I know, I know... I haven't written a blog post for a very long time. Dan asked me the other day if I planned to write one at all during August. Yes, yes I do. In fact, I have at least 3 started drafts, but until yesterday I hadn't finished any of them. So I told him, "Actually, I had to decide whether to make you supper tonight or to blog." Which is totally not fair because the majority of the summer Dan has made at least 1/2 of or all of each supper.

The summer is over and, well, we are so sad. We're totally spoiled that Dan has two months off, I know. But we're still very sad to see him go back to work. The work where he earns the money as opposed to the real manual labour he's been doing in our backyard the past two months. 

Dan has done a great job documenting most of our summer so far, but I wanted to do a little recap of what we did in August. Because it wasn't all work. We did play a little bit. 

Cousins.
We got to spend some great time with all Joseph and John Paul's cousins this summer. A couple trips to Saskatoon, Humboldt/Watson, and Nipawin meant that these kids got some great playing time. And the dads/uncles got a chance to play some golf.

It is so exciting watching all 9 Millette grandchildren hang out together! They have finally reached an age where they can play together and they just love it. As for their moms, we have at least 2 of the 3 (the married ladies) nursing babies all the time, so we get to hang out together during baby feeding sessions. The dads (plus Stephen and Fr Darryl), on the other hand, tend to play a little football or golf.

If you missed the -- now traditional, since we've done it twice -- Millette family Roughrider photo that was going around social media earlier in the summer, here it is:

Later in the summer, David and Roxanne and their crew ended up in Nipawin visiting Grandpa and Grandma for a week. Of course, we headed on over to hang out. And you know me, because one photo sure doesn't capture all the fun we had, I just have to add at least a few more:

Monica & John Paul, the babies of 2014, exhibiting their chub on a hot summer day. They are just over 3 months apart, but started out life with over a 2 lb. difference. They'll be great pals.

Marie & Sophia admire the chubby babies. It wasn't very long ago that Sopia was the baby and now she is such a little mama. Someday we'll just leave Marie in charge and the parents can go out and party.

Andrew, Claire, & Joseph play diggers in Grandpa's gravel pile. The picture doesn't capture just how hot it was this day, but suffice to say that there were heat warnings all over the province and with the humidity it was somewhere in the 40s. These kids would not come inside even though they were drenched in sweat. 

Joseph & Andrew cool off in the kiddy pool. Thankfully, they ended their play time in the pool. I've left out the best picture that had Sophia completely naked watching the boys, but only because it was pretty blurry. She demanded I take all here clothes off! It was great!

Another Saskatoon trip (with God's mother).

As a final hurrah to summer, we took one last trip to Saskatoon a couple weekends ago. We had a pile of shopping to do -- because that's what happens when you live a couple hours outside the city -- and we made it a little getaway. 

After getting the inside scoop on teacher deals at hotels from David, we hit up the Radisson for a night and enjoyed their awesome pool and waterslide:

And their beds:

We attended a beautiful Latin Mass at the Latin Mass church, of course. And a great supper out at Bonanza, the best burger and salad bar place (as far as we know). Unfortunately, the other cousins were out of town camping. But we got to spend a lot of time with God's mother, who we like a lot. 

God's mother, you ask? That's Aunty Rheanne, of course. Because she's Joseph's godmother.

We went for a lovely walk down by the Saskatchewan River. John Paul ate:

And dipped his feet in the Saskatchewan River:

Joseph controlled the power dam (that's "darn" for you Millettes): 

It's a lovely little spot right by the (real) river where they've put a pretty sweet little spray park replica of the Saskatchewan River showing where it flows from Alberta right through to Manitoba. 

Despite a little fall on Joseph's part, we enjoyed a good time there. If you're wondering why we look dressed for church and definitely not in bathing suits, that's because we went shortly after Mass and had no plans to actually go in the water. In fact, I don't think we had plans, as is often the case. We were killing some time before checking into our hotel. Great way to kill time!

Missed my parents' anniversary & my mom's birthday.

I know, I know. Terrible. When I phoned my mom to wish them a happy anniversary this month, I had to apologize because there was no card in the mail. Thankfully, she understands first-hand the teacher's wife dilemma of never knowing the date in the summer. Plus, she reminded me that I'm covered doubly by being a teacher's daughter and a teacher's wife. Ok, enough for excuses. 

My parents had planned to drive out on a western adventure this fall and be with us, well, right now. We're really sad they can't be here. But very thankful for the time we did have with them in July and all the Facetime we try to get in. Whenever you can make it, we're ready and waiting!

Having fun.
Yes, we just had some plain fun. Here are a few pictures to prove it:

As I mentioned, it wasn't totally all work and no play this summer. It sometimes felt like it, but I'm posting all these pictures so we remember the rest of summer 2014, otherwise known as the summer of the concrete.

It seems fitting that as the summer drew to a close, we spent a little gift card on a Lego concrete mixer for Joseph. Now he can relive this summer over and over again. And no game of "concrete mixer" is complete without a few Lego "workermans" -- the ones Joseph has named Grandpa, Stephen, and Daddy -- building a sidewalk and little joking around in which Uncle Stephen always spills the concrete.

Farewell, Concrete Summer!

Almost 3

As I began writing this post, I went back and looked over a few "Joseph" posts from the past year and a bit. It's so hard to believe that our little boy is almost 3! Heck, it's hard to believe that the little baby we named Joseph is a little boy. I'm so grateful for these blogs to go back and see where we've been because, as I read them, I realize that I've forgotten so many little things in the business of raising these boys of ours.

Milestones...

• Joseph stopped nursing. What?! He was still nursing at this time last year?! Truly, I'm baffled.
• Joseph learned his ABCs and 1,2,3s.
• Joseph learned the words to song after song after song and belts them out.
• Joseph became a big brother.
• Joseph toilet trained (well, mostly).
• Joseph learned that he's really Joseph and not Mose. Although we all (including himself) still call him Mose frequently.
• And much, much more...

Just like Dad.
Dan went back to school this week. And Joseph was pretty sad. He woke me up yesterday morning at about 7:20 to tell me he couldn't find Daddy. He even went down to the basement by himself to check if he was there. All morning he asked me where Daddy was and when he'd come home. 

If one thing has changed a lot in the past year, it's that Joseph is definitely a Daddy's boy. I used to nap with him, I used to be the one who went in and slept with him when he woke up in the night, and now it's all Daddy. He wants to dress like Dan, wants to wear a hat like Dan, wants to be a "workerman" just like Dan, wants to rock out to some loud music just like Dan. Dan must be the parent who plays with him more too, because often when I'm on the way to the park with Joseph he'll call me "Daddy" by accident.

But I love it. I love watching my boys with their Daddy.

Sensitive & Loving.
Sigh. Yes, Joseph is kind of sensitive. Both in good and bad ways, and probably normal for his age. He still cries frequently over lots of things. When he's disciplined and he doesn't like it, well, he cries and most often gets sent off to his room until he's happy and obedient. But he's also very sensitive to others, whether it be a younger child or someone who just got hurt. He frequently tells me whenever he gets a hurt and wants it kissed that he kissed Grandpa Bear's knee when it was sore. The look on his face says he feels the pain Grandpa was in.

Then there's his love for his little brother. It's not always a sensitive love. Not when he goes waking him up or jumping on top of him or pours water on his head in the bathtub. But in his world it's loving him because he just wants to be around John Paul all the time. First thing every morning, as soon as he hears John Paul make any noise, he runs in to jump on our bed and talk to his little brother.

Big brother.
Often I can put John Paul on the floor and just let him watch Joseph play. He's content. He watches roads being built, trucks crashing, workermen talking, Legos scattering (until I confiscate them very soon before he gets a hold of them). Joseph loves the audience, John Paul learns how to be a boy (as if that's necessary). Win, win. 

I turned around from washing dishes in the kitchen recently to find: no baby. He'd been sitting in his rocking chair seconds before. Joseph just went and dragged him off to a play area somewhere so that he could watch. And everyday at every meal Joseph wants John Paul to sit near him. "Put John Paul beside me, he wants to watch my [sic] big brother eat," he tells me.

One of his favourite books these days is called Baby Talk. We got it out of the library before John Paul was born because it's about a little boy named Joey (we just insert "Joseph") and his new baby brother. Now Joseph loves to imitate the big brother in the book talking baby talk to John Paul. "A goo," says Joseph. And John Paul talks back. It's just like the book and it's adorable.

And he's the best at getting John Paul to laugh. Whether Joseph's singing to him, "farting" him, or just plain being silly, John Paul smiles, talks, and laughs. I'm kind of jealous because even I can't get the same laughs.

Hard-headed.
We like to joke that when Joseph hits the wall, we're usually more concerned for the wall than his head. During a little visit with a younger friend earlier this year, Joseph got a feel for rough boy play when he was bitten and had a car thrown right in his face. And while it hurt him a lot, Joseph's response was, "I think he's hungry" and "Don't throw that at me!" We're still working on teaching him to defend himself and say "no" when he needs to, to protect that hard, but none-the-less valuable head of his. 

And his head is hard in more ways than one. Recently, I've had a lot of plain "no" in response from Joseph. Being disciplined is not his favourite. Nor is picking up his toys. He has a mind of is own and is sure to tell me. Recently, this has meant he's opinionated on what he wears. All the Roughrider fans out there can appreciate that this kid wants to wear his jersey to bed and outside even if he's sweating buckets in it.

His combination of real boy and hard-headedness has a tendency to get him all kinds of scrapes. At the end of a bath earlier this summer, Joseph was standing up and goofing around. Needless to say, he slipped and split open his chin. After hemming and hawing a bit, we took him into Emerg and he got two tiny little stitches. I wasn't there, but I hear he had to be held down by his Dad and a nurse, but only cried a little bit. When he came home, he was so proud of his stitches and Band-Aid. Now, we have only to remind him, "Do you want stitches again?" and he's quick to realize he needs to take it easy.

Joseph Quotables

After I picked Joseph off the toilet...
Joseph: "I flied"
Me: "You flew"
Joseph: "Yep, like a bird"
Me: "But you don't have wings"
Joseph: "We'll have to get me some wings and put them on"
Me: "But you have arms"
Joseph: "I have wing arms"

After we told Joseph Father was away and had a replacement to say Mass on Sunday...
"Is the Pope coming to say Mass?"

What you call mashed potatoes...
"Smash apatoes" 

As I was putting Joseph down for a nap...
"I'm just sleeping with my football."

Gazing at a sticker of the Stanley Cup...
"Look, it's the Standing Cup!!"

As I was helping Joseph pull up his gitch and pants in the bathroom...
"I'm so proud of you, Mom!"

And a specialty that Dan recorded of me one day...
Becca: "Stop putting your hairbrush in the toilet!"

It's All Mental: Fixing a House

So you might've heard that I did a little bit of work on our house this summer. As you look through some of these pictures I'm sure you'll be thinking "why the heck did they buy this house? Suckers." Now there are these stupid shows on T.V. where people get their yard "crashed." In two days, with all the fancy machines and a crew of 20 people, yards are transformed into palace gardens. Unfortunately if you take one person then the two days stretches into several weeks. Nevertheless, with a bit of sweat and blood, our yard crashers episode is complete (for the summer anyway). 

The old. Sigh. Our lovely "non-professional workmanship" house.

A beautiful slope really. The only problem is that it went the wrong direction. Hard to believe the first thing I did on the house was install a new sump pump for the basement.

Cracks. Unpatched energy foam.

Our lovely patio.

Our electrical. Literally down to the last wire.

The new:

Snipped wires. New siding.

Sloped the other way! Thanks Grandpa!

Proper slope, repaired tap and patched energy foam.

3ft. Mast. They don't come cheap. Obviously I didn't do this myself.

The sandbox system.

John Paul approved.

The patio. Yes, that's re-used concrete.

Discounted deck chairs from co-op (good deal).

$20 glass table and $16 bamboo rug from JYSK (Just Your Stupid Kids?)

Re-purposed concrete bench (not the top slab though).

Little inukshuk out of, you guessed it, repurposed concrete. Note the 250lb slab slapped into the ground (the dump charges per weight).

Left over supplies are stored in our "Workerman Area."

New grass growing in. Yay! I never thought I could grow grass! The other side of the yard is coming in way slower (as in not really at all).

Joseph is happy to have his yard back! Becca is waiting to find some nice hanging planters. 

A Few Things I've Learned:

1) It's all mental. The hardest part about fixing a house is the mental side. For instance, to spend two grueling hours to take out one square foot of concrete can lead you to despair. It's hard to be mentally tough in those moments. Day after day. Work at the little things.

2) Be smart, but be fast. I spent one of the first mornings humming and hawing over a stubborn bathroom tap. Afterwards there was no more of that. You can waste a lot of time over a project. Make a plan, and get the heck to work. Anyway, we're still at it with our house. More pics will come at a later date.

3) Seeing this everyday makes it all worth it:

School's Out

It was 10 years ago on this day that I stepped off a plane in Ottawa in order to begin my studies at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy. And it's been nearly 6 years to this day that I sat outside on the Academy front porch as I began studying for my Master's degree through Holy Apostles College and Seminary. I believe I was reading Fides et Ratio by Pope St. John Paul II.

Anyway, who cares? Well, this morning I went and wrote my last exam for my degree! Just about 4 and a half hours of relentless writing (I didn't want to be there the full 6 hours, so I rushed a bit).

Yowza!

Now I should probably start prepping for my school year.

Top Ten: Redeemer Edition

I was thinking about Redeemer University College the other day, and reflecting on my time spent there. You see, my brother is about to hit the road and drive on out for his one year stint in order to get the ole (useless) B.A. I was wondering what I did with myself while I was there. I mean let's be honest, the studies aren't the most difficult. At least not counting teacher's college. From what I remember I didn't do any real work until Thanksgiving. Actually, I worked out at the gym until then (for my PED100 course, you know). Fear not! There is lots you can do while going to Redeemer! Even if you have little money. The following is a list meant for my brother. You can add to it if you wish.

Here are the top 10 things to do while at Redeemer (besides working out):


10 - Leave.
Oooh, harsh! I mean it, but in a different sense. Leave as in go on Redeemer student trips. They're great. You can sign up to go to Niagara Falls for free, or a Jays game with great seats for as little as $15 bucks. There are trips to Canada's Wonderland, and who knows where else. I kind of wish I had signed up for more of these. They're super cheap, or free, and are great outings. Especially if you aren't from Ontario and seeing these places/events is rare.


9 - Fortinos.
Watch the lobsters and fish at Fortinos. Yes, Fortinos. That giant la-ti-da Ancaster grocery store possibly owned by your friendly neighbourhood Italian mafia. You gotta hand it to the mafia, they put on a good show for poor students. C'mon people, admit it, it's cool going to a grocery store and watching the sea life. The only problem is that afterwards you have to walk all the way across the street to Food Basics to buy some affordable food!


8 - Homes and Holmes.
Go for a walk, or a drive, around snooty Ancaster. You'd be amazed at the mansions! Rich rich people. Or at least people who go into deep debt in order to keep up appearances. But that's not all! While going around, always keep your eye out for the likes of Mike Holmes. Yes, Mike Holmes. The man who fixes messed up houses. These homes go up so fast that they are wrought with problems. What better place for Holmes to do business?

7 - Upper James.
There's a street somewhat near Redeemer called Upper James. Nothing fancy. Super busy. Lots of traffic and shopping. But! But, if you go there, you'll see a Tim Hortons (or two or three) wherever you are! Go there. Hit up each Timmies at some point. I dare you.


6 - Escarpment.
I was very fortunate to live within walking distance of the Hamilton escarpment. The escarpment essentially overlooks all of Hamilton/Burlington/Oakville/Mississauga and even parts of Toronto. Breathtaking view (when there is no smog). On a clear day you can even see the CN tower. There's a little spot up there. A little rock platform. It's great in the evening. Up there with some chips, a blanket, maybe even a half glass of wine, and watching the sun leave and the city lights of southern Ontario come to life.
As a warning, though, don't go walking around the escarpment at night near the old sanatorium. Brr... that place is creepy even during the day.

5 - Pick a fight.
Perhaps it was the fact that I had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend Redeemer, or maybe there were some ridiculous statements that I occasionally heard, but it wasn't long before I was known at Redeemer for standing up to profs. But hey, all in the name of academics, right!? I am still friends with some of the profs I fought. Others are, or would be, friendly enough to me if I saw them. And then there is one who to this day I'm sure wouldn't look at me, wouldn't give me the time of day, wouldn't pull over to help if I was stranded in a blizzard, wouldn't pee on me if I was on fire (sorry)...
Good times.


4 - Ridernation

Wear Rider gear all the time. Rider nation is everywhere. Want to buy some Christmas supplies at the Ancaster Canadian tire?There's a full selection of Rider Christmas gear. A football at a nearby sports store? Which Rider one would you like? Although most of the people around Ancaster don't know or care about the CFL (the real fans are in lower Hamilton), Rider nation still lurks about.


3 - Adoration.
I knew my first year at Redeemer was going to be tough when I found out there was an adoration chapel within a 15 minute walk from where I lived. God basically said: "it's going to be rough, but I'm here for you." And that's how it was. How fortunate to have this chapel! It is located at the gawdy Regina Mundi parish. A big ugly circle church. But there's the chapel. I once went to pray and there was an old lady who was there as well. As I was praying I took off my jacket. And then sweater. And then I looked at the thermostat. The lady had the place at 86 degrees! Anyway, I was very fortunate to have that chapel there.


2 - Hooky for Hockey. 
Friday afternoons at the mohawk arena. There's shinny. Usually the players there are half decent. Always a good game of hockey. The only thing is, well, it might involve skipping a class or two to go play.

1 - Mass at St. Ann's.
It doesn't matter if it's Sunday morning at 9am with music by Phil Sirabura (sigh), daily at 8am, Tuesday night at 7pm, or on Saturday morning at 9am in Latin. Go to Mass there. Every day if at all possible. It'll make or break the year. Going to Redeemer can be tough, so can living in Ancaster if you're used to open fields and no busy-ness, but Mass there makes it all worth it.

"There's Darian Durant!"

So Joseph is more than a little obsessed with Darian Durant (the star QB of the Riders... for you Ontario people *sigh*). 

At the local Co-op he would excitedly tell us "there's Darian Durant!".. referring to the life size cutout of DD over by the Rider game day chips. When we play football Joseph is always Darian Durant. "I throw fast! Like this: Phewww! Like Darian Durant!" On Saturday during the game he screamed like crazy every time he saw him on T.V. "There's Darian Durant!!!!" I would angrily tell him to be quiet (I get very tense during games) but he screamed all the more. If the Rider defence was on the field he would ask unceasingly: "where's Darian Durant?" Anyway, today is Durant's 32nd birthday. So we wrote Darian a little message on facebook. Oh gosh... shucks.... Darian "liked it!" Gotta love the CFL.

Gotta love Darian Durant.