just some sentences

loved this weekend.  slept in one day (relatively speaking, of course....up early compared to the real "sleeping in" years between 14-20).  Easter was, again, very blessed....family, extended family, God's saving grace and the gift of Jesus remembered with our awesome church family, a great KidJam class on Sunday, baking, yummy food, egg decorating, family time at the park, one-on-one with my daughter, friends, chocolate, a sweet date with Jeff which included beef tenderloin.....pause for a moment, while i remember.....oh, how i would fail as a vegetarian...anyway, loved it.  i'm sure to wake up bitter at the alarm clock tomorrow, as usual...bad attitude, i know...
praying for my cousin C.  she's facing a serious diagnosis and treatment right now.  i don't know her well, we are a few years apart, yet can imagine the incredible struggle of the day-to-day burden she carries...if you think of her, please pray for her strength and for her family that surround her...
thinking also of Yonas this week.  i do believe he had a birthday and is now 14.  i wonder what the day held for him.  did anyone there remember?  did he even know of the significance of the day when he woke?  i'm certain his birthday didn't include cake and cards and words of affirmation.  not likely a favourite meal or candles or song.  we did sent a note to his social worker but have yet to hear back.  the last update said this, "Yonas' medical status is going well, he is taking his medication consistently. His health status is improving from the past and he looks so hopeful and wonderful.  The social worker and the nurse follow up his health and medication seriously.  Generally his health is very good and he is not considered as AIDS patient."  sounds good at the moment, for sure.  no change in his paperwork.  thanks again to those that participate in his sponsorship.  we will soon send another payment to cover the next six months of his basic sponsorship needs.  life-changing for him~ i'm sure of it....
AJ is full of random thoughts lately (much like this post).  for example, "mama...fire can make you die"....."um...yes it can, buddy".  a touch morbid, but true at the same time...Hudson is having a few better weeks lately.  his teacher reports the same and sees some "maturing", however slight....this is the very best news ever....i feel giddy and slightly optimistic...Joelle is crazy into the highschool athletic options.  she is so into it.  currently doing rugby (which i'm clueless about but must educate myself on soon) and track.  a different practice at every turn, even early mornings now.  wow.  gotta love those four plus years of life full of endless opportunities and so little responsibility...Adam is in the middle of a science project for the upcoming school science fair.  cute to see him with his friend and their similar "problem solving, engineer-type" ways...did you know you could extract actual visible iron filings from certain cereal brands??  yah, me neither...yummy...maybe Lucky Charms are the way to go after all...
i'm considering a pair of Vibram minimalist toe shoes.  can't believe i'm saying this.  i scoffed at the sight of them last year when Jeff carefully opened his own much anticipated shoebox....they aren't pretty, yet i'm hearing so many good things from people that wear them to run.  might be interesting to see how they would change things for my knees and shins....curious, but still undecided...plus, i'm watching for a sale...
Blue Jays baseball is back.  always fond of that and the sign that spring is officially here.  the game is on in the other room as i type.  the sound of the commentary soothes me in some odd way.  reminds me of many Friday nights we spent at Jeff's grandma's house, years ago...he'd come home from university for the weekend, pick me up (we were dating) and we'd drive to his grandma's cozy little house for coffee, Dutch treats and Jays baseball.  she loved it, we loved it....such a special memory... at the time, i remember thinking he must be someone special to care so deeply for his grandma the way he clearly did.  i was right.  she did spoil him like crazy, but it went both ways...
i'm off to catch an inning or two now....have a great week!

results (in which i publicly declare myself champion)

it was a toss up...do i post the final NCAA March Madness standings, or do i let it slide on by with no further mention?  do i tell the throngs of loyal readers the final results or do i leave them hanging, unsatisfied and uninformed with lingering questions nagging their minds?  well, after much contemplation, i decided an incomplete story just really isn't fair or well, um...complete, and all humility aside~ a reader's gotta know....
sooo.....here it is.  pretty crazy spectacular, if i do say...

drum rolllll....

Shana~ 120 :) (offering "bracket consultation services" in 2013.  sign up early to beat the rush)
Hudson~ 101
AJ~ 93
Jeff~ 84 (maybe next year, jeffrey....)
Layla~ 80 (she's so thankful to Kentucky for bumping her up out of last place)
Adam~ 79
Joelle~77
Hannah~ 64 (graciously in eighth)

all eight prizes were purchased from The Dutch Market and were very yummy...you really can't go wrong.  it is the Dutch market, after all...adam declared them to be the "best yet".  we've only done this twice, but hey, it still sounds impressive...they were assembled and drooled over.  all wondered who would pick what.  we did our picks last evening and most were very satisfied.  sweet Layla, however, went to bed feeling quilt that maybe her daddy didn't pick the one he actually wanted.  she feared he really wanted hers but picked another so she could have it instead.  i attempted to reassure her all while realizing i'd given birth to a mini version of me.  oh. my. word.  i used to slip my dad "petty cash" during Monopoly when it appeared he was in financial ruin, or during Dutch Blitz i'd try to subtly and gently help him move a few cards off of his unmoved pile by pointing out places they'd fit in the game, much to his chagrin as i think it stung a bit to have his young daughter recognizing board game shortfalls in a grown man...right Dad??  :)
good times....good outcome...
back to normal and less spectacular soon...

comin' home

my peeps are getting chatty about their grandparents arriving home from Florida really soon.  they really miss them during the winter months and there is always much anticipation about their homecoming.  as usual, sweet Layla translates her thoughts to art.  here's what she came up with this year....in her mind, it's Florida in a nutshell...

drive safe grandma and grandpa.  and brace yourself for the excitement of the littlest ones, in particular.  might want to create some planned chaos for yourself in the coming hours, just to make

"re-entry" a little easier...

as it stands...

i won't say much.  i'll let the NCAA standings speak for themselves.  i'd gloat a little more if i didn't feel slightly bad about beating most of the children....yes, i know my youngest, a four year old (who chose his bracket based on the word that was easiest to say), is still in the lead, ahead of me.  whatever.  he got lucky.  but the extra fun part is that i'm poised to finish ahead of Jeff again~ yep, two years in a row.  i asked him if he'd like my help next year when choosing his bracket.  good of me, i know.  that's how i am...all i got in response was a little grin.  he's considering it i'm sure, as he should...poor Layla is still holding out hope for a Kentucky win that would push her up out of last place...we'll know soon enough...Read on people, read on....

AJ~ 93 points (0 teams left)
Shana~ 80 points (2 teams left)
Jeff~ 74 points (ouch) (1 team left)
Hudson~ 71 points (1 team left)
Adam~ 69 points (1 team left)
Joelle~ 67 points (1 team left)
Hannah~ 64 points (0 teams left)
Layla~ 50 points (1 team left)

march madness

as is our newer family tradition, the eight of us have done our brackets and are full speed into the NCAA men's basketball tournament.  it is so cute to see.  the games are on when we're available to watch, and at any time you can see a few of the kids perched on the couch, or asking...."mom, can i see my sheet?  who did i pick to go on between these two teams?"  Layla even asked for divine intervention last night during bedtime prayer.  she isn't happy about her current last place standing.  i'd never expect God to step in on such matters, yet i couldn't help but think He must find this little girl pretty entertaining and delightful.  Jeff and i will purchase eight prizes to put in a basket, and order of choice depends on final standings.  last year we threw in a "fruit to go" as one of the prizes just to create some drama and panic.  the kids were horrified at the thought of ending up with something so boring when there were things like jelly bellies and multi packs of gum, etc...of course, it was Jeff or myself that chose the lame prize but it added some extra fun...as the kids get older the prize values will increase proportionately.  we were saying this morning~ we can picture our kids scattered across the country one day and every March waiting for their dad to send out an email and collect their picks for the March Madness event.  
on to March Madness of another sort....check out these pics from yesterday.....yes, yesterday...it's certainly a record for earliest pool entry on our premises...

my brave niece and nephew, and four of my kids, including AJ whose legs are visible in the top picture, jumped into the cloudy and frigid water with smiles on their faces....insanity....

and then they did it again...as if one dip in the 46 degree water wasn't quite enough...

good memories...so fun to watch and not partake in....

AJ is attempting to smile between the girls, but that's tough when your teeth are chattering...it was such a shock to his system that he almost looked like he forgot how to swim.  he went in by choice (yes, by choice...i know you are all thinking otherwise knowing Jeff :)) three times, yet each time came out very upset by the temperature.  like he thought maybe it would warm up if he tried again....now this is March Madness, but i sure hope it continues...

my wrestlers

to my dear friend "A", you may want to skip this post and tune in next week.  might make you nauseous...:)
it still seems surprising to be typing the title above. i guess i never would have thought.  i always knew Jeff loved the sport, and knew i loved watching him wrestle back in university.  but then again, i was smitten and probably would have watched him do just about anything, like maybe even paint a fence...i probably still would if he talked while he painted! :)....early into our parenting days we would have been much more likely to predict we'd be spending hours in the arena watching our kids play hockey.  we love hockey and would both still be playing had i not messed up my knee too many times...oddly, there actually hasn't been a huge interest in competitive hockey here, other than on the backyard rink.  but wrestling is another story.  slowly i'm catching on as well.  i'm becoming that wrestling mom.  the cooler cramming, weekend organizing, sideline spectator (with a hand over my mouth and sometimes my eyes) who is gradually learning to identify moves and point systems and strategies.

this weekend Joelle finished off her grade nine season with a bang!  she had qualified for the Ontario Winter Games in Barrie, and Jeff and I were blessed (thanks sooo much Mom and Dad!) to join her there for the two day event.  so much fun~  not simply because we were away for a break together, but also just to watch her in that competition with total freedom to take it all in without the usual distractions of caring for the smaller ones in a very crowded venue...it was bliss!  i learned a lot more that way too.  stuff like the "re-roll", the round-robin bout sheet versus the eight man bracket, etc...all important things if you are the only non-wrestler in the family!  Joelle did so well.  as is her usual way, she took it all in and eeked every last bit of fun out of the experience.  she loved rooming with her team and hanging with some of her out-of-town wrestling friends. she also radiated great character during her two wins and one very close loss.  that always matters most~ winning with humility and losing with grace....she finished with a silver medal and the rewarding feeling of trying her best and gaining experience and memories.

 horrible picture quality, i know....one day we'll invest in a decent camera, but until then, she's in the blue singlet shaking hands with the gold medalist in the red.

i finished the weekend refreshed and happy to see my crew back home, and slightly disappointed to face the task of laundry and cooking again...

report cards

had to laugh when i read this on the smallest one's report card..."AJ can identify the letters A, and J."  :)  way to go, buddy!!