Momma... mine don`t wuff you anymore!!

Which any parent with great 3 year old translating skills will tell you it means `Momma, you pissed me off and I`m not happy with you right now, but I`m going to say I don`t love you anymore cause that`s how I tell you.

Now the source of where this loving & enduring comment came from I`m sure isn`t surprising to anyone! If you guess Ewan, well yep, you would have guessed correctly! LOL

Oh my sweet little Ya-Ya, Duders, Pooders, Ewan Thomas, has a wickedly mean streak to him. To be honest, anyone who knows him just finds his pissiness adorable. It`s just one of those things that poor Ewan was probably genetically predispoitioned to be. And since we`re being honest, well Ewan comes from 2 gene pools of great head strong, and tell it like it is kind of people. So with generations of that being filtered down, it has now created a super head strong, strong willed, pissy child named Ewan.

My Ewan can find fault or blame with any situation.... anywhere!

Example: When I was camping with my mom & her beau. Sitting around the campfire with my parents, and my three youngest children. Ewan looks up towards the sky through the trees, and booms out `WHO DID THAT?!?!`

Myself, my mom, her boyfriend, and even the older two brothers look up to see what Ewan is squawking about. After looking for a bit, asking Ewan what he was asking about, etc. Ewan finally answers `TREES!!!!`And he sounded right freakin pissed about it! Of course, the rest of the family were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

Ewan is like a wild card, he is not always one of those kids that is super friendly and super sweet. He will evaluate a situation and then decide if he`s going to be happy or not!

Let`s do picture evidence to this case history.

Happy Ewan sitting with my mom after our camping adventure in my house.

 Seconds later..... SO HAPPY to be posing with his brothers & grandparents... *sigh*.

We love you anyways Ewan Thomas ;)

My big boys getting ready for their big Halo weekend bender by stopping by the grocery store to pick up junk food.

 Ayden with his 2 youngest brothers.... and my dad`s leg in the pic! LOL

 My three little goof balls!

 And then they are helpers at the grocery store. They LOVE taking out the old milk crates and sliding them along to the back on the rollers at the bottom. LOL Whateva makes them happy right?

 The view from the bridge at Rundle Park this past weekend!

 Walking with mommy & Winnie.

 Now they lead the way, cause they`ve been coming to this walking path since I could carry them all in snugglies. Awwww...

 Got their sticks to throw off the bridge the way back to the ghetto van.

E-boy found his stick too! This mutha was 6.5 feet long! I kid you not! It was super heavy, he couldn`t thrown it over himself, so he asked me to. Now that`s determination!

Oooooooo I`m excited!

Wow am I ever excited! When I talk to people, even people I don`t know they just lift me up so much! I was just talking to a public health nurse about getting my immunizations for next September, and she was just terrific. OMG! She was sending me huge compliments, about being a single mom with 4 boys, going back to school... what a great example I am to my kids, she doesn`t know how I do it all, why my man ever left me cause I`m such a catch (lol)...etc.

My ladies at daycare, I could rave about them all day. They love my boys & I, like we are family. There are 2 owners at the daycare, a mother & daughter, everyday I see them, they are giving me compliments, we laugh together, the mother, she cried when she saw me after my accident with the van, offered any and all help to me after my own mom had to return home (of course, my mom took the best care of me while she was here).

I have girls, my mommy group of school friends, that I laugh & joke with all day, Monday through Friday. We study together, and all four of us are in 2 out of 4 classes together, and 3 out of us 4 in 3 classes & just me & another in our physics class together. We are awesome friends at school.

Then there`s the guys in my classes that I have friendly bets with about marks on tests, which keep me striving for excellence, since of course I don`t want to ever be beat by a guy. LOL But then those same guys will stop & help me understand things I don`t understand and help me to get a great comprehension on the material.

One of my girls, the one that`s in all my classes and I are hoping to go on a girls getaway come next May once we`re done all of our studies... Vegas maybe.... Woo hoo!

And then I have my own family, my four awesome boys who do anything they can for me, from helping with chores to playing quietly while I`m studying when their awake, to entertaining each other while I`m busy.

And honestly, even if I do complain once in a while, the ex and I have a terrific friendship and truly respect each other, care about what`s going on in each others lives, and work towards having happy sons.

And even I, am SO much happier now. I am out being social, by going to school everyday & seeing people. I am working towards difficult, challenging but extremely rewarding goals for myself. I`m getting my education finally, and I`m so serious about it, even with me giggling and laughing all day long.

I am working on personal goals for myself, such as becoming more fit, look & feel better. I mean come on.... how dressed up does a mommy student need to look? But honestly, when I look better I feel better, so I don`t wear yoga pants to school, and I do put on makeup everyday, just little things, I guess....

One goal that I started tonight was starting to run. I really want to do a 5K next summer. So I took Winnie out for a good little jog (3.5km`s) this evening, and felt so good after it, no I didn`t run the whole way, but off and on to start!

Plus I`ve decided that not just to make my application look good for trying to beat the odds for my ultrasound course, but I really want to do volunteer work on the weekends that the kids are with their father. I love seeing & helping others. With my studies being so important it won`t be much volunteer work, but it`ll be some.

I truly feel that I am me again. Not just Cookies wife (now ex wife of course, lol) or my sons mommy. I am Cheryl, and I really love it.

It`s amazing because of the way circumstances seemed to be, for so long in our old town I was depressed and felt so lost & alone. Moving to Edmonton, was truly the best thing I ever did for myself, and for my family. I do wish I could pick up our old house & lot and move it here, lol. LOVED that house & lot.  But I will have my own house again one day, and it will be all mine, cause I work for so long to get it, and my name will be on the mortgage.

Oh I`m just so excited for my future, it looks so bright!

But now, back to studying and living in the present.... I also got to get some sleep :) I`m way funnier at school when I`ve had some rest! LOL ;)

Momma.... What`s that smell?

Okay so I`ve written about myself... .and Aston. To some it would look like that`s all the members there are in this family so far. Just wait, soon I`ll be writing so much about everyone, you all will be avoiding even coming in here to read.

Anyways, back to Aston and his odd question. Now some kids ask why all the time, some kids ask what`s this & what`s that? And as the parents give much thought as to how to explain and then start describing in detail what the child has asked about the¸child sneaks away cause they really just wanted a simple answer and now Dad is explain Quantum Physics.

Or you didn`t really see what they were looking at and now your explaining storm systems and cumulus clouds, and really the child just wanted to know what that hot air balloon was all about.

Or maybe even the child when passing a jack hammer says, what`s that noise? Well that is easy enough to answer too.

But not my son.

My dear, sweet, redheaded son Aston asks the oddest question ALL the time..... `Momma...... what`s that smell?`

Okay... smell.... so immediately I stick my nose up in the air, and start sniffing like a bloodhound on the trail of a fugitive. Of course, being an adult I smell many things, and I`m trying to distinct which smell he is talking about. You might think this is an easy answer. But honestly I`m telling you, it`s not!

What`s that? When pointing to something... easy! What`s that noise? Pipe up my ears and I start listening.

But seriously... what`s that smell?!?! I am pretty in tune with my 5 senses, but this child is challenging me to a sense-off, or scent-off! LOL

Geeze freakin louise! So let all make wagers on how many times I get the `Momma... what`s that smell?`game right?

Uh yeah, not very often!

Oh Stan-the-man... how you challenge me in odd ways :)

I guess I am human... CRAP!!!

So I was feeling super exhausted today. Just thought it might be brain overload from another full but fulfilling day at school, but then I started to get a headache, and then started feeling flush..... And then... OH NO!

Could I have a fever?

It`s low grade, but still, I`m The Mom, and we all know The Mom is never allowed to get sick or fall ill!!! The Mom is a subhuman creature that can do it all and still come up smelling like roses, with dinner made, a clean house, homework complete & kids ready for school tomorrow!

I am not allowed to get sick! I`m not allowed to be down & out! I have to keep on going... cause who else will, for me, if I`m not going?

So what will I do.... medicate myself and keep on going ahead.... I have a lab to do & another one to hand in tomorrow at school and a Bio test, along with my regular 4 classes. So I don`t have the time to get sick!!! I wish I could feel down & out during the weekends, just like my kids do! But NOOOOOOOO, of course not!

Let`s just blame it on the rain here today,and  the fact that everyone else at NAIT has been coughing, sneezing, and leaving their mucky, ucky germs all over doors & rails, and that I`m unfortunate enough to have the superbug of all superbugs (cause just like men, when I get it, it`s the worst illness ever known to mankind! LOL Ya`ll know you do that! ;) ). And that I will go on.....with plenty of meds & caffeine to carry me through tomorrow until I have to pick up my little men and care for them..... why, you might ask.... right.... cause I`m The Mom, and I get no days off! :)

You`ll have to answer to me!!!

That`s what Aston was told by a fireman the other day at daycare. I swear my boys have the exact same crappy timing as their mother. Ahahaha!

It started when I picked up Aston at daycare, he found facination with the emergency fire alarm. He kept on running his fingers over it. Looking at my slyly, as to say without words... `well, what are you going to do about me touching this momma?` Once I actually saw what he was doing, I started talking to him about how that is for a fire, and it`s for emergencies, and only adults can pull it.

But when picking up the three youngest boys, it`s a mad house by the door, changing shoes, getting on coats, loading up back packs with homework & lunchkits. So I look over to see Aston touching the fire alarm again, exasperated that my mini safety lecture didn`t work, I just said `Aston! I told you not to touch that!!`  then from behind me I hear... `yeah cause if you pull that you`ll have to answer to ME!!` Well Aston poor timing lead to one of the Dad`s at daycare saying that to my little boy. The funniest part was the Dad was in full uniform.

I just had to laugh that Aston`s timing is about a perfect as his mothers! Only he could be trying my patience with a fire alarm while there was a firefighter standing right there. LOL Needless to say he ran & hid behind me right away and didn`t touch the alarm again! Silly boy :)

To my future daughter in laws

I wanted to write this out to all my future DIL`s! I know one day I will have 4, and with that will come much blame I`m sure of `oh his mother never did this....`and `his mother never did that!...`Well I can honestly say, that I am really the out numbered one here in the house of testosterone. Never is that more apparent that in the bathroom. LOL Yes the bathroom. I am sorry sweethearts, but I have tried & tried AND TRIED to get their bathroom manners in order, seat down, not leaving the seat wet. But alas, I am just one woman, in a sea of little boys growing up to be men. Please have pity on me for this one. I will keep on trying, goodness knows that I do not enjoy their bathroom manners, lol, but if there is one place where you might have compassion for me.. I hope it`s this one. ;)