Happy Halloween

Don't know who has more fun the kids or hubby!

Busy Life

Life has been really busy here lately. May 4th our first born turned 7 where did the time go. Both sets of parents arrived on May 3rd to get us all packed for the move. The big move happened on May 15th. It's amazing it all took place in one day. The parents left the day after the move so far only found one thing left behind which is amazing considering the amount of BOXES.
It's one week later and the main floor is all organized, pictures hung, new floors in all that's left is paint on the walls (summer/fall projects).
Tomorrow is a new day/new week. I start working 5 days a week M-F 8-5 the girls will be with the nanny full time (so excited). Big girl has 5 days left of first grade then its "schools out for summer!!"
pictures to come later.. haven't stopped long enough to take any of our new home yet

Family Time

Last night hubby & I were chatting and came to a very Sad realization. With our busy/ crazy work schedules & maintaining a good bed time for the kids we only spend about 6 hour a week as an entire family unit. How sad is that. That also includes the craziness in the am when we are getting ready for school/work. But it's really only 4 hours a week at night dinner/bed time.

With me working 12 hours I am gone for dinner/bed 3/7 nights.

WOW...

The mind of a 2 Year old

Tonight at dinner the girls were all acting like "hams"! The conversation started in loud voices the big girl saying: "if we have a fire the baby is going to freeze" sitting at the table in only her diaper. Middle girl sitting right next to big girl didn't hear her so after several times repeating it big girl decided to try and whisper it. So you've got the two big girls trying to whisper to each other (not normally allowed) but I was too busy laughing to remind the girls that this isn't acceptable at our table. Because at the same time, the baby had turned to me and started moving her mouth all CRAZY with no volume. It was hilarious. This is one of a million reasons we eat as a family every chance we get. The girls get at least one of us each night!

keeping secrets from my kids is killing me....

I found out about two weeks ago, my sister & her hubby are coming to hang out with us for Canadian Thanksgiving. They want to surprise the kids so mums the word.
AHHH.. it's so hard.. I need to do extra cleaning this week to get ready for them and I know the 4 year old will ask "are we having company" how do you lie to a 4 year old. I'll pretend like I didn't hear her question, don't want to be accused of fibbing.

Today we will go get the groceries for Turkey dinner yummy. Did I mention I'm off for the weekend YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Can't wait for sister & brother in law to visit it's always a lot of fun.
Fall festival, skating and pumpkin patch. We'll need to hit the fabric store Halloween fabrics on sale this weekend.
Oh the fun.

Childhood Silly

Many years ago I'm guessing 20+ my cousin & I stopped talking. Reasons totally unknown to me. A little history. My moms' brother (aka Uncle) has 3 daughter one that is 2 years older than me, then 2 & 4 years younger than me. So the eldest & I stopped being nice to each other for SOME reason (no clue)years ago. As children we were frequently together cuz our parents hung out together. But once we had a say to be social we often didn't.

Last spring 08, she contacted me as she was coming to town on business and I eager to have her stay with us & try & get to know her as an adult. It was a great visit. Shortly after she left here she announced she was pregnant & theres nothing like a little person to further build a relationship.

This weekend I was lucky enough to finally meet her little man. He's now 7 months & wow he's CUTE. I loved just holding him.

My cousin is a great mom to him. It's amazing how we didn't really get along during our teen/twenties that we got a long so well this weekend. It was almost like we were sisters. Since my eldest sister never had babies, there are a lot of things about being a mom she never got to experience. But my cousin and I were able to chat at length about all the things we shared. And all the fun of being a mom.

Thanks again for making that effort last year. I'm glad we are "cousins" again!

more misc pictures...

Misc. pictures.

Big girl bedroom

First veggie from our garden.. YUMMY

First time fishing..

Guest bedroom Painted

Upstairs hallway painted.

A little bit of everything

We've been busy these last few weeks. We've had various visitors and more to come this weekend and next.

My middle child has learned how to swim. YAHOOOOOOO all the swimming lessons have paid off. Now swim lessons to improve her strokes.

The baby has got a big girl bed room.

We've been fishing.

Hubby got a motorcycle.

We spent a lot of money on a new furnace.

We have vegetables growing in our garden. We've picked and enjoyed our first home grown cucumber.

We've been to the Zoo, Museum & walked around downtown.

Played outside, played in the house.

I've done some sewing.

Back to school clothing shopping for my soon to be 1st grader done.

Found out a neighbor has been getting our phone calls how weird!

Baby was diagnosed with Asthma, Big girl goes for an assessment with a sleep specialist.

Middle girl passed her speech assessment - she's above average with her vocabulary and all the words that she has a hard time pronouncing are sounds beyond a 4 year old.

Fun Fun Fun...

Family Visit

Earlier this week my husbands parents & his god mother/hubby & their 7 year old grand daughter arrived for visit. Unfortunately due to my working mostly weekends, today was the first day I got to hang out. We went downtown & did some tourist things. It was a great day!

 

Picnic

This week Hubby is in a motorcycle course Wed- Friday and he's getting out at a reasonalbly early time. He's home by 430. So the ladies & I got all excited yesterday & planned (spent money to get organized) a family picnic. We had a picnic back pack that we've had since before we were married (yes we've used it before) but now that we are a family of 5 a picnic basket is also a must & a blanket. We had a lot of fun.. now what to do tonight!

Too tired to Blog... Hours pool side

Family Walk

Hubby was able to make it home tonight for dinner at a reasonable hour so we decided to go for a walk after everything was cleaned up!

 

 

Eat my dust sistas....

 

Mothers Day 2009

I remember my first mothers day like it was yesterday. 2003 was MY first mothers day. It wasn't supposed to be until 2004 but our 1st decided to make an early appearance. Every mothers day just keeps getting better. This year has been the best so far. My eldest is a kindergartner & that meant she had lots of fun crafts that she made for me. I got a plate that she drew the picture then school had it put onto the plate. Too cute.
The other girls also did kewl crafts with their Friday Caregiver. I got a tshirt which they decorated themselves, a picture frame & a sun visors all decorated by the girls with our AMAZING Friday Caregiver!!
Then hubby & the girls got me a serger how fun.. now I just need to learn how to use it.

But the best part of the day was spending the entire day with the family (not working). Hubby & the girls worked REALLY hard on Fri/Sat. to convert a spot in our yard into a vegetable garden. The day started out late (after I woke from a sleep in) with brunch made by hubby then it was off to the store to pick our vegetable for the garden & plants for the planters around the house. We got home & started to work. SO much fun. I hope the girls enjoy doing a garden as much as I did as a kid. Can't wait to eat the veggies we are growing. THANKS FAMILY for such a GREAT day!!:)

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is my grandfathers 97th birthday.. Yes 97th. & he's still around to celebrate this birthday. My grandfather can still walk on his own (occasional weak spells but walks). He can still hear & carry on a conversation but it would be better if he wore his hearing aids. He can still see well enough to watch TV! He's still questions my mom (who lives with him) why she's late coming home, where she's been, who she's talking to on the phone You get the picture.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY GRANDPA.. GREAT GRANDPA

Mama's tired & it's only Day Three

School is in full swing now for the next 20 years for our house & can I just tell you I'm exhausted all ready! Hubby has been very busy doing work in our office at night.. (more about that to come later) & with the Olympics on late into the night I'm a TIRED MAMA! We are all getting up earlier 7 ish to shower, eat & walk darling daughter to the bus stop!

This week has been bad for our little sleepers. The baby is fighting a real snotty nose & waking up lots at night. Our big girl is getting up frequently at night not wanting to miss school (has a clock but doesn't look at the time). Our other precious little sleeper is having a hard time falling asleep at night, she misses her sister so much in the morning (won't admit it) she just wants to talk when they go to bed at night.

So I am just going to have to learn to live with sleep deprivation for the next 20+ years, because I'm sure it doesn't get any better as they become teenagers.. Oh I am soo sorry I kept my mother up late & being the baby of 3 she must have been exhausted! Sorry Ma...

Day two

Today was the 2nd day of kindergarten & it went as well as the first. She was up early & excited & onto the bus she went. Again our timing was a little off & she had 30+ minute wait from when breakfast was done & time to leave for the bus. I'm sure her excitement will fade & she will become pokey when it comes to getting ready.

Hubby & I are surviving very well. The middle daughter is loving her new found freedom when big sister is away. She says she doesn't want to pick sis up at 1130 but when they get home they play & play & nothing else matters.

The baby on the other hand, I think she misses her big sister terribly. The baby has been all cranky for the last two days & her attitude improved a bit when big sis got home. Or maybe it's all due to the immunization she got yesterday. Who knows, but I'm glad she is happy to see her sister.

It's Monday...

Wow what a long busy weekend we had around here!

Friday was a crazy day. My friend finally got the keys to her house which is 1 year late being finished (reason we will never build a new house). So we found out we are watching her 3 & 1 year old Sat. I also go word that I was needed to work at the NASCAR qualifying day as a fundraiser for the girls cheer. I had agreed to be an alternate a while back if someone cancelled! As always on Friday afternoon we had some friends over for a swim & there was a HUGE frog in the pool needing to be tossed out & 4 screaming girls watching this happen! Friday night once hubby arrived home was organizing for the garage sale we decided we were having & doing yard work.

Sat saw me getting up at 4AM to feed the baby shower & get out of the house to go to the track for 6 a.m ! Before I left we had to get all the tables outside for the garage sale! Hubby then accepted the challenge of 2 extra kids all day alone with our 3 + a garage sale.. Boy my hubby is good & did I mention he had them all down napping (all 5 kids) mid day. My eldest rarely nap & he had them all down at the same time & was able to go sit pool side & have a beer. I guess I should have left superman some laundry to do! I got home after 7 pm & we had dinner, did family movie night & then is was BED TIME for tired mama! ** this was the first day I had ever left the baby!!

Sunday was not a day of rest. We got up & did our usual pancake breakfast but that's where everything normal about Sunday ended. I was then busy getting the girls lunch ready & making sure everything was written out for our FIRST EVER PAID BABYSITTER that was not a close friend or family member. Yes we left all three girls for the first time ever. The big girls could not wait for us to leave & well the baby she was napping! Hubby & I were lucky enough to join great friends at the Brickyard 400 - NASCAR Race! It was AMAZING.. I've been a Nascar fan for years (much more than hubby) & this was my first ever RACE. I was perma smile all day. It was great - THANK YOU!! I called home about 5 times in 7 hours (not bad) The babysitter did a great job & the girls were happy. That's all I could have asked for. The baby was alittle cranky when I finally got home from driving the sitter home but she had not really seen me in two days. I was driving home to make dinner only to get a call from hubby that the power was out. So I had to stop & get take out for dinner .. ahh more money spent. But when the power goes out at our place we can't ever run the water to wash lettuce or fruit or anything like that due to being on well water.


We survived the weekend & TODAY was back to reality a little tired alittle slow but all was well! Can't wait for next years race. I hope I can go again!!

WEDNESDAY...

Wednesdays in the summer are GREAT! Our local theatre does a "free" G & PG movie every week during the summer months. I love FREE movies. Today, the little ladies, a girlfriend & her two little ones & I went to see "Bee Movie" it was great. The girls being the great girls they are don't ask for anything while at the show. No popcorn was purchased or anything! So it truely is a free outing. I love SUMMER!

We are Home

We left on our Great Canadian Adventure before the end of June. We packed three little girls & a lot of stuff into the mini van. We drove 6 hours which took us 8 hours with food/pee breaks & gas fill up required to get to within 2 hours of our final destination. We arrived at the hotel at midnight with 3 little TIRED girls, no play pen in room & they weren't sure if they'd be able to find us one. Finally at 1230 they found a place for baby to safely sleep!

The girls woke up bright & early excited to finish their trip & see Grandparents! We had a quick breakfast & back in the van we went & finished our 2 hour trip.
We decided to surprise Nana & Papa with the entire trip they had NO CLUE we were coming. So all the way there Hubby & his bro were in communication via blackberry to determine a meeting place to do the big surprise.

We get back to our home town & the first place we go is the Mall & surprise Nana & Papa & introduce them & Uncle/Auntie to the baby! All was good. I'm still shocked that the first place I go when going back to my home town is the mall. Maybe this is because I spent SOOO much time there growing up it's like a 2nd home!

The week went by quickly & the girls got LOTS of love from all their aunts/uncles. We went to a BBQ at grandma's & surprise on us.. Auntie & Boyfriend Uncle were there to visit their nieces. It was great seeing my sister & her hubby & I was even more shocked that they drove 7 hours on the motorcycle to see the little girls.

The drive home was a straight drive home through RAIN RAIN RAIN! It took us 10 hours with all our stops & three TIRED little girls.
Now it's back to reality, working for me, laundry & house cleaning. I'm excited to still have hubby home for 3 more days he's busy working in the hard & keeping the ladies busy so I can work!

Oh wait I nearly forgot the weather! We went home & it was COLD/DAMP long pants & sweaters were a must for a lot of our trip. We get home to a HEAT WAVE & we haven't even opened the pool yet.. 2 more sleep then that will open! It's terribly hot here, we had to turn the AC on!