TOO TIRED TO BLOG

Yeah, I am way too tired lately to blog. Between Morgan and Emma getting up anywhere from 430-6am, and Ruby getting up at various times (in which some cases I have to sleep with her laying on my chest in order to get her back to sleep). The nights are not kind lately, my friends. At least not since the silly time change. These time changes always mess my life up!!!

Anyway, at least there are only two weeks left of school before Christmas break. I can't wait. I (like most of my collegues) need the break. Although, the closer it gets to January, the closer it gets to the second semester of High School at my school...which means teaching Drama class. Hahahaha, I am not sure how that is going to go. A couple girls in my class who are taking Drama11 said they were interested to see what I am going to be like teaching Drama. As am I!!


Anyway, they make me laugh a lot. As do my own kids. My girls are nuts. Morgan especially. I think she is a lot like me. Moody. She can be very crazy and jovial, but get very grumpy. Emma is so unpredictable. She acts so grown up sometimes, then is chasing around after Goldfish crackers with Morgan. She's a funny girl. Then there's Ruby. What a gal. She is really fun to get laughing. She likes to be held a lot. Too much, if you ask me. I guess I should enjoy it now though.

Anyway, I feel like I am writing a novel. Sorry no pictures. I will have some soon. Maybe some video soon, too. Kel and I are going to get one of those Flip Video recorders for our combined Christmas gift. I am sure we can capture some insane moments from our crazy life.

So Merry Christmas to all. Have a great holiday season. We are going to be in the city for Christmas this year. Coming up on the 21st, staying till the 27th. I think that's the deal. All for now.

Who updates their blog anyway? Really.

Yes, internet folks, I have finally posted a new blog. I think Satan himself is starting to feel a bit chilly!!

So, it would be a lie to say "not much has been going on" with my family. We have been keeping pretty busy down here in Yarmouth. My job has been going well. I am constantly feeling the workload that I have, but have been trying to get as much done at school, so that when I come home I can give my time to the family. Either that, or I am too tired after putting the kids to bed to do anything else. You can choose your own Rob adventure for that one.

Anyway, we have been to the city for a visit, and saw some of you friends. I have been up a few times for work-related workshops (I was workshopped out in October...5 days in total).

We have been watching Ruby grow bigger. We have been struggling to deal with her gassy fussyness, and nighttime routine. Morgan "lost" her soother last month (we took it away, really...sneaky Kelly's idea). The little girl has dealt pretty good without it, besides being cranky at times. I mean, before, if she was cranky, we'd just stick that soother in there, but now it's just a big ol' monster mash when she's cranky. But oh well...the soother is gone. And she doesn't even care much about her blanky anymore (which I like, but Kelly is sad about , since she made it for her). Emma keeps getting better in school. Her reading is coming along well. She gets to play with friends a lot here, and plays outdoors a lot. It's gerat for the kids.

Kelly is doing well. She just got called as the Primary pianist in the Branch. It was a shock!! haha. She's glad though. It's her niche. She is doing a great job maintaining order with the little ones while I am away at work. Oh, I just moved Ruby into the girls' bedroom last night. Kelly is sad, and misses her already. Mothers! I will never understand it. hahahaha.

Anyway, there are some pictures below that Kelly took of the kids. They are great kids. When I am not yelling at them, they actually sometimes make me smile. hahahaha. Jokes. I love my family. They really do make me smile a lot.

Emma's unofficial School Photo

Morgan swinging her life away

Ruby smiling...she's a cutie

Ruby being serious...probably has gas


Playful Morgan...crazy girl

My little girls




Emma looking grown up

Busy Times

Hey folks, how is everyone doing? It has been a busy time for the VM family these past few weeks. We are feeling a bit more settled in then at first. My job is going well. I am teaching Tech Ed to all the junior high classes, and a grade 10 course. Also, I teach one junior high math class, and one jh social studies class. I am starting to love teaching Tech Ed. I have a woodshop attached to my classroom, and I am starting to have fun taking the kids in there. Good thing I worked with Steve Boyd all those summers, or I wouldn't have any clue what I am doing with machines and power tools. It's so easy to teach Tech Ed, too, since there is no ridgid curriculum. I am enjoying it more than my Math and SS classes.

Anyway, Emma is doing good in school. Her school was ranked one of the top 25 in Canada, in Today's Parent magazine. It was just renovated this past summer. The gym is huge. It's like a high school gym.

Morgan has began taking off her own diaper and spreading the love around. We have had to clean up some stinkiness a few times lately. And the best...last week she got into the zinc bum cream in her room, and we found her up there with it all over her face and on the floor and dolls. We threw out two dolls, cause they weren't worth the time to clean them. I will get some pictures of the culprate as soon as I can.

Ruby is doing good. She is more alert, and smiling a ton. I almost had her laughing a couple times yesterday. She's growing up. She has a cold right now, which has made for some bad nights of sleep. Her nose gets so stuffy at night, so she can't breathe well. We are trying to get through it though. Morgan must have given her the cold.

Kelly is doing good, too. She is enjoying herself down here. She got to buy a ton of clothes the other week from Joe (superstore), cause they had all there sale stuff priced at $.96. It was insane. We came home with tons of clothes. How could she resist? I am still amazed that she is holding up, lving the life of a country wife. I'll get the city slicker out of her yet. hahaha.

Anyway, just wanted to hit up a post. It has been a while. I am trying to gather some photos to put up soon. Hope all are well.

Even Better News...

Yeah, so I went to school for the "first day" of classes at Digby Regional High School, on Thursday. Did I mention that I had a view of the Bay of Fundy from my classroom? It is a beautiful view. It was something along the lines of this picture....

Anyway, so I got through my classes that day. Half of them were classes that the school was not going to end up offering, so I sent the students to the cafeteria for a free period. It was a relaxed day. I had fun starting to get to know the students though.

At the end of the day I went to the theatre for an assembly. Afterwards, the principal came up to me, chuckling, and said we needed to talk. I figured he was chuckling about my teaching schedule being all mixed up. Then he said the superintendant was coming to see me. So I said, yeah, he must need me to sign some papers. Then he said, no, that wasn't it...let's go into his office.

So he sat me down, and told me I was being reassigned. I thought...WHAT?????????????. He told me the superintendant was reassigning me to Drumlin Heights school. I was thinking....HOLY SMOKES!!!!! DH school is a 20 minute drive from my parents, instead of the 60 minute drive it takes to get to Digby. WOWWY!!! I went up to my classroom to wait for the super, and kept thinking...I better not tell anyone, in case there is some sort of mistake. So I waited, and packed my things. Finally I got word that the super was here, and I went in to chat with him. Sure enough, they needed to swtich a teacher at DH, and decided to switch him with me. WOOHOO!!!!

The only thing that stinks is that I really like the principal at Digby Regional, and I had the sweetest view EVER!!!! But, being closer to home will make up for that. So I came home very excited and told Kelly the news...which made her super happy, too. It was great news. So here I go, ending my crazy week with this post. I am thinking about how nuts each day has been this week. How relieved and blessed our family is to have things like this work out for us. We have had a lot of help from an individual who has gone to bat for our cause down here in Yarmouth, and they deserve a lot of thanks. We know we have also been blessed a lot by our sets of parents. One set that helped us get moved, and the other who welcomed us in. Both are blessed with tons of boxes of our stuff. And we most of all have been blessed by our God, who keeps watching over us...no matter how big of an idiot I am sometimes.

So that's all for now. I need to finally take a breather today. But still lots of work to do for Monday. Just wanted to share that with everyone. Hope all are well.

I Got A Job

Hey all you folks. So the news is, on Tuesday morning I was offered a job teaching in the School Board down Yarmouth way. I will be teaching in Digby, which will be a one hour drive from Yarmouth....but it's a job. I should be able to car pool no problem.

So Tuesday was a busy day. We had been planning on heading to Yarmouth that day anyway, but this news really put the pressure on, as I had to start work on Wednesday. So, we kept packing up, and even tried to get a U-Haul truck. Well, around 3pm, Kelly and Ralph arrived with a U-Haul...and I knew we would be getting to Yarmouth really late.

Kelly's parents were the most amazing help in getting us ready to move. They both deserve medels. Thanks to Jake Richards for coming over on short notice, too. So we finally were ready to leave around 8pm. We had to drop some U-Haul packings off at the MacLean's in Cole Harbour, then we would head to Yarmouth.

Well, it was around 10pm by the time we left for Yarmouth. I was thinking how hard it was going to be to go into work the next day. Ralph came with us, to help with the driving. I slept most of the time. Kelly drove the U-Haul for a lot of the way. All three of us had a turn. Emma slept in the bouncy truck the whole way. We finally made is to my parent's house about 2:30am. So yeah, it was a late night. Added to that, Morgan had trouble getting to sleep when we got here. So, I didn't get to sleep until 3:30am, and had to be up at 6:30am.

My first day of school was an in-service day. It was fine. Digby Regional High School is my new second home. It's a newer school...built in 2001, so it's very nice indeed. I have my own room and I can see the Bay of Fundy from my desk, which is cool. My assignment is sort of all over the place, as I am teaching the leftovers. But, it should be a good year....other than the travelling. But we'll just have to live with that.

Anyway, I should be getting ready to leave. First day of classes today. Nervous? Yes. First day of my CAREER!!! Wowwy. Crazy. It has been such a crazy and stressfull past week. We are so drained and emotional. I still can't believe I got a call for a job two days before the students start school. My head is still spinning.

Our Big News

WE'RE MOVING TO YARMOUTH....VERY SOON!!!

No, I didn't get a job there. I applied for almost 40 jobs this summer. Didn't get one. Got one interview for a job in Yarmouth. I didn't get it. Will I substitute teach? Yes. Why Yarmouth? To live with my parents and save money. Why? Cause our family ain't getting any smaller, or younger (especially me)...and we'll actually need to get a house and van some day. So, along with the fact that Emma loves Yarmouth and is very happy there, we also figured we could save as much in one year there as we would be able to in maybe 5-6 years living here in HFX.

So, with all that being said...we move, and soon. Like, Tuesday soon. Emma starts school down there on Thursday. And by the way...she is going to have the same school bus driver that I had as a kid.

So a new adventure begins in the life of our family. We are excited, but also sad. Nervous, but also optimistic. There is a lot of packing to do in a very little amount of time. Kelly says "It'll get done". Amen, sister. So, for those of you on the Halifax Squadron, we are going to miss you. We wish we could spend a bit more time before we go, but it's been a super last minute decision. Maybe some of you will come to see Yarmouth now. It's a nice place. It produces crazy folk, but it's a nice place. And there is always room at my parents place if you come down (I can talk them into anything-I'm the youngest child).

Adios HFX.

this is a photo blog. aka- i hve been a lazy blogger

Well, a lot happened in July. Most likely it was one of our busiest months. We were gone a lot, I worked a lot, and we had some visits here, too. And we are still trying to adjust to 3 kids. Well, I am, at least. So, since my blogging has been so sparse, I decided to upload a bunch of photos, and let you see what we have been up to.

Before I get to those, just so you all know how hectic it is adding another child into your family...we went away to PEI this past weekend, and didn't take ONE picture. It was crazy trying to keep Ruby happy, and chase Morgan everywhere, while struggling to show Emma a fun time. Can't wait for the next 4 kids. Just kidding. I already feel my hair turning gray more and more each day. Some days I want to pull it out. But anyway, the point is...much like my own parents discovered...the picture taking goes down a bit after each kid. Hence, there are not as many baby pictures of me as there is my brothers. Sorry to Ruby for not photo documenting her first trip to the Island.

Emma in her element...posing

Morgan's 1st day in Nursery (I hear she likes the boys)

Big sister doing a great job with littlest sister

Pops and Morgan (I hear she looks like me)

Mommy and Ruby...so cute together

Pops and his girls (Pops' Angels)

The Family at the Public Gardens

A Walk in the gardens (note Morgan's cute harness...a horsey)

The girls. My girls.

The buddies, being pulled in a boat by Uncle Buck

Morgan enjoying a swim in leech infested waters

the matching cousins. Audrey and Co. were up for a visit

Ruby June looking Purday

So that's all for now. Ruby doesn't want me to blog anymore today. She says it distracts me from giving her some attention. Adios.

A quick little blurby from Yarmouth

Well, I just wanted to make a quick post while I am in Yarmouth with the Fam. Greggy sent me a couple of pictures of Job and Morgan playing together. They are quite the duo, and Job is always calling for Morgan to play with him. It's very cute. Anyway, I think these pictures are better than any I have taken of the two. A well centered photo, in a cool setting.

I will post more about our trip to Yarmouth in the coming days. We are all having a good time, though I think the common Cold is trying to wreck things for us all. Emma may be the only one to be escaping its effects so far.

PS- The Dark Knight is a great movie...Kelly, Jocelyne, Greg and I all went last night. Ruby and Audrey were babysat for the first time by Grammie/Nanny and Grampie. They both made out fine, as far as I heard.

Ruby and Audrey's Blessings

So last weekend we took a little trip to Yarmouth. Yarmouth is a place where kids like me grow up. It's a place that makes a boy a man. It's a place where you take your new baby to be blessed if her cousin was born within the same week, and you think they'll be the best of friends; and if the rest of your family lives there.

We were excited to be able to have both of these little girls blessed on the same day. It was great that Ralph and Debbie were able to come down to Yarmouth, too. So we had all of our family there. It's great when all the kids can get together. Emma got to play with my cousins (who are her favorite playmates). It was just a fast trip, but we enjoyed it. It was nice to finally see Audrey in person. She is so much bigger than Ruby, as you can see in the pictures below. She was so much quieter than Ruby, too. Ruby seemed to be on her worst behavior while we were down there. She isn't always so fussy...but it seemed like she was on a fussing rampage while we were there.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the blessing girls in their outfits. Kelly made Ruby's dress that week. It turned out great. Oh, and I worked the midnight shift the day we went down...so I was super tired out (cause you know I wasn't getting any sleep in the car, with the three girls in the back)...and I was still super tired on Sunday. Well, when I started the blessing, I almost started saying a regular prayer. I was so tired, I didn't realize what I was doing. I quickly corrected myself though. It was great. Anyway, that's all.

Ruby June MacLean

So, today was the day. The day the kid came out. It was a cold and windy day, and the seas were unkind. It seemed that all was lost. Okay, hold on...that's a different story. But yeah, today we hit the road to the hospital. Kel was having contractions last evening, and in the early morning hours, it was too many, too close. So we did it. We decided not to give birth in our apartment, and got our buns to the hospital.
So, to make a long story short (which included a sucker-sucking anesthesiologist, our neighbor the nurse, and some miracle epidural happening)...at 7:58am today, June 8th, a 6 pound 12 ounce, 20 inches long girl popped out of Kelly's body. She went flying across the floor, and into the arms of her Pops. She screamed "What's up, Pop", and then went to her Mom's body for food. It was quite the time. And best of all, the label on her leg said her name was Ruby June MacLean. How perfect.
Anyway, most of that is truth. I have to get back to the hospital...but here are some pictures to keep the masses happy. Peace out. Oh, and by the way...yes...I realize I am VERY outnumbered now in my home. Ah well. I always loved the company of girls!!!

PS-These pictures are not in order. I am in a hurry.

More Pictures of Audrey

Congrats Greg, Jocelyne, and Job

HERE ARE THE PICTURES!!!
(this little blurb is in addition to the post I did yesterday...so if you didn't see yesterday's post, it is below the pictures).

Greg just sent these today. He said that Audrey's face is swollen, but she is doing better. Also, Joce is doing better than yesterday, too. Very exciting. Wish I could be in Yarmouth to see the little girl in person. Anyway...there she is....



Well, I wish I could say Kelly had our baby today (I am getting a little tired of the pregnancy, and am ready for that little person to hop out). But, the next best thing happened today...Jocelyne had their baby!! She went to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning today (June 3rd), so she didn't even have to be induced.
As the story goes...she popped that little girl out at 1:03pm t'day. I don't have any pictures so far. I just got home from work and had a couple messages on my answering machine to say she arrived. Now...I bet everyone is wondering what they named her. Well, I am not going to say. Just joking....

Welcome to planet Earth, and Yarmouth County, Audrey Eloise Veinot.

Now, the best part (not for Jocelyne) is that the little girl was not so little. She weighed in at 10lbs, 1 ounce. WOWZA!!!! We are waiting to get a call back from Greg, to hear the story of that whopper. Anyway, hope everyone is okay with me not posting a picture to go along with this post. Congrats Greg and Joce, and Job....we are excited to see your new little baby.