Homeownership

Well, we survived last weekend with all 5 boys. It went better than we expected it to but we were still exhausted and ready to have our house back by Monday morning. Thankfully Aaron and Melissa totally understood how 'done' we were and only stayed for a short visit before they packed up their posse and headed home. Seeing them so tanned made me desperately want to go on a trip. I'll have to work on the Boss for that.

Do any of you have security systems in your house? We have one but the former owners told us it was deactivated and they knew nothing about it. No owners manual or anything. Well, it's been acting up lately. And not just any acting up - more like beeping when I walk into the kitchen and having a complete spaz attack when I open the system control panel. I finally got around to calling the company.

"Hi. We just moved into a new house that has a security system from your company but we weren't given any information on it so I'd like some help. Especially since it seems to be acting up lately and we have no idea how to turn it off."
"Okay. What's your address?"
"458 ________ Drive."
"NO. WAY. I've been trying to get a hold of the owners of that house for ages. Your house is on my short list to get back up and running so we'd be very interested in working out a deal with you."
"Really? What's going on?"

Long story short: two owners before us installed a VERY sophisticated security system (motion detectors, window and door sensors, floor sensors, the works) and signed a 5 year contract for monitoring. They paid one year and then the company never heard from them again. So now the company says we don't own the system and they want it back. We're just waiting for a call from the owner of the company so we can work all this out. Our issue is that we have no interest in paying for monitoring (afterall, we moved to this neighbourhood because it's quiet and peaceful, not so that we could activate some high-tech device in our house) and if they take it, we'll be left with holes in our walls. No freaking way is that happening! Does anyone know real estate law well enough to be able to advise us?

Next on the agenda: the raccoon living under the addition. Yes. Or we thought it was a raccoon. The home inspector noted a spot under the addition that appeared to be dug out and said there was probably a creature living under there. Once we moved in, Craig placed wood in front of the hole and filled it in with stones and such. Every morning he'd go back and check and the wood was moved and the burrow redug. Finally last week, he peed on the spot. You know, animal to animal, he was marking his territory. Then he filled the hole back in and covered it with wood again. There was no movement for about 3 days. Then yesterday morning I woke up around 6 to a bad smell. A skunk had sprayed outside somewhere. Pewww-eee. I tried to go back to sleep but the smell just kept getting worse. It woke Craig up and both the boys. Shaun was hiding his face in his jammies. The smell was nauseating and we just couldn't get away from it.

Then we looked outside. Mr. Raccoon is actually Mr. Skunk. Mr. Skunk's dainty little footprints were all over the backyard, looping around the house and entering and exiting the little burrow at least a couple of times. And he sprayed our house - oh boy, did he spray. We carried the smell in our coats, Shaun brought it to school and it permeated our van. At the grocery store, Craig and I had to find an empty aisle to remove our coats and air out our clothes. I'm positive people around us thought we were rubby-dubs because we smelled so terrible.

The air outside was sweet and fresh when we arrive back home. We had opened the windows before we left and turned off the furnace (no sense in heating the outside, right?) so it would have aired out by now, right? It had been nearly 4 hours. No such luck. The smell inside the house hadn't disspated at all. In fact, it was almost worse than when we had left because we had been away from it for so long. Thankfully it seems to be a bit better this morning - ie. I'm not gagging while I sit here typing this - but I haven't been outside yet. I may just be used to it which is almost worse.

The strategy now: call the City and see if they have some sort of free service to remove animals from private property. I don't want to hurt him (if it is indeed a He) but I certainly don't want him living here. And I don't want to risk it being a She and for her to have babies under there. Ideally he'll leave in the spring because we make too much noise and there would be other options at that time but I'm not sure I want to wait that long. He may spray again in the meantime! Welcome Home Martin Family!

5 Under 5

Our good friends have gone on a grown-up/kidless holiday to Cuba for a week so Craig and I offered to look after their 3 boys for the last 4 days of their trip. Bailey arrived after preschool on Thursday morning when Shaun came home and I picked up Xan and Grayson later that afternoon. They will be returning home on Monday morning. It's been busy and this house has been SO loud! but we're having a ton of fun. I'm sure we'll be ready to send the 3 packing by Monday but they really are great kids, otherwise we wouldn't have offered.

Five kids under 5 years old for 4 days and 4 nights. AND the youngest is 6 months and still nursing. What were we thinking?!

Proof for Aaron and Melissa that their boys were happy the whole time they were here. Surprisingly, there have been no tears and only a couple of outbursts that required more than a stern reminder of the rules.

Xan will be 5 next month and is a professional at reminding everyone of the rules while he is in the process of breaking them. He is incredible at doing puzzles and building things with lego.

Bailey is 3 1/2 and goes to preschool with Shaun. They've been best buddies since before they were born because our families were neighbours and Melissa and I were pregnant at the same time.

Grayson is almost 2 1/2 and is always being left behind by the bigger boys. He spends a lot of time helping me do Mummy things. Poor little guy.

I was surprised to see that I actually got 3 out of 4 boys looking nicely at the camera. Just goes to show that their mum takes more photos than me because when I told them to look, they did. Shaun's off in his own world... smiling at the fridge??



I couldn't post photos of the children we're watching for the weekend and not add ones of my boys! I can't remember what I said that got Shaun laughing so hard but I sure got a great photo from it! Probably something about tooting or smelly socks since those are the funniest things in his life these days.

Ian's persistent mohawk is still around. No matter what I do: comb it, gel it, use baby lotion on it after a bath, flatten it with saliva - seriously!, it still pops right back up. I've decided to embrace it and am considering dying it green.

In Pursuit of Happiness

I think one of the most basic needs of everyone on Earth, after food and shelter, is to be happy. My dad said something quite profound in one of his emails from India. He was talking about how poor so many people in India are but who is to say that they aren't happy? He was astounded by how kind and polite everyone is there, no matter what their socioeconomic status happens to be.

I often look down on people because they happen to have different goals than I have. Like their priorities are a fancy car or nice clothing or lots of kids' toys or the latest-and-greatest electronic instead of a vehicle they can afford or simple clothes and toys or a plain old TV that works just fine. But who am I to judge whether these things bring them happiness or not? They wouldn't bring me happiness but I'm not the one going and getting the fancy car now am I? I know what brings me happiness and it has nothing to do with the things I have; nothing to do with where I live or how I was raised.

Happiness comes to me through my husband and my children. Every day I am blessed by being able to wake up to the sound of little feet running into my room and the question, "Is it morning time yet Mummy?". I get to peer over the side of the crib to a sweet baby face smiling innocently back at me, just because he's happy to see me. Every day at 1:00 I can nuzzle my husband goodbye as he walks out the front door to head off to work. We are lucky to have one another.

We are so lucky to be so happy.

Li' C

I've been wondering when a Little Chomper is going to appear in Ian's mouth. That was answered this afternoon when I jammed my finger in his mouth and he BIT me! Ian has his first tooth. It's still smaller than the naked eye can detect, that's how I ended up getting bit, but it's certainly there. He'll be eating apples by next week, I'm sure.

Six Months Gone, just like that

The girl who took the photos was really great and knew what she was doing. I only wish that the individual shots were closer but she got the boys smiling. I can't believe Shaun is 3 1/2 and Ian is 6 months. So much has happened in the 6 months since his birth!


Boogeyman, 3 1/2 years old

Beaner, 6 months old

Juicy Carrots

When Craig was a kid, whenever he'd watch the Bugs Bunny Show he'd eat a carrot. Shaun's started the same thing. I figure it's great because it gets something really healthy into him without him even really realizing it. This morning Shaun took a couple bites of his carrot and said he didn't really like it because it wasn't 'juicy'. Have you ever had a juicy carrot? I don't think I have! I had no idea what he was talking about, until Craig reminded me that we usually buy the baby carrots that are in the bag and are a little wet. Shaun thinks they're juicy. So Craig washed Shaun's carrot and got it dripping wet. Problem solved.

My parents have a friend who ate too many carrots one day and her fair skin had an orange hue the next day. That's a LOT of carrots!

At 9:30 this morning I remembered we had an appointment to get the boys' photos done at 10. With Craig's help we quickly got both boys dressed (we had to wake Ian from his nap, poor guy) and I was out the door. The photo session went surprisingly well. Shaun had to be reminded 2 dozen times not to smile like a dork though. The easiest way to get him to smile was to applaud him, literally. Go figure. Ian could make a living giving blank stares but the photographer was really great and got him to smile a few times. We'll get the photos tomorrow afternoon.

On another note, good old Aunt Flo arrived today for a, hopefully, short visit. It's been six months since I saw her last and honestly she hasn't been missed. Too bad she's sleeping in our room.

Nibbles

I bury my face in his neck and nibble away at the warm skin while he squeals and tries to push me away.

I love playing with my boys and this afternoon Shaun's neck was ripe for nibbling. "Nibble" is a verb, a noun and an adjective in this house. We 'nibble one another', we say 'the nibble's gonna get you' and when something tastes extra good, it's 'nibble-icious'. Ian is slowly getting the hang of the whole nibble thing we have going on here because he was screaming like a pro this afternoon when I finally got to his chubby neck fat. I love how Shaun loves and hates it all at the same time. He screams and tries to get away and carries on and on saying that you're hurting him and to get away, but as soon as you stop he comes bounding back with the energy only a 3 year old can have trying to get to your neck. It's wonderful!

I didn't want the day to end. But once bath time was done and I had quietly read a story to Shaun and nursed Ian one last time, somehow the dimmed lights in the kitchen helped me feel relieved they were upstairs snuggled in their beds. I really do have a wonderful life, complete with Nibbles.

Living the Life

The move went flawlessly though the weather was terribly cold. No, actually it was bloody freezing! -20C. Cold enough to chap bare skin in only minutes. The movers arrived at 10AM and started loading the truck right away. Craig had worked most of the morning at bringing things down to the living room so that it was easier for the movers to load and I took a couple of runs to the new place in the meantime with the last of the boxes. Three hours later we were in the new house unpacking boxes and watching Shaun run laps through the family room and kitchen.

Our new home is nothing short of amazing. We love the fireplace, the gorgeous kitchen, the bright playroom, the huge storage spaces above the garage and in the laundry room, separate rooms for the boys; I could go on and on. The boxes are mostly all unpacked. The 20 or so that are left are for seasonal things like camping stuff and spring/summer things like rollerblades, sandals, and clothing. Those remaining boxes will find their home in the storage loft above the garage.

The appliances came on Friday and boy, am I in love!! The washer and dryer are silent and super fancy compared to my old top-loading ones. The stove is stylish and boils water in mere minutes. The fridge was a pipe dream that I happened to stumble on as an inventory markdown. There was no way we'd be able to afford a fridge like this otherwise. Craig asked me on Friday which I was most excited about and, no contest, it's the fridge. I can't wait to do our first grocery shop and fill it up with all kinds of goodies!

We ordered a new loveseat for the family room that will be ready in a month or so. It's custom so we're having to wait for it to be made. Mum and I went to Randall Klein Design in London about a month ago and I found a perfect couch so I dragged Craig back the following weekend and we ordered it. I'm positive I could have found a similar loveseat that would have cost much less but I also know I didn't want to spend the time searching for it. As it is I went to countless stores searching for what I wanted. When I finally found it at Randall Klein I didn't ask questions.

We've also ordered a bed and nightstands that should be arriving on Thursday and furniture for the playroom that will double as patio furniture in the warmer months. It's resin wicker and includes 2 chairs, a loveseat, and a coffee table as well as cushions. I figure it will be great for kids to use and then we won't have to buy extra furniture for outside. Craig's new TV arrived yesterday and he's been in Plasma HD Heaven ever since. The TV Stand is on backorder and won't arrive until the beginning of March so we have the TV on a toybox in the meantime. Hopefully Shaun doesn't want anything in there!

I'm heading to IKEA next week with my best friend Erika to buy the rest of the stuff: chairs for the TV area, a cabinet for the upstairs bathroom, a dresser for Shaun, and a few odds and ends. Okay, maybe more than a few.

The way we see it, we sacrificed so much by living in the condo as long as we did and every single extra penny was put on the mortgage while we were there. We were still using furniture Craig bought off his sister 10 years ago and she had it for years before that! Actually, we STILL have it, although it's been demoted to the basement for now. All our hard work and determination and penny pinching has allowed us to own this terrific home that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford had we not been so careful with our money over the past 7 years. So now we get to live a little.

Moving On

The cupboards and drawers are empty. The beds are taken apart and the pieces stacked against the walls. All the pictures have been carefully wrapped and packed away. The fridge is almost bare. The pantry empty. The washing machine just finished its last load of laundry. All of Shaun's favourite hiding places are now filled with stacks of boxes. The baby clothes that were hanging in the boys' closet have a new home and are folded neatly in the dresser. When I look around it doesn't feel like home anymore. All my things are here but they're packed away in boxes to take to my next home. We're taking apart the computer tomorrow and won't be hooked back up until Sunday but I'll make sure to post pictures of Our First Home: the place where we met, married, made babies, brought our first born home and birthed our youngest. The home we made countless memories in and the home I'm so sad to be leaving.

1 Day.

Countdown Means Time to Panic

I was reminded this morning by Shaun that it's only 3 sleeps until we move to the new house. I've been so smug this whole time that I'm ultra organized and things have been chugging along with the packing. I have a couple of meals that I froze a few weeks ago that have been waiting for this week to be used so that I don't have to worry about packing the kitchen at the last minute. But there's still so much to do! The fridge is absolutely last minute. The computer: last minute. The laundry, the bed linens: last minute. It doesn't help that Shaun has preschool tomorrow so I think I'll delegate Craig to do the driving, and Shaun's kindergarden registration is Wednesday morning. I'm a control freak and I'm beginning to feel out of control!

Even though the move was fairly soon in comparison to how long some people wait to close a new home, it still sort of snuck up on me. Today's Monday, so there's tomorrow and the next day to get everything ready. That's not much time. And it's not even the packing that's left to do; that's nearly done. I'm worrying about making sure boxes are piled neatly for the movers so they can load them quickly and taping all the screws, etc. to the dismantled furniture so we can put it back together with ease. Nevermind all the clean laundry that I'm going to have to deal with in the meantime. I think we'll end up moving some laundry in laundry baskets and washing it at the new place.

And darn, I need more boxes. My guess: there's 60 in the garage at the new place. There's another 20 already packed and waiting in the kitchen and stacked in the hallway upstairs. I think I need 10 or so more. Ninety boxes!!!

3 sleeps.