Stresses...

I feel as if I am drowning in the list of chores that has my name on it.  I can't think straight!  It is freezing outside!!!  I slipped on my flip flops to run the kids to school in my pajamas.  There was frost on the ground and on my windshield.   Brrrr...  My toes are still defrosting.

Getting the boys up today was horrible.  Half didn't want to go to school.  Tyler isn't enjoying high school.  He is such an intense child.  It is so frustrating and yet heart breaking.  Life is so hard.  Stress and anxiety just over take him.  He worries so much.  Today he just didn't want to go.  Half the problem is that he doesn't really talk about his worries and stresses.  He doesn't share the woes of being him.  I realize that part of this is being a teenager but the other part is just him.   If I were to guess, I'd say that socially things are frustrating.  There is so much that happens in a day and despite how little it really is, when you are in it, it is huge.

I feel for him.  I know that being in high school is not easy.   For him, I know that he is going to shine.  It just might be after these four years of high school.  I am not sure what is floating in his head.  I wish I could know, so I could help or at least understand.

This child of mine has always been an old soul.  So while Sammy can laugh off the rudeness of his peers... Tyler is usually appalled by it.  He does not know what to do with it.  I am sure he feels as if he is on the outs looking in.  He is finding his friends changing.  He is my child that does not do well with change.

Then there is Josh... "I don't want to go to school."  Today, I think it was more about him being tired.  I was out last night, doing the hockey thing and gym thing with some of the boys.  Josh doesn't  go to sleep with out me well.  So, understandably he was tired.  A little bribery of candy in his lunch did help.  I keep worrying about how in the world he will be able to handle next year... Grade 1 all day?!!!  I am so that change will happen and  maturity.  I hope so, or else it is going to be miserable for everyone involved!

Glad so many of you enjoyed The Poning episode.  Max is hilarious.  He has a real sense of humor and it is so natural.  I am not sure what to say aside from my boys are very rambunctious.  There is something going on at some point.  There is a constant mix of personalities.  There is so much testosterone floating around here that it is no wonder I am forever needing a wax!


Yesterday I was getting gas in between picking up my high school crew and the elementary crew.  As I was paying for gas, this man looked at me and said, "Are they all yours?"  Mind you, I only had Sammy, Tyler and Josh.  "Yes, I said and that is only half of them."  Normally I wouldn't elaborate but I said, "I have six boys."


This man says, "Don't you guys have blankets in the winter?"  Of course it took me a minute to realize that he was saying... haha... and I said, " You aren't saying anything new.  I have heard it all."


Really?  What makes people say things like that?  A piece of me wanted him to feel dumb for opening his mouth.  I only had three with me and he thought that was a hand full.  


I am always a little amazed at the freeness of a person's mouth.  I am the first to say that I am a pretty open person.  Yet there are things that I would not say or ask someone I didn't know.  Really!  Besides, what does blankets have to do with anything?


Oh well... I am off... Jordan forgot his project, gotta drop that off.   I told Tyler I would take him for lunch... which is in an hour... then I really need to go to the office.


I was begging Sanj to fire me... and he said, "You aren't going to find another job that pays you $1000 an hour."  Really?  Wow...  I guess I'd better go in.  Now... if it really was that much, I'd be in all the time!

PONED!

According to Internet Slang.com PONED is an acronym for  "Powerfully owned, dominated."  

Sammy got PONED today by his brothers.  If my Tyler loses it ... especially at Sammy... then it is well deserved.

I stopped at the grocery store that is minutes from home.  I was gone 5 minutes.  Max came in with tears in his eyes say Sammy was choking him and put him on the ground.  This is the video my Max took of the PONING.  Yes, I am driving.  Yes, I was looking for cops, prepared to say, "Just book 'em."  (Really we were 2 seconds from home... )

This is life with boys.  This is life with my boys.  This is a audio visual of my son getting poned by his brother! lol

This short blog post is dedicated to my social media guru, my brother, www.rajkumardixit.com.

A Hurt Nose and A Hurt Finger...

Today is a new week.  Lot of stuff to do and check off my list.  This Friday night is our school's Dinner and Auction.  So it is a week of putting it all together.  I have to finish up the boys passports (just have to get the guarantee part done).  I have an eye appointment for me and need to book a few for some of the boys.  Sammy has his Algebra project to complete.  So it goes...


This weekend while visiting the in-laws, Sammy and Tyler got into a playful fight.  It was comical, I suppose.  Sanj was the "ref" that just watched.  I was yelling at him to make them stop.  Obviously, he did not see the need.  I told him that he was on ER duty.


Sure enough, we get home.  Sammy is convinced Tyler broke his nose.  Since he could tell me this, with no crying or blood, I wasn't worried.  Tyler, on the other hand, comes into the room with his right index finger all swollen.  "I think it is broken," he says.  I looked at Sanj.  This is his writing, typing hand, this is his hand that he practices guitar and needs when he goes to the washroom.


Tyler was up most of the night.  Apparently at some point, he fell off his bed and was really hurting.  Here's the thing, we are 99% sure it is more sprained then broken.  This is usually the case.  Yet, there is that 1% that you can't help but wonder, "What if it IS broken?"


At the  end of the drama, Tyler want me not Daddy to take him to the emerg.  Lucky me!  I am feeling lousy... (cramp, yes, again) but when mommy duty calls, one must rise to the calling, right?


Lucky for us, we were in and out in an hour and half!!!  Of course, the nurses and doctor found the whole bit amusing.  When asked what happened, he said, "Um, I hurt it on my brother's nose!"  lol


 It was not broken but obviously badly hurt.  She splinted it and wrapped it nicely for him.  No basketball!  Suddenly, this was all not so funny.  Now I had a moody teen, trying to convince me that he can play b-dall.  Yet, he gets home and has to go bathroom, lol, oh bother... how is this going to work?!! hehe...


I love my boys.  They are hilarious!

Saturday Night Live!

It's Saturday night... Sammy was well enough to go to the retreat.  I hope he is experiencing all the fabulous things that come with a Youth Retreat.  Max had tickets to watch the Peterborough Petes (yes, hockey, minor hockey) play.  Sanj went with him.  What a good day!


I made lamb curry and coconut rice for supper.  I am making an Indian dessert for supper too.  Rasmali... not sure if I spelled it right.   There is also Orange-creamsicle ice cream.  Yum!  When Sanj comes back we will watch Couples Retreat.  Hope it is a good one.


Zachary has a Tyke hockey tournament this weekend.  He is so excited.  He has played really well.  He had a few goals to make the weekend sweeter!  I think he is disappointed about Sammy being gone.  Sammy called him before leaving and gave him so advice, brotherly and hockey.  Sweet!  So Sweet!
Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.,  Zach and his team play in the championship game.  They get to play on big ice...the arena where the Petes play.  Fun!


Did my hubby have a good birthday?  You would have to ask him.  I think he wants to cram so much into a day that when he doesn't, he is disappointed.  He had the day off.  That in it self is a huge treat... as he never would book the day off for no reason.  He played at the boys school for assembly, something he does every Friday morning.  We then went to breakfast. It was  yummy!  We came home.  We were too full.  Sanj had plans to go snowboarding for the afternoon.  The full belly made him contemplate a nap.


His ideal day, he told me later would have included a few hours nap.  Sammy was home, trying to see if he was well enough to go to the retreat.  So it ended up that Sammy and Sanj went for a few hours snowboarding.  They had a good time.


4 p.m. was the time Sammy had to be at the church to leave.  This was pretty much the end of Sanj's free time as the rest of the night was filled with hockey... which he didn't want to cancel.  He seemed sort of disappointed with his day.  Yet I know him... he just wanted to do to much in a short bit of time.
I felt sad that he seemed let down.  He probably wanted time to dig into some of his gifts... one was a music studio program he wanted... well the upgrade.  Sigh.  We are so different this way.  He has a hard time finding happiness in the same stuff... because his mind is constantly focused on what he didn't get done.


Did my hubby  have a happy birthday?  I would say yes... he just didn't know it!


I can hear Josh saying, "who wants to play hide and seek with me?"
Tyler replies..."I do.  You go hide."
(This is his ploy to watch the Leaf game uninterrupted by a 4 year old!)


Hum... I better go rescue Josh!

Marriage and Manservant

The last couple of days have been an eye opener for me into the world of boys.
As girls have entered our lives.... it has been so interesting to me to watch and listen.

I so badly want to write the whole conversation but am restraining myself.  It was so funny to hear the boys talk about girls.  They are realizing just how different girls are from boys.  I am too!

The younger ones have become pests and funny coming home with tales of the boys talking to girls.
Some of these girls are going through the younger ones to get to the older ones.  Jordan came home totally upset with his brothers teasing and called Max the paparazzi!

Then there are moments where they just beat each other up.  Then they are laughing.  Soon enough, it is then over and they are off to play a video game.

Us... girls... we want to talk.  We want to know what they are feeling.  I am realizing that maybe they are just thinking of nothing and feeling nothing.  Maybe that is possible.  I am actually coming to the realization that  boys/men are totally different.  We really must drain them.  I exhaust myself with all the emotions and feelings I go through in one day... Sanj is so good about listening to all my thoughts.  He seems to know how much a comment is acceptable and when I need more.

When I do ask him what he is thinking, when he is staring off in space, if his answer is more than nothing, it is usually boring.  No emotions or feelings that are exciting or inspiring.

Today as we were getting ready, he looked pensive, so I asked, "what are you thinking?"
He said, "about not going to the gym today."

Today, I had so many thoughts.  I was thinking of life as we get older.  I was contemplating Sanj and I as a couple when the children were all gone.  I was thinking of couples that break up after the kids were gone.   I was thinking of men that cheat on their wife after all that time.  I was thinking of those couples I see so often that are at a restuarant, just sitting.  There is no chatting and no engaging of one another.
Ick!  I would be so sad.

What happened?  Yes, I know, each couple has their own story.  Yet, I think the key is keeping your friendship alive.  If you are friends with your spouse... then you will want to be with them.  You will miss them.  I look forward to hanging out with Sanj.  Mind you, not every minute of the day... as we are very different.

I see retirement like this (especially if I win the lotto).  I am sure we will still live here.  Maybe on the lake... kids and grandkids will come and visit and all that good stuff.  I think that we will travel a fair bit. I want to see the world.  Then if we wintered in warmth a few months a year...  then I see us hanging out in the morning.  Sanj will have been up at 5 still, done whatever he does.  I will have enjoyed sleeping in.  We hook up to be served breakfast by the manservant.  We then relax a bit.  After lunch, he will go off and golf.  I will write, shop and do a book signing here and there.  We will then go out on the boat and have dinner somewhere into the sunset.

We then have time with each other and yet time to enjoy our hobbies and friends.
I still think Sanj will call me a million times a day just to say hi and see what I am up too.
He will miss me when he is away from me.  I will think of him and buy him little things that make him smile.  Of course there will be all that shopping for the grandkids too.

Ah... life is good.  Thank you, God, for making men from Mars and women from Venus.

Hockey, Brothers, Boys!

I am home from hockey, finally.  I have half an hour of my friday night left.
My broken bum is extremely sore.
I am tired.


I had a good day, though.  Josh and I went to visit two friends of his and the bonus is that their moms are my friends too.  


We came home and since Sanj was off pretty much within half an hour of getting home, supper was a simple affair for the boys and I.


I had the funniest evening with the boys.  Sammy went with Sanj  to help coach.  The other boys were laughing so loud.  I could hear Max talking on the phone.  Weird.  I thought this could only be trouble.


Sammy had downloaded his contacts from his phone on the computer.  Sammy's younger brothers were up to no good.  They were calling girls from his contact.  They were saying that they were Sammy's brother, Cornelius and Alfred.


Then they had these conversations with the girls.  It was so funny.  Some of the girls added them as their friend on Facebook.


It was that typical little brothers bugging the older brother's friend.  Except they were brave because Sammy wasn't home! lol


I saw it as the start of all that is coming.  Little brothers snooping on big brothers zone. 
I warned both of them, they have younger brothers to do the same to them!
Oh the fun!


Did you see the cutie pie picture of the little boy in my previous blog?  I realized something about me...
I really do not have a desire to adopt a girl.  The whole girl thing... maybe I just wanted a mini me. (Guess the good Lord knew better and spared me!)


Yet if we were to adopt, I think my pick would be a boy.  If I win the lotto... yes, I do play occasional... 
It's kind of my vice.  I know you aren't judging, right, as we will have some?


My point is if I came into money... the extra kind...  I would bring home a bunch of kids.  I would need help, of course, but money wouldn't be an issue.  So I would just have to love them and mother them.
It breaks my heart to think of some so many kids with no love and no hugs from a mom and dad.  


This has always been a dream of mine.  Apparently it still is.

A Perfect Moment!

Right now, this moment, life is perfect.
It's 10:31 p.m. and the boys are all in sync.
They are all at the table together.
Yes, it is a school night.
Yes, the morning is going to be rough.
Yes, it will be worth it.




I wish you could hear the sounds.
Aw.... Oh... YES!!!
Team Canada vs Team USA


It' s a tie.  It's gone to overtime.
Nothing at this moment matters except being brothers and hockey.
It's a perfect moment.
Go Team Canada! 

As Good As It Gets...

Life for my Josh is just plain good!  It is like he has his own fan club within his family.

He just KNOWS he is loved.  

Does it get any better than this?

Of course all my boys know they are loved.  ( I am sure Sammy and Tyler question it every so often when they feel like all is against them).  But the boys know love.

The thing is that Josh is loved and liked by all his brothers.

When Sammy is on the outs with us, he will try and get Josh to come over to his 'side.'

Today in the van I must have reprimanded him.  He just looked at me and quietly said, "That's not very nice."  Even though I was right, I did feel kind of small.

He was looking through a little Playmobile catalogue... (which was the death of me today).  He realized that Christmas was done and would take a long time to come around again... so he started on his birthday... which is in March.

After I told him that he better look for something else, aside from the police station set because he already got it and didn't take care of it... he told me... "That's OK, I'll ask my brothers and they'll get it for me."

I am not sure how long  his movie star treatment will last... as already he does typical little brother things that do annoy them...

But I love watching his confidence that love of his family will make everything Ok. 
Being the youngest comes with perks!

I Love Hockey...

Hockey... it is a word that takes over our lives.  The boys live it, breathe it, and sleep it.  Nothing but ice and net. 

The thing about hockey and having a rink in the back yard is that it is a unifying thing for the boys.

They all play.  They play together.  They work it out on the ice. They fight it out on the ice. They are brothers on the ice.

I was watching two of my boys, who fight like the dickens, playing together actually having fun.

Aw... it does my heart good.


This weekend Sanj put Josh on skates and had him up.


"I love hockey," he says looking at me with a grin that said it all.


Thank you God, for the rink.  Thank you for the passion my boys have for all things hockey.
Thank you for the bonus that they sleep so good after the cold air and working it out on the ice!
I love hockey!

A Perfect Day!!!

Oh the weather outside is delightful...

(Yes, Sanj, I know those aren't the right words...)

It's snowing.... Yah!

The first hour of my morning was spent arguing over whether or not we should drive to school.

(Sanj drives in any kind of weather. Me... not so much).

Finally I decided, "Fine!  Let's go."

We get to two exits, visibility is bad and I am not sure if I am still on the road.

A little angel said, "Go Home."  
(Thanks Ms. R).

We went home.

And then it was a perfect day.

Of course there is the messy house...

the laundry...

the Christmas stuff to put up...

three kids who have projects to finish...

BUT

then there is this moment...

 which is all that is needed for a perfect day!
Double click on the picture to see the most perfect things in my world.