Waiting

Yesterday, Katie and Bethie packed up their school bags full of toys, grabbed their lunch boxes, and sat at the end of our driveway. I asked them what they were doing. Katie said, "Waiting". I asked them what they were waiting for. Bethie said, "The school bus". I felt badly. I knew they were excited, but there was nothing I could do. I said to them, "Ooooh. That's going to be a bit of a wait. The school bus doesn't come for another 8 days!" Katie was very annoyed with me by this point. She replied, "That's fine. We're waiting!". I sighed and went back inside.

Wild Weekend

We have been very busy.

On Friday, the twins "graduated" from Emilie's daycare. She threw a 12 hour long celebration. Be sure to check out those photos!

Saturday was the twins "Birthday Eve". I took some snaps.

Sunday was the twins 5th birthday. First thing in the morning, Dan and I sent all three girls on a treasure hunt. Then the five of us rushed to get ready for their party. By 10:30am, we were at the Midway having a wonderful time!

We weren't done yet! Emilie and Sam came over for some cake after dinner.

On Monday, I stayed in my PJs until 6pm!

Five

The twins turned 5 yesterday. It broke my heart.

I remember when they were just a couple of weeks old. Dan and I talked excitedly about when they would turn 5 and how wonderful it would be. They would be more independent. They wouldn't have constant demands on our time and energy. We would have space to breathe.

That same "space" that we craved is killing me. In a week, they start school. The two of them will climb up the steps of a big, yellow school bus and disappear down the road. And I won't be with them. I won't be "in charge". I won't be there to protect them.

The gates to their future have been opened. I am excited for them. I also wish I could turn back time. Just a little bit.

Our Peter Pan

Sarah loves Peter Pan. If we are not watching the movie, we are reading the book. Sometimes, we have to act out the scenes. Sarah will run up to either me or Dan, give us a sword, and demand a sword fight. She always gets to be Peter Pan. We are stuck being Captain Hook, the pirates, or the Lost Boys.

She also is quite fond of the scene where Wendy sews Peter Pan's shadow back on.

Like Peter Pan, Sarah often loses her shadow, and demands that one of us sew it back on. Dan and I humour her because she is our child. Katie and Bethie humour her because...well... Sarah doesn't give them much choice.

Sometimes, she reciprocates.

And this cracks me up.

Tools For School

The twins are starting kindergarten on September 1. I went to their school today to pay our school fees (the equivalent of one week's worth of groceries!). I signed them up for daycare, got busing information (the bus stop is our driveway!), and picked up the school supplies distributed by the school.

The school also gave me a list of items that I have to buy for my children. It reads as follows:

• 4 tennis balls (Why? I don't know)
• 1 lunchbox
• 1 schoolbag
• 1 big pencil case
• 1 pair of indoor running shoes
• 1 complete change of clothing in a labelled bag
• 1 pair of headphones

Headphones? I realise that it has been 25 years since I went to elementary school, but have things really changed that much? When I was a kid, headphones were forbidden. In fact, if we were caught with headphones, the school would call our parents! Now, the school is requesting that parents send their children to school with headphones. I feel old and out of touch.

Then I thought, headphones! What a brilliant idea! My house is so noisy. Sometimes, I feel like I am losing my mind. All I crave is some peace and quiet. Things have gotten so bad that I have set up a TV and a DVD player in Sarah's bedroom so the kids can watch their movies out of earshot. It never occurred to me to get headphones. I wonder if there is a way to connect three pairs of headphones to the same TV? I would need three cordless headphones. That way, the children won't be sitting next to each other (if I hear "She kicked me!" one more time I am going to run away from home!) and no one will "accidentally" trip over their sister's cord thereby dislodging the headphones from either her head or the TV.

Do such wonderful things exist????

The Boss

Saturday evening, I went to bed right after dinner because I had a really bad headache. My plan was to lie down for an hour, and then get up and help Dan put the children to bed. Dan decided to let me sleep instead.

After a while, the girls noticed that I wasn't around. Bethie asked Dan if I had gone out. Dan replied that I was sick and had gone to bed. This confused Bethie. I was physically in the house, but obviously, I was too sick to take care of the children.

Bethie pondered this for a moment and then asked Dan, "Are you the boss now?". Dan replied that he was. Bethie followed up with, "Then can we stay up late tonight?". Dan, giddy with power, delighted the girls by allowing them to stay up for an additional hour.

Lesson learned? I need to share my "power" with Dan. He is very capable, and the children need to start seeing him as an authority figure. I shall do this be going out a minimum of three evenings a week. Alone. Sans enfant. Dan and the girls may be upset at first. Dan will most definately grumble. But I will do this for my family. Dan will (surely) thank me for this later!

P.S. Kidding! First of all, Dan is quite pleased with the status quo. I am the Enforcer and he is the Hero. Secondly, Dan gets a wee bit panicky everytime I go out. Three nights a week alone with the kids would kill him.

Covert Operation

Here are my girls. Sweet, aren't they?

What you can't tell is that I have told the girls to stay by the window and let me know when the moving truck (that is across the street) opens it's back door. I wanted to have a peek inside! They were delighted, and kept reporting "updates". I am pleased to say that I have my own built in spy network!