Jack Attack on my Back

Oh, my aching back. We were at the YMCA nearly two weeks ago now, and I was busy trying to keep track of both boys in the pool. Not easy; they're slippery as eels and they move faster than you would believe. Jack was playing his favourite game - jumping in from the side into my arms - when I got momentarily distracted looking for Ethan. E was doing his bobs, which always alarm me as I think he stays under too long. Jack apparently didn't need to wait for the catcher (me) to be aware of his presence hurtling in from the side, and jumped down onto my head. He's not even 30 pounds, but straight onto the head and shoulder and it doesn't tickle. I didn't notice it SO much until the next morning when I could barely lift my head off the pillow, let alone breathe or move. It is classic whiplash, courtesy of my youngest son.
I was steadily improving - I even got to the gym on Tuesday, one week after The Jump. Then Thursday morning, I woke up around 5 am and made the mistake of stretching AND yawning at the same time. Silly me, because apparently I turned 80 in the middle of the night or something! I was incapacitated once more. Karla, a mom at Kindergarten, said I obviously shouldn't try to multi-task like that at 5 am. She also offered to meet me at Zellers for the seniors breakfast special the next morning (there's room to park walkers). How helpful! But then her husband Don got Jack into his carseat for me, so I can be friends with her still ;-)

We had Paige and Gavin with us on Friday. The kids all play so well together; it's always a blast! We had them two weeks ago too for the day. Ironically, with four kids in the house I got more done than with two here. I put my feet up with a cup of tea, got some stuff done for work, and folded three loads of laundry. We also went to the park, had lunch and made balloon crafts. They are beautiful children and they really click with our kids. This past Friday was more stressful, only because Ethan and Paige are both in Kindergarten (different schools) and their start and end times are identical. So I dropped Ethan 5 minutes early with some of the other moms waiting for Madame, and drove as fast as I could to Paige's school. We parked in the wrong place (Paige was no help there as she usually walks to school) and ran to the classroom only to find a sign on the door that they were at music. In another building. Paige dropped off her bag and hat in her cubby and we hightailed it to the office, where I got reamed out by the principal and obtained a Late Pass. I then got directions for the music room, and by the time we got there she was 15 minutes late. Gulp. Gavin and Jack were angels and enjoyed the trucks and trains for a couple of hours. Then it came time to pick up the older kids and I went for Ethan first. If Paige's principal was already pissed at me, why piss off another principal? E seemed to be the last one dismissed, then he finally came out, I grabbed his hand and we booked it. Remember my lovely back? Felt "great" in a sprint, let me tell you...! We were 15 minutes late for Paige, even still. We came back and had a nice lunch, and we were actually kind of sad that Sandy got off early - the kids were having so much fun!

Ethan had Picture Day on Wednesday. Mike dropped him off in the morning after having picked a pose and a background for him on the photographer's sheet. When he picked him up from school, he asked Ethan how it went and Ethan told him that he didn't like the pose Mike had picked, so he chose another one. We'll see how they turn out!

On a sad note, our good friend Chris lost his mom this week. Rest in Peace, Rosie.