I have a theory....

Before I got married I had six theories about raising children; now I have six children and no theories.           --------John Wilmot

Okay, so I don't have six children--yet  (just kidding, mom, calm down, breathe). I am about to have four children and I am all out of theories.

Not that I didn't have them, I did.  Lots of them.

I have been thinking lately about how different I am now that I have children.  More specifically I have been thinking about all of the things I always said I would never do...and how I do almost everything I said I wouldn't

Here are some examples:

What I said:  "When I have kids, I am going to get down to their level, look them in the eye, and treat them like the little humans they are."  What I actually do:  Barely look up from what I am doing to grunt a response. I love my kids, but they are always talking, asking questions or whining. No human could possibly be expected to listen attentively to that much volume of information.  Besides, I need to get stuff done or else we don't eat, we don't have clean clothes...

What I said: "When I have kids, I will never yell at them. I will calmly explain what they are doing wrong.  I will then come up with a natural consequence for their actions."  What I actually do:  Yell at them to "Quit doing that!!" then threaten to take away their blankie or beloved pink bear. The truth is, natural consequences are hard.  I don't want to spend my life enforcing consequences I can't possibly police.  Besides as soon as I leave Daddy in charge, natural consequences  (and discipline in general) go right out the window.

What I said: "When I have kids, I will never, ever use the phrase 'Because I said So.'  My kids deserve respect and an explanation."  What I actually do:  You can probably guess by now.  You experienced moms are probably laughing right now--yeah, yeah, I know. It was a good theory.

What I said "When I have kids, They will not disturb others in restaurants.  We will be a nice, normal family when in public."  What I actually do:  I admit it.  Sometimes I am that parent that lets my kids run wild because I don't have the energy to stop them. I throw myself on the mercy of the other patrons and hope they understand that sometimes mommy needs a meal that I didn't make and I don't have to clean up after. So we eat, leave a big mess and a giant tip.  Sorry to all the servers out there.

What I said:  "When I have kids, I will spend time with them, doing crafts, going to the park, we will not be a TV family.  What I actually do:  Well, I live in a climate where it was minus 43 for most of January and February.  Currently there is still six feet of snow outside.  I am also pregnant for the fourth time.  I don't think I need to tell you what I actually do, I will only say that cuddle time in front of the TV counts as spending time with kids.  Also, if you time it right you can buy yourself a good 30 min of free time with the right program. 

So there you have it.  All of the wonderful theories I had that were great theories--until I actually had kids.  Now I have kids and no clue what I am doing.  On the bright side, my kids haven't noticed.
 Shhhh...don't tell them...

Spend time in prison? No thanks, I have children.

Everyone should have kids. They are the greatest joy in the world. But they are also terrorists. You'll realize this as soon as they are born and they start using sleep deprivation to break you.           -------Ray Romano

We are three days into March break and I am not sure I will survive. We are stuck in the house. There is literally ten feet of snow outside and we can't go anywhere because we can't find the car.  I can't send my monkeys outside because I loose them in the snow.

Spending all day with my kids (and a rerun of Criminal Minds I watched today) has got me thinking,  Who needs homeland security?  Let my crack team of little angels interrogate suspected terrorists.  The terrorists would not last a day around my bunch. 

Here (in no particular order) is why my little monsters would be better than the most seasoned CIA or CSIS agents:

1.   Non stop questions. After a day of fielding such questions as "Is bugs bunny mean or  nice in this cartoon?", "How come Fred Flinstone's car does not have an engine but he is not pushing it with his feet?" "Why is Shaggy scared all the time?"  "Is Foghorn Leghorn going to get in trouble in this episode or is the dog going to get into trouble?" "When its a commercial in a cartoon do they slow down the camera?"      Even the most diabolical terrorist will be begging to talk about secret evil plots.

2. Sleep deprivation. Let the terrorist share a room with my youngest monster.  After a night dealing with her four am wake up--scream--eventually calm down--play and be happy until its back to bed time then scream again--eventually fall asleep only to wake up 2 hours later routine, A life in prison will seem like a holiday (At least he could sleep at night).

3. No rest for the wicked. Have the terrorist spend the day with my three year old.  As soon as his feet hit the floor in the morning, my little one will ask for a drink of milk.  Once he gets that and returns to his seat, my little one will want toast.  The day will unfold with him having to get up a million times, for a variety of reasons. These include turning on the bathroom light, retrieving pink bear from some location little arms can't reach, getting the crayons from the high shelf, retrieving a lost ball, marble or necklace. 
Just when it seems the raging sea of demands has slowed to a wave, the terrorist will hear "I m hungry." 
When the blessed relief of bedtime finally rolls around he will have the pleasure of convincing my monkey to go to bed then convince her to sleep (I hope he has better luck than I do; She has been in bed for over an hour and is still kicking the wall).  This combined with the aforementioned sleep deprivation, will drive the most seasoned terrorist insane.

4. Constant noise.  I heard that soldiers sometimes play loud annoying music to flush out terrorists.  
Please. That's child's play. 
If you want to crack a terrorist, let him watch my six year old's hockey game.  Not a real hockey game, a pretend game played in my rec room.  The periods last about 2 min (at which time the buzzer sounds, a sound made by my child but it is just as loud as at the arena) There is a goal about every 10 seconds (Which gives rise to shouts of  Yay!! yahoo!! at the top of his lungs-- just like at the arena). After the goal comes the face off, which requires a whistle and a puck drop.  On top of all of that, there is the sound of the puck hitting the floor, the wall, and the laundry baskets set up as nets.
Then the game starts again, requiring the singing of "O Canada". This happens all day everyday, until I flip my lid and threaten to throw out all of the hockey sticks, pucks and nets in our house.  Let's see if the terrorist can handle that.

5. Water torture.  Let Mr. terrorist give my kids a bath. First, wrestling them into the tub is usually just that--a wrestling match fraught with tears, punching, kicking, and the kids haven't even made it into the water.  Once they are in the water, convincing my six year old to wash his hair takes upwards of 30 min, usually resulting in me giving up and just dumping the water over his head, resulting in a blood curdling scream. The other two, hearing the scream decide they should be screaming too. 
Now there are three wet and screaming children in an enclosed space---Not good. 
Once everyone is calm, my older two decide its time to swim.  Now they are sliding in the tub splashing water everywhere, including all over the floor the towels, everything. Hopefully he manages to get the baby out in the nick of time. There would be Mr. terrorist, wet and frustrated.
When the bath comes to a merciful end, and he reaches to help my three year old out of the tub, "Splash!!" steps right into a puddle.  Nothing is more maddening than wet feet!

I could go on, but I think I have proved my point.  Should the government wish to reach me I would be more than happy to loan out my little operatives.  CSIS could save a fortune.

 Come to think of it, as I look out my window at the ten feet of snow and I contemplate another day with my munchkins, I am thinking that a stint in Guantanamo Bay doesn't sound so bad.  At least there is no snow there, right?

                                                                                                                                             

Baby on board....here we go again....

Of children as of procreation--the pleasure momentary, the posture ridiculous, the expense damnable.    ---Evelyn Waugh      

Well we have done it again.  Baby number four is on the way and due this August.  I could make any number of jokes here, like how there is nothing to do up here or there is something in the water.  I could make these jokes, but I won't.  The truth is, we wanted four kids and God willing, we are having four kids.

Exciting? yes.  Crazy? yes.  Have our hands full? yep.

I will admit that it is not the wisest choice we could make, but  I am not known for my wise decisions.  We have had some interesting reactions to our news. Here are some of the highlights:

Reaction #1:  "Oh no!" (from the grandfather to be) followed by "My, you certainly will be busy" (from the grandmother to be)

Reaction #2: "You certainly are a glutton for punishment"  This from Nana, which is slightly better than her reaction to baby #3: "Wow you really don't want to work do you?"

Reaction #3:  "Be prepared for negative reactions because the general consensus is that you have your hands full"--This one is my personal favorite.  The general consensus? There is a general consensus on my life?  I know I share every detail of it, and I admit that I have struggles. However,  I really don't think anyone spends any amount of time discussing what I do, other than to spread the usual family/friends news. 

My husband has also been getting some interesting reactions.  Well meaning friends are now messaging him telling him how easy it is to get a vasectomy, and giving him contact info for how to go about getting one. 

I completely understand that our family and friends love and support us.  And believe, me, we love them.

  My hope is that when the time comes for real support, like when all four kids are screaming, we have no toilet paper cause we can't get out to get any and we haven't slept, we are totally overwhelmed and want to run away, We don't get the wonderful advice like:

"Well, you wanted four kids"   "I told you" and "What did you think would happen?"  Then and only then will I admit that my hands are truly full.

I will also be hitting anyone and everyone up for babysitting duty. 

How are we going to cope with four?  I have no idea.  I do know that I cannot imagine anything worse than going from one child to two. Two to three was okay.  Now I feel like I already have three, what is one more?

Feel free to remind me of this when over the coming weeks and months I write about my three darlings/monsters and the joy/agony of raising young kids while pregnant, tired and irritable. 

And yes, I will remember that I wanted four.

  

 

Makin' a List....

Our crazy Christmas season continues. This year is even busier than last because this year I am adding work to the mix.  I am trying really hard to remember why I love this time of year...

As I have mentioned in a previous post I am almost done my Christmas shopping.  How are you doing with yours?

For this week's post I figured I would help out my friends and family who might want to buy my kids a Christmas present.  If you are thinking about getting my kids a Christmas present, think twice.

We have enough stuff.

I know my friends and family and  I know how they react when I ask not them not do something, so I know my kids are going to get presents regardless of what I say (or write..)

 So for my friends and family, please keep this list in mind when getting presents:

1. Nothing that has one piece.  Toys with small parts are so much more fun than toys that don't come apart or only have one piece. I personally love stepping on the small parts and kids enjoy the colourful phrases that leave my mouth when I do.  It's also really great when the kids cry cause the toy won't work or won't go back together. And who doesn't love a rousing game of  "fish the part out of the baby's mouth before she chokes"?

2. Nothing that the kids can do by themselves.  That's boring. I have all the time in the world to sit with them and show them a million times how to work the toy/or puzzle.  Especially fun when I am trying to make dinner or clean something.

3. Nothing age appropriate.  It's good to teach the kids how to deal with frustration by struggling with something that is beyond their capabilities. Also teaches them how to deal with failure and persistence pays off, right? I also have lots of time to sit and show them how to work it (see above)

3. Nothing with a volume control.  With three kids who are apparently hard of hearing and love to play with the TV remote (esp. the volume), I don`t think that we have enough noise in our house.  Noisy toys are awesome. Plus I have stock in Tylenol.

4. Nothing without wheels.  Wheels make wonderful squeaking noises on the floor (See above point).  As well wheels scratch the wood floor. Gives the floors character.  Also toys with wheels are a lot of fun when stepped on.  And why not give the baby motion?

5. Nothing that has batteries included, or worse does not require batteries.  The baby loves to put batteries in her mouth and the older kids love to remove batteries from items.  I also have stock in Duracel.

6. Nothing washable.  We love doing laundry.  We also love when a favorite outfit is ruined because a well meaning grandma thought it would be a good idea to paint pine cones with paint and sparkles. We love sweeping up sparkles.

7. Nothing non toxic.  I am trying to raise mutants with a good healthy dose of strange chemicals that leach off the cheap toys that come from china.  Perhaps one day I will have glow in the dark kids.  Besides, if the kids don't want to get sick, then they shouldn't lick or eat the toy in the first place.

8. Nothing strong and built to last.  The sooner it breaks the sooner I can get it out of my house (to make room for the other gifts that I have to store until my kids are ready for them.)

9.  Nothing too safe. A little danger keeps the kids on their toes.  How many kids have owned bb guns and did not shoot out their eyes?  How many little girls owned play ovens and didn't burn their hands?  If the kids hurt themselves playing with a toy, then they learn to be more careful.  Sort of like when your child bumps his head when going under the table before he learns to duck when going under the table.

10.  Finally, nothing unrealistic. I am talking mainly about dolls here.  Something that is the same size as my daughter or looks like her is a wise choice.  It is fun to have a mini heart attack because there is a doll with blond hair lying face down at the bottom of the stairs.  Also good to scare the kids with creepy looking faces and limbs my kids can pull apart.  Most of our dolls end up headless and naked.  (Don't ask).

There you have it.  A Christmas list just for my friends and family.  Happy shopping!!

Go Elf Yourself.

The eagle has landed.  And by eagle, I mean elf.  Our very own "Elf on a Shelf".  Lucky us.

For those of you who don't know,"Elf on a Shelf" is a kit you buy that comes with a little elf that sits--yep you guessed it--on your shelf.  The idea is that this little guy or gal (you can get a girl elf too), comes to you your home sometime before Christmas and keeps an eye out to make sure everyone is behaving before Santa comes.  Every night the little elf flies back to the North Pole and gives his report to Santa. Then he or she flies back to your house and takes up a new position to continue the watch.

Your kids get to name the elf and the elf comes with a story book that tells the elf's story.  Its a chance to start a new family tradition.  Your kids can have endless fun getting up each day to find the elf.  They can record the day the elf came into your home. 

At least that is the vision created by the box. The reality is a little different.  Let me enlighten you:

First off, the cost of this kit is about $34.99 at least that is what I paid. I paid this because I was in a bookstore without the kids, I was drinking Starbucks, the store smelled like vanilla, Christmas music was playing. I had visions of cozy family time and new family traditions (See my previous post to see how my visions and reality rarely match). I thought it was adorable and I was excited to see how the kids would react.

Then I opened the box.

The "Elf" is basically a toilet paper roll with felt and a plastic head.  Its eyes are painted off to one side and he (ours is a boy) has a creepy smile on his face.  I placed mine on a shelf in the kitchen and wanted for the kids to discover him.  I didn't have to wait long.

            (This is Robin on top of our Christmas tree.  The number of shelves in our house is limited...)

I don't know if I believe the creators of this thing really had this as a family tradition as it says on the box.  In fact, I do not believe the so called creators of this thing have ever met a child. I see nothing that tells parents how to field the questions the presence of this little guy raises.  Here is how I spent the first day we had our elf:

"Mom why did Santa send us an elf and not my friend?  Are we bad?"
"How can he watch us when his eyes are painted and looking sideways?"
"Why can't he talk to us?"
"Will you stay up and watch him leave?"
"What if I am asleep and he leaves then I get up in the night to go to the bathroom?  Will I see him?"
"Why can't we touch him?"
"Why is he touching himself? Why is he holding is legs like that?"

I managed to spin some yarn about Christmas magic and if the elf is touched then he has to leave and never come back.  We read the story and the kids seemed to get it. After a few hours of not walking in the kitchen cause they were afraid of the elf, my kids slowly came around. We even named our elf Robin.  The kids talked about all the places Robin might be and they would get up each day to find him.  They went to bed that night and right to sleep "So Robin won't hear us playing"  I was pretty happy with my purchase.

The next day, the kids excitedly got up and started their search for Robin.  They found him on top of our living room blinds.  My son was quick to point out  "That's not a shelf" however he seemed happy to have Robin with us.  For that day, my kids were on their best behavior.  My oldest told his two sisters to be good because Robin is watching.

Then I made a grave mistake.  I placed Robin on a bathroom shelf.  I told the kids Robin was in the bathroom because it was bath night and Robin wanted to see how they behaved in the bath.  My kids interpreted this as "Robin can't see or hear us today cause he is in the bathroom"  We had to leave the bathroom light on all day so Robin wouldn't be afraid of the dark.  The kids were absolute toads because in their minds, Robin couldn't hear them.

Day three and Robin was on top of the China cabinet. But with his flimsy legs the only way I could get him to stay was to wedge him amongst the feet of another stuffed animal I had up there.  My son was quick to notice that Robin probably again could not hear what was going on because he had his ears plugged.  The kids also played for most of the day in the rec room--outside of Robin's field of vision. 

By now you may be starting to guess how I feel about our little house guest.  In case you are still wondering, let me share some tips that I have learned in the short time we have had our elf.

1. Make sure you keep the elf out of the kid's reach.  If they touch him, its game over. Also avoid putting the elf in kids bedrooms unless you want to deal with nightmares from the creepy elf.

2. Make sure you have an explanation for why there are elves on shelves in every store you go into.  Or avoid shopping with your kids.  You don't want your kids figuring out that the elf is something you can buy in a store (kinda takes away from the magic of Christmas, now doesn't it)

3. While you are busy putting the elf up high so your kids don't reach it, make sure whatever you do that the elf does not fall from that spot.  You don't want your kids traumatized for many Christmases to come.

4.  Remember to move the elf each night, or be prepared for a thousand questions about whether or not the elf made it to the North Pole and back again. (Personally I like the bad weather explanation). This elf is turning into more work than I would have hoped--just what us Moms need--more work at Christmas.

5. Don't constantly remind your kinds that the elf is watching.  It creeps them out and they just move out of earshot and eyesight anyway.  When I was a kid, my parents told me to be good because Santa is watching.  Santa is always watching.  Hence that whole naughty/nice list.  I had imagination enough to come up with an explanation for this without needing a constant visual reminder.  I had to be good everywhere because Santa always knows.  No matter how much I tell the kids Robin can see and hear them, if they have decided that he can't,  I got nothing. 

 Should you get your own elf?  Its up to you.  I am all for family traditions. Personally  I think you crafty types could probably make your own elf or make up your own story about how Santa knows if you have been naughty or nice. If you have one of these little guys or gals please leave a comment either here or on my facebook page and tell me some of the places your elf turns up.  I could use the ideas.

As for Robin, well, he can go Elf himself.

'Tis the Season....

I am baaaack...again.  For those of you who have followed me from the beginning, you know that I am awesome at starting things (See my other blog, Fifty Shades of Awesome, my clean eating plan, my exercise plan....). I am not awesome at sticking with them.

I cannot believe we are in to the Christmas season already.  Well, actually I can believe it because where I live its minus 25 in the mornings (without the windchill).  This year we were smart and put the decorations up outside before it turned cold.  Of course they are not on because none of us wants to go out to plug them in, but that's another story. My decorations are up, most of my shopping is done, I still have baking to do and of course the never ending wrapping.  All and all not bad.

Christmas always was my favourite time of year.  I love lights, I love to shop, I love Christmas music, I love to decorate, I love hot chocolate, gingerbread and Chinese food (don't ask). In short I love all things Christmas.

Or at least I did before I had kids.

When I was growing up, Christmas was amazing.  I could never figure out though why my mom was so grouchy about it.  "Bah Humbug" was a phrase I heard a lot as a kid, and not because we liked the movie.  Yet despite all the grumblings, Christmas was always wonderful.  Thanks Mom.

When I moved out on my own, my love for Christmas grew.  I could not wait to have kids of my own to share the season with. I swore I would never hate Christmas like my parents did.

Well my friends, now I have  kids and I hate Christmas.

Why, you ask?  Let me enlighten you:

My Vision:
My kids and I snuggled up on the couch under a warm blanket watching Christmas cartoons/movies together.
Reality:
Older child crying because he wants to watch Octonauts, Younger child pouting because older child took her spot and her blankie on  the couch. Me not being able to sit still long enough to even register what we are watching because the baby has decided to pull her self up on the tree, thereby knocking it over.

My Vision:
Putting on Christmas music, drinking hot chocolate and putting up the Christmas decorations as a family.
Reality:
Kids upset because they want to hear "Gangnam Style". Older child deciding that plyers are necessary to hold the lights while handing them to mommy, breaking the glass bulb in the process.  Middle child crying because she burned her tongue on the hot chocolate.  Baby eating the glass from the aforementioned broken bulb. Husband who doesn't give a rat's ass about Christmas decorations--he just wants his dinner.

My Vision:
My family and I braving the cold to head out to the mall, do some shopping, perhaps run into people we know then go out to a nice family dinner at a restaurant.
Reality:
Baby screaming almost the entire time because she is hungry/irritable/ bored.  Middle child running away and into a store with breakable objects, Older child stealing a newspaper from said store because he knows "Mommy likes to read the paper"  30 min wait at the resturaunt with hyper, hungry grouchy kids. 

My Vision:
Listening to Christmas music and spending some fun time with the kids baking cookies, or putting together gingerbread houses...
Reality:
Older two fighting over who gets to pour the flour and who gets to stir.  Middle child sneezing into the dough. Older child deciding baking takes too long and "Is too hard"  Baby fussing beacuse she wants to get in there and does not want to sit in the high chair watching all the action.  Husband who eats the cookies right out of the oven then complains about his sore tongue.  Kids bugging to hear "Gangnam Style" instead of Christmas carols.  

"The Most Wonderful Time of The Year"? I think not.  If Andy Williams were still alive I would punch him right in the face.  And no Burl Ives, I will not have a "Holly Jolly Christmas."  Go F@*$# yourself.

Bah Humbug.

Off We Go!!!!

We're off!! .......Like a heard of turtles.

That's what my mom used to say whenever we would go anywhere.  Back then I would roll my eyes and wonder why my mom was so annoyed.  Why was she so grouchy going on vacation?  Didn't she want to go?  Why was she yelling at us?

Now I know..and I'm so sorry, mom.

We are about to embark on a two week trip to southern Ontario.  Its nothing we haven't done before. We travel south many times a year. However, each trip brings its share of arguing, frustration and exhaustion.  Every trip we swear is the last one. We swear we are going to do things differently.

We always decide to do it again. And we always do the same things...

About a month before the trip:

Argue about whether or not we should go on the trip in the first place.  Do we have enough reason to go? We just took a trip- should we take another one?  Can we take our son out of school for that long?

Once we have decided that we are going, we move on:

Argue about calling the trip a "vacation."  As far as I am concerned, anytime I leave my house, housework and cooking is a vacation.  My husband doesn't take vacations.  As he points out, it is a lot more work to look after the kids in a hotel then it is at home  (That's because I do it most of the time at home...) He also feels he has a very strong work ethic so he is very quick to point out that our trips are "working vacations".  He is doing work on the road (and it is harder to work on the road then it is at home..)

Next, we argue about telling our families about the trip.  For some reason, our parents raise an eyebrow whenever we embark on a trip.  They make subtle comments about how tired we will be, how expensive it is--they question our every move.  I know its because they know how tiring and stressful it can be to travel with little ones. Ironically, our parents don't come to visit us often up here because "Its too far to travel".

So by this point in the process, our parents have been notified, eye brows raised and the trip rationalized.  Now its on to the next phase:

Not speak about the trip again until about a week or so before the trip.  Then it is time to:

Book the hotel.  Find out the first hotel is full. Scramble to find a plan B.  Message our friends (who are actually happy we are coming) and try to make plans with them.  Try to come up with an itinerary for the trip.  Feel guilty that we did not give our friends enough notice that we are coming.

Talk/Argue about what needs to be done before we leave. Things like cleaning the fridge, cleaning the house, getting oil changes, cleaning the van, kids haircuts, picking up odds and ends..etc.  Not write anything down, or assign a person to take responsibility for each task, which leads us to..

Fight about who does more for the trip.  Not speak for three days. Realize we forgot to book the dog for boarding and ask the neighbor to feed the cat.  Pray the vet has room to board the dog. Realize we also forgot to notify the school.  Fight about who is going to do that.  (Neither one of us actually does it)

Now the trip is 3-4 days away.  Getting down to the wire....

Fight and try to come up with an organized way to accomplish all that needs to be done.  Convince husband to take kids for eight hours so I can clean and organize. Then feel overwhelmed at all that should be done and take a nap for five hours.  Start the cleaning 20 min before extremely frazzled husband and tired hyper children return home.  Yell at entire family for being in my way and not letting me get my work done.

Next day, give up and do nothing. Think about doing trip stuff, continue making plans with friends. Take kids for hair cuts, soccer games, doctor's appts, etc.  Decide coming back to a dirty house is not the end of the world.  Yell at husband for firing the cleaning service.  Make husband do all the laundry...

Two days before the trip:

Decide when we want to leave on departure day--agree to be on the road early, like 7 or 8 am.  Realize that means being in bed by 9 or 10 the night before departure day.  That means having all the work done by 5pm the day before departure day. Agree that is what we will do.

Blog about all the work we have to do.  Still don't actually do any work. Decide that if I start at 6 am the next day, I can get it all done in time.

Day before departure day:

Get up at 8am. Have coffee, breakfast and dawdle. Start work at 11 am.  Realize as I clean one thing there are fifty more things that need cleaning.  Feel frustrated and overwhelmed.  Take a break (from the 30min of work I have done) Curse myself for pulling my three year old out of daycare.  Curse husband again for firing the cleaning service.

Night before departure:

8pm: Start packing.  Takes about 3 hours.  Curse because the clothes I wanted to bring for the kids are dirty.  11pm:  Curse myself for always leaving it to the last minute.  Start loading the van. 2am: Go to bed.

Departure day:

Turn alarm off at 5am.  Decide that leaving at 7am is too ambitious. Sleep until 8am.  Argue about why we didn't start earlier preparing for the trip. Finish loading the van.  Make a million trips to the bathroom.  Make sure we can see the cat.

Give key to the neighbors.  Load children and dog into van. Drop dog off at vet.

Stop at Tim Horton's--what is a road trip without timmies? Put movie on for kids.

10am: Actually leave our city for Southern Ontario--only three hours after we wanted to leave.

Approx 8-12 hours later:  Arrive at our destination. Have a well meaning family member say "Gee you look tired." Wonder why?

Remind me again why trips are fun?

See you soon!!