Back to my roots...

After a very short vacation, I went back to work this week.  It was really great to get a brand new set of kids in front of me; especially kids who actually want to learn!  Most of my students actually chose to be there and WANT to learn French!  How cool is that?  The last time I taught French to a bunch of 15 year olds I mostly got "But why do we need to learn French?" and "I'm never going to work for the government and I plan on living in an English only community for the rest of my life so this French stuff is stupid and useless".  This week when I asked for participation, they participated and when I asked them if they wanted to play a game, I got ZERO eye rolls!! WHAT??  This makes me realize how much I love being a teacher, I just hate the babysitting aspect that comes along with it!  I had a really good week, laughed many times with my students and my colleagues are really stellar gals!  So all in all, so far no regrets at all about giving up a whole month of vacation!

It's been a pretty uneventful week as far as my children go but what a weekend we had!  My LeBlanc family has been holding this huge family reunion for years now and I have never been able to make it to one yet and I've been SO looking forward to going!  So we packed up the kids and apparently enough stuff to survive an apocalypse and set off to Campbellton.  We tried to plan it so that the boys would nap on the drive but of course, anytime you plan anything, you should know that it'll just go to shit if you have toddlers.  The boys fell asleep thirty minutes in and slept for only an hour at maximum and then didn't sleep again for the whole ride there.  Oh well... Thankfully we had my mom with us on the ride up and she was a great babysitter!  Thanks MOM!! Although the boys weren't really all that bad.  They needed snacks and laughter and did amazing.  We were, of course, the hit of the party when we got there and the boys ran straight for the little toy jeeps that were all over the yard.  It was amazing to see so many people I love but never get to see all in one place.  It was the same people I saw a few weekends ago PLUS so many more!  There was play, booze, amazing conversation, games for kids, food and amazing music (mostly lead by my amazing musician of a husband that I hardly ever get to hear play anymore!).  The boys had so much fun!  They only went to bed at 11!!!!!!!!  WHAT?? I know right?? We thought they'd fall asleep on us but no luck, there was too much excitement!  So we let them take it all in, up to the fireworks (which Zachary only liked once he was in the safety of the van but was completely in awe once he felt safe).  Jacob missed it all though because minutes before they were set to go off, he pulled his hood completely over his face and snuggled into my sister and went right to sleep.  As for Samuel, he hated the noise but loved all the lights.  So with this late bedtime (which went quick due to their super crazy tired little bodies, you'd think they'd sleep in a bit right?  NOPE!  Sleeping in is no longer a thing for my boys.  They were up at 5:45 and ready to party again!  So we chilled at my aunt's house for a bit and then went back to the party for some amazing breakfast and left at about 11:30am.  The boys were OUT within minutes and slept for 1.5 hours solid.  I joined them in their slumber.  I can't help it, we could be driving to Shediac and I'd still want to fall asleep in the car.  I think it's because I can't read in cars because it makes me super sick so I found something else to do.   Sleep makes all long trips shorter and since I'm not the hugest fan of traveling, it's win win!  The boys were great until they started getting sick and tired of the travelling.  We had to pull over 3 times to solve problem after problem that my mom took care of on the drive there until we finally gave in to Jacob's crazy antics.  We had to put Samuel in the back with Zachary, bring Jacob to the middle row and have Gab sit beside him while I take over the driving.  It took a lot of cajoling and phone playing to get Jacob to calm down and many jokes with the two clowns in the back to get us home sane.  We were home for just a bit when our saviors (my in laws) showed up with supper!  Bedtime was just as crappy as normal but they are sleeping and that's what's important!

And now it's time for me to complete the many other things I need to do before I can go to bed!  Have a great week y'all!

Got my ass to the gym four times this week! GO ME!

Here we go!!

Picking some wild strawberries during our picnic pit stop!

Samuel participating in an awesome game my cousins put together for the kids.

Pig Roast!

The theme of the weekend for Easter so the boys had an Easter Egg Hunt!

The boys are starting to entertain!

My amazing family!

This woman who gave birth to 12 kids made all of this possible.  She is amazing!

My BIL Eric pushing around the boys in the battery less jeeps!

Gabe found some comrades in my musician cousins 

My niece Alexie was loving it all! 

An amazing picture daycare took this week.

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good week y'all!!

What's truly important?

I hurt someone I care about last week with words that meant no offense but to her were nonetheless hurtful.  This person has been going through hell with family illnesses and fearing the uncertainty of things that are out of her control.  She has been very fragile and I should have been more sensitive to her situation.  This has been weighing on my mind as she saw me as someone she could rely on and now I'm not even sure that our budding friendship will ever be what it was.  This is never something I thought I would ever have to deal with again because I see it on a daily basis in my classes.  I see how mean some people can be and how fragile state of minds can affect how a simple joking comment can be made to seem so insensitive.  I don't consider myself a mean person but I know that I can sometimes be sarcastic and maybe I need to take a step back and consider who my sarcasm is directed towards.  If you are reading this, please know that I am deeply sorry.

In a world full of hate and judgement, it's hard to be someone who is without faults.  I won't pretend to be this perfect person that has no judgement because I have plenty.  I won't pretend that I will change into this person who doesn't gossip because that's just not me, I think we all need it every once in a while.  I also won't pretend I like everyone because I surely don't.  What I can say is that since I've had the boys my take on what's important has changed quite a bit.  I used to believe that everyone had to like me.  I used to believe that everyone talked about me every time I left a room.  I used to believe I had no real friends.  I used to be so highly sensitive to the people around me that I would have panic attacks if I didn't feel like I was liked.  I care much less now.  I now have my family.  My children have become the reason I live and not the people around me.  Sure I still care if my friends like me, that'll never change.  I just choose to not focus on the petty things anymore.  My family is my focus; they are who matter and who will always be in my life.  I've taken a step back to observe who treats me the way I deserve to be treated and I've started paying attention to those things that just matter less.  I've started liking myself more and wondering if I'm good enough less.  I have friends who deeply care about me and those are all I need.  I have an amazing family who will be there when my friends aren't and that is what I need to remember.  I've been trying to just be kind to the people around me and although sometimes I slip (as per my first paragraph), I think I'm doing quite well.  I use to repeat Ellen's exit words to my students every day : "Just be kind to one another" and honestly, I need to repeat to myself quite often and I will try to instill it in my children.  I hope I succeed.  Of course, a little humour never killed anyone as long as you don't directly hurt anyone in the process.

This was my last week at work and it felt good to say goodbye to another year.   I start work again tomorrow and I'm actually super nervous but really excited at the same time.  I will be teaching post intensive French to a group of kids who have decided to go to French Camp.  I'm going to love those kids!! When I used to teach French at school, 75% of my students thought French was useless and stupid so it'll be a nice change to teach French to a class where 90% hopefully see the beauty in learning another language! I say 90% because I'm pretty sure 10% are there by the grace of the force of their parents haha!

We had a really great long weekend with the boys!  They let us sleep in until 6h30 two mornings in a row and that was a welcome change!  Seeing a 6 on the alarm instead of a 5 was awesome!  We had a great Canada Day that started with fun at the park and in the splash pad in Dieppe then an afternoon/early evening spent at Léa and Tom's beachfront house where the boys played on the beach for about 2 hours.  On Saturday morning we spent in Shédiac at my mother's and played in our Muddy Buddies due to the rain and the boys went to the mall for the afternoon with my in laws while Gab and I did the groceries.  Today we started the morning with a bike ride in Mapleton Park (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqBoU3bmUGw) followed by a play date with Kelly P and her boys and an inside play afternoon while Papa went to a mud bog with a friend.

We started the initial process of learning how to play hide and go seek.  I would count to ten and then go find them but of course they were never hidden.  They were just too excited for me to find them.  They really loved the game though!

Bed time hasn't really changed.  We're just going through the motions and accepting little by little that this is going to be what it's going to be for now.  It's just another phase but we are consistent in what we ask so we know that eventually they will know the routine.  It's always hard because we have lost 1.5 hours of "us" time but it is what it is and we just have to adjust to a new normal.

RHS Staff's yearly washer toss tournament

The second year in a row winners

With Hilary and Shawna at the Tide and Boar

All done! 

Could they be any closer?

Helping me with my selfies! 

Sam and mommy Thursday morning date! 

Hipster haircut

What a cool dude!

This is "what did I just do" face!  I'm actually quite excited for this!! Time to get my health back on track!

On our way to the beach!

Loving the sand filled pool on the beach!

Came up with a new triple stroller idea!

Hanging out with Pappy and our Muddy Buddies in Saturday morning's rain

Always a good time with our friends! 

Have a great week y'all!!!

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER!

Three years later....

So I when I got up this morning and looked at my Facebook, my memories told me that it had been three whole years since I started writing this weekly blog... That's a long freaking time!  I was reading my first post and I wrote that I was sorry that my blog post was so long and that I promised I'd keep it short from then on... haha... well that's not something I kept up!  My blog posts are sometimes so long that I get tired from writing them I can just imagine how you feel when you read them lol!! Skim reading for the win!  

Honestly, when I wrote that first post three years ago, NO WAY did I ever think that I would still be writing WEEKLY blog posts three years later!  I don't even think I'd be able to keep it up for a year but here we are, adventures never stopping!  I know that one day this will dwindle, when activities times three take over our lives and sitting down is just in my dreams, Facebook will have to do!   I'm just glad I'm able to keep it up for now because I really hope that some of my posts help people get through their day to day knowing they're not alone when they want to hit their heads against the wall while repeatedly asking themselves why they ever thought having children was a good idea.   I also hope that one day my boys read this blog and know how much I loved them, even through all the heartache and pain, they are my everything.  They are the reason I keep going and don't run for the hills.  The love outweighs the anger and frustration every damn time!

One of the quotes the resonated the most with me from my first blog post was this:

              "for the first time, we really started feeling scared and nervous about going through with this                    pregnancy. After we left and talked in the car in front of our house like teenagers at the end of                a date for like an hour, we were confident that we had made the right decision. If nature                         decides to take one or more of our babies, then it'll be nature's call and not ours. We want to                 give all three of these little ones a chance at life."  

This conversation came after the fertility doctor told us how difficult my pregnancy was going to be if we chose to keep all three instead of electing to surgically remove one of the fetuses.  I'm so glad we made the decision we did because then what? Would we have lost all three trying this very risky procedure?  Would I not have my amazing boys?  Every time I even start thinking about this, I get so emotional that I can't even so I will stop ever writing about it because then I'll make so many mistakes as I try to finish this through my tears...

Three years seems to have gone by in a flash... So much life has happened in those three years that I'm glad I have the blogs so that I can look back and go see all that I forget.  Even just the pictures bring me back!  We went up to Campbellton just Gabe and I on Saturday for my grandmother's 85th birthday party and my aunts had dug out old picture albums from when my parents were in their late teens early twenties.  My sister and I weren't even in the picture yet.  Going through those albums reminded me that I have to go back and continue actually printing pictures because I find that we never really look back at all the electronic ones we take but picture albums are always so much fun to go through through the years!   I'll be able to pull them out when the boys are teenagers and show them off to their girlfriends!   So that's my plan for the summer since I have enough Pampers Diaper points to get me some free stuff.  I'll finish their first year baby books and print some pics!

We had a good week all in all with the boys.  The bed time is still difficult but I don't think it's going to get any better than it is so we've just accepted that this is our life now.  What HAS changed for the better is our use of the Gro-Clock (What is this?)  Jacob used to get up, on average, at 4:45AM.  We set the Gro-Clock's alarm at 5:45 and started to teach him that he's only allowed to get up when the suns gets up on the clock.  It took a few days but now, they don't get up until that sun is there!  It's now been about 5 days in a row (yes, even Saturday morning) and we're hoping that this continues.  If it does, we're also hoping to be able to change the alarm to at least 6:30AM on the weekends and maybe one day push it to 7AM!! What?!?

While Gab and I went on our road trip, we spread out our children amongst our family members again.  Jacob and Zachary went with Mémère and Pépère and Samuel went with my mother.  They even had a sleepover!  They all had such a good time!  Jacob and Zachary went to get some haircuts, played in a sandbox and sprinklers and Samuel went to the pool.  By going to the pool I mean he went in the water for three minutes, got scared of everyone in there and sat on the side people watching for the rest of time.  We went back again this morning though and there were less people and he went in after he saw how much fun his brothers were having.  Zachary and Jacob couldn't wait to jump in!  There so much glee in their faces!  Jacob even jumped in head straight under water a few times until he got scared and made sure I was close enough to catch him before he went under.  Zachary was just full of smiles for the whole time we were there.  He was soooooo happy just to be in the water.  Their little bodies got cold quite quickly though so we didn't stay too long.  We wrapped them up nicely in towels and brought them back to the trailer where they had a nice pasta lunch and had a great long nap.  Had a nice ice cream later, came back home and stayed in where it was nice and cool once Gabe and Claude installed our living room air conditioner!  The boys had had enough sunshine for two days!  I love TV free weekends for the boys! It always makes me feel as though I succeeded as a parent lol!

This was such a long week for me at school!  Between Prom and Safe Grad and Graduation, I hardly had time to breathe at night but it's almost over for me!  I have 1.5 days left of work and then I'm on a mini vacation for 2.5 days.  Then I start teaching at the University the next Monday for 4 weeks!  What did I get myself into??  Well, if you know me, you know I get bored when I'm not doing anything and since I am basically forced to keep the boys in daycare all summer (else we lose our spot in September), I couldn't sit home for two months and not find something to occupy my time so I might as well earn some cashola!  No worries, I have all of August to get all my projects done!

Alright, this has gone on long enough... here are some pics:

We went to Dairy Queen on Wednesday night and I noticed this girl looking at us quite differently than most people do.  She then informed me that she is a triplet!!! She has two triplet sisters who all live in Moncton and all work at the Dollarama!  I can't wait to go meet all of them! 

Zachary was so cute! He went over to say hello to the little girl.

The boys' favorite pass time... helping Papa in the backyard!

Zachary was trying to lift that big piece of wood all by himself!

Jacob being a monkey and Zachary trying really really hard

Hi Sam!

Jacob and Zachary spend so much time chasing each other around while Sam watches them and laughs.

Samuel all ready to go for his sleepover at my mom's place!

When in Rome... (or Québec...)

A small part of my amazingly huge family!

Watch out in a few weeks time when we go back for our annual (but my first) family reunion!  This place is going to rock!

The boys patiently waiting for their ice cream 

Look at Jacob's haircut!  Much better than last week's lol!  

Sam is loving it!

He clearly didn't get his haircut but I still love it!  He looks like a boy in a boyband!

Yummy!  I know I know... two of them are dressed identical while Samuel is the odd man out... Those were the only clean and dry clothes we had available at my mother's place.  It did get people confused though!

I don't think the boys could have gotten any closer to the TV unless they got on top of the furniture.  This kind of throws off the whole TV free thing I was bragging about but this is their short video before they go to bed... ROUTINE!

Zachary was happy enough to just sit on the couch.

My amazing wonderful crazy 85 years young Mémère.  She is my father's mom and is 100% one of my heroes!  Not many people can raise 12 kids and survive to 85! 

She even let me Snap Chat with her!!! What a trooper!

That's is that's all folks!  Here starts my summer! I hope yours is full of wonderful sunshine, laughter and adventures!