Happy Birthday Sam!

How did this...



...turn into this...??



Today my darling boy turned 9. What wonderful years these have been. He is such a great kid.

Happy Birthday Sam!!!

Today the kids and I met up with my friend Jen V and three of her four wonderful children at Chinguacousy Park. She is such a great person and so sweet. Our children played at the park together for awhile then we hit the petting zoo.

We saw goats...





These goats were much nicer than the freaky and aggressive ones that Jules and I saw when we went to Downey's Farm awhile back. These ones didn't put their dirty feet on me or beg for food. I couldn't believe how they would just stand there while kids poked and pulled them.

I wasn't aware that rabbits were considered a farm animal, but when I mentioned this to a few friends they all said that this is very common. I still think it's weird.



While we were talking about rabbits on farms, one of these aforementioned friends said that a peacock isn't a farm animal either. I wonder why its there then. Oh well. It sure was lovely to look at.





This is all this dude did the entire time we were there.



After the petting zoo we headed over to the splash pad for an hour, then home again. I dropped the children off at home and went over to my mother's for a short visit. As soon as I saw my aunt I realized that I had completely forgotten her birthday yesterday. I felt about an inch big.

As it was Sam's birthday, he chose where we would go for dinner. Personally, I was hoping for Kelsey's or Montanas but he chose McDonald's. What IS it with kids and McDonald's???

So....there it is.



One of my earliest memories of my childhood was of McD's. Whenever we saw the "M" my sister and I would start chanting over and over and over "I see the M... I see the M..."

How my mother managed to not lean back and swat us to shut us up I will never know.



I wanted a nice picture of us together but Sam wasn't in the mood for it and kept being silly. I was scolding him in this shot.



Ahh.. this will do.



Ian took this one of me to show me what I look like when I'm scolding them.



Whatever. Doesn't my hair look nice?



Take that, Ian.

My beautiful Julie...



Don't know quite what Jordan was thinking about here...



Instead of having yet another birthday cake (it would be his 4th!) we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream then headed home.

One of Sam's gifts was a remote controlled dude-on-a-4-wheeler-thing that Ian picked out. Actually, Ian pretty much buys all the children's gifts for birthdays and Christmas. I'm always very interested when they open their gifts to see what I got them. Here they were at 10:40 pm playing with it.





Everyone is now in bed and I'm on my way, later than I wanted to be. As usual.

Fly By Post

Just a short post today...

Monday I walked around Chinguacousy park with Cindy. As usual, great conversation and lots of laughter. We met up with Jenn afterwards. I was home by 10. Love those girls.

Last night I visited with my dear friend Carrie. It felt like forever since we've had a chance to sit and talk like that. I headed over at 7 with the intention of leaving by 9. Nope.. I was there until 1am. Glory... I'm like the guest that doesn't know what time to go home. We talked and laughed and shared. It felt good being with her. I love her so much.

Today Ian came home early so I was able to have a nap. I woke up feeling kind of "blah" and haven't been able to shake it yet.

The girls' appointment with our family doctor was cancelled today because he wasn't feeling well, so that's been rescheduled until Friday.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm meeting up with some friends and their kids. I'm really looking forward to that.

My friend Dawn has experienced yet another loss in her family. Her Nanny died early this morning in England. Her Pampy (grandfather and Nanny's husband) passed away just a short while ago. I am so grateful she was able to visit with them not too long ago. The losses this friend has suffered in the last five years is absolutely heartbreaking.

That's all I have time for today.

4 Months Old Already

I can't believe Jordan was born exactly four months ago today. Where has the time gone? I enjoy every moment I spend with her. (Even the fussy ones!) The children adore her and love to comfort her when she cries or to help with feeding or changing her. Julie picks out Jordan's clothes most days.

She's teething these days so she can be fussy and her schedule is off. I try to make her as comfortable and happy as possible but I have to admit, my patience is being tested. I'm very out of practice with this deal and often feel like a first time mother.

She settles the fastest with me, but prefers when Ian sings to her. Her favourite song is Old MacDonald Had A Farm but will chuckle at whatever ditty he comes up with on the spot. She rolls and laughs and always wants to be sitting up so she can see everything. We started her on rice cereal last weekend and introduced some applesauce with her cereal this week which she loved. After she was fed she just lay in my arms, her belly full and she was practically purring.

Tomorrow she goes in for her 4 month shots so I will update on her length and weight tomorrow.

Sunday Ramblings

Big news! We renewed our Costco cards this afternoon. We didn't have a lot of time to look around but I was able to familiarize myself with the layout. I saw lots of things that caught my eye but I don't have an army to feed so I held back.

Ian on the other hand.... Oh how this guy makes me laugh. Someone or something somewhere has put some sort of curse on him. If there is something on tv he likes, before long it will be cancelled. If there is a food he likes, eventually it will be discontinued.

For example, he loves a particular brand of rib sauce and a mocha flavoured syrup that he adds to his milk every morning. Eventually both were discontinued here in Canada. So we started stocking up on them whenever we were in the States, or had visitors from the States bring some with them. This all worked well until they were discontinued in the States as well. Now he has resorted to buying them on Ebay.

He likes a particular kind of licorice called Livewires that he can't find anywhere here, so again, he turned to Ebay and found a supplier there. WELL! He discovered that Costco sells Livewires and bought two cases of them. Now he's a happy guy.

I have been obsessing about my hair of late. It's starting to fall out and I don't know what's going on. I know it's supposed to fall out after pregnancy but its never happened before. My hair just keeps getting thicker and thicker with each pregnancy.

Ladies, I know... quit complaining. But that isn't my complaint. My complaint is that its now falling out. A LOT at a time. I discovered that I am actually getting a bald spot.

While we were driving along I mentioned this to Ian for the millionth time since my discovery and said I will have to stop wearing my hair off my face in a clip so I can hide it. He said that would be good because he's never really liked my hair up like that, and I look much prettier with it down, like God intended. I said right, I don't think God intended for me to be blonde but I went ahead and coloured my hair anyway. And HE said, oh I think that when God formed your personality he envisioned you as a blonde.

OH NO HE DI-ENT!

Oh yes he did.

We went to my mom's for dinner and I talked so much I don't think Mom got a word in edgewise. I hadn't seen her in a week, after all! Dinner was wonderful and Sam enjoyed his third birthday cake. Honestly! His birthday isn't even until the 31st but he's had three celebrations already. 1) Last month with his school friends 2) Yesterday with my inlaws and 3) tonight at my Mom's.

Jules in the backyard blowing bubbles...



Sam reading one of his cards...



Loving on each other...



And here is Jordan rolling over...









That's it for now.

Good Times

Today we all headed up north to Ian's parents' house for a visit and dinner to celebrate Sam's upcoming 9th birthday.

We were driving through a small town and Ian saw this car and turned around so we could take a pic. We were in shock - who would drive something like this?



There were daisies all along the dashboard of the car as well. And take a look at the hub caps...yep...more daises.

Now, the daisy has long been my favourite flower but I would not drive around in a daisy-car.

After dinner the children and I went outside to hang out together. I am not a "player" I am more of an "observer". Children want parents to play, not to observe. I tend to lean more to being reserved than goofy. Back in the day it was the other way around. Ian said that I've been so beaten down by life that my fun side has gotten shoved down.

Today that changed.

I don't know what happened but I just threw myself into our time playing. I didn't care what anyone who might have seen us thought. I didn't care if I looked foolish. My children and I were laughing in the way that leads to sore muscles in your face and belly. We were creating memories.

Now, this might not seem to be a very big deal to someone reading this. You might be thinking "well, you have kids, so you play with them". Easy concept, right?

Wrong.

I don't live life fully. I know this. I hold back in fear of what others think of me, fear of looking foolish or fear of getting hurt.

Fear. I hate it.

Well today I just ignored it and enjoyed my children.

One of their favourite things to do is to roll down the hill behind my inlaws' house. They did this a couple of times until one of them shouted "Come on Mom! Try it!"

"Oh I don't know... I haven't rolled down a hill in over 20 years, guys." Yet I had butterflies. Isn't that crazy? I wanted to do it, but all those fears I mentioned were there.

"MOM!" Julie shouts, "You haven't ridden a bike in over 20 years, you haven't rolled down a hill in 20 years... what have you been DOING all this time??"

"Yeah! Stop being a Mom and just have fun!" was Sam's contribution.

So, I took his advice and here are the pics - courtesy of Julie - to prove it.







When I reached the bottom I seriously thought I was going to have another look at my dinner. I get dizzy very easily. The children still tease me about how I had to sit down for a bit after the Tea Cup ride at Disney. Yep.. it's a true story.

Good times.

Here are a few more shots of our time outside.









And I can't forget little Jordan...





Not even four months old and she's standing. She's absolutely BRILLIANT I tell you.

A good day...

Field Trip Friday

Today was absolutely gorgeous so the kids and I headed out to relieve some of our pent up cabin fever. We headed to Port Credit to hang out by the lakeshore. Like many others, I feel so calm when I am near water. My thoughts have been constantly racing of late but just looking at the water helped me to slow down.



Isn't that soothing to look at?

Here are some pictures of some lucky you-know-whats that get to hang out on the water all day.











There was a lovely little park there as well and I saw this woman wearing the same backpack that I was so excited about receiving from Nestle a few weeks ago. I felt strangely bonded to her, but stopped short of making friends with her because hey... it's just a backpack and I'm not that lame.



Kids at the park...









Three kids are a lot to look after all at once. It doesn't always feel that way but it sure did today. Jordan was fussy while we were there so I was trying to feed her while watching Julie who wanted to hang out at the swings instead of the water, and keep track of Sam who was climbing on the rocks. Sam managed to fall in the water a couple of times so apparently I didn't watch him too well.

Today was weird... the kids were bickering with each other and being snippy and disobedient with me, and in turn I was short with them. I so wanted today to be all about fun, togetherness and relaxation but instead it had a lot of friction.

The children are SO into Pokemon. I think I speak for just about every parent out there when I say that Pokemon needs to just go away now. They tape it and watch it every day on tv, look at and trade their cards over and over again, talk about them all day long.... I lost count of how many times Sam talked about them today. Finally I had to tell him I had reached my Pokemon limit for the day. Then I felt bad.

We picked Ian up after work and went to have wings for dinner. The children were farting around so much we ended up taking our dinner home. I think that's the first time that's ever happened. Told you.. today was weird.

I loved this house when I saw it.



It looks so orderly and well cared for.

My friend Jen went for her ultrasound today to find out the gender of her little baby that is due in December. She's having a boy! Please note that I did say it was a boy in my post yesterday, so I get to say it... I TOLD YOU SO!

I guess that's all I have to report for today. I'm pretty beat.

Thursday Things

First of all... its Thankful Thursday so I should post my list.

Today I am thankful for...

~ All this rain! It means I haven't had to cut my grass this week
~ For all Ian does to make sure I take time to recharge and to just be Kate
~ Jordan was back to her regular sleep schedule last night so more sleep for me
~ my friend Jen's healthy pregnancy and that she gets to see Baby tomorrow (it's a boy, I just want to go on the record about that right now)
~ My new Palm Treo 750

Last night Ian took over caring for Jordan so I could have a nap. I ended up cancelling plans to get together with my friend Cindy for the second night in a row. She is so kind and understanding and I so appreciate that. Ian brought my dinner up to me which was very sweet. I just lay in bed and vegged out, watching The Baby Borrowers. EXCELLENT show I must say. I think it should be shown in every highschool across North America.

After Ian put the children to bed, Sam came to climb into bed with me and we cuddled and shared secrets. He is such a sweet little boy. I can't believe he'll be 9 next week.

Today was full of crazy rain. It would come out of nowhere and just POUR. So crazy. Now the sun is shining and it's beautiful.

Since it's rained most of the week we've been cooped up in the house so today we thought we'd bake a cake together. Here we go...

No one can crack an egg like my kids... no shells at all!











The finished product. YUM!



The children wanted to write "We Love You Dad" on the cake but I didn't have any icing tubes to be able to do that, so they put heart shaped sprinkles all over it.

I had to laugh at them today. Just before we got started Sam told me to get my camera so I can take pictures for my blog.

Very exciting news in our house today. Jordan rolled over! Twice! She is so brilliant I tell you. For those who want to know the nitty gritty details...she rolled from her tummy to her back, to the left. And she was BRILLIANT.

I was already back to work when Sam rolled over for the first time so I missed that. I tried telling myself that whenever I did see him roll over it would be the first time for me. Wasn't the same. I was going to make sure I didn't miss Julie rolling over for the first time but I did. She was on the blanket right beside me but I was talking to my mother so I missed it. Honestly Kate! So I think you can get how thrilled I was to see Jordan do it today. Yay!

I wanted to get pics of her doing it again but she wasn't cooperating. This is all I got and I'm posting it because she has the cutest chubb chubb legs EVER.



So there's this show called Jon & Kate Plus 8. This show is about a couple, Jon & Kate who first had twins, then had sextuplets. I guess having 8 kids is worth making a show about. I hate this show and I'll tell you why. The mother, Kate, is a ***** (rhymes with witch but I can't say the real world because I'm all Christian like that lol). Ok, I get that she has 8 kids and all, but MAN she is a nasty woman. I would like to present two examples, although I could list many more.

First of all can you say SPOUSAL ABUSE? She is so degrading and rude towards her husband. I can't believe how she talks to this guy and he takes it! All of it! She embarrasses him in public, talks down to him, berates him, criticizes him... it's so brutal to watch. For some reason this show has a huge following so they run these Jon & Kate Plus 8 marathons practically every day. Last night they had a show where they discussed their favourite moments and embarrassing moments. I felt myself getting teary at the way she treated Jon.

Of course, I would like to say that I also got teary watching an American Express commercial yesterday. Sigh. Gotta love PMS. Any day now I will post my rant against Walmart which I have been saving for an occasion such as this. But I digress.

The second example is an episode where Jon and Kate went somewhere alone and Aunt Jody came to babysit. Well, poor Aunt Jody asked all these kids if they were allowed to have gum. And of course, like kids, they all lied and said yes. So Poor Aunt Jody gave them gum which then made it's way into hair and toys, etc.

WELL. Kate went nuts about the gum that got into one kid's blanket and started telling the little guy that she was going to throw it in the garbage. He's crying and begging her not to and she's going on and on about how she's putting it in the garbage and even shows him while she does it. SO MEAN. That episode made me cry.

Right about now I bet you're wondering why I would watch a show I so openly despise. My answer is that I don't know. Maybe I'm hoping her husband will grow some (sorry for being indelicate) and stand up for himself. Maybe because it's like watching the aftermath of a car accident. You just can't look away.

That's all there is to say about that.

In closing, I would just like to point out that tomorrow is 5 months until Christmas!!