A little of this, A little of that...

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).

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.