Thursday Traditions...

i love thursdays.....we go to the library, then to the local church thriftstore, today we walked to the fountain and had a picnic.....we crashed at home in the yard for a few hours and then Mike and Christie came for a bbq. I love that summer is here - love it!! Here are todays pics....enjoy!

Life Lesson Learned at 3

Tonight we had a really nice night - Chris has been working so hard at the camp for this Work Weekend and to celebrate the end - we headed out to dinner at the Cow Cafe (which isaac loves since they have a corner full of toys). We had an amazing dinner of steak and crab and on the way home picked up a movie--so its been a really nice evening so far. Isaac went to dinner in his PJ's because its been a long day and we were hoping to get him right into bed when we got home.


On the way home, Isaac sees a toy that he had gotten from Olivia's birthday party and said 'that toy is from Livia - she's my best friend'....it was so sweet, totally out of the blue..and chris turns around and says 'what about Alex'? 'ah-he's my best friend too'...so, moral of the story is this -- its good to know who your friends are....even at 3, isaac has already learned this important lesson.

Meet Baby Dylan

Mom and Dad look very happy and very tired....we had a nice visit tonight - baby Dylan had his eyes open when i got there and apparently that was a first. Here are some shots of happy mom after i brought her a hot fudge sunday which she inhaled (i had one too and was not far behind!).



To add to the story from last night, Amanda was telling Alex that she had a doctors appointment so she may not be there when he woke up from his afternoon nap. And Alex responds "i know....you are bringing home the baby". Amanda says 'no honey, just an appointment'....and it went back and forth like this for awhile....well, long story short, Alex walks into the hospital room this morning very proud that he was "right! and mommy was wrong!!"

Chris's Birthday and Mothers Day

Chris's Birthday - May 12, Mothers Day - May 13 == jammed packed weekend: Here it is in pics - His birthday we had a nice day at home, he ran a garage sale and made some moola and that evening we went to the Burdges for dinner which is always fun. Mothers Day was on Sunday and the boys bought me a nice shirt and hilarious cards...and we went to the Duncan airport to meet a pilot and isaac was allowed to check out his plane which he thought was very very cool. This was also the day mom and dad arrived....so it was a pretty packed weekend!

Life is.....

....pretty wonderful these days now that the sun is out. My toddler makes me laugh now, enstead of making me pull my hair out and Elliot....well, he is always very wonderful. We have been busy lately with lots of visiting - my mom and dad came for their token 1 full day visit which was jammed packed with walks, amazing meals (not cooked by me..they are amazing cooks btw), my dad tuned my piano and the camps piano, and we've been visiting lots with Cristin and her girls alot this week. This week was Olivia's 3rd birthday which means tht Isaac will be 3 in 3 weeks!!

Couple sweet things that happened lately--last night while isaac and chris are on isaacs bed talking about the day, isaac says that he wants to stay litle and asks chris to make him stay little. He has said the sweetest things lately and Chris mentioned at dinner tonight (while we were out ALONE!! yay!!) that Isaac is happier these days because i am happy.....thats alot of pressure eh?? So, though i am doing a number on my thumbs due to stress of selling this house in youbou, life is pretty great.

The staff came over tonight after work and had a bbq and hung out with isaac and elliot so that chris and i could go out on a date. It was nice to drive away and look into the yard and watch isaac being chased by Maren and Elliot watch me from Johns arms and everyone just looked so happy and i thought 'this is my home-how great is this?' what else was great was this afternoon while i was putting the kids down for a nap, our front lawn got mowed as it is part of 'camp property'

I got home from town around 9 tonight and Elliot was waiting up for me sitting on Marens lap.....it was like he was waiting just for me - so he nursed and i put him down in his crib for night and not a sound....it made me feel so lucky that this little man was waiting just for me. Ack-i could just EAT him up!!!! SO SWEET!!

Well, its almost 4am and this is a major babbler - so, here are some of the latest pics.....drop a comment if you like--makes blogging worthwhile to see what you write too!

First Fun day in awhile!!!

Since isaac has been sick, we have had to forgo many of the routines that we have, like visiting friends, going to town, and having fun outings - so today was really the first day we all got out of the house early and had a GREAT DAY!! We started at story time at the library and isaac (and me too actually) really liked hearing the story about the duck on a bike - then we walked over to get his hair cut - then to the local church thrift store where i got a little spring horse for $4!! Very cool!

Cristin and her girls came over and met us in town and we had lunch, took a very long walk - where caleb jetted out onto the highway to chase some dogs behind a fence and almost got smoked by a truck!! dumb dog!! my fault though - i wasn't remembering the family of shelties that lived across the highway-normally caleb is pretty good at heeling beside me and the boys.

After the walk, we watched a movie, had snacks - just an all round good day - days are always easier when you have a friend. Isaac and Olivia have been friends since birth and i just love that...i think that means that by that token alone, Cristin and i will be friends for ages too.

Hockey game is still on, i have a house packed with staff watching the game and i can't believe Elliot can sleep through the booing and the cheering!! - i have put both boys to bed and i am tired-so i am going to crawl into bed too. Nice to sort of be back on a level playing field with Isaac - it was a good day.....Finally!!

My first born.....

It's unfortunate that our first borns all have to endure us rookie moms learning how to be 'good' mothers on them. Oh the trauma!!! (for both us AND them!!)

The update on my earlier post is this: (care of my annoyingly perceptive husband/counselor) When i hit bottom with nothing left in the tank, i go into survival mode, for me means shutting down - being there physically, but not emotionally - i come by this honestly from my own childhood and my memories of relationships with my own folks - don't get me wrong - i know everyone does the best they can (and they are great parents) -but i can honestly say that when i have nothing left - i check out. So-isaac has been sick and totally acting out.....even at 9:30 tonight he was howling for yogurt and chris could not get him to calm down....i was so done listening to his demands -- so, i was still fuming in the computer room and glaring at isaac through the walls, Chris comes in and we have a talk on how my 'attitude' affects Isaac. Hard to hear, especially since i am doing the best i can.....his perceptions were quite right on - and he left me to my own decision - but i went into isaacs room and had a talk and a cuddle (though i TOTALLY didn't want to) and at the end, i left, and he fell into a peaceful sleep. I guess we both needed to be diffused.

The effect that i have on him is probably more than i could understand...but it was a lesson for me. I also realized that we are both first borns and i think we will have many head to heads - and apparently since i am the adult, i will have to be the bigger person to diffuse situations in the future.

mothering a toddler...not for the faint of heart

Seriously--i realize he has been sick the last week and will be more whiney and high maintenance than usual-but where is my sympathetic bone? After a long day with isaac being so demanding, watching WAY more tv than i would ever allow in normal mode (but it is a coping mechanism for me!!) - last night i took off to town with Merrin and Court and we had such a great time - we went to the pool, shopping, slurpees, even vacuumed the van - i laughed alot, more than i had in the last week, thats for sure! Those nights seem to come around just in time before you lose it if you stay amy longer in the company of a toddler!!

So, last night Isaac wakes up in the middle of the night yelling he wants eggs! What the $@#*Y$??? Who eats eggs in the middle of the NIGHT!!??? I can tell you, i was not loving this little baby of mine very much, i actually had visions of throwing him out the window of his bedroom just to make him be quiet! Who does he think he is yelling in the middle of the night for us to break out our aprons to cook him a meal just because he didn't eat anything during the day??!! Apparently last nights 'break' wasn't long enough! Those feelings have carried over to today and i find myself looking at him with distain and exhaustion thinking '.....', actually i don't know what i am thinking..maybe the words 'survive!!' survive!' I am doing what i think i should to keep us carrying on-we went for a long walk in the double trailer (its awesome, i can zip it up and poof -no kids!)

i'm sure, as you can tell, i am still quite beside myself and literally on 'coping mode' - as i type, isaac is quietly waiting in the livingroom for me to put "Cars" on for him.

There are weeks that are wonderful and his company is quite pleasant and i enjoy where i am and who i am to him....but this last week - i am not.

sigh...yes, this is a negative post, but why should i lead anyone to believe or think i lead a charmed life 100 percent of the time?? ;-)

Progression of our Saturday....

FINALLY!! The SUN!! (this is also how my friend Corinna started her latest blog entry!) Yay-we are all happy about the Sun! Chris went quading today with some of his 'quad-buddies'...so me and the boys chilled together- and here are some pics to show the progression.

Poor little Isaac caught that flu that was going around-he gets up, plays (as seen in pic) and then crashes (also as seen in pic). I have come to realize that the green leather chair that we own i have decided i want to keep until i die....yes, i want to be a wrinkled old lady sitting in that chair remembering the days past when i nursed my new babies, watched great movies with my husband and friends, and another memory that was added today - i was napping and while i was in my room, isaac came out of his room and crawled into that chair on his own and fell asleep. So, now it is also a chair that brings comfort to my baby when he is sick--isnt' there something so sweet about that?

i spy......

Back to Blond......

Little Munchkins....

Our sweet little ones! Here Isaac is a little bear - wearing a 3-6 month bear costume!





And here is Elliot hanging with Julianna - Mike and Christy were over on monday for HOCKEY NIGHT AT IMADENE......they all watched hockey while i chased kids - it was more fun for me than having to watch hockey! ;-) Everyone had fun though - nice night!

MY TRIBUTE TO COURTNEY!!

i'm not tired mama....

Yes-this is what little Isaac has been calling me now-the evolution from mommy to MA!! Its now MA-MA!! i guess its sort of endearing, but where did teh sweet little voice yelling 'mommy' go?

Anyways--We had a big day today, can you tell? I seized the opportunity to have a real cuddle - too bad he slept through it! But this is the token picture of what happens after Isaac yawns in the backseat and then informs Chris and I - "I'm not tired.....just me yawning" and within 3 minutes, he usually looks like this:

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING IN THE WAY OF POP???

BOWEN ISLAND MEMORIES WITH MY FAVORITE SISTER!!

Mom And Martha

My mom and martha came to stay overnight on monday (yes, this house has been like a B&B this week!!). Martha took the train from winnipeg and had stayed in kelowna with mom and dad for a week before coming here - it rained for the day - so Martha folded piles and piles of laundry...she's happy to stay busy- and her and Isaac played and played.