Catching Up - Again

      It's been about a year and a half since I touched this poor neglected blog. It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about. I just haven't been able to find time. Between the boys, working, baking and curling (yep, I'm Canadian AND cool like that), I can't seem to find time to sit down and type out the genius things that come to me at 2:30am when I'm fighting pregnancy insomnia or in the 10 minutes I get to try to shower and shave my entire body without company. I can manage to take all my turns on Words With Friends and to creep my friendemies on Facebook but not organize my thoughts into a blog post -anyone that has read the blog before can attest to my fabulous organization of thought *insert sarcasm here* (the title isn't RANDOM Blogness because it resembles any sort of organization). Placenta brain does not help the situation either. Things fall out of my head almost as fast as they pop into it these days. I guess I should do a little catch up.

      Since my last post (October 2011) not a ton has happened in the Bear Family. I quit selling purses and went back to work part time at one of North America's best known department stores. Of course there is a policy that prevents me from mentioning the name of that particular store but I will tell you it starts with a W and if you have ever shopped in your pajamas I can guarantee you've been there. I man the jewellery counter and spend my time there changing watch batteries, watch bands and cashing out groceries. It isn't really a job that challenges me but it puts some spendy money in my pocket and they are much better to their employees than the people I have worked for in the past.

      My boys are growing bigger and brighter everyday. Little Bear is now 10 -going on 30. He is turning into a little man complete with stinky armpits and pre-teenage attitude. I can really see him taking after me more and more all the time (except for the stinky armpits). He's quick as a whip and feels the need to have the last word in every argument. This seems to be the main road block when the two of us bump heads. Most of our arguments end in, "well I'm your Mother and I say that's how it's going to be" and him mumbling under his breathe hoping I don't hear him as he walks away. Fuzzy is 6.5 and finally starting to show off the intelligence I always knew he had but that he likes to keep a secret. He is quite a smarty pants but a little on the lazy side. While his teacher and I both knew what he is capable of doing he seems to have been just fine with just squeaking by. I can see this slowly changing and him wowing those that didn't have a clue. The Wee One is my stinker and never seems to be able to pass up an opportunity to find trouble. He has also become quite the comedian and regularly comes out with comments that I can't help but laugh at like "Mom, you're not just pretty. You're pretty useful too" or his insistence that we name his baby brother that is coming in June, Sensei. Which brings me to baby #4 who already seems to think he is funny by developing a penis and therefore making me the only female in a house with 5 males. I am destined to forever sit in pee on the toilet seat and be a defender against stink and stains all on my own. Of course there are a few perks of being the only queen in the castle. If there is something pink in the bottom of the clean laundry basket, there is a good chance it belongs to me which will save time when hunting for something to wear and after a while when the boys are all a bit bigger I will have the smallest under pants in the whole household.

      Incase you were wondering, no, we are not going to keep trying for a girl. Papa Bear and I are going to be done at 4 baby bears. Papa Bear will be getting the snip to prove it (haha). Sadly that pretty much wraps up what I think is blogworthy for the last year and a half. Again I will promise to try to find more time to blog but I'm a realist and know that I shouldn't make promises I can't keep, especially since I'm bound to forget by dinner.

Bear Family Staycation

Papa Bear and I had originally planned to take a real away from home vacation. Unfortunately trying to get a straight answer from Papa Bear on what dates to take as vacation (or really any question) is like trying to grow a palm tree in a snow bank. By the time I got a definite date decided on we were too late to book a cottage at the place we had hoped...or anywhere close for that matter so we decided to stay home and just do day trips with the boys.

Today was day 1 of the "staycation". We didn't really have any plans for today because it was supposed to storm all day...we had a few very brief showers... The definition of vacation is; a period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation. Today was no freaking vacation!

I started my "vacation" out by having a metal 1:16 scale John Deere combine dropped on my face...while I was still asleep...Thank you Wee One and good morning. No problem. The swelling in my lip didn't last more than a couple hours and really wasn't much more painful than when I slipped stepping over a baby gate yesterday and ended up straddling the gate and scraping my arm to crap. I'm pretty sure I broke my lady part but I'll live.

It was then that the fighting started...and so did the migraine. I don't even know where the 3 of them even find that much to fight about. At one point Little Bear yelled from his room "I hate Fuzzy!"
to which Fuzzy replied "No you don't, you love me Little Bear, you do".
Did I mention it was 104 degrees out with humidity today so nobody would play outside for more than a few minutes at a time?

The entire day was used up with cleaning up messes, organizing useless time outs, breaking up fights and preparing meals that nobody was really going to eat much of. Where was Papa Bear while I dealt with my "vacation"? The answer, hiding out in our house addition that is a work in progress coming in only long enough to grab lunch and dinner and then escaping as soon as the fighting resumed from the short break they took to pick at their food.

I don't remember any pleasure or rest or relaxation in my day. There was no pleasure in having an end table drawer fall on your head causing a goose egg (and possible concussion) while you try to repair the damage done to it by 2 little boys. I know. There was no rest in having to vacuum the family room/office/playroom because Fuzzy thought he would open a package of microwave popcorn there. There is no relaxation in listening to Wee One scream because he thinks all the toys are his and Fuzzy feels the need to remind him that they are not.

I have no idea what would possess me to take an entire week off from my job and deny myself 4 hours a night away (no, I am not a hooker). I can assure you this though, there is no way on earth I will be doing it next summer if there aren't any going away plans. We are only 1 day in but so far "staycation" SUCKS!

The Bear Family in 2009

Another year gone by. We say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. Last night while waiting for that all important strike of midnight I started to think about the year gone by (which went by incredibly quickly). I thought about all the changes that have happened and all the things the Bear Family has done in a year or 12 months or 52 weeks or 365 days. A lot of stuff to think about.

Little Bear turned 6 in 2009. He started grade one and went to school all day everyday which was a big adjustment. He learned to read. He went on his first roller coaster. He dressed as a big banana for Halloween. He learned how to do simple things like pour milk like a pro and butter toast. He learned to skate and bowled for the first time.

Fuzzy turned 3 in 2009. He started to go to daycare more often and made new friends there. He started to talk far more than he did before. He learned how to dress himself pretty well and learned to sing songs and recite his ABC's. He went on his first real family vacation. He gave up his soother (finally). He learned to feed himself without wearing most of his dinner. He dressed as a beaver for Halloween. He learned to be a big brother. He learned how to jump and how to turn on the TV with the remote (not big feats for you or I but huge for Fuzzy).

Wee One turned 1 in 2009. He had lots of firsts this past year. First tooth, first words, first steps, gave his first kisses. He learned to escape his crib and therefore also learned to sleep in a "big boy" bed. He learned to feed himself. He learned that he owns Grandma and Grandpa. He dressed as a spider for Halloween. He went swimming for the first time and saw Santa for the first time. He also unfortunately had his first ambulance ride and first stitches in 2009 as well.

Papa Bear turned 30 in 2009. He bought a new truck. He bowled his first 300 game (357 to be exact). He went on his first family vacation as a Papa and not one of the kids. He dressed up for Halloween for the first time since being a kid (at my insistence). He learned how to take the ribbing he gets in a lot of my blogs with a smile. He survived another year with my insanity! I think he learned to let go a little and be a little silly sometimes (seriousness causes wrinkles).

I turned 28 in 2009 (and feel 30 breathing down my neck everyday). I took all 3 of my kids on a true family vacation (and it was great). I went back to work outside of a management role for the first time in several years. I enjoyed plenty of awesome craziness with the Crazy Mama Society. I participated in the MS Walk with the Crazy Mamas and raised $1000 for the cause. I learned better ways to deal with some things that were an issue before and I started to blog.

In 2009 we welcomed another member to our family, Gunner our Golden Retriever. He's a moron but we love him just the same.

I watched my boys grow this year in ways that leave me in awe. We may not have accomplished huge things this year but we did do a lot for a family of Bears.

Pretty as a Picture

Like most proud Mamas I enjoy dressing my 4 men up in their fancy digs for Christmas pictures. This year I decided just to skip it. Not because I wanted to by any means but because my family looks like they have survived a car accident after a plane crash.

It's not unusual for one of my kids to bang their head or something the day before pictures but usually a little touch up of the photos or a Santa hat are easy fixes. This year there is no easy fix.

Until yesterday when I finally just took Little Bear to Walmart for a haircut he was walking around looking like Benji the Shaggy Dog. Our hairdresser broke her arm before his last regular haircut but tried her best. -Her best is not HIS best look. No big deal, had I followed through on family pictures I would have taken him for his expensive discount haircut sooner.

When I picked Fuzzy up from daycare the week before last he was sporting carpet burn from the end of his nose, between his eyes, to his hairline. (Due to the fact that I have never had a problem with my daycare and they have always been really great I did not feel the need to have a melt down about them not providing the safest care for my child. Things happen, this happened. He will live). The carpet burn went from a bright red group of patches to a lovely dark scar between his eyes. Just as the carpet burn marks were beginning to fade another facial blemish took it's place. Little Bear tells the story like this: "I was reading a book (one of Wee Ones board books) and I got so excited that I 'accidentally' threw the book and it hit Fuzzy in the eye". Now Fuzzy has a black eye...


I have never had a cold sore in my whole entire life, ever. Last week my face was completely taken over by one. Not only did I get an ugly little sore but I looked like I lost a heavy weight bout and sported a fat lip that extended up into my right cheek. Gross and not very picturesque. My eyebrows are also in serious need of a waxing.

The scariest of all these issues is the reason Wee One will not be getting his Christmas pictures taken this year. I got a call on Sunday at work from Papa Bear saying only that I needed to meet him at the hospital, that Wee One had hit his head and he had called an ambulance. -Not really enough information to stop a Mama from losing it. Not knowing what the situation was or if Wee One was even conscious I headed to the hospital to wait for the ambulance...which took forever and provided me with lots of time to imagine the worst. When my little peanut was finally unloaded from an ambulance laying strapped to a backboard and wearing a neck brace it was easy to see why we were there. Between Wee One's eyes was a gaping hole. He had been running around and fell and hit his face on one of the only two stairs in our house. The amount of blood that resulted was what prompted Papa Bear to call the ambulance. Only three stitches and some glue to repair the wound but still not something I want to repeat. Though with three crazy boys I'm sure this was not our last experience with stitches.

Over all our family portrait was likely to look more like the cast from The Night of the Living Dead. I think I will wait until we are all looking as pretty as a picture and then just stick some Santa hats on everyone and no one will be the wiser.

What do YOU want for dinner?

Almost every night is the same. "Hunny, what do you want for dinner?"
"I dunno, what do YOU want for dinner?" And then the game begins. Pork chops?-don't like them. BBQ ed/baked/stuffed/stir fried Chicken?-no chicken. Pizza?-not again. Lasagna?-too heavy. Salad?-too light. Steak?-to expensive. Tacos?-rather not. Spaghetti?-not the way either of us makes it. Fish?-ewww.....What do you want from McDonald's?

This goes on at our house just about every night. I've tried lots of things to get us out of this pattern. Organized shopping lists, New recipes, Meal plans, you name it. Meal plans would work if one of us could remember to take chicken/pork chops/steak/hamburger out of the freezer the night before or in the morning so it would be thawed and ready to go for dinner but that very rarely happens.

If certain people would expand there pallet to include a little more interesting dishes this would be helpful too. Who wants to eat the same crap all the time? Variety is the key to getting most kids to eat something. My guys anyways. Of course what they like this week is totally different than what they are going to like next week.

Another thing that works against us is time. Both me and the Mr. work and don't get home until 4:30-5:00 when dinner needs to be started. Both of us are exhausted and the kids are running around like maniacs or need a diaper change/drink/help/etc. Neither of us are really excited to cook either. I cook only out of necessity. I can cook I just don't like to. I think those people that say they love to cook (along with people that say they like to garden) are either liars or nutcases.

I want to feed my family nutritious, well balanced meals but it Harvey's doesn't have that on their menu. I always said that I would eat out less when I had kids (with plans to make those proper meals) but it seems we eat out more than before the kids. So now I feel the guilt of filling my children up on processed, high fat, high sodium, high sugar, high calorie foods.

There is lots more I could write about this topic but it is getting hard for me to type and take bites of my Big Mac so I'll call it quits for now.