Imagine Nana going into the bedroom to remind Dija that she is supposed to get quiet for nap time because Dija is in bed singing and laughing and carrying on (as she often does). “But Nana I’m just so happy!” She’s telling the truth. The child is joyful and it’s often evident by the noises coming out of her mouth. Just last evening we had to ask her to go to her room so the rest of us could hear our own thoughts. It wasn’t even bad noise… just constant singing louder than any of us could speak. So off she went with her feelings hurt for about 30 seconds. A minute later she was back at it with the musical production under way.
Nana heard Dija singing quite a performance in her living room one day & asked who she was singing to. “I’m just singing for God, he likes my singing.” I’ve caught her talking to him out the window one day having a little chat about her princess-hood with him, having a big ol’ discussion.
Trey will often be seen playing alone in the back yard here or at Nana’s singing the entire time… to himself, alone, on and on it goes. I love to spy him when he’s doing this. He’s less dramatic about it all but it’s clear that he’s in his own little happy place. His facial expressions are enough to melt anyone. With a smile that lights up his entire face.
The kids enjoy Papa or Uncle Justin grabbing a guitar and making up a song. They both do it well and I’m usually in the kitchen trying not to laugh too much so I can catch the entire song. Dija expects them to be able to sing the same song another day. Recently I understood why she thought they should be able to do this. I had my ipod handy one day when Dija was performing and I caught her song that she was making up as she went along. Then weeks later she watched the video and sang along and knew all the words… how did she know them? She was singing from her heart and the words must have still been there.
I’m enjoying how the kids express feelings to me. They are really great at being clear about how they feel. Trey just asked me about his next needle that he will need. “Can you take me back to the Doctor where I was calm and not to the gym where I was all upset and crying?” He prefers being brave at the Dr instead of having an audience at public health clinics. I’m with him on this and will be returning to the family Dr for any flu shots.
They are both fantastic at identifying when they need to sleep. I don’t ever remember my “old” kids asking to go to bed. I wish I knew what I did to teach them this because I would sell the secret!
I’m amazed almost daily at what great little people they are. Simply happy …not difficult to please. Well adjusted and pretty fantastic kids. I am blessed. I will try to remember this in the moments that I just want to run away.

This week marks the anniversary of a difficult day in our lives. I’m pretty certain that the anniversary will never pass without a tear or two but also with much thanksgiving. Our story could have been so different than it is. In fact, for a family in New Brunswick it did turn out much differently. It makes me so angry that the same horrible incident was repeated when it could have been prevented so easily.
Dija, at 19 months of age, was poisoned with methadone on January 8, 2009. After being resuscitated and spending time in the IWK she moved to our home January 13th. (Happily ever after…) There were no charges laid even though the incident was investigated, but the case was closed due to lack of evidence (read: 2 adults in house had different stories). There is not much I can do to change any of that.
On January 8th, 2010 one year later, a 23 month old girl ingested methadone in NB and was transported to the IWK. On January 13th she died. I read in the news this week that her father pleads guilty to criminal negligence causing death. This is a sad ending for such a little life. This angers me.
There is a simple solution to prevent such things from happening. Do not allow children to live in a home where there is methadone present. Yes other drugs are dangerous as well but they do not look like orange juice! Most addicts have to go to the dispensary to ingest the medication… make this mandatory. There must be a way to prevent this from happening again. What can I do to change this?
Now for the thanksgiving part – I am so thankful for Nana who saved Dija that day and continues to help us parent the kids… Trey and Dija think that all three of us adopted them and we sort of did. I am thankful for the health care that we have here in town. I know people complain about hospital visits or waits. I don’t like waiting either but when I’ve gone there with an actual emergency there was no wait. We have a great emergency department and should be thankful to have it in our town. I am also very thankful for the EMS workers who appeared at Nana’s door when she called them. They did what they do – they saved a life. Wow, I can’t imagine being faced with such situations on a regular basis. They have a tough job. If you see them coming behind you please pull over and let them pass you – do not keep driving and hope they just pass. You could really help them save a life just by getting out of the way because seconds count. I am thankful that there were angels watching over Dija that day because it is clear that the story could have been so very different. I cannot imagine what our lives would be like right now without Princess Dija. I thank God that we have these two little noise machines because they are becoming great people with a bright future that they might have missed otherwise. I know I already changed that.

We have had a very Merry Christmas and I’m pretty sure the kids have not missed out on a thing by doing the free Christmas challenge. When it began it wasn’t intended for everyone to jump on the bandwagon but it’s been fun for all of us. I want to do it again next year but I know now and won’t be starting to plan in November and that’ll make it easier. Astrid and I have already started planning things to make and I know other family members want in on the adventure.
My sisters even got in on the action and found free things to give our kids (Including homemade mitts that my nephews received from Nana several years ago.) She also passed on her smurf mugs she has had since she was a child. My kids think they have gold… They like the little blue people even though they have never seen them on the screen!
If there were awards being passed out I would give Nana the “Productivity” award and Astrid will get the “creativity” award. I will take the “Who started this crazy thing?” award.
Astrid made critters for all the kids out of little gloves and she dressed them accordingly. All too cute… Even an Elmo that was immediately recognized by Caitlyn. She made me a flower pin that I’ve been wearing on my jeans front pocket and on my sweater today because it goes great with another gift. She made me a cheque book holder that I needed and embellished it with buttons – I love buttons.
I made a bunch of hand warmers for my sisters families who all go to hockey and curling a lot… Out of reclaimed denim. I also made some magic bags out of the denim and made covers for them out of other fabric I found around the house. Dija likes her little princess quilt that i put together for her. Corey helped me put together a wind chime made out of silverware. Now I want my own – it sounds great and looks pretty artsy. My favourite gift will take a little explanation and it’s my all time favourite thing.
For Nana I made a book but she wrote it! I had in my possession letters I had recovered from my grandparents home that she had written to them from 1962 – 1967. I did the research to figure out the dates as best as I could to put them in order. I typed it up and then had my little sister help me put it into a book. Thanks Tanya! When Nana opened it we lost her… She had her nose in that book the rest of the morning. 43 pages of our history… It was as if Nana had started the blogging back then but there was no Internet to share it on. It was so much fun reading all those letters about my baby years.

Oh, picture blocks. Astrid made 3 large blocks for Justin with pictures on them. Pictures of them and their baby boy on each side of each block. Again – art. Justin had fun in his workshop (a lot like his dad used to do) and made this crazy puzzle of a tree with birds in it all attached with strings and the knots made eyes for the birds – very cool.

I wish I could show you everything! I loved not shopping more than I thought I would. Some of Nana’s projects included handmade skirts made from men’s neckties for Astrid, Dija and I – we wore them for Boxing Day dinner. Dija and I have matching aprons so we can cook together. Guys got some mittens that she knit, big boys got pyjama pants, Dija got some fluffy pyjamas, all the girls got special wreaths. Nana decorated these kitchen wreaths with rubber gloves, dish clothes, towels, scrubby things…. She is clearly telling us something! They made us laugh and we hate to take them apart to use.

Now I must confess that we did purchase the one toy that each of the kids asked Santa for. Trey wanted a lightsaber and Dija wanted a princess so those items came from the store and were in their stockings but they each cost less than $20. I then went shopping for stocking stuffers … Mostly consumable things we get each year and the kids expect it to happen. It took me one hour of shopping.

Things I learned from this challenge. I need to have hobbies again. I’ve missed using my sewing machine and paint brushes. I need to slow down and have more fun in my kitchen too… I used to do that a lot but have not been doing much at all lately. My kids are really easy to please and I never want that to change. They would rather hang out with us than play with an expensive toy. Trey loves technology but is happy with a new free app on my iPod. Dija loves to be stylish but it can be a one of a kind outfit and not the latest trend. She will be the trend setter! Justin and Astrid are really good sports and so are their friends. Fun like this is contagious. I’m proud of my family for making Christmas fun and creative on short notice… Oh, and for saving a truckload of money! I joked about buying a huge tv with our savings….but that kind of goes against the idea I had started with.