Merry Festivus!!

Hey, if you are as avid of a fan of Seinfeld, you will know and possibly understand Festivus.

Anyway, here I am on a school night, up past my bedtime (which has become 9PM thanks to my two early risers; who get up around 530AM). PS-That's on an alright morning.

I have been meaning to post for a while, but have been preoccupied with other things, such as growing a beard (which consequently could be gone in the morning if it doesn't stop the irretation). I can only go so long with a beard before I lose my mind and shave. Usually I don't make it past 5 days...but this one has been about 2 weeks, so I hate to give up on it. Especially at such a wonderful time of year for beards ('Ol Saint Nick himself would be one great example).

I have also been trying to liven things up around the Administration Office at school. A few weeks ago I managed to get away with writing down a phoney anouncement for the morning anouncements. The VP didn't seem to pre-read them, and went right on into my made up one: "Chess Club meeting today in Mr. Tyler Smith's room at lunch. Bring your game pieces and pocket protectors". I almost died laughing as I heard her read that one. That VP now pre-reads the announcements!! hahaha.

Just yesterday I found a New Moon poster (the werewolve guys all hunky) sitting on top of the lost and found. So I decided I would find some tape and post it in the other VP's office while he wasn't there. I guess the secretaries got a kick out of his reaction: "That Veinot, he's a joker!".

Anyway, there is all that, plus trying to Christmas-up our house. Ruby has been breaking all of our ornaments...so now our utree is bare around the bottom. We have to move them all up as she takes them off. It's so much fun!!! (sarcasm).

But life is good. Other than Morgan and potty training still. I mean, how long does it take to understand that poop in your panties is not cool!!!???? Let alone uncomfortable!! She is making breakthroughs in other areas...she now will shake the Elder's hands when they come over to eat!! Two visits in a row!! This is major for shy little Morgan, who has been fiercly scared of them for 85% of the time they are around.

Emma got her report card yesterday, and it was pretty good. Her new school is much more relaxed about homework than her school last year. Last year was very militant, and this year seems laissez-faire. I think we are going to have to do the pushing, to make sure she keeps up like last year.

So Kelly is doing alright. She hasn't been feeling the best lately...nausea. But, I guess that happens when you are pregnant. Oh, by the way...Kelly is pregnant. Baby due in June. Am I hoping for a boy, you might ask? I can honestly say...I am hoping for either. And that is the first time I have hoped for either. And I feel good about it. Emma is dying for a brother though (not sure why though). But yeah, so Kelly has been feeling sick a lot. Though, I think it's all an act, so she can get me to wait on her hand and foot!! Come on...it's a likely story!! You don't know Kelly like I do!! hahahaha. JK, JK.

SO anyway...on to the pictures. The first two are of Ruby. Kelly did a mini photo shoot with her the other day, because we have these three little frames on the wall in a row...with a picture of Emma, then Morgan, then a blank frame. We have been horrible about pictures since Ruby (no energy left most of the time), and didn't have a current one that we wanted to put in that frame. Actually, the ones of Emma and Morgan are both 2 and a half years old now. S'pose we should update them, too. But yeah...here are a couple of pics from the shoot. It was a short shoot, because Ruby is 1 and a half and won't stay still too long.

She has become so cute!!

She's a real sweetheart, too. Very helpful and cuddly. She really loves her Pops, too. No joke! She runs to me when I come home from Work.

Here is one of the girls and I, yesterday, going out to play in the snow (which lasted all of like 4 hours!! ). We had fun. They are such fun to play with.

And the last one is our house during its first snowfall. Not sure if you can see the Tree is up in the top right window. We are enjoying our home. It's a good home for us.

Anyway...that's an update on our crazy little family. Can't wait for Christmas break. I said in the staff room today, I think tomorrow should be the last day before break, cause I am not going to have the energy to last all of next week!. So my brain is going on Christmas break tomorrow at 3:15PM. It's going to be a blast. Happy Holodays everyone!.

I'm an Old Dude now

So, yesterday...Oct. 14th...I turned the big 3-0. Yeah...I know...no big deal. It wasn't, really. I mean, it was just another day for me. But really, thinking about it...I think it's time for me to start thinking like a 30 year old. Like, when I was a teenager, 30 year old guys were the ones who were rocking out to Iron Maiden and growing mullets (or maintaining existing mullets). Oh, and the huge Magnum PI moustaches, too. I think it's time for me to become that guy. The A-Typical 30 year old. And I need to start watching re-runs of Thirtysomething. Any insights? I mean, I can't let the thirties go to waste. When I started the twenties, I had insane crazy unrestrained silly fun all the time. What are you supposed to do when you get to the thirties? I don't know. Have restrained mature sane fun...with your kids??

I don't know. Maybe I just need to remember the goodo old days, with a good ol' picture trip back to the past. Here we go...
So, as you can see...I used to have blonde hair. I got rid of it when I started hearing blonde jokes. Now the tables have turned, and I am the one telling the blonde jokes about Kelly. But secretly, I long to be a blonde again. I hear they have more fun. Oh, and I don't suck on my fingers anymore...except after some sweet KFC chicken.

Yeah, I think part of being a thirty year old is going back to this classic style of wearing a T-shirt...the Tuck-In. I remember when I was younger, all the "old" 30-year olds wore their shirts tucked in. I know Kelly won't like it...but hey, I'm 30...I need to act the part and be convincing.

Oh, I found an early photo of Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys. Wowzers!!! Seriously, I think this is where that actor got the idea for the Bubbles character. Oh, and I think Steve Urkle's character was based partially on this kid, too. Wow...wow.

Well, after all that photo memory lane stuff, I decided to take a picture of myself on my 30th birthday. I tried to look as 30 year old as I could.

I know...I know...it's not the best picture of me, but it's authentic.

Anyway, so here's to the 30's...the Time of my Life. What could be better?? Well...I was thinking 23 was pretty fun....but I can't go back there. And it was too footloose. So WOOHOO to being 30. Here goes nothing. Or something. I don't know. I never really understood that saying.

Awesome Summer Fun Times Are Fun

Well, the summer is almost over, and i will be back to work a week from tuesday. i really can't believe it. i think i have become too comfortable with the crazy amount of time off. it will be good to get back to work, in some ways. i have definitely had some good times with my family this summer.

we just got back from a trip to PEI. it was great. we had good weather the whole time...which usually never happens when we go there. we were very busy doing things there, too. we stayed with kelly's uncle charlie and aunt phyllis. they were very kind to us, and are wonderful people.

we got to see some of her other wonderful relatives there, too. we also spent a couple nights with kelly's grandmother in hantsport. she's a great lady, too. she took care of us well, and put up with the kids.

anyway, we had to cut our visit with kelly's parents short, due to the threat of BILL. but, so far, billy boy doesn't seem to have been too fierce in yarmouth. ah well.

well, there is some more work to do on our house this last week before i go back to work. i hope to get some photos up soon. i have to wait until the place is cleaned up before i take the pictures. that's an order by kelly!

so i know i have not gone into detail about what we have been up to...but here is a fast recap of things we have done this summer:

beach on cape sable island; getting the house; trip #1 to Grandma and Grandad's; Upper Clements Park; painting...forever; Ellenwood park (a few times); moving out of Grammy and Grampy's; Emma's dance camp; chillin' with Mike and Keah; Yarmouth Exhibition; Scallop Days parade in Digby; cutting and splitting our massive amount of firewood; Trip to PEI

Well, there have been more little memories...but i have a hard time remembering all the little things. it has been a good time though. busy, tired, sunburnt, sweaty, tired, laughing, tired. that sums it up. i'm out. here is a few pictures. i noticed there are more of ruby than the other two...but that makes up for the fact that we have neglected her a bit with photos. this might make up for it.

At the Toy Factory in PEI

Also, at the Toy Factory...they have a playground out back

Eating pizza with the missionaries over...she made a little mess.

At Upper Clements Park (I don't really go on rides anymore)...this is the Fam minus me. Happy Truckers.

Here is Morgan, doing what she loves...driving truck. She loves the truck stop resturants, too.

Kelly and Rubydukes in the ball pen. very colorfull. so happy. awww.

Ruby loving the intense fun of the ball pen. Emma helps out.

Emma the higland dancer. She's gone crazy over dancing.

New House...check. Same old antics...check.

Well, we are in our new house now. It has actually been a few weeks since we officially got the keys. And we have been living here two weeks now.
There has been so much painting to do, and we have finished almost all of it. We are a bit burnt out on painting at the moment. So we started laying some laminate in the playroom downstairs.
We still have tons of yard work to do...it's a big mess. We are hoping the guy that did our excavating will come back and fix it up.
Anyway, there is always going to be some sort of work to do now. It never seems to end. It's a good thing I am on vacation.

So we have our new house, but the kids still are acting the same. Just yesterday, I noticed that Ruby was off downstairs and was being very quiet. That is always the sign with these kids...if they are being quiet, they are probably up to something.
So I went down to check on the situation...and this is what I found...


Somebody got into the paints. I guess she was having a pretty good time with them, too. Her mouth was all blue as well.So life keeps rolling on for us. I feel more tired out than ever. The Summer is half gone, and I am starting to get too comfortable with this much time off. I dread the idea of having to go back to work. I mean, can't they make the school year a month shorter...I need 3 months off!!! Maybe that's too greedy.

Anyway, I hope to get some pictures of in the house posted soon. Look for them in a bit.

Breaking the Silence

Well well well. It has been some time since I conjured up one of these crazy blog posts. I actually read in the paper a while back about how blogs tend to fizzle out after a while. It discribed me to a T.

Anyway, on with the show.

School's out for the summer!! Schools out forever!! Well, I hope not, cause I need the job. Speaking of which, my job is locked in. I am stoked that I do not have to job hunt again this summer. And...this is the first summer since I was 17 that I will not be working. WOO HOO!

Well, part of the reason my blogging has tailed off is beacuse of how crazy it is having these children of mine, and us getting our house built. Kelly has dealt with about 98% of the house stuff, since I have been teaching (and, if it were left to me, it wouldn't be the house Kelly wants it to be...I would mess it all up).

Anyway, the house is almost done, I am free for the summer...let the good times roll! Oh wait...this just means I have to help with the kids more. AHHHHHH!!! Let me just tell you, Morgan is a little Jekyll and Hyde. She is crazy and cute.

Emma is maturing a lot. It's nice that we don't have to get after her as much anymore. There are still moments, but she's much much better. She's done really great in school this year, too. And she won a medal at her dance recital. She won an honorable mention.

Ruby is cute as anything...though she still can be quite whiney. But she sure makes up for it with the cuteness factor.

Like I said, Kelly has been super dilligent with the house plans. She is a trooper, too. She has been put through a lot of stress. I commend her for the hard work.

I had a great 1st year of teaching. Yeah, maybe the students ran all over me sometimes...but we had fun. I directed my Drama class in the production of a play (Beauty and the Beast). It went over really well. I am excited to do another production next year. I never knew I would enjoy Drama so much.

Well, there were so many memories this year. Living here with my parents in Yarmouth. It has truely been a sport of a year. I wonder how we'll make out on our own again. We should be moved in by the middle to end of July. We are excited supersized.

Anyway, to end off...here are some pictures from the past year.

The back of our House

The front of our House

Our House being craned onto the frame

Emma with her medal

Ruby eating Birthday cake

Morgan put on Mommy's makeup! Not too shabby!

The three sisters on Easter

Ruby's bloody mouth, from falling on the remoteMorgan with Zinc cream all over her!!! Notice the face
Morgan seeming sweet...for the moment

First day of school in Yarmouth

A model citizen and father

So, I don't know...I have been feeling like my posts are way too serious lately. I mean, I feel so strapped for time, that when I DO post, it's rushed and boring. So...I looked at some older post, and got thinking. And here is what I thought of...

Some of my shining moments as a father so far...

• washing the poop out of a Emma's bathing suit (age 4), at Shining Waters in PEI.
• learning to blow-dry and brush girls hair (who would have thought? seriouisly!)
• teaching the girls how to "Shake their Bootay"
• Pathetically trying to tell a "bedtime story" after watching the movie "Bedtime Stories"
• getting thrown up on (multiple times); mostly by Emma...and enduring it.
• "mooning" my family while they wait patiently in the car for me.
• yelling at some idiotand calling him a "jerk", because he was blocking our apartment driveway, with Emma in the car listening.
• pathetically attempting to put "pig-tails" in Morgan's hair. not a bad attempt though.
• oh...letting Morgan roll off the end of our bed, and land her arm in a sling.
• surprising Emma with a hand-made wooden Rock Guitar for her birthday.
• teaching the kids to call Kelly certain names (which must not be revealed)
• sitting with the kids in the car, while Kelly is in a store shopping, and convincing them to tell her that she is getting a time out, for taking too long.
• teaching the kids Stompin Tom Conners songs.

SOOO many moments. Can't remember them all. Probablly don't want to. There are a lot of ugly moments as a parent (you know...poop, barf, pee, food face). Many of the times it ends up on you. And what do you do? You learn to live with it. Once upon a time I tried not to let the kids get my clothes dirty...not...who cares. The dirtier the better!!!

And there are a lot of funny times as a parent. I laugh a lot...no matter what my family says. I probablly laugh when I should be sympathetic. Or when I should be supportive. I laugh when no one else does.

There are a lot of grumpy moments as a parent. I am the champion of those. I mean...if my family would just get it...let me get 10 hours of sleep a night, and don't bug me at all through the day...and I will be pleasent. hahahaha. But seriously, I can be grumpy. I know I look harmless...but it's true, I am a grump. Heck, grumpy people now call me grumpy. Ah well. I try.

Anyway, so parenting over these past three years has had its ups and loads of downs. But I hope I never forget how awesome it can be. I know that I am WAY more tired than I have ever been, and have WAY less time for myself...but time with the family is way better than any other time, cause it feels like home.

so yeah...the moral of this blog is that you can say the wrong thing most of the time, do the wrong thing most of the time, teach the wrong thing most of the time, and still seem like a decent guy. Man, do I have my family fooled!

Ruby Walking Remix W/ Music by Stompin Tom

Here is the remix/edit of the walking video. Just me having some fun with Windows Movie Maker. No new footage...just some revamped clips. It's fun to use WMM. I use it with my grade 7 Tech Ed. classes. Enjoy.

Them Boots Are Made For Walkin'

So, this has been going on for a week or so. She is even better at it this week.

We thought this little girl would be walking a lot sooner, because she's been walking along furniture since 7 months. But, she took her own little time (gets that from Kelly. hahaha). Good job, Ruby, you finally did it. Watch out! She's Mobile!

Oh, and Emma just celebrated her 7th Birthday a few weeks ago. She's a growin girl. I want to post some pictures of the event, but I am at school. So...another post will be in order soon.

Hope everyone has a nice Easter Holiday.

PS- Morgan is in PJ's in the video, because she insists on wearing PJ's all day, everyday. Lazy girl! hahaha.

Fast Post while Ruby is playing happily

Okay, a quick post before I have to get to my inservice.

So Ruby has been pulling herself up assisted by objects, and walking around with the assistance for about two or so months now, and she still isn't letting go and walking. Kelly thinks it's better when they are still not actually walking, but I think the first stages of walking are so cute. I have been trying to help her, but to no avail so far. Keep it up Ruby.

We were up to COle Harbour on March BReak. We went to the CH ward the Sunday we were up. Poor Morgan. Emma and Debbie took her to Nursery. On the way Emma mentioned something to Debbie about Morgan not being good with other kids (based on the experiences of Job and Morgan together, which if anyone is familiar with, is like two siblings playing...the best of times, the worst of times. They sure love to play together though, regardless of the many fights). Anyway, so somehow this message from Emma got translated into "Morgan bites". hahahaha. So I guess the Nursery workers and other parents were warned that Morgan bites....which is not at all true.

So when Kelly and I found out, we were shocked, and felt bad for Morgan. I guess she is going to get a bad rep. in the Stake now. hahahaha. FYI-Morgan doesn't bite. We swear. Really.

SO great news for Emma. She won some provincial Canadian Pride or Heritage poster contest for her age group. WOOHOO!!! I didn't even know about it, then we got a call on March Break that she had won. Her poster is going to be on some website in May, so I will let you all know when the time comes. We are going to be coming up for a free overnight hotel stay, and she gets to go to the ceremony the next day. We are very proud of Emma.

Kelly has been working hard on the house plans...WHICH HAS FINALLY BEEN ORDERED!!! WOOHOO. She has been through a lot with these plans, and things have really come together the way we have hoped. She is a good little worker bee. We can't wait for our new home. It's going to be an above ground split entry. Meaning, it's a split, but looks like a two storey from the outside. We are excited. I will keep the progress reports on it coming.

As for me...yikes...only so many weeks left of school this year. I have so much to teach still. It's crazy. I just got the scripts for my Drama class' year end play. Beauty and the Beast (not Disney version). I hope they do well. I am excited, and want to really help them perfom well.

I have really started to love the music of Stompin Tom COnners, after we saw a play about him in PEI last summer. So, I have been finding some small pockets of time to learn some of his songs. They are so fun. I actually got to perform a couple at a comunity fund raiser in South Ohio last week. It was so fun to perform again. It's been too long. Anyway, if you know Tom's music, I sand "The Hockey Song" and "Bud the Spud". I am learning some other new ones now, too. I want to learn a bunch, and put on my own little Stompin Tom show.

Anyway, sorry no pictures. Or videos. I want to get some on here. We are so photo lazy right now. It's rediculous. But I will get some on soon, I swear. Anyway, gotta run. Hope all are well. We are great.

A Long Slumber

Well, I wish I could take a long slumber, like bears do in the winter. Lucky bears. Unfortunatly, we have been experienceing quite the opposite, with Ms. I Don't Like To Sleep Through The Night. Ruby's a cutie, but she sure doesn't win my votes for Most Likable Baby Through The Night. She'll have to work on that one for next year.

However, that being said, I do nominate her for cutest crawler. She looks just like those toy dolls that crawl. It's fun to watch. I have a video of her from her earlier crawling (not as good as now). I have been meaning to take a video of her recently, but have been so tired and busy. We baught ourselves a video camera for Christmas, but I have been trying for a while now to find a video converter software (cause the format our camera uses isn't optimal for online). Anyway, today I found something worthy enough to upload a couple videos. It's still not the greatest, but it's the best I have tried so far.

Anyway, Morgan turned 2 this month. I have a little video from her B-Day party that I will upload, too. She's cute, but a menace to society. She loves to make a huge mess. We started toilet training her over Christmas break. Wow. I was amazed at how not awesome it is to undertake such a wild adventure. There was poop, pee, naked Morgan, and frustrated parents. She's doing better now, but still not trained, and we have given up a bit. We are too tired most of the time to try too hard with her. And it's enough to just make it through the day with her antics. Kelly does an amazing job with the two little ones at home.

Ruby has been sick, so her sleep is worse. Stuffy nose = bad times at Ridgemont High. She has passed her cold on to Morgan and I. I hope I can beat it soon, I start teaching my Drama 11 class next week, and I intend on being lively.

Emma is doing awesome at school. It's tough going to a different school, but she's getting adjusted. She keeps bumping up levels in her reading, and is getting the hang of her toughest subject-MATH. If only she had a math teacher to help her. Emma is almost 7; I can't believe it. We got her a cd player for Christmas; I think she loves having it. I thought it would suit her.

Kelly is on a steady diet of house hunting. We've looked at some places. We are looking into the cost of building something new. Who knows what we will end up doing. Kelly has it all under control though. We just want to find a place to settle by the Summer, so that we don't have to keep switching Emma from school to school every year.

Anyway, I am good. I am enjoying teaching very much. It's got it's rough moments, but I try to just have fun. And it is a, a lot of the time. Anyway, for all you that have been waiting for me to wake up and smell the blog, this one's for you. (and the two videos are below...enjoy).