Mommy and Me

When I agreed to work at camp this summer by big fear was Matthew. Will he run away and get lost in the woods? Will I find enough to do with him? Will he have fun? What would I do with him if there was an emergency?

Well, my fears were completely unfounded. Yes, my boy ran a lot. He seemed to know to stay away from the dense forest that bordered the camp property, though. A few times he got quite far away from me but there was always a camper or counsellor willing to round him up and herd him back to me. Everyone loved him. He could run right into to the middle of a soccer game in progress and steal the ball and people would just giggle and then invite him into the game. The boys played basketball with him. The girls invited him to the end of camp dance. He had a friend in the kitchen who would sneak him cake. Thankfully, I never had to find out what would happen if an emergency came up.

He figured out my supply drawer and would hand a camper a bandaid when they came to my cabin for attention (even if all they needed was a Tums or meds for a headache)

He slept three hours every afternoon--running all day will do that to a guy!

It rained quite a bit at camp. This did not stop us from having fun. Matthew had his favourite puddles that he would visit and gleefully splash in. Since I am not new to the camp nurse gig, I knew to pack three pairs of shoes so he would always have a dry pair. The lake blew his mind. Swimmer's Itch was alive and well in the lake while we were there, so I kept him out of the water but he spent a lot of time standing on the camp's pier tossing rocks in the water. We made sand castles under the volleyball net.

I loved being able to have one on one time with him--he loved having an entire camp wrapped around his finger. He cried when I packed up his bed on the last day and loaded him into our car.

We were invited back. I really hope we can go again next year.

Home again, home again, Rig-a-jig-jig

I'm home!

Matthew and I had a blast a camp (more on that to come). Emmett and Charlotte loved their time with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa did too.....Grandma called me this morning to check on her Sweeties because she misses them already. As soon as she emails me her pics (yes, I am talking to you, Mom!) I can show you some of the adventures they got up to.

Getting back to real life is tough. I got home to find my water disconnected because of the construction. Not cool when you have seven days of camp laundry to do! My car barely made it home alive (when it sounds like a lawn mower and smells like burning, it can only mean bad news, right?) so it is in the shop and we are on foot for the next while. I am thankful we live where we can walk everywhere we need to go and it is summer, so no one suffers.

On the bright side, we were greeted by a clean house and fresh cheesecake brownies yesterday. Yum yum. Oh, and an hour after my no-water freakout a friendly sunburned man in a hard hat rang my bell to hook up my temporary water supply. (What a relief!)

I am now trying to learn to cook and do laundry again. After a week of camp food I am looking forward to grilling a steak tonight. I am also looking forward to the goodies that will be in my CSA box.

Talk to you soon!

Good Bye!

Nothing new to report on the house front. It is still for sale. Our offer expires in two weeks.

I am taking the kids on a little road trip. Richard and Lucy will be keeping the home fires burning. I left him an itemized list of everything he needs to do to get the house ready for a showing.

Of course, there has to be a little drama before we leave--yesterday I tried to pack my suitcase. Richard was at his office doing CPR on a server so I was alone with the kids.

While I was upstairs packing, Matthew was flooding the kitchen. He put the stopper in the powder room sink and just sat back an enjoyed the show. By the time Charlotte came to tattle there was so much water in the kitchen it seeped through the floor and left puddles in the basement. I had just finished doing ALL the laundry (a major feat when you wash clothes for five people) It took all of my towels to mop up. Sigh.

See you when I get home!!

Summertime.

People are growing up so fast around here! I have been a neglectful blogger lately, but here is some stuff that has happened recently:

• Someone finished preschool for the year.
• Someone else graduated from Kindergarten
• The Kindergarten Grad also turned six and has shot up to collarbone level on his mother.
• The shortest one here is rapidly zooming towards his second birthday and is practicing his tantrum throwing skills for the event.

I meant to have pictures of the little grads here, but my desktop computer is at Grandma's being stored and I have not yet figured out how to make my camera talk to the Linux-speaking laptop. I will nag hubby later to teach me how to do it.

Since summer is officially here I am always trying to come up with things to keep the kids occupied. I have playgroup once a week, and friends to harass for playdates, and this:
The Usborne Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do

The book is full of fun crafts that call for easy to obtain supplies and they all have a little science lesson to go along with them. (I guess hanging out with homeschoolers has worn off on me)

So far we have made monster shadow puppets and did rudimentary paper chromatography. Maybe today will be the day we make wind-powered sailboats??

Of course, having the house on the market has stalled some of our crafty plans--on days when there is a showing I turn into mean yelling mommy and all the toys and fun stuff are stashed away. On those days go to one of the various parks around the city, usually with sandwiches. I am happy to be house-sitting for a nearby friend who has a lovely fenced yard. She gave me permission to use her place if I needed somewhere to go for showings . I wonder what her neighbours thought yesterday when they saw us let ourselves in and have a picnic on her patio?

Speaking of which, there is nothing new to report on the home-selling front. We have had close to 10 showings with largely positive feedback, but no offers have been forthcoming. I am starting to get anxious about that. I feel like time is running out.

How is your summer going so far?