For a dose of humility....have children!!

This is how we are all feeling....









Well so much to say....how to keep it short. We'll start in the middle of last week. We had a wonderful short time with Lorne and Michelle Gale and their 3 cuties, and the day after they headed for home, great-grandma Krapu, aunty De and uncle Michael arrived. Or as Abby would call him..."great-grandpa!" we're not sure where that came from but it sure was funny. The day they arrived we grabbed a fast bite of lunch and headed out to The Ukrainian Cultural Village. I had never been there, and thought they might enjoy it (and I think they really did so that was good). Aunty even got to speak Ukrainian with a few people there. As we were packing to leave, I thought to myself. BUMMER!!!! I am getting a migraine. My symptoms are always the same: A black spot whereever I try to focus and random flashing lights. So I quickly downed 2 extra strength Tylenol and a can of coke. My usual remedy. Didn't work. While the others toured the Village I sat in the van with my eyes closed or leaning out of the van heaving and losing lunch all over the parking lot. Felt better by supper time and M&D treated us all to a yummy supper.

Monday was more bonding time and supper and G&J's. Tuesday we went
out for supper thanks to gramma and had another yummy meal. (We ate lots. Can ya tell?). My kids were HORRIBLE!!! Okay maybe not so bad, but with all the company and the late nights and hot weather and blah blah blah excuse excuse, they had absolutely had it. They could NOT sit still at the restaurant, Chelsea cried the whole time, and I was utterly embaressed.


The next morning I woke up to a very strong smell of something that had to have been somehow excreted from someone's body after first sitting in their acidic insides. Walked into the girls room and there is at least half a pail of puke all over the lower bunk and the floor and the books and everywhere. It was right where Abby had gone to sleep. So I throw Abby in the tub, all the while she is insisting that SHE DIDN'T PUKE LAST NIGHT. Well when Hayley gets up I noticed puke on her face. I asked why she didn't wake me up. She said " I just moved up to the top bunk." GROSSS!!! But thanks Hayley for letting mom sleep. I figure it's from an overabundance of JUNK! So we are veggying it for several days now. She had a birthday party on Tuesday and had chicken and fries and pizza and homemade icecream and cake. Then we picked her up and went out for supper. I think I'd vomit if I ate all that too!!!


Today we went to the grocery store. I was standing beside some man looking at shampoo and Hayley yells out " HEY MOM ARE YOU STILL BLEEDING?? DO YOU NEED SOME TAMPONS??" No Hayley. Thank you very much though.

Then we got outside and Abby lifted her new backpack out of the cart and somehow the cart tipped over on it's side (thankgoodness no one was in it) and the milk exploded EVERYWHERE. Well it is so INCREDIBLY hot and humid here that I just wanted to get home so we didn't go replace the milk. We have no air conditioning in the van so that makes it worse. When we got home Steve says "What did you do to the van????" Apparently the cart left a massive dent in the front. EEKS!! It has now been decided that when I get my diesel F350 that we'll just have to keep the van as a second vehicle because I've trashed it so much we'll never get anything for it! OOPS!

Lets see....what else....oh apparently my daughter's speech AND language is in the normal range!! The reason she is hard to understand sometimes is that she is missing her "s" and "sh" sounds. 2 of the most common used sounds in the Engligh language. Try it. If Kylie were to say "She sat on my skirt" You would hear "Dee tat on my Dirt." But she is anxious to learn her s so we are going to work hard on that this year and she'll be reassessed in 4 months if I don't see too big of an improvement. If her ears get cleared out then I expect we'll see a HUGE jump in her speech.

Here's my baby. She is having such a rough time without her 2 big naps a day. We are now going to work on getting back into a routine. She is getting up on her hands and feet and ALMOST stands up without holding on to anything. I think in a month or so she should be able to do it. I pulled out more clothes for her today and got all nostalgic and sad that this is the last time some of this stuff will get worn. I see why people say the last is spoiled. I love every moment of Chelsea's babyhood. It helps that she loves to burrow her head in and snuggle me.

Abby got a backpack today that is almost as big as her!! I refuse to buy a new one every year so this one will have to try and last until grade 2. Hayley's has lasted that long so hope this one will too. She is sooooo excited. I am excited for her....and a little sad. In a few short years I'll be all alone :(

Well...as time marches onward I am marching to bed. Tomorrow if it is this hot we are going to the splashpark. Come join us. It's free!! Except the cost of after swimming slurpees.

Oh and Steve is almost done at Camrose. His next project is building a house for an architect so you can imagin what the house is like. Very unique. It will be the first house in Edmonton to be run completely on solar power. I can't wait for him to be done out in Camrose.

Love you all

Jen

Sights of Summer.....the rare warm days

We had a really great time out at the Lindquist/Howden resort on Saturday so thought I would share some pictures with you. Unfortunately, today everyone is in really really bad moods, including half the adults in the house, so maybe we should've packed it in a little earlier last night. The problem is, when you have a warm day you make the most of it, and it was still warm and bright daylight at 9:00 pm!!

This is me about to go water skiing for the first time in 12 years!!! 12 years ago I tore my hamstring trying to drop a ski and was too afraid to try again. I now realize I am too old. I got up on about the 5th try, however, afraid of falling, when I felt myself about to lose control I would wipe out and land on my bum. Imagin getting a very aggressive enema. After about the third fall, having to lay in the lake unmoving for about 5 minutes moaning over what felt like a busted tailbone, I decided tubing was more my speed.

This is Steve. After about 45 attempts to get up on 1 ski he decided to get up with 2 and drop 1. He got up the first try that way. This is only the 2nd time in his life he's been behind a boat so that was pretty impressive. I am working very hard to convince him that a boat would be a wise investment as far as keeping the kids entertained in the summer.

Here are the first 45 attempts.

This is Steve wakeskating. It is like a really big skateboard. No binding for your feet.



This was how grandma got down to the beach. She was like an excited little girl. It was so cute. I think it brought back lots of memories of our summers at the lake. We loved those days.

Grandpa's brother Jim came out to spend some time too. Was very nice seeing him again. Can't half tell he's grandpa's brother eh?

This was more Kylie's speed. She loved the Kayak with aunty Carrie.





Hayley spotting for her dad.

And some more helpers. On the back there is Carter Lindquist. The twinkle in Hayley's eye for the last year and a half. The sun apparently rises and sets on Carter. The other day we had wish and I asked if she wanted Tartar sauce with it. She said "Carter sauce? Heehee. Giggle." Goodness. We have warned her to be nice. That is the boss's son.

Playing in the sand is always good fun too.

This is Hayley and Rebecca behind the tube. Hayley LOVED tubing. Karson Saville, one of the young kids here (must be about 19 or so) took the kids on many many rides.

Me and Carrie. I think this was Carrie's first time in the tube?? She's not a big fan of the water but I think she actually enjoyed it? Personally I like the tubes you lay on your tummy on and have to hold on for dear life but this was nice too.

Abby's best friend and second cousin Ashley.


Cousin Dan Howden tore his ACL and MCL the day before so no more water skiing for him this year. Now he gets to just drive everyone else around. Bummer for him!!!


Abby in the lake. She was brave and went tubing too! LOVED it!!!




Time to put cranky kid #5 to bed. Later....

Rain rain go away, come again another day.

Buckley just wanted his picture taken. He stuck his nose up to the camera and said cheese so I told him I'd post it just for him.

We complain if it is too hot and we complain if it is too cold, but come on. Enough is enough. It even SNOWED on Tuesday in Jasper. I understand that's the mountains, but even the moutains are supposed to be warm and beautiful in JULY!!! Goodness sakes.

This morning we woke up to lightening and thunder pretty much right in the back yard. The floor of the house was shaking. Steve had gone to work already, and needless to say I ended up with 4 little girls in my bed.

So I had fun practicing taking the girls yearly photos a few days ago. Abby was at a friend's house so she missed out. Aunty Jessica is going to take better ones at an old barn near here when it stops raining!!! So hopefully I'll have some "professionals" taken by my multi-talented sister soon.

We got ANOTHER new kitten the other day. I think this is cat #10??? Anyhow, hopefully this is a good cat that sticks around. Charlie has already claimed it as his baby, licking it clean and attacking Buckley if he gets to rough with him. I want to name him Roiboos (little Roy) after my favorite tea, but I think I have been vetoed. Any good boy cat names out there? The kids love him. Kylie especially!! Kylie loves anything with a heartbeat though so that's a given.

Check out this jar of pickles. It is a 2L jar that was jammed FULL of pickles on Saturday. Now, almost a week later, it is nearly empty. The kids LOVE pickle and cheese sandwhiches, and Hayley likes to just munch on them for snack. Healthy, albeit probably a major salt overload!!!

I had a job interview the other day. Sounded promising, although you have to promise them 200 minutes of dictation a week. The issue is that 10 minutes dictation can take me 2 hours. If you do the math, that means 40 hours a week. She thought I could do it in 25 hours a week, but I'm a little nervous. Anyhow, they aren't sure how much they like my internet connection, but it's the best we can get out here. It's fast, but because it's wireless, they are afraid I will have lots of down time. I tried to convince them it would be fine. Then I got another email that I had passed a pre-employment test with another company and they want my resume, so I think that would be the better job. We'll see. Just patiently waiting to hear from someone. The first job.....better money. The second job....likely more flexible (which is more important to me right now).

Well that's all folks....my life in a nutshell. Or the nut house since we haven't been out of the house for nearly a week thanks to the rain!!! Oh well....I guess we went out yesterday. I got ALL of Hayley's school supplies and didn't have to fight the crowds. Ahhhh.....it's wonderfully stress-free being organized. We are very excited to see Lorne and Michelle Gale and their 3 little ones this week, and very excited to see great grandma, Aunty D and Uncle M the week after!! Busy but wonderful days ahead.

Hugs and kisses,

Jen

CONVENTION

Getting ready for a family picture, and the best result. Unfortunately Kylie has many faces, and she tried them out in every picture.

The better ones are these ones that don't have Steve and I in them.

So we are home from another wonderful convention. Mellowdale, also known as wallowdale for it's history of being rainy and muddy was acutally perfect weather wise. The first night was very cold so I ended up putting socks on Chelsea's hands to keep them from freezing completely, but then after that all was good. If it rained it was typically during meeting or at night so no big deal.

As far as children go, they were very well behaved. Chelsea would have slept for both morning and afternoon meetings, only we sat in kid alley which makes it a little noisy at times. So it was a challenge and we were out lots with her. I didn't get much out of convention this year but I did spend a lot of it thanking God for little girls and a husband who plays a large role in this children's discipline. I got more out of the last meeting than the entire thing because all the little ones in the meeting seemed to be sleeping and therefore Chelsea slept the whole meeting.

Hayley was a water pourer this year and loved it. She took her job very seriously and there were no wet shirts ;) Her highlight came on Sunday when she got to serve her boyfriend and his best friend says "oh thank-you sweetie." Hahahahaha. They're 8 or 9 years old I think. Hayley blushed. She is in love with Steve's boss's son.

Hayley fell off the bed on Friday playing with some friends and smacked her head. Then she got an instant headache that turned into a fever so she spent the weekend feeling pretty sick. She put herself to bed on Saturday night and then slept through the first meeting Sunday. I was glad I remembered to bring Advil with me. Today the fever is gone but her brains still hurt.

Abby was funny. We heard about the need for rest and how research has proven that without sleep we would die. So that night I told the kids it was time for bed and Abby says " If we don't sleep we'll die right?" Then this morning Abby said grace for breakfast and she prayed that everyone would say yes to God. It blew me away because that was the theme of the Saturday night meeting that they tested along with hymn 87. I guess she does listen.

There were about 4?? That professed on Saturday night and then they tested it again on Sunday (I assume for those who asked since they've stopped doing it on Sundays) and another 3 or 4 professed. 3 of those are in our field and 2 in our meeting. As Steve says we are now the only ones with unprofessing kids in our Wednesday night meeting (plus Ashley) which is pretty nice since we have so many kids in our meeting.

Oh the other interesting thing they did was they left one testimony time open only to those under 33 who hadn't given their testimony yet to give their purpose. They got through 152 in half an hour!!! I bet the convention was 90% young people. It was great!!! Then they left it open to those over 70. Not so many but still wonderful.

They were expecting about 500 people this year. There were 850 and then between 900 and 1000 on the weekend!!!!!! They ran out of rice on Thursday so we had lots of potatos instead. No one went hungry but I believe there were several grocery runs. There are rumors that Greenshields may be phased out (it is old and there are unprofessing people iving on parts of the property I believe) in which case perhaps there will be a mellowdale 1 and 2??

I will post some thoughts from convention later today. Need to look after these little ones first. It's nap/snack time.

Love Jen and family

Hayley Anna Campbell

Hayley on her first day of Kindergarten

Hayley on her last day. (Yes I know...I sent her to school in a dirty shirt. Oops.)

so today was my big girl's last day of Kindergarten. And yes.....ok....so I admit....it was harder on me then her first day was. Next year she will be gone full time and I will only have her on weekends. To most people this is a treat! To me it is sad. I will miss her, and more so, her sisters will miss her!!!!! They spend far more time outside when Hayley is around. Hayley is the one full of imagination. They say you only get 5 years to instill as much in them as you can and then they are out in the real world of peer pressure. I found some piano music the other day to a song called "a Mother's Prayer" and it says:

I pray you'll be my eyes

And watch her where she goes

And help her to be wise

Help me to let go

So there is my wish for my little girls as they go off to school.

This is in fact week of the ode to Hayley. Hayley is your typical first born personality. The dominent one, the perfectionist, the protector. She can be so shy and so outgoing all at the same time. Her sisters rely on her more than they will ever admit. They want her to lead the games etc...as long as she lets them win (which she does. As soon as they cry she gives them whatever they want to stop the crying.) She is such a perfectionist, that I have learned that you never pressure Hayley into doing ANYTHING! She will get there in her own time. Trying to teach her letters was so frustrating for both of us that finally I let it go and guess what??? She learned it just fine all by herself. I had to learn that she would ask when she needed help and if I said "No that's wrong" then there were tears and stress. Ahh.....the things our firstborns teach us about parenting. (Then the second comes along and we think we have it mastered only to find out we've been given a completely different child the second time around!!!)

I love my time with Hayley. She is so insightful and so we are starting to be able to have these little 'adult' conversations. Hayley has ALWAYS been our spiritual child. She loves to have the bible read to her (especially about Jesus death) and to sing the hymns. She told me the other day not to worry, that she would never dye her hair, because she 'wants her own special and unique color'. :)

Our firstborn refuses to have you see her cry. Frustrating sometimes when a few tears would make it seem that the spank had at least SOME effect, but alas she will run off to 'pee' and cry in the bathroom! It's a good thing there aren't many spanking anymore.

I can't believe that 6 years has gone by so fast. I remember the day she was born with such clarity and all the little "first time mom" mistakes we made with her. But I think, and I may be biased, that she is turning into a really wonderful little lady and I love her very much. She's my favorite oldest daughter. *heehee*

Other news....my friend Charlene and I went out for supper last night. We met at 5, had supper, went to wander around Chapters for a bit, then she drove me back to where I had left my van, and when I finally said "I guess I should get home", it was 11:00!!!!!! Steve is blown away that I could have a conversation with one person for 6 hours! And the thing was....we never ran out of things to say!! We only get together about once a month and I love it. She is so easy to visit with, and I love that she is such a positive person in spite of her situation, and she never gossips. Seriously!!! Of course we talk about what different people are up to etc, but she never has anything bad to say about anyone. She has 4 little boys around our girls' age so we understand the "single gender" feelings I guess. Now Rachel Falb, if you would just move here, our suppers out would be complete!!!

Steve has never understood why I take the kitchen mugs in the van for my tea when we go out somewhere. Well....there is just something about a mug that tastes better than a travel cup. So at Chapters the other day I found this:

Isn't it perfect? I have used it for all 6 cups of tea today.

Convention starts on Wednesday and I just can't wait. I decided that today would be my get ready day, and tomorrow would be my play with the kids day. So tomorrow we will go to the splash park or the playground.

Today I cleaned the house from top to almost bottom (not the storage basement). I ever re-glossed the slate!! Steve took our tent and his boss' trailer out to convention tonight so that's one less thing to worry.

Well I am exhausted so I am going to go lay in the tub.

I love you all

Steve, Jen and our 4 little blessings.

Abby Makayla Campbell

My dear sweet Abby. I actually had to look up how to spell her middle name because it is so rarely used. I call her abigail or Abigail Josephine (don't ask....I have no idea where it came from but it stuck). This is our intellectual child. She can tell you the month and day of her birthday and her sisters' birthdays when her OLDER sister doesn't even know the day of her own birthday. Things just come easy to Abby. She is adamant that she is going to be a doctor when she grows up, and it wouldn't surprise me. However, the other day she said she was going to have 10 kids and be a mom and then she was disappointed that she couldn't marry her dad because "Mom already married him," and now she just wants to live at home forever. Oh boy!!!

My prediction??? Abby is a mother through and through. She reminds me so much of myself that it is almost scary. She is very emotional and sensitive and over-reacts to everything. This is not going to be to her benefit as a teenager and I worry most about my Abby. She loves so deep and is hurt so easy. That being said, she has an inner strength that comes through at the most interesting times and assures me she will be just fine. For example when we went to soccer the first day and Hayley cried when I left her on her field and yet when I dropped Abby off (the one I thought would cling and cry and beg me to stay and watch) I said " Abby I just have to drop Hayley off and I'll come back" and she said "OK. Bye mom." So.....Abby will be fine. I've also witnessed her playing with her "confident leader-type friends" and she does not let them walk all over her.

Abby is finally beginning to overcome her bedwetting and is very mature and determined about it. After soccer everyone got pop, chips, and a freezie. She told them she didn't want the pop and then whispers "Because it'll make me pee the bed." She hasn't quite broken the lip biting habit, but with Abby, when she wants to stop that she will. She is a very determined little girl and we love that about her.

Abby is gorgeous both inside and out. Here's our Abster.

So we have had a very busy weekend. We started out by attempting to tent which the kids enjoyed and they all fell asleep fine. Steve and I discussed life around the campfire and then headed into the tent, at which time the neighbor's dog started barking and didn't stop ALL NIGHT LONG!!! At one point I rolled over and whispered "what time is it?" Thinking maybe midnight. It was 3:30 in the morning and we hadn't been asleep yet. UGH!

Then in the morning we went to preps. Another wonderful turnout. I got to have 7 kids with me on and off during the morning which was good. Just give em all a bucket and some supplies and trudge around the yard. Then we came home to cut down some trees but it was too hot so after cutting 1 down and having a marshmellow picnic in the yard we took our recycling in.

Got 45$ in recycling money that we used to take Kylie out for her birthday supper. They sang a really loud crazy song to her and the look on her face was HILLARIOUS!! She didn't know what to do or what was going on. It was so sweet. Then we went to Chapters and let them pull all the books off the shelf, and now we're all ready for bed.

Happy father's day tomorrow. I have a dad who's pretty well the best one ever. He's always been supportive of all my crazy ideas and I love him very much. My daughters also have this generation's greatest father. They are so lucky to have him. He's amazing.

Love to you all....here are pics of our crazy busy weekend.

The Campbell 6 :)

Kylie Rachelle Campbell

Whew....I just finished an amzing cardio workout. I had so much fun that I want to do ti again right away. The sweat was dripping down my face and back. It was great. Will have to actually stick to it this time. If I get 4 or 5 different routines maybe I won't get bored. One of the exercises is like football players when they sort of squat and then sprint in place. WOW!! My stomach and bum are going to jsut shake right off I think. Almost throws me off balance all the jigling.

So enough about me....lets talk weather. WHAT"S WITH ALL THE RAIN??!?!!! Stop it already. I need the sun to brighten me up. Everyone is commenting on how BLAH they feel these days with the damp cold weather. I don't think we will EVER get summer. Anyhow, as long as it is mild and NOT WET for convention I will be very happy. Remember weather man..... I have to tent!!!


Well here is the feature child of the week. All about Kylie (Australian for pretty) Rachelle (an aunt with that middle name and mom's closest friend named Rachel)

Kylie - easy to love and more trouble than all 3 other sister combined. She turns the big 3 this month!!!! She told the coach at soccer she was 4 and since she is as big as the 4 year olds, she got to join in!!!

Kylie loves everyone and everything. If you need a hug....kylie is there. If you need ANYTHING she will make sure you have it. The other day we had a busy day and I said "I am just going to lay down on the couch for 10 minutes and then I will get up and get supper." so Kylie ran up to her room and got me her favorite blanket and tucked it up around my shoulders.

Kylie is the one we have always called "simple" much to the dismay of her father and grandparents. However, in one sense it is true. The simplest things will make her smile and giggle and she is very happy with a simple life. Kylie is our "caregiver".

I now refer to her as The Specialist. It won't be long and we will have been to every single specialist possible!!! I wonder....did it all being with the infected belly button a few weeks after birth? Anyhow, first we went to the Pediatric Ophthalmology surgeon (kids eye surgeon) for her droppy eye. We started at the Stollery when she was a year old. We went every 4 months or so to have her eyes tested. That doc moved away and we went to a new one who immediately said (and we should have gone to him in the first place) "come back when she is 4.5 and we will fix her eyelid. Then he commented on mine and said it should be re-done. Wonder if they haev a 2 for 1 deal!!!

Next we were off to the audiologist to test her hearing. The verdict - mild hearing loss more prominent in the left ear. Both ear drums 'dull' or not as responsive as they should be. Now.....was this due to a cold? or is this why her speech seems odd and delayed? So now we are referred to a pediatric ENT (ear, nose, and throat) specialist for more testing. I would assume they are the ones who would put tubes in if she has fluid behind her ears.

We are also waiting for a speech assessment and that should be any time now. Oh Kylie....you are a mess. But a lovable one. Now.....quit fighting with you sisters!!! You know you always win!