Rest in peace, William "George" Klages.

This morning, I dreamed about my grandpa. I was living in a garden and I got a message from my father that he was at number 17. I instantly knew what it meant. It was close to his death. If he was at 1, he's alive and healthy and if he was at 20, he was dead. So I went to see my dad and grandpa. My dad was having a difficult time understanding the dying process so I was explaining about the process to him. He was worried about him not eating so I explained that it was the body's natural way of shutting down organs and that he wasn't hungry. In fact, it helps him feel euphoria.

Afterwards, I woke up. I felt so sad but then I noticed in the sky outside my bedroom, there was a lone shiny star. As it became brighter, the star disappeared. It took about 40 minutes for it to disappear but while it was dancing, I was able to appreciate the beauty. It's funny how the dream and star just somehow pieced together like a puzzle. We need to appreciate people and things the same because one day they will be gone. Their memory will always live on but in order to appreciate the person or thing, we need to be available to do that.

It's about time I updated!!

Where to begin? It's been so long since I updated. Christmas came and went. We ended up having dinner at my grandparents' house since it would be my grandpa's last Christmas. My grandma invited everyone to her house and we all had fun. Sky especially liked my cousin, Katie. She is 11 years old so they had a lot of fun playing together. Alex spent most of his time outside playing with his new toy ATV. Dinner was delicous as my grandma is a wonderful cook. :)

The kids' dad was in town as well and he stayed with us throughout the Christmas holiday. The kids clinged to him for dear life leaving me free to go out and do whatever I want to. The kids were so sad when he went back to Medicine Hat, Alberta but they understood why he had to leave. They still keep in touch by phone calls and letters.

Homeschooling is going very well. Sky is finally interested in practicing her handwriting so no more bribes!! :) More activities are planned as spring approaches. The weather has been mild up until a couple of weeks ago when it became freezing cold. Now it has finally become warmer. Spring is definitely coming and you can see the excitiment in the kids.

A few weeks ago, I took Alex for a hearing test because I noticed he was turning up the volume on TV and computer so I was concerned about him losing his hearing. The hearing test showed that his hearing was normal but the audiologist told me something interesting that would help me understand why he refused to talk at school for over two years... It turns out that he has problems with background noises. He cannot understand anything when there's too much noise around. Apparently, it's common in boys his age. She also said that homeschooling was perfect for Alex because he won't be so distracted and he is able to concerate better. If he is to go back to school, then he would need to go b ack for further testing. He would need help at school. Sky is a very noisy girl so whenever he watches TV or does his phonics homework on the computer, he would turn up the volume in order to understand what's being said. Who would know a simple hearing test would find that kind of info out!! Now I understand the importance of taking your kids to the audiologist to get tested before they start kindergarten.

A couple of weeks ago, my grandpa was brought to the hospice because he wasn't eating anything and became sicker. (For those who don't know, he has cancer and doesn't have long to live.) Alex and his great grandfather have a special bond. When he was little, he would sit with him reading books. Sky would go with her great grandma in her garden and help with gardening. Anyway, I felt it was time to have a talk with both the kids about their great grandpa. I didn't want them to be caught by surprise when he dies. We had a good talk about death and life. Alex cried because he didn't want his great grandpa to die but I explained to him that it was a part of life. Everyone and everything eventually die. There was nothing to be afraid of. They will go to a better place after they die. They won't be in any more pain and that's a good thing. Even if they die, they'll always be a part of your heart. HE started asking questions and I did my best to answer them. Sky asked only one question. She asked if her cousin would die as well. Now, did I do the right thing? Should I have kept quiet and let them be shocked when my grandpa dies? I don't think so. A few people have disagreed with me but I still think I did the right thing. Communication is so important and if there's a lack of it, then... Things won't be good. I'm glad I did because my grandpa asked for his great grandchildren so my brother and I brought the kids over to the hospice to visit him. He spent a few minutes staring at each kid until he was finished. He fell asleep afterwards. It was easier on Alex and Sky because they knew what to expect when it was time to visit him. They knew that great grandpa couldn't read them a book because he is too sick.

Sky has asked to go back to school so this fall, I will enroll her in Senior Kindergarten at a catholic school. As for Alex, he wants to continue to be homeschooled so I will do that. I was also talking to a couple of friends about Alex being in the first grade. He started JK when he was 3 and half years old. Was he ready? If he was born 2 days later, he would have started JK a year later and be in SK right now. Now I'm wondering if I put him in school too early and actually pushed him to be ahead of his normal development. So I figure I will let Alex proceed at his own pace. If he needs to be in grade 1 again in the fall, then that's fine. If not, then that's fine too. I don't want him to be turned off by school forever just because he had a bad start. School can be fun and for that to happen, I need to make sure he enjoys doing his lessons.