Shooter KELLY!

Just got home from the wedding with Shelley & boy does time fly when you're having fun! For her this is all routine and she's positive I'm bored & itching to leave when it is sooooooo the opposite. I couldn't be happier, running & fetching, keeping track of details etc. Today was EVEN better than last week. She liked some of my ideas for pictures & used a couple things I mentioned in her shots! AND, after the ceremony, she handed me a camera and said "Go up there & get some shots" I almost fell over! I thought it was pretty neat to be able to hold her bag but to USE her camera???? Someone pinch me! (ouch, that was too hard!) It was a good thing she did it suddenly, if I'd had much time to think about it, I'd probably have had to throw up first.

After I got over my shock, I scrambled into position and took some random shots of the guests outside the tent (outdoor wedding). I have no idea if anything is usable or not but woooooooohooooooooo!!! and then she did it again at the reception. She wanted shots from two different angles of the wedding party arriving in the room and set me up on one side & told me to fire away. What a rush! Even if she deletes every single one, I'm still pretty jazzed. There is one shot I think turned out nice from the cake cutting but it's hard to tell on that little screen. I'll just pretend it's a great one!

So I had a fantastic, fun day!!!!!! I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She's so good at what she does and her clients love working with her. I can't imagine ever taking on that kind of pressure & shooting a wedding myself but being an assistant at one is right up my alley. I get to make lists, keep track of time, make suggestions (and did I mention I get to hold her fancy equipment, ahhhhhh!!!!!) and have no pressure actually on me??? It couldn't be any more perfect!!! I'm really sorry that I'm busy for the next one she's doing. I'd like to think she'll miss me though. : ))) I won't flatter myself into thinking she can't manage without me but as I told her today, I like to think I'm better than nothing!

Poor Murray didn't have nearly as much fun as I did! Holy horrors Batman! Those girls were just full of P&V today. There was so much fighting and whining over everything & apparently it didn't get much better after I left. This morning we thought we'd do something fun & take all their bikes over to Murray's office parking lot so they could practice on a nice smooth surface. Talk about a disaster & total waste of time! Sweetie was dead set against leaving the house in the first place but then relented when she realized everyone else was going. Then when we got there & unbuckled them all, she refused to get out of the car & just screamed for us to do her buckles back up THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE THERE! Honey tried it out for a few minutes but then decided she didn't like wearing her helmet and was totally willing to give up the bike riding to be able to take it off. But God love Lovey, she was very keen & did quite well, was in good humour and got lots of pedalling in! I think Murray has some video that might get on YouTube eventually. We spent a total of 15 minutes there though I think before we gave up. With Honey & Sweetie both in the car, we decided to pack it in once Lovey had had enough.

Visitors!

Andrew needed to call in the recruits for their move so Nanny & Auntie KK came to the rescue. I told the girls that morning and Sweetie said (with a big intake of breath & high screechy voice) I'm sooooo EXCITED! and Honey said "woohoo". Lovey was in another room & didn't hear the announcement but I'm sure she was equally moved! It was the same day we went to the lake to visit Leanne so by the time we got home, Nanny & KK had already gone to Andrew's.

When they got back to our house, the girls just went wild! Dancing & singing like nobody's business! Sweetie & Honey thought Nanny should sleep with Sweetie in her bed and Lovey seemed ok with that decision. Even though it was only a short visit, I could tell things were soon going to go downhill as it was 2 hours past their usual bedtime! We managed to get them settled without incident & Sweetie got her wish. The next morning she was quite heartbroken when Nanny left right after breakfast. She screamed and cried for 20 minutes saying "I want SOMEBODY to come BACK!"

I'd been planning to take them over to Andrew & Mandy's to say goodbye anyway so I rushed them through their breakfast and told Sweetie to get dressed, get her shoes etc. Everything I asked her she did without question & once even told me to hurry and get in the car so we could go! It was a whole new level of compliance I've never seen. Nanny couldn't stay long as she had a work party that evening & still had a 4 hour drive home but Sweetie was contented with the 2nd visit although still wants SOMEBODY to come BACK soon. : )))

KK & I brought the kids back here for lunch & then went out for some groceries and then hit the park. It was interesting trying to keep track of these 3 in the midst of about 40 other kids there from a day camp at the Y! We managed to bring all the right ones home though so we did well!

Today was totally rainy & they played inside all day & did quite well. I managed to make a toblerone peanut butter cheesecake & prep nachos for supper. Murray got home & we ate quickly & got ready to go swimming without even sampling the cheesecake!

What a blast at the pool! They are getting soooo comfortable in the water buuuuuuuut TOO much so! Lovey throws herself in and doesn't seem to care that she has no footing, nothing to grab onto and no flotation device either. Murray had to drag her up to the surface quite a few times and she'd immediately jump right back in! That girl has GOT to learn to swim. Mum says Dale was exactly the same way, no ability yet no fear either! Hopefully the latter will soon lead to the former... The other 2 were quite content too. Sweetie just hung onto the straps on the back of my bathing suit & Honey would jump off the side & let me catch her but she went under quite a bit too & is very good at holding her breath. I could feel the death grip Sweetie had on my straps (which are probably stretched to pieces now) so I didn't worry about her too much but she was letting herself sink into the water & going under & then hauling herself back out, over and over. Murray was fairly freaked out by the whole experience, said he found it rather nerve wracking, the whole time! There's also a big waterslide that was in much demand from our family. I went down repeatedly with one or the other or the other as they took turns riding with me. You come whipping off the end pretty fast & it's tricky to get your footing, never mind trying to keep your head above water as well as somebody else's! They didn't care if they got dunked though, they wanted to go right back up!

We were late for bed again tonight but on the way home Sweetie piped up "Hey! we didn't have dessert yet!" soooooo cheesecake all round, but verrrrrrry small portions. I was surprised when they got into pj's & bed with no argument, no chatter, no singing & fell asleep in minutes. Woohoo! Swimming every night I say!!! (Old Nanny, can you arrange nightly access at J's???)

Another wedding gig for me tomorrow, can't wait!!!!

More "Heard in Conversation"

Day 3 with no camera, still trying to cope with the loss.... my stomach's not in knots all the time anymore so that's progress right? I've put it in good hands & when it gets to the repair centre, I hope they'll be able to give me some good news. I'm almost afraid to hear what it's going to cost to fix it & then there's the fear that they say "oh sorry, it's just the cover that's the problem but you can't buy just a cover, you have to buy a whole new shell". I'm hoping it's an easy job but things don't tend to work that way in the repair business. When we wanted to get our video camera repaired it was more than half the cost of a new one. If that happens, might be a sign that it's time to upgrade right?

Murray's brother moved back home! : ((( and he misses Andrew already. He was at the office yesterday said he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and wondered if it was Andrew popping in to visit & then realized that it couldn't be him. Hopefully things work out for them soon, Mandy was anxious to be near her mom when the baby arrives (due next week) so he's now unemployed & homeless (staying with someone til they get sorted out though) but they may have sold their house here... You can imagine how the financial planner in me is having trouble with this scenario! LOL I'm sure this will all end up as just another "crazy Andrew" story someday! I know Mandy will be happier & everyone will enjoy having a new baby nearby.

Well since I have nothing interesting to show, I'm sharing some snatches of conversation that have floated around here this week.

Honey, face all screwed up in misery & in a whiney tone "Mumma, Lovey killed my new daughter!"

In the car one day, driving along, I thought I'd see how much of "1-2 buckle my shoe" they knew.

Me: 1-2, buckle my...?
Them: Shoe!

(ok this is good, maybe they know it already from reading stories with Murray or maybe they're so smart, they knew to put a rhyming word in there! cool!)

Me: 3-4, shut....?

Them, really loud, in unison: UP!!!!!!!!!!!

(omg! that's horrible! the only association they have is some rude expression!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Me: ummmm who says THAT?

Them: SHREK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ok, thank goodness! they didn't learn that from us, whew! wait a minute, WE let them watch it... damn, we're still at fault here but at least it's not because we say it to them!)


Me: Honey, what do you want to me when you grow up?

Honey: a doctor.

Me: a doctor that helps people?

Honey: no, a doctor that helps animals

(oh! I can teach them a new word here!)

Me: oh that's a good idea! that kind of doctor is called a vet-rin-arian, vehhhh-traaaaa...

Honey: I know Mum, is called a vet. You go to the vet if you're farting too much.

(no chance of keeping a straight face on this one, I totally lost it!)


Another day, in the kitchen...

Honey: Mumma! my bum burped!!!!!!!!!! (also tricky not to laugh here)

Totally Freaked Out.

Put batteries in the camera this morning, drove to Murray's office to drop off the dog & decided to take a picture of Andrew on his last day but the camera wouldn't work. I thought maybe I'd put the batteries in wrong so flipped it over to check the compartment. There was a big lump in the cover and the button was fused in place & wouldn't budge. Couldn't open it & now I have to send it off to have it checked out & hopefully repaired. All day long I've had visions of battery acid spilling into all the components and frying the entire thing.

Most disturbing and I'm quite anxious about my "baby" !!! AND NO PICTURES of today's fun outing at a lake with Teena & Leanne (friend from university home from Bostong) and all our kids playing together!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Another day...

a self portrait, McKara style!

Nothing spectacular to report, or that I can remember to report! I'm pretty sure there was something funny at suppertime but I can't bring it to the surface for the life of me. Maybe it'll come to me tomorrow...

a little picnic! (the awesome hats are from sundayafternoons.com highly recommend them!

Slow day, no outings, no visitors... but not as much screeching as yesterday so that's good. Lovey did have a little defiant moment when I wanted her to wait before dumping all the playdoh tools onto the still dirty kitchen table. She looked at me & tipped it over & I got cranky. Told her to leave the kitchen & that she couldn't play for a few minutes. Then when the timer beeped, I asked her to apologize for not listening to me. She stood there with a little smile playing on her lips & refused. She was totally psyched for playdoh & realllllllllly wanted to get in there with her sisters but she was disinclined to acquiesce to my request (been waiting to work that in for you Dad!) and chose instead to sit in the living room by herself for over an hour while the other two playdoh'd their little hearts out. I kept going and asking if she was ready & each time she'd start to come back & then realize I was still waiting for that apology & she'd change her mind. She seems partly stubborn and partly embarrassed, as if by apologizing she is acknowledging her wrongdoing and admitting guilt and so she's having no part of that because if she doesn't own up to it, then she's still innocent???? It's bizarre but I've seen her do this often, she knows, I know and she knows that I know that she knows she's goofed up! If she's this stubborn now, do I dare wonder what she's going to be like as a teenager???? *shudder*

Screeeeeeeeech!

Man! did I ever hear alot of THAT today! I was gritting my teeth before Murray even left for work this morning. I only held off calling T's Entertainment Services til 10AM because I knew it had been a late night at their house the night before. I had to leave a message but was still feeling tense & must have hit redial about 20 times in 10 minutes (coulda sworn it was more like an hour though) until I finally got through. After all that, I found out someone else had beaten me to the punch. Know how they say blood's thicker than water? Yep, her sister & her mom (neither of whom have a crazy toddler at home, never mind THREE! what do they need "T magic" for?? how rude!!) planned a little daytrip for all of them. Well ain't that just special? *grin* Ok, so we survived without them AND we're all spending the day together on Wednesday so I really shouldn't complain but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to!

The fighting & squawking & screeching were intermittent but seemed awfully frequent. The best part of the day was that they ate a really good lunch. Food lately has been a toss up, they might it eat or they might not. I went through almost 2 full cans of soup between the 3 of them so I thought that was pretty good! I also snuck some vegetables into them with that tricky juice that tastes good but is actually healthy.

After lunch we got outside and they played in the sandbox & on the swingset while I mowed the opposite corner of the yard. I kept an eye on them as I went but they had absolutely no interest in getting anywhere's near the mower so it worked out pretty well & I got some exercise in and you can't hear any screaming/fighting over the racket of the mower either! Actually they were really well behaved outside, should have gotten out there sooner I guess!

I'd been invited to an Epicure party (cooking spices/seasonings, lots of taste testing... mmmm!) but had debated going. By about noon, I'd decided I was definitely GETTING OUT tonight & I'm glad I did. Yummy, yummy, yummy! I also got to chat with some of my bank friends so that was a bonus.

What the heck is in those popsicles? they thought it was hilarious to stick out their tongues & look at each others'

Wild but not wet.

No sleep ins today, well, not for me anyway... I had everyone up, fed, bathed & almost dressed when Murray decided to join the rest of the world! I should have gotten him sooner because it was a scramble to get myself ready on time!

I'm trying to get the kids used to the idea of going off to Sunday school with the rest of the kids so Murray & I both can stay for the service. There's no choir in the summer so I thought I'd work on this. We talked about it in the car on the way there but Sweetie immediately asked if I'd be going with them. We missed the last couple of weeks but hopefully we can get them trained up so that by fall they will go up without us right there all the time. Murray stayed in church & I went with them & helped out the Sunday school leader who is now trying to steal me away from the choir ; ))

We were lucky to be there today, major bakesale going on afterwards! Woohoo! Some of the kids from the youthgroup are going on a mission trip next week to help an area that was badly flooded recently so they're trying to raise funds. Besides the bakesale, there was also a luncheon so we didn't have to make anything when we got home.

After lunch Murray worked on a troublesome water tap outdoors. It's been leaking and wouldn't turn off properly. He was able to get it working, after one trip to the hardware store & much tinkering.

Once that was all in order, we hit the road for TV & got to M&D's without being too much later than usual. They'd set up the waterslide thing that the girls had enjoyed on Friday but since it was so much cooler today (is that it? is summer officially over already???????) they didn't turn the water on & just let them slide on it dry. It didn't dampen their enthusiasm one bit! They kept asking to have the water on and we explained many many times that it was too cold but they still had a blast on it. I'm curious to see them use it with the pool filled at the bottom and the sprinklers running at the tunnels! From what I saw this afternoon, I'm not really sure how it could get any better than THAT!

a little something Mum picked up one day....



now, THAT doesn't look too good Lovey!