Life in the 3-K world

Well here we are and fall is knocking at our door...well she knocked, I tried to not let her in but she prevailed and is here anyways. Or is it? Is it really considered 'fall' if the leaves haven't changed colour yet and my flowers haven't died? hmmm that's a ponderment in itself for those who have nothing better to do with their time.

Anyways, much to my dismay, September is here, school has once again started and life is gearing up for our fall and winter activities. Will I have ANY free time? Hmmm so far I think not. I am very thankful that we plan on doing some ferocious vacationing this winter. Especially because our summer was frightfully crappy weather wise. There were not very many hot days and one could have lived without central air condition if they had to. *Note to Big Daddy: I said COULD have, not that you SHOULD have*

Joseph is in grade 3 this year and Trent started Kindergarten. I remember back to when Joseph started Kindergarten I was sooo worried he wasn't ready and was terrified of all hell breaking loose. But he flourished well beyond my wildest imagination and is now in grade 3. GRADE 3 PEOPLE!!! AKK!! I remember grade 3. I think that was the first time I got sent to the Principals office. I had pants-ed someone. Ohy, grade 3. Joseph is wickedly humerous still and wildly smart. Last year I will admit in grade 2 he didn't get much academic stimulation so I am very much looking forward to him having to face some challenges and work himself this year.

Trent is in Kindergarten *sob* I thought he was beyond ready, I was ready and I thought he was ready. Well his actions this week are screaming that he was not quite as ready as I thought he was. I remember when Joseph started kindergarten, after about a week I one day dropped him off, went back out to my van and bawled my face off to the point of near hyperventalation. I could not believe how bull by the horns he was being. I think I cried because I wanted him to want me more (and lets face it Trent never slept at that point so some sleep deprevation was added to that mix). I really did I was sad that he was all "See yah Mom" without looking back. Well here we are a few years later and I thought Trent was beyond ready I was prepared. I am about to loose my mind and go back to my van and once again cry to the near point of hyperventalation not because I want him to want me more. I need him to need me less. He doesn't want to go to Kindergarten and that makes me sad. I know once he gets there and gets doing fun things with the kids he's ok. But I want him to want to go. I hope over the next few weeks his zest for it will pick up. I know he'll be fine and I'll be fine but these 6 adjustment weeks are always so much. You think ahhh they aren't going to get me this time and then wham like one of the boxing gloves on WIPEOUT'S sucker punch wall, it gets ya and down you go.

And then there is miss Addie and well at the fine ripe age of two she thinks she is a preschooler. She marches her little self into that school says goodbye to Joseph walks Trent to his classroom and the down the hall to the preschool room she goes. It's a good thing I have been involved in the preschool so long our family is like furniture in there or the teacher would question what the heck was going on. Addie know's no different. For the last two years of her life that is where she wound up every school morning. Can you blame the girl. I can attest though if I walked out the door and left her at the preschool she'd be fine and involve herself in whatever they were all doing. Hmm, too bad they didn't take two year olds.

That sums up life in our home these days. Between the kids, me working evenings and weekends, Big Daddy working weekdays there isn't much room left for much else. I have to look at a picture of Big Daddy once in awhile to remind myself what he looks like. We don't see one another too often, usually in passing...but it's what we do and it works... for now. When it quits working i'll worry.

Let's catch up!

So... I know... I haven't blogged in so long. Most of you have probably given up on even coming here to read all of my intelligence and whit.

Life is busy, kids are busy, work is busy and I love those moments that are so not busy. Those are my favorite times so I try to savor them. There should be a few more of them now that our baseball season is over.

It is very difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that this school year will be over in two days. TWO DAYS! Joseph will be done grade two!!! Didn't I just drop him off at Kindergarten and now he's leaving grade two? Realistically Joseph is ready for grade three. I however, have some apprehention and concern about class placements. I hope it all works out and I have to have faith that at then end of the day what will happen is what is meant to be and will work out for the best. At least I know Joseph will make the best of wherever he winds up.

My bigger apprehention is that my Trenter will be going to Kindergarten this fall. AKK! That terrifies me. Like I said before I dropped Joseph at Kindergarten and he came home from grade two.... what if THAT happens again. Trent is more than ready and he is so open minded about it all. Much moreso than I could have anticipated his personality to be.

And Addie, well...she is Addie. Walking, talking, Sass machine. She is adorable and knows it. She has found this new niche to her life. All of a sudden she has decided that she is Daddy's girl. It saddens me because she was such a Mama's girl for so long. However, on the other hand it thrills me that her and Big Daddy are getting some time to foster their relationship. Plus at 8am on a Sunday all I hear from her crib is "Dad?... Dad?..... DAAAAAD???" Sorry Big Daddy, it isn't me she wants .

Our kids never fail to be whipper snappers and it keeps us in laughter. The other night at the grocery store there was a cart in the middle of the aisle full of reduced priced stuff. It definately wasn't there the day before. There was a woman standing there looking through the stuff. It was stuff like face wash, bandaids, tampons, film, batteries, and other stuff. There were some items that appealed to me so I grabbed them and put them in my basket. We then walked over to the milk and Trent leans over and hisses through is teeth in a great parental quiet yet stern voice. "MOM! That was soooooo rude. You just took a bunch of stuff out of that womans cart! What were you thinking?!"
Any possible response eludes me.

Well, July is going to be crazy and I hope to have a much slower August which will give me the opportunity to spend time with just my kids at the pools and spray parks.
Joseph is also working on learing to ride his two wheeler... Ok people I know he is 7. Better late than never right. He is starting to get the hang of it and I am sure by the end of the summer Trent will want his training wheels off. So hopefully we can get in some family bike rides this year.

Hope you all have a great summer!

The Lesser of Two Evils

Lately I try to avoid talking to people. Why? Because the polite ones say stuff like "What's new with you?" And, well, if THAT isn't a fully loaded questions these days I don't know what is.

It seems like a phase where I am tired of explaining all that is in fact new with us. Not that new is bad...I just get tired of telling it over and over. It was like when we bought our townhouse, everyone and their dog stopped by to see our first home purchase...It was so nice to have so many people love us and be proud of us that we had bought our first house. But in the same regard I got so tired of showing people around. You get to the point where you just want to say, I'll sit here with my kids and you go have a look around...just don't look in the closets, Oh wait and ignore the underwear on the kids bedroom floors and if you find any stray dirty diapers while your upstairs could you be a peach and bring it down with you.

Life has changed for us in some pretty big ways as of late.
I have a job.... a new job at the hospital, job. As Joseph would say in code it's the new J-O-B. I have been there for over a month now and yet he still spells J-O-B. That's a story in itself. I guess that's the throw back from asking him to keep it a secret for a few days. 5 weeks later is still in his mind "a few days."

Regardless, I like my new J-O-B its a huge change of pace from daycare. The daycare thing just wasn't healthy for my family...full time daycare that is. My kids suffered in ways my kids should never have to. I read the signs and made some choices. No more full time daycare! It was like the weight of the world has been lifted. I don't think *I* realized how stressed it was making me. Thus started the job hunt. I still have some part time daycare kids who are fantastic, they have great parents and they are great kids who I love having over once in awhile and it is FUN. Which, in my opinion, daycare needs to be. I really enjoy doing the daycare thing part time... do I enjoy the daycare or the kids... the kids really. They make me laugh. I like that it's a change of pace for my kids but it isn't every day all day long. It's like being the fun Aunt, you aren't responsible for them ALL the time so you can feed them fun stuff, do fun things and not worry about doing educational acitivities for a certain time frame each and every day, or worry that your feeding them all the right things. I am not left at the end of each day or week wondering if I did enough to shape them into good people. With part timers, they go home and their parents can worry about that. I just get to colour with them and play connect four and tickle tag.

Making the choice to go back to a J-O-B outside of the house was a long hard decision. Harder than quitting my old J-O-B. It came down to what was best for my family and as much as my not being here some evenings and weekends will be hard, in the long run it is the lesser of two evils. The fact of the matter is that I get to be home all day, every day and can do preschool stuff and grocery shopping, make supper and most importantly to Big Daddy and I, our kids are being cared for by US.

I guess the fact is that the downfall is that Big Daddy and I are once again at a place where our time together is limited. We once again have opposite work schedules. That is hard. I think I really packed that part of my married life away once Big Daddy was finished university. So, to unpack that part of life and almost in a sense re-live it is bizarre. But it is the choice we have made. Paying to send our kids to childcare just isn't for us, right now. Will it ever be, who knows. We just weren't ready to do that right now.

What else is new... Joseph has had to get new glasses because he is growing and is headed off to see an ear, nose, throat specialist about tubes in his ears and a tonsillectomy. Its a scary proposition. But facts need to be faced. We'll go and see what the pro says. He is losing teeth faster than the tooth fairy can collect them. We are on a a corn on the cob hiatus as of right now....

Trent never ceases to be Trent. He had some tough issues going on with my doing full time daycare. Thankfully he is bouncing back and is returning to himself which is so great to see. As much as I as a mother get frustrated with his enthusiasm sometimes, to see him not be so over zealous about everything was even more frustrating. Trent is back to his zesty self and loves life to the fullest. The other day right in front of one of his pals he smooched me and he ran back to his friend and said "you know, I REALLY love my Mom" ~swoon~ He is one smooth talker. I get more compliments from my four year old than I have in all my life.

Addie, what is new with her. I mean she is 16 months old what isn't new with her. She is our baby-girl. She is growing like weed, eating like a horse and FINALLY knows What a kitty cat says. It is really cute. She says "beeeowwwww" I guess we need to work the the mmmm sound. But little miss Addie knows how to say her name, nose, please, thank you, mama, dada, gramma, grampa, papa, jojo (joseph), tey (trent), purple, baby and a variety of other words. She definitely has the gift of gab. If you are on the phone she will proceed to lay herself on the kitchen floor and cry because she thinks that she needs to talk on the phone. Oh dear Lord help us... girls and telephones.

Also, I mean we just wouldn't be who we are if we didn't pack even more stuff in. We are on the hunt. The house hunt. It's be on-going for awhile now but we are in a more serious position now. We had to 'get there' mentally. Ok, I was there Big Daddy wasn't...he's now there. We are moving, when and where is to be determined. It's a scary prospect. But, I just have to have some faith that things will work out as they are supposed to. I know what I want, but what we end up with may be something totally different.

To top it off we are trying to find the time to get the kids to their activities. It's busy, it's fun and we relish in family movie night even more so now.

So, my apologies for being slack on the blog. That's life sometimes... some thing's gotta give. Today, it was my lunch dishes...they are still on the kitchen table because I felt the need to blog. I wonder if they magically rinsed themselves and crawled into the dishwasher???
Ya, I doubt it too.

If I only knew

Some days are just plain and simple better than others. Lately, I have had a few pretty downer days. But the best part of it all is that I get to enjoy, or try to enjoy my kids. I think I take way too much for granted. So I thought i'd list 50 things I love about my kids. But 50 just wasn't a big enough number......
I just take for granted how lucky I am to have them to teach me what life is really all about.

1. Their smiles
2. Their laughs
3. The fact that they can bring out the best in me.
4. Their innocence
5. Personalities
6. Whit
7. Sense of humour
8. How they smell after a bath
9. Watching them play
10. Watching them experience something for the very first time.
11. Seeing them grow
12. Watching them create their own friendships
13. Being so proud when they accomplish something, large or small
14. Seeing them be proud of themselves
15. Hugs
16. Kisses
17. Snuggles
18. Holding any one of them while they sleep
19. Whenever they say they want Mommy
20. Watching their eyes light up when Big Daddy gets home
21. Sports
22. How they don't care if their clothes don't match
23. How they each have their own quirks
24. When their quirks are something that stems from Big Daddy or myself
25. Hearing them whisper "good morning Mom"
26. I LOVE YOU!!!! No human can ever hear that enough.
27. When they tell me I look pretty or am wearing something nice
28. Listening to them use their manners
29. Watching them enjoy a meal
30. Watching them experiment with new foods
31. Seeing them take risks
32. Photograph's of them
33. Waving at me from the window, in the pool, from across the gym
34. Christmas concerts
35. When they are parting from me in the morning and they wish me a good day.
36. When they help me
37. The simple fact that they ever have the desire to help me
38. When we all have plastic kids cups at supper and small forks becuase one of the set the table.
39. Watching them love one another
40. Watching them read
41. I love that they all love books
42. Family movie night
43. Singing in the van
44. Dancing in the bedroom before bath time
45. Overhearing them singing O Canada
46. That they always cheer for the team thats winning.
47. Their independance
48. Their hair.
49. Toothless grins
50. The sheer terror of losing a tooth
51. But the sweet rewards of the tooth fairy
52. Christmas through their eyes
53. Their hands
54. Their creativeness
55. Sweet baby breath on my face
56. Pattycake
57. Mom...guess what!
58. Birthdays
59. Their talents
60. That they like vegetables

Can we say "BUSTED!!"

Sometimes as hard as you try your kids do things that.... well... give away the farm so to speak.

Now lets just say that I like to spend some time on the computer. Right. Let's just say.
Addie and I have gotten into a bit of a routine that after breakfast we go downstairs for her to play and I check in on my facebook addiction. It's a well laid out plan that benefits everyone. Addie gets to play with all of the toys and I get to supervise.

I guess because Big Daddy isn't home daily when this goes on he didn't realize how rigid our routine could be. But Addie speechlessly informed him.

This morning after being awoken boy Joseph saying that he elbowed Trent in the face and there was blood. We all got up and were sitting around the kitchen table having breakfast. Thank you Eggo. Oh and for the record, Trent was OK. There was in fact some blood and little bit of a split lip...but nothing major. Have kids, you'll soo realize that if the blood isn't actually squirting out profusely, it isn't 'major'.

After breakfast Big Daddy was cleaning up the dishes and the kids were in the living room playing. I refilled my coffee cup and was standing in the hallway. Miss Addie spotted me and instantly ran to the basement door in anticipation that I would open it and we would head downstairs for our morning rituals.

That in itself tipped off Big Daddy and he asked if that was our routine since she seemed to know it so well. I couldn't hide it any longer could I.

It's just one of those things about parenthood. Your kids can tell you so much without ever speaking a word.

Sweet and not so sweet.

**Sweet**

Once in awhile I get on these kicks to try and be some kind of mother of the year. Thus, I try to teach my kids things. I, however, am not a teacher for a very valid reason. I suck at it. I am ok with that. But, just because I know I am not good at it, doesn't mean I can't teach my kids anything right. So thus we work on 'stuff''. Dependant on the age depends on what we work on. For example currently Trent and I are working on small three letter sight words. One day I am hoping that when I write on the magna-doodle the letters CAT he doesn't say dog.

With Addie due to her costume for Halloween this year I am trying to teach her what a kitty cat says. So about 8,971 times a day I say "Addie, what does a kitty cat say?"...... long pause waiting for her response..... with no avail I then say "meeeeowww" and she immediately says "YUP"
C'mon, who's teaching who here. She doesn't say yup unless she actually means it, so I know she knows. Conniving already isn't' she. Oh and I bet she knows dates too. Just you watch, November 1st once the costume is put away and Halloween is over she'll say "MEOW"

Joseph on the other hand has reached that place where I leave teaching things to him up to the professionals who get paid for it. Because to be honest I sometimes think Joseph might be smarter than me.

**Not so sweet**

Is it wrong to find it condescending when someone other than your spouse calls you 'honey'?
I guess it is different if it is a parent or loved one whom has used terms of endearment with you previously and regularly. But a person you barely know... condescending, right?

Fine Line

The other day it dawned one me that I have now hit that stage in my life where I don't wish days away. Because they are going too fast as it is and I somehow now have a kid in grade two.
But I wondered when did that happen? Does it happen when you have a child? Does it happen at a certain age? When do you hit that point in your life where you quit wishing you were older and start wishing you were younger?
I think we all spent some portion of our childhood trying to be more grown up...it seemed cooler and more fun because you could drive and stay out late. Now, that's all I freaking do is drive I think I solely have worn out the road between my house and the school since with three children it is unwalkable. I also somehow stay up late every night...if 10:30pm is 'late'.

But really, when does that change happen? Is overnight? Does one even make that change? or is it gradual? I don't remember when it happened?

I will admit that I am spending these days not wishing them away. Addie is growing up so fast and I miss have an itty bitty baby in the house. I miss her gurgles and sighs. She is now a walking, talking, sass machine that is only getting more vibrant as each day passes.
Today she fell asleep on the way home in the van and when we got in the house I sat in the rocker recliner and held her while she continued to nap. Big Daddy and I watched whole episode of Big Brother 8 while I held Addie. It was grand. I got to snuggle her and sniff her head and feel her breath on my face. I know that pretty soon I won't have anyone breathing on my face but Big Daddy and that isn't quite the same thing.

Sweet Adeline

Each and every day I look at my kids and think "when did they get so big!" I think if you watch closely enough you can literally see them grow!

It is like my life is one of those cameras that watches a plant grow for months on end and then they speed it up to show the growth process in about 3 minutes. I swear that is how my children have grown right before my eyes.

So far this week Joseph has lost his fourth tooth. He is currently without both of his top front teeth. I must admit I always thought kids looked weird without two front teeth. Joseph in my eyes looks as handsome as ever. He is gorgeous without his teeth. Trent this week has glommed on to the word "hilarious" everything in his life these days is "hilarious". Addie, gosh her growth is leaps and bounds. These are honestly the days of babyhood where I love to put them on the floor sit on the couch and just watch them explore. She in, I swear, a few days has gone from full on crawling to getting into a sitting position from crawling, to pulling up, to cruising furniture, to millisecond STANDING!! The girl is not even ten months old yet.
Oh man, I feel faint just typing those words....ten months old.....
It is so beyond surreal. *sigh* I wish I could just press pause some days to absorb all of them just that little bit more.

There are times like tonight when the boys are getting ready for bed with Big Daddy and I have my one on one time with Addie. I bath her and give her a little baby massage and get her jammies on. I feed her while I look deep into her eyes and we snuggle in the rocking chair in the corner of her room while the sun sets around us. When she is done she lays her sweet head on my chest and sighs herself right into me. I feel our hearts connect on a deeper level as I smell her freshly baby washed hair. I close my eyes, breathe her in deeply and listen to her smallness breathing in and out. As I take a deep breath to once again catch the sweet baby smell she so gently lifts her head and belches loudly leaving a stench to waft at me.

I will miss these baby days.

Forgetful much?

I really do find that after having children my memory isn't what it used to be. Give me people, names, faces and facts about those people's lives and I can remember them like my middle name. But give me a task and I am bound to forget if I don't write it down.

Just ask Big Daddy. He gets more than frustrated with me when he asks me to do something like say.... call the bank. Days and days go by and he comes home every night and asks me "did you call the bank today?" The answer was generally a "well, I forgot because...."
Big Daddy now knows to write this stuff down for me. Even then it is hit and miss.

But in general I do find I remember the important things, picking kids up, dropping them off, diaper changes, feeding them. Those kinds of things.

However, the last few days have been horrible. I don't know what my damage is? The other day I had started painting Addie's room. I was working away getting the walls prepared and it was around 1pm and my Mom called. While talking with her it dawned on me that I had to pick up Joseph after school. Until that moment I had been totally oblivious to the fact and had something not happened to shake me out of that mode I probably wouldn't have thought about it at all. It was the weirdest thing as my days Monday thru Friday revolve around picking up the kids at school. I guess it is a really good thing that the rule for our family is that if someone isn't there to pick you up after school you go to the program (schools in-house after school daycare). Joseph is spectacular with this rule, too much so some days.

So, I was just getting over my weird feeling of almost forgetting all about picking up Joseph when today's incident happened. I took the boys to school. I got Trent into the preschool room, got his shoes on and his cup out. We smooched good-bye and I was off. I chatted in the hallway with another Mom and headed out to the van, I got into the drivers seat and got all comfy and thought "this is weird, why is this weird?" Unbeknownst to me I was still holding Addie! Like how does that happen? I had totally forgotten to put Ad in her car seat. It was the weirdest feeling. I mean thankfully I didn't do something really dumb like leave her in the preschool room, or drive away with her on my lap. But jeez.

I hope that at the end of the day this is all worth it and my kids are really really smart because I think each one of them has sucked out 1/3 of my brain. Thus, leaving me with pretty much nothing left upstairs. Some days, it is just a hat-rack.

Pantie Parade

I never was one to get pregnant in the premis that I wanted a girl. Now that I have my girl, I do love her to bits and she definately completes a part of my life. Who knew I could buy so much pink!

Don't get me wrong I love my boys to bits and they too complete important parts of my life. But the other day as life goes with the boys we found ourselves upon a conversation that included gitchies and butt-cracks. Nothing out of the norm for a day at our house. The conversation all started with Joseph asking what "tighty whities" were. Once I explained he mentioned that pretty soon we could get Addie some "tighty pinkies." It was then that it dawned on me that I get to buy panties!! Who would have thought that I would get so excited about something like that. But I am. I have spent the last few years purchasing spiderman, spongebob, Army, dinosaur and blue gitchies. I now for once will get to hit the panty isle.

It makes me almost looking forward to potty training.... almost. Not quite. I want her to stay a baby forever. I don't think that will happen as she has become fairly mobile. It all started with the great swing escape, and it will probably never end.

Cute little laugh

Here is a video of our sweet Addie girl laughing. Sorry about the camera shake... I was shaking my head to make her laugh. I guess I can't shake my head without moving my hands haha.


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Double Duty

The other day I was reading some of the archives of my own blog and had a few good laughs about things I forgot that had happened. I hope you all don't feel that the funny things in our lives have stopped and all we do all day is sit here and stare at our beautiful baby girl.

Ok, I'll admit we all stare at her a lot. But, we still do our regular stuff and the kids still keep my sides sore in laughter some days. I just don't seem to find the time to blog about it all.

To add to my misery sometimes I get up here and Addie is laying in her crib so I sit to blog and I forget all the things I have had good intentions to blog about.

BUT, today is a red letter day. I have remembered something that has kept me in laughter most of the day.

As our usual Saturday routine the family and I get ready to go and we all load up into the van to head to the mall for lunch. Now that there are five of us making it anywhere before noon with all of us fully dressed is really out of the question.

So, there we are driving along to the mall and chattering away while Addie is fast asleep in her carseat. Joseph pipes up
"Hey Mom!"
Big Daddy and I finish what we were talking about so he pipes up again "Hey Mom and Dad!!!"
I reply "What Joseph"
Joseph informs us "I am wearing two pairs of underwear!"

Well I think Big Daddy and I were laughing so hard I never really asked why. When we got to the mall and he got out of the van I had to take a quick peek to see if he was just making it up.

I'd hate to leave you all in suspense so I will let you know that the child was in fact wearing two pairs of underwear. While I find it humorous and still laugh thinking about it. Big Daddy is just praying that this doesn't become common occurrence as that would equal seven extra pairs to launder at the end of each week.

What I find funniest about it all is the tone Joseph used when he brought it up in the van. It was like after being dressed for an hour and in the van it all of a sudden dawned on him.

He wonders why I often remind him to pay attention when he is doing things. Two pairs of underwear... Why, I will never know.

How sweet it is....

I am still surprised each time I am roused from my sleep by a baby needing a feed that we indeed have a girl. It amazes me how each time you have a baby you feel the unexplainable regardless if it is your first or third. She occupies my days...and nights, but it's worth it. Just look at that pretty face.

The hardest part is my "real life". I miss it. I miss Joseph being at school all day, I missed taking Trent to his first day of preschool, I miss snuggling in bed with them at night. I know in due time and routine I will have a new form of "real life" that Addie just blends in to. But until then I miss my boys.

She's home!

Without further ado, our sweet Adeline is home.




More to come, but as any new Mama should do the girl and I are crawling into bed.