Halloween

Saturday was supposed to be Boo at the Zoo with Janelle and her boys. Neither of us wanted to go out. Instead Janelle and the boys came over for a play date, the two youngest anyway, James had a different play date. I promised Kate that we would still go to the zoo thing later in the day.

As it turns out later wasn't good. We finally got ready and were in the van on the 401 and we decided to check and see what exactly was going on only to realize that it was 3:00 and the boo festivities ended at 3:00. We had some unhappy children. Oops. We got Timbits, bought shades for the new windows - well three of them at least, went to dinner at Lonestar and then Kate asked to drive by Safety Village on the way home.

There were hordes of kids, and police, and lo and behold, a Halloween event at Safety Village. It was so awesome! The girls' Halloween costumes were in the van so we suited up and joined in the fun. Kate had recently been to Safety Village on a class field trip. The area is a scaled down version of a real town. Kids practice driving motorized cars and learn about safety. For Halloween there were volunteers in different buildings giving out candy. Each house/building had a theme. The girls had so much fun. I had so much fun. We all had so much fun!

We carved pumpkins on Sunday afternoon. The girls were very excited. They scooped their pumpkins and they all designed their faces. The bigger girls helped do some of the cutting.

Monday night Nana and Papa came for a night and Nana came out trick or treating with us. The girls were in heaven - candy heaven. It was a beautiful night, cool but not cold. There was no rain, and we walked up and down our street saying hello to lovely neighbours. There were some really fun houses too. The girls had such a great night. I wish I'd taken more pictures (didn't get one of Nana and Papa argh) and video of Alice and her Papa. She and Ken Sr. have the funniest conversations.

Happy Halloween!

The Weekend

I love it when Fiona wakes up on a Saturday and sees me in the morning and with excited glee says "Is it the weekend?" I really fully now understand the sentiment "I live for weekends". I love the time with my family above all else.

This weekend we planned to take the kids to see Mary Poppins. The Oshawa Stake has mounted a production and with free tickets, and Ken's boss Adrian in one of the lead roles, it sounded like a fun idea.

Alice sat on Ken's knee through the first act. She couldn't see. Fiona sat, stood, crawled, stood, sat, and moved on and around me the entire time. Kate enjoyed it, Alice sort of, and Fiona, I'm not sure. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea. I should have just sent Kate and Ken. Hindsight!

I feel myself being so impatient with my children all the time. I feel like we're in a weird place. I'm not sure how to quite explain it. Perhaps it doesn't need to be explained. Children are a lot. I just keep feeling drained by everything, children included. How do I change this? I'm not sure.

After the squirm fest of the musical we went to Hollywood Cone in Oshawa. I was really excited to go. The experience sadly didn't live up to my expectations. I really expected an extraordinary taste experience, and it wasn't that. It was soft serve, so fine, dress it up. I ordered a Reese Peanut Butter Cup sundae with chocolate soft serve. It was just okay. Definitely not worth the calories.

Next up McDonald's play place, then home, baths, bedtime. I need to get more than six hours sleep a night so I stop feeling so annoyed by my children. It was a good day... mostly.  This is a kind of a bummer of a post. It is a true accounting of the happenings but it kind of makes me sad that I feel so annoyed by my kids. Now to get through the rest of Sunday. I love them, really I do. I'm grateful for them, really I am.

Kate got a rootbeer float.

Alice got a Cotton Candy Sundae.

So did Fiona.

I look tired. My ice cream looks like a mountain.

Ken got the Ferrero Rocher Banana Split.

The Move

I do not doubt for a minute that we are where we are supposed to be, and that is so comforting. I'm not engaged in what ifs and why nots. But that doesn't make this move easy.  I knew this year of driving would be hard, but sometimes I think I severely underestimated how hard it would be. We are mid October and I am sad and tired. My temper is so short and I feel like a failure most of the time. I have no energy to do anything after spending two hours driving home and picking up three girls in three different places at the end of the work day. It feels like too much.

But then I drive down to the lake, or today, I walk down. I breathe. I feel calm. The water, the beauty of this world rejuvenates and lifts me and I know the sacrifices I'm making this year are good and right and if I just remember to access the atonement I will find the comfort I'm looking for.

Settled?

Everyone keeps asking if we're settled. The short answer for me is no, but it isn't a one word straightforward kind of thing. We moved August 25th and then had a long weekend and it was off to school. Off to long drives on the 401 to Woodbridge, exhaustion, errands, trying to get settled, adjusted.

I'm not settled. The garage is still filled with boxes, and trying to figure out stuff that was bought for one house fitting into a different house, it's a process. The girls rooms, the kitchens, our room, it was all done pretty quickly. The office has boxes, the main floor has boxes, the front hall has boxes, but we're getting there. I've given myself permission to take my time. We packed for three months, why not unpack for just as long or longer? I don't want to be unpacking forever, but I'm really in no rush either.

The girls are settling into their new schools. Fiona is doing really great, Kate and Alice are coming along. The biggest adjustment for Kate is the workload of grade 2 - the absence of play. For Alice the challenge has been that she constantly compares Tottenham to Carruther's Creek.  She's getting better, and she is coming home happier.

Kate had her meet the teacher on the 21st - we went to meet Madame Khattab. However, we found out the day before that Kate would move from a 2/3 to a straight 2 and that they were hiring a new teacher. Madame Khattab seemed really sweet and was glowing when she talked to Kate. She asked which one of us was Francophone! Go Kate!

Alice's meet the teacher was the 22nd, and the school was a zoo, but we had fun playing in her classroom. The girls and I had been in to meet her teacher previously, and Ms. White is awesome.

So far, we've visited the White Feather, walked by the beach, played at the park, eaten out, had a Pickering Ward Primary trip to the temple, gone swimming at Grandma's. And every once in a while we unpack something...

White Feather

 

A Fiona-Mommy trip to buy shoes for Mom and then a pop into Chapters.

Visiting the park across from Alice's aftercare at Carruthers Marsh.

 We walked from the park down to the lake.

 Dinner out at Boston Pizza. There have been a few too many dinners out lately.

 

Kate and I had a fun shopping trip at Old Navy. She pretty much picked out her whole fall wardrobe.

Pickering Ward primary had a trip to the temple. It was really great. The Primary president Sis. Yates is so lovely and had really cute activities planned.

After the visit to the temple we went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Another walk by the water. This beach is closer to our house, at the end of the main road we live off of.

Another trip out to eat. This one tonight. It was late when we finally went out to eat at McDonald's. Kate and Fiona howled like wolves. 

And Alice wore her Bat girl glasses the whole time.