Oops! Damn Blogger

I didn't realize when I started a post, and then saved it to finish later, that it would post it on the day I started it! Ugh...go down to October 24th for my latest blog...it's a cool one!!

~Lisa~

A warning.

Never, ever, ever, wash a pull-up.

ever.

~Lisa~

Look what we grew this summer!!

It's been so long since I've been able to download pictures, that I have been saving this :)

This past July/August my neighbour's Mom gave us three of the coolest gifts EVER! 2 Monarch Caterpillars. And a Monarch Chrysalis!! We got to see the entire metamorphasis, and man, it was AWESOME!!! My kids have such an incredible appreciation for butterflies and nature now...I love it :)

My pictures of the caterpillars are on the other computer, but I will try to get them switched over soon.

I'll explain a little of what happens. First, the butterfly lays an egg. The caterpillar hatches and eats A LOT!! They Only eat Milkweed(which I had to go searching for a few times a week!). Milkweed is poisonous to most insects. Once they have had their fill of the milkweed, they find a branch or whatever to begin the chrysalis process. They form into a J, and then attach to the branch with this crazy strong silk stuff. Once they are in the J, it's about 24 hours, before they shed their skin, like this!! Don't mind the noise, there was a lot of us watching it!! Sorry about the focus too :)

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Cool eh?? The Chrysalis is INSIDE the caterpillar, and the butterfly is INSIDE the Chrysalis!

So, after about 1 hour, it looked like this:

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Another hour after that:

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A couple weeks later we could see some definite changes to the Chrysalis. The outer shell stated to thin out, and we could see the colours of the butterfly!

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Two days after that, you could see the entire butterfly right through the Chrysalis!!

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And a few hours after I took that picture, we got this!! Meet Rainbow Pink(Jenna named her :))

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Isn't she Beautiful!?

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Oh! In case you're confused...those are two different butterflies...the one that hatched in the pictures is the one that was already a chrysalis when we got it. The one from the video hatched and flew away when we weren't looking :( I have a tonne more pictures. Some reallly good ones of the third butterfly, I'll download them and post them soon :)

If this is at all interesting to you, I Highly recommend the book 'The Monacrch Butterfly of Aster Way' By Elizabeth Ring It's written perfectly!

So, now our butterflies are all on their way to Mexico, to winter over, and then make their way back...well...Their great great great grandchildren will make it back next summer...it's a long trip :) And the life cycle is only a few months. :) Go ahead, ask me anything! LOL

~Lisa~

P.s. If anyone out there homeschools, this would be an AWESOME science program!!

JulieQ!

Another thank you :) I went to the library yesterday with the kids. I took out the first two Stephanie Plum books. Man, she is Hilarious!! Thank you soo much for recommending them! I am already halfway through book one :) I'm really glad I took out the second book already, I have a feeling I'll be reading it before too long! I haven't been able to read in bed for more than a few minutes in a really long time...until this book, I read for almost 40 minutes! I looked at the clock, and it was 10:21, I looked again and it was nearly 11!

Also, Al totally caved last night and told Aidan where his costume was hidden. I took a video :) I just have to remember how to post it here :) Too cute :) It fits Perfectly!! And he LOVES IT!!!!! I knew he would :)

Thanks!!

~Lisa~

It's a bug's life...

Now, lean in reeeeeeal close.... make sure no one is listening.... shhhhh!!!!

I think the lice is gone! Shhhhh!!!

Yep. I found two live baby lice yesterday morning on Jenna's head. I promptly squeezed the shit out of them, and washed them down the drain. Marched Jenna up to the tub with 17 minutes to spare before it was time to leave for school, and gave her another treatment with the lice shampoo. I found 2 nits last night before bed, yanked them out. And this morning, when I looked her over, I didn't see anything!! HAL-EH-Freakin-LU-YAH!!!

This has been such Hell!! Every day I strip the beds. Toss it all in the dryer for At Least 20 minutes. Every second day I wash it all in Hot water. I vacuum my couch. I put the pillows from the couch in the dryer for At Least 20 minutes every day. I am so tired of this new life. So tired.

And, of course, I have to get the Principal at Jenna's school to check her every day before letting her back into class. Tell me how fun that is!! HA! I made it very clear this time around that I am not going to forget about it. I tell her every time I see her that I want to be on the team of parent volunteers to go in when they do the school wide blitz. Whenever that is...because I STILL haven't gotten any information as to when that is going to be. I know it's in a bunch of classes from talking to other parents, and a rather indignant secretary. And the look of fear on parent's faces when they hear that lice is in the school makes me pretty sure that it won't be too hard to get people to volunteer to check heads. I hope. But, if it comes down to it, I will check every damn head myself. That's how serious I am about NEVER going through this again.

I have a new-found appreciation for the term 'nit-picking', because seriously, those little buggers(HA! buggers :)) are on there TIGHT! Also? they are the exact same colour as my daughters hair. Fun!

But anyway, I think I may have seen a small light at the end of the tunnel. And I am gonna cling to that light with my battered and bruised nit-picking fingertips.

~Lisa~

Three Things Meme

1.Things that scare me:
-Spiders.
-Falling down a man-hole.
-losing my husband and kids.

2. People who make me laugh:
-Alvin.
-Carry.
-Karen.

3. Things I hate the most:
-Being late.
-Not getting enough sleep.
-Being lied to.

4. Things I don't understand:
-Why Mason won't sleep.
-How to add/subtract/divide or multiply Fractions.
-Why my mother makes so many excuses for my brother.

5. Things I'm doing right now:
-Answering this.
-Listening to the kids (fight) play.
-wishing my coffee wasn't so hot.

6. Things I want to do before I die:
-visit England with my family.
-take the kids to Disney.
-Become a grandmother.

7. Things I can do:
-Make a mean Mac N Cheese.
-Bend my index finger 90* at the middle knuckle.
-Decorate cakes(kinda...).

8. Ways to describe my personality:
-Friendly.
-People pleasing.
-Distracted.

9. Things I can't do:
-Sing.. which is a real shame because I love to sing and would be quite good at it if I could do it(Thanks for the perfect answer Julie!!).
-Take Really good photos.
-Play the violin.

10. Things I think you should listen to:
-Your Heart.
-Your instincts.
-Your children.

11. Things you should never listen to:
-Jerry Springer.
-My brother.
-William Hung.

12. Things I'd like to learn:
-How to play the violin.
-Cake Decorating (Like, proper, fancy techniques).
-What it is that will make Mason SLEEP!

13. Favorite foods:
-Pizza.
-Mashed potatoes.
-Cheesecake.

14. Beverages I drink regularly:
-Coffee.
-Tea.
-Juice.

15. Shows I watched as a kid:
-Fraggle Rock.
-Polka Dot Door.
-Today's Special.

16. Persons I'm tagging to do this meme:
-Jenn.
-JulieQ.
-Helen.

WOOHOO!

And an appology to my husband :(

But first!! We had a great weekend. Went to my Mom and George's for dinner with the family on Saturday. The next morning, the kids slept until 8AM!! I can't tell you that that has EVER happened before!! It was lovely. And has continued. They're sleeping past 7! I love it!! Soooo much better than the 6AM starts I was putting up with before!

Sunday Al made us an AMAZING Turkey dinner. OMGoodness. Everything was Sooooo yummy! There has been no pig kicking going on around here let me tell ya! :)

Monday(this is the big one!!) My Dad, stepmother, and both landlords came here. My Dad is buying the house!!!!!!! And then, when we're in a better position, we'll be buying it from him!!! I am soooooooo excited!!! Scared, but excited. I was starting to think it was never going to happen. But now, this is going to be ours! And I won't have to pack! YAY! LOL! Hate Packing. Hate it.

And even More exciting, we're borrowing more from the bac\nk than the actual cost of the house, and we're going to remodel the Kitchen!!! OMG!!! I cannot WAIT!! Well, I can, because i am pretty sure than I am going to feel the same about remodelling as I do about packing, but man, in the end...lovely. I wonder if I will cook better when it's all done?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...yeah, probably not. So, I do have a question...I need to know what all my ( 5) readers LOVE and HATE about their kitchens?? I only have 1 shot at this, and I need to make it perfect!

And now on to the appology. I mentioned in my last post that I didn't have the support from my husband on the sleep training issue. Well, apparently, as I learned at 1 AM this morning, I did. I just didn't know it. You see, when the crying would start, and then continue, the husband would get cranky. And he made one particular comment about sleeping in the basement until all of this was over, which gave me the distinct impression, that I do Not infact, have his blessing and support.

So, *I think* we are going to try again in a couple weeks. When I am feeling better(Hint: I still am not, Antibiotics, Shmantibiotics) and have the week off because Henry and Family are going to England...without me. SOB!!! So anyway, I appologize to Alvin. I was misinformed. I was misreading your actions and comments. But in my defense...you never answered my letter!!

So there you have it.

OH OH!! Also!!! Jenna and Aidan were playing together ALL WEEKEND LONG!!! And for the most part, NOT FIGHTING!!! It was SOOO amazing. I am sooo happy to see them becoming friends. Warms the heart a wee bit :) See ladies! There's hope :)

~Lisa~

Blahhhhg.

Nothing much is going on around here. Unless you count the following:

1. I am STILL sick. it's been almost 3 weeks. Dr.W diagnosed me as having a chest And sinus infection. The meds didn't work well, but he wants me to give it a few more days. I can't hear. I'm cranky. When I shower it sounds like I am inside a car going through the car wash. I am having some serious sensory issues.

2. My Dad is coming on Monday. My landlords are coming too. WE ARE BUYING THE HOUSE!!!! Kind-of. My Dad is buying it. We are paying him for it. God, I just pray that we are able to handle it all. I also pray that my Dad is cunning enough to talk the price down a good chunk. Thank you always, to The Bank of Dad. We can't do it on our own, despite paying rent religiously for 6 years here, the bank is being all snotty-snotty poo-poo because Al was let go, through no damn fault of his own, before he had worked there for 2 year. Bastards. Hate.

3. I have given up on the sleep training. A. because I am sick, and need more sleep than 2 hours a night. and B. Because I didn't have the support from my husband that I need. We're working on it though.

4. We have however, given up bottles! YAY!

5. Aidan said he hates me, and is growing horns. :(

6. Jenna is doing Awesome at school. She's READING!! I love this!! but hate it too :)

7. That's it :)

~Lisa~
P.s. Did you get your package yet JulieQ??

Somewhat easier than I thought it would be....

I finally decided that I had had enough of getting up the night with Mason. He's 13 months old, doesn't eat in the night, isn't cold, or sick, and can sleep dammit! So, Saturday I started it. A modified version of the Ferber method of sleep training.

Don't hate me. While I LOVE the snuggles, and attachment parenting style for wee babies, I tire of it when the baby is old enough to start kicking me in the ribs/head/tummy while he co-sleeps with me and my husband for half the night. Although, I am still a total softie. Picking him up when he cries, feeling absolutely torn apart listening to his cries during this process, when I know, that all he wants is his mommmy.

So, Saturday at naptime I took Mason to his room, tried to give him his milk, which he refused, but whatever. I rocked him for a couple minutes, told him I love him, that it was time to go to sleep, and laid him in his crib. I rubbed his chest for a couple minutes, and that was it!! He cried a wee bit, I went back in after 5 minutes, and then!!! He went to sleep!!! WALLA!

Bedtime after that was a whole other story though :) It took nearly and hour to get him to go to sleep. But then he slept until 5:30! Sunday went about the same. If I could figure out a way for him to stop throwing his soother over the side of his crib, I think we'll be golden! lol...just in time to wean him from that! HA!

While this isn't how I would have liked things to go, I am pretty sure that in the end, when he's sleeping longer, and settling himself, I'll be thrilled with the results.

I hope. Because seriously, the crying? It sucks.

~Lisa~