation Begin

It has arrived. We are the proud new owners of a new-to-us-deluxe-leather-sectional-reclining-couch. This is the first "big" furniture purchase we have made in our almost 11 years of marriage. The other was a king sized mattress when Evelyn was born and she made it quite clear she would be sleeping in our bed for the long run. Other than that, most of our stuff have been hand-me-downs, garage sale or curbside finds (both of which we appreciate and certainly were easy on the bank account).

Back to the couch. It's big. A lot bigger in our livingroom than the one it came from (which was probably about 3 times the size of our room with a wall full of windows). It's also a different colour than I was thinking and is kind of clashing with our walls and wood trim. Can you sense my hesitation? I will admit I'm not loving it right off the bat. It is very comfortable though, as in very, very, very comfortable. And we can fit our whole family plus guests on it. And it reclines, electronically (although I'm sensing we're going to have to have some rules surrounding the recliners as I see the potential of them being abused/played with by little hands). I think it will grow on me with the right accessories.

So, on to the accessories. Now that we have this couch I think some things are going to need to be changed and added to make it work. Although I do feel a little indulgent when I think of the millions of homes in this world that don't even have a couch. But, in my little world, this couch has given us the incentive to redecorate the livingroom.

The first, and most exciting to me, is that Rene has agreed to paint the trim white. This is a big deal (more to Rene than me) and I think it's going to be hard to make that first paint stroke. Living in a century home with "original" wood trim means that for over 100 years the wood has remained unpainted. However, it needs to be refinished in someway and sanding and restaining all of it seems very tedious and time consuming. It's going to change the look of the house and hopefully update the look a bit.

We'll also need a carpet so it doesn't look like we have this giant couch floating in the room. With that means some accent pillows and maybe a new table? Perhaps an accent chair and ottoman? The options are endless but our bank account is not so we'll have to see what we can with this what we have. Rene is pushing for a wall mounted flat screen t.v.

For now, we'll put our feet up and relax. And I'll try to get used to seeing this thing living in our house.

Christmas Will be Cancelled Until Further Notice

Today was yet another one of those days that I feel I played interference between the toddler and her climbing/getting into things and the dog with her chewing. I seriously think they have figured out some way to communicate with each other. While I get something out of the dogs mouth, Lucienne is climbing up onto the table and dumping out the contents of my wallet. I turn to get her down and put everything back and the dog is getting into something else. As I pry it out of her mouth, Luci has found a stool at the sink (placed by Audree) and is playing with the water. I turn it off and dry her off only to find the dog has returned from the toyroom with yet another Pet Shop half destroyed. While I pick up all the pieces, Luci is climbing up the stairs to find what Audree is up to. And so it goes, and goes, and goes.

On another note, in the middle of this constant stream of destruction, I had a not-so-steller mother moment with Audree. I hate when that voice in my head is saying that I need to stop talking yet my mouth just keeps going. It all really starts with my wallet. Audree saw Lucienne getting into it and really wanted to join in the fun. I think, what's the harm in letting her play store with my cards so I let her have my wallet warning her that I expect everything back in it when she's done (mistake #1). Audree happily plays her game while I run back and forth between the dog, not watching exactly what she's doing with it (mistake #2). Later in the day as I'm picking up around the livingroom and diningroom I find my empty wallet...and nothing else. No cards (I never have any money in it so that's not really a concern). When I ask Audree where everything is she gives me that really cute, innocent, doe-eyed look that she has down to a tee and says, "I don't know".

I'd kind of had it with Luci and the dog and unfortunately Audree suffered the consequence of my frustration. I told her that without the contents of my wallet I would no longer be able to buy anything or to drive anywhere. Christmas would have no presents, birthdays would be non-existant, we were never going to go anywhere, ever again. No vacations, no playdates. She is of course in tears but I just keep going (in my defense, I wasn't yelling, just bringing down her world in a calm, orderly manner). The sad part was that I didn't really have any important cards in my wallet to begin with. My credit cards and license were safely attached to my key chain. Health cards and temple recommend in my purse. It was just full of the "point" cards from various stores and other things I haven't used for months, even years.

We looked for the cards all day. We cleaned the toyroom and her bedroom. We took apart the couch and moved all the furniture. It was as if she ate them, although more likely that the dog had eaten them. They were all gone. Just disappeared in thin air. It was actually kind of weird because she had no recollection of what she did with them and we couldn't find them anywhere.

I finally just gave up. I knew they weren't that important and I'd already cancelled Christmas so there wasn't too much to be done. Plus I'd burned off some steam with all the cleaning so I was feeling a bit better.

Within ten minutes of the girls being home from school Evelyn comes up to me with Audree's big book of Dora stories and asks why all my cards are in the pages. Then it all comes back to Audree who says, "I remember now, I put them in my Dora book." 

Mystery solved. Christmas and birthdays are free to go ahead. We'll leave the house. And I score a point in the mother-of-year competition I'm surely in the running for.

Dog vs Cat vs Bike

One of my birthday gifts this year was a dog bike leash. I LOVE it. What a great way to exercise Paris at a pace that will actually tire her out. For the most part she pulls me...and when I say me I mean me, my bike and the bike trailer with Lucienne and Audree in it. Sometimes I have to break going uphill. It's great!

However, she still loves a good squirrel chase. Dogs we can get by without too much hassle and cats, as long as they're not moving and a fair bit away are fine but oh, how she loves squirrels. And I'm pretty sure there are more squirrels that live here than people. I've found that as long as I see them first or about the same time as her I can get her attention and counter balance her pulling sideways on the bike.

The other day I was coming back from the girls school and a squirrel got too close. She gave a huge tug and snap went the bike leash. What I don't understand is that the attachment itself is a very sturdy, strong metal contraption and the leash is a thick rope. However, the pieces that attach the dog to the rope and the rope to the attachment are flimsy little plastic bits. As I was assembling it I thought how silly it seemed and wondered if it would really hold. Well, that day I got my answer. The flimsy piece of plastic didn't just break once that day, but twice. Almost like she realized that if she gave just the right tug she could be set free and get that squirrel.

The first time was luckily in a quiet neighbourhood after I had dropped the girls off at school. I had to get off my bike and football tackle her as she came running by. The second was at a busier intersection with nowhere really to leave the bike with the girls in the trailer (no sidewalks, we were riding on the road), plus the crazy-dog-running-into-the-road factor. A car saw Paris break free and graciously stopped and offered to stay with the girls while I chased my crazy dog. My only luck this time was that we were at the end of the 5 km bike ride and Paris was a little bit tired. I didn't have to chase far and I didn't have to tackle her.

Needless to say at home I fashioned a more sturdy attachment and it seems to be holding much better. And trust me, she's tried.

So tonight Mom and Erica were coming for a visit. I thought it would be smart to take the dog out for a quick ride to get some pent up energy out before Murphy and Georgia came for a visit. Rene discovered a lovely little trail not too far from the house that goes through some treed areas in behind some houses. It's a nice change from biking on the road and sidewalks all the time. And the bonus, I have never seen a squirrel back in there.

However, today we encountered a cat. It was hiding in the bushes and neither of us saw it until we rode right by it. I would have just continued riding but Paris had a different idea...she decided to jump on it. One of those living-in-the-moment decisions that dogs seem to live their lives by. However, being attached to a bike means that she took me and the bike with her. I have never heard such a drawn-out painful yelp/howl than this afternoon. We were a tangled mess of person, dog and bike (no cat, it ran). When I finally was able to get up from under the bike and unhook Paris from the bike I was scared to look at her. She slowly got up but hung one of her front paws in front of her at an angle that made it look like it was broken in two.

I've watched enough Dog Whispers to know that I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I gave her a quick once over to make sure there wasn't any bleeding then walked away, silently panicking. Thoughts running in my head: how much is this vet bill going to cost? How am I going to get home? Stupid cat.

I walked a bit to see if anyone was in their yards that I could borrow a phone from then walked back to Paris to take a better assessment. The fact that she was still sitting in one spot with her paw lifted was not a good sign. I touched her paw to see if she would cringe and she didn't. As I walked away again, wondering if I could carry her back to the road, she slowly stood up and walked toward me keeping her hurt leg up. Rene's co-worker lives just at the entrance to the path so I thought if I could get her to walk there I could call Rene to come pick us up. As we walked she gingerly put her paw down and gradually put more weight on it as we went. By the time we got to a phone she limping. I knew it hurt though because a squirrel ran through the yard and she merely glimpsed at it.

Rene rescued us and thankfully she seemed fine as she bounded around the livingroom chasing Murphy and Georgia. I can see at least 4 bald spots on her leg from where it must have got caught in the chain and yanked the fur out.

The real test on how I handled the situation (from a dog's point of view) will be how she reacts to me attaching her to the bike again. And I'll probably be a bit nervous the first few bikes too. Even though I wasn't hurt I'd rather not be pulled off again.

Our Dear, Sweet Roxy

I'm not sure how to write this post. I'm so sad. Our sweet Roxy was hit and killed by a car sometime in the last couple of days. I suppose it was inevitable. We live at a fairly major intersection and she was so cocky with cars. Many times I had to look away as she crossed in front of our house, forcing cars to slow down or come to a complete stop as she sauntered across.

The last time we saw her was Sunday just before we left for Addison's birthday bash. When we came home late that night she didn't come in. I hated it when she didn't come in at night and would often go whistle for her in the wee hours of the morning if I was up to nurse. Usually if she didn't come in at night she would be there to greet Rene in the morning but Monday morning, still no Roxy. During the day there was no Roxy flirting with pedestrians as they walked past our house or fraternizing with the mechanics at our neighbouring garage (they actually referred to her as their garage cat as she was frequently in talking to them as they worked on the cars).

There's only been one other time she has disappeared for that long and I figure she was stuck in a garage or shed or something. Monday night prayers included keeping her safe and helping her get out of wherever she was if she was trapped.

This morning we got a call from the SPCA. My first thought was great, someone has found her and taken her in. That's happened to us once before as well. She was taken in as a stray and thanks to her microchip we were able to be contacted and get her back. Unfortunately, that's not what they were calling to say.  Someone found her on the side of Broadway, wrapped her in a towel and brought her to the SPCA offices. I'm grateful for kind people who go out of their way to show kindness and respect to animals, especially when, perhaps unbeknownst to them, they are beloved pets.

I burst into tears as soon as I was off the phone. Thankfully Audree was up in the toyroom playing so I could have some time to compose myself. I got through a shakey conversation with Erica then had to go right into a Primary meeting that was being held at my home.

Next was calling Mom then Rene. I wasn't sure if I should call Rene at work about this but I couldn't picture myself holding it together breaking the news to him and the girls all on my own.

After dinner, we sat the girls down and told them. Lots of tears as we reminisced about the funny cat she was. Rene will miss her jumping on the bathroom counter every night as he was brushing his teeth for a pet and chat. I'm going to miss our nightly snuggles, she was almost always on my side of the bed to sleep, purring everytime I moved. Amelia is going miss her early morning companion - many mornings they were the only two up. Audree is not going to miss how Roxy would lie mid-stairs, not letting her get by by playfully swatting at her legs and feet. Evelyn is going to miss how she shadowed us whenever we went to the park, or library or anywhere in close proximity. I once had to put her in our bike trailer while we travelled to and went into the $ Store because it was too late when we discovered her following us. Or ask if the vet office could keep her for 1/2 an hour while we went to a chiropractor appointment because she was hot on our tail. Lucienne doesn't know that she'll miss how while I nursed her to sleep Roxy would jump in the crib to keep it warm (she wouldn't sleep in there unless there was potential of Luci going in). None of us will miss finding dead carcases of mice, birds, moles and other little animals in varying degrees of eaten decay around the front yard. I also won't miss having to close the window on a summer evening while trying to sleep to block the sound of squeaking from Roxy's midnight snack. Rene will miss chasing her through the house with a live mouse in her mouth and having to trap it in the toyroom. Paris will miss chasing her through the house and sniffing out all her hiding spots. I'll miss how she patiently waited for us to finish showers so she could get in and have a drink. Evelyn will miss trying to fall asleep with a tail in her face. None of the girls will miss her kneading (but I will).  We will miss seeing her trying to get into the second story bathroom window while the girls were getting ready for bed, wondering how on earth she managed to get up there in the first place. Rene will miss her next Father's Day when he doesn't have a dead mouse brought into the house and dropped at his feet (she did that for the past two Father's Day but never any other day). The girls will miss her scattering all their Squinkie balls
throughout the house and chasing remote control cars. We will miss her greeting us as we pulled into the driveway by climbing on top of the car. Our neighbours will miss her inviting herself into their homes and cars. Strangers will miss her jumping on top of their cars as they stop on the side of our road to talk on their cells (twice I had to run out and get her off a car before they pulled away). Garfield (the fish) will miss his cat kisses as she drank from his bowl (even if there was fresh water out she would only drink from the fish bowl or a toilet).

She was an adorable cat. The minute we saw her at the shelter we knew she belonged to our family. We had visited three times looking at cats and could never come to a consensus, until a volunteer went to the back and brought her out (she wasn't even up for adoption yet) and it was love at first sight...for all of us.

We love you Foxy Roxy and miss you. Keep the mice out of heaven until we get there.

Back to School

You know you're getting old when you frequently say: look how tall you're getting, I can't believe how time flies, what was I coming up for?, where did the summer go?, etc, etc.

But seriously, where did the summer go? It's the first day of school and I feel like we didn't do anything this summer. I was thinking of going on lots of day trips to the beach and splash pads and zoos and cousin visits and parks and hikes. Mind you, this was when I thought I would have the car six of the eight weeks of summer which turned out to be about one week. One of Rene's coworkers was kicked out of the carpool for being constantly late and then overtime happened which his other carpooling buddy has no interest in doing. So, I was left to searching out things to do by foot.

Anyway, back to the first day of school. It's not a very exciting morning here, which I'm going to take as a compliment and that my girls love spending time with me at home. Evelyn was in tears most of the morning.  I think we over prepared her for grade one. I just remember the transition being really hard for Amelia. The room isn't full of toys anymore and there's way more desk work. We totally under prepared Amelia and so went too far the other way with Evelyn.

Amelia isn't great with change to begin with so her not looking forward to going back to school is a given. Last year it took her a couple weeks to get into the swing of things but she was hugely disappointed that her grade had been split and she wasn't in her BFF, Charlotte's, class. This year I contacted the school to request they not be split but came away with a decision to make. Turns out we'd have to decide if she would have the same teacher for three years in a row or be in Charlotte's class. Since this has more to do with her than with me I let her make the decision. I'm so glad I did. It means that she went to school today already knowing what to expect. She choose to have a different teacher and that we would make an extra effort to have Charlotte over for more play dates. They are two peas in a pod though so it's going to take more than being in separate classes to tear these two apart.

The other day we were talking about heaven and how we probably knew each other before we came here. We talked about how the people we meet are placed in our path for a reason. When I asked her if she thought she and Charlotte were friends before and that there's a reason why they gravitated to each other in JK she got a cute smile on her face and I could see a lightbulb go off in her head. I hope they have the type of friendship that lasts a lifetime.

Anyway...away they went. I'm happy that we have the same bus driver as the last two years and it picks up and drops off in front of our house (I really try to not take that for granted because I know how lucky we are).

I must say that although I missed them it was a much more pleasant day. No fighting. I had some downtime on my own while Lucienne napped and Audree watched a movie. Audree and I baked some chocolate chip cookies for the girls when they got home (might as well start off on the right foot).

The girls came off the bus happy and excited. They both have great teachers this year that should be a lot of fun. It's weird not knowing what they do for the bulk of their day now. Soon they'll be all grown up with their own lives and I'll be sitting at home wondering where my babies went. How time flies.

Picture This....



(Oddly enough, this looks like we're going backwards...or maybe she was just tired of getting fur in her eyes)



Well, I guess I was getting a bit too haughty for my own good....I thought I would try to add a photo of Georgia, on behalf of Erica, just to see how easy/hard it was.  And I thought I'd become a Bloggin' Whiz with a wonderful post complete with photo.  Alas, I don't know where it went.  Blog Heaven perhaps, 'cuz it truly was a lovely blog.  But I'm at work, and I'll try once more to insert a photo and then get back to what I should be doing.  Here's Sweet Georgia "blowin' in the wind" on the way back from the Lalondes...Despite the fact that he gets walked twice a day, Murphy was sound asleep in the back, recovering from our 5k hike on Saturday.  I've noticed he's a little slower at bounding up when I stand up to move, though it might have something to do with the fact that I'm getting up slower. 

The truly observant will notice that I've used the Georgia font....just sayin'

That's it for now, and heerrrrreeee's Georgie!!  Oh.  The photo popped in at the top.  Oh well.

Love,
Mom xxx

PS  It didn't go into Blog Heaven.  It was saved as a draft, but it seemed redundant now so I deleted it.  Let this be a lesson to all.

Off the Charts

On this post back in March I stated my belief on sticker charts and my consent to try them. It was a failure with the guitar trial. I don't know if it was because the stickers went missing or the incentive wasn't worth enough but it lasted about 2 weeks before fizzling (just enough to get one package of plasticine).

At the beginning of the summer I was speaking with a good friend who devised a motivational chart to get her kids reading. I liked the idea but thought I want my kids to be doing more than just reading. There's work to be done, music to be practised, gardening and other stuff I'm sure I'm missing.

So, I worked out a chart that would cater to the fact the girls love to colour. It's a rainbow chart with colours assigned to tasks: reading - purple, writing - red, music - orange, housework - yellow, garden - green, physical activity - blue and extra - pink. There are blocks of 100 squares in 5 rows of 20 to colour in when they complete a task under any category. We went to Bulk Barn and they each got to pick out a candy that they would get when they finished colouring in a row. At the completion of the block of 100 they would get something bigger, like going to the movies or picking something out at a store. I figured a row might take a week or so to complete and a block about a month.

The first day they had all earned a candy. Two weeks, they were at their "block" reward. Amelia went and saw Brave with Rene and I went shopping for a new dress with Evelyn.  It has slowed down a bit now but we're almost into August and it's still generally working. I have double point days when they can blindly pick a colour so when they do that job they get to colour two squares instead of one.

My favourite has been the "extra" colour. That's for when I need something done, like folding diapers, helping with dinner, sorting the tuperware drawer, etc. I just call out "extra square task" and they come running, ready to do whatever I ask. It's like living in the twilight zone. It's fantastic! Sometimes I'll post notes on the tv for when they get up so they know what extra tasks there are for the day. There was one day I came downstairs and Evelyn was folding laundry, Amelia was dusting furniture and they had already swept the floor. That's not everyday by far but it has been nice to not have to do too much nagging...in general.

I'm sure our neighbours think I'm crazy when they hear me threaten to take away squares. That's the downside of these charts. I hate using them as threats but it comes out of my mouth before I can stop myself.

Today I threatened to make a chart I would colour in black every time they fought, hurt each other, talked back or didn't listen. I got the idea from scripture reading this morning that talked about being clean to enter into the kingdom of God. They were, as usual, fidgeting, playing with other things and generally not seeming to pay attention. I haven't created it yet, but it would already be pretty black. Not sure if that's the route I want to go with these charts but it sure is tempting. As a consequence of being mean to a sister I've already made them give one of their squares to that sister. I feel like I'm grasping at straws, trying to find something that will motivate them to not be so mean to each other. One thing at a time I suppose. At least my windows and bathrooms are being cleaned.

Audree's Musings

After coming home from a play date Audree announces that she's like to live there now.
Me: But who will be my Audree?
Audree: Evelyn can be me.
Me: then who will be my Evelyn?
Audree: Amelia.
Me: and who will be my Amelia?
Audree: Lucienne.
Me: so who will be my Lucienne?
Audree: You can get another dog.

Our Phone Talks

For Mother's Day Rene bought me a new set of phones. At first I thought...well, that's just an excuse to get our home something that we kind of needed (our old ones would hold a charge for all of a 3 hours and we'd often be running around the house just looking for one that was charged). But, wow, I love MY new phones!!!! And to top it all off, I splurged on the weekend and signed up for call display and call answer. I was tired of having to be polite to telemarketers. I just don't feel right hanging up or being smart with them, after all, they're just trying to put food on their table and buy their kids shoes. But really, we don't need new windows or doors, we don't need our ducts clean and for frozen meat purposes we're vegetarian (the only lie I allow myself to politely excuse myself from those phone calls). The best one was The Department of Security calling to confirm we had a home security system, so happy that they care.

So, I was kind of excited for our first phone call.  The phone rang and as I went to go "look" to see who was calling, lo-and-behold, my phones told me who was calling. (turns out it was a recorded Bell message asking me to take a survey on how their service was, is that ironic?)

Now when the phone rings we all sit waiting in anticipation of how it's going to pronounce the name. I don't see this being entertaining in the long run but we'll take what we can get now. I know we're about 10 years behind the times technology speaking but we're getting there.

Let the Games Begin

After talking to Erica I finally got around to enrolling Paris in Puppy School. I know we could probably train her on our own but sometimes being accountable to a third party gets it going. Plus, I've never trained a dog and didn't really know where to start.

So, we started tonight. Actually, last Thursday was technically the first class but we didn't have to bring our dog to it. I have a friend who used the same school and warned me that the first class, sans puppy, had a lot of embarrassing (to her) role playing and weird group activities. She suggested I get Rene to go...so I gave him the option of taking all the girls to their swimming lessons (which fell on the same night) where he'd have to get them all ready, watch Lucienne and then get them all out of the pool and dried off (much easier as a two-man job) or spend the hour talking about training dogs. He jumped at the dog option while I laughed an evil laugh in my mind. I would be able to catch the last half of the class after swimming anyway and watch from the sidelines with all the girls.

After about 10 minutes of watching with the girls I decided that was not going to be an option in the future. Keeping Lucienne off the floor lasted all of 10 minutes of her squirming and doing straight-as-a-board to get down. I gave up and figured I'd disinfect her at home. Audree couldn't see over the gate and kept wanting to be picked up and Evelyn was tired and wanted to lie down on the floor. Amelia was enthrawled and luckily since she's 8 is allowed to participate in the classes.

I also realized it's going to be most benficial if both Rene and I can attend the classes. There's a lot of information that will be hard to relay to whoever misses the class.

So, the next question was who to get to watch the girls. Last fall a 12-year-old girl passed out babysitting flyers. I fished it out and gave her a call. She lives just a few houses away and I thought it would be handy to have someone to call for short jobs when it's not really worth Erica or Mom driving all the way up (although I know they would both do it!) This would be perfect to introduce her to the girls, she wouldn't have to feed them or put them into bed, we'd just be a 2 minute drive away and flexible to have one of us leave if needed.

She called 20 minutes after we left. Lucienne started screaming as soon as the car left the driveway. I suggested she take her to the toyroom as there are lots of distractions up there. I got another call 20 minutes after that (luckily the trainers are very laid back and were fine with me leaving the class to take these calls) saying the toyroom worked but Evelyn and Audree wanted to watch tv so they came down and she started crying again. We only had 20 minutes left so I told her to hang in there and we'd be home soon. Poor girl. First time babysitting and the baby cries the whole time.

She said she was game to come again next week. I think we'll have to pay her more. And Evelyn and Audree are under strict instructions that there will be no tv and if the toyroom keeps Lucienne happy they need to stay up there. I hope it goes better next time.

On the dog side, we're working on becoming the centre of Paris' universe. We need to be more important than squirrels, cats, toys and everything. To do that, I've been carrying around treats 24/7 and randomly calling her name and giving her a treat. Rene already thinks it's a waste of time. I think he was envisioning the command part of training but I can see how this is laying the groundwork so the commands will come naturally. Thankfully she's very motivated by food.

They also said there needs to be structured play with toys, to not just put the dog outside with a bone. We've had fun hanging things on the clothesline and watching her jump to get it or putting toys at the top of the slide and seeing her struggle and slip to climb up to grab it. If anything it has allowed me to spend more positive time with her instead of always being frustrated about what she's gotten into and destroyed (which is a lot). We've been doing okay with giving her physical exercise but doing nothing in the mental exercise department. 

Hmmmmmm...maybe that's why I've been frustrated with the girls lately. Maybe I need to be spending more time actually doing structured play with them instead of being frustrated with them not picking up after themselves and fighting with each other.

Not just a doggie training school, I'm learning philosophies for life...

Like Fishes in Water

Yesterday marked the end of this session's swimming lessons. We opted for twice a week which seemed a little hectic but the girls improved so much faster. They all did wonderful. It's kind of neat seeing where Amelia is at now (being able to swim the length of the big pool) versus Audree's level (which is where Amelia started).

Amelia loves doing things she's good at (don't we all) and swimming is one of those things. She loves going, she puts her heart into it, and can see how much she's improving. I wish she would put that same heart into other areas that don't come as easily but that I know she could excel at (guitar comes to mind...I feel like that's a common thread in these blogs). If there is water around, Amelia is in it. If we're at someone's house with a pool she is in it the whole time. Even other parents have called her a fish. Chalk up another way she's like her Aunt Erica.

Audree started lessons not being able to put her head under and wanting to cling to her instructor the whole lesson. We told her if she put her face in the water we'd buy her goggles like her sisters. She did it, we bought them then forgot to bring them for the next lesson...which made that lesson pointless. She sulked the whole time and refused to do anything. That week, Paris chewed them and that was the end of the goggles. But, with the little pool in the backyard she gained confidence and little by little she was putting more of her head/face into the water. By the end of the lessons she was swimming forward with her whole head under. I think she's just as excited about this feat as we all are...so cute!

This set of lessons was Evelyn's first time in the big pool. Since she's 6 we took her out of the "animal" named lessons and put her into the "numbers". She was the most nervous of them all at the start. The water is way deeper (I wasn't even sure she'd be able to touch in the shallow end but it goes up to her chin...as long as there are no splashes or waves she's okay!) and much colder. Her endurance and stroke greatly improved but most of all her confidence sky-rocketed. She's able to jump into water now without being able to touch the bottom and swim back to the edge.

I love watching the girls learn and seeing the pride in their faces as they accomplish new things. Up to this point they've been doing swimming lessons once a year but I want to keep the momentum so I've signed them up again in the fall. We might take a break through the winter because the thought of being wet in the cold is not very motivating (plus the rec centre's parking lot is super windy and poorly designed so the walk to and from the car is torture in the winter).

Who Let the Dog Out?

Paris getting out is a fairly common experience around here. I would say it happens an average of 4 times a week....could be more with the times she gets out then comes back without anyone knowing. More times than not no one owns up to leaving a door open. I'm beginning to think we have a wonder dog that can work door knobs but if I had to put money on it, I'd probably bet on forgetful children.

So today, she gets out again. I've learned now to put on running shoes and grab a leash before running out to find her. One memorable moment was tackling her on the side of the road and pulling her home by the scruff of her neck because I had neither shoes to chase her with or leash and collar to bring her home. I went to the usual hotspots (neighbours with dogs) but couldn't find her. At one point I thought I glimpsed her leaping hedges into a neighbour's yard but by the time I got there she was gone without a trace. I figured I needed more incentive so I ran home to quickly get some treats (I think I need to pack a get-the-dog-grab-bag and leave it by the front door). Finally, our 5-year-old neighbour girl says in her sweet voice, "I think your dog went that way" pointing down her street and about 7 houses down I see Paris "playing" with a cat. Glad I grabbed the treat because I don't think she thinks I'm as much fun as a cat. I finally got her leashed and on the way home stopped to talk to our neighbour.

Then Evelyn comes running down the street saying I have a phone call. Can I just say how great our phones are, clear as a bell reception three houses down!

The conversation goes something like this:
Me: Hello?
Caller: Hello, someone from your residence called 911?
Me: (now looking at Evelyn) Ummmmm, okay.
911 Operator: I just need to verify that everything is okay?
Me: (giving Evelyn my best death look) Everything is fine. Our dog got out but I've got her back now.
911 Operator: We'll need to send an officer to check out the situation. Can you verify your address.
Me: (Evelyn is looking at me with her most innocent expression and her trying-not-to-smile smile)  4 Bythia St.

Hang up phone. Our neighbour, who happens to be a paramedic, just starts laughing when she hears who was on the phone. About 3 minutes later (glad to know their response time is so quick, even for a non-emergency) an officer drives up and I make Evelyn speak with him. He was really nice about it and told her that even grown-ups sometimes call for their pets but that it's not really an appropriate emergency.

I think she had a flash of poor Zoe and panicked. We've had Family Home Evenings about what to do in an emergency (I'm hoping since it apparently stuck that they really are listening to what I'm teaching) but I think it's time for a refresher on what classifies as an emergency.

Later, I asked her what she said to the operator when she first called before bringing the phone to me. She told them she was 6 years old, alone in the house with her baby sister, that her dog ran away and that she didn't know where her Mom was. All the truth but I can see how it could be taken the wrong way.

To top it all off after speaking to my neighbour for 10 minutes I realized that Lucienne was home alone (the girls had all come out for the police rendezvous). Thank goodness they didn't investigate the situation further.

How Much is Too Much?

We have too much stuff. I can't remember if I've blogged about this before but every now and then I just get tired of all our stuff. It might have more to do with all the cleaning of stuff then the stuff itself. But regardless, today is a too much stuff day.

A few months back I packed up all our Zhu-Zhu pet stuff. I was actually getting tired of prying them out of Paris' mouth. They were too much like real little hamsters...at least now we know that having a pet hamster, rat, squirrel, bunny or anything small that moves is out of the question. Anyway, I don't think the girls have even noticed. At least they haven't asked about them and it's been a few months. I also packed up all the Little People paraphanalia, lots of games and puzzles, stuffed animals and other miscellanseous toys and they haven't seemed to miss any of it.

I feel like giving them each a bin and saying "fill it up with the stuff you want to keep and we'll get rid of the rest. If it doesn't fit in the bin you'll have to make some choices". I'll never actually do that because I would have a mutiny on my hands but a mother can dream.

So today I went on a silent rampage through the house and tried to par down. Silent because if I drew attention to what I was doing, again, a mutiny would occur.  I started in their room with their clothes and managed to clear out two basketfulls of things that were either too small or that they just didn't wear. Next stop was the toyroom where I managed to clear out 2 garbage bags full of stuff. I'll put them away for a few months and if nothing gets asked for it'll go. I won't pitch it right now, I do have a heart (even if they'll say otherwise sometimes).

I feel a little better, a little lighter. Although while I was busy doing this a tornado ran through the main floor. I wonder if I'll ever win.

Soccer Stars

Soccer started a couple weeks ago. There's a great league a little north of Orangeville that is way less competitive than in-town. All ages are on one night in one giant field...there are probably 20 games running at the same time from ages 4 to 16. They practice for the first half hour then have an hour game. The girls played a couple years ago but spent most of the time picking flowers and holding hands (yes, those were my children) so we opted out last year. This year some of their friends were playing so we're giving it another try. So far, much better.

The Easter Bunny brought them shin-guards which seems to have given them a little more confidence in going after the ball.

Evelyn is the cutest. She has the biggest grin the whole time she's on the field and gets right into the scrummage (6 kids on the field for each team means 24 feet kicking at the ball). Amelia stands out a bit and waits for the ball the emerge. Turns out, she plays sports as a lefty. She also spends a little too much time waiting for the ball to come to her. One game we kept yelling at her to go get the ball. Apparently we yelled her name too much and she came off for break in tears. I felt terrible but should have known. Every time she heard her name she probably felt like EVERYBODY was watching just her, and she's not a spotlight kind of gal. We now don't say her name at all and she's having a much better time.

Tonight, Rene opted to stay home and out of all nights both girls got shots on goal (neither went in but it was a pretty big accomplishment for them just to get there). I imagine he won't miss another game!!

Lucienne Turns One

My baby is one. I can hardly believe it. I know they all grow up so fast but I think this year set the record as being the fastest year ever.

She is a delightful baby. A complete joy and perfect addition to our family. She's quick to smile and easy to stop crying (usually just needs to be in my arms and she's good to go). In her baby blessing Rene blessed her to be a peacemaker...and it worked! I now tell all father's preparing to bless their babies to make sure they mention this word, it's a miracle word!

I LOVE  her little curls.  Fingers crossed she has Rene's hair! They are especially cute when it's really hot out and she's sweaty. And she has stayed brunette!! I now tell people we were never trying for a boy, just for a brunette.


She loves to get reactions, especially from her sisters. I love watching her face in anticipation of having one of her sisters see her latest antic. Sometimes I see her watching them, waiting for them to look at her so she can put on a show. She loves being right in the middle of things and will always position herself accordingly, bum-scooching herself to wear the action is.

She wins, hands down, for the loudest, most ear-piercing scream. My ears actually ring after she screams, and because of the reaction she gets there's always more than one scream in a row. Evelyn loves this the most and will usually join in. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. She also loves to yell, more specifically, she loves to join in the yelling. Even if it's just me yelling that dinner is ready she'll yell right along with me.

She also loves to laugh and has a great fake laugh for when everyone around is laughing.

She has always loved hair. I don't know if this is because my hair is the longest it's ever been but if there's hair anywhere near her she will pull it. I have to remember to have an elastic on my wrist for when I nurse her or else I'm constantly wrestling fistfuls out of her fingers. I looked after a friend's little boy who seemed to love having his hair pulled, a match made in heaven. He would lay his head in her lap and she would go to town on his head. She gets very excited when Roxy or Paris come close and since she's learned to move I have to always watch to make sure they don't get mangled. Audree seems to get the worst of it, especially when they're strapped in the bike trailer together. She's actually taken to wearing hoodies so Lucienne can't get a hold of her hair. She'll often pull at her own hair when going to sleep. I guess she figures since she finds it soothing we must all feel the same.

She hates diaper changes and is my first baby to squirm to get away mid change. Thankfully I always change on the floor so no real danger, just annoying! Especially on the poopy ones.

She loves standing up on things but will cry until someone helps her sit down again. My latest walker (we're still waiting for those first steps) but by now I've learned the longer you can keep them relatively immobile, the better. She does love stairs though and will be entertained forever on one stair, going up and down, up and down, up and down. She also loves doors thresholds and will scooch back and forth over them over and over again.

Her first word is officially bye-bye with the wave to match it. But she'll only say it if someone is actually leaving.

She loves her Daddy and lights up when he comes home. I think she'd break all records for bum-scooching in her race to get to him. And when he picks her up she always looks back to me with the biggest grin on her face.

She loves to drop things...food off her tray (Paris loves this one), anything down the stairs (especially laundry baskets, and if there's laundry in them, bonus), everything out of her crib. She'll grab things out of my hand just to drop them on the floor. Over the side of the couch is even better. Of course, she wants them picked up again so she can throw them again...and being put on the ground is not an option for this game.

She LOVES bathtime, especially if one of her sisters is in to play with her.  She's figured out how to work the nozzles and the plug and of course loves throwing all the toys out of the tub.

She has many nicknames (I knew that would happen when we decided on Lucienne). I call her Lucie or Luce or Lucie-Lu, Audree says Lucie-Goosie, Rene is Lu-Lu. But whatever she's called she's as cute as a button and I love her to bits.

Audree's Musings

Audree: how old is Lucienne?
Me: She'll be one soon.
Audree: no, how old is she?
Me: her birthday is in a couple of weeks and she'll be one year old.
Audree: no, how OLD is Lucienne?
Me: 11 months.
Audree: wow, that's tall.

Hot Summer Pool Blues

So at the end of summer last year Rene went out and got one of those 12' pools that are about 4' deep to satisfy his French yearning for a pool (people in Quebec do not have A/C, they all have pools). The girls have been on me to get it out this year so this morning I hauled it out, cleaned it off, cleared some space, found all the pieces and assembled it. Lets just say it took most of the morning and I probably could have filled it with the sweat that was pouring off my face. Finally got it all together, blew up the air-tube-ring-thing that sits around the top and stuck in the hose to let it fill. When I went to check it I noticed the air ring had lost some air. I hadn't stuck the push-plug-thingy all the way in the hole where you blow it up so I thought that was the problem. Blew it up again, made sure the plug-thingy was all the way in and went and made lunch. After putting Lucienne down for a nap I thought I'd check in again and lo-and-behold the air ring had lost about half its air. Unfortunately, that air-tube-ring-thing is pretty integral to keeping the water in the pool. I also noticed a sprinkler action happening over by the hoses that filter the water and keep it moving. Needless to say, finding the pin-like hole that is leaking air is going to be next to impossible. I'm going to try to maintain what's there for when the girls get home from school but after today it's getting hauled to the dump. I feel really guilty about filling up our dump with this pool that wasn't suppose to be a disposable-one-summer use pool. I also am not leaping to get another one. Throwing out one pool is enough. We're just going to have to find other ways to keep cool this summer...like air-conditioning. Have I ever been grateful for that over the last few days of heat wave. There's also a sprinkler and water guns (I can already see Amelia's eyes rolling with these suggestions as she pouts about our broken pool). My poor, hot, under-privileged children.

Dad would have been proud....

Even as I wrote that post title I thought, "He IS proud", but I think you know what I mean.  When I look at my Facebook page and think this is where it all started (Two people falling in love...) and this is where we are now, it makes ME proud.  In every single one of my prayers I thank Heavenly Father for our children and the people they have brought into my life.  I often think about what it would be like today if Dad had been able to stay with us...How he would have loved the resolute woman you have become, Erica, and how well you take control of your life, and he would have loved your "How hard can it be?" attitude when it comes to tackling some home renovation or repair job.  He always had a sense that you would chart your own course.  And then there's you, Erin, who has always had that same mischievious sparkle in your eye that Dad had, and are willing to take on whatever comes your way with a positive attitude ~ even if it doesn't feel quite right in the beginning, you are always able to turn things around and make it work.  Both of our daughters have that sixth sense that recognizes people who need their help and don't hesitate to do what's needed and offer a helping hand.  Dad was a giver.  And Adam... though you're not a mini-Bill in looks, (though I must mention that Sister Harding remarked on how much you looked like Dad...) you certainly have many of his personality traits, so much so that sometimes it startles me!  And it's not even so much the computer know-how (as a matter of fact, computer-eze is one aspect where you're unlike Dad.  Dad was a lousy teacher, lacked patience and really couldn't deal with answering computer-illiterate questions ~ quite the opposite of you), but Adam you have the same ability of socially connecting with people, no matter what their station in life, and you are a great teacher.  I feel somewhat sad that you weren't really able to tackle some of the outback adventures with Dad.  I'm thinking there are going to be some interesting hereafter connections!

And I know he would have loved how we can all make each other laugh!

And look at all the people and animals that have been brought into my life through these three chosen vessels!  Thank you for choosing wisely and bringing such joy into my life.  I love your Dad.  He was the love of my life and looking at the fruits of that love makes it all worthwhile.  Thanks kids. 

Always remember that your Dad and Mom love you.

The Wait

This weekend the girls slept over at Erica and Grandma's place. It took some discussion but finally it was decided that Evelyn was going to Erica's and Amelia and Audree would be going to Grandmas. The deciding factor on Amelia's part being who had access to Treehouse.

I can't remember what it was like to wait for something with no real notion of time. Amelia is old enough now that she's gets how long and hour is and can look at a clock and figure out what time it is and about how long there is to go. Poor Evelyn is not at this stage yet. Every two minutes (starting at about 7am) she was asking when Erica was coming to pick her up. Finally, I set the kitchen timer so she could watch the time decrease. However, she then starting asking every two minutes when the timer was going to ring. I banned her from asking and told her she would just have to watch it. So, she sat for about an hour, just watching the timer. I could hear her in the livingroom excitingly counting down "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" followed by a disappointed "ohhhhhh" when it wasn't the final countdown.

I finally took them out grocery shopping so the time would pass a little quicker for her.

Sidenote: It's been awhile since I took the three of them shopping together (Luci was sleeping) and now I remember why. There's a good reason why cars shouldn't be able to fit more than two carseats. Because only a crazy person goes out with more than two kids.

Afraid of Clouds

Turns out Audree is now afraid of clouds...that may lead to rain...that may have thunder and lightning. I hope this is a short-lived fear.

We were walking home today and she was in a mood to begin with. Didn't want to walk, didn't want to hold hands, until finally she did the I'm-not-going-to-move-and-you-can't-make-me thing that kids love to do. If I walked away, she screamed, alerting the entire neighbourhood to my parenting techniques (or lack thereof!). Until finally (and this was before I realized her fear) to try to get her moving I looked at the few clouds in the sky and said "I sure hope it doesn't rain on us" thinking that she wouldn't want to get wet.

Well, she starts a screaming, mad dash home. Unfortunately I had Lucienne in the stroller and two other kids walking so catching her was not a real option. My girls have always been fantastic about stopping when the sidewalk ends and waiting for me to catch up to cross together. Turns out when she's in a panic run she doesn't think about this. Luckily, one of my neighbours was out and caught her as she went to run across the street. Again, feeling like a stellar mother I caught up and we crossed together only to have her run like mad home (luckily no more street crossings needed). When I caught up again I found her crying and banging on the door with both fists screaming "let me in, let me in, let me in...". I got everyone in and she's standing in the middle of the livingroom still bawling and shaking saying she's cold and needs a blanket (this is in 30 degree weather).

She had a panic attack. It was so sad.

I know it's from a fantastically loud storm we had a few weeks back. We were just getting out of the car when thunder literally shook the ground. It must have been right over top of us. It startled me but completely scared her. When I told Rene this story he said he had tried to console her by saying that as long as she was in the house she didn't need to be scared of the storm.

Her fear of ladybugs only lasted a few months so I hope this one peters out too.

Victoria Day Holiday

What a crazy, fun, productive day today. Here's the run-down...

Rene finally started on the summer kitchen project, thanks to Erica bringing up her mitre saw for us to borrow. Who would have thought we'd ever need to borrow a tool? Right when we were ready to begin (and by we I mean Rene) Rene's saw started acting up. Turns out it's a switch that's on backorder and it's been 4 weeks. Anyway, he has the framing of the walls done. I'm excited to add another "useful" room to the house. We have been using is as a dumping ground for stuff with a side of exercise equipment. Once we can put the treadmill in there it will clear up a room for Amelia to go in and I have two more rooms to decorate and move around furniture in. I'm kind of hoping to put the piano in there too but it will depend on how regular the temperature ends up being in there. I'd love it to be an exercise/music/mudroom...that's my goal. Rene's thinking more man-cave with a pool table and 50" screen. I'll let him think that until it's done but seriously, not going to happen.

Audree decided to play hairdresser and give herself some very trendy, very short bangs. It actually kind of works. It blends in with her hair (luckily it was a pretty little chunk) and it's keeping the hair off her face. She's on to something...her talent is already shining through.

I worked on the gardens all day. Yay for garden centres being open today!

The girls went to our neighbour's to run through their sprinkler. While there an ambulance pulled up. Their Mom, a paramedic for Peel, had just taken someone to Headwaters Hospital and dropped in to say hi to her girls before heading back to her shift. So, we all got an impromptu tour of an ambulance. Kind of neat but hope that's the only time I'll see the inside of one of those.

Paris jumped through our screen door. She just got tired of waiting for someone to let her in I guess. Although it means we have to replace the screen it's pretty amazing that she can jump that high. It's a top-half screen door so the bottom is wood and the screen is on the upper half. There's no room to have a running start so she would have jumped from a standing position. Maybe we have a future agility star! As long as there are no cats or squirrels in the area.

As an end of the day celebration Rene decided to take the girls to the fireworks. They were soooo excited (and by they I mean all three) and I was kind of looking forward to a peaceful evening on my own to read. Turns out there were no fireworks and a very disappointed crew returned home after 10 minutes. It was 9:45pm and the girls were too bummed to go to bed so I dug out some sparklers left over from birthdays and we sparklered in the front yard. I told them if they held them up to the sky and squinted they looked like fireworks. It was a little sad but what can you do. We heard lots of fireworks going off but couldn't see any of them. I guess we'll have to wait for Canada Day.

Camping With the Fam

We did a last minute camping trip Friday night. It all came about because Rene was asked to do some service work at the President Monson Camp. He agreed thinking it was a guy's weekend trip with some Brothers from church. They'd have a boy's night followed by a day of service together...turns out he was the only one going. Not so much fun. When he first asked if I wanted to go I said no way. Having 4 girls and a dog (who would most likely have to be on leash all the time) by myself while he was working did not sound fun. Seriously, sometimes I can be such a stick in the mud. I tried to talk Rene out of going at all but he's a much better person than I am. He had committed to go so he was going to go.

He then though he would take Amelia and Evelyn and they could help. Has he met our girls? They would be into it for about 10 minutes then get bored and want to go play and explore. Who could blame them? I discussed with him that he would have to be a parent and work at the same time. And that they would probably get cranky because they'd have to be around him all the time.

I woke up Friday morning and felt terrible. He'd left for work already and we still hadn't really decided what was going to happen. I decided to go. Rene was going anyway, the girls would have fun, the only person that it might be hard for would be me but sometimes you just have to suck it up!

So I spent all day Friday preparing for a one night camping trip. The amount of stuff that needs to be brought is staggering! Add a dog and a baby to the mix and it's even worse. I wish we had been able to go longer to make it worth the time it took to pack and drive (it's about 3.5 hours away with no traffic). But we made it.

It was a little awkward once there. It's not really set up for individual family camping. It's a camp geared toward large groups so each site can fit 50-80 tents. There were going to be lots of people doing service on the Saturday but not a ton were staying the night. They put us on the site we'd be working at (staining a picnic structure) however there were already families on it. To make things worse, they weren't there as part of the service project. They were having a long weekend camping trip with friends and family...and us. There's only one fire pit and one eating area. We pitched our tent as far away from them as we could but didn't hang around the fire because it was just weird. They were nice about it but I could tell a little ticked that we had been put there when there were so many other sites empty. We also had to move around their stuff as we (as in Rene) stained.

All in all it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The girls mostly kept themselves entertained. We hung out at the beach and around the site. Truthfully, I don't know how we killed the 5 hours it took Rene to work!! When he was done he took the older three girls out for an hour canoe trip (which they LOVED) and I watched with Lucienne and Paris from the beach.

It's been a while since we camped as a family. I think Audree was a baby so that would be three years. I forgot how much I love it, especially when Rene is around. I'm thinking we'll have to make some long weekends for camping this summer. Closer to home, with our own site...

Motherhood and More

A young woman gave a talk in church yesterday about things she has learned from her mother. One of the attributes she mentioned was about being calm. She said her mother never yelled, always appeared calm and didn't stress out about things. It reminded me of my Mom. I don't remember her ever yelling (although one time with Adam stands out in my mind as being pretty close) and in my memories she was always calm. I don't have many memories before the age of 10 though...and that is giving me hope.

I thought I was a patient person until I had kids. I thought I would never yell until I had kids yelling at each other. There aren't many things that get under my skin but bickering and tattling and yelling and name-calling and crying about the bickering and tattling and yelling and name-calling are way high on the list. And yes, I have yelled at them. And yes, I have lost it on more than than one occasion. But maybe if I can get things in control the girls won't have these memories...or at least not all of them. And every day I can try to do better.

Mornings are the worst. I don't see how we're going to survive with the one-sink bathroom when we have 4 teenagers. Already they're fighting about who's at the sink. They're already locking in the door to have some private time brushing their teeth (although I wonder if it's not more to bug the others). I had dreams of them loving to share a room forever and that even when given the option of their own room they would rather stay together. But getting dressed in one room is like a war zone with clothes strewn all over and casualties emerging half-dressed and dazed with who/what hit them. Meanwhile, I'm downstairs trying to feed Lucienne, get lunches made, clean up breakfast and I'm not even dressed yet.

I'm trying to wake up earlier (like 6am) so that they can get in guitar and piano practicing too. This is instead of sitting and watching tv for an hour while I try and get a little extra sleep. I feel like the couple hours between school and dinner should be their time to play and relax from working all day (before they need to help with dinner or set the table). But the time between dinner and bedtime just flies by and it's hard to get anything done.

I'm trying to fit a run or bike ride in with Amelia and the dog as soon as Rene gets home from work and have dinner made or half made so that we can eat as soon as we get home. But I'd love to do something with Evelyn too. She can't quite keep up and ends up wanting to go home halfway through. So, I'm going to try and wake up even earlier to get my run in with the dog before Rene leaves for work so that when Rene gets home I can go out with the girls and run or ride at their pace.

I'm rambling now...but these are the things that have been on my mind lately.

Things we are doing well:
We're doing some sort of Family Home Evening pretty much every Monday night - check.
We have Friday Night Movie Night (which the girls love and get so excited about) - check.
We are fitting in more physcial activity with the girls - work in progress but check.
Daddy Dates, usually a trip to Home Depot or another errand but as long as we call them a date the girls are all over it - check.
Updating this blog on somewhat of a regular basis - check so far.
Getting the girls to help out around the home with chores - kind of check...we were on the ball for a couple of months but have lost it a bit. Will need to get that going again. Saturday mornings have kind of become my time for a running group and maybe yoga class soon so we'll have to rework the time we get these chores done.


This motherhood thing is exhausting! There are so many things I want to do with them but bedtime comes too soon (and if I push that back I'm only asking for grumpy girls in the morning).

**sigh** This post was suppose to be a Mother's Day post but it turned into something else. Maybe I'll try again later!!

Aches and Pains

Lately my lower back has been consistently bothering me. And I get these weird muscle spasms/pains in my left arm. I chalked it up to getting old...although I don't really consider myself THAT old. Then last night while giving the girls a bath I decided to weigh Lucienne - it has been awhile. She's 20 lbs. I'm carrying around a 20 lb weight all day (she prefers to see the action from high rather than the floor).

She is finally trying to get around by doing the classic Lalonde scoot. A bum shuffle that looks like a crab with a broken leg. It deceiving because she's always "sitting" so not always obvious that she's moving until I see her getting into the dirt of the plants, the dog's water dish or she's stuck under the table.

Her favourite thing these days is knocking down towers. I love how she always looks up to see my reaction. She still loves pulling hair and has taken clumps out of poor Audree's hair. I've been on the receiving end of her frenzies (she does resemble a shark at a feeding frenzy...she really gets intense when she gets close enough to someone's head) and she's not gentle. It really hurts. If only babies weren't so cute it would be easier to be stern with her. She also loves to bite but the more stern I am with her the louder she laughs. Luckily she hasn't decided to play this game while feeding.

She has 6 teeth now. And I don't know if it's because no more are coming in but she slept 8 hours last night!!!!!! That's the first time in a few months she's gone that long. Also the first time in the last few months I haven't felt like something is breaking through her mouth. I guess the real test will be tonight to see if it was a lucky break for me or if she really has been suffering with teething. Audree and Roxy were in our bed so I didn't actually sleep the whole time but at least I didn't have to get out of bed.

Lucienne is such a joyful baby. She LOVES her sisters. And she LOVES her Mom. She loves her Dad only if I'm not in the room...we're working on that!!