Im still here

Oh my has it been a busy week and a half, you guys. Moving day was a nightmare but thanks to family, it worked out and I got into my new house by mid-afternoon. I still have boxes and crap everywhere but it is livable and so Im not in any hurry. I love the house though. Everyone that has come over has commented on how nice it is and even though I know its silly, I love those comments. When I lost the last house I couldn't see myself being proud of our home again. This house is sooo much better though; Im so excited about it! I haven't taken any pics of the whole place yet so I will wait to post some things.

Last weekend was the first weekend that the three older boys spent with their dad. He picked them up at 5 on Saturday and brought them home at 4 on Sunday. 23 hours, big whoop! I cant really complain though because this is such an improvement. He still hasn't given back the Wii and Chris spilled the plan that I had thought of to get it back. Sigh* The kids had a great time though and Josiah and I spent all day Sunday doing really fun things. It was nice to leisurely browse the mall and to check out a parent show that was being put on at a local hotel. Josiah also giggled for the first time at his photo session on Sunday, which was adorable to say the least!

Today Josiah's sister came over to meet him and us. She is six and it is so easy to tell that they are related. Their father is still out of the picture in both of their lives but at least we've worked out a way for them to still know each other all of their lives. They are going to visit when they come back to the city on Halloween and we made casual plans for Josiah and I to visit one weekend when the other boys are with their dad.

Hmm, what else has been going on? Chris had his pre-kindergarten health check today. Developmentally, he is doing perfect. That is such a relief because I know he is way behind where Rayden was at the same age. He is at the 25th percentile for both height and weight which is pretty consistent from when he was a toddler. He is 4.5 and only 34lbs, just a little peanut! He can still fold himself on my lap like a 3 year old and Ill trade that for a bigger kid any day. He had an immunization today too and I must say he was so brave. He really didn't want to do it but he only teared up a little and snuggled for a few minutes before going back to his gameboy.

My car has been giving me some trouble and I am so lucky to have a brother that cares so much. He has taken it to his shop a few times to fix various things for me and all I have to do is pay for the parts. I hate taking advantage of him like that and I wish I could afford to pay him a little something but at the moment that isn't possible. I think a little further down the road, Ill be able to do something more, hopefully anyway.

Xmas is totally kicking my butt. The kids have already given me their lists, verbally of course. Ive picked them up a couple small things that I have seen on sale, but nothing that they actually asked for yet. My new budget will be fine for next Christmas because I will have 12 months of putting money aside for it instead of the three that I will have this year. Im worried that i wont be able to do much for them and that's hard as a parent. I can get sponsored through the single parent association here and I may end up going that route. I feel weird doing it knowing that there are other families that have less though. Anyway, we'll have to wait and see what I can work out when it gets closer.

I was speaking with Indigo Girl today about gyms and how I used to love going but that the cost was killing me and I had to cancel my membership. She suggested that I look into a Y because the family rate includes child minding and that they even offer sponsorships if you cant afford the full monthly fee. So I checked out the local website and bingo that's it! The family membership rate is half of what I used to pay for myself and child minding for two kids. This way too the kids can participate in all sorts of other activities at no extra cost. It seems like a winning situation all around. They have also recently released the plans for a brand new family Y in the city. It is absolutely amazing. To give an idea of the size, there is a regular female change room with approx. 130 lockers; an adult only female change room with approx. 70 lockers and lounge (!) area; ditto for the two men's change rooms and then a family change room. That means that this place can accommodate like 500 people at one time and that's with one locker per person. I can not wait to be able to go there I mean that one will even have a pool which the current one is lacking. The building of this new Y has not started at all yet so it will be a couple years Im sure, but man I cant wait! Back to what I was saying though, I think I am going to look into the subsidy program with the local Y to see what I can work out. Ive already looked at their schedule and Im sure we would go at least 5 times a week. I want it to happen now though!

Ah well that's my crash update on the last week and a half. I managed to keep up on all of your blogs on my cell so Im not too far behind with all of ya, even if I did miss all of your comment love ;)