Change is hard...

I have been looking for work for a few months now. I got demoted from my position in December, which totally blindsided me. I stayed because I had just bought a car and it was just before Christmas and I would be left with no money. Shortly after I was demoted I put my resume online and updated my LinkedIn profile. Soon after my boss saw the updated profile and asked me about it. I told him I was just checking out the site. Not much came of the job hunt until recently and I have gone on a few interviews but no job yet. This is strange for me as I have usually been pretty good at getting jobs from my interviews. Its starting to discourage me a bit. I even had an interview for my dream job at the harley shop but it didnt pan out as I had hoped. So I keep plodding on and hoping something will stick. My partner says I am being to honest with prospective employers in telling them I was demoted but I believe in honesty and integrity and I kept hoping some on would pick up on that and see it as a good quality...or does no one care about that anymore...

Too Posh To Push?

So the talk right now is of the royal baby watch. Catherine is due soon and the world is anxiously awaiting the babies arrival. I was watching a show this morning and they were discussing the due date etc. and one person made a comment that the c-section was already booked because she was too posh to push. I'm sorry but when did it become more fashionable to have a c-section scar? Why are we robbing women of the right to be a woman and pushing surgery on them? I am horrified by this new trend. I heard in the past how Hollywood women have a c-section and tummy tuck all in the same procedure. I have had 4 babies all natural and all with minimal intervention. I used nitrous oxide and demerol with my first early on in labor and then pushed without drugs. I was induced with my second but did not use pain control other than breathing, with my third there was no interventions, and my fourth as well. All four deliveries were different and yet not one time did I hear that we may have to have a c-section. I was able to deliver all my babies confidently and with the assistance of my mom and my best friend was able to have 4 very amazing birth experiences. Why would any mother want to rob themselves of the very thing that we were put here for? I am glad that not once has my support suggested that I have a cesarean section. I understand that there are certain times when it is called for and I am not disputing that it has saved lives but when it is being used as a tool to make money and supposedly make the mother more comfortable that is bs. There is a longer recovery time with surgery and a new scar to show off. Why would anyone opt for that? I would never want to rob myself of the feeling of accomplishment of pushing that baby through my birth canal. My wish is that other women be able to have this same experience. Don't rob yourself of the most primitive and amazing love a woman can feel.

Grrr...or How to deal with having children and PMS at the same time.

Step one: Tie children up.

Step two: Lock them in a room.

Step three: Drink Bottle of wine.

Step four: Repeat step three.

(disclaimer: I would never and have never drank two bottles of wine while having my children tied up and locked in a room. I make sure one of them has a knife, usually the little one as the bigger one can't be trusted, so they can get free in case I pass out!)..

(extra disclaimer: Seriously do you really think I would do that?)

Mommy brain and the boobs...

Mommy brain..mommy brain..what was I going to write about mommy brain...Oh ya..it makes you forget...

Which I guess is a good thing in some cases. It makes you forget where the keys are, what your kids names are, birth dates, your phone number, name, etc..but it also makes you forget other things like your life before kids, your body before kids, your boobs before kids.

I used to have a pretty nice body, before I had 4 boys, I was slender and a nice high rack and firm ass..
Not anymore, now I have stretch marks, and a wide ass, and my boobs look like a couple of deflated balloons.

Don't get me wrong I would not change it for the world, I earned every stretch mark, every extra pound and every wrinkle in my boobs. I am just grateful for the mommy brain and the fact that I can forget what it all used to be like.

I think it gets worse the more kids you have which may be why my grandma is having trouble remembering things now. She had 8 kids. I only had 4 and I can barely remember things. I know I used to have a life, I can remember parts of it, some of it was pretty crazy too, maybe that is why I like to forget it now.  There are days when I can't even get out of the house because I forget why I was leaving. It is pretty bad. I gave my kids all J names so I can just start mumbling in gibberish and they all think I am talking about them. If I don't put my keys in the same place every day it is an hour of looking for them before we can leave the house. I have to make sure the baby bag is packed and at the door by my shoes so I don't forget that. I am lucky that I remember the baby half the time. Poor thing being the 4th kid he is lucky I still have a brain! I have never been one for lists I got it I know what I need, lately I need to make a list write it down on the calendar and make sure I check every day so as not to forget anything.

As I was saying I think we get mommy brain to forget, forget that we had a nice body and a life and nice things, and also what childbirth was like. If we kept all that in our brains there would not be enough room for the new memories you make of playing, and the concerts, and the games, and the smiles, and the hugs, and the I love yous. I guess mommy brain can be a good thing...now where did I put that publish button??

Shitty pants, 1000 mosquito bites and endless hours of crying..yay we're camping!

As a mom of 4 and full time parenting 3 under 6 I don't often get out of the house, my partner however has other ideas, which I don't mind, much, but now and then he gets an idea that although having good intentions never fully understands the repercussions of his actions until it is too late.

We went camping, for a night, with a 6, 3 and 8 month old. Now normally that might be enough said but let me tell you a bit about our adventures...

It started out innocently enough..wanting to get away for a couple of days. By the end we were ready to be home and we were only gone a day...

Packed what we could find for food and camping gear, not knowing if the air mattresses held air, (they didn't btw) not sure if the stove was going to work, not sure where we were going, we headed out..

We got to our first major stop at Rearguard Falls Provincial park BC. It is a spot I found a few years ago and continue to take friends to if I get a chance! I recommend you check it out. It is just a short hike down to the falls and it is not a big park not much to do there no picnicking or anything like that, just a lookout spot but what cool nonetheless. It is the furthest place up the Fraser river that the Salmon make it as the water comes to fast over the falls they cannot climb the ladder, depending on the time of year you might catch them trying to make it. This was a good spot for trying gold panning as Chase has found a new hobby, we think we might have even found some..not sure though as we don't really know what we are doing.

We thought we might find a campground near Jasper so we headed that way next, on the way we spotted a campground off the highway that looked pretty empty and an elk was standing right at the entrance so we saw that as a good sign and pulled in. Turned out they had room and was cheap $16/ night. We drove around and found our site and set up camp. We paid for our site and headed back to Jasper to get supplies as we didn't have much for supper stuff. I recommend buying your supplies beforehand as Jasper is not cheap, but a lot cheaper than the icefield's but I will get to that. We get back to camp and make dinner for the boys. While trying to build a fire I look over and see Jaxan standing funny and I ask him what's wrong and he proceeds to tell me that a big poop just came out of his bum. I check his pants and sure enough he is pooing his pants at the campsite. Luckily there was plenty of baby wipes on hand. I grabbed the boy stripped his pants off and cleaned him up right there at the campsite. I threw the pants and poop out as I was not going to try and deal with that mess in the van for the rest of the trip(the pants were old and ripped so I felt they were ok to throw out.) Got him in his jammies and things were all better. Took awhile to get the fire going so me and the boys went for a walk and checked out the lake and the area. We were in a pretty cool place, almost made the 1000 mosquito bites worth it. Did I mention to mosquitoes? They were huge! At one point I looked over at the baby and he had several of them on his head. ( I think they were trying to carry him away to feast on him at their leisure.)

After a sleepless night on a deflated air mattress and crying babies because he didn't have his purple blanket(Jaxan) we woke and I made breakfast, which turned out fairly well on our little camp stove and we ate and packed up camp as we still had a full day ahead of us. We planned on heading to Athabasca Falls and after that we were not sure. We headed back towards Jasper again and headed south to Athabasca Falls, along the way we hit a couple of geocaches and found some great spots for pictures. We made it to Athabasca Falls and took our time looking at the falls and taking pics. It is an amazing place and I am glad I took my boys to go see it! After the falls we had a choice to make continue to the icefields, or head north back home. We headed south and we are glad we did! When we got to the icefields it was amazing. I kind of remember going there as a kid, but to see it as an adult is something else! We told the boys they were visiting the ice age! They were looking for dinosaurs! We toured around on our own as we were trying to save a bit of money. Then we got hungry, boy was that a mistake. We decided to stop in at the Icefields building for lunch and $53 dollars later for grilled cheese sandwiches! We were none too excited, and the lunch was not that good either, if you are travelling there bring a lunch! We could have turned around again at this point and headed home or continue south and see more mountains and maybe visit with Sam and Lee. We chose south!

Heading south we saw some amazing mountains and stopped to take pics when we could, calling Lee to see if he was going to be home. No answer, we carried on. We couldn't hit any more geocaches as I didn't load any more on the gps device and we had no cell service, but regardless the trip was still fun! Even saw a frozen lake because we were so high up! In Banff we went to the Banff Fairmont Springs Hotel and showed the boys the big hotel. Found the Tim Hortons grabbed a coffee and headed to Calgary!

On the way Jaxan was complaining of a headache and owie belly so I asked him to rest and he tried but his belly was really hurting. We got to Calgary and stopped at Peter's Drive in as that is the place to get a burger and a milkshake. Jaxan refused to eat his still saying he has a sore tummy. We stopped in at Lee's place and Chase got to visit his puppy who he hasn't seen in a few years since he gave him to his brother to take care of. Sam freaked out seeing Chase! It was too cool! Meeting Lee was cool too! We didn't stay long as it was 8 pm by this point and we still had a 3 hour drive home. The drive home was nerve wracking because poor Jaxan cried most of the way because of his poor tummy but we would ask him if he needed us to stop and he would say he just wanted his own bed and his elephant. We made it home in record time and Jaxan went straight to the bathroom and let loose with an explosive bm that filled the bowl as the stench filled the air...poor guy. But we were home and all of us alive! We may even do it again some day!

my letter to my mla.

Dear Mr. Deron Bilous,

I am writing to you on behalf of Geo Mousef and his family. Geo is the little boy who was killed by alleged drunk driver Richard Suter, at Ric's Grill Monday night. I am sure you have heard the story. As a mother of 4 boys I am a huge believer in designated driving often times going out with my friends only to make sure they would have a designated driver and get home safe. Richard Suter is having a bail hearing tomorrow morning Thursday May 23rd at 10 am and if he receives bail he is then able to go out and celebrate with his friends and possibly kill another. We need to set a precedence with such a case and show Richard Suter and others who feel it is ok to drink and drive and kill babies that it is NOT OK! I hope you are behind the push to toughen the drunk driving laws and make it not ok for these dangerous people to get behind the wheel and hurt or even kill people. Geo will never know the freedom of being able to sit on a patio and enjoy a drink with his friends and family in a responsible manner like the rest of us. His mother will never see him graduate or tie his tie for his wedding. His father will never be able to show him how to shave and fix a car. All because a selfish man took his life. I invite you to join the group Justice for Geo on facebook and show your support for tougher drunk driving laws. You can view the group here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Justice4Geo/ . Mr. Bilous please show your support and Help us to stop mothers and fathers from ever having to bury another child due to someone else's selfishness.

Sincerely

Jodie Velthuizen.

The race is on!

Man am I glad spring is finally here! We love geocaching and with 3 little ones it is way easier in the months there is no snow on the ground. For those of you who do not know what geocaching is we like to explain it as treasure hunting all over the world. People everywhere have set out treasure boxes for you to find using a gps enabled device. We have been doing it for a couple of years now. I am up to 212 found! Today we set out to see if we could be the first to find on a couple but was beat by mere minutes. I found out about it a few years ago while planning our annual ladies weekend, my cousin gave me the idea and so me and my mom tried it a few times to see if we could make it work for our weekend. We did and it was fun (although some in my family still believe they don't exist simply because they didn't find one). A couple of years ago I got a gps device and we started looking for them as a family. Last year I got a membership and then I could get emails telling me when a new one had been published. This opened up a whole new game FTF! (First to find) We managed to get a few of them last year. One even had a nice FTF prize of a canada flag travel bug, it gets tracked as it passes through each geocache and people can move it around. Right now it is in Quebec so far it has travelled 1889.3 miles. We left it in drumheller! There was another cacher who would beat us to the FTF quite often so to get one close to home was a great feeling! Today we set out to find a couple new ones the popped up, but we missed both of them, one our friend found first..foiled again...lol It was fun looking for it. This one was disguised as a tree hiding in a tree go figure. Many more geocaching adventures planned for this summer, the great thing is you can get out and get exercise and find treasure! If you want to know more about it go here--->www.geocaching.com Maybe we will see you out on the trails!