Catching Up

With just spent July 4th with Jacqueline, Jim, and Sadie. We had a wonderful time:)

Happy 4th Birthday, Isabella!!!

We celebrated Isabella's birthday at the Lone Star in Kingston. We had been partying so much up until her actual day, I think she was kind of sick of talking about it. Speaking of sick, she started acting funky while we were at dinner and by the time we got home, her fever was up to 102 and she kept complaining her mouth hurt. Three days later and she still isn't great. In fact, she is a major whine ass. Her little butt is off to the doctor tomorrow if her mood hasn't improved. Maybe they can give her a little Lorazapam. If not, I'll share some of mine.

We are back from Syracuse/Canada. It is nice to be home after 2 weeks away but we had a great time. Most of our time at the lake was spent cleaning/tossing out the many, many, many items my grandmother hoarded for 93 years. The woman should have bought stock in a plastic company. I swear she had about 1,000 baskets full of shit. I didn't get my ability to toss crap from her, that is for sure. Who would have known that a laundry room could take an entire day?? Or that she could paper the Eiffel Tower from top to bottom with copies of document from her lawyer and investment broker? It took me 2 days to sort her bills. I still can't figure out why she would have a telephone bill in the basement for one month and the next month, it would be in a file in the cabinet. Just when I thought I was done, I'd find another WHOLE box of them. OMG.

When all was said and done, every window has a new curtain rod and new curtains, there are new venetian blinds on all the sliding doors, a set of bunk beds are now in the kid's room, my room has a new comforter from IKEA on it, the garage is cleaned out, the basement is all fixed up. The place looks fabulous. Gram would be proud:)

In the middle of all of this, we invited Gram's bible study out to have their yearly picnic. It was nice to meet the women she spent time with over the past 7 years. It was very sad for them as this was the first picnic without her.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It is amazing how quickly your birthday becomes so unimportant when 1.) you share it with Father's Day and 2.) your 3 year old's birthday is a mere 7 days away. However unimportant, I did have a great day:) Diet Coke from McDonald's and my favorite cookies from a local bakery, church, chicken fajitas for lunch, packing the car, dinner, and then ice cream. Oh, and in that busy schedule, I sold my great aunt's china cabinet for 250.00 dollars:) Mom would like me to put it towards bills but I would rather spend it.

We are off to Canada tomorrow. The car is over-packed and we haven't even put our suitcases in yet! I am hoping for a MAJOR mood change in Bella. She is beyond moody and whiny and demanding. She may be going south in a large envelope addressed to her father while we go north:)

Summer is here AGAIN!!!

And we are off..... off to Syracuse and then Canada, that is. My birthday is on the 20th and Isabella's is on the 27th so we plan to have tons of fun in the next few weeks. I am really excited about getting back to Canada and the lake house. Mom just purchased boat loads of new curtains and a set of bunk beds for the girls. Isabella can't wait to share them with Sadie...she plans on getting the top bunk and Sadie gets the bottom. I'll do my best to upload pictures and news:)

Elisabeth the Great just got 2 more awards at school. One of them, the Mount Nittany Technical Education Award, is given to students who show a positive attitude, strength, and creativity in their Technical Education class. Out of 250 7th graders, she was one of 2 kids to receive this. Brilliant. I am not sure where she gets her brains from but her teacher-ass-kissing definitely comes from me:) She gets out of school tomorrow at 1 and swears she won't be crying. Yeah. Right.

Isabella has been done since last Friday. She and Nanny spent the day together. She didn't even want me to go to lunch with them today and after it was over, she wanted me to take my own car back home. Unfortunately, Mom had dropped me off so she didn't get that wish either.

If you wonder where I've been........

I'll spill it and tell you. I have been at a new Mexican restaurant that is only 1 frickin' mile away from our house. If I had to (like in a snow storm), I could walk there....it is that close. OMG. I ate there 3 times in 3 days. Unbelievable. And the best part?? Elisabeth likes it! Elisabeth NEVER likes to eat out. Yeah for me!

In other family news, although not nearly as important as my gut, Isabella has 3 and a half days left of preschool. Because her birthday is on the 27th, she is going to celebrate it at school on Thursday. We are making ice cream cone cupcakes....48 of them. Don't ask me how I am going to get them all made AND get them in to the school. How do I manage to do this to myself? Seriously.

Elisabeth has 5 and a half days left of 7th grade. I think she is all done with her tests. Her last Science test score was NOT what we expected it would be. I thought it was completely unfair and told that to the principal in my email to him on Friday. He hasn't emailed me back. Now I am doubly pissed. He's getting another one tomorrow.

Bragging about Elisabeth

I just got an email from Elisabeth's English teacher. This was at the bottom....

PS PLEASE tell me what your secret is. . . Elisabeth is one of the kindest, sincerest students I have ever had! She has been an absolute joy to have in class.


I, of course, said that she takes after her mama:)

Just when I think she isn't listening....

We went out for a late dinner last night. I had food in the house but I didn't want to cook it and Todd didn't want to clean it up. While sitting at Olive Garden, Bella was doing her best to push everyone's buttons and Elisabeth was doing her best to talk over Isabella. It was absolutely exhausting. Have you ever tried to keep 2 kids happy by carrying on 2 complete conversations???? And then there is Todd---not having a clue what is going on and wanting an update. UGH!

About 20 minutes after arriving, the waiter finally brought Isabella her chocolate milk and, under my breath, I said, "Now maybe she will shut up!" I then hear Bella say, "Mommy, that is NOT a very nice thing to say!" No, it wasn't very nice but it was true.

Fast forward 30 more minutes.....I have added ice to Bella's soup about 10 times, had her dip her breadstick in my diet Coke because she likes them soft, listened to Elisabeth rant about her friends at school, picked up Bella's napkin 5 times, answered Todd's questions, listened to Elisabeth worry about her Science test that is coming up, given Bella a lecture on not dropping Daddy's phone on the ground, quizzed Elisabeth on her upcoming Science test facts, tucked duckies under Bella's butt because the chair hurt her legs....you get the picture.

Then, the statement I dread the most comes out of Bella's mouth: "I NEED TO GO POTTY!!!!!!" I look at Todd and he says, "NOT IT!". Elisabeth, bless her heart, says that she will take her. Quietly, I say, "Thank you Jesus!!" Isabella looks up at me and says, "MY name is NOT Jesus!!!"

I seriously give up.

Back from another adventure

We just got home for a 5 day trip to Jacksonville, Florida. Our main reason for going was to celebrate Todd's grandfather's 100th birthday. We had dinner with him on his birthday at his retirement home, again the next day with the whole family, and then again at the Chart House Restaurant (YUMMMMMYYYY!). I guess you can't party too much when you turn 100. We also had a chance to spend time with Todd's brother, sister, and her new fiance as well as his parents. Most of the time was spent, however, at the pool. Isabella learned how to swim without her floaties AND go under water while Elisabeth got a nice brown tan. I stayed out of the sun because I was on antibiotics and didn't want to get a burn. Todd, on the other hand, burned himself to a crisp.

Hide the WAX!!!

WHO would have thought to hide COLD wax from a 3 year old???? Not me!!! I sent Little Miss Pissy Pants (she has been so MOOOOOOOOODDDDDDYYYYYY lately) into the bathroom to wash up after she decided eat her ice cream with her right hand. I left the eyebrow wax out with the fabric strips NOT ever thinking ANYONE would touch them. I should have known. I was enjoying the peace and quiet until I realized that peace and quiet meant Isabella was usually getting into something. I ran into the bathroom to find her with one large strip of material sticking to her forehead. Did you know that cold wax could actually be pried out of a jar?? And swiped across the forehead?? And stick to a wax strip??? With ease, she held one side of her head with one hand and with the other hand, she ripped the strip off just like she sees me do to Elisabeth. Unreal.

The good news....she didn't place any wax near actual hair. The bad news....on the way up the stairs to remove the wax, she covered herself from head to toe in wax remover.

Now I see why I didn't adopt twins.

And away we go again!

Tomorrow we leave for Florida....Toby, Todd's beloved grandfather, is turning 100 on Thursday!!! Unreal!!! His parents live there and his brother and sister are flying in on Saturday (we haven't seen them in almost 3 years). It will be nice for everyone to be together again:)

I am a little nervous about the plane...please pray for me. Todd will be oblivious (sorry, hon, but you are NO help on a plane) and Elisabeth will be comatose with her headphones on. I packed enough things for Isabella to do to cover a trip to Vietnam and back. My guess is that she won't play with one thing.

Daniel

Last week at my grandmother's funeral, her bible study leader stood up and spoke. She talked about how Gram LOVED the book of Daniel from the bible. Out of all the biblical characters, she was most intrigued by him. When this friend went out to visit my grandmother just before she died, she whispered, "You will get to meet Daniel, Freda!"

Last night, exactly a week from the day she died, Isabella found a children's Bible in her bookshelf. It has been sitting there for years but she finally noticed it, picked it up, and asked me to read it. It had about 10 different stories from the Bible - all simplified for children to understand. Out of all those stories, which one do you think she decided to obsess about?? Daniel and the Lion's Den. A coincidence?? I don't think so. She must have asked 100 questions...how he got in there? how he got out?? who put him in there?? why didn't the lions eat him?? how did God protect him?? It went on and on and on until I finally went to YouTube and found a cartoon about it. She was still talking about it when she was in the bathtub.

I finally said to her, in a very loving voice, "You know who else loved Daniel, Bella?? Grandma Freda!"

Her reply: "She's dead, Mom."

Like I didn't know that.

Photo contest

Which one do you like of Elisabeth??

The Aftermath

I never realized how long it would take to come down from something as traumatic as a death. Never having actually witnessed someone dying before, I actually thought I would be able to return to normal life without too much effort. I was wrong. I am hoping to snap out of it before we have to get on a plane in 5 days to Florida. Maybe some sunshine will do me good:)

In Remembrance

Posted: May 16, 2010

BLAKSLEE, Freda Winona (nee Collins) - Ever so grateful for such a wonderful life, Mom passed away peacefully at the home she loved on Gould Lake surrounded by her family on Sunday, May 16, 2010. She is now with her devoted husband and the love of her life, James (1993). Survived by her loving daughters Elizabeth Connors (Frank) of Syracuse, NY, Carolynne Blakslee Dancer (Terence) of Vancouver, BC, and Jacqueline Miller (James) of Perth Road. Dear grandmother to Jim Florence (Wendy) of Barrie, Catherine Connors-Kos (Todd) of Pennsylvania, Blakeslee Connors (Alison) of Maryland, Rebekah Connors of Alaska, Shane Connors (Jennifer) Colorado and Aaron Connors of Colorado. Great-grandmother to Sarah, Elisabeth, Isabella, Liam, Lucy, Talia, Skyler and Calen. We would like to thank Rebekah for the incredible loving care and devotion she showed her grandmother during her recent illness. She made her dream of living out her final days at the lake come true. Family and friends will be received at the James Reid Funeral Home (1900 John Counter Boulevard) on Monday, May 17 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Funeral Service will be held in the Chapel on Tuesday, May 18 at 11:00am with Reverend Mac Steinberg officiating. Interment to follow at Sydenham Cemetery. As expressions of sympathy memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Diabetes Association would be appreciated by the family.

Poor, poor puppy

Gram Update

Summer 2009





She has stopped eating, drinks only a few sips a day, sleeps for over 23 of the 24 hours in a day, but is at her very favorite place on earth....the lake. She and my grandfather spent most of their retired life on this lake...he died of a heart attack there and now she is dying. If you had to choose a place to live out your last days, it is the perfect place:) She is warm, comfortable, and pain free. My incredible sister has been taking unbelievable care of her along with my mom and aunt. Right at this moment, she is sound asleep in her favorite chair in front of the fireplace with everyone around her. When she wakes up, for the very short periods of time throughout the day, she sees someone who loves her. She is not plugged into machines in a sterile hospital room. She IS where she belongs.

Mother's Day 2010

My 2 favorite little people in the whole wide world:)

Sad family news

My 93 year old grandmother, the only one I have left, has just been diagnosed with advanced stages of pancreatic cancer. She has been in a great deal of pain over the last few months and after a serious of tests, she was diagnosed with this horrible disease. My sister, a nurse who lives in Alaska, is with her now, along with my mom and my aunt. They are taking it one day at a time. Thankfully, she is on medication to control the pain and still has enough strength to go out to eat once in awhile:)

She is loved by 2 daughters, 7 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

Brace Face

For a mere $4600.00, our beautiful daughter will have a beautiful smile. Unreal. And her teeth aren't even that bad!!! I would seriously like to know what costs so much?!?! Our first appointment was 75 minutes long and she got both the top and bottom braces on. Oh...and she got a free toothbrush, toothpaste, rinse, and wax. Her next appointment isn't even until the end of June and she is supposed to get them off next June. I think I am going to become an orthodontist in my next life.