Sorting Halloween costumes

I've got a demented scarecrow (Aidan), the Grim Reaper (Connor) and a cross between a witch and batgirl (Delaney). I can't find the batgirl ears though, so it looks like she'll be going as a witch. Goes better with the scare crow and the grim reaper. Hmm, if I could get Connor to go as the cowardly lion instead, we'd have the start of the Wizard of Oz! Sean could be the tin man and I'd be Dorothy of course. Comet could be Toto.

We had a nice-ish weekend. Kind of busy, but that's life these days. Connor had a substitute violin teacher who was a fiddler so he learned Boiled Asparagus (no, it was really Boiled Cabbage but he only remembers it was a green vegetable). He really enjoyed it. Aidan is almost done his first music book and will have to start theory. I don't imagine he'll appreciate the extra "homework" but he is a musical guy so should keep it up.

I also teamed up with the boys' friends' dad and we took the kids to the Y and then took turns working out and watching the kids. He got the short end of the stick and had them in the pool. By the time I got to the pool they were ready for the hot tub, so I basically watched them run around the new play structure and then sat in the hot tub while he had to keep an eye on them all swimming and catch them at the bottom of the slide (splash! splash!). It worked out well! We might make it a more regular thing since the kids were very tired out from all the exercise and burned off a lot of energy.

Not much else is new. Everybody's busy but not overly so. It's been a nice fall so far and if we get the mild winter they are promising things should be good. I'm hoping for a mild winter for a couple of reasons: 1) I hate winter; 2) I hate outdoor hockey; 3) I hate winter. So, let's hope it stays mild!

Lots is up with us lately!

We've just gotten our new kitchen island installed and it is beautiful! I'm so happy with it, it really makes our family room/kitchen a much more functional space. And, I've now got 9 extra feet of counter space so I can't complain anymore. Will definitely have to start cooking a lot more. We gained 9 feet of cupboard space too, so we've moved all the food we had downstairs up and we've still got room to spare. Isn't that something? I'll take a picture and post it, but you'll have to come and see it.

Kids have been busy with sports and lessons, we're now into the full swing of things. Wednesday night was a disaster! Delaney had her dance class and it was a viewing night so we were supposed to go and watch at 5:30. But, Connor had a workshop at 6:00 at the south end of the city, so he and I missed it. Aidan had Kids of Steel at 7:00 to 8:30, but since Sean and I were going to have a curling practice at 9:00 he had to leave early. We ran from one activity to the other and don't ever want to have to do it again...

The curling practice was great for Sean and a disaster for me. Sean was throwing rocks right on the broom and with the right weight and he's never curled before - I am not so naturally coordinated. I couldn't seem to get the rock in front of me and kept falling over, ending up with a bruised knee and hip and no dignity whatsoever! That morning I slammed my head in the car door (don't ask me how, but it was a tiny little parking space) and would have broken my glasses if I'd been wearing them. As it was I gave myself a black eye, so am now black and blue from my head to my knees. I went swimming Friday morning and was wondering why I was getting funny looks!

Everyone is pretty happy with school. I'm looking forward to parent-teacher interviews to see how everyone is doing. Delaney has a little friend who doesn't seem to realize that a rule is a rule and I'm afraid Delaney may be picking up on that. We need to nip it in the bud so that we have at least one child that the teachers say is a pleasure to have in the class! Maybe we should have had that fourth child...!

First month of school and all is well

I just got back from a conference in Ottawa and everyone survived the week just fine. The kids are still happy with school and Aidan came in 25th in a cross-country race of 106 kids, so he was pretty happy with himself! We had music lessons today and everyone is doing very well. Aidan is playing and practicing his piano and is almost done his first book. Connor switched to Suzuki method and is busily practicing scales and scales and scales. Both have good teachers. They are going to start offering cello lessons, so I'm thinking maybe Delaney would like to play cello. Actually, I wouldn't mind learning to play the cello. The violin is fascinating, but I've always liked the sound of the cello.

Sean is off buying new hockey skates. His last ones have lasted him 25 years, so these should do him until he is 65 or so! I told him to get himself a good pair if he plans to wear them as long as the last ones... he's going to start playing once a week with the guys from the CGC.

Ottawa was very nice. The leaves weren't changing yet, so all was green on Parliament Hill. I was about a half hour walk from where the conference was, so that was nice although I did get a few blisters from bad shoes. A work-friend/acquaintance lives in Ottawa so we went for supper one night and a few of us from the conference went for drinks and appetizers one night. I shopped at Rideau Center and bought myself the cutest hat in Byward Market. It was a nice time, and I wasn't worried about the kids one bit. Sometimes when I go away I spend most of my time worrying about them, but Sean and Mom had everything under control.

Will catch up more later, I'm still trying to get back in the groove myself!