Wild and Wooly

Whew! We're back. Only just. From a wild and wooly Westlock weekend. We're tired, grumpy, moderately carsick, and wouldn't have missed it for anything, except perhaps a grossly large offer of money, which, sadly, was not forthcoming, so we forthwent. As the Smith contingent can attest.

I will provide dirty, salacious details tomorrow (and of those there are plenty--well, not really, but I'll make something up!) from work, when I ought to be working. For tonight, pics. 

News from the frontline

For those of you who read this blob, I mean blog, (I just happened to glance in a mirror and saw my ample bottom) which seem to be few and far between, but don't mind that, it's probably just a vanity exercise anyway, which would be supported by my habit of simultaneously typing and scrutinizing myself, I have a Radox clan update. But I'll be brief. Too much time away from complete self-obsession and admiration is terribly hard on me.

Jonah just finished his second year of an English degree. He is overwhelmingly relieved. If university has taught him anything, it's that he hates what he's studying. So, while he ponders where to go from here, he is working construction 10 hours a day. Nothing like a few calluses to clear a guy's head.

Emma, on the other hand, is experiencing what the medical community likes to call, lackofschoolaphobia. Symptoms include, an intense urge to chew on HB pencils, trembling extremities when in close contact with text books, and general foaming about the lips when discussing higher education. For the lay people among you, that means she is desperate to get back to school. Her gap year has been an education in itself. It's taught her that she hates being a corporate stooge. She is taking the next big step. We move her to Lethbridge and into rez. on September 1st. Fear, anxiety, and exultation are her constant companions. 

Isabelle is rocking grade 9. She made an enormous move this year. From small, sheltered private school to big-city public school. It's the first time in her academic life she's been in public school, and the first time she has been able to walk to school. We knew she was ready, but we were all a bit nervous. She's worked and struggled to conquer her learning differences, but moving to a big, public school was the ultimate test. Well, not unlike Isabelle, she exceeded everyone's expectations. She is, to put it delicately, kicking ass. She is an honour student, and one of the top students in grade 9. She has played volleyball and basketball, she has been asked to by the drama teacher to be part of the Drama Festival club, and she was chosen to be part of the Social Leadership club. Interestingly, it was the students involved in Social Leadership that asked for her. They felt she was a kind, compassionate leader. 

Moses is finishing up Kindergarten, and he loves it. He is starting to read and do rudimentary math. He is a lovely, incredible kid. Thoughtful, smart, and inquisitive. We must hear, at least 45 times a day, "Is this a good question?" Since January, when I went back to work, Moses and Bronwyn have been going to a dayhome. There is a little boy called Alex, not yet 3, who waits at the front window every day for Moses. When we get there, Alex runs over and puts his arms around Mo and just holds. He says, "Hi Moses, hi Moses, hi Moses." Moses never loses his patience. He just wraps his arms around Alex and picks him up, then says, "Let's go play."

Bronwyn is the Whoopie Goldberg of our house. She has all of us, but particularly Moses, peeing our pants with laughter. She is always upping the ante and taking her comedy to the next level. Add to that her absolute obsession with princesses, and singing and dancing, and you might begin to draw her likeness. She's a tough little nut, with a dangerous sense of humour, wrapped in pink tulle. 

Life at the Radox's continues to be a madhouse, with me as the Mad Hatter, and Bart as the dormouse.

Lotsa love everbody. Now I have to go check to see if I have anything in my teeth!

Blogazine Contest

The editors of Radox Central have an offer you just won't be able to refuse. If you can name our new family gossip blogazine (keep in mind this publication will only contain the most inflammatory and salacious family events and photos), you have a chance at winning a fabulous prize package. 

Name the blogazine and you could win an extra-large cup of coffee. Tim Horton's coffee.  

All entries must be received by the time I say to stop. 

An entry fee of $11.99 must be posted with entry--

cheques can be made out to Danielle.

Entries become the property of Radox Central, 

and will not be returned.

Radox Central reserves the right to disregard, 

or make fun of, any really dumb suggestions.

The winner must answering a skill testing question 

of unusual difficulty and complexity. 

The winning entry becomes the sole property of 

Radox Central. You will get no credit. Ever. 

Thank you for your entries. 

We look forward to working with you!

The first article of the new blogazine is coming up. Directly. Actually, just scroll down to read about a shocking love triangle!

Radox Weekly: Celebrity Sightings and Juicy News

Moses in Steamy Kindergarten Love Triangle

Moses is heating things up in the Acadia Elementary afternoon kindergarten class. Sources close to Moses report him to have said during a bedtime conversation to his vibrant, sexy, young-looking mother, "I have to tell you something you're not going to like. Some one in my class loves me."

Several days later, Moses reported to his delightful, engaging mom, "Oh, she doesn't love me anymore. She loves Ethan." When asked why this fickle, preschool heart breaker doused the flame of love in our young hero, Moses reveals, "She likes his hair."

Needless to say, our readers are in uproar! Any one who's anyone knows that in the last reader survey 9 out of 10 hair aficionados, teenage girls, and grocery shopping senior citizens chose Moses hair above all (no pun intended, though he does sport a rather tall 'do).

There don't seem to be any long term effects. 

Recently Moses was spotted out at an up and coming hot spot, the Ecole du la Source playground, in the company of his 3 sexy sisters, and his super hot parents. It's a relief to know that kindergarten girls can't keep a good man, or his hair, down.

The Trouble Brothers

Each Christmas, the Radox kids, from 20 to 4, draw names and exchange gifts. This past year, Moses drew Jonah's name. He was very excited and wanted to do something special. So in addition to getting Jonah the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie, so they could watch together, we came up with the idea of making Jonah a 

t-shirt.

After careful and hasty discussion (big Mo was in a hurry), Moses dubbed Jonah and himself, "the Trouble Brothers, 'cause we're always getting into trouble."

So I took the theme, which sounded awful comic-booky to me, and created a graphic. We printed it on iron-on paper and created the shirt. So that explains the "Trouble Brothers," but what the H....E....double hockey sticks does Bridgeamanman Town mean, you ask ? Well, let me elucidate.

Moses is a man of few words. Occasionally those words are just slightly convoluted. Take bridgeaman for example. Like most children, Moses loves Christmas, and one of his great joys of the season is gingerbread men--are you starting to see a connection here? The term gingerbread man has, in our world, been enthusiastically replaced with the Moses version: the bridgeaman. So if a gingerbread man is a bridgeaman, it stands to reason, that a gingerbread house is a bridgeamanman house. Well, I don't care who you are, you gotta love that word. It trumps the conservative and predictable, gingerbread house, by a mile. So in honour of Moses and his brilliant mind, I decided the Trouble Brothers must reside in Bridgeamanman Town. 

I mean, where else would they live?

We're baaaacckkkkk!

So yes. After a short hiatus (2 years--that's short in cat years!) we have returned. Still seven strong. And still, as you know us and love us, weak at the ankles, with mildly clogged pores, and low in moral fibre.

More to come. I will add updates, as I procrastinate at work (that or spend my days finding "remarkable" things to say about Justin Timberlake, and trust me, that could tax the mightiest mind, never mind my slightly feeble one, mind I mean.) Is there an echo in here?

Anywho. Life plods on, and drags us with it. But we're a resilient bunch. Not unlike Silly Putty. You can squash us, but we'll always bounce back, albeit with some questionable impressions and no small amount of lint. And, well, you'll probably stuff us into that little plastic egg, until you drag us out again to press us against the latest, sadly repetitive and unfunny, Garfield strip. And yes, we'll respond, but we'll feel used. 

Never mind. I digress. Talk at you soon.

d. 

Haircuts and kitchen

Well new news....Moses and Bronwyn had hair cuts yesterday. Here are some pics. Before and after:

A

In other Radox news: the kitchen is progressing at a snail's pace. We seem to be working on it every spare minute we have (except those time we are sipping scotch). Still no cupboards, counters, floor or dishwasher though. We are diligently mudding (Bart's job) and painting (my job) the walls. All yellow, for those of you who know our colour choices, that means no more red. Isabelle is miserable about it. Red was her favorite.



So enough time blogging, my paint brush beckons.

The Moses Edition

What is up with Moses, as he eats Alpha-ghetti and gets ready for his last day of his first year of pre-school? Well, plenty of 4 year old concerns and plenty to concern the parents of a 4 year old.

Bart and I had Moses IPP meeting (basically a ramped-up Parent-Teacher Interview) last Thursday, and we went with excitement over the fact that he is doing so great: conversing and making poop jokes like most 4 year olds, and being a nuisance to his olders brother and sisters, and a tormentor to his younger sister. But we also went to the meeting with a nagging worry that because he didn't qualify for government funding next year (he was funded in this enriched pre-school program for his first year because his language skills we so poor) that he wouldn't be entitled to take the bus (bussing to and from school was included in the funding, and because the centre is about a 15 minute drive from our house, the bus was a great asset). Well when we got there we discovered that while he would be eligible for the bus, they had not re-registered him in school. They boldly and wrongly assumed that because he was doing so well we would want him to go to a community pre-school.

We were shocked. Not only had we filled out all the appropriate forms for re-registration, we paid a deposit--in February!! Well we both stood there with our mouths agape trying to take in the feeble excuses they were espousing, and we left with the assurance that he was on the wait-list. What a delightful reassurance that was.

To add insult to injury they left telling us so long that all of our neighborhood pre-schools are finished for the year, and registration for these centres also took place in February! So I spent the rest of that frantic morning calling every pre-school I could find in our part of Calgary to find him a space.

It has been a pretty crazy and disappointing search. While our neighborhood schools are roughly half the monthly cost, the facilities are nothing compared to where he is now. We've considered a couple of different places, and rejected one based on the Director--when we went to see the school, she told me that she thought Moses would be better off at her school because there would be more children in his class (9 kids in his class this year, and 24 per class at her school) because when she was a child and no adults were around they would push down and pick on the littlest one. She said that was how it is so all children have to learn to deal with it. While, in theory she is probably right, we all have to learn to make our way one way or another, I think her Lord of the Flies philosophy for pre-school is slightly alarming. So that school is off our list! I mean, come on, look at that sweet, innocent face! I think we'll save the tough lessons for when he is a little more world saavy.

We settled on a pre-school close enough to walk or bike on one of our none rushed days (that'll be about twice a year). The school is much smaller but has a nice vibe and is in a big fitness centre and pool, so the kids can have outside playground time as well as gym time.

In other Moses news: after about a year and a half of struggles he is fully toilet trained (hip, hip horray!). Now he thinks he can sit in a regular seat in the van, and should get bunk beds so he can sleep on top and Bronwyn can sleep on the bottom. He also wants to be in helping and doing "jobs" for the renovations. He pulls nails, hits nails, and so far loves the destruction. It is a little harder to direct his building skills, and he still thinks he should be able to just whack any wall with a hammer (he took glee in tearing down the wall between the kitchen and the living room). I literally fear the painting stage!!

He has his summer all mapped out too. First Isabelle's birthday, then Erin's wedding, then the beach (we were offered a friend's house in the Okanagan for a week in August). So our summer is pretty much sealed up. Though he still wonders when we are going to Australia to see Carolyn.

Well, enough Moses for now....more Radox profiles in the offing!

bdjeimb

Second Edition--for Kona

Well, we're back....and with so little changed since the last post there seems little reason to update this blog...except one very special, important reason: the wonderful, fabulous, beautiful Kona!

Hi Kona! We all miss you soooooo much. I know your Papa is a busy guy, but maybe if you ask him, and I ask him, and Grannie asks him, and Uncle Mark asks him, and Jonah and Emma and Isabelle and Moses and Bronwyn and Uncle Bart ask him he'll bring you to Canada for a visit! (and guess what? We miss your Papa almost as much as we miss you.)

Our house is pretty crazy right now. Isabelle is having her 13th birthday party and she has 5 girls at our house. Sleeping over. So with 6 silly teenage girls (7 silly teenage girls including Emma, but she doesn't think she's silly, so don't tell her I told you) it is pretty noisy in here. We all went swimming yesterday at Stanley Park. Maybe you remember Stanley Park. When you were here last time we all went on a picnic together and played in the river and at the playground.






Here's are some pictures of you from that summer.

Pretty soon you will have to bring Noah to visit us. Is he a good brother? Your Papa is my little brother too, and boy sometimes he was a rotten little brother (but I still love him!), he was fun and cute sometimes too (don't tell him I told you he was cute--it'll be our secret).

Well Kona, we love you and miss you and everybody in our house and Grannie's house sure hope you and Noah and Papa and Mama will come to Canada soon. We'll go to the mountains, swim in the Stanley Park pool, eat watermelon and popsicles, and jump on the trampoline! Send us some pictures soon!!

Love you,

Auntie Dani

Coupla photos

First Edition

Where to start. Last summer, at Rilayna and Randy's wedding Janet and Arlynn graciously and generously donated to us their piano. After one look at the beautiful instrument Bart and I were in love. So the mighty Rakoz boys (Bryan and Kyall) loaded it into Bryan's pick up and drove it down here. Long story short, we still don't play very well (though Emma is developing into quite the virtuoso), but we love the piano so much we have redesigned our entire living area around it. What started out as merely replacing and old, decrepit dishwasher turned into a complete remodelling of our kitchen and dining room.

We tore down the wall between our kitchen and living room and closed off the back door and put in a patio door about 4 feet down the wall. We are currently living with no cupboards, no counters, no dishwasher and no flooring. For a house with 5 adults (well practically 5 adults) and 2 preschoolers we are doing pretty well. God bless paper plates! Our latest road block is thanks to me. I measured the kitchen and special ordered the tile (it only took 2.5 weeks to get to us) only to find out I was about 25 sq. feet short. So after ordering more we have another 2.5 week wait before we can lay flooring, so that we can put in the cupboards, so that we can hook up the new dishwasher. That is clearly the last time I get trusted with a tape measure. Before I drastically change subjects--kudos and thanks galore to Bryan for all his help. We wouldn't be half as far as we are without him!

Now to kids: Jonah starts at Mount Royal in September in the University Transfer Program majoring in English. I think he's looking forward to getting back to school. His other interesting news is that he is a marked man. Newly tattooed on his right shoulder! He likes it so much he is considering more tattoos and a piercing as well. I suppose I should relate some trepidation (as any reasonably sane parent would do), but frankly it could be worse--he could be getting married and making me a grandmother (Heaven forbid!)

Emma is writing her grade 11 exams and is planning and schemeing for all kinds of hijinxs for when Kyall comes down in July. They are attending drama camp together (for the second year in a row). In fact, we are all looking forward to Kyall's visit! Emma is thoroughly glad the year is over. She worked at Dairy Queen during the year slinging ice cream to save money for a backpacking trip through Europe after grade 12, so that is her goal: get through school (with the Rutherford scholarship for all three years) and head off in to the wild blue. Carolyn, if you're still in London next summer, expect a visit!

Isabelle just finished her first year in Junior High and she kicked butt. She worked like a Trojan all year and deserves a break, but is sad the year is over. This year her volleyball team won silver at cities, she and her partner Hayley won the Junior High Debate competition, and she took best speaker! Her team won the grade 7 triatholon, with her doing the 1 km run. Basically an all around great kid and super achiever! She turns 13 on June 29th so we are gearing up for party time.

Moses is just finishing his first year of pre-school and it has been a terrific, successful year for him. He has really come out of his shell and developed quite a sense of humor. With that head of hair and his quirky sense of humor he's going to have the kindergarten girls swooning.

Finally Bronwyn, our gargantu-baby. She is off the charts for height and weight (in fact, if she continues at this rate she'll be more than 6 feet tall), and talks a blue streak! With any luck (and please keep all your fingers and toes crossed for us) she'll be out of diapers this summer!

Well enough is enough. Updates about Bart and I can wait. Suffice to say he is smart and handsome and I am devoted to him (with the occassional lapse in judgment--his not mine, of course!) Take care and blog us soon.

bdjeimb

Hello Everyone

Well, what can I say....we are terrible corresponders. It's not that we don't love you and think of you (and you know who are), it's just that we are so busy--alright, I'll be totally honest, we are so self-absorbed--that we don't pick up the phone or sit down to email.

So to rectify this unfortunate situation I decided to start a year round Christmas brag letter with photos, interesting news items, tasty bits of gossip (if you consider Moses finally pooping on the toilet or which tile we chose for our kitchen floor tasty), and fasinating facts. The fortunate part for us is that we can keep you updated regarding which one of us is chasing our tail at any particular moment, and the fortunate bit for you is that you can choose to read it or not.

So stay tuned for updates and breaking news. We hope you enjoy our continuing saga, but more than that we hope you contribute. 'Til we see you--

bart danielle jonah emma isabelle moses bronwyn, or as we affectionately think of our selves: bdjeimb