Our week in photos

When trying to think of what we did this past week and a half, I went blank.  Thank goodness I took some photos......so, here is our week in pictures.

I love this view.  The clouds look pretty neat too.  On a good day, you can see Boston church, and hear the bells on sunday.

Look what we found at the side of the road!  I was driving to nana and papa's and came across this.  Knocked on the door to make sure it wasn't wanted anymore and was told to take it away!  Yay, Hunter is obsessed with this car!!!

Uncle Jamie helped Drew make this awesome helicopter.

Dinner at East Side Mario's.  Drew sharing his ice cream with Hunter.

These are the super cute 16$ jackets I got at Old Navy.  So fun!

We spent a long time raking the leaves and then jumping in them.  Hunter didn't want anything to do with them.

We had cake, just because.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our thanksgiving weekend could be summed up with one word, perfection.

Despite the foul start to the weekend (see previous post regarding the old navy sale), the weekend got progressively better.

After the sale, we had swimming lessons, which both boys enjoyed immensely.  Plans were made with Nana and papa to head back to their place once James left for work.  The fall colours were out in full force at their place, so a hike was planned.

Drew calls these hikes, "adventures" and really enjoys following the cow paths through the property.  Usually, these adventures are just a Nana-Drew thing.  He rarely allows Hunter and I along.  This time we were invited and I was thrilled.  It was so fun to see him with his little walking stick, stopping to pick apples and acorns and whatever else the boys found interesting.  Near the end of the hike Drew kept saying, "this is really hard work, isn't it??"  It really was hard work! 

Sunday morning we got up and headed back to Nana and Papa's to pick everybody up.  We were heading the Erin fair with my aunt Fran, as we do every thanksgiving weekend.  It was a beautiful day, and we had such a great time.  We rode on rides (the giant slide was the favorite and Drew (and Hunter) must have gone on it a million times), ate junk food and ran into some of our neighbours.  Drew had a pony ride, we watched a cattle show (a huge hit with my boys!) and played with some toy farm vehicles. 

After the fair, we headed back to Nana and Papa's for the afternoon/evening.  James and my dad headed back to our Milton farm to feed cows, pack up for the cottage and for my dad to bring back some hay.  Our family thanksgiving dinner was this night and we were so happy to be all gathered together for the night.  The jumpy castle was brought out and a family photo was taken.

After dinner, our family of 4 hit the rode for the cottage.  It was a quick 2 hour drive (quick for me and the boys, we slept!).  We stayed at the cottage until Tuesday, cleaning and playing.  The cottage will be closed in the next couple of weeks, so it was likely the last time until next spring.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year.  It's a time to spend with family and to remember what you have in your life to be thankful for.  We have so much to be thankful for and are very lucky people!

The things we do to save a buck!

Old navy advertised an Early opening this morning for their 16th birthday celebration (7am) so mom, hunter and I hit the road at 6:45 to try and get some deals. Showed up at Erin mills only to find out they were not opening until 9:30. I thought my mother was going to punch me in the face. The nice couple in the car next to us suggested that maybe square one would be open (the man in the car did not look impressed). Off to the 403 we went.

A crowd of people was gathered outside of the store (we found out when we arrived it wasn't opening until 8 -crap). We power walked around the empty mall and found a Timmy's that was open so mom wasn't so grouchy.

Thank god!

Once the store opened people literally ran into the store.  Ridiculous.  I didn't understand why they were in such a rush.  There weren't hundreds of people or anything, surely there would be enough coats for everyone (16$ coats!).  I quickly understood why.  People were grabbing 5 and 6 coats each...and pushing and shoving each other to get to the coats. 

Crazy!

Mom and I headed straight to the kids area to avoid the possibility of us getting into some sort of coat-induced brawl.  We were already cranky enough.  The kids section did not have a huge selection of coats that were 16$, but I was able to find 2 matching lumberjack coats for the boys and mom found a cute coat she just had to buy for Drew that was 30% off.

After the hysteria died down, we wandered over to the women's section to see what all the fuss was over these 16$ coats.  I'll tell you this much, I wouldn't have paid 8$ for these coats.  I tried one on, and the sleeves were too short. 

Glad I didn't throw a punch to get one!

A couple that works together....

James and I have always been a pretty good team.  Before we started dating, we were friends and we played co-ed volleyball together.  We had fun, and worked pretty well together.  Once we started dating, our favorite thing to do was to go paddling together and later, got into white-water paddling.  We communicated well and therefore things went pretty smoothly.

Once we got engaged, and I pictured our future together, I imagined that the fact that we worked well together would spill over into all facets of our life, including raising our children.

Fast forward to last night. 

Actually, before I tell you about last night, I should give you a bit of an update on Hunter's sleeping.  I've been putting him down awake for the past couple of weeks and he's been sleeping through the night.  He's getting up early, but sleeping through the night for the most part.  Before he sleeps through the night though, he cries for anywhere between 5-15 minutes.  This crying has been accompanied by (occasionally) barfing.  My sleep "book" has instructed us to clean him up afterwards, but to not make a big deal about it, or allow him to get out of bed after he's cleaned up, causing him to associate barfing with being able to get out of bed.

Last night, he cried for 10 minutes (I did my 5 minute check-ins) and when I checked on him the 2nd time, he was asleep.  Great, I thought.  I slapped myself on the back, took Drew up to bed and then poured myself a glass of wine and settled in to Thursday night tv.

Around 11, I decided I couldn't wait up for James anymore and went to check in on Drew and Hunter before I retired for the night.  Drew was fine.  When I went into H's room, the strong aroma of barf hit my nose.  Upon closer inspection I discovered a pile of puke in the corner of his bed, and Hunter soundly asleep at the other end of the bed.

Crap.  I am the worst mother in the world.  What the hell do I do now?  The sleep book has no instructions for what to do if the baby is sleeping and there is barf!!!

I quickly grabbed some wipes and cleaned up most of the chunks and then found a blanket to cover the wet/smelly spot so that if he rolled over there, he wouldn't land in it.

I then messaged James with a desperate call for help/advice. 

My vote was to just leave him, let him sleep.  I was certain that if we were to lift him out of bed it would cause all hell to break loose and we wouldn't get him back to sleep without another screaming/barfing episode.

James walked through the door a few minutes later and decided it was time for him to take a closer look. 

He put on his headlamp (yes, we have headlamps.....they are extremely handy!) and went in.  We (OK, He) decided on a plan of action.  I pulled the sheets off half of the crib, then put on the clean one.  James lifted Hunter, without changing his sleeping position and I took the other half of sheet off, then slid the clean sheet underneath him.

We successfully changed the sheets without waking him, and luckily enough for us, he didn't get any barf on him!

High fives for us. 

I'm not sure I could have ever imagined us working together in such "stressful" circumstances.  I don't think I could have ever imagined that this situation is what I would perceive as stressful.  You would have thought we were preforming major surgery the way we were acting. 

Hunter's first trip on the bus!

I went to another parent council meeting this afternoon so James dropped the boys off at Nana and Papa's on his way to work.  Nana took both boys on her bus run with her (she is a brave soul).  We had installed a carseat for Hunter last night so everything was all set.  I was a bit nervous, as he'd never been on the bus before.  As is usually the case, I worried for nothing.  He loved the ride.  I think it's because he's up so high, he can see so much.  Both boys had a great time, Drew was thrilled to share his bus expertise with Hunter in true big brother style.  I love it when he goes into proud big-brother mode.  It's so cute.

I was not there to take a photo, I'm really hoping that James took one. 

After my mom was done work and I was finished with my meeting, we headed to Erin Mills to do some shopping.  James and I are going to a wedding recpetion at the end of the month and I need a dress.  I tried on a ton of dresses, and did not find one.  Grrrrr

Who did you run for?

Ok, I didn't run for anyone.  But I sure did walk for a lot of people.

Momstown hit the pavement this morning and ran (walked) for the cure; kids and (some) hubbys in tow.  It was a moving experience.  We met at starbucks in Milton for some hot chocolate and treats and then convoyed to the Burlington GO station where we joined the crowd to wait for a shuttle to the event.  It was pouring rain and while driving to the station, James and I had decided that I would take Drew to the event and James would stay back with Hunter.  Hunter was sleeping at the time and we figured we could let him have a nap and keep him out of the rain (he's got a bit of a cold).  Drew had other ideas.  Once him and I were out of the van, he begged me to get daddy and Hunter to come too.  He's been missing James big time lately (more on that in a later post) and did not want to leave him behind.

As fate would have it, Hunter woke up just as we went back to talk to James about the request....off we all went to the event!



Hunter, Drew and I on the shuttle to the event

 Because of the rain and the cold and the kiddies in tow, a group of us moms decided to do the 1km walk (a couple brave souls decided to run the 5km - James and I are going to run it next year...that's the plan, anyways).

Reading some of the "I'm running for...." signs on people's shirts brought tears to my eyes.  There were a lot of moms names, as well as sisters, friends, and daughters.  I'm proud to say that our team raised $10000 to go towards kicking this disease in the pants. 

Once we neared the finish line, Drew insisted we run.  As it so happened, we ran the last few hundred metres of the course.......pretty neat to cross the finish line with so many people cheering you on.

We asked Drew why we walked.  His response?  "To help the people and especially the animals feel better".  I'm not sure where he got the animals part of it, but I think he got the point.

Our biggest little man requested East Side Mario's for lunch, so we hit Mapleview mall for some eats.  I also had a coupon for La Senza that expired today, so I bought myself 2 new bras to go along with my (sigh) smaller boobs (since I've stopped nursing).

Once home, we settled into the usual routine of playing and relaxing.  Here are some shots from our night...

Apples and Turkey - Oh My!!

Momstown mamas went to Chudleigh's apple farm on friday.  We (and our friends Jaci and Nathan) hit the slides, had a wagon ride, picked some apples and saw some animals.

Nathan and Drew

Drew had a great time with Nathan and Hunter tired himself out trying to keep up with them.  They literally didn't stop running (except while they were sitting on the wagon ride) the whole time.

Both my boys really seemed to like picking apples.  Jaci taught them all how to pick them properly and they both had apples in their hands, sampling the produce while they worked. 

Hunter hadn't napped the entire morning.  We went to McDonald's for lunch and he fell asleep while he was eating.  He had his eyes closed while putting food in his mouth.  It's hard being one.

Yesterday, we had James' family over for thanksgiving dinner.  We served turkey with all the trimmings.  James did the turkey on the bbq (seriously, the easiest and fastest way to cook a turkey.  It's the only way we'll do it now, and it frees up the oven to do lots of fun "sides". 

It was nice to have everyone here.  To hear the kids playing and having fun and to be able to have a couple glasses of wine and just relax for a bit.  Nice to reconnect with everyone.  I have these great memories of holiday meals with all my grandparents from when I was a kid.  It's really important to me to give these memories to my kids.