Wow I guess it's been a while. Again!

 

My parenting class will finish tomorrow. I've learnt quite a bit in the past month or two. Hopefull I can put it into practice and I can be a better person for taking the course.

 

We're working towards havin the kids unsupervised for 5 days a weeks but it'll take a while to implement and will probably not be comfortable at first for some but thats the goal right now.

 

William is walking and doesn't like to be held back at all. When we go to the park he spends most of his time either walking around or going down the slide.

 

Francesca tries to be helpful but sometimes will show jealousy towards Will cause of how much time we have to spend chasing him and redirecting him.

 

I'm working too hard for my liking and am doing too much outside of work and I feel like I'm burning out. I'm especially anoyed at work for screwing up my holidays for the second year. Right now I'm not happy with Wal*mart. Wallyworld sucks!

 

Immigration has sent me a couple of really daft letters of late but we're working on straightening them out. I guess with governments it's very much hit and miss as to whether you find someone who knows what they are taking about or even know whats going on!

 

Take care,

 

Turtle

Yesterday jenny and I went to see the ice sculptures at the Winterlude festival. I didn't realise how much attention this festival garnered internationally untill I read the 'guest book' people have attended from all over the place! there were the obvious entries from people who live locally and across Canada as well as entries from people who live in the Amereican states closest like New York and Philedelphia. But it's the entries from further a field that suprised me. Places like San Francisco, Texas, Colchester, Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, Hong kong and India. Even the carvers themselves came from far and wide. Some from Sweden, France and Japan as well as the multitude from Canada and the US (mainly from massachusets). There were about 20 or 30 sculptures of various sizes. I've put 15 pictures of the ones I like up on this page too.

 

I saw Will and Franky yesterday too. Will is walking really well...in fact he's nearly running! He's got 8 teeth now and says "I did it" often. He loves pushing around cars or trucks. Franky is up to her usual really, she's all over the place and talking a mile a minute! She loves reading or at least giving her interpretation of the pictures and doing puzzles. She is beginning to cause arguments between Jenny, Linda and me though because of the situation with the CAS. She doesn't understand why she can't spend time with Jenny and me and lets us know it by either asking "Why can't you come with me?", "When will I see you next?', "Can I come with you?" "Can you come with me?" or saying "I don't like it when you go on the bus without me." or "I don't want to go." or "I don't want you to go." Obviously when you hear your child say that it's pretty upsetting which is why the arguments are coming fast and frequently.

 

 

 

I know it's a couple of days late, but Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again all!

 

I haven't disappeared I just didn't have anything especially new to say!

 

Things between Myself and the CAS have moved along quickly and smoothly so far. I am allowed to see the kids (I think I have said this before but whatever I can say it again I guess.) I am on anti-depressants which have produced a marked difference in my behaviour and attitude which by some accounts have suprised some people. I will have to attend anger management again (though I had anticipated and expected that) and will probably be asked to go to parenting classes (not exactly anticipated but I can't see the harm in it. I have acknowledged to Jenny and a couple of freinds that I don't feel I'm the best of dads out there. At least I'm far from a 'deadbeat dad' who doesn't care or spend time with my children).

 

Work is going well again. With our store being renovated it is hard going and the maintainence team is beginning to realise that when the store renovations are completed we will probably have much more work then we currently do. Cleaning the Fashion departments take longer. There are more windows to clean. The washrooms are likely to be bigger and therefore take longer too. There is more store to clean period!

 

The relationship between Jenny and myself for a while was strained but now it is a lot less strained though we still need to learn to communicate a hell of a lot better then we currently are!

 

Life is better but far from 'normal' again, if indeed there is such a thing for me!

 

Take care,

 

Turtle

On Tuesday October 10th Jenny, William and myself had Doctors appointments. I'm not sure how jenny's went. My appointment for the most part was just speaking about how I'd been and discussing stress, anxiety and possibly  depression.

 

Williams appointment was a mixure of good and bad. He's in the 110% for hehight at 76 CM, and weighs about 22 or 23 LBs. Though this isn't big for his size or age, he is eating really well. One thing that the pediatrian did find however is that William has a heart murmur and will need to see a cardiologist.

 

I for my part am on a trial course of anti-depressants to see if it alleviates some of my stress and anxiety. Though my weight is a slight cause for concern.

 

I start 4 days off today, I was hoping to get some quiet days in but that looks somewhat doubtful. CAS has said I can have supervised time around Will and Franky so things are improving.

 

Take care,

 

Turtle

In a week that should've been happy and bright with Francesca turning 3, it was a week far from it in the end.

 

After a bad week at work (one that saw a couple of warnings that I was too slow and that if I don't find my form I will be released.) I had a moment of anger and stupidity and an incident at home that cast a dark shadow over the week. On Thursday a member of the CAS (Childrens Aid Society) came by to investigate me and my actions and judged that I shouldn't be allowed to be around my children supervised or otherwise untill them reverse the decision. If they get word that I was around them they will be "apprehended". As such I wasn't allowed to spend time with Francesca on her birthday party, though I did watch her receive the presents I had bought for them on the behalf of Grandma Liber and Grandma Poat. A set of 4 puzzles, a 'Blues Clues' movie, 'The Little Mermaid' movie, a nice T-shirt and matching pair of trousers. While I am not allowed around William and Francesca they will be at the In-laws farm.

 

There is much stress and tension at home now as Jenny took the incident very badly and much more to heart than I would've ever expected and though we talked for hours on the situation I think there is much still left unspoken. Separation was mentioned again though for the time being though it still hangs in the air hasn't as yet happened. Over the next week I will have plenty of time with which to think and decide how I should continue so as not to cause further harm to my family. Anger management and sessions with a counselor or even a psychiatrist look to be the best way forward.

 

Though things seem dark to me there is always a sunrise to forward to.

Take Care,

 

Turtle

Another week where little happened.

 

We got a couple of new guys start at work and I guess I must have become better at my job as now they allow me to 'train' the newcomers. One of the new guys only lasted 1 night though...I wonder if that is a reflection of the hours and the type of work or a reflection of how well I 'trained' him.

 

I spent quiet a few days out and about with william running errands. He likes being walked aroung in the snuggli as opposed to being pushed in a pushchair. He's standing on his own and if your holding his hands he can walk a little too.

 

Next week is Francesca's birthday and we're taking her to an indoor activity centre for her birthday. It should be interesting.

 

Not much else to say except take care.

 

Turtle

Over the past couple of weks I've done very little. I've worked, I've slept, when I've had time off I've pretty much been reading solidly (in the space of about a week I"ve read half of the Lord of the Rings as well as finish a Star Wars book). Unfortunately I've also spent a day arguing with my wife.

 

The kids have been with my in-laws for the best part of a week so I've had a reallyquiet time of things and despite knowing I need to get on top of a couple of things they are still left yet to be done.

 

William is standing or pulling himself up to a standing position as often as he can and I"ve been told he has taken a couple of steps. No new teeth or words though.

 

Nothing else is new really, Take care.

 

Turtle

It's been about 2 weeks since I put anything down in a blog for this site so I thought I'd better before I forget to again!

 

Last week I somehow managed to get 4 days off in a row which is really rare! Thursday and Friday I admit I did pretty much nothing! I should've done stuff, I mean I had lots to do, I just didn't get round to them!

 

On Saturday Jenny and I got together with 6 friends and went to a concert (Jen's biological mum got a pile of free tickets from where she works.) There were 3 acts a local country act called the Bowes brothers, the next act was a magic act by Majinx. A family described as "The official Canadian champions of magic and often hailed as Canada's first family of magic." I thought this bit was fun, but jen wasn't so entertained. the last act was another Country act. (You get a lot of country music over here!) Ronnie and Glory-Anne Prophet. He was funny. He did impressions, sang a couple of songs, cracked jokes and in general just poked fun at himself . I have to say I didn't like Glory-Anne though but you can't have everything! It was a good show and I think everyone enjoyed it!

 

Sunday we went swimming and for a luch out with Francesca and William, but we didn't stay long in the pool as Will was getting cold and Franky tired. Francesca is getting better at swimming and spent most of her time swimming this time as opposed to jumping in like last time.

 

Monday we went to the park and looked at the flowers on sale in the market next to the park. Will spent most of his time on the swings, while Franky divided her time between the slide, swing and kicking the ball to me. I tried to make a sandcastle but it got trampled so I gave up!

 

As always nothing spectacular, but it's not a boring life either! There are a couple of things that happened that don't normally. Firstly I got a haircut. (Something that happens once every 15 or 16 months.) and secondly Franky Pushed over Will. Her possessiveness is beginning to show now that he is crawling and showing an interest into just about everything. She got a time out. Her time outs are supposed to last 2 minutes but due to her stubborness it wound up lasting over 20 minutes cause she refused to apologise to him! She wound up enjoying herself painting while I was out.

 

Guess thats just about everything I can think of.

Take Care,

 

Turtle

I had a long 'weekend' off this Mon, Tues and Wed. Obviously it was spent with my family!

 

Monday was spent swimming in the afternoon and for me sleeping from about 4 PM as I worked the night before.  Francesca spent quite a bit of time jumping in and swimming between Jen and Myself. William seemed to have a group of I'd guess 10 year old girls around him all the time trying to entertaining him!

 

Tuesday morning I had a couple of errands to run, but that didn't matter much as Jen had an appointment to get to and Will and Franky went with her. I spent time with Franky at the park and wading pool though I think she was out in the sun too long as her legs got a touch burned.

 

Wednesday we went for a walk down to the river to feed the ducks and geese, I even feed a red winged blackbird. After a while Franky started to get restless and we went for a walk in the river too. When we noticed there was little minnows in the river we got Linda to bring our fishing net to us and Franky, Jen and I tried to catch fish. Franky slipped in a couple of times but it didn't really phase her much.

 

There was a little problem yesterday in that William being able to crawl now and is starting to explore Franky is now showing her possessiveness toward her belongings and pushed him over when we got too close to her toys. Franky then spent the next 30 minutes crying cause she didn't like her punishment! I got a haircut while she painted.

 

I've got Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun off next so I will probably post something the Mon afterwards. Take care.

 

Turtle

William has not started 'talking' it's mainly a lot of babbling with Mama, Dada, Nana and Papa thrown in for good measure this morning he added cat cat to the mixture too!

 

He has started crawling and is even trying to stand in my opinion though Jen says thats just the way he crawls. (don't ask as I don't know how best to explain it but he plants his feet on the floor and as if standing but he still has his hands on the floor too.)

 

Turtle

Another quiet and uneventful week goes unnoticed. Yesterday my wife and I went to see Over the Hedge at the cinema. Yeah Yeah it's a kids movie but you know what the way I look at it is I've got 2 kids I watch kids programs all the time anyway! Kids movies aren't just aimed at kids anymore anyway-Hollywood has realised (about 5 or 6 years ago when Monsters Inc came out) that adults take kids to the movies so you need to make the movie appeal to them as well. It was a fun movie to watch, plenty of jokes that adults will find funny and it's a movie that kids will love. It seems to me though that a lot of the animated kids movies that have come out or are coming out tend to involve animals....in the past couple of years we've had Home on the Range, Madagascar, the Wild, Chicken Little, Brother Bear, Finding Nemo, Shark Tales and theres a movie called Barnyard to come out shortly thats at least 8 in 3 maybe 4 years and just from Disney and Pixar.

 

anyway I'm getting a little side tracked here, later today I'm going to spend time at the in-laws farm with my family, we'll go swimming, long walks in the field maybe to the river, probably do something artsy like paint or play with Play-doh. Francesca having just finished a 2 week swimming class is very interested in swimming at the moment.

 

It's nice to finally get 4 days off over the weekend evidently it's something that comes up maybe every 5 or 6 months so here's to the next 4 days off I get!

 

Turtle

It's been a quiet week for me at least. Jenny is 2 weeks into a liquid diet though the hospital around the corner, she's already lost 13 LBs. She's a lot more active which is obviously a good thing though her Asthma is getting a lot worse I think it's a lot to do with the humidity here and her sudden burst of activity of late ocupled with not being able to eat anything.

 

Francesca finished 'top of her class' in the 2 week swiming lessons she's been taking. She's a really good swimmer for her age! Shes' getting taller all the time and is beginning to speak her mind with growing confidence....if she want's something or doesn't want something for that matter you'll know about it!

 

William is growing and teething like nobodies business. He's already got 2 teeth in at 6 months. He's mastered rolling over and is working on crawling but despite being able to get up to all fours he hasn't got as far as how to go forward.

 

Last Tuesday we went to the cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest and Superman Returns. We enjoyed both but was a little disappointed with the open ending of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

 

Take care

 

Turtle

what a great afternoon!

 

We went for a walk down to the river to feed the ducks, but there weren't any. so we went to the park and wading pool. we were pretty lucky we decided to go today cause someone form the local reptile zoo (the largest in canada) came by to show off some of their animals. Francesca got to see a tatantula, a gecko, a white nipping python (which she pet), a bearded dragon (which she pet), tortoise, snapping turtle, cayman crocodile (which she also pet) and a common boa constrictor. While francesca was watching that I took William to play in the wading pool, which he splashed in for nearly 30 minutes before getting hungry. he loved his 10 minutes in the swing too.

 

I'm in the process of making Francesca's dinner and feeding Willaim.

 

take care,

 

Turtle

According to the clock at he bottom of the screen it's 9:40 am. I was a little bored this morning so I decided to set this stie up.

 

It'll probably be pretty empty for a while. I thought i'd set this up to attempt to let people who know me keep track of what I'm up to.  I hope to that end it does it's job!

 

Turtle