Day 2

So it's been over 24 hours and we're all still alive, smiling and well fed.... no missing children, no power outages, no burnt supper, no major tantrums.  It's quiet at present, two at school, one downstairs and one in bed... so a few seconds to update on my life as a quasi-parent. 
Time schedule (sorta close but probably not really)
13:00 - turf Sara in bed...accompanied by her baby
13:30 - check emails, clean up a bit, try to load the dishwasher - hmmm, how do you work one of these things?  Thankfully the kids are pros.
14:00 - close my eyes for a few minutes until it's almost time to leave for picking up kids
14:50 - check in on Sara to find her awake and contentedly lying in bed waiting for someone to rescue her - and she gave me a big smile!
15:10 - leave to pick up kiddies - nearly take off the side mirror of the van trying to back out of the garage - alll these modern conveniences eh?  dishwashers, garages, what will be next?  I'm supremely happy they don't have an alarm system!
15:20 - Caleb and Anna reporting for duty - thankful to see both of them present and accounted for
16:00 - snack time, play time, unpack bags and talk about the day time
16:30 - TV time - time to start thinking bout supper
17:45 - Esther's home from choir and it's supper time - Spaghetti Casserole - yum! Everyone liked that and there weren't too many fights about that
18:00 - Dessert - how much can we push for?  Chocolate milk and chocolate syrup on icecream - hmm, getting spoiled to be sure!
18:30 - Cleaned up dishes, read stories, goofed off a bit
19:00 - Launching into the bedtime preparations of getting three little kiddies off to bed in a half hour - pajamas on, teeth brushed and flossed, stories read, prayers said, fish fed, teddies in bed, lights off, blinds shut... oh i know to any mom with experience, this sounds like any other night but when you're used to putting only one person (yourself) to bed, it's a change to marshall three into dream land in one coordinated effort without causing major upheavals (that's not the way we do it, Aunt Danielle) or transgressing laws - not allowed to have doors open and lights on.
19:45 - peace and calm reigns at the domicile - Esther and I sneak downstairs to watch part of a movie - nice and relaxing...
20:45 - Esther's in bed too - and lights are out and it's time to relax
21:00 - dishwasher on - to save energy...
24:00 - empty dishwasher - dry things off whilst watching a movie on my computer - who knew doing dishes could be this fun!
00:15 - to bed, to bed....
01:30 - wake up - am i late?  Nope, apparently not, back to bed, you silly goose
02:30 - is it time yet?  No...
04:30 - How about now?  Nope, still two more hours yet if you would be smart enough to take advantage of them
06:30 - Okay, enough already - i'm getting up - i'm going to regret this later but there's no point in waiting for the alarm now!  Shower... get dressed and ready to face the new day....
0:700 - everyone's awake - happy and ready for a new day - no nightmares or midnight wanderings to deal with thankfully
0:715 - breakfast, packing bags and brushing teethes
08:10 - leave for school, run a yellow light, get told off by a five year old for doing said error, and make it to school early - i was desparately afraid i wouldn't wake up or be organized enough to get this done but it worked out well!
08:30-12:30 - home again and it's playtime... in random order - reading books, playing with babies, playing with Barbies ( i do believe i've forgotten how to play Barbies - my Barbies ended up eating out of a play frying pan, working on a railroad and wearing completely uncoordinated outfits whilst wearing one skate - who knows where the second one was), marshalling little tiffs between Sara and Anna, building a highly unsuccessful fort (i'm so rusty!), dancing around the play room wearing (at various times) a fake wig, an orange hat, a huge old sweater, pink insulated slipper socks and a bandana "Aunt Danielle, you look like a prince and you have to marry me! "
12:30 - lunchtime - leftovers from yesterday's dinner, bread, cheese slices, yogurt and milk - hmmm... i think everyone should be dosed up on dairy products!
13:00 - Sara's down for a nap - she went quietly into the fray and Anna's playing downstairs...
.....

babysitting hour by hour

So, i'm sitting on babies for a coupla days... I've actually been looking forward to this for a while - my dear friends have decided to journey across the border for a few days and they have entrusted their four little ones to my care - ages 10, 6, 5, and 2.  We'll have to talk again on Saturday and see how we all survived.  But i thought it might be fun to give you an idea of my day thus far...
8:30 am - report for duty and get a run down on the last minute details - just how to open the garage door and not manage to lock myself and the children in there...
9:00 am - see Mom and Dad off on their trip and teach Sara how to drive (gotta start early)
9:30 am - line all the baby dolls in the house up in a line and feed them - it's important to get that done early too otherwise they just scream all day long
9:45 am - doodle on the Magnadoodle
10:00 am - read "George Shrinks"
10:30 am - play with the "walking" doggie and any and every other toy in the toy chest that makes noise - i sure hope these things don't go off in the middle of the night or i might just get kinda freaked out
10:45 am - send Sara on "shopping missions" telling her i need eggs and hamburgers and milk - she happily traipses down the hall and magically gets the groceries from the imaginary grocery store in the wall and brings them back to me for preparation and consumption
11 am - out for an abbreviated walk to the park - i wasn't thinking too much - everything was pretty soaked still from the downpour last night and the wind was a whole lot colder than i imagined - good thing for pockets - i guess i'm not cut out for trekking with children yet
11:30 am - eating slices of plastic pizza, listening to the incessant sounds of "she'll be coming round the mountain", "old macdonald" and other children's classics on the toys, whilst watching the fish in the tank and receiving suspicious whiffs of toxic nature from the small one in my charge... off on diaper duty...
To be continued...

Fairly Fall Day

 Seeing as i was a good girl this fall and because my parents love me and because i was kinda lonely on Thanksgiving afternoon and because it was SUPER weather and because i love the fair and because my parents are the best parents in the world and because of so many other reasons, they took me to the Rockton Fair on Monday afternoon.  Mom and I resolved to take a bunch of pictures that meant "fair" to us.  See if you agree...It's a long post so i apologize but there's some pretty neat shots in the lineup - i'd love to hear from you about which one really said "fair" to you.  I am so happy that we grew up in this area where fall fairs are such a tradition - there's always something about the atmosphere that makes me feel.... i don't know what i feel i suppose... a whole bunch of emotions..

  This was taken for the benefit of my friend Alvar... who loves cotton candy.

 The crowds were already thinning out by the time we arrived - little did we know that the fair closes at 5 on Monday - we were still wandering at 6...oops, could you imagine being kicked out of the fair?

 A riot of fall colour and shape...

 I am truly inspired and hope to enter things in the fair next year - i hope i carry through with it but i am amazed at all the truly creative people out there...

 Who can go to the fair without a bite of fudge?  This brings back so many memories - sticky fingers, the crinkle of the paper bag that it came in, the sweet deliciousness of the fudge melting in your mouth and making your teeth hurt with its saccharinity (??? is that a word - if not, i dub it so).  Dad always managed to find a knife somewhere and would cut off little pieces for us all - very fairly (heehee) doling out the bits of yummy until it was gone... ummmmmmmm

 Dad posed for me by the giant pumpkin - doesn't he look happy to be out with his oldest daughter? 

 We got there in time to watch the heavy horses - Clydesdales,  Belgians and Percherons - it totally brought me back to my childhood - the thrill of seeing their huge hooves prancing, their feathers waving in the breeze, the jingle of harness, the snorting and head tossing, the coordination of their movements - so large and yet so graceful.

 Mom is trying to pick out the winner of the Heavy Horse competitions - sadly, we weren't very good predictors - i don't think we'll take up careers as bookies...

 I more than likely have a picture of myself in the same position about 30 years ago - we loved to sit on the tractors and pretend we were farmers - i think i managed to score a really fancy lawnmower instead of a real full-on tractor but it would have to do!

 One foot, two foot, white foot, big foot, featherered foot, dinner-plate foot

 Dad looks pretty small compared to this gentle giant... these horses are immense!

 It's not a Belgian....it's a Nederlander... good strong work horse, creative and a little wild at times... make sure you keep her safely locked up in there!

 A sheep in the hood...Watch out or he'll fleece ewe and you'll be wooly wooly sorry

 A nice shiny tractor, making lotsa smoke and noise

 The lucky one who got away - this turkey was still standing when the forks and knives of the nation were placed in exhausted silence at the side of the dinner plates of Canada...Lucky fellow

 Is is Christmas already?  My first Christmas tree this year...

 The carousel - empty and ready to be packed up for another year next year

 To be or not to bee, that is the question - this little fellow is going dormant for the winter as well...

 I like it, i like it a lot...

 At the end of the festivities, the clean up begins... remnants of our obsession with food

 Unfathomable... i can't imagine... no way... people eat this???

 Apparently someone is kinda bored and waiting for the elusive last customer.. he's in his cups..

 A little bit of grease never hurt anyone right?  Indulging in a few onions rings for good measure

 The skies got dark and the sun got really brilliant towards the end of the afternoon - things had already cleared out a lot in terms of the crowds so we were left to wander the empty aisles, dismissing the carny's attempts to draw us into their games and rides and admired the skies and colours instead.

That's all she wrote, folks... just waiting for next year!