I tell ya, it's been a few days!  And, it's only going to get worse.  WE. ARE. MOVING. IN. 5 DAYS.  5!!!  commence freaking out... now.

Yah, so we're moving.  Next weekend.  Ack.  Crazy.  Insane.  Can't I just go to sleep and wake up in the new house?  Everything clean and tidy?  Nice and put away?  Now that, that would be ideal.  But, instead, I have a bazillion things to do this week...  and a zillion places to be.  Play practice Monday night, Women in the Word and Ballet on Tuesday, Wednesday we're going for dinner at Ja's Aunt's house...  Thursday, babysitting and packing like a maniacal woman....  Then Friday is painting day!  Hooray! 

Have we been packing?  Probably not as much as we should have been.  Friday I went to see an old friend from Highschool...  who, weirdly enough, has a little girl now!  Man, we used to pass notes in math class all the time.  It had been far too long since we had seen each other.  I tell ya though, she hasn't changed at all!  Still the same old Patricia!  Her baby, eight month old Alexandria is too cute...  She will just about melt your heart with those huge blue eyes.  What an absolute doll.  Don't you agree?

Then, on Saturday, we went bowling with Russell and the boys for their birthdays...  belated for Dalton, and the day after Noah's.  Hard to believe that they are 7 and 5 respectively!!  You can take a peak at some pictures here...  or click photo ops, then find the Bowling Party category.

Frankly, I sucked at bowling.  Came in dead last, but Russell did Cheat!  Lori played a few rounds for Russell, cause she made some crazy excuse as to the baby being hungry...  yah yah.... 

But, it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.  Even though I lost hideously.

Today, it's time for church, vegging out, and more packing...  at least unpacking will be fun, won't it???

Whew.  Are we there?  Are we back in the realm of the healthy living?  It has been two weeks since we've all been healthy.

Here's how it went...  Ephraim got pneumonia, Jason got the flu, Jason got over the flu, Ephraim, while having pneumonia, got the flu, Keyzia got the flu, Ephraim got over the flu, Keyzia got over the flu.  We did about ten tonnes of laundry.  Then, I got the flu.

Nice.  I thought that Momma's weren't allowed to get sick!  Doesn't it say that in the handy dandy momma handbook we all get upon giving birth???  ((please please note the extreme sarcasm here!!))

So, Ja took the day off work to take care of me, on Valentine's Day, because he just might be the sweetest man alive...  although, it was him that brought the flu home in the first place.  But, I digress.  I had not one but two naps.  Two hours each.  That totals four hours of sleep DURING THE DAY.  WITH. NO. INTERRUPTIONS.  I know, it's very hard to believe.  In fact, I'm kind of wondering if I dreamed it.

But, by the will of God, I think we may all be on the mend.  Ephraim just has a couple of days of meds left, Keyzia's totally better, Ja's totally better, I'm still tired, but feeling better all the time.

Now, back to packing.

ick.

me:  Keyzia, can you put this diaper in the garbage for me?

Keyzia:  It would be my pleasure, momma.

My poor baby has been sick since Saturday.  I took him into the doctors today and he either has pneumonia or bronchitis.  Gee, no wonder he's been absolutely miserable for the last few days!

We got sent down for an x-ray, just so that if they have to, they can monitor what's going on a bit.  But, oh my goodness, that x-ray machine is nasty for little ones!!  Not only is Ephraim sick, but he has to get strapped into this hideous medieval machine and his MOMMA HAS TO LEAVE THE ROOM.   Yup.  Had to stand behind a piece of glass while my baby was strapped, sitting up, in this bicycle seat contraption and his arms pinned above his head.

I tell ya, it totally broke my heart.  Especially since he was wailing, "MoMmA!!" over and over again. 

Funny thing though, my little houdini managed to get his arms out...  heh heh heh.... 

That's my boy.

I moseyed into Music World yesterday to try and get a kids cd with a gift certificate we had.

Our children, especially our beautiful intelligent daughter, watches way too much tv.  I keep telling her that in the new house, we aren't going to have a tv at all!  But, I digress...  She does enjoy music, and we have a couple of kids cds, but only a couple that I can stand to listen to.

Little People Music?  Yes, you would think it would be good.  I mean, the Little People toys are great, right?  Wrong.  Well, right the toys are great, wrong about the music.  This music will actually drive sensible human beings to find an axe and chop either the thing that the horrible sound is coming out of into little bits, or to chop the person who thought you should listen to it to little bits.  Actually, listen is even a bad term.  I don't think that what happens to your ears when this stuff is coming out of the speakers can even be called listening!

Sharon Lois and Bram aren't too bad.  The first ten times.  On the eleventh time?  You just wish that that skinnamarink would just go and &%$# itself.  But still, not too bad, and about a million times better than the evil Little People.  (I bet there are nasty messages imbedded in those Little People cd's...  there must be for the feelings of rage that they bring about in me....)

BUT, BUT!!  I have found the best kids music I have heard in a very long time.  It's not annoying, it's not obnoxious, it's silly enough that the kids love it, and the music is big band kind of jazzy.  Do you want to know what it is?  You do?  Well...  it's...  JOHN LITHGOW!!! (Okay, you have to click on the link, then you'll be able to hear samples!!!)  Yes, that loveable alien has put out not only children's books but a CD as well.  And I LOVE it.  The Cd we got is called "Singin' in the Bathtub", and it's jazzy upbeat music keeps us dancing and singing the whole time.

Now, I did hear some of John Lithgow before, but not all of it.  And the quality of the downloaded songs I did have once upon a time wasn't great.

I'm loving "You Gotta have skin" Skin's the thing that if you got it outside, It helps keep your insides in.  Fabulous.  Crazy songs like "From the Indes to the Andes in his Undies" He didn't eat a thing but Chocolate Sundays, 'Twas a very, very daring thing to do! And the lesson like song "Big Kids".  Great stuff, I tell ya.

I think he has two cd's out right now, and I am dying to get the other one now.

It's going to take a while to get sick of this one!

Keyzia is really into telling stories lately.  It's hilarious because her stories don't really have an ending...  or a beginning for that matter.  But hey, at least it keeps her awake in the van when we're on the way home from Zellers!

Keyzia's Story (just one variation)

Keyzia:  There once was a little girl named momma.  And she was out walking and there was a dragon!  The dragon ate momma up.  Then came a little girl named Keyzia and Keyzia told momma not to smack the dragon and the little girl named momma had to have a time out.  It's not nice to smack dragons.  Then a little boy named daddy had a timeout too.

Keyzia:  Then what happened?

me:  I don't know.  Then what happened?

Keyzia:  Well, the little boy named daddy was bad, so the dragon ate him.  And he couldn't get out of the dragon's tummy anymore so he had to stay there.  AND THEN a little boy named Ephraim came, and the dragon ate him too!  Then the little girl named Keyzia told everybody to say sorry.  The End.

Keyzia:  Did you like my story, Momma?

me:  I did!  It was a great story!

Keyzia:  Want me to tell you another story, Momma?

me:  sure!

Keyzia:  There once was a little girl named Momma, and then there was a dragon...

Keyzia:  Oh Eefie...  you're such a boy!

Ephraim:  Yah!!

(So, this post seems to have no flow or continuity whatsoever...  read it if you want to, but remember, I had very little sleep last night!)

With the fever, and then the drugs, and then the fever, in a seemingly neverending cycle.

Yesterday, Ephraim woke up with a fever of about 102.  Even his little hands were hot to the touch.  Poor little guy.  He was so hot, and yet he just wanted to snuggle in with Ja and I when we put him in our bed.

We doped him up with the tempera, 102 is a little bit high for comfort, and then a few hours later, doped him up with motrin.  But, every time the medication wears off, the fever seems to come back.  And not just a low grade make him whiney fever, but one of those scary high ones.

Even though he had a rough night, he's in pretty good spirits today.  Only had one dose of Tempera when he was really miserable this morning, and right now he's busy destroying the place, so he seems almost back to normal.

Poor Keyzia, though.  She gets so neglected when Ephraim is sick.  Although, I suppose it's the same in the reverse as well...  I kept Ephraim home from church today, but Keyzia went early with her dad to have a treat at Tim Horton's before heading on to Sunday school.  That gives her some one on one time with her daddy, something she doesn't seem to get too terribly often.

I can just imagine them, in Timmy's, he with his big hands around a large double double, and her with her little hands around a carton of chocolate milk.  Probably talking the entire time!  Man, that kid can talk!  (no comments from the peanut gallery, if you please!)

We left them with the James' boys on Thursday night so that we could go to our care group.  They had sweetly offered to sit for us, and, they did a WONDERFUL job.  Keyzia is still talking about her "new friends" and all the stuff they did together.  We were a little worried that the kidlets would play shy, but, as a true tribute to how wonderful these boys are, all we got was a flippant wave and a "bye!"  I mean, who needs parents around when you have two teenage boys to build train tracks with you!!

But, I guess this is some kind of rambling post...  we're packing... sort of...  Maybe I should do a box count or something?  Everything seems to be set for moving day.  Suckers Volunteers, food (thanks, Bev!), appliances...  We go to sign the lease at 9 AM on the 25th, and the place is ours!  It's so hard waiting though.  I feel like we're in such a holding pattern.  Can't start anything new, and trying to tidy up some old stuff.

But, only three weeks to go!  And new house here we come!