Snow in Louisiania and updates

Yeah! My blogger finally published some pictures!! I have been having trouble with it, which is why you have not seen many lately! I know most of you probably saw these on my facebook, but here are some of the boys on Thursday when it snowed here. We are gearing up for a busy week next week. Our movers will be here on Wednesday morning to pack us. Wednesday is also Ben's preschool Christmas program in the morning...so it will be a little crazy. The movers will plan to pack Wednesday and load on Thursday morning. Depending on when they get finished will determine if we drive to Paducah on Thursday afternoon/evening, or Friday morning. We are still running around getting shot records for dogs and kids and things fixed on our cars, and driving records and all kinds of crazy stuff that you would never think you would need for a move. Cancelling our currents services at our house, etc. We found out less than a day after my last post, that for some reason, we had assumed that our cars were going to be shipped to Calgary, but Shell does not pay for that. We have decided to drive our mini-van and leave/sell our car here in the states. So we are also planning for the 4 to 5 day drive from my parents...with a few stops along the way! Along with that goes some issues on where we can actually cross the border and immigration in the easiest possible manner. Apparently it is more of an issue than we thought when you are moving into Canada as an X-Pat. We are planning to move to a Hotel on Tuesday night, so that I can get the towels and sheets washed and ready for when the packers get here. And also so that Collin is not running under all of their feet! So, if you need to get a hold of us you can facebook us, or call our cell phones, or e-mail. Not to mention saying goodbye to our dear friends here. Too much to think about piled into one week! I think by the time we get to may parents we will be pretty fatigued physically and emotionally drained!! Thank goodness for time to relax during Christmas week!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!! I will try to post updates as I can.

CB

The Plan

Well, it has been a while since our last actual post. Reasons being we really did not have any good updates as far as when we would be moving. So very frustrating for us! I have spent the whole last month waiting on pins and needles for any shred of detail that I might get about our move. Everyone has been asking, but still we have not known anything, and Earle has been in Calgary about every other week since the beginning of Nov. So finally, at last, we have a tentative plan!(susceptible to change:)

Earle is headed up to Calgary next week to spend one last week up there working before we all go. Our movers are tentatively scheduled to be at our house the 17th and 18th of December. We decided to go ahead and look at houses rather than condos...and in the process we have decided to go with an unfurnished house that Earle will be finalizing details on hopefully next week. So that means, almost everything goes, just like it would pretty much in a statewide move. But we are keeping our home in Mandeville, and our friend, Noel and her son, will be living there, house sitting and keeping up maintenance on everything. After the movers pack us and take our cars, we will have a rented car(possibly two) that we drive to my parents in Paducah with anything that will go with us on the plane. We will also be driving our dogs and their crates to my parents. We are going to have our dogs shipped by a dog transport company from my parents house. We will spend the week of Christmas with my parents in Paducah, and then, most likely on Tuesday the 30th, we will fly out of St. Louis to Calgary. We will then live in temporary housing for about 2 weeks or so, if everything goes as planned, and then around the 15th of January we will move into the home we are planning to rent.

Sorry to bore you to death...but that is the story as we know it today! We are so happy to have a tentative plan! It may have worked out better anyway. We get to spend the holidays with our families and Ben will get to finish this semester in Pre-K here in Louisiana. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Earle's family in Texas and are looking forward to a big family Christmas with my family! God's timing always has a plan...sometimes being patient is hard!

Confessions of A Busy, Tired Mother's Mind

Well, Earle is due back tomorrow night and I realized after the past few weeks that there are a few repeat conversations I have with myself somewhat frequently when he is gone....Please don't call CPS...I have the best intentions!

1. At night time it goes like this, as I am brushing Collin's teeth..."Wait a minute, did I brush his teeth yesterday, I am not sure, surely I did." At bath time, "Okay, Ben get in the bath...I think Collin is good for another day, I will just wipe him down with wipes."
2. After the boys are asleep, "Okay, I smell something not quite right, oh my goodness, is that my underarms? It can't be me. I know I showered this morning, I am sure that is not me, I could wait until tomorrow morning, Oh wait, I showered last night...(I take a deeper whiff..)
Oh my goodness it IS me...how embarrassing! I guess I have to muster up the energy to shower tonight!
3. Ben asks, "Mom, can I have pizza for dinner?" Not really feeling like cooking I reply,"That sounds like a great idea." As I pull the pizza out of the oven I quicky remember, oh, no, "Ben what did you have last night for dinner?" "Pizza!" says he. Ay-Yai-Yai!!!

3. HMMM... Now when was the last time I changed Collin's diaper???( Some days he gets changed constantly because I ask this all day and other days, I keep telling myself that I just changed it so we have occasional 2 lb. wet diapers. )

4. Ben constantly asks for snacks, if I am busy sometimes it does not sink in to me how many he has had, I give him pretzels, goldfish, cereal bars etc...some days I ask when Ben refuses to eat a real meal, "How many snacks have you had today anyway?" He replies, "A real, whole lot of them mommy."
"How about an apple," I ask.
"No, thanks," he replies.

5. When I wake up in the mornings...after going to sleep with wet hair I think to myself, " I'll just pull this back into a frizzy ponytail today...and put on my stretchy pants...on second thought why change, I think these pants I slept in should do the trick!"

6. The day Earle is coming home I think to myself.. "Okay, I need to pull myself together and I should do something special and straighten my hair do my make-up and put on some jeans with a decent t-shirt...so he won't come back to find a Troll has eaten his wife." That is my plan anyway!:)

Have a good one!!
CB

This week I am thankful for....

1. Starbucks!!!!! The new salted caramel signature Hot choc. with 2 shots!! MMMM....(Time change has been difficult! We are now up at 6:15!)
2. The beautiful weather so that Collin and I can walk and Ben can jog!!!
3. That while Earle is gone I don't really cook much! Crockpots are awesome and we can eat the same thing for days!!!
4. Preschool!!!!!
5. Good friends and family that endure my anxious and non-stop talking moments!
6. Early bedtimes and some relaxing time after:)
7. The good health of my family... at the moment.
8. The Wii and Noggin Games online for Ben to play!
9. For stretchy clothes...I know, it is a terrible faux paux but I am still working my way back into last years pants...summer was ugly on the hips!! The bright side, I have lost 6 of the 12lbs I gained!

10. That when I am about to lose it in the car with two loud screaming boys...I look back and see this and it can't help make me smile and everything a little better!

Collin's Surgery Day!

Today, on Halloween, our sweet little Collin had to have some tubes put in his ears and he also had his adenoids removed. He did great! The tubes were long overdue! Ben had them as well and I had been expecting them for a while. The ENT said that when she removed his adenoids, she found that they were enlarged...so she thinks that he will be feeling MUCH better now that they are gone. They were kind of blocking his sinus passage and making it harder to drain. SO hopefully we will be in better shape...especially for all of the cold weather!

We left the house this morning at 5:30 am. for a 6:30 am. check-in. We were home and Collin was in his own bed by 9:15ish...so not bad at all! I tried to snap a few shots.


Here is Collin oblivious to what is about to take place...just thinking he got to get up early and go somewhere special with mommy and puppy of course! We had just arrived at the surgery center.


Putting on the hospital gown threw him for a loop...he knew something was not right! Bless his little heart!

The room with toys and the big rocking chair was not too bad....he was just chilling.

About 15 minutes after his special "cocktail" syringe from the Anesthesiologist:):) Life is good...

6 Things that have impacted me this week...

1. Spending a week without Earle, realizing this is what it is probably going to be like for awhile!

2. A woman on Oprah named Jill Bolte Taylor she is an author of a book called, "My Stroke of Insight" an amazing story...click here for details

3. I read the Blog of Jordan and Kari Clark, two Christians that we are going to be attending church with when we get to Calgary. Their 14 mo. old passed away about a month a go from what appeared to be a mitochondrial disease. I sat sobbing while watching the slide show and felt so blessed and amazed at their spiritual strength and courage. Click here to read their story.

4. I realized the reason that Collin took so long to walk was most likely because of his inner ear and all of his ear infections. Our ENT told us that he was probably too dizzy to get his balance...and she feels he is still struggling with balance. He is having tubes put in and adenoids taken out next Friday. So, I just felt horrible that this went unnoticed by our pediatricians and that we have had to wait so long to have something done about it. I admire Collin's tough little happy spirit.

5. Ben is coming into his own as a little person. I loved spending time with him one on one this week. Even though he can be super hyper and exhausting, he is really a funny little boy, and so creative. I am proud of the way he is growing up...and especially how much he loves his little brother and wants to take care of him.

6. Earle sent me flowers yesterday before he got back and arranged for me to have a Manicure/Pedicure today!! It made me feel special!! Thank you and I love you Earle!

Have a great weekend!

CB

Race for The Cure

This weekend, was Earle's 35th Birthday! We had a busy but great weekend together as a family. On Saturday, we got up early and had a yard sale to prepare for our move. The weather was beautiful! We were able to get rid of quite a few things that cannot make the move with us. Then Saturday evening we went out for pizza. After that we took Ben to Wal-mart because he was sad on Saturday morning that we were selling his toys:(:( I know, it sounds horrible, but we actually let him help pick what to keep. We let him use his money from the yard sale, and he got a new bike and helmet to take with us...so all was good. Then we came home and had birthday cake and ice cream to celebrate Earle's birthday. On Sunday, we did Race For the Cure. I had done this race before (walking it of course) but this year it had deeper meaning to us. Earle and the boys wanted to come too to support, Brenda Brown (a.k.a Mops) Earle's mom who has battled breast cancer this year. Luckily, we got to race in Celebration of her. She is doing great, chemo treatments are almost over and she has been a real trooper! We admire her positive spirit through this whole ordeal! We love you MOPS!!!

In Celebration of : MY MOM...the sign says on his back:)
My friend Michelle Carlson and her kiddos that went as well!

We let Ben out of his stroller on the last mile and the Race turned into a temporary "Chase", partially because Ben thinks in a race, you run as fast as you can...and I guess you can do that! Luckily his daddy caught him!
I took this picture this afternoon..and yes, we were all this exhausted! Too cute!