Bananas

Rainy fall morning however, up at the crack of dawn to power hike and jog anyway. Saw 3 deer, 6 geese, heard many squirrels. Hardly saw the Mist this weekend. A sleep over with one friend--home--and then over to anouther friend's. Tabs team won all their games at the soccer ternament. She came home proud as punch with a medal. Poppy is parked in front of her 'Treehouse' programs with her juice--waiting for my banana choco-chip muffins to be ready. Must get passport photos done today. Finished first draft of "Sugar Shack at Sea." Now for the fun stuff--editing. Must have first ch. finished and perfect for the conference in three weeks. I am taking first chapters of "Queen..." and the two Pizzaface novels for the agents--editors. Leaving Pru behind as I have a new idea of how I want to illustrate and rewrite it. Won't get to that for awhile--it will be my present to myself--to take the time to paint again and do the children's books--after I get a few of my other novels published. Mom, Dad, Theresa and KW coming for Thanksgiving. Big girls have a telent competion to prepare for. Busy Oct. ahead of us! PJ is working onthe sofa with his computer--nothing new with him at all.

Hawaii Here We Come

Misty is at Rock school.Played a bit from a Green Day song. Her band is "Clock Wise." Tabs just finished a play date with Holly. Started Tabs on a super-duper health tonic to try and boost her over all health this year, as she is the pickiest eater on the planet! Poppy and I will do hot lunch at the school tomorrow and check out a new play group.Pops is more and more adorable each day--I can;t believe what a dancer she is! Busy trying to get all the girls passports ready. Hawaii here we come! 2 relaxing weeks at the beach. We want to got to Kona--Waikoloa Beach villiage. The condo looks fantastic--2 story tons of beach stuff for the kids. Anyway, PJ is stressed and pooped from a speech at the Grand this AM--he was choosen this year as the only faculty memeber to speak to for the UBC board of governors. He needs to have his PHD wrapped up by DEC--making Hawaii seem a little bit crazy--but if we wait until JAn all the prices sky rocket! I am trying to finish "Sugar Shack..." for a fast-paced novel--the ending is coming to me slowly! Maybe too slowly. Went on a fast jog this am. Spin class helps the running. For some reason I am super fast this year. PJ was too bust to accompany me.

Planes Trains Automobiles

Just gor back from a field trip with Tabs class. Poopy and I attended the salmon run on mission creek with them. It was chilly down by the water. Discovered Tabs aches and pains were an allergy to the antibiotic she as on. It turned into the worst case of hives I've ever seen: head to toe covered in patches as big as basketballs, her eyes swollen. Not one inch of her body was uncovered. She looked like a 3D map of the world. It took 2 days on benedril and homiopathic pills to bring them down.So the kid may be bored at school-but it's not what was causing her aches!Went to Two Days In Paris with Peter on Sat. Good movie. Had a spaz-freak attack in playroom yesterday--couldn't handle the mess and shear volume of toys anymore. Decided to give alot to charity and box most of the rest to store--they'll only have 3 bins in playroom at a time. Having difficulties planning our family vacation: everything requires at least three plane switches. That is fine with older kids and us, but baby can't handle soo many hours on a plane and then switching three times in a day too.Not to metion overnighting it at ahotel in Seattle on the way there and back! It's too many planes, trains, and automobiles! I just want to get there in one day, not have to fly all night and not switch to more than 3 planes max. Is that too much to ask? Why must Hawaii take two days and 3-4 plane switches or an overnight flight? I just can't do it with the baby--it would take us a week to recover from the caos and sleepless night! Other than Tabs and her hives, all my girls are well. MIst had a marathon play date weekend with neighborhood friends. Poppy loves Gwen Stefani and ACDC. She dances like crazy in her car seat when I play those artists.

Sunny September

PJ is at park with the girls. I've been writing and writing and I am now on the very last chapter of Sugar Shack. Tabs is back to having mystery aches and pains. It happens only during the school year and after great research, I have discovered that the reason may be because she is bored at school. She likes her teachers, likes all her friends, enjoys the bus ride--all good except she is bored during the day at school. So what to do? I know she needs enrichment but she is so busy with soccer and dance after school that I hate to add to many more activities. But her mind is bored and she has a thirst to challange herself. I wish the school had better programs and she could learn piano and german at school. Mist is enjoying her first male teacher and having her three best friends all in the same school and two of them on the bus. So far, it appears to be a super year for her--she is very happy. her latest animal obsession is the camel.The School of Rock is a go but her Tap lessons are still up in the air. The Popster is never happier than when playing with her big Sis's. She jumps up and down and squeels with excitement when she sees the big yellow school bus stop to let the girls off.

My babies

Scarry afternoon. Went to beach with girls--all was well beautiful day warm lake water. Then on our walk back to the van Pip fell and hit her head on the pavement. rushed her to hospital and waited a long time for a head x-ray. Her skull was not fractured and she seems OK. We must watch her tonight as she sleeps. Peter was in Vancouver. The girls called him from the hospital as soon as he got home and he came to meet us. The girls were such great helps through out the entire ordeal. They are so dependable and responsible.Pip was a trooper although the x-ray terrified her--she cried so hard she started to vomit. Needless to say, my nerves are shot. I am so grateful that my dear sweet baby and all my babies are well tonight. I need to relax some how. I need a really stupid comedy to make me laugh.

Born to Dance

Peter made it to candidacy today!Ye-ha cow paddy! Finally a little light at the end of the long tunnel. I talked to UBCO today. I don't send in my portfolio until Jan. Pip is one crazy dancer. She break dances even! I swear the kid was born to dance! Today she got out the cornstarch and dusted up the Woo and his bed. Had a busy weekend visiting with Arthurs--Andy, Grace and Don. All were looking well and in good spirits. Pip was in fine form entertaining everyone with her unstoppable dance routeen. Tabs had Tap today. She's in with a slightly older class and Laurie is her teacher which is great because my girls love Laurie. Mist statrs with her Rock band tomorrow at the School Of Rock. Went to the beach tonight--beautiful! The water was cooler than last month but warmer than the ocean!Celebrated Pete's PHD with 2 for 1 Blizzards. Mist won 'best manners at the supper table' tonight. Her prize--to make a jello mold inthe flavour of her choice. Seem to be saving alot of money on my new budget. It gives me POWER! I love balancing the books. Love that Kyran is so into my novel "Queen". It is top notch fiction I must admit. Wrote a horribly frightening/creepy part of "Sugar Shack"--it is one good book. It's a good thing I'm my own biggest fan I'll tell you--in a business full of nasty rejection. Must feed my little baby girl and tuck her into her little bed.

Weird and Wild

Love writing my weird and wild--pirate of the pacific characters for Pizzaface. Busy trying to apply for my masters. Girls still aren't settled into their new classrooms--principal thinks the schooll wil be sorted tomorrow. Gym and running going well. I can't believe my lung capacity. I never get winded anymore--ever! I can run forever up hill and not even feel it. I partly thank my asthma inhaler for that.Need to by my long-legged girls new pants for the year. Tabs came out in floods this am. All her pants are suddenly way to short! I love slow-cooking. I can make all my meals in the early afternoon before I am exhausted. It really cuts down on take-out. And I believe it helps global warming--I almost never need to turn on my oven. My pet spider is still alive--after hatching two giant egg sacks! The last sack was weird. I never saw the spiders fledge. All that I noticed was an empty sack with a tiny hole on top and one sickly wee little baby spider still sitting on it. Love wearing my ballet dress--brown and fushia tye dyed. Don't want the weather to change because I want to wear it all year!Pip wants up and Peter just got home--gotta go.

The Mist, The Tabs and The Pip

Fun weekend--Armstrong Fair was good. The kids loved seeing all of the different animals. Sooo crowded. I stupidly went on The Spider ride with Mist. Felt dizzy and sick afterward. However, I was pleased that although the fair was obscenely crowded, everyone was so polite! I must have accidentally bumped into a dozen or so people with my stroller and all of them were decent! Some actually said sorry to me! Today a hike and picnic at Fintry was wonderful. The weather was perfect and the Pip had such fun running all over the expansive lawn. Mist and Tabs had fun racing around the labrynth and stil had energy to climb up to the falls.Thought PJ was going to have a cardiac on the way up to the falls with Pip in the backpack but he assured me it was his legs that were hurting from a past volleyball game.May go to the late show tonight with Pete--see how we feel.Pip can point to all of her body parts--knees,elbows too! Such a clever little dickens! Mist and Tabs having a blast with their latest doll purchases--Mattel teen dools--that allowance is burning a hole in their pockets.

Too Late For A Night Away

How do you fit an entire summer's worth of family time into one weekend? How, when we weren't able to plan this entire summer of fun until today--the saturday of this wonderous weekend? How indeed when Pip is out of sorts today and refuses to nap. and this wonderous weekend must also include a summer's worth of household chores that have been ignored until now? Now wonder I feel so stressed today. It is too much. Too much pressure for two days. And I am tired--dead beat from being super Mom all summer while Peter wrapped up his PHD. So it looks like this wonderous weekend may be the Armstrong Fair today and tomorrow? I do not know. I wanted a night away at a resort with a pool and hiking. Alas everything is booked up solid! From Harrison Hot springs to Veranda Beach in Osoyoos. So this wonderous weekend may be family time on a Kelowna beach and perhaps not much else. Peter thinks the goldmine tour in Hedley will be too much for us--4 hours and alot of stair climbing. I'm game although, with the three little ones, that night away swimming and relaxing sounds so much more of what I need. But it is impossible as we did not plan ahead--could not until PJ submittd his proposal so that was yesterday--too late for a night away.