Aside from time going by at warp speed, not much has been going on.
Father's Day weekend we went up north to Shawanaga to spend the weekend with Shawn's parents as we do most years. This year however we decided to send Oliver to my Mom's for the weekend. Having Oliver at Shawn's parents would have just been a disaster. Of course with the bugs being at their peak, Jack was again eaten alive. The poor kid. He reacts so badly to mosquito bites. One morning he woke up and couldn't even open one of his eyes because it had swollen so much from a bite near his eye. It was then that I thought it would be a good idea for him to go to Nana's too.
I had invited my Dad to come up to Shawanaga for the weekend too so I sent Jack to Midland when he went back home. Aside from the bugs, it was a nice visit.
This Tuesday night, we headed up to Laura's to play some poker. Upon getting Jack ready for bed, I noticed he had quite the rash all over his body. It kind of freaked me out a little but I chalked it up to he's been playing outside and has some new mosquito bites. I never know what to expect when he gets bit by a mosquito.
When he woke up in the morning, the rash was looking a lot better and a few hours after that it was almost completely gone. I was wondering if maybe it was 5th Disease.
Because Jack didn't get a whole lot of sleep, we decided Jack should have a rest/nap yesterday. When he got up from his rest/nap, the rash at exploded all over his body again including creeping onto his face. It made me nervous that it was now on his face so I decided to take him to the walk in clinic.
Turns out, he had hives. The hives could have been caused by one of 4 things. Tuesday (the day the rash first appeared) when I gave Jack his bath, I used to body wash for bubbles and washed his hair with my shampoo. Both a first. The mosquito bites though I don't think it was from that because he's never broken out in hives - just big welts and bumps. Lastly, the Dr said his body could just be having a reaction to a virus. Because Jack also has a bit of a runny nose, the Dr stated it was probably the later. Poor little guy. He of course refused to make any kind of medication so I've had to sneak the Benadryl into a cup of juice. I've learned not to try to sneak things into milk. One day when trying to give him some Advil in his milk he said to me "Mommy, my milk tastes like dirt" LOL I wish they made children's medicine into chewable pill form. It really would make things a lot easier for me.
This weekend we will be going to Laura and Johnathon's 4th of July party. Should be good times. It's nice too that the kids are able to come and enjoy themselves and there is room for them to sleep. I wonder how I will be feeling Sunday morning. I'm not a big drinker so I'm sure it will be me up with the kids while Shawn enjoys a nice little sleep in. Of course if I do decide to have a few bevvies, it will be just the complete opposite. We shall wait and see.

Mid Week Post

Not much going on here really. This past week, I've been feeling extra tired. I just don't feel like I have any energy. I'm beginning to think this is because I don't often get two days off in a row. This never really leaves me with a lot of time to do much resting/relaxing. I'm looking forward to my shift being over tomorrow because then I am off for 5 full days!! During those five days off we will be heading up to Shawanaga to see Shawn's parents. I've been quite looking forward to going up there. It sucks though that it's supposed to rain this weekend. That puts a damper on many activities we plan to do while we are there such as going to the beach, playing horseshoes and going to Shawn's parents trailer.
I have invited my Dad to join us for a night. I was happy when he told me he would come. I don't get spend a lot of time with my Dad so it will be nice. I'm especially happy because it's Father's Day and I didn't want him spending a bulk of the day by himself.
Ugh, I'm looking at the time and it's totally screaming at me that it's time to get ready for work. I suppose I should listen. I hate having to rush.

Guilt

My Pepere passed away yesterday at the tender age of 101.
When my parents separated just over 11 years ago, my visits to my Memere and Pepere dwindled significantly. At first my Mom would still go over to visit them and then she stopped. When she did, I pretty much did too. She always encouraged me to go and visit them but I never did. It was strange going over to their house without my parents. I don't know why. It's not like I didn't bike over to their house by myself as a kid. Why would it feel strange as an adult? I think I was always afraid that because of their ages, they wouldn't remember me.
My Mom always told me that one day when they've passed away I would feel guilty for not visiting them more often. She was right. After finding out yesterday, it's exactly what I've been feeling after sadness.
It's been a really, really long time since I've seen either of them. It breaks my heart that the next time I see my Pepere will be at his funeral. How am I ever going to forgive myself for this? Even though I'm not expecting my Memere to remember me (she is 97 or 98), I can't wait to give her a hug and tell her I love her. I wish I could do the same with my Pepere. Lesson learned.

May you rest in peace Pepere. Je t'aime.

Happy Mother's Day

M is for the moan, and the miserable groan
from the pain that She felt when I was born

O is for the oven with it’s burnin’ heat
where She stood makin’ sure I had something to eat

T is for the time that She stayed up at night
and took my temperature when I wasn’t feelin’ right

H is for the hard earned money She spent
to keep clothes on my back and try to pay da’ rent

E is every wrinkle I put on Her face
and every worry that I caused when I stayed out late

The last letter R is that She taught me Respect
and for the room up in Heaven that I know She’ll get


Mr. T’s Be Somebody…or Be Somebody’s Fool!

It's Like A Mini-Vacation, Only We Aren't Going Anywhere.

My Mom is taking both (yes, that's right...BOTH) of my boys for a few days starting Saturday. I'm having conflicting emotions about this. I'm of course very excited to have a few days to myself and to spend some time with Shawn, just the two of us but I'm going to miss them like crazy. I don't think both of the kids have ever been gone together at the same time. We are going to be child free for at least 3 days, probably 4. Am I even going to know what to do with myself? No diapers to change, no endless cups of milk to fill (seriously, sometimes I think we should just buy a cow or a dairy farm), no cars or action figures to avoid stepping on. That of course also means no morning hugs and kisses, no cuddles, no tickles, no sound of their laughter and no tucking the kids into bed. I'm going to miss them both so much. At least when only one of them is gone, I have the other to help fill the void in my heart. I'm going to have no one to do that. It's going to be nice though and I'm not going to lie, I could use the break. I've been working my ass off since Shawn was laid-off from his job and I'm tired.
Shawn and I don't often spend a lot of time together just the two of us. It really is going to be nice to spend some much needed quality time with him. It's hard to do this with two small children. I thank my Mom (and Grampa) for giving us this opportunity. You guys are the best!

My Budding Photographer

For Christmas, Jack's Nana and Grampa bought him a kids digital camera. Until this past week, he hasn't really played with or used it. I took my camera with me when we went out for a walk the other day and Jack decided that he too wanted to bring his camera. While on our walk, he took a few photos. It was very sweet watching him decide what he wanted to take a picture of and taking the pictures. I think at least 1/3 of the pictures he took were of his thumb or a finger in front of the viewfinder. He was quite sad when we got home and there was no picture of the slide at the park. I think this turned into one of the thumb pictures. I'm quite excited to watch his picture taking skills develop as he continues taking pictures. It's pretty interesting seeing the world through his eyes. I can't wait to see the next set of pictures he takes.

Happy 5th Birthday Nicholas!!

I just wanted to take a quick minute to wish my nephew Nicholas a very happy 5th birthday!
I remember just two short months ago how hard it was accepting that Jack was turning 4. I can't even imagine how Laura and Jonathon are feeling about Nicholas turning 5. Five seems like such a big number!!

Hoping you had a fantastic day Nicholas! We all love you very much!