Been so busy!...

Hoping you all have had a wonderful weekend! Life around the Boyd Homestead has been hectic to say the least... School has been out for almost 2 weeks now and keeping 5 kids occupied has been a bit challenging since my husband works fulltime during the week and quite often on the weekends and with gas prices so high I can't take them really anywhere, lol. First week off we were looking forward to sleeping in but no, my eldest daughter had summer school which meant waking the kids up and being out of the house by 7:15 am to drop her off in the next town 15 mins away for the bus pickup. Lets just say the kids were not thrilled! ( I wasn't either!) and spending more than $80 worth of gas for both morning and afternoon pickups left my wallet empty :( Than on Tuesday, my son Rhys had a 3 hr assessment at Grandview Childrens Center in Oshawa so that he could get braces for his ankles because his feet turn outwards and he needs them straightened out. We met with the peadtrician there who was wonderful and has worked with children with Hurlers( at least 5 in the Durham area which is cool because Hurlers is so rare), and than he met with OT and PT and they were all so very outgoing and encouraging! And best of all, Rhys got invited to go to day camp there for a week to learn life skills and fun stuff and they were all booked up but they squeezed him in! He was so thrilled when he found out that they wanted him to go that he was shouting " I got in!!" to everyone he saw :) There is also a trip to Toronto on the last day going on the GO Train which he ever so looking forward to. It's hard for us to loosen up and give him some independence since we have had to look out for him every step of his last 10 yrs and it's going to be a tough one for me dropping him off first day of camp and probably a few tears will be shed by me but seeing him so happy and looking forward to this will balance it all out! It's not easy having a child with a disability and learning problems and having to worry every minute of the day but this will be a new beginning and challenge for Rhys and his zest for life and meeting new people and learning new things will great for him!
I wish I had pics to share this time but honestly I don't think you want to see fried grass and plants that have no flowers on them thanks to my wonderful free range chickens who have eaten almost every single petal of all my plants :( It's been so hot here and no rain that the grass is brown and crispy. I did make a makeshift barrier for my gardens with netting and sticks and whatever I could find to keep the silly birds from digging in my flower beds and trust me it looks horrible! I'm trying to find something that they won't eat :P Even my digitalis plant which is suppose to be poisonous had all the beautiful flowers chewed off. So if anybody knows of plants that will deter chickens and ducks, please let me know before my birds end up in the stew pot!
So, tomorrow is a slow day around here( I hope!), than Tuesday Rhys goes up to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto for his yearly Bone Marrow Transplant checkup and echocardiogram( oh that outta be fun!), and he wants us all to go, lol. I don't know...taking 4 kids up there in a truck in rush hour traffic for the 1 1/2 hr trip there does not sound fun especially when we have to leave around 6 am. But... it would be nice for his docs to see his siblings( 2 of which they have never met and one that they got to really know back in Rhys's transplant days. I myself am a little hestitant to go because as much as I know how wonderful that hospital is, I have spent way too much time there in the past including the 2003 SARS breakout when I was 9 months pregnant with Brynn and being made to wear those horrible thick masks etc. Can't forget spending over a year off and on there during transplant time and VP shunt replacements( a 1 month stay there too) in 2007. I dread walking through those front doors because so many memories good and bad keep flooding back and knowing that so many of our wonderful friends that we met back in 2002 lost a child while we were there. Maybe I should just be brave like Rhys and suck it up and go...if he can go back how many times a year to be poked and prodded, I guess I can go too :) Than on Wednesday I take him back to Grandview for physio at 1 pm and he wants me to go at 11 am, lol, can you tell he's going to love this place!
So this weekend was good, warm but nice and got to sit out by the chimnea for a fire and drinks :) Went by some nice looking yardsales that hubby wouldn't stop for ( and they were ones that actually looked worthwhile but instead he stops for the ones that weren't so great...I guess he didn't want me spending money, lol.
Oh well, I wanted to post before we get any storms which are due tomorrow. Hopefully I can post again before the week is over with some pics!
Have a wonderful week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Many hugs and blessings, Trish