6 minute mop

I won't be insulted if you don't watch this whole video. The first two minutes were shot by Jake, and the last 4 minutes and 14 seconds were by me. Personally I find my minutes more interesting. LOL sorry Jake.

Shrek The Third

Last night I took Hayden to his first movie in the theatre. We saw Shrek the Third. We've been priming him to enjoy Shrek by downloading the first two movies and showing them to him, and also McDonald Happy Meal toys feature characters from the movie that talk. We have a Shrek doll that says "I'm an ogre!" then a burp noise and a shagrined Shrek saying "I'm on it." Cuz in this one, Shrek becomes a father. Hayden likes to say them all in a row. Sometimes Jake and I help him out. One of us will say "I'm an Ogre!" then someone else will say "burp" (Hayden's sounds more like a monster noise) and then someone else will say "I'm on it". It's quite the bonding family experience. Thank you Dreamworks and McDonalds! ha.

Anyway for his first movie, he was a VERY good boy. First of all I was surprised at the prices, cuz I thought they were up in the $12 range, but $7.50 for me was a nice price. (We haven't been to a theatre movie in quite a long time.) The popcorn cost almost as much as the ticket tho. But I think it was good we had it, cuz the previews were so long, the popcorn helped Hayden stay seated and not get bored. He didn't get bored until about 2/3 of the movie was done. Then he got up and tried to walk down the stairs. I sat on the aisle seat and he was next to me. There was an empty chair beside his, and then a couple of women with a few kids down the row. I'd chosen seats that were more than halfway up the theatre, because I figured it might be easier for him to take it in if he could see it all at eye level. However, I didn't want him playing on the stairs in the dark. He wanted past me for a few minutes and then was content to stand beside my knee while he watched. Then he got distracted again and played with the seats that sproinged up when he flipped them down. I let him sproing his seat, but tried to stop him from sproinging the seat next to the lady. She was pretty good about it tho. She tried to strike up conversation with him, asking his name and how old he was. Of course he didn't talk to her, cuz he clams up when strangers talk to him. Then she asked him if he wanted to sit in the seat beside her, and he nodded and climbed up. He spent the rest of the movie there, watching the screen calmly. The only other thing that he did before we left was drink the rest of her juice box which she'd placed in the cupholder that he could reach. I hadn't noticed him taking it until I heard the slurping of the empty box. I apologized but she laughed and told me it was okay. I just hope she didn't have cooties.

I enjoyed the movie as well. I found the ogre babies looked just like Sage, which made me smile. Except for the green skin of course.

Heeeeeeeeeeere's The Pool!

Well I know you've all been waiting patiently for pictures of our pool, and here they are! We bought filters and a starter kit with chlorine and all the necessary acoutrements, including a polar bear floating thermometer, and I shocked it and balanced the ph and did all sorts of stirring and testing and VOILA.

Our Pool

Hayden checking out the temp.

A different angle so you can see how our yard is laid out. Me in the pool. It's not too deep. I'm sitting. It could be somewhat deeper, but we decided to leave it this deep so that Hayden (and Anya) can be comfortable. It's about rib high on him.
Lacey visiting us in the front yard on her leash. She's usually tied up at the side.
Jake grilled some watermelon. It was weird. I didn't like it, but apparently people do this. Jake didn't know that beforehand, but we googled it afterwards, and yep. They do.
Hayden's very watermelony face.
If you imagine this watermelon is a clock, check out the 6 position. Hayden bent down and bit it.
Sage loves watermelon too.
And so do I :o)

Long Weekend Activities

Yesterday was a great day. It started off being so cold we had to turn the furnace on, but by noon it had warmed up. The pool had been dropped off the day before and was sitting on the lawn in 2 boxes, waiting to be set up. Hayden and I woke up around 8:30am because Lacey was whining and sounded really frantic in the living room. It wasn't a workman cuz she barks at them. I thought it might've either been Chris (whom she loves and would've been very excited to see) or maybe she needed to go out really bad, OR I thought it was possible she might've hurt herself and was struggling to stand up. None of these hypothoses were correct. When Hayden and I went into the living room, Lacey was standing on the coffee table whining at the bunny on our lawn! A cute little bunny was eating the clovers of our freshly mowed lawn. I'd mowed yesterday with Chris's mower. McDowell is technically responsible for lawn care, but last summer they mowed our lawn only once. The lawn to the side of our house is the back yard of the front house, and it's perfectly manicured. It even has underground sprinklers that water at 3am. They mow that one all the time. Ours is quite sad compared to next door. But hey. We don't care. Last summer we hung out on the good grass, but it's not private at all, and I always felt like an interloper. This year we're making our front lawn our own. We love it out there! Anyway I shot some video of the bunny and took some pictures. It stayed there for a really long time! More than an hour, nibbling away and wiggling it's little bunny tail. It was so cute! I let the kitty out because after an hour of watching it nibble clovers, I was bored. heh heh I'm so bad. Anyway the door opening didn't scare the bunny, but when Kitty walked slowly over, Bunny bounced away. Incidentally, Kitty was the same size as the bunny. It went through my head that with a bunny around, my veggies might be in danger. We'll just have to see what happens.

After we all ate a late breakfast, Sage was ready for his morning nap. After he was down the rest of us went outside to see about setting up the pool. I raked the lawn for sticks and rocks, and then Jake unfolded the tarp that goes underneith. It was muddy from it's last location, so we hosed it off as best we could. We have discovered that Hayden knows how to squirt the hose. Also he thinks it is funny to squirt the hose at people and dogs. We tried not to let him do that. HA! Understatement of the day. We spread out the tarp, spread out the pool, turned the pool so the filter hoses wouldn't be in the way, and started fillin' 'er up! I guess we started filling at about 1pm or so. We put some hot water in too, cuz it was frigid! At 7pm I shut the water off, and the pool was at 62 degrees. I think it might hold more, but we didn't want to run the water over night, and the mosquitos were starting to come out, so we wanted to limit the door opening for the evening. But back to the afternoon. It was such a nice day, sunny and bright, and we set up the umbrella and put down a blanket so Sage could roll around in the shade. I cooked some burgers and we had a wonderful time picnicing beside our filling pool. We'd gotten a couple more folding chairs from WalMart last week, so we can give our guests a place to sit. It's gonna be a great summer! Hayden wouldn't keep his hat on, and I thought of putting on sunscreen but I was too late to prevent a bit of a sunburn. The pink cheeks didn't show up till the evening, and I slathered aloe vera gel on him. Luckily he doesn't mind cream (sunscreen, the aloe gel) on his face.

Escape

The funniest thing happened tonight after the kids were both in bed. I was going outside to call Kitty back in from her day of romping and pouncing on things. It was about 10:30pm, and as I opened the front door, I paused on my way out because I was struck by the beauty of the cresent moon and Venus, low in the sky. The 2 seconds I took to appreciate the beauty was enough for Lacey to decide to bound out the door past me. The unfortunate thing was that Jake had just a few minutes prior taken off her new much thicker and stronger chain collar. We both went outside, Jake armed with alluring hotdogs. I was expecting the dark dog in the dark compound to elude us for quite a while. Also I expected that she would hunt down Kitty and chase chase chase her away. Lacey ran around, and we caught glimpses of her as she bounded around stretching her legs. Then I saw Kitty. Kitty was chasing Lacey! Lacey ran left, then a few seconds later, tiny little white legged Kitty ran left. Lacey ran towards the bulldozers, tiny little Kitty ran towards the bulldozers. Lacey ran towards Jake and the hotdogs, Kitty ran towards Jake and the hotdogs. When she got close enough, I could see that Kitty's tail was all fluffed up like she was trying to be scary. It was so cute! Jake ended up catching Lacey by her thick neck scruff a minute before I was able to coax Kitty over to me. We both went inside with our pets, laughing and trying to be mad at Lacey for the trouble, but I think it was pretty fun for all of us. Plus I got to enjoy the night sky. At 10:30pm, the horizon was not quite dark, a beautiful shade of blue, and the stars were brilliant - completely unobscured by clouds. Gorgeous.

I thought the moon had set and it was too late for a picture when I posted this entry, but after I was done I noticed the moon was still up and a beautiful shade of gold. So here it is.

Arching Vid

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Impatient Gardener.

Impatient Gardener wh--

MOO!

Ok that punchline was for a different joke.. but the point is I was an impatient gardener today and planted my peas! I also left my spinach and one remaining tomato plant outside, even tho I didn't plant them yet. On a side note, Hayden escaped out the hole in the fence while I was bent over putting the peas in the ground, and a nice workman brought him back home. Can't wait till that fence is completed!

The Last Tomato (Kitty ate all the other ones)

Scraggly Spinach. I don't expect to have a lot of success with these limpy wimpy plants.

The PEAS! next to their little trellis.. ready and already wrapping their little tendrils around whatever they can reach. I hung twine and tied the ends to this trellis so they can go up and hup and hup.
The Incomplete Fence
Our rather full yard. Soon to have a pool centred where that garden claw is stuck in the ground.
This was taken after-hours, but that's the view the fence is hiding, and where the worker was who brought Hayden home.
Mini Bulldozers. Big ones are parked elsewheres.

Our yard from the hole in the fence's perspective.
My favorite summery thing: a huge beach umbrella I won last summer from work.
Our yard from just in front of the front door.
A smiley guy who lives with me.
Incidentally Hayden knows a joke. It goes like this:

Hayden: Knock Knock

me: Who's there?
Hayden: who's there?

me: Hayden

Hayden: ....

me: Hayden who?

Hayden: Hayden who?

me: Hayden Huxley Huss! That's who!

Hayden: Haydee uuhhhs! thassooo!

both: YAYYY!

We do that routine about 25 times a day.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! A Very Happy Nine-Month Birthday to our dear little Sagey-kins! He's now been alive just as long outside as he was inside. He can eat whole cheerios without gagging, drinks from a sippy cup, he has 7 teeth with the 8th on the way, and he can pull himself into a standing position if he holds our hands. He still doesn't crawl yet, but he's doing that rocking thing while on hands and knees, and he also does this crazy arching thing where he goes up on his hands and TOES! Like a push-up. I'll try and get him doing it on camera tomorrow. Happy Nine Months Old Sage! We love you.

Crawling Update and other stuff

Sage is getting closer and closer! I shot this video this morning, and by the evening he was spending even more time on all fours.



And I meant to post a Happy Mother's Day message on Sunday, but Sunday was so busy with Carol and fam here, and I had to work, and we visited my mom, I ran out of time. So a very happy belated Mother's Day wish for all the mothers out there, and for everyone who's ever had a mother. The following is a submission I wrote for a contest. The assignment was to write about a woman who inspired you. I gave this to my mom as part of her present. The other part was a photo album filled with pictures of the family that Carol and I compiled.

My Mother
By Jennifer Huss

My mother’s name is Kathleen Racicot. Shortly after her 65th birthday this spring, her health took a nose dive. The doctors told us she was dying and she could go any time. She had a living will stating she did not want any artificial life support, which meant if there was any kind of arrest, she would not receive any help, and that would be It. When I visited her, she did not look like the woman I knew as “Mommy”. Her face and body were swollen from the fluid retention that was caused by her failing kidneys. Her mind wasn’t completely there because her respiratory system was failing. She wasn’t getting enough oxygen to fuel her brain, which caused severe confusion, disorientation, loops in her thought processes, and she could not finish many of her sentences. Her liver was failing from damage by all the drugs she’d been on for years. That was a Tuesday; a day I will never forget as being the worst day of my life. The day I was face-to-face with the stark realization that My Mother Would Die.

I am 32 years old. I have an older sister who will be 34 in June. My dad is 65, and my parents will have been married for 40 years come this October. My mother is the kind of woman who is always cheerful. When I call her, she sparkles right up, and she’s always happy to hear from me. Growing up, she told us kids the most wonderful stories, and it wasn’t just at bedtime. She sang us songs and I learned to love music because of her. Songs she sang to me as a child, I now sing to my little boys. Recipes she taught me are now dishes I prepare for my own family. I learned how to nurture and care for my loved ones from the prime example that she provided.

My mother taught me how to be fair by ensuring that my sister and I shared things equally. My mother taught me how to treat others with respect and compassion. My mother taught me right from wrong and good from bad. It is wrong to cut your sister’s hair while she’s sleeping. It is good to apologize if you do something wrong. My mother taught me that loving family and friends is very important.

I took my mother for granted up until that Tuesday. I hadn’t been one to say “I love you” at the end of every phone call. She knew I loved her and that was good enough, I thought. I’d never said “thank you” to her for my wonderful childhood, or “sorry” to her for the rough years as a teen. That Tuesday I realized I might never be able to tell her those things. I realized that if you love someone, you need to tell them! It ISN’T enough to let love go unspoken. I thought it was too late. I thought I would lose my mother and never be able to tell her what she meant to me. The words “too soon, TOO SOON” echoed in my head every waking moment. I cried, I pleaded with any god who would listen, and I cried some more for my beautiful Mommy.

And then, a few days later, a miracle happened. A medication for her lungs helped her breathing and the increased oxygen meant she regained her mental faculties. She realized she wanted to revoke her previous decision to refuse life support. When I saw her that day, she feebly raised her fist above her head and said “I choose to live!” The enormous relief I felt after she took off the ‘do not resuscitate’ order was literally a huge weight off my chest. Of course I knew that expression, but I had never felt how accurate it really is. The most prevalent danger had been her respiratory system being so bad. She could have stopped breathing at any moment and they would have done nothing to help her. That was so scary. But the good news is that she’s slowly recovering, and even though she is still in the hospital and very weak, she’s gradually getting stronger.

I am so thankful for this second chance to tell my mother what she means to me. I no longer take her for granted. I tell her I love her every time I see her, and every time we talk. I know how special she is, and for me, every day is Mother’s Day.

Jake here for my debut post. OK so I have to name Lacey as Sudbury's Strongest Dog. I had put her out on her lead line this afternoon and while the Szabicots were here (after Jennifer went to work) BJ looks outside and said "is that another dog" so I jump up and look and it was Lace free from her line. So I go and get the usual two hot dogs to lure her back to me. When I got her back I see she doesnt have her chain on, so I asked BJ if he would see if it was attached to her lead line and it wasn't. After getting Lace inside I found her collar near her line broken. See Kitty had been outside at the time and I guess she was just trying to be with and play with kitty that the muscle head just pulled so much that she snapped the link. Thats my Lace just muscles wrapped in fur, ya gotta love her.

Obsessive Compulsive?

Today Hayden was such a good boy. He shared his cheerios with Sage without being asked, he let mommy and Sage nap for almost an hour before noon while only kicking all the cushions off the couch and dumping his toybox out - a manageable mess, and he went down for his nap quietly and calmly.

However, he also did something very odd late this afternoon. I've never seen him do anything like this ever before, which is why it was so surprising. Anya has arranged magnetic letters on the fridge into very straight rows, and I've seen her line up packages of baby wipes, but Hayden's never displayed a need for such orderliness.

Jake came home from work today at about 6pm. He took Sage into the bedroom to change his bum and to put him down for a nap. He said "what's with all these diapers?" From the living room I said "what?" He said "What were you doing with these diapers, Jennifer?" and I said "I wasn't doing ANYTHING with diapers, except changing bums.. why?" He said "Come and look at this!" I went into the bedroom and this is what I saw (we got Hayden to pose with them after I laughed my head off and grabbed the camera):






On another note, I baked cookies today. They've got walnuts and chocolate chips. I cut back on the sugar, but they're still very sweet, I should've cut back even more. I ate two before I piled them up like this and took a picture, which I thought was quite the coincidence since it made the perfect amount of cookies for a very orderly pile. (Maybe I'm a little obsessive compulsive too, eh?)

Sage's First Movie!

Vanessa and Shane, you guys have been a video movie-making inspirational couple. I (all on my own) finally figured out how to string together all my one minute video clips, and I EVEN (to the probable annoyance of everyone especially certain graphic designers) put on some fashionable titles and effects! Voila! Sage's Movie Debut!



Incidentally, I was impressed with Rachel's video (www.livinginyellowknife.blogspot.com) and how she doesn't put her hands in her mouth or try to grab the spoon while you're feeding her. She's such a civilized baby.

Kaylyn Rose Nichole

Sorry Rhiannon, I spelled her name wrong before. But here she is! Isn't she cute? So beautiful.

Congratulations Pollinos!

Our newest neice, Kaylin Rose Nicole Pollino was born yesterday at 12:04pm to Jake's sister Rhiannon and her husband, Dave. Kaylin's big brothers are Gage (8) and Kolton (will be 4 next Monday). Kolton was puzzled when he saw her at a diaper change "is she a GIRL?" even tho they knew the sex beforehand and probably told him he would be having a sister.

Kaylin was 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20" long. She's Linda and Scott's 11th grandchild. Congratulations again!

Boo Boo

Hayden got a boo boo on his finger today. He came up to me from playing in his room and shoved his finger in my face. He didn't say anything, and he wasn't crying, but when I took his hand down so I could focus, there was a little blood drop on the top of his cuticle, which he was showing me. I took him to the washroom and washed it off, dried it, assessed the cut (ripped hangnail most likely) and put a Spongebob Squarepants bandaid on his finger. He was facinated! This was pretty much his first bandaid, besides ones for needles as a little baby. He kept staring at it and then rubbing it on his face. It was so cute, I had to photograph it.

Husses Outside

Here are some leftover pictures from the other day, of the boys sitting on Jake. I had to post all three pictures because there wasn't one with all three of them making a good face. sigh, those boys of mine!



Yesterday was so gorgous out, we spent the entire afternoon outside in the front yard. We put a sheet down so Sage could roll around on the ground, and we eventually put up the playpen and supported the beach umbrella with it (the one I won from work last summer). The shade was nice, and we sat Sage in the exersaucer in it. I cooked cheeseburgers and we ate picnic style - without plates. I also made koolaid for the first time ever. I used 1/2 the sugar. Blue. It was good! I think I'll get some of those plastic freezie popsicle maker thingies from the dollar store and make some frozen treats... *domestic wheels of brain spinning madly*

Hayden, cool in his new shades.

He's saying "Don't pull the rope!" a line from Doodlebops. (Moe always pulls the rope, and everyone says "Don't pull the rope!" ) There's the fencing material on the left. We're going to be building it tomorrow afternoon! Chris is coming to help and advise.

Nice pillow, Jake. Smiley Happy Baby! Almost crawling! Check out his hips...


"I want to eat that"
Hayden's playing catch with the kitty. We let her out for the first time (on purpose) yesterday. She had a great time pouncing and running and chasing bugs. You can hardly see her in the picture, but she's lying low by Hayden's left foot.

He's trying to call her back. He's saying "Keedeee!"
..but she'd rather hide amongst the foliage..
Sage discovers grass. He ate some.

And the videos!