Wicked

 

Lili and friends made it to opening night.  They looked soooo cute.

Mom, Lili, Fei, Jia and I are trying to find a day and time to go together.

Not an easy task.  Fei has a ton of school work and Jia works weird hours.  Fingers crossed for this Thursday ;)

Slowly getting geared up for Christmas.  Shopping nearly done.  Mom, Lili and I went to Woodgrove yesterday.  Mom is done.  I just need another idea for Fei.  

Treats.

Swing two.  It was always the favorite and it's getting a lot of use again. We'll keep this one.

Mom and I did a thing. We bought purposely mismatched Christmas shirts and hats for the family photo.  Haha.  The pure chaos that depicts our reality.  Now we have to find a time that we are all together and feeling like picture taking.

I always pick orange, purple, pink or red.  I went with green for healing.  Ugh.  I hate it.  It looks so wrong.  Live and learn.  Interestingly, the kids never say a word about my toes but a few have said ew to the green.  Haha.

Kai at school.

The furnace is moved!

Into this wee shed.  

Big projects going on here.  People around often.  It's weird and so nice on the weekend when it's all quiet again.

Please Dad, some chicken please?

Eric had his excise hole cut bigger on Friday. We get to change the bandage today and see how it's doing.  The Dr will only do one at a time.  So 5 weeks until he'll cut the next one out.  Sigh.  This will be a long process.

Eric took me to Bin4 for the first time.  I understand the fuss now.  The food was great.  We shared.  Lili and friends go in Nanaimo after 9 for half price burgers.  I don't want to eat that late or drive home in the dark but it's almost tempting.

Eric and I stayed put today.  Trying to catch up on house cleaning.  We're managing to keep up to the daily things.  Floors and sheets today.  I made an Olive Garden knock off soup for dinner.  It's smelling so good.  

Want a chuckle?

 

Jia works anywhere from 3 to 5 shifts a week, about 25 to 30 hours.  Jia has WAY too much spending money for a 15 year old. Saving is proving difficult.  In the meantime gaming is still where the bulk of the funds go.  Occasionally packages arrive.

This character is from one of the games.  His name is Phainon.  Jia ordered a cosplay outfit to become him.  It was custom made from China.  It was very pricey.  Very, very pricey.  It took months for it to be made and arrive.

Yesterday was finally the day.

The box was huge.  So many packages with bits and pieces.

There is literally a video tutorial of how to put this outfit on.

At one point Fei, Eric and I were all helping.

It fits perfectly.

The detail is truely impressive.

The stitching on this is simply amazing.

So fun.

So, here is the funny part.  Jia worked until 10.  Outfit on by 11.  In my room visiting until 11:30.  Then Jia woke me up at 5am.  Completely STUCK.  In a bit of a panic.  Jia had managed to get one arm worked down inside the body part.  Then had no way to maneuver in any direction. After struggling for an hour, getting crazy hot and feeling panicky I was woken up for help.

With a lot of laughing and frustration we got it off.  It wasn't easy.  I'm fairly certain Jia won't ever put it on when alone!

I chuckle every time I think about it.

Souffle?

Sugar free, gluten free, low calorie, diabetic friendly

chocolate cheesecake brownie.

This thing rose up huge.  Looks like a souffle.  Smells amazing.  Waiting for it to cool. 782 calories for the whole thing.  Update, Eric, Lili and Luk spit it out.  I thought it was ok but not good enough to bother wasting my limited calories on.  Kai loved it.

I've held my weight for three years and recently went up 4 lbs.  So the calorie counting has started up again. It's shockingly surprising how easy it has been to fall back into the plan.

It's like it was never there.  So weird.  Much calmer to look out though.

Bad News but not REALLY bad news.

 

Eric got a call Monday to make a Dr appointment.  Which meant something not good showed up on his biopsy.  The next afternoon Mom picked up the boys and Eric and I had the call.  The Doctor said "it's bad news but not REALLY bad news".  Eric's mole is melanoma, the bad one, but caught early.  The excise margin wasn't good enough so he has to go back in this Friday for a bigger hole and to have the other moles removed.  So, this is your notice to have your moles looked at.  Eric has always had these moles.  They aren't new.  I made him go in to look at one that had changed.  That one apparently is fine.  Go figure.  We are extremely grateful this is all early detection and cut to cure at this point.

Phew.

This morning I'm hiding in the living room.  I have a book and puppies.  After the last couple days a bit of peaceful down time is required.

While I'm hiding, Eric and Ty are working.  Mom is in her space with a kitchen guy measuring and there are people here picking up the playground.  

We celebrated this guy's gotcha on Sunday.  He picked butter chicken for his meal. Isn't he so handsome?!

Finn has finally discovered the house.  He can't figure it out.  He gets in and tries to spin circles.  Then gets right out.  I keep finding it upside down.  He's already tried twice since I've been typing this post.  Would it be extreme if I had Eric fasten it down so it doesn't tip?  Haha.  Anything for the baby.

Clearing out is still happening.  I kept this beauty for years and years.  My plan was to change up the basement eventually.  The kids still don't love this like I do.  They want comfort and not weird vintage.  The couple that picked it up were thrilled.  

Watching the playground go is letting go of an era.  It's sad.  Watching all the kid things go is sad.  I don't always embrace change. 

It's been a super long week already and it's only Wednesday.  Sigh.

Esmei Boots

 

Could she possibly look any more annoyed?

I dared to get out of bed and wake her.

I gave her a good scrub to make up for my rudeness.  She feels soooo soft.

So far, Eric is outside puttering.  I'm dealing with strangers listing items in the free chats.  Listening to an audio book and gearing up to make lunch for Kai and I.  Taking Jia to work this afternoon and then meeting Lili at Christmas Chaos.

A miracle.

 

Lewis is home!!!!

We haven't seen Lewis since the beginning of May.  After 6.5 months we were pretty sure he wasn't coming back.

Treats for everyone.

Very happy kids.

Oliver behaved.

He looks good.  Healthy and strong.

He's yowling a good amount.  Jia and I were up a few times with him last night.  He's mostly hanging with Jia.  He seems super happy to be home.

We would all LOVE to know where he went.  Was he lost?  

For a feral he is being all extra and dramatic like a house cat right now.

He stuck around all day and is hanging out with Jia for some gaming right now.

Bump, bump, bump.

Esmei was shaved today.  She's so tiny!  It's always shocking to see.  She got boots again.  I need a better picture.

Celebrating Finn's 5th Birthday.

The game pictured was Finn putting kibble in Jia's shoe, then pawing at it, while Coco watched.  I left the kibble in the shoe.  That won't teach Jia to put her shoes away but I can hope.

I asked tonight if there was kibble in the shoe, Jia said no but laughed at the idea of Finn putting it in there.

The day before Finn's bday, we celebrated Coco's 6th Birthday.

Life is a little too busy.  Chaotic at times.  The only room that feels calm is the dining room.  Xmas has started. Progress happens but with all renovations the mess and destruction has to happen first.

We don't have anything planned for the weekend.  I grocery shopped today so we can hunker down here if we want.

 

Revisiting the good old days.

We're clearing out the basement and finding old treasures.  Once upon a time we had swings in our kitchen. How crazy was that?!  We even had a selection of them.

We've outgrown this one ;)

If it can hold Kai, it can hold me.  Haha.  This thing is soooo uncomfortable.  Massively cutting into the back of my legs.

This is intended for kids to get right in, criss cross apple sauce and then spin.

I think we're really good to let this one go.

I saw a post from a Mom seeking an air hockey table for her son.  I was able to message her and offer her ours, she's picking it up tomorrow evening.  The girls quad left a few weeks ago.  The zip line is down and I'm gearing up to let the playground go. Also Luk's little wheelchair.  We have no clue where to donate it.  His miniature walker is here too.  It's the cutest thing in the world.  Oh, and also an electric wheelchair that was gifted to us but Luk doesn't need.  Apparently I need to make some calls.  Possibly starting with Queen Alexandra.  

The wall is up with drywall between Mom's apartment and our space.  So I can see the plan now. For today I think it will go back to the same blue and furniture it was, just vinyl flooring instead of carpet.  I was shocked to see the old blue carpet is still down there.  I want to put a basic playroom back with some of the kids old favorites. If I dream grandbabies perhaps it will manifest.  

Remembrance

30 of us went to Mt Bolduc to see the WW2 plane crash site.  

The weather was perfect.  There was pure chaos getting us all turned around to come back down.  No obstacles but a steep narrow climb up that did require 4x4.  

The trail to the crash site isn't far but also not easy.  Then it's sobering to see how far the crash site extends.  I also didn't realize the whole area is deemed a war grave yard.  

This trail is hillarious, it's called "fuc* my mirrors".  Nothing tricky just technical winding through.  Eric says many years years ago it was just a bike trail.  Trust Jeepers to figure a way through.  

Ben got Eric a badge for Oscar.  His 1st one ;)  Oh, and got a couple more ducks today.  

Being on the top of mountains never gets old.

Definitely the biggest group run for us.  The radio chatter is very entertaining.

Oscar got lots of accolades today.  So that was fun for Eric. 

Drivers meeting.

This is the link to Jay's Epic Off Road video.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AfqUWdxdF/

On the home front, Mom is turning Isabel's yard into the secret garden.  Eric and Ty removed the dog pen, chicken coop, Izzy's old age ramp and bottom decks.  

Fei and I are sad.  The perfect dog set up has no dog, so there is no reason to be sad about the changes, but we are anyways. Logic doesn't play into this. 14 months and we are not over missing Izzy all day every day. 

I think it's funny that I was completely shocked to see that the fence is actually a gate!  I had zero clue.  

Eric and I are out there having grand adventures and the kids just keep declining coming with us.  I don't get it.  We arrived home with a few groceries.  They weren't impressed with bread, fruit, yogurt and ginger cookies and they didn't really want to hear about our adventure.