The Oldfield 6

After writing my last entry I thought I should say a few thank yous to those that helped when I needed it and didn’t ask for anything in return.

Kristina thank you for listen to me helping and offer help at the drop of a hat. I new that always had someone there no matter what.

Titia, well actually Mandy, for helping me with the kids during playoffs and giving me some time get ready for camping. The kids loved you and you were great with them. You impressed all the parents at the play field too…

My Mom even though she won’t read this, she was my back up as much as she could be and for putting up with all of us at the cottage.

All of you and your families made this last month so much easier. Thank you all.

Well, I just finished typing a nice blog entry about camping and lost it all, so I am really not in the mood to do it again. So I thought I would write about my summer and how it really was and not just the fun stuff.

The summer started the same as most, all the things I originally wanted to do got cancelled so i was making things up and planning as I went. The beginning of July started with the thought that D’Arcy might be heading to “Oklahoma” (or so he thought) for 6wks. So at our last official coffee night before the summer and a farewell to Michelle, who was headed to Newfoundland for the summer, everyone told me that they would call and we would get together with the kids and so on and so on. Not alot was going on with the kids during the day just them getting bored and wanting to do more and getting excited about bike camp. The next week, as I want to kill the kids because they are so bored (2 wks into summer), D’Arcy finds out that yes he is leaving the following week for Salt Lake City Utah, not Oklahoma, for probably 4 wks not 6. I tell him that I support him and will deal with whatever comes of everything and not to worry about us.

3rd week of summer, kids are in bike camp having a blast coming home with new bumps and scraps every day but happy and wanting to go back. D’Arcy is getting ready to leave that Firday for 4wks although he was supposed to leave Wednesday until they discovered his passport had him listed as a female not male so they couldn’t get his work VISA or plane ticket to leave until it was fixed. Monday they fix it all up and will have it to him first thing Wednesday. But he still has to renew his drivers license and health card before he leaves as well. So to say the least the week is spend running from 1 office to another trying to get everything set up, just a little stressful. Friday comes and his flight leaves at 4pm and since the older kids are in camp I have to pick them up that day by 4:30, so I bring D’Arcy to the airport for 2pm and jsut leave him on the sidewalk, I would have really liked to have walked him in, it was a little sad. But I rush off to get the kids and prep to leave for the cottage the next day.

D’Arcy calls Friday night to say that the hotel wants to charge him twice as much as arranged and they want to put it all on his credit card that day, which would leave him with no money or me with no money to go away. He asks the dippy girl behind the counter to just charge the weekend and he will talk with the manager Monday who arranged it all and also make sure that the company card is used but it still messes me up for going away. I know have no cash for gas or food until Thursdays payday not how I wanted this to start. Anyway my Mom is coming with me to the cottage so she charges everything and I pay her back once we are home (but I still feel awful about it.

Cottage is great and the kids love it but I was not looking forward to going home to an empty house and not having my partner around for another 3wks. I found myself really sad from time to time and just not happy, even though I was enjoying the week.

 We got home from the cottage on Saturday night, and I come home to a house smelling of cat pee. As a walk around the house I realize my cat has decided to use Konnors toddler bed as a bathroom as well as the rest of the room too. So i stop unpacking to deal with the smell and the mess before anyone gets into stuff. Mopping spraying washing and airing things out is not what I had in mind. My Mom came by to help me unpack and I just asked her not to, although she sort of ignore that, I asked jsut to leave the stuff tell I am done I don’t want ants getting into things if they are sitting outside and I don’t want more things in the house to work around as a clean. I so just wanted to walk away and start to cry and just not go back but I held it strong because  I had to. And to add to it all raccons were pooping all over the yard on the deck, retaining wall and on the twins window cil, give me a break would ya….

Once everything was clean and things were brought in I just kept on working. Monday was a ball game with Josh’s team and my friend Kristina took the twins so I could coach and kindly brought me coffee when she came back with the twins and stayed and chatted for awhile (she was my santy I think for while D’Arcy was gone, really the only one that came by to check on my or call). Tuesday was another Ball game and I asked my neice who was at my Mom’s if she would come and watch the twins at the park, she did and it was great. The week went on and on and on or so it seemed. Braydon had his last night of ball on Wednesday and I can’t really think of what else we did that week but we survived and made it to another weekend. D’Arcy and I talked every night via webcam, I felt really bad for him since he was all alone at least I had the kids here. That weekend I was driving my oldest two to North Bay for the week with their Grandparents (my inlaws) 4 hrs one way. My mother agreed to take the twins for a day. Oh did I mention Konnor came home form the cottage with an ear infection so I had 3 or more nights of little to no sleep that week too. So my mom kept the twins since I didn’t want to take Konnor when he wasn’t 100%. My friend Kristina was supposed to come but was having a really bad morning and decided it would be better if she stayed home. So off I went me and the 2 boys up north. I got there about 3pm and visited for about and hour and then headed back because I didn’t want to be too late and I wanted to stop by my friend Bonnie’s for a sanity check. The drive was great and except for a muscle spasim I had no problems. I stopped by Bonnies about 6:30ish and left just after 8 I believe it was a nice visit and always nice to see where others live, it was also nice to someone else house with work that needs to be done, I am not the only one…..

I got home from the drive after 10pm but my Mom had put the twins to bed at her palce and asked that I stayed there instead. I really wanted to see D’Arcy but he wasn’t back to the hotel yet from work and I didn’t want to stay up that late it had already been along day. The next day my Mom and went to my sisters in Woodstock for a visit and a swim (yeah I know I hadn’t driven enough the day before).  This whole time I thought I was doing really well but I think I was kidding myself I was exhausted and lonely.

D’Arcy and I have been a couple for 18yrs we have spent time apart but nothing like this the longer we were apart the hard it was getting on him and the more i was fighting to keep up with everything. After my kids came home from the Inlaws(I was in tears because of an issue there, not getting into it hear) I so just wanted D’Arcy home to deal with stuff. It had been 3 wks and only 1 more to go but we weren’t going to be home when he got off that plane we were going camping.

My Mom kindly agreed to get him from the airport and I had packed up his bag chair and sleeping bag so nothing would delay him leaving for camping to join us. When I saw his headlights at midnight i was just happy to have someone else there. I had spent the first 2 days camping just turning off and not wanting to do anything and now I finally could without having to feel guilty. It was great to see him and happy to have his arms around me again.

 Now to get adjsuted to him being home. This last week has been hard, he is so not used to doing things or helping out or anything it is like I have to retrain him again. We had a talk or should I say I talked about having to do everything and I am getting tired of it. Then we find out he has to work Sunday so our first full weekend home he only has 1 day off and has to work the other. Yesterday I kept thinking it was Friday, I so need a break, I am exhausted and I just want to sleep, Konnor is walking up at all hours screaming so sleep just isn’t that good. My back is in horrible shape I had wanted to do something this weekend as a family but I don’t think it is going to happen i am just to sore and tired.

To add to the stress and all my cat isn’t well and most likely dying and we can’t afford all the test let alone the treatment so we are on a wait and see with him (he is the same one that turned the twins room into a litter box).

One more thing I was sent a summons for jury duty as well to apear on Tues. Sept 2nd … The first day of school… give me a friggen break…. Just found out today that my letter to be exempted was approved so I don’t have to go yeah something is working out for me.

To say the least I am adjusting and it is great to have him home but I do have a whole new respect for single parents that don’t get that person coming home after a month or so….

 Well that was my summer, What day is it again???? 

Currently in mourning….. I just lost this whole post …. will get back to you later… I hope….  NOOOOO Fair

Well, I told the boys that we would go to Science North one say this week since it has been awhile since we were last there. Although I was waiting for a rainy day that just didn’t seem to come, so on Thursday we just went, originally I was hoping to go with just the boys and I got the impression my Mom was going to keep the twins but when it came to go she was planning a quiet day by herself so I didn’t argue. On the way to Sudbury I tried to call my Dad to see if he would join me since i wasn’t really looking forward to jungling 4 kids wanting to see different things. Sadly my Dad had forgotten that he had plans and was gone, he said he would have come other wise.

Science North was nice but I don’t recommend 1 adult for 4 kids with such an age gap. We say lots of kewl things, it started with a quick stop at the toddler play area and then off to see some cool insects. Josh held a hissing coackroachand petted a spider. We got some nice pictures of butterflies but Braydon was terrified that one would land on him so we had to leave that area quickly the twins thought they were cool. Then we were off to the science area where you used the microscopes and checked various things from insects to trees to rocks close up. They even had one for little ones that projected the image on a TV screen for them instead.

Next level I believe was the body and lego areas. The boys had fun pushing buttons to make a picture of a man make different body noises ie, farts, burps, sneezes all the fun stuff, farts being the most popular.  The lego section was great but it was one of those spots that 2 adults would have been nice. The twins played in a kid area with lego trains and tracks and a load of other pins of lego. The older boys wanted to builder racers and race them but I couldn’t seat with them and build since I had to watch the twins so they were sort of stuck, I felt bad for them. There was also a space section which we looked at briefly before we headed back down.

 As we left I had told the boys we would check out the H2O section, it was by the main exit, so we went in there and the twins watched a cute movie while the boys went and checked out all the neat gadgets they had to show how water moved and what you can do with water. We left there for a grocery store and another quick stop at my Dad’s (he still wasn’t home) and then back to the cottage.

The last full day at the cottage was spent relaxing at the beach and slowly packing up. The boys went to a camp fire by the trailers there with my Mom while I stayed at the cottage to listen for the twins and pack up as much as I could. The next morning I packed up the van and headed on our way. We had a quick stop in Narin (our home town) to visit my grandmother’s grave and do a little tour of the old Hwy to enjoy a few memories along the way.

Make a Smilebox photobook

It was a nice drive home and a great relaxing week…. I have already booked a week for next year… Maybe D’Arcy can join us next time though.

Something I didn’t mention in my last blog entry was the week D’Arcy left my boys were in a 1 week Bike camp. They had a blast Josh was in an all day moutain biking camping going through trails and learning tricks in the bike park. Braydon was also in a bike camp but for a younger age group, he spent the morning on the bike going through trails and playing in the bike park and the afternoon was spent doing different sports and just having fun. They loved it, both were up every morning waiting for me to get up and take them and every day I picked them up they had new scraps and bruises but no complaints. I think that was the best money I have spent this summer, and the bonus part was that they included a meal and 2 snacks so no foo prep required for me.

Okay back on track now, so I dropped D’Arcy off at the airport on Friday and Saturday the 4 boys, my Mom and me loaded into the van to head north to a cottage we had rented back to where both my Mom and technically I am from. It should have been about 5hr drive but with traffic and kids stops it was actually 6hrs, thank goodness for built in DVD players and a good supply of movies.

We pulled into the resort/camp/cottage grounds between 5 & 6 pm. The owners came over to welcome us and give us a tour of the cottage.  My first thought was not bad, because we walked into a nice kitchen but not amazing and then we walked into the open area, sitting/dinning/living room and it was amazing old wood cabin with old antique feeling, beautiful stairs going up to the loft and a large window with an amazing veiw of the lake. It was truely amazing.

Make a Smilebox postcard

That first day/night we pretty much just unpacked and relaxed, the older boys and I went for a walk around the park so they could get an idea where everything was and so they didn’t feel nervous about going places. I cooked dinner (I had made spagehti sauce before we left home) and we all sat down to eat at 7 or 8 pm yes late but that is what happens when you don’t show up tell late.

The next day sadly my Mom or I had to go into town to do the groceries, town is about 15mins away so it was easier to shop after we got there then trying to transport all the food with us. So my Mom went figuring it would be easier for me to watch the kids then her. So while she was gone I put the twins to bed for a nap and got the older boys to try and entertain themselves. Did I mention there was no TV at all so my TV/Video game junkies were at a lose for what to do. Luckily for them there was a scrabble game which Josh proceeded to kill Braydon with everytime they played.

When my Mom got back with the groceries a few hours later we quickly put them away just in time for the twins to wake up from their nap and then the swimming begin. The boys pretty much swam every single day we were there with a few interuptions for other things but they had a blast and the fact that my oldest was swimming without a life jacket, jumping off the dock and the floating dock into water that was so dark you coudln’t see the bottom so completely impressed me. I grew up in this area and swam in these lakes around there all my childhood and loved it and it is so nice to see my kids enjoying it too.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Tuesday, my father came out with his boat for a visit and a rid. Since we were up north we were only 30-45mins from my Dad’s place so it wasn’t a big deal for him to come out to say Hi for a few hours. The boys loved it as soon as he got there they jumped in his boat and helped to unload it and bring it to the dock by the cottage. Then we had a short visit and lunch and Allistar decided to fall asleep on Papa. So sadly we put him to bed and my self and the other 3 boys went for a boat ride around the lake, acutally to the other end of the lake. I have to admit it was really nice to only have 1 of the twins I am not sure what I would have done with 2 of them in the boat. Either way it was great, a little wind burned and sun burned but it was fun.

Make a Smilebox photobook

The one interesting/scary thing that happened was on Sunday night we had a visitor to our cottage who so kindly got into our garbage and carried the bag away. I told my Mom and soon as I told her that it didn’t rip apart the bag she knew it wasn’t a raccoon… Well later that day I went to clean up my dogs messes and I found a mess that wasn’t from my dog, wrong colour and size. Well wouldn’t you know we had a bear, it had gotten into a few garbages in the area and was a decent size bear considering the size of its scat(poo) that I found. The ministery was called and by Wednesday a bear trap was brought out to catch the poor thing and release it somewhere else. Never heard anything about it since but I got to see the bear trap, hope they found it.

Well again I must stop my blog to make dinner and deal with kids. But we have yet to explore the wild life the kids met and a visit to Science North. Be back soon.

Well, it has been awhile since I sat down to write on this blog but I figured it was about time to get back to it. So as I steal a quiet moment (who am I joking the kdis are locked in a room, haha).

I believe I last left off with D’Arcy getting a new job and both of us getting new vehicles. What a busy month May was. June was a little calmer, we continued with ball and by the end of May Braydon had started 3-pitch on Wednesdays and Soccer on Saturdays so we were keeping busy that is for sure. 

The baseball team has been improving alot from game to game and they are learning a whole lot. I have alot of good players on the time and they are all learning how to work together by the end of July we had managed to only win 2 games but the difference is scores was getting closer and closer, so the margines that we were losing by were getting less and less. I am very impressed by my team and think they have come a really long way, now we just have playoffs next week and then we are done for the year.

June also brought Birthdays, my middle son turned 7 and my oldest turned 9. Braydon’s party was the traditional party with games and back yard fun and even a building/painting session of different flying machines. Josh on the other hand turned in a new direction he had a sleep over, which was supposed to be him and 3 friends but by and over site of his it ended up being him and 4 friends (had to do a few last minuite pickups to make sure I had enough of everything). They had a good time I think, but didn’t go to bed until 2 or 3 am and then complained when the twins woke them up too early, hahaha, I told them too bad just means they get to feel my pain. ;) Next year maybe Josh and 2 friends but I am not doing that many again.

Also in June we found out that D’Arcy would most likely be leaving us for 6wks of the summer, so pretty mych the whole time. That was a drag but it was for work so we would deal with it. By the beginning of July it was a definite thing and I had to start rearranging my summer to make my life a little easier and try and decrease my stress. He was supposed to leave on Wed July 16 but on Friday the 11th while getting his work VISA info together they discovered that the government had messed up his passport and had him classified as a female, oops. Talk about stress level going through the roof for him for the whole weekend. On Monday he showed up at the passport office with new pictures and old passport in hand to beg to get it back in 24hrs, we didn’t think it would work without travel documents but it was worth a try (his work didn’t want to issue anything until they knew he could go 100%). Well they were amazing it didn’t cost him anything to get it done or rushed  and they even reimbursed him for the new picture, only downside is that it wouldn’t be there until Wednesday morning, so they delayed his departure until Friday July 18th. It all came in fine and the twins and I dropped him off at the airport at 2pm on Friday, couldn’t walk him to the gate though since I had to be back to pick up the older boys by 4:30 and with rush hour traffic on a Friday I didn’t want to push it. So it was a little sad to just see him leave but it was probably better then seeing him to the gate.

Time to deal with non napping kids but I will continue with the next week of our summer, our week at a cottage hopefully tomorrow…

By the way D’Arcy is still away so who knows when I will get back to this